Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-21


was arranged that she shouia oo sa
home TO some friends IN England. ohe
was 70 come in the Fire King, large
screw steamer sailing on the first oil
the following month. .u
81 was in the wilds OF Corn"a.',
spending some time with an inva".
uncle who had always been very k'nd
TO me. lie had already had one st,osc
OF paralysis. and was IN almost da,iy
expectation Of another, which, as the
doctors plainly said, would certainly De
fatal: so. when, on the day week De-
fore the Fire King was to sail. the death
Of a distant relation, whose heir was,
suddenly made me my own master.
I could not possibly leave him until my
promised ten days visit was endeo anu
nv cousin had returned to take my
Mace. So wrote to friend in town
asking him to call on my solicitors ana
do ali that was needful, and
especially to secure passage
for me in the first ship Tor
Rio. At the same time / wrote tele-
gram announcing my change of PLAN
and pinned a check to it ready to take
it over myself, with the letter, to the
post-office. five miles off. had hardly
finished it when l was summoned
hastily to my uncle's bedside. The END
had come; but it was evening before
all was over, and | Of course could not
leave him. But it was Of consequence.
Jack DAILY, | knew, would send the
telegram from town, so got the old
housekeeper to put it into the letter
which | had left open in my writing
case, and send it off by the gardeners
lad.
1.-THE next evening brought me
telegram from Jack Daily to the effect
that all wanted had been done, and
my passage taken; and on that day
fortnight | was on board the Titan,
bound for Rio"
The speakers voice broke. He
turned abruptly away and strobe off
into the gathering dusk. In few mo-
ments he returned and resumed his
story:
Everything went well at first. We
made a good run down channel and
across the bay, and were expecting
within the next day or two to pick up
the northeast trade, when the wind fell
light and finally left us. Orders were
given to get up steam ; but just as they
were going to lower the propeller
strong breeze sprang up again from the
and the fires were ordered
to be banked and all sail made. /
stayed on deck for some time watching
the cloud of studding sails spread grad
ually, allow and aloft, on both sides of
the ship, and then went below to write
letters.
Il had just got out my writing-case
when there came sudden shock, which
would have flung me to the deck had /
not saved myself just in time by cling
ing to the sleeping-berth with both
hands. For moment the ship seemed
brought to an absolute stand-still, as
though she had run bodily ashore, the
next she began to gather way again, but
with very different movement from
the free, bounding motion of few min
utes before.
81 rushed on deck, as did every one
else who was below, and there we 5000
saw the reason of the change. The sud-
den stop had been too much under the
press Of canvas we were carrying. The
studdiDg-sail booms, fore and aft, had
snapped like so many carrots, and the
maintop gallant-mast itself had gone,
springing the head of the maintOp-mast
as it went. The whole mass Of flying
kites was in the water, and of course
acted as drags, still further checking
the ships way.
"For some minutes all was confu-
sion. The Captain himself, though
perfectly cool and collected, was evil
IDENTIFY puzzled. We were hundreds
of miles from any danger laid down on
the charts, and were, moreover, In the
regular track of all outward and innu-
merable homeward-bound vessels, and
in some thousands of fathoms of
water. Ii was of course possible
that we had come into collision
with some floating wreck. But no
crash had been heard save that Of
our own breaking spars. and there was
no sign of any wreck or wreckage save
our own. His first order had been to
send a hand over the bows and another
into the fore peak. But the word had
scarcely been passed when the mate Of
the watch came aft, accompanied by
tall, handsome young fore-topman, his
tanned features many shades less red
than usual, and his shirt and trou-
sers dripping with sea water. He
had been on the dolphin striker at
the time of the occurrence, putting
a new service on the stay, and had
been fairly shaken from his foothold by
the shock, only escaping by means Of
some Of the studding sail-gear as it
dragged in the water alongside. His
report made it quite clear that the ship
had not struck on anything, while the
sharp black stem, showing clearly
through the transparent water without
dent or scratch, fully confirmed his
statement. Only one possible explana-
ton remained. There must have been
a shock of earthquake, and a sharp
one."
The speaker paused again. The eve
ming had closed in now, and a film of
cloud shut in the stars and rendered it
quite dark. But the two listeners
could hear the others heavy breathing.
scarcely to be distinguished from sob /;
and almost, Carrie Davenant fancied,
the labored beating of his heart.
Il went below again." he continued
after awhile, "to write my letters.
There lay the writing-case just where
! had dropped it, the contents scattered
broadcast over the cabin deck. Istooped
to gather them up. The first on which
| laid my hand was-my telegram to
Rio, with the check still fastened to
it,"
"0h, Mr.. Stavert," broke in Carrie
Dayenant with little cry, land she
would not know, and you would cross
unnn the road -