The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-12-10
! THE DESERTED SHIP
) A Story of the Days When the Slave
Trade FlOurished.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..


bowv' shouted John Tregaskis from the
foreroyal yard. where he was repairing
the service of the footropp just where it
had got chafed in the wake of the mast.
We were homeward bound in the ship
Hurkaru from ports on the Madras coast,
loaded with sugar in the lower hold and
our tween decks full of bales of cotton.
We had been favored with splendid south
erly winds ever since rounding the Cape
of Good Hope, and we had touched at st.
Helena to put a sailor ashore who was
dying of dysentery
The strong southeast trades were blow
ing with vigor, and we were bowling off
our nine knots an hour with all our stun
sails set to starboard The wind was just
tri1e on the starboard quarter, and we
had the weather clew of the mainsan
hauled up. All hands were busy tarring
down the rigging preparatory to painting
ship, for the Hurkaru was a smart East
Indiaman, and Captain CULVER wanted
her to be spick and span when she hauled
into the London docks.
l was what the owners called mid
shipman." my father having paid ESQ
premium to them for the privilege of my
wearing a brass bound cap, with their
house flag on it, and blue uniform for
the few weeks while | was ashore. The
rest of the year | cleaned out hencoops,
fed the fowls, washed the captains
clothes, kept the stewards books, assisted
Sambo, the negro cook, and turned the
grindstone for Chips. the carpenter
Every Sunday | was allowed on the poop,
and, having an old "pig yoke" was allow
ed to shoot the sun" working out the
latitude by the old S9.4S method and in
variably getting it wrong.
used to go aft with fear and trembling
with my calculations worked on slate
and hand it to the ''old man."
''No wonder | am getting gray and
wrinkled," he was accustomed to exclaim.
with such a blue nosed imp as you to
work my soul bolt out. Here the ship is
in 10 degrees 10 minutes north latitude,
and confound me if you haven't figured
her to the northward Of the line. Take
that, and that, and that, you young syab
4 Why didn't you stop in your fathers of
fee clinging ink? You're fit only to eat
and sleep Get out of this!'
On this particular occasion when Ire
gaskis hailed the deck reporting the sail
! in sight was up in the mizzentop setting
up the topmast rigging with handy
billy tackle, assisted by another mid
shipman, who also hailed from London
We were not high enough up to make the
strange craft out. but in about half an
hour she hove in sight and we could see
her plainly. She was hull down and her
| canvas seemed to be in rags. tapping in
the breeze.
"On deck there" | shouted.
"Hellor' sang out the captain. who
was walking the poop, putting huge clouds
of black smoke out of a mouth thai
stretched from ear to ear. What do you
want now? Can't you set up that rig
ging without any help? Clap stopper
on your jaw tackle and go on with your
work"
"Please, sir. there's a queer looking
craft in sight from here. All her sails
seem to have blown away"
The old man gave a grunt and came
aloft to have a look at her, carrying a
pair of good marine glasses slung around
his neck He got on the mizzen topsail
yard and observed her closely for five
minutes. Then he hurried down on deck
and told the steward, who called the chief
mate. whose watch it was below Mean
while he exchanged few words with the
second mate who Immediately afterward
roared out in a stentorian voice:
LAY down from aloft, every mothers
son of you. and bring your tar buckets
with you"
All hands got down as smartly as they
could feeling very much surprised.
'I wonder what ails the old hunks
now?" growled an ancient sea dog, whose
grizzled locks hung over his shoulders. u
guess it is some dodge to get extra work
out of an honest crew If he had sailed
! with some of the boys used to go to sea
with, he'd have been h'isted overheard
long before this"
Just at this time the port watch came
on deck, muttering and growing, for it
was only four bells in the afternoon
watch. and they thought they were safe
until 4 o'clock.
We took in all the stun'sails, hauled the
mainsail up snug and kept away couple
of points. heading direct for the stranger
with the Tapping sails which was now
plainly visible from the deck.
The skipper and the mates held close
/ Capitalization on the poop and watched
the craft through their glasses.
In little while we were close alongside
of her, heaving to about quarter OF
mile to windward.
She was a three masted topsail schoon
er. Not soul was to be seen on her
decks. II she had been abandoned, it
must have been in hurry. for every sail
had been left set. This was evident to
the nautical eye. although the canvas
hung in tatters from yards and gafs
She was long and low and, judging from
her general appearance. must have been
very fast Originally she had been paint
! ed black, but only a few patches remained
TO tell the tale Sun, wind and sea had
left her grayish white, and as she
waliowed in the trough of the sea she
looked weird and CHASTITY and ghostly.
81 tell you that there craft is the Fly
ing Dutchman." said be of the grizzled
locks.
"Flying Dutchman be darned!' replied
a cockney sailor who hailed from Lime
house. "You orter know better The
Dutchman is a full rugged ship, and that
one is a topsail schooner. Gray hair amt
always sign Of wisdom judging from
the likes of you"
Presently we got the order to lower
away the captains gig, which hung from
the port davis just as we had hoisted her
up after leaving poor Olsen ashore at
| Helena. Accordingly we lowered her
into the water, and she was duly manned
nv her regular crew of four. |, who am
now spinning this yarn. pulled bow.
We rowed right around her, looking for
a convenient place to climb on her deck,
but finding none we just made fast to the
main channels by the painter, and |, be
ing the youngest. scaled her side and
jumped over her rail to her deck. just
abaft the main rigging. Everything was
as neat as nnepence. The ropes were all
coiled snugly around the Delaying pins,
and there was no sign of disorder about
the decks threw over the end of one
of the running gear into the boat so that
the skipper might hang on to it and
Chamber up The old man caught hold Of
it and. having lot of low cunning. just
ried its strength. 1t was so rotten that
it parted at once. The skipper muttered
an oath and looked daggers at me. Final
ly he climbed up with the help Of the
painter, and after passing the boat astern,
with one hand to take care of her. we pro-
ceeded to investigate.
The vessel had evidently been a clipper.
! Her skylights were beautifully carved,
and the companionway leading to her cab
in was as elegant MS that of Il yacht. The
door. however, was locked. A thick blue
mold incrusted the glass of the skyight
/ on the inside, and the frames would not
lift up. The hatchway leading to the
forecastle was closely barred and bolted,
while the fore and main matches were
tightly battened down.
Captain CULVER, while cruising around
4 the decks, stumbled across an old rusty
iron crowbar and with this he pried open
the doors of the after companionway. He
peered down below. and ii was dusky and
murky as tomb.
He sang out: Below there! Is there
anybody below?" And then he hesitated
as if in a quandary.
This was the first time ever saw the
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