THE LAST MAN ON BOARD.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume I, Issue 2, 17 April 1880, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE LAST MAN ON BOARD.

, " Caught at last, Jaok. The old craft's bound to drive ashore in half an hour, and then there'll be wet jackets for as all I"

" Ay, ay, Bill, my boy ; and it jist sarves us right for shippin' aboard a ten-gun brig. They, always has bad luok, they has I" So muttered the two veteran sailors, aB the stanoh little cruiser, whirled onward like a feather by, wind and sea, drifted nearer and nearer to the huge black olifia wMofy through blinding splay and deepening storm, loomed out plainer^and , : plainer upon, the I6e bow. The fieao'ir&had indeed made her last voyage. All her boats had been stove in ; masts and rigging had long since been torn away by the furious.. gale, or hacked, off by. the crew themselves ; and the cruel rooks upon which the ''helpless vessel was dri-ving-'hfeadlong would have crashed the timbers' ' of CJC J the Btrongest seventy-four like an egg-shell. . , But; with death- gaping for them every moment; not a man flinched. The captain gave Ms orders, and the crew obeyed, them, as coolly as if running into port on a fine summer morning. Bat the end came at last. One mighty shook, wMoh, threw every man off his feet, a terrible crash, a giddy rebound, and then the doomed brig settled-right down upon a sunken reef, with that tearing, grinding noise whioh no one who has onoe heard it oan easily forget.

" She'll move no more now till she breaks up altogether," said the captain, quietly, " so we must jast think of saving ourselves, Any chance of a line -from the shore, Mr. Rogers ? You know this coast well." " None, sir, I'm afraid," answered the first offioer.who was standing near him. " There's neither rooket nor life-boat within several miles, and no boat could oome out in the teeth of the sera.'.'

At that moment a red light blazed up from the olifl overhead, and the whole scene started into view at once. The great wall, of black rook, with the sea-birda flapping and shrieking around it; the narrow strip of beach below, crowded with anxious watchers; the quaint little fishing village, with its rude'huts built of driftwood or broken atones; the stranded ship and her. .crew, every faoe and every rope standing out distinct in the light of the beacon ; and all around, the tossing waves, which, reddened by that unearthly glare, seemed to cast up a spray, of- fire againßt the gloomy sky. It was plain that the vessel must break up before very long. The captain looked keenly toward the shore for a moment, and then turned to hiß men* " My lads," cried he, " there is some chance for us yet. They can't, get a boat oat to us, but we may get a line to them, for the tide's setting strongly in-shore. Twenty pounds to the man who will swim ashore with a rope." THe offer sounded like a bitter inookery, for to.face that sea- appeared nothing Icbs than certain death. The words were hardly spoken, however, when a mau stepped forward and touched hiß wet forelook to the captain, who started as he recognised him.' And well he might, for tMs man was the "black sheep" of the whole crew, and had been brought up for punishment (not for the first time) a few dayß before. " What ! you, Thompson?" "Ay,ifs me, your honour!" answered the man, with a grim smile, aa he knotted , the rope around Ids waist. '' Yer honour told, only f other day as I was a disgrace to ' the ship, ,:o mayhap the old craft'll be well rid "of me 1" — For a moment -the captain's lrWfatie ;worked as no one had ever seen it yet; and then, without a word, he held out' Ms hand. The other grasped it for an instant in a grip like a smith's vyce, and then, watching Ms opportunity, plunged into the roaring sea. Then came a long- and terrible >pause. Every man on board held' -his breath, while straining his .eyes into the boiling whirl o£ foam below. Ohco,- a few of "the keenest sighted among them thought they caught sight of the sailor's black head in the midst of the white, seething breakers; but the next moment a mountain wave rolled in and covered all. Had the daring swimmer succeeded, or had he perished in the attempt ? No one could Bay. There are very few things more difficult, or requiring more skill and judgment, than to carry a rqpe ashore in a stormy sea. To a landsman it may seem merely a question of breasting the waves between one. point and another; but such is by no means the case. To avoid a wave/ or to *take advantage of it; to know when to escape. , by diving, when to rise on the crest of a billow as it breaks ; to husband one's strength' at one moment, and put it forth, to the utmost at another— all tMs must be thought of, in the very crisiß of the peril, -if the 'task iB to be achieved at all. Suddenly a cheer comes pealing from the shore, .bo loud and' hearty <aB to be, heard above all the roar of the storm, ;and it is repeated again and again, till every cranny of the great oliff seems alive with echoes. , "He must ha' done it, sir," says the boatBwain to the first officer, "for I feel the rope pomin' taut in my hands.",, '. ' enough, in another moment the narrow black line stood dearly- out .against the ghostly wMte of the sea , for aome. distance from -the wreck, although farther out it was completely hidden by the leaping waves. "Now, my lads," cried Captain. Hardy, "off with you, and mind you hold fast. If we wera boarding an enemy I wouldn't ask you to go first ; but. tMfl,is a different thing ; I don't take my foot of these planks till every other man has left them \ so the sooner you all get ashore, the leas time you'll keep me waiting. 1 ' . The concluding joke, grim as it was, touched his hearers in the right place. They answered him with a cheer, and at once began '--'to push " -themselves - off upon their perilous journey. "More than once a. stifled cry. was beard from the depth of the darkness, as a furious wave tore some* poor follow; from the slippery cord, and whirled Mm. away to destruction ; but the '-.greater part-reached . the shore in safety, hailed by the lusty cheers of the fishermen. After. the turn of the men came that of the officers. One by. one they cleared the deadly space,- till the 'only man left upon the wreck was the captain himself. All at once a terrible cry was heard,and the first offioer, turning hastily, saw the rope tossing loose upon the waves'. *It had snapped in. the middle !> - . "God- help mun/' muttered an old fisherman, sadly; "it be a' over wi' mun now!"-" J "What?" shouted Thompson*' starting Sap from the weir shingles,' upon wMch he had; I>,eeh lying exhausted. -."All-over .with 1 him, d?ye say? Not while we have hands of our. own anyhow !" j '** Why, Bill, what's' got you.? " cried one pf his comrades, jokingly. 111I 1 1 heerd you say," myßelf, only last Treeky as .you'd'glve a year' a. fay to see the old man in ascrape its he couldn't get out of!" ] ;<'And.whatVthat T ?",retortea i tlie other. Savagely. . " D'ye -think Bill : Thompson's the one to remember any flich foolery irben there's a brave man dyin* right afore Ms very eyes? I tell ye, he giv'.me his hand ]»f ore the whole- ship's company,- jist as -if him and me warn't cap'n and ir.B. , at all, but man and man ; and Til help him somehow, if I die for it l"~ ' V"Ee best atfbrare lad," said one of the fishermen, approvingly.;^ "but -boat ncr line (ban never reach' yon man now* God htf merer npori'mutfi toxi T *■ "■' '

I " And bo we're all to git safe ashore, and leave our cap'n behind to drown!" cried a bailor, fiercely. " That 'ad be a nice piece for English blue-jackets to tell, wouldn't at P Mates, ore we men P or are we a pack jO skulkers as oughtn't nerer to shotf their jfabes on bine water agin P Who'll help me ' (to take a boat ont to him ?" { "I will!" "Andll" », "And l!" -" Come along, .then VI "Bide ye, bide ye, lads! 11 cried the old ' fishermai ; '* Wil do nought o' good thiik'' ", way. ButTlLtell 'cc* what ye need do, if the wind '-ud only shift a or two to' bhe eastward,' asit do'Beem to be for doin'." "It is shifting;, l eee^it!?' exolaimed Thompson, eagerly. " What are we to do, aaddy?Toll ua ' - '"Ec see yon pint?" stia the veteran*' indicating the soeky headland that closed in ■ the bay to the east. "When the wind f be" icmtbiand-by west,' it do mak' a cborrerit > loroafrthe bajs right down to the rooks where the vessel be lyin' ; 'cc mcd get to man bo.?' . The impatient orewbarely gave him rtime'< lo (finish. One universal hurrah shook the jair, and in an instant these braised, half. ■ drowned; starving men,— who' had seemed ' hardly able to stand' a few mjriutea. before, were running like madmen toward the point;where they scarcely waited to let the wind change sufficiently for their purpose before lauriohing a boat and pulling f urioußly toward the wreok. ' -

Meanwhile, how fared it with the , doomed ', Captain ? Perhaps even his stout heart may « have failed for a moment, at the thoaght;'6f x his 1 young -wife far away on the sunny" SMt- " jish shore, and the two little girls who .were praying that "papa might oome safe baok > from' sea," white he stood 'there alone with'; death. Bat; whatever might be ;the perif, that threatened him, there was no « white ■ feather " about Captain Biohard Hardy; and the eyes that had faced without'flinchihg'! the gunning muzzles' of French' cannon, looked justas fearlessly upon the gnashingwaves. Suddenly a load hurrah came rolling' 'over ' the' wild « sea, and the ' rising moon, ; breaking for . a moment through 'the inky > mavses of cloud, showed him a boat ooming (straight toward Mm, in the bow of which sat*, [the soape-graoe Thompson, bending to his :oar with the strength/of a giant. •> > And as. they he 'bould hear" ■beneath his'feßt' the rending of the timbers, < 'and the gurgle.bf the fatal water as it poured^ in, keeping time to the oar strokes of his deliverers. • ■■-.• . , " Prill',, boyB.I" roared Thompson; "will yer let Mm drown afore yer eyes ?" ' At that momenta mountain-wave .broke, over the wreok, completely burying it for an. instant. 1 A terrifio crash waß heard; and when the spray had cleared, it was seen that the 1 vessel had 1 parted amidships, and that the whole after-part was dean gone. The bow,' however, still held firm,'and upon it, shadow- 4 like fin ! the -fitful moonlight, stood' the dark ' •figure of the Captain, • 1 " Hold up, your honour," shouted Thpmpv son ; " another'mihute, tod' you're saved 1", Bat it is often that " other minute" whioh makes all- the difference. Jußt as the boat' iran alongside the wreok,' another tremendous Bea'overwhelm^d both. There ; was a eeoond, crash louder than' the Jiret, .and nothing' remained of the strong' chip bat' a tossing chaosof broken timbers. 1 1 c ' ' But where. wati' the Captain ? Aiuld trliß bUilQlbg epiay miii the SioStSxAog ' uproar, no one but the man beside him; noticed Bill Thompson twist a rope around' Mb left arm, and" plunge. into the sea. Bat the next moment his .call-wad heard from the' imidat of themasri of 'floating wreok ; and Ms! loomradefl, hauling, in the line, brought -with. jit Captain Hardy, senseless from the blow 6f ia falling 'splinter, -and Thompson' Mmtjelf,. bleeding. freely from a terrible gash in the .forehead. . I And now came the hardest part of the i work. To return to the point againet the' ■current was* simply impossible ; their only^ fohance was to head- straight' for the' eibom, right through the worst fury of the breakers s " ;More than once all seemed over with them 1 ?' .but the old fisherman who" steered wa£~as cool and steady as if only, on a pleasure-trip/ heeding the^eas that almost filled the boatno more than drops of rain. yThe : momerit iher keeMonohed the sana! a score ol strong: I hands were ready to drag them beyond the; reaoh of the waves, while a louder oheer than 1 ' , allburst forth when it was seen that not one 1 i man' was missing., , - ' , Years later, when Commodore Sir Bichafd; Hardy retired from the Bervioewith| pension" ' and a* baronetiy to console him "for . the; loss r of his left*arm,;Tie was never seen unattended^ by his confidential servant, aßhorti'thibk-fleti', man,with a> deep soar acroHs'Msij.fpreheadii • whose f avouriti9 o af ter-ainnerTatoiry was "how < me and Ms honour was prettynigh Swamped; ; 'bout tweiity-five -years tigorwlien the .old aedbird went ashore in Bidgembuht Bay.'?— DoM Km. ' „.■ I - j - J -- • - •_.*

1 , Blasting Saltpktbe.— A mixture -of coal, i sulphur, and soda-saltpetre/called "blasting [saltpetre'," has' been^intrbduced !6r blasting ( purposes' in the Saarbruek coal-pits /and rock-salt mines of Stettinfin Germany. It: is mrieh cheaper than ordinary* gunpowder,-: and its blasting power is equally great, but^ jit is apt to suffer frorn'moisture; : Its chief reoommendation,' however, lies' in the faot sthat it is not exploded by mechanical snooks, 'and . oan therefore ' easily be oonveyed by irail;' moreover; it burns quietlyVon being ignited in an open space. , : You meet a fair-faced woman with a voice as sweet as music and as soft as cream; a spine' that lends'itself- to nothing' but graceful curves'and the, very poetry of flexibility,; a manner that is" simply per-) f ection -in its -happy 1 union of • caressing .tenderness with personal aignity~of sympathy for' you with respect for herself .- There, you say, is at last your ideal'realisedr ' We is your supreme; your absolute, y'oue perfect woman ; the hope of your life in th' - nesh ; your dream" started into being- to^be. 'weighed and'meaauredr— to be tested by ttte . 'senses and approved by the reaeon — to be loved and known and loved the more tbtf, ibetter it is known." Come near to. her as. a> friend, if 'yon are a, woman or she- married '—marry her yourself if you be single andY you are**.* man — and '-their prove "by that" 'unerring test of familiarity, aid tiie dress-ing-gown and slippers • of home, of what ? real material I ' your idol'is"made and what is 'her intrinsic value." She ''may stand the Itest— some do, but at the best with Jonly indifferent-tsuccess, ''being 1 humain— or she: may fall1» pieces like a "wooden doll glued at the joints -and. not warranted to wash.' lYou find the sweet voice to be due only'to: 'a happy arrangement of the vocal chords,- ; wbile underneath- its eiver lies the rust of■uncharitable Burmise and the venom of ; jealous slander; you find the grace to be; 'simply mechanical, and the caressing manner the result of training and the love of ■praise ; but the sharp- speech, to the maidcr iis natural, aud'the coldness to her husband,! iher children, 'her family, and' old friends exactly balances her accent of tendernesa to' 'her new acquaintances as her 'indifference, "to.love matches are craving for admiration. Ypufindher, ina word, beautiful only to look at. when' full dressed 7 while in. the familiar intimacy of home, she iraowhere- ; in', the calendar. ; of perfected- saints- and realised tdealst~2Vttf»; •"■" -