Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-11-15
"R. ". S.
A Mystery of the Sea That Never Was or
 VIII He Cleared Up.

A Mystery of the Sea That Never Was or
 Win He Cleared Up.
 At II o'clock in the forenoon the breeze died quite away and left the big ship lazily rising and falling on the groundswell of the south Atlantic. At noon the captain and mate took their observations, and half an hour later it was written on the log that our position was 400 miles southwest of Tristan da Cunha island. Between II and 12 a man aloft reported what he believed to be a small boat under sail to the northeast When the glass was sent up to him he made her out to be a ships quarter boat with sail set and heading down for us Al though there was not wind enough to move us, the little fabric was showed along slow ly, and soon after the men had eaten their dinners the craft was in sight from the deck.
 A ships boat at sea means that disaster has happened and sympathy is at once aroused. The cook was ordered to have an extra dinner ready, the steward was given bottle of wine to be served out if neces- sary, and some of the men went into the deckhouse to overhaul their chests and bags and see what they could spare in the way of clothing The boat came down within a mile of us and then seemed to stand still. Before this it had.been made out that she carried only one person, or at least only one person was in sight. By the aid of the glass it could be seen that he was a coal black negro. He sat in the stern- sheets stiff and erect, with yoke line in either hand, and though he had his face toward us he made no signal. and exhibited no impatience when his boat seemed to drift. It was this which awed and mysti- fled us He must be castaway, and though he might have plenty of food and water he would nevertheless exhibit some signs of joy at being picked up on the wide eXpanse.
 When an hour had passed away, the sur face of the sea became wrinkled here and there with catspaws. These puffs made lanes and curious figures, and though not strong enough to flap one of our jibs they caught the quarter boat and moved her all around the compass. The man in the stern sheets let her go she would, though we fired a gun, waved a flag and raised grand shout in chorus to attract his attention. By and by, when 1t was seen that the calm would wear out the sun and that the strange craft would come no nearer, the order was given to lower away a boat and pick him up.
 We pulled four oars and had the second mate in command, and on getting away headed at once for the derelict. We had pulled half the distance, when the stranger got a catspaw and ran away at a lively pace for half n mile. We preserved our stroke and got within half a cables length of her, when another puff struck her sail, and she ran to the south across the bows of our ship. We could plainly make out the face and figure of the negro. He was bare headed and barefooted, and his clothing consisted of red woolen shirt and a pair of dunGRree trousers. He sat as stiff as a soldier, never turning his head to the right or left, and though the mate stood up and shouted at him he appeared not to see nor hear anything.
 We had come up within 200 feet of the boat, which had lost her way again, when puff from the south whirled her about and sent her driving at us as if she would run us down. We backed water to get out of her course, and as she came past one of the men dropped his oar and caught her with the boathook. While he held her thus, the mate stepped into her and started aft, but he had not taken three steps when he stopped, throw up his hands and ex- claimed:
 "Why. men, it's a dead man we've been chasing around! Look at him! He's been as dead us a marliuspke for the last week!''
 The mans eyes were wide open, his jaw down, and it was his clutch on the yoke lines which held the body erect. There was no foCd-no water-not even an oar or a baler in the boat. In place of n name it bore the initials, ID. ". S." There was nothing to tell us where it had been launched or how long it had been afloat- whether the dead man was the last of a crew or had suffered hunger and thirst alone. We showed his boat away and rowed back 10 the ship, and an hour later he was out of sight to the south. What mattered 1t whether we gave the body to the huge sharks cruising about, or let it continue to steer its coffin over the wide waste till some bowling gale prepared grave at the bottom of the seal NJ. QUAD.