Litchfield enquirer., 1881-08-04
BEWITCHED IN MID-0CEAN.
HThrlce the brinded cat hath mewed."

| from the feline OeitY or Egypt, ana the gaunt
 grinialkin of the witches, to the tame tabby of
 our ireside. It is difficult, however, to be-
 liege that, in this quarter of the nineteenth
 century and among sane Englishmen, pussy should ever be an object of fear and forebed i ing. Yet hear the story of my friend, the captain of the Seamew, recently come into | port after an unusually stormy and strange l passage from Baltimore: t& -fe@ We had capital run for several days. Af- ter dropping down the river, we gave her
 sheet across the cold belt of water that lies along the coast, and out we ''swished" into ] the Stream and away along it. Jack" says to my mate, who has sailed with me in the Seamew many year, ''home | in thirty days, Eh ?"
 ''Humph," said Jack, maybe" Jack was l Scotchman, and cautious about an opin- l ion. o .,-.-- -.--- .4 ns . We'll, on March IA, q have reason to re-
 member the date) a little after 12 o'clock, in
 latitude Al Q north and longitude 53 west | q bad just taken our bearings and remember | em), was sweeping round with my glass
 carelessly like when sighted ship on our
 starboard bow. had a good look she was a
 barque, and was flying signals of distress. l
 called Jack. 4- .i ;: .1 ....s .s--f,..l
 ''Jack," said I when he had looked, "what
 do you think? We must bear down on her
 suppose?"
 1 ''Humph," said Jack. ''Ay, I suppose. | We shortened sail and bore down. We | came within hail, but nobody answered from
 tie barque. Presently, though, a boat was
 launched and pulled toward us; but their pull
 ing was weak and dippy-"n ..r Then man stood up in the middle of the
 boat, tugged his coat off and waved it, and
 sang out, "Ahoyl Ahoy!" in half cracked
 kind of voice. This was odd, and 1 tramped 1 n fn haor xuh hof fhnU
 wanted.
 "We are starving l" That's what the cap.
 tain that stood up in the middle said, "We
 are starving," says be- ''The Lily of Ply
 mouth. outward bound for Baltimore"
 We got 'em'up the side. took the master
 into the cabin, and sent the men for'ard
 Lord to see that man drink and eat With a
 delirious eagerness, as you might say, and yet
 afraid te eat too fast or too much. He knew
 he must keep in his awful appetite and still it
 would keep breaking from him. He told
 us thelr story in scraps between: They had
 been provisioned for three months, and that
 was their 125th day out The weather they | had experienced had been most peculiar; not
 stormy, but playful and perverse-like; some-
 times blowing this way, sometimes that, often
 not blowing at all. Near eleven weeks had gone by before they sighted Cape Henry, and | when they did, down came a furious, sprawl
 ing 'wester, and drove lem out to Sea
 again. And so they had beaten about in ad-
 verse winds, of course, ever since. Their last
 drop of water and their last scrap of biscuit
 went five days ago. Then they came to cook. ing their boots, and sucking the oil from the | lainps-even from the pinnacle
 ''We ate my dog last p And the poor fellow l burst into tears. ''As sure as fate," said he,
 o, lyoning oddly at me, i've have been bewitch-
 '.Bewitched [" said I. 'What, now-what
 makes you think of such thing p
 ''Ah, we'll, said he, 'I don't know. But
 we'll see
 After that he was in hurry to return to his ship. We filled their boat and a boat of our
 own with all the provisions we thought we could spare (and there were thr- | teen of 'em, an awkward number to feed). Jack went with our boat. and when he came | back, says he to me:
 That shippers not bad sort, though he be Cardiff man. He's sent ye this keg O spirits-and it's maybe as well out O their
 way now-and, what dye think four bottles O champagne in the basket here They had ! thought Q saving them for land sight, but he's sent them to you" We looked in the basket of champagne at
 once. The bottles lay sloped in, with their heads out. Underneath was little packi ing. | straw, and underneath that-oh, Jacks face and language when he saw it!-a tabby,
 brinded cat, lying curled up asleep
 ''Oh?" cried Jack. ''Oh, the sly ungrate- full devil This is your Welsbman, your
 Taffy! This is what Ee thought he was be- witched wi! And he's been afraid to make
 away wi it So he sends the witchcraft here
 The coward he is! But we'llp Jonah's trick | and chance the whale.'' ss s..-se. sSo he seized the cat and swung out his arm | to toss it overheard when my little Maggie
 that sailed with me this voyage, and that scarce understood his words but understood
 his action, caught his wrist and cried ''Oh, no, please, Jack! Give it to me!' Now Jack was very fond of her, so he ar-
 rested his act at her bidding at once; but he said, 'It's bewitched. though, Maggie lass. If don't believe in that sort O thing, there's
 them here that do," with a glance at the men for ard
 "Ay, sir, there be, r said Dick Sandys. an old seaman who had been standing by all the | while helping to haul up the boat by the davit line, and keeping, as had observed, side long eye on the basket There's them aboard l this here Seamew, and l. don't say as what I | aint one on 'em myself, as Il straight off be- ginto think the rare luck of this here present wage is gone. But they'll dread worser luck sir, if ye throw overheard brinded cat as has been carried aboard across water. y ''... . ,.... | "Is that so ?" asked Jack .sssgt ''Yes, said | in low voice. live heard I that before But," said aloud, and looking
 at Dick. and trying to work off my uneasiness | in joke, ''how can you have a Sea, or any ether 'mew' without cat! 2" s1saa r 'sThis cat, said Jack, ''scarcely looks as if she would new again. Just look at her. skin and bone." ! -.tc7E x7..s' s:..y,.,
 My little Maggie had walked her up with l stroking, and the wretehed creature tried to ond or,6f fin l1h. leg. But she fell over agaln and again. Jack caught the animal up, and sniffed her breath, while she gave him an averted look, which to me seemed almost human. -5f
 ''S'elp me W cried Jack Eff they haven't made her drunk, so that she could come here quiet! Did ye ever see cat like her Pc asl When Maggie carried the cat into the cabin, I tramped up and down the deck, more un-
 easy than cared to let my self know It was 1 not Gas told Jack) that I was a believer in the superstitions about cats which many sail ors still encourage, but because I knew what desperate work it would be, if anything should | happen, to keep in hand crew that had given themselves up.s aH ssif i.'5tAE @T
 It was getting on in the afternoon, and was still tramping to and fro, when that cat rush. I ed on deck, with Maggie after it. It iump- ed up on the bulwarks, and, looking and polk | ing it's nose over the water, meawed. Itleap- ed back to the deck, and ran along toward the 1 fo'c'sle and round the caboose. and stopped and meawed again. ItTan back toward me, and looked round and meawed third time l; l and it's meawihg was loud and distressful, as I if it wanted to be let out or let in. Maggie followed, calling Fuss, puss l. poor pussy !"
 And there was l. and Jack, and farther of all
 the crew looking on and wondering at the
 creatures movements and cries There were peculiar one-sided glances and head shakes, I
 saw, exchanged by the men. To discourage
 any notion there might be that I also felt con.
 cern, turned to walk up and down as before, having first lit my pipe. What did that cat I do but trot of at my heels, looking up and
 meawing with a kind ot bitter greediness, as if I were the cat's-meat man asF
 Catch it, Maggie. said, "and give it something to eat" @ sa
 Tive given it something, father," said Mag gie, '.and it won't eat it. But maybe i. will now :" and she managed to seize and carry it