The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-11-11
Good Sunday Reading.
i[By Special Arrangement With the Author


dread epi6tnic and wandered about aud
fell overheard or the strain on his mind
was so great that he deliberately COM
mitted suicide. He had not wakened me
or left message of any sort behind.
When fully realized that was alone
aboard Of the ship, / was SO terrified
that hid away in the cabin for several
hours. 1t was not until noon that re-
membered the men who had pulled
away the day before and went on deck
to look for them BY the aid Of the cap
tains glass / soou had the boat under
my eye. She had driftcd down to with
in mile of the ship, and by going aloft
could make out that there was no one
in her. was not absolutely certain on
this point however, until about 2
O'Clock By that time she had drifted
down to within 100 feet of the bark,
and the only relics of the men to be seen
were coat and hat. For two hours the
gig remained so close that / could have
reached her by swimming, but then a
current took her and she drifted slowly
away to the north. Aside from the boat
remember very little Of what occurred
that day or the next. The epidemic had
taken away 13 strong and healthy men,
and why should l be spared? A dozen
times over felt the first symptoms, or
so imagined, and my troubled sleep was
full of the most terrible dreams Things
are not at all clear to me until the morn
ing of the eleventh day Of the calm.
Then L awoko to find myself as well as
ever in my life and ran on deck to find
signs of a change i'll the weather. was
ravenously hungry, and, having often
assisted the cook, l knew bow to get q
fire alight in the Caboose and prepare
food. The nauseating, deathlike smell
which had hitherto prevailed over the
ship had entirely disappeared, and when
my hunger had been satisfied l readily
made myself believe that the fever had
gone for good.
Although only lad and my expert
ence as sailor limited to months,
yet had wit enough to look at the cap.
tain's charts and find our position as he
had pricked it off. could tell nothing
of distances, but l knew the bark was
on the great highway between the
South American ports and the cape OF
Good Hope. | kutw how to make a sig.
nal of distress of the English flag, and,
although there was no wind, ran the
bunting alCft as soon as thought Of.
During the afternoon | was busy about
the decks picking up and coiling down
and seeing that everything was secure
and at noon l prepared another meal.
1t was O'Clock in the afternoon be-
fore the first catspaws began playing
over the CLASSY surface of the sea, but
in the course Of half an hour Il steady
breeze set i'll from the north, and the
bark went drifting away before it.
marked her drift by compass as east by
south. had heard sailors talk much o.
wreck and disaster, and before night
came on got out some pieces of shea
iron to lay on the deck and prepared
materials for beacon fire. remained
ON deck till half past 10 o'clock, ready
to light my beacon in case l saw the
light of a craft, and then went to my
berth and slept soundly till an hour aft
er sunrise. When / gained the deck,
saw sail to the south about eigh
miles away, which must have passed
close to me early in the morning.
have aways felt certain that this Graf
had daylight in which to see my signal
and the fact Of the bark having all sail
furled and being adrift was clearly no
ticed, but she kept her way withou
making an investigation. Six times dur
ing the long day 1 went aloft with tht
glass and swept the sea. but no othe'
sail greeted my vision. When nigh
came, remained awake until midnigh
and then lay down on deck, but nothing
happened except that the wind changed
about to the west and grew somewha
stronger.
Morning came and brought a clea
horizon, nor was anything sighted TO
the next five days and nights. Durin,
this interval the breeze blew from ever,
point of the compass except the east
but did not rise to gale or create
heavy sea. had little to do except t,
cook my meals and go aloft to look TO
sails, but made as much work for my
self as l could and did not permit m.
mind to dwell ON the present or future
On the seventh or eighth day of my lone
|. illness, at / o'clock in the afternoon
and while the bark was drifting to tb
east under light breeze, l went alof
and made out sail to the north, q sec
ond to the south and third to the west
The two first were too far away to hop
for assistance. The third was coming
up and must pass me close. She was bu
speck on the horizon when made he
out, but two hours later l had her il
plain view, and at o'clock she was u,
with me. She proved to be the shi
Amazon of Liverpool, bound for tn
Cape with soldiers and emigrants, and
crew was put aboard Of the derelict an,
she was headed for that port in com
pany. Ship and cargo were worth bi
sum of money, but l was not entitled t.
dollar of salvage, There were thos
who even said l ought to be Thankful
for my escape from the epidemic, le
alone thequestion of reward. l had t
tell the story over and over again, max
affidavits, go into court and sign papers
and 1 may tell you that before 60
through playing the hero was disgust
ed with the whole business and hoping
nothing of the sort would ever occu
again. O. b. LEWIS.