The Bossier banner., 1894-09-13

of a wolf. A life-saver of the coast
told me that the same day toward half
past eleven, having gone out of his
caoln to fasten his shutters, the wind
whirled away his cap, and at the risk
of being carried off himself by the
blast he commenced to crawl along
the beach on all fours after it. You
see the douaniers aren't rich, and
cap costs. Well, it seems that our
man, lifting his head, saw right near
him, through the fog great ship
scudding along under bare poles to-
ward the Lavezzi islands.
This ship went very fast, so fast
that he had hardly time for a coed
| look. Everything points to the belief
that it was the Semillante, because
half hour later the shepherds of the
islands heard-why, here comes the
shepherd himself he will tell you.
Bonjour, Palombo. Come, warm thy
self. Have no fear
A mufi1ed man, whom ] had seen for
some minutes prowling around our fire,
and whom l had taken for one of the
crew, because | did not know that
| there was a shepherd on the island,
approached US timidly. He was an
old leper, three-quarters of an idiot
and prey to | know not what other
scorbutic evil, which made his lips
| horrible to behold, so swollen were
they. They explained to him at
length what we were talking about;
! then lifting his dreadful lips
wit i- IL L
that on the day in question, about
noon, he heard from his hut fright
full crash on the rocks, but as the
island was covered with water he
could not get out to see. 1t was not
until the next morning that on OPEN
ing his door he had seen the beach COW
| cred with driftwood and corpses, left
there by the waves Insane with fear
he had fled tc his boat to go to Boni-
facio for help.
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 We're 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 a corner, between two rocks,
there was 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, 1.-The fire is
going out"
Nardi threw two or three tarred logs
on the embers, which quickly blazcd
again.
Lionetti continued: The saddest
part of the story is yet to come. Three
weeks before the disaster little cut
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
tion 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 EN- barl1ed 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
long mustache, 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.
e. Still under the influence of the lrgu-
brious tale which had heard, | 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 a val
liant officer and everyone on board is
undisturbed. In the morning mist
rises from the sea. They commence to
be uneasy. All 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 inapsaells. |
The ship pitches horribly. 1t is impos- !
slble to stand up. Sitting on the floor, |
talking in groups, they cling to the |
benches. 1t is necessary to shout to |
be heard. Some begin to be fright
ened. Listen then: wrecks are fre-