Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
ait
Team Nag ee e+
——ea sg! eae ny, people teonomize their food,” said
Sit is- | utter exhaustion.
“ ganset the whole western #k
14
THE -PEOPLE’S HOME JOURNAL.
THANKSGIVING.
“TL
THe ae a dull, dead russet wear,
frosty chill has stung the air.
{ine aud leaf and flower have fled,
And youd wrouls, ungarlanded,
Stripped by summer's pageantries,
here are now Oct
we 8s fair pr ‘mice, vearocrs fame
All bave gone, a8 bright things ‘mt,
TapCrOuR ait OF dust;
He the wealth of barn and bin
One more year has gathered in,
ul.
For all the autumn’s harvest yiel
orchards, wealth of ‘a
ay,
May none in eflaed bail or cot
Go ‘unrewarded or for;
We good thin ngs to spare
owant & Dounteous shares
Put gladness ‘on the face of W
‘Fill all some stream of bounty 7 know,
ve
Then the laughter of the spring
Shall not be a ing thing,
And the pride of ball wad plain
Not hi roved a pageant vain
Fiat all the circling years increase
‘Tarn to thankful joy and peace.
Joel Benton,
Adrift.
BY CHRISTIAN REID.
CHAPTER Iv. — (Cost SUED.)
», THINK we shall find
food there,
remainin;
‘Tait—so
as here: ”
f hope it
the lockers,
come under the
victuals,” besides two unopened
boxes of eardin
“Why, here js enough to last ws a week!”
he said, with that quick rebound fron, despair to
hope which sanguine | pa atures:
“ Fon, Jong r than that, at ‘the 4 rate at which
“But ?—with a
slices of ham fi ents of ste: ere
erushed together in 98, the Sight of which
rather destroyed than excited appetite.
They looked at each other and smiled, but
not chee erfully.
“ ati ” said Bertrand, “we must take some-
2
®
Bs
a half-ea
made up thi 2 CO}
ened one of the bottles.
"he exclaimed. ‘ Bald ‘faced whis-
tents.
oie wil?
Tite fook up another. In this he found a com-
mand wh hich bh he recognized as some sort of
eer—evidently of. domestic manufacture—while
the remaining bottles were empt ty.
“No water!” he was about to say, when he
noticed a stone ive under the seat on which he
bad been sittin;
in drawing it out, and his fer
vent. Thank heaven !” told Sibyl that the gu
ling liquid, of which it was apparently hall i ti
was Wi
He offered her some, but she declined it.
“At least you must take something to eat!”
he said, anxiously. “Sibyl, we must not lose
art—we must not. lowe courage —our lives
anay depend on that.”
“TT will not it can help it ‘he said. “But
am not hungry. Le:
Before the day was beer, “However, she had
wn Jess fustidions, or more hungry, a
Sertrand had the Bau tistaction of seeing her
taste the unpalatable fc
e weather, a8 had een _prophesind, cles cleared
at mid-day, and the sun shone in unclo ded
hrightness—t rmly for comfort, indee
adoring fhe aft ternoon.
For the first time in their lives, Bertrand and
sibsl talked to each other withont etlont and
verve and
i;
‘cha stnetor of each was like a revelation to
byl had not fancied that Bertrand
et #0 ‘0 quietly fll full
a5
38
agined Sibyl as at once so ee ail
‘hey talked of jnany things “Deside their
danger, for each was trying to aliv rt ibe min
of the other trom that terrible to |, in 80
talking, they found that they ha many | sympa
thies and tastes in common. -
In hin manner the a!
won wore away.
was a blaze of
glory as the great fountain orb of Tight, growing
t1T
exdnessy the wonderful beauty of the scene.
she gazed, Sibyl thought of her Ihueaioss words
two evenings
“T should ike. +0 ‘rift on to the sunset,” she
suring stretching away —
o that soft tint of blue
iret to the eastern sky,
over the canoy
heaven, ‘Again they were to be alone with night |»
‘on the bosom of the great w:
“tT Borer realized before "rat vatome we are!”
sai yl. round, al below, all looks
avast 80 tern ible! t shrink with fear and
pain from the prospect of being again in dark-
‘Bertrand pointed up: Midway between the
gorgeous west and the
moon wae
blue eth
"'\e shall not be in darkness again,” he said
“Even after the moon goes down, the stars will
Vv
erie it may cloud over again.
ink tho weather is
ill trailed o a and sky.
should like to drift on until I
reer ty hee re my heedless words pun-
yy their fulfillment it? If so, Bertrand,
ve me.
me, my poor Sibyl,” said
aid.
fon she, ‘eld out her
sunset faded and night came on, he
esi ue, “hoped that she she Eieant to go to sleep,
ou?” 8)
“1 Pad probably ‘te, <0" be answered, though
meant to stay awal could, to Heep a
looke« out for any passin: veweel, But
rmity of nature overcame his Ch eoiation.
effect of the unusual fatigue and excitement he
ad been undergoing defied his powers of re-
sistance,
®
he in-
FE
&
py of | an
sombre éastern sky the | t
riding, pale and serene, in a field of ¢
x later the moon looked down on the
frail little craft that lay like the merest speck
on the bosom ot deep, and the relaxed forms
of its two weary occupants as, sitting in the bot-
tom of the boat, with heads is pillo lowed on their
respective seats, they slept the deep sleep of
CHAPTER V.
LOWLY, gently, with soft, lulling | ‘
motion, the, oat was rocked by
. The moon went do
Na floated on, bearing its
7 xeious freight further and fur-
from the shore. Starlight
brightened into dawn, the sun rose and
his warm rays over their faces, ont still the
8 did not uddenly they
a
boat gave @ violent lurch which effectually dis-
| pelle any remaining mists of sleep from
.o face in the broad sunlight, they looked
or a minute; then
, leaving a long | n
ing behin
Oe th something
passin
hread of black smoke stre:
They gazed for a
like despair air in their
cried ‘Sibyl,
that ney
es.
oot attractin: attention ?”
fifa “ Oh, how hard it is
us
‘are off,”
“See how ‘mall rat beat Tooke to. 24,8 and
ay imagine that are invisil ‘onl Yer
docks Twill fasten my coat to one tt the oars
d hold it up—but I have little hope of their
eing it.
crag off his coat as he spoke, but by the
@ had fastened it to the oar the steamer
was aD Gndistinct speck, growing more onsa more
dim overs minute, until it fina! y disap appeared.
“Don rtened. Don't lose Spare e,”
he said, ‘we he sa wi e eX) ression of hopeless
disappointment with v1 yl gazed at the
spot trom which the faint spe socks had vanished.
“Tf that is Liddell, our being picked up is only
a question of a few days, more or less, We
ti
answered Bertrand.
yo
s
ge
m to have an unlimited amount of
atience,” said she, we “ confess I
ave not. A few wy da
together as they
a if we could Promise
bis ho rrible
mn
r lap.
ourselves a single dayin
hould you think
61
%
It
must have been a signal ; for what ether t reason
could it have been fred -
wae Frank, how bard —how terribly
ard that he did vot neo us I" waid Sibyl. ** How
terribly
Tears filled her eyes, despite the effort the
made to keep them back. i aD Bertrand felt as 4
man always does when ees a woman begin-
ning to ery—helple 88 ae Tixerable. -
twas the expression of fie face which di-
verted Sibyl's t thoughts and made her smile,
re still brimming with tears
f I ¢a fish, I
Rhraid: bnt the “aieappointment was very keen,
must not forget, howeve! at it was as keen
fo you, aw to ine, and 1 will try to be more
brave’
nol
ir | you must take this.
than front four | bons. a good
look-o1 t be caught asleep ancther
time.
“God grant you may be right!” said Sibyl,
with a "vista Bi
tered no more complaints, though Ber-
travis siprediction of speedy rescue was. ‘not ful-
Tho sun rose and set day after day, the moon
shone longer and longer each succeeding night,
until dawn w was flushing the east before
reached the rizon.
kept vigilant watch, never sleeping both
eyes being always
at the same time, one pair
eomed to
@ vast cirels that
ranging rou
them a close tho’ ag nmense
ut it was all signal-
gun again broke the proud stliness “hat had
grown horrible to them. ite speck or
ark speck } heralded the appr each of succor.
s this constant strain on mind
thoug!
fulness,
gree.
But not
id the
they kept uj ip spirit, cheer-
toa ce aD Thdalmost heroic de-
all the cheerfulness in the world could
rim fact of the danger which menace
vel ey vapor passing over the
‘: should be a token of coming storm.
hei hort, th hough
were w nigh oo one.
‘box. of
gpeneat he locker on the mnoming of the Boventh
day on which they had been
“You must open this,” she" feid, extending it
to Bertran
He received it silently, and taking the hatchet
which lay at his feet, went to work. Sibyl, while
he was ‘pack wearily,
h
ful to see.
Bertrand glanced at her anxiously once or
how she was sinking day
twice. He had 8
by day,
palled i
ioe gazed dully over the water, out of dar]
0
@ had finished with the tees
e went to the locker and drew out
of Nine, which they had not touched as at
What are you going to do with thal? she
asked, in sur ri
D open n it,’ * he answered.
stranc
the water is gone and we eed it more than we
now.
° I think we need it now,” he answered, w
ing at the ‘cork with the large blade of his kuife
f you could 8 , face Jou would think
so. “You Took "he hes i—“ very badly,
“So do you,” she said, 1 oma faintly.
course we look badl —and feel adly, too—but
fee) is no reason for being extravagant like
is.
ge
Bertrand seemed about to speak, but checked
himself, , poured out som
siste r driuking it.
ot unless you take some yourself!” 8)
your fi
y pulse nd
ist
T have not lost strength like you.
sake
it ‘this once,”
on it. Hor Go d's
pel —do
Sibyl could not r
“Twill tak
gain.’
20 denar to the vel
he dealt out for their breakfast. _, Indeed, 5]
little overcast, and the sun went to rest behind
“ The we ather i is) che anging? * she observed,
«Yer - ‘he and
his.
ink it will cloud over so as to be
aark, ‘ae ie was that dreadful first night?” |
low ing very gr: 3
as it did that
probable that i
it is sowing
it viainiy chat
d given up
the bottle
remon-
etter to leave it until
oe
ne of the wine and in-
Sibyl, your, lite may de-
she said; “ but
rementber, you must not propose sucha thing
again.”
t well,” he answered, quietly, and made
tru; gal allow ‘ance whieh
v of ais
ee as evening approached, the cky ecame &
e anxious look | his.
pick had been t "0 Senident all day, deepened j in
larger and more golden as it neared the hori-| “Only be as brave as you have been hereto: “ sibsl_—” began Bertrand, and then be
zon, finally disay peared, 8 eming to dissolve in | fore, and I shall ask no more,” said he. Not | hesitated.
he sea, over W whch he marvels fide of ra-| one Woman in a thousand would have bor AD We ell? an said she.
aimee came in fot owing waves 0} as well as you have done. Don’t fail now, just “We not economize our food to-da:
he lone voyagers in old Tatts” fishing-boat as there is most cause to hope, vant gure | Rather Tut us ont as heartily as possible, and tty
watehed, ith’a mingling of adimiration and that w 1 hear signal-guns agein in less | to keep up our strength.”
m ee]
“ ¥ she asked, in a low
voice!
at do you mean?”
‘Beto fore he could reply, her attention was at-
tracted by a whizzing sound in the air a little
“she turns dand sawa bird hovering above her
head before it alighted ire an instant on the rim
f the boat.
“Do sou
She
it.
know what hat: means?” he ask
ook her ones thous! sh her eyes said
she
“It ‘Mother Carey's s “chicken come to warn
us of the approaching a
“You think there vil, be a storm?” she
whispered, her pale cheek growing still a shade
ler.
Pe “Tam sure of it. If we are not Picked up to-
day, I—I think there is little hope but that we
shall perish. Even what sailors call a capful of
Rould's samp, this boat, and it looks as if
a hard plow. It is about the
time of the e minox. ”
Sibyl did not seem to hear the last words:
She was looking fi far oeey over the dark and
already agitated w
aid. “Tt see ems
so fruitlessly.
think it “contd not seem adful if—if it iad
happened differently.”
We must not despair,” said Bertrand,
though his voice had no ring ot courage in it.
to die,” she 8:
anil t 0 die t neediest,
hopes and Bertrand,
tinued Yo watch for the sail which never ap-
peared, did so mechanically,
There wi y in his movements, no
cagetnens a
the unending circle
Elana Shad traveled so often and so vainly dur-
the 9 past woek.
phet © ill, an
fluttered about the boat, giving an .
aspect of “Greary ite fe the scene of dull cloud
and dun wave ; but toward evening they spread
their stormy wings and disap} ware .
Tho yet t oat began to
move > steadil in one direction, Snetesd of drii
gin the aimless fashion of days past. Ber-
trand and Sibyl looked at each other with the
same thoug t in their eyes.
Tt seemed to them as if the great deep was
waking ‘from slumber, with a slow, gentle but
mighty heave of its waters, that caused some-
thing like an electric sensation—as i
been the movement of a ofa living thing.
* CHAPTER VL
HEY were re sitting close together in
the middl 6 boat wi ep they
3
dering sense of aw
to the dread of the com ing night, was too much
for, Sibsl's self-cont
extended her “hand and. grasped her com-
pan: ion’ s arm,
“Stay where I can touch, ou,”
low tone, “It is foolish, I know, but I ce:
help it—I feel afraid of the darkness.”
@ man whom she addressed would have
said anything to comfort her, but what could he
” she said, in s
“The darkness which she so dreaded was close
d almost as close, ught,
hat would never ase.
as he Bently « drey
oe leep,””
yulder.
her he vn pon ve ‘sho
forget the darkness t
“Forget it By ing repeat “There is no
which I cout forget itl wand
the other may Bor so near! Should
our son) 0 the mercy of God
been trying rat Ie
80 confused, SO Patracted, that I'cannot think!
Bertrand, do you believe that we shall be living
byl | when the dawns ?
ot know.
storm bursts d ring the
apy it what do you thnk
su I think we, spat Boe e the
8 uttered a low, pat tie si i, i
heart like a swot nts stroke, bi mu i eatto
Neither ot them spoke again “fon some time.
not even move, and Bertrand at last
It depends, on whether the
ni
passively on his shoulder had forgotten
terrible ‘surroundings in the kindly oblivion of
sleep.
Bae he was mistaken.
She st:
ae suddont e started and spoke
&
feel it “ Bertrand! are you asleep ?”
“7 have been cold all day,” she answered, * No,” he ani 3*
nga a etal a8” oot wered; “but I had hoped that
said on the subject of the “ST haw been trying to r
eee tt ngcht: Laght elonde drifted slowly | face to lace with death she excl. ta a wae
over the heavens, ‘oceasionally veiling the full | feverish tone. “I never feltas if L showld he
moon for a short ti e, but never obscuring her | afraid to die—but then I neve ¥ thought of an
light £0 as dais anything like darkness, | death so awful as this! I never imagined tha %
But when day awned all the eastern and north- | anything on earth could be so awful! Think!
erp quart were covere there is only a between us and the heay-
dark may, “isty locking
to
ward: the south a
» Bertrand and Sibyl shuddered as they looked
ight of of the morning.
Their faces were less, their
ennken, that each felt a thrill of inexprocuible
Jarm for the other.
The first thin;
echo of his usual cheerfulness, was
“We must try Taft's whisky this mornin,
He took the bottle, poured onta stiff draugl ie
and offered it to “You must drink it!”
e said, i in erated, as she shrank from the
f amen, nm look, ‘as I feel, chilled to the
One,
voluntarily as she acces
without ‘hrther opporiti
on
is they looked at each other for about
cloud, stretching up
ven and siomly spreading down to-
€8 80
ertrand said, with @ forlorn
am cold ” she said, and she shivered in-
pted the fiery draught
ing monster thate stems cree ing und
it were alive. An P Scar rn away fem
and with, nothin at horrible blackness all
around us, an elow us,
| niles | T ‘think it would be less hi a ted to ai ott
daytime, and on earth—do ni you
“If I had a choice in the in: ter, I should
prefer not to die at all just now,” answered he.
“ But we have not had a choice, And, after all,
you.
8]
’ | asked Sibyl. She felt sw rised, but not e1 h
80 to make her lift her head. “Why do youssy
euch a thing? It is folly—and this is no time
it is love ” he said—and the clear and
dintinet word jhrilled on that strange darkness
w war pt nly of the inarticulate rate of
the sea,‘ Pei haps you will say that this is no
time for ithe Unt if it sweetens the bitter
oe vay
6 bad no
a consolation to you?”