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CDean - The Final Voyage
[author: Cristina Dean - postdate: 2007-12-01]

Text:English Pass
Task:Summary

Charles Coghlan was born in 1841 to a poor Irish family. They were living on Prince Edward Island, Canada. His parents were strict and they wanted the best for their son.

Charles was sent to England to study. He returned home some years later and his parents were proud: he had obtained a good university degree. When his parents asked what he planned to do for a job, Charles said that he wanted to be an actor. His father was very angry. He told Charles that he would send him away if that was the case. But Charles was determined and he left Prince Edward Island. He was a naturally talented actor and became a success on the stage in productions all over North America.

Coghlan visited a fortune teller who made a shocking prediction: one day he would die suddenly, at the peak of his popularity and his body would never rest until it returned home to Prince Edward Island.

In the summer 1898 Coghlan was at the peak of a brilliant career and he died on stage. A week later he was buried in a lead-lined coffin on Galveston Island.

Two years later the great hurricane of 1900 hit Galveston. The island was washed into the Gulf of Mexico, including the cemetery where Coghlan was buried.

Eight years later fishermen off the coast of Prince Edward Island saw a big box. It was a coffin with a body still inside. A silver plate inside identified the body as Charles Coghlan. His body had travelled three thousand miles in ten years to get from Galveston to Prince Edward Island.

The fortune teller's prediction had come true.