Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-10-18

+ time then We showed tHeL ofefpoalu, anu
as the vessel slowly swung round, we were
out of sight Of the boats, which were about
a quarter Of q mile off. DE had rope to
the coops so that they could not f1oat OF,
and as he told me, l slid down onto them
and squatted there trembling, while he low
cred down. to me the water keg, somer rope,
the bacon, and two OF the biscuit bags.
Then he pitched some loose pieces OF wood
work and the cover of the cabin stairs, and
hutch thing and tarpaulin into the water
beside me; slid down the rope, and was by
my side in few minutes; with the coops
sinking about, so that | was glad to lower
myself into the water and hold on.
."That's right" he says, opening his
knife with his teeth and cutting the rope,
and then getting the tarpaulln and bits OF
wood and things in the centre II the hand
lest way possible-same as only sailor
could do He tells me to hold on tight, and
then lowering himself into the water, he
pushes off from the burning ship and be-
gins swimming and guiding our bit OF raft
away very slowly, but still farther and far
Their off. -- If ya,It n.e
"I'll lash the coops and grating togeth
err" he says, "as soon as we're out OF dan
ger" ta t.. rE4
"Out of danger Y says, "and when
will that be % a... 81 .t..tt /.
"Well," he saws, &c mean when we are
out of reach of being sucked down when
she Sinks .@F
sWill she sink?" says ~nar
eyes" he says, s'and before long now;"
and then he went on swimming hard, while
/ could do nothing but first watch the boats
and then the burning ship.
| IT. was GRAND thouph awful To see the
noble vessel standing there like pyramid
of fire whose heat we could feel on our
scorched faces. From every part now the
4 flames were rushing, even from the CO bin
windows beneath where had so lately been
standing, and could hardly keep from
shuddering as thought Of the awful danger.
1t was hard work forcing the raft through
the water on account of the breeze which
set towards the. ship ;obut we got farther
and farther away, and were some distance
! off when the mizzenmaSt went over the side;
but still the captain said we were not safe,
1 and swan on till he could not feel the breeze;
and at length painting and exhausted he
hung on motionless, and said we must risk
it now.
Then we both were silent, and watched
the boats now farther away from us, and
the blazing ship seemed to be the centre OF
glorious ring Of light, on the outside Of
which like sparks we Inlay waiting for the
end we knew was soon to come. Every
where else was dark as pitch, not even
/ star to be seen, while the waves just rose
and curled little over as they washed
against our raft excepting the dull roar
and crackle Of the flames, everything was
as still as death.
All at once / started, for the captain
spoke sadly as he looked at his vessel; and
out of the silence his voice sounded wild
and strange 81
"If I'd had crew like you, my man,
think we could have saved her." and then
he spoke no more, for just then, from being
quite still, the good ship seemed to roll q
little towards US, and then to the other side,
slowly, and as if just bending to the breeze !;
and then we could almost see the water
creeping up her burning sides as clouds Of
steam arose and with one calm steady dip
forward she seemed to plunge right down
beneath the golden waters. Then there
was rising and falling Of the sea, and a
deep, dense darkness, out of which close
by me came one of the bitterest heart-tear-
ing sobs l ever heard from the breast of
man; and did not speak, for | felt it was
the captain sorrowing for the loss Of his
good ship.
For a good piece silence was as deep as
the darkness and then the captain was the
first to break it in quite cheerful voice
sCan you lay your hand on the rope? F"
he says, and passed it to him, and then |
could hear him in the dark busily at work
tying and fastening; and at last he says,
'Now crawl on again; it will bear you bet
ter" and faint and weary [ managed to
crawl on, and lay with my legs in the water
and my head on the bag of biscuit; and
directly after I felt him crawl on, too, and
we took hold of hands and then lay there
in the deep darkness while he said that
prayer aloud in such soft, deep voice
that prayer as we first learnt kneeling by
our mothers knee. When he came to "De-
liver us from evil" he stopped short; and
soon, worn out there in the great ocean,
! floating on a few pieces Of wood, we felt in
whose hands we were, and slept till the
warm bright sun shone upon us and told us
that another day was here. tr
l. The first thing the captain did was to
stand up and look round, and then he said
he could see only one boat; but he hoisted
up one of the pieces of wood, and wedged
it in the coop with handkerchief flying at
the top, after which we made hearty meal
of biscuit, raw bacon and water. After
this the captain got one of the ooops on the
other, and by binding and lashing he made
much higher and better raft, so that we
could keep our bacon and biscuit out Of the
water and sit dry ourselves.
And so we lay all day till towards even
ing, when we found that the boat was COM
ing towards us. and just at dusk it was
within hail and if ever I'd felt hopeful or
joyful before in my life, it was then. They
had NO room for us, but they took us in tow,
and the weather keeping calm, we all rowed
and worked in turns, steering according to
the captains direction for the nearest land;
for when our turn came we two went lato
the boat, and two others came out on the
!. raft, and so we toiled for days, when one
morning there was joyful cry
r GA sail sail?"
And 1t was, too, within a mile of us,
palmer and palmer as that glorious sun
rose and then some laughed, some cried,
4 and one or two went half mad with joy, as
after little while she ran down towards
+ us, picked us up, and proved to be British
man-of-war HON eward bound.
In another week [ was back in the port
left, without clothes, without money, but
with as good and true a friend in Captain
Ellis as ever walked. | had life, and with
it came hope; and somehow, since then,
things have prospered with me in the old
country-the old home that I once left to go
far at sea.
- A-s- -
"THE LEES OF LIFE"
u