The strange ship, a darker shape in the night, did not seem to be moving
onwards but only to grow more distinct right abeam, staring at the
_Ferndale_ with one green and one red eye which swayed and tossed as if
they belonged to the restless head of some invisible monster ambushed in
the night amongst the waves. A moment, long like eternity, elapsed, and,
suddenly, the monster which seemed to take to itself the shape of a
mountain shut its green eye without as much as a preparatory wink.
Mr. Powell drew a free breath. "All right now," said Captain Anthony in
a quiet undertone. He gave the blazing flare to Powell and walked aft to
watch the passing of that menace of destruction coming blindly with its
parti-coloured stare out of a blind night on the wings of a sweeping
wind. Her very form could be distinguished now black and elongated
amongst the hissing patches of foam bursting along her path.
As is always the case with a ship running before wind and sea she did not
seem to an onlooker to move very fast; but to be progressing indolently
in long leisurely bounds and pauses in the midst of the overtaking waves.
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