The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-08-24
CHAPTER XIV.


All day long tho weather remained sullcn
and still, and the swell powerful. was on
deck at noon, looking ut an Iceberg half a
league distant, when it ovCrset. II was O
small berg, though large compared with most
of the others; yet such a mighty volume OF
foam boiled up as gave me startling idea
of the prodiSious weight Of the mass The
sight made me very ANXIOUS about my own
state; and to satisfy my mind cot upon TIE
ice and walked round t-c vessel, and to get
a true view of her posture went to the ex-
IRENE end of the rocks beyond her bows; and
finally came to tho conclusion that, suppos,
ing the ice should cruiable away from Lcr
sides so as to cause the weight Of the schooner
to render it top heavy, her baoyancy, on
touching the water, would certainly tear her
keel out of its frosty setting end leave her
floating. Indeed, SO sure YVES l of this that
1 saw, next to the ice splitting and freeing
her in that way, the best thing that could
happen would be its capsiZal.
regained the ship, ard had paused an in
slant to look over the side, when perceived
the very block of ice on which had come
to halt break from the bed with smart
clap of noise, and completely roll over Only
a minute before had been standing Oh it,
and thus had sixty seconds stood between me
and death; for most certainly must have
been drowned or killed by icing beaten
against the ice by the swell! fell upon my
knees and lifted up my hands in gratitude to
God, feeling extraordinarily comeorted by
this further mark of His care OF me. and very
strongly persuaded that he destined should
come off with my life after all, since his
providence would not work so many miracles
for my preservation if was to perish by
this adventure.
than can well express; and the intolerable
sense of loneliness was mitigated by the
knowledge that l was watched, and therefore
not alone.
The day passed know not how. The
shadow as of a tempest hung in the air, but
never a cats-paw did see to blur the rolling
mirror of the ocean. The hidden sun sank
out of the breathless sky, tingeing the atmos-
phere with faint hectic, which quickly
yielded to the deepest shade of blackness.
The mysterious, desperate silence, however,
that on deck weighed oppressively on every
sense, as something false, menacing, and ma
tgnant in these seas, was qualified below by
peculiar straining noises in the schooner's
hold, caused by the swinging OF the Ice upon
the swell. was very uneasy; dreaded a
gale. 1t was impossible but that the vessel
must quickly go to pieces in heavy sea upon
the ice il she did not liberate herself. But
though this excited a depression melancholy
enough, nothing else that can recollect
contributed to it. When reviewed the APP
prehension the Frenchman had raised, and
reflected how insupportable burden he
must have become, / was very well satisfied
to be alone. Time had fortified me; had
passed through experiences so surprising,
encountered wonders SO preternatural, that
superstition lay asleep in my soul, and I
found nothing to occasion in me the least
uneasiness in thinking of the lifeless, shriv-
eled figure of what was just now a fierce.
cowardly, untamed villain lying in the fore
castle.
made good supper, built up large fire,
and mixed myself a hearty bowl of punch,
not with the view of drowning my anxieties
God Forbid was too grateful for the
past, too expectant of the future, to be capa-
BILE Of 50 british folly-but that might
keep myself in a cheerful posture of mind;
when l was terrified by an extraordinary
loud explosion, that burst so near and rang
with such prodigious clear note of thunder
through the schooner that vow to God
believed the gunpowder below had blown up.
And in this suspicion honestly supposed
myself right for moment--for ON running
into the cabin was dazzled by crimson
fame that clothed the whole interior with a
wondrous gush Of fire; but this being in
stantly followed by such another clap as the
other, understood a thunder storm had
broken over the schooner
1t was exactly overhead, and that &C
counted for the violence of the crashes,
which were indeed so extreme that they
sounded rather like the splitting of enormous
bodies OF ice close to than the flight of cleo
trio bolts. The hatch lay open; ran on
deck; but scarce had passed my head through
the companion when down came a storm of
hail, every stone as big as pigeons egg;
and in all my time never heard more hall