52 
T1IE ST RAM) MAGAZINE. 
veered slightly, and the brig’s sails were 
flapping in an irresponsible way. 
The fools, 1 ’ cried the skipper of the 
lh-itish ship. £t Strange we can’t see them. 
What arc they hiding for ? Hut they’re 
there, sure enough, ’cause they’re bringing 
her about. Hang me. if they ain’t trying to 
run away from us ! ” 
Captain Boyce now formed a trumpet with 
his hands and shouted, “ Brig, ahoy ! ” the 
mate joining in the yell, for they were within 
easy hailing distance. But the mysterious 
brig still failed to answer, and, though all 
hands on the British ship could now examine 
the decks of the brig with the naked eye, not 
a sign of life could they discover. 
“ Lower a boat,” ordered Captain Boyce. 
“ Mr. Adams, we must board that craft. Her 
whole crew is either drunk or murdered, or 
dead of fever, or starved to death, or ” lie 
turned to look into the mate’s eyes. 
Or they’ve abandoned the ship, sir,” said 
the mate, understanding] y. 4i And yet, never 
that, sir. Why should they abandon her ? 
She’s not showing signs of distress, not 
one.” 
On the calm sea a boat, manned by two 
sailors and carrying both captain and mate 
from the Dei Gratia , pulled towards the strange 
brig. As they drew near they read, on the 
vessel’s stern, “ Marie Celeste , New York.” 
4t Celeste , ahoy 3 On deck, there,” cried 
Boyce, as lie came alongside, well forward. 
The only answer was the flapping of the 
somnolent sails aloft. 
“ Bless me, if she ain’t pretty near all right 
aloft,” said the skipper. “ It’s below the 
wrong is,” 
Whereupon lie ordered his sailors to stand 
by, while he and the mate boarded the brig, 
climbing up by the chain-plates. 
Then, ’ after one swift glance over the 
bulwarks, the captain said : — 
“ All hands must he below, for there’s not 
a man in sight, not even a man at the wheel.” 
The two Britons then made their way aft, 
noting the ship’s condition as they went. Not 
a thing was missing. Nothing was wanting 
that would be needed by such a vessel at sea. 
She was obviously a first-class craft, freshly 
painted, newly outfitted, spick and span in 
every way. 
But that uncanny silence on such a fine 
ship was something awesome. The two men 
felt their flesh creep. Was the ship deserted ? 
'lb them the brig seemed a floating graveyard, 
a, ghost ship, the kind of phantom craft they 
had read about. From stem to stern, in 
cabin and forecastle, the two men searched, 
hut not a human being, dead or alive, could 
they find. 
“ Mutiny ! ” exclaimed the skipper. 
'■ Master and mate have been thrown over- 
board. But where are the mutineers ? 
Why this game of hide-and-seek ? ” 
After a second examination of every part of 
the mysterious brig the mariners returned to 
the cabin. 
“ Well, it hasn’t been mutiny, sir.” said 
the mate ; u there’s no sign of a struggle.” 
“ Nor was it piracy,” said the captain ; 
u the money-box has not been disturbed, 
and the cargo’s valuable, but not touched, 
and there’s no indication of any violence.” 
f< Nor starvation, sir, with fever and all 
hands going loony and jumping over the side, 
because there’s tons of grub, and the medicine- 
chest ain’t been used to any account.” 
“ And there was no storm, Adams, nor 
waterspout, nor tidal wave to wash ’em 
overboard. The log shows nothing since 
leaving Sandy Hook.” 
” Well, then, sir, if it weren’t mutineers, 
nor pirates, nor storm, nor wreck, nor leak, 
nor famine, nor sickness, what could it have 
been, sir, except a sea-serpent sticking his 
snout aboard and swallowing ’em one by 
one ? ” 
“ They abandoned ship, Adams, that’s 
plain,” said the skipper, ignoring the sea- 
serpent theory. 
<£ Yes, sir, they’ve left the ship : but 
why ? ” 
44 Why ? It’s most extraordinary, you 
know. They were not forced off, that’s easy 
to see. They went willingly, and they had 
not made any preparations to go, that's 
certain. They didn’t know they were going 
till the very moment they went. They went 
all in a most unaccountable hurry, because 
they left the ship in the middle of their 
breakfast. And they didn’t take a stitch of 
clothing with ’em except what they had on 
their backs. Hang it! They took nothing 
but the ship’s chronometer. Why the 
chronometer ? We can’t find the chro- 
nometer, can we ? And I firmly believe 
they took the ship’s papers, too ; at least 
we haven’t found the papers, though they 
may be locked in some drawer we’ve failed 
to open.” 
44 That’s straight, sir : they abandoned 
ship with nothing but the chronometer, and, 
possibly, the ship’s papers. But why did 
they quit a ship that’s as sound as the day 
she was launched ? We’ve tried the pumps, 
and there’s not an unnecessary drop of water 
in the old hooker. The ship’s just perfect in 
