Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-05-10

mol" cried /, for my younger and shrewder
ear had caught a note in the cry that per-
suaded me it was not as the carpenter said;
and in an instant the three of Us jumped up
the ladder and gained the deck.
| The moment I was in the gale the same
affrighted cry rang down along the wind
from some man forwards "For Gods sake,
tumble up before we are upon itr'
| "What do you sect" roared, sending my
voice, trumpet fashion, through my hands;
for as to my own and the sight Of Capt. Rosy
and the carpenter, why, it was like being
struck blind to come ON a sudden out Of the
| lighted cabin into the black night.
| Amy reply chat might have been attempted
was choked out by the dive of the briggs
head into the sea, which furiously flooded
her forecastle, and came washing aft like
milk in the darkness, till it was up to our
| knees.
''See therel" suddenly roared the carpenter.
"Where, man-wheref" bawled the captain.
But in this brief time my sight had grown
used to the night, and l saw the object before
the carpenter could answer. 1t lay on our
lee beam, but how far off no man could have
told in that black thickness. 1t stood against
the darkness and hung out a dim complexion
Of light, or rather of pallidness, that was not
| nght-not to be described by the pen. 1t
was like a small hill of snow, and looked as
| snow does, or the foam of the sea in darkness,
and it came and went with our soaring and
sinking.
"Ice!" shouted to the captain.
81 see it, he answered. 1--WE must drive
her clear at all risks
There was no need to call the men, To the
second cry that had been raised by one
among Them VINO had come out of the fore
castle and seen the berg, they had tumbled
up as sailors will when they jump for their
| lives; and now they came staggering, splash
ing, crawling aft to u.s. for the lamp in tho
cabin made sheen in the companion hatch,
and they could see us as we stood there.
"Men," cried Capt. Rosy, 'yonder's a
gravestone for our carcasses IL we are not
| lively Cast the helm adrift!" tive steered
| by tiller). 1.-TWO hands stand by it. For
ward, some of we, and loose the forestaysail,
and show the head of It'll"
The fellows hung in the wind could not
| wonder. The bowsprit had been sprung when
| the jibboom was wrenched from the cap by
the fall of the topgallantmast it still had
to bear the weight of the heavy spritsail
yard, and the drag Of the staysail might
carry the spar overheard with the men upon
| it, Yet it was our best chance; the one sail
most speedily released and hoisted-the ono
that would pay the briggs head off quickest,
and the only fragment that promised to stand.
"Jumpln roared the captain, in passion
of hurry ''Great thunderl tits close aboardl
You'll leave me no sea room for veering if
you delay an instant"
"Follow me who will" l cried out; ''and
others stand by ready to hoist away"
Thus speaking-for there seemed to my
mind q surer promise of death in hesitation
at this supreme moment, than in twenty
such risks as laying out on the bowsprit sig
nifed-I made for the Ice of the weather
bulwarks and blindly hauled myself forward
by such pins and gear as came to my hands,
A man might spend his life on the ocean and
never have to deal with such passage as
this.
l got on to the bowsprit, nearly stifed by
the showering of the seas, holding an open
knife between my teeth, half dazed by the
prodigious motion of the light brig, which at
this extreme end of her was to be felt to the
full height of its extravaganza At every
plunge l expected to be buried, and every
moment was prepared to be torn from my
hold.
Commencing myself to God, for was now
to let go with my hands, pulled the knife
or lines which bound the sail to the spar, I
cut and hacked as fast as l could ply my
arms. In flash the gale, whipping into a
liberated fold of the canvas, blew the whole
sail out; the bowsprit reeled and quivered
under me; l danced off it with incredible
dispatch, shouting to the men to hoist away.
The head of the staysail mounted in thunder,
and the Stating of its folds and the thrashing
of its sheet was like the rafting of heavy
field pieces whisked at full gallop over q
stony road.
"High enoughl" l bawled, guessing enough
was shown, for / could not see. "Get drag
upon the Sheet lads, and then aft with you
for your hvesl"
Scarce had let forth my breath in this
cry when / heard the blast as of gun, and
knew by that the sail was gone; an instant
after wash came n mountainous sea sheer
over the weather bulwarks fair betwixt the
fore and main rigging; but happily, standing
near the fore Shrouds, was holding on with
both hands to the topsail halyards while call
ing to the men, so that, being under the rail-
which broke the blow Of the sea, and holding
on too, no mischief befel me-only that for
about twenty seconds stood In horrible
fury and smother of frothing water, hearing
nothing, seeing nothing, with every faculty
in me so numbed and dulled by the wet, cold,
and horror of our situation, that know not
whether in that space Of time l was in the
least degree sensible Of what had happened
or what might befall.
The water leaving the deck, rallied,
though half drowned, and staggered aft, and
found the helm deserted, nor could l see any
signs OF my companions. l rushed to the
| tiller, and putting my whole weight and force
to it, drove it up to windward and secured it
by a turn of its own roap; for leo or no ice
and for the moment was SO blinded by the
wet that could not see the berg-my mad
ness now was to get the brig before the sea
and out of the trough, advised by every in
stinct in me that such another surge as that
which had rolled over her must send her to
the bottom in less time than it would take
man to cry ooh Godr'
A figure came out Of the blackness on tho
lee side of the deck.
"Who is that's" said he. TWAS Capt. Rosy.
answered.
"What, Rodney l-aliveT' cried he. 81
think have been struck insensible."
Two moro figures came crawling aft; then
two more, They were the carpenter and
three seamen.
cried out, "Who was at the helm when
that sea was shipped?'
A man answered, me, Thomas Jobling.n
"Where's your mattel" l asked; and it
seemed to me that was the only man who
had his senses full just then.
"He was washed forward along with me-"
he replied
Now a fifth man joined us; but before /
could question him as to the others, the cap
tain, with a scream like an epileptic's cry,
shrieked, 'Its all over with us! We are
upon It'll"
looked and perceived the iceberg to be
within musket shot, whence it was clear
that it had been closer to us when first
sighted than the blackness of the night would
suffer us to distinguish. In time like this
at sea events throng so fast they come in a
heap, and even if the intelligence were not
confounded by the uproar and peril-if, in
deed, it were as placid as in any time Of per-
feet security-it could not possibly take note
of one-tenth that happens
confess that, for my part, was very
nearly paralyzed by the nearness Of the ice-
berg, and by the cry of the captain, and by
the perception that there was nothing to be
done. That which best recollect is the APP
pearance of the mass of ice lying solidly, like
| a little island, upon the seas which roared in
Dreaming waters about it.
| All other features were swallowed up in
the agony of the time. One monstrous swing
the brig gave, like to some doomed creatures
last delirious struggle; the bowsprit caught