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Avenged At Last

Avenged At Last image
Parent Issue
Day
7
Month
May
Year
1891
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

ICOPTKIOHT. 1800.1 f COXTINUED. ] Llon-i'' iroflered a sugs e tlon. "If youladins would prefer sailinr on some other vessel, 1 wlll securo passage for f ou. For in. y part, I do not wish to loare the prisoner again, until I leavo hlm in a folon's grave. I want to know 11 the timo that he is safe." "Exactly my feelings in the matter," said Mrs. Delara This seomcd to settlo tho question, for Armida said: "Thon, since you are ieterminod, I suppose I must considor tnysolf overruled." Consequently, arrangement wore íompleted and a few daya later the party startod for Liverpool. The ship on which thoir passage had been socurcd was tho "Dunrobin Castlo." It was ah unpopular steamer and had been purposoly selected to avoid publicity and gossip on account of thé prisoner. As thoy steamed down the Meriey and ovor tho bar the day was one of tho most onjoyablo which couldhave boon wishcd for. Thero was a delighfful breeze blowin.? from the soa, and the temporaturo was agroeahle. Wlth this kind of weather thoy were favorod until thoy passed tho Fastnet I'oint, when a deep fog settled on thom. This in turn passed iway by thcevening of the noxt day, and they were onoo more steamin;r under sunny skies. 15ut only for about twenty-iour hours, at tho end of which time they encountored a storm and were tossed about in a violent manncr for days toothcr Tho old steamer v.iiich carried them was none too good a seaboat at the best of times, but now sho actod in a most eccentric manner and seomod entirely at tho racrcy and will of the wavos. Neither Mrs. Delaro nor l'.:rcy had as yet feit alartned, but Armida, who was, in tho most favorable weather, only a poor sailor, exp9rlenoed terrible torturo and claitned hor mother's atter.tion all the time. What v.ith the state of the weather anl the crios an 1 moans which roso from tho emigrante in thesteerago, the "Dunrobin Castlo" was any thing but tho pleasantost place on the Atlantic. For days togethor the raglng storm continued, and it as not until the slow old boat had been ten d:iys at sea that the tempest subsidod. Whon it did thero was a worso danger in store for thom. ïhcy wero on the Newfoundland banks in a fog, so thiek that the officers on the bridge were entirely unablo to seo the ship's notjo as sho plunged through the heavy swell loft by tho storm. The fo;j-".vhistle's conj tinuous roar only added to tho general confusión which reigned on board, and when the respon.ling wbistle of a passIng Steamcr was heard it only increased the dread and apprehensiou of tho passengere After about thirty-six hours of this commotion thrs peoplo quieted down and many seeuieLl to have become as much accustoiaed to it as old seadogs with the experience of a life-timo. 15ut at daybreak ono morning a dull, heavy thud was feit through the vessel, and a second later shrieks and cries ront the air, vvhich would have mado tlic heart of any lisiener othor than an old soa captain stand s;ill. Then followed a few momentsol suspense which was quickly changod to horror when tho' engineers ran up oii deck shouting: "Tho ship is fllling To the boats!" Thcn foUowed the rush of hurrying, scurrying huinanity from the steerago, terror plainly gravaji on every faco, while over anl abj3 the noiso and confusión rang out iho resonant tones of the Captain'a v-ice shouting orders to the boatawain. The foroe of habit appeared even on that scène of danger as the sailors shoutod; "Y'heave lic" while they lowered the life-boats from their dariti Louder than al] these sounds and tar above tho general exciteraent reigning on the "Dunrobin Castle" could be heard the shrieking whistles of tho stoamor which had 8truck her, and which was rounding to, in order to give all possible assistanuo in saving the livesof those on board tho fast sinkin? boat. It was not lonjr bc foro the unknown stoamer wasalmost alonfrsido, and then commonced the work of transferring the passongers- not au easy matter in a raging sea. Tho patience of tho officers was tried to the utmost, Strong, rude men would try to push women and children aside in their wild cftorts to be ftrst to enter the life-boats, only to be driven back by the ship"s ofBeors at the nosesof their revolvers. Oontsionally ono more daring than the est would thrust a woman aside and try to pass her, but with a blow frora the butt end of his revolver, the captain would knock him sensoless, with the promiae of similar treatmont to the next who should dare to make the attempt All this time the ship was rapidly filling and it beoame apparent beyond a peradventuro that before mauy more minutes the "Dunrobin Castle" would sink forever into the depths of the ocean. It roquired several trips of the life-boats to transfer all the passengora, but this difficnlt task was finally accoinplished. The last load was being taken and none but the offieers were supposed to bo on board, when suddonly the two deteotives in charge of Velasquez came rushing up the companion ladder ecitedly exclaimins;: "We can not reach the prisoner! What shall we do?" "Tbat should havo been thoujfht of soonor," said the Captain. "Follow me!" he shouted. "We will rescuo him if it Is possible." "Let him go," said ono of the deteotives. "Ile'll be hung anyhow." But the Captain knew that although the prisoner was accused, he was not yet found guilty and his brave heart would not permit him to leave even suoh a cur as Velasquez to a horrible death without an effort to rescue him. Accotnpanied by one of the oölcers the bijr-hearted commander hurried uirwu uie lian un u mn CU Din aocE, Irom heneo he attempted to doscend to tho lowor dock on whlch Valasque waa confinod. I5ut biavo as the oíd Captain was, thero was an obstado in the way which even tio was powerless to overeóme The water was up too high and tho rescuers could go no furthor. A'.ready tho imprisoned man raust bo drivon back to his bunk near the top of tho room ín which ho was oonflnod; tho wretehcd prlaonè? could not pass out now alive, an 1 cortainly none could roach him. Doublless ho was alivc - just alive - his Ufo' 3 span now to be measnmd br raoments. Now he could see how reien tlessly tho milis o( retribution grind--so surely- so surely- sosurely - aye, and so quickly, so much more quickly sometimos than even those who manipúlate tho machincry of the milis can foresee. Almost Velasque had paid to tho uttormost the penalty oí his crimo committod long years before in tlie sunny Californian valley - almost The fihip ciight po down at any moment now, and unless his would-be rescuers at onco retraced their stops they Baightgo down with It, 80 with regreta tho Captain lod the way to the deck. Sorrowfully ho took lm placn in the life-boat, and, as tho sailors pulled away, he loolted longingly at the old ship that had carried him throujjh so many thouaands of milos of fair and stormy weather. lïeforo they reached the waitin : stoamer tho "Dunrobin Castlc" settled on hor boam ends and sank in old ocoan wlth a mighty rush, taking with her, to a higher tribunal than,that of man, León Valasquez. It was a tragic death. In some sense it was too grand a death for so mean a man - to oxchan-rc tho ignominy of the gallows and the fclon's grave in a prison yard for a burial beneath the rolling waves of the Atlantic, cofflned in a noble ship. And vet it ras a horrible end - a lonosome, solemn end, for the man who had livod in tumult and eioitoment all his days to moet tho Grim Monster and Great Avenffer alono with his torturing memories of the past - to know, while the merciloss flood closed over him, that ho died unmourned and unregretted. Perhaps it was a poor satisfaction to tho widow of Mario Delaro to know that her husbands murderer, the destróyer of hor happincss, was never convicted of his crime- but when Loon Velasquez. ono of the meanest villains who ever trod this oarth, went into the unseen world to moet his Maker, it surely was a powerful illustration of that infallible truth: "Though the milis of Gort grind slowly, Yet they grind excee.ltng sm-ill; Though with pationcf stand He waiting, With eiaclness grtnds He all." jijt Not long ago a small wedding party passed down the carpetea stops of a ehurch in New York City. The principáis of that party were a handsome, sunburned man of forty years and a, lovely vvoman . raany years younger. Theyseeraed vcry happy- they icer very happy. Tbey were I'ercy Lovel and hls wife - whom we havo known so long as Armida Dolaro. On the samo day there loft, from one of the poorer Frencü lodginff-houses near Leicestor Square, London, a funeral hearse and one mourner's carrlage. In that hearse lay the body of Emilie Bregy, and in the carriage was a man who lookcd tha picture of misery- his name was Eugene Bregy- a living examplo of "what might have been."

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Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Register