Lost And Saved ; Or Nellie Powers The Missionary's Daughter.

"At dreary midnight's cheerless hour , Deserted e ' en by Cynthia ' s beam , When tempests beat , and torrents pour , And twinkling stars no longer gleam j The Avearied sailor , spent Avith toil , Clings firmly to the weather shrouds , And still the lengthened hours to guile , Sings as he views the gath ' ring clouds , Larboard watch ahoy !

Larboard watch ahoy But who can speak the joy he feels , As o'er the foam the vessel reels , And Ids tired eyelids shimbring fall ; He rouses at the welcome call

Of Larboard watch ahoy ! Larboard watch ahoy I " The men of the watch gathered about the companion way , attracted hy the voices of the singers , which seemed to transport them to fairy lands , so unaccustomed were they to hear such strains of siveet music so far out at sea . Tom declared thatas the notes rang through the vesseldolphins came up

along-, , side , and were so charmed that even SIOAV Simon caught one with a slip noose . But Blackman , the cook , thought that Tom had not begun to do justice to the occasion at all , so he said : " My , yas , I guess dey did , an' didn't I see de sea gulls come an' cock dere heads to one side , an' put dere ears down to listen ? Wall , I guess I did . It ' s not ofen dey gits treated to such delicacies fur notin ' . "

Dick Flynn here volunteered the opinion that the fish must have had cotton in ' their ears if they were obliged to listen so hard and so long as to give Slow Simon time to catch one of them . This joke at Slow Simon's expense raised quite a laugh among the men . In fact , they had a good many laughs at Simon ' s expense , and one of them ivas on that very night .

" Simon , '"' called the first mate , as he put his head out of the companion way , in tho middle of the second watch , that evening , " go below and see if the mules are fast ; it seems to me that I hear some of them running loose . " Simon , thus enjoined , hastened below . Sometimes mules and horses arc killed in various ways by getting loose at sea . They , are generally packed together in such a way that they lean against each other , and brace each other up . When one mule

becomes loose ancl falls , or attempts to lay down from exhaustion , the others crowd into his place and trample him to death , or if he succeeds in regaining his feet it is not before he is crowded out of his place , and the only room he can find is behind the heels of his more fortunate neighbours , ivho , knowing that is not the place for him , give him an unfriendl y touch with their heels as he passes behind them ; in this way , unless rescued , he is soon kicked to death . " Where ' s that Simon 1 " asked the third mate , when it came Simon ' s turn at the wheel .

" Gone for ' ard to look at them ere mules , " replied Crony ; " sent by the first mate . " Badshaw started forward and found Simon coiled upon a lot of hay , fast asleep , near a large white mule , which was making a delicious feast of Simon ' s hat . The third mate had sailed before with men who went to sleep in their watch , and knew the remed y . It was but the work of a moment for . him to get the tar pot , and spill the contents over Simon ' s face , and douse him with a pail of salt water . For many weeks Simon carried the black streaks of punishment on his sleepy featuresmuch to the

, amusement of his shipmates . The weather continued clear , ancl the wind fair for several days , during which the many little incidents of an ocean voyage were enacted aboard the " Sparkling Sea . " Miss Nellie Powers , in company with Harry Prescott , sang many duets , and each had