The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1894-12-04
A SEA MYSTERY.

IA DlId LII Il ~ Il VlE lie
In the year 1850 I sailed in the shi]
Sultan, vessel of $50 tons burden
from the port of Liverpool, bound rount
the Horn to Valparaiso with valuabl,
general cargo. The captain was a MAJ
named Jonas Jortin. l, who went il
her as chief mate, am named William
Fletcher.
We carried no second officer. Otter
it happened in those days that even bis
ships sailed with what is termed al
"only mate,' who was supposed K
comprise in himself all that was to bC
expected in the shape Of duty anC
knowledge from first and second off
Ger.
AS ], however, held no certificate az
"only mate, signed as chief. anG
the boatswain, a man named Benjamin
Matthews, took the working part Of
second mate under me-that is, he re-
lieved me when my watch was up,
walked the decks and trimmed sail al
his discretion. But he took no part in
the navigation of the ship Indeed
doubt If he knew what sextant was,
and am not sure that he could read OF
write.
Captain Jortin was tall, lean, long
faced man, with SO remarkable fall OF
chin that his mouth seemed to be placed
almost exactly in the middle of his
face. His skin was yellow. He had fol
lowed the sea for many years, but the
flesh Of his cheeks reflected nothing Of
the glow and bronze of sun and weather.
His eyes were of a dead black, like
an East Indians, without animation in
their glance and slow in their motions.
had been struck by the figure he
made when / first boarded the ship in
the docks. Nothing could less CORE
spond with the traditional notions of
the old salt, with purple nose and bow
legs, eyes deep sunk by peering to
windward and stormy voice broken
by years of drink and bawling, than
this master of the ship Sultan, button
ed up as he was in coat of clerical
cut, his black hair smeared smooth, as
though his head was painted, limp, stick
up collars and long. square toed We'll
lington boots
All went we'll with us till we had
| gone clear of the northeast trade wind
and struck the 'humbugging" paral-
lels, as they are called, where you get
sheet Gains with wide ocean white as
level icefield, then faint drafts crawl
ing up in the direct line of the ships
course, painting the FURNISHED surface
with darkling shadows like huge marine
spiders creeping down from the edge Of
the horizon. I think our latitude was
between and 10 degrees north when
what am going to tell you about hap
pened.
1t was the second dog watch, the
hour about half past 9. The ships yards
were braced we'll forward, and she was
ripping along to the pressure of a three
knot breathing of air, coming hot as
steam from out of the glowing pavilions
of the west.
1t was siokeninglyulose, with the men
ace of an electric storm in delicate
winking of violet dumb lightning away
ow of the night was gathering, with
large star already trembling low down
over the sea right abeam.
A fiddle was going upon the forecas-
tie head. A sailor was chanting ditty
to the tune. Most of the ships company
were listening. lounging about the cat
head and against the rail, pipes in
mouth. Their open shirts disclosed their
messy breasts, their legs were bare to
the knee for the comfort Of the cool
ness, and their believed faces reflected
the angry red In the west as though
every man had oiled himself.
The captain was walking aft alone,
measuring a space of the deck from
abreast of the wheel and something for
ward of the mizzen rigging His gait
was that of man in funeral process
sion-stiff, solemn, self conscious.
He had not been on deck above half
an hour and in that time had not once
addressed me. Not indeed that there
was anything strange in this. Mates
and captains seldom converse at sea.
The master lives life apart, and
this spirit Of isolation possesses the
mates, insomuch that l have met Off
GERS who declared to me that throughout
a round voyage running into couple of
years they scarcely exchanged more
than routine sentences and messages Of
duty with the shipmates aft from the
first hour of their getting their anchor
to the final hour of their letting 1t 60
But even had Captain Jortin been So
ciably disposed he was not sort Of man
/ could have got on with. No one with
the weight of a grievous sin upon his
soul could be more melancholy and aus
tere, more abrupt and reserved.
Matthews, the boatswain, thought to
explain the man by telling me he had
heard before we sailed that he had lost
his wife and only daughter within a
week after his return from his last voy-
age but the captain never mentioned
the subject, nor could / satisfy myself
that there was any suggestion Of mourn
ing in that way either in his clothes or
his behavior.
had charge of the ship this dog
watch and was standing at the head of
the starboard poop ladder listening to
the music forward Suddenly the stew
ard came out of the cabin under the
cuddy front and looked for a mosnent
eagerly up at me with white face.
called down, what is it2'' inter-
preting his expression of fear into some
thing wrong. He came half way up the
ladder and said:
''Some ones been trying TO scuttle
the ship think. l can hear water run
ming in 'twixt the wall and the lining
In the after cabin in the storage.
instantly ran aft and repeated the
mans statement to the captain. He
looked at me steadfastly with his grave,
funeral black eyes and exclaimed in a
dull, slow way:
''Scuttle Nonsense, sirl Who would
commit such a crime aboard this ship1
Go below with the steward and report
what you hear and see.
was astonished by his cool reception
of piece of news that, whether the
steward was mistaken or not, must be
charged with significance even In the
lightest most careless whisper Of 1t.
straightway descended the compan-
ion steps, and the steward followed me
by way Of the ouddy front We entered
the storage, a part of the hold under
the saloon or cabin deck. -Four cabins
were bulkheaded off on either hand.
They were now used mainly as store
rooms. In thoir day they had been stock
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