The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1918-06-22
Il monster which had run US

down.
l held the lantern behind my body,
and stared out through the void Mt the
PARKWAY spark-it was no more than
u pin-prick, barely visible across
miles Of open water, and growing
fainter each second. I read the whole
meaning. despair clutching my heart.
The vessel had waited and picked up
the Eslneralda's boats; believing she
then had on board all who lived, she
had resumed her voyage. We were
alone, deserted, in the midst of the
dead. possibly without even chance
to save ourselves from going down
with the sodden wreck.
But if there should be chance there
remained not an Instant to lose. l
flashed the light about into the face
Of Mccain and the girl, the man white
and haggard, his eyes as dull as though
he had taken an opiate, absolutely STU
petied with fear. But the girl! In
the CLEAN of the lantern her eyes met
mine, full Of questioning, but fearless.
She must have seen, and understood
also, for she called to me, clinging to
the rail to keep her footing. her loos-
ened hair Tipping In the wind.
"They are leaving cs, Mr.. Hollis? Is
not that the steamer out there?"
"Ay, the last glimpse We'll ever have
of her." l answered bitterly, forgetting
myself in anger. 'Thc d. brutes
think more Of few dollars than our
lives. But Wen make fight Just the
same. Come. wake up, Mccain. Aft
with you--oh, yes, you can; crawl
along the rail; once beyond the cabin
there's good foothold. Now. my lady,
iii net let you fall-goodl You are
the better sailor Of the two"
held the lantern in my teeth. and
clambercd after them. It was thirty
foot climb, bat the rail stanchions
made fair ladder. giving good hand
and foot hold, although occasionally
the hulk beneath us rolled SO heavily
in the sen as to bring us to pause.
clnging grimly to the tarred rope In
order to retain our balance. Twice I
thought the doomed yacht was actu-
ally going down, as under the blow Of
some swell she leaned heavily to star
| board, giving glimpse of the black
water just below where we chung so
desperately. Yet with sodden, sick
ening motion, like the last painful eff
fort Of n dying creature. she managed
to right herself once more, every tim
Der grooming in agony, the salt spume
of the sea blown into our faces.
Once beyond the overreach on the
cabin we found opportunity to stand
erect, gripping the iron supports which
had sustained the awning above the
| after deck. In the dim rays Of the Ian
tern the scene was one of utter wreck
and des0lation. There had been four
boats hung in davits above the rails;
two of them were gone one hung trail
ing overheard, half submerged, with
the bow still swinging to the tackle;
the fourth had been smashed into kim
ding l staggered across to where
could look down at the dangling craft,
holding my lantern out over the rail.
1t was broken amidships and useless,
but s;ammed under a thwart lay q
mans body; the CLEAN of light rested
on the upturned face, and recognized
with horror the features Of FOsdick.
Sickened. covering n ! eyes with one
arm, chung to the shattered rail, COM
pletely unnerved. The voice Of the
girl aroused me, brought me back to
manhood.
"Mr. Hollis, the dory is still here!"
I swept the lantern about, confused,
and unable to locate the sound. Nc
Cam was crouching against the cabin,
but the woman, aided by the flag
locker, had crept aft, and now leaned
out over the stern rail and was point
ing eagerly down into the black water.
1 worked my way cautiously forward
to where she chung, the lantern swung
oversize, Its small ring Of light giving
me view of the whole uptilted stern.
The dory, which had evidently been
left trailing astern, was actually afloat,
although half filled, and her oarA
jammed securely under thwart, were
still In place.
The position Of the vessel. the water.
logged condition Of the smaller craft.
told me at glance the whole story.
What was left of the crew of the Es-
meralda, together with those guests
who had lived to attain the deck. had
made their escape in the two missing
boats-they would hold twenty each.
and were strong and seaworthy. No
doubt the smashed one there had been
lowered first, but the tackle jammed.
and In the wreck FOsdick had been
killed. The others had clambered
aboard the two left leaving him
crushed behind.