The Yale expositor., 1912-04-25

| for all to obey his orders. He set to
| work at once to get into touch with
the other boats, calling 10 them and
getting as close as seemed wise, so
that when the search boats came in
the morning TO look for us, there
would be more chance for all TO be
rescued by keeping together.
1T was now about ] a. IN, a beauti-
full starlight night with no moon, and
SO not very light The sea was as
calm as pond, just a gentle heave
as the boat dipped up and down In
the swell; an ideal night except for
the bitter cold for anyone who had
to be out in the middle of the Allan
tic ocean in an open boat and If there
was time when such a night was
needed, surely il was now with hun
dreds or people, mostly women and
children, ahoat hundreds of miles
from land
I'm the distance she looked an
enormous length. her great bulk out
lined III black against the starry sky,
every portfolio and saloon blazing
with light. 1t was impossible to think
anything could be wrong with such a
ieviathan were it not for that omin-
Gus tilt downwards in the bows, where
the water was now up TO the lowest
row of portfolios.
The Plunge Beneath Waves.
Presently, about 4. m, as near
as / can remember. we observed her
settling very rapidly. with the bows
and the bridge completely under wat
er and concluded it was only a ques-
lion OF minutes before she went, and
so it proved. She slowly tilted
straight on end with the stern verti-
cally upwards and as she did. the
lights in the cabins and saloons
which had not flickered for a moment
since We left, died out. came on again
for single flash. and finally went
out altogether. At the same time the
machinery roared down through the
vessel with rattle and grooming
that could be heard for miles. the
weidest sound surely that could be
heard in the midst OF the ocean,
thousand miles away from land. But
this was not yet quite the end.
To our amaZement she remained
in that upright position for a time
which | estimate as five minutes:
others in the boat say less. but il
was certainly some minutes while we
watched at least $50 feet of the Ii
tanic towering up above the level OF
the sea and looming black against the
sky.
Then with a quiet. slanting dive
she disappeared beneath the waters,
and our eyes had looked for the last
time on the gigantic vessel We had
set out on from Southampton. And
there was left 10 us the gentle heay-
ing sea. the boat filled TO standing
room with men and women in every
conceivable condition of dress and I'M
dress, above the perfect sky of bril-
liant stars with not cloud in the
sky. all tempered with a bitter cold
that made us all long TO be one of the
crew who toiled away with the oars
and kept themselves warm thereby
a curious. deadening bitter cold unlike
anything We had felt before.
An Appalling Noise.
And then, with all these. there
fell on the ear the most appalling
noise that human beings ever lis
tened to-the cries OF hundreds OF
our fellow beings struggling in the
icy cold water. crying for help with
Il cry that We knew could not be an
swered. We longed TO return and
pick up some of those swimming. but
this would have meant swapping our
boat and further loss of The lives OF
all OF us.
I'VE tried to sing to keep the wo
men from hearing the cries and row
ed hard 10 ger away from the scene
of the wreck. and think the MEM
DRY of those sounds will be one OF
the things the rescued will find it diff
ficult to efface from memory. We are
all trying hard not to think of it.
I'VE kept a lookout for lights and
several times il was shouted that
steamer lights were seen. but they
turned out 10 be either y light from
another boat or star low down on
the horizon. About a m, we saw
faint lights showing on the sky and
all rejoiced 10 see what we expected
was the coming dawn. but after
watching for half an hour and see
ing no change in the intensity OF the
light. realized il was the northern
lights.
Presently low down on the horizon
We saw light which slowly revolyed
itself into n double light. and We
watched eagerly to see if the two
lights would separate and so prove
10 be only two of our boats or wheth-
er they would remain toggther. in
which case We should expec; them
10 be the masthead light and deck
light below OF rescuing steamer.
TO our JOY they moved as one.
and round We swung the boat and
headed for her. The steersman shout
de: Now. BOYS. sins, and for the first
time, the boat broke into song with
Row for the shore, boys. and for the
first time tears came 20 the eyes OF
us all We realized that safety was
at hand. The song was sung hut il
was a very poor imitation OF the real
thing. for quaverins voices make poor
songs. \ cheer was given next and
that was better-'you keep in tune
for a cheer
Most Beautiful Dawn.