The morning call., 1893-11-19

OdNy jules IOChCts uut CACcpL Lu6 IOI6-
topmast was struck and split and the fore
topsail yard was splintered and let the sail
drop with terrific rendng noise, no harm
was done. Duncan, who was now acting
captain, was Hurried by the suddenness of
the squall, and allowed the steamer to be
caught aDack and careened over on the
port side until we thought she would go,
but the force eased for few minutes.
aud the Paramowra for once showed the
one good quality of Fighting. We got be-
fore the wind under reefed canvas, and for
the first time in many weeks made evident
Roadway as her bows churned through the
foamiug seas.
Next morning Evans was missed. His
staieroom door was still fastened, but
water had poured in during the night and
run out under the door. This prompted
examination. His berth was empty and
one of the ports was open. The inference
was that he had gone overheard in a
frenzy
Two days after that Captain jamie
sons fever had abated and he had re-
turned to consciousness, but he was too
far reduced In strength to weather the at
tack, and weakness of the lungs and heart
action rapidly lowered his vitality. and ne
died within twenty-fonr hours. 1t was
touching to see him in the last hours look
ing with affection on the photograph of his
young wife aud her infant boy. whom he
was destined never to see again. He knew
his end had come, and in whispers he con-
fded his last wishes to the mate and asked
him to report his fate at home. where. God
bless them, they should know ne died
thinking about them. He kept the photo
graph in his hand to the close, and there
was gentle expression of peace over his
rough-bearded face as the film of death
shut out the light in his eyes.
The next day the captains body was
committed to the deep, the ships company
fol nd nd bo fret 90,
ing the prayers for the dead. To escape
the sharks that had been around for many
weeks. as If sure of meal eventually, an
old iron stanchiOn was sewn up with the
bag, and the body dropped out of sight in
a flash.
the beginning of October, and Ii was
heartrendng and bewildering to think
that we had been nearly a year helplessly
in the Atlantic after the first month of the
voyage. A week afterward we sighted
the land and worked into Bahia, in Brazil,
lying in latitude Is south.
What was now to be done was a puzzle.
We must refit and get the engines at work
once more, this time with enough of coal
to make sufficient southing. The bottom
was covered with weed. which had formed
while drifting ia great tangled clots, tn at
had to be removed. Most of the crew, in
spite of loss of wages, deserted, taking
we had gone. and l did not blame them.
The engines and boilers were overhauled,
and during that operation We made dis
cOvery that staggered US.
In cleaning out the port boiler, which
had leak, we came upon some stuff not
ordinarily laid hold Of in scraping away
the crust which forms, and when brought
into the light we we're amazed to find a
pair OF heavy boots, some flannel clothing,
a vest. the remnants of pair of trousers a
watch, some bones and a human skull,
Invested OF every vestige of flesh, and
grlnnng CHASTITY white in the rows of
teeth. Two OF which In front were missing.
Here was tragedy of some kind, and how
was it TO be explained? 0Brien declared
that the skull was ThOmpson's, placing the
Identification upon the absence of the tw o
front teeth, and the steward agreed with
him about the resent lance and believed
the watch was Thomps There was a
cash across the left parietai wall extending
To behind the ear which had been made by
some blunt instrument, probably an iron
bar, and that must have been a blow lay
ing open the brain. The mans death had
been due 10 violence. and not self-in fiicted
either. out how came he to be in the
boiler?
OBren and 1 recalled our conversation
and the raving incOherencies of Evans,
and the thought came to both of US that
the dead chief engineer was connected
delivered the fatal blow with bar down
there in the gloom of the engine
room - how and when there were
no means of solving. II may have been
an attack when crazed with drink or some
how angered, and perhaps not intended to
be fatal But when the victim dropped
ike dead bullock, Evans must have had
caution enough to think of the consequences.
How tn dispose of the body must have
been uppermost when he considered the
| chances Of escape. and his cunning found
one or the most secure methods of avoid
ing detection that he could have taken.
The quarrel must have been without wiz
nesses. and the secret disposal of the bod v
inside the boiler must have been prompt.
No one would enter the boiler after that
Evans would take care-and when all
was screwed up the secret was buried
for the time being. Who knows but
that in time the salt water and the
! The nerve of that man. Evans. to endure a
voyage In the engine-rOOm with the corpse
| OF his victim SousiDg about inside one of
| the boilers must have been astonishing
| but he probably could not let the horror
| quit his sight, and no wonder he drank
and drank iutoxlcants until he lost his
senses, especially on such terrible voy-
! age, and yet could not drive the awful deed
| out of his mind. He chung 10 the steamer
as wild bird dashes itself against head
land lanterns in storm.
No other construction could be placed
upon the strange delirium of Evans, aris-
ing from a guilty conscience and fear
excited brain under the stimulus of de-
bauch. The secret of our i'll fortune on
the voyage was out. Those of us who had
belief in the supernatural and hood 90
| occult influences were convinced that in
that grim revelation of crime lay the
subtle origin Of our misfOrtunes
But am bound to say that the inter-
ment Of those bones did not relieve us of
the hoodo0. II is true that with steam
power part OF the way we did get out to
Melbourne, but on our first voyage to New
Zealand a cylinder head was blown out
and caused sad havoc, and within a year.
during fog, we ran on reef and the
Paramowra became a total wreck. Believe
me, there is such a thing as hoodoo.
although we do not comprehend why.
ID. j. MCRoBERTs.