Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-09-14

stretched around, black and desolate.
Gazing upon this gloomy expanse, Ru,
rus Dawes observed a strange phenom-
enon-Ightning appearing to burst up
ward from the sullen bosom of the sea-
At intervals, the darkly rolling waves
| mashed fire, and streaks of fame shot
upward. The tone of a woman's voice
recalled him to himself. Cautiously un-
locking the cabin door, he peered out.
The cuddy was lighted by swinging
lamp which revealed Sylvia questioning
one of the women concerning the storm.
Locking the door, he proceeded hastily
to dress himself in North's clothes. He
would wait until his aid was absolutely
required, and then rush out. In the dark
ness Sylvia would mistake him for the
priest. He could convey her to the boat
if recourse to the boats should be rem
dered necessary-and then take the haz,
ard of his fortune. While she was In
danger his place was near her.
From the deck of the vessel the scene
was appalling. The clouds had closed
in. The arch of light had disappeared
and all was dull, windy blackness. Gi.
gantc seas seemed to mount in the hori-
zon and sweep toward and upon them.
1t was as though the ship lay in the
vortex of whirlpool, so high on either
side OF her were piled the rough pyra-
midical masses of sea. The vessel lay
almost on her beam ends, with her helm
up, stripped even of the sails which had
been furled upon the yards Mortal
hands could do nothing for her. By
o'clock in the morning the gale had
reached its height.
The sea, pouring down through the
burst hatchway, tore the door of the
cuddy from its hinges. Sylvia found her
self surrounded by a wildly surging tor
rent which threatened to overwhelm her.
She shrieked aloud for aid, but her voice
was inaudible even to herself Clinging
to the mast which penetrated the little
cuddy, she whispered a last prayer for
succor. The door opened, and from out
the cabin came a figure clad in black.
She looked up, and the light of the ex-
piring lamp showed her a face that was
not that of the man she had expected to
see. Then a pair of dark eyes beamng
ineffable love and pity We're bent upon
her, and pair of dripping arms held
her above the brine as she had once been
held in the misty mysterious days that
were gone.
In the terror of that moment, the
cloud which had so long oppressed her
brain passed from 1t. The action of the
strange man before her completed and
explained the action of the convict chain
ed to the Port Arthur coal wagons, of
the convict kneeling in the Norfolk ISL
and torture chamber She remembered
the terrible experience of Macquarie
Harbor. She recalled the evening Of the
boat building, when, swung into air by
stalwart arms, she had promised the res
cuing prisoner to plead for him with her
kindred. Regaining her memory thus
all the agony and shame of the mans
long life of misery became at once ap-
parent to her. She understood how her
husband had deceived her. and with
what base injustice and falsehood he
had bought her young love. No ques-
tlon as to how this doubly condemned
prisoner had escaped from the hideous
isle of punishment she had quit occur
red to her She asked not-even in her
thoughts-how it had been given to him
to supplant the chaplain in his place on
board the vessel. She only considered,
in her sudden awakening, the story of
his wrongs, remembered only his marvel
GUS fortitude and love, knew only, In
this apparently last instant of her pure,
| Inflated life, that as he had saved her
once from starvation and death, so had
he come again to save her from despair.
The eyes of the man and woman met
in one long, wild gaze Sylvia stretched
har yubito hap a, NJ
| Richard Devlne understood, in his turn.
the story of the young girls joyless life,
and knew how she had been sacrificed.
In the great crisis of our life, when,
brought face to face with humiliation,
we are suspended gasping over the great
emptiness of death, we become conscious
that the self which we think we knew so
we'll has strange and unthought-of ca
pacities. To describe a tempest of the
elements is not easy, but to describe
tempest of the soul is impossible. Amidst
the fury of such a tempest, a thousand
memories, each bearing in Its breast the
corpse of some dead deed whose influ-
ence haunts us yet, are driven like feat tn
ers before the blast, as unsubstantial
and as unregarded. The mists which
shroud our self-knowledge become trans
parent, and we are smttten with sudden,
lightning-like comprehensions Of our own
misused power over our fate
This much we feel and know, but who |
can coldly describe the hurricane which |
thus overwhelms him? As we'll ask the |
drowned mariner to tell of the marvels |
of mid-sea when the great deeps swal- |
lowed him and the darkness of death en- |
compassed him round about. These two
human beings felt that they had done
with life Together thus, alone In the |
very midst and presence of death, the |
distinctions of the world disappeared.
Their vision grew clear. They felt as
beings whose bodies had already per
lshed, and as they clasped hands, their
freed souls, recognizing each the lowell
ness Of the other, rushed tremblingly
together.