The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-05

dl regular intervals. III tllS ldlAN uppi
that should they attract the attention
of another vessel she would follow the
disabled Sirdar and render help when
the weather moderated.
When the captain ascertained that
no water was being shipped, the dam
age being wholly external, the collision
doors were opened and the passengers
admitted to the saloon, a brilliant pal
ace, superbly Indifferent to the wreck
and rain without.
Captain Ross himself came down and
addressed few comforting words to
the quiet men and pallid women gath
cred there. He told them exactly What
had happened.
Sir John 'Tozer. self possessed and
critical, asked a question.
THE junk is DESTROYED, l assume ."
/ he said.
ut is"
Would it not have been better 10
| have struck her end on?"
Much better, but that IS NOT the
view we should take if we encountered
a vessel relatively as big as the Sirdar
/ was 10 the unfortunate junk"
/ But" persisted the lawyer. what
would have been the RESULT"
You would never have known that
b, the incident had happened, Sir John.
In other words. the poor despairin5
| Cinnamon, clinging TO their little craft
with some chance of escape. would be
quietly murdered TO suit our cOnve-
nience."
1t was Iris clear voice that rang out
! this downright exposition of the facts.
! Sir John shook his head; he carried the
! discussion no further.
The hours passed in tedious misery
after Captain Ross visit. Every one
was eager to get a glimpse of the nm
| known teITors without from the deck.
| This was out of the question, 50 peO-
pie sat around the tables TO listen ca
| gerly TO Experience and his wise saws
on drifting ships and their prospects.
Some cautious persons visited their
cabins to secure Valuabies in case of
further disaster A few hardy spirits
returned to bed.
Meanwhile, in the charthOuse the
! captain and chief officer were graveiy
| bordering over an open chart and dis
| cussing a fresh risk that doomed Omi-
nOusly before them. The ship was 4
long way out of her usual course when
the accident happened. She was drift
ing now. they estimated. eleven knots
an hour, with wind. sea and current
all forcing her in the same direction
| drifting into one of the most danger
| Gus places in the known world, the
south China sea, with its numberless
reefs. shoals and isolated rocks. and
the great island of Borneo stretching
right across the path of the cyclone.
Still. there was nothing to be done
save TO make a few unobtrusIve pre-
parations and trust to idle chance To
attempt to anchor and ride out the
gale in their present position was out
of the question.
/ Two. 3, o'clock came AMI went
Another half hour would witness the
dawn and a further clearing OF the
weather. The barometer was rapidly
rising. The center of the cyclone haJ
swept far ahead. There was only left
the aftermath of heavy seas and fu-
rious but steadier wind
Captain Ross entered the charthouse
for the twentieth time.
He had aged many years in appear.
ance. The smiling, confident, debonail
officer was changed into a stricken
mOurnful man. He had altered with
his shin. The Sirdar and her master
could hardly be recognized. so crue
were the blows they had received
1T is impossible TO see a ward
! ahead" he confded to his second in
command. 81 have never been so anX.
ious before in my life. Thank God the
night is drawing TO a close. Perhaps
! when day breaks"
His last words contained a prayer
and a hop Even as he spoke the shiI
seemed - lift herself bodily with al
unusuf HS1ort for a vessel moving be
fore the wind.
The next instant there was a horrible
grinding crash forward. Each person
who did not chance to be holding fas
to an upright was thrown violently
down. The deck was tilted to a dan.
gerous angle and remained there, willis
the heavy buffeting of the sea, nov
raging afresh a. this unlooked-for re-
sistance, drowned the despairing yell,
; raised by the L.ascars on duty.
The Sirda- had completed her las
voyage. She was now a battered wrecl
on a barrier reef. She hung thus fo
one heart-breaking second. Then an
other wave, riding triumphant,
through its fellows, caught the grea
steamer in its tremendous grasp. car
ried her onward for half her length ant
smashed her down on the rocks. He
back was broken. She parted in tw,
J halves. Both sections turned complete
! ly over in the utter wantonness of de
struction, and everything masts, fun
nels. boats, hull, with every living sou
: on board-was at once engulfed in
maelstrOm of rushing water and far
flung spray.
: CHAPTER II.
The Survivors.
, When the Sirdar parted amidships
e the floor of the saloon heaved up j
the center with a mighty crash O
! rending woodwork and iron. Men an,
, women, too stupefied to sob out
prayer, were pitched headlong int