a. 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 wa