Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-05-05
TfffE MAN
OUTSIDE
Bv CLARENCE BoUTELLE.
Bv CLARENCE BoUTELLE

with a shudder; the voice of ONT
without hope"
And l." said Patsy Gullens; "th'
voice of a man drowning in the sea-
And l." said the superstitious ole
sailor, in an awed whisper, stating his
shipmates' convictions, no doubt, a:
well as his own; the cry of los
soul"
But Prier spoke his convictions un'
der his breath, and none but himselt
heard them.
THE voice of Gilbert Senn." was
what he said.
Their danger drew nearer-nearer-
nearer.
Then it swung aside a little-and 6
| little more-and little more. The grea
steamer passed then so closely that ar
agile man. a railroad brakeman, fol
instance, used 10 doing his duty il
connection with our great freight
traffic. night and day, in darkness ant
in storm as we'll as in sunshine, anC
ready to swing on to the rushing cars
swaying and staggering above the
whirling wheels, would have scarcely
hesitated attempting to climb abroad
from the deck of the Oceans Own
The steamer taking Lurline Bannottie
home-if We may call Naples her home
if the outcast offspring Of Cain may
be said to have any home-had al.
most done what the steamer taking
her to America had done, or worse
and she was sound asleep in her berth;
and she had not spoken to the captair
at all, and had scarcely more thar
given him civil nod. Prier's opin-
ion had been almost true; he haC
nearly come to the end Of his efforts
and his endeavorS, as we shall al
come to ourS-sOme day-whether we
are more ready than he was to lay al
work aside for ever or whether we are
less.
The steamer, seen dimly for a few
seconds, shrank into the darkness to-
ward the east. Her lights disappear
| ed. The thunder of the machinery be-
came 4 mutter--a murmur-a whisper
and died into the wash of the waves
and the beating of the rain and the
ftful voice of the rising wind, and out
of their lives for ever.
Gilbert Sem had been drifting in ar
open boat for days! he could not say
for how many days, for he had lost
almost all account of time; some
times he felt as though his faculties
were slowly leaving him, slowly drift
ing away from his brain, slowly trans
forming his powers into nothingness
and making him an idiot or a mad
man.
Then, fiercely as he had struggled
for life, sternly as he had repelleC
death, much as he hated to give VI
all that he must give up, and die witt
the secrets he held untold to those
who should know them, much as he
hated to die and leave Elsie free again
and Walter Aldrich free to wed where
he had already wooed and won (anC
he dreaded this more than all else)
he still prayed that before his brain
went his heart might give up the bat
tie of life; that though he died-he
might die sane.
Gilbert Sem had grown very weak
There had been a few biscuits in the
boat when he had first had only this
frail craft. and half filled with water
at that, between him and eternity. He
had eaten heartily, the first day-eater
more than was good for him, no doubt;
the second day he had had enough
barely enough, and had taken better
care of his slender store than he hat
when it had seemed to him that TWEEN
ty-four hours must bring rescue to
man whose boat drifted in the tracl
of transatlantic travel; the third day
he had been hungry; the fourth day
he had been starving; the-but he
had forgotten what came next, and NJ
hadn't the will-power left him to gC
back and count it all up from the be-
ginning again. He only knew, as the
long night dragged on. that he had hat
nothing to eat yesterday; he was no
sure of the day before that. He knew
that all his food was gone; he did no
know how long ii lasted or when M
finished it, He tried to remember how
long it would take a man to die o
starvation; he felt sure he had reat
about it some ewhere-bu
he had forgotten-forgotten
And. perhaps. it made no difference
Ianyway. for he had forgotten when III
began to Starve.
| There had been several bottles o
fresh water in the boat at first. HI
believed he drank quart the first day
for there was a raging fever in hi
blood despite the icy water and tn
wintry winds. He thought a pint hat
Isufficed for his careful needs the sec
Ond day. And then-that was all. HI
lcouldn't tell what there had beel
since. He feared he had lost a bottl
or two. 1t seemed as though he coul'
remember watching one-Or two-wa
lit twO?-drift slowly away from him
while he helpless, without an oar
stretched himself over the side Of tn
boat in a vain effort to get them again
Six inches away, these bottles whicl
might mean all the difference betweel
life and death to him; foot; tw'
feet; three Had it gone that way
or had he read such a horrible tale o
hope falling Strangled from the icy fin
ge.S of despair? He could not tel
He only knew that yesterday he ha'
had only as much water as woul
have half filled spoon; he only kneN
that he must have help soOn-Or die.
A ship had passed him, not NOR
than two or three miles away, jus
before night came on. He had shout
ed until he was hOarse and tired:
had been Of no use; they had not seeI
him; they had not turned in the leas
from their course. He had tried t
rise up in the boat. He had found
impossible to do it. He had wep
then. for the first time since his lionel
| III quay n ba Uat and nOlC