The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-22

"Eh, b,v?" said Matthew, squirting
himself to attend.
II always thought I'd like she t
know about they things-when she
grows up" said Saul.
| Soon he stood up, for the waves
were rising higher. In the words of
| the Newfoundlander ne STOOD up to
| face the seas The others mad SO far
| succumbed to cold and despair that
| they sat where they were, though the
| waves which continuously ran over
| the nan. rose. from time TO time, to
| their waists. 1t was night; the mans
| world was then no more than a
frozen shadow, pitching in a space all
| black and writhing; and from the
| depths of this darkness great waves
ran at him to sweep him off-increas-
| ing in might, innumerable, extending
| infinitely into the night.
| Then giant wave dellVered It's as
sault: it came ponderously-lifte
itself high above his head, broke
| above him, fell, beat him down; it
swept him back, rolling him over and
over, but he caught ridge of ice
with his fingers, and he held his
| place, though the waters tugged at
| him nightly. He recovered his first
| position, and again he was beaten
| down; but again he rose to face the
sea, and again a weight OF water
| crushed him to his knees. Thus three
| more times without pause; then q
| respite, in which it was made known
| to him that one other had survived.
"Be it you, Matthew" said Saul.
! 'Noa-'tis Andrew Butts. | be fair
| done out Saul"
| Saul gathered his strength to con-
tinue the fight-to meet the stress and
| terrors of the hours to come; for 1t
was without quarter, this fight; there
/ is no mercy in cold, nor is there any
1 compassion in the great Deep. Soon
it may have been two hours after
| the assault of the five great waves
| the seas came with new venom and
| might: they were charged with broken
| ice, massed fragments of the pack,
| into which the wind had driven the
| pan, or it may be, with the slush of
| pans, which the Blueblacl Shoal had
| discharged The ice added weight
| and a new terror to the waves They
| bruised and dazed and sorely hurt the
man when they fell upon him. NJ
| wave came but carried jagged chunks
| Of ice-some great and some small;
| and these they flung at the men on
the pan, needing only to strike here or
there to kill them.
Saul shielded his head with his
arms. He was t rkucsbu 123456 ..66
arms. He was struck on the legs and
| on the left side; and once he was
struck on the breast and Knocked
down. After a while-it may have
! been an hour after the fragments first
| appeared in the Water-he was struck
| fair on The fOrehe I'd; his senses wa
vered, but his strength continued suf-
| fciently, and soon he forgot that he
| had so nearly been fordone. Again,
after time--it may now have been
three hours before midnight-other
greater waves came. They broke over
his head. They cast their weight OF
ice upon him. There seemed to be no
end to their number.
once, Saul, rising from where they
| had beaten him-rising doggedly to
| face them again-found that his right
arm was powerless. He tried to lift
it, but could not. He felt bone CRATE
over a bone in his shoulder-and !,
stab of pain. SO he shielded his head
from the ice in the next wave with
his left ARMAND from the ice in the
next. = g - The wave had broken his
| collarbone.
And thus, in diminishing degree, for
fifteen hours longer.
The folk of Neighborly Cove say
that when the wind once more herded
the pack and drove it inshore, Saul
4 q
across four miles of loose ice to the
home of Abraham Coachman, in the
lee of Gods Warning. Sops Arm
way, where they had corn meal Tor
dinner; but Saul has forgotten that
| this and all else that befell him after
the sea struck him that brutal blow
on the shoulder; the things of the
whirling night, of the tagging dawn
when the snow thinned and ceased,
and of the gray, frowping day, when
the waves left him in peace. crook
ed shoulder, which healed of itself,
and a broad scar, which slants from
the tip of his nose far up into his hair,
| tell him that the fight was hard. But
what MATERIAL this?
Notwithstanding all, when next the
sea baited it's trap with swarming
herds, he set forth with John, his
| brother, to the hunt; for the world
which lies hidden in the wide beyond
| has some strange need of seal fat, and
stands ready to pay, as of course. 1t
pays gold to the man at the counter in
| st. Johns, and for what the world
! pays a dollar the outport warrior gets
u pound of reeking pork.
But what matterffi What matter
| all this toll and peril? What matter
| when the pork lies steaming on the
| table and the yellow duff is in plenty
! in the dish? what matter Wnen, De
| holding it. the blue eyes of the lads
and little maids flash merrily? What
| matter when the strength of man
! provides so bounteoUsly that his chill
| dren may pass their plates for more?
| What matter-When thNre comes Il
! night wherein man may est? What
! matter-in the end? Ease is shame;
| and, for truth, old age holds nothing
! for any man save a seat in a corner
| and the sound of voices drifting in.