Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-08-07
Won FROM THE SEA,
BY COULTER RUXTON.

sin being a lighthouse keeper, not Know
inc at what moment the gale may come
sweeping down, and the sea dash with all
its magnificent fury upon your lonely
rock, away out here upon the turbulent
ocean. What if some terrible night the
forceful waves should throw themselves
upon your shot-tower-like structure, and
tumble it into the depths?'
cit would be a sad thing, l fear, for
my helpless family and myself; but we
are in the hands of One who babe the
storm, in the EXTREMIST hour of peril, be
still, and it obeyed.''
Your life must certainly be monoton-
ous9''
at is" answered my friend, and yet it
has its bright and stirring sides. 1t was
out of the waves, in the midst of as fear
full a storm as ever visited this coast, that
I won my wife. l wooed her from angry
Neptune's arms"
''Ah, tell me the story. If there were
wind and wave mixed up with it, it must
be something of romance"
'And more of truth" returned the
good lighthouse keeper, with a low
laugh.
''Well, never mind; go ahead" 1 ex-
claimed
"And leave out the TRUTH" he said.
That won't do. Without the facts the
romance would be valueless. l had bet
ter tell you the truth, and you can, if
your Imagination is at all lively, work
out the romance to suit"
''Alright Then let us have the plain,
unvarnished tale, as Othello has it,
''Here it is then, "he commenced, when
he had charged and lighted his pipe.
''Well, sir, when twenty odd years
younger than L am to-day, backed by
pretty strong credentials, applied to the
Lighthouse Bureau for the place l now
hold on the Goats Head Rock, the house
of which had just been finished, and the
lamp that was to be mounted therein
daily expected. As no one on the coast
seemed to fortunately care for the ap-
pointment, l was, after examination as
to competency and sobriety, put in
charge. was young man, having just
turned the corner of my twenty-tirst
year. An assistant was given me. He
was an intelligent young fellow about my
own age He had followed the sea, and
was as daring as a lion. Our lives were
monotonons enough at first. 1t is true
we had provided ourselves with check
erboard, chessmen and cards, and our Ii
brary was quite respectable. 1t contained
four or five hundred books, mainly ro-
mances and histories. To these we de-
voted ourselves, and in the course of a
year or two, mastered their contents.
Henry Parsons THAT was my assistants
name) seldom went to the mainland, and
| crossed over it once month to buy
provisions, oil, and whatever we needed
to make our imprisonment agreeable.
f'For three years Parsons and myself
led this eventless, humdrum existence.
Like prisoners in a cell, we were becom-
ing used to it. We rarely exchange
words. 1t was an effort for us to speak.
When we did open our lips, it was to
utter what we had to say in monosylla-
bles, and briefly as possible
'In the winter of the fourth year ter
ribie storm from the mormon bore
down upon us, making the water tremble
and shoot up even as far as the lantern,
while the huge waves, as they broke up
against our sure foundations made the
tower itself tremble and almost bend like
reed before the blast. In the midst of
the fearful war of elements, Parsons, who
stood manfully in the gallery, watching
the light, his garments wet to the skin
with the water that leaped high in the
air and fell in shower all over and about
him, cried tome:
"'There is ship in the offing, Mark
SON.
ocean you see herr? cried.
emo, sir he answered.; Il do see
something black. but it's indistinguisha-
bic. They're sending rockets from her.
"'Where is she now?"
"'My God' he cried, 'the ship is drift.
ing toward us! She appears unmanage.
able, as if she had lost her helm. They
are sending up signal rockets of distress
of danger. How can we help them
should the ship come up afoul cf the
rocks?''
'He looked out again, and then, with.
out waiting for my answer, cried:
"EThe lamp is safe, now, MIR. Markson
Come, let's go down and see if we cannot
help some poor creature to save his life
We can get into the life-boa and l CUES!
we can manage it somehow
"The brave fellow ran down the STEP
in advance of me, and on cautiously open
ing the door that gave access to the rock
On which the tower is placed, peeped out
A wave struck him, and poured into tn
interior of the building. We watched
our opportunity, and when the water TO
moment Ieceded we sprang out on t.
the platform We closed the entranc
securely, then, leaping into the life boat
prepared for action. The storm was ter
rible-awful! We could now see the un
manageable hull drifting toward us
Those on her were still sending up rock
cts, though they must have known tina
to do so was all but useless.
eve heard grating and then loud
pounding noise. We looked as best W
could, and saw that the black hulk wa
aground. The waves were leaping owe
her. Around her the sea boiled an
lashed itself furiously. In the momen
tary lull of the storm we heard the voice
of those on board crying for help-helr
Even now, when ] recall the terrors @
that night, my blood curdles and grow
cold in my veins.
eve launched the life boat; the wave
and winds were too strong for us. W
could but wait and watch. We could bu
watch and wait. We thought we say