The Shasta courier., 1864-07-09
SHASTA COURIER.
The Arctic Prison: Thrilling story ofthe
Sea.

Sea.
The shin swung heavily to and fro-tht
long yardscreaking and shivering upon th'
Liasts.
The wind whistled with a shrill wierc
sound among the shrouds bent inwards as
though unseen bands of heavy footed mer
wers ascending them. 1t was dark night
vet not so dark but that we could see the lofty
iceberrs by which we were surrounded loom
ing up ike speeters through the gloom. We
were tossing about on the waters of the Arctic
Ocean and-subjected to heavy sea and a
gale Of Wind our position was dangerous
one.s We had already begun to prepare RATS.
and to hoist our chests on deck-expec.ing
every moment that the ship would be stove
by the ice Heavy masses were continually
crushing against the bows, and thnndering
under the counter, causing the vessel to shake
and culver from stem to stern, as though
every timber was about to give way. At
times the concussion would be so violent that
all hands would be thrown off their feet, and
tumble on top of each other, in manner
that was far from agreeable. Suddenly a
white face with wild glaring eyes and quiv-
ering lips appeared among US. 1t was that
of the captains wife. She had her hand
upon her husbands arm, as he stood near
the bow.
LiIian Lillian !' she gasped, where
is onr Lilian?"
:. Lillian? Good heavens wife, what do
you mean? left her with YOU in the cabin ~
She is not there now-I have looked in
all the rooms. Oh, God my child my
child" and the mother wrung her hands in
anguish, while her white face grew still viii
ter.
Wife. wife." exclaimed the captain,
half sternly, 8 Lillian was with you when |
left the cabin surely you did not let her
leave your side at such time as this?"
Yes yes !" cri his wife, in accents of
the most piercing grief. 1t is all my fault
she is lost My little one is lost and |
am the cause |"
:. For Gods sake, explain yourself.' gasp
ed the captain.
81 left her down in the cabin faltered
the agonized mother " and came on deck, as
l wanted to speak to you. | thonght you
were in the waist, so CROPPED my way there
and tried to find you. Not seeing you,
started on my return fearing to leave Lillian
so long alone. But when reached the cabin
again, she was not there gone! gone God
only knows where !"
. Lillian Lillian. has any one seen Liian?"
Foresand aft, from every lip, in startlin 2
accents. the cry went up amid the storm
But the loud wind only answered with a
deeper howl. The long yards still creaked
upon their rusty rivets. The heavy ieebergs
crashed upon the bows; and the timber
groaned and shook as they had done before.
The silvery accents of little Lilian's voice
came not to our ears, and we felt as if it was
hushed forever. But the waiing tones ofthe
poor mother, and the despairing shouts Of
the father-both of whom could not bear to
give up their child continued long after our
voices had ceased. Then. we--rough hearted
childess men though ewere-forgettingo our
own danger, gathered about the afflicted pair,
and tried to console them | don't think we
succeeded very well, for our voices trembled
great deal; and the tears would come to
our eyes, though we kept wiping them away
with the cuffs Of our heavy jackets. No one
of Us but had loved Lillian almost as well as
the parents themselves. She was but seven
years of age; yet the earnest glance of her
large blue eyes would go straight to our hearts
and make us feel kind and good toward each
other. To utter an oath when she was near
would have seemed like sacrilege. Like a
lily, she had boomed in our midst, shedding
heavenly influence about her.
Strong-ohl strong is the power of inno-
cent cDltUDOpQ over Il SIN I'll neart
1t was while we thus stood custeringnear
the binnacle, offering what little consolation
we could to the captain and his wife. that one
of the ships crew-an old tar, by the name
of Bill Butler-came towards us, holding few
little torn shreds of cloth in his hand.
q found these ere hanging on hook on
the outside of the bulwark," said Bill in a
mournful voice.
:" 1t is part of Lilian's dress :" shrieked
the captains voice.
The captain buried his face in his hands
with..a groan an we looked at one and an
other in sad silence There could no longer
be any doubt about the matter. Lillian had
fallen overheard
The few remaining hours of the night wore
away. The gale subsided. Miraculously,
as it seemed to us. the sea had gone down
with the gale, there was now no more dam
ger. Overwhelmed with grief, yet feeling it
his duty to try and console his wife. the cap
tain descended into the cabin, leaving the
management of the ships affairs in the Hands
of the mate. Presently the steward came on
deck. He wished TO know if any of the
hands had seen Blusco that morning. This
was the name of a large Newfoundland dog,
which had. been a great favorite with Lillian
and she had especial delight in feeding him.
The dog had grown extremely iond OF his
young mstress, and would show his attach
ment in many ways peculiar to his kind.
Now that their darling was lost. the captain
had ordered the steward to bring Blusco to
them--thinking that the sight Of him might
afford melancholy consolation to his wife.
Having searched the cabin through without
being able to find the animal, the steward
came on deck, as we have said, to inquire if
he had been noticed by any of the hands.
We all answered in the negative. None OF
us had seen the dog since the previous night,
Thereupon the ship was ransacked fore and
aft, for tie missing animal; and although We
searched in every nook and corner, he was
not to be found.
While we were all wondering what had be-
come of him. the man at he mast sung out
that there were whales astegn. The mate in
stantiy ordered tie beats to be lowered, and
before we had scarcely time to todivestoarselyeS
of the idea that we were still looking for the
dog we were padding swiftly in the wake Of
a great fat bow head. The whale made
straight fer field of ice in the distance. and
went down when he had got in the midst Of