Rock Island Argus., 1903-10-20
DAILY SHORT STORY
AfIoat With the Dead.
IConvriRht 1aO2 hv g. B. Lewis. ]

Tornado was about fifty miles south of
the Madeiras 1 was called to the look
3ut two hours after midnight. was
digging my eyes and fighting away
sleep when u curious sound from over
The bows caught my ear. 1t was dark
light, with not Il star visible, and
could not see beyond the end of the jib
boom. AS l listened to the noise the
only thing l could campare it to was
the noses of sharks humping against
small boat.
1t would have been ridiculous to call
10 the mate and give him any such eX-
olanation, but finally reported the Gu
10 find out He brought up and lighted
port fire, and the glare illuminated
the sea for hundred feet around, and
the first thing we saw was ships boat
within half cables length of us on the
port bow. In the bottom of the boat
were two human figures, and one of
them was a woman, and all around the
boat the sea was alive with sharks.
They were diving under the craft, run
ming their noses against it and seeking
in other ways to upset it. Had it been
shore boat it could not have with
stood their attacks.
AS soon as we caught sight of the
boat the mate ran to call the captain.
By the time he had arrived the boat
had drifted right down against us. and
one of the crew lowered himself down
and fastened the painter. Then 1 got
down to assist him, and we passed up
the bodies-the man first. We might as
well have dropped him into the sea, for
ne had been dead at least twenty-four
lOurs. AS we lifted up the woman, hav-
ing not doubt that she was also dead,
she moved and uttered a groan and
gave us a great fright. We had her on
board in n couple of minutes, and the
small boat, which was a captains gig,
new and without a name, was later
hoisted up. We found the woman great
~ exhausted through thirst and hun
ger, but with life enough to build hopes
On, and she was cared for so well that
at the end of two or three hours it was
reported that she had fallen into deep
sleep and would probably pull through.
1t may surprise you to learn how
long that castaway female slept. At
intervals the captain raised her head
to administer soup or drink, but not
actually to interrupt her sleep, and she
did not open her eyes till fifty hours
had passed. Then sleep had brought
her fully back to life. 1t was two or
three days later, however, before we
heard her story, or, to our great
amaZement learned that there was no
story to tell. The woman could re-
member nothing of the past-not even
her name.
If you have read Clark Russell you
will remember two such incidents
in his books. You may have set them
down as sailors yarns" but such
things have happened on land a dozen
times over. The woman awoke to
find herself aboard a strange ship,
with strange men about her. She was
handsome and ell formed, English in
looks and speech, but she wore no
jewelry and had neither a purse nor a
cardcase. When asked how she came
to be at sea with the man in the gig
Whether she had visited Madeira or
the Azores - whether she lived in
England or elsewhere-she could tell
absolutely nothing. She began q new
life as she opened her eyes in the cabin
of the Tornado.
TO add to the romance, or, rather,
to make a romance of it, our captain
fell in love with the woman, and she
returned the sentiment. She would
have married him at the end of few
months, but he dared not chance it.
He fully believed that she was already
wife and that word must come from
her husband sooner or later. AS for
her, the past was dead. 1t was doubt
ed whether she would remember her
husband if he came to claim her. She
loved as any single woman might love.
When two years had passed away
and no word had been received Cap
tain Clark and the woman were mar
ried, and he took her to Wilmington.
n. c.. to reside. He made three or four
trips to European ports after that and
then quit the sea and established him
self ashore as a ship chandler.
One evening four years after the
wedding the captain of an English ship
just in called at the chandler's In the
way of trade. Something happened to
be said about the Azores, and the
stranger at once began a sorrOwful
story. Six years before while his ship
was at the islands his wife attempted
to return to the ship in the face of a
squall, and the boat was upset and the
occupants lost. They found neither
boat nor bodies, but had no doubt
about the calamity. The husband was
nearly crazed with grief and was a
victim of brain fever for many months.
The story was not half told when Cap
lain Clark knew that the woman's real
husband stood before him,
Whether he would have suppressed
the truth or boldly stated it no man
but he can tell, but he was not put to
the trial The climax was n curious
enc, but in keeping. The stranger, who
gave his name as Burke, was looking
at Captain Clark in a puzzled way as
he told his story. perhaps having some
faint intuition of the truth, when a
small anchor swinging from a beam