The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1914-01-30
THE WRECK OF
THE COD-SEEKER
By COLIN M'kAY

LnOugll IL was someluluB eNiub Way
in my brain. The schooners head
rose swiftly, the water receded and
We found ourselves able TO breathe
again. oh, but the air was good!
Trembling, dizzy, exhausted. we
stretched ourselves along the face
boards and rested.
What had happened was this:
When the schooner was hove on her
side the anchor chain, slowed In box
on deck, went overheard, and present
ly. as she swept along with the tide,
the end fouled the bottom and drag
ged her head under water. Then
miracle occurred: the big link in the
shackle of the other end near the wild
lass broke and allowed her head TO
come up again.
The schooner wallowed on her side.
She rose and fell to the heave OF the
swell, in a heavy. sickening way, but
she did not roll much. Often we
were ducked under: and the noises
were frightful; roaring, snarling
sounds of surf; blood-thirsty gurg-
lings, the dull booming sound OF
things beating against the skin OF the
hold.
/ was numb with cold, and awfully
weary and before long, in spite of the
noises, the fear Of slipping off my
perch, the horror OF II all, ! dropped
off into a doZe. And as | dozed
dreamed the schooner was hove down
while / was on deck; dreamed that
saw my chum Will Kenney washed
overheard and dived after him.
Thirst, Cold and Horror.
Then | woke up TO find myself
struggling under water. Ii was was
still pitchdark and for moment or
so / had no idea where / was. AS
my head came above the water !
struck something hard, and down |
went again before | could get my
lungs full OF air. Half stunned | strug
gled up again, and rammed my head
through a small opening. so small
that | could not get my shoulders
through. My mouth was just above
through the opening, the thing resting
upon my shoulders would lift a lit
tie and then press me down till |
could not breathe. ! struggled fran
tically, and the harder ! strove to
keep my mouth above water the more
l seemed to be forced down.
! could not imagine what kind OF a
trap had got into. and my imagina-
ton was mighty active; just as they
say of a drowning man. A moving
picture of my whole life seemed to
flash before me. Every deed Of sim
full nature I had ever done seemed tc
rise up against me, crowding out all
hope Of salvation.
At the same time my mind was
wildly searching for an explanation
of my plight, and at last, when / was
nearly done for, ii struck me that the
thing that was drowning me was the
step-ladder of the forecastle gangway.
That was it; the ladder was floating,
ard | had got my head between the
steps. ! knew what TO do then, but
| it was not easy to draw my head
down and out, for the bevel Of the
steps held my head as in trap.
But at last ! managed 1t, and hook
ed my arms over the floating ladder
till / got my wind.
yelled for Sam. but got no answer
| Of course / could not tell what part OF
the forecastle / was in, but | padded
around and finally, as sea lifted me
/ got hold of the bunk side-board and
hauled myself up inside the bunk. At
wood was still sleeping. touched
him. but he did not wake. got hold
of some pieces of boards floating just
below me, and propped them across
the mouth of the berth so | would
not fall through, and soon | guess
went to sleep again.
The Yankee Captain Volunteers.
When the schooner was flung or
her beam-ends. one dory took the wa
ter right side up and somehow Capt
Brown, Nat Knowles the cook anc
John Smith managed to get into IT
Whether they tried to row back anC
pick off any OF the other men left
clinging to the weather rail dom
know; probably it would have beer
madness to have tried it in the sea
then running. Anyway, they drov,
before the gale for several hours, anC
then, after passing through quarter
of a mile of surf, landed on the south
ern side of Cape island. How thel
managed to live through the surf has
always been a mystery; but they die
and were soon at the house OF Pelicl
Nickerson telling their tale.
Nickerson soon carried the news 4
Clark's Harbor, and the hardy fisher
men OF that place were reused from
their slumbers 10 consider means o
rescue. The American fishing schoon
er Matchless, Capt. Job Crowell, wa
lying in the harbor. where she har
come for shelter from the gale, ant
when told of the disaster her skippe
was quite as ready TO go to the res
cue as the men OF the port.
His crew was scattered. but ther'
were plAnty OF men ready to volun
teer. So, by the first streak Of dawn
the Matchless with a picked crev
aboard was standing out TO sea unde