The Washington herald., 1907-04-07

with his elbows resting en- his knees, his
strong brown hands kept clasping and
unclasping themselves mechanically.
Killed by Inches.
Remember. we was so close. but for
all the good we was We might as well
ave been at anchor in Plymouth Sound,
or here in London River At first we said
one TO another; oh. it's all right; she's
got her head turned seward. and it only
we looked at one another fearful-iike,
an whisper began to spread among lis
on the foe sic. Shes gOin' back Shed
engine power enough to keep steerage
way and help her cad up TO the seas but
it was just watchin OF her being killed
by inehes;s the sweep O the SEES was
something like what I don't Meier re-
member seem equaled there was all the
weight of the open ocean whipped in
front of strong gale rollin' ana rOlhn
fair and square on that murderin' lool1in
beach. Up the side o. one great cOmbeg
she'd climb, her bows, as it seemed, fair
stabbin the sky, engines lab0ring an
hawsholes spOutiH' green water. then
her f0repart would show clear as far aft
as the foremost with black topsaiis and
red painted bottom. an next moment
she'd fallen into the trough. an where
we was we'd see nothin' till she rose on
the crest Of the next sea.
An this takes a long time in the tell
ing. but it weren't long in reality. And
very soon We all OF us saw that nothing
short of a miracle could save her. Well,
there weren't no miracles knocking
around on the coast of Africa that morn
ing, and consequently the end came IN
some half an hour after we first seen her.
Nearer an nearer her stern crept 20
where the great rollers broke on them
jagged rocks. where the sea was a boil
in, seethin' cauldron, with great white
waterspouts Ieapin' into the air. but right
to the end she kept her head on to the
sea. She took her last sea. so TO speak,
and her stern struck. We could hear
nothing but the roar Of wind and sea,
but il was all plain, too plain, to theNeye,
Her stern broke or and the foremost
snapped like a carrot close 10 the deck at
the same moment; another sea lifted her
as il seemed into the air an let her fair
down OF the rocks, and She melted and
crumbled away into slaves and flinders
in the waste of white water on the shore
No. we couldn't see what became OF hel
people; just few black dots on the surf
Bat nOhe could have lived half a minute
where she went ashore, and perhaps 50
best and we never knowed how many
there was aboard.
Nothing Could He Done.
What happened themgr
We'll. we shook out a reef. masthead
ed the tops'ls, set top-gaH' ntsls over ali,
and proceeded on our way; we'd seen all
81.
in what we could do. you understand,
which. as l said before was what made
it SO cruel hard. They say that sailors is
q lighted-hearted crowd an takin' il big
and large. ] don't know but what they
amt right, for if you don't make your
own fun at sea there amt nobody who's
gOin TO do il for you, but them what
seen that ship wreck that day wasn't
much light-hearted Tor, Il long time after.
and what talk there was on the foc'sle just
seemed 10 hang around it argufying this
and that, and just wishin' an wishin We
could a gone i'm ana lent a hand There
amt no haugin back when there's aught
TO do TO help another sailOTman in our
crowd as far as / ever seed, 50 il was
just this very stIndn' by and not bein'
able to do things that broke US up"
The chief b0atman stood up, pOcketed
MS pipe, ana stood staring over the es-
tuaTy with ii thoughtful look on his
weather-beaten face Wonders in The
deep" he repeated softly as though 10
himself; that also is ia that there quo
ta1ion you was maxim. sir. If / don't mis-
take. Wonders is all very wen. but it amt
only wonders what the sailoTman seen;
sometimes it's horrors, and don't you
make no mistake about that there He
turned slowly on his heel and climbing
the bank, walked back 10 the station.