Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-07

in this position and, standing thus, my
range of vision was the entire horizon.
/ Protecting my eyes as best I could,
shot a sweeping glance to starboard
and I'll give you my word that first
! glance was all-suffiCient What I saw
was hazy cluster of lights, promptly
recognized it as the glare of an APP
| preaching river steamer.
needed no further confirmation
fully to understand that was now in
the most precarious position ever. I
had a fair understanding Of my ap-
proximate location and realized that I
| was, generally speaking, directly in the
ships channel.
The desperate situation that now
confronted me, realized, was no play
| thing. Instantly J. resolved to swing
away and go before the gale.
In a split second after / hauled the
wheel hard-a-starboard the Jewel fell
heavily into. the first trough. Then /
found it necessary to set my teeth hard
as she was raised aloft to the very wave
crown as though poised on the demon
finger of destruction; wild leap, then
an awful crash as she plunged to the
bottom of that monster trough, and
from stem to stern post that faithful
little ship, trembled like a wounded deer.
To this day maintain a firm belief
that the entire starbcard cabin side
withstood that unmerciful compact only
through the aid of the heavy cargo
packed against it inside. .
i was duly thankful that the fates
had permitted us successfully to pass
this ordeal. But while my sorely tried
spirits began to return to normal, no.
ticed that the menacing steamer glare
seemed dangerously close. / resolved to
reduce that hazard by forcing the
steamer to locate me.
would have to resort to stratagem, I
knew, for the inside lantern would serve
me in that gale just about as long as a
candle. Determined to be seen, I rolled
a jumper and tied it with wire. This
made quite ball. I placed this in a
deck bucket and saturated it with all
the gasoline it would absorb Lighting
this outside the door, promptly threw
that fireball high in the air. Oh boy,
what a response! Almost instantly I
was as blind as bat Holy smoke,
what q searchlight beam they shot at
mel 1t was fortunate thing that
that ruse worked, for that formidable
brute was in closer proximity to me
than I had supposed.
X n X
THE steamer kept flashing the search
u light on me at intervals, but all
danger had passed, for they had hauled
up on their course, and / was to quickly
learn why. had no sooner returned
to the wheel and steadied the Jewel on
| her course with the compass than the
/ hurricane struck; and Ill promise you
it struck In the full sense Of the word
Heavens, wasn't I thankful was all
ready before It'll I mean to convey to
you the fact that 1t seemed to lift us
clear of the water for moment while
1t shook us much as terrier would a
rat. Rainl wondered II 1t ever had
rained before! My field of vision was
instantly reduced to a bare 10 feet. I
was simply going it wild now. The
question uppermost in my mind was
Just how far from land could be?
reasoned that / was approximately a
mile almost due west from my coveted
refuge. I ventured this guess as a nat
ural deduction from the length of time
had been travelling, plus the course I
had pursued.
Despite my desperately won battle
thus far, fully realized l was still in
great danger of being sacrificed on this
last lap. to losing finish At my pres
ent Roadway it would require little time
| lot Jne JeWel eltIleT W SHdSu W Iler
doom on that fatal lee shore or, with
| the best possible good fortune, glide into
| a perfect haven OF safety.
In all my 80 years of life on the wave
| it was a "cinch" I had never been so
relentlessly entertained as on this never
| to-be- forgotten night. However, was
| fully alive to the all-important fact that
was now on the last lap OF this in
| comparable experience.
| 1 turned to the faithful clock, having
been too actively entertained to observe
it before, and was not q little surprised
| to learn that 1t was not later than 1:20;