Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-07-31

OF tho Land of the Undecided.
And it lightened the mothers features
With glow so strange and new
That the white despair
That had gathered there
Seemed changed to hopes own hue.
For one brief moment, needless
Of the babe upon her knee,
With the frenzied start
Of frightened heart,
Upon her feet rose she,
And through the quaint old easement.
She looked upon the sea.
Thank God that the sight
She saw that night
So rare sight should be!
Hemm'd in by many billow
With mad and foaming lip,
mile from shore,
Or hardly more,
She saw q gallant ship
Afame from deck to tOpnlast,
Ahame from stem to stern;
For there seemed no epeck
On all that wreck
Where the fierce fire did not burn.
Till the night was like sunset,
And the sea like sea Of blood,
And the rocks and the eh0re
Were bathcd all DER
And drenched with the CORY flood.
She looked and looked till the terror
Went creeping through every limb.
And her breath came quick,
And her heart turned sick,
And her sight grew dizzy and dim,
And her lips had lost their uttcrance,
For she tried, but could not speak;
And her feelings found
No channel of sound
In prayer, or sob, or shrek.
Silent she stood, and rigid,
With her child to her bosom pressed
Like o woman Of stone
With stiff arms thrown
Once more that cry of anguish
Thrilled through the tempcst's strife,
And it stirred again
In her heart and brain
The active, thinking life;
And the light Of an inspiration
Leap'd to her frightened eye,
And on her lip and brow
Was written now
A purpose pure and high.
Swiftly she turned. and softly
She crossed the chamber floor,
And, faltering not,
" She laid the babe she bore;
And then with o holy impulse.
She sank to her knees, and made
A lOwly prayer
In the silence there
And this the prayer she prayed:
10 Chriat, who dids't bear the scourging,
But who now dost wear the crown,
I, at Thy feet,
o True and Sweet,
Would lay my burden down.
Thou badest me love and cherish
The babe Thou gavcst me,
And have kept
Thy work. nor slept
Aside from following Thee.
And 10! the boy is dying,
And vain is all my care,
And my burdens weight
Yes! greater than can bear.
o Lord, Thou knOw'st what peril
Does threat these poor mems lives,
And /, q woman
Most weak and human,
Do plead for their waiting wives.
Thou can'st not let them perish;
Up, Lord, in thy strength. and save
From the ecOrching breath
OF this terrible death
On the cruel winter wave.
Take thou my babe and watch it
No care is like to Thine
And lot Thy power
In this periious hour
Supply what lack is mine"
And SO her prayer she ended,
And, rising to her feet,
Gave one long look
At the cradle nook
Where the child's faint pulses beat;
And then with sOftest footsteps
RetrOd the chamber floor,
And noiselessly CROPPED
For the latch, and Oped,
And crossed the cottage door.
The snow lay deep and driftcd
As far as sight could reach,
Save where alone
The dank weed etfOwn
Did mark the slOping beach,
But whether twas land, or ocean,
Or rock, or sand, snow,
Or sky O'erhcad-
On all was shed
The same fierce, fatal glow,
And through the tempest bravely
Jane Conquest fought her way
By snowy deep
And slippery steep
To where her duty lay.
And she journeyed onward, brcathlese,
And weary, and sore, and faint,
Yet forward press'd
With the strength and the zest
And the ardor ofa saint
Silent and weiid and lonely,
Amid its countless graves,
Stood the old gray church
On its tall rOck-perch
Secure from the sen and Its waves;
And beneath its sacred shadow
Lay the hamlet safe and still,
For however the sea
And the wind might be,
There was quiet under the hill.
Jane Conquest reached the church.yard,
And stood by the old church-doOr,
But the oak was tough
And had bolts enough,
And her strength was frail and poor;
So she crept through narrow window
And climbed the belfry stair,
And grasped the rope
Sole cord of hope
For The mariners in despair:
And the wild wind helped her bravely,
And she wrought with an earnest Will,
And the clamOrOus bell
Spakc out right well
To the hamlet under the hill;
And it reused the slumberiIg fishers;
Nor its warning task gave DER
Till hundred fleet
And eager feet
Were hurrying to the shore;
And then 1t ceased its ringing;
For the wOMan's work was done,
And many boat
That was now a1Oat
Showed mans work was begun.
But the ringer in the belfry
Lay MOtiOnless and cold,
With the cord of hope,
The church bell rope
Still in her frozen hold.
How long she lay 1t boots not,
But she woke from her swoOn at last,
In her own bright room
To find the gloom
And the grief ard the peril past,
With sense OF Joy within her,
And Chrsts sweet presence near,
And friends arOuld
And the cooling sound
OF her babes voice In her ear.
And they told her all the stOly
How o brave and gallant few
O'ercamc each check
And reached the wreck
And saved the hapless crew;
And how the curious sexton
Had climbed the belfry etair,
And of his fright
When cold and white,