The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1897-06-26

Il s-CA0s
The remainder Of the biscuits sne
TIE milk stayed her hunger for tns
day. but, once they were gone, starVa-
uon was added to her many dangers
Greatly to her delight, the next morn
ing broke bright and clear. and the Ves'
sci was moving along quietly before .
gentle breeze.
The guide God be praisedr' she ex-
claimed, fervently. ''Therem be an
ither vessel hndin' me the day, may
be-"
And 20, with heart full of hope, she
took her stand on the chest, and looked
sn1iously over the waste Of waters In
quest Of friendly sail.
About midday her eyes were glad
dened by the sight Of land-a range o.
low hills lying to leeward, with much
higher snow covered hills In the dis
lance.
But the smack's course was no.
toward them. and soon, to her keel
disappointment, they vanished astern
and the heaving waves once more filled
her circle Of vision.
A still sharper disappointment came
Just after shutdown, when q big steam
er hove in sight, and, throbbing with
eagerness, Elspeth watched her grow
upon the view until she could count the
port holes in her long, black sides.
Unable to make any signal Of dis
tress, the poor, imprisoned girl could
only cry out for rescue with all her re-
naming strength.
But her shrieks did not reach one
half the distance, and the little smack
aroused no curiosity on board the big
steamer. or her captain was In toe
much Of hurry to make any inquiry
The great vessel plowed her way on
ward without any slackening Of speed
and for the first time Elspeth's brave
young heart gave way and she fell In
g faint upon the floor.
When her senses returned she was
enshrouded In darkness, and It took
her some minutes to clearly under
stand her situation.
Carefully lighting the lamp, she
strove to comfort herself by the hope
that the next day would surely bring
her to land. or put her In the way OF
rescue, and she had thus In some meas
IRE regained her composure, when the
feeble light that was her sole solacs
dicksred and went out, leaving her in
darkness and despair.
That night was the most terrible OF
the whole experience. Tortured by
hunger, thirst and cold, suffering from
prolonged loss Of sleep, sorely bruised
oy her frequent falls, and thrilling
with dread at the darkness that enfold.
ed her. 1t would seem that the poor
girls cup Of misery must be full.
Yet soon after midnight an ominouf
shock told her that the smack was
among rocks, and, thence forward, the
heavy humping Of the hull, the scrunch
OF shifting cargo, and the groans Of the
straining mast, brought the horror OF
her situation to climax, and, yielding
20 utter despair, she suffered the very
bitterness Of death.
But, happily, the saying that the
darkest hour precedes the dawn wai
about to be verified. In spite Of her
rough handling by the reefs the sturdy
little smack held together, and, not
long after daybreak, found her way to
a shingley beach, upon which she ran,
as IL glad to be at rest, the shock OF
her sudden stop sending the mast
over the side with a tremendous crash
The breakers at once beat over the
stranded vessel, and began to NIL the
little cabin, adding yet another dan
ger to the many already endured.
But help was at hand.
A number Of men presently appeared
upon the beach, and one Of them made
his way to the "Sheila-" Elspeth, now
little more than q limp and seemingly
lifeless figure, was tenderly lifted out OF
her prison and carried ashore, where
warm-hearted women took her In their
arms and at once set about caring for
her, although not a word Of her speech
could they understand. Driven hithef
and thither by the wild winds Of the
North Sea, the "Sheila" had In the end
been cast away on the Norwegian coast
nearly three hundred miles from the
islands whence she had sailed.
So fearful had been the strain upon
Elspeth's system-none too robust al
best-that for days 1t seemed doubtful
whether she would ever win her way
back to life.
But in the end the true Scotch grit
that underlay her gentle nature tri-
umphed, and she began TO be concerned
about her return home.
In regard to this the way was opened
by kind friends, to whom her story be-
came known, and as soon as possible
she was sent over to Hull and thence
to Edinburgh.
Now. II was much to her honor that
neither her sufferings nor her wonder
full escape caused her to forget the
charge entrusted to her by the women
at home. The shawls and stockings
were happily uninjured by the ship
wreck, and she carried them to Edin-
burgh with her, where, because Of her
extraordinary story, they command
ed prices far beyond their ordinary
value.
Nor was this her only good fortune,
for one Of the first physicians In the
city gave her his services gratis for
the treatment Of the trouble In her