The Shasta courier., 1863-01-31
.SH ASIA COURIER.
The MYSTERIOUS Corpse.

"a
10 he 50; whatever else he was, he certainly
must have been sailor Of genius:
We were on board slave ship bound to
the CO st of Africa. had my misgivings
about the business. and believe others had
them, too. We had passed the Straits Of
Gibraltar and were lying off Barbary one
clear, bright evening, when it came my turn
80 take the helm. Tue ship was becalmed,
and everything around was as silent as the
day after the deluge. The wide mnnotonv of
water, varied only hy the glanc ng of the
moon on the crest of the waves, made me
think the old fables If Neptune were true /:
and that Amphitrire and her Faida were
sporting on the surface of the ocean, with
diamonds in their hair. These fancies were
followed by the thought of my wife, my chill
dren and my hume; and all were wildly
enough jumbled together in delicious state
of approaching sIumber Suddenly heard
above my head bud, deep, terrible voice
cal out, Stand fr.nn under!n l started to
my feet-it was customary signal when
anything was to lie thrown from the shrords,
and mechanically sung out the usual an
swer, 8 Let go" But nothing came.
looked up into the shrouds-there was no.
thing there. searched the deck and found
that was alone! tried to think it was
dream Bur that sound, 81 deep, 50 stern, so
dreadful ruag in my ears like the bursting of
a cannon.
In the m ornins told the crew what had
heard. They laughed at me and were all
day long full of their jokes about . Dreaming
Tom" Oae fellow among them was most
unmerciiul in his raillery. He was swar-
thy. malignant looking Spaniard, who car
ried murder in his eye and curses on his
tongue; daring and lordly man who boas-
ted of crime as if it gave him pre- elninence
among his fellows He laughed longest and
loudest at my story A most uncivil ghost,
Tom, said he; when such chaps come to
see me. l II make em show then selves; I'll
not be satisfied without seeing and feeling as
well as hearing
The sailors all joined with him; and |,
ashamed, was glad to be silent. The next
night Dick Burton took the helm ID elk had
nerves like an ox aud snews like a whale it
was little he feared on earth or beneath it,
The clock struck one. Dick was leaning his
head on the helm. as he said, thinking no.
thing OF me or my story, when that awful
voice again called out from the shrouds,
. Stand from un Ter ~ Dick darted forward
like an Indian arrow, which they say goes
thruagi and through buffalo, and wings 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 call out, Let 90 -
Again nothing was seen-nothiug heard.
Ten nights in succession, at one O'Clock, the
same unearthly sound rung through the air.
making the stoutest sailors quail as if bull
let shot had gone through their brains.
At last we 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 to the oar all my
life, to have got out of that vessel But there
we were in the vast solitude of ocean; and
this invisible being was with us. No one put
a bold face on the matter but Antonio, the
Spaniard. He laughed at our fears, and de-
fed Satan himself to tcrrify him. However,
when it was his turn at the helm, he refused
to go; several times, under the pretence of
illness, he was excused from a duty which all
on board dreaded. But at last the captain
ordered Antonio to receive u round dozen of
klshes every night until he should consent
to perform his share of the unwelcome Office
For a while this was borne patiently but at
length he called out, 4" may as we'll die
enc way as the other. Give me over to the
ghost !"
That night Antonio kept watch on the deck
Few of the crew slept; for expectation and
rack. At one O'Clock the voice called, 's Stand
from under - = Let go!'' screamed the
Spanlard. This was answered by shrek
of laughter; and such laughter 1t seemed
as if the fends answered each other from
pole to pole, and the bass was howled in he'll
Then came sudden crash upon the deck, as
if our masts and spars had fallen. We all
rushed to the spot, and there was cold stiff,
gigantic corpse. The Spaniard said it was
thrown from the shrouds and when he look
ed omit he ground his teeth like madman.
'' know him, y he exclaimed, II stabbed
him within an hours sail of Cuba, and drank
his blood for breakfast"
We all stood aghast at the monster. In
fearful whispers we asked what should be
done with the body. Finally we agreed that
the terrible sight must be removed from us,
and hidden in 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 i'm
movable as if it formed a part of the vessel.
The Spaniard was furious as Let me lift
him y SAID he; Il lifted him once-I can
do it again. I'll teach him what it is to come
and trouble mes He took the body round
the waist and attempted to raise it, Slowly
and heavily the corpse raised itself up. Its
rayless eyes opened-its rigid arms stretched
out and clasped its victim in close death
grapple, and. rolling over the side of the ship,
they tottered an instant over the waters
then, with a plunge, they sank together.
Again that laugh-that wild, shrieking laugh
was heard on the winds The sailors bow
ed their heads and put up their hands to shut
out the appalling sound
took the helm more than once after. but
we neveragain. heard in the shrouds, :. Stand
from under 7