"Our captain didn't believe it; anyway, he ordered a search made in the place where the ghost was, and after overhauling a lot of stuff they found a dead rat there. 'Twas the rat that caused the ghostly smell, and probably the imagination of the sailors did the rest. The man who first smelled the ghost got ten lashes for not reporting it right away.
"The biggest lot of ghosts I ever heard of in one crowd was down in the West Indies. The story was that Admiral Hosier had asked permission to attack Porto Bello and the request was denied. A few years later, Admiral Hosier was removed from command, went home, and died. Afterwards Porto Bello was assaulted and captured, and after the capture, the commander of the fleet which had taken the place saw the ghost of the admiral, and with it the ghosts of all his crews, and the phantoms of all his ships. 'Twas the biggest turnout of ghosts I ever heard of."
"Yes, indeed it was," I answered; "I wonder if those ghosts took any part in the fighting at the capture of Porto Bello."
"I don't know that they did," said Haines; "but I've heard of ghosts what went into battle and helped their friends very much, not by handling the weapons, but by scaring the people on the other side.
"Well, here's a story of a ghost I know all about," said Haines; "a ship I sailed in once had a ghost that first appeared to the mate. That is to say, the mate heard somebody groaning in an empty cabin, and went up on deck in a hurry. One night some of the men in the forecastle in their watch below saw a ghost, and they all agreed as to the description of it. Two or three times a ghost was seen in the rigging, and one night the captain happened to be on deck and saw him out at the end of a yard-arm. The captain slipped quietly up the rigging and caught the ghost."
"Caught him, did he?" said I. "Why, I thought it was impossible to lay hands on a ghost!"
"Well," said Haines, "that ghost turned out to be a sailor who had been playing these tricks on his comrades in revenge for something the captain had done to him in the early part of the voyage."
Our conversation on ghosts was interrupted by the welcome cry of, "Sail, ho!" in the voice of Mr. Stevens, who had once more gone aloft to look for the Warwick.
"What do you make her out?" the captain asked.