The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1882-06-10
MELLvILLE'S PHANTOM.
A Prophetic Story OF the Loss of
the Jeanette.

Inc vile OF engineer Meivlile, bne
gallant officer of the luckless Arctic
exploring steamer jeanette, who is
now searching for his lost comrades
around the ice bound coast of Sibe-
ria, occupies picturesqe little cot
tagc uncovered amid twining honey
suclxles and fragrant blossoming
lilacs at Sharon Hill. although it
has been more than three years since
George left us all here" she said yes
terdav, s'and went out on that III
fated voyage, and although oceans of
cruel waters and leagues of land have
separated him from us, / have seen
him twice within q year. Startling
as this statement was, Mrs. Melville
was evidently in earnest. Son the
10th of last June" she continued, IL
retired TO my room late at night.
DAVIS of anxious waiting for some
news of the jeanette, without bring
ing a ray of hope, had almost caused
me to despair of ever again seeing
my husband. l had fallen into an
uneasy sleep, from which one of the
children aroused me. 1t was perhaps
more than an hour after this, and
while | was wide awake, that / be-
came conscious of a strange presence
in the room, and you may well mag
inc with what mingled feelings of joy
and fear / heard Georges voice, and
looking up, saw him standing by
the bedside. Saw him as plainly as
now see you. He was saying:
Count the bells! Count the bells"
and as he spoke, / distinctly beard
the bell Of ship striking, two by
two, the strokes of the hour, "Count
Them continued my husband, and /
said Eyes, George" l remember
that when the seventh bell sounded
/ thought that If it was ships bell
there could be but one more, and as
the last sound died away, my bus
band said; Eight bells; the jeanette
is lostr' and vanished from the room.
At that moment the sitting room
clock struck the hour Of 4, and it
was the morning of the 1lth Of June
At that very hour on that very
morning the jeanette went down into
the fathomless depths Of the Arctic
ocean, and the ice foe closed over
her grave. ] am no spiritualist,"
continued Mrs. Melville, "nor do ]
believe in spirits. do not attempt
to explain what have just told you.
but it is, every word Of it, true. ]
never expected after that to hear of
the safety of the crew of the Jean
cite. A few weeks after the occur
renee which ] have narrated, at the
same hour in the morning, ! had
arisen for the day, and was in the
hall which you see there. Again /
saw my husband, nay, even felt his
breath in my face. j was dreadfully
startled, but had sufficient courage to
call out: George, is that your"
when the figure disappeared as If
swallowed up in the ARP
"And did you ever speak Of this
before?" said the astonished reporter
Frequently" said Mrs. Melville;
frequently to our little household,
and once to Mrs. De Long, the unfor
tunate wife of the poor commander
of the Jeanette. Last summer, or in
the early fall, met her in Philadel-
phia. She was hopeful, even conf
dent, of the ultimate return of her
husband. / was cast down, and
finally told her what / have just re-
lated to you. She was disposed to
laugh at me, but ] told her that |
believed the Jeanette had been lost
on the 18th of June. Alas! for poor
Mrs. De Long, my prophecy was too
true Here is letter from her to
my little girl on the very day the
news came that Captain De Longs
dead body had been found .''-Phild.
Record