Wichita eagle., 1890-01-15
LITTLE MISS MUFFET.

\ Courage SHOWS lsSelI unexpectedly III many
different ways and places. / have seen men
| who had been brave soldiers turn pale when
they sat in a dentists chair, and have seen
| women who would scream at the sight of q
mouse bear without a groan the pain of q
terrible surgical operation.
| The other day, in an old station on the New
Jersey coast, / saw a queerly shaped boat
which reminded me Of something that hap
| pened to me once.
Some years ago took passage in large
emigrant ship, the Ayrshire, for this coun-
try. 1 had been at the University of Edin-
burgh, and was impatient to reach home.
| There were on board over three hundred en-
| igrant passengers in the Storage, and sixty
seven passengers IN the cabin.
One of the cabin passengers was an in
valid, very small, delicate young girl of
| twenty years, attended by her mother and
nurse. She was not patient sufferer. Her
| medicine was always too sweet or too sour;
| her pillows were too hard or too soft, and at
| the sound of the wind or a peal OF thunder
| she would tremble and cry like a child from
| fear.
There were two young men in the cabin be-
| sides myself, and am afraid that they found
| good deal of amusement in provoking her
| lights on the rigging, or of sharks and devil
fish and other sea monsters, or the sailors
yarn of the great shadow of fish which fol-
lows a ship on which is a human being ap-
pointed soon to die. She used to stand by
the hour at the stern of the ship looking
down into the cool, green depths to see if the
shadow pursued her.
Her nervous system was shaken by long
suffering, and l sympathized with her; but
the other men voted her a nuisance. They
were strong and full of health and fun, and
thought it hardship that the cabin should
be, SO they said turned into a hospital ward,
with bottles and pillows.
One of them, Frank Lowe had served in
the French army in Algiers, out of sheer love
of excitement and adventure; the other. Ber-
nard Knott, had been a volunteer in the
United States army during the civil war. So
you see that, notwithstanding their unfeeling
behavior toward the invalid girl, they were
not towards.
1t was one day near the end of the voyage,
and we hoped to see land ON the morrow.
Early in the evening Knott and Lowe and I
went down into the cabin, as the fog was so
heavy that in the darkness we could scarcely
see one another's faces on DICK. The lamps
were lighted, and we sat down at the table.
/ took up my book; the other men began to
play dominoes.
Miss Murray, the invalid, was lying on a
sofa, knitting, as usual, at some white fluffy
stuff. The young men called the poor girl
Miss Muffet to each other because she was so
tiny, and because she was always scared and
shuddering at some fancied object of terror.
Set in the woodwork at one end OF the sa-
loon was long mirror, and draped about it
were some faded red and gold curtains of
moreen. Mrs. Murray, who was a chatty,
cheerful little body, called our attention to
the drops of moisture on tae glass.
you cannot see your face in it," she said
''The fog must be very heavy"
Where are wez" asked Lowe. "Did the
captain work up our position this EVENING"
Yes said Knott. HE figured it out BY
the dead reckoning, of course. But believe
he does not know any more than do where
we are"
noticed that Knott had no jokes to make
that evening, and that he was restless
Throwing down book that be had caught
up, he paced up and down the cabin.
There was much shouting and trampiing
on deck, but l supposed that the crew were
reefng sail in anticipation of a storm, and
paid little attention to the cou.motion over
head
Suddenly it seemed to me as il every bone
In my body had been wrenched. | found
myself on my hands and knees, with the
floor of the cabin rising like a steep wall be-
fore me. Then / saw a queer thing. The
mirror broke obliquely from corner to cor
ner, and through the rent came a torrent Of
foul biige water. People have described
the wreckage of a vessel in a storm at sea as
a magnificent, terrible spectacle, but that is
all that l saw at the moment of its occurrence
the mirror parting in the middle and the
bilge water pouring into the room.
But that was enough. l knew that the
ship was doomed.
The mate, Sanders, stood in the doorway.
''Whst is thisf' yelled Knott.
''The ship has struck bar and is going 70
pieces!n the mate answered. ''AH hands on
deckln
He spoke pretty much as be might have
talked if he were giving an order TO holy
stone decks; yet knew that ne had a wife at
home, and child whom be had never seen,
but had hoped to see on the morrow. his
coolness was habit you see.
don't know how we got on deck We men !
helped the three women up, OF course That /
was habit, too. Good habits tell in time
like that just as much as they do in al even I
ing party in drawing room on shore
The Ayrshire was On tine great sandbsr 1
which lies off the whole New jersey coast 4
Hundreds Of ships used 10 be wrecked there 1
Before the life saving service was established 4
the View jersey shore was strevr with wreck /
age.
The eonigrants were svarming On the dects- /
a fearful surf broke over Is continually. /
The ship was rrenoVably settled In the /
sands, but it was rocked iucessa1tly By the 1
waves All around Us was the IElpsnesraoIe 4
grayn.ss Of the fog. through which came tns /
terrific thunder OF the breakers ca the shore
Il drowned the strieks Of tas women and
even tne noarse shouts Of the captains truaa-
pet
Surely we are On land, piped Mrs Agr
ray close beside me The ship Is fast"
''On bar" said tbs mate
From the moment Of her striking there
was no chance Of saving the vessel, which
was rapidly going 70 pieces TIE passengers
and crew were eu9died on her quarter DECK
Three beats ware launched, bs- before c1e
OF them could - manned they were swept
away LIE feathers IN sss ssur0-
We fouIa sfssrEard that We lad Zons
upon the DaF Oh E2e Fl44sSs OF fS-Hs - /
ant Our guns were heard Gu shore, ard ne
crew Of nlsn along shore cznse a. .nce 70 oT7r
rescue bui TIE fog was - d@ase thst we a'f
not SO tbesr 3 gnal Ilga.s nor, with t0s WIND
blowing toward shore, hear the firing q
th.:r mortar. Il was after hours Ct Hzscsr-4l
a~ouv AID sz,sp@rse tsat O rid TelI q DE-
Egh; broke from tie stipscr-v; thsy ru1'asi
together. graphing a Egh. cord -nlch had
I, was lins scos from the Efe saving