ks that are
sailin' under cover. There's got to be some reason for a man
changing his name and trying to get by on one that ain't his'n. Same
with a schooner like this."

"Oh!"

"There is such things as hoodooed ships, Miss Bostwick, just like
there is hoodooed folks," he said hoarsely, without seeming to
notice her shrinking from him and her changed countenance.

"Oh! Is there?" she inquired faintly.

"Surest thing you know," acclaimed the old seaman with his most
impressive manner. "There was a hoodooed schooner sailed out o'
Salem some years back, the _Marlin B._ She had the same tug to
sta'bo'd that I feel when I'm steerin' of this here schooner."

The girl was recovering from her momentary excitement. She saw that
Newbegin had no ulterior meaning in his speech. He shook his head
and cast a wary glance toward the companionway to see that the
skipper was not appearing from below.

"Listen here, Miss Bostwick," he said hoarsely. "It's a mighty
curious thing. I had just come back from a v'y'ge to New Guinea, and
I thinks I'd like a trip to the Banks, not having been fishin' since
I was a boy. I went to Sutro Brothers in Salem and got me a berth on
the _Marlin B._ I marked that every man aboard her, skipper and all,
warn't Salem men, nor yet from Gloucester nor Marblehead. But I
didn't suspicion nothing.

"Tell you, Miss Bostwick, them that goes down to the sea in ships
runs against more than natur's wonders. There's mysteries that ain't
to be explained, scurce to be spoke of. I dunno why we shouldn't
believe in spirits and ghosts and dead men come alive. The Bible's
full of such, ain't it?

"Well, then! And what I tell you is as sure, as sure. I took the
_Marlin B._ out of that harbor, being at the wheel. It was
February, and a nasty snow squall come up and smothered us complete
and proper. That schooner was a hummer; she sailed just so pretty as
this one. She did for a fact. But I felt that tug to sta'bo'd. Do
you know, Miss Bostwick, as I was tellin' Cap'n Tunis, there ain't
never two craft just alike, no more than there is two men."

"Is that so?" she said.

"Ships is almost human. I never did see two so much alike as this
_Seamew_ and the _Marlin B._ Well, to continue, as the feller said,
we was smothered in that snow squall for 'bout ten minutes. At the
wheel there I heard off to windward the rushing sound of another
craft. She was a tall ship, too, and she had as much canvas spread
as we had. She c