The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1880-06-03
the water, hoisted sail, and the rubicon was

A light breeze carried them along at q
pleasant rate, and the three were full Of hope
of reaching Cape st. Rogue, two hundred
and ten miles distant.
When daylight dawned over the Atlantic,
the three fugitiyes cast anxious glances be-
hind them. With their naked eyes, they
were barely able to see Fernando de Moron
ha, lying like faint cloud in the horizon !;
but the breeze which had waited them thus
far on their perilous voyage now died out,
and they lay becalmed on the ocean.
They could detect no signs of pursuit, and
though relieved from all danger of that ma
ture, they speedily saw still greater perils
closing in upon them.
The long, heaying swell Of the Atlantic
proved much more trying upon their raft,
which was twisted and strained to that ex-
tent that the occupants were in constant fear
Of seeing it go to pieces and drop them into
the water.
From the first they suffered on account OF
the scarcity of water, their opportu nities for
storing that indispensable commodity, as
well as food, having been SO dubious that
they started upon their journey very i'll pre-
pared indeed.
Not only that, but the few provisions
which they did have soon became saturated
with sea-water, and eating them only inten-
sifed their burning thirst.
hoof 1o1,y,, ,,Y,/>,, &1>o;. I,
pitiless fury, and there was no means at
command of warding off the maddening
rays.
1t was not long, indeed, before their tor
ment became such that they bitterly re-
GREETED having made the venture, and,
could they have done so, would have re-
turned to their captivity and punishment
again.
But even that miserable recourse was
denied them. There was no wind, and all
they could do was to submit to the whim
Of the currents, hoping that some passing
vessel would pick them up before death did.
The second day passed like the first, the
raft drifting WHITTIER it chose without let or
hindrance from those upon it, while each
hour added to the intensity Of their torment.
On the third day, one of the three was
taken down with fever, which is generally
of the most yirulent sort in that tropical eli
mate. He raved in his delirium all night,
but his companions could not do the slight
est thing to relieve his suferings. The end
was certain, SO far as this poor fellow was
concerned, and the fourth day had scarcely
dawned when he became quiet, and in few
minutes after was dead.
Just as the raft made one of its wreching
lurches, in obedience to the heaving of the
sea, the body rolled off into the ocean.
It scarcely touched the surface, when
something flashed through the blue water,
an immense pair of jaws opened, and closed
with ferocious voracity, and the remains Of
the negro were swallowed by an enormous
shark, which logged the raft with that per-
sistency shown by those hyenas Of the deep
when there is sickness and death on board
ei1ip. ~ ~
The instinct that guides these frightful
creatures is as strange and unerring as it is
in incomprehensible. 1t was as if they
scented death in the air, and were merely
hiding their time. Fully a half-dozen Of
enormous size now showed themselves be.
meath and around the raft, and henceforth
the natives knew they meant to cling to it,
until no prey was left for them.
This calm, however, could not continue
long, and the succeeding day showed unmis.
taxable signs of a change. The brassy sky
became dark and threatening, and the white
caps of the waves in the distance warned
the two remaining on the boat that a tropi.
cal storm, with all the name implies, was
close at hand.
The tempest did not break until the sun
went down and darkness was creeping over
the deep, when it came with tremendous
fury. Before the couple could fairly realize
it, it seemed as if the hurricane would blow
them off the raft, and literally tear it to
pieces. francesca chung to box that was
lashed amidships, and his companion flung
his arm about the base Of the mast, and
both held on with all the strength of which
they were master.
On the heels of the hurricane came the
mountainous waves, crowned with foam and
spray and resistless in their fury. 1t would
have taken staunch ship and consummate
seamanship to have ridden out such storm,
and the wonder is how the frail craft sur
vived it..
Perhaps as it could offer not the slightest
resistance to the waves, and therefore made
no sort Of fight against them, it suffered the
less; but it was tossed to and fro Like an
egg-shel, sometimes on the crest Of a tow
ering avalanche, and then plunging into the
vast watery valley between.
It was marvel that it was not torn apar
at the very first onset of the tempest, wher
the two fugitiyes merely held on and waitee
for the last struggle which they expected
with every breath.
There was scarcely any lightning, and thu
situation of the two miserable beings may
be described as being such that no horro,
could be added to it. Unexpectedly to them