Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1889-03-22

ing to the uprOar around, feeling the cOnvul.
sions of the schooner fully prepared for
death, logged and hopeless.
On sudden--in n BREATH felt the vessel
rise. She was swung up with the giddy
velocity of hunter clearing n tall gate she
sank again, and there was mighty concus-
sion forward, then pause Of steadiness while
YOU might have counted five, then a wild nm
ward heave, sort of sharp floating fall,
harsh grating along her keel and sides, as
though She was being smartly warped over
rocks, followed by an unmistakablo free
pitching and rolling motion.
| had sprung to my feet and stood waiting;
but the instant gathered by the movements
of her that she was released | sprang like a
mailman up the companion steps. The seq,
breaking on her bow, flew in heavy showers
along the deck and half blinded me- But l
was sem-deirious, and having sat so long
with deaths hand in minc, was in passion
atcly defiant mood, with perfect rage Of
scorn of peril i'll me, and walked right on to
the forecastle, giving the flying sheets of
water there no heed. In a minute n block of
sea tumbled upon me and lett me breathless;
the icinesS of it cooled my minds heat, but
not my resolution. was determined to Judge
as best l could by the light of the foam of
what had happened, and holding on tena-
progressing step by step, got to the fore
castle and looked ahead
Where the ice was tho water tumbled in
milk; twas four or five ships lengths distant,
and | could distinguish no more than that [
poered over the lee bow, but could see no ice
The vessel had gone clear; how, knew not,
and can never know; but my own fancy is
that she split the bed with her own weight
when the sea rose and threw the ice up, for
she had foated on a sudden, and the noises
which attended her release indicated that she
had been forced through a channel.
returned aft, barely escaping a second
delugc, and looked over the quarter: no ice
was there visible to me. The vessel rolled
horribly, and perceived that She had de-
cided list to starooard, the result of the shift
ing of what was in her when the ice came
away from the main with her; and it was
this heel that brought the sea washing over
the bow | took hold Of the tller to try it,
| but either the helm was frozen immovabe,
or the l'udder jammed in its gudgeons, or in
| some other fashion fixed.
Had she been damaged below? was she
taking in watcri knew her to be so thclly
/ sheata:d wth ice that, unless it had been
scaled off in places by the breaking of her
bed, / had little fear until this covering
melted or dropped off by the working of the
France of the hull not proving tight. l
/ should have been coated with ice myself had
| stayed but little longer in my wet clothes
in ehat piercing wind; SO | ran below, and
bringing an armful of clothes from my cabin
to the cook room, was very soon in dry at
tire, and making an extraordinary figure,
don't question, i'll the buttons, lace, and "trip
pcrleS of the old fashioned garments.
Meanwhile, was crazy to ascertain if the
schooner was taking in water If there was
a sounding rod in the ship | did not know
whore TO lay my hands upon it. But he is a
poor sailor who is slow at substitutes. There
were several spears in the arms room (pirati-
cal plumber, no doubt with mere spikes for
heads, like those weapons used by the CATERS
and other tribes in that country; they were
formed of hard heavy wood. | took n
length of ratline line and secured II to one of
these spears, and carried it on deck with the
powder room bulls eye lamp; but when
probed the sounding pipe | found it full of
ice, and as it was impossible to draw tho
pumps | flung my ingenious sounding rod
down iii passion of grief and modification.
Yet was | not to be beaten. Such was nv
temper, had the devil himself confronted me
] should have deiied him TO do hi, worst. for
| had made up my mind to weather him out.
l entered tho forccastie, lantern in hand,
pred open the hatch, and dropped into the
hold 1t needed an experienced ear to detect
the Sobbng of internal waters amid the
/ yearhlnS guShcs, the long gurGling washirgs,
the thund"rOuS blows, and shrCwd rain Ike
hlsslngs of the seas outside. listened with
strained hearing for some minutes. but dis
tinguished no sounds to alarm me with as
surance Of water in the hold | could not
mistake l hearkenod with all nv might.
but the noise was outside. / thanked God
very heartily, and got out of the hold and
put the hatch on. There was no need to so
aft and listen. The schooner was by the
head, and there could be no water in the run
that would not be forward too
Being treasured in respect of the stanch-
ness of the hull, returned to the fire and
proceeded to equip myself for prolonged
watch on deck. While | was drawing on q
great pair of boots heard a knocking in the
after part Of the vessel. | supposed she had
drifted into little field of broken ice, and
that she would go clear presently, and fin
ished arming myself for the weather; but the
knocking continuing | went into the cabin,
where heard it very plain, and walked as
| far as the lazarette hatch, where I stood lis
tcning. The noises were n kind of IRREGULAR
humping, accompanied by peculiar grind
ing sound. In moment | guessed the truth,
rushed on deck, and by the dim light in the
air saw the long tillcr moving to and frol
The beat Of the beam seas had unlocked the
frozen bonds of the ruddcr and there swung
the tiller, as though like a dog the ship was
waCging her tail FOR joy!
Tho vessel lay along, rolling so as to bring
her starboard rail to a level with the sea; her
main deck was full of water and the froth
of ii, combined with the ice that glazed her,
made her look like fabric of marble us she
swung on the black fold ere it broke into
snow about her | seized the tiller and ran
ii over hard a starboard, and | had not held
it in that posture half minute when, to my
ineSpressible delight observed that she was
paying Off. Her head fell slowly from the
sea; she lurched drunlenly, and some tons
OF black water rolled over the bulwarks; she
reeled consumedly to larboard, and rose
squarely and ponderously to the height of
the surge that was now abaft the BEAM In
a few moments she was dead before il, the
helm amidships, the wind blowing sheer over
the stern with half its weight seemingly gone,
through the vessel running, the tall seas
chasing her high stern and floating it up