"Those stormy petrels suspect something wrong, too, they follow us everywhere."
"Jack says he saw the spectre ship last night."
"Is that true, Jack?"
"Why should I say so, if I hadn't seen it? You were all asleep, I stood alone at the helm. Suddenly, from the distance, the form of a ship moved toward us. It seemed scarcely to touch the water, and was sailing against the wind. Shadows that looked like men were moving about her deck as if pulling on the ropes, and a misty shape, like the captain, glided to and fro. Terrified, I hailed the apparition, and suddenly the whole vision vanished, but I heard distinctly, above the whistling of the wind and the plashing of the waves, the flapping of the ropes against the mast of the spectre ship."
The sailors gazed timidly at the cloud-veiled horizon, as they usually do when ghost stories are told in their presence.
"Look, look yonder!" said Philip, suddenly pointing into the gray mist, "I swear by St. George, I see the spectre ship!"
His messmates, panting for breath, followed the direction of his finger. The lightning flashed and they all made the sign of the cross.
"There it is."
"What do you see there?" called the captain, noticing the surprise of his men.