Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1877-11-08
9flisfellameuns &eading.
ROMANCE ON THE OCEAN.
SAD FATE OF A WOMAN sTOwAWAY-JOINE
ON THE LONG JOURNEY.


ON THE LONG JOURNEY.
The captain of an English ship, just ar
rived in port, relates singular story which is
worth adding to the already extensive bud
get of the marvellous tales of the ocean. The
names of Captain and ship are not given, as
sailors are proverbially sensitive about their
veracity, and there is a strong flavor of 70.
nance about the shippers anecdote.
The official log contains this entry:
August Is, latitude -, longitude -, Jas.
Cotton, stowaway, fell from the foretopgal-
liant yard to the deck, and was instantly
killed.
August 16, latitude -, longitude -, Will
liam Bean, an ordinary seaman, while the fu.
neral service was being read over the body
of Cotton, jumped from the topgallant rail
and sank Immediately. Ship hove to at the
time. A boat was lowered, but no traces of
the man were discovered.
"That," said the captain, "is an entry that
gives the key to the yarn I'll spin you," as
Mail reporter sat in his cabin yesterday after
noon, after the MONDAY meal"
II shipped Bean in Liverpool. He was q
tall, good:looking young fellow, and did not
appear to be much of seafaring man by
his appearance, but he had q couple of good
discharges and I took him. After he went
forward among the men, l did not notice him
again until the aecond day out. The mate
came aft Juggling along little bit of fellow
with short curly hair and round face, whom
he had found slowed away under the fore
hatch A lot of the men got around to hear
rbok 7 ovNsnY fo ohont If
"'What the blazes made you hide away in
my shipi' said. He didn't answer word,
and seemed scared to death. Then Bean
stepped out and said:
II know that young man, Captain; be is
an old chum of mine. He wanted to get
passage to California, and had no money"
81 swore some at them both, and then sent
Cotton of in charge of the third mate, who
soon got him to work on broom. He han
died the broom pretty we'll, and took sort of
to polishing up the brass work, and seemed
so inclined to be industrious, that I took him
out of the mates watch and gave him odd
jobs about the cabin, lending the steward a
hand and so on. He had all night in and
better grub than they got in the forecastle,
but he used to always slip some of it forward
to Bean. Those two we're good deal to-
gether on Beans watch, and Cotton would
sometimes stay up all night with him. Then
he got to like going aloft, and used to handle
the royals as we'll as any ordinary seaman on
board. One day the mate said to me, 4
heard those two men, Bean and Cotton, talk
ing together last night, sir, and there was
something queer about it. Bean was telling
him that his mother and brothers would nev-
er forgive him, and the best thing to do when
he got to San Francisco would be to write to
some friends at home, but not let his people
know where he was. Cotton was crying, and
seemed to feel very bad. Then he saw me
and shut up think Bean has made that
boy Cotton run away from school or some
thing of that sort
81 told the mate to make work as light as
be could for him, and once, when he brought
me cup of tea on the poop, asked him if
his friends knew that he had started for Cali
fornia.
"'Oh no. he said but I could not get
along we'll at home, and l thought it best to
70 away
"'You knew Bean well at home, didn't
you ?" 1 asked.
"'Yes, sir, said be, and looked up red and
confused.
"'Did he induce you to run away?"
"'No, no, SIR said he; hut he told me he
was coming in this ship That was all | said
about it then. A week or so afterward, when
he was cleaning up my cabin, he got hold of
the photograph of my wife, which an artist in
Liverpool had undertaken to color and had
made botch Of it,
"'Did you ever do any paintingf I asked.
He said he could paint little, and got a
box of water.color paints from the third mate
and some brushes, and gave him few photo.
graphs to color. You see how we'll be did it.
He surprised me-"
Then the Captain opened his album and
showed the reporter some photographs, which
we're very skillfully and artistically retouched.
II saw him once" continued the Captain,
"painting the photograph of fne-looking old
lady. He told me it was Beans mother.
Well, to come to the day the accident occur
red. was on deck at the time, and Bean
and Cotton were sitting forward. l was just
going to call the young chap aft to help the
sail-maker, who was working on the poop,
when squall came along The mate sung
out, the royal halyards we're let 60, and Col.
ton jumped into the fore rigging to get aloft
and stow the foreroyal, for it was dsrkening
up to windward. Bean also got into the rig
ging and seemed to want to get up, but Col
ton got ahead of him.
"He laid out on the yard, got hold of the
canvas and the next thing We knew some
thing came whirling down on the deck with a
thud that made me shudder. The first one
at the poor fellows side was Bean. He turn
ed him over, for the face was toward the deck,
and then he fell down in fit, and the boat
swain attended to him. The watch carried
Colton's body aft. His neck was broken: l
pulled off the Shirt and then | knew the whole
story" and the skipper took a glass of sherry,
and his eyes were moist
"What was the mystery2" asked the re-
porter.
"Well," said the Captain, 'just this. COL
ton did not belong to our side of the deck.
The body that was sewed up and launched
into the deep was young woman, and she
was Beams wife, for l found the marriage
certificate in Beans trunk with some letters
that partially explained the matter. But
I'll tell you about that afterward. AS soon
as Bean got right he came aft looking like
ghost, and he knew by my face that l had
discovered the secret.
"'Captain,' said he, taking off his hat,
would you have any objection to letting me
stay alone with it tonight"
II let him stay all night by the body, and
I can imagine what the poor fellow suffered.
1 never saw such a despairing face on man
in my life as that which met me when | open
ed the sbin door and the hands we're sum-
moned for the funeral service. He stood by
until thu laat mnment and when the body