San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-06-25
CHAPTER XI.
THE GREAT STORM.

came from the east or southeast, and stlll,
frosty days, when a breath as cold as steel
crept from the red sunrise of the north; but
ever and again the trumpet of the tempest
sounded westward and southwark, and the
ocean rose up before ii in mountains of furi-
GUS storm.
To stand on the seashore or on the wealth
er-wOm cliffs, at such moments, was an ex-
perience not TO be forgotten. With a sound
of crashing thunder, with sheetlike flashes
of flying foam, the mighty pillows came roll
ing in; while far away, in the eye Of the
wind, the clouds gathered and baleful rays
came and went as II from the under world.
Again and again, during these storms, the
men fOrSOOk their work in the mine and clus-
tered on the wind-swept crags; for the sound
beneath was too terrible, and at each crash
of the waters over head the solid roofs Of
rock seemed about to topple in.
A new life-bOat had come round from Fal-
mouth during the summer; II was manned
chiefly by workers in the mine, and | was
their captain. We had tried the boat again
and again in light weather. and were proud
of her as life bOatsmen could be; so that,
when need came, we were ready 10 do all
that human hands could do for the succOr Of
shpwrecked souls. Fortunately, few vessels
came that way to need our aid in time Of
peril, for the great ships gave that lonely
shore a wide berth, knowing its many perils
Sometimes, however, a cOasting-vessel,
heavily laden, came ashore on the outlying
reefs, but thanks to our sturdy boat, with
out much loss of life.
On the afternoon of the nd day of Novem
Der, 49,, there occurred such phenomenon
as l have seen only once in my life, and
scarcely expect TO see again. The ocean was
dead calm and black as ink the so0ty clouds,
with sheets of MINDLESS vapOr trailing right
down to the earth and water, kept stationary
In a sort of sinister twilight; and the air was
full of an extraordinary stiffness, in which
the conclusion of the slightest sOund-a cock
Growing, goat bleating, human voice cry
ing-was heard for miles away.
had Just been down the mine, where
found the men had ceased working, and had
gathered in knots, whispering together Fol
all through the dark galleries and passages
there came, from time to time, a curious
tremOr, like the shock of an earthquake-sul-
len, sinister, terrible, making the heart for
some unknown reason, stand still with fear.
Nor was this sound to be accounted for by
the dashing of waves above that subaqueOus
darkness, since there was not a breath of
wind, and the sea lay in sullen, moveless
folds, scarcely vibrating.
What Is it, my lads?' had asked, accost-
ing the first group of men, who were clus-
tering on the central platform.
As | spoke, the tremOr came again, 50 that
the walls seemed tumbling over, the hard
ground rocking under me, with vibration
which seemed to send a nameless terror into
my very blood.
My uncle, who was there with the others,
shook his head OmnOusy.
I'VE dawn't rightly knaw," he said; but
we ha' hard 'un again and again, sounding
like that Seems threatening like, and | ha'
hidden the gang knock off wark for to-day"
l knew that it was useless to demonstrate,
for the men were evidently full of supersti-
tiOus dread, which, if the truth must be told,
could not help sharing. They threw down
their pickaxes and shOvels and followed me
up the shaft.
We found johnson there, who seemed as
tonished at our appearance, and, when told
him what had taken place, looked savage.
You're spelling the men, TrelGwney," he
said. Guess such nervous fancies are OILY
fit for an old woman. Why, the seas like
mill-pOnd, and there amt breath of wind"
II !ou Iii'iiH IL oiiIy .ai's; ,,, 49,
,ollio uow,i WIN i,le anu NY IL CIV. 80, you
ansepounu no'e IL you sup uo"n '''0i0
iiIn, an houl'
J., ne si,ruah pach anu snooh ms neau ans a.
ed my speech with laugh.
d, ehsn tepoit uiIa, "o 'i'eu' ''''o''
pSTh Vi Nv s,
hhu no "aiAeu vi, ali.u a., ahsiy mur
MN . .io lnen, wiz mn. az, ,'.r, Ia
40 To a,ceinooh p"oaeu' anu 'ho 'o "aa
en t"i!ish' ,hcieaoeu, We saw IooH h ' %
, maiu, 'ne pnehon'enon W winch :, nae az. a.
luuou, sUo suns ono ,ou'ia anu puipo' t,0
o'hei p,ih anu snUs.y' ho"''hs ~ 'nI
Pois W .iie Weo" Doth "eio quise i"!Ioo,'
anu 1iey huns do ~ meie soiiie my yaiuS
iLo.i each oti,er' Do'n seell,eu 81 nea, " 40
'h'' ono "ouiu ha'o 'nous'" po'''''' W
io,ch Nioni MI'iI ouiio' nun q uiL
cannot express III "oius que suansey
uepieselhs anu 'asueiy Saini,ns oh -, ~
'lls pne.ioi,elloh vi his sci anu an VIM W..
IeSseu III Noi was uie ehec' iessehou VIZ, mnon
ehe ui,iilhel y, 'ne WV suns euuueiy ul'ap
poaIou, gnu .h1 o'" ., on"" ~ a,In'o In
nun puipie W le' oiach. n Je' oi"cA o"ii
!" .,'o lh,us' Vi q vase ", ieauen Say
Lawu save us' c,'eu Ma,'lll iie ea1H %.s
al oiu fisherman, anu one vi our nio-poa.
crew. Lawu save US! l. LOOKS ike JUG
i'ie,t mates the Las. Day
Inis, mdeea' was the unougnt winch was
passing .nIoueh al Vu, n,,ilus. we S'oou
looking IN suspense I'LL ule piacK sun aisap-
peareo, ana totai DARKNESS came, anu theh,
WIN no httle 1oreooolng, we scattered 10 our
MONIES:
But In the nlgnt as we lay sleeping IN our
oeds, we learned that what we mad witness
Gu oetoRened, not any supernatural disturb
ance' put the gathering OF such tempest as