The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-11-02

NE line. stopping occasionally to duck
below the rain to avoid the boarding
seas. At last the man hauled himself
up. 1t was Willis.
Mr. White" he said, touching the
rim Of his cap coolly. '.if we dent get
In that sail the mast viii 60"
1T may hold. Willis" the officer an
swered. Anyhow. it would be useless
to send men aIoft in such a gale"
Some one must do it." said the sail
or obstinately. Send me"
1T can't be done. I would simply
be sending you to your DEATH
Suddenly both men ducked inyolun-
tarily and croEched against the mast.
A high, dark wall of water was ap-
preaching the rail 1t crashed upon
the deck and swept over them. The
vessel careened frightfully.
Once more Willis touched the rim OF
his round cap. Mr.. White, it means
forty-four lives If you won't send
me-" he muttered, II am going any
way"
Struggling with the wind, he made
his way to the weather shrouds and de-
terminediy hauled himself upward. He
was blown like a leaf against the rat
lines. All hands watched him, yet in
their anxiety there was scarcely a
tinge Of hope. They thought him half
crazy to attempt such a thing Sup
pose he passed the foretop in safety
and reached the topgallant yard-he
would instantly be blown into the sea.
When he was not completely hidden
by clouds of salt spray It could be seen
that Willis was slowly and persistent.
~ crawling aloft paying no more at
tention to the fearful lunging and leap
ing Of the Tigress than to the shadowy
abyss of boiling foams below him. He
mounted the shrouds OF the topgallant
mast and after clinging there for
few minutes wOrmed his way along
the spar until he reached the weather
caring and then laid hold of the dan
| gerous sail.
The wind shrieked and howled. II
seemed an impossibility for the man
to keep his place on the foot ropes OF
the veering yard, and it seemed in
credible that he should be able to do
! anything with the boardlike, frozen
canvas, which constantly bounded out
Of his grasp and then leaped toward
him in an attack that was terrible in
Its grotesqueness.
Nevertheless his pluck, wariness and
great strength served him well Keep
Ing clear of the waste of sail which
blew of to leeward, he managed to
furl the canvas inch by inch An
hOur-two hours-passed. Finally he
reached the mast Should he now
venture out to the end of the spar on
the other side he could never escape,
SO felt the watchers anxiously, with
one thought. They shouted to him to
come down. Willis, however, did not
answer them. He rested for perhaps
q quarter of an hour and then attacked
the canvas once more, furling from the
mast to the outboard, thus keeping
safely to windward of the tapping
belly Of the sail.
| After five mortal hours Willis low
cred himself to the deck Exhausted
as he was, so that he could scarcely
stand, he made his way aft and re-
ported to the lieutenant with the
Formally of an old man-of-war's man,
''All secured aloft, sir" Then, ignor.
lag the cheers Of the crew, he went to
his bunk in the forecastle
The storm had not yet done its
worst. But tine Tigress rode 1t out In
safety. Her engines were repaired,
and, word having been received that
the lost members of the Polaris ex-
peditien had been picked up by a
whaler, the vessel proceeded to the
States. There one of the first official
acts of her commander was to write
to the secretary of the navy an ac-
count OF Willis heroic action.
AS a result Willis was made a boat
swain in the navy and received besides
a cash present the medal of honor
awarded for unusual and uncalled for
daring and devotion to duty.-Carl HO-
vey In New York Tribune.
1