Connecticut western news., 1883-09-19
Rachel Cheal,
THE FAIR MAID OF cHERBURY.

"Only one more voyage, Rachel"
 "Oh, but coffin-ships, Harry! The word haunts me p
 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 outi Then we sha'n't have to start life in debt, lass; every penny O the share in George's boat'H be paid up; an the little craft rom that time for'ard shall keep good thick thatch over our heads, an side O bacon in the kitchen, an pig in the sty-a raal Barkshire, my pretty one P
 The ring of solid comfort in this last allusion momentarily displaces all grue- some thoughts. The rosiest pair of lips m Cherbury are put up trustfully, to be kissed with vigor which only young sailor, due aboard his ship within two heeting hours, is capable of imparting to the salutation. After this there is a delightful pause, while the August sun- shine, Altering it's way between the messy piles of Cherbury Jetty, beneath which the lovers stand, surrounds their figures with golden halo.
 Whats that they tell me about Farm ar Gordon hayin' been so often up at your mothers while I was away, last voyage?" suddenly demands the young sailor. Of course there's nowt ill it, sweetheart; but don't like to hear, as did the other night, the names O Tom Gordon an Rachel Cheal bein' coupled together so free-and- easy hke-although Tom is old enough to be your father"
 For moment Rachel gazes into her iover's face in bewilderment; then, clasp ing his hand in both of hers, leans back against weather-beaten bulkhead. while musical laughter nipples from her rosy lips.
 "Oh but where have your eyes been, Harry, my man?" she asks, as soon as she is able to speak; then she continues, very demurely, "As thou sayest, lad, he is often up at mothers; an he is old enough, an to spare, to be my father; an'-''
 Let him bide, my lass; let him bide. can trust thee with any man of 'em all, interrupts her lover, impetuously, as he hurriedly glances off to the foot oi the lane which leads down to Cherbury Cove. Here be George, an little Jim an your Uncle Humphrey; an that means it's dead low water, an must slip of at once if I'm to make HarwicI this flood. God bless thee, my pretty one v And he holds her to his heart i, a clinging embrace. while stentorial shout for Harry! Harry Ree-e-eed r awakens the echo of the cove.
 Aye, aye, George! aye, aye p cries Harry in response. Then the two lov. CTS emerge from the seclusion of the letty, and join the group on the fore. shore; and, after hurried greeting, Harry puts off with George aud little Jim in the boat to which hopeful allusion has already been made, and slips away before gentle breeze from the north. ward Tn the direction of Harwich liar. Dor. It is not until the little craft has rounded Cherbury Point, and is lost tc view, that Rachels kerchief ceases te dutter in the air, and Rachel herself consents to turn and retrace her steps f, the village.
 The Cheals are family of whicl Cherbury has occasion to feel proud Humphrey, veteran of Her Majesty, Coast Guard, Is man who, holding hi own life cheap, has again and again vol untarily encountered deadly peril at hu manity's call, and is known and respected throughout the whole county. Thougl DOW close upon sixty years of age, h, still holds the onerous post of coxswail of the lifeboat; and if blessings alwayI fell where blessings are due, it is on hi good gray head that they would descent in showers, for many have been calico down by the wives whom he has savet from widowhood. Slowed away in 1 locker in his trim little cottage on tn, North Down, and only visible on cere monial occasions, are two medals tn, Humane Society's and the Albert: ant other decorations would be his besides were 1t not that he is as modest as he il brave, and holds that saving fellow creature's life is a duty, and not-to us, his own words an affair to go and mak, fuss about.
 Humphrey Cheal has two sons George. the elder, Harry Reeds bosom friend and partner. stalwart young fel low on whom the Honorable Society o the Elder Brethren of Trinity Hous have already conferred the certificate fo pilotage duty in the Estuary; and littl Jlm, the younger, blue-eyed urchin C fourteen, who can handle oar or tile with any lad of his age and weight in tn village. It had been somewhat tende point with Humphrey, in his earlier life that his family had numbered no daugh ter; but this sufficiency had since bee supplied, his sister-in-law Rachel now alas 8 widow-having brought into th