The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1893-08-01

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erything was forgotten; off rushed the
whole company, men, women and
children, Malcolm and me with them,
to the beach. What did we see in the
darkening evening light? A vessel way
out seward, pounding on the bar!
Not a stick nor spar did she have
standing; shorn of everything by the
force of the shock when she struck, and
the big waves dashin and lashin' clean
over her.
"Not minute do we waste, but all
hands help drag the life boat down to
the edge of the surf and then quick
call for volunteers, brave fellows who
count themselves nothing if they can
onl Y save some one else's life. My Nal
com felt no fear; he was the first to
spring for ward and, though / chung to
him and beseeched and sobbed, would
not heed me. He gave one last embrace
to me, his new-made wife, and turned
to the boat
''Vainly begged him to remain with
me that first day of our welded life;
but no. he counted his duty before all
else Oh, that | had died thenl My
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twas torn and rent apart with anguish
that he would go; my head was swim
min and reelin', and crazed with the
cruel smart of his first refusal | Knocked
and cursed him there. Aye, cursed him
for what was only right, for the boat
was but poorly manned, there were so
few men at the beach, and of them
some were old and almost crippled; but
in my selfish rawlings l felt no pity for
the poor ship in distress, screaming
again and again that | wished it would
break up before they got started, and
that if they went hoped never to see
any of them again!
"Slowly my Malcolm left his place at
the bow of the boat; if live till Pm a
hundred, which, God pity me, / hope I
won't, never can 1 forget the look
saw on his face in the wan light.
Nell, darling, kiss me good-by.
Won't2 All, well, God bless you'll! and
he was gone.
Down on the sand / fell in a dead
faint. What then? All, yes. l lay
there but moment; the wet sand on
my face brought me to. | stared about
me; none were left but little knot of
women and children huddled together,
crying and peering through the gloom
at the struggling boat, and couple of
old men still standing waist deep in
the water where they had helped shove
off
Now the surf is passed; they are
tossed on the great waves; down, down
they go far from sight in the mad sea;
then up they come again; up, up,
gainst wind and tide, now topping on
the point of some monster billow, only
to go plunging down to meet the next,
and pulling up with might and main to
reach the wreck that labored and
strained on tbs bar and threatened to
go to pieces every second.
Now they work round under her
stern and are hidden from us by the
hulk, but soon we see them again care
fully approaching from the lee side;
but even there it seems too rough to
try to board her. Then we know from
the motions that they have cast line,
which must be caught, as now we see
dark shape suspended over the boat
for an instant; the next, a vast, noun
famous wall of foam overwhelms them,
the gale bursts out afresh and when
we can get our breaths and look again
they are gone Nothing is left but a
raging line of breakers black with
wreckage! Ship and boat are no
moreI'
Calmly she wiped her streaming eyes
and concluded:
''At daybreak eight bodies had
washed ashore; four our own men and
four strangers; the rest of the ships
company, nobody knows how many,
and the fifth of the boats crew-my
own Malcolm, were never recovered
The heat, which pulsated around us
like draught from hot furnace, and
the dramatic intensity of the old DANES
recital had so worked upon me that I
was in sort of added comatose condi-
ton. The few sounds of life from the
village were unnoticed; even the warn
ing whistle had blown some minutes
before entirely Undecided; SO / had to
take the Cape train back to town, but
somehow didn't feel like complaining
H Hamilton. in Boston Budget