



Produced by Suzanne Shell, Alev Akman and PG Distributed Proofreaders




THE GHOST PIRATES



_"Strange as the glimmer of the ghastly light
  That shines from some vast crest of wave at night. "_





THE GHOST PIRATES

William Hope Hodgson

1909






_To Mary Whalley_

 "Olden memories that shine against death's night--
  Quiet stars of sweet enchantments,
  That are seen In Life's lost distances..."

_The World of Dreams_




Author's Preface

This book forms the last of three. The first published was "_The Boats
of the 'Glen Carrig'_"; the second, "_The House on the Borderland_";
this, the third, completes what, perhaps, may be termed a trilogy; for,
though very different in scope, each of the three books deals with
certain conceptions that have an elemental kinship. With this book, the
author believes that he closes the door, so far as he is concerned, on a
particular phase of constructive thought. The Hell O! O! Chaunty

Chaunty Man . . Man the capstan, bullies! Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Ha!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Capstan-bars, you tarry souls! Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Ha!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Take a turn! Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Stand by to fleet! Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Stand by to surge! Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Ha!--o-o-o-o! Men . . . . . . TRAMP! And away we go! Chaunty Man . . Hark to the tramp of the
                       bearded shellbacks! Men . . . . . . Hush! O hear 'em tramp! Chaunty Man . . Tramping, stamping--
                       treading, vamping,
                       While the cable
                       comes in ramping. Men . . . . . . Hark! O hear 'em stamp! Chaunty Man . . Surge when it rides! Surge when it rides! Round-o-o-o
                       handsome as it slacks! Men . . . . . . Ha!-o-o-o-o! hear 'em ramp! Ha!-oo-o-o! hear 'em stamp! Ha!-o-o-o-o-oo! Ha!-o-o-o-o-o-o! Chorus  . . . . They're shouting now; oh! hear 'em
                       A-bellow as they stamp:--
                       Ha!-o-o-o! Ha!-o-o-o! Ha!-o-o-o! A-shouting as they tramp! Chaunty Man . . O hark to the haunting chorus
                       of the capstan and the bars! Chaunty-o-o-o
                       and rattle crash--
                       Bash against the stars! Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o-o! Tramp and go! Ha-a!-o-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Hear the pawls a-ranting: with
                       the bearded men a-chaunting;
                       While the brazen dome above 'em
                       Bellows back the 'bars.' Men . . . . . . Hear and hark! O hear 'em! Ha-a!-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Hurling songs towards the
                       heavens--! Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Hush! O hear 'em! Hark! O hear 'em! Hurling oaths among their spars! Men . . . . . . Hark! O hear 'em! Hush! O hear 'em! Chaunty Man . . Tramping round between the
                       bars! Chorus . . . . They're shouting now; oh! hear
                       A-bellow as they stamp:--
                       Ha-a!-o-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o-o! A-shouting as they tramp! Chaunty Man . . O do you hear the
                       capstan-chaunty! Thunder round the pawls! Men . . . . . . Click a-clack,
                       a-clatter
                       Surge! And scatter bawls! Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clack, my bonny boys,
                       while it comes in handsome! Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Hear 'em clack! Chaunty Man . . Ha-a!-o-o! Click-a-clack! Men . . . . . . Hush! O hear 'em pant! Hark! O hear 'em rant! Chaunty Man . . Click, a-clitter, clicker-clack. Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Tramp and go! Chaunty Man . . Surge! And keep away the slack! Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Away the slack:
                       Ha-a!-o-o! Click-a-clack
Chaunty Man . . Bustle now each jolly Jack. Surging easy! Surging e-a-s-y!! Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Surging easy
Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clatter--
                       Surge; and steady! Man the stopper there! All ready? Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Click-a-clack, my bouncing boys:
Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Tramp and go! Chaunty Man . . Lift the pawls, and come back
                       easy. Men . . . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Steady-o-o-o-o! Chaunty Man . . Vast the chaunty! Vast the capstan! Drop the pawls! Be-l-a-y! Chorus . . . . Ha-a!-o-o! Unship the bars! Ha-a!-o-o! Tramp and go! Ha-a!-o-o! Shoulder bars! Ha-a!-o-o! And away we blow! Ha-a!-o-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o-o-o! Ha-a!-o-o-o-o-o! I


_The Figure Out of the Sea_

He began without any circumlocution. I joined the _Mortzestus_ in 'Frisco. I heard before I signed on, that
there were some funny yarns floating round about her; but I was pretty
nearly on the beach, and too jolly anxious to get away, to worry about
trifles. Besides, by all accounts, she was right enough so far as grub
and treatment went. When I asked fellows to give it a name, they
generally could not. All they could tell me, was that she was unlucky,
and made thundering long passages, and had no more than a fair share of
dirty weather. Also, that she had twice had the sticks blown out of her,
and her cargo shifted. Besides all these, a heap of other things that
might happen to any packet, and would not be comfortable to run into. Still, they were the ordinary things, and I was willing enough to risk
them, to get home. All the same, if I had been given the chance, I
should have shipped in some other vessel as a matter of preference. When I took my bag down, I found that they had signed on the rest of the
crowd. You see, the "home lot" cleared out when they got into 'Frisco,
that is, all except one young fellow, a cockney, who had stuck by the
ship in port. He told me afterwards, when I got to know him, that he
intended to draw a pay-day out of her, whether any one else did, or not. The first night I was in her, I found that it was common talk among the
other fellows, that there was something queer about the ship. They spoke
of her as if it were an accepted fact that she was haunted; yet they all
treated the matter as a joke; all, that is, except the young cockney--
Williams--who, instead of laughing at their jests on the subject, seemed
to take the whole matter seriously. This made me rather curious. I began to wonder whether there was, after
all, some truth underlying the vague stories I had heard; and I took the
first opportunity to ask him whether he had any reasons for believing
that there was anything in the yarns about the ship. At first he was inclined to be a bit offish; but, presently, he came
round, and told me that he did not know of any particular incident which
could be called unusual in the sense in which I meant. Yet that, at the
same time, there were lots of little things which, if you put them
together, made you think a bit. For instance, she always made such long
passages and had so much dirty weather--nothing but that and calms and
head winds.