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

of clothes Tor articles OF more Nnlue hidden
among them. But just as likely as not the
disorder merely indicated the slovcnly indif-
ference of plundorers TO the fruits of pillagc
that had overstockcd them.
The first garment picked up was a cloak
of a sort of silk material richly furrcd and
lined; oil the buttons but one had been cut
Off, and that which remained was silver. /
sorcad it in the cot, o. it was u soft thing to
lie upon. Then l picked up n coat of tbe
fashion you will sec in Ioearth's engravngs
tho coat collar a broad fold, and the cuffs
20 the elbow. This WINS as good rs a rug, AMI
| put it into the cot with the other
| swept the huddlc of things with my foot
into corner, and lifting tho lids of the boxes
saw more clothes, some books, IL collection of
small arms, n couple of quadrants, and
sundry rolls Of paper, which proved to be
charts of the islands Of the Antilles and the
western South American coast, very i'll di-
gestod. There were no papers of any kind TO
determine the vessels character, nor journal
to acquaint me with her story.
/ was tired in my limbs rather than sleepy,
and went TO the cook room to warm myself
at the fire and get me some supper, meaning
to sit there till the fire died out and then go
to rest; but when | put my knife to the ham
| found it as hard frozen as when had first
though there had been fire burning for
hours! l put the things into the oven to
thaw, as before, and sitting down fell very
pensive over this severity of cold, which had
power to freeze within yard or two of tho
furnace. To be sure, the fire by my absence
had shrunl,, and the sliding door being open
admitted the cold of the cabin; but the con
sidcration was How was | to resist the killing
embodiment of this atmospheric | had slept
in the boat it is true, and was mono the
worse, and now ! was under shelter, with tho
heat of plentiful brlyful of meat and
liquor to warm me; but if wine and ham and
cheese frOze in an air in which II fire had
been burning, why not | in my sleep, when
there was no Gre, and life beat weakly, as it
does in sumber. Those figures in the cabin
were dismal warnings and Assurances they
had been men perhaps stouter and hCaItier
than ever | was in their day, but they had
been frozen into stony images nevcrthe-
less, under cover too, with the ma
terials to make u fire, and us much strong
waters in their lazarette as would serve their
schooner to float in.
1t strangely and UNFORTUNATELY entered my
head to conceive that though those men were
frozen and stirless they We're not dead us
corpSeS are, but as a stream who" current,
checked by ice, will flow when the ice is
melted. Might not Ike i'll them be SUSPENDED
by the cold, not cndedG There is vitality in
the seed. though it lies n dead thing in tho
hand. Those nen are corpscs 10 my eye
but, said | to myself, they may have the
principles of life in them, which heat might
call into being. Putrefaction is n natural
law, mt it is baked by frost; and Just as
decay is hindcrad by cold. might not the
propcrt. Of life he left unaffected in a body,
though it should he numbed in marble
form for fifty years.
This was terrible fancy to possess q man
situGs A as | was and it - worked in me
that again and again caught myself look
ing first forward, tleu aft, as though heaven
help me, my secret instincts furcboded that
at any moment | shou behold some form
from The forccastle or one Of those figures in
the cabin stalking in, and coming to my side
and silently seating himself. / pshaWod and
pished, and ENORMOUSLY asked of myself what
manner of English sailor was TO suffer such
womanly terrors 10 visit me; but it would
not do; | could not smoke: GOODNESS of the
heart fell upon mo, and set me trembling
above any sort of shivcrs which the frost of
the air had chased through nc; and presently
Il hollow creak sounding out of the hold,
caused 10y 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 tine companion ladder,
with prayer in mo for tho sight Of a start
durSt not look at the Ii cures. but setting
the light down at the foot Of the ladder
squeezed through the companion door on to
the deck. Ny ear was u fever in It's way,
and did nos feel tho cold. There was 10
star to be seen; but the wilderness of the ice
in.
blacknCss OF The Sky, and madc "A light of its
own. 1t was the most saya.,e and terrible
picture Of solitude tho invention of man
could reach to, yet | blessed it for the relief
it gave to my ghost cnl,indlcd Imagination.
Presently, when the cold was beginning to
pierce me. my courage was 50 much the bet
ter for This excursion into tho 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 I sat here long,
listening and thinking fear would return.
so, rakinG ont the fire, picked up the lantern
and was about to 60 then halted, considering
whether | snoulH no, stow the frozen provis-
/ ions away. T. was a natural Thought, seeing
how precious food was to me But, alas It
/ lnattered not where they lay; they were as
secure hero as if they wero AS snuglv hidden
in the bottom Of the hold. 1t was the white
realm of death if ever a rat had cravled in
this ship il was, in its hiding place, as stiff
and idle as the frozen vessel. 50 | let the
lump of wine, tho ice ham, and SO forth. rest
where they We're, and went to the cabin had
/ chosen, mvoluntarly pcepiug ~ the figures
as passed, and hulTyins tho faster because
OF the grim and terrifying liveliness put into