And the dark, noiseless men ... I thought a lot
on these lines. Unconsciously, I put a question to myself, aloud:
"Were they the crew?"
"Eh?" said Jaskett, who was on the next chest.
I took hold of myself, as it were, and glanced at him, in an apparently
careless manner.
"Did I speak?" I asked.
"Yes, mate," he replied, eyeing me, curiously. "Yer said sumthin' about
a crew."
"I must have been dreaming," I said; and rose up to put away my plate.
XIV
_The Ghost Ships_
At four o'clock, when again we went on deck, the Second Mate told me to
go on with a paunch mat I was making; while Tammy, he sent to get out
his sinnet. I had the mat slug on the fore side of the mainmast, between
it and the after end of the house; and, in a few minutes, Tammy brought
his sinnet and yarns to the mast, and made fast to one of the pins.
"What do you think it was, Jessop?" he asked, abruptly, after a short
silence.
I looked at him.
"What do you think?" I replied.
"I don't know what to think," he said. "But I've a feeling that it's
something to do with all the rest," and he indicated aloft, with his
head.
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