Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1883-04-26

patient, and Ralph had risen from hit
light supper and was turning to go ait.
er her, when Captain Waite laid his
hand. on his arm with a strong, nervous
grip:
'.See here!I want to know who she is,
E-quickn' he .blurted out, land don
tell any long yarns, but come right to
the point
lit is very long and complicated
story. but | suppose her real ,ame is
| Viola Montford-or ought to be; l am
not sure her mother was married, but
believe she was,'' Ralph replied,
quickly.
"And was she wrecked in the Lie
Brun eight years ago. Off the New En-
gland coast, in Il gale? and was her
mother name Genevieve Mallard?" he
cried, brea.hlessly. tightening his grip
on Ralph's arm.
Eyes. Good Heavens! you are no.
the Captain Waite who commanded
her?' Ralph was white as death now,
and his eyes were black with excitement.
''He was lost?' he added.
"No he WASH t-don' | know?" cried
the Captain. Historically; aren't he9
Do you want any better proof, young
man? If you do you can ask the Bre-
men vessel that picked me up forty
eight hours afterward, out at sea. I
! might as well ha' been dead. though, for
all knew then, or for six weeks after
wards, however.
"But look here, young man. sinking
his voice, and speaking in sort OF
| abashed, reverential way: ''Do you be-
lieve in Providence?-I mean a special
Providence, such as ministers preach
about? You see | lever thought much
about such things. butt don't know;
now listen: l knew this girl-this
Genevieve Mallard-nigh twenty years
ago, in Paris. She lived with some sort
of cousin, believe. and this cousin
sent heavy c0nsignments of laces and
velvets to different parts of the world
in my ship. When ] went to his house,
as d d several times. saw this girl. |
never saw her again until the day be-
fore the lie Brun left home. Then she
came on board my ship to take passage
for Boston, Mass. An old negro had
engaged the passage for a lady and
child three or four days before. but J.
had no thought it was her, 1 knew her,
however. the minute l put my eyes on
her, and told her SO. She colored up,
but she seemed pleased, and said she
lldu Hefct lolSOtteu uc, anu was ittu
it was my ship she was going in. But
when the blush died out of her face. [
noticed how thin and i'll she looked,
and it made me feel sober. she used to
be SO bright and pretty. didn't ask
her if she was a widow. but l noticed
her name on the ships books was Gen
evieve Mallard. just as it had always
been, and [ thought, poor child. per-
haps she has been betrayed and ruined,
and so l said nothing, but tried to be
Just as gentle and delicate like as l
could towards her. Well, when the
storm came on | determined to save
her and the girl remember now that
her name tcds Viola, and that called
her Violet-but, Lord! nobody could do
anything towards saving themselves in
such a gale and with such sea on,
and when the ma ;nmast snapped off,
and came crashing upon the deck, /
was washed off into the boiling surf,
and that was the last i saw of the Lo
Brun or anybody that was on board of
her. | didn't return to shore for two
years. and then heard by the way of La
Noir-who was ON shore and so was
saved-that every one who was on the
ship was lost, and the woman and child
were washed ashore and picked up, but
were dead, or died soon after, he wasn't
quite sure which.
fro RE CONTINITED