Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1900-06-29

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COMPANIONS as well as himself, dropped
him, and he sank to the deck with moan
that made me almost regret my act.
But the demands of war, self-preserva-
ton, pride, and the safety of others leave
little latitude for the sentiment of pity in
time of action. Had in anger alone dis
jointed the groaning man my conscience
(which, thank God, has never been scared
into Inactivity might have upbraided me,
but now l felt no great pang of remorse as
I sprang up the ladder, calling the two to
follow.
If the plucky resistance of the disabled
seaman had impressed the others, such inn
preston seemed to have disappeared as they
came with me into the air above. Like owls
suddenly brought into sunshine, they
blinked in the now broadened light, and
hanging on to the halyards of the foremost,
gazed with plain interest at the tunult
about them. Sailors though they were,
would have wagered that never had they
faced such sight from so small craft,
and this was made certain when the man
named Larry bawIed at me, while for mo-
ment I gripped the same rope with him:
"Barrin' ease O. breath, we might as
well ha' left US below. The craft can't live
long this way here. IT'S a matter o. wind or
Davy Jones, an ye had better whistle for
the first, let it come high or low. Delay all,
an stand by!'
His exclamation was caused by a sudden
jerk of the schooner, followed by sidelong
dip, and whole green sea came aboard over
the starboard bow. The full force of it
was broken by the house on the forecastle
hatch, but the bulk swept over all obstacles
like cascade and, rising to our hips, drove
us clear of the deck in twinkling In a
bunch we hung on to the halyards until the
rush subsidized and let our feet come to the
planking once more. l saw the flood
sweep aft and foam over the break of the
poop, while torrents poured down the gal
ley and into the forecastle. 1t was the
worst drenching the craft had yet expe-
rienced, and few more such visitors would
send enough water into the hold to make
her loggy, and that would have been the
| last straw, I guessed the pumps to be
useless for want of care. 6 Had l had full
crew, nothing could have been done to ease
| our state render our position less peril
| Gus. The fact that the seas were now more
| boisterous, though the calm had lasted above
| an hour, told me that vicious force was
| still at work over the breast of the ocean.
| Though the sun might have been fairly up
| by this, there was no certainty of the fact,
| for the light was greenish gray, and the
| clouds hung low and in burrows, fold on fold,
| to where the horizon was blotted out in
| thick foglike haze. No land was in sight,
and all about nothing showed save the hell
| ish turmoil of the sea and the lowering
menace of the sky above.
| How long the schooner might have lived
| thus there can be no surety, and even to
| me, knowing as did the soundness of each
beam, rib and treenail, it was wonder she
| had thus far held her spars and timbers SO
bravely.
| But she had no longer to test broad
! side battering. Having at present nothing
| to fear from the men (for even had they been
| given to plotting it were against human ma
| ture to strike at me while death threatened
| ally, was about descending into the cabin
| after ordering the two to take the limp sur
| geon forward and stow him in bunk. For
moment 1 stood and watched them careen-
| ing along the deck with their burden, won
| dering if it were wise to allow them to come
| in contact with their disab led mate. saw
| the passage made in safety and turned to
| go my way when, on casting my eye over
| the taffrail, beheld wall of spray tearing
along the sea off the starboard quarter. The
| line of its advance was as clear as that of
thunder gust, and had barely time to cast
| loose the main sheet and raise my voice
! when the squaH struck us. Terrible as was
| its appearance, it had not the weight of the
| blast that had opened the ball the night be-
| fore, but it heeled us far on our beams ends,
| while after planted themselves
against the bilge and rolled on deck until
| feared we would founder under the sheer
| pounding of the brine. Like lightning the
| boom had flashed to larboard, and that
| spar with most of it's canvas lay on the
waves. 1 had grasped the wheel and hung
on for my life. It seemed that we would
| never right again, and [ was watching the
| flood pouring over us when, with clap like
| the discharge of cannon, the staysail burst,
a cloud of rags blowing away to leeward
| like wads from gun. The very angle of the
| vessel saved her from carrying the tons
of water that had beaten in, and, as the
| headsail let go, as an animal goaded to des-
peration, the Phantom rose and, gathering
way, fed before the gale.
We fled before the gale, and like the spin
ming spoondrift picked up by the wind and
scattered broadcast without form or consist
ence so also fled my notice of details. OF
the three terrible days during which this
storm lasted I mind me only of a few poig
nant facts standing out against back
ground of remembered misery. The second
stage of the tempest was fercer by far than
was the first, and the wind came from a
from which it broke on the night of August
11-namely, southeast. And with it came
rama pent-up deluge that laced the sea
and sky with parallel lines like strings Of
polished steel wire. While we held the vino
astern it was endurable, but later, when we
bore into the gale, ones face could not SUITE,
long exposure to the blast that drove the
liquid pellets before it like volleys of buck
shot.
We had not held our way for long wher
it became plain that to escape by running
was impossible, as the following seas reached
height and speed that threatened to poor
the schooner at any moment. 1t had finally
came to laying to or being wrecked out o.
hand. and every opening in the vessel was
closed as tightly as possible in preparation
for the move.
It was an anxious moment when the ma
| neuver to come about was made. Each ont
| 1ras laShod To his INST and 1xhen / GA va fhx