The Delaware farmer., 1883-09-21
Rachel Cleal .
THE FAIR MAID OF CHERBURY.

"Only one more voyage, Rachel"
- "Oh, but cofin-ships, Harry TIL,
5, word haunts me p
D "But only one more run, my bonny
bird Just to Aberdeen in ballast. an
back again to Harwich with granite afore
we know we've been out Then we
sha'n't have TO start life in debt, lass:
every penny 0" the share in Georges
boat'n be paid up; an the little craft
from that time for'ard shall keep a good
, thick thatch over our heads, an a side o.
bacon in the kitchen, an pig in the
sty-a raal Barkshire, my pretty one 7"
The ring of solid comfort in this last
allusiOn momentarily displaces all grue-
some thoughts. The rosiest pair of lips
in Cherbury are put up trustfully, to be
kissed with vigor which only a young
sailor, due aboard his ship within two
feeting hours, is capable of imparting
to the salutation. After this there is a
delightful pause, while the August sun
shine, fltering its way between the
messy piles of Cherbury Jetty, beneath
which the lovers stand, surrounds their
figures with a golden halo.
WHAT'S that they tell me about Farm
er Gordon havin' been so often up at
your mothers while I was away. last
voyage?" suddenly demands the young
sailor. "Of course there's nowt in it.
sweetheart; but I don't like to Hear. as
I did the other night, the names O. Tom
Gordon an Rachel Cheal bein' coupled
together so free-and-easy ike-although
Tom is old enough to be your father"
For moment Rachel gazes into her
lovers face in bewilderment; then. clasp
ing his hand in both of hers, leans back
against a weather-beaten bulkhead.
while musical laughter ripples from her
rosy lips.
"Oh but where have your eyes been, Il
Harry, my man ?" she asks, as soon
as she is able to speak; then she
very demurely, GAS thou
3ayest, lad, he is often up at mothers; 7
IN he is old enough, an to spare, to be
my father; an"
" Let him bide, my lass; let him bide. 4
can trust thee with any man of 'em s
Ill, " interrupts her lover, impetuouslv. Il
Is he hurriedly glances off to the foot of q
he lane which leads down to Cherburv h
Jove. " Here be George, an little Jim. Il
n your Uncle Humphrey; an that Il
means it's dead low water, an 1 must A
lip off at once if I'm to make Harwicb 8,
his flood. God bless thee, my pretty h
ne r And he holds her to his heart in =
clinging embrace, while a stentorian .,
hout for Harry! Harry Ree-e-eed p -,
wakens the echo of the cove. 6 6
Aye, aye, George aye, aye !" cries
larry IN response. Then the two low A.
rs emerge from the seclusion of the ~
stty, and join the group on the fore be
hore; and, after a hurried greeting. ~
larry puts off with George and little IL
Inn In the boat to which hopeful allusion %
as already been made, and slips away no
efore a gentle breeze from the north r
ard in the direction of Harwich Har- -
or. 1t is not until the little craft has =
'unded Cherbury Point, and is lost to ~ ~
ew, that Rachels kerchief ceases to ~
liter in the air, and Rachel herself ots os
nsents to turn and retrace her steps to -.
e village. W. W.
The Cheals are a family of which - -
lerbury has occasion to feel proud -.
veteran of Her Maiestv's =
'ast-Guard, is a man who, holding his -;
n life cheap, has again and again vol for
tarily encountered deadly peril at hu- 1n,
lnity's call, and is known and respected 49, -,
'oughout the whole county. Though rot, 1l
" close upon sixty years of age. he aIo, M
u holds the onerous post of coxswain o1.t --,
the lifeboat; and if blessings always ono ",
where blessings are due, it is on his Io,r
ID gray head that they would descend terri
showers, for many have been called ont
yn by the wives whom he has saved con,
% widowhood. Slowed away in dacl
zer in his trim little cottage on the s1n,
tth Down, and only visible on cere- beo,
1iol oonooioTe o,o 49, - .,