The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-10-17
From the New York Times.l
A QUEER YARN.

''You say that a man has got to
have a knowledge of navigation before
he can command a ship, do your
said an intelligent looking seaman to
a clearinghouse runner, the other
day, as the pair stood on East River
pier waiting for incoming ship to be
docked. 81 do" said the runner.
''Then you are out of your reckoning, p"
continued the seaman; 'TOr / have
known man to command a ship and
make good runs In her, and yet he
didn't know any more about naviga-
tion than you do" The runner and
several others who stood near, and
who had heard the seaman's peculiar
statement, asked him to tell them
about the strange captain who knew
nothing about navigation. This re-
quest seemed TO strike the seaman as
quite reasonable, and he at once pro-
ceeded to spin his yarn.
"About twenty years ago." he be-
gan, 'twhen | was first made an able
seaman, | shipped here on full
rugged clipper bound for Callao, Peru.
The captain was as fine a looking
skipper as ever | saw. He vas tall
and stout built, with a heavy beard,
which he took a good deal of pains
with They called him Capt. Phillips.
Though he vas mighty fine looking,
and talked as if he knew everything,
when you looked at him close to for a
minute somehow he didn't look a
smart man. The first time ! went to
the wheel he was on deck, and
watched him a good deal more than
did the compass, and the more
looked at him the more | made up
my mind that with all his taking
ways and looks he wasn't what |
called a smart man. One queer thing
about Capt. Phillips was that he kept
a servant. That's something very
strange for the captain of an
American ship to do. But they
said that the captain was born
in England, and he talked a little
as if he was. But that servant
OF his was a queer-looking fish. They
called him Scotty. That fellow was
awkward. His legs and arms seemed
twisted. Nothing fitted him, and he
had red hair, and his ugly face was all
covered with big freckles. But some
how about the eyes he looked smart.
Every now and then while | was at
the wheel the captain and Scotty
would be on deck, and when | heard
them talk | couldn't help think that
Scotty was much the smarter OF the
two, although the skipper was a man
past 40, and SCotty was little more
than half that. Scotty never had
anything TO do with the men. He lived
in the cabin and was almost always
with the captain. Although they
called him a servant | never saw him
do any work. Sometimes he would
come on deck and give the mate in
charge OF the deck some message from
the captain about changing the course
or going about, or something else
about navigating the ship. At times
In heavy weather, or when the cap
tain was putting the ship about, he
would walk up and down leaning on
ScOtty's shoulder. ScOtty would look
out kind OF queerlv from under his
eyebrows while he walked alongside
the captain, and he always seemed to
be mutterlng something. All this
seemed kind OF strange to me- Once
in while the captain would be the
worse for liquor. He never came on
deck much then, but when he wanted
the course OF the ship changed or any
thing like that done he would send up
word TO the mate in charge of the
deck by Scotty.
Zone night when we were getting
down near Cape Horn our watch had
from to II o'clock on deck. | was
standing near the pumps, and the
mate told me to 90 aft and coil up
some ropes that the other watch had
left down. went aft, grumbling, of
course, and began cOiling the ropes. |
noticed lighted window, and getting
down to it was curious when | was
young, you see-I could look into the
captains cabin. On the lounge Law
Capt. Phillips, who looked as if he'd
been drinking too much, but my eyes
stuck GU when | saw Scotty. That
young fellow sat at a table with a
chart before him. He had a pair OF
cOmpasses out, and was making out
his course on the chart. He Jumped
up and took a look at the weather.
glass, and then he started toward the
atter-companiOnway. | Jumped up
and went to cOIling the ropes again. I
heard ScOtty come on deck. Saws he
to the man at the wheel: The captain
saws change the course a point to the
west. The mate came aft then, and
SCotty told him about changing the
course, and then said: The CAPTAIN
says when you change the watches tell
your men to be ready for a call, for
the glass Is going down and we're like
ly to have a heavy breeze before morn
ing. | finished COiiing up the ropes
and went forward Thinks l: This
ship is uavigated by Scotty, and the
captain, with all his airs. isn't any
more OF navigator that | am. He
may be captain, but he's no more
than a speakingtrumpet for Scotty,
so far a handling this ship goes
AT II O'Clock my watch turned in,
but somehow | couldn't sleep. | kept
thinking about ScOtty. | saw how he
had all along given his own orders
about handling the ship, while he
seemed TO be only giving messages from
the captain. When the captain had
come on deck and given any orders
telt sure that Scotty had told him
what to say before he left the cabin.
And when he had given orders with
Scotty by him Scotty had always
muttered, and what had he muttered
but the very words that Capt. Phillips
repeated after him. | saw what a
fraud the captain was when l thought
1t all over, but what puzzled me most
was why didn't Scotty strike ont for
himself and be a captain, instead OF
pretending to be a servant and letting
Capt. Phillips use him that way.
There was soma v1y-S+s Any aIn,,- :.
that was plain, but I couldn't guess
what II was; l could only suspect that
IN some way or other The captain had
got a tight hold on Scotty. While |
lay IN my bunk thinking about all
this It came on TO blow, and all hands
We're called to shorten sail. Scottv
was right when he told the mate that
We We're likely to have a storm. al
though when he said it the weather
looked as nice as you could ask to