The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-10-31

no easier in his mind, lsuspect, than I
was. Anyhow I was glad when eight
bells were struck and it was my turn to
go below. But, as have said. nothing
much came of this, at least nothing that
reached my ears. But not many nights
following the ship lay observation-disclosures
wasn't s breath of air, and the sea lay
smooth as polished jet This time
had the middle watch again. l was
walking quietly up and down the poop,
on the lookout for deeper shadow up
on the sea to indicate the approach Of
wind, when man came up the ladder
and said: There's some one a-talking
to the ship under the bows Are you
awaken said l.. Heaven help me, as
stand here, sir. exclaimed the fellow,
solemnly, it that there voice which
talked in the hold t'other day amt now
over the side. ran forward and found
most of the watch huddled together
near the starboard cathead. 1 peered
over, and there was dead silence.
What are you looking over that side
for? I'm heren said 8 thin, faint voice
that seemed more in the air than in the
sea. .There!' exclaimed one OF the sea-
men, in hoarse whisper. That's the
third time. Whichever side we look,
he's on thu: other But there must be
some one in the water, said another
man. Anybody see his houtline? Cuss
me if / couldn't swear see chap
swimmin' just now.' No, no, answered
some one gruay, nothing but phospho-
rus, Joe, and the rightisOrt o. stuff too,
for if this amt Old Nick You're
liar. Samr came the voice clear and,
as one could swear, plain from over the
side. There was a general recoil, and
sort of groan ran among the men. At
the same moment l collared figure
standing near me and slowed him round
to bring his face fair to the starlight,
clear of the staysail. Come you along
with me, Master Dick, said /, and l
marched him off the forecastle, along
the main deck, and up on to the poop.
so YOU'RE the ghost, eh?' said 1. why,
to haye kept your secret you should
have given my elbow n wider berth.
No wonder the voice only makes OBJ
servations in my watch. You're too
lazy, suppose, to leave your hammock
to try your wonderful power on the
mate. eh9 Now. see here said /, find
ing him silent. and noticing how white
his face glimmered to the stars, Il know
you're the man, so you'd better con-
fess. Own the truth and I'll keep your
secret, providing you Delay all further
tricks of this same kind; deny that you re
the ghost and I'll speak to the Cap
tain and set the men upon you"
This fairly frightened him. well,
sir, it's true; I'm the voice, sir; but
for God s sake keep the secret, sir. The
men I'D have my life if they found out
that it was me as scared them This
confession was what l needed, for
though when standing pretty close to
him on the forecastle l could have
sworn that it was he who uttered the
words which perplexed and awed the
sailors, yet so perfect was the deception,
so fine in short, was his skill as a ven-
trilOquist, that, had he stoutly denied
and gore on denying that he was the
voice, l should have believed him and
continued sharing in the wonder and
of the crew. kept his Sc
cret as l promised; but, somehow or
other, it leaked out in time that he could
deceive the ear by apparently pitching
his voice among the rigging, or under
the deck, or over the side, though. the
discovery was not made until the
ghost had for long time ceased to
trouble the ships company, and until
the mems superstitious awe had faded
away somewhat, and they had recov-
cred their old cheerfulness. We then sent
for Dick to the cabin, where he gave US
a real entertainment as a ventrilOquist,
initiating all sorts of animals and pro-
ducing sounds As of women in distress
and men singing out for help in their
berths; indeed, such was his skill that
I'd often see the skipper and mate turn
ing, startled, to look in the direction
whence the voice proceeded. He made |
his peace with the men by amusing
them in the same way; so that, instead
Of getting the ropes sending aft and the |
forward that he deserved,
be ended as real and general favorite,
and one of the most amusing fellows
that man ever was shipma,e with.
[ used to tell him that if he chose to
perform ashore he was sure to make
plenty of money, since such ventrilo-
quail powers as his were the rarest |
hing in the world and I'd sometimes
fancy he meant to take my advice. But
he died or kept on going to sea
don't know, for after he left the ship |
[ never saw nor heard of him again
London Telegraph.
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