Wheeling compiler. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [i.e. W. Va.]) 1829-1831, 1829-09-02

In my eagerness TO clasp Cordelia 10 my
breast, | hit my head against the bed post,
which awoke me, aud I found alas!--
'ftoGs ell a dreamf!p
American TrarcNer.
EsHE9s
"STAND FROM UNDER}"-The
following story was todf0r an actual fact
by a sailor who solemnly affirmed he knew
it to be so; whatever else he was, he GER
tainly must have been a genius.
We were on board slave ship. bound
to the coast ofAfrlca. | had my mJsgiv-
ings about the business. aud / believe 9th
ers had them too. We had passed the
straits of Gibralter, and wereIy mg off Bar
barry one clear, bright evening, when Il
came to my turn to take thf HEINZ The
ship was becalmed, and ever thing arofnd
was as the day after th deluge. The
vide mono;oay Of wafer, wired only by
glauciugs Of the moon on the crest of the
waves. made me think the old fables OF
Neptune were true; and that Amphitrite
aud her NaHds were sporting on the sur-
/ face Of the ocean. with diamonds in their
hair. These fancies were followed by the
/ thoughts of my wife, my children, and my
home; and all were oddly enough jumbled
together IN a delicious state ofapproaching
slumber. Suddenly | heard high above
my head, a loud, deep, terrible voice call
out, Island from Under" | started TO
my feet--lt was the customorg sigoal when
any thing was to be thrown from the
Ishrouds--and mechanically sung out the
usual answer, Let gop But nothing
came; | looked up in the shrouds--there
was nothing there searched the deck
and found | was alonel ! tried 10 think
/ it was a dream--but that sound, so deep,
so stern, so dreadful, rung in my ears like
! the bursting ola cannon.
In the morning told the crew what |
bad heard. They laughed atme, and were
all day long full of their Jokes about
Dreaming Tom" One fellow among
them was most unmerciful in his railIery.-
lie was a swarthy, malignant looking Span
/ lard; who carried murder in his eve, and
curses on his tongue; darling lordly Han,
who boosted of crime, as if it gave him
pre- eminence among his fellows. y most
Iuncivil ghost, Tom, said he; when such
chaps come to see me, III make 'em show
| themselves. III not be satisfied, without
seeing and feeling as we as hearing
{ The sailors all Joined with him. and |,
ashamed of nv alarm, was glad to be 81
/ lent The next night Dick Burton took
the helm. Dick had nerves like an OK,
and sinews like a whale; it was little he
feared, on the earth or beneath it. The
clock struck one Dick was leaning his
( head on the helm, as he said, not thinking Of
me. or my story; when that awful voice a
gain called from, the shroudS, Stand from
uuderw Dick darted forward like On In
dian arrow. which they say 90 through and
through a Buffalo, and Wigs on ITS way,
as If it had not left death in the rear. 1t
was an instant or more. before he found
presence of mind TO ball out, 'Let go!''
/ Again nothing was seen; nothing heard.
/ Ten nights IN succession, at one o'clock,
tho same uuearthly sound rung through the
air. making our stoutest sailors quail, as
if a bullet shot had gone through and
through their brains. At last the crew
grew pale when it was spoken of. and the
worst of us never went to sleep without
saying our prayers. For myself, | would
have been chained 10 the oar all my life,
TO have got out of that vessel. But there
we were in the vast solitude ofoccan; and
this invisible being with u.s. No one put
bold face upon the matter, but Antonio,
the Spaniard. He laug ed at our fears,
and defied Satan himself to terrfy him
( However, when it came to his turn al the
helm, he refused to 90. Several times I'M
( der the pretence ofillness, he was excused
I from a duty, which all on board dreaded.
But at last, the Captain ordered Antonio
10 receive round dozen of lashes every
night, until he should consent to perform
his share of the unwecome Office. For a
while this was horne patiently, but at last,
he called out, Il may as well die one way
as another-give me over to the ghost
Thatnigh; Antonio kept watch on deck;
few OF the crew slept; for expectation and
alarm had stretched our nerves upon the
rack. At one O'Clock the voice called
Stand from underl' Let go' screamed
( the Spanard. This was answered by a
shrek OF laughter, and such laughter, it
seemed as If the febols answered each O.
Their from pole to pole, and the bass was
howled IN hell Then came a sudden
crash upon the deck. as -four spars and
masts had fallen. We all rushed to the
spot, and there was a cold. stiff. gigantic
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