Connecticut western news., 1884-12-31
HE LIGHT HOUSE KEEPER
\ sroRY oF THE gEA.


 s'The fog ia as thick as ever, father" ssYes. but ib won't last. Lizzie. The glass Is steadily falling, aud we shall bave plenty of wind ere long, most like Y fromsthe southeast.
 That's fair wind for the Gannet, |" zolilpquized Li4zie, half aloud, as her fhoughts wandered off to her sailor lover, Archie Lowell, who-after years Ahseuce-was dnily expected in New Yosk
 sAh, Archie has forgotten you long 8xe this. said ths fond father, to tease hla daughter, who only laughed and rstraated into the clearer atmosphere of Ehe single but small and cosy upper apartment ef the lofty lighthouse.
 Before following har to ascend to the lamp room to light up for the night, Richard Lee stood for moment on the nArrow iron balcony that surrounded Ehs tower, to observe the weather. He cOuld not see far-sc srcely to the mid dle of tae narrow anl 'tapering erection. The pinnaclsd r6ck on which it was built, fully hundred and twenty feet below. was invissbleE Nor could he srsce the other r6cks of the ledge of which it. was the termination, that atratched thence to the, coast of New England, half mile distant. The fog blond in which they were enveloped, extended for miles aiaher way, and far 0nf at sea
 The lighthouse had been erected to warn vessels about to round an adjacent sharp bend of the coast, to avoid the >aangerous rocks on which disastrous wrechs were frequent.
 5es had dbssn keeper ,f this lighthouse gortwenty years. He had received the appointment only on the proyiso of his marriage. This accomplished, for his application for the position had been made solely to provide 8 home for wife. he settled down to the monotonous life of night watehman. But love soft ened it's sameness and tedium. For Mary was one of those genial and happy natures that look rather to the dark side 0f life. and shed the sunshine of their oWn heart on everything and everybody with whom they come in contact. Her home was small, but she made it happy. Her sphere of duty was limited, but she A1led it to perfection. Lees choice of a wife--a aseIection not always or altogether lottery, proved to be in every way wise and discriminating. Itwas neither hastily made nor hurriedly consum- mated.
 Theirsnutual happiness was increased, If that were possible, by Lizzie's birth, two years after. And their life flowed on for eight years as uneventfully and nnvarying as the currents of the ocean sn whose bosom they lived. For the nnccess of his light house, placed there as an experiment., had been complete. No disaster had occurred since its light had warned the navigators away from tho dangerous rocks on which it stood. Lees duties were merely routine and raechanicai; tq keep the light clear and bright, and occasionally go for thei, periodic supply of provisions; but never
 
 rastaways on tho iron bound coast.
 But, then, bis household sky became uvercast. To his intense grief, Mary died suddenly of long latent malady leaving her husband alone with his lit tse girl And 1t was we'll that he had her to soften bis sorrow with her inno ss zs-ss i,FFsstssle and winning ways.
 
 Lizzie assembled her mother much, especially in her happy disposition soon supplied her place in her fathers small establishment, and became at necessary a companion 10 him. Borr and brought up in thu lighthouse. she knew little Of n1aaAkind or of the great sagion beyond Ter o4ea little world. Sht had never landed or been, out of tht lighthouse until two years ago, wher she paid a short visit to her aunt, anG 6rst met Archie Lowell, and, ike him self, fell in love. Trusting, guileless sad acquainted with little else than hel fathers and mothers uprightness O Character. she knew nothing of tn worlds deceit and uncertainty, and be saieyed as firmly in Archie's constancy 8 she did in her own; so that her father remark created no suspicion or jealous. ln her bosom,
 The light had long been lit; an' Lizzie had retired to bed. Lee was bus. about his nocturnal duties, when fierce squall broke in on the serenity c the night and carried the fog of an away inland. The heavy gust wa merely the prelude to 8 series of heavie & winds. which at last became continuou and increased to the fury of a gale which even shook the lighthouse in al &fs strength, and woke Lizzie, accue fomed as she was to the roar of rougl seas and fierce blasts. The fog ha. lifted, but the sky was overcast and th 5night was intensely dark.
 sIizzie,' cried Lee. after a time 'sBet up, girl There's brig trying t, <ound the lighthouse, and doubt