The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1915-09-03
self in the bag in place of the corpse to

i
vessel near or land within reach Is an
undesirable change even from captiv'
| lty No; there was nothing In that
idea and 1t was banished.
That afternoon a cloud OF smoke
| appeared OH the horizon, and soon the
| black hull OF war vessel loomed up
There was commotion on board the
Linden, for the vesN might be Brit.
lsh warshlp. The captain permitted
her 10 come close enough to see that
she few the union jack of Great Brit
ain ard that she was a much larger
craft than the Emden. Then he be.
gan to show his heels.
That night the lights on the Emden
were darkened, and she changed her
course several times. Quite likely the
British ship also covered her lights. AT
| any rate, she was not to be seen. The
| Emden's captain hoped that when day
| light came again he would be rid of
| her. Unfortunately for the Emden the
| night was bright by the light Of u full,
moon, so that she could be seen by her
| pursuers.
The next morning at dawn Jack
| Marston went on deck and at the first
break of day deserted the British ship
| somewhat nearer than the night before.
| The Britisher must have discovered
| the Emden at the same time, for a
dense cloud of smoke issuing from her
stacks Indicated that she was putting
fuel Oh her fires. The Emden followed
suit and made every effort to escape.
For time it seemed that the English
man was gaining; then for an hour
she neither lost nor gained. Jack, who
was watching her closely, made up his
mind that she was slowly losing.
Now, the crew of the Sea Gull were
hoping that they would be rescued,
and when Jack told them that the
Britisher was slowly losing ground
they were much disappointed. Jack
determined to take an awful risk.
That was to get himself sewed up In
the burial bag and thrown overheard,
with the hope of being picked up by
the pursuing ship. He told his mates
of his plan and asked them to
help him. They looked upon his
scheme as foolhardy and tried to dis
suade him from it. But when they
found that this was impossible they
offered to do anything he suggested In
their power.
Jacks plan was this: The attention
of the officers and crew of the Emden
was confined to getting away from the
pursuing ship. The Sea Gulls men
might steal the body of their dead
comrade and hide 1t. They might then
sew Jack up in the burial bag and
heave him overheard without permits
sion. They might omit the shot usual
ly tied to the ankles for sinking pur-
poses. and Jack would not remain long
under water. On rising he would en-
deavor to attract the attention of the
Britisher.
The crew of the Sea Gull agreed to
do their part in the matter. Ii Jack
wished to commit suicide he might do
so. That was his lookout. not theirs
So when every one OF the Emdens
crew was intent on the pursuer they
took the body out Of the burial bag
cork tied under his shoulders, some
provisions In rubber bag, a bottle
OF water, knife and n piece of white
cotton cloth attached to a stick for
signal purposes.
1t was decided to ask the captain of
the Emden for permission to bury
their dead companion. He was toe
busy at the time to give any thought
to their request and granted it with a
nod Of the head. Then the sailors car.
ried Jack to the side Of the ship and,
standing about him uncovered, slid him
overheard.
Jack did not mind being discovered
in the water by the Germans, for he
knew they would not think of stopping
to pick him up. He was not below the
surface more than twenty seconds. but
when he rcappeared the cruiser was
going so fast that she was already
quite distance from him. The gaze
Of most of them was in his direction,
but was fixed on the pursuing ship.
One man caught sight of him, but
Jack simply floatcd on the surface and
was probably supposed to be the corpse
that had been given burial. At any rate.
no especial attention was paid to him.
and he was being rapidly left asteTn.
Jacks main fear was that the Brit
lsher, being in Il hurry, would fail to
pick him up even if he succeeded in
attracting her attention. He was d.
rcctly in her line and with his white
Gag would likely succeed in making
himself seen. She was nearly half an
hour behind the Linden and losing
When few hundred yards from him
he waved his flag. He knew that he
was seen, for he saw several persons
pointing at him and evidently discuss
ing him.
But Jack was Mortified to see the
ship proceed on her way without stop
ping for him. She had gone nearly a
mile beyond him when n gladdening
sight met his view. There was boat
being lowered. There were men In 1t,
and when I'm the water and loOsened
from the ship they pulled toward him.
Jack was picked up, and the ship
waited for the return Of her boat. Her
commander was conscious OF losing on
the Emden and had decided to save the
man In the water. When Jack was