St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1860-07-12

from him, nor. could see him---l had not
seen him since put him down there L
called out. several times, but he would
make no rcply--and yet the same men told
me: they had heard him talking that very
morning. z.f.H He seemed TO- be. calling on
them for help, but. he would not ask for
me. I meant to break him into it,. "He'll
beg before he'll starvc," I thought, and SO
determined to let him stay there. i / sup
posed he had Icrawled forward to the fore
castle bulkhead, in order to make the sail
ors hear him. Some Of the men asked
leave to; 90 down and look for him, but II
refused, 19I threatened to punish the f1rst1
man that dared to, 90 down, ..ff 2a.,agf Il
~, At noon I went again, and as he did not
answer me this time, i resolved. that he
should come 70 the ha' a'chway and ask for
me ere went any more. The day passed
away, and when evening came again Il be-.
gan to be startled. thought of the many.
good qualities the boy had, and Of his w,id-
owed mother. He had been IN the hold
thirty-six hours, and all Of forty without
food or drink. He mnst be too weak aow.,
It was hard for me to give up, but if he !
died there from absolute starvation, it might
60 hard with me- So at length made
up my mind to go and see him. 1t was
not quite sundown when ! had the hatch|
taken of, and I jumped down upon the
boxes alone. N'', %>'' 'S'~ *~f>'
A little way forward I saw ! space where
Jack might easily have gono down, and to
that point I crawled on my: hands and knees.
/ called out there, but could get nc, answer
A short distance farther was wide space, !,
which l had entirely forgotten, but which
/ now remember had been left open on &C.
count of a break IN the flooring of the hold,
which would k,vc let every thing that
might have been slowed there rest directly
upon the thin planking Of the ship.
r To this place I made my way, and looked
down: I"heard the splashirg Of water, and
thong I could detect sound like the
incoming Of a. tiny jet or stream. At first
I could see nothing, but as I became used
to the dim light, I 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 oask. ! called out to him, and
thought he looked up. 1881 49,.
= "Jack, are you there ?'' '5'' .:'<'.'s ''' L
- And he answered in asfaint, weary tone,
4tYes-help me! For Heayen,s sake, help
me Bring men and hntern-the ship
has sprung leakv' .' ~ 80
I hesitated, and he added in more ca
ger tone ,
= s'alakss haste will try and'hold Il til,
you come back. -" J.,
: I waited to hear no more, but hurried.
on deck as soon as possible, and returned,
with lantern and three men. leaped
down beside the boy, and could scarcely
believe the evidence of my own Senses
Three Of the timbers were completely worm
eaten to the very heart, and ono 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. Halt dozen little jets Of
water were streaming in about him, and he
was wet to the skin:7 1saw that the plank
must burst the moment the strainlwas re-.
moved from it, 50 I made my men, brace
themselves against it before I lifted him
up. Other men were called down, with,
|p1anks, spikes and ADDE'S; and with much
care and trouble we finally esucceeded" in
stopping the leak, and ayerting the DANGER
The plank which: had been stove, ia vas
six feet long BY eight inches wide, and
would have let il astream Of water Of that
capacity 1t would have been beyond our
reach long ere we could have iseovered;it,
and would have sunk us Id avery short,
time. / knew it must be whore the ice,
berg struck us. aat I;2 s9sd I>itoda =.
Jack Withers was taken To- the cabin,
and there he managed TO, teli his story
Shortly after I put him in the hold he
Lcravled gforvard, and when he became used
20 the dim glimmsr that came through the
dead lights, Looked }about far !, snug ;plaesS
to- lie, for lis limbs we're sore. h Vent
e, sleep. and when Pc heard : faint sound,
like water streaming through the hole, he
wont 70 the open, place in tho cargo and
looked down, and he vas sure he ~ !
small e jst of water infringing Up from = The
ships bottom. He lespadx down, and in =
few minutes found that the timbers had
given away, and that the stream vas IL,
dressing ID size He plated his hand o.
the plank, and found It broken, and: dis
covered that, the pressure Of water WITHOUT
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