Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-03-15


bring to land the hOie crew sale
Our conversation then turned TO tbs
wreeks r, aud their work n this dan.
ger rus cUa,t, and many evenings aItrI
that the Old sailor entertained Us witt
sccounts oi his adventures at sea and il
the wrecking service. But / did Lot
forget Mrs. Wilson'S Hllu>Iun tO an al
venture al her own, and one night to
wards the end OF my visit L referred T.
it, and again asked her Why she haO
20 been in boat FIR So long time.
WELL she replied, 4 Was IN boat
once when 1 had too mush of il. i
wouldn't be paid to go in one now. But
that's a long story
'Do let Us hear u then, By sli means
'PoIhaIs you won't think IT. mncn
of story aiirT all, Mis-. Wilson .,aid.
up, lugeticafly, bat lis something Ih
never forget as long "a l live. Ii Wa
about fifteen years ago, this next No
vember, AMI cot word my sister Ma
very sick aud they waited NE Ia COME
lOver at once aud see her. She lived
then nearly opposite our landlng Oh
the other side the heriver-naybe be yOu'vt
noticed that white house back anunl
the trees. Well, my husband WASH I
home-he'd gone to the yillege, and |
didn't dare wait till he got bA' K. So l
left wort for MIN that I'd be home lol
supper, gave the baby into the care ri
he nireti girl and started across the
river with my oldest boy, Ned. He
Was about twelve years old. 1t was
three o'ci1cg then, and l remembel
thinking we'd bc back by tea time.
We got over safe enough, for -NeG
pulled "A strong gar and the Wind wa
IN our favor. fUund my sister very
How, aud / stayed with her tjll near siA
O'Clock, for | conidn't bear to leave
her. But at last We started home, fn'
knew they'd be expecting Us back FOL
lsupper.
When we came cut of the house +
was nearly dark. and there was such 1
thick fog we could hardly see an ARM
,ngth before us. II it hadn't been Ia
/ my baby Ia have turned back; "a j
Mas, ! wauted to ask one of the neigh
hors to go over with Us. But Me-
wouldn't hear 10 il; he insisted he COZ
row back as we'll as not, and it h'
pulled steady it was easy enough t
Keep a straignt line eacross. So We 90
! iRio the boat and pnsiied of.
What sort OF "A boat WAS ii?' l asked
why, one Of those. little, fiat bottom
I'll boats, you know. / never did llkt
TO get in rome of them. they y.tip over Sc
easy. We'll, at first could see Nee
ROW ing steady, hutthe fog seemed L
grow thi ker and thicker, creeping al
rom the sea, TIL il hat spread owe
The flats and wrapped round us So ii
last could not make out even the out
lice of nv boy. For awhil- We talket
a little, but after that / just sat sill
thinking of my poor sister.
Il guess nearly an hour must have
1 passed, when | noticed Ned was roT
ug slow and SORT Of irregular-I coul'
'eil By the sound of the Oars-and
asked him ii he didn't think we wa
near home.
/ We'd ought to b., mother says he
sHd knew frOm the way he spoke HI
4 was stirred aud worried. He stopped
rowing now and stood Up in the boat
l can't make out The shore, can you?
ayS he; but j couldn't see anyihin!
nut the blackness all around. / cnul,
hear the water tapping against the sid'
ii the boat and the noise of the break
ors-and TREY weren't very far away
rEst frightened me.
Then Ned b g IN to row again, bu
l as il he was tired aud discouraged, an(
-oon stopped.
4 Il cen'trow Anymore, mather,' say
nc, tho tides against US. / don't make
an inch, and can't iad out where We
1 are.' - - E...-..-. .-..
You'll have to rest, and then try
] again, Ned SAYS 1. IL | could hell
you row would but you know | cant
IJust try a little mere, aud We'll soof
get TO shore He didn't answer, an
We sat still; but knew by tie III ,tior
10 the boat thit we were dsifting.
knew, too, that il Was ebb-tide, and
There was a strong current towards thf
/ sea. You've noticed, haven't you
what strong current there is in somt
! parts Of the river?
+ Ned | said, after a few minutes
'ryiug hard to speak cheerful aud moi
iet him know hos any Gus felt, you
must make one more effort, a lew pulls
sill surely bring US to land.' 81 NeO
| o0k the oars once more, and pretty
soon, to our great relief, We 1elt the
bottom of the boat sciape against The
sand and another stroke OF the oai,
|
began to haul tie boat up, but iinme-
/ 'iiateiy cried out: 1T ain't our shore al
| Ill | drcl.,r,. ii we siu't by Captain
Moore's!' Z hat was lew rods below
where we'd started from! The bua'
aad turned round, most likely pulled
.'hOut hy he current and here we Were,
| farther than ever from home.
What t. do | didn't know. Ned
Xas tired out, and was afraid to ven
ture with him alone again. At last ]
proposed that we'd Try and find ouI
way to Capt Moort's aud ask some one
there to row Us over, and this time
Ned, poor child, was glad enough Ia
10 it. We had rome trouble 10 lind
the path that led up through the
SoodS. However, we did get on ii at
last, and felt cur way TO the house.
! Captain Moore was out, but Jim Lew
| =, ii young man who worked Tor him,
= as there, aid he agreed to take US
across, though Mrs. Moore wanted u
to stop there all night. And, Indeed,
ia have been tempted Ia stay, for
| ielt dreadful nervous when | though hit
Uf the dark and the fog and the strong
tide, but my baby WIS always in my
nind-I kept thinking he must be
crying for me-4nd of course Pd have
risked aDything-to get to MIN.
1T was about eight when we left
Moore's. " heGl-ewe got to the river
Jun said he'd teke Captain Moore's
boat across to come back in, and propo-
sed, as it was mere re>comfortable, that /
should gel in it ald we'd tow ours. So
we stvrted, our boat fastened behind,
with Ned in it, jim hadn't been here
long, ard didn't know much about
rowing, and neither of. us thought how
much harder that would make the
pulling. It's queer Ned didn't think
Of it, but guess he was too tired.
As isaid before, it was ebb tide and
the water rushing out to sea very fast;
never saw such a black sky, and the
fog that thick it SCENE as if you could
nol breathe. As we put off from lanli