Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-03-22

snail berg, though large compared with luo:d
of tho others; yet such mighty volume of
foam boiled up as gave mo startling idea
of the prodigious weight Of the mass. The
| sight made me very anxious about my own
state; and TO satisfy my mind got upon tho
ice and walked round tho vessel, and to get
a true view or her posture went to the ex-
IRENE end OF the rocks beyond bcr bows; and
finally came u the conclusion that, suppos-
ing the ice ehoud crumbie away from her
sides SO as to cause the weight Of the schooner
to reuder it top heavy, her buoyancy, ON
| touching the water, would certainly tear her
keel cut Of its frosty setting and leave her
| floating. Indeed, so sure was of this that
l saw, next TO the ice splitting and freeing
her in that way. the best thing that could
! happen would be It's capsizal.
regnined tie ship, and mad paused an in
slant to look over the sido, when perceived
the very block of ice on which had como
! to a halt breok from the bed with n smart
! clap Of noise, and completely roll over Only
n minute before had ] heon standing on it,
| ard thus had sixty seconds stood between me
and death; for most certainly must | have
been drowned or killed by being beaten
against the leo by the SWELL I fell upon my
knees and lifted up my hands in gratitude to
| God, feeling extraordinarily comforted 10y
/ this further mark OF His care OF me, and very
strongly persuaded that he designed | should
come OF with my life after all, since his
providence would not work so many miracles
for my preservation if | was to perish by
! this adventure.
These thoughts did moro for my spirits
than ] can wen express; and the intolerabo
fol 1,vr
knowledge that was watched and therefore
not alone.
The day passed I know not how. TIE
shadow as of tempest hung in the air, but
| never cat's-pnw did | see to blur the rolling
| mirror of the ocean. The hidden sun sank
! out Of the hrcathless sky, tingcing the atmos-
phere with a faint hectic, which quickly
yielded TO tho deepest shade OF blackness.
The mysterious, desperate silence, however,
that on deck weighed opprcssvely on every
sense, as something false, menacing and me-
lignant III these seas, was qualified below by
peculiar straining noises in the Schooners
hold, caused by the swinging CT the ice lpon
the swell. | was very uneasy; | dreaded
gale : was impossible but that the vessel
| must CliCkly go TO pieces in Il heavy sea upon
the ice if she did not liberate herself But
though this excited depression melancholy
enough, nothing else that / can recollcct
contributed to it. When | reviewed the APP
prehenson the Frenchman had raised, and
reflected how insupportable a 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
found nothing to occasion in me the least
uncasiness 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 a large fire,
and mixed myself a hearty bowl of punch,
not with the view of drowning my anSietes
God forbid! ! was too grateful for the
past, too cxpectant Of the future to be capa-
bic of SO british foily-but that | might
keep myself in cheerful posture of mind;
when | was terrified by an extraordinary
loud explosion, that burst near and rang
with such Il prodigious clear note of thunder
through the schooner that vow to God
believed tho gunpowCcr belov; had blown up.
And in this suspicion | honestly supposed
myself right for moment--for on running
into the cabin was dazzled by a crimson
flame that clothed the whole interior with a
wondrouS gush of fire; but this being in
other, | understood thunder storm had
broken over the schooner
1t was exactly overhead, and that ac-
counted for the violence of the crashes,
which We're 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 Camc n storm of
hail, every stone as big as n pigeons egg;
and in all my time never heard d more hell
ish clamor, There was not a breath of air
The hail fell in straight lines, which the
fierce near lightning flashed up into the ap-
pearancc Of giant harpstrings, on which the
black hand of the night was playing those
heavy notes of thunder. ] sat in the shelter
of the companion, very anxious and alarmed,
for there was powder enough in the hold to
blow the ship into atoms; and the lightning
played so continuously and piercngly that it
was like Il hundred darts Of fire, violet, Grim
SOD, and sun colored, in the grasp of spirits
who thrust at the sea, all over its face, with
swift movement of the arms, as though
searching for the schooner to spear her.
The hail storm ceased as suddenly as it had
burst. | stepped on to the deck, and observed
that the storm was settling into the north
east, whence | concluded that what draught
that might be up there sat in the southwest.
Nor was ! mistaken, for half an hour after
the first of the outLulst by which time the
lightning played weak and at long intervals
low down, and the thunder had ceased, felt
| n crawling of air coming out of the south
west, which presently briskened into q small,
steady blowing, but not for long. II fresh
ened yet and yet: the wrinkles crisped into
whiteneSs on the black heavngs; they grew