Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-08-23
A SHIP
That Rose From the Sea.
A SAILORS YARN.

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You landlubbers write narrowing
tales Of the ships that sink in the sea.
But did you never hear Of sunken
ship that came back from Davv Jones
locker - said one of the veteran sea
dogs at the Sailors Snug Harbor. at
Staten Island, near New York. to a Wis
itor II saw one come back" he went
on in n lower tone.
Il have seen ships 90 down. / have
been IN many wrecks ana have seen nv
full share Of all tine strange SIGHTS Of
the sea. but no other si2ht ever made
my blood run So cold nor my heart sink
SO low as the sight Of a great shir ris-
ing TO the surface through thousand
fathoms of water. with a crew &C dead
men between her decks II hau,eued
back IN the iifties, when ! was able sea-
man on the Mary Clay, a brig trading
TO South American ports We We're
coming mp from Rio, l think it was.
with cargo of hides and coffee. and
long spell of storms and contrary winds
drove us far out Of our course and off
TO the east in the Atlantic. Our main
and top masts had all gone hy the board
long before the storms ended.
''When the weather cleared finally
and the waves went down. we were ON
the edge Of the Sargasso sea. The green
surface of that ocean q .evard was
torn and broken by the storm as far as
we could see. and great piles and
patches of torn seaweed were floating
all around us. There came dav Of
calm and sunshine after two weeks Of
storm, and all hands were set Ia work
liking up jury rig. with which we
finally reached port. We had a bit OF
canvas spread forward and another aft
on poles, just enough 20 give Ms steer
ing way while we worked \ current
and light wind from the south helped
a bit. and we were slowly drawing
away from that sea of grewsome green.
There was a long, heavy under
swell, waves seeming 10 come up from
the very bottom as if the storm through
which we had passed had stirred the
ocean to its uttermOst depths Joe Dill.
the first mate. and l were at work bv
the rail on the starboard side forward
at 10 O'Clock in the morning. What's
thatT said Joe as he caught my arm
and pointed TO a disturbance in the
water some 200 yards off our bow.
Il looked at the spot indicated. Be
yOnd heap of broken weed from the
Sargasso that was drifting along beside
MS there was big patch of fairly clear
water. As l looked huge bubbles ap-
peared on the surface, and then a great
mound of green water and greener
weed seemed to rise so feet above the
surface. AS this mound of weed and
water rolled away To the level of the
surrounding sea there broke from the
spot where we had seen the bubbles the
broken masts of what had been full
rugged ship.
dill shouted some warming TO the
captain, but he did not move out of his
tracks. We stood there as if chained To
the deck. and saw the huli Of a big shin
rise ont of that sea as slowly and ma
Jestically as giant whale undisturbed
might come to the surface 10 blow. She
came mp on an even keel and rose until
her upper deck was clear of the water
and tioated there, rolling slowly with
the even roll of the sea that had cast
her up. We could see that the vessel
had foundered in storm Her masts
were all broken off as if she had been
caught unprepared in a sudden suuan
and the spars and rigging were twisted
and piled upon the deck and hanging
over the rail as if the crew had been
unable to cut them away
eve could see that the risen shin had
bppT1 lpntr pn1ar
from her rails and the broken tiinbers
above deck were covered with the dark
green shiny weed that is found cnlv at
a great depth. Ii was easy enough to
guess how she had gone down. Caught
in sudden Squall, she had strained her
framework and broken a rent some
where below the water line that sent
her to the bottom. probably before the
crew had time To man boat But how
had she come To the surface
Officers and crew of the Mary CLAW
ran to the starboard rail and looked M
the derelict that had come up from be
low with staring eyes and blancbed
faces No man Cf rs had ever heard of
such thing before, and we were SO
close 10 the wreck that there was NO
chance that we were mistaken. The
ship was not a derelict that had been
floating with decks awash. She had NOT
been concealed from our view bv float
ing seaweed. The vessel had risen to
the sdrface in big patch of clear wa
ter and half the crew of the Mary Clay
had seen her come mp.
For time we were SO startled bv
what we had seen that no man made a
move To do anything. Then the captain