GHOST STORIES I

This is a tale of ships and rescue with a strange twist. Is it true? Did it really happen? Can a person be in two places at the same time? We do not know for...See more » This is a tale of ships and rescue with a strange twist. Is it true? Did it really happen? Can a person be in two places at the same time? We do not know for certain, but it is an intriguing tale that will make you think. The story takes place in the fall of 1823, when a young man named Robert Brace from Torbay, Newfoundland, was mate of a vessel trading between Liverpool, England, and Saint John, New Brunswick. On one particularly difficult westward passage, the vessel came close to the iceberg infested waters on the east coast of Newfoundland. Near noon, Brace and his captain were on deck making routine navigation observations. After, they went below to work out the ship's position. Brace's cabin adjoined the main cabin, which made if possible for him to see into the main cabin, when he was at his desk, simply by looking over his shoulder. Brace was intently working on his calculations and he noticed nothing unusual. He thought that his captain was working, with the same figures, in the main cabin. When Brace run into a little difficulty with his work, he, without turning around, asked the captain to confirm their position. There was no reply. He repeated the question. When there was still no answer, Brace looked over his shoulder. He saw, what he thought was, the captain busily writing on his slate. (Remember that this was well before paper was in ready supply and most things, that did not have to be saved, were written on slate). Brace thought it unusual that the captain did not answer, so he got up and went to the door of the main cabin. As he did, the man, who had been writing on the slate, raised his head. Brace was frozen with shock. The man at the desk was a complete stranger! Brace broke out in a cold sweat. He had faced death many times without fear, but as he met the stranger's gaze, in the silence of the lower deck, knowing that he has never seen the man before, an errie sensation began to spread over his body. He had never seen this person before. Not on any ship or on shore. He bolted to the deck and hurriedly searched for the captain. When he found him Brace asked the captain, "Who's in your cabin writing on your slate?" The captain was startled. "There's no one there as far as I know." "Well, there's a man sitting at your desk," Brace exclaimed. "You must be dreaming," the captain said, "but could be the second mate or the steward - nobody else would be in there without my permission." Brace, however, assured the skipper that the man in the cabin was neither the second mate nor the steward, nor in fact any of the crew - he was a complete stranger. "Where could he have come from?" the captain asked. "We're been at sea for nearly six weeks. Let's go below and find out." The two men went to the cabin, but found no one. A search do not reveal any trace that a stranger having been there - until they looked at the slate. There they saw, in a strange handwriting, the statement: "Sail for the northwest!" The captain, amazed, immediately sat down before the writing table. He stared at the slate. Then he ordered Brace to write the same message underneath the words on the slate. There was no resemblance in the handwriting. The captain sent for the second mate and every man of the crew in turn who was able to write. Each was told to write the same message on the slate. None of the handwriting matched the original message. Dumbfounded, the captain insisted that there must be a stowaway aboard even though the ship had been at sea for six weeks. He ordered a thorough search of the vessel. The crew searched the ship from stem to stern and found no one. The captain was puzzled. The mate insisted he had seen a strange man writing the message on the slate. And, in his opinion, if on one on the ship had done it, then it was a message they could not ignore. After some discussion, the captain ordered the helmsman to steer to the northwest. All hands were on deck as the ship began to sail on the new course. A sense of great eagerness, mixed with some uneasiness, in the air. The lookouts were doubled in the rigging. EveryoneSee less »