The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1906-02-09

! II through the, udWse-plpe. w VIZ
Jan busy forward, Dutchy included
when somebody looked aft, and yelled
Firel Fire! The Bells afrep
Il spun round, and saw that the man
was right. A dull red glare was dane.
ing in the top of the skylight. Then
the glass broke, and a tongue Of fame
shot out The whole inside of the
cabin seemed to be blazing.
1T was sorry sight for us all. Ev-
cry cent had was in this schooner. Be
sides. it wasn't merely property, food
and shelter that was at stake. but nine
teen lives as WELL / don't know that
ever saw a worse night on the Banks.
Even Il dory couldn't have lived in such
n sea. So there was just one ending to
1t for us, unless we put that fire out.
Il was aft in less than half minute,
and started down the companion lad
der; but burst Of fame and smoke
drove me back. We hustled out the
buckets, formed a double line from
both rails. and passed water like mad;
but it didn't seem to have any more
effect than if we had been using thin
bles instead Of pals. The vessel was
rocking so that the pals were half
empty by the time they got to the last
man, and half the water that was left
in them never reached q spot where it
could do any good
Its pretty rough to fight sea and
storm and fire at the same time, but
that's what we had to do that night
We were getting pretty well tagged,
when a voice shouted
"The cooks down there! He'll be
burned to death"'
"In the excitement we'd forgotten all
about Obed Spiller; but 1 saw in a Sec
ond that somebody would have to go
down in that cabin and rout him out.
1t wasn't a job 1 hankered for, but l
made bolt for the companion ladder.
But that slow Dutchman was ahead of
me.
"'Go back, CAPT. he said, giving me
a shove that sent me staggering. I'll
get him.
with that he threw his coat up. over
his head, and dove down the ladder
into the fire and smoke below. 1 wait
ed It wasn't more than thirty sec
onds before he came staggering up,
with his clothes on fire in half a
dozen places, and the cook, almost
smothered, flung over his shoulder like
a bag Of meal.
"Obed was a heavy sleeper, and he
had a deep bunk off in one corner, so
that the flames hadn't reached him;
but he'd breathed so much smoke be-
fore he was fully awake that he hadn't
enough sense or strength left to get on
deck. He'd have strangled in few
minutes more.
1.-TWO or three of us put out the fire
on Dutchy Then We carried the cook
forward, dashed him to the foremost,
and left him to come to himself. for we
didn't have any time to coddle him.
All this time the rest Of the crew were
busy with the buckets, but the blaze
was more than holding its own. /
began to think Of the boats, though |
knew a dory couldn't live five minutes
in that sea.
"Just then the German touched me
on the shoulder He'd pulled his lungs
clear of smoke, so that he could talk
again.
"'Give me a fish-fork,' he said, and
I'll put out the fire
81 stared at him, thinking he'd gone
clean crazy, for how he could put out
blaze with fsh-fork was more than
l could see. But / knew that he'd
been down below, and got some idea
of the situation, so passed him what
he wanted He was down the ladder
and in the cabin almost before l could
turn round, He was the quickest slow
man l ever saw.
keep the water goingv he shouted
and we pouredsit down rs fast as we
could send it from tie rail to the sky
light
1--WE could hear him stamping round
below and coughing, but we couldn't
see a thing for the thick smoke that
was rolling up. 1t seemed almost
wicked for him to be down there in
the middle of the flames; but he was
fighting for his own life, as we'll as
the lives of all the rest, SO l couldn't
order him up.
"Well. sir, it seemed hours while we
waited for him to come up. Just rs
| was beginning to fear the fire had
been too much for him, a shout rose
from below:
"'Stand clear"
"A ball Of fire shot up the ladder
through the smoke. Behind it came
Dutchy, all ablaze, On the end of the
fish-fork he had bundle of kerosene
soaked rags that the cook had used for
cleaning his lamps.