The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-07-16
AN OCEAN MYSTERY.
A TRUE STORY.

stll0 Oct1E OIO 0IulSWbtei, now didSi
long since consigned to the shipbreak-
3er. The fact of our being ho1peward
bound should have made all hearts
light and all faces bright among
ionr 500 souls, but for s.all that
there was q generaly air of
gloom in the ship, which was not to be
accounted for save by one theory only
that OF superstition. {, For things
had not gone well with us since we had
hoisted our homeward- bound pen
dant. True, we had sailed out of Val
paraiso Bay with the said pendant
streaming away, and with all our
-'chummy" ships playing "Should
Auld Acquaintance be Forgot?" as we
passed by them; and we had received
and returned cheer upon cheer as we
made our way to the open sea, while
from the midshipman's berth had
rolled up in rich volume OF sound,
every night for more than week be-
fore, the old strain, so well known and
40 lovingly cherished in her Majesty's
service:
And when we arrive at Plymouth Docks,
The pretty little girls come rounds in flocks,
And ono to the other they do say:
sOh, here comes Jack with his three years.
pay;
For SEQ he's homeward, ,bou-ou-ound,
For l sec he's homeward bound"
But still, as l say, things had not
gone well with us. We had speedily
left the warmth of tropical weather
and had gradually found it colder and
colder each morning as we made our
way down south towards the dreaded
Cape of Storms. That was natural and
wewere prepared for it; but no sooner
had wegot to the latitude of the Cape
itself than the wind had shifted, and
we had it day after day, night after
night, p hard gale right in our teeth
Bitter cold it was, too, with tearing
storms OF snow and hail--heavy thun-
dering seas sweeping us fore and aft,
bursting in upon our weather bow, and
covering us with spray that froze ere
il fell upon our decks. Up aloft, every
thing frozen hard-running rigging as
stiff and unmanageable as asteel haw-
ser; blocks jammed with ice and snow;
canvas as unyielding as a board; men
up aloft for an hour or more try
ing to take reef in the fore topsail,
and then SO stiffened with cold them
selves as to be unable to come down
without assistance; while below, the
close, musty. damp, dark ship was the
picture OF discomfort; her decks, main
and lower, always wet, often with an
inch or two OF ice-cold water washing
about on them; soaking clothes hung
up all over the place, in the wild hope
that they might eventually get dry;
ports and scnttles tight shut, to keep
out the seas that thundered ceaseless-
iy at them as the ship plunged and
wallowed in the angry element; no
fires allowed anywhere except at the
cook s gallery, which was always fully
occupied; and no warmth to be OBJ
tanned anywhere except in your ham
mock, and even thls, in most cases,
+ what with faulty stowage and leaky
decks was wet through.
Day after day. night after night,
this state Of things kept on, until there
gradually crept in among the men
started, no doubt, by the older hands,
always and deeply imbued with the
spirit OF superstition-a sort OF dim
suspicion that the ship was under a
ban-bewitched, i'll fact; that, as they
said. there was u Jonah aboard, and
until he went overheard we should
never weather the dreaded Cape, but
were doomed to thrash continually
to windward. never gaining an inch q
our way. Strange as it may seeia,
there we're many, very many, among
our blue jackets who held this belief
firmly and expressed it openly. We,
of course, in the m;dshipman's berth,
careless and light-hearted from ourex-
treme youth, laughed at the solemn
tones OF the old quartermasters, who
employed their hours of midnight
watch on deck in narrnting to us sim
liar instances of vessels which had
thus been doomed to struggle with the
storm until some unknown criminal
had either confessed his crime, or had
voluntarily paid the penalty OF it.
But, as the bad weather continued
and the ship seemed quite unable to
advance upon her honleward track,
some OF us too began to allow our
aninds to be'inhuented to certainde
gree by the mysterious language and
orninous hints of these men, so much
our elders in years and superiors il
! practical experiences.
Matters had got to this pitch, and nc
change appeared about to take place
in the aspect OF the weather or the di
rection of the wind, when one wild ant
Wretcned forenoon at.seven bells (elev
en- thirty the men were piped to mus
ter on the main deck for that one dro1
ssof comfort which they could look for
ward to in the day-the serving out o
each mans slot" of grog. Faces which
i at other times wore look of gloon
-vara hrial,tar,ino nndar the intinanc
of the spirit; the joke began to pas
around as the blood warmed ant
flowed morerapidly through the veins
when a Whisper sort of mutteret
suggestion, made at first with kline
of apologize reluctance, but will
growing confidence and insistance, a
it gained ground through TIL
throng OF men that one OF their mum
berwas missing. Such a whisper make
It's way through ships compan,
however large, like current of electric
4 ity, and so it was in this case: but n
first the men kepti to themselves. l
could not long, however, be concealed
ard presently it spread to the mid
shipments berth; next the wardroon
4 heard it; and soon the captain him
Y self was made aware of the suspicion
Well remember how, as we sat in th
old, damp, comforrless, dirty berth
discussing the matter with boyisl
eagerness, the sudden shrill pipe Q
boatswain's mate burst upon on
ears. followed by the hoarse cry o
Hands muster by open list!'' So
then, the captain thought it impor
liant enough 80 make serious and Off
cial inquiry into. Then came the call
+ ing over Of those 500 names, witt
most of which we had been familia
for three years or more of our com
/ mission in the Pacific. But / an