Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-05-17
gruffiy. "What doyou live on? Shirts

NO, iHuScu OiIOu, Indignantly.
III sew on pretty things-robes and
dresses; see this p and 1 held up Rosy's
pretty pink dress. 1t glowed in the
sunshine, its founces and frillings trem-
bling al out like superabundant growth
of petals.
The captain eyed it approvingly.
"Pretty enough" he said. "It's got all
your color in it, my little girl"
1t was long since | had heard any one
express kindly interest in me, and the
words thrilled me with strange feel
ing, intense, exquisite, allied to pain.
You ought to have change of air"
said the captain, seeing | made no an
The pretty dress seemed freighted
with the visions had had while max
ing it. Rosy glimpses out of the mat
terof-course drudgery, the dingy and
ashen hue of my habi.ssal life, opened
out of its folds.
"Captain," said ], abruptly, as / laid
it carefully away, show much does it
cost to GO to the West IndiesY -af
By steam?'
"No; in your ship"
"Oh," said the captain, "I'm not
fitted up for passengers. A tight little
craft enough, but only to carry freight.
Why? Know any one going ?"
Il am. Captain, let me be freight.
Stow meaway in the hatch or anywhere,
only let me go! See, / have thirty dol
lars to pay my passage )" and l held up
my pnrse. "Jim's quarters all paid
tooW e~s+}f TIT
"The moneys an immense tempta-
tion," said the captain, eying the slim
purse ehumorously-" immense. Knight
lay by on it after one or two more
voyages"
"And, captain, you know I've cousin
out there somewhere-an engineer or
something on plantation"
cay, that way blows the wind, does
it? Well, WE'LL my child, I'll think
about it. it might do you no harm,
and, as you say, you might marry the
engineer when you find him."
"Now, captain, you know never said
thatp' -
"No? Well, it puts a bit of color
into your cheeks, Lisbeth, and that's
good thing to see, however it comes.
I'll think about it, child. It's poor
travelling in freight vessel, but many's
the trip the wife and | took together
when she was living" .t
Long ago the captain had lost his
young wife, a year or two after their
marriage. | had never seen her; but
the captains faithful remembrance
of her was pleasant. She was a SOFT
Of sanity recollection to him, bright
ening and sweetening his rude life,
and keeping her niche in his heart for
ever.
Three days passed. | waited, I
sewed, I pricked my fingers perhaps
little more than usual; 1 looked out of
the window possibly little oftener.
Madame Padwelle scolded me, Ma
dame Padwelle coaxed me, and finally,
in huff, madame paid me up and left,
severely intimating that she would be
glad to employ me again when l /" felt
like work." ~
Then came the captain e sal
49," Wll ?" queried 1. -- ~~ a.
"Well," answered he, "you'll find it
close quarters and a pretty hot voyage
but there's deck room."
Deck rooml 1t was just the one
thing l wanted-and then | knew that
the captain had consented 4s
| shall not tell you much about that
voyage. It stands yet in my mind in
the, same relation as dream-vague.
without sharpness of outline, with no
separation of periods of time; one big,
bountiful remembrance of a season of
infinite rest, when, adrift between air
and ocean, [ seemed without bodily
entity for the things that had marked
my identity hitherto had been, but
were no longer.
was not seasick. A strange, vision
like sensation wrapped me about, a
faintness as of spirit coming newly
to life in a new world having left
the old incumbrance of the flesh, with
the old cares, far away on the far away
shore. Ef
There was nothing to do-that is.
nothing for me to do-no living to get,
no exertion to make. seemed an atom |
in the great sea of sky and water; the
great Good was taking care of me, and
the great ocean clasping me in its infn-
ite arms ofpeace. H.
| was treated like lady-a rare and
delicious thing to one Injured to hard
usage and to earning her bread in big
bustling city. When the intense heat
made me ill, and the rosy-cheeked |
mates wife, who had been my compan- |
ion hitherto, succumbed to it also, the
captain took care of me himself. Some
times he carried me in his strong arms
up to the hammock swinging on deck;
sometimes he brought me with his own |
brawny, kindly hand my bowl of water
cruel. At odd times, when nothing
else called him, he furnished up his |
rusty stock of schooling, and read me
some queer old seastory resurrected |
from the. depths of his big wooden
chest. Rough, brown, and burly, the |
sailors were all my friends !, they |
pointed out the dolphins and porpoises, |
and scared me with the prospect of
whales or imaginary sharks. Their
dark faces and sturdy forms made a
solid background to my dream-land,
and gave it picturesque touch of
reality. .
But by-and- by all this came to an end.
Out of the dream land voyage We sailed |
into dream-land itself.
One morning went up on deck, and,
behold the gates of paradise seemed
open to me. = tAl'ao
The vessel lay anchored in lovely
harbor. Sarphire-blue eshone the wa
ter, edged where it touched the beach
with a line of lace-like foam. Beyond |
rose hill above hill, crowned with
glowing foliage and arched by the azure
sky.
At the foot of these hills clustered a
group of long, low, fat-roofed buildings.
unlike any I had ever seen. They