LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2531, 19 May 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

A SWIM P'»R A LIFE. The scene was a truly g>-and and solemn one, and a weird silence prevailed over the knot of anxious watchers who had braved the storm on that wild night. I went home full of forebodings that the day which had opened so brightly would close in dark des pair upon many lu this quiet little hamlet- I went to my room ; and, wearied by the unusual events of the day, fell asleep, and did not wake till past midnight. When I did so I heard voices, and a sound of suppressed sobs, apparently proceeding from the room immediately below my own. I went downstairs, and through the partly* opened door saw Will sitting on the table, and his sister trying, as only a sister can, to soothe the terrible anguish which her brother did not attempt to conceal. Oh! and what anguish it was! 1 would not attempt to depreoiate the depth of a woman’s love and tenderness I the woudrons se!f sacrificing, all-absorbing passion that will incite to courageous action, and what is a far greater trial of strength, patient wailing m times of soro distress ; but at the same time I could not imagine a higher, nobler, love than this strong man now bowed in mental agony, exhibited. His portrait hung in the room which I occupied, and represented him as a compactly • built man, with a frame as of iron, and a look of determined resolution on his face. Ho seemed to me the perfect embodiment of everything that was ruggedly grand ; almost a personification of those chivairic old knights of whom onr poet lanreate has so graphically told. He would, I imagined, have stood the test of the greatest physical suffering with more than Spartan fortitude, and yet so great was the witchery of a girl’s tender glances, and the iofluence of her holy love, that this string man was bowed and torn with anguish as if by some vast internal convnlson, I watched them unseen for a little while, bnt at last, being almost ashamed of my involantary eavesdropping, crept softly upstairs, and endeavored to obtain a little rest.

I must have slept for nearly two hoars, when 1 was awoke by a terrible clap of thunder just in time to see, by a lurid flash of lightning which lit up the whole sky, a small fiabieg boat far ont to sea, tossing about on the wild waves, with apparently no hand to gnlde it. I thought I heard some one moving in the parlor, and went downstairs for the second time. I entered the room, and saw Will standing against the panelling, looking out through the open window. But what a change. The whole scene is depicted on my mind’s retina as vividly as If it were enacted but yesterday. Will had, It appeared, been lying on the couch, endeavoring to obtain a little rest, when the thunder roused him, and the lightning showed him what I had seen from my room above. Another Hast revealed to him something yet c'oarer than the first had done, and he stood there firm and rigid, peering with intense eagerness into the dark and fearful night. The wind howled and rattled through the rafters; the rain battered against the windows ; the sea rolled and boomed on the surf not two hundred yards away, and the sight was truly a weird and eerie one.

Will had not noticed my presence; At last I spoke—- * This is a terrible night, * said I, _ He turned sharply round, and said—- • Terrible ! ay, and you’re tight, I would to God I had never lived to see it What have I done to deserve this ? Oh, my Nellie, I wish to God that I ’ At this moment the heavens sremed to open, and another flish, more terrible than the last, showed to both of us as olearly as if through a photographic lens, the small boat I had before seen, with the figures of a man and woman clinging to the rigging. Then, whether my heated brain deceived me, or the wind wafted the sound to my ears, I know not, but I seemed to hear above the roar of the raging elements a sweet girlish voice, deepened with intense horror, ary ng oat —‘ Oh, Willy, Willy ; save mo, Willy!’ At the same moment, and before I had time to speak. Will’s voice rang out in trumpet tones, * I’ll save yon, Nolly, or I’ll die for you,’ and he sprang out into the darkness with one tremendous bound, and ran towards the shore.

I stood speechless for a moment, but soon regaining my senses, and knowing it was useless to endeavor to atop Will, who was now hidden In the gloom, I went up-stairs, and hastily rousing the father, told him what had happened, the folks were soon astir, and one of the boys was despatched to rouse the fishermen while I endeavored to find some trace of Will. Bat none could ha found ; my first impression was that in his desperation he had attempted to rig and launch the lifeboat, but there it lay, notouched. My next thought was that ho had gone to some of the fiahennsn to enlist their help, but by this time nearly the whole of the village was on the shore, and nobody had seen him. Each one looked at the other, and then at Will’s father, and an awful silence fell upon him. The lightning had ceased, and one of the fishermen proposed to light a beacon to guide the boat, if it could possibly have lived through such a set. and hastily raising a rude table, aheap of wood was piled upon it, saturated with oil, and lighted. As the flame shot out against the sky one of the women shrieked out :

“Look thvre ! there’s a man swimming.’

Every eve wtfl instantly turned towards the spot indicated by the speaker, but though fresh faggots were instantly piled on, none conld see any objaot on the boiling ocean. Kven the ill fated vessel, which 1 had seen from the window, was nowhere in sight. The woman persisted In her statement. but everyone agreed that her heated imagination must have suggested what she seemed to see Besides, how could a man, or anything animated, live in ouch a sea, muoh lots swim ?

Suddenly, ai If by enchantment, the clouds opened, and the pale eerie light of the moon shone on the water, and at tbs same moment the little vessel appeared on the top of a huge wave, only to disaapear again beyond our view. But that glimpse, brief though it w»s, showed that our worst fears were about to be ooniummatsd ; for a man’s figure, clasping a worn n tightly with one hand and ho'ding to the mist with the other, was plainly seen. Then, as if one horror were not enough, the increasing light of the moon revealed tho form of a man swimming with vigorous strokes towards the vessel. Every eye was strained towards the figure, and a sudden dip of the wave brought tho swimmer on his back, and we saw with nnmistakeable clearness the face of Will Haymau. For a moment all seemed speechless, bat the next, with one spintuneous effort, th men raised anoh a ringing oh:er that the ver^

roar of the elements was for the moment silenced. I never heard before or since such a cheer; it eeam to pat new life into ns, and the women, with tears in their eyes gathered round Will’s mother to soothe her fears Will could be seen still struggling manfully on, and the boat seemed drifting nearer and nearer, but the distance between it and him was a terrible one. The brave fishermen could endure it no longer. One hardy giant sprang forward to the b at, and, in a voice hoarse with emo tion, said, ‘ Look hero, mates, we ain’t going to let Will die like a dog.; I’m going ont to help him; who’ll come?' Instantly a dozen volunteers sprang forward, and though their weeping wives and sweethearts well knew the tremendous peril incurred, not a word of dissuasion was uttered, so great was the effect of Will’s heroic devotion. The boat was soon launched, and ploughing through the breakers, which threate: ei every moment to swamp it. I stood watching its slow and painful prog ors for a time, almost forgetting the swimmer, when all at ones a tremendous shout arose, ‘ Hurrah 1 he’s got it; he’s got it!’ By an almost superhuman effort. Will had reached the wreck, a-d a blue light shot from the vessel, which had driven within gunshot of the shore. A second light followed, and another, and another, and we eonld see Will fastening a rope round the two figures to the mast, and then, waving his hand in the air, he leaped again into the sea.

We held onr breath, and directed our gaze to the boat, which to onr glad surprise seemed only a few lengths from the swimmer, who could now be clearly seen by the light of the fast opening day. After a period of lingering suspense we saw one of the crew stoop over the boat’s side and drag in the exhausted man. In a moment a hawser was fastened to the repe which Will had brought with him and one of the men quickly swung himself with it to the vessi 1 The interval seemed to ns ages, but at last the fishing boat was rcachsd, the man and woman placed in the cradle, while the fisherman, with Iherolo daring, swung himself along, pushing the inanimate harden before him. The boat whs reached, the rope cut, and the hardy seaman < nee more tamed to endeavor to reach the shore. Fortunately the storm was abating, or, with the increased weight, and the exhausted condition of the craw. Will’s noble devotion would have been for nought. I wi l ! not prolong my atory by recounting our alternate feelings of fear and hope, as each wave bore up the little barque, apparently only to overwhelm it. Suffice it to say, that before Christmas morning was fully begun, the boat was being dragged up the beaoh by scores of willing bands, and in a few momenta the boys had made hammocks of some blankets, and were carrying the apparently lifeless forms of Fred and Nelly Howard to The Two Fishermen. All the women and girls followed them, but the men gathered round Will, grasping his band, and expressing in the heartiest manner their appreciation of his nobis deed, And, strange to say, save a lameness caused by his long exposure. Will seemed to show bnt little trace of his unparalleled exertion. Bis face was flushed with triumph, and a ringing cheer was given by the men as they hoisted him, much against his will, on their shoulders, and bore him towards the honse. His first aot was to ask to sea Nelly, but Mrs Hayman stopped him, saying : ‘You musn’t sea her, Will. She still lives, but the slightest excitement might kill her. I thank God I’ve got such a son. X shall never forget this night.’ Her ferlings overcame h: r, and, clasping Will tightly round the neck, she sobbed like a child. Never have I witnessed such a scene. His sisters clang to him, kissing him as though they would never be done ; and his father came out of the little room where Fred was lying, and grasping Will’s band as if he would wrieg it off, said, ‘God bless you, my lad! We all thought you a bit foolhardy at first, but you’ve done a deed this night that a king might be proud of.’

Then, turning to the villagers who filled the room, he said, * Thank you all, friends, for what yoa have done. I oan't forget this Is Christmas Day. I thought a few hoars ago it would be a bitter day for me, but thanks to onr Father in heaven, and to this brave lad, whom I’m proud to call my sou, we’ve got onr darling back. Now, I must a k you all to go homo and get rested, and then 1 shall be only 1 10 glad to see as many as care to come, In this room after tea. Maybe we can make ourselves comfortable after all, ’

The crowd dispersed, and the doctor having pronounced Fred and Nelly free from danger, we all retired to rest in broad daylight. *****

My story is nearly ended. Before noon all the boats had come safely to shore, and the fishermen, who had landed higher np the coast, were none the worse for their involuntary delay. At eight o’clock the people came trooping np t> the house, and were received In the very parlor where I bad been standing with Will, The parson and his wife were there, making themselves and everybody else feel quite at home, and though the events of the morning had perhaps sobered some of the younger ones, there was no lachjof real, hearty enjoyment. All the old-fashioned games were played in their turn, and one merry little girl was jnst pleading for a game of ‘kiss in the ring,’ when the side door was opened, and Nelly, supported by Mrs Hayman and Will, came ■lowly into the room. Nolly’s face plainly showed evidences of the trial she had so recently endured, bat its pallor soon disappeared as the womon-folk came crowding round to kiss her and congratulate her on her wonderfnl deliverenoe.