The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1899-07-20

bourne, and there I reported myself.
My great anxiety now was to get home
as soon as possible, but a temptation
was thrown in my way which | could
not resist. 1 was offered the command
of a vessel belonging to the owners Of
The Blue Jacket. This vessel vas to
trade first to China, and there take in
cargo for London. To successfully ac-
complish this to the satisfaction of my
owners would be as good as the making
of me. No more partings from Mabel,
then, thought I, as I joyfully-though
with a natural rue at the delay-accept-
ed the offer. I wrote home to Mabel the
double good news Of my escape from
shipwrick and my promotion. You will
understand that during all this time I
a no opportunity Of receiving a line
from her; such are the exigencies of a
sailors life. l was kept in Melbourne
longer than pleased me, and it vas
quite three months before l stepped ON
to my ships deck with my clearing pa
pers. The gold fever was raging so
violently in those days, that it was nc
easy task tt get a crew together for a
humdrum country like Great Britain.
However, we managed to muster a lot
of scarecrows who knew little enough
Of the sea or a sailors duties, and after
an unreasonable long voyage-in con-
sequence of my being compelled to be
more than ordinarily careful because
of the incompetency of my
arrived safely at our destination and
there took in cargo for dear old Eng
land. l looked upon it as the happiest
Of happy omens that 1 arrived home at
Christmas-tide. I had been absent ex-
actly three years.
With a joy stirring in my heart
which | have not the power to express,
[ set out from the docks for the lear
little cottage of shells in Brixton. 1t
was evening before l could get free,
and the night was dark-but not lone
ly. Flowers seemed to rise in the snow
as walked, seemed to grow in the air
as stepped onward. Cold? Not a bit
of it. Everything was warm and beau
tiful and bright, as it should be at
Christmas. All my anxieties and trou-
bles were now at an end. How CRATE
full l was that, by Gods mercy, Twas
spared, and enabled to spend another
Christmas ashore with my darling wife
and my dear old mother! 1 recalled
the memory of the last happy Christ
mas I had spent in their dear society,
and of the lesson of love and faith l had
then learned. And there came upon
me in fuller force a dim, sweet hope
l had nursed and cherished through all
my w~anderings-a hope which I hard
ly dared to shape into words-that
when 1 reached home l should see in
Mabel's arms a child who would call me
father. How I had dwelt upon that
hope! How I had cherished it! What
resolutions l had formed to bring up
my child in a worthy way, and to make
him proud of me, as I was of Beecroft
Mariner, my father! l pictured him
in my imagination dressed, as 1 used
to be, in tiny sailor-clothes-I knew
full well they would dress him in no
other fashion, out of love for me-and
1 saw myself carrying him in my arms
through the Brixton streets, and show
ing him with pride to the people as the
grandson of the best and bravest sailor
that ever answered to the call of duty.
My heart sung within me, and either
my c~heeriness, Oh my brisk step, or the
brightness of my face, or all of them
together mayhap, caused me to receive
many a pleasant look from the passers-
by-looks, be sure, which 1 returned
with interest. Home! dear, sweet
home!
There were no lights in the Brixton
lanes, but 1 could have found my way
if l had been blind. Many a time on
the wild seas, when the wind was howl
ing round me, and not a star could be
seen in the dark skies, had l in my
fancy threaded my way through these
paths, and seen the cottage of Bee
croft, Mariner, shining out of the gloom
with my wife and mother waiting at
the door to welcome me; and now, as
| turned the lane in which our cottage
was situated, a dull feeling of pain
crept into my heart because 1 did not
hear the pattering of the feet nor the
faces of those 1 so fondly loved. Only
for a moment did this unreasonable
feeling have play; l shook it off reso-
lutely. How could they know, how
could they tell, the hour and the min
ute 1 should appear among them? 1
called myself aloud a great simpleton,
and laughed, and stepped ON softly,
enjoying in anticipation the happiness
which in a few moments would be
mine. Thought I. "Therell be a light
in the cottage window and MahaI and