Evening star., 1942-10-14

reached an island, and we had not
abandoned hope Of being picked up
by some ship of our own forces.
Things hadn't got really bad up to
this stage.
By now, food was almost our en-
tire theme of conversation. Early
morning, late afternoon and night,
Gene and Tony could talk for hours
about the different dishes they had
eaten, aa1d their preferences as cooks.
This particular topic was becoming
tiresome to me. and I jioned in but
seldom. Most of the time I was not
enthusiastic about talking, prefer
ring just to sit and watch the waves.
I begap to feel as If had been
floating forever in a desert of sky
and sea, adrift in blue globe that
never changed. wondered how it
would feel again to walk broad
deck. tried to remember, and it
was like reaching for the memory
of a story told in childhood, or
things half recollected from
dream. I thought of my wife at
Calavo, and of .shipmates, and of
planes that 1 had flown. And I
thought of the afterhfe. and what
1t would be like to die.
I thought of the sea, but not
as an enemy; was unable to per-
sonalize so vast thing. The sea
was everything; 1t was all, it was
big as-as God.
A Heavy Storm.
We still had water, because we
rationed 1t by sips. In the middle
Of the day, when the sun was so
incredibly hot that we felt as if
we were chained beneath a canopy
Of flame. taste of water was
mighty refreshing.
We had strong breeze out of
the west for some time. Then, on
the 25th day. we again had the
terrifying experience of a sudden
Shift of wind, this time from due
west to southwest.
Noon was overtaking us when the
sky began to cloud Some distance
to our left an ominously rolling mass,
almost jet black, appeared in the
misty gray, and for the first time
we heard thunder. The sea was
growing dark and rising uneasily.
The black cloud spat a thin stream
OF electric flame. long, thin and
forked. It darted like a snakes
tongue, licking the sea. The burnt
air cracked, and the sharp burst of
thunder made us jump. The sound
seemed to smack on every wave
and surround us in diminishing leaps
and finally die unwillingly.
The powerful swells were coming
faster and dangerously high. The
rising wind seemed to be blowing
toward the center of the squall, and
1t whipped the water like an egg
beater. driving swift, pointed waves
crosswise into the mighty swells
which now were towering above our
heads. The raft was bouncing like
a child's ball on a rubber string.
The massive swells pushed us up and
up; as they passed beneath we
dropped sickeningly, bobbed in the
depths Of the trough and started
to rise again with frightening speed.
All this time cross-waves were
smashing against the gunwales,
sending us lurching drunkenly side
wise.
The Raft Capsizes.
Like a great slap in the face, the
rain hit. 1t drove down violently. in
solid masses. We couldn't bail for
the moment but huddled together
on one side with our backs to the
wind and rain, holding the life pre-
servers over our heads with both
hands. We found, too late this
time, that it didn't pay to sit to-
gether. with our weight all on one
side. The lighter side was in the
air: a wave struck the under edge
with loud boom, and the next in
slant we were in the water, the raft
nying through the air over our
heads. - !.
saw a flash of white-our rags
for catching water 1 let the bows
look out for themselves and made
a wild grab for the rags. I got both
OF them as the raft fell back and hit
me on the shoulder. 1t was upside
down.
The boys didn't have their life
jackets on. but since the boat, do
ing a oop-the-loop, fell right on
top OF us, 1t was just case of grab
blng and holding on while the waves
beat us and blinded us and tried
to pull us away.
l remember being worried about
the possibility of sharks. You think
OF such things automatically. They
run through your mind in a way, but
you don't realize this. until it is all
over and the danger is past.
1t was fairly easy to right the
boat this time. We made the wind
assist us. The raft was so light
that we merely had to raise the side
facing into the wind and the wind
swept under and blew it right over,
just as 1t had done a moment ago
when we were in 1t.
We were so concerned about get
ting back into the boat that I don't
remember that the effort was par
ticularly exhausting. When we did
| SC1 IA, AAOWCVcT, we COUlQ 90 nOtnlng
for few minutes but sit and blow,
so evidently there was more exertion
than we realized while we were
doing 1t.
Storm Goes Quickly.
The full realization of our close
call struck us now. Sopping wet,
storm tossed and still being beaten
by the rain as If With whips, we
shook all over in the nervous re-
action.
We squatted in the corners of the
boat. holding on for our lives, our
heads down before the fury of the
storm. We had the presence of
mind. though. to see that our weight
was dispersed so that the raft would
ride as evenly as waves and wind
allowed. Thus we rode out the gale
and survived our closest brush with
death to date.
When the rain stopped we raised
our dripping heads and were sur
prised to see that the clouds had
broken, a mile or so away, and the
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