Derrel relaxed underneath the awning and sipped his coffee, which didn’t have any sugar or cream. It was raining harder and the seas were rougher than usual. In his peripheral vision, he saw a dark movement. A strange man by the deck cabin was also sheltering from the rainstorm. That man wasn’t an employee of the ship.

The sailor poured out his coffee and raised his coffee cup as a makeshift weapon. The man opened the deck cabin door and walked in. Derrel followed as quietly as he could, but when he entered the cabin, the room was empty.

“Someone dangerous is on this ship,” thought Derrel. “And we don’t know where he is or how he’s getting around!”

A few hours later, Captain Gravely and the crew conducted a thorough search of the entire ship, from stern to stern. Each crew member carried a lantern and searched every odd corner that a man could hide. They moved and looked behind all the large boxes. Most of the crew members were relieved to find nothing.

“I suppose that I must’ve imagined the whole thing,” said Derrel.

The Romanian Black first mate, Mucheru Vacarescu scowled. He thought Derrel was foolish and superstitious.