The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-11-20
Adrift ON the SalWin River.
BY ALEC. j. GRANT.


conquered all morbid feelings, and we
prepared to make the best of q bad
predicament.
AS if to cheer us up little the storm
had abated almost as rapidly as it had
risen, and as we swept round the first
bend below the ship the thunder and
lightning died away, the rain ceased,
the clouds disappeared as if by magic,
and the stars came out clear and
bright.
| Our first move was to provide some
means Of steering our craft SO that
we might be able to make the shore
and avoid being carried out to sea. I'm
| lashing one of the crosspieces Of
scantling that held the logs together,
we had strong if rather clumsy steer
ing-oar, and by adroit sculling, aided
by the force of the five-knot current,
we soon brought the raft within fif-
teen yards of the bank
But here we found to our disappCint-
| ment that the water shoaled sudden
ly with bottom of Shiny black mud.
| Seemed that it was impossible
to reach the shore with our craft, and
being unwilling to tempt fate by wad-
ing or swimming in the dark in an
alligator haunted stream, we sat down
on the logs and contented ourselves
for the present with keeping as near
the bank as the depth would allow
AS we sped along, strange sights and
sounds greeted us. Under the deep fol-
| lage Of the trees will-o'- the-wisps
flashed to and fro, the every patch of
bushes that overhung the stream was
| afiame with dancing myriad of firef1ies.
The short, sharp bark of the jackals,
the croaking of tree-toads and the
weird hooting of owls made a noctur-
nal chorus that grated on our nerves,
while every now and again the pro-
longed howl Of some large beast of
prey or the splash of a heavy body
falling into the river made us start
to our feet with fresh realization of
the dangers of cur position.
Thus we floated along hour after
hour, steering and doing by turns
Gradually the current became less
swift as the river began to feel the
full pressure of the fiood-tide from the
bay. About midnight the sky again
became overcast, the thunder crashed
and rolled, the lightning flashed ath-
wart the heavens, and the rain came
down in torrents. Just as one very
bright flash lighted the scene and
showed us that we were nearing the
point where the river widened out to
an estuary, sudden shock threw us
on our faces. The forward end of the
raft rose clear of the water; then it
swung round with the tide and hung
there. We picked ourselves up and
Ulooked obout us, only to find that our
craft had stuck hard and fast on a
snag of old roots firmly grounded in
the bed of the river.
We unlashed another crosspiece and
poled with all our strength, but in
| vain. We succeeded, only in pushing
the raft onto the snag until the lower
end was entirely submerged and our
position was rendered more precarious
than ever.
If there was little fear now of drift
ing out to sea, there was still less
chance of getting to shore. By the
glare of the lightning we could see
number of dark objects floating
around us that we knew were alliga-
tors, and it was certain that they
would seize us the moment we entered
the water. Retreating to the higher
side of our raft we covered down, cold
and wet, to wait for daylight and the
rescue we hoped would come with it;
| for we knew that as soon as our abb
send out a boats crew in search of
sence was discovered the captain would
| us. But the adventures of the night
had not yet come to an end.
The weary hours had dragged along
until nearly five o'clock. wnen Rover,
who had been cuddled between us,
suddenly rose to his feet and, tremb
ling in every limb, stood pointing at
something on the farther end of the
raft. Following his gaze we could
dimly make out dark round object
/ ilh6 q oLudil COAA VI ucasJ HdWooi.
| About foot above it, apparently
suspended in the air, were two bright,
bead-like points of light that sparkled
like diamonds in the glare Of the
lightning. Rover crouched lower and
lower, the hair on his back standing up
like bristles. Then with a long, low
whining cry he sprang quickly away
! from us toward those mysterious
points of light. Another vivid flash
! lighted up for momens the raft and
It's surroundings. and showed us our