Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1910-12-29


pearrh tor the missing lfHaapH tir
/ had sern him. and he uuai hatp
come ahunrd ut ruursr AZ sooA ue We
made port his iusa would tp uamm u
property, the reporters would make o.
gcod deal uut of Il, and | preferred
that We should be able 10 gi,t IN ~
planation Ru, the purser, ! was told
poohpoohed both my evidence and that
Of Mr. burton, which vuncurvd aud
made only half hearted cnort to Hnd
the man HIS theory was that Car
pcntcr had not come aboard
hut that occurred which put the
mystery out of the heads ot all " rs
BEFORE sailing the signal service had
given n warning of q hu. ncane In the
West indies. watched the barometer
and one morning about four bells saw
II drup like lead II wasn't long after
this that the wind began to send frag
/ mentary clouds across the heavens, in
/ creasing hour after hour In violence
I TIN 1t was plain that We were In the
I teeth Of the hurricane,
/ our vessel was of average strength,
but any ordinary ship having TO stand
| the wind and waves ut IA hurricane is
/ liable to give way, when wave
struck Us Il was as If several tons of
/ rock hnd been hurled against US out Of
I the mouth Of gigantic gun. The
drops of water beating against my
cheek struck like gravel stones, The
only passenger on deck was Mr.. Bur
/ ton. | was on the bridge when | saw
him come up the companionway, turn
aud look at the storm 1t seemed 10
/ make no more impression ON him than
twelve knot gale Then, looking up
at mo, he sang ont:
This viii drive him out"
At any other time the words would
have seemed ludicrous, hut now.
/ blow itself out very soon our vessel
would not Ice able to stand up against
Il, l had no interest in what the man
meant Indeed, soon after this | heard
an omiuouS vrc9Eiug ami when the
bow plunged down in between the
monster waves and rose again I fclt
the ship bend ut the waist, From that
.
break in two.
Ii was half an hour after this that |
. left the bridge in charge Of the first
mate and went below TO make an cN-
animation. Ey this time the passengers
knew that the ship was about 10 go Ia
pieces Passing through the cabin,
found them all, except Burton, grouped
while one of them was prayis-,
Are we lost, CaptainE" asked all at
once.
Il ann going 10 see, | replied ana
hurried away, Passing down a com,
pauionway, entered lower deck,
I II was dark, but not So dark that
could not discern objects. And this is
the sight | saw through the gloom
There was the long bodied. short
legged carpenter defending himself
against the Stilted Burton. Carpen.
ter's weapon was heavy furnace
poker, Rurton'S cutlaSs that he had
stolen from among a lot Of old arms
that had been locked up in the ship for
years Burton made his thrustS and
let fan his blows with the fury of a
demon, while Carpenter. though on the
defensive, had been driven 10 bay and
: was no less wildly vindiCtive Both
men were covered with blood
The contrast between this picture
and that of the huddled passengers l
had just left occurring under the
frishtful conditions made my blood
run cold The ship and passengers
We're in my care. | was going To find
cut how great was the damage from
. the strain whether. indeed, We had
I minutes OF hours before beiug Cugult.
ed-aud Yet my steps We're momentum
ly arrested by the sight of two human
, beings seeking to kin each other in
the very presence of another more
fearful. ending Yet it was but u
glance gave them, then hurried on
l found the strain great. but there
were braces that bid fair To Still hold
the ship together for some tt+s-=-- Fl,
ing noted this. | hurried back to the
bridge by another route than that by
which had come. for ! desired to
shut OF both the praying passengers
and the fighting enemies. AS soon a.
| reached the deck | uoticcd lull in
the wind and saw yellow strip of
light ON the horizon in the direction
from which the storm had come /
sent au officer Ca the passengers be
low to tell them the hurricane had
passed and there was hope that the
ship would not break in two
II was not tin the next morning
that considered the danger past
Then went below to announce the
good news To the passengers All
were in the cabin except Burton and
Carpenter As left them heard
the voice Of passenger raised in
thanksgiving for having been spared.
I went on Into the place where | had
left the two men fighting uud found
them lying stone dead What the ele-
mental tempest had passed over the
: storm Of hate had taken
Their secret died with them Moth
ing ever afterward camc up to give
a clcw To the nature of the fcud be
tween them. We buriSd them Mt sea-
sliding both over the ships side to-
getber.