The Ghost of Captain Bower.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 150, 21 December 1907, Page 14

The Ghost of Captain Bower.

* By P. Fbankjtobt Mookb, Author of " Kathleen Mavouineen," eto, (All Eights Eosorved,)

If I have never seen a; ghost, I have tad,, a few rather weird experiences, bordering on the ghastly if not the ghostly. One of these is rather curious. It occuTred. after I had done a little exploring in .South Africa a good many years ago, when I had gone up the coast to Zanzibar" whence I was anxious to get on to Aden, and I thought I saw my chance of accomplishing my aim, when I found in the. harbour a small schooner, which was clearingfoi the Red Sea in a few days. The captain,, whose name was Bower, agreed to accept mo as a passenger, I pushed Off for the schoonei swinging at jier moorings in the harbour, and was introduced to the first mate, :a\lank Scotohihan from the North of Ireland, named jJuff. He ■ was probably the- most religious man"* that was ever engaged 'id the slave trade, and was also a rigid teetotaler. JBe, though it necessary to give Ms reasons for the latter. They were simple enough : The captain and the mate of any chip that had a reputation to maintain should never be confirmed inebriates, 1 he explained, and -indeed this theory of his seemed .plausible enough to me! at the nloment. i'lt was not merely plausible, it was tfb^plutely convincing to me when the tkipper came aboard that night. 1 perceived in a moment that it was absolutely that" the chief officer should be a sober man to enable him to supeiintend thc-hoisting of his captain 'from ■She' stem sheets of the dinghy, where he $Fas reposing, to the deck of the vessel wh^ich he commanded. By the aid of a whip — not a four-line whip, which sugse£ts an emergency, .but .a, simple bowline — Captain Bower was hoisted over tho rail, and then eased away into his cabin. , 'l3[e' awoke about" midnight; and so- did I— "so, in fact, v did every 'person aboard that schooner, and probably, some- ,of the crews sio._,tho .vessels ,that v ,lay iv -the i^arbour withiD a radius of half a mile irom our vessel. J found .thai, if the captain had a bull neck,' he had a voice 4o correspond. I knew that the religious first mate took me up when I said- something to him about Bashan. ft In the, early morning, howeyer, ha was «[uite sober, and. was not even shaky, Vfhen superintending tho weighing of tho anchor- and setting of sail. He seemed to me quite a smart seaman, for he took the vessel out of the harbour handsomely} and in another half hour he had gjven a course., t Tho nest . morning and the next, the captain appeared at breakfast, freshly shorn and sober; l&t the mate was a pessimist and something of a cynic as well, for, when I ventured to make a remark Tespecting the eaptain'sTio shook his head sadly 1 , saying : V'Too good to', last !" On tho fonrth day out the breeze died ftway to the merest draught and we were left idly swinging and swaying in the eentra -of that- bright greeu expaiiso of the Indian' Ocean". ' . The* next day h'o'"\ras' intoxicated when' he sat do*vn to his breakfast, which ( con*is "-1 of -alternate .glasses- of rum' and' ..■whisky*.- But "in 1 squite of his rigid adjtiercage.to this, v diet, he. rose up^-after ftwo or three abortive attempts— as intoxicated as he had been on sitting down. He managed to" climb up the cabin hatch £0 the deck, with a tumbler in on© pocket and the bottle of whisky in the 'other, his fingers never relaxing their "grasp^ on the protruding neck. ■^ He* ventured out aleo beyond the ihadow of the deck-owning, and when the .second, mate. .c.aUed v his attenioD to this 'factf ne"wlnrled a-Tevolver out of his lap-pocket, and the -mate sprang into the .^ori .shrouds ■ and ■ ran up. to the foreloßwr 'S.W-. captaijij _, staggering ; about the deck -with his revolver "yelled out imprecation* against the fugitive all the time, and apparently tried to find a point on the deck that would be most favourable foT his pistol practice in the direction of the fore-top. r 1 ., hurried down to my (cabin, 'taking" care' to lock my door. I had not " been below for more than a quarter of an hour, when I heard abme" shouting' I 'oh the ''deck — shouting from many voices. 1 caught up my revolver anci ran up the hatch ,- Glancing forward, I saw the captain lying on the broad of his back on tho tarpaulin that covered the hatch of the -forehold, the two officers and the cook kneeling by his side. His frfce was almost black. I saw at once what had happened The wretched man, always with a tendency to apoplexy, had been stricken dow n, and I knew that his chances of ] recovery weie few. •- My -rough diagnosis- proved correct. The mat e "declared to mo that the captain had survived three strokes within tho previous six- mouths, and thought that he would pull through this one also, but he was mistaken. The captain died that night, and when' l got on deck the ■next morning, I found that ho had alWeady been committed to the deep. To 'say the truth, 1 felt, and so I think did Everyone aboard the schoouer, greatly re■lieved, when the first officer took command. We believed him to be quite as Competent and infinitely more trustworthy ''thait the latfc captain, and so, 1 may Bay, he pioved. We chatted together in •our chairs all that day, and I turned "into my bunk feeling that there- was no meed for me to lock the door. I I awoke with ? (start, shortly after becoming awaro of an unusual "sound just beneath my port-hole. It deemed; to. be, a sort of dull thumping *again,st- the side 'oi the ship froir the I listened, sitting up in that wßweltering cabin of mine, and, after a £tthorfc\ pause, there it camo again — thump, thump, just under my open port ; •"naother .short interval, and thea came a £dull tap, tap, tap, tap. ;:"' "I-jnmped out "of mry bunk, and tried to look out of my port close to the abip's side, but I could not do -.0 very well;" there was no moon, and I saw only the, ghostly phosphorescence of a couple of fish swimming at a. great depth below the- surface. I wenfc back to my bunk, aqd, X had scarcely lain dov n before there was a renewal of ihc sound against' the si9e of the ship, f could stand it no longer. I went on deck, and found the second officer on watch — that is to say, lying snoring in'a canvas deck chair. He awoke the instant I came up, and, after & few minutes' pause, I a>sked him if be iiad been asleep for long. Of course, he assured me that he had only dropped oft' tho minute before. I went over to the Bide of the ship, -• saying that it waa stifling in my cabin, anil J had come up for a bieath of fresh air. He sauntered acioss the deck to my side, filling his pipe. Al' this time 1 v.is leaning ovei the bulwarks, trying to cafcrh a glimpse of anything in the water, but failing to do bo ; only, beyond a doubt, the water was rippling and wimpling jubl under my port. "Hullo!" said the mate. "What's sfchat?" "What's what?" I asked. "That tapping against tho side of the Ship? There it goes again. Gan'b you ?iear it?" he asked. "I heard it five minutes ago," said ], ■ghat's what brought mo on deck. I jraader, what it is?"-

Wo both glanced over the side, and peered into the water, but could see nothing except the rippling of bhe water just at that place, for the night was as black as ink. But. even while wo looked over, we heard the dull sound of a gentle thud, thud, thnd, against the side of the ship. The mate went forward, aiTcl uuslung the slush-light lamp from the shrouds, and put it over the side, lowering it swinging to the water. It made a ring of light on the surface, and all down the bulwarks,- and. out of the centre of that ring there looked up at us the ghastly blue face of the captain. It was only a few inches below the surface, and close by' it the light gleamed upon the white' body of an immense shark. That was all that We Saw, for the line of the lamp slipped through the fingers of the mate at the same ihsfant that he gave an exclamation of horror, and the thing was extinguished in the water, though the mate managed lo retain the knot of the rope. I suppose the same look of horror was in my face as I .saw in his at- that moment. We both 'stood breathless' at the bulwarks, and then he whispered to me. "Great Caesar! One of tho sharks must have bitten off the shot which we sank at the old man's feet this morning, and he has come to tho surface again. Ib was the sharks nibbling at him that made- the noise of tapping that we heard." , I heard a whine on the deck beside up, and the next instant Charlie, the Newfoundland dog, which had accompanied . tho - captain on many voyages, sprang upon the % , top of the bulwarks, and, still whining uneasily, peered down in the water. The faithful animal was gathering himself up for a leap, when I caught him by the collar and held him back, ' Charlie did not struggle when he found my hand on his collar; but he raised his liaad and gave a long and ghastly grow], then another and" '.another. The' effect of tho sound cleaving the marvellous stillness of ■ that hob night, waa • weird Jn the extreme. It brought to their feet those of tho crew who were playing' cards on the forecastle hatch. I could hear their pious exclamations as they .sauntered slowly aft. Then one of them became awaro of the sharks', commotion in the waber, and of the ' cauße >■ of • it: -.All at once there was. seep the flash' of • a white fin, there tf as a 1 swirling' of; the black waters that actually-, caused- the becalmed vessel to quiver and 1 sway. That was all. "That's the lost of Captain Bower," said a man with ,a laugh. "Is it?" muttered another. A breeze sprang up in the early dawn, and sent us flying along at fiv© knots until noon, when it dropped, and once again we were becalmed. It was, however, eoino satisfaction for us to feel that we were thirty or forty miles away from the scene of the horror which we had encountered, and wo entered upon the second period of calm in better spirits than we had possessed for sometime. • The mabo only seemed morose, and I should have felt quite -without a , companion had my friendship. ■ with Charlie not ripened quickly since that night . when I had prevented him from committing suicide. We became greatly attached, Charlie and I, and so long as a biscuit remained in my last tin I shared it with tho dog, and felt thai, in doing so, I was making only tha humblest recompense for tho pleasure I derived from his companionship. Usually he lay on the deck at my feet, but when be nad retired to tho old applcrbarrel which served him for a kennel lashed to the winch, at the after hold, a whistle from me would invariably .bring him to my feet. More than once I have seen him come out of his barrel at night, and standing on a cork fender or something that raised him above .the bulwarks, . turn an eye | down to tho water beneath, as if he had expected" to see again something- that ha had once seen there. It was on tho third night of the second period of clam that I took a stroll up - the deck, to get something in the way of exercise before turning in. The night was cloudy, and close, and the hands were for the most part sleeping about the deck in various postures. The mate was smoking, while leaning over the port rail ; and two seamen were squatting, on coils of rope about amidships, close to ono another, but exchanging no word. Suddenly as I was passing the hatch of the after hold, there came a sound as if some one below the deck were knocking at the hatch. Tap-tap-tap, it went ; bap-tap-tap. I stood still, and the sound ceased immediately. I saw the mate remove his pipe and turn slightly round with a start. Tho men seated on the coils of ropo were aroiised from their doze, and I could see that they too had heard the sounds. "What wa3 that noise, Mr. Duff?" I said, looking towards the mate. "What noise?" said ho cautiously. "I thought I heard it — a sort of knocking on the inside of the hatch," said I. "Maybe some of the hands were knocking the ashes oub of their pipes," said he. I turned to the men sitting a yard ,or two away. "Did you hear the noise?" I enquired. After a pause, ono of them mumbled, "No, sir." The second shook his head, muttering. "I heard nuffin." I knew that thoy were lying, but I merely said. "Oh, and resumed my wane forward ; and then I heard one of the men .say to the other, in a whisper, "I reckon tho old man is paying us another visit, Bob." "Sounds Jiko it," said the other. An indeed there was fome similarity between the sounds that I had just heard and those which had boon made by the bumping of the Captain's head against the side- of the schooner. I remained in tho foro part of the vessel for some" time and then strolled aft. The moment that I was abrest of the hold the hollow rapping was resumed. "Some one is having a lark, Mr. Duff," said I. "One of the hands has gob into the hold and is trying to scare us. That rapping came from tho hold, didn'b ib?" h ' "Ib sounded like as if ib did," said Iho male, without moving. "It is .1 silly joke; belter pay no attention, to it," said I. He didn't respond to my attempt to show myself quite free from uneasiness. Ho was undoubtedly very uneasy. "Could any one get into the hold?" I enquired. "A stowaway— might ib bo a stowaway?" ' "I never heard tell of a stowaway on such a run as this," be said. "I've been hero for the best part of an hour, but not a sound came from the hold nil you walked past. It camo throo times and every time you were abicast of tho natch." "Do you fancy that, I am ventriloquising for your benvfit?"' I asked. "I only said luat tho 'rapping* camo oniy when you wero abreast of the hatch," he i-cplied. I wenb aft, and in the course of holf an hour or found my way to my berth. Lying awake lifter a had tumbled in, I could hour the lmunhlinc of a conversation — it, limy huve been a council — foc*iyeen the two nrtcb on .decjfc

Ib was a long time before I succeeded in getting any 6leep. Beyond a doubt the sounds that wo nad heard were very mysterious) — much more £m\ than thoso which had como to my eaVsonie nights before. Tho strangeness of tho seene — that hot dead calm, the uncloan vessol on whose deck tho captain had died not a week before — everything contributed to tho nervousness 'which I experienced for tho first timo hi my life. When I awoke- it was to hear tho rattle of tho breakfast tilings being laid by tho steward. The two mates wero in tho cabin together, and when the jingle of the tea spoons ceased, I heard ono of them say in a whisper, "Suppose it should be the old man come back to tako command? What do you say to that, Duff?" "iiob! — that's what I say to it," said the Grsb mate. I "I overheard Stephens say that to Combes — it was Combes who was handy when tho first raps sounded. What were the raps like, Mr. Duff?" "Like? — why like — like raps — nothing else ; raps, only with a curious hollowuess about them, like — well, like a man trying to get out of his own coffin." At this point in "tha conversation the steward brought breakfast for iho two mates, and I tumbled out of my bunk and pulled on my clothes ; our toilets aboard the schooner were not elaborate. On the afternoon of th«it day I asked Mr. Duff if he meant to search the hold. Ho asked me why he should do so. "Oh, just lo satisfy yourself," I replied. "I'm quite satisfied," said he rather gruffly. "In that case — " said I, and I walked to my deck chair aft, .whistling for Charlie, who came bounding up from where he usually lay in the day time — in a shady place under a grating far a-stern. That day passed without our hearing any mysberious sounds of rapping or anything else, and after supper I began my usual stroll for' exercise. 1 must confess that I got a shock when, just as I came abreast of the hatch, the strange rapping began. The mates were together on the ' port side, evidently waiting for this, and every hand in the fore part of the ship was clearly alert. A murmur came from the men, and a quick exclamation from the second mate when' the rapping began. I could not help thinking that Mr. Duff had described it very well when he said that it was like a man knocking against the lid of his coffin. Ib had a hollow sound — that was what made me believe that it came from within the hold — and at the same time it was muffled ; it suggested a succession of short blows, nob with the knuckles, but with the soft side of a hand. That was why it seemed so mysterious. I stood at tho coaming of the hatch breathlessly ■ awaiting a continuation of the rapping. I could see that the mates and the seamen wero doing the same. The silence became oppressive. Bub the sound was not resumed ; and after an interval I went up to Mr. Duff and his mate, saying, "Can you make out what it is? I tell you it seoms to come from the interior of the hold." Mr. Duff' shook his head, and then walked away. "Have you any idea what it is?" I then asked his, subordinate. "There's a curse on the vessel, sir," he replied. "The Lord knows what things havo happened under thoso hatches when- the old man was running one of his slave cargoes: There's a curse on the vessel. It's doomed, and wo are 1 doomed. Maybe, we'll starve to death in this calm. We may becomo another Flying Dutchman." "That's a gloomy view to take of things," said I. "What I want -to know is why the rapping begins the moment that I come abreast of tho hatch. One would fancy that it was a tri,ck." "A trick?" said the second mate. Ho did not add another word, and I fell rebuked. I thought that the best thing I could do would bo to go to my berth. That was what I did ; and for two hours I lay awake listening to the mumbled exchange of views between the two officers. ' Ab last I heard them come down the companion and turn in to their bunks. They did not seem to think it necessary to keep their watches on deck. When I could hear that both of them were asleep, I got out' of my bunk, and I went stealthily .up tho companion, rol solving to try "some experiments in the j absence of the officers. I found the deck 1 almost deserted. Only two seamen were lying asleep in the bows. I went along by the deck house in complete silence ; but the moment that I got abreast of tho hatch there came three distinct taps. I went back to iho side of the deck house and advanced again. Tho taps were repeated ; but this lime I had moved so stealthily that I had almost passed the tarpaulin before the sounds came, and I was able to locate them to some extent. I repeated my experiment, and then . . . well, then 1 gave a laugh that awoke the two sailors in the bows. "Well, Mr. Duff, any developments of the mystery?" said I, when I went on deck in the morning. "I don't know what you call developments," said he. "Bub you take my word for it that the vessel is haunted : two of the hands saw a ghost last night coming through tho main hatch, and moving 1 about with its head bent." I laughed. "You wouldn't be quite so ready to joke if you heard what the hands for'ard aro saying about you," ho whispered. "What arc they saying?" ''They say that you are the one that brought tho ill luck to tho schooner, and that's why the ghost knocks to be let. out of the hold when you aro passing." w Oh ! and what do they mean to do?" lie shifted his feet uneasily, beforo saying in a low tone, "The Lord only knows." Ho then went forward with his hands in his pockets. After supper, when there Avas a full muster of (he crew forward, and the two mates wero smoking amidships, I walked boldly up the deck. In a. 1110--menb the rapping began as before, and in another instant every man of the crew had sprung to his feefc. "Get back to your cabin if you want to save your life," cried Mr. Duff. Three of tho crew advanced till they were almost at Iho side of tho main hatch. "llullo!" I cried. "Are you in search of the ghost?" They hung foa^k for a minute or two. "If you want to find it 1 can tell you where lo search," I continued. "Stand by Charlie's kennel." After some hesitation, two of the men advanced to tho old apple-barrel which was lashed to the windlass. I walked astern, and then returned briskly amidships, ami tho rapping begun. "Blest, it' it ain't the tint's tail wagging agen Jie side 0' the bar'l ;" cried one of the men. "That's tho ghost," said I. "I found it oub lasb night, when I came on deck in my pyjamas, and was taken for a &pcclre." 'Tin blesl !" s>aid ono seaman. Ib was not blest Unit the second mate said ho was, but his asseveration hnd the same effect. In fivu minutes every mini of the crew had declared that lie was blosb or tho other thing ; bub considering lhab their invuhtigations wero interrupted by fho order to trim the sails Tor tho wind that had begun to send the ta< kle swinging and creaking, and that wo had not. another horn 1 ot c;ilai until we reached Aden, I am inclined to believe thai, Ihoso who took the blessed view. of. Ihe ma. I tor y.eire m tha rigiibj