The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1882-05-13

Dut, DieSS me! we naun't begun To
know her. nor we didn't till after that
storm sot in. Twas one o. them storms
Z comes on slow an grad'yul like, the
wind shiftin' little by little. as If it meant
to makes sure thing of it. An when
it begins in that way you can most
| geneny look ont for spell o. weather.
For three days we lay tossin' like a
cockle-shell, an, IL it hadn't ben for
Miss Vi'let, / declare, ! don't know
what ID become of us. It's astonishin'
how women-folks blossom out when
| trouble comes. An she was such slip
Of girl, not more'n fifteen, at the most,
an small at that; but, bless her heart,
she was like mother to the hui crew.
One minute she'd be in the galley,
helpin' Collins git up somethin' invitin'
for dinner, an the next she'd be on
deck, with the Cap'n, cheerin' up the
men. The Cap'n did his best to keep
out to sea; but the smartest Cap n livin'
ID have to give in when the Lord sends
a gale like that. The third day it
blow'd harder n ever, carryin' away
both topmas' an sweepin' off one o. the
boats; an about five in the afternoon, in
spite of all we could do, the ship went
crashin' on to the rocks.
90 There's nuthin for us to do now
but git down on our knees an say our
prayers, SEE Jim Mack, kinder de-
spairin' like. An reckon there WASH t
one of us that didn't feel as if we might
about as well jump overheard an done
with it.
90 Fire a signal-gun,' seq the Cap'n.
"'Tain't likely twill do any good,
SEE Jim; an, in fact, we's all feelin'
ruther down in the mouth, when up
comes Miss Vi'let from the cabin, softly
as an angel steppin' in amongst us, an
any one could see by the look on her
face that she'd BIN sayin' her prayers,
it was so still an peaceful-like, an seq
she: What you all lookin' so solemn
an troubled forP The good Lord can
take care of us jest as well on the rocks
as He can in smooth water, an i don't
believe your Cap'n's afeard.'
''The Cap'n he didn't say nuthin'
only put his arm round her, an with
that she reached up an kissed him. @
"'S'pose we sing hymn SEE she.
Now most any of us old tars could
have sung song, if she'd asked us to-
but singin' hymns wasn't in our line.
So I'VE didn't give herno encouragement
but the next minute she started off all by
herself on ...
..... "'Jesus, lover of my SOUL . s
/ reckon it wasn't new to any of us
SEEM we wasn't exactly heather; but
some way, it fetched us-may be il
fetched us all athe more for not bein
new-an' by the time she got to z
~'while the billers near me roll
every man of us was drawin' his sleeve
across his eyes, for kin tell you then
words sounded mighty real when yor
could hear the billers thunderin' away
within an inch o. Your life. Folks a.
sing that hymn sittin' in meetin'. quie
an peaceful, with the sun shinin' in at
the winder an the trees a-wavin' in the
breeze, amt apt to take sech realizin
sense of it as we fellers did that night
on the 'Albatross,' with the biller.
pitchin' an tearin' like lot o. mount
aims runnin' wild an the wind a-screech.
in like pack O hyenies. M
"Well, she sung it through to the
end, an jest as she got to the last line
we heard an answer to our signal; but
Lord bless you! there couldn't no boa
live in sea like that. so there we lay
expectin' every minute we'd go t.
pieces, for the ship was groanin' an
creakin' in all her timbers, an all
kept up our spirits was Miss Vrlet'.
singin'. But toward mornin' the wine
lbegun to ease. little, an,gwith the frs
streak o day we sighted q ship in the
soifin'. eFFAt4F kssE #F We
80 Lower the boats SEE the Cap'n
an the boys had 'em ready in a iiffy
, an then they all stood back, waitin' {,
7 Icnn he
, But there wasn't room for all of us thu
first time, both the boats that was lief
bein' small, an the Cap'n, he declared
he wouldn't stir step till every sou
! was off the ship.
i'f.You can take care O. Miss Vi'let
/ Sampson, r seq he to the mate. ~ ~
80 All right, SIR SEE Sampson, a
/ cheerful as possible for a man 'twa
/ next door to drowndin' but, when h
!, started to help her down, she draw'C
herself back.
as I'm goin' to stay till my fathe
[ goes, SEE she; an, though there WASH
no sartinty that the ship'd hold togethe
two minutes, there the little lady stood
in spite o the Cap'n's urgin' an
coaxin', as firm as a rock, with tn,
spray a-dashin' over her an her prett,
4 hair all creepin' in wet curls around he;
] face from under the hood of her cloak
"'Better get in, Miss Vi'let,' Sc
|, Sampson; but Miss Vi'let was listenin
}, to her father give his orders. an didn'
i make no answer.
"Why don't you get in yourself
: SampsonP' SEE the Cap n. .|,u,r
Tim goin' to wait for the next boat
fsir, seq Sampson. - -. q z ~