, 1896-03-12
A NIGHT OF TERROR.

When 10 years old, I was one of a
crew of three that name the little rs
ton schooner Ornament, which lay
moored in Monhegan harbor-a deep,
narrow strait between the islands af
Mcnhegan and Manana, Maine. The
entrance is from the south. and is IN
o~bstructed. while to the north the pas
sage is barred by q rocky islet called
Smutty Nose. This is separated from
Manaua by "a narrow passage On the
westerly side called Drunken Gut. The
harbor is fairly good shelter except
when the wind is from the southwest.
AT daylight on the morning afar our
arrival at Monheean there was a stiff
breeze, with rain from the southwest,
and by noon it had risen to Il heavy
gale. All day coasters, traders and fish
ing vessels ran i'll till about 20 sail were
in harbor When night fell.
They were anchored as near tonCthel
as they could be and yet swing clear Of
each other. This compact gathering
would be well enough in a smooth hur-
Dor, but on little Monhegan, exposed to
the increasing gale, with night coming
Oh and the probability of a heavy sea
running into the strait, the prospect
looked serious. Should Il vessel part her
cables or drag her anchors, collision
with those to leeward of her would be
inevitable, and the result of collision
might be disastrous.
When darkness came, the gales fury
increased. The unObstructed sea rolled
into the narrow harbur i'll huge pillows
that dashed against Manana or Smu,ty
Nose, or ragged as breakers on the reefs
about Drunken Gut. Tho vessels, ham
pered by their anchors and unable TO
rise freely on the surgeS, strained az
their cables, plungins and rolling wild
ly, whilo nearly every wave toppled its
crest upon their decks, or swept them
from stem to stern.
About 0 o'clock, when the gale seem
ed at its height, a little craft that had
been anchored all day just on our port
bow dragged her anchors. Her crew.
like some others. had sought safety on
shore long before night. Swinging to
our broadside, she began to pound against
us and to break into pieces.
Her bowsprit snapped, her bulwarls
crushed in fore and aft, her mas.s went
W her ~tatfrail. At last, ~plunging from
the top of a big sea, we crashed down
upon her forward deck. Her windlass
bits gave way, and off she went, broad
| side to the wind, till she Was lost in the
gloom and rain.
Anxiously we crouched by the wind
lass, the captains hand almost constant
~ upon either one cable or the other,
that he might detect the first vibratory
motion, indicating that the anchors were
being dragged over the rocky bottom.
But they seemed to hold securely. Our
danger was of another sort.
Twas crouching i'll the lee of the fore
mast to shelter myself from the wind
and spray, when I heard the captain sud
denly shout:
cup, up with you, boys, quick
There's Il coaster adrift, coming right
for usl'
Through the driving rain, sure enough,
came Il big schooner stern first, wildly
swinging to and fro, now topping Oh a
crest, now w%allowing down in the hol-
low depths. Her Runwales almost rolled
under, and her main boom, free from its
flashing, swayed madly from side to side.
Just us we were receding from Il roll
ing swell she crashed into us and snap
ped our bowsprit. Then she hung square
across our bow.
"Quick, quick! Give me the ax!"
cried the captain.
In u moment he severed both cables at
the windlass. and we were drifting with
the gale. No vessel lay directly astern
Of us. Tho captains hope was that we
might not only go clear of the coaster,
but drive upon a small, sandy beach at
the end of Smutty Nose. But the heave
Of the sea and the slant of the wind
drove us tc one side, and we went upon
the rocks instead.
There was u shock, n grinding crash
as she struck. Then we seemed to stop,
and now the sea broke over us in fury.
"To the dory, boys! The schooner
will go TO pieces!' shouted the captain.
Without much difficulty we got the
dory into the water to leeward. Jack,
my shipmate, flung his clothesbag into
the stern Of the boat, while l threw a
coil Of small rope into her ere l tum-
bled in myself. There was but one pair
of oars. These the captain took and be-
gan to pull toward Manana.
Away from the lee of the schooner
we were exposed to the full fury of the
gale. and the course to which we were
compelled kept US i'll the trough of the
sea. Every moment it seemed as though
we must be swamped, and in spite of all
that we could do we were drifting
rapidly toward Drunken Gut.
Suddenly a thole pin broke. Before
another could be put in the place we
were afoul Of the standing rigging of a
sunken vessel, the dory almost on her
broadside and we in imminent danger
| of being washed overheard. But cling
ing instinctively to the uppermost gun
vale W. succeeded in righting the dory
and working her clear of the wreck.
Again we were adrift indeed, for we
had lost an oar and now had hut one.
Our destruction nov was apparently
but a question Of moments, for if we
escaped the reefs and boiling surf upon
one side we were almost certain to be
dashed against the iron sides OF Manana
upon the other.
I was IN the bow, peering ahead,
| when the hull of q vessel suddenly
doomed up almost directly before us
and apparently at anchor. While The
captain endeavored to keep the dory
headed for her I hpnt mo end of my coil