Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-02-12

IS oIsiis tl, 8 u .oaild bescablssl
under tia waves that would.
he left to tell the tale Ot our life and
death would be perllaps floating on
the water BY I,.assing ship days Of.
who has been IN similar circumstances
can realize how little life seems worth.
But ats THAT hour, when IL seemed
impossible to nlakea successful eff
tort, Belle came from the cabin, har
lace white, but determined, and said:
DON give up, there IS hope vet.
Hasten to the pumps. will steer
the ship. And in truth she did, all
the long hours Of the fearful night,
She stood at the wheel, using her en-
tfr6 strength TO keep the vessel up in
to the wind. The rest OF US pumped,
pumped until it seemed that our limbs
would break. Nerved by g the
1fearfulness Of the situation we
worked with full force all the time,
and much to our satisfaction found.
that the water no longer gained on u.s.
Our hope and prayer was for the NOR
row, because when daylight came there
would be a chance for help. Before
dawn our hearts again sunk. Nature
could no longer stand the test, and our
boy, who had been making manly eff
forts, sank to the deck. So exhausted
was he both in mind and body that
blood commenced to ooze from his
ears and nose !, myself, the moment
my efforts were relaxed, grew faint. I
felt almost unconscious Of what was
going onaround me. 1t seemed as if
the fatal hour were come. Death no
longer was a dreaded visitor. His
presence would be almost q welcome.
#'st But Belle, who had been steering
oil these long hours and had shouted
out words Of encouragement to us, now
lett the WHEEL and hurried to my side.
aDon't give up yet, husband; we may
be saved. O. for daylight" With
these words she grasped the handles
and vigorously commenced to work
the pumps. / followed her efforts,
and leaving the schooner to drift we
gave all our attention to the pumps.
Soon it was dawn. It was with feel
ings OF q new lease of life that we CON
tinued our work. Occasionally one
would stop. and glance over the waste
of waters to search for a passing sail.
Again and again disapp continent greet
ed us, but sud denly my wife looked up,
ana, gazing moment, cried: "A sail!
now we may be saved
4 2tt"1 looked up, and sure enough, O.
white sail was above the horizon. Our
flag was at themasthead and wewait-
ed with strange feelings to see if they
would see our condition. But, no! No
change was made in their course, and
once more we turned to the pumps
with aching hearts. All but my wife
We're disappointed and gloomy. She,
however, put on a cheerful face, and,
working harder than ever before, said,
Now, we must pump until we see an
other ship
s GA little later another vessel hove
in sight, and our hopes for second
time grew as we came nearer together.
The vessel passed us in plain sight, but
no indication of our discovery was
seen. On, on they went directly away. It
seemed for sure that we must 20 down.
The fat es were oil against us. Our chan
ces for life were but delusion. What
! did the half hour following the last
disappointment I scarcely know. My
wife's feeble words of encouragement
came as il in a dream. How rapidly
through my mind passed reco2lections
OF home, which are so dear to man!
Little would l have thought one year
before, when we were married, that a
short twelve month would bring about
such a situation as that we were in.
Then / would determine that Belle
should not drown and force myself to
greater efforts.
4 "sWhen it was announced that an
other ship was in sight l could scarce
~ hope; too strong was the belief that
like others she wonld pass on her way
without seeing us. But Providence
had not SO ordained, and soon we
saw for sure that we were seen. The
huge iron steamers prov was turned
and the black smoke that poured out
Of her stacks showed we would soon be
safe. then got all the party into the
boat and waited for the ships arrival.
/ wanted to put a force on board to
pump her and keep her ahoat until
we could get to land, but my wife said
il / remained on board she would, sc,
4 left. 1t would have been OF no use
though; the leak was too large. The
poor Ferris! 1t was too bad to lose
her; but, thank God, Belle is safe ~.
Il when the master finished speaking
Captain Lund was in tears. never
saw him 50 affected in my life. All he
said was, Thank God I did save her.
Il she is Q representative Of your.
American women you have won a
fortune in lkno wing her worth. | am
an Englis hman, but Itell you frankly
q don't believe there IS q woman IN all
England that could have done as
much. 81. i s5
1Ehe officers then returned to their.
duties, but later in the day were all
introduced to the young lady. She
told us that she was but eighteen.
years OF age, and came from Ellis.
worth, Me. She spoke gravely cons
corning their marrow escape, saying
little ii regard to their losses. THAT
was Of little consequence; both had
their health, and could work togeth her
for q living I asked if they had any
money. She said: Ten dollars N
change is oil we have. This got noised
among the crew, and all with generous
impulse wished to contribute some
thing to help the couple out. We
gathered forty-fve dollars before
Boston was reached. Superintendent
Furber Of the Boston 4 Maine Road,
hearing Of their condition, sent them
free passes to her home, and to-day