Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-08-29
RATIFIED THE SHIPS CREW.
The Ghost Jim Barnet Saw While
Taking His Trick at the Wheel.

1T was eight years ago tonight"
as we've got now. Cold, with the
wind and sea pretty high, the royals
and to'gal'n' sails tOwed snug-and
altogether pretty wild. The midnight
watch had just been relieved, and a
man named Barnet, Jim Barnet, was
at the wheel. He was a rum sort of
a cuss, was jim; the other fellows
thought him a regular crank. | my
self had my doubts but he had a
screw loose somewhere. But as /
say, he was at the wheel, and Capn
Taylor had the watch. He was sec
Ond mate then, you know. Well, all
tOf sudden Jim gave a yell and made
a leap over the rail and into the boil
ing sea. 1t happened in a second.
But the mate passed the word along
to man the boats, and we had the
lashings cut and the boats lowered in
a jify-ah, we had sailors in them
days, not the milk and water, sloppy
slow coaches we've got nowadays"
added the bAS'n, with a sigh.
"Well, we were out four hours be-
fore we picked him up, senseless, with
his arms through a life buoy. We
took him for dead, but the skipper
gave him some brandy and other
stuff, while we rubbed and worked
his limbs till he showed signs of life.
All of a sudden up he jumps looking
as wild as could be, and shouts, the
ghost! the ghost! the devil take him
away For a moment he kicked sum-
mat awful and shrieked and cursed
like a mailman, but it did not last
long, and he fell back again ex-
hausted. l tell you, boys, we were
scared. What ghost or devil had he
seen? And the skipper, he made it
worse by saying it was his bad con-
science, and God had sent it as a pun
ishment for getting drunk, or summat
of the kind. The skipper, you know,
was a sort of holy religious kind Of
chap. Howsomever, we put him in
his bunk, and one of us was always
by him in case he came to, or began
raving again, and l suppose it was
about haif-past 6 the next evening
Christmas day before he showed
any signs of consciousness.
ME and my mate We're sitting by
him when he opens his eyes and
clutches my hand. Dick he says
frightened like, has he gomez
oh, yes, l guess he's gone, mate,
says /. We amt seen him at all,
for | tumbled that he meant the
ghost
Not seen him, up the mizzen? /
see him now, up the mizzen. The
devil, the devils ghost and with
gasp he fell back in his bunk again.
by this time all hands in the
fo'cisle had crowded round his bunk,
and you know, boys, sailors are bit
superstitious, so off they all scooted
to see what there was up the mizzen
when they heard what he said.
1T wasn't long before they We're
back, though, nearly as scared as poor.
Jim. Yes, Dick says my mate,
there's a ghost up there. You go
look
well, boys, I went, thinking
would find il all a mistake or prac- 5
teal joke and show them what fools 5
they'd been. But no, | was the fool {
this time. Up there in the moonlight 5
was white grinning thing, as like I
the devil, only he was white, as two Y
pins. l simply stood and stared until /
the skipper came and asked me what c
was looking at. l showed him, but I
A ghost. Some practical joke he S
says; you go up one side and I'll % 9