Middletown transcript., 1899-08-12

| Bidding me, ey9less, wait upon his pleasure
-Rudyard Kiplini
A strange tale Of the sea W IS b:onsh
into hore waters yestetd. ~ by tn
crew of the British ship GluoscaI frou
far away Iloilo. No more weird ad
| venture is told in all annals of naYiga
tion than that which was al incldsn
Of her voyage through the lnvYlies
part of the Indian OCEAN.
For many days on that LomewAr,
run, never to be forgotten by Cap-ail
Spicer aud his man. the Glooscap wa
accomp panied on her way by battered
almost shapeleSs, hulk, nam4less d.
relic, which without sail and withou
steam hung persistently in her wake.
The mystery of the occurrence W.
appalling to the crew of this good ship
With it were incidents which go tt
make up true tale, stranger than the
widest dreams of the novslists of the
sea.
The Glooscape, heavily laden will
sugar for Philadelphia, weighed anchor
from Iloilo on March 2S. Her voyage
was to be long one and through the
most unfi equented of earth's oceans.
Nevertheless the ship sails fast and
there was no reasonable supposition on
the part of the crew or captain but
that tle run would be an uneventful
one.
AMER was passed on April % and
for twenty succeeding days nothing
occurred worthy Of special mentl n.
No sail appeared to break the mono
tony of sea and sky. The Glooscap,
logging ten knots, ploughsd steadily
over the dTeary waste of waters. On
May IA, at 4 O'Clock in the morning, a
drifting hulk was reported on the
western horiZ)n.
The day broke cold misty and rainy,
with leaden sky. No more cheerless
scene could have heralded the advent
of the derelic. Still on the same tack
the Glocscap steadily approached it.
VICTIM OF DISASTER.
There is no more saddening incident
which can occur in the life of a sailor
than al accidental meeting with ons
of these grim reminders of a great and
ansolvable disaster. 1t is silent ap.
peal to their Oft blunted better natures.
An appeal never lose, In view of their
perilous vocation.
The battered hulk, now abeam of
the Glooscap. appeared to be that of a
full-rigged ship. Her masts had gone
by the board and she was partially
waterlogged. The waves gurgled dis
mally through her deserted deck houses
and splasled heavily on the rottiug
boards. She was melancholy and
gloomy spectacle; an embodiment of
death and suffering; of the passing of
many hardy souls.
Captain Spicer scrutinizsd the wreck
closely. There was absolutely no clue
to her identity. The Glooscap con-
tinued on her way. Rain began falling
and fog descended, intensifying the
general gloom.
The unexpected nesting had it's
effect on the crew. There we're no
songs in the forecastle that night. The
sailors endeavored in sleep to forget
the sad spectacle which they had in
voluntarily witnes led.
Captain Spicer was aroused the next
morning at daybreak. A frightful
group ctood outside his cabin door.
''My God, Cap, the wreck LookI it
is following u.s." and the boatswaiu
pointed bis finger astern of the Gloos-
sap.
Sure enough, scarcely three miles in
MS wake Captain Spicer saw the omi-
nous visitor of yesterday.
HARBINGER OF DFATH FOLLOWS.
Scarcely believing his eyes, he COM
,uted the distance Travelled during the
past twelve hours. A rough guess
placed it at 120 miles. A fear seized
he sturdy old mariner.
SIT is nothing, boys, only the effect
" an unchartered OCEAN current which
must exist here. We will lose her in
! few hours"
Nevertheless the crew continued to
Itand in trembling silence. They gaz-
ID with nameless dread on the sup
posed Nemesis which followed closely.
4 sharp northeast gale was brewing.
At the request Of bis men Cap tain
Spicer set all sails on the GlOoscap.
Toward 10 o'clock the wind increased
md blew with fri ishtful violence.
Jareening far to starboard and under
/ cloud of canvas which bent the
mighty spsrs like reeds the ship tore
through the foaming waves with raca
lorse speed.
Night again came on. but it was a
tight of borrow. The dread harbinger
Il death followed on relentlessly. Day |
ncceeded day but her apparent posi-
ion remained the same. The more
ensible ones Of the crew sought to de-
ude themselves with the thought that
hey were the victims of a hallucinatian.
The remainder never turned their eyes
Istsrn.
SAILORS BECAME DEMENTED.
For a week the novel chase con-
inued. Despair and desperation had
y this time seized the wrecked tars.
Hhe long continued mental excitement
t last bad its effect. They we're like
lemented beings and the officers feared
hey knew not what from their mad
less Of terror.