Bispham, old Sadler is on the lee bow, sir,' he serenely replied,
'Very well, Mr. M---- I'll be on deck directly.'
"'O Lord!' said I to myself--'to take a ghost as easily as all that!'
Bolting up the ladder on my way back to the deck, and trembling lest I
should see the ghost popping his head in through one of the gun-deck
ports, I ran into Hammond, who dodged me like a shot.
"When I got on deck the news was all out, for Tom Edwards couldn't stand
it any longer, but had just yelled out, 'Ghost ho! ghost ho! Look out!
stand from under! here he comes!' and bolted aft, scared out of his wits.
"In ten seconds all hands were on deck--ship's cook, yeoman, 'Jemmy Legs,'
'Jemmy Ducks,' 'Bungs,' Loblolly boy,' captain of the hold, and, by this
time, all the officers too, with the midshipmen scuttling up the ladders
as fast as their legs and hands could carry them.
"Moffitt had hauled up the courses and squared the main yard, as much to
make a diversion as anything else, although the men thought it was to keep
old Sadler from boarding us; and as they rushed up on deck they filled the
booms; lee rigging, hammock--netting and every available spot from which a
sight of the old fellow could be had.
"Very soon they saw that he was not approaching the ship: the old sinner
was just turning and turning around in the water, like a fishing-cork,
dancing away all to himself, while the moonlight, first on one side, and
then on the other, in light and shadow, gave a queer sort of look to his
features, sometimes sad and sometimes funny.
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