Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1888-05-31
CHAPTER x.
ANOTHER STARTLING DISCOVERY.

ANOTHER STARTLING DISCOVERY.
This hatch formed the entrance to the
cabin, and there was no other road to it that
could see If wanted to use it I must first
scrape away the snow; but unhappily had
left my knife in the boat, and was without
any instrument that would serve me TO scrape
with. thought of breaking the beer bottle
that was in my pocket and scratching with
piece of the glass; but before doing this it
occurred to me to search the body on the
starboard side.
approached him as if he were alive and
murderously fierce, and own / did not like
to touch him. He resembled the figure of a
giant nodded in snow In life he must havA
been six feet and half tall. The snow had
bloated him, and though he leaned he stood as
high as /, who was Of tolerable stature. The
snow was on his beard and mustache and on
his hair; but these features were merged ant
compacted into the snow on his coat, and AS
his cap came low and was covered with snow
too, he, with the little fragment of counte
nance that remained-the flesh whereof had
the color and toughness of the skin of drum
that has been well beaten-submitted as ter
rible an object as mortal sight ever rested
on. say did not like to touch him, and
one reason was l feared he would tumble:
and though know not why should have
dreaded this, yet the apprehension of it so
worked in me that for some time it held me
idly staring at him.
But could not enter the cabin without
first scraping tho snow from the companion
door; and the cold, after / had stood few
moments inactive, was so bitter as to set me
craving for shelter. So put my hand upon
the body, and discovered it, as l might have
foreseen, frozen to the hardness of steel. His
coat--if may call that coat which resem-
bled a robe of snow-fell to within a few
inches of the deck. Steadying the body with
one hand, heartily tweaked the coat with
the other, hoping thus torupture the ice upon
it-in doing which l slipped and fell ON my
back, and in falling gave convulsive kick,
which, striking the feet of the figure, dis
lodged them from their frozen hold of the
deck, and down it fell with mighty bang
alongside of me, and with loud cracking
noise like the rending of sheet of silk
l was not hurt, and sprang to my feet with
the alacrity OF fright and looking at the body
saw that it had managed by its fall much
better than my hands could have comprised;
for the snow shroud was cracked and crum-
bled, slabs of it had broken away, leaving
pleased me was the sight of the end of q
hanger, forking out from the skirt of the coat
Yet to come at it so as to draw the blade
from its scabbard required an intolerable ex-
ertion of strength. The clothes on his body
were indeed like suit of mail never
could have believed that frost served cloth
SO. At last managed to pull the coat clear
Of the hilt of the hanger; the blade was
stuck, out after had tugged bit it slipped
out, and l found it good piece of steel.
The corpse was habited in jack boots, a
coat of coarse, thick cloth lined with flannel;
under this kind of blouse or doublet of red
cloth, confined by belt with leathern loops
for pistols His apparel gave me no clew to
the age he belonged to; it was no better, in
deed, than a sort of masquerading attire-as
though the fashions of more than one coun-
try, and perhaps of more thru one age, had
gone to the habiting of him. He looked a
burly, immense creature, as he lay upon the
deck in the same bent attitude in which he
had stood at the rail; and so dreadful was his
face, with singular diabolical expression of
leering malice, caused by the lids Of his eyes
being half closed that having taken one peep
l had no mind to repeat it, though | was
above ten minutes wrestling with his cloak
and hanger before had the weapon fair in
my hand.
| walked to the companion, and fell to
scraping the snow away from it. Twas like
scratching at mortar between bricks. But /
worked hard, and presently, with the point
of the hanger, felt the crevice twixt the door
and the jamb, after which it was not long be-
foro had carved the door out of its plate of
ice and snow.
/ toiled on, and having cleared the door Of
the snow that bound it, pried it apart with
the hanger and then dragged at it; but tho
snow on the deck would not let it open far
and as there was room for me to squeeze
through / did not stop to scrapc the obstruc-
ton away.
A fight of steps sank into the darkness Of
the interior, and cold, strange smell 1oated
up, with something of a dry earthiness Of
flavor and a mingling of leather and timber.
fell back q pace to let as much of this smell
exhale as would before l ventured into an at
mosphere that had been Theoretically bottled
by the ice in that cabin since the hour when
this little door was last closed. Superstition
was active III me again, and, when peered
into the blackness at the bottom of the hatch,
/ felt as might a schoolboy on the threshold
of haunted room in which he is to be locked
up as punishment
put my foot on the ladder and descended
very slowly indeed.
On reaching the bottom ! remained stand
ing close against the ladder, striving to see
into what manner of place l was arrived.
The glare of the whiteness of the decks and
rocks hung upon my eyes like a kind OF
blindness charged with fires of several colors,
and l could not obtain the faintest glimpse of
any part of this interior outside the sphere Of
the little square of hazy light which lay upon
the deck at the foot of the steps, The dark
ness, indeed, was so deep that l concluded
this was no more than narrow we'll, formed
If bulkheads, and that the cabin was beyond,
and led to by door in the bulkhead.
To test this conjecture extended my arms
in cropping posture and stepped pace for
ward, feeling to right and left, till, having
gone five or six PAGES from the ladder, my
fingers touched something cold, and feeling
it, passed my hand down what instantly
knew, by the projection of the nose and the
roughneSs of hair on tho upper lip, to be a
human face
A little reelection might have prepared me
for this, but / had not reflected, at least in
this direction, and was therefore not pre-
pared; and the horrible thrill of that black
chill contact went in an agony through my
nerves, and hurst into q violent perspiration.
l backed away with all my hair astir, and
then shot up the ladder as if the devil had
been behind me; and when reached the deck
trembled so violently that had to lean
against the companion lest my knees should
give way.
The companion door was small, and being
scarce more than ajar, | was not surprised
that only very faint light entered by it.
RI the top were removed l doubted not |
should be able to get view of the cabin
enough to show me where the windows or
port holes were So went to work with
tho hanger again, insensibly obtaining
little stock of courage from the mere BRAN
dishing of it. In half an hour l had Clipped
and cut away the ice round the companion,
and then found it to be one of those old fash
toned clumsy hatch covers, formerly used in
certain kinds of Dutch ships-namely, box
with a shoulder shaped lid. This lid, though
heavy and fitting with a tongue, managed
to unship, on which the full square of the
hatch lay open to the sky.
The light gave me heart. Once moro de-
scended. After a few moments the Devil
dering dazzle of the snow faded off my sight,
and could see very distinctly.
The cabin was small room The forward
part lay in shadow, but l could distinguish
the outline of the mainmast amidships of the
bulkhead there. In the center of this cabin
was small square table, supported by iron
pins, that pierced through stanchions in such
manner thatAthe table could at will be
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