The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-12-19

1
! Il was In ths nsnth Of Febsary, 1881, 1
bright moonlight night, and intensely cold
that the brig commanded lAy q her anchor
inside of Sandy Hook. . s
| We had hard time of Il beAting about
fov eleven days Of this coast, ard with cut
ting north casters blowing, and saev and
sleet falling for the most Of that time. For
ward the vessel was thickly coated with ice,
and it was hard work TO handle her, a. the
rigging and sails were stif, and yielded only
when tia strength Of the men Was exerted to
the utmost. When at length We made the
port all hands were worn Down and exhaust
ed, we could not have held out two days Ion
ger without relief. H &c Es.
| "A bitter cold night, Mr.. Larkin,' said to
my mate, as Itarried for q moment upon deck
to finish my cigar.
The worthy down-enstef buttonod his coat
moro tightly around him Cooking up To- the
moon-and felt his red nose before he re-
Piled ].
slt's whistler, Captain, as We used to
say on the Kennebec. Nothing lives COM
Portable out Of The blsnkets- in such night
as this.' a $50
sThe tide 10 running out swift and strong;
it will be we'll TO keep q sharp look out for
this floating ice Mr.. LArkin. @
SAY, ~, air. responded the mate and
went below. II gas 81
Two hours afterwards was aroused from
sound sleep BY the vigilant officer.
Excuse me for disturbing you, Captain,
said he, as he detected an expression of
vexation ON my face: sbut / wish you would
turn out and come IN deck as soon as Dos
sible.'
sWhy-what's the matter Mr.. LarkinS
sWhy, sir, / have been watching cake Of
ice that swept BY at little distance, a few mo-
ments ago; / saw something black upon it
something that thought moved. The
moons unders cloud, and could not see
distinctly; but | do believe there's child
floating out to sea, in this freezing night, on
that cake Of ice.' ,,-a 81
We were on deck befose either spoke an
other word The mate pointed out With no
ya.s,e dif6culty, the cake Of ice floating of to
leeward, and its white glittering surface was
broken BY BLACK spot-nore l could not
make out.
Get me the glass, Mr.. Larkin-the moon
will be out of the cloud in moment, and
then We can see distictly. as
kept my eye on the receding mass of ice,
while the moon was slowly working its way
through bank of clouds. The mate stood
by with glass. When the full light fell at
last upon the water with brilliancy only
known to our northern ATTITUDES, put my
glass to my eye. One glance was enough.
forward there ? shouted, at the top of
my voice, and with one bound reached the
main hatch, and began to clear away the
ships yswl. r4..t- -.
Mr.. Larkin had received the glass from
my hand to take look for himself.
sMy Godv he said, in whisper, as he
set to work to aid me in getting out the boat
-smy God, there are two children on that
cake of ice 2 s.as5 r.s-=s, gzf, Jsssgs repf gs-
Two men answered my call and walked
lazily aft. In an incredible short space Of
time we launched the cutter, into which Mr..
Larkin and myself jumped, followed by two
men, who took the oars. rugged the tiller,
and the mate sat beside the stern sheet.
sDo you see that cake Of ice with some-
thing black upon it, lads p cried-sput me
alongside of that, and Ill give you . bottle
of rum each, tonight, and q months extra
when you are paid off,. The men bent their
oars, but their strokes were uneaven and
feeble. They were used up BY the hard du-
ty of the preceding fortnight, and though
they did their best, the boat made but little
more than the tide. This was a long chase,
and Mr.. L, who was suffering as he saw how
little we gained, cried out .5sfS 5Ei4fsss-5ls
Pull, lads-Pll double the Captains prize;
two bottles of rum and two months pay.-
Pull, lads, for the love of God ..s -,
A convulsive effort of oars told how will
ling the men were to obey, but the strength
of the strong arm was gone. One Of the
young fellows washed us twice in recovering
himself, and then gave out; the other was
nearly gone, Mr.. Larkin sprang and seized
the deserted oar. IT f+''1 - 7'5.
LAY down in the bottom Of the boat said
he to the man; sand Captain, take the other
oar; we must row for ourselves. ...z y. ses
1took the second mans place; Larkin had
stripped to his guernsey shirt; as he pulled
the oar, waited the s.gnal stroke. 1t came
gentle but firm, and the next moment We
were pulling long, steady stroke, gradually
increasing in rapidity until the wood
seemed to smoke in the oar locks. We kept
time each by . long deep breathing of the
til our faces almost touched our knees, and
then throwing all our strength in to the back
ward movement, until every inch of the
space covered by the sweep had been gained.
At every stroke the boat shot ahead like
an arrowsdischarged from q bow. Thus We
worked the oars for fifteen minutes, it seem
ed to me as many hours. The sweat rolled
of me in drops, and I was enveloped in a
steam generated from my own body.
'Are we almost to it, Mr.. Larkin5' gasp
ed out. :,
almost, captain-don give up; for the
love Of our dear ones at home-don't give
up, csptain!' s fss--.fsg 5siv s. .jssH & 2
The oars flashed as the blades turned up
to the moonlight. The men who piled them
were fathers, and had children; the strength
which nerved them at that moment was more
than human. F2 saGs5ss
Suddenly Mr.. Larkin stopped pulling, and
my heart for moment almost ceased beat
ing; for the terrible thought that he had
given out flashed across my mind. But l
was quickly treasured by his voice: ssg sss
Gently, captain, gently--a stroke or two
more-there, that will do,' and the next mo-
ment the boats side came in contact with
something, and Larkin sprang from the
boat with his hcayy feet upon the ice. /
started up, and calling upon fhe men to make
fast the boat to the ice, followed.
We ran to the dark spot on the centre Of
the mass, and found two little boys--the
head of the smaller nesting in the bosom Of
the larger. Both were fast asleep! The
lethargy, which would have been fatal but
| for timely rescue, had overcome them. Mr.,
Larkin grasped one Of the lads, cut of his
shoes, tore Of bis jacket, and then loosenine
his own garments to the skin, he placed the
chilled child in contact with his own warm
body, carefully wrapping over him his grea,
coat, which he procured from the boat.
did the Same with the other child; and VI
then returned to the boat and the men par
TALLY recovered, pulled slowly back.
The children, As we learned, when We sub.
sequently had the delight Of restoring them
to their parents, were playing on the ice
and had ventured on the cake which had gol
jammed into the bend Of the river, ten mile,
above New York. A movement of the tide se,
the ice in motion, and the little fellows vsrs
borne away on that cold night, and would 10.
svitably have psrished, but for Mr. Lar.
kin's espyirg them ~ they we're sweeping
out 70 -. Fsa s7tsas A4a's 3