The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1898-02-03
MYSTERY OF THE SEA
STORY OF A GHOSTLY MESSENGER
/ IN A GREEN Sou'WEsTER.

2~w Captain Benner Came Very Nes
BeinE Put In Irons by His Crew Fo
Changing the Ships Course-The Fou
Shipwrecked Men In Boat.
At dinner in Creole lodgings, i
Jamaica, some three years ago, the COZ
versation turned upon the subject G
ghosts and apparitions. A person pres
ent quoted the words of Professor Proc
tor, There may be some means of com
municatiop. under special conditions
Between mind and mind at distance
Shough no one may be able to explain
how such communication is brough
about. " One of the guests present mad
a reference to a tale Of mysterious ap
partition at sea, adding:
elf you ever meet Captain Blank O
the Blank line, ask him to tell tn
story. The incidents happened to rela
kive of his. He can tell them better thai
and will vouch for their TRUTH
A few days ago Captain Blank wa
found Oh board his steamer. He is no
only skillful seaman and navigator
but also a very courteous gentleman
Although about to sail, he took time tt
fell the following:
In the early thirties Captain Benner
.granduncle of the narrator, commanded
the brig Mohawk of New York, ther
engaged in the West Indian trade After
leaving st. Thomas, her last port OF
call Oh enc voyage, the brig was steer.
ing northwesterly course, homeward
Bound, beating up under short canvas
against high winds and heavy seas fol,
lowing in the wake of hurricane which
had traversed the tropics five or six days
before. Her captain, who had been
some hours Oh deck, went below at mid.
might after directing the first officer,
<yho was on watch, to keep the course
then steered and to call him in case of
any change for the worse in the weather.
he lay down upon sofa in the main
cabin, but, as the briggs bell struck
twice, became conscious of the figure of
a man, wearing a green sou wester,
standing beside him in the dim light of
the cabin lamp. Then he heard the
words:
Change your course to sou'west,
captain
Captain Benner got up and went on
deck, where he found that the weather
had moderated and that the brig was
carrying more sail and making better
Roadway. He asked the mate on duty
why he had sent down to call him, to
. which that officer replied that be, had
j notdone SO. The captain, fancying that
. he had been dreaming, went back to the
. cabin, but was disturbed soon again by
!. a second visit from. the: man in the
green son 'wester, who repeated his pre-
=yious order and vanished up the COM
panionway. The captain, now thorough
1y aroused, jumped up and pursued the
Tetreating figure, but saw no one until
he met the mate on watch, who insisted
that he had not sent any messenger be-
low.
Mystifed and perplexed, Captain
Benner returned to the cabin, only to
see his singular visitor reappear, to
hear him repeat the order to change the
course to sou'west, with the warning,
IF you denot, it will soon he too late,"
and to sec him disappear as before.
Although d cool headed seaman, fair
. ly proof against superstitions, the cap
: tain was nevertheless deeply impressed
! by these happenings and determined to
: see what meaning was hidden in the OF
sder OF his midnight visitor. Going on
deck, be gave the necessary orders for
the change in the ship s course to south
west. Tire officers of the brig were not
only surprised but also indignant at
this Sudden and to them unreasonable
. change of course. The new course
brought the vessel at right angle to
her proper direction and if persisted in
would strand her on the coast of Santo
Domingo. Meanwhile the weather had
moderated still more, additional sail
had been got upon the vessel, and she
Was being driven still farther from her
destination.
IHer irnpatient officers had finally de-
.termined to seize their captain and put
him in irons, when, soon after day
break, tlse lookout forward reported
some object dead ahead. AS the vessel
r:1sa1ft on st was made out to be ships
boat. las it ranged abeam it was seen to
{, captaiu four men lying under it's
Thwarts, one Of whom wore green
sou'wester. The Mohawk was promptly
hove to, a boat lowered, and the cast
awags taken in. The castaways proved
ITO ihs the captain and three men, the
..npEy survivors of the crew Of vessel
) which had gone down in the hurricane,
and they had been drifting helplessly
without food for five or six days. The
green sou 'wester was the property Of
the rescued captain. A few days later,
~,as., n he had recovered sufficiently. to be
able 70 leave his berth, he was sitting
one assr il the main cabin of the brig
with Captain Benner. He suddenly
iasked his hest whether he believed in
Gareans
@~Ssince;I ihave been here, " he contin-
ned, 81 have been thinking how IA
-miliar this cabin looks. / think that
have been here before. In the night be-
fore You picked me up dreamed that |
came to You here in this cabin and told
you to change your course to sou west.
The first time yon took no notice of me,
and came the second time, in vain,
but the third time you changed your
course, and woke to find your ship