Part 15 (2/2)
up the rudder an' gittin' ready for another trip, the rest o' the crowd chops the ice off'n the boat, 'n' off'n the oars. Then this fisher chap I was a tellin' about, he comes back with a can of tallow an' smears that thick all over the boat an' the oars an' our slickers an' near everything that he c'd find to put a bit o' tallow on.”
”What was that for?” queried Eric.
”So as the water'd run off, o' course,” the old man answered. ”It worked, too. In about twenty minutes we was off again, in the mush-ice, jest as afore. We hadn't had no chance to get warm, an' our clothes was wet an' friz. I thought sure some o' the men would be frost-bit. But I guess we was all too tough.
”The second trip started jest the same. As soon as we got out o' the ice a breaker come along 'n' hove that boat 'way up, 'n' then chucked it back on the ice, smas.h.i.+n' the new rudder same's the old one.
”I wa'n't goin' to have no monkey-business with rudders any more, 'n' I yelled to Brown, he was the c.o.x'n,
”'Take 'n oar, Bill!'
”He grabs a spare oar 'n' does all he knows how to steer with that.
Again we druv our oars into it an' got out o' the ice, 'n' again it threw us back. We did that five times 'n' then one of the fellers got hurt, when his oar struck a chunk of ice, 'n' we went ash.o.r.e again. I reckon we'd been at it nigh four hours, then.”
”I suppose you hadn't any trouble finding a volunteer?” the boy said.
”We could ha' got nigh every man on the beach. But we took one o' the fishermen who had gone out on his own hook afore. If we was goin' to do any savin' it was on'y fair he should have a share o' the credit. An'
then, any chap who was willin' to resk his life in a bit of a yawl in that weather was worth puttin' in a boat.
”So we'd had to make three starts afore we really got away an' clear o'
the ice. I never see no such gale in all my days. It was an hour an'
more, steady pullin' with every pound o' muscle in the crew, before we got in reach o' the tug. An' then, when we was right up on her, there wa'n't one man aboard who come out to catch a line. We found out why, arterwards. The gale took us by her like we was racin', 'n' the boys had to work like Sam Patch to get back. I guess it took nigh half 'n hour to creep up to wind'ard of her again.
”One o' my crew, a young fellow from Maine, as lively a little grig as ever I see, volunteered to board her. We ran under her bow, an' somehow or other he clumb up on board, I swear I don't see how he ever done it, an' snaked a line round her funnel. I went aboard an' one other o' the crew, a man we used to call Ginger.
”Then we found out why the men aboard the steamer hadn't come out to pick up our line. The door o' the pilot-house was smothered in ice, more'n an inch thick. Every window was friz in. We was sure up against it. We couldn't stand on the gla.s.sy deck, 'n' there was no way to get the men out. The surf-boat was a-ridin' twenty fathom behind, we'd let her out on a long line, an' there was another cold wait while we hauled her up an' got an ax out of her. We lashed ourselves fast or we'd ha'
gone over the side, sure.
”When Ginger, who was an old lumber-jack, gits the ax, he slides along to the pilot-house, an' starts to chop. He'd been choppin' jest about a minute when along comes a sea, smashes one o' the ventilators an' hurls it along the deck. The cussed thing hits Ginger jest as he's swingin'
the ax, 'n' sweeps him overboard.
”The crew in the surf-boat see him go an' they cast off the line an'
picked him up. But, with two men shy, it was a full hour afore the boat worked back to place to catch our line. They must ha' pulled like fiends to git thar at all. By the time they'd made it, we'd managed to get through that door an' the crew o' the tug was ready to be taken in the boat. It was jest six hours from the time we landed on the beach at Chocolay before we got the first man ash.o.r.e.”
”And the crew of the schooner?” queried the boy.
”We got them off without no trouble. They was sailors! We jest hove a line aboard 'n' got 'em into the boat. They hadn't suffered much. The schooner was higher on the shoal 'n the tug, bein' lighter, 'n' the men'd been able to stay below. They'd kep' a couple o' lookouts on the job, relievin' 'em every hour s.h.i.+pshape and Bristol fas.h.i.+on.”
”How many men did you rescue?” the boy asked.
”Nine men from the steamer 'n' six from the schooner. It was nigh eight in the mornin' before they was all ash.o.r.e, drinkin' coffee an' gittin'
eats. The women o' the commoonity was still on the job. I'm doubtin' if we could ha' ever made it without somethin' like that. We wa'n't any too soon, neither.”
”Why not?”
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