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1Before long the searchlight discovered some distance away a schooner with all sails set, apparently the same vessel
2which had been noticed earlier in the evening. The wind had by this time backed to the east, and there was a shudder
3amongst the watchers on the cliff as they realized the terrible danger in which she now was. Between her and the port
4lay the great flat reef on which so many good ships have from time to time suffered, and, with the wind blowing from its
5present quarter, it would be quite impossible that she should fetch the entrance of the harbour. It was now nearly the
6hour of high tide, but the waves were so great that in their troughs the shallows of the shore were almost visible, and
7the schooner, with all sails set, was rushing with such speed that, in the words of one old salt, "she must fetch up
8somewhere, if it was only in hell." Then came another rush of sea-fog, greater than any hitherto--a mass of dank mist,
9which seemed to close on all things like a grey pall, and left available to men only the organ of hearing, for the roar
10of the tempest, and the crash of the thunder, and the booming of the mighty billows came through the damp oblivion even
11louder than before. The rays of the searchlight were kept fixed on the harbour mouth across the East Pier, where the
12shock was expected, and men waited breathless. The wind suddenly shifted to the north-east, and the remnant of the
13sea-fog melted in the blast; and then, mirabile dictu, between the piers, leaping from wave to wave as it rushed at
14headlong speed, swept the strange schooner before the blast, with all sail set, and gained the safety of the harbour.
15The searchlight followed her, and a shudder ran through all who saw her, for lashed to the helm was a corpse, with
16drooping head, which swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship. No other form could be seen on deck at all. A
17great awe came on all as they realised that the ship, as if by a miracle, had found the harbour, unsteered save by the
18hand of a dead man! However, all took place more quickly than it takes to write these words. The schooner paused not,
19but rushing across the harbour, pitched herself on that accumulation of sand and gravel washed by many tides and many
20storms into the south-east corner of the pier jutting under the East Cliff, known locally as Tate Hill Pier. There was
21of course a considerable concussion as the vessel drove up on the sand heap. Every spar, rope, and stay was strained,
22and some of the "top-hammer" came crashing down. But, strangest of all, the very instant the shore was touched, an
23immense dog sprang up on deck from below, as if shot up by the concussion, and running forward, jumped from the bow on
24the sand. Making straight for the steep cliff, where the churchyard hangs over the laneway to the East Pier so steeply
25that some of the flat tombstones--"thruff-steans" or "through-stones," as they call them in the Whitby
26vernacular--actually project over where the sustaining cliff has fallen away, it disappeared in the darkness, which
27seemed intensified just beyond the focus of the searchlight. It so happened that there was no one at the moment on Tate
28Hill Pier, as all those whose houses are in close proximity were either in bed or were out on the heights above. Thus
29the coastguard on duty on the eastern side of the harbour, who at once ran down to the little pier, was the first to
30climb on board. The men working the searchlight, after scouring the entrance of the harbour without seeing anything,
31then turned the light on the derelict and kept it there. The coastguard ran aft, and when he came beside the wheel, bent
32over to examine it, and recoiled at once as though under some sudden emotion. This seemed to pique general curiosity,
33and quite a number of people began to run. It is a good way round from the West Cliff by the Drawbridge to Tate Hill
34Pier, but your correspondent is a fairly good runner, and came well ahead of the crowd. When I arrived, however, I found
35already assembled on the pier a crowd, whom the coastguard and police refused to allow to come on board. By the courtesy
36of the chief boatman, I was, as your correspondent, permitted to climb on deck, and was one of a small group who saw the
37dead seaman whilst actually lashed to the wheel. It was no wonder that the coastguard was surprised, or even awed, for
38not often can such a sight have been seen. The man was simply fastened by his hands, tied one over the other, to a spoke
39of the wheel. Between the inner hand and the wood was a crucifix, the set of beads on which it was fastened being around
40both wrists and wheel, and all kept fast by the binding cords. The poor fellow may have been seated at one time, but the
41flapping and buffeting of the sails had worked through the rudder of the wheel and dragged him to and fro, so that the
42cords with which he was tied had cut the flesh to the bone. Accurate note was made of the state of things, and a
43doctor--Surgeon J. M. Caffyn, of 33, East Elliot Place--who came immediately after me, declared, after making
44examination, that the man must have been dead for quite two days. In his pocket was a bottle, carefully corked, empty
45save for a little roll of paper, which proved to be the addendum to the log. The coastguard said the man must have tied
46up his own hands, fastening the knots with his teeth. The fact that a coastguard was the first on board may save some
47complications, later on, in the Admiralty Court; for coastguards cannot claim the salvage which is the right of the
48first civilian entering on a derelict. Already, however, the legal tongues are wagging, and one young law student is
49loudly asserting that the rights of the owner are already completely sacrificed, his property being held in
50contravention of the statutes of mortmain, since the tiller, as emblemship, if not proof, of delegated possession, is
51held in a dead hand. It is needless to say that the dead steersman has been reverently removed from the place where he
52held his honourable watch and ward till death--a steadfastness as noble as that of the young Casabianca--and placed in
53the mortuary to await inquest. Already the sudden storm is passing, and its fierceness is abating; crowds are scattering
54homeward, and the sky is beginning to redden over the Yorkshire wolds. I shall send, in time for your next issue,
55further details of the derelict ship which found her way so miraculously into harbour in the storm. Whitby
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