Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1896-07-03

what had taken him there, but / sus-
pect he went in search of health. He
was in sailing vessel-the BLACK
Swan" was her name. There were
other passengers-men, women and
children. One night there was a crash,
horrible grinding sound, recoil, and
the BLACK Swan" quietly settled down
to the bottom of the ocean. Whether
the disaster was due to collision or to
sunken rock was never known. All
was over in five minutes, and Julian
Lorraine found himself swimming for
life, yet without hope Of saving it.
In swimming, as indeed in every
manly exercise, Lorraine was all but I'M
into small boat, which, 1t appeared,
was gone when he felt hand on his
into a small boat, which, it appeared
was the only one lowered, or, at any,
rate, was the only one that had sue
ceeded in getting away from the wreck.
The sea, fortunately, was compare
lively smooth or the tiny boat could not
have outlived the night. When the
morning broke Julian Lorraine saw all
that survived of the ship and her
freight.
Himself, four sailors, three women,
and baby in arms!
The sailors were pulling, not from
the hope of reaching land, but to keep
the boats head to the waves. The
mother, with her child clasped to her
crouching in the stern sheets.
In the boat were dozen biscuits and
small key of water
With the light all turned to Lorraine
for advice and aid He was a man of
commanding presence, to whom people
of lower organization would natur-
ally turn in difficulties He assumed
the responsibility.
He told the men to step the mast and
hoist what sail they thought safe, and
then to steer as close to the wind as
possible. He assured them that land
was not far off His only reason, he
informed me, for taking this course, was
that he hated the labor of rowing. Any
hope of their lives being saved he
secuted.
However, before night-fall, they did
reach land-a bare rock, but land.
By this time one of The women was
lying in the bottom of the boat, moan
ing, like one in agony. Her COM
panions of the same sex were exchang-
ing frightened glances. The poor thing
was carried ashore, and the true state
of affairs communicated to the men. A
tent or screen was by the aid of the sail
and the oars hastily rugged up, and in
an hours time there were ten human
beings instead of nine on that barren
rock. But not for long. Before morn
ing the number was the same as when
they landed, only that the place of one
of the women was taken by crying,
prematurely born infant.
The rough men and women did what
they could for the poor little wretch.
The woman with a nursing baby gave
1t a portion of what was rightfully her
own cbild's.
This, in Julian Loraine's opinion, was
the most rash and misplaced expression
of false sentiment he had ever met
with.
Toward the evening of that day they
scraped a grave for the mother. They
did not fill it up at once, thinking that
bye and bye the child must be laid in
her arms.
At one time 1t seemed that it must
be so. The sailors and the women, no
doubt, thinking that gentleman is
nearer heaven than themselves |
brought the poor little waiting atom |
to Lorraine, and asked him to chris
ten it.
With death so close at hand to all, |
it was not worth while making any |
demur; but can fancy the mans syn |
ical smile, as he sprinkled water from |
large shell on the child's head. He, |
Julian Lorraine, doing priests duty,
and doing it for the pleasure of other
people
However so far as he knew how, he
baptized the child, and thinking that a
name was Indispensable, with kind
of grim humor, christened him, for it
was boy, Julian.
After all, no one else died, not even
the strangely born baby. The next day
a sail hove in sight. Such signals as
the shipwrecked party could make were
seen, and men, women and babies were
soon in safety on board homeward-
bound ship.
No one, not even her fellow passen-
gers, knew the name or anything about
the woman who had died. Her clothes,
such as she wore, bore no mark. Her
husband, if on board, had gone down
in the BLACK Swan" What was to be-
come of the child?
Lorraine settled this. Perhaps he
thought the child had a certain ridicu-
lous claim upon him. He was no mig
gard with his money. He told some
would not have taken the
tro bble to see about 1t himself-to find
B comfortable home for the child, and