slid down from the decks. Some landed in the sea, but 

 we pulled them in and soon had about fifty aboard. 

 We yelled to stop any others from coming down and 

 pulled away. We did not seem to be able to get away 

 from the ship and a wave sliding along the side caught 

 us and covered those in the stern. Boys, but that water 

 tastes awful! 



"We passed one lad drifting and grabbed him. One 

 man called to the lieutenant in charge, ' Here's a man 

 in the water. Have we room, lieutenant?' 'For God's 

 sake, yes!' came the answer. 



"It surely was awful to hear the cries out around us 

 in the dark, as our men floated here and there, but we 

 could not see them. 



"Many of the men in the lifeboat became sick, in 

 spite of the fact that a comparatively calm sea was run- 

 ning. I manned the stroke oar on the port Iside all the 

 time we were out. There was only one pail and men 

 were bailing with all the army hats available. 



"Somehow the water seemed to come in as fast as 

 they bailed it out, and one or two men around me 

 started to shout, 'We're sinking!' while others started 

 to direct us which way to go. They covered pretty 

 much all of the points of the compass between them. 

 I curse'd them and yelled, 'Shut up, men. We can't 

 hear the orders from the head end ! ' They shut up, but 

 had to be reminded every now and then. One man re- 

 minded me that it was no place to swear. Well, he was 

 right, perhaps, but somehow you have to talk to some 

 men in the language they understand. 



"We drifted and rowed, keeping our boat head-on 

 to the wind and lighting a red fuse from time to time. 



30 



