Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1883-09-13


urchin of fourteen, who can handle
oar or tiller with any lad of his age
and weight in the village. 1t had been
a somewhat tender point with Hum
phrey, in his earlier life, that his fam
lily had no daughter; but this deficiency
had since been supplied, his sister-in-
law Rachel-now, alasl a widow
having brought into the world a little
Rachel, who in due course had grown
to be the very apple of her uncle's eye.
To her, the most loyable maid in all
Cherbury, the gentle reader has already
been introduced under the jetty.
"'Tis cruel, cruel task, is partingl'
she sighs, as she wends her way up the
lane by Humphreys side; and 'twould
break my heart, uncle, if this voyage
was not Harry's lastr'
Fright you be, my bonny lamb,
right you be- Parting is heavy busi-
ness at best, an that's Bible TRUTH
assents Humphrey. "But then, you
know, we mustn't take on when we're
right in sight O port, SO to speak," he
continues in more CHEEKY tone.
"Why, bless my heart, 1 shouldn't feel
bit surprised if you were to anchor
up there an tell me, as pert as mebbe,
that Harry had gone and bespoke
Sheldrake's cottages afore he started.
"Aye, bless the ladl that he did,
uncle; bespoke the cottage" Her
eyes beam softly over tile retrospect,
and the smile is lost.
"Pm main glad to hear it, my lass, "
comments Humphrey, thoughtfully;
"for there's no denyin' that I'd wish
to see thee settled all comfortable if so
be that any other change in the family
is to come about. I've heard folks
talkin' deal O. late, my dear; couplin'
your mothers name with that O
Farmer Gordon"
"A merry laugh issues spontaneously
from Rachels lips. His very words,
uncle; Harry's very wordsl Heard
folks couplin' Rachel CheaPs name WI
that O. Tom Gordonl But the queer
part O. the tale is, my bonny lad
thought that Rachel Cheal was me,
uncle-me, an not mother And
over the recollection she laughs the
tears back into her eyes.
Humphrey laughs too; and thus,
laughing and chatting, the old coast
guardsman and the maid Rachel make
their way out OF the lane and dis
appear in the direction Of the little
cottage on the North Down.
Meanwhile, Rachels lover has
reached Harwich harbor and joined his
ship, the coasting- brig Aud Reekie,
which sets sail on the morrow morn
for the port of Aberdeen. W 18th fair
breezes from the south and west sh
makes good run Of it, loads her cargo
Of granite, and again quits port. By
this time the summer has waned, and
the period of the autumn equinox is at
hand. At sunrise on the fourth day
Of her homeward voyage the brig
encounters strong head winds from
the southeast; before sunset it is blow
ing half a gale, and an hour afterward
with her foresail in ribbons and her
foreyard in splinters-she has put
about, and is making alast blind effort
to run for the mouth of the Tees.
A grim object, to the seafaring eye,
is the Aud Reekie. For five-and-forty
years, fair weather and foul, she had
been knocking up and down the east
coast of Great Britain in search of
a livelihood-now carrying wood, now
coal, now stone and a storm-beaten
patched-up, unseaworthy old hulk she
looks. through all her three coats of
paint. To catch sight of the line
where now the Plimsoll mark would
be, the observer, it was averred, would
have to station himself couple of
boat's-lengths off her weather beam !;
and even then it would be neces-
sary for a good stiff breeze to lay
her over at an angle of forty-fve
degrees to her headline. before his Gu
riosity could be assuaged. Such is the
vessel in which Harry Reed has
shipped as mate, and which-with her
foremast gone by the board, her 250
tons dead weight of granite shifting in
her hole, and her rotten sails blown to
rags-is staggering along in the inky
darkness before the awful fury of the
equinox. Like many another coffin
ship before her she is allowed short
shrift. In a few minutes terrific sea
eager as it were to put her out Of
her misery-takes her on the counter
and makesa clean sweep Of deck and
at the same moment she reels, shudders
and finally plunges down headlong
into the yawning gulf which opens to
receive her.
And Harry Reed? In this instance
vigorous young life, sustained by
might Of purpose, does not succumb
quite so readily as rotten old timber
For two nights and two days awful
privation and suffering are his but
at length-numted, bruised, lacerated,
and with the deathstupor stealing
upon him-he is observed and picked
up by an outwaTd-bound vessel
In due course he RECEIVERS, and en-