Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-10-19


searching mine.
"I can only hope there is not, Alex"
Captain Sand knows the manage
ment of a boat SO well, you see.'
"Of course he does
"Still-it seems odd that they should
not have come in now the sea as
calmed."
"That's where it is, Alex"
"What can we do? ?"
"My boy, we can do nothing but
pray"
On the way home to dinner we met
Mrs. Sand. The children inquired if
she had heard about Tom Crump.
50 Yes, poor boy, have; and the old
man is sure to be gone also," was her
reply. sit is Crump's own fault. He
was too old to go outwith only that boy.
Captain Sand told him so more than
once, but he didn't listen. As if his
feeble hands could be of use in a gale ~
"Oh, mamma, Tom Crump's drownedl
Have you heard about it 2" cried the
whole of them, bursting in.
Of all tiresome things childrens'
tongues are the worst.
81 saw him carried past" she ans
wered, in voice strangely subdued.
Dorothy, do you think there can
remain any chance ?" Mrs Whitnall said
to me that night, as was lighting her
bed candle.
l swallowed down a lump in my
throat. Heaven knew how anxious |
had grown myself, and how much felt
for her.
Dear Mrs. Whitnall, yes. The morn
ing may bring him. l dreamt last night
that the Margaret Ann was in. We
watched it come across the sea, and
Robert waved his hat to US. 1t was a
pleasant dream, and i hope it was a
good omen."
She sighed, and took her candle, say
in nothing.
A good omen! On the following
morning, as / was leaning from the
window for breath of the sweet, fresh
air, there came a soft knock at the
chamber door. 1t was opened about an
inch, and the whisper of Alex came in.
Dorothy, want to speak to you out
here minute"
"You can come in, Alex. There's
nobody here"
The boys eyes appeared first, ranging
round the room In search OF Ethel.
"Where is she ?' he asked.
"Gone into her sisters ROOM"
He came in and shut the door with
out noise, and then saw that his face
was of livid paleness. at is such
bad news, Dorothy"
The look frightened me more than
the words. Down l sat in the chair al
the window, full in. the bright morning
Sup opd INV heart atnod stiI1
"What is it, Alex ?"
come ashore in the night. Just as poor
Tom Crump came last night, Dorothy
"A bit of Captain Sands yacht l''
dreamily repeated, my senses scarcely
as l verify believe, taking in what he
| said and all it meant.
"A piece of the plank that had the
| name on" he breathed from his rigiC
| lips. Enough to show it belonged tt
| the yacht '-ret Ann. We shoulc
| know the form of the letters any
| where
"How did you hear this, Alex p
asked, when my beating heart, beating
wildly then, would let me.
"I have seen it, Dorothy. It's haulec
ashore in the harbor, and has got fifty
gazers round it. When l was pushin.
amid them to see what it could it b.
they were looking at, the crowd knew
me and parted to let me 60 in"
He stood on, leaning against tn
drawers, and l sat on by the window, il
the sun. 1t was one OF the worst me
ments of my life.
Dorothy-do you think-they ar
both drowned?"
What else was there left to think
But his pauses had been caused by emo
ton. The next minute Alex had burs
into paroxysm of tears bordering O
Mysteries. bolted the door.
"Alex, don'tl' l whispered. "Ale1
try and be calm. Think of the mC
ther."
"It's her Pm thinking of, more tina
| of u.s." sobbed the boy. "Oh, pap'
papa! What shall we do withou
papa ?"
He meant without his love. / though
of it in different light. Even in ths
sad moment it could not but occur
me-the worldly blight as we'll as th
loss of love. Robert Whitnall was th
sole bread winner. What could the;
five helpless children and their moth,
do without him ?'
What will be done about telling tt
mother? Oh, Dorothy, if we could bl
, awake and find it all dreamr
, What was to be done, indeed! To
she must be. Will it be believed tina
} in the moments bewildering confusio
: / began thinking, eff Robert we
: here, he would know how to-" The
reflection came, and 1 broke off with
, faint cry.
"Dear Alex, try and be calm. v
! must choose our time for telling he
and it will not do for her to see befol
hand that anything's the matter. Hel
: you shall wash your face in my basi
, Hark = They are calling us to brea
+ fast"
/ "Say | am coming, Dorothy" ss
the lad, his sobs rising again. II
3; don't appear just directly, make Sol
s. excuse for me. I'd not cry if cou
help it,
1t We need not have speculated up
how she was to be told. Mrs. Within
# was standing to pour out the coffee, a
If the children were cracking their eg
3 when Captain Sands wife rushed il
t. the room, her face as white as Alexs
It der's had been, her hands lifted, /
le voice shrieking. The next nome
1t Mrs. Whitnall and the little ones KIN
70 as much as we did.
a. Oh, it was a piteous scene! l hs
no heart to describe it; and perhs
n imagination will picture it better tn
h words could. The children cried a
It. sobbed together; their mother lay ba
le in her chair like one in faint; M
~ Sand was loud. People, too, KNOW
,e we lodged there, were passing and
re passing the windows to look in.
n, How the next Few days went OF
ar cannot quite remember. They w
OF terrible. 1t was not only the grief
Robert Whitnall, for the husband a
ID father; but there lay also the stunn
sense of future desolation-the dest
IN ton induced by poverty. When C
o. Of this kind occurs, where the calam
is of double nature, it is impossi
not to think of it, however deep n
Le. be the heart-sorrow.