The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1883-06-15
A Thrilling Experience.

Two young Englishmen sailed TO-
gether on board a Cunard steamer from
Liverpool for New York short time
ago. They had never met before. but
they happened to come together in the
first evening on board, and finding that.
they had great deal in common, soon
became something more than mere ac-
quaintances. 1t was rough passage,
and they were seldom able to get on
deck, so they spent most of their time
PLAYING ecarte. 1t was between the
deals of one of their games, and the one
who was sitting on the bunk (whom we
will call Mr.. Al was shutting the cards.
when both became aware that third
person was standing at the cabin door
looking at them,
Good God, Jackr' exclaimed Mr..
B., jumping up from the couch, chow
on earth did you get here?"
The figure at the door said nothing,
but quietly turned around and walked
away again The boat was rolling
badly, and when B. had done tumbiing
over the portmanteau and had made his
way>to the door some few seconds had
elapsed. A. was naturally somewhat,
astonished at the mysterious interrupt
ton and the way his friend had treated
it, so he threw the cards on the bed,
and, hanging on to the door, scrambled
out after him. When he got into the
passage he saw B. standing some ten
yards off looking up and down in be-
wildered kind of way, and nobody else.
in sight.
"Who was it?" asked A., as the other
came slowly back to him after question:
ing the steward. 81 have not seen him
on board before"
.tHe was my brother, and he is not
on board" was the startling answer.
left him in Liverpool. and know he
can't have come away"
Nonsense, my dear fellow; it must.
have been some one of the passengers
l certainly don't believe it was your
brother. He was as utterly unlike you
as one man can be unlike another. He
was tall and you are short, he was fair
and you are dark, he was stout and you
are slim. and your faces are completely
different"
Yes, I know. I call him my
brother, but be is really my half
brother. His name is c., and We are
totally unlike each other. But that man
was my half-brother, Jack c., as sure
as am standing here, Or-his ghost. "
Well, there was no more ecarte that
afternoon; none of the officers or pas
sengers had seen anybody answering to
the description of the supposed e., and
he never appeared again until they
reached New York.
When they landed, B. found cable
message telling him that his half-brother
was dead.
Now, so far, this incident was not
different from score of others which
have been reported and published at
various times, and, beyond the fact that
the apparition was seen clearly by two
persons, it supplies no further evidence
of the existence or appearance of ghosts
or :. doubles" than has been adduced
over and over again. But there was
sequel to this which leads CHASTITY cir
cumstantiality to the whole affair, and
makes it very hard to laugh the matter
off as mere optical illusion.
A. lost sight of B. entirely, few days
after arriving in America. While the
former went west at once the latter
STAYED in New York three or four days
and then recrossed to England. Two
wears had passed before A. went back
again, and he had pretty well given up
pulling over the mystery, when one
day as he was walking along Piccadilly
he saw the man who had appeared in
the state-room that day coming to meet
him.
pardon me. sir,'' he began, sis not
your name c. ?'
Yes" was the answer, ''my name is
c., but must confess you have the ad-
vantage over me-.
Il dare say. 1 only saw you once
before, and that was on board the
steamship Papua in mid-Atlantic.
Good heavens! Then your name is
A., and you were with my half-brother,
: Charlie B., when he saw Jack, No,
that was not THAT was my brother.
We were exactly alike, and were con-
tinually being taken for one another.
Charlie is utterly different-but then
Jack and / took after our father. L
wish you would turn in here, he said
pointing to club house close at hand,
land tell me all about that day. You
know, of course, that Jack died that
very afternoon"
o, yes, A. knew it well enough, but
the horrible difficulty was this: He had
never seen Charlie Il. until he met him
on board ship, and had never seen
either the brothers G.. at all. The only
knowledge which he had of their feat
ures, or could have, was from that one
short glimpse on board ship. Whom
had he seen then? Scarcely another
person altogether, when the remem-
brance of rs features enabled him to
recognize his brother. If it was an
optical illusion it was very wonderful
one that could so picture a face which
he had never seen before; and if it was