The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-12-28
The
Sable
|I.orcha
8eroce Uaxeltino


The engine room had Desu signaled
hAlf-spsed ahead. and ALREADY q sailor
With coil of rope In hand was sta.
toned at the forward gangvay. I
have freQueutly seea river pilots make
hndinGs that were marvols Of clever
calculattoa. bat newer saw any stssr.
ing Dcre accurately gaussd thea that
by which Mcleod. here In tAs open
- With the prscario9s swsal and
surUe q ocean - eomlat bruuGht tAs
yUeht gil1ins withia q baSU tlRss
inohss q tAs rolling dory's bow.
vas leaning ever the ran - ~
oo0s tAas up0a eAs castavay. apl
~ clearly sas<,OA foe just Q moment
IL hu66lsd crss&urU IN oilskiAs. silsat
an Det1onlsss IN tAs storm, Win
e1ooed syss and w. dark hair MAJ
- uuua HE fssshsaA Then q nilos.
3ropoens heAtly int the booG aAut
o& ~ Wv 6oe . lfttlA There vss
. vhiY q nung hns; aa szchanss G
9u1ckspoksa. and % ne unintslllgibSa.
voe6s between the saflor In The dory
and . salIor s(asding bssids ~ o.
The yacAt'b dscit: anA tAsa. the ftns
vas taut and stralning. and the dory.
Which haA sAessvd o4 astssn. was -
1ng broogAt up slowly slougssda
Nov. realized fsr ths Arvt time
that cur sas1nss had stopped and that,
save 100 tAe roll - vssU almost ~
t1o1Axy.
Thsy were lifting The fisherman
aboard when Cameron, at length
aroused by the unusual, strolled for
ward and Joined me-
There's your BIZ Of wreckags," OBJ
served. smiling.
"Poor dewitt" 10 exclaimed. sym-
pathsdcally. He seems moro dead
than alive.
He's breathing. sir." announced
Brandon. the FIRST oficer, "ant not
much moro Well take him below.
and sss what can be dore :or him.
sir"
He appeared to be about fc-,y ycnrs
OF age. somewhat shruntcu, wcsth.
er-oeaten creature. with face deeply
--tned and bali hidden behind pos sibiy
weeks growth Of dark beard. Il n
not easy to read . man with his eyes
closed. but ] was far from p-epos-
ssssed by what Of this fellows sea-
lures was on view. Ordinarily
should have given him scant heed, but
today was no ordinary day. and my
suspicions were superactive. Even the
most trivial occurrences took on sig.
nincaDce. And this was not a trivial
occurrence. Certainly II was not
usual. Fishermen blown to sea IN
storms and overcome by exposure,
munger and thirst were 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.
Tor this bit Of fotsam to have come
where II wa and In the condition it
was?
To Cameron I gave no hint OF nv
reasoning. but to Captain Macleod I
put the question without hesitation.
1t does seem q bit odd. Mr.. Clyde"
No returned. tudicislly. but you see
nis mast and sail had gone by the
BOARD and HE oars. too. II looks to
me- sir. as II he'd been run down. may.
b. and nigh swampsdL OF oourse We
can't tell uii hs ssts HE senses and
lets ~ know"
Though this put the matter In Q
new Hight Il ala not By any ms>ns re-
MSv9 my anxiety: and asked MAO
L>od to have . sharp watch kent on
the fellow. adding that I would come
to him later for anything he misht
learn took care. too to caution bin
TO make no mention of the afYair IN
the presence Of Cameron.
IL was not until after dinnsy that
evening that found opportunity again
TO question the captain. I came upon
him In HE statsroom, Q comfortably
commodious cabin. far forward on the
upper deck. On his table was spread
. chart. over which he was bendins
when l entered. A briarwood WAS
grfppsd hrmiy between his teeth and
the -ateful odor of clean pipe smoke
grsst> me a. I entered.
He's come around. Mr.. Clyde. he
Informed me. turning about In his
swivel chair. and I'm Just trying to
chsck up some Of his statements by
means OF this chart here. and our
weather record"
And how DO thsy chssk % fsrSs
i asked. Q little dubiousiy.
Quite 70 = oot. sir was HE an
swss. "Thsrsb no breakdown any.
where. % fss. According to his story,
b sailed out Of 0loucsstsr harbor on
Monday morning. His names Peter
johnson. and he lives In Dast 0loucss-
esr. He says the wind was strong from