Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1891-02-28

rorenead ana murmured: "God bless you.
good byl'
At that instant there was loud report
forward, and the stern Of the vessel
lifted perceptibly The bulkhead had
given way, and there arose such a veil as
surely was seldom heard before. 10 Au-
gusta's ears it seemed to shape itself into
the word ''Sinkingl'
Up from the bowels Of the ship poured
the fremen, the appearance Of whose
blackened faces, lined with white streaks
OF perspiration, added 8 new impulse of
terror to the panic stricken throng. Aft
they came, accompanied by crowd of
sailors and emigrants
Rush the boats sung out a voice
with strong Irish accent, cor sure well
be drowned
Taking the hint, the maddened mob
burst toward the boats like q food, bias
pheming and shrieking as it came. In a
moment the women and children who
were waiting to take the boat, in which
Augusta and the two seamen were already,
were swept aside and determined effort
made to rush it, headed by great Irish
man, the same who had called out.
Augusta saw Mr.. Tombey, Lord Holm
hurst, who had come up, and the officer
lift their pistols, which exploded almost
simultaneously, and the lrishman and
another man pitched forward to their
hands and knees.
Never mind the pistols, lads" shouted
a voice; las well be shot as drown There
isn't room for half of us In the boats.
Come onr' And second fearful rush
was made, which bore the three gentle
men, firing as they went, right up against
the nettings.
"Biu, hallooed the man who was hold
ing on the foremost tackle, Clover away;
we shall be rushed and swamped."
Bill obeyed with heart and soul, and
down sunk the boat below the level of the
upper decks, just as the mob was getting
the mastery. In five seconds more they
were hanging close over the water, and
while they were in this position a man
leaped at the boat from the bulwarks. He
struck on the thwarts, rolled off into the
water and was no more seen. A lady, the
wife of colonial Judge. threw her child;
Augusta tried to catch it, but missed, and
the boy sunk and was lost. In another
moment the two sailors had showed off
from the ships side. AS they did so the
stern of the Kangaroo lifted right out of
the water so that they could see under
her rudder post. Just then, too, with a
yell Of terror, Mr.. Meeson, in whom the
elementary principle of self preservation
at all costs was strongly developed cast
himself from the side and fell with
splash within few feet of the boat. Ris-
ing to the surface, he clutched hold of the
gunwale and implored to be taken in.
KNOCK the old varmint over the
knuckles, Bill, shouted the other man;
'theU upset us!'
No, nor cried Augusta, her woman's
heart moved at seeing her old enemy in
such case. There is plenty of room in
the boat"
Hold on, then" said the man ad-
dressed, whose name was Johnnie; when
we get clear well haul you in. ."
And, the reader may be sure, Mr.. Nee
son did hold on pretty tight till, after
rowing about fifty yards, the two men
halted and proceeded, not without some
risk and trouble-for there was consid-
cradle sea running-to hoist Mr.. Nelson's
large form over the gunwAle of the boat.
Meanwhile the horrors on board the
doomed ship were redoubling as she
slowly settled TO her watery grave. For
ward the steam foghorn was going I'M
ceasingly, believing like thousand furi-
still shot up through the misty morning
air. Round the boats hideous war was
being waged Augusta saw one of the
men jump into one of the largest life
boats, which WAS still hanging to the
davits, having evidently got the better of
those who were attempting to fill it with
the women and children. The next sec
ond they lowered the after tackle but,
by some hitch or misunderstanding, not
the foremost one, with the result that the
stern Of the boat fell while the bow re-
manned fixed and every soul in it, some
forty or fifty people, was shot out into
the water. Another boat was overturned
by sea as it settled on the water An
other one, full Of women and children,
got to the water all right, but remained
fastened to the ship by the bow tackle.
When, q couple of minutes afterward,
the Kangaroo went down, nobody had
knife at hand wherewith to cut the rope,
and the boat was dragged down with her,
and all its occupants drowned. The re-
naming boats, with the exception Of the
one in which Lady Holmhurst was, and
which had got away before the rush be-
gan, were never lowered at all, or sunk
as soon as lowered. 1t was impossible to
lower them owing to the mad behavior of
the panic stricken crowds, who fought
like wild beasts for place in them. A
few gentlemen and sober headed sailors
could do nothing against mob of frantic
creatures, each bent on saving his own
life if it cost the existence of everybody
on board.
And thus it was exactly twenty minutes
from the time that the kangaroo sunk the
whaler, for, although these events have
taken some time to describe, they did not
take long to enact, that her own hour
came, and, with the exception of some
eight-and- twenty souls, all told, the hour
also of every living creature who had
taken passage in her.
TO BE CONTINUED.