Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-07-28
It h c d ailv
Short Story
STORY or THE SPANISH ARMADA
By Elinor Marsh

Travelling one summer in ireland.
stopped al . farm house ON Douegal
bag. The farmer and his wife looked
like other people of irish descent. ex-
cept rhat tho mother dld not have the
clear, peachy Irish complexion. while
the children were bruuettes. Iremark-
ed 20 the farmer upon tais dark skin
Of his children whereupon he told me
that there was Spanish blood la their
veins Going TO desk. he took out d
manuscript and handed it To me. IL
was written I'm a ~eman's hand on
parchment and evidently was very old
was sufficiently interested In r. 90
take a copy Of it,. Here 1T U.s.
Fl was midsummer. 1883. when one
morning I was picking berries in the
field and I stopped to rest Looking ost
over the bay. I saw q ship Scattered
here and there far and near were ntt-.
err ships One of them was SO close 90
the shore that I could see the standard
she bore. and II was a strange one
The ship which was large enc and
with portfolios for guns. was coming
into the harbor Her foremost was
gone and what sails she carried were
in tatlors.
This was the year Of the famous
Spanish armada Wa in the north Of
Ireland had heard something about the
Spaniards intending to invade Eng
land. but we get little news from q
land SO far away, and we had NOT
heard that they had sailed UP the Eng
Ush channel, that there had been
running fight that many of the Span
ish ships had been wrecked in ii st9rm.
that tine rest, cat off from returning Go
Spain over the course they had come
had sailed 10 the uorthward of the
Orkney islands and were coming
southwark around the west coast OF
Ireland to get back home
This ship ] saw came into port evil
IDENTIFY I'm distress we had ne means
of defending ourselves. Indeed. wa
needed no defense, for the ship came
in only to make such repairs SIS might
enable her to make the voyage back
to Spain
I went down to the shore, where /
watched q boat coming from the ship
1T landed near where ] stood, and the
sailors carried a man wrapped tn
blankets on fo the beach and laid him
on the sand The sun was shining and
the sand was warm and~not hard 10
lie upon The sailors left the man re-
turned to their boat and pulled back
TO the ship
went to the man and looked down
upon him. His eyes were closed but
hearing me. ne opened them. He was
no doubt very iii or much reduced
from exposure. He spoke "a little Eng
iIsh and told me that he had been
wounded fighting u the English chan
mel The rolling of the ship greatly
F-4 heeras.H
comrades TO take him ashore IF NOS
rescued by some Iaudsman he would
prefer to die there rather than ON ship
board
He seemed greatly relieved to be lv-
ing where hg was. so Z left him 20 Eo
TO the house and tell father and mother
about him / took back to him some
milk. which Ire drank and seemed 10
relish Father was nor minded 10 save
a hated SDaHiarJ from death, but at
last ] prevailed upon him to go with
me ITO the stranger. and when father
saw him and that he was very young
ana well favored Ire would have car
ried him to the house, but the invalid
preferred To remain where he was ag
fong as the sun sboHe upon HHu aul
The breeze famed his cheek.
But when evening came he uas re-
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