Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-04-17
aMistellauu.
The Wreck at Sea.

Ah =" | says. you've been hard
and bitter mother to me ; and vet 1t
goes again the grit 10 turn ones back upon
YOU. I've toiled on, and lived hard, and
vet you have ALWAYS showed me cold.
cruel face r and a. | said that. feeling
quite heart->ick, | leans my elbows on the
side o. the ship, and my chin on my hands,
and has long. long look at the old coun-
try We wa, leaving-perhaps to see no
more.
| looked round, and there stood plenty.
tearful-cvcd and .ad with all the lines Of
sorrow marked in their foreheads. while
could see lips trembling and hearts work
ing with the PAIN they could hardly keep
down And then | don't know how it
seemed to me that we thought together the
same sad things and that | knew their
thoughts and they knew mine There
was all the old llfe-plain a. could be :;
and then came the long, long struggle with
sickness. and death, and want and |
knew that people said such poor folks
should not marry, and many another bitter
word. a. if it was wrongful to love and
try to be happy. The wind whistIed
through the ropes above our heads and the
clouds seemed gathering, too, i'll our hearts,
for though the bitterness was gone, could
sec plenty Of sorrow and sadness all around
Won't DO. my lad" | says, rousing up
and wetting both hands a. if | meant
work : and then | zoe. down in the steer
age TO try and make things bit comforta-
hIe for Won SEE all the poor things We're
iu most miserable state. Some was i'll.
some dovn-heartcd some drunk and fool
i~h. some drunk and noisy, some drunk and
quarrc~ome. Then there was children
CRYING and women ~colding, and altogether
it wa~ anything but 4 cheering prospect
for the night. for a. YOU may say, we were
not shook down into shape yet.
Good time coming" | SAYS cheerily
and having no Young ones Of my OWN, |
st to. to help them a, had. got hold OF
a Young >haver-about two and a half
] should think-and he was letting go
right away a. if he'd got all the trouble
in the ship in his precious young head
But he soon turned quiet, playing with
my knife. and all at once | finds as he had
made a hammock Of me, and had gone of
a. sound a. cherub. During the next
three dayS it, mother was very i'll, poor
thing, and | had to regularly mind the
little one and did, too. Well, 'tisn't
very pleasant life in the steerage Of al
emigrant ship bound for New Zealand. es-
peciallv If the we;tther's Il bit rough anC
20 we found it, For the next morning,
when | went on eck. there was a stiff
breeze blowing, the ship hceling over anc
a. thought the night before, so it was
there was nothing III sight but waves al
around. One sailor did point TO some
thing which he said was home but it nigh
have been cloud.
The fourth night had come. and as | lay
in nv berth listening to the . wash wash
of the water past the side of the ship, tht
cracking and groaning Of the timbers, anC
every now and then the heavy bump of ;
wave against the side, | couldn't hell
thinking what little there was between
W. and death and somehow or othe
thoughts that kept me wide awake
1t was two bells think they call it, TO
they don't count time a. they do ashore
when all at once | could hear as there wa
a great hustle up on deck, where all through
the watches of the night everything's most
lv very quiet. Then there came gooC
deal of trampine about and running to anC
fro so | gets out of my berth, slips OF
one or two things, and goes cautiously VI
the ladder and gets my head above tn
hatchway, and then in a moment | say
what was up. and it gave me such shocl
that | nearly let go my hold and fell bacl
into the steerage. There was thick clou'
of smoke issuing out from behind tn
matches, right in the centre of the ship
and almost before | could thoroughly re
alize it ALL or make myself believe as
was true, woman ran shrieking alon
the deck in her night-dress. and calling on
those fearful words on board ship
Fire fire. fire ?"
Hundreds of miles from land, standin
on few nailed-together pieces OF Woo
and them burning beneath your feet.