The Collected Fiction of William Hope Hodgson: The Dream Of X & Other Fantastic Visions (52 page)

“ ‘Smartly with that light, boy!’ he shouted. And the blue glare blazed out again, almost before he had finished speaking.

“I stared up at the Skipper. He was standing where I had seen him before the light went out, and so were the two men. As I looked, he commenced to climb again. I glanced across to starboard. Jaskett and the other man in the Mate’s watch were about midway between the deck of the house and the foretop. Their faces showed extraordinarily pale in the dead glare of the blue-light. Higher I saw the Second Mate in the futtock rigging, holding his light up over, the edge of the top. Then he went further and disappeared. The man with the blue-lights followed, and also vanished from view. On the port side, and more directly above me, the Skipper’s feet were just stepping out of the futtock shrouds. At that I made haste to follow.

“Then, suddenly, when I was close under the top, there came from above me the sharp flare of a blue-light, and almost in the same instant Tammy’s went out. I glanced down at the decks. They were filled with flickering, grotesque shadows cast by the dripping light above. A group of the men stood by the port galley door—their faces upturned and pale and unreal under the gleam of the light. Then I was in the futtock rigging, and a moment afterwards standing in the top, beside the Old Man. He was shouting to the men who had gone out on the crane lines. It seemed that the man on the port side was bungling; but at last—nearly a minute after the other man had lit his flare—he got his going. In that time the man in the top had lit his second blue-light, and we were ready to get into the topmast rigging. First, however, the Skipper leant over the after side of the top, and sung out to the First Mate to send a man up onto the fo’cas’le head with a flare. The Mate replied, and then we started again, the Old Man leading.

“Fortunately, the rain had ceased, and there seemed to be no increase in the wind; indeed, if anything, there appeared to be rather less; yet what there was drove the flames of the flare-ups out into occasional, twisting serpents of fire at least a yard long.

“About half-way up the topmast rigging the Second Mate sung out to the Skipper to know whether Plummer should light his flare; but the Old Man said he had better wait until we reached the crosstrees, as then he could get out, away from the gear, to where there would be less danger of setting fire to anything.

“We neared the crosstrees, and the Old Man stooped and sung out to me to pass him the lantern by Quoin. A few ratlines more and both he and the Second Mate stopped almost simultaneously, holding their lanterns as high as possible, and peered into the darkness.

“ ‘See any signs of him, Mr. Tulipson?’ the Old Man asked.

“ ‘No, Sir,’ replied the second. ‘Not a sign.’

“He raised his voice.

“ ‘Stubbins!’ he sung out. ‘Stubbins! Are you there?’

“We listened; but nothing came to us beyond the blowing moan of the wind, and the flap, flap of the bellying t’gallant above.

“The Second Mate climbed over the crosstrees, and Plummer followed. The man got out by the royal backstay and lit his flare. By its light we could see plainly; but there was no vestige of Stubbins, so far as the light went.

“ ‘Get out onto the yardarms with those flares, you two men!’ shouted the Skipper. ‘Be smart, now! Keep them away from the sail!’

“The men got onto the footropes—Quoin on the port and Jaskett on the starboard side. By the light from Plummer’s flare I could see them clearly as they lay out upon the yard. It occurred to me that they went gingerly—which is no surprising thing. And then, as they drew near to the yardarms, they passed beyond the brilliance of the light, so that I could not see them clearly. A few seconds passed, and then the light from Quoin’s flare streamed out upon the wind; yet nearly a minute went by, and there was no sign of Jaskett’s.

“Then out from the semi-darkness at the starboard yardarm there came a curse from Jaskett, followed almost immediately by a noise of something vibrating.

“ ‘What’s up?’ shouted the Second Mate. ‘What’s up, Jaskett?’

“ ‘It’s ther footrope. Sir—r—r!’ He drew out the last word into a sort of gasp.

“The Second Mate bent quickly with the lantern. I craned round the after side of the topmast and looked.

“ ‘What is the matter, Mr. Tulipson?’ I heard the Old Man singing out.

“Out on the yardarm, Jaskett began to shout for help, and then, all at once, in the light from the Second Mate’s lantern, I saw that the starboard footrope on the upper topsail yard was being violently shaken—savagely shaken, is perhaps a better word. And then, almost in the same instant, the Second Mate shifted the lantern from his right to his left hand. He put the right into his pocket and brought out his gun with a jerk. He extended his hand and arm, as though pointing at something a little below the yard. Then a quick flash spat out across the shadows, followed immediately by a sharp, ringing report. In the same moment I saw that the footrope ceased to shake.

“ ‘Light your flare! Light your flare, Jaskett!’ the second shouted. ‘Be smart, now!’

“Out at the yardarm there came the splutter of a match, and then, straightaway, a great spurt of fire as the flare took light.

“ ‘That’s better, Jaskett. You’re all right now!’ the Second Mate called out to him.

“ ‘What was it, Mr. Tulipson?’ I heard the Skipper ask.

“I looked up, and saw that he had sprung across to where the Second Mate was standing. The Second Mate explained to him; but he did not speak loud enough for me to catch what he said.

“I had been struck by Jaskett’s attitude, when the light of his flare had first revealed him. He had been crouched with his right knee cocked over the yard and his left leg down between it and the footrope, while his elbows had been crooked over the yard for support as he was lighting the flare. Now, however, he had slid both feet back onto the footrope, and was lying on his belly over the yard, with the flare held a little below the head of the sail. It was thus, with the light being on the fore side of the sail, that I saw a small hole a little below the footrope, through which a ray of light shone. It was undoubtedly the hole which the bullet from the Second Mate’s revolver had made in the sail. Then I heard the Old Man shouting to Jaskett:

“ ‘Be careful with that flare, there!’ he sung out. ‘You’ll be having that sail scorched!’

‘“He left the Second Mate, and came onto the port side of the mast.

“To my right Plummer’s flare seemed to be dwindling. I glanced up at his face through the smoke. He was paying no attention to it; instead he was staring up above his head.

“ ‘Shove some paraffin onto it, Plummer,’ I called to him. ‘It’ll be out in a minute.’

“He looked down quickly to the light, and did as I suggested. Then he held it out at arm’s length, and peered up again into the darkness.

“ ‘See anything?’ asked the Old Man, suddenly observing his attitude.

“Plummer glanced at him, with a start.

“ ‘It’s ther r’yal, Sir,’ he explained. ‘It’s all adrift.’

“ ‘What!’ said the Old Man.

“He was standing a few ratlines up the t’gallant rigging, and he bent his body outwards to get a better look.

“ ‘Mr. Tulipson!’ he shouted. ‘Do you know that the royal’s all adrift?’

“ ‘No Sir,’ answered the Second Mate. ‘If it is, it’s more of this devilish work!’

“ ‘It’s adrift, right enough,’ said the Skipper, and he and the second went a few ratlines higher, keeping level with one another.

“I had now got above the crosstrees, and was just at the Old Man’s heels.

“Suddenly he shouted out:

“ ‘There he is! Stubbins—Stubbins!’

“ ‘Where, Sir?’ asked the second, eagerly. ‘I can’t see him!’

“ ‘There—there!’ replied the Skipper, pointing.

“I leant out from the rigging and looked up along his back in the direction his finger indicated. At first I could see nothing; then, slowly, you know, there grew upon my sight a dim figure crouching upon the bunt of the royal, and partly hidden by the mast. I stared, and gradually it came to me that there was a couple of them, and, further out upon the yard, a hump that might have been anything, and was only visible indistinctly amid the flutter of the canvas.

“ ‘Stubbins!’ the Skipper sung out. ‘Stubbins, come down out of that! Do you hear me?’

“But no one came, and there was no answer.

“ ‘There’s two—’ I began; but he was shouting again:

“ ‘Come down out of that! Do you damned well hear me?’

“Still there was no reply.

“ ‘I’m hanged if I can see him at all, Sir!’ the Second Mate called out from his side of the mast.

“ ‘Can’t see him!’ said the Old Man, now thoroughly angry. ‘I’ll soon let you see him!’

“He bent down to me with the lantern.

“ ‘Catch hold, Jessop,’ he said, which I did.

“Then he pulled the blue-light from his pocket, and as he was doing so, I saw the second peek round the back side of the mast at him. Evidently, in the uncertain light, he must have mistaken the Skipper’s action; for, all at once, he shouted out in a frightened voice:

“ ‘Don’t shoot, Sir! For God’s sake, don’t shoot!’

“ ‘Shoot be damned!’ exclaimed the Old Man. ‘Watch!’

“He pulled off the cap of the light.

“ ‘There’s two of them, Sir,’ I called again to him.

“ ‘What!’ he said in a loud voice, and at the same instant he rubbed the end of the light across the cap, and it burst into fire.

“He held it up so that it lit the royal yard like day, and straightaway a couple of shapes dropped silently from the royal on to the t’gallant yard. At the same moment, the humped something, midway out upon the yard, rose up. It ran in to the mast, and I lost sight of it.

“ ‘—God!’ I heard the Skipper gasp, and he fumbled in his side pocket.

“I saw the two figures who had dropped on to the t’gallant run swiftly along the yard—one to the starboard and the other to the port yardarms.

“On the other side of the mast, the Second Mate’s pistol cracked out twice, sharply. Then, from over my head the Skipper fired twice and then again; but with what effect, I could not tell. Abruptly, as he fired his last shot, I was aware of an indistinct Something gliding down the starboard royal backstay. It was descending full upon Plummer who, all unconscious of the thing, was staring towards the t’gallant yard.

“ ‘Look out above you, Plummer!’ I almost shrieked.

“ ‘What? where?’ he called, and grabbed at the stay, and waved his flare excitedly.

“Down on the upper topsail yard, Quoin’s and Jaskett’s voices rose simultaneously, and in the identical instant their flares went out. Then Plummer shouted, and his light went utterly. There were left only the two lanterns, and the blue-light held by the Skipper; and that, a few seconds afterwards, finished and died out.

“The Skipper and the Second Mate were shouting to the men upon the yard, and I heard them answer, in shaky voices. Out on the crosstrees I could see by the light from my lantern that Plummer was clinging in a dazed fashion to the backstay.

“ ‘Are you all right, Plummer?’ I called.

“ ‘Yes,’ he said, after a little pause; and then he swore.

“ ‘Come in off that yard, you men!’ the Skipper was singing out. ‘Come in! Come in!’

“Down on deck I heard someone calling, but could not distinguish the words. Above me, pistol in hand, the Skipper was glancing about, uneasily.

“ ‘Hold up that light, Jessop,’ he said. ‘I can’t see!’

“Below us, the men got off the yard, into the rigging.

“ ‘Down on deck with you!’ ordered the Old Man. ‘As smartly as you can!’

“ ‘Come in off there, Plummer!’ sung out the Second Mate. ‘Get down with the others!’

“ ‘Down with you, Jessop!’ said the Skipper, speaking rapidly. ‘Down with you!’

“I got over the crosstrees, and he followed. On the other side, the Second Mate was level with us. He had passed his lantern to Plummer, and I caught the glint of his revolver in his right hand. In this fashion we reached the top. The man who had been stationed there with the blue-lights had gone. Afterwards, I found that he went down on deck as soon as they were finished. There was no sign of the man with the flare on the starboard craneline. He also, I learnt later, had slid down one of the backstays on to the deck, only a very short while before we reached the top. He swore that a great black shadow of a man had come suddenly upon him from aloft. When I heard that, I remembered the thing I had seen descending upon Plummer. Yet the man who had gone out upon the port craneline—the one who had bungled with the lighting of his flare—was still where we had left him, though his light was burning now but dimly.

“ ‘Come in out of that, you!’ the Old Man sung out. ‘Smartly now, and get down on deck!’

“ ‘Aye, aye, Sir,’ the man replied, and started to make his way in.

“The Skipper waited until he had got into the main rigging, and then he told me to get down off the top. He was in the act of following, when, all at once, there rose a loud outcry on deck, and then came the sound of a man screaming.

“ ‘Get out of my way, Jessop!’ the Skipper roared, and swung himself down alongside of me.

“I heard the Second Mate shout something from the starboard rigging. Then we were all racing down as hard as we could go. I had caught a momentary glimpse of a man running from the doorway on the port side of the fo’cas’le. In less than half a minute we were upon the deck, and among a crowd of the men who were grouped around something. Yet, strangely enough, they were not looking at the thing among them, but away aft at something—in the darkness.