The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1898-06-04

death; but Potter still had faith in that
thousandth chance.
He climbed to every pinnacle to
which man could possibly ascend, and
serutinized every rayine and basin in
the floating island. Not living thing
beside it's human inhabitants and d
flock of elusive sea birds appeared upon
the berg; but near the water, caught
by a piece of ice fallen from the cliff
above, he found the partially deyoured
body OF a seal. 1t was frozen solidly
ii the ice, but he cut it loose with the
boat ak.
With this prize he went back to his
companions, who lay in lethargiC
doze, having given him up for lost.
Both of old Andrews feet were frozen
and the other men were stiff with the
cold. Urged by the energetic Potter
and by the sight of the frozen seal, the
two younger men managed to break up
the remaining wreekage and the fire
was revived. Strips Of the coarse seal
meat were thawed and then half
cooked over the blaze and they chewed
the tough bits with delight.
Potter cut off and set aside all the
fat and the oiliest of the blubber, and
they ate the leanest flesh first. The food
heartened the eastaways wonderfully,
and Potter was able to get them to ex-
ercise more-ali but the cook. He, poor
fellow. could scarcely move hand OF
foot, and nothing they could do seemed
to get the frost out of his lower ex-
tremities or the pain out of his joints.
All that day, while the berg continued
to float southwark, the rumble and
cracking of the ice continued. But the
weather grew colder in the night,
changing so rapidly that they were
nearly frozen TO death in their sleep.
Potter, waking soon after midnight,
found his clothing stiffening upon him
as he lay, and the fire died down to a
be of fast grazing Goals. He awoke
his companions, finding much difficulty
in arousing the cook at all. The others
he made get up and run about upon the
ice. He stripped off his own outer coat
and wrapped it about the older man.
The other two did the same and they
tried by every means in their power
to force the cooks sluggish blood into
more rapid circulation.
'Tain't no use, boys; let the old man
alone" he muttered "It's only gettin'
Inc first; ye'll all come to it,"
But the man who believed in that
thousandth chance would not give up.
Much as he disliked doing so, he broke
the dory up with the beat ak and re-
plenished the fire.
"Now you've done it. Cap" growled
one of the others. I'VE couldn't git err
way if we saw the chance"
We'll all pull through alive, or
none" returned Potter, sternly.
He fed the fire carefully, throwing on
bits of seal blubber now and then to in
crease the heat. Old Andrew respond
ed at once to the fire and they got his
boots off and chafed his feet till he
cried with pain. But this satisfied Pot
ter that the cooks extremities were not
so badly frozen as he feared
That awful night came finally to an
end, and with sunrise the weather
cleared. The fog died away before the
bright beams, and the little company
of shipwreeked bankers gained hope.
They had no means of knowing how far
they had drifted since the wreck, but
they were sure it had been in gener-
ally southern direction. They were not,
of course, anywhere hear the fishing
ground yet, but they were probably
near, if not already in, the track of the
steam routes between Europe and
America. While the weather remained
sold the berg would not be likely to
break up, and old Andrew was so much
improved that he could move around
their camp and exercise enough him
self to keep the frost out.
They allowed the fire to go out, but
rebuilt it at dark, and that little point
of light, fed so carefully with the frag-
ments of the dory and the seal blubber.
was the means of their salvation. The
freighter Pallas, of Halifax, pushing
her nose through the now greatly
oosed ice pack in the early morning
saw the castaways' fire. She blew her
whistle and then slowed down till dav-
light, when her third officer with a vol
nnteer boats crew, brought the four
men from the berg.
And this is the story OF the wreck
Of the Valiant and of the man who
in ''the thousandth chance"