The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1879-05-10

protection and awaited the event.
From the bow of the vessel hung a
piece of chsin, and as she neared us we
labored with our hands and feet to reach
it. At length we succeeded, and /
shouted again, but no voice greeted me
in return. We then climbed up by
means of the chain, /, as the younger
man, being the first to make the attempt.
Oh, horror! what spectacle met my
eyes as l stepped on board! The planks
were crimsoned with blood, and between
twenty and thirty corpses in Turkish
costume were strewn about the deck.
A dead man, spJendidly attired, was
standing bolt upright against the main
mast; he held a saber in his hand, his
form was shriveled and CHASTITY, and a
large nail, passing through his forehead,
transfxed him to the wood against which
he leaned. Terror paralyzed my limbs
and | scarcely dared to breathe. My
companion, who presently Joined me,
was equally terrified at the scene before
him, where, instead of living beings,
mangled carcasses shocked our senses
After commencing ourselves to the
protection of the Holy Prophet, we de-
termined to descend below, expecting at
each step that some new horror would
present itself to stay our progress. We
scarcely dared to turn our heads lest the
chief nailed to the mast should fix his
sunken eyes on us, or one of the dead
men should raise his CHASTITY visage.
We arrived at length at stairway
which led to a cabin-there we stopped
Involuntary as if to interrogate each
other whether to 60 on or return to the
deck, for neither had as yet ventured to
utter his thoughts.
ooh, my master! said my faithful
follower, "some atrocious deeds must
have been perpetrated here. Let us
know the worst. If the other part of
the vessel be full of murderers, it were
as good to perish by their hands as to re-
main longer among these corpses."
With this opinion was ready to con-
cur, and having rallied our courage, we
cautiously descended.
The silence of the tomb reigned below,
broken only by the sound of our foot
steps. We paused at the chief cabin
door, and placed my ear against one OF
the panels to listen, but all was still; we
then entered the apartment, which pre-.
sented confused appearance, garments.
weapons and many other articles being
scattered about in disorder. Thence we
pursued our search from cabin to cabin
from stateroom to Storage, and at last
to the hold of the vessel. We found
everywhere superb stuffs, pearls, preciou:
stones and other costly merchandise.
The sight of this rich cargo, without
oupar u-ou11 haua fllod ono NIT
Joy, but for the solemn impressions which
my mind had just received; even as i
was, | thought that We might appropri
ate to ourselves all this valuable prop
erty; but Ibrahim reminded me that w
were still far at sea, and that we coulC
not hope to navigate the ship to lane
without other assistance.
After having availed ourselves of tn,
provisions and liquors, of which Their
, were an abundance, and APPARENT.
quite fresh, on board, we returned t.
, the deck, but not without again shudder
dering at the frightful appearance 0
: the PROSTATE groups around US. 1t wa
necessary to get rid of them, however
and we determined to cast them into tn
J waves; but our blood froze within u
: when we discovered that the first W
t touched was perfectly rigid and immoV
! able! None of them, in fact, could b
8 moved from the spot which they occu
1 pied; they were rooted, as it were, o.
, the deck, and to have displaced ther
we must have loosened the planks, whic
we had no means of doing. We wer
) equally unable to tear the captain froI
| the mast to which he was nailed, no
| could we even release from his hand th
Z sabre which he grasped.
/ We rallied at length from the cor
g sternation into which we had bee
= thrown by this supernatural discovery
0 and passed the day in rejecting on on
melancholy condition. When evenin
q came l requested old Ibrahim to try an
r take some repose, while / remained M,
: self on the forecastle to watch over OF
n our safety.
Y The night was clear, and | saw by tt
? position of the stars that midnight W:
e approaching, and soon after / felt
8 disposed for sleep that | involuntaril
g sunk down behind cask which W;
t near me. The sensation which can
d over me was rather that of giddine
d than of slumber, for | could distinct
q hear the waves beat against the sides
|, the vessel and the whistling of the wiz
|, through the rigging. Suddenly l ia
It cied [ caught the sound of voices al
d the trampling of feet On board. Iwou
h have risen to ascertain the cause of tt
t. new wonder, but my limbs, restraint
y as it were by some invisible agency, !
r fused to obey me, nor could l even Op
my eyes. Momentarily the noise
h came louder; it seemed to me that t
deck was thronged with merry-heart
n sailors; and in this babel of tongues
he thought | could distinguish the ordt
tn of a commander and the sound of ROY
and sails.
ar Ny senses then deserted me, and
e. into a profound sleep, during which
imagined that ] heard the clashing
sr- swords. | did not awake until the ST
be already high in the heavens, Cypress
m me with its fervid beams. At first
re looked around with bewilderment; !
'se shipwreck, the strange vessel, the de
ad men, and all that beard the precedi
a night, appeared to me as part of ]
Id dream; but when | cast my eyes tows
en- the waist of the ship, my perceptiC
nd returned, for | saw that all was in
he same state as | had left it the event
a. before; the grim corpses lying immo
us BILE on the deck, and the hideous capt
NJ still nailed to the mast.
ad I was confounded as | endeavored
en- distinguish the real from the imagin;
ed in what had passed before me, snC
in arose to look after my old servant
pit found him in the cabin "perplexed
nd the extremew
Ter "My dear master, he exclaimed, as
lr,,oo az bo6 ratbor br