Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1883-10-22

weather had swiftly matured.
During the storm the duties of the
captain were so urgent that he could
only make snatched and hasty visits
to the sick man; and although they
could have been spared from their
quarters, he could have hoped for lit
tie aid or sympathy from any of the
crew, who, with the easy tendency to
the superstious peculiar to their class,
had associated his presence with the
perils of the ship.
It would have required but slight
encouragement from their officers to
induce them to pay the same compli-
ment that the sailors of Joppa paid
to Jonah, on similar occasion when
''The sea wrought and was tempes-
tuous." ---~---------
But on the tenth night, just as the
captain was ready to answer a sum-
mons to visit the sick mans berth,
the storm ceased with a suddenness
that was startling; the wind was en-
tirely lulled; and no evidence of its
fury remained except the long swell
ing pillows of the seattle deep af-
ter-sighs of its mighty passion.
The sudden stilling of the tempest,
and the mournful creaking of the
spars, now audible for the first time
for many days forced a shade of
melancholy over my grandfather's
spirits, as he FASTENED down the
gangway at the call of the stranger.
AS he seated himself beside the
berth, the sick man fixed his brilliant
eye upon him, and said, calmly;
Captain, am DYING"
81 hope not, my dear sir: this
dreadful gale has weakened you. 1t
is over now, and you will soon be
! better"
''No, captain" he repeated, 81
am dying! The tempest, know, is
over, so is that other tempest in my
breast This ship has long been
tossed and beaten by the fury of the
waves, but it has been sunshine and
calm compared with that tempest,
captain But it is all over now-for
| have forgiven him-for he has long
been in the grave-but [ have for
given him p
My grandfather thought he was
delirious, but a second look at the
deep intelligence of his eye, and the
smiling calmness of his features for
bade the conclusion. He gazed at
him moment with mingled compass
sion and curiosity, anxious to learn
something of history the closing
scene of which was so dark and mys-
terious, but was unwilling to ask it.
His look was interpreted, and the
stranger continued
81 told you / was a sailor. Of
thirty-five years l have not spent one
upon the land. But this was not my
choice. Like ship, captain, my
supports were knocked from under
me, and l was launched upon the
ocean. My father was an English
merchant in Cadiz, extensively en-
gagged in navigation. Having trav-
ersed the halls of science, | left Ok
ford and returned to Spain at the age
of twenty. The first year of my
freedom from school spent in rambl-
ing over the mountains of that en-
chanted country. In deep island
dell, shut out from the world, where
the earth was always green and the
sky always blue, | met, one day, q
beautiful young shepherdess- low
ed her.
l will not describe her charms, cap
tain, for you have been young, and q
heart that has loved needs not to be
told that to the eye of true affection
its object has no defects.
My father learned my secret-but
/ knew it not. / had lifelong Sc
cret afterwards which he never
learned! He came to me one morn
ing, smiled, and said:
MY son, do you want to go to
Cuba?'
l eagerly answered in the affirma-
tive; for it had been a cherished, but
hitherto forbidden passion with me
to travel.
'One of my vessels sails to-mor-
row. he said, land you may go.
This short interval allowed me no
time to bid farewell to my shepherd
ess, who was fifty miles distant, nor
to inform her of my departure
but | said, aloud: 'Pll soon be back,
and many other consultations / whis-
pered to my heart the next day while
bounding over the Atlantic.
The ship arrived in good time at
Havana, discharged her cargo, re-
loaded and sailed for-Cdlcutta!
acas a prisoner on my fathers ship
and for five long years 1 was kept
from home-as if all the waters of
the ocean could wash out my love!
I escaped at length from the pris-
on ship, while lying at Rio. and took
passage in a French bark for the
Guadalquiver. No circumnavigation
of the globe was ever so long as that
voyage, | strained my eyes every
day watching for Gibraltar, which l
knew was thousands of miles off and
| every niOht 7 dreamed of mountain