St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-07-31


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 it that we
had a 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 l came on
duty again, l reported the matter to
the captain, and he had the fore hatch
cover removed and sent man down to
investigate. We were almost full up
with cargo, and it 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
1t would have been impossible for him
to come up, but the hatch was removed
to convince the sailors that they had
been deceived by a 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 to 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 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 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 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, and the thing
continued aft and disappeared. When
1 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. l also sent men aloft to the
tops. We made no discovery. 1t was
useless to say to a 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 a sensible view of the
matter We talked it over at break
fast, and shortly afterward all hands
were called aft. They were told that
1t 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 and the middle
watch came around again, he took the
second mate and went forward among
the men. He scattered them about ana
gave them instructions, and promptly
to the minute the carpenter appeared.
This time he showed up forward and
walked aft, and at a word from the
captain all rushed upon him. They
found no substance. AS they knocked
together and some of them fell to the
deck the thing disappeared aft, as if
going down into the cabin.
Now, here was situation. That
there was a ghost aboard even the cap
tain could not doubt. He owned right
up to the men that it was a ghost but
at the same time kept the creeps away
by stating that the spook showed no
desire to harm any one.
There was no scare among the men.
Inere was never night of the rest Of
the voyage that the ghost did not show
up, and by the time we reached port it
mad come to be looked upon as almost
one OF the crew. Here was q chance
Tor the superstitious to talk about Fri
Gay and No. 13 and all that, but there
was no such talk among us. l believe
that a crowd of lawyers, doctors or
merchants would have exhibited more