Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1891-05-06

mate the wide world over. Inc DOQy,
stitched III its hammock, with a sinker
slowed away in her clews, was placed
upon a grating and covered with the en-
sign. Then the grating was lifted by
four men and brought to the rail, one
end of it resting there, the other end
supported by two men, who stood ready
to whip off the ensign and let the body
slide when the time should come for SO
doing. All hands gathered around,
washed and clean. 1t was quiet morn
ing, light breeze of wind blowing the
ship under all plain sail, everything
silent aloft, the deck heaying slightly to
the small beam sea. [ came out of the
cabin with my prayer-book in my hand
and started to read, the men barring
their heads, with the grinding here and
there of the jaw upon hunk of tobacco
standing high in the cheek-bone, and
much wistful and inquisihve peering at
poor Jacks outline by eyes bleared by
the gales of wind into which they had
stared. | was proceeding, reading with
there arose from under the ensign a
short, muffied, groaning sort of cry of
For Gods sake cut me adrift, mates.
I'm suffocating. The prayer-book fell
from my hand; the two fellows who
were holding the grating let go of it and
bolted forward, whereupon off rolled
the body onto the deck among the feet
of the sailors, who, letting fly volley
of curses in their alarm, bolted in all di
rections, some of them even jumping
into the rigging. Had bombshell eX-
ploded among us the clearance effected
could not have been more complete.
''The mates had run away as well as
the seamen, and the cowardice of all
hands quickly put temper enough inme
to rally my nerves. Quick [ bawled;
'cut the poor wretch adrift or he'll be
suffocated in good earnest, and it will
be worse murder done than had we
buried him. On this the chief mate
shouldering one another, and ripped
open the hammock. Well, dead or
alive, twould have been better to have
given the thing it's last toss than to
have witnessed such sight. You see
it was warmish weather, and the body
besides had been-but I'll say no more
on that; only that such an apparition
rising before the stoutest army that
ever took the field would have sent it
flying without waiting for the buglers
to sound. But he'd called out that he
was suffocating, and we looked to see
move, all hands coming up in punches
at a time, till there we were all of a
heaving and squirming muddle with this
horror in the midst of us, and the men
squirting juice in all directions through
sheer loathing. If that man bent
dead, said the bo'sun, my eyes amt
mates Did he wriggle at all !? said 1,
addressing one of the fellows who held
the grating, before you let 60 and run
away" The man answered he didn't
notice any movement. He spoke,
said the mate. We'll, pickle
my eyes for onions if there was ever
rummier start than this cried the car
penter, STOPPING to look close at the
man, and then recoiling, with a heave
of the breast and long wipe Of his
mouth down the length of his hairy
arm. l ordered the body to be carried
to cabin, and put the second mate
along with seaman, to watch it, but
their report to me was that if the fellow
was alive he gave no signs of it, but that,
on the contrary, he was initiating death
so incOmparably as to oblige them to
them, as they did not feel strong enough
to go on. l then viewed the body my
self, and, no longer having a doubt,
gave orders that it should be stitched up
afresh, and once again brought to the
gangway. 1t was now eight bells in the
Of course it was right that
this old Jack should be buried decently,
and l resolved to go through with the
funeral service, but [ let it be known
that there was no obligation among the
men to attend, outside the few who we
needed to do the work. Nevertheless
all hands turned up as before. Well, /
started to read as [ had in the morning,
but at the very moment of my pro-
IL, II \
ing when the interruption happened,
there came most audible but half
choking and half-smothered groan or
grunt of ooh, Lord, they mean to drown
me after all = from under the ensign.
The fellow that held the right corner of
the grating let go, and went backing
his mates with cry of dismay,
but the other man, baWling out with a
face darkened by passion, you old
villain how many burials dye
expect, and be id to your
tilted the grating, and away flashed
the hammock overheard. We all
stood looking on like idiots. For my
part, captain as [ was, [ hadn't word
thunderstruck. The groan Of the corpse
was scarce out of my ear before the
body was gone, and yet you couldn't
think of us as having drowned him
either, for nothing could have seemed
deader than did this old Jack when /
took my last view of him. However,
NO purpose could be served by making
a fuss; it was one of those breaches of
that defy your cool reason,
though you may handle them as you
will in a passion. Besides, a moment
or two's reflection, coupled with look
round, satisfied me that the men would
be easier in their minds for being quit
of the body, and SO, telling the mate to
send the hands forward, I went to my
cabin; but more mystifed, under livei-
er CONSERVATION of mind, in short, than
it would suit me to admit to everybody.
It was idle to talk of tricks. [ might
have reconciled myself to some notion
of that kind had made one or two or
three spectators; but there had been
forty or fifty of us all Jumped together,
and the reality of the thing came out in
the sincerity of the fright, for the
morning panic was much greater than [
have put it, while the terror in the aft
ernoon might have shown as wild had
the fellows at the grating let fall the
body again among the men.