332 BY ORDER OF THE CZAR.
And now there could be no mistake. The figure was human in form, but its face was a weird deformity. It was a goblin, a monster, a something horrible. It had great white hands that were steering it towards the ship. Its head rose and fell with the waves. They could all see the nameless thing. They fell upon their knees and com- mended themselves to their saints, and more particularly to her who had vouchsafed them their goodly haul of fish.
Then they took counsel and came to a decision. The monster was a ghost. They were convinced of it, these three Chiozotti. They crowded all sail to get away from it ; when suddenly, as if under the influence of the god of day, the w'ind fell and there was a dead calm. The sea, however, still rose and fell. There were no waves. But the keel of the boat made a gurgle and a washing. The sea seemed as if trying to break into a wave, but it only slopped up against the ship's sides. One of the men thought there was something like a sob accompanying the bulging motion of the water.
They tempted the dead breeze from every point, but the ship lay still, and the morning in silvery splendor began to salute and glorify distant objects, flashing now and then through the clouds into a white path across the lagoon right up to the ship. In one of these passing illuminations they saw the ghost clearly.
" It is no ghost," said the bravest of the three ; " it is a dead man."
" Did you ever see a dead man swimming with its arms and legs as a live man swims ? " said the other, fortifying himself with a long drink from a bottle which he handed to his mates.
" It does indeed swim," said the helmsman ; " that's true."
" What harm can come to us," said the first, " having
