Argosy, September 1955 — page 81: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

LAST MESSAGE BY C.#. MILSOM -'T HAD been a long passage, and although we had had good weather for the length of it, we were all weary at the sight of so much sea. At least, we passengers were, but I cannot speak for Captain MacDonald, who seemed to grow happier as a » < bi An cae ey “5 the days at sea grew longer. For him, I am sure, there was no enjoyment at the prospect of reaching port, and now I think _ back, I feel certain it was he, with his sailor’s mind and sailor’s love of superstition, who brought the conversation round from - mermaids to omens and, eventuaily, to ghosts. We were not in the mood to be easily scared, it was not the sort of night for telling ghost stories. The ship glided under a high full moon, and the refreshing breeze, after the heat of the day, brought scarcely a ripple to the surface of the water. As we sipped our drinks, we found it easy to scoff at tales _ which, in different circumstances and a different place, would _ have made us stir uneasily in our chairs and look hesitatingly a's at . - over our shoulders. I think it was this feeling of well-being and security that prompted the wireless operator to say suddenly, “‘ One expects a _ ghost to be something horrible. I suppose anyone meeting a ghost—if such things do exist—is automatically scared half out of his wits, without having time or reason to think that the ghost es — oF Tre: = - ae bd “may not wish to harm him at all.” “It sounds as though there is something behind that, Sparks,” the doctor put in quizzically. ‘‘ Personally, if I met a ghost, I wouldn’t stop to find out his intentions but take to my heels as quickly as I could.” “Yes,” the operator said slowly, “ but—well, T’ll tell you the story and you can decide for yourselves.” He turned to the Captain. “It was on the old Samaranda under | _ Captain Halloran. He may have told you the story, or you may a seen something about it in the papers at the time, even if comicbooks.conn