Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1909-12-17

., ~. deck OF the sunken barge. He
groDed along the deck, searching io'
thc hole I'm the barge's slde.
An. here 1t was! No wonder she
sank quickly. Side and deck rlppeo
omen TO her middle. He made out a
line Of silver bubbles yonder. steadily
ooconding Atkinson must be there,
down on the bottom.
philin lowered himself over the SIDE
and sank until his iron feet toucheo
tho river bed. Then carefully ne MADE
his way toward Atkinson and In a
moment saw what had happened
J There was much soft mud in the riv-
or here. and the barge. heavily laden,
had sunk deep in it. A risky job OF
tunneling. this-a very risky JoD!
All. there was Atkinson now, half
sitting half lying, against mud bank!
Rut he did not move! Stepping for
ward. Philip took the hand In encour-
aging grasp as If to say. "Old CON-
rade, I'm herep A faint pressure
WAS returned, but Atkinson lay quite
still.
Atkinson's life line ran up free, but
his hose. the precious way of air and
life. was caught under a shattered
timber of the barge. which must have
lurcbed over suddenly as Atkinson
tunneled under it. And In turning 1t
had caught the rubber pipe before the
old diver could escape, and now the
end of the timber. hooked over the
! hose. was imbedded In the mud and
the hose was held In massive Y that
pressed down upon 1t with the whole
weight of the barge and its load. He
felt Atkinson's hand drawing him
closer, and, bending over, he heard
this message tapped on his copper bel
met in the Morse alphabet: Wife
children-love."
Heavens. The man was dying!
He forced back the tight rubber
wristbands and felt for the pulse.
There was a feeble f1utteriug, a spark
of life. still.
What could be do? Surely he must
save this man!
Then in fash he recalled the theory
that if a diver in trouble like this were
to .cut his hose and instantly press his
! thumb over the opening he might live
on the air inside his suit until they
could lift him to the surface with the
life line and get his helmet off.
He remembered hearing the question
argued and doubt expressed whether a
diver would be able to cut his own
hose, for the diver himself might have
trouble IN getting at 1t. But this case
was different. He could get at Atkin-
sons hose we'll enough.
The master diver drew his knife and.
bracing himself firmly with Atkinson's
hose held tight between his knees.
made ready to cut.
But wait! Where were the life lines?
He must be quick with the signals to
lift after the thing was done. All.
There they were swaying beside him.
two good ropes reaching up through
the yellow water, his own and Atkin-
sons. Three quick jerks on each. and
the boys overhead would do the rest.
AS Philip grpped his knife again II
feeling of revulsion overcame him.
After all. he could not do this thing.
That hose was living thing, life and
breath TO his comrade. TO cut 1t was
to bring Atkinson instantly face to
face with horrible death. And per-
haps there vas some other way.
Perhaps If he waited Then there
came to him the CHASTITY faces Of div
ers he had seen taken from the suits
when there had been too much wait
ing, of divers who had persisted mis-
erably in some such plight as this.
No: be must act and not delay. He
must take the responsibility as IA
Their takes 1t sometimes at the bed
side of a sick child. This was the
right thing. the only thing, and
With Il strong. quick stroke he sew.
cred the hose Then instantly be
stopped the hole with his left thumb
and gave three quick pulls Oh the life
lines. and the next second the two
divers were rising 10 The surface.
And all might have gone well had
not the men who were lifting Philip
pulled faster than the other two, so
that presently he found himself rising
above Atkinson.
Philip seized AtkInsons life line
with his right hand and chung to 1t
desperately. while with his left he
held the hose. He could just reach
down to 1t and no more. And present
ly. as the men above worked In mad
der haste, he felt Atkinson's life line
sagglng above him and knew by the
sudden strain that be was holding the
mans entire weight. suit and all, with
his unaided right hand.
He could rot help with his left hand
because he dared not move 1t from
the hose. He could not signal the
men even If they would have under
stood him. for both hands were occu-
pied. And with all the love In the
world he could not support this load
llany spcords. 1t was beyond his
strength-beyond the strength OF any
man.
Now they must be halfway up. He
would hold on little longer. ard then
and then came great roaring In his
ears and blaekness In his eyes. and the
hose was torn from bis nervpless hand.
He had failed In his effort. Atkinson
must die, and in the agony of this
thought he lost consciousness.
The next thing Philip knew he was
lying on one Of the hunks Of the wreck