A gale sprung up now and then, but they
only tended to give a filip to the common-place incidents recorded in
the log. This quietude was not, however, enjoyed by all the persons on
board. Willis was a prey to violent emotions; and so it often happens,
in the midst of the profoundest calm, storms often rage in the heart
of man.
Whether in reality or in a dream, Willis declared that Captain
Littlestone paid him a visit every night, and invariably asked him
precisely the same questions. On these occasions, Willis asserted that
he distinctly heard the door open and shut whilst a shadow glided
through. That he might once, or even twice, have been the dupe of his
own imagination, is probable enough; but a healthy mind does not
permit a delusion to be indefinitely prolonged--it struggles with the
hallucination, and eventually shakes it off; providing always the mind
has a shadow, and not a reality, to deal with, and that the patient is
not a monomaniac. The dilemma was consequently reduced to this
position--either Willis was mad, or Captain Littlestone was on board
the _Boudeuse_.
In all other respects, Willis was perfectly sane. He himself searched
every corner of the ship, but without other result than a confirmation
of his own impression that there were no officers on board other than
those of the corvette; and yet, notwithstanding his own conviction in
daylight, he still continued to assert the reality of his interviews
with Captain Littlestone during the night.
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