The Columbus journal., 1910-05-11

channels; how We ever kept upright
under the pounding Of that sea; how
the Sea Queen ever shook her trem-
bling decks free from the tons OF ice
and water, and rose staggering to the
crest. Once our engines broke, and
for two hours We rolled helplessly,
while Mcknight and the Chilean tin
kered at the damaged machinery, and
the great waves buried us. and
smashed the chartbouse into fraS-
ments. Once the rudder-chains be-
came fouled with ice. and We swung
into the trough of the sea hurled over
until our lower yards trailed in the
water and half the yacht shivered be-
meath the smother. We hanging on for
our lives, drenched and buffeted by
the waves. The jib-boom snapped like
a pipestem. and a huge. ugly hole was
ripped out of the forward bulwarks.
Up to the neck in icy water We
chopped away the rattle. and flung 1t
overheard. GuStafspn. ShriekinS wild
ly for help. went with the litter. while
his mates bore Symes below grOanins
from a broken leg.
Mersiful heavens. how that ice came
down, pursuing us like the very Fiend!
Once It pressed SO closely against our
quarter that the sea, rebounding from
off its front, boarded us. sweeping aft
in a vast wall. It caught Dade open
ing the companion door. hurled him
smothering backward and flooded the
cabin a foot deep In icy water. Yet
we held to 1t, our eyes aching. our
limbs frozen. our oilskins sti6 with
ice, the exposed flesh of our faces one
fostering frostbite, bruised by the
shocks. half dead from fatigue. dizzy
from the battle. But it was no sea.
| manship which saved US; 1t was q
merciful Providence. for at times the
smother was SO thick We ran into II
blindly. not daring to breach to with
all that ice after us. driven by the
wind. and not knowing what was ten
yards ahead. or ten yards behind.
During all that time l scarcely left
the deck. although De Nova served his
watch on the bridge in the flying spray,
| Dade fed me as best he could, and
what brief Snatches of sleep l caught
were on the divan in the cabin. my icy
| clothes drying on my body. ! saw
nothing of the women: there was NJ
time. no opportunity. l doubt if eth
err could have kept upright amid the
awful pitching of the yacht, for l vas
obliged myself TO creep from one
| iiand-grasp to another. So saw moth
/ ing of the ladies. but Dade succeeded
in taking them food-celd provender
for the galley was waye-lashed, the
cook driven below-although how the
lad ever managed it is a mystery, and
| he II ported that Celeste chung to heI
bunk, sick and frightened. but tina,
Lacy Darlington was about and
dressed whenever he went In.
Some time during the third day the
wind had blown itself out. or else VT
had been driven beyond the sweep Of
ii Anyhow. it died down into fain
puffs, but the sea remained heavy, the
fog thickening as the gale ceased
This curtain, coupled with the sparse
/ WIS, tHc eSShS -
dark that We attempted little clearin:
up, merely pointing the yachts moss
more directly northward at half-speed
trusting the Almighty to furnish u.
with clear water. Indeed. there va.
nothing else TO do with that ice-pacl
back of US, and the fierce seas pound
ing our poop. Besides. I had come Il
the end of my endurance, and whel
De Nova came limping forward. hang
ing to the lifeline. to take his watch
l crept below more dead than alive
and clawed my way across the cabin
Lady Darlington stood braced in he
doorway. yet fox the life Of me
could not speak. although tried-m.
head nodded on my shoulders, and
fell forward across my bunk. asleel