"Come on!" shouted the captain; "that's another of the rascal's tricks to scare us. We'll catch him at it this time, though, and when we do——"
He left the grim threat unfinished, as, pistol in hand, he started forward through the fog. Close on his heels came the boys, their hearts beating entirely too fast for comfort.
As they started forward the ringing ceased as abruptly as it had begun.
"That won't save you, you coward!" roared the captain into the fog. "Come on out, like a man, and face the music. Come on, you hound, and take your lesson."
But, when, within one second's time, they reached the bell which was hung just forward of the foremast, there was nobody to be seen!
CHAPTER XVII.
THE "ISLAND QUEEN'S" SECRET.
Well, I will leave you to imagine for yourselves just how the boys looked and felt and acted at this amazing discovery.
They were baffled, mystified, and, to tell the truth, not a little alarmed.
A human enemy they would not have feared. But in the darkness, with the moisture from the fog dripping in a melancholy fashion on the deck, the near presence of the supernatural—for such was the only conclusion left—was, to say the least, disquieting.