El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-12

and found that a very strange incident
had occurred.
In the murky obscurity of the stormy
| night a large Dutch lugger, in ballast
apparently, and running right before
the wind, with steering canvas set
came suddenly athwart US, and hooked
the anchor from the cathead on our
| larboard bow-by some unwonted neg
iect 1t was not yet on board, nor had
| the cable been unbent-with her star
board fore-rieging, and thus bore away
| with it, until the chain came to bear,
| when there was a tremendous shock.
Several feet Of our bulwark were torn
away, and two seamen, Tattooed Tom,
| and an old man-o'-war's man named
Roberts, were nearly swept into the
| sea, where, in such a night, and amid
the confusion Of such an incident, they
would inevitably have persisted I'M
| aided.
| Then we heard a shout, mingled with
crash upon the believing wind, as
| the Dutchman's foremost snapped by
the board, and then, fortunately, our
| anchor tumbled from his side into the
| sea, where It swung at the whole
| length Of the chain cable.
We manned both windlass and cap
| stan-got the anchor, which was drift
ing, reused to the cathead, hoisted it
on board, unbent the cable, and slowed
it in the tier; but long ere all this was
done we had lost sight Of our lubberly
! friend, who, when last seen, was toss
ing about like a log in the darkness,
and drifting far astern of US. But for
some defect in the pawls and notches
Of the windlass collar, am doubtful
If the chain would have run out so free
ly; but as to this ! cannot say.
We had hard squalls and a sea that
ran high until daybreak; there was
lightning, too; red and dusky; it SEEM
ed at times to fill the whole horizon.
We could see for an instant the black
SUBMITS Of the waves as they rose and
fell between us and the glare; and
when it passed away, all again would
be obscurity and gloom.
More canvas must be taken off the
brig, SIR suggested Hislop, looking
aloft and then over the side, where the
foam-fecked sea whirled past US.
''Well, in with the trysail, foretop-
sail, and maintopsail," ordered Weston.
AS the light of dawn stole over the
angry sea, through clouds of mingled
mist and rain, the gale abated, and
all but the watch went below
Calm weather and heavy rains sue
ceeded the gale; but the Eugene stead
lily kept her course, and two days after,
when spanking along before a fine top
gallant breeze, we picked up a bottle,
which was described by the watch,
floating and bobbing in the water a
few fathoms distant from the brig. She
was at once hove in the wind, and His
lop went in the stern boat to bring the
bottle on board
AS the most trivial incident becomes
of interest on board of ship, where the
daily occurrences are so few, and the
circle of society so limited, consider
able concern was excited by the ap-
pearance of this bottle, which seemed
to have been freshly corked; and on its
being broken, we found a scrap Of pa
perform apparently from a notebook
hurried and agitated
hand had penciled this brief notice:
'The Mary, clipper ship, Of Boston,
goth Nov, 1861, momentarily expected
to go down-pumps worn out, and the
leaks gaining and first mate,
with all the boats, washed away-God
help usv'
1.-THE goth Of November? 1t was on
that night we encountered the heavy
gale" said Weston.
We had been on the skirt Of the tenn
pest, as Hislop maintained, while the
Yankee ship had probably suffered all
the fury of 1t. From the main-cross-
trees Capt. Weston swept the sea with
his telescope, in vain, for any trace of
her; so il that melancholy scrap Of pa
per told truth, all was doubtless over
long since with the Mary and her crew.
In the cabin that night a conversa-
ton on the probabilities of her de-
struction or escape led to a recurrence
to the miraculous manner in which the
Dutch schooner had f1oated so
long with me; and 1 mentioned to Wes-
ton and Hislop the additional terrors
had endured by the effect of imagina-
ton, and recollection Of the strange
incidents told me by Capt Zeervogel; |
but they ridiculed the story of the poor
man, chiefly, thought, because cit was
the yarn Of Hollander."
Though l am a Scotchman." began |
"And come of people naturally su- |
suggested Weston, paren- |
ARAs all large Drained race are" re- |
torted the mate, while filling his clay |
pipe with tobacco.
"Well, what were you about to say?"
asked Weston. But first fill your glass
and pass over the tobacco bag"
II was simply about to reiterate that
don't believe in ghosts. or value
them any more than 1 do the Yankee
sea serpent, ropes end, or a piece of
Did junk; 1 never saw one, or knew a
nan who had seen one; but every one
has heard of a man that knew another
nan who saw, or believed he saw. a