Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-09-21


A rare specimen Of the old regime was
our captain, and a nobler. hearted mon
never praeed the annals of any navy. 1t
happened to be my lot to be near him BE
he stood aft. cap off, and his long, gray
hair streaming out in the wind, when the
cutter was discovered in the fast-thioken-
ing gloom, approaching the ship.
sCutter ahoy hailed the lieutenant in
charge of the deck, have you found the
man. -sszzz-
No, sir = came back, mournfnlly, across
the water
A tear elistened in the old captains
eye, but he turned quickly to the first
lieutenant and said:
Mr.. Cordage, let boat be manned and
provisioned at once and sent in search of
Seavy. If he secured himself to that
grating, as DR.. Lancet asserts, he may
vet be found, if not to night-te-morrow,
and, Mr.. Cordage, order the chief engi-
neer to have steam raised at once
.AY, ay, sir = said Cordafe, and hast
ened away.
Now, Bill had served with our captain
three cruises, and was one of His bargemen.
and it so happened that, having served
with both in former cruise, the old skip
per selected me to take charge of the boat
in the night search.
II was much like looking for needle
| in hay stack, but selected good crew
| from the best at my hand, and, in an in
| ere libby short time, as it might have ap-
peared to landsman, we were off and
pulling vigorously over the recent track
of the ship.
T.. g. ind
blew in strong and ftful gusts, half q
gale, and the sea was so rough, that we
made comparatively slow progress, while
the heavy masses of trade clouds scudded
| in chase of each other across the heavens,
shutting out even the feeble light of the
stars. We had no guide to poor Bill that
night, but cur compass and the faint
chance that meroifu1 Providence might
direct our course to him; but nevertheless
we started away from the ship full OF
hope.
The top.light of the frigate, burning
clear and bright, served as our beacon
in a measure, and we kept it astern on the
right bearing, while it had been arranged
before we left, that those on board the
ship should send up a rocket every halt
hour, as a guide to us.in case we lost sight
of the ships lights while. to keep her rel
ative position as near as possible, the ship
was to swear" every four hOurs.
Alb, well remember that dismal De-
cember night It availed nothing for me
to give the command, Rev dry, boys, row
dry = for, as our boat rose on the crests OF
the huge seas, the wind swept the spray
from the white caps in blihding sheets
i a., oy,A
drenchipg rs to the skin.
Our men pulled manfully, and every
now and then we would lay on the oars,
give rousiug cheer and then listen. No
sound came back to oar ears but the
moaning of the wind and the dull swash
of the huge. combing seas, as they rolled
past u.s. We burned blue lights and
peered eagerly into the black night, but
naught was seen save onc5, when piece
of drift wood, covered with sea weed and
barnacles, foated by, and few Carey
chickens lowered ominously over it.
Not sight or sound, except this, all
that long, weary night, during which our
| men pulled steadily and cheerfullyl By
| four o'clock we bad lost sight of the rock
cts. and, when day dawped, there was
naught to be seen over the broad expause
of ocean-the frigate was out of sight!
Nevertheless, not a thought occurred to
a man in that boat save the one thought
of fading poor Bill, if haply we might
find him Perhaps as officer of the cutter,
felt our critical condition, in case we
lest the ship, more than the boats crew.
for alone knew what folly it would be
to attempt to gain the Cape Verde Is
lands, six hundred miles to windward of
us, in the teeth of q trade gale while /,
also. alone knew that we had but three
days. provisions for the longer run of
fourteen hundred miles to Barbados, the
next nearest land. Yet we continued to
pull, in zigz4g course, across what we
| deemed must have been the track of the
ship the evening before, and nothing re-
war1ed our efforts SO brief respite was
given to the crew, and a glass of grog
served ont all around.
Il think as bow Bills gone, Sir! said
An old focastleman, who pulled the
atroke-oar during q pause in our search.
You see, SIR he added, Bill seemed a
kinder cut up and queer-like sence we
buried his chum, old Dispart, the quarter
gunner, eff Madeiry. and he told some on
us az how he thought his tarn 'ud come
nextr
Nonsense, Maui, said I; how you
think that? don't you remember the old
song about
sThe sweet little cherub, that sits up aloft,
Looking out for the life OF poor Jackr
We'll fnd him yet, my man, never fear !!
But my words belied the feeling at my
heart. though I didn't care that the men
should know it; SO I broke in with gruff
| Give way again, men, give way together !!
Suddenly cry came from one of the
bow oarsmen, who had laid in their oars
and were standing up forward on the
| 10 k out. There's somethin' in the wa
| ter, sir, two p'ints on the port bow, looks
like gratin', sir"
Give way, my lad ! said I, getting mp
myself. az a faint hope took possession of
me.
We pulled toward the floating object ;
and so it was the grating DR.. Lancet had
thrown TO Bill, and on it was sailors
black neck-kercheif tied through one of
the holes of the grating, so as to form q
sort of beckett to hold on by But where
was poor Bill? Nothing in sigh but q
solitary se4.bird. which had lowered abont
us with it's peculiar note as we approach
low had held on from hour to hour, hope
gradually sinking within him, until, ex-
hauated with fatigue and benumed with
cold. his grasp had given way, and he bad
sunk to rise no more, until that dread day
when the sea shall give up its dead and
we'll stand trembling together before the
great iudqmen t-seat
That ere birds Bills sperrit,' said old
Maui; Il told You, sir, [ knowed he'd
gone, for the parson said the other day as
how we did sometimes have presentations,
or SIGH like
Isuppose the old fellow meant that
poor Bill had had presentiments but I
said nothing, my heart being too full of
this sad fate.
It was now eight o'clock, and we served
out trjfs of grub from our scanty sup
ply of provisions. The air seemed much
warmer. ard the sea had gone down some
what but the trade still blew fresh. MY
great anxiety was now to find the ship,
fer. should she have missed us bv steering