Evening star., 1927-11-20

eabu nd

to beat the locomotive to the crossing.
We clung desperately to the rig.
sinS, no longer thinking that at any
second it might crash to the deck
under the terrific strain; the race with
the waterspouts was paramount.
Nearer and nearer we came. The
ca nfain nut the helm over the last
inch. and | could see the lead keel
0ash beneath me as l chung to the
mort halyartls. Then we were caught
in the dead" area of the sp0uts-the
edtlies and gusts Of wind pulled and
nusbed at us like fingers--the sea
was CLASSY smooth In spots, rippied
and foamy white in others. spray
of great drops and hunks or water
fell upon us.
trieyably sucked into the NAV Of the
waterspouts, and, taking one last defi'
ant look at the angry towers OF water,
we prepared to call 1t the end.
1t was then that fate did the sport
ing thing. AS ponderousiy and surely
as the spouts attacked US. they re-
treated: the great upper lip OF one
waterspout disappeared, and the
twisted column Of water or the other
staggered drunkenly away and meiteo
into the ocean. Upright and In q dead
calm, we were left In its wake.
I remember Eddie taking in the bal
loon sail and starting for the topsalis;
Hey. you, Gene. give q hand thefe.
shouted the captain. The order orougnt
me to normal once more. When the
sails had been trimmed we gathered
in the stern sheets and talked OF the
narrow escape, the captain Laughing
heavily. Eddie cursing, Barney aweo
and frightened and exusting that we
had come through alive. - >.
II was a fool to go on this snip,
snarled Eddie Eighty bucks month
to lose my iife"'
"Won. by golly," said Barney. now
IL we'd had that old engine goin' we
could a skipped out and never come
near the waterspouts ..,,
The captain grinned. "Theres sun
Cape Lookout" he reminded. II
Cape Lookout let's you pass. then look
out for Hatteras."
But now we had more confidence In
the strength OF our rigging. We
gioated over the nncanny way In
which the beautiful little HerreshoH
boat had responded to the helm like
fine thoroughbred horse. did not, IN
truth, worry over Cape Lookout or
Hatteras. What was q little blow
around the Cape compared with a
waterspout? The idea OF a shipwreck
that I had gloried in scarcely three
weeks ago had vanished completely:
I had had enough for one trip, ana
wanted only to reach New York safeiy.
But II was not to be. Surely. as Eddie
had said at Nassau, the ship was
doomed.
We kept on up the coast before q
low, strofg wind and the next evening
were about seven hours from Cape
Lookout. The captain took his watch
at the wheel at 3 o'clock that night
and I sat In the stern sheets with him,
talking. He seemed slightly worried
that we had not yet sighted the light.
ehip. which Is anchored 20 miles on
shore, south of the Cape, and asked
me to so loft and see IL I could
locate it.
The wind had dropped considerably
in the last 20 minutes. and the sky
was getting black az ink. went aloft
and after about 10 minutes called
down that I could see shore light
flashing about two points on the star.
board bow. We were beginning to roll
heavily and the dir was heavy and
moist. / called down again that there
was only one light. He said nothing,
and /. judging that all was well, went
below and turned In. The ship was
ssill rolling in q heavy swell. and al
though, I felt uneasy 1 dropped on to
sleep almost Immediately.
lT WAS awakened some time that
night by being thrown against the
side of my bunk. / remember strain
| ing my body to keep myself from fall
| ing as the schooner rolled to the other
side. nearly catapulting me upon the
deck OF the cabin. Half asleep, / de-
! cided that a breeze had sprung up
and was CAD. But I wondered why
| the captain did not keep the schooner
| headed more into the wind. / then
dropped off to sleep once more to the
sound of wind whistling through the
! rigging.
An instant later Il seemed dt was
probably several hours), was sharply
| awakened by O shock that threw me
| from my bunk entirely across the
stateroom, and as 1 struggled out of
| the blankets and got to my feet flood
OF water burst open the companion
| hatch and poured down. Before
| could rise again the schooner came
down with a second terrific shock
| upon solid earth, and the captain s