Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1900-02-27
Knseling at the side of the PROSTATE man was
woman.

leaving the steamer, tumbled into the
boat, in fact-and he seems to be in
mighty bad way. We hoisted him
aboard ms easily as possible, but he
tainted from pain while we were doing
1T. He needs your attention badly"
And truly his need was great-a frac.
ture of the tibia and two days in an open
boat with only the rudest treatment tor
his injury. Aglance at the swollen limb
was enough to tell the story of his
hours of torture.
lie was tall, fne-loolling man, of
middle age, with well-cut features and
u close-cropped dark beard. His dress,
disordered as it was, showed him to be
a person of wealth.
BEST get him below at once" said I.
Hes in for siege, no doubt of that"
PUT him in the stateroom forward
of the first Mates" said the captain.
Bear hand here, a couple of you fell
| lows"
Two of the sailors came aft and care
fully raised the injured man. With the
skipper and myself assisting in the
operation, he was carried to the quar-
tiers assigned him. lie moaned feeblv
as the men lifted him from the grating,
and again as they felt their way down
the companion-stairs, but, on the whole,
the job was we'll done. Then came he
labor, which was particularly my own,
OF reducing inflammation, of getting the
leg into splints, and of making the pa
tient as comfortable as circumstances
permitted. At last was able to report
that, all things considered, he was doing
very well.
THAT'S good news" said the captain,
heartily. ''By the way, did you learn
anything about him or the loss of the
steamer?"
"Only that, though he is Brazilian,
he speaks English like Briton. Tie
lady, who seems to be relation of his,
knows nothing but her own tongue.
She's with him now, watching him, al
though there's nothing for her To do"
you learned his name?"
Eyes; Ferez."
so much I've extracted from the sail
ors," said Capt. Peck, "but very little
else, except that, when the rush was
made to leave the steamer, our friends
were almost left behind. Most of the
crew and passengers got away in three
other boats. The one we met was the
last to pull away from the steamer.
That's Inc limit of information to be
had from the men,"
Il suppose that nothing has been seen
OF the other boats?"
Nothing. I'll do my best to find
them, but it's not likely We'll come
across them. The people we have on
board lost trace of them the first night.
God pity the poor souls crowded into
those three boats!"
The captain was as good as his word.
and, aided by a light breeze which came
as OPPORTUNITY as if designed to assist
in this errand of mercy, the Mary Peck
cruised about in search of the flotilla.
Nothing was seen of it, however, and
when, after lying becalmed for two
days more, her sails were again
filed by the wind, her bow turned to the
south, and once more she was headed
for her destination. Long afterward
1T was learned that an English ship had
rescued the occupants of the boats Oh
the day following that on which tho
steamer burned, and had carried them
to London.
AS we drew into cooler attitudes
Perez mended steadily, although, as
may be imagined, his recovery was
tedious business. Yet, in view of his
condition when he was hoisted to the
deck of the Mary Peck, neither he nor T
could find cause for complaint. For
six weeks he was confined to his state
room, and in that time came to know
him well and to like him exceedingly.
OF himself he said little, but, bit by bit,
learned something of his story. Ills
father was Brazilian, but his mother
was English, and the greater part of
his youth was spent at English schools.
Since attaining manhood he had lived
near Rio, making an occasional trip to
Europe. The lady in his charge on the
homeward voyage which had been in
terrupted SO disastrously was a cousin.
who, after some years in Portugal, was
returning 20 her OWE country. She was
not very young, and her beauty was OF
the faded sort. In spite of the draw
back that neither she nor Mrs. Peck
was mistress Of the others tongue, the
two women managed to strike up
great friendship and to comfort one an
other vastly in the days of great gales
and high seas we encountered off the
cape. But the ship fought her way
through the storms of that stormiesi
or regions into the Pacific, and at last
her anchor was dropped in Valparaiso
bay after u voyage which. south of the