The Republican journal., 1884-07-17

you'll find hanging in the west at day
break Indeed, | believe the sun was up
above the sea before auy light came, 50
thick it was. All the men were awake,
and dreadful they looked, as of course |
did. One of them was named Burke.
noticed him at once, and thought be was
| dying. He lay athwart- ships. with his
back against the starboard side of the
boat and there was strange working
in his fingers, like the movement of a
womans hands opening skein of thread
"The captain said, For Gods sake
| look around, lads, and see if there's any
thing in sight
"The sea ran high and made it dan
| gerous for any of US to stand up for fear
of capsizng of the boat so we hung
over the gunwale, with our chins on a
level with it, and stared into the driving
| smother with all our might but there
was nothing to be seen but the breaking
| seas when we were hove up. and the
water standing like walls on either hand
when We dropped into the troughs All
at once Burke sat up, and began to sing
| ont for drink of water. He talked az
| If he believed we had it and wouldn't
| give il, which was the first sign Of his
insanity. The captain tried to pacty
him, speaking very kindly, and seeking
| to cheer him.
we have outlved a day and a
night said he. Keep up your heart,
mate: we may have thousand ton ship
under us before it comes dark again
| But Burke kept on crying for water,
saving that he was dying for it. and
! f,1i
on all fours, he puts his face to the
saltwater washing about in the bottom
of the boat and sucked up several mouth
fuls. Well, it seemed to do him no
hurt, and he lay quiet. soon after this
| spied something knocking about in the
sea few tathoms astern, and called the
| shippers attention to it. He said it was
one Of some kegs Of butter that had been
aboard the schooner, SO We pulled the
oars in and dropped down to it and pick
ed it up. We broke it open and ate the
butter III fstfuls, being mad with hunger;
but it was as salt as brine, and the effect
of it was to make our thirst raging. The
knife we had used to open the keg lay in
the bottom of the boat, and Burke, on a
sudden turning over seized hold of it.
| jumped up. and Iell upon the captain.
lie hit him once, but the knife didn't
| pierce through the thick Jacket the skip
per had on. and before he could raise
his hand again we dragged him down and
kneeled upon him.
"Ibere was no worse part in all that
dreadful time than this. The madmans
face was terrible sight; almost black it
was He snapped about him with his
teeth, and his cries and curses were
things it brings the sweat upon my face
to talk about, Think of our situation
mad with thirst ourselves and struggling
with a mailman, Il killing north easter
blowing like knives through our frozen
bodies. the sea leaping and roaring
around us, and nothing between us and
the bottom but the little old boat we
We're in. We were too weak, aud in too
much suffering ourselves to remain hold
| ing the mailman down, and finding him
| quiet we let 90, and squatted one close to
another for warmth; but scarcely had
we hauled off from the poor wretch when
| he jumps up and throws himself over
| board. .'Nndn shouted the skipper
| 'one'S enough fearing that if we all got
to the side Burke had leaped from we
| should upset the boat. was the near
est. and as be came up close leaned
over and got him by the hair, and drag
ged him into the boat. He was pretty
nigh dead, and gave US no more trouble.
"Well, sir, the night came down a sec
ond time, finding us living but without
the looks of live men. | made sure
should never see another aybreak. My
| thirst was not so sharp as it had been !;
| but don't know whether the dull throb-
| bing III my throat, the kind of lockjaw
| feeling in my mouth, the burning in my
| tongue as though it We're a lump OF hot
| IRON, was not more tOrturing than when
the craving was tiercer. All night long
| it blew strong wind, with now and then
a squall of sleet and rain, and hour after
hour two of the men, Parsons and DAILY,
were groaning in the bottom of the boat
When the light came looked to see who
was alive. Ny eyes falling on Burke, |
called out dead The captain lean
ed down and felt him, and said: Yes,
he's gone. He's the first God have
mercy upon us " and catching hold of my
shoulder he stood up to search the sea,
| but the haze was as thick as it had been
all the time. and he threw himself down
with his hands over his face. Presently.
| looking at the body he said I'VE must
bury him but first, my lads let us say a
prayer for him, and for ourselves We
all knelt while the captain prayed, and
when he had done we lifted the body and
let it 90 overheard.
"The madness that thirst creates
when the body was gone, and down thev
dropped as Burke had, and Tapped up
| the salt water in tho bottom Of the boat
as dogs would. The captain implored
them not to drink, but they never needed
him or Inc, who likewise entreated them.
| However, no harm seemed to come Of it.
| Well, sir, there's no need tor me to de-
scribe that "Wednesday nor our third
night in that open boat. Thursday
morning came, making the fourth day,
and to our JOY the weather cleared, the
wind shifted and moderated and the sea
went down. We got the oars in, rugged
up one as mast, and two of us having
oll-skln coats on, we Joined them 50 as to
form sail, made yard of the other oar,
and putting the boat before the wind,
which was blowing a light breeze from
the south ard, headed, as the captain
Judged, for the Irish coast. All the day
long we kept a wild lookout, as you may
reckon, for passing ship, but never
once, not in the farthest distance, did
such an object heave in sight. We might
have been sailing in the middle of the
Pacific. Nature in us was almost numb
ed. We had come to such pass that
we We're too faint and exhausted to feel
the craving Of hunger and thirst. At
least | can speak for myself, and it's in
that way | account for my suffering less
at the end than did at the beginning of
the dreadful time we went through. 1t
was still cold, but nothing like the bitter
cold of the gale and the heavy seas and
squalls We reckoned by the sun that
the wind hung steady, and we let the
boat slip before it that was ali that could
be done. If we were to sail at all we
were bound to keep the breeze over our
stern, seeing there was nothing to draw
but couple of oil-skins secured to the
oar.
"But the coming on of Thursday night
was like the bitterness of death itself. sir
indeed it was. All day long we had reck
oned upon sighting something before the
sun went down. Every hour we had
hoped, and prayed, and believed would
heave up some sort of vessel to come to
our rescue and, therefore, when it drew