St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-07-26

SEA DrlHB lne DOaG ana tne uTOWHlHH
man for a moment near each other he
makes skillful throw and lands the
buoy within the captains reach. Seiz.
ing it, the captain soon gets head and
arms through, and reckoning the boat
men to follow is swept away again be-
You'd their reach.
With little hope that they would find
him alive should they reach him after a
| long chase they wish him a silent good
! by and turn again to tho sufferers Oh the
wreck At the moment terrible crash
close at hand startles them, and looking
up, they see the tall mainmast of the
ship come down with power that seems
to wrench the hull loose from the sand
An appalling cry reaches their ears, and
they SEQ another Of the desperate men
leap into the sea with a rope fastened
around his waist. 1t is the chief mate
young man and powerful swimmer.
But he is only sport Of the waves and
is tossed violently up and down and car
ried to the end Of his rope only to be
brought up at last with jerk that near
ly strangles him. The boatmen try in
vain to sheer their craft within his
reach. Finally the poor fellow, despair
ing of reaching the boat, tries to climb
back to the ship up the rope which still
holds him. But that, too, is impossible.
His strength is gone, and after two or
three failures, during which his cries
are most pitiful, he falls back helpless
dead.
The second mate and cabin boy wit
ness these horrors unable to give a
hand to save or to do anything for them
selves. In beating about near the wreck
with their boat the lfeboatmen have
seized tho rope fastened to the ship,
which was torn from its fastenings and
once more the craft is holding onto the
vessel. Tho wrecked hull is rapidly
breaking up, and the gunwale is only
few feet ont of water. A big wave
strikes with force that seems likely to
make an end Of her, and the mate in
DESPERATION leaps toward tho rope lead,
ing to the lifoboat. Fortunately he
lands across it, catches firm hold and
works his way to the high PROV, which
is Ieaping and falling and tearing vio-
lenty upon the hawscr under the force
of the waves. The boatman in tho bow
cries out to his fellows: "Hold line! Hold
me!' and throws himself across the
forodock. With his body half stretched
over the side Of the boat he grasps the
collar of the struggling sailor, who
twines an arm around the neck of tho
life saver, and sinking back burios his
head under water. Two lives are now
III the extremity of poril.
The boatmen dare not move to the aid
of their comrade for fear of overweight
ing the craft at that point and capsizing
her. but, lying in the bottom, they
form a limo holding onto ono another's
legs and the first to those Of the man
struggling in the water. So in a life
and death clutch the boat and all hands
are tossed up and down by the pitiloss
sea for few moments that seem like
hours. Once while the men are all in
tent on saving the two in the water the
large boat of the ship comes driving
down upon their little craft, threaten.
ing to stave it to pieces, but luckily
cross wave lifts it and sweeps it one
side. Finally the boatmen drag their
comrade and his burden along to the
waist Of the boat, where the gunwale is
low, and the two are hauled on board
Meanwhile the wreck has been cleared
of everything but the gunwale, and to
that the cabin boy clings, calling out in
agony: Save mel Oh, do save me"
Great waves dash over him, but he
madly keeps his hold. Struggle as they
Will the boatmen cannot drive their
craft against the tide and through tho
floating wreckage up to the ship AT
last the boy is torn loose, and apparently
llteless floats on the driving waves out
and back, out and back, from the buried
hull, past the lifeboat. By skillful
cast of the boathook with line one of
the men catches him by the jacket flap
and slowly tows him in. He is placed
in the stern sheets apparently dead
Now, my men," shouts Coxswain
Jarman. Stations all and look sharp,
or we shall be driven upon the wreck
and all lost. y Once clear of the wreck
the men turn to the poor boy and to
their surprise find him still alive Now
II they can pick up the captain, who
two hours before drifted away, the days
work will be proudly closed Sailing
before the wind into the heaviest seas,
all hands keep sharp watch and two
miles from the wreck discover the lost
one, still atloat and waving an arm for
a signal, A sail is set, and with great
difficulty the boat is steered down upon
him, narrowly missing a collision sew
eral times. But at last he, too is fshed
up, unconscious and apparently dying.
Like the boy, he is brought to after a
skillful rubbing, and as tho boat re-
turns to the harbor he tells the story of
the disaster. His vessel was the Provi-
dentia from Finland, and he and his
men Russian Fins The Providentia ran
ashore at midnight, and the crew, / / in
number, deserted in a boat.
GEORGE l.. KILMER.
II