Evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1907-1913, 1912-09-07
Confined from yesterday

''He'st breathing, sir" announced
Brandon, the first officer, and not
r~.~' 80 Wen take him below,
and see what can be done for him.
sir"
He appeared to be about forty years
of age, a somewhat shrunken, wealth
er-beaten creature, with face deeply
lined and half hidden behind possibly
a weeks growth of dark beard 1t is
not easy to read man with his eyes
closed, but | was far from prepos-
sessed by what of this fellows fea-
lures was on view. Ordinarily
should have given him scant heed, but
today was no ordinary day, and my
suspicious were superactive Even the
most trivial occurrences took on sig
nifcapce. And this was not a trivial
occurrence. Certainly it was not
usual. Fishermen blown TO sea in
storms and overcome by exposure,
hunger and thirst We're common
enough, perhaps, but within the past
week there had been no storm; the
weather had been as mild as that OF
June. with an August day or two
thrown in. How was it possible, then,
for this bit of flotsam to have come
where it was and in the condition 1t
was?
To Cameron | gave no hint OF my
reasoning. but to Captain Macleod |
put the question without hesitation
1T does seem bit odd. Mr.. Clyde"
he returned, judcially. but you see
his mast and sail had gone by the
board and his oars, too. Ii looks to
me, sir, as If he'd been run down, may
be, and nigh swamped. OF course we
can't tell till he gets his senses and
lets us know
! Though this put the matter in a
new light, it did not by any means re-
|ieve my anxiety; and l asked Mac
-eod to have "a sharp watch kept on
he fellow. adding that | would come
ITO him later for anything he might
seA. took care, too, to caution him
IKE no mention Of the affair in
the presence of Cameron
1t was not until after dinner that
evening that I found opportunity again
to question the captain. came upon
him in his stateroom, comfortably
commodious cabin, far forward on the
upper deck. On his table was spread
a chart, sover which he was bending
when | entered, A briarwood was
gripped firmly between his teeth and
the grateful odor of clean pipe smoke
greeted me as | entered.
Hes come around, Mr.. Clyde" he
informed me, turning about in his
swivel chair, land I'm just trying to
check up some of his statements by
means Of this chart here, and our
weather record"
And how do they check so far?"
! asked, little obviously.
Quite TO dot, sir" was his an
(swer. There's no breakdown any,
where. so far. According to his story.
he sailed out of Gloucester harbor on
Monday morning. His names Peter
johnson, and he lives in East Glouces-
ter He says the wind was strong from
the westward, and he made the banks
all right without mishap. But about
noon, the wind died, and thick fog
came in from the northeast, chill and
sopping. sir. He kept moving about.
and finally in the thick of it lost his
bearings. 1t had clouded over and
after little it began to rain. He
made try for Gloucester harbor,. but
must have sailed southeast instead OF
northwest. Then the night came
down, and the fog was like a dozen
blankets, he says. His food was gone
and most Of his water, but he said
he'd seen worse than that many a
time, and just prayed for The fog to
lift and give him a sight Of the stars.
And the next thing that happened was
what | suspected, sir. He heard a
steamers whistle. He had his sheet
out ard was running before the wind.
and that steamer coming upon him
out Of the fog, caught his boom, ripped
out his mast and nearly capsized his
dory. When she righted, the steam.
er's lights We're fading into the fog
again, his boat was half fun Of water
and his oars were washed away. Well,
sir, to make a long story short, he
must have caught current that car
ried him well out beyond Cape Cod,
and then Slowed him around the
southermost end Of Nantucket island.
] questioned him about lights and fog
signals, and making due allowance for
his condition, his yarn works out pref
~ straight. He'd been drifting about
for three days when We picked him
up and was half dead of thirst and
hunger. But he's come around better
than might be expected, and"
And then l interrupted him.
Three days without water" ques-
toned
And without food. Yes, sir"
when did he tell you this story %
About six O'Clock, sir.
Gould starving man recover that
Quickly?"
He might, sir" Macleod answered.
The average healthy man can 60 ten
days without food or drink"
what have you done with him ?"
Hes in the seaman's ouarterc FIR