The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1889-06-12

own, and in fact she soon appeared to be gain
ing ground The wind, however, had be-
come very light, and neither vessel made
much progress.
We passed close by the drifting boat, but
our commander made no attempt to secure
her, probably not wishing to be encountered
with such thing. In the hurry and confu-
sion OF the moment the Frenchmen had for
Cotton to stave hole in her bottom, and had
even left number of oars on board of her
A few minutes later we entirely lost the
breeze, but tho privateer still had "a light
breath OF air, and Tom and / were very glad
to see her make Off, swapping her fingers as
one might say, at the helpless old seventy.
four.
1t happened that we two were often close
to each other, and as we cast sly chances
toward the drifting boat the same thought
was in both our minds
tom" whispered at last, ''if the breeze
shouldn't spring up again till after dark, why
couldn't we make a dash for herfn
1.-THE very thing I'm thinking Of" he an
swered softly. Tho trade wind will be sure
to spring up soon, and that viii take us
straight toward Martinique. know it is
risky piece of business, but Pm willing to
take the chances"
We spoke to the other two men-the two
who had been impressed respectively with
him and myself-but they would not make
tue venture. How should we be able to find
the boat in the darknessl they asked; and
what were we to do for provisions and water
in the event of reaching herr
But we believed the stake to be worth the
risk, and our resolution was fixed We were
only afraid that the ship would get breeze
before dark.
The boat was about three-fourths- of mile
off, and as twilight gathered we saw that she
ranged exactly under certain large star
which it would be easy to distinguish from
all others.
As the evening advanced, a light breeze be-
gan to ill the sails till tho ship gathered
steerageway. There was now not moment
to lose; and dropping silently under the
bow, we struck out for the boat. have
since thought that this was prodigious
thing to do, there in the midst of the Atlantic
oceanl The picture we made as we dropped
from the bow of that big ship has often
REQUIRED to mo-
More and more the wind breezed up, SO
that we were obliged to allow something for
the drift of the boat, for we could not see her.
She must have moved a little to one side of
the star-and suppose we should miss her al
together. we thought
At length it seemed to us that we must
have swum more than mile. We were very
tired and began TO realize the fearful position
In which we had placed ourselves. Could we
have passed the object of our searchl The
breeze increased rapidly, and the water dash
ed in our faces. OF course tho boat must
now be drifting very fast, and probably We
had not made allowance enough for the wind
Throwing ourselves upon our backs we
rested awhile to gain strength for further
effort; but such effort must now be feeble at
tho best The dash of the waves confused
us; and as to the stars we had by this time
got them sadly mixed.
Suddenly Tom Topped over upon his breast
and uttered some kind of an exclamation
''What is it," iislSed. "Do you 500 her9'
mo; but l see something else. Look look
there's vessels topgallant sails against the
skyl"
Sure enough, it was as he said Close upon
us rose the canvas of square rigger, tower
ing through the darkness like tho form of a
great tree.
We shouted as loud as possible; and soon
".creak, creak" went her mainyard as it
swung around till the sail was laid to the
mast
A boat was sent for us, and we were taken
up almost speechless. What was my surprise
to recognize fiji tha grow Of the yawl tho sec
ond mate and two of the hands of tho brig
Amelia, the very craft from which had
been impressed.
They took us'on board the vessel, and had
we descended there from the sky her good
captain and his men could hardly have been
more astonished at our appearance. The
MALTA thpv fold no haI laft RorbaI nac inn
medately after ourselves. and had not at
any time been entirely becalmed. But that
she should happen to como jogging along
just In the nick of time to save us seemed a
surprising thing indeed.
We arrived home after n short passage,
seeing nothing more of the old Poictiers, and
whether or not her commander ever knew
what had become of us Is more than | can
tell But am sure of this, that drifting
boat In tho night in the middle of the At
lantic ocean, Is very uncertain thing to
swim forl
George ii. Cdomer in The Argosy.