The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-30

"Grandhaven. London, New Orleans.
was the answer. Hurry. and bring as
many men as you can. Got boat about
here?"
There is one on the beach half mile
along 10 the souh'ard. But you cannot
launch her through this.
'Oh, yes, We can
The coastguard glanced at the man with
a sudden interest.
who ar. vouY' he asked.
"Stoie first ,fficrr. was the reply.
The rest of the story Of the wreck has been
told 10y ablcr pens in the daily newspapers.
How forty-stNtn people were saved how
the lifeboat from Cadgwith picked up some
floating inse nsihle on the cbbing tide with
life buoys tied securely round them; how
some men proved themselves great and
some women greater: how Few proved
themselves very contemplate indeed; how
the quiet chief officer, Stoke. obeyed his
| captains orders To take charge 81 the piH-
sen.-ers-are not these things told by the
| newspapers?
Some of them, especially the half,penny
| ones went further, and explained 70
waiting world how IL had all come about
! and how easily 1t might have been avoided.
| They, moreover, dealt out blame and praise
with a liberal hand. and condemned the
/ owners or exonerated 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;
a very common and washy sentiment, which
| appealed powerfully to the majority OF
| their readers
Some of the newspapers, while agreeing
| that the first officer. having saved MANY
lives bv his great eNertons during the night
/ and perfect rganization for relief and help
/ the next day, had made for himself an
! immortal name, limited darklv that the
/ Captains was the better part, and that they
! preferred to hear In such cases that all the
| officers had persisted.
| Stoke despatched the surviving passen.
gers ty train from ltol back to Io =
! don. They were not enthusiastic about
| him. neither did they subscribe TO present
| him with a service of plate. They thought
him stern and unsympathetic But before
they had realized quite what had hap
pened they were back at their homes or
| with their friends
MANY Of the dead were recovered and
went 10 swell the heavy crop Of Gods seed
! -own in st. krvcrnc Churchvard. IL was
| Store who organized these quiet burials
and took careful note of each name
II was he to whom the friends of the dead
| made their complaint or took their fearful
reminsCe noes, TO both of which alike he
| gave an attentive hearing. emphasized 10y
| the steady gaze Of pair Of gray-blue ewes.
which many remembered aiterward with
| cut knowing why,
1T is all right" said the director Of the
great steamship company in London,
| Stoke i there.
And they sent him money and left him
| in charge at st. krverne. The newspaper
correspondents hurried thither and sew
| .Tal of them described the wrong man as
Stoke, while others, having 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 fight
for his life and thrown aside his jacket
| for greater ease in swimming.
| 1wcnty-nine of the crew. eleven pls-
| sengers and a stew ardess were never found.
| The sea would never give them up now
| until that day when she shall relinquish
| her hostages mostly Spauiards and ing
lish-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 scar
| on his heart which time could not heal.
| She had come to his care from the builder
yard She had never known another
| husband.
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 together, had under
stood each other all through.
| His friends wife, by virtue OF her Office.
perhaps had come nearer To this mans grim
an lonely heart than any other woman tie
had never defined this feeling, he had not even
gone back TO it's source a. n woman would
have done. or he might have discovered
that the gentle air of question, or of waiting
In her eyes which was not always there, but
only when he looked for II, had been Their"
long ago on "A summer voyage before she
was Capt Dixlns wife al all.
All through his long swim 10 shore, all
through the horrors of that November
| night and the long drawn pain of the sue
ceeding days he had done his duty with a
steady impaSsivoness which was in keeping
! with the square jaw, the rcsOlute eyes, the
firm and merciful lips Of the man; but he
had only thought Of Mary Dixon. His one
| thought was that this must break her heart
1t was this thought that made him
hard and impa-sivc. In the great Office in
London he was received gravely. With a
dun surprise he noted "A qulNcr III the lips oi
the mana giug director when he shook
hands The great business man looked older
and smaller and thinner in his short time
for il il a terrible thing to have TO deal m
human lives. even ii you are paid heavily
for doing so.
There will be an official inquiry-you will
have to face il. 81 oke
Yes, he answered almost indTerently
And there il DiXon's wife. You will have
TO go and see her. | have been. She Eta "
at home and takes her punishment quietly
unllk" some Of them
J And tv o hours later he was waiting FOR
Mary Dixon in the little drawing room OF
the house in a keItish village " Ch he had
helped Dixon TO furnish for her
She did not keep him long; and when she
came into he room he drew a sharp breath
but he had nothing TO say to h,r. She az
tall and strongly made, with fair hair and
delicate Coloriug. She had no children
though she had been married six year,, and
Nature seemed to have d, signed her To b.
the mother of large, strong, gentle men.
Stoke looked into her eyes and imme-
diatcly the eNpcCtant look came into them
There was something else behind thcm-
a sort of vcil,d light.
1T Was kind of you 10 come so SOON" she
said, taking "A chair by the fre-ide.
| There was Uuly otn lamp in the room
and its light scarcely reached her face,
But for all the good he did in comm 9
l. would seem that he might AZ we'll hav,
stayed away, for he had no comfort To offer
her. He drew forward a chair and rat down
with that square sowuoss of movement
which * natural To the limbs of men who
deal exclusively with Nature and action
ard he looked into the fire without saying q
word
Again It was she who spoke, and hel
words surprised the man who had only
Il, alt with women at sea. where womeI
| NJ not Sn.,n nj hal lnAt