Newport weekly independent., 1904-02-05


 rose and crimson.
 Close at hand rocked the white boat, oarless and empty, as before. And then over the waters came the low, plaintive vail like noth- ing earthly, and up rose the figure of the phantom woman, and stretched out her pale hands to the Augustus horror stricken crew.
 And Capt. Gray fell back with stifled cry of amazement, for the face of the phantom was the face of Agnes Armor, as he had last be- held it.
 And even while he gazed, the vision faded as before, and only the trackless sea spread out be- fore him, unmarked and lonesome as the plain of a great desert.
 Capt. Gray did not talk with any of his men of this strange sight they had seen. Whatever he may have thought on the subject, he was silent, but all night long, in the light of the clouded, watery moon, he paced the deck, and watched the heaying, desolatc u,ae,ta of xnya tnpC
 Before morning it was evident that the fine weather was at an end. The wind tore through the rigging and shrieked like a mad fiend; the breakers, capped with foam, rolled in from the wind ward, and the ship tossed and pitched like drunken man, un- mindful of her helm.
 The sailors whispered together, and gave each other little mes sages for their families. They spoke in subdued voices of the phantom boat, and bewailed the fate which had led them to ship on the Augusta.
 Capt. Gray stood on the bow is suing his orders clearly, but never taking his restless blue eyes off the tumblingmas of waters to the leeward. He, too, they said, was looking for the boat.
 The fury of the wind increased. the pillows rose into mountains of mist and spray, the surf broke over the decks, and the helmsman was dashed to the wheel. Only God knew if the ship was to outride the storm.
 And then, as darkness be- gan to gather, tossed upon the summit of the great waves, they saw the boat, and, standing up, as before, drenched and shivering in the death-cold spray, the wom- an with the golden hair and the face of marble.
 This time she did not fade away; this time the boat rushed on, and Capt. Gray, hurriedly fastening q rope around his waist, plunged over the side of the vessel and was lost in the swirl of foam.
 The men said he was mad, and looked upon him as lost; but di- rectly he signaled them by the rope, and they drew him on board; :; and in his arms was the woman who had caused them so much ter TOT.
 After this the wind lulled, the moon looked through the clouds, and the angry ocean subsided and calmed itself, until it's breast was tranquil as that of midland lake.
 And in the cabin Capt. Gray listened to the story of Agnes. She had never been false to him !; she had never married the rich old suitor. Her mother only had been to blame.
 A week before she had sailed, with her mother, for Europe. The ship had sprung leak in the tenn pest, the crew and passengers had fled to the boats, but the angry waves had swallowed them al. hs.tt hs. Agnes, and he had saved her. This was all of if.
 And when she wept over the fate of her mother, Capt. Gray held her to is beart, and -dried the tears from her face with passion ate kisses.
 When the Augusta reached Liv- erpool, Capt. Gray's marriage took place, and his wife returned hone