Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-16

there as with streaks OF blood where the
| radiance caught reflective CLEAN. The
writing, sinuous, ever-epreading body
of white flame, tinged here and there
with rudy and greenish hues, erept
stealthily on towards her, the tract of
water between, cleaning like molten
steel, gradually growing narrower ana
| narrower. That she was doomed YES
sci | did not for one moment doubt, and
/ 1t was terrible to think of the solitary
figure of her captain, scarcely distin-
| guiShable now, so rapidly had we in
creased our distance from her, lingering
] there to meet most miserable death.
| j took notice that as the blazing oil
| continued to diffuse itself upon the sea,
| the flames began to wane as though the
| furious conf1agration were rapidly con-
Stunning the fuel which fed it. The heat
! of that mighty fire rendered the stag
nant air as close and sitting as the in
terror Of an oven. Still the ruddy caul-
dron rolled EDWARDS; the sails of the
| bark stood out like patches OF blood
| against the livid hue of the sky; the
| outline of her hull showed sharp as a.
cutting in black paper against the daz-
/ ling background; then the flames came
licking out past her bows and stern,
and in moment she was surrounded
| oy the lurid glare.
She is a gone ship mutteredJ the
chief officer in a low voice. God help
the poor skipper"
| We could perceive that the tongues of
| fire mounted as high as the level of the
bulwark rail; sometimes a crimson
streak would leap into the palpitating
air to thrice that height, and expire
again instantly, like the passing away
| OF lightning flash. We sat watching
in silence, expecting every moment to
see the canvas of the bark burst forth
| IN names. The men in the boat had
ceased rowing and lay on their oars
| for we had now measured a distance
which we might fairly conclude would
place us beyond all reach Of the terrific
IRE. Like a carving in carmine, the
| vessel showed amongst the YaporouS
fluctuations OF the appalling combus-
ton; again and again, as a more than
| usually brilliant CLEAN shot athwart
! her, l made sure she had caught, but
always the momentary sheen passed
away, leaving her still standing like a
saIamander-an inviolate object amidst
| the conflagration
Well, l fear to weary you by prolong-
ing this description of one of the most
memorable episodes of my life. For
| about half an hour, l dare say, from
! the time of the flames first reaching
| the bark, we sat waiting and watching,
| and still she did not catch. To me it
was sheer miracle. q" 'Tis her copper
| sheathing that's saving herr exclaimed
| the boatswain; but this notion was
| scarcely worthy of consideration, seeing
| that the tongues Ofire We're licking her
sides high above the line Of the metal,
where it was ali bare, unprotected
wood. Then the great fire began sen
Slbly to diminish; presently lanes or
darkness commenced to open in the
slowing mass of it; instead of one vast,
uninterrupted body of fire the confa-
grafton broke up into isolated patches
of flame, as though the surface of tine
ands. One by one these writing
CLEANS died out, and the midnight stood
forth in Elusive, lurid proportions in the
midst of a tract of clear water
Il guess we'd do well to pull back
to the old hooker" drawled the Yankee
skipper, 'It'ud be cruel work to get
adrift hereabouts, with ne'er drop Of
drink or morsel Of victuals in tina
boat"
The men fell to their oars again, and
began rowing in long, sweeping strokes
toward the barque Before we came up
with her, the last lingering traces of
that mighty flare-up had expired, and
the night seemed black as pitch from
the contrast of the recent dazzle, and
see Whereabouts the ship lay from the
smudge she made against the stars.
The boat glided alongside the fore
chains; a man in the bows took hold
of a channel plate, meaning to scramble
on board, then let go his grip with a
sharply-uttered OATH.
Sereeching hot, by n' he cried.
| leaned over the gunWale to touch
one Of the iron bolts within arms
reach, kand hastily whipped my fingers
back head and shoulders appeared
over the bulwark rail near the main
mast, and a deep hooking laugh broke
the silence of the night.
so, my brave hearts, exclaimed the
voice of Captain T2rbuck, you have
come back, have you? You prefer to
watch danger from affair. Well, / can't |
say it isn't natural. Come aboard,
then"
But this was more easily said than
done, seeing that the barque was as
hot as a glowing cinder outside. Cap
tain Tarbuck laughed again in mis- deep I
mocking way, upon percetving this but /
going to the gangway. lowered an ac-
commodation ladder fashioned of wood
en- fllets strung together on ropes, and /
in a few minutes we were all on deck.
There was a strong smell OF scorching
in the air, and the decks of the barque
seemed to positively radiate with the
heat. her escape could be deemed moth
ing short of a miracle. Captain Tarbuck
said the living wall Of fire was never
within a couple OF yards of her sides,
but the spectacle of the livid glare
around him was terrific and the neat
suffocating. He quite gave himself up
for lost, expecting the vessel to catch
every moment.
When morning came we found that
her black sides had been blistered to a
dark brown, and her lower sails dis
colored to the hue of coffee by the eff
fects of the conhagration. The calm sea
was streaked all over its surface with |
swathes of purple and blue and pale
red. That the flames had not come in
contact with the barque herself was
possibly owing to the fact that her hun |
deadened the current of air, there being |
not the fa.nteat breath Of wind to fan |
the fire. But, be this as it may al
ways regard the experience as one Of
the most weird and startling / ever
heard of; and when / close my eyes and
recall the midnight scene of that burn
ing ocean, l am still lost in amazement
that our ship should have passed UNI
scathed through the fiery furnace.