The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-02-10
The vessel had come within : days.

SuperSC1Cl0uS terrOrS OF the SeaUnen
began to revive as they neared what
all naval traditions greed in present.
ing as tho appointed cruising ground
OF the redonbtable Flying Dutch
man" himself And in truth, 1t really
seemed as IL the same i'll fortune which
had so persistently haunted poor Cap
tain ~Vanderdecken at this unlucky
place were destined to overtake them
likewise; for now the weather, which
had been magnificent up to that point,
underwent a sudden and formidable
change, and for several days they had
TO beat against 9 furious gale from,
the southeast. which blew right in
their teeth. hurting sea after sea
laundering over the deck, bending the
strong masts like whips and smashing
nearly all the glass and crockery on
board. >%s5
On the morning Of the third day
matters looked SO threatening that
the officers began to hint at the advis-
ability of running for Cape Town, and
lying snug in harbor until the gale
had blown itself out. But the captain
OF the Britannia, though happily less
obstinate than his terrible Dutch
predecessor, had q pretty Arm will Of
his own; and, confident as he was in
the power of his stout bark to weather
b storm, he determined not to lose
time BY running into port, feeling GER
tain that the gale would not last much
longer s&z,
Sure enough, about noon on the
fifth day the violence Of the storm be-
gan to abate and by evening the wind
was falling SO rapidly that. they
thought the danger over and got some
sail on her once ore.
But they Don found that they were
rejoicing too soon During the night,
indeed. all went we'll, but early on the
following morning the wind all at
once shifted round to the northeast,
and heavy squal from that quarter
struck the vessel with a suddenness
which hardly gave the crew time to
prepare for It
For q few moments all was confu-
sion. The ship heeled over, the. sea
swept the deck, everything was let 60
on the run; and the howl and scream
of the wind, the roar of the waves, the
fierce hiss and patter of the binding
rain, the orders hoarsely bawled by
the officer of the watch, the shrill pipe
of the boatswain's whistle, the tramp
ling OF many feet to and fro across the
planks Of the deck. the ceaseless rat
tie of chains and blocks, and the harsh
creaking and complaining of strained
tim bers made a maddening din =
t. But fortunately nc one was serious
~ hurt, and after awhile the disor-
der abated, and everything was got to
rights again.
Toward evening, however, fresh
signs of mischief began to show them
selves to windward, and, just about
nightfall, the first officer (who hap
peued to be on duty at the time)
thought he saw tokens of another
squall at hand, and ordered a couple
of men aloft to take in the maintop
gallant sail. :
The foremost of the two hands-a
bold, active young ''Geordie" from
the good old north country, who was
n OF the smartest seamen aboard
had just swung himself up by the fut-
tock-shrouds on the maintop, when
he suddenly uttered a loud cry of ter
ror, and came scrambling back again
in such frantic haste as almost to
knock down his comrade, who was
close at his heels.
"Hullo. Jim! whatever are We up to,
youyoung foolw growled the old man.
"D'ye want to knock me overboard?'
But poor Jim was in no mood for
talking. He could only manage to gasp
out, in tones tremulous with horror
""The devil himsef's up in the main
top! I seed him with my own eyes!"
| Such an announcement, made in the
ghostly twilight, with q look and tone
of overwhelming terror, by one of
the brayest and most reckless men in
the whole ships company, was quite
enough for Jim's companion, who,
catching the infection of his mess
mates panic, went down again faster
than he had come up, the two men
almost tumbling oye each other in
their hurry to escape. g
Whats this, noo?" roared the first
officer, q hard-headed old Scotsman.
"Ye looms, did I no send yer to talk in
sail? Hoo daur ye shirk yer work like
that?"
SAX yer pardon sir-we amt a
shirkin' OF our work nohow," an
swered the elder culprit. stung by the
reproach; but you can't expect us to
face old Nick; he's up there in the
maintop; Jim here seed him hisself."
II did indeed, sir; I seed him as
plain as l see you now" added Jim
forgetting that such q comparison
was by no means ~iattering to his
superior officer.
Mr.. MacNab looked %nonplussed.
The terror of the two men was EVIL
IDENTIFY genuine. and with all the cour-
age and shrewdness Of his race, the
old Scot had not a little Of its SUPER
stition likewise. He cast a piercing
glance up to the naintop; but amid
the fast falling shadows of night
nothing could be distinctly made out.
Prudently RETAINING from making
any comment on the sailors story,
the mate ordered two other hands
alOft upon the same duty. They went
up manfully enough, but scarcely had
they reached the maintop when back
they came again in hot haste. with
faces as pale is death, loudly declar-
ing that the devil was there, and no
mistake.
BY this time the alarm had become
general, and so manifest was the
unwillingness of the boldest men
among the crew to make a third ap-
proach to the dreaded spot that there
seemed to be nothing left but for Mac
Nab to go up himself, when a murmur
arose among the seamen.
"Sendthe parson aloft! It's his bust
ness to tackle the devil, you knowp'&
But there was NJ need to send him.
Partly from curiosity and partly from
that native daring which had made
him foremost in every peril when at
school and college, Mr.. st John was
already springing upward from rat
line to ratline and in another moment
had disappeared into the shadow of
the maintop. And scarcely had be
reached It when there started up H.