The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-10-27

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Jack lay across the midship thwarts.
I shuddered as / saw him dropped
over amongst the dark ciinging weeds.
| "Oh!" said Lester, in his shrill
| voice, "there goes the first; I'll war
rant it won't be the last" &
"Croaker," some one remarked,
and we set to work to get the other
boat over, whilst the funeral party
made their way back to the ship.
For q whole week we tried all pos.
sible 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
We're as bud as ever the next; SO after
q time we gave up this work in des-
pair. Two more of the men now be-
came 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 held out much long
! or.
The skipper and the mate, after a.
long consultation, determined to pro-
vision q boat and send her to find out
how far it was to the open sea.
| AiO1AllC1OO tbl1u 4OuL SCdIll0u, lllYS6lL
amongst 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 fiat 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 q hutter
OF air. Upon this the mate deter
mined to return and make another
| effort to tow the ship. When we got
| back to the vessel our report some
what raised the Responding spirits OF
| the men, and 1T 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 encourag-
ing us from the poop.
'"Ihere she moves, my lads--that's
it-keep her going" and so on, though
] don't think we moved her a bali
fathom the whole day, and when we
returned aboard at nightfall every
one felt more disconsolate than ever.
Even the captain. who had always
appeared to keep his spirits up, seem
ed thoroughly downcast, and the
deadly stiffness was only broken Occa-
onally by the cries OF the poor fevered
man below. @
lay down on the main hatch to
sleep, but found it was impossible. I
was a good deal distressed at the
death OF the man we had buried that
morning, who had been great chum
ofmine; and I lay on my back looking
up at the starry heavens, and wonder
ing 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 now the
crew had all gone mad, and died mis-
erably,. killed by utter silence.f1
grasped my head with my hands,
Was l to be the next? Oh God! I
could feel my brain going. The fear
full stiffness seemed to come over me
in huge waves. | prayed hard and
wept desolate tears. I 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:
| "Porte m ain-brace."
| At the same instant a 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
mo to my senses. The frightful feeling
in my head vanished as Joined the
others in trimming the yards. Yes,
there was q breeze, but very, very
| light. The royals and topgallant
sails appeared to be drawing, out, we
| did not seem to be in motion. Present.
ly the captain suggested putting q
lighted tarpot 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. IT,.
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, the voice of Lester
could be heard saying: "Number
three gone! We ought to get along all
right now" :@ .4e .q.
you're the JONAH" replied the
shipmates. IF we had put you over
board at first, we might have been
in dock two months ago." IT.
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 lee
ward. Thus, after a captivity Of
tifty-three days, we found ourselves
again on the restless ocean, and even
the roar Of angry pillows was the
sweetest music to us after our long
imprisonment in the "Silent Sea-
Chambers Journal.
Ahead Heat.
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