The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-10-07


see him. 1t was not quite sundown
when had the hatch taken of. and
jumped down upon the boxes alone.
little way toward | saw a spacs
where JACK might have gone down.
and TO that point / crawled on nv
hands and knees / called ont here.
put could hear no answer. A short
Instance farther was 4 wider space.
Mnien l had entirely forgotten, but
whacn now remembered had been left
open on account of break in the
,Aeorlng OF The hold. which would have
aee any ,ning that might have been
slowed there rest directly on the outer
pianking Of the ship.
TINS place | made my way and
looked down. | heard the splashing ~
water. and thought | could detect
SOUND IKE The incoming of tiny let
or stream At hrst could see nofh-
ing. but as soon as | beeamo used -
the dim light could distinguish the
faint outlines CT the boy at some dist
ance below me, He seemed to DO sit
ting upon the broken floor. with his
feet stretched out against cask.
called out to him. aud | thought he
looked up.
Jack. l said. are you theres
'And he answered me, in a faint.
weary tone:
. Yes; help met For Heavens sake.
help me! Bring men, and bring lam
tern; the ship has sprunk a leakp
Il hesitated, and he added in a more
eager tone:
Make haste; | can hold it till you
come back
i waited to hear no more. but hur-
rled on deck as soon as possible, and
returned with lantern, and three men.
| leaped down beside the boy, and when
| saw 1t all l could hardly believe the
evidence OF my own senses. Three of
the timbers were completely worm-eat-
en- to the very heart, and one OF the
outer planks had been broken. and
would burst in at any moment the boy
might leave it. He sat there, with his
back upon it and his feet braced against
the cask before him. Half a dozen little
jets OF water We're streaming in about
him. and he was wet to the skin. saw
that the plank must burst in the mo-
ment the strain was removed from il.
so bade my men brace themselves
against it before j lifted him UP. Other
men were called down with planks and
spikes and adzes, and, with much care
and more trouble, we finally succeeded
IN stopping the leak and ayerting the
danger. The plank which had been
stove in was six feet long by eight inch
es wide and would have let in stream
OF water of this capacity. 1t would
have been beyond our reach long ere
we could have discovered it, and would
have sunk us in very short time l
knew 1t must be where the iceberg had
hit us.
Jack Withers was taken to the cab
IN, and there he managed to tell me
his story. Shortly after l put him in
the hold he crawled forward, and when
his eyes became used to the dim glim-
mer that came through the headlights,
he looked about for a snug place in
which to lie. for his limbs were stiff and
sore. He went to sleep, and when he
awoke he heard faint sound, like wa
ter streaming through a small hole. He
went to the open space in the cargo
and looked down, and he was sure that
he saw small jet of fwater squirting up
from the ships bottom He leaped
down, and III u few moments found that
the tlmbers had given wholly away,
and that the stream was increasing in
size. He placed his hand upon the
| plank and found it broken, and also
discovered that the pressure of the wa
ter without was forcing it inward. He
had sense enough to see thatif it gained
/ an inch more il must all go, and the
ship must 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 he called
| for help. =
''And there he had sat, with his feet
thus braced, for four-and-swenty long,
| dreary hours, with the water squirting
| in tiny streams all over him, drenching
him to the skin. He had thought sew
eral times of going to the hatchway
and calling for help; but he knew that
the broken plank would be forced in il
| he left it, for he could feel it heave be-
meath him. His strength was failing
him; his limbs were racked with pain;
but he would not give up. L asked him
if he should not have given up if L had
not come as / did. He answered me
| that he could not have done it while he
| had life in him. He said he thought
not of himseif-he was ready to die
| but he would save the rest if he could
| and he had saved us--surely saved US
from watery grave.
THAT boy lay sick in the cabin for
many days-sick almost unto death
but | nursed him with my own hands
nursed him all through his delirium
| and when his reason returned. and he
could sit up and talk, l bowed myself
before him, and humbly asked his par
don for all the wrong L had done him.
| He threw his arms about my neck, and
! told me if | would be good to him he
would never give me cause for offence;
and he added, as he sat up again, 4
am not q e0l0ard-I could not be a dog ?
From that hour / never forgot those
words;a from that hour | have never
| struck blow on board my ship.
make my men feel that they are men
| that SO regard them, and that l wish
! to make them as comfortable and hap
py as possible; and have not failed TO
| gain their respect and confidence.
| give no undue license, but make my
crew feel that they have friend and q
| superior in the same person. For nine
years | sailed in three different ships,
! and had the very same crew all the
" ulAS. II ADau COu1N AOt 70 hlAOA "
| leave me save for an officer berth.
''And Jack Withers remained with
me thirteen years. He was my cabin
boy; one of my foremast hands; my
| second mate;a land the last time he sailed
with me he refused the command of a
new barque because he would not be
| separated from me. But he is a cap
tain now, and one of the best this coun-
try ever afforded. Such, gentlemen,
is my experience in government and
discipline on shipboard."