The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1895-05-17

w%S s1slploted.
| Adsllication party wns 70 be heldin Ii
the club house, and everybody In Bei.
mpnt was in Joyful anticipation Of thar
4 brilliant event.
4 Eoung ladies' with their manly escorts
.nsiaea the hlllsides in search Of au-
lsiaa leaves and evergreens for the
| 9yqratiens and the boys who wero
IinasnAecs Of the crow trimmed the club
l.ansc with many bright colors. Tie
Eye@li@ briore the day Of the party /
4 INN been to the boat house with Ralph
~ sen :ho decorations, We were look
Iinc forward to the party with 50 much
Slsasure, AS we wended our way
haniaward from the station that beau
i tiful, calm September evening l felt in
nv heart that he loved me and / was
hlissfully happy.
4 AS we entered the parsonage gate
| and stool together In the moonlight he
4 put his arms around me and asked me
v become his wife
! My darling Ralph, how much I loved
aim; hutI told him to wait for his an
swer until we met at the party the
next evening.
How happy was that night All.
too happy. ! went to my wardrobe
and looked at my dresses. There was
the lovely white one had made for
| the party. would wear that dress
when l gave him my answer, which
should be; s'Yes, my love, accept the
most sacred gift man can bestow
upona woman-the gift Of his love, his
InaEie and his honor"
After awhile went TO bed and fell
laslees. II must have been near morn.
~ when was awakened by aterrible
crash ot thunder and vivid display OF
liss;ssstaing.
/ rhc house itself seemed to rock to
ana fro, for the wind was blowing d
tremendous gale. Igot up Immediate
| N and ran downstairs to my parents
room / found them both up snd
dressed.
"This is q fearful wind,' my father
exclaimed. God grant that there are
Ro fishermen near our coast tonight,
t.r.a boa. could not be manned in o
tenaness like this. y
i;ut we have q life-saving station
land crew now, father,r / cried, but
then . shudder Of fear ran through my
heart when ! remembered that nay
iaycr was the captain Of that crew.
INA nj .slit have to 20 out in such .
stsrrs Is this. My father and mother
s.iosisssit also Of Ralph, and for awhile
we were silent
IIark! What was that? The alarm
from the penthouse. Was there q fish.
| ing bort with life In danger, or why
was Tie watchman calling for the
crew? The alarm bell rang on.
1T nast be the wind that 10 ringing
;.lic belt my dear mother said. "0ur
bays cssila not go out In . terrible
stara ~ this"
| ,2i!, ,ather," ] cried, ''let us GO
there and see, for Ralph I know will
| Ec there"
My father commanded me TO be calm,
and said: .'It would do no good for us
to 10 ont in the storm even II Ralph
and the crew were out"
| Again the alarm bell sounded, and |
cried oat in despair; Father, ] must
and ] sAall go,"
rushed to nv room and dressed, afltl
going downstairs / entreated my fathei.
to hurry AS we opened our house
door the wind blewin and extinguished
the light Of my mothers candle, as she
.tapa near the door aud begged US not
togo.
Almost every moment the thunder
would peal nnd the lightning wonid
Zach and light up the village and coast
for miles, and the rain poured down il
torrents, 1t was q fearful struggle,
but ciinging closely together we 1T
last reached the boat house,
There was the old watchman and
two OF three members OF the crew, bu.
where were the captain and the Others
Over the water came the faint crief
Of two fishermen, whose boat had bern
shattered upon the rock, to which they
we're clinging, and the shouts Of the
brave boys could be heard, who had
gone out in a small boat TO save them.
Oh, why had they attempted such q
dangerous thing in this awful storm?
Would they succeed?
s1y father and / fell on our knees and
prayed to God to guide that boat and
bring them safely back, but the sea
was too angry that night and the wind
and the waves too high, and soon the
csics Of the perishing fishermen were
liushed forever by the roar Of the
asgry waters.
There on the shore we waited and
xs.iycts, while the waves dashed furi-
t~tily on the rocky beach. The min
utes seemed like days to us, until al
most half an hour had passed away
while we watched there and prayed,
but our boys did not return from their
errand Of mercy.
At last there was momentary lull
In the Storm, and we went nearer 10 4
hewater and peered out over the angry
sea.
A fash Of lightning revealed to u
for moment the beautiful new boa,
tossing empty on the foam, and I sank
upon the sand unconscious.
-.Esa = - :