CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE STORM AND THE WRECK.
Listen, O ye who lie comfortably asleep, secure in your homes, obliviousof danger, when the tempest is roaring overhead! Come, let us togetherwing our flight to the seashore, and cast a searching glance far andnear over the strand.
On a certain Friday morning in the year 18 hundred and something, aterrific gale broke over the east coast, and everywhere the lifeboat menwent out to watch the raging sea, knowing full well that ere long therewould be rough but glorious work for them to do. A tremendous sea ranhigh on the bar at Tynemouth, and rolled with tremendous force on theBlack Middens--rocks that are black indeed, in their history as well astheir aspect. A barque was seen making for the Tyne, towed by asteam-tug. A sudden squall struck them; the tug was forced to let thevessel go, and she went on the rocks. A few minutes had barely passedwhen another vessel was descried, a brig, which made for the harbour,missed it, and was driven on the same fatal rocks a few yards south ofthe barque. The alarm-gun was fired, and the members of the Tynemouth_Volunteer Life Brigade_ were quickly at the scene of disaster. Therocket apparatus was fired, and a line passed over one of the vessels;but other anxious eyes had been on the look-out that night, and soon thesalvage boat _William_ was launched at North Shields, and the SouthShields men launched the Tynemouth lifeboat. The _Constant_ lifeboatalso put off to the rescue. It was getting dark by that time, so thatthose on shore could not see the boats after they had engaged in strifewith the raging sea. Meanwhile part of the crew of the barque weresaved by the rocket apparatus, but those of the brig did not know how touse it, and they would certainly have perished had not the _William_ gotalongside and rescued them all. While this was going on a third vesselwas driven ashore on the Battery Rock. The South Shields lifeboat madetowards her, succeeded in getting alongside, and rescued the crew.
A mile west of Folkestone Harbour a brigantine, laden with rum andsugar, went ashore, broadside-on, near Sandgate Castle. The ever-readycoastguardsmen turned out. A Sandgate fisherman first passed a smallgrapnel on board, then the coastguard sent out a small line with alifebuoy attached and one by one the crew were all saved--the men of thecoastguard with ropes round their waists, standing in the surf as deepas they dared to venture, catching the men who dropped, and holdingtheir heads above water until they were safe. But the gallantcoastguardsmen had other work cut out for them that night. Besidessaving life, it was their duty to protect property. The cargo was atempting one to many roughs who had assembled. When the tide receded,these attempted to get on board the wreck and regale themselves. Thecutlasses of the coastguard, however, compelled them to respect therights of private property, and taught them the majesty of the law!
Elsewhere along the coast many vessels were wrecked, and many lives werelost that night, while many more were saved by the gallant lifeboatcrews, the details of which, if written, would thrill many a sympatheticbreast from John o' Groat's to the Land's End; but passing by these weturn to one particular vessel which staggered in the gale of that night,but which, fortunately for those on board, was still at some distancefrom the dangerous and dreaded shore.
It was the _Ocean Queen_. Mr Webster was seated in her cabin, his facevery pale, and his hands grasping the arms of the locker tightly toprevent his being hurled to leeward. Annie sat beside him with her armsround his waist. She was alarmed and looked anxious, but evidentlypossessed more courage than her father. There was some reason for this,however, for she did not know that Mr Webster's fortunes had got intosuch a desperate case, that for the retrieving of them he depended verymuch on the successful voyage of the _Ocean Queen_.
"Don't be so cast down, father," said Annie; "I heard the captain saythat we shall be in sight of land to-morrow."
"Heaven forbid," said Mr Webster. "Better to be in mid-ocean than nearland on such a night."
Annie was about to reply when the door opened, and the captain lookedin. He wore a sou'-wester, and was clad in oilcloth garments from headto foot, which shone like black satin with the dripping spray.
"We're getting on famously," he said in a hearty tone, "the wind hasshifted round to the sou'-west, and if it holds--we shall--"
"Sprung a leak, sir!" cried the first mate in a deep excited voice as helooked down the companion.
"What!" exclaimed the captain, rushing upon deck.
"Plank must have started, sir, there's three foot water in--"
His voice was drowned by distance and the roaring of the gale, but MrWebster and Annie had heard enough to fill them with alarm.
The _Ocean Queen_ had indeed sprung a leak, and so bad was it that whenall the pumps available were set a-going, they failed to reduce thedepth of water in the hold. Still, by constantly changing hands andmaking strenuous exertions, they prevented it from increasing rapidly.All that night and next day they wrought with unflagging energy at thepumps. No man on board spared himself. The captain took his spell withthe rest. Even Mr Webster threw off his coat and went to work as if hehad been born and bred a coal-heaver. The work, however, was veryexhausting, and when land appeared no one seemed to have any heart towelcome it except Annie and her old nurse Mrs Niven.
Towards evening of the next day the captain came up to Mr Webster, whowas seated on the cabin skylight with his head resting wearily on hishands.
"We cannot make the port of Liverpool, I find," he said. "The pilotsays that if we wish to save the ship we must run for the nearestharbour on the coast, which happens, unfortunately, to be the very smallone of Covelly."
"Then by all means run for it," said Mr Webster. "Strange," hemuttered to himself, "that fate should lead me there."
The head of the _Ocean Queen_ was at once turned towards the shore, andas they neared it Mr Webster stood talking to Annie about the time"long, long ago," when she had been rescued by a lifeboat there, andremarking on the curious coincidence that she should happen to come tothe same place in distress a second time.
The gale, although somewhat more moderate, was still blowing strong, andan "ugly sea" was rolling on the bank where the _Swordfish_ had goneashore many years before. This, however, mattered little, because thedirection of the wind was such that they could steer well clear of it.But the channel leading to the harbour was very sinuous, and, as thepilot observed, required careful steering. In one part this channel wasso crooked that it became necessary to go on the other tack a shortdistance. In ordinary circumstances the captain would have thoughtnothing of this, but he felt anxious just then, because some of thestores and cordage furnished by mistake to him had been intended for the_Ruby_. Now the _Ruby_ was one of the vessels of Webster and Companywhich had been sent away with the hope, if not the intention, that itshould be wrecked! The mistake had been discovered only after the_Ocean Queen_ had set sail.
"Ready about," cried the pilot.
The men leaped to their respective places.
"Take another pull at that fores'l sheet," said the pilot.
This was done. At sea this would not have been necessary, because theship was lively and answered her helm well, but in the narrow channelthings had to be done more vigorously. The extra pull was given. Thetackle of the foresail sheet had been meant for the _Ruby_. It snappedasunder, and the ship missed stays and fell away.
Instantly all was desperate confusion. A hurried attempt was made towear ship, then two anchors were let go, but almost before the startledowner was aware of what had occurred, the good ship received a shockwhich made her quiver from stem to stern. She lifted with the nextwave, and in another minute was fast on the shoal which had proved fatalto the _Swordfish_, with the waves dashing wildly over her.
Long before this occurred, our hero, Harry Boyns, had been watching thevessel with considerable anxiety. He little knew who was on board ofher, else would his anxiety have been infinitely increased. But Harrywas one of those men who do not require the spur of self-interest tokeep them alive to duty. He had observed that the ship was in distress,and, as the h
onorary secretary of the Lifeboat Branch, he summonedtogether the crew of his boat. Thus all was in readiness for actionwhen the disaster occurred to the _Ocean Queen_.
Instantly the lifeboat was run down to the beach, where hundreds ofwilling hands were ready to launch her, for the people had poured out ofthe town on the first rumour of what was going on. The crew leaped intothe boat and seized the oars. The launching-ropes were manned. A loud"Huzzah" was given, and the lifeboat shot forth on her voyage of mercy,cutting right through the first tremendous billow that met her.
At that time Old Jacob, the coxswain of the boat, happened to be unwell;Harry himself therefore took the steering-oar, and Bob Gaston was in thebow. Mr Joseph Dowler chanced to be among the spectators on shore.That fussy and conceited individual, conceiving it to be a fittingoccasion for the exercise of his tremendous powers, stood upon anelevated rock and began a wildly enthusiastic speech to which nobodylistened, and in which he urged the lifeboatmen to do their duty inquite a Nelsonian spirit. Fortunately a sudden gust of wind blew himoff his perch. He fell on his head so that his hat was knocked over hiseyes, and before he was thoroughly extricated from it, the lifeboat wasfar from shore, and the men were doing their duty nobly, even althoughMr Dowler's appeal had failed to reach their ears!
It was a tough pull, for wind, waves, and tide combined to beat themback, but they combined in vain. Inch by inch they advanced, slowly andlaboriously, although it was so bitterly cold that the men had littlefeeling in the benumbed hands with which they pulled so gallantly.
At last they reached the vessel, pulled well to windward, cast anchor,and eased off the cable, until they passed her stern and got under herlee. Just then Harry looked up and felt as if he had received a shockfrom electric fire, for he beheld the pale face of Annie Webster gazingat him with glowing eyes! No longer did he feel the chilling blast.The blood rushed wildly through his veins as he shouted--
"Look alive, Bob,--heave!"
Bob Gaston stood up in the bow, and, with a beautiful swing, cast a lineon board, by means of which the boat was hauled alongside. Just at thatmoment the mainyard came down with a thundering crash upon the ship'sdeck, fortunately injuring no one. At the same time a tremendous billowbroke over the stern of the _Ocean Queen_, and falling into the lifeboatin a cataract completely sunk her. She rose like a cork, keeluppermost, and would have righted at once, but a bight of the mainsail,with some of the wreck, held her down. Her crew, one by one, succeededin clambering upon her, and Harry shouted to the men in the ship to handhim an axe. One was thrown to him which he caught, and began therewithto cut the wreck of cordage.
"Slit the sail with your knife, Bob Gaston," he cried, but Bob did notreply. All the other men were there; Bob alone was missing. Thedifficulty of acting in such turmoil is not to be easily estimated.Twenty minutes elapsed before the boat was cleared. When this wasaccomplished she righted at once, and Bob Gaston was found sticking tothe bottom of her, inside, having found sufficient air and space thereto keep him alive!
Another moment and Harry Boyns was on the deck of the wreck.
Perhaps the most earnest "Thank God" that ever passed his lips burstfrom them when he seized Annie's hand and entreated her to go with himat once into the boat.
"Stay! hold!" cried Mr Webster, seizing Harry wildly by the sleeve andwhispering to him in quick earnest tones, "Can nothing be done to savethe ship? _All is lost_ if she goes!"
"Hold on a minute, lads," cried Harry to the men in the boat; "are thepumps working free,--is your ground tackle good?" he added, turninghastily to the captain.
"Ay, but the men are used up--utterly exhausted."
"Jump aboard, lads," cried Harry to his men.
The men obeyed, leaving four of their number in the boat to keep her offthe ship's side. Under Harry's orders some of them manned the pumps,while others went to the windlass.
"Come, boys, make one more effort to save the ship," cried Harry to thefatigued crew; "the tide will rise for another hour, we'll save her yetif you have pluck to try."
Thus appealed to they all set to work, and hove with such goodwill thatthe ship was soon hauled off the sands--an event which was muchaccelerated by the gradual abating of the gale and rising of the tide.When it was thought safe to do this, the sails were trimmed, the cablescut, and, finally, the _Ocean Queen_ was carried triumphantly intoport--saved by the Covelly Lifeboat.
Need we tell you, good reader, that Mr Webster and his daughter, andMrs Niven, spent that night under the roof of hospitable Mrs Boyns?who--partly because of the melancholy that ever rested like a soft cloudon her mild countenance, and partly because the cap happened to suit hercast of features--looked a very charming widow indeed. Is it necessaryto state that Mr Webster changed his sentiments in regard to youngCaptain Boyns, and that, from regarding him first with dislike and thenwith indifference, he came to look upon him as one of the best fellowsthat ever lived, and was rather pleased than otherwise when he saw himgo out, on the first morning after the rescue above recorded, to walkwith his daughter among the romantic cliffs of Covelly!
Surely not! It would be an insult to your understanding to suppose thatyou required such information.
It may be, however, necessary to let you know that, not many weeks afterthese events, widow Boyns received a letter telling her that CaptainDaniel Boyns was still alive and well, and that she might expect to seehim within a very short period of time!
On reading thus far, poor Mrs Boyns fell flat on the sofa in a deadfaint, and, being alone at the time, remained in that condition till sherecovered, when she eagerly resumed the letter, which went on to saythat, after the bottle containing the message from the sea had been castoverboard, the pirates had put himself and his remaining companions--sixin number--into a small boat, and left them to perish on the open sea,instead of making them walk the plank, as they had at first threatened.That, providentially, a whale-ship had picked them up two daysafterwards, and carried them off on a three years' cruise to the SouthSeas, where she was wrecked on an uninhabited island. That there theyhad dwelt from that time to the present date without seeing a singlesail--the island being far out of the track of merchant vessels. Thatat last a ship had been blown out of its course near the island, hadtaken them on board, and, finally, that here he was, and she might evenexpect to see him _in a few hours_!
This epistle was written in a curiously shaky hand, and was muchblotted, yet, strange to say, it did not seem to have travelled far, itbeing quite clean and fresh!
The fact was that Captain Boyns was a considerate man. He had gone intoa public-house, not ten yards distant from his own dwelling, to pen thisletter, fearing that the shock would be too much for his wife if notbroken gradually to her. But his impatience was great. He deliveredthe letter at his own door, and stood behind it just long enough, as hethought, to give her plenty of time to read it, and then burst in uponher just as she was recovering somewhat of her wonted self-possession.
Over the scene that followed we drop the curtain, and return to MrWebster, who is once again seated in the old chair in the old office,gazing contemplatively at the portrait of his deceased wife's father.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
CONCLUSION.
There are times in the lives, probably, of all men, when the conscienceawakes and induces a spirit of self-accusation and repentance. Such atime had arrived in the experience of Mr John Webster. He had obtaineda glimpse of himself in his true colours, and the sight had filled himwith dismay. He thought, as he sat in the old chair in the old office,of the wasted life that was behind him, and the little of life that lay,perchance, before. His right hand, from long habit, fumbled with thecoin in his trousers-pocket. Taking out a sovereign he laid it on thedesk, and gazed at it for some time in silence.
"For your sake," he murmured, "I have all but sold myself, body andsoul. For the love of you I have undermined my health, neglected mychild, ruined the fortunes of hundreds of men and women, and committedm--"
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p; He could not bring himself to say the word, but he could not helpthinking it, and the thought filled him with horror. The memory of thatdread hour when he expected every instant to be whelmed in the ragingsea rushed upon him vividly. He passed from that to the period of hissickness, when he used to fancy he was struggling fiercely in theseething brine with drowning men--men whom he had brought to that pass,and who strove revengefully to drag him down along with them. Heclasped his hands over his eyes as if he thought to shut out thosedreadful memories, and groaned in spirit. Despair would have seizedupon the gold-lover at that time, had not his guardian angel risenbefore his agonised mind. Annie's soft tones recurred to him. Hethought of the words she had spoken to him, the passages from God's Wordthat she had read, and, for the first time in his long life, the sordidman of business exclaimed, "God be merciful to me, a sinner!"
No other word escaped him, but when, after remaining motionless for along time, he removed his hands from his face, the subdued expressionthat rested there might have led an observer to believe that the prayerhad been answered.
A knock at the office-door caused him to start and endeavour to resumehis ordinary professional expression and composure as he said, "Comein."
Harry Boyns, however, had not waited for the answer. He was already inthe room, hat in hand.
"Now, sir," he said, eagerly, "are you ready to start? The train leavesin half an hour, and we must not risk losing it _to-day_."
"Losing it!" said Mr Webster, as he rose and slowly put on hisgreatcoat, assisted by Harry, "why, it just takes me five minutes towalk to the station. How do you propose to spend the remainingtwenty-five?--But I say, Harry," he added with a peculiar smile, "howuncommonly spruce you are to-day!"
"Not an unusual condition for a man to be in on his wedding-day,"retorted Harry; "and I am sure that I can return you the compliment withinterest!"
This was true, for Mr Webster had "got himself up" that morning withelaborate care. His morning coat still smelt of the brown paper inwhich it had come home. His waistcoat was immaculately white. Hispearl-grey trousers were palpably new. His lavender kid-gloves werepainfully clean. His patent-leather boots were glitteringly black, andhis _tout ensemble_ such as to suggest the idea that a band-box was hisappropriate and native home.
"Don't be impatient, boy," he said, putting some books into an ironsafe, "I must attend to business first, you know."
"You have no right to attend to business at all, after making it over tome, as you formally did yesterday," said Harry. "If you come hereagain, sir, and meddle with my department, I shall be compelled todissolve partnership at once!"
"Please, sir," said Mr Grinder, appearing suddenly at the door, in acostume which was remarkable for its splendour and the badness of itsfit--for Grinder's was a figure that no ordinary tailor couldunderstand, "Captain Daniel Boyns is at the door."
"Send him in," said Webster.
"He won't come, sir; he's afraid of being late for the train."
"Well, well," said Webster, with a laugh, "come along. Are you ready,Grinder?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then, lock the office-door, and don't forget to take out the key."
So saying, the old gentleman took Harry's arm, and, accompanied byGrinder and Captain Boyns senior, hurried to the train; was whirled indue course to Covelly, and shortly after found himself seated at awedding-breakfast, along with our hero Harry Boyns, and our heroineAnnie Webster, who was costumed as a bride, and looked inexpressiblybewitching. Besides these there were present excellent Mrs Boyns--happily no longer a widow!--and Grinder, whose susceptible naturerendered it difficult for him to refrain from shedding tears; and a bevyof bride's-maids, so beautiful and sweet that it seemed quitepreposterous to suppose that they could remain another day in the estateof spinsterhood. Mr Joseph Dowler was also there, self-important asever, and ready for action at a moment's notice; besides a number offriends of the bride and bridegroom, among whom was a pert younggentleman, friend of Mr Dowler, and a Mr Crashington, friend of MrWebster,--an earnest, enthusiastic old gentleman, who held the opinionthat most things in the world were wrong, and who wondered incessantly"why in the world people would not set to work at once to put them allright!" Niven, the old nurse, was there too, of course all excitementand tears, and so was Bob Gaston, whose appearance was powerfullysuggestive of the individual styled in the ballad, "the jolly youngwaterman."
Now, it would take a whole volume, good reader, to give you the detailsof all that was said and done by that wedding-party before thatbreakfast was over. But it is not necessary that we should go into fulldetails. You know quite well, that when the health of the happy couplewas drunk, Annie blushed and looked down, and Harry tried to look atease, but failed to do so, in consequence of the speech which had costhim such agonising thought the night before, which he had prepared withsuch extreme care, which contained such an inconceivable amount ofsentimental nonsense, which he fortunately forgot every word of at thecritical moment of delivery, and, instead thereof, delivered a fewshort, earnest, stammering sentences, which were full of bad grammar andblunders, but which, nevertheless, admirably conveyed the true, manlysentiments of his heart. You also know, doubtless, that the groom's-manrose to propose the health of the bride's-maids, but you cannot besupposed to know that Dowler rose at the same time, having been told byhis pert young friend that he was expected to perform that duty inconsequence of the groom's-man being "unaccustomed to public speaking!"Dowler, although not easily put down, was, after some trouble, convincedthat he had made a mistake, and sat down without making an apology, andwith a mental resolve to strike in at the first favourable opportunity.
When these and various other toasts had been drunk and replied to, thehealth of Mr Crashington, as a very old friend of the bride's family,was proposed. Hereupon Crashington started to his feet. Dowler, whowas slightly deaf, and had only caught something about "old friend ofthe family," also started up, and announced to the company that that wasthe happiest moment of his life; an announcement which the companyreceived with an explosion of laughter so loud and long that the two"old friends of the family" stood gazing in speechless amazement at thecompany, and at each other for three or four minutes. At last silencewas obtained, and Dowler exclaimed, "Sir," to which Crashington replied,"Sir," and several of the company cried, laughingly, "Sit down, Dowler."
It is certain that Dowler would not have obeyed the order, had not hispert young friend caught him by the coat-tails and pulled him down withsuch violence that he sat still astonished!
Then Crashington, ignoring him altogether, turned to Mr Webster, andsaid vehemently--
"Sir, and Ladies and Gentlemen, if this is not the happiest moment of_my_ life, it is at least the proudest. I am proud to be recognised asan old friend of the family to which our beautiful bride belongs; proudto see my dear Annie wedded to a man who, besides possessing many greatand good qualities of mind, has shown himself pre-eminently capable ofcherishing and protecting his wife, by the frequency and success withwhich he has risked his own life to save the lives of others. But,Ladies and Gentlemen, things more serious than proposing toasts andpaying compliments are before us to-day. I regard this as a lifeboatwedding, if I may be allowed the expression. In early life the bloomingbride of to-day was saved by a lifeboat, and the brave man who steeredthat boat, and dived into the sea to rescue the child, now sits on myleft hand. Again, years after, a lifeboat saved, not only the bride,but her father and her father's ship; which last, although comparativelyinsignificant, was, nevertheless, the means of preventing the fortunesof the family from being utterly wrecked, and the man who steered theboat on that occasion, as you all know, was the bridegroom? But--toturn from the particular to the general question--I am sure, Ladies andGentlemen, that you will bear with me while I descant for a little onthe wrong that is done to society by the present state of our laws inreference to the saving of life from shipwreck. Despite the activity ofour noble Lifeboat Institution despite the efficiency of
her splendidboats, and the courage of those who man them; despite the vigour andzeal of our coastguardmen, whose working of the rocket apparatus cannotbe too highly praised; despite all this, I say, hundreds of lives arelost annually on our coasts which might be saved; and I feel assuredthat if the British public will continue their earnest support to ourgreat National Institution, this death-roll must continue to bediminished. My friends sometimes tell me that I am a visionary--thatmany of my opinions are ridiculous. Is it ridiculous that I shouldregard the annual loss of nearly 600 lives, and above two millions ofmoney, as being worthy of the serious attention of every friend of hiscountry?
"Excuse me if I refrain from inflicting on you my own opinions, and,instead, quote those of a correspondent of the _Times_..."
Here the old gentleman hastily unfolded a newspaper, and read asfollows:--
"`Why should not such an amount of information be obtained as will notonly induce, but enable the Board of Trade immediately to frame someplain, practical measure, the enforcement of which would tend to lightenthe appalling yearly death-list from shipwreck? The plan I wouldsuggest is that the Board of Trade should prepare a chart of the Britishand Irish coasts, on which every lifeboat, rocket-apparatus, and mortarstation should be laid down and along with this a sort of guide-book,with instructions giving every particular connected with them,--such as,their distances from each other, whether they are stationary ortransportable, and the probable time that would elapse before one or theother could be brought to work with a view to the rescue of theshipwrecked crew. To illustrate my idea more plainly, I will take theeastern shore of Mounts Bay in Cornwall. A vessel has been driven onshore at Gunwalloe; the captain, having this chart, would find thatthere is a lifeboat at Mullion, on the south, and a transportinglifeboat at Porthleven, on the north of him, as well as arocket-apparatus at each place. Referring to his book of instructions,he would find something like this:--"The Mullion lifeboat will drop downon you from Mullion Island. The Porthleven boat will most likely belaunched from the beach opposite. All going well, one or other of theboats will be alongside in less than an hour and a half. Look out andget ready for the rocket lines in an hour after striking." The veryknowledge even that the means of saving life are at hand would enablethe captain to maintain a certain amount of discipline, while passengersand crew alike would retain in a great measure their presence of mind,and be prepared for every emergency. And again, as is often the case,if a captain is compelled to run his ship ashore, with the view ofsaving the lives intrusted to him, he would at once find from his chartand book of instructions the safest and nearest point from which hecould obtain the desired assistance. It should be imperative (notoptional, as at present) for every vessel to carry a certain number oflifebelts. The cork jacket recommended by the Royal NationalInstitution is by far the best yet introduced, not only on account ofits simplicity and cheapness, but because it affords, also, warmth andprotection to the body.'
"Now, Ladies and Gentlemen," continued Crashington earnestly, "here youhave the opinions of a man with whom I entirely agree, for, while muchis done by philanthropists, too little is done by Government to rescuethose who are in peril on our shores. In conclusion, let me thank you,Ladies and Gentlemen, for drinking my health, and permit me also toreiterate my hope that the happy pair who have this day been united maylong live to support the lifeboat cause, and never require the servicesof a lifeboat."
Although Crashington's remarks were regarded by some of thewedding-party as being somewhat out of place, Mr John Webster listenedto them with marked attention, and replied to them with deep feeling.After commenting slightly on the kind manner in which he had referred tothe heroic deeds of his son-in-law, and expressing his belief and hope,that, now that he had married Annie, and become a member of the firm ofWebster and Company, a life of usefulness and happiness lay before him,he went on to say--
"I heartily sympathise with you, sir, in designating this alifeboat-wedding, because, under God, my daughter and I owe our lives tothe lifeboat. You are also right in stating that the lifeboat has beenthe means of preserving my fortunes from being wrecked, because thesaving of the _Ocean Queen_ was a momentous turning-point in my affairs.But a far higher and more blessed result has accrued to myself than thesaving of life or fortune, for these events have been made the means ofopening my eyes to the truth of God, and inducing me to accept the offerof free forgiveness held out to me by that blessed Saviour to whom mydear Annie has clung for many a year, while I was altogether immersed inbusiness. I feel myself justified, therefore, in saying, with deephumility and gratitude, that _I_ have been saved by the lifeboat--bodyand soul."
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