Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-02-15

Then In the presents loud. tumul,uous sound
He finds what silences where men and walls
Are ss the dust that fals
Samuel V. Cole IN Critic.
! A PHANTOM VOICE.
The vast circle Of tho horizon is un.
broken, yet here is no solitude, for birds
in thousands sweep circling about. from
the huge albatross. flying past at his go
miles an hour, In the little swallowlike
Mother Carey.
The scene for the time i peaceful
Tho laundering storms which lash
oceans face into fury and fill the air
with hurrying wrack and sweeping rain
are stilIed.
But though the surface 81 the water
is smooth. save for little ripplets like
those on the summer face Of q river. the
great bosom O. the south Atlantic heayes
In mighty pulsations to the long. rolling
billows, which follow i'll stately. end.
less procession and tell OF some distant
hurricane past or io come.
| Above, the great dome of heaven Is a
cold. steely blue, flecked here and there
with cloud masses. snow white rs Al
pine peaks. rejecting in their shadows
the colors Of oceans face.
The sinking sun flashes sparkling
glory over the scene, and the great
cloud forms change tint after tint. AS
he declines westward above him shafts
Of light shoot up half way to the zenith
Rolling ON the swell lies boat.
Three Of its crew appear to live; Of the
others the living souls have fled
Two crouch with bowed heads. The
third. u young fellow in bis first man.
hood, looks wistfully round The great
birds fit by him with bright eyes. They
do not settle yet
Once rs great billow lifts the boa,
skyward he thinks he sees, far away TO
the east. a silyery speck. What is it-a
ship? Had the God Of that cruel blue
sky heard his prayers? For he had been
praying as few ever pray and seemed 10
have feeling that he had been heard
Anxiously he waits for huge wave 60
rush past and lift them again to the
same altitude, but il comes not and the
sun sets
They have robbed their dead comrades
Of their coats, and now the three buddle
together for warmth and meager com
fort. for another awful night Is before
them. Will dawn see them alive? The
nearest succor is 30 miles away
In highly decorated apartment, hall
divan, half sitting room In appearance,
thin. wiry man sprawls on couch
He is smoking Burmese cheroot, one
Of q stock he laid in last voyage, bat he
does not appear to be IN that calm,
peaceful frame Of mind which Is neccs-
sary for the full enjoyment Of the blessed
weed-nor is he.
Captain Abel Cushman Of the Ameri'
can ship Paul Revere has fine craft
under him. strong crew, good officers;
has made a smart passage this far. and
yet is greatly troubled An hour ago he
woke from his after dinner nap" most
scared to death. A young man. q
stranger, had stood over him and said,
"Steer west by south" Even when he
had opened his eyes there stood the
stranger, who, as the skipper lifted
himself mp. vanished.
This happened some halt hour since.
WAL, l swan to gracious! said
the captain. West by south, hey
Naow, what in thunder did it mean"
He began pacing up and down his lit
tie saloon, muttering and thinking
Many old sea yarns anent similar cir
cumstances came into his mind, and
strong feeling was creeping over him
that he must obey this supernatural or
der. And yet merchant skipper does
not care TO pose as u fool i'll the eyes OF
his crew.
"What will the boys think" he NUT
tered. "Cush, my sonny. guess you''
bewitched. F"
His rowing eyes fell on a book which
lay on little side table Aimlessly ht
took it up. and as lac did so-was II
mere fancy?-again the voice spoke,
"Steer west by SOUTH" He dropped the
book. whispering in wonder. "Waal.
devil
The volume had fallen open and lay
at his feet AS he picked it up he saw
it was a Bible.
"Cush," he whispered to himself
that was spoken on the gorspels "
He turned over the pages and looked
at the fly leaf:
"Eliphalet Coleby. From his loving
wife, Mizpah.
His brows contracted. He was trying
to remember the method of some modern
"sortes' which the old women at home
used to prac.ice-something to do with
key.
Presently he again muttered to him.
self. There amt no harm anyhow.
Opening the book at random, he laid
1t Oh the table and placed forefingeI
on the open page. Then he looked al
the verse thus selected.
There came out two women, and the
wind was in their wings"
"Wa-al." be whispered, "there ain
o particle Of sense in thatl'
| Again he turned as il to walk away
and looked wildly round The SANE
voice seemed to have whispered in b.
ear once more.
II He hesitated no longer. Going up th'
companion into the glory Of the sunset
he called to the seaman at the wheel:
"Hi, you thar !"
"Sir!'
"Sing out to the mate want him.
In q few moments stout, red facet
man stepped up He had no coat on, bu
wore waistccat cut low, showing {
large expanse of shirt front, in the cen
ter Of which sparkled what might hav'
been diamond. He came forward fon
ding q long goatee whisker
4 "D'you want me. Cap'n Cushman?'
"Yes Put her round on the othe
tack and stand west by south. y
"Rightr' answered Coleby tfor b.
was the owner of the Biblel and, turn
Ing, he began to shout out his orders 4
"bout shipr'
"Say. Coleby. your Testanent's lay
in around; you'd best take IL !" An
Captain Cushman handed him the book