Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-09-18


the furious gale, would sorely tire the
sturdy little legs. Every now and then, as
vigorously and checrfully he worked in the
pitching smack, the captain sent a shout
of greeting over the dyke to keep the little
lad from getting lonely But the storm
blew his voice far up into the clouds, and
jamie i'm his rub, never heard it.
BY the time Captain Joe had put every
thing shpshape, he noticed that his plung-
ing boat was drifted close to the dyke. He
had never before seen the tide reach such
a height The waves that were rocking
the little craft so violently, were a mere
back-wash from the great seas which, as
he now observed with a great pang were
laundering i'm little further up the coast.
just at this point the dyke was protected
from the full force of the storm by Snow
don's Point "What if the dyke should
break up yonder, and this fearful tide get
in on the Marshes" thought the Captain
in sudden anguish of apprehension.
Leaving the boat to dash itself to pieces if
it liked, he clambered in breathless haste
out on to the top of the dyke, shouting to
Jamie as he did so. There was no answer.
Where he had left the little one but half
hour back, the tide was seething three or
| four feet deep over the grasses. Dark as
the night had grown, it grew blacker be-
fore the fathers eyes. For an instant his
heart stood still with horror, then he
sprang down into the flood. The water
boiled up nearly to his armpits. With his
feet he felt the great timber, fastened i'm
the dyke, on which his boy had been sit
ting. He peered through the dark, with
straining eyes grown preternaturally keen.
He could see nothing on the wide, swirling
surface save two or three dark objects, far
out in the marsh. These he recognized at
once as his fish-tubs gone ahoat Then he
ran up the dyke toward the point. "Sure-
ly, - he groaned in his heart, Jamie has
climbed up the dyke when he saw the wa
ter coming, and I'll find him along the top
here, somewhere, looking and crying for
mer'
Then, running like mailman along the
narrow summit, with band of iron tight
ening about his heart, the Captain reached
the point, where the dyke took its begin
ming.
No sign of the little one; but he saw
the marshes everywhere laid waste. Then
he turned round and sped back, thinking
perhaps Jamie had wandered in the other
direction Passing the now buried land
ing place, he saw with a curious distinct
ness, as if in a picture, that the boat was
turned bottom up, and, as it were, glued to
the side of the dyke.
Suddenly he checked his speed with a
violent effort, and threw himself upon his
face, clutching the short grasses of the
dyke. He had just saved himself from fall
ing into the sea. Had he had time to think,
he might not have tried to save himself,
believing as he did that the child who was
his very life had persisted. But the in
stinct of self-preservation had asserted it
self blindly, and just in time. Before his
feet the dyke was washed away, and through
the chasm the waves were breaking furi-
ously.
Meanwhile, what had become of Jamie?
The wind had made him drowsy, and be-
fore he had been many minutes curled up
in the tub, he was sound asleep.
When the dyke gave way, some distance
from JAMES queer retreat, there came
suddenly a great rush of water among the
tubs, and some were straightway hoated
off. Then others little heavier followed,
one by one; and, last of all, the heaviest,
that containing Jamie and his fortunes,
The water rose rapidly, but back here
there came no waves, and the child slept
as peacefully as if at home in his crib.
Little the Captain thought, when his eyes
wandered over the floating tubs, that the
one nearest to him was freighted with his
hearts treasure! And well it was that
Jamie did not hear his shouts and wake!
Had he done so, he would have at once
sprung to his feet, and been tipped out into
| the food.
By this time the great tide had reached
its height Soon it began to recede, but
slowly, for the storm kept the waters gath
cred, as it were, into heap at the head of
| the bay. All night the wind ragged on,
wrecking the smacks and schooners along
the coast, breaking down the dykes in a
hundred places, flooding all the marshes,
and drowning many cattle in the salt pas
lures. All night the Captain, hopeless and
mute in his agony of grief, lay clutching
the grasses on the dyke-top, not noticing
when at length the waves ceased to drench
him with their spray. All night, too, slept
Jamie in his tub.
Right across the marsh the strange craft
drifted before the wind never getting into
the region where the waves were violent.
Such motion as there was-and at times it
was somewhat lively-seemed only to hull
the child to a sOunder slumber. Toward
daybreak the tub grounded at the foot of
the uplands, not far from the edge of the
road. The waters gradually skunk away,
as if ashamed of their wild vagaries. And
still the child slept on.
AS the light broke over the bay, coldly
pink and desoately cleaning, Captain Joe
got up and looked about him. His ewes
were fearless, but his face was gray and
hard, and deep lines had stamped them
selves across it during the night.
Seeing that the marshes were again UNI
| covered, save for great shallow pools left
here and there lie set out to find the body
of his boy. After wandering aimlessly for
perhaps an hour, the Captain began to
study the direction in which the wind had
been blowing. This was almost exactly
with the road which led to his home on
the uplands As he noticed this wave of
pity crossed his heart, at thought of the
| terrible anxiety his father and mother had
all that night been enduring. Then in an
instant there seemed to unroll before him
the long slow years of the desolation of
that home without Jamie.
All this time he was moving along the
soaking road, scanning the marsh in every
direction. When he had covered about
half the distance, he was aware of his
father, fastening with feeble eagerness to
meet him.
The night of watching had made the old
man haggard, but his face lit up at sight of
his son. As he drew near, however, and
saw no sign of Jamie, and marked the
! look upon the Captains face, the gladness
died out as quickly as it had come. When
the two men met, the elder put out his
hand in silence, and the younger clasped
| 1t. There was no room for words. Side