The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1875-10-14


Bn December, and % Caps Col 800.
Az, y that struggle d i % i.Yo . at
oa Cape Cod Ia Dsctmber You have
only 5 narrow strip Of sand 10 cling o.,
agd tie Atlantic Ocean feHeu wbeu q ~
not Is great ngs) cluiebe. away With
one single waYe 81 i,s wstefy baud sn
acre o. two Of sand, while the cold wa-
icrs o. Capc Cod Bay sweep right 10 ON
ihe other side, within sight, too Tbs arm
~ sand Is 80 lhin and worn and wasted
away. Look on your mapsi ibe State Of
Massachusetts,, and sec Il am not right
about Il.
Wei, on Cape Cod, as / said, Wild
Rose was born; but that was Y years
ago, aud %, this last December, was ceic-
braicd her 18th birthday. II wasn't
much Of a celebration, 10 be sure, for
there weren't many persons to celebrate
ii---only Mrs. Rose aud Johnny aud Wild
berseli, for Captain Rose was gone on o
fishing trip.
At tea, that night, there was upon The
table big loaf Of ginger cake-lrosted
loo-and round about it--not on Il, mind
you-l2 small tallow candles Twelve
dips, johnny said, that made as much
light he Highland itself Aud Johuny
ought to know, for the keeper Of Cape
Cod light Is great friend Of Johnny's
aud oneu IN summer lets the lad go up
with him TO see him light mp.
The Highland light stands out on the
bleak cape, aud il ofleulimes the first
light that greets the sight Of seanfen
when approaching the coast Of New
England from over the Atlantic ocean.
Even IN summer the wind blows so
hard at the Highland that il blows the
wings Of young turkeys over their head,
and IN winter it blows nobody knows
how hard.
Pm quite certain that you have never
seen a home like Wild Roses home. Ii
is hidden away in the very bottom Of .
big hollow In the sand, and is protected
on all sides by high fence 10 keep the
sand from covering it up. In the first
place the house had been built upon piles
driven into the sand, but the fence was a
barricade OF seaweed
Over The stilts, fence, seaweed, and ALL
was the Gsherman's cabin, as snug and
warm and comfortable as anything on
Cape Cod could be- Not far away, on
the Atlantic coast, was a.chariiy house,
not poor house where poor folks could
90 and live when they hadn't anywhere
to live, but a rude room, enclosed by a
rude outside, into which poor ship
wrecked mariner might crawl and pos
sibly save himself from freezing 10 death
until help should arrive. Wood and
matches and straw are supposed to be
kept in every charity house along the
coast.
Johnny Rose was two years younger
than his only sister Wild, but ten year
old lad on Cape Cod knows more Of the
sea and ships and fishing than the wisest
growu-up in the world who lives inland.
The Little Katie was Captain Roses
fishing schooner, and the Little Katie
was frozen fast in the ice more than six
weeks ago, right 10 sight from the land
up the bank above the cabin. Two weeks
passed by, and still the ice held the fish
ing boats aud would not let them go,
Stout little steam-tugs went ratpine
away with firm bows and good intent al
the ice day after day IN order to break j
an aud tow the boats out of danger, but
the cold came down stronger than ever
and knit the ice cakes flrmer and iirmer.
Every day, Johnny, bundled up until he
looked like don't know what, made th'
toilsome journey over the Highlands tC
look through the glass at bis father
schooner, aud, every night for two
weeks, with face on fire from the fric
tioa Of the wind, he came back with thC
good news--"No signal up yet"
No signal up yet meant that there wa
still something left TO eat and wood I,
burn on the Little Katie, and hope ais,
OF getting free from the ice without sink
ing.
Now and then a neighbor came dow
into the hollow aud walked right in with
out knocking at the cabin door, to ia
lquire how Mrs. Rose was getting on
aud to say, yet again. "Cape Cod ha
seen harder times than this, Mrs. Rose
Keep up stout heart, aud we'll have th
feet safe into Providence harbor bcior
many days" And then Mrs. Rose woul
put on bright look aud say, in q cheer
voice, ''Oh, hope so" but in her hear
she feared all things, for did she nc
know that every dwelling on Cape Co
bad Us widow sooner or later.
At last there came day when Mr.
Rose said that Wild might 20 70 the ligi
with Johnny TO learn the news.
The two children set of in high gle'
The sky was clear and tie wind wa
blowing from the west. The Hghan
lighthouse was not more than mil
away, aud what could happen to lh
childrenl Nevertheless, Mrs. Rose CAV
them many commands. They we're /
, return ~ soon a. they found out whI
the news was from the Little Katie an,
I it 1t should snow, they were TO 90 bae
or forward, whichever way should |
The nearer, aud If near the coast the
were to 90 70 the charity house in Il
bank and wait there for rescue.
The wind helped them 90 Their wa,
aud, 10 write lhe exact truth, blew
hard aud so fast that II came very uei
+. Blowing them past the lighthouse oyl