I was about to come down from the foretop with much dignity and a swelling of the chest, when I saw that all hands, including the officers, were looking intently into the water astern, and naturally my gaze followed theirs. The ship had recovered her equilibrium by this time, and was going serenely about her business; but, about half a cable’s length in her wake, some huge, smooth body was slowly rising to the surface. At first I thought it was a {68} whale which we had run into and over; but as it continued to rise, I saw that it was too big for a whale. It broke the surface, exposing a smooth shape like a vessel’s bilge, dark-colored and covered with weed, and continued to rise very slowly until the whole length was revealed, and I could even catch glimpses of the keel. It remained on the surface for half a minute, perhaps, then a sea heaved up the stem, and the hulk began to sink as slowly and majestically as it had risen. It was the hull of some vessel, waterlogged and water-soaked so that it floated some feet below the surface of the sea, rising and falling, or perhaps remaining stationary below the influence of the waves. It must have been afloat for years to be so covered with weed. I wondered where it had been when it met disaster; possibly on the coast of Africa, or in the Bay of Biscay, or even in some more remote seas; and how much longer would it be a plaything of ocean currents? Captain Nelson was standing under the after house, still gazing astern, when I went to report to him. Half a dozen men, including the sailmaker who performed the duties of carpenter, and the cooper, had been sent below to see whether the Clearchus had been damaged by the collision, but the old man did not seem worried. I asked him about it, no doubt a piece of impertinence on my part. He shook his head. “Did n’t you see where we had run over her? Did n’t even scrape off the whole of the weed. Glancing blow.” “What sort of a vessel was it, sir? Do you think it was a whaler?” He shook his head again. “Not a whaler. No copper on her bottom.” Then he smiled suddenly, for he had seen the whole of my performance. “See anything up there?” I told him that I thought I had seen a boat, but I could not be sure, there was so much mirage or something. {69} “Looked like a boat, did it?” “Yes, sir. Like the bow of a boat. I could n’t see it very well. It was the color of the water, and it looked as if it was cut off, but I don’t suppose it was. There was something that looked like a flag or something.” Captain Nelson smiled more broadly. “May have been a flag or something. How far off?” “Eight miles, perhaps. I don’t know.” “Well, the lookout has n’t reported it, and I ’m afraid you did n’t see anything. I did n’t know but you had seen a ghost, you came down so fast.” “No, sir—” I began. Then I felt myself growing red, my face and my neck, even to my body and the roots of my hair, and I stammered and stopped.