Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-07-05

the gale in his moral sens blities
should subside. That it was angry
with no one else but the captain was
clear. from the fact that il never took
notice of the conduct of any other per-
son. The mate or the boatsw ain
might act as they liked or tho men
might give and call each other hard
names; NO matter-the voice was not
heard-neithcr laugh nor moan fell up
on our ears.
But m ost of those who lived In the
forecastle were far from being happ, ;
many nt them shared the fear of our
skipper. and j saw that they would
rather have braved his wrath than to
be tormented ms they were by the
voices Of the night or day. Martyr
and myself were exceptions. What his
opinion was could not say; he met all
my questions by adro.t evasions. As
for myself, | had no explanations to
give. Thus matters went on until we
were within two dals' sail of the is
lands. All the while our captain had
been kept from tyranny by h fears of
the voice; but now exasperated by. some
fault in seamauship on the part of
Martyr, and being the worse for liquor.
he hurled beInying-pin at him which
struck him on tho head. Clapp NJ his
hands 10 his head. he rushed to the
forecastle. IL was evident that the
skipper expected to hear the voice. for
he looked nervously aloft. but all was
silent in that direction. His courage
returned and he desired the second Of
ticer to call Martyr back TO the deck.
| Getting no answer to his call the mate
went below. where he found the poor
fellow delirious. Returning 10 The deck
he reported him to he in dangerous
condition. This filled the captain with
fear He ordered that every attention
should be paid him, which was done.
That night 1t became necessary to have
all hands on deck to reef. and while
we were on the yards an awful cry,
like that OF maniac. arose from the
bow OF the vessel and the next moment
several of us saw human form on the
rail near The forecastle and then loud
splash was heard in the water under
our lee. The captain and chief officers
who were on deck rushed TO the side.
A hat was seen for moment bobbing
on the crest of wave. the maniacal
| cry was repeated. when Capt. James,
| himself uttering loud cry. fell sense
less on the deck. The mato then
hailed Us who were on the topsail yard
Come down from alofl! Clear away
the small boat!
We thought he was as near beside
| himself as was the captain; aud so he
was for the moment, for when we gain
ed tho deck he was ready to counter
mand the order. Everything was aw-
full beyond expression; the wind an d
water raging wild; it was impossible
| for boat to live on so rough sea. so.
making a virtue of neCess .ty. the search
| for the poor. madden0d fellow was
| abandoned amid VOWS of vengence
against the captain and tears for our
poor, lost mesSmate. Fortv-eight hours
after this we entered Hilo. A vast
| change had come over the crew. The
| captain knowing their peculiarilies,
hal supplied them W tn money and
'opious libatiOns of whisky 80. instead
OF reporting him to the consul. as they
declared they would. they were read '
to shout his pra Sc all day long. In
this however. did not agree; but un
able to bring the tyrant to justice sim
gle-handed. resolved to quit the En-
rique, | d. so. After hiding in the
woods several da was caught and
brought back to the ship. As my adj
ventures as II fugitive are not essential
10 the unfolding of my story. | pass
them BY and take up the thread OF nv
narrative.
We set sail on our return voyage.
Capt. James was an altered man. lie
abstained from liquor. he controlle d
his temper. and tins. with the addition
of a fine steady breeze. made our lives
on board happy. But alas! we were
doomed to Il sad ending of the voyage.
Keeping near the land. and squall
laying hold Of the ship. we were drawn
on 4 lee shore. 1t was Just after mid
night when we struck, and the dark
ness was terrible. and leap out of
my hammock Iran on deck. | could
see nothing save the wild waters racine
over the deck. | cried out TO my sh D.
mate but got no answer. 1t was not
possible to reach the alter part of the
vessel where the lifebOats were kept.
so. acting on the impulse of the mo-
ment !eaped into the sea Catching
hold of friendly dock l was saved.
Daylight came after weary waiting.
The first thing l saw was the ghastly
corpse of poor Capt, James. and not
far from i, that of our Oh nose COOK
The rest were saved. We made oui
way to Portland. where We were pa id
off; thence | proceeded TO San Fran
cisco.
| had often asked myself whence
came those strange voices and fearful
words, which had so alarmed our cap
tain and put most of the crew in terror
and had so OPPORTUNITY saved me from
the captains vengeance. But it wa.
beyond nv power TO answer the IN
quirl; neither could the mate or any o
the survivors throne any light there
on. Had we known what ventrilo
ism was. we might have had therein
solution of the m stery, but hat
never heard of an adept IN the art
neither had any OF my shpmales
Poor Martyr. when with us our mos
intelligent shIpmate, seemed to be IA
much in the dark rs the rest of "
although he was not the least put On
by the occurrences.
SlrOlling along the streets of Sa
Francisco one night. about II year afte
the wreck. ready for any thing in tn
way of amusement that miglh turn up
nv eve caught large poster which m
nounced the wonderful doings of Pro-
Smithsson. 1.-THE unrivaled and worl
renowned ventriloquist
This, thought ], shall be the sourc
of my evenings amusement. Turnin
my face in the direction of the '.Ha
of Science and Emporium of Amuse
ment" was soon seated IN u snu
corner of the building and was no
long in being carried away by the won
derful sayings and doings Of the pro
fessor At last he told US he woui
hold an imaginary conversation with
person up the chimney. He did Sc
When In the midst Of dialogue tn
person in the fue gave derisive III