At length, however, he got up, and rang his bell with great agitation.
He repeated the summons more than once; but no regard being paid
to this alarm, his dread returned with double terror, a cold sweat
bedewed his limbs, his knees knocked together, his hair bristled
up, and the remains of his teeth were shattered in pieces in the
convulsive vibrations of his jaws.
In the midst of this agony he made one desperate effort, and, bursting
open the door of apartment, bolted into Hatchway's chamber, which
happened to be on the same floor. There he found the lieutenant in
a counterfeit swoon, who pretended to wake from his trance in an
ejaculation of "Lord have mercy upon us!" and being questioned by
the terrified commodore with regard to what had happened, assured
him he had heard the same voice and clap of thunder by which Trunnion
himself had been discomposed.
Pipes, whose turn it was to watch, concurred in giving evidence
to the same purpose; and the commodore not only owned that he had
heard the voice, but likewise communicated his vision, with all
the aggravation which his disturbed fancy suggested.
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