Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-05-23
FRIDAY. MAY 90. 1862.


pre..,ve. that . 6'ful brerre sprung up from
the soo,hward. I,eamc in quick cool gusts.
and tho ean1a, only aappei before II.
We srs likely to have u blow. remarked
the ms,e.
Not much. I .hink. returned the cap.
tain. n he took q survey Of the horizon.
This splitting will soon die away. and l
think the wind will then come from the
wsstsrd. However. !, may be we'll enough
to shorten sail. You may take in tho t'gal.
lan,s'l. and close reel the top.'ls.
The order vas quickly obcyei. and. as
the captain had predicted. the splitting gusts
died away, bat there vas no wind came ou.
from the we.,ard. IL grew dark. but no
wind had come. About ten o'clock those
on deck were startled by sudden darken.
ing oi the stars, and they saw q great black
cloud rolling up from the southwark u
soon hung DER the chip like black pail.
and the men began TO he frightened. The
\ chI'alH Whs Cfl'i 'ut O''o'" H' '""' ""
deck. there came crash a. though the very
heavens had been rent asunder. The old
slip tremhled In every jpint and huge
I hall Of FIRE rolled dawn the mainma.,. An.
other and another crashing Of the lightning
cane. aud at length the electric light began
10 play about the chip in Wild. fantastic
streams.
The mainmast i. struck shouted one
of the men. SEQ where its head Is shis.
ercI -
All eyes wrrs turned to the .ro'. and by
the neI, Wild a,sh the men c,uld sce tha, a
dargerou. havoc had hccn made with the
mainna.t The cap wa. .hivcrcd, the star.
board cheek wa. nearly striped of, and
the ,rr-tle,ree. were quIverins Of course.
the heavy iopnat "a. only held ia u. place
7 by the dubious tr,silrtrecs, and the maintop
Threatened every instant to come thunder.
ibs Ia tho deck, with the long topma', and
top g,llantma., in iis company. Such n
catastrophe would prove fatal to the ship
and all were aware Of 1t.
/ But while all hand. were gazing q, this.
another danger arose. The low, rumbling
sound tha, bad been muttering ia the south.
ward bad escaped the notice OF the crew.
and ere they knew it. the rushing, bowling
wind was upon them. The ship Ieapei like
fri.h,cnr! stag before the gale. rhr mate
cut the msint"p-a'l sheets, and tho -ail ~a-
snapped into rbhon,. The for''orsaiI va.
elcwed up. and the .hip 90, l-iorc the Wind.
The lightning cloud VA. -sep, aury. and
T IL was dark ~ Er,bus. The wind ho~led
fearfully bu, there VISA sound more fear
ful than that. II va. the crraking Of the
shattered tre-,le'rccs. as ths fi OF the top
ma., bore down upon them.
20 God = calculated Captain Jacobs. . IL
the trc.,letrec. give way We are lost. liark :
hear them labor
Away up aloi,. in the Impeue,rible dark.
ness. stood the giant topma., and all felt
that IL could no, stand there long. The
men crowded ai,. and with Painfully beat.
ipg heart. they heard the mast labor.
" We could bro. the ship bfo"ds'de to'
.ald the mate. the weather rigging might
be cut. and the mas, would 90 overheard.
irue' "ne' r''"rhed 'he captain ou'
vho'Il Oh nloIt and do the tIb? There will
be no ioo'hold IN the top. Tor that viii 90
WIN erasn' ihe ''e'"e''ee' arc A''0A''
shattered.
III you VIII port 're "s'h VIII 'n'.s
the trial. cried clear. strong voice. when
was at o"ce recognized a. Caleb Bakers.
Ii will be sure death. 'aid Jacobs.
Then Let l, be -o.' returned Caleb. III
! succeed. the rest oi you may 10 saved
bu, now We are all in great danger. Port
the helm, and I will 60
Caleb took the axe IRON the nirrenmast.
soon hi. form va. lost in the darkness, a.
he moved toward the starboard rigging.
The helm Wa. put port. and the ship grad
ually gave her starboard side to the gale.
Soon the blow Of M aIs was heard. There
va. fearful s,rain,ng and craeking-and
then came the crash. The heavy topma.t
hal gone clear over the eide. Payments OF
,re.tle and cross trees came raitling upon
the DICK. bu, all eve. were strained pain.
III, ,.l ,L. ,..,La A IT,. Aim nut.