The Voice in the Night

It was a dark, starless night. We were in the Northern Pacific ocean, on a calm sea. There was no wind at all, and our little ship was not moving. Our exact position I do not know. For a week, the sun had been hidden by a thin mist which had seemed to float above us, about the height of our masts, sometimes descending to cover the surrounding sea like a blanket.

As there was no wind, there was little to do, and I was the only man on deck. The crew, consisting of two men and a boy, were sleeping in their cabin, while Will - my friend, and the captain of our boat - was asleep in the other cabin.

Suddenly, from out of the darkness, came a cry:

'Schooner, ahoy!'

It was so unexpected that I did not answer immediately. It came again - a voice strangely low and inhuman, calling from somewhere on the dark sea to our left.

'Schooner, ahoy!'

'Hello!' I cried. 'What - What are you? What do you want?'

'You need not be afraid,' answered the strange voice, having probably noticed some uncertainty in my words. 'I am only an old... man.'

The pause sounded odd, but it was only afterwards that I considered its importance.

'Why don't you come nearer then?' I asked, annoyed that he had thought I was afraid.

'I - I can't. It wouldn't be safe. I-' He stopped, and then there was silence.

'What do you mean?' I asked. 'Where are you?'

I listened for a moment, but there was no answer. A sudden suspicion I could not explain came over me, and I quickly got a lighted lamp and knocked on the deck with my foot to wake up Will. Then I was at the side of the boat, throwing the yellow stream of light into the silent darkness.

I heard a slight, low cry and then the sound of a splash, as if someone had dipped oars into the water. Yet I cannot be certain I saw anything, except that with the first flash of fight, there had been something on the water, where now there was nothing.

'Hello there!' I called. 'What game is this?'

But there were only the sounds of a boat being rowed away into the night.

Then I heard Will's voice. 'What's wrong, George?' he asked, coming across the deck.