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 to