The Opelousas courier., 1883-11-24
THE PLAGUE AT SEA.
Tho Tragedy OF "a ships Crew
SIR esem with We low Fever

The Tragedy OF "a ships Crew
STR c.sen with We low Fever
In the gray light OF July morning we
made a sail dead ahead, close upon the
outskirts of retreating night. IN twenty
minutes we heard the report OF firearms
from her deck and saw that her flag was
ut half-mast in token of distress. A
murmur of excited sympathy ran through
the great throng on the deck OF the
10. There was another, OF dlsap-
pointment, when the purser told III IL
was a Spanish brig. It was as If we mad
wasted our compassionate impulse
natural to the Saxon breast, born OF the
fierce blood of those who pcered through
the stormy passes of the Alps into inc
Elysian fields of Latin foes.
The steady throbbing of the screws
sIackened and ceased as we closed upon
the quarter of the helpless brig. In a
light western air she lay with topsalls
backed and her jibs and spanker idly
awaying to and fro. -Four men were
upon her deck, and as we approached,
lowered u boat astern, hauled it slowly
alongside, and entering it left the ship.
She was apparently deserted. They
rowed painfully toward u steamer, and
we gathered on the port side, where the
rope ladder had been hung, to catch the
first glimpse Of their faces. This we
could not do; the four wore wide SOM
breros and bent to their oars feebly but
persistentIy, never looking up. Our cap
tain hailed them impatiently-they only
.,a--1l III. I,-I, ho+n-oap tho dinnInuS
of the oars. They were now alongside,
and the bow oarsman clutched the ladder
and began to climb to the deck. TWO
others followed him, all three hanging
like spiders on the narrow way, resting
at every round. The most intense ex-
citement was visible in every face that
watched them from the les deck. Our
captain hailed them from the bridge, and
as before each man waved a hand In a
mechanical way. Then the captain came
to the ladder awaiting their coming. The
fourth man sat still in the boat, but those
who noticed him saw him bending for
ward as he sat until the broad brlm OF
his hat touched the gunwale, and the
black locks of his hair showed from be-
hind. He seemed helpless or asleep, but
attracted little attention as the others
climbed closer to the deck.
At last the uppermost had his hand
upon the steamers rail; afew more steps
and he would be on deck. A hundred
hands were ready to aid him In what
| seemed a task beyond his power. But
the captain thrust them all away, and
| reaching forward lifted his hat from his
head. A general exclamation of horror
broke from our eager group. There, not
two feet from the rail, looked upward
| the yisage of death-a yellow, shriyeled
face, and eyes that burned with the weak
and cruel fire of wasting life. Long and
matted hair and mustache sweeping down
made the picture beyond fault. 1t was
the look of the baser man, after the
| divine and human clements of his nature
die away in hunger, thirst or bodily dis
tress, leaving in his useless frame the
reptile only, from whose depths the strict
| Darwinians claim ascent. An impulse Of
terrible dread seized all who looked upon
the sallow face, askant in all the fear OF
sudden death.
The captain motioned back the man.
He trembled like a leaf and spoke for the
first time:
W are dying, senor."
aOf what?a
eve do not know
But the captain knew, and we shrunk
as if from flame at the words:
aThey are dying Of yellow fever
If we had doubted this the next mo
ment would have proved his judgment
right. The man remaining in the boat
rose suddenly from his seat with a quick,
sharp cry, 6 santo Dios!n and fell upon
his back dead.
The captain ordered the others back,
promising aid on board the brig. They
swore they would never return, and
began climbing with the haste of despera-
ton. Never will I forget the struggle
that ensued. The leading Spaniard,
clinging with both hands to the rail, held
back by the broad hands of the captain,
seemed the active personification OF the
/ plague, doing battle with the lives of all
on board. He was like one mad; he
cursed and snapped his teeth, filling the
air with bitter oaths, drawing his feet
under him to the highest round he could
reach, and throwing all his strength into
a fatal effort. He made it, and was
thrust down again by the same strong
hands. But his feet had been drawn as
close to his body SO that they slipped
from beneath him-and for a single In
stand he hung above the others. Then
he fell, striking the next man and the
third, and carrying them with him into
the sea. They sunk like plummets; in !
momant. more there were but three broad
hats floating upon the place Of their de.
scent.
The captain consulted with his frs
officer, q Well-throWn pig Of iron crushed
through the bottom Of the boat, and tht
bell rang out, 8 full speed ahead,
When the sun came up the Spanish
brig stood for an instant against the dist
and disappeared in the dazzling radianct
of its later rays.-G. z. Alien, IN Neu
Tori Graphic.
nnmasfie Eennomys