The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1881-07-07

| WIdU, W plcdSe Ills OlC I)dItulS dilu HIS
poor girl mourning for him on the Cape,
he'd be willing to come back for a while"
"Iou know the Bible says, 'He shall
come back no more to me, but shall 90
to him." repeated the good lady iu low
| tone.
'I wish | had you faith mother, not
because believing a thing makes it any
more true, but that one feels better and
takes life easier"
Thus the pair gossiped to themselves
in the commonplaces characteristic of
those whose life-work is action rather
than speech. After a while one of the
men aloft reported sail in sight
"Where away ("
son the lee beam looks like a wreck.
sir"
Everybody Immediately sprang to his
feet and scanned the otting, but, as the
strange sail was not visible from the deck,
Captain Baker went alott with his glass,
and discovered It to be a ship apparently
in sinking condition, her fore and main
masts gone by the board, and a flag of
distress in the rigging; she had
evidently been dismantled bv the late
hurricane.
"Square the main-yard" !" was the order
that now rang through the ship, and she
was then kept away from the wreck,
which very soon became visible from the
deck. As they drew nearer they could
see that she was settling fast. and that
the crew Cher boats having been carried
away were rapidly constructing raft
alongside. The Dhulep Singh was hove
to a short distance from the wreck, which
proved to be the Rothsay, tea-clipper of
London, and a boat was lowered and sent
off to her. The Rothsay was almost down
to her scuppers, WallOWing helplesslv in
the sea, and her end was fast approach
ing. Help had come to her crew lust as
she was about to go from under them
and leave them adrift on the waste of
ocean nor was it safe for the boat to
linger alongside, lest it should be sucked
down by the whirling vortex caused by
the death throes of the laundering ship,
liable to occur at any moment. \ mum
Der of the RoJhsays crew had been
washed Oft in the hurricane and one, who
had been MANNED by the falling spars,
was already lying on the raft, and was
gently transferred to the boat, which
then showed Oft. When it was midway
between the two ships the Rothsay.
lurching convulsiVely, buried her bow in
Il sea, and the waves closed over her as
she went down, locked in their embrace
till the sea give up her dead. There is
no more solemn Or impressive sight in this
world than the sinking of ship at sea.
When man dies the body continues for
a while to give the semblancc Of reality,
and only by degrees wastes away to moth
ingness. When a house burns down, it
is only gradually, and the ashes remain.
When an earthquake telIs 4 city, the
fragments are still there. Bnt when one
moment we see the strong and mighty
fabric of n ship actually before us, and
the next can discern absolutely not a yes
tige or sign or scmblance or shadow of it
existing, we come very near forming a
conception of what annihilatiOn is, if there
be any such thing.
The Rothsay having disappeared, the
attention of all on board the Dhulep
Singh was directed to the returning boat,
and the haggard faces Of those who had
been 50 0pportunely rescued from Watery
grave were eagerly scanned. But when
it arrived alongside and the features Of
the wounded man became distinctly visi-
bic, Mrs. Baker shuddering as if with
cold, pale as death, and with tongue al
most paralyzed with overpowering emo
ton, clutched her husbands arm "Abi-
jah, don't he look like our Johnnie ,"
elizabeth, what-you don't mean to
say-My God, it can't be and yet-if
only the dead could come to life, should
say it was our john"
Thus gasping and staggering, rather
than walking Captain Baker took two or
three steps forward, and gazed earnestly
into the eyes of the manned seaman, who
at that instant looked up. AS he caught
the gaze OF the Captain, a change came
over his sunken features reaching for
ward his arms and eNclalming, ''Father,"
he fell back apparently dead; it was this
circumstance which aided to prevent the
parents from yielding to the emotions
caused by the violence of the shock re-
ceiyed from this most extraordinary event.
Descending into the boat the Captain
found that his son was only in a syncope,
resulting from excitement from physical
exhaustion. With the greatest tenderness
and sympathy, in which every one Of the
crew ioined-and it may be said to their
credit that more than one of them drew
his rough fist across his eyes-JOhn Baker
was hoistcd out Of the boat and carried
into the cabin, where the usual remedies
applied in such cases soon restored him
to consciousness.
John Bakers story Is soon told; hair
breadth as was his escape, it is at any
rate no more remarkable than the adyen-
lures which are encountered by most sea-
faring men some time in the course Of
their adventurous lives. On the night Of
the collision he was on deck; the schooner
was lying to, and, us she was directly in
the track of inward bound vessels, ankle
ty was felt, and sharp lookout main
tanned. He discovered the bark at the
same instant that the schooner was per-
ceiyed. Conscious at glance that a col
lision was unavoidable he at once took
thought for his personal safety. AS is
common on our fishing schooners, there
was a nest ofrlorles amdships. He made
a dive at this and lifted the upper one
out of its bed just as the Two vessels came
together, and held fast to by the painter.
BY great good luck it tloated when the
schooner went down, and he contriveu to
get into it. 1t glided over the seas before
the wind, its very lightness giving it buoy
ancy, and helping to keep it clear OF the
combers. But it was only by the great
est management not one also add
by the aid of Providence that dory crew
Of one man lived till morning. He was
then sighted by a ship outward bound ;
she altered her course, and flung rope
to him as she swept by; he caught it and
was saved. The vessel was bound to
China, and the Captain was loath to put
back to land him, but promised to trans
fer him to some homeward- bound vessel
if convenient. No such opportunity SEEM
ed to occur; either the sea was too high
to launch a boat when they met such a
ship, or they did not care to lose fair
wind; something always prevented. In
the mean time John Was given a berth in
the forecastle, and worked his passage.
At Shanghai he secured the place of
second mata in the Rnthsav and started