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Show 18 PRINCESS MARY‘S (JIF'I‘ BOOK Manx blood iii you. CHARLIE THE COX 19 Our lbrefitthers were from Norwav. our first longer in the gate, and a hundred men stood and watched her, talking Norse king was named (Jorry. IIe landed on this island, not tar from this spot. And on that day ol' the wreck ot' the 5/. ({i'orut' his of other winds and other wrecks, and of Peel boys who were out on the sea. At last the ship parted her ‘ables and went rolling like a blinded porpoise (lead on for the jagged coast. Seven men took an open tishing»boat and went after her, and we climbed the Head to look at them. The wind smote us there like an children's children rescued from the sea the children‘s children ht the kinsmen he had lett at home. . Most of our men had Norse names. ()ne of them was a (IUI'I‘V lineal descendant beyond doubt of the old sca kinm The Noi‘\\'c~‘iiii Government felt the touch of great things in this illY'ltlL‘Ilt. It washiiot merely that the bravery of the rescue tired their gratitude. Soincthintr called to them from that deep place where blood answers to the crv (it blood. They sent medals for Charlie and his (TOW. and the Governor ot the island distributed them inside the rooliess walls of the old castle ol the " Black Dog." It was like graspinri‘ hands with the )‘ist icr ‘ the space of a thousand vears. a 1‘ ‘ oss 'V lhe other day we had another great wind and another brave rescue ‘lhe-sun had gone down overnight in a sullen red. very ticrce and anwryi in his setting. and out of the black north-east the storm had comehu.) while we slept. In the heavy grey 01' the dawn the sound-sio'n‘il tireit its double shot over our little town. A \Velsh schooner which li‘ltl run 111 for shelter during the dark hours. was ridimr to '11] 'uicht ' ‘ tl ‘ l ‘ and flying her ensign for help, a i L )1 m R my quartiliihsf'd "I? tCI'N-hc .U‘ .slaty grey, streaked with white I'oani,‘ like $0114t' s. ' was (oining 0\ci the breakwater in sheets that hid it. Lat-lug, lm'lc‘ilét ‘x‘vlasttiynigpnclouds to the top of the round tower ot' the but no 1131ch lsea owl wkeliel like dalk specks darting through it, 111 £ ‘ I A4 v A I v v . r ‘ l in theA thunderotcisuqiialke crowd 01‘ n ., . otl'Lt‘lietllirLeili'l‘ , ., 1 eels‘ '01on"ll." "19115211" t ie (an ernous "imam rocks. new of hands to micn trlinsvlveilcd the '(all, and there was no shortwho had been idlinii oii tli: )(Oilili ' tl l*ut'l'flgl Slffihleg'ng {CHOWS was calm were struflfiinlino elritinid- 1Cl Mil )ClQH‘C WlICII the 50:1 it now that it was mm Manxmcn still.lliittniil . for the 1:11"oor({IIJE'I'THIHL',‘ o t 1e old tong?) \ ikings 0UPis 9" in 1mm‘Iltltwilsuargpleiliflhil i'eyrue. | 'l he crew of the \Velshman were h 1.11 it, abandoned schooner rode three hours invisible wing, sometimes swirling us out of our course, ol'ten bringing us to our knees, and whipping our cars with our hair like rods. Sheets of spray were coming up to us from below and running along the elitts like driven rain. The sun, which had broken in fierce brilliance from a. green rent in the sky, made rainbows in the flying foam. From the heights we watched the seven men and the open boat. They rose and tell, appeared and disappeared, but they overtook the \Velshman bel'ore she had drifted 011 to the coast, boarded her with There was ditlicnlty, let go another anchor and made her tight. nothing else to do, for she was disabled, and her sails were torn to shreds. The new anchor held the ship an hour longer, and then there was no help left for her. She was within a hundred feet of the rocks, and she fell on them with the groan of a living creature. The instant her head was down the white lions of the sea leapt over her, the water swirled through her bulwarks and plunged down her hatch; her helm was unshipped, her sails were torn from their gaskets, and the floating home wherein men had sailed and sung and slept and laughed and jested was a broken wreck in the heavy wallowings of the waves. \Vhen it was over and we were coming back, drenched through and green with the drift of the sea foam caked thick on our faces, some of us began to think of Charlie. He had not been there that day. A year or more ago, in the prime of a splendid manhood, he was stricken by heart disease. He kept a good heart, nevertheless, and by indomitable will held on for some time. First a little work, then no work at all, only a sail now and then it' the sea was calm, but of late hardly ever well enough to take the open air. The old hulk of his poor body had been anchored deep, but she was parting her cables at last. He Charlie lay dying while this second rescue was being made. the had not answered the signal for the lit'eboat, but he had heard it in HIIINI WWW? |