Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1900-06-22
CHAPTER XIII.

CHAPTER XIII.
In five minutes we were in the trough of
it. Without zephyr to steady her, the
schooner wallowed like a crazy thing. The
roll, the sidelong heave and lurch, the jerk
ing pitch and recovery were terrible tests
to the stanchness of the vessel. Alternately
the bow and stern rose to dizzy altitude,
then sank with a rapidity that even to my
trained nature was sickening. Each joint
and block found voice which complained
in notes ranging from a bang to squeak,
of its unnatural treatment. Allow and aloft
the poor Phantom protested, and, as /
looked calmly on, 1 knew that if the condi-
tions continued she would end in rolling her
masts out, leaving us to finally founder, a
sheer hulk. The main topmast swayed like
a whip, cutting through the arc of it's mo-
ton with amazing swftness. The dimin-
ished sail beneath it, with, its spars slashing
hither and thither, shook out report like a
cannon, and threatened to burst as its slack
bunt drove from side to side. Everything
loose or insecure fetched away and wan
dered at random about the decks. The
Jumps of lead 1 had brought up the night
before rolled betwixt the hatch combing and
bulwark, banging the latter with blows that
threatened to drive out the panking, and
would have done had 1 not gripped my
way to them and thrown them9overboard.
The scuttle butt sprang from its skids and
came aft with a bound, hating and spinning
like top when in the waist, then dashed to
iarboard only to be stopped by sidelong
lift of the stern which shot it into the
bows where it hung fast, bung up, jammed
betwiXt the fukes of the spare anchor and
the bulwarll stanchion.
l noted these things with an eye more in
terested in the antics of the barrel than in
aught else. Its speed and agility were Won
drous, and l thought more of its fearful
force and erratic movements than of the
general straits in which the schooner. was
now held. Through it all felt my impotent
numbness, and it was with the mere animal
instinct of getting food for craving stom-
ach that YEARLY moved to go below
Stiff, sore and dispirited enough was as
staggered toward the companion way and
entered the cabin. The first sight of its in
terror was enough to break ones heart, and
that fact probably did much to pull me to-
gether. The surgeon, the cowardly, be-
sotted wretch, lay drunk on the floor, and
also on the floor was Gertrude King, dead
L thought for an instant, but soon found she
was not only alive but conscious. Having
been thrown from her bunk, she had
crawled over to her brother to prevent a
like disaster to him, and now lay or leaned
against his transom, powerless alike to help
him or herself. She was almost dead from
sea sickness and pain, yet when she saw me,
the fright that came into her eyes reminded
me of Lounsbury's last look 1t was PLAIN
that McCary had but given her dram to re-
vive her and when this had been accom-
plished, without going further or vouchsaf-
ing an explanation of the days later events,
started in to finish the drunk had so sud-
denly interrupted. The fever for rum was
upon him, his manhood and morals having
been consumed along with the liquor.
Notwithstanding the suffering his actions
had entailed, could almost have thanked
him for being the cause of putting into me a
sense of real existence, for there was a
slight awakening from the heavy iethargy
that held me as l stopped to the poor girl
and lifted her in my arms as though she was
child to be comforted. The instructive
shrinking she had shown when reached for
her gave way to a moan and the limpness OF
total abandonment as she felt the strength
of my arm about her. As laid her on the
transom by the side of her brother, whose
eyes were shut and whose heightened color
now betokened fever, she placed her un
wounded hand against my cheek as if to
make sure of6my being mortal, and faltered
out:
81 thought you dead! o Donald! Donald!
{ thought you dead!"
was something that stirred me to liveliel
sense of myself and surroundings. But hel
words did more than this. OF themselves
as 1 set them here in cold black and white
they hold no significance, but as ] heard
them there was something which caused the
waning spark within me to burst into flame
and shoot through the dizziness of my ex
hausted body and ,overtaxed brain. The
touch of the smooth hand, the look, and the
simple tones of this ill-used, wounded anG
bedraggled girl were beyond misinterpreta
ton to me, when to Others it might have
been but trifle more than commonplace
Like shock the attending danger of oul
situation rushed upon me, and again real
lied my responsibility; a feeling that ha6
been dead for hours, and which was now
resurrected by the light that burst upon me
at the girls words
She was pitiful object as she lay prom.
at her brothers side. Her left arm wa.
powerless, and the blood from her wounded
head still stained her face, neck ana hand
The flow had ceased, but through her brigH,
hair could see the location of the cash.
was no surgeon to dress either the cut Of