But the excitement of the quest had caught me at last, and I was panting for the next words from that strange, disembodied voice.
“This is Mattie,” it repeated, fainter now. “Doesn’t anybody want to speak to Mattie?”
“Where are you, Mattie?” demanded the judge.
There was a dreadful silence.
“They never answer that,” whispered the ship-captain. “You’d better try something else.” Then, addressing the spirit of Mattie directly, the captain asked: “Who do you want to speak to? Can you tell?”
“To the woman,” wailed the voice.
“To you,” they all hissed at me.
“What do you want?” I besought it.
“You must leave.”
“Leave where?”