Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1873-03-07
Il say" he half mumbled, edo you

Il
way, without knocking, into the cottage.
Pet was alone, and the colonel, walk
ing up to her as she arose from chair.
rudely tried to kiss her here. She re-
pulsed him quickly, and gust of rage
swept over bis features He had met
with coquetry, with vanity and pique,
with ambition and intrigue in those whom
he had courted either seriously or other
wise during his rough life, but this girl
had a calm dignity, genuine repug-
nance, that made her ten thousand times
more desirable to his hayward fancy
The difficulty of winning enhanced the
value of the prize in his drunken imagi-
nation, and he again tried TO kiss her.
She looked prettier than ever as she stood
at bay. She was of a medium height.
fair, with bright laughing eyes and gold
en- hair folded in graceful masses about
her head; could mount u steep hillside
without stopping to take breath, and ac
| tive as deer The resistance that she
offered was too demonstrative to be plea
sart, as an ugly scratch across the col
oners cheek gave evidence. The pain
infuriated him, and with a cruel blow he
felled her to the floor, the blood flowing
from her mouth and nose.
Frightened at what he had done, and
dreading an exposure, he stood stupidity
gazing at the now unconscious girl.
" We mustn't leave her here to tell of
it" he finally said, lets take her to the
boat Perhaps we can buy her off. Any
way, we can leave off the consequences
until we are sober"
Two of them lifted the girl between
them, bore her unperceived to the yacht,
and placed her on bed in the cabin
They found the yachts crew as drunk as
themselves, but sail was quickly set, and
they sped away.
When Pet became conscious. she felt
the motion of the vessel, and so knew
that she was on the water. All was
dark, however, as she felt too bewildercd
to think clearly. Again she slept. wa
king to realize that the vessel was being
tossed about in frightful storm. 1t is
partially light now, and seizing a moment
of lull, Pet rises from the berth and es-
says to reach the door, which anon seems
an opening to the sky-anon a trap lead
ing to the storehouses of the deep. The
door is fastened it opens inward, and
there is nothing to give her purchase
In vain she pulls at the handle, in vain
she kicks at the panels; the handle comes
off in her hands; her kicks, her shouts,
are all UNDECIDED. 1t is horrible to be
shut in there, perhaps to be drowned
without struggle-to perish miserably
in the dark. Hark Above the voice
of the wind, the tumut Of the waves,
she hears dull reverberatng sound, a
heavy booming thunder of surf on
a rock bound shore She knew the rocky
coast well enough to realize the danger.
A long promontory formed one Of the
horns of bay which was almost sure to
be fatal to a ship once entrapped in its
embrace. No skill, no seamanship could
weather that fatal point if the wind was
blowing strong ashore. In such howl
ing storm as this escape would be i'm
possible
As long as she heard the tramp of men
overhead; the hoarse cry of the officers
of the ship, she had some sense of hui
man companionship, felt not altogether
lost and desperate. But when these
SOUNDS ceased altogether and the motion
of the vessel became easler--when she
heard in a momentary luli the splash and
beat of oars-when she realized that she
had been abandoned to meet her fate
alone, she became almost frenzlcd with
fury
The coast of that portion of New En-
gland, with the frowning and the dan
gerous reefs, has been the scene of many
fearful marine disasters.
The morning sun succeeding the night
of Storm when the water was cauldron
Of the seething foam, and the fshermen's
skffs were drawn far beyond the reach
of the waves, has shown on many a stiff
ened corpse, hurled in the darkness from
the decks of the struggling ship. Pieces
Of wrecked wood, kegs, sodden bales,
trunks, hcn-coops, etc, strew the beach
the morning after these terrible autumn
nal gales, and the fishermen are early on
the scene to CLEAN the strange harvest
The courage of the fishermen IN assist
ing the crew to escape from their reef
torn vessel, aud finding for them comfort
when rescued, is unparalleled in any
of the coast countries. The resources of
their cabins are at the disposal Of the
shipwrecked sailor, and, as they general
~ express it, otis share and share alike"
The abduction Of Pet Barnlee had
been witnessed by boy, who gave the
alarm as soon as the yacht had left the
shore and great was the Indignation of
the villagers at the outrage. VIII Bur-
ton said little when told Of it, but there
came a dangerous look in his eyes that
meant little good to Colonel Pangborn.
| When the storm came up be feared for
the safety of the yacht, knowing the
drunken state of the crew and the dan
gers Of the coast. and long before day
light, he was on the beach at the danger
Gus point above described. The first
gray of dawn brought number Of fish
crmen to whom he told the story of Pets
abduction.
"And I've came down here" he adj
ded. "because | expect to see a wreck
of the yacht washed ashore and if Col.
Pangborn is on it alive, am going to
kill him"
The words were hardly spoken before
small boat hove in sight, tossed about
like nutshell by the waves. Even as
they look it was swamped, and few