All at once the helmsman, on the other side of the wheel, of whose presence I had hardly been sensible, uttered a strange low sort of bellowing cry, and tied along the deck to where the figure of the other man was. Involuntarily I put my hand upon the wheel, as though instinctively feeling that it must be held steady, and that it must be held in any case, or the ship would be without governance. The two men came slowly along. The motions of each were full of wariness, and suggestive in the highest degree of alarm and astonishment. ‘Dummed if it ain’t a-steering the ship,’ said one of them in a hoarse voice. ‘You scoundrel, it’s a woman!’ cried the other. ‘How dare you quit your post. You’ll have the ship in the wind in a minute,’ and they both arrived together at the wheel running, one being pushed by the other. The man who pushed the other was dressed in a monkey-jacket with brass buttons and a naval cap. He was clearly one of the ship’s officers, but it was not surprising that I should be meeting him now for the first time. He thrust his face into my hood, and then backed a step and exclaimed, ‘Who are you?’ then immediately added, ‘Oh! of course. You’re the person that was taken out of the French brig. Come away from the wheel, will you, ma’m? Here’s an Irishman that believes you a ghost.’ The other muttered in his throat. I walked some paces away, and the officer accompanied me. ‘How is it that you’re not in your bed?’ said he. ‘I have been sleeping all day,’ I answered, ‘and have come up to breathe the air.’ ‘We do not allow females to wander about the ship of a night,’ said he. ‘However, you cannot be supposed to know the rules.’ I saw him by the moonlight eye me strenuously and earnestly. ‘That’s a big bandage you have on, ma’m. I hope you are not much hurt?’ ‘I was found lying injured and unconscious in a boat by the Frenchmen.’ ‘And they tell me you have no memory.’ ‘I can remember nothing,’ I answered. ‘What is that?’ cried he, pointing. ‘It is the moon,’ said I. ‘What is that but memory?’ he exclaimed. ‘I remember nothing of my past,’ said I. ‘Down to the hour in which I awoke to consciousness on board the French brig everything is black. But to whom am I speaking?’ ‘You are speaking to the chief mate of the _Deal Castle_, and his name is Andrew Harris.’ ‘What is a chief mate?’ I asked. ‘He is the person that is next in command to the captain.’ ‘Then you are of consequence?’ said I. He smiled broadly. ‘There are people who will run when I sing out.’ ‘Nobody appears to be awake on board this ship, saving us who are here,’ said I.