Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-11-13

on the 10 castle. W ME ne WAS pdSsln
he walked aft. still keepin' them eyes
O hisn on me. and when he cleared us
he leaned over the taGran, lookin'
back at me-
Then, seein' myself Deserted by a
ship sailin' past me that might take
me on. l got voice enough TO cry for
help. But l wished l hadn't a done il.
The figure on the serpent ship. our
captain or his ghost or whatever It
was. began to writhe and to moan, and
every writhe and every moan seemed
TO pierce ne to my heart. Then l was
sure 1t was the captains ghost that
couldn't rest under the water and had
. to keep sailin' over the water. his con-
science borin' holes In his brain for
havin' tried tie save hisself before the
crew.
"He drifted on past me furder and
furder away, the wind barely hllin'
the sails Of his ship. but he didn't
change his place from leanin' over the
taffrail and glarfn' at me till he got so
far couldn't see his eyes; then he
began to pace the deck again. He
passed on. walkin' from port to star
board. from starboard TO port till he
tween port and starboard.
He was Rettin' hull down when the
wind hauled and purity soon come
straight out o. the quarter into which
it had been BLOWN. Then looked for
the phantom ship with our captain on
her. and the marrow In my bones froze
up TO see that it was a-comin' back
It didn't seem as II 1 could stand to
see that conscience stricken man go
by me again. was hangin' on for my
life, but 1 vowed l wouldn't call on
him for help. for l couldn't bear to
see his within and hear his moanin'.
WAL, he came along agnin lookin'
at me from the fo'castle rs be done be-
fore, shiftin' as he went by TO the
stern 1t seemed rs If he'd growed
q hundred years older. Somehow Il
seemed to me had too. reckoned
I'd been hangin' on to the ship all that
time, while the captain had been wan
derin' about on the ocean repentin' for
leavin his crew in the lurch for the
purpose o. savin' his own carcass.
He'd got so thin that It seemed with
every gust o. wind I could hear his
bones rattle. And the places where
his eyes were was great big black
holes. and way down in 'em there was
two sparks that looked like cats eyes
In a coal hole.
Just as he got abeam Of me his fig
ure went before the great big ball o.
the sun that was settin' in the west.
The light shone through his togs and
the fesh-if there was any 6esh-but
the bones stood out against the blood
/ red sun like a skeleton in the flames
/ o. purgatory. l shut my eyes so
couldn't see it, and when l opened 'em
| the sun had sunk and there wasn't
nothIn' but the black water about me
and the shlnin' stars above.
THAT was the awfulest night ever
! spent on the water or off OF II. 1t
! seemed to me that every wave that
rolled by was sayin' Next meanin
| that the next one would take me sure.
/ But at last 1 heard a shout, and then
| I slid Off into the water and all was
/ black as midnight.
II didn't know nothin' after this till
felt somep'n warm goin' down into
my vitals and settin' the blood NOV
in. Comm to myself, found myself
| in a boat and was histed up ships
side. Laid out on the deck, got a
tablespoonful 60 soup now and then,
more and more of it as 1 was able TO
stand it, and gradually got on my legs
again. I'd been taken up just in time
TO save my life"
0e old sailor stopped, relit his pipe
which had gone out during his recital.
and awaited criticisms on his story.
Il was wrecked onct myself" said
one of his audience, and three days
without bite to eat or a drop o wa
ter. | seen no end O. ships passin',
and. though / begged 'em TO take me
aboard, all the crew laughed at me.
When l did git picked up I was like
you. l didn't know nothn' about It
till it was done. Then / knowed there
wasn't u real ship passed me. They
was all phantoms."
Several others related similar eEpe-
riences, after which Joe Walker, the
best educated Of the lot. spoke up:
''The things you fellers saw when
you was staryin' wasn't either real
ships or phantoms. They was what
the doctors call delirium. That man
Bob Backstay saw wasn't his captain
at al. Bob had been thinkin' about
the captain, and when he was near
dyin' saw the man in bis mind. And
that's the explanation OF all the rest
Of these yarns"
These vice words produced little ef-
feet on men who had not been cdu.
Gated and who at an early age had
irnbibed the supersduons usual 10
sailors and who were too old % be
come rational Nearly an declared
that there was no reason why the
captain should not wander tust Ike
any other ghost. And there wasn't n
man among them who wOu'd say there
was 10 such thing as ghosts. Back
stay said that the one he had told
about was the only one hc he'd ever
seen. but he was sure he had seen that