The Argosy, Christmas 1912 — page 47: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

LOOSING THE TEMPEST. 33 boy, but when I was on deck all three women had so much to do with the lit- tle boy I couldn’t tell which was the mother. - I am writing this in English as good as I can, because if anything happen to me, Mr. Donaldson, he“take it up, and it will all be same langwidge. The Voluna was an old ship, and be- longed to the firm of Michaelson and Anderson, of Copenhagen. Mr. An- derson, of that firm, is my mother’s uncle, so I have a berth on his ship. ~The Voluna get in latitude 64 and four degrees west G. when biggest storm catch her. Drive her north, and she get far out of her course in lati- ‘tude 64 and long. 4 west, of— “and we thought we were in hard luck.” CHAPTER XVII. MR. DONALDSON’S WILL. PAUSING in my reading as Ordway uttered his exclamation, I glanced at the islander. His eyes were clear, his face as immobile as ever. The pitiful narrative of a hysterical woman’s self- ' destruction seemed to have absolutely no effect on his emotions—if he had any—which I began to doubt. “ Hold on, man!” broke in Ordway. “You are coming out the same hole you went in at. The storm struck her in 64 and drove her north to 64, which was far out of her course.”’ “That’s the way it is written,” I said. “ The poor fellow was no doubt in great distress, and got mixed. But the script on the fly-leaf gives 64 and 4 as the spot where she went down. I suppose it would be impossible to tell where she was when the storm hit her.” “Well, that is a matter of no im- portance now. We will accept the fig- ures as indicative of the spot where she went down. Go on.” The ship had sprung leaks all over, and the water was full. “ He means she was full of water. Goon.” %” The crew was brave and got pas- sengers ini boats. One woman, the boy, and Mr. Donaldson, got in my boat — the boatswain’s cutter. I had four men. The woman, she was most crazylike, and scream all the time. The little boy, he cry too, but the woman make for us a spectacal of noise. We still have much storm to fight, and one sailor, he go mad and jump overboard. We fight like Hades all time against big wave. Then come more I continued reading. After the woman she jump over- board, everybody seem in bad way. Sailors mostly is superstitious, and the sailors in my boat, three left now, got much afraid. They row not so good as before, and I swear at them. But it is no use. Mr. Donaldson, he take the boy and hold in his arms, because I have all I can do to steer the boat. Then a big, monster, large wave come, and the boat tip over. I grab Mr. Donaldson, because I hear him cry out, and I think maybe he cannot swim. But Mr. Donaldson he swim pretty good. Anyway, Mr. Donaldson and I, we say we save the boy. The sailors, they so frightened and super- Sstitious, they flop and cannot swim good. All them sailors drown. Mr. Donaldson and me, we get on the bot- tom of the boat. We see the boy is alive. We see land, and we make all try as hard as we can to get to land. So we do. But the boat is broken by the rocks and is no good no more. I know not what land this is. The next day Mr. Donaldson discover a cave, and he take care of the boy while I go explore. It is an island. I do not know any such island on the chart. It is maybe ten mile long, and three, four mile wide. Plenty tree—birch, beech, and on some high places mountain-ash. I found some berry, dark red, and I eat some and take some to Mr. Don- aldson. big wave, and the water full in the boat. The woman she think the boat tip over, and she throw the boy at me. She yell: “ You swim! You take the boy.” And she jump in the sea and yell. “Good Heavens,” said Ordway; I paused here for a breathing spell. “He says nothing of game, beast or fowl,” said Ordway. I resumed. Next day. We make our home in cave. It is dry, and much more warm cComicbooks CO