Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-07-25
A MIDNIGHT LULLABY.
The Child Was Dead and It's Moth
er Dying-A Pathetic


We were off the Gulf of laramie on
the southeast coast Of Naples, and heading
up for the Adriatic sea, when at sunset
one evening the last vestige Of q breeze
died away, and no sailor ever saw more
glorious night come down. The heavens
seemed to blaze with stars, and SO quiet
was the ship after the o'clock watch
got settled down on deck that the silence
made one really lonesome. There was
only a light ground swell, and the ship
hcayed with scarcely the creak of a bulk
head below or the cheep of block aloft.
At 10 o'clock a light fog settled down
to make the situation still more lonely.
One standing at the wheel could just
make out the foremost rising from the
deck, but nothing forward of that 1t was
in summer. and the sailors were without
shoes. Now and then | could hear them
moving about. and their soft footballs re-
minded me of cats advancing upon their
prey. From to IL o'clock the ship was
like a grave. There was not even the
splash of 4 fish jumping out of water.
At II or soon after the man on lookout
halted me in a voice scarcely above a
whisper. and as / went forward he said:
I've heard something very queer off
the starboard bow for the last ten min
utes. It's not me alone, sir, but here are
two Of the men who will tell you the
same
What sort of sound is it," I asked.
We'll. it's the next thing to singing, /
should say. At least there's a sort Of tune
to it-something like one of our old nur-
sery songs
1T can't be craft out there. for moth
ing was within ten miles of US when the
wind died out. Keep quiet now, and We'll
all listen'
One-two-three minutes passed away,
and then all got the sound together. 1t
certainly sounded like a human voice. but
a weak one, and it also seemed to follow
the air of q nursery song.
| walked aft, and for fifteen minutes all
was quiet. Then | suddenly caught the
sound again, and this time it was so much
nearer or louder that / was startled. At
the same moment the lookout hailed
again, and as | went forward [ found the
whole watch bending over the starboard
bow in the attitude of listening.
I hear it, l said as / halted. 'Ail lis
ten now. and see if it comes again
1t was fully five minutes before the ST
lence was broken, and when the sound
came again no one could doubt what it
was. 1t was q weak and rasping human
voice crying out in a strange fashion in
an effort to sing If you have ever heard
a very old person trying to sing you can
get a fair idea of what this voice was
like. 1t was faint and Quavery. and yet
there was q rasp to it which instinctively
reminded me of thirst. 1t struck at least
one of the men that way also, for he
turned and whispered:
If that isn't a spirit. sir, it'll be some
castaway on q bit of wreckage whose
throat is SO parched that he can't send us
4 hail!'
/ went for my night-glass, and after a
long look [ thought / could make out an
object resembling a boat. [ couldn't be
certain. however, but waited for the
sound to come again. When it came /
called the captain, and two minutes after
he reached the deck we could make out
a boat to the east Of us, and he ordered
q boat lowered and sent me off IN charge
to investigate. We did not have cables
length to go. We not only found it to
be 2 boat, but there was a human being
in it sitting on the bottom amidships.
The queer singing began again as we
reached the boat. and while we were
making her fast the figure moved its
shoulders and arms. but not its position.
The motions reminded me of q mother
soothing a child. and yet [ had no doubt
the figure would turn out to be some
poor devil of q fisherman blown off shore
in a gale. When we reached the ship one
of the men entered the strange boat to
assist the castaway on deck, but he had
not vet laid hands on the sitting figure
when he started back and shouted:
BLESS my eyes, Capt. Cook, but it's
woman instead of sailor, and she's hold
ing something [ take to be baby"
I went down to inspect, and, sure
enough, it was a woman and a baby.
She had been bending over it and did
not look up till | laid my hand on her
arm. Even in the darkness I knew the
child was dead, and the mother very
near it. She would not let go of the
little dead body, and suffering had
wrecked her mind. She looked about in
& dazed and stupid way, and then sat
down on deck and began to rock and
Groom. We offered her brandy and water,
but for some time she would not touch
it. ] moistened a sponge and rubbed it
over her cracked lips, and then she filed
her mouth, but could not swallow. She
began to SILVER and shake like one with
the ague, and soon after that gave utter
ance to a wild, long shrek and fell over
dead.
The presence of the mother and child
in the boat out there was easily explained.
1t was a pleasure boat, and they had
drifted off the coast. -Four different
craft were out in search, and they were
in the highway of sailing and steam when
we brought them aboard. It was hardly
daylight before we were boarded by one
of the searching parties, but all we could
give them was the dead-two corpses
burned and shriveled in the hot sun and
wasted to skeletons by hunger and thirst.
Nav York r Qcor1ar