The herald., 1894-12-11

me but the steward, who thrice in the
day brought me meal.
| On the evening of the third day of
my imprisonment / was startled out of
nap by disturbance in the cuddy out
, side. | heard tramp of feet and the
growing sound of seamen's voices.
thought mutiny had happened and
listened with my heart beating hard in
my ears.
f. Presently my door was struck upon
and the handle violently tried. Then
the voice of Matthews bawled for the
steward to bring tho key. In a few
minutes the door was flung open.
Matthews stood in the doorway. At
least two-thirds of the ships company
were massed around about him.
Come out, sir, - said the boatswain.
/ "We've discovered who's been trying
to sink the ship.
"Who?"
''As l live to tell yer, it's the captain
himself!' cried Matthews, bringing his
right fist into the palm of his left hand
with mighty report.
Half dozen voices wanted to deliver
the yarn at once. | got it clearly from
the carpenter, but l was thunderstruck
while | listened.
Half an hour before this time the
steward had observed the captain come
out of his berth and enter the steerage.
There was something strange in his
walk and aspect. The flush of the sun
set.was upon the slkylight. The steward
saw very plainly.
The captain concealed something that
resembled large parcel under the
breast of his coat. The steward resolved
to follow him, saw him go into the cabin
where the auger holes had been bored,
and by the very faint light in that in
terror observed him produce an anger
from under his coat and apply the tool
to the plugged oriflces. The extraor-
dinary part was that the motions of the
captain were those of an automaton.
The steward fed on deck. The boat
swain was in charge of the ship. He
shouted to some of the crew to follow
him as witnesses, and they rolled in a
body into the steerage, where they
found the captain coolly and mechan-
ically boring away with his anger.
They seized him, and now it was they
discovered, so they said, that the man
was acting in his sleep.
This at least was the opinion of those
who witnessed his behavior when he
was seized. He cried out like one vio-
lently awakened and swore he did not
Io 4,
doing The men conveyed him to his
cabin, locking him up in it, and then
came to me.
To end this singular experience, the
crew insisted upon my taking command
and practically forced me to navigate
the vessel to Buenos Ayres They would
not suffer me to free the captain, who
they feared would serve them some dia-
bolical trick if l gave him his liberty.
AS for him, he solemnly declared over
and over again to me that he knew not
what he had done, and that he had
trick of walking in his sleep.
On the arrival of the ship l went to
the British consul with my report, and
he thought proper to take charge Of
Captain Jortin with a view of sending
him to England in British man-ofwar
that was then lying at Buenos Ayres.
The consul shook his head when talk
ed of sleep walking. He said:
HE must have brought the augey
aboard with him. 1t formed no part of
the carpenters tool chest. Next the
ship was scuttled in daylight cannot
somehow reconcile somnambulism with
sunshine.
Itwas to remain mystery, however,
to the end. l was detained at Buenos
Ayres by number Of our men running,
and before the ship sailed the news
came aboard that Captain Jortin had
been found dead in his bed. The doctors
found that he had died from apoplexy.
Thus the mystery remains 1t never
could be shown that the unfortunate
man had any motive in scuttling the
ship. He had no risk in her. but his
command of her was living to him,
and the laundering Of the vessel could
only have proved an injury to himself.
Possibly madness was the true solu-
tion, though it does not quite explain,
to my satisfaction, why it was that he
went to sea with an auger in his cabin.
w. Clark Russell in Youths Com
panion.