"The man must be mad."
"I should have said he had been drunk, but there doesn't seem to be any trace of that. Anyhow, he sees visions, and I maintain that the Chatham and Dover people oughtn't to have their boats steered by men who see visions, eh?"
"I agree with you. I suppose we aren't now in any real danger?"
"I should hardly think so. We might have been. It was pure luck that we happened to get struck on the paddle-box, and also it was pure luck that the sea has gone down so rapidly. With a list like this, a really lively cross-sea would soon have settled us."
We were silent for a few moments. The girl looked idly round the ship, and her eyes encountered the figure of the mysterious man. She seemed to shiver.
"Oh!" she exclaimed under her breath, "what a terrible face that man has!"
"Where?" said her friend.
"Over there. And how is it he's wearing a silk hat—here?"
His glance followed hers, but my follower had turned abruptly round, and in a moment was moving quickly to the after-part of the ship. He passed behind the smoke-stack, and was lost to our view.
"The back of him looks pretty stiff," the young man said. "I wonder if he's the chap that alarmed the man at the wheel."