Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1900-03-01


space, that my power might impress his
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, selfpreserva-
tion, pride, and the safety of others leave
little latitude for the sentiment of pity in
time of action. Had l 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 felt no great pang of remorse as
/ sprang up the ladder, calling the two to
follow
If the plucky resistance of the disabled
seaman had impressed the others, such i'm
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 foremast,
gazed with plain interest at the tumult
about them. Sailors though they were
would have wagered that never had they
faced such a sight from so small a craft,
and this was made certain when the man
named Larry bawled at me, while for a mo-
ment | gripped the same rope with him:
"Barrin' an ease o breath, we might aa
well ha' left us below The craft can't live
long this way here. 'Tis matter O. wind or
Davy Jones, an ye had better whistle for
the first, let it come high or low. Belay 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 a cascade, and, rising to our hips, drove
us clear of the deck in a 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, as l guessed the pumps to be
useless for want of care. Had | had full
crew, nothing could have been done to ease
our state or render OUT position less peril
Gus. The fact that the seas were now more
bosterous, 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.
sh 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 l did the soundness of each
beam, rib and treenail, it was wonder she
had thus far held her spars and timbers so
hravely.
But she had no longer to test a broad
sde 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
alD, | was about descending into the cabin
after ordering the two to take the limp sur
geon forward and stow him in bunk. For
a moment | 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 disabled mate. | saw
the passage made in safety and turned to
60 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
q thunder gust, and had barely time to cast
loose the main sheet and raise my voice
when the squall 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 sea after sea 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. l had grasped the wheel and hung
on for my life. 1t seemed that we would
never right again, and | was watching the
| food pouring over us when, with clap like
| the discharge of cannon, the staysai 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, fled before the gale.
| We fled before the gale, and like theSpin-
| 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 | mind me only of few poig-
nant facts standing out against back
ground OF remembered misery. The second
stage of the tempest was fiercer by far than
was the first, and the wind came from a
quarter almost exactly opposite the point
from which it broke on the night of August
ll-namey, southeast. And with it came
rain-a pent-up deluge that laced the sea
and sky with parallel lines like strings of
| polished steel wire While we held the wind
astern it was endurable, but later, when we
bore into the gale, ones face could not suffer
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 when
it became plain that to escape by running
was impossible, as the following seas reached
a height and speed that threatened to poop
the schooner at any moment. 1t had finally
came to laying to or being wrecked out of
hand. and every opening in the vessel was
closed as tightly as possible in preparation
FOR the move.
1t was an anxious moment when the ma
neuver to come about was made. Each one