Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-01-29

the water casks, q dozen or more, and
all full. When / came to examine the
forecastle, | found boots, oilgkins. sou
westeTs 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 persisted
when the brig was wrecked. 1t was
night before / had finished, and tum-
bled into the captain s berth and never
slept more soundly. You may think it
queer that during the day had scarce
ly glanced around the horizon and given
no thought to rescue, and that went
TO 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 if
not taken off for weeks. Interested as |
was in overhauling the stranger, /
would not have tossed up penny to be
taken off by passing vessel.
When morning came again made a
more thorough investigation of the cab
in In rear of the captain $ stateroom /
CHANGED upon closet which had es-
capped me the day before, and here /
made great find There was about
$1,000 in French gold and notes, ST.,
200 in English goldpieces and exactly
So, 600 in goldpieces just struck off at
the Australian minis. The money was
in two tin boxes, but whether it be-
longed to the ship, her captain or to
other people | could not determine. 1t
was big fortune to poor sailor, and
remember that / acted very foolishly
over the find. / counted it over and over
again, and when | at last realized that
was rich / rushed on deck, with
wild hope of seeing sail close at 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. l 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
hope of rescue, and this again by worry
and anxiety l wanted to go ashore to
enjoy my wealth. | feared that when
rescue did como | should be robbed |
oonjured up thousand senseless fears,
and the upshot was anything but bene-
fetal. | have spoken of the general sit
uation in a careless way. As matter
of fact, being a 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
days and nights when gale and sea tum
bled the waterlogged craft about until
only sailor could have lived through
it Instead of 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 afloat
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 i
had been or the wreck just 40 days
when | caught sight of my first sail
No-doubt ships had passed and repassed
me by day and night, but ] could set no
signal by day and from the first | slept
all through tho night. This sail was
discovered early one morning, coming
up from the south, and her course was
such that she must see me. i bad put
the money into bags and the bags into
bundles of clothing in view of a rescue,
ard therefore had nothing to do but
wait. The stranger, which proved to be
an English merchantmen bound for In
dia, but considerably off her course,
was within four miles of me and had
set a signal to gladden. my heart when
a big whale suddenly broke water close
to the wreck He was followed half a
minute later by a second, which attack
ed him with great fury The monsters
put up a terrific battle, flashing and bit
ing each other and kicking up a sea
like gale of wind They at first drew
away from me, but after a few minutes
made a circle which brought them back.
What / had feared from the first came
to pass after quarter of an hour. Half
blinded by pain and fury, or feeling it
self overmatched and DESTROYS of getting
away, Oll6 III INC WHITES Will
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 | 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.
l 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. 1t was simply heap
of floating debris. The strange ship
drew nearer, lowered a boat, and was
picked up as | chung to a 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