Year: 1875

"'All rlgnt, Salu tne Olu scrcW. L
don't mind losin' little sleep to be
obligin', eff only tho expense-@


"'You old vulturep l roared, I'll pay
you half on the spotP And l counted
out to him enough greenbacks to make
his sharp old nose come down and chop
over his chin with an unctuous smack


"'I'll hev it that scrumptious,' said
the wretch, with greedy enthusiasm,
that you'll clap your hands over it.
It'll be that peart and pi0us that you
needn't be ashamed of it in church.


"I nodded approvingly and started on
the home stretch with the comfortable
feeling of a man who has done all he
could to ameliorate an irremediable
suffering. All that day there was a
threatening aspect of the winds and
waves that BODIED more mischief on that
malevolent shore. Massive heavy clouds
hung black as ink over the sharp
Jagged rocks, and fierce undertone in
the elements told of conspiracy for a
tempestuous debauch.


"My poor old Jack had been washed
and shaven, his last toilet rendered with
all the care that his old friend and
school. fellow could bestow upon mel
ancholy labor of love; a few hot tears
burst from my burning eyes and fell
upon that strange and unfamiliar face;
and, finding it become less and less
recognizable as / gazed upon it, l
covered it reverently with my handker-
chief, and sat silent and alone with it
and the darkness, waiting for the old
man with the coffin.


GAS the day waned and twilight gath
cred, wall broke forth from the rocks
and the waves; few belated gulls
tapped their wings heavily over the
water that began to lash furiously the
low, sandy shore. Presentlya a few drops
fell. the precursors of one Of those flu
rious storms that riot on that desert
coast.


can agony of impatience seized me.
got upon my feet, and paced to and fro
the loose boards of the hut.


"Was I, then, condemned to stay here,
powerless to save my poor Jack from
being the puppet of yonder malignant
fiends of the shore and the sea? knew
if the coffin were delayed until the storm
increased in fury, the road to the old
wreckers home would be impossible,
flooded, and without clew.


"Was it, then, destined that he should
be thrown into the greedy NAV of the
sea, after all, and his place in the dear
little church-yard at home know him no
more? There were prayers even then
offered up for him in that dear little
village in the valley, not only by the
thin and withered lips of his mother, but
sweet and roseate ones were trembling
in his behalf that late had clung to his
own in rapture, and gentle young fingers
would gather flowers for his grave, and
murmur benisons there for many year.
Oh, was it, then, impossible to give this
Joy to my poor old Jack?


II started up with malediction upon
the storm and its surroundings, and with
an impulse of desperation wrapped my
self in the old tarpaulin, and ventured
forth.


81 uppose my nerves were pretty well
unstrung, for the dead face of my lost
comrade followed me with grotesque
and horrible persistency. l struggled
against the feeling, but it seemed to me
the murky air was full of shapeless fiends
and b diless spirits of devilish propin-
quities.


stumbling along, the wind beating
mercilessly down, making the rocky path
perilously smooth, Imade my way slowly
in the direction of the old wreckers
abode.


"Feeling the path step by step in this
wilderness of darkness and Storm it must
have taken me many hours TO accomplish
mile, for had scarcely gone half way
when found by my watch it was nearly
midnight. The same lurid CLEAN of
lightning that showed me the face of my
watch gave me also fleet glimpse of
something lying in the road before me,
almost at my feet.


.T looked, and started back in horror;
a peculiar sensation came to my scalp;
/ felt my hair, 80 to speak, rising on end;
for there, in defile of the road, half
wedged in the shelter of rock, was a
coffin. The peculiar shape of it was only
dimly discernible, and either it was exag-
gerated by this dimness or else the coffin
was of gigantic size. How did it get
there? Did the fends about me contrive
this shape to deceive my half delirious
senses? l looked again, and slowly saw
the ponderous lid rise, skeleton hand
come forth; then an arm. AT last hall
the form emerged from this terrible rest
ing place, and, wrapped about with a
winding sheet, seemed struggling to leave
the coffin altogether.


81 seized my pistol with trembling
hand. ] cooked it.


"Don't shoot, young mani cried the
specter. fYe'll spile the polish eff yer do
This cussed rain has cen almost done fol
it already. 1t was pious and peart q
spell back, but it's pretty well spilled
now, I'm afeard.'


at was my old wrecker, carpenter and
coffin makOr. He explained to me that
he'd started on time with the coffin, and
kept up till the storm had come upon
him, and he was forced TO rest awhile
under the overhanging rock. He thought
very properly, that no better shelter
could be found than the coffin itself
and he was right. We might both have
crept inside, and there would still have
been room for more.


"Why on earth did you make it sc
bigT said. 4 don't want my poor JACK
to lie around loose in this way


"'Well, where's the odds? said the
accommodating artisan. You didn't
seem to spare the expense; SO / thought
I'd leave plenty of elbow room. We car
find suthin or other for ballast, / reckon
down below


"Poor Jack lies to this day in the sin
gular coffin thus provided for him, ant
over him the arbutus blooms, and tende
violets, and all the dainty flowers dea
to young girls fancy or an old woman
love-"