The Pequod is scheduled to sail on Christmas Day. In the gray pre-dawn mist, Queequeg and Ishmael approach the ship and think they see some figures boarding ahead of them. Elijah suddenly appears close behind and asks whether they have seen anyone going aboard. Ishmael says he thinks he saw four or five men, and Elijah challenges him to find them on the ship. Ishmael cannot. Nor is Ahab to be seen, though Ishmael is told by a sailor that the captain entered the vessel during the night. Peleg and Bildad help set the ship to sail and reluctantly return to land.
