The Harlowton news., 1913-06-13
I lie
CAST AW AY
B. SUSAN YOUNG PORTER
Boat on the starboard quarterl

was first officer Of the Helen Drew
and on duty. With my glass swept
the waters as indicated and brought
within the field of view ships boat,
now raised high ON the crest OF wave
and now sinking low in the trough
Whenever 1t was inclined sidewtse to-
ward me could see lying motion'ess
on the bottom the body of woman.
| gave an order to put the ships bow
toward It and when within reasona-
BILE distance sent boat out for 1t ana
it's contents
On it's return | ordered the boat rails
ed to the main deck, and the body was
Immediately lifted out. 1t was that OF
young girl not more than seventeen
years old The ships doctor at once
made an examination to determine II
she were dead and reported signs OF
life. She was removed to cabin and
nv the united efforts Of the doctor and
the stewardess WAS restored to con-
sciousnefsA.
When she seespsA anffict~ntiy Sscov-
cred to b questioned she was asked
how she came to be in an open boat at
sea. but could remember nothing about
her lonely voyage or any OF her past
life.
made a personal examination OF
the boat in which she had come to us
IN order to identify the ship to which
It had belonged Ii was an old one
,j11to oh fnr
some time or had been so We;tth her beat-
eu thn1 tie, statm was very much worn,
The Stern had been jammed against
something and hut few OF the letters
of the name were le:sihle This was
many wears ago, befOre 1t became the
universal custom ~ paint the ships
name on both sides Of the stem Of the
boat | could make out the first,
fourth aud eighth letters The other
five we're either partially OF entirely
obliterated Those could read were
NTS think that II had been
familiar with the names Of marine AMI
mails might have bit upon the name.
We had started from Boston on a
cruise around the world, taking in the
Cape of Good Hope, Japan, the Ha-
waiian Islands, San Francisco and 9th.
er American ports. We picked up the
girl after having left the cape. and
since we were approaching countries
which were then barbarous there was
nothing to do but keep her with u.s. In
a couple Of weeks she had recovered
her health. but not her memory.
Being nearer her age than any other
Of the officers. ! became more compan
ionable with her There were only tw'
clews by which her identity might b
established-the three letters on th'
stern of the boat In which she hat
been picked up and two letters on bel
underclothing The boat had beer
abundantly provisioned, and the cir
had been well supplied with wraps
From these facts | argued that aftel
an accident, collision, fire or other dis
aster she had been put in the boa
with number of others. She was no
likely to have been turned adrift alone
and the supply of provisions had origi
nally been sufficient for number o
persons. This feature of the problem
has never been solved. My theory i
that some person or persons who ha'
the girl in charge. in order that sh
might have all the provisions. after
certain date committed suicide b.
jumping overheard. Possibly such a.
act might have been the result Of dc
lirium.
1t Is to be supposed that youn
man Of twenty-three making voyag
around the world with girl of sever
teen would fall in love with her. Sue
was the case with me, and the poor 81
was glad to have some one to lean upc
In her lonely condition. told her tn
she need not fear for anything SIM
she belonged to ME. At the end Of o.
to lnd out her identity and be guid.
bg the result
We spent hours together workil
over the letters on the stern OF the bo
in which she had drifted. The CAPITA
had dictionary among his books. al
we undertook to make check again
every noun beginning with N. Havi
the relative position Of all the lette
was great advantage, and having t
6rst letter was even a greater help.
We found number Of words Of eig
letters beginning with N, but the o
that fitted the conditions exactly W
Nautilus, and 1t was the only one tn
was proper word for the name Of
ship. 1t must be remembered th
ships have often been named for ~
son, and these names are not to
found in dictionary. However,
~