The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1888-10-27
Fart | oWdC.l.


ice this day #as tbirty-two years
ago."
Then he empticd the ashes from
his clay pipe in little heap or tho
deck. The breeze scattered tho ashes
bit by bit as the old man watched.
Eyes. That's the way it is. Only
the ashes lef to show for what has
hAsa Then in time the ashes goes.
But a nice 1ubber t is,'' he said,
changing his expression suddenly.
ga cryin,,I was, cause the ashes
was gone, an here is with a pouch
full O. tobacco: III have some mo-
in a shake or two, an then somebody
else con do the cryin'."
Looking the least bit ashamed of
himself the old tar began industri-
ously shaving off thin strips of to,
baeco, filled his pipe and lighted it.
As the smoke began curling upward
III thick, heavy clouds, Jack settled
himself comfortably against O con-
venient mess chest and waited in dig
hified silence for an invitation to be-
gin che story.
''Let's have the yarn, Jack"
cts true story, lads"
"Whose grave was it, Jack?"
1
He took two or three long puffs in
quick succession, blew the last mouth
full of smoke lazily between his teeth,
and watched it with his eyes half
closed.
"Whose grave was it, he repeated
slowly. 1t was Dart Bowden's grave.
Jes thirty-two years ago this day in
November, an truer shipmate than
Dart Bowden I never sailed with.
That grave was dug about seventy
north latitude an no Twin man saw
that grave dug but OLE Jack West.
ut happened this way:
"The whaler st. Mary left Bedford
town in '43. Dart was young an
venturesome in them days an he
took the ice fever. when that ship
come. Nothin' would do but Dart
must go.
"Now Dart an me was brothers
like, an our daddies was brothers
like before us. Many cruise them
old chap took together, an many's
the day me an Dart has watched the
ship come in a lookin' for 'em home.
l loved Dart Bowden, I did, an
more'n that did 1 love Mary Bowden,
the handsomest little gal in all Bed
ford. Them was days when they was
lots O. handsome folks there too.
$50, when Dart made up his mind
to go, l lowed I'd GO too.
"Ten men We had-a gallant ship
and gallant crew. God bless me,
how well l remember that day. 1t
was Monday, an a smilin', happy
sort O. day it was
"The town folks come down, the
flags flynn an BAN q playin'.
kissed Mary Bowden good bye, an
then wewas off. was up aloft with
the captains glasses, an I watched
the wharf tell the fog come up,
LADS, if ever the curse of God
rested on ship, it was on that one.
''That night on mid-watch l saw
phantom ship. I saw twelve-sail
ship, all big and clumsy, like in olden
times. saw her torn sails flap an
beat, an her recovered poles bend
like a hurricane had her. I saw a
lean an hungry crew a beckonin' to
me. They put their long hands up
trumpet-like, an sent hail that
never reached us. On she ploughed,
an the mist-like foam rolled UP about
her rotten prov. Wilder an wilder
her ghost crew motioned. They
kneeled an tore their hair, an wrung
ther hands. They climbed like mon
keys, climbed to the very trucks of
those icicle masts, an out to the tips
O. the bendin' yards. An off in the
mist the phantom ship sailed, that
ghost crew still beckonin'.
''That meant death, but never a
word l said.
ell luck came from the very start
Five days out we buried Mike Stroker.
Then the squat took our foremost
an the life boat. We patched her up
at St. James an headed north again.
Then another brave lad give up.
cit was on an on through the
frozen channels, among the iceburgs,
an everywhere our i'll luck followed
us.
"Worn out one night, was half
asleep when the crash came-a slow
grindin' crash, an the good ship
quivered like a straw in the wind. l
was out O my hammock in twinklin',
an jes' as l touched the deck there
was another long lurch, another
shock, an the ship stood still in the
water.
cit was question of minutes.
We got off through, eight men and
ten days provisions, alone in the ice
current. Ten days, an they might
search for ten thousand years an
not find us.
81 thought of the phantom ship.
"Four long hours an we reached a
island, Rescue island we called it, an
there we stopped. Nothin' but snow
an ice, an north sea water
"First on half, then quarter, until
that fearful time come when there
was no rations.
"Nothin' was said, but we all knew
it was a comm Twenty-four hours
we sat in that tent. The raft had
been burned, an the chill was a
creepin' over us.
"Another twenty-four hours. Two
an two we had been out huntin; but
we come back empty handed always
an had jes give it up. That day
thought was all day, but meas
ure by the twenty-four hours-I went
out alone. l knew it was comm an
/ dreaded it.
81 never shall forgit that walk.
Nothin' but snow an ice, an think
in of the lads in the tent. And lads
let me tell you right here. Hunger is
fearful thing. When / thought of