“Light on the port bow, Sir.”

The next moment his hail came back: 

“Whereabouts?”

“He must be blind,” I said to myself.

“About two points on the bow, Sir,” I sung out.

Then I turned to see whether she had shifted her position at all.  Yet, when I came to look, there was no light visible.  I ran forrard to the bows, and leant over the rail, and stared; but there was nothing—­ absolutely nothing except the darkness all about us.  For perhaps a few seconds I stood thus, and a suspicion swept across me, that the whole business was practically a repetition of the affair of the morning.  Evidently, the impalpable something that invested the ship, had thinned for an instant, thus allowing me to see the light ahead.  Now, it had closed again.  Yet, whether I could see, or not, I did not doubt the fact that, there was a vessel ahead, and very close ahead, too.  We might run on top of her any minute.  My only hope was that, seeing we were not getting out of her way, she had put her helm up, so as to let us pass, with the intention of then crossing under our stern.  I waited, pretty anxiously, watching and listening.  Then, all at once, I heard steps coming along the deck, forrard, and the ’prentice, whose time-keeping it was, came up on to the fo’cas’le head.

“The Second Mate says he can’t see any light Jessop,” he said, coming over to where I stood.  “Whereabouts is it?”

“I don’t know,” I answered.  “I’ve lost sight of it myself.  It was a green light, about a couple of points on the port bow.  It seemed fairly close.”

“Perhaps their lamp’s gone out,” he suggested, after peering out pretty hard into the night for a minute or so.

“Perhaps,” I said.

I did not tell him that the light had been so close that, even in the darkness, we should now have been able to see the ship herself.

“You’re quite sure it was a light, and not a star?” he asked, doubtfully, after another long stare.

“Oh! no,” I said.  “It may have been the moon, now I come to think about it.”

“Don’t rot,” he replied.  “It’s easy enough to make a mistake.  What shall I say to the Second Mate?”

“Tell him it’s disappeared, of course!”

“Where to?” he asked.

“How the devil should I know?” I told him.  “Don’t ask silly questions!”

“All right, keep your rag in,” he said, and went aft to report to the Second Mate.

Five minutes later, it might have been, I saw the light again.  It was broad on the bow, and told me plainly enough that she had up with her helm to escape being run down.  I did not wait a moment; but sung out to the Second Mate that there was a green light about four points on the port bow.  By Jove! it must have been a close shave.  The light did not seem to be more than about a hundred yards away.  It was fortunate that we had not much way through the water.