The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-11-26

across the m1dsh1p thwarts. Ishuddered
as I saw him dropped over among the
dark clinging weeds.
''Oh," said Lester, in his shrill voice,
''there goes the first. I'll warrant it
won't be the last"
"Croaker," some one remarked, and
we set to work to get the other boat
over, while the funeral party made
their way back tolthe ship.
For a whole week we tried all posi-
BILE means to shift her with the aid Of
the boats, but it was not of the slightest
use, for if we cleared the tangle Of
weeds away one day they were as bad
as ever the next, 80 after time we gave
up this work in despair. Two more of
the men now became light headed and
had to be. put under restraint. Day by
day things became more desperate, and
to our horror we saw that the food and
water could not hold out much longer.
The skipper and the mate, after a long
consultation, determined to provision
boat and send her to find out how far 1t
was to the open sea.
The mate and four seamen, myself
among the number, formed the crew.
We started at daybreak and made our
way slowly along. When night came
we could still see our vessel across the
fat extent of green, but we had made
fairly good progress, as she was hull
down. We divided ourselves into two
watches, SO that we could keep going
both night and day.
After three days of this we found the
weeds getting much scarcer, and for the
first time for six weeks we felt just
futter of air. Upon this the mate deter
mined to return and make another eff
fort to tow the chip. When we got back
to the vessel our report somewhat raised
the responding spirits of the men, and it
was arranged to make one great effort
to tow the ship away on the morning
after our return.
That night one of the sick men died.
We buried him at sunrise in the same
manner as his shipmate, and then started
the work Of towing. For hours we toiled,
the skipper encouraging us from the
poop.
'There she moves, my lads-that's it
keep her goingl' and SO on, though /
don't think we moved her half a fathom
the whole day, and when we returned
aboard at nightfall every one felt more
disconsolate than ever. Even the cap
tain, who had always appeared to keep
his spirits up, seemed thoroughly down
cast, and the deadly stiffness was only
broken occasionally by the cries Of the
poor fevered men below.
I lay down on the main hatch to sleep,
but found it impossible. was good
deal distressed at the death Of the man
we had buried that morning, who had
been great chum of mine, and lay on
my back looking up at the starry heav-
ems, wondering if we were to die off one
by one, and, if SO, who would be the last.
The more | thought, the more morbid
did my thoughts become. In time the
vessel would be carried out Of the bed of
weeds by some storm or current, and
when picked up there would be no one
to explain how the crew had all gone
mad and died miserably, killed by the
utter silence. grasped my head with
my hands. Was to be the next? Oh,
God, could feel my brain going! The
fearful stiffness seemed to come over me
in huge waves. | prayed hard and wept
desolate tears. had no energy to move
or speak. The sense of overwhelming
stiffness overpowered me and made me
absolutely helpless. Suddenly / heard
the mate shout out, ''Port main bracep'
At the same instant gentle puff of
air swept across my face, and the sails
that had been hanging idly for so many
weeks filled out to the gentle pressure
of the breeze. This brought me to my
senses The frightful feeling in my
head vanished as joined the others in
trimming the yards. Yes, there was
breeze, but very, very light. The royals
and topgallant sails appeared to be
drawing, but we did not seem to be in
motion. Presently the captain sug-
gested putting lighted tmrpot over the
side to see if we were making any way.
We were only just moving. Men dared
hardly speak lest their voices should
drive the breeze away.
When the sun rose the wind fresh
ened, and by eight bells we were per-
ceptibly moving. We brought our sick
man on deck, hoping the breeze would
revive him, but he never rallied, and :.
died that night, and as we dropped him
over the side thevoice of Lester could be
heard saying: Number three gone! We
ought to get along all right now"
'You're the Jonah" replied his ship
mates. eff we had put you overheard
at first, we might have been in dock two
months ago."
In two days time we once more heard
the splashing of the sea as the waves
danced and curled around the ships
side, carrying the weeds that had grown
to her for yards to leeward. Thus, after
a captivity of fifty-three days, we found
ourselves again on the restless ocean,
and even the roar Of angry pillows was
the sweetest music to us after QUIZ long
imprisonment in the "Silent sea-