The Portland daily press., 1899-05-31

pipe all day and had not toucned drop VI
liquor. The same wan, emaciated figure
walked into the cabin, glanced figuring
ly and appealingly ct me, and again tnere
spread over his face that look OF utter ais
appointment as If he had Sought some
thing and failed to find 10, and again ne
disappeared rushed ON deck to tne
mate and told him all had seen during
the last two nights, but he made light OF
! a and assured me 1 had been asleep or
smoking too much. He did not like to
suggest that I had been drinking. Still,
could see that the thought that came
! into his mind was The old man has seen
'em az ain. / gave up trying to convince
him. but requested that the next night,
4 from to 8 so he should sit with me in
the cabin.
"How the next day passed cannot tell
I only know that my thoughts never left
that ghostly visitant, and somehow felt
that the evening would reveal something
to me and the spell be broken. made up
nv mind would speak to the thing what
ever it was and felt a sort OF security in
the presence of the mate, who was a dar-
ing fellow and feared neither man nor the
devil. Neither rum nor tobacco passed my
lips during the next day, and s o'clock
found the mate and sitting in the cabin,
and this time the chart lay open on the
table beside us. Just as 8 bells struck the
dogs premonitory wall sounded, and,
looking up, we both saw the figure de-
scending the cabin stairs. We both SEEM
ed frozen to our seats, and the strange
weirdness of the whole proceeding cast
the same spell over the mate and me
alike, and we were both unable to move
or speak. Slowly the figure proceeded
into the cabin and glanced around with
out a word, but with the same expectant
look on his face His form was even
more wasted, his cheeks sunken, and his
eyes seemed almost out of sight SO deeply
were they set in their sockets. As his eye
fell on the open chart look of supreme
joy fairly irradiated his features, and, ad-
vancing to the table. he placed one long
bony finger on the chart, held it for mo-
ment and then again disappeared from our
sight. .-.
For five minutes after he had left us
we sat speechless. Then I managed to say,
What do you think of that, Mr.. Morris?'
MY God, sir, don't know. It's beyond
me- Then my eyes fell on the open chart,
and there where the finger had been was a
tiny spot of blood, exactly on the point of
longitude SO degrees west and latitude
81 degrees north We were then only
about so miles distant from that position,
and Immediately there came to me the de-
termination to steer the ship there, so
laid her course accordingly and posted a
lookout in the crows nest. At O'Clock
in the morning, just as the east began to
grow gray, the lookout called out, Boat
on the lee bow, and as we came up to 1t
we found four men in it-three dead and
-usx s,,@k Of lnf i,
him. We sewed the three bodies in canvas
and buried them in the ocean and then
gave all our attention to restoring life to
the poor emaciated frame, which, I then
recognized, was the very man who for
three successive nights had visited me in
my cabin.
s'By judicious and careful nursing life
gradually came back to him, and in four
days time he was able to sit up and talk
with me in the cabin. 1t seems he com
manded the ship Promise and she had
taken fire and been destroyed, and all
hands had to take to the boats. Ten were
in the boats at first, but their food had
given out, and one by one he had seen
them die, and one by one he had cast the
bodies overheard. Finally he lost con-
seriousness and knew not whether his three
remaining companions were dead or alive.
'Iphen he said he seemed in dream to
see ship and tried to go to her for help,
but Just as he would be going on board of
her something would seem to keep him
back Three times in his dreams he tried
to visit this ship, and the last time there
seemed to come to him a certain satisfac-
ton, and he felt that he had succeeded in
his object. Turning to my table, he said;
Let me take your chart. I'll show you
just where we were.
"'Stop, said I don't take that chart;
it is an old one and all marked over.
Mark your position on this new one.' He
took my pencil and knife and carefully
sharpened his pencil Then, taking my
dividers, he measured his latitude and
longitude and placed a pencil dot at a
point on the clean chart. As he lifted his
hand he said: oh, excuse me, captain.
1 cut my finger in sharpening the pencil
and have left drop of blood on the chart. )
"'Never mind, said 1; leave it there
and then produced the old chart, and
there, in an exactly corresponding place,
was the drop of blood left by my ghostly
visitor"
Then, looking steadily into my face, the
mate solemnly added, 81 can't explain
this, sir; perhaps you can, but 1 can tell
you on my honor it is Gods own truth
thar 7 have told vo1 - - PhjladelDhja