Page:Devonshire Characters and Strange Events.djvu/847

Rh The handwriting was again different. Next, the steward was sent for, as also every one of the crew who could write, and the result was the same. At length the captain said, "There must be a stowaway. Have the ship searched. Pipe all hands on deck." Every corner of the vessel was explored, but all in vain. The captain was more perplexed than ever. Summoning the mate to attend him in the cabin, and holding the slate before him, he asked Bruce what he considered this might mean.

"That is more than I can say, sir," replied Bruce, "I saw the man write, and there you see the writing. There must be something in it we don't understand."

"Well," said the captain, "It does look like it. We have the wind fine, "and I have a good mind to keep her away and see what comes of it all."

"If I were in your place, sir, that is what I would do. It's only a few hours lost, at the worst."

"It shall be so. Go and give the course Nor’-west, and, Mr. Bruce, have a good look-out aloft; and let it be a hand you can depend upon."

The mate gave the required orders; and about 3 p.m. the look-out reported an iceberg nearly ahead, and shortly after, that he observed a vessel of some sort close to it. As they approached, by aid of his telescope, the captain discerned a dismantled ship, apparently wedged into and frozen to the ice, and he was able to distinguish a good many human beings on it. Shortly after, he hove to, and sent out boats to the relief of the sufferers.

The vessel proved to be one from Quebec, bound to Liverpool, with passengers on board. She had become entangled in the ice, and finally frozen fast, and had been in this condition for several weeks. She was stove in, her decks swept, and was, in fact, a mere