St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-25
The ''YULE SIGHT,"


nv suit, although would De PROUD 10
| call you my wife. That am Prince
! Alexei Meloff and you the concert
singer, Marion Magnicu. counts for
nothing in my eyes. for | am free and
| independent. Butyou-you do not love
| me-"
"Who tells you that do not?" she re-
piled almost sadly. II say to you only
that am not destined to make any one
! happy, nor to be happy myself, and L
will tie no one to my short life"
'HOw do you know that your life will
| be short one? How do you know that
you could not be happy?"
! LET it suffice that it is so. But
meant to tell you of bygone days. L
| scarcely know whether you are ac-
quainted with the history of my child
hood, Prince. The 'reclame' has writ
ten so many of my biographies and in
vented so many resources that the real
one has been forgotten over the num-
berless unreal. The Simple history of
the woman who sits here before you is
this:
my father was a poor fisherman of
Calais; all his ancestors had been the
same. We lived in little house near
the coast which belonged to my grand
father, the good old Sea-bear, who had
such rugged ways and such golden
heart. We little ones were genuine
children of the coast; we rOwed and
J fished, mended the tiSh-netS and danced
the gig, gathered shells and were al
ways as wet as young rats. How dearly
we all loved each other: My mother
was a good, warm-hearted, thrifty
woman, VINO would have given her life
to save us from harm; my father was
! hardy seaman with the SunnieSt, merri-
ncfh N world CnIfn
eTty and want.
ut was Christmas eve. ] remember
it all so distinctly. My mother had laid
/ by little sum of money, clandeStlnely
! earned by extra work. With this we
were to arrange a modest family feast.
Ny grandfather had added his share
! from his little hoard of savings. Father
| had gone to the tavern of the guild with
the other fishermen, as was the evening
! custom; but he always came home
| early. During his absence we got
| everything in readiness: First, the
| presents, which were spread out upon q
! brightly-lighted table, covered with a
! snowy clOth-wO0len jackets, which
mother had knit for father and grandfath
| er, a new tobacco bag and package of
tobacco. the new fish lines which grand
! father had contributed. Our gifts were
! covered with cloth. so that we should
not see them Just then. We chill
J dren-I, sister Grace, and the lit
: tie Richie. whom father had
adopted as a little child-were intOXi-
/ Gated with joys of expectation and tit
! tered and laughed and whispered in
| childish fashion. 1t was soon time for
/ father to return. Outside terrific
| storm ragged; the fierce gale dashed the
| waves to mountain height and rOared
I Drnfx q
cared we? 1t was Christmas eve
and no one was out in the mis-
cradle, impenetrable dark. Sud
/ denly a nameless dread came over
me. How shall tell it? What shall |
call it? L snivered. | thought l stood
outside in the raging storm, and yet L
! was close to the warm, bright hearth
| fire of our little hOme-the words of the
song was singing died on my lips, and
! my glad heart seemed to contract under
| the clutch of On iron, icy hand.
My mother was singing, too, and
the children still laughed around
me. To me the raging storm
| outside appeared to have
| voice, shrieking tale of horror into my
ears. Was it a dream? / endeavOred
not-and suddenly l knew it distintly,
as though my eyes beheld it--a dreadful
misfortune was threatening my father.
| cried out aloud: Father, oh, my poor
fatherr They all stared at me, as
though they thought me mad.
At that moment our neigh
Dor Martens dashed into the
room and called out words which
we at first could not understand. Soon,
however, we knew that father was not
! at the tavern with the others, but oh,
merciful God! out on the sea. The
commanding officer of the station
| wanted some fish for the evening meal,
and father had gone out to catch them
for the proffered liberal pay. Suddenly
| the storm came up, and from the shore
it could be seen how father
in his weak little craft bat
tied vainly with the tempest,
| struggling, oh, so hard, to reach the
| sheltering bay. In a moment we were
all outside. On, our poor mother!
| There she knelt, shrieking her fearless
prayers into the horrors before her.
Grandfather held fast to my sister and
me, as though to guard us from the ter
rible sight, and little Richie, our fos-
/ ter-brOther, pulled the danger-bell with
his brawny, trembling arms. And it
| pealed out mournfully its tale of dis
tress; "A man out on thevSea! A man
| III udllE6f VI QtdbH. AHO Tic Hldu III
| the boiling, angry surf yonder was our
| fatheri
'Shrieks of terror, sobbing prayers,
| the bowling of the storm, the doleful
! peal of the bell, the terrific roaring of
| the Surging waves, the Keeling little
| craft with its precious freight, now rid
| ing on the crashing foam of the waters,
| now lost to view, ami then-the white
| foam only, and boat and man gone down
| in the deep.
1.-The only recollection have, which
stands out plainly amidst the suffering
of the following days. were grand
| fathers words: Our Marion has fore
| seen it-she has the 'yule-slght.'"
Tie terrible night changed the course
! of all our lives, as dreadful storm
tears up the plants by the roots and
| scatterS them broadcast. Poor little
| Richie, our foster brother, was first to
| leave the home to earn his bread in the
! world outside. l was discovered by
| famous pianiste, while singing simple
| fisher songs. She took me with her and
made me what ana singer, who finds
| a kindly audience, because it is pleased
and touched by the simple lays of our
| ocean home, which ! so love to sing. !
am not star ON the armament of art,
vet withall
"Withal, you have the love Of a man
whose sole wish it is to make you his
wife," said Prince Alexei MelOff sol
EMMY, fastening his bright and manly
eyes upon her tender face, as though to
protect her against all the storms of life.
"And you, you do not want me. You
love anotherip
The singer smiled sadly. Glove