Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-05-22

around the long table. c%,os ellN $3.50 VI oaG -
pairs, each with his throat os nss iasi t.an =
id da1 20 ear! And there were fair and
snanaa slr1s among them tooEnone
hppa one! And the fiends who
sau aone his deed had attempted to
scuIele the ship, that she might sink,
a1!u carry all evidence of the awful
cLlhe TO the bottom of the sea. to ioin
.ne sao llst OF vessels that are posted as
missing. none know how or where.
But Providence willed it otherwise.
wei, as l say, it was this ctory that
was IN the minds and mouths of ali as
we gathered first around the table in
the Alfred's saloon, and the weaker ex-
pressed strong ~apprehensions of a
similar fate Detailing us on our
lonely voyage; and some who
were strong of heart tried to
laugh down the notion; and Others wen
made as If they would desire such q
meeting. that they might wreak ven
geance upon such demons. Our GOOD
lie.e Iapta!n said nothing, or at any
rate u little; but, as we afterward
found. he made every inquiry that was
possible as to the appearance, size,
armament and habitat of the pirate
ship to which this deed was ascribed.
Then we sailed; and for the first time /
experienced the delic Gus pleasure of
sweeping down Channel with a fresh
n fair wind, the English coast spread
ing out before us from the Foreland to
the Start. us we rushed along hour after
hour, bright sun overhead. tight little
ship underfoot, young blood in my
veins, and all the world before me.
What wonder, then, that ere we were
clear of the Channel the ghastly mys-
terry of the Morning Star Was pretty
nearly erased from my memory, crowd
ed out by the thousand new sensations
consequent upon this new departure in
my life.
Gail went we'll with us; no hurricane
came down to drive us struggling in
the Wild whirl of wators; the Wind was
not always fair, nor the sky always
bright. but the monotonyof the voyage
was disturbed bynomenace of disaster.
At last a day came when our little Cap
tain at breakfast announced to us that
If the wind held fair and strong, we
might hope to reach our destination in
another torty-eight hours; and to us,
more than satisfied as we were with
our experience of the sea. weary of be-
ing cooped up in so small a vessel, and
full of eager desire to see the wonders
of the foreign land. the announcement
was delightful: and often and anxiously
did we pop up from below and cast
a glance around to see ii the wind still
held fair. On one of these occasions,
when l had for the twentieth time in
the last hour put my head up the hatch
way to see if all was we'll, l noticed the
skipper standing aft with his glass to
his eye looking long and hard at some
distant object; and following the direc-
.tion of his telescope, I saw a speck
which could be nothing else but a ship.
"'Hillo! Captain said l, "a stranger
in sight?'
eyes sad he, quietly; she is COM
ing up with us fast. She must be bring
ing up a breeze with her, or we are
running out of the wind, which she still
holds. A short tine ago, we could
only see her topsails, and now her hull
is rising. Take a look at her. as he
handed the glass to ME.
II looked. She seemed q small BRIG
or brigantine, with very square yards,
and she was. as he said, overhaul ng rs
fast; but other than that I could not
tell.
"'The wind is falling FAST said on,
skipper; 4 am afraid it will end in a
dead calm
II did not answer; 1 merely rushed
down below with the eagerness OF
youth. L say, a sail! you fellows-that
looks like nearing land, eh?-Miss
Dash! a sail! You'll see it right aft
the Captain thinks the wind is falling
aand away | rushed on deck again to
inspect anew the interesting stranger.
II was surprised not to see the skip
per anywhere about the deck; but fol
lowing the eye of the man 1.-THE wheel,
IL looked aloft, and saw him
settling himself down in the
crosstrees and levcling his glass once
more. He. too, was interested in her,
that was evident. Presently he closed
his glass, came down from aloft, and
| said to the First Mate: Mr.. Brown,
stunsahs!'
How glad we were! We loved to
see the s~tunsails set. and to feel that
the little ship was doing her best to
bring her long voyage to an end, and
our Captain was evidently anxious to
be in port. The extra canvas pulled
her along considerably faster than she
had gone before; but it wa evident
that the breeze was fading away both
with us and with the stranger, for the
glass showed that she, too, had set
s%tunsails. AS the evening came down,
the wind fell to almost nothing, and in
its place an exceedingly heavy ground
swell got up, on which our little ship
rolled and squattered in q most restless
and uncomfortable manner
Gas it was impossible to remain com
fortably on deck, the ship rolled SO in
cessaatly and wildly, l went below,
turned in, and tried hard to sleep, but
the motion Of the Ship made it almost
impossible. Again and again I woke
through the hot night, and in the oc.
c%as,onal intervals Of noise, fancied
heard the shippers voice giving orde-s
on deck, but this / supposed was mere
" imagination. At last, at about five
=. ~, 1 could stand it 30 longer-ny
hunk was intolerable; and, tossing on
my clothes. l scrambled as best l could
- a. 1,ddo,. md cio Orarod cantiOuS1v