the greatest mystery oe the sea. 
3 l 
Arcana " accompanied him on every voyage, and from 
it and from other treatises of the mystic he would 
lecture the forecastle into mystified derision. lie lived 
in a world of spirits and “ correspondences.” For him 
death did not exist, and all the departed were about 
him in his daily comings and goings, merely purged 
of bodily encumbrance and bodily needs. We were 
spirits all- -an emanation of the substance of the sun. 
Every animal and plant, every inanimate object 
even, every name, word, and number had its mystic 
meaning, its hidden “ correspondence ” with some 
deep-seated fact of spiritual existence— the only real 
existence he would admit. Time was a part of eternity, 
and he esteemed no human invention so highly as 
that of the clock, by which man could bring a spiritual 
conception to actual measurement. On the whole, 
44 Old Swede-bug ” was regarded as a harmless idiot ; 
but he was a very large and strong one, so he indulged 
his fancies unmolested. 
'• Holy Joe’s ” last voyage was in the Marie Celeste, 
and that was the last voyage also of all on board. 
Thirteen was the number, including the skipper’s 
wife and small child, and the superstition as to that 
luckless numeral affected “ Holy Joe ” in a charac- 
teristically topsy-turvy fashion. He affirmed that 
the voyage started under spiritual portent of great 
and happy significance, that a. wholesale conversion 
and transfiguration was certain. He preached and 
he argued with more fervour than ever, and the fore- 
castle chaff made him frantic and prophetic. Jim 
Tubbs, chief among the scoffers, should be the first 
to “ see the light,” he averred, and the crew had an 
odd shock when Jim Tubbs one calm but dark night 
disappeared wholly. 
He had been at ‘look-out, and the mate at the helm, 
failing to gel an answer to a hail, shouted angrily 
again and again, supposing him to have fallen asleep. 
But at the turn of the watch no Jim Tubbs was to be 
found, nor any trace of him about the ship. And two 
nights afterwards another man vanished with just as 
much mystery — again the man at look-out. 
The ship’s crew was so far affected that all watches 
were changed, and the look-out man was never alone 
at night. But this arrangement had only lasted two 
nights when something occurred in early morning 
and broad daylight. 
In the captain’s cabin the skipper, his wife and 
little daughter, and the mate were at breakfast. The 
morning was soft and calm, with a light and steady 
wind, and the brig was wholly in charge of one Allen, 
at the wheel. In and about ‘the forecastle the rest of 
• the foremast hands, half-a-dozen, were some at the 
beginning of breakfast, some hanging their shirts out 
to dry. Allen, at the wheel, saw nothing of their 
doings beyond the flap of a blue shirt once and again, 
and indeed had little to think of beyond keeping 
her steady south-west -by- west. So things were when 
he became aware of “ Holy joe ” coming aft with a 
can of coffee and a tin pannikin. 
“ We’ve been try in’ this ’ere coffee in the fo’c.’sle,” 
said “ Holy Joe,” “ and we think it’s just pizen. We’ll 
speak to the old man. You try it.” 
Allen, suspecting nothing, took a gulp from the 
pannikin, stared for a moment, then opened and closed 
his mouth once or twice, and changed colour. “ Holy 
Joe ” took the wheel with a madman’s chuckle. 
“ Lie down and go easy,” he said. “ 1 said it: was 
pizen. We’re all goin’ to be with Jim Tubbs. Jim’s 
been talkin’ to me about it day an’ night ever since 
I put him overboard an’ released his soul. We’ll 
leave no sinful flesh aboard this ship.” 
" Holy Joe ” took a length of line from his pocket 
and lashed the wheel. 
Vol. xlvu-7. 
u Sou’ -west -by -west it is,” lie said, 11 an a steady 
air o’ wind. Over with your old carcass, Allen. Your 
soul’ll thank me joyful for this.” 
Allen, pallid, sweating, and gasping, lay staring at 
his feet. }J 
“Just like the rest, Allen,” said “Holy Joe, 
stooping to lift him. “ Five of ’em in the fo c sle I m 
to heave over, and they’re thankin’ me grateful now 
aloud in my ears, like Jim an’ Billy.” ) 
The dying man was like a kitten in “ Holy Joe s 
long arms, and went over the rail unresisting. Then 
the madman, exultantly waving Ills arms, made for 
the companion-way, and called quietly for Mr. Bilson, 
the mate. 
“ The chaps are all very queer for’ard, sir, explained 
“ Holy Joe,” when the mate appeared. “ I believe 
it’s something in the coffee. I haven’t had any. I 
think you’d better see ’em.” 
The mate stepped on deck and walked towards 
the forecastle, and the maniac dropped slyly behind 
him. The struggle was over in a second. Sturdy, 
but small, the mate was taken wholly unawares from 
behind in “ Holy Joe’s ” enormous arms and rolled 
over the bulwarks ere he could turn his head or catch 
at anything. 
“ I’m send in* ’em, Jim, I’m sendin ’em ! the mad- 
man cried. “ All same as you, Jim ! ” 
In the cabin the skipper paused in his breakfast, 
turning over the ship’s papers, doubtful of some entry. 
Ills wife reached for a bottle of a favourite advertised 
cough remedy which she took in season and out, 
for cure or prevention. Their lit lie daughter, restless 
at her breakfast, sought the companion ladder and 
looked upward. There stood “ Holy Joe, smiling 
and beckoning to her. The pet of the ship s company, 
dreading nothing, climbed the ladder, and was lifted 
on deck. . 
A moment later came “ Holy Joe’s voice down the 
companion-way. 
The child was overboard. 
Captain Griggs, cramming the papers into his 
pocket by instinct, sprang up the ladder roaring for 
the boat, and jumped overboard as he was,, where 
“ Holy joe ” pointed. Behind him came his wife 
and hung frantically over the bulwark screaming for 
aid for her husband and child, and in the next instant 
she was flung after them, and the maniac danced alone 
on the empty deck. 
He ran to the wheel, cut the lashing, and put her 
before the wind till the distant white speck of the 
woman’s dress was no more visible. Then he left the 
helm to itself, and went forward to clear the fore- 
castle. 
Two dead men were on deck and three in the lore- 
castle. One after another they went overboard to 
the sharks that came about the brig, and “ Holy Joe,” 
alone on the Marie Celeste, danced again and gibbered 
at the ghosts he saw about him. 
“ The flesh consumes, but the spirit liveth 1 ” he 
cried. “ It’s all but: done, Jim -all but done. I’m 
coming. You laughed in the flesh, but you praise me 
in the spirit. The flesh and the day die, but eternity 
is for ever, and time is the measure of the mea- 
sureless I ” 
He capered and sang and screamed, and ran for 
the ship’s chronometer. 
44 Here is time,” lie cried, 4i and I give it to eternity . 
Time and myself, we join the crew again, skipper and 
mate and Jim and all ! ” 
With that he spun about and sprang overboard, 
with the chronometer gripped tight in his arms. 
The Marie Celeste dipped and yawed, took the. wind 
.again, and drifted off on the calm Atlantic. 
