The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-04-11
HAUNTED OR WHAT I?
A SEA SToR Y.
BE w. z. ROSS.

certainly have suspected the Finn. of
having hand in the matter if he
had not been so badly scared. No
man, l thought, could simulate such
an intensity of fear as he had manifes.
ted. The whole affair, coupled with
the accident to Janson, and the repu
tarion of the vessel, made me trihe
uneasy, but l had been going to sea
long enough TO have come across a
good many things that l could not
explain, and E-tried to put the whole
thing out of my mind by lighting my
pipe But I hardfs got settled into a
comfortable smoke when l saw or felt
something that literally made my hair
stand on end, my heart felt like a
lump of ice. and the blood recede from
my cheeks like the ebbing tide in the
Bay of Fundy. l say Something"
for | don't know what it was, nor
have / ever been able to give it form,
even in my own mind, much less de
scribe it. The shock must have effect
ed, like wet sponge on the log slate,
all recollection or distinctness of mem
ory, and momentsriIy paralized my
mind, leaving only the deepest and
most abiding impression of horrors
the brain can receive. As near as l
can recall it, [ seemed to feel horri-
bic, blood curdling influence rather
than 10 preceive any distinct shape,
and yet the impression of something
tangible, something partly palpable
to the vision is dimly recalled. 1t
seemed to be in front of me, beside
NE, behind me and above me- In
fact, to encompass me entirely and
weigh me With such chill of dread,
horror and unspeakable terror that /
could not utter gasp, move hand or
scarcely breathe. l don't know how
long the feeling lasted, and l think l
should have gone to the deck in a
dead swoon in another instant had not
the small chain or rNg stopper hold
ing the ring of the'starboard anchor to
the cat head parted and the next pitch
OF the vessel thrown the fuke of the
anchor off the rail, to which unfortun-
ately, it had not been lashed, and
sent the anchor and ten fathoms of
chains plunging into the sea. The
roar of the chain through the hawse-
pipe and the sharp shock of the wind
lass brought me to my senses, and
with a shrek l stumbled over the
traveller and got aft, the Lord knows
howl can never tell. We were in
too deep water for the anchor to touch
bottom and its weight only served to
bring the schooner.s head, down a tri-
fe and make her steer IKE horse
with the bit in its teeth. Captain Sam
and all hands turned out in a hurry
for the second time in the watch. 1
expected the skipper would sing sea
song to lively tune. But he didn't.
He seemed to take everything for
granted. He quietly asked me what
the difficulty was and took the wheel,
sending me forward to right matters.
And no easy job il was. l now un-
erstood the repugnance of the Finn
toward the bow of the vessel, and l
daresay l felt as bad as he did, al
though l had to use physical force and
plenty Of it to induce him to man a
windlass brake. | mustered all hands
and started to get the anchor aboard,
but before we could heave in fathom
the chain broke and the whole gear
went to the bottom for good and all.
BY eight bells the weather had settled
into hard northeast gale and it took
all hands half the watch to double rect
the foresail and put single reef in
the mainsail. 1t was daylight by this
time and the flying jib had washed
loose and was shaking to the. pitching
of the schooner like a rag on the end
of stick. The sail had to be restor.
ed or lost, but not man in the crew
would cross the forecastle deck. ]
would have gone myself, but Captain
Sam said no. "One man can't handle
that SAIL he said.
"Beiter lose the sale than a man.
he continued. ''If it amt one thing
| it'll be another I've"-and laughed
in peculiar defiant way that made
me look at him closer than l ever had
before i I've seen it goin' on for five
years, man, never KNOWN what's
comm next, but alters KNOWN some
thiu WOuiu COinc"du dilCIS HAS AL
alters will"
"Capen," said I, "why don't you
| leave this vessel p
Leave the vessel!' repeated he
slowly why can't, fnan, can't
| What good would it do if | did
there's s"-heaving desperate sigh :
''some things that man can't leave
nor forgit.'
! And he left me with moan anG
stumbled down below to his brandy
bottle. Well, thought l, here's queer
skipper and a queer craft. But
was too tired to indulge in any spec
ulations on the subject and went below
and turned in. l don't think my
head touched the pillow before
was asleep, but the watch hadn't hal.
gone when l was awakened by shout
ing on deck and the tramping of feel
overhead. i turned out to find tha
the fyingjib mad been carried away
and the jib-boom with it. When tn,
wreckage had been cleared away a
well as the heavy sea would permit
dropped into the galley to get cur
Of coffee. The cook was typica
downeaster, and startled me by ask
ing
"Yeou've hearn tell this ole hook
er's bein' harnted, amt yeou p
/ Inolded my head in assent.