The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-11-20
The Keeper Of
The Bishop.
He Hated His Work and Wanted to
Leave 1t, but Died In the
Service.

anrvlca.
z
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
FOR fortnight out OF every SIX weehs
the little whhe raced man walked Tue
Garrison on 81 mary . isiand III orosu-
cloth frock coat low waistcoat anu
black ribbon OF tie fastened IN DOW
and 1t gave him great pleasure 10 De ms.
taken Tor a commercial traVeier. nu.
during the other -FOUR weeks ne was nead
keeper OF the lighthouse on the Disnop
rock, with ~ years OF exemplary service
to his credit. by what circumstances ne
had been Drought 10 enlist under tne
Trinity tag never knew. But now az
the age Of 40, he was entirely occupied
with great horror OF the sea ana its
hunger for the bodies or men. line lfocK
coat which he wore during his spells on
shore was protest against the sea, ana
he hated not only the sea, but all things
that were in the sea, especially rock
lighthouses, and OF all rock lighthouses
especially the Bishop.
1.-THE Atlantic's as smooth as ball
room floor" said be. 1t was clear, still
day, and we were sitting among the gorse
on the top Of the Garrison. looking down
the seq toward the west. Five miles
= from the Settles the thin column Of the
Bishop showed like cord strung taut in
the sky But out there all around the
lighthouse there are eddies twisting and
twisting without any noise, and extraor-
dinarily quick, and every other second,
ny here, now there, you'll notice the sea
dimple, and you'll hear sound, like
man hiccoughing, and all at once there's
a wicked black whirlpool. The tide runs
seven miles an .,our past the Bishop. But
in another year have done with her."
John Garstn nodded across from St.
Mary's to that gray finger post of the
Atlantic. zone more winter Well, very
likely during this one more winter the
Rishon will po-on some night when
storm blows from west or west-nor'.west
and tho irish coast takes none of its
strenytb"
uo ,,oS onlv pttor;po tho current no.
,;af ne Tho ISLANDS The 6rst Rishon
liobtbouso had heen swent away before
;.s h,,;Il;,. ,vos 6,i,bed md tbouyb
49,. saoona stood FOO ho,, r,o;ob;na no
ioss than n ron and 6red eO foot above
thn ,rntor Nod hoor I;ftod from, Il. a.
t;nos NV , s;no,e wave and tossed like
te,,is ho,j ;nto +ba GOO asLad Gar.
st;n ryhethar ba had heen Stationed on
H. .ool, n. ,ho t;mo
spaor,a toll ~ Uobtsb;ns nIr,o;no
.na t,,rai, a. tho;r Cables : ba rot,rn,
"a ..Snn Tuo tr;ad ,;ab+sb;ns and
,nh,. saw 10 shins ora hn;lt TO n,rrao
~ +,,o -. ,ba;r oohias Thot,s tbo;r
amu;,o as pnt Il ;sn,t ". hus;n.ss ~
puoiuSSS' 49, - 'siA 'AAS DsS.A NSS -
.ns,,hla ill., ~ staal snr;na M. wosn,t
Wv H. n;Shon ,,,han tha hall ,uan+ hnt
was thara NAV a u,oya cJimbod m from,
,ha haze ~ tho rocl and sma sbad in the
.Ia " ali 20 ~ iontarn and NV tba
EL o W.T." Thnt uas last snr;np a. a
o,sIao,, ~ .ha morn;n, Tba aev uos
bn.oS;,a saw noJa and ,n;ld ND ona
no,Id ;,,e, 900 The wave. below ,osb-
tna t,,,,hi. ~ srav and ub;to wa+ar 40
sar ne tba avo could stratcb wos in
,ha ion,arn raod;ne .Jt,s Never Too T,ata
20 Md; nod cana IN wboro Tho chan.
lain tnocls dow, the wardar and was
tb;nt;no how IA lilo to have n on ot
that warder myself. when all the guns
in tbe world went off together in nv
aors and tbere was T. drinnina wet and
fairly sliced with snlinters Of glass. and
Tho wind Having salt in nv face. and
tho lamn ont and n hitter gray light of
morning. os though there never. never
had been ony sun. and all the dead men
in the sea shouting out for me hundred
feet below" And Garstin shiyered and
rose to his feet. well, | have only one
more winter of it."
"And them" | asked.
uThon 7 ,ot III, Nortb EoroIond and
the trippers come ont from Margate, and
| live on Aore with my wife. And, by
the way, wanted to speak about my
boy He's getting up in years. What
shall l make of him? A linen draper,
Ell? In the Midlands. what? Or some
thing of free library. handing out
Charles Rcade's books? He's at home
now. Come and see him.
In Garstins quarters within the coast
guard inclcsurc l was introduced to his
wife and the lad. Leopold. What shall
we call him?' Mrs. Garstin had asked
some 10 years before. 81 don't know any
seafaring man of the name of Leopold"
Garstn had replied after moment Of
reflection, so Leopold he was named.
Mrs. Garstin was a buSom. unimagina-
tive woman, but she shared to the full
her husbands horror of the sea. She told
me of nights when she lay alone listening
to the moan of the winds overhead and
seeing the column Of the Bishop rock up