Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-08-27
CHAPTER XIII.

CHAPTER XIII.
In Which We Board a Derellet.
saw the sleepers cast OF their COW
erings and rise up startled and staring,
but could only gaze dumbly at the
apparition before u.s. doubling the evil
dence of my own eyes and unable to
utter sound. At that first glance
believed the thing illusion, mirage Of
the deep, shadow-ship hooking us
with semblance of reality. The cold
silvery light played along her glisten-
ing side, causing the whole extent Of
the vessel to CLEAN back into our eyes
like q great mirror, while the very
shape and form Of the silently gliding
specter appeared survival from out
the dead past, CHASTITY relic of GEN.
turtles gone uplifted from those SOM
Der depths below. The silence, gloom,
the dim outline Of the great hull, the
strange glimmer of it from bow to
stern: all combined to make it seem
a ghost-ship, sported with by the
waves. 1t moved slowly under the
tmpelling power of the wind beating
against the broad high stern. the
blunt bows scarcely ripping the wa
ter, passing almost directly across our
track, appearing more like a painted
picture than anything constructed Of
wood and iron. Out of the night, dim,
visionary, it swan before US, a weird,
uncanny thing. chilling the blood with
it's ghostliness. / rubbed my eyes,
staring at the silvery reflection, my
me trembling.
Yet, little by little, my mind began
to apprehend the truth, my reason to
grasp the details. Mist or reality,
there directly before sus foated what
appeared to be the outlines of ship
battered, wrecked, odd in form-yet a
ship, moving upright upon the surface
OF the water. Good God! what a mad
dream of the past was represented yon-
der! Those round, blunt bows, the broken
bowsprit, heavy as . mast, forking
straight upward: the great carven,
shapeless fgurehead beneath; the
wide, elevated forecastle deck; the
seemingly tremendous thickness Of the
bulwarks; the strange slope Of deck
and rail amidships; the immense rem
nant OF foremost towering In splint-
ers: the broad, square stern, even
overlapping the height Of the peaked
forecastle. That was a grim thing to
meet with In those waters.
stand by. men!" ! called, the trem-
bic still fl my command. "If the thing
yonder be wood and iron we'll board
her"
Not aavoice, responded, their bodies
tense and motionless, every eye still
on that dim, phantom CLEAN. With
clenched teeth pressed the tiller
hard down, and the bows Of the long
boat headed straight in. Suddenly De
Nova leaped,to his feet.
ship ahoy!" he yelled, the note Of
fear sounding shrilly..
In the intense silence I could plain
~ hear the heavy breathing of the e1-
cited men.
There will be no use hailing," I
said, strengthened by the sound of my
own voice. eff that be a vessel, her
crew are dead hundred years."
And by God, it is, sir!" calculated
Johnson, who was on his knees In the
bow. Its real ship, all right. That 9
Ice that glitters; she's sheeted in 1t
from stem to stern
| saw it myself then, every doubt of
the real character of this drear visi-
tant vanishing; my courage came back
in a rush.
cay, ay, lads, Johnson has hit it
| right. That's ship for us. and now
we'll see what she looks like ON deck
| Get grip with your boat-hook, John.
son, on that raft of stuff trailing from
the forechains, when lay her along
side. Strike the wood if you can, the
cordage is likely to be rotten"
! He missed it at the first attempt
the hook slipping on the ice; but as
brought the longboat around once
more, he succeeded in getting a grip
upon something sufficiently firm and
held on. the fellows staring up silently
at the bullying side, and touching the
thick sheathing of ice as though hall
| demented.
| Make fast. Break the ice out oil
that ring, Kelly, and pass stout rope
through it. Now furl the sail, the
rest Of you. Fend her of, Cole; that's
oil right, keep your oar there. Mr.
De Nova, you will remain in charge
Of the boat. I'll see what she looks
like aboard: Johnson, come along with
me-"
l picked my way forward into the
hnws and stood up. striving to Obtain
some kind Of grip on the forechains
which would enable me to haul myself
up. Everything touched was Ice, 81
thick as to render objects shapeless.
| "Give me lift. Kelly: easy, now
until get a handhold. There. tina
will do, my lad
4 1t was a slippery, dangerous perch
the vessel plungiRg somewhat, but tn.
| upper ice was slightly powdered witt
snow. yielding little purchase, and
finally discovered brace for my fee
which enabled me to reach down an,
assist Johnson to scramble up besid,
me. Fortunately the bulwarks wer,
not so high proportionately as wide
and we succeeded in sliding owe
them. coming down rather heavily o.
the solid deck. Here the snow mad
walking possible, although underneath
the Ice was thick and smooth, CON
pelling caution. All forward was tel
rible rafie Of wreckage, a jumble