The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-04-04
ESTABLISHED 1879


But she is not lostI No. nor he
shrieked, almost beside himself s.Ma-
bel, Mabel, come back to meir he
added, In plaintive, despairing voice,
stretching out his hands over the wild
waters.
He is going mad. said the mate.
But at length the captain became
calmer, although his face was as
CHASTITY as that of the dead. He wore
ship and retraced his course toward the
island. When within mile of it, he
ordered boat lowered
He had it manned and was pulled to
the beach.
A group of wild islanders stood there.
II want my wifei" cried the captain.
"Wife9 What mean9" inquired one
Of the savages. who could speak little
English.
'sshe fell overheard last night, but
she was good swimmer, and think
she must have reached the beach, " said
the skipper, confidently.
But the native shook his head.
''She is hereI / am sure of itl'' in
sisted the captain.
Mad Madr' muttered the mate, who
had accompanied him.
All that day the skipper searched
about the island for his wife, but no
sign of her could be found
The moment he reached the ship,
Barton was taken down with a raging
fever.
For many days he lay in delirium.
When he recovered, he was mere
wreck of his former self; but his mind
had recovered from the shock it had
received.
He could now talk in rational
manner about his wife.
''She is LOST Lostl But l will soon
join her, he said, mournfully 81 am
not long for this world. y
His conscience gave him no rest.
His hand it was that had sent her into
the dark watersI True, it was an ac-
cident; but it was his violent temper
that had caused it.
In due time the ship reached Java,
the port Of her destination.
The vessel was. not long anchored
when the skipper went below and took
from a pantry some prussic acid, with
which he intended to put an end to his
wretched life.
He mixed the poison in a cup and
was about raising 1t to his lips when a
light, beautiful form descended the
companion steps. He turned, still hold
ing the cup, to behold a most nnex-
pected vision.
For moment he stared wildly. as IT,
looking at ghost.
It was his wife-his own beautiful
wife-he saw before him.
wild cry escaped him, and the two
rushed into each others arms.
Then from the deck there rose
cheer that made the vessel shake from
keel to keelson and seemed to split the
very skies.
The crew had seen Mrs. Barton
when she came aboard from q shore
boat, and were now expressing the
wild joy that thrilled them all
Explanations were soon made by the
happy wife.
The moment she struck the water, on
that night when she fell overheard,
she had walked, and, instinctively throw
boat-mast, which had fallen with her.
10 Ibis mast she cluuR.
Her skill as swimmer assisted her
in keeping her position.
She was carried past the island. BY
that time the storm had subsidized and
the moon shone. Ahead of her, ap-
preaching, she beheld a small
schooner. It passed so near her that
by shouting, she attracted the atten-
ton of the crew. A boat was lowered
and she was picked up, half senseless-
AS soon as she could speak, she told
her story. But she could not make
herself understood by the wild crew.
who were natives Of some neighbcring
island and did not understand word
of English. They were evidently trad
ers in cocoanut oil, and were bound to
some port not far distant. At dawn
she looked about her, but, owing,
probably, to an intervening headland,
she could not see her husbands ship
The schooner kept on, and, In few
days, arrived at Rennell's island
There, to Mrs Barton's joy, she
found small steamer bound for Java
She took passage aboard of it, and
thus arrived at this port forty-eight
hours before her husband
A happy day for the captain!
For Jack Wilton, too. who again and
again mbraced his noble sister.
From that hour. Barton was never
known to give way to hasty temper.
Rufus Hall. in n. Y. Ledger