Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1886-04-13

AZ all events, lt Was hAfuil SURPRISE w
me when on the tenth night. just afier
midnight. the awful crash and shock took
place sensation which no one who has
no, fsl, !, can imagine In the leas,-and
we knew thA, the iRidreiic had struck.
lisa fearful thing II you come TO think
Of i,--a grea, steamer filed with living
souls In the full how Of life aud health.
and in one momsn, the call coming to
each one Of them TO die. Before you could
strike a match the whole sbip ~s In a
p.nie-,efror. cries. confusion. sgony-
u. Il was awful, rus, neytr to see
such scene again. | made my way
through II all As II had neither eyes nor
ears. and 70, to the stsieroom had long
ago found was the one which belonged
to my girl. knocked at the door with
a heavy hand; even at that awful mo.
ment thrill ran through me at the
though, Of standing face to face with her
again.
"winny," cried. "eOms out make
haste There IL not a moment TO lose
The door opened as ! spoke. and she
stood jus, within. ready dressed, even to
the little black hat. The cabin light
had been left burning by the doctors OF.
der.. and Il fell full on me a. | stood
there 10 my sailors jersey and cap. l
wondered II she would know me. l for.
70, the danger We were in-forgo, that
death va, waiting close at hAnd-icrso,
that the world held anyOne bu, just her
aud me.
"Diek," she eried-"oh. Dick! Dick
aud .he fell forward in a dead faini on
my shoulder
All my senses came back then; and l
threw her over my arm and ran for the
deck. A great far.lined cloak had been
dropped by the door Of the ladies' cabin.
There was no light and stumbled over
hnInn I,nA,ehed !, up and carried
!, With me.
Up above all was the wilde', ehAo.;
the boau over. filed aud pushing Oft; the
.hip settling rapidly; people shouting.
crying, swearing. One hears tales OF
eAlmne. and courage often enough at
such time. to make ones heart glow as
oae read. them bu, there was no, much
heroi.m shown in the wreck Of the lat
arctic. The captain behaved splendidly.
and 90 did some Of the passengers. but
the majority Of them and the crew were
mad with terror. aud lo.i their heads
altogether.
saw there was no, chance for the
oyererowded boats in tha, sea. and |
.pnng for the rigging. was not sec.
ond Too soon .coie Of Others followed
my example. aud with my precious bur-
den | should no; have had chance two
minute. later. A, j, was scrambled to
the ,opma.i aud 10, firm bold there.
winny was just coming TO herself had
wrapped her around like baby In the
fur cloak, and With my teeth | opened
my knife TO cut rope ~hieh hung loose
within reach. With this ! la'h,d her TO
me and fastened u. both to the ,oPma',.
The ship sank gradually, aud she did not
keel over. or should no, be telling you
the story nov she settled down With
js., her deck above water. bui'ihe great
sea. washed over il every second aud
.wep, |. clean. The boats bad gone
One or two Of the crew, floating on
loose .pars. were picked up afierward-
no more. The rigging was pretty fall.
a, lea,, in the upper part; down eeIo"
the sea was too ., rong. The captain wa.
near me. fel, glad 10 think be had
been sAyed-he was no, coward ke
some Of the Others.
How loug wa, ,h. lonses, night you
ever knew, Multiply that by a thou.
sand. and you will have some idea OF
,h., night. length. The cold was Awfal
The spray frols on the sheets As i fsl! ;
the yards were slippery with ice.
stamped on winny'. fee, to keep them
from freezing. Did you notice that limp
= little I shall walk lame As long as !
live. Sometime. there was splash In
the black water below. as some poor Eel.
low. .,iiisnsd hold relaxed and he fell
from hi, place in the rigging. There
wa. no, a breath OF wind, nothing but
,he.biuer fos. How long could We hold
out. Where were We, How long
would the ship be before she broke up
Would IL be by drowning OF BY freerins'
We asked ourselves these. questions again
aud again, ba, there was no answer.
Death stared Us 10 the face We seemed
10 live ages OF agony in every minute
and yet. will you believe me. that all
seemed little in comparison TO the
though, ,ha, aftsr al the struggles aud
the sorrows. after all these ten long.
weary years. held my girl in my arms
at last
She had pulled one corner Of the cloak
around my neck q stood on a level Just
below her) and her hand lay there with
tit was the hand tha, warmed me
more than the eloAk-and her cheek
rested asain,, my own. Often ] thought
It's coldns.s Was the coldness OF DEATH
and almo,, exalted 10 the thought that
we should die together. And then
would catch the prayers she was utierins
for US both. and knew that life was still
there and ,ha, hope lived, too.
Well. well why should ! dwell on
such horrors. exeep, to thank the Mercy
,ha, brough, US through them all Day
dawned At last; and there was the shore
near by, and soon rockets were fired and
ropes secured. and one by one the hall
dead living were drawn from their awful
suspension between sky 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
undo the clasp Of my s,ifened arms Abou.
her. knew nothing then, nor for long
after; and !, IL wonderful tha. winny
WAS the frs, to recover. and Il Was she
who nursed me back to life and reason.
And how did l ask her TO marry me J
Upon my word, now that you ask,
can't remember ,ha, ever did. That
seemed utterly unnecessary. somehow.
Caste distinctions look small enough