Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-10-25


suddenness that was startling; the wind
was entirely luled, and no evidence of it's
fury remained except the long swelling
pillows of the sea-the deep aftersighs Of
its mighty passion.
The sudden sti{ling 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 eyes upon
him, and said calmly:
Captain, am dying"
~ hope not, my dear sir; this dreadful
gale has weakened you. 1t is all over now,
and you will soon be better"
"No, Captain," he repeated, 81 am dy-
ing! The tempest, | know is over, 50 is
that other tempest in my breast This
ship has long been tossed and beaten about
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-he has long been
in the grave-but have forgiven him"
My grandfather thought he was delirious;
but second look at the deep intelligence
features forbade the conclusion. He gazed
at him moment with mingled compassion
and curiosity, anxious to learn something
of history, the closing scene of which was
so dark and mysterious, but unwilling to
ask it. His'look was interpreted, and the
stranger continued:
II told you I was a sailor. Of thirty
five years have not spent one upon the
land. But this was not my choice. Like
ship, Captain, my supports were knocked
from under me, and | was launched upon
the ocean. Ny father was an English mer-
chant in Cadiz, extensively engaged in
navigation. He lavishly provided for my
education. Having traversed the halls of
science, left Oxford and returned to Spain
at the age of twenty. This first year of
my freedom from school | spent in ramb-
ling over the mountains of that enchanted
country. In a deep inland dell, shut out
from the world, where the earth was al
ways green and the sky always blue, l met,
one day, beautiful young shepherdess-
and loved her.
81 will not describe her charms, Captain,
for you have been young, and heart that
has loved needs not to be told that to the
eye of true affection it's object has no defects.
it not. had a lifelong secret afterward
which he never learned! He came to me
one morning, smiled, and said:
"'My son, do you want to go to Cuba"
II eagerly answered in the affirmative;
for it had been cherished but hitherto for
hidden passion with me to travel.
"'One of my vessels sails tomorrow" he
said, and you may 60.
isThis short interview allowed me no
time to bid farewell to my shepherdess, who
was fifty miles distant, nor even to inform
her of my departure, but said aloud: "pll
soon be back" and many other consultations
T 10 tho, nxyf In1 yxIypi q
bounding over the Atlantic.
''The ship arrived in good time at Ha-
vana, discharged her cargo, reloaded, and
sailed for-Calcutta 1 was a prisoner on
my fathers ship! and for five long years
| was kept from home-aS if all the waters
of the ocean could wash out my love!
81 escaped at length from the prison ship,
while lying at Rio, and took passage in
French bark for the Guadalquiver. No cir
cumnavigation of the globe was ever. so
long as that voyage. / strained my eyes
every day watching for Gibraltar, which
I knew was thousands Of miles off; and
every night dreamed Of mOutain rlvulets,
snow flocks, and Ina.
"Arriving at last at Seville, I hastened
over the Nevada, and sought the sunny
dell where my affections had so long nest
led, and there found that the idol of my
herd she had been told that l had de-
serted her, and afterward that was dead.
I did not weep, for my heart was turned
to stone. My father said l, shall never
know of his victoryn 1 did not 60 to see
him; it was wicked, 1 know, but burning
with the spirit of revenge, l turned again
to the sea, and never saw him more. am
faint, Captain, and can't prolong my tale.
In six months was master OF fast sailing
vessel-you have seen that vessel, Captain,
but never in port, and | have often seen
you, and knew your name twenty years
ago But no matter about that. My father
continued to freight his ships and send
them to different parts of the World-but he
never knew that l superintendent large
part of his'business, and that many of his
cargoes found sale in ports to which they
had never been consigned. His agents
sometimes failed to report.
81 have said enough, Captain; before to-
morrow's sun sets | shall be in the caverns
of the deep. But | have forgiven him,
and do not complain. l have a fortune in
the Bank of England, but with it is deposi-
ted a will, and the orphan son of Ina is
my heir. You have been kind to me,
Captain, and in token of gratitude | beg
YOU to accept my watch and cutlass, and
this paper, which you will carefully pre-
serve" So saying, he held out a folded
scrap of paper, which my grandfather put
in his pocket.
Morning dawned, but the strangers eyes
did not open upon it-they were closed
forever. In the afternoon the "Burial Ser
vice at Sea-" that most solemn of sea scenes,
was performed-and the shrouded body Of
the pirate, with gentle plunge, broke the
CLASSY surface of the ocean, and sank swift
ly to the mysterious depth.
1t was many hours atterward that my
grandfather bethought himself of the pa
per in his pocket. He opened it and read
as follows:
Captain Lane: On the eastern point Of
Nantucket, at high water mark, is tall,
from that cliff is large, round stone, and
near the stone Il thorn bush. That bush
grows in Il very rich soil"
The duties of his station kept my grand
father long time abroad, and when he was
in Boston about three years atterWard, and
having few days ofleisure, he was thinking
about acting upon the hint of the enigmat-
ical paper, when his eye happend to fall on
the following paragraph in the old Boston
Messenger:
WoSpERFUL DIScovERY.--As Mr.. John Rog-
ers was breaking piece Of pasture ground Oh
the east shore Of Nantucket about Il month ago,
his ploughshare turned up a stout thornbush,
sticking to the roots of which Mr. Rogers sped
several Spanish dollars. Upon this he went to
digging Justify, and did not give up till he had
hauled out coins, chiefly spanish doublOons, of
more than S23 900 value. No doubt it was burieI
bv Captain Md or some of his pirate kin.
"No doubt" thought my grandfather, as
he put down the paper with slight ner-
vousness. In q week he was again facing
the storms of the ocean, enriching his en-
ployers by his skill and toll, till inflrmities