nd's. At this, as might be supposed, I
was somewhat shaken in myself to hear so dread a noise coming out of all
that desolation, and then, suddenly, the thought came to me that the
screaming was from the ship to leeward of us, and I ran immediately to
the edge of the cliff overlooking the weed, and stared into the darkness;
but now I perceived, by a light which burned in the hulk, that the
screaming had come from some place a great distance to the right of her,
and more, as my sense assured me, it could by no means have been possible
for those in her to have sent their voices to me against such a breeze as
blew at that time.

And so, for a space, I stood nervously pondering, and peering away into
the blackness of the night; thus, in a little, I perceived a dull glow
upon the horizon, and, presently, there rose into view the upper edge of
the moon, and a very welcome sight it was to me; for I had been upon the
point of calling the bo'sun to inform him regarding the sound which I had
heard; but I had hesitated, being afraid to seem foolish if nothing
should befall. Then, even as I stood watching the moon rise into view,
there came again to me the beginning of that screaming, somewhat like to
the sound of a woman sobbing with a giant's voice, and it grew and
strengthened until it pierced through the roar of the wind with an
amazing clearness, and then slowly, and seeming to echo and echo, it sank
away into the distance, and there was again in my ears no sound beyond
that of the wind.

At this, having looked fixedly in the direction from which the sound had
proceeded, I ran straightway to the tent and roused the bo'sun; for I had
no knowledge of what the noise might portend, and this second cry had
shaken from me all my bashfulness. Now the bo'sun was upon his feet
almost before I had made an end of shaking him, and catching up his great
cutlass which he kept always by his side, he followed me swiftly out on
to the hill-top. Here, I explained to him that I had heard a very
fearsome sound which had appeared to proceed out of the vastness of the
weed-continent, and that, upon a repetition of the noise, I had decided
to call him; for I knew not but that it might signal to us of some coming
danger. At that, the bo'sun commended me; though chiding me in that I had
hesitated to call him at the first occurrence of the crying, and then,
following me to the edge of the leeward cliff, he stood there with me,
waiting and listening, p