Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-07-21

bright head protruding from the narrow
opening of state room door. The blue
eyes were unnaturslly expanded with
wonder and anxiety; but there was none
of the childish weakness OF fear that
might have been looked for under the cir
cumstancee.
aMr. Darrell, where's father :" she re-
peated.
How could I answer the question : Only
by sign TO her to keep close within her
room, as l moved forward out OF her
range OF vision, that my tell-tale lace
might be hidden.
Powerless, AZ regarded any effort l
could make for safety against the storm, !
awaited the moment when the chip should
be ineulfed, with little Jessie and myself.
But as IL the demon OF wrath had been sa-
tiated, she now appeared to make better
weather Of it than she had done for hours
before. Hope again revived, anu has.
tened to explain our position TO the or
phancd girl.
/ knew not how to begin, rough
seaman that was, to break the sad intel
lipence TO her. but | found IL unneces-
sary to speak; she had already guessed
the truth, in part, and a single look in my
face was sufficient for her quick COM
prehepsion To take in the rest.
After the first burst Of grief, which /
suffered her TO indulge unchecked, she be-
came calm, wonderfully 80, and was pre-
pared To look the matter squarely In the
face with GOODNESS and resolution far be-
yond her years
"Do you think we shall be drowned
Mr.. Darrell :" she asked.
"No," / answered. "At. least ! have
strong hopes that we may be saved.
think the worst Of the gale Ia over, and II
we only don't happen a. ship unfortu
nate sea like that which"
"My dear fatheri He was all that I had r
she moaned; and once more her miracu.
lous fortitude gave way, and she broke
down again.
The gale abated at midnight, and though
the ship labored terribly in the tumbling
swell, for want Of canvas to steady her,
VIC shipped no more heavy seas. | stayed
near my young charge all through the
night; for, of course, neither Of us could
sleep. promised her that would ever
be as a father to her, and that, come what
would, she should share my fortunes and
be To me as sacred legacy.
vi COURSE, I'D buCu Iuch 10 dIIIdSc
with her had anything TO do with what
said or felt at that time. | WAS twenty
five years old, and Jessie child. Besides,
/ was under promise OF marriage to q
young lady OK suitable age. She Tilted
me for another, during my absence-but
that has nothing to do with my story.
With the morning light came the neces-
sity for effort, and sense Of response ility
new and strange To me. ! sounded the
we'll and found only two feet of water in
the ship, this having worked down from
above. ! did not attempt, alone, to pump
her out; but rcjoiced in the assurance
that still had tight vessel under me
for, had she sunk, should have had no
dependence beyond such raft as could
have extemporized. Every boat had been
swept away.
l l0osed and let fall the foresail, and sue
ceeded in setting it, with the child's assist
ance and the power Of the windlass. The
spanker could easily manage with the
brails; and these, with the lower staysails,
were all the canvas l intended to make
use Of could do nothing with the lofticr
sails without more help.
The sun had come up brightly after the
storm, and the aspect OF the skies indicated
a continuance Of fine weather. took OBJ
servations and shaped my course toward
the Hervey Islands, hoping to make
Mangea or Raratonga. ! had q good
| had little practice, and was unused to
anything like responsible control Of that
OF course, I was obliged TO be at the
helm most Of the time. But soon taught
Jessie, 80 that she could steer well enough
In lair weather, which gave me time to
attend To many other matters But as we
could not steer all day and all night, the
ship WAS necessarily left to her own
guidance some part Of the time.
soon discovered that my knowledge Of
though it might tell me where
! was, would not enable me to go where l
wished. The winds and currents headed
me on, 80 that we were making DRIFT to
the westward; and II was impossible to
remedy this, unless the ship were manned
80 as To be well steered and enabled To
carry all sail Spite Of all that the child
and could do, she must 60 nearly where
the elements might carry her. We should
be more likely 70 make land somewhere
among tho Tongas or Fejees than In the
direction had hoped at first.
There WINS no fear Of our running short
Of provisions or water, as we had more
on board than we could consume for
years. The weather continued fine, and
We wcrs daily drifting into milder lati-
tudes bat no sail could be seen. A dozen
times every day climbed 10 the mast
head, In the vain hope OF deserving a
ship, and as often descended to cheer up
my little shipmate with the hope of see
ing one tn morrow. Thus week after
week wore away monotonously, while
Jessie and were all the world to each
other, and every hour served TO fasten
the tendrils more firmly about my heart,
a. she leaned In her childish dependence
upon me. / thought how miserable l
might have been II entirely alone In such
a situation, and In return chung to her,
and gave thanks as for q blessing, heav-
en.sent. to become part Of my whole
future lite and being do not think /
could have entertained the thought Of
ever parting with her.
My observations Satisfied me that we
had passed beyond the latitude Of the
Tonga and Feejee groups without having
seen tn. m. This knowledge was rathera
relief to me, for we should most likely
have fallen into the power OF savage can.
nibals, who would have shown US no
mercy. We could hardly fare worse by
drifting on toward the equator, while