Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-06-15
And SO L do, says the man-Will
Winter by name. 4 feel death upon

And so do, says the man-Wiu
Winter by name 4 feel death upon
me.
s. ITO the fiend with DEATH says 1;
get up and walk about
Il can t. says he; Il can't l can't
move. And he couldn't. Friends all,
that man was in kind of parlytic
state, as the doctors call it, and he
could not move.
" Then, says 1, this won do, men,
This here is worse nor the storm. Let's
hail the ship. And with that we hailed
her What cheer?' sings out to the
man l could see on the fo'castle.
What cheer, shipmate?' And he sings
back: AIS well aboard. What cheer.
shipmate, ashore?'
Bad, answered l. we think this
land is infected. Tell the captain Will
Winter says he's dying. Well, with
that we hears voices on the ship and
see lantern moving. and then the cap
tam halls US. What's this. l hear.
Bunce?' he calls to me.
will Winter took with sickness.
skipper, l replies, and 1 think we
are all going mad, captain. We can
feel something as we can't see a-catch-
ing hold on US and a-dragging Of us.
Come aboard, halloos back the
skipper, all on you, at onst But here
was difficulty. We others could all
have clambered up the ships side-all
on us excepting Will Winter. But, as
for him. he couldn't move, and there
wern't no moving Of him-and naterel,
and sallorlike, we wasn't a-going to
leave him there-the more so as there
was no doubt that he was like to die.
You could see it in his face, friends, as
he lay there under the tree-mateys
you could see it in the horror of his
eyes!
However. l sends all the Others
down to the ship, and l halloos off to
the captain, telling him that all my
men was coming on board, excepting
only Will Winter, who couldn't move,
and myself who was a-going to stand
by with him and help him. And of this
the captain approved.
$50 off they goes to the ship, and right
glad, think, they was to do it, and,
although the Loving Friend weren
a-lying more nor two cables or two ca
bles and half's length from the shore,
felt bit lonesome and creepylike az
| recollected that here was on a island
about which there was something most
certainly strange and with man mark
ed for death alongside of me. However,
tried to dismiss them thoughts from
my mind and to see what l could do
tor Will. He, poor man, was now ally
Ing HAT on his back, with his eyes star
ing up to the stars through the branch
es OF the tree, and with his hands
twitching convulsivelike. and he was
1nuttering something Of which I could
catch no words or only the word
tree. But what he was talking about,
or what he wanted to say. have never
known
What is it, shipmate?' l said,
attending over him and moistening his
lips with some rum and water What
cheer? What can l do for your But
he give no answer as could under
stand, so made him as comfortable as
l could, and then l lay down near him,
but away from him bit and nearer to
the sea, and so, sometimes raising myself
to look at him, and wondering as to
whether he would live till morning. I
commended him and myself to God-as
all good, right feeling sailors should do
and so fell asleep.
81 fell asleep, say but, oh, friends
all, what a sleep it wasl At first 1
dreamed that was dead, and then that
VIII Winter was a-calling to me and
that | was struggling to wake up and
help him, but that something held me
to the earth, and that all the time the
leaves in the great tree were rustling
and shaking with the wind (Which, in
my waking moments, I had not seen
them do) and that those fingerlike
leaves was opening and shutting and
clenching. IS cat opens and clenches
her paw, and that all the while could
hear that awful hollow laugh that 1
had heard in echo Of mine and that all
through this l could and did still hear
Will Winter yelling and screaming for
help and calling on his Maker-and
that, strive as l might l could not
awake nor stretch out a hand to help
him. But awake at last I did, by the
hallooing of many voices in my ears and
by rough hands shaking me, and,
springing up into sitting posture,
saw that the daybreak had come, that
the sun was up above the sea and that
half the craw of tho Toy;Dr Er;o.5