The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-11-27

overcrowded boat in that sea, and
sprang for the rigging. 1 was not a
second too soon; a score of others fol-
lowed my example, and with my prec-
ious burden I should not have had a
| chance two minutes later. AS it was,
| scrambled to the topmast. and got a
firm hold there. Winny was just COM
ing to herself. / had wrapped her
round like baby in the fur cloak, and
with my teeth opened my knife to
| cut a rope which hung loos within my
reach. With this 1 lashed her to me,
and fastened US both to the top-mast.
| The ship sank gradually: she id not
keel over, or should not be telling
| YOU the story now; she settled down
| Just her deck above water, but the
great seas swept over it ever:
i second and swept it clean. The boat
had gone!
One or two floating on loose spars.
were picked up aftetwards-no more.
The rigging was pretty full, at least in
| the upper part; down below the sea
was too st ong. The captain was near
| me. L felt glad to think he had been
sayed-he was not a coward like some
/ of the others.
How long was the LONGEST night you
ever knew? Multiply that by thou
sand, and you will have some idea of
that night length. The cold was
| awful. The spray froze on the sheets
as it fell; the yards ware slippery with
c.. / stamped on Wlnny's feet to
| keep them from freezing. Did you no
tee that limp a little, I shall walk
lame as long as 1 1--we. Sometimes
there was a splash in the black water
below, as some poor fellows st:fened
hold relaxed, and he fell from his
place in the rigging. There was not a
breath of wind, nothing but the bitter,
bitter fog. How long could we hold
! out? Where were we? How long
would the sh p last before she broke
up? Would it be by drowning or
free ing? We asked ourselves again
and again, hut there was no answer.
Death stared us in the face; we seem
ed to live ages of agony every minute
and yet. will you believe me, that
all seemed little in comparison to the
| thought that after all the struggles
and the SORROWS, after all those ten
long weary years, held my girl in
my arms at last!
| She pulled one corner of the cloak
around my neck q stood on level
just below her), and her hand laid
! there with lit was the hand that
warmed me more than the cloak-and
her cheek rested against my own. Of
/ ten 1 thought its eoldness was the
GOODNESS of death, and almost
exulted in the thought that we
should die together. And then |
would catch the murmur of the prayers
| she was utter.ng for us both, and
| know that life was there still, and
hope we'd too.
Well, we'll! Why should dwell on
such horrors, except to thank the
mercy that brought us through them
all? Dav dawned at last; and there
| was the shore near by, and soon rock
cts were fired. and ropes secured, and
! one by one the half-dead living were
drawn from their awful suspension be-
| tween skv and sea, and landed safe on
shore. They had to take Winny and
me together, just as we were, and
even then they had hard work to un-
| do the clasp of my stiffened arms about
| her. 1 knew nothing then, nor for
long after; and it is wonderful that
W nnv was the first to recover, and
., it was she who nursed me back to
and reason.
-. d how did ask her to marry me?
pom my word, now YOU ask. l can
remember that | ever did. That SEEM
ed utterly unnecessary, somehow.
Caste distinctions look small enough
when you have been staring death in
the face for few hours; and words
were not much needed after we had
been together in the rigging over that
night. Somehow | was glad it was SO.
glad my girl had taken me-. in my cap
and Jersey, for a common sailor, and
yet loved the old Dick through it all;
glad she never dreamed l was owner
of Indian Creek farm. and the richest
man in that end of Ontario, and had
wealth and pos ton higher than Mr..
Lotus, the Young squire at home. The
people she was with had all gone down
on that aw full n ight: she had no one in
the world but me. We were married
at Montrael-the captain of the Ant
arctic gave her away-and then |
brought her home to Ind an Creek. To
see her face when she saw the rocking
cha +, and the work basket and the
tn mble Heaven bless her!
There she comes, with her baby on
her shoulder. Come in to dinner,
friend, and you shall see the sweetest
wife in the new country, or the old;
the girl l won amid the ocean surges.
A Pioneer Of Pioneers.