The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-01-16
; A WOMAN'S DREAM.
BY CHARLES B. LEWIS.


and once clear OF the land nc stc,.e go "a
straight course for Cape Horn.
am not going 10 detail the .u1. We
had learned that for a period of e.g'iecn
days before the Meteor VAS suppOse1
to have been lost there was In unJrOh'.a
gale from the northwest. ms Wtuid
have been I'm her teeth and d-iFeL her
down to the south and s0utl CEASE. Gtt-
ting cur latitude as nearly as we cJuid We
bore away 90 the south. it was now si'if-
mer time. and though We 8Jt aa oteh-
slonal gale. there was nothing TO tread.
For twelve days and nights. making very
ordinary runs, We held our "a A. oow INTO
the regions of silence and ieh-, ana thth
we sighted our first ice. II was bong or y
en- nOrthward by the summer winhs. anu
al daylight one morning We iuuni the
whole ocean 90 the south c1~cred. we
ran seventy miles 10 the east 10 tufh ttio
field OF ice. and then 10 ine southwest
for three days more before VIC lot ahl'ng
the pack ice and ice-bergs. one night the
wind failed US and we drifted into a gap
in "A foe ana were frozen ln. III The silence
and darkness of the Arctic sea are as
awe some and terrifying as men cell MS it
is no worse than that almost unknown
sea which washes the base of the other
pole. the silence Of which is 80 awful
ana the darkness SO dense that men dare
not open their lips 10 speak the name ot
God. one week we lay imbedded il the
foe. making not the slightest drift IN aLN
direction and seeing neither gun ncf
whale nor shark nor any living thing eN-
oept what belonged 10 us The days Wcfe
full of haze and fog ana hollow SOUNDS
and strange WhsDcrs-the nights were
APPALLING How gruesOme il was II
gale had not sprung up and Jet MS loose
some of our men would have gone crazy
I'm a DAY or two more For eight days We
battled with ice-gigantic bergs pack zee
foes. and patches-and there was not am
hOuI in all that time when We fc!t SAFE.
on the ninth day the wfnd fell TO a gen.
tie breeze. the sea went down, ana al
noon We were within mile OF the big
ees- berg OF them all II was three ber2s
frozen together or looked that way ana
+, m the water 10 the highest point must
have been Il distance Of eight hundred
feet. IL was n solid mass mile square
and there were peaks and ravines ana
p stcaus. as you would ind ON Wcun-
tain As We sailed slowly along "a new
SIGHT presented itself every moment, ana
the grandeur and sohdity OF the grei,
berg aWed us until the men SPOKE DID
whispers 10 each other.
we had traverscd two-thirds OF the
length Of the biz berg when it began
to turn on its axis. as g. were. r sup
pose some current far down was at WORK
M the gigantic base. n revolved from
east 10 west. turning slowly and majes-
ideally ana as we watched IL with
batod breath the captain suddenly raised
his glass 10 mis- eye and sung Out.
Good God. Mr.. Clark. bat look there
on that shelf about fifty feet up,'
! took the glass and al once made ont
human hgures-men seated with their
faces towards us. moment later We had
run up flag. brought the bark 10 the
wind and We're firing muskets. j was
making the boat ready when the pale
faced captain advanced and whispered.
They are dead men, Mr.. Clarke, but
get the bodies fl you cane They must
be the men from the Meteor"
-Four sailors pulled ME as near the
berg as j dared go. and with the glass
To- my cys I brought the bod a5 with
I'm three feet of me. There We're three
seaman and the passenger WcIiby They
sat with folded arms and their open
eyes on the sea. and the cold had pre-
served them until it was hard 10 bell Ne
them dead. Pulling along few hundred
feet / found o. landing place, and ace
COMMANDED hy ono OF the men. clambered
over the Zee toward the bodies. We
reached spot directly beneath them,
but there was perpendicular cliff nearly
q hundred feet high bets us and the
shelf. There had been no cln when they
first set foot on the shelf Trey reached
the spot when the ship struck and bound
ed back to go down, and there they had
persisted, from hunger and exposure.
For three years or more they had drlted
about their arms always folded, their
CLASSY eyes staring out to sea. The
berg on which they We're originally cast
had crumblcd 10 O third Of its bulk and
then been driven amidst others and en-
larged again The swell prevented our
landing on that side and on an other
sides the berg rose straight mp. / r'-
turned TO the bark and reported. and b.
was determined 90 stand by until land
ing could he made. but By night another
gale came on and ran Us a hundred miles
to the east. and though we spent ten
davs looking for the lost berg. we could
not find IT. II had either broken up on
gone driving back into that region OF
eternal ice and silence and death As
tho grieyng woman dreamed go han
things come about, but 10 was not Tor
the hand Of man to rescue the poor TEL
lows from their icy raft. Seated with
elbow TO elbow with eyes searching the
cold and driving sea and never hope
I'm their hearts. they had died and the
wild gales had chanted their requiem.