Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1909-03-19
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AS A YER TED.


was late in the season. and we had
picked up "a crew in San Francisco
such as no officer would be pleasedto
sail with even In fair weather. Ny
first mate trusted Implicitly but my
second was new to me, and knew lit.
tie Of his antecedents. The men ha6f
been spending some time ashore be
tween cruises frequenting the loves
dives in the city, and when they camel
aboard they were drunk.
It was a bleak day that we sailed
and the weather didn't improve OIL
acquaintance. My ship was a saileIl
and required constant handling aloft
"A fine mist or a sleet fell most OF the
time, and the rigging was thick with
ice. The consequence was that every
time man was ordered aloft be either
went with a growl or refused to go at
all. MY first mate, Whittemore, andsl
were kept busy most Of the time
+ threatening cursing or even knocking
them down with any implement that
came handy. AS for Harden, the sec.
ond mate, if he gave.a man an order
and it wasn't obeyed he gave Ito
some one else.
One day, when we were beating
against a biting northeast wind and
! the clouds were splitting snow, while
standing on the after deck saw the
! men gathering on the forecastle !
knew trouble was brewing and, giving
Whittemore meaning look, directed
his attention forard. AS for Harden.
he was below, though had he been on
deck l should not have placed any
reliance on him Next saw man
! of the crew Of the name OF Billings
| URGING his shinnates to follow him
| aft, starting himself, going few steps
! and returning for more argument.
! few followed him on some OF these
/ incipient advances, but the bulk of the
! crew hung back. Finally, after
harann,,e that I could not hear, he
i made another move, and ali but two
| or three Of them went with him.
/ It's not a pleasant sight for one
man with no support but single
;! conaraGe out on a b,ustery ocean 70
see knot Of men. doubtless with arms arm
4 concealed, coming to murder him.. l.
j made up my mind to sell my life as
dearly as possible and uncovered re-
volyer had carried ever SINCE setting
sail. Whittemore came and stood be-
side me.
!. The men had reached the compan.
! fonway when one of them caught sight
{, of something on the port quarter. 9th
ers turned to look, and one by one
| they stopped. Thinking it safe to do
so. l turned my own eye in the direc-,
] ton they we're looking and saw a ship
coming athwart our course. 1t was
| she that had arrested the men. Those
bent on mutiny don't want any Wit
nesses. They stood peering at her,
Z and as she drew nearer it was plain
that she had suffered rough usage.
!, Her masts, all except her foremost,
were gone, and that had a single sail
| set. No one was to be distinguished
on deck until she came within hailing
distance, when through the flying
snowfakes one person was discover
! able. +
At the wheel stood helmsman. The
ship scudded across our course not q
! hundred yards in advance of us, and
only the one man was to be seem. He
/ was motionless except for the rolling
of the ship. hailed, but he neither
! answered nor turned even to look at
us. He was not plainly visible and
only so for a few moments, for no
sooner did he reach the nearest point
to us than snow squall hid both him
and his ship, and when it thinned the
vessel was but few indistinct lines. !
j Sailors are the most superstitious
! people in the world, and my crew was
Of the lowest and most superstitious
type of sailors. l could see by their
appearance that they considered the
passing vessel a phantom and the
wheelman ghost. gs.ss.4 4
Here was my opportunity. Drawing
my revolver and motioning White
! more to follow me, walked briskly
forward. On reaching the forecastle
! covered Billings with my revolver
J and ordered him to walk aft. He look
ed at the men for help, but saw that
! they were cowed and obeyed the or.
der. l marched him down the gang
!, way, and in. "a few minutes my mates
had him disarmed and in irons. Then
! went again on deck and told the
i crew that If they wished to escape q
hanging when we reached port they
/ had better return to duty at once.
Most of them obeyed with alacrity.
/ Those who showed signs Of giving fur
!, Their trouble had put in irons by
the very men they had been influence
4 ing to fnutiny. &.
The wind howled that night, and tho
next day we got an observation. Find
/ ing that was far out OF my course. I
-put her of consid erably. sailing ID the
direction Of the phantom In another
]; day we overhauled her. As We
came up astern OF her we saw her
name, the Aida Of Tacoma, Wash
There was the man still at the wheel
but not another person In sight.
drew up beside her. as near as ! dared,
\ M . - tho hal N q :, OF