The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-01-05
men. who was after a drink Of water. spoke

men. who was after a drink OF water, spoke
10 4, under the impression that II was one
of his shipmatcs. glided away, and at
the same moment his nostrils we're greeted
with such an o,lor that he cried out in dis
gnst. The strange figure was seen by four
men Of the watch as II glidcd To a point q
few feet abaft the foremost, and there
stood for two or three minutes with hands
pressed upon its side, and its body weav-
ing TO and fro. \ maj Of the name OF Will
Ketch-a chap who had never feared mar
or deyil-cailcd out to the mysterious
parsonage:
.If Won are playing a trick on us, look
ont for yourself!'
With that he picked up n bucket, or
Delaying pin, or weapon OF some sort
which was handy by, and gave it a ding
at the figure, and the mysterious person
AGE vanished at the snap Of your finger.
There was a row which brought It's oil on
deck. and now the fact that there was a
mysterious something aboard the brig
could no longer be concealed. The cap
tain raved and clustered. but the men
had seen what they had seen, and II was
no use TO browbeat them. The watci:
below refused to turn in again. The cap
tain undertook TO drive them at the
muzzle of his revolver, and they threat
ened { Jump overheard.
There NAV be q haunted house in q
neighborhood, but no one fears 1t unless
he passes il. Here was a ship belleyed 10
be haunted, and yet no one could get
away from il. confess that things did
not look at least queer" to me, and
while the captain pooh-poohed and talked
in a loud voice I realized that he was a bit
shaky. Mr.. Graves also clustered about,
swearing at the men, advising a dose OF
behaving pin to cure their nonsense, and
when the captain told him to turn in he
vent down to his berth with a laugh and
q swagger. Three minutes later he re-
turned to us with a face as white as chalk,
and it was O full minute before he could
use his tongue TO stammer out:
"The-the thing is in the cabin"
Without a word in reply we descended
the companion with him-the captain
going first, | next and Mr.. Graves bring
ing UP the rear. AS We passed along the
hall and pushed open the cabin door the
figure Of q man could be made out On the
far side of the cabin, where the shadows
were darkest. 1t was as plain as any hu-
mar figure could be, though we could not
make out the face and other details. We
stared at it for half a minute, and then
the captain pulled his revolver and banged
away. There was q sort Of groan follow
ing his shot, and when the smoke cleared
we took a light and searched in vain for
traces Of our mysterious visitor. He had
departed. Ii wa confessed 10 the owners
and TO the press that the officers and crew
Of that brig slept on deck every night after
that until the end Of the voyage. Indeed,
there were only two sailors among the
crew who would venture into the fore
castle in the daytime, and the steward
could not have been kept in his place ex-
cept by threats. We were ridiculed and
laughed at as a crew, but it is a matter of
history that the Charles never made an
other voyage She could not get a char
ter, nor could she have got a crew if she
had, and after rotting in ordinary for a
couple of years she was knocked 10 pieces.
My second experience was on the ship
Homeward. l shipped on her at Liver
pool for a voyage to the Cape of Good
Hope and return. | had not set eyes on
her, and knew her only by name when |
went aboard with my traps. ! had a first
mates berth, and understood that the
officer filling that place had been taken
suddenly ill two days before. The ship
was ready to sail, and | had TO hustle
aboard without making inquiries. As |
approached her | encountered a man
skulking away, and believing him to be a
deserter. / reached out for him. | got
his collar, but he broke my hold, and as
he ran away | heard him say:
cave, but Ia sooner sail the sea in a
coffin"
| gave this remark little attention, even
when | found out aboard that he was
actually a desertcr. He was one OF six
men who had come off to the ship in the
morning, and nobody could tell why he
had cut sticks. We had Il pretty good idea
three or four days later.
There were only five men aboard when |
climbed over the rail-only five sailors.
The cook and steward were there, as also,
a cabin boy, but the captain was ashore,
and no one could tell me whether a second
mate had been shipped or not. About
midnight the shipping agents sent me
eleven or twelve men. every one OF them
helplessly drunk, and a little later on
came the captain. He had been drinking
heavily, and after trying 10 tell me his
name and failing To understand mine, he
went to his cabin with the order that |
should call him at 4 O'Clock. We were
all ready to warp out, the work of only
half an hour from our berth, and the tide
would not serve until mi%dforenoon. ap-
pointed a ship keeper and turned in my
self, but the drunken fellows were bound
TO have their farewell carouse, and | got
TO sleep through the night. Less than
half of them were Of any use next morn
ing in warping the ship out. The captain
came on deck perfectly sober, and when
| said something about the condition OF
the crew he replied:
Eyes, it's beastly, Mr.. Temple, but We
couldn't have got 'em aboard sober, you
know. Let a whisper get out about a
craft and sailors act like fools"
| had my mouth open to ask what
stories were in circulation regarding the
.Io. Tho ,ontafn xxhora