Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-06-07

| at any moment / should behold some form
| from the forecastle or one Of those figures in
the cabin stalking in, and coming to my side
| and silently seating himself. pshawed and
plshed, and ENORMOUSLY asked Of myself what
manner of English sailor was / to suffer such
womanly terrors to visit me; but it would
| not do; could not smoke; GOODNESS of the
| heart fell upon me, and set me trembling
| above any sort of shivers which the frost OF
the ar had chased through me; and presently
| hollow creak sounding out OF the hold
| caused by some movement of the bed of ice
ON which the vessel lay, / was seized with a
panic terror and sprang to my feet, and Ian.
tern In hand made for the companion ladder,
with prayer in me for the sight of start
burst not look at the figures, but setting
the light down at the foot of the ladder
squeezed through the companion door on to
the deck. My fear was fever in its way,
and | did not feel the cold. There was no
star to be seen; but the whiteness of the ice
was flung out in a wild, strange glare by the
blackness of the sky, and made a light of its
own 1t was the most savage and terrible
picture of solitude the invention of man
could reach to, yet blessed it for the relief
it gave to my ghost enkindled Imagination
Presently, when the cold was beginning to
pierce me, my courage was so much the bet
ter for this excursion into the hoarSe and
black and cleaning realities Of the night,
that my heart beat at its usual measure as
passed through the hatch and went again to
the cook room
was, however, sure that if sat here long,
listening and thinking, fear would return.
SO, raking out the fire, picked up the lantern
and was about to go, then halted, considering
whether | should not stow the frozen provis-
ions away. 1t was natural thought, seeing
how precious food was to me. But, alas! it
mattered not where they lay; they were as
secure here as if they were as snugly hidden
in the bottom of the hold. 1t was the white
realm of death; if ever a rat had crawled in
this ship it was, in its hiding place, as stiff
and idle as the frozen vessel So | let the
lump of wine, the ice, ham, and SO forth, rest
whore they were, and went to the cabin l had
chosen, involuntarily peeping at the figures
as passed, and hurrying the faster because
of the grim and terrifying liveliness put into
the man who sat starting from the table by
the swing of the lantern in my hand
shut the door and hung the lantern near
the cot, having the flint and box in my pocket
There was, indeed, an abundance OF can
dies III the vessel; nevertheless, it was my
business to husband them with the utmost
niggardliness. How long 1 was to be i'm
prisoned here, if indeed | was ever to be de
livered, Providence alone knew; and to run
short of candles would add to the terrors of
my existence by forcing me either to open
the matches and ports for light, and so filling
the ship with the deadly air outside, or living
III darkness. There were cloak and q coat
in the cot, but they would not suffice; there
was, however, plenty of apparel in the cor
ner to serve as wraps, and having chosen
enough to smother me l vaulted into the cot,
and so covered myself that the clothes were
above the level of the sides of the cot.
left the lantern burning while | made
sure my bed was all right, and lay musing,
feeling extremely melancholy; the hardest
part vas the thought of those two men
watching in the cabin. The most fantastic
alarms possessed me. Suppose their ghosts
came to the ship at midnight, and entering
their bodies quickened them into walking?
l caught myself listening; and there was
enough to hear, too, what with tho subdued
roaring Of the wind, the splintering of ice,
the occasional creaking-not unlike a heavy
booted tread-of the fabric of the schooner
to the blasts of the gale against her masts,
or to movement in the bed on which she
reposed.
But plain sense came to my rescue at last.
| resolved to have no more of these night
fears; so, blowing out the candle, 1 put my
head on the coat that formed my pillow, res
olutely kept my eyes shut, and after while
fell asleep.