Nearer and nearer the inventor crawled to the thing. It turned to face him now and Mr. Henderson could not help feeling startled as he saw the object had no head. The neck ended in a white stump.
In spite of a little feeling of qualmishness, which even his boasted disbelief in ghosts did not save him from, Mr. Henderson was about to spring upon the thing and solve the mystery.
At that instant, however, Washington, who was coming on deck to take up his watch, appeared at the head of the companionway, and caught sight of the terrible object.
The yells of the colored man as he dove downward and back into the cabin, aroused the ship. Determined to solve the mystery, in spite of everything, the professor made a leap forward. He slipped, and tumbled down the iron stairway. At the same time, the ghost, with a blood curdling yell, leaped over the professor's back, and disappeared down the stairs of the conning tower.
In an instant the crew were rushing from their bunk rooms, seeking a meaning for the disturbance.
"It was the ghost again," explained the professor as he picked himself up, not much the worse for his tumble. "I tried to catch it, but I didn't. Come, Washington, it is your turn to stand watch."
"Not to-night," said Washington firmly.
It was no use to urge him, so Jack good-naturedly stood Washington's trick. Nothing further however occurred that night.
In the morning the professor made several observations and found that he was within one hundred and fifty miles of the south pole.