The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1875-09-16

if he'd been going to a party. lie looked
very nervous.
There's no doubt about it. and we may
as we'll own up now We didn't one Of
us know enough to take a sail boat from
Gloucester to Swampscott. Not one. And
we'd no business to have come without
asking advice But we weren't so green
we didn't know that to take a sail boat
from Swampscott to Gloucester, in the
teeth of an east wind, and then to have
the luck to run into fog bank, was no
joke, any way you might look at it.
You don't enjoy it. sailing in q fog like
that. I'd given all | owned, if hadn't
kept thinking about Aunt John 50 often.
But did. 50 did Jill, | guess.
The fog was thick as mud, and the wind
had shifted to the SOU east, and it was
growing very dark.
We guessed now that we must be near
ing Norman's Woe Norman's Woe is an
awful reef It's the one Longtellow's 5
poetry tells Of, about the skipper's daugh-
ter. | felt rs if / could have written Il
poem myself about it, ii | hadn't been 50
frightened as we went by--creepin9 that
way-feeing out into the fog, you know,
to 1iud it. The wind Just hammered us
towards the rect
For was frightened SO were we al.
We hudded together. Ii was a drcadtEl
feeling to 90 sailing on and not know but
any minute you'd strike one OF the worst
reefs on all the Massachusetts coast for
its IN awful lonesome rock, and thick
pine woods around and no houses To
speak OF, and all the passing craft so shy
OF lt,) and we three boys in a sail boat by
ourselves in thicl, weather. after dark
suppose it's the way with good many
other dreadful things; hut we never knew
it till it was over
Frank had Just. ''Ihere's Il lift in the
fog, boys" and had said, GLOW dark it
is, when Jill screeched out, ''Weve hit
o, we've hit." and there was Il horrid
scraping noise and q great rush of the
wind, and | gave such Il crunch 10 the
tiller | heard it crack, and then we saicd
OH in a spirit, and all looked back
There it lay. Black, long, ugly-the ug
liest thing. II ran out, like u monsters
long tongue, to sea rs if it would lap up
poor fellows, couldn't but think. And
the lonesome pine woods We're 50 black
above, and there was such noise of the
water all about.
We had cleared it lust.
don't know what the other fellows did
but said my prayers.
There was need Of it, too, may be, for
we weren't homo yet, by any means. And
there are places I'd rather be iii than Glou-
cestcr harbor on Il dark night.
lou see the fog was getting on, but the
blow was awful, and it Just beat az ainst
that western shore and its solid cliffs,
there, for miles. And there is the island
and Il half a dozen little reefs to think of;
and the harbor was full Of craft in for the
blow, which made YOU steer as if YOU
were all ewes.
The log-bcil was tolling, too, for it was
still thick outside | hate to hear it ever
since that night. wondered what Aunt
John thought OF it. That bell sounds like
Il big funeral bell, tolled over ali the poor
fellows that % down on this ugly coast.
SO we crawled along in, frightened to
death.
Whether we could see the lights in the
| boarding house parlor don't know. There
were u great many lights, and we got con-
| fused
We meant to steer clear cast OF Ten
| Pound Island, and then back straight rs
| we could.
'Wc'rc' most there , > said Frank
| ililt WE WIZ Niit - Ilhi7t w
most eleven O'clock
! nat instant There WAS q horrible Ffllnch
ing, grinding noise.
The " Sandpiper'' lcapei and leaped
again. Then she grated up roughly, and
stuck fast
We were on the rocks. Where.
We looked up and = great light Dlazcd
over our heads, like great eye.
I. ;o,l,t y,
We had hit the little, long narrow reef,
| that IutS out INTO the channel towards the
sea.
The ''Sandplper' struggled rs II she
had been hurt, and began to settle over
on her side slowly.
We lifted up our voices high and strong
rs we knew how oyer the noise the water
made.
''1elp. llelp!"
You can't think what sound it has
your own voice calling that word out ior
the first time in your lite.
We caught hold OF each other - knee
deep i'll the water, that came up cold as
ice over the ''Sandpiper's" pretty colors-
and called, and called:
"llelp! He(p llELr! oh llELP!"
Our voices rang out all together. First
we knew another one rang into them. He'd
been shouting, nobody knew how long at
us,
Hold on There in minute Keep
! up! Keep up. Where are you Keep up
Keep up. ."
We knew the voice as soon as we heard
| it. IT was the light-keeper at Ten Pound
Island. 1t was Just the .lolliest, cheerlest,
helpngcst voice that ever was, We boys
thought; and he was as used to the water
as duck. The minute we heard him we
felt safe.
The water was washing over US pretty
strongly by that time, where the ''Sand
piper lay over on the reef. She did not
move very much, but Just lay plnloned
there, and 50 kept out of the trough Of the
sea. 1t would have been tough swim in
the dark and such . sea. Maybe Frank
| StarkWeather could have made it, Per
I,,,-