Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-10-10

We passed close by the drifting boat,
but our commander made no attempt to
secure her, probably not wishing to be
encountered with such a thing In the
hurry and confusion of the moment the
Frenchmen had forgotten 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 the prlvateer still had 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 glances
toward the drifting boat the same thought
was In both our minds
Tom l whispered at last. ''if the
breeze shouldn t spring up again till after
dark, why couldn't we make a dash for
her?'
1.-The very thing I'm thinking of, > he
answered softly. THE trade wind will be
sure to spring up soon, and that will take
us straight toward Martinique. know it
is risky piece of business, but I'm will
to take the chances.
We spoke to the two other men-the
two who had been impressed respectively
with him and myself-but they would not
make the venture. How should we be
able to find the boat in the darkness? they
asked and what were we to do for pre-
visions and water in the event of reaching
her?
But we believe the stake to be worth the
risk, and our resolution was fixed. We
were only afraid that the ship would get
a breeze before dark, q
The boat was about three-fOurths of
mile off, and, as twilight gathered, we
saw that she ranged exactly under a GER
tain large star which it would be easy to
distinguish from all others.
As the evening advanced light breeze
bagan to till the sails till the ship gather
ed Storage way. There was now not a
moment to lose; and, dropping silently
under the bow, we struck out for the boat.
| have since thought that this was a pro-
digious thingto do, there in the midst of
the Atlantic ocean! The picture we made
as we dropped from the bow of that big
ship has often REQUIRED to me.
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
one side of the star-and suppose we
should miss her altogether, we thought.
At length it seemed to us that swe must
have swum more than mile. We were
very tired and began to realize the fearful
Could we have passed the object of our
search? The breeze increased rapidly,
and the water dashed into our faces. Of
course the boat must now be drifting very
fast, and probably we had not made al
lowance enough for the wind
Throwing ourselves upon our backs, we
rested awhile to gain strength for further
effort; but such efforts must be feeble at
the best, the dash of waves confused us;
and as to the stars, we had by this time
got them sadly mixed
Suddenly Tom Topped over upou his
breast and uttered some kind of exclama-
ton.
''What is it?" asked. ''Do you see
her?"
mo; but I see something else. Look!
against the sky!'
Sure enough, it was as he said. Close
upon us rose the canvas of a square-rigger,
towering through the darkness like the
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 in the crew in the
yawl the second mate and two of the hands
of the 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 appear
ance. The Amelia, they told US, had left
B-rbadoes Immediately after ourselves,
and had not at any time been entirely be-
Gained. But that she should happen to
jogging along just in the nick of time
to save us seemed a surprising thing in
deed.
We arrived home after a short passage,
seeing nothing more of the old Poictiers,
and whether or not her commander ever
NEW what had become of us is more than I
can tell. But | am sure of this, that a
drifting boat in the night, in the middle of
of the Atlantic ocean, is a very uncertain
thing to swim for!-Geo. H. Coomer in
The Argosy.