The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1899-12-28


for that matter, so had the rest Of US.
How did it happen?" he asked.
CHANGING back al the bark, now enrel-
oped in flames from the royal trucks
down.
at was Joe's fault" | said, seurly,
speaking at, though not TO him.
That's not true. Mr.. Murch-it was
his." hotly retorted Joe, as matter of
course.
And, quite naturally, this pleasant
little episode did not help matters in
the least.
Between-us both however. Mr.. Murch
managed to get al the truth. And ]
think each felt little aggrieved when
Mr.. Murch said il was the carpenters
fault for sending a kerosene lantern
between decks.
just after dark it began to Tighten
vet not a mutter of thunder was heard
And such wonderful lightning. All
over the blackness of the sky il played
continuously in great sheets of rose.
pink, purple and bluishgreen.
The effect was exactly like that of the
colored lights in a spectacular drama
only this was on natures most stupen-
dous scale.
We'll catch it before morning" NUT
tered Mr.. Mureh, shaking his head omi-
nously.
And we did.
Our launch was ordered alongside -,
long-boat. and the bread and water
transferred to the formcr.
Mr.. Murch scrambled aboard to re
ceive any further orders from the cap
tain. leaving Joe and me scowliug ri
each other in the launch
All at once il seemed as if the black
vault overhead was rene in twain by an
awful thunder crash. which came stimuli
taneously with such a glittering,
scorching, binding glare of electricity
as | have never seen before or since
even in the tropics.
And in another second the floodgates
of the sky were opened! Down came
the rain i'm great sheets. and in less time
than il takes me to write il our little
boat was almost half full of water w"
began to bail energeticaIlS-l with tin
bailer Joe with one of his sea boots.
As though eXtinguiShed by the tor
rents of rain. the lightning suddenly
ceased, leaving us in the midst Of
the blackness Of utter darkness.
The pouring rain stopped almost as
Iuiclly as it had begun, and looked
suddenly mp.
Good gracious. we're adrift--Joe."
| was going to add but biz off the sen
tence Just in time to make il merely
involuntary exclamation.
Joe dropped his boot, and as. raising
his head. he saw the painter floating
alongside. his Fps parted. but he choked
back what he was going 10 say. And
then, before we had quite recovered
from this shock, the wind spranR up
from the southwest. and in ten minutes
had raised such tremendous cross-sea
as nearly to swamp the little boat be-
fore we got her round head on
took all the credit of Joe's next
maneuyer, though | think likely Joe
would have thought of it if | hadn't.
Lashug the TWO oars and boat hook
together. | benz the end Of the painter
round them midway, and threw the
whole overheard, thus making a sort of
drag, which kept the boat fairly well
to the sea and wind. though every now
and then Il wave crest broke over rs
And there we two young fools sat
glowerirg specchlessly at each other
through the darkness-l in the stern
and Joe amid ships-drenched TO the
skin, shivering. and, like Paul, wish
ing for the day. | kept hoping Joe
would say something, if it were only to
growl And he now declares he was
waiting for me to speak.
As is often the case after a tropic
thunder sQuall, the wind died out en-
tircly toward morning. And when the
red eye Of the sun squinted knowingly
at US over he edge OF the eastern hori.
ION, The sea was running in long, CLASSY
.wv!,s, vrb~okcn by the slightest
breath Of air
But land lay due east, not over =
miles away. ard though we had no con-
PASS. there was the sun. Between US
both 1 felt we could pu,l the boat tha.
distance before we were entirely eX-
haus;ed by hunger and thirst.
Mind you, ! only thought this:
vouIdu't speak ii. And rs joe sat NO.
,ionless, with his head resting on lis
hands. grasped the painter to pun l..
the drag.
TO my disEay, the painter came IT.
limp and slack. The hitch had slipped
some time during the night OF toward
morning, and our cars had gone adri.;
] dropped on the nearest tlwart, a@L
groancd aloud. had hoped Joe wou,L
ask what the trouble was. Bat no-E,
locked up, saw at a glance. and buried
lis head in his hands again. But ht
groaned-under his breath.
The sun rose higher and hotter. and
though il dried our clothes, it seemed
by noon as though my brain was on FIRE.
And thirsty! | began in a vague sort
Of way 10 wonder how shipWrecked men
felt who were four and five DAYS in an