Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-10-20
THE CASTAWAYS.

long dark blue westerly swell the
great metal fabric went sweeping in
long floating launching courtesies
whitening the water aStern of her
with Il mile of wake.
The chief o Eccr was on the bridge;
the first breakfast bell had rung and
the captain, smart as Il naval officer
in buttons and lace trimmings quilted
the chart room and joined tho mate
to take n look around before going
below. This skipper was man of
eagle sight and instantly on directing
his eyes over the ships DOW he eX-
claimed
What is that back object you.
DER"
The chief mate pecred aud the cap
tain lcveled telescope.
"A ships boat" said he and
seemingly full of people"
The boat when sighted. was some
three or four miles distant and the
speed Of the steamship was about
thirteen knots In few minutes the
alarm in the engine room rang its re-
verberatory warning, sending a little
thrill OF wonder throughout the ship
so rarely Is that 'eIeSraph hand'ed on
the high seas.
Il count eight men. sir " CT ed the
chief Il ate, with binocuIar glass at
his eye.
Again the engine room alarm rang
out; the pulsin@ that for days had
been ceaSeIes9Iy throDo'nS through
The long IaOr!c Ian@ulsheI ana In a
ic" minutes 10 announcer summons OF
tAe metal tongue Oe!ow ceased ana
the great steamship Hoaled along 10
her own impetus slowly ult inc BOAT
VS. "I'hIh the loss OF olscHlt OF the
-" " IA ',e passengers GROWING 10
me . u a'lI 'AIIors an" WATERS ana
So. , OLA o'acNeh'hS me rail- ior-
g. occupant Vi inc D 'at consisted
''-.!. villa marry 'erItapie scare
.!"'7 "' men dressed III DIVERS iaSh-
ION @7.ch caps. sea Ooots toll-worn
more ,"cNelS ana the ike
4'oa' annoy. hAued the captain as
sh" slowly washed alongside. Nv hat
l. "F~Hg With you
GIG" standing up III the sierra
.'-,' cried back in strong Yankee
accent;
'tor Nod sake SIR take Us
ABOARD. Our water almost given out
ard there nothing lett to cat
LOOK on. Tor the end OF line. "
. O'"Ied Tue captain Are you
ll'on@ enough 10 get aboard without
: heiP.
aye SIR we IL manage It,
y rope was thrown, and one after
another the fellows came swinging
ana Scraplng ana scramOIlng up the
cic&n SIDE OF the steamship. The pas
seh%erS crowded arOdnd and gazed AT
them win curiosity and pity. Their
,ympathetlc eyes seemed to find fam
Inc PAINFULLY expressed IN the leath-
ern countcnances that stared back
at them through mats Ut HAIR
wv e must let your Loaf go" said
tho captain.
an help IT. sir, thankful enough
10 be here l reckon, answered the
Ie low who ha1 called from the stern
sheets and VINO acted as spokesman.
anything belonging 10 you to come
OUT
Nothing by the etarnaL Let her
go Sir. II sa Tors sea blessings cal
freight a craft she amt going to floa
long,
The boat was sent adrft the en-
CINE bell rang out once more the
great mail steamer was thrashins
over the long tall heava OF Cape
HOrn swell
How came you into this mess?'
inquired the captain.
The man who had spoken before
made answer
We're all that's LETT OF tho crew o
the Boston bark George Washington
: he was whaler one hundred anC
, eighty four days out II We're fou
/. days ago. ] was the first TO smell
fire some while arter two o'clock, il
the middle watch.
1t wanted ten minutes TO 81,
bells exclaimed man and a gen
eral emphatic hairy nod followed
the interruption.
Il was the first to smell fire." con
tinued the other call it what hou
ye like. | gave the alarm and al
hands turned to with hoses and buck
cts. Bat there was deal OF oil il
the hold. and the ships blanks wa
Tn OK with grease besides and tina
gave us no chance. By ten o'clock i
the morning the flames had burste
= through and was shooting up mas
high and then we calculated II wa
timc to look 10 the boats"
The others stood listening wit
hard, solid. leathery faces general
gazing with steadfast eyes at tn
speaker but sometimes glancin
a.kant at the captain and the crow
OF others which stood around.