A DARK NIGHT.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4516, 17 January 1923, Page 2

A DARK NIGHT.

TRAVELLERS AWFUL EXPERIENCE. (By “Septimus'.”) it was a dark night. The wind howled. I had made many voyages, but there was something in the air that troubled me. Had it been a Friday I should never have agreed to make the trip. During years of an adventurous life I had, however, braved elements op many seas, so, though scenting breakers ahead, 1 stepped aboard. It was a dark night. The steersman was at the wheel. His face wore a grim look. For a moment I hesitated. Was it worth while ? The attraction of life on “an ocean wave” and tlie security of having one’s feet planted on terra flrma struggled with each other. It was too late. I looked back. The land where I had stood but a. moment ago was passing out of sight. And gradually I became resigned to my fate. There was no familiar sound of an accordion playing down in the fo-castle, nor did I notice the. pungent smell of tarred ropes and oil ; but. the engine was throbbing, and I felt by tlie movements of her that we must be “crossing the bar.” The port and starboard lights’ were burning well, and when at last I dared to glance ahead I saw unending lines of choppy waves. Then she gave a lurch, and despite all my previous experiences of the sea I felt that the efid was near. From side to side sihe rocked, sometimes on her beam ends. Would the agony of it all never cease. “Hold tight,” came the voice of the steersman, whose face now plainly showed that ihe, too, realised that we were voyaging to disaster. ( My eyes became blurred, and in those few seconds all the 'happiest, and most miserable, moments of my life flashed through my mind like a movie picture. “Goodbye, dear Earth,” I murmured. Thea followed a crash. Involuntarily I closed my eyes. Thank God ! We had passed over the approach to the Netherton Bridge, and on the smooth planking that followed came relief. We had safely negotiated the potholes' of Netherton Road, and were at rest. The night was dark.