Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-12-08


II was indescupapiy snooKing 20 sey
them swept helplessly past within hail
Of us. There were seven men In her.
Two Of them cried out and rayed
Guriously. entreating with dreadful.
mad gesticulations as they whirled
past But the rest. some clinging TO
the mast, others seated with their
arms folded, were silent. like dead men
already, with fixed and staring eyes--a
ghastly crew. l saw one Of the two
| raving mon spring onto the gunwale.
but he was instantly pulled down by
another.
But what was there 10 seep II was
moments horTor--quick-vanishing as
some monstrous object leaping into
light un er a flash Of lightning, then
instantaneously swallowed up in the
devouring gloom.
Our ship had got way upon her, and
was surging forward with her lee
channels under water. Tho long-boat
dwindled away on our quarter, the
5 ray Willing her as she fled, and In @
few minutes was not TO be dis
inguished upon the immeasurable bed
Of foam and wave, stretching down 10
tho ivid storm that still ragged upon
tho far horizon.
my Go :" exclaimed Cornish, who
TODD lear he wheel unnoticed by
me. =" nigh. been in herl /
might ha' been y htrl'
And nc covered hi face W tn his
hands, and sobbed and shook with the
horror fthe Gene, a IL the agony Of
the thought it had '7ured up.
CHAPTER XXI
The wind blew y,ry ard but was
not as violcnt as he'd frequently seen
it. Tho h p managed old her own
very VOL with he head { he west.
Is never knew what momena YES
sci might heave In sight | bent on the
mall ensign and ran It alf way up. l
hon took telescope and swept the
horizon carefully but no vessel was In
eight As was very tired / Yielded TO
.ho suggestion of the boatswain and
went Glow h ping to 60 couple Of
ho..rs' sls p.
Ihae slep thr, e-quarters Of an hour
when l vas awakened by the steward
rushing in.O my cabin and hauling
upon me Ike a mailman.
"What Is .tP' cried.
"Oh, SIR" responded the steward,
half dead with terri r, ''the ships sink
ing, sir! We're all going dowpl I've
been told TO fetch you up. The Lord
have mercy on usV"
rolled onto the deck In my hurry
to leave the bunk. and ran with all my
speed up the mpanion-ladder nor
was the ascent difficult, for the ship
was on level keel, pitching heavily,
indeed, but rolling slightly.
Scarcely, however, was my head
up through the companion when j
thought It would have been blown of
my shoulders Tho fury and force of the
wind was such us | had never before
in oil my life experienced.
Both the boatswain and Cornish
were at the wheel, and, in order TO
reach them, had 20 drop upon my
hands aud knees and crawl along the
deck. When near them, took grip
Of the grating and looked around me.
The first thing / saw was that the
main-sail had blown away from most
of the gaskets, and was laundering In
thousand rags upon tho yard. The
fore-sail was split in halves. and the
port mizzentop-sail sheet had carried
away, and tho sail was pealing like
endless discharges OF musketry.
All the sparS were safe still. The
lee braces had been let 60, tho helm
put up, and the ship was racing before
hurricane rs furious as tornado,
heading southeast, with wilderness
OF foam boiling under her bows
This. then, was tho real gale which
tho thunderstorm had been nearly all
night bringing up. The first gale was
but summer breeze compared TO 1t.
The terrible beating Of the mizzen-
top sail was making the mizzen-mast,
from the mastcoat TO the royal mast
head, jump like piece ofwhale- bone. Al
though deafened, bewildered and soaked
through with the screaming of the gale,
the thunder Of the torn canvas and tho
spray which the wind tore out Of the
sea and hurled through the air, / still
preserved my senses and, porceiving
that tho mizzentop-mast would go II
tho sail were not got rid OF, l crawled
on my hands and knees to the foot
Of the mast and let go the remaining
sheet
With appalling force, and instanta-
neously, the massive chain was torn
through the sheave-hole, and in less
time than could have counted ten,
one-half the sail had blown into the
main-top, and the rest streamed like
the ends of whip-cord from the yard.
crawled TO tho fore-end of the poop
to look at the main-mast; that stood
steady; but while watched tho fore
mast the foresail went to pieces, and
tho leaping and plunging Of the heavy
blocks upon II made tho whole mast
culver so violently that the top-gallant
and royal-mast beat to and fro like o
bow strung and unstrung quickly.
waited some moments, debating
whether or not to let go the foretop-
sail sheets; but, rejecting that the full
force of the wind was kept away from
1t by tho maintop-sail, and that Il
would certainly blow 10 pieces II ]
touched rope belonging to 1t, ]
dropped on my hands and knees again
and crawled away aft.
.HHU.