Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-06-04

Mexico in all weathers, but never have
I met with such an experience as that
which followed. The ship plunged and
strained and rocked, lifting now her
bow and now her stern high above the
waters, till it seemed as though she
must fall to pieces, while water in tons
rushed aboard of her at every dip,
which, as she righted herself, streamed
through the broken bulwarks.
Now, from time to time the moon
shone out between riffs in the clouds,
revealing dreadful scene. Fragments
of the little bridge still remained, and
to it was dashed the large body of the
captain in an upright position, though
as he neither spoke nor stirred we
never learned whether he was only
paralyzed by terror or had been killed
by blow from the funnel as it fell.
He had ordered the passengers to be
battened down, and there in the cabin
they remained, twenty or more of
them, until the hatchways were stove
in. Then, with the exception of one or
two, who were drowned by the water
that poured down upon them, they
rushed to the companionway, men and
womed together. and, shrieking, pray
ing and disappearing, chung to frag-
ments of the bu1warks, shrouds of the
mast, or anything they thought could
less waves.
Awful were the walls Of the women,
who, clad only in their night dresses,
now quilted their hunks for the first
time since they entered them in the
harbcr of Vera Cruz. Overcome by
fear. and having no knowledge of the
dangers of the sea, these poor creatures
flung themselves at full length upon
the deck, striving to keep hold Of the
slippery boards, whence one by one
they rolled into the ocean as the vessel
lurched, or were carried away by the
seas that popped her.
Some of the men followed them to
their watery grave, others more self
possessed crept forward, attempting to
escape the waves that broke over the
stern, but none made any effort to save
them, and indeed it would have been
impossible so to do.
Among those who came forward to
where we and some of the Indian sail
ors were clinging to the rope that was
coiled round the stump of the broken
foremost was Don Jose Moreno. Even
in his terror, which was deep, this man
could still be ferocious, for recognizing
the senior he yelled:
''Ah! Maldonado = evil gifted one,
you called down the norther upon us.
Well, at least you shall die with the
rest" and, suddenly drawing his long
knife, he rose to his knees and, holding
to the rope with one hand, attempted
to drive it into the senor's body with
the other. Doubtless he would have
succeeded in his wickedness had not an
Indian boatswain, who was near, bent
forward quickly and struck him so
sharply on the forearm with his
clenched fist that the knife flew from
his hand, and in trying to recover it
Don Jose fell face forward on the deck,
WI he lar mr. f1jr.f EaQ1 Of rrf
at aggression.
For few minutes there was a tur-
MOL that cannot be described; then,
although the wind still shrieked over
head, we felt that we were in water
which seemed almost calm to us. The
ship no longer pitched and rolled; she
only rocked as she settled before sink
ing, while the moon, shining out be-
tween the clouds, showed that what
had been her bulwarl1s were not more
than two or three feet above the level
of the sea.
Six Indians, our three selves, Don
Jose, who seemed to be senseless, and
the body of the captain dashed to the
broken bridge. alone remained Of the
crew and passengers OF the Santa Maria.
The rest had been swept away, but
there, close to US, the cutter still hung
upon the davits.
The senior saw it and cried: ''The
ship is Sinkingi Into the boat, Quick!''
and, running to the cutter, he climbed
into her, as did I, MolaS and the six In
dian sailors.
She was full of water almost to the
thwarts, which could only be got rid of
by pulling out the plug in her bottom.
Happily the boats vain. that same man
who had struck the knife from the
hand of Don Jose, knew where to look
for 1t, and, being sailor of courage
and resource, was able to loose it. so
that presently the water was pouring
from her in a stream as thick as a
hawser. Meanwhile the other Indians
were getting out the oars and loosen
ing the tackles.
Get the plug back said theNsenor;
1.-The vessel is sinking; you must bale
the rest"
Half minute more and it was done;
then at a word from the boatswain the
sailors lowered away and we were
afloat, and, better still, clear of the
ship. Scarcely had they got the head
of the cutter round and pulled three or
four strokes when from the deck of the
Santa Maria there came the sound of
mans voice crying for help, and by the
light of the moon we discovered the
figure of Don Jose Moreno clinging to
the broken bulwarks that now were
almost awash.
For the love of God, come back to
me-" he screamed.
The Oarsmen hesitated, but the boat
swain said, with an Indian oath:
Pull on, and let the dog urOWni"