The daily gazette., 1880-05-05

until the breath seemed nearly WORKED
out of them, while, in spite of th,
cold weather, great drops of swea
rolled down their faces.
Meanwhile, every time we threw {
glance over our shoulders there was the
mirage still, as far off as ever, moving
along through the air.
"Pull ahead 70 our captain would ex
claim, cheerily, "One more stroke!'
And that one more stroke was given
over and over thousand times, bring.
| ing us no nearer than before.
Crack crack crack!-thug thug
thug went the ponderous oars, unit
| oui heads swan with our exertions, anC
the gold band round the captains car
looked like yellow, glittering snake.
We had not proceeded much further
when the mirage disappeared, and a
gale pounced upon lis, screaming like a
thousand demons. The bergs were
tossed all around us, and a stoven boat
seemed in prospect. The huge masses
kept grating against our vessel, notwith-
standing the exertions of three men,
who, with boat-hooks, endeavored to
keep them at bay.
Meanwhile, "Pull, pull aheadl" still
was the order. For hours we continued
on =; then the sun having gone down, we
settled upon an iceberg, several hun
dred feet In diameter, aud drew our cut
ter upon it.
Night closed around us-darkness
everywhere. The wind still howled
with fury, and on all sides We heard The
| incessaRt, thunder and crash of the bergs
striking against each other. 1t was Bit
ter cold, and, TO keep ourselves warm,
we were obliged constantly to exer-
else.
Suddenly, one of the men, shouting,
pointed through the gloom, and follow
ing the direction of his glance, we be-
held light, apparently several miles
distant.
"We must get to it," exclaimed the
captain, "for it probably is somehow
connected with the. e.gir we saw"
His proposal was received with a
cheer. We were glad of the opportuDi-
ty for exercise. We got the cutter into
the water, and, manning her, away we
went.
The bergs had now separated, so that,
by being very careful, we contrlved to
keep from being stoven. On we went,
for at least two hours, when the light
bore directly ahead, scarcely a quarter
of mile off. n
"Light w shouted the captain :;
"who's there ?''
No response. The question was re-
peated. No better result.
Strange ~ said the captnin.
AS he spoke the light went out.
"Foul play p he exclaimed. "Pull
ahead, lads !''
A minute after, the boat grated on
rough beach. We saw the outlines of
receding figures.
"Follow me, men," was the cap
tain's order.
Soon we were upon the fugitives-
fierce-looking fellows, evidently Rus
sian deserters, with a girl captive with
them.
They dropped their burden and
made off, offering but brief resistance
as we dashed among them. The
boats lantern then was lighted. The
girl proved beautiful, but very pale,
cold and terror-stricken.
In few words she stated that she
was the daughter of The captain of the
Winchester, wrecked in ice. When
the craft was going down, the boats,
two in humber, were lowered. One
was swampe1 and stoven in the ice.
the whole crew perishing; the other
boat, in which was the captain and his
daughter, not being capable of reach
ing them in time.
The captain proceeded ashore. He
and his crew were attaked by the |
fierce land-pirates, robbed and slain.
The girl hid herself in rock; came |
out on this day, nearly frozen; saw the |
craft, and stood watching it,
intending to signal it when it should |
come near enough for its crew to see
ler.
"Poor child r' said the captain
Thanks to the mirage, we saw you
ong ago. That was why we lowered
,ur boat"
"Thank heaven, you came just in
ime ~ exclaimed Mary Williams
his was her name-"for those shore
seeing me, pursued and
aptured me, short time since"
The girl was taken to our ship the
ext morning, when the captains
wife bestowed upon her every kind at
ention.
Subsequently, she married one of
hips lieutenants-a fine young fellow
f twenty-five, who thanks the good
which, by means of a
1.