"What's there to laugh at in this conceited manner, Mr. Bunter?" he
snarled. "Supernatural visitations have terrified better men than you.
Don't you allow me enough soul to make a ghost of?"

I think it was the nasty tone that caused Bunter to stop short and turn
about.

"I shouldn't wonder," went on the angry fanatic of spiritism, "if you
weren't one of them people that take no more account of a man than if
he were a beast. You would be capable, I don't doubt, to deny the
possession of an immortal soul to your own father."

And then Bunter, being bored beyond endurance, and also exasperated by
the private worry, lost his self-possession.

He walked up suddenly to Captain Johns, and, stooping a little to look
close into his face, said, in a low, even tone:

"You don't know what a man like me is capable of."

Captain Johns threw his head back, but was too astonished to budge.
Bunter resumed his walk; and for a long time his measured footsteps and
the low wash of the water alongside were the only sounds which troubled
the silence brooding over the great waters. Then Captain Johns cleared
his throat uneasily, and, after sidling away towards the companion for
greater safety, plucked up enough courage to retreat under an act of
authority:

"Raise the starboard clew of the mainsail, and lay the yards dead