The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-02-22
The Seas Restitution.

Roadway at ALL It seemed almost as if
| the world had ceased to be, or as If it
| existed but in state of hux, and as if
we, enchanted ones, accused with an
immunity from the common destruction
| were left TO contemplate the nothingness
Then, to add TO our sense of doom, a
| young baby was said to have died on
shipboard At first every one took It for
granted that its mother must have been
| q Storage, or at the least second-cabin
| passenger 1t seemed unlikely that death
| would be 50 iuepertinent to enter the
| first cabin. But it was learned taht ten
destroyer had been even more insolent
| than that-it had taken a child much more
| favored of fortune, the heir TO great
i wealth.
1 went TO visit Mrs. MoreIl, the child's
| mother. She was tall and white, and
| with wide eyes, which must have been
| beautiful when she was happy. Now a
| sort of bIankness like that Of the air
and the sea had come into them.
| I could not see her soul for her sorrow.
| She offered no confidence; indeed, my
| sympathy could not rech 10 her duled
| sense Her grief was between US. i'm
pregnetable as the fog through which the
| ship crept cautiously.
1.-The captain asked me If I would be
| wiling to have my badly buried at sea-"
she said to me in a voice which remind
ed me of a mournful bel land I told
him 1 had no objection whatever
MOP" I calculated, in surprise.
Nothing is more peaceful than the sea
Depths she responded, and it being night
she asked me to walk upon the deck with
| her under cover of the darkness.
More in sympathy than in curiosity 1
inquired:
your husband is awaiting you In
American"
Yes" she responded. her voice strange
| ly coloIless. He will be at the wharf.
He will expectc to see the baby in my
! arms. He has never seen the baby, you
know I have been with my mother, who
! lives in Paris, and when the baby was
| three months old I started for home"
| We pauzed at the bulWark, and she lok-
ed down into the shadowy trough Of the
wave.
1T will make a soft cradle" she said,
| Her courage wrung my heart.
| Where do you find the strength to en-
| dure such a grief?" I cried.
| Indeed" she responded, with the
mourntul shadow of smile, that ] can
not tell 1t does not seem as if it were
| really I who has met with this great mis-
| fortune. If 1t were I whose plans have
| been so altered and whose hopes have
| been so dashed. surely 1 would not be
| fearless like this. 1t is Adele, my nurse,
| who weeDs."
The next morning the captain read the
burial service with solemn accent, and
into the colorless sea, through the white
| vacancy of the fog, the little one was
| lowered. reverently. 1 stod beside the
mother, and I would have sustained her
with my arm but that she gently repuls
ed me- She sWayed a little from side to
side, but there were no tears on the face
that looked out Of the quaint pointed hood
of her sea cloak. She stared ahead of
her at the stupid fog-she looked, baffied,
into abscurity.
Suddely, an hour after the funeral, the
fog lifted. 1t rolled up as a curtain rolls
up and 1t was a saffron color, cleaning
and splendid. When it lifted, a sparkling
sea was revealed, and a cloudless sky.
The world seemed radiant. 1t seemed to
exuIt in its beauty. Mrs. Morell cast a.
lok of reproach at this Wanting of ma
lures youth and joy, and went to her
cabin.
Through the day messages were sent to
her and delicate evidences of sympathy,
but her maid alone returned thanks. The
next morning found her still in seclusion.
More than one of US thought Of invad-
ing that sacred solicitude, but at the last
forbore.
1t was the afternoon Of that day that
the man on the bridge espied an object
upon the horizon at the south. 1t was a
black speck, visible in a short time to
all of US.
IT'S a ships long boat was the YER
dict at last. 1T is manned and flying
flag of distress"
The course of our ship was changed.
We went racing through the green water.
rejoicing in the zest of the hour-in the
action, the event.
Presently we were standing off cautious
ly from long boat manned with haggard
men.
"Who are you?' shouted the captain,
as the companion ladder was being low
cred
"All that is left of the crew of the
passengers of the Nina Celeste, sir
How Iost?"
BY fire. sir, two nights ago. The first
boat lowered capsized. The women-there
were two-were lower into it. But the
men We're frightened, the flames made
such Roadway, so they jumped. We are
all who remain. Three of US were picked
UP from the overturned boat. But the
others were dragged down in 1.-THE swirl
of the boat-it got to going round and
round"
WAS the Nina Celeste a freighter?"
"a freighter, sir, bound from Ber-
muda to New York, carrying a cargo Of
lilies and hemp. It was out Of its course
owing to a fog.
The boats load came on board-hfteen
pale men-and one of them carried some
thing In his arms.
What do you carry?" asked the cap
tain. rs it a child?
Yes, sir. It IS the babe Of one OF
the women who was lost I was just
about to hand 1t down to her
There was a sharp croy from among
the crowd Of passengers. Mrs. Moreu was I
coming forward, her arms outstretched. (
She was entirely unconscious Of the 1
crowd, apparently. Some one whispered !
to the man who held the babe;
Her little one was buried yesterday al |
sea"
The man shuffled his burden awkwardly /
in his arms and took his hat from his 1
head. Mrs. Moreu reached him and her 4
hands seemed to hover above the COW I
eriRgs OF the cbild's face as ar avid bee ,
hovers above a flower.
1T is alive" she half whispered. after {
she had bent above Il, all trembling. 1T
IS breathing i seemed as Il she
thought that fact sort OF Il miracle
She lifted the baby eagerly from the {
mans arms. and straining it close 70 her 4
walked with rapid, uncertain steps to- (
ward her cabin. and as she went she
who had hitherto shed 10 fear, sobbed (
aloud.-Chicsgo Tribune.
Sayings ofthe Wits
ssT4-,- - n ..~-ft,r. thing =sEs -. -