The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1881-07-14
The Skeleton of the Wreck.

While Sir Michael Seymour was in COM
mand CT the Amethyst frigate and was
cruising in the Bay of Biscay. the wreck of a
merchant ship dove past. Her deck was
just above water, her lower mast alone
standing. Not soul could be seen on
board; but there was a caboose on deck
which had the appear ,nce of being recently
patched with old canvas and tarpauling, as
if to afford shelter to some forlorn remnant
of the crew. It blew at the time strong
gale; but Sir Michael listened only to the
dictates of humanity, ordered the Ship to be
put about an6 sent off a boat with instruc-
tons to board the wreck, and ascertain
whether there was any being still surviving
! whom the help of his fellow men might save
from the grasp of death.
The boat rowed toward the moving mass;
and while struggling with the difficulty of
getting throug h high running sea close
alongside. the crew shouting all the time as
loud as they could, an object resembling
in appearance a bundle of clothes
was observed to roll out of the caboose,
against the lee shrouds Of the mast. With
the end of boat-hook they manageable get
hold of it, and hauled it into the boat, when
it proved tn be the trunk of man, bent
head and knees together and so
wasted away as scarce to be left within the
ample clothes which had once fitted it in q
state of life and strength. The boats crew
fastened back to the Amethyst with this
miserable remnant of mortality; and SO
small was it in bulk, that lad of fourteen
years of age was able, with his own hands,
to lift in into the ship.
When placed on deck it showed for the
first time to the establishment of all, signs
of remaining life. 1t tried to move, and
next moment muttered in hollow sepul-
chral tone:
There is another man."
The instant these words were heard Sir
Michael ordered the boat to shove off again
for the wreck. The sea having become
somewhat smoother, they succeeded this
time in boarding the wreck, aud on looking
into the caboose they found two other hu-
man bodies, wasted like the one they had
saved, to the very bones, but without the
least spsrk of life remaining. They were
sitting in shrunk- up posture,.a hand of
one resting on a tin pot, in which there was
about a gill of water, and hand of the
other reaching to the deck, as if to regain a
bit of raw salt beef of the size of. walnut
which had dropped from its nerveless
grasp. ....>
Unfortunate men! They had starved on
their scanty store, till they had not strength
AoAAtSAAAAS W I'LL TUE laSt uOE601 10 tuolr
mouths! The boats crew, having completed
their melancholy survey, returned on
board, where they found the attention
ton Of the ships con- pany engrossed by
the efforts made to preserve the generous
skeleton, who seemed to have had just life
enough left to breath the remembrance that
there was still another man," his compan-
ion in suffering to be saved. Captain S.
committed him to the special charge of the
surgeon, who spared no means which hui
mainly or skill could suggest to achieve
the noble object of creating anew, as it
were, fellow creature, whom +, mine had
stripped Of almost every living energy. For
! three weeks he scarcely ever left his patient
giving him nourishment with his own hand
every five or ten minutes; and at the end OF
three weeks more the skeleton Of tho
wreck" was seen walking on the deck Of
the Amethyst; and to the surprise. of all
who recollected that he had been lifted in
to tie ship BY cAbin-boy, presented the
safely figure of a man nearly six feet high