The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1905-01-04


\ Il My husband was part Owner
SSo~ andcaptain of little coast
tng schooner, the Two Brothers, OF
Hull, which used to trade up and down
the coast between London and various
eastern or northern ports. Her car
goes were of all kinds, and not always
particularly clean. Sometimes she car
ried Goals to London and brought back
bone manure which, of course, smelt
horribly; or it might be "clean" cargo
of grain or machinery. didn't appre.
ciate very lengthy partings from my
husband, so occasionally, when there
was nothing disagreeable about the
cargo, he would take me with him on
a summer trip for four or five days at
time, and | soon got TO be first
rate sailor, and enjoyed the little
cruises immensely.
At tho time Of this story / had gone
on board the Two Brothers for one of
these little trips. We sailed from Hull
to Newcastle, in order to ship a cargo
of fire-bricks and coke to carry to Lon
don, where, so far as l was concerned,
the voyage would end, for / was to
stay a few days there with some cous-
ins, and then go home by train.
We set sail from Newcastle one
morning with strong wind blowing
and rough sea, but as it was still
early in September, and we had been
having splendid weather for some
time, we expected at the most nothing
worse than a little delay. But what
ever the cause may have been-and I'm
not clever enough about such matters
to be able to explain that-our little
vessel was fated to encounter one of
the severest gales known on that coast
for many years.
Long before noon. we were in the
midst of it. The waves dashed right
over the schooner, and the wind
shrieked and howled around us like a
devouring monster. OF course, all sail
was furled, and had to stay down in
Dur tiny cabin, where I sat shivering
with the sudden intense cold and with
fear of the dreadful storm.
Occasionally Jack, my husband,
would come to cheer me up with few
encouraging words. He was always
one to look at the bright side of things,
and he said if only he could keep well
out to sea, away from the cruel York
shire coast, he believed the Two Broth
ers would yet weather the storm.
"If only you were safe at home, dar
ling" he said, more than once, Il
should have nothing to trouble about"
And all that day and through the ter
rible night that followed believe the
brave fellows one thought was for
me; he would have felt. little or no
anxiety on his own account.
All at once, as sat listening down
below, there was sharp rending,
crashing sound, and the vessel heeled
over until the floor of the cabin was
like the side of a mountain, and / made
sure we were going straight to the bot
tom. l held on to my seat as well as
I could, but was terribly frightened
too frightened even to scream.
After short time the vessel gradu-
ally righted herself, and presently
heard my husbands voice, and knew
that he was coming down to find out
what effect the crash had had on my
nerves. At the first glance 1 saw by
his grave expression that something
serious was the matter, and braced
mvsplf to hpor had npvys
"What is it, Jack?" l asked. ''Please
tell me at once"
"The mast's overheard" he replied,
speaking rapidly, as if every moment
were precious, ''but that's not the
worst trouble. She's sprung leak
with the straininS of the storm, and
for the last hour we've been hop,ng
the sea would quiet down enough to
let us launch the boat, but, of course,
in such sea as this we couldn't keep
afloat two minutes. Now, don't be
frightened, dear. There's big schoon-
er close to us, and we're trying to get
near enough to heave you aboard as
we pass. You must come just as you
hre; there's no time to think about any
thing else"
While he was speaking he was all
the time gently drawing me up to the
deck. Once there, the roar of wind
and sea was so great that l knew it
was no use my attempting to talk or
ask questions. Besides, didn't want
to add to his troubles at such n time
by my fears and protestations.
had not hat or wrap or shawl of any
description, and l had TO stand shiver-
ing and terrified by the sight of the
mountainous waves and the bowling
of the gale.
We were sailing short handed, with
only two men on board besides my hus-
band. The first hand, or mate, Tom
Hudson, stood ready TO help in lifting
Or throwing me on to the strange ship
as she passed us. The second hand, a
young fellow called VIII Gledhill, was
at the helm, and, as even 1 could plain
ly see, wore an unmistakable look of
fear on his anxious face.
But l hadn't much chance to notice
anything, for by this time the big
schooner was not more than a dozen
yards away. My husband was holding
one of my arms in a firm grip, while
Hudson took the other, and told me to
spring forward with all my might