Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-07
THE OLD LIGHTHOUSE KEEP
ER'S STORY.
Ezpress GGseff'


the United States Coast Survey, who, to-
z ether with his private Secretary, was
? ecently drowned OF Mosquito Inlet,
Fla. calls up a chapter Of memory, the
recital Of which may not be uninterest-
ng.
The lighthouse at Mosquito Inlet is
built Of COquina, a species OF coral fOrma-
on. and stands at the end Of a low, Fat
prOmOntOry jutting out from the island
which lies between the Indian river and
the Atlantic. Ordinarily this prOmOntOry
is dry and covered over with snOw-white
and, but during storm the sea breaks
over il, completely submeTging il, and
the lighthouse looks like mere speck
out in the ocean.
On bright January morning some six
years ago l was rambling about on this
D rOmOntOry. and, with the curiosity
natural 10 a land lubber, l made my way
to the lighthouse, mounted to the little
six-fOOt square room at the top OF it, and
began plying the old lighthouse keeper
with questions. He was quite as willing
10 talk as / was TO listen, and while !
gaZed out over the imitless expanse OF
water and listened to the lazy sWash Of
the waves as they chased each other
along the beach, he told me the following
strange story:
Said he: Nancy and had been mar
Tied nearly twenty-seYen years, and had
AHEA al AAaN AAl4E eUAAlAEN anu hlQuE III
the little cabin YOU see yOnder through the
trees. We had passed the prime Of life,
and / was beginning TO think we would
have 70 finish the journey alone. when the
Lord took pity on US and gave Us our
little Marine to gladden. our old hearts. /
wanted 10 name her Nancy, for her
mother. but a day OF two after she was
born a grand Spanish lady, Donna Cas-
tina, whose husband owned big sugar
plantation Just above here on the river,
stopped At our house. When she found
out We had new baby you never saw
woman carry on as she did. She would
not have been any more delighted if she
had discovered a gold mine. She had
never had any children, and it looked
like she had set her heart on taking ours
away from US. She sent her servants on
up 70 the plantation and stayed at our
cabin two or three days begging us for
that baby. She promised that she would
take her back 70 Havana with her; have
her educated at the best schools; marry
her 70 some great Spanish gTandee, and
will her all her wealth when she died.
But 1t was Of no use. 1 would not have
parted with that baby for all the money
in Cuba. When she saw she could not
beg, borrow nor buy it, she asked the
privilege Of naming il. She seemed so in
love with the little thing that we could
not refuse, so she had her chTistened
Marine. That is how she came to have
such an odd name. 1t seemed to me as
Marine grew older that the orange
blossoms were sweeter. the mOcking-
birds sang prettier, and the flowers were
thicker and brighter every day. Nancy
looked young again, and the whole
world seemed happier.
"The pTettiest picture ever saw was
that little sun-burnt face, with the curly
b air and big blue eyes. peeping at me
NhwnTTErn tho az I no hQr1l-
rom the beach. When she was s years
old she could swim like shark and dive
like an otter. She could handle a boat
ike an old salt and knew how to tack
and steer as well as 1 did. When a storm
came on she was in her glory. The
wilder the storm the greater her glee:
the shTiller the wind Whlstled the louder
would she laugh and sing. men a bic
wave would break over the .Joat and wet
her from head to foot. sne would shake
out her curls like dog trundling him
self, and seem TO Re in the seventh heaven
Of happiness. When a minute gun was
Tired by Vessel in distress her little ears
were TIE first to hear it. When there
was a wreck she was first to man the
boats, She seemed to be a born mermaid
and was never happy unless she was,
about the water. This was a source Of
great uneasiness to US, especially to her
mother. who wanted her to stay in the
house and learn TO read and sew. We
were constantly alarmed lest an alligator
should seize her and carry her into the
water. or lest one of the immense sharks,
Of which the river was full, should make
q meal Of her. Nothing made her so
angry as to see any one kill a shark for
amusement. She seemed to look upon
these vOraciOus man-eating monsters as
playmates. 1t was her delight to sail
along with a whole school Of them follow
Ing in her wake, dashing hitler and
tbither after the bits of bread and meat
she would throw to them, until the river
was dashed into a foam and she was wet
from head to foot with the spray they
dashed over her. She never tired talking
Of the day when the fairy fish would come
and take her to visit the coral caves at
the bottom of the ocean. We thought as
she grew older she would outgrOw this
passion. but it was Just the reverse. The
older she got the more welded she became
to the sea. Our fears for her safety began
also to subside, and we finally came to
the conclusion, after many almost miracu-
lous escapes. that she bore a charmed
life. She always claimed that neither
the sea nor any of its inhabitants would
do her any harm, and we had gotten to
believe it.
ssIt was in her twelfth year, about
Sept. %. that went over one evening to
light the lamps. 1t was nearly sunset,
and l was in a hurry, for you know we
don't have any twilight here. When the
sun goes down il is just like blowing out
a candle-all dark at once-unless the
moon happens to be shining. 1t was as
pretty an evening as / ever saw. The
sea was as smooth as glass. The air was
so still that the chucking Of the oars in
the Oar-locks sounded like the strokes of a
sledge hammer. Even the mOcking-b bird
had hushed his song, and the long slant
ing rays Of the sun had died out so you
could not tell where the sky and ocean
met. ! ran the PROV of my boat well upon
the beach, and, not stopping to secure it,,
assembled the lighthouse. l had lit the
lamps and was about putting the refec-
tor in place when a squall struck me that
nearly took me OFF my feet. My boat was
the first thing / thought OF, and L CROPPED
nv wav down the steps as fast as l could !;
but was too late, for when l reached the
beach the boat was gone, and, although l
Turned and ran back as fast a. l could, it
was all l could do to keep out of reach of
the waves that followed. l reached the
tower again and was soon out of reach of
the waters, but it was no very comfortable
thought TO know that / was prison until
tide went out next day, or even longer, If
the storm did not subside.
u never saw a storm come up so sud-
denly. nor did l ever see a harder one.
But hard blow is soon over, the sailors
say. and l tucked myself in for the night,
thinking that everything would be all
right in the morning.
Il had not selpt long before l awOke
with a start. / saw Marine as plain as
ever saw anything in my life, kneeling at
her mothers knee, begging her to let her
come 10 me. 2 heard her pleading that
my boat was lost; that my water jug was
empty: that my food was gone, and that
was suffering with hunger and thirst. /
saw her mother refuse her, telling her of
the madness of such an attempt, and
sent her to bed, assuring her that would
come out all right. l saw her go TO ted
and lie quietly until her mother was
asleep. Then l saw her get up and I'LL a
Jug with fresh water; then she went to
the cupboard and got a supply Of meat
and bread, wrapped them IN a gum blan-
ket. and stole softly out Of the house and
made her way through the inky darkness
and driving rain to the beach. l saw
her leap into the boat. My GOdl the
dream was too frightful. l jumped from
my cot and tried to divest myself of the
horrible nightmare. But, like BanquO's
ghost. it would not down. All through
the night. though wide awake, l could
81. e. FIJI oF Ct.