Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1888-02-09

nearu steps descending the GdnGWdN
and in tho dim light which fell from
above recOgn zed Albert STREET,
The diabolical expression of his face
and the evil look in his trcacheroua
ewes, revealed his purpose but too
clcarly-he had come to murder me.
seized my revolver and prepared to
defend myself But it was not his in
tention TO attack mo openly. Before
l could prevent it he had closed tho
stateroom door and locked it on the out
side.
All the horrors OF my situation flashed
across me in momeet. | was pris-
oner upon the sinking ship. With Il
cry of rage l sprang to the door. Ny
only answer was liendish laugh and
the words.
"Who Will marry May Brodstone
nowp"
Then he hurried up the stairs and all
was still. / shouted for help-the
bowling of the tempest drowned ny
cries / waited. There was II momen-
tary lull in tho storm and heard the
order given to push of. In my terri
bic anxiety shouted again. but ut the
Same moment the storm arose with Zee
doubled fury. and no ono heard NY
frantic cries. All hope had indeed vai.-
ished. | was prisoner alon" upon
the sinking ship-hOrr bic thought! In
wild despair / beat with all my might
against the door, although | knew too
well that salvation was no longer pos
sible, for. rs the boats must inevitably
DO separated in tho darkness of the
night, should not be- III ssed before
the ship was entirely wrecked. In
deed. how could / cherish any hope?
During the occasional pauses in the
storm | could hear the fatal water
surging in the hold, could feel that
with each movement the sh p was set
Ting lower and lower. Suddenly it
gave fearful lurch. "a seething wave
rushed down tho gangway, forced It's
way under the door and flooded the
stateroom. l cried aloud. for bcliev-
ed all was over and ] must die without
making one effort to save NV fc.
felt that could have looked death
firmly in tn" face. had 1 been upon
deck, with Gods free heaven above
me, but my hair stood on end at the
horrible thought that | was to drown
shut up thus in Il cage. Was there,
then, no way of escape? | looked
about me. and, utterng sudden cry
of jOy, sprang to the door. unmindfui
of the fact that the water was rising
higher and higher.
Fool! Idiotr' cried. 'Why have
l not thought of this before? l am
my own murderer.
NV eye had fallen upon my revolver.
With trembling eagcrness, / dscharg-
4 1. 81 Z
it to atoms, and moment later was
standing upon the deci-not second
too soon, for the ship was sinking rap
idlv.
Full of wild hope, strained my gaze
to discover the boats but far and near
only thick backness shroudod the wat
ers. However. since heaven had help
ed me thus far. would not despair.
d scharged the remaining barrels OF
my revolver and threw myself into the
sea Shng to be as far rs poss BILE
from the sinking ship.
hoped to find piece of the wreck
age, and i'm tn 5 | was not diSappOi nted.
for had not been swimming long
when l discovered mast TO which
ropes were attached, so that had only
to lash myself to it rs firmly as posi-
ble and let the waves bear me whittier
soever they would.
Suddenly. however, tremendous
eddy seized me. WAS thrown violently
backward. wh.rled round and round rs
if in vorteX--then | knew nothing
more!
When l recovered consciousness l
was in one of tho boats. and May Brod-
etOup NvaG hanHiup nvnt. mo
At daybreall all the boats which had
been separated in the darkness were
called together, and the list of the pas
sengers and crew was read b. the cap
tain. AS soon us it was discovered
that was missing, they rOwed back to
look for me, but no one was able to UNI
derstand why had not taken advan-
tage OF the boats.
BY this time the sea was quite calm
so that nothing interfered with their
search.
Presently they perceived dark
object and approaching it, discovered
mo clnging in desperation to tho
wreck, laughing and shouting like
mailman. remained in this condition
for some time after had been drawn
into the boat Gradually, however. l
became quieter, although l lay in
delrium for moro than twenty-four
hours.
AS soon as my mind was again en-
tirelv clear. / related my adventures.
which filed all my hearers, and
especially May Brodstone. with horror.
"Now, UNDERESTIMATE exclaimed the
captain. "rhe rascal! Our boats lost
each other in the darkness. In the
morning. they all came together again
except the one which contained Albert
Streffer and some of the worst charact-
ers among the crew. Either he steer
ell the boat in another direction, to
escape the punishment which might
await him, or he must have bribed the
sailors to desert usl'
Whether the captains supposition
was correct l cannot say, for never,
from that day to this, have heard any
thing of Albert Streler.
The very same day we were picked
up by an English steamer and landed
in England, without further accident
or adventure. Nav and l proceeded
a. Opra "a (tnpp,opv whnra tvn ,vnra