The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1954-02-19

would be the last, as that old
house of ours wasn't any too
strong. 1t kept up for eight solid
hours. Along about two o'clock
that night Father Jack, who had
lain down upstairs, had a night
mare. Youngun, he almost scared
all hands of us to death. Brother
Wild (short for Dinwiddie) pulled
him out of bed and Sister Beck
(short for Rebecca) threw pit
cher of water in his face. During
all this time, mind you, the wind
and rain was roaring so loud we
could hardly hear each other talk.
Finally we brought him out of
his fit and he told us his dream.
He said he had dreamed of ''go-
ing down to the sea and behold
ing a terrible disaster with hun
dreds of people washed up on the
sand and that he had picked up
an infant only to discover it was
drowned AS he stood there on
the beach holding the child in his
arms, the sea had turned itself
into a horrible monster and was
reaching out with clutching
hands trying to grasp him and
pull him in with the rest of the
drowned"
While we were listening to
this story, continued Kade, liter
ally hair on end, and mouth
agape, there came a knocking at
the door, and when brother Wild
opened the door, there stood as
fine a figure of a drowned man
as ever l laid eyes on. Before
anyone had a chance to speak to
him, he turned loose the door
knob and pitched head foremost
on the floor, landing about two
feet from where I was sitting on
a stool in the corner of the fire
place. The men folk managed TO
get him over by the fire and
thaw him out. 1t was fully half
hour before he was able to speak
He told us that he had just wash
ed ashore from a steamer that
had struck the beach about five
miles away and he believed that
everybody aboard was drowned
Upon reaching the beach, he had
seen a dim light in the distance
and had walked toward it unit l
reaching the woods where he lost
, light of it. He had CROPPED around
, n the dark until he spied the
light in our window. He said the
, steamer had sprung leak after
rounding Cape Hatteras and the
captain had run her ashore in a
! futile effort to save the passen-
gers and crew. Her name was the
Steamboat Home" bound from
New York to Charleston, with
about a hundred and fifty pas
, sengers aboard.
After his clothes had dried and
: we had given him some hot cof-
{ fee and bite to eat, he told us
: the whole story. He introduced
himself as Mr.. Hussy and while
, we drew our chairs up close to
r him he told us the story. I'VE
f left New York last Saturday."
/. said he. The weather was plea
4 SAINT and all on board appeared
/ to enjoy in anticipation a delight
| full and prosperous passage. On
: eaving the warf, cheerfulness
S appeared to fill the the hearts
| and enliven the countenances
l Of our floating community. AL
ready conjectures had been haz-
| arded as to the time of our arri-
l val at the destined port, and high
r hopes were entertained of an ex-
{ peditious and pleasant voyage.
5 Before six o'clock a check to
r these delusive expectations, by
: the boat being run aground on
| the Roamer Reef Shoal near
4 Sandy Hook. 1t being ebb tide,
, it was found impossible to get
= OAA ES4O1C lIlG IlCAL 1lOOu, con-
. sequently the fires were allowed
: to burn out, and the boat re-
| NAMED until the flood tide took
, her off, which was between ten
and eleven o'clock at night, max
| ing the time of detention about
four hours. AS the weather was
. perfectly calm, it cannot reason
ably be supposed that the boat
. could have received any material
injury from this accident, for
; during the time that it remained
aground it had no other motion
than an occasional roll on the
keel from side to side. The night
continued pleasant.
. The next morning Sunday a
moderate breeze prevailed from
the Northeast. The sails were
spread before the wind, and the
speed of the boat, already rapid,
was much accelerated. All went
on pleasantly till about noon,
, when the wind had increased,
; and the set became rough. At
sunset the wind blew heavily,
and continued to increase during
the piobf A. Iax,l;obt ~, NEoy,