The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-02-26

grants, shabby and grimy,--most OF
them looking sea-sick, i thought, as they
overhung the side
A line was thrown from the ship, and
the boat hauled under the guard-arm
whip. where she lay rising and falling,
carefully Tended off from the vessels iron
side by couple OF men in her.
| Now, then, bear hand J! shouted
voice from the poop. Get your gang
way unshipped, and stand by TO hoist
away hansomely."
| A minute later large chair with arms
dangled over our heads, and was caught
by the fellows in the boat
"Now, madam" said the second mate,
twill you please seat yourself In that
chair?"
Grace was very white, but she saw that
| 1t must be done, and with set lips and In
silence was helped by the sailors to seat
| herself. l adored her then for her spirit.
for i confess that / had dreaded she
would hang back, shrek out, clingto me,
and complicate and delay the miserable
| business by her terrors. She was Sc
| curely fastened into the chair, and the
second mate paused for the chance.
Hoist away |" he yelled and up went
my darling, uttering one little scream
only as she scared
Lower awayr' and by the line that
was attached TO the chair she was
| dragged through the gangway, where
lost sight Of her.
II was now my turn. The chair de-
scended, and / seated myself, not with
out several yearning glanccs at the slop-
| ing side of the ship, which, however, only
satisfied me that=there WIS NO other
method by which / might enter the ves-
! sci than the chair, active as was.
Hoist awayp y was shouted, and up
went, and shall not readily forget the
sensation. My brains seemed TO sink
! into my boots as l mounted. For some
breathless moments / dangled between
heaven and ocean, and presently / was
! out of the chair at Graces side stared
at by some eighty or hundred emf
grants, who had left the bulwarks TO
| congregate on the main-deck.
Twill you step this wayY exclaimed
voice overhead.
On looking up, i found that we were
addressed by short, somewhat thick
set man, who stood at the rail that pro-
tected the forward extremity OF the
| poop-deck. This was the person who
| had talked to US through the speaking
| trumpet, and j at once guessed him TO
| be the captain. took Grace by the hand,
| and conducted her up a short flight of
steps and approached the captain, rails
| ing my hat as l did so, and receiving
| from him a sea-fourish OF the tall hat he
| wore.
- Is that your yacht, young gentle
MANI" said he, bringing his eyes from
! Grace to me, at whom he had to stare up
as at his masthead, so considerably did
tower oveEthe little man.
"Yes," said /; % she is the Spit-fre,-
belongs TO southampton. am very
much obliged to you for receiving this
lady and me-"
mot at all" said he looking hard at
Grace. " Your wife, sir?"
NO" said /, greatly embarrassed by
the question and By the gaze Of the ten
or dozen passengers who hung near,
| eying US intently and whispering, yet for
the most part with no lack of sympathy
and good nature in their countenances.
] saw Grace quickly bite upon her under
| lip, but without coloring or any other
sign of confusion than slight turn of
| her head as though she viewed the yacht.
"But what have you done with the
rest of your people, young gentleman"
| inquired the captain,
MY name is Barclay,-M Herbert
| Barclay; the name of the young lady to
| whom / am engaged to be married"
said l, Significantly, sending look along
"
! Bellassys, whose aunt, Lady Amelia
Roscoe, you may probably have heard
| Of"
with regard to my crew con-
tnued, and told the captain they had
made up their minds to carry the vessel
home.
Miss Bellassys looks very tired" ex-
claimed a middle-aged lady with gray
hair, speaking with gentle, concerned
smile engaging with its air of sympathet-
ic apology. If she will allow me to
conduct her to my cabin"
"By all means, Mrs. Barstow," cried
| the captain. ''If she has been knocking
about in that bit Of craft there through
out the gale that's been blowing, all 1
| can say is, she'll have seen more tumb-
ling and weather in forty-eight hours
than you'll have any idea of though l
was to keep you at sea for ten years in
this ship"
Mrs. Barstow with motherly manner
| approached Grace, who bowed and
thanked her, and together thev walked
to the ecompanion-hatcha and disappeared.
The captain asked me many questions,
many of which answered mechanically,
for my thoughts were fixed upon the
little yacht, and home,- e,-and with them
only, not with her.
me cdpJuln luuulTeu llJIle 700 curl
ously sometimes. So Miss Bellassys
was engaged to be married TO me, hey?
Was she alone with me2 No relative. no
maid, nobody of her own sex in attend
ance, hey? To these questions the ladies
listened with an odd expression in their
faces. 1 particularly noticed one of
them; she had sausage-shaped curls,
lips so thin that when they were closed
they formed fine line as though pre-
duced by the single sweep OF a camels-
hair brush under her nose: one pupil
was considerably larger than the other.
wniSn gave ner very staring Knowlng
look on one side OF her face but there
was nothing In my responses to appease
hers or the captains or the others
thirst for information.
There can be no doubt, hope, Cap
tain Parsons" said /, for the second
mate had given me the shippers name,
"of our promptly falling in with some
thing homeward bound that will land
Miss Bellassys and me?"
"Tll signal when have q chance" he