The Shasta courier., 1866-11-24


feebly. have had sudden and terrible
shock Let the crew alone Captain. You
Will not be troubled by this stranger again.
l know what l say, and tomorrow | will en-
PLAIN 1t to you. Tonight | cannot"
With these words the young man passed
into the cabin and hurried to his state room,
leaving the commander of the ship over
whelmed with astonishment and not little
alarmed. The Captain passed a sleepless
night, and paced the deck restlessly till day.
By the morning the fog had cleared away,
and the weather had grown as warm as
when the voyage began. All hands, passen-
gers and crew--were delighted with the
change.
AT breakfast the seat Of Lieutenant Fair
fax was vacant, and upon sending to his
stateroom to know the cause, answer was re-
turned that he was very ill.
Toward midday Capt. Bridges received
a message from him to come to him at cnce.
Upon entering the stateroom the skipper
found the ships surgeon sitting by the berth
looking very grave and sad. He was as
tonished and shocked at the change in the
young Lieutenant's face. He seemed a COM
plete wreck of what he had been the day be-
fore.
Z" had no idea you were so i'll" said the
skipper, " or l would have been here be-
fore"
g l am a doomed man, Captain - said
the Lieutenant, family. /" am almost
gone"
"Oh no! Not so bad as that |" commenc-
ed the Captain; but the sick man interrupt
ed him.
Captain Brydges," he said in low,
startling voice, 9 shall be dead man by
sunset! | have the Asiatic cholera in its
worst form -
The Captain started back in alright.
'' Heavens!' he exclaimed.
. 1t is true," said Lieutenant Fairfax
speaking with great difficulty, Il had no
cause to fear it when | came on board. -
Heaven grant that mine may be the only
case. As soon as | am dead Captain, sew
me up in blanket, and drop me overheard
at once.
He paused a moment as if to gather
strength, for he was very much exhausted,
and then went on:
8 promised last night to explain my
strange words about the vessel we spoke
Who the person was who hailed you. or what
is the character of the vessel he commands.
do not know. | only know that your
being spoken by him BODIES you no good
Two years ago the frigate to which | was at
tached was spoken in similar manner in
the Straits OF Gibraltar, and during the
next week we lost one hundred of our men
from cholera. | fear this is an evil omen.
and that | am but the first of long list of
Victims
lie sank back exhausted The Captain
turned to the Surgeon in a state of bewilder-
ment, and asked if the Lieutenant was not
wandering in his mind; but the Surgeon
answered that the mind of his patient was
perfectly clear, and that there was no doubt
that he would die before sunset 1t was the
most rapid case of Cholera he had ever
known. He advised the commander to keep
the circumstance secret. No other case
might occur, and the knowledge of this one
would be sure to produce panic among the
passengers and crew which might lead to Sc
rious results.
Lieutenant. Fairfax died that afternoon.
The Surgeon told the passengers he had died
of heart disease, and accounted for his sud
den burial by stating that he had requested
it. With these explanations the passengers
were compelled to content themselves but
they were far from being satisfied The
studied reticence of the Captain and Sur
geon, the only persons yet in the secret.
convinced them that there was something
connected with the death which the officers
of the ship were anxious to conceal and,
besides this, they had heard from the sailors
the story of the mysterious ship that had
hailed them on the previous night. These
things made them dissatisfied; and before
the next morning, the tenth day out, effect
ually put an end to the careless enjoyment
they had hitherto experienced.
The next morning the Surgeon sought the
Captain with an anxious, troubled face.
''There are two cases of cholera in the
steerage," he said. 6 have had them re.
moved to the hospital. l am afraid they are
very bad cases, sir, and that the predictions
of poor Fairfax will be realized Heaven
help us, if it shall be-"
1--WE must keep cool and do our best Doc
tor" said the Captain gravely. 1--WE may
weather the danger, after ALL if we 90 about
it right"
Captain Bridges was brave man. In
times of danger he was as cool as on the
pleasantest summer day, and under any and
all circumstances he strove to do his duty.
He had little hope now that his vessel would
escape the fury of the scourge which had
broken out so mysteriously in it, but he
meant to do his duty to the last
During the day the Surgeon reported six
new cases, and toward night three of the
patients died. Under the cover of the dark
ness their bodies were thrown overheard
The next day six more cases were reported
by the Surgeon, who told the Captain they
were of the most alarming type. 1t was
impossible to keep the matter secret anv
longer. 1t became known to the passenge
that the cholera was in their midst. and
there at once ensued panic which battles all
description. Captain Bridges almost wore
himself out trying to induce them to be
calm. They seemed utterly incapable of
listening to reason. 1t was horrible to
think they were shut up in the narrow space
of ship, and seventeen days from Phil
delphia. In vain the Captain warned them
that their fright would expose them more
fully to the disease. They seemed to have
entirely lost their self control, and to be
incapable of regaining it.
Six weary. terrible days passed away
The ship had now been out seventeen days,
and eleven more must elapse before port
would be reached. In those six days the
pestilence had ragged fearfully. One hun
dred passengers Including six of those in the
cabin, and three of the Crew, had been seiz-
ed with it, and fresh victims were being
added every day. The deaths reached the
frightful number of twelve day, SO that in
this time seventy-two had died. There