Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1881-03-23

nau ever disturbed the fopOSo or the
other; and even the ocean-that great
highway of the world-lay as gentle as
If its bosom had never betrayed-as if
no traveller had ever sunk to death in its
embrace. The sun had gone down. and
the pensive twilight would have reigned
over nature, but for the moon, which
rose in her full orbed beauty, the queen
of an illimitable world, to smile upon the
goodly things of ours, and to give a ra-
dance and glory to all she shone upon.
1t was an hour and scene that led the
soul to the contemplation of Him who
never ceases to watch over the works He
has made, ana whose protecting care dis
plays itself alike upon the solid land and
the trackless wastes OF the deceitful sea-
On the western coast of the county OF
Devon, which has been termed, and, it
may be added, justly, "the garden of
England upon such an evening group
assembled around one of the fshermen's
cottages. The habitation was built in
The true style of the olden time, when
comfort was the principal object of the
protector. At either side of the door
were scattered the lines and nets and
baskets that betokenedthe ca ling of the
owner. and the fisherman was taking his
farewell for the night of his happy, low
ing family, who were bidding him Good
speed on his voyage. A fine old man
was leaning his arms on the railing, and
talking to an interesting girl, whose
hand lay upon the shoulder of a younger
sister. The stout fisherman, dressed in
his rough ierkin and large boots that
reached far above his knees, was in
the act of kissing little cherub,
who seemed half terrified at being
elevated so high as the fathers lips:
while the wife and mother, with her in
FAINT nursing on her lap, was looking
anxiously upon her husbsnd as she
breathed the parting blessing, and the
prayer for his return. A little boy, the
miniature of his father in countenance
and in dress, bearing huge boat cloak
across his shoulders and the lantern that
was to give light when the moon de-
parted, completed the group-if we ex-
cept a noble Newfoundland dog, some
steps in advance of the party, watching
kind of pier where the fisherman and his
boy were to embark.
'Good luck, good luck!' exclaimed
the old man: ''good luck and safe home
again, John; We want no more but God 8
blessing, and that We may have for ask
ing; but We may as well take mine, too
God bless We, and good-by to ye.'
The blessing was heartily welcomed by
his kind partner and his children, and
whistling as he went, with his boat-hook
on his shoulder, his dog Neptune before
and his boy following, he trudged along
to the beach.
With the earliest dawn of morning the
fsherman's family was astir; the elder
girl was busily arranging their little par
lor, while the younger was preparing the
breakfast table, and the mother spread
ing before the fire the clothes of her
husband and her boy. An hour passed,
and she grew somewhat uneasy that he
had remained abroad beyond the usual
period of his return. Another hour had
elapsed, when she said to her father:
Father, go out to the hillock and try
if you can see his sail upon the water;
he seldom stays out so long when the sea
is calm and the weather fair. Ny little
boy, too, was not quite well last night,
and this alone should have fastened him
home"
one his grandchildren followed him until
the mother was left alone, rocking the
cradle of her unconscious babe. After
the lapse of another hour, the daughter
entered with the news that a neighbor
had spoken to her father in the night,
and that he would certainly be home
soon.
ssGod grant it!'' said she, and she
spoke in tone of deep anxiety. "He
never was away so long but once, and
that was when he saved the crew of the
ship Mary, and then the whirl of the
sinking vessel had well nigh made his
grave"
Again she stirred the fire, again ar
ranged the clothes before it, and poured
some hot water into the teacups Still
the breakfast remained untouched.
The sun was now soaring to his merid-
ian height when once more the family
assembled in their humble dwelling; the
prop of the whole was yet waiting. They
sat down to cherries meal, the seats at
either side of the wife remaining vacant.
The old man was the only individual who
appeared to anticipate no evil; but he
hastily finished his breakfast and went
forth.
The noon was rapidly passing, and
the sun bad already given tokens of the
glory OF his departure, when the fisher
mans wife, having lulled her infant
asleep, went herself to the hill that COM
manded an extensive view of the wide
spread ocean. ALI the little household
soon assembled on the spot, but no boat
was seen upon the waters nothing that
could give hope except the aspect of the
waves, which looked too placid to be
dangerous.
Their deep dread was no longer con-
cealed: while the old man paced to and
fro, looking earnestly at brief intervals
over the lonely sea, the mother and the
daughter were sobbing audibly.