We discussed the injustice of thus making slaves of free men, and unconsciously, perhaps because of the quiet everywhere around, our voices sank into whispers.
Then it was that [suddenly I saw rising out from the forecastle hatchway a white mass].
[“SUDDENLY I SAW, RISING OUT FROM THE FORECASTLE HATCHWAY, A WHITE MASS.”]
I failed to distinguish any semblance of a human form, and yet, even in the darkness could see that this—whatever it might be—occupied no more space than would have been taken up by a man’s body.
Fear seized upon me at once, but even in my terror and bewilderment, I wondered how it was possible for me thus plainly to discern anything at such a distance, while the darkness was so dense as to prevent my seeing members of the watch standing near at hand.
Just for an instant I fancied myself the victim of a delusion; but as I sat bolt upright, gazing forward with my very heart in my eyes, Simon Ropes grasped me by the arm nervously, yet firmly.
Then I knew that he had seen the same shape, and was no less alarmed than I.
An exclamation of fear from out the darkness, twenty paces or more away, told that we two were not the only ones who had seen this strange sight, and immediately came a hail from the quarter-deck:
“Who’s that yelling like a baby?”