Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-08-28

out and subsiding in the deep water. It must have happened at high tide, for much coffee and baskct-work was found upon high water line. This fixed the time of the disaster at about a. m., and my mothers eyes met mine as we both remembered that it was about thai hour when we heard the wild despairlng cry For the rest, it was hopeless to seek lnfor- nation from the Greek sailor without an in tnrpreter; nor were there any clothes or iden- tifying marks on the childs body The stranger had been clothed and fed at the Vicarage, and would give his evidence that afternoon. Hitherto, the name of the vessel Was unknown.
 At this point my mothers eyes again sought mine, and feared fresh inquiries about the Mary Jane; Seeing me disinclined to explain, she merely sighed, and was silent.
 But when Uncle Loveday had broken his fast and, rising, announced that he must drive down to be present at the inquest, to our amazement, mother insisted upon going with him. Having no suspicion of her deadly fear, he laughed a little at first, and quoted Solomon on the infrmities of women to an extent that made me wonder what Aunt Loveday would hav0 said had he dared broach such q subject to that strong minded woman. Seeing, how ever, that my mother was set upon going, he dcsistcd at last, and put his cart at her service. Somewhat to her astonishment, as could seq, I asked to be allowed to go also and after some entreaty, prevailed. So we all set out behind Uncle Loveday's over-fed pony for PolIimbra.
 There was a small crowd around the door of the "Lugger Inn" when we drove up. It appeared that the coroner had just arrlvcds and the inquest was to begin at once. Mean while, the folk were busy with conjecture. They made way however, for my uncle, who, being such occasions person of no little importance, easily gained us entry into the Red Room where the inquiry was about to be held. As we stepped along the passage the laadlOrd's parrot, looking more than ever like Aunt Elizabeth almost frightened me out of my wits by crying, "All hands lost All hands lost Lord ha' mercy on us " Its horse note still sounded in my ears, when the door opened and we stood in presence of the "crownerS " quest"
 I suppose the Rcd Room of the Lugger ; was fuil and, indeed as the smallest inquest involves at least twelve men and a coroner to say nothing of witnesses, it must have been very full. But for me, soon as my foot crossed the threshold, there was only one fac.', only one pair of eyes, only one terrible pre- srnce, to be conscious of and fear. l saw him at once, and he saw me; but, unless it were that his cruel eye glinted and his lips grew for the moment white and fixed, he betrayed no consciousness of my presence there.
 The coroner was speaking as we entered. Uncle Loveday gave evidence, and l have a dim recollection of two rows of gleaming but tons, but nothing more. Then Jonathan, the oast-guardsman, was called. He had seen, or fancied he saw, a ship in distress near Cue Craze; had noticed no light nor heard any signal of distress; had given information at Lizard Town The rocker apparatus had been got out and searchers had secured the cliffs as far as Forth Pyg, but nothing was to be seen
 The scarch-party were returning, when they found a shipwrecked sailor in company with small boy one Jasper Trenoweth, in Ready Money Cove.
 At the sound of my own name I started, and for the second time since our entry felt the eyes of the stranger question me. At the same time felt my mothers clasp of my hand tighten, and knew that she saw that look.
 The air grew closer and the walls seemed to draw nearer as Jonathan's voice continued its drowsy tale. The voices sounded more and more like those of dream; the scratching oi pens and shuffling of feet were, to my ears, as distant murmurS of the sea, until the cOrO- ner's voice called" Georgio Rhodoiani' Instantly ! was wide awake, with every nerve on the stretch. Again I felt his eyes question me, again my mothers hand tight ened upon mine, as the stranger stood up anC in softest, most musical tones gave his evi dence And the evidence of Georgio Rhodo iani, Greek sailor, as translated by Jacopc Rousapoulos, interpreter, of Penzance, was | thiS:-
 My name is Georgio Rhodojani. am Greek by birth, and have been a sailor all my life. was seaman on board the ship tha was wrecked last night on your horrible coast The ship belonged to Bristol, and was homeWard bound, but I know neither hel name nor the name of her captain" | At this strange opening, amazement fel l upon all, For myself the wild incongruity O this foreign tongue from lips which hat heard utter such fluent and tlute-hke Enghsl swallowed up all other wonder.
 After pause, seeing the marvelling look: of his audience, the witness quietly explained
 You wonder at this ;but am a Greek, arc cannot master your hard names. joined tn, l ship at Colombo as the captain was short O hands. was wrecked in Dutch vessel be longing to Dordrecht, of Java, and worked my passage to Ceylon, seeking employment
 It is not, therefore, extraordinary that I an so ignorant, and my mouth cannot pronounce your English language but show me your lis of ships and will point her out to you.'
 There was rustling of papers, and a list o East Indiamen was handed up to him: h. hastily ran his finger over the pages. Sud denly his face lighted up.a.
 "Ah this is she !-this'i the ship that wa wrecked last night l"
 The coroner took the paper and slowly reat out" The James and Elizabeth, of Bristol Captain-Antonius Merrydew,"
 "Ah, yes, that is she. The babe here wa the captains child, born on the voyage. Ther were eighteen men on board, an English boy and the captains wife. The child was borl off the African coast. We sailed from Colomb on the 22nd of July last, with cargo of coffe and sugar. Two days ago we were of a bi harbour, of which I do not know the name but early yesterday morning were abreast 0 what you call, think, the Lizard. The win was s. w., and took us into your terrible bay All yesterday we were tacking to get out Towards evening it blewa gale. Thecaptaf had been ill ever since we passed the Bay c Biscay. We hoisted no signal and knew no what to do for the captain was sick, and tn mate drunk. The mate began to cry when W struck. l alone got on to the jib-hoom am jumped. What became of the others kno, not, but jumped on to the rock by which yo found me this morning The vessel broke u in very short time. I heard the men cryin bitterly, but the mates voice was louder tha any. The captain of course was::below, and SC when last saw them were his wife and child but she might have rushed upon deck. I wa almost sucked back twice, but managed t scramble up. It was not until daylight that knew l was on the mainland, and climbe down to the sands"