The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-21

the yards and occasionally tapped against
the masts and shrouds as she rose and fell
to the mournful motion of the deep.
Away off, but standing high on the star
board bow, stood Mount Etna, belching
from its belly tons of molten lava that shot
skyward. In bunk in the now deserted
fo' Isle and upon an old straw mattress,
dressed in his greasy jumper and tarry
trousers, lay the lifeless form of a once
powerful man who, like the rest of US, was
moving about the decks few short hours
before, and whose body we are now pre-
pairing to sink to the bottom of the dark
waters beneath US, while Etna fired into
the midnight sky her eternal salute to the
stars.
Get a couple of hands, Mr.. Cushing"
/ said to the second mate, on my return to
the quarterback, land bring up that old
jibtopsail; you'll find it on the port side
of the lazarette / want to cut piece out
of it to make burial shroud. Go call the
carpenter there, Jim, and rouse the stew
ard out. Tell 'em L want 'em on deck,
and be quick about it"
We brought the body aft to the vessels
waist and by the light of pinnacle lamp
| wrapped and sewed it up in an old piece
of canvas, tied few heavy Jumps of coal
to the feet, then LAID it on the carpenters
stage toes up and feet toward the rail to
be ready for launching into the ocean at
midnight.
| had in the meantime told the captain
what was doing and asked him if he was
going to get up to attend the funeral. He
didn't. He afterward told me that Mrs.
Nldulich was badly frightened as it was
and he didn't want her to see US pitching
the corpse overheard.
The vessel had no Roadway so there was
no need of our backing the maintopsail.
Everything being ready we all collected in
a group around the gangway with our
/ headS uncovered. Four men lifted the
! oody onto the upper rail of the bulwarks
anu showed the stage far enough out for it
TO balance and held it there with an out
ward tilt, while the steward read the burial
! service from small Bible that he always
carried about his clothes.
! "A strange character, indeed, was this
steward OF ours. He was tall lantern
! JaWed and much older than the captain,
with long white beard and hair that COW
cred MS neck, which he nursed with the
greatest OF care. Without being consid-
ered at all lrreyerent, in looks he reminded
me OF one OF the group that had seen in
painting In the magnificent cathedral of
st. Johns at Malta and pointed out to me
as the twelve apostles He was a CON
firmed spiritualist. Impressively and
with dramatic effect he read the service
and when be said II commit this body to
the Deep" with his own hand he nushed
up the end of the stage and the dead shin
mate slid into the sea, leaving nothing to
mark his resting place save few phosphor-
escent bubbles, but they disappeared as
quickly as they rose.
A few months later we could be seen
passing the Rock Of Gibraltar homeward
bound, with a spanking breeze from off the
port quarter; our tgallan', topmast and
lower stunsails were set and the sea was
running with US.
Our hold was chock full of oranges and
lemons and we were hurrying home to sell
them to the Yankees before they spoiled.
DENIS KEARNEY.