ow telling ghost stories.

It was a dead calm, and one of those intensely dark, hot nights, that
cause sailors to feel uneasy, they scarce know why. I began to feel so
uncomfortable at last, listening to the horrible tales which Tom Lokins
was relating to the men, that I slipt away from them with the intention
of going on deck. I moved so quietly that no one observed me; besides,
every eye was fixed earnestly on Tom, whose deep low voice was the only
sound that broke the stillness of all around. As I was going very
cautiously up the ladder leading to the deck, Tom had reached that part
of his story where the ghost was just appearing in a dark churchyard,
dressed in white, and coming slowly forward, one step at a time, towards
the terrified man who saw it. The men held their breath, and one or two
of their faces turned pale as Tom went on with his description, lowering
his voice to a hoarse whisper. Just as I put my head up the hatchway
the sheet of one of the sails, which was hanging loose in the still air,
passed gently over my head and knocked my hat off. At any other time I
would have thought nothing of this, but Tom's story had thrown me into
such an excited and nervous condition that I gave a start, missed my
footing, uttered a loud cry, and fell down the ladder right in among the
men with a tremendous crash, knocking over two or three oil-cans and a
tin bread-basket in my fall, and upsetting the lantern, so that the
place was instantly pitch dark.

I never heard such a howl of terror as these men gave vent to when this
misfortune befell me. They rushed upon deck with their hearts in their
mouths, tumbling, and peeling the skin off their shins and knuckles in
their haste; and it was not until they heard the laughter of the watch
on deck that they breathed freely, and, joining in the laugh, called
themselves fools for being frightened by a ghost story. I noticed,
however, that, for all their pretended indifference, there was not one
man among them--not even Tom Lokins himself--who would go down below to
relight the lantern for at least a quarter of an hour afterwards!

Feeling none the worse for my fall, I went forward and leaned over the
bow of the ship, where I was much astonished by the appearance of the
sea. It seemed as if the water was on fire. Every time the ship's bow
rose and fell, the little belt of foam made in the water seemed like a
belt of blue flame with bright sparkles in it, like stars or