The Press., 1898-03-10

taken away Is strong and healthy men,
and why should / be spared A dozen
times over | felt the first symptoms, or
SO imagined, and my troubled sleep was
full OF the most terri bic dreams Things
are not at all clear to me until the morn
ing OF the eleventh day of the calm
Then | aWOke to find myself as we'll as
ever IN my life and ran on deck to find
signs OF change IN the weather | was
ravenously hungry. and, having often
assisted the cook, knew how to get a
fire allght III the caboose and prepare
food The nauseatlng deathlike smell
which had hitherto prevailed over the
ship had entirely disappeared, and when
my hunger had been satisfied readily
made myself believe that the fever had
gone for good
Although only a lad and my expert
ence as sailor limited to months, |
yet had wit enough to look at the cap
tain charts and find our position as he
had prlcked 1t of / could tell nothing
of distances, but | knew the bark was
on the great highway between the
South American ports and the cape Of
Good Hope | knew how to make a sig
nal OF distress OF the English flag, and.
although there was no wind, ! ran the
bunting aIOft as soon as thought of
During the afternoon / was busy about
the decks picking up and colllng down
and seeing that everything was secure.
and at noon | prepared another meal
1t was 3 O clock III the afternoon be-
fore the first catspaws began PLAYING
over the CLASSY surface OF the sea but
in the course OF halt all hour a steady
breeze set Ill from the north, and the
bark went drifting away before 1t |
marked her drift by compass as east by
south ! had heard sailors talk much of
wreck and disaster. and before night
came on | got out some pieces OF sheet
iron to lay on the deck and prepared
materials for beacon fire renamed
on deck till half past 10 O clock. ready
to light my beacon III case | saw the
light of craft. and then went to my
berth and slept sOundly till an hour aft
er sunrise When l gained the deck,
saw a sail to the south about eight
miles away which must have passed
| close to me early Ill the morning.
have aWays telt certain that this craft
| had daylight IN which to see my signal
and the fact OF the bark having all sails
| furled and being adrlft was clearly no.
| Glced, but she kept her way without
making an investigation Six times dur
| ing the long day | went alott with the
glass and swept the sea, but no other
sail greeted my Vision When night
came 1 remained awake until midnight
and then lay down on deck, but nothing
| happened except that the wind changed
about to the west and grew somewhat
stronger
Morning came and brought a clear
| horizon. nor was anything sighted for
the next five days and nights During
| this interval the breeze blew from every
point OF the compass except the east.
| but did not rise to a gale or create a
heavy sea- had little to do except to
cook my meals and go aloft to look for
sails but / made as much work for my
self as | could and did not permit my
mind to dwell OH the present or future.
On the seventh or eighth day of my lone,
illness, at ! o clock IN the afternoon.
| and while the bark was drifting to the
east under hight breeze, l went aloft
and made out sail to the north, sec
ond to the south and a third to the west
The two first were too far away to hope
for assistance The third was coming
up and must pass me close She was but
speck OH the horizon when l made her
out. but two hours later | had her III
plain view and at O clock she was up
with me She proved to be the ship
Amazon OF Liverpool. bound for the
Cape with soldiers and emlgranrs, and a
crew was put aboard OF the derellct and
she was headed for that port IN com
pany Ship ;Hnd cargo were worth big
sum OF money. but was not entitled &c
a dollar OF salvage There were those
who even said ought to be thankful
for my escape from the epidemic let
alone the question OF reward ] had to
tell the story over and over again. make
affidavlts, go INTO court and sign papers,
and may tell you that before | got
through playing the hero was disgust
ed with the whole business and hoping
nothing of the sort would ever occur
again T. B LEWIS