American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-10-09
VOL. XIV.

for me. Now, then, doctor, can you E
up bit of sail?"
"I'n go and send you something tn.
will quiet you," he said, rising.
"Thanky, doctor" says, smiling
I'm not going to give up till the last
and when that last comes and the ship
going down, why, l shall have try if
can't swim to safety. If that fails and
can really feel that it is to be, why, hop
1 shall go down into the great deep calm
ly, like hopeful man, praying that Some
body above will forgive me all I've don
amiss and stretch out His fatherly ham
to my little ones"
worn out with my exertion.
When woke Pollywa standing by tn
bedside watching me, with bottle and
glass on the little table.
As soon as she saw my eyes open sh
shook up the stuff and poured it into
wine glass.
"Is that what the doctor sent?" I SAYS
Yes, dear; you were to take it direct
ly"
"Then L shan't take it," says. " He,
give me up, and that stuff's only to keeI
me quiet. Polly, you go and make mi
some beef-tea, and make it strong"
| She looked Mortified, poor old girl, anG
was about to beg me to take hold of thu
rotten ife-belt which he'd sent me, wher
l held out my shaking hand for it, tool
the glass and let it tilt over-there were
only about couple of tablespoonful il
it-and the stuff fell on the carpet
| saw the tears come in her eyes, bu
she said nothing-only put down the glas:
and ran out to make the beeftea
The doctor didn't come till late nexi
day, and I was lying very still and drowsy,
halfasleep like, but / was awake enough
to hear him whisper to Polly: Sinking
FAST" and I heard her give such heart
broken sob that as the next great wave
came on the sea where I was floating l
struck out with all my might, rose over
it and fiOated gently down the other side
For the next four days-put6ng it as a
drowning man striving for his life like a
true-hearted fellow-it was like great
foaming waves coming to wash over me,
but the shore still in sight, and me trying
hard to reach it.
And it was grim, hard fight; a dozen
times could have given up, folded my
arms, and said good -hy to the dear old
watching face safe on shore; but look at
that always cheered me, and 1 fought on
again and again, till at last the sea SEEM
ed to go down, and, in utter WEAKNESS, 1
turned on my back to float restfully with
the tide bearing me shoreward, till
touched the sands, crept up them, and fell
down worn out to sleep in the warm sun
'-safei
That's curious way of putting it you
may say, but it seems. natural TO me to
mix it up with the things of sea- going
life, and the manner in which, I've see
so many men fight hard for their lives.
1t was just like striving in the midst of a
storm to me, and when at last l did fall
into a deep sleepI felt surprised-like to
find myself lying in my own bed, with
Polly watching by me; and when /
stretched out my hand and took hers she
let loose that which she had kept hidden
from me before, and, falling on her
knees by my bedside, she sobbed for very
joy 1890,
can get him to take" the doctor says, that
afternoon; and it wasn't long before 1 got
from Stops to solids, and then was sent, as
told you, into the country to get strong,
while the doctor got no end of praise for
the cure he had made.
never said aword, though, even to Pol
ly, for he did his best; but don't think
any medicine would have cured me
then.
was saying little while back that
pulled my wife regularly out of the hands
of death, and of course that was when
we were both quite young, though, for
the matter of that, don't feel much diff
ferent and can't well see the change That
was in one of the Cape steamers when
first took to stocking. They were little,
ramshackle sort of boats in those days.
and how it was more weren't lost puzzles
me. 1t was more due to the weather than
the make or finding of the ships, l can
tell you, that they used to find their way
safe to port; and yet the passengers, poor
things, knowing no better, used to take
passage, aye, and make voyage too, from
which they never got back.
Well, was working on board steamer
as they used to call the Equator, and
heavy laden and with about twenty pas
sengers on board we started down chan
mel with all we'll, till we got down right
off the coast of Africa, when there came
one of the heaviest storms was ever in.
Even for welffound steamer, such as
they can build to-day, it would have been
a hard fight; but with our poor, shaky
wooden tub it was a hopeless case from
the first
Our skipper made brave fight of it,
though, and tried hard to make for one of
the ports; but, bless you! what can man
do when, after ten days knocking about,
the Goals run out and the fires that have been
kept going with wood and oil and every
thing that can be thrust into the furnaces
only in the way, every bit of sail set
is blown clean out of the boltropes, and
at last the ship begins to drift fast for a
lee shore?
That was our case, and every hour the
sea seemed to get higher and the wind
more fierce, while heard, from more than
one man, how fast the water was gaining
below
My mate and l didn't want any telling,
though. We'd been driven up out of the
stoke-hole like pair of drowned rats,
and came on deck to find the bulwarks
ripped away and the sea every now and
then leaping aboard and washing the lum-
Der about in all directions.
The skipper was behaving very well
and he kept us all at the pumps, turn and
turn, in spells; but we might as well have
tried to pump the sea dry; and when. with
the water gaining fast, we told him what
we thought, he owned as it was no use
and we gave up.
We'd all been at it CREW and passengers,
about forty of US altogether, including the
of them they were, and they
were all on deck, dashed in sheltered
place close to the poop. And very pitifuI
it was to see them fighting hard at first,
and clinging to the side, but only to grow
weaker, half-drowned as they were; and
saw two sink down at last, and hang,
like, from their lashings, dead,
for not soul could do them turn
was holding on by the shrouds when
the mate got to the shippers side,
and saw in his blank, white face what
he was telling him. OF course we couldn't
hear his words in such a storm, but we
didn't want to, for his lips said plain