Evening star., 1925-06-14
BY EDWARD A. SALISBURY.

TT is a long sail from Murderers
Island to the Red Sea, and the
Wisdom had wandered, gypsy
i fashion, through the waters be-
tween those two points. But this
night when you now find the Wisdom.
she has just entered the southern end
of the Red Sea. and is being driven by
spanking breeze north for Suez.
Now everybody who has ever read
anything about the East knows that
the Red Sea Is long, abnormally
calm body of oily black water. Well,
everybody knows Just wrong. The
Red Sea isn't that az all
The Red Sea is a thirteen-hundred-
mile stretch of r-treachery. It is
mixture of contrary gales, of shift
ing sands and shoals. of lighthouses
that don't light, of decrepit coast vii
lagos filed with hostile Bedouins, and
pilots who don't know how to pilot.
At any rate. that is the Red Sea in
February. If you don't believe it, ask
any Of the heterogeneous crew of my
ship and you will find my opinion of it
embellished by the colorful vocabu-
larry of half dozen nations.
During our first night up that body
Of water we were supposed to pass
the lighthouse of Mocha. once famous
for it's coffee. n deserted town on the
L .
The sailing directions said that the
light stood 10 feet above the water,
and was visible 10 miles away. A fine
guide of brilliant white flashes to
make plain the danger of a wicked
coast to mariners sailing down the
dark of the night. A fine guide,
but
7 was awakened by a tremendous
shock which almost threw me out of
bling up the companionway stairs.
clung to the railing as / mounted, for
the Wisdom was almost on her side,
and she shook and quivered like a
helpless thing.
I knew it could only be one of two
things-reef or rocks; and that as
stoutly built as she was, the little sea
gypsy could not stand buffeting long;
IT would tear the bottom out of any
craft that ever fioated. AS l swung
up on deck a great roller hurled itself
in with crashing force. breaking clear
over the ship; the rushing water
choking me. and l just managed to
grasp the lifeline to save myself from
being swept over the side.
x x
HUNG on. and took one quick
glance around. BY moonlight
could see the figures of the watch on
deck, hanging on to anything they
had been able to grasp. and the watch
below coming tumbling up. Up came
big Mac. naked but for a bright red,
white-f1owered South Sea pareu; up
came Shorty Schoedsack, his tall
frame covered with gorgeous purple
pajamaS; up came Cooper, bare to
the waist, with a hideous bright red
Malay sarong clinging about his legs.
From forward came John. all but
naked, with his knife swinging to the
belt fastened about his middle, and
Fiji Jack. wearing only a Tapping
undershirt. All were swinging along
desperately, for the Wisdom had tilt
ed still farther over. since she had
first struck and was now held hard
by the force of spanking breeze
beating against her sails.
The big mainsale. f1uttering like
some wild bird caught in snare. was
almost touching the water, and the
waves which broke over the deck were
likewise drenching its lower half. But
the Wisdom did not move; she was
hard and fast on a ridge of some kind
If a sand bar, there was a chance; If
reef of coral, the ship was done for
We had run almost dead ahead into
danger, for l could just make out in
front of us the quiet waters OF a
shoal. while the mainland was only a
few hundred yards away. From sea-
ward thousands of tons of water
swept in in the shape of huge rollers,
which broke themselves into a thou
sand parts with deafening roars on
the reef on which our little ship lay
Ten minutes of this. and she would
break up; a fierce gust of wind, and
over she would go. 1t looked like the
finish. Should we take TO the boats
or have a shot at saving her?
Take the chance, take the chance, y
l thought. Then
Down with the mainsail"' Taylor
springs to the main peak ballard, and
the rest of the crew string out some
how along the mainsheet. Down
comes the peak; and, as the wind
spills out of the mainsail. the men on
its sheet begin to haul nightly.
Ordinarily it is a long, hard job to
get in that sail against a stiff wind,
and we have to luff her so that there
is little pressure against 1t; but you
cannot huff a ship that is stuck on a