Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1898-01-25

capped me the day before, and here /
made great find. There was about
81 900 in French gold and notes, a.
zoo in English goldpieces and exactly
$1,000 in goldpieces just struck OF at
the Australian mints The money was
in two tin boxes, but whether it be-
longed to the ship her captain or to
other people / could not determine. IL
was a big FORUM Ia "A poor sailor, and
remember that acted very foolishly
over the find counted il over and over
again, aud when at last realized that
/ was rich | rushed on deck, with q
wild hope Of seeing sail close mt hand.
But for the money | believe that the
long days and nights which followed
would have been rather contentful for
me, isolated as the situation was. / had
plenty to eat and drink, there was moth
ing to break my sleep, the wreck might
drive where she would, but there was
no danger of her going down. The dis
covery Of the money was followed by q
hope Of rescue, and this again by worry
and anxiety wanted to go ashore to
enjoy my wealth. feared that when
rescue did come should be- robbs d. /
conjurcd up thousand senseless fears,
and the upshot was anything but bene-
fetal. / have spoken of the general sit
uation in careless way. As matter
of fact, being navigator, | took obser-
vations regularly when the weather
permitted and pricked off the drift OF
the wreck on the chart. On the average
the weather was fine, but there were
lays and nights when gale and sea tum.
bled the waterlogged craft about until
only a sailor could have lived through
it. Instead uf lifting her the waves ran
over her, and at such times the decks
were two feet under water and the cab
in was flooded. The cargo was ahoat
with the water in the hold, and as the
wreck rolled and pitched the timbers
rubbed together and produced noises
which would have frightened landsmen
into fits
kept an accurate reckoning. and
had been on the wreck just 40 day 5
when caught sight Of my first sail.
No doubt ships had passed and repassed
me by day and night, but l oould set no
signal by day and from the FIRST slept
all through the night. This sail was
discovered early one morning. coming
up from the south. and her course was
such that she must see me. / had put
the money into bags and the bags into
bundles Of clothing in view OF rescue,
and therefore had nothing To do but
wait. The stranger, which proved 10 b.
an English merchantmen bound for In
dia, but considerably off her course.
was within four miles Of me and had
set signal to gladden. my heart when
a big whale suddenly broke water close
TO the wreck. He was followed half a
minute later by second. which attack
cd him with great fury. The monsters
put up terrific battle, lashipg and Bit
ing each other and kicking up sea
like a gale OF wind. They at first drew
away from me. but after q few minutes
made circle which brought them back.
What had feared from the first came
10 pass after IA quarter Of an hour. Half
blinded by pain and fury, or feeling IT
self oyermatched and desirous of getting
away, one of the whales suddenly whirl-
ed about and came for the wreck head
ON. He was fully so feet long, and he
came like moving mountain. | made
sure Of my hold as I saw him coming,
but he struck the wreck on her port side
with such force that | was thrown
across the deck and into the sea beyond.
/ heard the crash Of planks and timbers,
was tossed about by the waves, rubbed
against the whale as he sounded and
reached the surface to find the wreck a
hull no longer. IL was simply heap
Of floating debris The strange ship
drew nearer, lowered n boat, and was
picked up as clung to plank. The
money was gone, all else but the tim
bers which composed the cargo had dis
appeared, and my adventure, surprising
as it had begun, had ended in manner
strange enough TO satisfy even the most
imaginative novelist. was carried to
India by the rescuing ship, and | know
that the French consul at Calcutta set
inquiries on foot regarding the fate Of
the crew Of the Marie. What they
amounted to I never learned but have
always felt satisfied that all perished
when their craft was dismasted. But for
the ( ght between the whales believe
the brig could have been pumped out
and sailed into port. but fortune Is q
jade who robs Jack Tar far oftener than
she smiles upon him.