ustled out on to t'
ice, taking with us all us could carry, working as quick as ever us
could, for t' pressure o' wind was rafting t' pans on to t' rocks, and
almost before us knew it, what remained of her above t' ice had gone
right on over t' shoals; and long before dusk, I reckons, had gone
down through it. At any rate, us saw no more of her. Us tried to make
a bit of shelter for t' night out o' some of t' canvas, but t' wind
never slacked a peck, and t' rafting ice soon carried away even t' few
things us had saved.

"Had us known in time us had better have stuck to t' boats, for they
might have given us a chance. But t' wind being offshore, and t' ice
running out to sea, made it seem safer to keep to t' rocks. For t' Red
Island Shoal is only three or four miles from t' land, and there be
liveyers, as us knew, almost opposite. If t' wind had held in t' same
direction even then us might have escaped, but it dropped suddenly
about day dawn, and there were huge swatches o' water between us and
t' mainland before it came light enough to try and get across. Then
just as suddenly t' wind clipped round, and t' sea began to make, and
t' water started breaking right over them rocks.

"Us had managed to build a fire out o' some of t' wreckage saved, and
had thrown in bits o' canvas and some tarry oakum to make smoke. They
had seen it too on t' land, and had lit three smoke fires in a line to
let us know that they would send help if they could. But the veering
of the wind had made that impossible, for they could only launch small
skiffs, and they would not have lived more'n a few minutes for t' ice
making on 'em.

"T' breaking seas and driving spray soon wet all our men through.
There were forty of us all told. But by night several were either dead
or beyond help. T' ice had taken our boats, and now t' seas took all
that was left. T' fire went out just before midday, and our bit o'
grub got wet and frozen. Next morning t' sea was higher than ever, and
t' bodies of t' men mostly washed away as they died. All that day t'
rest of us just held on, some twenty or so; but it was a bare six of
us that were living t' second night. There was no sleep, and not even
any lying down if you wanted to live. None of them that slept ever
woke again. I might have nodded standing up. Guess I must have. But
t' third morning I was t' only man moving; and though it was as fine a
shining morning as ever broke, and t' hot sun from t' ice soon put a