The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-03-27


The open water was just ahead.
Don't try to jump; it's too widel"
Dorey's face blanehed through the red
Of cold and the tan Of a week of wind.
'Got to take it now said Wayne,
tersely. Its all right. I've made it
dozens of times"
Dorey reached for the helm.
"CoEne about" he cried.
"Eet gol'' shouted Mayne. "You fool,
do sou want 70 drown usT'
The open creek was not zen yards
away. The path OF black water stood
sharply out againstthe ice. Wayne held
her to it. Two runaers had the ice; the
third was high. A leap, and then, with
a crunch and scrape, the boat took the
assure safely. Onshe speed, quartering
Easter than a bird.
A white, fine snow began to drive
before the wind. There was a hush,
and then an angry snaE9 came from out
the blotting wilderness. In the next in
slant the blizzard struck; the boat shiv-
cred, whirled full about in the shrieking
blast Clear from the ice she raised and
spun, once, twice, again-then struck
and slid, like a crab, back towards the
yawning ice crack. The boom laws
were sprung from the mast. The sail
was whipping ~helplessly. The lib, with
its sheets, cracked and snapped like a
pistol. Mayne came hard on the helm.
The runner would not stick. Twice he
slammed the helm. Twice the runner.
cauBht for but a moment, and then slid.
The boat neared the open water. Again
the helm. Nearer. Again. She held.
The boat stopped on the brink.
~Bert1" cried Mayne, ''hold her where
sine isl Hold herl Colonel the boomi
Raise her. Set the jaws. Therei Now
to reef"
1T was no time for laying blame. No
one would have said it, anyway. The
icy snow came thicker. It was a fine
sfft, now. 1t struck the flesh like
needles on the wind. With fingers
numb to stiffness the two bows labored
with the reefng. The boat shook in the
blast.
She'll eve hold" cried Dorey.
How a we cross the crack, when
we've no start? What are we to do?"
Mayne shouted h~oarsely:
"Beat off and come about, and down
upon it, full tilt"
This they tried. There was no other
thing to do. Again they came upon the
ugly, open blackness. Again the good
boat took the breach, and three hearts
beat the lighter.
Here's a tale, if we ever get out of
thisl" cried the colonel"
Il was scared to death,'' cried Dorey.
I'm half frozen" said Wayne. ''What
4 blizzard. The shore line is blotted
QUIT"
The driving sleet shut out the whole
horizon. Peg Wellington sped like a
sprite. The plank stood in the air.
Ease her off. Make for the gym.
That viii loom up through the snow"
A new danger threatened.
"The ice feldsl" shouted "Colonel.'
"They must lie right on our course!'
They're fenced!" Wayne shouted.
I'VE can see the fencel Watch out to
starboard and aheadl"
"We can't see it, eitherl we al
never see it'll 1t is partly down on this
sidei"
MY God! sDood,' come about and
up the bay!"
Were running to the GYM cried
Mayne. Eve are not near the felds.'
"Mayne! The fence!" Whites voice
was hoarse with terror. "Come abouti"
he cried. 1.-THE fence is on our left!
We are on the tieldl"
Port your helm!"
Too late! In her blind fight the
boat had struck the dangerous field
whose western limits the ice cutters
had left ~unguarded. Mayne put the
helm hard to port. The Peg, quick
to respond, trembled and careened in
the blast as she came about. She
slowed, lurched, toppled over and
crashed through the thin ice and into
the black waters. Dorey pitched head
long into the lake, half under the sail
and boom. White was thrown upon
him, but caught the sheet as he fell.
Mayne, though plunged to the neck in
the icy flood, hung to the helm, scram-
bled to the edge of the capsized boat
and turned to reach for White.
With the energy of terror and despair
porey struggled to free himself from
the ~sti1fening sail and the ropes that
held his feet. He chung to White with
the grip of a drowning man. The two,
neither realizing what he was about,
fought for a foothold on the boat, each
unwittingly plunging the other back
into the numbing water, defeating
struggles that grew more frantic and
less availing with each recurrence.
"Courage!" cried Mayne. 'Stop
that, you fools! Give me your hand;
you, Dorey. Now!"
The bleeding hands clutched at
Wayne, at the ropes, at the boat, and
Dorey lay sprawled across the mast.
"Now, Colonel"
Mayne fastened his numb fingers in
the coat of the drowning boy, and after
many efforts hauled him on the boom,
then to the mast and to the body of the
boat.
Dorey began to crawl along on his
stomach across the ice to the right.
Leave the boat" he shouted through
the wind. "Crawl this way to mel"
Mayne and White crept out upon the
ice. It held to the frmer edge. There