But he stood entirely alone upon the
dock--not another living soul was in sight. The surface of the
water exhibited some commotion, as though disturbed by something
struggling beneath; but the sea-captain, who had doubtless been
stunned by the tremendous crack upon his head, never arose again
out of the element that had engulfed him.
The moonlight shone with a peaceful and resplendent illumination,
and, excepting certain remote noises from the distant town not a
sound broke the silence and the peacefulness of the balmy,
tropical night. The limpid water, illuminated by the resplendent
moonlight, lapped against the wharf. All the world was calm,
serene, and enveloped in a profound and entire repose.
Jonathan looked up at the round and brilliant globe of light
floating in the sky above his head, and wondered whether it were,
indeed, possible that all that had befallen him was a reality and
not some tremendous hallucination. Then suddenly arousing himself
to a renewed realization of that which had occurred, he turned
and ran like one possessed, up along the wharf, and so into the
moonlit town once more.
VI. The Conclusion of the Adventure with the Lady with the Silver
Veil
Nor did he check his precipitous flight until suddenly, being led
perhaps by some strange influence of which he was not at all the
master, he discovered himself to be standing before the
garden-gate where not more than an hour before he had first
entered upon the series of monstrous adventures that had led to
such tremendous conclusions.
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