St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-11-17

Whtle Sltam the morning signals %
that sun of Righteousness, in the bright
ness OF whose rising the day shall dawl
1T last, and the shadows flee away,
FRANCES +. WILLARD.
Corresponding Secretary
NEWARK, n. j.. Oct. -, 1876.
The Hero of the Arethusa.
1t was soon after the Indian mutin,
had been quelled, and men felt that i
would again he safe to have wives anC
children 10y their sides in India, thai
my father sent for me to loin him il
! Calcutta. The Arethusa, upon whicl
| took passage, WAS Il fine, new sailing
vessel. fitted up with great care fol
! her first voyage around the Cape. There
were comparatively few male passed.
gers. but the ships ample accomdations
were crowded 10y wives. mothers and
daughters. embracing their first oppor-
tunltH to join those of their dear ones
VIII" had survived the horrors of the
mutlny. OF those on board probably
not one had escaped the loss of some
frend near and dear.
With all its freight of sorrow-strickcu
passengers, the social atmosphere of the
Arcthusa. though not bright was far
from >ombIe. Each sufferer unsrltishly
sought to make life less Il burden to the
others. and the result WAS. if not happi-
hess. Yet at least us much of cheerful
rest I> often falls to the lot of muItals.
OF course we had our bit of romance.
though there was Il small chance fuI
such thing where most of the ladies
were wives or recently made widows.
ana all OF the gentlemen were either
accompanied 10y their wives. or Grip
pIed. or too much given over to the
moIose humorS which beSet the age of
an English East-Indian. to have pa
thence with such follies So our inno-
cent trlttc of romance was only a violent
attachment between Il handsome little
fellow of ten. the Youngest of the mrr-
chant service middcs of whom there
were on board about dozen of all ages
up t" nineteen and the pretty seven
NcarS-"ld daughter of our most di>tin-
TulShed passenger. IL general. and ii X .
& Is; As general thing. any paS>er-
ger ship going To Calcutta can number
from twenty I" forty children. but Joe
and Nellie were the only ones ON the
Arcthu>a. and they became the pets of
Us all.
After more than three months of al
most uninterrupted good weather we
were oVtrtakrn 10y one of the deadly
caln> which sometimes fall upon the
Indian ocean. The great ship lay mo-
t'onle>> upon the water. which was as
dull and seemingly a> denS, as furnished
brass. The sun WAS invisible through
the thick atmosphere. but the whole
heavens seemed Il glariug. FURNISHED
vault "t copper. There waS no dis
tlngui>hahlc horizon line the copper
ana the brass seemed to he fused to-
"cthcr Toy the intense heat. and formed
around lis Il great hollow ball in the
lowest depth of which We were immov-
ably tNcd. As far aS our ewes could
reach there WAS no sign of life If we
looked downward the dense. dull, braZcn
surface gave back only Il reflection of
heat. If we looked up, the FURNISHED
copper >eaIcd our cNcballs with its fiery
glow. The sailors forgot to swear. the
IncoIrlglblc jokcrs were silenced. the
chronic c"mplaimerS for once were mute.
and even the tiuttcr of fans ceased from
sheer exhaustion.
|'''" o'' anu -Ntlllt S;il Oll the stairs
at the foot of the companion way ;l>
mute hS all the rest. suddenly Nellie
exclaimed:
My feet are hot -
''Of course they're hot" said her
father: what isn't hot | should like
to know -
But, papa ; it's Il fire hot. feel -
lhe general did not stir, but Joe put
down his hand and touched the iron
square, like furnace register, which was
inserted in the floor, and which may
sometimes have served us Il ventilator
to the hold below.
at is hot - he exclaimed, SO excited
ly that the generals attention WIS
aroused, and he too felt of the iron, and
immediately grasping Il screw-drivcr
winch lay conveniently near-the chill
dren having been using it in their play
OF the early morning began hurriedly
removing the screw which prevented
the register from turning. Looking
through 1t at the same moment that he
did, | SAW what appeared to he a ball
OF lame resting on il barrel directly
under the register. Quickly closing
this the general said to me in hurried
Say nothing, Miss Gordon.
let no one turn it; and he spranp up
the stairs to call the attention of one of
the officers.
Such, however, was the laugour that
no one noticed the little episode. and
my watch WAS uninterrupted. Standing
t thus over the register, already so heated
that it burned through the soles of NV
slippers, and breathing an atmosphere
of scorching heat, my very heart grew
cold as looked upon the UNCONSCIOUS
races OF the passengers scattered about
the cabin In every attitude of lanCuor
and depression, for remembered the
nature OF the cargo. In Liverpool We
had been told that the Arethusa WAS
laden only with cannon and balls, going
out to the troops. But three days be-
fore this | had overheard the captain
sharply chiding the third officer for al |
lowing lighted candle to he carried
into a "hold full of brandy and gun
powder" Now was standing directly
over ball of fire placed certainly in
the hold with the gunpowder, and per
haps on one of the very barrels which