Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-06-30

ELECTED from his servants the half die
tracted man drove,into the city
There at his Office IA letter awaited hin.
which told the worst. And the ncw- u,,.
more Overwhelmingly terrible than lac CON.
ceived.
Dear daddy" the note ran, do rat
blame me. l could not live without Leon
ard. We were married this morning. and RI
write this from the cabir of one of tIe
dearest old fashioned ships you ever saw.
She is not n passenger steamer. bur wa
chose her so that we should have n lor,
undisturbed honeymoon. The captain s4ys
we shall call at Canary, so do let us find a
letter there saying that you forgive your
loving daughter Grace"
But the sting lay in the postscript
Il almost forgot 10 say that the namo ~
our argosy is the Albatross
"Mcrriful heavenW cried the wre..a.d
man. let not the innocent suffer for tho
guilty. Grant that l may not be the uur-
dcrer Of my child!
Then. driven into action by the flr.eue
deSuair he wrcnched at the bell and -.n-
the a~toni-h,d clerks flying with message.
in all directions.
Thirty ties later n special express
was rush ward Liverpool, and in it,.
with blan features and trembling
limbs sat til unhappy wrccker His was
a useless mission. Even if he obtained
fast steamer it could not overtake his ye.-
sci in time.
BY the evening of the following day al
the least the Albatross would be among The
shoals off Ushant He remembered -ie
reckless nature Of the man Winch. In an
probability, when the crash came he would
save himself and not give thought to the
safety of the passengers or crew, and it
was not likely that he would recognize his
owners child travelling in such a strange
manner under the name of Harrison.
Richard Sparshott lived lifetime in one
short hour. All the sins of his hard, grasp.
ing ayaricious life rose up before him
Drowning sailors were shouting fierce i'm
precautions into his ears and deriding his
agony.
she's well insuredp' You must be
carcful-ycry careful off Ushant! She IS 50
rottcn they shrieked amid fiendish peals
of laughter
Suddenly ray of hope entered his mind !
Fool that l ami" he muttered, spring
ing up and Juggling at the connecting
cord The train was brought to a stand at !
a wayside station, and to the official as
constituent Sparshott insisted upon i'm
mediately going back to London After
much shouting and telegraphing the re-
turn journey was commenced, and the spe-
cial train shortly afterward steamed into
Euston station.
Early on the evening Of the same day,
as Captain Robert Martin of the steam
ship Lorna Doone, then lying in South
ampton waters, awaiting admission to the
docks. sat in his cabin overlooking certain
bills Of lading, he was surprised by the
entry of his owner, who, pale and DISNEY
eled, babe him put to sea with all speed.
Incoherently Sparshott told him as much
of the matter as he deemed expedient. and
by o'clock the ship under full steam,
was well past the Needles "
The events of the next IS hours were
never afterward very distinct to the ship.
owner. He ragged the deck like a mailman
calling for more fuel to be thrown upon
the fires. In vain did Martin try to soothe
him by the assurance that the Lorna Doone
had saved at least $50 miles by starting
from Southampton. 1t was a weird sight
to see the crew throwing huge bales of
valuable merchandise over the ships side
in order to tighten the vessel and increase
her speed. If only by the fraction of a mile
Day broke at length, but still Sparshott
tramped the deck. refusing TO take rest or
refreshment. More than once the engineer
came aft to report that the boilers would
not bear another pound of steam. The
distract man snarled at the captain like a
mailman and ordered more fuel to be piled
on. Noon came, but brought no sight of
the Albatross. The flames were now leap
ing six feet above the smokestack, and the
pulsations of the engines threatened to
shake the rivets out of the plates.
As the short September afternoon was
closing the lookout sighted brig hugging
the land, topmast down. The skipper him
self went aloft and reported it was Cap
tain Winch's vessel, but his face expressed
the doubt which he felt as to whether they
| could oyertake her before dark.
Oil was thrown into the furnace, and
the gallant vessel raced on They were
gaining rapidly now. Another ten min
utes of daylight and their signals must be
seen.
A toy cannon was charged and fired,
but the Alhatross sailed on. 1t was quite
dark. And now remained but one hope-a
signal rocket was sent up, and at last the
squared yards of the brig were rounded,
and she hove to.
/ Richard Sparshott remained on deck
long enough to satisfy himself that the
vessel really was the one they were in
search of. Then overwrought nature as
serted itself, and he fell inert and sense
less. Nor did he recover consciousness
/ until the white cliffs of old England were
well in sight.
! The Albatross did not founder off
| Ushant, but was broken up at Blackwell
| some months later. The old firm is still
carried on under the new title of Sparshott
q Harrison, but the genial chief does not
now boast that he is a self made man,
neither are there any coffin ships among
the well equi. ped fleet that flies their pen
nant,-Boston Traveller.
The She villain