The herald., 1895-09-01


Of the past" said he. I thought of my
last sea voyage ana of its disastrous re-
suits. AS the water in the basin ouieted
could see upon its surface the Gallant
ship which had carried me many thous.
anos OF miles on the last trip which il
ever made. The waves rac high and fire.
quently swept across the decks The pas
sengers were huddled together like sheep
in the cabins waiting for and dreadine
the worst. 1t seem ed as if | was there
in their midst and that these thinss oc-
Cured for the first time. Presently the
captain came IN ana announced that some
time before the ship had sprung a leak
and that in spite of their best Efforts to
keep the water out it was gaining rapidly
and they must prepare to take to the
boats. Again | seemed to hear the ter.
ribe din which arose over this news.
Men and women cried out in despair and
the children joined in, and added their
wall to the uproar. The water gained
rapidly and soon we were ordered out on
deck. Here it was most difficult to keep
ones feet. | couldEsee many poor wretches
washed overheard AS the huge waves
broke across the ship. An attempt was
made to launch the boats. The first one
was thrown against the ship and smashed
as If it had been an egg shell.
A cowardly lot of sailors rushed for the
second boat and met the fate they de.
served, as before the fall had been cast
of the boat rose on a huge wave, one
fall worked loose and AS the shin fell in
the trough of the sea, the boat lowered
by the stern, the other fall succeeding it
lengthwise in the air. tumbling the sail.
ors into the sea, where they perished.
All these incidents were presented to me
as vividly as when they first occurred.
The ship had by this time sunk very low
in the water and it was with the greatest
difficulty that we were able to maintain
our hold and prevent being washed into
the sea. In fact many were carried over
board, and the cries and groans OF the
survivors were terrible to hear. All the
night we hung on desperately to what
ever support we c)uld lind, expecting
every moment that the ship would sink,
but morning broke to find us still on top
of the sea. II had been q night of horror.
| well remem bered it and the break ing
day was hailed with renewed hope. The
sea had gone down considerably during
the night. All that day we watched anx-
lousy, almost despairingly. for a sail. We
saw two, but they were too far away to
observe us, and they soon passed out of
sight. Toward sundown another sail
was sighted, and this one proved to be n
ship of the same line as our own, and as
it came near enough to sight us we were
soon taken from the wreck.
Surely these pictures of .hy host were
unrivalled in their interest and in the
truth of their reproduction. | told him
so. and he seemed pleased at my appreci-
alton. | sat as in dream gazing upon
the wond erful aquatic mirror as scene af
ter scene of past events appeared before
me. Presently something touched my
hand, and looked up. There stood the
spectre looking down at me, and in his
hand he held the wine glass filled with
the golden liquor. Drink" said he.
drank and experienced the same sensa-
tions as before, but greatly intensified. A
drowsines, stole over me. | murmured,
Don't disturb me, >" and closed my eyes.
Immediately a great shouting arose.
opened my eyes. The spectre had gone.
The cave had vanished. | lay in the hay,
and the first rays of the rising sun shone
through the cracks of the barn. Again
the shout arose. and now l could distn-
guish the words, breakfast Breakfast!' ~