Wyseby

OF THE FIRST IRVINGS. 87
crash, one fearful, simultaneous yell, — the vessel is in
pieces ! Under that supernatural blackness a fearful
warfare is waging ! — thirty human beings are strug-
gling there, and the commissioned destroyers are
exulting. Walter knelt on the beach and gazed
beneath the darkness into the bosom of the deep.
There — there — receding from the shore, a livid face
floats above the water. Not a moment for idle
thought ; — the soldier is amid the waves, struggling,
buffeting, and — conquering! He is on the shore
again, bearing an apparently lifeless youth. Would
he save his life, there is no time to be lost; — but
shall he abandon the hope of saving others ? He
raised the inanimate form in his arms, flew to the
cottage, and, committing his prize to the care of
Marion, whom he had with difficulty prevented from
accompanying him at first, he hurried to the beach
again. He watched all night ; but the ocean kept
its treasures well.
" For many days, with unwearied care, Walter
and his child watched over their ocean charge. —
Slowly his strength returned ; again he was able to
gaze upon the sun and the sea, and to rejoice in the
prospect of life. He offered no information con-
cerning his name and history, and no questions were
asked. His age might be about five and twenty ;
he was slightly and gracefully formed ; his hair was
jet black ; and his face, to the casual observer, was
beautiful indeed ;— but there was a latent expression
there, which in moments of excitement looked out.
As to the mariner the faint ripple which shows the
sunken rock, so was that expression to those who
could see.
ki In three weeks he was perfectly recovered. After