The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1878-06-06

MWaFuS /. JOln ~ a4oeI4eufts sWA1e...eAe
was standing ,'cppl; and. ;ee1f: :posseased,
leaning against the' piano. her great dark
eyes1fpll of scorn at the display Of terror
around her. Just then the captain, death
white and agqnized, rushed into the
'Ssavae You, :yoqqrs4elyes!y Eli he sb,oqted: We
hare sprung: leak, and rare, going down.
u.There was . rush forward; and, seizing
my notther,s hand, T. dragged !lher . after
SSss isS
in a moment to oyerdowing, darted away
thf0dgh the 'white.capped water, and toss-
ing from billow to billow, wer1 5o6n out
of sight, leaving some half dozen stand
ing upon the deck: The shi ip was filling
fast wlthw1 mr. in short time We would
be beyond. the reach OF human aidUQStilF
clinging: to my niether's hahd, I glanced
hopelessl upon 'the! !gf6dpe' gathered to-
gether..a sixf6fus all told, and ;.fftjto Of
them! 'wweitei John 'Yandeleur and the
woman whom he catfed wife T 'hoted'
his presence with. a strange gladhess; 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 'overtlowed MY heart for this
man. ''''' 80 :.
And so, crouching upon the deck Of
doomed vessel; we watched the morning
break gray and dreary and awful, gleam-
ing upon that waste of water and tile hu-
man beings awaiting death. At day
break we saw the vessel could hold up no
longer, and spars and masts and all. avail
able objects were secured; to these frail
supports each awestricken creature was
lashed, and was soon floating upon the
water !" -..''''t~ 5''':5 =;
The storm was over now; the. waves
were: still, and. the sky shone blue and
bright At last, with great noise, the
noble ship went down. and the cold: dark
waters closed over it for 'evet. '.'.
A shudder passed over us as we chung
to frail supports, and realized then, with
death standing beside us, upon how
slight tenure our lives hung. And SO
we floated tor hours and hours. Looking
back. now upon that. time, 1t seems like
an endless age, in which we moved slowly
over the shining surface Of the, sea. !
closed my eyes at last, hardly conscious
Of wnat l was doing. When L opened
them again l drifting slowly along, and
John Vandeleur's wife was clinging to
the spar beside me. How she came
there I never knew. An evil light shot
into her bold black eyes as they met
mine.
II know ALL" she hissed, trans6xiae
me with her wicked gaze. "and hate
you"'
She drew from her bosom something
that shone and scintillated in the sunlight
1t was dagger. Great Heavens! Face
to face with death as We were, what neeG
about us, We had foated away at some
distance from the rest, and we're quite
alone upon the water. The fires of mad
ness burned in the woman's eyes.
'If l PERISH" she continued, in. the
same mocking tones, ''you shall not sur.
vive to marry John Vandeleur!'
I felt the hand of death at my heart
She raised herself on one elbow, and
poised the shining blade before me. just
then floating fragment Of the wreck
struck her on the head. saw the naughty
face grow suddenly ghastly, and the rec
blood pour like rain oyer her beautiful
features; then knew no more.
We were picked up afterwards by 1
homcward. bound vessel; was conscious
and the woman beside me quite dead
The other passengers were also rescued
and no life. was lost save hers. A Ion!
illness followed my escape, and when
came forth from the confines Of the darl
valley. it was to find my mother ant
John Vandeleur bending over me. NJ,
eyes sought the. dark ones gazing anx
iously into my white face, and then m.
mothers voice fell solomnly. upon tn
LET us thank God!" she said fe1
vently. =
And kneeling there, they sent up
prayer to Heaven, earnest and thankful
while John clasped my hand as thoug
ho would never let it CO..
| And SO became his wife. :..,.