The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-05-03

L f1ed, shrIeking-all were after me, I
| thought. rushed out with no purpose
but to escape. [ sought to throw off nv
weights ard rise.
My weights could not be loosed-I pull
Led at them with frantic exertions, but
could not loosen them. The iron fasten-
lngs had grown stiff. One of them
wrested off in my convulsive efforts, but
the other still kept me down. The tube,
also, was lying down still in my passage
way through the machine rooms / did
not know this until had exhausted nv
strength, and almost my hope, in vain eff
forts to loosen the weight, and still the
horror of that scene in the cabin rested
upon me.
Where was Rimmer! The thought
flashed across me. He was not here. He
had returned Two weights lay near,
which seemed thrown off in terrible haste
Yes, Rimmer lad gone 1 looked up
there lay the boat, tossing and rolling
among the waves. r sa r
L rushed down in the machine-room, to
go back, SO as to loosen my tube. / had
gone through passages carelessly, and this
lay there, for it was unrolled from above as
L went on. [ went back in haste to ex-
tricate myself [ could stay here no long
er; for it all the gold of Golconda was in
the vessel, [ would not stay in company
with the dreadful dead
Back-fear lent wings to my feet. I
hurried down the stairs, into the lower
hold once more, and retraced my steps
through the passages below. l walked
back to the place into which | had first
descended. It was dark; a new feeling
of horror shot through me | looked up
The aperture cas closed
Heavens was it closed by mortal hand
Had Rimmer in his panic flight, blindly
thrown down the trap-door, which [ now
remembered to have seen open when de-
scendcd ? or had some fearful being from
the ca6in-that demon who sprang to-
wards me-?
started back in terror.
But / could not wait here [ must go
[ must escape from this den of horrors
[ sprang up the ladder, and tried to raise
the door. 1t resisted my efforts 1 put
my helmeted head against it, and tried to
raise it the rung of the ladder broke be-
| meath me, but the door was not raised
my tube came down through it and kept
it partly open, for il was strong tube,
and kept strongly expanded by close
wound wire.
seized bar of iron, and tried to pry
it up 4; 1 raised it slightly, but there was no
way to get it up further 1 looked around,
and found some BLOCKS with these I raised
the heavy door, little by little, placing
block in, to keep what had gained. But
the work vas slow, and laborious, and L
had worked long while before | had
raised it four in ches.
| The sea rolled more and more. The
submerged vessel felt its power, and rocked
Suddenly it wheeled over, and lay upon It's
| side. ~
[ ran around to get on the deck above,
| to try aad lift up the door. But when |
came to the other outlet, [ knew it was
impossible for the tube would not permit
me to go so far, and then [ would rather
have died thousand deaths than have
veutured again SO near the cabin.
| [ returned to the fallen door; sat
down in despair and waited for death [
saw no hope of escape. This, then, was
to be my end.
But the steamer gave q sudden lurch,
again acted upon by the power of the
waves. She had been balanced upon a
| rock, in such way that slight action of
the water was sufficient to tip her over.
She creaked, and groaned, and labored,
and then turned upon her side.
[ rose; [ clung to the ladder; pressed
the trap-door open, while the steamer lay
with her deck perpendicular to the ground
sprang out, and touched the bottom of
the sea. 1t was in good time for mo-
ment after, the mass went over back again.
Then, with a last effort, twisted the
iron fastening of the weight which kept
me down; jerked it. 1t was loosed, it
broke, it fell. In a moment ] began to
ascend, and in few minutes [ was float
ing on the water-for the air which is
pressed down for the divers consumption
constitutes buoyant mass, which raises
him up from the sea
Thanks to heaven There was the
strong boat, with my bold, brave men
They felt me rising; they saw me, and
came and saved me.
Rimmer had fed from the horrid scene
when [ entered the cabin, but remained
in the boat to lend his aid. He never
went down again, but became a sea-captain
AS for me, / still go down, but only to
vessels whose crews have been saved.
1t is needless to say that the Marmion
was never again visited.