Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1892-09-15


to run, she would have been pooped
and smothcred in n minute.
The fury Of the tempest and the vio-
lcncc Of the sea, which tho boldcst
could not contemplate without feeling
that the ship was every moment in more
or less peril, kept the crew subducd,
and they ate rs best they could the
provisions without complaint How
over, It needed nothing less than n
storm to keep them quiet; for on the
second day sea cXtinguishcd the gal
lcy-hrc; and until the gale abatcd no
cooking could be done; so that the
men had TO put up with cold water
and biscuit Hence all hands were
thrown upon the ships bread for two
DAYS, and the badness Of It., therefore.
was made even more apparent than
heretofore, when It's wormy moldincss
wa. in some degree qualified by the
nauscousncss Of bad salt pork and
beef, and the sickly flavor OF damaged
tea.
As had anticipated, the captain
came round n little few hours after
his insulting attack upon me. think
his temper frightened him when 1t had
reference to me. Like others OF his
breed he was a bit Of cur at the bot
tom. My character was n trillc beyond
him, and he was ignorant enough to
hate and fear what he could not I'M
dcrstand. 30 this as IL may, he made
some rough attempts at rude kind OF
politrncss when | went below TO get
some grog, and condosccndod 10 say
that when had been 10 sea rs long
rs he. I would know that the most
ungralcful rascals in tho world were
| sailors; that cyOry crew he had sailed
| with had always taken care to invent
some grievance TO grOwl over either
! the provisions were bad, or the work
| too heavy. or tho ship unscawOrthy;
aud that long ago hc had made up his
mind never to pay attention to their
| complaints, since no sooner would
| on, wrong be rcdrr,,Od than another
would bu coined and showed under his
| noso.
took this opportunity Of assuring
him that hal never willingly listened
to the complaints Of the men, and that
was always annoyed when thcyspokc
10 mo about tho provisions, rs lad
| nothing whatever 10 do with shat mat
| ter; and that, 80 far ~ my wishing To-
| stir up tho men into rebellion, my con.
duct had been uniformly influenced by
the desire to conciiato them and rep.
resent their conditions rs very tolcr.
| able, 20 rs to rcprcss any tendency t.
di.allcction which they might fomUni
among themselves
TO this he mad, no reply, anil sOou
we parted; but the next day ho was
mlcn again, and never addressed mt
save 10 give IN order
On tho evening Of tho third day the
| yale broke. Nest morning | found
| the weather bright aud warm, with q
blue sky shining among heavy white
clouds and the ship making seven knot
an hour under nllpl1in sail. The decks
had been washed down and were dry
| and comfortable while the ship had O
habitable appearance which WAS quite
change from the hundred hours OF
| severe work aud constant storm. II
was half after n.nc o'clock and ! Wa
| standing near tho tullrail swecIsng sea
| aud sky with the glass when suddenly
there leuped into the field Of vision thC
| hull of u ship, deep as her main-chain'
| In tho water, which came and went be-
fore my eye rs the long seas lifted OF
| dropped IN the foreground. ] man
aged to keep her sufficiently long IN
| Wow 10 perceive that she was totally
dismaslcd.
Its a wreck" said !. turning TO the
man ut Che wheel; "lct her come Il
pgain and lulR point There may bC
| living creatures aboard of her.
/ De-. q 81
CoAon was, do not think that
thould have had tho hardihood TO lui
the ship point out of her course, had
10 involved tho bracing OF tho yards
Tor the songs Of tho men would Ger
tainly nave brought him ON deck, ant
| might have provoked some ugly in
science. But the ship was going free
| and would head moro westerly with
out occusioning further change thar
| rlchtly slackcnifg tho wcnther-brace
OF tho upp yards. This | did quiet
ly, and tho dismanticd hull wa
BROUGHT right dead on end with on
flying jib.boom. Tho mon nov
caught sight of her. and began to starr
aud point. but did not sing uui, q
they saw by tho telescope In my han,
that perceived her, Tho breeze I'M
happily began TO flnckcn somewhat
owing, perhaps, to the gathering hca
of tho sun; our pace fell OIL aud inl
hour passed before we brought tn
wreck near enough 10 SEQ her pei
mancntly, for up 10 this she had bee
constantly vanishing under the ris0 G
tho swell She was now about tw
miles oil, and took long and stead
look ut her through the telescope.
was black huQ with painted ports
No boats could be seen aboard Of her
Her iib-boom was gone, aud so wer
all three musts, clean cut oil Mt th
deck, as though u hand-saw had don
il; but the mizzen-mast was along
side, held by tho shrouds and bach
stays, and the port main and for,
shtOuds streamed like scrpents froI
her chains into the water l rcekono
at once that shc must be loaded wit
timber, for she never could keep ailog
at that depth with any other Kind {
cargo in her
She made n most mournih an
pitcous object IN tho sunlight, SLUG
gishly rolling TO tho swell which IN
in transparent volumes over her side
and fOUmed around tho deck-hous,
Once, when hor stern rose, read III
name, Cecilia, IN broa1, white letter
was gazing ut her intcntly iu III
= effort towitnoss some indication of li'
ing thing on board, when, to my mil
, glod condemnation and horror, | wi
I messed nm arm projecting through III
I window Of the deck-housc, and frant