The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-12-27
BENEFICIARIES
CT CHANCE e
A Second Honeymoon to q Couple
Separated by the Great
Galveston Storm.
Observation-Disclosures

Torn from each others terrified clasp
by the seething waters Of the Galveston
hood at midnight; mourning one another
month after month as dead; meeting sud
denly face to face In the sunlight on the
street Of New Mexico town, their sor-
row changed to Joy Unreasonable In that
one amazed glance Of mutual recognition
such Is the romance that marks the re-
union of Frank II. Parrish and his pretty
young wife.
The story Of that tragic midnight part
ing and its sequel, the happy MONDAY
meeting. Is a strange story Of chance
story that cannot but revive, hope in
any despairing breast, for 1t proves that
although there may be only one chance in
many millions Of attaining the hearts
desire, it Is worth while to wait and
watch for 1t.
Frank Parrish and his wife, swept
asunder in the tempest's roar and the
darkness of night, without one clew to
follow In finding each other when the
morning dawned and consciousness re
turned, gave up all thought of meeting
again In this world. There was no ap-
parent reason for supposing that either
had survived the horrors Of that fateful
night.
And yet there was a chance-iim, IN
certain, well nigh improbable. but never
theless a chance-that neither had gone
down into the tombess graveyard OF the
sea.
But so slight, so shadowy. seemed to
them that chance when weighed against
reason and considered along the line Of
ordinary occurrences that the heartbrok
en- husband and wife cast it aside as an
impossibility, the hungering thought Of
which merely Knocked their despair and
made their loneliness the sadder.
They had not then learned how strange,
how elusive, how kind a thing sometimes
is chance.
To chance they owe the reunion Of their
parted lives. Chance. slenderest Of all
threads though 1t be, has linked the bro
ken chain that bound them. 1t has brought
about their second honeymoon. for Frank
Parrish and his wife are just now as
supremacy happy a pair Of welded lovers
as could be found the world over.
When the tide rushed into Galveston
and houses were splintered in the mighty
grasp of the storm; when caught in the
teeth of the tempest and stunned by the
udSHlIp WAVES, lIltll, NuLHSn anu SA4IuI
were engulfed and lost forever to the
sight or cast ashore, like human drift
wood. the breath of life beaten ont of
their bruised. broken bodies; when the
world itself seemed to come to an end in
chaos most horrible, these two, shaken
from their slumber, without time for
prayer or farer-eil word. were hurled with
their house into the angry fl"od. C,inging
to each other In the darkness. they were
flung into the very vortex Of the thrush
ing sea- The last instant OF cCnsci BUSINESS
was fraught with anguish kecner than
any h1rt to their hCdies. for each felt the
other slipping, slipping weakly away into
the black, dcsolate waste of waters. With
their cries choked in their threats, with
even the wish 10 die together denied
them, the man and the woman lost each
other in the fury of the food.
The catastrophe occurred in September
Of last year, ten months ago.
The other day. by the one chance that
these two sGrrc wing souls had never
dared to hope for. they f0unl each other
alive and well in the town of Roswell,
n. NJ.
With all its millions OF inhabitants this
old world Is "a small place" after eli.
when two OF the atoms that crawl over its
surface, suddenly thrust apart in the
night. are ns suddenly brought together
amid surroundings entirely different and
in the full light of day.
1t was like awakening from q shudder-
some nightmare to sweet. sunny reality.
When the flood came Mrs. Parrish was
caught and pnioncd by the swirling wa
tiers in some wreckage that drifted hack
within a block of the spot where their
house had stood Here she was finally
rescued, badly bruised and hurt, but
without broken bones.
Her husband was carried the breadth
of the hay and far inland, where he was
found by kind hearted stranger, a farm
or, who at first thought him quite dead.
But the nearly drowned man partially re-
covered consciousness, murmured the
name of his wife and sank into semi
comatose state ana wavered between life
and death for six weeks thereafter.
Meanwhile he was tenderly cared for
in the home of the farmer upon whose
hospitality and humanity the sea had
| thrust him unlimited.
Two months passed before the sick man
was able to return to the scene OF his
former happiness. Saddened and DESC
late he wandered over the ground whose
| landmark had been swept away by the
anger of the elements. ground once so IA
miiar, now so strangely altered. He lin
gered by the ruins of his dwelling as by a
new made grave. Everywhere he asked
| the same question and everywhere re-
seived the same discouraging answer.
No one had seen his wife since the night
| of the flood.
His heart grew heavy with despair. He
babe goodby to the wreck of his fortunes
and the resting place of his broken hopes.
| Then he turned his face toward new
| field. to begin life over again, alone.
There could be no solace Tor his grief,
but in labor might be obtained some
measure of forgetfulness.
Frank Parrish went to the home of his
brother, Charles Parrish, in the noun
tains of Lincoln county, n. NJ. Slowly
came back to him his strength and
health, but the joy of life was no longer
his. To work for works sake was not
the same task that it had been when