The Mena weekly star., 1908-08-20

however, I shall be destroyed bv the wa- ter which will rush in.
 FOR PHYS SAKE, HELP ME SOME
 WAY l AM STARVING FOR
 FOOD AND AIRl
 The words were written in a fairly legible hand, and vaughton had no trouble in making them out. But the question was, what to do. How should he save this man? There seemed to be no means of doing it. unless the entire ship were raised, and this. as he had seen by his inspection. was i'm possible. Then, suddenly, another plan flashed through his brain--a plan that was, really, the first thing that should have occurred to him Why couldn't the man trust to his chances of reaching the surface before his breath gave out? He, himself. could take down a rope and tie ii around his body while the men abov" hauled him up by it as quickly ss they could
 Vaughton motioned to the man, who had been gazing anxiously at him, and, noddihg to assure him of his as sistance, gave the signal to be hauled up. As soon as he was above the surface and had been stripped of hls helmet he told the men, as briefly and as quickly as he could, the strange sight that he had seen. A long rope was secured and Vaughton wrote out his plan on a piece of cardboard so that the man might understand exact ly what was to be done.
 Then he dived down a second time, taking with him the extra rope. He found the man occupying the position he had left him in, only staring lp- wards, watching for the help that he knew was to come from above Waugh. ton held the sheet of cardboard close up to the porthole, and, as the man within read, his face lighted up in comprehension. Then. upon sig nal from VaLghton. the prisoner threw open the door of the compartment. and, quick as thought, was bound around the waist with the rope. The sign was given to the waiting men above, and he was hauled up as fast as human sinews could do it.
 The stranger reached the surface in an unconscious state, but was soon re- vived and, after having eaten all the sandwiches that were to be procured, he showed great Willingness to tell his remarkable story.
 T was sleeping" he said, "at the time the ship foundered. and it was by a miracle that the door of the water-tight compartment was closed, else would not be here to tell the tale. You may wonder at the fact that slept so soundly that the hurry and confusion on the decks did not awaken me. I will answer that sim. ply by telling you that regu- larly roll off my bed at night and never wake up. When I did wake up, however, imagine my aston ishment upon glancing out of my port hole, to find that l was entirely sur rounded by water--water to left of me, in front of me, above me, and to right of me. At first, as you may surmise. l could not realize what had happened Then, gradually, 1t dawned on me that I was at the bottom of the sea. This idea was immediately strengthened by the sight of couple of lazy fish, swimming up and down in front of my porthole. believe that no one has, hitherto, equaled my adventure. No human being that I have ever heard of has lived for two days, clad in his ordinary costume, at the bottom of the ocean, except, Of course, in submarine boat. We'll, to continue: About the second day realized that my supply of air was giivng out-the compartment was not so very large-and 1 became op- pressed in breathing. It was lucky that l was the only one down there to use up the air. Finally, it occurred to me that divers might be sent down to the ship. and l prepared the sign that I showed at the porthole. If it had not been for your timely assist ance, should have been dead man by this time"