The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1904-09-21
10 N A IL:
A TRUE SEA YARN.
BY GEORGE GRIFFITH,
(Author of "The Stolen Submarine" Sc)

The oldest cf all sea superstitions,
as far as | have been able to trace dur
ing many wanderings over the fields OF
ocean, is that of Jonah, and only once
have l seen it, so far as the outer
senses are concerned, proved to the let
ter. To the sailor before the mast
Jonah" means an unlucky man. That
is to say, a man who has had no luck
in his own life, and brings no luck
wherever he goes, especially on board
ship-and this is the story of such a
man during the period that was ship
mate with him.
Two vessels of the famous Blackwell
line left Melbourne loaded with wool
about 30 years ago. One was the Lin
colnshire, and one of the somewhat
an old shellback named Bill. None of
us knew what names he had used when
he had signed on, and he never told
us. He was just Bill.
From the captains room to the fore
peak there was no man on board that
stately old craft more learned in sea
craft than Bill was. From truck to
kelson there was nothing about sail
ing ship that he didn't know, and yet
he had not been many days at sea
before Bill, stranger to all of us, as
we mostly were to each other, began to
be looked upon with suspicion. He
vas IAN unlucky man" Little jobs
that he did as well as any man on the
Seven seas could do them somehow
went wrong while the work of novice
held good, and, worse than all, he had
the fatal gift of prophecy.
We lost the Somersetshire the first
night out, and Bill said as she faded
away into the twilight:
"Well, Wen see her again before We
see old England"
The morning that we sighted Staten
island that pyramid Of rock which is
commonly called Cape Horn was as
fine and bright as you would see 9
spring morning off the coast Of Eng
land, and not much colder. The sea
was smooth; we had fair wind, ant
there were only a few white fieecy
streamers Of cloud in the sky. Every
one on board seemed to think that We
should get safely round that dreaded
corner of the earth; but when | came
on deck at seven bells (7.30) tha
morning I saw Bill standing on thu
forecastle head.
81 guess we'll see that - thins
again." he said. before we've don'
with it."
He was right. Within an hour or 81
the barometer went down with juml
and all hand were hard at work short
ening sail. Square masses of fog, eacl
distinct from the other. and konwn a
"Cape Horn blankets" were loomin,
up round the southeastern horizon
That afternoon the tempest burst oil
Us. Then came 20 days of stress an,
strife and struggle, during which tn
gallant old ship was driven mile b.
mile down toward the icy solitudes o
the South Shetlands.
1t would take many pages to tell tn
tory of that fight for life and the hop
of home, but in the end we got
slant of wind, and, true enough, W
saw Staten island again. This tim
we got round and caught the goo
southwester, and for days and day
more we tore away northward unde
every stitch we could carry, and Ger
tain daring spirits ventured the opir
Ion that we should have a good voyag
home.
ut amt over yet, sonny" said Bill
There may be some of US won't Sc
lhe end of it,"
It was only a few days after thi
that q sudden and unexpected orde
Same to shorten sail. All hands wer
on deck and we stripped her, unit
the big ship was under bare poles wit
only three fore and alters set The
the spanker was brailed up an
furled, and still the wind kept droI
ping and shifting and putting froI
different places, and then came Nigh
and silence--night so black that
could not have looked blacker to
blind man, and silence made, IL poi
tble, more intense by the occasioni
lap of sail, or the clack of a roI
against a mast or the standing ril
ging-and so for hours we waited Il
the hammer of fate to strike us, I'll
Lincolnshire swinging lazily to po
and starboard, no doubt wondering,
Ships have souls, as some used to 90
they have, why she had thus bee
stripped of her wings, and stopped
the midst of her splendid course.
And then upon the silence the
stoe q sound which no man who hl
oncb heard It can ever forget-s gel