A little gipsy lass

by Gordon Stables

The reader must understand that two sides of this deep-water bay are entirely walled in by precipitous rocks without any shore or beach big enough for even a bird to perch upon. When it was low-tide the water was still deep all along the base of these cliffs, for it simply rose against the rocks when the tide was in and fell again at low-water.

The place where the strange being was seen to rise from the dark, watery depths was far away from any place from which a human being could have swam, except on the surface of the water. Hardly even a seal could have remained under long enough to have enabled it to swim to a distant point.

But one boatman had clutched the other. He was pale as death with the fear that grasped his heart.

'Oh—look—John! lo—ok!'

And yonder, sure enough, had suddenly come to the surface a figure all draped in dark seaweed apparently, but with the bare arms and face of a woman or mermaid. It was not more than a hundred yards from the boat, which at first it did not appear to see. When it did, after one wild, frightened glance, it uttered a strange, terrified cry like that, the men said, of a lost sea-bird. It should be remembered that a sea-gull at night, when out on the waves, utters a very plaintive cry or wail. But now, after making a few evolutions, the creature suddenly dived and disappeared, showing, as it did so—both men swore to this—a tail like that of a monster fish. They gazed and gazed again at the spot where the apparition was last seen, but it never returned. Then the fishermen rowed as perhaps they never in their life had rowed before, and in due time rounded the point into the bay, which opened out into the sandy beach where a cottage stood. As soon as they set foot on shore, it is said, both fainted or swooned.

Now, neither of these men ever drank anything stronger than water, and both were hardy young fellows, very unlikely, indeed, to be the victims of optical illusions. Moreover, they were churchgoers and highly respected. But in spite of this their story gained but little credence, and it was believed they were only trying to have a joke at other people's expense.

Yet, just three evenings afterwards, and at the self-same time and place, as a boat was coming from B—— with no less than five men on board, they were startled by seeing the apparition not seventy yards from the bows. It was precisely as the first two men had described it. After it screamed and disappeared the boat was rowed right up to the very foot of the cliff, but nothing was observed that could possibly lead to a clue to the strange mystery.

A whole week passed, and though the cliff was watched almost the whole time there was no further appearance of the mermaid. Then it suddenly appeared again; but this time it had a very much changed appearance, for its hair was not long and dark nor its face beautiful. On the contrary, it was so hideous in its grinning ugliness that some who saw it shrieked as if in a nightmare. Then the old fisher-folk shook their heads and said that the first apparition was evidently the mermaid and this the merman.

This explanation was accepted all round the coast, and soon so-called scientists got hold of the story and visited the village and the bay. They tried in vain to get the men to confess it was but a huge practical joke. Then they set themselves to watch, and were rewarded in time by a glimpse of the terrible merman. The creature even went so far as to show a dreadful mouthful of teeth, and to shake a very human-like fist at the scientists before it plunged and was seen no more.

So the scientists returned sadder, if not wiser, men, and wasted quires of paper in trying to account in a natural way for what they had seen. But no theories of theirs would sufficiently account for the dread apparitions, not even that of the manatee. This is an Arctic seal that has some semblance to a human being; but a manatee has not a real human face nor a long skinny human arm.