The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-10-27


her. Her child-like confidence in Ben
and his tenderness toward her were p:..
thetlc; and, altogether, my sympathy
was won. Presently venturod to ask
II she were not All invalid; and returned
Ben
800, yes, sir; an she is my only
BARN. Pretty dool She married over
early. AM u week after, Tam, her
husband, sailed north VII his crew for
the tishin'. Three months lac passed
SIM the wofu' day, but nae word can
we got o. board or men,"
| "Then you think the veSsel--"
| "'Went doom, sir, is what ye mean ?
There is nae doot aboOt it; for, miles
ava along coast, u piece Of her sail was
washed ashore.
But my lamb knowsna that. AM
sac, i'stead o. putin on Widows weeds,
she aye says we'se boun' to find him.
She watches the sea an questions every
| tishermon she meets till it's just pitifu'
| to hear hcr."
"She is nearly distraught," thought
| L. Then gave Ben u warming note
regarding the imperative need of tryiu q
to divert her mind from her trouble
Also l proiferea word of advice about
her lameness, which, il appeared, arose
| from some recent injury done to the
muscles, and which, I gathered, had
| been treated in anything but u scienti-
tic manner:
Ben WAS delighted to find that I was
a doctor, and most grateful for my i'll
terest in him. Indeed, he was 50 ear
nest in pouring out his thanks when |
volunteered to take Names case in
hand while was at Clanhead, that the
man at the bow (as he afterwards
owned) became all absorbed and SYM
| pathetic listener. Mamie and he had
| been playmates, and he felt rather
down hearted, Ben told me, when Tam
carried her off. Deep in our subject,
and entirely, free from apprehension,
we scudded pleasantly along. One mo-
ment all our thoughts were Of healing.
The next-crash crash ! crash ! !
over our heads, under our feet, every
wherel A swift glance at the nlainsail,
wrench at the tiller, and Il tremend-
Gus shout from Ben
Bow, there, bowl aresleepin', mon?n
The warning was too latel A large
vessel was down upon u.s. Our MAIN
sail was pierced through by her bow
spirit. Our timberS were Shivering UNI
der her bows. heard shouting on tho
deck above us; l saw u man leap from
the vessels side; l saw Mamie wake
up i'll an agony of terror, and throw her
arms round her fathers neck. | heard
Ben say-"Nae, dinna cumber me, but
strike ye oot an trust" l knew we
were all III the water, for I saw Ben
| supporting his child rs he swan vigorous
~ toward the man who had Ieaped over.s
saw Charley going down (neither he
| a SluiInnnrl I l,,t hnl
him fruitlessly. Then came confused
cries Of '@keep your heads upi'' Here's
| life-beltl" "Catch this rope!' and 80
| on. But soon the voices sounded far
away and undistinguishable: L knew
that salt water was In my nostrils and
| mouth. There was singing in my ears.
! roaring III my head. | felt "A mad i'm
pulse to rise. L did rise. For q mo-
ment only, heard eagor voices near
me, and caught a GLIMPSE of the efforts
| that were beng made to save us; in
agony made an effort to keep up. 1t
was futile. Then, hissl hissl swisLl
through my very brain. After that,
darkness, dense darknoss! clear con-
seriousness that the hand Of Death was
on me. A cry from my inmost soul to
Heaven aad-a strange deep calm.
The sun was going down in flood
OF crimson glory. l lay upon we'll
swabbed deck all alone. Where had l
beon3 Where was going2 What had
happened? pinched myself and felt
Tho pain; 80 ! was still III the flesh. |
tried my yoice-"IIil hilloal some
DOdyl" No one came. L sat up and
look speculative survey. The vessel
was taut and trim, and she smelt OF
timber, but she was not Of British
build. AS l cogltated--rather weakly,
l must own--a Iootstep sounded on the
dock, and along came Il gOOd.natlued-
looking seaman fair and blue-eyed: he
made his way TO me and gaZed Smi.ing-
ly down.
"What ship is this2" queried L.
a Shake Of the head.
Are you Il German?n
Two shakes of tho head.
o.,% speak, man, i'll some tongue o.
The word "speak" lie under 1od,
and obeyed with energy.
But no word of amy language could
pick out from his strange abbcr.
Fcelng, no doubt, that my understand
ing wanted arollsing, he went away
anu shortly returned with six other
mon, some strong, fair, and bIue-eyed
like himself, the rest shorter, darker,
but powerfully built, and all cilatteriny
the most unintelligible jargon. AS they
bent their energies to make me ac-
quainted with something or other,
tried hard to discover their natioltli.
ties. for certainly they were not all OF
one nation, when-happy thought l.
came fitting through my BRAIN thu
wOl DIS
'.And then tho bluc-eyed Norseman told
| saYa II tho days Of old"
| you are from Norwayi' bawled I.
And you" to the darker mel, "you
are Swedes. Am right2"
"Hal Norrowayl
| Norge! Norgel Hal Hal NorrikeI
Ha! Hal"
Tie words were taken up like a re- .
frain with boisterous satisfaction. Had
L only raised my eyes to the vessels
flag, 1 might have seen at frs: that she
was called the Jarl Hakon But lust
then my wits were scattered. Tney
began, however, to disentangle them.
selves, and thoughts Of Charlie, Ben,
and the rest crowded upon me. Where
were they? Where was the lame glrl2
4 ~