Ishmael and Queequeg leave the Pequod after signing their papers. A ragged stranger stops them on the street. He has a scarred face from smallpox. He points at the ship and asks if they have shipped on board.
Yes, Ishmael says. They just signed the articles.
The stranger asks if the papers say anything about their souls. Maybe they do not have souls, he jokes. A soul is like a spare fifth wheel on a wagon. But he says someone on that ship has enough soul for everyone.
Ishmael tries to walk away. The stranger stops them. He asks if they have seen Old Thunder yet. That is Captain Ahab, he says. Ishmael says no. He heard Ahab is sick but getting better.
The stranger laughs. He says Ahab will be all right when his own left arm is all right, and not before.
He tells Ishmael to jump when Ahab gives an order. Step and growl, growl and go, he says. Then he lists dark stories Ishmael never heard. Ahab lay like dead for three days off Cape Horn. He fought a Spaniard before an altar. There was a silver cup and a prophecy about the lost leg.
Ishmael says he already knows about the leg from Captain Peleg. He thinks the stranger is a little crazy.
The man stares at the Pequod. He says what is signed is signed. What will happen will happen. God pity the crew, he says, and walks off wishing them morning.
Ishmael asks for his name. Elijah, the man says.
Ishmael and Queequeg laugh and call him a humbug trying to scare them. But after they walk a hundred yards, Ishmael looks back. Elijah is following them at a distance.
Ishmael says nothing to Queequeg. He wants to see if the old man is really tailing them. Corner after corner, Elijah keeps behind them. Ishmael fills with worry about Ahab, the lost leg, Cape Horn, and the voyage they signed up for.
Ishmael crosses the street with Queequeg to test Elijah. The stranger walks on without noticing. Ishmael feels relieved and calls him a humbug again. But the fear does not fully go away.
