Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

5 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

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?? !?M.M<m'MMm!tV<D.) ?0 ROBBERY. M ?? FTiNBY FRITH. ? ?WtXcf c/ "7%e JKy??y <? ?&<M' jFhfm," "? ? IVings of the Wind," 11 Through Flood, Throug4 I Fir e, .4-c. I.e. i TÔ ? CHAPTER X. 'WATER, WATER, EVERYWHBUB, ? BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK PAY succeeded night and so OS 101 severa.1 days, and no land was reached. The situation had its full Complement of horrors. Hope cleared fear away at Brst, but soon the latter rallied round him despair and all his attendant demons, and excitement gave place to madness, and then the scene was indeed one to make angels weep. is The men grew desperate. Each outdid, or endeavoured to outdo, the other in blasphemies which made the blood run cold, and alternated with their prayers for safety. The heat w s terrible, and Nothing but the nrmnesa of the mate, the doctor, and the clergyman prevented the other men from corn- turning the little share of water they possessed. 4 Caunt and haggard faces, with wild and bleary eyes, gazed constantly across the tossing sea. The motion of the boat was scarcely noticed. A sail had been got up, and they were going now merrily along, yet attended by two enormous sharks, which kept oaily and nightly watch upon their anticipated yict{m9. It Once a passenger, exhausted <md half sleeping, let his hand and arm hang listlessly down. Hit bead dropped upon his shoulder and he slept. But Dot ao his enemy. Mrs. Lay ton (for all readers have already recognised her) was sitting upright, dazed, staring at the water, yet eCMOO seeing it. Her thoughts were far away over 'I', the ocean in England. She had before her the little cottage, and the cutting and the tunnel. Th< jcight she had run away from home to share her husband's lot was now so vividly presented to her mental gaze that she almost fancied the present wa< tt dream, and the terrible past an unsubstantial TMion. fr A movement in the water round her, a gliding motion, a something was perceptible in the semi- darkness of the night advancing to the boat, an<t making for the unsuspecting sleeper. She at one* divined the cause. A shark A shark! The scream with which she accompanied the earning cry awoke the sleepers and* scared the tinister.looking nsh, which was just about to tmm and dash upon his prey. Another had joined him, and these two came so close alongside that they almost tubbed their noses against the loat. But "though they sheered off for the time, they did not leave the Castaways, and thus days passed slowly, the occu- pants of the boat being in a half-stupened condition, and almost desperate. (I it I One afternoon a cry of joy arose from the parched lips of the crew. A man had risen in the tCOW of the boat, and was extending his hand. He bad perceived something-was it land ? 0 He was too exhausted to articulate freely. His 'dry and painful throat and tongue refused to answer to his will; but he pointed, and the haggard face* looked gaunter and more terrible in their expectancy than ever they had in their letha'gy. But itwa* land-the low shore could be seen, and comforted the unfortunate sufferers. If the wind held they would doubtless soon reach the longed-for shore, and some of the less exhausted in the boat made feeble eiforts to row. That they helped a little was evident, and all the castaways COW plucked up courage and sat up. The land w« Rear, but looked forbidding. t' Still It was land, and anyone who has been away from shore for Ion gwill understand the delight In again touchmg ground which the occupants of the boat experienced after all the dangers they had escaped. All these were now forgotten in the delirium of treading upon term jirma. The stronge t of the party immediately went along the coast in search of food. Others, and amongst th&m Mrs. Deane and Mrs. Layton, who remained to comfort each other a little if the word can be used to describe such intercourse where there was no sympathy. There was no water left cn board, and in the II'. tie rivulet the poor thirsty famishing creatures bathed their faces and drank luxuriously. C AP [, Some crabs were found and eaten raw and alive, devoured without a thought of cooking'. When jpeveral of the largest had been thus disposed of, languor again asserted Its sway, and sleep came creeping upon all. But the doctor and the mate, with some of the most willing of the sailors, managed to haul the boat up and turn it ovow 'againstarock.. Mender this temporary shelter the women vtM Mcommodated for the night, and it is wonderful to remember how they bore the perils and sustained their courage amid the strange and terrIMe sur- roundings. The recollection of those few days appear now like a chapter of the Family Robinson more than the sober reality I know it to have been. Poor Mrs. Deanc bore up wonderfull'y, but a s'td time for her was at hand. Lucy T-avtou appeared strangely absorb d. She was at one ti'ne in boi"krons spirits, !Utd fts active aaama.n. ¡\ t I)i her times sh8 would [,it llT si 'g her baby-boy, and crcouing'over It like an o:d woman, rather than a. young one. Again she appeared thoughtful :.md !a.'cula.tmg, and wf)'d<l onv?r.e at times with Mrs Deane, r nt nororm!:nw!!1Bd her buaba-nd. V,"ben he \Y:).s spnkcn of, her eyca fashed and I,eT- c\n.hed even in her misery she was O.urshig-hcrrc'Mmc. On the Fee nd day VI' Dcnr' ws ta1¡.n in. It wasa.tefriM -f(-)r ter i't WilS en- tirely l);¡t; ii,, she tended tLc p or !:tdy tcnrlcr'Ly. 'I";)" was so prostrate he could s'u'ceiy do ;tll b'it his a'l- yice was 'fol o .d, Mnd the an\'ons day MFSsd awny. &! The Httle ch:j rJ" íL:, b,wn, nj.<l cri' d a'td miD gled í t 8 t!nyt?eblew!{h'heb:!ssof '.he on Uie hC:ieh, and Mra, uvu; .aw the ehild-a Little girl— and tended It- The poor mother w.i sir. a ycry ill plip'ht. bc ¡¡lr .her (}(,lLh fin T'en' one da: that evrn {.he r 'Iuh gailors left or! ;.h)y ':nd. qu rr-;I —to them mud) the Hlnw--lo ftk how chacla;n was, &nd how th"' cLI d wtTS getung- on. Mrs. Deane WAS very ul—deHnous—and Lucy tended hrr for very-ham. but p!ott'ng in her heart. Ip the dellri"us ravings of the apparently dying mother many things wore said, and revealed to .the

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