A Secret of he Sea.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 120, 16 June 1871, Page 6

A Secret of he Sea.

" If I had previously had any conception of that miserable sea-trip from London to Aberdeen," said Will, "I should have booked at King's Cross, as you advised. But Dr. Clements recommended sea air, and as April was so cheerful on land, I fancied it might be pleasant, too, among the blue fields ef the mermaidens."

The last evening of April had closed in when our conversation had reached this point. The heavy crimson curtains had been drawn across the bow-window; but the candles had not been lit—we never use gas —and the fire, round which we sat with our dear visitor, lent us sufficient light to talk by; just the flickering, dreamy sort of light we liked best when Will was with us, for he usually told us some wild or fanciful story which could never have been so thrilling in broad day, or even after the candles had been brought.

So we sat about the hearth like the story-tellers of fifty-years ago—Sadie on a hassock at my feet, with all her clear flaxen hair loose and glimmering about her shoulders ; Will opposite to me, Edgar seated on his knee, and nestling his little white face in Will's great beard. The parlour in .which we were was a charming room for story-telling. The walls were of a sombre crimson pattern, which harmonised with the grotesque, uncouth furniture of the middle ages, for our house was a very museum of curiosities from roof to cellar; not mere curiosities labelled and hoarded up in glass cases, but such as might be used now as they had been used years and years ago. As the coal in the grate flickered and blazed up, numberless little fires twinkled in the high, carved chiffonniere, in quaint brackets and medallions—all of black polished oak some centuries old ; numberless fires in the invaluable services of old china which occupied every available space; and lastly, in a suit of armour which stood in one corner helmeted and plumed, and which still stands there, incredulous reader, " to witness if I lie !" " Unfortunately I followed the doctor's advice and my own inclination," pursued Will.

" You did not enjoy your voyage, tlien?" asked Sadie, fondling my hand as she usually did when she spoke to Will, who possibly made her feel a little nervous in some way. "It was anything but enjoyable, Sadie. To begin with, the fog was so thick that you could not have seen the bows of the boat from the bridge ; and to judge by all that we saw of the city, we might have been miles out of sight of land. Consequently we lost the tide, and did not drop down the river till next day. When we did start, the weather was wretched enough, and the rain was nearly as blinding as the fog. At last we got into open water, and late in the evening there was a break of blue in the sky, and we had a gleam of sunset, so unexpected and pleasant that X quite forgot the previous wretchedness of the voyage. The passengers began to turn up from below to enjoy the prospect, which Linda will describe for you in her next poem." I tried to look unconscious, but I fear I failed. An allusion from Will set my heart more in a flutter than any praise from another.

" But prythee say, Sir William, saw ye truly any mermaids P" broke in Edgar, who had been watching for an opportunity to satisfy his curiosity on so interesting a subject.

" No, my little knight! It is too early in the spring for mermaids in our waters." _ Edgar was too fond of our friend to call him Mr. Alleyn, and fearing that " Will" would sound too familiar in the mouth of little boy, he had ingeniously reconciled the claims of affection and decorum by conferring on him the honor of an ideal knighthood. In return for so kingly a token of esteem, when one evenin 0 * we were all in the museum, Will had taken down an old Scottish sword with an iron basket-hilt from a collection of military antiquities, and bidding Edgar kneel, had given him the accolade. Henceforth Edgar was " Sir Edgar," with a snowdrop argent on a field vert for his scutcheon. It was laughable enough at times to hear those two conversing with all the stately courtesy of the Table Round, Sir William with difficulty maintaining his gravity as he uttered the quaint chivalrous phrases, which the little knight mastered and used as best he could.

" Edgar," said Sadie, " you know very well, you foolish boy, that mermaids are only found in fairy tales." " Sweet, my lord, is it so P" asked Ed-

gar, caressing Will's beard. " Are there no mermaids, then P"

" I fear me they be all dead, or charmed by some wizard to an everlasting sleep in their pearly sea-bowers, which is much to be regretted," said Sir William.

"Yea, by my halidame!" quoth Sir Edgar, with a sigh. " And was the rest of your voyage as pleasant P" I asked.

" No ; the rain came on again as night closed in—a slow, steady rain, which threatened to last till morning. I wrapped myself well up and went on deck, where I smoked and chatted for nearly an hour with the mate and two of my fellow-pas-sengers. They at length went below, and when I had finished my cigar I descended with the intention of retiring to my berth. In the saloon, however, I found some four or five seated at the table, with glasses before them, chatting and smoking in defiance of the company's regulations. " You will take something before you turn in P" said one with whom I had made some acquaintance. In compliance with his request I " put a name " on what I would prefer, sat down, and joined in the conversation, which was of a very motley character both as to the variety of adventures and their general jocularity. Gradually, however, it took a somewhat serious turn, and the sea, storm, and shipwreck became the topics of the moment. " There were a number of singular stories told, which were well worth remembering, and I have one or two laid by to make your flesh creep on some darlc, windy night.

"At a late, or rather an early, hour we separated; and, wrapping my travelling rugs about me, I lay down and fell asleep. I suppose the awful dreams I had were the result of our conversation. A more ghastly night I never spent. The exciting stories I had heard revived in my imagination as events really taking place, and in which I played a great pare. " One had told a story of a ship that had been picked up off the coasb of G-uinea with all sail set, a crew of leprous corpses on board, and a cabin boy, the sole survivor, lying fever-sfcricken beside the wheel. Of course I was the cabin boy; and what a long nightmare voyage it was, with those dead men stretched stiff and mildewed about the deck; what days of horror passed before I heard the friendly voices and the splash of oars as the boat came alongside !"

"Do you believe that story is a true one, Sir William ?" asked Edgar, who had been listening breathlessly, with two blue eyes frightened wide open. " Yes, I fear it is true. Well, I awoke, and found that we were plunging heavily through the watt r. The wind had rison, and there must have been a rather heavy sea on. I turned round, and was asleep again in a moment.

" Another had related how a whaler had been driven out of her course and icebound, and how the crew had descried a craft some miles off in a similar condition —a strange craft, of which they could make nothing, so old-fashioned and wea-ther-beaten was she. The crew of the whaler set out across the icefield to overhaul her, and when they drew near they found an old-world ship, built in the style of two centuries ago, cased in ice and snow, dropping piecemeal in utter wreck. They descended the companion-way, and found the captain sitting dead and stark, with his head lying on his folded arms at the table ; and his crew—some stretched in their berths, some on the lockers—all dead, but preserved by the intense cold, and unchanged from what they were on the day they died, God only knows how many awful years ago!" " What a dreadful story," said Sadie, " how they must have suffered before they

"In my dream," continued Will, "I was the captain. I died as he died, but was not dead as he was dead. During two everlasting centuries I sat with my head lying on my arms, turned to ice, but conscious of wind and snow, and the northern lights which were reflected into the saloon —conscious ol the dead men around, who were conscious of me. We could not speak to each other—we could reach no helping hand. Dumb, blind, motionless were we for two hundred years ! You can't conceive the agony of it. At last the whaling crew came. I heard their footsteps, died truly, and was at last at peace." Edgar s little arm had crept round the speaker's neck, and his thin white hand was compassionately smoothing the beard of his brother in arms.

" I hope you had deep sleep when you died at last," I said. Will smiled and shook his head.

"It has often struck me as most strange," said he, "that dreams, which are only corollaries of the past "Are what, Sir William?" broke in Edgar, aghast.

" Are deductions, sequences, results. Dear me! Help me a little, Linda." I smiled, and explained, as well as I could, what I thought Will meant. " Things, Edgar, that have taken place

are like old houses, and dreams are made of things which have taken place, in the same way as new houses are made from the stones of old ones pulled down. Do you understand, Edgar p" " Yes, thank you. Well, Sir William." "It is strange, I was saying, that dreams, which are merely corollaries of the past, should often be indications of the future."

" Strange, certainly," said I; "but not so very strange. But why do you make the remark P Do you think your dreams are likely to be realised ?" "No ; but the last one I had ended in a reality." " An S possibly was caused by the reality," I threw in. " What was it ?" said Sadie.

" X thought I was on board a steamer in a thick fog, just such as I sailed through the last time I came from Calais to Dover. The signal-whistle was in play continuously ; and. from time to time the engines were stopped, as the weather grew thicker ahead. I was on the forecastle standing beside the look-out. Things continued so for some while, and we were again forging slowly ahead when suddenly a vision of a low, yellow-sailed Zuyder-Zee fishingcraft appeared, as by magic, not half a cable s length before us. There was a man at the bow hailing us ; and at the helm another, who was ringing a bell, which till now had been inaudible. The engines were reversed, but it was too late. The man at the bow threw his arms above his head, with a cry, as the fishing-craft crashed under our prow. The shock of the collision almost threw me out of my berth. I awoke and staggered to my feet

" There was a tumult of voices and a hurry of footsteps on deck. The saloon passengers were rushing up the com-panion-way, half dressed, and bareheaded. What could be the matter ? The engines had stopped and the steamer was rolling heavily. Had we struck a rock or been run down, or was my dream a foreshadow of reality ? These questions fl.ish.ed across my mind in an instant. I caught up a rug, and throwing it about me, sprang up the steps. X made at once for the bridge. The deck below was crowded with busy men and half-clad women, who had hurried up from the fore-cabin, and were now ringing their hands and calling to our crew, "Oh! save the men! save the men ! The spectacle was one to make your heart leap into your throat. Eight across our bows lay a brig, which we had run down, and which was now drifting by slowly to leeward. All her sails were set; and as she cleared away from our fore tackle, a wail of horror rose from the crowd beneath me, for we now saw how we had struck her amidships, cut her sheer as an axe to the centre plank of the deck, and through the chasm there poured a cataract of water.

" Tliere was a man at the wheel, and on the covering of the hatchway a dog was sitting. The man was of a tail, herculean stature, with a splendid, lion-like head, and hair which tangled about his neck and shoulders in a black, heavy mane. He stood motionless, holding the wheel in both hands, and fixing his eyes on some object straight before him. The dog was howling piteously ; the sound was so like the wail of a huma being that I felt a sickness come over me.

" The brig was not yet more than a hundred yards to leeward, for she was filling fast and sinking deeper every moment. Our deck was a very Babel of panic. The captain had ordered a boat to be lowered, and many a brave but unskilful arm was thrust forward. Everyone was giving directions, and in the hurry and dismay each did what he best could, and undid the work of his neighbors. It seemed that the boat never would be lowered. The women only served to increase the delirium of the moment with their sobbing and shrieking. White faces with streaming hair, drenched with spray, which from time to time dashed over the forecastle, were alternately turned to the ship and uplifted to the captain, with an agonising supplication. ' Lower a boat, captain; be quick; they are sinking!' The scene beggars all description. And all the while the ship drifted before the wind, settling down deeper and deeper ; and the dog howled, and the man at the wheel stood motionless.

"My attention was fixed on the brig, Though. I cast from time to time a momentary glance at the men getting out the boat, which, X feared, could not but be too late for any use now. " Suddenly, a half-stifled clamor of voices reached us from the brig, but no form was to be seen save that of the helmsman. Again the cry was raised, and now there was a dull, hewing sound as of axes. The captain snatched up his glass and examined the doomed ship. ' Good G-od !' he exclaimed, ' the hatches are barred; it must be the crew breaking their way out.' The strange sounds still continued, but the man at the wheel stood riveted like a statue.

" There was a cheer from our people; the boat was lowered at last. X ran across

to windward, for in their precipitation they had taken the nearest boat. I leaned over the side, and saw the gallant fellows bending to their oars with a long, steady stroke. But the cheer of encouragement was followed by a multitudinous shriek of terror —' She is going down !' " I turned to the brig. " All that I have taken so long to tell you passed so vividly and rapidly that she was still hardly more than five or six hundred yards off. " A tragic change had come over the scene during the interval X had lost sight of it. There were now four figures—a lady in white, who lay stretched along the deck, as though she had been struck down; two sailors defending themselves with marlinspikes against the fierce attack of the helmsman, who was hewing right and left with a heavy axe, and driving them backwards towards the chasm of the wreck. It was the phantasmagoria of an instant one of those instants which give you some conception of eternity. " ' She is going down!' There was first a heavy flapping of the sails, like the last thick palpitations of a dying man ; then a rending and splintering, as the air split the decks up ; then she toppled head foremost, and went down—those men still fighting—the dog still howling; went down, shivering mast and spar, bursting the sails to tatters, with the clang ana crash of a thousand axes felling in one instant a thousand trees.

" There was a whirl of foam over the spot where she disappeared. When it subsided I saw a grating and some fragments of timber floating to and fro; no more.

" I looked for our boat; it was close under my eyes, and the men were resting on their oars in a kind of trance. There was a dead silence on board.

in hiutes had passed from the moment I felt the shock in my berth to the moment the brig had vanished." Will's story was followed by a long pause. He had told it so excitedly that we fancied we saw the whole scene as it was enacted.

Gradually reason got the better of sensation, and we asked for an explanation of these mysterious incidents. Will could give none. It had been said on board that the helmsman had deliberately borne down upon us. He had changed his tack without any motive, unless it were that he intended the destruction of the brig. He nvist have been a fine seaman, and calculated his distance to a hair's breadth.

No one could give any account of the appearance of tlie rest of the crew; the attention of all on board had been distracted by the lowering of the boat. Who was she ? Will could not tell. She was certainly dressed like a lady, and had long golden hair. Did Will think she had anything to do with the wreck if it were deliberate. Will thought so. The man at the wheel might have been mad with jealousy or goaded by revenge; there was much ground for thinking so. "It is only another secret added to the many of which we catch terrible glimpses in the daily life about us; but this is in safekeeping beyond all human scrutiny—it will be a sealed book till the sea gives up her dead!"

" The sea will moan all the more sadly for it!" sighed Sadie.