The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-11-30

charge of the passengers-are not these
things told by the newspapers? Some
of them, especially the halfpenny ones,
went further, and explained to a wait
ing world how it had all come about.
and how easily it might have been
avoided. They, moreover, dealt out
blame and praise with a liberal hand.
and condemned the owners or exoner-
ated the captain with that sublime
wisdom which cometh out from Fleet
street only. One and all agreed that
because the captain was drowned he
was not to blame; very common and
washy sentiment which appealed pow
erfully to the majority of their read
ers. Some of the newspapers, while
agreeing that the first officer having
saved many lives by his great eXer-
tons during the night and perfect or
ganization for relief and help the next
day, had made for himself an immor-
tai name. limited darkly that the cap
tain's was the better part. and that
they preferred to hear in such cases
that all the officers had persisted.
Stoke despatched the surviving pas
sengers by train from Helston back to
London. They were not enthusiastic
about him, neither did they subscribe
to present him with a service of plate
They thought him stern and unsym-
pathetic. But before they had realized
quite what had happened they were
back at their homes or with their
friends. Many of the dead were recov-
cred and went to swell the heavy crop
of Gods seed sown in St. Keverne
churchyard. 1t was Stoke who organ
lied these quiet burials and took a
careful note of each name. 1t was he
to whom the friends of the dead made
their complaint or took their fearful
eminiscences, to both of which alike
he gave an attentive hearing empha-
sized by the steady gaze of a pair Of
grey-blue eyes which many remem-
bered afterwards without knowing
why.
ut is all right" said the director of
the great steamship company in Lon
don. "Stoke is there
And they sent him money and left
him in charge at St. Keverne. The
newspaper correspondents hurried
and several of them described the
wrong man as Stoke, while others hav-
ing identified him weighed him and
found him wanting in a proper sense
of their Importance. There was no
copy" in him, they said He had no
conception of the Majesty OF the Press.
At length the survivors were all sent
home and the dead thrown up by the
sea were buried. Martin the second
officer, was among these. They found
the captains pilot jacket on the beach.
He must have made a fight for his life
and thrown aside his Jacket for great
er ease in swimming. Twenty
of the crew, eleven passengers and a
stewardess were never found. The
sea would never give them up now
until that day when she shall relin-
quish her hostages-mostly Spaniards
and English-to come from the deep
at that trumpet call.
Stoke finished his business in st.
Keverne and took the train to London.
Never an expansive man, he was shut
up now as the strong are shut up by
a sorrow. The loss of the Grandhaven
left a scar on his heart which time
could not heal. She had come to his
care from the builders yard. She had
never known another husband.
He was free now-free to turn to the
hardest portion Of his task. He had
always sailed with Dixon, his lifelong
friend. They had been boys together,
had forced their way up the ladder to-
gether. had understood each other all
through. His friends wife, by virtue
of her office, perhaps, had come nearer
to this mans grim and lonely heart
than any other woman. He had never
dehned this Keeling; he had not even
gone back to its source as a woman
would have done, or he might have dis
covered that the gentle air of question.
or of waiting in her eyes which was
not always there, but only when he
looked for it, had been there long ago,
on summer voyuge before she was
Capt. Dixon's wife.
All through his long swim to shore,
all through the horrors of that Mo-
vember night and the long-drawn pain
OF the succeeding days he had done his
duty with a steady impassiYeness
which was in keeping with the square
jaw. the resolute eyes. the firm and
merciful lips OF the man: but he had
only though Of Mary Dixon. His one
thought was that this must break her
heart.
II was this thought that made him
hard and impassiye. In the great Of
Zee IN London he was received grave
~. With a dull surprise he noted a
CULVER IN the lips Of the managing d.
rector when he shook hands. The
great business man looked older and
smaller and thinner ia this short time.
for IL " a terrible thing 20 have 70
deal in human lives. even ~ you are
paid heavily for doing 10.
There Will be an Official inquiry
you win have 10 face Il, Stoke"