“Talking about ghosts,” said the captain, “listen while I spin you a bit of a yarn which dates back some twenty-five years ago, when, but a wee bit of a midshipman, I was the youngster of the starboard steerage mess on board the old frigate Macedonian, then flag-ship of the West India squadron, and bearing the broad pennant of Commodore Jesse Wilkinson.

“It would hardly interest you to tell what a clever set of lieutenants and ward-room officers we had, and how the twenty-three reefers in the two steerage messes kept up a racket and a row all the time, in spite of the taut rein which the first lieutenant, Mr. Bispham, kept over us.He wore gold-rimmed spectacles; and I can see him now, with the flat eagle-and-anchor buttons shining on his blue coat, as he would pace the quarter-deck, eyeing us young gentlemen of the watch, as demurely we planked up and down the lee side, tired enough, and waiting for eight bells to strike to rush below and call our relief.He was an austere man, and, unlike the brave old commodore, made no allowance for our pranks and skylarking.

“Among our crew, made up of some really splendid fellows, but with an odd mixture of ‘Mahonese,’ ‘Dagos,’ ‘Rock-Scorpions,’ and other countrymen, there was an old man-of-war’s man named Sadler a little, dried-up old chap of some sixty years, who had fought under Nelson at Trafalgar, so he said, and had been up and down, all around and criss-cross the world so often that he had actually forgotten where he had been, and so had all his geography lessons, learned by cruising experience, sadly mixed up in his head; which, although small, with a little old, weazened frontispiece, was full of odds and ends of yarns, with which he used to delight us young aspirants for naval honors, as he would spin them to us on the booms on moonlight nights, after the hammocks had been piped down.  How well do I remember the old fellow’s appearance! his neat white frock and trowsers, his low-quarter purser’s shoes, with a bit of a ribbon for a bow; no socks, save the natural, flesh-tinted ones, a blue star, done in India ink, gleaming on his instep; his broad blue collar, decorated with stars and two rows of white tape, falling gracefully from a neck which, as we youngsters asserted, had received its odd-looking twist from hanging too long by a grape vine, with which the Isle of Pines’ pirates had strung him up when he was chasing them under old Commodore Kearney’s command.Anyhow, old, sharp-faced, wrinkled and tanned to the color of a sole-leather trunk, the whole cut of his jib told you at once that he was a regular man-of-war’s man one of a class whose faults I can hardly recall while remembering their sense of duty, their utter disregard of danger, and the reliance with which you can lead them on to attack anything, from a hornet’s nest to an iron-clad.

“Well, it so happened, one hot day, while cruising in the Gulf of Mexico, that the news came to us that old Sadler was dead; and sure enough it was so, for the old fellow had quietly slipped his moorings, and, as we all hoped, had at last gone to where the sweet little cherub sits up aloft who looks out for the soul of poor Jack.Then, after the doctors had had a shy at him, to see why he had cleared out so suddenly, his remains were taken in charge by his messmates, who rigged the old man out in his muster clothes, sewed him up in his clean white hammock, with an eighteen pound shot at his feet, and reported to the officer of the deck that the body was ready for burial.So, about six bells in the afternoon watch, the weather being very hot, and not a breath of air to ripple the glassy surface of the water, the lieutenant of the watch directed one of the young gentlemen to tell the boatswain to call ’All hands to bury the dead;’ and soon fore and aft the shrill whistles were heard, followed by that saddest of all calls to a sailor at sea ’All hands bury the dead!’

“Our good old boatswain, Wilmuth, seemed to linger on the words with a feeling akin to grief at parting with an old shipmate, and as the last man reached the deck, he touched his hat and in a sad sort of way reported, ‘All up, sir,’ to the first lieutenant, who in his turn reported, ‘Officers and men all on deck, sir,’ to the commodore, who thereupon gave an order to the chaplain to go on with the services.

“The courses were hauled up, main-topsail to the mast, band on the quarter-deck, colors half-mast, and all hands, officers and men, stood uncovered, looking silently and sadly upon the body as it lay upon the gang-boards in its white hammock, ready for the last rites.Solemnly and most impressively were the services read, and at the words, ’We commit his body to the deep,’ a heavy splash was heard, and poor old Sadler had gone to his long home for ever.Some of us youngsters ran up in the lee main rigging to see him go down, and as we watched him go glimmering and glimmering down to a mere speck, we wondered where he was bound, and how long it would take him to fetch Davy Jones’ locker on that tack.

“‘Pipe down, sir,’ says the commodore to Mr. Bispham; ‘Pipe down, sir,’ says Mr. Bispham to Mr. Alphabetical Gray, who was officer of the deck; ‘Pipe down, sir,’ says Mr. Gray to the gentleman of the watch; ’Pipe down, sir,’ says this youngster to the boatswain; and then such a twitter of pipes followed this order, and all hands were piped down, while poor old Sadler was still off soundings, and going down as fast as the eighteen-pound shot would take him.

“Now, you know that people coming from a funeral on shore always have a gay sort of air, suppressed it may be, but still cropping out; and just so is it with sailors at sea; for, Sadler’s body committed to the deep, all hands felt better:  the fore and main tacks were hauled aboard, the main yard was filled away, and the jib sheet hauled aft, and we all settled down into every-day life, which, after all, is not half so monotonous on board a man-of-war as you might suppose.

“Well, as I have said, the weather was very hot, the surface of the water was as smooth as a mill-pond, the wind was all up and down the mast, and so the old ship was boxing the compass all to herself, and not making a foot of headway.

“At one bell in the first dog watch, Boyle, the ship’s cook, reported the tea-water ready, and after this came the inevitable evening-quarters and some old man-of-war’s men would think the country was going to ’Jemmy Square-toes’ stern first if they didn’t have quarters then down hammocks for the night at six bells, and after that just as much of fun, frolic, dance, song and yarn spinning as all hands wanted until eight bells, when the watch was called.

“John Moffitt, the sailing master, the best fellow in the ward-room mess, and a great favorite with the youngsters, was officer of the deck from six to eight o’clock; and my messmate, Perry Buckner, of Scott county, Kentucky, the most dare-devil midshipman of us all, was master’s mate of the forecastle; Hammond, Marshall, Smith and I were the gentlemen of the Watch; Rodney Barlow was quartermaster at the ‘con;’ the lookouts had just been stationed; the men were singing, dancing, spinning yarns and otherwise amusing themselves about the decks, while the old ship was turning lazily around in the splendid moonlight as if admiring herself.

“Discipline, you know, is the very life of a man-of-war, and this must account for what now took place.Tom Edwards, a young foretopman, had the lee lookout, and as seven bells struck he sang out, ‘Lee cat-head;’ but the last syllable died away on his lips as his eyes rested upon an object a white object standing bolt upright in the water before him, about a hundred yards distant and broad off on the lee bow.Suppressing a strong desire to shriek, and recovering himself, he touched his hat and said, ‘Mr. Buckner, will you step up here, sir, if you please?’

“‘What is she, Edwards?’ said Buckner, as he quickly mounted the hammock-rail.

“One look, a dip down, a shiver, and, O Lord! what did he see but old Sadler standing straight as a ramrod, and heading right for the ship!

“It took Buck a full minute to recover himself, and then, with one eye on the lee bow and the other on the quarter-deck, he walked aft and deliberately touching his cap, reported to Moffitt, ’Old Sadler broad off on the lee bow, sir.’

“‘The d he is!’ exclaimed Moffitt; but, checking himself, he said, ’Mr. Hammond, report Sadler’s arrival to the commodore; and you, Mr. M , report it to the first lieutenant, sir.’

“My eyes were as big as saucers as I rushed down the steerage ladder and into the ward-room, where I found the first lieutenant quietly seated reading over the black list; and when, with my heart in my throat, I said, ‘Mr. Bispham, old Sadler is on the lee bow, sir,’ he serenely replied, ‘Very well, Mr. M I’ll be on deck directly.’

“‘O Lord!’ said I to myself ’to take a ghost as easily as all that!’ Bolting up the ladder on my way back to the deck, and trembling lest I should see the ghost popping his head in through one of the gun-deck ports, I ran into Hammond, who dodged me like a shot.

“When I got on deck the news was all out, for Tom Edwards couldn’t stand it any longer, but had just yelled out, ’Ghost ho! ghost ho!Look out! stand from under! here he comes!’ and bolted aft, scared out of his wits.

“In ten seconds all hands were on deck ship’s cook, yeoman, ‘Jemmy Legs,’ ‘Jemmy Ducks,’ ‘Bungs,’ Loblolly boy,’ captain of the hold, and, by this time, all the officers too, with the midshipmen scuttling up the ladders as fast as their legs and hands could carry them.

“Moffitt had hauled up the courses and squared the main yard, as much to make a diversion as anything else, although the men thought it was to keep old Sadler from boarding us; and as they rushed up on deck they filled the booms; lee rigging, hammock netting and every available spot from which a sight of the old fellow could be had.

“Very soon they saw that he was not approaching the ship:the old sinner was just turning and turning around in the water, like a fishing-cork, dancing away all to himself, while the moonlight, first on one side, and then on the other, in light and shadow, gave a queer sort of look to his features, sometimes sad and sometimes funny.

“After watching him for a few minutes, Bill Ellis, the second captain of the foretop, hailed him thus:‘Sadler, ahoy!What do you want?’

“No answer being received, one of the mizzentop boys suggested that the old man had come back for his bag and hammock, and that they ought to be thrown overboard to him; but all this was cut short by the appearance of the commodore on the quarter-deck, and upon him all eyes were turned as he stepped upon the port horseblock, where a good view could be had.

“Now, old Jess was as brave an old fellow as ever sailed a ship, but he did not fancy ghosts, and the knowledge that all hands were looking at him to see how he took it made him feel a little nervous; but with a firm voice he called for his night-glass, and when the quartermaster, with a touch of his hat, handed it to him, he quietly arranged the focus, and, as we all supposed, was about to point it at Sadler, who was still dancing away for dear life all to himself.But old Jess was too smart for that:he quietly directed his glass to another quarter, to gain a little time, and, gradually sweeping the horizon, brought it at last, with a tremor of mortal dread, to bear dead upon the ghost.Bless my soul! how the old gentleman shook!But recovering himself, with a big gulp in his throat he turned to the chaplain and said, ’Did you read the full service over him to-day, Mr. T ?’

“‘I did, sir, as well as I can remember,’ replied Mr. T.

“‘Then, sir,’ said the commodore, turning to Mr. Bispham and speaking in an authoritative tone, ‘we must send a boat and bring him on board.’

“‘O Lord!O Lord! bring a ghost on board!’ groaned the men.

“‘Silence, fore and aft!’ said Mr. Bispham, ’and call away the second cutter.’

“‘Away there, you second cutters, away!’ sung out the boatswain’s mate.But they didn’t ‘away’ one step, and we youngsters could hear the men growling out, ’What does the commodore want with old Sadler?  This isn’t his place:let the old man rip:  he is dead and buried all right.We didn’t ship to go cruising after ghosts:we shipped to reef topsails and work the big guns; and if old Jess wants old Sadler on board, he had better go after him himself.’Some said he had come back after his bag and hammock, and the best way was to let him have them, and then he would top his boom and clear out.Others said the purser had not squared off his account; and one of the afterguard was seen to tickle the mainmast and whistle for a breeze, to give the old fellow a wide berth.But it wouldn’t do:discipline is discipline; and after a free use of the colt and a good deal of hazing, the boat’s crew came aft, the cutter was lowered, and the men, with their oars up and eyes upon the ghost, were waiting the order to shove off, the bow oarsman having provided himself with a boarding-pike to ‘fend off,’ as he said, if the old man should fight.

“We youngsters knew that somebody else was needed in that boat, and that somebody was a midshipman with his side-arms; but not a boy of us said a word about it, and we were afraid even to catch the first lieutenant’s eye, lest he should be reminded that no young officer had, as usual, been ordered to go; but the order came at last.  When Moffitt asked the first lieutenant, ‘What officer, sir, shall I send in that boat?’ we scattered like a flock of birds, but all too late; for Mr. Bispham referred the matter to the commodore, who, with a twinkle in his eye, said, ’Who discovered the ghost, sir?’

“‘Midshipman Buckner reported him, sir,’ was the reply.

“‘Then,’ said the commodore, ’by priority of discovery he belongs to Mr. Buckner, who will take charge of the cutter and bring him on board.’

“I heard all this from my place behind the mizzen mast, and you may guess how glad I was not to have been selected; but a groan, a chattering of the teeth, a trembling and shaking of bones close by my side, caused me to look around, and there was poor Buck, with his priority honors thick upon him.

“‘Get your side-arms, sir,’ said Moffitt:’take charge of the cutter and carry out the commodore’s order.’

“‘Ay, ay, sir!’ said Buck, but oh with what a change in his voice!  As he buckled on his sword I could see what a struggle he was making to feel brave.As he went over the gangway to get into the boat I caught his eye, and if you could have seen that forlorn look you would have pitied him; for there was old Sadler turning and turning in the water, looking first this way, and then the other, and, as Buck thought, just ready to hook on to him and carry him down among the dead men.

“It is no light matter to go up to a ghost, front face, full face, and look him in the eye; but what must it be when you have to go up to him backward, as that cutter’s crew had to do while pulling their oars, leaving only Buck and the cox-swain to face him?They just couldn’t do it, and at every stroke they would suddenly slew around on their thwarts and look at the old fellow, who seemed to them as big as an elephant, and just ready to clap on to them, boat and all, as soon as they turned to give another stroke.Poor fellows! they made but little headway, and what with catching crabs, fouling their oars, blasting old Sadler’s eyes, and denouncing him generally (one fellow fairly yelled outright when the bow oarsman accidentally touched him), they had a hard pull of it; but still they made some progress, and when Buck sang out, ‘Way enough,’ every oar flew inboard, every man faced suddenly around, and with this the cutter keeled over, and, her bow touching old Sadler on his shoulder, ducked him out of sight for a second, at which all hands shouted, thinking that he had gone for ever; but in a moment more up he popped, fresh as a lark, higher than ever before, and this time right abreast of the stern-sheets, where he bobbed and bowed to Buck, at which, with a yell of terror, all hands went overboard, and, floundering in the water, begged for mercy.  The cutter had some little headway, and this of course brought Sadler astern on the other quarter, and then there was a wild rush to get back into the boat, for fear the old fellow was doubling on them to make a grab.

“The commodore, hearing the row and fearing disaster, ordered another boat to the rescue, but ere it reached the spot, Buck had, in some manner, quieted his men, who, seeing the ghost still standing bolt upright in the water and dancing away as if nothing had happened to scare him, manned their oars again and pulled cautiously toward him; while he, with that changeable moonlight grin on his face, was bobbing up and down to the boat’s crew, as if Buck were the commodore himself coming to pay him a visit.

“‘Stand by, there in the bow, to hook on to him,’ sang out Buck.

“‘Ay, ay, sir!I’ll fix him;’ and with that, and a heavy expletive in regard to the old fellow’s eyes, the bow oarsman slammed his boarding-pike right into the ghost, just abaft his left leg, and as the sharp steel touched the body, a whizzing sound, like the escape of steam, was heard, and without a word old Sadler vanished from sight for ever.”

“But, captain, tell us what really brought the old gentleman back,” said one of the auditors.

“Well, just think of that tight white hammock, the light weight of the shot, and the very hot weather think, too, how easily a fishing-cork is balanced in the water by a very small sinker, and lastly how confined air will buoy up anything and you have the whole secret of his coming back.Let that air suddenly escape, and you have the secret of his disappearance.

“Buck used to say that ‘priority of discovery’ was a good thing in the days of Columbus, but if it was to be continued in force in the United States navy, hang him if he should ever report another ghost, even if he should see him walking the quarter-deck with the speaking-trumpet under his arm.”

R. D. MINOR.