The DeSmet leader. (DeSmet, Kingsbury Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-03-24
STORY OF A STRAWBERRY.

STORY OF A STRAWBERRY.
The following story a. related by Fred : Coggens
in the y y. Ledger several years since, l. almost
the exact experience of Two brothers and Is anoth
en- yeTitiCHtion %! the oil adagr tnat 'truth i,
stranger than fiction
Many, many years ago, two little
boys were walking hand in hand
through the streets Of Mobile. Their
names were Robert and Richard
Christy. Robert had arrived a, the
ripe age OF seven, and Richard
had just completed his ffth year.
Two little bIack-eyed, bright eyed,
rosy-cheel>cd boys, dressed in mourn
ing, walking hand in hand in front of
II melancholy man, who wore the
weeds OF widowhOod, and who was
their father. On their mothers side
they were orphans. Mother had died
a month before in New Orleans "of
the fever" Father was stranger in
the south; he had sustained severe
losses and discOuragemcnts in New
York, and pat all the remnants OF his
fortune, his household furniture and
stock in n little schooner which be-
longcd to him. With this schooner
he coastcd to New Orlean. in search
of some profitable employment. Alas!
the pcsticnt scourgc of the south had
driven him from that thriving city,
and the schooner, with all his fortune
embarked, was now ying at one Ithc
wharvcs OF Mobile The cabin Of
that little vessel was dcsolate. She
who had given lie and hope and
chccriulncsS to the little cabin
during the stormy outside yoy-
age, was no longer its inmate. .An
alien cemetery enclosed her remains.
So with that longing desire To be
near by the beloved form of her who
had been the solacr, indeed the idol
OF his life; in spite OF the many
tempting opening, for business that
the then healthy city of Mobile pre-
scnted; III very spite of an awakening
new fortune--hc determined To re-
turn to the pcst!Icncc-snitten city,
that he might be near her. so he
took his two boys ON board again
and directed the skipper to hoist sail
once more. Bat even during this
preparation certain feeling of lrres-
olut,on came over Mr.. Cristy, such as
often unhappily beset those who, de-
teatcd and balllcd in fixed purpose,
vicld to the influence of dependency.
He took his oldest boy by the hand
and stedpcd Oh shore again. He
walked listlesslv up the street as if to
pass away the time while the vessel
wa, getting under way. The wind
was ireshcning, and yet he walked
away from the wharf. He even went
into store to make some triillng
purchases. The afternoon was dark,
and even cold, for that season, the
wind captous, squally, and finally it
came on TO blow hard from the east.
He made up his mind not to sail that
evening, but when he returned to the
wharf the schooner was no longer
there. lie saw her gIstcning sail
against stormy SKY far down the
bay, westward bound. He watched
her until she became mere spcck
on the edge of the tempestuous
waters, and then she vanished from
lis sight.
Never to that father will that child
be rcstored--never, never; yet
strange as it may seem, we may fol-
low his various fortunes for nearly
thirty years, until once more the
brothers are reunited. The simple
narrative, as | heard it some years
after the meeting of the two brothers,
was from Richard, the younger, who
had been carried off III the storm, as
related. will tell it as he told it to
me.
u can scarcely account for it, he
said. how | can remember so well
now what happened to me when !
was only FIVE years Of age, but some
things did impress themselves upon
my mind then in Il wonderful man
ner and are as vivid now as If they
had happened only yesterday. | re-
member the name of the town Of Mo-
bile: that | was carried away in the
vessel, and that cried bitterly; that
| was put to bed, and that | got out
of my berth and found my way on
deck, and while | was crying for my
father, that great rough captain took
me up and holding me over the side
of the vessel so that almost touched
the dark water sworc that If l did
not call him father that he would
brow me overheard My father had
a trunk in the cabin, in which were
his clothes and other articles, among
the rest gold repeating watch.
When we reached New Orleans, he
(the captain) dressed himself in my
fathers clothes to go to shore, and