Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1848-06-15
From The Nc,o York D'Spatch.
THE RESCUE.
SKETCHES by THE CAPTAIS.


II days off this coast, with cutting northeast
; crs blowing, and snow and seet falling for the
/, most of that time. Forward, the vessel was
thickly coated with ice, and it was hard work
To handle her, as the rigging and sails were
stiff, and yielded only when the strength of the
men was eXerted To the utmost When at
length we made the port, all hands were worn
down and exhausted. We could not have
held out two days longer without relief.
A bitter cold night, Mr.. Larkin," ! SAID
20 my mate as tarried on deck for moment
to finish my cigar.
"A The worthy down-easter buttoned his coat
more tightly around him, looking up to the
moon-and felt of his red nose before he re-
Piled
" It's a whistler, captain, as we used to say
or the Kennebunk. Nothing lives comiorla-
bic ont Of blankets in such night as
this
This tide is running out swift and strong
! It will be well 10 keep sharp lookout for this
floating ice, Mr.. Larkin."
! "Aye, aye, sir" responded the mate, and
I | went below.
! Two hours afterwards was aroused som a
I sound sleep by the yigilant officer,
! a" Excuse me for disturbing you, captain"
! said he as he detected on expression of yexa-
ton on my face but | wish you would
turn out and come on deck as soon as posi-
/ ble."
4 "Why, what's the matter, Mr.. Larkn!
why, sir, ! have been watching large
cake of ice that swept by at little distance, a
moment ago. ! saw something black on it
| something which thought moved the moon s
| under a cloud, and | could not see distinctly ;
! but, so help me God, believe there's child
! floating out to sea, in this freezing night, on
| that cake Of ice"
/ We were on deck before either spoke ano,h-
| er word. The mate pointed out with no little
! difficulty the cake Of ice, floating off 10 the lee
ward, and its white glittering surface was
broken by black spot; more ! could not
make out.
! "Gct me the glass, Mr.. l. rkin--,he moon
/ viii be- out of that cloud in moment, aud then
we can sec distinctly"
H kept my eye upon the receding mass of
I ice, while the moon was slowly working her
way through n heavy bank Of clouds. The
mate stood by with the glass. When the fall
! light fell al last upon the water, with bril-
/ llaucy only known IN our northern ATTITUDES,
! put the glass to my eye. One glance was
enoI gh.
! q" Forward, there" | shouted at the top Of
| my voice, and with one bound reached the
! main hatch and began To clear away the little
, cutter that was slowed away in the ships
! yawl.
| Mr. La-kin had received the glass from my
hand, to take Il look for himself My God,
he said, in a whisper, as he set to work 10 aid
me IN getting out The boat" my God, there
are two children on that cake of ice.'
Il Two men answered my hail, and walked la
zily aft. In an incredibly short space Of time
we launched the cutter, into whch Mr.. Lar
kin and myself Jumped, followed by the two
men who took the oars, | rugged the tlcr,
and the mate sat beside me in the stern
sheets.
"Do you see that cake of ice with some
thing black upon it, lads :" | cried, "put me
alongside of that, and Il give you bottle Of
rum each, tonight, and month extra wa
gcs when you are paid of"
/ The men bent to their oars, but their strokes
were uneven and feeble. They were used up
by the hard duty of the preceding fortnight
aud though they did their best, the boat made
tile more way than the tide. This was
long chlsc-and Mr.. Larkin who was sui-
ierng as he saw how little We gained, cried
out
/ Pull, lads-I'll double the captain Prize;
two bottles of rum, aud two month pay pull,
lads, for the love of God pull -
/ \ conyulsiyc effort at the oars told how will
ling tho men were 20 obey, bat the strength OF
the strong man was gone. One of the poor
fellows washed us twice IN recovering his oar,
and then gave out; the other was nearly as far
gone. Mr.. Larkn spraug forward and sci2cd
the deserted oar.
/ LAY down in the bottom Of the boa;,"
said he TO the man, " and captain take the 9th
er oar; we must row for ourselves"
/ took the second mans place; Larkin had
stripped to his Guernsey shirt, and as he pull
ed the bow, waited r the signal stroke. II
came gently but firm, and the next moment
we were pulling long, steady stroke, gradu-
ally increasing IN rapidty, until the wood seem
To smoke in the oar-ocks. We kept time,
each by the long deep breathing of the other.
Such pull We bent forward until our ia
ccs almost touched our knees, and then throw
ing all our strength into the backward move
mcnt, drew on the oar until every inch of the
space covered by the sweep had bech gained.
At every stroke the boat shot ahead like an
arrow discharged fom a bow. Thus we
worked at the oars for fifteen minutes--it
seemed to me rs many hours. The sweat
rolled of of me in great drops, and ! was en-
vclopcd Ia a steam generated from my own
body.
d" Are We almost up to it, Mr. Larkin'"
gasPcd out.
almost, captan-oont give up for the
love of our dear little ones at homc-don't give
up, captain :"
Z The oars flashed as the blades turned W 10
the moonlight. The men who Piled them
were fathers, and had fathers hearts the
strength which ncr,ed them at that moment
was more than human. N
suddenly Mr.. l.arkin ceased pulling, and
my heart for a moment almost ceased It's beat
ing for the terrible thought that he had glv-
en- out crossed my mind. But | was quickly
rclssurcd by his voice
Gently, captain, gently stroke cr two
morc-lhcrc, that viii do''--and the noNt mo-
mcnt the boats sldc came ~ contact with
something, aud larkin sprung from the boat
with his heavy feet upon the ice. ! started
up, and calling upon the men to make fast the
boat tu the ice, followed
We ran to the dark spot IN the centre of the
mas, and found two little boys-tho head of
the mailer nesting IA the bosom of the larger