Elsie's Journey on Inland Waters

by Martha Finley

  CHAPTER XX.

  The shades of evening had begun to fall. A cool breeze made thebrightly lighted parlor more attractive than the porches, and therethe older ones gathered, while the mothers saw their weary little onesto bed. The gentlemen had their newspapers, Mrs. Dinsmore and Mrs.Travilla their fancy work, while the four young girls, in a group bythemselves, chatted and laughed together, discussing the sights andscenes through which they had passed that day, and the bits of historyconnected with them.

  The captain presently threw aside his paper, and taking a vacant seaton the sofa beside his daughter Grace, asked in tender tones, as hepassed an arm about her and drew her close, if she felt very weary fromthe day's exertions.

  "Not so very, papa dear," she answered, laying her head on his shoulderand smiling up into the eyes bent so lovingly upon her. "I think Inever had a better time. Have we been to all the places of interestnow?"

  "Not quite all," he replied; "there are a few others to which we maytake pleasant little jaunts in the week or so we expect to tarry here."

  "Vaucluse for one, I should say," remarked Mr. Embury, laying aside hispaper and joining in the talk.

  "Where is that?" asked Mrs. Dinsmore.

  "Over on the shore of the eastern bay, and about six miles out fromNewport. It is a noted country seat, at present unoccupied except insmall part by a caretaker and his wife. It has a very neglected look,but is still well worth seeing, I have been told. But here comesmy Molly with a manuscript in her hand. Something to read to us, Isuppose. Is it, my dear?"

  "Yes," she said, with a smile; "provided you all wish to hear it. Astory of the ship _Palatine_ from Holland, which struck on Sandy Pointof this island early in the last century. I have used the facts as faras they could be obtained, and drawn upon my imagination for the rest.If all would like to hear it, I shall be glad to have your opinions andcriticisms before offering it for publication."

  "Suppose you put it to vote, my dear," suggested her husband. "We areall here now except the little folks, who have gone to their beds," headded, glancing at Isadore and Violet, who had come into the room justin time to hear Molly's last sentence.

  "I shall be glad to hear it, Molly. I always have enjoyed such of yourproductions as have come under my notice," said Violet, in a livelytone, as she took the seat her husband had hastened to offer.

  "And I can echo those sentiments," added Isadore lightly, takingpossession of an easy chair gallantly drawn forward for her by herUncle Dinsmore.

  Thus encouraged, Mrs. Embury began at once.

  "Story of the ship _Palatine_," she read.

  "Some time in the early years of the last century, a ship namedthe _Palatine_ left Holland for America, bearing a large number ofemigrants, whose destination was the then colony of Pennsylvania, wherethey intended to buy land and settle; and for that reason they werecarrying with them all their earthly possessions--clothing, furniture,and money; of which some had a good deal, others only a little.

  "Among the wealthier ones was Herr Adolphus Follen, with his wifeMargaret, his daughters Katrina and Gretchen, and his son Karl. Alsothey had with them an elderly woman, Lisa Kuntz, who had lived with theFollens ever since their marriage, and acted as nurse to each of theirchildren in turn. She had no near kin, and being much attached to thefamily in which she had made her home for so many years, had decided toaccompany them to the new world in spite of her fears of Indians andwild animals.

  "As the good ship _Palatine_ sailed slowly out of port, all these, withmany of their fellow-passengers, stood upon her deck gazing sadly, andnot a few with flowing tears, upon the fast-receding shores of theirnative land. Ah, how much bitterer would have been their grief, couldthey have foreseen the sufferings that fateful voyage held in store forthem! Though they little suspected it at the time, they had fallen intothe hands of men so full of the love of money, so ready to do the mostdastardly deeds in order to secure it, that they were no better thanthe worst of cut-throats and murderers.

  "The emigrants had not brought a store of provisions for the voyage,because, according to the agreement, these were to be purchased ofthe captain and his officers. But scarcely had they cleared the coastand stood well out to sea when they were struck with astonishment anddismay at the enormous sums asked for the merest necessaries of life:20 guilders for a cup of water, 50 rix dollars for a ship's biscuit."

  "Astounding rascality!" exclaimed Mr. Embury, as his wife paused for aninstant in her reading.

  "Why, how much are those coins worth in our money?" she asked. "Ireally do not know exactly."

  "A guilder," he replied, "equals 40 cents of our money; so that 20guilders would be $8. Think of that as the price of a cup of water!probably not the coolest or cleanest either. Then the 50 rix dollarsfor a ship biscuit would equal $18.25. Think of such a conspiracy asthat on the part of a ship's officers to rob defenceless passengers!"

  "Why, it was just dreadful!" she exclaimed. "Those officers were nobetter than pirates."

  "Not a whit! In fact, they were pirates. But go on, my dear; let ushave the rest of your story."

  Mrs. Embury resumed her reading.

  "'What shall we, what can we do,' asked Frau Follen of her husband. 'Ifear there will be no money left for buying land when we reach America.'

  "'Alas! I fear not, indeed!' he returned; 'and should anything happento delay the vessel we may be reduced to great extremity even beforereaching the shores of America. Ah, would we had been satisfied toremain in the fatherland!' he groaned in anguish of spirit.

  "'Ah, father,' said Gretchen, the eldest daughter, 'let not your heartfail you yet. Help may yet come from some unexpected quarter, and ifnot--if we die for lack of food--we may hope to awake from the sleep ofdeath in the better land, to suffer and die no more. Let us trust inGod and not be afraid.'

  "'You are right, my daughter,' he returned with emotion. 'But oh, Godgrant I may not be called to see my wife and children suffer and diefor lack of food!'

  "A young man standing near, one with whom they were slightlyacquainted, here joined in the conversation.

  "'It is dreadful, dreadful!' he exclaimed, but speaking in a subduedtone for fear of being overheard by their inhuman oppressors, 'the waythese mercenary wretches are robbing the helpless poor whom they haveentrapped into their net. Every fellow of them deserves the headsman'saxe, and I hope will reach it at last. Think of the exorbitant sumsthey are asking for the barest necessaries of life! Nor do I believethey will ever carry us to our destination, lest complaint be made ofthem and they be brought to condign punishment by the authorities ofthe land.'

  "'But, what then do you think they will do, Herr Ernesti?' asked FrauFollen, gasping with fear and horror, as she spoke.

  "'I cannot tell,' he answered. 'Mayhap land us on some desert island,and leave us there to struggle as we can for life. But, thank God,they cannot take us to any spot where He does not rule and reign, orwhere His ear will be deaf to the cries of His perishing ones. So, myfriends, let us not give up to utter despair. "The Lord is my light andmy salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life;of whom shall I be afraid?"'

  "'Yes, yes; what consolation in knowing that!' cried Gretchen, tearsof mingled joy and sorrow streaming down her face. 'Father, mother,sister, and brother, we are all His and He will care for us in His owntime and way.'

  "But who shall describe the scenes that followed through weeks ofdeepest distress and agony, as fathers and mothers, husbands and wives,brothers and sisters saw their dear ones perishing with famine, whilethey themselves were goaded almost to madness by the pangs of hungeradded to their bitter grief?

  "But they were entirely in the power of their inhuman torturers, whonever relaxed in their demands until they had wrenched from theirwretched victims every stiver in their possession.

  "That accomplished, and no food remaining--unless a very, very scantystore--they, officers and sailors, deserted the vessel, going off inthe boats, leaving their helpless victims to their fate, for not one oft
hem had either the needed knowledge or strength for the management ofthe ship; and so she drifted aimlessly hither and thither at the mercyof the winds and waves, carrying her fearful cargo of dead and dyingwhither they knew not.

  "To the survivors that voyage seemed like one long, dreadful dream,full of horrors and keenest anguish of body and mind. Of the manyemigrants who, filled with the hope of reaching a land of freedom andplenty, had crowded the vessel at the beginning of the voyage, butseventeen feeble, emaciated, almost dying creatures were left when, onecold winter morning, about Christmas time, the now dismasted hulk ofthe good ship _Palatine_ drifted into Narragansett Bay and struck onSandy Point, Rhode Island.

  "It was Sunday morning, but the good people of the island seeing thewreck, and knowing there might be in her some living soul in distress,hastened on board, where they found the poor, perishing creatures, andat once carried them all ashore save one woman--Lisa Kuntz, the nurseof the Follens, who obstinately refused to leave the vessel. She wasseated upon the deck with her belongings about her, and there she wasdetermined to stay. But she was not safe there, as the islanders wellknew; for the dismasted hulk could not be secured against driftingaway, and as the tide arose around it they, as a last resort, set it onfire, thinking the lone woman would certainly be frightened, and prefercoming ashore to remaining upon the burning ship. But she would not,and as the tide rose the blazing hulk drifted away, carrying her withit."

  "Oh, how dreadful!" sighed several of Molly's hearers.

  "Wasn't it?" she responded. "I suppose the sufferings of the poorcreature must have made her insane."

  "But the sixteen who were brought ashore, did they live?" askedLucilla; and in reply Mrs. Embury resumed her reading.

  "The sixteen who had been carried ashore were treated with the greatestkindness by the islanders, all their wants carefully attended to; butfor nearly all of them help had come too late, and all but three soondied. Of the Follen family Gretchen alone remained, a lonely, almostheart-broken creature, having seen father, mother, brother, and sisterlaid in the grave soon after landing upon the island. But Herr HubertErnesti remained. He had been beside her all these dreadful weeks andmonths, had sympathized in all her griefs, all her sufferings of mindand body, and each had learned to look upon the other as the nearestand dearest of all earthly beings; so that when, beside the newlyfilled grave that held the last of her family, he asked her to giveherself to him that they might meet all coming trials and share alljoys together, she did not say him nay, or withdraw the hand he hadtaken in his and held in a clasp so loving and tender.

  "It was from them the islanders learned the sad story of the terriblescenes and sufferings on board the _Palatine_; an experience poorGretchen could never recall without tears.

  "Hubert and she remained upon that hospitable island for some years,then left it for their original destination, where, we will hope, theylived out the remainder of their lives in peace and happiness."

  "And that is the end of your sad little story, is it?" asked Rosie, asher cousin paused in the reading.

  "Of the story of those two," said Molly; "but I have something more toread, if no one is tired of listening."

  No one seemed to be, and she resumed:

  "Ever since the burning _Palatine_ drifted away that night a strangelight has been seen at intervals along this coast whence she departedon that last voyage. Many have seen it, and the superstitious andignorant have looked upon it as the phantom of the burning ship_Palatine_, ever drifting upon the open sea, always burning but neverconsumed; seen only at long intervals, as she drifts off the westerncoast.

  "A well-known physician of Block Island, having had two opportunitiesof seeing it, says, 'This curious irradiation rises from the ocean nearthe northern point of the island; looks like a blaze of fire; eithertouches the water or hovers over it. It bears no more resemblance tothe _ignis fatuus_ than to the aurora borealis. Sometimes it is small,resembling the light through a distant window; at others expandingto the height of a ship with all her canvas spread; the streams,somewhat blended together at the bottom, separate and distinct atthe top, the middle one rising higher than the others. It is veryvariable--sometimes almost disappearing, then shining out anew. Itchanges about every three minutes; does not always return to thesame place, but is sometimes seen shining at a considerable distancefrom the place of disappearance. It seems to have no certain lineof direction. The flame, when most expanded, waves like a torch; issometimes stationary, at others progressive. It is seen at all seasonsof the year and, for the most part, in calm weather which precedes aneasterly or southerly storm. It has, however, been noticed in a severenorthwesterly gale and when no storm followed immediately. Its stay issometimes short, at others all night, and it has been known to appearseveral nights in succession.'

  "'This light,' says another person, 'is often seen blazing at six orseven miles distance, and strangers suppose it to be a vessel on fire.The blaze emits luminous rays. A gentleman whose house is situated nearthe sea tells me that he has known it to illuminate considerably thewalls of his room through the window; but that happens only when thelight is within a half mile of the shore.'"

  "But where did you learn all this, Molly?" asked her husband, as shepaused to turn a leaf in her manuscript.

  "From Mr. Baylor's 'History of Newport County,' lent me by my kindfriend, Mrs. Barker, of the old revolutionary house," Mrs. Emburyanswered, then continued her reading.

  "Says Mr. Joseph P. Hazard of Narragansett Pier: 'I first saw it threemiles off the coast. I suspected nothing but ordinary sails untilI noticed the light, upon reappearing, was apparently stationaryfor a few moments, when it suddenly started toward the coast, and,immediately expanding, became much less bright, assuming somewhat theform of a long, narrow jib, sometimes two of them, as if each on adifferent mast. I saw neither spar nor hull, but noticed that the speedwas very great, certainly not less than fifteen knots, and they surgedand pitched as though madly rushing upon raging billows.'"

  "Superstition, every bit of it!" remarked Mr. Dinsmore, as Mrs. Emburyfolded her manuscript and laid it aside.

  "Why this any more than the _ignis fatuus_?" queried Mr. Embury, in atone that seemed a mixture of jest and earnestness. "Neither has as yetbeen altogether satisfactorily accounted for. The latter having puzzledphilosophers from the time of Aristotle."

  "True," said Mr. Dinsmore, "there are various theories advancedin regard to that. All we know certainly is that it is a luminousappearance frequently seen in marshy places, churchyards, and overstagnant pools."

  "Has it ever been seen in this country, grandpa?" asked Grace.

  "I think not," he replied, "but it is not unfrequent in the lowlandsof Scotland, the south and northwest of England, or the northern partsof Germany. The time of year for its appearance is from the middle ofautumn till the beginning of November."

  "I think I have read that the people of the districts where it wasfrequently seen used to be superstitious about it in olden times; andthat they called it Will-o'-the-wisp, and Jack-a-lantern."

  "Yes; and believed it to be due to the agency of evil spirits who weretrying to lure travellers to their destruction. And unfortunately itwas sometimes mistaken by unwary travellers for a light, and in tryingto reach it, thinking it shone from some human habitation where theymight find shelter and a night's lodging, they would follow it and soget into, and sink in, the marsh, thus losing their lives."

  "Is it not about time we were seeking our night's lodgings?" asked Mrs.Dinsmore pleasantly, as her husband concluded his sentence. "See, theclock is on the stroke of nine, which is a late enough hour for most ofus now, when we are moving about so much during the day. Surely it isfor Gracie, whose eyes, I notice, begin to droop."

  "I think you are right, my dear," replied her husband. Then herequested Mr. Lilburn to lead their family worship.