The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1898-07-28
MYSTERY OF TIL SEA
STORY OF a GHOSTLY MESSENGER
IN A GREEN SOU'WESTER.

How Captain Benner Came Very Near
Being Put In Irons by His Crew For
Changing the Ships C~ourse-The Four
Shipwrecked Men In a Boat.
At a dinner in Creole lodgings. in
Jamaica, some three years ago, the con-
versation turned upon the subject Of
ghosts and apparitions. a person pres
ent quoted the words Of Professor Proc
tor, There may be some means of COM
munication. under special conditions,
between mind and mind at a distance,
though n one may be able to explain
how such communication is brought
about" One of the guests present made
a reference to a tale Ct a mysterious ap-
partition at sea, adding:
If you ever meet Captain Blank of
the Blank line, ask him to tell the
story. The incidents happened to a rela-
tive Of his. He can tell them better than
/ and will vouch for their truth"
\ few days ago Captain Blank was
found On board his steamer. He is moi
only a skillful seaman and navigator,
but also a very courteous gentleman.
Although about to sail, he took time to
tell the following:
In the early thirties Captain Benner,
granduncle of the Narrator, commanded
the brig Mohawk of New York, then
engaged in the West Indian trade. After
leaving st. Thomas, her last port of
call on one voyage, the brig was steer
ing a northwesterly course, homeward
bound, beating up under short canvas
against high winds and heavy seas fol-
lowing in the wake Of a hurricane which
had traversed the tropics five or six days
before. Her captain, who had been
some hours on deck, went below at mid
night after directing the first officer,
who 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 a sofa i'll 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 ent down to call him, to
which that officer replied that he had
not done SO. The captain, fancying that
he had been dreaming, went back to the
cabin, but was disturbed o o again by
a second visit from the man in the
green 0 u'wester, who repeated his pre-
vious order and vanished up the COM
panionway. The captain, now thorough
~ aroused, jumped up and pursued the
retreating figure, but saw no one until
he met the mate on watch, who insisted
that he had not sent any messenger be-
low.
Mystified 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 do not, it will soon be too late,'
and to see him disappear as before.
Although a cool headed seaman, fair.
~ proof against superstitions, the cap.
tain was nevertheless deeply impressed
by these happenings and determined to
see what meaning was hidden in the or
der Of his midnight visitor. Going on
Geek, he gave the necessary orders for
the change in the ships course to south
west. The 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 a right angle to
her proper direction and it 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
vas being driven still farther from her
destination.
Her impatient officers had finally de-
termined to seize their captain and put
him in irons, when, soon after day
break, the lookout forward reported
some object dead ahead. AS the vessel
kept OF it was made out to be a ships
boat. AS it ranged abeam it was seen to
contain four men lying under its
thwarts, q of whom wore a green
sou'wester. The Mohawk was promptly
hove to, a boat lowered, and the cast
aways taken in. The castaways proved
to be the captain and three men, the
only survivors of the crew of a 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,
when he had recovered sufficiently to be
able to leave his berth, he was sitting
enc day in the main cabin of the brig
with Captain Benner. He suddenly
asked his host whether he believed in
dreams.
"Since l have been here" he contin-
ned, Il have been thinking how IA
miliar this cabin looks. I think that l
have been here before. In the night be-
fore you picked me up l dreamed that I
came to you here in this cabin and told
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