t no sound came to me in all that ocean, save the rippling of the
water upon our bends as the boat forged slowly along. And so I settled
down to pass the time ere I should be allowed to sleep; but first I asked
the man whom I had relieved, how long a time had passed since moon-rise;
to which he replied that it was no more than the half of an hour, and
after that I questioned whether he had seen aught strange amid the weed
during his time at the oar; but he had seen nothing, except that once he
had fancied a light had shown in the midst of the waste; yet it could
have been naught save a humor of the imagination; though apart from this,
he had heard a strange crying a little after midnight, and twice there
had been great splashes among the weed. And after that he fell asleep,
being impatient at my questioning.

Now it so chanced that my watch had come just before the dawn; for which
I was full of thankfulness, being in that frame of mind when the dark
breeds strange and unwholesome fancies. Yet, though I was so near to the
dawn, I was not to escape free of the eerie influence of that place; for,
as I sat, running my gaze to and fro over its grey immensity, it came to
me that there were strange movements among the weed, and I seemed to see
vaguely, as one may see things in dreams, dim white faces peer out at me
here and there; yet my common sense assured me that I was but deceived by
the uncertain light and the sleep in my eyes; yet for all that, it put my
nerves on the quiver.

A little later, there came to my ears the noise of a very great splash
amid the weed; but though I stared with intentness, I could nowhere
discern aught as likely to be the cause thereof. And then, suddenly,
between me and the moon, there drove up from out of that great waste a
vast bulk, flinging huge masses of weed in all directions. It seemed to
be no more than a hundred fathoms distant, and, against the moon, I saw
the outline of it most clearly--a mighty devilfish. Then it had fallen
back once more with a prodigious splash, and so the quiet fell again,
finding me sore afraid, and no little bewildered that so monstrous a
creature could leap with such agility. And then (in my fright I had let
the boat come near to the edge of the weed) there came a subtle stir
opposite to our starboard bow, and something slid down into the water. I
swayed upon the oar to turn the boat's head outward, and with the same
movement leant forward and sideways to peer,