Morgan Robertson

“ He advanced a step or two, and the group seemed to grow smaller.
“Angus, come out o' that!” said the ghost sternly, and Angus wabbled forth.
“Angus, ye've got me guernsey, an' I want it! Where is it?”
“Wha-wha-what d'you want of it? Y-y-you're dead!”
“I'm not dead. I'm alive, an' I want me property. Come now!”
“You're a ghaist,” answered Angus, encouraged by the sound of his own voice. “An' ye hanna no use for clothes!”
“Dom yer soul, where is it? In yer bunk? I'll get it meself.”
Gallegher rummaged Angus' bunk and from under the straw mattress drew forth his guernsey. ”

“ It is one thing to shove a sail-needle through your captain's nose,—this might be condoned,—but to eat about twenty dollars' worth of a Scotchman's private stock is another matter, and I feared for Gallegher.
He appeared sooner than I expected. It was when the second mate had the wheel at breakfast time next morning, when the captain was eating in the after cabin, the mate in the forward, the five in the forecastle, and I in the galley, that he marched by the door toward the forecastle. I jumped to my feet and followed. ”

“ We're not in the kneefin' business, an' ye'll notice, Gallegher, that our old sheath-kneeves have na points. Yet they're good enow to cut ropes, an' that's good enow. We'll na gae aft an' draw new sheath-kneeves; for the good Lord will take care o' you. Get you into your bunk, now, and be still!”
“All right,” responded Gallegher, climbing into his bunk. “But if ye've any influence wi' the Lord, as ye seem to have, ask him to take care o' you, or else, as I said, let me alone!” ”

“ However, in line with this laxity, a wordy argument was going on at the forecastle door when I arrived with the dishes, between the men (all but Angus, who now had the wheel) and the after guard, The captain wanted the body sewed up in canvas at once; and each, to a man, stubbornly refused. The captain turned to his mates; they too shook their heads, and he spied me.
“Cook,” he said, “you can handle a palm and needle, I know. That man must be buried. Get you to wark noo, and sew him up.” ”

“ The canvas, with palm, needle and twine, was procured for me by the mate; but the body I had to lift out of the bunk myself and carry to the hatch. Not a man would aid me, and I laid the body face upward on the canvas, gathered the edges together, and sorrowfully began my task. But they were willing to carry Gallegher's chest aft. ”

“ They worked, ate and slept soberly and as silently as was possible, seldom speaking except in answer to an order or to utter their one form of greeting or assent: “Aye, Sandy,” or “Angus,” or “Weelum,” according to the man spoken to. There were five of them in the forecastle,—Gallegher made the sixth,—and besides the three mentioned above we had Tammas and Robert.
Though I worked in the galley, I slept in the forecastle, and came into intimate contact with them. ”

“ That his speech was anti-Scotch was attested by the fact that the lazaret, the space abaft the cabin trunk and lighted by the square stern windows, held stores for his table consisting of fine sugar-cured hams, the best of Irish potatoes, canned goods of all kinds, and the sweetest of mess beef—so sweet that a few hours of soaking gave it the similitude of corned beef. I cooked these things for the skipper ”

“ Ye forfeited all reet to 'em when the Lord called ye to account.”
“Robert, how about me monkey-jacket? Is it yours or mine?”
“Mine. Why do ye no go back to the place ye went to, where ye wont think of monkey-jackets an' wont need 'em?” ”

“ God forgi' us all! Though we did na sense it, the good Lord God did, an' spared your life rather than punish us. An' you cut your way oot and climbed in the cabin windows, I judge.”
Gallegher nodded.
“Gallegher,” said the captain solemnly, “I'm rejoiced that you are alive, an' that we are free from the crime of drowning you in a canvas bag. An' I forgi' you for your midnight assault upon my nose ”

“ It was when the work was done and I was in my last spasm of foolish laughter that the captain appeared at the galley door.
“Well,” he said, “I'm glad to see ye in a mair cheerful frame o' mind. Gae you aft to the lazaret and close up the windows 'fore the water comes in.”
I answered and obeyed him, and by the time I had finished the task, my trouble of mind was gone. Gallegher was gone; he was miles astern. We all must die, I thought ”