Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-01-05

showed her souw rs faAt as he consd
For. albeit the Mercia WAS fine East
Infianaa. mounting twenty gms. and
quite able TO hold her own against any
ordinary pzirateH or pira1e-and
French ocean cruisers were too scarce 70
be much of a bugbearher business
was trading. no. fighting. Cox. nAtrr-
ally. steered a course where enemies
were least likely to be encountered.
likewise friends. the oze Implying
the other. with the resu.. that for
weeks after leaving the narrow seas we
did not sight single sail Moreover.
when At length we did sight one, Cox.
not knowing whether it was an enemy
OF a friend, gave IL . wide BETH
After hoping against hope for the
greater part Of a month saw thai I
was booked for Calcutta after all Cox
faoagit that with good luck we should
lake the voyage IN FIVE months There
fore, If / found houeward-bo bound yes
sci u the Hoogiy ready to sail might
be n England BY the end of the rear
ten months after ny departure from
Boulogae
1t was bitter disappointment I
should miss my promotion: my time On
the East Indianan would not count;
my father and mother would hear Of nay
escape, but not of my rescne. and NOUN
ne IS dead; and nearly a year must
elapse before could convey De Gex's
message to his mother and sister
Bat it might have been worse The
Mercia was better than French pris-
on, and life on board of her, albeit mo
notonous, was not intolerable. She
carried passengers Among them were
two pretty, engaging Young women
Minnie Cartwright and Dora kIbride-
with whom naturally fell ia love. /
had a way in falling IN love IN those
days Perhaps it would be more correct
to say that was half In love with each
of them rather think they recipocat-
ed the feeling. At any rate, they were
very kind, and after hearing my story
made much more of me than deserved
But, as they were going to India twhere
they had knfolk) on q matrimonial
venture, and was not an eligible part,
no harm was done They knew how to
take care of themselves, those young
women
Another passenger was Dr.. Joyce, =
missionary, who had spent the greater
part Of his life n India and translated
the Bible, or part of it, into twenty
languages He was q dear, good old
man, and offered to teach the young
ladies Eiodustaoi and Arabic, the one
because it would be the everyday Ian
gcage Of their lives. the other because
1t was the language Of poetry and the
French Of the east The offer was
gratefully accepted and / asked and
oo-ai2ed permission to join in the les
soas, partly pour pesser le temps, part
II because Liked the company
Then one Of the mites played tie I'D
die, and one Of tie Passengers the
cIarionet; O. dark highs re had the
a-icals below. and when !. was moon
light, dances Oh deck; aid SO, despite
the fact that / was voyaging agaHs..
ny viii, the days passed not unpleas-
aatly- All the same Il vas slow Eoy-
age We had light battling winds and
frequent Gains, and at or second
crossing Of tie equator the Aeccia had
bes1 al sea nearly five months Bets
were laid that she would not reach Cal
cutta before September.
We were now II latitudss where the
French Tag was seldom If ever SEEN
and Capt Cox 10 longer steered clear
OF every passing sail One day, a ship
being sighted which had an English
look about her, he ordered the Mercia's
course to be altered point SO as to
cross her bows, and as they neared each
other the vessels exchanged signals
The stranger proved to be the Strath-
-.
On this Cox decided to send boat to
her with the letters which some Of the
passengers had been industrionsly
writing ever since they left England
1t was an opportunity not to be lost [
went with the letters, after quite
pathetic parting with the many friends
whom / had made On the Msrcia-
Minnie and Dora let me kiss them
d. Joyce gave me his blessing. shook
hands with the captain and his officers
and passengers, and as went over the
SIDE the crew gave me a parting cheer.
The master Of the Srzfhclyde made
DO difficulty about giving me passage
TO the Thames, and after a prosperous
yoyage of four months landed me At
Gravesend, whence travelled By coach
TO London
/ was glad TO find that, though my
mother had been painfully anxious
about ne, neither she nor M father had
.espaired Of mr. return They knew
hat sailor has as many lives as cat,
and had moreover great confidence In
ny luck and n M ability to take care
IF myself
The people OF the Admiralty, where
ost 10 time In reporting myself, less
sanguine and more practical had
.ounted me asdead AID erased my name
rom the list Of ieutenantS On hear
ng this obtained an interview with i
he permanent under-secress-y, friend !
If my father. to whose good Offices 1
vas IN the main indebted for my rapid ]
promotion Though he seemed to be !
-ery busy. he listened to the account of /
ny adventures with evident interest. 1
nd was very curious to know all that I !
,ould tell him about BoEaparte and !
Paris. In the end he promised to have !
ny name restored to the LIST at once |
md to find ne employment as soon as !
possible
.sYou must have found lie desperate |
Y slow on board that IndiAman,- he |
aid as rose to take my leave How
i'd you pass your tinee"
We'll. among other things LEANED |
Iindustani and Arabic"
The devil You did, Why. you are
usf the man we want We are sending /
naval expedition to the NediteIanean
o help and encourage the Turks IN their
eSiStanee to that villain Ronaparfe;