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| The Rescue At Sea: A ghost story |
“On one of her voyages, bound westward,
being then some five or six weeks out, and having near the eastern portion of
the Banks of Newfoundland, the captain, and the mate had been on deck at noon,
taking an observation of the sun; after which they both descended to calculate
their day’s work. “The cabin, a small one, was immediately at the stern of the
vessel, and the short stairway, descending to it, ran athwart-ships.
Immediately opposite to this stairway, just beyond a small, square landing, was
the mate’s stateroom; and from that landing, there were two doors, close to
each other—the one opening aft into the cabin, the other fronting the stairway
into the stateroom. The desk in the stateroom was in the forward part of it,
close to the door; so that anyone sitting at it, and looking over his shoulder,
could see into the cabin.
“The mate,
absorbed in his calculation, which did not result as he expected, varying
considerably from the ‘dead reckoning,’ had not noticed the captain’s motions.
When he had completed his calculations, he cried out, without looking round, ‘I
make our latitude and longitude so-and-so. Can that be right? How is yours,
sir?’ “Receiving no reply he repeated the question, glancing over his shoulder
and perceiving, as he thought, the captain busy at his slate. Still no answer!
Thereupon he arose, and, as he fronted the cabin door, the figure he had
mistaken for the captain raised his head and disclosed to the astonished mate
the features of an entire stranger
“Bruce
was no coward, but as he met that fixed gaze, looking directly at him in grave
silence, and became assured that it was no one whom he had ever seen before, it
was too much for him; and, instead of stopping to question the seeming
intruder, he rushed upon deck in such evident alarm that it instantly attracted
the captain’s attention. “‘Why Mr. Bruce,’ said the latter, ‘what in the world
is the matter with you?’ “‘The matter, sir? Who is that at your desk?’ “‘No one
that I know of.’ “‘But there is sir, there’s a stranger there.’ “‘A stranger?
Why, man, you must be dreaming! You must have seen the steward there or the
second mate. Who else would venture down without orders?’
“‘But, sir, he was sitting in
your armchair, fronting the door, writing on your slate. Then he looked up
full in my face, and if ever I saw a man plainly and distinctly in the world I
saw him.’ “‘Him! Who?’ “‘Heaven knows, sir; I don’t! I saw a man and a man I
have never seen in my life before.’ “‘You must be going crazy, Mr. Bruce. A
stranger, and we are nearly six weeks out!’ “The captain descended the stairs, and
the mate followed him. Nobody in the cabin! They examined the staterooms. Not a
soul could be found. “‘Well, Mr. Bruce,’ said the Captain, ‘did not I tell you
that you had been dreaming?’ “‘It’s all very well to say so, sir; but if I
didn’t see that man writing on the slate may I never see home and family
again!’ “‘Ah! Writing on the slate. Then it should be there still!’ And the
captain took it up. ‘By heaven,’ he exclaimed, ‘here’s something sure enough!
Is that your writing, Mr. Bruce?’
“The mate took the slate; and there, in
plain, legible characters, stood the words: ‘Steer to the Nor’-west.’ “The
captain sat down at his desk, the slate before him, in deep thought. At last, turning the slate over, and pushing it toward Bruce, he said: ‘Write down:
“Steer to the northwest.”’ “The mate complied; and the captain, comparing the
two handwritings, said: ‘Mr. Bruce, go and tell the second mate to come down
here.’ “He came, and at the captain’s request, he also wrote the words. So did
the steward. So in succession did every man of the crew who could write at all.
But not one of the various hands resembled, in any degree, the mysterious
writing. “When the crew retired, the captain sat deep in thought. ‘Could anyone
have been stowed away?’ at last he said. ‘The ship must be searched. Order up
all hands.’ “Every nook and corner of the vessel was thoroughly searched; not a
living soul was found.
“Accordingly, the captain decided to
change the vessel’s course according to the instructions received. A lookout
was posted; which shortly reported an iceberg, and then, shortly after, a vessel
close to it. “As they approached, the captain’s glass disclosed the fact that
it was a dismantled ship, apparently frozen to the ice... It proved to be a
vessel from Quebec, bound for Liverpool, with passengers on board. She had got
entangled in the ice, and finally frozen fast, and had passed several weeks in
a most critical situation. She was a stove, her decks swept; in fact, a mere
wreck; all her provisions and almost all her water gone. Her crew and
passengers had lost all hope of being saved, and their gratitude at the
unexpected rescue was proportionately great. “As one of the men who had been
brought away in the third boat ascended the ship’s side, the mate, catching a
glimpse of his face, started back in consternation. It was the very face he had
seen three or four hours before, looking up at him from the captain’s desk! He
communicated this fact to the captain.
“After the comfort of the
passengers had been seen to, the captain turned to the stranger, and said to
him: ‘I hope, sir, you will not think I am trifling with you, but I would be
much obliged to you if you would write a few words on this slate.’ And he
handed him the slate, with that side up on which the mysterious writing was
not. “‘I will do anything you ask,’ replied the passenger, ‘but what shall I
write?’ “‘A few words are all I want. Suppose you write: ‘Steer to the
nor’-west.’ “The passenger, evidently puzzled to make out the motive of such a
request, complied, however, with a smile. The captain took up the slate and
examined it closely; then stepping aside so as to conceal the slate from the
passenger, he turned it over and gave it to him the other side up. “‘You say
that this is your handwriting?’ said he. “‘I need not say so,’ replied the
other, looking at it, ‘for you saw me write it.’ “‘And this?’ said the captain,
turning the slate over.
“The man looked first at one
writing, then at the other, quite confounded. At last: ‘What is the meaning of
this?’ said he. ‘I only wrote one of these. Who wrote the other?’ “‘That’s more
than I can tell you, sir. My mate here says you wrote it, sitting at this desk,
at noon today!’ “The captain of the wreck and the passenger looked at each
other, exchanging glances of intelligence and surprise; then the former asked
the latter: ‘Did you dream that you wrote on this slate?’ “‘No, sir, not that I
remember.’ “‘You speak of dreaming,’ said the captain of the bark. ‘What was
this gentleman about at noon today?’
“‘Captain,’ rejoined the other, (the
captain of the wreck), ‘the whole thing is most mysterious and extraordinary;
and I had intended to speak to you about it as soon as we got a little quiet.
This gentleman—pointing to the passenger—being much exhausted, fell into a
heavy sleep, or what seemed such, sometime before noon. After an hour or more,
he awoke, and said to me: ‘Captain, we shall be relieved this very day.’ When I
asked him what reason he had for saying so, he replied that he had dreamed that
he was on board a bark and that she was coming to our rescue. He described
her appearance and rig, and, to our utter astonishment, when your vessel hove
in sight, she corresponded exactly to his description of her! We had not put
much faith in what he said; yet still, we hoped there might be something in it,
for drowning men, as you know, catch at straws. As it turned out, I cannot
doubt that it was all arranged by some overruling Providence.’
“‘There is not a doubt,’
replied the captain of the bark, ‘that the writing on the slate, let it come
there as it may, saved all your lives. I was steering at the time considerably
south of west, and I altered my course for the nor’-west, and had a look-out
aloft, to see what would come of it. But you say,’ he added, turning to the
passenger, ‘that you did not dream of writing on a slate?’ “‘No, sir. I have no
recollection of doing so. I got the impression that the bark I saw
in my dream was coming to rescue us, but how that impression came I cannot
tell. There is another very strange thing about it,’ he added. ‘Everything here
on
board seems to be quite familiar, yet I am
very sure that I was never in your vessel before. It is all a puzzle to me!
What did your mate see?’ “Thereupon Mr. Bruce related to them all the
circumstances above detailed.”
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