Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-04-30

land. 1T is not far, and the sea Is
smooth. The rest Of us must die
But as they rowed away fast from
the sinking ship, the prince heard the
voice OF his sister Marie, calling for
help. He never in his life had been
so good as he was then. He cried In
an agony, ROW back at any risk!
cannot bear to leave her!
They rowed back. AS the prince
held out his arms to catch his sister
such numbers leaped in, that the boat
was overset. And in the same instant
the White Ship went down.
When the whirling OF the. waters
was over, there came to the SURFACE
only two OF that great company. They
each seized a floating spar. One cried
"Who are you?" and the other replied
II am Godfrey, son of knight. And
your II am Berold, poor butcn
err of Rouen." Then they both cried
God have mercy upon u.s." and tried
to cheer each other, as they clutched
the spar, in the midst of the Icy wat
ers.
BY and by, they saw another man
swimming towards them. AS the
waves washed aside his thick hair
they knew 1t to be Fitz-Stephen, the
lot. What Of the prince" ne
cried. Gone, gone! The prince and
his sister, and the kings nephew, and
the kings niece, and all, all OF that
great company, except we three, are
gone!"
'Ah, woe is me-" cried Fltz-Steph
en-. and sank to the bottom.
So thew chung in the bitter sea, and
thought of the goodly company tnat
had set sail, three hundred Souls IN
the great White Ship. and now an
gone! The prince, the kings son, the
heir to the throne, and the king to
come, gone there, in q moment, to MS
doom, for
LANDS are ruled by king on
throne; ;.
The sea hath no king but God alone. :
So they prayed to God in the biting
cold of the wintry sea. At last, the
knight could hold on no longer.
Farewell, and God have mercy on
YOU, uS CllCu, anu ASooSNA~
and sank into the sea.
Then Berold, the poor butcher OF
Rouen remained alone to tell the tale
Of that gay company that set sail. Al
night long he chung in the icy sea, TIL
his fingers froze to their hold and ne
knew no more.
In the morning some fishermen near
the English coast, saw his sheepsKlIl
coat floating on the water and TOOK
him into their boat. When the warm
sun brought him back to life, his first
thought was that he must bear the
news to the king.
Quickly he landed, and staying
neither for WEAKNESS nor hunger, nur-
ried on to Salisbury, where the KING
was Yet when he reached the town,
he dared not tell the king, but bore
the news to those of his house. his
counselors. They were as men strlck.
en- by mighty blow, and they reared
to tell the king.
The days went by and the king
watched and wondered why his son
did not return. He remembered the
strange far( cry over the waters, and
wondered what it meant. They told
him that such was the cry of the
French fishermen, with their catch,
Again he asked, and they told MIN
that so the French sea gulls would
shrek on the French sea cliffs. Yet
he was not satisfied.
It drew on toward evening OF the
third day. They feared to keep the
truth from the king any longer, yet
none dared tell him. At last one said
he had found way.
It was near sunset The king sat
in the great hall, on his golden throne
chair. Through the great windows
came the golden rays of the setting
sun. They glittered and flashed on
the armor and swords of the knights
about the king, and glimmered on
velvets and jeweled ladies of rank.
OF a sudden the king saw, far down
the long hall, spot Of gold. 1t seem
ca to come down the path of light
nearer and nearer. At last, he saw g
little golden-haired boy, dressed all in
black. He came to the very foot OF
the throne. Then great fear came
over the king, so that he cried out
Say, wherefore do you come to my
court, dressed all in black, as for
funeral?" Weeping, the boy raised
his head, and answered, "You do well
O king, to ask. wherefore do come II
black, for white is the color of mourn
ing today The prince and all his
fellowship are lost in the White
Ship"
The king fell back on his throne. az
a man dead. For long time he Meth
err spoke nor moved. When, at last
he again breathed. moved and looked
on those about him, he was like an
other man.
Something had gone out OF his life
From that moment, as long as ne nv
ed, in spite of all his wealth, all nj:
splendor and power, he never smiled
again.-Charles Dickens and Helen M
Fries.
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