OFF BARNEGAT.
��Hoarse voices shouted ; swinging low Great sails, ice-mailed, flapped to and fro ; White faces showed when through the night Shone rocket s flash and Coston-light, And strong men shuddered as the sea Broke o er the stern relentlessly.
��" Men, save yourselves !" the captain said ; " My place is here, alive or dead.
Save wife and child !"
Strong helpers drew
Mother and child the stairway through
Lashed to the mast with tender care
The captain s wife.
Pale, calm, and fair,
She wrapped her child in scarf and shawl,
Then whispered to the first mate tall, " Save her for me, Ben. I will bide
Through peril at the captain s side."
��Across the sullen ocean s roar Came voices nearer on the shore, Till in the morning s early light They saw, beyond the breakers white, A score of men with helpful hands Dragging in haste along the sands Life-car and buoy, line and gun. Up through the air the life-line spun,
�� �
