"Strange as the glimmer of the ghastly light That shines from some vast crest of wave at night."...

William Hope Hodgson 1909 To Mary Whalley  "Olden memories that shine against death's night—   Quiet stars of sweet enchantments,   That are seen In Life's lost distances…" The World of Dreams Author's Preface This book forms the last of three. The first published was " The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig' "; the second, " The House on the Borderland "; this, the third, completes what, perhaps, may be termed a trilogy; for, though very different in scope, each of the three books deals with certain con

What Tammy the 'Prentice Saw The next morning, in my watch below, I had a look at the places where that strange thing had come aboard, and left the ship; but I found nothing unusual, and no clue to help me to understand the mystery of the strange man. For several days after that, all went quietly; though I prowled about the decks at night, trying to discover anything fresh that might tend to throw some light on the matter. I was careful to say nothing to any one about the thing I had seen. In an

The Man up the Main It occurred in the first watch, just after six bells. I was forward, sitting on the fore-hatch. No one was about the maindeck. The night was exceedingly fine; and the wind had dropped away almost to nothing, so that the ship was very quiet. Suddenly, I heard the Second Mate's voice— "In the main-rigging, there! Who's that going aloft?" I sat up on the hatch, and listened. There succeeded an intense silence. Then the Second's voice came again. He was evidently getting wild. "D

The Fooling with the Sail It was on the Friday night, that the Second Mate had the watch aloft looking for the man up the main; and for the next five days little else was talked about; though, with the exception of Williams, Tammy and myself, no one seemed to think of treating the matter seriously. Perhaps I should not exclude Quoin, who still persisted, on every occasion, that there was a stowaway aboard. As for the Second Mate, I have very little doubt now , but that he was beginning to realis

The End of Williams As I have said, there was a lot of talk, among the crowd of us forrard, about Tom's strange accident. None of the men knew that Williams and I had seen it happen . Stubbins gave it as his opinion that Tom had been sleepy, and missed the foot-rope. Tom, of course, would not have this by any means. Yet, he had no one to appeal to; for, at that time, he was just as ignorant as the rest, that we had seen the sail flap up over the yard. Stubbins insisted that it stood to reason it

Another Man to the Wheel The conversation had slacked off. We were all moody and shaken, and I know I, for one, was thinking some rather troublesome thoughts. Suddenly, I heard the sound of the Second's whistle. Then his voice came along the deck: "Another man to the wheel!" "'e's singin' out for some one to go aft an' relieve ther wheel," said Quoin, who had gone to the door to listen. "Yer'd better 'urry up, Plummer." "What's ther time?" asked Plummer, standing up and knocking out his pipe. "M

The Coming of the Mist and That Which It Ushered We buried Williams at midday. Poor beggar! It had been so sudden. All day the men were awed and gloomy, and there was a lot of talk about there being a Jonah aboard. If they'd only known what Tammy and I, and perhaps the Second Mate, knew! And then the next thing came—the mist. I cannot remember now, whether it was on the day we buried Williams that we first saw it, or the day after. When first I noticed it, like everybody else aboard, I took it t

The Man Who Cried for Help It was, as I have said, on the following night that something further happened. And it brought home pretty vividly to me, if not to any of the others, the sense of a personal danger aboard. We had gone below for the eight to twelve watch, and my last impression of the weather at eight o'clock, was that the wind was freshening. There had been a great bank of cloud rising astern, which had looked as if it were going to breeze up still more. At a quarter to twelve, when w

Hands That Plucked Directly we reached the deck, the Second Mate gave the order: "Mizzen t'gallant clewlines and buntlines," and led the way up on to the poop. He went and stood by the haulyards, ready to lower away. As I walked across to the starboard clewline, I saw that the Old Man was on deck, and as I took hold of the rope, I heard him sing out to the Second Mate. "Call all hands to shorten sail, Mr. Tulipson." "Very good, Sir," the Second Mate replied. Then he raised his voice: "Go forrard

The Search for Stubbins In a confused way, I was conscious that the Skipper and the Mates were down among us, trying to get us into some state of calmness. Eventually they succeeded, and we were told to go aft to the Saloon door, which we did in a body. Here, the Skipper himself served out a large tot of rum to each of us. Then, at his orders, the Second Mate called the roll. He called over the Mate's watch first, and everyone answered. Then he came to ours, and he must have been much agitated;

The Council A few minutes later, the Second Mate came forrard again. I was still standing near the rigging, holding the lantern, in an aimless sort of way. "That you, Plummer?" he asked. "No, Sir," I said. "It's Jessop." "Where's Plummer, then?" he inquired. "I don't know, Sir," I answered. "I expect he's gone forrard. Shall I go and tell him you want him?" "No, there's no need," he said. "Tie your lamp up in the rigging—on the sheerpole there. Then go and get his, and shove it up on the starboa

The Shadow in the Sea When eight bells went, at four o'clock, and the other watch came on deck to relieve us, it had been broad daylight for some time. Before we went below, the Second Mate had the three t'gallants set; and now that it was light, we were pretty curious to have a look aloft, especially up the fore; and Tom, who had been up to overhaul the gear, was questioned a lot, when he came down, as to whether there were any signs of anything queer up there. But he told us there was nothing

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. "

The Great Ghost Ship When we were called again, at a quarter to four, the man who roused us out, had some queer information. "Toppin's gone—clean vanished!" he told us, as we began to turn out. "I never was in such a damned, hair-raisin' hooker as this here. It ain't safe to go about the bloomin' decks." "'oo's gone?" asked Plummer, sitting up suddenly and throwing his legs over his bunk-board. "Toppin, one of the 'prentices," replied the man. "We've been huntin' all over the bloomin' show. We'r

The Ghost Pirates At the moment when eight bells actually went, I was in the fo'cas'le, talking to four of the other watch. Suddenly, away aft, I heard shouting, and then on the deck overhead, came the loud thudding of someone pomping with a capstan-bar. Straightway, I turned and made a run for the port doorway, along with the four other men. We rushed out through the doorway on to the deck. It was getting dusk; but that did not hide from me a terrible and extraordinary sight. All along the port

The Silent Ship I'm the Third Mate of the Sangier , the vessel that picked up Jessop, you know; and he's asked us to write a short note of what we saw from our side, and sign it. The Old Man's set me on the job, as he says I can put it better than he can. Well, it was in the first dog-watch that we came up with her, the Mortzestus I mean; but it was in the second dog-watch that it happened. The Mate and I were on the poop watching her. You see, we'd signalled her, and she'd not taken any notice,