Children's Page

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 21, 25 May 1907, Page 40

Children's Page

On Stonivtossed Seas. fxiiuxg adventure of the st hooner eaielixe. ■'•J..ml. sharp!” It was live o'clock in the morning. Captain Ben Treat stood in dirppiug oilskins by the windlass of the selrion et l‘i in-line, titling out the wild Februar. tjale that had roared down all night in the North Sea. As be heard this warning shout from Sam Lombard, who was holding by the throat-halyards on the fore-gait, ten feet above deck, he hugged his left arm rightly round the bitts, and. strengthened his grasp <>u the axe that lay over his right shoulA huge green roller reared its crest in front of the bowsprit. The schooner rose abruptly, and .surged back from the ns-anlt of the sea. The nine-inch Manila (able, twanged like a big violin string, and in the lantern light front •the fore-rigging dwindled a third under the tremendous strain. (her the bow burst a foaming deluge. < apt a in Ben. buried deep, hung on for dear lite, while the torrent swept stemward and out through the shattered bulwarks. Then he pulled himself together. and relaxed his hold. It was perhaps his hundredth experience of the sort in the last seven hour-. ■■Light on the -tarlmard bowl” Although he was 'only ten feet away. Lombard's hoarse voice sounded faintly in the roaring gale. The captain glanced to the right with eyes aching and sh< ( dimmed. A grey unsubstantial wraith, the smothered star between her for, peak-halyards dimly revealing rope nnd -par, flitted by at a ten knot gait, and was lost in the gloom a-tern. Thirty such .spec Ires, some running before the wind with the peak of a three-reef.-4 foresail, some scudding under bare poles, had passed to port and starboard sii.ee -three o'clock, their cables parted by stress of storm or cut in fear of collision, strewing the sea bottom with hundreds of pounds in good hemp and anchors. At sunset one hundred and twenty sail had lain moored on the fishing flanks in a five mile citric. The Emeliue was near the southern ■errcWnifereme. so that, when the north-east gale bm -f at nine-o’clock the great er part of the fleet lay to windward of her. She was directly in I lie path i drifli ig or rum-uig vessels. A- Hie violence of the wind ar I sea steadily increased the captain set a double watch, and stationed himself by the windlass with a sharp axe. ready to cut his cable at short notice. There lie .stood i ,r liour-, his lav stung by the shot. hearing the blast. whistling thr <ig’i the shrouds and the h lyaids slapping the masts, while Th* e hooner plunged heavily from crest to trough and laboured up from trough to crest. The- breaking seas drem-lied him with brim-: again au.l again he wa-i ahno-it swept olf bis feet. At four in the moi aing it was filming a hurra me; tlio V. "el- to windward that bad held on all night began to part and cut th ir cables, and drift down on tin Emelit.e. • A s, liooner, broadside en. a little ‘o p. it!" (up tain Ben strained his eyes tin. -ugh the smother, and grasped his

axe more tightly. Heaved on an immense billow and blowing down upon him., he saw another schooner. The stranger was coming at a sixknot rate, absolutely helpless. The crew lined her rail. To ent would mean that ho must lose many pounds’ value in cable and anchor, be blown miles to leeward of the fishing-grounds, and run for harbour to rent. If he did not ent, and a collision resulted, thirty lives and more than £4oi>o would be sacrificed. In such a disaster both vessels generally go down with every man or hoard. The captain hesitated, weighing the chances. Nearer drifted the schooner. Now she was only thirty feet from the end of his bowsprit. A great wave lifted her so that ho could almost look nuder her keel. "Cut. eap'n. cut''' shouted Lombard in alarm. But still the captain waited. His experienced eye saw that the drifting hull would not touch his vessel. But the long main-boom, extending 20 feet beyond the other’s stern, was almost ■sure to rake his rigging. It was a -question which would yield first—spruce or hemp. The craft were now close together. He swung the axe above his head. One blow ■and the humming cable would spring asunder. "Cut! tut! - ’ yelled Lombard again. But Captain Beu had decided to match his foreshrouds against the dancing par. Down past the Emeline's bowsprit swept the newcomer, her boom-tip gyrating wildly. The captain held his breath, almost regretting his decision. Four feet from the end the boom struck against the shrouds. The stout ropes buckled, but held. With a sharp cricking the stick broke short off in the slings about 20 feet from its tip, dropped down, and swung again: t the stranger'.- quarter, suspended by the topping-lift and swashing sail. A moment later she was swallowed by the darkness. Captain Ben lint little time to congratulate himself on his escape. As he and Lombard peered after the vanishing schooner, a big roller, sweeping down unperceived, broke over the bow. The captain turned just in time to see it hanging over his head. Dropping the axe, lie clutched at the bitts with both bauds.;, but .the briny deluge struck him in the breast, and rolled him over and over down tlie passage between the “gurry - kids" and the starboard rail. As the captain caught bis breath, and rubbed his eyes, clear, a hoarse yell came from the lookout: — “Schooner dead ahead!” Out of the blackness beyond tlie bowsprit lurched another! The instant Trent set eyes on her be knew that the crisis had come. She was drifting broadside on. with no pcssiblity of passing to po>t or yt aboard. The cable must be cut at <>nee. Everv second was'precious. Letting go the fore-sheet, h started to run forward. Again a monster sea was upon him before he realised it. He made one vain grab at the rail. The next see* nd his legs were knocked from under him. and lie vns swept along the deck. In a moment he h d retained his fret. His head was whirling fi< in a violent lliiinip, but lie was fully alive t> the situation. He must recover his axe. ami ciit the cable immediately. As the set rolled oil. he .-tagged forward along the slippery planks.

Tlie Emeline pitched into the trough. It was an easy matter for him to dart down the sloping deck to the windlass. To his honor the axe had vanished from the spot where he had dropped it. He shot a quick glance about; it was nowhere to be seen. The sea had washed it down the deck, and possibly’ overboard! From the fore-gaff Lombard had helplessly watched his commander searching for tlie axe. He was too experienced a sailor not to realise the catastrophe that impended. Painfully he scanned the wet planks which sparkled in the din* lantern light. At length his eye detected the glitter of steel. It was tlie axe, lying close to a stanchion, and all but swept overboard by the last sea. The lookout's cry rose above the tempest. "There, cap, there!" he screamed. Captain Ben's eyes followed the pointing hand. In less than five seconds his fingers were locked round the handle. He turned, and darted toward the w’indlass. The Emeline was tugging at her cable in the trough, headed straight for tlie drifting schooner, which seemed to the captain’s horrified gaze to be hanging right over him. The sea hurled the stranger forward. The bowsprit of the Emeline rose. Its tip was not 10 feet irtim the other hull. A moment more, and the crash would come; and both would go down together. Just then the captain swung the axe aloft. Down hurtlec. the keen blade through the hempen strands! Tlie cable parted. Its short end whipped the deck; the other whisked through tlie hawse-pipe quicker than eye could follow. The vessel, freed at last from the bond at which die had tugged all night, shot back a full hundred feet as the heavy sea struck her bow. flinging Captain Ben on his face, while the stranger settled harmlessly into the place she had left! After her first wild leap the Emeline swung broadside to the gale, and as she was mere lightly loaded than the other, gradually drifted out of sight of her. The crew, who all night- in forecastle and cabin had been ready for a sudden call, soon hoisted a two-reefed foresail. In a few’ minutes they got steerage way. scudded 30 miles off the Banks, and hove to. Tlie next day, when the storm abated, they ran for harbour to refit.