The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-05-02

lliC Sdtle time uOn I knO" now
/ long we had slept, but the wind had
| piped on and it was blowin' hard gaze,
and the sea had got up to that extent
| that each wave would lift the berg. and
when 1t settled it would strike the bot
tom with 4 shock that would make
everything tremble
d" Blowed if | amt afeafd this here
craft will 90 to pieces saws Ned
Never you be afeard of that ship
mate said Scotty; this old berg has
| travelled many hundred mile, and
! stood many a gale of wind afore now,
and she aint goin' to pieces vet, not if
| | knows anything about ice
Just then there come the most ire
mendous shock we'd had yet, and it
seemed as if one of the highest peaks
had tOppled over and come crashing
down; and then all of sudden the
wind seemed to moderate, although
! the sea kept up and the thumps on the
bottom still continued.
My lads saws ScOttv, I think
that there squall was the last furry of
! the souwester, and the winds gone in
to nor'west, so we'if have fine weather
| tomorrow"
- Yes, fine, but mighty cold,' said
Ned
"'We're in luck agin, boys said
Scottv, cause our house here's under
the lee; we'd freeze if if was on the
other side of the island
"Says l, Did either of you hear any
| thing singler when that big crash
came? Seemed to me | heard above
all the crashin' something like shout;
| but of course it couldn't be-
"'Well, now you mention it, SAYS
| Scottv, i heerd that too, but of course
it was only the wind, cause there's no
| one here to shout except us three, and
we was still enough
"Well, we got used to the thumps,
and as we did not feel the wind and
was pretty comfortable we soon drop
ped off to sleep ag'in, and slept | don't
know how long. | was walked by a
shout from Scotty: Turn out there,
lads, for I'm blowed if we aint shut in
The cave was still dark, but Scotty's
voice seemed to come from the en-
trance. l groped my way along, and
presently | got to where he was and
| could see a small chink of light thro'
the icy wall which had formed through
| the night across the entrance ofthe cave.
It's all clear now said ScOtty.
| That crash we heard in the night was
this boulder tumbling down, and when
we thought the wind had shifted twas
| only that we couldn't hear it on ac-
count of bein' shut up. I'm mOre'n
ever of mind now,' said he, that we
| shall be took off from here, cause if
we hadn't a been a gOin' to he we'd
| been crushed last night. Now, see
here how complete this here is. Last
night we had a house all complete ex-
cept that the doors wasn't hung, and
the wind comes in i'll large numbers
| down comes this chunk of ice and our
house is complete and ship-shape.'
How are you goin' to get out p
says Ned.
Cut ourselves out" says ScOtty.
| $50 we took out our sheath-knives
and went to work 1t was a long job,
for we had to cut through about ten
feet of ice but the ice was not hard,
! and at last, after some hours hard
work, we got out. The first thing we
| did was to look for our boat. We
went over to the other side of the berg,
where we had left her, but no trace of
her was to be seen. In fact, the whole
formation of the berg was changed,
and it appeared as if on this side also
one of the peaks had toppled down
and fallen on the ledge where we had
| left our boat Whether that was so,
| or whether she had been washed away
| by the sea, we never knew; she was
! gone and we never saw her afterwards
"'We're in for it now,' said Ned,
! and may make up our minds to spend
the rest of our lives Oh this blasted
| iceberg
That be blowed for n yarn says
| Scotty; well be took OFF; we're right
| in the track of ships, and some of 'em
will see us don't you give up yet, my
hearty says he to Ned.
4 amt a-givin' up says Ned, but
what the blazes is that down on the
edge of the ice there? 1t looks like
barrel
eve all three scrambled down and
there, wedged into a cleft in the ice,
lcas barrel and on its head ,cas
marked-and | won't forget it in a
hurry-'Davidson & Young; best pilot
bread A bout three or four feet from
this there 1Cas a piece of a scttee, such
as ships usually carried on their poop
deck for passengers to sit on. And
this lCas all
Boys said Scotty, this is a
mighty poor sho1c this here barrel Of
pilot bread and that settee is all that's
left of ship. She struck on this here
berg last night and toppled doCn those
ice spires, and that shout zee heard
above the crashin' ice and roarin' 'cind !
1cas the last lcail of all that 1cere aboard |
of her. Her comm has given US a de
cent house to live in, and this here |
barrel of pilot bread ,cill keep us from
starvin' for some time There's no |