The Daily bulletin., 1890-12-31

| commenced taxing notes upon the |
condition of the vessel. sat upon an
empty, broken barrel and wrote by the
light entering slit, through which l
saw the limitless extension of beach. A
shudder, born of the cold and solitude,
ran through me from time to time, and
stopped wriEng occasionally TO listen
TO the vague noises of the wreck, the
noise 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. l thought for an instant /
was in the presence of some drowned
wretch who wanted to tell me of his
death. Iquickly climbed on deck and
saw tall gentleman with three ladies.
They were even more startled than / at
seeing me emerge upon the deck Of the
abandoned vessel. The youngest Of the
three rushed off; the others caught their
fathers arm; as to him, he opened his
mouth, the only sign OF emotion he
showed. After second he spoke.
"You must be the owner of this ship"
Eyes" "Can l visit herr "Yes." He
murmured few words Of thanks, and
seeing he was looking for place to
climb 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, blonde of eighteen, as fresh as
q rose; SO delicate, SO dainty. Really
English women are like sea fruits. That
one looked as If abe 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 fuently than
her father and acted as interpreter.
had to give the history Of the wreck;
many of the details / invented as If !
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, a living sand
wich, slice of ham fashioned into a
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 me- eyes
as blue as deep water; of interrupting
her drawing to guess, of resuming her
work, of saying yes and no, that could
have staid there forever listening and
looking.
After awhile she exclaimed, 81 hear
noise" listened and distinguished a
slight sound unusual and continuous
What was it? / rose to look through a
crack and gave loud cry. The sea was
upon us. In no time we would be sur
rounded. We were on deck in an in
slant. 1t was too late. The water en-
compassed us and was rushing toward
shore with great rapidity The English
man wished to rush forward. l held
him back; flight was impossible on ac-
count of the deep pools that we had to
avoid in coming, and into which we
, would probably fall in attempting to re-
turn. 1t was moment of horrible ag-
, ony. Then the young English girl ex-
, claimed, I'VE are the ones who are
. wreckedr' wanted to laugh, but / was
, strangled by frightl cowardly, awful
, fright, low and treacherous, And this
3 tide. l realized all the danger Of ou
position and wanted to cry for help Tt
| whomf
s The youngest girls covered against
f their father, whom CONSERVATION watch
ed the boulrliess sea around us.
i And nigi.t was coming as rapidly a
q the tide; e henvy, damp darkness, W.
. remained ,ra half an hour, an hour,
n hardly know low long, looking al til,
i yellow water which thickened and h.,let
9 and played upon the reconquered beach
!. One of the girls complained Of III,
a cold, and we thought we would 80 il
for protection against the light bu; colo
+ breeze which stung our faces. leane,
o over the trap door. The ship was full o
o water and we were obliged % croucl
:. against the stern, which gave us som
L protection. Night was now upon us an,
/. we drew closer together, surrounded b.
:, water and darkness. felt the shoulde
d of the young English girl, whose teetl
~ chartered at times, tremble against mine
is I also felt the soft warmth of her body
and that warmth was to Inc as deliciou
!. as a kiss. We no longer spoke; we wer
r. motionless, silent, crouching like AM
!, mails in ditch during storm.
"a And somehow, in spite Of all; in spit
,e of the darkness, in spite Of the terribl
n and growing danger, commenced I
,t feel happy at being there, happy at til
20 cold and danger, at the long hours {
ID agony to be passed on those plnnks, d
ia near that pretty delicate English girl.
ly wondered why this sensation Of joy pen,
trated me. Why7 Who can say2 WI
II it because she was therer Who was Bh,
~ A little unknown English girl, di
le not love her. I did not know her, an
y. yet felt touched, conquered. Iwoul
as have given my life for hers Strane
n that the presence of woman can so NJ
as set us Is it the power of beauty whic
sh envelopes us9 the allurements Of yout
ne that like wine makes us drunk Or is
touch of Love, the mysterious, WI
tries without cessation to unite tv