American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1879-11-15
The men hesitated, and Hart Wood

The men hesitated, and Hart Wood
ruff exclaimed:
Gcrvaise Wilde, you are the one |
seek. You have stolen from me the love
of that girl, and intend to Stay you, and
your vile flesh shall he our food until
succor reaches us. We are starving, and
yet would enjoy along with your body II
love feast, for Corinne Graham is mine,
mine, minc.''
A thrill or horror ran through those
who heard him, but the Mates firm eyes
never quailcd, and there was no tremor
in his voice rs he replied:
Could the sacrifice of my life save
Miss Graham and her parents it would
be freely given; but ii can not, and if
you advance upon me your life shall
pay the forfeit. You and |, Captain
Woodruff, feel, can not live together
upon this raft, So let there be no unncc-
cssary bloodshed. You are armed, the
moon is bright, so take your stand yon-
der on .onc side of this raft while
stand here. Let Mr.. Graham give the
word, and then let the best man win"
ella, ha, ha. Gladly | accept"
laughed Hart Woodruff, in n tone that
made his hearers feel that his reason
had left Him, and in vain did Mr.. Ora
ham, Mrs. Graham and Corinne plead
with Gervaise not To expose his life thus,
but he was determined, saying:
alt is the only course, sir. The men
are wrought up by hunger to n pitch
that makes them ready for bloodshcd,
and rs the Captain is armed we would
have no rest for him; so give the word,
please"
'But you may be slain, Gcrvaise,"
and Corinne turned her loving gaze full
upon the young man, whose face bright
ened with pleasure as he said:
'tNever fear-my aim is only too
true. Captain, are you ready? Mr..
Graham, give the word, please"
The craft rolled lazily upon the ocean,
and the moon shown brightly down up
on the strange scene with Mrs. Graham
and Corinne crouched down in the
shadow of the caboose by which Mr..
Graham stood, while the four seamen,
eagerly expectant, were grouped to-
gUthcr forward, Watching with staring
eyes their Captain and his Mate, as they
stood but twelve feet apart, calmly
awaiting the words to fireworks that
must be the death-knell of one of them,
perhaps both.
"Are you both ready?" suddenly
asked Mr. Graham
eyes, came the replies.
"Firei" and with the word the pis-
tolls flashed, the report rang ont clear,
and, with shrek hardly human, Hart
Woodruff fell back into the ocean,
which became his grave.
"Mr. Wilde, are you hurt?" ex-
claimed Mr.. Graham rs he ran forward,
"Not at all. Men, keep forward
there; and remember if one of you
comes aft 1 will shoot him down rs l
would dog!"
"Aye, aye, SIR" answered the men,
now thoroughly cowed, and then one of
them suddenly called out:
"Sail ho!"
With glad cry all on the raft greet
ed the appearance of a large steamer
coming directly toward them, and
upon which they soon were warmly
welcomed by the Captain and passen-
gers.
A week more and the shipwrecked
party landed in New York, and then
Gervaise Wilde became a guest of the
Grahams-aye, more, he soon led to the
altar the lovely belle and heiress,
Corinne Graham, for he had proved to
the old merchant that his reason for re-
signing from the navy was on account
of disagreement with his commanding
officers, and in which his good sense
afterward showed him he was not to
blame.