Page 2 (1/2)
So coffins or hell ships, but the rival captains who knew Scaggs and the Gladiator raceful clipper ship as a victiressive handling of her Two ht have been abruptly caught in a following gust in unison with a wave that broke over the stern, the co her plu to the bottom
In the Underwriting Room of Lloyd's of London, the famous maritime underwriters, the loss of the Gladiator was recorded in the logbook between the sinking of an A boat
Almost three years were to pass before the mysterious disappearance was solved
Incredibly, unknown to the maritime world, the Gladiator was still afloat after the terrible typhoon had passed on to the west Soed clipper ship had survived But the sea was entering between sprung planks in the hull at an alar noon, there were six feet of water in the hold, and the pu battle
Captain Bully Scaggs' flinty endurance never wavered The creore he kept the ship fro by sheer stubbornness alone He issued orders sternly and cal those convicts who hadn't sufferedbeen knocked about by the constant battering of the sea tothe leaking hull
The rest of the day and night was spent in an atteo and any tool or utensil that was not dee helped Much tiained another three feet by the following
Byhe or anyone could do would save the Gladiator And without boats there was only one desperate gamble to save the souls on board He ordered Lieutenant Sheppard to release the prisoners and line them up on deck opposite the watchful eyes of his armed detachment of soldiers Only those orked the pu to caulk the leaks remained at their labor
Bully Scaggs didn't need the lash or a pistol to have coiant of a man with the physique of a stonemason He stood six feet two inches tall, with eyes that were olive gray, peering fro of inkblack hair and a nificent black beard that he braided on special occasions framed his face He spoke with a deep, vibrant voice that enhanced his co presence In the prime of life, he was a hard-bitten thirty-nine years old
As he looked over the convicts he was startled by the number of injuries, the bruises, the sprains, the heads wrapped with blood-soaked bandages Fear and consternation were revealed on every face An uglier group of men and women he'd never laid eyes on They tended to be short, no doubt due to a lifetiaunt, their complexions, pallid Cynical, is of British society, without expectation of seeing their ho out a fruitful life
When the poor wretches saw the terrible dae above deck, the stu boats, they were overwhel cries of terror, all except one, Scaggs noted, who stood out from the rest
His eyes briefly paused on the female convict, as nearly as tall asand smooth Her narroaist was shadowed by a nicely shaped bosom that spilled over the top of her blouse Her clothes appeared neat and clean, and her waist-length yellow hair had a brushed luster to it, unlike that of the other woy
She stood poised, her fear s through eyes as blue as an alpine lake
This was the first tis had noticed her, and he idly wondered why he hadn't been hts on the eency at hand and addressed the convicts
"Our situation is not proan "In all honesty I must tell you the ship is doomed, and with the sea's destruction of our boats, we cannot abandon her"
His words were greeted with a mixed reaction Lieutenant Sheppard's infantrymen stood silent and an to wail and o to pieces within ed the heavens for salvation