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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1893-10-6, Page 2HIS INDIAN BRIDE. A ]%,onAl1U.d Qkh TH roll ADIAAT 1ATCainal-1'1rEST CliAPTGR VI,—(Cnxxtxt'an.) "Lady Ilaldwe11 has a find talent for trolly,' Lee said, "but she does not elwaya neo IL meta, 3y. in a man it would bear another name, and rum a man it would be differently room'• ed," He (tame close to her, " k ou ere a brave wonau," he said, "oryou would hay been more careful. Of course you knee ehatenymotherandsister were not at home, She smiled languidly, " And why ' o her, but she had been an angel, end very unsatisfactory ono, if. it had not.don so. As her con6denoe grew (though ons wardly she haat never appeared to lack i ggreenly), she did not hesitate to speak e herself as an Indian, her eottntry as e. goo oountry, and her people ash noble if (lisps a it Well, father•in•)nw, it's about time we t hada big talk, isn't rt? Vire are not very f intimate for such close relatives. d The old Jodiah did not fully understand • the meaning or. the !one of Armour's speech t but he said' "flow !" and, `catering out bis s stand for the, pipe offered hint, lighted e and sat down, choking in 'Olean. Armour w waited ; but, seeing that the other ryas not h yet moved to talk, he turned to hie letter again, After a time, Eye•of.the-Moon said grevoly, getting to his feet, "Brother !" Armour looked up, thou rose also. The Indian bowed to him courteously, thee eat down again. .Armour threw a leg over the . corner of the table and waited. • "Brother," said the ['ideal, presently, " yon are of the great race that conquers us. You come and take our land and our game, and we at last have to beg of you for food and shelter. Then you take our daughters, and ,Ve know not were they go. They are gone like the down from the thistle. We see them not, but you remain. And men say evil things, There are bad words abroad. Brother, what have you done with my daughter ?" Had the Indian come and stormed, begged money of him, sponged on him, or abused hint, he had taken it very oaltnlyy,—he iu fact, had been superior. Bot there was dignity in the chiefs manner ; Mere was solemnity in his speech ; his voice conveyed resoluteness and oarneetness, which the stole oalm of his face might not have sig• geebed ; and Armour fele that he had no advantage at all. Beeidee, Armour had a consignee, though he had played some rare tricks with it of late, and it needed more hardihood than he possessed to face this old man down. And why face hint down ? Lali was his daughter, blood of his blood, the ohieftainess of one branch of his people, honored at least among these poor savages, and the old man had e, right to ask, as asked another more famous, " Where is my daughter?" Hia hands in hie pockets, Armour sat silent for a minute, eyeing his boot, as he swung his leg to and fro. Presently he said, " Eye•of-the-Moon, I don't think I can talk as poetically as you, even in my own language, and I shall not try. But I should like to ask you this ; Do you be. lieve any harm has come to your daughter --to my wife?" The old Lichen forgot to blow the'toba000• smoke from his mouth, and, as he sat de- bating, lips slightly apart, it came leaking out in little trailing clouds and gave a strange appearance to hie iron -featured face. He looked steadily at Armour, and said, '+ You are of those who rule in your land,"—here Armour protested,—" You have much gold to buy and sell, I ant a chief,"—he drew himself up,—" I am poor : we speak with the straight tongue ; it is cowards who lie. Speak deep as from the heart, my brother, and tell me where my daughter is." Armour could not but respect the chief for the way this repose was put, but still it galled him to think that ho was under suspicion of having done any bodily injury to his wife, so he quietly persisted: ° Co you think I have done Lali any harm ?" rr The thing is strange," replied the other. rr You ere of these who are great among your people. You married a daughter of a red man. Then she was yours for less than one moon, and you sent her far away, and you stayed, Her father wages a clog in your sighb. Do men whose hearts are clear act so? They have said great thinge.of you. I have not believed ; but it is good I know all, that I may say to the tale bearers, You have crooked tongues." Armour ant for a moment longer, his fate turned to the open window. He was per. featly still, but he had become grave. He was about to reply to the chief, when the trader entered the room hurriedly with a newspaper in his hand, He paused abrupt- ly when the saw Eye•of•the.Moon. Armour felt that the trader had something important to communicate, He guessed it was in the paper. He mutely held out his hand fur it. Tho trader handed it to him hest. tatingly, at the same time pointing to a paragraph and saying; " It is nearly two years old, as you see. I chanced upon it by accident to -day," It was a oopy of a London evening paper containing a somewhat sensational account of Lali's accident. It said that she was in a critioal condition. This time Armour did not ask for brandy, but the trader put it out beside him. He shook his head, "Gordon," he said presently, "I ehall leave here in the morning. Please send my men to one." The trader whispered to hint : "She was all right, of course, long ago, Mr. Armour, or you would have heard.' Armour looked at the date of the paper, He had several letters from England of a later date, and these said nothing of her illness, It bewildered him, made him un- easy. Perhaps the fireb real setae of his duty as a husband came home to him there. For the first time, he was anxious about the woman for her own sake. The trader had left the room, "What a scoundrel I've been!" said Armour between his teeth, oblivious, for the momeut,of l+eye•of•the•Moon's presence, Presently, bethinking himself, he turned be the Indian. "I've been debating," he said "Eye-of•the-Moen, my wife is in England, at my father's home. I am going to her. Iden have lied in thinking I would do her any injury; but, but—never mind, the harm was of another kind. It isn't wise for a white man and an Indian to marry, but when they are married—wall, they must live as man and wife should live, and, as I said, I am going to my wife—your daughter," To say all this to a common Indian, whose only property was a half•dozen ponies and a couple of tepees, required something very like moral courage ; but then Armour had not been exercising moraloourageduringthe last year or so, and its exorcise was profit. able to him. The next morning he was an his way to Montreal, and Eye•of the.Moon was the richest chief in British North Am- nisei).isei). t that moment, by five thousand dol• ars Or g0. THE BRUSSELS .'O'. to Say that he would unite on at once. Still he heeltatod, As he sat there think- ing, Lye af•the'b eon, his father-M.14w, opeuo,o elle door quietly and entered. Ile had avoided the chief ever shoe he had come back to Fort Charles, and prautically had not spoken to hint for a year, Armour flushed slightly with anuoyyanne .But pros. ently' walla tonl:h of lila old humor he rose, held out his hand, and said, ironloally, O sensed ran; all the more ao if she though e reformer) to her nationality and peat wa being rather' oonepieuonely avoided. Sh I had asked General Armour for au inte•via with her husband's aolicitor, she asked hit to send no newspaper to her husband con tainiug any refor•oioe to herself, nor yet to mention her in hie letters. She had never directly received a line from hint but once, and that was after she had come to know the truth about his mar riage with her. She could read in the con ventional sentences, made simple as for a child, the strained politeness, and his abso- lute aileuee as to whether or not a ohild had beau born to then, the utter absence of affection for hor. She had also induced General Armour and his wife to give her husband's solicitor no information regarding the birth of the child, There was Hina ap- parently no more iuduoement for hint to hurry back to England than there was when Le had sent her off on his mission of retali- ation, which had been such an ignominious failure. For the humiliation of his family had been short-lived, the affront to Lady Holdwell nothing at all. The Armours had not been human if they had failed to enjoy their daughter•in.law'a success. Although they never, perhaps, would quite recover the disappointment concerning Lady Agnes ioiartling, the result was so much better than they in their cheerfullest momenta dared hope for, that they appeared gen. ninety content, To their grandchild they were rlevontly attached. Marion was his faithful slave and admirer, so much so that Captain Vid- all, who now and thenwas permitted to see the child, declared himself jealous: he and Marion were to be married soon. The wed- ding had been delayed owing to his en. forced absence abroad. Mrs. Edward Lam- bert, woe Mrs. Townley, shyly regretted in Leli's presence that the child, or one as sweet, was not hers. Her husband evi- dently. shared her opinion, from the ex. traordinary notice he took of it when his wife was not present. Not that Richard J oseph Armour, .1 r„ was always en evi- denue, but when asked for by hots faithful friends and admirers he was amiably pro- duced. Meanwhile, Frank Armour across the sea was engaged with many things. His business concerns had not prospered pro- digiously, ohiefy(because Isis judgment, as his temper, had grown somewhat un- certain. His popularity in the Hudson's Bay country had been at some tension since he had shipped his wife away to England. Even the ordinary savage mind saw something unusual and un - domestic in its, and the general hospital. ity dealfned a little. Armour did not im- mediately guess the cause; but one day, about a year after his wife had gone, he found occasion to reprove a half.breed, by name Jacques Pontiac ; and Jacques, with more honesty than politeness, said some hard words, and asked how mule he paid for his English hired devils to kill his wife. Strange to say he did not resent this startling remark. It set him thinking. He beau to blame himself for not having written oftener to his people—and to his wife. He wondered how far his revenge had succeeded. He was almost ashamed of it now. He knew that he had done a dishonorable thing. The more he thought upon it the more angry with himself he became. Yet he dreaded to go back to England and face it all: the reproach of his people ; the anmse• men of society; his wife herself, He never attempted to pioture her as a civilized be- ing. He scarcely knew her when he mar. ried her. She knew him much better, for primitive people are quicker in the play of their passions, and she had come to love him before he had begun to notice her at all Presently he ate his heart out with morti- fication, To be yoked forever to—a savage 1 It was horrible 1 And their ohildren? It was strange he had no thought of that before. Children ?— He shrugged his shoulders. These might possibly be a child, but children—never 1 But he doabted even regarding a child, for no word had oome to him concerning that possibility. He was even most puzzled at tone and snbstanee of their letters. From the beginning there had been no reproaches no exeitement, no railing, but studied kind• nese and conventional statements, through which Mrs. Armour's solicitous affection seaicely ever peeped. Re had shot his bolt, and got—consideration, almost im- parturbabtlity. They appeared to treat the matter as though he were a wild youth who would yet mend his ways. He read over their infrequent lettere to him : this to them had been still more infrequent, In one share was the statement that "she was pro- gressing favorably with her English ;' in another, that "she was riding a good dealt" again, that " she appeared anxious to adapt herself to her new life." At all those he whistled a little to him. self, and smiled bitterly. Then, all at once, heg of up and straightway a ghtway burned them all. He again tried to put the matter behind him for tihe present, knowing that the must face it one day, and staving off its reality as long, as possible, Ile did his utmost to be philosophical and say his quid refers, but it was easier tried than done ; for JacquesPontiac's words kept rankling in his rnind, and he found himself carrying round a vague load which made him abstract. ed occasionally, and often a little reckless in action and speech. In hunting bear and moose he had proved himself more daring than the oldest hunter, and proportionately successful. He paid his servants well, but was sharp with thorn. Ho made long herd expeditions, defying the weather as the hardiest of prairie and mountain men most. ly hesitate to defy it • he bought up much laud, then, dissatisfied, sold it again at a lose, but subsequently made final arrange. menta for establishing a very large farm. When he once became actually interest. ed in this he shook off somothing of his moodiness and settled himself Lo develop the thing, He had good talent for milia• five and administraiioh, and at Iasi, in tie time when his wife was a feature of the London season, ho found his scheme in work. ing order, and tihe necessity of going to En band wag forced upon him. Actually he wished that the abaolute otiosity had preselhted itself before, Thera Was always the moral necessity, of oeurSe-- ut then 1 Here now was a business need.; nil he must go. Yet he did not fix a day ✓ maks definite arrangements, He wild atdly have believed himself such a coward. With liberal emphasis he called himself a "I do not know that; only I know that of think se ; and I also think that my brother Prank's worst misfortune did not amour when Miss Julia Sherwood tratlieked without compunotion in hie happiness." "Don't be oracular, my dear Richard Armour," she said ; " you are trying, really. 'This seems almost melodramatic ; and meld• drama is bad enough in Drury Lane." 'r You are not a good friend even to your- self," he answered. What a discoverer you are I And how much in earnest l Do come back to the world, Mr. Armour: you would be a relief, a now sensation.' "T farcy I shell dome back, if only to see the ougtueer hoist with his own'—tor- pedo." Re paused before the lest word to give it ,olsot, for her husband's father had shade is money out of torpedoes. She felt the sting in spite of herself, and she saw the point. And then we will talk it over at the end of the season," he added, "and cont• pare notes. Good.afternoon." " You stake much on your hazard," she aid, glancing back at Leli, who still stood immovable, " Alt rerofr 1" 'She left the room. Richard heard the door close after her and the servant retire. Then he turned to Lali. As he did so, she ran forward to him with a cry, " Oh, Richard, Richard I" she aid, with a sob, threw her name over his boulder, and let her forehead drop on hie breast. Then came a sudden impulse in his blood. Long after he shuddered when e remembered what he thought at that instant ; what he wished to do ; what rich madness possessed him- He knew now why he had come to town; he also knew why he must not stay, or, if staying, what must be his course. He took her gently by the arm and led her to a chair, speaking olheerily to her. Then he oat down beside her, and all at once again, her faoe wet and burning, she flung herself forward on her knees beside int, and clung to him. "Oh, Richard, I am glad you have Dome," shesaid. "/ would have killed her if I had not thought of you. I want you to stay ; I ani always better when you are with me. 1 have missed you, and I know that baby misses you too." tie had his cue. He rose, tremblinga little. "r Come, come," he said heartily, " it's all right, it's all right—my sister. Let us go and see the yam:meter. There, dry your eyes, andforget all about that woman. She is only envious of you. Come, for his tee - pedal highness !" She was in a tumult of feeling. It was -seldom that she had shown emotion in the mast two years, and it was the more ample "when it did break forth. But she dried her eyes, and together they went to the nursery. She dismissed the nurse, and they were left alone by the sleeping child. She knelt at the head of the little cot anti touched the child's forehead with her lips. He stooped down also beside it. r` Ice's a grand little fellow," he said. d1 Leli," he continued, presently, " it it time Frank Dame home. I am going to write tor him. If the does not come at once, I ahallgo and fetal; him." " .Never ! never I" Her eyes flashed angrily. " Promise that you will not. Let him come when he is ready. He does not care." She shuddered a little. " But he will care when be oomea, and you—you care for him, Lai." Again she shuddered, and a whiteness ran under the tunes citement of her cheeks. She said nothing, but looked up at him, then dropped her face in her hands You do care for him Lali," he said, earnestly, almost solemnly, his lips twitch- ing alfghty. " You must care for him ; it is his right : and he wtil--I swear to you I know he will—care for you." In his own mind there was another thought, a hard, strange thought 1 and it had to do with the possibility of his brother not caring for his wife. Still she did not speak. " To a good woman, with a good hus- band," he continued, " there is no one— there should bo no one—like the father of her child. And no woman ever loved her child more than you do yours." He knew that this was special pleading. Site trembled, and then dropped her cheek beside the child's " I want Frank to be happy," he went on : " there is no one I care more for than for Frank." She lifted her face to him now, in it a strange light, Then her look ran to eon• /laden' and she aoemd to read all that he meant to convey. He knew she did. Ile touched her shoulder, "r You must do the best you can every- way, veryway, for Frank's sake, for all our sakes, I will help you—God kuowe 1: will—all 1 can." " Oh, yes, yes," she said, from the child's pillory. 13e could see the flame in her cheek. r I understand," She put out her hand to him, but did not look up, " Leave me alone with my baby, Richard," she pleaded. He took her hand and pressed it again and again in his old, unconscious way. Then he let it go, and went slowly to the door, There he and and looked back at her. He tnastered the hot thought in him. God help me ?" she murmured from the cot. The next morning Richard went book to Greyhope. CHAPTER VII. A mennebfARTIAl. It was hard to tell, save for a certain cle. libeeratenese of speeoh end a oolor a little more pron0unood than that of a Spanish woman, that Mrs. Frank Armour had not been brought up in England. She had a kind of grave sweetness and distant charm which made her notable at any table or in tiny ballroom. Indeed, it soon became a . parent that she was to be the pleasant talk, ;heinterostofthe season. This was tolerably comforting to the Armours, Again Rich. inlet prophecy had been fulfilled, and as he sat alone at Greyyloope and read the Morning ?est, noticing Lali's vane at distinguished iatheringa, or, puking up the World, flaw low the lion -hunters talked extravagantly I her, he took some satisfasbion to him. elf that he had foreseen het trinntnnh [there others looked for her dawn411. n b a 0 h neck, and one clay al, Tort Charles tat own to write ter hie aolicitor in Montreal .ani herself was not elated : it gratified CHAPTER VIII. TO MGM' MAN NTS HOUR. It Was the close of the season ; many peo- ple had left town, but festivities were still on. To a stranger the season might Have seemed at its height. The Armours were giving a large party in Caveidheh Petunia:. fore going back again to Greyhope, where, for the sake of Lali and her child, they in. tended to remain during the rest of the atm. mer, in preference to going on the Conan. one or to Sootland. The only unaabtefaceory feature of Lali's ooasoh was the absence of her llueband, Naturally there were those who said Strange things regarding Prank Armour's stay ih Ansorica; but it was pretty morally known that ile wee engaged in land.epeculationa, and hie club friends, who perhaps tools the pleasantest view of the matter, said that lie was very wise in. deed, if a little cowardly, in staying abroad until hots wife was ehtoated and ready to take her position in society, There was one thing on which they were all agreetli !\ire, Frank Armour either had a mind auporlor to the charms of their sex, or wits incapable of that vanity whith hltth many suitors, and says, "So far shalt thou go, anti--" The fact ie,iire, Frank Armour's mind was superior. Shelled only the object,--te triumph over her husband grandly, as a woman right. manly might. She had vauity, of course, but it was not Ignoble, She Inept one thing fa view; she lived fon it, Her translation had been successful, There were than when she remembered her father, the wild days on tiro praieiee, the buffalo -hunt, tracking the dear, tribal battles, oho long silent hoot's of winter, and the warm summer nights when she slept in the prairie grass or camped with her people in the trough of a great land -wave. Some• times the hunger for fee freedom, and its idleness, nerd its sport, mate to her greatly; but site thought of her child, and she put it trom her. She wee ambitious for him; she was keen to prove her worth as a wife against her husband's nnworthinesa This perhaps saved her. She might have lost hall her life been without this motive. The very morning of this notable recep- tion, General Armour had received a note from Frank Armour'seolioitor, saying that his son was likely to arrive in London from America that day or the next, Frank had written to his potpie no word of his corning; to itis wife, as we have said, he had not written for months ; and before he started back he would not write, because he wished to make what amends he could in parrot. He expected to find her improved, of course, but still he could only think of her as en Indian, show. ing her common prairie origin. Hie Snow]. edge of her before their marriage had been particularly brief; she was little more in his eyes than a thousand other Indian women, save that she was better•looking, was whiter than most, and had finer features. He could not very clearly remember the tones of her voice, because after marriage, and before he had sent her to England, he had seen little or nothing of her. When General Armour tee mad the news of Frank's return, be told his wife and Marion, and they consulted together wheth- er it were good to let Lail know at once. He might arrive that evening. If so, the position would be awkward, because it was impossible to tell how it might eaten her. If they did telt her, and Frank happened not to arrive, it might unnerve her so as to make her appearance in the evening doubt- ful. Richard, the wiseacre, the inexhaust- ible Richard, was caring for his cottagere and cutting the leaves of new books—his chiefest pleasure—at Greyhope, They felt it was a matter they ought to be able to decide for themselves, but still ib was the Eat evening of Lali's stay in town, and they did not care to take any risk. Strange to say, they had comp to take pride in their eon's wife; for even General and Mrs. Armour, high -mauled and of serene social status as they were, seemed not quibe insensible to the pleasure of being an axle on which a system of social notoriety re. volved. At the opportune moment. Captain Vic'. all was announced, and, because he and Marion. wore soon to carry but one name between theta, he was called into family consultation. It is somewhat singular that in this case the women were quite wrong and the men were quite right, For General Armour and Captain Vidal' were for silence until Frank came, if he Dame that day, or for telling her the following morning, when the function was over. A.nd the mon prevailed. Marion was much excited all day ; she had given orders that Frank's room should be made ready, but for whom, she gave no information. While Lali was dressing for the evening, something excited and nervous she entered the room. They were now the best of friends, The years had seen nanny shifting scenes in their companionship ; they had been as often ab war as at peace ; but they had respected each other, each after her own fashion ; and now they load a real and mutual regard. Lali's was a slim, lithe figure, wearing its fashionable robes with an air of possession, and the face above it, if not entirely beautiful, had a strange warm fascination. The girl had not been a cltieftsiness for nothing. A look of quiet , command was there, but also a faraway expression which gave a faint look of sad- ness oven when a smile was ab the lips. The smile itself did not come quickly ; it grew ; but above ib all was'7lair of perfect brown,—most rare,—eetbing off her face as a plume does a helmet. She showed no i surprise when Marion entered. She wel- eamed her with a smile and outstretched hand, but said nothing. "Lali," said Marlon,somewlat abruptly, —she scarcely knew why she raid rt,—'rare you happy?" (TO BE OONT1NIJED,) A Wedding Breakfast in a Poltoe Station. A wedding breakfast in a police station os a rather ram event in Paris where so many strange things happen. An anusing instance is related by the Paris correspond- ent of the Telegraph, Pave, a poacher, who was recently condemned to a fort. night's imprisonment for going in search of game without Iieense, failed bo surrender himself to justice. He had, in fact some. thing very important to transaoo inasmuch as he was about to enter the bonds of wed- lock with a young woman who was by no means abashed by his poaching proalivibies, and for whom the sentence hanging over his head had no I error. The oivil pare of the matrimonial oeremony took piece all right in the Mayor's office of the Gobelina District, Pave thinking that the could run the gauntlet of the police. The stern eye of the law was upon him, however, for just as the bride, bridegroom, and guests were leaving the Maisie, up stepped a police win. misaary, who ordered the poacher to ac- company him to the atation. Pave re. luctantly obeyed, and went to the place where his presence woe so Urgently required, followed by his bride and friends. The obliging police commissary offered the nuptial party a room, wherein they had the conventional wedding repast, which was got through with as much oonvivlality ea could bo mustered tip by the guests under the peculiar oirounioiencoa, After the dejeuner Pave bade adieu to his bride and friends, having first appointed a day for the roligioue portion of hie marriage, and was then taken away to the central depot in the vehicle known as the "Salad Basket," Should all go well the poacher will be able to have his wedding mass and another ceremonial dojeuner in about elite° weeks' limo. The emblem of an open hand has been a favorite device on coins. I1 has boon found on the opine of India, of Phmuieia, Mexico, Rome, and Was frequently employed cm a device on the skin currency of our aborigi• nos. OCTOBER G, 1.800 arearewerstareeateellettreenreeetrweeteweertireawareerelattereesveelet THE "SARNIA'S" LONG VOYAGE, An Interesting Narrative by One of' the Passengers. ineliknis °rope 'Mr'p-•,i et coiner remised the Disabled "iterate." The Rev. C.O.'L, Riley, of Preston, Eng. land, who was s saloon passenger on board oho 1)enfnion Line steamer r .Sarnia" on het• last eventful voyage, gives the following intending narrative of the trip : "\\'e left Montreal on Satin -day night, July 00, bound to Liverpool, having aboard 20 saloon rind 22 intermediate end steerage passengers, also 304 head of cattle, and a general cargo, coneiating of grain in buldr, Homy oheese,hmns,butber and other general lne'ohandise,fn addition to about two thou aancl bales of hay. Proceeding down the river below Quebec wo had to mane to' anchor owing to a (lease fog, and were de - tallied there for twelve home, starting again next morning. We had to slow down outside the Straits of Belleisls owing to a newel f •g, and we had to carefully nevi. gate our hvay„ as there are many otemnen; blowing for signals, among them being the Allan liner "Parisian,' which left the previous day for Liverpool. We man aged to get well clear of the land, but an other vessel named the "Californian" ran ashore in the Straits and became, I under- stand, a toted wreck. On oho 31st we passed quite elan co a large number of enormous icebergs several hundred feet in height, and while doing ace the weather became intense. ly cold. All went well until Friday, August 4, at 5.30 p.m. at which hoe' the ateamor was going at full epoed, and most of the paesengora were preparing for dinner. Iwas walking in company with Captain Couch on the promenade deck, and just when pasaft.g the engine -room skylight we heard a great crash, which made the steamer shake from stens to stern to such an extent that an intermediate paaaenger who was resting in his berth was thrown out on the deck. The engines at once raced with awful speed, but very luckily the second engineer, who happened to be at his post, with great presence of mind shut off the steam, end thus saved the machinery from being broken to pieces. The captain at ones saw that SOMETHING SERIOUS BAD oCCUIREn. and he hurriedly left and ran below to the engine -room to ascertain what had happen- ed. Almost at the same time all the pas. eongera rushed rather excitedly up on deck to learn what had happened, and they awaited with considerable anxiety to hear from the captain the nature of the aoaident. There was considerable eospense until the commander appeared, and this was to air extent intensified when they observed the crew actively engaged in lowering a life- boat over the steamer's aide. Ic was, how- ever, subsequently explained that this was done in order to be iu readiness to °eminent- cateto the first passing vessel. When Cap- tain Couch came on deuk, the informed ns that the shaft was broken in the length next the tube, but that, fortunately for us, both tube and tunnel were quite intact, and accordingly no danger need be appre. handed of water flowing into the vessel,and, furthermore, he said that the engineers had informed him that they had hoped to be able to repair the damage to the shaft by utilising a temporary coupling which would enable the " Sarnia" to stems about six knots per hour. The Captain also informed us that inasmuch as the hull of tihe vessel was quite intact, no danger need be ap- prehended from any storms likely to arise at this seasou of the year. Meanwhile all available sail was set to steady the ship and keep her head to wind as far as poseble, and a number of the crew were set to work to prepare a sea anchor. That night a good stiff wind blew from the northeast with a confused sea, and we wore thriven a considerable distance out of the track of vessels. During the night the steamer roll- ed a great deal in the trough of the sea, and a number of the passengers remained on deck to witness the firing of rockets, which were lout up to attract passing vessels, Next day, Saturday, August 5th, was beautifully fine, and at noon the log record- ed that we had made thirty-one miles. That night we had a concert, which had a cheering effect on many, and proved most entertaining. By Sunday at noon we had ,forthe'twenty-four hours previously made only 35 miles, The day was spent quietly, service being held morning and evening in the saloon, at which 1 officiated. On Mon- day morning, to the great delight of all aboard, the seaman on the lookout shouted out that steamer was in sight. The vessel gradually bore down on us, and proved to be the " Ripon City," bound from a\lontreal to Bristol. SVo sent a boat in charge of the ohief officer, Mr. Erskine, to represent our disabled condition, and he also carried quite a bag of letters from the passengers, which he wished posted in England to our friends. Captain Couch, being of opinion that the mammoncould repair the shaft, did not detain the " Ripon City," and to our aston- ishment and regret, • WE SAW HER STEAM AWAY' I+RBM US. This was a sore disappeinsment to the pas- sengers, as we fully expected that the would have stood by us until the broken shaft was repaired. That evening the en. gineers informed the captain that the tem- porary repairs were oompleted, and the en- gines wore again set in motion, but they had barely made half a dozen revoletrons when the temporary couplings snapped like a piece of glass, The engines had to be immediately stopped, and once again wo wore broken down, The engineers then stated that they could do nothing more, and we made up our minds to was our chance of getting assistance Tatar on from some passing steamer. I should have said that to noon on Monday, we only made a dozen miles in a westerly direction. To noon on Tuesday, the Sth, we sailed 36 miles, which was something better, as the wind was fair, and by noon on the 9th forty miles were offered, The 10th was rather a stormy day, and on that night, closing on for twelve oarlock, while the crew were en- gaged in getting out a sea anchor, the boom attaohed to it fell on the leg of the quarter. maater, named Chancy, and broke Reenter. The poor fellow was taloa below and at- tended by the doctor, attd eve ettbsegnently Made up au for him. During the twenty- four hours ending at noon on that day we only made eighteen miles. From the 1011 to the 28th we did not see a vestige of asail on the ocean by day or a light of any kind at night, even though we burned clear lights and fired rockets frequently. Lits had a Very depressing abet on all aboard, par• tiohlarly the passengers, Who Were becom. ing quite Weary of being tossed about day after day. However, on the night of the 2Sth n steamer, believed to be the "State of California," was sighted, and our (hearts Were once again buoyed tip with tine hope of getting assistance. We were doomed to disappointment again, as, nobwithetand• ing that we fired guns and made flasit lights and other signets, she did nob ap- pear 'to notice us and continued her voy. ago. Icor the previous tat days we had drifted 278 mina, but now, August 81st, the wind camp ant aparltliagly froth from the westward, and wo commenced to go along well—better, in fact, since we became dlshbled. By noon Wo had sailed 50 miles on one eastward 'memo, and were quite pleased with the performanos. No inci- dent oeom•red tiering tine next four days until, while at lmluh on the 2.10, a shout, loud and clear, went out on the water that a steamer was in eight, We all rushed excitedly from the ealoon to look at the lehgdeoked-for friendly ship coining to our assistance, and wtillihl it few hours she watt within quaking distance. She prevail to be the :Man liner "Monte Vidoan," bound from Quebec to London, and her captain kindly consented to take us in tow. When the joyful news reached our oars O5IEEId4 LONG AND ENTHUSIASTIO rang out on the still Wates of the ocean. In a short time we had run out our big cable to the "Monte Vidoan" as elle sent to us her steel hawser, s0 that with two strong bowing cables our vessel was aeon being carried through the water at rt goodly rate e' speed. One during the towing the "Monte Videan's" hawser buret, but our cable held all the time. At noon on the 20tilsh° towed ors 51(t miles, 2701 150 miles, 3ith 134 miles, 29th 132 miles, 30th 167 milks, 31st 155 miles, and to Queenstown (arriving at 8 a,nm,, 1st instant) 127 miles. 'file captain and officers treated as during the entire tem with extraordinary kindness, and left nothing undone to make us com- fortable. We wore never short of anything in the way of provisions, and four of the cattle were killed to provide ns with fresh meat. Before leaving the ship we present. ed Capt. Couch with an address. All the passengers were landed at Queenstown, and taken in charge by Mears. Dawson and Company, the local agents of the Do- minion Line, who had them sent to their various places of destination by the Dublin mail train. 'l he "Monte Vitlean" took a supply of acrd, and resumed her voyage to London. BRITISH NAVAL 1,10TE3. British naval authorities are largely of the opinion that the torpedo boats demon. es , strated,dnriug the recent British naval ma• noeuvres, a superiority not previously aa - corded to their. What the results of the operations of the British torpedo boats daring the recent manoeuvres would have been had the boats load to contend against shot and shell is not yet agt•ood upon by naval men. The present torpedo boats are extremely frail craft, but It remains to be seen whether the boats of the future will be made more efficient and serviceable. It is said of the British torpedo boats of the Salamander typo that it is idle to suppose that with attenuated hulls they can anti. easefully stand the vibration of the engines, they being shaken almost to piecee of a speed of from 14 to 10 knots is maintained. As the reports come in from the recent British naval manoeuvres one hears con- siderable complaint at the practice which eves in vogue of having largo colliers to coal from. Only one ship, R is pointed out, can goal at a time from a collier with 2.000 tons on board, but four could coal at a time from four colliers carrying 500 tons each. Above all, the experience of the manoeuvres teaches that no collier should be used for war ship supply work which has not con. venient hatches and a proper supply of steam winches. • Admiral Sir Michael Oubne-Seymour, the sncoossortothe late Vice Admiral Sir G. Try. on, in command of the British lfediterraot. San squadron, is now cruising in theLevant in the vicinity of the waters where the Vic• torte sank. Seymour's division of the Medi- terranean Ileet consists of the war ships Sans Parte!, (flagship,) Trafalgar, Nile, Hawke, Htod, anti Colossus. Rear Admiral Markham is still doing service in the Medl- • terranean. Experimented trials with cordite ammu- nition have resulted so satisfactorily that the British Admiralty, it is reported, has now directed that all rapid-fire guns of British war ships are to be bred with cord- ite chharges. The rapid-fire charges in use in the British Navy are the three -pounder and six -pounder Hotchkiss guns, the six- ponncler Nordenieldt, and the 4.7 -inch and six-inoh breeolh•loading guns. As a charge of cordite is capable of developing three times the power of the same quantity of ordinary powder, the saving iu stowage will be considerable. The broken stem of the Bohtiah battle ship Camperdown, which leas injured in the collision with the ill-fated Victoria, has been repaired and is now being placed in position. The work of reshaping the stem piece is said to have been done by one man —a blacksmith, at Malta. The work of re- plaoing the stein piece will proceed day and night until completed, The new first-class British war cruiser Theseus, sister ship to the Grafton, has been handed over to the British authorities at the Chatham Dockyard. The Theseus was built by the Thames Ironworks Com- pany, lite Theseee has a displacement of 7,350 tons, and has been fitted with engines designed to develop 12,000 horse power, with a speed of 20 knots an hour. She is to be supplied with an equipment of two 9.2 -inch rapid-fire guns, and sixteen small calibre rapid -fine guns, The Theseus, at last accounts, was ordered :to be placed in dry dook in order that her submerged torpedo tubes might be fitted. The British cruiser Magicisnno, whioh was presenb with the British )iiyr't of the Colombian review fleet in New 'York, has just ended a three years' cruise at S.pitheatl, England, after having steamed more than 45,000 miles. The oruose of the Magioien)ne embraced a visit to four quarters of the glebe. The greater portion of the veseel'a cruising was performed on the coast of Af- rica. It is said that the Magioienno's men at one time never visited shore during a six months' period. During her anise' the Magicionne lost but two man. The vessel's complement was 210 officers and men. The Magioienne to being recommissioned for service in North American waters. Martha's Sad Eaperienoe. "Tho worst moment I ever lived through' —this from Matron Martha—" was once when 1 went into churclh with my first new set of teeth, whereof—like the lady in Bun- ner's story—' I hadde not yette gottn the righter pitch and adjustment.' They weren't in very firmly, and I sneezed them out into the aisle. And the senior warden pioked them up and handed them back." " He never 1" " He did. And that wasn't much worse than the time hay brother shot an owl, and gave me teat claw for my hat, I woufdh'b give him time to care it properly, and I put it on my new hat, end wore it to ehurelh. And a colony of ants that had talon up lodgement in it Wore awakened up by the heat, and came marching in a ehamolese, overheating, tioklesome proceesiou, (Iowa and down, over my nose all service Limo. The rector's wife told somebody next day that it was such a pity I was developingSt. Vitus' donee,"