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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10966-0.txt b/10966-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..159ee98 --- /dev/null +++ b/10966-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6440 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10966 *** + +THE GHOST PIRATES + + + +_"Strange as the glimmer of the ghastly light + That shines from some vast crest of wave at night."_ + + + + + +THE GHOST PIRATES + +William Hope Hodgson + +1909 + + + + + + +_To Mary Whalley_ + + "Olden memories that shine against death's night-- + Quiet stars of sweet enchantments, + That are seen In Life's lost distances..." + +_The World of Dreams_ + + + + +Author's Preface + +This book forms the last of three. The first published was "_The Boats +of the 'Glen Carrig'_"; the second, "_The House on the Borderland_"; +this, the third, completes what, perhaps, may be termed a trilogy; for, +though very different in scope, each of the three books deals with +certain conceptions that have an elemental kinship. With this book, the +author believes that he closes the door, so far as he is concerned, on a +particular phase of constructive thought. + + + + +The Hell O! O! Chaunty + +Chaunty Man . . Man the capstan, bullies! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Capstan-bars, you tarry souls! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Take a turn! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Stand by to fleet! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Stand by to surge! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Ha!--o-o-o-o! +Men . . . . . . TRAMP! + And away we go! +Chaunty Man . . Hark to the tramp of the + bearded shellbacks! +Men . . . . . . Hush! + O hear 'em tramp! +Chaunty Man . . Tramping, stamping-- + treading, vamping, + While the cable + comes in ramping. +Men . . . . . . Hark! + O hear 'em stamp! +Chaunty Man . . Surge when it rides! + Surge when it rides! + Round-o-o-o + handsome as it slacks! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o-o-o! + hear 'em ramp! + Ha!-oo-o-o! + hear 'em stamp! + Ha!-o-o-o-o-oo! + Ha!-o-o-o-o-o-o! +Chorus . . . . They're shouting now; oh! hear 'em + A-bellow as they stamp:-- + Ha!-o-o-o! Ha!-o-o-o! + Ha!-o-o-o! + A-shouting as they tramp! +Chaunty Man . . O hark to the haunting chorus + of the capstan and the bars! + Chaunty-o-o-o + and rattle crash-- + Bash against the stars! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Tramp and go! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Hear the pawls a-ranting: with + the bearded men a-chaunting; + While the brazen dome above 'em + Bellows back the 'bars.' +Men . . . . . . Hear and hark! + O hear 'em! + Ha-a!-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Hurling songs towards the + heavens--! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Hush! O hear 'em! + Hark! O hear 'em! + Hurling oaths among their spars! +Men . . . . . . Hark! O hear 'em! + Hush! O hear 'em! +Chaunty Man . . Tramping round between the + bars! +Chorus . . . . They're shouting now; oh! hear + A-bellow as they stamp:-- + Ha-a!-o-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! + A-shouting as they tramp! +Chaunty Man . . O do you hear the + capstan-chaunty! + Thunder round the pawls! +Men . . . . . . Click a-clack, + a-clatter + Surge! + And scatter bawls! +Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clack, my bonny boys, + while it comes in handsome! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Hear 'em clack! +Chaunty Man . . Ha-a!-o-o! Click-a-clack! +Men . . . . . . Hush! O hear 'em pant! + Hark! O hear 'em rant! +Chaunty Man . . Click, a-clitter, clicker-clack. +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Tramp and go! +Chaunty Man . . Surge! And keep away the slack! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Away the slack: + Ha-a!-o-o! + Click-a-clack +Chaunty Man . . Bustle now each jolly Jack. + Surging easy! Surging e-a-s-y!! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Surging easy +Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clatter-- + Surge; and steady! + Man the stopper there! + All ready? +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clack, my bouncing boys: +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Tramp and go! +Chaunty Man . . Lift the pawls, and come back + easy. +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Steady-o-o-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Vast the chaunty! + Vast the capstan! + Drop the pawls! Be-l-a-y! +Chorus . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Unship the bars! + Ha-a!-o-o! Tramp and go! + Ha-a!-o-o! Shoulder bars! + Ha-a!-o-o! And away we blow! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o-o-o! + + + + + +I + + +_The Figure Out of the Sea_ + +He began without any circumlocution. + +I 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 +them, 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 I took my bag down, I found that they had signed on the rest of the +crowd. You see, the "home lot" cleared out when they got into 'Frisco, +that is, all except one young fellow, a cockney, who had stuck by the +ship in port. He told me afterwards, when I got to know him, that he +intended to draw a pay-day out of her, whether any one else did, or not. + +The first night I was in her, I found that it was common talk among the +other fellows, that there was something queer about the ship. They spoke +of her as if it were an accepted fact that she was haunted; yet they all +treated the matter as a joke; all, that is, except the young cockney-- +Williams--who, instead of laughing at their jests on the subject, seemed +to take the whole matter seriously. + +This made me rather curious. I began to wonder whether there was, after +all, some truth underlying the vague stories I had heard; and I took the +first opportunity to ask him whether he had any reasons for believing +that there was anything in the yarns about the ship. + +At first he was inclined to be a bit offish; but, presently, he came +round, and told me that he did not know of any particular incident which +could be called unusual in the sense in which I meant. Yet that, at the +same time, there were lots of little things which, if you put them +together, made you think a bit. For instance, she always made such long +passages and had so much dirty weather--nothing but that and calms and +head winds. Then, other things happened; sails that he knew, himself, +had been properly stowed, were always blowing adrift _at night_. And +then he said a thing that surprised me. + +"There's too many bloomin' shadders about this 'ere packet; they gets +onter yer nerves like nothin' as ever I seen before in me nat'ral." + +He blurted it all out in a heap, and I turned round and looked at him. + +"Too many shadows!" I said. "What on earth do you mean?" But he refused +to explain himself or tell me anything further--just shook his head, +stupidly, when I questioned him. He seemed to have taken a sudden, sulky +fit. I felt certain that he was acting dense, purposely. I believe the +truth of the matter is that he was, in a way, ashamed of having let +himself go like he had, in speaking out his thoughts about "shadders." +That type of man may think things at times; but he doesn't often put +them into words. Anyhow, I saw it was no use asking any further +questions; so I let the matter drop there. Yet, for several days +afterwards, I caught myself wondering, at times, what the fellow had +meant by "shadders." + +We left 'Frisco next day, with a fine, fair wind, that seemed a bit like +putting the stopper on the yarns I had heard about the ship's ill luck. +And yet-- + + +He hesitated a moment, and then went on again. + + + + +For the first couple of weeks out, nothing unusual happened, and the +wind still held fair. I began to feel that I had been rather lucky, +after all, in the packet into which I had been shunted. Most of the +other fellows gave her a good name, and there was a pretty general +opinion growing among the crowd, that it was all a silly yarn about her +being haunted. And then, just when I was settling down to things, +something happened that opened my eyes no end. + +It was in the eight to twelve watch, and I was sitting on the steps, on +the starboard side, leading up to the fo'cas'le head. The night was fine +and there was a splendid moon. Away aft, I heard the timekeeper strike +four bells, and the look-out, an old fellow named Jaskett, answered him. +As he let go the bell lanyard, he caught sight of me, where I sat +quietly, smoking. He leant over the rail, and looked down at me. + +"That you, Jessop?" he asked. + +"I believe it is," I replied. + +"We'd 'ave our gran'mothers an' all the rest of our petticoated +relash'ns comin' to sea, if 'twere always like this," he remarked, +reflectively--indicating, with a sweep of his pipe and hand, the +calmness of the sea and sky. + +I saw no reason for denying that, and he continued: + +"If this ole packet is 'aunted, as some on 'em seems to think, well all +as I can say is, let me 'ave the luck to tumble across another of the +same sort. Good grub, an' duff fer Sundays, an' a decent crowd of 'em +aft, an' everythin' comfertable like, so as yer can feel yer knows where +yer are. As fer 'er bein' 'aunted, that's all 'ellish nonsense. I've +comed 'cross lots of 'em before as was said to be 'aunted, an' so some +on 'em was; but 'twasn't with ghostesses. One packet I was in, they was +that bad yer couldn't sleep a wink in yer watch below, until yer'd 'ad +every stitch out yer bunk an' 'ad a reg'lar 'unt. Sometimes--" At that +moment, the relief, one of the ordinary seamen, went up the other ladder +on to the fo'cas'le head, and the old chap turned to ask him "Why the +'ell" he'd not relieved him a bit smarter. The ordinary made some reply; +but what it was, I did not catch; for, abruptly, away aft, my rather +sleepy gaze had lighted on something altogether extraordinary and +outrageous. It was nothing less than the form of a man stepping inboard +over the starboard rail, a little abaft the main rigging. I stood up, +and caught at the handrail, and stared. + +Behind me, someone spoke. It was the look-out, who had come down off the +fo'cas'le head, on his way aft to report the name of his relief to the +second mate. + +"What is it, mate?" he asked, curiously, seeing my intent attitude. + +The thing, whatever it was, had disappeared into the shadows on the lee +side of the deck. + +"Nothing!" I replied, shortly; for I was too bewildered then, at what my +eyes had just shown me, to say any more. I wanted to think. + +The old shellback glanced at me; but only muttered something, and went +on his way aft. + +For a minute, perhaps, I stood there, watching; but could see nothing. +Then I walked slowly aft, as far as the after end of the deck house. +From there, I could see most of the main deck; but nothing showed, +except, of course, the moving shadows of the ropes and spars and sails, +as they swung to and fro in the moonlight. + +The old chap who had just come off the look-out, had returned forrard +again, and I was alone on that part of the deck. And then, all at once, +as I stood peering into the shadows to leeward, I remembered what +Williams had said about there being too many "shadders." I had been +puzzled to understand his real meaning, then. I had no difficulty _now_. +There _were_ too many shadows. Yet, shadows or no shadows, I realised +that for my own peace of mind, I must settle, once and for all, whether +the thing I had seemed to see stepping aboard out of the ocean, had been +a reality, or simply a phantom, as you might say, of my imagination. My +reason said it was nothing more than imagination, a rapid dream--I must +have dozed; but something deeper than reason told me that this was not +so. I put it to the test, and went straight in amongst the shadows-- +There was nothing. + +I grew bolder. My common sense told me I must have fancied it all. I +walked over to the mainmast, and looked behind the pinrail that partly +surrounded it, and down into the shadow of the pumps; but here again was +nothing. Then I went in under the break of the poop. It was darker under +there than out on deck. I looked up both sides of the deck, and saw that +they were bare of anything such as I looked for. The assurance was +comforting. I glanced at the poop ladders, and remembered that nothing +could have gone up there, without the Second Mate or the Time-keeper +seeing it. Then I leant my back up against the bulkshead, and thought +the whole matter over, rapidly, sucking at my pipe, and keeping my +glance about the deck. I concluded my think, and said "No!" out loud. +Then something occurred to me, and I said "Unless--" and went over to +the starboard bulwarks, and looked over and down into the sea; but there +was nothing but sea; and so I turned and made my way forrard. My common +sense had triumphed, and I was convinced that my imagination had been +playing tricks with me. + +I reached the door on the portside, leading into the fo'cas'le, and was +about to enter, when something made me look behind. As I did so, I had a +shaker. Away aft, a dim, shadowy form stood in the wake of a swaying +belt of moonlight, that swept the deck a bit abaft the main-mast. + +It was the same figure that I had just been attributing to my fancy. I +will admit that I felt more than startled; I was quite a bit frightened. +I was convinced now that it was no mere imaginary thing. It was a human +figure. And yet, with the flicker of the moonlight and the shadows +chasing over it, I was unable to say more than that. Then, as I stood +there, irresolute and funky, I got the thought that someone was acting +the goat; though for what reason or purpose, I never stopped to +consider. I was glad of any suggestion that my common sense assured me +was not impossible; and, for the moment, I felt quite relieved. That +side to the question had not presented itself to me before. I began to +pluck up courage. I accused myself of getting fanciful; otherwise I +should have tumbled to it earlier. And then, funnily enough, in spite of +all my reasoning, I was still afraid of going aft to discover who that +was, standing on the lee side of the maindeck. Yet I felt that if I +shirked it, I was only fit to be dumped overboard; and so I went, though +not with any great speed, as you can imagine. + +I had gone half the distance, and still the figure remained there, +motionless and silent--the moonlight and the shadows playing over it +with each roll of the ship. I think I tried to be surprised. If it were +one of the fellows playing the fool, he must have heard me coming, and +why didn't he scoot while he had the chance? And where could he have +hidden himself, before? All these things, I asked myself, in a rush, +with a queer mixture of doubt and belief; and, you know, in the +meantime, I was drawing nearer. I had passed the house, and was not +twelve paces distant; when, abruptly, the silent figure made three quick +strides to the port rail, and _climbed over it into the sea_. + +I rushed to the side, and stared over; but nothing met my gaze, except +the shadow of the ship, sweeping over the moonlit sea. + +How long I stared down blankly into the water, it would be impossible to +say; certainly for a good minute. I felt blank--just horribly blank. It +was such a beastly confirmation of the _unnaturalness_ of the thing I +had concluded to be only a sort of brain fancy. I seemed, for that +little time, deprived, you know, of the power of coherent thought. I +suppose I was dazed--mentally stunned, in a way. + +As I have said, a minute or so must have gone, while I had been staring +into the dark of the water under the ship's side. Then, I came suddenly +to my ordinary self. The Second Mate was singing out: "Lee fore brace." + +I went to the braces, like a chap in a dream. + + + + +II + + +What Tammy the 'Prentice Saw + + +The next morning, in my watch below, I had a look at the places where +that strange thing had come aboard, and left the ship; but I found +nothing unusual, and no clue to help me to understand the mystery of the +strange man. + +For several days after that, all went quietly; though I prowled about +the decks at night, trying to discover anything fresh that might tend to +throw some light on the matter. I was careful to say nothing to any one +about the thing I had seen. In any case, I felt sure I should only have +been laughed at. + +Several nights passed away in this manner, and I was no nearer to an +understanding of the affair. And then, in the middle watch, something +happened. + +It was my wheel. Tammy, one of the first voyage 'prentices, was keeping +time--walking up and down the lee side of the poop. The Second Mate was +forrard, leaning over the break of the poop, smoking. The weather still +continued fine, and the moon, though declining, was sufficiently +powerful to make every detail about the poop, stand out distinctly. +Three bells had gone, and I'll admit I was feeling sleepy. Indeed, I +believe I must have dozed, for the old packet steered very easily, and +there was precious little to do, beyond giving her an odd spoke now and +again. And then, all at once, it seemed to me that I heard someone +calling my name, softly. I could not be certain; and first I glanced +forrard to where the Second stood, smoking, and from him, I looked into +the binnacle. The ship's head was right on her course, and I felt +easier. Then, suddenly, I heard it again. There was no doubt about it +this time, and I glanced to leeward. There I saw Tammy reaching over the +steering gear, his hand out, in the act of trying to touch my arm. I was +about to ask him what the devil he wanted, when he held up his finger +for silence, and pointed forrard along the lee side of the poop. In the +dim light, his face showed palely, and he seemed much agitated. For a +few seconds, I stared in the direction he indicated, but could see +nothing. + +"What is it?" I asked in an undertone, after a couple of moments' +further ineffectual peering. "I can't see anything." + +"H'sh!" he muttered, hoarsely, without looking in my direction. Then, +all at once, with a quick little gasp, he sprang across the wheel-box, +and stood beside me, trembling. His gaze appeared to follow the +movements of something I could not see. + +I must say that I was startled. His movement had shown such terror; and +the way he stared to leeward made me think he saw something uncanny. + +"What the deuce is up with you?" I asked, sharply. And then I remembered +the Second Mate. I glanced forrard to where he lounged. His back was +still towards us, and he had not seen Tammy. Then I turned to the boy. + +"For goodness sake, get to looard before the Second sees you!" I said. +"If you want to say anything, say it across the wheel-box. You've been +dreaming." + +Even as I spoke, the little beggar caught at my sleeve with one hand; +and, pointing across to the log-reel with the other, screamed: "He's +coming! He's coming----" At this instant, the Second Mate came running +aft, singing out to know what was the matter. Then, suddenly, crouching +under the rail near the log-reel, I saw something that looked like a +man; but so hazy and unreal, that I could scarcely say I saw anything. +Yet, like a flash, my thoughts ripped back to the silent figure I had +seen in the flicker of the moonlight, a week earlier. + +The Second Mate reached me, and I pointed, dumbly; and yet, as I did so, +it was with the knowledge that _he_ would not be able to see what I saw. +(Queer, wasn't it?) And then, almost in a breath, I lost sight of the +thing, and became aware that Tammy was hugging my knees. + +The Second continued to stare at the log-reel for a brief instant; then +he turned to me, with a sneer. + +"Been asleep, the pair of you, I suppose!" Then, without waiting for my +denial, he told Tammy to go to hell out of it and stop his noise, or +he'd boot him off the poop. + +After that, he walked forward to the break of the poop, and lit his +pipe, again--walking forward and aft every few minutes, and eyeing me, +at times, I thought, with a strange, half-doubtful, half-puzzled look. + +Later, as soon as I was relieved, I hurried down to the 'Prentice's +berth. I was anxious to speak to Tammy. There were a dozen questions +that worried me, and I was in doubt what I ought to do. I found him +crouched on a sea-chest, his knees up to his chin, and his gaze fixed on +the doorway, with a frightened stare. I put my head into the berth, and +he gave a gasp; then he saw who it was, and his face relaxed something +of its strained expression. + +He said: "Come in," in a low voice, which he tried to steady; and I +stepped over the wash-board, and sat down on a chest, facing him. + +"What was _it?_" he asked; putting his feet down on to the deck, and +leaning forward. "For God's sake, tell me what it was!" + +His voice had risen, and I put up my hand to warn him. + +"H'sh!" I said. "You'll wake the other fellows." + +He repeated his question, but in a lower tone. I hesitated, before +answering him. I felt, all at once, that it might be better to deny all +knowledge--to say I hadn't seen anything unusual. I thought quickly, and +made answer on the turn of the moment. + +"What was _what?_" I said. "That's just the thing I've come to ask you. +A pretty pair of fools you made of the two of us up on the poop just +now, with your hysterical tomfoolery." + +I concluded my remark in a tone of anger. + +"I didn't!" he answered, in a passionate whisper. "You know I didn't. +You know _you_ saw it yourself. You pointed it out to the Second Mate. I +saw you." + +The little beggar was nearly crying between fear, and vexation at my +assumed unbelief. + +"Rot!" I replied. "You know jolly well you were sleeping in your +time-keeping. You dreamed something and woke up suddenly. You were off +your chump." + +I was determined to reassure him, if possible; though, goodness! I +wanted assurance myself. If he had known of that other thing, I had seen +down on the maindeck, what then? + +"I wasn't asleep, any more than you were," he said, bitterly. "And you +know it. You're just fooling me. The ship's haunted." + +"What!" I said, sharply. + +"She's haunted," he said, again. "She's haunted." + +"Who says so?" I inquired, in a tone of unbelief. + +"I do! And you _know_ it. Everybody knows it; but they don't more than +half believe it ... I didn't, until tonight." + +"Damned rot!" I answered. "That's all a blooming old shellback's yarn. +She's no more haunted than I am." + +"It's not damned rot," he replied, totally unconvinced. "And it's not an +old shellback's yarn ... Why won't you say you saw it?" he cried, +growing almost tearfully excited, and raising his voice again. + +I warned him not to wake the sleepers. + +"Why won't you say that you saw it?" he repeated. + +I got up from the chest, and went towards the door. + +"You're a young idiot!" I said. "And I should advise you not to go +gassing about like this, round the decks. Take my tip, and turn-in and +get a sleep. You're talking dotty. Tomorrow you'll perhaps feel what an +unholy ass you've made of yourself." + +I stepped over the washboard, and left him. I believe he followed me to +the door to say something further; but I was half-way forward by then. + +For the next couple of days, I avoided him as much as possible, taking +care never to let him catch me alone. I was determined, if possible, to +convince him that he had been mistaken in supposing that he had seen +anything that night. Yet, after all, it was little enough use, as you +will soon see. For, on the night of the second day, there was a further +extraordinary development, that made denial on my part useless. + + + + +III + + +The Man up the Main + + +It occurred in the first watch, just after six bells. I was forward, +sitting on the fore-hatch. No one was about the maindeck. The night was +exceedingly fine; and the wind had dropped away almost to nothing, so +that the ship was very quiet. + +Suddenly, I heard the Second Mate's voice-- + +"In the main-rigging, there! Who's that going aloft?" + +I sat up on the hatch, and listened. There succeeded an intense silence. +Then the Second's voice came again. He was evidently getting wild. + +"Do you damn well hear me? What the hell are you doing up there? Come +down!" + +I rose to my feet, and walked up to wind'ard. From there, I could see +the break of the poop. The Second Mate was standing by the starboard +ladder. He appeared to be looking up at something that was hidden from +me by the topsails. As I stared, he broke out again: + +"Hell and damnation, you blasted sojer, come down when I tell you!" + +He stamped on the poop, and repeated his order, savagely. But there was +no answer. I started to walk aft. What had happened? Who had gone aloft? +Who would be fool enough to go, without being told? And then, all at +once, a thought came to me. The figure Tammy and I had seen. Had the +Second Mate seen something--someone? I hurried on, and then stopped, +suddenly. In the same moment there came the shrill blast of the Second's +whistle; he was whistling for the watch, and I turned and ran to the +fo'cas'le to rouse them out. Another minute, and I was hurrying aft with +them to see what was wanted. + +His voice met us half-way: + +"Up the main some of you, smartly now, and find out who that damned fool +is up there. See what mischief he's up to." + +"i, i, Sir," several of the men sung out, and a couple jumped into the +weather rigging. I joined them, and the rest were proceeding to follow; +but the Second shouted for some to go up to leeward--in case the fellow +tried to get down that side. + +As I followed the other two aloft, I heard the Second Mate tell Tammy, +whose time-keeping it was, to get down on to the maindeck with the other +'prentice, and keep an eye on the fore and aft stays. + +"He may try down one of them if he's cornered," I heard him explain. "If +you see anything, just sing out for me, right away." + +Tammy hesitated. + +"Well?" said the Second Mate, sharply. + +"Nothing, Sir," said Tammy, and went down on to the maindeck. + +The first man to wind'ard had reached the futtock shrouds; his head was +above the top, and he was taking a preliminary look, before venturing +higher. + +"See anythin', Jock?" asked Plummer, the man next above me. + +"Na'!" said Jock, tersely, and climbed over the top, and so disappeared +from my sight. + +The fellow ahead of me, followed. He reached the futtock rigging, and +stopped to expectorate. I was close at his heels, and he looked down to +me. + +"What's up, anyway?" he said. "What's 'e seen? 'oo're we chasin' after?" + +I said I didn't know, and he swung up into the topmast rigging. I +followed on. The chaps on the lee side were about level with us. Under +the foot of the topsail, I could see Tammy and the other 'prentice down +on the maindeck, looking upwards. + +The fellows were a bit excited in a sort of subdued way; though I am +inclined to think there was far more curiosity and, perhaps, a certain +consciousness of the strangeness of it all. I know that, looking to +leeward, there was a tendancy to keep well together, in which I +sympathised. + +"Must be a bloomin' stowaway," one of the men suggested. + +I grabbed at the idea, instantly. Perhaps--And then, in a moment, I +dismissed it. I remembered how that first thing had stepped over the +rail _into the sea. That_ matter could not be explained in such a +manner. With regard to this, I was curious and anxious. I had seen +nothing this time. What could the Second Mate have seen? I wondered. +Were we chasing fancies, or was there really someone--something real, +among the shadows above us? My thoughts returned to that thing, Tammy +and I had seen near the log-reel. I remembered how incapable the Second +Mate had been of seeing anything then. I remembered how natural it had +seemed that he should not be able to see. I caught the word "stowaway" +again. After all, that might explain away _this_ affair. It would---- + +My train of thought was broken suddenly. One of the men was shouting and +gesticulating. + +"I sees 'im! I sees 'im!" He was pointing upwards over our heads. + +"Where?" said the man above me. "Where?" + +I was looking up, for all that I was worth. I was conscious of a certain +sense of relief. "It is _real_ then," I said to myself. I screwed my +head round, and looked along the yards above us. Yet, still I could see +nothing; nothing except shadows and patches of light. + +Down on deck, I caught the Second Mate's voice. + +"Have you got him?" he was shouting. + +"Not yet, Zur," sung out the lowest man on the lee side. + +"We sees 'im, Sir," added Quoin. + +"I don't!" I said. + +"There 'e is agen," he said. + +We had reached the t'gallant rigging, and he was pointing up to the +royal yard. + +"Ye're a fule, Quoin. That's what ye are." + +The voice came from above. It was Jock's, and there was a burst of +laughter at Quoin's expense. + +I could see Jock now. He was standing in the rigging, just below the +yard. He had gone straight away up, while the rest of us were mooning +over the top. + +"Ye're a fule, Quoin," he said, again, "And I'm thinking the Second's +juist as saft." + +He began to descend. + +"Then there's no one?" I asked. + +"Na'," he said, briefly. + +As we reached the deck, the Second Mate ran down off the poop. He came +towards us, with an expectant air. + +"You've got him?" he asked, confidently. + +"There wasn't anyone," I said. + +"What!" he nearly shouted. "You're hiding something!" he continued, +angrily, and glancing from one to another. "Out with it. Who was it?" + +"We're hiding nothing," I replied, speaking for the lot. "There's no one +up there." + +The Second looked round upon us. + +"Am I a fool?" he asked, contemptuously. + +There was an assenting silence. + +"I saw him myself," he continued. "Tammy, here, saw him. He wasn't over +the top when I first spotted him. There's no mistake about it. It's all +damned rot saying he's not there." + +"Well, he's not, Sir," I answered. "Jock went right up to the royal +yard." + +The Second Mate said nothing, in immediate reply; but went aft a few +steps and looked up the main. Then he turned to the two 'prentices. + +"Sure you two boys didn't see anyone coming down from the main?" he +inquired, suspiciously. + +"Yes, Sir," they answered together. + +"Anyway," I heard him mutter to himself, "I'd have spotted him myself, +if he had." + +"Have you any idea, Sir, who it was you saw?" I asked, at this juncture. + +He looked at me, keenly. + +"No!" he said. + +He thought for a few moments, while we all stood about in silence, +waiting for him to let us go. + +"By the holy poker!" he exclaimed, suddenly. "But I ought to have +thought of that before." + +He turned, and eyed us individually. + +"You're all here?" he asked. + +"Yes, Sir," we said in a chorus. I could see that he was counting us. +Then he spoke again. + +"All of you men stay here where you are. Tammy, you go into _your_ place +and see if the other fellows are in their bunks. Then come and tell me. +Smartly now!" + +The boy went, and he turned to the other 'prentice. + +"You get along forrard to the fo'cas'le," he said. "Count the other +watch; then come aft and report to me." + +As the youngster disappeared along the deck to the fo'cas'le, Tammy +returned from his visit to the Glory Hole, to tell the Second Mate that +the other two 'prentices were sound asleep in their bunks. Whereupon, +the Second bundled him off to the Carpenter's and Sailmaker's berth, to +see whether they were turned-in. + +While he was gone, the other boy came aft, and reported that all the men +were in their bunks, and asleep. + +"Sure?" the Second asked him. + +"Quite, Sir," he answered. + +The Second Mate made a quick gesture. + +"Go and see if the Steward is in his berth," he said, abruptly. It was +plain to me that he was tremendously puzzled. + +"You've something to learn yet, Mr. Second Mate," I thought to myself. +Then I fell to wondering to what conclusions he would come. + +A few seconds later, Tammy returned to say that the Carpenter, Sailmaker +and "Doctor" were all turned-in. + +The Second Mate muttered something, and told him to go down into the +saloon to see whether the First and Third Mates, by any chance, were not +in their berths. + +Tammy started off; then halted. + +"Shall I have a look into the Old Man's place, Sir, while I'm down +there?" he inquired. + +"No!" said the Second Mate. "Do what I told you, and then come and tell +me. If anyone's to go into the Captain's cabin, it's got to be me." + +Tammy said "i, i, Sir," and skipped away, up on to the poop. + +While he was gone, the other 'prentice came up to say that the Steward +was in his berth, and that he wanted to know what the hell he was +fooling round his part of the ship for. + +The Second Mate said nothing, for nearly a minute. Then he turned to us, +and told us we might go forrard. + +As we moved off in a body, and talking in undertones, Tammy came down +from the poop, and went up to the Second Mate. I heard him say that the +two Mates were in their berths, asleep. Then he added, as if it were an +afterthought-- + +"So's the Old Man." + +"I thought I told you--" the Second Mate began. + +"I didn't, Sir," Tammy said. "His cabin door was open." + +The Second Mate started to go aft. I caught a fragment of a remark he +was making to Tammy. + +"--accounted for the whole crew. I'm--" + +He went up on to the poop. I did not catch the rest. + +I had loitered a moment; now, however, I hurried after the others. As we +neared the fo'cas'le, one bell went, and we roused out the other watch, +and told them what jinks we had been up to. + +"I rec'on 'e must be rocky," one of the men remarked. + +"Not 'im," said another, "'e's bin 'avin' forty winks on the break, an' +dreemed 'is mother-en-lore 'ad come on 'er visit, friendly like." + +There was some laughter at this suggestion, and I caught myself smiling +along with the rest; though I had no reason for sharing their belief, +that there was nothing in it all. + +"Might 'ave been a stowaway, yer know," I heard Quoin, the one who had +suggested it before, remark to one of the A.B's named Stubbins--a short, +rather surly-looking chap. + +"Might have been hell!" returned Stubbins. "Stowaways hain't such fools +as all that." + +"I dunno," said the first. "I wish I 'ad arsked the Second what 'e +thought about it." + +"I don't think it was a stowaway, somehow," I said, chipping in. "What +would a stowaway want aloft? I guess he'd be trying more for the +Steward's pantry." + +"You bet he would, hevry time," said Stubbins. He lit his pipe, and +sucked at it, slowly. + +"I don't hunderstand it, all ther same," he remarked, after a moment's +silence. + +"Neither do I," I said. And after that I was quiet for a while, +listening to the run of conversation on the subject. + +Presently, my glance fell upon Williams, the man who had spoken to me +about "shadders." He was sitting in his bunk, smoking, and making no +effort to join in the talk. + +I went across to him. + +"What do you think of it, Williams?" I asked. "Do _you_ think the Second +Mate really saw anything?" + +He looked at me, with a sort of gloomy suspicion; but said nothing. + +I felt a trifle annoyed by his silence; but took care not to show it. +After a few moments, I went on. + +"Do you know, Williams, I'm beginning to understand what you meant that +night, when you said there were too many shadows." + +"Wot yer mean?" he said, pulling his pipe from out of his mouth, and +fairly surprised into answering. + +"What I say, of course," I said. "There _are_ too many shadows." + +He sat up, and leant forward out from his bunk, extending his hand and +pipe. His eyes plainly showed his excitement. + +"'ave yer seen--" he hesitated, and looked at me, struggling inwardly to +express himself. + +"Well?" I prompted. + +For perhaps a minute he tried to say something. Then his expression +altered suddenly from doubt, and something else more indefinite, to a +pretty grim look of determination. + +He spoke. + +"I'm blimed," he said, "ef I don't tike er piy-diy out of 'er, shadders +or no shadders." + +I looked at him, with astonishment. + +"What's it got to do with your getting a pay-day out of her?" I asked. + +He nodded his head, with a sort of stolid resolution. + +"Look 'ere," he said. + +I waited. + +"Ther crowd cleared"; he indicated with his hand and pipe towards the +stern. + +"You mean in 'Frisco?" I said. + +"Yus," he replied; "'an withart er cent of ther piy. I styied." + +I comprehended him suddenly. + +"You think they saw," I hesitated; then I said "shadows?" + +He nodded; but said nothing. + +"And so they all bunked?" + +He nodded again, and began tapping out his pipe on the edge of his +bunk-board. + +"And the officers and the Skipper?" I asked. + +"Fresh uns," he said, and got out of his bunk; for eight bells was +striking. + + + + +IV + + +_The Fooling with the Sail_ + + +It was on the Friday night, that the Second Mate had the watch aloft +looking for the man up the main; and for the next five days little else +was talked about; though, with the exception of Williams, Tammy and +myself, no one seemed to think of treating the matter seriously. Perhaps +I should not exclude Quoin, who still persisted, on every occasion, that +there was a stowaway aboard. As for the Second Mate, I have very little +doubt _now_, but that he was beginning to realise there was something +deeper and less understandable than he had at first dreamed of. Yet, all +the same, I know he had to keep his guesses and half-formed opinions +pretty well to himself; for the Old Man and the First Mate chaffed him +unmercifully about his "bogy." This, I got from Tammy, who had heard +them both ragging him during the second dog-watch the following day. +There was another thing Tammy told me, that showed how the Second Mate +bothered about his inability to understand the mysterious appearance and +disappearance of the man he had seen go aloft. He had made Tammy give +him every detail he could remember about the figure we had seen by the +log-reel. What is more, the Second had not even affected to treat the +matter lightly, nor as a thing to be sneered at; but had listened +seriously, and asked a great many questions. It is very evident to me +that he was reaching out towards the only possible conclusion. Though, +goodness knows, it was one that was impossible and improbable enough. + +It was on the Wednesday night, after the five days of talk I have +mentioned, that there came, to me and to those who _knew_, another +element of fear. And yet, I can quite understand that, at _that_ time, +those who had seen nothing, would find little to be afraid of, in all +that I am going to tell you. Still, even they were much puzzled and +astonished, and perhaps, after all, a little awed. There was so much in +the affair that was inexplicable, and yet again such a lot that was +natural and commonplace. For, when all is said and done, it was nothing +more than the blowing adrift of one of the sails; yet accompanied by +what were really significant details--significant, that is, in the light +of that which Tammy and I and the Second Mate knew. + +Seven bells, and then one, had gone in the first watch, and our side was +being roused out to relieve the Mate's. Most of the men were already out +of their bunks, and sitting about on their sea-chests, getting into +their togs. + +Suddenly, one of the 'prentices in the other watch, put his head in +through the doorway on the port side. + +"The Mate wants to know," he said, "which of you chaps made fast the +fore royal, last watch." + +"Wot's 'e want to know that for?" inquired one of the men. + +"The lee side's blowing adrift," said the 'prentice. "And he says that +the chap who made it fast is to go up and see to it as soon as the watch +is relieved." + +"Oh! does 'e? Well 'twasn't me, any'ow," replied the man. "You'd better +arsk sum of t'others." + +"Ask what?" inquired Plummer, getting out of his bunk, sleepily. + +The 'prentice repeated his message. + +The man yawned and stretched himself. + +"Let me see," he muttered, and scratched his head with one hand, while +he fumbled for his trousers with the other. "'oo made ther fore r'yal +fast?" He got into his trousers, and stood up. "Why, ther Or'nary, er +course; 'oo else do yer suppose?" + +"That's all I wanted to know!" said the 'prentice, and went away. + +"Hi! Tom!" Stubbins sung out to the Ordinary. "Wake up, you lazy young +devil. Ther Mate's just sent to hinquire who it was made the fore royal +fast. It's all blowin' adrift, and he says you're to get along up as +soon as eight bells goes, and make it fast again." + +Tom jumped out of his bunk, and began to dress, quickly. + +"Blowin' adrift!" he said. "There ain't all that much wind; and I tucked +the ends of the gaskets well in under the other turns." + +"P'raps one of ther gaskets is rotten, and given way," suggested +Stubbins. "Anyway, you'd better hurry up, it's just on eight bells." + +A minute later, eight bells went, and we trooped away aft for roll-call. +As soon as the names were called over, I saw the Mate lean towards the +Second and say something. Then the Second Mate sung out: + +"Tom!" + +"Sir!" answered Tom. + +"Was it you made fast that fore royal, last watch?" + +"Yes, Sir." + +"How's that it's broken adrift?" + +"Carn't say, Sir." + +"Well, it has, and you'd better jump aloft and shove the gasket round it +again. And mind you make a better job of it this time." + +"i, i, Sir," said Tom, and followed the rest of us forrard. Reaching the +fore rigging, he climbed into it, and began to make his way leisurely +aloft. I could see him with a fair amount of distinctness, as the moon +was very clear and bright, though getting old. + +I went over to the weather pin-rail, and leaned up against it, watching +him, while I filled my pipe. The other men, both the watch on deck and +the watch below, had gone into the fo'cas'le, so that I imagined I was +the only one about the maindeck. Yet, a minute later, I discovered that +I was mistaken; for, as I proceeded to light up, I saw Williams, the +young cockney, come out from under the lee of the house, and turn and +look up at the Ordinary as he went steadily upwards. I was a little +surprised, as I knew he and three of the others had a "poker fight" on, +and he'd won over sixty pounds of tobacco. I believe I opened my mouth +to sing out to him to know why he wasn't playing; and then, all at once, +there came into my mind the memory of my first conversation with him. I +remembered that he had said sails were always blowing adrift _at night_. +I remembered the, then, unaccountable emphasis he had laid on those two +words; and remembering that, I felt suddenly afraid. For, all at once, +the absurdity had struck me of a sail--even a badly stowed one--blowing +adrift in such fine and calm weather as we were then having. I wondered +I had not seen before that there was something queer and unlikely about +the affair. Sails don't blow adrift in fine weather, with the sea calm +and the ship as steady as a rock. I moved away from the rail and went +towards Williams. He knew something, or, at least, he guessed at +something that was very much a blankness to me at that time. Up above, +the boy was climbing up, to what? That was the thing that made me feel +so frightened. Ought I to tell all I knew and guessed? And then, who +should I tell? I should only be laughed at--I-- + +Williams turned towards me, and spoke. + +"Gawd!" he said, "it's started agen!" + +"What?" I said. Though I knew what he meant. + +"Them syles," he answered, and made a gesture towards the fore royal. + +I glanced up, briefly. All the lee side of the sail was adrift, from the +bunt gasket outwards. Lower, I saw Tom; he was just hoisting himself +into the t'gallant rigging. + +Williams spoke again. + +"We lost two on 'em just sime way, comin' art." + +"Two of the men!" I exclaimed. + +"Yus!" he said tersely. + +"I can't understand," I went on. "I never heard anything about it." + +"Who'd yer got ter tell yer abart it?" he asked. + +I made no reply to his question; indeed, I had scarcely comprehended it, +for the problem of what I ought to do in the matter had risen again in +my mind. + +"I've a good mind to go aft and tell the Second Mate all I know," I +said. "He's seen something himself that he can't explain away, and--and +anyway I can't stand this state of things. If the Second Mate knew all--" + +"Garn!" he cut in, interrupting me. "An' be told yer're a blastid +hidiot. Not yer. Yer sty were yer are." + +I stood irresolute. What he had said, was perfectly correct, and I was +positively stumped what to do for the best. That there was danger aloft, +I was convinced; though if I had been asked my reasons for supposing +this, they would have been hard to find. Yet of its existence, I was as +certain as though my eyes already saw it. I wondered whether, being so +ignorant of the form it would assume, I could stop it by joining Tom on +the yard? This thought came as I stared up at the royal. Tom had reached +the sail, and was standing on the foot-rope, close in to the bunt. He +was bending over the yard, and reaching down for the slack of the sail. +And then, as I looked, I saw the belly of the royal tossed up and down +abruptly, as though a sudden heavy gust of wind had caught it. + +"I'm blimed--!" Williams began, with a sort of excited expectation. And +then he stopped as abruptly as he had begun. For, in a moment, the sail +had thrashed right over the after side of the yard, apparently knocking +Tom clean from off the foot-rope. + +"My God!" I shouted out loud. "He's gone!" + +For an instant there was a blur over my eyes, and Williams was singing +out something that I could not catch. Then, just as quickly, it went, +and I could see again, clearly. + +Williams was pointing, and I saw something black, swinging below the +yard. Williams called out something fresh, and made a run for the fore +rigging. I caught the last part---- + +"--ther garskit." + +Straightway, I knew that Tom had managed to grab the gasket as he fell, +and I bolted after Williams to give him a hand in getting the youngster +into safety. + +Down on deck, I caught the sound of running feet, and then the Second +Mate's voice. He was asking what the devil was up; but I did not trouble +to answer him then. I wanted all my breath to help me aloft. I knew very +well that some of the gaskets were little better than old shakins; and, +unless Tom got hold of something on the t'gallant yard below him, he +might come down with a run any moment. I reached the top, and lifted +myself over it in quick time. Williams was some distance above me. In +less than half a minute, I reached the t'gallant yard. Williams had gone +up on to the royal. I slid out on to the t'gallant foot-rope until I was +just below Tom; then I sung out to him to let himself down to me, and I +would catch him. He made no answer, and I saw that he was hanging in a +curiously limp fashion, and by one hand. + +Williams's voice came down to me from the royal yard. He was singing out +to me to go up and give him a hand to pull Tom up on to the yard. When I +reached him, he told me that the gasket had hitched itself round the +lad's wrist. I bent beside the yard, and peered down. It was as Williams +had said, and I realised how near a thing it had been. Strangely enough, +even at that moment, the thought came to me how little wind there was. I +remembered the wild way in which the sail had lashed at the boy. + +All this time, I was busily working, unreeving the port buntline. I took +the end, made a running bowline with it round the gasket, and let the +loop slide down over the boy's head and shoulders. Then I took a strain +on it and tightened it under his arms. A minute later we had him safely +on the yard between us. In the uncertain moonlight, I could just make +out the mark of a great lump on his forehead, where the foot of the sail +must have caught him when it knocked him over. + +As we stood there a moment, taking our breath, I caught the sound of the +Second Mate's voice close beneath us. Williams glanced down; then he +looked up at me and gave a short, grunting laugh. + +"Crikey!" he said. + +"What's up?" I asked, quickly. + +He jerked his head backwards and downwards. I screwed round a bit, +holding the jackstay with one hand, and steadying the insensible +Ordinary with the other. In this way I could look below. At first, I +could see nothing. Then the Second Mate's voice came up to me again. + +"Who the hell are you? What are you doing?" + +I saw him now. He was standing at the foot of the weather t'gallant +rigging, his face was turned upwards, peering round the after side of +the mast. It showed to me only as a blurred, pale-coloured oval in the +moonlight. + +He repeated his question. + +"It's Williams and I, Sir," I said. "Tom, here, has had an accident." + +I stopped. He began to come up higher towards us. From the rigging to +leeward there came suddenly a buzz of men talking. + +The Second Mate reached us. + +"Well, what's up, anyway?" he inquired, suspiciously. "What's happened?" + +He had bent forward, and was peering at Tom. I started to explain; but +he cut me short with: + +"Is he dead?" + +"No, Sir," I said. "I don't think so; but the poor beggar's had a bad +fall. He was hanging by the gasket when we got to him. The sail knocked +him off the yard." + +"What?" he said, sharply. + +"The wind caught the sail, and it lashed back over the yard--" + +"What wind?" he interrupted. "There's no wind, scarcely." He shifted his +weight on to the other foot. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean what I say, Sir. The wind brought the foot of the sail over the +top of the yard and knocked Tom clean off the foot-rope. Williams and I +both saw it happen." + +"But there's no wind to do such a thing; you're talking nonsense!" + +It seemed to me that there was as much of bewilderment as anything else +in his voice; yet I could tell that he was suspicious--though, of what, +I doubted whether he himself could have told. + +He glanced at Williams, and seemed about to say something. Then, seeming +to change his mind, he turned, and sung out to one of the men who had +followed him aloft, to go down and pass out a coil of new, three-inch +manilla, and a tailblock. + +"Smartly now!" he concluded. + +"i, i, Sir," said the man, and went down swiftly. + +The Second Mate turned to me. + +"When you've got Tom below, I shall want a better explanation of all +this, than the one you've given me. It won't wash." + +"Very well, Sir," I answered. "But you won't get any other." + +"What do you mean?" he shouted at me. "I'll let you know I'll have no +impertinence from you or any one else." + +"I don't mean any impertinence, Sir--I mean that it's the only +explanation there is to give." + +"I tell you it won't wash!" he repeated. "There's something too damned +funny about it all. I shall have to report the matter to the Captain. I +can't tell him that yarn--" He broke off abruptly. + +"It's not the only damned funny thing that's happened aboard this old +hooker," I answered. "You ought to know that, Sir." + +"What do you mean?" he asked, quickly. + +"Well, Sir," I said, "to be straight, what about that chap you sent us +hunting after up the main the other night? That was a funny enough +affair, wasn't it? This one isn't half so funny." + +"That will do, Jessop!" he said, angrily. "I won't have any back talk." +Yet there was something about his tone that told me I had got one in on +my own. He seemed all at once less able to appear confident that I was +telling him a fairy tale. + +After that, for perhaps half a minute, he said nothing. I guessed he was +doing some hard thinking. When he spoke again it was on the matter of +getting the Ordinary down on deck. + +"One of you'll have to go down the lee side and steady him down," he +concluded. + +He turned and looked downwards. + +"Are you bringing that gantline?" he sang out. + +"Yes, Sir," I heard one of the men answer. + +A moment later, I saw the man's head appear over the top. He had the +tail-block slung round his neck, and the end of the gantline over his +shoulder. + +Very soon we had the gantline rigged, and Tom down on deck. Then we took +him into the fo'cas'le and put him in his bunk. The Second Mate had sent +for some brandy, and now he started to dose him well with it. At the +same time a couple of the men chafed his hands and feet. In a little, he +began to show signs of coming round. Presently, after a sudden fit of +coughing, he opened his eyes, with a surprised, bewildered stare. Then +he caught at the edge of his bunk-board, and sat up, giddily. One of the +men steadied him, while the Second Mate stood back, and eyed him, +critically. The boy rocked as he sat, and put up his hand to his head. + +"Here," said the Second Mate, "take another drink." + +Tom caught his breath and choked a little; then he spoke. + +"By gum!" he said, "my head does ache." + +He put up his hand, again, and felt at the lump on his forehead. Then he +bent forward and stared round at the men grouped about his bunk. + +"What's up?" he inquired, in a confused sort of way, and seeming as if +he could not see us clearly. + +"What's up?" he asked again. + +"That's just what I want to know!" said the Second Mate, speaking for +the first time with some sternness. + +"I ain't been snoozin' while there's been a job on?" Tom inquired, +anxiously. + +He looked round at the men appealingly. + +"It's knocked 'im dotty, strikes me," said one of the men, audibly. + +"No," I said, answering Tom's question, "you've had--" + +"Shut that, Jessop!" said the Second Mate, quickly, interrupting me. "I +want to hear what the boy's got to say for himself." + +He turned again to Tom. + +"You were up at the fore royal," he prompted. + +"I carn't say I was, Sir," said Tom, doubtfully. I could see that he had +not gripped the Second Mate's meaning. + +"But you were!" said the Second, with some impatience. "It was blowing +adrift, and I sent you up to shove a gasket round it." + +"Blowin' adrift, Sir?" said Tom, dully. + +"Yes! blowing adrift. Don't I speak plainly?" + +The dullness went from Tom's face, suddenly. + +"So it was, Sir," he said, his memory returning. "The bloomin' sail got +chock full of wind. It caught me bang in the face." + +He paused a moment. + +"I believe--" he began, and then stopped once more. + +"Go on!" said the Second Mate. "Spit it out!" + +"I don't know, Sir," Tom said. "I don't understand--" + +He hesitated again. + +"That's all I can remember," he muttered, and put his hand up to the +bruise on his forehead, as though trying to remember something. + +In the momentary silence that succeeded, I caught the voice of Stubbins. + +"There hain't hardly no wind," he was saying, in a puzzled tone. + +There was a low murmur of assent from the surrounding men. + +The Second Mate said nothing, and I glanced at him, curiously. Was he +beginning to see, I wondered, how useless it was to try to find any +sensible explanation of the affair? Had he begun at last to couple it +with that peculiar business of the man up the main? I am inclined _now_ +to think that this was so; for, after staring a few moments at Tom, in a +doubtful sort of way, he went out of the fo'cas'le, saying that he would +inquire further into the matter in the morning. Yet, when the morning +came, he did no such thing. As for his reporting the affair to the +Skipper, I much doubt it. Even did he, it must have been in a very +casual way; for we heard nothing more about it; though, of course, we +talked it over pretty thoroughly among ourselves. + +With regard to the Second Mate, even now I am rather puzzled by his +attitude to us aloft. Sometimes I have thought that he must have +suspected us of trying to play off some trick on him--perhaps, at the +time, he still half suspected one of us of being in some way connected +with the other business. Or, again, he may have been trying to fight +against the conviction that was being forced upon him, that there was +really something impossible and beastly about the old packet. Of course, +these are only suppositions. + +And then, close upon this, there were further developments. + + + + +V + + +_The End of Williams_ + +As I have said, there was a lot of talk, among the crowd of us forrard, +about Tom's strange accident. None of the men knew that Williams and I +had seen it _happen_. Stubbins gave it as his opinion that Tom had been +sleepy, and missed the foot-rope. Tom, of course, would not have this by +any means. Yet, he had no one to appeal to; for, at that time, he was +just as ignorant as the rest, that we had seen the sail flap up over the +yard. + +Stubbins insisted that it stood to reason it couldn't be the wind. There +wasn't any, he said; and the rest of the men agreed with him. + +"Well," I said, "I don't know about all that. I'm a bit inclined to +think Tom's yarn is the truth." + +"How do you make that hout?" Stubbins asked, unbelievingly. "There haint +nothin' like enough wind." + +"What about the place on his forehead?" I inquired, in turn. "How are +you going to explain that?" + +"I 'spect he knocked himself there when he slipped," he answered. + +"Likely 'nuffli," agreed old Jaskett, who was sitting smoking on a chest +near by. + +"Well, you're both a damn long way out of it!" Tom chipped in, pretty +warm. "I wasn't asleep; an' the sail did bloomin' well hit me." + +"Don't you be impertinent, young feller," said Jaskett. + +I joined in again. + +"There's another thing, Stubbins," I said. "The gasket Tom was hanging +by, was on the after side of the yard. That looks as if the sail might +have flapped it over? If there were wind enough to do the one, it seems +to me that it might have done the other." + +"Do you mean that it was hunder ther yard, or hover ther top?" he asked. + +"Over the top, of course. What's more, the foot of the sail was hanging +over the after part of the yard, in a bight." + +Stubbins was plainly surprised at that, and before he was ready with his +next objection, Plummer spoke. + +"'oo saw it?" he asked. + +"I saw it!" I said, a bit sharply. "So did Williams; so--for that +matter--did the Second Mate." + +Plummer relapsed into silence; and smoked; and Stubbins broke out +afresh. + +"I reckon Tom must have had a hold of the foot and the gasket, and +pulled 'em hover the yard when he tumbled." + +"No!" interrupted Tom. "The gasket was under the sail. I couldn't even +see it. An' I hadn't time to get hold of the foot of the sail, before it +up and caught me smack in the face." + +"'ow did yer get 'old er ther gasket, when yer fell, then?" asked +Plummer. + +"He didn't get hold of it," I answered for Tom. "It had taken a turn +round his wrist, and that's how we found him hanging." + +"Do you mean to say as 'e 'adn't got 'old of ther garsket?," Quoin +inquired, pausing in the lighting of his pipe. + +"Of course, I do," I said. "A chap doesn't go hanging on to a rope when +he's jolly well been knocked senseless." + +"Ye're richt," assented Jock. "Ye're quite richt there, Jessop." + +Quoin concluded the lighting of his pipe. + +"I dunno," he said. + +I went on, without noticing him. + +"Anyway, when Williams and I found him, he was hanging by the gasket, +and it had a couple of turns round his wrist. And besides that, as I +said before, the foot of the sail was hanging over the after side of the +yard, and Tom's weight on the gasket was holding it there." + +"It's damned queer," said Stubbins, in a puzzled voice. "There don't +seem to be no way of gettin' a proper hexplanation to it." + +I glanced at Williams, to suggest that I should tell all that we had +seen; but he shook his head, and, after a moment's thought, it seemed to +me that there was nothing to be gained by so doing. We had no very clear +idea of the thing that had happened, and our half facts and guesses +would only have tended to make the matter appear more grotesque and +unlikely. The only thing to be done was to wait and watch. If we could +only get hold of something tangible, then we might hope to tell all that +we knew, without being made into laughing-stocks. + +I came out from my think, abruptly. + +Stubbins was speaking again. He was arguing the matter with one of the +other men. + +"You see, with there bein' no wind, scarcely, ther thing's himpossible, +an' yet--" + +The other man interrupted with some remark I did not catch. + +"No," I heard Stubbins say. "I'm hout of my reckonin'. I don't savvy it +one bit. It's too much like a damned fairy tale." + +"Look at his wrist!" I said. + +Tom held out his right hand and arm for inspection. It was considerably +swollen where the rope had been round it. + +"Yes," admitted Stubbins. "That's right enough; but it don't tell you +nothin'." + +I made no reply. As Stubbins said, it told you "nothin'." And there I +let it drop. Yet, I have told you this, as showing how the matter was +regarded in the fo'cas'le. Still, it did not occupy our minds very long; +for, as I have said, there were further developments. + +The three following nights passed quietly; and then, on the fourth, all +those curious signs and hints culminated suddenly in something +extraordinarily grim. Yet, everything had been so subtle and intangible, +and, indeed, so was the affair itself, that only those who had actually +come in touch with the invading fear, seemed really capable of +comprehending the terror of the thing. The men, for the most part, began +to say the ship was unlucky, and, of course, as usual! there was some +talk of there being a Jonah in the ship. Still, I cannot say that none +of the men realised there was anything horrible and frightening in it +all; for I am sure that some did, a little; and I think Stubbins was +certainly one of them; though I feel certain that he did not, at that +time, you know, grasp a quarter of the real significance that underlay +the several queer matters that had disturbed our nights. He seemed to +fail, somehow, to grasp the element of personal danger that, to me, was +already plain. He lacked sufficient imagination, I suppose, to piece the +things together--to trace the natural sequence of the events, and their +development. Yet I must not forget, of course, that he had no knowledge +of those two first incidents. If he had, perhaps he might have stood +where I did. As it was, he had not seemed to reach out at all, you know, +not even in the matter of Tom and the fore royal. Now, however, after +the thing I am about to tell you, he seemed to see a little way into the +darkness, and realise possibilities. + +I remember the fourth night, well. It was a clear, star-lit, moonless +sort of night: at least, I think there was no moon; or, at any rate, the +moon could have been little more than a thin crescent, for it was near +the dark time. + +The wind had breezed up a bit; but still remained steady. We were +slipping along at about six or seven knots an hour. It was our middle +watch on deck, and the ship was full of the blow and hum of the wind +aloft. Williams and I were the only ones about the maindeck. He was +leaning over the weather pin-rail, smoking; while I was pacing up and +down, between him and the fore hatch. Stubbins was on the look-out. + +Two bells had gone some minutes, and I was wishing to goodness that it +was eight, and time to turn-in. Suddenly, overhead, there sounded a +sharp crack, like the report of a rifle shot. It was followed instantly +by the rattle and crash of sailcloth thrashing in the wind. + +Williams jumped away from the rail, and ran aft a few steps. I followed +him, and, together, we stared upwards to see what had gone. +Indistinctly, I made out that the weather sheet of the fore t'gallant +had carried away, and the clew of the sail was whirling and banging +about in the air, and, every few moments, hitting the steel yard a blow, +like the thump of a great sledge hammer. + +"It's the shackle, or one of the links that's gone, I think," I shouted +to Williams, above the noise of the sail. "That's the spectacle that's +hitting the yard." + +"Yus!" he shouted back, and went to get hold of the clewline. I ran to +give him a hand. At the same moment, I caught the Second Mate's voice +away aft, shouting. Then came the noise of running feet, and the rest of +the watch, and the Second Mate, were with us almost at the same moment. +In a few minutes we had the yard lowered and the sail clewed up. Then +Williams and I went aloft to see where the sheet had gone. It was much +as I had supposed; the spectacle was all right, but the pin had gone out +of the shackle, and the shackle itself was jammed into the sheavehole in +the yard arm. + +Williams sent me down for another pin, while he unbent the clewline, and +overhauled it down to the sheet. When I returned with the fresh pin, I +screwed it into the shackle, clipped on the clewline, and sung out to +the men to take a pull on the rope. This they did, and at the second +heave the shackle came away. When it was high enough, I went up on to +the t'gallant yard, and held the chain, while Williams shackled it into +the spectacle. Then he bent on the clewline afresh, and sung out to the +Second Mate that we were ready to hoist away. + +"Yer'd better go down an' give 'em a 'aul," he said. "I'll sty an' light +up ther syle." + +"Right ho, Williams," I said, getting into the rigging. "Don't let the +ship's bogy run away with you." + +This remark I made in a moment of light-heartedness, such as will come +to anyone aloft, at times. I was exhilarated for the time being, and +quite free from the sense of fear that had been with me so much of late. +I suppose this was due to the freshness of the wind. + +"There's more'n one!" he said, in that curiously short way of his. + +"What?" I asked. + +He repeated his remark. + +I was suddenly serious. The _reality_ of all the impossible details of +the past weeks came back to me, vivid, and beastly. + +"What do you mean, Williams?" I asked him. + +But he had shut up, and would say nothing. + +"What do you know--how much do you know?" I went on, quickly. "Why did +you never tell me that you--" + +The Second Mate's voice interrupted me, abruptly: + +"Now then, up there! Are you going to keep us waiting all night? One of +you come down and give us a pull with the ha'lyards. The other stay up +and light up the gear." + +"i, i, Sir," I shouted back. + +Then I turned to Williams, hurriedly. + +"Look here, Williams," I said. "If you think there is _really_ a danger +in your being alone up here--" I hesitated for words to express what I +meant. Then I went on. "Well, I'll jolly well stay up with you." + +The Second Mate's voice came again. + +"Come on now, one of you! Make a move! What the hell are you doing?" + +"Coming, Sir!" I sung out. + +"Shall I stay?" I asked definitely. + +"Garn!" he said. "Don't yer fret yerself. I'll tike er bloomin' piy-diy +out of 'er. Blarst 'em. I ain't funky of 'em." + +I went. That was the last word Williams spoke to anyone living. + +I reached the decks, and tailed on to the haulyards. + +We had nearly mast-headed the yard, and the Second Mate was looking up +at the dark outline of the sail, ready to sing out "Belay"; when, all at +once, there came a queer sort of muffled shout from Williams. + +"Vast hauling, you men," shouted the Second Mate. + +We stood silent, and listened. + +"What's that, Williams?" he sung out. "Are you all clear?" + +For nearly half a minute we stood, listening; but there came no reply. +Some of the men said afterwards that they had noticed a curious rattling +and vibrating noise aloft that sounded faintly above the hum and swirl +of the wind. Like the sound of loose ropes being shaken and slatted +together, you know. Whether this noise was really heard, or whether it +was something that had no existence outside of their imaginations, I +cannot say. I heard nothing of it; but then I was at the tail end of the +rope, and furthest from the fore rigging; while those who heard it were +on the fore part of the haulyards, and close up to the shrouds. + +The Second Mate put his hands to his mouth. + +"Are you all clear there?" he shouted again. + +The answer came, unintelligible and unexpected. It ran like this: + +"Blarst yer ... I've styed ... Did yer think ... drive ... bl--y +piy-diy." And then there was a sudden silence. + +I stared up at the dim sail, astonished. + +"He's dotty!" said Stubbins, who had been told to come off the look-out +and give us a pull. + +"'e's as mad as a bloomin' 'atter," said Quoin, who was standing +foreside of me. "'e's been queer all along." + +"Silence there!" shouted the Second Mate. Then: + +"Williams!" + +No answer. + +"Williams!" more loudly. + +Still no answer. + +Then: + +"Damn you, you jumped-up cockney crocodile! Can't you hear? Are you +blooming-well deaf?" + +There was no answer, and the Second Mate turned to me. + +"Jump aloft, smartly now, Jessop, and see what's wrong!" + +"i, i, Sir," I said and made a run for the rigging. I felt a bit queer. +Had Williams gone mad? He certainly always had been a bit funny. Or--and +the thought came with a jump--had he seen--I did not finish. Suddenly, +up aloft, there sounded a frightful scream. I stopped, with my hand on +the sheerpole. The next instant, something fell out of the darkness--a +heavy body, that struck the deck near the waiting men, with a tremendous +crash and a loud, ringing, wheezy sound that sickened me. Several of the +men shouted out loud in their fright, and let go of the haulyards; but +luckily the stopper held it, and the yard did not come down. Then, for +the space of several seconds, there was a dead silence among the crowd; +and it seemed to me that the wind had in it a strange moaning note. + +The Second Mate was the first to speak. His voice came so abruptly that +it startled me. + +"Get a light, one of you, quick now!" + +There was a moment's hesitation. + +"Fetch one of the binnacle lamps, you, Tammy." + +"i, i, Sir," the youngster said, in a quavering voice, and ran aft. + +In less than a minute I saw the light coming towards us along the deck. +The boy was running. He reached us, and handed the lamp to the Second +Mate, who took it and went towards the dark, huddled heap on the deck. +He held the light out before him, and peered at the thing. + +"My God!" he said. "It's Williams!" + +He stooped lower with the light, and I saw details. It was Williams +right enough. The Second Mate told a couple of the men to lift him and +straighten him out on the hatch. Then he went aft to call the Skipper. +He returned in a couple of minutes with an old ensign which he spread +over the poor beggar. Almost directly, the Captain came hurrying forward +along the decks. He pulled back one end of the ensign, and looked; then +he put it back quietly, and the Second Mate explained all that we knew, +in a few words. + +"Would you leave him where he is, Sir?" he asked, after he had told +everything. + +"The night's fine," said the Captain. "You may as well leave the poor +devil there." + +He turned, and went aft, slowly. The man who was holding the light, +swept it round so that it showed the place where Williams had struck the +deck. + +The Second Mate spoke abruptly. + +"Get a broom and a couple of buckets, some of you." + +He turned sharply, and ordered Tammy on to the poop. + +As soon as he had seen the yard mast-headed, and the ropes cleared up, +he followed Tammy. He knew well enough that it would not do for the +youngster to let his mind dwell too much on the poor chap on the hatch, +and I found out, a little later, that he gave the boy something to +occupy his thoughts. + +After they had gone aft, we went into the fo'cas'le. Every one was moody +and frightened. For a little while, we sat about in our bunks and on the +chests, and no one said a word. The watch below were all asleep, and not +one of them knew what had happened. + +All at once, Plummer, whose wheel it was, stepped over the starboard +washboard, into the fo'cas'le. + +"What's up, anyway?" he asked. "Is Williams much 'urt?" + +"Sh!" I said. "You'll wake the others. Who's taken your wheel?" + +"Tammy--ther Second sent 'im. 'e said I could go forrard an' 'ave er +smoke. 'e said Williams 'ad 'ad er fall." + +He broke off, and looked across the fo'cas'le. + +"Where is 'e?" he inquired, in a puzzled voice. + +I glanced at the others; but no one seemed inclined to start yarning +about it. + +"He fell from the t'gallant rigging!" I said. + +"Where is 'e?" he repeated. + +"Smashed up," I said. "He's lying on the hatch." + +"Dead?" he asked. + +I nodded. + +"I guessed 'twere somethin' pretty bad, when I saw the Old Man come +forrard. 'ow did it 'appen?" + +He looked round at the lot of us sitting there silent and smoking. + +"No one knows," I said, and glanced at Stubbins. I caught him eyeing me, +doubtfully. + +After a moment's silence, Plummer spoke again. + +"I 'eard 'im screech, when I was at ther wheel. 'e must 'ave got 'urt up +aloft." + +Stubbins struck a match and proceeded to relight his pipe. + +"How d'yer mean?" he asked, speaking for the first time. + +"'ow do I mean? Well, I can't say. Maybe 'e jammed 'is fingers between +ther parrel an' ther mast." + +"What about 'is swearin' at ther Second Mate? Was that 'cause 'e'd +jammed 'is fingers?" put in Quoin. + +"I never 'eard about that," said Plummer. "'oo 'eard 'im? + +"I should think heverybody in ther bloomin' ship heard him," Stubbins +answered. "All ther same, I hain't sure he _was_ swearin' at ther Second +Mate. I thought at first he'd gone dotty an' was cussin' him; but +somehow it don't seem likely, now I come to think. It don't stand to +reason he should go to cuss ther man. There was nothin' to go cussin' +about. What's more, he didn't seem ter be talkin' down to us on deck-- +what I could make hout. 'sides, what would he want ter go talkin' to +ther Second about his pay-day?" + +He looked across to where I was sitting. Jock, who was smoking, quietly, +on the chest next to me, took his pipe slowly out from between his +teeth. + +"Ye're no far oot, Stubbins, I'm thinkin'. Ye're no far oot," he said, +nodding his head. + +Stubbins still continued to gaze at me. + +"What's your idee?" he said, abruptly. + +It may have been my fancy, but it seemed to me that there was something +deeper than the mere sense the question conveyed. + +I glanced at him. I couldn't have said, myself, just what my idea was. + +"I don't know!" I answered, a little adrift. "He didn't strike me as +cursing at the Second Mate. That is, I should say, after the first +minute." + +"Just what I say," he replied. "Another thing--don't it strike you as +bein' bloomin' queer about Tom nearly comin' down by ther run, an' then +_this?_" + +I nodded. + +"It would have been all hup with Tom, if it hadn't been for ther +gasket." + +He paused. After a moment, he went on again. + +"That was honly three or four nights ago!" + +"Well," said Plummer. "What are yer drivin' at?" + +"Nothin'," answered Stubbins. "Honly it's damned queer. Looks as though +ther ship might be unlucky, after all." + +"Well," agreed Plummer. "Things 'as been a bit funny lately; and then +there's what's 'appened ter-night. I shall 'ang on pretty tight ther +next time I go aloft." + +Old Jaskett took his pipe from his mouth, and sighed. + +"Things is going wrong 'most every night," he said, almost pathetically. +"It's as diff'rent as chalk 'n' cheese ter what it were w'en we started +this 'ere trip. I thought it were all 'ellish rot about 'er bein' +'aunted; but it's not, seem'ly." + +He stopped and expectorated. + +"She hain't haunted," said Stubbins. "Leastways, not like you mean--" + +He paused, as though trying to grasp some elusive thought. + +"Eh?" said Jaskett, in the interval. + +Stubbins continued, without noticing the query. He appeared to be +answering some half-formed thought in his own brain, rather than +Jaskett: + +"Things is queer--an' it's been a bad job tonight. I don't savvy one bit +what Williams was sayin' of hup aloft. I've thought sometimes he'd +somethin' on 'is mind--" + +Then, after a pause of about half a minute, he said this: + +"_Who_ was he sayin' that to?" + +"Eh?" said Jaskett, again, with a puzzled expression. + +"I was thinkin'," said Stubbins, knocking out his pipe on the edge of +the chest. "P'raps you're right, hafter all." + + + + +VI + + +_Another Man to the Wheel_ + +The conversation had slacked off. We were all moody and shaken, and I +know I, for one, was thinking some rather troublesome thoughts. + +Suddenly, I heard the sound of the Second's whistle. Then his voice came +along the deck: + +"Another man to the wheel!" + +"'e's singin' out for some one to go aft an' relieve ther wheel," said +Quoin, who had gone to the door to listen. "Yer'd better 'urry up, +Plummer." + +"What's ther time?" asked Plummer, standing up and knocking out his +pipe. "Must be close on ter four bells, 'oo's next wheel is it?" + +"It's all right, Plummer," I said, getting up from the chest on which I +had been sitting. "I'll go along. It's my wheel, and it only wants a +couple of minutes to four bells." + +Plummer sat down again, and I went out of the fo'cas'le. Reaching the +poop, I met Tammy on the lee side, pacing up and down. + +"Who's at the wheel?" I asked him, in astonishment. + +"The Second Mate," he said, in a shaky sort of voice. "He's waiting to +be relieved. I'll tell you all about it as soon as I get a chance." + +I went on aft to the wheel. + +"Who's that?" the Second inquired. + +"It's Jessop, Sir," I answered. + +He gave me the course, and then, without another word, went forrard +along the poop. On the break, I heard him call Tammy's name, and then +for some minutes he was talking to him; though what he was saying, I +could not possibly hear. For my part, I was tremendously curious to know +why the Second Mate had taken the wheel. I knew that if it were just a +matter of bad steering on Tammy's part, he would not have dreamt of +doing such a thing. There had been something queer happening, about +which I had yet to learn; of this, I felt sure. + +Presently, the Second Mate left Tammy, and commenced to walk the weather +side of the deck. Once he came right aft, and, stooping down, peered +under the wheel-box; but never addressed a word to me. Sometime later, +he went down the weather ladder on to the main-deck. Directly +afterwards, Tammy came running up to the lee side of the wheel-box. + +"I've seen it again!" he said, gasping with sheer nervousness. + +"What?" I said. + +"That _thing_," he answered. Then he leant across the wheel-box, and +lowered his voice. + +"It came over the lee rail--_up out of the sea_," he added, with an air +of telling something unbelievable. + +I turned more towards him; but it was too dark to see his face with any +distinctness. I felt suddenly husky. "My God!" I thought. And then I +made a silly effort to protest; but he cut me short with a certain +impatient hopelessness. + +"For God's sake, Jessop," he said, "do stow all that! It's no good. I +must have someone to talk to, or I shall go dotty." + +I saw how useless it was to pretend any sort of ignorance. Indeed, +really, I had known it all along, and avoided the youngster on that very +account, as you know. + +"Go on," I said. "I'll listen; but you'd better keep an eye for the +Second Mate; he may pop up any minute." + +For a moment, he said nothing, and I saw him peering stealthily about +the poop. + +"Go on," I said. "You'd better make haste, or he'll be up before you're +half-way through. What was he doing at the wheel when I came up to +relieve it? Why did he send you away from it?" + +"He didn't," Tammy replied, turning his face towards me. "I bunked away +from it." + +"What for?" I asked. + +"Wait a minute," he answered, "and I'll tell you the whole business. You +know the Second Mate sent me to the wheel, after _that_--" He nodded his +head forrard. + +"Yes," I said. + +"Well, I'd been here about ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, and I +was feeling rotten about Williams, and trying to forget it all and keep +the ship on her course, and all that; when, all at once, I happened to +glance to loo'ard, and there I saw it climbing over the rail. My God! I +didn't know what to do. The Second Mate was standing forrard on the +break of the poop, and I was here all by myself. I felt as if I were +frozen stiff. When it came towards me, I let go of the wheel, and yelled +and bunked forrard to the Second Mate. He caught hold of me and shook +me; but I was so jolly frightened, I couldn't say a word. I could only +keep on pointing. The Second kept asking me 'Where?' And then, all at +once, I found I couldn't see the thing. I don't know whether he saw it. +I'm not at all certain he did. He just told me to damn well get back to +the wheel, and stop making a damned fool of myself. I said out straight +I wouldn't go. So he blew his whistle, and sung out for someone to come +aft and take it. Then he ran and got hold of the wheel himself. You know +the rest." + +"You're quite sure it wasn't thinking about Williams made you imagine +you saw something?" I said, more to gain a moment to think, than because +I believed that it was the case. + +"I thought you were going to listen to me, seriously!" he said, +bitterly. "If you won't believe me; what about the chap the Second Mate +saw? What about Tom? What about Williams? For goodness sake! don't try +to put me off like you did last time. I nearly went cracked with wanting +to tell someone who would listen to me, and wouldn't laugh. I could +stand anything, but this being alone. There's a good chap, don't pretend +you don't understand. Tell me what it all means. What is this horrible +man that I've twice seen? You know you know something, and I believe +you're afraid to tell anyone, for fear of being laughed at. Why don't +you tell me? You needn't be afraid of my laughing." + +He stopped, suddenly. For the moment, I said nothing in reply. + +"Don't treat me like a kid, Jessop!" he exclaimed, quite passionately. + +"I won't," I said, with a sudden resolve to tell him everything. "I need +someone to talk to, just as badly as you do." + +"What does it all mean, then?" he burst out. "Are they real? I always +used to think it was all a yarn about such things." + +"I'm sure I don't know what it all means, Tammy," I answered. "I'm just +as much in the dark, there, as you are. And I don't know whether they're +real--that is, not as we consider things real. You don't know that I saw +a queer figure down on the maindeck, several nights before you saw that +thing up here." + +"Didn't you see this one?" he cut in, quickly. + +"Yes," I answered. + +"Then, why did you pretend not to have?" he said, in a reproachful +voice. "You don't know what a state you put me into, what with my being +certain that I had seen it and then you being so jolly positive that +there had been nothing. At one time I thought I was going clean off my +dot--until the Second Mate saw that man go up the main. Then, I knew +that there must be something in the thing I was certain I'd seen." + +"I thought, perhaps, that if I told you I hadn't seen it, you would +think you'd been mistaken," I said. "I wanted you to think it was +imagination, or a dream, or something of that sort." + +"And all the time, you knew about that other thing you'd seen?" he +asked. + +"Yes," I replied. + +"It was thundering decent of you," he said. "But it wasn't any good." + +He paused a moment. Then he went on: + +"It's terrible about Williams. Do you think he saw something, up aloft?" + +"I don't know, Tammy," I said. "It's impossible to say. It _may_ have +been only an accident." I hesitated to tell him what I really thought. + +"What was he saying about his pay-day? Who was he saying it to?" + +"I don't know," I said, again. "He was always cracked about taking a +pay-day out of her. You know, he stayed in her, on purpose, when all the +others left. He told me that he wasn't going to be done out of it, for +anyone." + +"What did the other lot leave for?" he asked. Then, as the idea seemed +to strike him--"Jove! do you think they saw something, and got scared? +It's quite possible. You know, we only joined her in 'Frisco. She had no +'prentices on the passage out. Our ship was sold; so they sent us aboard +here to come home." + +"They may have," I said. "Indeed, from things I've heard Williams say, +I'm pretty certain, he for one, guessed or knew a jolly sight more than +we've any idea of." + +"And now he's dead!" said Tammy, solemnly. "We'll never be able to find +out from him now." + +For a few moments, he was silent. Then he went off on another track. + +"Doesn't anything ever happen in the Mate's watch?" + +"Yes," I answered. "There's several things happened lately, that seem +pretty queer. Some of his side have been talking about them. But he's +too jolly pig-headed to see anything. He just curses his chaps, and puts +it all down to them." + +"Still," he persisted, "things seem to happen more in our watch than in +his--I mean, bigger things. Look at tonight." + +"We've no proof, you know," I said. + +He shook his head, doubtfully. + +"I shall always funk going aloft, now." + +"Nonsense!" I told him. "It may only have been an accident." + +"Don't!" he said. "You know you don't think so, really." + +I answered nothing, just then; for I knew very well that he was right. +We were silent for a couple of moments. + +Then he spoke again: + +"Is the ship haunted?" + +For an instant I hesitated. + +"No," I said, at length. "I don't think she is. I mean, not in that +way." + +"What way, then?" + +"Well, I've formed a bit of a theory, that seems wise one minute, and +cracked the next. Of course, it's as likely to be all wrong; but it's +the only thing that seems to me to fit in with all the beastly things +we've had lately." + +"Go on!" he said, with an impatient, nervous movement. + +"Well, I've an idea that it's nothing _in_ the ship that's likely to +hurt us. I scarcely know how to put it; but, if I'm right in what I +think, it's the ship herself that's the cause of everything." + +"What do you mean?" he asked, in a puzzled voice. "Do you mean that the +ship _is_ haunted, after all?" + +"No!" I answered. "I've just told you I didn't. Wait until I've finished +what I was going to say." + +"All right!" he said. + +"About that thing you saw tonight," I went on. "You say it came over the +lee rail, up on to the poop?" + +"Yes," he answered. + +"Well, the thing I saw, _came up out of the sea, and went back into the +sea_." + +"Jove!" he said; and then: "Yes, go on!" + +"My idea is, that this ship is open to be boarded by those things," I +explained. "What they are, of course I don't know. They look like men-- +in lots of ways. But--well, the Lord knows what's in the sea. Though we +don't want to go imagining silly things, of course. And then, again, you +know, it seems fat-headed, calling anything silly. That's how I keep +going, in a sort of blessed circle. I don't know a bit whether they're +flesh and blood, or whether they're what we should call ghosts or +spirits." + +"They can't be flesh and blood," Tammy interrupted. "Where would they +live? Besides, that first one I saw, I thought I could see through it. +And this last one--the Second Mate would have seen it. And they would +drown--" + +"Not necessarily," I said. + +"Oh, but I'm sure they're not," he insisted. "It's impossible--" + +"So are ghosts--when you're feeling sensible," I answered. "But I'm not +saying they _are_ flesh and blood; though, at the same time, I'm not +going to say straight out they're ghosts--not yet, at any rate." + +"Where do they come from?" he asked, stupidly enough. + +"Out of the sea," I told him. "You saw for yourself!" + +"Then why don't other vessels have them coming aboard?" he said. "How do +you account for that?" + +"In a way--though sometimes it seems cracky--I think I can, according to +my idea," I answered. + +"How?" he inquired again. + +"Why, I believe that this ship is open, as I've told you--exposed, +unprotected, or whatever you like to call it. I should say it's +reasonable to think that all the things of the material world are +barred, as it were, from the immaterial; but that in some cases the +barrier may be broken down. That's what may have happened to this ship. +And if it has, she may be naked to the attacks of beings belonging to +some other state of existence." + +"What's made her like that?" he asked, in a really awed sort of tone. + +"The Lord knows!" I answered. "Perhaps something to do with magnetic +stresses; but you'd not understand, and I don't, really. And, I suppose, +inside of me, I don't believe it's anything of the kind, for a minute. +I'm not built that way. And yet I don't know! Perhaps, there may have +been some rotten thing done aboard of her. Or, again, it's a heap more +likely to be something quite outside of anything I know." + +"If they're immaterial then, they're spirits?" he questioned. + +"I don't know," I said. "It's so hard to say what I really think, you +know. I've got a queer idea, that my head-piece likes to think good; but +I don't believe my tummy believes it." + +"Go on!" he said. + +"Well," I said. "Suppose the earth were inhabited by two kinds of life. +We're one, and _they're_ the other." + +"Go on!" he said. + +"Well," I said. "Don't you see, in a normal state we may not be capable +of appreciating the _realness_ of the other? But they may be just as +_real_ and material to _them_, as _we_ are to _us_. Do you see?" + +"Yes," he said. "Go on!" + +"Well," I said. "The earth may be just as _real_ to them, as to us. I +mean that it may have qualities as material to them, as it has to us; +but neither of us could appreciate the other's realness, or the quality +of realness in the earth, which was real to the other. It's so difficult +to explain. Don't you understand?" + +"Yes," he said. "Go on!" + +"Well, if we were in what I might call a healthy atmosphere, they would +be quite beyond our power to see or feel, or anything. And the same with +them; but the more we're like _this_, the more _real_ and actual they +could grow _to us_. See? That is, the more we should become able to +appreciate their form of materialness. That's all. I can't make it any +clearer." + +"Then, after all, you _really_ think they're ghosts, or something of +that sort?" Tammy said. + +"I suppose it does come to that," I answered. "I mean that, anyway, I +don't think they're our ideas of flesh and blood. But, of course, it's +silly to say much; and, after all, you must remember that I may be all +wrong." + +"I think you ought to tell the Second Mate all this," he said. "If it's +really as you say, the ship ought to be put into the nearest port, and +jolly well burnt." + +"The Second Mate couldn't do anything," I replied. "Even if he believed +it all; which we're not certain he would." + +"Perhaps not," Tammy answered. "But if you could get him to believe it, +he might explain the whole business to the Skipper, and then something +might be done. It's not safe as it is." + +"He'd only get jeered at again," I said, rather hopelessly. + +"No," said Tammy. "Not after what's happened tonight." + +"Perhaps not," I replied, doubtfully. And just then the Second Mate came +back on to the poop, and Tammy cleared away from the wheel-box, leaving +me with a worrying feeling that I ought to do something. + + + + +VII + + +_The Coming of the Mist and That Which It Ushered_ + +We buried Williams at midday. Poor beggar! It had been so sudden. All +day the men were awed and gloomy, and there was a lot of talk about +there being a Jonah aboard. If they'd only known what Tammy and I, and +perhaps the Second Mate, knew! + +And then the next thing came--the mist. I cannot remember now, whether +it was on the day we buried Williams that we first saw it, or the day +after. + +When first I noticed it, like everybody else aboard, I took it to be +some form of haze, due to the heat of the sun; for it was broad daylight +when the thing came. + +The wind had died away to a light breeze, and I was working at the main +rigging, along with Plummer, putting on seizings. + +"Looks as if 'twere middlin' 'ot," he remarked. + +"Yes," I said; and, for the time, took no further notice. + +Presently he spoke again: + +"It's gettin' quite 'azy!" and his tone showed he was surprised. + +I glanced up, quickly. At first, I could see nothing. Then, I saw what +he meant. The air had a wavy, strange, unnatural appearance; something +like the heated air over the top of an engine's funnel, that you can +often see when no smoke is coming out. + +"Must be the heat," I said. "Though I don't remember ever seeing +anything just like it before." + +"Nor me," Plummer agreed. + +It could not have been a minute later when I looked up again, and was +astonished to find that the whole ship was surrounded by a thinnish haze +that quite hid the horizon. + +"By Jove! Plummer," I said. "How queer!" + +"Yes," he said, looking round. "I never seen anythin' like it before-- +not in these parts." + +"Heat wouldn't do that!" I said. + +"N--no," he said, doubtfully. + +We went on with our work again--occasionally exchanging an odd word or +two. Presently, after a little time of silence, I bent forward and asked +him to pass me up the spike. He stooped and picked it up from the deck, +where it had tumbled. As he held it out to me, I saw the stolid +expression on his face, change suddenly to a look of complete surprise. +He opened his mouth. + +"By gum!" he said. "It's gone." + +I turned quickly, and looked. And so it had--the whole sea showing clear +and bright, right away to the horizon. + +I stared at Plummer, and he stared at me. + +"Well, I'm blowed!" he exclaimed. + +I do not think I made any reply; for I had a sudden, queer feeling that +the thing was not right. And then, in a minute, I called myself an ass; +but I could not really shake off the feeling. I had another good look at +the sea. I had a vague idea that something was different. The sea looked +brighter, somehow, and the air clearer, I thought, and I missed +something; but not much, you know. And it was not until a couple of days +later, that I knew that it was several vessels on the horizon, which had +been quite in sight before the mist, and now were gone. + +During the rest of the watch, and indeed all day, there was no further +sign of anything unusual. Only, when the evening came (in the second +dog-watch it was) I saw the mist rise faintly--the setting sun shining +through it, dim and unreal. + +I knew then, as a certainty, that it was not caused by heat. + +And that was the beginning of it. + +The next day, I kept a pretty close watch, during all my time on deck; +but the atmosphere remained clear. Yet, I heard from one of the chaps in +the Mate's watch, that it had been hazy during part of the time he was +at the wheel. + +"Comin' an' goin', like," he described it to me, when I questioned him +about it. He thought it might be heat. + +But though I knew otherwise, I did not contradict him. At that time, no +one, not even Plummer, seemed to think very much of the matter. And when +I mentioned it to Tammy, and asked him whether he'd noticed it, he only +remarked that it must have been heat, or else the sun drawing up water. +I let it stay at that; for there was nothing to be gained by suggesting +that the thing had more to it. + +Then, on the following day, something happened that set me wondering +more than ever, and showed me how right I had been in feeling the mist +to be something unnatural. It was in this way. + +Five bells, in the eight to twelve morning watch, had gone. I was at the +wheel. The sky was perfectly clear--not a cloud to be seen, even on the +horizon. It was hot, standing at the wheel; for there was scarcely any +wind, and I was feeling drowsy. The Second Mate was down on the maindeck +with the men, seeing about some job he wanted done; so that I was on the +poop alone. + +Presently, with the heat, and the sun beating right down on to me, I +grew thirsty; and, for want of something better, I pulled out a bit of +plug I had on me, and bit off a chew; though, as a rule, it is not a +habit of mine. After a little, naturally enough, I glanced round for the +spittoon; but discovered that it was not there. Probably it had been +taken forrard when the decks were washed, to give it a scrub. So, as +there was no one on the poop, I left the wheel, and stepped aft to the +taffrail. It was thus that I came to see something altogether unthought +of--a full-rigged ship, close-hauled on the port tack, a few hundred +yards on our starboard quarter. Her sails were scarcely filled by the +light breeze, and flapped as she lifted to the swell of the sea. She +appeared to have very little way through the water, certainly not more +than a knot an hour. Away aft, hanging from the gaff-end, was a string +of flags. Evidently, she was signalling to us. All this, I saw in a +flash, and I just stood and stared, astonished. I was astonished because +I had not seen her earlier. In that light breeze, I knew that she must +have been in sight for at least a couple of hours. Yet I could think of +nothing rational to satisfy my wonder. There she was--of that much, I +was certain. And yet, how had she come there without my seeing her, +before? + +All at once, as I stood, staring, I heard the wheel behind me, spin +rapidly. Instinctively, I jumped to get hold of the spokes; for I did +not want the steering gear jammed. Then I turned again to have another +look at the other ship; but, to my utter bewilderment, _there was no +sign of her_--nothing but the calm ocean, spreading away to the distant +horizon. I blinked my eyelids a bit, and pushed the hair off my +forehead. Then, I stared again; but there was no vestige of her-- +nothing, you know; and absolutely nothing unusual, except a faint, +tremulous quiver in the air. And the blank surface of the sea reaching +everywhere to the empty horizon. + +Had she foundered? I asked myself, naturally enough; and, for the +moment, I really wondered. I searched round the sea for wreckage; but +there was nothing, not even an odd hen-coop, or a piece of deck +furniture; and so I threw away that idea, as impossible. + +Then, as I stood, I got another thought, or, perhaps, an intuition and I +asked myself seriously whether this disappearing ship might not be in +some way connected with the other queer things. It occurred to me then, +that the vessel I had seen was nothing real, and, perhaps, did not exist +outside of my own brain. I considered the idea, gravely. It helped to +explain the thing, and I could think of nothing else that would. Had she +been real, I felt sure that others aboard us would have been bound to +have seen her long before I had--I got a bit muddled there, with trying +to think it out; and then, abruptly, the reality of the other ship, came +back to me--every rope and sail and spar, you know. And I remembered how +she had lifted to the heave of the sea, and how the sails had flapped in +the light breeze. And the string of flags! She had been signalling. At +that last, I found it just as impossible to believe that she had not +been real. + +I had reached to this point of irresolution, and was standing with my +back, partly turned to the wheel. I was holding it steady with my left +hand, while I looked over the sea, to try to find something to help me +to understand. + +All at once, as I stared, I seemed to see the ship again. + +She was more on the beam now, than on the quarter; but I thought little +of that, in the astonishment of seeing her once more. It was only a +glimpse, I caught of her--dim and wavering, as though I looked at her +through the convolutions of heated air. Then she grew indistinct, and +vanished again; but I was convinced now that she was real, and had been +in sight all the time, if I could have seen her. That curious, dim, +wavering appearance had suggested something to me. I remembered the +strange, wavy look of the air, a few days previously, just before the +mist had surrounded the ship. And in my mind, I connected the two. It +was nothing about the other packet that was strange. The strangeness was +with us. It was something that was about (or invested) our ship that +prevented me--or indeed, any one else aboard from seeing that other. It +was evident that she had been able to see us, as was proved by her +signalling. In an irrelevant sort of way, I wondered what the people +aboard of her thought of our apparently intentional disregard of their +signals. + +After that, I thought of the strangeness of it all. Even at that minute, +they could see us, plainly; and yet, so far as we were concerned, the +whole ocean seemed empty. It appeared to me, at that time, to be the +weirdest thing that could happen to us. + +And then a fresh thought came to me. How long had we been like that? I +puzzled for a few moments. It was now that I recollected that we had +sighted several vessels on the morning of the day when the mist +appeared; and since then, we had seen nothing. This, to say the least, +should have struck me as queer; for some of the other packets were +homeward bound along with us, and steering the same course. +Consequently, with the weather being fine, and the wind next to nothing, +they should have been in sight all the time. This reasoning seemed to me +to show, unmistakably, some connection between the coming of the mist, +and our inability to _see_. So that it is possible we had been in that +extraordinary state of blindness for nearly three days. + +In my mind, the last glimpse of that ship on the quarter, came back to +me. And, I remember, a curious thought got me, that I had looked at her +from out of some other dimension. For a while, you know, I really +believed the mystery of the idea, and that it might be the actual truth, +took me; instead of my realising just all that it might mean. It seemed +so exactly to express all the half-defined thoughts that had come, since +seeing that other packet on the quarter. + +Suddenly, behind me, there came a rustle and rattle of the sails; and, +in the same instant, I heard the Skipper saying: + +"Where the devil have you got her to, Jessop?" + +I whirled round to the wheel. + +"I don't know--Sir," I faltered. + +I had forgotten even that I was at the wheel. + +"Don't know!" he shouted. "I should damned well think you don't. +Starboard your helm, you fool. You'll have us all aback!" + +"i, i, Sir," I answered, and hove the wheel over. I did it almost +mechanically; for I was still dazed, and had not yet had time to collect +my senses. + +During the following half-minute, I was only conscious, in a confused +sort of way, that the Old Man was ranting at me. This feeling of +bewilderment passed off, and I found that I was peering blankly into the +binnacle, at the compass-card; yet, until then, entirely without being +aware of the fact. Now, however, I saw that the ship was coming back on +to her course. Goodness knows how much she had been off! + +With the realisation that I had let the ship get almost aback, there +came a sudden memory of the alteration in the position of the other +vessel. She had appeared last on the beam, instead of on the quarter. +Now, however, as my brain began to work, I saw the cause of this +apparent and, until then, inexplicable change. It was due, of course, to +our having come up, until we had brought the other packet on to the +beam. + +It is curious how all this flashed through my mind, and held my +attention--although only momentarily--in the face of the Skipper's +storming. I think I had hardly realised he was still singing out at me. +Anyhow, the next thing I remember, he was shaking my arm. + +"What's the matter with you, man?" he was shouting. And I just stared +into his face, like an ass, without saying a word. I seemed still +incapable, you know, of actual, reasoning speech. + +"Are you damned well off your head?" he went on shouting. "Are you a +lunatic? Have you had sunstroke? Speak, you gaping idiot!" + +I tried to say something; but the words would not come clearly. + +"I--I--I--" I said, and stopped, stupidly. I was all right, really; but +I was so bewildered with the thing I had found out; and, in a way, I +seemed almost to have come back out of a distance, you know. + +"You're a lunatic!" he said, again. He repeated the statement several +times, as if it were the only thing that sufficiently expressed his +opinion of me. Then he let go of my arm, and stepped back a couple of +paces. + +"I'm not a lunatic!" I said, with a sudden gasp. "I'm not a lunatic, +Sir, any more than you are." + +"Why the devil don't you answer my questions then?" he shouted, angrily. +"What's the matter with you? What have you been doing with the ship? +Answer me now!" + +"I was looking at that ship away on the starboard quarter, Sir," I +blurted out. "She's been signalling--" + +"What!" he cut me short with disbelief. "What ship?" + +He turned, quickly, and looked over the quarter. Then he wheeled round +to me again. + +"There's no ship! What do you mean by trying to spin up a cuffer like +that?" + +"There is, Sir," I answered. "It's out there--" I pointed. + +"Hold your tongue!" he said. "Don't talk rubbish to me. Do you think I'm +blind?" + +"I saw it, Sir," I persisted. + +"Don't you talk back to me!" he snapped, with a quick burst of temper. +"I won't have it!" + +Then, just as suddenly, he was silent. He came a step towards me, and +stared into my face. I believe the old ass thought I was a bit mad; +anyway, without another word, he went to the break of the poop. + +"Mr. Tulipson," he sung out. + +"Yes, Sir," I heard the Second Mate reply. + +"Send another man to the wheel." + +"Very good, Sir," the Second answered. + +A couple of minutes later, old Jaskett came up to relieve me. I gave him +the course, and he repeated it. + +"What's up, mate?" he asked me, as I stepped off the grating. + +"Nothing much," I said, and went forrard to where the Skipper was +standing on the break of the poop. I gave him the course; but the crabby +old devil took no notice of me, whatever. When I got down on to the +maindeck, I went up to the Second, and gave it to him. He answered me +civilly enough, and then asked me what I had been doing to put the Old +Man's back up. + +"I told him there's a ship on the starboard quarter, signalling us," I +said. + +"There's no ship out there, Jessop," the Second Mate replied, looking at +me with a queer, inscrutable expression. + +"There is, Sir," I began. "I--" + +"That will do, Jessop!" he said. "Go forrard and have a smoke. I shall +want you then to give a hand with these foot-ropes. You'd better bring a +serving-mallet aft with you, when you come." + +I hesitated a moment, partly in anger; but more, I think, in doubt. + +"i, i, Sir," I muttered at length, and went forrard. + + + + + +VIII + + +_After the Coming of the Mist_ + + +After the coming of the mist, things seemed to develop pretty quickly. +In the following two or three days a good deal happened. + +On the night of the day on which the Skipper had sent me away from the +wheel, it was our watch on deck from eight o' clock to twelve, and my +look-out from ten to twelve. + +As I paced slowly to and fro across the fo'cas'le head, I was thinking +about the affair of the morning. At first, my thoughts were about the +Old Man. I cursed him thoroughly to myself, for being a pig-headed old +fool, until it occurred to me that if I had been in his place, and come +on deck to find the ship almost aback, and the fellow at the wheel +staring out across the sea, instead of attending to his business, I +should most certainly have kicked up a thundering row. And then, I had +been an ass to tell him about the ship. I should never have done such a +thing, if I had not been a bit adrift. Most likely the old chap thought +I was cracked. + +I ceased to bother my head about him, and fell to wondering why the +Second Mate had looked at me so queerly in the morning. Did he guess +more of the truth than I supposed? And if that were the case, why had he +refused to listen to me? + +After that, I went to puzzling about the mist. I had thought a great +deal about it, during the day. One idea appealed to me, very strongly. +It was that the actual, visible mist was a materialised expression of an +extraordinarily subtle atmosphere, in which we were moving. + +Abruptly, as I walked backwards and forwards, taking occasional glances +over the sea (which was almost calm), my eye caught the glow of a light +out in the darkness. I stood still, and stared. I wondered whether it +was the light of a vessel. In that case we were no longer enveloped in +that extraordinary atmosphere. I bent forward, and gave the thing my +more immediate attention. I saw then that it was undoubtedly the green +light of a vessel on our port bow. It was plain that she was bent on +crossing our bows. What was more, she was dangerously near--the size and +brightness of her light showed that. She would be close-hauled, while we +were going free, so that, of course, it was our place to get out of her +way. Instantly, I turned and, putting my hands up to my mouth, hailed +the Second Mate: + +"Light on the port bow, Sir." + +The next moment his hail came back: + +"Whereabouts?" + +"He must be blind," I said to myself. + +"About two points on the bow, Sir," I sung out. + +Then I turned to see whether she had shifted her position at all. Yet, +when I came to look, there was no light visible. I ran forrard to the +bows, and leant over the rail, and stared; but there was nothing-- +absolutely nothing except the darkness all about us. For perhaps a few +seconds I stood thus, and a suspicion swept across me, that the whole +business was practically a repetition of the affair of the morning. +Evidently, the impalpable something that invested the ship, had thinned +for an instant, thus allowing me to see the light ahead. Now, it had +closed again. Yet, whether I could see, or not, I did not doubt the fact +that, there was a vessel ahead, and very close ahead, too. We might run +on top of her any minute. My only hope was that, seeing we were not +getting out of her way, she had put her helm up, so as to let us pass, +with the intention of then crossing under our stern. I waited, pretty +anxiously, watching and listening. Then, all at once, I heard steps +coming along the deck, forrard, and the 'prentice, whose time-keeping it +was, came up on to the fo'cas'le head. + +"The Second Mate says he can't see any light Jessop," he said, coming +over to where I stood. "Whereabouts is it?" + +"I don't know," I answered. "I've lost sight of it myself. It was a +green light, about a couple of points on the port bow. It seemed fairly +close." + +"Perhaps their lamp's gone out," he suggested, after peering out pretty +hard into the night for a minute or so. + +"Perhaps," I said. + +I did not tell him that the light had been so close that, even in the +darkness, we should _now_ have been able to see the ship herself. + +"You're quite sure it was a light, and not a star?" he asked, +doubtfully, after another long stare. + +"Oh! no," I said. "It may have been the moon, now I come to think about +it." + +"Don't rot," he replied. "It's easy enough to make a mistake. What shall +I say to the Second Mate?" + +"Tell him it's disappeared, of course!" + +"Where to?" he asked. + +"How the devil should I know?" I told him. "Don't ask silly questions!" + +"All right, keep your rag in," he said, and went aft to report to the +Second Mate. + +Five minutes later, it might have been, I saw the light again. It was +broad on the bow, and told me plainly enough that she had up with her +helm to escape being run down. I did not wait a moment; but sung out to +the Second Mate that there was a green light about four points on the +port bow. By Jove! it must have been a close shave. The light did not +_seem_ to be more than about a hundred yards away. It was fortunate that +we had not much way through the water. + +"Now," I thought to myself, "the Second will see the thing. And perhaps +Mr. Blooming 'prentice will be able to give the star its proper name." + +Even as the thought came into my head, the light faded and vanished; and +I caught the Second Mate's voice. + +"Whereaway?" he was singing out. + +"It's gone again, Sir," I answered. + +A minute later, I heard him coming along the deck. + +He reached the foot of the starboard ladder. + +"Where are you, Jessop?" he inquired. + +"Here, Sir," I said, and went to the top of the weather ladder. + +He came up slowly on to the fo'cas'le head. + +"What's this you've been singing out about a light?" he asked. "Just +point out exactly where it was you last saw it." + +This I did, and he went over to the port rail, and stared away into the +night; but without seeing anything. + +"It's gone, Sir," I ventured to remind him. "Though I've seen it twice +now--once, about a couple of points on the bow, and this last time, +broad away on the bow; but it disappeared both times, almost at once." + +"I don't understand it at all, Jessop," he said, in a puzzled voice. +"Are you sure it was a ship's light?" + +"Yes, Sir. A green light. It was quite close." + +"I don't understand," he said again. "Run aft and ask the 'prentice to +pass you down my night glasses. Be as smart as you can." + +"i, i, Sir," I replied, and ran aft. + +In less than a minute, I was back with his binoculars; and, with them, +he stared for some time at the sea to leeward. + +All at once he dropped them to his side, and faced round on me with a +sudden question: + +"Where's she gone to? If she's shifted her bearing as quickly as all +that, she must be precious close. We should be able to see her spars and +sails, or her cabin light, or her binnacle light, or something!" + +"It's queer, Sir," I assented. + +"Damned queer," he said. "So damned queer that I'm inclined to think +you've made a mistake." + +"No, Sir. I'm certain it was a light." + +"Where's the ship then?" he asked. + +"I can't say, Sir. That's just what's been puzzling me." + +The Second said nothing in reply; but took a couple of quick turns +across the fo'cas'le head--stopping at the port rail, and taking another +look to leeward through his night glasses. Perhaps a minute he stood +there. Then, without a word, he went down the lee ladder, and away aft +along the main deck to the poop. + +"He's jolly well puzzled," I thought to myself. "Or else he thinks I've +been imagining things." Either way, I guessed he'd think that. + +In a little, I began to wonder whether, after all, he had any idea of +what might be the truth. One minute, I would feel certain he had; and +the next, I was just as sure that he guessed nothing. I got one of my +fits of asking myself whether it would not have been better to have told +him everything. It seemed to me that he must have seen sufficient to +make him inclined to listen to me. And yet, I could not by any means be +certain. I might only have been making an ass of myself, in his eyes. Or +set him thinking I was dotty. + +I was walking about the fo'cas'le head, feeling like this, when I saw +the light for the third time. It was very bright and big, and I could +see it move, as I watched. This again showed me that it must be very +close. + +"Surely," I thought, "the Second Mate must see it now, for himself." + +I did not sing out this time, right away. I thought I would let the +Second see for himself that I had not been mistaken. Besides, I was not +going to risk its vanishing again, the instant I had spoken. For quite +half a minute, I watched it, and there was no sign of its disappearing. +Every moment, I expected to hear the Second Mate's hail, showing that he +had spotted it at last; but none came. + +I could stand it no longer, and I ran to the rail, on the after part of +the fo'cas'le head. + +"Green light a little abaft the beam, Sir!" I sung out, at the top of my +voice. + +But I had waited too long. Even as I shouted, the light blurred and +vanished. + +I stamped my foot and swore. The thing was making a fool of me. Yet, I +had a faint hope that those aft had seen it just before it disappeared; +but this I knew was vain, directly I heard the Second's voice. + +"Light be damned!" he shouted. + +Then he blew his whistle, and one of the men ran aft, out of the +fo'cas'le, to see what it was he wanted. + +"Whose next look-out is it?" I heard him ask. + +"Jaskett's, Sir." + +"Then tell Jaskett to relieve Jessop at once. Do you hear?" + +"Yes, Sir," said the man, and came forrard. + +In a minute, Jaskett stumbled up onto the fo'cas'le head. + +"What's up, mate?" he asked sleepily. + +"It's that fool of a Second Mate!" I said, savagely. "I've reported a +light to him three times, and, because the blind fool can't see it, he's +sent you up to relieve me!" + +"Where is it, mate?" he inquired. + +He looked round at the dark sea. + +"I don't see no light," he remarked, after a few moments. + +"No," I said. "It's gone." + +"Eh?" he inquired. + +"It's gone!" I repeated, irritably. + +He turned and regarded me silently, through the dark. + +"I'd go an' 'ave a sleep, mate," he said, at length. "I've been that way +meself. Ther's nothin' like a snooze w'en yer gets like that." + +"What!" I said. "Like what?" + +"It's all right, mate. Yer'll be all right in ther mornin'. Don't yer +worry 'bout me." His tone was sympathetic. + +"Hell!" was all I said, and walked down off the fo'cas'le head. I +wondered whether the old fellow thought I was going silly. + +"Have a sleep, by Jove!" I muttered to myself. "I wonder who'd feel like +having a sleep after what I've seen and stood today!" + +I felt rotten, with no one understanding what was really the matter. I +seemed to be all alone, through the things I had learnt. Then the +thought came to me to go aft and talk the matter over with Tammy. I knew +he would be able to understand, of course; and it would be such a +relief. + +On the impulse, I turned and went aft, along the deck to the 'prentices' +berth. As I neared the break of the poop, I looked up and saw the dark +shape of the Second Mate, leaning over the rail above me. + +"Who's that?" he asked. + +"It's Jessop, Sir," I said. + +"What do you want in this part of the ship?" he inquired. + +"I'd come aft to speak to Tammy, Sir," I replied. + +"You go along forrard and turn-in," he said, not altogether unkindly. "A +sleep will do you more good than yarning about. You know, you're getting +to fancy things too much!" + +"I'm sure I'm not, Sir! I'm perfectly well. I--" + +"That will do!" he interrupted, sharply. "You go and have a sleep." + +I gave a short curse, under my breath, and went slowly forrard. I was +getting maddened with being treated as if I were not quite sane. + +"By God!" I said to myself. "Wait till the fools know what I know--just +wait!" + +I entered the fo'cas'le, through the port doorway, and went across to my +chest, and sat down. I felt angry and tired, and miserable. + +Quoin and Plummer were sitting close by, playing cards, and smoking. +Stubbins lay in his bunk, watching them, and also smoking. As I sat +down, he put his head forward over the bunk-board, and regarded me in a +curious, meditative way. + +"What's hup with ther Second hoffìcer?" he asked, after a short stare. + +I looked at him, and the other two men looked up at me. I felt I should +go off with a bang, if I did not say something, and I let out pretty +stiffly, telling them the whole business. Yet, I had seen enough to know +that it was no good trying to explain things; so I just told them the +plain, bold facts, and left explanations as much alone as possible. + +"Three times, you say?" said Stubbins when I had finished. + +"Yes," I assented. + +"An' ther Old Man sent yer from ther wheel this mornin', 'cause yer +'appened ter see a ship 'e couldn't," Plummer added in a reflective +tone. + +"Yes," I said, again. + +I thought I saw him look at Quoin, significantly; but Stubbins, I +noticed, looked only at me. + +"I reckon ther Second thinks you're a bit hoff colour," he remarked, +after a short pause. + +"The Second Mate's a fool!" I said, with some bitterness. "A confounded +fool!" + +"I hain't so sure about that," he replied. "It's bound ter seem queer +ter him. I don't understand it myself--" + +He lapsed into silence, and smoked. + +"I carn't understand 'ow it is ther Second Mate didn't 'appen to spot +it," Quoin said, in a puzzled voice. + +It seemed to me that Plummer nudged him to be quiet. It looked as if +Plummer shared the Second Mate's opinion, and the idea made me savage. +But Stubbins's next remark drew my attention. + +"I don't hunderstand it," he said, again; speaking with deliberation. +"All ther same, ther Second should have savvied enough not to have slung +you hoff ther look-hout." + +He nodded his head, slowly, keeping his gaze fixed on my face. + +"How do you mean?" I asked, puzzled; yet with a vague sense that the man +understood more, perhaps, than I had hitherto thought. + +"I mean what's ther Second so blessed cocksure about?" + +He took a draw at his pipe, removed it, and leant forward somewhat, over +his bunk-board. + +"Didn't he say nothin' ter you, after you came hoff ther look-hout?" he +asked. + +"Yes," I replied; "he spotted me going aft. He told me I was getting to +imagining things too much. He said I'd better come forrard and get a +sleep." + +"An' what did you say?" + +"Nothing. I came forrard." + +"Why didn't you bloomin' well harsk him if he weren't doin' ther +imaginin' trick when he sent us chasin' hup ther main, hafter that +bogyman of his?" + +"I never thought of it," I told him. + +"Well, yer ought ter have." + +He paused, and sat up in his bunk, and asked for a match. + +As I passed him my box, Quoin looked up from his game. + +"It might 'ave been a stowaway, yer know. Yer carn't say as it's ever +been proved as it wasn't." + +Stubbins passed the box back to me, and went on without noticing Quoin's +remark: + +"Told you to go an' have a snooze, did he? I don't hunderstand what he's +bluffin' at." + +"How do you mean, bluffing?" I asked. + +He nodded his head, sagely. + +"It's my hidea he knows you saw that light, just as bloomin' well as I +do." + +Plummer looked up from his game, at this speech; but said nothing. + +"Then _you_ don't doubt that I really saw it?" I asked, with a certain +surprise. + +"Not me," he remarked, with assurance. "You hain't likely ter make that +kind of mistake three times runnin'." + +"No," I said. "I _know_ I saw the light, right enough; but"--I hesitated +a moment--"it's blessed queer." + +"It _is_ blessed queer!" he agreed. "It's damned queer! An' there's a +lot of other damn queer things happenin' aboard this packet lately." + +He was silent for a few seconds. Then he spoke suddenly: + +"It's not nat'ral, I'm damned sure of that much." + +He took a couple of draws at his pipe, and in the momentary silence, I +caught Jaskett's voice, above us. He was hailing the poop. + +"Red light on the starboard quarter, Sir," I heard him sing out. + +"There you are," I said with a jerk of my head. "That's about where that +packet I spotted, ought to be by now. She couldn't cross our bows, so +she up helm, and let us pass, and now she's hauled up again and gone +under our stern." + +I got up from the chest, and went to the door, the other three +following. As we stepped out on deck, I heard the Second Mate shouting +out, away aft, to know the whereabouts of the light. + +"By Jove! Stubbins," I said. "I believe the blessed thing's gone again." + +We ran to the starboard side, in a body, and looked over; but there was +no sign of a light in the darkness astern. + +"I carn't say as _I_ see any light," said Quoin. + +Plummer said nothing. + +I looked up at the fo'cas'le head. There, I could faintly distinguish +the outlines of Jaskett. He was standing by the starboard rail, with his +hands up, shading his eyes, evidently staring towards the place where he +had last seen the light. + +"Where's she got to, Jaskett?" I called out. + +"I can't say, mate," he answered. "It's the most 'ellishly funny thing +I've ever comed across. She were there as plain as me 'att one minnit, +an' ther next she were gone--clean gone." + +I turned to Plummer. + +"What do you think about it, _now_?" I asked him. + +"Well," he said. "I'll admit I thought at first 'twere somethin' an' +nothin'. I thought yer was mistaken; but it seems yer did see +somethin'." + +Away aft, we heard the sound of steps, along the deck. + +"Ther Second's comin' forrard for a hexplanation, Jaskett," Stubbins +sung out. "You'd better go down an' change yer breeks." + +The Second Mate passed us, and went up the starboard ladder. + +"What's up now, Jaskett?" he said quickly. "Where is this light? Neither +the 'prentice nor I can see it!" + +"Ther damn thing's clean gone, Sir," Jaskett replied. + +"Gone!" the Second Mate said. "Gone! What do you mean?" + +"She were there one minnit, Sir, as plain as me 'att, an' ther next, +she'd gone." + +"That's a damn silly yarn to tell me!" the Second replied. "You don't +expect me to believe it, do you?" + +"It's Gospel trewth any'ow, Sir," Jaskett answered. "An' Jessop seen it +just ther same." + +He seemed to have added that last part as an afterthought. Evidently, +the old beggar had changed his opinion as to my need for sleep. + +"You're an old fool, Jaskett," the Second said, sharply. "And that idiot +Jessop has been putting things into your silly old head." + +He paused, an instant. Then he continued: + +"What the devil's the matter with you all, that you've taken to this +sort of game? You know very well that you saw no light! I sent Jessop +off the look-out, and then you must go and start the same game." + +"We 'aven't--" Jaskett started to say; but the Second silenced him. + +"Stow it!" he said, and turned and went down the ladder, passing us +quickly, without a word. + +"Doesn't look to _me_, Stubbins," I said, "as though the Second did +believe we've seen the light." + +"I hain't so sure," he answered. "He's a puzzler." + +The rest of the watch passed away quietly; and at eight bells I made +haste to turn-in, for I was tremendously tired. + +When we were called again for the four to eight watch on deck, I learnt +that one of the men in the Mate's watch had seen a light, soon after we +had gone below, and had reported it, only for it to disappear +immediately. This, I found, had happened twice, and the Mate had got so +wild (being under the impression that the man was playing the fool) that +he had nearly came to blows with him--finally ordering him off the +look-out, and sending another man up in his place. If this last man saw +the light, he took good care not to let the Mate know; so that the +matter had ended there. + +And then, on the following night, before we had ceased to talk about the +matter of the vanishing lights, something else occurred that temporarily +drove from my mind all memory of the mist, and the extraordinary, blind +atmosphere it had seemed to usher. + + + + +IX + + +_The Man Who Cried for Help_ + + +It was, as I have said, on the following night that something further +happened. And it brought home pretty vividly to me, if not to any of the +others, the sense of a personal danger aboard. + +We had gone below for the eight to twelve watch, and my last impression +of the weather at eight o'clock, was that the wind was freshening. There +had been a great bank of cloud rising astern, which had looked as if it +were going to breeze up still more. + +At a quarter to twelve, when we were called for our twelve to four watch +on deck, I could tell at once, by the sound, that there was a fresh +breeze blowing; at the same time, I heard the voices of the men on the +other watch, singing out as they hauled on the ropes. I caught the +rattle of canvas in the wind, and guessed that they were taking the +royals off her. I looked at my watch, which I always kept hanging in my +bunk. It showed the time to be just after the quarter; so that, with +luck, we should escape having to go up to the sails. + +I dressed quickly, and then went to the door to look at the weather. I +found that the wind had shifted from the starboard quarter, to right +aft; and, by the look of the sky, there seemed to be a promise of more, +before long. + +Up aloft, I could make out faintly the fore and mizzen royals flapping +in the wind. The main had been left for a while longer. In the fore +riggings, Jacobs, the Ordinary Seaman in the Mate's watch, was following +another of the men aloft to the sail. The Mate's two 'prentices were +already up at the mizzen. Down on deck, the rest of the men were busy +clearing up the ropes. + +I went back to my bunk, and looked at my watch--the time was only a few +minutes off eight bells; so I got my oilskins ready, for it looked like +rain outside. As I was doing this, Jock went to the door for a look. + +"What's it doin', Jock?" Tom asked, getting out of his bunk, hurriedly. + +"I'm thinkin' maybe it's goin' to blow a wee, and ye'll be needin' yer' +oilskins," Jock answered. + +When eight bells went, and we mustered aft for roll-call, there was a +considerable delay, owing to the Mate refusing to call the roll until +Tom (who as usual, had only turned out of his bunk at the last minute) +came aft to answer his name. When, at last, he did come, the Second and +the Mate joined in giving him a good dressing down for a lazy sojer; so +that several minutes passed before we were on our way forrard again. +This was a small enough matter in itself, and yet really terrible in its +consequence to one of our number; for, just as we reached the fore +rigging, there was a shout aloft, loud above the noise of the wind, and +the next moment, something crashed down into our midst, with a great, +slogging thud--something bulky and weighty, that struck full upon Jock, +so that he went down with a loud, horrible, ringing "ugg," and never +said a word. From the whole crowd of us there went up a yell of fear, +and then, with one accord, there was a run for the lighted fo'cas'le. I +am not ashamed to say that I ran with the rest. A blind, unreasoning +fright had seized me, and I did not stop to think. + +Once in the fo'cas'le and the light, there was a reaction. We all stood +and looked blankly at one another for a few moments. Then someone asked +a question, and there was a general murmur of denial. We all felt +ashamed, and someone reached up and unhooked the lantern on the port +side. I did the same with the starboard one; and there was a quick +movement towards the doors. As we streamed out on deck, I caught the +sound of the Mates' voices. They had evidently come down from off the +poop to find out what had happened; but it was too dark to see their +whereabouts. + +"Where the hell have you all got to?" I heard the Mate shout. + +The next instant, they must have seen the light from our lanterns; for I +heard their footsteps, coming along the deck at a run. They came the +starboard side, and just abaft the fore rigging, one of them stumbled +and fell over something. It was the First Mate who had tripped. I knew +this by the cursing that came directly afterwards. He picked himself up, +and, apparently without stopping to see what manner of thing it was that +he had fallen over, made a rush to the pin-rail. The Second Mate ran +into the circle of light thrown by our lanterns, and stopped, dead-- +eyeing us doubtfully. I am not surprised at this, _now_, nor at the +behaviour of the Mate, the following instant; but at that time, I must +say I could not conceive what had come to them, particularly the First +Mate. He came out at us from the darkness with a rush and a roar like a +bull and brandishing a belaying-pin. I had failed to take into account +the scene which his eyes must have shown him:--the whole crowd of men in +the fo'cas'le--both watches--pouring out on to the deck in utter +confusion, and greatly excited, with a couple of fellows at their head, +carrying lanterns. And before this, there had been the cry aloft and the +crash down on deck, followed by the shouts of the frightened crew, and +the sounds of many feet running. He may well have taken the cry for a +signal, and our actions for something not far short of mutiny. Indeed, +his words told us that this was his very thought. + +"I'll knock the face off the first man that comes a step further aft!" +he shouted, shaking the pin in my face. "I'll show yer who's master +here! What the hell do yer mean by this? Get forrard into yer kennel!" + +There was a low growl from the men at the last remark, and the old bully +stepped back a couple of paces. + +"Hold on, you fellows!" I sung out. "Shut up a minute." + +"Mr. Tulipson!" I called out to the Second, who had not been able to get +a word in edgeways, "I don't know what the devil's the matter with the +First Mate; but he'll not find it pay to talk to a crowd like ours, in +that sort of fashion, or there'll be ructions aboard." + +"Come! come! Jessop! This won't do! I can't have you talking like that +about the Mate!" he said, sharply. "Let me know what's to-do, and then +go forrard again, the lot of you." + +"We'd have told you at first, Sir," I said, "only the Mate wouldn't give +any of us a chance to speak. There's been an awful accident, Sir. +Something's fallen from aloft, right on to Jock--" + +I stopped suddenly; for there was a loud crying aloft. + +"Help! help! help!" someone was shouting, and then it rose from a shout +into a scream. + +"My God! Sir!" I shouted. "That's one of the men up at the fore royal!" + +"Listen!" ordered the Second Mate. "Listen!" Even as he spoke, it came +again--broken and, as it were, in gasps. + +"Help!... Oh!... God!... Oh!... Help! H-e-l-p!" + +Abruptly, Stubbins's voice struck in. + +"Hup with us, lads! By God! hup with us!" and he made a spring into the +fore rigging. I shoved the handle of the lantern between my teeth, and +followed. Plummer was coming; but the Second Mate pulled him back. + +"That's sufficient," he said. "I'm going," and he came up after me. + +We went over the foretop, racing like fiends. The light from the lantern +prevented me from seeing to any distance in the darkness; but, at the +crosstrees, Stubbins, who was some ratlines ahead, shouted out all at +once, and in gasps: + +"They're fightin' ... like ... hell!" + +"What?" called the Second Mate, breathlessly. + +Apparently, Stubbins did not hear him; for he made no reply. We cleared +the crosstrees, and climbed into the t'gallant rigging. The wind was +fairly fresh up there, and overhead, there sounded the flap, flap of +sailcloth flying in the wind; but since we had left the deck, there had +been no other sound from above. + +Now, abruptly, there came again a wild crying from the darkness over us. +A strange, wild medley it was of screams for help, mixed up with +violent, breathless curses. + +Beneath the royal yard, Stubbins halted, and looked down to me. + +"Hurry hup ... with ther ... lantern ... Jessop!" he shouted, catching +his breath between the words. "There'll be ... murder done ... hin a +minute!" + +I reached him, and held the light up for him to catch. He stooped, and +took it from me. Then, holding it above his head, he went a few ratlines +higher. In this manner, he reached to a level with the royal yard. From +my position, a little below him, the lantern seemed but to throw a few +straggling, flickering rays along the spar; yet they showed me +something. My first glance had been to wind'ard, and I had seen at once, +that there was nothing on the weather yard arm. From there my gaze went +to leeward. Indistinctly, I saw something upon the yard, that clung, +struggling. Stubbins bent towards it with the light; thus I saw it more +clearly. It was Jacobs, the Ordinary Seaman. He had his right arm +tightly round the yard; with the other, he appeared to be fending +himself from something on the other side of him, and further out upon +the yard. At times, moans and gasps came from him, and sometimes curses. +Once, as he appeared to be dragged partly from his hold, he screamed +like a woman. His whole attitude suggested stubborn despair. I can +scarcely tell you how this extraordinary sight affected me. I seemed to +stare at it without realising that the affair was a real happening. + +During the few seconds which I had spent staring and breathless, +Stubbins had climbed round the after side of the mast, and now I began +again to follow him. + +From his position below me, the Second had not been able to see the +thing that was occurring on the yard, and he sung out to me to know what +was happening. + +"It's Jacobs, Sir," I called back. "He seems to be fighting with someone +to looard of him. I can't see very plainly yet." + +Stubbins had got round on to the lee foot-rope, and now he held the +lantern up, peering, and I made my way quickly alongside of him. The +Second Mate followed; but instead of getting down on to the foot-rope, +he got on the yard, and stood there holding on to the tie. He sung out +for one of us to pass him up the lantern, which I did, Stubbins handing +it to me. The Second held it out at arm's length, so that it lit up the +lee part of the yard. The light showed through the darkness, as far as +to where Jacobs struggled so weirdly. Beyond him, nothing was distinct. + +There had been a moment's delay while we were passing the lantern up to +the Second Mate. Now, however, Stubbins and I moved out slowly along the +foot-rope. We went slowly; but we did well to go at all, with any show +of boldness; for the whole business was so abominably uncanny. It seems +impossible to convey truly to you, the strange scene on the royal yard. +You may be able to picture it yourselves. The Second Mate standing upon +the spar, holding the lantern; his body swaying with each roll of the +ship, and his head craned forward as he peered along the yard. On our +left, Jacobs, mad, fighting, cursing, praying, gasping; and outside of +him, shadows and the night. + +The Second Mate spoke, abruptly. + +"Hold on a moment!" he said. Then: + +"Jacobs!" he shouted. "Jacobs, do you hear me?" + +There was no reply, only the continual gasping and cursing. + +"Go on," the Second Mate said to us. "But be careful. Keep a tight +hold!" + +He held the lantern higher and we went out cautiously. + +Stubbins reached the Ordinary, and put his hand on his shoulder, with a +soothing gesture. + +"Steady hon now, Jacobs," he said. "Steady hon." + +At his touch, as though by magic, the young fellow calmed down, and +Stubbins--reaching round him--grasped the jackstay on the other side. + +"Get a hold of him your side, Jessop," he sung out. "I'll get this +side." + +This, I did, and Stubbins climbed round him. + +"There hain't no one here," Stubbins called to me; but his voice +expressed no surprise. + +"What!" sung out the Second Mate. "No one there! Where's Svensen, +then?" + +I did not catch Stubbins's reply; for suddenly, it seemed to me that I +saw something shadowy at the extreme end of the yard, out by the lift. I +stared. It rose up, on the yard, and I saw that it was the figure of a +man. It grasped at the lift, and commenced to swarm up, quickly. It +passed diagonally above Stubbins's head, and reached down a vague hand +and arm. + +"Look out! Stubbins!" I shouted. "Look out!" + +"What's up now?" he called, in a startled voice. At the same instant, +his cap went whirling away to leeward. + +"Damn the wind!" he burst out. + +Then all at once, Jacobs, who had only been giving an occasional moan, +commenced to shriek and struggle. + +"Hold fast onto him!" Stubbins yelled. "He'll be throwin' himself off +the yard." + +I put my left arm round the Ordinary's body--getting hold of the +jackstay on the other side. Then I looked up. Above us, I seemed to see +something dark and indistinct, that moved rapidly up the lift. + +"Keep tight hold of him, while I get a gasket," I heard the Second Mate +sing out. + +A moment later there was a crash, and the light disappeared. + +"Damn and set fire to the sail!" shouted the Second Mate. + +I twisted round, somewhat, and looked in his direction. I could dimly +make him out on the yard. He had evidently been in the act of getting +down on to the foot-rope, when the lantern was smashed. From him, my +gaze jumped to the lee rigging. It seemed that I made out some shadowy +thing stealing down through the darkness; but I could not be sure; and +then, in a breath, it had gone. + +"Anything wrong, Sir?" I called out. + +"Yes," he answered. "I've dropped the lantern. The blessed sail knocked +it out of my hand!" + +"We'll be all right, Sir," I replied. "I think we can manage without it. +Jacobs seems to be quieter now." + +"Well, be careful as you come in," he warned us. + +"Come on, Jacobs," I said. "Come on; we'll go down on deck." + +"Go along, young feller," Stubbins put in. "You're right now. We'll take +care of you." And we started to guide him along the yard. + +He went willingly enough, though without saying a word. He seemed like a +child. Once or twice he shivered; but said nothing. + +We got him in to the lee rigging. Then, one going beside him, and the +other keeping below, we made our way slowly down on deck. We went very +slowly--so slowly, in fact, that the Second Mate--who had stayed a +minute to shove the gasket round the lee side of the sail--was almost as +soon down. + +"Take Jacobs forrard to his bunk," he said, and went away aft to where a +crowd of the men, one with a lantern, stood round the door of an empty +berth under the break of the poop on the starboard side. + +We hurried forrard to the fo'cas'le. There we found all in darkness. + +"They're haft with Jock, and Svenson!" Stubbins had hesitated an instant +before saying the name. + +"Yes," I replied. "That's what it must have been, right enough." + +"I kind of knew it all ther time," he said. + +I stepped in through the doorway, and struck a match. Stubbins followed, +guiding Jacobs before him, and, together, we got him into his bunk. We +covered him up with his blankets, for he was pretty shivery. Then we +came out. During the whole time, he had not spoken a word. + +As we went aft, Stubbins remarked that he thought the business must have +made him a bit dotty. + +"It's driven him clean barmy," he went on. "He don't hunderstand a word +that's said ter him." + +"He may be different in the morning," I answered. + +As we neared the poop, and the crowd of waiting men, he spoke again: + +"They've put 'em hinter ther Second's hempty berth." + +"Yes," I said. "Poor beggars." + +We reached the other men, and they opened out, and allowed us to get +near the door. Several of them asked in low tones, whether Jacobs was +all right, and I told them, "Yes"; not saying anything then about his +condition. + +I got close up to the doorway, and looked into the berth. The lamp was +lit, and I could see, plainly. There were two bunks in the place, and a +man had been laid in each. The Skipper was there, leaning up against a +bulkshead. He looked worried; but was silent--seeming to be mooding in +his own thoughts. The Second Mate was busy with a couple of flags, which +he was spreading over the bodies. The First Mate was talking, evidently +telling him something; but his tone was so low that I caught his words +only with difficulty. It struck me that he seemed pretty subdued. I got +parts of his sentences in patches, as it were. + +"...broken," I heard him say. "And the Dutchman...." + +"I've seen him," the Second Mate said, shortly. + +"Two, straight off the reel," said the Mate "...three in...." + +The Second made no reply. + +"Of course, yer know ... accident." The First Mate went on. + +"Is it!" the Second said, in a queer voice. + +I saw the Mate glance at him, in a doubtful sort of way; but the Second +was covering poor old Jock's dead face, and did not appear to notice his +look. + +"It--it--" the mate said, and stopped. + +After a moment's hesitation, he said something further, that I could not +catch; but there seemed a lot of funk in his voice. + +The Second Mate appeared not to have heard him; at any rate, he made no +reply; but bent, and straightened out a corner of the flag over the +rigid figure in the lower bunk. There was a certain niceness in his +action which made me warm towards him. + +"He's white!" I thought to myself. + +Out loud, I said: + +"We've put Jacobs into his bunk, Sir." + +The Mate jumped; then whizzed round, and stared at me as though I had +been a ghost. The Second Mate turned also; but before he could speak, +the Skipper took a step towards me. + +"Is he all right?" he asked. + +"Well, Sir," I said. "He's a bit queer; but I think it's possible he may +be better, after a sleep." + +"I hope so, too," he replied, and stepped out on deck. He went towards +the starboard poop ladder, walking slowly. The Second went and stood by +the lamp, and the Mate, after a quick glance at him, came out and +followed the Skipper up on to the poop. It occurred to me then, like a +flash, that the man had stumbled upon a portion of the _truth_. This +accident coming so soon after that other! It was evident that, in his +mind, he had connected them. I recollected the fragments of his remarks +to the Second Mate. Then, those many minor happenings that had cropped +up at different times, and at which he had sneered. I wondered whether +he would begin to comprehend their significance--their beastly, sinister +significance. + +"Ah! Mr. Bully-Mate," I thought to myself. "You're in for a bad time if +you've begun to understand." + +Abruptly, my thoughts jumped to the vague future before us. + +"God help us!" I muttered. + +The Second Mate, after a look round, turned down the wick of the lamp, +and came out, closing the door after him. + +"Now, you men," he said to the Mate's watch, "get forrard; we can't do +anything more. You'd better go and get some sleep." + +"i, i, Sir," they said, in a chorus. + +Then, as we all turned to go forrard, he asked if anyone had relieved +the look-out. + +"No, sir," answered Quoin. + +"Is it yours?" the Second asked. + +"Yes, Sir," he replied. + +"Hurry up and relieve him then," the Second said. + +"i, i, Sir," the man answered, and went forrard with the rest of us. + +As we went, I asked Plummer who was at the wheel. + +"Tom," he said. + +As he spoke, several spots of rain fell, and I glanced up at the sky. It +had become thickly clouded. + +"Looks as if it were going to breeze up," I said. + +"Yes," he replied. "We'll be shortenin' 'er down 'fore long." + +"May be an all-hands job," I remarked. + +"Yes," he answered again. "'Twon't be no use their turnin' in, if it +is." + +The man who was carrying the lantern, went into the fo'cas'le, and we +followed. + +"Where's ther one, belongin' to our side?" Plummer asked. + +"Got smashed hupstairs," answered Stubbins. + +"'ow were that?" Plummer inquired. + +Stubbins hesitated. + +"The Second Mate dropped it," I replied. "The sail hit it, or +something." + +The men in the other watch seemed to have no immediate intention of +turning-in; but sat in their bunks, and around on the chests. There was +a general lighting of pipes, in the midst of which there came a sudden +moan from one of the bunks in the forepart of the fo'cas'le--a part that +was always a bit gloomy, and was more so now, on account of our having +only one lamp. + +"Wot's that?" asked one of the men belonging to the other side. + +"S--sh!" said Stubbins. "It's him." + +"'oo?" inquired Plummer. "Jacobs?" + +"Yes," I replied. "Poor devil!" + +"Wot were 'appenin' w'en yer got hup _ther'_?" asked the man on the +other side, indicating with a jerk of his head, the fore royal. + +Before I could reply, Stubbins jumped up from his sea-chest. + +"Ther Second Mate's whistlin'!" he said. "Come hon," and he ran out on +deck. + +Plummer, Jaskett and I followed quickly. Outside, it had started to rain +pretty heavily. As we went, the Second Mate's voice came to us through +the darkness. + +"Stand by the main royal clewlines and buntlines," I heard him shout, +and the next instant came the hollow thutter of the sail as he started +to lower away. + +In a few minutes we had it hauled up. + +"Up and furl it, a couple of you," he sung out. + +I went towards the starboard rigging; then I hesitated. No one else had +moved. + +The Second Mate came among us. + +"Come on now, lads," he said. "Make a move. It's got to be done." + +"I'll go," I said. "If someone else will come." + +Still, no one stirred, and no one answered. + +Tammy came across to me. + +"I'll come," he volunteered, in a nervous voice. + +"No, by God, no!" said the Second Mate, abruptly. + +He jumped into the main rigging himself. "Come along, Jessop!" he +shouted. + +I followed him; but I was astonished. I had fully expected him to get on +to the other fellows' tracks like a ton of bricks. It had not occurred +to me that he was making allowances. I was simply puzzled then; but +afterwards it dawned upon me. + +No sooner had I followed the Second Mate, than, straightway, Stubbins, +Plummer, and Jaskett came up after us at a run. + +About half-way to the maintop, the Second Mate stopped, and looked down. + +"Who's that coming up below you, Jessop?" he asked. + +Before I could, speak, Stubbins answered: + +"It's me, Sir, an' Plummer an' Jaskett." + +"Who the devil told you to come _now_? Go straight down, the lot of +you!" + +"We're comin' hup ter keep you company, Sir," was his reply. + +At that, I was confident of a burst of temper from the Second; and yet, +for the second time within a couple of minutes I was wrong. Instead of +cursing Stubbins, he, after a moment's pause, went on up the rigging, +without another word, and the rest of us followed. We reached the royal, +and made short work of it; indeed, there were sufficient of us to have +eaten it. When we had finished, I noticed that the Second Mate remained +on the yard until we were all in the rigging. Evidently, he had +determined to take a full share of any risk there might be; but I took +care to keep pretty close to him; so as to be on hand if anything +happened; yet we reached the deck again, without anything having +occurred. I have said, without anything having occurred; but I am not +really correct in this; for, as the Second Mate came down over the +crosstrees, he gave a short, abrupt cry. + +"Anything wrong, Sir?" I asked. + +"No--o!" he said. "Nothing! I banged my knee." + +And yet _now_, I believe he was lying. For, that same watch, I was to +hear men giving just such cries; but, God knows, they had reason enough. + + + + +X + + +_Hands That Plucked_ + + +Directly we reached the deck, the Second Mate gave the order: + +"Mizzen t'gallant clewlines and buntlines," and led the way up on to the +poop. He went and stood by the haulyards, ready to lower away. As I +walked across to the starboard clewline, I saw that the Old Man was on +deck, and as I took hold of the rope, I heard him sing out to the Second +Mate. + +"Call all hands to shorten sail, Mr. Tulipson." + +"Very good, Sir," the Second Mate replied. Then he raised his voice: + +"Go forrard, you, Jessop, and call all hands to shorten sail. You'd +better give them a call in the bosun's place, as you go." + +"i, i, Sir," I sung out, and hurried off. + +As I went, I heard him tell Tammy to go down and call the Mate. + +Reaching the fo'cas'le, I put my head in through the starboard doorway, +and found some of the men beginning to turn-in. + +"It's all hands on deck, shorten sail," I sung out. + +I stepped inside. + +"Just wot I said," grumbled one of the men. + +"They don't damn well think we're goin' aloft to-night, after what's +happened?" asked another. + +"We've been up to the main royal," I answered. "The Second Mate went +with us." + +"Wot?" said the first man. "Ther Second Mate hisself?" + +"Yes," I replied. "The whole blooming watch went up." + +"An' wot 'appened?" he asked. + +"Nothing," I said. "Nothing at all. We just made a mouthful apiece of +it, and came down again." + +"All the same," remarked the second man, "I don't fancy goin' upstairs, +after what's happened." + +"Well," I replied. "It's not a matter of fancy. We've got to get the +sail off her, or there'll be a mess. One of the 'prentices told me the +glass is falling." + +"Come erlong, boys. We've got ter du it," said one of the older men, +rising from a chest, at this point. "What's it duin' outside, mate?" + +"Raining," I said. "You'll want your oilskins." + +I hesitated a moment before going on deck again. From the bunk forrard +among the shadows, I had seemed to hear a faint moan. + +"Poor beggar!" I thought to myself. + +Then the old chap who had last spoken, broke in upon my attention. + +"It's awl right, mate!" he said, rather testily. "Yer needn't wait. +We'll be out in er minit." + +"That's all right. I wasn't thinking about you lot," I replied, and +walked forrard to Jacobs's bunk. Some time before, he had rigged up a +pair of curtains, cut out of an old sack, to keep off the draught. +These, some one had drawn, so that I had to pull them aside to see him. +He was lying on his back, breathing in a queer, jerky fashion. I could +not see his face, plainly; but it seemed rather pale, in the half-light. + +"Jacobs," I said. "Jacobs, how do you feel now?" but he made no sign to +show that he had heard me. And so, after a few moments, I drew the +curtains to again, and left him. + +"What like does 'e seem?" asked one of the fellows, as I went towards +the door. + +"Bad," I said. "Damn bad! I think the Steward ought to be told to come +and have a look at him. I'll mention it to the Second when I get a +chance." + +I stepped out on deck, and ran aft again to give them a hand with the +sail. We got it hauled up, and then went forrard to the fore t'gallant. +And, a minute later, the other watch were out, and, with the Mate, were +busy at the main. + +By the time the main was ready for making fast, we had the fore hauled +up, so that now all three t'gallants were in the ropes, and ready for +stowing. Then came the order: + +"Up aloft and furl!" + +"Up with you, lads," the Second Mate said. "Don't let's have any hanging +back this time." + +Away aft by the main, the men in the Mate's watch seemed to be standing +in a clump by the mast; but it was too dark to see clearly. I heard the +Mate start to curse; then there came a growl, and he shut up. + +"Be handy, men! be handy!" the Second Mate sung out. + +At that, Stubbins jumped into the rigging. + +"Come hon!" he shouted. "We'll have ther bloomin' sail fast, an' down +hon deck again before they're started." + +Plummer followed; then Jaskett, I, and Quoin who had been called down +off the look-out to give a hand. + +"That's the style, lads!" the Second sung out, encouragingly. Then he +ran aft to the Mate's crowd. I heard him and the Mate talking to the +men, and presently, when we were going over the foretop, I made out that +they were beginning to get into the rigging. + +I found out, afterwards, that as soon as the Second Mate had seen them +off the deck, he went up to the mizzen t'gallant, along with the four +'prentices. + +On our part, we made our way slowly aloft, keeping one hand for +ourselves and the other for the ship, as you can fancy. In this manner +we had gone as far as the crosstrees, at least, Stubbins, who was first, +had; when, all at once, he gave out just another such cry as had the +Second Mate a little earlier, only that in his case he followed it by +turning round and blasting Plummer. + +"You might have blarsted well sent me flyin' down hon deck," he shouted. +"If you bl--dy well think it's a joke, try it hon some one else--" + +"It wasn't me!" interrupted Plummer. "I 'aven't touched yer. 'oo the +'ell are yer swearin' at?" + +"At you--!" I heard him reply; but what more he may have said, was lost +in a loud shout from Plummer. + +"What's up, Plummer?" I sung out. "For God's sake, you two, don't get +fighting, up aloft!" + +But a loud, frightened curse was all the answer he gave. Then +straightway, he began to shout at the top of his voice, and in the lulls +of his noise, I caught the voice of Stubbins, cursing savagely. + +"They'll come down with a run!" I shouted, helplessly. "They'll come +down as sure as nuts." + +I caught Jaskett by the boot. + +"What are they doing? What are they doing?" I sung out. "Can't you see?" +I shook his leg as I spoke. But at my touch, the old idiot--as I thought +him at the moment--began to shout in a frightened voice: + +"Oh! oh! help! hel--!" + +"Shut up!" I bellowed. "Shut up, you old fool. If you won't do anything, +let me get past you." + +Yet he only cried out the more. And then, abruptly, I caught the sound +of a frightened clamour of men's voices, away down somewhere about the +maintop--curses, cries of fear, even shrieks, and above it all, someone +shouting to go down on deck: + +"Get down! get down! down! down! Blarst--" The rest was drowned in a +fresh outburst of hoarse crying in the night. + +I tried to get past old Jaskett; but he was clinging to the rigging, +sprawled on to it, is the best way to describe his attitude, so much of +it as I could see in the darkness. Up above him, Stubbins and Plummer +still shouted and cursed, and the shrouds quivered and shook, as though +the two were fighting desperately. + +Stubbins seemed to be shouting something definite; but whatever it was, +I could not catch. + +At my helplessness, I grew angry, and shook and prodded Jaskett, to make +him move. + +"Damn you, Jaskett!" I roared. "Damn you for a funky old fool! Let me +get past! Let me get past, will you!" + +But, instead of letting me pass, I found that he was beginning to make +his way down. At that, I caught him by the slack of his trousers, near +the stern, with my right hand, and with the other, I got hold of the +after shroud somewhere above his left hip; by these means, I fairly +hoisted myself up on to the old fellow's back. Then, with my right, I +could reach to the forrard shroud, over his right shoulder, and having +got a grip, I shifted my left to a level with it; at the same moment, I +was able to get my foot on to the splice of a ratline and so give myself +a further lift. Then I paused an instant, and glanced up. + +"Stubbins! Stubbins!" I shouted. "Plummer! Plummer!" + +And even as I called, Plummer's foot--reaching down through the gloom-- +alighted full on my upturned face. I let go from the rigging with my +right hand, and struck furiously at his leg, cursing him for his +clumsiness. He lifted his foot, and in the same instant a sentence from +Stubbins floated down to me, with a strange distinctness: + +"_For God's sake tell 'em to get down hon deck!_" he was shouting. + +Even as the words came to me, something in the darkness gripped my +waist. I made a desperate clutch at the rigging with my disengaged right +hand, and it was well for me that I secured the hold so quickly, for the +same instant, I was wrenched at with a brutal ferocity that appalled me. +I said nothing, but lashed out into the night with my left foot. It is +queer, but I cannot say with certainty that I struck anything; I was too +downright desperate with funk, to be sure; and yet it seemed to me that +my foot encountered something soft, that gave under the blow. It may +have been nothing more than an imagined sensation; yet I am inclined to +think otherwise; for, instantly, the hold about my waist was released; +and I commenced to scramble down, clutching the shrouds pretty +desperately. + +I have only a very uncertain remembrance of that which followed. Whether +I slid over Jaskett, or whether he gave way to me, I cannot tell. I know +only that I reached the deck, in a blind whirl of fear and excitement, +and the next thing I remember, I was among a crowd of shouting, half-mad +sailor-men. + + + + +XI + + +_The Search for Stubbins_ + +In a confused way, I was conscious that the Skipper and the Mates were +down among us, trying to get us into some state of calmness. Eventually +they succeeded, and we were told to go aft to the Saloon door, which we +did in a body. Here, the Skipper himself served out a large tot of rum +to each of us. Then, at his orders, the Second Mate called the roll. + +He called over the Mate's watch first, and everyone answered. Then he +came to ours, and he must have been much agitated; for the first name he +sung out was Jock's. + +Among us there came a moment of dead silence, and I noticed the wail and +moan of the wind aloft, and the flap, flap of the three unfurled +t'gallan's'ls. + +The Second Mate called the next name, hurriedly: + +"Jaskett," he sung out. + +"Sir," Jaskett answered. + +"Quoin." + +"Yes, Sir." + +"Jessop." + +"Sir," I replied. + +"Stubbins." + +There was no answer. + +"Stubbins," again called the Second Mate. + +Again there was no reply. + +"Is Stubbins here?--anyone!" The Second's voice sounded sharp and +anxious. + +There was a moment's pause. Then one of the men spoke: + +"He's not here, Sir." + +"Who saw him last?" the Second asked. + +Plummer stepped forward into the light that streamed through the Saloon +doorway. He had on neither coat nor cap, and his shirt seemed to be +hanging about him in tatters. + +"It were me, Sir," he said. + +The Old Man, who was standing next to the Second Mate, took a pace +towards him, and stopped and stared; but it was the Second who spoke. + +"Where?" he asked. + +"'e were just above me, in ther crosstrees, when, when--" the man broke +off short. + +"Yes! yes!" the Second Mate replied. Then he turned to the Skipper. + +"Someone will have to go up, Sir, and see--" He hesitated. + +"But--" said the Old Man, and stopped. + +The Second Mate cut in. + +"I shall go up, for one, Sir," he said, quietly. + +Then he turned back to the crowd of us. + +"Tammy," he sung out. "Get a couple of lamps out of the lamp-locker." + +"i, i, Sir," Tammy replied, and ran off. + +"Now," said the Second Mate, addressing us. "I want a couple of men to +jump aloft along with me and take a look for Stubbins." + +Not a man replied. I would have liked to step out and offer; but the +memory of that horrible clutch was with me, and for the life of me, I +could not summon up the courage. + +"Come! come, men!" he said. "We can't leave him up there. We shall take +lanterns. Who'll come now?" + +I walked out to the front. I was in a horrible funk; but, for very +shame, I could not stand back any longer. + +"I'll come with you, Sir," I said, not very loud, and feeling fairly +twisted up with nervousness. + +"That's more the tune, Jessop!" he replied, in a tone that made me glad +I had stood out. + +At this point, Tammy came up, with the lights. He brought them to the +Second, who took one, and told him to give the other to me. The Second +Mate held his light above his head, and looked round at the hesitating +men. + +"Now, men!" he sung out. "You're not going to let Jessop and me go up +alone. Come along, another one or two of you! Don't act like a damned +lot of cowards!" + +Quoin stood out, and spoke for the crowd. + +"I dunno as we're actin' like cowyards, Sir; but just look at _'im_," +and he pointed at Plummer, who still stood full in the light from the +Saloon doorway. + +"What sort of a Thing is it 'as done that, Sir?" he went on. "An' then +yer arsks us ter go up agen! It aren't likely as we're in a 'urry." + +The Second Mate looked at Plummer, and surely, as I have before +mentioned, the poor beggar was in a state; his ripped-up shirt was +fairly flapping in the breeze that came through the doorway. + +The Second looked; yet he said nothing. It was as though the realisation +of Plummer's condition had left him without a word more to say. It was +Plummer himself who finally broke the silence. + +"I'll come with yer, Sir," he said. "Only yer ought ter 'ave more light +than them two lanterns. 'Twon't be no use, unless we 'as plenty er +light." + +The man had grit; and I was astonished at his offering to go, after what +he must have gone through. Yet, I was to have even a greater +astonishment; for, abruptly, The Skipper--who all this time had scarcely +spoken--stepped forward a pace, and put his hand on the Second Mate's +shoulder. + +"I'll come with you, Mr. Tulipson," he said. + +The Second Mate twisted his head round, and stared at him a moment, in +astonishment. Then he opened his mouth. + +"No, Sir; I don't think--" he began. + +"That's sufficient, Mr. Tulipson," the Old Man interrupted. "I've made +up my mind." + +He turned to the First Mate, who had stood by without a word. + +"Mr. Grainge," he said. "Take a couple of the 'prentices down with you, +and pass out a box of blue-lights and some flare-ups." + +The Mate answered something, and hurried away into the Saloon, with the +two 'prentices in his watch. Then the Old Man spoke to the men. + +"Now, men!" he began. "This is no time for dilly-dallying. The Second +Mate and I will go aloft, and I want about half a dozen of you to come +along with us, and carry lights. Plummer and Jessop here, have +volunteered. I want four or five more of you. Step out now, some of +you!" + +There was no hesitation whatever, now; and the first man to come forward +was Quoin. After him followed three of the Mate's crowd, and then old +Jaskett. + +"That will do; that will do," said the Old Man. + +He turned to the Second Mate. + +"Has Mr. Grainge come with those lights yet?" he asked, with a certain +irritability. + +"Here, Sir," said the First Mate's voice, behind him in the Saloon +doorway. He had the box of blue-lights in his hands, and behind him, +came the two boys carrying the flares. + +The Skipper took the box from him, with a quick gesture, and opened it. + +"Now, one of you men, come here," he ordered. + +One of the men in the Mate's watch ran to him. + +He took several of the lights from the box, and handed them to the man. + +"See here," he said. "When we go aloft, you get into the foretop, and +keep one of these going all the time, do you hear?" + +"Yes, Sir," replied the man. + +"You know how to strike them?" the Skipper asked, abruptly. + +"Yes, Sir," he answered. + +The Skipper sung out to the Second Mate: + +"Where's that boy of yours--Tammy, Mr. Tulipson?" + +"Here, Sir," said Tammy, answering for himself. + +The Old Man took another light from the box. + +"Listen to me, boy!" he said. "Take this, and stand-by on the forrard +deck house. When we go aloft, you must give us a light until the man +gets his going in the top. You understand?" + +"Yes, Sir," answered Tammy, and took the light. + +"One minute!" said the Old Man, and stooped and took a second light from +the box. "Your first light may go out before we're ready. You'd better +have another, in case it does." + +Tammy took the second light, and moved away. + +"Those flares all ready for lighting there, Mr. Grainge?" the Captain +asked. + +"All ready, Sir," replied the Mate. + +The Old Man pushed one of the blue-lights into his coat pocket, and +stood upright. + +"Very well," he said. "Give each of the men one apiece. And just see +that they all have matches." + +He spoke to the men particularly: + +"As soon as we are ready, the other two men in the Mate's watch will get +up into the cranelines, and keep their flares going there. Take your +paraffin tins with you. When we reach the upper topsail, Quoin and +Jaskett will get out on the yard-arms, and show their flares there. Be +careful to keep your lights away from the sails. Plummer and Jessop will +come up with the Second Mate and myself. Does every man clearly +understand?" + +"Yes, Sir," said the men in a chorus. + +A sudden idea seemed to occur to the Skipper, and he turned, and went +through the doorway into the Saloon. In about a minute, he came back, +and handed something to the Second Mate, that shone in the light from +the lanterns. I saw that it was a revolver, and he held another in his +other hand, and this I saw him put into his side pocket. + +The Second Mate held the pistol a moment, looking a bit doubtful. + +"I don't think, Sir--" he began. But the Skipper cut him short. + +"You don't know!" he said. "Put it in your pocket." + +Then he turned to the First Mate. + +"You will take charge of the deck, Mr. Grainge, while we're aloft," he +said. + +"i, i, Sir," the Mate answered and sung out to one of his 'prentices to +take the blue-light box back into the cabin. + +The Old Man turned and led the way forrard. As we went, the light from +the two lanterns shone upon the decks, showing the litter of the +t'gallant gear. The ropes were foul of one another in a regular "bunch +o' buffers[1]." This had been caused, I suppose, by the crowd trampling +over them in their excitement, when they reached the deck. And then, +suddenly, as though the sight had waked me up to a more vivid +comprehension, you know, it came to me new and fresh, how damned strange +was the whole business... I got a little touch of despair, and asked +myself what was going to be the end of all these beastly happenings. +You can understand? + +[Footnote 1: Modified from the original.] + +Abruptly, I heard the Skipper shouting, away forward. He was singing out +to Tammy to get up on to the house with his blue-light. We reached the +fore rigging, and, the same instant, the strange, ghastly flare of +Tammy's blue-light burst out into the night causing every rope, sail, +and spar to jump out weirdly. + +I saw now that the Second Mate was already in the starboard rigging, +with his lantern. He was shouting to Tammy to keep the drip from his +light clear of the staysail, which was stowed upon the house. Then, from +somewhere on the port side, I heard the Skipper shout to us to hurry. + +"Smartly now, you men," he was saying. "Smartly now." + +The man who had been told to take up a station in the fore-top, was just +behind the Second Mate. Plummer was a couple of ratlines lower. + +I caught the Old Man's voice again. + +"Where's Jessop with that other lantern?" I heard him shout. + +"Here, Sir," I sung out. + +"Bring it over this side," he ordered. "You don't want the two lanterns +on one side." + +I ran round the fore side of the house. Then I saw him. He was in the +rigging, and making his way smartly aloft. One of the Mate's watch and +Quoin were with him. This, I saw as I came round the house. Then I made +a jump, gripped the sheerpole, and swung myself up on to the rail. And +then, all at once, Tammy's blue-light went out, and there came, what +seemed by contrast, pitchy darkness. I stood where I was--one foot on +the rail and my knee upon the sheerpole. The light from my lantern +seemed no more than a sickly yellow glow against the gloom, and higher, +some forty or fifty feet, and a few ratlines below the futtock rigging +on the starboard side, there was another glow of yellowness in the +night. Apart from these, all was blackness. And then from above--high +above--there wailed down through the darkness a weird, sobbing cry. What +it was, I do not know; but it sounded horrible. + +The Skipper's voice came down, jerkily. + +"Smartly with that light, boy!" he shouted. And the blue glare blazed +out again, almost before he had finished speaking. + +I stared up at the Skipper. He was standing where I had seen him before +the light went out, and so were the two men. As I looked, he commenced +to climb again. I glanced across to starboard. Jaskett, and the other +man in the Mate's watch, were about midway between the deck of the house +and the foretop. Their faces showed extraordinary pale in the dead glare +of the blue-light. Higher, I saw the Second Mate in the futtock rigging, +holding his light up over the edge of the top. Then he went further, and +disappeared. The man with the blue-lights followed, and also vanished +from view. On the port side, and more directly above me, the Skipper's +feet were just stepping out of the futtock shrouds. At that I made haste +to follow. + +Then, suddenly, when I was close under the top, there came from above me +the sharp flare of a blue-light, and almost in the same instant, Tammy's +went out. + +I glanced down at the decks. They were filled with flickering, grotesque +shadows cast by the dripping light above. A group of the men stood by +the port galley door--their faces upturned and pale and unreal under the +gleam of the light. + +Then I was in the futtock rigging, and a moment afterwards, standing in +the top, beside the Old Man. He was shouting to the men who had gone out +on the craneline. It seemed that the man on the port side was bungling; +but at last--nearly a minute after the other man had lit his flare--he +got going. In that time, the man in the top had lit his second +blue-light, and we were ready to get into the topmast rigging. First, +however, the Skipper leant over the afterside of the top, and sung out +to the First Mate to send a man up on to the fo'cas'le head with a +flare. The Mate replied, and then we started again, the Old Man leading. + +Fortunately, the rain had ceased, and there seemed to be no increase in +the wind; indeed, if anything, there appeared to be rather less; yet +what there was drove the flames of the flare-ups out into occasional, +twisting serpents of fire at least a yard long. + +About half-way up the topmast rigging, the Second Mate sung out to the +Skipper, to know whether Plummer should light his flare; but the Old Man +said he had better wait until we reached the crosstrees, as then he +could get out away from the gear to where there would be less danger of +setting fire to anything. + +We neared the crosstrees, and the Old Man stopped and sung out to me to +pass him the lantern by Quoin. A few ratlines more, and both he and the +Second Mate stopped almost simultaneously, holding their lanterns as +high as possible, and peered up into the darkness. + +"See any signs of him, Mr. Tulipson?" the Old Man asked. + +"No, Sir," replied the Second. "Not a sign." + +He raised his voice. + +"Stubbins," he sung out. "Stubbins, are you there?" + +We listened; but nothing came to us beyond the blowing moan of the wind, +and the flap, flap of the bellying t'gallant above. + +The Second Mate climbed over the crosstrees, and Plummer followed. The +man got out by the royal backstay, and lit his flare. By its light we +could see, plainly; but there was no vestige of Stubbins, so far as the +light went. + +"Get out on to the yard-arms with those flares, you two men," shouted +the Skipper. "Be smart now! Keep them away from the sail!" + +The men got on to the foot-ropes--Quoin on the port, and Jaskett on the +starboard side. By the light from Plummer's flare, I could see them +clearly, as they lay out upon the yard. It occurred to me that they went +gingerly--which is no surprising thing. And then, as they drew near to +the yard-arms, they passed beyond the brilliance of the light; so that I +could not see them clearly. A few seconds passed, and then the light +from Quoin's flare streamed out upon the wind; yet nearly a minute went +by, and there was no sign of Jaskett's. + +Then out from the semi-darkness at the starboard yard-arm, there came a +curse from Jaskett, followed almost immediately by a noise of something +vibrating. + +"What's up?" shouted the Second Mate. "What's up, Jaskett?" + +"It's ther foot-rope, Sir-r-r!" he drew out the last word into a sort of +gasp. + +The Second Mate bent quickly, with the lantern. I craned round the after +side of the top-mast, and looked. + +"What is the matter, Mr. Tulipson?" I heard the Old Man singing out. + +Out on the yard-arm, Jaskett began to shout for help, and then, all at +once, in the light from the Second Mate's lantern, I saw that the +starboard foot-rope on the upper topsail yard was being violently +shaken--savagely shaken, is perhaps a better word. And then, almost in +the same instant, the Second Mate shifted the lantern from his right to +his left hand. He put the right into his pocket and brought out his gun +with a jerk. He extended his hand and arm, as though pointing at +something a little below the yard. Then a quick flash spat out across +the shadows, followed immediately by a sharp, ringing crack. In the same +moment, I saw that the foot-rope ceased to shake. + +"Light your flare! Light your flare, Jaskett!" the Second shouted. "Be +smart now!" + +Out at the yard-arm there came a splutter of a match, and then, +straightaway, a great spurt of fire as the flare took light. + +"That's better, Jaskett. You're all right now!" the Second Mate called +out to him. + +"What was it, Mr. Tulipson?" I heard the Skipper ask. + +I looked up, and saw that he had sprung across to where the Second Mate +was standing. The Second Mate explained to him; but he did not speak +loud enough for me to catch what he said. + +I had been struck by Jaskett's attitude, when the light of his flare had +first revealed him. He had been crouched with his right knee cocked over +the yard, and his left leg down between it and the foot-rope, while his +elbows had been crooked over the yard for support, as he was lighting +the flare. Now, however, he had slid both feet back on to the foot-rope, +and was lying on his belly, over the yard, with the flare held a little +below the head of the sail. It was thus, with the light being on the +foreside of the sail, that I saw a small hole a little below the +foot-rope, through which a ray of the light shone. It was undoubtedly +the hole which the bullet from the Second Mate's revolver had made in +the sail. + +Then I heard the Old Man shouting to Jaskett. + +"Be careful with that flare there!" he sung out. "You'll be having that +sail scorched!" + +He left the Second Mate, and came back on to the port side of the mast. + +To my right, Plummer's flares seemed to be dwindling. I glanced up at +his face through the smoke. He was paying no attention to it; instead, +he was staring up above his head. + +"Shove some paraffin on to it, Plummer," I called to him. "It'll be out +in a minute." + +He looked down quickly to the light, and did as I suggested. Then he +held it out at arm's length, and peered up again into the darkness. + +"See anything?" asked the Old Man, suddenly observing his attitude. + +Plummer glanced at him, with a start. + +"It's ther r'yal, Sir," he explained. "It's all adrift." + +"What!" said the Old Man. + +He was standing a few ratlines up the t'gallant rigging, and he bent his +body outwards to get a better look. + +"Mr. Tulipson!" he shouted. "Do you know that the royal's all adrift?" + +"No, Sir," answered the Second Mate. "If it is, it's more of this +devilish work!" + +"It's adrift right enough," said the Skipper, and he and the Second went +a few ratlines higher, keeping level with one another. + +I had now got above the crosstrees, and was just at the Old Man's heels. + +Suddenly, he shouted out: + +"There he is!--Stubbins! Stubbins!" + +"Where, Sir?" asked the Second, eagerly. "I can't see him!" + +"There! there!" replied the Skipper, pointing. + +I leant out from the rigging, and looked up along his back, in the +direction his finger indicated. At first, I could see nothing; then, +slowly, you know, there grew upon my sight a dim figure crouching upon +the bunt of the royal, and partly hidden by the mast. I stared, and +gradually it came to me that there was a couple of them, and further out +upon the yard, a hump that might have been anything, and was only +visible indistinctly amid the flutter of the canvas. + +"Stubbins!" the Skipper sung out. "Stubbins, come down out of that! Do +you hear me?" + +But no one came, and there was no answer. + +"There's two--" I began; but he was shouting again: + +"Come down out of that! Do you damned well hear me?" + +Still there was no reply. + +"I'm hanged if I can see him at all, Sir!" the Second Mate called out +from his side of the mast. + +"Can't see him!" said the Old Man, now thoroughly angry. "I'll soon let +you see him!" + +He bent down to me with the lantern. + +"Catch hold, Jessop," he said, which I did. + +Then he pulled the blue light from his pocket, and as he was doing so, I +saw the Second peek round the back side of the mast at him. Evidently, +in the uncertain light, he must have mistaken the Skipper's action; for, +all at once, he shouted out in a frightened voice: + +"Don't shoot, Sir! For God's sake, don't shoot!" + +"Shoot be damned!" exclaimed the Old Man. "Watch!" + +He pulled off the cap of the light. + +"There's two of them, Sir," I called again to him. + +"What!" he said in a loud voice, and at the same instant he rubbed the +end of the light across the cap, and it burst into fire. + +He held it up so that it lit the royal yard like day, and straightway, a +couple of shapes dropped silently from the royal on to the t'gallant +yard. At the same moment, the humped Something, midway out upon the +yard, rose up. It ran in to the mast, and I lost sight of it. + +"God!" I heard the Skipper gasp, and he fumbled in his side pocket. + +I saw the two figures which had dropped on to the t'gallant, run swiftly +along the yard--one to the starboard and the other to the port +yard-arms. + +On the other side of the mast, the Second Mate's pistol cracked out +twice, sharply. Then, from over my head the Skipper fired twice, and +then again; but with what effect, I could not tell. Abruptly, as he +fired his last shot, I was aware of an indistinct Something, gliding +down the starboard royal backstay. It was descending full upon Plummer, +who, all unconscious of the thing, was staring towards the t'gallant +yard. + +"Look out above you, Plummer!" I almost shrieked. + +"What? where?" he called, and grabbed at the stay, and waved his flare, +excitedly. + +Down on the upper topsail yard, Quoin's and Jaskett's voices rose +simultaneously, and in the identical instant, their flares went out. +Then Plummer shouted, and his light went utterly. There were left only +the two lanterns, and the blue-light held by the Skipper, and that, a +few seconds afterwards, finished and died out. + +The Skipper and the Second Mate were shouting to the men upon the yard, +and I heard them answer, in shaky voices. Out on the crosstrees, I could +see, by the light from my lantern, that Plummer was holding in a dazed +fashion to the backstay. + +"Are you all right, Plummer?" I called. + +"Yes," he said, after a little pause; and then he swore. + +"Come in off that yard, you men!" the Skipper was singing out. "Come in! +come in!" + +Down on deck, I heard someone calling; but could not distinguish the +words. Above me, pistol in hand, the Skipper was glancing about, +uneasily. + +"Hold up that light, Jessop," he said. "I can't see!" + +Below us, the men got off the yard, into the rigging. + +"Down on deck with you!" ordered the Old Man. + +"As smartly as you can!" + +"Come in off there, Plummer!" sung out the Second Mate. "Get down with +the others!" + +"Down with you, Jessop!" said the Skipper, speaking rapidly. "Down with +you!" + +I got over the crosstrees, and he followed. On the other side, the +Second Mate was level with us. He had passed his lantern to Plummer, and +I caught the glint of his revolver in his right hand. In this fashion, +we reached the top. The man who had been stationed there with the +blue-lights, had gone. Afterwards, I found that he went down on deck as +soon as they were finished. There was no sign of the man with the flare +on the starboard craneline. He also, I learnt later, had slid down one +of the backstays on to the deck, only a very short while before we +reached the top. He swore that a great black shadow of a man had come +suddenly upon him from aloft. When I heard that, I remembered the thing +I had seen descending upon Plummer. Yet the man who had gone out upon +the port craneline--the one who had bungled with the lighting of his +flare--was still where we had left him; though his light was burning now +but dimly. + +"Come in out of that, _you!_" the Old Man sung out "Smartly now, and get +down on deck!" + +"i, i, Sir," the man replied, and started to make his way in. + +The Skipper waited until he had got into the main rigging, and then he +told me to get down out of the top. He was in the act of following, +when, all at once, there rose a loud outcry on deck, and then came the +sound of a man screaming. + +"Get out of my way, Jessop!" the Skipper roared, and swung himself down +alongside of me. + +I heard the Second Mate shout something from the starboard rigging. Then +we were all racing down as hard as we could go. I had caught a momentary +glimpse of a man running from the doorway on the port side of the +fo'cas'le. In less than half a minute we were upon the deck, and among a +crowd of the men who were grouped round something. Yet, strangely +enough, they were not looking at the thing among them; but away aft at +something in the darkness. + +"It's on the rail!" cried several voices. + +"Overboard!" called somebody, in an excited voice. "It's jumped over the +side!" + +"Ther' wer'n't nothin'!" said a man in the crowd. + +"Silence!" shouted the Old Man. "Where's the Mate? What's happened?" + +"Here, Sir," called the First Mate, shakily, from near the centre of the +group. "It's Jacobs, Sir. He--he--" + +"What!" said the Skipper. "What!" + +"He--he's--he's--dead I think!" said the First Mate, in jerks. + +"Let me see," said the Old Man, in a quieter tone. + +The men had stood to one side to give him room, and he knelt beside the +man upon the deck. + +"Pass the lantern here, Jessop," he said. + +I stood by him, and held the light. The man was lying face downwards on +the deck. Under the light from the lantern, the Skipper turned him over +and looked at him. + +"Yes," he said, after a short examination. "He's dead." + +He stood up and regarded the body a moment, in silence. Then he turned +to the Second Mate, who had been standing by, during the last couple of +minutes. + +"Three!" he said, in a grim undertone. + +The Second Mate nodded, and cleared his voice. + +He seemed on the point of saying something; then he turned and looked at +Jacobs, and said nothing. + +"Three," repeated the Old Man. "Since eight bells!" + +He stooped and looked again at Jacobs. + +"Poor devil! poor devil!" he muttered. + +The Second Mate grunted some of the huskiness out of his throat, and +spoke. + +"Where must we take him?" he asked, quietly. "The two bunks are full." + +"You'll have to put him down on the deck by the lower bunk," replied the +Skipper. + +As they carried him away, I heard the Old Man make a sound that was +almost a groan. The rest of the men had gone forrard, and I do not think +he realised that I was standing by him + +"My God! O, my God!" he muttered, and began to walk slowly aft. + +He had cause enough for groaning. There were three dead, and Stubbins +had gone utterly and completely. We never saw him again. + + + + +XII + + +_The Council_ + + +A few minutes later, the Second Mate came forrard again. I was still +standing near the rigging, holding the lantern, in an aimless sort of +way. + +"That you, Plummer?" he asked. + +"No, Sir," I said. "It's Jessop." + +"Where's Plummer, then?" he inquired. + +"I don't know, Sir," I answered. "I expect he's gone forrard. Shall I go +and tell him you want him?" + +"No, there's no need," he said. "Tie your lamp up in the rigging--on the +sheerpole there. Then go and get his, and shove it up on the starboard +side. After that you'd better go aft and give the two 'prentices a hand +in the lamp locker." + +"i, i, Sir," I replied, and proceeded to do as he directed. After I had +got the light from Plummer, and lashed it up to the starboard sherpole, +I hurried aft. I found Tammy and the other 'prentice in our watch, busy +in the locker, lighting lamps. + +"What are we doing?" I asked. + +"The Old Man's given orders to lash all the spare lamps we can find, in +the rigging, so as to have the decks light," said Tammy. "And a damned +good job too!" + +He handed me a couple of the lamps, and took two himself. + +"Come on," he said, and stepped out on deck. "We'll fix these in the +main rigging, and then I want to talk to you." + +"What about the mizzen?" I inquired. + +"Oh," he replied. "He" (meaning the other 'prentice) "will see to that. +Anyway, it'll be daylight directly." + +We shoved the lamps up on the sherpoles--two on each side. Then he came +across to me. + +"Look here, Jessop!" he said, without any hesitation. "You'll have to +jolly well tell the Skipper and the Second Mate all you know about all +this." + +"How do you mean?" I asked. + +"Why, that it's something about the ship herself that's the cause of +what's happened," he replied. "If you'd only explained to the Second +Mate when I told you to, this might never have been!" + +"But I don't _know_," I said. "I may be all wrong. It's only an idea of +mine. I've no proofs--" + +"Proofs!" he cut in with. "Proofs! what about tonight? We've had all the +proofs ever I want!" + +I hesitated before answering him. + +"So have I, for that matter," I said, at length. "What I mean is, I've +nothing that the Skipper and the Second Mate would consider as proofs. +They'd never listen seriously to me." + +"They'd listen fast enough," he replied. "After what's happened this +watch, they'd listen to anything. Anyway, it's jolly well your duty to +tell them!" + +"What could they do, anyway?" I said, despondently. "As things are +going, we'll all be dead before another week is over, at this rate." + +"You tell them," he answered. "That's what you've got to do. If you can +only get them to realise that you're right, they'll be glad to put into +the nearest port, and send us all ashore." + +I shook my head. + +"Well, anyway, they'll have to do something," he replied, in answer to +my gesture. "We can't go round the Horn, with the number of men we've +lost. We haven't enough to handle her, if it comes on to blow." + +"You've forgotten, Tammy," I said. "Even if I could get the Old Man to +believe I'd got at the truth of the matter, he couldn't do anything. +Don't you see, if I'm right, we couldn't even see the land, if we made +it. We're like blind men...." + +"What on earth do you mean?" he interrupted. "How do you make out we're +like blind men? Of course we could see the land--" + +"Wait a minute! wait a minute!" I said. "You don't understand. Didn't I +tell you?" + +"Tell what?" he asked. + +"About the ship I spotted," I said. "I thought you knew!" + +"No," he said. "When?" + +"Why," I replied. "You know when the Old Man sent me away from the +wheel?" + +"Yes," he answered. "You mean in the morning watch, day before +yesterday?" + +"Yes," I said. "Well, don't you know what was the matter?" + +"No," he replied. "That is, I heard you were snoozing at the wheel, and +the Old Man came up and caught you." + +"That's all a darned silly yarn!" I said. And then I told him the whole +truth of the affair. After I had done that, I explained my idea about +it, to him. + +"Now you see what I mean?" I asked. + +"You mean that this strange atmosphere--or whatever it is--we're in, +would not allow us to see another ship?" he asked, a bit awestruck. + +"Yes," I said. "But the point I wanted you to see, is that if we can't +see another vessel, even when she's quite close, then, in the same way, +we shouldn't be able to see land. To all intents and purposes we're +blind. Just you think of it! We're out in the middle of the briny, doing +a sort of eternal blind man's hop. The Old Man couldn't put into port, +even if he wanted to. He'd run us bang on shore, without our ever seeing +it." + +"What are we going to do, then?" he asked, in a despairing sort of way. +"Do you mean to say we can't do anything? Surely something can be done! +It's terrible!" + +For perhaps a minute, we walked up and down, in the light from the +different lanterns. Then he spoke again. + +"We might be run down, then," he said, "and never even see the other +vessel?" + +"It's possible," I replied. "Though, from what I saw, it's evident that +_we're_ quite visible; so that it would be easy for them to see us, and +steer clear of us, even though we couldn't see them." + +"And we might run into something, and never see it?" he asked me, +following up the train of thought. + +"Yes," I said. "Only there's nothing to stop the other ship from getting +out of our way." + +"But if it wasn't a vessel?" he persisted. "It might be an iceberg, or a +rock, or even a derelict." + +"In that case," I said, putting it a bit flippantly, naturally, "we'd +probably damage it." + +He made no answer to this and for a few moments, we were quiet. + +Then he spoke abruptly, as though the idea had come suddenly to him. + +"Those lights the other night!" he said. "Were they a ship's lights?" + +"Yes," I replied. "Why?" + +"Why," he answered. "Don't you see, if they were really lights, we +_could_ see them?" + +"Well, I should think I ought to know that," I replied. "You seem to +forget that the Second Mate slung me off the look-out for daring to do +that very thing." + +"I don't mean that," he said. "Don't you see that if we could see them +at all, it showed that the atmosphere-thing wasn't round us then?" + +"Not necessarily," I answered. "It may have been nothing more than a +rift in it; though, of course, I may be all wrong. But, anyway, the fact +that the lights disappeared almost as soon as they were seen, shows that +it was very much round the ship." + +That made him feel a bit the way I did, and when next he spoke, his tone +had lost its hopefulness. + +"Then you think it'll be no use telling the Second Mate and the Skipper +anything?" he asked. + +"I don't know," I replied. "I've been thinking about it, and it can't do +any harm. I've a very good mind to." + +"I should," he said. "You needn't be afraid of anybody laughing at you, +now. It might do some good. You've seen more than anyone else." + +He stopped in his walk, and looked round. + +"Wait a minute," he said, and ran aft a few steps. I saw him look up at +the break of the poop; then he came back. + +"Come along now," he said. "The Old Man's up on the poop, talking to the +Second Mate. You'll never get a better chance." + +Still I hesitated; but he caught me by the sleeve, and almost dragged me +to the lee ladder. + +"All right," I said, when I got there. "All right, I'll come. Only I'm +hanged if I know what to say when I get there." + +"Just tell them you want to speak to them," he said. "They'll ask what +you want, and then you spit out all you know. They'll find it +interesting enough." + +"You'd better come too," I suggested. "You'll be able to back me up in +lots of things." + +"I'll come, fast enough," he replied. "You go up." + +I went up the ladder, and walked across to where the Skipper and the +Second Mate stood talking earnestly, by the rail. Tammy kept behind. As +I came near to them, I caught two or three words; though I attached no +meaning then to them. They were: "...send for him." Then the two of them +turned and looked at me, and the Second Mate asked what I wanted. + +"I want to speak to you and the Old M--Captain, Sir," I answered. + +"What is it, Jessop?" the Skipper inquired. + +"I scarcely know how to put it, Sir," I said. "It's--it's about these-- +these things." + +"What things? Speak out, man," he said. + +"Well, Sir," I blurted out. "There's some dreadful thing or things come +aboard this ship, since we left port." + +I saw him give one quick glance at the Second Mate, and the Second +looked back. + +Then the Skipper replied. + +"How do you mean, come aboard?" he asked. + +"Out of the sea, Sir," I said. "I've seen them. So's Tammy, here." + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, and it seemed to me, from his face, that he was +understanding something better. "Out of the Sea!" + +Again he looked at the Second Mate; but the Second was staring at me. + +"Yes Sir," I said. "It's the _ship_. She's not safe! I've watched. I +think I understand a bit; but there's a lot I don't." + +I stopped. The Skipper had turned to the Second Mate. The Second nodded, +gravely. Then I heard him mutter, in a low voice, and the Old Man +replied; after which he turned to me again. + +"Look here, Jessop," he said. "I'm going to talk straight to you. You +strike me as being a cut above the ordinary shellback, and I think +you've sense enough to hold your tongue." + +"I've got my mate's ticket, Sir," I said, simply. + +Behind me, I heard Tammy give a little start. He had not known about it +until then. + +The Skipper nodded. + +"So much the better," he answered. "I may have to speak to you about +that, later on." + +He paused, and the Second Mate said something to him, in an undertone. + +"Yes," he said, as though in reply to what the Second had been saying. +Then he spoke to me again. + +"You've seen things come out of the sea, you say?" he questioned. "Now +just tell me all you can remember, from the very beginning." + +I set to, and told him everything in detail, commencing with the strange +figure that had stepped aboard out of the sea, and continuing my yarn, +up to the things that had happened in that very watch. + +I stuck well to solid facts; and now and then he and the Second Mate +would look at one another, and nod. At the end, he turned to me with an +abrupt gesture. + +"You still hold, then, that you saw a ship the other morning, when I +sent you from the wheel?" he asked. + +"Yes, Sir," I said. "I most certainly do." + +"But you knew there wasn't any!" he said. + +"Yes, Sir," I replied, in an apologetic tone. "There was; and, if you +will let me, I believe that I can explain it a bit." + +"Well," he said. "Go on." + +Now that I knew he was willing to listen to me in a serious manner all +my funk of telling him had gone, and I went ahead and told him my ideas +about the mist, and the thing it seemed to have ushered, you know. I +finished up, by telling him how Tammy had worried me to come and tell +what I knew. + +"He thought then, Sir," I went on, "that you might wish to put into the +nearest port; but I told him that I didn't think you could, even if you +wanted to." + +"How's that?" he asked, profoundly interested. + +"Well, Sir," I replied. "If we're unable to see other vessels, we +shouldn't be able to see the land. You'd be piling the ship up, without +ever seeing where you were putting her." + +This view of the matter, affected the Old Man in an extraordinary +manner; as it did, I believe, the Second Mate. And neither spoke for a +moment. Then the Skipper burst out. + +"By Gad! Jessop," he said. "If you're right, the Lord have mercy on us." + +He thought for a couple of seconds. Then he spoke again, and I could see +that he was pretty well twisted up: + +"My God!... if you're right!" + +The Second Mate spoke. + +"The men mustn't know, Sir," he warned him. "It'd be a mess if they +did!" + +"Yes," said the Old Man. + +He spoke to me. + +"Remember that, Jessop," he said. "Whatever you do, don't go yarning +about this, forrard." + +"No, Sir," I replied. + +"And you too, boy," said the Skipper. "Keep your tongue between your +teeth. We're in a bad enough mess, without your making it worse. Do you +hear?" + +"Yes, Sir," answered Tammy. + +The Old Man turned to me again. + +"These things, or creatures that you say come out of the sea," he said. +"You've never seen them, except after nightfall?" he asked. + +"No, Sir," I replied. "Never." + +He turned to the Second Mate. + +"So far as I can make out, Mr. Tulipson," he remarked, "the danger seems +to be only at night." + +"It's always been at night, Sir," the Second answered. + +The Old Man nodded. + +"Have you anything to propose, Mr. Tulipson?" he asked. + +"Well, Sir," replied the Second Mate. "I think you ought to have her +snugged down every night, before dark!" + +He spoke with considerable emphasis. Then he glanced aloft, and jerked +his head in the direction of the unfurled t'gallants. + +"It's a damned good thing, Sir," he said, "that it didn't come on to +blow any harder." + +The Old Man nodded again. + +"Yes," he remarked. "We shall have to do it; but God knows when we'll +get home!" + +"Better late than not at all," I heard the Second mutter, under his +breath. + +Out loud, he said: + +"And the lights, Sir?" + +"Yes," said the Old Man. "I will have lamps in the rigging every night, +after dark." + +"Very good, Sir," assented the Second. Then he turned to us. + +"It's getting daylight, Jessop," he remarked, with a glance at the sky. +"You'd better take Tammy with you, and shove those lamps back again into +the locker." + +"i, i, Sir," I said, and went down off the poop with Tammy. + + + + +XIII + + +_The Shadow in the Sea_ + + +When eight bells went, at four o'clock, and the other watch came on deck +to relieve us, it had been broad daylight for some time. Before we went +below, the Second Mate had the three t'gallants set; and now that it was +light, we were pretty curious to have a look aloft, especially up the +fore; and Tom, who had been up to overhaul the gear, was questioned a +lot, when he came down, as to whether there were any signs of anything +queer up there. But he told us there was nothing unusual to be seen. + +At eight o'clock, when we came on deck for the eight to twelve watch, I +saw the Sailmaker coming forrard along the deck, from the Second Mate's +old berth. He had his rule in his hand, and I knew he had been measuring +the poor beggars in there, for their burial outfit. From breakfast time +until near noon, he worked, shaping out three canvas wrappers from some +old sailcloth. Then, with the aid of the Second Mate and one of the +hands, he brought out the three dead chaps on to the after hatch, and +there sewed them up, with a few lumps of holy stone at their feet. He +was just finishing when eight bells went, and I heard the Old Man tell +the Second Mate to call all hands aft for the burial. This was done, and +one of the gangways unshipped. + +We had no decent grating big enough, so they had to get off one of the +hatches, and use it instead. The wind had died away during the morning, +and the sea was almost a calm--the ship lifting ever so slightly to an +occasional glassy heave. The only sounds that struck on the ear were the +soft, slow rustle and occasional shiver of the sails, and the continuous +and monotonous creak, creak of the spars and gear at the gentle +movements of the vessel. And it was in this solemn half-quietness that +the Skipper read the burial service. + +They had put the Dutchman first upon the hatch (I could tell him by his +stumpiness), and when at last the Old Man gave the signal, the Second +Mate tilted his end, and he slid off, and down into the dark. + +"Poor old Dutchie," I heard one of the men say, and I fancy we all felt +a bit like that. + +Then they lifted Jacobs on to the hatch, and when he had gone, Jock. +When Jock was lifted, a sort of sudden shiver ran through the crowd. He +had been a favourite in a quiet way, and I know I felt, all at once, +just a bit queer. I was standing by the rail, upon the after bollard, +and Tammy was next to me; while Plummer stood a little behind. As the +Second Mate tilted the hatch for the last time, a little, hoarse chorus +broke from the men: + +"S'long, Jock! So long, Jock!" + +And then, at the sudden plunge, they rushed to the side to see the last +of him as he went downwards. Even the Second Mate was not able to resist +this universal feeling, and he, too, peered over. From where I had been +standing, I had been able to see the body take the water, and now, for a +brief couple of seconds, I saw the white of the canvas, blurred by the +blue of the water, dwindle and dwindle in the extreme depth. Abruptly, +as I stared, it disappeared--too abruptly, it seemed to me. + +"Gone!" I heard several voices say, and then our watch began to go +slowly forrard, while one or two of the other, started to replace the +hatch. + +Tammy pointed, and nudged me. + +"See, Jessop," he said. "What is it?" + +"What?" I asked. + +"That queer shadow," he replied. "Look!" + +And then I saw what he meant. It was something big and shadowy, that +appeared to be growing clearer. It occupied the exact place--so it +seemed to me--in which Jock had disappeared. + +"Look at it!" said Tammy, again. "It's getting bigger!" + +He was pretty excited, and so was I. + +I was peering down. The thing seemed to be rising out of the depths. It +was taking shape. As I realised what the shape was, a queer, cold funk +took me. + +"See," said Tammy. "It's just like the shadow of a ship!" + +And it was. The shadow of a ship rising out of the unexplored immensity +beneath our keel. Plummer, who had not yet gone forrard, caught Tammy's +last remark, and glanced over. + +"What's 'e mean?" he asked. + +"That!" replied Tammy, and pointed. + +I jabbed my elbow into his ribs; but it was too late. Plummer had seen. +Curiously enough, though, he seemed to think nothing of it. + +"That ain't nothin', 'cept ther shadder er ther ship," he said. + +Tammy, after my hint, let it go at that. But when Plummer had gone +forrard with the others, I told him not to go telling everything round +the decks, like that. + +"We've got to be thundering careful!" I remarked. "You know what the Old +Man said, last watch!" + +"Yes," said Tammy. "I wasn't thinking; I'll be careful next time." + +A little way from me the Second Mate was still staring down into the +water. I turned, and spoke to him. + +"What do you make it out to be, Sir?" I asked. + +"God knows!" he said, with a quick glance round to see whether any of +the men were about. + +He got down from the rail, and turned to go up on to the poop. At the +top of the ladder, he leant over the break. + +"You may as well ship that gangway, you two," he told us. "And mind, +Jessop, keep your mouth shut about this." + +"i, i, Sir," I answered. + +"And you too, youngster!" he added and went aft along the poop. + +Tammy and I were busy with the gangway when the Second came back. He had +brought the Skipper. + +"Right under the gangway, Sir" I heard the Second say, and he pointed +down into the water. + +For a little while, the Old Man stared. Then I heard him speak. + +"I don't see anything," he said. + +At that, the Second Mate bent more forward and peered down. So did I; +but the thing, whatever it was, had gone completely. + +"It's gone, Sir," said the Second. "It was there right enough when I +came for you." + +About a minute later, having finished shipping the gangway, I was going +forrard, when the Second's voice called me back + +"Tell the Captain what it was you saw just now," he said, in a low +voice. + +"I can't say exactly, Sir," I replied. "But it seemed to me like the +shadow of a ship, rising up through the water." + +"There, Sir," remarked the Second Mate to the Old Man. "Just what I told +you." + +The Skipper stared at me. + +"You're quite sure?" he asked. + +"Yes, Sir," I answered. "Tammy saw it, too." + +I waited a minute. Then they turned to go aft. The Second was saying +something. + +"Can I go, Sir?" I asked. + +"Yes, that will do, Jessop," he said, over his shoulder. But the Old Man +came back to the break, and spoke to me. + +"Remember, not a word of this forrard!" he said. + +"No Sir," I replied, and he went back to the Second Mate; while I walked +forrard to the fo'cas'le to get something to eat. + +"Your whack's in the kettle, Jessop," said Tom, as I stepped in over the +washboard. "An' I got your lime-juice in a pannikin." + +"Thanks," I said, and sat down. + +As I stowed away my grub, I took no notice of the chatter of the others. +I was too stuffed with my own thoughts. That shadow of a vessel rising, +you know, out of the profound deeps, had impressed me tremendously. It +had not been imagination. Three of us had seen it--really four; for +Plummer distinctly saw it; though he failed to recognise it as anything +extraordinary. + +As you can understand, I thought a lot about this shadow of a vessel. +But, I am sure, for a time, my ideas must just have gone in an +everlasting, blind circle. And then I got another thought; for I got +thinking of the figures I had seen aloft in the early morning; and I +began to imagine fresh things. You see, that first thing that had come +up over the side, had come _out of the sea_. And it had gone back. And +now there was this shadow vessel-thing--ghost-ship I called it. It was a +damned good name, too. And the dark, noiseless men ... I thought a lot +on these lines. Unconsciously, I put a question to myself, aloud: + +"Were they the crew?" + +"Eh?" said Jaskett, who was on the next chest. + +I took hold of myself, as it were, and glanced at him, in an apparently +careless manner. + +"Did I speak?" I asked. + +"Yes, mate," he replied, eyeing me, curiously. "Yer said sumthin' about +a crew." + +"I must have been dreaming," I said; and rose up to put away my plate. + + + + +XIV + + +_The Ghost Ships_ + + +At four o'clock, when again we went on deck, the Second Mate told me to +go on with a paunch mat I was making; while Tammy, he sent to get out +his sinnet. I had the mat slug on the fore side of the mainmast, between +it and the after end of the house; and, in a few minutes, Tammy brought +his sinnet and yarns to the mast, and made fast to one of the pins. + +"What do you think it was, Jessop?" he asked, abruptly, after a short +silence. + +I looked at him. + +"What do you think?" I replied. + +"I don't know what to think," he said. "But I've a feeling that it's +something to do with all the rest," and he indicated aloft, with his +head. + +"I've been thinking, too," I remarked. + +"That it is?" he inquired. + +"Yes," I answered, and told him how the idea had come to me at my +dinner, that the strange men-shadows which came aboard, might come from +that indistinct vessel we had seen down in the sea. + +"Good Lord!" he exclaimed, as he got my meaning. And then for a little, +he stood and thought. + +"That's where they live, you mean?" he said, at last, and paused again. + +"Well," I replied. "It can't be the sort of existence _we_ should call +life." + +He nodded, doubtfully. + +"No," he said, and was silent again. + +Presently, he put out an idea that had come to him. + +"You _think_, then, that that--vessel has been with us for some time, if +we'd only known?" he asked. + +"All along," I replied. "I mean ever since these things started." + +"Supposing there are others," he said, suddenly. + +I looked at him. + +"If there are," I said. "You can pray to God that they won't stumble +across us. It strikes me that whether they're ghosts, or not ghosts, +they're blood-gutted pirates. + +"It seems horrible," he said solemnly, "to be talking seriously like +this, about--you know, about such things." + +"I've tried to stop thinking that way," I told him. "I've felt I should +go cracked, if I didn't. There's damned queer things happen at sea, I +know; but this isn't one of them." + +"It seems so strange and unreal, one moment, doesn't it?" he said. "And +the next, you _know_ it's really true, and you can't understand why you +didn't always know. And yet they'd never believe, if you told them +ashore about it." + +"They'd believe, if they'd been in this packet in the middle watch this +morning," I said. + +"Besides," I went on. "They don't understand. We didn't ... I shall +always feel different now, when I read that some packet hasn't been +heard of." + +Tammy stared at me. + +"I've heard some of the old shellbacks talking about things," he said. +"But I never took them really seriously." + +"Well," I said. "I guess we'll have to take this seriously. I wish to +God we were home!" + +"My God! so do I," he said. + +For a good while after that, we both worked on in silence; but, +presently, he went off on another tack. + +"Do you think we'll really shorten her down every night before it gets +dark?" he asked. + +"Certainly," I replied. "They'll never get the men to go aloft at night, +after what's happened." + +"But, but--supposing they _ordered_ us aloft--" he began. + +"Would you go?" I interrupted. + +"No!" he said, emphatically. "I'd jolly well be put in irons first!" + +"That settles it, then," I replied. "You wouldn't go, nor would any one +else." + +At this moment the Second Mate came along. + +"Shove that mat and that sinnet away, you two," he said. "Then get your +brooms and clear up." + +"i, i, Sir," we said, and he went on forrard. + +"Jump on the house, Tammy," I said. "And let go the other end of this +rope, will you?" + +"Right" he said, and did as I had asked him. When he came back, I got +him to give me a hand to roll up the mat, which was a very large one. + +"I'll finish stopping it," I said. "You go and put your sinnet away." + +"Wait a minute," he replied, and gathered up a double handful of shakins +from the deck, under where I had been working. Then he ran to the side. + +"Here!" I said. "Don't go dumping those. They'll only float, and the +Second Mate or the Skipper will be sure to spot them." + +"Come here, Jessop!" he interrupted, in a low voice, and taking no +notice of what I had been saying. + +I got up off the hatch, where I was kneeling. He was staring over the +side. + +"What's up?" I asked. + +"For God's sake, hurry!" he said, and I ran, and jumped on to the spar, +alongside of him. + +"Look!" he said, and pointed with a handful of shakins, right down, +directly beneath us. + +Some of the shakins dropped from his hand, and blurred the water, +momentarily, so that I could not see. Then, as the ripples cleared away, +I saw what he meant. + +"Two of them!" he said, in a voice that was scarcely above a whisper. +"And there's another out there," and he pointed again with the handful +of shakins. + +"There's another a little further aft," I muttered. + +"Where?--where?" he asked. + +"There," I said, and pointed. + +"That's four," he whispered. "Four of them!" + +I said nothing; but continued to stare. They appeared to me to be a +great way down in the sea, and quite motionless. Yet, though their +outlines were somewhat blurred and indistinct, there was no mistaking +that they were very like exact, though shadowy, representations of +vessels. For some minutes we watched them, without speaking. At last +Tammy spoke. + +"They're real, right enough," he said, in a low voice. + +"I don't know," I answered. + +"I mean we weren't mistaken this morning," he said. + +"No," I replied. "I never thought we were." + +Away forrard, I heard the Second Mate, returning aft. He came nearer, +and saw us. + +"What's up now, you two?" he called, sharply. "This isn't clearing up!" + +I put out my hand to warn him not to shout, and draw the attention of +the rest of the men. + +He took several steps towards me. + +"What is it? what is it?" he said, with a certain irritability; but in a +lower voice. + +"You'd better take a look over the side, Sir," I replied. + +My tone must have given him an inkling that we had discovered something +fresh; for, at my words, he made one spring, and stood on the spar, +alongside of me. + +"Look, Sir," said Tammy. "There's four of them." + +The Second Mate glanced down, saw something and bent sharply forward. + +"My God!" I heard him mutter, under his breath. + +After that, for some half-minute, he stared, without a word. + +"There are two more out there, Sir," I told him, and indicated the place +with my finger. + +It was a little time before he managed to locate these and when he did, +he gave them only a short glance. Then he got down off the spar, and +spoke to us. + +"Come down off there," he said, quickly. "Get your brooms and clear up. +Don't say a word!--It may be nothing." + +He appeared to add that last bit, as an afterthought, and we both knew +it meant nothing. Then he turned and went swiftly aft. + +"I expect he's gone to tell the Old Man," Tammy remarked, as we went +forrard, carrying the mat and his sinnet. + +"H'm," I said, scarcely noticing what he was saying; for I was full of +the thought of those four shadowy craft, waiting quietly down there. + +We got our brooms, and went aft. On the way, the Second Mate and the +Skipper passed us. They went forrard too by the fore brace, and got up +on the spar. I saw the Second point up at the brace and he appeared to +be saying something about the gear. I guessed that this was done +purposely, to act as a blind, should any of the other men be looking. +Then the Old Man glanced down over the side, in a casual sort of manner; +so did the Second Mate. A minute or two later, they came aft, and went +back, up on to the poop. I caught a glimpse of the Skipper's face as he +passed me, on his return. He struck me as looking worried--bewildered, +perhaps, would be a better word. + +Both Tammy and I were tremendously keen to have another look; but when +at last we got a chance, the sky reflected so much on the water, we +could see nothing below. + +We had just finished sweeping up when four bells went, and we cleared +below for tea. Some of the men got chatting while they were grubbing. + +"I 'ave 'eard," remarked Quoin, "as we're goin' ter shorten 'er down +afore dark." + +"Eh?" said old Jaskett, over his pannikin of tea. + +Quoin repeated his remark. + +"'oo says so?" inquired Plummer. + +"I 'eard it from ther Doc," answered Quoin, "'e got it from ther +Stooard." + +"'ow would 'ee know?" asked Plummer. + +"I dunno," said Quoin. "I 'spect 'e's 'eard 'em talkin' 'bout it arft." + +Plummer turned to me. + +"'ave you 'eard anythin', Jessop?" he inquired. + +"What, about shortening down?" I replied. + +"Yes," he said. "Weren't ther Old Man talkin' ter yer, up on ther poop +this mornin'?" + +"Yes," I answered. "He said something to the Second Mate about +shortening down; but it wasn't to me." + +"They are!" said Quoin, "'aven't I just said so?" + +At that instant, one of the chaps in the other watch, poked his head in +through the starboard doorway. + +"All hands shorten sail!" he sung out; at the same moment the Mate's +whistle came sharp along the decks. + +Plummer stood up, and reached for his cap. + +"Well," he said. "It's evydent they ain't goin' ter lose no more of us!" + +Then we went out on deck. + +It was a dead calm; but all the same, we furled the three royals, and +then the three t'gallants. After that, we hauled up the main and +foresail, and stowed them. The crossjack, of course, had been furled +some time, with the wind being plumb aft. + +It was while we were up at the foresail, that the sun went over the edge +of the horizon. We had finished stowing the sail, out upon the yard, and +I was waiting for the others to clear in, and let me get off the +foot-rope. Thus it happened that having nothing to do for nearly a +minute, I stood watching the sun set, and so saw something that +otherwise I should, most probably, have missed. The sun had dipped +nearly half-way below the horizon, and was showing like a great, red +dome of dull fire. Abruptly, far away on the starboard bow, a faint mist +drove up out of the sea. It spread across the face of the sun, so that +its light shone now as though it came through a dim haze of smoke. +Quickly, this mist or haze grew thicker; but, at the same time, +separating and taking strange shapes, so that the red of the sun struck +through ruddily between them. Then, as I watched, the weird mistiness +collected and shaped and rose into three towers. These became more +definite, and there was something elongated beneath them. The shaping +and forming continued, and almost suddenly I saw that the thing had +taken on the shape of a great ship. Directly afterwards, I saw that it +was moving. It had been broadside on to the sun. Now it was swinging. +The bows came round with a stately movement, until the three masts bore +in a line. It was heading directly towards us. It grew larger; but yet +less distinct. Astern of it, I saw now that the sun had sunk to a mere +line of light. Then, in the gathering dusk it seemed to me that the ship +was sinking back into the ocean. The sun went beneath the sea, and the +thing I had seen became merged, as it were, into the monotonous greyness +of the coming night. + +A voice came to me from the rigging. It was the Second Mate's. He had +been up to give us a hand. + +"Now then, Jessop," he was saying. "Come along! come along!" + +I turned quickly, and realised that the fellows were nearly all off the +yard. + +"i, i, Sir," I muttered, and slid in along the foot-rope, and went down +on deck. I felt fresh dazed and frightened. + +A little later, eight bells went, and, after roll call, I cleared up, on +to the poop, to relieve the wheel. For a while as I stood at the wheel +my mind seemed blank, and incapable of receiving impressions. This +sensation went, after a time, and I realised that there was a great +stillness over the sea. There was absolutely no wind, and even the +everlasting creak, creak of the gear seemed to ease off at times. + +At the wheel there was nothing whatever to do. I might just as well have +been forrard, smoking in the fo'cas'le. Down on the main-deck, I could +see the loom of the lanterns that had been lashed up to the sherpoles in +the fore and main rigging. Yet they showed less than they might, owing +to the fact that they had been shaded on their after sides, so as not to +blind the officer of the watch more than need be. + +The night had come down strangely dark, and yet of the dark and the +stillness and the lanterns, I was only conscious in occasional flashes +of comprehension. For, now that my mind was working, I was thinking +chiefly of that queer, vast phantom of mist, I had seen rise from the +sea, and take shape. + +I kept staring into the night, towards the West, and then all round me; +for, naturally, the memory predominated that she had been coming towards +us when the darkness came, and it was a pretty disquieting sort of thing +to think about. I had such a horrible feeling that something beastly was +going to happen any minute. + +Yet, two bells came and went, and still all was quiet--strangely quiet, +it seemed to me. And, of course, besides the queer, misty vessel I had +seen in the West I was all the time remembering the four shadowy craft +lying down in the sea, under our port side. Every time I remembered +them, I felt thankful for the lanterns round the maindeck, and I +wondered why none had been put in the mizzen rigging. I wished to +goodness that they had, and made up my mind I would speak to the Second +Mate about it, next time he came aft. At the time, he was leaning over +the rail across the break of the poop. He was not smoking, as I could +tell; for had he been, I should have seen the glow of his pipe, now and +then. It was plain to me that he was uneasy. Three times already he had +been down on to the maindeck, prowling about. I guessed that he had been +to look down into the sea, for any signs of those four grim craft. I +wondered whether they would be visible at night. + +Suddenly, the time-keeper struck three bells, and the deeper notes of +the bell forrard, answered them. I gave a start. It seemed to me that +they had been struck close to my elbow. There was something +unaccountably strange in the air that night. Then, even as the Second +Mate answered the look-out's "All's well," there came the sharp whir and +rattle of running gear, on the port side of the mainmast. +Simultaneously, there was the shrieking of a parrel, up the main; and I +knew that someone, or something, had let go the main-topsail haul-yards. +From aloft there came the sound of something parting; then the crash of +the yard as it ceased falling. + +The Second Mate shouted out something unintelligible, and jumped for the +ladder. From the maindeck there came the sound of running feet, and the +voices of the watch, shouting. Then I caught the Skipper's voice; he +must have run out on deck, through the Saloon doorway. + +"Get some more lamps! Get some more lamps!" he was singing out. Then he +swore. + +He sung out something further. I caught the last two words. + +"...carried away," they sounded like. + +"No, Sir," shouted the Second Mate. "I don't think so." + +A minute of some confusion followed; and then came the click of pawls. I +could tell that they had taken the haulyards to the after capstan. Odd +words floated up to me. + +"...all this water?" I heard in the Old Man's voice. He appeared to be +asking a question. + +"Can't say, Sir," came the Second Mate's. + +There was a period of time, filled only by the clicking of the pawls and +the sounds of the creaking parrel and the running gear. Then the Second +Mate's voice came again. + +"Seems all right, Sir," I heard him say. + +I never heard the Old Man's reply; for in the same moment, there came to +me a chill of cold breath at my back. I turned sharply, and saw +something peering over the taffrail. It had eyes that reflected the +binnacle light, weirdly, with a frightful, tigerish gleam; but beyond +that, I could see nothing with any distinctness. For the moment, I just +stared. I seemed frozen. It was so close. Then movement came to me, and +I jumped to the binnacle and snatched out the lamp. I twitched round, +and shone the light towards it. The thing, whatever it was, had come +more forward over the rail; but now, before the light, it recoiled with +a queer, horrible litheness. It slid back, and down, and so out of +sight. I have only a confused notion of a wet glistening Something, and +two vile eyes. Then I was running, crazy, towards the break of the poop. +I sprang down the ladder, and missed my footing, and landed on my stern, +at the bottom. In my left hand I held the still burning binnacle lamp. +The men were putting away the capstan-bars; but at my abrupt appearance, +and the yell I gave out at falling, one or two of them fairly ran +backwards a short distance, in sheer funk, before they realised what it +was. + +From somewhere further forrard, the Old Man and the Second Mate came +running aft. + +"What the devil's up now?" sung out the Second, stopping and bending to +stare at me. "What's to do, that you're away from the wheel?" + +I stood up and tried to answer him; but I was so shaken that I could +only stammer. + +"I--I--there--" I stuttered. + +"Damnation!" shouted the Second Mate, angrily. "Get back to the wheel!" + +I hesitated, and tried to explain. + +"Do you damned well hear me?" he sung out. + +"Yes, Sir; but--" I began. + +"Get up on to the poop, Jessop!" he said. + +I went. I meant to explain, when he came up. At the top of the ladder, I +stopped. I was not going back alone to that wheel. Down below, I heard +the Old Man speaking. + +"What on earth is it now, Mr. Tulipson?" he was saying. + +The Second Mate made no immediate reply; but turned to the men, who were +evidently crowding near. + +"That will do, men!" he said, somewhat sharply. + +I heard the watch start to go forrard. There came a mutter of talk from +them. Then the Second Mate answered the Old Man. He could not have known +that I was near enough to overhear him. + +"It's Jessop, Sir. He must have seen something; but we mustn't frighten +the crowd more than need be." + +"No," said the Skipper's voice. + +They turned and came up the ladder, and I ran back a few steps, as far +as the skylight. I heard the Old Man speak as they came up. + +"How is it there are no lamps, Mr. Tulipson?" he said, in a surprised +tone. + +"I thought there would be no need up here, Sir," the Second Mate +replied. Then he added something about saving oil. + +"Better have them, I think," I heard the Skipper say. + +"Very good, Sir," answered the Second, and sung out to the time-keeper +to bring up a couple of lamps. + +Then the two of them walked aft, to where I stood by the skylight. + +"What are you doing, away from the wheel?" asked the Old Man, in a stern +voice. + +I had collected my wits somewhat by now. + +"I won't go, Sir, till there's a light," I said. + +The Skipper stamped his foot, angrily; but the Second Mate stepped +forward. + +"Come! Come, Jessop!" he exclaimed. "This won't do, you know! You'd +better get back to the wheel without further bother." + +"Wait a minute," said the Skipper, at this juncture. "What objection +have you to going back to the wheel?" he asked. + +"I saw something," I said. "It was climbing over the taffrail, Sir--" + +"Ah!" he said, interrupting me with a quick gesture. Then, abruptly: +"Sit down! sit down; you're all in a shake, man." + +I flopped down on to the skylight seat. I was, as he had said, all in a +shake, and the binnacle lamp was wobbling in my hand, so that the light +from it went dancing here and there across the deck. + +"Now," he went on. "Just tell us what you saw." + +I told them, at length, and while I was doing so, the time-keeper +brought up the lights and lashed one up on the sheerpole in each +rigging. + +"Shove one under the spanker boom," the Old Man sung out, as the boy +finished lashing up the other two. "Be smart now." + +"i, i, Sir," said the 'prentice, and hurried off. + +"Now then," remarked the Skipper when this had been done "You needn't be +afraid to go back to the wheel. There's a light over the stern, and the +Second Mate or myself will be up here all the time." + +I stood up. + +"Thank you, Sir," I said, and went aft. I replaced my lamp in the +binnacle, and took hold of the wheel; yet, time and again, I glanced +behind and I was very thankful when, a few minutes later, four bells +went, and I was relieved. + +Though the rest of the chaps were forrard in the fo'cas'le, I did not go +there. I shirked being questioned about my sudden appearance at the foot +of the poop ladder; and so I lit my pipe and wandered about the +maindeck. I did not feel particularly nervous, as there were now two +lanterns in each rigging, and a couple standing upon each of the spare +top-masts under the bulwarks. + +Yet, a little after five bells, it seemed to me that I saw a shadowy +face peer over the rail, a little abaft the fore lanyards. I snatched up +one of the lanterns from off the spar, and flashed the light towards it, +whereupon there was nothing. Only, on my mind, more than my sight, I +fancy, a queer knowledge remained of wet, peery eyes. Afterwards, when I +thought about them, I felt extra beastly. I knew then how brutal they +had been ... Inscrutable, you know. Once more in that same watch I had a +somewhat similar experience, only in this instance it had vanished even +before I had time to reach a light. And then came eight bells, and our +watch below. + + + + +XV + + +_The Great Ghost Ship_ + +When we were called again, at a quarter to four, the man who roused us +out, had some queer information. + +"Toppin's gone--clean vanished!" he told us, as we began to turn out. "I +never was in such a damned, hair-raisin' hooker as this here. It ain't +safe to go about the bloomin' decks." + +"'oo's gone?" asked Plummer, sitting up suddenly and throwing his legs +over his bunk-board. + +"Toppin, one of the 'prentices," replied the man. "We've been huntin' +all over the bloomin' show. We're still at it--but we'll never find +him," he ended, with a sort of gloomy assurance. + +"Oh, I dunno," said Quoin. "P'raps 'e's snoozin' somewheres 'bout." + +"Not him," replied the man. "I tell you we've turned everythin' upside +down. He's not aboard the bloomin' ship. + +"Where was he when they last saw him?" I asked. + +"Someone must know something, you know!" + +"Keepin' time up on the poop," he replied. "The Old Man's nearly shook +the life out of the Mate and the chap at the wheel. And they say they +don't know nothin'." + +"How do you mean?" I inquired. "How do you mean, nothing?" + +"Well," he answered. "The youngster was there one minute, and then the +next thing they knew, he'd gone. They've both sworn black an' blue that +there wasn't a whisper. He's just disappeared off of the face of the +bloomin' earth." + +I got down on to my chest, and reached for my boots. + +Before I could speak again, the man was saying something fresh. + +"See here, mates," he went on. "If things is goin' on like this, I'd +like to know where you an' me'll be befor' long!" + +"We'll be in 'ell," said Plummer. + +"I dunno as I like to think 'bout it," said Quoin. + +"We'll have to think about it!" replied the man. "We've got to think a +bloomin' lot about it. I've talked to our side, an' they're game." + +"Game for what?" I asked. + +"To go an' talk straight to the bloomin' Capting," he said, wagging his +finger at me. "It's make tracks for the nearest bloomin' port, an' don't +you make no bloomin' mistake." + +I opened my mouth to tell him that the probability was we should not be +able to make it, even if he could get the Old Man to see the matter from +his point of view. Then I remembered that the chap had no idea of the +things I had seen, and _thought out_; so, instead, I said: + +"Supposing he won't?" + +"Then we'll have to bloomin' well make him," he replied. + +"And when you got there," I said. "What then? You'd be jolly well locked +up for mutiny." + +"I'd sooner be locked up," he said. "It don't kill you!" + +There was a murmur of agreement from the others, and then a moment of +silence, in which, I know, the men were thinking. + +Jaskett's voice broke into it. + +"I never thought at first as she was 'aunted--" he commenced; but +Plummer cut in across his speech. + +"We mustn't 'urt any one, yer know," he said. "That'd mean 'angin', an' +they ain't been er bad crowd. + +"No," assented everyone, including the chap who had come to call us. + +"All the same," he added. "It's got to be up hellum, an' shove her into +the nearest bloomin' port." + +"Yes," said everyone, and then eight bells went, and we cleared out on +deck. + +Presently, after roll-call--in which there had come a queer, awkward +little pause at Toppin's name--Tammy came over to me. The rest of the +men had gone forrard, and I guessed they were talking over mad plans for +forcing the Skipper's hand, and making him put into port--poor beggars! + +I was leaning over the port rail, by the fore brace-lock, staring down +into the sea, when Tammy came to me. For perhaps a minute he said +nothing. When at last he spoke, it was to say that the shadow vessels +had not been there since daylight. + +"What?" I said, in some surprise. "How do you know?" + +"I woke up when they were searching for Toppin," he replied. "I've not +been asleep since. I came here, right away." He began to say something +further; but stopped short. + +"Yes," I said encouragingly. + +"I didn't know--" he began, and broke off. He caught my arm. "Oh, +Jessop!" he exclaimed. "What's going to be the end of it all? Surely +something can be done?" + +I said nothing. I had a desperate feeling that there was very little we +could do to help ourselves. + +"Can't we do something?" he asked, and shook my arm. "Anything's better +than _this_! We're being _murdered!"_ + +Still, I said nothing; but stared moodily down into the water. I could +plan nothing; though I would get mad, feverish fits of thinking. + +"Do you hear?" he said. He was almost crying. + +"Yes, Tammy," I replied. "But I don't know! I _don't_ know!" + +"You don't know!" he exclaimed. "You don't know! Do you mean we're just +to give in, and be murdered, one after another?" + +"We've done all we can," I replied. "I don't know what else we can do, +unless we go below and lock ourselves in, every night." + +"That would be better than this," he said. "There'll be no one to go +below, or anything else, soon!" + +"But what if it came on to blow?" I asked. "We'd be having the sticks +blown out of her." + +"What if it came on to blow _now_?" he returned. "No one would go aloft, +if it were dark, you said, yourself! Besides, we could shorten her +_right_ down, first. I tell you, in a few days there won't be a chap +alive aboard this packet unless they jolly well do something!" + +"Don't shout," I warned him. "You'll have the Old Man hearing you." But +the young beggar was wound up, and would take no notice. + +"I will shout," he replied. "I want the Old Man to hear. I've a good +mind to go up and tell him." + +He started on a fresh tack. + +"Why don't the men do something?" he began. "They ought to damn well +make the Old Man put us into port! They ought--" + +"For goodness sake, shut up, you little fool!" I said. "What's the good +of talking a lot of damned rot like that? You'll be getting yourself +into trouble." + +"I don't care," he replied. "I'm not going to be murdered!" + +"Look here," I said. "I told you before, that we shouldn't be able to +see the land, even if we made it." + +"You've no proof," he answered. "It's only your idea." + +"Well," I replied. "Proof, or no proof, the Skipper would only pile her +up, if he tried to make the land, with things as they are now." + +"Let him pile her up," he answered. "Let him jolly well pile her up! +That would be better than staying out here to be pulled overboard, or +chucked down from aloft!" + +"Look here, Tammy--" I began; but just then the Second Mate sung out for +him, and he had to go. When he came back, I had started to walk to and +from, across the fore side of the mainmast. He joined me, and after a +minute, he started his wild talk again. + +"Look here, Tammy," I said, once more. "It's no use your talking like +you've been doing. Things are as they are, and it's no one's fault, and +nobody can help it. If you want to talk sensibly, I'll listen; if not, +then go and gas to someone else." + +With that, I returned to the port side, and got up on the spar, again, +intending to sit on the pinrail and have a bit of a talk with him. +Before sitting down I glanced over, into the sea. The action had been +almost mechanical; yet, after a few instants, I was in a state of the +most intense excitement, and without withdrawing my gaze, I reached out +and caught Tammy's arm to attract his attention. + +"My God!" I muttered. "Look!" + +"What is it?" he asked, and bent over the rail, beside me. And this +is what we saw: a little distance below the surface there lay a +pale-coloured, slightly-domed disc. It seemed only a few feet down. +Below it, we saw quite clearly, after a few moment's staring, the shadow +of a royal-yard, and, deeper, the gear and standing-rigging of a great +mast. Far down among the shadows I thought, presently, that I could make +out the immense, indefinite stretch of vast decks. + +"My God!" whispered Tammy, and shut up. But presently, he gave out a +short exclamation, as though an idea had come to him; and got down off +the spar, and ran forrard on to the fo'cas'le head. He came running +back, after a short look into the sea, to tell me that there was the +truck of another great mast coming up there, a bit off the bow, to +within a few feet of the surface of the sea. + +In the meantime, you know, I had been staring like mad down through the +water at the huge, shadowy mast just below me. I had traced out bit by +bit, until now I could clearly see the jackstay, running along the top +of the royal mast; and, you know, the royal itself was _set_. + +But, you know, what was getting at me more than anything, was a feeling +that there was movement down in the water there, among the rigging. I +_thought_ I could actually see, at times, things moving and glinting +faintly and rapidly to and fro in the gear. And once, I was practically +certain that something was on the royal-yard, moving in to the mast; as +though, you know, it might have come up the leech of the sail. And this +way, I got a beastly feeling that there were things swarming down there. + +Unconsciously, I must have leant further and further out over the side, +staring; and suddenly--good Lord! how I yelled--I overbalanced. I made a +sweeping grab, and caught the fore brace, and with that, I was back in a +moment upon the spar. In the same second, almost, it seemed to me that +the surface of the water above the submerged truck was broken, and I am +sure _now,_ I saw something a moment in the air against the ship's side +--a sort of shadow in the air; though I did not realise it at the time. +Anyway, the next instant, Tammy gave out an awful scream, and was head +downwards over the rail, in a second. I had an idea _then_ that he was +jumping overboard. I collared him by the waist of his britchers, and one +knee, and then I had him down on the deck, and sat plump on him; for he +was struggling and shouting all the time, and I was so breathless and +shaken and gone to mush, I could not have trusted my hands to hold him. +You see, I never thought _then_ it was anything but some influence at +work on him; and that he was trying to get loose to go over the side. +But I know _now_ that I saw the shadow-man that had him. Only, at the +time, I was so mixed up, and with the one idea in my head, I was not +really able to notice anything, properly. But, afterwards, I +comprehended a bit (you can understand, can't you?) what I had seen at +the time without taking in. + +And even now looking back, I know that the shadow was only like a +faint-seen greyness in the daylight, against the whiteness of the decks, +clinging against Tammy. + +And there was I, all breathless and sweating, and quivery with my own +tumble, sitting on the little screeching beggar, and he fighting like a +mad thing; so that I thought I should never hold him. + +And then I heard the Second Mate shouting and there came running feet +along the deck. Then many hands were pulling and hauling, to get me off +him. + +"Bl--y cowyard!" sung out someone. + +"Hold him! Hold him!" I shouted. "He'll be overboard!" + +At that, they seemed to understand that I was not ill-treating the +youngster; for they stopped manhandling me, and allowed me to rise; +while two of them took hold of Tammy, and kept him safe. + +"What's the matter with him?" the Second Mate was singing out. "What's +happened?" + +"He's gone off his head, I think," I said. + +"What?" asked the Second Mate. But before I could answer him, Tammy +ceased suddenly to struggle, and flopped down upon the deck. + +"'e's fainted," said Plummer, with some sympathy. He looked at me, with +a puzzled, suspicious air. "What's 'appened? What's 'e been doin'?" + +"Take him aft into the berth!" ordered the Second Mate, a bit abruptly. +It struck me that he wished to prevent questions. He must have tumbled +to the fact that we had seen something, about which it would be better +not to tell the crowd. + +Plummer stooped to lift the boy. + +"No," said the Second Mate. "Not you, Plummer. Jessop, you take him." He +turned to the rest of the men. "That will do," he told them and they +went forrard, muttering a little. + +I lifted the boy, and carried him aft. + +"No need to take him into the berth," said the Second Mate. "Put him +down on the after hatch. I've sent the other lad for some brandy." + +Then the brandy came, we dosed Tammy and soon brought him round. He sat +up, with a somewhat dazed air. Otherwise, he seemed quiet and sane +enough. + +"What's up?" he asked. He caught sight of the Second Mate. "Have I been +ill, Sir?" he exclaimed. + +"You're right enough now, youngster," said the Second Mate. "You've been +a bit off. You'd better go and lie down for a bit." + +"I'm all right now, Sir," replied Tammy. "I don't think--" + +"You do as you're told!" interrupted the Second. "Don't always have to +be told twice! If I want you, I'll send for you." + +Tammy stood up, and made his way, in rather an unsteady fashion, into +the berth. I fancy he was glad enough to lie down. + +"Now then, Jessop," exclaimed the Second Mate, turning to me. "What's +been the cause of all this? Out with it now, smart!" + +I commenced to tell him; but, almost directly, he put up his hand. + +"Hold on a minute," he said. "There's the breeze!" + +He jumped up the port ladder, and sung out to the chap at the wheel. +Then down again. + +"Starboard fore brace," he sung out. He turned to me. "You'll have to +finish telling me afterwards," he said. + +"i, i, Sir," I replied, and went to join the other chaps at the braces. + +As soon as we were braced sharp up on the port tack, he sent some of the +watch up to loose the sails. Then he sung out for me. + +"Go on with your yarn now, Jessop," he said. + +I told him about the great shadow vessel, and I said something about +Tammy--I mean about my not being sure _now_ whether he _had_ tried to +jump overboard. Because, you see, I began to realise that I had seen the +shadow; and I remembered the stirring of the water above the submerged +truck. But the Second did not wait, of course, for any theories, but was +away, like a shot, to see for himself. He ran to the side, and looked +down. I followed, and stood beside him; yet, now that the surface of the +water was blurred by the wind, we could see nothing. + +"It's no good," he remarked, after a minute. "You'd better get away from +the rail before any of the others see you. Just be taking those halyards +aft to the capstan." + +From then, until eight bells, we were hard at work getting the sail upon +her, and when at last eight bells went, I made haste to swallow my +breakfast, and get a sleep. + +At midday, when we went on deck for the afternoon watch, I ran to the +side; but there was no sign of the great shadow ship. All that watch, +the Second Mate kept me working at my paunch mat, and Tammy he put on to +his sinnet, telling me to keep an eye on the youngster. But the boy was +right enough; as I scarcely doubted now, you know; though--a most +unusual thing--he hardly opened his lips the whole afternoon. Then at +four o'clock, we went below for tea. + +At four bells, when we came on deck again, I found that the light +breeze, which had kept us going during the day, had dropped, and we were +only just moving. The sun was low down, and the sky clear. Once or +twice, as I glanced across to the horizon, it seemed to me that I caught +again that odd quiver in the air that had preceded the coming of the +mist; and, indeed on two separate occasions, I saw a thin whisp of haze +drive up, apparently out of the sea. This was at some little distance on +our port beam; otherwise, all was quiet and peaceful; and though I +stared into the water, I could make out no vestige of that great shadow +ship, down in the sea. + +It was some little time after six bells that the order came for all +hands to shorten sail for the night. We took in the royals and +t'gallants, and then the three courses. It was shortly after this, that +a rumour went round the ship that there was to be no look-out that night +after eight o'clock. This naturally created a good deal of talk among +the men; especially as the yarn went that the fo'cas'le doors were to be +shut and fastened as soon as it was dark, and that no one was to be +allowed on deck. + +"'oo's goin' ter take ther wheel?" I heard Plummer ask. + +"I s'pose they'll 'ave us take 'em as usual," replied one of the men. +"One of ther officers is bound ter be on ther poop; so we'll 'ave +company." + +Apart from these remarks, there was a general opinion that--if it were +true--it was a sensible act on the part of the Skipper. As one of the +men said: + +"It ain't likely that there'll be any of us missin' in ther mornin', if +we stays in our bunks all ther blessed night." + +And soon after this, eight bells went. + + + + +XVI + + +_The Ghost Pirates_ + + +At the moment when eight bells actually went, I was in the fo'cas'le, +talking to four of the other watch. Suddenly, away aft, I heard +shouting, and then on the deck overhead, came the loud thudding of +someone pomping with a capstan-bar. Straightway, I turned and made a run +for the port doorway, along with the four other men. We rushed out +through the doorway on to the deck. It was getting dusk; but that did +not hide from me a terrible and extraordinary sight. All along the port +rail there was a queer, undulating greyness, that moved downwards +inboard, and spread over the decks. As I looked, I found that I saw more +clearly, in a most extraordinary way. And, suddenly, all the moving +greyness resolved into hundreds of strange men. In the half-light, they +looked unreal and impossible, as though there had come upon us the +inhabitants of some fantastic dream-world. My God! I thought I was mad. +They swarmed in upon us in a great wave of murderous, living shadows. +From some of the men who must have been going aft for roll-call, there +rose into the evening air a loud, awful shouting. + +"Aloft!" yelled someone; but, as I looked aloft, I saw that the horrible +things were swarming there in scores and scores. + +"Jesus Christ--!" shrieked a man's voice, cut short, and my glance +dropped from aloft, to find two of the men who had come out from the +fo'cas'le with me, rolling upon the deck. They were two +indistinguishable masses that writhed here and there across the planks. +The brutes fairly covered them. From them, came muffled little shrieks +and gasps; and there I stood, and with me were the other two men. A man +darted past us into the fo'cas'le, with two grey men on his back, and I +heard them kill him. The two men by me, ran suddenly across the fore +hatch, and up the starboard ladder on to the fo'cas'le head. Yet, almost +in the same instant, I saw several of the grey men disappear up the +other ladder. From the fo'cas'le head above, I heard the two men +commence to shout, and this died away into a loud scuffling. At that, I +turned to see whether I could get away. I stared round, hopelessly; and +then with two jumps, I was on the pigsty, and from there upon the top of +the deckhouse. I threw myself flat, and waited, breathlessly. + +All at once, it seemed to me that it was darker than it had been the +previous moment, and I raised my head, very cautiously. I saw that the +ship was enveloped in great billows of mist, and then, not six feet from +me, I made out someone lying, face downwards. It was Tammy. I felt safer +now that we were hidden by the mist, and I crawled to him. He gave a +quick gasp of terror when I touched him; but when he saw who it was, he +started to sob like a little kid. + +"Hush!" I said. "For God's sake be quiet!" But I need not have troubled; +for the shrieks of the men being killed, down on the decks all around +us, drowned every other sound. + +I knelt up, and glanced round and then aloft. Overhead, I could make out +dimly the spars and sails, and now as I looked, I saw that the +t'gallants and royals had been unloosed and were hanging in the +buntlines. Almost in the same moment, the terrible crying of the poor +beggars about the decks, ceased; and there succeeded an awful silence, +in which I could distinctly hear Tammy sobbing. I reached out, and shook +him. + +"Be quiet! Be quiet!" I whispered, intensely. "THEY'LL hear us!" + +At my touch and whisper, he struggled to become silent; and then, +overhead, I saw the six yards being swiftly mast-headed. Scarcely were +the sails set, when I heard the swish and flick of gaskets being cast +adrift on the lower yards, and realised that ghostly things were at work +there. + +For a moment or so there was silence, and I made my way cautiously to +the after end of the house, and peered over. Yet, because of the mist, I +could see nothing. Then, abruptly, from behind me, came a single wail of +sudden pain and terror from Tammy. It ended instantly in a sort of +choke. I stood up in the mist and ran back to where I had left the kid; +but he had gone. I stood dazed. I felt like shrieking out loud. Above me +I heard the flaps of the course being tumbled off the yards. Down upon +the decks, there were the noises of a multitude working in a weird, +inhuman silence. Then came the squeal and rattle of blocks and braces +aloft. They were squaring the yards. + +I remained standing. I watched the yards squared, and then I saw the +sails fill suddenly. An instant later, the deck of the house upon which +I stood, became canted forrard. The slope increased, so that I could +scarcely stand, and I grabbed at one of the wire-winches. I wondered, in +a stunned sort of way, what was happening. Almost directly afterwards, +from the deck on the port side of the house, there came a sudden, loud, +human scream; and immediately, from different parts of the decks, there +rose, afresh, some most horrible shouts of agony from odd men. This grew +into an intense screaming that shook my heart up; and there came again a +noise of desperate, brief fighting. Then a breath of cold wind seemed to +play in the mist, and I could see down the slope of the deck. I looked +below me, towards the bows. The jibboom was plunged right into the +water, and, as I stared, the bows disappeared into the sea. The deck of +the house became a wall to me, and I was swinging from the winch, which +was now above my head. I watched the ocean lap over the edge of the +fo'cas'le head, and rush down on to the maindeck, roaring into the empty +fo'cas'le. And still all around me came crying of the lost sailor-men. I +heard something strike the corner of the house above me, with a dull +thud, and then I saw Plummer plunge down into the flood beneath. I +remembered that he had been at the wheel. The next instant, the water +had leapt to my feet; there came a drear chorus of bubbling screams, a +roar of waters, and I was going swiftly down into the darkness. I let go +of the winch, and struck out madly, trying to hold my breath. There was +a loud singing in my ears. It grew louder. I opened my mouth. I felt I +was dying. And then, thank God! I was at the surface, breathing. For the +moment, I was blinded with the water, and my agony of breathlessness. +Then, growing easier, I brushed the water from my eyes and so, not three +hundred yards away, I made out a large ship, floating almost motionless. +At first, I could scarcely believe I saw aright. Then, as I realised +that indeed there was yet a chance of living, I started to swim towards +you. + +You know the rest---- + +"And you think--?" said the Captain, interrogatively, and stopped short. + +"No," replied Jessop. "I don't think. I _know_. None of us _think_. It's +a gospel fact. People _talk_ about queer things happening at sea; but +this isn't one of them. This is one of the _real_ things. You've all +seen queer things; perhaps more than I have. It depends. But they don't +go down in the log. These kinds of things never do. This one won't; at +least, not as it's really happened." + +He nodded his head, slowly, and went on, addressing the Captain more +particularly. + +"I'll bet," he said, deliberately, "that you'll enter it in the +log-book, something like this: + +"'May l8th. Lat.--S. Long.--W. 2 p.m. Light winds from the South and +East. Sighted a full-rigged ship on the starboard bow. Overhauled her in +the first dog-watch. Signalled her; but received no response. During the +second dog-watch she steadily refused to communicate. About eight bells, +it was observed that she seemed to be settling by the head, and a minute +later she foundered suddenly, bows foremost, with all her crew. Put out +a boat and picked up one of the men, an A.B. by the name of Jessop. He +was quite unable to give any explanation of the catastrophe.' + +"And you two," he made a gesture at the First and Second Mates, "will +probably sign your names to it, and so will I, and perhaps one of your +A.B.s. Then when we get home they'll print a report of it in the +newspapers, and people will talk about the unseaworthy ships. Maybe some +of the experts will talk rot about rivets and defective plates and so +forth." + +He laughed, cynically. Then he went on. + +"And you know, when you come to think of it, there's no one except our +own selves will ever know how it happened--really. The shellbacks don't +count. They're only 'beastly, drunken brutes of _common sailors_'--poor +devils! No one would think of taking anything they said, as anything +more than a damned cuffer. Besides, the beggars only tell these things +when they're half-boozed. They wouldn't then (for fear of being laughed +at), only they're not responsible--" + +He broke off, and looked round at us. + +The Skipper and the two Mates nodded their heads, in silent assent. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +_The Silent Ship_ + + +I'm the Third Mate of the _Sangier_, the vessel that picked up Jessop, +you know; and he's asked us to write a short note of what we saw from +our side, and sign it. The Old Man's set me on the job, as he says I can +put it better than he can. + +Well, it was in the first dog-watch that we came up with her, the +_Mortzestus_ I mean; but it was in the second dog-watch that it +happened. The Mate and I were on the poop watching her. You see, we'd +signalled her, and she'd not taken any notice, and that seemed queer, as +we couldn't have been more than three or four hundred yards off her port +beam, and it was a fine evening; so that we could almost have had a +tea-fight, if they'd seemed a pleasant crowd. As it was, we called them +a set of sulky swine, and left it at that, though we still kept our +hoist up. + +All the same, you know, we watched her a lot; and I remember even then I +thought it queer how quiet she was. We couldn't even hear her bell go +and I spoke to the Mate about it, and he said he'd been noticing the +same thing. + +Then, about six bells they shortened her right down to top-sails; and I +can tell you that made us stare more than ever, as anyone can imagine. +And I remember we noticed then especially that we couldn't hear a single +sound from her even when the haul yards were let go; and, you know, +without the glass, I saw their Old Man singing out something; but we +didn't get a sound of it and we _should_ have been able to hear every +word. + +Then, just before eight bells, the thing Jessop's told us about +happened. Both the Mate and the Old Man said they could see men going up +her side a bit indistinct, you know, because it was getting dusk; but +the Second Mate and I half thought we did and half thought we didn't; +but there was something queer; we all knew that; and it looked like a +sort of moving mist along her side. I know I felt pretty funny; but it +wasn't the sort of thing, of course, to be too sure and serious about +until you _were_ sure. + +After the Mate and the Captain had said they saw the men boarding her, +we began to hear sounds from her; very queer at first and rather like a +phonograph makes when it's getting up speed. Then the sounds came +properly from her, and we heard them shouting and yelling; and, you +know, I don't know even now just what I really thought. I was all so +queer and mixed. + +The next thing I remember there was a thick mist round the ship; and +then all the noise was shut off, as if it were all the other side of a +door. But we could still see her masts and spars and sails above the +misty stuff; and both the Captain and the Mate said they could see men +aloft; and I thought I could; but the Second Mate wasn't sure. All the +same though, the sails were all loosed in about a minute, it seemed, and +the yards mastheaded. We couldn't see the courses above the mist; but +Jessop says they were loosed too and sheeted home along with the upper +sails. Then we saw the yards squared and I saw the sails fill bang up +with wind; and yet, you know, ours were slatting. + +The next thing was the one that hit me more than anything. Her masts +took a cant forrard, and then I saw her stem come up out of the mist +that was round her. Then, all in an instant, we could hear sounds from +the vessel again. And I tell you, the men didn't seem to be shouting, +but screaming. Her stern went higher. It was most extraordinary to look +at; and then she went plunk down, head foremost, right bang into the +mist-stuff. + +It's all right what Jessop says, and when we saw him swimming (I was the +one who spotted him) we got out a boat quicker than a wind-jammer ever +got out a boat before, I should think. + + +The Captain and the Mate and the Second and I are +all going to sign this. + +(Signed) +WILLIAM NAWSTON _Master_. +J.E.G. ADAMS _First Mate_. +ED. BROWN _Second Mate_. +JACK T. EVAN _Third Mate_. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Ghost Pirates, by William Hope Hodgson + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10966 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e57137 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10966 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10966) diff --git a/old/10966.txt b/old/10966.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..07cb4fd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10966.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6859 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ghost Pirates, by William Hope Hodgson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ghost Pirates + +Author: William Hope Hodgson + +Release Date: February 6, 2004 [EBook #10966] +[Last updated: October 15, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GHOST PIRATES *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Alev Akman and PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +THE GHOST PIRATES + + + +_"Strange as the glimmer of the ghastly light + That shines from some vast crest of wave at night."_ + + + + + +THE GHOST PIRATES + +William Hope Hodgson + +1909 + + + + + + +_To Mary Whalley_ + + "Olden memories that shine against death's night-- + Quiet stars of sweet enchantments, + That are seen In Life's lost distances..." + +_The World of Dreams_ + + + + +Author's Preface + +This book forms the last of three. The first published was "_The Boats +of the 'Glen Carrig'_"; the second, "_The House on the Borderland_"; +this, the third, completes what, perhaps, may be termed a trilogy; for, +though very different in scope, each of the three books deals with +certain conceptions that have an elemental kinship. With this book, the +author believes that he closes the door, so far as he is concerned, on a +particular phase of constructive thought. + + + + +The Hell O! O! Chaunty + +Chaunty Man . . Man the capstan, bullies! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Capstan-bars, you tarry souls! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Take a turn! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Stand by to fleet! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Stand by to surge! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Ha!--o-o-o-o! +Men . . . . . . TRAMP! + And away we go! +Chaunty Man . . Hark to the tramp of the + bearded shellbacks! +Men . . . . . . Hush! + O hear 'em tramp! +Chaunty Man . . Tramping, stamping-- + treading, vamping, + While the cable + comes in ramping. +Men . . . . . . Hark! + O hear 'em stamp! +Chaunty Man . . Surge when it rides! + Surge when it rides! + Round-o-o-o + handsome as it slacks! +Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o-o-o! + hear 'em ramp! + Ha!-oo-o-o! + hear 'em stamp! + Ha!-o-o-o-o-oo! + Ha!-o-o-o-o-o-o! +Chorus . . . . They're shouting now; oh! hear 'em + A-bellow as they stamp:-- + Ha!-o-o-o! Ha!-o-o-o! + Ha!-o-o-o! + A-shouting as they tramp! +Chaunty Man . . O hark to the haunting chorus + of the capstan and the bars! + Chaunty-o-o-o + and rattle crash-- + Bash against the stars! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Tramp and go! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Hear the pawls a-ranting: with + the bearded men a-chaunting; + While the brazen dome above 'em + Bellows back the 'bars.' +Men . . . . . . Hear and hark! + O hear 'em! + Ha-a!-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Hurling songs towards the + heavens--! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Hush! O hear 'em! + Hark! O hear 'em! + Hurling oaths among their spars! +Men . . . . . . Hark! O hear 'em! + Hush! O hear 'em! +Chaunty Man . . Tramping round between the + bars! +Chorus . . . . They're shouting now; oh! hear + A-bellow as they stamp:-- + Ha-a!-o-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! + A-shouting as they tramp! +Chaunty Man . . O do you hear the + capstan-chaunty! + Thunder round the pawls! +Men . . . . . . Click a-clack, + a-clatter + Surge! + And scatter bawls! +Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clack, my bonny boys, + while it comes in handsome! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Hear 'em clack! +Chaunty Man . . Ha-a!-o-o! Click-a-clack! +Men . . . . . . Hush! O hear 'em pant! + Hark! O hear 'em rant! +Chaunty Man . . Click, a-clitter, clicker-clack. +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Tramp and go! +Chaunty Man . . Surge! And keep away the slack! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Away the slack: + Ha-a!-o-o! + Click-a-clack +Chaunty Man . . Bustle now each jolly Jack. + Surging easy! Surging e-a-s-y!! +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Surging easy +Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clatter-- + Surge; and steady! + Man the stopper there! + All ready? +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clack, my bouncing boys: +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Tramp and go! +Chaunty Man . . Lift the pawls, and come back + easy. +Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! + Steady-o-o-o-o! +Chaunty Man . . Vast the chaunty! + Vast the capstan! + Drop the pawls! Be-l-a-y! +Chorus . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Unship the bars! + Ha-a!-o-o! Tramp and go! + Ha-a!-o-o! Shoulder bars! + Ha-a!-o-o! And away we blow! + Ha-a!-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o-o! + Ha-a!-o-o-o-o-o! + + + + + +I + + +_The Figure Out of the Sea_ + +He began without any circumlocution. + +I 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 +them, 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 I took my bag down, I found that they had signed on the rest of the +crowd. You see, the "home lot" cleared out when they got into 'Frisco, +that is, all except one young fellow, a cockney, who had stuck by the +ship in port. He told me afterwards, when I got to know him, that he +intended to draw a pay-day out of her, whether any one else did, or not. + +The first night I was in her, I found that it was common talk among the +other fellows, that there was something queer about the ship. They spoke +of her as if it were an accepted fact that she was haunted; yet they all +treated the matter as a joke; all, that is, except the young cockney-- +Williams--who, instead of laughing at their jests on the subject, seemed +to take the whole matter seriously. + +This made me rather curious. I began to wonder whether there was, after +all, some truth underlying the vague stories I had heard; and I took the +first opportunity to ask him whether he had any reasons for believing +that there was anything in the yarns about the ship. + +At first he was inclined to be a bit offish; but, presently, he came +round, and told me that he did not know of any particular incident which +could be called unusual in the sense in which I meant. Yet that, at the +same time, there were lots of little things which, if you put them +together, made you think a bit. For instance, she always made such long +passages and had so much dirty weather--nothing but that and calms and +head winds. Then, other things happened; sails that he knew, himself, +had been properly stowed, were always blowing adrift _at night_. And +then he said a thing that surprised me. + +"There's too many bloomin' shadders about this 'ere packet; they gets +onter yer nerves like nothin' as ever I seen before in me nat'ral." + +He blurted it all out in a heap, and I turned round and looked at him. + +"Too many shadows!" I said. "What on earth do you mean?" But he refused +to explain himself or tell me anything further--just shook his head, +stupidly, when I questioned him. He seemed to have taken a sudden, sulky +fit. I felt certain that he was acting dense, purposely. I believe the +truth of the matter is that he was, in a way, ashamed of having let +himself go like he had, in speaking out his thoughts about "shadders." +That type of man may think things at times; but he doesn't often put +them into words. Anyhow, I saw it was no use asking any further +questions; so I let the matter drop there. Yet, for several days +afterwards, I caught myself wondering, at times, what the fellow had +meant by "shadders." + +We left 'Frisco next day, with a fine, fair wind, that seemed a bit like +putting the stopper on the yarns I had heard about the ship's ill luck. +And yet-- + + +He hesitated a moment, and then went on again. + + + + +For the first couple of weeks out, nothing unusual happened, and the +wind still held fair. I began to feel that I had been rather lucky, +after all, in the packet into which I had been shunted. Most of the +other fellows gave her a good name, and there was a pretty general +opinion growing among the crowd, that it was all a silly yarn about her +being haunted. And then, just when I was settling down to things, +something happened that opened my eyes no end. + +It was in the eight to twelve watch, and I was sitting on the steps, on +the starboard side, leading up to the fo'cas'le head. The night was fine +and there was a splendid moon. Away aft, I heard the timekeeper strike +four bells, and the look-out, an old fellow named Jaskett, answered him. +As he let go the bell lanyard, he caught sight of me, where I sat +quietly, smoking. He leant over the rail, and looked down at me. + +"That you, Jessop?" he asked. + +"I believe it is," I replied. + +"We'd 'ave our gran'mothers an' all the rest of our petticoated +relash'ns comin' to sea, if 'twere always like this," he remarked, +reflectively--indicating, with a sweep of his pipe and hand, the +calmness of the sea and sky. + +I saw no reason for denying that, and he continued: + +"If this ole packet is 'aunted, as some on 'em seems to think, well all +as I can say is, let me 'ave the luck to tumble across another of the +same sort. Good grub, an' duff fer Sundays, an' a decent crowd of 'em +aft, an' everythin' comfertable like, so as yer can feel yer knows where +yer are. As fer 'er bein' 'aunted, that's all 'ellish nonsense. I've +comed 'cross lots of 'em before as was said to be 'aunted, an' so some +on 'em was; but 'twasn't with ghostesses. One packet I was in, they was +that bad yer couldn't sleep a wink in yer watch below, until yer'd 'ad +every stitch out yer bunk an' 'ad a reg'lar 'unt. Sometimes--" At that +moment, the relief, one of the ordinary seamen, went up the other ladder +on to the fo'cas'le head, and the old chap turned to ask him "Why the +'ell" he'd not relieved him a bit smarter. The ordinary made some reply; +but what it was, I did not catch; for, abruptly, away aft, my rather +sleepy gaze had lighted on something altogether extraordinary and +outrageous. It was nothing less than the form of a man stepping inboard +over the starboard rail, a little abaft the main rigging. I stood up, +and caught at the handrail, and stared. + +Behind me, someone spoke. It was the look-out, who had come down off the +fo'cas'le head, on his way aft to report the name of his relief to the +second mate. + +"What is it, mate?" he asked, curiously, seeing my intent attitude. + +The thing, whatever it was, had disappeared into the shadows on the lee +side of the deck. + +"Nothing!" I replied, shortly; for I was too bewildered then, at what my +eyes had just shown me, to say any more. I wanted to think. + +The old shellback glanced at me; but only muttered something, and went +on his way aft. + +For a minute, perhaps, I stood there, watching; but could see nothing. +Then I walked slowly aft, as far as the after end of the deck house. +From there, I could see most of the main deck; but nothing showed, +except, of course, the moving shadows of the ropes and spars and sails, +as they swung to and fro in the moonlight. + +The old chap who had just come off the look-out, had returned forrard +again, and I was alone on that part of the deck. And then, all at once, +as I stood peering into the shadows to leeward, I remembered what +Williams had said about there being too many "shadders." I had been +puzzled to understand his real meaning, then. I had no difficulty _now_. +There _were_ too many shadows. Yet, shadows or no shadows, I realised +that for my own peace of mind, I must settle, once and for all, whether +the thing I had seemed to see stepping aboard out of the ocean, had been +a reality, or simply a phantom, as you might say, of my imagination. My +reason said it was nothing more than imagination, a rapid dream--I must +have dozed; but something deeper than reason told me that this was not +so. I put it to the test, and went straight in amongst the shadows-- +There was nothing. + +I grew bolder. My common sense told me I must have fancied it all. I +walked over to the mainmast, and looked behind the pinrail that partly +surrounded it, and down into the shadow of the pumps; but here again was +nothing. Then I went in under the break of the poop. It was darker under +there than out on deck. I looked up both sides of the deck, and saw that +they were bare of anything such as I looked for. The assurance was +comforting. I glanced at the poop ladders, and remembered that nothing +could have gone up there, without the Second Mate or the Time-keeper +seeing it. Then I leant my back up against the bulkshead, and thought +the whole matter over, rapidly, sucking at my pipe, and keeping my +glance about the deck. I concluded my think, and said "No!" out loud. +Then something occurred to me, and I said "Unless--" and went over to +the starboard bulwarks, and looked over and down into the sea; but there +was nothing but sea; and so I turned and made my way forrard. My common +sense had triumphed, and I was convinced that my imagination had been +playing tricks with me. + +I reached the door on the portside, leading into the fo'cas'le, and was +about to enter, when something made me look behind. As I did so, I had a +shaker. Away aft, a dim, shadowy form stood in the wake of a swaying +belt of moonlight, that swept the deck a bit abaft the main-mast. + +It was the same figure that I had just been attributing to my fancy. I +will admit that I felt more than startled; I was quite a bit frightened. +I was convinced now that it was no mere imaginary thing. It was a human +figure. And yet, with the flicker of the moonlight and the shadows +chasing over it, I was unable to say more than that. Then, as I stood +there, irresolute and funky, I got the thought that someone was acting +the goat; though for what reason or purpose, I never stopped to +consider. I was glad of any suggestion that my common sense assured me +was not impossible; and, for the moment, I felt quite relieved. That +side to the question had not presented itself to me before. I began to +pluck up courage. I accused myself of getting fanciful; otherwise I +should have tumbled to it earlier. And then, funnily enough, in spite of +all my reasoning, I was still afraid of going aft to discover who that +was, standing on the lee side of the maindeck. Yet I felt that if I +shirked it, I was only fit to be dumped overboard; and so I went, though +not with any great speed, as you can imagine. + +I had gone half the distance, and still the figure remained there, +motionless and silent--the moonlight and the shadows playing over it +with each roll of the ship. I think I tried to be surprised. If it were +one of the fellows playing the fool, he must have heard me coming, and +why didn't he scoot while he had the chance? And where could he have +hidden himself, before? All these things, I asked myself, in a rush, +with a queer mixture of doubt and belief; and, you know, in the +meantime, I was drawing nearer. I had passed the house, and was not +twelve paces distant; when, abruptly, the silent figure made three quick +strides to the port rail, and _climbed over it into the sea_. + +I rushed to the side, and stared over; but nothing met my gaze, except +the shadow of the ship, sweeping over the moonlit sea. + +How long I stared down blankly into the water, it would be impossible to +say; certainly for a good minute. I felt blank--just horribly blank. It +was such a beastly confirmation of the _unnaturalness_ of the thing I +had concluded to be only a sort of brain fancy. I seemed, for that +little time, deprived, you know, of the power of coherent thought. I +suppose I was dazed--mentally stunned, in a way. + +As I have said, a minute or so must have gone, while I had been staring +into the dark of the water under the ship's side. Then, I came suddenly +to my ordinary self. The Second Mate was singing out: "Lee fore brace." + +I went to the braces, like a chap in a dream. + + + + +II + + +What Tammy the 'Prentice Saw + + +The next morning, in my watch below, I had a look at the places where +that strange thing had come aboard, and left the ship; but I found +nothing unusual, and no clue to help me to understand the mystery of the +strange man. + +For several days after that, all went quietly; though I prowled about +the decks at night, trying to discover anything fresh that might tend to +throw some light on the matter. I was careful to say nothing to any one +about the thing I had seen. In any case, I felt sure I should only have +been laughed at. + +Several nights passed away in this manner, and I was no nearer to an +understanding of the affair. And then, in the middle watch, something +happened. + +It was my wheel. Tammy, one of the first voyage 'prentices, was keeping +time--walking up and down the lee side of the poop. The Second Mate was +forrard, leaning over the break of the poop, smoking. The weather still +continued fine, and the moon, though declining, was sufficiently +powerful to make every detail about the poop, stand out distinctly. +Three bells had gone, and I'll admit I was feeling sleepy. Indeed, I +believe I must have dozed, for the old packet steered very easily, and +there was precious little to do, beyond giving her an odd spoke now and +again. And then, all at once, it seemed to me that I heard someone +calling my name, softly. I could not be certain; and first I glanced +forrard to where the Second stood, smoking, and from him, I looked into +the binnacle. The ship's head was right on her course, and I felt +easier. Then, suddenly, I heard it again. There was no doubt about it +this time, and I glanced to leeward. There I saw Tammy reaching over the +steering gear, his hand out, in the act of trying to touch my arm. I was +about to ask him what the devil he wanted, when he held up his finger +for silence, and pointed forrard along the lee side of the poop. In the +dim light, his face showed palely, and he seemed much agitated. For a +few seconds, I stared in the direction he indicated, but could see +nothing. + +"What is it?" I asked in an undertone, after a couple of moments' +further ineffectual peering. "I can't see anything." + +"H'sh!" he muttered, hoarsely, without looking in my direction. Then, +all at once, with a quick little gasp, he sprang across the wheel-box, +and stood beside me, trembling. His gaze appeared to follow the +movements of something I could not see. + +I must say that I was startled. His movement had shown such terror; and +the way he stared to leeward made me think he saw something uncanny. + +"What the deuce is up with you?" I asked, sharply. And then I remembered +the Second Mate. I glanced forrard to where he lounged. His back was +still towards us, and he had not seen Tammy. Then I turned to the boy. + +"For goodness sake, get to looard before the Second sees you!" I said. +"If you want to say anything, say it across the wheel-box. You've been +dreaming." + +Even as I spoke, the little beggar caught at my sleeve with one hand; +and, pointing across to the log-reel with the other, screamed: "He's +coming! He's coming----" At this instant, the Second Mate came running +aft, singing out to know what was the matter. Then, suddenly, crouching +under the rail near the log-reel, I saw something that looked like a +man; but so hazy and unreal, that I could scarcely say I saw anything. +Yet, like a flash, my thoughts ripped back to the silent figure I had +seen in the flicker of the moonlight, a week earlier. + +The Second Mate reached me, and I pointed, dumbly; and yet, as I did so, +it was with the knowledge that _he_ would not be able to see what I saw. +(Queer, wasn't it?) And then, almost in a breath, I lost sight of the +thing, and became aware that Tammy was hugging my knees. + +The Second continued to stare at the log-reel for a brief instant; then +he turned to me, with a sneer. + +"Been asleep, the pair of you, I suppose!" Then, without waiting for my +denial, he told Tammy to go to hell out of it and stop his noise, or +he'd boot him off the poop. + +After that, he walked forward to the break of the poop, and lit his +pipe, again--walking forward and aft every few minutes, and eyeing me, +at times, I thought, with a strange, half-doubtful, half-puzzled look. + +Later, as soon as I was relieved, I hurried down to the 'Prentice's +berth. I was anxious to speak to Tammy. There were a dozen questions +that worried me, and I was in doubt what I ought to do. I found him +crouched on a sea-chest, his knees up to his chin, and his gaze fixed on +the doorway, with a frightened stare. I put my head into the berth, and +he gave a gasp; then he saw who it was, and his face relaxed something +of its strained expression. + +He said: "Come in," in a low voice, which he tried to steady; and I +stepped over the wash-board, and sat down on a chest, facing him. + +"What was _it?_" he asked; putting his feet down on to the deck, and +leaning forward. "For God's sake, tell me what it was!" + +His voice had risen, and I put up my hand to warn him. + +"H'sh!" I said. "You'll wake the other fellows." + +He repeated his question, but in a lower tone. I hesitated, before +answering him. I felt, all at once, that it might be better to deny all +knowledge--to say I hadn't seen anything unusual. I thought quickly, and +made answer on the turn of the moment. + +"What was _what?_" I said. "That's just the thing I've come to ask you. +A pretty pair of fools you made of the two of us up on the poop just +now, with your hysterical tomfoolery." + +I concluded my remark in a tone of anger. + +"I didn't!" he answered, in a passionate whisper. "You know I didn't. +You know _you_ saw it yourself. You pointed it out to the Second Mate. I +saw you." + +The little beggar was nearly crying between fear, and vexation at my +assumed unbelief. + +"Rot!" I replied. "You know jolly well you were sleeping in your +time-keeping. You dreamed something and woke up suddenly. You were off +your chump." + +I was determined to reassure him, if possible; though, goodness! I +wanted assurance myself. If he had known of that other thing, I had seen +down on the maindeck, what then? + +"I wasn't asleep, any more than you were," he said, bitterly. "And you +know it. You're just fooling me. The ship's haunted." + +"What!" I said, sharply. + +"She's haunted," he said, again. "She's haunted." + +"Who says so?" I inquired, in a tone of unbelief. + +"I do! And you _know_ it. Everybody knows it; but they don't more than +half believe it ... I didn't, until tonight." + +"Damned rot!" I answered. "That's all a blooming old shellback's yarn. +She's no more haunted than I am." + +"It's not damned rot," he replied, totally unconvinced. "And it's not an +old shellback's yarn ... Why won't you say you saw it?" he cried, +growing almost tearfully excited, and raising his voice again. + +I warned him not to wake the sleepers. + +"Why won't you say that you saw it?" he repeated. + +I got up from the chest, and went towards the door. + +"You're a young idiot!" I said. "And I should advise you not to go +gassing about like this, round the decks. Take my tip, and turn-in and +get a sleep. You're talking dotty. Tomorrow you'll perhaps feel what an +unholy ass you've made of yourself." + +I stepped over the washboard, and left him. I believe he followed me to +the door to say something further; but I was half-way forward by then. + +For the next couple of days, I avoided him as much as possible, taking +care never to let him catch me alone. I was determined, if possible, to +convince him that he had been mistaken in supposing that he had seen +anything that night. Yet, after all, it was little enough use, as you +will soon see. For, on the night of the second day, there was a further +extraordinary development, that made denial on my part useless. + + + + +III + + +The Man up the Main + + +It occurred in the first watch, just after six bells. I was forward, +sitting on the fore-hatch. No one was about the maindeck. The night was +exceedingly fine; and the wind had dropped away almost to nothing, so +that the ship was very quiet. + +Suddenly, I heard the Second Mate's voice-- + +"In the main-rigging, there! Who's that going aloft?" + +I sat up on the hatch, and listened. There succeeded an intense silence. +Then the Second's voice came again. He was evidently getting wild. + +"Do you damn well hear me? What the hell are you doing up there? Come +down!" + +I rose to my feet, and walked up to wind'ard. From there, I could see +the break of the poop. The Second Mate was standing by the starboard +ladder. He appeared to be looking up at something that was hidden from +me by the topsails. As I stared, he broke out again: + +"Hell and damnation, you blasted sojer, come down when I tell you!" + +He stamped on the poop, and repeated his order, savagely. But there was +no answer. I started to walk aft. What had happened? Who had gone aloft? +Who would be fool enough to go, without being told? And then, all at +once, a thought came to me. The figure Tammy and I had seen. Had the +Second Mate seen something--someone? I hurried on, and then stopped, +suddenly. In the same moment there came the shrill blast of the Second's +whistle; he was whistling for the watch, and I turned and ran to the +fo'cas'le to rouse them out. Another minute, and I was hurrying aft with +them to see what was wanted. + +His voice met us half-way: + +"Up the main some of you, smartly now, and find out who that damned fool +is up there. See what mischief he's up to." + +"i, i, Sir," several of the men sung out, and a couple jumped into the +weather rigging. I joined them, and the rest were proceeding to follow; +but the Second shouted for some to go up to leeward--in case the fellow +tried to get down that side. + +As I followed the other two aloft, I heard the Second Mate tell Tammy, +whose time-keeping it was, to get down on to the maindeck with the other +'prentice, and keep an eye on the fore and aft stays. + +"He may try down one of them if he's cornered," I heard him explain. "If +you see anything, just sing out for me, right away." + +Tammy hesitated. + +"Well?" said the Second Mate, sharply. + +"Nothing, Sir," said Tammy, and went down on to the maindeck. + +The first man to wind'ard had reached the futtock shrouds; his head was +above the top, and he was taking a preliminary look, before venturing +higher. + +"See anythin', Jock?" asked Plummer, the man next above me. + +"Na'!" said Jock, tersely, and climbed over the top, and so disappeared +from my sight. + +The fellow ahead of me, followed. He reached the futtock rigging, and +stopped to expectorate. I was close at his heels, and he looked down to +me. + +"What's up, anyway?" he said. "What's 'e seen? 'oo're we chasin' after?" + +I said I didn't know, and he swung up into the topmast rigging. I +followed on. The chaps on the lee side were about level with us. Under +the foot of the topsail, I could see Tammy and the other 'prentice down +on the maindeck, looking upwards. + +The fellows were a bit excited in a sort of subdued way; though I am +inclined to think there was far more curiosity and, perhaps, a certain +consciousness of the strangeness of it all. I know that, looking to +leeward, there was a tendancy to keep well together, in which I +sympathised. + +"Must be a bloomin' stowaway," one of the men suggested. + +I grabbed at the idea, instantly. Perhaps--And then, in a moment, I +dismissed it. I remembered how that first thing had stepped over the +rail _into the sea. That_ matter could not be explained in such a +manner. With regard to this, I was curious and anxious. I had seen +nothing this time. What could the Second Mate have seen? I wondered. +Were we chasing fancies, or was there really someone--something real, +among the shadows above us? My thoughts returned to that thing, Tammy +and I had seen near the log-reel. I remembered how incapable the Second +Mate had been of seeing anything then. I remembered how natural it had +seemed that he should not be able to see. I caught the word "stowaway" +again. After all, that might explain away _this_ affair. It would---- + +My train of thought was broken suddenly. One of the men was shouting and +gesticulating. + +"I sees 'im! I sees 'im!" He was pointing upwards over our heads. + +"Where?" said the man above me. "Where?" + +I was looking up, for all that I was worth. I was conscious of a certain +sense of relief. "It is _real_ then," I said to myself. I screwed my +head round, and looked along the yards above us. Yet, still I could see +nothing; nothing except shadows and patches of light. + +Down on deck, I caught the Second Mate's voice. + +"Have you got him?" he was shouting. + +"Not yet, Zur," sung out the lowest man on the lee side. + +"We sees 'im, Sir," added Quoin. + +"I don't!" I said. + +"There 'e is agen," he said. + +We had reached the t'gallant rigging, and he was pointing up to the +royal yard. + +"Ye're a fule, Quoin. That's what ye are." + +The voice came from above. It was Jock's, and there was a burst of +laughter at Quoin's expense. + +I could see Jock now. He was standing in the rigging, just below the +yard. He had gone straight away up, while the rest of us were mooning +over the top. + +"Ye're a fule, Quoin," he said, again, "And I'm thinking the Second's +juist as saft." + +He began to descend. + +"Then there's no one?" I asked. + +"Na'," he said, briefly. + +As we reached the deck, the Second Mate ran down off the poop. He came +towards us, with an expectant air. + +"You've got him?" he asked, confidently. + +"There wasn't anyone," I said. + +"What!" he nearly shouted. "You're hiding something!" he continued, +angrily, and glancing from one to another. "Out with it. Who was it?" + +"We're hiding nothing," I replied, speaking for the lot. "There's no one +up there." + +The Second looked round upon us. + +"Am I a fool?" he asked, contemptuously. + +There was an assenting silence. + +"I saw him myself," he continued. "Tammy, here, saw him. He wasn't over +the top when I first spotted him. There's no mistake about it. It's all +damned rot saying he's not there." + +"Well, he's not, Sir," I answered. "Jock went right up to the royal +yard." + +The Second Mate said nothing, in immediate reply; but went aft a few +steps and looked up the main. Then he turned to the two 'prentices. + +"Sure you two boys didn't see anyone coming down from the main?" he +inquired, suspiciously. + +"Yes, Sir," they answered together. + +"Anyway," I heard him mutter to himself, "I'd have spotted him myself, +if he had." + +"Have you any idea, Sir, who it was you saw?" I asked, at this juncture. + +He looked at me, keenly. + +"No!" he said. + +He thought for a few moments, while we all stood about in silence, +waiting for him to let us go. + +"By the holy poker!" he exclaimed, suddenly. "But I ought to have +thought of that before." + +He turned, and eyed us individually. + +"You're all here?" he asked. + +"Yes, Sir," we said in a chorus. I could see that he was counting us. +Then he spoke again. + +"All of you men stay here where you are. Tammy, you go into _your_ place +and see if the other fellows are in their bunks. Then come and tell me. +Smartly now!" + +The boy went, and he turned to the other 'prentice. + +"You get along forrard to the fo'cas'le," he said. "Count the other +watch; then come aft and report to me." + +As the youngster disappeared along the deck to the fo'cas'le, Tammy +returned from his visit to the Glory Hole, to tell the Second Mate that +the other two 'prentices were sound asleep in their bunks. Whereupon, +the Second bundled him off to the Carpenter's and Sailmaker's berth, to +see whether they were turned-in. + +While he was gone, the other boy came aft, and reported that all the men +were in their bunks, and asleep. + +"Sure?" the Second asked him. + +"Quite, Sir," he answered. + +The Second Mate made a quick gesture. + +"Go and see if the Steward is in his berth," he said, abruptly. It was +plain to me that he was tremendously puzzled. + +"You've something to learn yet, Mr. Second Mate," I thought to myself. +Then I fell to wondering to what conclusions he would come. + +A few seconds later, Tammy returned to say that the Carpenter, Sailmaker +and "Doctor" were all turned-in. + +The Second Mate muttered something, and told him to go down into the +saloon to see whether the First and Third Mates, by any chance, were not +in their berths. + +Tammy started off; then halted. + +"Shall I have a look into the Old Man's place, Sir, while I'm down +there?" he inquired. + +"No!" said the Second Mate. "Do what I told you, and then come and tell +me. If anyone's to go into the Captain's cabin, it's got to be me." + +Tammy said "i, i, Sir," and skipped away, up on to the poop. + +While he was gone, the other 'prentice came up to say that the Steward +was in his berth, and that he wanted to know what the hell he was +fooling round his part of the ship for. + +The Second Mate said nothing, for nearly a minute. Then he turned to us, +and told us we might go forrard. + +As we moved off in a body, and talking in undertones, Tammy came down +from the poop, and went up to the Second Mate. I heard him say that the +two Mates were in their berths, asleep. Then he added, as if it were an +afterthought-- + +"So's the Old Man." + +"I thought I told you--" the Second Mate began. + +"I didn't, Sir," Tammy said. "His cabin door was open." + +The Second Mate started to go aft. I caught a fragment of a remark he +was making to Tammy. + +"--accounted for the whole crew. I'm--" + +He went up on to the poop. I did not catch the rest. + +I had loitered a moment; now, however, I hurried after the others. As we +neared the fo'cas'le, one bell went, and we roused out the other watch, +and told them what jinks we had been up to. + +"I rec'on 'e must be rocky," one of the men remarked. + +"Not 'im," said another, "'e's bin 'avin' forty winks on the break, an' +dreemed 'is mother-en-lore 'ad come on 'er visit, friendly like." + +There was some laughter at this suggestion, and I caught myself smiling +along with the rest; though I had no reason for sharing their belief, +that there was nothing in it all. + +"Might 'ave been a stowaway, yer know," I heard Quoin, the one who had +suggested it before, remark to one of the A.B's named Stubbins--a short, +rather surly-looking chap. + +"Might have been hell!" returned Stubbins. "Stowaways hain't such fools +as all that." + +"I dunno," said the first. "I wish I 'ad arsked the Second what 'e +thought about it." + +"I don't think it was a stowaway, somehow," I said, chipping in. "What +would a stowaway want aloft? I guess he'd be trying more for the +Steward's pantry." + +"You bet he would, hevry time," said Stubbins. He lit his pipe, and +sucked at it, slowly. + +"I don't hunderstand it, all ther same," he remarked, after a moment's +silence. + +"Neither do I," I said. And after that I was quiet for a while, +listening to the run of conversation on the subject. + +Presently, my glance fell upon Williams, the man who had spoken to me +about "shadders." He was sitting in his bunk, smoking, and making no +effort to join in the talk. + +I went across to him. + +"What do you think of it, Williams?" I asked. "Do _you_ think the Second +Mate really saw anything?" + +He looked at me, with a sort of gloomy suspicion; but said nothing. + +I felt a trifle annoyed by his silence; but took care not to show it. +After a few moments, I went on. + +"Do you know, Williams, I'm beginning to understand what you meant that +night, when you said there were too many shadows." + +"Wot yer mean?" he said, pulling his pipe from out of his mouth, and +fairly surprised into answering. + +"What I say, of course," I said. "There _are_ too many shadows." + +He sat up, and leant forward out from his bunk, extending his hand and +pipe. His eyes plainly showed his excitement. + +"'ave yer seen--" he hesitated, and looked at me, struggling inwardly to +express himself. + +"Well?" I prompted. + +For perhaps a minute he tried to say something. Then his expression +altered suddenly from doubt, and something else more indefinite, to a +pretty grim look of determination. + +He spoke. + +"I'm blimed," he said, "ef I don't tike er piy-diy out of 'er, shadders +or no shadders." + +I looked at him, with astonishment. + +"What's it got to do with your getting a pay-day out of her?" I asked. + +He nodded his head, with a sort of stolid resolution. + +"Look 'ere," he said. + +I waited. + +"Ther crowd cleared"; he indicated with his hand and pipe towards the +stern. + +"You mean in 'Frisco?" I said. + +"Yus," he replied; "'an withart er cent of ther piy. I styied." + +I comprehended him suddenly. + +"You think they saw," I hesitated; then I said "shadows?" + +He nodded; but said nothing. + +"And so they all bunked?" + +He nodded again, and began tapping out his pipe on the edge of his +bunk-board. + +"And the officers and the Skipper?" I asked. + +"Fresh uns," he said, and got out of his bunk; for eight bells was +striking. + + + + +IV + + +_The Fooling with the Sail_ + + +It was on the Friday night, that the Second Mate had the watch aloft +looking for the man up the main; and for the next five days little else +was talked about; though, with the exception of Williams, Tammy and +myself, no one seemed to think of treating the matter seriously. Perhaps +I should not exclude Quoin, who still persisted, on every occasion, that +there was a stowaway aboard. As for the Second Mate, I have very little +doubt _now_, but that he was beginning to realise there was something +deeper and less understandable than he had at first dreamed of. Yet, all +the same, I know he had to keep his guesses and half-formed opinions +pretty well to himself; for the Old Man and the First Mate chaffed him +unmercifully about his "bogy." This, I got from Tammy, who had heard +them both ragging him during the second dog-watch the following day. +There was another thing Tammy told me, that showed how the Second Mate +bothered about his inability to understand the mysterious appearance and +disappearance of the man he had seen go aloft. He had made Tammy give +him every detail he could remember about the figure we had seen by the +log-reel. What is more, the Second had not even affected to treat the +matter lightly, nor as a thing to be sneered at; but had listened +seriously, and asked a great many questions. It is very evident to me +that he was reaching out towards the only possible conclusion. Though, +goodness knows, it was one that was impossible and improbable enough. + +It was on the Wednesday night, after the five days of talk I have +mentioned, that there came, to me and to those who _knew_, another +element of fear. And yet, I can quite understand that, at _that_ time, +those who had seen nothing, would find little to be afraid of, in all +that I am going to tell you. Still, even they were much puzzled and +astonished, and perhaps, after all, a little awed. There was so much in +the affair that was inexplicable, and yet again such a lot that was +natural and commonplace. For, when all is said and done, it was nothing +more than the blowing adrift of one of the sails; yet accompanied by +what were really significant details--significant, that is, in the light +of that which Tammy and I and the Second Mate knew. + +Seven bells, and then one, had gone in the first watch, and our side was +being roused out to relieve the Mate's. Most of the men were already out +of their bunks, and sitting about on their sea-chests, getting into +their togs. + +Suddenly, one of the 'prentices in the other watch, put his head in +through the doorway on the port side. + +"The Mate wants to know," he said, "which of you chaps made fast the +fore royal, last watch." + +"Wot's 'e want to know that for?" inquired one of the men. + +"The lee side's blowing adrift," said the 'prentice. "And he says that +the chap who made it fast is to go up and see to it as soon as the watch +is relieved." + +"Oh! does 'e? Well 'twasn't me, any'ow," replied the man. "You'd better +arsk sum of t'others." + +"Ask what?" inquired Plummer, getting out of his bunk, sleepily. + +The 'prentice repeated his message. + +The man yawned and stretched himself. + +"Let me see," he muttered, and scratched his head with one hand, while +he fumbled for his trousers with the other. "'oo made ther fore r'yal +fast?" He got into his trousers, and stood up. "Why, ther Or'nary, er +course; 'oo else do yer suppose?" + +"That's all I wanted to know!" said the 'prentice, and went away. + +"Hi! Tom!" Stubbins sung out to the Ordinary. "Wake up, you lazy young +devil. Ther Mate's just sent to hinquire who it was made the fore royal +fast. It's all blowin' adrift, and he says you're to get along up as +soon as eight bells goes, and make it fast again." + +Tom jumped out of his bunk, and began to dress, quickly. + +"Blowin' adrift!" he said. "There ain't all that much wind; and I tucked +the ends of the gaskets well in under the other turns." + +"P'raps one of ther gaskets is rotten, and given way," suggested +Stubbins. "Anyway, you'd better hurry up, it's just on eight bells." + +A minute later, eight bells went, and we trooped away aft for roll-call. +As soon as the names were called over, I saw the Mate lean towards the +Second and say something. Then the Second Mate sung out: + +"Tom!" + +"Sir!" answered Tom. + +"Was it you made fast that fore royal, last watch?" + +"Yes, Sir." + +"How's that it's broken adrift?" + +"Carn't say, Sir." + +"Well, it has, and you'd better jump aloft and shove the gasket round it +again. And mind you make a better job of it this time." + +"i, i, Sir," said Tom, and followed the rest of us forrard. Reaching the +fore rigging, he climbed into it, and began to make his way leisurely +aloft. I could see him with a fair amount of distinctness, as the moon +was very clear and bright, though getting old. + +I went over to the weather pin-rail, and leaned up against it, watching +him, while I filled my pipe. The other men, both the watch on deck and +the watch below, had gone into the fo'cas'le, so that I imagined I was +the only one about the maindeck. Yet, a minute later, I discovered that +I was mistaken; for, as I proceeded to light up, I saw Williams, the +young cockney, come out from under the lee of the house, and turn and +look up at the Ordinary as he went steadily upwards. I was a little +surprised, as I knew he and three of the others had a "poker fight" on, +and he'd won over sixty pounds of tobacco. I believe I opened my mouth +to sing out to him to know why he wasn't playing; and then, all at once, +there came into my mind the memory of my first conversation with him. I +remembered that he had said sails were always blowing adrift _at night_. +I remembered the, then, unaccountable emphasis he had laid on those two +words; and remembering that, I felt suddenly afraid. For, all at once, +the absurdity had struck me of a sail--even a badly stowed one--blowing +adrift in such fine and calm weather as we were then having. I wondered +I had not seen before that there was something queer and unlikely about +the affair. Sails don't blow adrift in fine weather, with the sea calm +and the ship as steady as a rock. I moved away from the rail and went +towards Williams. He knew something, or, at least, he guessed at +something that was very much a blankness to me at that time. Up above, +the boy was climbing up, to what? That was the thing that made me feel +so frightened. Ought I to tell all I knew and guessed? And then, who +should I tell? I should only be laughed at--I-- + +Williams turned towards me, and spoke. + +"Gawd!" he said, "it's started agen!" + +"What?" I said. Though I knew what he meant. + +"Them syles," he answered, and made a gesture towards the fore royal. + +I glanced up, briefly. All the lee side of the sail was adrift, from the +bunt gasket outwards. Lower, I saw Tom; he was just hoisting himself +into the t'gallant rigging. + +Williams spoke again. + +"We lost two on 'em just sime way, comin' art." + +"Two of the men!" I exclaimed. + +"Yus!" he said tersely. + +"I can't understand," I went on. "I never heard anything about it." + +"Who'd yer got ter tell yer abart it?" he asked. + +I made no reply to his question; indeed, I had scarcely comprehended it, +for the problem of what I ought to do in the matter had risen again in +my mind. + +"I've a good mind to go aft and tell the Second Mate all I know," I +said. "He's seen something himself that he can't explain away, and--and +anyway I can't stand this state of things. If the Second Mate knew all--" + +"Garn!" he cut in, interrupting me. "An' be told yer're a blastid +hidiot. Not yer. Yer sty were yer are." + +I stood irresolute. What he had said, was perfectly correct, and I was +positively stumped what to do for the best. That there was danger aloft, +I was convinced; though if I had been asked my reasons for supposing +this, they would have been hard to find. Yet of its existence, I was as +certain as though my eyes already saw it. I wondered whether, being so +ignorant of the form it would assume, I could stop it by joining Tom on +the yard? This thought came as I stared up at the royal. Tom had reached +the sail, and was standing on the foot-rope, close in to the bunt. He +was bending over the yard, and reaching down for the slack of the sail. +And then, as I looked, I saw the belly of the royal tossed up and down +abruptly, as though a sudden heavy gust of wind had caught it. + +"I'm blimed--!" Williams began, with a sort of excited expectation. And +then he stopped as abruptly as he had begun. For, in a moment, the sail +had thrashed right over the after side of the yard, apparently knocking +Tom clean from off the foot-rope. + +"My God!" I shouted out loud. "He's gone!" + +For an instant there was a blur over my eyes, and Williams was singing +out something that I could not catch. Then, just as quickly, it went, +and I could see again, clearly. + +Williams was pointing, and I saw something black, swinging below the +yard. Williams called out something fresh, and made a run for the fore +rigging. I caught the last part---- + +"--ther garskit." + +Straightway, I knew that Tom had managed to grab the gasket as he fell, +and I bolted after Williams to give him a hand in getting the youngster +into safety. + +Down on deck, I caught the sound of running feet, and then the Second +Mate's voice. He was asking what the devil was up; but I did not trouble +to answer him then. I wanted all my breath to help me aloft. I knew very +well that some of the gaskets were little better than old shakins; and, +unless Tom got hold of something on the t'gallant yard below him, he +might come down with a run any moment. I reached the top, and lifted +myself over it in quick time. Williams was some distance above me. In +less than half a minute, I reached the t'gallant yard. Williams had gone +up on to the royal. I slid out on to the t'gallant foot-rope until I was +just below Tom; then I sung out to him to let himself down to me, and I +would catch him. He made no answer, and I saw that he was hanging in a +curiously limp fashion, and by one hand. + +Williams's voice came down to me from the royal yard. He was singing out +to me to go up and give him a hand to pull Tom up on to the yard. When I +reached him, he told me that the gasket had hitched itself round the +lad's wrist. I bent beside the yard, and peered down. It was as Williams +had said, and I realised how near a thing it had been. Strangely enough, +even at that moment, the thought came to me how little wind there was. I +remembered the wild way in which the sail had lashed at the boy. + +All this time, I was busily working, unreeving the port buntline. I took +the end, made a running bowline with it round the gasket, and let the +loop slide down over the boy's head and shoulders. Then I took a strain +on it and tightened it under his arms. A minute later we had him safely +on the yard between us. In the uncertain moonlight, I could just make +out the mark of a great lump on his forehead, where the foot of the sail +must have caught him when it knocked him over. + +As we stood there a moment, taking our breath, I caught the sound of the +Second Mate's voice close beneath us. Williams glanced down; then he +looked up at me and gave a short, grunting laugh. + +"Crikey!" he said. + +"What's up?" I asked, quickly. + +He jerked his head backwards and downwards. I screwed round a bit, +holding the jackstay with one hand, and steadying the insensible +Ordinary with the other. In this way I could look below. At first, I +could see nothing. Then the Second Mate's voice came up to me again. + +"Who the hell are you? What are you doing?" + +I saw him now. He was standing at the foot of the weather t'gallant +rigging, his face was turned upwards, peering round the after side of +the mast. It showed to me only as a blurred, pale-coloured oval in the +moonlight. + +He repeated his question. + +"It's Williams and I, Sir," I said. "Tom, here, has had an accident." + +I stopped. He began to come up higher towards us. From the rigging to +leeward there came suddenly a buzz of men talking. + +The Second Mate reached us. + +"Well, what's up, anyway?" he inquired, suspiciously. "What's happened?" + +He had bent forward, and was peering at Tom. I started to explain; but +he cut me short with: + +"Is he dead?" + +"No, Sir," I said. "I don't think so; but the poor beggar's had a bad +fall. He was hanging by the gasket when we got to him. The sail knocked +him off the yard." + +"What?" he said, sharply. + +"The wind caught the sail, and it lashed back over the yard--" + +"What wind?" he interrupted. "There's no wind, scarcely." He shifted his +weight on to the other foot. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean what I say, Sir. The wind brought the foot of the sail over the +top of the yard and knocked Tom clean off the foot-rope. Williams and I +both saw it happen." + +"But there's no wind to do such a thing; you're talking nonsense!" + +It seemed to me that there was as much of bewilderment as anything else +in his voice; yet I could tell that he was suspicious--though, of what, +I doubted whether he himself could have told. + +He glanced at Williams, and seemed about to say something. Then, seeming +to change his mind, he turned, and sung out to one of the men who had +followed him aloft, to go down and pass out a coil of new, three-inch +manilla, and a tailblock. + +"Smartly now!" he concluded. + +"i, i, Sir," said the man, and went down swiftly. + +The Second Mate turned to me. + +"When you've got Tom below, I shall want a better explanation of all +this, than the one you've given me. It won't wash." + +"Very well, Sir," I answered. "But you won't get any other." + +"What do you mean?" he shouted at me. "I'll let you know I'll have no +impertinence from you or any one else." + +"I don't mean any impertinence, Sir--I mean that it's the only +explanation there is to give." + +"I tell you it won't wash!" he repeated. "There's something too damned +funny about it all. I shall have to report the matter to the Captain. I +can't tell him that yarn--" He broke off abruptly. + +"It's not the only damned funny thing that's happened aboard this old +hooker," I answered. "You ought to know that, Sir." + +"What do you mean?" he asked, quickly. + +"Well, Sir," I said, "to be straight, what about that chap you sent us +hunting after up the main the other night? That was a funny enough +affair, wasn't it? This one isn't half so funny." + +"That will do, Jessop!" he said, angrily. "I won't have any back talk." +Yet there was something about his tone that told me I had got one in on +my own. He seemed all at once less able to appear confident that I was +telling him a fairy tale. + +After that, for perhaps half a minute, he said nothing. I guessed he was +doing some hard thinking. When he spoke again it was on the matter of +getting the Ordinary down on deck. + +"One of you'll have to go down the lee side and steady him down," he +concluded. + +He turned and looked downwards. + +"Are you bringing that gantline?" he sang out. + +"Yes, Sir," I heard one of the men answer. + +A moment later, I saw the man's head appear over the top. He had the +tail-block slung round his neck, and the end of the gantline over his +shoulder. + +Very soon we had the gantline rigged, and Tom down on deck. Then we took +him into the fo'cas'le and put him in his bunk. The Second Mate had sent +for some brandy, and now he started to dose him well with it. At the +same time a couple of the men chafed his hands and feet. In a little, he +began to show signs of coming round. Presently, after a sudden fit of +coughing, he opened his eyes, with a surprised, bewildered stare. Then +he caught at the edge of his bunk-board, and sat up, giddily. One of the +men steadied him, while the Second Mate stood back, and eyed him, +critically. The boy rocked as he sat, and put up his hand to his head. + +"Here," said the Second Mate, "take another drink." + +Tom caught his breath and choked a little; then he spoke. + +"By gum!" he said, "my head does ache." + +He put up his hand, again, and felt at the lump on his forehead. Then he +bent forward and stared round at the men grouped about his bunk. + +"What's up?" he inquired, in a confused sort of way, and seeming as if +he could not see us clearly. + +"What's up?" he asked again. + +"That's just what I want to know!" said the Second Mate, speaking for +the first time with some sternness. + +"I ain't been snoozin' while there's been a job on?" Tom inquired, +anxiously. + +He looked round at the men appealingly. + +"It's knocked 'im dotty, strikes me," said one of the men, audibly. + +"No," I said, answering Tom's question, "you've had--" + +"Shut that, Jessop!" said the Second Mate, quickly, interrupting me. "I +want to hear what the boy's got to say for himself." + +He turned again to Tom. + +"You were up at the fore royal," he prompted. + +"I carn't say I was, Sir," said Tom, doubtfully. I could see that he had +not gripped the Second Mate's meaning. + +"But you were!" said the Second, with some impatience. "It was blowing +adrift, and I sent you up to shove a gasket round it." + +"Blowin' adrift, Sir?" said Tom, dully. + +"Yes! blowing adrift. Don't I speak plainly?" + +The dullness went from Tom's face, suddenly. + +"So it was, Sir," he said, his memory returning. "The bloomin' sail got +chock full of wind. It caught me bang in the face." + +He paused a moment. + +"I believe--" he began, and then stopped once more. + +"Go on!" said the Second Mate. "Spit it out!" + +"I don't know, Sir," Tom said. "I don't understand--" + +He hesitated again. + +"That's all I can remember," he muttered, and put his hand up to the +bruise on his forehead, as though trying to remember something. + +In the momentary silence that succeeded, I caught the voice of Stubbins. + +"There hain't hardly no wind," he was saying, in a puzzled tone. + +There was a low murmur of assent from the surrounding men. + +The Second Mate said nothing, and I glanced at him, curiously. Was he +beginning to see, I wondered, how useless it was to try to find any +sensible explanation of the affair? Had he begun at last to couple it +with that peculiar business of the man up the main? I am inclined _now_ +to think that this was so; for, after staring a few moments at Tom, in a +doubtful sort of way, he went out of the fo'cas'le, saying that he would +inquire further into the matter in the morning. Yet, when the morning +came, he did no such thing. As for his reporting the affair to the +Skipper, I much doubt it. Even did he, it must have been in a very +casual way; for we heard nothing more about it; though, of course, we +talked it over pretty thoroughly among ourselves. + +With regard to the Second Mate, even now I am rather puzzled by his +attitude to us aloft. Sometimes I have thought that he must have +suspected us of trying to play off some trick on him--perhaps, at the +time, he still half suspected one of us of being in some way connected +with the other business. Or, again, he may have been trying to fight +against the conviction that was being forced upon him, that there was +really something impossible and beastly about the old packet. Of course, +these are only suppositions. + +And then, close upon this, there were further developments. + + + + +V + + +_The End of Williams_ + +As I have said, there was a lot of talk, among the crowd of us forrard, +about Tom's strange accident. None of the men knew that Williams and I +had seen it _happen_. Stubbins gave it as his opinion that Tom had been +sleepy, and missed the foot-rope. Tom, of course, would not have this by +any means. Yet, he had no one to appeal to; for, at that time, he was +just as ignorant as the rest, that we had seen the sail flap up over the +yard. + +Stubbins insisted that it stood to reason it couldn't be the wind. There +wasn't any, he said; and the rest of the men agreed with him. + +"Well," I said, "I don't know about all that. I'm a bit inclined to +think Tom's yarn is the truth." + +"How do you make that hout?" Stubbins asked, unbelievingly. "There haint +nothin' like enough wind." + +"What about the place on his forehead?" I inquired, in turn. "How are +you going to explain that?" + +"I 'spect he knocked himself there when he slipped," he answered. + +"Likely 'nuffli," agreed old Jaskett, who was sitting smoking on a chest +near by. + +"Well, you're both a damn long way out of it!" Tom chipped in, pretty +warm. "I wasn't asleep; an' the sail did bloomin' well hit me." + +"Don't you be impertinent, young feller," said Jaskett. + +I joined in again. + +"There's another thing, Stubbins," I said. "The gasket Tom was hanging +by, was on the after side of the yard. That looks as if the sail might +have flapped it over? If there were wind enough to do the one, it seems +to me that it might have done the other." + +"Do you mean that it was hunder ther yard, or hover ther top?" he asked. + +"Over the top, of course. What's more, the foot of the sail was hanging +over the after part of the yard, in a bight." + +Stubbins was plainly surprised at that, and before he was ready with his +next objection, Plummer spoke. + +"'oo saw it?" he asked. + +"I saw it!" I said, a bit sharply. "So did Williams; so--for that +matter--did the Second Mate." + +Plummer relapsed into silence; and smoked; and Stubbins broke out +afresh. + +"I reckon Tom must have had a hold of the foot and the gasket, and +pulled 'em hover the yard when he tumbled." + +"No!" interrupted Tom. "The gasket was under the sail. I couldn't even +see it. An' I hadn't time to get hold of the foot of the sail, before it +up and caught me smack in the face." + +"'ow did yer get 'old er ther gasket, when yer fell, then?" asked +Plummer. + +"He didn't get hold of it," I answered for Tom. "It had taken a turn +round his wrist, and that's how we found him hanging." + +"Do you mean to say as 'e 'adn't got 'old of ther garsket?," Quoin +inquired, pausing in the lighting of his pipe. + +"Of course, I do," I said. "A chap doesn't go hanging on to a rope when +he's jolly well been knocked senseless." + +"Ye're richt," assented Jock. "Ye're quite richt there, Jessop." + +Quoin concluded the lighting of his pipe. + +"I dunno," he said. + +I went on, without noticing him. + +"Anyway, when Williams and I found him, he was hanging by the gasket, +and it had a couple of turns round his wrist. And besides that, as I +said before, the foot of the sail was hanging over the after side of the +yard, and Tom's weight on the gasket was holding it there." + +"It's damned queer," said Stubbins, in a puzzled voice. "There don't +seem to be no way of gettin' a proper hexplanation to it." + +I glanced at Williams, to suggest that I should tell all that we had +seen; but he shook his head, and, after a moment's thought, it seemed to +me that there was nothing to be gained by so doing. We had no very clear +idea of the thing that had happened, and our half facts and guesses +would only have tended to make the matter appear more grotesque and +unlikely. The only thing to be done was to wait and watch. If we could +only get hold of something tangible, then we might hope to tell all that +we knew, without being made into laughing-stocks. + +I came out from my think, abruptly. + +Stubbins was speaking again. He was arguing the matter with one of the +other men. + +"You see, with there bein' no wind, scarcely, ther thing's himpossible, +an' yet--" + +The other man interrupted with some remark I did not catch. + +"No," I heard Stubbins say. "I'm hout of my reckonin'. I don't savvy it +one bit. It's too much like a damned fairy tale." + +"Look at his wrist!" I said. + +Tom held out his right hand and arm for inspection. It was considerably +swollen where the rope had been round it. + +"Yes," admitted Stubbins. "That's right enough; but it don't tell you +nothin'." + +I made no reply. As Stubbins said, it told you "nothin'." And there I +let it drop. Yet, I have told you this, as showing how the matter was +regarded in the fo'cas'le. Still, it did not occupy our minds very long; +for, as I have said, there were further developments. + +The three following nights passed quietly; and then, on the fourth, all +those curious signs and hints culminated suddenly in something +extraordinarily grim. Yet, everything had been so subtle and intangible, +and, indeed, so was the affair itself, that only those who had actually +come in touch with the invading fear, seemed really capable of +comprehending the terror of the thing. The men, for the most part, began +to say the ship was unlucky, and, of course, as usual! there was some +talk of there being a Jonah in the ship. Still, I cannot say that none +of the men realised there was anything horrible and frightening in it +all; for I am sure that some did, a little; and I think Stubbins was +certainly one of them; though I feel certain that he did not, at that +time, you know, grasp a quarter of the real significance that underlay +the several queer matters that had disturbed our nights. He seemed to +fail, somehow, to grasp the element of personal danger that, to me, was +already plain. He lacked sufficient imagination, I suppose, to piece the +things together--to trace the natural sequence of the events, and their +development. Yet I must not forget, of course, that he had no knowledge +of those two first incidents. If he had, perhaps he might have stood +where I did. As it was, he had not seemed to reach out at all, you know, +not even in the matter of Tom and the fore royal. Now, however, after +the thing I am about to tell you, he seemed to see a little way into the +darkness, and realise possibilities. + +I remember the fourth night, well. It was a clear, star-lit, moonless +sort of night: at least, I think there was no moon; or, at any rate, the +moon could have been little more than a thin crescent, for it was near +the dark time. + +The wind had breezed up a bit; but still remained steady. We were +slipping along at about six or seven knots an hour. It was our middle +watch on deck, and the ship was full of the blow and hum of the wind +aloft. Williams and I were the only ones about the maindeck. He was +leaning over the weather pin-rail, smoking; while I was pacing up and +down, between him and the fore hatch. Stubbins was on the look-out. + +Two bells had gone some minutes, and I was wishing to goodness that it +was eight, and time to turn-in. Suddenly, overhead, there sounded a +sharp crack, like the report of a rifle shot. It was followed instantly +by the rattle and crash of sailcloth thrashing in the wind. + +Williams jumped away from the rail, and ran aft a few steps. I followed +him, and, together, we stared upwards to see what had gone. +Indistinctly, I made out that the weather sheet of the fore t'gallant +had carried away, and the clew of the sail was whirling and banging +about in the air, and, every few moments, hitting the steel yard a blow, +like the thump of a great sledge hammer. + +"It's the shackle, or one of the links that's gone, I think," I shouted +to Williams, above the noise of the sail. "That's the spectacle that's +hitting the yard." + +"Yus!" he shouted back, and went to get hold of the clewline. I ran to +give him a hand. At the same moment, I caught the Second Mate's voice +away aft, shouting. Then came the noise of running feet, and the rest of +the watch, and the Second Mate, were with us almost at the same moment. +In a few minutes we had the yard lowered and the sail clewed up. Then +Williams and I went aloft to see where the sheet had gone. It was much +as I had supposed; the spectacle was all right, but the pin had gone out +of the shackle, and the shackle itself was jammed into the sheavehole in +the yard arm. + +Williams sent me down for another pin, while he unbent the clewline, and +overhauled it down to the sheet. When I returned with the fresh pin, I +screwed it into the shackle, clipped on the clewline, and sung out to +the men to take a pull on the rope. This they did, and at the second +heave the shackle came away. When it was high enough, I went up on to +the t'gallant yard, and held the chain, while Williams shackled it into +the spectacle. Then he bent on the clewline afresh, and sung out to the +Second Mate that we were ready to hoist away. + +"Yer'd better go down an' give 'em a 'aul," he said. "I'll sty an' light +up ther syle." + +"Right ho, Williams," I said, getting into the rigging. "Don't let the +ship's bogy run away with you." + +This remark I made in a moment of light-heartedness, such as will come +to anyone aloft, at times. I was exhilarated for the time being, and +quite free from the sense of fear that had been with me so much of late. +I suppose this was due to the freshness of the wind. + +"There's more'n one!" he said, in that curiously short way of his. + +"What?" I asked. + +He repeated his remark. + +I was suddenly serious. The _reality_ of all the impossible details of +the past weeks came back to me, vivid, and beastly. + +"What do you mean, Williams?" I asked him. + +But he had shut up, and would say nothing. + +"What do you know--how much do you know?" I went on, quickly. "Why did +you never tell me that you--" + +The Second Mate's voice interrupted me, abruptly: + +"Now then, up there! Are you going to keep us waiting all night? One of +you come down and give us a pull with the ha'lyards. The other stay up +and light up the gear." + +"i, i, Sir," I shouted back. + +Then I turned to Williams, hurriedly. + +"Look here, Williams," I said. "If you think there is _really_ a danger +in your being alone up here--" I hesitated for words to express what I +meant. Then I went on. "Well, I'll jolly well stay up with you." + +The Second Mate's voice came again. + +"Come on now, one of you! Make a move! What the hell are you doing?" + +"Coming, Sir!" I sung out. + +"Shall I stay?" I asked definitely. + +"Garn!" he said. "Don't yer fret yerself. I'll tike er bloomin' piy-diy +out of 'er. Blarst 'em. I ain't funky of 'em." + +I went. That was the last word Williams spoke to anyone living. + +I reached the decks, and tailed on to the haulyards. + +We had nearly mast-headed the yard, and the Second Mate was looking up +at the dark outline of the sail, ready to sing out "Belay"; when, all at +once, there came a queer sort of muffled shout from Williams. + +"Vast hauling, you men," shouted the Second Mate. + +We stood silent, and listened. + +"What's that, Williams?" he sung out. "Are you all clear?" + +For nearly half a minute we stood, listening; but there came no reply. +Some of the men said afterwards that they had noticed a curious rattling +and vibrating noise aloft that sounded faintly above the hum and swirl +of the wind. Like the sound of loose ropes being shaken and slatted +together, you know. Whether this noise was really heard, or whether it +was something that had no existence outside of their imaginations, I +cannot say. I heard nothing of it; but then I was at the tail end of the +rope, and furthest from the fore rigging; while those who heard it were +on the fore part of the haulyards, and close up to the shrouds. + +The Second Mate put his hands to his mouth. + +"Are you all clear there?" he shouted again. + +The answer came, unintelligible and unexpected. It ran like this: + +"Blarst yer ... I've styed ... Did yer think ... drive ... bl--y +piy-diy." And then there was a sudden silence. + +I stared up at the dim sail, astonished. + +"He's dotty!" said Stubbins, who had been told to come off the look-out +and give us a pull. + +"'e's as mad as a bloomin' 'atter," said Quoin, who was standing +foreside of me. "'e's been queer all along." + +"Silence there!" shouted the Second Mate. Then: + +"Williams!" + +No answer. + +"Williams!" more loudly. + +Still no answer. + +Then: + +"Damn you, you jumped-up cockney crocodile! Can't you hear? Are you +blooming-well deaf?" + +There was no answer, and the Second Mate turned to me. + +"Jump aloft, smartly now, Jessop, and see what's wrong!" + +"i, i, Sir," I said and made a run for the rigging. I felt a bit queer. +Had Williams gone mad? He certainly always had been a bit funny. Or--and +the thought came with a jump--had he seen--I did not finish. Suddenly, +up aloft, there sounded a frightful scream. I stopped, with my hand on +the sheerpole. The next instant, something fell out of the darkness--a +heavy body, that struck the deck near the waiting men, with a tremendous +crash and a loud, ringing, wheezy sound that sickened me. Several of the +men shouted out loud in their fright, and let go of the haulyards; but +luckily the stopper held it, and the yard did not come down. Then, for +the space of several seconds, there was a dead silence among the crowd; +and it seemed to me that the wind had in it a strange moaning note. + +The Second Mate was the first to speak. His voice came so abruptly that +it startled me. + +"Get a light, one of you, quick now!" + +There was a moment's hesitation. + +"Fetch one of the binnacle lamps, you, Tammy." + +"i, i, Sir," the youngster said, in a quavering voice, and ran aft. + +In less than a minute I saw the light coming towards us along the deck. +The boy was running. He reached us, and handed the lamp to the Second +Mate, who took it and went towards the dark, huddled heap on the deck. +He held the light out before him, and peered at the thing. + +"My God!" he said. "It's Williams!" + +He stooped lower with the light, and I saw details. It was Williams +right enough. The Second Mate told a couple of the men to lift him and +straighten him out on the hatch. Then he went aft to call the Skipper. +He returned in a couple of minutes with an old ensign which he spread +over the poor beggar. Almost directly, the Captain came hurrying forward +along the decks. He pulled back one end of the ensign, and looked; then +he put it back quietly, and the Second Mate explained all that we knew, +in a few words. + +"Would you leave him where he is, Sir?" he asked, after he had told +everything. + +"The night's fine," said the Captain. "You may as well leave the poor +devil there." + +He turned, and went aft, slowly. The man who was holding the light, +swept it round so that it showed the place where Williams had struck the +deck. + +The Second Mate spoke abruptly. + +"Get a broom and a couple of buckets, some of you." + +He turned sharply, and ordered Tammy on to the poop. + +As soon as he had seen the yard mast-headed, and the ropes cleared up, +he followed Tammy. He knew well enough that it would not do for the +youngster to let his mind dwell too much on the poor chap on the hatch, +and I found out, a little later, that he gave the boy something to +occupy his thoughts. + +After they had gone aft, we went into the fo'cas'le. Every one was moody +and frightened. For a little while, we sat about in our bunks and on the +chests, and no one said a word. The watch below were all asleep, and not +one of them knew what had happened. + +All at once, Plummer, whose wheel it was, stepped over the starboard +washboard, into the fo'cas'le. + +"What's up, anyway?" he asked. "Is Williams much 'urt?" + +"Sh!" I said. "You'll wake the others. Who's taken your wheel?" + +"Tammy--ther Second sent 'im. 'e said I could go forrard an' 'ave er +smoke. 'e said Williams 'ad 'ad er fall." + +He broke off, and looked across the fo'cas'le. + +"Where is 'e?" he inquired, in a puzzled voice. + +I glanced at the others; but no one seemed inclined to start yarning +about it. + +"He fell from the t'gallant rigging!" I said. + +"Where is 'e?" he repeated. + +"Smashed up," I said. "He's lying on the hatch." + +"Dead?" he asked. + +I nodded. + +"I guessed 'twere somethin' pretty bad, when I saw the Old Man come +forrard. 'ow did it 'appen?" + +He looked round at the lot of us sitting there silent and smoking. + +"No one knows," I said, and glanced at Stubbins. I caught him eyeing me, +doubtfully. + +After a moment's silence, Plummer spoke again. + +"I 'eard 'im screech, when I was at ther wheel. 'e must 'ave got 'urt up +aloft." + +Stubbins struck a match and proceeded to relight his pipe. + +"How d'yer mean?" he asked, speaking for the first time. + +"'ow do I mean? Well, I can't say. Maybe 'e jammed 'is fingers between +ther parrel an' ther mast." + +"What about 'is swearin' at ther Second Mate? Was that 'cause 'e'd +jammed 'is fingers?" put in Quoin. + +"I never 'eard about that," said Plummer. "'oo 'eard 'im? + +"I should think heverybody in ther bloomin' ship heard him," Stubbins +answered. "All ther same, I hain't sure he _was_ swearin' at ther Second +Mate. I thought at first he'd gone dotty an' was cussin' him; but +somehow it don't seem likely, now I come to think. It don't stand to +reason he should go to cuss ther man. There was nothin' to go cussin' +about. What's more, he didn't seem ter be talkin' down to us on deck-- +what I could make hout. 'sides, what would he want ter go talkin' to +ther Second about his pay-day?" + +He looked across to where I was sitting. Jock, who was smoking, quietly, +on the chest next to me, took his pipe slowly out from between his +teeth. + +"Ye're no far oot, Stubbins, I'm thinkin'. Ye're no far oot," he said, +nodding his head. + +Stubbins still continued to gaze at me. + +"What's your idee?" he said, abruptly. + +It may have been my fancy, but it seemed to me that there was something +deeper than the mere sense the question conveyed. + +I glanced at him. I couldn't have said, myself, just what my idea was. + +"I don't know!" I answered, a little adrift. "He didn't strike me as +cursing at the Second Mate. That is, I should say, after the first +minute." + +"Just what I say," he replied. "Another thing--don't it strike you as +bein' bloomin' queer about Tom nearly comin' down by ther run, an' then +_this?_" + +I nodded. + +"It would have been all hup with Tom, if it hadn't been for ther +gasket." + +He paused. After a moment, he went on again. + +"That was honly three or four nights ago!" + +"Well," said Plummer. "What are yer drivin' at?" + +"Nothin'," answered Stubbins. "Honly it's damned queer. Looks as though +ther ship might be unlucky, after all." + +"Well," agreed Plummer. "Things 'as been a bit funny lately; and then +there's what's 'appened ter-night. I shall 'ang on pretty tight ther +next time I go aloft." + +Old Jaskett took his pipe from his mouth, and sighed. + +"Things is going wrong 'most every night," he said, almost pathetically. +"It's as diff'rent as chalk 'n' cheese ter what it were w'en we started +this 'ere trip. I thought it were all 'ellish rot about 'er bein' +'aunted; but it's not, seem'ly." + +He stopped and expectorated. + +"She hain't haunted," said Stubbins. "Leastways, not like you mean--" + +He paused, as though trying to grasp some elusive thought. + +"Eh?" said Jaskett, in the interval. + +Stubbins continued, without noticing the query. He appeared to be +answering some half-formed thought in his own brain, rather than +Jaskett: + +"Things is queer--an' it's been a bad job tonight. I don't savvy one bit +what Williams was sayin' of hup aloft. I've thought sometimes he'd +somethin' on 'is mind--" + +Then, after a pause of about half a minute, he said this: + +"_Who_ was he sayin' that to?" + +"Eh?" said Jaskett, again, with a puzzled expression. + +"I was thinkin'," said Stubbins, knocking out his pipe on the edge of +the chest. "P'raps you're right, hafter all." + + + + +VI + + +_Another Man to the Wheel_ + +The conversation had slacked off. We were all moody and shaken, and I +know I, for one, was thinking some rather troublesome thoughts. + +Suddenly, I heard the sound of the Second's whistle. Then his voice came +along the deck: + +"Another man to the wheel!" + +"'e's singin' out for some one to go aft an' relieve ther wheel," said +Quoin, who had gone to the door to listen. "Yer'd better 'urry up, +Plummer." + +"What's ther time?" asked Plummer, standing up and knocking out his +pipe. "Must be close on ter four bells, 'oo's next wheel is it?" + +"It's all right, Plummer," I said, getting up from the chest on which I +had been sitting. "I'll go along. It's my wheel, and it only wants a +couple of minutes to four bells." + +Plummer sat down again, and I went out of the fo'cas'le. Reaching the +poop, I met Tammy on the lee side, pacing up and down. + +"Who's at the wheel?" I asked him, in astonishment. + +"The Second Mate," he said, in a shaky sort of voice. "He's waiting to +be relieved. I'll tell you all about it as soon as I get a chance." + +I went on aft to the wheel. + +"Who's that?" the Second inquired. + +"It's Jessop, Sir," I answered. + +He gave me the course, and then, without another word, went forrard +along the poop. On the break, I heard him call Tammy's name, and then +for some minutes he was talking to him; though what he was saying, I +could not possibly hear. For my part, I was tremendously curious to know +why the Second Mate had taken the wheel. I knew that if it were just a +matter of bad steering on Tammy's part, he would not have dreamt of +doing such a thing. There had been something queer happening, about +which I had yet to learn; of this, I felt sure. + +Presently, the Second Mate left Tammy, and commenced to walk the weather +side of the deck. Once he came right aft, and, stooping down, peered +under the wheel-box; but never addressed a word to me. Sometime later, +he went down the weather ladder on to the main-deck. Directly +afterwards, Tammy came running up to the lee side of the wheel-box. + +"I've seen it again!" he said, gasping with sheer nervousness. + +"What?" I said. + +"That _thing_," he answered. Then he leant across the wheel-box, and +lowered his voice. + +"It came over the lee rail--_up out of the sea_," he added, with an air +of telling something unbelievable. + +I turned more towards him; but it was too dark to see his face with any +distinctness. I felt suddenly husky. "My God!" I thought. And then I +made a silly effort to protest; but he cut me short with a certain +impatient hopelessness. + +"For God's sake, Jessop," he said, "do stow all that! It's no good. I +must have someone to talk to, or I shall go dotty." + +I saw how useless it was to pretend any sort of ignorance. Indeed, +really, I had known it all along, and avoided the youngster on that very +account, as you know. + +"Go on," I said. "I'll listen; but you'd better keep an eye for the +Second Mate; he may pop up any minute." + +For a moment, he said nothing, and I saw him peering stealthily about +the poop. + +"Go on," I said. "You'd better make haste, or he'll be up before you're +half-way through. What was he doing at the wheel when I came up to +relieve it? Why did he send you away from it?" + +"He didn't," Tammy replied, turning his face towards me. "I bunked away +from it." + +"What for?" I asked. + +"Wait a minute," he answered, "and I'll tell you the whole business. You +know the Second Mate sent me to the wheel, after _that_--" He nodded his +head forrard. + +"Yes," I said. + +"Well, I'd been here about ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, and I +was feeling rotten about Williams, and trying to forget it all and keep +the ship on her course, and all that; when, all at once, I happened to +glance to loo'ard, and there I saw it climbing over the rail. My God! I +didn't know what to do. The Second Mate was standing forrard on the +break of the poop, and I was here all by myself. I felt as if I were +frozen stiff. When it came towards me, I let go of the wheel, and yelled +and bunked forrard to the Second Mate. He caught hold of me and shook +me; but I was so jolly frightened, I couldn't say a word. I could only +keep on pointing. The Second kept asking me 'Where?' And then, all at +once, I found I couldn't see the thing. I don't know whether he saw it. +I'm not at all certain he did. He just told me to damn well get back to +the wheel, and stop making a damned fool of myself. I said out straight +I wouldn't go. So he blew his whistle, and sung out for someone to come +aft and take it. Then he ran and got hold of the wheel himself. You know +the rest." + +"You're quite sure it wasn't thinking about Williams made you imagine +you saw something?" I said, more to gain a moment to think, than because +I believed that it was the case. + +"I thought you were going to listen to me, seriously!" he said, +bitterly. "If you won't believe me; what about the chap the Second Mate +saw? What about Tom? What about Williams? For goodness sake! don't try +to put me off like you did last time. I nearly went cracked with wanting +to tell someone who would listen to me, and wouldn't laugh. I could +stand anything, but this being alone. There's a good chap, don't pretend +you don't understand. Tell me what it all means. What is this horrible +man that I've twice seen? You know you know something, and I believe +you're afraid to tell anyone, for fear of being laughed at. Why don't +you tell me? You needn't be afraid of my laughing." + +He stopped, suddenly. For the moment, I said nothing in reply. + +"Don't treat me like a kid, Jessop!" he exclaimed, quite passionately. + +"I won't," I said, with a sudden resolve to tell him everything. "I need +someone to talk to, just as badly as you do." + +"What does it all mean, then?" he burst out. "Are they real? I always +used to think it was all a yarn about such things." + +"I'm sure I don't know what it all means, Tammy," I answered. "I'm just +as much in the dark, there, as you are. And I don't know whether they're +real--that is, not as we consider things real. You don't know that I saw +a queer figure down on the maindeck, several nights before you saw that +thing up here." + +"Didn't you see this one?" he cut in, quickly. + +"Yes," I answered. + +"Then, why did you pretend not to have?" he said, in a reproachful +voice. "You don't know what a state you put me into, what with my being +certain that I had seen it and then you being so jolly positive that +there had been nothing. At one time I thought I was going clean off my +dot--until the Second Mate saw that man go up the main. Then, I knew +that there must be something in the thing I was certain I'd seen." + +"I thought, perhaps, that if I told you I hadn't seen it, you would +think you'd been mistaken," I said. "I wanted you to think it was +imagination, or a dream, or something of that sort." + +"And all the time, you knew about that other thing you'd seen?" he +asked. + +"Yes," I replied. + +"It was thundering decent of you," he said. "But it wasn't any good." + +He paused a moment. Then he went on: + +"It's terrible about Williams. Do you think he saw something, up aloft?" + +"I don't know, Tammy," I said. "It's impossible to say. It _may_ have +been only an accident." I hesitated to tell him what I really thought. + +"What was he saying about his pay-day? Who was he saying it to?" + +"I don't know," I said, again. "He was always cracked about taking a +pay-day out of her. You know, he stayed in her, on purpose, when all the +others left. He told me that he wasn't going to be done out of it, for +anyone." + +"What did the other lot leave for?" he asked. Then, as the idea seemed +to strike him--"Jove! do you think they saw something, and got scared? +It's quite possible. You know, we only joined her in 'Frisco. She had no +'prentices on the passage out. Our ship was sold; so they sent us aboard +here to come home." + +"They may have," I said. "Indeed, from things I've heard Williams say, +I'm pretty certain, he for one, guessed or knew a jolly sight more than +we've any idea of." + +"And now he's dead!" said Tammy, solemnly. "We'll never be able to find +out from him now." + +For a few moments, he was silent. Then he went off on another track. + +"Doesn't anything ever happen in the Mate's watch?" + +"Yes," I answered. "There's several things happened lately, that seem +pretty queer. Some of his side have been talking about them. But he's +too jolly pig-headed to see anything. He just curses his chaps, and puts +it all down to them." + +"Still," he persisted, "things seem to happen more in our watch than in +his--I mean, bigger things. Look at tonight." + +"We've no proof, you know," I said. + +He shook his head, doubtfully. + +"I shall always funk going aloft, now." + +"Nonsense!" I told him. "It may only have been an accident." + +"Don't!" he said. "You know you don't think so, really." + +I answered nothing, just then; for I knew very well that he was right. +We were silent for a couple of moments. + +Then he spoke again: + +"Is the ship haunted?" + +For an instant I hesitated. + +"No," I said, at length. "I don't think she is. I mean, not in that +way." + +"What way, then?" + +"Well, I've formed a bit of a theory, that seems wise one minute, and +cracked the next. Of course, it's as likely to be all wrong; but it's +the only thing that seems to me to fit in with all the beastly things +we've had lately." + +"Go on!" he said, with an impatient, nervous movement. + +"Well, I've an idea that it's nothing _in_ the ship that's likely to +hurt us. I scarcely know how to put it; but, if I'm right in what I +think, it's the ship herself that's the cause of everything." + +"What do you mean?" he asked, in a puzzled voice. "Do you mean that the +ship _is_ haunted, after all?" + +"No!" I answered. "I've just told you I didn't. Wait until I've finished +what I was going to say." + +"All right!" he said. + +"About that thing you saw tonight," I went on. "You say it came over the +lee rail, up on to the poop?" + +"Yes," he answered. + +"Well, the thing I saw, _came up out of the sea, and went back into the +sea_." + +"Jove!" he said; and then: "Yes, go on!" + +"My idea is, that this ship is open to be boarded by those things," I +explained. "What they are, of course I don't know. They look like men-- +in lots of ways. But--well, the Lord knows what's in the sea. Though we +don't want to go imagining silly things, of course. And then, again, you +know, it seems fat-headed, calling anything silly. That's how I keep +going, in a sort of blessed circle. I don't know a bit whether they're +flesh and blood, or whether they're what we should call ghosts or +spirits." + +"They can't be flesh and blood," Tammy interrupted. "Where would they +live? Besides, that first one I saw, I thought I could see through it. +And this last one--the Second Mate would have seen it. And they would +drown--" + +"Not necessarily," I said. + +"Oh, but I'm sure they're not," he insisted. "It's impossible--" + +"So are ghosts--when you're feeling sensible," I answered. "But I'm not +saying they _are_ flesh and blood; though, at the same time, I'm not +going to say straight out they're ghosts--not yet, at any rate." + +"Where do they come from?" he asked, stupidly enough. + +"Out of the sea," I told him. "You saw for yourself!" + +"Then why don't other vessels have them coming aboard?" he said. "How do +you account for that?" + +"In a way--though sometimes it seems cracky--I think I can, according to +my idea," I answered. + +"How?" he inquired again. + +"Why, I believe that this ship is open, as I've told you--exposed, +unprotected, or whatever you like to call it. I should say it's +reasonable to think that all the things of the material world are +barred, as it were, from the immaterial; but that in some cases the +barrier may be broken down. That's what may have happened to this ship. +And if it has, she may be naked to the attacks of beings belonging to +some other state of existence." + +"What's made her like that?" he asked, in a really awed sort of tone. + +"The Lord knows!" I answered. "Perhaps something to do with magnetic +stresses; but you'd not understand, and I don't, really. And, I suppose, +inside of me, I don't believe it's anything of the kind, for a minute. +I'm not built that way. And yet I don't know! Perhaps, there may have +been some rotten thing done aboard of her. Or, again, it's a heap more +likely to be something quite outside of anything I know." + +"If they're immaterial then, they're spirits?" he questioned. + +"I don't know," I said. "It's so hard to say what I really think, you +know. I've got a queer idea, that my head-piece likes to think good; but +I don't believe my tummy believes it." + +"Go on!" he said. + +"Well," I said. "Suppose the earth were inhabited by two kinds of life. +We're one, and _they're_ the other." + +"Go on!" he said. + +"Well," I said. "Don't you see, in a normal state we may not be capable +of appreciating the _realness_ of the other? But they may be just as +_real_ and material to _them_, as _we_ are to _us_. Do you see?" + +"Yes," he said. "Go on!" + +"Well," I said. "The earth may be just as _real_ to them, as to us. I +mean that it may have qualities as material to them, as it has to us; +but neither of us could appreciate the other's realness, or the quality +of realness in the earth, which was real to the other. It's so difficult +to explain. Don't you understand?" + +"Yes," he said. "Go on!" + +"Well, if we were in what I might call a healthy atmosphere, they would +be quite beyond our power to see or feel, or anything. And the same with +them; but the more we're like _this_, the more _real_ and actual they +could grow _to us_. See? That is, the more we should become able to +appreciate their form of materialness. That's all. I can't make it any +clearer." + +"Then, after all, you _really_ think they're ghosts, or something of +that sort?" Tammy said. + +"I suppose it does come to that," I answered. "I mean that, anyway, I +don't think they're our ideas of flesh and blood. But, of course, it's +silly to say much; and, after all, you must remember that I may be all +wrong." + +"I think you ought to tell the Second Mate all this," he said. "If it's +really as you say, the ship ought to be put into the nearest port, and +jolly well burnt." + +"The Second Mate couldn't do anything," I replied. "Even if he believed +it all; which we're not certain he would." + +"Perhaps not," Tammy answered. "But if you could get him to believe it, +he might explain the whole business to the Skipper, and then something +might be done. It's not safe as it is." + +"He'd only get jeered at again," I said, rather hopelessly. + +"No," said Tammy. "Not after what's happened tonight." + +"Perhaps not," I replied, doubtfully. And just then the Second Mate came +back on to the poop, and Tammy cleared away from the wheel-box, leaving +me with a worrying feeling that I ought to do something. + + + + +VII + + +_The Coming of the Mist and That Which It Ushered_ + +We buried Williams at midday. Poor beggar! It had been so sudden. All +day the men were awed and gloomy, and there was a lot of talk about +there being a Jonah aboard. If they'd only known what Tammy and I, and +perhaps the Second Mate, knew! + +And then the next thing came--the mist. I cannot remember now, whether +it was on the day we buried Williams that we first saw it, or the day +after. + +When first I noticed it, like everybody else aboard, I took it to be +some form of haze, due to the heat of the sun; for it was broad daylight +when the thing came. + +The wind had died away to a light breeze, and I was working at the main +rigging, along with Plummer, putting on seizings. + +"Looks as if 'twere middlin' 'ot," he remarked. + +"Yes," I said; and, for the time, took no further notice. + +Presently he spoke again: + +"It's gettin' quite 'azy!" and his tone showed he was surprised. + +I glanced up, quickly. At first, I could see nothing. Then, I saw what +he meant. The air had a wavy, strange, unnatural appearance; something +like the heated air over the top of an engine's funnel, that you can +often see when no smoke is coming out. + +"Must be the heat," I said. "Though I don't remember ever seeing +anything just like it before." + +"Nor me," Plummer agreed. + +It could not have been a minute later when I looked up again, and was +astonished to find that the whole ship was surrounded by a thinnish haze +that quite hid the horizon. + +"By Jove! Plummer," I said. "How queer!" + +"Yes," he said, looking round. "I never seen anythin' like it before-- +not in these parts." + +"Heat wouldn't do that!" I said. + +"N--no," he said, doubtfully. + +We went on with our work again--occasionally exchanging an odd word or +two. Presently, after a little time of silence, I bent forward and asked +him to pass me up the spike. He stooped and picked it up from the deck, +where it had tumbled. As he held it out to me, I saw the stolid +expression on his face, change suddenly to a look of complete surprise. +He opened his mouth. + +"By gum!" he said. "It's gone." + +I turned quickly, and looked. And so it had--the whole sea showing clear +and bright, right away to the horizon. + +I stared at Plummer, and he stared at me. + +"Well, I'm blowed!" he exclaimed. + +I do not think I made any reply; for I had a sudden, queer feeling that +the thing was not right. And then, in a minute, I called myself an ass; +but I could not really shake off the feeling. I had another good look at +the sea. I had a vague idea that something was different. The sea looked +brighter, somehow, and the air clearer, I thought, and I missed +something; but not much, you know. And it was not until a couple of days +later, that I knew that it was several vessels on the horizon, which had +been quite in sight before the mist, and now were gone. + +During the rest of the watch, and indeed all day, there was no further +sign of anything unusual. Only, when the evening came (in the second +dog-watch it was) I saw the mist rise faintly--the setting sun shining +through it, dim and unreal. + +I knew then, as a certainty, that it was not caused by heat. + +And that was the beginning of it. + +The next day, I kept a pretty close watch, during all my time on deck; +but the atmosphere remained clear. Yet, I heard from one of the chaps in +the Mate's watch, that it had been hazy during part of the time he was +at the wheel. + +"Comin' an' goin', like," he described it to me, when I questioned him +about it. He thought it might be heat. + +But though I knew otherwise, I did not contradict him. At that time, no +one, not even Plummer, seemed to think very much of the matter. And when +I mentioned it to Tammy, and asked him whether he'd noticed it, he only +remarked that it must have been heat, or else the sun drawing up water. +I let it stay at that; for there was nothing to be gained by suggesting +that the thing had more to it. + +Then, on the following day, something happened that set me wondering +more than ever, and showed me how right I had been in feeling the mist +to be something unnatural. It was in this way. + +Five bells, in the eight to twelve morning watch, had gone. I was at the +wheel. The sky was perfectly clear--not a cloud to be seen, even on the +horizon. It was hot, standing at the wheel; for there was scarcely any +wind, and I was feeling drowsy. The Second Mate was down on the maindeck +with the men, seeing about some job he wanted done; so that I was on the +poop alone. + +Presently, with the heat, and the sun beating right down on to me, I +grew thirsty; and, for want of something better, I pulled out a bit of +plug I had on me, and bit off a chew; though, as a rule, it is not a +habit of mine. After a little, naturally enough, I glanced round for the +spittoon; but discovered that it was not there. Probably it had been +taken forrard when the decks were washed, to give it a scrub. So, as +there was no one on the poop, I left the wheel, and stepped aft to the +taffrail. It was thus that I came to see something altogether unthought +of--a full-rigged ship, close-hauled on the port tack, a few hundred +yards on our starboard quarter. Her sails were scarcely filled by the +light breeze, and flapped as she lifted to the swell of the sea. She +appeared to have very little way through the water, certainly not more +than a knot an hour. Away aft, hanging from the gaff-end, was a string +of flags. Evidently, she was signalling to us. All this, I saw in a +flash, and I just stood and stared, astonished. I was astonished because +I had not seen her earlier. In that light breeze, I knew that she must +have been in sight for at least a couple of hours. Yet I could think of +nothing rational to satisfy my wonder. There she was--of that much, I +was certain. And yet, how had she come there without my seeing her, +before? + +All at once, as I stood, staring, I heard the wheel behind me, spin +rapidly. Instinctively, I jumped to get hold of the spokes; for I did +not want the steering gear jammed. Then I turned again to have another +look at the other ship; but, to my utter bewilderment, _there was no +sign of her_--nothing but the calm ocean, spreading away to the distant +horizon. I blinked my eyelids a bit, and pushed the hair off my +forehead. Then, I stared again; but there was no vestige of her-- +nothing, you know; and absolutely nothing unusual, except a faint, +tremulous quiver in the air. And the blank surface of the sea reaching +everywhere to the empty horizon. + +Had she foundered? I asked myself, naturally enough; and, for the +moment, I really wondered. I searched round the sea for wreckage; but +there was nothing, not even an odd hen-coop, or a piece of deck +furniture; and so I threw away that idea, as impossible. + +Then, as I stood, I got another thought, or, perhaps, an intuition and I +asked myself seriously whether this disappearing ship might not be in +some way connected with the other queer things. It occurred to me then, +that the vessel I had seen was nothing real, and, perhaps, did not exist +outside of my own brain. I considered the idea, gravely. It helped to +explain the thing, and I could think of nothing else that would. Had she +been real, I felt sure that others aboard us would have been bound to +have seen her long before I had--I got a bit muddled there, with trying +to think it out; and then, abruptly, the reality of the other ship, came +back to me--every rope and sail and spar, you know. And I remembered how +she had lifted to the heave of the sea, and how the sails had flapped in +the light breeze. And the string of flags! She had been signalling. At +that last, I found it just as impossible to believe that she had not +been real. + +I had reached to this point of irresolution, and was standing with my +back, partly turned to the wheel. I was holding it steady with my left +hand, while I looked over the sea, to try to find something to help me +to understand. + +All at once, as I stared, I seemed to see the ship again. + +She was more on the beam now, than on the quarter; but I thought little +of that, in the astonishment of seeing her once more. It was only a +glimpse, I caught of her--dim and wavering, as though I looked at her +through the convolutions of heated air. Then she grew indistinct, and +vanished again; but I was convinced now that she was real, and had been +in sight all the time, if I could have seen her. That curious, dim, +wavering appearance had suggested something to me. I remembered the +strange, wavy look of the air, a few days previously, just before the +mist had surrounded the ship. And in my mind, I connected the two. It +was nothing about the other packet that was strange. The strangeness was +with us. It was something that was about (or invested) our ship that +prevented me--or indeed, any one else aboard from seeing that other. It +was evident that she had been able to see us, as was proved by her +signalling. In an irrelevant sort of way, I wondered what the people +aboard of her thought of our apparently intentional disregard of their +signals. + +After that, I thought of the strangeness of it all. Even at that minute, +they could see us, plainly; and yet, so far as we were concerned, the +whole ocean seemed empty. It appeared to me, at that time, to be the +weirdest thing that could happen to us. + +And then a fresh thought came to me. How long had we been like that? I +puzzled for a few moments. It was now that I recollected that we had +sighted several vessels on the morning of the day when the mist +appeared; and since then, we had seen nothing. This, to say the least, +should have struck me as queer; for some of the other packets were +homeward bound along with us, and steering the same course. +Consequently, with the weather being fine, and the wind next to nothing, +they should have been in sight all the time. This reasoning seemed to me +to show, unmistakably, some connection between the coming of the mist, +and our inability to _see_. So that it is possible we had been in that +extraordinary state of blindness for nearly three days. + +In my mind, the last glimpse of that ship on the quarter, came back to +me. And, I remember, a curious thought got me, that I had looked at her +from out of some other dimension. For a while, you know, I really +believed the mystery of the idea, and that it might be the actual truth, +took me; instead of my realising just all that it might mean. It seemed +so exactly to express all the half-defined thoughts that had come, since +seeing that other packet on the quarter. + +Suddenly, behind me, there came a rustle and rattle of the sails; and, +in the same instant, I heard the Skipper saying: + +"Where the devil have you got her to, Jessop?" + +I whirled round to the wheel. + +"I don't know--Sir," I faltered. + +I had forgotten even that I was at the wheel. + +"Don't know!" he shouted. "I should damned well think you don't. +Starboard your helm, you fool. You'll have us all aback!" + +"i, i, Sir," I answered, and hove the wheel over. I did it almost +mechanically; for I was still dazed, and had not yet had time to collect +my senses. + +During the following half-minute, I was only conscious, in a confused +sort of way, that the Old Man was ranting at me. This feeling of +bewilderment passed off, and I found that I was peering blankly into the +binnacle, at the compass-card; yet, until then, entirely without being +aware of the fact. Now, however, I saw that the ship was coming back on +to her course. Goodness knows how much she had been off! + +With the realisation that I had let the ship get almost aback, there +came a sudden memory of the alteration in the position of the other +vessel. She had appeared last on the beam, instead of on the quarter. +Now, however, as my brain began to work, I saw the cause of this +apparent and, until then, inexplicable change. It was due, of course, to +our having come up, until we had brought the other packet on to the +beam. + +It is curious how all this flashed through my mind, and held my +attention--although only momentarily--in the face of the Skipper's +storming. I think I had hardly realised he was still singing out at me. +Anyhow, the next thing I remember, he was shaking my arm. + +"What's the matter with you, man?" he was shouting. And I just stared +into his face, like an ass, without saying a word. I seemed still +incapable, you know, of actual, reasoning speech. + +"Are you damned well off your head?" he went on shouting. "Are you a +lunatic? Have you had sunstroke? Speak, you gaping idiot!" + +I tried to say something; but the words would not come clearly. + +"I--I--I--" I said, and stopped, stupidly. I was all right, really; but +I was so bewildered with the thing I had found out; and, in a way, I +seemed almost to have come back out of a distance, you know. + +"You're a lunatic!" he said, again. He repeated the statement several +times, as if it were the only thing that sufficiently expressed his +opinion of me. Then he let go of my arm, and stepped back a couple of +paces. + +"I'm not a lunatic!" I said, with a sudden gasp. "I'm not a lunatic, +Sir, any more than you are." + +"Why the devil don't you answer my questions then?" he shouted, angrily. +"What's the matter with you? What have you been doing with the ship? +Answer me now!" + +"I was looking at that ship away on the starboard quarter, Sir," I +blurted out. "She's been signalling--" + +"What!" he cut me short with disbelief. "What ship?" + +He turned, quickly, and looked over the quarter. Then he wheeled round +to me again. + +"There's no ship! What do you mean by trying to spin up a cuffer like +that?" + +"There is, Sir," I answered. "It's out there--" I pointed. + +"Hold your tongue!" he said. "Don't talk rubbish to me. Do you think I'm +blind?" + +"I saw it, Sir," I persisted. + +"Don't you talk back to me!" he snapped, with a quick burst of temper. +"I won't have it!" + +Then, just as suddenly, he was silent. He came a step towards me, and +stared into my face. I believe the old ass thought I was a bit mad; +anyway, without another word, he went to the break of the poop. + +"Mr. Tulipson," he sung out. + +"Yes, Sir," I heard the Second Mate reply. + +"Send another man to the wheel." + +"Very good, Sir," the Second answered. + +A couple of minutes later, old Jaskett came up to relieve me. I gave him +the course, and he repeated it. + +"What's up, mate?" he asked me, as I stepped off the grating. + +"Nothing much," I said, and went forrard to where the Skipper was +standing on the break of the poop. I gave him the course; but the crabby +old devil took no notice of me, whatever. When I got down on to the +maindeck, I went up to the Second, and gave it to him. He answered me +civilly enough, and then asked me what I had been doing to put the Old +Man's back up. + +"I told him there's a ship on the starboard quarter, signalling us," I +said. + +"There's no ship out there, Jessop," the Second Mate replied, looking at +me with a queer, inscrutable expression. + +"There is, Sir," I began. "I--" + +"That will do, Jessop!" he said. "Go forrard and have a smoke. I shall +want you then to give a hand with these foot-ropes. You'd better bring a +serving-mallet aft with you, when you come." + +I hesitated a moment, partly in anger; but more, I think, in doubt. + +"i, i, Sir," I muttered at length, and went forrard. + + + + + +VIII + + +_After the Coming of the Mist_ + + +After the coming of the mist, things seemed to develop pretty quickly. +In the following two or three days a good deal happened. + +On the night of the day on which the Skipper had sent me away from the +wheel, it was our watch on deck from eight o' clock to twelve, and my +look-out from ten to twelve. + +As I paced slowly to and fro across the fo'cas'le head, I was thinking +about the affair of the morning. At first, my thoughts were about the +Old Man. I cursed him thoroughly to myself, for being a pig-headed old +fool, until it occurred to me that if I had been in his place, and come +on deck to find the ship almost aback, and the fellow at the wheel +staring out across the sea, instead of attending to his business, I +should most certainly have kicked up a thundering row. And then, I had +been an ass to tell him about the ship. I should never have done such a +thing, if I had not been a bit adrift. Most likely the old chap thought +I was cracked. + +I ceased to bother my head about him, and fell to wondering why the +Second Mate had looked at me so queerly in the morning. Did he guess +more of the truth than I supposed? And if that were the case, why had he +refused to listen to me? + +After that, I went to puzzling about the mist. I had thought a great +deal about it, during the day. One idea appealed to me, very strongly. +It was that the actual, visible mist was a materialised expression of an +extraordinarily subtle atmosphere, in which we were moving. + +Abruptly, as I walked backwards and forwards, taking occasional glances +over the sea (which was almost calm), my eye caught the glow of a light +out in the darkness. I stood still, and stared. I wondered whether it +was the light of a vessel. In that case we were no longer enveloped in +that extraordinary atmosphere. I bent forward, and gave the thing my +more immediate attention. I saw then that it was undoubtedly the green +light of a vessel on our port bow. It was plain that she was bent on +crossing our bows. What was more, she was dangerously near--the size and +brightness of her light showed that. She would be close-hauled, while we +were going free, so that, of course, it was our place to get out of her +way. Instantly, I turned and, putting my hands up to my mouth, hailed +the Second Mate: + +"Light on the port bow, Sir." + +The next moment his hail came back: + +"Whereabouts?" + +"He must be blind," I said to myself. + +"About two points on the bow, Sir," I sung out. + +Then I turned to see whether she had shifted her position at all. Yet, +when I came to look, there was no light visible. I ran forrard to the +bows, and leant over the rail, and stared; but there was nothing-- +absolutely nothing except the darkness all about us. For perhaps a few +seconds I stood thus, and a suspicion swept across me, that the whole +business was practically a repetition of the affair of the morning. +Evidently, the impalpable something that invested the ship, had thinned +for an instant, thus allowing me to see the light ahead. Now, it had +closed again. Yet, whether I could see, or not, I did not doubt the fact +that, there was a vessel ahead, and very close ahead, too. We might run +on top of her any minute. My only hope was that, seeing we were not +getting out of her way, she had put her helm up, so as to let us pass, +with the intention of then crossing under our stern. I waited, pretty +anxiously, watching and listening. Then, all at once, I heard steps +coming along the deck, forrard, and the 'prentice, whose time-keeping it +was, came up on to the fo'cas'le head. + +"The Second Mate says he can't see any light Jessop," he said, coming +over to where I stood. "Whereabouts is it?" + +"I don't know," I answered. "I've lost sight of it myself. It was a +green light, about a couple of points on the port bow. It seemed fairly +close." + +"Perhaps their lamp's gone out," he suggested, after peering out pretty +hard into the night for a minute or so. + +"Perhaps," I said. + +I did not tell him that the light had been so close that, even in the +darkness, we should _now_ have been able to see the ship herself. + +"You're quite sure it was a light, and not a star?" he asked, +doubtfully, after another long stare. + +"Oh! no," I said. "It may have been the moon, now I come to think about +it." + +"Don't rot," he replied. "It's easy enough to make a mistake. What shall +I say to the Second Mate?" + +"Tell him it's disappeared, of course!" + +"Where to?" he asked. + +"How the devil should I know?" I told him. "Don't ask silly questions!" + +"All right, keep your rag in," he said, and went aft to report to the +Second Mate. + +Five minutes later, it might have been, I saw the light again. It was +broad on the bow, and told me plainly enough that she had up with her +helm to escape being run down. I did not wait a moment; but sung out to +the Second Mate that there was a green light about four points on the +port bow. By Jove! it must have been a close shave. The light did not +_seem_ to be more than about a hundred yards away. It was fortunate that +we had not much way through the water. + +"Now," I thought to myself, "the Second will see the thing. And perhaps +Mr. Blooming 'prentice will be able to give the star its proper name." + +Even as the thought came into my head, the light faded and vanished; and +I caught the Second Mate's voice. + +"Whereaway?" he was singing out. + +"It's gone again, Sir," I answered. + +A minute later, I heard him coming along the deck. + +He reached the foot of the starboard ladder. + +"Where are you, Jessop?" he inquired. + +"Here, Sir," I said, and went to the top of the weather ladder. + +He came up slowly on to the fo'cas'le head. + +"What's this you've been singing out about a light?" he asked. "Just +point out exactly where it was you last saw it." + +This I did, and he went over to the port rail, and stared away into the +night; but without seeing anything. + +"It's gone, Sir," I ventured to remind him. "Though I've seen it twice +now--once, about a couple of points on the bow, and this last time, +broad away on the bow; but it disappeared both times, almost at once." + +"I don't understand it at all, Jessop," he said, in a puzzled voice. +"Are you sure it was a ship's light?" + +"Yes, Sir. A green light. It was quite close." + +"I don't understand," he said again. "Run aft and ask the 'prentice to +pass you down my night glasses. Be as smart as you can." + +"i, i, Sir," I replied, and ran aft. + +In less than a minute, I was back with his binoculars; and, with them, +he stared for some time at the sea to leeward. + +All at once he dropped them to his side, and faced round on me with a +sudden question: + +"Where's she gone to? If she's shifted her bearing as quickly as all +that, she must be precious close. We should be able to see her spars and +sails, or her cabin light, or her binnacle light, or something!" + +"It's queer, Sir," I assented. + +"Damned queer," he said. "So damned queer that I'm inclined to think +you've made a mistake." + +"No, Sir. I'm certain it was a light." + +"Where's the ship then?" he asked. + +"I can't say, Sir. That's just what's been puzzling me." + +The Second said nothing in reply; but took a couple of quick turns +across the fo'cas'le head--stopping at the port rail, and taking another +look to leeward through his night glasses. Perhaps a minute he stood +there. Then, without a word, he went down the lee ladder, and away aft +along the main deck to the poop. + +"He's jolly well puzzled," I thought to myself. "Or else he thinks I've +been imagining things." Either way, I guessed he'd think that. + +In a little, I began to wonder whether, after all, he had any idea of +what might be the truth. One minute, I would feel certain he had; and +the next, I was just as sure that he guessed nothing. I got one of my +fits of asking myself whether it would not have been better to have told +him everything. It seemed to me that he must have seen sufficient to +make him inclined to listen to me. And yet, I could not by any means be +certain. I might only have been making an ass of myself, in his eyes. Or +set him thinking I was dotty. + +I was walking about the fo'cas'le head, feeling like this, when I saw +the light for the third time. It was very bright and big, and I could +see it move, as I watched. This again showed me that it must be very +close. + +"Surely," I thought, "the Second Mate must see it now, for himself." + +I did not sing out this time, right away. I thought I would let the +Second see for himself that I had not been mistaken. Besides, I was not +going to risk its vanishing again, the instant I had spoken. For quite +half a minute, I watched it, and there was no sign of its disappearing. +Every moment, I expected to hear the Second Mate's hail, showing that he +had spotted it at last; but none came. + +I could stand it no longer, and I ran to the rail, on the after part of +the fo'cas'le head. + +"Green light a little abaft the beam, Sir!" I sung out, at the top of my +voice. + +But I had waited too long. Even as I shouted, the light blurred and +vanished. + +I stamped my foot and swore. The thing was making a fool of me. Yet, I +had a faint hope that those aft had seen it just before it disappeared; +but this I knew was vain, directly I heard the Second's voice. + +"Light be damned!" he shouted. + +Then he blew his whistle, and one of the men ran aft, out of the +fo'cas'le, to see what it was he wanted. + +"Whose next look-out is it?" I heard him ask. + +"Jaskett's, Sir." + +"Then tell Jaskett to relieve Jessop at once. Do you hear?" + +"Yes, Sir," said the man, and came forrard. + +In a minute, Jaskett stumbled up onto the fo'cas'le head. + +"What's up, mate?" he asked sleepily. + +"It's that fool of a Second Mate!" I said, savagely. "I've reported a +light to him three times, and, because the blind fool can't see it, he's +sent you up to relieve me!" + +"Where is it, mate?" he inquired. + +He looked round at the dark sea. + +"I don't see no light," he remarked, after a few moments. + +"No," I said. "It's gone." + +"Eh?" he inquired. + +"It's gone!" I repeated, irritably. + +He turned and regarded me silently, through the dark. + +"I'd go an' 'ave a sleep, mate," he said, at length. "I've been that way +meself. Ther's nothin' like a snooze w'en yer gets like that." + +"What!" I said. "Like what?" + +"It's all right, mate. Yer'll be all right in ther mornin'. Don't yer +worry 'bout me." His tone was sympathetic. + +"Hell!" was all I said, and walked down off the fo'cas'le head. I +wondered whether the old fellow thought I was going silly. + +"Have a sleep, by Jove!" I muttered to myself. "I wonder who'd feel like +having a sleep after what I've seen and stood today!" + +I felt rotten, with no one understanding what was really the matter. I +seemed to be all alone, through the things I had learnt. Then the +thought came to me to go aft and talk the matter over with Tammy. I knew +he would be able to understand, of course; and it would be such a +relief. + +On the impulse, I turned and went aft, along the deck to the 'prentices' +berth. As I neared the break of the poop, I looked up and saw the dark +shape of the Second Mate, leaning over the rail above me. + +"Who's that?" he asked. + +"It's Jessop, Sir," I said. + +"What do you want in this part of the ship?" he inquired. + +"I'd come aft to speak to Tammy, Sir," I replied. + +"You go along forrard and turn-in," he said, not altogether unkindly. "A +sleep will do you more good than yarning about. You know, you're getting +to fancy things too much!" + +"I'm sure I'm not, Sir! I'm perfectly well. I--" + +"That will do!" he interrupted, sharply. "You go and have a sleep." + +I gave a short curse, under my breath, and went slowly forrard. I was +getting maddened with being treated as if I were not quite sane. + +"By God!" I said to myself. "Wait till the fools know what I know--just +wait!" + +I entered the fo'cas'le, through the port doorway, and went across to my +chest, and sat down. I felt angry and tired, and miserable. + +Quoin and Plummer were sitting close by, playing cards, and smoking. +Stubbins lay in his bunk, watching them, and also smoking. As I sat +down, he put his head forward over the bunk-board, and regarded me in a +curious, meditative way. + +"What's hup with ther Second hoffìcer?" he asked, after a short stare. + +I looked at him, and the other two men looked up at me. I felt I should +go off with a bang, if I did not say something, and I let out pretty +stiffly, telling them the whole business. Yet, I had seen enough to know +that it was no good trying to explain things; so I just told them the +plain, bold facts, and left explanations as much alone as possible. + +"Three times, you say?" said Stubbins when I had finished. + +"Yes," I assented. + +"An' ther Old Man sent yer from ther wheel this mornin', 'cause yer +'appened ter see a ship 'e couldn't," Plummer added in a reflective +tone. + +"Yes," I said, again. + +I thought I saw him look at Quoin, significantly; but Stubbins, I +noticed, looked only at me. + +"I reckon ther Second thinks you're a bit hoff colour," he remarked, +after a short pause. + +"The Second Mate's a fool!" I said, with some bitterness. "A confounded +fool!" + +"I hain't so sure about that," he replied. "It's bound ter seem queer +ter him. I don't understand it myself--" + +He lapsed into silence, and smoked. + +"I carn't understand 'ow it is ther Second Mate didn't 'appen to spot +it," Quoin said, in a puzzled voice. + +It seemed to me that Plummer nudged him to be quiet. It looked as if +Plummer shared the Second Mate's opinion, and the idea made me savage. +But Stubbins's next remark drew my attention. + +"I don't hunderstand it," he said, again; speaking with deliberation. +"All ther same, ther Second should have savvied enough not to have slung +you hoff ther look-hout." + +He nodded his head, slowly, keeping his gaze fixed on my face. + +"How do you mean?" I asked, puzzled; yet with a vague sense that the man +understood more, perhaps, than I had hitherto thought. + +"I mean what's ther Second so blessed cocksure about?" + +He took a draw at his pipe, removed it, and leant forward somewhat, over +his bunk-board. + +"Didn't he say nothin' ter you, after you came hoff ther look-hout?" he +asked. + +"Yes," I replied; "he spotted me going aft. He told me I was getting to +imagining things too much. He said I'd better come forrard and get a +sleep." + +"An' what did you say?" + +"Nothing. I came forrard." + +"Why didn't you bloomin' well harsk him if he weren't doin' ther +imaginin' trick when he sent us chasin' hup ther main, hafter that +bogyman of his?" + +"I never thought of it," I told him. + +"Well, yer ought ter have." + +He paused, and sat up in his bunk, and asked for a match. + +As I passed him my box, Quoin looked up from his game. + +"It might 'ave been a stowaway, yer know. Yer carn't say as it's ever +been proved as it wasn't." + +Stubbins passed the box back to me, and went on without noticing Quoin's +remark: + +"Told you to go an' have a snooze, did he? I don't hunderstand what he's +bluffin' at." + +"How do you mean, bluffing?" I asked. + +He nodded his head, sagely. + +"It's my hidea he knows you saw that light, just as bloomin' well as I +do." + +Plummer looked up from his game, at this speech; but said nothing. + +"Then _you_ don't doubt that I really saw it?" I asked, with a certain +surprise. + +"Not me," he remarked, with assurance. "You hain't likely ter make that +kind of mistake three times runnin'." + +"No," I said. "I _know_ I saw the light, right enough; but"--I hesitated +a moment--"it's blessed queer." + +"It _is_ blessed queer!" he agreed. "It's damned queer! An' there's a +lot of other damn queer things happenin' aboard this packet lately." + +He was silent for a few seconds. Then he spoke suddenly: + +"It's not nat'ral, I'm damned sure of that much." + +He took a couple of draws at his pipe, and in the momentary silence, I +caught Jaskett's voice, above us. He was hailing the poop. + +"Red light on the starboard quarter, Sir," I heard him sing out. + +"There you are," I said with a jerk of my head. "That's about where that +packet I spotted, ought to be by now. She couldn't cross our bows, so +she up helm, and let us pass, and now she's hauled up again and gone +under our stern." + +I got up from the chest, and went to the door, the other three +following. As we stepped out on deck, I heard the Second Mate shouting +out, away aft, to know the whereabouts of the light. + +"By Jove! Stubbins," I said. "I believe the blessed thing's gone again." + +We ran to the starboard side, in a body, and looked over; but there was +no sign of a light in the darkness astern. + +"I carn't say as _I_ see any light," said Quoin. + +Plummer said nothing. + +I looked up at the fo'cas'le head. There, I could faintly distinguish +the outlines of Jaskett. He was standing by the starboard rail, with his +hands up, shading his eyes, evidently staring towards the place where he +had last seen the light. + +"Where's she got to, Jaskett?" I called out. + +"I can't say, mate," he answered. "It's the most 'ellishly funny thing +I've ever comed across. She were there as plain as me 'att one minnit, +an' ther next she were gone--clean gone." + +I turned to Plummer. + +"What do you think about it, _now_?" I asked him. + +"Well," he said. "I'll admit I thought at first 'twere somethin' an' +nothin'. I thought yer was mistaken; but it seems yer did see +somethin'." + +Away aft, we heard the sound of steps, along the deck. + +"Ther Second's comin' forrard for a hexplanation, Jaskett," Stubbins +sung out. "You'd better go down an' change yer breeks." + +The Second Mate passed us, and went up the starboard ladder. + +"What's up now, Jaskett?" he said quickly. "Where is this light? Neither +the 'prentice nor I can see it!" + +"Ther damn thing's clean gone, Sir," Jaskett replied. + +"Gone!" the Second Mate said. "Gone! What do you mean?" + +"She were there one minnit, Sir, as plain as me 'att, an' ther next, +she'd gone." + +"That's a damn silly yarn to tell me!" the Second replied. "You don't +expect me to believe it, do you?" + +"It's Gospel trewth any'ow, Sir," Jaskett answered. "An' Jessop seen it +just ther same." + +He seemed to have added that last part as an afterthought. Evidently, +the old beggar had changed his opinion as to my need for sleep. + +"You're an old fool, Jaskett," the Second said, sharply. "And that idiot +Jessop has been putting things into your silly old head." + +He paused, an instant. Then he continued: + +"What the devil's the matter with you all, that you've taken to this +sort of game? You know very well that you saw no light! I sent Jessop +off the look-out, and then you must go and start the same game." + +"We 'aven't--" Jaskett started to say; but the Second silenced him. + +"Stow it!" he said, and turned and went down the ladder, passing us +quickly, without a word. + +"Doesn't look to _me_, Stubbins," I said, "as though the Second did +believe we've seen the light." + +"I hain't so sure," he answered. "He's a puzzler." + +The rest of the watch passed away quietly; and at eight bells I made +haste to turn-in, for I was tremendously tired. + +When we were called again for the four to eight watch on deck, I learnt +that one of the men in the Mate's watch had seen a light, soon after we +had gone below, and had reported it, only for it to disappear +immediately. This, I found, had happened twice, and the Mate had got so +wild (being under the impression that the man was playing the fool) that +he had nearly came to blows with him--finally ordering him off the +look-out, and sending another man up in his place. If this last man saw +the light, he took good care not to let the Mate know; so that the +matter had ended there. + +And then, on the following night, before we had ceased to talk about the +matter of the vanishing lights, something else occurred that temporarily +drove from my mind all memory of the mist, and the extraordinary, blind +atmosphere it had seemed to usher. + + + + +IX + + +_The Man Who Cried for Help_ + + +It was, as I have said, on the following night that something further +happened. And it brought home pretty vividly to me, if not to any of the +others, the sense of a personal danger aboard. + +We had gone below for the eight to twelve watch, and my last impression +of the weather at eight o'clock, was that the wind was freshening. There +had been a great bank of cloud rising astern, which had looked as if it +were going to breeze up still more. + +At a quarter to twelve, when we were called for our twelve to four watch +on deck, I could tell at once, by the sound, that there was a fresh +breeze blowing; at the same time, I heard the voices of the men on the +other watch, singing out as they hauled on the ropes. I caught the +rattle of canvas in the wind, and guessed that they were taking the +royals off her. I looked at my watch, which I always kept hanging in my +bunk. It showed the time to be just after the quarter; so that, with +luck, we should escape having to go up to the sails. + +I dressed quickly, and then went to the door to look at the weather. I +found that the wind had shifted from the starboard quarter, to right +aft; and, by the look of the sky, there seemed to be a promise of more, +before long. + +Up aloft, I could make out faintly the fore and mizzen royals flapping +in the wind. The main had been left for a while longer. In the fore +riggings, Jacobs, the Ordinary Seaman in the Mate's watch, was following +another of the men aloft to the sail. The Mate's two 'prentices were +already up at the mizzen. Down on deck, the rest of the men were busy +clearing up the ropes. + +I went back to my bunk, and looked at my watch--the time was only a few +minutes off eight bells; so I got my oilskins ready, for it looked like +rain outside. As I was doing this, Jock went to the door for a look. + +"What's it doin', Jock?" Tom asked, getting out of his bunk, hurriedly. + +"I'm thinkin' maybe it's goin' to blow a wee, and ye'll be needin' yer' +oilskins," Jock answered. + +When eight bells went, and we mustered aft for roll-call, there was a +considerable delay, owing to the Mate refusing to call the roll until +Tom (who as usual, had only turned out of his bunk at the last minute) +came aft to answer his name. When, at last, he did come, the Second and +the Mate joined in giving him a good dressing down for a lazy sojer; so +that several minutes passed before we were on our way forrard again. +This was a small enough matter in itself, and yet really terrible in its +consequence to one of our number; for, just as we reached the fore +rigging, there was a shout aloft, loud above the noise of the wind, and +the next moment, something crashed down into our midst, with a great, +slogging thud--something bulky and weighty, that struck full upon Jock, +so that he went down with a loud, horrible, ringing "ugg," and never +said a word. From the whole crowd of us there went up a yell of fear, +and then, with one accord, there was a run for the lighted fo'cas'le. I +am not ashamed to say that I ran with the rest. A blind, unreasoning +fright had seized me, and I did not stop to think. + +Once in the fo'cas'le and the light, there was a reaction. We all stood +and looked blankly at one another for a few moments. Then someone asked +a question, and there was a general murmur of denial. We all felt +ashamed, and someone reached up and unhooked the lantern on the port +side. I did the same with the starboard one; and there was a quick +movement towards the doors. As we streamed out on deck, I caught the +sound of the Mates' voices. They had evidently come down from off the +poop to find out what had happened; but it was too dark to see their +whereabouts. + +"Where the hell have you all got to?" I heard the Mate shout. + +The next instant, they must have seen the light from our lanterns; for I +heard their footsteps, coming along the deck at a run. They came the +starboard side, and just abaft the fore rigging, one of them stumbled +and fell over something. It was the First Mate who had tripped. I knew +this by the cursing that came directly afterwards. He picked himself up, +and, apparently without stopping to see what manner of thing it was that +he had fallen over, made a rush to the pin-rail. The Second Mate ran +into the circle of light thrown by our lanterns, and stopped, dead-- +eyeing us doubtfully. I am not surprised at this, _now_, nor at the +behaviour of the Mate, the following instant; but at that time, I must +say I could not conceive what had come to them, particularly the First +Mate. He came out at us from the darkness with a rush and a roar like a +bull and brandishing a belaying-pin. I had failed to take into account +the scene which his eyes must have shown him:--the whole crowd of men in +the fo'cas'le--both watches--pouring out on to the deck in utter +confusion, and greatly excited, with a couple of fellows at their head, +carrying lanterns. And before this, there had been the cry aloft and the +crash down on deck, followed by the shouts of the frightened crew, and +the sounds of many feet running. He may well have taken the cry for a +signal, and our actions for something not far short of mutiny. Indeed, +his words told us that this was his very thought. + +"I'll knock the face off the first man that comes a step further aft!" +he shouted, shaking the pin in my face. "I'll show yer who's master +here! What the hell do yer mean by this? Get forrard into yer kennel!" + +There was a low growl from the men at the last remark, and the old bully +stepped back a couple of paces. + +"Hold on, you fellows!" I sung out. "Shut up a minute." + +"Mr. Tulipson!" I called out to the Second, who had not been able to get +a word in edgeways, "I don't know what the devil's the matter with the +First Mate; but he'll not find it pay to talk to a crowd like ours, in +that sort of fashion, or there'll be ructions aboard." + +"Come! come! Jessop! This won't do! I can't have you talking like that +about the Mate!" he said, sharply. "Let me know what's to-do, and then +go forrard again, the lot of you." + +"We'd have told you at first, Sir," I said, "only the Mate wouldn't give +any of us a chance to speak. There's been an awful accident, Sir. +Something's fallen from aloft, right on to Jock--" + +I stopped suddenly; for there was a loud crying aloft. + +"Help! help! help!" someone was shouting, and then it rose from a shout +into a scream. + +"My God! Sir!" I shouted. "That's one of the men up at the fore royal!" + +"Listen!" ordered the Second Mate. "Listen!" Even as he spoke, it came +again--broken and, as it were, in gasps. + +"Help!... Oh!... God!... Oh!... Help! H-e-l-p!" + +Abruptly, Stubbins's voice struck in. + +"Hup with us, lads! By God! hup with us!" and he made a spring into the +fore rigging. I shoved the handle of the lantern between my teeth, and +followed. Plummer was coming; but the Second Mate pulled him back. + +"That's sufficient," he said. "I'm going," and he came up after me. + +We went over the foretop, racing like fiends. The light from the lantern +prevented me from seeing to any distance in the darkness; but, at the +crosstrees, Stubbins, who was some ratlines ahead, shouted out all at +once, and in gasps: + +"They're fightin' ... like ... hell!" + +"What?" called the Second Mate, breathlessly. + +Apparently, Stubbins did not hear him; for he made no reply. We cleared +the crosstrees, and climbed into the t'gallant rigging. The wind was +fairly fresh up there, and overhead, there sounded the flap, flap of +sailcloth flying in the wind; but since we had left the deck, there had +been no other sound from above. + +Now, abruptly, there came again a wild crying from the darkness over us. +A strange, wild medley it was of screams for help, mixed up with +violent, breathless curses. + +Beneath the royal yard, Stubbins halted, and looked down to me. + +"Hurry hup ... with ther ... lantern ... Jessop!" he shouted, catching +his breath between the words. "There'll be ... murder done ... hin a +minute!" + +I reached him, and held the light up for him to catch. He stooped, and +took it from me. Then, holding it above his head, he went a few ratlines +higher. In this manner, he reached to a level with the royal yard. From +my position, a little below him, the lantern seemed but to throw a few +straggling, flickering rays along the spar; yet they showed me +something. My first glance had been to wind'ard, and I had seen at once, +that there was nothing on the weather yard arm. From there my gaze went +to leeward. Indistinctly, I saw something upon the yard, that clung, +struggling. Stubbins bent towards it with the light; thus I saw it more +clearly. It was Jacobs, the Ordinary Seaman. He had his right arm +tightly round the yard; with the other, he appeared to be fending +himself from something on the other side of him, and further out upon +the yard. At times, moans and gasps came from him, and sometimes curses. +Once, as he appeared to be dragged partly from his hold, he screamed +like a woman. His whole attitude suggested stubborn despair. I can +scarcely tell you how this extraordinary sight affected me. I seemed to +stare at it without realising that the affair was a real happening. + +During the few seconds which I had spent staring and breathless, +Stubbins had climbed round the after side of the mast, and now I began +again to follow him. + +From his position below me, the Second had not been able to see the +thing that was occurring on the yard, and he sung out to me to know what +was happening. + +"It's Jacobs, Sir," I called back. "He seems to be fighting with someone +to looard of him. I can't see very plainly yet." + +Stubbins had got round on to the lee foot-rope, and now he held the +lantern up, peering, and I made my way quickly alongside of him. The +Second Mate followed; but instead of getting down on to the foot-rope, +he got on the yard, and stood there holding on to the tie. He sung out +for one of us to pass him up the lantern, which I did, Stubbins handing +it to me. The Second held it out at arm's length, so that it lit up the +lee part of the yard. The light showed through the darkness, as far as +to where Jacobs struggled so weirdly. Beyond him, nothing was distinct. + +There had been a moment's delay while we were passing the lantern up to +the Second Mate. Now, however, Stubbins and I moved out slowly along the +foot-rope. We went slowly; but we did well to go at all, with any show +of boldness; for the whole business was so abominably uncanny. It seems +impossible to convey truly to you, the strange scene on the royal yard. +You may be able to picture it yourselves. The Second Mate standing upon +the spar, holding the lantern; his body swaying with each roll of the +ship, and his head craned forward as he peered along the yard. On our +left, Jacobs, mad, fighting, cursing, praying, gasping; and outside of +him, shadows and the night. + +The Second Mate spoke, abruptly. + +"Hold on a moment!" he said. Then: + +"Jacobs!" he shouted. "Jacobs, do you hear me?" + +There was no reply, only the continual gasping and cursing. + +"Go on," the Second Mate said to us. "But be careful. Keep a tight +hold!" + +He held the lantern higher and we went out cautiously. + +Stubbins reached the Ordinary, and put his hand on his shoulder, with a +soothing gesture. + +"Steady hon now, Jacobs," he said. "Steady hon." + +At his touch, as though by magic, the young fellow calmed down, and +Stubbins--reaching round him--grasped the jackstay on the other side. + +"Get a hold of him your side, Jessop," he sung out. "I'll get this +side." + +This, I did, and Stubbins climbed round him. + +"There hain't no one here," Stubbins called to me; but his voice +expressed no surprise. + +"What!" sung out the Second Mate. "No one there! Where's Svensen, +then?" + +I did not catch Stubbins's reply; for suddenly, it seemed to me that I +saw something shadowy at the extreme end of the yard, out by the lift. I +stared. It rose up, on the yard, and I saw that it was the figure of a +man. It grasped at the lift, and commenced to swarm up, quickly. It +passed diagonally above Stubbins's head, and reached down a vague hand +and arm. + +"Look out! Stubbins!" I shouted. "Look out!" + +"What's up now?" he called, in a startled voice. At the same instant, +his cap went whirling away to leeward. + +"Damn the wind!" he burst out. + +Then all at once, Jacobs, who had only been giving an occasional moan, +commenced to shriek and struggle. + +"Hold fast onto him!" Stubbins yelled. "He'll be throwin' himself off +the yard." + +I put my left arm round the Ordinary's body--getting hold of the +jackstay on the other side. Then I looked up. Above us, I seemed to see +something dark and indistinct, that moved rapidly up the lift. + +"Keep tight hold of him, while I get a gasket," I heard the Second Mate +sing out. + +A moment later there was a crash, and the light disappeared. + +"Damn and set fire to the sail!" shouted the Second Mate. + +I twisted round, somewhat, and looked in his direction. I could dimly +make him out on the yard. He had evidently been in the act of getting +down on to the foot-rope, when the lantern was smashed. From him, my +gaze jumped to the lee rigging. It seemed that I made out some shadowy +thing stealing down through the darkness; but I could not be sure; and +then, in a breath, it had gone. + +"Anything wrong, Sir?" I called out. + +"Yes," he answered. "I've dropped the lantern. The blessed sail knocked +it out of my hand!" + +"We'll be all right, Sir," I replied. "I think we can manage without it. +Jacobs seems to be quieter now." + +"Well, be careful as you come in," he warned us. + +"Come on, Jacobs," I said. "Come on; we'll go down on deck." + +"Go along, young feller," Stubbins put in. "You're right now. We'll take +care of you." And we started to guide him along the yard. + +He went willingly enough, though without saying a word. He seemed like a +child. Once or twice he shivered; but said nothing. + +We got him in to the lee rigging. Then, one going beside him, and the +other keeping below, we made our way slowly down on deck. We went very +slowly--so slowly, in fact, that the Second Mate--who had stayed a +minute to shove the gasket round the lee side of the sail--was almost as +soon down. + +"Take Jacobs forrard to his bunk," he said, and went away aft to where a +crowd of the men, one with a lantern, stood round the door of an empty +berth under the break of the poop on the starboard side. + +We hurried forrard to the fo'cas'le. There we found all in darkness. + +"They're haft with Jock, and Svenson!" Stubbins had hesitated an instant +before saying the name. + +"Yes," I replied. "That's what it must have been, right enough." + +"I kind of knew it all ther time," he said. + +I stepped in through the doorway, and struck a match. Stubbins followed, +guiding Jacobs before him, and, together, we got him into his bunk. We +covered him up with his blankets, for he was pretty shivery. Then we +came out. During the whole time, he had not spoken a word. + +As we went aft, Stubbins remarked that he thought the business must have +made him a bit dotty. + +"It's driven him clean barmy," he went on. "He don't hunderstand a word +that's said ter him." + +"He may be different in the morning," I answered. + +As we neared the poop, and the crowd of waiting men, he spoke again: + +"They've put 'em hinter ther Second's hempty berth." + +"Yes," I said. "Poor beggars." + +We reached the other men, and they opened out, and allowed us to get +near the door. Several of them asked in low tones, whether Jacobs was +all right, and I told them, "Yes"; not saying anything then about his +condition. + +I got close up to the doorway, and looked into the berth. The lamp was +lit, and I could see, plainly. There were two bunks in the place, and a +man had been laid in each. The Skipper was there, leaning up against a +bulkshead. He looked worried; but was silent--seeming to be mooding in +his own thoughts. The Second Mate was busy with a couple of flags, which +he was spreading over the bodies. The First Mate was talking, evidently +telling him something; but his tone was so low that I caught his words +only with difficulty. It struck me that he seemed pretty subdued. I got +parts of his sentences in patches, as it were. + +"...broken," I heard him say. "And the Dutchman...." + +"I've seen him," the Second Mate said, shortly. + +"Two, straight off the reel," said the Mate "...three in...." + +The Second made no reply. + +"Of course, yer know ... accident." The First Mate went on. + +"Is it!" the Second said, in a queer voice. + +I saw the Mate glance at him, in a doubtful sort of way; but the Second +was covering poor old Jock's dead face, and did not appear to notice his +look. + +"It--it--" the mate said, and stopped. + +After a moment's hesitation, he said something further, that I could not +catch; but there seemed a lot of funk in his voice. + +The Second Mate appeared not to have heard him; at any rate, he made no +reply; but bent, and straightened out a corner of the flag over the +rigid figure in the lower bunk. There was a certain niceness in his +action which made me warm towards him. + +"He's white!" I thought to myself. + +Out loud, I said: + +"We've put Jacobs into his bunk, Sir." + +The Mate jumped; then whizzed round, and stared at me as though I had +been a ghost. The Second Mate turned also; but before he could speak, +the Skipper took a step towards me. + +"Is he all right?" he asked. + +"Well, Sir," I said. "He's a bit queer; but I think it's possible he may +be better, after a sleep." + +"I hope so, too," he replied, and stepped out on deck. He went towards +the starboard poop ladder, walking slowly. The Second went and stood by +the lamp, and the Mate, after a quick glance at him, came out and +followed the Skipper up on to the poop. It occurred to me then, like a +flash, that the man had stumbled upon a portion of the _truth_. This +accident coming so soon after that other! It was evident that, in his +mind, he had connected them. I recollected the fragments of his remarks +to the Second Mate. Then, those many minor happenings that had cropped +up at different times, and at which he had sneered. I wondered whether +he would begin to comprehend their significance--their beastly, sinister +significance. + +"Ah! Mr. Bully-Mate," I thought to myself. "You're in for a bad time if +you've begun to understand." + +Abruptly, my thoughts jumped to the vague future before us. + +"God help us!" I muttered. + +The Second Mate, after a look round, turned down the wick of the lamp, +and came out, closing the door after him. + +"Now, you men," he said to the Mate's watch, "get forrard; we can't do +anything more. You'd better go and get some sleep." + +"i, i, Sir," they said, in a chorus. + +Then, as we all turned to go forrard, he asked if anyone had relieved +the look-out. + +"No, sir," answered Quoin. + +"Is it yours?" the Second asked. + +"Yes, Sir," he replied. + +"Hurry up and relieve him then," the Second said. + +"i, i, Sir," the man answered, and went forrard with the rest of us. + +As we went, I asked Plummer who was at the wheel. + +"Tom," he said. + +As he spoke, several spots of rain fell, and I glanced up at the sky. It +had become thickly clouded. + +"Looks as if it were going to breeze up," I said. + +"Yes," he replied. "We'll be shortenin' 'er down 'fore long." + +"May be an all-hands job," I remarked. + +"Yes," he answered again. "'Twon't be no use their turnin' in, if it +is." + +The man who was carrying the lantern, went into the fo'cas'le, and we +followed. + +"Where's ther one, belongin' to our side?" Plummer asked. + +"Got smashed hupstairs," answered Stubbins. + +"'ow were that?" Plummer inquired. + +Stubbins hesitated. + +"The Second Mate dropped it," I replied. "The sail hit it, or +something." + +The men in the other watch seemed to have no immediate intention of +turning-in; but sat in their bunks, and around on the chests. There was +a general lighting of pipes, in the midst of which there came a sudden +moan from one of the bunks in the forepart of the fo'cas'le--a part that +was always a bit gloomy, and was more so now, on account of our having +only one lamp. + +"Wot's that?" asked one of the men belonging to the other side. + +"S--sh!" said Stubbins. "It's him." + +"'oo?" inquired Plummer. "Jacobs?" + +"Yes," I replied. "Poor devil!" + +"Wot were 'appenin' w'en yer got hup _ther'_?" asked the man on the +other side, indicating with a jerk of his head, the fore royal. + +Before I could reply, Stubbins jumped up from his sea-chest. + +"Ther Second Mate's whistlin'!" he said. "Come hon," and he ran out on +deck. + +Plummer, Jaskett and I followed quickly. Outside, it had started to rain +pretty heavily. As we went, the Second Mate's voice came to us through +the darkness. + +"Stand by the main royal clewlines and buntlines," I heard him shout, +and the next instant came the hollow thutter of the sail as he started +to lower away. + +In a few minutes we had it hauled up. + +"Up and furl it, a couple of you," he sung out. + +I went towards the starboard rigging; then I hesitated. No one else had +moved. + +The Second Mate came among us. + +"Come on now, lads," he said. "Make a move. It's got to be done." + +"I'll go," I said. "If someone else will come." + +Still, no one stirred, and no one answered. + +Tammy came across to me. + +"I'll come," he volunteered, in a nervous voice. + +"No, by God, no!" said the Second Mate, abruptly. + +He jumped into the main rigging himself. "Come along, Jessop!" he +shouted. + +I followed him; but I was astonished. I had fully expected him to get on +to the other fellows' tracks like a ton of bricks. It had not occurred +to me that he was making allowances. I was simply puzzled then; but +afterwards it dawned upon me. + +No sooner had I followed the Second Mate, than, straightway, Stubbins, +Plummer, and Jaskett came up after us at a run. + +About half-way to the maintop, the Second Mate stopped, and looked down. + +"Who's that coming up below you, Jessop?" he asked. + +Before I could, speak, Stubbins answered: + +"It's me, Sir, an' Plummer an' Jaskett." + +"Who the devil told you to come _now_? Go straight down, the lot of +you!" + +"We're comin' hup ter keep you company, Sir," was his reply. + +At that, I was confident of a burst of temper from the Second; and yet, +for the second time within a couple of minutes I was wrong. Instead of +cursing Stubbins, he, after a moment's pause, went on up the rigging, +without another word, and the rest of us followed. We reached the royal, +and made short work of it; indeed, there were sufficient of us to have +eaten it. When we had finished, I noticed that the Second Mate remained +on the yard until we were all in the rigging. Evidently, he had +determined to take a full share of any risk there might be; but I took +care to keep pretty close to him; so as to be on hand if anything +happened; yet we reached the deck again, without anything having +occurred. I have said, without anything having occurred; but I am not +really correct in this; for, as the Second Mate came down over the +crosstrees, he gave a short, abrupt cry. + +"Anything wrong, Sir?" I asked. + +"No--o!" he said. "Nothing! I banged my knee." + +And yet _now_, I believe he was lying. For, that same watch, I was to +hear men giving just such cries; but, God knows, they had reason enough. + + + + +X + + +_Hands That Plucked_ + + +Directly we reached the deck, the Second Mate gave the order: + +"Mizzen t'gallant clewlines and buntlines," and led the way up on to the +poop. He went and stood by the haulyards, ready to lower away. As I +walked across to the starboard clewline, I saw that the Old Man was on +deck, and as I took hold of the rope, I heard him sing out to the Second +Mate. + +"Call all hands to shorten sail, Mr. Tulipson." + +"Very good, Sir," the Second Mate replied. Then he raised his voice: + +"Go forrard, you, Jessop, and call all hands to shorten sail. You'd +better give them a call in the bosun's place, as you go." + +"i, i, Sir," I sung out, and hurried off. + +As I went, I heard him tell Tammy to go down and call the Mate. + +Reaching the fo'cas'le, I put my head in through the starboard doorway, +and found some of the men beginning to turn-in. + +"It's all hands on deck, shorten sail," I sung out. + +I stepped inside. + +"Just wot I said," grumbled one of the men. + +"They don't damn well think we're goin' aloft to-night, after what's +happened?" asked another. + +"We've been up to the main royal," I answered. "The Second Mate went +with us." + +"Wot?" said the first man. "Ther Second Mate hisself?" + +"Yes," I replied. "The whole blooming watch went up." + +"An' wot 'appened?" he asked. + +"Nothing," I said. "Nothing at all. We just made a mouthful apiece of +it, and came down again." + +"All the same," remarked the second man, "I don't fancy goin' upstairs, +after what's happened." + +"Well," I replied. "It's not a matter of fancy. We've got to get the +sail off her, or there'll be a mess. One of the 'prentices told me the +glass is falling." + +"Come erlong, boys. We've got ter du it," said one of the older men, +rising from a chest, at this point. "What's it duin' outside, mate?" + +"Raining," I said. "You'll want your oilskins." + +I hesitated a moment before going on deck again. From the bunk forrard +among the shadows, I had seemed to hear a faint moan. + +"Poor beggar!" I thought to myself. + +Then the old chap who had last spoken, broke in upon my attention. + +"It's awl right, mate!" he said, rather testily. "Yer needn't wait. +We'll be out in er minit." + +"That's all right. I wasn't thinking about you lot," I replied, and +walked forrard to Jacobs's bunk. Some time before, he had rigged up a +pair of curtains, cut out of an old sack, to keep off the draught. +These, some one had drawn, so that I had to pull them aside to see him. +He was lying on his back, breathing in a queer, jerky fashion. I could +not see his face, plainly; but it seemed rather pale, in the half-light. + +"Jacobs," I said. "Jacobs, how do you feel now?" but he made no sign to +show that he had heard me. And so, after a few moments, I drew the +curtains to again, and left him. + +"What like does 'e seem?" asked one of the fellows, as I went towards +the door. + +"Bad," I said. "Damn bad! I think the Steward ought to be told to come +and have a look at him. I'll mention it to the Second when I get a +chance." + +I stepped out on deck, and ran aft again to give them a hand with the +sail. We got it hauled up, and then went forrard to the fore t'gallant. +And, a minute later, the other watch were out, and, with the Mate, were +busy at the main. + +By the time the main was ready for making fast, we had the fore hauled +up, so that now all three t'gallants were in the ropes, and ready for +stowing. Then came the order: + +"Up aloft and furl!" + +"Up with you, lads," the Second Mate said. "Don't let's have any hanging +back this time." + +Away aft by the main, the men in the Mate's watch seemed to be standing +in a clump by the mast; but it was too dark to see clearly. I heard the +Mate start to curse; then there came a growl, and he shut up. + +"Be handy, men! be handy!" the Second Mate sung out. + +At that, Stubbins jumped into the rigging. + +"Come hon!" he shouted. "We'll have ther bloomin' sail fast, an' down +hon deck again before they're started." + +Plummer followed; then Jaskett, I, and Quoin who had been called down +off the look-out to give a hand. + +"That's the style, lads!" the Second sung out, encouragingly. Then he +ran aft to the Mate's crowd. I heard him and the Mate talking to the +men, and presently, when we were going over the foretop, I made out that +they were beginning to get into the rigging. + +I found out, afterwards, that as soon as the Second Mate had seen them +off the deck, he went up to the mizzen t'gallant, along with the four +'prentices. + +On our part, we made our way slowly aloft, keeping one hand for +ourselves and the other for the ship, as you can fancy. In this manner +we had gone as far as the crosstrees, at least, Stubbins, who was first, +had; when, all at once, he gave out just another such cry as had the +Second Mate a little earlier, only that in his case he followed it by +turning round and blasting Plummer. + +"You might have blarsted well sent me flyin' down hon deck," he shouted. +"If you bl--dy well think it's a joke, try it hon some one else--" + +"It wasn't me!" interrupted Plummer. "I 'aven't touched yer. 'oo the +'ell are yer swearin' at?" + +"At you--!" I heard him reply; but what more he may have said, was lost +in a loud shout from Plummer. + +"What's up, Plummer?" I sung out. "For God's sake, you two, don't get +fighting, up aloft!" + +But a loud, frightened curse was all the answer he gave. Then +straightway, he began to shout at the top of his voice, and in the lulls +of his noise, I caught the voice of Stubbins, cursing savagely. + +"They'll come down with a run!" I shouted, helplessly. "They'll come +down as sure as nuts." + +I caught Jaskett by the boot. + +"What are they doing? What are they doing?" I sung out. "Can't you see?" +I shook his leg as I spoke. But at my touch, the old idiot--as I thought +him at the moment--began to shout in a frightened voice: + +"Oh! oh! help! hel--!" + +"Shut up!" I bellowed. "Shut up, you old fool. If you won't do anything, +let me get past you." + +Yet he only cried out the more. And then, abruptly, I caught the sound +of a frightened clamour of men's voices, away down somewhere about the +maintop--curses, cries of fear, even shrieks, and above it all, someone +shouting to go down on deck: + +"Get down! get down! down! down! Blarst--" The rest was drowned in a +fresh outburst of hoarse crying in the night. + +I tried to get past old Jaskett; but he was clinging to the rigging, +sprawled on to it, is the best way to describe his attitude, so much of +it as I could see in the darkness. Up above him, Stubbins and Plummer +still shouted and cursed, and the shrouds quivered and shook, as though +the two were fighting desperately. + +Stubbins seemed to be shouting something definite; but whatever it was, +I could not catch. + +At my helplessness, I grew angry, and shook and prodded Jaskett, to make +him move. + +"Damn you, Jaskett!" I roared. "Damn you for a funky old fool! Let me +get past! Let me get past, will you!" + +But, instead of letting me pass, I found that he was beginning to make +his way down. At that, I caught him by the slack of his trousers, near +the stern, with my right hand, and with the other, I got hold of the +after shroud somewhere above his left hip; by these means, I fairly +hoisted myself up on to the old fellow's back. Then, with my right, I +could reach to the forrard shroud, over his right shoulder, and having +got a grip, I shifted my left to a level with it; at the same moment, I +was able to get my foot on to the splice of a ratline and so give myself +a further lift. Then I paused an instant, and glanced up. + +"Stubbins! Stubbins!" I shouted. "Plummer! Plummer!" + +And even as I called, Plummer's foot--reaching down through the gloom-- +alighted full on my upturned face. I let go from the rigging with my +right hand, and struck furiously at his leg, cursing him for his +clumsiness. He lifted his foot, and in the same instant a sentence from +Stubbins floated down to me, with a strange distinctness: + +"_For God's sake tell 'em to get down hon deck!_" he was shouting. + +Even as the words came to me, something in the darkness gripped my +waist. I made a desperate clutch at the rigging with my disengaged right +hand, and it was well for me that I secured the hold so quickly, for the +same instant, I was wrenched at with a brutal ferocity that appalled me. +I said nothing, but lashed out into the night with my left foot. It is +queer, but I cannot say with certainty that I struck anything; I was too +downright desperate with funk, to be sure; and yet it seemed to me that +my foot encountered something soft, that gave under the blow. It may +have been nothing more than an imagined sensation; yet I am inclined to +think otherwise; for, instantly, the hold about my waist was released; +and I commenced to scramble down, clutching the shrouds pretty +desperately. + +I have only a very uncertain remembrance of that which followed. Whether +I slid over Jaskett, or whether he gave way to me, I cannot tell. I know +only that I reached the deck, in a blind whirl of fear and excitement, +and the next thing I remember, I was among a crowd of shouting, half-mad +sailor-men. + + + + +XI + + +_The Search for Stubbins_ + +In a confused way, I was conscious that the Skipper and the Mates were +down among us, trying to get us into some state of calmness. Eventually +they succeeded, and we were told to go aft to the Saloon door, which we +did in a body. Here, the Skipper himself served out a large tot of rum +to each of us. Then, at his orders, the Second Mate called the roll. + +He called over the Mate's watch first, and everyone answered. Then he +came to ours, and he must have been much agitated; for the first name he +sung out was Jock's. + +Among us there came a moment of dead silence, and I noticed the wail and +moan of the wind aloft, and the flap, flap of the three unfurled +t'gallan's'ls. + +The Second Mate called the next name, hurriedly: + +"Jaskett," he sung out. + +"Sir," Jaskett answered. + +"Quoin." + +"Yes, Sir." + +"Jessop." + +"Sir," I replied. + +"Stubbins." + +There was no answer. + +"Stubbins," again called the Second Mate. + +Again there was no reply. + +"Is Stubbins here?--anyone!" The Second's voice sounded sharp and +anxious. + +There was a moment's pause. Then one of the men spoke: + +"He's not here, Sir." + +"Who saw him last?" the Second asked. + +Plummer stepped forward into the light that streamed through the Saloon +doorway. He had on neither coat nor cap, and his shirt seemed to be +hanging about him in tatters. + +"It were me, Sir," he said. + +The Old Man, who was standing next to the Second Mate, took a pace +towards him, and stopped and stared; but it was the Second who spoke. + +"Where?" he asked. + +"'e were just above me, in ther crosstrees, when, when--" the man broke +off short. + +"Yes! yes!" the Second Mate replied. Then he turned to the Skipper. + +"Someone will have to go up, Sir, and see--" He hesitated. + +"But--" said the Old Man, and stopped. + +The Second Mate cut in. + +"I shall go up, for one, Sir," he said, quietly. + +Then he turned back to the crowd of us. + +"Tammy," he sung out. "Get a couple of lamps out of the lamp-locker." + +"i, i, Sir," Tammy replied, and ran off. + +"Now," said the Second Mate, addressing us. "I want a couple of men to +jump aloft along with me and take a look for Stubbins." + +Not a man replied. I would have liked to step out and offer; but the +memory of that horrible clutch was with me, and for the life of me, I +could not summon up the courage. + +"Come! come, men!" he said. "We can't leave him up there. We shall take +lanterns. Who'll come now?" + +I walked out to the front. I was in a horrible funk; but, for very +shame, I could not stand back any longer. + +"I'll come with you, Sir," I said, not very loud, and feeling fairly +twisted up with nervousness. + +"That's more the tune, Jessop!" he replied, in a tone that made me glad +I had stood out. + +At this point, Tammy came up, with the lights. He brought them to the +Second, who took one, and told him to give the other to me. The Second +Mate held his light above his head, and looked round at the hesitating +men. + +"Now, men!" he sung out. "You're not going to let Jessop and me go up +alone. Come along, another one or two of you! Don't act like a damned +lot of cowards!" + +Quoin stood out, and spoke for the crowd. + +"I dunno as we're actin' like cowyards, Sir; but just look at _'im_," +and he pointed at Plummer, who still stood full in the light from the +Saloon doorway. + +"What sort of a Thing is it 'as done that, Sir?" he went on. "An' then +yer arsks us ter go up agen! It aren't likely as we're in a 'urry." + +The Second Mate looked at Plummer, and surely, as I have before +mentioned, the poor beggar was in a state; his ripped-up shirt was +fairly flapping in the breeze that came through the doorway. + +The Second looked; yet he said nothing. It was as though the realisation +of Plummer's condition had left him without a word more to say. It was +Plummer himself who finally broke the silence. + +"I'll come with yer, Sir," he said. "Only yer ought ter 'ave more light +than them two lanterns. 'Twon't be no use, unless we 'as plenty er +light." + +The man had grit; and I was astonished at his offering to go, after what +he must have gone through. Yet, I was to have even a greater +astonishment; for, abruptly, The Skipper--who all this time had scarcely +spoken--stepped forward a pace, and put his hand on the Second Mate's +shoulder. + +"I'll come with you, Mr. Tulipson," he said. + +The Second Mate twisted his head round, and stared at him a moment, in +astonishment. Then he opened his mouth. + +"No, Sir; I don't think--" he began. + +"That's sufficient, Mr. Tulipson," the Old Man interrupted. "I've made +up my mind." + +He turned to the First Mate, who had stood by without a word. + +"Mr. Grainge," he said. "Take a couple of the 'prentices down with you, +and pass out a box of blue-lights and some flare-ups." + +The Mate answered something, and hurried away into the Saloon, with the +two 'prentices in his watch. Then the Old Man spoke to the men. + +"Now, men!" he began. "This is no time for dilly-dallying. The Second +Mate and I will go aloft, and I want about half a dozen of you to come +along with us, and carry lights. Plummer and Jessop here, have +volunteered. I want four or five more of you. Step out now, some of +you!" + +There was no hesitation whatever, now; and the first man to come forward +was Quoin. After him followed three of the Mate's crowd, and then old +Jaskett. + +"That will do; that will do," said the Old Man. + +He turned to the Second Mate. + +"Has Mr. Grainge come with those lights yet?" he asked, with a certain +irritability. + +"Here, Sir," said the First Mate's voice, behind him in the Saloon +doorway. He had the box of blue-lights in his hands, and behind him, +came the two boys carrying the flares. + +The Skipper took the box from him, with a quick gesture, and opened it. + +"Now, one of you men, come here," he ordered. + +One of the men in the Mate's watch ran to him. + +He took several of the lights from the box, and handed them to the man. + +"See here," he said. "When we go aloft, you get into the foretop, and +keep one of these going all the time, do you hear?" + +"Yes, Sir," replied the man. + +"You know how to strike them?" the Skipper asked, abruptly. + +"Yes, Sir," he answered. + +The Skipper sung out to the Second Mate: + +"Where's that boy of yours--Tammy, Mr. Tulipson?" + +"Here, Sir," said Tammy, answering for himself. + +The Old Man took another light from the box. + +"Listen to me, boy!" he said. "Take this, and stand-by on the forrard +deck house. When we go aloft, you must give us a light until the man +gets his going in the top. You understand?" + +"Yes, Sir," answered Tammy, and took the light. + +"One minute!" said the Old Man, and stooped and took a second light from +the box. "Your first light may go out before we're ready. You'd better +have another, in case it does." + +Tammy took the second light, and moved away. + +"Those flares all ready for lighting there, Mr. Grainge?" the Captain +asked. + +"All ready, Sir," replied the Mate. + +The Old Man pushed one of the blue-lights into his coat pocket, and +stood upright. + +"Very well," he said. "Give each of the men one apiece. And just see +that they all have matches." + +He spoke to the men particularly: + +"As soon as we are ready, the other two men in the Mate's watch will get +up into the cranelines, and keep their flares going there. Take your +paraffin tins with you. When we reach the upper topsail, Quoin and +Jaskett will get out on the yard-arms, and show their flares there. Be +careful to keep your lights away from the sails. Plummer and Jessop will +come up with the Second Mate and myself. Does every man clearly +understand?" + +"Yes, Sir," said the men in a chorus. + +A sudden idea seemed to occur to the Skipper, and he turned, and went +through the doorway into the Saloon. In about a minute, he came back, +and handed something to the Second Mate, that shone in the light from +the lanterns. I saw that it was a revolver, and he held another in his +other hand, and this I saw him put into his side pocket. + +The Second Mate held the pistol a moment, looking a bit doubtful. + +"I don't think, Sir--" he began. But the Skipper cut him short. + +"You don't know!" he said. "Put it in your pocket." + +Then he turned to the First Mate. + +"You will take charge of the deck, Mr. Grainge, while we're aloft," he +said. + +"i, i, Sir," the Mate answered and sung out to one of his 'prentices to +take the blue-light box back into the cabin. + +The Old Man turned and led the way forrard. As we went, the light from +the two lanterns shone upon the decks, showing the litter of the +t'gallant gear. The ropes were foul of one another in a regular "bunch +o' buffers[1]." This had been caused, I suppose, by the crowd trampling +over them in their excitement, when they reached the deck. And then, +suddenly, as though the sight had waked me up to a more vivid +comprehension, you know, it came to me new and fresh, how damned strange +was the whole business... I got a little touch of despair, and asked +myself what was going to be the end of all these beastly happenings. +You can understand? + +[Footnote 1: Modified from the original.] + +Abruptly, I heard the Skipper shouting, away forward. He was singing out +to Tammy to get up on to the house with his blue-light. We reached the +fore rigging, and, the same instant, the strange, ghastly flare of +Tammy's blue-light burst out into the night causing every rope, sail, +and spar to jump out weirdly. + +I saw now that the Second Mate was already in the starboard rigging, +with his lantern. He was shouting to Tammy to keep the drip from his +light clear of the staysail, which was stowed upon the house. Then, from +somewhere on the port side, I heard the Skipper shout to us to hurry. + +"Smartly now, you men," he was saying. "Smartly now." + +The man who had been told to take up a station in the fore-top, was just +behind the Second Mate. Plummer was a couple of ratlines lower. + +I caught the Old Man's voice again. + +"Where's Jessop with that other lantern?" I heard him shout. + +"Here, Sir," I sung out. + +"Bring it over this side," he ordered. "You don't want the two lanterns +on one side." + +I ran round the fore side of the house. Then I saw him. He was in the +rigging, and making his way smartly aloft. One of the Mate's watch and +Quoin were with him. This, I saw as I came round the house. Then I made +a jump, gripped the sheerpole, and swung myself up on to the rail. And +then, all at once, Tammy's blue-light went out, and there came, what +seemed by contrast, pitchy darkness. I stood where I was--one foot on +the rail and my knee upon the sheerpole. The light from my lantern +seemed no more than a sickly yellow glow against the gloom, and higher, +some forty or fifty feet, and a few ratlines below the futtock rigging +on the starboard side, there was another glow of yellowness in the +night. Apart from these, all was blackness. And then from above--high +above--there wailed down through the darkness a weird, sobbing cry. What +it was, I do not know; but it sounded horrible. + +The Skipper's voice came down, jerkily. + +"Smartly with that light, boy!" he shouted. And the blue glare blazed +out again, almost before he had finished speaking. + +I stared up at the Skipper. He was standing where I had seen him before +the light went out, and so were the two men. As I looked, he commenced +to climb again. I glanced across to starboard. Jaskett, and the other +man in the Mate's watch, were about midway between the deck of the house +and the foretop. Their faces showed extraordinary pale in the dead glare +of the blue-light. Higher, I saw the Second Mate in the futtock rigging, +holding his light up over the edge of the top. Then he went further, and +disappeared. The man with the blue-lights followed, and also vanished +from view. On the port side, and more directly above me, the Skipper's +feet were just stepping out of the futtock shrouds. At that I made haste +to follow. + +Then, suddenly, when I was close under the top, there came from above me +the sharp flare of a blue-light, and almost in the same instant, Tammy's +went out. + +I glanced down at the decks. They were filled with flickering, grotesque +shadows cast by the dripping light above. A group of the men stood by +the port galley door--their faces upturned and pale and unreal under the +gleam of the light. + +Then I was in the futtock rigging, and a moment afterwards, standing in +the top, beside the Old Man. He was shouting to the men who had gone out +on the craneline. It seemed that the man on the port side was bungling; +but at last--nearly a minute after the other man had lit his flare--he +got going. In that time, the man in the top had lit his second +blue-light, and we were ready to get into the topmast rigging. First, +however, the Skipper leant over the afterside of the top, and sung out +to the First Mate to send a man up on to the fo'cas'le head with a +flare. The Mate replied, and then we started again, the Old Man leading. + +Fortunately, the rain had ceased, and there seemed to be no increase in +the wind; indeed, if anything, there appeared to be rather less; yet +what there was drove the flames of the flare-ups out into occasional, +twisting serpents of fire at least a yard long. + +About half-way up the topmast rigging, the Second Mate sung out to the +Skipper, to know whether Plummer should light his flare; but the Old Man +said he had better wait until we reached the crosstrees, as then he +could get out away from the gear to where there would be less danger of +setting fire to anything. + +We neared the crosstrees, and the Old Man stopped and sung out to me to +pass him the lantern by Quoin. A few ratlines more, and both he and the +Second Mate stopped almost simultaneously, holding their lanterns as +high as possible, and peered up into the darkness. + +"See any signs of him, Mr. Tulipson?" the Old Man asked. + +"No, Sir," replied the Second. "Not a sign." + +He raised his voice. + +"Stubbins," he sung out. "Stubbins, are you there?" + +We listened; but nothing came to us beyond the blowing moan of the wind, +and the flap, flap of the bellying t'gallant above. + +The Second Mate climbed over the crosstrees, and Plummer followed. The +man got out by the royal backstay, and lit his flare. By its light we +could see, plainly; but there was no vestige of Stubbins, so far as the +light went. + +"Get out on to the yard-arms with those flares, you two men," shouted +the Skipper. "Be smart now! Keep them away from the sail!" + +The men got on to the foot-ropes--Quoin on the port, and Jaskett on the +starboard side. By the light from Plummer's flare, I could see them +clearly, as they lay out upon the yard. It occurred to me that they went +gingerly--which is no surprising thing. And then, as they drew near to +the yard-arms, they passed beyond the brilliance of the light; so that I +could not see them clearly. A few seconds passed, and then the light +from Quoin's flare streamed out upon the wind; yet nearly a minute went +by, and there was no sign of Jaskett's. + +Then out from the semi-darkness at the starboard yard-arm, there came a +curse from Jaskett, followed almost immediately by a noise of something +vibrating. + +"What's up?" shouted the Second Mate. "What's up, Jaskett?" + +"It's ther foot-rope, Sir-r-r!" he drew out the last word into a sort of +gasp. + +The Second Mate bent quickly, with the lantern. I craned round the after +side of the top-mast, and looked. + +"What is the matter, Mr. Tulipson?" I heard the Old Man singing out. + +Out on the yard-arm, Jaskett began to shout for help, and then, all at +once, in the light from the Second Mate's lantern, I saw that the +starboard foot-rope on the upper topsail yard was being violently +shaken--savagely shaken, is perhaps a better word. And then, almost in +the same instant, the Second Mate shifted the lantern from his right to +his left hand. He put the right into his pocket and brought out his gun +with a jerk. He extended his hand and arm, as though pointing at +something a little below the yard. Then a quick flash spat out across +the shadows, followed immediately by a sharp, ringing crack. In the same +moment, I saw that the foot-rope ceased to shake. + +"Light your flare! Light your flare, Jaskett!" the Second shouted. "Be +smart now!" + +Out at the yard-arm there came a splutter of a match, and then, +straightaway, a great spurt of fire as the flare took light. + +"That's better, Jaskett. You're all right now!" the Second Mate called +out to him. + +"What was it, Mr. Tulipson?" I heard the Skipper ask. + +I looked up, and saw that he had sprung across to where the Second Mate +was standing. The Second Mate explained to him; but he did not speak +loud enough for me to catch what he said. + +I had been struck by Jaskett's attitude, when the light of his flare had +first revealed him. He had been crouched with his right knee cocked over +the yard, and his left leg down between it and the foot-rope, while his +elbows had been crooked over the yard for support, as he was lighting +the flare. Now, however, he had slid both feet back on to the foot-rope, +and was lying on his belly, over the yard, with the flare held a little +below the head of the sail. It was thus, with the light being on the +foreside of the sail, that I saw a small hole a little below the +foot-rope, through which a ray of the light shone. It was undoubtedly +the hole which the bullet from the Second Mate's revolver had made in +the sail. + +Then I heard the Old Man shouting to Jaskett. + +"Be careful with that flare there!" he sung out. "You'll be having that +sail scorched!" + +He left the Second Mate, and came back on to the port side of the mast. + +To my right, Plummer's flares seemed to be dwindling. I glanced up at +his face through the smoke. He was paying no attention to it; instead, +he was staring up above his head. + +"Shove some paraffin on to it, Plummer," I called to him. "It'll be out +in a minute." + +He looked down quickly to the light, and did as I suggested. Then he +held it out at arm's length, and peered up again into the darkness. + +"See anything?" asked the Old Man, suddenly observing his attitude. + +Plummer glanced at him, with a start. + +"It's ther r'yal, Sir," he explained. "It's all adrift." + +"What!" said the Old Man. + +He was standing a few ratlines up the t'gallant rigging, and he bent his +body outwards to get a better look. + +"Mr. Tulipson!" he shouted. "Do you know that the royal's all adrift?" + +"No, Sir," answered the Second Mate. "If it is, it's more of this +devilish work!" + +"It's adrift right enough," said the Skipper, and he and the Second went +a few ratlines higher, keeping level with one another. + +I had now got above the crosstrees, and was just at the Old Man's heels. + +Suddenly, he shouted out: + +"There he is!--Stubbins! Stubbins!" + +"Where, Sir?" asked the Second, eagerly. "I can't see him!" + +"There! there!" replied the Skipper, pointing. + +I leant out from the rigging, and looked up along his back, in the +direction his finger indicated. At first, I could see nothing; then, +slowly, you know, there grew upon my sight a dim figure crouching upon +the bunt of the royal, and partly hidden by the mast. I stared, and +gradually it came to me that there was a couple of them, and further out +upon the yard, a hump that might have been anything, and was only +visible indistinctly amid the flutter of the canvas. + +"Stubbins!" the Skipper sung out. "Stubbins, come down out of that! Do +you hear me?" + +But no one came, and there was no answer. + +"There's two--" I began; but he was shouting again: + +"Come down out of that! Do you damned well hear me?" + +Still there was no reply. + +"I'm hanged if I can see him at all, Sir!" the Second Mate called out +from his side of the mast. + +"Can't see him!" said the Old Man, now thoroughly angry. "I'll soon let +you see him!" + +He bent down to me with the lantern. + +"Catch hold, Jessop," he said, which I did. + +Then he pulled the blue light from his pocket, and as he was doing so, I +saw the Second peek round the back side of the mast at him. Evidently, +in the uncertain light, he must have mistaken the Skipper's action; for, +all at once, he shouted out in a frightened voice: + +"Don't shoot, Sir! For God's sake, don't shoot!" + +"Shoot be damned!" exclaimed the Old Man. "Watch!" + +He pulled off the cap of the light. + +"There's two of them, Sir," I called again to him. + +"What!" he said in a loud voice, and at the same instant he rubbed the +end of the light across the cap, and it burst into fire. + +He held it up so that it lit the royal yard like day, and straightway, a +couple of shapes dropped silently from the royal on to the t'gallant +yard. At the same moment, the humped Something, midway out upon the +yard, rose up. It ran in to the mast, and I lost sight of it. + +"God!" I heard the Skipper gasp, and he fumbled in his side pocket. + +I saw the two figures which had dropped on to the t'gallant, run swiftly +along the yard--one to the starboard and the other to the port +yard-arms. + +On the other side of the mast, the Second Mate's pistol cracked out +twice, sharply. Then, from over my head the Skipper fired twice, and +then again; but with what effect, I could not tell. Abruptly, as he +fired his last shot, I was aware of an indistinct Something, gliding +down the starboard royal backstay. It was descending full upon Plummer, +who, all unconscious of the thing, was staring towards the t'gallant +yard. + +"Look out above you, Plummer!" I almost shrieked. + +"What? where?" he called, and grabbed at the stay, and waved his flare, +excitedly. + +Down on the upper topsail yard, Quoin's and Jaskett's voices rose +simultaneously, and in the identical instant, their flares went out. +Then Plummer shouted, and his light went utterly. There were left only +the two lanterns, and the blue-light held by the Skipper, and that, a +few seconds afterwards, finished and died out. + +The Skipper and the Second Mate were shouting to the men upon the yard, +and I heard them answer, in shaky voices. Out on the crosstrees, I could +see, by the light from my lantern, that Plummer was holding in a dazed +fashion to the backstay. + +"Are you all right, Plummer?" I called. + +"Yes," he said, after a little pause; and then he swore. + +"Come in off that yard, you men!" the Skipper was singing out. "Come in! +come in!" + +Down on deck, I heard someone calling; but could not distinguish the +words. Above me, pistol in hand, the Skipper was glancing about, +uneasily. + +"Hold up that light, Jessop," he said. "I can't see!" + +Below us, the men got off the yard, into the rigging. + +"Down on deck with you!" ordered the Old Man. + +"As smartly as you can!" + +"Come in off there, Plummer!" sung out the Second Mate. "Get down with +the others!" + +"Down with you, Jessop!" said the Skipper, speaking rapidly. "Down with +you!" + +I got over the crosstrees, and he followed. On the other side, the +Second Mate was level with us. He had passed his lantern to Plummer, and +I caught the glint of his revolver in his right hand. In this fashion, +we reached the top. The man who had been stationed there with the +blue-lights, had gone. Afterwards, I found that he went down on deck as +soon as they were finished. There was no sign of the man with the flare +on the starboard craneline. He also, I learnt later, had slid down one +of the backstays on to the deck, only a very short while before we +reached the top. He swore that a great black shadow of a man had come +suddenly upon him from aloft. When I heard that, I remembered the thing +I had seen descending upon Plummer. Yet the man who had gone out upon +the port craneline--the one who had bungled with the lighting of his +flare--was still where we had left him; though his light was burning now +but dimly. + +"Come in out of that, _you!_" the Old Man sung out "Smartly now, and get +down on deck!" + +"i, i, Sir," the man replied, and started to make his way in. + +The Skipper waited until he had got into the main rigging, and then he +told me to get down out of the top. He was in the act of following, +when, all at once, there rose a loud outcry on deck, and then came the +sound of a man screaming. + +"Get out of my way, Jessop!" the Skipper roared, and swung himself down +alongside of me. + +I heard the Second Mate shout something from the starboard rigging. Then +we were all racing down as hard as we could go. I had caught a momentary +glimpse of a man running from the doorway on the port side of the +fo'cas'le. In less than half a minute we were upon the deck, and among a +crowd of the men who were grouped round something. Yet, strangely +enough, they were not looking at the thing among them; but away aft at +something in the darkness. + +"It's on the rail!" cried several voices. + +"Overboard!" called somebody, in an excited voice. "It's jumped over the +side!" + +"Ther' wer'n't nothin'!" said a man in the crowd. + +"Silence!" shouted the Old Man. "Where's the Mate? What's happened?" + +"Here, Sir," called the First Mate, shakily, from near the centre of the +group. "It's Jacobs, Sir. He--he--" + +"What!" said the Skipper. "What!" + +"He--he's--he's--dead I think!" said the First Mate, in jerks. + +"Let me see," said the Old Man, in a quieter tone. + +The men had stood to one side to give him room, and he knelt beside the +man upon the deck. + +"Pass the lantern here, Jessop," he said. + +I stood by him, and held the light. The man was lying face downwards on +the deck. Under the light from the lantern, the Skipper turned him over +and looked at him. + +"Yes," he said, after a short examination. "He's dead." + +He stood up and regarded the body a moment, in silence. Then he turned +to the Second Mate, who had been standing by, during the last couple of +minutes. + +"Three!" he said, in a grim undertone. + +The Second Mate nodded, and cleared his voice. + +He seemed on the point of saying something; then he turned and looked at +Jacobs, and said nothing. + +"Three," repeated the Old Man. "Since eight bells!" + +He stooped and looked again at Jacobs. + +"Poor devil! poor devil!" he muttered. + +The Second Mate grunted some of the huskiness out of his throat, and +spoke. + +"Where must we take him?" he asked, quietly. "The two bunks are full." + +"You'll have to put him down on the deck by the lower bunk," replied the +Skipper. + +As they carried him away, I heard the Old Man make a sound that was +almost a groan. The rest of the men had gone forrard, and I do not think +he realised that I was standing by him + +"My God! O, my God!" he muttered, and began to walk slowly aft. + +He had cause enough for groaning. There were three dead, and Stubbins +had gone utterly and completely. We never saw him again. + + + + +XII + + +_The Council_ + + +A few minutes later, the Second Mate came forrard again. I was still +standing near the rigging, holding the lantern, in an aimless sort of +way. + +"That you, Plummer?" he asked. + +"No, Sir," I said. "It's Jessop." + +"Where's Plummer, then?" he inquired. + +"I don't know, Sir," I answered. "I expect he's gone forrard. Shall I go +and tell him you want him?" + +"No, there's no need," he said. "Tie your lamp up in the rigging--on the +sheerpole there. Then go and get his, and shove it up on the starboard +side. After that you'd better go aft and give the two 'prentices a hand +in the lamp locker." + +"i, i, Sir," I replied, and proceeded to do as he directed. After I had +got the light from Plummer, and lashed it up to the starboard sherpole, +I hurried aft. I found Tammy and the other 'prentice in our watch, busy +in the locker, lighting lamps. + +"What are we doing?" I asked. + +"The Old Man's given orders to lash all the spare lamps we can find, in +the rigging, so as to have the decks light," said Tammy. "And a damned +good job too!" + +He handed me a couple of the lamps, and took two himself. + +"Come on," he said, and stepped out on deck. "We'll fix these in the +main rigging, and then I want to talk to you." + +"What about the mizzen?" I inquired. + +"Oh," he replied. "He" (meaning the other 'prentice) "will see to that. +Anyway, it'll be daylight directly." + +We shoved the lamps up on the sherpoles--two on each side. Then he came +across to me. + +"Look here, Jessop!" he said, without any hesitation. "You'll have to +jolly well tell the Skipper and the Second Mate all you know about all +this." + +"How do you mean?" I asked. + +"Why, that it's something about the ship herself that's the cause of +what's happened," he replied. "If you'd only explained to the Second +Mate when I told you to, this might never have been!" + +"But I don't _know_," I said. "I may be all wrong. It's only an idea of +mine. I've no proofs--" + +"Proofs!" he cut in with. "Proofs! what about tonight? We've had all the +proofs ever I want!" + +I hesitated before answering him. + +"So have I, for that matter," I said, at length. "What I mean is, I've +nothing that the Skipper and the Second Mate would consider as proofs. +They'd never listen seriously to me." + +"They'd listen fast enough," he replied. "After what's happened this +watch, they'd listen to anything. Anyway, it's jolly well your duty to +tell them!" + +"What could they do, anyway?" I said, despondently. "As things are +going, we'll all be dead before another week is over, at this rate." + +"You tell them," he answered. "That's what you've got to do. If you can +only get them to realise that you're right, they'll be glad to put into +the nearest port, and send us all ashore." + +I shook my head. + +"Well, anyway, they'll have to do something," he replied, in answer to +my gesture. "We can't go round the Horn, with the number of men we've +lost. We haven't enough to handle her, if it comes on to blow." + +"You've forgotten, Tammy," I said. "Even if I could get the Old Man to +believe I'd got at the truth of the matter, he couldn't do anything. +Don't you see, if I'm right, we couldn't even see the land, if we made +it. We're like blind men...." + +"What on earth do you mean?" he interrupted. "How do you make out we're +like blind men? Of course we could see the land--" + +"Wait a minute! wait a minute!" I said. "You don't understand. Didn't I +tell you?" + +"Tell what?" he asked. + +"About the ship I spotted," I said. "I thought you knew!" + +"No," he said. "When?" + +"Why," I replied. "You know when the Old Man sent me away from the +wheel?" + +"Yes," he answered. "You mean in the morning watch, day before +yesterday?" + +"Yes," I said. "Well, don't you know what was the matter?" + +"No," he replied. "That is, I heard you were snoozing at the wheel, and +the Old Man came up and caught you." + +"That's all a darned silly yarn!" I said. And then I told him the whole +truth of the affair. After I had done that, I explained my idea about +it, to him. + +"Now you see what I mean?" I asked. + +"You mean that this strange atmosphere--or whatever it is--we're in, +would not allow us to see another ship?" he asked, a bit awestruck. + +"Yes," I said. "But the point I wanted you to see, is that if we can't +see another vessel, even when she's quite close, then, in the same way, +we shouldn't be able to see land. To all intents and purposes we're +blind. Just you think of it! We're out in the middle of the briny, doing +a sort of eternal blind man's hop. The Old Man couldn't put into port, +even if he wanted to. He'd run us bang on shore, without our ever seeing +it." + +"What are we going to do, then?" he asked, in a despairing sort of way. +"Do you mean to say we can't do anything? Surely something can be done! +It's terrible!" + +For perhaps a minute, we walked up and down, in the light from the +different lanterns. Then he spoke again. + +"We might be run down, then," he said, "and never even see the other +vessel?" + +"It's possible," I replied. "Though, from what I saw, it's evident that +_we're_ quite visible; so that it would be easy for them to see us, and +steer clear of us, even though we couldn't see them." + +"And we might run into something, and never see it?" he asked me, +following up the train of thought. + +"Yes," I said. "Only there's nothing to stop the other ship from getting +out of our way." + +"But if it wasn't a vessel?" he persisted. "It might be an iceberg, or a +rock, or even a derelict." + +"In that case," I said, putting it a bit flippantly, naturally, "we'd +probably damage it." + +He made no answer to this and for a few moments, we were quiet. + +Then he spoke abruptly, as though the idea had come suddenly to him. + +"Those lights the other night!" he said. "Were they a ship's lights?" + +"Yes," I replied. "Why?" + +"Why," he answered. "Don't you see, if they were really lights, we +_could_ see them?" + +"Well, I should think I ought to know that," I replied. "You seem to +forget that the Second Mate slung me off the look-out for daring to do +that very thing." + +"I don't mean that," he said. "Don't you see that if we could see them +at all, it showed that the atmosphere-thing wasn't round us then?" + +"Not necessarily," I answered. "It may have been nothing more than a +rift in it; though, of course, I may be all wrong. But, anyway, the fact +that the lights disappeared almost as soon as they were seen, shows that +it was very much round the ship." + +That made him feel a bit the way I did, and when next he spoke, his tone +had lost its hopefulness. + +"Then you think it'll be no use telling the Second Mate and the Skipper +anything?" he asked. + +"I don't know," I replied. "I've been thinking about it, and it can't do +any harm. I've a very good mind to." + +"I should," he said. "You needn't be afraid of anybody laughing at you, +now. It might do some good. You've seen more than anyone else." + +He stopped in his walk, and looked round. + +"Wait a minute," he said, and ran aft a few steps. I saw him look up at +the break of the poop; then he came back. + +"Come along now," he said. "The Old Man's up on the poop, talking to the +Second Mate. You'll never get a better chance." + +Still I hesitated; but he caught me by the sleeve, and almost dragged me +to the lee ladder. + +"All right," I said, when I got there. "All right, I'll come. Only I'm +hanged if I know what to say when I get there." + +"Just tell them you want to speak to them," he said. "They'll ask what +you want, and then you spit out all you know. They'll find it +interesting enough." + +"You'd better come too," I suggested. "You'll be able to back me up in +lots of things." + +"I'll come, fast enough," he replied. "You go up." + +I went up the ladder, and walked across to where the Skipper and the +Second Mate stood talking earnestly, by the rail. Tammy kept behind. As +I came near to them, I caught two or three words; though I attached no +meaning then to them. They were: "...send for him." Then the two of them +turned and looked at me, and the Second Mate asked what I wanted. + +"I want to speak to you and the Old M--Captain, Sir," I answered. + +"What is it, Jessop?" the Skipper inquired. + +"I scarcely know how to put it, Sir," I said. "It's--it's about these-- +these things." + +"What things? Speak out, man," he said. + +"Well, Sir," I blurted out. "There's some dreadful thing or things come +aboard this ship, since we left port." + +I saw him give one quick glance at the Second Mate, and the Second +looked back. + +Then the Skipper replied. + +"How do you mean, come aboard?" he asked. + +"Out of the sea, Sir," I said. "I've seen them. So's Tammy, here." + +"Ah!" he exclaimed, and it seemed to me, from his face, that he was +understanding something better. "Out of the Sea!" + +Again he looked at the Second Mate; but the Second was staring at me. + +"Yes Sir," I said. "It's the _ship_. She's not safe! I've watched. I +think I understand a bit; but there's a lot I don't." + +I stopped. The Skipper had turned to the Second Mate. The Second nodded, +gravely. Then I heard him mutter, in a low voice, and the Old Man +replied; after which he turned to me again. + +"Look here, Jessop," he said. "I'm going to talk straight to you. You +strike me as being a cut above the ordinary shellback, and I think +you've sense enough to hold your tongue." + +"I've got my mate's ticket, Sir," I said, simply. + +Behind me, I heard Tammy give a little start. He had not known about it +until then. + +The Skipper nodded. + +"So much the better," he answered. "I may have to speak to you about +that, later on." + +He paused, and the Second Mate said something to him, in an undertone. + +"Yes," he said, as though in reply to what the Second had been saying. +Then he spoke to me again. + +"You've seen things come out of the sea, you say?" he questioned. "Now +just tell me all you can remember, from the very beginning." + +I set to, and told him everything in detail, commencing with the strange +figure that had stepped aboard out of the sea, and continuing my yarn, +up to the things that had happened in that very watch. + +I stuck well to solid facts; and now and then he and the Second Mate +would look at one another, and nod. At the end, he turned to me with an +abrupt gesture. + +"You still hold, then, that you saw a ship the other morning, when I +sent you from the wheel?" he asked. + +"Yes, Sir," I said. "I most certainly do." + +"But you knew there wasn't any!" he said. + +"Yes, Sir," I replied, in an apologetic tone. "There was; and, if you +will let me, I believe that I can explain it a bit." + +"Well," he said. "Go on." + +Now that I knew he was willing to listen to me in a serious manner all +my funk of telling him had gone, and I went ahead and told him my ideas +about the mist, and the thing it seemed to have ushered, you know. I +finished up, by telling him how Tammy had worried me to come and tell +what I knew. + +"He thought then, Sir," I went on, "that you might wish to put into the +nearest port; but I told him that I didn't think you could, even if you +wanted to." + +"How's that?" he asked, profoundly interested. + +"Well, Sir," I replied. "If we're unable to see other vessels, we +shouldn't be able to see the land. You'd be piling the ship up, without +ever seeing where you were putting her." + +This view of the matter, affected the Old Man in an extraordinary +manner; as it did, I believe, the Second Mate. And neither spoke for a +moment. Then the Skipper burst out. + +"By Gad! Jessop," he said. "If you're right, the Lord have mercy on us." + +He thought for a couple of seconds. Then he spoke again, and I could see +that he was pretty well twisted up: + +"My God!... if you're right!" + +The Second Mate spoke. + +"The men mustn't know, Sir," he warned him. "It'd be a mess if they +did!" + +"Yes," said the Old Man. + +He spoke to me. + +"Remember that, Jessop," he said. "Whatever you do, don't go yarning +about this, forrard." + +"No, Sir," I replied. + +"And you too, boy," said the Skipper. "Keep your tongue between your +teeth. We're in a bad enough mess, without your making it worse. Do you +hear?" + +"Yes, Sir," answered Tammy. + +The Old Man turned to me again. + +"These things, or creatures that you say come out of the sea," he said. +"You've never seen them, except after nightfall?" he asked. + +"No, Sir," I replied. "Never." + +He turned to the Second Mate. + +"So far as I can make out, Mr. Tulipson," he remarked, "the danger seems +to be only at night." + +"It's always been at night, Sir," the Second answered. + +The Old Man nodded. + +"Have you anything to propose, Mr. Tulipson?" he asked. + +"Well, Sir," replied the Second Mate. "I think you ought to have her +snugged down every night, before dark!" + +He spoke with considerable emphasis. Then he glanced aloft, and jerked +his head in the direction of the unfurled t'gallants. + +"It's a damned good thing, Sir," he said, "that it didn't come on to +blow any harder." + +The Old Man nodded again. + +"Yes," he remarked. "We shall have to do it; but God knows when we'll +get home!" + +"Better late than not at all," I heard the Second mutter, under his +breath. + +Out loud, he said: + +"And the lights, Sir?" + +"Yes," said the Old Man. "I will have lamps in the rigging every night, +after dark." + +"Very good, Sir," assented the Second. Then he turned to us. + +"It's getting daylight, Jessop," he remarked, with a glance at the sky. +"You'd better take Tammy with you, and shove those lamps back again into +the locker." + +"i, i, Sir," I said, and went down off the poop with Tammy. + + + + +XIII + + +_The Shadow in the Sea_ + + +When eight bells went, at four o'clock, and the other watch came on deck +to relieve us, it had been broad daylight for some time. Before we went +below, the Second Mate had the three t'gallants set; and now that it was +light, we were pretty curious to have a look aloft, especially up the +fore; and Tom, who had been up to overhaul the gear, was questioned a +lot, when he came down, as to whether there were any signs of anything +queer up there. But he told us there was nothing unusual to be seen. + +At eight o'clock, when we came on deck for the eight to twelve watch, I +saw the Sailmaker coming forrard along the deck, from the Second Mate's +old berth. He had his rule in his hand, and I knew he had been measuring +the poor beggars in there, for their burial outfit. From breakfast time +until near noon, he worked, shaping out three canvas wrappers from some +old sailcloth. Then, with the aid of the Second Mate and one of the +hands, he brought out the three dead chaps on to the after hatch, and +there sewed them up, with a few lumps of holy stone at their feet. He +was just finishing when eight bells went, and I heard the Old Man tell +the Second Mate to call all hands aft for the burial. This was done, and +one of the gangways unshipped. + +We had no decent grating big enough, so they had to get off one of the +hatches, and use it instead. The wind had died away during the morning, +and the sea was almost a calm--the ship lifting ever so slightly to an +occasional glassy heave. The only sounds that struck on the ear were the +soft, slow rustle and occasional shiver of the sails, and the continuous +and monotonous creak, creak of the spars and gear at the gentle +movements of the vessel. And it was in this solemn half-quietness that +the Skipper read the burial service. + +They had put the Dutchman first upon the hatch (I could tell him by his +stumpiness), and when at last the Old Man gave the signal, the Second +Mate tilted his end, and he slid off, and down into the dark. + +"Poor old Dutchie," I heard one of the men say, and I fancy we all felt +a bit like that. + +Then they lifted Jacobs on to the hatch, and when he had gone, Jock. +When Jock was lifted, a sort of sudden shiver ran through the crowd. He +had been a favourite in a quiet way, and I know I felt, all at once, +just a bit queer. I was standing by the rail, upon the after bollard, +and Tammy was next to me; while Plummer stood a little behind. As the +Second Mate tilted the hatch for the last time, a little, hoarse chorus +broke from the men: + +"S'long, Jock! So long, Jock!" + +And then, at the sudden plunge, they rushed to the side to see the last +of him as he went downwards. Even the Second Mate was not able to resist +this universal feeling, and he, too, peered over. From where I had been +standing, I had been able to see the body take the water, and now, for a +brief couple of seconds, I saw the white of the canvas, blurred by the +blue of the water, dwindle and dwindle in the extreme depth. Abruptly, +as I stared, it disappeared--too abruptly, it seemed to me. + +"Gone!" I heard several voices say, and then our watch began to go +slowly forrard, while one or two of the other, started to replace the +hatch. + +Tammy pointed, and nudged me. + +"See, Jessop," he said. "What is it?" + +"What?" I asked. + +"That queer shadow," he replied. "Look!" + +And then I saw what he meant. It was something big and shadowy, that +appeared to be growing clearer. It occupied the exact place--so it +seemed to me--in which Jock had disappeared. + +"Look at it!" said Tammy, again. "It's getting bigger!" + +He was pretty excited, and so was I. + +I was peering down. The thing seemed to be rising out of the depths. It +was taking shape. As I realised what the shape was, a queer, cold funk +took me. + +"See," said Tammy. "It's just like the shadow of a ship!" + +And it was. The shadow of a ship rising out of the unexplored immensity +beneath our keel. Plummer, who had not yet gone forrard, caught Tammy's +last remark, and glanced over. + +"What's 'e mean?" he asked. + +"That!" replied Tammy, and pointed. + +I jabbed my elbow into his ribs; but it was too late. Plummer had seen. +Curiously enough, though, he seemed to think nothing of it. + +"That ain't nothin', 'cept ther shadder er ther ship," he said. + +Tammy, after my hint, let it go at that. But when Plummer had gone +forrard with the others, I told him not to go telling everything round +the decks, like that. + +"We've got to be thundering careful!" I remarked. "You know what the Old +Man said, last watch!" + +"Yes," said Tammy. "I wasn't thinking; I'll be careful next time." + +A little way from me the Second Mate was still staring down into the +water. I turned, and spoke to him. + +"What do you make it out to be, Sir?" I asked. + +"God knows!" he said, with a quick glance round to see whether any of +the men were about. + +He got down from the rail, and turned to go up on to the poop. At the +top of the ladder, he leant over the break. + +"You may as well ship that gangway, you two," he told us. "And mind, +Jessop, keep your mouth shut about this." + +"i, i, Sir," I answered. + +"And you too, youngster!" he added and went aft along the poop. + +Tammy and I were busy with the gangway when the Second came back. He had +brought the Skipper. + +"Right under the gangway, Sir" I heard the Second say, and he pointed +down into the water. + +For a little while, the Old Man stared. Then I heard him speak. + +"I don't see anything," he said. + +At that, the Second Mate bent more forward and peered down. So did I; +but the thing, whatever it was, had gone completely. + +"It's gone, Sir," said the Second. "It was there right enough when I +came for you." + +About a minute later, having finished shipping the gangway, I was going +forrard, when the Second's voice called me back + +"Tell the Captain what it was you saw just now," he said, in a low +voice. + +"I can't say exactly, Sir," I replied. "But it seemed to me like the +shadow of a ship, rising up through the water." + +"There, Sir," remarked the Second Mate to the Old Man. "Just what I told +you." + +The Skipper stared at me. + +"You're quite sure?" he asked. + +"Yes, Sir," I answered. "Tammy saw it, too." + +I waited a minute. Then they turned to go aft. The Second was saying +something. + +"Can I go, Sir?" I asked. + +"Yes, that will do, Jessop," he said, over his shoulder. But the Old Man +came back to the break, and spoke to me. + +"Remember, not a word of this forrard!" he said. + +"No Sir," I replied, and he went back to the Second Mate; while I walked +forrard to the fo'cas'le to get something to eat. + +"Your whack's in the kettle, Jessop," said Tom, as I stepped in over the +washboard. "An' I got your lime-juice in a pannikin." + +"Thanks," I said, and sat down. + +As I stowed away my grub, I took no notice of the chatter of the others. +I was too stuffed with my own thoughts. That shadow of a vessel rising, +you know, out of the profound deeps, had impressed me tremendously. It +had not been imagination. Three of us had seen it--really four; for +Plummer distinctly saw it; though he failed to recognise it as anything +extraordinary. + +As you can understand, I thought a lot about this shadow of a vessel. +But, I am sure, for a time, my ideas must just have gone in an +everlasting, blind circle. And then I got another thought; for I got +thinking of the figures I had seen aloft in the early morning; and I +began to imagine fresh things. You see, that first thing that had come +up over the side, had come _out of the sea_. And it had gone back. And +now there was this shadow vessel-thing--ghost-ship I called it. It was a +damned good name, too. And the dark, noiseless men ... I thought a lot +on these lines. Unconsciously, I put a question to myself, aloud: + +"Were they the crew?" + +"Eh?" said Jaskett, who was on the next chest. + +I took hold of myself, as it were, and glanced at him, in an apparently +careless manner. + +"Did I speak?" I asked. + +"Yes, mate," he replied, eyeing me, curiously. "Yer said sumthin' about +a crew." + +"I must have been dreaming," I said; and rose up to put away my plate. + + + + +XIV + + +_The Ghost Ships_ + + +At four o'clock, when again we went on deck, the Second Mate told me to +go on with a paunch mat I was making; while Tammy, he sent to get out +his sinnet. I had the mat slug on the fore side of the mainmast, between +it and the after end of the house; and, in a few minutes, Tammy brought +his sinnet and yarns to the mast, and made fast to one of the pins. + +"What do you think it was, Jessop?" he asked, abruptly, after a short +silence. + +I looked at him. + +"What do you think?" I replied. + +"I don't know what to think," he said. "But I've a feeling that it's +something to do with all the rest," and he indicated aloft, with his +head. + +"I've been thinking, too," I remarked. + +"That it is?" he inquired. + +"Yes," I answered, and told him how the idea had come to me at my +dinner, that the strange men-shadows which came aboard, might come from +that indistinct vessel we had seen down in the sea. + +"Good Lord!" he exclaimed, as he got my meaning. And then for a little, +he stood and thought. + +"That's where they live, you mean?" he said, at last, and paused again. + +"Well," I replied. "It can't be the sort of existence _we_ should call +life." + +He nodded, doubtfully. + +"No," he said, and was silent again. + +Presently, he put out an idea that had come to him. + +"You _think_, then, that that--vessel has been with us for some time, if +we'd only known?" he asked. + +"All along," I replied. "I mean ever since these things started." + +"Supposing there are others," he said, suddenly. + +I looked at him. + +"If there are," I said. "You can pray to God that they won't stumble +across us. It strikes me that whether they're ghosts, or not ghosts, +they're blood-gutted pirates. + +"It seems horrible," he said solemnly, "to be talking seriously like +this, about--you know, about such things." + +"I've tried to stop thinking that way," I told him. "I've felt I should +go cracked, if I didn't. There's damned queer things happen at sea, I +know; but this isn't one of them." + +"It seems so strange and unreal, one moment, doesn't it?" he said. "And +the next, you _know_ it's really true, and you can't understand why you +didn't always know. And yet they'd never believe, if you told them +ashore about it." + +"They'd believe, if they'd been in this packet in the middle watch this +morning," I said. + +"Besides," I went on. "They don't understand. We didn't ... I shall +always feel different now, when I read that some packet hasn't been +heard of." + +Tammy stared at me. + +"I've heard some of the old shellbacks talking about things," he said. +"But I never took them really seriously." + +"Well," I said. "I guess we'll have to take this seriously. I wish to +God we were home!" + +"My God! so do I," he said. + +For a good while after that, we both worked on in silence; but, +presently, he went off on another tack. + +"Do you think we'll really shorten her down every night before it gets +dark?" he asked. + +"Certainly," I replied. "They'll never get the men to go aloft at night, +after what's happened." + +"But, but--supposing they _ordered_ us aloft--" he began. + +"Would you go?" I interrupted. + +"No!" he said, emphatically. "I'd jolly well be put in irons first!" + +"That settles it, then," I replied. "You wouldn't go, nor would any one +else." + +At this moment the Second Mate came along. + +"Shove that mat and that sinnet away, you two," he said. "Then get your +brooms and clear up." + +"i, i, Sir," we said, and he went on forrard. + +"Jump on the house, Tammy," I said. "And let go the other end of this +rope, will you?" + +"Right" he said, and did as I had asked him. When he came back, I got +him to give me a hand to roll up the mat, which was a very large one. + +"I'll finish stopping it," I said. "You go and put your sinnet away." + +"Wait a minute," he replied, and gathered up a double handful of shakins +from the deck, under where I had been working. Then he ran to the side. + +"Here!" I said. "Don't go dumping those. They'll only float, and the +Second Mate or the Skipper will be sure to spot them." + +"Come here, Jessop!" he interrupted, in a low voice, and taking no +notice of what I had been saying. + +I got up off the hatch, where I was kneeling. He was staring over the +side. + +"What's up?" I asked. + +"For God's sake, hurry!" he said, and I ran, and jumped on to the spar, +alongside of him. + +"Look!" he said, and pointed with a handful of shakins, right down, +directly beneath us. + +Some of the shakins dropped from his hand, and blurred the water, +momentarily, so that I could not see. Then, as the ripples cleared away, +I saw what he meant. + +"Two of them!" he said, in a voice that was scarcely above a whisper. +"And there's another out there," and he pointed again with the handful +of shakins. + +"There's another a little further aft," I muttered. + +"Where?--where?" he asked. + +"There," I said, and pointed. + +"That's four," he whispered. "Four of them!" + +I said nothing; but continued to stare. They appeared to me to be a +great way down in the sea, and quite motionless. Yet, though their +outlines were somewhat blurred and indistinct, there was no mistaking +that they were very like exact, though shadowy, representations of +vessels. For some minutes we watched them, without speaking. At last +Tammy spoke. + +"They're real, right enough," he said, in a low voice. + +"I don't know," I answered. + +"I mean we weren't mistaken this morning," he said. + +"No," I replied. "I never thought we were." + +Away forrard, I heard the Second Mate, returning aft. He came nearer, +and saw us. + +"What's up now, you two?" he called, sharply. "This isn't clearing up!" + +I put out my hand to warn him not to shout, and draw the attention of +the rest of the men. + +He took several steps towards me. + +"What is it? what is it?" he said, with a certain irritability; but in a +lower voice. + +"You'd better take a look over the side, Sir," I replied. + +My tone must have given him an inkling that we had discovered something +fresh; for, at my words, he made one spring, and stood on the spar, +alongside of me. + +"Look, Sir," said Tammy. "There's four of them." + +The Second Mate glanced down, saw something and bent sharply forward. + +"My God!" I heard him mutter, under his breath. + +After that, for some half-minute, he stared, without a word. + +"There are two more out there, Sir," I told him, and indicated the place +with my finger. + +It was a little time before he managed to locate these and when he did, +he gave them only a short glance. Then he got down off the spar, and +spoke to us. + +"Come down off there," he said, quickly. "Get your brooms and clear up. +Don't say a word!--It may be nothing." + +He appeared to add that last bit, as an afterthought, and we both knew +it meant nothing. Then he turned and went swiftly aft. + +"I expect he's gone to tell the Old Man," Tammy remarked, as we went +forrard, carrying the mat and his sinnet. + +"H'm," I said, scarcely noticing what he was saying; for I was full of +the thought of those four shadowy craft, waiting quietly down there. + +We got our brooms, and went aft. On the way, the Second Mate and the +Skipper passed us. They went forrard too by the fore brace, and got up +on the spar. I saw the Second point up at the brace and he appeared to +be saying something about the gear. I guessed that this was done +purposely, to act as a blind, should any of the other men be looking. +Then the Old Man glanced down over the side, in a casual sort of manner; +so did the Second Mate. A minute or two later, they came aft, and went +back, up on to the poop. I caught a glimpse of the Skipper's face as he +passed me, on his return. He struck me as looking worried--bewildered, +perhaps, would be a better word. + +Both Tammy and I were tremendously keen to have another look; but when +at last we got a chance, the sky reflected so much on the water, we +could see nothing below. + +We had just finished sweeping up when four bells went, and we cleared +below for tea. Some of the men got chatting while they were grubbing. + +"I 'ave 'eard," remarked Quoin, "as we're goin' ter shorten 'er down +afore dark." + +"Eh?" said old Jaskett, over his pannikin of tea. + +Quoin repeated his remark. + +"'oo says so?" inquired Plummer. + +"I 'eard it from ther Doc," answered Quoin, "'e got it from ther +Stooard." + +"'ow would 'ee know?" asked Plummer. + +"I dunno," said Quoin. "I 'spect 'e's 'eard 'em talkin' 'bout it arft." + +Plummer turned to me. + +"'ave you 'eard anythin', Jessop?" he inquired. + +"What, about shortening down?" I replied. + +"Yes," he said. "Weren't ther Old Man talkin' ter yer, up on ther poop +this mornin'?" + +"Yes," I answered. "He said something to the Second Mate about +shortening down; but it wasn't to me." + +"They are!" said Quoin, "'aven't I just said so?" + +At that instant, one of the chaps in the other watch, poked his head in +through the starboard doorway. + +"All hands shorten sail!" he sung out; at the same moment the Mate's +whistle came sharp along the decks. + +Plummer stood up, and reached for his cap. + +"Well," he said. "It's evydent they ain't goin' ter lose no more of us!" + +Then we went out on deck. + +It was a dead calm; but all the same, we furled the three royals, and +then the three t'gallants. After that, we hauled up the main and +foresail, and stowed them. The crossjack, of course, had been furled +some time, with the wind being plumb aft. + +It was while we were up at the foresail, that the sun went over the edge +of the horizon. We had finished stowing the sail, out upon the yard, and +I was waiting for the others to clear in, and let me get off the +foot-rope. Thus it happened that having nothing to do for nearly a +minute, I stood watching the sun set, and so saw something that +otherwise I should, most probably, have missed. The sun had dipped +nearly half-way below the horizon, and was showing like a great, red +dome of dull fire. Abruptly, far away on the starboard bow, a faint mist +drove up out of the sea. It spread across the face of the sun, so that +its light shone now as though it came through a dim haze of smoke. +Quickly, this mist or haze grew thicker; but, at the same time, +separating and taking strange shapes, so that the red of the sun struck +through ruddily between them. Then, as I watched, the weird mistiness +collected and shaped and rose into three towers. These became more +definite, and there was something elongated beneath them. The shaping +and forming continued, and almost suddenly I saw that the thing had +taken on the shape of a great ship. Directly afterwards, I saw that it +was moving. It had been broadside on to the sun. Now it was swinging. +The bows came round with a stately movement, until the three masts bore +in a line. It was heading directly towards us. It grew larger; but yet +less distinct. Astern of it, I saw now that the sun had sunk to a mere +line of light. Then, in the gathering dusk it seemed to me that the ship +was sinking back into the ocean. The sun went beneath the sea, and the +thing I had seen became merged, as it were, into the monotonous greyness +of the coming night. + +A voice came to me from the rigging. It was the Second Mate's. He had +been up to give us a hand. + +"Now then, Jessop," he was saying. "Come along! come along!" + +I turned quickly, and realised that the fellows were nearly all off the +yard. + +"i, i, Sir," I muttered, and slid in along the foot-rope, and went down +on deck. I felt fresh dazed and frightened. + +A little later, eight bells went, and, after roll call, I cleared up, on +to the poop, to relieve the wheel. For a while as I stood at the wheel +my mind seemed blank, and incapable of receiving impressions. This +sensation went, after a time, and I realised that there was a great +stillness over the sea. There was absolutely no wind, and even the +everlasting creak, creak of the gear seemed to ease off at times. + +At the wheel there was nothing whatever to do. I might just as well have +been forrard, smoking in the fo'cas'le. Down on the main-deck, I could +see the loom of the lanterns that had been lashed up to the sherpoles in +the fore and main rigging. Yet they showed less than they might, owing +to the fact that they had been shaded on their after sides, so as not to +blind the officer of the watch more than need be. + +The night had come down strangely dark, and yet of the dark and the +stillness and the lanterns, I was only conscious in occasional flashes +of comprehension. For, now that my mind was working, I was thinking +chiefly of that queer, vast phantom of mist, I had seen rise from the +sea, and take shape. + +I kept staring into the night, towards the West, and then all round me; +for, naturally, the memory predominated that she had been coming towards +us when the darkness came, and it was a pretty disquieting sort of thing +to think about. I had such a horrible feeling that something beastly was +going to happen any minute. + +Yet, two bells came and went, and still all was quiet--strangely quiet, +it seemed to me. And, of course, besides the queer, misty vessel I had +seen in the West I was all the time remembering the four shadowy craft +lying down in the sea, under our port side. Every time I remembered +them, I felt thankful for the lanterns round the maindeck, and I +wondered why none had been put in the mizzen rigging. I wished to +goodness that they had, and made up my mind I would speak to the Second +Mate about it, next time he came aft. At the time, he was leaning over +the rail across the break of the poop. He was not smoking, as I could +tell; for had he been, I should have seen the glow of his pipe, now and +then. It was plain to me that he was uneasy. Three times already he had +been down on to the maindeck, prowling about. I guessed that he had been +to look down into the sea, for any signs of those four grim craft. I +wondered whether they would be visible at night. + +Suddenly, the time-keeper struck three bells, and the deeper notes of +the bell forrard, answered them. I gave a start. It seemed to me that +they had been struck close to my elbow. There was something +unaccountably strange in the air that night. Then, even as the Second +Mate answered the look-out's "All's well," there came the sharp whir and +rattle of running gear, on the port side of the mainmast. +Simultaneously, there was the shrieking of a parrel, up the main; and I +knew that someone, or something, had let go the main-topsail haul-yards. +From aloft there came the sound of something parting; then the crash of +the yard as it ceased falling. + +The Second Mate shouted out something unintelligible, and jumped for the +ladder. From the maindeck there came the sound of running feet, and the +voices of the watch, shouting. Then I caught the Skipper's voice; he +must have run out on deck, through the Saloon doorway. + +"Get some more lamps! Get some more lamps!" he was singing out. Then he +swore. + +He sung out something further. I caught the last two words. + +"...carried away," they sounded like. + +"No, Sir," shouted the Second Mate. "I don't think so." + +A minute of some confusion followed; and then came the click of pawls. I +could tell that they had taken the haulyards to the after capstan. Odd +words floated up to me. + +"...all this water?" I heard in the Old Man's voice. He appeared to be +asking a question. + +"Can't say, Sir," came the Second Mate's. + +There was a period of time, filled only by the clicking of the pawls and +the sounds of the creaking parrel and the running gear. Then the Second +Mate's voice came again. + +"Seems all right, Sir," I heard him say. + +I never heard the Old Man's reply; for in the same moment, there came to +me a chill of cold breath at my back. I turned sharply, and saw +something peering over the taffrail. It had eyes that reflected the +binnacle light, weirdly, with a frightful, tigerish gleam; but beyond +that, I could see nothing with any distinctness. For the moment, I just +stared. I seemed frozen. It was so close. Then movement came to me, and +I jumped to the binnacle and snatched out the lamp. I twitched round, +and shone the light towards it. The thing, whatever it was, had come +more forward over the rail; but now, before the light, it recoiled with +a queer, horrible litheness. It slid back, and down, and so out of +sight. I have only a confused notion of a wet glistening Something, and +two vile eyes. Then I was running, crazy, towards the break of the poop. +I sprang down the ladder, and missed my footing, and landed on my stern, +at the bottom. In my left hand I held the still burning binnacle lamp. +The men were putting away the capstan-bars; but at my abrupt appearance, +and the yell I gave out at falling, one or two of them fairly ran +backwards a short distance, in sheer funk, before they realised what it +was. + +From somewhere further forrard, the Old Man and the Second Mate came +running aft. + +"What the devil's up now?" sung out the Second, stopping and bending to +stare at me. "What's to do, that you're away from the wheel?" + +I stood up and tried to answer him; but I was so shaken that I could +only stammer. + +"I--I--there--" I stuttered. + +"Damnation!" shouted the Second Mate, angrily. "Get back to the wheel!" + +I hesitated, and tried to explain. + +"Do you damned well hear me?" he sung out. + +"Yes, Sir; but--" I began. + +"Get up on to the poop, Jessop!" he said. + +I went. I meant to explain, when he came up. At the top of the ladder, I +stopped. I was not going back alone to that wheel. Down below, I heard +the Old Man speaking. + +"What on earth is it now, Mr. Tulipson?" he was saying. + +The Second Mate made no immediate reply; but turned to the men, who were +evidently crowding near. + +"That will do, men!" he said, somewhat sharply. + +I heard the watch start to go forrard. There came a mutter of talk from +them. Then the Second Mate answered the Old Man. He could not have known +that I was near enough to overhear him. + +"It's Jessop, Sir. He must have seen something; but we mustn't frighten +the crowd more than need be." + +"No," said the Skipper's voice. + +They turned and came up the ladder, and I ran back a few steps, as far +as the skylight. I heard the Old Man speak as they came up. + +"How is it there are no lamps, Mr. Tulipson?" he said, in a surprised +tone. + +"I thought there would be no need up here, Sir," the Second Mate +replied. Then he added something about saving oil. + +"Better have them, I think," I heard the Skipper say. + +"Very good, Sir," answered the Second, and sung out to the time-keeper +to bring up a couple of lamps. + +Then the two of them walked aft, to where I stood by the skylight. + +"What are you doing, away from the wheel?" asked the Old Man, in a stern +voice. + +I had collected my wits somewhat by now. + +"I won't go, Sir, till there's a light," I said. + +The Skipper stamped his foot, angrily; but the Second Mate stepped +forward. + +"Come! Come, Jessop!" he exclaimed. "This won't do, you know! You'd +better get back to the wheel without further bother." + +"Wait a minute," said the Skipper, at this juncture. "What objection +have you to going back to the wheel?" he asked. + +"I saw something," I said. "It was climbing over the taffrail, Sir--" + +"Ah!" he said, interrupting me with a quick gesture. Then, abruptly: +"Sit down! sit down; you're all in a shake, man." + +I flopped down on to the skylight seat. I was, as he had said, all in a +shake, and the binnacle lamp was wobbling in my hand, so that the light +from it went dancing here and there across the deck. + +"Now," he went on. "Just tell us what you saw." + +I told them, at length, and while I was doing so, the time-keeper +brought up the lights and lashed one up on the sheerpole in each +rigging. + +"Shove one under the spanker boom," the Old Man sung out, as the boy +finished lashing up the other two. "Be smart now." + +"i, i, Sir," said the 'prentice, and hurried off. + +"Now then," remarked the Skipper when this had been done "You needn't be +afraid to go back to the wheel. There's a light over the stern, and the +Second Mate or myself will be up here all the time." + +I stood up. + +"Thank you, Sir," I said, and went aft. I replaced my lamp in the +binnacle, and took hold of the wheel; yet, time and again, I glanced +behind and I was very thankful when, a few minutes later, four bells +went, and I was relieved. + +Though the rest of the chaps were forrard in the fo'cas'le, I did not go +there. I shirked being questioned about my sudden appearance at the foot +of the poop ladder; and so I lit my pipe and wandered about the +maindeck. I did not feel particularly nervous, as there were now two +lanterns in each rigging, and a couple standing upon each of the spare +top-masts under the bulwarks. + +Yet, a little after five bells, it seemed to me that I saw a shadowy +face peer over the rail, a little abaft the fore lanyards. I snatched up +one of the lanterns from off the spar, and flashed the light towards it, +whereupon there was nothing. Only, on my mind, more than my sight, I +fancy, a queer knowledge remained of wet, peery eyes. Afterwards, when I +thought about them, I felt extra beastly. I knew then how brutal they +had been ... Inscrutable, you know. Once more in that same watch I had a +somewhat similar experience, only in this instance it had vanished even +before I had time to reach a light. And then came eight bells, and our +watch below. + + + + +XV + + +_The Great Ghost Ship_ + +When we were called again, at a quarter to four, the man who roused us +out, had some queer information. + +"Toppin's gone--clean vanished!" he told us, as we began to turn out. "I +never was in such a damned, hair-raisin' hooker as this here. It ain't +safe to go about the bloomin' decks." + +"'oo's gone?" asked Plummer, sitting up suddenly and throwing his legs +over his bunk-board. + +"Toppin, one of the 'prentices," replied the man. "We've been huntin' +all over the bloomin' show. We're still at it--but we'll never find +him," he ended, with a sort of gloomy assurance. + +"Oh, I dunno," said Quoin. "P'raps 'e's snoozin' somewheres 'bout." + +"Not him," replied the man. "I tell you we've turned everythin' upside +down. He's not aboard the bloomin' ship. + +"Where was he when they last saw him?" I asked. + +"Someone must know something, you know!" + +"Keepin' time up on the poop," he replied. "The Old Man's nearly shook +the life out of the Mate and the chap at the wheel. And they say they +don't know nothin'." + +"How do you mean?" I inquired. "How do you mean, nothing?" + +"Well," he answered. "The youngster was there one minute, and then the +next thing they knew, he'd gone. They've both sworn black an' blue that +there wasn't a whisper. He's just disappeared off of the face of the +bloomin' earth." + +I got down on to my chest, and reached for my boots. + +Before I could speak again, the man was saying something fresh. + +"See here, mates," he went on. "If things is goin' on like this, I'd +like to know where you an' me'll be befor' long!" + +"We'll be in 'ell," said Plummer. + +"I dunno as I like to think 'bout it," said Quoin. + +"We'll have to think about it!" replied the man. "We've got to think a +bloomin' lot about it. I've talked to our side, an' they're game." + +"Game for what?" I asked. + +"To go an' talk straight to the bloomin' Capting," he said, wagging his +finger at me. "It's make tracks for the nearest bloomin' port, an' don't +you make no bloomin' mistake." + +I opened my mouth to tell him that the probability was we should not be +able to make it, even if he could get the Old Man to see the matter from +his point of view. Then I remembered that the chap had no idea of the +things I had seen, and _thought out_; so, instead, I said: + +"Supposing he won't?" + +"Then we'll have to bloomin' well make him," he replied. + +"And when you got there," I said. "What then? You'd be jolly well locked +up for mutiny." + +"I'd sooner be locked up," he said. "It don't kill you!" + +There was a murmur of agreement from the others, and then a moment of +silence, in which, I know, the men were thinking. + +Jaskett's voice broke into it. + +"I never thought at first as she was 'aunted--" he commenced; but +Plummer cut in across his speech. + +"We mustn't 'urt any one, yer know," he said. "That'd mean 'angin', an' +they ain't been er bad crowd. + +"No," assented everyone, including the chap who had come to call us. + +"All the same," he added. "It's got to be up hellum, an' shove her into +the nearest bloomin' port." + +"Yes," said everyone, and then eight bells went, and we cleared out on +deck. + +Presently, after roll-call--in which there had come a queer, awkward +little pause at Toppin's name--Tammy came over to me. The rest of the +men had gone forrard, and I guessed they were talking over mad plans for +forcing the Skipper's hand, and making him put into port--poor beggars! + +I was leaning over the port rail, by the fore brace-lock, staring down +into the sea, when Tammy came to me. For perhaps a minute he said +nothing. When at last he spoke, it was to say that the shadow vessels +had not been there since daylight. + +"What?" I said, in some surprise. "How do you know?" + +"I woke up when they were searching for Toppin," he replied. "I've not +been asleep since. I came here, right away." He began to say something +further; but stopped short. + +"Yes," I said encouragingly. + +"I didn't know--" he began, and broke off. He caught my arm. "Oh, +Jessop!" he exclaimed. "What's going to be the end of it all? Surely +something can be done?" + +I said nothing. I had a desperate feeling that there was very little we +could do to help ourselves. + +"Can't we do something?" he asked, and shook my arm. "Anything's better +than _this_! We're being _murdered!"_ + +Still, I said nothing; but stared moodily down into the water. I could +plan nothing; though I would get mad, feverish fits of thinking. + +"Do you hear?" he said. He was almost crying. + +"Yes, Tammy," I replied. "But I don't know! I _don't_ know!" + +"You don't know!" he exclaimed. "You don't know! Do you mean we're just +to give in, and be murdered, one after another?" + +"We've done all we can," I replied. "I don't know what else we can do, +unless we go below and lock ourselves in, every night." + +"That would be better than this," he said. "There'll be no one to go +below, or anything else, soon!" + +"But what if it came on to blow?" I asked. "We'd be having the sticks +blown out of her." + +"What if it came on to blow _now_?" he returned. "No one would go aloft, +if it were dark, you said, yourself! Besides, we could shorten her +_right_ down, first. I tell you, in a few days there won't be a chap +alive aboard this packet unless they jolly well do something!" + +"Don't shout," I warned him. "You'll have the Old Man hearing you." But +the young beggar was wound up, and would take no notice. + +"I will shout," he replied. "I want the Old Man to hear. I've a good +mind to go up and tell him." + +He started on a fresh tack. + +"Why don't the men do something?" he began. "They ought to damn well +make the Old Man put us into port! They ought--" + +"For goodness sake, shut up, you little fool!" I said. "What's the good +of talking a lot of damned rot like that? You'll be getting yourself +into trouble." + +"I don't care," he replied. "I'm not going to be murdered!" + +"Look here," I said. "I told you before, that we shouldn't be able to +see the land, even if we made it." + +"You've no proof," he answered. "It's only your idea." + +"Well," I replied. "Proof, or no proof, the Skipper would only pile her +up, if he tried to make the land, with things as they are now." + +"Let him pile her up," he answered. "Let him jolly well pile her up! +That would be better than staying out here to be pulled overboard, or +chucked down from aloft!" + +"Look here, Tammy--" I began; but just then the Second Mate sung out for +him, and he had to go. When he came back, I had started to walk to and +from, across the fore side of the mainmast. He joined me, and after a +minute, he started his wild talk again. + +"Look here, Tammy," I said, once more. "It's no use your talking like +you've been doing. Things are as they are, and it's no one's fault, and +nobody can help it. If you want to talk sensibly, I'll listen; if not, +then go and gas to someone else." + +With that, I returned to the port side, and got up on the spar, again, +intending to sit on the pinrail and have a bit of a talk with him. +Before sitting down I glanced over, into the sea. The action had been +almost mechanical; yet, after a few instants, I was in a state of the +most intense excitement, and without withdrawing my gaze, I reached out +and caught Tammy's arm to attract his attention. + +"My God!" I muttered. "Look!" + +"What is it?" he asked, and bent over the rail, beside me. And this +is what we saw: a little distance below the surface there lay a +pale-coloured, slightly-domed disc. It seemed only a few feet down. +Below it, we saw quite clearly, after a few moment's staring, the shadow +of a royal-yard, and, deeper, the gear and standing-rigging of a great +mast. Far down among the shadows I thought, presently, that I could make +out the immense, indefinite stretch of vast decks. + +"My God!" whispered Tammy, and shut up. But presently, he gave out a +short exclamation, as though an idea had come to him; and got down off +the spar, and ran forrard on to the fo'cas'le head. He came running +back, after a short look into the sea, to tell me that there was the +truck of another great mast coming up there, a bit off the bow, to +within a few feet of the surface of the sea. + +In the meantime, you know, I had been staring like mad down through the +water at the huge, shadowy mast just below me. I had traced out bit by +bit, until now I could clearly see the jackstay, running along the top +of the royal mast; and, you know, the royal itself was _set_. + +But, you know, what was getting at me more than anything, was a feeling +that there was movement down in the water there, among the rigging. I +_thought_ I could actually see, at times, things moving and glinting +faintly and rapidly to and fro in the gear. And once, I was practically +certain that something was on the royal-yard, moving in to the mast; as +though, you know, it might have come up the leech of the sail. And this +way, I got a beastly feeling that there were things swarming down there. + +Unconsciously, I must have leant further and further out over the side, +staring; and suddenly--good Lord! how I yelled--I overbalanced. I made a +sweeping grab, and caught the fore brace, and with that, I was back in a +moment upon the spar. In the same second, almost, it seemed to me that +the surface of the water above the submerged truck was broken, and I am +sure _now,_ I saw something a moment in the air against the ship's side +--a sort of shadow in the air; though I did not realise it at the time. +Anyway, the next instant, Tammy gave out an awful scream, and was head +downwards over the rail, in a second. I had an idea _then_ that he was +jumping overboard. I collared him by the waist of his britchers, and one +knee, and then I had him down on the deck, and sat plump on him; for he +was struggling and shouting all the time, and I was so breathless and +shaken and gone to mush, I could not have trusted my hands to hold him. +You see, I never thought _then_ it was anything but some influence at +work on him; and that he was trying to get loose to go over the side. +But I know _now_ that I saw the shadow-man that had him. Only, at the +time, I was so mixed up, and with the one idea in my head, I was not +really able to notice anything, properly. But, afterwards, I +comprehended a bit (you can understand, can't you?) what I had seen at +the time without taking in. + +And even now looking back, I know that the shadow was only like a +faint-seen greyness in the daylight, against the whiteness of the decks, +clinging against Tammy. + +And there was I, all breathless and sweating, and quivery with my own +tumble, sitting on the little screeching beggar, and he fighting like a +mad thing; so that I thought I should never hold him. + +And then I heard the Second Mate shouting and there came running feet +along the deck. Then many hands were pulling and hauling, to get me off +him. + +"Bl--y cowyard!" sung out someone. + +"Hold him! Hold him!" I shouted. "He'll be overboard!" + +At that, they seemed to understand that I was not ill-treating the +youngster; for they stopped manhandling me, and allowed me to rise; +while two of them took hold of Tammy, and kept him safe. + +"What's the matter with him?" the Second Mate was singing out. "What's +happened?" + +"He's gone off his head, I think," I said. + +"What?" asked the Second Mate. But before I could answer him, Tammy +ceased suddenly to struggle, and flopped down upon the deck. + +"'e's fainted," said Plummer, with some sympathy. He looked at me, with +a puzzled, suspicious air. "What's 'appened? What's 'e been doin'?" + +"Take him aft into the berth!" ordered the Second Mate, a bit abruptly. +It struck me that he wished to prevent questions. He must have tumbled +to the fact that we had seen something, about which it would be better +not to tell the crowd. + +Plummer stooped to lift the boy. + +"No," said the Second Mate. "Not you, Plummer. Jessop, you take him." He +turned to the rest of the men. "That will do," he told them and they +went forrard, muttering a little. + +I lifted the boy, and carried him aft. + +"No need to take him into the berth," said the Second Mate. "Put him +down on the after hatch. I've sent the other lad for some brandy." + +Then the brandy came, we dosed Tammy and soon brought him round. He sat +up, with a somewhat dazed air. Otherwise, he seemed quiet and sane +enough. + +"What's up?" he asked. He caught sight of the Second Mate. "Have I been +ill, Sir?" he exclaimed. + +"You're right enough now, youngster," said the Second Mate. "You've been +a bit off. You'd better go and lie down for a bit." + +"I'm all right now, Sir," replied Tammy. "I don't think--" + +"You do as you're told!" interrupted the Second. "Don't always have to +be told twice! If I want you, I'll send for you." + +Tammy stood up, and made his way, in rather an unsteady fashion, into +the berth. I fancy he was glad enough to lie down. + +"Now then, Jessop," exclaimed the Second Mate, turning to me. "What's +been the cause of all this? Out with it now, smart!" + +I commenced to tell him; but, almost directly, he put up his hand. + +"Hold on a minute," he said. "There's the breeze!" + +He jumped up the port ladder, and sung out to the chap at the wheel. +Then down again. + +"Starboard fore brace," he sung out. He turned to me. "You'll have to +finish telling me afterwards," he said. + +"i, i, Sir," I replied, and went to join the other chaps at the braces. + +As soon as we were braced sharp up on the port tack, he sent some of the +watch up to loose the sails. Then he sung out for me. + +"Go on with your yarn now, Jessop," he said. + +I told him about the great shadow vessel, and I said something about +Tammy--I mean about my not being sure _now_ whether he _had_ tried to +jump overboard. Because, you see, I began to realise that I had seen the +shadow; and I remembered the stirring of the water above the submerged +truck. But the Second did not wait, of course, for any theories, but was +away, like a shot, to see for himself. He ran to the side, and looked +down. I followed, and stood beside him; yet, now that the surface of the +water was blurred by the wind, we could see nothing. + +"It's no good," he remarked, after a minute. "You'd better get away from +the rail before any of the others see you. Just be taking those halyards +aft to the capstan." + +From then, until eight bells, we were hard at work getting the sail upon +her, and when at last eight bells went, I made haste to swallow my +breakfast, and get a sleep. + +At midday, when we went on deck for the afternoon watch, I ran to the +side; but there was no sign of the great shadow ship. All that watch, +the Second Mate kept me working at my paunch mat, and Tammy he put on to +his sinnet, telling me to keep an eye on the youngster. But the boy was +right enough; as I scarcely doubted now, you know; though--a most +unusual thing--he hardly opened his lips the whole afternoon. Then at +four o'clock, we went below for tea. + +At four bells, when we came on deck again, I found that the light +breeze, which had kept us going during the day, had dropped, and we were +only just moving. The sun was low down, and the sky clear. Once or +twice, as I glanced across to the horizon, it seemed to me that I caught +again that odd quiver in the air that had preceded the coming of the +mist; and, indeed on two separate occasions, I saw a thin whisp of haze +drive up, apparently out of the sea. This was at some little distance on +our port beam; otherwise, all was quiet and peaceful; and though I +stared into the water, I could make out no vestige of that great shadow +ship, down in the sea. + +It was some little time after six bells that the order came for all +hands to shorten sail for the night. We took in the royals and +t'gallants, and then the three courses. It was shortly after this, that +a rumour went round the ship that there was to be no look-out that night +after eight o'clock. This naturally created a good deal of talk among +the men; especially as the yarn went that the fo'cas'le doors were to be +shut and fastened as soon as it was dark, and that no one was to be +allowed on deck. + +"'oo's goin' ter take ther wheel?" I heard Plummer ask. + +"I s'pose they'll 'ave us take 'em as usual," replied one of the men. +"One of ther officers is bound ter be on ther poop; so we'll 'ave +company." + +Apart from these remarks, there was a general opinion that--if it were +true--it was a sensible act on the part of the Skipper. As one of the +men said: + +"It ain't likely that there'll be any of us missin' in ther mornin', if +we stays in our bunks all ther blessed night." + +And soon after this, eight bells went. + + + + +XVI + + +_The Ghost Pirates_ + + +At the moment when eight bells actually went, I was in the fo'cas'le, +talking to four of the other watch. Suddenly, away aft, I heard +shouting, and then on the deck overhead, came the loud thudding of +someone pomping with a capstan-bar. Straightway, I turned and made a run +for the port doorway, along with the four other men. We rushed out +through the doorway on to the deck. It was getting dusk; but that did +not hide from me a terrible and extraordinary sight. All along the port +rail there was a queer, undulating greyness, that moved downwards +inboard, and spread over the decks. As I looked, I found that I saw more +clearly, in a most extraordinary way. And, suddenly, all the moving +greyness resolved into hundreds of strange men. In the half-light, they +looked unreal and impossible, as though there had come upon us the +inhabitants of some fantastic dream-world. My God! I thought I was mad. +They swarmed in upon us in a great wave of murderous, living shadows. +From some of the men who must have been going aft for roll-call, there +rose into the evening air a loud, awful shouting. + +"Aloft!" yelled someone; but, as I looked aloft, I saw that the horrible +things were swarming there in scores and scores. + +"Jesus Christ--!" shrieked a man's voice, cut short, and my glance +dropped from aloft, to find two of the men who had come out from the +fo'cas'le with me, rolling upon the deck. They were two +indistinguishable masses that writhed here and there across the planks. +The brutes fairly covered them. From them, came muffled little shrieks +and gasps; and there I stood, and with me were the other two men. A man +darted past us into the fo'cas'le, with two grey men on his back, and I +heard them kill him. The two men by me, ran suddenly across the fore +hatch, and up the starboard ladder on to the fo'cas'le head. Yet, almost +in the same instant, I saw several of the grey men disappear up the +other ladder. From the fo'cas'le head above, I heard the two men +commence to shout, and this died away into a loud scuffling. At that, I +turned to see whether I could get away. I stared round, hopelessly; and +then with two jumps, I was on the pigsty, and from there upon the top of +the deckhouse. I threw myself flat, and waited, breathlessly. + +All at once, it seemed to me that it was darker than it had been the +previous moment, and I raised my head, very cautiously. I saw that the +ship was enveloped in great billows of mist, and then, not six feet from +me, I made out someone lying, face downwards. It was Tammy. I felt safer +now that we were hidden by the mist, and I crawled to him. He gave a +quick gasp of terror when I touched him; but when he saw who it was, he +started to sob like a little kid. + +"Hush!" I said. "For God's sake be quiet!" But I need not have troubled; +for the shrieks of the men being killed, down on the decks all around +us, drowned every other sound. + +I knelt up, and glanced round and then aloft. Overhead, I could make out +dimly the spars and sails, and now as I looked, I saw that the +t'gallants and royals had been unloosed and were hanging in the +buntlines. Almost in the same moment, the terrible crying of the poor +beggars about the decks, ceased; and there succeeded an awful silence, +in which I could distinctly hear Tammy sobbing. I reached out, and shook +him. + +"Be quiet! Be quiet!" I whispered, intensely. "THEY'LL hear us!" + +At my touch and whisper, he struggled to become silent; and then, +overhead, I saw the six yards being swiftly mast-headed. Scarcely were +the sails set, when I heard the swish and flick of gaskets being cast +adrift on the lower yards, and realised that ghostly things were at work +there. + +For a moment or so there was silence, and I made my way cautiously to +the after end of the house, and peered over. Yet, because of the mist, I +could see nothing. Then, abruptly, from behind me, came a single wail of +sudden pain and terror from Tammy. It ended instantly in a sort of +choke. I stood up in the mist and ran back to where I had left the kid; +but he had gone. I stood dazed. I felt like shrieking out loud. Above me +I heard the flaps of the course being tumbled off the yards. Down upon +the decks, there were the noises of a multitude working in a weird, +inhuman silence. Then came the squeal and rattle of blocks and braces +aloft. They were squaring the yards. + +I remained standing. I watched the yards squared, and then I saw the +sails fill suddenly. An instant later, the deck of the house upon which +I stood, became canted forrard. The slope increased, so that I could +scarcely stand, and I grabbed at one of the wire-winches. I wondered, in +a stunned sort of way, what was happening. Almost directly afterwards, +from the deck on the port side of the house, there came a sudden, loud, +human scream; and immediately, from different parts of the decks, there +rose, afresh, some most horrible shouts of agony from odd men. This grew +into an intense screaming that shook my heart up; and there came again a +noise of desperate, brief fighting. Then a breath of cold wind seemed to +play in the mist, and I could see down the slope of the deck. I looked +below me, towards the bows. The jibboom was plunged right into the +water, and, as I stared, the bows disappeared into the sea. The deck of +the house became a wall to me, and I was swinging from the winch, which +was now above my head. I watched the ocean lap over the edge of the +fo'cas'le head, and rush down on to the maindeck, roaring into the empty +fo'cas'le. And still all around me came crying of the lost sailor-men. I +heard something strike the corner of the house above me, with a dull +thud, and then I saw Plummer plunge down into the flood beneath. I +remembered that he had been at the wheel. The next instant, the water +had leapt to my feet; there came a drear chorus of bubbling screams, a +roar of waters, and I was going swiftly down into the darkness. I let go +of the winch, and struck out madly, trying to hold my breath. There was +a loud singing in my ears. It grew louder. I opened my mouth. I felt I +was dying. And then, thank God! I was at the surface, breathing. For the +moment, I was blinded with the water, and my agony of breathlessness. +Then, growing easier, I brushed the water from my eyes and so, not three +hundred yards away, I made out a large ship, floating almost motionless. +At first, I could scarcely believe I saw aright. Then, as I realised +that indeed there was yet a chance of living, I started to swim towards +you. + +You know the rest---- + +"And you think--?" said the Captain, interrogatively, and stopped short. + +"No," replied Jessop. "I don't think. I _know_. None of us _think_. It's +a gospel fact. People _talk_ about queer things happening at sea; but +this isn't one of them. This is one of the _real_ things. You've all +seen queer things; perhaps more than I have. It depends. But they don't +go down in the log. These kinds of things never do. This one won't; at +least, not as it's really happened." + +He nodded his head, slowly, and went on, addressing the Captain more +particularly. + +"I'll bet," he said, deliberately, "that you'll enter it in the +log-book, something like this: + +"'May l8th. Lat.--S. Long.--W. 2 p.m. Light winds from the South and +East. Sighted a full-rigged ship on the starboard bow. Overhauled her in +the first dog-watch. Signalled her; but received no response. During the +second dog-watch she steadily refused to communicate. About eight bells, +it was observed that she seemed to be settling by the head, and a minute +later she foundered suddenly, bows foremost, with all her crew. Put out +a boat and picked up one of the men, an A.B. by the name of Jessop. He +was quite unable to give any explanation of the catastrophe.' + +"And you two," he made a gesture at the First and Second Mates, "will +probably sign your names to it, and so will I, and perhaps one of your +A.B.s. Then when we get home they'll print a report of it in the +newspapers, and people will talk about the unseaworthy ships. Maybe some +of the experts will talk rot about rivets and defective plates and so +forth." + +He laughed, cynically. Then he went on. + +"And you know, when you come to think of it, there's no one except our +own selves will ever know how it happened--really. The shellbacks don't +count. They're only 'beastly, drunken brutes of _common sailors_'--poor +devils! No one would think of taking anything they said, as anything +more than a damned cuffer. Besides, the beggars only tell these things +when they're half-boozed. They wouldn't then (for fear of being laughed +at), only they're not responsible--" + +He broke off, and looked round at us. + +The Skipper and the two Mates nodded their heads, in silent assent. + + + + +APPENDIX + + +_The Silent Ship_ + + +I'm the Third Mate of the _Sangier_, the vessel that picked up Jessop, +you know; and he's asked us to write a short note of what we saw from +our side, and sign it. The Old Man's set me on the job, as he says I can +put it better than he can. + +Well, it was in the first dog-watch that we came up with her, the +_Mortzestus_ I mean; but it was in the second dog-watch that it +happened. The Mate and I were on the poop watching her. You see, we'd +signalled her, and she'd not taken any notice, and that seemed queer, as +we couldn't have been more than three or four hundred yards off her port +beam, and it was a fine evening; so that we could almost have had a +tea-fight, if they'd seemed a pleasant crowd. As it was, we called them +a set of sulky swine, and left it at that, though we still kept our +hoist up. + +All the same, you know, we watched her a lot; and I remember even then I +thought it queer how quiet she was. We couldn't even hear her bell go +and I spoke to the Mate about it, and he said he'd been noticing the +same thing. + +Then, about six bells they shortened her right down to top-sails; and I +can tell you that made us stare more than ever, as anyone can imagine. +And I remember we noticed then especially that we couldn't hear a single +sound from her even when the haul yards were let go; and, you know, +without the glass, I saw their Old Man singing out something; but we +didn't get a sound of it and we _should_ have been able to hear every +word. + +Then, just before eight bells, the thing Jessop's told us about +happened. Both the Mate and the Old Man said they could see men going up +her side a bit indistinct, you know, because it was getting dusk; but +the Second Mate and I half thought we did and half thought we didn't; +but there was something queer; we all knew that; and it looked like a +sort of moving mist along her side. I know I felt pretty funny; but it +wasn't the sort of thing, of course, to be too sure and serious about +until you _were_ sure. + +After the Mate and the Captain had said they saw the men boarding her, +we began to hear sounds from her; very queer at first and rather like a +phonograph makes when it's getting up speed. Then the sounds came +properly from her, and we heard them shouting and yelling; and, you +know, I don't know even now just what I really thought. I was all so +queer and mixed. + +The next thing I remember there was a thick mist round the ship; and +then all the noise was shut off, as if it were all the other side of a +door. But we could still see her masts and spars and sails above the +misty stuff; and both the Captain and the Mate said they could see men +aloft; and I thought I could; but the Second Mate wasn't sure. All the +same though, the sails were all loosed in about a minute, it seemed, and +the yards mastheaded. We couldn't see the courses above the mist; but +Jessop says they were loosed too and sheeted home along with the upper +sails. Then we saw the yards squared and I saw the sails fill bang up +with wind; and yet, you know, ours were slatting. + +The next thing was the one that hit me more than anything. Her masts +took a cant forrard, and then I saw her stem come up out of the mist +that was round her. Then, all in an instant, we could hear sounds from +the vessel again. And I tell you, the men didn't seem to be shouting, +but screaming. Her stern went higher. It was most extraordinary to look +at; and then she went plunk down, head foremost, right bang into the +mist-stuff. + +It's all right what Jessop says, and when we saw him swimming (I was the +one who spotted him) we got out a boat quicker than a wind-jammer ever +got out a boat before, I should think. + + +The Captain and the Mate and the Second and I are +all going to sign this. + +(Signed) +WILLIAM NAWSTON _Master_. +J.E.G. ADAMS _First Mate_. +ED. BROWN _Second Mate_. +JACK T. EVAN _Third Mate_. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Ghost Pirates, by William Hope Hodgson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GHOST PIRATES *** + +***** This file should be named 10966.txt or 10966.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/9/6/10966/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Alev Akman and PG Distributed Proofreaders + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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