One day a fine pudding, made especially as a surprise for Terror Carson, vanished from the galley almost under Pompey’s nose. The negro was sorely puzzled.
“Dey suah am ghostesses in mah galley,� he confided to others of the crew, who only laughed.
“Alright, yo’ may laff, but ah done see two ghostesses wid mah own eyes de night ah dropped dat wheel. As spec’s dere’s bin such a power ob wickedness done on dis hyah boat dat de hants jes natch’ly sticks round it. Yas sah.�
But when Pompey got back to his galley he was destined to be more mystified than ever. Lying on the top of the shelf, where he had placed it before its disappearance, was the pudding.
“Good land ob Beulah, de debbil is in dis galley fo’ sho’,� sputtered Pompey. “Hey, boys! Whar am dem boys?�
In a few minutes the boys came to answer his repeated calls, retaining grave faces with great difficulty while Pompey explained to them the mystery of the vanishing pudding.
“Ah lays it dar an’ it am gone,� he said in an awestruck whisper. “When ah come back dar it is agin. Now if ghostesses don’ do dat what does?�
“I dunno. It’s sure mysterious,� said the Bowery boy, “but say, Pompey, what’s that bit of paper stuck on the pudding?�
“Mah goodness, dat mus’ be some rheumaticacion frum der spirits,� he exclaimed.
He gingerly took hold of a scrap of paper that lay on the top of the pudding. There was writing on it. Jupe looked at it in stupefaction.