Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1898-08-14

| swept Uy ike the W811 OF uec1u&
spirit. Hardly had it ended when q
wicked squall drove up.
When it had passed, when again the
moon appeared through the flying rack,
the dark patch, which was ship, had
all but disappeared in the roaring
breakers. And as l still stared sea-
ward came huge, white wall of foam.
1t struck her. engulfed her! and when
it swept by she was gone!
In rushed the tide. Many standing
there still hoped that some of the poor
fellow might yet swim to land alive;
none of us thought of going home, for
even if no men reached the shore, salv-
| age might sweep in.
Sure enough, presently came dark
object through the white waste Of
/ foam. It. drove in slowly, now stand
! ing stationary a moment as 1t caught
| some stone in the reef, now surging
| inward, and ever swept by the fierce
waves. At last it drove right up to
the beach, and We all rushed down..
| 1T was huge fragment of the deck,
with this round-hOuse attached, and
clinging within it were four men, one
| of whom carried child in his arms.
| We had them up to the village, the
| man who held the child coming to my
! share.
| Ere we got him to the house he
| went faint and had to be carried. l
| took the child, who seemed to be boy
| CT about ten years. The other was
| smart-looking fellow, with shaven face
| set in a fringe of black whiskers, and
| with his hair tied in a queue--a fash
| ion which had nearly died out. Round
| his neck, on a silver chain, hung a
| boatswain's whistle.
I'VE put them both to bed. Presently,
| under the influence of warm blankets
| and hot brandy forced between his
| clenched teeth, the man showed signs
| of recovery. And suddenly he started
| up, shouting: Here, sir! Ay, ay, sir
Il did not dream that these were the
! last words of sanity he would speak.
| And yeti don't know-the space be-
tween sanity and madness is SO small
| that-but you shall judge for yourself.
The story of the wreck we learned
from the other survivors. The vessel
was the Pique, corvette running for
Bristol with S250,000 in silver taken
from a French transport The gale
! }r4a driven them out of their reckon
ing. -.
When hope seemed gone the COM
mander had ordered him TO call all
hands aft, and the bugler to cali the
marines; this done, he harangued the
crew, telling them that, as there was
nothing to be done, it only remained
| for them to die like British sailors.
| He then gave Tom charge of his son
and ordered him for shelter into the
! roundhouse, for the seas were now fly
| ing over them.
1T was sad work burying the poor
| dead fellows, for 80 bodies washed up,
and sadder to see the pale, weeping,
widowed mother who came to the fun
| eral of her little son.
But these things passed and left us
| with Tom. He had taken up his abode
| in the roundhouse, which had been
| hauled up above the high-water mark,
| and here he stuck.
He turned out a mild, harmless
man, and was a great friend of all our
| children. The villagers TOOK him I'M
| der their charge, fitted up his slrange
dwelling and kpet him provided with
| such simple food as they themselves
used. | helped, of course
"Presently we learned that he had
| strange ways. At night, and especially
| at the full of the moon and in wild
| storms, he would wander along the
| sand dunes now and again winding his
| call-the call for All hands'-'teee-
! wit-it-it-it-it-it-it teeeee-whrr-r-r-
| in Then he would lift his deep voice:
| All hands, ahoy!'
He became an attender at the little
| Methodist chapel, and in moments Of
I 1y %
| become excited) would declaim against
| the church, as also he would sometimes
| do in his talks with me; but we were
| good friends for all that. More than
| once | asked him about his nightly
rambles.
I'm waiting the captain, he would
| reply. He'll come up from yonder one
! day, and he'll ask me, Tom he'll say,
! where is Master Charles?' and who but
me can tell him? | shall say, Hes
gone on ahead, your honor; the Lord
High Admiral Christ sailed him and
he couldn't wait for us The captain
wouldn't believe no one else; cause
why-he gave the lad into my charge.
But when he sees me he'll know that
alls well, and he'll know the old
Pique's roundhouse, dye see?'
GOu SeeLuS very leHUtr 70 SuCn as
he. Not a soul round here would have
! harmed the old man; even the lads,
the widest, never teased him
One mOonlit night something
prompted me to go down to the beach
and see Tom. He was not in his house.
so | wandered along the sand dunes,
and presently saw him standing mo-
tionless on a little hillock.
"He took no notice of my approach,
but stood staring out to sea. | spoke,
asking, as many times before | had
asked, why he had stood there. He
turned and spoke with even more than
his usual solemnity:
I've been called, sir: and they told
me to get ready for | should soon have
to meet my commander
Who are they?' l asked.
Those that sleep down there he
answered, pointing to where the ship
had gone to pieces. Those and the
others up in the church yard. When l
piped all hands tonight l heard them
answer. And so | know that the can
tain will soon be coming, and he'll want
to know where Master Charles is: then
he'll want the hands turned up to mus
ter, and I'll have 10 be here to call EN-