Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1929-08-01
t**## # + ~ + ~ II f. ~ #4****
COUNT LUCKNER]
+ THE SEA DEVIL
BY LOWELL THOMAS !


curean delcacies. That night the
mess was fiji for the table OF royal
palace-turtle soup with turtle eggs
broiled lobster. omeettes of gulIs
eggs. roast pork. and for dessert. fresh
coconut.
For days we lived a delightful po
etie life. dining In way that million
aires could moi afford We smoked
quantities of fish and pork and slowed
ii away. We found fresh water on
the Island and reillled our thinks Our
traces of scurvy and beri heri dlsap-
neared. ind we were rapidly getting
rendy TO continue our cruase and work
Of havoc In Australian waters.
On the second OF August. we made
ready to leave the ship for another
day ashore. Al ninethirty | noticed
strange bulge on the eastern rim Of.
The sea. | called my officers attention
to 1t. At first we thought II mirage
But II kept growing larger. II came.
toward us. Then we recognized It
a tidal wave such us Is caused by sub
nnrlne earthquake and volcanic dis
turbances. The danger was only toe
clear. We lay between the island and
the wuve.
"Cuf the anchor cable. Clear the
motor All hands on deck"
We dared not raise sail, for then
the wind would drive US on the rect
So our only hope OF getting clear OF
the island was our motor. The huge
swell OF the tidal wave was rushing
toward us with breakneck speed.
The motor didn't stir The nIechan
les were working trantically They
pumped compressed air into the en-
CINE. We waited In vain for the
sound Of the ignition Now. right al
the. critical moment, our motor had
failed us, just as Il had so often tailed
us before. BY this time. the tidal
wave was only few hundred yards
away We were lost To our fright
ened eyes II looked like whole noun
tain range Of water. Ii must have
been thirty or forty feet high. II came
rushing with roar that drowned oul
our voices
A gigantic. violent hand seemed to
grasp the ship. The wave swung hef
on high and threw her forward. II
lung us crashing on The coral reef
Our masts aud rigging went over.
broken like matchsticks. The shatter
Ing impact of the ship smashed iht
| coral, and pieces flew In all directions
| like shrunnel from an exploding shell
| The swirling water seized great pieces
OF coral and whipped them around
beating them against the ship. The
| Seeadler mud heeled over until her
| deck was almost perpendicular. The
| water swept over the deck. and the
| chunks OF coral. chung TO an Iron
post near the lower rail. The rail
| saved me from tile TONS OF shattered
coral that were hurled up by the blow
Of the falling ship. In a moment, tho
wave had ehbed away. leaving US higr
| and dry. Ii had passed over the cir
cling rect and tile lagoon. though moi
over the main pnrt of the island. And
on Its way II had swept hundreds Of
thousands Of birds nests into the la
COON.
arose, scarcely knowing whether
was nive or dead, and stood alone
with one foot on my sIanting deck, ant
the other on the rail-. For moment
thought wins the only one saved.
"Ruys. where are your" | shaMe'
weakly.
Here" came the reply, "stlll stand
Ing like m oak"
My men and the prisoners had tnk
en- refuge In the bow and had heel
sheltered by The rail- as ! Ind been
Not q one was injured. For that a
least we could he thankful. For thu
and moi much else The Seeadler wa
n total wreck The Jagged coral Wa
rammed deep into our hull.
we stand like nD~ oak | adnpte
the reply of my sailors as our mott
hencefnrth. We were castaways o
this coral alol In one of the lonelies
and least visited reaches OF the Snut
Pacific. Everything lost. hui we stan
like an oak"
fTO BE CONTiNuED1