Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-08-08


WATCH.
the ship, two OF the seven men on deck
came hurrying aft and informed me
that strange man was skulking about
forward. The men were not overex-
cited. and on my part took il that we
had stowaway on board. | told
them to secure him and bring him aft.
and my watch had almost expired
when it was reported that the stranger
could not be found When / came on
duty again. | reported the matter TO
the captain. and be had the fore hatch
cover removed and sent "A man down TO
investigate. We were almost full up
with cargo, and IL did not take long to
ascertain that no one was hiding in
the two or three open spaces. Had a
stowaway been secreted below decks
il would have been impossible for him
TO come up, but the hatch was removed
10 convince the sailors that they had
been deceived by shadow.
The next night at the same hour the
stranger reappeared. The second mate
had the watch. and as soon as the af-
fair was reported 10 him he had me
called. The incident had been talked
over during the day. OF course, but
these new men had not seen the spook.
Indeed they had poked and guyed the
other watch for a lot OF old women.
one man AT the wheel and another on
lookout and the other five were stand
ing about waiting for a call when the
stranger suddenly appeared among
them. He was in his shirt sleeves and
had an apron and a paper cap, In
the apron were a lot of nails. which
jingled as he walked This man came
from aft and walked forward on the
port side, and, though two or three
men shouted after him. he did not
pause. The sailors did not take it for
a ghost. but yet were unwilling TO fol-
low. However, when the carpenter re-
appeared after about five minutes and
was passing aft one of the men step
ped out to seize him and said:
Look here. matey, stop n minute
and let us know how you came aboard
Of this hooker and whose watch you
are IN"
The sailors hand clutched the air in
stead of flesh and blood. ana the thing
l was called went down on the main
deck among the excited men and heard
their yarn. and then we took lanterns
and made a thorough search Of the
decks. | also sent men aloft TO the
tops. We made no discovery II was
useless TO say 10 dozen men that their
eyes had deceived them. They were
sailors above the average in intelli-
gence. and the captain was sensible
enough TO take n sensible view of the
matter. We talked ii over at break
fast. and shortly afterward all hands
were called aft. They were told that
il must be some trickery and were ask
ed TO give their assistance in solving
the mystery. The ship was searched
from stem to stern, but no stowaway
was found. Then the captain did that
which no other captain would have
done. When night aud the middle
watch came around again. he took the
second mate aud went forward among
the men. He scattered them about and
gave them Instructions. and promptly
to the minute the carpenter appeared.
This time he showed up forward and
walked aft, and a. word from the
captain all rushed upon him. They
found no substance. As they knocked
together and some Of them fell 20 the
deck the thing disappeared aft. as il
going down into the cabin.
Now. here was a situation. That
there was ghost aboard even the cap
tain could not doubt He owned right
e ~. r.sre
at the same time kept the creepS away
by stating that the spook showed no