The Republican., 1894-08-09

Tired with having said so much, the
shepherd sat down and the captain
went on with his story:
Yes, monsieur, it was this poor old
fellow who came to warn US. He was
crazy with fright, and ever since his
brain has been off the track. To tell
the truth, there was cause enough for
it. Imagine six hundred corpses in
heaps on the sand, mixed with great
timbers and strips of sail. Poor Sem
illante! 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 of them were horribly dis
figured and mutilated. 1t was pitiful
to see them clinging together in
lunches We found the captain in
gala uniform; the chaplain with his
stole In corner, between two rocks,
there was a 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 Nardi," said he, "the fire is
going out"
Nardi threw two or three tarred logs
on the embers, which quickly blazed
again.
Lionetti continued: "The saddest
| part of the story is yet to come. Three
weeks before the disaster a little cut
| ter, which was going to the Crimea
| like the Semillante, was wrecked in
| the same way, nearly in the same
place, only this time we managed to
save the crew and twenty soldiers who
were on board. We took them to Boni-
facio, and kept them there at the sta
| ton with us for two days. Once
thoroughly dry and on foot again, it
was good-by, good luck They re-
| turned to Toulon, from which port
| they embarked again several days later
| for the Crimea. And imagine on what
ship! On the Semillante. We found
them all-twenty, lying among the
dead just where we are now. Ipicked
up myself handsome brigadier, with
a long mustache, a strapling 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. Oh, Holy Mother"
Thereupon the good Lionetti much
moved, shook the cinders from his
pipe, and rolling himself in his cape,
wished me goodnight.
Still under the influence of the lugu-
brious tale which had heard, l tried
to rebuild in my fancy the poor, de-
parted ship, and the story of this agony
of which the seagulls were the only
witnesses. Several details which had
| struck me, the captain in gala dress,
| the chaplain's stole, the twenty sol
.diers, helped me to imagine all the
scenes of the drama. saw the frigate
leaving Toulon in the night. She
| loses sight OF the port. The sea is bad,
the wind high. The captain is val
| liant officer, and everyone on board is
undisturbed. In the morning a mist
rises from the sea. They commence to
be uneasy. Ali the crew are on deck.
| The captain does not leave the bridge.
Between decks, where the soldiers are
| shut up, it is dark, the air is close.
Some are i'll, lying on their knapsacks.
The ship pitches horribly. 1t is impos-
olDlC W oIdIltl SIlGlliS OIl luC hOOl,
talking in groups, they cling to the
benches 1t is necessary to shout to
be heard. Some be5i4 to be fright
ened. Listen then: wrecks are fre-
quent in these waters; the sailors are
there to say so, and what they say is
not reassuring Their brigadier, too,
e Partisan who always talks wildly,
makes their flesh creep with his jokes.
"A wreck Oh, wreck is amusing,
very. We will be well out of it after
our iced bath. Then they will take us
to Bonifacio, to eat black birds with. old
Lionetti."
Suddenly crash! What is it? What
can it be?
THE helm is gone" cries dripping
sailor, who goes running between
decks. Bon voyage shouts that
madman, the brigadier-but no one
laughs now. A great tumult on the
bridge. The fog prevents their seeing
one another. The sailors go and come,
cropping along frightened. The helm
is gone. 1t is impossible to guide the
ship. The Semillante adrift, flies be-
fore the wind.
1t is at this moment that the douanier
sees her pass. 1t is half-after eleven,
Just ahead, they hear, like the roar of
cannon, the breakers. The breakers!
1t is finished. There is no hope. They
are going straight on the rocks. The
captain goes down to his cabin. lie
comes up in moment to take his place
on the bridge in his full uniform. He
wishes to meet death in brave attire.
Between decks, the soldiers, in NOR
tai terror, gaze at one another without
word. The sick try to sit up, the lit
tie brigadier laughs no longer. Then
the door opens, and the chaplain with
his stole appears on the threshold.
ITO your knees, my children" All
obey. In a ringing voice the priest
begins the prayer for the dying.
Suddenly a fearful shock, a great
cry, upstretched arms, clinging hands,
wild eyes before which the vision of
death has flashed. NiSerere!
1t was thus that passed the night
dreaming, bringing back through ten
years the souls who had perished in
the poor ship whose debris surrounded
me. Far away in the strait the tenn
pest ragged. The flame of the fire bent
under the blast and heard our bark