The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1911-11-24

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 charthouse into frag-
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
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 it
overheard. Gustafson, shrieking wild
ly for help, went with the litter, while
his mates bore Symes below groaning
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. 1t caught Dade open
ing the companion door, hurled him
smothering backward and Hooded the
cabin a foot deep in icy water. Yet
we held to it, our eyes aching, our
limbs frozen, our oilskns stiff 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; it was a
merciful Providence, for at times the
smother was so thick we ran into it
blir lily, not daring to breach to with
al 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. l saw
nothing Of the women; there was no
time, no opportunity. / doubt if eth |
er could have kept upright amid the !
awful pitching of the yacht, for was
obliged myself to creep from one |
to another. So saw moth
ing of the ladies', but Dade succeeded |
in taking them food-cold provender,
for the galley was wave-lashed, the
cook driven below--although how the
lad ever managed it is mystery, and
he Il ported that Celeste clung to her
bunk, sick and frightened, but that
Lady Darlington was about ana
dressed whenever he went in.
Some time during the third day the
wind had blown itself out. or else we
had been driven beyond the sweep of
it Anyhow. it died down into faint
puffs, but the sea remained heavy, the
fOg thickening as the gale ceased.
This curtain coupled with the sparse
light there was, left the decks so
dark that we attempted little clearing
Up merely pointing the yachts nose
more directly northward at halfspeed,
trusting the Almighty to furnish us
with clear water. Indeed, there was
nothing else to do with that ice.pack
back Of US, and the fierce seas pound
ing our poop. Besides, had come to
Lhe end Of my endurance, and when
De Nova came limping forward, hang
ng 70 the lifeline, to take his watch,
clept below more deaC than alive,
md clawed my way acrops the cabin,
Lady Darlington stood braoed In her
doorway, yet for the / 70 OF me I
'ould not speak, although | tried-my
lead nodded on my shoulders, aud
Ell forward across my bunk asleep