Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1903-07-15
THE TRUE VERSION OF Y
A NEWSPAPER ITEM
rorisinal.l

so,v days sail of New York when a
,,od wind struck her. There was
ching for 1t but to LAY to- under a
sr,ng lib. With the wind came rain,
.rbicb froze as it struck the vessel.
The first mate. John Hutchins, was
an the bridge, holding on for his life,
sor 10 walk on the slippery floor was
innossible and with the lurching of
.ha vessel he was liable to be slid over
hoord The main jib had become loos-
mod and a corner of ii was tapping in
the wind. 1t was doing no harm. 1t
,ros simply unsailorlike. To fix It a
man must go out on the bewsprit. and,
considering the ice and the lurching,
this was equivalent to going overheard.
nCounor." sang the mate to watch
boldlng on to the port ratlines, "go out
and clew up the jib."
The man addressed looked up with
an ashen face. There had been bad
HOOD between him and the first mate
during the voyage and he knew that
Hutchins intended to put him over
hoard, or, rather. he knew that Hutch
fms expected him to refuse to obey the
order, which would be mutiny, possibly
punishable with death.
"No one can go out there and live"
said Connor. IL can't even let go to
get across the deck without being
shot against the bulwarks and mashed
to jelly"
"oh, yes. you can. Work your way
along the gunwale."
There was an ominous silence, ut the
end Of which Common said: "Mr. Hutch
ins, I'm going to obey the order, and
it's probably the last order I'll ever
obey from any one. If succeed, when
we get to New York and out OF the
merchant service-for I'm expecting to
be married and settle on shore--you'H
have just one more chance to kill me,
but you'll have to take the chance of
being killed at the same time. Ii
lose my life and there's any chance for
the dead to torture the living, I'll make
Il hot for you
is this mutiny?" said the mate,
slaring at his victim.
There was no reply. Connor began
to work his way along the bulwarks.
watching the seas and taking adyan-
tage of any lull. He succeeded In
reaching the bowsprit and began to
crawl out on it. There were no men
forward except Hutehins and Common,
but those farther aft, seeing the latters
attempt, were frozen with horror. Con-
nor had not covered half the distance
to the sail when Il great wave struck
the vessels bow and sent him into the
brine Hutchins from the bridge saw
him swept by and the look that was on
his face. Nevertheless he was relieved
that the man had gone. There was the
usual shout of Man overboardr' and
few life buoys were thrown over. but
nothing of moment could be done to
save Common, who soon drifted out OF
sight.
A week later the Oseeola approached
New York bay. The cold had contin-
ued, and her icy coat was even thicker
than it had been. The vessel anchored
off Sandy Hook. waiting orders from
owners. All on board Were worn out,
~ N+AS captain anu must Va thE tACh
went ashore for rest and recreat ton.
leaving the vessel in charge OF the first
mate and single watch.
At two bells in the evening Hutchins,
after seeing that the signal lights were
In position, went down into the cabin
to look over bundle of newspapers
that had been brought aboard. Sandy
t= a ~. 49,
ocean, and the ship was rolling heavily.
Presently the mate heard a step on
the companionway. Looking up. there
on the stairs stood-the ghost of Con-
nor, He was pale as a corpse, and his
eyes We're fiaring.
Get up!' commanded n voice.
Hutchins, who did not doubt that he
was facing the avenging spirit of the
man he had murdered. obeyed. trem-
ping. Common or his ghost had mean
While come down into the cabin and
passed beyond Hutchins.
Go on deckv'
Hutchins backed out of the cabin on
TO the deck. fascinated by the glitter
Ing eye Of the man or ghost-he did not
hhoW Wnicn.
The main jib needs Glowing. Go
out and clew it,"
Whether the prospect of certain
death-for the conditions differed only
In degree from what they were when
Connor was ordered to make this at
tempt-or something human there was
ABOUT Common affected him. by this
ume Hutchins was ready for defense.
Even ghost can't corner a man with
out being turned on, and the mate,
seeing that Conner was unarmed,
suddenly thrust his hand to his hip,
ofew revolver and fired. His hand
was unsteady. Besides, at the moment
wave rolled under the ship. His shot
went wild. The ghost drew a revolver
from under his shirt and before Hutch
ans could fire again shot him dead.
scarcely minute had elapsed from
the time the two reached the deck be-