Page:New Peterson magazine 1859 Vol. XXXV.pdf/118

 THE

OLD

STONE

MANSION.

BY CHARLES J. PETERSON, AUTHOR OF “THE VALLEY FARM,” “MABEL,” “KATE AYLESFORD,” &C.

[Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by Charles J. Peterson, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.]

CONTINUED FROM PAG 43.

CHAPTER V.

against the green back-ground of the sea. His

By this time a hundred people had collected $ look of high courage, his vast physical strength, on the beach, the^otel emptying itself as if by s the halo of his past deeds, restored me back to magic. Suddenly there was a shout, accom- ij hope.

panied by a name passed from month to mouth. \ I saw all this in a single moment. Then my I looked around. Five or six fishermen, who \ eyes sought again the spot where Rosalie had had chanced to be in the bar-room, had come $ disappeared. Was that her rescuer? Yes, thank running to the scene. At their head was one * Qod! And others saw him also, for shouts arose famous for having rescued, the preceding win- $ an every hand, “there they are,” “how bravely ter, more than a hundred persons from a single ^ he swims,” “they are saved, they are saved.” wreck. The ship had gone ashore, at nightfall, £ What followed, seems to me, even yet, like a

during a violent snow-storm; and before morning dawned, half of her human freight had perished. When the cold, misty day broke, the people on shore first became aware of her exact position, though they had heard, all night, guns firing, and, they thought, shrieks and cries for help, in the pauses of the gale. At first no one would venture out, for the surf was mountain high. At last the fisherman I have spoken of came up, and offered to go, if a beat’s crew would volun¬ teer. His reputation for daring and skill was such that half a dozen men stepped forward im¬ mediately. Three times they attempted, in vain, to launch through the breakers. The fourth effort was successful, but the boat stood, for a moment, almost perpendicular, before the stout arms within it got the mastery. I remember how my heart swelled, and the tears rushed to my eyes, when I was told of this heroic act. “And had he no family,” I said, “the thought of whom deterred him?” “It was that, on the contrary, which influenced him most,” was the reply. “ lie said that when a man saw women and children drowning before bis eyes, it made him think how he would feel if his own little ones were wrecked.”

He had dashed into the surf, before I saw him, and now stood, looking back for an instant, tell¬ ing his companions to join hands with him and form a line. The red shirt he wore was open at the throat, revealing a chest like that of the Farnese Hercules; his face was the color of bronze; his dark hair was blown about by the wind: I shall never, to my dying hour, forget that picture, as it stood out, in bold relief, Yol. XXXV.—8

£ wild dream. I saw the line of fishermen extend- ^ ing out into the breakers, their leader standing over him; I saw the swimmer swept in with the velocity of lightning; I saw that he carried a j child; and I was in the surf, waist deep, before ^ I knew it, laughing and crying hysterically; and > then I held Rosalie in my arms, the first to re- i ceive her, and was assisted, almost carried to l shore, by one of the fishermen.
 * at their bead, like a rock, while the waves rushed

I They told me afterward that the nurse was quite insensible when they dragged her in; and ^ that Mr. Talbot said that it was the desperation $ with which she clung to him, that had pulled $ him under and kept him there. “Had I not

I ' shaken her off,” he added, “the whole three of us would have perished.” Fortunately for her, a huge roller had flung her within reach of the fishermen, just after the other two were saved.

\ We were in too excited a state to make our £ appearance again that day. Even Georgi&na

I forgot her flirtations, excused herself from a drive, and sat, with her mother and myself, in Rosalie’s room. Mr. Elliott had gone to the $ city, but when he returned, at night, he hurried $ up to us, pale and breathless, and remained, for \ the whole evening, holding his child’s hand and $ tenderly regarding her.

\ The next morning I was the first of our party ^down; and was beset by inquiries. Before I $ could extricate myself, I saw a now well known \ form come in. Mr. Talbot, for it was his, re- n cognized mo quite across the room; our eyes v met; and he was approaching to speak, when $ my uncle, entering, stopped him. I thought I

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