Evening star., 1923-12-09

done so that the snip would weather
Cape Horn without mishap in the
stiffest blow.
AS we got down into the latitude
of the cape the wind veered to the
south and moderated slightly. ena-
bling US to carry royal staysails and
even flying jib. Under this canvas
our ship put her lee scuppers into a
seething mass of foam and bowled
along like an express train. her cat
head frequently buried In solid green
seas.
AS I have said before. was little
anxious at carrying such press of
canvas in heavy wind. The cap
tain, however. was eager to make
record passage. therefore, his officers
were obliged to carry on"
The presentiment which I had Of
coming danger would not leave me
try as / would to get rid of 1t. one
afternoon as I was walking quietly
along the quarterback l heard sharp
report forward and Instantly l knew
or felt that "it" had happened. l re-
ceived word that the flying jib sheet
had carried away where the sheet
rove through the fair leader at eno
of the whisker boom.
The jib was hauled down and prep
arations made at once to bend ana
reeve a new sheet. Duffy went out
on the jibboom to bend the sheet
while jackson undertook the dimcut
job of reeving it through the block
on the end of the port whisker BOOM
felt in my bones that something
was about to happen, though l could
not tell exactly what: SO strong was
this impression that I sent the boat
swain forward to watch the two men
at their work. directing him TO be
careful in his orders.
Jackson had about reached the end
of the boom as the ship rose upon the
crest of a sea. AS she plunged into
the trough. she buried her lee bow
n a giant wave,
seen that Jackson was missing.
Instantly the much dreaded cry
man overheard" was raised.
For a moment Jackson appeared on
the crest of wave. He saw the
ship passing and cried out in terri
fed tone. Snatching life buoy I
threw it toward him. The poor fell
low made desperate grab for 1t, but
! missed 1t.
At this moment ! was astounded 10
see Fleming rush past me and take .
flying leap over the stern Of the ship
When I reached the rail he was
striking out toward Jackson, who
was evidently having some difficulty
in keeping himself afoat. 1t Is
really surprising how few sailors
learn to swim. their theory being that
if a man falls overheard with all
of his heavy gear on and his sea
| boots, swimming will not help him.
While jackson evidently knew
enough to keep himself up, It was
quite plain that Fleming was an ex-
cellent swimmer, as he was seen bat
Ting the great seas with strong
overland strokes, making his way
towards the drowning man. =.
Seconds counted now. Two men
overheard!
IMMEDIATE orders were given to
put the helm down. The captain
| rushed on deck and learned at
] glance what had happened. The
second mate sprang aloft to the miz-
| zentop to keep the men in the sea
| located.
Jibs came down by the run. royal
and topgallant sails were clewed up,
staysails hauled down, and topsail
Yards lowered. Never did a crew
work faster or with greater energy.
1t was man-of-war style. not an error
made, not a moment was lost.
Captain Strong, in the meantime df
there were any meantime) had
slashed the grips on the starboard
quarterboat, ripped the boat cover
off, and had her ready to be swung
out by. the time the mainyard was
back and the ship hove-to.
The boat was lowered almost in
stantly. McCrea jumped In and took
the stroke oar; Duffy, Burgess and
Ellis also grabbed their oars. while
the writer took the tiller, completing
the boats crew.
AS we showed off from the side of
the ship, q giant wave took our little
shell up, and the next moment she
descended SO far into the trough be-
tween two great seas that I felt she
would never rise out of 1t again.
Nothing but the superb seamanship
of these men could have brought her
! through. They were boatmen as well
as seaman, and 1t was here that the
training that Ellis and Burgess had
received on the Maine coast came into
play.
When we rose on the crest Of the
next wave the second officer. stand
ing in the mizzentop. gave US the
direction where the two men were
battling for life in the angry sea.
After pulling for half an hour, dur
ing which it was necessary for us
frequently to get our directions from
the ship, we heard faint cry. In
about three-quarters OF an hour we
could see the two men as they rose
and fell on the crest of the waves.
A gale had been blowing when we
left the ship and the wind seemed to
increase an our boat approached the
drowning men.
! the last ten minutes of our
struggle toward these men was one
Of the most agonizing periods in my
life. Every time we rose on a sea
the wind was 50 strong that 1t al
most turned our boat around In the
opposite direction. The men were
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