The record-union., 1892-12-22
HEROIC CONDUCT.
Splendid Example in the Indian
Ocean.
How a Stout-Hearted Cabin Boy Saved
q Brig From Destruc-
ton.

1t was at Bourbon, the most distant of
French harbors in the Indian Ocean.
Many ships were anchored there one hot
day, when, with the suddenness which
usually marks the arrival of East Indian
cyclones, the semaphore announced that
a tidal wave was imminent, and the regu-
lation boom of the cannon emphasized
the order for all vessels to move out in
stantly into the open sea.
With all possible haste the crews on the
different ships strained at the ropes and
anchors, and in less than half an hour
every vessel except one had disappeared
below the horizon.
The one which fingered, deaf to the in
functions of the sovereign authority, was
a large brig, upon whose deck not a soul
was visible.
Presently second cannon doomed, re-
peating the command and seeming to cry
out that there was not a second to be lost
in leaving the harbor.
At that moment the groups on shore
saw the brig turn slowly and DRIFT away
toward the open without a sail raised,
and without sign OF life aboard.
Then the cyclone burst in terrible fury!
An hour later it was learned with
amazement that the briggs entire crew
had been kept ashore through some I'M
explained bIunder, and that when the
order to raise anchor had been given
| there was not man on the vessel, no
one except the cabin boy, u years old,
and the captains dog.
1t would seem that the little chap, in
order to obey the repeated command of
"a haH fiIal anchor
chain and cut the hawser which held the
brig.
But what thought those ashore, sick at
heart, could his feeble strength accom-
plish in such a storm? How could they
hope that he all alone would be able to
manage the heavy wheel and steer the
great vessel in the face of the tornado?
1t was madness to think such thing,
and great was the CONSERVATION among
the crew and officers, who could do
nothing but wait hopelessly.
The brig is lost" they said.
Days passed and the gloomy prophecies
seemed to have been realized.
All the other ships which had left port
had come back. but nothing was seen or
heard of the brig.
Still, hoping against hope, and with
stubbornness which resembled madness,
all the shipmates of the cabin boy, from
the Captain down, passed weary days
straining their eyes toward the horizon.
Suddenly on the seventh day a naked
mast rose up sharp against the sky. Then
q second and third mast became visible
and grew larger and larger. The cross
trees and yards gradually rose from the
water, and presently the brig was seen
with all its sails turled, held in its course
by the little staysail hoisted only part
way and beating against the cordage like
handkerchief.
a great, almost a savage. cry of JOY
came from twenty Threats as the group Of
loyal sea-dogs fixed their eyes on the yes
sci which rose as it were from the grave.
Pellmell, and with the speed of a storm,
they tumbled into the marine Office and
begged that a tug-boat be sent off in
stantly. Twenty minutes later they were
steaming out to meet the brig-the lost
brig which had been found again.
For there was no doubt about it; it was
their own vessel, which the thirteen
year-old hero had brought back to port
after seven days absence and such suffer
ings and struggles as no words can tell.
As the Captain had thought, when the
boy heard the danger signal and saw that
no one came he had filed the anchor
chain, which his weak arms never could
have hoisted, had cut through the hawser,
and then springing to the wheel, had
steered the ship out to sea.
Afraid! That boy afraid! Not bit of
it; he had the real sailors stuff in him,
and instead of crying he set about pluck
lily to make the best of Il bad business
and save the ship, if he could, or go down
with her, his hands on the wheel, if he
could not.
In the first place he slashed the wheel
with sliding knots to the larboard and
starboard, so as to get the best Of the ter
rible lurches which would have been too
much for his boyish muscles, sturdy
l., :
ty-SiX hours he stood like rock at this
post of danger, watching with the eve of
a seaman the monster waves, measuring
the danger with the judgment OF a vet
eran, and a thousand times saving the
| ship from being swamped in the storm.
And near him, seated on his launches,
with his black eyes fixed tenderly on the
boys face, as if he understood that his
life and the ships safety depended on the
child's heroism, sat the Captains dog,
never moving, though the brig rolled and
plunged into Watery abysses which
seemed to have no bottom.
After twenty-six hours, after the cy-
clone had spent its force and left the
ocean calm, the cabin boy, worn out in
body and dazed in mind, suddenly re-
membered that he had not eaten for more
than day, and that his little stomach
was sounding the alarm with all the en-
ergy of undue abstinence.
II he proposed 10 save the brig and
bring her back proudly into Bourbon
harbor he must eat and get strength, and
to do that he must go to the cabin for
/ food, but how leave the wheel? For a
long time he thought of this and at last
9n idea came to him.
"Cartahu," said the child, speaking to
the dog, which bounded toward him.
Come here and hold this wheel while I
go after something to cat. We have got
TO get some grub, doggy, or it won't do
US any good to be out OF the storm. Now.
then, catch this rope in your white teeth
and hang on to it for your lite. That's
right! Good Cartahu! Now lust wait
two minutes like that and / will be
back"
Taking final look to make sure that
the dog had a sure grip on the rope, the
child hurried to the kitchen, and was
back in a jiffy with wine and sausaoes
and bag of biscuits, some sugar. water
FTNA EEA E-TA rxrrs