New-York tribune., 1901-07-21

As for Miss Nancy, there was nothing In her
face or figure particularly attractive. unless IL
the honest. open countenance and the clear
gray eyes that seemed TO laugh only TO conceal
their sadness.
In fact Miss Nancy was very commonplace
parsonage she sat in her plain but cosey liv-
ing room in the afternoons and gazed out over
the far stretching ocean whose waves. at high
tide. almost kissed the portals of her little home,
Her face was thin and sallow: her hands were
red and roughened from the harsh clasp OF toll
and her hair gray and thin
A Maltese cat of uncertain age was her closest
companion. and OF living relatives she had none
80 far as any of the residents of Fairport knew
To them she was alternately spoken of Miss
Nancy and the Derelict," the latter title hav-
ing reference to the manner of her arrival In
Fairport.
Miss Nancy and the village Of Fairport were
strikingly similar IN respect. There had
been a time when each apparently was possessed
of promising future. and both had seen their
hopes disappear like the mists before the rising
The original settlers OF Fairport laid out the
village with a certain confidence that some
day the little hamlet would metamorphose into
a metropolitan seaport They lived and died In
this belief. but their children witnessed the
shattering of their dreams Then Fairport cast
aside all misguided fances OF future Importance
and settled down into idle tranquility, content
in the possession OF its unequalled view of the
sea and Miss Nancy.
The Derelict earned her unusual soubriquet
by drifting into Falrport harbor one May morn
ing, following stormy night, lashed tightly TO
a piece OF broken spar. At that time she was
only ten years Of age and subsequently nearly
died of grief over the loss of her parents. who
ln,- ;1I
the night
The strange surroundings and unfamiliar faces
among which fortune and the waves had tossed
her did not tend to soothe the child, and she
might have actually pined away and died had
1t not been for John Cragston.
John was but four years her senior. and It.
he who had first discovered the Derelict as the
waves washed her ashore. He was gathering
shells at the time. but promptly waded into ;he
surf cut the cords that bound her unconscious
form. gathered her up In his strong arms, car
ried her to dry land. washed the seaweed and
the salt from her hair and eyes. and then hur-
rled for the doctor.
During the years that followed John and
Nancy were inseparable companions.
The son of a sea captain. John looked forward
to a life the brine, and used to relate to
Nancy marvellous stories Of the days to be,
when he should own a three-maste and she
should be his wife.
These stories usually ended with promise TO
bring shiploads of fine silks and precious stones
to her from the most distant parts of the earth,
and she was young and inexperienced, OF
course she readily believed them.
When John became big, strapping fellow, he
went before the mast OF his fathers schooner
and years later when his father was no more
and John had crossed the degree of longitude
that divided boyhood from manhood on the chart
of his life he became the possessor of the three
master of which he had often dreamed. He
named his vessel Nancy. after the little blue
eyed Derelict, and ii matter of doubt of
which he was the prouder For Miss Nancy
was the recognized beauty of the village. and
many young of Fairport had envy in his
heart for John Cragston
The young navigator made many voyages, but
none to any very distant port, and his ventures
were fortunate and his worldly goods ac-
cumulatng at a most satisfactory ratio.
Miss Nancy wont to stand upon the
beach. with her blue sunbonnet protecting her
brown curls from the sum- and watch Johns
schooner sail out into the open until II became
a mere speck in the distance and finally disap-
peared altogether in the haze. After that she
would cast many a glance to seaward during
the long days and keep a well trimmed lamp
burning in her window At night until such time