The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1877-08-14
For the first day or two l was contln,

Ill INV uanu, nOt lor Iue purpose Oi reau-
ing, but rather as an excuse for silence,
a familiar voice fell on my ears
Trembling and agitated ] turned my
head and saw-standing at my side
John Vandeleur!
He put out his hand but l motioned ii
away; dare not touch il; felt tina. it
was more than | could bear.
He stood gazing upon me for mo
How came you here ?" / faltered at
last l ..
A spasm of pain crossed his white
face I4iEN3A = ara7,F a5f tt.5
.'She" he mottered savagely-"she is
here--on board For the sake of spar
ing you the pain of chance encounters /
was going to Europe. But we meet
again and on board the same vessel
There is a strange fatality in it, Jessie"
Before / could make answer, tall,
stately woman, with beautiful, dark,
foreign face, came slowly toward US.
i saw Johns face TURF paler, and he
hurried to intercept her that we might
not meet. AS soon as he was gone l
hurried to my stateroom, resolved to re-
main there until the end of the voyage
That night was awakened from my
sleep by the rushing and roaring of the
storm fiend, the hoarse commands of the
captain, an6 the shrieks and prayers OF
the terrified women l arose, and throw
ing on wrapper aroused my mother,
and together We sought the cabin 1t
was scene of terror upon which had
never before gazed. and which hope
never to witness again. The loud roar
of the storm without nearly drowned the
wailing lamentations of those within;
many were on their knees. j glanced
toward John Vandeleur's wife She was
standing, g,cool and self-possessed, leaning
against the piano, her great dark eyes
full of scorn at the display of terror
around her. just then the captain, death
white and agonized, rushed into the
cabin.
"Save yourselvesn he shouted "We
have sprung leak and are going down
There was rush forward, and seizing
nv mothers hand dragged her after
me in the wake of the crowd. The life
boats were soon launched, but all, save
two, were instantly swamped, and these,
filed in a moment to overfowing, dart
ed away through the white. capped wa
ter, and tossing from billow TO billow
were soon out of sight, leaving some
half dozen standing upon the deck.
The ship was filling fast with water
in short time she would be beyond the
reach of human aid.
Still clinging to. my mothers hand
glanced hopelessly around on the group
gathered together. Six of us all told,
and two OF them were John Vaudeleur
and the woman whom he called wife /
noted his presence With a strange glad
ness; no matter what happened, we were
together AT that awful moment, face
to face with death and eternity, / found
no sin in the love which overaowed my
heart for this man.
And so, crouclfing upon the deck of
the doomed vessel, we watched the NOR
ming break, gray, and dreary, and awful,
cleaning upon that waste of water and
the human beings awaiting death.
At dayhreak we saw the vessel could
hold no longer; and spars, and masts,
and all available objects were secured ;
to these frail supports each awe stricken
creature was lashed and was soon fuat-
ing upon the water.
The storm was over now; the waves
were still, and the sky shone blue and
smiling. - IsaJ& yH
AT last, with great noise, the noble
ship went down, and the cold, dark wa
tiers closed over it forever.
A shudder passed over US, as we
clung to our frall supports, and realized
then, with death standing beside us,upon
how slight tenure our lives hung.
And so we foated for hours and
hours Looking back now, upon that
time, it seems like an endless age, in
which we moved slowly over the shining
surface of the sea.
closed my eyes at last, hardly con-
scious of what was doing.
When I opened them again I was
drifting slowly along, and John Varde'
leur's wife was clinging to the spar be
side me. How she came there / never
knew! An evil light shot into ner bold
black eyes as they met mine.
II know all y she Kissed, transfxins
me with her wicked gaze, sand I hate
lyour'
She drew something from her bosom
that shone and scintillated in the sun
llight--it was dagger! Great Heavens
Face to face with death as we were, wha
need to hasten the dreadful end1
| / glanced about us; we had floate(
away at some distance from the rest, ,an(
were quite alone upon the water: th,
fires of madness burned in the woman's
eyes
i "If perish" she continued in th,
same mocking tones, "you shall not sui
vive to marry John Vandeleur!'
| felt the hand of death at my heart
IShe raised herself on one elbow, AM
poised the shining blade above me. Jus
lthen floating fragment of the wrec
struck her on the head
/ l saw the baughty face grow suddenl
ghastly, and the red blood poured lik
rain over her beautiful features; thea
knew no more.
We were picked up afterwards by
homeward bound vessel; I, unconscious
and the woman beside me quite dead,
, The other passengers were also re-
,, cued, and no life lost save hers
A long illness followed my escspe,an
when I came forth from the confines {
the dark valley; it was to find nv motht
: and John Vandeleur bending over me.
My eyes sought the dark ones gain
tanxiously into my white face, and the
nv mothers voice fell solemnly upc
the silence of the room
"Let us thank God !' she said ferven
ly.
And kneeling there, they sent up
! PRAYER to Heaven. earnest and thankfu
while John clasped my hand as thoug
be would never let it go.
And so / became his wife
:,
: "No pains will be spared" as Il