The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-04-11
"Wal, I guess yeou've begun ter
think so. Maybe yeou've never hearn
tell the story about the skipper"

"No, never have"
"Wal, l kin spin it ter yeou."
"This vessel" continued he, after .
moments pause, twas built for Sam
Stone. S'pose you've hearn that :
The first Wage he made in her .
young feller named ED Staley went
ez mate. They'd both bin courtin'
the same gal, an ez she wuz q out an
out f1irt, each Nv 'em thought he wux
the gals best fellow. The mate had
his pictur' over his berth and the skip
per seed it and pulled it down. When
he. found somethin' sweet writ in the
gals fist. it made bad trouble between
'em. They had words several times
after that an cum nigh ter blows.
But the mate wuz cooler 'en the skip
per, 'en it went along all right till one
night off Hatteras, when they wuz
alone t'gether on the fox 'sle deck, one
uf the men said he hearn 'em jawin'
like all possessed. But anyway, all
at onst, the jib sheet parted, jes' ez it
did last night, and the skipper were
runnin' aft, shoutin Man overheard
mates overheard They lowered the
boat, but they never seed the mate
again, that is, not in human FORM"
And the cook gave me another signifi-
cant look. "The skipper" continued
he, "told how ez he he'd bin knocked
overheard by the jib when the sheet
parted. He paid the crew off in For
ida an sailed hum. with all hands
strangers One of the crew out wuz
shipmate of mine in the brig, Lucy
White, an he sed he'd looked at the
jib sheet and tibet it lookek like it
he'd been cut with knife. Morn
that he sed he found a capstan bar
under the fo'k'sle deck with blood an
hair on it. Now you're man Of
many parts, an kin put things togeth-
er an make somethin' out Nv 'em, an
p'raps you kin explain sum things ter
yerself eff ter nobody else. %
By nightfall the gale worked more
to the BASTARD, and increased so in
violence that we hove the schooner
to under a storm trysail. The story
told by the Finn to the .injured Nor
wegian and his shipmate reduced them
to condition of abject terror, and
neither threats nor blows could force
one of them step for'ard of the mid
ship house. By midnight we were off
the Race making trong leeway and
the gale increasing in violence every
minute. The skipped acted like a
man half dazed with liquor. When
l dropped below for moment I found
him sitting on the edge of his bunk
and muttering to himself and contin-
ually cleuching his hands. I spoke
to him, but could get no more intel
ligible reply than something about
"the end must come" Considering
the tight corner we were in, on q lee
shore with the wind and tide against
US, this sounded anything but agreea-
BILE, and l was Fastening back on deck
when dreadful cry rang above the
bowling of the storm, and springing
up the championway I caught a
glimpse of the face of a man at the
wheel in the dim light of the pinnacle
lamp. 1t was countenance trans6xed
with horror.
He reeled backward to the deck,
and as an immense wave swept the
schooner fore and aft, the trysail split,
and in an instant was blown into a
thousand fragments. In a momen
more we were in the trough of the sea
and expected every second that the
craft would either go on her beam
ends or founder. But she righted on
her keel, and with desperate effort
dragged the Captain on deck and into
the main rigging. The foremast had
gone by the board, taking the topmast
with it. The last glimpse I had Of
the cook was as sea carried him
past US, almost within arms length,
in toward breakers and death. 1t
was but few minutes, though it seem.
ed as many hours, before the seas
swept the schooner into that white
seething vortex over the bar, and We
struck with shock that I would moi
have believed the mainmast would
have withstood. Captain Sam reused
himself from his stupor and gazed
wildly around.
care you afraid of hell?'' he shout.
elk in my ear.
pray, skipper, for Gods sake
pray p l cried. "Tbis is a time fol
prayer"
81 am not afraid of HE'LL he shrek
ed back. II have lived in it fol
years, for years !" And he threw hi
hands wildly about his head and would
have fallen into the sea had / not hello
him against the shrouds.
81 see it I see itY he shouted ir
his frenzy, and pointed into the dark
ness. "Three-there-" aud breaking
from my grasp he plunged headloni
into the swaying waves. When cling
ing to a spar, l was dragged from th,
4 surf at daybreak, by the life boa
patrol, was literary more dead thar
alive. I was the only man that eve
livei to relate the last voyage of th,
haunted Emily Ludlow-1f not haunt
ed, what?
/ Brace ".