THE STORY OF A STOWAWAY.

Mataura Ensign, Volume V, Issue 234, 2 March 1883, Page 5

THE STORY OF A STOWAWAY.

Come, my lad, and sit beside- me ; we have often talked before Of the hu ricane and tempest, and the storms on sea and shore : When we read of deeds of daring, done for dear old England's sake, We nave cited N ebon's duty, and the enterprise of Drake ; 'Midst the fever'd din of battle, roll of drum, and scream of fife, Heroes pass in long procession, calmly yield* . ing up their life.. , Pomps and pageants have their glory, in cathedral aisles are seen Marble effigies; but seldom of the mercantile marine. . , , , If your playmates love adventure, bid them gather round at school, Whilst you tell them of a hero, Captain Strachan, of Liverpool. Spite, of storm and stress of weather, in a gale that lashed the land, On the Cyprian screw steamer, there the captain took his stand. He was no fair-weather sailor, and he often made, the boast That the ocean safer sheltered than the wild Carnarvon coast. He'd a • good ship underneath him, and a crew of English form, So he sailed from out the Mersey in the hurricane and storm. , All the luck was dead against him— rwith the tempest at its height, Fires expired, and rudders parted, in the ( middle of the night. Sails were torn and rent asunder. Then he ' spoke with bated breath : " Save yourselves, my gallant fellows ( we are drifting to our death ! " Then they looked at one another, and they , felt the awful shock, When,, with louder crash than tempest,, they were dashed upon a rock. All was over now and hopeless ; bat across those miles of foam They could bear the shouts of people, and could see the lights of home. "All, is over!" screamed the captain. " You have answered duty's call. Save yourselves 1 I cannot help you ! God have mercy on us all ! " So they rushed about like madmen, seizing . belt; and oar, and rope — For the sailor knows where life is, there's the faintest ray of hope — Then, amidst the wild confusion, at the dreadful dawn of day, From the hold of that doomed vessel crept . a wretched stowaway. Who shall tell the saddened story of this miserable lad ? ' Was it wild adventure stirred him, was he going to the bad P Was he thief, or bully's victim, or a runaway from school, When he stole that fatal passage from the port of Liverpool? No one looked at him, or kicked him, 1 'midst the paralysing roar : All alone he felt the . danger, and he saw the distant ehpre. . Over went the gallant fellows, when the ship was breaking fast, And the captain with his lifeboat— he prepared to follow last ; But he saw a boy neglected, with a face of ashy grey. " Who are you ? " roared out the captain. " I'm the boy what stow'd away ! " There was scarce another second left to think what he could do, For the fatal ship was sinking — Death waß ready for the two. So the captain called the outcast, as he faced the tempest wild, From his own waist took the life-belt — and he bound it round the child. *• I can swim, my little fellow ! Take the belt and make for land. Up, and save Jyourself!" The outcast . humbly knelt to kiss his hand. With the jif e-belt round his body then the urchin cleared the ship ; Over went the gallant captain viith a blessing on his lip. But the hurricane howled louder than it | . ever howled, before, As. the captain and the stowaway were making for the shore. When you tell this ' gallant story to your playfellows at school, They will ask you of the hero— Captain Strachan, of Liverpool. You must answer — They discovered, on the beach at break of day, Safe— the battered, breathing body of the little itowaway ; And they watched the waves of wreckage, and they searched the cruel shore, But the man who tried to save the little outcast — was no more. ' ' ' # ] ' V' # t When they speak of . English heroes, tell this story where you can, To the everlasting credit of the bravery of nian. . . , . Tell f it out in tones of triumph, , or with tears and quickened breath, " Manhood's stronger far than storms, and Love is mightier than Death !" — London Punch.