Evening star., 1942-09-27

JrleQ TO c1mO onto 1t, or not. The
only thing recall is that the raft
Topped over, and I was mighty
anxious to get on 1t.
The handrail ran along the side,
and the boys, across from me, had
a grip on it. The raft weighed only
40 pounds, and their weight tipped
it right over again on top of them.
My work had been done for Moth
ing.
BY this time we had been f1oun-
dering and coughing In the water
for quite while, and were all
exhausted. So then we calmed down
and hung onto the handrail to rest.
Gene Spoke First.
1t was quite dark now, but our
eyes were becoming accustomed to
1t and we could see quite well, as
any one can after a few minutes in
what at first seems to be pitch
blackness.
Gene spoke arst.
There's a way to get this thing
over" he said. still q little short
Of breath.
Those deliberate words, spoken in
slow Missouri drawl with no more
or less concern than If he were
laboring over recalcitrant moving
machine on his fathers farm,
brought our problem back to mat
ter -of-factness.
We've got to stop and dope us
out scheme" I said.
Tony chimed In.
"All right, he said, blowing sea
water from his lips, how about we
take off our blouses, tie 'em to-
gether, tie one end to the line on
one side Of the boat, throw that
up across the bottom Of the boat,
then we all 60 to the other side
and pull, and see If we can't turn
her over that way"
The minute he said it. I knew
that was the right answer, and
was chagrined that hadn't thought
Of 1t myself.
So we tied the blouses together
as Tony had suggested. worked
around to the other side and pulled,
and booml-over she came. with q
homely thwack on the water.
"You stay here and hold her
down, while I get aboard on the
other side" I said.
In the raft, I pulled the boys
aboard by the wrists one at q time.
and for the moment our troubles
were over I looked around and
reflected that 1t was swell to be
alive, though why should have
thought that then I don't know.
All Were Confident.
AS we huddled together In the
darkness trying to keep warm while
the wind held our clammy clothes
against us, we were not down.
hearted. I had confidence in the
RATS ability to stay afloat, and
the boys were sure we would be
rescued in the morning. There was
much complaining over the loss Of
our cigarettes and matches, which
had, OF course, been ruined in our
long immersion I, too, would have
liked cigarette, but most of all
wanted cup Of hot coffee.
We settled down to rest as best
we could until dawn, but we soon
learned that we could not sleep.
The raft was only feet long by 8
feet wide. With its sides inflated
like tires, it resembled an oblong
doughnut. The dimensions inside
were 80 inches by 40 inches. We
discovered almost at once that it
was impossible for three men to
dispose this space so that any one
of us would be comfortable.
Tony lay most of the night in the
bottom of the boat, his spirits SEEM
ing to rise and fall like the sea be-
meath us. Sometimes he would talk
cheerfully, almost gaily, and then
he would lapse into a depressing 81
lence, in which his gloomy thoughts
could be felt by Gene and me, as
we felt the darkness of the night.
Gene perched on the gunwale, oc-
casionally moving restleSsly. He