The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1879-04-10

with us llgnCeO WINDOW mere and there;
and the ocean, reaching away off be-
fore Us, sounded as though it were
tearing the land to atoms. a.
The master and Little Tins had
reached the cliff in advance, and were
making ready to light pile of old
brush and drift-wood when we came up.
well make q bright fire, boys,
even if we can't do anything more, !"
said he, enthusiastically. "They will
see the light and know that some one
is neal"
Pieces Of old stumps, broken limbs
from dead trees and refuse wood were
heaped mp by us in NO time, and then
what scene, picturesque and fantastic
as . Dore painting. lay all around us
under the freight! We were on the
extreme point Of the cliff that jutted
out several feet over the sea, and below
we could see the huge rocks covered
with thick foam, which our tall, llumi-
mating flames made crimson. The
scattering trees appeared grim and
gloomy, the darkness crowded back
and seemed blacker than ever, while
we each and all fastened to and fro in
the midst of one another's grotesque
shadows. ff
No more sigral-guns were fired from
the distressed vessel, and we strained
our eyes in vain to catch a glimpse of
her. Nor could anything be heard
across the deafening breakers. We
could only wait for the daylight, which,
fortunately for our patience, did not
delay long. Breaking over the ocean,
it showed us first tapping sail or
two; dark hulk, half submerged and
swaying back and forth on the rocks
within gun-shot of the cliff; then a
knot of men huddled near the fore
castle, who, as they saw us. raised q
faint shout of joy, that made the blood
Jingle in our veins.
'Is there nothing that we can do for
them. sir?" asked John Sawyer, eager
~, of the master.
"Let us make q raft out of the
trees" cried three or four, excitedly.
cit wouldn't hold together two
minutes in those breakers" returned
the master, rubbing his hands nervous
ly and looking perplexed.
"Hark! hark!' cried somebody.
"They are signaling to u.s."
We saw one of the men step into the
rigging, and then a word or two that
he shouted through trumpet came to
us family, and we guessed the rest /:
1--WE shall sink when the tide rises. ="
Then again "Our boats are sunken."
"Do you hear that, boys? Their
boats are gone, and they'll sink when
the tide rises. What shall we do for
them? l say, what shall we do
81 think we had better pray for
them, SIR" said Little Tins, looking
plump up at the masters surprised face.
:" You are right, Tins" he answered.
quickly. ave will ask God to help us
all. Boys, take off your hats
We obeyed him instantly; and drop
ping on his knees, he prayed silently a
moment or two. Then we were aroused
by one of the men calling quite dis
tinctly through the trumpet: "Stand
by! We're going to fire line ashore"
And before we could comprehend what
he meant the ships cannon belched
forth its flash and smoke, and a solid
shot came cleaving the air, bringing a
rope in its trail. But both fell into the
sea almost as soon as they left the
mouth of the cannon, and we all
sprung back to the edge of the cliff, to
hear what the man was again shouting
"We've got one more ball. Stand byr'
1t was five. eight, or ten minutes
while they were reloading; and we
waited nervously. They would be care
full not to make a blunder this time.
The achievement of throwing a line
ashore when it was attached to a can
non-ball certainly did not seem very
difficult: fer we had not yet studied any
mathematics that included projectiles,
and did not know what a nice calcula-
ton it required to land that ball on the
top of our cliff. But the master knew;
and Just as the ball struck dead against
the front rocks he cried out, disap-
pointedly, that it was as he had ex-
pected.
'They've lost their last chance! God
help themv'
"She is getting deeper in the wa
ter" we cried, as the ship Hinged under
heavy swell.
There's a woman clinging to the
riggingr'
1t was Little Tins who shouted that.
We remembered it afterward; but Just
then we were all scattered along the
margin of the cliff. watching the rope,
that had broken away from the ball and
was bufeting the waves. If we could
only get possession of it, the safety of
all on the ship would be secured. It
was but q moment, and then l saw
some dark object going down, down.
down. The master shouted: "Good
heavens! What has the boy donei" And
we were all in a desperate confusion.
"lt's.Little TINS! Little Tims!'' as
we saw his pale, frightened face rise
above the enraged water and look up
at us an instant. sstsEr
OF what happened next all I can re-
call is that somehow we followed the
master down the jagged side of the
Cliff, and in six or seven minutes seized
Little Tins from the swell that dashed
him ashore, gripping the rope with
both hands and looking dead. Then
we hurried with him up to the fire, and
ran about frantically for wood to feed
the blaze and warm his numb body.
remember that when we had drawn the
strong hawser-rope to the land. and
secured it taut around tree, the great,
burly Captain crept ashore on it, and
fell down before Little Tins, excitedly
saying, two or three times: God bless
the boy! God bless hirA!'' Then he
rolled him to and fro on the ground,
rubbed his feet and hands madIy, and,
finally, throwing of his coat, wrapped
it about Little Tins and ran with him
in his arms all the way to the school.
You may be sure that we followed
and gathered in that great kitchen be-
fore the open fire, awestruck and
scarcely daring to breathe, while they
were trying to bring Little Tins back
to life. How frightfully white and cold
he looked! 1t seemed as if he never
would grow warm again, as though
hours had passed while we were wait
ing. The crew of the vessel all got
ashore and came up to the school, the
doctor rode over from Seabright, and
tho vessel on the rocks went down. AT
last, however, he opened his eyes.
"You are feeling better now, my
nov Y'' QQId tho AnotOv ~