Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1858-04-02
A Strange Story.

1t was ON miserable cold day in February
that the good bark Emerald, in which / was
second mate, weighed her anchor from the mud
opposite Gravesend, and commenced her voy-
age for the Mauritius. | had sailed with the
ceptain (Wharton) to the West Indies on
former voyage, and had been asked by him to
take the second mates place this trip al
though L was only twenty-one years old at
the time. / thought it good berth, and ac-
cepted it, although l disliked the man. He
was a good sailor, there was no denying, but
bit of bully, aud. / always suspected.
drank a good deal when quiet in his cabin.
He had been married just before our voyage,
and his honeymoon was rather curtailed by
the hurry of our departure. | saw bis wife
several times before we left England for she
was staying at Gravesend, and also came on
board while we were lying in the docks. She
was very pretty young girl, and seemed to
be too quiet and good for the skipper, who,
thought, did not treat her as he ought TO have
done
She told me that she was going to take a
cottage at Gosport while her husband was
away, and asked me, if l had time, to write
her few words to say how the ship got on
in case we met any of the homewGrd bound.
or stopped at any port. / believe, when she
shook hands with me, and said. Good bye,
sir; happy voyage to you" | felt much in
ciined TO do her any service, and pitied her
lonely situation more than her husband did.
She had told me that her only relation was an
aged aunt. Well. we houndered across the
Bay of Biscay. and ran down the trades, and
in twenty-seven days from leaving England
with freezing north wind we were baking
under the line with 50 degrees in the shade
shown on our thermometer. The skipper had
showed a couple of cur men in irons for very
slight offences during our run. and seemed to
be greater brute than ever. He was one
of those fellows who acted like an angel on
shore, so pleasant and kind, but when he
got a1Oat in the blue water, he wasn't an
angel exactly, at least not the right sort of an
angel.
We logged on, however, till we passed
round the Cape; we gave it wide berth, and
kept well off the bank, to avoid the current
that runs from the east all down that coast for
seventy miles distant. We were about off
Cape L'Agulhas, when the north west wind
that we had carried with us from near South
America, turned round and blew right in our
teeth; we had plenty of wind in our jib then,
it blew great guns and we were under close
reefed topsails for IA week One night | was
on the watch, and finding it was blowing har-
der than ever, and the ship was making very
bad weather of it. | thought l would go
down and ask the skipper's IoaVe to lay TO. /
dived down the hatchway, and knocked twice
at the captains cabin-door before | received
an answer; at last / heard his "come-in.' |
opened the door. and was about to report the
gale increased, but was stopped by the appear
ance of the captain.
He was as white as n sheet, and his eyes
were staring like maniac's. Before | could
speak word, he said, Have You seen herr"
| did not know what he meant, but said, "Beg
pardon, sir, the ship is making very bad
weather of it.'
He cussed the weather, and repeated, "Did
you see my wife as she came iR?'
i said, % See your wife! No!'
He stared at me for an instant and then
dropped on his couch and said, God have
mercy on mel;
1t was the first time that l had ever heard
him use that sacred name, although the evil
ones was pretty often in his mouth. | then
asked him about the ship, when he told me TO
go and do what had thought best went up
and took all the canvass oil, with the eXcep-
ton of the mzen trysail. | got the peak
lowered down to the deck, and showed but a
pockethandkerchief sort of a sail; this kept
her head to the wind. l had a guy made fast
to the boom, which kept it firm and dashed
the helm; we then rode like "A duck on the
water, | turned in as usual after being reliev-
ed, and said nothing to any one about what |
had heard.
In the morning the captain sent for me, told
me not to speak about what he had said last
night, but that he had been told that his days
were numbered. He pointed to the log-book,
in which he lad put down that he had seen his
wife come into the cabin. and that she spoke
to him, and told him something about him
self He then requested me to sign his state
ment, in the book. and ordered me not to say
n word to any of the men as long as he lived.
| told him not to think any thing about il,
such things were only imaginations and were
caused by the stomach being little out of
order. / did not think it at the time, although
| thought it would quiet him by telling him
So We lay to all that day; the captain came
on deck once, but spoke to no one In the
afternoon l went down to him to ask about
getting n little sail up again; found him
reading his Bible, thing had never heard
of his doing before. He put it down and
came on deck; ordered me to get up the fore
topsail went forward to see about it, and
the skipper walked ON to the poop; the helm
was still dashed, and no one was there but
him.
| was giving the men orders to go aloft,
when | n ard crack aStern and felt jar
through the whole ship. L turned round and
found the pitching had caused the heavy boom
of the trysail to break the guy that fastened
il, il was swinging from SIDE 10 side with every
lurch of the ship. ran att with all the men,
and with great difficulty made it fast again;
il took US some time to settle. and then went
as | had left il before and no one in il /;
came out and asked for him on deck. but no
one had seen him there. The men said that
he was on the poop when the guy gave way;
there was general call throughout the ship,
but the captain was not found. The first mate
and then went on the poop, and looked well
round. On the bulwarks near the stern there
was slight dent, and close beside il streak
OF blood; there was no doubt but that the
-. ~ Il III.
per clean overheard, and the chances were,
had smashed some OF his limbs, too.
We never saw him more. The first mate
took the command. and told him abont the
captains vision he laughed at me, and told
me was fool TO believe Ia such rubbish, and
recommended me not 10 talk about IT.
quietly tore the leaf out Of the log-book, and
have got il now. / will show ii TO you.
lSaying this he went down 10 his cabia, and
brought me up the sheet OF paper. which read
and found il as he had descr.bed) We went
on to the Mauritius, loaded, and returned TO
Eaglaad. | had 40 opportunity of fulfilling
my promise OF writing to tae captains wife,
and as soon as | could leave the ship | started
for Gosp0rt to tell her about his lOss. found
her house from the address she bad given the,
aud walk Il once or twice mp aud down TO eoa-
slider all should say to her. Ii was any way
a difficult thing and one did not much like
doing, having 10 relate the death OF her hsis-
band aud besides, women are inclined 10
think there is always some neglect in others
IL an accident happens 10 these they love.
AZ last, | plueksd up courage aud Knocked
at the door. A decent-looking servant eaine.
aud upoa my asking IL Mrs. Wharton were at
home, she replied /. Mrs. Wharton doa't live
here. Mrs. Somebody -or-other lives here, and
she amt al home.a | asked II she could tell
me where TO lind Mrs. Wharsoa-and Was IN
formed by the maid that che was stranger,