The Ghost Ships
At four o'clock, when again we on deck, the Second Mate told me to go on with a I was making; while Tammy, he sent to out his sinnet. I had the on the of the mainmast, it and the after end of the house; and, in a minutes, Tammy his and to the mast, and fast to one of the pins.
"What do you think it was, Jessop?" he asked, abruptly, after a silence.
I looked at him.
"What do you think?" I replied.
"I don't know what to think," he said. "But I've a that it's something to do with all the rest," and he 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 men-shadows which came aboard, might come from that we had in the sea.
"Good Lord!" he exclaimed, as he got my meaning. And then for a little, he and thought.
"That's where they live, you mean?" he said, at last, and paused again.
"Well," I replied. "It can't be the of we should call life."
He nodded, doubtfully.
"No," he said, and was 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 since these 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 across us. It me that they're ghosts, or not ghosts, they're blood-gutted pirates.
"It horrible," he said solemnly, "to be talking like this, about—you know, about such things."
"I've to stop that way," I told him. "I've I should go cracked, if I didn't. There's at sea, I know; but this isn't one of them."
"It so and unreal, one moment, doesn't it?" he said. "And the next, you know it's true, and you can't why you didn't always know. And yet they'd believe, if you told them about it."
"They'd believe, if they'd been in this packet in the middle watch this morning," I said.
"Besides," I on. "They don't understand. We didn't … I shall always different now, when I read that some packet hasn't been of."
Tammy at me.
"I've some of the old talking about things," he said.
"But I took them seriously."
"Well," I said. "I 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 on in silence; but, presently, he off on another tack.
"Do you think we'll her every night it dark?" he asked.
"Certainly," I replied. "They'll the men to go 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 well be put in first!"
"That settles it, then," I replied. "You wouldn't go, would any one else."
At this moment the Second Mate came along.
"Shove that and that away, you two," he said. "Then your and clear up."
"i, i, Sir," we said, and he 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 stopping it," I said. "You go and put your away."
"Wait a minute," he replied, and up a of from the deck, under where I had been working. Then he ran to the side.
"Here!" I said. "Don't go 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 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 of shakins, right down, directly us.
Some of the from his hand, and the water, momentarily, so that I not see. Then, as the away, I saw what he meant.
"Two of them!" he said, in a voice that was above a whisper. "And there's another out there," and he pointed again with the of shakins.
"There's another a little aft," I muttered.
"Where?—where?" he asked.
"There," I said, and pointed.
"That's four," he whispered. "Four of them!"
I said nothing; but to stare. They appeared to me to be a great way in the sea, and motionless. Yet, though their were and indistinct, there was no that they were very like exact, though shadowy, of vessels. For some minutes we 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 we weren't this morning," he said.
"No," I replied. "I we were."
Away forrard, I the Second Mate, returning aft. He came nearer, and saw us.
"What's up now, you two?" he called, sharply. "This isn't up!"
I put out my hand to him not to shout, and the attention of the of the men.
He took steps me.
"What is it? what is it?" he said, with a irritability; but in a voice.
"You'd take a look over the side, Sir," I replied.
My must have him an that we had something fresh; for, at my words, he one spring, and on the spar, alongside of me.
"Look, Sir," said Tammy. "There's four of them."
The Second Mate down, saw something and forward.
"My God!" I 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 the place with my finger.
It was a little time he managed to these and when he did, he gave them only a glance. Then he got off the spar, and spoke to us.
"Come off there," he said, quickly. "Get your and clear up.
Don't say a word!—It may be nothing."
He appeared to add that last bit, as an afterthought, and we it meant nothing. Then he and aft.
"I he's gone to tell the Old Man," Tammy remarked, as we forrard, the and his sinnet.
"H'm," I said, noticing what he was saying; for I was full of the of those four craft, waiting there.
We got our brooms, and aft. On the way, the Second Mate and the Skipper passed us. They too by the brace, and got up on the spar. I saw the Second point up at the and he appeared to be saying something about the gear. I that this was done purposely, to act as a blind, should any of the other men be looking. Then the Old Man over the side, in a of manner; so did the Second Mate. A minute or two later, they came aft, and back, up on to the poop. I a of the Skipper's as he passed me, on his return. He me as looking worried—bewildered, perhaps, would be a word.
Both Tammy and I were to have another look; but when at last we got a chance, the sky so much on the water, we see nothing below.
We had just up when four went, and we for tea. Some of the men got while they were grubbing.
"I 'ave 'eard," Quoin, "as we're goin' 'er dark."
"Eh?" said old Jaskett, over his of tea.
Quoin his remark.
"'oo says so?" Plummer.
"I 'eard it from 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 to me.
"'ave you 'eard anythin', Jessop?" he inquired.
"What, about down?" I replied.
"Yes," he said. "Weren't Old Man talkin' yer, up on this mornin'?"
"Yes," I answered. "He said something to the Second Mate about down; but it wasn't to me."
"They are!" said Quoin, "'aven't I just said so?"
At that instant, one of the in the other watch, his in through the doorway.
"All hands sail!" he out; at the same moment the Mate's came along the decks.
Plummer up, and for his cap.
"Well," he said. "It's they ain't goin' no more of us!"
Then we out on deck.
It was a calm; but all the same, we the three royals, and then the three t'gallants. After that, we up the main and foresail, and them. The crossjack, of course, had been some time, with the wind being aft.
It was while we were up at the foresail, that the sun over the of the horizon. We had the sail, out upon the yard, and I was waiting for the others to clear in, and let me off the foot-rope. Thus it that having nothing to do for nearly a minute, I the sun set, and so saw something that otherwise I should, most probably, have missed. The sun had nearly half-way the horizon, and was like a great, red of fire. Abruptly, away on the bow, a up out of the sea. It spread across the of the sun, so that its light now as though it came through a of smoke. Quickly, this or thicker; but, at the same time, and taking shapes, so that the red of the sun through them. Then, as I watched, the and and rose into three towers. These more definite, and there was something them. The and continued, and almost 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 on to the sun. Now it was swinging. The came with a movement, until the three in a line. It was directly us. It larger; but yet less distinct. Astern of it, I saw now that the sun had to a line of light. Then, in the it to me that the ship was into the ocean. The sun the sea, and the thing I had merged, as it were, into the of the 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 quickly, and that the were nearly all off the yard.
"i, i, Sir," I muttered, and in along the foot-rope, and on deck. I fresh and frightened.
A little later, eight went, and, after roll call, I up, on to the poop, to the wheel. For a while as I at the wheel my mind blank, and of impressions. This went, after a time, and I that there was a great over the sea. There was no wind, and the creak, of the to off at times.
At the wheel there was nothing to do. I might just as well have been forrard, in the fo'cas'le. Down on the main-deck, I see the of the that had been up to the in the and main rigging. Yet they less than they might, to the that they had been on their after sides, so as not to the officer of the watch more than need be.
The night had come dark, and yet of the dark and the and the lanterns, I was only in occasional of comprehension. For, now that my mind was working, I was of that queer, of mist, I had from the sea, and take shape.
I into the night, the West, and then all me; for, naturally, the memory that she had been us when the came, and it was a of thing to think about. I had such a that something was going to any minute.
Yet, two came and went, and still all was quiet—strangely quiet, it to me. And, of course, the queer, I had in the West I was all the time the four in the sea, under our port side. Every time I them, I for the the maindeck, and I why none had been put in the rigging. I to that they had, and up my mind I would speak to the Second Mate about it, next time he came aft. At the time, he was over the rail across the of the poop. He was not smoking, as I tell; for had he been, I should have the of his pipe, now and then. It was plain to me that he was uneasy. Three times already he had been on to the maindeck, about. I that he had been to look into the sea, for any of those four craft. I they would be visible at night.
Suddenly, the time-keeper three bells, and the notes of the forrard, answered them. I gave a start. It to me that they had been close to my elbow. There was something in the air that night. Then, as the Second Mate answered the look-out's "All's well," there came the and of gear, on the port of the mainmast. Simultaneously, there was the of a parrel, up the main; and I that someone, or something, had let go the main-topsail haul-yards. From there came the of something parting; then the crash of the as it falling.
The Second Mate out something unintelligible, and jumped for the ladder. From the there came the of feet, and the voices of the watch, shouting. Then I the Skipper's voice; he must have out on deck, through the Saloon doorway.
"Get some more lamps! Get some more lamps!" he was out. Then he swore.
He out something further. I the last two words.
"…carried away," they like.
"No, Sir," the Second Mate. "I don't think so."
A minute of some followed; and then came the of pawls. I tell that they had taken the to the after capstan. Odd up to me.
"…all this water?" I in the Old Man's voice. He appeared to be a question.
"Can't say, Sir," came the Second Mate's.
There was a period of time, only by the of the and the of the and the gear. Then the Second Mate's voice came again.
"Seems all right, Sir," I him say.
I the Old Man's reply; for in the same moment, there came to me a of cold at my back. I sharply, and saw something over the taffrail. It had that the light, weirdly, with a frightful, gleam; but that, I see nothing with any distinctness. For the moment, I just stared. I frozen. It was so close. Then movement came to me, and I jumped to the and out the lamp. I round, and the light it. The thing, it was, had come more over the rail; but now, the light, it with a queer, litheness. It back, and down, and so out of sight. I have only a of a wet Something, and two eyes. Then I was running, crazy, the of the poop. I the ladder, and missed my footing, and on my stern, at the bottom. In my left hand I the still lamp. The men were away the capstan-bars; but at my appearance, and the I gave out at falling, one or two of them ran a distance, in funk, they what it was.
From forrard, the Old Man and the Second Mate came aft.
"What the devil's up now?" out the Second, stopping and to at me. "What's to do, that you're away from the wheel?"
I up and to answer him; but I was so that I only stammer.
"I—I—there—" I stuttered.
"Damnation!" the Second Mate, angrily. "Get to the wheel!"
I hesitated, and to explain.
"Do you well me?" he 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 alone to that wheel. Down below, I the Old Man speaking.
"What on earth is it now, Mr. Tulipson?" he was saying.
The Second Mate no reply; but to the men, who were near.
"That will do, men!" he said, sharply.
I the watch start to go forrard. There came a of talk from them. Then the Second Mate answered the Old Man. He not have that I was near to him.
"It's Jessop, Sir. He must have something; but we mustn't the more than need be."
"No," said the Skipper's voice.
They and came up the ladder, and I ran a steps, as as the skylight. I the Old Man speak as they came up.
"How is it there are no lamps, Mr. Tulipson?" he said, in a tone.
"I 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 the Skipper say.
"Very good, Sir," answered the Second, and out to the time-keeper to up a of lamps.
Then the two of them walked aft, to where I by the skylight.
"What are you doing, away from the wheel?" asked the Old Man, in a voice.
I had my by now.
"I won't go, Sir, till there's a light," I said.
The Skipper his foot, angrily; but the Second Mate forward.
"Come! Come, Jessop!" he exclaimed. "This won't do, you know! You'd to the wheel without bother."
"Wait a minute," said the Skipper, at this juncture. "What have you to going to the wheel?" he asked.
"I saw something," I said. "It was over the taffrail, Sir—"
"Ah!" he said, me with a quick gesture. Then, abruptly:
"Sit down! down; you're all in a shake, man."
I on to the seat. I was, as he had said, all in a shake, and the lamp was in my hand, so that the light from it dancing here and there across the deck.
"Now," he on. "Just tell us what you saw."
I told them, at length, and while I was doing so, the time-keeper up the lights and one up on the in each rigging.
"Shove one under the boom," the Old Man out, as the boy up the other two. "Be now."
"i, i, Sir," said the 'prentice, and off.
"Now then," the Skipper when this had been done "You needn't be to go to the wheel. There's a light over the stern, and the Second Mate or myself will be up here all the time."
I up.
"Thank you, Sir," I said, and aft. I replaced my lamp in the binnacle, and took of the wheel; yet, time and again, I and I was very when, a minutes later, four went, and I was relieved.
Though the of the were in the fo'cas'le, I did not go there. I being questioned about my at the of the ladder; and so I my pipe and about the maindeck. I did not particularly nervous, as there were now two in each rigging, and a upon each of the top-masts under the bulwarks.
Yet, a little after five bells, it to me that I saw a over the rail, a little the lanyards. I up one of the from off the spar, and the light it, there was nothing. Only, on my mind, more than my sight, I fancy, a knowledge of wet, eyes. Afterwards, when I about them, I beastly. I then how they had been … Inscrutable, you know. Once more in that same watch I had a experience, only in this it had I had time to a light. And then came eight bells, and our watch below.
