The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-06-10
aeious Il was n million to one against it 90
r,,rviuo n seccud time,

by the furnace below He went to his cabin;
| stood under the lee Of cloth seized in tho
weather main rigging. Pitt arrived. ana
, told him he could return to the cook house
| and STAY there till / called him. The helm
| being dashed and the schooner doing very
well. nothing wanted watching in particular,
vet | would not have the deck abandoned,
ana meant Ia keep a lookout turn and turn
about with Pitt. rs Wilkinson and Cromwell
had. She snow had ceased, but it was very
: dark and thick, the ocean a roaring, weller
ing shadow. palptating upon the eyes in roll
ing folds Of blackness, with the quick expir-
ing flash Of foam to windward. On sud-
den. looking over the weather quarter. me-
thought discovered a deeper shade in the
night there than was elsewhere pcrccptibe.
II was like a great blot Of ink upon the dark
ness. Even while specialized it drew out in
the shape Of a ship running before The gale.
She seemed to he heading directly for us.
The roof Of my mouth turned dry as
desert sand; my tongue and limbs re-
fused their office: could neither cry nor
stir, being indeed paralyzed by the ter
rible suddenncss Of that appartion and
the imminence of our peril 1t all happened
while You could have told thirty. The great
black mass surged up with the water boiling
about the bows: she brought thunder along
with her in her rigging and sails Us she
| SCARED to the crowns of the seas she was
sweeping before could not tell what cam
| vas she was under, but her speed was a full
| ten knots and as / did not see her till she
was close she looked to come upon us with a
single bound. She passed us TO windward
| within stones throw, and vanished like q
| dark cloud melting into the surrounding
| blackness. Not CLEAN of light broke from
her; you heard nothing but the boiling at
her bows and the thunderous pealing of the
| gale in her canvas. A quarter turn of the
wheel would have sent us to the bottom, and
her, no doubt, on top Of us. Whether she
was the Susan Tucker or some other whaler,
or big South sea man driven low and get
| ting what casting she could out Of the gale,
know not. She was as complete mystery
| Of the ocean night as any spectral fabric,
| and heavier terror to me than phantasm
worked by ghosts could have proved.
/ knew such a thing could not happen
again. yet when called Pitt talked TO him
about il as though we must certainly be run
down if he did not keep a sharp lookout;
and when my watch below came round at
o'clock, | was so agitated that was up and
down till daybreak as though my duty did
not end till then
The gale moderated at sunrise: and though
| it was a gloomy, true Cape Horn morning,
with dark driving clouds, the sea a dusky
olive, very hollow, and frequent small quick
squalls Of sleet, which brought the wind to
us in sharp guns, yet as we could see where
tra | rnt ccbnnUgr before
heading her east northeast, and under a
reefed topsail, nainsail and staysail the old
bucket stormed through it with the sputter
and rage of a line-of- battle ship. There was
z logreel and line on deck, and | found a
sand glass in the chest in my cabin in which
had met with the quadrants. perspective
glass and the like, and l kept this log regl-
larry going, making a point Of departure on
the chart the American captain had given
me, which | afterwards found 10 be within
two leagues and a half Of the true position.
But for three DAYS the weather continued so
heavy that there was nothing 10 toe done in
the shape of gratifying the mems expecta-
tions by Overhauling what was left of the
cargo Indeed, we had no leisure for such
work all our waking hours had 10 be strictly
dedicated 10 the schooner. and in keeping o
lookout for ice But the morning Of the
fourth day broke with a fine sky and brisk
breeze from little to the cast Of south. to
which we showed every cloth the schooner
had TO throw abroad, and being now by dead
reckoning within few leagues of the mer-
idian of 20 degs.. shaped a course north by
east by my compass, with the design If get
ting a view Of Staten Island that ! might
correct my calculations.
When we had made sail and got our break
fast, told Wilkinson and Cromwell Pitt
being at the tillerl that now was q good OPP
portunity for inspecting the contents Of the
hold; and not TO be tedious ia this part Of
my relation, however may have slime! in
| this respect elsewhere we carried lanterns
| below, and spent the better part Of the fore
noon in taking stock From d copy Of the
memorandum made on that occasion lstlll
in my poSS-ssion), discovered that the Yam
kee captain had left Us the following: Thirty
| five casks OF rum, twenty-eiEht hogsheads of
| claret, sixty puncheons of brandy, forty casks
of sherry eighteen cases of beer in bottles,
| together with a number of pieces of gin,
as il is called In addition 10 this were the
| stores in the lazarette, besides n quantity of
several kinds OF wine III jars etc, elsewhere
enumerated besides all the ships furniture,
| her guns powder, small arms, etc AS we'll as
| the ship herself. took the men into the
run and showed them the chests, opening the
| little one which stood stocked with small
arms, and lifting the lids of two or three Of
| the others. They were perfectly satisfied;
| fully believed the chests 10 be filled with
small arms and nothing else, and so we came
away and returned TO the cabin. where. 10
| please them, / put down the value Of tho
| cargo at a venture, setting figures against
each article and making out total Of =, so.
| This, of course, included the ship.
| "How mucll dat be "a man, maSsa"
asked Cromwell.
six hundred and sixty pounds" J an
| swered
| The poor fellow was so transported that
after staring at me in silence with the cor
ners Of his mouth stretched 10 his ears, he
tossed up his hands, burst into roar of
laughter, and made several skips about the
deck l
| "Of course said l. addressing Wilkinson.