The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-08-23

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more carefully than those Of the rest oil tn
crew, often inflicted upon him punish
ments painful to witness. Ihad a stronl
attachment to Chester, and stood hi
friend whenever l could, by taking som,
Of his duties along with my own; but
was notatways on hand to help him, so b,
fell oitener than others beneath thu
captains displeasure.
One night, when / was at tho wheel, III,
wind rose into a gale. The captain CANT
on deck and set all hands 10 reef the top
sails. The men were manning the hal
yards to hoist away, when poor Chester
instead OF letting go the ~reel.taCkle, let q
the weather fore.topsail brace, and away
went the yard foreand aft. BY lufiing vi
smartly, however, we managed to gel
checked without carrying ANYTHING away
But Captain Phillips, frothing at tic
mouth, swere he would tan the foolish
lubber's hide who had done so Clumby {
thing. Saying which, he rushed at Ches
ter with a piece Of ~ratline, which he
brought down upon his neck and should,
ers, giving them . fearful cut. He was In
the act Of raising it again when a voice
from aloft roared out: "Hold your hand!'
The voice was wonderfully loud and
clear, seemingly coming from the maintop
The captain fell back, and, looking IN
cried in great rage: "Aloft there!"
"Hall0al" was tho answer back.
Come down or deck" was the CAP
tain's imperious order.
NIl0nNn nm hmm unI Rnn L.. .si
like It," was the contemptuous response
Come down, | say, on deck" foamet
the captain.
"Come up and fetch me-" returned the
voice from aloft.
"Who is up there. Mr.. Rassom?" criet
the captain, appealing to the first officer
mo one, sir" was the reply, $50 far a,
| can see. All present on deck"
The captains rage was now terrible tc
witness. "All seem present, Mr.. Rassom;
What do you mean by that, sir? I ash
you again, who is up there?"
mo one known to me-" returned the
man. All arc present. All are on deck
in sight"
Such was the case. Butthe second mate
without awaiting orders, sprang up the
rigging and looked over the top-rim, then
made the circuit Of it, looking all around
the masthead, and then reported himself
alone.
"Then the ship must be haunted" cried
the chief mate.
The captain hereupon dropped the
r~ope's.end which he held in his hand, and
went below. It was evident that he was
strangely affected by what had occurred
And 80 my fellow country man escaped
further punishment that night.
But, .ina few days, our skipper had for.
gotten his fears, aud, looking out for an,
other object upon which he could ven
his spleen, l. had the ill-fortune to feel his
wrath. He ordered me to make a knot in
the end OF an old tagged rope to be used
for a lashing. In q little while l returned
saying that l had made the best Job ]
could of a rope which was quite tagged
out.
"Well," said he, eff that's your best
you are as much o. alubber as your irienC
Chester. Bat I'll dock you both 10 or
binary seaman's wages"
l tried to show him that the rope wa
too much worn to make q neat piece Of
Jagged"
Tagged, is it" cried he, scOrniully;
then I'll finish it over your lubberly
back"
"No you WON'T" roared out a yoic,
from behind the long boat. The captain
rushed in the direction OF the sound, bu
he failed to discover the speaker.
"Who was that?" he cried, in a storm
OF wrath, adding, "Let me know who it is
and III thrash him within an inch OF hi
life"
"Will you? hah! hah! hail." was til,
mocking reply, dropping seemingly from
the maintop.
It was broad daylight when this tool
place, so everyone could see that Their,
was no one up there. l was Is much
startled and mystifed by the occurrence
as was the captain; but neither he nor !
nor any Of the crew to whom he applied
could throw light thereon. But whoever
or whatever uttered the words, my pur
pose was served, as was Chester's, on {
previous occasion. The irate captain
went below filled more with fear thai
rage, throwing behind him, as he steppcc
upon the cabin ladder, the rope's On,
which had so vexed him.
Sailors in general are supestitious be
ings. Whatever cannot be made out o
accounted for on natural principles, is laiC
to the account OF the supernatural. Gu
captain was no better in this respect thai
his crew, for he was as illiterate as they
except in the matter of navigation, and q
rough and untutored. He evidently be
lieVed that his ship was haunted, and tina
q spirit from the vast deep had a mind +
torment him byits interferances. His fear
were increased not many days after. o.
retiring to rest, at the end OF his evening
watch, his slumbers were disturbed BY
loud and fearful cry, which seemed to en-
ter the cabin by the side.light, which wa
left open for ventilation. The cry wa
heard by the second officer, who was O
the quarter deck, and by Chester, who wa
at the wheel; neither OF whom coul
throw any light upon the incident 10 tn
captain, who had rushed on to the deck /
a state Of terror, and demanded in val
for the production Of the offender.
From that day 1t was clear to all thu
Captain Phillips was tormented by apprI
tensions OF coming disaster, An idea W.
fixed In his mind that his ship was yisite
by a spirit fromthe invisible world, whic
preferred to make itself heard rather tina
seen, And this idea was strengthened b
the fact that when he wa on deck, an
became angry at tho conduct OF any Of h
men, especially when his anger was mad
manifest in oaths and blows-the unsee
but ever vigilant visitor, from aiar, woul
-perchod apparently on the top Of Ii
administrator the insolent laugh or Il
dolorous warning. On these occasions Il
poor man would rush off to his cabin wit
blanched cheek and lettering limb, an
there abide untiIt6 'galein his moral sci
slbilities should substde.
That 1t was angry with no one else bl
the captain was clear, from the fact that
} never took notice OF the conduct OF an
other person. The mate or the boatswai
might act as they liked, or the men migl
iibe and call each other; no matter-tt
!. voice was not heard-neither laugh nj
moan fell upon our ears. But most
those who lived in the torecastle were 1
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