{ title: 'The evening gazette. (Port Jervis, N.Y.) 1869-1924, April 01, 1919, Page 2, Image 2', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83031647/1919-04-01/ed-1/seq-2/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83031647/1919-04-01/ed-1/seq-2.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83031647/1919-04-01/ed-1/seq-2/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn83031647/1919-04-01/ed-1/seq-2/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
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mm T^ro' m s p JEBVIS, y . Y.— THE .Evmkr<} &XzBTTE— - T V E S m r , APRIL 1, 1919 5«<!'', '*•' . 0 i^A .cyyccLi/ypG heca CHAPTER I. Sent Into Servitude. Knowing this to be a narrative of Birasaal adventure, and one which may never even be read until long after I iiave departed from this world, when it will be difficult to convince readers that such times as are herein depicted could ever have been reality, I shall endeavor to narrate each incident in the simplest manner possible. My ©nly purpose ,is truth, and my only wdtness history. Yet, even now lately s s this all happened, it is more like the recollections of a dream, dimly re membered at awakening, and, per chance, might remain so, but for the scars upon my body, and the constant memory of a woman’s face. These alone combine to bring back in vivid ness those days that were—days of youth and daring, of desperate, law less war, of wide ocean peril, and the ©utstretched bands of love. So that here, where I am writing It all down, here amid quietness and peace, and forgetful of the past, I wander again «long a deserted shore, and sail among those isles of a southern sea, the home for many a century of crime and un speakable cruelty. I will recall the truth, and can do no more. It was still early morning when we were brought out under heavy guard and marched somberly forth through the opened gates of the jail. Ahead we could perceive a- forest of masts, and what seemed like a vast crowd of waitiug people. That we had been sentenced to exile, to prolonged servi tude in some foreign land, was all that any of us knew. The guards prodded the crowd sav agely with the butts of their mus- ketoons, thus making scant room for ns to shuffle through, out upon the far end of the wharf, where we were :Snally halted abreast of a lumping brig, apparently nearly ready for sea. There were more than forty of us, I gained glimpse of the hooker’s name— Itomping Betsy of Plymouth. A mo ment later a sailor passed along the edge of the dock and instantly a whis per passed swiftly from man to man. \It’s Virginia, mate; we’re bound for Virginia.” The eyes of a prisoner met mine. “Yirginia, hey?” he grunted. “Ye’re a sailorman, ain’t ye, mate? Well, then, whar is this yere Virginia?” • ^ a t ’s all right, mates,” I returned che^iiy. “We’ll fall into the hands of Saglislimen out there. In America, where all ,the tobacco comes from. Tve been there twice—and to a land beyond they call Maryland. ’Tis a country not so unlike England.” ‘TTer better stow that, my man,” growled someone above me, and I looked up into the stem eyes of the captain of the guard, “or it may be the ‘eat’ for ye. So ye’ve been ter the Tirgmia plantation, hev ye? Then ye must be Master Carlyle, I take it. I heerd tell about ye at the trial, but supposed ye ter be an older man.” ‘T am twenty-six.” “Ye don’t look even thet. Ay, IheyT^ ready for ye now. Fall in there—all of yer. Step along, yer d ----- a rebel scum.” I stared aft at the poop deck. There were a number of persons gathered , along the low rail, probably all passen gers. Then my eyes encountered a strange group foregathered beside the lee raiL i There were four in the little party, one of them a negress. Another was ■\Nearly enough a colonial proprietor, a heavily built man of middle age, irarple faced. I passed these hy with a glance, my attention concentrating upon the other two—a middle-aged 33aan a n d a young woman stand in g side by side. Tbe form er was a dasM n g looking blade, of not more m a n forty, a ttired in blue slashed coat, ornamented with gilt buttons, and bedecked at collar and cuffs with m pavfusion qX lace. A saffron colored 1 waistcoat failed to conceal his richly I feeruffled shirt, and the hilt of a rapier w as m ther prominently displayed. dandles were frequently enough jseen, hut it was this man’s face* which m m * marked contrast with his gay aittlm He was dark and hook-nosed, apparently of foreign birth, with black msmtMcbe tightly clipped, so as to re- wm i file thin firmness of his lips, and tm m at that distance I could perceive ifiie Hues of a scar across his chin. Al together there was an audacity to his JEftC^ a daring, convincing me he was ■wto mere lady’s knight but one to whom K i t i n g was a trade. He was pointing ms out to his companion, apparently joking over onr appearance, in an en- lAe&r&r to amuse. Seemingly she gave ;sma3I heed to his words, for although ilier eyes followed where he pointed they never once lighted with a smile, iBor did I see her answer his sallies. wtm scarcely more thau a girl, le a s e d very »iaply *in some clinging stuff, W i^ a ldMO fgoak draping her shoulders and a small, neat bonnet of straw perched upon a mass of coiled hair. The face beneath was sweetly piquant, with dark eyes and rounded cheeks flushed with health. She stood, both hands clasping the rail, watching us intently. I somehow felt as though her eyes were upon me, and within their depths, even at that distance, I seemed to read a message of sympathy and kindness. The one lasting impression her face left on my memory was that of inno cent girlhood, dignified by a womanly tenderness. What were those two to each other? I could not guess, for they seemed from two utterly different worlds. Not What Were Those Two to Each Other? brother and sister surely; and not lovers. The last was unthinkable. Instinctively I disliked the man, aware of an instant antagonism, realizing that he was evil; while his companion came to me as revealment of all that was true and worthy, in a degree I had never known before. From the instant I Iboked upon these two I felt con vinced th a i through some strange va gary of fate, we were destined to know more of each other; that our life lines were- ordained to touch and become entangled, somewhere in that mystery of the western world to which I had been condemned. Then the guards came to me, and, with my limbs freed of fetters, I was passed down the steep ladder into the semidarkness between decks, where we were to be confined. It proved a dismal, crowded hole in which we were quartered like so many cattle, the only ventilation and light furnished by the open hatch above. The ticket given me called by number for a certain berth, and I found this, throwing with in the small bundle I bore. Almosit immediately there was a sound of tramping feet on the deck above, and the creaking of blocks. Then a sud den movement of the hull told all we were under way. i V further particulars — felltm the tracks I CHAPTER II. The Prison Ship. The greater portion of that voyage of 53 days I would blot entirely from memory if possible. I cannot hope to descrihe it in any detail—the foul' smells, the discomfort the ceaseless horror of food, the close companion ship of men turned into mere animals by suffering and distress, the w e a ri some days,, the black, sleepless nights, the poisonous air, and the brutality of guards. I can never forget these things, for they have scarred my soul. The hatch ahove remained open, hut, carefully guarded night and day, while we were permitted on deck for air and exercise only in squads of ten, two hours out of every twenty-four. This alone served to break the dread mo notony of the voyage. From our exer cise on deck we generally returned be low drenched to the skin, but glad to even pay, that price for two hours of fresh air, and an opportunity to gaze about a t sea and sky. We were herd ed well forward, a rope dividing us from the main deck, which space the passengers aft used as a promenade. There were only three women aboard!, a fat dowager, the young lady I had noticed at emharkation, and her col ored maid, I gained but one glimpse of the young lady in the first two weeks at sea, and then only as we were being ordered down to our quar ters for the night. Just as I was ap proaching the hatch to descend our eyes met fairly, and % instantly kaew she saw $nd recogniaed a single sficond' our glances clung, as though some mysterious influence held us to each other—then the angry guard struck me with the stock of his piece. ' “What er ye standin’ thar fer?” he demanded savagely. “Go on down- lively now.” ^ I saw her clasping fingers convul sively grip the rail, and. even at that distance, marked a sudden flame, of color in her cheeks. That was all her message to me, yet quite enough. Al though we had never spoken, although our names were yet unknown, I was no criminal to her mind, no unrecog nized prisoner beneath contempt, buf a human being in whom she already felt a personal interest, and to whom she extended thought and sym- patny. I.continued entirely ignoran' of the identity of the young woman. She remained in my memory, in my thoughts nameless, a dream rathei than a reality. I did learn that the gay gallant was -a wealthy Spaniard, supposedly of high birth, by name Sanchez, and at one time in the naval service, and likewise ascertained that the rotund planter was a certain Roger Fairfax of Saint Mary’s in Maryland, homeward bound after a successful sale of his tobacco crop in London. It was during his visit to the great citj that he had met Sanchez, and his praise of the colonies had induced the latter to essay a voyage in his com pany'to America, But strange enough no one so much as mentioned the girl in connection with either man. CHAPTER HI. Dorothy Fairfax. We w e re not fa r from two hundred miles east of the Capes. I had been closely confined to my bunk for two days with illnegs, but now, somewhat stronger, had been ordered to deck by the surgeon. The last batch of pris oners, after their short hour of recre ation, had been returned to the quar ters below, but I was permitted' to re main alone undisturbed. I was still standing there absorbed when a voice, soft-spoken and femi nine, broke the silence, “May I speak with you?” I turned instantly, so thoroughly surprised my voice faltered as I gazed into the upturned face of the ques tioner. She stood directly beside me, her head uncovered. Instantly my c4p was off, and I was bowing courteously. “Most certainly,” witid a quick side glance toward the guard, “hdt I am a prisoner.” “Of course I know that,” in smiling confidence. “Only you see I am rathei a privileged character on board. Per haps you may be punished if you talk with me—^is that what you meant?” (To be continued). Modern Greek Language. The language spoken by the ec|u- cated cla.s.ses, that used in the news papers and other modern literature of Greece, differs from the Romaic used by the lower classes. The former is distinguished by a greater resemblance to the Greek of antiquity, which ren ders it easy for anyone who has a sat isfactory acquaintance with ancient Greek to read the literary Greek of the present day. B u siness Poor in th e H a m lets. Turnips—“I say. old chap, what sort of busines.s did you do with your Shakespearan repertoire this season?” Carrots — “Rotten ! ‘Twelfth Night’ didn’t see the second night; ‘As You Like It’ wasn’t as they liked it; ‘A Winter’s Tale’ couldn’t be continued; ‘The Midsummer Night’ was frosty; the ‘Merchant’ did no trade, and ‘The Tempest’ Magazine. swamped us.” — Cartoons Ncodies Long in Use. Steel needles wei’e found among the Kaiiirs in Africa, and elsewhere, so that they may have had early aborigi nal invention in more than one country. The earliest European eyed needles were of bone and ivory, sometimes of bronze. In 1370 steel needles were certainly being made in Nuremburg, pos,sibly in England also, thojgh until 1563 the raw material came from I We wish to announce that Mrs. E. C. Bloxham, No. 124 Jersey avenue, was the fortunate one to secure one of the McDOUGAL KITCHEN CABINETS “Free^^ during our last Club Offer. fi I I II t m II I I I Owing to the fact that our last “Club” was so successful, we will start Saturday, March 29th and form a new club membership of (25). Upon the completion of this “Club” ws will give away a McIX)UCALL CABI NET Call and let us explain our plan. Terms $1.00 dowUf dues $1.00 weekly. , JOHNSON & PARKS II O' d \y
