The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-09-03
A WRECK AND A LOVE.

~NN
above the tossing waters.
Slowly the long day faded into night.
Wilder and fierccr came the wind,
sweeping madly through the little vii
lasc at the head of the bay, and sending
weird notes through the cracks that If
forded it entrance.
This village was Il strange and irregu-
lar affair. Their was no street, unless
the wide beach On which some OF the
buildings stood could be called such.
As for these, they were as canny rs the
bay they looked across:
Some were set with their gables to the
water: others frontcd it, while still more
inclined toward it at IN angle, their own
crs thinking that such a position cut the
force of the sea gales.
As the darkness came on, heavy gray
pallor seemed to gather on the bay,
through which the phosphor-lit crests
of the waves shone dimly.
1t was indeed q night of fear, and so
thought Agnes Deming, as she gazed out
into the deepening shadows.
"It is a ..ong time since we have had
such a storm, mother" she said, there
must be wild work on the reef out
side. God grant that no ship be driven
on it."
"There would be none saved" said
her mother, shuddcring. ct was Just
such anight as this that the Agnes
struck the reef and none of her crew
came to the shore alive"
"That was my fathers ship, was it
not?"
Yes"
"'Cc)l me- of If. p~leaSo.'
Il cannot. I cannot. On, my darling,
YOU were but q baby then. The bonniest
baby, he said, when he went away, that
evcr the world had seen. And he never
came back to know how bright and beau
tiful you grew"
Perhaps he knows, mother"
Il trust he does"
AS she said this, there came shudder-
ing through the air the ringing boom of
y gun.
The elder lady rose to her feet. her
hands extended, her eyes wild and des-
pairing.
"Oh, ave them! ave them" she
cried.
"What is it, mother?" said her
daughter, fastening to her side.
"What is it' Why q ship driving on
the land. Did you not hear the gunp'
81 thought it a falling rock"
"It was a gun. Just so one sounded
that night your father was lost. Oh, if
this one should strike the reef"
Il shall 90 to the beach and see, said
Agnes, taking her waterproof from the
little press by the chimney.
"No, nc. What can you do?"
Il may be able to help"
Her mother sank down in her seat by
the fire, and Agnes opened the door and
went out.
The wind had grown in violence, and
surged down from the cliffs along the
bay, and swept in across the water,
threatening to lift the low cottages from
their foundations.
A beetline range of iron-strong rocks
ran along the crest of the ridge against
which the Deming cottage was set, and
this afforded Agnes protection from the
blast.
Often, however, the fierce gusts would
sweep by, making her cling to the rocks
for support; anu though she hastened,
it wa some minutes ere she reached the
beach that was only a few yards from
her home.
Just us she reached it, the boom Of a
gun again came sounding along the
waves, and a bright flash threw a sharp
glow on the rocks at the mouth Of the
bay.
In the moment of light this flash gave
she saw the dark side of a ship that was
driving into the bay. and she also saw
that the vessels bow was headed directly
+1ward a reef running out from the cliffs.
In the vague light she could see the
forms of people moving on the beach in
front of the village, but she did not try
to join them.
Directly in front of her the cliff formed
q small cave, into which the foamy
waves came rushing with loud roars.
A sort Of fascination seemed to hold
her to the spot, though why it should be
so she could not tell. The waves that
rushed into the ave before her seethcd
and circled in foamy masses, and the
lurid glow of the phosphor flame gave Il
dim and uncertain light by which to
watch by.
Scarcely q minute interviewed, after the
picture of the ship driving on the rocks
had flashed before Agnes, between it and
n heavy crash, accompanied with loud
cries of terror and despair.
The ship had struck the reef, and the
sound of splintering timber told that she
was breaking rapidly.
Nothing could be done to help her
people. The gloom was too thick and
bay had the wind been favorable. Now
that it came rushing in from wide
sweeps of sea, it brought with it i'm
men, foam-crowncd rollers, against
which no boat could be forced.
All that the fishermen could do was
to wait.
Agnes knew that effort was useless.
She had witnessed these severe storms.
and her experience told her that it would
be vain to try the bay with the frail
boats at command.
But she could not take her eyes from
the little ave in front of her.
The water whirled in frothy circles
around its shelving basin and the blue
phosphor flame grew more fierce and
lurid.
Suddenly she started forward with .
surprised cry.
Was she dreaming. or had she in
reality seen q face sweep by in the mad
vortex?
She bent forward, her eyes straining.
Yes, there it was. showing CHASTITY
white in its setting of damp black hair.
Only q moment did she see it, and
then it was gone again.
Agnes was quick to think and act.
She knew that the water in the cave was
shallow, and near her was a boulder that
rose up like u natural column. The
water rushed against this, and sent 4
wild jet ofspray flying landward.
Hastily taking off her waterproof,
Agnes formed it in a loon by knotting the
two corners together, and this she threw
over the jutting boulder. Then thrusting
m arm through the opening, she waded
out into the a
The rush of the water almost swept her
feet from under her, but she persevered,
and with watchful eyes bent on the
frothing mass, stood ready.
1t seemed an age to her. though it was
but a few minutes, and she was begin
ming to despair of seeing the face again,
when the waves flung some heavy thing
against her. The shock threw her off her
balance, but she intuitively grasped the
object that had assai!ed her, and being
1.-the and strong, managed by a great
struggle to regain her foothold.
Then, and not till then, did she recog-
nize that her hands were clasping the
-1rments of a human being.
s(t was a fearful struggle, that battle
with the waves which strove to tear her
,rize away, but the wind favored her,
,.,j comnhow she never knew exactly