, 1902-03-28

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Broke the heart Of the maid who was
to have we'd"
boat plunged into anchorage until
but one was lacked. and anxious eyes
strove to pierce the all but binding
storm, driving in from the sea,
to ind the last, making h%arborward.
To n last group Of watchers it
mattered little that all but n Of Fair
ways sons we're safe. The missing
one was all to them: all to the father,
grimly intent on the sea; all to the
mother. sweeping tears from her eyes
to peer into the depths of the storm;
all to still another, a daughter of the
place, who had looked to have we'd
ding bells ring in her ears that night,
and not the wild mi that mingled
in the roar Of the storm from Fair
way buoy. She had Joined in common
grief-weighted watching. with those
who waited for the one who was their
all. Until darkness completely yelled
the sea, they watched and hearts
sank as the last glimpse. al the first,
revealed only the handiwork Of the
storm, a sea, seething till foam-capped
waves. vanished in the depths of the
night. Sobs from the women marked
the boundaries of hope. Silence from
the man.
Until now the wild changing of the
bell at the harbor mouth had thunder
ed necessarily its guiding voice out
over the waves, and one comfort chung
in heavy hearts on the sands, that
there was hope while the bell rang on,
that even the last hard-pressed fisher
man might ind way to safety, for his
boat was stanch and his heart strong.
It was not to be.
In the midst Of the vigil. made ter
rible by dread and storm and darkness,
q new terror was thrust. a terror that
struck to the heart of every watching
seaman.
THE bell!" a cry of terror, it pass
ed from lip to lip.
Fairway bell had broken from its
moorings and was drifting before the
storm.
Quick ears followed Its mad path as
with q delirium Of frenzy 1t set out
across the water. With every new
sweep of the gale 1t drove on with the
Changing Of the bell becoming a wild,
maniacal shrek, as the wooden struc-
ture pitched freely without weight Of
nhnf~ .~I a~ohov to e&oaA- IT,. a.
sea 1t was driven until the shrek
came, an inaudible chuckle to the daz-
ed listeners, and then back, the taunts
of its voice coming nearer and nearer,
and mingling in fierce alteration with
the demons In the air, and now SEEM
ing to join with the gale In laughter
at some cruel Jest. To the very har-
Dor gate 1t makes q noisy pilgrimage,
again and again, and then, with a new
whim of the wind. founders seward,
always changing. until again the voice
Ii lost to the listeners.
Now its voice again! Farther and
farther away from the bar it plunges,
and still calls the seeker for safety,
with q ~treacherous note, that now
means but sure death, for relentlessly
the storm thrusts Its new plaything
away from Fairway's snug retreat to
where sands give way to pitiless rocks,
and doom is written large for craft
that may come on them.
One last long reach, and the maniac
IL stranded fast, Its mad journey over.
and Fairway bell, still booming
through the storm, though watchers
prayed that 1t might be hushed, now
bids the luckless pilot. not to harbor-
age, but to death.
Alas for Fairway and the watchers,
Tor the father, the mother and the
hss. The fisherman for whom they
waited, sent his boat into that rock
" trap, ct the bidding Of the bell. and
. last Wild shrek, ~ II braxen demon
and storm demon exulted in their trail
tor work, must have rung in his ears
q waves closed ~
Morning again! Headaches that
viii nsver b forgotten In Fairway.
The tsmpest 10 spent.
asarrhsrs foand the battered hulk
snA . mAngisd body, high smoaS the
lrosks, nutsly eloquent Of the tragedy
Ice . night. Nearby, firmly held
anong 3aggsdi instruments Of 1T
naaiac win, for such II the story
lrested FairNays bell. The waves, tel
lava With II: bsll but . night asp
lssansa 10 1Ays sArnnk away and LET
thoaMcostsfyt nd Il lay still. it, voic'
1apeA u a. 5pasoonee q III vteau