Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-08-10


Captain, [ am dyingp
81 hope not, my dear sir. This dread
full gale has weakened you; it is over now,
and you will soon be better"
''No, captain" he repeated, 81 am dy-
ing. The tempest | know is over; and
so is that other tempest, in my breast!-
This ship has long been tossed and beaten
about by the fury of the waves, but it has
been sunshine and calm compared with
that tempest, captainl But it is all over
now-tor | have forgiven himi He has
been long IN the grave-but have forgiven
himr'
My grandfather thought he was delir-
ious, but second look at the deep intel
hgence of his eye and the smiling calm
ness of his features, forbade the cenclu-
sion. He gazed at him a moment with
mingled compassion and curiosity, anxious
| to learn his history, the closing scene OF
which was so dark and mysterious, but un-
willing to ask. His look was interpreted,
and the stranger continued:
81 told you | was a sailor Of thirty
five years have not spent one upon the
land. But this was not my choice Like
! . vessel, captain, my supports were knock
ed from under mel was launched upon
the ocean. My father was an English mer-
sogeu IN navigation. He took pride in me
and lavishly provided for my education in
England. Having traversed the halls of
science I left Oxford and returned to Spain
at the age of twenty. The first year of my
| freedom from school I spent in rambling
over the mountains of that enchanted
country. In a deep inland dell, shut out
from the world, where the earth was al
ways blue, met one day beautiful young
shepherdess-and loved her.
81 will not describe her charms, cap
tain, for you have been young: and heart
that has ever loved need not be told that
to the eye of true affection its object has no
defects
'sMy father learned my secret-hew, I
know not. With an unyielding will be de-
termined to destroy my hopes. He thought
to frame my condition in life SIS he framed
his ships-with live-oak and iron; and
green pastures and bleating fjocks and gen
tie shepherdesses were not il his plan. He
learned my secret; but [ had secret after
ward that he never learnedi He came to
me one morning and with unusual bland
ness said:
"'My son, would you like to go to Cubap
81 eagerly answered in the affirmative;
for it had been a cherished but hitherto
forbidden passion with me to travel.
"tOne ofmy vessels sails tomorrow,
said he, and you may go.
''This short interval allowed me no time
to bid farewell to my shepherdesses, who
was fifty miles off, or even to inform her
of my departure, But I said aloud to my
self, L will will soon be back and many
other consultations Whispered to my heart,
as the next day, while bounding over the
hIua Atlantic
"tAt each remove
1 dragged lengthening chain behind
''The ship arrived in good time at Hava-
ma, discharged her cargo, reloaded and sail
ed for Calcutta l lods prisoner on board
my fathers ship and for five long years l
was kept from home - as if all the waters
of all the oceans could wash out my love.
81 escaped at last from the prison ship
while lying at Rio Janeiro, and took pas
sage in French brig straight for the
Guadalquiver. No circumnayigation of
the globe was ever so long as that voyage.
[ strained my eyes every day watching for
Gibraltar, when [ knew it was thousands
of miles of. and every night dreamed of
mountain rivulets, moonlight, snowy hocks
and Inal
'Arriving at last at Seville, fastened
over the Nevada and sought the sunny dell
where my affections had SO long nestled,
and there found that the idol of my heart
had been three years the wife of an Anda-
lusian shepherd. She had been told that
l had deserted her. and afterwards that I
was dead. I did not weep, for my heart
was turned to stone.
"'My father, said l, shall never know
of his victoryi" I did not go to see him
1t was wicked know; but, burning with
the spirit of revenge. turned again to the
sea, and never saw him more. am faint
Captain, and cannot prolong my tale. In
six months I was master of a fast sailing
vessel. You have seen that vessel, Cap
tain, but never in port, and I have often
seen you, and knew your name twenty-five
years ago. Do you believe me ??
My grandfather looked doubtful.
MANY years ago." continued the dying
You had sold your cargo, and conveyed on
board a large amount of specie, and was
preparing to sail in ballast A gentleman
was introduced to you as an English mer-
chant, and proposed to charter your vessel
for the homeward voyage"
81 remember it.
"Do you remember that you invited the
merchant to dine with you, and that the
next day you received notice that your ship
would not be wanted?"
81 do"
"Well, Captain, I was the pretended
merchant, and was pleased with your hos
pitality. The real object of my visit was
TO ascertain the day of your sailing and
your destination. All that night deliber-
ated whether to carry out my plans with
regard to your ship or to engage in another
enterprise at hand, but less promising.
The recollection ofyour gentlemanly enter
tainment led me to decide the question in
your favor, and three days after | was en-
gagged in a business altogether different.
On another occasion when you, with quite
a fleet of merchantmen, was lying in the
mouth of the Mississippi, hesitating to
sail on account of a suspicious craft report
ed to be lowering on the coast, friendly
pilot took you to sea through an unfre-
quented channel, and, to your astonish-
ment, passed safe within hailing distance
of the very craft you were eager to avoid.
But no matter about all this. 1 relate these
circumstances to prove to you that we are
not entire strangers.
"My father continued to freight his ships
and send them to all parts of the world Int
he never knew that superintended large
part of his business, and that many of his
cargoes found sale in ports to which they
had never been consigned. His agents
sometimes failed to report.
Captain, / have said enough. Before to-
morrow's sun sets, 1 shall be in the cayerns
of the deep. My sins have been great, but
| hope to be forgiven, and have forgiven
him. [ have fortune IN the Bank of Eng
land, and with it is deposited will. and
the orphan son of Ina is my heir.
"You have been kind to me, Captain, and
IN token of my gratitude [ beg you to ac-
cept my watch and cutlass, and this paper.
which you will carefully preserve"
So saying, he held out folded scrap Of
paper, which my grandfather put into his
pocket.
Morning dawned, but the strangers eyes
did not open upon it-they We're closed for
ever. In the afternoon the burial service
was performed, and the shrouded body OF
the pirate, with gentle plunge, broke the
CLASSY surface of the ocean, and sunk
swiftly into the mysterious depths.
1t was many hours afterwards that my
grandfather bethought himself of the paper
in his pocket. He opened it and read as