Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1899-02-17
CHAPTER III.
SeleSS Regrets.

I must have lain long thus. On re-
covering. | rose more stiff and more
lenumbed than ever, and with feeble
steps assembled the companion ladder.
and then Il cry of despair escaped me.
The sky was clear and sunny. but
whether with the light of a rising or
setting sun, | could not at first deter
mine morning and evening on the
ocean being SO much alike to an un-
practiced eye Not a vestige of land
WAS visible,
Sea and sky were around me; not
sail was in sight, and nothing living
was near, save few petrels tripping
over the water. alongside of the fatal
schooner.
Had / slept all night. and was this
The dawn of ii new day? Had | slept
all day, and was this the approach or
another night? | devOutly hoped no.,
as | most dreaded night upon the
ocean: but the gradual sinking OF the
sun. and the increasing redness of the
Sky, ere long informed me that he
time was evening. | now knew the
west, and turned my haggard eyes TO
the south. for there the land and M
home lay: but still the envious wind,
though lighter now, seemed 70 blow
from that quarter.
Oh. how deeply and earnestly. by
thoughts unuttered. | prayed in my
heart that il would change and blow
toward the shOre-any shore-Or any
of I-,axy Ion M
bring me so near that | might have a
chance of escape of life and preserva
ton, by swimming by putting to The
test that skill and those powers of ac-
tivi.y | had acquired at Elton, in the
waters of the Thames.
The sea was comparatively smooth,
but still the empty schooner rolled and
!urched fearfuly; the more so that the
fore and aft foresail was hanging sc
loosely in the brails.
\ hundred years seemed to have
elapsed since ! had heard the dear
voices and seen the loved faces of those
had left at home-of my father. my
mother of Dot and of Sybil: while the
events of my early schoolboy days
seemed TO have occurred but yesterday
All time was chaos and confusion.
In my sorrow and despair | never
thought. unless with anger. of Jan val
ZeerVogel the poor Dutch skipper
whose interests were so much involved
with the loss or safety Of his little
schooner, with which the flood tide haC
made so free thought only of my
own danger and my mothers sorrow
for the mystery that would overhans
my fate.
Now hunger assailed me. creating
new terror lest should perish by wan
Of food: and all | had read or heard .
wrecks, RATS and castaways crowded
on my memory to aggravate the rea
perils which surrounded me.
Once more . sought the cabin. an,
on finding an AK broke open what ap
Ueartd 20 be a press or locker. There
in We're several cups. bottles ard drink
ing glasses, placed i'll perforate'
shelves: but nothing eatabe save IA sin
gle hard and moldy biscuit. which tn
rats abandoned Oh my approach. an
nothing drinkable save the remains q
the brandy in which the peaches ha
been preserved and | viewed the ia
with horror. as the primary cause of a
my sufferings and dangers say tn
remains for il had fallen from the ia
BILE and been broken to pieces: SO moth
ing remained of its contents. excel
about Il gill in fragment, and In
peaches which lay in the lee or lowe
side of the cabin.
What would | not have given for
single drop of pure cold water. to ALE
viate that choking thirst which is eve
the sequel to sickness, excitement an
sorrow, But there was not drop o
board as the scuttle-butt had broke
i;s lashings in one Of the lurches of {!