American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-01-25

more confusing from the mist not bein
stationary, for a stiffish breeze sent roll
ing masses of it sweeping over us. Th
waves of fog mingled with the waves O
| which was which, while the large bell for
ward kept up a continual tinkle, timkle
i'll mufAed tones. as though the fog wer
| composed of wool, pulled out very fine
particles of which had clogged the clap
per.
| am happy to be able to boast that
did not worry the captain, as passenger
are go foOlishly apt to do when things looA
little awkward. But / got near him
and listened and observed. and made Oul
by degrees that we were somewhere in
| the channels about the More, and in mo
| mentary expectation of being run into, OF
grounding on the sands, and that, when
we revolved our paddles, which we did
at intervals. the chance of running into
somebody else was added. The lead was
| constantly being heaved, and at one time
when the water shoaied very much,
| The mate suggested anchOrirfg, but
the captain ruled that this
would increase our risk of being run
down, aid preferred keeping loose and
able to dodge about--pt course, using
nautical expressions, which cannot pre-
tend to repeat.
Directly the state of affairs became OBJ
L IL
up my old man, for in case of some other
ships beak suddenly crushing into our
sides, the prospects of those who were
under water-mark seemed-if you will
pardon slang term in consideration of
its extraordinary aptncss-very fishy
And he was grateful, for the danger of a
collision was very real. Probably the
mouth of the Thames is familiar to you,
but if not, know that vessels enter it by a
number of roads, duly buoyed out and
Hght-hOused: These rOa!s or channels
being narrow, and the number of outward
and homeward bound ships very great, a
thick fog or snOw-stOrm is serious
peril.
About noon the wind increased in vio-
lence. and bleW the fog away, SO that we
were able to go on fearlessly and by and
by, when the excitement had claimed
down. my old man grew pleasant and
cfatty.
The sea ran rather high but as neither
of us suffered from sea-sickness, this tended
to raise our spirits, as the strong air sharp
ened our appetites !; and though every
now and then big wave would shiver it
sell against our weather-bOw, and send
shower of its fragments sweeping across
the deck, we got well under the shelter of
the paddle box. and enjoyed it.
10 my surprise, on one occasion when
he wanted to draw my attention to some
thing, happened to be looking another
way, my companion spoke to me by
name.
You know me ~ I asked.
"Certainly," he replied s. you sold me
some Jewels five years ago. even re-
member the circumstances. A property
had to be divided amongst the various
members of your family. and the dia-
mOnds were too valuable to be allotted to
any individual, so that it was necessary to
turn them into money; and you had he
management of the transaction, which
was Carried OH through my agency
He was perfectly accurate in
the account which he gave
ME, even recalling to my mind certain
minutiB which l had forgotten, though
surely they ought to have impressed me
more strongly than him. presently re-
membered his face however; indeed, ii
had struck he as familiar when the lamp
light first fell upon it the night before.
But his hair had turned from black to
white, and the loss of his teeth had caus-
ed his checks to fall in-changes that al
ter the physiognOmy more radically than
any other which leave the eyes untouched.
| suppose that he had made inquiries
about me at the time when the business
alluded to was transacted, and that their
result was such as to Inspire him with
for he talked to me about his
present affairs with a freedom which sur
prised me, though had done him good
turn. For, in truth, he had that on him
which it was as well not to blab about. He
carried in an inner pocket of his waist
coat no fewer than twenty-five rough dia-
monds, emeralds and sapphires, which he
was taking to Holland to be cut. II am
too old for such business now" he said
III you had not come to my rescue last
night, and those rascals had got hold of
the stones, should have been ruined,
ruined! -
Whether thy were his own. or he had
but a share in them, or whether they were
merely intrusted to him, cannot say he
did not tell me but from the hints he
threw out of their value, which, if the dia-
monds We're at all worthy of the expense
he was prepared to incur for cutting them.
must have been enormOus-enOrmous i'm
the ordinary, not the Monte Cristo or Lo-
THAR sense--it is not probable that they
were entirely the property of one man.
While we were cOnversing, the wind
was growing in violence, till at length we
could not make ourselves heard without
and the paddle-boxes no longer
much protection against the spray
which searched the whole deck.
The skipper of passage-bOat always
takes the freedom OF Il passenger from
sickness at dinner-time as a personal COM
pliment; and as our present captain had
helped each of us to the everlasting boiled
mutton twice, we had right to his good
opinion. So he came up to us, and told |
The diamOndmerchant that he thought |
there was going to be a little wind, and he
would be more comfortable below. On |
the old man acquiescing, he took him in
tow, and guided him safely to the cabir-
stairs, to my great relief, for | feared that |
luty would devolve on me and my legs |
not being so nautical us my stomach, we |
should intallibly have rolled together in |
he lee-scuppers (whatever they may bel, |
overheard. The captain came back pres
entity; and as he passed me, he shouted in |
ny ear: I'D 90 too, if were you.''
''Presently,'' l roared in reply. ''This
S a new sight to me. Just i've minutes
nore.'
''Hold on tight. Them
No need to be bid ''ho!d tight" I was
,linging to the rope grasped with great |
enacity, for every now and then the deck
became so steep that my feet slipped from
lnder me, and the wave-tOps that left
heir own element and came flying across
Is, struck me with a force which had
lot hitherto attributed to water, unless
hot out of the nose of an engine.
1t was grand scene. l had never wit
lessed anything like it before. l had in
Iced seen more than one storm on bold |
,oast, but there is all the difference be-
ween Il wave breaking on the shore, and
wave in the open sea, that there is be-
ween Gagged lion and lion in the des-
,rt. 1t is great thing in these mil admir-
lri'' days to be able to feel awe, and eX-
)erienced that sensation. Nature seemed
20 vast. so irresistible; man, so puny and
weak. had read many descriptions, both
n prose and verse, of storms ut sea, but
iad never caught an idea of the truth
rom them. so that despair of being able
% express what felt. It. was so absurd