St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-07-07

raised the speaking trumpet h.
held and hailed. As the hosrse sound
died away, startling reply was given.
A burst Of strange, harsh laughter came
ringing across the water, gradually chang
ing iptoa . wild cry which rose upon the
night air, sounding inexpressibly sad and
At that nome mt, as the seamen
thrilled and sws-slruck, list ened, the fires
which had been lit beneath the coppers,
and which had been fed with pieces ot
refuse blubber, began to burn up brightly,
the flames presently shooting up halt way
to the tops, and casting broad red glare
over the surrounding waters. AID, as il
this fame had been spell to conjure up
the demons If the deep, from the thick
darkness beyond the verge of the circle Of
light issued succession of sounds of the
most extraordinary character. Yells anG
howls, shrill screams and roars-now com
mingled, now separate-At times dying
away. and again. as the flames shot ~
fercely, rising in hideous chorus-assailet
the ears of the astounded whalers, Will,
at intervals, mingled with the uproar, wa
what seemed to some on board to be tn,
sound, indistinc,ly heard. of human voices
This continued until the vessel had passed
on her way some distance, when the noises
became more and more faint and finall,
died away. ...,.. .--.....-... .,.....
Before the fires had been lit the shi,
had been put before the wind, in orde
that the smoke and fame nigh pass for
ward and not endanger the rigging or in
commode the men ut their labor. Som,
of the latter, alarmed at the sounds, woult
willingly have had her continue her cours,
and leave tho vicinity; buc the Yankee
skipper was not so superstitious and, be
ing determined to ascertain their cause
he ordered the fires to be put out, $50 tha
the vessel might sail against the wind, AM
returned. While the look outs aloft wer,
trying to catch sight Of any vessel or o,he'
object in the n.ighborhood, the sound.
again reached them; and, steering in thei,
direction, the ship was hove to and boa
lowered; but the men hung back wher
the captain ordered crow in, and wished
to wait for daylight. %: IT,. II ~.
"Why, what are you afraid Of, men,
Do you think there are evil spirits cruis
ihg?" -: =. ......
he paused in surprise, and all hand.
uttered cry a strange phenomenon wa.
presented to their view; pale blue phos
phorescent light suddenly cleaned out O.
the darkness, and showed them a wreck,
and drifting. Through the open
ports and breaches in the bulwarks, broken
by the waves, the unearthly looking ra.
dance shone, glimmering and Pickering
on the stump of the mainmast, the only
fragment of spar left standing. Its bows
were towards them, and from their own
mastheads they could Mt times, when ii
pitched and rolled, see down on to its deck.
Close to the after hatchway burned blue
fame, sometimes shooting up
wildly, at others sinking until nearly ex.
by the light of which all on
deck was rendered visible. All hands
looked eagerly for signs of crew but
nothing in the shape of a man was to be
seen. The deck was cleared, the long
boat and spars gone; there was nothing
TO conceal them from view, had any men
been on board.
But although nothing in the guise of
mortal man was visible, other objects pre-
sentcd themselves to the view of the awe
struck sailors. Gaunt and weird-lookine
shapes. of hideous animals were plainly
seen fitting restlessly to and fro in the
ghastly light of that unna,u ural illumina-
ton, of lonely wreck At sea.
Il can tell you, SIR" said my informant,
at this portion of his narrative, "that
for one was scared, and no mistake abou,
it. was brought mp in q part of New
England where belief in the supernat,,
raj prevails. had heard that evil spirits
appeared at times in the form of beasts,
and haunted the places where they had
when on earth committed their crimes ;
and We were off that coast where, for two
hundred years, the desperadoes of every
and buccancers-had pur-
sued, when in life, their horrid calling.
AS the blue light Aickered, and the yells
once more broke out, these tales Of my
early days might have made me fancy
myself in the presence of some phantom
ship with its ghastly crew.
"But daylight soon came, the blue light
went out, and we then saw that the wreck
was real one. and that boat was towing
astern ; and when we pulled to it and
hailed, voices from the cabin aft, replied
and we rowed round and saw man with
his head and shoulders projecting out Of
The window: TT. r., ..r...' '='.:''~ :. ,,.:-
"'I say strangers Z he shouted, don't
none Of you offer. to come aboard. Some
Of the critters got loose last night, and
they're dangerous Ard dangerous enough
hey appeared to be, for at that moment
came to the taffrail, aud looked down on
US, several hyenas, whose eyes. sparkling
with famine, glared most ferociously; and
no wonder they had had no food for near