The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-04-15

AHe hFaclc OUckCu over Il low, BCu1-
ding wave that hal sucked her down
till the brine dubbed in over the sill
of the pilot house doors.
For an hour the steamer held her
own under the awakened skill and
strength Of the mate. Then something
in the engine room clattered and
crashed; cloud of steam whirled up
from the after skylight. The coaster
rolled helplessly in the trough OF the
sea. Almost Immediately the engin-
eer followed by his assistant and a
couple of firemen, tumbled on deck
and scampered for shelter. "Wheel
gone and engines lifted cylinder
heads off" explained the engineer,
wiping his eyes with a piece of waste.
God ha' mercy on u.s."
But the half naked mate was for
ward with his men getting more sail
set The effort was vain, for q few
minutes later a heavy sea swept her
fore and aft. tossed her skyward and
let her fall into Il turmoil of broken
water that foamed over the rail. A
long line of crested breakers rose from
the sea and hurried her, pelted her,
thrust her toward the invisible shore.
| She struck, and the masts and fun
mel toppled to leeward. Under the
mates directions the crew set to work
| to free a boat dashed on the forward
| deck. With mighty effort they fin
ally cleared it, lifted it to the rail- and
| by the aid of a floating wave launched
it, half full of water. The fog was
rent for an instant by the blast of the
gale, and they saw stretching from
the reef on which the Oracle Jackson
was pounding a smooth sheet of wa
ter rolling gently shoreward from the
caldron of the breakers. The mate
pointed to it. They understood. AS
the coaster settled heavily again on
the bottom, the sailors, led by the en-
gineer, tumbled into the boat, one by
one. The mate yelled to them to pull
away The answer was cry: "The
skipper?' He caught its purport and
disappeared in the saloon companion
way, sggatttng on the rocking deck
the captain idi6ticamy w6tahed the
antics of big saltcelar rolling about ,
before him as the steamer WalloWed. |
When the mate entered he looked up,
and then his eyes reverted to the
frollicking piece of ware on the with
ing deck. A gap opened in the planks
and the water sucked through Mostly. |
Another strain of the wreck andsthe |
gap yawned wider and the saltcelar
was swallowed up. The old man
watched with fascinated eyes.
The mate shook him roughly by the
shoulder. An oath answered him. He
dragged the drunkard to his feet and
held him swaying there till both |
lurched dizzily to the deck. The mate
got up again and stroye to put life
into his superior. Then in his passion |
he shrieked in the dull ears the truth |
of their state.
The captain mumbled and his face |
took on the livid complexion of terror.
Then reeling to the steps he scrambled |
out ON deck with the mate at his |
heels. AS they thrust their heads out |
in the air q wave washed them back. |
The mate showed on, pushed his cap |
tain out on the careening deck, and |
then swiftly dragged him to the pilot |
house. unroofed by the last breaker.
The men in the boat. now almost |
swamped shrieked another call. The
skipper looked down at them as the
Oracle Jackson rolled over on the
reef, and clutched at something to
hold him while he fastened to the
boat. The mate caught him back
thrust him against a stanchion and
waved his hand to the upturned faces
below. Pull away" he ordered.
"The captainw bawled the engineer.
"Lemme go! Lemme go!' cried the
captain. "Lemme go We're wreckedw
The mate looked seward. A long.
sharply crested comber was rising
out little, and as it sped in toward
the reef, he knew the imminent doom.
He turned to save the man who had
saved him. "That boats overloaded"
he said, tensely Tell 'em to pull /
awayw
A fash of courage lit the old mans
degradation. He threw out his hand
and gathered his voice into command
that rose above the tumult of the sea.
In response the boat swept shoreward
from under the crumbling steamer and
into the smooth waters in the shelter
of the reef. The mate turned to his
superior. 1t was his last report.
BOATS away, sir. Shall we give 'em
a cheer"
Captain Flint raised his hand, and
the half-naked man beside him stepped
forward little. About the plunging
roar of the breaker that ended forever