Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-01-12
THERE LAY A WOMAN OF REMARKABLE BEAUTY.


land. How, then, came they to clothe the
body Of man lying on the deck of YES
sci IN this year 1894?
The colonel and did not ask each other
this question; we were not in the humor
fer speech. We continued our 1nvestga-
tons and found the deck strewn with
corpses, all more or less resembling the
one 1 have described. They lay in all pos
lures and places, as if stricken down sud
denly where they stood by some compre-
hensive thunderbolt. Some had ropes still
in their hands, as If they had been maui
ing the yards taking in sail. All were
armed with weapons of one sort or an
other, but none Of pattern known 10
modern armories. There were cutlasses'
0irks. pixies and many grotesque and clum-
sy pistols and matchlockS, whose detoha-
lions no living ear could have heard for
centuries. Here and there, in points CT
vantage, we found seven or elght quaIn 1Il
cid bronze cannon, some or them rlchly
carved and embossed.
The waist of the ship was low; the decks
forward and aft were raised above the
middle space to the height of a man, and
were reached by steep flights OF steps. On
the poop discovered, leaning against
the mizzen mast, the only figure on board
which had kept it's feet. 1t was the corpse
of tall man, with wide shoulders ana q
certain statelness of bearing, in spite OF
the untoward circumstances. He wore a
wide brimmed black felt hat, ornamented
with a superb great plume OF scarlet
feathers. His dress was rich ana deco
erectness was only an accident: he had
been propped up in his position by his
long, basket-hilted' rapier. the point OF
which was stuck In the deck, while the nit
was caught beneath the rim of the gold
inlaid corselet that he wore. The colonel,
in moving to look beneath his wide hat
brim, struck the point of the rapier with
his foot, whereupon down feli the ueau
man prone upon the deck, with great
jingle and crash Of arms. The colonel, FOR
all his steadiness, jumped back as If from
a sudden attack. That was the first sound,
except our own rare whispers, that had
broken the deathly stiffness since we had
stumbled upon the first corpse.
II recognize this chap-his red feather.
at least" the colonel presently remarked,
in as composed tone as he could man
age Hes the commander. l suppose.
Ahem! Well-er-I must say, this seems TO
me to be a-er-matter in which it is diff
cult to be guided by precedent. How does
1t strike your
"This ship was built and these men were
| born about the time the Mayfower took
the Puritan Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock,
said I. You and saw her come ashore
here with living crew four hours ago
At the moment she struck l saw fellow
run aft and haul a flag up to the mizzen
peak. There he lies now. with the hal
lizards still in his hands. Suppose we take
a look at the flag. That ought to tell us
something"
| lizards with my penknife. The flag came
II. ~@-'~
examined it with the aid of the lantern
It was the imperial naval ensign Of France
in the reign of Louis XIV.
This is not thing we can una aea "a 10.
colonel" 1 remarked. I'VE must take 1t as
1t comes and make the best of it. Let US
go below and investigate the cabin
The colonel was mute; he followed me
about meekly. When a thoroughly practi-
cal mana man OF action-who believes
only in what he can explain by rule OF
thumb chances to run across something
altogether beyond the scope of common
human experience, he becomes, for the
time being, as helpless and docile as
infant; and a fellow who sees visions and
dreams dreams, and to whom, half the
time, the solid earth appears less real than
his own thoughts, has him completely at
advantage. So 1 led the doughty old war
rior about at my will. and he trotted after
me with an unquestioning Difference that
was pathetic.
I took the lantern and went in advance.
We came to the companionway; it was like
the mouth Of black pit. l was not at my
ease, however; like Macbeth. "direness,
familiar to my thoughts, could not once
move me-" But just as l set foot on the
first step OF the descent, there came a
sound from below.
It was a sort OF whimpering, complaining
| sound, half animal and half human. 1t
seemed to enter into my blood like atoms
| of ice. l was prepared for ghosts, but this
was not preternatural; the terror of it was
| due to its being natural manifestation i'll
| colonel heard it. but so far from complet-
| ing his collapse, it revived him. He drew
| in long breath. Some poor devil Of a
| dog is down there" said he, clearing the
| huskiness out of his throat. ut will be
| comfort to rescue him. after all this devil
| try! After you, Sir!'
Now l, unlike the worthy colonel, am
| family man; and domestic life gives man
certain knowledges unknown to celibates.
| The sound had not appeared to me like the
| whining OF q dog. But it was no use spec
ulatng; we-went down.
The sound was not repeated, and we had
nothing to guide us. We found ourselves
| in a passage communicating with saloon,
/! small but gorgeously furnished. There was
gold and silver plate on the table; curtains
| of velvet and hangings Of silk decorated the
walls and doorways, and carved ebony
chest in q corner. with the lid thrown back
showed within a mass of splendid jeWelry
and other eyaluables. sword, it's kilt
sparkling with precious rs; stones, lay on the
din's palace. But no sign either of life or
death was visible
We passed through this cabin with only
| glance at its contents There would be
time enough for such things later. We en-
tered another passage, and presently came
to a square aperture in the floor, opening
down into the lower region of the ship. A
vertical iron ladder offered means of de-
scent
1--WE may as well take look below there,
colonel" said 1, quietly. "Will you remain
here. or
GO on, sir!'' he answered, through his
teeth.
Down we went. An atmosphere as of
ages dead and decayed crept into our nos
trils Arrived at the bottom, there was not
space to stand upright. 1 trod on some
thing that caused me to start back.
turned the light Of the lantern up and
down the floor. They lay in rows. four
deep; there may have been two hundred of
them in that nosome crypt, forty feet long
by twenty wide. They were chained one
to another, neck and leg. Their black skin
chung to their bones like wrinEled leather.
Bat their sufferings must have been over
ages and ages ago. Death had released
them from their slavery centuries before
the idea of emancipation first dawned in
the mind of man.
II doubt whether that sound could have