Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-06

on opening his door he had seen the
beach covered with driftwood and
corpses. left there by the waves Insane
with fear, he had fed to his boat to go
to Bonifacio for help.
Tired with having said SO much, the
shepherd sat down, and the captain
went on with his story.
Eyes, monsieur, it was this poor old
fellow who came TO warn us He was
crazy with fright, and ever since his
brain has been of the track To tell the
truth, there was cause enough for it.
Imagine 600 hundred corpses in heaps
ON the sand, mixed with great timbers
and strips of sail Poor Semillantel
The sea had crushed her into crumbs
with one blow. Palombo with difficulty
got enough wood to build fence around
his hut AS for the men. nearly all
were horribly disfigured and mutilated
1t was pitiful to see them clinging to-
gether in punches We found the cap
tain in a gala uniform, the chaplain
with his stole. In corner between two
rocks there Vas n little cabin boy with
his eyes open. One might have thought
him alive; but, no. it had been decreed
that not one should escape" Here he
stopped
Careful. Narii. " said he: '.the fire
is going out
Nardi threw two or three tarred logs
On the embsrs. which quickly blazed
again
Lionetti continued: THE saddcst
part of the story is yet to come. Three
weeks before the disaster a little cutter,
which YVES going to the Crimca, like the
Semillantc. was wrecked in the same
way in nearly the same place, only this
time we managed to save the crew and
20 soldiers who were on board We
took them TO BOnifaCio and kept them
there Mt the station with Us for two
days
''oncc thoroughly dry and ON foot
again. it was goodhy. good luck They
returned to ToulOn, from which port
they embarked again several days later
for the CrimcA And imagine on what
ship! On the Semillante. We found
them all-al 2o-lying among the dead
just where we are now. i picked up
myself n handsome brigadier. with 4
long blond mustache. n STRIPPING from
Paris, whom / had taken to my own
house, and who made Us laugh all the
time with his stories To see him there
crushed me. . holy motherr'
ThereuPOn the good Lionetti, much
moved. shook the cinders from his pipe.
and rolling himself in his cape wished
me good night
For some time longer the sailors
whispered among themselves. Then,
one after the other, the pipes went out
No one spoke. The old shepherd hob
1 l. e..
away the hours in the middle of the
sleeping crew.
Still under the influence Of the lugu.
brious tale which had heard, tried &c
rebuild in my fancy the poor departed
ship and the story Of this agony Of
which the sea gulls were the only wit
nesses Several details which had struck
me-the captain in gala dress. the chap.
lain's stole. the 20 soldiCrs-helped ms
to imagine all the scenes Of the drama.
saw the frignte leaving Toulon in this
night. She loses sight Of the port Tn,
sea Is bad, the wind high The captain
Is valiant officer, and every one 0r
board Is undisturbed In the morning
n mist rises from the sea They com
mence 10 be uneasy. All the crew .Art
ON deck The captain does not leave IN,
bridge Between decks, where the !
diers are shut up. it l. dark: the air =,
close. Some are i'll, lying on their knap
sacks The ship pitches horribly. Ii l.
impossible TO stand up Sitting on tbs
floor, talking in groups. they cling Il
the benches II Is necessary to Shut
to be heard Some begin to b. fright
ened- Listen, then Wrecks are frequent
in the waters The sailors are there Il
say so. and what they say is not ress
surfing. Their hrigadier. too Partisan
who always talks wildly. makes theil
flesh creep with his jokes "A wreck
oh, n wreck Is amusing. very. We viii
be well out of it after our iced hath
Then they will take Us to Bonifacio Il
cat blackbirds with old Li0netti-''
Suddenly n crash What Is it? VIVA
can it be:
The helm is gone. cries a dripping
sailor who goes running between decks
Bon voyage" shouts that mailman
the brigadicr. But no ono laughs now
a great tumult on the bridge The fo,
prevents their seeing one another. Tn
sailors so and come. GrUping alons
frightened The helm Is gone. IL Is i'm
possible TO guide the ship. The Scmil
lante, adrift, flies before the wind Ii i
ut this moment that the douanicr 500
her pass Ii is half after II. just ahcaa
they hear. like the roar of Cannon. tn
breakers! The hreakcrsl Il is finished
There Is no hope They are gUin,
straight On the rocks The captain goe
down to his cabin He comes up in
moment to take his place on the hridg
in his full uniform He wishes to mcc
death in brave attire.
Between decks the soldiers. in rnorta
terror. gaze 1t one another without
word The sick Try to sit up; the httl,
hrigadier laughs no longer. Then tn
door opens. and the chaplain with hi
stole appestrs On the threshold
Ito your knees. my childrcnr' Al
Obey. In n ringing voice the priest be
gins the prayer for the dying
Suddenly fearful shock. n great cry
upstretched arms. clinging hands, wili
eyes. before which the vision Of death
J | has flashed Misercrel
It was thus that / passed the nigh
dreaming. bringing back through II
years the souls who had persisted in ths
poor ship whose debris surrounded me
Far away in the strait the tempest
/ ragged The fame of the fire bcnt under
the blast. and heard our bark thrash.
ing and straining at her moorings al