Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-03-09

you'll need
death by drownin' ls prefer,h.
death at the yardarm any tirps !.
mebbe III git picked up. You 4. :
IT your way
"The sailmaker went away Ana 4,
my mates that l was agreed &
plan. They was all ready to HEN n |
got the grub ready, another the 80.
and so on. The bo'sun had the g..
the brig, and he let me out IT,.
Just before dawn that the body 4 !
third officer was buried witbout :
ceremony at all, and I was seras I
ready to be buried out o. the rr,-.
book. / clutched tight a sham r.
with which to cut myself out a Z
sack and to get rid of the shot ties n
my ankles. The other things was =
on to me. What bothered me moxt =
lynn still on my back from Just be,,,,
dawn till four bells in the por-ss|
And the prospect even after that v,r
inyitin'.
After eight bells I counted ever =
till four, and It seemed an hour =
tween 'em. When four was strut I,
heard a trampin' above, and I wss cr
ried on deck. Then listened 10 4.
cap'n readin' the burial service.
cit didn't sound no way pleasi1. ,
had only expected a diyin' explo., !
wouldn't "a mattered. but expect>B !,
drownin', or, worse'n that, a star,s
The only thing in my favor was u,
we was in the gulf stream and h.
water was warSI. besides bein sr
mer time.
well. when the service was ended /
was tipped up and felt myself slldr,
1t seemed a mighty long while be.or
/ struck water. When 1 did / ben,
to slit the bag, and as soon as cocl
get my arms out 1 felt for the rur
about my ankles. The shot was puIls
me down pretty fast, and by the Tn.
/ cut myself free from it I'd gone dgr.
somepin like sixty feet. reckon, M
not nkin' to get back to the surface c
my breath was used up-fearin' b b
seen from the ship-I didn't pun ~
self up; simply hoated up.
when / struck the surface 6zs
officers and men lookiE' at the plxn
where / had gone down, though NOS
O. 'em were turned away. / saw b.
sailmaker apart from the rest ieanii
over tie gunwale loosin' for me, and
when the others had gone OF vasa
my hand to him.
First thing I did after that was b
look around for sail. There was not
one to be seen. Then for the first tine
out there on the lonely ocean begin
to think mebbe I'd better "a stayed
aboard and been swung OF at the yard
arm. There was hope for me. cane
I was In the course Of ships between
American and Mediterranean port
But how many ships was passin' that
way? Mighty few. And how was !
to get their attention? True, one o
ny mates had tackled white rag to
stick and 1t was put into the bag with
me, but what's a few square feet .
rag to a ship miles away?
81 found my grub in good shape II
was in tin box with a round hoie IN
one side, the hole havin' cap thsI
screwed on. To help keep out the
water the screw had been waxed. NJ
life preserver had been fixed to ncn
my shoulders above the surface, ana
by raisin' my can and my bottle
kept the grub from salt wafer. Ben
hungry. 1 ate a fair breakfast though
1 would have preferred some COMPANY
81 foated all that day and the nen
and the next without SEEM SAIL. VI
the fourth day I saw one on tine non
zon. but o. course it didn't do me an!
good. Ny first meal was the last re.i
meal 1 took; the rest was eatin aha
drinkin' when L was so hungry any
thirsty that 1 must have somepin %
keep me goin'. My water soon CIV
out. but / didn't suffer so much f'on
this, cause the sea water got into ~
through the pores OF the skin. iea'il
the salt on the outside. Wis0e'
somepin to float on would come ne'
me. but not n stick passed me.
II silent most o. the time; leastVa!s
/ was in a stupor. 1t was the onv
thing that enabled me to stay IN -
water so long. the sun shinin not W.
on me by day and the cold air Dur'A
over me by night One day. ailei ;
had been scannin' the horizon AZ w
mornin' for a sail without seem az
I sunk into one o. those sleeps 4
stupors. The next thing l knew ! VA
bein' hauled into ships boat "a
time O. day was about sunset
been sleepin' for hours. and WIN.
was dom It a vessel came right ave
where I was. A sailor saw me noa'.-
not a cables length from the saip =,
reported me. Then a boat was
for me-" Ivan
what time o. day was you az
out O. the water, Tom?" asked one '
the audience 80
at was just after 8 In the e'eD''
"How do you know?
"How do know? i know esus
always carried n silver watch ~ =.
fob and looked at it as soon as
got into the boat"
was it goin'?" ,..r.
"Sartin. it was goin'. j wouno
cry day" ,.rr
This broke the spell OF Toms
His mates would not admit -..n
watch immersed In sea wa1e,
keep going and mark accurate u