Newport weekly independent., 1904-02-05
THE PHANTOM BOAT
BY HERO sTR}oxc.

IT o IVY IVY good ship Augusta sailed merrily on.
 Capt. Albe9 It Gray sat alone in the cabin, ma rking his exact lati- tude and loMgitude in the log book, a ehart spread out before him, Ythd his well-colored meer- scht tum between his lips.
 Graves, the first mate, thrust This head in at the open door.
 s'An open boat off to the lee bow, sirw
 "Adrift from some steamer, probably" returned the captain; mot worth altering our course for. But, stay; how far to the | leewardw
 Not above half mile, sir" "Bear away for it, then. It may contain our everlasting fortunes, l Graves"
 Graves laughed and returned to the deck, whither Capt. Gray immediately followed him.
 The Augusta was quite near the boat by this time near enough for all to see that the craft was empty. The helmsman was swearing to himself over the | trouble of having altered the yes sePs course, and Capt. Gray was turning to go below again, when faint, low cry rang over the wa ters. It was like nothing any of them had ever heard, and chilled | the very marrow in the bones of the superstitious mariners.
 Every eye was fixed on the boat, as slowly up from it's shadow arose tall figure-the figure of a woman clad in green, with mass es of floating yellow hair, and q face pale as the wreaths of foam which seethed and eddied around the sharp prov of her boat. She stretched out pair of white, i'm plorlng hands to Capt. Gray, and l thea the boat and what it con tained faded into thin air, and the wondering crew of the Augusta looked around them and beheld- nothing!
 Capt. Gray went below to think the strange matter over by him self, and the sailors gathered about in little knots and discussed It. All agreed that it augured no good for the ship, and each one had his own little marvellous story to tell of occurrences similar to this, which had in every case been followed by death and destruction to those who had behe1d the phan- tom vision.
 Gloom and foreboding fell upon the ship, and the men moved about their duties with sullen faces. and glances frequently cast over their shoulders. An air of expec. tation and dread pervaded every thing. The weather continued fine, and the breeze propitious all the next day, and toward night the sailors had thrown off their re- straint sufficiently to be cracking jokes and spinning yarns as usual. At sunset, Capt. Gray, sitting alone in his cabin, permitted his thoughts to go back over the past four years, and finger for little upon the bright dream of one beau tiful June, the time he had first met Agnes Armor. He was angry with himself for thinking of her. proud, false hearted, enchanting little fiirt that she was! But with all the wild passion of his heart he had loved her, and for one brief week stolen from the joy of Heav- en he had been happy, having heard her sweet lips confess that she loved him.
 Then fate had stepped in and l parted them. Agnes had been won by wealthier suitor-so her lady mother told him-and he. hot-headed, and desperately an gry, had written her scathing let ter, and sailed away to India. Twice since he had been on his native shores, but he had not heard her name mentioned neither had he wished to. She was another mans wife now, and he hated her! He said so great many times, and he tried hard to