Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-07-27

1--WE raised st. Michaels in the Western
Islands, at four bells in the forenoon watch
the day before Christmas. and before
went below to dinner. | made memorah-
dunn OF 1t on the siate.
..That was the famous last entry on the
log-slate. that was read by the crew VINO
picked her up, wasn't itF interrupLea;
Yes, Andy. that was it. Jack emptied
his glass; joining him this time-calied
the waiter to fill them up again. and con-
tinued:
1--WE had the wind from the sou'-west.
the weather becoming thick and rather
squally. told the second mate for heaven
sake not to let her shake any OF her rags
off In the puffs, or the Of man would go
crazy; then 1 went down to dinner. could
see Mrs. Sturgis In the after cabin at her
sewing machine, running that seam that SO
much has been written about The old
man called her with unusual civility. and l
remember saying to myself that gussseo
decent. We had finished the pea soup, and
I was glad to be that far along, for we
were glum as the sole SURVIVORS OF
cholera ship. Suddenly there was rum
pus on deck, as though all hands had gone
crazy, and that fool of a second mate STUCK
his head down the scuttle and holiered,
Fire!
ut seems the barefooted Niger COOK
had slipped up on the greasy prick uoo1
In the galley and capszed bucket OF
slush on the hot stove. OF course. It TAR
ed up and made a lot of smoke. but tnat
all there was to 1t. The Niger, peing 70
windward Of 1t, opened the weather door
to get out, and the draft blew the smoke
out the lee galley door In clouds The o.
man had got all hands about as badly rat
tied as himself. so when the second mate
saw the smoke and the watch below rush
ing out OF the forecastle to see what was
up, he opened his bazoo, and the mischief
was done.
1--WE flew on deck. and the Oh man went
plumb crazy at once. He never thought OF
the pump nor didn't ask anybody about
the fire; he Just yelled at the helmsman to,
put the wheel hard down. and called eli
hands to get the boats out we mao s.a STA
tions.' like a man-o'-wa and the men had
reached that perfection In boat driA tnat
he had promised them they should.
May got into his boat-the lee one-witn
a couple of men to unnook the sacnS.
Poor little body. she was nearer fainting
than on the night when l spoke TO her!
And not much wonder. squall was on
and as the bark came to, with sheets STAT
ting an old sail ripping up here ana theIe'
the apparent force of the wind trebied oy
heading into 1t, and a thick haze over all
1t was a scary enough Job to take 10 those
old. rotten tin boats of his. The SECOND
mate and one man lowered his boat, Wnie
thumped the badly ratified Dutchmen
round and got mine down
I'VE had no sooner showed clear than
I heard cries Of distress from the other
side We backed around the stern. some
how. and there was the old mans boat
stove and laundering. They nad sut
caught under the counter when the DARK
rolled, and the old can Of boat squasheo
like a rotten turnIp. Poor little May gave
I'M when she saw death reaching out Tor
her with a sure grip she held her- arms
out to me and cried:
80, Jack, save me! save me. Dear.
dear Jack, please don't let me oRo"h-uoi
let me drown!
Old Jack Hargreayes turned MS neau
away and took big gulp of whisky. Wnsn
he looked my way again there was an ugly
S~y1 i
would not care to see we're he my mortal
enemy. He leaned over until his face was
within an inch Of mine, brought MS Dig,
brown fist down on the oaken tabie with
resembling thump, and said, in low. saw
"The legions of hell couldn't have kept
her from me after that! pulled the boats.
sterns together, reached over ana orew ner .
into nv boat Her arms were around my
neck her tears wet on my face, ana ner
poor little bosom throbbing against my
breast. AS I laid her down in the stern
sheets I swore he should never have her
"The wrecked boat sank. and her crew
SWAN to us. The Oh man got hold OF the
gunne1, and he says:
Give me a hand. Mr.. Hargreayes.
Never mind. you hound says l. You
can't come In here. She's mine now, an
I'll keep her!
'He read his death warrant in my eye.
but, coward though he was. he fought like
a cornered rat. My boat was half full OF
water, and / saw he was liable to upset US.
even II he failed to get aboard. May was
screeching like mad woman behind me.
The thing had to be settled. grabbed him
by the throat and choked the life out of
him. / held his head under till he stopped
struggling then let go and he sank. May
gave one fearful shrek and became quiet:
When I got chance to look at her she had
tainted. 1t has been the one comfort of my
life since that she never regained her
senses.
somehow, in a flaw. l suppose. filled away
and was rapidly disappearing in a sQuaii.
It would be useless to chase her. so | head
ed for the land. 1 set one of the Dutch
men to bailing, while the second mate and
cook did most of the pulling. l lifted the
sailor with the toe of my boot occasionally,
but he couldn't seem to gain on the water.
Then the second mate discovered that there
was no plug In her. I took OF one boot
and kept that foot over the plug hole, and
the man soon freed her.
The wind was a bit abaft the beam, and
we did fairly well. May lay in the stern
steering that I couldn't do anything for
her. 1 was 50 glad I'd got her that never
stopped to think what I should do with
her, nor how / would get out of killing the
oil man; for. of course, the men all saw
me- We were making good progress toward
the coast, which Is quite bold Whereabouts,
when, without the slightest warning, the
boat rode up on hidden rock turned tur-
tie and sank like stone.
81 caught the little woman as she was
going down and struck out for the Shore
which judged to be less than quarter of
a mile away. There were shrieks and
oaths behind me, where those poor devils
were strangling each. other in their wild
efforts to keep afoat. They all must have
drowned. for none ever turned up to throw
any light on the mystery of the Kate East
man. 80
''The sea was heavy and had my Clothes
and one boot on. 1t took one hand to hold
May, but I was strong swimmer and
couple OF hundred fathoms more would do
it. Then another OF those cursed sunken
rocks interfered and the breath was nearly
driven out of me as l grounded on it.
thought to rest there bit, but there was
no rest for me. I'could get no hold on the
slippery rock and the sea beat me upon 1t
till I lost my little remaining strength
Twice May slipped from me, but I got her
again. There Is no doubt that she was
dead-probably before the boat went down
Again I struck out, feebly for the nearest
point of rock on the shore. I reached It.
but was too exhausted to climb out
struggled desperately for that last forlorn
chance. but fate was against me and had
to give up
81 raised my sweetheart's face to mine
and while the salt water drained and gur-
gled from 1t, kissed. for the last time
the lips / had always loved Once more
spoke her name, but, as said, she was
long since dead 7 held hor nlooo ,,r....a