Bridgeton pioneer., 1907-02-28
A Mystery Of the Sea


we were making the round voyage
from Liverpool to Sydney, calling at
cape Town, and the days observation
had shown that we were about half
way between Cape Town and Australia
when a man aloft sang out that he
could descry a ships boat about two
miles away on the lee bow. For eight
cen days we had not sighted sail.
we had been as much alone on that
ocean as if ships and men did not ex-
list.
1t was driving with wind and
sea, and until we fell off our course
and passed it within biscuit toss we
supposed it to be empty. AS we pass
ed 1t we saw a girl crouching in the
bottom, and when we raised a shout
she stood UP and supplicated us with
hands and arms to save her.
The bark was brought to the wind
and boat lowered, and after little
we had the girl aboard. I say girl, for
she was not a day over sixteen and
was of German birth, though she
could speak English tolerably we'll 1t
dDOdIQ
that we found she had lost her mind
and was like a child Of course the
hrst thing was to overhaul the boat.
She had no name. There were few
biscuits left, but the water keg had
been empty for at least three days.
There were no oars, no spare clothing
not the slightest thing to give US a
clew to the identity of the girl or the
name of the craft from which she must
have cast off. She had not suffered
greatly in a physical way, but was
mentally upset and looked about her
SO strangely that we wondered if she
had ever seen ship before. She was
given spare stateroom and fell asleep
almost at once and did not open her
eyes for sixteen hours. Meanwhile
her clothing had been inspected for
marks or initials. There were none
While the garments We're serviceable,
they belonged rather to a wealthy girl
than poor one.
1t was hoped that when the stranger
awoke her mind would be clear and
that we should hear her story, but in
that we We're disappointed. She met
us with a smile and asked how she
came aboard She did not even recol-
lect being taken from the boat. l said
she had lost her mind. Perhaps it
would be nearer the mark to say mem
ory, though at the same time it could
be seen that the hardships she had
passed through had more or less af-
fected her mind as we'll. We saw how
crowd her. From the first she seemed
to feel at home, calling each of US by
a name she had selected herself and
she had not been with US five days
before the captain sat down to draw
her out. There was nothing to draw.
In other words, she remembered moth
ing previous to waking up in the state
room after her long sleep. She was
told that she must have been on a
ship and that there must have been
cause for her leaving it. She had no
recollection of such thing. She must
have been going from somewhere to
somewhere She admitted it, but could
not name the points. If she had 4 ia
ther and mother. sisters and brothers,
she did not know.
We were a rough lot of men, but
that girl had the pity and sympathy of
every man aboard The many tricks
we resorted to to call her memory
back would make a book. The sailors
before the mast We're allowed to make
suggestions, and every day some new
scheme was suggested. Size knew the
uses of the comb, brush and glass, and
she could sew. Her table manners
showed that she had been we'll reared.
She would take a book and read for
hours, but it was a disputed point
with us how much she understood. We
mentioned the name of almost every
town in Germany, but all seemed
strange to her. Then we tried South
Africa, and our earnestness made her
| laugh merrily. Nothing was surer thar
| that her father and mother were &c
mans, but when German sailor
aboard sought to converse with her in
that language she simply stared at
| him. Wherever our charts showed
that the Germans had a colony in the
| Pacific we mentioned the name, but it
| did no good.
The girl spoke to us only in broken
German and was a child in her ways.
She regained her health and spirits aft
er few days and then wandered
about the decks asking the name and
use of everything she saw. She would
exclaim in her native language and
sing songs in German, but she would
not speak it, She called the captain
| father and me Carl and was content
not to even ask our destination. By
and by we saw that it was useless and
gave up trying. She had her own
stateroom, was always ready at meal
time, and one not knowing of her af-
Fiction would not have suspected it
from anything in her actions. 1t was
only when she began to talk that you
saw her mind was a blank. She was
| treated as respectfully as if she had
been the captains own daughter, and
it was hard task parting with her at
Sydney. She was taken to the German
consul there, and he at once bestirred
| himself to gather particulars. am