Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1879-05-14

and then rtported himself alone
"Then the ship must bc haunted J
cried tho chief mate,
The captain hcreupon dropped the
ropes end which he held In his hand
and went below, 1t was evident that
he was strangely affected by what had
occurred, Aud 80 my fellow country
man escaped further punishment that
night.
But in few days, our skipper had
forgotten his.fems, and looking about
for another object upon which he
could vent his spleen, had the ill'ior'
tune to feel hN wrath, Tic ordered
me to make q knot in the erd OF an
old tagged rope to be used in making
q lashing, In n little while ! return
cd saying that | had made the best
job ! could OF rope that was quite
tagged out
"Wel" said he, "if that il your
best you are as much Of q lubbcr ne
your friend Chester. But III dock you
both to ordinary seaman's wages ]
tried to show him that the rope was
was TO much worn out too make neat
piece of work oft. Indecd,' | said II
is sadly tagged,
Gagged it is" cried he, scorniully
"then I'll finish it over your lubberly
back"
"No you won't" roared out voice
from behind the lougboat. The cap
tain rushed in the direction Of the
sound. but failed TO discover the speak
CT.
"Who was that o. he cried in a
storm Of wrath, adding, "Let me know
who it is and Il trash him within an
inch Of his life
"Will you ha ha ha |! vas
the mockirg reply, dropping seeming
y from the maintop
1t was broad daylight when this
took place, so that every one could see
that there was no one there. was
as much startled and mystifed by the
occurrence rs was the captain; but
neither he nor |, nor any of the crew
to whom he appealed, could throw
any 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, filed more with fear than
rage, thrown behind him, as he step
ped on the cabin ladder, the ropes
end which had so vexed him.
Sailors in general are superstitlous
beings. Whatever cannot be easily
made out or accounte ed for on natural
principles is laid to the account Of the
supernatural Our captain was no
better in this respect than his crew,
for he was as illiteiate as they, except
in the matter of navigation, and rough
and untutored. He evidently believ-
ed that his ship was haunted, and that
spirit from the vastly deep had mind
to torment him by its interferences
His fears were increased not many
days after. On retiring to rest at the
end OF his evenings watch, his
slumbers were disturbed 10y loud
and fearful cry, which seemed to en-
ter the cabin by the sidelight, which
was lett open for ventilation. The cry
was heard by the second officer who
was on the quarter deck, and by Ches-
ter, who was at the wheel, neither of
whom could throw light upon the Incl
dent to the captain, who had rushed
on deck in a state of terror and demand.
ed in vain for the production Of the
offender.
From that day it was clear to all
that Captain Phillips was tormented
by apprehensions of coming dis
aster. An idea was fixed his mind
that his ship was visited by spirit
from the invisible world, which pre-.
terred to make itself heard rather than
seen. And this idea was strengthen
ed by the fact when he was on deck
and became angry at the conduct OF
the men, especially when his anger
was made manifest in oaths and blows
the unseen but ever.vigilant visitor,
from atar, would-perched apparently
on the top of the mainmast-utter the
insolent laugh or the dolorous warn
ing. On these occasions the poor
man would rush off to his cabin, with
blanched cheeks and tottering limbs,
and there abide until the gale OF his
moral sensiJiltes should subside.
That it was angry with no one else
but the captain was clear, from the
fact that it never took any notice Of
the conduct of any other person. The
mate or the boats vain might act rs