Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-03-17
A TALE OF THE SEA
WHEN A NAVAL OFFICER WAS THcRousM1
FRIGHTENED, BUT DIDN'T SHOW n
Written for The Evening Sta.

written Tor The Evening StaAs
Il was nearly scared out OF my ssnsss
once" remarked an officer OF thu Unttsl
States navy whose name Is q synonym Coz
all that is courageous on Land and sea-
THE very idea" protested q young ana
pretty listener, who knew his record ana
loved him for the dangers he had passed
1T il true. just the same" he went O.
Il was scared, badly scared, and da.N
hesitate TO acknowledge It"
There was an immediate demand from o.
company for, the story. and the aeoomAs-
dating officer proceeded with H.
1T happened on the old ship Powhatan,.
he said, several years ago. and we were
anchored OF West India port Il Was In
the sumner time and hot, and yellow jack
was getting in his work wherever he could
We had a case on the ship. and were not
allowed to go ashore. except under survsil-
lance of the land authorities. One day q
young sailor, a general favorite with On
GERS and crew, fell from a mast ard broke
his neck. He was dead when we picked
him up. and We at once prepared the body
for burial, the ships carpenter making .
wooden coffin. which he nailed together, ~
there were no screws suitable in his Kit
We had expected to take the body ashore.
We were forced to a sea burial. and had
placed a couple of shot inside the coffin at
the foot 10 sink it. The body lay in state
on deck that night and the next day all
hands We're called to attend the funeral
The officers and crew were standing about
the coffin and the captain began reading the
burial service, very solemnly and with much
feeling, for all of felt the loss OF The
young fellow keenly. He read along quiet
ly until it was about half through, when all
at once there came a fearful raspns.
screeching sound from the coffin, AMI the
lid began to rise. Well. il is oeyond the ca
pacity of language to express just what we
all thought at that moment The supcIs,ti-
tious sailors fed in dismay. the captains
face blanched, the other officers staod irres-
olute, and grabbed the wheel and held on
TO ii with all my strength TO keep from rum
ming clean away. Scared? Why. my dear
young lady," and the officer smiled at the
pretty girl, Il was 50 scared didn't know
where / was. But II wasn't for long. for
our senses came back in a minute. and We
began TO realize that the swelling Of the de-
composing body had forced the nails out
and IT was their giving away that had made
the fearful noise. In a few minutes the
sailors were recalled, the coffin was nailed
up again and dashed with ropes and the Is 81
sad rites We're finished without further in
cident."
The young woman shivered II the uncan-
ny story and the remaider OF the company
felt the same creepy feeling dowa the back.
". II,
there was no further incident on deck IL
was my duty TO so with boats crew some
distance from the ship and sink the body IN
the sea, and i can tell You now / oid not
relish the job at ALL / had had enough to
last me 10 the end OF my service, bit my
wishes were not consulted in the matter. 1t
was duty. and that must be done wneth-
er one likes IL or not By this time tho sun
had set, the sea was quite rough and the
men to go with me were badly raItlsd. all
OF which didn't make any difference as far
as the work to be done was concerned. ana
/ started away with my disagrSeable bur-
den. At suitable distance i stopped the
boat, committed the body 70 the deep ana
with a feeling OF the most intense relief or
dered the crew to give way t. return TO
the ship. ! sat in the stern OF the boat
facing the crew, and they had not taken .
dozen strokes until noticed something WAS
wrong. Their faces began to take on the
color OF ashes. and in a minute tho bow
oarsman stopped. It's after US. sir ne
said in a tone that made all my blood 80
clean down to the soies Of my feet, AMI
what 1T was; but that was no time 20 show
fear. and cast quick glance backward.
That was enough. Right on our heels. ap-
parentiy, and end on, jumping out OF the
water in weird. fantastic leaps, came the
coffin In our wake. Then IL WIS, in my
nervousness, I wanted 10 scream, Or faint.
or do something; and for an instant it
would have been a positive relief TO me TO
have done all three in rapid succession. ana
wound IL up by plunging into the sea. but
the eyes of the men were on me. AMI they
were worse scared than 1 WIS. end i
couldn't do that To put back was all there
was TO do. and at the command the boat
went back, but ] can assure you none OF us
wanted to go back with It. However. ne
cessity compelled Il. and in a few strokes
we were alongside that coffin and had made
Il fast with a rope. Then we discovered
that the air in Il supported It the shot az
the foot keeping II almost perpendlcular IN
the sea and the dancing waves aid the
rest In a minute we had knocked one END
Of IL in; a minute later il had sunk out a
sight with a smothered gursls, ana my
scare was over, but the effects % 81 remain
ed for weeks. and even yet can make my
self uncomfortable thinking about It."
The officer ceased speaking and the COM
pany gave a long breath simultaneously
and felt uncomfortable themselves.
w. ]. LAMPTOS