Evening star., 1923-08-26

siderlng the unncrving experience
every man had undergone.
II X X X
the disappearanc Of the
i lights on the plane would give the
alarm and would send a boat hurry
Ing to our rescue, we remained almost
| unconcerned for a few moments,
clinging to the wreck as it tossed up
and down in the trough of the waves.
ihen' as a swell larger than any of
its predecessors broke over the plane,
leaving US almost sitting in the wa
ter, vague doubts grew into active
rear. A minute or so later there was
no denying the truth. The wreck was
sinking,
Silently. one of the men kicked off
mis- shoes and began to remove his
clothing. In moment others follow
| ed his example
It's a long way to shore" I sa Id.
bitterly regretting that / had ever
suggested night flight THE boat
may come and you had better stay
here as long as the plane floats"
IL was on the tip of my tongue to
aod a reference to the sharks which
are round sometimes in those waters.
put rcfrained. After all, they might
make 1t, and there was no use in
starting them out with an added fear
in their hearts.
In spite of my advice the men went
on undressing, and one by one they
Jumped from the plane and disap-
peared in the night. Finally all were
gone but one man named Snyder.
III 1t comes to the worst. Snyder"
observed. I'm going to try swim
ming, though I don't think I'll get
far with this stiff arm"
I'm not a very good swimmer"
was his reply. "and anyway I think
the plane will stay up for hours"
hope you are right" was my fer
vent prayer. and we fell silent again.
To add to our misery the high test
/ gas evaporated from our bodies, caus-
ing US to feel as though we were
being burned from head to foot.
! Once In a while we would veil at
| the tops of our voices to guide the
boat II 1t should be near. but only the
dreary swashing of the waves an
! sWered our cries.
| l would rather go through another
crash than live again that time on
the wreck. Helpless, drifting out to
open sea, knowing that the boaf
crews had little chance of finding Ms
| In the darkness even if they were
aware of our predicament, we snent
! the most desolate twenty minutes Of
our lives expecting nothing but to
have the plane sink under us as We
! drifted nearer the heavy waves of
| the Pacific ocean
THEN it was that felt a great bit
l. terness at being saved from the
nrst danger only to have my last
Few moments of life dragged out in
this cruel. torturing manner. One mo-
ment l would rail at myself for be-
| ing so cocksure of my ability. the
next would think of the few loved
ones who would regret my miserable
end.
once l recalled that there was
| movie at the station that night
and pictured my friends sitting COM
fortably in their chairs before the
screen. while seven of US were star
ring in an act which seemed about
to end in tragedy.
l almost envied the men who were
swimming. At least there was action
in that. Another wave broke over ,ba
plane, almost taking us with il de-
cided to get ready to swim. SIippine
OH my clothes, / let them drop into
the water. The trousers fioated sod
denly and l thought of a roll of bills
had in one pocket and of how little
money meant after all when it came
to the final act in the Great Play.
Taking hold of my stiffened arm
with the other hand 1 commenced to
work it back and forth so that it
might be of some use to me, and
was just about to suggest to Snyder
that we try to find some floating wood
which would hold us up, when above
the sound OF the waves there came a
faint throbbing. Soon the speed boat
loomed up in the darkness
Excidedly hailing the coxswain, we
sent the boat post-haste after the
poor fellows in the water. Somehow
l never had any doubt of their being
picked up, and this proved to be the
case. though it was most remarkable
considering the circumstances. Sew
eral were exhausted and could not
have held out much longer.
Returning with the gladdening news
that the five men were safe, the cox-
Iswain of the boat carefully maneuver-
ed his craft through the debris-cov-
cred water until the crew was able
to lift the two of US aboard.
Slowly the speed boat backed away
from the wreck, and as it's search
light played for moment among the
ruins which had once been a gallant
ship" it almost seemed as though
the old plane. its last fight over and
its crew saved from harm, bobbed in
silent farewell as the sea. cheated
of its human prey. broke angrily over
the dying leviathan OF the air.
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