That was both unprofessional and
unethical on the part of Jackson, and
you can hardly blame Captain Foote
for using plain and forceful, if un
pleasant language.
Captain Foote, you see, joined the
Annie Smith only a few days ago. In
those few days Steve Jackson's ghost
has been working overtime, and with
such success that Moore, the mate,
quit cold. Moore did not mind a ghost
that helped to trin a sail, a hand at
Id
ti
t
c
Appeared With a Black Cat on Each
Shoulder.
the wheel and a turn at watch, but he
did draw the line at a ghost that
pirouetted the fo'castle deck with a
couple of black cats poised on his
shoulders. And so the mate quit and
the captain became sore, and the
Annie Smith did not sail.
It was five years ago, when the
Annie Smith was bound for the east
coast of Africa, that Steve Jackson
gave up the ghost.
The night they committed Steve's
body to the deep, with only a dead
weight of iron to keep bim company,
the seaman's ghost appeared to the
mate.
Moore was at the wheel, eyeing the
fluttering of the topgallant sail, as
"he wind showed signs of shifting,
When he heard Steve's voice say:
"Good evening, mate." He looked in
the direction whence the voice came
and there, sitting on the starboard
rail, was Steve's ghost, dressed just
as Steve was dressed when he signed
on the grim ship Death. The mate
Answered him, but though the ghost
remained there, he did not utter an
other word until after an hour, when
he said, "All's well," and disappeared.
