San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-12-29

smell nsn, radlsnes ana musseIs. IL Is
low, but little cultivated, though thickly
populated.
After breakfasting / crossed a small
promontory; then, as the tide was going
out, continued across the sands in the
direction of large black spot, far away.
1 walked fast on this yellow plain. as
elastic as flesh and seeming to sweat I'M
der my feet A minute ago the sea was
here; now could no longer distinguish
the line separating the sand from the
ocean.
The Atlantic had disappeared like a
scene down the trap door of a theatre,
and now walked in the midst of a des-
ert. Only the salt smell remained; the
smell of sea weed, the smell of the wave,
the good and pungent smell of the coast.
l walked fast and looked at the wreck,
which increased in size as l approached
and now appeared like an immense whale
It seemed to start from the ground, and
ON the yellow and extended plain took
gigantic proportions. She lay upon one
side. split, broken, showing like the ribs
of an animal her broken bones, her bones
of tarred wood pierced with immense
nails. The sand had invaded her and
held and possessed her, and would never
let her go. She appeared to have taken
root in the sand. The bow was deeply
imbedded in the soft and treacherous
bottom, while the stern seemed to throw
against the sky, like despairing cry for
help, the words Marie Joseph written in
white on dark ground.
I climbed on this corpse of a ship on
the lowest side, and, once on deck, went
Inside. The sun, entering through the
open portfolios and cracks in her side,
lightened sadly those long, dark caverns
filed with broken woodwork.
/ commenced taking notes upon the
condition of the vessel. l sat upon an
empty, broken barrel and wrote by the
light entering slit, through which /
saw the limitless extension of beach. A
shudder, born of the cold and solitude,
ran through me from time 10 time, and
! stopped writing occasionally to listen
to the vague noises of the wreck, the
noiso of.the crabs scratching the cordage
with their crooked claws; of the numer-
Gus tiny animals of the sea already de-
vouring this dead body; to the soft and
regular sound of the ship worm gnawing
the woodwork.
Suddenly | heard voices near me.
started up. thought for IN instant
was in the presence of some drowned
wretch who wanted to tell me of his
death. IQuickly climbed Oh deck and
saw tall gentleman with three ladies.
They were even more startled than l at
seeing me emerge upon the deck of the
abandoned vessel. The youngest of the
three rushed of; the others caught their
fathers arm; as TO him. he opened his
mouth, the only sign of emotion he
showed. After IL second he spoke.
"You must be the owner Of this ship
eyes" "Can visit herr Yes" He
seeing he was looking for place to
climb l showed him the easiest, and as
sisted him up. He joined me and then
we helped the young girls.
They were charming, particularly the
eldest. a blonde of eighteen, as fresh as
a rose; so delicate, SO dainty. Really
English women are like sea fruits. That
one looked as if she might have sprung
from the sand, and her hair had retained
its color. They remind one, with their
exquisite freshness, of delicate pink
shells Of mother of pearl, beautiful and
mysterious, born in the depths of the
ocean.
She spoke French more fluently than
her father and acted as interpreter.
had to give the history of the wreck;
many of the details l invented as if l
had assisted at the catastrophe. Then
the whole family went below. When
they reached the gloomy gallery they
took out their sketch books and began to
draw the scene.
The eldest daughter while working
spoke to me. and learned that they had
come from Biarritz expressly to see the
wreck. They had none of the English
haughtiness. They were simple enthu-
siasts; some of those eternal wanderers
with which England covers the globe.
The father, tall and wiry, his red face
framed in white whiskers, living sand
wich, slice of ham fashioned into
face between two pads of hair. The
daughters little growing stills, thin also,
except the eldest; pretty all three, par
ticularly the eldest. She had such a
quaint way of speaking, Of laughing, of
understanding and not understanding,
of raising her eyes to question 1 e, eyes
as blue us deep water; of interrupting
her drawing to guess, of resuming her