The Portland daily press., 1897-12-31
(ALL RIGHTS REsERvED.)

dergone curious change, "s.he continued,
speaking very slowly and with his eyes
bent down upon the ground.
In what Way?' ehe asked, still keen
ing her gaze fixed upon his face.
In many ways. l am practically in
the position of man who has been dead
for number of weeks, and who, on his
resurrection, can scarcely recognize that
he is the same person he remembers him
self to have been in the past.
You are changed, Cecil" said the
girl. II see it in your face, notice it in
your manner. hear 1t in your voice"
''Shall we sit down for little?'' he
asked, pointing to rustic bench within
"a small leafy arbor.
She acquiesced, and they seated them
selves side by side. He plucked an ear of
grass, and fell to neroyusly chewing upon
it.
Clara he began, the strange ex-
periences l have undergone since | sailed
from England in the Lady Godiya have
put me into a most extraordinary, and
what is more, L fear, a very painful
dilemma. Now [ am going to tell you
my whole story; it is an ordeal that 7
have been dreading, but it must be done
Hear me through to the end; and before
you say word in reproach, remember
the fearful sufferings which | have en-
condition of mind. L am no psychologist,
to reason upon the subtle workings of the
human soul, which are mysteries that
surpass the skill and knowledge of the
most neutrality-suspicious., but this much
do know; that nobody could hold man
answerable for the phases which might
come across his dusky brain, impaired by
privat1on and horrors that would have
killed many, any more than they would
blame lunatic for the utteranee of
thuse wild Vaccinations of his is ordered
intellect which constitute him mad
He pulled off his hat to wipe his brow
The girl turned shade PALE surprised by
his talk, and wondered what was coming
next. After a little pause he again pro-
eeeded:
Il wrote to you. as you recollect, early
in May last, to tell you that I was coming
out TO this country. On the 25th of that
month-you see how fully my memory Is
restored to me: I can even recall dates
now-I sailed from Liverpool in large
ship named the Lady Godiva, which was
bound direct to Sydney with passengers
and cargo. We had very good voyage
as far as the Equator, and all went we'll
with US until the ship entered the South
East Trades. | was lying asleep in my
cabin one night. The weather when I
left the deck had been foggy, with fresh
breeze blowing, and the vessel was going
through the water very quickly, as /
knew by the stopping sound of the waves
outside the porthele Of my berth. Sud
denly WIS awakened by a most tremen-
dous crash; the ship leaned oyer and over
until made sure thst she was capsizing
and | was thrown out of my bunk on to
the deck. The fall, suppose, must have
stunned me, for do not remember ANY,
thing until | came to again, and found
myself lying upon the floor Of the dark
little cabin. 1t happened on this particu-
lar night that | had lain down fully
clothed on the outside of my he'd, feeling
very tired, and designing to take short
nap before regularly turning in. I got
upon my feet on recovering my wits, and
stood listening. All was perfectly quiet,
except for the washing noise of the seas
and the, hu1nmfng of the wind outside.
| CROPPED towards the dopr, and passed out
into the saloon, where the swing lamp
still burnt dimly. The place was DESERT
ed. shouted to know whether anybody
was about, but received no answer. Then
taking sudden fright and fancying the
vessel might be sinking, ran up on
deck. The fog made the darkness as
black ssthe grave, and I could see moth
ing. Again l shouted, and again got no
answer, except that the Captains dog.
Boatswain, came bounding up to me. /
went back into the cabin, unlocked the
lamp, and returned with it on deck; BY
the light [ was enabled to see that the
vessel had been run into, and was proba-
bly, fast settling under my feet. All the
boats bat one We're gone, from which I
concluded that the people had hastily left
her whilst lay Stunned In my cabin. AS
was moving about the deck forward,
among q lot of wFeckage which had fallen
from aloft, | stumbled over the prostrate
body of p man. I held the lantern close
to him, and perceived that 1t was d sea
man who had been knocked down by the
falling spars; he was still alive, though
badly hurt. assisted him to rise, and
no sooner did he feel HIS feet than he said
that the ship was sinking. This he could
tell. as q sailor, from her sluggish heav-
ing. Well, we made shift to lower the
solitary boat that remained and the two
OF US, with the dog, got away in her,
hoping to bs picked up shortly by the
vessel that had collided with the Lady
Godiva. A few moments after we pushed
off we saw the big shadowy srnudge of
Che ship vanish and knew she had foun-
dered.
when daylight came che wind fell and
the fog cleared. We found ourselves alone
upon a wide plain of sea, in boat not
twenty feet long, without scrap Of food
or drop to drink. The sun rose like a
ball of fire into the cloudiess sky, and all
day long his fierce rays were beating
down upon us. Inc hight came, and we
got little refreshInent from the dew
falling in showers under the stars. The
following day was just like the first:
stagnant and broiling. Merciful powers,
what time that was The madness OF
consuming thirst was upon us both, rem
dered the more hideous by Che sight of
tho CLASSY clear water flowing to the sides
of the boat
Ito be continued
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