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Article THE SAILOR FREEMASON. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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The Sailor Freemason.
" Farewell ! " I could see him keeping his eye on the vessel , till his figure became like an atom , and presently it vanished from my anxious gaze . Our voyage was tempestuous ; the evening of our departure was greeted by no solar ray ; and the wind , which in gloomy murmursgave " fearful note of preparation" for a
coming-, storm , soon increased to a hurricane . Our little world was tossed about at the mercy of the waves : the night was spent in fear and anxiety . 'Twas then I thought of home ; I imagined I heard my brother beseeching me to return ; but to hear a A ^ oice then was impossible : the thunder rolled , and the forked lightning flashed in awful majesty . The morning came , but the
tempest raged with unabated violence , threatening to hurl us into the yawning abyss . In this manner we were tossed about for two days at the mercy of the winds and waves , having lost two masts . On the night of the second we were driven on shore on the coast of Norway , near Bergen . The captainwho was a cowardlfellow ( in to whomI do
, y mercy , not name the ship ) , went ashore , with four others , in the only boat we had , promising to return . I was certainly offered a place beside the chicken-hearted commander , but I preferred to await the return of the boat , in the company of those that remained .
Hanging to the wreck for hours , no boat came to our rescue ; and as the vessel was now under water , I resolved on swimming ashore , where I saw lights moving to and . fro , — no doubt to aid the wreckers in their greedy business . Seeing a spar floating by , I jumped upon it , and I was soon away from the vessel ; the tide seemed to aid my efforts , for I was
carried towards the shore . In my eagerness to hold on by the spar , my watch-glass was broken into pieces , which were lodged in my side , and this no doubt brought on fainting from loss of blood . But there is a wonderful tenacity in life , and I still held fast , although unable to make any effort . I became insensible ; a ling noise assailed earsand I
gurg my , sank , as it were , into a dreamy sleep . In this situation I was cast on shore , and how long I remained in this state I know not . I heard voices in the midst of the storm , and the sound of footsteps near , but I could neither speak nor open my eyes . My first sensation arose from the rough handling of some of the people , who talked together in , to me , an unknown
tongue . Still unable to open my eyes , or to move , I remained insensible , until I felt my hand lifted up , as if to feel the pulse . Instinctively , I clutched the hand in a grasp that
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Sailor Freemason.
" Farewell ! " I could see him keeping his eye on the vessel , till his figure became like an atom , and presently it vanished from my anxious gaze . Our voyage was tempestuous ; the evening of our departure was greeted by no solar ray ; and the wind , which in gloomy murmursgave " fearful note of preparation" for a
coming-, storm , soon increased to a hurricane . Our little world was tossed about at the mercy of the waves : the night was spent in fear and anxiety . 'Twas then I thought of home ; I imagined I heard my brother beseeching me to return ; but to hear a A ^ oice then was impossible : the thunder rolled , and the forked lightning flashed in awful majesty . The morning came , but the
tempest raged with unabated violence , threatening to hurl us into the yawning abyss . In this manner we were tossed about for two days at the mercy of the winds and waves , having lost two masts . On the night of the second we were driven on shore on the coast of Norway , near Bergen . The captainwho was a cowardlfellow ( in to whomI do
, y mercy , not name the ship ) , went ashore , with four others , in the only boat we had , promising to return . I was certainly offered a place beside the chicken-hearted commander , but I preferred to await the return of the boat , in the company of those that remained .
Hanging to the wreck for hours , no boat came to our rescue ; and as the vessel was now under water , I resolved on swimming ashore , where I saw lights moving to and . fro , — no doubt to aid the wreckers in their greedy business . Seeing a spar floating by , I jumped upon it , and I was soon away from the vessel ; the tide seemed to aid my efforts , for I was
carried towards the shore . In my eagerness to hold on by the spar , my watch-glass was broken into pieces , which were lodged in my side , and this no doubt brought on fainting from loss of blood . But there is a wonderful tenacity in life , and I still held fast , although unable to make any effort . I became insensible ; a ling noise assailed earsand I
gurg my , sank , as it were , into a dreamy sleep . In this situation I was cast on shore , and how long I remained in this state I know not . I heard voices in the midst of the storm , and the sound of footsteps near , but I could neither speak nor open my eyes . My first sensation arose from the rough handling of some of the people , who talked together in , to me , an unknown
tongue . Still unable to open my eyes , or to move , I remained insensible , until I felt my hand lifted up , as if to feel the pulse . Instinctively , I clutched the hand in a grasp that