The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-10-25

was greatly provoked with the man
and charged him with having slept on
his post, though knew that I did him
injustice in this. 1t was a cloudy night,
with the moon breaking through now
and then, and I contended that his
something" was but a shadow and or
dered him back to his post. Nothing
further happened that night, and the
next morning the captain called the old
man aft and gave him to understand
that if he felt or saw any more ghosts
it would be bad for him. The crew
would talk the matter over and, of
course, side with Jones, but that any
thing further would be seen of the
something" no man believed.
Four nights later and two hours after
midnight while the ship was making
a good eight knots an hour and every
thing running smoothly, with the chief
mate on watch, the entire ship was
aroused by something that happened in
the deck house. There were seven or
eight men sleeping there, and a man
from the watch on deck went to his
chest to get a plug of tobacco.
He was bending over it when some
thing seized him in a clammy embrace
and forced him to the floor. He thought
it was one of the crew playing him a
trick, but he scrambled up to lind them
all in their hunks and to see a shadow
glide away. The sailor set up a shout,
the watch turned out, and presently
everybody was on deck and excitement
reigned fore and aft. In return for his
end, though he continued to stoutly
maintain that he had been Rugged by
a ghost
When ten days had gone by and
nothing more had turned up we began
to look upon the ghost as a good joke,
and the two men who seen it were. the
butt of ridicule. At l O'Clock of GER
tain morning, however, the breeze be-
ing small and the night without
moon, though fairly light, the chief
mate stood looking to windward over
the port quarter at what he believed
was sail. His watch were all wide
awake, and he could hear the footsteps
of the man on lookout as he paced to
and fro.
The officer had been standing still
for perhaps five minutes when he felt
a hand laid on his arm and icy breath
on his cheek. and as he wheeled about
there was the sound of low laughter.
To his surprise and CONSERVATION no
one was visible. His impression as he
turned was that had softly approach
ed to test his nerve. For a few sec
onds he was sure that he had
human being to deal with as that he
lived, but when he found nothing be-
fore him, and yet heard the hooking
laughter, his flesh began 20 creep
Going back to the pinnacle, he asked
the man at the wheel if he had seen or
heard anything queer The man re-
piled that he had seen something like
shadow beside the mate, and he hg6 al
so heard a laugh that made his flesh
creep Inc mate pOOn-pOOneQ ana
bulldozed to make light of the affair,
as it was polite to do, but though the
man was reduced to silence it was evil
dent that he was fully satisfied that a
spook was aboard.
Next morning the mate related his
experience to the cabin. and as he was
a man whose word could not be ques-
toned no one thought of ridiculing him.
On the contrary, We began fishing for
some natural and plausible reason TO
account for the thing. Various the
cries were raised, discussed and aban-
doned for others for the next week.
and We found ourselves no better off
than when we began
Two weeks had gone by before we
got another scare. This time it came
to the captain himself, as he hoped it
would. At 10 o'clock at night he sat
reading in his cabin when a chill
passed over him and he felt two ice
cold hands on his neck. 1t was as If
a strong man had put his thumbs to-
gether on the back of his neck and
clutched with his fingers. The captain
started UP and shook himself clear of
the clutch and whirled to strike at
whoever was behind him. His idea
was that the crew had mutinied and
one of them sneaked in to seize him
unawares.
No person was there, but as if in an
swer to the captains oath of astonish-
ment there was the same low, sarcas-
tic laughter as had been heard by the
others His stateroOm door was open,
and had been for two hours. and the
laughter died away in that direction
and the door gently closed of itself.
The captain came on deck and called
me and whispered that man had
passed into his stateroom. Together
we descended and made a search. and,
of course, nothing was found. No
man could have been more upset. His
experience had been even more trying