Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-08-15
SHIP
That Rosa Prom the Sea
A SAILORS YARN.

the sen, but no other sight ever made
my blood run so cold nor my heart sink
90 low as the sight OF great ship ris-
ing TO the surface through thousand
of water. with crew Of dead
men between her decka II happened
back In the iifiies. when was able sea
man on the Mary Clay. brig trading
to South American ports. We were
coming up from Rio. think il was
with cargo Of hides and coffee. and =
long spell Of storms and contrary winds
drove ne far out Of our course and Oft
to the east In the Atlantic. Our main
and top mssts had all gone BY 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 graveyard was
torn and broken by the storm rs far ms
we could see. and great piles and
patches OF torn seaweed were floating
all around US There came a day OF
calm and sunshine after two weeks OF
storm. and all hands were set TO work
fixing up n jury rig. with which We
finally reached port We had bit Of
canvas spread forward and another aft
on poles. just enough TO give Ms steer.
ing way while we worked. A current
and light wind from the south helped
n 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 il the storm through
which we had passed had stirred the
ocean to its u;termost depths Joe Dill.
the FIRST mate. and I were mt work by
the rail on the starboard eide forward
at 10 clock In the morning. Whats
thatf' said Joe rs he caught my arm
and pointed to q disturbance In the
water some 200 yards Of our bow.
IL looked at the spot indicated. Be.
yond heap Of broken weed from the
Sargasso that was drifting along beside
rs there was big patch Of fairly clear
water. Az looked huge bubbles APP
peared on the surface. and then a great
mound Of green water and greener
weed seemed TO rise 80 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 q full
rugged ship
"Dill shouted some warning to the
captain. but be did not move ont Of his
tracks We stood there as IL chained TO
the deck. and saw the hull Of big ship
rise out Of that sea as slowly and ma.
jestically rs giant whale undisturbed
might come to the surface TO blow. She
came mp on an even keel and rose until
her upper deck was clear Of the water
and foa,ed there. rolling slowly with
the even roll of the sea that had cast
her up. We could see that the vessel
had founaered In storm. Her masts
were all broken of as IL she had been
caught unprepared in sudden squall.
and the spars and rigging were twisted
and piled upon the deck and hanging
over the rail as il the crew had been
unable to cut them away.
1--WE could zee that the risen ship had
teen long under water. Barnacles hung
from her rails and the broken timbers
above deck were covered with the dark
green Shiny weed that is found only at
a great depth. 1t was easy enough to
guess how she bad gone down. Caught
in a 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 surfaced
"0fiicers and crew Of the Mary Clay
ran to the starboard rail and looked ut
the derelict that had come mp from be-
low with staring eyes and blanched
faces No man Of rs had ever heard Of
such a thing before, and We were 50
close 70 the wreck that there was no
chance that We were mistaken. The
ship was not derslict that had been
floating with decks awash. She had not
been concealed from our view by float
ing seaweed. The vessel had risen 10
the surface in big patch Of clear wa.
ter and half the crew Of the Mary Clay
had seen her come mp.
For time we were 50 startled by
what we had seen that NO man made q
move to do anything. Then the captain
recovered lis nerve ard called for vol
unteers to board the strange craft and
see what we could learn about her. Al
6rst the men drew back. There was
something SO uncanny about the stran.
ger that they wanted to get away a.
fast as possible. Finally boat crew.
led by the first mate, volunteered. and
we went over and boarded the sudden
and mysteriously arisen derelict We
slipped on the thick green slime that
covered the deck as we climbed over
the rail. and the pale faces OF the men
showed that they had NO heart in the
work we had undertaken to do.
"a hasty glance about the deck
showed that everything was gone by
the board except the broken spars and
torn rigging that hung to the stumps
Of the masta The boats were al gone.
The wheelhouse was stove in. and the
captains cabin had been crushed by
falling sparl With IN oar from our
boat We scrapsd among some ofthe SEA
weed and slime and found that the
matches had all BEEN batteDed down.
We found the main gangway covered
with 4 dense heap Of seaweed. in which
there were scores Of crabs and strange
looking dwellers in the depths Of the
southern seas. With much labor We
cleared away this mas Of stuh and
reached the head Of the ladder leading
down from the main deck. Dill. the
mate, looked down into The dark water
that ross almost to the top Of the gang
way, and then be sprang back with .
cry Of horror.