The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1891-03-29

WHEN he SANG OF LOVE.
TraditicH E;ls dealt somewhat roughly
with the reputation of the Barnegat folk
of hslf century ago: but that is hardly
to be wondered at. It is quite as much
as live man can do nowadays, even by
giving q good deal Of attention to it, TO
protect his good name, SO what s.show'
can the necessarily silent dead be ex-
pected to have? The fact is that the
1swreckers Of Barncgat" were not by any
means so black as they have been paint
ed That modest claim in their behalf
scarcely seems sufficient, for the same
thing is proverbially said of the devil, so
we may in strict justice go farther and
affirm that among them were not a few
very excellent men and women who
never lighted false beacon fires or swung
ships lantern from a cows horns.
unhappily there were then many
wrecks On that dangerous coast, for
warning lights were not SO numerous as
they now are, and the loss of life in
these disasters was great, since there was
no such well organized and admirably
equipped life saving corps as we at pres
ent have When the wrecks occurred
the dwellers On Barnegat beach assumed
that all rights of 1otsam and jetsam
were theirs, and perhaps piously viewed
the casting ashore Of a rich cargo as
special providence in their behalf But
the cruel treachery of Turing vessel to
destruction by means of false lights was
an infrequent crime-whatever sensa-
tional legend makers may say to the con
frary-and there were numbers OF brave
strong men there who many a time
heroically risked their lives to save ship
wrecked persons from the terrible waves
that in stormy weather Numbered upon
those sands.
David King and his stalwart sons,
Donald and Andrew, were among the
foremost Of those who habitually so dis
tinguished themselves. No one was
more daring and interchangeable Ia captur-
ing yaluablea from wreck than were
the Kings. bat they would at any mo-
uent abandon the most tempting piece
Of salvage to save a drowning sailor,
and that could not be truthfully said of
all their neighbors. There was those
who avcrred that this eccentricity
brought the family good luck. and this
imagining had not little good effect in
encouraging others to emulate their hui
name example, SO that IN time it came
to be noted that wrecks were much less
fatal in their neighborhood than upon
other parts of the beach.
Janet King, the only daughter Of Da-
yid, had almost as much strength and
dexterity with the oars as he'd either of
her brothers, and was quite their equal
in courage. which is equivalent to
saying that in all the qualifications
demanded for existence on Barnegat
In those days she had no superiors in
the community. And consensus of the
opinions of the young men in the vicin-
ity would have unqualifedly sustained
the affirmation that in point of good
looks she had no equals. OF course other
young women saw defects in her style of
beauty. They affirmed that her eyes
were too big and black, her wavy raven
black hair altogether too long and heavy,
the voluptuous roundings Of her finely
developed form quite too pronounced.
But that was to be expected. The girls
Of Barnegat were not radically different
from other girls. Janet was not simply
pretty or good looking but actually
beautiful TO degree that awed tho
young fellows about her, caused them to
feel awkward in her presence and made
them shy Of attempting advances to her,
however wistfnly they looked upon her
from a respectful distance.
But one day there came a big, blue
eyed, Aaxen haired young hunter from
the distant city Of New York who was
not soeasily abashed, but rather inspired
BY beauty, and who very promptly made
his admiration for her quite apparent.
Selden Rangely was, he said, his
name. He had been duck shooting up
about the mouth of Forked river until
success became monotonous, and leaving
his boat IN the bay he had wandered
along the coast aimlessiy until he reach
ed tho hamlet where the Kings were
leading citizens and found shelter in
their house. There was in his mind a
half formed purpose OF strolling on as
far as Mays landing, or perhaps even
farther, but it was quickly abandoned
when be got one good look at Janet
King Where she was his journey, he
felt, was ended And why should he go
farther and certainly fare worses 1t was
bitter, bad November weather, SO in
element that hardly one day ont Of
three was. fit to 20 duolxing in, and the
roads-in the few places where any ex-
listed were execrable. Only a fool
would think Of exploring the New Jer-
sey cosst at such seasou when he had
the alternative Of settling down by a
warm Arseide and making love to Janet
King.
With some initial difficulty he per-
suaded her father to accept him as a
hoarder. despite Ar King's protests that