The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1859-12-21


thought that the hosging had taken away
his senses. had not some of the men as
sured me that they had heard him, not an
hour before talking to himself | did not
trouble HIM az in till morning. After
breakfast | went to the hatchway and
called out to him once more. heard
nothing from him, nor could see him
had not see him since [ put him down
there called out several time, bat hc
would mske no reply y--and yet the same
men told me that they heard him talking
that very morning. lie seemed 10 be calling
On them Tor help, but he would not ask
tor me meant to break him into it.
Hen beg before he'll starvc, thought.
and SO determined to let him ,toy there
| supposed that he had crawled forward
to the torecastle bulk head. in order to
make the sailors hear him 5oue Of the
men asked leave to 20 down aud look tor
HIM, but | refused. | threatened to
punish the first man ihat dared to 90
down
At noon went again, and as he did
not answer me this time, resolved that he
should come to the hatchway and ask for
ME ere | went any more. The day passed
away, and when evening came again be-
gan to be startled. thought of the many
good qualities the boy had, and of his
widowed mother. He had been in the
hold thirty-six hours, and all of forty
without food or drink. He must be too
weak to cry out now. 1t was hard for
me to give up, but if he died there from
absolute starvation it might 90 harder
with me still So at length l made my
mind to 60 and see him. 1t was not quite
sundown when I had the hatch taken of,
and 1 jumped down upon the boxes alone.
A little way forward | saw space
where JACK might easily have gone down.
and to that point | crawled on my hands
and knees. / called out there, but could
get no answer. A short distance further
was a wide space, which | had entirely
forgotten, but which I now remembered
had been left open on account Of a break
in the flooring of the hold, which would
have let everything that might have been
stored there rest directly upon the thin
planking of the ship.
70 this place ! made my way, and
looked down. | heard the splashing of
water, and thought | could detect sound
like the incoming of tiny let or stream.
At first | could see nothing, but as soon
as | became used to the dim light, could
distinguish the faint outlines of the boy
at some distance below me- He seemed
to be sitting on the broken floor, with his
feet stretched out against the cask. ]
called out to him and thought he looked
up.
Jack, are you thereT
And he answered me in faint, weary
tone
Yes, help me! For heavens sake,
help me! Bring men and bring Ian
tern-the ship has sprung leak =
| hesitatcd, and he added in a more
eager tone
Make haste-l will try and hold it
till you come back.
| waited to hear no more, but hurried
on deck as soon as possible, and returned
with a lantern and three men. | leaped
down beside the boy, aud could scarcely
believe the evidence of my own senses.
Three ofthe timbers were completely worm
eaten to the very heart, and one of the
outer planks had been broken and would
burst in any moment the boy might leave
it, whose feet were braced against the
cask, before him. Half-a-dozen little
jets Of water were streaming in about him
and he was wet to the skin. saw that
the plank must burst the moment the
strain was removed from it, so | made my
men brace themselves against it before |
lifted him up. Other men were called
down with planks, and spikes, and AIDES.
and With much care and trouble, We
finally succeeded in stopping the leak, and
averting danger The plank which had
been stove in was six feet long by eight
inches wide, and would have let in a
stream of water of that capacity, 1t
would have been beyond our reach long
ere we could have discovered it, and
would have sunk us in a very short time
| knew it must be where the iceberg
struck us.
Jack Withers was taken to the cabin
and there he managed to tell his story.
Shortly after / put him in the hole he
crawled forward aud when he became used