That evening, the captain and the mate keep watch together. After the moonrise, a "strange husky inhuman gurgle" is heard from the bridge, and a "low, incredible, abominable laughter." The mate panics, screaming "he's come for me!" and running to the bridge; he is suddenly stabbed. A figure comes at the captain: "something white and slender that ran upon the captain noiselessly." The captain, panicked, crashes into the steel side of the deck-house and is knocked unconscious. The figure vanishes overboard, apparently without a splash.