The daily Alaskan., 1907-01-16
AMarine Wandering Jew
iOrlginaLl

Dlate u4 SAtl bl tue 'N'tAA 'ASN'N 'N the sailors yarn is what 1t was fifty years ago. when the Black Ball line of clipper ships sped between the occident and the orient. In my younger days I was hut lad-l sailed before the mast in the Drradnaught. Among our crew was Seth Hawkins. an old salt of forty. We considered him Methu- selah. a tall. thin man with a prOfuSiou of little red curls He was very reli- giouS. observing all the commandments scrupulously except the ninth, Thou shalt not bear false witness" and in this he Slunrd only in spinning yarns, which he always vowed were real hap peulngs. One starlight night on the forecustIc while we were lounging about the capstan he gave us the fol- lowing:
 "You've all heard lot about Judas Iscariot. who was cursed with havin' to live forever and wauderln' all over the world at one time hein' seen in Egypt, another in France, and so on, always leavln' trail of misfortune In his wake. But | don't believe any of vou has ever hcarn about his sailin' the seas. There's no sense in this. for how could he have got to America, where he's turned up often, unless he crossed an ocean: Lcastaways I've seen him myself. and on the water too.
 T first shipped on the Mark Matthews on voyage around the Horn to take in hides on the west coast of South Amer lca. We was layin' in the doldrums one eveniu' just before four bells. A thick fog was all about uS, and we couldn't see a cables length. All of q student hrcrrd a bell IL struck four dimes. AS soon as lt stopped our bell struck too. Then the fog thinued lit tle. and just about half the ships length from Ills was the oldest lookiu .ruft ever clappcd eyes on. She was awful high in the poop. low in the vast aul had head on her bow like jhat of Saa surpent. She had two waStS like a schooner, and the sails was hung on 'em like they put 'em on
 lHagsa faukS. Of course they hung tMp l.ha "uru.
 "Sar .a> head-on, and tue rog didn't let a, sr, aburr the tu'masi On the for-ca~J.r stood the rgur of an old man. couldn't tell You how o!d be looked, UyH there was -omcthin' about him that rrutulrd mr of people long passed away. It. waS u Jew and the Jewlrst .oo,iu' Jew ever see. He waS wrapped in a cloak that looked like a monk, frork. The melancholy way he stared our U them hliukrrs O rls'u vy.S enough to Scud eur yrlpiu ,o his kennel They waS like lhe eyes Of u sick man aS hadn't slept durin' a thousand year voyage. There wasn't d bit Q color ju his cheeks unless you ,.all the lruthrry ,ooa u the hides we'N" got below rolur. and it seemed aS if l .olAd see right through his gha>tly lips 10 the few teeth that waS left in his laws. IIr hadn't any hat En and l wasn't near enough tn see just what his hair v.a> like. except that he had mighty uulr. But >"mrthin' was a-moviu' uu lis skull that looked lik" worms Whether it was worms "r aa!r couldn't ~r" lUt lt must "a been worms. fnv lhrre wasn't the @ho>t of a .rrr2, rr rI,r "ycu Ihr finest hairs
 Ir >r,nJ rnrrc hrkju' at uS without ny interest iu them mechanically eyes . ni,'u. .ud jnr ouly mnltpu he made .a~ N.jh l.. skinny hands p"urin'
 .,r,., S-l.rr rutu~ Irpu nu" hand t1
 'othrr. Every "u~rt In awh,l" he'd
 aakr a> if 10 throw the silver away.
 ,ut Lp couldn't. and every tim" he tried md Gailrd lis face would take on an .ypreSSinu ur awful r"mUr>e.
 "Whiia wa> lrrkin at him the two ships wa$ >o slowly driftin' apart that
 rofnEv could spe 'rm mnve The other raft waS gatttu' in OUT stern. The few'& hIiuhrrS was mnvin' ahoUt. never
 r.tin' on anything for morc'n half q ,ec,ud till suddenly they struck our
 tern Then there waS the worst fright
 .ome fn.o ru I ever Sr1 on any mans ace not even a muDuctr I once saw
 uag when he caught sight O tie moose Iaugiln' from tue yardarm.
 ..What dil hr Sre: Didn't | ;ell you ,.r S'.;n was the Mark Matthews? The ..,mp. o course. was on the stern s,mc O thr letters was faded and the
 $ in Matthews was pretty nigh gone nhat rhr Jew saw was the names O .. u' ,lr .fn. J,rS. Mark and Mat
 ~Thrn far inc first time il struck me Whp nr wa~ II" was th" wHnderln lew AS soon ... lac SEW tAe names o ! rrem t,vo o.d fr.rudS "' htsn he wa, tnruwnl on his h.am ends. You see h, was our Q thr twelve m good anl regular >taulu' jUl hc betrayed hi'
 master for them thirty pieces Q silver ! To br brought face to face with tw' of rh, disciples after u couple H' thou l sand years ,,unGertu' must a hrough
 back onu.rasaut remembrances.
 By this time l felt so bad for th' ] .s....... +l..t | ,,r.ttt.I +p urlyt