The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-10-21
length, mado up my mind to go and see

him.
1t was not quite shutdown when had the
hatch taken off, and / jumped down upon
the boxes alone. A little way forward
saw a space where Jack might easily have
gone down, and to that point crawled on
my hands and knees. / called out there,
but could hear no answer. A short dis
lance farther WAS wide space, which L
had entirely forgotten, but which / now
remembered had been left open on account
of break in the flooring of the hold,
which would have let anything that might
have been slowed there rest directly upon
the thin plankings of the ship.
To this place l made my way, and looked
down. | heard the FLASHING OF water, and
thought could detect sound like the in
coming Of tiny jet, or stream. AT first L
could see nothing, but as soon as l became
used to the dim light l could distinguish
the dim outlines of the boy some distance
below me. He seemed to be sitting upon
the broken floor, with his feet stretched out
against a cask. l called out to him, and
thought he looked up.
Jack, are YOU there?"
And he answered me in very faint and
weary tone:
"Yes; help me, For heavens sake, help
me! Bring men, and bring a lantern-the
l hesitated, and he added in a more eager
tone:
snake haste-I will try 10 hold it till you
come back"
l waited to hear no more, but hurried on
deck as soon rs possible, and returned with
n lantern and three men. | leaped down
beside the boy, and could scarcely believe
the evidence of my own senses. Three of
the timbers were worm eaten to the very
heart, and one of the outer planks had
been broken, and would burst in any mo-
ment the boy might leave it, whose feet
were braced against the cask before him.
Half dozen little Jets of water were
streaming in about him, and he was wet TO
the skin. l saw that the plank must burst
in the moment the strain was removed
from it, so | made my men brace them
selves against it before | lifted him up.
Other men were called down with planks,
and spikes, and AIDES, and with much care
and much 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 n stream of water of that ca
pacity. II would have been beyond orr
reach ere we could have discovered it, and
we would certainly have sunk in very
iceberg struck us.
Jack Withers was taken into the cabin
and managed TO tell his story. Shortly
after / put him into the hold he crawled
forward, and when he became used to the
dim glimmer that came through the dead
lights, looking 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 n faint sound, like water stream
ING 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
water springing up from the ships bottom
He leaped down, and III few minutes
found that the timbers had given 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 water without was forcing
it inward. He had sense enough to see
that if it gained an inch more ii 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
upon it, and braced his feet against the
cask, and then called for help. But he was
so far away, so low down, with such a
dense mass of the cargo about him, that his
voice scarcely reached other ears than his
own. Some of the men heard him, but
they thought he was talking to himself.
And there he sat with his feet braced for
four nd-twenty hours, with the water
squirting in tiny streams all over him,
drcnching him to the skin. He had thought
several times of going TO the Matching and
calling for 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 strenlth was failing him; his limbs
were racked with pain, but he would not
give it up. | asked him if he would not
have given up if / had not come as did.
He answered that he could not have done
it while he had life in him. He said he
thought not of himself-he was ready to
debut he would save the rest if he could,
and he saved us, surely saved us all from a
watery grave.
The boy lay sick in the cabin for many
days-sick almost unto death but | nursed
him all through his deliIium; and when
his reason returned, and he could sit up
and talk, bowed myself before him. and
humbly asked his pardon for 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
offense; and added, as he sat up again,
al am not coward couldn't be dog"
From that hour 1 never forgot those
words; and from that hour / have never
struck a blow on board of my ship. l
make my mon feel that they are men-that
/ so regard them, and that wish to make
them as comfortable aud as happy as
possible; and | have not failed TO gain
respect and confidence. / give no undue
license. and make my crew feel that they
have friend and n superior in the same
person. For nine years / sailed in three
different ships with the same crew. A man
couldn't be hired to leave me save for an
officers berth.
And Jack Withers remained with me
thirteen years. He was my cabin boy;
one of the for amast hands; my second
mate and the last time he sailed with me
he refused the command of n new bark,
because he would not be separated from
me. But he is captain now, and one of
the best this country ever afforded. Such,
gentlemen, is my experience in government
and discipline on shipboard.