Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1884-11-12

| L
furtively peeping at the desk, expecting
to see the figure sitting there.
The captain. had not spoken for some
time, and was sitting with his face
buried in his hands. At last he sud-
denly looked up, and said:
Suppose we alter her course to
northwest, Mr.. Brown"
I don't know what it was; cannot
hope to make you understand the feel
ing in my mind that followed those
words-it was a sense of relief from a
horrible nightmare. was ashamed of
theschildish pleasure l felt, but 7 could
not help answering eagerly, Certainly;
shall I give the order?"
waited no longer. but hurried on
deck, and altered the course of the YES
sci.
1t was clear, frosty night, and as I
looked at the compass before going be-
low I felt strangely pleased, and caught
myself chuckling and rubbing my
hands; at what, cannot say didn't
know then, but great weight had been
taken off my mind.
went down to the cabin, and found
the captain pacing up and down the
small space. He stopped as I came in,
and, looking up, said abruptly:
at can do no harm, Mr.. Brown"
eff this breeze continues" I
answered, "we can hold on for thirty
hours or SO; but then, I should think
"But then-we shall find ice. How's
the wind?"
STEADY, north by east"
We sat down and finished our grog.
[ had the morning watch to keep next
day. was too restless to sleep after it,
SO [ kept on deck the rest of the day.
Even that did not satisfy me. was
continually running up into the tops
with my glass, but every time I came
down disappointed. The captain was
as unquiet as myself. Something we
expected to happen, but of what it was
to be we could form no idea The Sec
ond officer, / believe, thought us both
crazy; indeed, L often wondered myself
at the state / was in. Evening came
and nothing had turned up. The night
was bright and the captain determined
to carry on under easy sail till morning.
Morning came, and with the first gray
light / was on deck. It was bitterly
cold. Those who have seen them can
form an idea of the delicate tints Of the
morning sky in those Northern seas.
But was in no humor to appreciate
the beauties OF nature. There was :
mist low down On the horizon / waited
impatiently for it to lift. It lifted soon,
and could not be mistaken-beyond it
I could see the simmer of ice. I sent
down to tell the captain, who came on
deck directly.
"It's no use, Mr.. Brown" he said, "you
must put her about"
wait one moment; the mist is lift
ing more; it will bequite clear directly"
The mist was indeed lifting rapidly
Far to the north and west we could see
the ice stretching away in one unbrok-
en- field. [ was trying to see whether
there appeared any break in the ice
toward the west, when the captain, seiz
ing my arm with one hand and pointing
straight ahead with the other, exclaimed:
"Good heavens! there is a ship
there"
The mist had raised like curtain,
and there, sure enough, about three
miles ahead, was ship seemingly firm
~ packed in the ice. We stood look
ing at it in silence. There was some
meaning after all in that mysterious
warning, was the first thought that sug
gested itself to me.
"She's nipped bad, SIR" said old
Shiel, who, with the rest of the crew,
was anxiously watching our new dis
covery. [ was trying to make her out
with the glass when the fash of gun
quickly followed by the report proved
that she had seen US. Up went the
flag, union downward. We needed no
signal to know her distress. The cap
tain ordered the second officer off into
the boat. [ watched him as ne made
his way over the ice with few of the
men toward the ship. They soon re-
turned with eight of the ships crew. It
was dismal account they gave of tLeir
situation. They might have sawed
their way out of the ice, but the ship
was so injured that she could not have
foated an hour. The largest of their
boats had been stove in, the others we're
hardly seaworthy. They we're prepar
ing, however, to take to them as last
resource when our welcome arrival put
an end to their fears. Another detach-
ment was soon brought off, and the cap
tain, with the remainder Of his crew,
was to follow immediately.
l went down to my cabin and tried to
think over the singular fate which had
made us the preservers of this ships
crew. l could not divest myself of the
idea that some supernatural agency was
connected with that paper in the desk,
and trenbled at the thought of what
might have been the consequences if
we had neglected the warning. The
boat coming alongside Interrupted my
reverie. In a few seconds I was on
deck
I found the captain talking to fine
old sailor-hke looking man, whom he
introduced to me as Capt. Squires.
Capt. Squires shook hands with me and
we remained talking some time. [
could not keep my eyes off his face. I
had conviction that 7 he'd seen him
somewhere, where could not tell.