Year: 1859

the forecastle bulk head, in order to make
the sailors hear him. Some of the men
asked leave to 90 down and look after him
but | refused. | threatened to punish the
first man who dared to 90 down.
At noon | went again, and as he did
not answer me this time, resolved that
he should come to the hatchway and ask
for me ere went any more. The day
passed away, and when the evening came
, again began to be startled. thought Of
the many good qualities the boy had
and of his widowed mother. He had been
in the hold thirty six hours, and all of forty
without food or drink. He must be too
weak to cry out now. 1t was hard for me
to give up, but if he died from absolute
starvation, it might go harder with me still.
So, at length, | made up my mind to 90
and see him. 1t was not quite sundown
when had the hatchway taken off, and |
jumped down on the boxes alone. A lit
lie way forward / saw space where Jack
might easily have gone down, and to that
point | crawled on my hands and knees.
called out there, but could hear no an
swer A short distance further was wide
space, which | had entirely forgotten, but
which l now remembered had been left
open on account of break in the flooring
of the hold, which would let have let any
thing that might have been slowed there
rest directly upon the thin planking of the
ship.


i To this place made my way, and look
ed down. l heard .plashing of water.
and thought could detect a sound like
the incoming of tiny jet, or stream. At
first, | could see nothing, but as soon as I
became used to the dim light, l could dis
tinguish the faint outlines of the boy some
distance below me lie seemed to be sit
ting upon the broken floor, with his feet
stretched out against case. | called out
to him and thought he looked up.


Jack are you there 7"


And he answered me in a faint weary
tone:


"Yes, help me. for heauen's sake help
me! Bring men and bring lantern-the
ship has sprung a leak"


| hesitated, and he added in a more eag-
er tone


Make haste-I will try to hold on till
you come back


| waited to hear no more, but hurried
on deck as soon as possible, and returned
with lantern and three men. | leaped
down to the side of the boy, and could
scarcely believe the evidence of my own
senses. Three Of the timbers were com
pletel Y worm eaten to the very heart. and
one Of the outer planks had been broken,
and would burst any moment the boy
might leave it, whose feet were braced
against the caak before him. Ualf-a dozen
little Jets of water were streaming i'll about
him, and he was wet to the skin. | saw
that the plank must burst in the moment
the strain was removed from it, 50 | made
my men brace themselves against it before
| lifted him up. Other men were cal ed
down with planks, and spikes. and adzes,
and with much care and much trouble, we
finally succeeded in stopping the leak and
averting the danger. The plank which
had been stove in was six feet long by
eight inches wide, and would have let in a
stream of water Of that capacity. 1t would
have been beyond our reach long before
we could have discovered it, and would
have sunk us in a very short time.
knew it must be where the iceberg struck
| us


Jadk Withers was taken to the cabin
and managed to tell his story. Shortly
after | put him in the hold he crawled for
ward, and then he became used to the din
gIimmer that came through the dead
lights looked about for a snug place in
, which to lie, for his limbs were stiff and
sore. lie went to sleep, and when he
awoke ne heard a faint sound like water
streaming through small hole He went
to the open place in the cargo, and looked
down, and he was sure he saw small lei
of water springing up from the ships bot
tom. He leaped down and in few min
utes found that the timbers had given
wholly away and the stream as increasing
in size. He placed his hand upon the
plank and found it broken, and also discov
cred that the pressure of the water with.
out was forcing it inward. He had sense
, enough to see that if it gained an incl
more it must all go, and the ship be los
and perhaps all hands perish. He saw too
that if he could keep the broken plank il
] its place, he might stop the incoming flood
So he sat himself upon it and braced hi
feet against the cask and then called 70
t help. But he was so far away, so low down
|, with such a dense mass of the cargo abou
him, that his voice scarcely reached othe
! ears than his own. Some of the men hearC
| him, but they thought he was talking tt
himself.


r And there he sat with his feet braced
for four-and twenty dreary hours, with th'
| water squirting in tiny streams all owe
, him, drenching him to the skin. He hac
thought several times of going to tn hatch
ing and calling for help, but be knew tha
, the broken plank would be forced in if h
left it. for be could feel it heave beneath
him. His strength was failing him-hi:
limbs were racked with pain-but h
would not give it up. | asked him if HI
should not have given up if had not come
as did. He answered that he could no
have dohe it, while he had life in him. II.
said be thought not of himseIf-he VIZ.
, ready to debut he would save the res
, if he could-and he had saved US, surely
saved us all from watery grave.
3 The boy lay sick in the cabin many
I davs-sick almostunto death hut 7 nurcad