Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-02-06
DAILY SHORT STORY
Some Salt Water Ghosts
rcopyrieht. 1902. by H. S. hale. ]


of Philadelphia encountered n brig. the
Speedwell, in the bay of Biscay with
a signal of distress flying.
The SpeedweIll had a cargo of coal
for Gibraltar. She was also new
craft, this being her third voyage.
While lying in the Downs at anchor at
night the crew had been frightened
by moaning in the fo'castle.
At dark, on the night before the
Schuylkill came up, mates and all went
away in the lonGboat and left the cap
tain alone.
In June, 1865, ran away from the
Marblehead whaler Josiah Bemis in
the port of Port st. Louis, island OF
Mauritius. a week after she had
sailed away there came into port Il
ship called the Golden Horn, owned by
an English firm in Bombay. She had
touched at a port in Ceylon and was
bound for Liverpool, and the crew had
forced the captain to put in at st.
Louis ON account of the ship being
haunted. Very little of the story
leaked outNwhen the six of us who had
deserted the 'whaler shipped aboard of
her.
The captain and both mates were
English, and there were two English
sailors in the focastle. OF the thir-
teen men forward there were five
Portuguese. The cook was a negro and
the steward an Irishman. OF those
arriving in the ship at Port st. Louis
only the captain and first mate re-
manned. Cook, steward and all others
were new hands. Four of the Ameri-
cans We're educated young men who
had shipped for a whaling cruise i'll a
spirit of adventure. The captain and
both mates were above the ordinary,
and even the cook was a man of con-
siderable education who had been
driven to sea by hard luck ashore. 1
tell you this because we had mys-
terry aboard. and superstition played
no part in ii.
Such of US as had heard the gossip
about the ghost from the old crew, had
forgotten it when the Golden Horn was
three or four days out. She was fast
craft, well found in every particular,
and there was nothing TO find fault
with. One night, while 1 was acting as
lookout on the bows, the hour being be-
tween 1 and . o'clock, turned my face
for a moment and saw man standing
about five feet away. / was in the
captains watch. which is really the
| second mates watch, and Mr.. Leslie,
the second mate. was pacing the quar-
ter deck, as 1 could see. 1t being a
quiet night, with all sails full, the other
men of the watch on deck We're lying
about to catch a wink of sleep, but
ready to spring up ut a call.
l at first thought the man to be the
captain, though it would be strange If
| he came forward. Looking closer. I
saw that he was a total stranger. He
was a tall, heavy man and had on Oil
skins, though the night was fine. If
masquerading was not almost crime
ON shipboard, / might have thought it
the cook or steward dressed up to
| play joke. l could see the man at the
wheel, and the mate and 1 looked
about and counted the men in the
watch. Then / advanced upon the
| stranger, and he backed up a few feet,
| glided to the port rail and swung him.
self over and out of sight.
l listened for the splash, but none
came. 1 climbed upon the rail, but no
one was in sight. 1 was still looking
and wondering when Mr.. Leslie came
| forward, and when he had heard my
story he admitted that it was the ghost
| that had driven the other crew away.
The spook had been seen by every man
who stood watch from midnight to .
o'clock, but by no one else and at no
other time.
1 promised TO say nothing to any of
the men, and l kept my word, but
next night it was seen by the lookout
4. Il - Il
three days more the thing was out.
| The Portuguese funked at once and
almost threatened mutiny, but the
others of us, assisted by the officers,
went coolly at work to solve the mys-
terry Not one of us was believer
even in dreams We stretched ropes
across the deck, but the shadow
passed to the rail and over just the
same. We stretched a net along the
| rail, but it went through the net as a
puff of smoke would. We lighted the
decks, and we even eXtiHguished the
pinnacle light for few minutes, but
| it made no difrerSaSe. On one occa-
sion every man in the ship stood on
the spot and swung his arms and
sought to grasp something, but the
ghost came and stood and disappeared
| just the same.
At Cape Town the Portuguese cut
sticks. and four English sailors were
shipped. We were now all English
| speaking and all white men except the
cook. We were determined to Lay"
that ghost, and for at least twenty
nights after leaving Cape Town we ex.
| perimented. Not one of usswas afraid,
but the whole thing was considered
| lark.
Do what we would, that shadowy
figure appeared. 1t came as we lay
becalmed, and it came as we were ly-
| ing to in a gale. No man saw its face.
You simply saw man there. AS you
started forward he stepped back and
then to his left. There was no sound
of feet, no noise at the rail. From
forehead down TO throat was a darker