The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1894-07-21

.oiiinS nullS havins
been carried away within a dozen o.
Is feet of the deck our maneuve
must have been impracticable. as ON
yardarms would not have gone clear
The two vessels lifted togethe,
with a thunder Of foam betwixt the
bulls and a Niagaralike roar of on
ward rushing surge.
Leap" beloved Captain Wilkins
as u foreshrouds came abreast ri
the wrecks lee quarter.
Seven of the eight jumped. Twas
a wonderful, heart moving sight Re
witness their forms in the throes of
that terrific leap, but every man of
them gained our deck.
The eighth remained. A panic ter.
o had mastered him at the critical
breathless moment.
II will return for you,n shouted
Captain Wilkins.
Again we "wore" ship, and getting
to the windward shifted the helm for
the third run down. The lonely
mans figure was plain to be seen on
the taffrail, now poised in a deter
mined posture for the leap.
L was standing on the rail, with nv
hand upon the main royal backstay.
AT the moment when we were about
two ships lengths from the weather
quarter of the wreck our ship broke
into a e with a sharp, wild ieeward
stagger that threw me overheard. l
dropped in the beat of a heart and a
minute later was swimming for my
life on the swelling rush of the surge.
l recollect hat l swan toward
the wreck, but of the in
which l got aboard her l but remem-
Der this, that some headlong sea ran
me right into her main chains, where
the roll of the hull left me stranded
Though breathless, l had nv senses.
and before the next lurch of the hull
could dip me | had clambered over
the rail and was c%rOuching under the
bulwarks, bewildered, COMPOUNDED. as
n just awakened from a nightmare.
lspeedlly discovered, however. that
l should be drowned down here on
this main deck, and made shift to get
on top OF the deckhouse. l was alone.
The solitary man had evidently
jumped. Whether successfully or
not, l could not imagine.
saw the Lansdown about half a
mile distant to leeward in the act of
heavlng to, but it was not long after
l had shown myself on top of the
house that saw her put her helm up
and wore afresh and came thrasbinp
to windward as before.
Now l certainly knew that Captain
Wilkins, by the aid of the glass, had
me and distinguished me. and
he understood that by some mir
.cle my life had been preserved, so
that | was certain he would rescue
me.
l guessed that he designed the same
maneuver by which he had delivered
The eight men, but l shook my head
at the thought. l was without the
power to jump. was half full of
water, sick and exhausted.
The Lansdown came rushing along
IS before to pass close under the stern
If the wreck. She was exuuisitelv
handled. Even in those wild mo-
nents OF s%hivering distress and the
menace of death l felt a glow of adj
for Wilkins consummate
eamanshlp and the noble spectacle
II his 1000 ton ship foaming down
'pon me over the great dissolving
md reforming mountains, her can
'as like streaks of snow against the
lying darkness of the sky.
l shook my head and pointed to
taffrail and then to the sea and
other significant signs. l was
90 weak to shout. The captain I'M ,
erstood me. AS the ship rushed
asst he, erect beside the wheel, roar
d out:
"All right, Carew! Well stand by +
on! The moment it moderates we'll
AXE you off, =
they hove to within a third of a r
llle. Feeling a little better, l began +
look about me, and first of all l =
'as persuaded that the crew had ]
cen too hasty in abandoning this q
l was a sailor, with the ca
acity of feeling a ship with my feet, v
nd l knew by the buoyant leap and q
'ss OF the fabric under me that she g
as taking in little water. -
Her wheel was dashed. The whole b
)paratus of the helm was clearly !,
lite sound. Her caboose was gone
ut her pumps were in their place. a,
two quarter boats We're missing. II
ON which fact l gathered that the :,
ew had made efforts to get away u
them, and perhaps some of the o
en- had actually gone adrift in one p
the other, or both. al
Nothing but the keel of her long ~
'at remained. The rest had been -
lmmered into slaves by the sea u
was soaked to the skin, and the -.
ind blew bitterly cold on that deck ~
use top. No purpose was to be n
rved by my remaining up there. ~
watching my chance 1 got on to ~.
g main deck and entered the deck - -
use. III
closed the low, massive door be- ~
nd me- and found the interior dry, W,
ere were four sleeping berths in in
IS place. l looked into them and su
Ind one to be the captains. In be