New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-01-23
$50,
THE TRUE STORY OF THE sUPER
NATURAL.

THE TRUE STORY OF THE sUPER
NATURAL.
From Owen. aFoctfsly,, III
Mr.. Robert Bruce, originally descended from
some branch Of the Scottish family Of that name
was born, in humble circumstances about the close
Of the last century, at Torbay, In the south Of Eng
land, and there bred up to a seafaring Ife
When akout thirty years Of age, to-rit in The
the year 1923, he was first mate Of a bark trading
i between Liverpool and st. Johns, New BruIrs
| wick.
On one, Of her voyages bound westward, being
| thel' some five or six weeks out, and having near
ed th g eastern portion Of the banks Of Newfound
land, the captain and mate had been on deck al
noon, Ia king an observation of the sun; after which
| they both descended to calculate the days work
The cabln, q small one, was Immediately at the
stern Of the vessel and the short stairway descend
ing to it ran s'thwart-siips Immediately opposite
TO this stairway, just beyond small square land
ing, was the te'ssate-room and from that land
ing there we're two doors close to each other,
the one opening aft into the cabin, the
other fronting the stairway, into the stateroom
Inc desk IN the statero0m was in the forward part
OF it, close to the door, so thatone sitting at it and
looking over his shoulder could look into the cabin
The mate absorbed in his calculations, which did
not result as he had expected, varying consider
ably from the dead-reckoning, had not noticed the
captains motions. When he had completed his
calculations. he called ont without looking round,
- make our latitude and longitude SO and 80. Can
that be right? How Ii yours2''
Receiving no reply he repeated his question,
glancing over his shoulder and perceiving, a. he
thought, the captain busy writing on his slate.
Still no answer. Thereupon he rose, and, as be
fronted the eabin.d0or, the figure he had mistaken
for the captain raised its head and disclosed to the
astonished mate the features of an entire stranger.
Bruce was no coward; but. as he met that fixed
gaze looking directly at him in grave silence, ard
became assured that it was no one whom he had
ever seen before, it was too much for him; and in
stead OF stopping to question the seeming intruder,
he rushed upon deck in such evident alarm that it
thd o1ftfnt of
Mr.. Bruce, said the latter, what in the world Is
the matter with you,r
The matter, sir |? Who is that at your desksn
No one that know OFF,
g But there is, sir; there's stranger theren
stranger. Why man, you must be dream
ing. You must have seen the steward there,
or the second mate. Who else would venture down
without orders?n
But, sir, he was sitting in your armchair, front
ing the door, writing on your slate Then he looked
up full in my face and if ever saw man plainly
and distinctly in this world, saw him.
Him! Whoms'
I" God knows, sir, don't saw q man, and
| man had never seen in my life before.-
Yon must be going crazy, Mr.. Bruce. A stran-
ger, and we nearly six weeks out
1 i know, sir; but then saw him.
Go down and see who it isl
Bruce hesitated. i never was believer in
ghosts, he said; bnt il the truth must be told,
sir, Ia rather not face it alone.n
=" Come, come, man. Go down at once, and
don't make a fool of yourself before the crew.
~ hope you've always found me willing to do
what's reasonable Bruce replied, changing
rather we should both go down together.'i
The captain descended the stairs, and the mate
| followed him. Nobody in the cabin They ex-
arained the stateroons. Not d soul to be found!
Well, Mr.. Bruee,n said the captain "did not
tell you you had been dreaming n
:" It's all very well to say SO, sir; but if didn't
see that man writing on your slate, may never
see my home and family again"
sf.I.~.
there STILL" And the captain took it up.
by God!' he exclaimed ]" here's something,
sure enough. Is that your writing, Mr.. Bruce ~
The mate took the slate, and there in plain,
legible characters, stood the words, STEER 70 THE
NoR'wEsTu'
" Have you been trifiing with me, sir ~ added
| the captain, in stern manner.
!" On my word as a man, as sailor sir" re-
| piled Bruce, know no more of this matter
| than you do. have told you the exact TRUTH
| The captain sat down at his desk, the slate be-
| fore him, in deep thought. AT last, turning the
slate over and pushing it toward Bruce, he said,
write down, Steer to the northwest
| The mate complied, and the captain after mar
rowly comparing the two hand-writings said "Mr.
Bruce, go and tell the second mate to come down
| here.''
| He came, and at the captains request, he also
| wrote the same words. So did the steward. So,
4 in succession, did every man Of the crew who
| could write at all. But not of the various
hands resembled, in any degree, the mysterious
4 writing.
When the crew retired, the captain sat deep in
| thought. Gould any one have been slowed
| away?a at last he said. 1.-THE ship must be
| searched; and if | don't find the fellow he must
| be a good hand at hide and-seek. Order up all
| hands.i
Every nook and corner of the vessel from stem
4 to stern was thoroughly searched and that with
| all the eagerness OF excited curiosity-for the re-
| port had gone out that q stranger had shown him
self on board; but not living soul beyond the
crew and the officers was found.
Returning to the cabin after their fruitlessseareh,
Mr.. Bruce, said the captain, s'what the devil do
| you make of all this ?n
Cant tell, sir. saw the man write you see
| the writing. There must be something in it,
"Well, it would seem so. We have the wind free,
and have great mind to keep her away and see
| what will come of it."
II surely would, sir, if were in your place. It's
only few hours lost at the worst
| "Well, we'll see. Go on deck and give the course
nor'west. And, Mr.. Bruce,'' he added, as the mate
rose to go, 'have lookout aloft, and let it be
| hand you can depend on
His orders were obeyed. About 3 o'clock the
| lookout reported an iceberg nearly ahead, and,
shortly AFTER what he thought was vessel of some
| kind close to it.
AS they approached the captains glass dis
closed the fact that it was dismantled ship, ap-
| parently frozen to the ice, and with a good many
| human beings on it. Shortly after they hove to,
and sent out the boats to the relief of the sufferers.
1t proved to be a vessel from Quebec, bound to
Liverpool, with passengers on board. She Ind got
entangIed in the ice, and finally frozen fast and
4 had passed several weeks in most critical situa-
| ton. She was stove her decks swept--in fact, a
mere wreck all her provisions and almost all her
| water gone. Her crew and passengers had lost all
hopes of being saved, and their gratitude for the
| unexpected rescue was proportonally great.
4 As one of the men who had been brought away
in the third boat that had reached the wreck was
ascending the ships side, the mate, catching
| glimpse Of his face, started back in CONSERVATION.
| 1t was the very face he had seen, three or four
hours before looking up at him from the Captains
| desk
At first he tried to persuade himself it might be
| fancy; but the more he examined the man the
| more sure he became that he was right Not only
the face, hut the person and the dress exactly
| responded.
| As soon as the exhausted crew and famished
| passengers were cared for and the bark on her
| course again. the mate called the captain aside.
at seems that was not ghost | say to-day, sir;
| the mans alive"
"What do you mean? Who's alive?''
| why sir, one of the passengers we have just
| saved is the same man | saw writing on your
| slate at noon. / would swear to in court of
| justice.n
upon my word, Mr.. Bruce,n replied the cap
tain, ''this gets more and more singular. Let us
go and see this man,
They found him in conversation with the captain
of the rescued ship. They both came forward, and
expressed in the warmest terms, their gratitude
for deliverance from horrible fate-sow- coming
death by exposure and starvation.
The captain replied that he had but done what