The Wreckers of St. Agnes is an ambiguously supernatural tale -- I like to think it's supernatural -- set on the coast of Cornwall, where the local folk are primarily miners, but also smugglers and wreckers when the opportunity presents itself.
A wrecker, for those who don't know, is someone who scavenges the flotsam and jetsam that wash ashore after shipwrecks, to keep or sell for themselves, of course. For villages along rocky, stormy coasts, wrecking was often a lucrative secondary (or even primary) occupation for the village inhabitants.
In this tale, the narrator has come down from London with Captain Thomas, a native of the Cornish village of St. Agnes, and makes the acquaintance of the Captain's somewhat unsavory friends. The group cheerfully admits to nefarious deeds done while scavenging shipwrecks, and hints at a few other, even darker crimes. Their evening is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious stranger, who makes one of the company a little wager....
"The Wreckers of St. Agnes" first appeared in The Monthly Magazine, Volume 14 (new series), October 1832. I could not find any information on the author. However, I did discover a shortened version of the same story, titled "The Wrecker's Wager," in The New York Times, March 19, 1871, where it is credited to "B". The version in the Times is subtitled "Written for the New-York Times," which clearly, it was not; so "B" may actually be a plagiarist, rather than the author. If so, shame on you, B.
Curiously, the version in the Times removes all mention of St. Agnes, and of nearby Truro, and substitutes Portreath for Truro, instead (Truro is inland and southeast of St. Agnes, Portreath is down the coast, southwest of St. Agnes). It also drops the last paragraph of the original story, which mentions The Monthly by name.
Or maybe the story is simply recycled? I previously posted about the story fragment "The Mysterious Bell," which appeared in Volume 1 of Tales of Terror/Evening Tales for the Winter. With the help of others, I was able to trace the source of that text as far back as the The New-York Statesman, April 19, 1825. The story is signed "B."
Coincidence? After forty six years, quite likely. Still, I noticed some evidence that "The Mysterious Bell" had been written by a non-US native ('centre' rather than 'center'); British, perhaps? And 1825 isn't too much earlier than 1832. Maybe in 1871, a poor, now aging, "B" was strapped for cash and needed to sell a story?
I know, two different people calling themselves "B" is far more probable, but it's an amusing tale to spin for myself.