“ ‘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 onto the yardarms with those flares, you two men!’ shouted the Skipper. ‘Be smart, now! Keep them away from the sail!’
“The men got onto the footropes—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 yardarms, 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 yardarm 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 footrope. 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 topmast and looked.
“ ‘What is the matter, Mr. Tulipson?’ I heard the Old Man singing out.
“Out on the yardarm, 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 footrope 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 report. In the same moment I saw that the footrope ceased to shake.
“ ‘Light your flare! Light your flare, Jaskett!’ the second shouted. ‘Be smart, now!’
“Out at the yardarm there came the 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 footrope, 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 onto the footrope, 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 fore side of the sail, that I saw a small hole a little below the footrope, through which a ray of 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 onto the port side of the mast.
“To my right Plummer’s flare 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 onto 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 straightaway 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 who had dropped on to the t’gallant run swiftly along the yard—one to the starboard and the other to the port yardarms.
“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 to
wards 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 clinging 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!’
“ ‘Aye, aye, 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 off 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 around 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 stopped 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 forward, and I do not think he realized that I was standing by him.
“ ‘My God! O, my God!’ he muttered, and began to walk slowly aft.
“He had cause for groaning. There were three dead, and Stubbins had gone utterly and completely. We never saw him again.
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 8-to-12 watch, I saw the Sailmaker coming forward 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, upon 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, ho
arse 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 forward, 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. And as I realized what the shape was, a queer, cold bunk 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!’
The Dream of X and Other Fantastic Visions Page 39