The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-04-03

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Z Kelly holding III tdnEno. No doubt
theft thoasht were With their periiona,
sitHasion and The greWSomo task CON-
houting them; yet they partook heart
ily Of the food, and / endeayored by
every means in my power to arouse
their courage and cheerfulness. To
that end ] dWelt on the possibility Of
the wealth that might be concealed be
tween decks, promising an early search.
But spoke most to Lady Darlington,
admiring greatly the easy manner In
which she bore herself amid such
rude surroundings and adapted herself
10 the necessities Of our situation. All
Bembiance Of pride and exciusfyeaess
had vanished, and she was simple.
hearted woman, bearing her trials
with silent fortitude. Only once did
she even refer TO our discoveries aft,
and then only to appear perfectly sat.
isaed when explained that the cabin
was in such disorder II would have to
be cleaned before 1T for occupancy.
Rough as the experience Of the previ.
GUS night had been, her dress soiled,
her hair rufled, never had she ap.
peared more attractive than when, sit.
ting in the midst Of us on that galley
deck with the gray daylight streaming
In through the broken roof. the ruddy
flames OF the fire fickered across her
face. saw the men glance toward
her in respectful admiration as they
filed out one by Que, and thus left us
for moment alone. No matter what
words ! whispered IN the brief time
before ] Joined them, but as | glanced
back where she remained standing,
there was q smile upon her lips and
mist OF tears Ia her eyes. AS for
myself, ! was prepared for the work
OF the day.
The urgent need of getting some
form Of sail mp aud of releasing the
rudder was indeed imperative; any
approach Of storm would have found
us utterly helpless. Yet we could not
live on board with those frozen bodies
aft. left Dade busted in the galley,
and took the others with me. They
went reluctantly, grumbling among
themselves, yet permitted them no
opportunity for open revolt. driving
them 10 the work ] had decided upon,
and shaming them BY leading the way
myself
need not dwell upon the unpIeas.
ant details. The most dlsagreeable
portion fell TO me, although johnson
took hold like man after the first
few moments Of reluctance. The 9th.
ers devoted themselves diligently TO
scraping off the ice, gathering up and
casting overheard the accumulation of
litter about the main cabin and, the
various staterOoms, and assisting lis
only as we passed the heavy, rigid
bodies through the stern.ports. We
PERFORMED this unpleasant task Of
burial hastily but with all gentIeness;
there was little to do except to wrap
the stiffened figures as best we might,
weight them, though they were them.
selves like stone. and Consign them to
the gray sea. Not heartlessly, but with
unspoken prayers upon our lips, we
watched them sink silently into the
depths they had resisted so long.
Never shall ! forget the face Of the
child, the last TO be buried, nor the
sickening feeling with which | sank
back upon a bench, staring about the
vacated cabin when the awful task
was finally accomplished; yet the re.
alization that II was over with, the
cabin cleared and hubitahie, made new
men OF all Of us, The bedding was
brought forth ana aired before the
open ports, the furniture restored to
position, and "A fire started In the huge
boz.stove This quickly warmed the
icy interior and yielded a new ASPECT
OF cheeFfnlness. DE Nova and Kelly
explored the stewards pantry, discoy.
ering quantity Of frozen biscuit,
several hams rigid as rock, toTother
with numerous TASKS Of some liquid
turned into solid sc. We found can.
dies. also. hard as nails though they
burned fairly well after a period Of
sputtering. and We fitted six of them
into the great lantern. By noon we
had competed the work, and had
brought Lady Darlington and Celeste
aft for dinner.