The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-07-05

| rSduy lur dnOtner rough nlBnU IO- ward sundown, to make things wuss, a measly drivin' mist set in, an you couldn't see the end O your own nose, no matter how cross-eyed ye looked. The mist lasted all night, an were | there wen l turned out to take the | foorenoon watch the next day. hadn't much more'n got on deck wen l were shook up by loud shot from forrard. l jumped out on the fo'k'sle- deck, an one O the hands yelled: "A water-logged wreck! Driften' right onto usH It were a capsized schooner, an afore 1t were possible fur us to do anything at all it came tumblin down | the side O a roarin' mountain O water l jess as we plunged down off another. | Crash! Our forefoot came down on top O the wreck. I heerd a great scrapin' an bangin' as the schooner | drifted out from under us, an the next | second some men came tumblin' up the | fore-hatch, cryin': The water! It's a. comin' in by the toni Close the bulk | head doors in the forrard bulkheadr l yelled. The hands jumped below, an in minnit comes back an sez: They're fouled, an won't shet.' Close 'em in the second buliheadn hollered. Its done! they sez. By this time the cap'n were on deck, an ordered all the boats cleared ready fur lowerin.' No boat | II live in that sea, sirr sez Isaac Hooper, the fust mate. No more it will, sez the cap'n. 50 we must try | to keep the stea mer afoat till the gale moderates. I'll go blow myself an see how things is a-goin'.' The cap'n went blow, an the rest O us stood an looked at each other. All on student Isaac Hooper, the fust mate, he looks werry piculiar at me, an sez he to me, seZ he:
 "'It are my opinion that this ere vessel are a-settlin' by the head
 "'Wich the same,' sez l to him, sez l, is also the opinion O yourn truly
 "The next minnit the cap'n comes sez he:
 We're a-goner. The water are ten | foot deep in the forrard compartment, and she are almost the same in the sec ond. She'll go down head fust in about ten minnits'
 "l don't b'lieve she'll sink at all, , sez Isaac Hooper to him, sez he.
 "'Wot fur won't she?' sez the cap'n. ""Cos them two compartments won't hold huff water fur to drag her | down.
 "'But they'll hold huff to pull her head under, an then these here seas a-breakin' onto her Il send her down. sez to him, sez I.
 "Howsumever, 'tain't no use O tell in ye wot we all said, COS wy, none on us didn't know nothin' about wot were a-goin' fur to happen. An how could we, seein' that nothin' O the sort ever happened afore, an ain't werry ex- ceedin' likely fur to happen ag'in."
 What did happen?' asked Henry, eagerly.
 Jess you hold your breath" said the Old Sailor, ''an' I'll tell you. The steamers head kep' settlin' an a. settlin' till all on student her starn rig out O water, an the screw whizzed around in the air like buzz-saw. The deck were now aslantin' from starn to stem so that ye couldn't stand up onto | it, an all hands was a-hangin' onto the riggin' or life-lines, and putty nigh skeert to death. Now the ingineer an all his hands came on deck.
 "'Cap'n,' sez the ingineer, the screw are mp in the air, an we can't stand up blow, an we ain't no more pertik'ler good nohow, so, eff you please, we'd like chance fur our lives
 "'Help yourselves sez the cap'n, werry sourcaustic.
 "The ingineer he looks around, an he sees right away that he couldn't "a lowered boat nowhow, COS wy, the way we was a-ridin' they was all jammed ag'in the forrard davies. All the time the ships head were a-settlin' more an more, an the slant O the deck were a-gettin sleeper an sleeper. The steamer she swung round so that her starn were a-facin' the seas, an that settled it."
 The old sailor paused for a moment, and while the boys were regarding him with breathless interest, he indulged in silent laugh, after which he con tinued thus:
 Blow me fur pickles eff 'tain't puff fickly silly wen comes fur to think ont now. Wet dye think happened?"
 "What?" cried both boys.
 "W'y, tremendous sea rolled up un- der her starn, heavin' it so high into the air that the Iron Mary jess stood on her head. An there she stopped. We all looked at each other, but no one opened a mouth till the cap'n said:
 "'Waal we can't hang on here in this fashion, so let's all go blow an consider wot are to be did
 ''So we climbed up to the cabin com panionway an fell down into the cabin, where we fetched up on the for rard bulkhead among a permiskyous pile O furniture an things. The cap'n he looks into his state-room, an sez he, werry solemnlike:
 "'I got to larn to sleep standin' up, l reckon
 "'Waal,' sez Bill Martin an able seaman, T got to Earn to sleep under water ef go to my bunk tonight
 "The capn he laffed, an sez he to me: I'm a-thinkin' this 'ere gale II break afore tO-morrer, an then we got