Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1901-10-24

the crime of sending a man afoat in
that manner and of pity for the victim
when his mate touched him on the arm
and shouted in his ear:
If | was ashore. captain, all the
money in England would not bribe me
TO set foot on this deck again.
What's the matter with your was
called in reply. ITS only bit of shore
villainy that we must report to the ten
der"
It's nothing that's happened ashore.
Sir. Did you take notice that the craft
was driving right in the teeth of the
gale? Ii wasn't live man in that boat
She was going to windward with a
ghost, and I'd give the bit have in the
bank if I'd not seen her."
The captain would have given the
man good dressing down for his silly
notions only that the boat had actually
been heading to windward in the teeth
of a gale which no ship could have
made an inch of way against. Being
positive of this and not being able TO
explain it. he could say little or moth
ing. 1t was agreed between them. how
ever, that nothing should be said to the
other watch when it turned out, and
they went on duty without knowing
that anything out of the way had hap
pened. While carrying the affair out
with pretended Indifference, Captain
CroX was, as a matter of fact, pretty
thoroughly upset over it. and on turn
ing in he found that he could not go to
sleep. He had been lying in his bunk
and turning the matter over in his
mind for an hour or so and the gale
was still bowling and the lghtship
bouncing about when he realized from
the movements of the watch that they
had been hailed. He was out of bed
and on deck just as one of them had
lighted a port fire, and you can judge
of his feelings when he saw the former
scene reacted. There were the yawl
and the man. and the boat slowly
forged past and disappeared to wind
ward. Three pairs of eyes saw her this
time, saw she bound victim and the
terror and despair on his face, and it
was absurd TO think it a delusion The
lightship had been hailed, as before,
and one of the watch had thrown a
rope which landed fairly across the
yawl.
There was no more sleep for any one
aboard No. 1 that night. and next day
when the gale broke and the tender
came alongside all demanded to be put
ashore at once. The captain was as
badly ratified as any of the others.
~ lo1 Of
course. but they stood so firm that the
tender brought off another crew, and
they were relieved from duty. They
were no sooner ashore than they got
the bounce. Trinity board wanted no
old women or children in its service.
The story got into the papers. and the
men were a laughing stock for a week.
AT the end of that time there was an
other gale, and the man and the boat
appeared to the new crew twice in the
same night and drove them ashore, as
they had the old.
A third crew went out, and for two
weeks the weather was fine, and the
board began TO prepare to remove the
wrecks. Some progress had been made
when three days gale set in from the
north, and there were more wrecks
than had been known for ten years be-
fore. For two days the lightship hung
to her anchors. though having a signal
of distress out after the first day. but
when the gale abated she had disap-
peared. She had been swept down
channel and out to sea and a week lat
er was passed bottom up more than
800 miles away. The same storm broke
up and removed the wrecks. and there
was no longer need of light at the
spot. Trinity board would have none
of the men back. though there were
eight of them TO tell the same grew
some story. but none of them repined
overmuch. They had been driven
ashore by a specter but it had been n
warning TO save them from the fate
that took the last quartet.