“Discipline, you know, is the very life of a man-of-war, and this must account for what now took place.  Tom Edwards, a young foretopman, had the lee lookout, and as seven bells struck he sang out, ‘Lee cat-head;’ but the last syllable died away on his lips as his eyes rested upon an object—­a white object—­standing bolt upright in the water before him, about a hundred yards distant and broad off on the lee bow.  Suppressing a strong desire to shriek, and recovering himself, he touched his hat and said, ‘Mr. Buckner, will you step up here, sir, if you please?’

“‘What is she, Edwards?’ said Buckner, as he quickly mounted the hammock-rail.

“One look, a dip down, a shiver, and, O Lord! what did he see but old Sadler standing straight as a ramrod, and heading right for the ship!

“It took Buck a full minute to recover himself, and then, with one eye on the lee bow and the other on the quarter-deck, he walked aft and deliberately touching his cap, reported to Moffitt, ’Old Sadler broad off on the lee bow, sir.’

“‘The d——­ he is!’ exclaimed Moffitt; but, checking himself, he said, ’Mr. Hammond, report Sadler’s arrival to the commodore; and you, Mr. M——­, report it to the first lieutenant, sir.’

“My eyes were as big as saucers as I rushed down the steerage ladder and into the ward-room, where I found the first lieutenant quietly seated reading over the black list; and when, with my heart in my throat, I said, ‘Mr. Bispham, old Sadler is on the lee bow, sir,’ he serenely replied, ‘Very well, Mr. M——­ I’ll be on deck directly.’

“‘O Lord!’ said I to myself—­’to take a ghost as easily as all that!’ Bolting up the ladder on my way back to the deck, and trembling lest I should see the ghost popping his head in through one of the gun-deck ports, I ran into Hammond, who dodged me like a shot.

“When I got on deck the news was all out, for Tom Edwards couldn’t stand it any longer, but had just yelled out, ’Ghost ho! ghost ho!  Look out! stand from under! here he comes!’ and bolted aft, scared out of his wits.

“In ten seconds all hands were on deck—­ship’s cook, yeoman, ‘Jemmy Legs,’ ‘Jemmy Ducks,’ ‘Bungs,’ Loblolly boy,’ captain of the hold, and, by this time, all the officers too, with the midshipmen scuttling up the ladders as fast as their legs and hands could carry them.

“Moffitt had hauled up the courses and squared the main yard, as much to make a diversion as anything else, although the men thought it was to keep old Sadler from boarding us; and as they rushed up on deck they filled the booms; lee rigging, hammock—­netting and every available spot from which a sight of the old fellow could be had.

“Very soon they saw that he was not approaching the ship:  the old sinner was just turning and turning around in the water, like a fishing-cork, dancing away all to himself, while the moonlight, first on one side, and then on the other, in light and shadow, gave a queer sort of look to his features, sometimes sad and sometimes funny.