LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 570, 17 April 1876, Page 3

LITERATURE.

I THE LIGHTHOUSE OF THH ! GANNETS. IN' FOUR CHAPTERS. \ ( Coiicl't'lr.d) 4 No, no ; I go for nothing in the job,’ said blunt-spoken Mr Lawson, sailing-master of Jack Lawless’s tine yacht, in answer to some words from Mr Lee. 4 It’s the lieutenant to whom you owe your lives, since, under God’s mercy, his skill and courage have brought you oft' unhurt. 1 never thought—an old Channel groper like me—to learn a lesson in my own trade on boar d my own craft ; but I’ve done it to-day. ’ Taint every merchant skipper, nor yet every white lappel of the royal navy, could have brought the schooner and you through the queer scrape we were in.’ It was not until the Titauia had run for some miles after leaving the Gannets that the weather showed manifest signs, di cerniblc even by the unpractised eye of a landsman, of the gradual cessation of the fierce but short-lived tempest. The sea still ran very high, since the great glassy waves of the Atlantic came rolling in, one after another, an endless succession of mountain billows ; but the wind was certainly abating, and as the schooner had suffered little damage, there seemed every probability of making some port on the Cornish coast before sunset. The yacht was still under Lieutenant Gordon’s command, although for the time being danger appeared to be at an end. 4 1 fear’—ft was thus that, with a quiverlip, Mr Darner addressed himself to Miss Leo, when, after the first excitement of the rescue had passed away, he found an opportunity of approaching her — 4 1 fear—l see —that my hopes are false ones, and my daydream over. I had trusted oue day to call you my wife. I see now that such happiness is not for me.’ 4 Do not blame me !’ said Rosa piteously ; but Mr Damer’s gentle, patient smile reassured her. 4 1 have not come to reproach. I have no such right,’ he said, 4 even were such my thought. 1 can well understand the reasons which prompt your—preference for another, and I have simply come to assure you that no suit of mine shall ever again come between you and the absolute liberty of your choice. ’ With a bright smile, that shone through the tears that fell fast from her eyes, Rosa, half timidly, held out her hand to him. 4 Oh, be generous !’ she said ; 4 tell this to my parents -to my mother. They will then no longer refuse their consent to Ah ! pardon me, Mr Darner ; I ought not to ask this of you. I was thoughtless, selfish, and ’ 4 No, no,’ rejoined Mr Damer, iu a voice that he vainly strove to render calm. 4 You are right, Miss Lee ; nor will I play an ignoble part towards her whom I have loved, or towards the gallant gentleman, to whom I, in common with all who have been rescued from imminent peril this day, owe a deep debt of gratitude, I will speak with Mrs Lee at once.’ Mr Damer kept bis word. lie did speak with Mrs Lee, so soon as that lady was sufficiently composed to hear what he had to say, and also with Mr Lee : and the result of the conversation was that Malcolm Gordon was summoned from his post on deck, and, to his surprise, on entering the cabin of the yacht, llosa’s mother placed his hand iu that of llosa. Mr Damer, as might have been expected, was not present, and the betrothal •f those two young lovers, whose love was now for the first time sanctioned, was effected with very few words on the part of either. Mr Lee, reddening and stammering, as an honest Englishman who is forced to own himself in the wrong is apt to do, said something that was meant as an awkward apology for his previous rejection of the young lieutenant’s suit for his daughter’s hand, and seemed inexpressibly relieved when Gordon out it short by heartily shaking his own. 4 You were quite right, as the world goes,’ said Malcolm frankly, 4 And 1 am proud now to bail so good a fellow as my son-in-law that is to be,’ rejoined Rosa’s father. The weather gradually improved, and before nightfall the Titauia succeeded in making Ravenscombe harbour, where the •.virile of her passengers were set safely ou bore, amid the applause and outspoken congratulations of the crowd that had collected ou the little pier ; for, since the coming ou of the tempest, the Delight and those »n board of her had been given up for lost. The Lees and Mr Damer took a cordial farewell of Willis, the late keeper of the vanished lighthouse of the Gannets, who went to the coastguard station to make his formal report of the disaster ; while the lad, liice the crow and owner of the Delight, met with a clamorous welcome from the families and comrades who had hastened down to ti c shore, ou receiving the tidings of their escape. Foremost among those who offered their congratulations on the happy ending to an event widen had so nearly proved tragical, was the proprietor of the Titania. 4 Thank God, I see you safe ou terra firma again,’ he said, Avith more earnestness than Avas usual with him ; 4 and thankful too am I that my yacht, which to me was no better than a toy, should have rendered service iu the doihg of a good deed. ’ Meamvhiie, Mr Damer Avas taking leave of his late companions iu peril. 4 We are to be friends—always,’ said Rosa, as he held her hand for a moment iu his. 1 trust,’ he answered, smiling as he turned aavay; and Rosa never perhaps quite knew Avhat a pang this exhibition of unselfish stoicism had cost her discarded admirer. * * * * Three months later, Rosa and Malcolm were married; and before the new year »egan a great change iu the prospects of the attcr Avas effected, since his elder brother Archibald, having been accidentally killed <y the discharge of a gnu, Lieutenant Gorlou and his bride yielded to the avisli of the oueiy old Laird of Glendarroch that they should take up their residence beneath the roof of the mansion which will oue day belong to Malcolm, by right of inheritance. Ur Damer, after a Avhile, learned to console himself for his disappointment, since there has for some years been a pretty Mrs Damer, of Damer Park; and both she and her husband are reckoned among the truest friends of the Gordons of Glendarroch.