This man, whose name was Tom Willis,
went frequently to the bows, as if to observe something; and when the
others called to him, inquiring what he was looking at, he would give
no definite answer. They therefore went also to the bows, and appeared
startled, and at first said nothing. But presently one of them cried,
"William, go call the watch."

The seamen, having been asleep in their hammocks, murmured at this
unseasonable summons, and called to know how it looked upon deck. To
which Tom Willis replied, "Come up and see. What we are minding is not
on deck, but ahead."

On hearing this, they ran up without putting on their jackets, and
when they came to the bows there was a whispering.

One of them asked, "Where is she? I do not see her." To which another
replied, "The last flash of lightning showed there was not a reef in
one of her sails; but we, who know her history, know that all her
canvass will never carry her into port."

By this time, the talking of the seamen had brought some of the
passengers on deck. They could see nothing, however, for the ship was
surrounded by thick darkness, and by the noise of the dashing waters,
and the seamen evaded the questions that were put to them.

At this juncture the chaplain came on deck. He was a man of grave and
modest demeanour, and was much liked among the seamen, who called him
Gentle George. He overheard one of the men asking another, "If he had
ever seen the Flying Dutchman before, and if he knew the story about
her?" To which the other replied, "I have heard of her beating about
in these seas. What is the reason she never reaches port?"

The first speaker replied, "They give different reasons for it, but my
story is this: She was an Amsterdam vessel, and sailed from that port
seventy years ago. Her master's name was Vanderdecken. He was a stanch
seaman, and would have his own way, in spite of the devil. For all
that, never a sailor under him had reason to complain; though how it
is on board with them now, nobody knows;--the story is this, that in
doubling the Cape, they were a long day trying to weather the Table
Bay, which we saw this morning. However, the wind headed them, and
went against them more and more, and Vanderdecken walked the deck,
swearing at the wind. Just after sunset, a vessel spoke him, asking if
he did not mean to go into the bay that night. Vanderdecken replied,
'May I be eternally d--d if I do, though I should beat about here till
the day of