Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-09-23
EVENING STAR.
STAND ROM UNDER:
Or, The Mysterious Coyp,.

The following was told as an aotual fac, hv
sailor who solemnly affirmed he knew il TO be
so; whatever else be was, he certainly must
have been a sailor Of genius:
We are on board q slave ship bound To the
coast Of Africa. had my misgivings about
the business, and believe others had them.
too. We had passed the Straits of Gibralter,
and were lying of Barbary, one clear, bright
evening, when IL came my turn to take thc
helm The ship was becalmed, and every
thing around was as silent as the day after the
deluge. The wide monOtony Of water varied
only by the gancings Of the moon on the crest
OF the waves, made me think the old fables of
neptune were true; and that Amphitrite and
her Faiada were sporting on the surface of
the ocean, with diamonds in their hair. These
tancies were followed by the thought of nv
wife, my children, and my home; and ali
were wildly enough jumbled together in a de-
iicious state Of approaching slumber Sud-
denly heard above my head a loud deep
terrible voicc call out Stand from Under,h'
L started to my feet-it was a customary sig.
nal when anything was to be thrown from the
shrouds, and mechanically 1 sung out the
usual answer, Let CO." But nothing came
1 looked up In the shrouds-there was nothing
there searched the deck, and found that
was alone. Itried to think it was dream
but that sound, 80 deep, so stern, so dread.
ful, rung IN my ears like the bursting of a
cannon.
In the morning, 1 told the crew what had
heard They laughed at me; and were all
dsy long full of their jokes about " Dreaming
Iom,n One fellow among them was most un-
merciful IN his railery He was a swarthy.
malignant looking Spaniard, who ca arried mur.
der IL his eye and curses on his tongue a
daring and lordly man who boasted of crime
as II 1t gave him -eminence among his
fellows. lie laughed longest and loudest at
my story. GA most uncivil ghost, Tom"
said he; when such chaps come to see me,
III make EN- show themselves; Ill not be
satisfied without seeing and feeling as well as
hearing"
The sailors all joined with him; and I,
ashamed Of my alarm, was glad to DO silent
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 earth or be-
meath 1t. The clock struck one Dick was
leaning his head on the helm, as he said,
thinking nothing of me or my story, when
that awful voice again called out from the
shrouds, " Stand from under I" Dick darted
forward like an Indian arrow, which thew saw
goes through and through buffalo, and wings
on its way as If 1t had not left death in the
rear 1t was an instant or more before be
found presence of mind to call out Let 90 I'
Again nothing was seen-nothing heard Ten
nights in succession, at one o'clock, the same
uuSdItuly luIouRQ the air, MAKING
our stoutest sailors quail as if a bullet shot
had gone through their brains
AT last we grew pale when il was spoken of
and the worst of Us never went to sleep with
out saying our prayers. For myself, would
have been chained to the oar all my life, to
have got out of that vessel But there We
were in the vast solitude Of the ocean; and this
invisible being was with US. No one put a
bold face on the matter, but Antonio the Span
lard. He laughed at our fears, and defed
Satan himself TO terrify him However when
it came his turn at the helm, he refused TO
go, several times under the pretense Of illness
he was excused from a duty, which all on
board dreaded But at last the captain or
dered Antonio to receive a round dozen of
lashes every night, until he should consent to
perform his share Of the unwelcome Office
For awhile this was borne patiently but at
length he called out, 4" L may as well one way
as another. Give me over to the ghostu'
That night Antonio kept watch on the deck
Few of the crew slept; for expectation and
alarm had stretched our nerves upon the rack
At O'Clock the voice called, a." Stand from
under W "let 60, screamed the Spaniard-
This was answered by shrek oflaughter, and
such laughter, it seemed as If the fends ans
wered each other from pole to pole, ard the
bass was howled in hell. Then came a sud
den crash upon the deck, as if our mssts and
spars had fallen. We all rushed to the spot,
and there was a cold, st1f, gigantic corpse
The Spanisrd said il was thrown from the
shrouds; and when he looked on il he ground
his teeth like a madmsn. 81 know him."
exclaimed he, ~ stabbed him within an
hours sail of Cuba, and drank his blood for
breakfast"
We all stood ashast at the monster. Ii fear
full whispers we asked what should he done
with the body. Finally we agreed that the
terrible sight must be removed from US, and
hidden in the depths Of the sea Four of us
attempted to raise it; but human strength was
Of no avail-we might as well have tugged at
Atlas. There it lay, stiff, rigid, heavy. and
as immovable as if it had formed part of the
vessel The Spaniard was furious; let me
lift him." said he 81 lifted him once ard can
do it again I'll teach him what it is to come
and trouble me- He took the body round the
waist and attempted 10 raise it Slowly and
heavily the corpse raised it itself up; its ray
less eyes opened its rigid arm stretched out
and clasped ii svictim in close death grapple
and rolling over the sides Of the ship, they
tottered an instant over the waters-then with
a plunge they sank together. Again thst
laugh-that wild, shrieking laugh-was heard
On the winds The sailors bowed their heads
and put up their hands 70 shut out the sppall-
ing sound.
I took the helm moro than once after; but
we never again heard in the shroud that thUn-
dcring sound, e" Stand from Under