The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1865-01-03

brought q satisfactory report 70 tb,
capiain, the latter remarked that hit
eonscience;Uas satisfied. and that, i
the vessel took il 10 her head 10 20 to
the bottom j, would not be bis fauh.
The subsistence Of the gale Was .oI,
lowed by a week Of good weather, dur.
ing which nothing was seen q the
mysterious hand which had created 50
much excitement among the crew Of
the Huron. The vessel was now ap.
preaching Cape Horn, and rough
weather was looked for. Ii came
laundering upon the old crah on night,
just as the larboard watch made lis
appearance on deck, compelling every
/ rag to.be taken 10, with The exception
Of The main iopsail, andin a short lime
even that was reduced to a goose
wing.
/ II was a gloomy nighl--ihe storm
bowling thousand furies through the
shrouds Of the vessel, which was er-
cry moment swept by heavy seas.
The men Of the watch were soon gath
cred sft under the round-5ouse, close
ly muflcd in their pea jackets, while
their officer stood by the weather rail.
He had been looking to windNsrd but
DOW happening % cast glance under
the ships quarter, be again beheld
above the sarface of the aging tides
that fearful hand, which hs had hoped
that he would never see again. Yes,
there il was, held high above the crest
Of foamiug wave, as before, Whitley
cleaning in the phosphorescent light
OF the sea.
With one wild and terrible cry the
mate fell senseless upon the deck and
atsthe same moment, huge wall of
water rushed down upon The ship, and,
lifting him like. a feather, carried him
faf away to the leeward. The men
rushed from their shelter, upon hear
ing the cry Of their officer, to ascertain
ito cause; but the noise Of the ap-
preaching sea- warned them to save
themselves by clinging 10 the
running rigging of the mizen-
mast. Now, however, they spraus 10
the weather rail, just IN time to get q
glimpse Of the hand before it disap-
pearcd.
Boys, said the old seaman to whom
sc haze before alluded, you'll see
that hand no more 1t was a warning
Of the doo.l Of our mate, who has been
washed overheard. | saw his form
as it was carried off by the sea !!
We have but a few more words 10
add. When the rest Of tie crew were
made acquainted with the facts we
have ju5t related, the excitement vas
intense, and numberless were the
questions showefed upc.. tho larbea d
watch.
The loss Of the mate, coupled as it
was with the appearance of the mys
terlou5 hand, seemed to inspire every
man With feelings Of superstitious awe.
But tie next day it was rumorcd that
the captain had found in the room Of
tie lunatic piece of heavy wood with
stuffed glove attached to it, in such
a way as 10 occupy an upright posi-.
tion. A long string was fastened 10
this novel conirivance,by which means
the boy could have lowered it through
the dead light into the sea.
Our readers will remember that the
sight oil Toms hand, raised above the
water, had produced strong impress
sion upon the disorlered brain Of Ln-
cius, and it was probably this inAu-
enoe that had inspired him with the
strange whim Of creating the decep-
tion alluded to.
The greater portion of the crew,
however, refused TO credit the rumor,
and always insisted that the hand they
had seen was that of their beloved
shipmate, who had resorted TO this
means 10 warn them Of fine doom
which finally befell the mate Of the
Huron.