Evening star., 1926-03-07

never moved far away from the helm
The remainder of us were gathered
on the fore part of the poop. There
was nothing we could do while the
gear held. The main deck was n
seething whirlpool. swept by endless
tons OF green water that made Il dash
for'ar ii matter of life and death.
There was no galley fire, and the
steward remained perforce In his
pantry under the poop. He managed
to boil some water on the mates oil
stove and we had a drink of tea apiece
at midday with a sea biscuit and a
handful of bully beef.
So the day wore on. Drenched to
the skin and strained almost to break
ing point through standing up against
that living wall of wind, | thought
the end of the world had come and
come ii nearly did for us.
X X **
IT was just after four bells in the
afternoon watch, following a
shrieking squall that exceeded all that
had gone before, and while the bark
was still wallowing like a half-tide
rock, that we saw monstrous
foam-like breaker rolling up astern.
We had seen many before, but thi,
was IA giant among giants, coming
on with unopposable stride. 1t was
the behaNiur of the hardly pressed
bark that troubled us. She lay like
a sladia tor, sore stricken and faint
ing, careless of the clamor arounC
and the uplifted sword of an exultant
| foe. buried deep under "a weight oi
water, there was no life In her.
| Higher and higher the comher rose
with "a topping, concave crest, swift,
overtaking the ship. We doubted tn,
| staggering hun would ever rise to Il
| and there was little need for the ole
| mans hoarse shout: Hang on alli'
| We Sprang for stanchiOn and ba stay
and clung desperately to them. The
/ towering gray beard swept down OF
/ the ship. came up with her and wa:
met by no answering rise.
| High above the taffrail-40 or 81
| feet-it loomed and the next moment
1t fell.
The fall OF the armament from
above could not have been more ter
rible Six feet above the poop deck
we were buried under a black weight
of water For the space of a few sec
DIluS we kI1ON Ilot IL LiiC poi SNi'
foated or was being forced down tC
the depths inexorably. Through in
stinct more than exercise of will
hung on, with the strangle- hold OF
nightmare upon me and the deadly
thunder of water In my ears.
felt my shoulders were being
wrenched out az demon fingers pluck
ed at me; then the weight of the av
alanche lifted, and | knew the blessed
feel of light and freedom again. II
ca mot have Ia asted for more than the
space of few seconds, but ii sufficed
me to learn the mea ming of that wore
that In eternity a thousand years arc
but AS II moment.
The bosun and I had jumped foi
the port mizzen rigging and had beer
clinging to the topmast hackStaN. As
the water passed we looked up. The
great roller that had popped us swept
for'ard and buried the ship deep under
green swirl of water. Even as we
looked. two walls of water rushed in
over the submerged bulwarks and
colliGed down the length of the ship
The hull settled and felt dead be
meath our feet.
"My God. she's gone" said the
bosun.
I glanced al the fore t'gallant yard
motionless against the sky. 1t was
the last thing ! ever expected to see.
Nothing of the ship was visible save
the deck of the focs'le head, like a
lonely rock. Another bucket of water
would have done for US.
EOR a few seconds we lay, as II
were, stricken and a-sWoon. An
other white-lipped monster was roll
ing UP astern, but before 1t reached
us the gallant old bark seemed to
make a mighty effort. She qulVereo
and la bored heavily up, throwing the
water from her main deck and lltths
her streaming bows.
AS the roller swung down upon us
her stern rose slowly to 1t. and II
surged on and under. lifting the bark
on it's shoulders. spouting cataracts
from every port. The worst was
over; we had come through that ana
were ready to face fresh onslauShts
with confidence.
But what havoc 1t had played WIN
MS As looked aft ! saw sbig Mac at
tho wheel and the old man. bare
headed. at his elbow. The wheel-bo&
had utterly gone and the well OILED
couplings stood hare to the spray
The binnacle still stood. but the CABIN
skvlight had gone to matchwood.
Tons and tons OF water had 1aiien
below. flooding the cabins and hlllne
them with a litter of wood and spin
tered glass. The top of the lazarette
was smashed in and the fragments OF
the scuttle held only by broken
hinge. All the poop gratings. the Gov
ering board and the weather cloth had
disappeared utterly. The poop was
swept bare.
What had happened on the main
deck we couldn't see, but the flying
bridge was smashed and the boat
lashed on top of the house-a full
seven feet above the deck-was stove
in and lay. detected rattle of boards
and broken edges, held together only
by the lashings in which it was
swathed.
Nor had the men escaped. All hands
were there. but more or less battered
Several of them were bleeding: the sec
ond mate was propping John Nielsen
white-faced and barely conscious, up
in the companion. The old mate lay
under the mizzen rigging with his foot
doubled In tangle of ropes. unable to
rise,