Talbot looked as if he might explode; then abruptly he said, "Oh, I
see--spiritualism." And thus he dismissed the subject.
The door of the cabin opened suddenly, and Munro looked in. "Something
wrong, sir," he said.
"Eh? What is it?" asked Henderson.
"Lights on the water. Looks like a ship sinking, or else we're close to
Java." Munro paused. "Will you come, sir?"
The captain nodded shortly and turned to his companions. "If you
gentlemen would care to come along--? This promises to be interesting.
There are greatcoats in the closet over there."
Munro led the way to the upper deck; the four men followed after him,
bracing themselves against the gale. On the upper deck they were met by
the first mate.
Captain Henderson raised his binoculars and stared vainly into the
pall of darkness broken every few minutes by vivid, jagged flashes
of lightning. Huge waves obstructed his vision at regular intervals.
"Can't see a thing," he shouted. Then he swept the raging sea and sky
once more. Abruptly, lights on the water came into view.
"There they are," shouted the first mate.
"Java lights," said the captain.
The first mate shouted again. "No, no, not Java, sir; they wouldn't bob
about like that."
The lights were coming closer now. The first mate raised his binoculars
and fixed them on the approaching lights. "That's a ship, sure," he
said.
"Any distress signal?" asked the captain.
"No."
"Odd. Ship's in distress--plain as a pikestaff."
Munro had been peering through his glasses in silence; he lowered them
suddenly and turned to the captain. "Some lettering just now, sir. I
saw it quite clearly. An 'm' and the end of a word, which I took to be
land."
"English ship, then," shouted the captain. "'M'--yes."
The first mate raised his glasses. "I can see lettering, but I'm damned
if I can make it out."
A man came along the deck toward the little group, breasting the
furious wind. It had stopped raining, now, and the lightning flashes
were not as frequent as they had been. Even the wind had lessened
considerably.
Munro saw the oncoming man and shouted to the captain, "here's our
distress signal, sir."
The man came up to them, and handed a tightly folded slip of paper to
the captain. Henderson opened the paper, and with the aid of the first
mate's flash light, read:
"_H. M. S. Cumberland_ calling. Send Harry to us."
"What's this?" shouted the captain.
"Mr. Rogers got only those words, sir; nothing more."
"Must be some mistake!"
"No mistake, sir. I heard that come in myself."
The first mate shouted suddenly. "The lights have vanished." Even as he
spoke, there came a sudden brilliant flash in the sky, a flash that was
not made by lightning, followed by a thunderous detonation.
Then came a sound that held them, fascinated them--a sound fraught with
terror--a woman's voice, clear as a bell, calling from where the lights
had been, the voice distinct above the roar of the wind.
"_Harry ... Harry ... Harry...._"
The wind brought the sound to them, magnifying it, subduing it.
Immediately after, came a chorus of voices, calling as if from a great
distance, "_Harry ... Harry ... Come to us ... Come ..._" the woman's
voice yet strong above them all.
The captain muttered something incoherent. Then he turned to the three
men who had followed him from the cabin and shouted, waving the message
from the radio operator, "_Cumberland_ calling! Something's wrong."
One of the three launched himself suddenly forward, striking Captain
Henderson, and pushing him violently aside. He sprawled on the deck,
but felt hands helping him to his feet almost immediately. At the same
moment the voice of Munro came to him, shouting, "Man overboard--Man
_overboard_!"
"Good God!" shouted the captain. "Shut up, Munro. We can't send any
one out there to look for him." He swung about and looked at the men
grouped about him; almost at once he saw that the man named Allison was
missing.
Wembler pushed himself forward, his face white and drawn. "You wouldn't
find him, Captain," he said, shaking his head. "You'd never find him.
Harry Allison was first mate on the _Cumberland_ a year ago--he wasn't
'Allison' then. And he was my brother-in-law!"
The captain waved his arm toward the place where the lights had been.
"And that?" he shouted frenziedly. "What was all that?"
Wembler's hand closed over Henderson's arm. "You heard, Captain. It
was the _Cumberland_ sinking, just as she did a year ago when that
blackguard blew her up. And I heard my sister's voice calling to
Allison--and the others. The souls of those people he killed in his
devilish jealousy came back for him!"
* * * * *