Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1883-01-03
front, and said, shortly, =. "Slxty

meeting with the wife and children he
had left behind.
But while Yankee jim slept sound
ly, and dreamed blissfully Of pouring
golden eagles into James lap, his des-
tiny was being fulfilled, The great
financial storm of 1856 burst upon the
State lmheralded. Like a thief in the
night the one fatal word passed over
the wires that shut the door Of every
bank, and made the boldcst turn pale.
Suspension was followed by panic,
panic byruin and dismay. Yankee jim
was only an atom swallowed up in the
general and overwhelming disaster Of
that day
In the morning he went early to the
bank, to find it shut fast, and an eX-
cited and threatening crowd surging
to and fro before the doors. Men
with haggard faces were talking and
gesticulating wildly. Women were
weeping and wrnging their hands. \
sudden faintness came over him. What
could it all mean? Mastering courage
to put the question to q bystander, he
was told to look and read for himself.
Two ominous words, "Bank closed"
were posted on the front of the build
ing.
For a moment the poor fellow could
not seem to take in the full meaning
of the calamity that bad fallen like a
thInderbolt from clear sky; but as it
dawned upon him that his little for
tune was swept away forever, and
with it the hopes that had opened to
his delighted fancy, the blood rushed
to his brain and his face grew purple.
Then he fell back in a fit, deprived of
sense or motion.
The first word he articulated when
he came to himself was Home" Some
kind souls paid his passage to San
Francisco, where the sight of blue
water and Of big ships CALAMITY riding
at their anchors seemed TO revive him
alittle. Wholly possessed by his one
idea of getting home, he shipped on
board the next homc-bound steamer,
going about his duty like a man half
stunned, and who secs, without COM
pretending, what is passing around
him.
The sailing of homoward-hound
steamship was one of the events of
those days. TO say that the whole city
turned out to witness, or rather to as
sist at hcrdeparture, would hardly be an
exaggcration. On board all was hustle
and hilarity. On shore iests and good
by5 popped like champagne corks.
Those who were going were the secret
envy of those who were left behind,
in whom this scene aroused that pas
sionate, that uncomfortable ycarning
for the old home beyond the mountain
peaks, beyond the seas.
! My own knowledge ofthe chiefactor
in this history began at 1 o'clock in the
morning of the third day out from
port. The California's engines were
suddenly stopped, There was a hur-
ried trampling of feet, rafting of
blocks on the deck, succeeded by dead
silence-a silence that could be felt. l
| Jumped out of my berth and ran on
deck. How well | can recall that
scene.
The morning, cold, damp and foggy,
was an utterly dismal one. A pale
light struggled through the heavy
mist, but it was too thick to see a cables
length from the ship, although we dis
| tinctly heard the rattle Of oars at some
distance, with now and then a quick
shout that sent our hearts up into our
mouths. We listened intently. No
one needed to be told what those shouts
meant.
The huge black hulk lay silent and
motionless. Although the gloom hid
it from us, the near vicinity of the
coast was announced by the roaring Of
the surf, distinctly audible in the death
like stiffness. We could not even
make out the masthcads for the
fog in which they seemed dis
solving. But in the vessels
wake stretched a half-luminous streak
of phosphUrescent foam, until it min
gled with and was lost in the colorless
vapor overhanging the black and tor
pill sea. Down this luminous track,
and into the gloom beyond, our eyes
were strained to discover the secret of
the hour.
How long it was cannot tell, for
minutes seemed hours then but at last
we heard the dip Of oars, and the boat
shot out of the fog within biscuits
toss of the boat | remember that, as
they came alongside, the upturned faces
of the men were CHASTITY and pinched.
One glance showed that the search had
been in vain.
The boat was secured, the huge pad
dies struck the water like clods, the
heavy floating mass swung slowly
round to her helm. But at the instant
we were turning away, awed by the
mystery of this death scene, cry
came out Of the darkness-a yell of
agony and deepest horror--that nailed
uS to the deck. May never hear the
like again. "Save Inc for Gods
sake, save me !" pierced through
and through the stiffness until
a hundred frantic voices seemed
repeating it. The cry was so
near that every eye instinctively turned
to the spot whence it proceeded-so
near that it held all who heard it in
breathless, in sickening suspense. Had
the sea really given up its dead?
Before one might count ten, the boat
was again manned and clear Of the
ship. recollect the figure of the first
officer as he stood erect in the stern
sheets, with the tiller ropes in his
hand, peering into the fog, I can
see the men springing like tigers to
| their work, and the cutter tossing on
the SETTLING brine astern like a chip.
Then the fog shut them from view
again. But never more was that voice
{ heard on land or sea. 1t was the last
t agonizing shrek of returning con-
seriousness, no doubt, as the Pacific
closed over Yankee Jim's head.
At eight bells we assembled around
: the capstan at our captains call, when
e the few poor effects of the lost man