The Sully County watchman. (Clifton, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1894, 1893-01-07
HERO THOUGH BUT A BOY.
He Saved n Brig from Destruction in the
Cyclone at the Harbor of Bourbon.

|
French for the N. Y. Mail and Erpress.
Many ships were anchored there one
| hot day when, with the suddenness
which usually marks the arrival oi
East Indian cyclones, the semaphore
announced that tidal wave was i'm.
minent, and the regulation boom OF
| the cannon emphasized the order fol
all vessels to move out instantly 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
injunction of the sovereign authority.
was large brig upon whose deck not
a soul was visible.
Presently second cannon doomed,
repeating 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 a 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
unexplained blunder, and that when
the order to raise anchor had been
given there was not man on the YES
sci, no one except the cabin boy, 13
years old, and the captains dog.
1t would seem that the little chap,
in order to obey the respected COM
mand of the semaphore, had filed the
anchor chain and cut the hawser
which held the brig.
But what, thought those ashore,
sick at heart, could his feeble strength
accomplish 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 cyclones?
1t was madness to think such a
thing, and great was the consterna-
ton among the crew and officers, who
could do nothing but wait hopelessly.
"The brig is lost" they said.
Days passed and the gloomy prophe-
cies 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 resem bles mad
ness, all the shipmates of the cabin
boy, from the captain down, passed
weary days straining their eyes to-
ward the horizon.
Suddenly on the seventh day naked
mast rose up sharp against the sky.
Then second and third mast be.
came visible and grew larger and
larger. The crosstrees and yards rose
from the water, and presently the brig
was seen with all sails furled, held in
its course by the little staysail hoisted
only part way and beating the cord
age like a handkerchief.
great, almost savage cry of ioy
came from twenty throats as the group
of loyal sea-dogs fixed their eyes on
the vessel which rose as it were from
the grave. Pellmell and with the
speed of storm they tumbled into
the marine office instantly. Twenty
minutes later they were steaming out
to meet the bri ig-the lost brig that
had been found again.
For there was no doubt about it; it
was their own vessel, which the 49,
year-old-hero had brought back to
port after seven days absence and
such sufferings and struggles as NO
word 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 hi. weak arms
never could have hoisted, had cut
through the hawser, and then spring
ing 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 pluckily to make the best of
bad business and save the ship, if he
could. or 90 down with her, his hands
on the Wheel if he could not.
In the first place he lashed the wheel
with sliding knots to the larboard and
starboard SO as to get the best of the
terrible lurches which would have
been too much for his boyish muscles,
sturdy though they were, and then
during twenty-six hours he stood like
q rock at his post of danger watching
with the eye OF a seaman the monster
waves, measuring the danger with the
Judgment of veteran and thousand
times saving the ship from being
sWamped in the storm.
And near him seated on hislhaunches
with his black eyes fixed tenderly on
the boys face, as if he understood
that his life and the ships safety de-
pended on the child's heroism, sat the
captains dog, never moving though
the brig rolled and plunged into wa
terry abysses which seemed to have
no bottom.
After twenty-six hours, when the
cyclone had spent its fury and left the
ocean calm, the cabin boy, suddenly
remembered that he had not eaten for
more than day, and that his little
stomach was sounding the alarm with
all the energy of undue abstinence.
If he proposed to save the brig and
bring her back proudly into Bourbon
harbor he must eat and get strength,
and to do that he must 60 to the cabin
Tor food. but how leave the wheel?
For long time he thought of this,
and at last an idea came to him.
"C3rtabu y said tho child cnool,