Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-01-25
THE DERELICT.
TX CHARLES n LEWIS.


breeze steady, ] swung myself upon the
rail 10 get look at what seemed to b,
raft floating past us. | may have beer
overcareless or rope may have giver
way. but Of sudden found myself IL
the water. The man ut the wheel wit
nessed my misbap and gave the ALARM
and threw me the life prescrver always
ready for such an emergency, and J
had no doubt Of being picked mp with
in ten minutes. had seized the float.
when down Numbered black squall
from ont "a the west, and next moment
il was as dark as midnight and the sea
all in chop. felt that il was all Over
with me then The men would be lucky
90 bring the brig through the fierce
squall without thinking Of me. Indeed,
IL she had had 100 men on board instead
OF l2, they would not have dared I.
lower boat. got Just one glimpse Of
the craft as she shot away into the dark
ness and then tegan TO work to get the
life preserver under my arms. wm
buffeted and knocked about in the most
confusing manner, and had the squall
lasted five minutes longer l should hav,
been drowned on the surface. IL passed
away as suddenly as il came, and tel
minutes later the sea had calmed down.
and was floating with my head well
out Of the water.
had gone overheard at about I
o'clock In the evening. For the first
three hours my hopes and fears made
me alert, but by and by l felt dull
lapguor and was only half conscious oi
what was going on. An hour after mid
night was suddenly aroused from what
seemed to te troubled dream. wal
humping against something hard. anC
my first idea was that ! had been cast
ashore Ii tcck me several minutes &c
shake myself together and make out that
was alongside the hull Of vessel. IL
was, and when / realized it had scarce
ly more 10 do than lift up my hands and
seize the low rail and draw myself in
board. / had found q derelict brig.
Both masts were gone close to the deck,
much Of her bulwarks swept away, and
/ knew by the feel Of her that she wa.
waterloggct.. | took one glance over hei
and no more. but dumped myself dowr
OH the deck and was asleep IN five sec.
onds. When 1 opened my eyes, the sur
was an hour high, and "A biz altatros,
was poised directly above ME and not
30 feet high. II did not take Inc Ions
to master the details Of the wreck
In the first place, she was loaded witt
Australian redwood aud could not sinh
beyond u certain point; next, she hac
been floating about for months aDt
months. There was some wreckage on
her decks, but masts and yards ano
beats and booms had gone clear off heI
as they fell. She had settled down un
til her scrpper holes were only few
inches above water, but owing to the
buoyant cargo she could not sink deeper.
AS sailor / made her out to he 0
French craft, and later OH l discovered
that she was the Marie Of Brest. Sh,
was u small craft. carrying crew Of
eight or nine men, and was n forecastlt
ship instead Of having deokhouse foi
the men, The catoose or cook s galley
had gone overheard with the rest, bu
the doors Of the cabin and the scuttle tc
the forecastle were tightly closed. Tb
brig had been wrecked aloft i'll squall
gale and had ut the same time sprung
q leak. Whether her crew had been
washed overheard or taken to the boats
there was no means Of telling until ]
had made an investigation below,
The first thing was to get something
to eat and drink. After few minutes
work I broke open the cabin doors aud
got into the pantry. There was wine in
plenty, as might have been expected,
and I soon came across some meat and
biscuit in tins. ! wanted water, but
there was none to be had, and so, tax.
ing what could lay hands oil, went
sn deck and made fair meal. When
this had been concluded, l returned tc
the cabin for an overhaul. All the
charts and nautical instruments vert
there, nor bad any Of the spare clothing
Of captain or mates been taken away.
found the logbook, and though could
not read French made out ths latitude
and longitude last recorded. AS near Of
could figure it out the brig was then
midway between Australia and the
Cape, and the date was nearly sever
months old. She had drifted to every
point Of the compass, but must have
drifted nearly 1900 miles to the north
to reach the SPOT where ] found her. II
was noon before / began an examina'
tion Of the lczarette to see how l should
fare for provisions. / found flour. wines,
table waters, preserves, boxes Of biscuit,
choice bacon, Goldfish and other articlei
In liberal quantity-enough to last oni
man for months. Forward OF the cabiI
found q storehouse, in which vert
several barrels Of beef and pork, with
four barrels Of coarse -four. dried tsh.
oeens, couee, tea ana otner articles Of
food for the rpen. Forward Of this were
the water casks, dozen or moro, and
all full. When / came to examine the
forecastle, found boots, oilskins, SOU
westers and other belongings OF the
crew, to prove that they had not gone
away in the boats. Indeed was sure
before had half concluded my inves
tigation that every man had perished
when the brig was wrecked. II was
night before had finished, and tum.
bled into the captains berth and never
slept more soundly. You may think II
queer that during the day had scarce
" glanced around the horizon and given
no thought to rescue, and that went
% bed with . contented mind, but sail
ors are prone to take luck as it comes,
good or bad. ] had made miraculous
escape and was fairly safe on the wreck,
and there was nothing to worry over II
not taken off for weeks Interested Is
was in overhauling the stranger. !
would not have tossed up penny to be
taken of by q passing vessel.
When morning came again ] made