Stella Fregelius: A Tale of Three Destinies

he did not return to Beaulieu. To begin with, although the rural authorities ceased to trouble them, his father was most urgen

ter the buildings himself; also, that perhaps he found the villa at Beaulieu more

-vessel in his head, with the strange result that from a raging animal of a man he had been turned into an amiable and perfectly harmless imbecile. Under so trying a domestic blow, naturally, Mary explained, Colonel Monk felt it to be his duty to support and comfort his old friend to th

ed, he went to work with a will, and was soon deeply absorbed in the manufacture of experimental receivers made from the new substance. So completely, indeed, did these possess h

chemicals. Morris was experimenting at the forge in his workshop very late-or, rather early, for it was near to two o'clock in the morning-when of a sudden through the open window, rising from the quiet sea beneath, he heard the rattle of oars in rowlocks. Wondering what a boat could be doing so near inshore at a season when there was no night fishing, he went to the window to listen. Presently he caught the sound of voices shouting in a tongue with which he was unacquainted, followed by another sound, that of a boat being beached upon the shingle

men addressed him, also in northern tongues. Then, as he still shook his head,

eau a vapeur, naufrage sur les r

asked

as though he were doubtful on the poi

up blesse, pa

arp features, dark eyes, and grizzled beard, lying under a tarpaulin in the bottom of the boat. He

p mal casse," explain

injured man, and, placing the tarpaulin beneath him, took hold of it by the sides and corners. Then, following Morris, they bore

fuge provided, as is common upon this stormy coast, for the accommodation of distressed and shipwrecked mariners. As he could extract nothing further, it seemed useless to detain them at the Abbey. Then, pending the arrival of the doctor, with the assistance of the old housekeeper, he set to work to examine the patient. This did not take l

prepared. Just as the patient finished drinking it, which he did eagerly, the doctor arrived, an

h or two higher, he'd have lost his leg, or his life, or both, as perhaps he will now. At the best it means a couple of

is that he hoped to be back by five o'clock. He promised also that before his return he would call in at the Sailor's Home to see that the crew w

Northmen sailors. To his profession he had a clue, although no sure one, for round his neck the man wore a silver cross suspended by a chain. This suggested that he might be a clergyman, and went far to confirm the broken talk of the French-speaking

am I?"

and," answ

ould be, but the ship, the ship"-the

s ears. "Where is

then darkness, all darkness

is, and he leant over the patient,

Stella Fregel

flushed face and op

else? There is only one Stella,

ly accompanied by his daughter, he had taken passage in a Danish tramp boat bound for Northwold, which had touched at some Northumbrian port. Morris knew that the incoming clergyman had a daughter, for, now that he thought of it, he had heard Mr. Tomley mention the fact at the dinner-party on the night whe

ough false reckonings. The fate of all these vessels had been identical; they had struck upon the reef, rebounded or slid off, and foundered in deep water. Probably in this case the same thing had happened. At least, the facts, so far as he knew them, pointed to that conclusion. Evidently the escape of the crew had

y one or the other. But there was a third bare possibility, which did no credit to the cre

d the scanty and disjointed ravings of a delirious man? Very possibly the girl Stella was not upon the ship at all. Probably, also, hours ago that ve

of reef, and the ship which might still be hanging on

ion from which he co

ps. It was a curious chance that this should be so, seeing that in most seasons she would have been by now removed to the shed a mile away, to be out of reach of possible damage from the furious winter gales. As it happened, however, the weather remaining so open, this had not been done. Further, the codlings h

any places the points of the rocks were only just beneath the surface of the water. But he knew the dangerous places well enough if he could see them, as he ought to be able to do, for the dawn should break before he arrive

second draught which he had administered to him in obedience to the doctor's orders. On his account, theref

back soon. Then, ordering the page-boy, a stout lad, to accompany him, he descended the steps, and together, with some difficulty, they succeeded in launching the boat. Now for

ound, Thomas, to look if I can ma

hunt for her, and in this sea-haze too, especially round the Sunk Rocks. Sh

e stern, with the tiller in one hand and the sheet in the other. Instantly the water began to lap gently against the bow, and in another minute h

a thick ulster, and had nothing but a covert coat and a thin oil-skin to wear. Moreover, he could not see in the least where he was going, or do m

he could hear the water lapping against its rocks. Accordingly, as this reef was ill company in the dark, Morris hauled down his sail, and in case he should have reached the shallows, threw out his little anchor, which was attached to six fath

e first. Already the cold November dawn was breaking in the east; he was able to see the reflection of it upon the fog, and the surface of the water, black and oily-looking, became visible as it swept past the sides of

f a woman's voice. He began to reason with himself. What was there strange in this? He was told, or had inferred, that a woman had been left upon a ship. Doubtless this was she, u

able? Yet, there, quite close to him, over the quiet sea rose the song, strong, clear, and thrilling. Once it ceased, then began

out, because he was certain that he must be the victim of some hallucination, bred of fog, or of fat

ey light of morning grew to right and left. To right and left it grew, but, strangely enough, although h

ing sun, and now it was that Morris learned why the gloom had been so thick about him, for his boat lay anchored full in the shadow of the lost ship Trondhjem. There, not thirty yards away, rose her great prow; the cutwater, which stood up almost clear, showing t

her, falling almost to her naked feet, was wrapped a full red cloak. Had Morris wished to draw the picture of a Viking's daught

g in the teeth of death, the desolate grey face of ocean, the brown and hungry

white mists of the morning, did this woman arise upon his sight, thi

At any rate, she ceased her ringing, defiant song,

the cable, however, the little flukes came loose from the sand or weeds in which they were embedded, and with toil and trouble he got

ome to me,"

over the rail; "I will come, but

be taken by the current. The companion ladder seems to be down on the st

kettle. However skilled and strong he might be, it was hard for one man to deal with such difficulties and escape disaster. Still following the port side of the ship, since owing to the presence of certain rocks he dared not attempt the direct starboard passag

the rock on which she hung, broken-backed, and sink in the hundred-fathom-deep water which lay beyond the reef. There was no time to spare, and he labou

rcass of the ship rolled and laboured above, its towering mass of iron threatening to fall and crush him and his tiny cra

she must be below, set his teeth and descended. The saloon was a foot deep in water, which washed from side to side with a heavy, sickening splash, and there, carr

God's sake, be quick! The s

he was dragging her after him down the companion ladder. They reached the boat, and just

d. Her slight strength made a difference, and the boat forged ahead-thirty, forty, seventy yards-till they reached a rock to which, exhausted, he

!" sh

nly her stern settled, her prow rose slowly in the air till it stood up straight, fifty or sixty

n the great hollow which she made on the face of the w

he cried, "or she wil

am bubbles burst or floated away in little snowy heaps; the sea resumed its level, and, save for the floating

answer to every impulse of the thoughts within. Above the eyes long curving lashes and delicately pencilled, arched eyebrows, and above them again a forehead low and broad. The chin rounded; the lips full, rich, and sensitive; the com

an whom he had s

er hands. "What a death! For ship or man, what a death! And af

did not take you," ans

she a

l alive, who by now w

this time," she answered, adding

ly; "the next it may be d

w do you know my

my house. The sailors must have seen the

ll alive? But, oh, how is that poss

ut open. He was brought ashore senseless, so you need

d, for of course I knew that he would never have left me otherwise. It did not occur to me that

f course, he could not help himself, for he can have known no more than a corpse of what was p

er shoulders c

ittle time, and thought of themselves, not of a passenger, whom they h

s curiously, as he prepared to hoist the sail,

t I should die last night. I have told

I in your case this really remarkable e

I shall learn in time. You might as well wonder how it

is was a new view of the

e should be sa

ppen that your boat s

ow; chance,

elieve in chance. Everything

it out. Life is too short,

was drawing ahead, and he was sea

o the saloon, Miss Frege

oticed that she wore a dress beneath her red cloak, and t

ed in is not fitted for company. My cabin was well forward, and I guessed that by wading I could reach it. Also, I had som

ppearances," he said; "but I suppose you forgot that the vessel mi

it. I have always been accustomed to

t for your dress a

dn't happen and that no harm would come

nd who tol

in the boat I was certain that the danger was do