, 1897-11-20
MRS. RESCUE

MILO. IlTLCVU IL.
We were between the Azores and Ma.
deira, bound for a port i'll the West In
dies, in the American ship Ben Joyce,
when Il curious thing happened one
morning about an hour before daylight.
The wind had died away soon after mid
night. and by 2 O'Clock the sea was like
a mill pond. The ship was swinging
her head to every point of the compass,
and with the exception Of the lookout
man the watch on deck were catching
40 winks Of sleep. l was that lookout
man. 1t is required on all vessels at sea
that the man OH the bows shall be as
wide awake in a calm as when the craft
is moving, and l was digging my eyes
and fighting away sleep when u curious
sound from over the bows caught my
ear. 1t was a dark night, with not a
star visible, and | could not see beyond
the end of the jib Boom. AS ! listened
to the noises the only thing l could
compare it to was the noses Of sharks
humping against a small boat. It would
have been ridiculous to call to the mate
Il give him any such explanation. but
finally called his attention to the curl
Gus noises and left the cause to his W
perception.
There's a raft or boat ont there
he said after u moment, land the noise
may be made by oars. I'll burn a port
fire"
The port fire lighted up the sea for
100 feet around. and the first thing we
saw was a ships boat within 40 feet Of
us on the port bow. In the bottom Of
the boat were W. human figures and one
of them u woman, and all around the
boat the sea was alive with sharks. They
We're diving under the boat. running
their noses against it and seeking to up
set 1t, and had it been a shore boat they
would doubtless have had it over. As
O as we caught sight of the boat the
mate ran to call the captain. By the
time the captain had arrived the boat
had drifted right down against us, and
one of the crew lowered himself into
her and made fast the painter. Then l
got down to assist him. and we passed
up the bodies. the man first. We might
Just us we'll have dropped him into the
sea, for be had been dead for "a hours
at least. As we picked up tho woman,
having not u doubt that she was also
dead, she moved and uttered a groan
and gave Vi II great fright. We had her
Oh board after IL couple of minutes. and
the small boat, which was a captains
gig. new and without q name was later
OF hOisted up
Captain Clark was a single man 50
years old, and neither of his mate was a
married man. They found the oma
greatly exhausted through thirst and
hunger. but with life enough to build
hopes on, and they handled her so well
that at the end of an hour it was re-
ported on deck that she was asleep and
would probably pull through. An hour
after daybreak a breeze came, and we
got on our course and after q careful
inspection of the body of the strange
man it was given a sailors burial. His
pockets turned out nothing but some to-
bacco and a few bits of silver, but he
was recognized by all rs a sailor. He
had the dress and general look. and the
initials "S. f W." had been pricked
OH his left arm in india ink. The boat
was provided with mast. sail and oars;
but, as l said. she was new, freshly
painted and had no name on her. We
didn't do much wondering over it, as
we knew the woman would explain all
when she regained her strength, but all
were glad that it had fallen to our lot
to pick up the boat. 1t may surprise you
to learn how long that woman slept At
intervals the captain raised her head to
administer soup or drink, but not to
actually interrupt her sleep, and she
did not open her eyes until 80 hours
had passed. Then sleep had brought her
fully back to life, It was "a hours later
before we heard her story or, to our un-
bounded umazcment. learned that there
was no story to tell. The III could
remember nothing Of the past, not even
her name.
II you have ever read Clark Russell.
you will remember two such incidents
in his books. You may have set them
down as sailors yarns" but such
things have happened on land q dozen
times over. Every day for the last five
years ] have occupied u desk with q man
who wus practically drowned while
bathing. After two hours hard work
they brought back the spark Of life. but
it was weeks before he left his bed. He
began n new life at that point. All the
previous 20 years were blotted u ~ II
they had never been.
The woman awoke to find herself
aboard a strange ship with strange men
around her. She was a handsome. we'll
formed woman, English in looks and
speech and about 30 years Of age. Her
apparel was fine and costly. but she
wore no jewelry and had neither u purse
,.nr u cardcase. When asked how she
4 me to he at YEA in the gig, what was
I..r nnme, whether she had visited Ma
.',,rn or the Azores. If she lived In Eng.
ID. she could tell uOshing. absolute
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