The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1917-11-15
CHAPTER vliI-continued.

--6-
The lady was sent into the cabin,
Or, and given q stnteroom where she
could fix herself up Bit" he answered
soberly. '.rbe other Teller had hemp
Of q lot 20 say. an seemed to have
some sorter grudge against you. !
hadn't any time to listen to his yarn,
- naturally turned him over TO the
bosum. ter hnve thet eye dressed. He
must have got peach o. swipe, sir"
II had to hit him-yes; but we can
talk Of that later. Where Is he nowT'
~ln the galley, sir. where they're
heating some water. After they get
him hxed up. is he to go aft. or for
Sardf
"Aft. II you have room to spare; he
y no sailorman, but a millionaire from
New York: he has money to burn"
Tho fellow looked Mt me with his
nouth wide open. his glistenlpg eyes
almost laughable.
~The devil you say. sir; he don't look
ths part to my notion. You was all
part Of yacht partyf"
Yes. the Esmeralda, a steam yacht.
owned BY Gerald Carrington Of New
York. We were run down about a
hundred miles east Of Montnuk by a
big liner. which must have been out OF
her course. She cut us square In two,
bet excepting us three. all living on
board got awny In the bonts. by acci-
dent we were left. and escaped later In
the dinghy"
"What became Of the linerT'
"She picked up the bonts. and. think
ing they Ind oil tho survivors, went
On. She was mail boat, likely. The
yacht went down five minutes after
We left her; we've been afioat ever
since. Now. Mr.. Masters. that's our
story In brief. What's the trouble
herer
sI'1l tell yer enough to make II clear.
mr." he said slowly. although there is
others on board who can explain more
In detniL You're a seaman-or was
once-eO you'll see easily the sorter
N we're In I'm the only officer left
- the hooker. an ! couldn't navigate
. ship II you'd give II to me. I'm only
The chief engineer. an my assistant Is
In the fo'castle with broken leg. You
80 thet rifle for-rard, sir1 Well, II
wus lightning did that. Two bolts. SO
the crew says, fer I wus down below,
an never knew whut happened till the
eaeetrics all went out Then shut of
steam. and clumb out on deck. Lord,
but II wus a black night. raining cats
and dogs. but no wind to speak of. 1t
wus the rain whnt saved US, for fire
started yonder-yer can see where II
bUrned-but II died out Of itself. When
norning come We saw what we wns up
against; II looked a lot sight worse
then than Il does now.. Them bolts of
Nghtning he'd knocked the foremast
INTO smithercens. killed the wheels
nan. and put the steering gear plumb
out O. commission. Then the top
mast an spars Just naturally wrecked
the bridge. and charthouse. an the
Whole mass caught fire. The second
oncer was In the wheelhouse, sir. an
Devef knew what hit him. an both the
captain an the FIRST officer wus n
standin' tergether on the bridge. The
top mast crushed the life out OF 'em.
There wus six sailormen hurt the same
way. an four Of 'em died. 1t wus the
darndest mess ever saw ut sea. sir"
bad enough, surely; when did this
Aappens"
might afore last; we've cleaned up
. BIT since. but the crew won't work
0uch under me- an we're short
handed. rigged up this wheel aft, SO
~ to keep an engine going. and hung
-. waiting for something to turn up.
There wasn't nothing else could do"
~No. ! presume not" and my eyes
rested thoughtfully On the scene for
ward. "How is the hull-sound3 You
sssn sunk deeply"
That's cargo, sir; full to the
Aatches. The ships dry as a bone |;
hsve had the well sounded every three
be0rs."
sAnd what about the crew1
~Just 20, 20: Q crimp brought them
heard drunk, an we were not at sea
eng enough for the mates to whip
hem into shape when this thing hap
,enec. I'm no deck officer. Mr.. Hollis.
Nd they don't take orders from me
sGsy well. call 'em d-d hard
~
4 ] made - comment endeavoring to
|}urn oil those facts over IN my mind,
|H01 reach aOne Aeclslon U ,:.= -