The Caldwell watchman. (Columbia, La.) 1885-1946, 1894-03-23
CHAPTER XII.
cETTlINl AHClrNTg


Here was an unexpected turn of the wheel
Of fortune, new mystery to rack the mind
or give an added relish to life, just as you
might chance to look at it, was not at
all sorry to find my companion gone, nor
In truth greatly surprised but his aepar
ture might portend more than it was pleas
ant to speculate on.
l knew my man we'll enough to under
stand at once that he had not left me upon
any trivial motive nor to do good by stealth
Too much Of knave to be fool, on his
own confession consummate rascal, ig-
norant or contemptuous Of moral scruples,
insensible to gratitude, insatiably avari
cious, bold in planning and ruthless IN ex-
ecuting, felt be must be bent on some
scheme that BODIED neither me nor the brig
any good. I recollected with peculiar and
not very agreeable sensations how he had
pressed me in our bout on the evening be-
fore, and how on finding himself fairly
matched his chagrin had broken through
his we'll trained smiles and cOurtierlike air
of compliment.
To be deprived of his company was q
. cause for rejoicing, for his absence relieved
me Of a constant source of suspicion and
danger. But better present evil than q
lurking enemy. With your eye on the foe
you can defend yourself, but when be may
spring upon you like tiger In the jungle
at any moment from any quarter, back,
front, side or oblique angle, why, the fear is
apt to fret the nervous. And indeed the
legions Of black thoughts came trooping
back upon me with such disquieting effect
that, un-Christian as it may sound, Iwould
have given much to be able to run ADram
ben Alden through with my sword, and
there and then make an end Of him. But
as it was, could only conjecture, and con-
featuring on a matter of life and death is
positively the most unsatisfactory exercise
in which the human mind can engage.
You may be sure kept sharp lookout
awning, save when | ran below to dOuse
my head, which had feversh tendency, or
swallow mouthful of food or drink. But
the day passed, and no boat or other object
hove In sight saw neither landmark nor
watermark nor even SO much as the fash
Of d seabied,s VIA r-7Aetaiag but the dreary,
binding glitter of the eternal ocean plain.
The darkness came, came at stride, as
Mr.. Coleridge says, for in the tropics there
is no twilight. but leap from light to
darkness as if the night were lying in wait
and bounced upon the world as upon long
expected prey. The stars came out. like
points of lambient fame in ieckless, gray
blue sky, and by and by the moon rose
with gense of sovereignty, a majesty and
magnifcence never equaled on land.
Higher and higher she mounted, her white,
unveiled radiance nearly obliterating the
stars in her path, and she smote with
almost as cruel stroke as the sun. There
is promise to the righteous that the sun
shall not smite them by day nor the moon
by night. The shifting of the sun jewellers
in temperate cline may partly under
stand, but the shifting of the moon never.
You must so to the east and experience
her adding, whitening blight to com
prehend the fact that hard Arabian moon
will drive a strong man stark mad in sin
gle night if he lie unprotected from her
light. Even with me under my covering
she seemed to be sucking at my vitals
Weary with watching, and to say the
truth more than trifie worried, fed my
rats and went to bed. lay long awake in
spite of fatigue and the soothing lullaby Of
tapping waters At length began odoze,
frequently starting up, however, with a
vivid impression of hearing Abram ben
Alden calling my name Rising on my ell
bow would harken, painting with excite.
ment. But the great silence being unbro.
ken, save by the low, sweetly blended voices
Of wind and water, would lie down again
to be honest, with something of the nervous
shivering of frightened child.
Once | was constrained to get up and
look out, first on one side, then on the
other. But the deep serenity Of nature
was undisturbed. The moon shone re.
splenaently, aud the sea, gently crisped by
the breeze, sparkled like fretted silver or
glowed with phosphorescent fire. The night
wind, soft and warm and odorous, caressed
my face and head with wooing murmur
! that would have been delicious had j been
IN frame Of mind to enjoy it, and far
aloft the stars palpitated in their azure
setting with sort of tender compassion.
All, mystery Of mysteries, how came all
those splendors to be above me, and how
came Of all the millions on earth to look
mp at them from such an utter desolation'
Did need the lesson of human feebleness
more than any one elses Was my pride SO
stubborn, my disobedience 80 great, that
had to be sent out here a second and lone
| lier Ishmael to be humbled and corrected?
II the sins were many, truly the punishment
was SORE Faint and quivering, ! leaned
against the side for support, and as l
rubbed a clammy face there was wrung
from my heart that piteous cry that went
up from Calvary-the cry which vents the
concentrated misery of q lost race, "My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
mes"
And Immediately, as il by celestial i'm
pulse, my mind few back to heathery
I braeside, and / was nesting from threat
ening perils In arms that comprised me
safely about--as one whom his mother
] comforteth. The wounded animal seeks Its
/ lair that it may die in peace; the wounded
spirit turns home that 1t may be strength.
ened and solaced, were it only by mere rec
election. But for that divine memory
that swift fight through space and time,
might have gone that Instant and leaped