Book 56: "The Ghost Pirates" by William Hope Hodgson
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 12:56![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeI joined the Mortzestus in 'Frisco. I heard before I signed on, that there were some funny yarns floating round about her; but I was pretty nearly on the beach, and too jolly anxious to get away, to worry about trifles. Besides, by all accounts, she was right enough so far as grub and treatment went. When I asked fellows to give it a name, they generally could not. All they could tell me, was that she was unlucky, and made thundering long passages, and had no more than a fair share of dirty weather. Also, that she had twice had the sticks blown out of her, and her cargo shifted. Besides all these, a heap of other things that might happen to any packet, and would not be comfortable to run into. Still, they were the ordinary things, and I was willing enough to risk thern, to get home. All the same, if I had been given the chance, I should have shipped in some other vessel as a matter of preference.
When the ship Mortzestus takes on a new crew at San Francisco, only one sailor remains from the previous voyage. His crew-mates left without their pay, but Williams is determined to stay long enough to get his pay-packet, even though he claims that the Mortzestus is an unlucky ship with too many shadows.
Jessop is the first of the new crew to notice anything odd, when he sees a shadowy figure climbing over the rails. Events build up slowly at first, and Jessop is not sure who else has noticed what is going on, but one terrifying night things escalate and half the crew, including the Second Mate and even the Skipper, end up climbing the rigging looking for a sailor who has disappeared up above, burning flares and blue-lights (whatever they may be) and hanging lanterns around the ship in an attempt to hold back the danger that lurks in the darkness.
William Hope Hodgson spent ten years at sea, and this story really rings true (except for the ghost pirates obviously). A scary, exciting and moving tale.
Nottingham Round the World Reading Challenge - PACIFIC OCEAN
When the ship Mortzestus takes on a new crew at San Francisco, only one sailor remains from the previous voyage. His crew-mates left without their pay, but Williams is determined to stay long enough to get his pay-packet, even though he claims that the Mortzestus is an unlucky ship with too many shadows.
Jessop is the first of the new crew to notice anything odd, when he sees a shadowy figure climbing over the rails. Events build up slowly at first, and Jessop is not sure who else has noticed what is going on, but one terrifying night things escalate and half the crew, including the Second Mate and even the Skipper, end up climbing the rigging looking for a sailor who has disappeared up above, burning flares and blue-lights (whatever they may be) and hanging lanterns around the ship in an attempt to hold back the danger that lurks in the darkness.
William Hope Hodgson spent ten years at sea, and this story really rings true (except for the ghost pirates obviously). A scary, exciting and moving tale.
