The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1913-04-03
cooNplCAZ L7l2, 4 /zGZu9c & CO.

aroused BY the unusual. stroled for.
ward and Joined me.
There's your bit OF wreckagc," OBJ
served. smiling.
Poor devil" he exclaimed. sym.
patheically He seems more dead
than alive.
He's breathing. sir" announced
Brandon. the first officer. "and not
much more. Wen take him below
aud see what can be done for him,
sir"
lie appeared to be about forty years
Of age. somewhat shrlnken, wealth
Proeaten creature, with face deeply
lined and half hidden behind possibly
a weeks growth Of dark beard II Is
not easy to read man with his eyes
closed. but ! was far from prepos-
acsscd by what Of this fellows fea-
lures was on view Ordinarily
should have given him acant heed, but
today was no ordinary dag and my
suspicious were suporactiye. Even the
most trivia! occurrences took on sig.
hilicauco. And this was not a trivial
occurrence. Certainly II was not
usual Fishermen blown 10 sea In
storms and overcome by exposure,
hunger and thirst were common
enough. perhaps bur within the past
week there had been no storm; the
weather had boon as mild as that OF
June. with an August DAY or two
| thrown In. How was # possible, then,
for .Eis bit Of notsAm to have come
where 1t was and in the condition II
was?
To Cameron gave no hint Of my
| reasoning, but to Captain Macleod |
pa, the question without hesitation
III docs seem bit odd. Mr. Clyde,
| be returned, jDdicially, but You see
| l.5 mast ana sail had gone by the
/ board and his oars, too. 1t looks to
me, sir, as # he'd been run down, may.
be, and nigh swamped. or course we
| cant tell till he gets his senses and
| lets us know"
Though this put the matter in
new light, It did not by any means re.
lieve my anxiety; and | asked Mac.
lHod to have n sharp watch kept on
the fellow, adding that | would come
TO him later for anything he might
| learn. | took care too, to caution him
20 make no mention Of the affair in
the presence Of Cameron.
1t was not until after dinner that
evening that found opportunity again
to question the captain | came upon
him I'm his statcroom. a comfortably
commodIous cabin, far forward on the
upper deck. On his table was spread
chart. over which he was bending
when | entered. A briarwood was
Eripped firmly between his teeth and
the grateful odor OF clean pipe smoke
greeted me as | entered.
Hes como around, Mr.. Clyde" he
Informed me. turning about in his
swivel chair. and 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, n little obviously.
Quite to dot. SIR" was his nm. |
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 tho banks I
all right without mlshap. But about .
noon, the wind died and n thick fog
came in from tho northeast. chill and |
sopping, sir. He kept moving about,
and finally in the thick OF It lost his
bearings. II had clouded over and |
after little II began to rain. lie
made try for Gloucester harbor. but
must have sailed southeast instead Of
northwest. Then tho 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
lit and give him a sight of the stars
And the next thing that happened was
what ! suspected, sir. He heard n
steamers whistle. He had his sheet
out and 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.
cr's lights were fading into the fog
again, his boat was half full Of water
and his oars were washed away. Well,
sir, to make a iors story short. he
must have caught current that car.
ried him well out beyond Cape Cod,
and then slowed him around tho
southermost end Of Nantucket island.
questioned him about lights and fog
signals, and making due allowance for
his condition, his yarn works out pref.
ty straight. He'd been drifting about
for three Gays 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 | interrupted him.
Three days without water?" ques.
toned. I
And without food Yes, sir"
When did he tell you this story" I
% About six o'clock, SIR"
Gould a starving man recover that