Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-01-10

| him from the captains desk.
| Al nrst he tried to persuade himself il might
oe iancy; Dut the more he examined the man
the more sure he became that he was rioht
Not only the face, but the person and the dress
exactly correspondent
As soon as the exhausted crew and famisbed
| passengers were cared for and the bark ON her
course again, the mate called the captain aside
II seems that was not ghost saw to-day
sir; the mans alive
| hat do you mean? Who's alive
| "hy, SIR, one of the passengers we have
just saved Is the same man | saw writing on
your slate at noon. | would swear to it in a
court of justice"
| Upon my word, Mr.. Bruce" replied the
| captain, this gets more and more singular
Let us go and see this man.
They found him in conversation with tho
captain Of the rescued ship. They both came
forward, and expressed, in the warmest terms,
their gratitude for delverance from horrible
fate-slow coming death by exposure and star
| vation.
The captain replied that he had but done
what he was certain they would have done for
him under the same circumstances. and ask ed
them both to step down into the cabin. Then.
| turning TO the passenger he said, II hope, sir.
you VIII not think am trRing with you; but I
would be much Obliged to you if you would
write few words on this slate lie handed
| MIN the slate, with that side up on which the
L
Il will do anything You ask renlied tho
passenger; "but what shall write?"
| IA few words are all want Suppose Won
write, Steer to the nor vest %
lhe passenger, evidently puzzled to make
OUT the motive for such request, complied
with smile. The captain took the slate and
| examined 1t closely; then, stepping aside so as
| to conceal the slate from the passenger, he
turned 1t over, and gave it to him again, with
the other side up
You say that is your handwriting2n said he.
| II need not say so, rejoined the other look.
Ing at IL, Tor you saw me write it,
And this?" said the captain. TURNING the
| slate over.
| The man looked first at one writing, then at
the other quite confounded. At last, what
Is the meaning Of this!" said he. II onIv
wrote wrotne, one of these. Who wrote the other?''
| That's more than can tell you, sir. NV
dnaI mate mere says you wrote it, sitting at this
| The captain of the wreck and the passenger
looked at each other, exchanging gIances Of
intelligence and surprise; and the former ask ed
the latter, Did you dream that you wrote on
| this slate?n
No, sir; not that remember
You speak of dreaming" said the captain
OF the bark, What was this gentleman about
| at noon to-day?''
| Captain" rejoined the other " the whole
thing Is most mysterious and extraordinary.
and had intended to speak to you about it as
soon as we got little quiet. This gentleman
pointing to the Passenger) being much en-
hausted, fell into heavy sleep, or what seemed
such, some time before noon After an hour
| or more he awoke and said to me. Captain we
shall De relieved this very day When | asked
him what reason he had for saying so, he re.
| piled that he had dreamed that he was on
| board Dark, and that she was coming to our
| rescue. He described her appearance and rig;
and to our utter astOnishment, when your YES
sci hove In sight she cOrrespOnded exactly to
| his description of her We had not put much
faith in what he said; yet still we hoped there
might he something in it, for drowning men,
you know, will catch at straws. As it has
| turned out, cannot doubt that it was all ar
ranged, in some incomprehensible way, by an
| Oyerruling Providence, SO that We might be
| saved. TO Him be all thanks for his goodness
| TO us
| There is not doubt" rejoined the other
| captain, ''that the writing the slate, let it
| have come there as it may saved all your
| lives. i was steering at the time considerably
| south of west, and altered my course to nor
west and | had a lookout aoft to see what
| would come of it. But you say he added.
turning to the passenger, that you did not
dream of writing or slate?'
| No sir. / hsve no recollection whatever
OF doing SO. | got the impression that the bark
| L saw In my dream was coming to rescue us;
but low that impression came L cannot tell
| There is another very strange thing about it, -
he added. Everything here on board seems
to me quite familiar; yet am very sure was
never in your vessel before. 1t is all a puzzle
| to me. What did your mate see?"
| Thereupon Mr. Bruce related to them all the
circumstances above detailed. The conclusion
they finally arrived at was, that it was spe-
| cial interposition of Providence to save them
| from what seemed a hopeless fate.
| The above narrative WAS communicated to
me by Captain j. S. Clarke, of the schooner
| Julia Hallock,* who had it directly from Mr.
| Bruce himself. They sailed together for sew
enteen months in the years 1885 and 81; so
that Captain Clarke had the stery from the
| mate about eight years after the occurrence
He has since lost sight of him, and does not
know whether he is yet alive. All he has
] heard of him since they were shipmates is that
he continued to trade to New Brunswick, that
| he became the master of the brig Comet, and
| that she was lost
| / asked Captain Clarke if he knew Bruce
we'll, and what sort of a man he was?
| ''As truthful and straightforward man, - he
! replied, "as ever met in all my life. We were
| as intimate as brothers; and two men can't be
| together, shut up for seventeen months in the
same ship, without getting to know whether
| they can trust one another'S word or not. He
| always spoke of the circumstance in terms of
| reverence, of an incident that seemed to
| bring him nearer to God and to another world
I'd stake my life upon it that he told me no
| lie"
-* July, l-59 The Julia Hallock was then
lying at the foot of Rutgers Slip, New York. She
| trades between New York and st Jago, in the
| island of Cuba. The captain allowed me to use
his name, and to refer to him evidence for the
| truth of what is here set down.
| PRESIDENTIAL AsPIRANIs vs.. JOHN BROWN
Gov. Chase, of Ohio, in his ent message to the
Legislature, thus alludes to John Browns inva-
| sion: wv bile we will not avOw just admiration
| of noble qualities, by whomsoever displayed, we
must not the less. but rather the more earnestly
| condemn all inroads into States, not merely at
| peace with us, but united to us by the bond of
political union, and all attempts to excite within
| their borders servile instructions, necessarily
tending to involve the country in the calamites of