Witch Hazel; or, The Secret of the Locket — page 345: what you’re looking at

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

suiack into another vessel of*some kind—what, I never knew, though I heard a terrible shriek from some one on board her, when we struck, that I'll never forget as long as T live. The Fortuna sprang a leak at once, and the Gap’n, after a careful examina- tion, said there was no use trying to save her—that she would go under in less than half an hour. “The boats were lowered and manned, but the one T was in was swamped almost as soon as it touched water, and every man Jack of us was at the mercy of the waves. I thought it was all over with me, as I went down, but [ came up again all right, and found myself close beside a floating hatch that had been dislodged from our vessel when we collided. I could not see the Fortuna for the fog, although it was be- ginning to lift, and I supposed I had been carried a long way from her by the waves. I seized the hatch, and having a lfe-belt on, I managed to keep afloat very well. “Just ab this moment I heard a queer sound near, and the next moment a bundle of something floated right up against me. I grabbed it, and found it was a child a-screamin’ at the top of its lungs. ‘The cap’n’s baby !’ I cried out, the queerest feelin* comin’ over me, and in another minute I had the little feller lyin’, safe and sound, on the hatch, and glad as I could be to have even that mite o' humanity to keep ine company in my desperate strait. “By and by the fog lifted, the waters grew more quiet, the moon caine out, and though it was fearful cold, I never saw a finer night. But there was no sign of any vessel anywhere. The Fortuna must have gone down, and perhaps the other vessel, too. At all events, I wondered what was to become of me and that baby, with no help near. But T soon found land was in sight, and. the waves were carryin' us directly in toward shore. You way be pretty sure I helped myself all [ could, and held on to the hatch for dear life, and, half an hour later, I was able to touch bottoin, when I wasn’t long in getting up high and dry upon the beach.” (TO BE CONTINUED.) Comichoolks.com