Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-06-26

rich and decorated with barbaric mag,
| nificencc. His erectness was only IN
accident; he had been proppcd up in
his position by his long, basket-hilted
rapier, the point of which was stuck in
the deck, while the hill. was caught be-
meath the rim of the goId-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 fell the dead
man prone upon the deck, with great
jingle and crash of arms. The colonel,
forall his steadiness, jumped back as if
from sudden attack. That was the
first sound, except our own rare whis-
pcrs, that had broken the deathlv
stiffness since we had stumbled upon
the first corpse.
Il recognize this chap-his red feath-
er, at least" the colonel presently re-
marked. in as composed tone as he
could manage. Hes the commander,
L suppose. Ahem. Well-er-I must
say, this seems to me to be a-er-mat-
ter in which it is difficult to be guided
by precedent. How does it strike youos
This ship was built and these men
were born about the time the MAY
flower took the Puritan Pilgrims to
Plymouth Rock" said l. "You and
saw her come ashore here with a living
crew four hours ago. At the moment
she struck | saw a fellow run aft and
haul flag up to the mizzcn peak.
There he lies now, with the halliards
still in his hands. Suppose we take a
look ut the flag. That ought to tell us
something"
We walked aft, and l cut the flag
halliards with my penlsnifc. The flag
came down. We spread it ont on the
deck, and examined it with the aid of
the lantern. 1t was the imperial naval
ensign of France in the reign of
Louis XIV.
This is not thing we can under
stand, colonel" l remarked. Eve
must take it as it comes and make the
best of it. Let us so below and inves-
tigatc the cabin"
The colonel was mute; he followed
me about mcekly. When n thoroughly
practical 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 be-
comes, for the time being, as helpless
and docile as an 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 adj
vantage. So led The doughty old war
rior about at my will, and he trotted
after me with an unquestioning defer
cnce that was pathetic.
took the lantern, and went in adj
vance. We came to the companionway;
1T was like the mouth of black pit.
was not at my ease, however: like
Macbeth, ''dircness, familiar to my
thoughts, could not once move me-"
But just as set foot on the first step
of the descent, there came a sound
from below.
1t was sort of whimpcring, COM
planning sound, half animal and half
human. 1t seemed to enter into my
blood like atoms of ice. | was pre-
pared for ghosts; but this was not
preternatural; the terror of it was due
TO its being a natural manifestation in
the midst of what was spectral. The
colonel heard it, but so far from com
plotting his collapse, it revived him.
He drew in long breath. "Somc poor
devil of dog is down there" said he,
clearing the huslsincss out of his
throat. 1T will be comfort to rescue
him, after all this deviltry! After you,
sir,"
Now I, unlike the worthy colonel,
am family man; ard domestic life
gives man certain lsnowledgcs I'M
known to cclibates. The sound had
not appeared to me like the whining of
dog. But it was no use specializing;
we went down.
To be continued.