The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-10-19
'.shove Oh, men! Pull harsl!',

Il. "A lew moments OF narll rowing In the
heavy sea put them some little dista nce
away, and the boat waited under inst
enough way to give them command 81
her. The men Of the ship kept their
Stations; calm and peaceful they also
waited. The ship settled lower and
lower. a man stepped hurriedly aft.
and q moment later the bold and bril-.
liant ensign Of old England, which
never waved over Drawer men, fluttered
out In the heavy breeze from tho
wrecked masthead, the vivid red of the
proud flag making lurid dash Of color
against the gray sky line. The ship
was lower now. Now she plunged for
ward; the water rose; the captain rails
ed his hand; three hearty cheers rang
out; the drums beat; the marines nre-
sented arms. She was gone! The flag
streamed out bravely on the surface of
the water, and then it was drawn
down. A confused mass Of heads and
waving arms was seen in the water.
and they, too, in moment were SLOWLY
drawn down into the vortex caused bv
the sinking ship. The woman again
hid her face in her hands; the colonel
laid his arm across the shoulder Of his
daughter, Desborough and the men in
the boat stared horribly at the spot left
vacant. A deep groan broke from
them; they rose on the crest Of wave.
sank down again, rose once more and
looked again-the little boat was alone
on that mighty sea!
Oh, the agony of those long and
fr1ghtful days in that little boat! New
er sail did they sight, as day after
day they rowed or sailed to the west
ward, eagerly scanning the horizon for
a landfall. The waves washed over
them, saturating their clothing; the
chill winds of winter froze them. First
their provisions gave out, though serv-
ed with the most rigid economy by Des-
borough himself; then the water, hus-
banded as no precious jewel was ever
boarded, was exhausted to the last
drop, and that drop, by common con-
sent, Desborough forced between Kath-
arine's reluctant lips, though she would
fain have refused it, claiming no indul-
gence beyond the others. The rare
qualities of that young officer showed
themselves brilliantly in this frightful
peril. It was due to his skill and care
full management that they were not
swamped a dozen times. Tireless, IN
selfish, cheerful, unsparing of himself,
without him they would have died.
The men bore their sufferings, when
all food and water failed them, with
the sturdy resolution Of British sail
ors; Desborough his with the courage
Of the hero that he was, his fiercest
pang being for the white faced girl who
suffered in accomplishing silence. The
colonel exhibited the stoical indiffer-
ence of seasoned old soldier, as to
his own personal condition, all his
thoughts being conferred upon his
daughter, who passed through the
dreadful experience with the calm
resignation of woman who had moth
ing left to live for, and, strange to
say, seemed to feel it less acutely than
the rest; even black Chloe, who had
tmpartially shared with her mistress in
all the favors accorded to her, being in
a state Of utter exhaustion amounting
to collapse. / 4G
When the pangs Of hunger and thirst
got hold Of them, they refused-and
were indeed entirely unable to work
longer with the oars, so that, unless
the wind was fair and the sail SET
they simply drifted on.
One by one the sailors died. WAX
Ing from troubled sleep Of short du-
ration, Katharine one day found
Chloe's dead hand around her feet, her
cold lips pressed upon them: Some of
the men grew mad before they died,
and raved and babbled of green fields