Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 181 — page 2: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

— —— - to it with both hands, | ‘Oh, sefior, is there any h man, who wore an undress A “7 fear not, Jose Morena, for do you see yon- der point of land far ahead?” **’Yes, sefior.” ; : ‘* Well, that is a rocky arm ‘that extends far out into the sea, and forms the bay upon o “tk bow, and we are scudding: directly u | ” the + ‘But, sefior captain, ge ore can be done to save us,” cried the man, eagerly. “*T should like to know what, for every stitch of our canvas has been blown to ribbons, and if we had any, nothing would hold against this tornado, and yonder reef of rocks alone can check our m fligbt through these seething waters. ** And theu—?” “Why, the caravel will be knocked into aes wood,” said the other, with a reckless smile. = ** And what will become of us, sefior?” °F ‘* For myself only will I speak, Jose; J shall ive. , " And poor Jose Morena, sefior?” groaned the other. ** You and the rest will die, good Jose, but I will not,” was the cool reply. And hardly had the words left his lips when a mountain wave came pouring over the vessel in a deep cascade, a roaring waterfall of many ———— —_—— rican uniform. _ Senntieiieeantnleennteelienetaieane enna —E — ———— 7 - 7 “See! my crew have gone, Jose Morena, and we two alone remain; and you will die, in spite of your prayers and your clinging grasp, for we are driving straight upon the point of rocks. “The tornado holds us in its grasp, and this craft is but the toy of Destiny.” He ceased speaking, and glanced out over the fearful scene, for, though davlight, the dark- ness of twilight was upon the sea. ‘4 The caraval, with its wheel lashed, and with- out an inch of canvas, was driving over the sea before the tornado, and not half a league away rose the penin wie jutting out from the mainland in the shape of a bent arm, formed a bay inland, and into which the vessel had driven before the wind. And as he gazed, his ‘face still reckless and resolute, and poor Jose Morena groaned in agony, there came another want wall of water upon the devoted little vessel. . “Now, Jose Morena, your time has come,” shouted the defiant captain, and in answer there arose the piercing cry: ‘‘Mercy, captain! oh! Jesu Maria save me! save—” : There was a snapping of wood, a roaring of waters, howling of winds, and the wave swept on, and upon its bosom, vainly struggling for life, was Jose Morena. And he who had said he would not die? Stood against the shattered wheel, clinging feet, sweeping forward witha force and fury | with one hand, while the other bung useless at that were terrific. : And amid the roar of waters, the roll of thunder and the howling winds, was heard the oniged cry of man for help that could not be given, for mercy the relentless elements would not show, for life that must be lost. The caruvel, after a desperate effort, shook off the vast weight of water, and rose buoyant- ly to the surface, but one-half of her crew had been swept away, her half-dozen guns had been torn from their lashings and dashed through the stout.bulwarks into the sea. But the dark-faced, stern captain’s gripe yet remained firm, and his clutch upon the wheel was the same as before the monster wave swept down upon the devoted craft. . And Jose Morena’s life also was safe, but his face was as pallid as a corpge, and seeing it the captain gave a light laugh, and said: ‘ Jose, half of my men went to the devil on that wave, and I thought you would be torn off, too; but your time will soon come.” “The Virgin preserve me, sefior;.[ am no coward in battle, orin facing my fellow-man, but when brought face to face with God’sanger, my sins cause me to tremble in terror. Oh that there were a padre here to absolve us.” ‘Task no absolution af any man’s hands or lips, Jose Morena, ‘* When I die it shall be as I have lived, with- out fear.” : “ Oh! eaptain, do not be thus defiant in this awful hour,” pleaded the man. ** Don’t preach to me, Jose Morera; you may ‘ollow ~~ A your companions and perish, but J 0, no, there is too much unfinished work fe ae for me to do yet, and itis not my te t te now. site oat as now, not now.” i. ‘more to himself than to his n- anion, and there was something so a n his defiance of Fate at sucha , trembled with horror, and muttered: ‘We are sure to be lost, sefior; there can be no hope.” ae oha: bab th th Is as fleet £0 to pl here are other vessels as leet; all of my crew will become food for fishes, but there are Other men as brave, and ere long I will again sail the blue waters with a strange | craft, and strange seamen to man her, and ask no odds of wind and wave.” hie cud Maria?” murmured Jose, in a trem- voice. * hy prayers will not aid thee, J@se Mo- rena. “cs . ” ay for you, my .captain. «een your prayers fon y ourself, then, for I need them not, _* “Then I shall cling to thee, good sefior, when the shock does come; oh, see as there rises the cliff at and hark! how the sea dashes upon ee the wind howls was P The daring man who had the face of death, still stood Jose Morena also clung to the wheel, ' had cracked beneath their weight and the de- luge of waters hurled n it, lancing forward, after dashin from his eyes, the captain seized the spray when I have lived my allotted me that Jose. ou, ‘yes, and the caravel will | tar in -her han in | swung to and , and . over the strin ugh it | seemingly his side, for it had be n broken above the elbow. Grimly smiling, he muttered: **] told him he would die; but, even with this broken arm IJ shall live, ‘* Now for the last struggle.”, Releasing the wheel as he spoke, he suddenly sprung into the sea, just as the caravel bcunded high upward as though to leap the rocky bar- rier beneath her bows, and came down witha crash that shivered her strong hull into frag- ments, while the mad waves roared, the thun- ders rolled, and the wind shrieked, as though in a laughing chorus a the wreck and death the tornado. had caused to those who dared face its fury. CHAPTER II, NITA SABINAS,. ° Some forty leagues from the Cy of Havana, and on the southern shore of Cuba, there is a piceusregue bay, indented with numerous rocky injets, No town is vistble upon its shores, and the only craft that visits the secluded spot are the coffee droghers of the plantations along the coast, and the waters are occasionally enlivened by a pretty pleasure yacht, belonging to some of the pueblas that here and there dot the scene landward. Upon the point of land, the earthen arm that forms the shelter to the ba , and curves out a league into the sea, stands an old ruin, one of the guard-towers used by the Spaniards long years before. Within the arch of this ruin were two sons, one of whom was reclining in a Mexica) hammock, swung between the tower Spon the sto. : of fancy-work, which was occasionally in rupted to give the swinging Couch a’gentle p to keep it in motion, . ey tress and maid. there could be no doubt, and ‘them which a superior of a kin nature W ever hold toward a trusted servitor. > eontin the hammock was ¢ maiden who had scarcely year, and , under 5 wart Soutbertl ‘th et, un warm Sou sun ‘the ie Ph faithful le,” had already budded forth into loveliest womanhood, for her form was a model of beauty and symmetry. A Her face was bronzed, yet the complexion was exquisite, and each feature was perfect, and, in spite of her youth, character of a high order was upon mouth, chin and brow. Her eyes were large, ces so, melting one moment with softness, an flashing the next, if excited, with all the dark intensity of her nature. = 4 One who would idolize instead of love, ahd whose hate would be as undying as an Indian’s. Nita Sabinas certainly was one to forgive al- m wrong of the one she adored, but if by a devotion of that idol to another, m one to become a Nemesis in her avenging pas- ifadh A in : dress, with one tin his aifppeted foot halt anging from the hammock’ from its ivor her wealth of ir , esca the mat beneath her comb, falling : by her side, the lovely Cuban maiden , lightly running her fingers gs of the instrument, and yet building castles in the air, for her thoughts seemed not with the scene and the present. Alena, her maid, was a few years older and ose Morena ' an octoroon, with the blood of the Indian, the g engaged in some piece | ve; That the two stood in the relationship of mis- yet there seemed to be that familiarity between | ES... 7 look upomthe face of the one he addressed, and by the sHoulder a pointed -to the crewless | first rulers of the isle, the negro and the white who, though y lashed to the wheel, clung | geokss while ‘he erjed, in an a\most exultant Pie ee 3 Segoe ne: : man in her veins, <a She also possessed marked beauty, and the hand of slavery upon her had not marred her row, or taken from the brightness of ‘her eyes or tlie roundness and grace of her,form, ~ A petted domestic she was dressed neatly and with taste, and her ears were hung with daz- zling gems and ber fingers were ornamented with rings, evidently gifts from her fair young mistress and the household she served. : ‘* Alena, Iam tired of this guitar, I cast my sketching aside half-finished, Ido not like my hammock, and feel strangely out of sorts to- day. CWiat ails me?” and the beautiful maiden sprung out of the hammock and turned to her maid to answer the vexed question, In perfect Spanish Alena replied, also rising: ““T fear it is the weather, for there is a tor- nado pets | Sefiorita Nita,” and she. cast her eyes around the horizon of sea and land. ‘*Oh, that would be delightful, for I have so longed to witness a hurricane from this ruined quinta,” said Sefiorita Sabinas, joyfully, and after casting a look over the- waters she con- tinued: “You are right, Alena, for there rises a dark cloud yonder; and see, far off on the horizon is a sail; the Virgin Mother protect it if el tornado strikes it.” ‘‘T hope it may not. be your brother’s, Dou Isadoro’s, goleta, senorita.” ‘Heaven grant not, Alena; but it lies he- calmed upon the waters, and whoever sails her must take the chances of life and death.” ‘‘ Ah! what dangerous lives’these sailors lead : if I were to be a sailor’s bride, Alena, I would never let him leave me; no, no, I would face the dangers of the deep with him.” ‘*But, Sefiorita Nita will not be a sailor’s bride,” said Alena, in a low tone, ‘* Ab me! I PUppOsG not, as my father has al- ready told me I must marry Don Basilio La Roque, ‘*f wish I was a poor girl, Alena, and not the dauchter of the wealthy planter Don Carlos Sa binas, arid then I would be allowed to marry where my heart led me.” As though the thought was annoying, she patted the ground with her little foot for an instant, and then turning, threw herself down upon a mossy bank without the tower, and said pettishly: " 4 ““)tLresume my sketching, Alena; bring me my portfolio.” The maid obeyed, and Nita opened it upon a half-finished sketch, most artistically executed, of the scene spread outbefore her. Resuming her pencil, she gazed upon the pic- turesque view, full of grandeur and beauty. The shores were wild and wooded, seping - ward the sea, here and there fronting the dark flood beneath with precipitous wails of rocks. The plume-like palm and cocoa trees lifted their tops above the cliffs, and the crevices of t ocks were filled with clinging vines, while brilliant colored wild-flowers dotted the hill- _sides and banks. tretching out from this scene of beauty be- ; yond the tower, was the headland that shelter- | oon, the bay, and its sterile, black, forbidding ) ce t upon an embroidered pe 3, Showed no sign of the rich foliage and eg station that clothed the mainland with per- -'| petual beauty. _ Beyond was the blue sea, calm as a mill-pond, and at her feet were the curving shores of the ‘bay, also undisturbed by a single ripple, while far awa ‘in the distanca was visible the single sail, i ils flapping as it rose and fell upon the swell. _ Inland were the haciendas, or casas de campo of the wealthy islanders, surrounded by their vast coffee and su estates , with the little quartier, or negro V1 nestling near the man- sion. In the interior, to the north, the lofty moun- tains rose blue and bold, their summits reflect- ing the sunlight, and the oa at their base also dotted with white pueblas, the homes of Cu planters. y 1an opening of the forest, and a quarter of ‘a mile from the tower, q tayorite resort of the maiden, was her own home, its white wal!s and vermilion turrets stand ao in bold re- mansions, still often met w th a - “and a discarded portfolio of It was vast in size, with wings ed white. e ie: bors Phd care Througt the tall gra upon sea and land, could room, with heavy ng ‘and courts, or valls were paint- wer on the way, that h the fountain, a illed with dows ‘opening 6 seen’ the sleeping- crimson curtains, to shut out the light, while the sitting-room and parlors had drapery of lace and rose-colored silk. There was an air of luxury and grandeur per- (F©) AMG JOO . aS cS (E(@)