The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-10-30

death the rest of the crew, who were
chiefly English, thrust the Italian into
the forepeak and let him lie there in
darkness. When he was asked for they
reported that he had fallen overheard,
and this seemed to have been believed.
Whether the crew meant to starve him
or not is not certain; but after he had
been in the forepeak three or four days
a fellow going behind the galley out of
the way of the wind to light his pipe
it being then four bells in the first watch
came running into the ~forecastle with
his hair on end, and the sweat pouring
off his face, swearing he had seen the
Italians ghost. This frightened the
men prettily; some of them went down
into the forepeak, and found the Italian
lying there dead, with a score of rats
upon him, which bundled off when the
men dropped below, During all the
rest of the voyage his ghost was con
stantlv seen, sometimes astride of the
flying jibboom. What was the end of
til mean, whether the men confessed
the murder, and, if so, what became of
them-the dockmaster said he didn't
know Be that as it may, I discovered
shortly after we had begun u voyage
that the crew had got to hear of this
story, and the chief mate said it had
been brought aboard by the carpenter,
who had picked it up from some of the
dockyard laborers.
81 well recollect two uncomfortable
circumstances: we sailed or a Friday,
and the able and ordinary seamen were
thirteen in number, the idlers and our
selves aft bringing up the ships COM
pany to nineteen souls-nineteen souls!
when, 1 suppose, in her prime the
Ocean King never left port short of
seventy or eighty seamen, not to g
ton stewards, cooks, cooks mates,
butcher, butchers mate, baker and the
rest of them. But double topsail-yards
were now in; besides, Understood that
the vessels masts had been reduced
and her yards shortened, and we car
ried stump fore and mizzen topgallant-
masts. All being ready, a tug got hold
of u tow-rope, and away we went
down the river and out to sea I don't
believe myself that any stories which
had been told the men about the ship
impressed them much. Sailors are very
superstitious, but they are not to be
scared till something has happened to
brighten them. Your merely telling
them that there is a ghost aboard the
ship they're in won't alarm them till
they've caught sight of the ghost. But
one let a man say to the others,
There's a bloomin' sperrit in this ship.
Lay your head agin the forehatch and
you'll here him crashing his teeth and
rattlin' his chains and then let another
man go and listen, and swear, and per-
haps very honestly, that he 'heerd the
noises plain and you'll have all hands
in q funk, talking in whispers, and
going aloft in the dark nervously. In
our ship nothing happened for some
days. We were deep andslow, and rolled
along solemnly, the sea falling away
from the vessels powerful round bows as
from a rock. Pile what we could upon
her, with tacks aboard, staysails draw
ing, and the wind hitting her best sail
ing point, we could seldom manage to
get more than seven knots out of her.
One night 1 had the first watch. 1t was
about two bells. There was q nice
wind, the sea smooth, and a red moon
crawling up over our starboard beam.
We were under all plain sail, leaning
away from the wind a trife, and the
water washed along under the bendsin
lines through which the starlight ran
~glimmering. I was thinking over the
five or six months voyages which old
wagons after the pattern of this ship
took in getting to India, when, seeing
a squat coming along, L sung out for
hands to stand by the main royal and
mizzen topgallant halliards. 1t drove
down dark, and not knowing what was
behind I ordered the main royal to be
clewed up and furled. Two youngsters
went aloft- By the time they were on
the yard the squall thinned, but l
fancied there was another bearing
down, and thought it best to let the
ordinary seamen roll the sail up. On
a sudden down they both trotted hand
over hand. leaving the sail Tapping in
the clutch of the clew lines. roared
out: what dye mean by coming
down before you've furled that sailP'
They stood together in the main rig
cling, and one of them answered:
please, sir, there's a ghost somewhere
up aloft in the foretopsail-yard.' "A
ghost, you fool!' / cried. yes, SIR he
answered. He says: 'Jaimy, your
mother wants yer I says, 'What?'
and he says, Your mother wants YER
in the hollowest O. voices. Dick here
heard it. There's no one aloft for
rards, SIR L sung out for them to
jump aloft again, and finding that they
didn't move 1 made a spring, on which
they dropped like lightning on deck,
and began to beg and pray of me in the
eagerest manner not to sendthem aloft,
as they were too frightened to hold
on. Indeed, the fellow named Jim
actually began to shiver and cry when
l threatened him; so as the royal had
to be furled l sent a couple of able sea-
men aloft, who, after rolling up the
sail, came down and said that no voice
had called to them, and that they
rather reckoned it was a bit of sky.
larking on the part of the boys to get
out of slowing the sail. However,
noticed that the two men were wonder.
fully quick over the job, and that after.
ward the watch on deck stock talking
in low voices in the waist. Jim was q
fool of a youth, but Dick vas a smart
lad, aged about nineteen, and good
looking. with a lively tongue, and
heard afterward hat he could spin q
yarn to perfection all out of his imagin.
alton. I called him to me and asked
if he had really heard a voice, and he
swore he had. Did it say said L
Jimmy, your mother wants youP
SAY, SIR he answered, with a bit of 6
shudder, tas plain as you yourself say
it. 1t seemed to come off the foretop
gallant-yard, where 1 fancied 1 SEE
something dark a moving; but 1 was toe
frightened to take particular notice.
swell, it was not long after this
about eleven o'clock in the morning
that, the Captain being on deck, tn,
cook steps out of the galley, come!
walking along the poop, and, going VI
to the skipper, touches his cap ant
stands looking at him. What d'y'
want?' said the Captain, cycling him a
if he took HIM to be mad. Didn't you
call, sirp' says the cook. CALI erie
the skipper. Certainly not TIL
man looEad Stunid with -surnrisa AM