The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-11-19

said ].
eyes" he answered. grufly, Il have
lost twenty-four hours. ! ought to
have been clear Of the Channel by
this"
''She is fast vessel. sir. We arc
doing . good twelve, should say"
] He cast his eyes over the stern, then
looked up aloft, but made no answer.
was moving away when he ex-
claimed:
$50 forward and tell the men to
keep bright lookout And keep your
weather-eye lifting yourself, SIR"
did as he babe me, and got upon
the fore-castle. found the two men,
who were indistinguishable from tho
poop, wrapped in oil-skins leaning
against the fore-castle rail. 1t blew
harder here than it did aft, for Q power
of wind rushed slanting from the fore
top-mast stayssil and whirled up from
under the foot Of the foresail.
had been on deck three-quarters of
an hour when, feeling the wind very
cold. l dived into my cabin for shawl
to wrap round my neck.
had hardly left the cuddy door b
return, when heard loud cry from
| the fOre-castle, and both hands roared
out simultaneously: "a sail right
ahead!"
Coxon walked quickly forward to
the pooprail to try to see the vessel to
wihdward; then he went over to the
other side and peered under the main
sail; after which he said: II see moth
| iny Whera ia she2H
l shouted through my hands: ''On
which bow is she?'
fright aheadr' came the reply.
There was short pause, and then
one of the men roared out: "Hard
over! we're upon hertz She's cutter
rugged. She's q smack"
"Hard a-port! hard a-port!' bawled
CoxOn.
saw the spokes of the wheel fly
round, but almost at the same moment
1 felt sudden shock-an odd kind of
thnd, the effect of which upon my
senses was to produce the impression
of sudden lull in the wind.
Great Heavensr' beloved q voice,
"we've run her dcwnr'
In a second l had bounded to the
weather-side of the poop and looked
over, and what saw sliding rapidly
past was a mast and dark-coIored
sail, which in the daylight would prob
ably be red. stretched fiat upon the
wilderness of foam which our ship was
sweeping off her sides. Upon this
ghastiy white ground sail and mast
were distinctly outlined-for brief
moment only; they vanished even as
watched, swallowed up in the seething
water. And then overhead the sails OF
the ship began to thunder. and the
rigging quivered and jerked as though
it must snap.
Hard over! hard overv beloved
Coxon.
! / saw him rush to the wheel, thrust
away one of the men and pull the
spokes over with all his force. The
vessel answered splendidly. swerved
nobly round like creature of instinct,
and was again rushing hcadlong with
full sail over the sea.
This was q close shave. At the
speed at which she was travelling she
had obeyed the rudder in the first in
stance SO promptly as to come round
close to the wind. A few moments
more and she would have been taken
back; and this, taking into considera-
ton the amount of canvas she was
carrying, must infallibly have meant
the loss of most, if not of all. her
spars.
Mortified by the thoughts of living
creatures drowning in our wake, !
cried out to the skipper:
| SsWnn,f x,D,, ,,,aEo offOy.% IA sovo
them, sir?"
''Saye them be hanged:' he an
swered, fiercely. ''Wby didn't they
get out of our road?"
was so much shocked by the coarse
inhumanity of this reply that l turned
on my heel, but yet was constrained by
an ugly fascination to turn again and
cast shuddering glances at the spot
where l pictured the drowning
wretches battling with the waves.
| Captain Coxon was too intent upon
the compass to notice my manner; he
was giving directions to the men in a
low voice, with his eyes fixed on the
card.
Presently he exclaimed. in his gruff-
est voice: Call the carpenter to sound
the WELL"
I This was soon dispatched, and re-
turned and reported dry bottom"
''Heave the log. sir"
I called a couple of hands aft and
went through the tiresome and tedious
job of ascertaining the speed by the
measured line and sand-glass.
"What do you make it9" demanded
Coxon.
Thirteen knots. sir"
He looked over the side as though to
| assure himself that the computation
! was correct, then called out:
''Clew up the main-royal, and furl
tr'
This was the beginning. and it was
about time that beginning was made.
The breeze had freshened into a strong
wind. this had grown into half a gale,
and the look OF the sky promised u
whole gale before morning. The MAIN
royal halliards were let go. and a ccu-
| pie of hands went up to stow the bit of
canvas that was humping among the
clouds.
Presently: ..Furl the four and miz-
zen top-gallant sails"
This gave occupation to the watch;
and now the decks began to grow live
ly with the figures of men running
about. with songs and choruses. with
cries of Delay, there!'' up with it
smartly, my lads!" and with the heavy
tapping of canvas.
All this, however. was no very great
reduction of sail. The Grosvenor car
ried the old-fashioned single top-sails,
and these immense spaces of canvas
were holding power of wind. Over
head the scud flew fast and furious,
| and all to windward the horizon was
very thick. We took in the main-top-
gallant sail and then l stood waiting