The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-05-06

looked down. | heard the splashing of !
water, and thought / could detect
sound like the incoming of tiny jet or |
stream. AT first could see nothing,
but as soon as | became used to the dim
light, could distinguish the faint out
lines of the boy at some distance below |
me. He seemed to be sitting on the |
broken floor, with his feet stretched out
against a cask / called out to him, and |
thought he looked up.
Jack are you there?"
And he answered me in faint, weary
tone:
Yes, help me! For heavens sake
help mel Bring men and bring II Ian
tern-the ship has sprung leak!''
/ hesitated, and he added, in more
eager tone:
Make hastel l will try to hold it
till you come back
| waited to hear no more, but hur-
ried on deck as soon as possible, and
returned with lantern and three men.
| leaped down beside the boy and could
scarcely believe my own senses. Three
of the timbers were completely worm
eaten to the very heart, and one of the
outer planks had been broken, and
would burst in any moment the boy
might leave it, whose feet were braced
against the plank before him. Half
dozen little jets of water were stream
ing in about him, and he was wet to
the skin. | saw the plank must burst
the moment the strain was removed
from it, so | made the men brace them
selves against it before | lifted him up.
| Other men were called down, with
! planks, spikes and AIDES, and with much
care and trouble we finally succeeded
in stopping the leak and averting the
danger.
The plank which had been stove in
was six feet long by eight inches wide,
and would let in stream of water of
that capacity. 1t would have been be-
yond our reach long before we could
have discovered it, and would have
sunk us in a very short time. / knew
it must be where the iceberg struck us.
Jack Withers was taken to the cabin,
and there he managed to tell his story.
Shortly after | put him in the hold he
crawled forward, and when he became
used to the dim glimmer that came
through the headlights, he looked around
for snug place in which to lie, for his
limbs were very sore. He went to sleep,
and when he awoke he heard faint
sound, like water streaming through
small hole. He went to the open place
in the cargo and looked down, and was
sure that he saw small jet of water
springing up through the ships bottom.
He leaped down, and in few moments
found that the timbers had given
wholly away, and that the stream was
increasing in size. He placed his hand
l. fo,,,,1 Irnlyo,,
and discovered that the pressure of the
water without was forcing it inward.
He had sense enough to see that if it
gained an inch more it must all go, and
the ship be lost and perhaps all hands
perish. And he saw, too, that if he
could keep the broken plank in its place
he might stop the incoming flood So
he sat himself upon it and braced his
feet against the cask, and then called
for help. But he was too far away-so
low down, with such mass of cargo
about him, that his voice scarcely
reached other ears than his own. Some
of the men heard him, but thought he
was talking to himself.
And there he sat, with his feet
braced, for four-and-twenty dreary
hours, with the water squirting all over
,, him, and drenching him to the very
! skin. He had several times thought of
going to the hatchway and calling fol
: help; but he knew that the broken
! plank would be forced in if he left it
: for he could feel it heave beneath him
!. his limbs were racked with pain, bu
he would not give up. | asked him il
; he would not have given up if / ha(
not come as 1 did. He answered tina
he would not have done it while there
\ was life in him. He said he though
4 not of himself-he was ready to die
a.. !, but he would save the rest, if he could
: and he had saved us. surely-saved u
= all-from watery grave.
y The boy lay sick almost unto death
. but nursed him with my own hands
= nursed him all through his delirium
=, and when his reason returned and h.
! could sit up and talk, bowed mysel
before him, and humbly asked his par
E don for all the wrong / had done him
4 He threw his arms around my neck an
=. - told me if / would be good to him h
. would never give cause of offence; h
added, as he sat up again, I" | am not
y coward-I could not be dog"
a never forgot those words; and fror
IL that hour | never struck blow o
u board my ship. l make my men fec
that they are men, that | so regar
= them, and that wish to make them a
~ comfortable and happy as possible; an
y have not failed to gain their respet
Z, and confidence. / give no undue |
Ie cense, but make my crews feel ths
n they have friend and superior in tn
~ same person. For nine years | hav
y sailed in three different ships with tn
VI same crew. A man could not be hire
~ to leave me, save for an officers bertl
~ And Jack Withers remained with N
~ thirteen years. He was my cabin-boy
II u, one of my foremost hands; my secon
~ mate; and the last time he sailed wit
AZ me he refused the command of a ne
W bark.-SdilOrS' and Sedmen's Friend.