“Hold on a moment!” he said.  Then: 

“Jacobs!” he shouted.  “Jacobs, do you hear me?”

There was no reply, only the continual gasping and cursing.

“Go on,” the Second Mate said to us.  “But be careful.  Keep a tight hold!”

He held the lantern higher and we went out cautiously.

Stubbins reached the Ordinary, and put his hand on his shoulder, with a soothing gesture.

“Steady hon now, Jacobs,” he said.  “Steady hon.”

At his touch, as though by magic, the young fellow calmed down, and Stubbins—­reaching round him—­grasped the jackstay on the other side.

“Get a hold of him your side, Jessop,” he sung out.  “I’ll get this side.”

This, I did, and Stubbins climbed round him.

“There hain’t no one here,” Stubbins called to me; but his voice expressed no surprise.

“What!” sung out the Second Mate.  “No one there!  Where’s Svensen, then?”

I did not catch Stubbins’s reply; for suddenly, it seemed to me that I saw something shadowy at the extreme end of the yard, out by the lift.  I stared.  It rose up, on the yard, and I saw that it was the figure of a man.  It grasped at the lift, and commenced to swarm up, quickly.  It passed diagonally above Stubbins’s head, and reached down a vague hand and arm.

“Look out!  Stubbins!” I shouted.  “Look out!”

“What’s up now?” he called, in a startled voice.  At the same instant, his cap went whirling away to leeward.

“Damn the wind!” he burst out.

Then all at once, Jacobs, who had only been giving an occasional moan, commenced to shriek and struggle.

“Hold fast onto him!” Stubbins yelled.  “He’ll be throwin’ himself off the yard.”

I put my left arm round the Ordinary’s body—­getting hold of the jackstay on the other side.  Then I looked up.  Above us, I seemed to see something dark and indistinct, that moved rapidly up the lift.

“Keep tight hold of him, while I get a gasket,” I heard the Second Mate sing out.

A moment later there was a crash, and the light disappeared.

“Damn and set fire to the sail!” shouted the Second Mate.

I twisted round, somewhat, and looked in his direction.  I could dimly make him out on the yard.  He had evidently been in the act of getting down on to the foot-rope, when the lantern was smashed.  From him, my gaze jumped to the lee rigging.  It seemed that I made out some shadowy thing stealing down through the darkness; but I could not be sure; and then, in a breath, it had gone.

“Anything wrong, Sir?” I called out.

“Yes,” he answered.  “I’ve dropped the lantern.  The blessed sail knocked it out of my hand!”

“We’ll be all right, Sir,” I replied.  “I think we can manage without it.  Jacobs seems to be quieter now.”

“Well, be careful as you come in,” he warned us.

“Come on, Jacobs,” I said.  “Come on; we’ll go down on deck.”