The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1883-08-30

suffering. Some heavy calamity, I
thought, must have fallen upon her.
Her childlike confidence in Ben and
his tenderness toward her were pa
thetic, and, altogether, my sympathy
sympathy was won.
! Presently ventured to ask if she
were not an invalid, and returned
Ben:
800, yes, sir; an she is my only
BARN. Pretty doc. She married owre
early. An week after, Tam, her
husband. sailed north wi his crew fcE
the fishin'. Three months hae passe
sin the wofu' day, lut nae word can
we get Of boat or men,"
"Then you think the vessel"
"Went doom, sir, is what you mean?
There is nae doot aDoot it; for, miles
AVA along coast, piece Of her sail
was washed ashore. But my lamb
knowsna that; an sac, i'stead O. putin
en- widows weeds, she aye says we'se
boun' to find him; an she watches the
sea an questions every e sherman she
meets till it's just pitifu' to hear
her"
"She is nearly d:straught," thought
]. Then I gave Ben a warning note
regarding the imperative need of try
ing to divert her mind from her trou-
bic. Also proffered word of advice
abouther lameness, which, it appeared,
arose from some recent injury done to
the muscles, and which I gathered,
hal been treated in anything but a
scientific manner.
Ben was delighted to find that I
was doctor, and most grateful for my
interest in him. Indeed, he was so
earnest in pour ng out his thanks when
I volunteered to take NAMES case in
hand while was at Clanhead, that the
man at the bow as he afterward
owned) became an absorbed and SYM
pathetic listener; for Mamie and he
had been p!aymates, and he felt rather
down-hearted. Ben tod me, when
Tam carried her off.
Deep in our subject, and entirely
free from apprehension, we scudded
pleasantly along. One moment all
our thoughts were of healing; the
next-craSh! crash!! crash!!! over
our heads, under our feet, every
wherel
A swift glance st the mainsail, a
wrench at the tiller, and a tremendous
shout from Ben:
"Bow, there, bow! are ye sleepin',
mon?"
The warning was too late! A large
vessel was down upon us; our man
sail pierced through by her bowsprit;
our timbers were shivering under her
bows. / heard shouting on the deck
above us; Isaw man leap from the
vessels side; ] saw Mamie wake up in
an agony of terror and throw her arms
round her fathers neck; I heard Ben
say. "Nae dinna cumber me, but strike
ye oot an trust" 1 knew we were all
in the water, for saw Ben supporting
his child as heswam vigorously toward
the man who had leaped over. I saw
Charley going down (neither he nor I
was swimmer), I clutched at him
fruitlessly; then some, confused
cries Of aKeep your heads up!"
"Here's a life-belt!"a a"Cateh this rope"
and so ON. +Bueeoosr Siro oroiors suuutrd
far away and undistinguishable; I
knew that salt water was in my nos
trils and mouth; there was singing in
my ears, roaring in my head; felt a
mad impulse to rise; I did rise;
again, for moment only, 1 heard
eager voices near me, and caught a
glimpse of the efforts that were being
made to save us; in an agony I made
an effort to keep up; it was futile; :;
then, hiss hiss swish through my
very brain; after that, darkness, dense
darkness clear consciousness that
the hand of death was upon me; cry
from my inmost soul to heaven and
a strange, deep calm.
u * x X
The sun was going down in g. flood
of crimson glcry. I lay upon a well
swabbed deck all alone. Where had [
been? Where was 1 going? What
had happened? ! pinched myself
and fe.t the pain; so I was still in the
flesh. I tried my voice-"H hilloa !
somebody"
No one came. I sat up and took a
speculative survey. The vessel was
taut and trim, and she smelled of tim
ber, but she was not of British build.
AS ] cogitated-.rather weakly, I must
own-a footstep sounded on the deck,
and along came a good-natured-looking
seaman, fair and blue-eyed; he made
his way to me and gazed smillngly
down.
"What ship is this?" queried !.
A shake of the head.
"Are you German?"
Two shakes of the head.
"Speak, man, in some tongue or
other, will you:"
Tae worl "speak" he understood,
and obeyed with energy. But no
word of any language could I pick out
from his strange jabher.
Feeling, no d,ubt, that my I'm ler-
wanted aro1sing, he went
away and shortly returned with six
other men; some strong, fair and blue
eyed like himself, the re t short.r,
darker. but powerfully built. and all
chattering the most unintelligible
jargon.
AS they bent their energies to make
me acquainted with something or
other, tried hard t. discover their
nationalities, when happy thou ght -
came fitting through my brain the
words
"And then the b!ue-eyed Morse nan toll
Asa,ao of he days OF d."
You are from Norway" bawled 1
And you," to the darker men, you
are Swedes. Am rigilt?'
"Ha! Norroway! Norge! Norge !
Aa! Ha! Norrike! Ha! Hal
The words were taken up like a
refrain with loisterous satisfaction.
Had 1 only raised my ey>s t> the
vessels flag, might have seen at first
that she was called the "Jarl l.akon."
But jus! thea my wits were scatt red.
They began, however, to diStntangle
thems Ives, and thoughts of Charlie,
Ben and the rest crowded upon me.
Wne.e were they? Where was the
lame girl? aud where the "Jemima?'
1t was useless to QUESTION, so rose
,~ ,od with ROT fkar uDSto,t1v on