Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-10-25
A SEA GHOST STORY.
HOW A VESSEL WAS ABANDONED BY
FRIGHTENED CREW.
they Heard Strange Noises and at Last
Made Their Escape, Only to BE Picked
Up Again-Spirit Rappings and What
They Proved to He.

Copyright, 1892, by Charles B. LewisJ
We had been in Cape Town four days
completing our loading for Liverpool after
having been up the African coast as far as
Zanzibar and return when an Irishwoman
| came aboard and asked for a passage home
Our craft was the English bark Fanny
Lee, carrying a crew of fourteen men, and
| though we might have tried to make
woman comfortable had we picked her off
awreck in midocean the barque carried
! no passengers and had no accommod ations
for them. The woman gave her name as
| Molly McDavis. She was a single woman
twentyfour years old, and had made the
| voyage to the Cape in an emigrant ship to
Join and marry a lover. Like many another
female she was disappointed Pat had
| skipped the country when she arrived. She
| had been at work for several months but
could not pay her way home Indeed she
| did not propose to- She was what might
be called "a strapping young woman"
| being as tall as any sailor aboard and
| weighing about $50 pounds. She offered to
! go as cook. but as there WAS no vacancy
| she asked TO be taken as a common sailor
| and allowed 10 work her passa- home.
| We felt bit sorry fer Miss McDavis,
but we couldn't take her in any position
! She was disappointed. but she had no tears
TO shed. On the contrary, she went away
| with very determined look on her face
and an lrishman among the crew offered
| to bet his sou wester against a plug of 20
bacco that she'd see Liverpool as soon as
we did.
1t was ten days from the time she came
| aboard before we left the Cape | saw her
aboard three or four times in the week
and once or twice she had other confabs
with the captain. As we weighed anchor
and stood out fo- our offing Molly Nc
Davis was the last person in Cane Town
to be suspected of bringing i'll luck to our
old bark. We had fine weather and ia
vorable winds, and were well up with Cape
Frio when the men came to me in a body
during the morning watch to make a COM
plant They were headed by the car
penter himself, who declared that for the
past two nights the watches below had
been disturbed by strange noises and could
not sleep. The bark had the old fashioned
o'castle instead of the deck house and
the noises had seemed to come from behind
the bulkhead dividing the fo'castle from
the hold. While any sailing craft carry
ing miscellaneous cargo is always full of !
strange, queer noises, caused by friction /
and straining, there is always at least one I
man in crew ready to shake his head and !
make mystery over something easily ex- |
planned away. | listened to the complaint
promised to look into it, and then dropped (,
the matter out of mind.
On the night of that day I came on watch |
at midnight. found my men already on i
deck, and the second mates watch, Just re- |
lieved hung about the scuttIe instead of !
turning in. Demanding to know the rca- ,
son of this singular action, | was told ii Ut /
the queer noises before referred to had
been heard again and again, and the crew
were as good as upset over them. Had the
''old man been on deck he would have
seized a hell vino in Il ~ ? a
below and cracked three or four heads He
had no patti, nee with sailors weaknesses. /
was tempted to give them a bit of NY mind !
but all were so serious and earnest that it
seemed only reasonable to investigate |
went into the fo'castle and spent fifteen
minutes listening for sounds. The bark
had all plain sail on her and was heeled to
port, and for the first ten minutes I heard /
only the sounds of boxes and bales rub |
bing together Then, of sudden | heard
voice singing. 1t was faint, far away
voice, and had to listen closely, but it
certainly was a human voice 1t was i'm
possible to locate it. 1t seemed to come
from above as much as in any other direc-
ton, and went on deck thinking some of
the hands might he playing joke.
ut will be anything but joke for the
man who's playing this if can catch him
at itt' said as / gained the deck and
found both watches grouped around the
anu "dltlilH IOF me
Mr.. Merwin, did You hear arght down
below" asked the carpenter, speaking for
all.
Not down there, but / heard some one
singing up here"
No, sirl pledge you my word and that
of every man here that not a man of US
uttered whisper. 1t was singing you
beard, sir'''
YES"
A nd baf, hot he ,Ia;- Of
most of the time but now and
then something like praying and calling
out"
well, singing and praying won't hurt
any of you, even if it's that. It's in the
CARGO however. We've cot three 81 fnr:r
old pianos aboard going to England to be
fixed up, and it's the boxes rubbing to-
gether which makes the singing sound.
1T free music and you ought to be glad
of it. Go below the watch and let's hear
no more of this"
The men hung back for moment and
then followed one another down into their
sleeping quarters. | was honest in what
had said. AS soon "a | remembered the
pianos l was sure that the singing noise
came from them. 1t no doubt looked rea- I
sonable to the sailors, nothing more
was heard from them that night. was I
of at and on again at next morning.
The breeze had died out and we were on
an even keel and not making over two
miles an hour. 1t had come O'Clock.
The captain WAS overhauling some papers
In the cabin, the men were all at work on
jobs and / was pacing the quarter and
keeping an eye on a bit of sail just showing
TO windward of US when a shout of terror I
rang through the ship.
A hand named Thomas Burns had been I
into the forepeak after something wanted G
On deck, and it was he who called out az !