The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1897-08-24
THE UNKNOWN.

hotels, where the close proximity of
people in different classes of life is not
always happy. The walls of partition
seem to leak a secret horror of unrest;
there is something of constraint, of
promiscuosity, of cold dignity in the
obligatory relations of body to body.
Here the dead are not at home.
In the graveyards of the country,
among the thick Towering underbrush
and the quiet of the wide fields, is a
better repose for us after our stormy
struggles. A cemetery thus situated,
the center of farreaching horizons, in
spires one with a desire to die. To lie
down here and sleep seems good. But
most peaceful of all are the realms of
the dead in marine villages, at the edge
of the sea, within sound of the lulling
of the running waves which sing an
eternal song on the eternal sleep, amid
the wall of the wind over the ancient
tombs. 81
One day about 10 years ago entered
one of these places of supreme rest be-
side the waves on the Breton coast,
with its crosses pointing toward heaven
in way which makes one think of
eternity. Beside little old church, be-
meath the shadow of stone bell turret,
slept the forefathers who, whether they
had died in youth or in age, were all
made an equal age by accomplished
time And there was no sadness in this
evidence of fatal destiny, but rather
happy relief in the thought that the
burden of suffering will not always
weigh down our poor shoulders and
that sorrow has its prescribed limit.
And pleasant too, was the slow SPELL
ing out of the inscriptions on the tombs
in the warmth of the sunlight which
the fluttering, intoxicated birds greeted
with a sweet delirium of song. Three
centuries Of time separated the old
stones from the new, and peace was
made over all feuds here under the high
crosses with outstretched arms, clear
cut against the green sea, standing in
their eternal attitude of forgiveness
One tomb in the form of ohalioe ar
rested my attention, and / read this sin
gular epitaph: Here lies an unknown.
Dec. 6, 1871. Tacita transit" (she has
passed silently.
/ wished to learn all that was known
of her, and in the evening l inquired in
the village, and this is what / learned:
In November of the year 1860, on
night Of lowering sky and raging sea,
as the inhabitants slept in their huts,
which were shaken up by the squall,
the dull boom of cannon announced
the distress of a ship out on the waters
across the promontory At this time the
little port did not possess a single life
boat, and to attempt to depart in such a
gale in the banks of the fishermen would
be simply folly Each one who heard
the sound could only pray, "God help
themP But doubtless the noises of the
angry sea drowned out the human voices,
and God heard nothing, for next morn
ing the sea stretched wide under the
blue sky, swept clear-not speck on
the horizon. nothing but the ripples of
foam on the waves. So it had disap-
peared, foundered, the boat that had
cried for help with call of iron during
that night of terror. The sadness of the
disaster caused a silence among the fish
ermen, when suddenly down on the
strand "a cry arose. At this moment the
Marquis de Pontus, master of the cha
teau, came up to the group of people to
learn the end of the nights drama
The cry had come from a peasant who
had discovered the body of a woman
clothed in a long white robe, thrown
between two enormous rocks. She was
dead and must have rolled
from her bed on the ship into the sea.
Her heart still beatsl'' cried the
peasant The marquis commanded,
Garry her to my house quickly and
wrap this cloak around her. -
He was obeyed In fact, the woman
still lived and after hours of ingenious
labor opened her eyes.
Ask her nothing" said Pontus.
'She is still too weak and must sleep.
In the meanwhile the searchers con-
tinued from strand to strand, but moth
ing more was found 1t was impossible
to tell what this vessel was which had
gone down in the near waters. French?
English? All mystery 1t had carried
its flag to the depths of the sea-
1.-THE woman will tell u.s. said
Pontus And the next day he went to
her bedside She looked at him with
eyes large, beautiful and clear, but
empty of comprehension. She was
young and very pretty. with hands del
icately and finely shaped He asked her
where she came from, where she was
going, who she was, in phrases gentle
and courteous, for he was already
moved by her tragic beauty. She listen
ed without making sign and did not
answer. He repeated his question, say
ing he troubled her only for her own
good. She remained silent, and it was
evident his words conveyed nothing to
her.
Perhaps she doesn't understand
French, :" said friend.
"She understands nothing at ALL"
said Pontus sadly 81 fear she has lost
her mind in the horror of the catastro-
phe. But it does not matter. She has
fallen from heaven, and she is at home
here, mad or sane. God sent her to me,
and will guard her." And he kept
his word.
Days, months, years, passed. The I'M
known lived silently, without words
and apparently without thoughts. She
loved to be out of doors and mixed with
other people, seeming by all exterior
appearances to be like them. At the
table of the marquis, in the family Of
refined ancient race, she carried herself
with the grace and dignity of one ac-
customed to a similar world, and Pom
tus often said, "This child is great
lady"
In spite of the most thorough investi-
cations not a ray of light, even the
faintest, pierced the mystery. 1t could
not even be conjeotured what the boat
lost at the coast had been or who
this woman was who accepted placidly
the care of strangers, showed neither
sadness nor joy, had no desires and
lived unconsciously the life of beau
tiful white bird in cage of gold. Lit
tie by little the marquis grew attached
to her. His house was large, and he re-
fused to Rave her confined in hosDital.