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A Night Of Terror

A Night Of Terror image
Parent Issue
Day
20
Month
March
Year
1896
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Wben i 7MU! 14, i w„ oo of a erew oí thra tbat BUMd tk lihl 28 ton acheoaar ürnasaeni, which lay moored in Monhegaa hartar - a dep, nirrow atrait btwen tha iflaaáa oí Mor.hegan and Manan, Maine. The entraño ii írom íhe aouth, and ia unobsSmetd, whil to the north the passage is barrad by a rocky ialct called Smutty Kots. Thia ie aeparated from Mañana by a narrow patango on tho westerly aida callad Drunken Qnt. The barbor ia fairly good sbelter except when the -wind ia froin the aouthweat. At daylight on 1h morning afier our RrriTul at liouhegan tber waa a tifie breee, -witb rain from the outhwtst, and by neon it had riaen to a beayy gals. All day coastara, tradors aad flahing ToaseTi rn in till about 20sail were in harbor waan niglit feil. Thy were ancboi'ed at naar togetber ia they oonld ba nd yet awing claar of each other. Thia oompact gathering would 'os well enougb in a amooth harbor, bït on little Monhegan, exponed to the incveaaing gala, v?ith night coming on and the probability of a heavy sea rnnníng iato th strait, tha prospect looked seiiou. Sbould a veaael part her i cablao or drag her anchor, oollision i with thoM to lwward of her would be inefitablo, and the raault of oolliiion might be dis&sfrons. Whoa darkue oame, the gale's f nry incr)d. The tmobtrncted sea rolled into tha nsrrow harbor in hnge billows thai dasbed against Mañana or Smutty Kose, or raged as breakers en the reefs about Drankan Qnt. Th vessela, hampored by their anchor and nnable to ; rise frssly on tha sargas, strained at thair cablas, plunging and rolling wildly, whil naarly ayery vraTa toppled it crest apon thtir daoka, or swept them from ittm to Btarn. Aboct 9 o'clook, vtm the gala Memed at its kaight, a littl oraft that had been anchorad all day jnat on our port bow draggsd br anohora. Her craw, lika som othera, had aought aafaty on ahora long befor night. Swinging to our broadsida, sh bagan to ponad ogaintt na and to break into pieces. Eer bewsprit anapped, her bnlwaxka crashed in for and aft, hor masts went OTer her taifrail. At laat, plnngiag from the top of a big sea, w ernabed down npon her forward deck. Her windlaaa bits gave way, and off ho went, broadside to the wind, till aha waa lost in the , gloorn and rain. Anxiotisly we cronched by the windlasa, the captain 'a hand almosii oonatantly npon either ono cable or the other, that he might dSteot; tho flist vibratory rnotion, indioating that tha anchura were being dragged over the rooty bottom. But they seemed to hold secnrely. Onr danger was of snother aort I was cronohing in tho lea of the foremast to shelter ruyaelf from the wind and spray, wheu I haard tha captain suddenly shont : "Up, np with yon, boys, qnickl There'a a coaster adrift, coming right for vsV' Through the driving rain, anre enough, carne a big schooner stern first, wildly swinging to and fro, now toppling on a crest, now wallowing down in tha hollow deptha. Her gunwalea almost rolled under, and hermain boom, free from its , lashing, swayedinadly from aidetoaide. Just as we were reoeding from a rollI ing swell abe crashed into na and anapped oor bowsprit. Than ah hnng aqnare acrosa our bow. "Qnick, quick! Gir me the ai!" cried the captain. In a moment he severed both cablea at the windlass, and we were drif ting with the gale. No yessel lay directly asteni of us. Thecaptain's hope waa that we might not only go olear of the coaster, but drive upon a emaU, sandy beach at the end of Snintty Nose. But the heave of the sea and the slant of the wind drove us to on aide, and we went upon the rocks instead. Tbere was ahock, a grinding crash as she strnck. Then we aeemed to atop, and now the aea broke over ua in fury. "To the dory, boyal Tb aobooner will go to piecea I" ahouted the captain. Without muoh difflcnlty we got the dory into the watar to leeward. Jack, my shipmate, flung bia clotheabag into the stern oí the boa, whila I thrw a ooil of small rop into her er I tumbled in myself, Tbera waa but one pair of oars. Thes the eaptain took and begam to pull toward Mañana. Away from the lee of the aohooner we ware exposed to the fnll fury of the gale, and tha cours to whioh we were compelled kept ua in the trongh of the sea. Every moment it aeemed aa though we must be swamped, and in spite of all that we could do we were drifting rapidly toward Drunken Gut. Suddenly a thole pin broke. Before another could be put in the place we were afoul of the standing rigging of a sunken vessel, the dory almost on her broadside and we in imminent danger of being washed overboard. But clingiug instinctively to the uppermost gunwale we succeeded in righting the dory and working her clear of the wreek. Again we were adrift indeed, for we had lost an oar and now had but one. Our destrnction now was apparently bnt a questiou of moments, for if we escaped the reefs and boiling surf upon one uide we were almost certain to be dashed against the iron sides of Mañana upon the other. I was in the bow, peering ahead, when the huil of a vessel suddenly loomed up almost directly before us and apparently at anchor. Wbile the jpUin eadeayored to keep tba dory haaded for har I bant ooe ad of in y ooil of Una to tba paiaUi ring . Tbeii, grasping a bight ia my hand a tb ilory grasad th achocner'i idat, I mud & spring for tb rail and olimbud on board. Thea I canght aiy lin round olt, cheokad th drift oí tía dory and brovgbt her alnagiifo. Va toon tomad tht tía choonsr vh Scarid. Har iw had scmght iafty O ■hor. W ttaa$}tt oofmIto axoaadingly fortwat tiuu raaaal bd beaa ia oi way. a w baj baas po th dook wwuraa ly ü minste baai Um captain ataurtod M witk tita aauocnnaraaat tha tha thmI wa ranidly fllling. It iru avidaut Ihat aha had dragged from tha harbor, and flrrt atriking opon tb rf had nning 60 hr preaaot poaition. Wkila tha captain leajcbed for a ipajra 3r, I grupad tb lina by wbieb I had fatnd tha dory and waj horrifled to tlnd it alack. No dory wm thei'e - the ropa whioh had hld her trailed away istern and was lost in the durkness. Our laat hope uearued to have departed. Bnt do - au I peered through the glooin I canfht ligbt of a boat attached to a long warp that trailod over the taffrail of tha schooner. It was a geine boat. W qnickly dr-r it np and got i into it. Our drift in the dory had oarried na oonsiderably to the leeward of Srautty Noe, so that iu our present position the foroa of th sea wa ínnch broten. Ai ■we oronched beneath the gunwale of our nair refuge, ïnomentarily expecting to ee tha abaadoued chooner go down, a : light from Srontty No gradually shone out oyer the water. We uw that a fire had been kindled npon the island. Down at the water 's j dge people vrere moving about among the rocka. In a little while a boat 1 ad to leava tha ahora and drift slowly toward us. As her erratio inoTements seemed to indícate that she had no oneaboard, but ; was drifting at th will of the wind, I j attached 110 special gignificance to her I appearaace, though I glanoed toward her occasionally. "ïetnearer ahe came.sometimea directly toward ug. At times a heaye of the ea would throw hr far to one ide ; then she ■would leem to linger a moment, to tart off anew in our direction. Half daxad from exhaoation, I watched her ritb flagging interest until ahe was cloaa at hand. Then I ww the captain raach oat and graap her by tha gunwale and hold her fawt alonggide. He ihoated for us to get into her. No sooner had wi all obeyed than ghe started srwiftly for tha shore. Then I peroeiTad that a long warp led from her to Smutty Noae and that the people there wera pulling us toward them. Owing to the direction of the current the boat could not be dragged back to the poinfc fiom whioh she started, and we atrnck th onter edge of the wide ref of rocks. It was nearly low tide, and thoagh the ea did not break upon the reef eyery ware that rollod through the narrow passage boiled np over it in a swalling flood, subruerging the rocks many feet, to inbside again, leaving them entirely bare. To run thia gantlet vu our nest trial. Waiting until a sea retired, we startad orar the slippery, weed grown rocks and ran aa fast as we could until an incoming ware overtook ug. Then we flung ourselTes flat upon the reef, while the flood boiled np overus, olutching the rockwecd with both hands and clinging to resist the terrible undortow backws Wh che refluí left the reef bare agai' e rose and ran once more. Four tin ie fiood paased over us. Then, breacüiess, bruised and half dead, I feit a graap upon my collar, and I was dragged up out of the grip of the sea, safe

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News