Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-05-04
THE BLACK SHIP.
BY CHARLES b LEWIS.

1.-THE Black Ship Mystery covered space
of year in the last year of the tfties. If
there was any honor in first sighting the
black ship, it goes to the brig Sea Gull,
bound from Boston to Liverpool. l was
second mate of the brig on that voyage,
and on the night eff the seth of April,
1859 we were lying almost becalmed in
midocean There was no air along the
decks, but a draft aloft kept Storage way
Oh the craft At midnight when l came
on deck to relieve the chief mate the moon
was shining SO brightly that it was almost
like day. There was no change of weather
TO look out for, and a more quiet night at
sea could not be imagined. l had been
pacing the deck for half an hour or more
when l suddenly caught sight of a vessel
coming down on our windward quarter
The stranger seemed to have stolen out of
some fog bank or cloud of mist. and yet
the atmosphere was clear as u bell. AS l
stood rubbing my eyes the man at the
wheel caught sight of the craft and called
my attention, and just then she lutfed
sharp up and took course parallel with
ours.
ran for the glass and 1eveled it at her,
and as she was not above two cable
lengths away l had every detail as plain
as if | stood on her rail. She was a small,
full rugged ship, and anything about her
which would bear coat of black was
painted that color. This applied even to
her n,asts The hull was a much finer
model than ours, but there was slovenly
look aloft and her sails We're not we'll set
To nv amazement l could see only one
person on her decks-the man at the
wheel. There was no officer, no lookout,
no sailors looking at us over the rail. 1t
was about ten minutes after the stranger
came down upon us before l called Cap
tain Crawford. He took the glass from
my hand and gave her a looking over, and
there was a troubled look ON his face as he
turned to me with:
This is about the queerest thing that
has overtaken me in all my experience.
She seems to have a dead man at the
wheel, and if she has a crew aboard they
are in hiding. III hail her and see if l
can wake anybody up.
The CAPTAIN had q voice like foghorn,
and his tones would have carried to "A craft
full mile away. He roared out ship
ahoy." and hailed again and again, but
there was never movement aboard the
stranger The black ship was holding true
to her course and seemed to be rs well
steered as our own craft, and while things
had queer look it was only mystery as
yet. Finding that his halls were not an
swered, the captain took the glass and
spent a full five minutes with it at his
eyes. He had just lowered it when the
five men of my watch came aft in a body,
and one of the oldest of the men dotted his
hat and respectfully said:
Captain Crawford, if l may be so bold
as to say it, that there craft is either
pirate which is going to lay US aboard very
soon or it ; death ship, and we can't get
away from her any too quick,
There are no pirates in these SEAS re-
piled the captain as he rounded on the
man, land as for IA death ship that's all
nonsense. Dead men can make sail and
steer a ship.
But look at her sails, sirn persisted
the man. They are rusty and old, and
don't believe they have been touched for
weeks What she is carrying is only enough
for gale, and if she wasn't IA racer we'd
be drawing away from her in no time
With a growl at their superstition, the
captain ordered the men forward, but l
could see that he was both puzzled and
troubled as he ordered the man at the
wheel to huff point and bring us nearer
the stranger. The wheel had scarcely been
moved when the stranger also lufTed. The
man was then ordered to let her fall off
two points, and the yards were trimmed
for the new course, but the men We're still
pulling and hauling when the stranger
fell of and thus preserN ed his position.
Neither in lutfing nor i'll falling off was
there any pull at his yards or shee.- Jut
as the wind was light there was no actua,
need of this to keep his course.
He can't be u pirate, y Whispered Cap
tain Crawford to me as we stood gazing
and wondering. IF it We're any one mean
ing US harm, he knows the size of our crew
and that we are unarmed, and he would
have been aboard long ago. 1t may be a
craft which has lost everybody aboard by
fever or plague, but how is it that she
sticks to us as she does? Haven't seen the
man at the wheel make the slightest move
since we first set eyes on him"
BY this time the chief mate and all the
men of his watch had turned out, and for
a time all discipline was forgotten in the
eagerness to solve the mystery. Twice
again we lufed, but the blacl. ship was
not 80 seconds hehisdus; Then we fell
off, but she performed the sa7ne-luape hyer,
and her course was still parallel. OF a
sudden there was d long drawn wall from
the south, and the light wind became a
rafting breeze in a moment. We were not
only off our course but the men had to
rush to stations to trim sheets and yards,
and for five minutes all We're so busy that
no one paid any attention to the stranger.
When the hustle was over, the black ship
had disappeared The moon was shining
just as brightly as before; but though a
man was even sent aloft with glass and
swept the sea foot by foot not a sign of our
mysterious visitor could be discovered An
entry was made in the logbook, l wrote
the matter out in detail, and every officer
and man signed his name to the state
ment, 1t was published on our arrival in
Liverpool, and while some sneered at it
others were inclined to believe that we had
seen what we had seen.
1twculd have probably gone into history