“Out of this! out of this! out of this!” repeated the voice.
“That is no answer to my question,” said Charley, undaunted, and peering into the darkness, in the direction from whence the voice appeared to proceed.
“Out of this! out of this! out of this!” said the voice.
“I say, you had better get out of this, or I’ll be trying the thickness of your skull with my walking-stick.”
There was a loud groan and a clanking of chains; a light flashed in Charley’s eyes, and at the same moment he saw at the further end of the room, near the door, a tall figure in white. The instant he saw it the young sailor’s shoe was flying across the room, and he following it with his stick in his hand; the ghost, if ghost it was, made a rapid spring through the doorway, and fled along the passage. Charley, having no light, could not follow, so he returned to his room, and took his post behind the door, hoping that if the ghost should come back he might have the satisfaction of trying the strength of his stick on its head, supposing ghosts to have heads. In this case, at all events, it showed that it possessed some sense, as, though he waited till he was almost as cold as the ghost might be supposed to be, it never came back, so he picked up his thick shoes, and with them and his trusty stick by his side, ready for any emergency, got into bed again.
Meantime, Lieutenant Dugong had been sleeping soundly in a cot formerly used by the captain, which Tom had slung for him in the unused room. He was contentedly snoring away, when suddenly he felt a tremendous blow under his back, which almost sent him flying out of his cot, which immediately afterwards was violently shaken from side to side. “Hullo! what’s got hold of the ship now?” he cried out, only half awake. “Steady, now! Steady! All comes from bad steering.” However, directly afterwards awaking, he struck out right and left with his fists, hoping to catch those disturbing him.
A loud, hoarse laugh followed, and the next moment a light flashed in the room, and a figure in white appeared before him, and he heard, amid rattling of chains and groans, the words, “Out of this! out of this! out of this!”
“Get out of this indeed! I’ll see you at the bottom of the Red Sea first!” exclaimed the fat lieutenant, “I’ve done my duty; and so if you are a ghost I don’t fear you; and if you are not, just wait a bit, and I’ll give you such a drubbing that it will be a long time before you venture again to awake a naval officer out of his first sleep.”
Whether or not the ghost understood this address it is difficult to say; but at all events, as the gallant officer began to get out of his cot, an operation he could not very rapidly perform, it vanished from his sight, so he drew in his stout legs again, rolled himself up, and under the impression that he was suffering from nightmare from having taken too much lobster at supper, was in two minutes fast asleep, to be awakened again in a minute by the loud report of a pistol, which made him start up and look about him in earnest, not to see anything, however, for it was nearly dark, as a faint glimmer of starlight alone came through the long, narrow, and only window in the room.
What befel the other inmates of the Tower on that memorable night must be narrated in another chapter.