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THE GREAT GALE
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From «Temple House.
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THE GREAT GALE
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From «Temple House.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v24 - Sta to Tal
Sometimes she would give
such a vigorous brush to the water that she would turn herself
almost entirely around; but after a little practice she learned to
avoid undue efforts of this kind.
I was not positively sure that we were going in the right
direction, for my position did not allow me to see very far over
the water; but I remembered that when I was standing up in
the boat and made my discovery, the sun was just about to rise
in front of me, while the dark spot on the ocean lay to my left.
Judging, therefore, from the present position of the sun, which
was not very high, I concluded that we were moving toward
the north, and therefore in the right direction. How far off the
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FRANK R. STOCKTON
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steamer might be, I had no idea, for I was not accustomed to
judging distances at sea; but I believed that if we were careful
of our strength, and if the ocean continued as smooth as it now
was, we might eventually reach the vessel, provided she were yet
afloat.
"After you are fairly in the water,” said Mrs. Aleshine, as
she swept along, although without the velocity which that phrase
usually implies, “it isn't half so bad as I thought it would be.
For one thing, it don't feel a bit salt, although I must say it
tasted horribly that way when I first went into it. ”
“You didn't expect to find pickle-brine, did you ? ” said Mrs.
Lecks. “Though if it was, I suppose we could float on it set-
tin”. »
"And as to bein' cold,” said Mrs. Aleshine, “the part of me
that's in is actually more comfortable than that which is out. ”
« There's one thing I would have been afraid of,” said Mrs.
Lecks, “if we hadn't made preparations for it, and that's sharks. ”
« Preparations! I exclaimed. «How in the world did you
prepare for sharks ? »
Easy enough,” said Mrs. Lecks. “When we went down into
our room to get ready to go away in the boats, we both put on
black stockin's. I've read that sharks never bite colored people,
although if they see a white man in the water they'll snap him
up as quick as lightnin'; and black stockin's was the nearest we
could come to it. You see, I thought as like as not we'd have
some sort of an upset before we got through. ”
“It's a great comfort,” remarked Mrs. Aleshine; "and I'm
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very glad you thought of it, Mrs. Lecks. After this I shall make
it a rule: Black stockin's for sharks. ”
“I suppose in your case,” said Mrs. Lecks, addressing me,
« dark trousers will do as well. ”
To which I answered that I sincerely hoped they would.
"Another thing I'm thankful for,” said Mrs. Aleshine, “is that
I thought to put on a flannel skeert. ”
"And what's the good of it,” said Mrs. Lecks, “when it's sop-
pin' wet ? »
“Flannel's flannel,” replied her friend, “whether it's wet or
dry; and if you'd had the rheumatism as much as I have, you'd
know it. ”
To this Mrs. Lecks replied with a sniff, and asked me how
soon I thought we would get sight of the ship; for if we were
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FRANK R. STOCKTON
we
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that way.
Do you
going the wrong way, and had to turn round and go back, it
would certainly be very provoking.
I should have been happy indeed to be able to give a satis-
factory answer to this question. Every time that we rose upon
a swell I threw a rapid glance around the whole circle of the
horizon; and at last, not a quarter of an hour after Mrs. Lecks's
question, I was rejoiced to see, almost in the direction in which
I supposed it ought to be, the dark spot which I had before
discovered. I shouted the glad news, and as rose again
my companions strained their eyes in the direction to which I
pointed. They both saw it, and were greatly satisfied.
“Now then,” said Mrs. Aleshine, “it seems as if there was
somethin' to work for ”; and she began to sweep her oar with
great vigor.
"If you want to tire yourself out before you get there,
Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "you'd better go on in
Now what I advise is, that we stop rowin' altogether
and have somethin' to eat; for I'm sure we need it to keep up
our strength. ”
“Eat! » I cried. “What are you going to eat ?
expect to catch fish ? »
"And eat 'em raw? ” said Mrs. Lecks. “I should think not.
But do you suppose, Mr. Craig, that Mrs. Aleshine and me would
go off and leave that ship without takin' somethin' to eat by the
Let's all gether here in a bunch, and see what sort of a
meal we can make. And now, Barb'ry Aleshine, if you lay your
oar down there on the water, I recommend you to tie it to one
of your bonnet-strings, or it'll be floatin' away, and you won't get
it again. "
As she said this, Mrs. Lecks put her right hand down into
the water and fumbled about, apparently in search of a pocket.
I could not but smile, as I thought of the condition of food
when for an hour or more it had been a couple of feet under
the surface of the ocean; but my ideas on the subject were
entirely changed when I saw Mrs. Lecks hold up in the air two
German sausages, and shake the briny drops from their smooth
and glittering surfaces.
“There's nothin',” she said, "like sausages for shipwreck and
that kind o' thing. They're very sustainin'; and bein' covered
with a tight skin, water can't get at 'em, no matter how you
carry 'em. I wouldn't bring these out in the boat, because havin'
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FRANK R. STOCKTON
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the beans we might as well eat them. Have you a knife about
you, Mr. Craig ? ”
I produced a dripping jack-knife; and after the open blade
had been waved in the air to dry it a little, Mrs. Lecks pro-
ceeded to divide one of the sausages, handing the other to me to
hold meanwhile.
“Now don't go eatin' sausages without bread, if you don't
want 'em to give you dyspepsy,” said Mrs. Aleshine, who was
tugging at a submarine pocket.
« I'm very much afraid your bread is all soaked,” said Mrs.
Lecks.
To which her friend replied that that remained to be seen,
and forth with produced with a splash a glass preserve-jar with a
metal top.
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"I saw this nearly empty as I looked into the ship's pantry,
and I stuffed into it all the soft biscuits it would hold. There
was some sort of jam left at the bottom, so that the one who
gets the last biscuit will have somethin' of a little spread on
it. And now, Mrs. Lecks,” she continued triumphantly, as she
unscrewed the top, “that rubber ring has kept 'em as dry as
chips. I'm mighty glad of it, for I had trouble enough gettin
this jar into my pocket, - and gettin' it out, too, for that matter. ”
Floating thus, with our hands and shoulders above the water,
we made a very good meal from the sausages and soft biscuit.
« Barb'ry Aleshine,” said Mrs. Lecks, as her friend proceeded
to cut the second sausage, “don't you lay that knife down when
you've done with it, as if 't was an oar; for if you do it'll sink,
as like as not, about six miles. I've read that the ocean is as
deep as that in some places. ”
“Goodness gracious me! ” exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, “I hope
we are not over one of them deep spots. ”
“There's no knowin',” said Mrs. Lecks; “but if it's more com-
fortin' to think it's shallerer, we'll make up our minds that way.
Now then,” she continued, "we'll finish off this meal with a little
somethin' to drink. I'm not given to takin' spirits; but I never
travel without a little whisky, ready mixed with water, to take if
it should be needed. ”
So saying, she produced from one of her pockets a whisky
flask tightly corked, and of its contents we each took a sip; Mrs.
Aleshine remarking that leaving out being chilled or colicky, we
were never likely to need it more than now.
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FRANK R. STOCKTON
Thus refreshed and strengthened, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Ale-
shine took up their oars, while I swam slightly in advance, as
before. When, with occasional intermissions of rest, and a good
deal of desultory conversation, we had swept and swam for about
an hour, Mrs. Lecks suddenly exclaimed, “I can see that thing
ever so much plainer now, and I don't believe it's a ship at all.
To me it looks like bushes. ”
“You're mighty long-sighted without your specs,” said Mrs.
Aleshine, “and I'm not sure but what you're right. ”
For ten minutes or more I had been puzzling over the shape
of the dark spot, which was now nearly all the time in sight. Its
peculiar form had filled me with a dreadful fear that it was the
steamer, bottom upward; although I knew enough about nautical
matters to have no good reason to suppose that this could be
the case.
I am not far-sighted; but when Mrs. Lecks suggested
bushes, I gazed at the distant object with totally different ideas,
and soon began to believe that it was not a ship, either right
side up or wrong side up, but that it might be an island. This
belief I proclaimed to my companions; and for some time we all
worked with increased energy, in the desire to get near enough
to make ourselves certain in regard to this point.
"As true as I'm standin' here,” said Mrs. Lecks, who, although
she could not read without spectacles, had remarkably good sight
at long range, “them is trees and bushes that I see before me,
though they do seem to be growin' right out of the water. ”
« There's an island under them; you may be sure of that! ”
I cried. “And isn't this ever so much better than a sinking
ship? ”
“I'm not so sure about that,” said Mrs. Aleshine. « I'm used
to the ship, and as long as it didn't sink I'd prefer it. There's
plenty to eat on board of it, and good beds to sleep on, which
is more than can be expected on a little bushy place like that
ahead of us. But then the ship might sink all of a suddint, -
beds, victuals, and all. ”
"Do you suppose that is the island the other boats went to ? »
asked Mrs. Lecks.
This question I had already asked of myself. I had been told
that the island to which the captain intended to take his boats
lay about thirty miles south of the point where we left the
steamer. Now, I knew very well that we had not come thirty
miles; and had reasons to believe, moreover, that the greater part
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FRANK R. STOCKTON
14011
of the progress we had made had been toward the north. It was
not at all probable that the position of this island was unknown
to our captain; and it must therefore have been considered by
him as an unsuitable place for the landing of his passengers.
There might be many reasons for this unsuitableness: the island
might be totally barren and desolate; it might be the abode of
unpleasant natives; and more important than anything else, it
was in all probability a spot where steamers never touched.
But whatever its disadvantages, I was most wildly desirous to
reach it; more so, I believe, than either of my companions. I do
not mean that they were not sensible of their danger, and desir-
ous to be freed from it; but they were women who had probably
had a rough time of it during a great part of their lives, and on
emerging from their little circle of rural experiences accepted
with equanimity, and almost as a matter of course, the rough
times which come to people in the great outside world.
"I do not believe," I said, in answer to Mrs. Lecks, that
that is the island to which the captain would have taken us; but
whatever it is, it is dry land, and we must get there as soon as
we can. ”
“That's true," said Mrs. Aleshine, “for I'd like to have ground
nearer to my feet than six miles; and if we don't find anythin'
to eat and any place to sleep when we get there, it's no
than can be said of where we are now. ”
“You're too particular, Barb'ry Aleshine,” said Mrs. Lecks,
"about your comforts. If you find the ground too hard to sleep
on when you get there, you can put on your life-preserver, and
go to bed in the water. »
“Very good,” said Mrs. Aleshine; and if these islands are
made of coral, as I've heard they was, and if they're as full of
small p’ints as some coral I've got at home, you'll be glad to
take a berth by me, Mrs. Lecks. ”
I counseled my companions to follow me as rapidly as pos-
sible, and we all pushed vigorously forward. When we had ap-
proached near enough to the island to see what sort of place it
really was, we perceived that it was a low-lying spot, apparently
covered with verdure, and surrounded, as far as we could see as
we rose on the swells, by a rocky reef, against which a tolerably
high surf was running. I knew enough of the formation of these
coral islands to suppose that within this reef was a lagoon of
smooth water, into which there were openings through the rocky
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FRANK R. STOCKTON
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barrier. It was necessary to try to find one of these; for it would
be difficult and perhaps dangerous to attempt to land through
the surf.
Before us we could see a continuous line of white-capped
breakers; and so I led my little party to the right, hoping that
we should soon see signs of an opening in the reef.
We swam and paddled, however, for a long time, and still
the surf rolled menacingly on the rocks before us.
We were
now as close to the island as we could approach with safety; and
I determined to circumnavigate it, if necessary, before I would
attempt with these two women to land upon that jagged reef.
At last we perceived, at no great distance before us, a spot where
there seemed to be no breakers; and when we reached it we
found, to our unutterable delight, that here was smooth water
flowing through a wide opening in the reef. The rocks were
piled up quite high, and the reef, at this point at least, was
wide one; for as we neared the opening we found that it nar-
rowed very soon and made a turn to the left, so that from the
outside we could not see into the lagoon.
I swam into this smooth water, followed close by Mrs. Lecks
and Mrs. Aleshine, — who however soon became unable to use
their oars, owing to the proximity of the rocks. Dropping
these useful implements, they managed to paddle after me with
their hands; and they were as much astonished as I was when,
just after making the slight turn, we found stretched across the
narrow passage a great iron bar about eight or ten inches above
the water. A little farther on, and two or three feet above the
water, another iron bar extended from one rocky wall to the
other. Without uttering a word I examined the lower bar, and
found one end of it fastened by means of a huge padlock to a
great staple driven into the rock. The lock was securely wrapped
in what appeared to be tarred canvas. A staple through an eye-
hole in the bar secured the other end of it to the rocks.
« These bars were put here,” I exclaimed, "to keep out boats,
whether at high or low water. You see they can only be thrown
out of the way by taking off the padlocks. ”
“They won't keep us out,” said Mrs. Lecks, "for we can duck
under. I suppose whoever put 'em here didn't expect anybody
to arrive on life-preservers. ”
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ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
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LIZABETH BARSTOW, the wife of Richard Henry Stoddard, was
born in Massachusetts, May 6th, 1823. She was married to
the poet in 1851; and a few years later began to write sto-
ries and poems so intense and individual, that though anonymous
they were recognized at once as the work of a new writer. The
Morgesons' appeared in 1862, “Two Men'in 1865, and Temple House'
in 1867, a new edition being issued in 1888.
In advance of her time by a generation, Mrs. Stoddard belongs
to the school of Maeterlinck and Ibsen rather than to the romantic
period of fiction of the day in which she wrote. Whether she records
humble life in a New England village, as in “Two Men'; or the story
of an ancestral mansion in an American seaport town, as in “Temple
House”; or the history of a “queer” family, as in “The Morgesons,'-
her work is metaphysical like Ibsen's. Her men and women repro-
duce types not infrequently found in forgotten New England towns.
They are strong self-centred characters, in whom an active intellect
and intense nervous energy, compressed by narrow surroundings, pro-
duce numberless idiosyncrasies. In their moral isolation, they are
still grim Puritans in everything but creed. Mrs. Stoddard draws
them with a wonderful comprehension of the hidden springs of their
action. Like Ibsen, she exemplifies life and illustrates her dramatic
force in breathless tragic episodes.
It is true, however, that before she is a dramatist, she is a psy-
chologist: a sphinx sitting on the stony way to the temple, and
looking with unquestioning eyes into life's problem. That method of
suggestion which is our latest fashion in literature, Mrs. Stoddard
used when it was not a fashion, but a form of reticence. There are
descriptions in her novels cut with a chisel; others in which nature
is used as a background to scenes of intense thought, in moments
of outward stillness. She was a realist before the word had been
defined. She dwells in shadows as grim as those of Wuthering
Heights,' in an atmosphere so dense that we see the movements of
her characters as through a thick glass screen; but each person, each
scene, is touched with a gleam of poetic light.
It is as a poet, perhaps, that she has gained her highest fame;
though no book of the time, according to the great English critic,
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ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
Mr. Leslie Stephen, is more remarkable than her (Temple House. '
Mrs. Stoddard has been writing and publishing poems since her girl-
hood, but they were not collected until 1896. In them is reflected
the spirit of her fiction, the tragic atmosphere with which her novels
are surcharged. Burning with intensity, if a spirit so hopeless may
be said to burn, these strange, reserved, yet passionately regretful
lyrics have for their theme the pain of quiet endurance, the disap-
pointment of an ardent fancy, and the sorrow of an unsatisfied heart.
Those written in early youth might have been penned by Maeterlinck,
— tragical, musical, introspective; Stoddard himself might have taught
her the ringing, forcible strains in The House by the Sea, or in
(Xanthos) and Achilles,' — poems in blank verse, sonorous, dignified,
individual. The highest expression of her poetic gift is found per-
haps in short poems, like Mercedes,' where passion, sullen, deep, and
pitiless, veils itself in tropical beauty.
In both her poems and her novels is reflected her sense of the
beauty and aloofness of nature; of the dusty answers to the clam-
ors of impetuous human souls.
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THE GREAT GALE
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From «Temple House. Copyright 1888, by 0. M. Dunham. Published by the
Cassell Publishing Company
AT SUTCLIFFE announced to Argus one morning that spring
had come. The ice on the shores and inside the bay was
giving way. And he asked Argus if gales were not to be
looked for? They compared notes about the weather, and con-
cluded to look for southerly storms.
The weather softened so that very day that Tempe threw
aside her shawl, and Roxalana made the tour of all the rooms,
and by way of a walk went up to the attic to look over the
fields and bay. She remarked to Argus, on coming down, that
she had never seen the White Flat so plainly: it appeared to be
stretching across the harbor's mouth.
« The ice made it look so, probably,” he replied.
The snow around the house began to melt, and in the still-
ness they heard the water trickling everywhere.
“Soon,” said Roxalana, the buds will begin to swell. ”
At sunset the atmosphere was spongy and rotten. Masses of
vapor rolled up from the south, extinguishing a pale brassy band
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ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14015
were
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of light in the west; and a strange wind rose in the upper air,
and closed with night.
Early in the evening Argus shook the iron bars of the shut-
ters on the harbor side, and fastened them; he foresaw the storm,
and would have shut out its fury for Roxalana's sake, who ap-
peared perturbed and melancholy, as if disasters at sea
threatened.
“The wind must be rising,” she said, holding up her hand:
"I feel streams of air from everywhere. The candles flare; but
I don't hear the surf. ”
« You will hear it presently,” he replied.
“I don't care if it blows half the town down,” said Tempe.
« Don't spare the other half: let the whole go, and be damned,
if you wish so,” he answered.
A tremendous hiss passed through the crevices of the outer
doors, which was met by a roar in the chimney. An irruption
of white flaky ashes followed and covered the hearth. Next, the
roof and walls of the house were taken as a coign of vantage by
the shrieking wind to hang out its viewless banners, which shiv-
ered, flapped, and tore to tatters in raging impotence.
“We must put out this fire, Argus,” said Roxalana, or we
shall be on fire inside the house. "
“Better put yourselves in bed: I will take care of the fire. ”
Acting upon this suggestion, they left him alone. A short
time afterwards 'he went out on the lawn. The dull thunder of
the surf now broke so furiously on the bar 'that the ground be-
neath his feet reverberated.
« The bay is champing its jaws on that devilish White Flat,
and any sail coming this way is lost. ”
Looking overhead, he discovered in the milky darkness of the
obscured moon deep vague rifts in the sky, like the chasm in
Orion. The frenzied, overdriven spirits of the storm took refuge
in the piling, tumbling folds of the clouds, which hovered over
and fell into the abyss. While he stood there, the elms bowed
from bole to topmost bough, and brushed his face as if they paid
him homage. No sound came from the town side; he could not
see a single light. Opposite the lawn, King's Hill reared its black
summit; from thence, if he climbed, he could obtain a view of
the wailing, howling bay, and - perchance of some vessel seek-
ing harbor. He preferred to go back and shut himself up in the
house.
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ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
can be.
Though the storm raged the next morning as storm had not
raged for years, Argus remained in the green room, and pored
over the book of plays, so well remembered by Virginia. About
noon Mat Sutcliffe burst in, with his tarpaulin jammed over his
head, and carrying an immense spy-glass in a canvas case. His
tidings did not astonish Argus. A vessel putting into the bay
the night before had dragged her anchors and struck on the
White Flat; her flag was flying from the rigging, and there were
men there: it being low water when she struck, her quarter-deck
might afford temporary safety, provided the cold did not increase
and freeze the crew to death.
« What is the town doing, Mat ? ” asked Roxalana.
"A great many people are out doing nothing. They are
on the wharves, on the top of King's Hill, the hair blowing off
their heads; and I believe there's a gang along-shore some-
where,” he replied.
«No boat can live if put out,” said Argus. « How low down
the bar did the vessel drive on ? »
“As near to Bass Headland as
If the wind would
chop round, somebody might get out there. ”
"So the sailors must drown,” cried Tempe, notwithstanding
she had put her fingers in her ears, not to hear. “I'll shut my-
self up in the cellar till it is all over. ”
“I thought,” continued Mat, looking hard at Argus, it might
be best to look at the shingle below here: the ice is about gone
there. If we could start under the lee of Bass Headland, a boat
might slant -->
Argus gave such a shrug and grimace that Mat suddenly
stopped, and without another word abruptly left the room.
"Argus,” said Roxalana with great composure, “I shall not
get you a mouthful of dinner to-day. ”
“I trust you will consent to do your share in disposing of the
poor corpses,” added Tempe sharply.
For reply, Argus rose, book in hand, opened the shutter of
the window towards the quay, sat down by it, and went on with
his comedy.
Tempe telegraphed to her mother her opinion that he was a
beast of an uncle; and even Roxalana was moved to eye him with
a mild, doubting severity.
But he was on the alert. When he heard drops of rain splash
on the window ledge, he shut his fingers in his book, and looked
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ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14017
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into the fire. A shower came down, which was neither hail nor
snow,
but warm rain. He started up, stretched his arms like
one who had long been cramped and weary, and sat down again
with an indifferent air, and opened his book.
Roxalana came in from the kitchen, and said that the vane
on the summer-house had veered slightly, and there was less
noise from the wind.
«The gale is moderating, luckily. ”
Something in his tone struck her. She raised her eyes to his,
and he smiled ironically; it made her feel like asking his pardon.
“Can I have any dinner ? ” he asked.
« I think so: what shall it be ? »
“Brandy and cigars. ”
She disappeared.
Mat came in late in the afternoon, with as little ceremony as
before, and said roughly to Argus, “You are wanted. ”
"I won't go. ”
Captain, if we don't get across within twelve hours, every
soul on board that vessel now will be in hell. ”
"I supposed so. ”
«She's bilged, and the White Flat begins to hug her. It's
flood tide, and the waves must be washing the main deck: a few
hours of that work will settle their hash. ”
«What's doing with the life-boat ? »
« The loons have tried to launch her; but there's something
wrong, and they are trying to tinker her up. The will of folks
is good enough, but they can't get out there, - that's the long
and short on't. Bill Bayley swore he'd go out alone: his cock-
boat swamped first thing, and they had to throw him a rope.
He swore at the man who threw it, - at the boat, at the bay,
the wreck, and the Almighty,- and then he cried. I never liked
Bill so well. ”
Mat spit into the fire furiously, and stumped round the room,
a shoe on one foot and a boot on the other, his trousers settling
over his hips in spite of his tight leather belt. He was growing
frantic with excitement.
Argus laughed.
Mat made an energetic, beseeching motion towards the door;
he would have put up his soul for sale for the sake of seeing
Argus move with the intention he wished to inspire him with.
XXIV—877
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ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
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Argus turned back his sleeves, baring a snow-white wrist, and
abstractedly felt his pulse and the muscles of his arms.
“Push ahead," he said.
"Aye, aye, sir,” Mat shouted, turning very pale, and lurching
towards the door.
Stop: where is Roxalana ? »
« Roxalana! ” Mat shouted.
“What is it, Mat? ” she answered, coming with a bottle.
"Yes; give us a dram, old girl,"continued Mat, utterly
,
oblivious of the proprieties.
Argus laughed again, and asked for his mackintosh.
“Now then,” said Mat, having swallowed nearly a tumbler of
brandy. Argus drank a little, and poured the rest of the bottle
into a flask which he buttoned inside his coat. Tempe ran down
to the door as they passed out, and Argus looking back called
out:
“Where is your crape veil, Tempe ? ”
“Where the courage of Kent is,- shut up in a bandbox,”
she answered.
Roxalana, after gazing at her a moment, took her by the
arm and dragged her into the green room.
“I believe,” she said, in a breathless undertone, “that you
are possessed sometimes. Do you know that your uncle Argus
may have gone for his shroud ? »
« Was that why he inquired for the veil ? ”
« Could you choose no other moment to express your insensi-
bility? Are you never to be anything but a child ? »
“Mother, you must be crazy. You don't mean to say that
you are going to protest against the Gates character,- as I rep-
resent it ? »
Roxalana said no more, but went her way, feeling a painful
excitement. She replenished the fires, hung kettles of water
over them, collected blankets, cordials, and liquors, and then went
to the kitchen to bake bread.
Twilight brought Mary Sutcliffe and her youngest boys.
Dumping them in a corner of the kitchen as if they were sacks,
and threatening them with a whipping if they moved, she rolled
up her sleeves, and said that she thought the fathers of families
had better stay at home, instead of risking themselves to save
nobody knew who. Another boat had started since Mat had got
(
«
## p. 14019 (#205) ##########################################
· ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14019
under way, and she guessed the wreck would turn out to be
a great cry and little wool: she did not think there would be
much drowning this time. She wondered if the good folks in
Kent had stirred themselves,— your religious Drakes, and your
pious Brandes, and the rest of the church.
"Hold your tongue, Mary Sutcliffe,” ordered Tempe.
Then Mary whim pered, sobbed, and shrieked, declaring she
had known all along she should never set eyes on Mat Sutcliffe
again, who was well enough, considering what he was. And who
else would have done what he was doing ? and she gloried in his
spunk. Drying her eyes with her fat hands, and shaking out her
apron, she begged Roxalana to let her make the bread, and put
the house to rights,- in case there were bodies coming in.
"Do, Mrs. Gates,” she pleaded. "I feel as strong as a giant
to-night: I can wrestle with any amount of work. '
"If you will stop whining, Mary, I will accept your services:
for to tell the truth, my head is not very clear just now; I am
afraid I may spoil something. "
"Likely as not,” replied Mary: "go right into your sitting-
room, sit down in your own chair, and you'll come to. It won't
do for you, of all persons, to be upset, Mrs. Gates. "
Roxalana was quite ready to act upon Mary's suggestion.
Death was near, and she felt it. After dark Mary began to walk
about,- to the alley, and into the garden,- and report what she
saw and heard. She ran down to the quay once, but came back
scared and subdued at the sight of the angry solitude of the
hoarse black sea, though she shook her impotent fist at it with
indignation.
Roxalana felt a relief when Virginia Brande came down from
the Forge, enveloped in a great cloak. She ventured to come
by the path, the moment she heard that Captain Gates was
making an attempt to get to the wreck. Her mother was
frightened and ill about it that Chloe and herself were obliged
to make representations of the necessity for help in Kent from
every hand and heart, before she consented to spare her. The
Forge was deserted; her father had gone into town with the
intention of offering a reward to the man who should first reach
the wreck. Mary Sutcliffe, hearing this, cried :-
"And I suppose old Drake has offered as much again — hasn't
he? Wouldn't I like to see Mr. Mat Sutcliffe, Esquire, handling
SO
## p. 14020 (#206) ##########################################
14020
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
that reward! I wish somebody would pay me for doing iny duty.
I'd put the money right into the contribution box at Mr. Brande's
church. Oh yes, don't I see myself doing it! ”
"Mary,” said Virginia, "you are talking nonsense. Please find
some hairpins: mine must have dropped along the path. ”
She removed the cloak-hood, and her hair tumbled in a mass
down her shoulders: she could have hid herself in it.
«Goodness me! ” cried Mary, “what splendid hair you've got!
I never thought of it before. It is as black as the sky was just
now on the quay. ”
"Have you been to the quay, Mary? ” asked Roxalana.
content yourself within doors. Where is Tempe ? ”
“I saw her kiting up-stairs just now. If she does not take
care she'll keel over. It is as true as the gospel, that she has
got a look in her face as new as a drop of cream would be to
“Do
my cat. "
“Go and tell her that Virginia Brande is here, and she will
come back. »
"I have always thought,” Mary replied, sticking a pin between
her teeth, and allowing her eyes to take a reflective cast, that
it was as much as my life was worth to interfere with the way
of a Gates; but I may change my mind. I'll go right after
Tempe. O Lord-a-mercy, where do you think the two creatures
are by this time? Sho! I know they will be along soon: it is not
likely that Captain Argus Gates is going to be lost at sea, after
he has given up going to sea; and — it would be foolish to sup-
pose that Mat Sutcliffe will venture more than getting his boots
soaked through. ”
Hairpins, please,” said Virginia.
Roxalana asked again, Where is Tempe? Virginia Brande is
here. ”
Tempe fell into a fit of weeping and laughing the moment
she saw Virginia, which was ended by a dead faint.
At last the boat was launched. Argus and Mat were afloat;
so much was gained, and Argus thought the danger was prefer-
able to the labor they had undergone in getting ready to risk
their lives. The gloomy twilight, spreading from the east,
dropped along the shore while they were dragging, pushing, and
lifting the boat over the shingle, slush, and into the opposing
((
sea,
## p. 14021 (#207) ##########################################
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14021
“Hell bent be it! ” said Mat, apostrophizing the waves, "if
you say so. You are not alone, my friends. ”
Mat seemed a part of the storm: his spirits were in a wild
commotion; his clothes were torn and soggy with brine, and his
hands were gashed and bloody. Argus had lost his cap, and
broken his oar; he bound his head with Mat's woolen comforter,
jammed his shoulder against the gunwale, and used the shortened
oar with much composure. They did not make much headway:
the boat was riding in all directions in the roar and foam of the
sea; darkness pressed upon them; they were shut between the
low-hanging sky and the shaking plain of water. In the midst
of his silent, measured, energetic action, the thoughts of Argus
drifted idly back to the trifling events of his life: a new and
surprising charm was added to them, as bright, quiet, and warm
as the golden dust of a summer sunset which touches everything
as it vanishes.
Mat swore at the top of his voice that the wind was more
nor'rard, and it would be an even chance about beating or not.
Argus looked up and saw a circular break in the clouds, but
said nothing
"By the crucifix,” cried Mat, throwing himself forward, “I
heard a yell. Where away are we? We are shoaling! ”
Argus plunged his hands into the water from the stern-sheets:
it felt like the wrinkled, hideous flesh of a monster, trying to
creep away.
“We are under lee or there is a lull, for the water don't
break,” he said. “If the moon was out, we should see the White
Flat. I reckon we are on the tongue of the bar, and the vessel
has struck below. Her hull must be sunk ten feet by this time,
and her shrouds and spars are washed off: that yell will not be
heard again. ”
“Damn 'em,” said Mat savagely, if they have drowned afore
ever we could reach 'em, I'll take 'em dead, carry every mother's
son of 'em to Kent, and bury 'em against their wills. ”
The endless, steady-going rockers which slid under them from
the bay outside tossed the boat no longer; the wind ceased to
smite their faces, but tore overhead and ripped the clouds apart.
The moon rolled out, and to the right they saw the ghastly, nar-
row crest of the White Flat. A mass of spume on their left
which hissed madly proved what Argus had said, - that they were
close to the end of the bar. Within the limits of the moonlight
C
## p. 14022 (#208) ##########################################
14022
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
they saw nothing. In the bewildering, darkling illumination of
.
the shattering water around them they were alone.
“If she's parted,” continued Mat, “something might wash this
way,— her gear at least. I'd like to catch a cabin door, or an
article to that effect: it might come handy. ”
Argus did not hear him, for he was overboard. Missing him,
Mat gave way for a moment; he felt the keel shove resisting
sand, and remained passive, merely muttering, "I'm blasted, but
she may drive.
such a vigorous brush to the water that she would turn herself
almost entirely around; but after a little practice she learned to
avoid undue efforts of this kind.
I was not positively sure that we were going in the right
direction, for my position did not allow me to see very far over
the water; but I remembered that when I was standing up in
the boat and made my discovery, the sun was just about to rise
in front of me, while the dark spot on the ocean lay to my left.
Judging, therefore, from the present position of the sun, which
was not very high, I concluded that we were moving toward
the north, and therefore in the right direction. How far off the
## p. 14007 (#193) ##########################################
FRANK R. STOCKTON
14007
»
(C
steamer might be, I had no idea, for I was not accustomed to
judging distances at sea; but I believed that if we were careful
of our strength, and if the ocean continued as smooth as it now
was, we might eventually reach the vessel, provided she were yet
afloat.
"After you are fairly in the water,” said Mrs. Aleshine, as
she swept along, although without the velocity which that phrase
usually implies, “it isn't half so bad as I thought it would be.
For one thing, it don't feel a bit salt, although I must say it
tasted horribly that way when I first went into it. ”
“You didn't expect to find pickle-brine, did you ? ” said Mrs.
Lecks. “Though if it was, I suppose we could float on it set-
tin”. »
"And as to bein' cold,” said Mrs. Aleshine, “the part of me
that's in is actually more comfortable than that which is out. ”
« There's one thing I would have been afraid of,” said Mrs.
Lecks, “if we hadn't made preparations for it, and that's sharks. ”
« Preparations! I exclaimed. «How in the world did you
prepare for sharks ? »
Easy enough,” said Mrs. Lecks. “When we went down into
our room to get ready to go away in the boats, we both put on
black stockin's. I've read that sharks never bite colored people,
although if they see a white man in the water they'll snap him
up as quick as lightnin'; and black stockin's was the nearest we
could come to it. You see, I thought as like as not we'd have
some sort of an upset before we got through. ”
“It's a great comfort,” remarked Mrs. Aleshine; "and I'm
(
very glad you thought of it, Mrs. Lecks. After this I shall make
it a rule: Black stockin's for sharks. ”
“I suppose in your case,” said Mrs. Lecks, addressing me,
« dark trousers will do as well. ”
To which I answered that I sincerely hoped they would.
"Another thing I'm thankful for,” said Mrs. Aleshine, “is that
I thought to put on a flannel skeert. ”
"And what's the good of it,” said Mrs. Lecks, “when it's sop-
pin' wet ? »
“Flannel's flannel,” replied her friend, “whether it's wet or
dry; and if you'd had the rheumatism as much as I have, you'd
know it. ”
To this Mrs. Lecks replied with a sniff, and asked me how
soon I thought we would get sight of the ship; for if we were
(c
## p. 14008 (#194) ##########################################
14008
FRANK R. STOCKTON
we
(
that way.
Do you
going the wrong way, and had to turn round and go back, it
would certainly be very provoking.
I should have been happy indeed to be able to give a satis-
factory answer to this question. Every time that we rose upon
a swell I threw a rapid glance around the whole circle of the
horizon; and at last, not a quarter of an hour after Mrs. Lecks's
question, I was rejoiced to see, almost in the direction in which
I supposed it ought to be, the dark spot which I had before
discovered. I shouted the glad news, and as rose again
my companions strained their eyes in the direction to which I
pointed. They both saw it, and were greatly satisfied.
“Now then,” said Mrs. Aleshine, “it seems as if there was
somethin' to work for ”; and she began to sweep her oar with
great vigor.
"If you want to tire yourself out before you get there,
Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "you'd better go on in
Now what I advise is, that we stop rowin' altogether
and have somethin' to eat; for I'm sure we need it to keep up
our strength. ”
“Eat! » I cried. “What are you going to eat ?
expect to catch fish ? »
"And eat 'em raw? ” said Mrs. Lecks. “I should think not.
But do you suppose, Mr. Craig, that Mrs. Aleshine and me would
go off and leave that ship without takin' somethin' to eat by the
Let's all gether here in a bunch, and see what sort of a
meal we can make. And now, Barb'ry Aleshine, if you lay your
oar down there on the water, I recommend you to tie it to one
of your bonnet-strings, or it'll be floatin' away, and you won't get
it again. "
As she said this, Mrs. Lecks put her right hand down into
the water and fumbled about, apparently in search of a pocket.
I could not but smile, as I thought of the condition of food
when for an hour or more it had been a couple of feet under
the surface of the ocean; but my ideas on the subject were
entirely changed when I saw Mrs. Lecks hold up in the air two
German sausages, and shake the briny drops from their smooth
and glittering surfaces.
“There's nothin',” she said, "like sausages for shipwreck and
that kind o' thing. They're very sustainin'; and bein' covered
with a tight skin, water can't get at 'em, no matter how you
carry 'em. I wouldn't bring these out in the boat, because havin'
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way?
## p. 14009 (#195) ##########################################
FRANK R. STOCKTON
14009
the beans we might as well eat them. Have you a knife about
you, Mr. Craig ? ”
I produced a dripping jack-knife; and after the open blade
had been waved in the air to dry it a little, Mrs. Lecks pro-
ceeded to divide one of the sausages, handing the other to me to
hold meanwhile.
“Now don't go eatin' sausages without bread, if you don't
want 'em to give you dyspepsy,” said Mrs. Aleshine, who was
tugging at a submarine pocket.
« I'm very much afraid your bread is all soaked,” said Mrs.
Lecks.
To which her friend replied that that remained to be seen,
and forth with produced with a splash a glass preserve-jar with a
metal top.
(
>
"I saw this nearly empty as I looked into the ship's pantry,
and I stuffed into it all the soft biscuits it would hold. There
was some sort of jam left at the bottom, so that the one who
gets the last biscuit will have somethin' of a little spread on
it. And now, Mrs. Lecks,” she continued triumphantly, as she
unscrewed the top, “that rubber ring has kept 'em as dry as
chips. I'm mighty glad of it, for I had trouble enough gettin
this jar into my pocket, - and gettin' it out, too, for that matter. ”
Floating thus, with our hands and shoulders above the water,
we made a very good meal from the sausages and soft biscuit.
« Barb'ry Aleshine,” said Mrs. Lecks, as her friend proceeded
to cut the second sausage, “don't you lay that knife down when
you've done with it, as if 't was an oar; for if you do it'll sink,
as like as not, about six miles. I've read that the ocean is as
deep as that in some places. ”
“Goodness gracious me! ” exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, “I hope
we are not over one of them deep spots. ”
“There's no knowin',” said Mrs. Lecks; “but if it's more com-
fortin' to think it's shallerer, we'll make up our minds that way.
Now then,” she continued, "we'll finish off this meal with a little
somethin' to drink. I'm not given to takin' spirits; but I never
travel without a little whisky, ready mixed with water, to take if
it should be needed. ”
So saying, she produced from one of her pockets a whisky
flask tightly corked, and of its contents we each took a sip; Mrs.
Aleshine remarking that leaving out being chilled or colicky, we
were never likely to need it more than now.
## p. 14010 (#196) ##########################################
14010
FRANK R. STOCKTON
Thus refreshed and strengthened, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Ale-
shine took up their oars, while I swam slightly in advance, as
before. When, with occasional intermissions of rest, and a good
deal of desultory conversation, we had swept and swam for about
an hour, Mrs. Lecks suddenly exclaimed, “I can see that thing
ever so much plainer now, and I don't believe it's a ship at all.
To me it looks like bushes. ”
“You're mighty long-sighted without your specs,” said Mrs.
Aleshine, “and I'm not sure but what you're right. ”
For ten minutes or more I had been puzzling over the shape
of the dark spot, which was now nearly all the time in sight. Its
peculiar form had filled me with a dreadful fear that it was the
steamer, bottom upward; although I knew enough about nautical
matters to have no good reason to suppose that this could be
the case.
I am not far-sighted; but when Mrs. Lecks suggested
bushes, I gazed at the distant object with totally different ideas,
and soon began to believe that it was not a ship, either right
side up or wrong side up, but that it might be an island. This
belief I proclaimed to my companions; and for some time we all
worked with increased energy, in the desire to get near enough
to make ourselves certain in regard to this point.
"As true as I'm standin' here,” said Mrs. Lecks, who, although
she could not read without spectacles, had remarkably good sight
at long range, “them is trees and bushes that I see before me,
though they do seem to be growin' right out of the water. ”
« There's an island under them; you may be sure of that! ”
I cried. “And isn't this ever so much better than a sinking
ship? ”
“I'm not so sure about that,” said Mrs. Aleshine. « I'm used
to the ship, and as long as it didn't sink I'd prefer it. There's
plenty to eat on board of it, and good beds to sleep on, which
is more than can be expected on a little bushy place like that
ahead of us. But then the ship might sink all of a suddint, -
beds, victuals, and all. ”
"Do you suppose that is the island the other boats went to ? »
asked Mrs. Lecks.
This question I had already asked of myself. I had been told
that the island to which the captain intended to take his boats
lay about thirty miles south of the point where we left the
steamer. Now, I knew very well that we had not come thirty
miles; and had reasons to believe, moreover, that the greater part
(
((
## p. 14011 (#197) ##########################################
FRANK R. STOCKTON
14011
of the progress we had made had been toward the north. It was
not at all probable that the position of this island was unknown
to our captain; and it must therefore have been considered by
him as an unsuitable place for the landing of his passengers.
There might be many reasons for this unsuitableness: the island
might be totally barren and desolate; it might be the abode of
unpleasant natives; and more important than anything else, it
was in all probability a spot where steamers never touched.
But whatever its disadvantages, I was most wildly desirous to
reach it; more so, I believe, than either of my companions. I do
not mean that they were not sensible of their danger, and desir-
ous to be freed from it; but they were women who had probably
had a rough time of it during a great part of their lives, and on
emerging from their little circle of rural experiences accepted
with equanimity, and almost as a matter of course, the rough
times which come to people in the great outside world.
"I do not believe," I said, in answer to Mrs. Lecks, that
that is the island to which the captain would have taken us; but
whatever it is, it is dry land, and we must get there as soon as
we can. ”
“That's true," said Mrs. Aleshine, “for I'd like to have ground
nearer to my feet than six miles; and if we don't find anythin'
to eat and any place to sleep when we get there, it's no
than can be said of where we are now. ”
“You're too particular, Barb'ry Aleshine,” said Mrs. Lecks,
"about your comforts. If you find the ground too hard to sleep
on when you get there, you can put on your life-preserver, and
go to bed in the water. »
“Very good,” said Mrs. Aleshine; and if these islands are
made of coral, as I've heard they was, and if they're as full of
small p’ints as some coral I've got at home, you'll be glad to
take a berth by me, Mrs. Lecks. ”
I counseled my companions to follow me as rapidly as pos-
sible, and we all pushed vigorously forward. When we had ap-
proached near enough to the island to see what sort of place it
really was, we perceived that it was a low-lying spot, apparently
covered with verdure, and surrounded, as far as we could see as
we rose on the swells, by a rocky reef, against which a tolerably
high surf was running. I knew enough of the formation of these
coral islands to suppose that within this reef was a lagoon of
smooth water, into which there were openings through the rocky
(
## p. 14012 (#198) ##########################################
14012
FRANK R. STOCKTON
a
barrier. It was necessary to try to find one of these; for it would
be difficult and perhaps dangerous to attempt to land through
the surf.
Before us we could see a continuous line of white-capped
breakers; and so I led my little party to the right, hoping that
we should soon see signs of an opening in the reef.
We swam and paddled, however, for a long time, and still
the surf rolled menacingly on the rocks before us.
We were
now as close to the island as we could approach with safety; and
I determined to circumnavigate it, if necessary, before I would
attempt with these two women to land upon that jagged reef.
At last we perceived, at no great distance before us, a spot where
there seemed to be no breakers; and when we reached it we
found, to our unutterable delight, that here was smooth water
flowing through a wide opening in the reef. The rocks were
piled up quite high, and the reef, at this point at least, was
wide one; for as we neared the opening we found that it nar-
rowed very soon and made a turn to the left, so that from the
outside we could not see into the lagoon.
I swam into this smooth water, followed close by Mrs. Lecks
and Mrs. Aleshine, — who however soon became unable to use
their oars, owing to the proximity of the rocks. Dropping
these useful implements, they managed to paddle after me with
their hands; and they were as much astonished as I was when,
just after making the slight turn, we found stretched across the
narrow passage a great iron bar about eight or ten inches above
the water. A little farther on, and two or three feet above the
water, another iron bar extended from one rocky wall to the
other. Without uttering a word I examined the lower bar, and
found one end of it fastened by means of a huge padlock to a
great staple driven into the rock. The lock was securely wrapped
in what appeared to be tarred canvas. A staple through an eye-
hole in the bar secured the other end of it to the rocks.
« These bars were put here,” I exclaimed, "to keep out boats,
whether at high or low water. You see they can only be thrown
out of the way by taking off the padlocks. ”
“They won't keep us out,” said Mrs. Lecks, "for we can duck
under. I suppose whoever put 'em here didn't expect anybody
to arrive on life-preservers. ”
»
C
»
## p. 14013 (#199) ##########################################
14013
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
(1823-)
E
>
(
>
LIZABETH BARSTOW, the wife of Richard Henry Stoddard, was
born in Massachusetts, May 6th, 1823. She was married to
the poet in 1851; and a few years later began to write sto-
ries and poems so intense and individual, that though anonymous
they were recognized at once as the work of a new writer. The
Morgesons' appeared in 1862, “Two Men'in 1865, and Temple House'
in 1867, a new edition being issued in 1888.
In advance of her time by a generation, Mrs. Stoddard belongs
to the school of Maeterlinck and Ibsen rather than to the romantic
period of fiction of the day in which she wrote. Whether she records
humble life in a New England village, as in “Two Men'; or the story
of an ancestral mansion in an American seaport town, as in “Temple
House”; or the history of a “queer” family, as in “The Morgesons,'-
her work is metaphysical like Ibsen's. Her men and women repro-
duce types not infrequently found in forgotten New England towns.
They are strong self-centred characters, in whom an active intellect
and intense nervous energy, compressed by narrow surroundings, pro-
duce numberless idiosyncrasies. In their moral isolation, they are
still grim Puritans in everything but creed. Mrs. Stoddard draws
them with a wonderful comprehension of the hidden springs of their
action. Like Ibsen, she exemplifies life and illustrates her dramatic
force in breathless tragic episodes.
It is true, however, that before she is a dramatist, she is a psy-
chologist: a sphinx sitting on the stony way to the temple, and
looking with unquestioning eyes into life's problem. That method of
suggestion which is our latest fashion in literature, Mrs. Stoddard
used when it was not a fashion, but a form of reticence. There are
descriptions in her novels cut with a chisel; others in which nature
is used as a background to scenes of intense thought, in moments
of outward stillness. She was a realist before the word had been
defined. She dwells in shadows as grim as those of Wuthering
Heights,' in an atmosphere so dense that we see the movements of
her characters as through a thick glass screen; but each person, each
scene, is touched with a gleam of poetic light.
It is as a poet, perhaps, that she has gained her highest fame;
though no book of the time, according to the great English critic,
## p. 14014 (#200) ##########################################
14014
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
Mr. Leslie Stephen, is more remarkable than her (Temple House. '
Mrs. Stoddard has been writing and publishing poems since her girl-
hood, but they were not collected until 1896. In them is reflected
the spirit of her fiction, the tragic atmosphere with which her novels
are surcharged. Burning with intensity, if a spirit so hopeless may
be said to burn, these strange, reserved, yet passionately regretful
lyrics have for their theme the pain of quiet endurance, the disap-
pointment of an ardent fancy, and the sorrow of an unsatisfied heart.
Those written in early youth might have been penned by Maeterlinck,
— tragical, musical, introspective; Stoddard himself might have taught
her the ringing, forcible strains in The House by the Sea, or in
(Xanthos) and Achilles,' — poems in blank verse, sonorous, dignified,
individual. The highest expression of her poetic gift is found per-
haps in short poems, like Mercedes,' where passion, sullen, deep, and
pitiless, veils itself in tropical beauty.
In both her poems and her novels is reflected her sense of the
beauty and aloofness of nature; of the dusty answers to the clam-
ors of impetuous human souls.
-
)
THE GREAT GALE
M
From «Temple House. Copyright 1888, by 0. M. Dunham. Published by the
Cassell Publishing Company
AT SUTCLIFFE announced to Argus one morning that spring
had come. The ice on the shores and inside the bay was
giving way. And he asked Argus if gales were not to be
looked for? They compared notes about the weather, and con-
cluded to look for southerly storms.
The weather softened so that very day that Tempe threw
aside her shawl, and Roxalana made the tour of all the rooms,
and by way of a walk went up to the attic to look over the
fields and bay. She remarked to Argus, on coming down, that
she had never seen the White Flat so plainly: it appeared to be
stretching across the harbor's mouth.
« The ice made it look so, probably,” he replied.
The snow around the house began to melt, and in the still-
ness they heard the water trickling everywhere.
“Soon,” said Roxalana, the buds will begin to swell. ”
At sunset the atmosphere was spongy and rotten. Masses of
vapor rolled up from the south, extinguishing a pale brassy band
(
»
## p. 14015 (#201) ##########################################
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14015
were
(
C
of light in the west; and a strange wind rose in the upper air,
and closed with night.
Early in the evening Argus shook the iron bars of the shut-
ters on the harbor side, and fastened them; he foresaw the storm,
and would have shut out its fury for Roxalana's sake, who ap-
peared perturbed and melancholy, as if disasters at sea
threatened.
“The wind must be rising,” she said, holding up her hand:
"I feel streams of air from everywhere. The candles flare; but
I don't hear the surf. ”
« You will hear it presently,” he replied.
“I don't care if it blows half the town down,” said Tempe.
« Don't spare the other half: let the whole go, and be damned,
if you wish so,” he answered.
A tremendous hiss passed through the crevices of the outer
doors, which was met by a roar in the chimney. An irruption
of white flaky ashes followed and covered the hearth. Next, the
roof and walls of the house were taken as a coign of vantage by
the shrieking wind to hang out its viewless banners, which shiv-
ered, flapped, and tore to tatters in raging impotence.
“We must put out this fire, Argus,” said Roxalana, or we
shall be on fire inside the house. "
“Better put yourselves in bed: I will take care of the fire. ”
Acting upon this suggestion, they left him alone. A short
time afterwards 'he went out on the lawn. The dull thunder of
the surf now broke so furiously on the bar 'that the ground be-
neath his feet reverberated.
« The bay is champing its jaws on that devilish White Flat,
and any sail coming this way is lost. ”
Looking overhead, he discovered in the milky darkness of the
obscured moon deep vague rifts in the sky, like the chasm in
Orion. The frenzied, overdriven spirits of the storm took refuge
in the piling, tumbling folds of the clouds, which hovered over
and fell into the abyss. While he stood there, the elms bowed
from bole to topmost bough, and brushed his face as if they paid
him homage. No sound came from the town side; he could not
see a single light. Opposite the lawn, King's Hill reared its black
summit; from thence, if he climbed, he could obtain a view of
the wailing, howling bay, and - perchance of some vessel seek-
ing harbor. He preferred to go back and shut himself up in the
house.
## p. 14016 (#202) ##########################################
14016
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
can be.
Though the storm raged the next morning as storm had not
raged for years, Argus remained in the green room, and pored
over the book of plays, so well remembered by Virginia. About
noon Mat Sutcliffe burst in, with his tarpaulin jammed over his
head, and carrying an immense spy-glass in a canvas case. His
tidings did not astonish Argus. A vessel putting into the bay
the night before had dragged her anchors and struck on the
White Flat; her flag was flying from the rigging, and there were
men there: it being low water when she struck, her quarter-deck
might afford temporary safety, provided the cold did not increase
and freeze the crew to death.
« What is the town doing, Mat ? ” asked Roxalana.
"A great many people are out doing nothing. They are
on the wharves, on the top of King's Hill, the hair blowing off
their heads; and I believe there's a gang along-shore some-
where,” he replied.
«No boat can live if put out,” said Argus. « How low down
the bar did the vessel drive on ? »
“As near to Bass Headland as
If the wind would
chop round, somebody might get out there. ”
"So the sailors must drown,” cried Tempe, notwithstanding
she had put her fingers in her ears, not to hear. “I'll shut my-
self up in the cellar till it is all over. ”
“I thought,” continued Mat, looking hard at Argus, it might
be best to look at the shingle below here: the ice is about gone
there. If we could start under the lee of Bass Headland, a boat
might slant -->
Argus gave such a shrug and grimace that Mat suddenly
stopped, and without another word abruptly left the room.
"Argus,” said Roxalana with great composure, “I shall not
get you a mouthful of dinner to-day. ”
“I trust you will consent to do your share in disposing of the
poor corpses,” added Tempe sharply.
For reply, Argus rose, book in hand, opened the shutter of
the window towards the quay, sat down by it, and went on with
his comedy.
Tempe telegraphed to her mother her opinion that he was a
beast of an uncle; and even Roxalana was moved to eye him with
a mild, doubting severity.
But he was on the alert. When he heard drops of rain splash
on the window ledge, he shut his fingers in his book, and looked
(C
## p. 14017 (#203) ##########################################
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14017
»
into the fire. A shower came down, which was neither hail nor
snow,
but warm rain. He started up, stretched his arms like
one who had long been cramped and weary, and sat down again
with an indifferent air, and opened his book.
Roxalana came in from the kitchen, and said that the vane
on the summer-house had veered slightly, and there was less
noise from the wind.
«The gale is moderating, luckily. ”
Something in his tone struck her. She raised her eyes to his,
and he smiled ironically; it made her feel like asking his pardon.
“Can I have any dinner ? ” he asked.
« I think so: what shall it be ? »
“Brandy and cigars. ”
She disappeared.
Mat came in late in the afternoon, with as little ceremony as
before, and said roughly to Argus, “You are wanted. ”
"I won't go. ”
Captain, if we don't get across within twelve hours, every
soul on board that vessel now will be in hell. ”
"I supposed so. ”
«She's bilged, and the White Flat begins to hug her. It's
flood tide, and the waves must be washing the main deck: a few
hours of that work will settle their hash. ”
«What's doing with the life-boat ? »
« The loons have tried to launch her; but there's something
wrong, and they are trying to tinker her up. The will of folks
is good enough, but they can't get out there, - that's the long
and short on't. Bill Bayley swore he'd go out alone: his cock-
boat swamped first thing, and they had to throw him a rope.
He swore at the man who threw it, - at the boat, at the bay,
the wreck, and the Almighty,- and then he cried. I never liked
Bill so well. ”
Mat spit into the fire furiously, and stumped round the room,
a shoe on one foot and a boot on the other, his trousers settling
over his hips in spite of his tight leather belt. He was growing
frantic with excitement.
Argus laughed.
Mat made an energetic, beseeching motion towards the door;
he would have put up his soul for sale for the sake of seeing
Argus move with the intention he wished to inspire him with.
XXIV—877
>
## p. 14018 (#204) ##########################################
14018
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
)
»
Argus turned back his sleeves, baring a snow-white wrist, and
abstractedly felt his pulse and the muscles of his arms.
“Push ahead," he said.
"Aye, aye, sir,” Mat shouted, turning very pale, and lurching
towards the door.
Stop: where is Roxalana ? »
« Roxalana! ” Mat shouted.
“What is it, Mat? ” she answered, coming with a bottle.
"Yes; give us a dram, old girl,"continued Mat, utterly
,
oblivious of the proprieties.
Argus laughed again, and asked for his mackintosh.
“Now then,” said Mat, having swallowed nearly a tumbler of
brandy. Argus drank a little, and poured the rest of the bottle
into a flask which he buttoned inside his coat. Tempe ran down
to the door as they passed out, and Argus looking back called
out:
“Where is your crape veil, Tempe ? ”
“Where the courage of Kent is,- shut up in a bandbox,”
she answered.
Roxalana, after gazing at her a moment, took her by the
arm and dragged her into the green room.
“I believe,” she said, in a breathless undertone, “that you
are possessed sometimes. Do you know that your uncle Argus
may have gone for his shroud ? »
« Was that why he inquired for the veil ? ”
« Could you choose no other moment to express your insensi-
bility? Are you never to be anything but a child ? »
“Mother, you must be crazy. You don't mean to say that
you are going to protest against the Gates character,- as I rep-
resent it ? »
Roxalana said no more, but went her way, feeling a painful
excitement. She replenished the fires, hung kettles of water
over them, collected blankets, cordials, and liquors, and then went
to the kitchen to bake bread.
Twilight brought Mary Sutcliffe and her youngest boys.
Dumping them in a corner of the kitchen as if they were sacks,
and threatening them with a whipping if they moved, she rolled
up her sleeves, and said that she thought the fathers of families
had better stay at home, instead of risking themselves to save
nobody knew who. Another boat had started since Mat had got
(
«
## p. 14019 (#205) ##########################################
· ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14019
under way, and she guessed the wreck would turn out to be
a great cry and little wool: she did not think there would be
much drowning this time. She wondered if the good folks in
Kent had stirred themselves,— your religious Drakes, and your
pious Brandes, and the rest of the church.
"Hold your tongue, Mary Sutcliffe,” ordered Tempe.
Then Mary whim pered, sobbed, and shrieked, declaring she
had known all along she should never set eyes on Mat Sutcliffe
again, who was well enough, considering what he was. And who
else would have done what he was doing ? and she gloried in his
spunk. Drying her eyes with her fat hands, and shaking out her
apron, she begged Roxalana to let her make the bread, and put
the house to rights,- in case there were bodies coming in.
"Do, Mrs. Gates,” she pleaded. "I feel as strong as a giant
to-night: I can wrestle with any amount of work. '
"If you will stop whining, Mary, I will accept your services:
for to tell the truth, my head is not very clear just now; I am
afraid I may spoil something. "
"Likely as not,” replied Mary: "go right into your sitting-
room, sit down in your own chair, and you'll come to. It won't
do for you, of all persons, to be upset, Mrs. Gates. "
Roxalana was quite ready to act upon Mary's suggestion.
Death was near, and she felt it. After dark Mary began to walk
about,- to the alley, and into the garden,- and report what she
saw and heard. She ran down to the quay once, but came back
scared and subdued at the sight of the angry solitude of the
hoarse black sea, though she shook her impotent fist at it with
indignation.
Roxalana felt a relief when Virginia Brande came down from
the Forge, enveloped in a great cloak. She ventured to come
by the path, the moment she heard that Captain Gates was
making an attempt to get to the wreck. Her mother was
frightened and ill about it that Chloe and herself were obliged
to make representations of the necessity for help in Kent from
every hand and heart, before she consented to spare her. The
Forge was deserted; her father had gone into town with the
intention of offering a reward to the man who should first reach
the wreck. Mary Sutcliffe, hearing this, cried :-
"And I suppose old Drake has offered as much again — hasn't
he? Wouldn't I like to see Mr. Mat Sutcliffe, Esquire, handling
SO
## p. 14020 (#206) ##########################################
14020
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
that reward! I wish somebody would pay me for doing iny duty.
I'd put the money right into the contribution box at Mr. Brande's
church. Oh yes, don't I see myself doing it! ”
"Mary,” said Virginia, "you are talking nonsense. Please find
some hairpins: mine must have dropped along the path. ”
She removed the cloak-hood, and her hair tumbled in a mass
down her shoulders: she could have hid herself in it.
«Goodness me! ” cried Mary, “what splendid hair you've got!
I never thought of it before. It is as black as the sky was just
now on the quay. ”
"Have you been to the quay, Mary? ” asked Roxalana.
content yourself within doors. Where is Tempe ? ”
“I saw her kiting up-stairs just now. If she does not take
care she'll keel over. It is as true as the gospel, that she has
got a look in her face as new as a drop of cream would be to
“Do
my cat. "
“Go and tell her that Virginia Brande is here, and she will
come back. »
"I have always thought,” Mary replied, sticking a pin between
her teeth, and allowing her eyes to take a reflective cast, that
it was as much as my life was worth to interfere with the way
of a Gates; but I may change my mind. I'll go right after
Tempe. O Lord-a-mercy, where do you think the two creatures
are by this time? Sho! I know they will be along soon: it is not
likely that Captain Argus Gates is going to be lost at sea, after
he has given up going to sea; and — it would be foolish to sup-
pose that Mat Sutcliffe will venture more than getting his boots
soaked through. ”
Hairpins, please,” said Virginia.
Roxalana asked again, Where is Tempe? Virginia Brande is
here. ”
Tempe fell into a fit of weeping and laughing the moment
she saw Virginia, which was ended by a dead faint.
At last the boat was launched. Argus and Mat were afloat;
so much was gained, and Argus thought the danger was prefer-
able to the labor they had undergone in getting ready to risk
their lives. The gloomy twilight, spreading from the east,
dropped along the shore while they were dragging, pushing, and
lifting the boat over the shingle, slush, and into the opposing
((
sea,
## p. 14021 (#207) ##########################################
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
14021
“Hell bent be it! ” said Mat, apostrophizing the waves, "if
you say so. You are not alone, my friends. ”
Mat seemed a part of the storm: his spirits were in a wild
commotion; his clothes were torn and soggy with brine, and his
hands were gashed and bloody. Argus had lost his cap, and
broken his oar; he bound his head with Mat's woolen comforter,
jammed his shoulder against the gunwale, and used the shortened
oar with much composure. They did not make much headway:
the boat was riding in all directions in the roar and foam of the
sea; darkness pressed upon them; they were shut between the
low-hanging sky and the shaking plain of water. In the midst
of his silent, measured, energetic action, the thoughts of Argus
drifted idly back to the trifling events of his life: a new and
surprising charm was added to them, as bright, quiet, and warm
as the golden dust of a summer sunset which touches everything
as it vanishes.
Mat swore at the top of his voice that the wind was more
nor'rard, and it would be an even chance about beating or not.
Argus looked up and saw a circular break in the clouds, but
said nothing
"By the crucifix,” cried Mat, throwing himself forward, “I
heard a yell. Where away are we? We are shoaling! ”
Argus plunged his hands into the water from the stern-sheets:
it felt like the wrinkled, hideous flesh of a monster, trying to
creep away.
“We are under lee or there is a lull, for the water don't
break,” he said. “If the moon was out, we should see the White
Flat. I reckon we are on the tongue of the bar, and the vessel
has struck below. Her hull must be sunk ten feet by this time,
and her shrouds and spars are washed off: that yell will not be
heard again. ”
“Damn 'em,” said Mat savagely, if they have drowned afore
ever we could reach 'em, I'll take 'em dead, carry every mother's
son of 'em to Kent, and bury 'em against their wills. ”
The endless, steady-going rockers which slid under them from
the bay outside tossed the boat no longer; the wind ceased to
smite their faces, but tore overhead and ripped the clouds apart.
The moon rolled out, and to the right they saw the ghastly, nar-
row crest of the White Flat. A mass of spume on their left
which hissed madly proved what Argus had said, - that they were
close to the end of the bar. Within the limits of the moonlight
C
## p. 14022 (#208) ##########################################
14022
ELIZABETH BARSTOW STODDARD
they saw nothing. In the bewildering, darkling illumination of
.
the shattering water around them they were alone.
“If she's parted,” continued Mat, “something might wash this
way,— her gear at least. I'd like to catch a cabin door, or an
article to that effect: it might come handy. ”
Argus did not hear him, for he was overboard. Missing him,
Mat gave way for a moment; he felt the keel shove resisting
sand, and remained passive, merely muttering, "I'm blasted, but
she may drive.
