Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-08-30
The Argus Daily Story
Captain Joe Sturgis-By F. A. Mitchell.
Copyrighted. 1912. by Associated Literary Bureau

death of my old friend Captain Joe
SturgiS. He died in his bed. and IL at I
once occurred to me that his spirit,
freed from the clay of his physical
body, went right out over the water
and the islands among which he had
so often sailed in his slower going boat.
After his death l did not care TO so to
B. and did not see the place for ten
years. Then 1t occurred TO me that
would like to revisit the scenes l had
so much enjoyed during my youth
had long been immersed in business,
and If | got an outing IL was seldom
for more than u fortnight The inIiu
ence of nature had long ago passed
from me, and if thought of the skip
per who had been my companion it was
not fitting in spiritual form over the
waves, but Wondering in the church
yard at B.
l found the place but little changed.
l doubt If twenty houses had been
added to those that had composed the
town ten years before. met persons
whom l had known. hut they, as well
as l. had grown older Sturgis' old
boat was still in existence and i'll use.
l had sailed her in fair weather both
with the captain and alone, and / re
membered the coast for distance of,
say. ten miles from l.. sufficiently to
take the boat over 1t. So got into her
one morning intending to revisit some
of the nearby scenes of former years.
took no one with me, preferring to
go alone.
The morning was bright and beauti-
full. l spent a couple of hours cruising
about noticing old landmarks, or. rath-
er, old sea marks, when, suddenly look
ing eastward, l saw the fog bank.
There was little breeze, aud l could
not reach land before l was enveloped
IN one of those fugS so thick that they
are really fine rain. l drifted for hours,
hoping all the while that it would lift,
/ but it did not. 1t came upon me at
! noon, and when night fell l was still
enveloped in 1t.
! That night is ever to be remembered
| as the most frightful of my life. There
was no wind. and If there had been l
| would not have dared avail myself OF
/ it, for l had no compass and, in any
event. was beSet with sunken rocks.
l passed the afternoon and the night
till near morning in an agony of sus-
! pense, without food or water, then fell
! into either a stupor or n sleep.
/ had taken position near the bow
where | could watch, sitting on the
deck with my back resting against the
mast II must have been near dawn
| that, looking aft, l saw, or thought |
! saw, a dim form Mt the tiller, while the
sail was filed, though the fog had not
| lifted.
| have never since been quite sure
| whether | was awake, half asleep or
asleep and dreaming. Nevertheless
some one was at the helm and the boat
was moving. 1t did not occur TO me to
get up and 20 aft to see who my pilot
was. and this has led me TO think that
/ | dreamed. | sat where | was, looking
into the mist now and again, hearing
! the swish of waves over protruding
rocks, at times sailing near enough to
them to see their dim. dark bulk.
/ knew that there was or had been
| but one man at Il. who could sail n
boat in those waters in a fog, and that
man was Captain SturSis. | was pos
sessed with the idea that time had
been turned back ten years and l was
| again sailing with my old friend.
Yet / knew that Captain SturgiS was
dead.
How long | sailed thus don't know,
but when it came light enough for
me to see. the fog lifted, and / recog
nized on either side Of me rocks, by
which l knew that l was emerging
! from one of the most tortuous, dan
| gerous channels on this coast. There
was fair breeze. and the tide was
with me. was not far from Il. and
saw persons on the shore, evidently
| looking out ut me.
! ! sprauC to the tillcr. which was de
serted, and pointed my course toward
! B. In half an hour ! reached the land
Ing and was welcomed by anxious
friends. who had feared for my safe
ty. They asked me how in the name
of conscience ] had got through the
channel from which they had seen me
emerge, wrapped in fog. without strik-
ing the rocks told them | didn't
/ know; it must have been either luck
| or Providence. J did not say what /
/ believed and have since often partly
believed that ! had been piloteh by
the disemhodicd spirit OF my beloved
friend. Captain Joe Sturgis.
! left Il. the same day. and I have
never cared to go there since Not
only was | unstrung by having been
tossed helpless on an ocean without
being able 10 see half n dozenNyards
but there was something frightfui In
my narrow escape. ] did not shudder
Mt having been plloted, as | believed.
by my old friend; but, taking my ex-
perience altogether, | had no desire to
sail in those waters again.
Time has taken away the horror Of
the situation and strengthened. or,
rather. warmed my soul toward him
whom ! cannot but consider 10 be living
a renewed life among the scenes he 50
well loved during his physical life and
| who. remembering me a'TectiOnateIy.
came to my help in the hour Of my
trouble.