I am a man, and have no child to take care of." "Ah!" said she, and his words seemed to animate her face with a desire to live. to her side. Then with the something of her heroic calm. a little, but not her eye. He lashed the image hope of life she lost Her body trembled The ship was now so low in the water, that by using an oar as a lever he could slide her into the waves. Come," said he, “while yet there is time." She turned her great Roman eyes, wet now, upon him. "Poor youth! God forgive me! My child!" and he launched her on the surge, and with his oar kept her from being battered against the ship. A heavy hand fell on him; a deep sonorous voice sounded in his ear: ""Tis well. Now come with me." It was the gigantic friar. Gerard turned, and the friar took two strides, and laid hold of the broken mast. Gerard did the same, obeying him instinctively. Between them, after a prodigious effort, they hoisted up the remainder of the mast, and carried it off. Fling it in," said the friar, "and follow it." They flung it in; but one of the bewildered passengers had run after them and jumped first and got on one end. Gerard seized the other, the friar the middle. It was a terrible situation. The mast rose and plunged with each wave, and the spray flogged their faces mercilessly, and blinded them, to help knock them off. Presently was heard a long, grating noise ahead. The ship had struck; and soon after, she being stationary now, they were hurled against her with tremendous force. Their companion's head struck against the upper part of the broken rudder with a horrible crack, and was smashed like a cocoanut by a sledge-hammer. The friar uttered a short Latin prayer for the safety of his soul, and took his place composedly. They rolled along: one moment they saw nothing, and seemed down in a mere basin of water hills; the next they caught glimpses of the shore speckled bright with people, who kept throwing up their arms with wild Italian gestures to encourage them, and the black boat driving bottom upward, and between it and them the woman rising and falling like themselves. She had come across a paddle, and was holding her child tight with her left arm, and paddling gallantly with her right. When they had tumbled along thus a long time, suddenly the friar said quietly, "I touched the ground." Impossible, father," said Gerard; "we are more than a hundred yards from shore. Prithee, prithee, leave not our faithful mast." 66 My son," said the friar, "you speak prudently. But know that I have business of Holy Church on hand, and may not waste time floating when I can walk in her service. There, I felt it with my toes again; see the benefit of wearing sandals and not shoes. Again; and sandy. Thy stature is less than mine; keep to the mast! I walk." He left the mast accordingly, and extending his powerful arms, rushed through the water. Gerard soon followed him. At each overpowering wave the monk stood like a tower, and closing his mouth, threw his head back to encounter it, and was entirely lost under it awhile; then emerged and ploughed lustily on. At last they came close to the shore, but the suction outward baffled all their attempts to land. Then the natives sent stout fishermen into the sea, holding by long spears in a triple chain; and so dragged them ashore. The friar shook himself, bestowed a short paternal benediction on the natives, and went on to Rome, with eyes bent on earth, according to his rule, and without pausing. He did not even cast a glance back upon that sea which had so nearly ingulfed him, but had no power to harm him without his Master's leave. While the friar stalked on to Rome without looking back, Gerard grasped every hand upon the beach. They brought him to an enormous fire, and with a delicacy he would hardly have encountered in the north, left him to dry himself alone; on this he took out of his bosom a parchment and a paper, and dried them carefully. When this was done to his mind, and not till then, he consented to put on a fisher man's dress and leave his own by the fire, and went down to the beach. What he saw may be briefly related. The The captain stuck by the ship, not so much from gallantry as from a conviction that it was idle to resist Castor or Pollox, whichever it was, that had come for him in a ball of fire. Nevertheless the sea broke up the ship, and swept the poor captain and all clear of the rest, and took him safe ashore. disconsolate Hebrew landed on another fragment, and on touching earth, offered a reward for his bag, which excited little sympathy, but some amusement. Two more were saved on pieces of the wreck. The thirty egotists came ashore, but one at a time, and dead. As Gerard stood by the sea watching, with horror and curiosity mixed, his late companions washed ashore, a hand was laid lightly on his shoulder. He turned. It was the Roman matron, burning with womanly gratitude. She took his hand gently, and, raising it slowly to her lips, kissed it; but so nobly, she seemed to be conferring an honor. Then, with face all beaming, and moist eyes, she held her child up, and made him kiss his preserver. Gerard kissed the child more than once, but he said nothing. He was much moved; for she did not speak at all, except with her eyes, and glowing cheeks, and noble antique gesture, so large and stately. Perhaps she was right. Gratitude is not a thing of words. It was an ancient Roman matron thanking a modern from her heart of hearts. bul'warks, here, the sides of a ship | sac'ris ty, an apartment in a church. above the upper deck. pol'y the ism, worship of many gods. shrouds, a set of ropes staying the mast of a ship. ab solve', to declare forgiveness for sin. im preg'na ble, strong to resist attack; unconquerable. Ne a pol'i tan, belonging to Naples, Cas'tor and Pol'lux, in mythology CasItaly. tor and Pollux were twin brothers. They were supposed to have been transferred to the heavens as a constellation. pa'gan, a worshipper of false gods. e'go tist, one whose thought is centred on himself. scup'pers, openings in the ship's bul warks to let water off the deck. cant'i cle, a passage from the Bible, Do min'i can, one of the order of chanted in church service. monks named after St. Dominic. CHARLES READE (1814-1884) was a popular English novelist and dramatist. THE RAINBOW WILLIAM WORDSWORTH My heart leaps up when I behold So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; The child is father of the man; |