Cornishman--three good men,
Mart'n--lost, vanished, gone! And, O pal, wi' never a mark or trace to
tell how!"

"Lost! D'ye mean--overboard?"

"No, Mart'n, I mean--lost! And each of them i' the middle watch--the
sleepy hour, Mart'n, just afore dawn. In a fair night, pal, wi' a calm
sea--these men vanish and none to see 'em go. And all of 'em prime
sailor-men and trusty. The which, Mart'n, sets a cove to wondering
who'll be next."

"But are you sure they are gone?"

"Aye, Mart'n, we've sought 'em alow and aloft, all over the ship, save
only this hole o' yourn--the which you might ha' known had ye slept
less."

"Have I slept so much, then?"

"Pal, you've done little else since you came aboard, seemingly. All
yesterday, as I do know, you slept and never stirred nor took so much
as bite or sup--and I know because while we was a' turning out the hold
a-seekin' and a-searchin' I come and took a look at ye every now and
then, and here's you a-lyin' like a dead man but for your snoring."

"Here's strange thing, and mighty strange! For until I came aboard I
was ever a wondrous light sleeper, Godby."

"Why, 'tis the stench o' this place--faugh! Come aloft and take a
mouthful o' good, sweet air, pal."

"You say you sought these men everywhere--even down here in the hold?"

"Aye, alow and aloft, every bulkhead and timber from trucks to keelson!"

"And all this time I was asleep, Godby?"

"Aye--like a log, Mart'n."

"And breathing heavily?"

"Aye, ye did so, pal, groaning ye might call it--aye, fit to chill a
man's good blood!"

"And neither you nor Adam nor the others thought to search this
dog-hole of mine?"

"Lord love ye--no, Mart'n! How should three men hide here?"

"Three men? Aye, true enough!" says I, clasping my head to stay the
rush and hurry of my thoughts.

"Come aloft, pal, 'tis a fair evening and the fine folk all a-supping
in the great cabin. Come into the air."

"Yes," I nodded, "yes, 'twill clear my head and I must think, Godby, I
must think. Reach me my doublet," says I, for now I felt myself all
shivering as with cold. So Godby took up the garment where it lay and
held it out to me; but all at once let it fall and, drawing back, stood
staring down at it, and all with never a word; whiles I sat crouched
upon my bed, my head between my clenched fists and my mind reeling
beneath the growing horror of the thought that filled me. And now,
even as this thought took dreadful shape a