Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-06-10

remember one u these yarns: e VS.
| told 10 me By the doclEnasler. who had
been st go f0r many years, Vas a old
man. and kn8w the history az nll wnch
craft IS the Ocean King. He said that
II 80, I think it waB. there had been !
row among tie crew; an italian sailor
stabbed a. Engllshman, who bled %
death TO avange the Englishmnn'a
death the rest of the crew thrust
the italian into the f0repeak and lee
him lie there Ia the darkness. When he
vas asked for they reported that be had
fallen overheard. and this seems 60 have
been believed. Whether The crew
meant 90 stnxve him or not Ii not cersain.
but after he had been ID khe fOrepeak
three or four days, i fellow going be-
hind the galley ont Of the way a. the
wind to light his pfpe-it being then
four bells In the first WatCh-came rum
ming into the foreCastle: with his hair "a
/ end, and the sweat pouring OF his face.
swearing he had seen the Italians
ghost. This frightened the man prettily /
some Of them went down into he fore.
| peak end found the italian lying there
/ dead with . score Of rats upon him,
which sCampered OF when the men
dropped below. During oil the rest Of
the voyage his ghost was constantly
| seen, sometimes ct the lee wheel, some
! times astride Of the hying-ifbboom.
j What was the endoF it, mean, whether
the men confessed the murder, and. q
| so, what became Of them-the dock
master said he didn't know. But. be
this Is it may, discovered shortly after
we had begun our voyage that the crew
had got to hear Of this story, and the
chief mate said e had been brought
aboard by the carpenter, who had
picked Il up from some Of the dockyard
laborers.
ct well recollect two uncomfortable
/ circumstances /: we sailed on q Friday.
and the able and ordinary seamen were
! thirteen In number, the oilers and our
j selves aft bringing up the ships company
70 nineteen souls when, suppose. "a
her prime the Ocean King never left
port short Of seventy or eighty seamen,
not TO mention stewards, cooks. cooks
/ mate, butcher, butchers mate, baker.
and the rest Of them. But double top
Gail-yards were now In; besides, / UNDER
! stood that the vessels masB had been
reduced and her yards shortened, and
] we carried stump fore and mizzen top
!, galIantmasts.
'sAI being ready, tug got hold OF
our towrope, and away We went down
the river and out to sea.
81 don't believe myself that any
stories which had been told the
men about the ship impressed them
much. Sailors are very supersti-
tious, but they are not to be
scared till something has happened TO
brighten them. Your merely telling
them that there's 3 ghost aboard the
ship they're IN won't alarm them till
they've caught sight Of the ghost Blu
once let q man say to the others, There's
. bloomin' sperrit in this ship. Lay
your head agin the forehatch, and you'll
hear him crashing his teeth and rattlin'
his chains, and then let another man
go and listen, and swear, and perhaps
very honestly, that he sheerd the noises
plain, and you'll have ali hands IN &
funk, talking in whispers, and going
aloft In the dark nervously.
SIN our ship nothing happened foa
some days. We were deep and slow,
and rolled along solemnly, the sea fall
ing away from the vessels powerful
round bows as from g rock. Pile what
we could upon her, with tacks aboard,
staysails drawing, and the wind hitting
her best sailing point, we could seldom
manage to get more than seven knots
out Of her. One night / had the first
watch. 1t was about two bells.
There was o nice wind, sea
smooth, and red moon crawling mp
over our starboard beam. We were
under all plain sail, leaning away from
the wind Q .trife, and the water washed
along under the bends IN lines through
which the starlight ran gIimmerinR. /
was thinking over the i've or six
months voyages which old wagons after
the pattern Of this ship took in getting
TO India, when, seeing squat coming
along, sung out for hands to stand by
the main-royal and mizzentopg |
halliards. It drove down dark, and not
knowing what was behind ordered the
mainroyal TO be clewed up and furled.
Two youngsters went alOft. BY the
time they were on the yard the squat
thinned, but / fancied there was another
bearing down, and thought It best to
let the ordinary geamen roll the sailup.
On q sudden down they both trotted
hand over hand, leaving the sail hap-
ping IN the clutch Of the clew-lines.
81 reared out What dye mean
by coming down before you've furled
that sail 2
ssThey stood together IN the main rig |
ging, and one Of them answered /:
please. sir, there's 3 ghost somewhere
up aloft on the foretopsan yard.
"A ghost, you fool Z cried.
"sYes, sir, he answered. He says,
ssJim, your mother wants yen" says
ssWhat9" and he says, "Your mother
wants yer" IN the hollowest o. voices.
Dick heard ii There's no one aloft for
rards, SIR.
81 sung out to them 70 jump aloft
again, ana nndmg Eney didn't move 4
made 3 spring, on which they dropped
like lightning on deck, and began 10 beg |
and pray OF me in the eagerest manner
not 20 send them aloft, IS they we're TOO
frightened to hold on. Indeed, the fell
$3.50 Ts.k ~.894n14@s