Jack London
The SeaWolf
Chapter I
I scarcely know where to begin though I sometimes facetiously place the cause
of it all to Charley Furuseths credit He kept a summer cottage in Mill Valley
under the shadow of Mount Tamalpais and never occupied it except when he loafed
through the winter months and read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer to rest his brain
When summer came on he elected to sweat out a hot and dusty existence in the
city and to toil incessantly Had it not been my custom to run up to see him
every Saturday afternoon and to stop over till Monday morning this particular
January Monday morning would not have found me afloat on San Francisco Bay
Not but that I was afloat in a safe craft for the Martinez was a new
ferrysteamer making her fourth or fifth trip on the run between Sausalito and
San Francisco The danger lay in the heavy fog which blanketed the bay and of
which as a landsman I had little apprehension In fact I remember the placid
exaltation with which I took up my position on the forward upper deck directly
beneath the pilothouse and allowed the mystery of the fog to lay hold of my
imagination A fresh breeze was blowing and for a time I was alone in the moist
obscurity yet not alone for I was dimly conscious of the presence of the
pilot and of what I took to be the captain in the glass house above my head
I remember thinking how comfortable it was this division of labor which
made it unnecessary for me to study fogs winds tides and navigation in order
to visit my friend who lived across an arm of the sea It was good that men
should be specialists I mused The peculiar knowledge of the pilot and captain
sufficed for many thousands of people who knew no more of the sea and navigation
than I knew On the other hand instead of having to devote my energy to the
learning of a multitude of things I concentrated it upon a few particular
things such as for instance the analysis of Poes place in American
literature an essay of mine by the way in the current Atlantic Coming
aboard as I passed through the cabin I had noticed with greedy eyes a stout
gentleman reading the Atlantic which was open at my very essay And there it
was again the division of labor the special knowledge of the pilot and captain
which permitted the stout gentleman to read my special knowledge on Poe while
they carried him safely from Sausalito to San Francisco
A redfaced man slamming the cabin door behind him and stumping out on the
deck interrupted my reflections though I made a mental note of the topic for
use in a projected essay which I had thought of calling »The Necessity for
Freedom A Plea for the Artist« The redfaced man shot a glance up at the
pilothouse gazed around at the fog stumped across the deck and back he
evidently had artificial legs and stood still by my side legs wide apart and
with an expression of keen enjoyment on his face I was not wrong when I decided
that his days had been spent on the sea
»Its nasty weather like this here that turns heads gray before their time«
he said with a nod toward the pilothouse
»I had not thought there was any particular strain« I answered »It seems
as simple as A, B, C. They know the direction by compass the distance and the
speed I should not call it anything more than mathematical certainty«
»Strain« he snorted »Simple as A, B, C! Mathematical certainty«
He seemed to brace himself up and lean backward against the air as he stared
at me »How about this here tide thats rushin out through the Golden Gate« he
demanded or bellowed rather »How fast is she ebbin Whats the drift eh
Listen to that will you A bellbuoy and were atop of it See em alterin
the course«
From out of the fog came the mournful tolling of a bell and I could see the
pilot turning the wheel with great rapidity The bell which had seemed straight
ahead was now sounding from the side Our own whistle was blowing hoarsely and
from time to time the sound of other whistles came to us from out of the fog
»Thats a ferryboat of some sort« the newcomer said indicating a whistle
off to the right »And there Dye hear that Blown by mouth Some scow
schooner most likely Better watch out Mr Schoonerman Ah I thought so Now
hells apoppin for somebody«
The unseen ferryboat was blowing blast after blast and the mouthblown
horn was tooting in terrorstricken fashion
»And now theyre payin their respects to each other and tryin to get
clear« the redfaced man went on as the hurried whistling ceased
His face was shining his eyes flashing with excitement as he translated
into articulate language the speech of the horns and sirens »Thats a steam
siren agoin it over there to the left And you hear that fellow with a frog in
his throat a steam schooner as near as I can judge crawlin in from the Heads
against the tide«
A shrill little whistle piping as if gone mad came from directly ahead and
from very near at hand Gongs sounded on the Martinez Our paddlewheels
stopped their pulsing beat died away and then they started again The shrill
little whistle like the chirping of a cricket amid the cries of great beasts
shot through the fog from more to the side and swiftly grew faint and fainter I
looked to my companion for enlightenment
»One of them daredevil launches« he said »I almost wish wed sunk him
the little rip Theyre the cause of more trouble And what good are they Any
jackass gets aboard one and runs it from hell to breakfast blowin his whistle
to beat the band and tellin the rest of the world to look out for him because
hes comin and cant look out for himself Because hes comin And youve got
to look out too Right of way Common decency They dont know the meanin of
it«
I felt quite amused at his unwarranted choler and while he stumped
indignantly up and down I fell to dwelling upon the romance of the fog And
romantic it certainly was the fog like the gray shadow of infinite mystery
brooding over the whirling speck of earth and men mere motes of light and
sparkle cursed with an insane relish for work riding their steeds of wood and
steel through the heart of the mystery groping their way blindly through the
Unseen and clamoring and clanging in confident speech the while their hearts
are heavy with incertitude and fear
The voice of my companion brought me back to myself with a laugh I too had
been groping and floundering the while I thought I rode cleareyed through the
mystery
»Hello somebody comin our way« he was saying »And dye hear that Hes
comin fast Walking right along Guess he dont hear us yet Winds in wrong
direction«
The fresh breeze was blowing right down upon us and I could hear the
whistle plainly off to one side and a little ahead
»Ferryboat« I asked
He nodded then added »Or he wouldnt be keepin up such a clip« He gave a
short chuckle »Theyre gettin anxious up there«
I glanced up The captain had thrust his head and shoulders out of the
pilothouse and was staring intently into the fog as though by sheer force of
will he could penetrate it His face was anxious as was the face of my
companion who had stumped over to the rail and was gazing with a like
intentness in the direction of the invisible danger
Then everything happened and with inconceivable rapidity The fog seemed to
break away as though split by a wedge and the bow of a steamboat emerged
trailing fogwreaths on either side like seaweed on the snout of Leviathan I
could see the pilothouse and a whitebearded man leaning partly out of it on
his elbows He was clad in a blue uniform and I remember noting how trim and
quiet he was His quietness under the circumstances was terrible He accepted
Destiny marched hand in hand with it and coolly measured the stroke As he
leaned there he ran a calm and speculative eye over us as though to determine
the precise point of the collision and took no notice whatever when our pilot
white with rage shouted »Now youve done it«
On looking back I realize that the remark was too obvious to make rejoinder
necessary
»Grab hold of something and hang on« the redfaced man said to me All his
bluster had gone and he seemed to have caught the contagion of preternatural
calm »And listen to the women scream« he said grimly almost bitterly I
thought as though he had been through the experience before
The vessels came together before I could follow his advice We must have
been struck squarely amidships for I saw nothing the strange steamboat having
passed beyond my line of vision The Martinez heeled over sharply and there
was a crashing and rending of timber I was thrown flat on the wet deck and
before I could scramble to my feet I heard the scream of the women This it was
I am certain the most indescribable of bloodcurdling sounds that threw me
into a panic I remembered the lifepreservers stored in the cabin but was met
at the door and swept backward by a wild rush of men and women What happened in
the next few minutes I do not recollect though I have a clear remembrance of
pulling down lifepreservers from the overhead racks while the redfaced man
fastened them about the bodies of an hysterical group of women This memory is
as distinct and sharp as that of any picture I have seen It is a picture and I
can see it now the jagged edges of the hole in the side of the cabin through
which the gray fog swirled and eddied the empty upholstered seats littered
with all the evidences of sudden flight such as packages hand satchels
umbrellas and wraps the stout gentleman who had been reading my essay encased
in cork and canvas the magazine still in his hand and asking me with
monotonous insistence if I thought there was any danger the redfaced man
stumping gallantly around on his artificial legs and buckling lifepreservers on
all comers and finally the screaming bedlam of women
This it was the screaming of the women that most tried my nerves It must
have tried too the nerves of the redfaced man for I have another picture
which will never fade from my mind The stout gentleman is stuffing the magazine
into his overcoat pocket and looking on curiously A tangled mass of women with
drawn white faces and open mouths is shrieking like a chorus of lost souls
and the redfaced man his face now purplish with wrath and with arms extended
overhead as in the act of hurling thunderbolts is shouting »Shut up Oh shut
up«
I remember the scene impelled me to sudden laughter and in the next instant
I realized I was becoming hysterical myself for these were women of my own
kind like my mother and sisters with the fear of death upon them and unwilling
to die And I remember that the sounds they made reminded me of the squealing of
pigs under the knife of the butcher and I was struck with horror at the
vividness of the analogy These women capable of the most sublime emotions of
the tenderest sympathies were openmouthed and screaming They wanted to live
they were helpless like rats in a trap and they screamed
The horror of it drove me out on deck I was feeling sick and squeamish and
sat down on a bench In a hazy way I saw and heard men rushing and shouting as
they strove to lower the boats It was just as I had read descriptions of such
scenes in books The tackles jammed Nothing worked One boat lowered away with
the plugs out filled with women and children and then with water and capsized
Another boat had been lowered by one end and still hung in the tackle by the
other end where it had been abandoned Nothing was to be seen of the strange
steamboat which had caused the disaster though I heard men saying that she
would undoubtedly send boats to our assistance
I descended to the lower deck The Martinez was sinking fast for the water
was very near Numbers of the passengers were leaping overboard Others in the
water were clamoring to be taken aboard again No one heeded them A cry arose
that we were sinking I was seized by the consequent panic and went over the
side in a surge of bodies How I went over I do not know though I did know and
instantly why those in the water were so desirous of getting back on the
steamer The water was cold so cold that it was painful The pang as I
plunged into it was as quick and sharp as that of fire It bit to the marrow
It was like the grip of death I gasped with the anguish and shock of it
filling my lungs before the lifepreserver popped me to the surface The taste
of the salt was strong in my mouth and I was strangling with the acrid stuff in
my throat and lungs
But it was the cold that was most distressing I felt that I could survive
but a few minutes People were struggling and floundering in the water about me
I could hear them crying out to one another And I heard also the sound of
oars Evidently the strange steamboat had lowered its boats As the time went by
I marvelled that I was still alive I had no sensation whatever in my lower
limbs while a chilling numbness was wrapping about my heart and creeping into
it Small waves with spiteful foaming crests continually broke over me and
into my mouth sending me off into more strangling paroxysms
The noises grew indistinct though I heard a final and despairing chorus of
screams in the distance and knew that the Martinez had gone down Later how
much later I have no knowledge I came to myself with a start of fear I was
alone I could hear no calls or cries only the sound of the waves made
weirdly hollow and reverberant by the fog A panic in a crowd which partakes of
a sort of community of interest is not so terrible as a panic when one is by
oneself and such a panic I now suffered Whither was I drifting The redfaced
man had said that the tide was ebbing through the Golden Gate Was I then
being carried out to sea And the lifepreserver in which I floated Was it not
liable to go to pieces at any moment I had heard of such things being made of
paper and hollow rushes which quickly became saturated and lost all buoyancy
And I could not swim a stroke And I was alone floating apparently in the
midst of a gray primordial vastness I confess that a madness seized me that I
shrieked aloud as the women had shrieked and beat the water with my numb hands
How long this lasted I have no conception for a blankness intervened of
which I remember no more than one remembers of troubled and painful sleep When
I aroused it was as after centuries of time and I saw almost above me and
emerging from the fog the bow of a vessel and three triangular sails each
shrewdly lapping the other and filled with wind Where the bow cut the water
there was a great foaming and gurgling and I seemed directly in its path I
tried to cry out but was too exhausted The bow plunged down just missing me
and sending a swash of water clear over my head Then the long black side of
the vessel began slipping past so near that I could have touched it with my
hands I tried to reach it in a mad resolve to claw into the wood with my
nails but my arms were heavy and lifeless Again I strove to call out but made
no sound
The stern of the vessel shot by dropping as it did so into a hollow
between the waves and I caught a glimpse of a man standing at the wheel and of
another man who seemed to be doing little else than smoke a cigar I saw the
smoke issuing from his lips as he slowly turned his head and glanced out over
the water in my direction It was a careless unpremeditated glance one of
those haphazard things men do when they have no immediate call to do anything in
particular but act because they are alive and must do something
But life and death were in that glance I could see the vessel being
swallowed up in the fog I saw the back of the man at the wheel and the head of
the other man turning slowly turning as his gaze struck the water and casually
lifted along it toward me His face wore an absent expression as of deep
thought and I became afraid that if his eyes did light upon me he would
nevertheless not see me But his eyes did light upon me and looked squarely
into mine and he did see me for he sprang to the wheel thrusting the other
man aside and whirled it round and round hand over hand at the same time
shouting orders of some sort The vessel seemed to go off at a tangent to its
former course and leapt almost instantly from view into the fog
I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness and tried with all the power of
my will to fight above the suffocating blankness and darkness that was rising
around me A little later I heard the stroke of oars growing nearer and nearer
and the calls of a man When he was very near I heard him crying in vexed
fashion »Why in hell dont you sing out« This meant me I thought and then
the blankness and darkness rose over me
Chapter II
I seemed swinging in a mighty rhythm through orbit vastness Sparkling points of
light spluttered and shot past me They were stars I knew and flaring comets
that peopled my flight among the suns As I reached the limit of my swing and
prepared to rush back on the counter swing a great gong struck and thundered
For an immeasurable period lapped in the rippling of placid centuries I
enjoyed and pondered my tremendous flight
But a change came over the face of the dream for a dream I told myself it
must be My rhythm grew shorter and shorter I was jerked from swing to counter
swing with irritating haste I could scarcely catch my breath so fiercely was I
impelled through the heavens The gong thundered more frequently and more
furiously I grew to await it with a nameless dread Then it seemed as though I
were being dragged over rasping sands white and hot in the sun This gave place
to a sense of intolerable anguish My skin was scorching in the torment of fire
The gong clanged and knelled The sparkling points of light flashed past me in
an interminable stream as though the whole sidereal system were dropping into
the void I gasped caught my breath painfully and opened my eyes Two men were
kneeling beside me working over me My mighty rhythm was the lift and forward
plunge of a ship on the sea The terrific gong was a fryingpan hanging on the
wall that rattled and clattered with each leap of the ship The rasping
scorching sands were a mans hard hands chafing my naked chest I squirmed under
the pain of it and half lifted my head My chest was raw and red and I could
see tiny blood globules starting through the torn and inflamed cuticle
»Thatll do Yonson« one of the men said »Carnt yer see youve bloomin
well rubbed all the gents skin orf«
The man addressed as Yonson a man of the heavy Scandinavian type ceased
chafing me and arose awkwardly to his feet The man who had spoken to him was
clearly a Cockney with the clean lines and weakly pretty almost effeminate
face of the man who has absorbed the sound of Bow Bells with his mothers milk
A draggled muslin cap on his head and a dirty gunnysack about his slim hips
proclaimed him cook of the decidedly dirty ships galley in which I found
myself
»An ow yer feelin now sir« he asked with the subservient smirk which
comes only of generations of tipseeking ancestors
For reply I twisted weakly into a sitting posture and was helped by Yonson
to my feet The rattle and bang of the fryingpan was grating horribly on my
nerves I could not collect my thoughts Clutching the woodwork of the galley
for support and I confess the grease with which it was scummed put my teeth
on edge I reached across a hot cookingrange to the offending utensil
unhooked it and wedged it securely into the coalbox
The cook grinned at my exhibition of nerves and thrust into my hand a
steaming mug with an »Ere thisll do yer good« It was a nauseous mess
ships coffee but the heat of it was revivifying Between gulps of the molten
stuff I glanced down at my raw and bleeding chest and turned to the
Scandinavian
»Thank you Mr Yonson« I said »but dont you think your measures were
rather heroic«
It was because he understood the reproof of my action rather than of my
words that he held up his palm for inspection It was remarkably calloused I
passed my hand over the horny projections and my teeth went on edge once more
from the horrible rasping sensation produced
»My name is Johnson not Yonson« he said in very good though slow
English with no more than a shade of accent to it
There was mild protest in his pale blue eyes and withal a timid frankness
and manliness that quite won me to him
»Thank you Mr Johnson« I corrected and reached out my hand for his
He hesitated awkward and bashful shifted his weight from one leg to the
other then blunderingly gripped my hand in a hearty shake
»Have you any dry clothes I may put on« I asked the cook
»Yes sir« he answered with cheerful alacrity »Ill run down an tyke a
look over my kit if youve no objections sir to wearin my things«
He dived out of the galley door or glided rather with a swiftness and
smoothness of gait that struck me as being not so much catlike as oily In
fact this oiliness or greasiness as I was later to learn was probably the
most salient expression of his personality
»And where am I« I asked Johnson whom I took and rightly to be one of
the sailors »What vessel is this and where is she bound«
»Off the Farallones heading about souwest« he answered slowly and
methodically as though groping for his best English and rigidly observing the
order of my queries »The schooner Ghost bound sealhunting to Japan«
»And who is the captain I must see him as soon as I am dressed«
Johnson looked puzzled and embarrassed He hesitated while he groped in his
vocabulary and framed a complete answer »The capn is Wolf Larsen or so men
call him I never heard his other name But you better speak soft with him He
is mad this morning The mate «
But he did not finish The cook had glided in
»Better sling yer ook out of ere Yonson« he said »The old manll be
wantin yer on deck an this aynt no dy to fall foul of im«
Johnson turned obediently to the door at the same time over the cooks
shoulder favoring me with an amazingly solemn and portentous wink as though to
emphasize his interrupted remark and the need for me to be softspoken with the
captain
Hanging over the cooks arm was a loose and crumpled array of evillooking
and soursmelling garments
»They was put awy wet sir« he vouchsafed explanation »But youll ave to
make them do till I dry yours out by the fire«
Clinging to the woodwork staggering with the roll of the ship and aided by
the cook I managed to slip into a rough woollen undershirt On the instant my
flesh was creeping and crawling from the harsh contact He noticed my
involuntary twitching and grimacing and smirked
»I only ope yer dont ever ave to get used to such as that in this life
cos youve got a bloomin soft skin that you ave more like a lydys than any
I know of I was bloomin well sure you was a gentleman as soon as I set eyes on
yer«
I had taken a dislike to him at first and as he helped to dress me this
dislike increased There was something repulsive about his touch I shrank from
his hand my flesh revolted And between this and the smells arising from
various pots boiling and bubbling on the galley fire I was in haste to get out
into the fresh air Further there was the need of seeing the captain about what
arrangements could be made for getting me ashore
A cheap cotton shirt with frayed collar and a bosom discolored with what I
took to be ancient bloodstains was put on me amid a running and apologetic
fire of comment A pair of workmans brogans encased my feet and for trousers I
was furnished with a pair of pale blue washedout overalls one leg of which
was fully ten inches shorter than the other The abbreviated leg looked as
though the devil had there clutched for the Cockneys soul and missed the shadow
for the substance
»And whom have I to thank for this kindness« I asked when I stood
completely arrayed a tiny boys cap on my head and for coat a dirty striped
cotton jacket which ended at the small of my back and the sleeves of which
reached just below my elbows
The cook drew himself up in a smugly humble fashion a deprecating smirk on
his face Out of my experience with stewards on the Atlantic liners at the end
of the voyage I could have sworn he was waiting for his tip From my fuller
knowledge of the creature I now know that the posture was unconscious An
hereditary servility no doubt was responsible
»Mugridge sir« he fawned his effeminate features running into a greasy
smile »Thomas Mugridge sir an at yer service«
»All right Thomas« I said »I shall not forget you when my clothes are
dry«
A soft light suffused his face and his eyes glistened as though somewhere
in the deeps of his being his ancestors had quickened and stirred with dim
memories of tips received in former lives
»Thank you sir« he said very gratefully and very humbly indeed
Precisely in the way that the door slid back he slid aside and I stepped
out on deck I was still weak from my prolonged immersion A puff of wind caught
me and I staggered across the moving deck to a corner of the cabin to which I
clung for support The schooner heeled over far out from the perpendicular was
bowing and plunging into the long Pacific roll If she were heading southwest as
Johnson had said the wind then I calculated was blowing nearly from the
south The fog was gone and in its place the sun sparkled crisply on the
surface of the water I turned to the east where I knew California must lie
but could see nothing save lowlying fogbanks the same fog doubtless that
had brought about the disaster to the Martinez and placed me in my present
situation To the north and not far away a group of naked rocks thrust above
the sea on one of which I could distinguish a lighthouse In the southwest and
almost in our course I saw the pyramidal loom of some vessels sails
Having completed my survey of the horizon I turned to my more immediate
surroundings My first thought was that a man who had come through a collision
and rubbed shoulders with death merited more attention than I received Beyond a
sailor at the wheel who stared curiously across the top of the cabin I
attracted no notice whatever
Everybody seemed interested in what was going on amidships There on a
hatch a large man was lying on his back He was fully clothed though his shirt
was ripped open in front Nothing was to be seen of his chest however for it
was covered with a mass of black hair in appearance like the furry coat of a
dog His face and neck were hidden beneath a black beard intershot with gray
which would have been stiff and bushy had it not been limp and draggled and
dripping with water His eyes were closed and he was apparently unconscious
but his mouth was wide open his breast heaving as though from suffocation as he
labored noisily for breath A sailor from time to time and quite methodically
as a matter of routine dropped a canvas bucket into the ocean at the end of a
rope hauled it in hand under hand and sluiced its contents over the prostrate
man
Pacing back and forth the length of the hatchway and savagely chewing the
end of a cigar was the man whose casual glance had rescued me from the sea His
height was probably five feet ten inches or ten and a half but my first
impression or feel of the man was not of this but of his strength And yet
while he was of massive build with broad shoulders and deep chest I could not
characterize his strength as massive It was what might be termed a sinewy
knotty strength of the kind we ascribe to lean and wiry men but which in him
because of his heavy build partook more of the enlarged gorilla order Not that
in appearance he seemed in the least gorillalike What I am striving to express
is this strength itself more as a thing apart from his physical semblance It
was a strength we are wont to associate with things primitive with wild
animals and the creatures we imagine our treedwelling prototypes to have been
a strength savage ferocious alive in itself the essence of life in that it
is the potency of motion the elemental stuff itself out of which the many forms
of life have been molded in short that which writhes in the body of a snake
when the head is cut off and the snake as a snake is dead or which lingers
in a shapeless lump of turtlemeat and recoils and quivers from the prod of a
finger
Such was the impression of strength I gathered from this man who paced up
and down He was firmly planted on his legs his feet struck the deck squarely
and with surety every movement of a muscle from the heave of the shoulders to
the tightening of the lips about the cigar was decisive and seemed to come out
of a strength that was excessive and overwhelming In fact though this strength
pervaded every action of his it seemed but the advertisement of a greater
strength that lurked within that lay dormant and no more than stirred from time
to time but which might arouse at any moment terrible and compelling like
the rage of a lion or the wrath of a storm
The cook stuck his head out of the galley door and grinned encouragingly at
me at the same time jerking his thumb in the direction of the man who paced up
and down by the hatchway Thus I was given to understand that he was the
captain the »Old Man« in the cooks vernacular the individual whom I must
interview and put to the trouble of somehow getting me ashore I had half
started forward to get over with what I was certain would be a stormy five
minutes when a more violent suffocating paroxysm seized the unfortunate person
who was lying on his back He wrenched and writhed about convulsively The chin
with the damp black beard pointed higher in the air as the back muscles
stiffened and the chest swelled in an unconscious and instinctive effort to get
more air Under the whiskers and all unseen I knew that the skin was taking on
a purplish hue
The captain or Wolf Larsen as men called him ceased pacing and gazed down
at the dying man So fierce had this final struggle become that the sailor
paused in the act of flinging more water over him and stared curiously the
canvas bucket partly tilted and dripping its contents to the deck The dying man
beat a tattoo on the hatch with his heels straightened out his legs and
stiffened in one great tense effort and rolled his head from side to side Then
the muscles relaxed the head stopped rolling and a sigh as of profound
relief floated upward from his lips The jaw dropped the upper lip lifted and
two rows of tobaccodiscolored teeth appeared It seemed as though his features
had frozen into a diabolical grin at the world he had left and outwitted
Then a most surprising thing occurred The captain broke loose upon the dead
man like a thunderclap Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream And
they were not nambypamby oaths or mere expressions of indecency Each word was
a blasphemy and there were many words They crisped and crackled like electric
sparks I had never heard anything like it in my life nor could I have
conceived it possible With a turn for literary expression myself and a
penchant for forcible figures and phrases I appreciated as no other listener
I dare say the peculiar vividness and strength and absolute blasphemy of his
metaphors The cause of it all as near as I could make out was that the man
who was mate had gone on a debauch before leaving San Francisco and then had
the poor taste to die at the beginning of the voyage and leave Wolf Larsen
shorthanded
It should be unnecessary to state at least to my friends that I was
shocked Oaths and vile language of any sort had always been repellent to me I
felt a wilting sensation a sinking at the heart and I might just as well say
a giddiness To me death had always been invested with solemnity and dignity
It had been peaceful in its occurrence sacred in its ceremonial But death in
its more sordid and terrible aspects was a thing with which I had been
unacquainted till now As I say while I appreciated the power of the terrific
denunciation that swept out of Wolf Larsens mouth I was inexpressibly shocked
The scorching torrent was enough to wither the face of the corpse I should not
have been surprised if the wet black beard had frizzled and curled and flared up
in smoke and flame But the dead man was unconcerned He continued to grin with
a sardonic humor with a cynical mockery and defiance He was master of the
situation
Chapter III
Wolf Larsen ceased swearing as suddenly as he had begun He relighted his cigar
and glanced around His eyes chanced upon the cook
»Well Cooky« he began with a suaveness that was cold and of the temper of
steel
»Yes sir« the cook eagerly interpolated with appeasing and apologetic
servility
»Dont you think youve stretched that neck of yours just about enough Its
unhealthy you know The mates gone so I cant afford to lose you too You
must be very very careful of your health Cooky Understand«
His last word in striking contrast with the smoothness of his previous
utterance snapped like the lash of a whip The cook quailed under it
»Yes sir« was the meek reply as the offending head disappeared into the
galley
At this sweeping rebuke which the cook had only pointed the rest of the
crew became uninterested and fell to work at one task or another A number of
men however who were lounging about a companionway between the galley and the
hatch and who did not seem to be sailors continued talking in low tones with
one another These I afterward learned were the hunters the men who shot the
seals and a very superior breed to common sailorfolk
»Johansen« Wolf Larsen called out A sailor stepped forward obediently
»Get your palm and needle and sew the beggar up Youll find some old canvas in
the saillocker Make it do«
»Whatll I put on his feet sir« the man asked after the customary »Ay
ay sir«
»Well see to that« Wolf Larsen answered and elevated his voice in a call
of »Cooky«
Thomas Mugridge popped out of his galley like a jackinthebox
»Go below and fill a sack with coal«
»Any of you fellows got a Bible or prayerbook« was the captains next
demand this time of the hunters lounging about the companionway
They shook their heads and some one made a jocular remark which I did not
catch but which raised a general laugh
Wolf Larsen made the same demand of the sailors Bibles and prayerbooks
seemed scarce articles but one of the men volunteered to pursue the quest
amongst the watch below returning in a minute with the information that there
was none
The captain shrugged his shoulders »Then well drop him over without any
palavering unless our clericallooking castaway has the burial service at sea
by heart«
By this time he had swung fully around and was facing me
»Youre a preacher arent you« he asked
The hunters there were six of them to a man turned and regarded me I
was painfully aware of my likeness to a scarecrow A laugh went up at my
appearance a laugh that was not lessened or softened by the dead man
stretched and grinning on the deck before us a laugh that was as rough and
harsh and frank as the sea itself that arose out of coarse feelings and blunted
sensibilities from natures that knew neither courtesy nor gentleness
Wolf Larsen did not laugh though his gray eyes lighted with a slight glint
of amusement and in that moment having stepped forward quite close to him I
received my first impression of the man himself of the man as apart from his
body and from the torrent of blasphemy I had heard him spew forth The face
with large features and strong lines of the square order yet well filled out
was apparently massive at first sight but again as with the body the
massiveness seemed to vanish and a conviction to grow of a tremendous and
excessive mental or spiritual strength that lay behind sleeping in the deeps of
his being The jaw the chin the brow rising to a goodly height and swelling
heavily above the eyes these while strong in themselves unusually strong
seemed to speak an immense vigor or virility of spirit that lay behind and
beyond and out of sight There was no sounding such a spirit no measuring no
determining of metes and bounds nor neatly classifying in some pigeonhole with
others of similar type
The eyes and it was my destiny to know them well were large and
handsome wide apart as the true artists are wide sheltering under a heavy
brow and arched over by thick black eyebrows The eyes themselves were of that
baffling protean gray which is never twice the same which runs through many
shades and colorings like intershot silk in sunshine which is gray dark and
light and greenish gray and sometimes of the clear azure of the deep sea They
were eyes that masked the soul with a thousand guises and that sometimes
opened at rare moments and allowed it to rush up as though it were about to
fare forth nakedly into the world on some wonderful adventure eyes that could
brood with the hopeless sombreness of leaden skies that could snap and crackle
points of fire like those which sparkle from a whirling sword that could grow
chill as an arctic landscape and yet again that could warm and soften and be
all adance with lovelights intense and masculine luring and compelling
which at the same time fascinate and dominate women till they surrender in a
gladness of joy and of relief and sacrifice
But to return I told him that unhappily for the burial service I was not
a preacher when he sharply demanded
»What do you do for a living«
I confess I had never had such a question asked me before nor had I ever
canvassed it I was quite taken aback and before I could find myself had
sillily stammered »I I am a gentleman«
His lip curled in a swift sneer
»I have worked I do work« I cried impetuously as though he were my judge
and I required vindication and at the same time very much aware of my arrant
idiocy in discussing the subject at all
»For your living«
There was something so imperative and masterful about him that I was quite
beside myself »rattled« as Furuseth would have termed it like a quaking
child before a stern schoolmaster
»Who feeds you« was his next question
»I have an income« I answered stoutly and could have bitten my tongue the
next instant »All of which you will pardon my observing has nothing
whatsoever to do with what I wish to see you about«
But he disregarded my protest
»Who earned it Eh I thought so Your father You stand on dead mens legs
Youve never had any of your own You couldnt walk alone between two sunrises
and hustle the meat for your belly for three meals Let me see your hand«
His tremendous dormant strength must have stirred swiftly and accurately
or I must have slept a moment for before I knew it he had stepped two paces
forward gripped my right hand in his and held it up for inspection I tried to
withdraw it but his fingers tightened without visible effort till I thought
mine would be crushed It is hard to maintain ones dignity under such
circumstances I could not squirm or struggle like a schoolboy Nor could I
attack such a creature who had but to twist my arm to break it Nothing remained
but to stand still and accept the indignity I had time to notice that the
pockets of the dead man had been emptied on the deck and that his body and his
grin had been wrapped from view in canvas the folds of which the sailor
Johansen was sewing together with coarse white twine shoving the needle
through with a leather contrivance fitted on the palm of his hand
Wolf Larsen dropped my hand with a flirt of disdain
»Dead mens hands have kept it soft Good for little else than dishwashing
and scullion work«
»I wish to be put ashore« I said firmly for I now had myself in control
»I shall pay you whatever you judge your delay and trouble to be worth«
He looked at me curiously Mockery shone in his eyes
»I have a counter proposition to make and for the good of your soul My
mates gone and therell be a lot of promotion A sailor comes aft to take
mates place cabinboy goes forard to take sailors place and you take the
cabinboys place sign the articles for the cruise twenty dollars per month
and found Now what do you say And mind you its for your own souls sake It
will be the making of you You might learn in time to stand on your own legs and
perhaps to toddle along a bit«
But I took no notice The sails of the vessel I had seen off to the
southwest had grown larger and plainer They were of the same schoonerrig as
the Ghost though the hull itself I could see was smaller She was a pretty
sight leaping and flying toward us and evidently bound to pass at close range
The wind had been momentarily increasing and the sun after a few angry gleams
had disappeared The sea had turned a dull leaden gray and grown rougher and
was now tossing foaming whitecaps to the sky We were travelling faster and
heeled farther over Once in a gust the rail dipped under the sea and the
decks on that side were for the moment awash with water that made a couple of
the hunters hastily lift their feet
»That vessel will soon be passing us« I said after a moments pause »As
she is going in the opposite direction she is very probably bound for San
Francisco«
»Very probably« was Wolf Larsens answer as he turned partly away from me
and cried out »Cooky Oh Cooky«
The Cockney popped out of the galley
»Wheres that boy Tell him I want him«
»Yes sir« and Thomas Mugridge fled swiftly aft and disappeared down
another companionway near the wheel A moment later he emerged a heavyset
young fellow of eighteen or nineteen with a glowering villanous countenance
trailing at his heels
»Ere e is sir« the cook said
But Wolf Larsen ignored that worthy turning at once to the cabinboy
»Whats your name boy«
»George Leach sir« came the sullen answer and the boys bearing showed
clearly that he divined the reason for which he had been summoned
»Not an Irish name« the captain snapped sharply »OToole or McCarthy would
suit your mug a damn sight better Unless very likely theres an Irishman in
your mothers woodpile«
I saw the young fellows hands clench at the insult and the blood crawl
scarlet up his neck
»But let that go« Wolf Larsen continued »You may have very good reasons
for forgetting your name and Ill like you none the worse for it as long as you
toe the mark Telegraph Hill of course is your port of entry It sticks out
all over your mug Tough as they make them and twice as nasty I know the kind
Well you can make up your mind to have it taken out of you on this craft
Understand Who shipped you anyway«
»McCready and Swanson«
»Sir« Wolf Larsen thundered
»McCready and Swanson sir« the boy corrected his eyes burning with a
bitter light
»Who got the advance money«
»They did sir«
»I thought as much And damned glad you were to let them have it Couldnt
make yourself scarce too quick with several gentlemen you may have heard of
looking for you«
The boy metamorphosed into a savage on the instant His body bunched
together as though for a spring and his face became as an infuriated beasts as
he snarled »Its a «
»A what« Wolf Larsen asked a peculiar softness in his voice as though he
were overwhelmingly curious to hear the unspoken word
The boy hesitated then mastered his temper »Nothin sir I take it back«
»And you have shown me I was right« This with a gratified smile »How old
are you«
»Just turned sixteen sir«
»A lie Youll never see eighteen again Big for your age at that with
muscles like a horse Pack up your kit and go forard into the focsle Youre
a boatpuller now Youre promoted see«
Without waiting for the boys acceptance the captain turned to the sailor
who had just finished the grewsome task of sewing up the corpse »Johansen do
you know anything about navigation«
»No sir«
»Well never mind youre mate just the same Get your traps aft into the
mates berth«
»Ay ay sir« was the cheery response as Johansen started forward
In the meantime the erstwhile cabinboy had not moved
»What are you waiting for« Wolf Larsen demanded
»I didnt sign for boatpuller sir« was the reply »I signed for
cabinboy An I dont want no boatpullin in mine«
»Pack up and go forard«
This time Wolf Larsens command was thrillingly imperative The boy glowered
sullenly but refused to move
Then came another stirring of Wolf Larsens tremendous strength It was
utterly unexpected and it was over and done with between the ticks of two
seconds He had sprung fully six feet across the deck and driven his fist into
the others stomach At the same moment as though I had been struck myself I
felt a sickening shock in the pit of my stomach I instance this to show the
sensitiveness of my nervous organization at the time and how unused I was to
spectacles of brutality The cabinboy and he weighed one hundred and
sixtyfive at the very least crumpled up His body wrapped limply about the
fist like a wet rag about a stick He lifted into the air described a short
curve and struck the deck alongside the corpse on his head and shoulders where
he lay and writhed about in agony
»Well« Larsen asked of me »Have you made up your mind«
I had glanced occasionally at the approaching schooner and it was now
almost abreast of us and not more than a couple of hundred yards away It was a
very trim and neat little craft I could see a large black number on one of its
sails and I had seen pictures of pilotboats
»What vessel is that« I asked
»The pilotboat Lady Mine« Wolf Larsen answered grimly »Got rid of her
pilots and running into San Francisco Shell be there in five or six hours with
this wind«
»Will you please signal it then so that I may be put ashore«
»Sorry but Ive lost the signal book overboard« he remarked and the group
of hunters grinned
I debated a moment looking him squarely in the eyes I had seen the
frightful treatment of the cabinboy and knew that I should very probably
receive the same if not worse As I say I debated with myself and then I did
what I consider the bravest act of my life I ran to the side waving my arms
and shouting
»Lady Mine ahoy Take me ashore A thousand dollars if you take me ashore«
I waited watching two men who stood by the wheel one of them steering The
other was lifting a megaphone to his lips I did not turn my head though I
expected every moment a killing blow from the human brute behind me At last
after what seemed centuries unable longer to stand the strain I looked around
He had not moved He was standing in the same position swaying easily to the
roll of the ship and lighting a fresh cigar
»What is the matter Anything wrong«
This was the cry from the Lady Mine
»Yes« I shouted at the top of my lungs »Life or death One thousand
dollars if you take me ashore«
»Too much Frisco tanglefoot for the health of my crew« Wolf Larsen shouted
after »This one« indicating me with his thumb »fancies seaserpents and
monkeys just now«
The man on the Lady Mine laughed back through the megaphone The pilotboat
plunged past
»Give him hell for me« came a final cry and the two men waved their arms
in farewell
I leaned despairingly over the rail watching the trim little schooner
swiftly increasing the bleak sweep of ocean between us And she would probably
be in San Francisco in five or six hours My head seemed bursting There was an
ache in my throat as though my heart were up in it A curling wave struck the
side and splashed salt spray on my lips The wind puffed strongly and the Ghost
heeled far over burying her lee rail I could hear the water rushing down upon
the deck
When I turned around a moment later I saw the cabinboy staggering to his
feet His face was ghastly white twitching with suppressed pain He looked very
sick
»Well Leach are you going forard« Wolf Larsen asked
»Yes sir« came the answer of a spirit cowed
»And you« I was asked
»Ill give you a thousand « I began but was interrupted
»Stow that Are you going to take up your duties as cabinboy Or do I have
to take you in hand«
What was I to do To be brutally beaten to be killed perhaps would not
help my case I looked steadily into the cruel gray eyes They might have been
granite for all the light and warmth of a human soul they contained One may see
the soul stir in some mens eyes but his were bleak and cold and gray as the
sea itself
»Well«
»Yes« I said
»Say yes sir«
»Yes sir« I corrected
»What is your name«
»Van Weyden sir«
»First name«
»Humphrey sir Humphrey Van Weyden«
»Age«
»Thirtyfive sir«
»Thatll do Go to the cook and learn your duties«
And thus it was that I passed into a state of involuntary servitude to Wolf
Larsen He was stronger than I that was all But it was very unreal at the
time It is no less unreal now that I look back upon it It will always be to me
a monstrous inconceivable thing a horrible nightmare
»Hold on dont go yet«
I stopped obediently in my walk toward the galley
»Johansen call all hands Now that weve everything cleaned up well have
the funeral and get the decks cleared of useless lumber«
While Johansen was summoning the watch below a couple of sailors under the
captains direction laid the canvasswathed corpse upon a hatchcover On
either side the deck against the rail and bottoms up were lashed a number of
small boats Several men picked up the hatchcover with its ghastly freight
carried it to the leeside and rested it on the boats the feet pointing
overboard To the feet was attached the sack of coal which the cook had fetched
I had always conceived a burial at sea to be a very solemn and aweinspiring
event but I was quickly disillusioned by this burial at any rate One of the
hunters a little darkeyed man whom his mates called »Smoke« was telling
stories liberally intersprinkled with oaths and obscenities and every minute
or so the group of hunters gave mouth to a laughter that sounded to me like a
wolfchorus or the barking of hellhounds The sailors trooped noisily aft some
of the watch below rubbing the sleep from their eyes and talked in low tones
together There was an ominous and worried expression on their faces It was
evident that they did not like the outlook of a voyage under such a captain and
begun so inauspiciously From time to time they stole glances at Wolf Larsen
and I could see that they were apprehensive of the man
He stepped up to the hatchcover and all caps came off I ran my eyes over
them twenty men all told twentytwo including the man at the wheel and
myself I was pardonably curious in my survey for it appeared my fate to be
pent up with them on this miniature floating world for I knew not how many weeks
or months The sailors in the main were English and Scandinavian and their
faces seemed of the heavy stolid order The hunters on the other hand had
stronger and more diversified faces with hard lines and the marks of the free
play of passions Strange to say and I noted it at once Wolf Larsens features
showed no such evil stamp There seemed nothing vicious in them True there
were lines but they were the lines of decision and firmness It seemed rather
a frank and open countenance which frankness or openness was enhanced by the
fact that he was smoothshaven I could hardly believe until the next
incident occurred that it was the face of a man who could behave as he had
behaved to the cabinboy
At this moment as he opened his mouth to speak puff after puff struck the
schooner and pressed her side under The wind shrieked a wild song through the
rigging Some of the hunters glanced anxiously aloft The lee rail where the
dead man lay was buried in the sea and as the schooner lifted and righted the
water swept across the deck wetting us above our shoetops A shower of rain
drove down upon us each drop stinging like a hailstone As it passed Wolf
Larsen began to speak the bareheaded men swaying in unison to the heave and
lunge of the deck
»I only remember one part of the service« he said »and that is And the
body shall be cast into the sea So cast it in«
He ceased speaking The men holding the hatchcover seemed perplexed
puzzled no doubt by the briefness of the ceremony He burst upon them in a fury
»Lift up that end there damn you What the hells the matter with you«
They elevated the end of the hatchcover with pitiful haste and like a dog
flung overside the dead man slid feet first into the sea The coal at his feet
dragged him down He was gone
»Johansen« Wolf Larsen said briskly to the new mate »keep all hands on
deck now theyre here Get in the topsails and jibs and make a good job of it
Were in for a soueaster Better reef the jib and mainsail too while youre
about it«
In a moment the decks were in commotion Johansen bellowing orders and the
men pulling or letting go ropes of various sorts all naturally confusing to a
landsman such as myself But it was the heartlessness of it that especially
struck me The dead man was an episode that was past an incident that was
dropped in a canvas covering with a sack of coal while the ship sped along and
her work went on Nobody had been affected The hunters were laughing at a fresh
story of Smokes the men pulling and hauling and two of them climbing aloft
Wolf Larsen was studying the clouding sky to windward and the dead man dying
obscenely buried sordidly and sinking down down
Then it was that the cruelty of the sea its relentlessness and awfulness
rushed upon me Life had become cheap and tawdry a beastly and inarticulate
thing a soulless stirring of the ooze and slime I held on to the weather rail
close by the shrouds and gazed out across the desolate foaming waves to the
lowlying fogbanks that hid San Francisco and the California coast
Rainsqualls were driving in between and I could scarcely see the fog And this
strange vessel with its terrible men pressed under by wind and sea and ever
leaping up and out was heading away into the southwest into the great and
lonely Pacific expanse
Chapter IV
What happened to me next on the sealingschooner Ghost as I strove to fit into
my new environment are matters of humiliation and pain The cook who was
called »the doctor« by the crew »Tommy« by the hunters and »Cooky« by Wolf
Larsen was a changed person The difference worked in my status brought about a
corresponding difference in treatment from him Servile and fawning as he had
been before he was now as domineering and bellicose In truth I was no longer
the fine gentleman with a skin soft as a »lydys« but only an ordinary and very
worthless cabinboy
He absurdly insisted upon my addressing him as Mr Mugridge and his
behavior and carriage were insufferable as he showed me my duties Besides my
work in the cabin with its four small staterooms I was supposed to be his
assistant in the galley and my colossal ignorance concerning such things as
peeling potatoes or washing greasy pots was a source of unending and sarcastic
wonder to him He refused to take into consideration what I was or rather
what my life and the things I was accustomed to had been This was part of the
attitude he chose to adopt toward me and I confess ere the day was done that
I hated him with more lively feelings than I had ever hated any one in my life
before
This first day was made more difficult for me from the fact that the Ghost
under close reefs terms such as these I did not learn till later was
plunging through what Mr Mugridge called an »owlin soueaster« At halfpast
five under his directions I set the table in the cabin with roughweather
trays in place and then carried the tea and cooked food down from the galley
In this connection I cannot forbear relating my first experience with a boarding
sea
»Look sharp or youll get doused« was Mr Mugridges parting injunction as
I left the galley with a big teapot in one hand and in the hollow of the other
arm several loaves of freshbaked bread One of the hunters a tall
loosejointed chap named Henderson was going aft at the time from the steerage
the name the hunters facetiously gave their midships sleeping quarters to the
cabin Wolf Larsen was on the poop smoking his everlasting cigar
»Ere she comes Sling yer ook« the cook cried
I stopped for I did not know what was coming and saw the galley door slide
shut with a bang Then I saw Henderson leaping like a madman for the main
rigging up which he shot on the inside till he was many feet higher than my
head Also I saw a great wave curling and foaming poised far above the rail I
was directly under it My mind did not work quickly everything was so new and
strange I grasped that I was in danger but that was all I stood still in
trepidation Then Wolf Larsen shouted from the poop
»Grab hold something you you Hump«
But it was too late I sprang toward the rigging to which I might have
clung and was met by the descending wall of water What happened after that was
very confusing I was beneath the water suffocating and drowning My feet were
out from under me and I was turning over and over and being swept along I knew
not where Several times I collided against hard objects once striking my right
knee a terrible blow Then the flood seemed suddenly to subside and I was
breathing the good air again I had been swept against the galley and around the
steerage companionway from the weather side into the lee scuppers The pain from
my hurt knee was agonizing I could not put my weight on it or at least I
thought I could not put my weight on it and I felt sure the leg was broken But
the cook was after me shouting through the lee galley door
»Ere you Dont tyke all night about it Wheres the pot Lost overboard
Serve you bloody well right if yer neck was broke«
I managed to struggle to my feet The great teapot was still in my hand I
limped to the galley and handed it to him But he was consuming with
indignation real or feigned
»Gawd blime me if you aynt a slob Wotre you good for anywy Id like to
know Eh Wotre you good for anywy Cawnt even carry a bit of tea aft without
losin it Now Ill ave to boil some more«
»An wotre you snifflin about« he burst out at me with renewed rage
»Cos youve urt yer pore little leg pore little mammas darlin«
I was not sniffling though my face might well have been drawn and twitching
from the pain But I called up all my resolution set my teeth and hobbled back
and forth from galley to cabin and cabin to galley without further mishap Two
things I had acquired by my accident an injured kneecap that went undressed and
from which I suffered for weary months and the name of »Hump« which Wolf
Larsen had called me from the poop Thereafter fore and aft I was known by no
other name until the term became a part of my thoughtprocesses and I
identified it with myself thought of myself as Hump as though Hump were I and
had always been I
It was no easy task waiting on the cabin table where sat Wolf Larsen
Johansen and the six hunters The cabin was small to begin with and to move
around as I was compelled to was not made easier by the schooners violent
pitching and wallowing But what struck me most forcibly was the total lack of
sympathy on the part of the men whom I served I could feel my knee through my
clothes swelling and swelling and I was sick and faint from the pain of it I
could catch glimpses of my face white and ghastly distorted with pain in the
cabin mirror All the men must have seen my condition but not one spoke or took
notice of me till I was almost grateful to Wolf Larsen later on I was
washing the dishes when he said
»Dont let a little thing like that bother you Youll get used to such
things in time It may cripple you some but all the same youll be learning to
walk
Thats what you call a paradox isnt it« he added
He seemed pleased when I nodded my head with the customary »Yes sir«
»I suppose you know a bit about literary things Eh Good Ill have some
talks with you sometime«
And then taking no further account of me he turned his back and went up on
deck
That night when I had finished an endless amount of work I was sent to
sleep in the steerage where I made up a spare bunk I was glad to get out of
the detestable presence of the cook and to be off my feet To my surprise my
clothes had dried on me and there seemed no indications of catching cold either
from the last soaking or from the prolonged soaking from the foundering of the
Martinez Under ordinary circumstances after all that I had undergone I should
have been fit for bed and a trained nurse
But my knee was bothering me terribly As well as I could make out the
kneecap seemed turned up on edge in the midst of the swelling As I sat in my
bunk examining it the six hunters were all in the steerage smoking and
talking in loud voices Henderson took a passing glance at it
»Looks nasty« he commented »Tie a rag around it and itll be all right«
That was all and on the land I would have been lying on the broad of my
back with a surgeon attending on me and with strict injunctions to do nothing
but rest But I must do these men justice Callous as they were to my suffering
they were equally callous to their own when anything befell them And this was
due I believe first to habit and second to the fact that they were less
sensitively organized I really believe that a finely organized highstrung man
would suffer twice and thrice as much as they from a like injury
Tired as I was exhausted in fact I was prevented from sleeping by the
pain in my knee It was all I could do to keep from groaning aloud At home I
should undoubtedly have given vent to my anguish but this new and elemental
environment seemed to call for a savage repression Like the savage the
attitude of these men was stoical in great things childish in little things I
remember later in the voyage seeing Kerfoot another of the hunters lose a
finger by having it smashed to a jelly and he did not even murmur or change the
expression on his face Yet I have seen the same man time and again fly into
the most outrageous passion over a trifle
He was doing it now vociferating bellowing waving his arms and cursing
like a fiend and all because of a disagreement with another hunter as to
whether a seal pup knew instinctively how to swim He held that it did that it
could swim the moment it was born The other hunter Latimer a lean
Yankeelooking fellow with shrewd narrowslitted eyes held otherwise held
that the seal pup was born on the land for no other reason than that it could
not swim that its mother was compelled to teach it to swim as birds were
compelled to teach their nestlings how to fly
For the most part the remaining four hunters leaned on the table or lay in
their bunks and left the discussion to the two antagonists But they were
supremely interested for every little while they ardently took sides and
sometimes all were talking at once till their voices surged back and forth in
waves of sound like mimic thunderrolls in the confined space Childish and
immaterial as the topic was the quality of their reasoning was still more
childish and immaterial In truth there was very little reasoning or none at
all Their method was one of assertion assumption and denunciation They
proved that a seal pup could swim or not swim at birth by stating the
proposition very bellicosely and then following it up with an attack on the
opposing mans judgment common sense nationality or past history Rebuttal
was precisely similar I have related this in order to show the mental caliber
of the men with whom I was thrown in contact Intellectually they were children
inhabiting the physical forms of men
And they smoked incessantly smoked using a coarse cheap and
offensivesmelling tobacco The air was thick and murky with the smoke of it
and this combined with the violent movement of the ship as she struggled
through the storm would surely have made me seasick had I been a victim to that
malady As it was it made me quite squeamish though this nausea might have
been due to the pain of my leg and exhaustion
As I lay there thinking I naturally dwelt upon myself and my situation It
was unparalleled undreamedof that I Humphrey Van Weyden a scholar and a
dilettante if you please in things artistic and literary should be lying here
on a Bering Sea sealhunting schooner Cabinboy I had never done any hard
manual labor or scullion labor in my life I had lived a placid uneventful
sedentary existence all my days the life of a scholar and a recluse on an
assured and comfortable income Violent life and athletic sports had never
appealed to me I had always been a bookworm so my sisters and father had
called me during my childhood I had gone camping but once in my life and then
I left the party almost at its start and returned to the comforts and
conveniences of a roof And here I was with dreary and endless vistas before me
of tablesetting potatopeeling and dishwashing And I was not strong The
doctors had always said that I had a remarkable constitution but I had never
developed it or my body through exercise My muscles were small and soft like a
womans or so the doctors had said time and again in the course of their
attempts to persuade me to go in for physicalculture fads But I had preferred
to use my head rather than my body and here I was in no fit condition for the
rough life in prospect
These are merely a few of the things that went through my mind and are
related for the sake of vindicating myself in advance in the weak and helpless
rôle I was destined to play But I thought also of my mother and sisters and
pictured their grief I was among the missing dead of the Martinez disaster an
unrecovered body I could see the headlines in the papers the fellows at the
University Club and the Bibelot shaking their heads and saying »Poor chap« And
I could see Charley Furuseth as I had said goodby to him that morning
lounging in a dressinggown on the bepillowed window couch and delivering
himself of oracular and pessimistic epigrams
And all the while rolling plunging climbing the moving mountains and
falling and wallowing in the foaming valleys the schooner Ghost was fighting
her way farther and farther into the heart of the Pacific and I was on her I
could hear the wind above It came to my ears as a muffled roar Now and again
feet stamped overhead An endless creaking was going on all about me the
woodwork and the fittings groaning and squeaking and complaining in a thousand
keys The hunters were still arguing and roaring like some semihuman amphibious
breed The air was filled with oaths and indecent expressions I could see their
faces flushed and angry the brutality distorted and emphasized by the sickly
yellow of the sealamps which rocked back and forth with the ship Through the
dim smokehaze the bunks looked like the sleeping dens of animals in a
menagerie Oilskins and seaboots were hanging from the walls and here and
there rifles and shotguns rested securely in the racks It was a seafitting for
the buccaneers and pirates of bygone years My imagination ran riot and still I
could not sleep And it was a long long night weary and dreary and long
Chapter V
But my first night in the hunters steerage was also my last Next day Johansen
the new mate was routed from the cabin by Wolf Larsen and sent into the
steerage to sleep thereafter while I took possession of the tiny cabin
stateroom which on the first day of the voyage had already had two occupants
The reason for this change was quickly learned by the hunters and became the
cause of a deal of grumbling on their part It seemed that Johansen in his
sleep lived over each night the events of the day His incessant talking and
shouting and bellowing of orders had been too much for Wolf Larsen who had
accordingly foisted the nuisance upon his hunters
After a sleepless night I arose weak and in agony to hobble through my
second day on the Ghost Thomas Mugridge routed me out at halfpast five much
in the fashion that Bill Sykes must have routed out his dog but Mr Mugridges
brutality to me was paid back in kind and with interest The unnecessary noise
he made I had lain wideeyed the whole night must have awakened one of the
hunters for a heavy shoe whizzed through the semidarkness and Mr Mugridge
with a sharp howl of pain humbly begged everybodys pardon Later on in the
galley I noticed that his ear was bruised and swollen It never went entirely
back to its normal shape and was called a »cauliflower ear« by the sailors
The day was filled with miserable variety I had taken my dried clothes down
from the galley the night before and the first thing I did was to exchange the
cooks garments for them I looked for my purse In addition to some small
change and I have a good memory for such things it had contained one hundred
and eightyfive dollars in gold and paper The purse I found but its contents
with the exception of the small silver had been abstracted I spoke to the cook
about it when I went on deck to take up my duties in the galley and though I
had looked forward to a surly answer I had not expected the belligerent
harangue that I received
»Look ere Ump« he began a malicious light in his eyes and a snarl in
his throat »dye want yer nose punched If you think Im a thief just keep it
to yerself or youll find ow bloody well mistyken you are Strike me blind if
this aynt gratitude for yer Ere you come a pore misrable specimen of uman
scum an I tykes yer into my galley an treats yer ansom an this is wot I
get for it Nex time you can go to ell say I an Ive a good mind to give
you whatfor anywy«
So saying he put up his fists and started for me To my shame be it I
cowered away from the blow and ran out the galley door What else was I to do
Force nothing but force obtained on this bruteship Moral suasion was a thing
unknown Picture it to yourself a man of ordinary stature slender of build
and with weak undeveloped muscles who has lived a peaceful placid life and
is unused to violence of any sort what could such a man possibly do There was
no more reason that I should stand and face these human beasts than that I
should stand and face an infuriated bull
So I thought it out at the time feeling the need for vindication and
desiring to be at peace with my conscience But this vindication did not
satisfy Nor to this day can I permit my manhood to look back upon those events
and feel entirely exonerated The situation was something that really exceeded
rational formulas for conduct and demanded more than the cold conclusions of
reason When viewed in the light of formal logic there is not one thing of
which to be ashamed but nevertheless a shame rises within me at the
recollection and in the pride of my manhood I feel that my manhood has in
unaccountable ways been smirched and sullied
All of which is neither here nor there The speed with which I ran from the
galley caused excruciating pain in my knee and I sank down helplessly at the
break of the poop But the Cockney had not pursued me
»Look at im run Look at im run« I could hear him crying »An with a
gyme leg at that Come on back you pore little mammas darling I wont it
yer no I wont«
I came back and went on with my work and here the episode ended for the
time though further developments were yet to take place I set the
breakfasttable in the cabin and at seven oclock waited on the hunters and
officers The storm had evidently broken during the night though a huge sea was
still running and a stiff wind blowing Sail had been made in the early watches
so that the Ghost was racing along under everything except the two topsails and
the flying jib These three sails I gathered from the conversation were to be
set immediately after breakfast I learned also that Wolf Larsen was anxious
to make the most of the storm which was driving him to the southwest into that
portion of the sea where he expected to pick up with the northeast trades It
was before this steady wind that he hoped to make the major portion of the run
to Japan curving south into the tropics and north again as he approached the
coast of Asia
After breakfast I had another unenviable experience When I had finished
washing the dishes I cleaned the cabin stove and carried the ashes up on deck
to empty them Wolf Larsen and Henderson were standing near the wheel deep in
conversation The sailor Johnson was steering As I started toward the weather
side I saw him make a sudden motion with his head which I mistook for a token
of recognition and good morning In reality he was attempting to warn me to
throw my ashes over the lee side Unconscious of my blunder I passed by Wolf
Larsen and the hunter and flung the ashes over the side to windward The wind
drove them back and not only over me but over Henderson and Wolf Larsen The
next instant the latter kicked me violently as a cur is kicked I had not
realized there could be so much pain in a kick I reeled away from him and
leaned against the cabin in a halffainting condition Everything was swimming
before my eyes and I turned sick The nausea overpowered me and I managed to
crawl to the side of the vessel But Wolf Larsen did not follow me up Brushing
the ashes from his clothes he had resumed his conversation with Henderson
Johansen who had seen the affair from the break of the poop sent a couple of
sailors aft to clean up the mess
Later in the morning I received a surprise of a totally different sort
Following the cooks instructions I had gone into Wolf Larsens stateroom to
put it to rights and make the bed Against the wall near the head of the bunk
was a rack filled with books I glanced over them noting with astonishment such
names as Shakespeare Tennyson Poe and De Quincey There were scientific
works too among which were represented men such as Tyndall Proctor and
Darwin Astronomy and physics were represented and I remarked Bulfinchs »Age
of Fable« Shaws »History of English and American Literature« and Johnsons
»Natural History« in two large volumes Then there were a number of grammars
such as Metcalfs and Reed and Kelloggs and I smiled as I saw a copy of »The
Deans English«
I could not reconcile these books with the man from what I had seen of him
and I wondered if he could possibly read them But when I came to make the bed I
found between the blankets dropped apparently as he had sunk off to sleep a
complete Browning the Cambridge Edition It was open at »In a Balcony« and I
noticed here and there passages underlined in pencil Further letting drop
the volume during a lurch of the ship a sheet of paper fell out It was
scrawled over with geometrical diagrams and calculations of some sort
It was patent that this terrible man was no ignorant clod such as one would
inevitably suppose him to be from his exhibitions of brutality At once he
became an enigma One side or the other of his nature was perfectly
comprehensible but both sides together were bewildering I had already remarked
that his language was excellent marred with an occasional slight inaccuracy Of
course in common speech with the sailors and hunters it sometimes fairly
bristled with errors which was due to the vernacular itself but in the few
words he had held with me it had been clear and correct
This glimpse I had caught of his other side must have emboldened me for I
resolved to speak to him about the money I had lost
»I have been robbed« I said to him a little later when I found him pacing
up and down the poop alone
»Sir« he corrected not harshly but sternly
»I have been robbed sir« I amended
»How did it happen« he asked
Then I told him the whole circumstance how my clothes had been left to dry
in the galley and how later I was nearly beaten by the cook when I mentioned
the matter
He smiled at my recital »Pickings« he concluded »Cookys pickings And
dont you think your miserable life worth the price Besides consider it a
lesson Youll learn in time how to take care of your money for yourself I
suppose up to now your lawyer has done it for you or your business agent«
I could feel the quiet sneer through his words but demanded »How can I get
it back again«
»Thats your lookout You havent any lawyer or business agent now so
youll have to depend on yourself When you get a dollar hang on to it A man
who leaves his money lying around the way you did deserves to lose it
Besides you have sinned You have no right to put temptation in the way of your
fellowcreatures You tempted Cooky and he fell You have placed his immortal
soul in jeopardy By the way do you believe in the immortal soul«
His lids lifted lazily as he asked the question and it seemed that the
deeps were opening to me and that I was gazing into his soul But it was an
illusion Far as it might have seemed no man has ever seen very far into Wolf
Larsens soul or seen it at all of this I am convinced It was a very lonely
soul I was to learn that never unmasked though at rare moments it played at
doing so
»I read immortality in your eyes« I answered dropping the »sir« an
experiment for I thought the intimacy of the conversation warranted it
He took no notice »By that I take it you see something that is alive but
that necessarily does not have to live forever«
»I read more than that« I continued boldly
»Then you read consciousness You read the consciousness of life that it is
alive but still no further away no endlessness of life«
How clearly he thought and how well he expressed what he thought From
regarding me curiously he turned his head and glanced out over the leaden sea
to windward A bleakness came into his eyes and the lines of his mouth grew
severe and harsh He was evidently in a pessimistic mood
»Then to what end« he demanded abruptly turning back to me »If I am
immortal why«
I halted How could I explain my idealism to this man How could I put into
speech a something felt a something like the strains of music heard in sleep a
something that convinced yet transcended utterance
»What do you believe then« I countered
»I believe that life is a mess« he answered promptly »It is like yeast a
ferment a thing that moves and may move for a minute an hour a year or a
hundred years but that in the end will cease to move The big eat the little
that they may continue to move the strong eat the weak that they may retain
their strength The lucky eat the most and move the longest that is all What
do you make of those things«
He swept his arm in an impatient gesture toward a number of the sailors who
were working on some kind of rope stuff amidships
»They move so does the jellyfish move They move in order to eat in order
that they may keep moving There you have it They live for their bellys sake
and the belly is for their sake Its a circle you get nowhere Neither do
they In the end they come to a standstill They move no more They are dead«
»They have dreams« I interrupted »radiant flashing dreams «
»Of grub« he concluded sententiously
»And of more «
»Grub Of a larger appetite and more luck in satisfying it« His voice
sounded harsh There was no levity in it »For look you they dream of making
lucky voyages which will bring them more money of becoming the mates of ships
of finding fortunes in short of being in a better position for preying on
their fellows of having all night in good grub and somebody else to do the
dirty work You and I are just like them There is no difference except that we
have eaten more and better I am eating them now and you too But in the past
you have eaten more than I have You have slept in soft beds and worn fine
clothes and eaten good meals Who made those beds and those clothes and those
meals Not you You never made anything in your own sweat You live on an income
which your father earned You are like a frigate bird swooping down upon the
boobies and robbing them of the fish they have caught You are one with a crowd
of men who have made what they call a government who are masters of all the
other men and who eat the food the other men get and would like to eat
themselves You wear the warm clothes They made the clothes but they shiver in
rags and ask you the lawyer or business agent who handles your money for a
job«
»But that is beside the matter« I cried
»Not at all« He was speaking rapidly now and his eyes were flashing »It
is piggishness and it is life Of what use or sense is an immortality of
piggishness What is the end What is it all about You have made no food Yet
the food you have eaten or wasted might have saved the lives of a score of
wretches who made the food but did not eat it What immortal end did you serve
Or did they Consider yourself and me What does your boasted immortality amount
to when your life runs foul of mine You would like to go back to the land
which is a favorable place for your kind of piggishness It is a whim of mine to
keep you aboard this ship where my piggishness flourishes And keep you I will
I may make or break you You may die today this week or next month I could
kill you now with a blow of my fist for you are a miserable weakling But if
we are immortal what is the reason for this To be piggish as you and I have
been all our lives does not seem to be just the thing for immortals to be doing
Again whats it all about Why have I kept you here «
»Because you are stronger« I managed to blurt out
»But why stronger« he went on at once with his perpetual queries »Because
I am a bigger bit of the ferment than you Dont you see Dont you see«
»But the hopelessness of it« I protested
»I agree with you« he answered »Then why move at all since moving is
living Without moving and being part of the yeast there would be no
hopelessness But and there it is we want to live and move though we have
no reason to because it happens that it is the nature of life to live and move
to want to live and move If it were not for this life would be dead It is
because of this life that is in you that you dream of your immortality The life
that is in you is alive and wants to go on being alive forever Bah An eternity
of piggishness«
He abruptly turned on his heel and started forward He stopped at the break
of the poop and called me to him
»By the way how much was it that Cooky got away with« he asked
»One hundred and eightyfive dollars sir« I answered
He nodded his head A moment later as I started down the companion stairs
to lay the table for dinner I heard him loudly cursing some men amidships
Chapter VI
By the following morning the storm had blown itself quite out and the Ghost was
rolling slightly on a calm sea without a breath of wind Occasional light airs
were felt however and Wolf Larsen patrolled the poop constantly his eyes ever
searching the sea to the northeastward from which direction the great
tradewind must blow
The men were all on deck and busy preparing their various boats for the
seasons hunting There are seven boats aboard the captains dingey and the
six which the hunters will use Three a hunter a boatpuller and a
boatsteerer compose a boats crew On board the schooner the boatpullers and
steerers are the crew The hunters too are supposed to be in command of the
watches subject always to the orders of Wolf Larsen
All this and more I have learned The Ghost is considered the fastest
schooner in both the San Francisco and Victoria fleets In fact she was once a
private yacht and was built for speed Her lines and fittings though I know
nothing about such things speak for themselves Johnson was telling me about
her in a short chat I had with him during yesterdays second dogwatch He spoke
enthusiastically with the love for a fine craft such as some men feel for
horses He is greatly disgusted with the outlook and I am given to understand
that Wolf Larsen bears a very unsavory reputation among the sealing captains It
was the Ghost herself that lured Johnson into signing for the voyage but he is
already beginning to repent
As he told me the Ghost is an eightyton schooner of a remarkably fine
model Her beam or width is twentythree feet and her length a little over
ninety feet A lead keel of fabulous but unknown weight makes her very stable
while she carries an immense spread of canvas From the deck to the truck of the
maintopmast is something over a hundred feet while the foremast with its
topmast is eight or ten feet shorter I am giving these details so that the size
of this little floating world which holds twentytwo men may be appreciated It
is a very little world a mote a speck and I marvel that men should dare to
venture the sea on a contrivance so small and fragile
Wolf Larsen has also a reputation for reckless carrying on of sail I
overheard Henderson and another of the hunters Standish a Californian talking
about it Two years ago he dismasted the Ghost in a gale on Bering Sea
whereupon the present masts were put in which are stronger and heavier in every
way He is said to have remarked when he put them in that he preferred turning
her over to losing the sticks
Every man aboard with the exception of Johansen who is rather overcome by
his promotion seems to have an excuse for having sailed on the Ghost Half the
men forward are deepwater sailors and their excuse is that they did not know
anything about her or her captain And those who do know whisper that the
hunters while excellent shots were so notorious for their quarrelsome and
rascally proclivities that they could not sign on any decent schooner
I have made the acquaintance of another one of the crew Louis he is
called a rotund and jovialfaced Nova Scotia Irishman and a very sociable
fellow prone to talk as long as he can find a listener In the afternoon while
the cook was below asleep and I was peeling the everlasting potatoes Louis
dropped into the galley for a »yarn« His excuse for being aboard was that he
was drunk when he signed He assured me again and again that it was the last
thing in the world he would dream of doing in a sober moment It seems that he
has been sealhunting regularly each season for a dozen years and is accounted
one of the two or three very best boatsteerers in both fleets
»Ah my boy« he shook his head ominously at me »tis the worst schooner ye
could iv selected nor were ye drunk at the time as was I Tis sealin is the
sailors paradise on other ships than this The mate was the first but mark
me words therell be more dead men before the trip is done with Hist now
between you an meself and the stanchion there this Wolf Larsen is a regular
devil an the Ghostll be a hellship like shes always ben since he had hold
iv her Dont I know Dont I know Dont I remember him in Hakodate two years
gone when he had a row an shot four iv his men Wasnt I alayin on the Emma
L not three hundred yards away An there was a man the same year he killed
with a blow iv his fist Yes sir killed im deadoh His head must iv smashed
like an eggshell An wasnt there the Governor of Kura Island an the Chief iv
Police Japanese gentlemen sir an didnt they come aboard the Ghost as his
guests abringin their wives along wee an pretty little bits of things like
you see em painted on fans An as he was agettin under way didnt the fond
husbands get left asternlike in their sampan as it might be by accident An
wasnt it a week later that the poor little ladies was put ashore on the other
side of the island with nothin before em but to walk home acrost the
mountains on their weenyteeny little straw sandals which wouldnt hang together
a mile Dont I know Tis the beast he is this Wolf Larsen the great big
beast mentioned iv in Revelation an no good end will he ever come to But Ive
said nothin to ye mind ye Ive whispered never a word for old fat Louisll
live the voyage out if the last mothers son of yez go to the fishes«
»Wolf Larsen« he snorted a moment later »Listen to the word will ye Wolf
tis what he is Hes not blackhearted like some men Tis no heart he has at
all Wolf just wolf tis what he is Dye wonder hes well named«
»But if he is so well known for what he is« I queried »how is it that he
can get men to ship with him«
»An how is it ye can get men to do anything on Gods earth an sea« Louis
demanded with Celtic fire »How dye find me aboard if twasnt that I was drunk
as a pig when I put me name down Theres them that cant sail with better men
like the hunters and them that dont know like the poor devils of windjammers
forard there But theyll come to it theyll come to it an be sorry the day
they was born I could weep for the poor creatures did I but forget poor old
fat Louis and the troubles before him But tis not a whisper Ive dropped mind
ye not a whisper«
»Them hunters is the wicked boys« he broke forth again for he suffered
from a constitutional plethora of speech »But wait till they get to cutting up
iv jinks and rowin round Hes the boyll fix em Tis him thatll put the
fear of God in their rotten black hearts Look at that hunter iv mine Horner
Jock Horner they call him so quietlike an easygoin softspoken as a girl
till yed think butter wouldnt melt in the mouth iv him Didnt he kill his
boatsteerer last year Twas called a sad accident but I met the boatpuller
in Yokohama an the straight iv it was given me An theres Smoke the black
little devil didnt the Roosians have him for three years in the salt mines of
Siberia for poachin on Copper Island which is a Roosian preserve Shackled he
was hand an foot with his mate An didnt they have words or a ruction of
some kind for twas the other fellow Smoke sent up in the buckets to the top
of the mine an a piece at the time he went up a leg today an tomorrow an
arm the next day the head an so on«
»But you cant mean it« I cried out overcome with the horror of it
»Mean what« he demanded quick as a flash »Tis nothin Ive said Deef I
am and dumb as ye should be for the sake iv your mother an never once have I
opened me lips but to say fine things iv them an him God curse his soul an
may he rot in purgatory ten thousand years and then go down to the last an
deepest hell iv all«
Johnson the man who had chafed me raw when I first came aboard seemed the
least equivocal of the men forward or aft In fact there was nothing equivocal
about him One was struck at once by his straightforwardness and manliness
which in turn were tempered by a modesty which might be mistaken for timidity
But timid he was not He seemed rather to have the courage of his convictions
the certainty of his manhood It was this that made him protest at the
commencement of our acquaintance against being called Yonson And upon this
and him Louis passed judgment and prophecy
»Tis a fine chap that squarehead Johnson weve forard with us« he said
»The best sailorman in the focsle Hes my boatpuller But its to trouble
hell come with Wolf Larsen as the sparks fly upward Its meself that knows I
can see it brewin an comin up like a storm in the sky Ive talked to him
like a brother but its little he sees in takin in his lights or flyin false
signals He grumbles out when things dont go to suit him and therell be
always some telltale carryin word iv it aft to the Wolf The Wolf is strong
and its the way of a wolf to hate strength an strength it is hell see in
Johnson no knucklin under and a Yes sir thank ye kindly sir for a curse
or a blow Oh shes acomin Shes acomin An God knows where Ill get
another boatpuller What does the fool up an say when the old man calls him
Yonson but Me name is Johnson sir an then spells it out letter for letter
Ye should iv seen the old mans face I thought hed let drive at him on the
spot He didnt but he will an hell break that squareheads heart or its
little I know iv the ways iv men on the ships iv the sea«
Thomas Mugridge is becoming unendurable I am compelled to Mister him and to
Sir him with every speech One reason for this is that Wolf Larsen seems to have
taken a fancy to him It is an unprecedented thing I take it for a captain to
be chummy with the cook but this is certainly what Wolf Larsen is doing Two or
three times he put his head into the galley and chaffed Mugridge goodnaturedly
and once this afternoon he stood by the break of the poop and chatted with him
for fully fifteen minutes When it was over and Mugridge was back in the
galley he became greasily radiant and went about his work humming coster
songs in a nerveracking and discordant falsetto
»I always get along with the officers« he remarked to me in a confidential
tone »I know the wy I do to myke myself uppreciyted There was my last
skipperwy I thought nothin of droppin down in the cabin for a little chat
and a friendly glass Mugridge sez e to me Mugridge sez e youve missed
yer vokytion An ows that sez I Yer should a been born a gentleman an
never ad to work for yer livin God strike me dead Ump if that aynt wot e
sez an me asittin there in is own cabin jollylike an comfortable
asmokin is cigars an drinkin is rum«
This chitterchatter drove me to distraction I never heard a voice I hated
so His oily insinuating tones his greasy smile and his monstrous
selfconceit grated on my nerves till sometimes I was all in a tremble
Positively he was the most disgusting and loathsome person I have ever met The
filth of his cooking was indescribable and as he cooked everything that was
eaten aboard I was compelled to select what I ate with great circumspection
choosing from the least dirty of his concoctions
My hands bothered me a great deal unused as they were to work The nails
were discolored and black while the skin was already grained with dirt which
even a scrubbingbrush could not remove Then blisters came in a painful and
neverending procession and I had a great burn on my forearm acquired by
losing my balance in a roll of the ship and pitching against the galley stove
Nor was my knee any better The swelling had not gone down and the cap was
still up on edge Hobbling about on it from morning to night was not helping it
any What I needed was rest if it were ever to get well
Rest I never before knew the meaning of the word I had been resting all my
life and did not know it But now could I sit still for one halfhour and do
nothing not even think it would be the most pleasurable thing in the world
But it is a revelation on the other hand I shall be able to appreciate the
lives of the working people hereafter I did not dream that work was so terrible
a thing From halfpast five in the morning till ten oclock at night I am
everybodys slave with not one moment to myself except such as I can steal
near the end of the second dogwatch Let me pause for a minute to look out over
the sea sparkling in the sun or to gaze at a sailor going aloft to the
gafftopsails or running out the bowsprit and I am sure to hear the hateful
voice »Ere you Ump no sodgerin Ive got my peepers on yer«
There are signs of rampant bad temper in the steerage and the gossip is
going around that Smoke and Henderson have had a fight Henderson seems the best
of the hunters a slowgoing fellow and hard to rouse but roused he must have
been for Smoke had a bruised and discolored eye and looked particularly
vicious when he came into the cabin for supper
A cruel thing happened just before supper indicative of the callousness and
brutishness of these men There is one green hand in the crew Harrison by name
a clumsylooking country boy mastered I imagine by the spirit of adventure
and making his first voyage In the light baffling airs the schooner had been
tacking about a great deal at which times the sails pass from one side to the
other and a man is sent aloft to shift over the foregafftopsail In some way
when Harrison was aloft the sheet jammed in the block through which it runs at
the end of the gaff As I understood it there were two ways of getting it
cleared first by lowering the foresail which was comparatively easy and
without danger and second by climbing out the peakhalyards to the end of the
gaff itself an exceedingly hazardous performance
Johansen called out to Harrison to go out the halyards It was patent to
everybody that the boy was afraid And well he might be eighty feet above the
deck to trust himself on those thin and jerking ropes Had there been a steady
breeze it would not have been so bad but the Ghost was rolling emptily in a
long sea and with each roll the canvas flapped and boomed and the halyards
slacked and jerked taut They were capable of snapping a man off like a fly from
a whiplash
Harrison heard the order and understood what was demanded of him but
hesitated It was probably the first time he had been aloft in his life
Johansen who had caught the contagion of Wolf Larsens masterfulness burst out
with a volley of abuse and curses
»Thatll do Johansen« Wolf Larsen said brusquely »Ill have you know that
I do the swearing on this ship If I need your assistance Ill call you in«
»Yes sir« the mate acknowledged submissively
In the meantime Harrison had started out on the halyards I was looking up
from the galley door and I could see him trembling as with ague in every
limb He proceeded very slowly and cautiously an inch at a time Outlined
against the clear blue of the sky he had the appearance of an enormous spider
crawling along the tracery of its web
It was a slight uphill climb for the foresail peaked high and the
halyards running through various blocks on the gaff and mast gave him separate
holds for hands and feet But the trouble lay in that the wind was not strong
enough nor steady enough to keep the sail full When he was halfway out the
Ghost took a long roll to windward and back again into the hollow between two
seas Harrison ceased his progress and held on tightly Eighty feet beneath I
could see the agonized strain of his muscles as he gripped for very life The
sail emptied and the gaff swung amidships The halyards slackened and though
it all happened very quickly I could see them sag beneath the weight of his
body Then the gaff swung to the side with an abrupt swiftness the great sail
boomed like a cannon and the three rows of reefpoints slatted against the
canvas like a volley of rifles Harrison clinging on made the giddy rush
through the air This rush ceased abruptly The halyards became instantly taut
It was the snap of the whip His clutch was broken One hand was torn loose from
its hold The other lingered desperately for a moment and followed His body
pitched out and down but in some way he managed to save himself with his legs
He was hanging by them head downward A quick effort brought his hands up to
the halyards again but he was a long time regaining his former position where
he hung a pitiable object
»Ill bet he has no appetite for supper« I heard Wolf Larsens voice which
came to me from around the corner of the galley »Stand from under you
Johansen Watch out Here she comes«
In truth Harrison was very sick as a person is seasick and for a long
time he clung to his precarious perch without attempting to move Johansen
however continued violently to urge him on to the completion of his task
»It is a shame« I heard Johnson growling in painfully slow and correct
English He was standing by the main rigging a few feet away from me »The boy
is willing enough He will learn if he has a chance But this is « He paused
awhile for the word »murder« was his final judgment
»Hist will ye« Louis whispered to him »For the love iv your mother hold
your mouth«
But Johnson looking on still continued his grumbling
»Look here« the hunter Standish spoke to Wolf Larsen »thats my
boatpuller and I dont want to lose him«
»Thats all right Standish« was the reply »Hes your boatpuller when
youve got him in the boat but hes my sailor when I have him aboard and Ill
do what I damn well please with him«
»But thats no reason « Standish began in a torrent of speech
»Thatll do easy as she goes« Wolf Larsen counselled back »Ive told you
whats what and let it stop at that The mans mine and Ill make soup of him
and eat it if I want to«
There was an angry gleam in the hunters eye but he turned on his heel and
entered the steerage companionway where he remained looking upward All hands
were on deck now and all eyes were aloft where a human life was at grapples
with death The callousness of these men to whom industrial organization gave
control of the lives of other men was appalling I who had lived out of the
whirl of the world had never dreamed that its work was carried on in such
fashion Life had always seemed a peculiarly sacred thing but here it counted
for nothing was a cipher in the arithmetic of commerce I must say however
that the sailors themselves were sympathetic as instance the case of Johnson
but the masters the hunters and the captain were heartlessly indifferent
Even the protest of Standish arose out of the fact that he did not wish to lose
his boatpuller Had it been some other hunters boatpuller he like them
would have been no more than amused
But to return to Harrison It took Johansen insulting and reviling the poor
wretch fully ten minutes to get him started again A little later he made the
end of the gaff where astride the spar itself he had a better chance for
holding on He cleared the sheet and was free to return slightly downhill
now along the halyards to the mast But he had lost his nerve Unsafe as was
his present position he was loath to forsake it for the more unsafe position on
the halyards
He looked along the airy path he must traverse and then down to the deck
His eyes were wide and staring and he was trembling violently I had never seen
fear so strongly stamped upon a human face Johansen called vainly for him to
come down At any moment he was liable to be snapped off the gaff but he was
helpless with fright Wolf Larsen walking up and down with Smoke and in
conversation took no more notice of him though he cried sharply once to the
man at the wheel
»Youre off your course my man Be careful unless youre looking for
trouble«
»Ay ay sir« the helmsman responded putting a couple of spokes down
He had been guilty of running the Ghost several points off her course in
order that what little wind there was should fill the foresail and hold it
steady He had striven to help the unfortunate Harrison at the risk of incurring
Wolf Larsens anger
The time went by and the suspense to me was terrible Thomas Mugridge on
the other hand considered it a laughable affair and was continually bobbing
his head out the galley door to make jocose remarks How I hated him And how my
hatred for him grew and grew during that fearful time to cyclopean dimensions
For the first time in my life I experienced the desire to murder »saw red« as
some of our picturesque writers phrase it Life in general might still be
sacred but life in the particular case of Thomas Mugridge had become very
profane indeed I was frightened when I became conscious that I was seeing red
and the thought flashed through my mind was I too becoming tainted by the
brutality of my environment I who even in the most flagrant crimes had
denied the justice and righteousness of capital punishment
Fully half an hour went by and then I saw Johnson and Louis in some sort of
altercation It ended with Johnson flinging off Louiss detaining arm and
starting forward He crossed the deck sprang into the fore rigging and began
to climb But the quick eye of Wolf Larsen caught him
»Here you what are you up to« he cried
Johnsons ascent was arrested He looked his captain in the eyes and replied
slowly
»I am going to get that boy down«
»Youll get down out of that rigging and damn lively about it Dye hear
Get down«
Johnson hesitated but the long years of obedience to the masters of ships
overpowered him and he dropped sullenly to the deck and went on forward
At half after five I went below to set the cabin table but I hardly knew
what I did for my eyes and brain were filled with the vision of a man
whitefaced and trembling comically like a bug clinging to the thrashing gaff
At six oclock when I served supper going on deck to get the food from the
galley I saw Harrison still in the same position The conversation at the
table was of other things Nobody seemed interested in the wantonly imperilled
life But making an extra trip to the galley a little later I was gladdened by
the sight of Harrison staggering weakly from the rigging to the forecastle
scuttle He had finally summoned the courage to descend
Before closing this incident I must give a scrap of conversation I had with
Wolf Larsen in the cabin while I was washing the dishes
»You were looking squeamish this afternoon« he began »What was the
matter«
I could see that he knew what had made me possibly as sick as Harrison that
he was trying to draw me and I answered »It was because of the brutal
treatment of that boy«
He gave a short laugh »Like seasickness I suppose Some men are subject to
it and others are not«
»Not so« I objected
»Just so« he went on »The earth is as full of brutality as the sea is full
of motion And some men are made sick by the one and some by the other Thats
the only reason«
»But you who make a mock of human life dont you place any value upon it
whatever« I demanded
»Value What value« He looked at me and though his eyes were steady and
motionless there seemed a cynical smile in them »What kind of value How do
you measure it Who values it«
»I do« I made answer
»Then what is it worth to you Another mans life I mean Come now what
is it worth«
The value of life How could I put a tangible value upon it Somehow I who
have always had expression lacked expression when with Wolf Larsen I have
since determined that a part of it was due to the mans personality but that
the greater part was due to his totally different outlook Unlike other
materialists I had met and with whom I had something in common to start on I
had nothing in common with him Perhaps also it was the elemental simplicity
of his mind that baffled me He drove so directly to the core of the matter
divesting a question always of all superfluous details and with such an air of
finality that I seemed to find myself struggling in deep water with no footing
under me Value of life How could I answer the question on the spur of the
moment The sacredness of life I had accepted as axiomatic That it was
intrinsically valuable was a truism I had never questioned But when he
challenged the truism I was speechless
»We were talking about this yesterday« he said »I held that life was a
ferment a yeasty something which devoured life that it might live and that
living was merely successful piggishness Why if there is anything in supply
and demand life is the cheapest thing in the world There is only so much
water so much earth so much air but the life that is demanding to be born is
limitless Nature is a spendthrift Look at the fish and their millions of eggs
For that matter look at you and me In our loins are the possibilities of
millions of lives Could we but find time and opportunity and utilize the last
bit and every bit of the unborn life that is in us we could become the fathers
of nations and populate continents Life Bah It has no value Of cheap things
it is the cheapest Everywhere it goes begging Nature spills it out with a
lavish hand Where there is room for one life she sows a thousand lives and
its life eats life till the strongest and most piggish life is left«
»You have read Darwin« I said »But you read him misunderstandingly when
you conclude that the struggle for existence sanctions your wanton destruction
of life«
He shrugged his shoulders »You know you only mean that in relation to human
life for of the flesh and the fowl and the fish you destroy as much as I or any
other man And human life is in no wise different though you feel it is and
think that you reason why it is Why should I be parsimonious with this life
which is cheap and without value There are more sailors than there are ships on
the sea for them more workers than there are factories or machines for them
Why you who live on the land know that you house your poor people in the slums
of cities and loose famine and pestilence upon them and that there still remain
more poor people dying for want of a crust of bread and a bit of meat which
is life destroyed than you know what to do with Have you ever seen the London
dockers fighting like wild beasts for a chance to work«
He started for the companion stairs but turned his head for a final word
»Do you know the only value life has is what life puts upon itself And it is of
course overestimated since it is of necessity prejudiced in its own favor Take
that man I had aloft He held on as if he were a precious thing a treasure
beyond diamonds or rubies To you No To me Not at all To himself Yes But I
do not accept his estimate He sadly overrates himself There is plenty more
life demanding to be born Had he fallen and dripped his brains upon the deck
like honey from the comb there would have been no loss to the world He was
worth nothing to the world The supply is too large To himself only was he of
value and to show how fictitious even this value was being dead he is
unconscious that he has lost himself He alone rated himself beyond diamonds and
rubies Diamonds and rubies are gone spread out on the deck to be washed away
by a bucket of seawater and he does not even know that the diamonds and rubies
are gone He does not lose anything for with the loss of himself he loses the
knowledge of loss Dont you see And what have you to say«
»That you are at least consistent« was all I could say and I went on
washing the dishes
Chapter VII
At last after three days of variable winds we have caught the northeast
trades I came on deck after a good nights rest in spite of my poor knee to
find the Ghost foaming along wingandwing and every sail drawing except the
jibs with a fresh breeze astern Oh the wonder of the great tradewind All
day we sailed and all night and the next day and the next day after day the
wind always astern and blowing steadily and strong The schooner sailed herself
There was no pulling and hauling on sheets and tackles no shifting of topsails
no work at all for the sailors to do except to steer At night when the sun went
down the sheets were slackened in the morning when they yielded up the damp
of the dew and relaxed they were pulled tight again and that was all
Ten knots twelve knots eleven knots varying from time to time is the
speed we are making And ever out of the northeast the brave wind blows driving
us on our course two hundred and fifty miles between the dawns It saddens me
and gladdens me the gait with which we are leaving San Francisco behind and
with which we are foaming down upon the tropics Each day grows perceptibly
warmer In the second dogwatch the sailors come on deck stripped and heave
buckets of water upon one another from overside Flyingfish are beginning to be
seen and during the night the watch above scrambles over the deck in pursuit of
those that fall aboard In the morning Thomas Mugridge being duly bribed the
galley is pleasantly areek with the odor of their frying while dolphin meat is
served fore and aft on such occasions as Johnson catches the blazing beauties
from the bowsprit end
Johnson seems to spend all his spare time there or aloft at the crosstrees
watching the Ghost cleaving the water under press of sail There is passion
adoration in his eyes and he goes about in a sort of trance gazing in ecstasy
at the swelling sails the foaming wake and the heave and the run of her over
the liquid mountains that are moving with us in stately procession
The days and nights are »all a wonder and a wild delight« and though I have
little time from my dreary work I steal odd moments to gaze and gaze at the
unending glory of what I never dreamed the world possessed Above the sky is
stainless blue blue as the sea itself which under the forefoot is of the
color and sheen of azure satin All around the horizon are pale fleecy clouds
never changing never moving like a silver setting for the flawless turquoise
sky
I do not forget one night when I should have been asleep of lying on the
forecastlehead and gazing down at the spectral ripple of foam thrust aside by
the Ghosts forefoot It sounded like the gurgling of a brook over mossy stones
in some quiet dell and the crooning song of it lured me away and out of myself
till I was no longer Hump the cabinboy nor Van Weyden the man who had dreamed
away thirtyfive years among books But a voice behind me the unmistakable
voice of Wolf Larsen strong with the invincible certitude of the man and mellow
with appreciation of the words he was quoting aroused me
»O the blazing tropic night when the wakes a welt of light
That holds the hot sky tame
And the steady forefoot snores through the planetpowdered floors
Where the scared whale flukes in flame
Her plates are scarred by the sun dear lass
And her ropes are taut with the dew
For were booming down on the old trail our own trail the out trail
Were sagging south on the Long Trail the trail that is always new«
»Eh Hump Hows it strike you« he asked after the due pause which words and
setting demanded
I looked into his face It was aglow with light as the sea itself and the
eyes were flashing in the starshine
»It strikes me as remarkable to say the least that you should show
enthusiasm« I answered coldly
»Why man its living its life« he cried
»Which is a cheap thing and without value« I flung his words at him
He laughed and it was the first time I had heard honest mirth in his voice
»Ah I cannot get you to understand cannot drive it into your head what a
thing this life is Of course life is valueless except to itself And I can
tell you that my life is pretty valuable just now to myself It is beyond
price which you will acknowledge is a terrific overrating but which I cannot
help for it is the life that is in me that makes the rating«
He appeared waiting for the words with which to express the thought that was
in him and finally went on
»Do you know I am filled with a strange uplift I feel as if all time were
echoing through me as though all powers were mine I know truth divine good
from evil right from wrong My vision is clear and far I could almost believe
in God But« and his voice changed and the light went out of his face
»what is this condition in which I find myself this joy of living this
exultation of life this inspiration I may well call it It is what comes when
there is nothing wrong with ones digestion when his stomach is in trim and his
appetite has an edge and all goes well It is the bribe for living the
champagne of the blood the effervescence of the ferment that makes some men
think holy thoughts and other men to see God or to create him when they cannot
see him That is all the drunkenness of life the stirring and crawling of the
yeast the babbling of the life that is insane with consciousness that it is
alive And bah Tomorrow I shall pay for it as the drunkard pays And I shall
know that I must die at sea most likely cease crawling of myself to be all
acrawl with the corruption of the sea to be fed upon to be carrion to yield
up all the strength and movement of my muscles that it may become strength and
movement in fin and scale and the guts of fishes Bah And bah again The
champagne is already flat The sparkle and bubble has gone out and it is a
tasteless drink«
He left me as suddenly as he had come springing to the deck with the weight
and softness of a tiger The Ghost ploughed on her way I noted the gurgling
forefoot was very like a snore and as I listened to it the effect of Wolf
Larsens swift rush from sublime exultation to despair slowly left me Then some
deepwater sailor from the waist of the ship lifted a rich tenor voice in the
»Song of the Trade Wind«
»Oh I am the wind the seamen love
I am steady and strong and true
They follow my track by the clouds above
Oer the fathomless tropic blue
Through daylight and dark I follow the bark
I keep like a hound on her trail
Im strongest at noon yet under the moon
I stiffen the bunt of her sail«
Chapter VIII
Sometimes I think Wolf Larsen mad or halfmadat least what of his strange
moods and vagaries At other times I take him for a great man a genius who has
never arrived And finally I am convinced that he is the perfect type of the
primitive man born a thousand years or generations too late and an anachronism
in this culminating century of civilization He is certainly an individualist of
the most pronounced type Not only that but he is very lonely There is no
congeniality between him and the rest of the men aboard ship His tremendous
virility and mental strength wall him apart They are more like children to him
even the hunters and as children he treats them descending perforce to their
level and playing with them as a man plays with puppies Or else he probes them
with the cruel hand of a vivisectionist groping about in their mental processes
and examining their souls as though to see of what soulstuff is made
I have seen him a score of times at table insulting this hunter or that
with cool and level eyes and withal a certain air of interest pondering their
actions or replies or petty rages with a curiosity almost laughable to me who
stood onlooker and who understood Concerning his own rages I am convinced that
they are not real that they are sometimes experiments but that in the main
they are the habits of a pose or attitude he has seen fit to take toward his
fellowmen I know with the possible exception of the incident of the dead mate
that I have not seen him really angry nor do I wish ever to see him in a
genuine rage when all the force of him is called into play
While on the question of vagaries I shall tell what befell Thomas Mugridge
in the cabin and at the same time complete an incident upon which I have
already touched once or twice The twelve oclock dinner was over one day and
I had just finished putting the cabin in order when Wolf Larsen and Thomas
Mugridge descended the companion stairs Though the cook had a cubbyhole of a
stateroom opening off from the cabin in the cabin itself he had never dared to
linger or to be seen and he flitted to and fro once or twice a day like a
timid spectre
»So you know how to play Nap« Wolf Larsen was saying in a pleased sort of
voice »I might have guessed an Englishman would know I learned it myself in
English ships«
Thomas Mugridge was beside himself a blithering imbecile so pleased was he
at chumming thus with the captain The little airs he put on and the painful
striving to assume the easy carriage of a man born to a dignified place in life
would have been sickening had they not been ludicrous He quite ignored my
presence though I credited him with being simply unable to see me His pale
wishywashy eyes were swimming like lazy summer seas though what blissful
visions they beheld were beyond my imagination
»Get the cards Hump« Wolf Larsen ordered as they took seats at the table
»And bring out the cigars and the whiskey youll find in my berth«
I returned with the articles in time to hear the Cockney hinting broadly
that there was a mystery about him that he might be a gentlemans son gone
wrong or something or other also that he was a remittance man and was paid to
keep away from England »pyed ansomely sir« was the way he put it »pyed
ansomely to sling my ook an keep slingin it«
I had brought the customary liquor glasses but Wolf Larsen frowned shook
his head and signalled with his hands for me to bring the tumblers These he
filled twothirds full with undiluted whiskey »a gentlemans drink« quoth
Thomas Mugridge and they clinked their glasses to the glorious game of »Nap«
lighted cigars and fell to shuffling and dealing the cards
They played for money They increased the amounts of the bets They drank
whiskey they drank it neat and I fetched more I do not know whether Wolf
Larsen cheated or not a thing he was thoroughly capable of doing but he
won steadily The cook made repeated journeys to his bunk for money Each time
he performed the journey with greater swagger but he never brought more than a
few dollars at a time He grew maudlin familiar could hardly see the cards or
sit upright As a preliminary to another journey to his bunk he hooked Wolf
Larsens buttonhole with a greasy forefinger and vacuously proclaimed and
reiterated »I got money I got money I tell yer an Im a gentlemans son«
Wolf Larsen was unaffected by the drink yet he drank glass for glass and
if anything his glasses were fuller There was no change in him He did not
appear even amused at the others antics
In the end with loud protestations that he could lose like a gentleman the
cooks last money was staked on the game and lost Whereupon he leaned his head
on his hands and wept Wolf Larsen looked curiously at him as though about to
probe and vivisect him then changed his mind as from the foregone conclusion
that there was nothing there to probe
»Hump« he said to me elaborately polite »kindly take Mr Mugridges arm
and help him up on deck He is not feeling very well«
»And tell Johnson to douse him with a few buckets of salt water« he added
in a lower tone for my ear alone
I left Mr Mugridge on deck in the hands of a couple of grinning sailors
who had been told off for the purpose Mr Mugridge was sleepily spluttering
that he was a gentlemans son But as I descended the companion stairs to clear
the table I heard him shriek as the first bucket of water struck him
Wolf Larsen was counting his winnings
»One hundred and eightyfive dollars even« he said aloud »Just as I
thought The beggar came aboard without a cent«
»And what you have won is mine sir« I said boldly
He favored me with a quizzical smile »Hump I have studied some grammar in
my time and I think your tenses are tangled Was mine you should have said
not is mine«
»It is a question not of grammar but of ethics« I answered
It was possibly a minute before he spoke
»Dye know Hump« he said with a slow seriousness which had in it an
indefinable strain of sadness »that this is the first time I have heard the
word ethics in the mouth of a man You and I are the only men on this ship who
know its meaning«
»At one time in my life« he continued after another pause »I dreamed that
I might some day talk with men who used such language that I might lift myself
out of the place in life in which I had been born and hold conversation and
mingle with men who talked about just such things as ethics And this is the
first time I have ever heard the word pronounced Which is all by the way for
you are wrong It is a question neither of grammar nor ethics but of fact«
»I understand« I said »The fact is that you have the money«
His face brightened He seemed pleased at my perspicacity
»But it is avoiding the real question« I continued »which is one of
right«
»Ah« he remarked with a wry pucker of his mouth »I see you still believe
in such things as right and wrong«
»But dont you at all« I demanded
»Not the least bit Might is right and that is all there is to it Weakness
is wrong Which is a very poor way of saying that it is good for oneself to be
strong and evil for oneself to be weak or better yet it is pleasurable to be
strong because of the profits painful to be weak because of the penalties
Just now the possession of this money is a pleasurable thing It is good for one
to possess it Being able to possess it I wrong myself and the life that is in
me if I give it to you and forego the pleasure of possessing it«
»But you wrong me by withholding it« I objected
»Not at all One man cannot wrong another man He can only wrong himself As
I see it I do wrong always when I consider the interests of others Dont you
see How can two particles of the yeast wrong each other by striving to devour
each other It is their inborn heritage to strive to devour and to strive not
to be devoured When they depart from this they sin«
»Then you dont believe in altruism« I asked
He received the word as if it had a familiar ring though he pondered it
thoughtfully »Let me see it means something about coöperation doesnt it«
»Well in a way there has come to be a sort of connection« I answered
unsurprised by this time at such gaps in his vocabulary which like his
knowledge was the acquirement of a selfread selfeducated man whom no one
had directed in his studies and who had thought much and talked little or not
at all »An altruistic act is an act performed for the welfare of others It is
unselfish as opposed to an act performed for self which is selfish«
He nodded his head »Oh yes I remember it now I ran across it in
Spencer«
»Spencer« I cried »Have you read him«
»Not very much« was his confession »I understood quite a good deal of
First Principles but his Biology took the wind out of my sails and his
Psychology left me butting around in the doldrums for many a day I honestly
could not understand what he was driving at I put it down to mental deficiency
on my part but since then I have decided that it was for want of preparation I
had no proper basis Only Spencer and myself know how hard I hammered But I did
get something out of his Data of Ethics Theres where I ran across altruism
and I remember now how it was used«
I wondered what this man could have got from such a work Spencer I
remembered enough to know that altruism was imperative to his ideal of highest
conduct Wolf Larsen evidently had sifted the great philosophers teachings
rejecting and selecting according to his needs and desires
»What else did you run across« I asked
His brows drew in slightly with the mental effort of suitably phrasing
thoughts which he had never before put into speech I felt an elation of spirit
I was groping into his soulstuff as he made a practice of groping in the
soulstuff of others I was exploring virgin territory A strange a terribly
strange region was unrolling itself before my eyes
»In as few words as possible« he began »Spencer puts it something like
this First a man must act for his own benefit to do this is to be moral and
good Next he must act for the benefit of his children And third he must act
for the benefit of his race«
»And the highest finest right conduct« I interjected »is that act which
benefits at the same time the man his children and his race«
»I wouldnt stand for that« he replied »Couldnt see the necessity for it
nor the common sense I cut out the race and the children I would sacrifice
nothing for them Its just so much slush and sentiment and you must see it
yourself at least for one who does not believe in eternal life With
immortality before me altruism would be a paying business proposition I might
elevate my soul to all kinds of altitudes But with nothing eternal before me
but death given for a brief spell this yeasty crawling and squirming which is
called life why it would be immoral for me to perform any act that was a
sacrifice Any sacrifice that makes me lose one crawl or squirm is foolish
and not only foolish for it is a wrong against myself and a wicked thing I
must not lose one crawl or squirm if I am to get the most out of the ferment
Nor will the eternal movelessness that is coming to me be made easier or harder
by the sacrifices or selfishnesses of the time when I was yeasty and acrawl«
»Then you are an individualist a materialist and logically a hedonist«
»Big words« he smiled »But what is a hedonist«
He nodded agreement when I had given the definition
»And you are also« I continued »a man one could not trust in the least
thing where it was possible for a selfish interest to intervene«
»Now youre beginning to understand« he said brightening
»You are a man utterly without what the world calls morals«
»Thats it«
»A man of whom to be always afraid «
»Thats the way to put it«
»As one is afraid of a snake or a tiger or a shark«
»Now you know me« he said »And you know me as I am generally known Other
men call me Wolf«
»You are a sort of monster« I added audaciously »a Caliban who has
pondered Setebos and who acts as you act in idle moments by whim and fancy«
His brow clouded at the allusion He did not understand and I quickly
learned that he did not know the poem
»Im just reading Browning« he confessed »and its pretty tough I havent
got very far along and as it is Ive about lost my bearings«
Not to be tiresome I shall say that I fetched the book from his stateroom
and read »Caliban« aloud He was delighted It was a primitive mode of reasoning
and of looking at things that he understood thoroughly He interrupted again and
again with comment and criticism When I finished he had me read it over a
second time and a third We fell into discussion philosophy science
evolution religion He betrayed the inaccuracies of the self-read man and it
must be granted the sureness and directness of the primitive mind The very
simplicity of his reasoning was its strength and his materialism was far more
compelling than the subtly complex materialism of Charley Furuseth Not that I
a confirmed and as Furuseth phrased it a temperamental idealist was to be
compelled but that Wolf Larsen stormed the last strongholds of my faith with a
vigor that received respect while not accorded conviction
Time passed Supper was at hand and the table not laid I became restless
and anxious and when Thomas Mugridge glared down the companionway sick and
angry of countenance I prepared to go about my duties But Wolf Larsen cried
out to him
»Cooky youve got to hustle tonight Im busy with Hump and youll do the
best you can without him«
And again the unprecedented was established That night I sat at table with
the captain and the hunters while Thomas Mugridge waited on us and washed the
dishes afterward a whim a Calibanmood of Wolf Larsens and one I foresaw
would bring me trouble In the meantime we talked and talked much to the
disgust of the hunters who could not understand a word
Chapter IX
Three days of rest three blessed days of rest are what I had with Wolf Larsen
eating at the cabin table and doing nothing but discuss life literature and
the universe the while Thomas Mugridge fumed and raged and did my work as well
as his own
»Watch out for squalls is all I can say to you« was Louiss warning given
during a spare halfhour on deck while Wolf Larsen was engaged in straightening
out a row among the hunters
»Ye cant tell whatll be happenin« Louis went on in response to my query
for more definite information »The mans as contrary as air currents or water
currents You can never guess the ways iv him Tis just as youre thinkin you
know him and are makin a favorable slant along him that he whirls around dead
ahead and comes howlin down upon you and arippin all iv your fineweather
sails to rags«
So I was not altogether surprised when the squall foretold by Louis smote
me We had been having a heated discussion upon life of course and grown
overbold I was passing stiff strictures upon Wolf Larsen and the life of Wolf
Larsen In fact I was vivisecting him and turning over his soulstuff as keenly
and thoroughly as it was his custom to do it to others It may be a weakness of
mine that I have an incisive way of speech but I threw all restraint to the
winds and cut and slashed until the whole man of him was snarling The dark
sunbronze of his face went black with wrath his eyes were ablaze There was no
clearness or sanity in them nothing but the terrific rage of a madman It was
the wolf in him that I saw and a mad wolf at that
He sprang for me with a halfroar gripping my arm I had steeled myself to
brazen it out though I was trembling inwardly but the enormous strength of the
man was too much for my fortitude He had gripped me by the biceps with his
single hand and when that grip tightened I wilted and shrieked aloud My feet
went out from under me I simply could not stand upright and endure the agony
The muscles refused their duty The pain was too great My biceps was being
crushed to a pulp
He seemed to recover himself for a lucid gleam came into his eyes and he
relaxed his hold with a short laugh that was more like a growl I fell to the
floor feeling very faint while he sat down lighted a cigar and watched me as
a cat watches a mouse As I writhed about I could see in his eyes that curiosity
I had so often noted that wonder and perplexity that questing that
everlasting query of his as to what it was all about
I finally crawled to my feet and ascended the companion stairs Fair weather
was over and there was nothing left but to return to the galley My left arm
was numb as though paralyzed and days passed before I could use it while
weeks went by before the last stiffness and pain went out of it And he had done
nothing but put his hand upon my arm and squeeze There had been no wrenching or
jerking He had just closed his hand with a steady pressure What he might have
done I did not fully realize till next day when he put his head into the
galley and as a sign of renewed friendliness asked me how my arm was getting
on
»It might have been worse« he smiled
I was peeling potatoes He picked one up from the pan It was fairsized
firm and unpeeled He closed his hand upon it squeezed and the potato
squirted out between his fingers in mushy streams The pulpy remnant he dropped
back into the pan and turned away and I had a sharp vision of how it might have
fared with me had the monster put his real strength upon me
But the three days rest was good in spite of it all for it had given my
knee the very chance it needed It felt much better the swelling had materially
decreased and the cap seemed descending into its proper place Also the three
days rest brought the trouble I had foreseen It was plainly Thomas Mugridges
intention to make me pay for those three days He treated me vilely cursed me
continually and heaped his own work upon me He even ventured to raise his fist
to me but I was becoming animallike myself and I snarled in his face so
terribly that it must have frightened him back It is no pleasant picture I can
conjure up of myself Humphrey Van Weyden in that noisome ships galley
crouched in a corner over my task my face raised to the face of the creature
about to strike me my lips lifted and snarling like a dogs my eyes gleaming
with fear and helplessness and the courage that comes of fear and helplessness
I do not like the picture It reminds me too strongly of a rat in a trap I do
not care to think of it but it was effective for the threatened blow did not
descend
Thomas Mugridge backed away glaring as hatefully and viciously as I glared
A pair of beasts is what we were penned together and showing our teeth He was
a coward afraid to strike me because I had not quailed sufficiently in advance
so he chose a new way to intimidate me There was only one galley knife that as
a knife amounted to anything This through many years of service and wear had
acquired a long lean blade It was unusually cruellooking and at first I had
shuddered every time I used it The cook borrowed a stone from Johansen and
proceeded to sharpen the knife He did it with great ostentation glancing
significantly at me the while He whetted it up and down all day long Every odd
moment he could find he had the knife and stone out and was whetting away The
steel acquired a razor edge He tried it with the ball of his thumb or across
the nail He shaved hairs from the back of his hand glanced along the edge with
microscopic acuteness and found or feigned that he found always a slight
inequality in its edge somewhere Then he would put it on the stone again and
whet whet whet till I could have laughed aloud it was so very ludicrous
It was also serious for I learned that he was capable of using it that
under all his cowardice there was a courage of cowardice like mine that would
impel him to do the very thing his whole nature protested against doing and was
afraid of doing »Cookys sharpening his knife for Hump« was being whispered
about among the sailors and some of them twitted him about it This he took in
good part and was really pleased nodding his head with direful foreknowledge
and mystery until George Leach the erstwhile cabinboy ventured some rough
pleasantry on the subject
Now it happened that Leach was one of the sailors told off to douse Mugridge
after his game of cards with the captain Leach had evidently done his task with
a thoroughness that Mugridge had not forgiven for words followed and evil names
involving smirched ancestries Mugridge menaced with the knife he was sharpening
for me Leach laughed and hurled more of his Telegraph Hill billingsgate and
before either he or I knew what had happened his right arm had been ripped open
from elbow to wrist by a quick slash of the knife The cook backed away a
fiendish expression on his face the knife held before him in a position of
defence But Leach took it quite calmly though blood was spouting upon the deck
as generously as water from a fountain
»Im goin to get you Cooky« he said »and Ill get you hard And I wont
be in no hurry about it Youll be without that knife when I come for you«
So saying he turned and walked quietly forward Mugridges face was livid
with fear at what he had done and at what he might expect sooner or later from
the man he had stabbed But his demeanor toward me was more ferocious than ever
In spite of his fear at the reckoning he must expect to pay for what he had
done he could see that it had been an objectlesson to me and he became more
domineering and exultant Also there was a lust in him akin to madness which
had come with sight of the blood he had drawn He was beginning to see red in
whatever direction he looked The psychology of it is sadly tangled and yet I
could read the workings of his mind as clearly as though it were a printed book
Several days went by the Ghost still foaming down the trades and I could
swear I saw madness growing in Thomas Mugridges eyes And I confess that I
became afraid very much afraid Whet whet whet it went all day long The
look in his eyes as he felt the keen edge and glared at me was positively
carnivorous I was afraid to turn my shoulder to him and when I left the galley
I went out backwards to the amusement of the sailors and hunters who made a
point of gathering in groups to witness my exit The strain was too great I
sometimes thought my mind would give way under it a meet thing on this ship of
madmen and brutes Every hour every minute of my existence was in jeopardy I
was a human soul in distress and yet no soul fore or aft betrayed sufficient
sympathy to come to my aid At times I thought of throwing myself on the mercy
of Wolf Larsen but the vision of the mocking devil in his eyes that questioned
life and sneered at it would come strong upon me and compel me to refrain At
other times I seriously contemplated suicide and the whole force of my hopeful
philosophy was required to keep me from going over the side in the darkness of
night
Several times Wolf Larsen tried to inveigle me into discussion but I gave
him short answers and eluded him Finally he commanded me to resume my seat at
the cabin table for a time and let the cook do my work Then I spoke frankly
telling him what I was enduring from Thomas Mugridge because of the three days
of favoritism which had been shown me Wolf Larsen regarded me with smiling
eyes
»So youre afraid eh« he sneered
»Yes« I said defiantly and honestly »I am afraid«
»Thats the way with you fellows« he cried half angrily »sentimentalizing
about your immortal souls and afraid to die At sight of a sharp knife and a
cowardly Cockney the clinging of life to life overcomes all your fond
foolishness Why my dear fellow you will live forever You are a god and God
cannot be killed Cooky cannot hurt you You are sure of your resurrection
Whats there to be afraid of
You have eternal life before you You are a millionnaire in immortality and
a millionnaire whose fortune cannot be lost whose fortune is less perishable
than the stars and as lasting as space or time It is impossible for you to
diminish your principal Immortality is a thing without beginning or end
Eternity is eternity and though you die here and now you will go on living
somewhere else and hereafter And it is all very beautiful this shaking off of
the flesh and soaring of the imprisoned spirit Cooky cannot hurt you He can
only give you a boost on the path you eternally must tread
Or if you do not wish to be boosted just yet why not boost Cooky
According to your ideas he too must be an immortal millionnaire You cannot
bankrupt him His paper will always circulate at par You cannot diminish the
length of his living by killing him for he is without beginning or end Hes
bound to go on living somewhere somehow Then boost him Stick a knife in him
and let his spirit free As it is its in a nasty prison and youll do him
only a kindness by breaking down the door And who knows it may be a very
beautiful spirit that will go soaring up into the blue from that ugly carcass
Boost him along and Ill promote you to his place and hes getting fortyfive
dollars a month«
It was plain that I could look for no help or mercy from Wolf Larsen
Whatever was to be done I must do for myself and out of the courage of fear I
evolved the plan of fighting Thomas Mugridge with his own weapons I borrowed a
whetstone from Johansen Louis the boatsteerer had already begged me for
condensed milk and sugar The lazarette where such delicacies were stored was
situated beneath the cabin floor Watching my chance I stole five cans of the
milk and that night when it was Louiss watch on deck I traded them with him
for a dirk as lean and cruellooking as Thomas Mugridges vegetable knife It
was rusty and dull but I turned the grindstone while Louis gave it an edge I
slept more soundly than usual that night
Next morning after breakfast Thomas Mugridge began his whet whet whet I
glanced warily at him for I was on my knees taking the ashes from the stove
When I returned from throwing them overside he was talking to Harrison whose
honest yokels face was filled with fascination and wonder
»Yes« Mugridge was saying »an wot does is worship do but give me two
years in Reading But blimey if I cared The other mug was fixed plenty Should
a seen im Knife just like this I stuck it in like into soft butter an the
wy e squealed was bettern a tupenny gaff« He shot a glance in my direction
to see if I was taking it in and went on »I didnt mean it Tommy e was
snifflin so elp me Gawd I didnt mean it Ill fix yer bloody well right I
sez an kept right after im I cut im in ribbons thats wot I did an e
asquealin all the time Once e got is and on the knife an tried to old
it Ad is fingers around it but I pulled it through cuttin to the bone O
e was a sight I can tell yer«
A call from the mate interrupted the gory narrative and Harrison went aft
Mugridge sat down on the raised threshold to the galley and went on with his
knifesharpening I put the shovel away and calmly sat down on the coalbox
facing him He favored me with a vicious stare Still calmly though my heart
was going pitapat I pulled out Louiss dirk and began to whet it on the stone
I had looked for almost any sort of explosion on the Cockneys part but to my
surprise he did not appear aware of what I was doing He went on whetting his
knife So did I And for two hours we sat there face to face whet whet whet
till the news of it spread abroad and half the ships company was crowding the
galley doors to see the sight
Encouragement and advice were freely tendered and Jock Horner the quiet
selfspoken hunter who looked as though he would not harm a mouse advised me to
leave the ribs alone and to thrust upward for the abdomen at the same time
giving what he called the »Spanish twist« to the blade Leach his bandaged arm
prominently to the fore begged me to leave a few remnants of the cook for him
and Wolf Larsen paused once or twice at the break of the poop to glance
curiously at what must have been to him a stirring and crawling of the yeasty
thing he knew as life
And I make free to say that for the time being life assumed the same sordid
values to me There was nothing pretty about it nothing divine only two
cowardly moving things that sat whetting steel upon stone and a group of other
moving things cowardly and otherwise that looked on Half of them I am sure
were anxious to see us shedding each others blood It would have been
entertainment And I do not think there was one who would have interfered had we
closed in a deathstruggle
On the other hand the whole thing was laughable and childish Whet whet
whet Humphrey Van Weyden sharpening his knife in a ships galley and trying
its edge with his thumb Of all situations this was the most inconceivable I
know that my own kind could not have believed it possible I had not been called
»Sissy« Van Weyden all my days without reason and that »Sissy« Van Weyden
should be capable of doing this thing was a revelation to Humphrey Van Weyden
who knew not whether to be exultant or ashamed
But nothing happened At the end of two hours Thomas Mugridge put away knife
and stone and held out his hand
»Wots the good of mykin a oly show of ourselves for them mugs« he
demanded »They dont love us an bloody well glad theyd be aseein us
cuttin our throats Yer not arf bad Ump Youve got spunk as you Yanks sy
an I like yer in a wy So come on an shyke«
Coward that I might be I was less a coward than he It was a distinct
victory I had gained and I refused to forego any of it by shaking his
detestable hand
»All right« he said pridelessly »tyke it or leave it Ill like yer none
the less for it« And to save his face he turned fiercely upon the onlookers
»Get outa my galleydoors you bloomin swabs«
This command was reinforced by a steaming kettle of water and at sight of
it the sailors scrambled out of the way This was a sort of victory for Thomas
Mugridge and enabled him to accept more gracefully the defeat I had given him
though of course he was too discreet to attempt to drive the hunters away
»I see Cookys finish« I heard Smoke say to Horner
»You bet« was the reply »Hump runs the galley from now on and Cooky pulls
in his horns«
Mugridge heard and shot a swift glance at me but I gave no sign that the
conversation had reached me I had not thought my victory was so farreaching
and complete but I resolved to let go nothing I had gained As the days went
by Smokes prophecy was verified The Cockney became more humble and slavish to
me than even to Wolf Larsen I mistered him and sirred him no longer washed no
more greasy pots and peeled no more potatoes I did my own work and my own
work only and when and in what fashion I saw fit Also I carried the dirk in a
sheath at my hip sailorfashion and maintained toward Thomas Mugridge a
constant attitude which was composed of equal parts of domineering insult and
contempt
Chapter X
My intimacy with Wolf Larsen increases if by intimacy may be denoted those
relations which exist between master and man or better yet between king and
jester I am to him no more than a toy and he values me no more than a child
values a toy My function is to amuse and so long as I amuse all goes well but
let him become bored or let him have one of his black moods come upon him and
at once I am relegated from cabin table to galley while at the same time I am
fortunate to escape with my life and a whole body
The loneliness of the man is slowly being borne in upon me There is not a
man aboard but hates or fears him nor is there a man whom he does not despise
He seems consuming with the tremendous power that is in him and that seems never
to have found adequate expression in works He is as Lucifer would be were that
proud spirit banished to a society of soulless Tomlinsonian ghosts
This loneliness is bad enough in itself but to make it worse he is
oppressed by the primal melancholy of the race Knowing him I review the old
Scandinavian myths with clearer understanding The whiteskinned fairhaired
savages who created that terrible pantheon were of the same fibre as he The
frivolity of the laughterloving Latins is no part of him When he laughs it is
from a humor that is nothing else than ferocious But he laughs rarely he is
too often sad And it is a sadness as deepreaching as the roots of the race It
is the race heritage the sadness which has made the race soberminded
cleanlived and fanatically moral and which in this latter connection has
culminated among the English in the Reformed Church and Mrs Grundy
In point of fact, the chief vent to this primal melancholy has been religion
in its more agonizing forms But the compensations of such religion are denied
Wolf Larsen His brutal materialism will not permit it So when his blue moods
come on nothing remains for him but to be devilish Were he not so terrible a
man I could sometimes feel sorry for him as instance three mornings ago when
I went into his stateroom to fill his waterbottle and came unexpectedly upon
him He did not see me His head was buried in his hands and his shoulders were
heaving convulsively as with sobs He seemed torn by some mighty grief As I
softly withdrew I could hear him groaning »God God God« Not that he was
calling upon God it was a mere expletive but it came from his soul
At dinner he asked the hunters for a remedy for headache and by evening
strong man that he was he was halfblind and reeling about the cabin
»Ive never been sick in my life Hump« he said as I guided him to his
room »Nor did I ever have a headache except the time my head was healing after
having been laid open for six inches by a capstanbar«
For three days this blinding headache lasted and he suffered as wild
animals suffer as it seemed the way on ship to suffer without plaint without
sympathy utterly alone
This morning however on entering his stateroom to make the bed and put
things in order I found him well and hard at work Table and bunk were littered
with designs and calculations On a large transparent sheet compass and square
in hand he was copying what appeared to be a scale of some sort or other
»Hello Hump« he greeted me genially »Im just finishing the finishing
touches Want to see it work«
»But what is it« I asked
»A laborsaving device for mariners navigation reduced to kindergarten
simplicity« he answered gayly »From today a child will be able to navigate a
ship No more longwinded calculations All you need is one star in the sky on a
dirty night to know instantly where you are Look I place the transparent scale
on this starmap revolving the scale on the North Pole On the scale Ive
worked out the circles of altitude and the lines of bearing All I do is to put
it on a star revolve the scale till it is opposite those figures on the map
underneath and presto there you are the ships precise location«
There was a ring of triumph in his voice and his eyes clear blue this
morning as the sea were sparkling with light
»You must be well up in mathematics« I said »Where did you go to school«
»Never saw the inside of one worse luck« was the answer »I had to dig it
out for myself«
»And why do you think I have made this thing« he demanded abruptly
»Dreaming to leave footprints on the sands of time« He laughed one of his
horrible mocking laughs »Not at all To get it patented to make money from it
to revel in piggishness with all night in while other men do the work Thats my
purpose Also I have enjoyed working it out«
»The creative joy« I murmured
»I guess thats what it ought to be called Which is another way of
expressing the joy of life in that it is alive the triumph of movement over
matter of the quick over the dead the pride of the yeast because it is yeast
and crawls«
I threw up my hands with helpless disapproval of his inveterate materialism
and went about making the bed He continued copying lines and figures upon the
transparent scale It was a task requiring the utmost nicety and precision and
I could not but admire the way he tempered his strength to the fineness and
delicacy of the need
When I had finished the bed I caught myself looking at him in a fascinated
sort of way He was certainly a handsome man beautiful in the masculine sense
And again with neverfailing wonder I remarked the total lack of viciousness
or wickedness or sinfulness in his face It was the face I am convinced of a
man who did no wrong And by this I do not wish to be misunderstood What I mean
is that it was the face of a man who either did nothing contrary to the dictates
of his conscience or who had no conscience I am inclined to the latter way of
accounting for it He was a magnificent atavism a man so purely primitive that
he was of the type that came into the world before the development of the moral
nature He was not immoral but merely unmoral
As I have said in the masculine sense his was a beautiful face
Smoothshaven every line was distinct and it was cut as clear and sharp as a
cameo while sea and sun had tanned the naturally fair skin to a dark bronze
which bespoke struggle and battle and added both to his savagery and his beauty
The lips were full yet possessed of the firmness almost harshness which is
characteristic of thin lips The set of his mouth his chin his jaw was
likewise firm or harsh with all the fierceness and indomitableness of the male
the nose also It was the nose of a being born to conquer and command It just
hinted of the eagle beak It might have been Grecian it might have been Roman
only it was a shade too massive for the one a shade too delicate for the other
And while the whole face was the incarnation of fierceness and strength the
primal melancholy from which he suffered seemed to greaten the lines of mouth
and eye and brow seemed to give a largeness and completeness which otherwise
the face would have lacked
And so I caught myself standing idly and studying him I cannot say how
greatly the man had come to interest me Who was he What was he How had he
happened to be All powers seemed his all potentialities why then was he
no more than the obscure master of a sealhunting schooner with a reputation for
frightful brutality amongst the men who hunted seals
My curiosity burst from me in a flood of speech
»Why is it that you have not done great things in this world With the power
that is yours you might have risen to any height Unpossessed of conscience or
moral instinct you might have mastered the world broken it to your hand And
yet here you are at the top of your life where diminishing and dying begin
living an obscure and sordid existence hunting sea animals for the satisfaction
of womans vanity and love of decoration revelling in a piggishness to use
your own words which is anything and everything except splendid Why with all
that wonderful strength have you not done something There was nothing to stop
you nothing that could stop you What was wrong Did you lack ambition Did you
fall under temptation What was the matter What was the matter«
He had lifted his eyes to me at the commencement of my outburst and
followed me complacently until I had done and stood before him breathless and
dismayed He waited a moment as though seeking where to begin and then said
»Hump do you know the parable of the sower who went forth to sow If you
will remember some of the seed fell upon stony places where there was not much
earth and forthwith they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth And
when the sun was up they were scorched and because they had no root they
withered away And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked
them«
»Well« I said
»Well« he queried half petulantly »It was not well I was one of those
seeds«
He dropped his head to the scale and resumed the copying I finished my work
and had opened the door to leave when he spoke to me
»Hump if you will look on the west coast of the map of Norway you will see
an indentation called Romsdal Fiord I was born within a hundred miles of that
stretch of water But I was not born Norwegian I am a Dane My father and
mother were Danes and how they ever came to that bleak bight of land on the
west coast I do not know I never heard Outside of that there is nothing
mysterious They were poor people and unlettered They came of generations of
poor unlettered people peasants of the sea who sowed their sons on the waves
as has been their custom since time began There is no more to tell«
»But there is« I objected »It is still obscure to me«
»What can I tell you« he demanded with a recrudescence of fierceness »Of
the meagreness of a childs life of fish diet and coarse living of going out
with the boats from the time I could crawl of my brothers who went away one by
one to the deepsea farming and never came back of myself unable to read or
write cabinboy at the mature age of ten on the coastwise oldcountry ships
of the rough fare and rougher usage where kicks and blows were bed and
breakfast and took the place of speech and fear and hatred and pain were my
only soulexperiences I do not care to remember A madness comes up in my brain
even now as I think of it But there were coastwise skippers I would have
returned and killed when a mans strength came to me only the lines of my life
were cast at the time in other places I did return not long ago but
unfortunately the skippers were dead all but one a mate in the old days a
skipper when I met him and when I left him a cripple who would never walk
again«
»But you who read Spencer and Darwin and have never seen the inside of a
school how did you learn to read and write« I queried
»In the English merchant service Cabinboy at twelve ships boy at
fourteen ordinary seaman at sixteen able seaman at seventeen and cock of the
focsle infinite ambition and infinite loneliness receiving neither help nor
sympathy I did it all for myself navigation mathematics science
literature and what not And of what use has it been Master and owner of a
ship at the top of my life as you say when I am beginning to diminish and die
Paltry isnt it And when the sun was up I was scorched and because I had no
root I withered away«
»But history tells of slaves who rose to the purple« I chided
»And history tells of opportunities that came to the slaves who rose to the
purple« he answered grimly »No man makes opportunity All the great men ever
did was to know it when it came to them The Corsican knew I have dreamed as
greatly as the Corsican I should have known the opportunity but it never came
The thorns sprung up and choked me And Hump I can tell you that you know more
about me than any living man except my own brother«
»And what is he And where is he«
»Master of the steamship Macedonia sealhunter« was the answer »We will
meet him most probably on the Japan coast Men call him Death Larsen«
»Death Larsen« I involuntarily cried »Is he like you«
»Hardly He is a lump of an animal without any head He has all my my «
»Brutishness« I suggested
»Yes thank you for the word all my brutishness but he can scarcely
read or write«
»And he has never philosophized on life« I added
»No« Wolf Larsen answered with an indescribable air of sadness »And he is
all the happier for leaving life alone He is too busy living it to think about
it My mistake was in ever opening the books«
Chapter XI
The Ghost has attained the southernmost point of the arc she is describing
across the Pacific and is already beginning to edge away to the west and north
toward some lone island it is rumored where she will fill her watercasks
before proceeding to the seasons hunt along the coast of Japan The hunters
have experimented and practised with their rifles and shotguns till they are
satisfied and the boatpullers and steerers have made their spritsails bound
the oars and rowlocks in leather and sennit so that they will make no noise when
creeping on the seals and put their boats in applepie order to use Leachs
homely phrase
His arm by the way has healed nicely though the scar will remain all his
life Thomas Mugridge lives in mortal fear of him and is afraid to venture on
deck after dark There are two or three standing quarrels in the forecastle
Louis tells me that the gossip of the sailors finds its way aft and that two of
the telltales have been badly beaten by their mates He shakes his head
dubiously over the outlook for the man Johnson who is boatpuller in the same
boat with him Johnson has been guilty of speaking his mind too freely and has
collided two or three times with Wolf Larsen over the pronunciation of his name
Johansen he thrashed on the amidships deck the other night since which time the
mate has called him by his proper name But of course it is out of the question
that Johnson should thrash Wolf Larsen
Louis has also given me additional information about Death Larsen which
tallies with the captains brief description We may expect to meet Death Larsen
on the Japan coast »And look out for squalls« is Louiss prophecy »for they
hate one another like the wolfwhelps they are« Death Larsen is in command of
the only sealingsteamer in the fleet the Macedonia which carries fourteen
boats whereas the rest of the schooners carry only six There is wild talk of
cannon aboard and of strange raids and expeditions she may make ranging from
opium smuggling into the States and arms smuggling into China to blackbirding
and open piracy Yet I cannot but believe Louis for I have never yet caught him
in a lie while he has a cyclopædic knowledge of sealing and the men of the
sealing fleets
As it is forward and in the galley so it is in the steerage and aft on
this veritable hellship Men fight and struggle ferociously for one anothers
lives The hunters are looking for a shooting scrape at any moment between Smoke
and Henderson whose old quarrel has not healed while Wolf Larsen says
positively that he will kill the survivor of the affair if such affair comes
off He frankly states that the position he takes is based on no moral grounds
that all the hunters could kill and eat one another so far as he is concerned
were it not that he needs them alive for the hunting If they will only hold
their hands until the season is over he promises them a royal carnival when
all grudges can be settled and the survivors may toss the nonsurvivors
overboard and arrange a story as to how the missing men were lost at sea I
think even the hunters are appalled at his coldbloodedness Wicked men though
they be they are certainly very much afraid of him
Thomas Mugridge is curlike in his subjection to me while I go about in
secret dread of him His is the courage of fear a strange thing I know well
of myself and at any moment it may master the fear and impel him to the
taking of my life My knee is much better though it often aches for long
periods and the stiffness is gradually leaving the arm which Wolf Larsen
squeezed Otherwise I am in splendid condition feel that I am in splendid
condition My muscles are growing harder and increasing in size My hands
however are a spectacle for grief They have a parboiled appearance are
afflicted with hangnails while the nails are broken and discolored and the
edges of the quick seem to be assuming a fungoid sort of growth Also I am
suffering from boils due to the diet most likely for I was never afflicted in
this manner before
I was amused a couple of evenings back by seeing Wolf Larsen reading the
Bible a copy of which after the futile search for one at the beginning of the
voyage had been found in the dead mates seachest I wondered what Wolf Larsen
could get from it and he read aloud to me from Ecclesiastes I could imagine he
was speaking the thoughts of his own mind as he read to me and his voice
reverberating deeply and mournfully in the confined cabin charmed and held me
He may be uneducated but he certainly knows how to express the significance of
the written word I can hear him now as I shall always hear him the primal
melancholy vibrant in his voice as he read
»I gathered me also silver and gold and the peculiar treasure of kings and of
the provinces I gat me men singers and women singers and the delights of the
sons of men as musical instruments and that of all sorts
So I was great and increased more than all that were before me in
Jerusalem also my wisdom remained with me
Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought and on the labor
that I had labored to do and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit and
there was no profit under the sun
All things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the
wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that
sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner
and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath
This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun that there is
one event unto all yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil and
madness is in their heart while they live and after that they go to the dead
For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope for a living dog
is better than a dead lion
For the living know that they shall die but the dead know not anything
neither have they any more a reward for the memory of them is forgotten
Also their love and their hatred and their envy is now perished neither
have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun«
»There you have it Hump« he said closing the book upon his finger and looking
up at me »The Preacher who was king over Israel in Jerusalem thought as I
think You call me a pessimist Is not this pessimism of the blackest All is
vanity and vexation of spirit There is no profit under the sun There is one
event unto all to the fool and the wise the clean and the unclean the sinner
and the saint and that event is death and an evil thing he says For the
Preacher loved life and did not want to die saying For a living dog is better
than a dead lion He preferred the vanity and vexation to the silence and
unmovableness of the grave And so I To crawl is piggish but to not crawl to
be as the clod and rock is loathsome to contemplate It is loathsome to the
life that is in me the very essence of which is movement the power of
movement and the consciousness of the power of movement Life itself is
unsatisfaction but to look ahead to death is greater unsatisfaction«
»You are worse off than Omar« I said »He at least after the customary
agonizing of youth found content and made of his materialism a joyous thing«
»Who was Omar« Wolf Larsen asked and I did no more work that day nor the
next nor the next
In his random reading he had never chanced upon the Rubáiyát and it was to
him like a great find of treasure Much I remembered possibly twothirds of the
quatrains and I managed to piece out the remainder without difficulty We
talked for hours over single stanzas and I found him reading into them a wail
of regret and a rebellion which for the life of me I could not discover
myself Possibly I recited with a certain joyous lilt which was my own for
his memory was good and at a second rendering very often the first he made a
quatrain his own he recited the same lines and invested them with an unrest
and passionate revolt that was wellnigh convincing
I was interested as to which quatrain he would like best and was not
surprised when he hit upon the one born of an instants irritability and quite
at variance with the Persians complacent philosophy and genial code of life
»What without asking hither hurried Whence
And without asking Whither hurried hence
Oh many a Cup of this forbidden Wine
Must drown the memory of that insolence«
»Great« Wolf Larsen cried »Great Thats the keynote Insolence He could not
have used a better word«
In vain I objected and denied He deluged me overwhelmed me with argument
»Its not the nature of life to be otherwise Life when it knows that it
must cease living will always rebel It cannot help itself The Preacher found
life and the works of life all a vanity and vexation an evil thing but death
the ceasing to be able to be vain and vexed he found an eviler thing Through
chapter after chapter he is worried by the one event that cometh to all alike
So Omar so I so you even you for you rebelled against dying when Cooky
sharpened a knife for you You were afraid to die the life that was in you
that composes you that is greater than you did not want to die You have
talked of the instinct of immortality I talk of the instinct of life which is
to live and which when death looms near and large masters the instinct so
called of immortality It mastered it in you you cannot deny it because a
crazy Cockney cook sharpened a knife
You are afraid of him now You are afraid of me You cannot deny it If I
should catch you by the throat thus« his hand was about my throat and my
breath was shut off »and began to press the life out of you thus and thus
your instinct of immortality will go glimmering and your instinct of life
which is longing for life will flutter up and you will struggle to save
yourself Eh I see the fear of death in your eyes You beat the air with your
arms You exert all your puny strength to struggle to live Your hand is
clutching my arm lightly it feels as a butterfly resting there Your chest is
heaving your tongue protruding your skin turning dark your eyes swimming To
live To live To live you are crying and you are crying to live here and now
not hereafter You doubt your immortality eh Ha Ha You are not sure of it
You wont chance it This life only you are certain is real Ah it is growing
dark and darker It is the darkness of death the ceasing to be the ceasing to
feel the ceasing to move that is gathering about you descending upon you
rising around you Your eyes are becoming set They are glazing My voice sounds
faint and far You cannot see my face And still you struggle in my grip You
kick with your legs Your body draws itself up in knots like a snakes Your
chest heaves and strains To live To live To live «
I heard no more Consciousness was blotted out by the darkness he had so
graphically described and when I came to myself I was lying on the floor and he
was smoking a cigar and regarding me thoughtfully with that old familiar light
of curiosity in his eyes
»Well have I convinced you« he demanded »Here take a drink of this I
want to ask you some questions«
I rolled my head negatively on the floor »Your arguments are too er
forcible« I managed to articulate at cost of great pain to my aching throat
»Youll be all right in half an hour« he assured me »And I promise I wont
use any more physical demonstrations Get up now You can sit on a chair«
And toy that I was of this monster the discussion of Omar and the Preacher
was resumed And half the night we sat up over it
Chapter XII
The last twentyfour hours have witnessed a carnival of brutality From cabin to
forecastle it seems to have broken out like a contagion I scarcely know where
to begin Wolf Larsen was really the cause of it The relations among the men
strained and made tense by feuds quarrels and grudges were in a state of
unstable equilibrium and evil passions flared up in flame like prairiegrass
Thomas Mugridge is a sneak a spy an informer He has been attempting to
curry favor and reinstate himself in the good graces of the captain by carrying
tales of the men forward He it was I know that carried some of Johnsons
hasty talk to Wolf Larsen Johnson it seems bought a suit of oilskins from the
slopchest and found them to be of greatly inferior quality Nor was he slow in
advertising the fact The slopchest is a sort of miniature drygoods store
which is carried by all sealing schooners and which is stocked with articles
peculiar to the needs of the sailors Whatever a sailor purchases is taken from
his subsequent earnings on the sealing grounds for as it is with the hunters
so it is with the boatpullers and steerers in the place of wages they receive
a »lay« a rate of so much per skin for every skin captured in their particular
boat
But of Johnsons grumbling at the slopchest I knew nothing so that what I
witnessed came with the shock of sudden surprise I had just finished sweeping
the cabin and had been inveigled by Wolf Larsen into a discussion of Hamlet
his favorite Shakespearian character when Johansen descended the companion
stairs followed by Johnson The latters cap came off after the custom of the
sea and he stood respectfully in the centre of the cabin swaying heavily and
uneasily to the roll of the schooner and facing the captain
»Shut the doors and draw the slide« Wolf Larsen said to me
As I obeyed I noticed an anxious light come into Johnsons eyes but I did
not dream of its cause I did not dream of what was to occur until it did occur
but he knew from the very first what was coming and awaited it bravely And in
his action I found complete refutation of all Wolf Larsens materialism The
sailor Johnson was swayed by idea by principle and truth and sincerity He
was right he knew he was right and he was unafraid He would die for the right
if needs be he would be true to himself sincere with his soul And in this was
portrayed the victory of the spirit over the flesh the indomitability and moral
grandeur of the soul that knows no restriction and rises above time and space
and matter with a surety and invincibleness born of nothing else than eternity
and immortality
But to return I noticed the anxious light in Johnsons eyes but mistook it
for the native shyness and embarrassment of the man The mate Johansen stood
away several feet to the side of him and fully three yards in front of him sat
Wolf Larsen on one of the pivotal cabin chairs An appreciable pause fell after
I had closed the doors and drawn the slide a pause that must have lasted fully
a minute It was broken by Wolf Larsen
»Yonson« he began
»My name is Johnson sir« the sailor boldly corrected
»Well Johnson then damn you Can you guess why I have sent for you«
»Yes and no sir« was the slow reply »My work is done well The mate
knows that and you know it sir So there cannot be any complaint«
»And is that all« Wolf Larsen queried his voice soft and low and
purring
»I know you have it in for me« Johnson continued with his unalterable and
ponderous slowness »You do not like me You You «
»Go on« Wolf Larsen prompted »Dont be afraid of my feelings«
»I am not afraid« the sailor retorted a slight angry flush rising through
his sunburn »If I speak not fast it is because I have not been from the old
country as long as you You do not like me because I am too much of a man that
is why sir«
»You are too much of a man for ship discipline if that is what you mean
and if you know what I mean« was Wolf Larsens retort
»I know English and I know what you mean sir« Johnson answered his flush
deepening at the slur on his knowledge of the English language
»Johnson« Wolf Larsen said with an air of dismissing all that had gone
before as introductory to the main business in hand »I understand youre not
quite satisfied with those oilskins«
»No I am not They are no good sir«
»And youve been shooting off your mouth about them«
»I say what I think sir« the sailor answered courageously not failing at
the same time in ship courtesy which demanded that »sir« be appended to each
speech he made
It was at this moment that I chanced to glance at Johansen His big fists
were clenching and unclenching and his face was positively fiendish so
malignantly did he look at Johnson I noticed a black discoloration still
faintly visible under Johansens eye a mark of the thrashing he had received a
few nights before from the sailor For the first time I began to divine that
something terrible was about to be enacted what I could not imagine
»Do you know what happens to men who say what youve said about my
slopchest and me« Wolf Larsen was demanding
»I know sir« was the answer
»What« Wolf Larsen demanded sharply and imperatively
»What you and the mate there are going to do to me sir«
»Look at him Hump« Wolf Larsen said to me »look at this bit of animated
dust this aggregation of matter that moves and breathes and defies me and
thoroughly believes itself to be compounded of something good that is impressed
with certain human fictions such as righteousness and honesty and that will
live up to them in spite of all personal discomforts and menaces What do you
think of him Hump What do you think of him«
»I think that he is a better man than you are« I answered impelled
somehow with a desire to draw upon myself a portion of the wrath I felt was
about to break upon his head »His human fictions as you choose to call them
make for nobility and manhood You have no fictions no dreams no ideals You
are a pauper«
He nodded his head with a savage pleasantness »Quite true Hump quite
true I have no fictions that make for nobility and manhood A living dog is
better than a dead lion say I with the preacher My only doctrine is the
doctrine of expediency and it makes for surviving This bit of the ferment we
call Johnson when he is no longer a bit of the ferment only dust and ashes
will have no more nobility than any dust and ashes while I shall still be alive
and roaring«
»Do you know what I am going to do« he questioned
I shook my head
»Well I am going to exercise my prerogative of roaring and show you how
fares nobility Watch me«
Three yards away from Johnson he was and sitting down Nine feet And yet
he left the chair in full leap without first gaining a standing position He
left the chair just as he sat in it squarely springing from the sitting
posture like a wild animal a tiger and like a tiger covered the intervening
space It was an avalanche of fury that Johnson strove vainly to fend off He
threw one arm down to protect the stomach the other arm up to protect the head
but Wolf Larsens fist drove midway between on the chest with a crushing
resounding impact Johnsons breath suddenly expelled shot from his mouth and
as suddenly checked with the forced audible expiration of a man wielding an
axe He almost fell backward and swayed from side to side in an effort to
recover his balance
I cannot give the further particulars of the horrible scene that followed
It was too revolting It turns me sick even now when I think of it Johnson
fought bravely enough but he was no match for Wolf Larsen much less for Wolf
Larsen and the mate It was frightful I had not imagined a human being could
endure so much and still live and struggle on And struggle on Johnson did Of
course there was no hope for him not the slightest and he knew it as well as
I but by the manhood that was in him he could not cease from fighting for that
manhood
It was too much for me to witness I felt that I should lose my mind and I
ran up the companion stairs to open the doors and escape on deck But Wolf
Larsen leaving his victim for the moment and with one of his tremendous
springs gained my side and flung me into the far corner of the cabin
»The phenomena of life Hump« he girded at me »Stay and watch it You may
gather data on the immortality of the soul Besides you know we cant hurt
Johnsons soul Its only the fleeting form we may demolish«
It seemed centuries possibly it was no more than ten minutes that the
beating continued Wolf Larsen and Johansen were all about the poor fellow They
struck him with their fists kicked him with their heavy shoes knocked him
down and dragged him to his feet to knock him down again His eyes were blinded
so that he could not see and the blood running from ears and nose and mouth
turned the cabin into a shambles And when he could no longer rise they still
continued to beat and kick him where he lay
»Easy Johansen easy as she goes« Wolf Larsen finally said
But the beast in the mate was up and rampant and Wolf Larsen was compelled
to brush him away with a backhanded sweep of the arm gentle enough apparently
but which hurled Johansen back like a cork driving his head against the wall
with a crash He fell to the floor half stunned for the moment breathing
heavily and blinking his eyes in a stupid sort of way
»Jerk open the doors Hump« I was commanded
I obeyed and the two brutes picked up the senseless man like a sack of
rubbish and hove him clear up the companion stairs through the narrow doorway
and out on deck The blood from his nose gushed in a scarlet stream over the
feet of the helmsman who was none other than Louis his boat But Louis took
and gave a spoke and gazed imperturbably into the binnacle
Not so was the conduct of George Leach the erstwhile cabinboy Fore and
aft there was nothing that could have surprised us more than his consequent
behavior He it was that came up on the poop without orders and dragged Johnson
forward where he set about dressing his wounds as well as he could and making
him comfortable Johnson as Johnson was unrecognizable and not only that for
his features as human features at all were unrecognizable so discolored and
swollen had they become in the few minutes which had elapsed between the
beginning of the beating and the dragging forward of the body
But of Leachs behavior By the time I had finished cleansing the cabin he
had taken care of Johnson I had come up on deck for a breath of fresh air and
to try to get some repose for my overwrought nerves Wolf Larsen was smoking a
cigar and examining the patent log which the Ghost usually towed astern but
which had been hauled in for some purpose Suddenly Leachs voice came to my
ears It was tense and hoarse with an overmastering rage I turned and saw him
standing just beneath the break of the poop on the port side of the galley His
face was convulsed and white his eyes were flashing his clenched fists raised
overhead
»May God damn your soul to hell Wolf Larsen only hells too good for you
you coward you murderer you pig« was his opening salutation
I was thunderstruck I looked for his instant annihilation But it was not
Wolf Larsens whim to annihilate him He sauntered slowly forward to the break
of the poop and leaning his elbow on the corner of the cabin gazed down
thoughtfully and curiously at the excited boy
And the boy indicted Wolf Larsen as he had never been indicted before The
sailors assembled in a fearful group just outside the forecastle scuttle and
watched and listened The hunters piled pellmell out of the steerage but as
Leachs tirade continued I saw that there was no levity in their faces Even
they were frightened not at the boys terrible words but at his terrible
audacity It did not seem possible that any living creature could thus beard
Wolf Larsen in his teeth I know for myself that I was shocked into admiration
of the boy and I saw in him the splendid invincibleness of immortality rising
above the flesh and the fears of the flesh as in the prophets of old to
condemn unrighteousness
And such condemnation He haled forth Wolf Larsens soul naked to the scorn
of men He rained upon it curses from God and High Heaven and withered it with
a heat of invective that savored of a mediæval excommunication of the Catholic
Church He ran the gamut of denunciation rising to heights of wrath that were
sublime and almost Godlike and from sheer exhaustion sinking to the vilest and
most indecent abuse
His rage was a madness His lips were flecked with a soapy froth and
sometimes he choked and gurgled and became inarticulate And through it all
calm and impassive leaning on his elbow and gazing down Wolf Larsen seemed
lost in a great curiosity This wild stirring of yeasty life this terrific
revolt and defiance of matter that moved perplexed and interested him
Each moment I looked and everybody looked for him to leap upon the boy and
destroy him But it was not his whim His cigar went out and he continued to
gaze silently and curiously
Leach had worked himself into an ecstasy of impotent rage
»Pig Pig Pig« he was reiterating at the top of his lungs »Why dont you
come down and kill me you murderer You can do it I aint afraid Theres no
one to stop you Damn sight better dead and outa your reach than alive and in
your clutches Come on you coward Kill me Kill me Kill me«
It was at this stage that Thomas Mugridges erratic soul brought him into
the scene He had been listening at the galley door but he now came out
ostensibly to fling some scraps over the side but obviously to see the killing
he was certain would take place He smirked greasily up into the face of Wolf
Larsen who seemed not to see him But the Cockney was unabashed though mad
stark mad He turned to Leach saying
»Such langwidge Shockin«
Leachs rage was no longer impotent Here at last was something ready to
hand And for the first time since the stabbing the Cockney had appeared outside
the galley without his knife The words had barely left his mouth when he was
knocked down by Leach Three times he struggled to his feet striving to gain
the galley and each time was knocked down
»Oh Lord« he cried »Elp Elp Tyke im awy carnt yer Tyke im
awy«
The hunters laughed from sheer relief Tragedy had dwindled the farce had
begun The sailors now crowded boldly aft grinning and shuffling to watch the
pummelling of the hated Cockney And even I felt a great joy surge up within me
I confess that I delighted in this beating Leach was giving to Thomas Mugridge
though it was as terrible almost as the one Mugridge had caused to be given to
Johnson But the expression of Wolf Larsens face never changed He did not
change his position either but continued to gaze down with a great curiosity
For all his pragmatic certitude it seemed as if he watched the play and
movement of life in the hope of discovering something more about it of
discerning in its maddest writhings a something which had hitherto escaped him
the key to its mystery as it were which would make all clear and plain
But the beating It was quite similar to the one I had witnessed in the
cabin The Cockney strove in vain to protect himself from the infuriated boy
And in vain he strove to gain the shelter of the cabin He rolled toward it
grovelled toward it fell toward it when he was knocked down But blow followed
blow with bewildering rapidity He was knocked about like a shuttlecock until
finally like Johnson he was beaten and kicked as he lay helpless on the deck
And no one interfered Leach could have killed him but having evidently filled
the measure of his vengeance he drew away from his prostrate foe who was
whimpering and wailing in a puppyish sort of way and walked forward
But these two affairs were only the opening events of the days programme
In the afternoon Smoke and Henderson fell foul of each other and a fusillade of
shots came up from the steerage followed by a stampede of the other four
hunters for the deck A column of thick acrid smoke the kind always made by
black powder was arising through the open companionway and down through it
leaped Wolf Larsen The sound of blows and scuffling came to our ears Both men
were wounded and he was thrashing them both for having disobeyed his orders and
crippled themselves in advance of the hunting season In fact they were badly
wounded and having thrashed them he proceeded to operate upon them in a rough
surgical fashion and to dress their wounds I served as assistant while he
probed and cleansed the passages made by the bullets and I saw the two men
endure his crude surgery without anæsthetics and with no more to uphold them
than a stiff tumbler of whiskey
Then in the first dogwatch trouble came to a head in the forecastle It
took its rise out of the tittletattle and talebearing which had been the cause
of Johnsons beating and from the noise we heard and from the sight of the
bruised men next day it was patent that half the forecastle had soundly drubbed
the other half
The second dogwatch and the day were wound up by a fight between Johansen
and the lean Yankeelooking hunter Latimer It was caused by remarks of
Latimers concerning the noises made by the mate in his sleep and though
Johansen was whipped he kept the steerage awake for the rest of the night while
he blissfully slumbered and fought the fight over and over again
As for myself I was oppressed with nightmare The day had been like some
horrible dream Brutality had followed brutality and flaming passions and
coldblooded cruelty had driven men to seek one anothers lives and to strive
to hurt and maim and destroy My nerves were shocked My mind itself was
shocked All my days had been passed in comparative ignorance of the animality
of man In fact I had known life only in its intellectual phases Brutality I
had experienced but it was the brutality of the intellect the cutting sarcasm
of Charley Furuseth the cruel epigrams and occasional harsh witticisms of the
fellows at the Bibelot and the nasty remarks of some of the professors during
my undergraduate days
That was all But that men should wreak their anger on others by the
bruising of the flesh and the letting of blood was something strangely and
fearfully new to me Not for nothing had I been called »Sissy« Van Weyden I
thought as I tossed restlessly on my bunk between one nightmare and another
And it seemed to me that my innocence of the realities of life had been complete
indeed I laughed bitterly to myself and seemed to find in Wolf Larsens
forbidding philosophy a more adequate explanation of life than I found in my
own
And I was frightened when I became conscious of the trend of my thought The
continual brutality around me was degenerative in its effect It bid fair to
destroy for me all that was best and brightest in life My reason dictated that
the beating Thomas Mugridge had received was an ill thing and yet for the life
of me I could not prevent my soul joying in it And even while I was oppressed
by the enormity of my sin for sin it was I chuckled with an insane
delight I was no longer Humphrey Van Weyden I was Hump cabinboy on the
schooner Ghost Wolf Larsen was my captain Thomas Mugridge and the rest were my
companions and I was receiving repeated impresses from the die which had
stamped them all
Chapter XIII
For three days I did my own work and Thomas Mugridges too and I flatter myself
that I did his work well I know that it won Wolf Larsens approval while the
sailors beamed with satisfaction during the brief time my régime lasted
»The first clean bite since I come aboard« Harrison said to me at the
galley door as he returned the dinner pots and pans from the forecastle
»Somehow Tommys grub always tastes of grease stale grease and I reckon he
aint changed his shirt since he left Frisco«
»I know he hasnt« I answered
»And Ill bet he sleeps in it« Harrison added
»And you wont lose« I agreed »The same shirt and he hasnt had it off
once in all this time«
But three days was all Wolf Larsen allowed him in which to recover from the
effects of the beating On the fourth day lame and sore scarcely able to see
so closed were his eyes he was haled from his bunk by the nape of the neck and
set to his duty He sniffled and wept but Wolf Larsen was pitiless
»And see that you serve no more slops« was his parting injunction »No more
grease and dirt mind and a clean shirt occasionally or youll get a tow over
the side Understand«
Thomas Mugridge crawled weakly across the galley floor and a short lurch of
the Ghost sent him staggering In attempting to recover himself he reached for
the iron railing which surrounded the stove and kept the pots from sliding off
but he missed the railing and his hand with his weight behind it landed
squarely on the hot surface There was a sizzle and odor of burning flesh and a
sharp cry of pain
»Oh Gawd Gawd wot ave I done« he wailed sitting down in the coalbox
and nursing his new hurt by rocking back and forth »Wy as all this come on
me It mykes me fair sick it does an I try so ard to go through life
armless an urtin nobody«
The tears were running down his puffed and discolored cheeks and his face
was drawn with pain A savage expression flitted across it
»Oh ow I ate im Ow I ate im« he gritted out
»Whom« I asked but the poor wretch was weeping again over his misfortunes
Less difficult it was to guess whom he hated than whom he did not hate For I
had come to see a malignant devil in him which impelled him to hate all the
world I sometimes thought that he hated even himself so grotesquely had life
dealt with him and so monstrously At such moments a great sympathy welled up
within me and I felt shame that I had ever joyed in his discomfiture or pain
Life had been unfair to him It had played him a scurvy trick when it fashioned
him into the thing he was and it had played him scurvy tricks ever since What
chance had he to be anything else than he was And as though answering my
unspoken thought he wailed
»I never ad no chance nor arf a chance Oo was there to send me to
school or put tommy in my ungry belly or wipe my bloody nose for me wen I
was a kiddy Oo ever did anything for me heh Oo I sy«
»Never mind Tommy« I said placing a soothing hand on his shoulder »Cheer
up Itll all come right in the end Youve long years before you and you can
make anything you please of yourself«
»Its a lie a bloody lie« he shouted in my face flinging off the hand
»Its a lie and you know it Im already myde an myde out of leavins an
scraps Its all right for you Ump You was born a gentleman You never knew
wot it was to go ungry to cry yerself asleep with yer little belly gnawin an
gnawin like a rat inside yer It carnt come right If I was President of the
United Stytes tomorrer ow would it fill my belly for one time wen I was a
kiddy and it went empty
Ow could it I sy I was born to sufferin and sorrer Ive ad more cruel
sufferin than any ten men I ave Ive been in orspital arf my bleedin life
Ive ad the fever in Aspinwall in Avana in New Orleans I near died of the
scurvy and was rotten with it six months in Barbadoes Smallpox in Onolulu two
broken legs in Shanghai pneumonia in Unalaska three busted ribs an my insides
all twisted in Frisco An ere I am now Look at me Look at me My ribs
kicked loose from my back again Ill be coughin blood before eyght bells Ow
can it be myde up to me I arsk Oos goin to do it Gawd Ow Gawd must ave
ated me wen e signed me on for a voyage in this bloomin world of is«
This tirade against destiny went on for an hour or more and then he buckled
to his work limping and groaning and in his eyes a great hatred for all
created things His diagnosis was correct however for he was seized with
occasional sicknesses during which he vomited blood and suffered great pain
And as he said it seemed God hated him too much to let him die for he
ultimately grew better and waxed more malignant than ever
Several days more passed before Johnson crawled on deck and went about his
work in a halfhearted way He was still a sick man and I more than once
observed him creeping painfully aloft to a topsail or drooping wearily as he
stood at the wheel But still worse it seemed that his spirit was broken He
was abject before Wolf Larsen and almost grovelled to Johansen Not so was the
conduct of Leach He went about the deck like a tiger cub glaring his hatred
openly at Wolf Larsen and Johansen
»Ill do for you yet you slabfooted Swede« I heard him say to Johansen
one night on deck
The mate cursed him in the darkness and the next moment some missile struck
the galley a sharp rap There was more cursing and a mocking laugh and when
all was quiet I stole outside and found a heavy knife imbedded over an inch in
the solid wood A few minutes later the mate came fumbling about in search of
it but I returned it privily to Leach next day He grinned when I handed it
over yet it was a grin that contained more sincere thanks than a multitude of
the verbosities of speech common to the members of my own class
Unlike any one else in the ships company I now found myself with no
quarrels on my hands and in the good graces of all The hunters possibly no more
than tolerated me though none of them disliked me while Smoke and Henderson
convalescent under a deck awning and swinging day and night in their hammocks
assured me that I was better than any hospital nurse and that they would not
forget me at the end of the voyage when they were paid off As though I stood
in need of their money I who could have bought them out bag and baggage and
the schooner and its equipment a score of times over But upon me had devolved
the task of tending their wounds and pulling them through and I did my best by
them
Wolf Larsen underwent another bad attack of headache which lasted two days
He must have suffered severely for he called me in and obeyed my commands like
a sick child But nothing I could do seemed to relieve him At my suggestion
however he gave up smoking and drinking though why such a magnificent animal
as he should have headaches at all puzzles me
»Tis the hand of God Im tellin you« is the way Louis sees it »Tis a
visitation for his blackhearted deeds and theres more behind and comin or
else «
»Or else« I prompted
»God is noddin and not doin his duty though its me as shouldnt say it«
I was mistaken when I said that I was in the good graces of all Not only
does Thomas Mugridge continue to hate me but he has discovered a new reason for
hating me It took me no little while to puzzle it out but I finally discovered
that it was because I was more luckily born than he »gentleman born« he put
it
»And still no more dead men« I twitted Louis when Smoke and Henderson
side by side in friendly conversation took their first exercise on deck
Louis surveyed me with his shrewd gray eyes and shook his head portentously
»Shes acomin I tell you and itll be sheets and halyards stand by all
hands when she begins to howl Ive had the feel iv it this long time and I
can feel it now as plainly as I feel the rigging iv a dark night Shes close
shes close«
»Who goes first« I queried
»Not old fat Louis I promise you« he laughed »For tis in the bones iv me
I know that come this time next year Ill be gazin in the old mothers eyes
weary with watchin iv the sea for the five sons she gave to it«
»Wots e been syin to yer« Thomas Mugridge demanded a moment later
»That hes going home some day to see his mother« I answered
diplomatically
»I never ad none« was the Cockneys comment as he gazed with lustreless
hopeless eyes into mine
Chapter XIV
It has dawned upon me that I have never placed a proper valuation upon
womankind For that matter though not amative to any considerable degree so far
as I have discovered I was never outside the atmosphere of women until now My
mother and sisters were always about me and I was always trying to escape them
for they worried me to distraction with their solicitude for my health and with
their periodic inroads on my den when my orderly confusion upon which I prided
myself was turned into worse confusion and less order though it looked neat
enough to the eye I never could find anything when they had departed But now
alas how welcome would have been the feel of their presence the froufrou and
swishswish of their skirts which I had so cordially detested I am sure if I
ever get home that I shall never be irritable with them again They may dose me
and doctor me morning noon and night and dust and sweep and put my den to
rights every minute of the day and I shall only lean back and survey it all and
be thankful in that I am possessed of a mother and some several sisters
All of which has set me wondering Where are the mothers of these twenty and
odd men on the Ghost It strikes me as unnatural and unhealthful that men should
be totally separated from women and herd through the world by themselves
Coarseness and savagery are the inevitable results These men about me should
have wives and sisters and daughters then would they be capable of softness
and tenderness and sympathy As it is not one of them is married In years and
years not one of them has been in contact with a good woman or within the
influence or redemption which irresistibly radiates from such a creature
There is no balance in their lives Their masculinity which in itself is of the
brute has been overdeveloped The other and spiritual side of their natures has
been dwarfed atrophied in fact
They are a company of celibates grinding harshly against one another and
growing daily more calloused from the grinding It seems to me impossible
sometimes that they ever had mothers It would appear that they are a
halfbrute halfhuman species a race apart wherein there is no such thing as
sex that they are hatched out by the sun like turtle eggs or receive life in
some similar and sordid fashion and that all their days they fester in
brutality and viciousness and in the end die as unlovely as they have lived
Rendered curious by this new direction of ideas I talked with Johansen last
night the first superfluous words with which he has favored me since the
voyage began He left Sweden when he was eighteen is now thirtyeight and in
all the intervening time has not been home once He had met a townsman a couple
of years before in some sailor boardinghouse in Chile so that he knew his
mother to be still alive
»She must be a pretty old woman now« he said staring meditatively into
the binnacle and then jerking a sharp glance at Harrison who was steering a
point off the course
»When did you last write to her«
He performed his mental arithmetic aloud »Eightyone no eightytwo eh
no eightythree Yes eightythree Ten years ago From some little port in
Madagascar I was trading«
»You see« he went on as though addressing his neglected mother across half
the girth of the earth »each year I was going home So what was the good to
write It was only a year And each year something happened and I did not go
But I am mate now and when I pay off at Frisco maybe with five hundred
dollars I will ship myself on a windjammer round the Horn to Liverpool which
will give me more money and then I will pay my passage from there home Then
she will not do any more work«
»But does she work now How old is she«
»About seventy« he answered And then boastingly »We work from the time
we are born until we die in my country Thats why we live so long I will live
to a hundred«
I shall never forget this conversation The words were the last I ever heard
him utter Perhaps they were the last he did utter too For going down into
the cabin to turn in I decided that it was too stuffy to sleep below It was a
calm night We were out of the Trades and the Ghost was forging ahead barely a
knot an hour So I tucked a blanket and pillow under my arm and went up on deck
As I passed between Harrison and the binnacle which was built into the top
of the cabin I noticed that he was this time fully three points off Thinking
that he was asleep and wishing him to escape reprimand or worse I spoke to
him But he was not asleep His eyes were wide and staring He seemed greatly
perturbed unable to reply to me
»Whats the matter« I asked »Are you sick«
He shook his head and with a deep sigh as of awakening caught his breath
»Youd better get on your course then« I chided
He put a few spokes over and I watched the compasscard swing slowly to N N
W and steady itself with slight oscillations
I took a fresh hold on my bedclothes and was preparing to start on when
some movement caught my eye and I looked astern to the rail A sinewy hand
dripping with water was clutching the rail A second hand took form in the
darkness beside it I watched fascinated What visitant from the gloom of the
deep was I to behold Whatever it was I knew that it was climbing aboard by the
logline I saw a head the hair wet and straight shape itself and then the
unmistakable eyes and face of Wolf Larsen His right cheek was red with blood
which flowed from some wound in the head
He drew himself inboard with a quick effort and arose to his feet glancing
swiftly as he did so at the man at the wheel as though to assure himself of
his identity and that there was nothing to fear from him The seawater was
streaming from him It made little audible gurgles which distracted me As he
stepped toward me I shrank back instinctively for I saw that in his eyes which
spelled death
»All right Hump« he said in a low voice »Wheres the mate«
I shook my head
»Johansen« he called softly »Johansen«
»Where is he« he demanded of Harrison
The young fellow seemed to have recovered his composure for he answered
steadily enough »I dont know sir I saw him go forard a little while ago«
»So did I go forard But you will observe that I didnt come back the way I
went Can you explain it«
»You must have been overboard sir«
»Shall I look for him in the steerage sir« I asked
Wolf Larsen shook his head »You wouldnt find him Hump But youll do
Come on Never mind your bedding Leave it where it is«
I followed at his heels There was nothing stirring amidships
»Those cursed hunters« was his comment »Too damned fat and lazy to stand a
fourhour watch«
But on the forecastlehead we found three sailors asleep He turned them
over and looked at their faces They composed the watch on deck and it was the
ships custom in good weather to let the watch sleep with the exception of the
officer the helmsman and the lookout
»Whos lookout« he demanded
»Me sir« answered Holyoak one of the deepwater sailors a slight tremor
in his voice »I winked off just this very minute sir Im sorry sir It wont
happen again«
»Did you hear or see anything on deck«
»No sir I «
But Wolf Larsen had turned away with a snort of disgust leaving the sailor
rubbing his eyes with surprise at having been let off so easily
»Softly now« Wolf Larsen warned me in a whisper as he doubled his body
into the forecastle scuttle and prepared to descend
I followed with a quaking heart What was to happen I knew no more than did
I know what had happened But blood had been shed and it was through no whim of
Wolf Larsen that he had gone over the side with his scalp laid open Besides
Johansen was missing
It was my first descent into the forecastle and I shall not soon forget my
impression of it caught as I stood on my feet at the bottom of the ladder
Built directly in the eyes of the schooner it was of the shape of a triangle,
along the three sides of which stood the bunks in doubletier twelve of them
It was no larger than a hall bedroom in Grub Street and yet twelve men were
herded into it to eat and sleep and carry on all the functions of living My
bedroom at home was not large yet it could have contained a dozen similar
forecastles and taking into consideration the height of the ceiling a score at
least
It smelled sour and musty and by the dim light of the swinging sealamp I
saw every bit of available wallspace hung deep with seaboots oilskins and
garments clean and dirty of various sorts These swung back and forth with
every roll of the vessel giving rise to a brushing sound as of trees against a
roof or wall Somewhere a boot thumped loudly and at irregular intervals against
the wall and though it was a mild night on the sea there was a continual
chorus of the creaking timbers and bulkheads and of abysmal noises beneath the
flooring
The sleepers did not mind There were eight of them the two watches
below and the air was thick with the warmth and odor of their breathing and
the ear was filled with the noise of their snoring and of their sighs and
halfgroans tokens plain of the rest of the animalman But were they sleeping
all of them Or had they been sleeping This was evidently Wolf Larsens quest
to find the men who appeared to be asleep and who were not asleep or who had not
been asleep very recently And he went about it in a way that reminded me of a
story out of Boccaccio
He took the sealamp from its swinging frame and handed it to me He began
at the first bunks forward on the starboard side In the top one lay
OoftyOofty a Kanaka and splendid seaman so named by his mates He was asleep
on his back and breathing as placidly as a woman One arm was under his head
the other lay on top of the blankets Wolf Larsen put thumb and forefinger to
the wrist and counted the pulse In the midst of it the Kanaka roused He awoke
as gently as he slept There was no movement of the body whatever The eyes
only moved They flashed wide open big and black and stared unblinking into
our faces Wolf Larsen put his finger to his lips as a sign for silence and the
eyes closed again
In the lower bunk lay Louis grossly fat and warm and sweaty asleep
unfeignedly and sleeping laboriously While Wolf Larsen held his wrist he
stirred uneasily bowing his body so that for a moment it rested on shoulders
and heels His lips moved and he gave voice to this enigmatic utterance
»A shillings worth a quarter but keep your lamps out for thruppenny bits
or the publicansll shove em on you for sixpence«
Then he rolled over on his side with a heavy sobbing sigh saying
»A sixpence is a tanner and a shilling a bob but what a pony is I dont
know«
Satisfied with the honesty of his and the Kanakas sleep Wolf Larsen passed
on to the next two bunks on the starboard side occupied top and bottom as we
saw in the light of the sealamp by Leach and Johnson
As Wolf Larsen bent down to the lower bunk to take Johnsons pulse I
standing erect and holding the lamp saw Leachs head raise stealthily as he
peered over the side of his bunk to see what was going on He must have divined
Wolf Larsens trick and the sureness of detection for the light was at once
dashed from my hand and the forecastle left in darkness He must have leaped
also at the same instant straight down on Wolf Larsen
The first sounds were those of a conflict between a bull and a wolf I heard
a great infuriated bellow go up from Wolf Larsen and from Leach a snarling that
was desperate and bloodcurdling Johnson must have joined him immediately so
that his abject and grovelling conduct on deck for the past few days had been no
more than planned deception
I was so terrorstricken by this fight in the dark that I leaned against the
ladder trembling and unable to ascend And upon me was that old sickness at the
pit of the stomach caused always by the spectacle of physical violence In this
instance I could not see but I could hear the impact of the blows the soft
crushing sound made by flesh striking forcibly against flesh Then there was the
crashing about of the entwined bodies the labored breathing the short quick
gasps of sudden pain
There must have been more men in the conspiracy to murder the captain and
mate for by the sounds I knew that Leach and Johnson had been quickly
reinforced by some of their mates
»Get a knife somebody« Leach was shouting
»Pound him on the head Mash his brains out« was Johnsons cry
But after his first bellow Wolf Larsen made no noise He was fighting
grimly and silently for life He was sore beset Down at the very first he had
been unable to gain his feet and for all of his tremendous strength I felt that
there was no hope for him
The force with which they struggled was vividly impressed on me for I was
knocked down by their surging bodies and badly bruised But in the confusion I
managed to crawl into an empty lower bunk out of the way
»All hands Weve got him Weve got him« I could hear Leach crying
»Who« demanded those who had been really asleep and who had wakened to
they knew not what
»Its the bloody mate« was Leachs crafty answer strained from him in a
smothered sort of way
This was greeted with whoops of joy and from then on Wolf Larsen had seven
strong men on top of him Louis I believe taking no part in it The forecastle
was like an angry hive of bees aroused by some marauder
»What ho below there« I heard Latimer shout down the scuttle too cautious
to descend into the inferno of passion he could hear raging beneath him in the
darkness
»Wont somebody get a knife Oh wont somebody get a knife« Leach pleaded
in the first interval of comparative silence
The number of the assailants was a cause of confusion They blocked their
own efforts while Wolf Larsen with but a single purpose achieved his This
was to fight his way across the floor to the ladder Though in total darkness I
followed his progress by its sound No man less than a giant could have done
what he did once he had gained the foot of the ladder Step by step by the
might of his arms the whole pack of men striving to drag him back and down he
drew his body up from the floor till he stood erect And then step by step
hand and foot he slowly struggled up the ladder
The very last of all I saw For Latimer having finally gone for a lantern
held it so that its light shone down the scuttle Wolf Larsen was nearly to the
top though I could not see him All that was visible was the mass of men
fastened upon him It squirmed about like some huge manylegged spider and
swayed back and forth to the regular roll of the vessel And still step by
step with long intervals between the mass ascended Once it tottered about to
fall back but the broken hold was regained and it still went up
»Who is it« Latimer cried
In the rays of the lantern I could see his perplexed face peering down
»Larsen« I heard a muffled voice from within the mass
Latimer reached down with his free hand I saw a hand shoot up to clasp his
Latimer pulled and the next couple of steps were made with a rush Then Wolf
Larsens other hand reached up and clutched the edge of the scuttle The mass
swung clear of the ladder the men still clinging to their escaping foe They
began to drop off to be brushed off against the sharp edge of the scuttle to
be knocked off by the legs which were now kicking powerfully Leach was the last
to go falling sheer back from the top of the scuttle and striking on head and
shoulders upon his sprawling mates beneath Wolf Larsen and the lantern
disappeared and we were left in darkness
Chapter XV
There was a deal of cursing and groaning as the men at the bottom of the ladder
crawled to their feet
»Somebody strike a light my thumbs out of joint« said one of the men
Parsons a swarthy saturnine man boatsteerer in Standishs boat in which
Harrison was puller
»Youll find it knockin about by the bitts« Leach said sitting down on
the edge of the bunk in which I was concealed
There was a fumbling and a scratching of matches and the sealamp flared
up dim and smoky and in its weird light barelegged men moved about nursing
their bruises and caring for their hurts OoftyOofty laid hold of Parsonss
thumb pulling it out stoutly and snapping it back into place I noticed at the
same time that the Kanakas knuckles were laid open clear across and to the
bone He exhibited them exposing beautiful white teeth in a grin as he did so
and explaining that the wounds had come from striking Wolf Larsen in the mouth
»So it was you was it you black beggar« belligerently demanded one
Kelly an IrishAmerican and a longshoreman making his first trip to sea and
boatpuller for Kerfoot
As he made the demand he spat out a mouthful of blood and teeth and shoved
his pugnacious face close to OoftyOofty The Kanaka leaped backward to his
bunk to return with a second leap flourishing a long knife
»Aw go lay down you make me tired« Leach interfered He was evidently
for all of his youth and inexperience cock of the forecastle »Gwan you
Kelly You leave Oofty alone How in hell did he know it was you in the dark«
Kelly subsided with some muttering and the Kanaka flashed his white teeth
in a grateful smile He was a beautiful creature almost feminine in the
pleasing lines of his figure and there was a softness and dreaminess in his
large eyes which seemed to contradict his wellearned reputation for strife and
action
»How did he get away« Johnson asked
He was sitting on the side of his bunk the whole pose of his figure
indicating utter dejection and hopelessness He was still breathing heavily from
the exertion he had made His shirt had been ripped entirely from him in the
struggle and blood from a gash in the cheek was flowing down his naked chest
marking a red path across his white thigh and dripping to the floor
»Because he is the devil as I told you before« was Leachs answer and
thereat he was on his feet and raging his disappointment with tears in his eyes
»And not one of you to get a knife« was his unceasing lament
But the rest of the hands had a lively fear of consequences to come and gave
no heed to him
»Howll he know which was which« Kelly asked and as he went on he looked
murderously about him »unless one of us peaches«
»Hell know as soon as ever he claps eyes on us« Parsons replied »One look
at youd be enough«
»Tell him the deck flopped up and gouged yer teeth out iv yer jaw« Louis
grinned He was the only man who was not out of his bunk and he was jubilant in
that he possessed no bruises to advertise that he had had a hand in the nights
work »Just wait till he gets a glimpse iv yer mugs tomorrow the gang iv ye«
he chuckled
»Well say we thought it was the mate« said one And another »I know what
Ill say that I heered a row jumped out of my bunk got a jolly good crack on
the jaw for my pains and sailed in myself Couldnt tell who or what it was in
the dark and just hit out«
»An twas me you hit of course« Kelly seconded his face brightening for
the moment
Leach and Johnson took no part in the discussion and it was plain to see
that their mates looked upon them as men for whom the worst was inevitable who
were beyond hope and already dead Leach stood their fears and reproaches for
some time Then he broke out
»You make me tired A nice lot of gazabas you are If you talked less with
yer mouth and did something with yer hands hed aben done with by now Why
couldnt one of you just one of you get me a knife when I sung out You make
me sick Abeefin and bellerin round as though hed kill you when he gets
you You know damn well he wont Cant afford to No shipping masters or beach
combers over here and he wants yer in his business and he wants yer bad Whos
to pull or steer or sail ship if he loses yer Its me and Johnson have to face
the music Get into yer bunks now and shut yer faces I want to get some
sleep«
»Thats all right all right« Parsons spoke up »Mebbe he wont do for us
but mark my words hellll be an icebox to this ship from now on«
All the while I had been apprehensive concerning my own predicament What
would happen to me when these men discovered my presence I could never fight my
way out as Wolf Larsen had done And at this moment Latimer called down the
scuttles
»Hump The old man wants you«
»He aint down here« Parsons called back
»Yes he is« I said sliding out of the bunk and striving my hardest to keep
my voice steady and bold
The sailors looked at me in consternation Fear was strong in their faces
and the devilishness which comes of fear
»Im coming« I shouted up to Latimer
»No you dont« Kelly cried stepping between me and the ladder his right
hand shaped into a veritable stranglers clutch »You damn little sneak Ill
shut yer mouth«
»Let him go« Leach commanded
»Not on yer life« was the angry retort
Leach never changed his position on the edge of the bunk »Let him go I
say« he repeated but this time his voice was gritty and metallic
The Irishman wavered I made to step by him and he stood aside When I had
gained the ladder I turned to the circle of brutal and malignant faces peering
at me through the semidarkness A sudden and deep sympathy welled up in me I
remembered the Cockneys way of putting it How God must have hated them that
they should be tortured so
»I have seen and heard nothing believe me« I said quietly
»I tell yer hes all right« I could hear Leach saying as I went up the
ladder »He dont like the old man no more nor you or me«
I found Wolf Larsen in the cabin stripped and bloody waiting for me He
greeted me with one of his whimsical smiles
»Come get to work Doctor The signs are favorable for an extensive
practice this voyage I dont know what the Ghost would have been without you
and if I could only cherish such noble sentiments I would tell you her master is
deeply grateful«
I knew the run of the simple medicinechest the Ghost carried and while I
was heating water on the cabin stove and getting the things ready for dressing
his wounds he moved about laughing and chatting and examining his hurts with
a calculating eye I had never before seen him stripped and the sight of his
body quite took my breath away It has never been my weakness to exalt the flesh
far from it but there is enough of the artist in me to appreciate its wonder
I must say that I was fascinated by the perfect lines of Wolf Larsens
figure and by what I may term the terrible beauty of it I had noted the men in
the forecastle Powerfully muscled though some of them were there had been
something wrong with all of them an insufficient development here an undue
development there a twist or a crook that destroyed symmetry legs too short or
too long or too much sinew or bone exposed or too little OoftyOofty had been
the only one whose lines were at all pleasing while in so far as they pleased
that far had they been what I should call feminine
But Wolf Larsen was the mantype the masculine and almost a god in his
perfectness As he moved about or raised his arms the great muscles leapt and
moved under the satiny skin I have forgotten to say that the bronze ended with
his face His body thanks to his Scandinavian stock was fair as the fairest
womans I remember his putting his hand up to feel of the wound on his head
and my watching the biceps move like a living thing under its white sheath It
was the biceps that had nearly crushed out my life once that I had seen strike
so many killing blows I could not take my eyes from him I stood motionless a
roll of antiseptic cotton in my hand unwinding and spilling itself down to the
floor
He noticed me and I became conscious that I was staring at him
»God made you well« I said
»Did he« he answered »I have often thought so myself and wondered why«
»Purpose « I began
»Utility« he interrupted »This body was made for use These muscles were
made to grip and tear and destroy living things that get between me and life
But have you thought of the other living things They too have muscles of one
kind and another made to grip and tear and destroy and when they come
between me and life I outgrip them outtear them outdestroy them Purpose does
not explain that Utility does«
»It is not beautiful« I protested
»Life isnt you mean« he smiled »Yet you say I was made well Do you see
this«
He braced his legs and feet pressing the cabin floor with his toes in a
clutching sort of way Knots and ridges and mounds of muscles writhed and
bunched under the skin
»Feel them« he commanded
They were hard as iron And I observed also that his whole body had
unconsciously drawn itself together tense and alert that muscles were softly
crawling and shaping about the hips along the back and across the shoulders
that the arms were slightly lifted their muscles contracting the fingers
crooking till the hands were like talons and that even the eyes had changed
expression and into them were coming watchfulness and measurement and a light
none other than of battle
»Stability equilibrium« he said relaxing on the instant and sinking his
body back into repose »Feet with which to clutch the ground legs to stand on
and to help withstand while with arms and hands teeth and nails I struggle to
kill and to be not killed Purpose Utility is the better word«
I did not argue I had seen the mechanism of the primitive fighting beast
and I was as strongly impressed as if I had seen the engines of a great
battleship or Atlantic liner
I was surprised considering the fierce struggle in the forecastle at the
superficiality of his hurts and I pride myself that I dressed them dexterously
With the exception of several bad wounds the rest were merely severe bruises
and lacerations The blow which he had received before going overboard had laid
his scalp open several inches This under his direction I cleansed and sewed
together having first shaved the edges of the wound Then the calf of his leg
was badly lacerated and looked as though it had been mangled by a bulldog Some
sailor he told me had laid hold of it by his teeth at the beginning of the
fight and hung on and been dragged to the top of the forecastle ladder when he
was kicked loose
»By the way Hump as I have remarked you are a handy man« Wolf Larsen
began when my work was done »As you know were short a mate Hereafter you
shall stand watches receive seventyfive dollars per month and be addressed
fore and aft as Mr Van Weyden«
»I I dont understand navigation you know« I gasped
»Not necessary at all«
»I really do not care to sit in the high places« I objected »I find life
precarious enough in my present humble situation I have no experience
Mediocrity you see has its compensations«
He smiled as though it were all settled
»I wont be mate on this hellship« I cried defiantly
I saw his face grow hard and the merciless glitter come into his eyes He
walked to the door of his room saying
»And now Mr Van Weyden good night«
»Good night Mr Larsen« I answered weakly
Chapter XVI
I cannot say that the position of mate carried with it anything more joyful than
that there were no more dishes to wash I was ignorant of the simplest duties of
mate and would have fared badly indeed had the sailors not sympathized with me
I knew nothing of the minutiæ of ropes and rigging of the trimming and setting
of sails but the sailors took pains to put me to rights Louis proving an
especially good teacher and I had little trouble with those under me
With the hunters it was otherwise Familiar in varying degree with the sea
they took me as a sort of joke In truth it was a joke to me that I the
veriest landsman should be filling the office of mate but to be taken as a
joke by others was a different matter I made no complaint but Wolf Larsen
demanded the most punctilious sea etiquette in my case far more than poor
Johansen had ever received and at the expense of several rows threats and
much grumbling he brought the hunters to time I was »Mr Van Weyden« fore and
aft and it was only unofficially that Wolf Larsen himself ever addressed me as
»Hump«
It was amusing Perhaps the wind would haul a few points while we were at
dinner and as I left the table he would say »Mr Van Weyden will you kindly
put about on the port tack« And I would go on deck beckon Louis to me and
learn from him what was to be done Then a few minutes later having digested
his instructions and thoroughly mastered the manoeuvre I would proceed to issue
my orders I remember an early instance of this kind when Wolf Larsen appeared
on the scene just as I had begun to give orders He smoked his cigar and looked
on quietly till the thing was accomplished and then paced aft by my side along
the weather poop
»Hump« he said »I beg pardon Mr Van Weyden I congratulate you I think
you can now fire your fathers legs back into the grave to him Youve
discovered your own and learned to stand on them A little ropework
sailmaking and experience with storms and such things and by the end of the
voyage you could ship on any coasting schooner«
It was during this period between the death of Johansen and the arrival on
the sealing grounds that I passed my pleasantest hours on the Ghost Wolf
Larsen was quite considerate the sailors helped me and I was no longer in
irritating contact with Thomas Mugridge And I made free to say as the days
went by that I found I was taking a certain secret pride in myself Fantastic
as the situation was a landlubber second in command I was nevertheless
carrying it off well and during that brief time I was proud of myself and I
grew to love the heave and roll of the Ghost under my feet as she wallowed north
and west through the tropic sea to the islet where we filled our watercasks
But my happiness was not unalloyed It was comparative a period of less
misery slipped in between a past of great miseries and a future of great
miseries For the Ghost so far as the seamen were concerned was a hellship of
the worse description They never had a moments rest or peace Wolf Larsen
treasured against them the attempt on his life and the drubbing he had received
in the forecastle and morning noon and night and all night as well he
devoted himself to making life unlivable for them
He knew well the psychology of the little thing and it was the little
things by which he kept the crew worked up to the verge of madness I have seen
Harrison called from his bunk to put properly away a misplaced paintbrush and
the two watches below haled from their tired sleep to accompany him and see him
do it A little thing truly but when multiplied by the thousand ingenious
devices of such a mind the mental state of the men in the forecastle may be
slightly comprehended
Of course much grumbling went on and little outbursts were continually
occurring Blows were struck and there were always two or three men nursing
injuries at the hands of the human beast who was their master Concerted action
was impossible in face of the heavy arsenal of weapons carried in the steerage
and cabin Leach and Johnson were the two particular victims of Wolf Larsens
diabolic temper and the look of profound melancholy which had settled on
Johnsons face and in his eyes made my heart bleed
With Leach it was different There was too much of the fighting beast in
him He seemed possessed by an insatiable fury which gave no time for grief His
lips had become distorted into a permanent snarl which at mere sight of Wolf
Larsen broke out in sound horrible and menacing and I do believe
unconsciously I have seen him follow Wolf Larsen about with his eyes like an
animal its keeper the while the animallike snarl sounded deep in his throat
and vibrated forth between his teeth
I remember once on deck in bright day touching him on the shoulder as
preliminary to giving an order His back was toward me and at the first feel of
my hand he leaped upright in the air and away from me snarling and turning his
head as he leaped He had for the moment mistaken me for the man he hated
Both he and Johnson would have killed Wolf Larsen at the slightest
opportunity but the opportunity never came Wolf Larsen was too wise for that
and besides they had no adequate weapons With their fists alone they had no
chance whatever Time and again he fought it out with Leach who fought back
always like a wildcat tooth and nail and fist until stretched exhausted or
unconscious on the deck And he was never averse to another encounter All the
devil that was in him challenged the devil in Wolf Larsen They had but to
appear on deck at the same time when they would be at it cursing snarling
striking and I have seen Leach fling himself upon Wolf Larsen without warning
or provocation Once he threw his heavy sheathknife missing Wolf Larsens
throat by an inch Another time he dropped a steel marlinspike from the mizzen
crosstree It was a difficult cast to make on a rolling ship but the sharp
point of the spike whistling seventyfive feet through the air barely missed
Wolf Larsens head as he emerged from the cabin companionway and drove its
length two inches and over into the solid deckplanking Still another time he
stole into the steerage possessed himself of a loaded shotgun and was making
a rush for the deck with it when caught by Kerfoot and disarmed
I often wondered why Wolf Larsen did not kill him and make an end of it But
he only laughed and seemed to enjoy it There seemed a certain spice about it
such as men must feel who take delight in making pets of ferocious animals
»It gives a thrill to life« he explained to me »when life is carried in
ones hand Man is a natural gambler and life is the biggest stake he can lay
The greater the odds the greater the thrill Why should I deny myself the joy
of exciting Leachs soul to feverpitch For that matter I do him a kindness
The greatness of sensation is mutual He is living more royally than any man
forard though he does not know it For he has what they have not purpose
something to do and be done an allabsorbing end to strive to attain the
desire to kill me the hope that he may kill me Really Hump he is living deep
and high I doubt that he has ever lived so swiftly and keenly before and I
honestly envy him sometimes when I see him raging at the summit of passion and
sensibility«
»Ah but it is cowardly cowardly« I cried »You have all the advantage«
»Of the two of us you and I who is the greater coward« he asked
seriously »If the situation is unpleasing you compromise with your conscience
when you make yourself a party to it If you were really great really true to
yourself you would join forces with Leach and Johnson But you are afraid you
are afraid You want to live The life that is in you cries out that it must
live no matter what the cost so you live ignominiously untrue to the best you
dream of sinning against your whole pitiful little code and if there were a
hell heading your soul straight for it Bah I play the braver part I do no
sin for I am true to the promptings of the life that is in me I am sincere
with my soul at least and that is what you are not«
There was a sting in what he said Perhaps after all I was playing a
cowardly part And the more I thought about it the more it appeared that my duty
to myself lay in doing what he had advised lay in joining forces with Johnson
and Leach and working for his death Right here I think entered the austere
conscience of my Puritan ancestry impelling me toward lurid deeds and
sanctioning even murder as right conduct I dwelt upon the idea It would be a
most moral act to rid the world of such a monster Humanity would be better and
happier for it life fairer and sweeter
I pondered it long lying sleepless in my bunk and reviewing in endless
procession the facts of the situation I talked with Johnson and Leach during
the night watches when Wolf Larsen was below Both men had lost hope Johnson
because of temperamental despondency Leach because he had beaten himself out
in the vain struggle and was exhausted But he caught my hand in a passionate
grip one night saying
»I think yer square Mr Van Weyden But stay where you are and keep yer
mouth shut Say nothin but saw wood Were dead men I know it but all the
same you might be able to do us a favor some time when we need it damn bad«
It was only next day when Wainwright Island loomed to windward close
abeam that Wolf Larsen opened his mouth in prophecy He had attacked Johnson
been attacked by Leach and had just finished whipping the pair of them
»Leach« he said »you know Im going to kill you some time or other dont
you«
A snarl was the answer
»And as for you Johnson youll get so tired of life before Im through
with you that youll fling yourself over the side See if you dont«
»Thats a suggestion« he added in an aside to me »Ill bet you a months
pay he acts upon it«
I had cherished a hope that his victims would find an opportunity to escape
while filling our waterbarrels but Wolf Larsen had selected his spot well The
Ghost lay half a mile beyond the surfline of a lonely beach Here debouched a
deep gorge with precipitous volcanic walls which no man could scale And here
under his direct supervision for he went ashore himself Leach and Johnson
filled the small casks and rolled them down to the beach They had no chance to
make a break for liberty in one of the boats
Harrison and Kelly however made such an attempt They composed one of the
boats crews and their task was to ply between the schooner and the shore
carrying a single cask each trip Just before dinner starting for the beach
with an empty barrel they altered their course and bore away to the left to
round the promontory which jutted into the sea between them and liberty Beyond
its foaming base lay the pretty villages of the Japanese colonists and smiling
valleys which penetrated deep into the interior Once in the fastnesses they
promised and the two men could defy Wolf Larsen
I had observed Henderson and Smoke loitering about the deck all morning and
I now learned why they were there Procuring their rifles they opened fire in a
leisurely manner upon the deserters It was a coldblooded exhibition of
marksmanship At first their bullets zipped harmlessly along the surface of the
water on either side the boat but as the men continued to pull lustily they
struck closer and closer
»Now watch me take Kellys right oar« Smoke said drawing a more careful
aim
I was looking through the glasses and I saw the oarblade shatter as he
shot Henderson duplicated it selecting Harrisons right oar The boat slewed
around The two remaining oars were quickly broken The men tried to row with
the splinters and had them shot out of their hands Kelly ripped up a bottom
board and began paddling but dropped it with a cry of pain as its splinters
drove into his hands Then they gave up letting the boat drift till a second
boat sent from the shore by Wolf Larsen took them in tow and brought them
aboard
Late that afternoon we hove up anchor and got away Nothing was before us
but the three or four months hunting on the sealing grounds The outlook was
black indeed and I went about my work with a heavy heart An almost funereal
gloom seemed to have descended upon the Ghost Wolf Larsen had taken to his bunk
with one of his strange splitting headaches Harrison stood listlessly at the
wheel halfsupporting himself by it as though wearied by the weight of his
flesh The rest of the men were morose and silent I came upon Kelly crouching
to the lee of the forecastle scuttle his head on his knees his arms about his
head in an attitude of unutterable despondency
Johnson I found lying full length on the forecastle head staring at the
troubled churn of the forefoot and I remembered with horror the suggestion Wolf
Larsen had made It seemed likely to bear fruit I tried to break in on the
mans morbid thoughts by calling him away but he smiled sadly at me and refused
to obey
Leach approached me as I returned aft
»I want to ask a favor Mr Van Weyden« he said »If its yer luck to ever
make Frisco once more will you hunt up Matt McCarthy Hes my old man He
lives on the Hill back of the Mayfair bakery runnin a cobblers shop that
everybody knows and youll have no trouble Tell him I lived to be sorry for
the trouble I brought him and the things I done and and just tell him God
bless him for me«
I nodded my head but said »Well all win back to San Francisco Leach and
youll be with me when I go to see Matt McCarthy«
»Id like to believe you« he answered shaking my hand »but I cant Wolf
Larsenll do for me I know it and all I can hope is hell do it quick«
And as he left me I was aware of the same desire at my heart Since it was
to be done let it be done with despatch The general gloom had gathered me into
its folds The worst appeared inevitable and as I paced the deck hour after
hour I found myself afflicted with Wolf Larsens repulsive ideas What was it
all about Where was the grandeur of life that it should permit such wanton
destruction of human souls It was a cheap and sordid thing after all this
life and the sooner over the better Over and done with I too leaned upon
the rail and gazed longingly into the sea with the certainty that sooner or
later I should be sinking down down through the cool green depths of its
oblivion
Chapter XVII
Strange to say in spite of the general foreboding nothing of especial moment
happened on the Ghost We ran on to the north and west till we raised the coast
of Japan and picked up with the great seal herd Coming from no man knew where
in the illimitable Pacific it was travelling north on its annual migration to
the rookeries of Bering Sea And north we travelled with it ravaging and
destroying flinging the naked carcasses to the shark and salting down the skins
so that they might later adorn the fair shoulders of the women of the cities
It was wanton slaughter and all for womans sake No man ate of the seal
meat or the oil After a good days killing I have seen our decks covered with
hides and bodies slippery with fat and blood the scuppers running red masts
ropes and rails spattered with the sanguinary color and the men like butchers
plying their trade naked and red of arm and hand hard at work with ripping and
flensingknives removing the skins from the pretty seacreatures they had
killed
It was my task to tally the pelts as they came aboard from the boats to
oversee the skinning and afterward the cleansing of the decks and bringing
things shipshape again It was not pleasant work My soul and my stomach
revolted at it and yet in a way this handling and directing of many men was
good for me It developed what little executive ability I possessed and I was
aware of a toughening or hardening which I was undergoing and which could not be
anything but wholesome for »Sissy« Van Weyden
One thing I was beginning to feel and that was that I could never again be
quite the same man I had been While my hope and faith in human life still
survived Wolf Larsens destructive criticism he had nevertheless been a cause
of change in minor matters He had opened up for me the world of the real of
which I had known practically nothing and from which I had always shrunk I had
learned to look more closely at life as it was lived to recognize that there
were such things as facts in the world to emerge from the realm of mind and
idea and to place certain values on the concrete and objective phases of
existence
I saw more of Wolf Larsen than ever when we had gained the grounds For when
the weather was fair and we were in the midst of the herd all hands were away
in the boats and left on board were only he and I and Thomas Mugridge who did
not count But there was no play about it The six boats spreading out fanwise
from the schooner until the first weather boat and the last lee boat were
anywhere from ten to twenty miles apart cruised along a straight course over
the sea till nightfall or bad weather drove them in It was our duty to sail the
Ghost well to leeward of the last lee boat so that all the boats should have
fair wind to run for us in case of squalls or threatening weather
It is no slight matter for two men particularly when a stiff wind has
sprung up to handle a vessel like the Ghost steering keeping lookout for the
boats and setting or taking in sail so it devolved upon me to learn and learn
quickly Steering I picked up easily but running aloft to the crosstrees and
swinging my whole weight by my arms when I left the ratlines and climbed still
higher was more difficult This too I learned and quickly for I felt
somehow a wild desire to vindicate myself in Wolf Larsens eyes to prove my
right to live in ways other than of the mind. Nay the time came when I took joy
in the run of the masthead and in the clinging on by my legs at that precarious
height while I swept the sea with glasses in search of the boats
I remember one beautiful day when the boats left early and the reports of
the hunters guns grew dim and distant and died away as they scattered far and
wide over the sea There was just the faintest wind from the westward but it
breathed its last by the time we managed to get to leeward of the last lee boat
One by one I was at the masthead and saw the six boats disappeared over
the bulge of the earth as they followed the seal into the west We lay scarcely
rolling on the placid sea unable to follow Wolf Larsen was apprehensive The
barometer was down and the sky to the east did not please him He studied it
with unceasing vigilance
»If she comes out of there« he said »hard and snappy putting us to
windward of the boats its likely therell be empty bunks in steerage and
focsle«
By eleven oclock the sea had become glass By midday though we were well
up in the northerly latitudes the heat was sickening There was no freshness in
the air It was sultry and oppressive reminding me of what the old Californians
term »earthquake weather« There was something ominous about it and in
intangible ways one was made to feel that the worst was about to come Slowly
the whole eastern sky filled with clouds that overtowered us like some black
sierra of the infernal regions So clearly could one see cañon gorge and
precipice and the shadows that lie therein that one looked unconsciously for
the white surfline and bellowing caverns where the sea charges on the land And
still we rocked gently and there was no wind
»Its no squall« Wolf Larsen said »Old Mother Natures going to get up on
her hind legs and howl for all thats in her and itll keep us jumping Hump
to pull through with half our boats Youd better run up and loosen the
topsails«
»But if it is going to howl and there are only two of us« I asked a note
of protest in my voice
»Why weve got to make the best of the first of it and run down to our
boats before our canvas is ripped out of us After that I dont give a rap what
happens The sticksll stand it and you and I will have to though weve plenty
cut out for us«
Still the calm continued We ate dinner a hurried and anxious meal for me
with eighteen men abroad on the sea and beyond the bulge of the earth and with
that heavenrolling mountain range of clouds moving slowly down upon us Wolf
Larsen did not seem affected however though I noticed when we returned to the
deck a slight twitching of the nostrils a perceptible quickness of movement
His face was stern the lines of it had grown hard and yet in his eyes blue
clear blue this day there was a strange brilliancy a bright scintillating
light It struck me that he was joyous in a ferocious sort of way that he was
glad there was an impending struggle that he was thrilled and upborne with
knowledge that one of the great moments of living when the tide of life surges
up in flood was upon him
Once and unwitting that he did so or that I saw he laughed aloud
mockingly and defiantly at the advancing storm I see him yet standing there
like a pygmy out of the »Arabian Nights« before the huge front of some malignant
genie He was daring destiny and he was unafraid
He walked to the galley »Cooky by the time youve finished pots and pans
youll be wanted on deck Stand ready for a call«
»Hump« he said becoming cognizant of the fascinated gaze I bent upon him
»this beats whiskey and is where your Omar misses I think he only half lived
after all«
The western half of the sky had by now grown murky The sun had dimmed and
faded out of sight It was two in the afternoon and a ghostly twilight shot
through by wandering purplish lights had descended upon us In this purplish
light Wolf Larsens face glowed and glowed and to my excited fancy he appeared
encircled by a halo We lay in the midst of an unearthly quiet while all about
us were signs and omens of oncoming sound and movement The sultry heat had
become unendurable The sweat was standing on my forehead and I could feel it
trickling down my nose I felt as though I should faint and reached out to the
rail for support
And then just then the faintest possible whisper of air passed by It was
from the east and like a whisper it came and went The drooping canvas was not
stirred and yet my face had felt the air and been cooled
»Cooky« Wolf Larsen called in a low voice Thomas Mugridge turned a
pitiable scared face »Let go that foreboom tackle and pass it across and
when shes willing let go the sheet and come in snug with the tackle And if you
make a mess of it it will be the last you ever make Understand
Mr Van Weyden stand by to pass the headsails over Then jump for the
topsails and spread them quick as Godll let you the quicker you do it the
easier youll find it As for Cooky if he isnt lively bat him between the
eyes«
I was aware of the compliment and pleased in that no threat had accompanied
my instructions We were lying head to northwest and it was his intention to
jibe over all with the first puff
»Well have the breeze on our quarter« he explained to me »By the last
guns the boats were bearing away slightly to the southard«
He turned and walked aft to the wheel I went forward and took my station at
the jibs Another whisper of wind and another passed by The canvas flapped
lazily
»Thank Gawd shes not comin all of a bunch Mr Van Weyden« was the
Cockneys fervent ejaculation
And I was indeed thankful for I had by this time learned enough to know
with all our canvas spread what disaster in such event awaited us The whispers
of wind became puffs the sails filled the Ghost moved Wolf Larsen put the
wheel hard up to port and we began to pay off The wind was now dead astern
muttering and puffing stronger and stronger and my headsails were pounding
lustily I did not see what went on elsewhere though I felt the sudden surge
and heel of the schooner as the windpressures changed to the jibing of the
fore and mainsails My hands were full with the flyingjib jib and staysail
and by the time this part of my task was accomplished the Ghost was leaping into
the southwest the wind on her quarter and all her sheets to starboard Without
pausing for breath though my heart was beating like a triphammer from my
exertions I sprang to the topsails and before the wind had become too strong
we had them fairly set and were coiling down Then I went aft for orders
Wolf Larsen nodded approval and relinquished the wheel to me The wind was
strengthening steadily and the sea rising For an hour I steered each moment
becoming more difficult I had not the experience to steer at the gait we were
going on a quartering course
»Now take a run up with the glasses and raise some of the boats Weve made
at least ten knots and were going twelve or thirteen now The old girl knows
how to walk«
I contented myself with the fore crosstrees some seventy feet above the
deck As I searched the vacant stretch of water before me I comprehended
thoroughly the need for haste if we were to recover any of our men Indeed as I
gazed at the heavy sea through which we were running I doubted that there was a
boat afloat It did not seem possible that such frail craft could survive such
stress of wind and water
I could not feel the full force of the wind for we were running with it
but from my lofty perch I looked down as though outside the Ghost and apart from
her and saw the shape of her outlined sharply against the foaming sea as she
tore along instinct with life Sometimes she would lift and send across some
great wave burying her starboard rail from view and covering her deck to the
hatches with the boiling ocean At such moments starting from a windward roll
I would go flying through the air with dizzying swiftness as though I clung to
the end of a huge inverted pendulum the arc of which between the greater
rolls must have been seventy feet or more Once the terror of this giddy sweep
overpowered me and for a while I clung on hand and foot weak and trembling
unable to search the sea for the missing boats or to behold aught of the sea but
that which roared beneath and strove to overwhelm the Ghost
But the thought of the men in the midst of it steadied me and in my quest
for them I forgot myself For an hour I saw nothing but the naked desolate sea
And then where a vagrant shaft of sunlight struck the ocean and turned its
surface to wrathful silver I caught a small black speck thrust skyward for an
instant and swallowed up I waited patiently Again the tiny point of black
projected itself through the wrathful blaze a couple of points off our portbow
I did not attempt to shout but communicated the news to Wolf Larsen by waving
my arm He changed the course and I signalled affirmation when the speck showed
dead ahead
It grew larger and so swiftly that for the first time I fully appreciated
the speed of our flight Wolf Larsen motioned for me to come down and when I
stood beside him at the wheel gave me instructions for heaving to
»Expect all hell to break loose« he cautioned me »but dont mind it Yours
is to do your own work and to have Cooky stand by the foresheet«
I managed to make my way forward but there was little choice of sides for
the weatherrail seemed buried as often as the lee Having instructed Thomas
Mugridge as to what he was to do I clambered into the fore rigging a few feet
The boat was now very close and I could make out plainly that it was lying head
to wind and sea and dragging on its mast and sail which had been thrown
overboard and made to serve as a seaanchor The three men were bailing Each
rolling mountain whelmed them from view and I would wait with sickening
anxiety fearing that they would never appear again Then and with black
suddenness the boat would shoot clear through the foaming crest bow pointed to
the sky and the whole length of her bottom showing wet and dark till she
seemed on end There would be a fleeting glimpse of the three men flinging water
in frantic haste when she would topple over and fall into the yawning valley
bow down and showing her full inside length to the stern upreared almost
directly above the bow Each time that she reappeared was a miracle
The Ghost suddenly changed her course keeping away and it came to me with
a shock that Wolf Larsen was giving up the rescue as impossible Then I realized
that he was preparing to heave to and dropped to the deck to be in readiness
We were now dead before the wind the boat far away and abreast of us I felt an
abrupt easing of the schooner a loss for the moment of all strain and pressure
coupled with a swift acceleration of speed She was rushing around on her heel
into the wind
As she arrived at right angles to the sea the full force of the wind from
which we had hitherto run away caught us I was unfortunately and ignorantly
facing it It stood up against me like a wall filling my lungs with air which I
could not expel And as I choked and strangled and as the Ghost wallowed for an
instant broadside on and rolling straight over and far into the wind I beheld
a huge sea rise far above my head I turned aside caught my breath and looked
again The wave overtopped the Ghost and I gazed sheer up and into it A shaft
of sunlight smote the overcurl and I caught a glimpse of translucent rushing
green backed by a milky smother of foam
Then it descended pandemonium broke loose everything happened at once I
was struck a crushing stunning blow nowhere in particular and yet everywhere
My hold had been broken loose I was under water and the thought passed through
my mind that this was the terrible thing of which I had heard the being swept
in the trough of the sea My body struck and pounded as it was dashed helplessly
along and turned over and over and when I could hold my breath no longer I
breathed the stinging salt water into my lungs But through it all I clung to
the one idea I must get the jib backed over to windward I had no fear of
death I had no doubt but that I should come through somehow And as this idea
of fulfilling Wolf Larsens order persisted in my dazed consciousness I seemed
to see him standing at the wheel in the midst of the wild welter pitting his
will against the will of the storm and defying it
I brought up violently against what I took to be the rail breathed and
breathed the sweet air again I tried to rise but struck my head and was
knocked back on hands and knees By some freak of the waters I had been swept
clear under the forecastlehead and into the eyes As I scrambled out on all
fours I passed over the body of Thomas Mugridge who lay in a groaning heap
There was no time to investigate I must get the jib backed over
When I emerged on deck it seemed that the end of everything had come On all
sides there was a rending and crashing of wood and steel and canvas The Ghost
was being wrenched and torn to fragments The foresail and fore topsail emptied
of the wind by the manoeuvre and with no one to bring in the sheet in time
were thundering into ribbons the heavy boom threshing and splintering from rail
to rail The air was thick with flying wreckage detached ropes and stays were
hissing and coiling like snakes and down through it all crashed the gaff of the
foresail
The spar could not have missed me by many inches while it spurred me to
action Perhaps the situation was not hopeless I remembered Wolf Larsens
caution He had expected all hell to break loose and here it was And where was
he I caught sight of him toiling at the main sheet heaving it in and flat with
his tremendous muscles the stern of the schooner lifted high in the air and his
body outlined against a white surge of sea sweeping past All this and more
a whole world of chaos and wreck in possibly fifteen seconds I had seen and
heard and grasped
I did not stop to see what had become of the small boat but sprang to the
jibsheet The jib itself was beginning to slap partially filling and emptying
with sharp reports but with a turn of the sheet and the application of my whole
strength each time it slapped I slowly backed it This I know I did my best I
pulled till I burst open the ends of all my fingers and while I pulled the
flyingjib and staysail split their cloths apart and thundered into nothingness
Still I pulled holding what I gained each time with a double turn until the
next slap gave me more Then the sheet gave with greater ease and Wolf Larsen
was beside me heaving in alone while I was busied taking up the slack
»Make fast« he shouted »And come on«
As I followed him I noted that in spite of rack and ruin a rough order
obtained The Ghost was hove to She was still in working order and she was
still working Though the rest of her sails were gone the jib backed to
windward and the mainsail hauled down flat were themselves holding and
holding her bow to the furious sea as well
I looked for the boat and while Wolf Larsen cleared the boattackles saw
it lift to leeward on a big sea and not a score of feet away And so nicely had
he made his calculation we drifted fairly down upon it so that nothing
remained to do but hook the tackles to either end and hoist it aboard But this
was not done so easily as it is written
In the bow was Kerfoot OoftyOofty in the stern and Kelly amidships As we
drifted closer the boat would rise on a wave while we sank in the trough till
almost straight above me I could see the heads of the three men craned overside
and looking down Then the next moment we would lift and soar upward while
they sank far down beneath us It seemed incredible that the next surge should
not crush the Ghost down upon the tiny eggshell
But at the right moment I passed the tackle to the Kanaka while Wolf
Larsen did the same thing forward to Kerfoot Both tackles were hooked in a
trice and the three men deftly timing the roll made a simultaneous leap
aboard the schooner As the Ghost rolled her side out of water the boat was
lifted snugly against her and before the return roll came we had heaved it in
over the side and turned it bottom up on the deck I noticed blood spouting from
Kerfoots left hand In some way the third finger had been crushed to a pulp
But he gave no sign of pain and with his single right hand helped us lash the
boat in its place
»Stand by to let that jib over you Oofty« Wolf Larsen commanded the very
second we had finished with the boat »Kelly come aft and slack off the
mainsheet You Kerfoot go forard and see whats become of Cooky Mr Van
Weyden run aloft again and cut away any stray stuff on your way«
And having commanded he went aft with his peculiar tigerish leaps to the
wheel While I toiled up the foreshrouds the Ghost slowly paid off This time
as we went into the trough of the sea and were swept there were no sails to
carry away And halfway to the crosstrees and flattened against the rigging by
the full force of the wind so that it would have been impossible for me to have
fallen the Ghost almost on her beam ends and the masts parallel with the water
I looked not down but at almost right angles from the perpendicular to the
deck of the Ghost But I saw not the deck but where the deck should have been
for it was buried beneath a wild tumbling of water Out of this water I could
see the two masts rising and that was all The Ghost for the moment was
buried beneath the sea As she squared off more and more escaping from the side
pressure she righted herself and broke her deck like a whales back through
the ocean surface
Then we raced and wildly across the wild sea the while I hung like a fly
in the crosstrees and searched for the other boats In half an hour I sighted
the second one swamped and bottom up to which were desperately clinging Jock
Horner fat Louis and Johnson This time I remained aloft and Wolf Larsen
succeeded in heaving to without being swept As before we drifted down upon it
Tackles were made fast and lines flung to the men who scrambled aboard like
monkeys The boat itself was crushed and splintered against the schooners side
as it came inboard but the wreck was securely lashed for it could be patched
and made whole again
Once more the Ghost bore away before the storm this time so submerging
herself that for some seconds I thought she would never reappear Even the
wheel quite a deal higher than the waist was covered and swept again and
again At such moments I felt strangely alone with God alone with him and
watching the chaos of his wrath And then the wheel would reappear and Wolf
Larsens broad shoulders his hands gripping the spokes and holding the schooner
to the course of his will himself an earthgod dominating the storm flinging
its descending waters from him and riding it to his own ends And oh the marvel
of it the marvel of it That tiny men should live and breathe and work and
drive so frail a contrivance of wood and cloth through so tremendous an
elemental strife
As before the Ghost swung out of the trough lifting her deck again out of
the sea and dashed before the howling blast It was now halfpast five and
half an hour later when the last of the day lost itself in a dim and furious
twilight I sighted a third boat It was bottom up and there was no sign of its
crew Wolf Larsen repeated his manoeuvre holding off and then rounding up to
windward and drifting down upon it But this time he missed by forty feet the
boat passing astern
»Number four boat« OoftyOofty cried his keen eyes reading its number in
the one second when it lifted clear of the foam and upside down
It was Hendersons boat and with him had been lost Holyoak and Williams
another of the deepwater crowd Lost they indubitably were but the boat
remained and Wolf Larsen made one more reckless effort to recover it I had
come down to the deck and I saw Horner and Kerfoot vainly protest against the
attempt
»By God Ill not be robbed of my boat by any storm that ever blew out of
hell« he shouted and though we four stood with our heads together that we
might hear his voice seemed faint and far as though removed from us an immense
distance
»Mr Van Weyden« he cried and I heard through the tumult as one might hear
a whisper »Stand by that jib with Johnson and Oofty The rest of you tail aft
to the main sheet Lively now Or Ill sail you all into Kingdom Come
Understand«
And when he put the wheel hard over and the Ghosts bow swung off there was
nothing for the hunters to do but obey and make the best of a risky chance How
great the risk I realized when I was once more buried beneath the pounding seas
and clinging for life to the pinrail at the foot of the foremast My fingers
were torn loose and I swept across to the side and over the side into the sea
I could not swim but before I could sink I was swept back again A strong hand
gripped me and when the Ghost finally emerged I found that I owed my life to
Johnson I saw him looking anxiously about him and noted that Kelly who had
come forward at the last moment was missing
This time having missed the boat and not being in the same position as in
the previous instances Wolf Larsen was compelled to resort to a different
manoeuvre Running off before the wind with everything to starboard he came
about and returned closehauled on the port tack
»Grand« Johnson shouted in my ear as we successfully came through the
attendant deluge and I knew he referred not to Wolf Larsens seamanship but
to the performance of the Ghost herself
It was now so dark that there was no sign of the boat but Wolf Larsen held
back through the frightful turmoil as if guided by unerring instinct This time
though we were continually halfburied there was no trough in which to be
swept and we drifted squarely down upon the upturned boat badly smashing it
as it was heaved inboard
Two hours of terrible work followed in which all hands of us two
hunters three sailors Wolf Larsen and I reefed first one and then the
other the jib and mainsail Hove to under this short canvas our decks were
comparatively free of water while the Ghost bobbed and ducked amongst the
combers like a cork
I had burst open the ends of my fingers at the very first and during the
reefing I had worked with tears of pain running down my cheeks And when all was
done I gave up like a woman and rolled upon the deck in the agony of
exhaustion
In the meantime Thomas Mugridge like a drowned rat was being dragged out
from under the forecastle head where he had cravenly ensconced himself I saw
him pulled aft to the cabin and noted with a shock of surprise that the galley
had disappeared A clean space of deck showed where it had stood
In the cabin I found all hands assembled sailors as well and while coffee
was being cooked over the small stove we drank whiskey and crunched hardtack
Never in my life had food been so welcome And never had hot coffee tasted so
good So violently did the Ghost pitch and toss and tumble that it was
impossible for even the sailors to move about without holding on and several
times after a cry of »Now she takes it« we were heaped upon the wall of the
port cabins as though it had been the deck
»To hell with a lookout« I heard Wolf Larsen say when we had eaten and
drunk our fill »Theres nothing can be done on deck If anythings going to run
us down we couldnt get out of its way Turn in all hands and get some sleep«
The sailors slipped forward setting the sidelights as they went while the
two hunters remained to sleep in the cabin it not being deemed advisable to
open the slide to the steerage companionway Wolf Larsen and I between us cut
off Kerfoots crushed finger and sewed up the stump Mugridge who during all
the time he had been compelled to cook and serve coffee and keep the fire going
had complained of internal pains now swore that he had a broken rib or two On
examination we found that he had three But his case was deferred to next day
principally for the reason that I did not know anything about broken ribs and
would first have to read it up
»I dont think it was worth it« I said to Wolf Larsen »a broken boat for
Kellys life«
»But Kelly didnt amount to much« was the reply »Good night«
After all that had passed suffering intolerable anguish in my finger ends
and with three boats missing to say nothing of the wild capers the Ghost was
cutting I should have thought it impossible to sleep But my eyes must have
closed the instant my head touched the pillow and in utter exhaustion I slept
throughout the night the while the Ghost lonely and undirected fought her way
through the storm
Chapter XVIII
The next day while the storm was blowing itself out Wolf Larsen and I crammed
anatomy and surgery and set Mugridges ribs Then when the storm broke Wolf
Larsen cruised back and forth over that portion of the ocean where we had
encountered it and somewhat more to the westward while the boats were being
repaired and new sails made and bent Sealing schooner after sealing schooner we
sighted and boarded most of which were in search of lost boats and most of
which were carrying boats and crews they had picked up and which did not belong
to them For the thick of the fleet had been to the westward of us and the
boats scattered far and wide had headed in mad flight for the nearest refuge
Two of our boats with men all safe we took off the Cisco and to Wolf
Larsens huge delight and my own grief he culled Smoke with Nilson and Leach
from the San Diego So that at the end of five days we found ourselves short
but four men Henderson Holyoak Williams and Kelly and were once more
hunting on the flanks of the herd
As we followed it north we began to encounter the dreaded seafogs Day
after day the boats lowered and were swallowed up almost ere they touched the
water while we on board pumped the horn at regular intervals and every fifteen
minutes fired the bomb gun Boats were continually being lost and found it
being the custom for a boat to hunt on lay with whatever schooner picked it
up until such time it was recovered by its own schooner But Wolf Larsen as
was to be expected being a boat short took possession of the first stray one
and compelled its men to hunt with the Ghost not permitting them to return to
their own schooner when we sighted it I remember how he forced the hunter and
his two men below a rifle at their breasts when their captain passed by at
biscuittoss and hailed us for information
Thomas Mugridge so strangely and pertinaciously clinging to life was soon
limping about again and performing his double duties of cook and cabinboy
Johnson and Leach were bullied and beaten as much as ever and they looked for
their lives to end with the end of the hunting season while the rest of the
crew lived the lives of dogs and were worked like dogs by their pitiless master
As for Wolf Larsen and myself we got along fairly well though I could not
quite rid myself of the idea that right conduct for me lay in killing him He
fascinated me immeasurably and I feared him immeasurably And yet I could not
imagine him lying prone in death There was an endurance as of perpetual youth
about him which rose up and forbade the picture I could see him only as living
always and dominating always fighting and destroying himself surviving
One diversion of his when we were in the midst of the herd and the sea was
too rough to lower the boats was to lower with two boat pullers and a steerer
and go out himself He was a good shot too and brought many a skin aboard
under what the hunters termed Impossible hunting conditions It seemed the
breath of his nostrils this carrying his life in his hands and struggling for
it against tremendous odds
I was learning more and more seamanship and one clear day a thing we
rarely encountered now I had the satisfaction of running and handling the
Ghost and picking up the boats myself Wolf Larsen had been smitten with one of
his headaches and I stood at the wheel from morning until evening sailing
across the ocean after the last lee boat and heaving to and picking it and the
other five up without command or suggestion from him
Gales we encountered now and again for it was a raw and stormy region and
in the middle of June a typhoon most memorable to me and most important because
of the changes wrought through it upon my future We must have been caught
nearly at the centre of this circular storm and Wolf Larsen ran out of it and
to the southward first under a doublereefed jib and finally under bare poles
Never had I imagined so great a sea The seas previously encountered were as
ripples compared with these which ran a half mile from crest to crest and which
upreared I am confident above our masthead So great was it that Wolf Larsen
himself did not dare heave to though he was being driven far to the southward
and out of the seal herd
We must have been well in the path of the transPacific steamships when the
typhoon moderated and here to the surprise of the hunters we found ourselves
in the midst of seals a second herd or sort of rearguard they declared and
a most unusual thing But it was »Boats over« the boomboom of guns and the
pitiful slaughter through the long day
It was at this time that I was approached by Leach I had just finished
tallying the skins of the last boat aboard when he came to my side in the
darkness and said in a low tone
»Can you tell me Mr Van Weyden how far we are off the coast and what the
bearings of Yokohama are«
My heart leaped with gladness for I knew what he had in mind and I gave
him the bearings westnorthwest and five hundred miles away
»Thank you sir« was all he said as he slipped back into the darkness
Next morning No 3 boat and Johnson and Leach were missing The
waterbreakers and grub boxes from all the other boats were likewise missing as
were the beds and sea bags of the two men Wolf Larsen was furious He set sail
and bore away into the westnorthwest two hunters constantly at the mastheads
and sweeping the sea with glasses himself pacing the deck like an angry lion
He knew too well my sympathy for the runaways to send me aloft as lookout
The wind was fair but fitful and it was like looking for a needle in a
haystack to raise that tiny boat out of the blue immensity But he put the Ghost
through her best paces so as to get between the deserters and the land This
accomplished he cruised back and forth across what he knew must be their
course
On the morning of the third day shortly after eight bells a cry that the
boat was sighted came down from Smoke at the masthead All hands lined the rail
A snappy breeze was blowing from the west with the promise of more wind behind
it and there to leeward in the troubled silver of the rising sun appeared
and disappeared a black speck
We squared away and ran for it My heart was as lead I felt myself turning
sick in anticipation and as I looked at the gleam of triumph in Wolf Larsens
eyes his form swam before me and I felt almost irresistibly impelled to fling
myself upon him So unnerved was I by the thought of impending violence to Leach
and Johnson that my reason must have left me I know that I slipped down into
the steerage in a daze and that I was just beginning the ascent to the deck a
loaded shotgun in my hands when I heard the startled cry
»Theres five men in that boat«
I supported myself in the companionway weak and trembling while the
observation was being verified by the remarks of the rest of the men Then my
knees gave from under me and I sank down myself again but overcome by shock at
knowledge of what I had so nearly done Also I was very thankful as I put the
gun away and slipped back on deck
No one had remarked my absence The boat was near enough for us to make out
that it was larger than any sealing boat and built on different lines As we
drew closer the sail was taken in and the mast unstepped Oars were shipped
and its occupants waited for us to heave to and take them aboard
Smoke who had descended to the deck and was now standing by my side began
to chuckle in a significant way I looked at him inquiringly
»Talk of a mess« he giggled
»Whats wrong« I demanded
Again he chuckled
»Dont you see there in the sternsheets on the bottom May I never shoot
a seal again if that aint a woman«
I looked closely but was not sure until exclamations broke out on all
sides The boat contained four men and its fifth occupant was certainly a
woman We were agog with excitement all except Wolf Larsen who was too
evidently disappointed in that it was not his own boat with the two victims of
his malice
We ran down the flying jib hauled the jibsheets to windward and the main
sheet flat and came up into the wind The oars struck the water and with a few
strokes the boat was alongside I now caught my first fair glimpse of the woman
She was wrapped in a long ulster for the morning was and I could see nothing
but her face and a mass of light brown hair escaping from under the seamans cap
on her head The eyes were large and brown and lustrous the mouth sweet and
sensitive and the face itself a delicate oval though sun and exposure to briny
wind had burnt the face scarlet
She seemed to me like a being from another world I was aware of a hungry
outreaching for her as of a starving man for bread But then I had not seen a
woman for a very long time I know that I was lost in a great wonder almost a
stupor this then was a woman so that I forgot myself and my mates
duties and took no part in helping the newcomers aboard For when one of the
sailors lifted her into Wolf Larsens downstretched arms she looked up into
our curious faces and smiled amusedly and sweetly as only a woman can smile
and as I had seen no one smile for so long that I had forgotten such smiles
existed
»Mr Van Weyden«
Wolf Larsens voice brought me sharply back to myself
»Will you take the lady below and see to her comfort Make up that spare
port cabin Put Cooky to work on it And see what you can do for that face Its
burned badly«
He turned brusquely away from us and began to question the new men The boat
was cast adrift though one of them called it a »bloody shame« with Yokohama so
near
I found myself strangely afraid of this woman I was escorting aft Also I
was awkward It seemed to me that I was realizing for the first time what a
delicate fragile creature a woman is and as I caught her arm to help her down
the companion stairs I was startled by its smallness and softness Indeed she
was a slender delicate woman as women go but to me she was so ethereally
slender and delicate that I was quite prepared for her arm to crumble in my
grasp All this in frankness to show my first impression after long denial
of women in general and of Maud Brewster in particular
»No need to go to any great trouble for me« she protested when I had
seated her in Wolf Larsens armchair which I had dragged hastily from his
cabin »The men were looking for land at any moment this morning and the vessel
should be in by night dont you think so«
Her simple faith in the immediate future took me aback How could I explain
to her the situation the strange man who stalked the sea like Destiny all that
it had taken me months to learn But I answered honestly
»If it were any other captain except ours I should say you would be ashore
in Yokohama tomorrow But our captain is a strange man and I beg of you to be
prepared for anything understand for anything«
»I I confess I hardly do understand« she hesitated a perturbed but not
frightened expression in her eyes »Or is it a misconception of mine that
shipwrecked people are always shown every consideration This is such a little
thing you know We are so close to land«
»Candidly I do not know« I strove to reassure her »I wished merely to
prepare you for the worst if the worst is to come This man this captain is a
brute a demon and one can never tell what will be his next fantastic act«
I was growing excited but she interrupted me with an »Oh I see« and her
voice sounded weary To think was patently an effort She was clearly on the
verge of physical collapse
She asked no further questions and I vouchsafed no remarks devoting myself
to Wolf Larsens command which was to make her comfortable I bustled about in
quite housewifely fashion procuring soothing lotions for her sunburn raiding
Wolf Larsens private stores for a bottle of port I knew to be there and
directing Thomas Mugridge in the preparation of the spare stateroom
The wind was freshening rapidly the Ghost heeling over more and more and
by the time the stateroom was ready she was dashing through the water at a
lively clip I had quite forgotten the existence of Leach and Johnson when
suddenly like a thunderclap »Boat ho« came down the open companionway It was
Smokes unmistakable voice crying from the masthead I shot a glance at the
woman but she was leaning back in the armchair her eyes closed unutterably
tired I doubted that she had heard and I resolved to prevent her seeing the
brutality I knew would follow the capture of the deserters She was tired Very
good She should sleep
There were swift commands on deck a stamping of feet and a slapping of
reefpoints as the Ghost shot into the wind and about on the other tack As she
filled away and heeled the armchair began to slide across the cabin floor and
I sprang for it just in time to prevent the rescued woman from being spilled
out
Her eyes were too heavy to suggest more than a hint of the sleepy surprise
that perplexed her as she looked up at me and she half stumbled half tottered
as I led her to her cabin Mugridge grinned insinuatingly in my face as I shoved
him out and ordered him back to his galley work and he won his revenge by
spreading glowing reports among the hunters as to what an excellent »lydys
myde« I was proving myself to be
She leaned heavily against me and I do believe that she had fallen asleep
again between the armchair and the stateroom This I discovered when she
nearly fell into the bunk during a sudden lurch of the schooner She aroused
smiled drowsily and was off to sleep again and asleep I left her under a
heavy pair of sailors blankets her head resting on a pillow I had appropriated
from Wolf Larsens bunk
Chapter XIX
I came on deck to find the Ghost heading up close on the port tack and cutting
in to windward of a familiar spritsail closehauled on the same tack ahead of
us All hands were on deck for they knew that something was to happen when
Leach and Johnson were dragged aboard
It was four bells Louis came aft to relieve the wheel There was a dampness
in the air and I noticed he had on his oilskins
»What are we going to have« I asked him
»A healthy young slip of a gale from the breath iv it sir« he answered
»with a splatter iv rain just to wet our gills an no more«
»Too bad we sighted them« I said as the Ghosts bow was flung off a point
by a large sea and the boat leaped for a moment past the jibs and into our line
of vision
Louis gave a spoke and temporized »Theyd never iv made the land sir Im
thinkin«
»Think not« I queried
»No sir Did you feel that« A puff had caught the schooner and he was
forced to put the wheel up rapidly to keep her out of the wind »Tis no
eggshellll float on this sea an hour come an its a stroke iv luck for them
were here to pick em up«
Wolf Larsen strode aft from amidships where he had been talking with the
rescued men The catlike springiness in his tread was a little more pronounced
than usual and his eyes were bright and snappy
»Three oilers and a fourth engineer« was his greeting »But well make
sailors out of them or boatpullers at any rate Now what of the lady«
I know not why but I was aware of a twinge or pang like the cut of a
knife when he mentioned her I thought it a certain silly fastidiousness on my
part but it persisted in spite of me and I merely shrugged my shoulders in
answer
Wolf Larsen pursed his lips in a long quizzical whistle
»Whats her name then« he demanded
»I dont know« I replied »She is asleep She was very tired In fact I am
waiting to hear the news from you What vessel was it«
»Mail steamer« he answered shortly »The City of Tokio from Frisco bound
for Yokohama Disabled in that typhoon Old tub Opened up top and bottom like a
sieve They were adrift four days And you dont know who or what she is eh
maid wife or widow Well well«
He shook his head in a bantering way and regarded me with laughing eyes
»Are you « I began It was on the verge of my tongue to ask if he were
going to take the castaways in to Yokohama
»Am I what« he asked
»What do you intend doing with Leach and Johnson«
He shook his head »Really Hump I dont know You see with these
additions Ive about all the crew I want«
»And theyve about all the escaping they want« I said »Why not give them a
change of treatment Take them aboard and deal gently with them Whatever they
have done they have been hounded into doing«
»By me«
»By you« I answered steadily »And I give you warning Wolf Larsen that I
may forget love of my own life in the desire to kill you if you go too far in
maltreating those poor wretches«
»Bravo« he cried »You do me proud Hump Youve found your legs with a
vengeance Youre quite an individual You were unfortunate in having your life
cast in easy places but youre developing and I like you the better for it«
His voice and expression changed His face was serious »Do you believe in
promises« he asked »Are they sacred things«
»Of course« I answered
»Then heres a compact« he went on consummate actor that he was »If I
promise not to lay my hands upon Leach and Johnson will you promise in turn
not to attempt to kill me«
»Oh not that Im afraid of you not that Im afraid of you« he hastened to
add
I could hardly believe my ears What was coming over the man
»Is it a go« he asked impatiently
»A go« I answered
His hand went out to mine and as I shook it heartily I could have sworn I
saw the mocking devil shine up for a moment in his eyes
We strolled across the poop to the lee side The boat was close at hand now
and in desperate plight Johnson was steering Leach bailing We overhauled them
about two feet to their one Wolf Larsen motioned Louis to keep off slightly
and we dashed abreast of the boat not a score of feet to windward The Ghost
blanketed it The spritsail flapped emptily and the boat righted to an even
keel causing the two men swiftly to change position The boat lost headway
and as we lifted on a huge surge toppled and fell into the trough
It was at this moment that Leach and Johnson looked up into the faces of
their shipmates who lined the rail amidships There was no greeting They were
as dead men in their comrades eyes and between them was the gulf that parts
the living and the dead
The next instant they were opposite the poop where stood Wolf Larsen and I
We were falling in the trough they were rising on the surge Johnson looked at
me and I could see that his face was worn and haggard I waved my hand to him
and he answered the greeting but with a wave that was hopeless and despairing
It was as if he were saying farewell I did not see into the eyes of Leach for
he was looking at Wolf Larsen the old and implacable snarl of hatred strong as
ever on his face
Then they were gone astern The spritsail filled with the wind suddenly
careening the frail open craft till it seemed it would surely capsize A
whitecap foamed above it and broke across in a snowwhite smother Then the boat
emerged half swamped Leach flinging the water out and Johnson clinging to the
steeringoar his face white and anxious
Wolf Larsen barked a short laugh in my ear and strode away to the weather
side of the poop I expected him to give orders for the Ghost to heave to but
she kept on her course and he made no sign Louis stood imperturbably at the
wheel but I noticed the grouped sailors forward turning troubled faces in our
direction Still the Ghost tore along till the boat dwindled to a speck when
Wolf Larsens voice rang out in command and he went about on the starboard tack
Back we held two miles and more to windward of the struggling cockleshell
when the flying jib was run down and the schooner hove to The sealing boats are
not made for windward work Their hope lies in keeping a weather position so
that they may run before the wind for the schooner when it breezes up But in
all that wild waste there was no refuge for Leach and Johnson save on the Ghost
and they resolutely began the windward beat It was slow work in the heavy sea
that was running At any moment they were liable to be overwhelmed by the
hissing combers Time and again and countless times we watched the boat luff
into the big whitecaps lose headway and be flung back like a cork
Johnson was a splendid seaman and he knew as much about small boats as he
did about ships At the end of an hour and a half he was nearly alongside
standing past our stern on the last leg out aiming to fetch us on the next leg
back
»So youve changed your mind« I heard Wolf Larsen mutter half to himself
half to them as though they could hear »You want to come aboard eh Well
then just keep acoming«
»Hard up with that helm« he commanded Oofty the Kanaka who had in the
meantime relieved Louis at the wheel
Command followed command As the schooner paid off the fore and main sheets
were slacked away for fair wind And before the wind we were and leaping when
Johnson easing his sheet at imminent peril cut across our wake a hundred feet
away Again Wolf Larsen laughed at the same time beckoning them with his arm to
follow It was evidently his intention to play with them a lesson I took it
in lieu of a beating though a dangerous lesson for the frail craft stood in
momentary danger of being overwhelmed
Johnson squared away promptly and ran after us There was nothing else for
him to do Death stalked everywhere and it was only a matter of time when some
one of those many huge seas would fall upon the boat roll over it and pass on
»Tis the fear iv death at the hearts iv them« Louis muttered in my ear as
I passed forward to see to taking in the flying jib and staysail
»Oh hell heave to in a little while and pick them up« I answered
cheerfully »Hes bent upon giving them a lesson thats all«
Louis looked at me shrewdly »Think so« he asked
»Surely« I answered »Dont you«
»I think nothing but iv my own skin these days« was his answer »An tis
with wonder Im filled as to the workin out iv things A pretty mess that
Frisco whiskey got me into an a prettier mess that womans got you into aft
there Ah its myself that knows ye for a blitherin fool«
»What do you mean« I demanded for having sped his shaft he was turning
away
»What do I mean« he cried »And its you that asks me Tis not what I
mean but what the Wolfll mean The Wolf I said the Wolf«
»If trouble comes will you stand by« I asked impulsively for he had
voiced my own fear
»Stand by Tis old fat Louis I stand by an trouble enough itll be Were
at the beginnin iv things Im tellin ye the bare beginnin iv things«
»I had not thought you so great a coward« I sneered
He favored me with a contemptuous stare »If I raised never a hand for that
poor fool« pointing astern to the tiny sail »dye think Im hungerin for
a broken head for a woman I never laid me eyes upon before this day«
I turned scornfully away and went aft
»Better get in those topsails Mr Van Weyden« Wolf Larsen said as I came
on the poop
I felt relief at least as far as the two men were concerned It was clear
he did not wish to run too far away from them I picked up hope at the thought
and put the order swiftly into execution I had scarcely opened my mouth to
issue the necessary commands when eager men were springing to halyards and
downhauls and others were racing aloft This eagerness on their part was noted
by Wolf Larsen with a grim smile
Still we increased our lead and when the boat had dropped astern several
miles we hove to and waited All eyes watched it coming even Wolf Larsens but
he was the only unperturbed man aboard Louis gazing fixedly betrayed a
trouble in his face he was not quite able to hide
The boat drew closer and closer hurling along through the seething green
like a thing alive lifting and sending and uptossing across the hugebacked
breakers or disappearing behind them only to rush into sight again and shoot
skyward It seemed impossible that it could continue to live yet with each
dizzying sweep it did achieve the impossible A rainsquall drove past and out
of the flying wet the boat emerged almost upon us
»Hard up there« Wolf Larsen shouted himself springing to the wheel and
whirling it over
Again the Ghost sprang away and raced before the wind and for two hours
Johnson and Leach pursued us We hove to and ran away hove to and ran away and
ever astern the struggling patch of sail tossed skyward and fell into the
rushing valleys It was a quarter of a mile away when a thick squall of rain
veiled it from view It never emerged The wind blew the air clear again but no
patch of sail broke the troubled surface I thought I saw for an instant the
boats bottom show black in a breaking crest At the best that was all For
Johnson and Leach the travail of existence had ceased
The men remained grouped amidships No one had gone below and no one was
speaking Nor were any looks being exchanged Each man seemed stunned deeply
contemplative as it were and not quite sure trying to realize just what had
taken place Wolf Larsen gave them little time for thought He at once put the
Ghost upon her course a course which meant the seal herd and not Yokohama
harbor But the men were no longer eager as they pulled and hauled and I heard
curses amongst them which left their lips smothered and as heavy and lifeless
as were they Not so was it with the hunters Smoke the irrepressible related a
story and they descended into the steerage bellowing with laughter
As I passed to leeward of the galley on my way aft I was approached by the
engineer we had rescued His face was white his lips were trembling
»Good God sir what kind of a craft is this« he cried
»You have eyes you have seen« I answered almost brutally what of the
pain and fear at my own heart
»Your promise« I said to Wolf Larsen
»I was not thinking of taking them aboard when I made that promise« he
answered »And anyway youll agree Ive not laid my hands upon them«
»Far from it far from it« he laughed a moment later
I made no reply I was incapable of speaking my mind was too confused I
must have time to think I knew This woman sleeping even now in the spare
cabin was a responsibility which I must consider and the only rational thought
that flickered through my mind was that I must do nothing hastily if I were to
be any help to her at all
Chapter XX
The remainder of the day passed uneventfully The young slip of a gale having
wetted our gills proceeded to moderate The fourth engineer and the three
oilers after a warm interview with Wolf Larsen were furnished with outfits
from the slopchests assigned places under the hunters in the various boats and
watches on the vessel and bundled forward into the forecastle They went
protestingly but their voices were not loud They were awed by what they had
already seen of Wolf Larsens character while the tale of woe they speedily
heard in the forecastle took the last bit of rebellion out of them
Miss Brewster we had learned her name from the engineer slept on and
on At supper I requested the hunters to lower their voices so she was not
disturbed and it was not till next morning that she made her appearance It had
been my intention to have her meals served apart but Wolf Larsen put down his
foot Who was she that she should be too good for cabin table and cabin society
had been his demand
But her coming to the table had something amusing in it The hunters fell
silent as clams Jock Horner and Smoke alone were unabashed stealing stealthy
glances at her now and again and even taking part in the conversation The
other four men glued their eyes on their plates and chewed steadily and with
thoughtful precision their ears moving and wobbling in time with their jaws
like the ears of so many animals
Wolf Larsen had little to say at first doing no more than reply when he was
addressed Not that he was abashed Far from it This woman was a new type to
him a different breed from any he had ever known and he was curious He
studied her his eyes rarely leaving her face unless to follow the movements of
her hands or shoulders I studied her myself and though it was I who maintained
the conversation I know that I was a bit shy not quite selfpossessed His was
the perfect poise the supreme confidence in self which nothing could shake
and he was no more timid of a woman than he was of storm and battle
»And when shall we arrive at Yokohama« she asked turning to him and
looking him squarely in the eyes
There it was the question flat The jaws stopped working the ears ceased
wobbling and though eyes remained glued on plates each man listened greedily
for the answer
»In four months possibly three if the season closes early« Wolf Larsen
said
She caught her breath and stammered »I I thought I was given to
understand that Yokohama was only a days sail away It « Here she paused and
looked about the table at the circle of unsympathetic faces staring hard at the
plates »It is not right« she concluded
»That is a question you must settle with Mr Van Weyden there« he replied
nodding to me with a mischievous twinkle »Mr Van Weyden is what you may call
an authority on such things as rights Now I who am only a sailor would look
upon the situation somewhat differently It may possibly be your misfortune that
you have to remain with us but it is certainly our good fortune«
He regarded her smilingly Her eyes fell before his gaze but she lifted
them again and defiantly to mine I read the unspoken question there was it
right But I had decided that the part I was to play must be a neutral one so I
did not answer
»What do you think« she demanded
»That it is unfortunate especially if you have any engagements falling due
in the course of the next several months But since you say that you were
voyaging to Japan for your health I can assure you that it will improve no
better anywhere than aboard the Ghost«
I saw her eyes flash with indignation and this time it was I who dropped
mine while I felt my face flushing under her gaze It was cowardly but what
else could I do
»Mr Van Weyden speaks with the voice of authority« Wolf Larsen laughed
I nodded my head and she having recovered herself waited expectantly
»Not that he is much to speak of now« Wolf Larsen went on »but he has
improved wonderfully You should have seen him when he came on board A more
scrawny pitiful specimen of humanity one could hardly conceive Isnt that so
Kerfoot«
Kerfoot thus directly addressed was startled into dropping his knife on
the floor though he managed to grunt affirmation
»Developed himself by peeling potatoes and washing dishes Eh Kerfoot«
Again that worthy grunted
»Look at him now True he is not what you would term muscular but still he
has muscles which is more than he had when he came aboard Also he has legs to
stand on You would not think so to look at him but he was quite unable to
stand alone at first«
The hunters were snickering but she looked at me with a sympathy in her
eyes which more than compensated for Wolf Larsens nastiness In truth it had
been so long since I had received sympathy that I was softened and I became
then and gladly her willing slave But I was angry with Wolf Larsen He was
challenging my manhood with his slurs challenging the very legs he claimed to
be instrumental in getting for me
»I may have learned to stand on my own legs« I retorted »But I have yet to
stamp upon others with them«
He looked at me insolently »Your education is only half completed then«
he said dryly and turned to her
»We are very hospitable upon the Ghost Mr Van Weyden has discovered that
We do everything to make our guests feel at home eh Mr Van Weyden«
»Even to the peeling of potatoes and the washing of dishes« I answered »to
say nothing to wringing their necks out of very fellowship«
»I beg of you not to receive false impressions of us from Mr Van Weyden«
he interposed with mock anxiety »You will observe Miss Brewster that he
carries a dirk in his belt a ahem a most unusual thing for a ships officer
to do While really very estimable Mr Van Weyden is sometimes how shall I
say er quarrelsome and harsh measures are necessary He is quite
reasonable and fair in his calm moments and as he is calm now he will not deny
that only yesterday he threatened my life«
I was wellnigh choking and my eyes were certainly fiery He drew attention
to me
»Look at him now He can scarcely control himself in your presence He is
not accustomed to the presence of ladies anyway I shall have to arm myself
before I dare go on deck with him«
He shook his head sadly murmuring »Too bad too bad« while the hunters
burst into guffaws of laughter
The deepsea voices of these men rumbling and bellowing in the confined
space produced a wild effect The whole setting was wild and for the first
time regarding this strange woman and realizing how incongruous she was in it
I was aware of how much a part of it I was myself I knew these men and their
mental processes was one of them myself living the sealhunting life eating
the sealhunting fare thinking largely the sealhunting thoughts There was
for me no strangeness to it to the rough clothes the coarse faces the wild
laughter and the lurching cabin walls and swaying sealamps
As I buttered a piece of bread my eyes chanced to rest upon my hand The
knuckles were skinned and inflamed clear across the fingers swollen the nails
rimmed with black I felt the mattresslike growth of beard on my neck knew
that the sleeve of my coat was ripped that a button was missing from the throat
of the blue shirt I wore The dirk mentioned by Wolf Larsen rested in its sheath
on my hip It was very natural that it should be there how natural I had not
imagined until now when I looked upon it with her eyes and knew how strange it
and all that went with it must appear to her
But she divined the mockery in Wolf Larsens words and again favored me
with a sympathetic glance But there was a look of bewilderment also in her
eyes That it was mockery made the situation more puzzling to her
»I may be taken off by some passing vessel perhaps« she suggested
»There will be no passing vessels except other sealing schooners« Wolf
Larsen made answer
»I have no clothes nothing« she objected »You hardly realize sir that I
am not a man or that I am unaccustomed to the vagrant careless life which you
and your men seem to lead«
»The sooner you get accustomed to it the better« he said
»Ill furnish you with cloth needles and thread« he added »I hope it
will not be too dreadful a hardship for you to make yourself a dress or two«
She made a wry pucker with her mouth as though to advertise her ignorance
of dressmaking That she was frightened and bewildered and that she was bravely
striving to hide it was quite plain to me
»I suppose youre like Mr Van Weyden there accustomed to having things
done for you Well I think doing a few things for yourself will hardly
dislocate any joints By the way what do you do for a living«
She regarded him with amazement unconcealed
»I mean no offence believe me People eat therefore they must procure the
wherewithal These men here shoot seals in order to live for the same reason I
sail this schooner and Mr Van Weyden for the present at any rate earns his
salty grub by assisting me Now what do you do«
She shrugged her shoulders
»Do you feed yourself Or does some one else feed you«
»Im afraid some one else has fed me most of my life« she laughed trying
bravely to enter into the spirit of his quizzing though I could see a terror
dawning and growing in her eyes as she watched Wolf Larsen
»And I suppose some one else makes your bed for you«
»I have made beds« she replied
»Very often«
She shook her head with mock ruefulness
»Do you know what they do to poor men in the States who like you do not
work for their living«
»I am very ignorant« she pleaded »What do they do to the poor men who are
like me«
»They send them to jail The crime of not earning a living in their case
is called vagrancy If I were Mr Van Weyden who harps eternally on questions
of right and wrong Id ask by what right do you live when you do nothing to
deserve living«
»But as you are not Mr Van Weyden I dont have to answer do I«
She beamed upon him through her terrorfilled eyes and the pathos of it cut
me to the heart I must in some way break in and lead the conversation into
other channels
»Have you ever earned a dollar by your own labor« he demanded certain of
her answer a triumphant vindictiveness in his voice
»Yes I have« she answered slowly and I could have laughed aloud at his
crestfallen visage »I remember my father giving me a dollar once when I was a
little girl for remaining absolutely quiet for five minutes«
He smiled indulgently
»But that was long ago« she continued »And you would scarcely demand a
little girl of nine to earn her own living«
»At present however« she said after another slight pause »I earn about
eighteen hundred dollars a year«
With one accord all eyes left the plates and settled on her A woman who
earned eighteen hundred dollars a year was worth looking at Wolf Larsen was
undisguised in his admiration
»Salary or piecework« he asked
»Piecework« she answered promptly
»Eighteen hundred« he calculated »Thats a hundred and fifty dollars a
month Well Miss Brewster there is nothing small about the Ghost Consider
yourself on salary during the time you remain with us«
She made no acknowledgment She was too unused as yet to the whims of the
man to accept them with equanimity
»I forgot to inquire« he went on suavely »as to the nature of your
occupation What commodities do you turn out What tools and materials do you
require«
»Paper and ink« she laughed »And oh also a typewriter«
»You are Maud Brewster« I said slowly and with certainty almost as though
I were charging her with a crime
Her eyes lifted curiously to mine »How do you know«
»Arent you« I demanded
She acknowledged her identity with a nod It was Wolf Larsens turn to be
puzzled The name and its magic signified nothing to him I was proud that it
did mean something to me and for the first time in a weary while I was
convincingly conscious of a superiority over him
»I remember writing a review of a thin little volume « I had begun
carelessly when she interrupted me
»You« she cried »You are «
She was now staring at me in wideeyed wonder
I nodded my identity in turn
»Humphrey Van Weyden« she concluded then added with a sigh of relief and
unaware that she had glanced that relief at Wolf Larsen »I am so glad«
»I remember the review« she went on hastily becoming aware of the
awkwardness of her remark »that too too flattering review«
»Not at all« I denied valiantly »You impeach my sober judgment and make my
canons of little worth Besides all my brother critics were with me Didnt
Lang include your Kiss Endured among the four supreme sonnets by women in the
English language«
»But you called me the American Mrs Meynell«
»Was it not true« I demanded
»No not that« she answered »I was hurt«
»We can measure the unknown only by the known« I replied in my finest
academic manner »As a critic I was compelled to place you You have now become
a yardstick yourself Seven of your thin little volumes are on my shelves and
there are two thicker volumes the essays which you will pardon my saying and
I know not which is flattered more fully equal your verse The time is not far
distant when some unknown will arise in England and the critics will name her
the English Maud Brewster«
»You are very kind I am sure« she murmured and the very conventionality
of her tones and words with the host of associations it aroused of the old life
on the other side of the world gave me a quick thrill rich with remembrance
but stinging sharp with homesickness
»And you are Maud Brewster« I said solemnly gazing across at her
»And you are Humphrey Van Weyden« she said gazing back at me with equal
solemnity and awe »How unusual I dont understand We surely are not to expect
some wildly romantic seastory from your sober pen«
»No I am not gathering material I assure you« was my answer »I have
neither aptitude nor inclination for fiction«
»Tell me why have you always buried yourself in California« she next
asked »It has not been kind of you We of the East have seen so very little of
you too little indeed of the Dean of American Letters the Second«
I bowed to and disclaimed the compliment »I nearly met you once in
Philadelphia some Browning affair or other you were to lecture you know My
train was four hours late«
And then we quite forgot where we were leaving Wolf Larsen stranded and
silent in the midst of our flood of gossip The hunters left the table and went
on deck and still we talked Wolf Larsen alone remained Suddenly I became
aware of him leaning back from the table and listening curiously to our alien
speech of a world he did not know
I broke short off in the middle of a sentence The present with all its
perils and anxieties rushed upon me with stunning force It smote Miss Brewster
likewise a vague and nameless terror rushing into her eyes as she regarded Wolf
Larsen
He rose to his feet and laughed awkwardly The sound of it was metallic
»Oh dont mind me« he said with a selfdepreciatory wave of his hand »I
dont count Go on go on I pray you«
But the gates of speech were closed and we too rose from the table and
laughed awkwardly
Chapter XXI
The chagrin Wolf Larsen felt from being ignored by Maud Brewster and me in the
conversation at table had to express itself in some fashion and it fell to
Thomas Mugridge to be the victim He had not mended his ways nor his shirt
though the latter he contended he had changed The garment itself did not bear
out the assertion nor did the accumulations of grease on stove and pot and pan
attest a general cleanliness
»Ive given you warning Cooky« Wolf Larsen said »and now youve got to
take your medicine«
Mugridges face turned white under its sooty veneer and when Wolf Larsen
called for a rope and a couple of men the miserable Cockney fled wildly out of
the galley and dodged and ducked about the deck with the grinning crew in
pursuit Few things could have been more to their liking than to give him a tow
over the side for to the forecastle he had sent messes and concoctions of the
vilest order Conditions favored the undertaking The Ghost was slipping through
the water at no more than three miles an hour and the sea was fairly calm But
Mugridge had little stomach for a dip in it Possibly he had seen men towed
before Besides the water was frightfully cold and his was anything but a
rugged constitution
As usual the watches below and the hunters turned out for what promised
sport Mugridge seemed to be in rabid fear of the water and he exhibited a
nimbleness and speed we did not dream he possessed Cornered in the rightangle
of the poop and galley he sprang like a cat to the top of the cabin and ran
aft But his pursuers forstalling him he doubled back across the cabin passed
over the galley and gained the deck by means of the steeragescuttle Straight
forward he raced the boatpuller Harrison at his heels and gaining on him But
Mugridge leaping suddenly caught the jibboomlift It happened in an instant
Holding his weight by his arms and in midair doubling his body at the hips he
let fly with both feet The oncoming Harrison caught the kick squarely in the
pit of the stomach groaned involuntarily and doubled up and sank backward to
the deck
Handclapping and roars of laughter from the hunters greeted the exploit
while Mugridge eluding half of his pursuers at the foremast ran aft and
through the remainder like a runner on the football field Straight aft he held
to the poop and along the poop to the stern So great was his speed that as he
curved past the corner of the cabin he slipped and fell Nilson was standing at
the wheel and the Cockneys hurtling body struck his legs Both went down
together but Mugridge alone arose By some freak of pressures his frail body
had snapped the strong mans leg like a pipestem
Parsons took the wheel and the pursuit continued Round and round the decks
they went Mugridge sick with fear the sailors hallooing and shouting
directions to one another and the hunters bellowing encouragement and laughter
Mugridge went down on the forehatch under three men but he emerged from the
mass like an eel bleeding at the mouth the offending shirt ripped into
tatters and sprang for the mainrigging Up he went clear up beyond the
ratlines to the very masthead
Half a dozen sailors swarmed to the crosstrees after him where they
clustered and waited while two of their number OoftyOofty and Black who was
Latimers boatsteerer continued up the thin steel stays lifting their bodies
higher and higher by means of their arms
It was a perilous undertaking for at a height of over a hundred feet from
the deck holding on by their hands they were not in the best of positions to
protect themselves from Mugridges feet And Mugridge kicked savagely till the
Kanaka hanging on with one hand seized the Cockneys foot with the other
Black duplicated the performance a moment later with the other foot Then the
three writhed together in a swaying tangle struggling sliding and falling
into the arms of their mates on the crosstrees
The aerial battle was over and Thomas Mugridge whining and gibbering his
mouth flecked with bloody foam was brought down to deck Wolf Larsen rove a
bowline in a piece of rope and slipped it under his shoulders Then he was
carried aft and flung into the sea Forty fifty sixty feet of line ran
out when Wolf Larsen cried »Belay« OoftyOofty took a turn on a bitt the rope
tautened and the Ghost lunging onward jerked the cook to the surface
It was a pitiful spectacle Though he could not drown and was ninelived in
addition he was suffering all the agonies of halfdrowning The Ghost was going
very slowly and when her stern lifted on a wave and she slipped forward she
pulled the wretch to the surface and gave him a moment in which to breathe but
between each lift the stern fell and while the bow lazily climbed the next wave
the line slacked and he sank beneath
I had forgotten the existence of Maud Brewster and I remembered her with a
start as she stepped lightly beside me It was her first time on deck since she
had come aboard A dead silence greeted her appearance
»What is the cause of the merriment« she asked
»Ask Captain Larsen« I answered composedly and coldly though inwardly my
blood was boiling at the thought that she should be witness to such brutality
She took my advice and was turning to put it into execution when her eyes
lighted on OoftyOofty immediately before her his body instinct with alertness
and grace as he held the turn of the rope
»Are you fishing« she asked him
He made no reply His eyes fixed intently on the sea astern suddenly
flashed
»Shark ho sir« he cried
»Heave in Lively All hands tail on« Wolf Larsen shouted springing
himself to the rope in advance of the quickest
Mugridge had heard the Kanakas warning cry and was screaming madly I could
see a black fin cutting the water and making for him with greater swiftness than
he was being pulled aboard It was an even toss whether the shark or we would
get him and it was a matter of moments When Mugridge was directly beneath us
the stern descended the slope of a passing wave thus giving the advantage to
the shark The fin disappeared The belly flashed white in a swift upward rush
Almost equally swift but not quite was Wolf Larsen He threw his strength into
one tremendous jerk The Cockneys body left the water so did part of the
sharks He drew up his legs and the maneater seemed no more than barely to
touch one foot sinking back into the water with a splash But at the moment of
contact Thomas Mugridge cried out Then he came in like a freshcaught fish on a
line clearing the rail generously and striking the deck in a heap on hands and
knees and rolling over
But a fountain of blood was gushing forth The right foot was missing
amputated neatly at the ankle I looked instantly to Maud Brewster Her face was
white her eyes dilated with horror She was gazing not at Thomas Mugridge but
at Wolf Larsen And he was aware of it for he said with one of his short
laughs
»Manplay Miss Brewster Somewhat rougher I warrant than what you have
been used to but still manplay The shark was not in the reckoning It «
But at this juncture Mugridge who had lifted his head and ascertained the
extent of his loss floundered over on the deck and buried his teeth in Wolf
Larsens leg Wolf Larsen stooped coolly to the Cockney and pressed with
thumb and finger at the rear of the jaws and below the ears The jaws opened
with reluctance and Wolf Larsen stepped free
»As I was saying« he went on as though nothing unwonted had happened »the
shark was not in the reckoning It was ahem shall we say Providence«
She gave no sign that she had heard though the expression of her eyes
changed to one of inexpressible loathing as she started to turn away She no
more than started for she swayed and tottered and reached her hand weakly out
to mine I caught her in time to save her from falling and helped her to a seat
on the cabin I thought she must faint outright but she controlled herself
»Will you get a tourniquet Mr Van Weyden« Wolf Larsen called to me
I hesitated Her lips moved and though they formed no words she commanded
me with her eyes plainly as speech to go to the help of the unfortunate man
»Please« she managed to whisper and I could but obey
By now I had developed such skill at surgery that Wolf Larsen with a few
words of advice left me to my task with a couple of sailors for assistants For
his task he elected a vengeance on the shark A heavy swivelhook baited with
fat saltpork was dropped overside and by the time I had compressed the
severed veins and arteries the sailors were singing and heaving in the
offending monster I did not see it myself but my assistants first one and
then the other deserted me for a few moments to run amidships and look at what
was going on The shark a sixteenfooter was hoisted up against the
mainrigging Its jaws were pried apart to their greatest extension and a stout
stake sharpened at both ends was so inserted that when the pries were removed
the spread jaws were fixed upon it This accomplished the hook was cut out The
shark dropped back into the sea helpless yet with its full strength doomed to
lingering starvation a living death less meet for it than for the man who
devised the punishment
Chapter XXII
I knew what it was as she came toward me For ten minutes I had watched her
talking earnestly with the engineer and now with a sign for silence I drew
her out of earshot of the helmsman Her face was white and set her large eyes
larger than usual what of the purpose in them looked penetratingly into mine I
felt rather timid and apprehensive for she had come to search Humphrey Van
Weydens soul and Humphrey Van Weyden had nothing of which to be particularly
proud since his advent on the Ghost
We walked to the break of the poop where she turned and faced me I glanced
around to see that no one was within hearing distance
»What is it« I asked gently but the expression of determination on her
face did not relax
»I can readily understand« she began »that this mornings affair was
largely an accident but I have been talking with Mr Haskins He tells me that
the day we were rescued even while I was in the cabin two men were drowned
deliberately drowned murdered«
There was a query in her voice and she faced me accusingly as though I
were guilty of the deed or at least a party to it
»The information is quite correct« I answered »The two men were murdered«
»And you permitted it« she cried
»I was unable to prevent it is a better way of phrasing it« I replied
still gently
»But you tried to prevent it« There was an emphasis on the »tried« and a
pleading little note in her voice
»Oh but you didnt« she hurried on divining my answer »But why didnt
you«
I shrugged my shoulders »You must remember Miss Brewster that you are a
new inhabitant of this little world and that you do not yet understand the laws
which operate within it You bring with you certain fine conceptions of
humanity manhood conduct and such things but here you will find them
misconceptions I have found it so« I added with an involuntary sigh
She shook her head incredulously
»What would you advise then« I asked »That I should take a knife or a
gun or an axe and kill this man«
She half started back
»No not that«
»Then what should I do Kill myself«
»You speak in purely materialistic terms« she objected »There is such a
thing as moral courage and moral courage is never without effect«
»Ah« I smiled »you advise me to kill neither him nor myself but to let
him kill me« I held up my hand as she was about to speak »For moral courage is
a worthless asset on this little floating world Leach one of the men who were
murdered had moral courage to an unusual degree So had the other man Johnson
Not only did it not stand them in good stead but it destroyed them And so with
me if I should exercise what little moral courage I may possess
You must understand Miss Brewster and understand clearly that this man is
a monster He is without conscience Nothing is sacred to him nothing is too
terrible for him to do It was due to his whim that I was detained aboard in the
first place It is due to his whim that I am still alive I do nothing can do
nothing because I am a slave to this monster as you are now a slave to him
because I desire to live as you will desire to live because I cannot fight and
overcome him just as you will not be able to fight and overcome him«
She waited for me to go on
»What remains Mine is the rôle of the weak I remain silent and suffer
ignominy as you will remain silent and suffer ignominy And it is well It is
the best we can do if we wish to live The battle is not always to the strong
We have not the strength with which to fight this man we must dissimulate and
win if win we can by craft If you will be advised by me this is what you
will do I know my position is perilous and I may say frankly that yours is
even more perilous We must stand together without appearing to do so in
secret alliance I shall not be able to side with you openly and no matter
what indignities may be put upon me you are to remain likewise silent We must
provoke no scenes with this man nor cross his will And we must keep smiling
faces and be friendly with him no matter how repulsive it may be«
She brushed her hand across her forehead in a puzzled way saying »Still I
do not understand«
»You must do as I say« I interrupted authoritatively for I saw Wolf
Larsens gaze wandering toward us from where he paced up and down with Latimer
amidships »Do as I say and ere long you will find I am right«
»What shall I do then« she asked detecting the anxious glance I had shot
at the object of our conversation and impressed I flatter myself with the
earnestness of my manner
»Dispense with all the moral courage you can« I said briskly »Dont arouse
this mans animosity Be quite friendly with him talk with him discuss
literature and art with him he is fond of such things You will find him an
interested listener and no fool And for your own sake try to avoid witnessing
as much as you can the brutalities of the ship It will make it easier for you
to act your part«
»I am to lie« she said in steady rebellious tones »by speech and action
to lie«
Wolf Larsen had separated from Latimer and was coming toward us I was
desperate
»Please please understand me« I said hurriedly lowering my voice »All
your experience of men and things is worthless here You must begin over again
I know I can see it you have among other ways been used to managing
people with your eyes letting your moral courage speak out through them as it
were You have already managed me with your eyes commanded me with them But
dont try it on Wolf Larsen You could as easily control a lion while he would
make a mock of you He would I have always been proud of the fact that I
discovered him« I said turning the conversation as Wolf Larsen stepped on the
poop and joined us »The editors were afraid of him and the publishers would
have none of him But I knew and his genius and my judgment were vindicated
when he made that magnificent hit with his Forge«
»And it was a newspaper poem« she said glibly
»It did happen to see the light in a newspaper« I replied »but not because
the magazine editors had been denied a glimpse at it«
»We were talking of Harris« I said to Wolf Larsen
»Oh yes« he acknowledged »I remember the Forge Filled with pretty
sentiments and an almighty faith in human illusions By the way Mr Van Weyden
youd better look in on Cooky Hes complaining and restless«
Thus was I bluntly dismissed from the poop only to find Mugridge sleeping
soundly from the morphine I had given him I made no haste to return on deck
and when I did I was gratified to see Miss Brewster in animated conversation
with Wolf Larsen As I say the sight gratified me She was following my advice
And yet I was conscious of a slight shock or hurt in that she was able to do the
thing I had begged her to do and which she had notably disliked
Chapter XXIII
Brave winds blowing fair swiftly drove the Ghost northward into the seal herd
We encountered it well up to the fortyfourth parallel in a raw and stormy sea
across which the wind harried the fogbanks in eternal flight For days at a
time we could never see the sun nor take an observation then the wind would
sweep the face of the ocean clean the waves would ripple and flash and we
would learn where we were A day of clear weather might follow or three days or
four and then the fog would settle down upon us seemingly thicker than ever
The hunting was perilous yet the boats lowered day after day were
swallowed up in the gray obscurity and were seen no more till nightfall and
often not till long after when they would creep in like seawraiths one by
one out of the gray Wainwright the hunter whom Wolf Larsen had stolen with
boat and men took advantage of the veiled sea and escaped He disappeared one
morning in the encircling fog with his two men and we never saw them again
though it was not many days when we learned that they had passed from schooner
to schooner until they finally regained their own
This was the thing I had set my mind upon doing but the opportunity never
offered It was not in the mates province to go out in the boats and though I
manoeuvred cunningly for it Wolf Larsen never granted me the privilege Had he
done so I should have managed somehow to carry Miss Brewster away with me As
it was the situation was approaching a stage which I was afraid to consider I
involuntarily shunned the thought of it and yet the thought continually arose
in my mind like a haunting spectre
I had read searomances in my time wherein figured as a matter of course
the lone woman in the midst of a shipload of men but I learned now that I had
never comprehended the deeper significance of such a situation the thing the
writers harped upon and exploited so thoroughly And here it was now and I was
face to face with it That it should be as vital as possible it required no
more than that the woman should be Maud Brewster who now charmed me in person
as she had long charmed me through her work
No one more out of environment could be imagined She was a delicate
ethereal creature swaying and willowy light and graceful of movement It never
seemed to me that she walked or at least walked after the ordinary manner of
mortals Hers was an extreme lithesomeness and she moved with a certain
indefinable airiness approaching one as down might float or as a bird on
noiseless wings
She was like a bit of Dresden china and I was continually impressed with
what I may call her fragility As at the time I caught her arm when helping her
below so at any time I was quite prepared should stress or rough handling
befall her to see her crumble away I have never seen body and spirit in such
perfect accord Describe her verse as the critics have described it as
sublimated and spiritual and you have described her body It seemed to partake
of her soul to have analogous attributes and to link it to life with the
slenderest of chains Indeed she trod the earth lightly and in her
constitution there was little of the robust clay
She was in striking contrast to Wolf Larsen Each was nothing that the other
was everything that the other was not I noted them walking the deck together
one morning and I likened them to the extreme ends of the human ladder of
evolution the one the culmination of all savagery the other the finished
product of the finest civilization True Wolf Larsen possessed intellect to an
unusual degree but it was directed solely to the exercise of his savage
instincts and made him but the more formidable a savage He was splendidly
muscled a heavy man and though he strode with the certitude and directness of
the physical man there was nothing heavy about his stride The jungle and the
wilderness lurked in the uplift and downput of his feet He was catfooted and
lithe and strong always strong I likened him to some great tiger a beast of
prowess and prey He looked it and the piercing glitter that arose at times in
his eyes was the same piercing glitter I had observed in the eyes of caged
leopards and other preying creatures of the wild
But this day as I noted them pacing up and down I saw that it was she who
terminated the walk They came up to where I was standing by the entrance to the
companionway Though she betrayed it by no outward sign I felt somehow that
she was greatly perturbed She made some idle remark looking at me and laughed
lightly enough but I saw her eyes return to his involuntarily as though
fascinated then they fell but not swiftly enough to veil the rush of terror
that filled them
It was in his eyes that I saw the cause of her perturbation Ordinarily gray
and cold and harsh they were now warm and soft and golden and all adance with
tiny lights that dimmed and faded or welled up till the full orbs were flooded
with a glowing radiance Perhaps it was to this that the golden color was due
but golden his eyes were enticing and masterful at the same time luring and
compelling and speaking a demand and clamor of the blood which no woman much
less Maud Brewster could misunderstand
Her own terror rushed upon me and in that moment of fear the most
terrible fear a man can experience I knew that in inexpressible ways she was
dear to me The knowledge that I loved her rushed upon me with the terror and
with both emotions gripping at my heart and causing my blood at the same time to
chill and to leap riotously I felt myself drawn by a power without me and
beyond me and found my eyes returning against my will to gaze into the eyes of
Wolf Larsen But he had recovered himself The golden color and the dancing
lights were gone Cold and gray and glittering they were as he bowed brusquely
and turned away
»I am afraid« she whispered with a shiver »I am so afraid«
I too was afraid and what of my discovery of how much she meant to me my
mind was in a turmoil but I succeeded in answering quite calmly
»All will come right Miss Brewster Trust me it will come right«
She answered with a grateful little smile that sent my heart pounding and
started to descend the companionstairs
For a long while I remained standing where she had left me There was
imperative need to adjust myself to consider the significance of the changed
aspect of things It had come at last love had come when I least expected it
and under the most forbidding conditions Of course my philosophy had always
recognized the inevitableness of the lovecall sooner or later but long years
of bookish silence had made me inattentive and unprepared
And now it had come Maud Brewster My memory flashed back to that first
thin little volume on my desk and I saw before me as though in the concrete
the row of thin little volumes on my library shelf How I had welcomed each of
them Each year one had come from the press and to me each was the advent of
the year They had voiced a kindred intellect and spirit and as such I had
received them into a camaraderie of the mind; but now their place was in my
heart
My heart A revulsion of feeling came over me I seemed to stand outside
myself and to look at myself incredulously Maud Brewster Humphrey Van Weyden
the »coldblooded fish« the »emotionless monster« the »analytical demon« of
Charley Furuseths christening in love And then without rhyme or reason all
sceptical my mind flew back to a small biographical note in the redbound
»Whos Who« and I said to myself »She was born in Cambridge and she is
twentyseven years old« And then I said »Twentyseven years old and still free
and fancy free« But how did I know she was fancy free And the pang of newborn
jealousy put all incredulity to flight There was no doubt about it I was
jealous therefore I loved And the woman I loved was Maud Brewster
I Humphrey Van Weyden was in love And again the doubt assailed me Not
that I was afraid of it however or reluctant to meet it On the contrary
idealist that I was to the most pronounced degree my philosophy had always
recognized and guerdoned love as the greatest thing in the world the aim and
the summit of being the most exquisite pitch of joy and happiness to which life
could thrill the thing of all things to be hailed and welcomed and taken into
the heart But now that it had come I could not believe I could not be so
fortunate It was too good too good to be true Symonss lines came into my
head
»I wandered all these years among
A world of women seeking you«
And then I had ceased seeking It was not for me this greatest thing in the
world I had decided Furuseth was right I was abnormal an »emotionless
monster« a strange bookish creature capable of pleasuring in sensations only
of the mind. And though I had been surrounded by women all my days my
appreciation of them had been æsthetic and nothing more I had actually at
times considered myself outside the pale a monkish fellow denied the eternal
or the passing passions I saw and understood so well in others And now it had
come Undreamed of and unheralded it had come In what could have been no less
than an ecstasy I left my post at the head of the companionway and started
along the deck murmuring to myself those beautiful lines of Mrs Browning
»I lived with visions for my company
Instead of men and women years ago
And found them gentle mates nor thought to know
A sweeter music than they played to me«
But the sweeter music was playing in my ears and I was blind and oblivious to
all about me The sharp voice of Wolf Larsen aroused me
»What the hell are you up to« he was demanding
I had strayed forward where the sailors were painting and I came to myself
to find my advancing foot on the verge of overturning a paintpot
»Sleepwalking sunstroke what« he barked
»No indigestion« I retorted and continued my walk as if nothing untoward
had occurred
Chapter XXIV
Among the most vivid memories of my life are those of the events on the Ghost
which occurred during the forty hours succeeding the discovery of my love for
Maud Brewster I who had lived my life in quiet places only to enter at the
age of thirtyfive upon a course of the most irrational adventure I could have
imagined never had more incident and excitement crammed into any forty hours of
my experience Nor can I quite close my ears to a small voice of pride which
tells me I did not do so badly all things considered
To begin with at the midday dinner Wolf Larsen informed the hunters that
they were to eat thenceforth in the steerage It was an unprecedented thing on
sealing schooners where it is the custom for the hunters to rank unofficially
as officers He gave no reason but his motive was obvious enough Horner and
Smoke had been displaying a gallantry toward Maud Brewster ludicrous in itself
and inoffensive to her but to him evidently distasteful
The announcement was received with black silence though the other four
hunters glanced significantly at the two who had been the cause of their
banishment Jock Horner quiet as was his way gave no sign but the blood
surged darkly across Smokes forehead and he half opened his mouth to speak
Wolf Larsen was watching him waiting for him the steely glitter in his eyes
but Smoke closed his mouth again without having said anything
»Anything to say« the other demanded aggressively
It was a challenge but Smoke refused to accept it
»About what« he asked so innocently that Wolf Larsen was disconcerted
while the others smiled
»Oh nothing« Wolf Larsen said lamely »I just thought you might want to
register a kick«
»About what« asked the imperturbable Smoke
Smokes mates were now smiling broadly His captain could have killed him
and I doubt not that blood would have flowed had not Maud Brewster been present
For that matter it was her presence which enabled Smoke to act as he did He
was too discreet and cautious a man to incur Wolf Larsens anger at a time when
that anger could be expressed in terms stronger than words I was in fear that a
struggle might take place but a cry from the helmsman made it easy for the
situation to save itself
»Smoke ho« the cry came down the open companionway
»Hows it bear« Wolf Larsen called up
»Dead astern sir«
»Maybe its a Russian« suggested Latimer
His words brought anxiety into the faces of the other hunters A Russian
could mean but one thing a cruiser The hunters never more than roughly aware
of the position of the ship nevertheless knew that we were close to the
boundaries of the forbidden sea while Wolf Larsens record as a poacher was
notorious All eyes centred upon him
»Were dead safe« he assured them with a laugh »No salt mines this time
Smoke But Ill tell you what Ill lay odds of five to one its the Macedonia
«
No one accepted his offer and he went on »In which event Ill lay ten to
one theres trouble breezing up«
»No thank you« Latimer spoke up »I dont object to losing my money but I
like to get a run for it anyway There never was a time when there wasnt
trouble when you and that brother of yours got together and Ill lay twenty to
one on that«
A general smile followed in which Wolf Larsen joined and the dinner went
on smoothly thanks to me for he treated me abominably the rest of the meal
sneering at me and patronizing me till I was all atremble with suppressed rage
Yet I knew I must control myself for Maud Brewsters sake and I received my
reward when her eyes caught mine for a fleeting second and they said as
distinctly as if she spoke »Be brave be brave«
We left the table to go on deck for a steamer was a welcome break in the
monotony of the sea on which we floated while the conviction that it was Death
Larsen and the Macedonia added to the excitement The stiff breeze and heavy sea
which had sprung up the previous afternoon had been moderating all morning so
that it was now possible to lower the boats for an afternoons hunt The hunting
promised to be profitable We had sailed since daylight across a sea barren of
seals and were now running into the herd
The smoke was still miles astern but overhauling us rapidly when we
lowered our boats They spread out and struck a northerly course across the
ocean Now and again we saw a sail lower heard the reports of the shotguns and
saw the sail go up again The seals were thick the wind was dying away
everything favored a big catch As we ran off to get our leeward position of the
last lee boat we found the ocean fairly carpeted with sleeping seals They were
all about us thicker than I had ever seen them before in twos and threes and
bunches stretched full length on the surface and sleeping for all the world
like so many lazy young dogs
Under the approaching smoke the hull and upperworks of a steamer were
growing larger It was the Macedonia I read her name through the glasses as she
passed by scarcely a mile to starboard Wolf Larsen looked savagely at the
vessel while Maud Brewster was curious
»Where is the trouble you were so sure was breezing up Captain Larsen« she
asked gayly
He glanced at her a moments amusement softening his features
»What did you expect That theyd come aboard and cut our throats«
»Something like that« she confessed »You understand sealhunters are so
new and strange to me that I am quite ready to expect anything«
He nodded his head »Quite right quite right Your error is that you failed
to expect the worst«
»Why what can be worse than cutting our throats« she asked with pretty
naïve surprise
»Cutting our purses« he answered »Man is so made these days that his
capacity for living is determined by the money he possesses«
»Who steals my purse steals trash« she quoted
»Who steals my purse steals my right to live« was the reply »old saws to
the contrary For he steals my bread and meat and bed and in so doing imperils
my life There are not enough soupkitchens and breadlines to go around you
know and when men have nothing in their purses they usually die and die
miserably unless they are able to fill their purses pretty speedily«
»But I fail to see that this steamer has any designs on your purse«
»Wait and you will see« he answered grimly
We did not have long to wait Having passed several miles beyond our line of
boats the Macedonia proceeded to lower her own We knew she carried fourteen
boats to our five we were one short through the desertion of Wainwright and
she began dropping them far to leeward of our last boat continued dropping them
athwart our course and finished dropping them far to windward of our first
weather boat The hunting for us was spoiled There were no seals behind us
and ahead of us the line of fourteen boats like a huge broom swept the herd
before it
Our boats hunted across the two or three miles of water between them and the
point where the Macedonias had been dropped and then headed for home The wind
had fallen to a whisper the ocean was growing calmer and calmer and this
coupled with the presence of the great herd made a perfect hunting day one of
the two or three days to be encountered in the whole of a lucky season An angry
lot of men boatpullers and steerers as well as hunters swarmed over our side
Each man felt that he had been robbed and the boats were hoisted in amid
curses which if curses had power would have settled Death Larsen for all
eternity »Dead and damned for a dozen iv eternities« commented Louis his
eyes twinkling up at me as he rested from hauling taut the lashings of his boat
»Listen to them and find if it is hard to discover the most vital thing in
their souls« said Wolf Larsen »Faith and love and high ideals The good the
beautiful the true«
»Their innate sense of right has been violated« Maud Brewster said joining
the conversation
She was standing a dozen feet away one hand resting on the main shrouds and
her body swaying gently to the slight roll of the ship She had not raised her
voice and yet I was struck by its clear and belllike tone Ah it was sweet in
my ears I scarcely dared look at her just then for the fear of betraying
myself A boys cap was perched on her head and her hair light brown and
arranged in a loose and fluffy order that caught the sun seemed an aureole
about the delicate oval of her face She was positively bewitching and withal
sweetly spirituelle if not saintly All my oldtime marvel at life returned to
me at sight of this splendid incarnation of it and Wolf Larsens cold
explanation of life and its meaning was truly ridiculous and laughable
»A sentimentalist« he sneered »like Mr Van Weyden Those men are cursing
because their desires have been outraged That is all What desires The desires
for the good grub and soft beds ashore which a handsome payday brings them
the women and the drink the gorging and the beastliness which so truly
expresses them the best that is in them their highest aspirations their
ideals if you please The exhibition they make of their feelings is not a
touching sight yet it shows how deeply they have been touched how deeply their
purses have been touched for to lay hands on their purses is to lay hands on
their souls«
»You hardly behave as if your purse had been touched« she said smilingly
»Then it so happens that I am behaving differently for my purse and my soul
have both been touched At the current price of skins in the London market and
based on a fair estimate of what the afternoons catch would have been had not
the Macedonia hogged it the Ghost has lost about fifteen hundred dollars worth
of skins«
»You speak so calmly « she began
»But I do not feel calm I could kill the man who robbed me« he
interrupted »Yes yes I know and that man my brother more sentiment Bah«
His face underwent a sudden change His voice was less harsh and wholly
sincere as he said
»You must be happy you sentimentalists really and truly happy at dreaming
and finding things good and because you find some of them good feeling good
yourself Now tell me you two do you find me good«
»You are good to look upon in a way« I qualified
»There are in you all powers for good« was Maud Brewsters answer
»There you are« he cried at her half angrily »Your words are empty to me
There is nothing clear and sharp and definite about the thought you have
expressed You cannot pick it up in your two hands and look at it In point of
fact, it is not a thought It is a feeling a sentiment a something based upon
illusion and not a product of the intellect at all«
As he went on his voice again grew soft and a confiding note came into it
»Do you know I sometimes catch myself wishing that I too were blind to the
facts of life and only knew its fancies and illusions Theyre wrong all wrong
of course and contrary to reason but in the face of them my reason tells me
wrong and most wrong that to dream and live illusions gives greater delight
And after all delight is the wage for living Without delight living is a
worthless act To labor at living and be unpaid is worse than to be dead He who
delights the most lives the most and your dreams and unrealities are less
disturbing to you and more gratifying than are my facts to me«
He shook his head slowly pondering
»I often doubt I often doubt the worthwhileness of reason Dreams must be
more substantial and satisfying Emotional delight is more filling and lasting
than intellectual delight and besides you pay for your moments of
intellectual delight by having the blues Emotional delight is followed by no
more than jaded senses which speedily recuperate I envy you I envy you«
He stopped abruptly and then on his lips formed one of his strange
quizzical smiles as he added
»Its from my brain I envy you take notice and not from my heart My
reason dictates it The envy is an intellectual product I am like a sober man
looking upon drunken men and greatly weary wishing he too were drunk«
»Or like a wise man looking upon fools and wishing he too were a fool« I
laughed
»Quite so« he said »You are a blessed bankrupt pair of fools You have no
facts in your pocketbook«
»Yet we spend as freely as you« was Maud Brewsters contribution
»More freely because it costs you nothing«
»And because we draw upon eternity« she retorted
»Whether you do or think you do its the same thing You spend what you
havent got and in return you get greater value from spending what you havent
got than I get from spending what I have got and what I have sweated to get«
»Why dont you change the basis of your coinage then« she queried
teasingly
He looked at her quickly halfhopefully and then said all regretfully
»Too late Id like to perhaps but I cant My pocketbook is stuffed with the
old coinage and its a stubborn thing I can never bring myself to recognize
anything else as valid«
He ceased speaking and his gaze wandered absently past her and became lost
in the placid sea The old primal melancholy was strong upon him He was
quivering to it He had reasoned himself into a spell of the blues and within
few hours one could look for the devil within him to be up and stirring I
remembered Charley Furuseth and knew this mans sadness as the penalty which
the materialist ever pays for his materialism
Chapter XXV
»Youve been on deck Mr Van Weyden« Wolf Larsen said the following morning
at the breakfast table »How do things look«
»Clear enough« I answered glancing at the sunshine which streamed down the
open companionway »Fair westerly breeze with a promise of stiffening if Louis
predicts correctly«
He nodded his head in a pleased way »Any signs of fog«
»Thick banks in the north and northwest«
He nodded his head again evincing even greater satisfaction than before
»What of the Macedonia«
»Not sighted« I answered
I could have sworn his face fell at the intelligence but why he should be
disappointed I could not conceive
I was soon to learn »Smoke ho« came the hail from on deck and his face
brightened
»Good« he exclaimed and left the table at once to go on deck and into the
steerage where the hunters were taking the first breakfast of their exile
Maud Brewster and I scarcely touched the food before us gazing instead in
silent anxiety at each other and listening to Wolf Larsens voice which easily
penetrated the cabin through the intervening bulkhead He spoke at length and
his conclusion was greeted with a wild roar of cheers The bulkhead was too
thick for us to hear what he said but whatever it was it affected the hunters
strongly for the cheering was followed by loud exclamations and shouts of joy
From the sounds on deck I knew that the sailors had been routed out and were
preparing to lower the boats Maud Brewster accompanied me on deck but I left
her at the break of the poop where she might watch the scene and not be in it
The sailors must have learned whatever project was on hand and the vim and snap
they put into their work attested their enthusiasm The hunters came trooping on
deck with shotguns and ammunitionboxes and most unusual their rifles The
latter were rarely taken in the boats for a seal shot at long range with a
rifle invariably sank before a boat could reach it But each hunter this day
had his rifle and a large supply of cartridges I noticed they grinned with
satisfaction whenever they looked at the Macedonias smoke which was rising
higher and higher as she approached from the west
The five boats went over the side with a rush spread out like the ribs of a
fan and set a northerly course as on the preceding afternoon for us to
follow I watched for some time curiously but there seemed nothing
extraordinary about their behavior They lowered sails shot seals and hoisted
sails again and continued on their way as I had always seen them do The
Macedonia repeated her performance of yesterday »hogging« the sea by dropping
her line of boats in advance of ours and across our course Fourteen boats
require a considerable spread of ocean for comfortable hunting and when she had
completely lapped our line she continued steaming into the northeast dropping
more boats as she went
»Whats up« I asked Wolf Larsen unable longer to keep my curiosity in
check
»Never mind whats up« he answered gruffly »You wont be a thousand years
in finding out and in the meantime just pray for plenty of wind«
»Oh well I dont mind telling you« he said the next moment »Im going to
give that brother of mine a taste of his own medicine In short Im going to
play the hog myself and not for one day but for the rest of the season if
were in luck«
»And if were not« I queried
»Not to be considered« he laughed »We simply must be in luck or its all
up with us«
He had the wheel at the time and I went forward to my hospital in the
forecastle where lay the two crippled men Nilson and Thomas Mugridge Nilson
was as cheerful as could be expected for his broken leg was knitting nicely
but the Cockney was desperately melancholy and I was aware of a great sympathy
for the unfortunate creature And the marvel of it was that still he lived and
clung to life The brutal years had reduced his meagre body to splintered
wreckage and yet the spark of life within burned brightly as ever
»With an artificial foot and they make excellent ones you will be
stumping ships galleys to the end of time« I assured him jovially
But his answer was serious nay solemn »I dont know about wot you sy
Mr Van Wyden but I do know Ill never rest appy till I see that ellound
bloody well dead E cawnt live as long as me Es got no right to live an
as the Good Word puts it E shall shorely die an I sy Amen an damn soon
at that«
When I returned on deck I found Wolf Larsen steering mainly with one hand
while with the other hand he held the marine glasses and studied the situation
of the boats paying particular attention to the position of the Macedonia The
only change noticeable in our boats was that they had hauled close on the wind
and were heading several points west of north Still I could not see the
expediency of the manoeuvre for the free sea was still intercepted by the
Macedonias five weather boats which in turn had hauled close on the wind
Thus they slowly diverged toward the west drawing farther away from the
remainder of the boats in their line Our boats were rowing as well as sailing
Even the hunters were pulling and with three pairs of oars in the water they
rapidly overhauled what I may appropriately term the enemy
The smoke of the Macedonia had dwindled to a dim blot on the northeastern
horizon Of the steamer herself nothing was to be seen We had been loafing
along till now our sails shaking half the time and spilling the wind and
twice for short periods we had been hove to But there was no more loafing
Sheets were trimmed and Wolf Larsen proceeded to put the Ghost through her
paces We ran past our line of boats and bore down upon the first weather boat
of the other line
»Down that flying jib Mr Van Weyden« Wolf Larsen commanded »And stand by
to back over the jibs«
I ran forward and had the downhaul of the flying jib all in and fast as we
slipped by the boat a hundred feet to leeward The three men in it gazed at us
suspiciously They had been hogging the sea and they knew Wolf Larsen by
reputation at any rate I noted that the hunter a huge Scandinavian sitting in
the bow held his rifle ready to hand across his knees It should have been in
its proper place in the rack When they came opposite our stern Wolf Larsen
greeted them with a wave of the hand and cried
»Come on board and have a gam«
»To gam« among the sealing schooners is a substitute for the verbs »to
visit« »to gossip« It expresses the garrulity of the sea and is a pleasant
break in the monotony of the life
The Ghost swung around into the wind and I finished my work forward in time
to run aft and lend a hand with the main sheet
»You will please stay on deck Miss Brewster« Wolf Larsen said as he
started forward to meet his guest »And you too Mr Van Weyden«
The boat had lowered its sail and run alongside The hunter goldenbearded
like a seaking came over the rail and dropped on deck But his hugeness could
not quite overcome his apprehensiveness Doubt and distrust showed strongly in
his face It was a transparent face for all of its hairy shield and advertised
instant relief when he glanced from Wolf Larsen to me noted that there was only
the pair of us and then glanced over his own two men who had joined him Surely
he had little reason to be afraid He towered like a Goliath above Wolf Larsen
He must have measured six feet eight or nine inches in stature and I
subsequently learned his weight 240 pounds And there was no fat about him It
was all bone and muscle
A return of apprehension was apparent when at the top of the companionway
Wolf Larsen invited him below But he reassured himself with a glance down at
his host a big man himself but dwarfed by the propinquity of the giant So all
hesitancy vanished and the pair descended into the cabin In the meantime his
two men as was the wont of visiting sailors had gone forward into the
forecastle to do some visiting themselves
Suddenly from the cabin came a great choking bellow followed by all the
sounds of a furious struggle It was the leopard and the lion and the lion made
all the noise Wolf Larsen was the leopard
»You see the sacredness of our hospitality« I said bitterly to Maud
Brewster
She nodded her head that she heard and I noted in her face the signs of the
same sickness at sight or sound of violent struggle from which I had suffered so
severely during my first weeks on the Ghost
»Wouldnt it be better if you went forward say by the steerage
companionway until it is over« I suggested
She shook her head and gazed at me pitifully She was not frightened but
appalled rather at the human animality of it
»You will understand« I took advantage of the opportunity to say »whatever
part I take in what is going on and what is to come that I am compelled to take
it if you and I are ever to get out of this scrape with our lives«
»It is not nice for me« I added
»I understand« she said in a weak faraway voice and her eyes showed me
that she did understand
The sounds from below soon died away Then Wolf Larsen came alone on deck
There was a slight flush under his bronze but otherwise he bore no signs of the
battle
»Send those two men aft Mr Van Weyden« he said
I obeyed and a minute or two later they stood before him
»Hoist in your boat« he said to them »Your hunters decided to stay aboard
awhile and doesnt want it pounding alongside«
»Hoist in your boat I said« he repeated this time in sharper tones as
they hesitated to do his bidding
»Who knows you may have to sail with me for a time« he said quite softly
with a silken threat that belied the softness as they moved slowly to comply
»and we might as well start with a friendly understanding Lively now Death
Larsen makes you jump better than that and you know it«
Their movements perceptibly quickened under his coaching and as the boat
swung inboard I was sent forward to let go the jibs Wolf Larsen at the wheel
directed the Ghost after the Macedonias second weather boat
Under way and with nothing for the time being to do I turned my attention
to the situation of the boats The Macedonias third weather boat was being
attacked by two of ours the fourth by our remaining three and the fifth turn
about was taking a hand in the defence of its nearest mate The fight had
opened at long distance and the rifles were cracking steadily A quick snappy
sea was being kicked up by the wind a condition which prevented fine shooting
and now and again as we drew closer we could see the bullets zipzipping from
wave to wave
The boat we were pursuing had squared away and was running before the wind
to escape us and in the course of its flight to take part in repulsing our
general boat attack
Attending to sheets and tacks now left me little time to see what was taking
place but I happened to be on the poop when Wolf Larsen ordered the two strange
sailors forward and into the forecastle They went sullenly but they went He
next ordered Miss Brewster below and smiled at the instant horror that leapt
into her eyes
»Youll find nothing grewsome down there« he said »only an unhurt man
securely made fast to the ringbolts Bullets are liable to come aboard and I
dont want you killed you know«
Even as he spoke a bullet was deflected by a brasscapped spoke of the
wheel between his hands and screeched off through the air to windward
»You see« he said to her and then to me »Mr Van Weyden will you take
the wheel«
Maud Brewster had stepped inside the companionway so that only her head was
exposed Wolf Larsen had procured a rifle and was throwing a cartridge into the
barrel I begged her with my eyes to go below but she smiled and said
»We may be feeble landcreatures without legs but we can show Captain
Larsen that we are at least as brave as he«
He gave her a quick look of admiration
»I like you a hundred per cent better for that« he said »Books and
brains and bravery You are wellrounded a bluestocking fit to be the wife of
a pirate chief Ahem well discuss that later« he smiled as a bullet struck
solidly into the cabin wall
I saw his eyes flash golden as he spoke and I saw the terror mount in her
own
»We are braver« I hastened to say »At least speaking for myself I know I
am braver than Captain Larsen«
It was I who was now favored by a quick look He was wondering if I were
making fun of him I put three or four spokes over to counteract a sheer toward
the wind on the part of the Ghost and then steadied her Wolf Larsen was still
waiting an explanation and I pointed down to my knees
»You will observe there« I said »a slight trembling It is because I am
afraid the flesh is afraid and I am afraid in my mind because I do not wish to
die But my spirit masters the trembling flesh and the qualms of the mind. I am
more than brave I am courageous Your flesh is not afraid You are not afraid
On the one hand it costs you nothing to encounter danger on the other hand it
even gives you delight You enjoy it You may be unafraid Mr Larsen but you
must grant that the bravery is mine«
»Youre right« he acknowledged at once »I never thought of it in that way
before But is the opposite true If you are braver than I am I more cowardly
than you«
We both laughed at the absurdity and he dropped down to the deck and rested
his rifle across the rail The bullets we had received had travelled nearly a
mile but by now we had cut that distance in half He fired three careful shots
The first struck fifty feet to windward of the boat the second alongside and
at the third the boatsteerer let loose his steeringoar and crumpled up in the
bottom of the boat
»I guess thatll fix them« Wolf Larsen said rising to his feet »I
couldnt afford to let the hunter have it and there is a chance the boatpuller
doesnt know how to steer In which case the hunter cannot steer and shoot at
the same time«
His reasoning was justified for the boat rushed at once into the wind and
the hunter sprang aft to take the boatsteerers place There was no more
shooting though the rifles were still cracking merrily from the other boats
The hunter had managed to get the boat before the wind again but we ran
down upon it going at least two feet to its one A hundred yards away I saw
the boatpuller pass a rifle to the hunter Wolf Larsen went amidships and took
the coil of the throathalyards from its pin Then he peered over the rail with
levelled rifle Twice I saw the hunter let go the steeringoar with one hand
reach for his rifle and hesitate We were now alongside and foaming past
»Here you« Wolf Larsen cried suddenly to the boatpuller »Take a turn«
At the same time he flung the coil of rope It struck fairly nearly
knocking the man over but he did not obey Instead he looked to his hunter for
orders The hunter in turn was in a quandary His rifle was between his knees
but if he let go the steeringoar in order to shoot the boat would sweep around
and collide with the schooner Also he saw Wolf Larsens rifle bearing upon him
and knew he would be shot ere he could get his rifle into play
»Take a turn« he said quietly to the man
The boatpuller obeyed taking a turn around the little forward thwart and
paying the line as it jerked taut The boat sheered out with a rush and the
hunter steadied it to a parallel course some twenty feet from the side of the
Ghost
»Now get that sail down and come alongside« Wolf Larsen ordered
He never let go his rifle even passing down the tackles with one hand When
they were fast bow and stern and the two uninjured men prepared to come
aboard the hunter picked up his rifle as if to place it in a secure position
»Drop it« Wolf Larsen cried and the hunter dropped it as though it were
hot and had burned him
Once aboard the two prisoners hoisted in the boat and under Wolf Larsens
direction carried the wounded boatsteerer down into the forecastle
»If our five boats do as well as you and I have done well have a pretty
full crew« Wolf Larsen said to me
»The man you shot he is I hope « Maud Brewster quavered
»In the shoulder« he answered »Nothing serious Mr Van Weyden will pull
him around as good as ever in three or four weeks«
»But he wont pull those chaps around from the look of it« he added
pointing at the Macedonias third boat for which I had been steering and which
was now nearly abreast of us »Thats Horners and Smokes work I told them we
wanted live men not carcasses But the joy of shooting to hit is a most
compelling thing when once youve learned how to shoot Ever experienced it
Mr Van Weyden«
I shook my head and regarded their work It had indeed been bloody for they
had drawn off and joined our other three boats in the attack on the remaining
two of the enemy The deserted boat was in the trough of the sea rolling
drunkenly across each comber its loose spritsail out at right angles to it and
fluttering and flapping in the wind The hunter and boatpuller were both lying
awkwardly in the bottom but the boatsteerer lay across the gunwale half in
and half out his arms trailing in the water and his head rolling from side to
side
»Dont look Miss Brewster please dont look« I had begged of her and I
was glad that she had minded me and been spared the sight
»Head right into the bunch Mr Van Weyden« was Wolf Larsens command
As we drew nearer the firing ceased and we saw that the fight was over
The remaining two boats had been captured by our five and the seven were
grouped together waiting to be picked up
»Look at that« I cried involuntarily pointing to the northeast
The blot of smoke which indicated the Macedonias position had reappeared
»Yes Ive been watching it« was Wolf Larsens calm reply He measured the
distance away to the fogbank and for an instant paused to feel the weight of
the wind on his cheek »Well make it I think but you can depend upon it that
blessed brother of mine has twigged our little game and is just ahumping for
us Ah look at that«
The blot of smoke had suddenly grown larger and it was very black
»Ill beat you out though brother mine« he chuckled »Ill beat you out
and I hope you no worse than that you rack your old engines into scrap«
When we hove to a hasty though orderly confusion reigned The boats came
aboard from every side at once As fast as the prisoners came over the rail they
were marshalled forward into the forecastle by our hunters while our sailors
hoisted in the boats pellmell dropping them anywhere upon the deck and not
stopping to lash them We were already under way all sails set and drawing and
the sheets being slacked off for a wind abeam as the last boat lifted clear of
the water and swung in the tackles
There was need for haste The Macedonia belching the blackest of smoke from
her funnel was charging down upon us from out of the northeast Neglecting the
boats that remained to her she had altered her course so as to anticipate ours
She was not running straight for us but ahead of us Our courses were
converging like the sides of an angle the vertex of which was at the edge of
the fogbank It was there or not at all that the Macedonia could hope to
catch us The hope for the Ghost lay in that she should pass that point before
the Macedonia arrived at it
Wolf Larsen was steering his eyes glistening and snapping as they dwelt
upon and leaped from detail to detail of the chase Now he studied the sea to
windward for signs of the wind slackening or freshening now the Macedonia and
again his eyes roved over every sail and he gave commands to slack a sheet
here a trifle to come in on one there a trifle till he was drawing out of the
Ghost the last bit of speed she possessed All feuds and grudges were forgotten
and I was surprised at the alacrity with which the men who had so long endured
his brutality sprang to execute his orders Strange to say the unfortunate
Johnson came into my mind as we lifted and surged and heeled along and I was
aware of a regret that he was not alive and present he had so loved the Ghost
and delighted in her sailing powers
»Better get your rifles you fellows« Wolf Larsen called to our hunters
and the five men lined the lee rail guns in hand and waited
The Macedonia was now but a mile away the black smoke pouring from her
funnel at a right angle so madly she raced pounding through the sea at a
seventeenknot gait »Skyhooting through the brine« as Wolf Larsen quoted
while gazing at her We were not making more than nine knots but the fogbank
was very near
A puff of smoke broke from the Macedonias deck we heard a heavy report
and a round hole took form in the stretched canvas of our mainsail They were
shooting at us with one of the small cannon which rumor had said they carried on
board Our men clustering amidships waved their hats and raised a derisive
cheer Again there was a puff of smoke and a loud report this time the
cannonball striking not more than twenty feet astern and glancing twice from
sea to sea to windward ere it sank
But there was no riflefiring for the reason that all their hunters were out
in the boats or our prisoners When the two vessels were half a mile apart a
third shot made another hole in our mainsail Then we entered the fog It was
about us veiling and hiding us in its dense wet gauze
The sudden transition was startling The moment before we had been leaping
through the sunshine the clear sky above us the sea breaking and rolling wide
to the horizon and a ship vomiting smoke and fire and iron missiles rushing
madly upon us And at once as in an instants leap the sun was blotted out
there was no sky even our mastheads were lost to view and our horizon was such
as tearblinded eyes may see The gray mist drove by us like a rain Every
woollen filament of our garments every hair of our heads and faces was
jewelled with a crystal globule The shrouds were wet with moisture it dripped
from our rigging overhead and on the under side of our booms drops of water
took shape in long swaying lines which were detached and flung to the deck in
mimic showers at each surge of the schooner I was aware of a pent stifled
feeling As the sounds of the ship thrusting herself through the waves were
hurled back upon us by the fog so were ones thoughts The mind recoiled from
contemplation of a world beyond this wet veil which wrapped us around This was
the world the universe itself its bounds so near one felt impelled to reach
out both arms and push them back It was impossible that the rest could be
beyond these walls of gray The rest was a dream no more than the memory of a
dream
It was weird strangely weird I looked at Maud Brewster and knew that she
was similarly affected Then I looked at Wolf Larsen but there was nothing
subjective about his state of consciousness His whole concern was with the
immediate objective present He still held the wheel and I felt that he was
timing Time reckoning the passage of the minutes with each forward lunge and
leeward roll of the Ghost
»Go forard and hardalee without any noise« he said to me in a low voice
»Clew up the topsails first Set men at all the sheets Let there be no rattling
of blocks no sound of voices No noise understand no noise«
When all was ready the word »hardalee« was passed forward to me from man
to man and the Ghost heeled about on the port tack with practically no noise at
all And what little there was the slapping of a few reefpoints and the
creaking of a sheave in a block or two was ghostly under the hollow echoing
pall in which we were swathed
We had scarcely filled away it seemed when the fog thinned abruptly and we
were again in the sunshine the widestretching sea breaking before us to the
skyline But the ocean was bare No wrathful Macedonia broke its surface nor
blackened the sky with her smoke
Wolf Larsen at once squared away and ran down along the rim of the fogbank
His trick was obvious He had entered the fog to windward of the steamer and
while the steamer had blindly driven on into the fog in the chance of catching
him he had come about and out of his shelter and was now running down to reënter
to leeward Successful in this the old simile of the needle in the haystack
would be mild indeed compared with his brothers chance of finding him
He did not run long Jibing the fore and mainsails and setting the
topsails again we headed back into the bank As we entered I could have sworn I
saw a vague bulk emerging to windward I looked quickly at Wolf Larsen Already
we were ourselves buried in the fog but he nodded his head He too had seen
it the Macedonia guessing his manoeuvre and failing by a moment in
anticipating it There was no doubt that we had escaped unseen
»He cant keep this up« Wolf Larsen said »Hell have to go back for the
rest of his boats Send a man to the wheel Mr Van Weyden keep this course for
the present and you might as well set the watches for we wont do any
lingering tonight«
»Id give five hundred dollars though« he added »just to be aboard the
Macedonia for five minutes listening to my brother curse«
»And now Mr Van Weyden« he said to me when he had been relieved from the
wheel »we must make these newcomers welcome Serve out plenty of whiskey to the
hunters and see that a few bottles slip forard Ill wager every man Jack of
them is over the side tomorrow hunting for Wolf Larsen as contentedly as ever
they hunted for Death Larsen«
»But wont they escape as Wainwright did« I asked
He laughed shrewdly »Not as long as our old hunters have anything to say
about it Im dividing amongst them a dollar a skin for all the skins shot by
our new hunters At least half of their enthusiasm today was due to that Oh
no there wont be any escaping if they have anything to say about it And now
youd better get forard to your hospital duties There must be a full ward
waiting for you«
Chapter XXVI
Wolf Larsen took the distribution of the whiskey off my hands and the bottles
began to make their appearance while I worked over the fresh batch of wounded
men in the forecastle I had seen whiskey drunk such as whiskey and soda by the
men of the clubs but never as these men drank it from pannikins and mugs and
from the bottles great brimming drinks each one of which was in itself a
debauch But they did not stop at one or two They drank and drank and ever the
bottles slipped forward and they drank more
Everybody drank the wounded drank OoftyOofty who helped me drank Only
Louis refrained no more than cautiously wetting his lips with the liquor
though he joined in the revels with an abandon equal to that of most of them It
was a saturnalia In loud voices they shouted over the days fighting wrangled
about details or waxed affectionate and made friends with the men whom they had
fought Prisoners and captors hiccoughed on one anothers shoulders and swore
mighty oaths of respect and esteem They wept over the miseries of the past and
over the miseries yet to come under the iron rule of Wolf Larsen And all cursed
him and told terrible tales of his brutality
It was a strange and frightful spectacle the small bunklined space the
floor and walls leaping and lurching the dim light the swaying shadows
lengthening and foreshortening monstrously the thick air heavy with smoke and
the smell of bodies and iodoform and the inflamed faces of the men halfmen
I should call them I noted OoftyOofty holding the end of a bandage and
looking upon the scene his velvety and luminous eyes glistening in the light
like a deers eyes and yet I knew the barbaric devil that lurked in his breast
and belied all the softness and tenderness almost womanly of his face and
form And I noticed the boyish face of Harrison a good face once but now a
demons convulsed with passion as he told the newcomers of the hellship they
were in and shrieked curses upon the head of Wolf Larsen
Wolf Larsen it was always Wolf Larsen enslaver and tormentor of men a
male Circe and these his swine suffering brutes that grovelled before him and
revolted only in drunkenness and in secrecy And was I too one of his swine I
thought And Maud Brewster No I ground my teeth in my anger and determination
till the man I was attending winced under my hand and OoftyOofty looked at me
with curiosity I felt endowed with a sudden strength What of my newfound
love I was a giant I feared nothing I would work my will through it all in
spite of Wolf Larsen and of my own thirtyfive bookish years All would be well
I would make it well And so exalted upborne by a sense of power I turned my
back on the howling inferno and climbed to the deck where the fog drifted
ghostly through the night and the air was sweet and pure and quiet
The steerage where were two wounded hunters was a repetition of the
forecastle except that Wolf Larsen was not being cursed and it was with a
great relief that I again emerged on deck and went aft to the cabin Supper was
ready and Wolf Larsen and Maud were waiting for me
While all his ship was getting drunk as fast as it could he remained sober
Not a drop of liquor passed his lips He did not dare it under the
circumstances for he had only Louis and me to depend upon and Louis was even
now at the wheel We were sailing on through the fog without a lookout and
without lights That Wolf Larsen had turned the liquor loose among his men
surprised me but he evidently knew their psychology and the best method of
cementing in cordiality what had begun in bloodshed
His victory over Death Larsen seemed to have had a remarkable effect upon
him The previous evening he had reasoned himself into the blues and I had been
waiting momentarily for one of his characteristic outbursts Yet nothing had
occurred and he was now in splendid trim Possibly his success in capturing so
many hunters and boats had counteracted the customary reaction At any rate the
blues were gone and the blue devils had not put in an appearance So I thought
at the time but ah me little I knew him or knew that even then perhaps he
was meditating an outbreak more terrible than any I had seen
As I say he discovered himself in splendid trim when I entered the cabin
He had had no headaches for weeks his eyes were clear blue as the sky his
bronze was beautiful with perfect health life swelled through his veins in full
and magnificent flood While waiting for me he had engaged Maud in animated
discussion Temptation was the topic they had hit upon and from the few words I
heard I made out that he was contending that temptation was temptation only when
a man was seduced by it and fell
»For look you« he was saying »as I see it a man does things because of
desire He has many desires He may desire to escape pain or to enjoy pleasure
But whatever he does he does because he desires to do it«
»But suppose he desires to do two opposite things neither of which will
permit him to do the other« Maud interrupted
»The very thing I was coming to« he said
»And between these two desires is just where the soul of the man is
manifest« she went on »If it is a good soul it will desire and do the good
action and the contrary if it is a bad soul It is the soul that decides«
»Bosh and nonsense« he exclaimed impatiently »It is the desire that
decides Here is a man who wants to say get drunk Also he doesnt want to
get drunk What does he do How does he do it He is a puppet He is the
creature of his desires and of the two desires he obeys the strongest one that
is all His soul hasnt anything to do with it How can he be tempted to get
drunk and refuse to get drunk If the desire to remain sober prevails it is
because it is the strongest desire Temptation plays no part unless « he
paused while grasping the new thought which had come into his mind »unless he
is tempted to remain sober«
»Ha ha« he laughed »What do you think of that Mr Van Weyden«
»That both of you are hairsplitting« I said »The mans soul is his
desires Or if you will the sum of his desires is his soul Therein you are
both wrong You lay the stress upon the desire apart from the soul Miss
Brewster lays the stress on the soul apart from the desire and in point of fact
soul and desire are the same thing
However« I continued »Miss Brewster is right in contending that temptation
is temptation whether the man yield or overcome Fire is fanned by the wind
until it leaps up fiercely So is desire like fire It is fanned as by a wind
by sight of the thing desired or by a new and luring description or
comprehension of the thing desired There lies the temptation It is the wind
that fans the desire until it leaps up to mastery Thats temptation It may not
fan sufficiently to make the desire overmastering but in so far as it fans at
all that far is it temptation And as you say it may tempt for good as well
as for evil«
I felt proud of myself as we sat down to the table My words had been
decisive At least they had put an end to the discussion
But Wolf Larsen seemed voluble prone to speech as I had never seen him
before It was as though he were bursting with pent energy which must find an
outlet somehow Almost immediately he launched into a discussion on love As
usual his was the sheer materialistic side and Mauds was the idealistic For
myself beyond a word or so of suggestion or correction now and again I took no
part
He was brilliant but so was Maud and for some time I lost the thread of
the conversation through studying her face as she talked It was a face that
rarely displayed color but tonight it was flushed and vivacious Her wit was
playing keenly and she was enjoying the tilt as much as Wolf Larsen and he was
enjoying it hugely For some reason though I know not why in the argument so
utterly had I lost it in the contemplation of one stray brown lock of Mauds
hair he quoted from Iseult at Tintagel where she says
»Blessed am I beyond women even herein
That beyond all born women is my sin
And perfect my transgression«
As he had read pessimism into Omar so now he read triumph stinging triumph and
exultation into Swinburnes lines And he read rightly and he read well He
had hardly ceased reading when Louis put his head into the companionway and
whispered down »Be easy will ye The fogs lifted an tis the port light iv
a steamer thats crossin our bow this blessed minute«
Wolf Larsen sprang on deck and so swiftly that by the time we followed him
he had pulled the steerageslide over the drunken clamor and was on his way
forward to close the forecastlescuttle The fog though it remained had lifted
high where it obscured the stars and made the night quite black Directly ahead
of us I could see a bright red light and a white light and I could hear the
pulsing of a steamers engines Beyond a doubt it was the Macedonia
Wolf Larsen had returned to the poop and we stood in a silent group
watching the lights rapidly cross our bow
»Lucky for me he doesnt carry a searchlight« Wolf Larsen said
»What if I should cry out loudly« I queried in a whisper
»It would be all up« he answered »But have you thought upon what would
immediately happen«
Before I had time to express any desire to know he had me by the throat
with his gorilla grip and by a faint quiver of the muscles a hint as it
were he suggested to me the twist that would surely have broken my neck The
next moment he had released me and we were gazing at the Macedonias lights
»What if I should cry out« Maud asked
»I like you too well to hurt you« he said softly nay there was a
tenderness and a caress in his voice that made me wince »But dont do it just
the same for Id promptly break Mr Van Weydens neck«
»Then she has my permission to cry out« I said defiantly
»I hardly think youll care to sacrifice the Dean of American Letters the
Second« he sneered
We spoke no more though we had become too used to one another for the
silence to be awkward and when the red light and the white had disappeared we
returned to the cabin to finish the interrupted supper
Again they fell to quoting and Maud gave Dowsons »Impenitentia Ultima«
She rendered it beautifully but I watched not her but Wolf Larsen I was
fascinated by the fascinated look he bent upon Maud He was quite out of
himself and I noticed the unconscious movement of his lips as he shaped word
for word as fast as she uttered them He interrupted her when she gave the
lines
»And her eyes should be my light while the sun went out behind me
And the viols in her voice be the last sound in my ear«
»There are viols in your voice« he said bluntly and his eyes flashed their
golden light
I could have shouted with joy at her control She finished the concluding
stanza without faltering and then slowly guided the conversation into less
perilous channels And all the while I sat in a halfdaze the drunken riot of
the steerage breaking through the bulkhead the man I feared and the woman I
loved talking on and on The table was not cleared The man who had taken
Mugridges place had evidently joined his comrades in the forecastle
If ever Wolf Larsen attained the summit of living he attained it then From
time to time I forsook my own thoughts to follow him and I followed in amaze
mastered for the moment by his remarkable intellect under the spell of his
passion for he was preaching the passion of revolt It was inevitable that
Miltons Lucifer should be instanced and the keenness with which Wolf Larsen
analyzed and depicted the character was a revelation of his stifled genius It
reminded me of Taine yet I knew the man had never heard of that brilliant
though dangerous thinker
»He led a lost cause and he was not afraid of Gods thunderbolts« Wolf
Larsen was saying »Hurled into hell he was unbeaten A third of Gods angels
he had led with him and straightway he incited man to rebel against God and
gained for himself and hell the major portion of all the generations of man Why
was he beaten out of heaven Because he was less brave than God less proud
less aspiring No A thousand times no God was more powerful as he said Whom
thunder hath made greater But Lucifer was a free spirit To serve was to
suffocate He preferred suffering in freedom to all the happiness of a
comfortable servility He did not care to serve God He cared to serve nothing
He was no figurehead He stood on his own legs He was an individual«
»The first anarchist« Maud laughed rising and preparing to withdraw to her
stateroom
»Then it is good to be an anarchist« he cried He too had risen and he
stood facing her where she had paused at the door of her room as he went on
»Here at least
We shall be free the Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy will not drive us hence
Here we may reign secure and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in hell
Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven«
It was the defiant cry of a mighty spirit The cabin still rang with his voice
as he stood there swaying his bronzed face shining his head up and dominant
and his eyes golden and masculine intensely masculine and insistently soft
flashing upon Maud at the door
Again that unnamable and unmistakable terror was in her eyes and she said
almost in a whisper »You are Lucifer«
The door closed and she was gone He stood staring after her for a minute
then returned to himself and to me
»Ill relieve Louis at the wheel« he said shortly »and call upon you to
relieve at midnight Better turn in now and get some sleep«
He pulled on a pair of mittens put on his cap and ascended the
companionstairs while I followed his suggestion by going to bed For some
unknown reason prompted mysteriously I did not undress but lay down fully
clothed For a time I listened to the clamor in the steerage and marvelled upon
the love which had come to me but my sleep on the Ghost had become most
healthful and natural and soon the songs and cries died away my eyes closed
and my consciousness sank down into the halfdeath of slumber
I knew not what had aroused me but I found myself out of my bunk on my feet
wide awake my soul vibrating to the warning of danger as it might have thrilled
to a trumpet call I threw open the door The cabin light was burning low I saw
Maud my Maud straining and struggling and crushed in the embrace of Wolf
Larsens arms I could see the vain beat and flutter of her as she strove
pressing her face against his breast to escape from him All this I saw on the
very instant of seeing and as I sprang forward
I struck him with my fist on the face as he raised his head but it was a
puny blow He roared in a ferocious animallike way and gave me a shove with
his hand It was only a shove a flirt of the wrist yet so tremendous was his
strength that I was hurled backward as from a catapult I struck the door of the
stateroom which had formerly been Mugridges splintering and smashing the
panels with the impact of my body I struggled to my feet with difficulty
dragging myself clear of the wrecked door unaware of any hurt whatever I was
conscious only of an overmastering rage I think I too cried aloud as I drew
the knife at my hip and sprang forward a second time
But something had happened They were reeling apart I was close upon him
my knife uplifted but I withheld the blow I was puzzled by the strangeness of
it Maud was leaning against the wall one hand out for support but he was
staggering his left hand pressed against his forehead and covering his eyes
and with the right he was groping about him in a dazed sort of way It struck
against the wall and his body seemed to express a muscular and physical relief
at the contact as though he had found his bearings his location in space as
well as something against which to lean
Then I saw red again All my wrongs and humiliations flashed upon me with a
dazzling brightness all that I had suffered and others had suffered at his
hands all the enormity of the mans very existence I sprang upon him blindly
insanely and drove the knife into his shoulder I knew then that it was no
more than a flesh wound I had felt the steel grate on his shoulderblade
and I raised the knife to strike at a more vital part
But Maud had seen my first blow and she cried »Dont Please dont«
I dropped my arm for a moment and a moment only Again the knife was
raised and Wolf Larsen would have surely died had she not stepped between Her
arms were around me her hair was brushing my face My pulse rushed up in an
unwonted manner yet my rage mounted with it She looked me bravely in the eyes
»For my sake« she begged
»I would kill him for your sake« I cried trying to free my arm without
hurting her
»Hush« she said and laid her fingers lightly on my lips I could have
kissed them had I dared even then in my rage the touch of them was so sweet
so very sweet »Please please« she pleaded and she disarmed me by the words
as I was to discover they would ever disarm me
I stepped back separating from her and replaced the knife in its sheath I
looked at Wolf Larsen He still pressed his left hand against his forehead It
covered his eyes His head was bowed He seemed to have grown limp His body was
sagging at the hips his great shoulders were drooping and shrinking forward
»Van Weyden« he called hoarsely and with a note of fright in his voice
»Oh Van Weyden where are you«
I looked at Maud She did not speak but nodded her head
»Here I am« I answered stepping to his side »What is the matter«
»Help me to a seat« he said in the same hoarse frightened voice
»I am a sick man a very sick man Hump« he said as he left my sustaining
grip and sank into a chair
His head dropped forward on the table and was buried in his hands From time
to time it rocked back and forward as with pain Once when he half raised it I
saw the sweat standing in heavy drops on his forehead about the roots of his
hair
»I am a sick man a very sick man« he repeated again and yet once again
»What is the matter« I asked resting my hand on his shoulder »What can I
do for you«
But he shook my hand off with an irritated movement and for a long time I
stood by his side in silence Maud was looking on her face awed and frightened
What had happened to him we could not imagine
»Hump« he said at last »I must get into my bunk Lend me a hand Ill be
all right in a little while Its those damn headaches I believe I was afraid
of them I had a feeling no I dont know what Im talking about Help me into
my bunk«
But when I got him into his bunk he again buried his face in his hands
covering his eyes and as I turned to go I could hear him murmuring »I am a
sick man a very sick man«
Maud looked at me inquiringly as I emerged I shook my head saying
»Something has happened to him What I dont know He is helpless and
frightened I imagine for the first time in his life It must have occurred
before he received the knifethrust which made only a superficial wound You
must have seen what happened«
She shook her head »I saw nothing It is just as mysterious to me He
suddenly released me and staggered away But what shall we do What shall I do«
»If you will wait please until I come back« I answered I went on deck
Louis was at the wheel
»You may go forard and turn in« I said taking it from him
He was quick to obey and I found myself alone on the deck of the Ghost As
quietly as was possible I clewed up the topsails lowered the flying jib and
staysail backed the jib over and flattened the mainsail Then I went below to
Maud I placed my finger on my lips for silence and entered Wolf Larsens room
He was in the same position in which I had left him and his head was rocking
almost writhing from side to side
»Anything I can do for you« I asked
He made no reply at first but on my repeating the question he answered
»No no Im all right Leave me alone till morning«
But as I turned to go I noted that his head had resumed its rocking motion
Maud was waiting patiently for me and I took notice with a thrill of joy of
the queenly poise of her head and her glorious calm eyes Calm and sure they
were as her spirit itself
»Will you trust yourself to me for a journey of six hundred miles or so« I
asked
»You mean « she asked and I knew she had guessed aright
»Yes I mean just that« I replied »There is nothing left for us but the
open boat«
»For me you mean« she said »You are certainly as safe here as you have
been«
»No there is nothing left for us but the open boat« I iterated stoutly
»Will you please dress as warmly as you can at once and make into a bundle
whatever you wish to bring with you«
»And make all haste« I added as she turned toward her stateroom
The lazarette was directly beneath the cabin and opening the trapdoor in
the floor and carrying a candle with me I dropped down and began overhauling
the ships stores I selected mainly from the canned goods and by the time I
was ready willing hands were extended from above to receive what I passed up
We worked in silence I helped myself also to blankets mittens oilskins
caps and such things from the slopchest It was no light adventure this
trusting ourselves in a small boat to so raw and stormy a sea and it was
imperative that we should guard ourselves against the cold and wet
We worked feverishly at carrying our plunder on deck and depositing it
amidships so feverishly that Maud whose strength was hardly a positive
quantity had to give over exhausted and sit on the steps at the break of the
poop This did not serve to recover her and she lay on her back on the hard
deck arms stretched out and whole body relaxed It was a trick I remembered of
my sister and I knew she would soon be herself again I knew also that
weapons would not come in amiss and I reëntered Wolf Larsens stateroom to get
his rifle and shotgun I spoke to him but he made no answer though his head
was still rocking from side to side and he was not asleep
»Goodbye Lucifer« I whispered to myself as I softly closed the door
Next to obtain was a stock of ammunition an easy matter though I had to
enter the steerage companionway to do it Here the hunters stored the ammunition
boxes they carried in the boats and here but a few feet from their noisy
revels I took possession of two boxes
Next to lower a boat Not so simple a task for one man Having cast off the
lashings I hoisted first on the forward tackle then on the aft till the boat
cleared the rail when I lowered away one tackle and then the other for a
couple of feet till it hung snugly above the water against the schooners
side I made certain that it contained the proper equipment of oars rowlocks
and sail Water was a consideration and I robbed every boat aboard of its
breaker As there were nine boats all told it meant that we should have plenty
of water and ballast as well though there was the chance that the boat would
be overloaded what of the generous supply of other things I was taking
While Maud was passing me the provisions and I was storing them in the boat
a sailor came on deck from the forecastle He stood by the weather rail for a
time we were lowering over the lee rail and then sauntered slowly amidships
where he again paused and stood facing the wind with his back toward us I
could hear my heart beating as I crouched low in the boat Maud had sunk down
upon the deck and was I knew lying motionless her body in the shadow of the
bulwark But the man never turned and after stretching his arms above his head
and yawning audibly he retraced his steps to the forecastle scuttle and
disappeared
A few minutes sufficed to finish the loading and I lowered the boat into
the water As I helped Maud over the rail and felt her form close to mine it
was all I could do to keep from crying out »I love you I love you« Truly
Humphrey Van Weyden was at last in love I thought as her fingers clung to mine
while I lowered her down to the boat I held on to the rail with one hand and
supported her weight with the other and I was proud at the moment of the feat
It was a strength I had not possessed a few months before on the day I said
goodby to Charley Furuseth and started for San Francisco on the illfated
Martinez
As the boat ascended on a sea her feet touched and I released her hands I
cast off the tackles and leaped after her I had never rowed in my life but I
put out the oars and at the expense of much effort got the boat clear of the
Ghost Then I experimented with the sail I had seen the boatsteerers and
hunters set their spritsails many times yet this was my first attempt What
took them possibly two minutes took me twenty but in the end I succeeded in
setting and trimming it and with the steeringoar in my hands hauled on the
wind
»There lies Japan« I remarked »straight before us«
»Humphrey Van Weyden« she said »you are a brave man«
»Nay« I answered »it is you who are a brave woman«
We turned our heads swayed by a common impulse to see the last of the
Ghost Her low hull lifted and rolled to windward on a sea her canvas loomed
darkly in the night her lashed wheel creaked as the rudder kicked then sight
and sound of her faded away and we were alone on the dark sea
Chapter XXVII
Day broke gray and chill The boat was closehauled on a fresh breeze and the
compass indicated that we were just making the course which would bring us to
Japan Though stoutly mittened my fingers were cold and they pained from the
grip on the steeringoar My feet were stinging from the bite of the frost and
I hoped fervently that the sun would shine
Before me in the bottom of the boat lay Maud She at least was warm for
under her and over her were thick blankets The top one I had drawn over her
face to shelter it from the night so I could see nothing but the vague shape of
her and her lightbrown hair escaped from the covering and jewelled with
moisture from the air
Long I looked at her dwelling upon that one visible bit of her as only a
man would who deemed it the most precious thing in the world So insistent was
my gaze that at last she stirred under the blankets the top fold was thrown
back and she smiled out on me her eyes yet heavy with sleep
»Good morning Mr Van Weyden« she said »Have you sighted land yet«
»No« I answered »but we are approaching it at a rate of six miles an
hour«
She made a moue of disappointment
»But that is equivalent to one hundred and fortyfour miles in twentyfour
hours« I added reassuringly
Her face brightened »And how far have we to go«
»Siberia lies off there« I said pointing to the west »But to the
southwest some six hundred miles is Japan If this wind should hold well
make it in five days«
»And if it storms The boat could not live«
She had a way of looking one in the eyes and demanding the truth and thus
she looked at me as she asked the question
»It would have to storm very hard« I temporized
»And if it storms very hard«
I nodded my head »But we may be picked up any moment by a sealing schooner
They are plentifully distributed over this part of the ocean«
»Why you are chilled through« she cried »Look You are shivering Dont
deny it you are And here I have been lying warm as toast«
»I dont see that it would help matters if you too sat up and were
chilled« I laughed
»It will though when I learn to steer which I certainly shall«
She sat up and began making her simple toilet She shook down her hair and
it fell about her in a brown cloud hiding her face and shoulders Dear damp
brown hair I wanted to kiss it to ripple it through my fingers to bury my
face in it I gazed entranced till the boat ran into the wind and the flapping
sail warned me I was not attending to my duties Idealist and romanticist that I
was and always had been in spite of my analytical nature yet I had failed till
now in grasping much of the physical characteristics of love The love of man
and woman I had always held was a sublimated something related to spirit a
spiritual bond that linked and drew their souls together The bonds of the flesh
had little part in my cosmos of love But I was learning the sweet lesson for
myself that the soul transmuted itself expressed itself through the flesh
that the sight and sense and touch of the loved ones hair was as much breath
and voice and essence of the spirit as the light that shone from the eyes and
the thoughts that fell from the lips After all pure spirit was unknowable a
thing to be sensed and divined only nor could it express itself in terms of
itself Jehovah was anthropomorphic because he could address himself to the Jews
only in terms of their understanding so he was conceived as in their own image
as a cloud a pillar of fire a tangible physical something which the mind of
the Israelites could grasp
And so I gazed upon Mauds lightbrown hair and loved it and learned more
of love than all the poets and singers had taught me with all their songs and
sonnets She flung it back with a sudden adroit movement and her face emerged
smiling
»Why dont women wear their hair down always« I asked »It is so much more
beautiful«
»If it didnt tangle so dreadfully« she laughed »There Ive lost one of
my precious hairpins«
I neglected the boat and had the sail spilling the wind again and again
such was my delight in following her every movement as she searched through the
blankets for the pin I was surprised and joyfully that she was so much the
woman and the display of each trait and mannerism that was characteristically
feminine gave me keener joy For I had been elevating her too highly in my
concepts of her removing her too far from the plane of the human and too far
from me I had been making of her a creature goddesslike and unapproachable So
I hailed with delight the little traits that proclaimed her only woman after
all such as the toss of the head which flung back the cloud of hair and the
search for the pin She was woman my kind on my plane and the delightful
intimacy of kind of man and woman was possible as well as the reverence and
awe in which I knew I should always hold her
She found the pin with an adorable little cry and I turned my attention
more fully to my steering I proceeded to experiment lashing and wedging the
steeringoar until the boat held on fairly well by the wind without my
assistance Occasionally it came up too close or fell off too freely but it
always recovered itself and in the main behaved satisfactorily
»And now we shall have breakfast« I said »But first you must be more
warmly clad«
I got out a heavy shirt new from the slopchest and made from blanket
goods I knew the kind so thick and so close of texture that it could resist
the rain and not be soaked through after hours of wetting When she had slipped
this on over her head I exchanged the boys cap she wore for a mans cap large
enough to cover her hair and when the flap was turned down to completely
cover her neck and ears The effect was charming Her face was of the sort that
cannot but look well under all circumstances Nothing could destroy its
exquisite oval its wellnigh classic lines its delicately stencilled brows
its large brown eyes clearseeing and calm gloriously calm
A puff slightly stronger than usual struck us just then The boat was
caught as it obliquely crossed the crest of a wave It went over suddenly
burying its gunwale level with the sea and shipping a bucketful or so of water
I was opening a can of tongue at the moment and I sprang to the sheet and cast
it off just in time The sail flapped and fluttered and the boat paid off A
few minutes of regulating sufficed to put it on its course again when I
returned to the preparation of breakfast
»It does very well it seems though I am not versed in things nautical«
she said nodding her head with grave approval at my steering contrivance
»But it will serve only when we are sailing by the wind« I explained »When
running more freely with the wind astern abeam or on the quarter it will be
necessary for me to steer«
»I must say I dont understand your technicalities« she said »but I do
your conclusion and I dont like it You cannot steer night and day and
forever So I shall expect after breakfast to receive my first lesson And
then you shall lie down and sleep Well stand watches just as they do on
ships«
»I dont see how I am to teach you« I made protest »I am just learning for
myself You little thought when you trusted yourself to me that I had had no
experience whatever with small boats This is the first time I have ever been in
one«
»Then well learn together sir And since youve had a nights start you
shall teach me what you have learned And now breakfast My this air does give
one an appetite«
»No coffee« I said regretfully passing her buttered seabiscuits and a
slice of canned tongue »And there will be no tea no soups nothing hot till
we have made land somewhere somehow«
After the simple breakfast capped with a cup of cold water Maud took her
lesson in steering In teaching her I learned quite a deal myself though I was
applying the knowledge already acquired by sailing the Ghost and by watching the
boatsteerers sail the small boats She was an apt pupil and soon learned to
keep the course to luff in the puffs and to cast off the sheet in an emergency
Having grown tired apparently of the task she relinquished the oar to me
I had folded up the blankets but she now proceeded to spread them out on the
bottom When all was arranged snugly she said »Now sir to bed And you shall
sleep until luncheon Till dinnertime« she corrected remembering the
arrangement on the Ghost
What could I do She insisted and said »Please please« whereupon I
turned the oar over to her and obeyed I experienced a positive sensuous delight
as I crawled into the bed she had made with her hands The calm and control
which were so much a part of her seemed to have been communicated to the
blankets so that I was aware of a soft dreaminess and content and of an oval
face and brown eyes framed in a fishermans cap and tossing against a background
now of gray cloud now of gray sea and then I was aware that I had been asleep
I looked at my watch It was one oclock I had slept seven hours And she
had been steering seven hours When I took the steeringoar I had first to
unbend her cramped fingers Her modicum of strength had been exhausted and she
was unable even to move from her position I was compelled to let go the sheet
while I helped her to the nest of blankets and chafed her hands and arms
»I am so tired« she said with a quick intake of the breath and a sigh
drooping her head wearily
But she straightened it the next moment »Now dont scold dont you dare
scold« she cried with mock defiance
»I hope my face does not appear angry« I answered seriously »for I assure
you I am not in the least angry«
»Nno« she considered »It looks only reproachful«
»Then it is an honest face for it looks what I feel You were not fair to
yourself nor to me How can I ever trust you again«
She looked penitent »Ill be good« she said as a naughty child might say
it »I promise «
»To obey as a sailor would obey his captain«
»Yes« she answered »It was stupid of me I know«
»Then you must promise something else« I ventured
»Readily«
»That you will not say Please please too often for when you do you are
sure to override my authority«
She laughed with amused appreciation She too had noticed the power of the
repeated »please«
»It is a good word « I began
»But I must not overwork it« she broke in
But she laughed weakly and her head drooped again I left the oar long
enough to tuck the blankets about her feet and to pull a single fold across her
face Alas she was not strong I looked with misgiving toward the southwest and
thought of the six hundred miles of hardship before us ay if it were no worse
than hardship On this sea a storm might blow up at any moment and destroy us
And yet I was unafraid I was without confidence in the future extremely
doubtful and yet I felt no underlying fear It must come right it must come
right I repeated to myself over and over again
The wind freshened in the afternoon raising a stiffer sea and trying the
boat and me severely But the supply of food and the nine breakers of water
enabled the boat to stand up to the sea and wind and I held on as long as I
dared Then I removed the sprit tightly hauling down the peak of the sail and
we raced along under what sailors call a legofmutton
Late in the afternoon I sighted a steamers smoke on the horizon to leeward
and I knew it either for a Russian cruiser or more likely the Macedonia still
seeking the Ghost The sun had not shone all day and it had been bitter cold
As night drew on the clouds darkened and the wind freshened so that when Maud
and I ate supper it was with our mittens on and with me still steering and
eating morsels between puffs
By the time it was dark wind and sea had become too strong for the boat
and I reluctantly took in the sail and set about making a drag or seaanchor I
had learned of the device from the talk of the hunters and it was a simple
thing to manufacture Furling the sail and lashing it securely about the mast
boom sprit and two pairs of spare oars I threw it overboard A line connected
it with the bow and as it floated low in the water practically unexposed to
the wind it drifted less rapidly than the boat In consequence it held the boat
bow on to the sea and wind the safest position in which to escape being
swamped when the sea is breaking into whitecaps
»And now« Maud asked cheerfully when the task was accomplished and I
pulled on my mittens
»And now we are no longer travelling toward Japan« I answered »Our drift
is to the southeast or southsoutheast at the rate of at least two miles an
hour«
»That will be only twentyfour miles« she urged »if the wind remains high
all night«
»Yes and only one hundred and forty miles if it continues for three days
and nights«
»But it wont continue« she said with easy confidence »It will turn
around and blow fair«
»The sea is the great faithless one«
»But the wind« she retorted »I have heard you grow eloquent over the brave
tradewind«
»I wish I had thought to bring Wolf Larsens chronometer and sextant« I
said still gloomily »Sailing one direction drifting another direction to say
nothing of the set of the current in some third direction makes a resultant
which dead reckoning can never calculate Before long we wont know where we are
by five hundred miles«
Then I begged her pardon and promised I should not be disheartened any more
At her solicitation I let her take the watch till midnight it was then nine
oclock but I wrapped her in blankets and put an oilskin about her before I lay
down I slept only catnaps The boat was leaping and pounding as it fell over
the crests I could hear the seas rushing past and spray was continually being
thrown aboard And still it was not a bad night I mused nothing to the
nights I had been through on the Ghost nothing perhaps to the nights we
should go through in this cockleshell Its planking was threequarters of an
inch thick Between us and the bottom of the sea was less than an inch of wood
And yet I aver it and I aver it again I was unafraid The death which
Wolf Larsen and even Thomas Mugridge had made me fear I no longer feared The
coming of Maud Brewster into my life seemed to have transformed me After all I
thought it is better and finer to love than to be loved if it makes something
in life so worth while that one is not loath to die for it I forget my own life
in the love of another life and yet such is the paradox I never wanted so
much to live as right now when I place the least value upon my own life I never
had so much reason for living was my concluding thought and after that until
I dozed I contented myself with trying to pierce the darkness to where I knew
Maud crouched low in the sternsheets watchful of the foaming sea and ready to
call me on an instants notice
Chapter XXVIII
There is no need of going into an extended recital of our suffering in the small
boat during the many days we were driven and drifted here and there
willynilly across the ocean The high wind blew from the northwest for
twentyfour hours when it fell calm and in the night sprang up from the
southwest This was dead in our teeth but I took in the seaanchor and set
sail hauling a course on the wind which took us in a southsoutheasterly
direction It was an even choice between this and the westnorthwesterly course
which the wind permitted but the warm airs of the south fanned my desire for a
warmer sea and swayed my decision
In three hours it was midnight I well remember and as dark as I had
ever seen it on the sea the wind still blowing out of the southwest rose
furiously and once again I was compelled to set the seaanchor
Day broke and found me waneyed and the ocean lashed white the boat
pitching almost on end to its drag We were in imminent danger of being
swamped by the whitecaps As it was spray and spume came aboard in such
quantities that I bailed without cessation The blankets were soaking
Everything was wet except Maud and she in oilskins rubber boots and
souwester was dry all but her face and hands and a stray wisp of hair She
relieved me at the bailinghole from time to time and bravely she threw out the
water and faced the storm All things are relative It was no more than a stiff
blow but to us fighting for life in our frail craft it was indeed a storm
Cold and cheerless the wind beating on our faces the white seas roaring
by we struggled through the day Night came but neither of us slept Day came
and still the wind beat on our faces and the white seas roared past By the
second night Maud was falling asleep from exhaustion I covered her with
oilskins and a tarpaulin She was comparatively dry but she was numb with the
cold I feared greatly that she might die in the night but day broke cold and
cheerless with the same clouded sky and beating wind and roaring seas
I had had no sleep for fortyeight hours I was wet and chilled to the
marrow till I felt more dead than alive My body was stiff from exertion as
well as from cold and my aching muscles gave me the severest torture whenever I
used them and I used them continually And all the time we were being driven
off into the northeast directly away from Japan and toward bleak Bering Sea
And still we lived and the boat lived and the wind blew unabated In fact
toward nightfall of the third day it increased a trifle and something more The
boats bow plunged under a crest and we came through quarterfull of water I
bailed like a madman The liability of shipping another such sea was enormously
increased by the water that weighed the boat down and robbed it of its buoyancy
And another such sea meant the end When I had the boat empty again I was forced
to take away the tarpaulin which covered Maud in order that I might lash it
down across the bow It was well I did for it covered the boat folly a third of
the way aft and three times in the next several hours it flung off the bulk
of the downrushing water when the bow shoved under the seas
Mauds condition was pitiable She sat crouched in the bottom of the boat
her lips blue her face gray and plainly showing the pain she suffered But ever
her eyes looked bravely at me and ever her lips uttered brave words
The worst of the storm must have blown that night though little I noticed
it I had succumbed and slept where I sat in the sternsheets The morning of
the fourth day found the wind diminished to a gentle whisper the sea dying down
and the sun shining upon us Oh the blessed sun How we bathed our poor bodies
in its delicious warmth reviving like bugs and crawling things after a storm
We smiled again said amusing things and waxed optimistic over our situation
Yet it was if anything worse than ever We were farther from Japan than the
night we left the Ghost Nor could I more than roughly guess our latitude and
longitude At a calculation of a twomile drift per hour during the seventy and
odd hours of the storm we had been driven at least one hundred and fifty miles
to the northeast But was such calculated drift correct For all I knew it
might have been four miles per hour instead of two In which case we were
another hundred and fifty miles to the bad
Where we were I did not know though there was quite a likelihood that we
were in the vicinity of the Ghost There were seals about us and I was prepared
to sight a sealing schooner at any time We did sight one in the afternoon
when the northwest breeze had sprung up freshly once more But the strange
schooner lost itself on the skyline and we alone occupied the circle of the
sea
Came days of fog when even Mauds spirit drooped and there were no merry
words upon her lips days of calm when we floated on the lonely immensity of
sea oppressed by its greatness and yet marvelling at the miracle of tiny life
for we still lived and struggled to live days of sleet and wind and
snowsqualls when nothing could keep us warm or days of drizzling rain when
we filled our waterbreakers from the drip of the wet sail
And ever I loved Maud with an increasing love She was so manysided so
manymooded proteanmooded I called her But I called her this and other and
dearer things in my thoughts only Though the declaration of my love urged and
trembled on my tongue a thousand times I knew that it was no time for such a
declaration If for no other reason it was no time when one was protecting and
trying to save a woman to ask that woman for her love Delicate as was the
situation not alone in this but in other ways I flattered myself that I was
able to deal delicately with it and also I flattered myself that by look or
sign I gave no advertisement of the love I felt for her We were like good
comrades and we grew better comrades as the days went by
One thing about her which surprised me was her lack of timidity and fear
The terrible sea the frail boat the storms the suffering the strangeness and
isolation of the situation all that should have frightened a robust woman
seemed to make no impression upon her who had known life only in its most
sheltered and consummately artificial aspects and who was herself all fire and
dew and mist sublimated spirit all that was soft and tender and clinging in
woman And yet I am wrong She was timid and afraid but she possessed courage
The flesh and the qualms of the flesh she was heir to but the flesh bore
heavily only on the flesh And she was spirit first and always spirit
etherealized essence of life calm as her calm eyes and sure of permanence in
the changing order of the universe
Came days of storm days and nights of storm when the ocean menaced us with
its roaring whiteness and the wind smote our struggling boat with a Titans
buffets And ever we were flung off farther and farther to the northeast It
was in such a storm and the worst that we had experienced that I cast a weary
glance to leeward not in quest of anything but more from the weariness of
facing the elemental strife and in mute appeal almost to the wrathful powers
to cease and let us be What I saw I could not at first believe Days and nights
of sleeplessness and anxiety had doubtless turned my head I looked back at
Maud to identify myself as it were in time and space The sight of her dear
wet cheeks her flying hair and her brave brown eyes convinced me that my
vision was still healthy Again I turned my face to leeward and again I saw the
jutting promontory black and high and naked the raging surf that broke about
its base and beat its front high up with spouting fountains the black and
forbidding coastline running toward the southeast and fringed with a tremendous
scarf of white
»Maud« I said »Maud«
She turned her head and beheld the sight
»It cannot be Alaska« she cried
»Alas no« I answered and asked »Can you swim«
She shook her head
»Neither can I« I said »So we must get ashore without swimming in some
opening between the rocks through which we can drive the boat and clamber out
But we must be quick most quick and sure«
I spoke with a confidence she knew I did not feel for she looked at me with
that unfaltering gaze of hers and said
»I have not thanked you yet for all you have done for me but «
She hesitated as if in doubt how best to word her gratitude
»Well« I said brutally for I was not quite pleased with her thanking me
»You might help me« she smiled
»To acknowledge your obligations before you die Not at all We are not
going to die We shall land on that island and we shall be snug and sheltered
before the day is done«
I spoke stoutly but I did not believe a word Nor was I prompted to lie
through fear I felt no fear though I was sure of death in that boiling surge
amongst the rocks which was rapidly growing nearer It was impossible to hoist
sail and claw off that shore The wind would instantly capsize the boat the
seas would swamp it the moment it fell into the trough and besides the sail
lashed to the spare oars dragged in the sea ahead of us
As I say I was not afraid to meet my own death there a few hundred yards
to leeward but I was appalled at the thought that Maud must die My cursed
imagination saw her beaten and mangled against the rocks and it was too
terrible I strove to compel myself to think we would make the landing safely
and so I spoke not what I believed but what I preferred to believe
I recoiled before contemplation of that frightful death and for a moment I
entertained the wild idea of seizing Maud in my arms and leaping overboard Then
I resolved to wait and at the last moment when we entered on the final
stretch to take her in my arms and proclaim my love and with her in my
embrace to make the desperate struggle and die
Instinctively we drew closer together in the bottom of the boat I felt her
mittened hand come out to mine And thus without speech we waited the end We
were not far off the line the wind made with the western edge of the promontory
and I watched in the hope that some set of the current or send of the sea would
drift us past before we reached the surf
»We shall go clear« I said with a confidence which I knew deceived neither
of us
»By God we will go clear« I cried five minutes later
The oath left my lips in my excitement the first I do believe in my
life unless trouble it an expletive of my youth be accounted an oath
»I beg your pardon« I said
»You have convinced me of your sincerity« she said with a faint smile »I
do know now that we shall go clear«
I had seen a distant headland past the extreme edge of the promontory and
as we looked we could see grow the intervening coastline of what was evidently
a deep cove At the same time there broke upon our ears a continuous and mighty
bellowing It partook of the magnitude and volume of distant thunder and it
came to us directly from leeward rising above the crash of the surf and
travelling directly in the teeth of the storm As we passed the point the whole
cove burst upon our view a halfmoon of white sandy beach upon which broke a
huge surf and which was covered with myriads of seals It was from them that
the great bellowing went up
»A rookery« I cried »Now are we indeed saved There must be men and
cruisers to protect them from the sealhunters Possibly there is a station
ashore«
But as I studied the surf which beat upon the beach I said »Still bad but
not so bad And now if the gods be truly kind we shall drift by that next
headland and come upon a perfectly sheltered beach where we may land without
wetting our feet«
And the gods were kind The first and second headlands were directly in line
with the southwest wind but once around the second and we went perilously
near we picked up the third headland still in line with the wind and with
the other two But the cove that intervened It penetrated deep into the land
and the tide setting in drifted us under the shelter of the point Here the
sea was calm save for a heavy but smooth groundswell and I took in the
seaanchor and began to row From the point the shore curved away more and more
to the south and west until at last it disclosed a cove within the cove a
little landlocked harbor the water level as a pond broken only by tiny
ripples where vagrant breaths and wisps of the storm hurtled down from over the
frowning wall of rock that backed the beach a hundred feet inshore
Here were no seals whatever The boats stem touched the hard shingle I
sprang out extending my hand to Maud The next moment she was beside me As my
fingers released hers she clutched for my arm hastily At the same moment I
swayed as about to fall to the sand This was the startling effect of the
cessation of motion We had been so long upon the moving rocking sea that the
stable land was a shock to us We expected the beach to lift up this way and
that and the rocky walls to swing back and forth like the sides of a ship and
when we braced ourselves automatically for these various expected movements
their nonoccurrence quite overcame our equilibrium
»I really must sit down« Maud said with a nervous laugh and a dizzy
gesture and forthwith she sat down on the sand
I attended to making the boat secure and joined her Thus we landed on
Endeavor Island as we came to it landsick from long custom of the sea
Chapter XXIX
»Fool« I cried aloud in my vexation
I had unloaded the boat and carried its contents high up on the beach where
I had set about making a camp There was driftwood though not much on the
beach and the sight of a coffee tin I had taken from the Ghosts larder had
given me the idea of a fire
»Blithering idiot« I was continuing
But Maud said »Tut tut« in gentle reproval and then asked why I was a
blithering idiot
»No matches« I groaned »Not a match did I bring And now we shall have no
hot coffee soup tea or anything«
»Wasnt it er Crusoe who rubbed sticks together« she drawled
»But I have read the personal narratives of a score of shipwrecked men who
tried and tried in vain« I answered »I remember Winters a newspaper fellow
with an Alaskan and Siberian reputation Met him at the Bibelot once and he was
telling us how he attempted to make a fire with a couple of sticks It was most
amusing He told it inimitably but it was the story of a failure I remember
his conclusion his black eyes flashing as he said Gentlemen the South Sea
Islander may do it the Malay may do it but take my word its beyond the white
man«
»Oh well weve managed so far without it« she said cheerfully »And
theres no reason why we cannot still manage without it«
»But think of the coffee« I cried »Its good coffee too I know I took
it from Larsens private stores And look at that good wood«
I confess I wanted the coffee badly and I learned not long afterward
that the berry was likewise a little weakness of Mauds Besides we had been so
long on a cold diet that we were numb inside as well as out Anything warm would
have been most gratifying But I complained no more and set about making a tent
of the sail for Maud
I had looked upon it as a simple task what of the oars mast boom and
sprit to say nothing of plenty of lines But as I was without experience and
as every detail was an experiment and every successful detail an invention the
day was well gone before her shelter was an accomplished fact And then that
night it rained and she was flooded out and driven back into the boat
The next morning I dug a shallow ditch around the tent and an hour later
a sudden gust of wind whipping over the rocky wall behind us picked up the
tent and smashed it down on the sand thirty yards away
Maud laughed at my crestfallen expression and I said »As soon as the wind
abates I intend going in the boat to explore the island There must be a station
somewhere and men And ships must visit the station Some government must
protect all these seals But I wish to have you comfortable before I start«
»I should like to go with you« was all she said
»It would be better if you remained You have had enough of hardship It is
a miracle that you have survived And it wont be comfortable in the boat
rowing and sailing in this rainy weather What you need is rest and I should
like you to remain and get it«
Something suspiciously akin to moistness dimmed her beautiful eyes before
she dropped them and partly turned away her head
»I should prefer going with you« she said in a low voice in which there
was just a hint of appeal
»I might be able to help you a « her voice broke »a little And if
anything should happen to you think of me left here alone«
»Oh I intend being very careful« I answered »And I shall not go so far
but what I can get back before night Yes all said and done I think it vastly
better for you to remain and sleep and rest and do nothing«
She turned and looked me in the eyes Her gaze was unfaltering but soft
»Please please« she said oh so softly
I stiffened myself to refuse and shook my head Still she waited and looked
at me I tried to word my refusal but wavered I saw the glad light spring into
her eyes and knew that I had lost It was impossible to say no after that
The wind died down in the afternoon and we were prepared to start the
following morning There was no way of penetrating the island from our cove for
the walls rose perpendicularly from the beach and on either side of the cove
rose from the deep water
Morning broke dull and gray but calm and I was awake early and had the
boat in readiness
»Fool Imbecile Yahoo« I shouted when I thought it was meet to arouse
Maud but this time I shouted in merriment as I danced about the beach
bareheaded in mock despair
Her head appeared under the flap of the sail
»What now« she asked sleepily and withal curiously
»Coffee« I cried »What do you say to a cup of coffee hot coffee piping
hot«
»My« she murmured »you startled me and you are cruel Here I have been
composing my soul to do without it and here you are vexing me with your vain
suggestions«
»Watch me« I said
From under clefts among the rocks I gathered a few dry sticks and chips
These I whittled into shavings or split into kindling From my notebook I tore
out a page and from the ammunition box took a shotgun shell Removing the wads
from the latter with my knife I emptied the powder on a flat rock Next I pried
the primer or cap from the shell and laid it on the rock in the midst of the
scattered powder All was ready Maud still watched from the tent Holding the
paper in my left hand I smashed down upon the cap with a rock held in my right
There was a puff of white smoke a burst of flame and the rough edge of the
paper was alight
Maud clapped her hands gleefully »Prometheus« she cried
But I was too occupied to acknowledge her delight The feeble flame must be
cherished tenderly if it were to gather strength and live I fed it shaving by
shaving and sliver by sliver till at last it was snapping and crackling as it
laid hold of the smaller chips and sticks To be cast away on an island had not
entered into my calculations so we were without a kettle or cooking utensils of
any sort but I made shift with the tin used for bailing the boat and later as
we consumed our supply of canned goods we accumulated quite an imposing array
of cooking vessels
I boiled the water but it was Maud who made the coffee And how good it
was My contribution was canned beef fried with crumbled seabiscuit and water
The breakfast was a success and we sat about the fire much longer than
enterprising explorers should have done sipping the hot black coffee and
talking over our situation
I was confident that we should find a station in some one of the coves for
I knew that the rookeries of Bering Sea were thus guarded but Maud advanced the
theory to prepare me for disappointment I do believe if disappointment were
to come that we had discovered an unknown rookery She was in very good
spirits however and made quite merry in accepting our plight as a grave one
»If you are right« I said »then we must prepare to winter here Our food
will not last but there are the seals They go away in the fall so I must soon
begin to lay in a supply of meat Then there will be huts to build and driftwood
to gather Also we shall try out seal fat for lighting purposes Altogether
well have our hands full if we find the island uninhabited Which we shall not
I know«
But she was right We sailed with a beam wind along the shore searching the
coves with our glasses and landing occasionally without finding a sign of human
life Yet we learned that we were not the first who had landed on Endeavor
Island High up on the beach of the second cove from ours we discovered the
splintered wreck of a boat a sealers boat for the rowlocks were bound in
sennit a gunrack was on the starboard side of the bow and in white letters
was faintly visible Gazelle No 2 The boat had lain there for a long time for
it was half filled with sand and the splintered wood had that weatherworn
appearance due to long exposure to the elements In the sternsheets I found a
rusty tengauge shotgun and a sailors sheathknife broken short across and so
rusted as to be almost unrecognizable
»They got away« I said cheerfully but I felt a sinking at the heart and
seemed to divine the presence of bleached bones somewhere on that beach
I did not wish Mauds spirits to be dampened by such a find so I turned
seaward again with our boat and skirted the northeastern point of the island
There were no beaches on the southern shore and by early afternoon we rounded
the black promontory and completed the circumnavigation of the island I
estimated its circumference at twentyfive miles its width as varying from two
to five miles while my most conservative calculation placed on its beaches two
hundred thousand seals The island was highest at its extreme southwestern
point the headlands and backbone diminishing regularly until the northeastern
portion was only a few feet above the sea With the exception of our little
cove the other beaches sloped gently back for a distance of half a mile or so
into what I might call rocky meadows with here and there patches of moss and
tundra grass Here the seals hauled out and the old bulls guarded their harems
while the young bulls hauled out by themselves
This brief description is all that Endeavor Island merits Damp and soggy
where it was not sharp and rocky buffeted by storm winds and lashed by the sea
with the air continually atremble with the bellowing of two hundred thousand
amphibians it was a melancholy and miserable sojourning place Maud who had
prepared me for disappointment and who had been sprightly and vivacious all
day broke down as we landed in our own little cove She strove bravely to hide
it from me but while I was kindling another fire I knew she was stifling her
sobs in the blankets under the sailtent
It was my turn to be cheerful and I played the part to the best of my
ability and with such success that I brought the laughter back into her dear
eyes and song on her lips for she sang to me before she went to an early bed
It was the first time I had heard her sing and I lay by the fire listening and
transported for she was nothing if not an artist in everything she did and her
voice though not strong was wonderfully sweet and expressive
I still slept in the boat and I lay awake long that night gazing up at the
first stars I had seen in many nights and pondering the situation
Responsibility of this sort was a new thing to me Wolf Larsen had been quite
right I had stood on my fathers legs My lawyers and agents had taken care of
my money for me I had had no responsibilities at all Then on the Ghost I had
learned to be responsible for myself And now for the first time in my life I
found myself responsible for some one else And it was required of me that this
should be the gravest of responsibilities for she was the one woman in the
world the one small woman as I loved to think of her
Chapter XXX
No wonder we called it Endeavor Island For two weeks we toiled at building a
hut Maud insisted on helping and I could have wept over her bruised and
bleeding hands And still I was proud of her because of it There was something
heroic about this gently bred woman enduring our terrible hardship and with her
pittance of strength bending to the tasks of a peasant woman She gathered many
of the stones which I built into the walls of the hut also she turned a deaf
ear to my entreaties when I begged her to desist She compromised however by
taking upon herself the lighter labors of cooking and gathering driftwood and
moss for our winters supply
The huts walls rose without difficulty and everything went smoothly until
the problem of the roof confronted me Of what use the four walls without a
roof And of what could a roof be made There were the spare oars very true
They would serve as roofbeams but with what was I to cover them Moss would
never do Tundra grass was impracticable We needed the sail for the boat and
the tarpaulin had begun to leak
»Winters used walrus skins on his hut« I said
»There are the seals« she suggested
So next day the hunting began I did not know how to shoot but I proceeded
to learn And when I had expended some thirty shells for three seals I decided
that the ammunition would be exhausted before I acquired the necessary
knowledge I had used eight shells for lighting fires before I hit upon the
device of banking the embers with wet moss and there remained not over a
hundred shells in the box
»We must club the seals« I announced when convinced of my poor
marksmanship »I have heard the sealers talk about clubbing them«
»They are so pretty« she objected »I cannot bear to think of it being
done It is so directly brutal you know so different from shooting them«
»That roof must go on« I answered grimly »Winter is almost here It is our
lives against theirs It is unfortunate we havent plenty of ammunition but I
think anyway that they suffer less from being clubbed than from being all shot
up Besides I shall do the clubbing«
»Thats just it« she began eagerly and broke off in sudden confusion
»Of course« I began »If you prefer «
»But what shall I be doing« she interrupted with that softness I knew full
well to be insistence
»Gathering firewood and cooking dinner« I answered lightly
She shook her head »It is too dangerous for you to attempt alone«
»I know I know« she waived my protest »I am only a weak woman but just
my small assistance may enable you to escape disaster«
»But the clubbing« I suggested
»Of course you will do that I shall probably scream Ill look away when
«
»The danger is most serious« I laughed
»I shall use my judgment when to look and when not to look« she replied
with a grand air
The upshot of the affair was that she accompanied me next morning I rowed
into the adjoining cove and up to the edge of the beach There were seals all
about us in the water and the bellowing thousands on the beach compelled us to
shout at each other to make ourselves heard
»I know men club them« I said trying to reassure myself and gazing
doubtfully at a large bull not thirty feet away upreared on his foreflippers
and regarding me intently »But the question is How do they club them«
»Let us gather tundra grass and thatch the roof« Maud said
She was as frightened as I at the prospect and we had reason to be gazing
at close range at the gleaming teeth and doglike mouths
»I always thought they were afraid of men« I said
»How do I know they are not afraid« I queried a moment later after having
rowed a few more strokes along the beach »Perhaps if I were to step boldly
ashore they would cut for it and I could not catch up with one«
And still I hesitated
»I heard of a man once who invaded the nesting grounds of wild geese«
Maud said »They killed him«
»The geese«
»Yes the geese My brother told me about it when I was a little girl«
»But I know men club them« I persisted
»I think the tundra grass will make just as good a roof« she said
Far from her intention her words were maddening me driving me on I could
not play the coward before her eyes
»Here goes« I said backing water with one oar and running the bow ashore
I stepped out and advanced valiantly upon a longmaned bull in the midst of
his wives I was armed with the regular club with which the boatpullers killed
the wounded seals gaffed aboard by the hunters It was only a foot and a half
long and in my superb ignorance I never dreamed that the club used ashore when
raiding the rookeries measured four to five feet The cows lumbered out of my
way and the distance between me and the bull decreased He raised himself on
his flippers with an angry movement We were a dozen feet apart Still I
advanced steadily looking for him to turn tail at any moment and run
At six feet the panicky thought rushed into my mind What if he will not
run Why then I shall club him came the answer In my fear I had forgotten
that I was there to get the bull instead of to make him run And just then he
gave a snort and a snarl and rushed at me His eyes were blazing his mouth was
wide open the teeth gleamed cruelly white Without shame I confess that it was
I who turned and footed it He ran awkwardly but he ran well He was but two
paces behind when I tumbled into the boat and as I shoved off with an oar his
teeth crunched down upon the blade The stout wood was crushed like an
eggshell Maud and I were astounded A moment later he had dived under the
boat seized the keel in his mouth and was shaking the boat violently
»My« said Maud »Lets go back«
I shook my head »I can do what other men have done and I know that other
men have clubbed seals But I think Ill leave the bulls alone next time«
»I wish you wouldnt« she said
»Now dont say Please please« I cried half angrily I do believe
She made no reply and I knew my tone must have hurt her
»I beg your pardon« I said or shouted rather in order to make myself
heard above the roar of the rookery »If you say so Ill turn and go back but
honestly Id rather stay«
»Now dont say that this is what you get for bringing a woman along« she
said She smiled at me whimsically gloriously and I knew there was no need for
forgiveness
I rowed a couple of hundred feet along the beach so as to recover my nerves
and then stepped ashore again
»Do be cautious« she called after me
I nodded my head and proceeded to make a flank attack on the nearest harem
All went well until I aimed a blow at an outlying cows head and fell short She
snorted and tried to scramble away I ran in close and struck another blow
hitting the shoulder instead of the head
»Watch out« I heard Maud scream
In my excitement I had not been taking notice of other things and I looked
up to see the lord of the harem charging down upon me Again I fled to the boat
hotly pursued but this time Maud made no suggestion of turning back
»It would be better I imagine if you let harems alone and devoted your
attention to lonely and inoffensivelooking seals« was what she said »I think
I have read something about them Dr Jordans book I believe They are the
young bulls not old enough to have harems of their own He called them the
holluschickie or something like that It seems to me if we find where they haul
out «
»It seems to me that your fighting instinct is aroused« I laughed
She flushed quickly and prettily »Ill admit I dont like defeat any more
than you do or any more than I like the idea of killing such pretty
inoffensive creatures«
»Pretty« I sniffed »I failed to mark anything preeminently pretty about
those foamymouthed beasts that raced me«
»Your point of view« she laughed »You lacked perspective Now if you did
not have to get so close to the subject «
»The very thing« I cried »What I need is a longer club And theres that
broken oar ready to hand«
»It just comes to me« she said »that Captain Larsen was telling me how the
men raided the rookeries They drive the seals in small herds a short distance
inland before they kill them«
»I dont care to undertake the herding of one of those harems« I objected
»But there are the holluschickie« she said »The holluschickie haul out by
themselves and Dr Jordan says that paths are left between the harems and that
as long as the holluschickie keep strictly to the path they are unmolested by
the masters of the harem«
»Theres one now« I said pointing to a young bull in the water »Lets
watch him and follow him if he hauls out«
He swam directly to the beach and clambered out into a small opening between
two harems the masters of which made warning noises but did not attack him We
watched him travel slowly inward threading about among the harems along what
must have been the path
»Here goes« I said stepping out but I confess my heart was in my mouth as
I thought of going through the heart of that monstrous herd
»It would be wise to make the boat fast« Maud said
She had stepped out beside me and I regarded her with wonderment
She nodded her head determinedly »Yes Im going with you so you may as
well secure the boat and arm me with a club«
»Lets go back« I said dejectedly »I think tundra grass will do after
all«
»You know it wont« was her reply »Shall I lead«
With a shrug of the shoulders but with the warmest admiration and pride at
heart for this woman I equipped her with the broken oar and took another for
myself It was with nervous trepidation that we made the first few rods of the
journey Once Maud screamed in terror as a cow thrust an inquisitive nose toward
her foot and several times I quickened my pace for the same reason But beyond
warning coughs from either side there were no signs of hostility It was a
rookery which had never been raided by the hunters and in consequence the seals
were mildtempered and at the same time unafraid
In the very heart of the herd the din was terrific It was almost dizzying
in its effect I paused and smiled reassuringly at Maud for I had recovered my
equanimity sooner than she I could see that she was still badly frightened She
came close to me and shouted
»Im dreadfully afraid«
And I was not Though the novelty had not yet worn off the peaceful
comportment of the seals had quieted my alarm Maud was trembling
»Im afraid and Im not afraid« she chattered with shaking jaws »Its my
miserable body not I«
»Its all right its all right« I reassured her my arm passing
instinctively and protectingly around her
I shall never forget in that moment how instantly conscious I became of my
manhood The primitive deeps of my nature stirred I felt myself masculine the
protector of the weak the fighting male And best of all I felt myself the
protector of my loved one She leaned against me so light and lilyfrail and
as her trembling eased away it seemed as though I became aware of prodigious
strength I felt myself a match for the most ferocious bull in the herd and I
know had such a bull charged upon me that I should have met it unflinchingly
and quite coolly and I know that I should have killed it
»I am all right now« she said looking up at me gratefully »Let us go
on«
And that the strength in me had quieted her and given her confidence filled
me with an exultant joy The youth of the race seemed burgeoning in me
overcivilized man that I was and I lived for myself the old hunting days and
forest nights of my remote and forgotten ancestry I had much for which to thank
Wolf Larsen was my thought as we went along the path between the jostling
harems
A quarter of a mile inland we came upon the holluschickie sleek young
bulls living out the loneliness of their bachelorhood and gathering strength
against the day when they would fight their way into the ranks of the benedicts
Everything now went smoothly I seemed to know just what to do and how to do
it Shouting making threatening gestures with my club and even prodding the
lazy ones I quickly cut out a score of the young bachelors from their
companions Whenever one made an attempt to break back toward the water I
headed it off Maud took an active part in the drive and with her cries and
flourishings of the broken oar was of considerable assistance I noticed
though that whenever one looked tired and lagged she let it slip past But I
noticed also whenever one with a show of fight tried to break past that her
eyes glinted and showed bright and she rapped it smartly with her club
»My its exciting« she cried pausing from sheer weakness »I think Ill
sit down«
I drove the little herd a dozen strong now what of the escapes she had
permitted a hundred yards farther on and by the time she joined me I had
finished the slaughter and was beginning to skin An hour later we went proudly
back along the path between the harems And twice again we came down the path
burdened with skins till I thought we had enough to roof the hut I set the
sail laid one tack out of the cove and on the other tack made our own little
inner cove
»Its just like homecoming« Maud said as I ran the boat ashore
I heard her words with a responsive thrill it was all so dearly intimate
and natural and I said
»It seems as though I have lived this life always The world of books and
bookish folk is very vague more like a dream memory than an actuality I surely
have hunted and forayed and fought all the days of my life And you too seem a
part of it You are « I was on the verge of saying my woman my mate but
glibly changed it to »standing the hardship well«
But her ear had caught the flaw She recognized a flight that midmost broke
She gave me a quick look
»Not that You were saying «
»That the American Mrs Meynell was living the life of a savage and living
it quite successfully« I said easily
»Oh« was all she replied but I could have sworn there was a note of
disappointment in her voice
But my woman my mate kept ringing in my head for the rest of the day and
for many days Yet never did it ring more loudly than that night as I watched
her draw back the blanket of moss from the coals blow up the fire and cook the
evening meal It must have been latent savagery stirring in me for the old
words so bound up with the roots of the race to grip me and thrill me And
grip and thrill they did till I fell asleep murmuring them to myself over and
over again
Chapter XXXI
»It will smell« I said »but it will keep in the heat and keep out the rain and
snow«
We were surveying the completed sealskin roof
»It is clumsy but it will serve the purpose and that is the main thing« I
went on yearning for her praise
And she clapped her hands and declared that she was hugely pleased
»But it is dark in here« she said the next moment her shoulders shrinking
with a little involuntary shiver
»You might have suggested a window when the walls were going up« I said
»It was for you and you should have seen the need of a window«
»But I never do see the obvious you know« she laughed back »And besides
you can knock a hole in the wall at any time«
»Quite true I had not thought of it« I replied wagging my head sagely
»But have you thought of ordering the windowglass Just call up the firm
Red 4451 I think it is and tell them what size and kind of glass you wish«
»That means « she began
»No window«
It was a dark and evilappearing thing that hut not fit for aught better
than swine in a civilized land but for us who had known the misery of the open
boat it was a snug little habitation Following the housewarming which was
accomplished by means of sealoil and a wick made from cotton calking came the
hunting for our winters meat and the building of the second hut It was a
simple affair now to go forth in the morning and return by noon with a
boatload of seals And then while I worked at building the hut Maud tried out
the oil from the blubber and kept a slow fire under the frames of meat I had
heard of jerking beef on the plains and our sealmeat cut in thin strips and
hung in the smoke cured excellently
The second hut was easier to erect for I built it against the first and
only three walls were required But it was work hard work all of it Maud and
I worked from dawn till dark to the limit of our strength so that when night
came we crawled stiffly to bed and slept the animallike sleep of exhaustion
And yet Maud declared that she had never felt better or stronger in her life I
knew this was true of myself but hers was such a lily strength that I feared
she would break down Often and often her last reserve force gone I have seen
her stretched flat on her back on the sand in the way she had of resting and
recuperating And then she would be up on her feet and toiling hard as ever
Where she obtained this strength was the marvel to me
»Think of the long rest this winter« was her reply to my remonstrances
»Why well be clamorous for something to do«
We held a housewarming in my hut the night it was roofed It was the end of
the third day of a fierce storm which had swung around the compass from the
southeast to the northwest and which was then blowing directly in upon us The
beaches of the outer cove were thundering with the surf and even in our
landlocked inner cove a respectable sea was breaking No high backbone of
island sheltered us from the wind and it whistled and bellowed about the hut
till at times I feared for the strength of the walls The skin roof stretched
tightly as a drumhead I had thought sagged and bellied with every gust and
innumerable interstices in the walls not so tightly stuffed with moss as Maud
had supposed disclosed themselves Yet the sealoil burned brightly and we were
warm and comfortable
It was a pleasant evening indeed and we voted that as a social function on
Endeavor Island it had not yet been eclipsed Our minds were at ease Not only
had we resigned ourselves to the bitter winter but we were prepared for it The
seals could depart on their mysterious journey into the south at any time now
for all we cared and the storms held no terror for us Not only were we sure of
being dry and warm and sheltered from the wind but we had the softest and most
luxurious mattresses that could be made from moss This had been Mauds idea
and she had herself jealously gathered all the moss This was to be my first
night on the mattress and I knew I should sleep the sweeter because she had
made it
As she rose to go she turned to me with the whimsical way she had and said
»Something is going to happen is happening for that matter I feel it
Something is coming here to us It is coming now I dont know what but it is
coming«
»Good or bad« I asked
She shook her head »I dont know but it is there somewhere«
She pointed in the direction of the sea and wind
»Its a lee shore« I laughed »and I am sure Id rather be here than
arriving a night like this«
»You are not frightened« I asked as I stepped to open the door for her
Her eyes looked bravely into mine
»And you feel well perfectly well«
»Never better« was her answer
We talked a little longer before she went
»Good night Maud« I said
»Good night Humphrey« she said
This use of our given names had come about quite as a matter of course and
was as unpremeditated as it was natural In that moment I could have put my arms
around her and drawn her to me I should certainly have done so out in that
world to which we belonged As it was the situation stopped there in the only
way it could but I was left alone in my little hut glowing warmly through and
through with a pleasant satisfaction and I knew that a tie or a tacit
something existed between us which had not existed before
Chapter XXXII
I awoke oppressed by a mysterious sensation There seemed something missing in
my environment But the mystery and oppressiveness vanished after the first few
seconds of waking when I identified the missing something as the wind I had
fallen asleep in that state of nerve tension with which one meets the continuous
shock of sound or movement and I had awakened still tense bracing myself to
meet the pressure of something which no longer bore upon me
It was the first night I had spent under cover in several months and I lay
luxuriously for some minutes under my blankets for once not wet with fog or
spray analyzing first the effect produced upon me by the cessation of the
wind and next the joy which was mine from resting on the mattress made by
Mauds hands When I had dressed and opened the door I heard the waves still
lapping on the beach garrulously attesting the fury of the night It was a
clear day and the sun was shining I had slept late and I stepped outside with
sudden energy bent upon making up lost time as befitted a dweller on Endeavor
Island
And when outside I stopped short I believed my eyes without question and
yet I was for the moment stunned by what they disclosed to me There on the
beach not fifty feet away bow on dismasted was a blackhulled vessel Masts
and booms tangled with shrouds sheets and rent canvas were rubbing gently
alongside I could have rubbed my eyes as I looked There was the homemade
galley we had built the familiar break of the poop the low yachtcabin
scarcely rising above the rail It was the Ghost
What freak of fortune had brought it here here of all spots what chance
of chances I looked at the bleak inaccessible wall at my back and knew the
profundity of despair Escape was hopeless out of the question I thought of
Maud asleep there in the hut we had reared I remembered her Good night
Humphrey my woman my mate went ringing through my brain but now alas it
was a knell that sounded Then everything went black before my eyes
Possibly it was the fraction of a second but I had no knowledge of how long
an interval had lapsed before I was myself again There lay the Ghost bow on to
the beach her splintered bowsprit projecting over the sand her tangled spars
rubbing against her side to the lift of the crooning waves Something must be
done must be done
It came upon me suddenly as strange that nothing moved aboard Wearied
from the night of struggle and wreck all hands were yet asleep I thought My
next thought was that Maud and I might yet escape If we could take to the boat
and make around the point before any one awoke I would call her and start My
hand was lifted at her door to knock when I recollected the smallness of the
island We could never hide ourselves upon it There was nothing for us but the
wide raw ocean I thought of our snug little huts our supplies of meat and oil
and moss and firewood and I knew that we could never survive the wintry sea and
the great storms which were to come
So I stood with hesitant knuckle without her door It was impossible
impossible A wild thought of rushing in and killing her as she slept rose in my
mind And then in a flash the better solution came to me All hands were
asleep Why not creep aboard the Ghost well I knew the way to Wolf Larsens
bunk and kill him in his sleep After that well we would see But with him
dead there was time and space in which to prepare to do other things and
besides whatever new situation arose it could not possibly be worse than the
present one
My knife was at my hip I returned to my hut for the shotgun made sure it
was loaded and went down to the Ghost With some difficulty and at the expense
of a wetting to the waist I climbed aboard The forecastle scuttle was open I
paused to listen for the breathing of the men but there was no breathing I
almost gasped as the thought came to me What if the Ghost is deserted I
listened more closely There was no sound I cautiously descended the ladder
The place had the empty and musty feel and smell usual to a dwelling no longer
inhabited Everywhere was a thick litter of discarded and ragged garments old
seaboots leaky oilskins all the worthless forecastle dunnage of a long
voyage
Abandoned hastily was my conclusion as I ascended to the deck Hope was
alive again in my breast and I looked about me with greater coolness I noted
that the boats were missing The steerage told the same tale as the forecastle
The hunters had packed their belongings with similar haste The Ghost was
deserted It was Mauds and mine I thought of the ships stores and the
lazarette beneath the cabin and the idea came to me of surprising Maud with
something nice for breakfast
The reaction from my fear and the knowledge that the terrible deed I had
come to do was no longer necessary made me boyish and eager I went up the
steerage companionway two steps at a time with nothing distinct in my mind
except joy and the hope that Maud would sleep on until the surprise breakfast
was quite ready for her As I rounded the galley a new satisfaction was mine at
thought of all the splendid cooking utensils inside I sprang up the break of
the poop and saw Wolf Larsen What of my impetus and the stunning surprise I
clattered three or four steps along the deck before I could stop myself He was
standing in the companionway only his head and shoulders visible staring
straight at me His arms were resting on the halfopen slide He made no
movement whatever simply stood there staring at me
I began to tremble The old stomach sickness clutched me I put one hand on
the edge of the house to steady myself My lips seemed suddenly dry and I
moistened them against the need of speech Nor did I for an instant take my eyes
off him Neither of us spoke There was something ominous in his silence his
immobility All my old fear of him returned and by new fear was increased an
hundred fold And still we stood the pair of us staring at each other
I was aware of the demand for action and my old helplessness strong upon
me I was waiting for him to take the initiative Then as the moments went by
it came to me that the situation was analogous to the one in which I had
approached the longmaned bull my intention of clubbing obscured by fear until
it became a desire to make him run So it was at last impressed upon me that I
was there not to have Wolf Larsen take the initiative but to take it myself
I cocked both barrels and levelled the shotgun at him Had he moved
attempted to drop down the companionway I know I would have shot him But he
stood motionless and staring as before And as I faced him with levelled gun
shaking in my hands I had time to note the worn and haggard appearance of his
face It was as if some strong anxiety had wasted it The cheeks were sunken
and there was a wearied puckered expression on the brow And it seemed to me
that his eyes were strange not only the expression but the physical seeming
as though the optic nerves and supporting muscles had suffered strain and
slightly twisted the eyeballs
All this I saw and my brain now working rapidly I thought a thousand
thoughts and yet I could not pull the triggers I lowered the gun and stepped
to the corner of the cabin primarily to relieve the tension on my nerves and to
make a new start and incidentally to be closer Again I raised the gun He was
almost at arms length There was no hope for him I was resolved There was no
possible chance of missing him no matter how poor my marksmanship And yet I
wrestled with myself and could not pull the triggers
»Well« he demanded impatiently
I strove vainly to force my fingers down on the triggers and vainly I
strove to say something
»Why dont you shoot« he asked
I cleared my throat of a huskiness which prevented speech
»Hump« he said slowly »you cant do it You are not exactly afraid You
are impotent Your conventional morality is stronger than you You are the slave
to the opinions which have credence among the people you have known and have
read about Their code has been drummed into your head from the time you lisped
and in spite of your philosophy and of what I have taught you it wont let you
kill an unarmed unresisting man«
»I know it« I said hoarsely
»And you know that I would kill an unarmed man as readily as I would smoke a
cigar« he went on »You know me for what I am my worth in the world by your
standard You have called me snake tiger shark monster and Caliban And yet
you little rag puppet you little echoing mechanism you are unable to kill me
as you would a snake or a shark because I have hands feet and a body shaped
somewhat like yours Bah I had hoped better things of you Hump«
He stepped out of the companionway and came up to me
»Put down that gun I want to ask you some questions I havent had a chance
to look around yet What place is this How is the Ghost lying How did you get
wet Wheres Maud I beg your pardon Miss Brewster or should I say Mrs
Van Weyden«
I had backed away from him almost weeping at my inability to shoot him but
not fool enough to put down the gun I hoped desperately that he might commit
some hostile act attempt to strike me or choke me for in such way only I knew
I could be stirred to shoot
»This is Endeavor Island« I said
»Never heard of it« he broke in
»At least thats our name for it« I amended
»Our« he queried »Whos our«
»Miss Brewster and myself And the Ghost is lying as you can see for
yourself bow on to the beach«
»There are seals here« he said »They woke me up with their barking or Id
be sleeping yet I heard them when I drove in last night They were the first
warning that I was on a lee shore Its a rookery the kind of a thing Ive
hunted for years Thanks to my brother Death Ive lighted on a fortune Its a
mint Whats its bearings«
»Havent the least idea« I said »But you ought to know quite closely What
were your last observations«
He smiled inscrutably but did not answer
»Well wheres all hands« I asked »How does it come that you are alone«
I was prepared for him again to set aside my question and was surprised at
the readiness of his reply
»My brother got me inside fortyeight hours and through no fault of mine
Boarded me in the night with only the watch on deck Hunters went back on me He
gave them a bigger lay Heard him offering it Did it right before me Of course
the crew gave me the goby That was to be expected All hands went over the
side and there I was marooned on my own vessel It was Deaths turn and its
all in the family anyway«
»But how did you lose the masts« I asked
»Walk over and examine those lanyards« he said pointing to where the
mizzen rigging should have been
»They have been cut with a knife« I exclaimed
»Not quite« he laughed »It was a neater job Look again«
I looked The lanyards had been almost severed with just enough left to
hold the shrouds till some severe strain should be put upon them
»Cooky did that« he laughed again »I know though I didnt spot him at it
Kind of evened up the score a bit«
»Good for Mugridge« I cried
»Yes thats what I thought when everything went over the side Only I said
it on the other side of my mouth«
»But what were you doing while all this was going on« I asked
»My best you may be sure which wasnt much under the circumstances«
I turned to reëxamine Thomas Mugridges work
»I guess Ill sit down and take the sunshine« I heard Wolf Larsen saying
There was a hint just a slight hint of physical feebleness in his voice
and it was so strange that I looked quickly at him His hand was sweeping
nervously across his face as though he were brushing away cobwebs I was
puzzled The whole thing was so unlike the Wolf Larsen I had known
»How are your headaches« I asked
»They still trouble me« was his answer »I think I have one coming on now«
He slipped down from his sitting posture till he lay on the deck Then he
rolled over on his side his head resting on the biceps of the under arm the
forearm shielding his eyes from the sun I stood regarding him wonderingly
»Nows your chance Hump« he said
»I dont understand« I lied for I thoroughly understood
»Oh nothing« he added softly as if he were drowsing »only youve got me
where you want me«
»No I havent« I retorted »for I want you a few thousand miles away from
here«
He chuckled and thereafter spoke no more He did not stir as I passed by
him and went down into the cabin I lifted the trap in the floor but for some
moments gazed dubiously into the darkness of the lazarette beneath I hesitated
to descend What if his lying down were a ruse Pretty indeed to be caught
there like a rat I crept softly up the companionway and peeped at him He was
lying as I had left him Again I went below but before I dropped into the
lazarette I took the precaution of casting down the door in advance At least
there would be no lid to the trap But it was all needless I regained the cabin
with a store of jams seabiscuits canned meats and such things all I could
carry and replaced the trapdoor
A peep at Wolf Larsen showed me that he had not moved A bright thought
struck me I stole into his stateroom and possessed myself of his revolvers
There were no other weapons though I thoroughly ransacked the three remaining
staterooms To make sure I returned and went through the steerage and
forecastle and in the galley gathered up all the sharp meat and vegetable
knives Then I bethought me of the great yachtsmans knife he always carried
and I came to him and spoke to him first softly then loudly He did not move
I bent over and took it from his pocket I breathed more freely He had no arms
with which to attack me from a distance while I armed could always forestall
him should he attempt to grapple me with his terrible gorilla arms
Filling a coffeepot and fryingpan with part of my plunder and taking some
chinaware from the cabin pantry I left Wolf Larsen lying in the sun and went
ashore
Maud was still asleep I blew up the embers we had not yet arranged a
winter kitchen and quite feverishly cooked the breakfast Toward the end I
heard her moving about within the hut making her toilet Just as all was ready
and the coffee poured the door opened and she came forth
»Its not fair of you« was her greeting »You are usurping one of my
prerogatives You know you agreed that the cooking should be mine and «
»But just this once« I pleaded
»If you promise not to do it again« she smiled »Unless of course you
have grown tired of my poor efforts«
To my delight she never once looked toward the beach and I maintained the
banter with such success that all unconsciously she sipped coffee from the china
cup ate fried evaporated potatoes and spread marmalade on her biscuit But it
could not last I saw the surprise that came over her She had discovered the
china plate from which she was eating She looked over the breakfast noting
detail after detail Then she looked at me and her face turned slowly toward
the beach
»Humphrey« she said
The old unnamable terror mounted into her eyes
»Is he « she quavered
I nodded my head
Chapter XXXIII
We waited all day for Wolf Larsen to come ashore It was an intolerable period
of anxiety Each moment one or the other of us cast expectant glances toward the
Ghost But he did not come He did not even appear on deck
»Perhaps it is his headache« I said »I left him lying on the poop He may
lie there all night I think Ill go and see«
Maud looked entreaty at me
»It is all right« I assured her »I shall take the revolvers You know I
collected every weapon on board«
»But there are his arms his hands his terrible terrible hands« she
objected And then she cried »Oh Humphrey I am afraid of him Dont go
please dont go«
She rested her hand appealingly on mine and sent my pulse fluttering My
heart was surely in my eyes for a moment The dear and lovely woman And she was
so much the woman clinging and appealing sunshine and dew to my manhood
rooting it deeper and sending through it the sap of a new strength I was for
putting my arm around her as when in the midst of the seal herd but I
considered and refrained
»I shall not take any risks« I said »Ill merely peep over the bow and
see«
She pressed my hand earnestly and let me go But the space on deck where I
had left him lying was vacant He had evidently gone below That night we stood
alternate watches one of us sleeping at a time for there was no telling what
Wolf Larsen might do He was certainly capable of anything
The next day we waited and the next and still he made no sign
»These headaches of his these attacks« Maud said on the afternoon of the
fourth day »perhaps he is ill very ill He may be dead«
»Or dying« was her afterthought when she had waited some time for me to
speak
»Better so« I answered
»But think Humphrey a fellowcreature in his last lonely hour«
»Perhaps« I suggested
»Yes even perhaps« she acknowledged »But we do not know It would be
terrible if he were I could never forgive myself We must do something«
»Perhaps« I suggested again
I waited smiling inwardly at the woman of her which compelled a solicitude
for Wolf Larsen of all creatures Where was her solicitude for me I thought
for me whom she had been afraid to have merely peep aboard
She was too subtle not to follow the trend of my silence And she was as
direct as she was subtle
»You must go aboard Humphrey and find out« she said »And if you want to
laugh at me you have my consent and forgiveness«
I arose obediently and went down the beach
»Do be careful« she called after me
I waved my arm from the forecastle head and dropped down to the deck Aft I
walked to the cabin companion where I contented myself with hailing below Wolf
Larsen answered and as he started to ascend the stairs I cocked my revolver I
displayed it openly during our conversation but he took no notice of it He
appeared the same physically as when last I saw him but he was gloomy and
silent In fact the few words we spoke could hardly be called a conversation I
did not inquire why he had not been ashore nor did he ask why I had not come
aboard His head was all right again he said and so without further parley I
left him
Maud received my report with obvious relief and the sight of smoke which
later rose in the galley put her in a more cheerful mood The next day and the
next we saw the galley smoke rising and sometimes we caught glimpses of him on
the poop But that was all He made no attempt to come ashore This we knew for
we still maintained our nightwatches We were waiting for him to do something
to show his hand so to say and his inaction puzzled and worried us
A week of this passed by We had no other interest than Wolf Larsen and his
presence weighed us down with an apprehension which prevented us from doing any
of the little things we had planned
But at the end of the week the smoke ceased rising from the galley and he
no longer showed himself on the poop I could see Mauds solicitude again
growing though she timidly and even proudly I think forebore a
repetition of her request After all what censure could be put upon her She
was divinely altruistic and she was a woman Besides I was myself aware of
hurt at thought of this man whom I had tried to kill dying alone with his
fellowcreatures so near He was right The code of my group was stronger than
I The fact that he had hands feet and a body shaped somewhat like mine
constituted a claim which I could not ignore
So I did not wait a second time for Maud to send me I discovered that we
stood in need of condensed milk and marmalade and announced that I was going
aboard I could see that she wavered She even went so far as to murmur that
they were nonessentials and that my trip after them might be inexpedient And
as she had followed the trend of my silence she now followed the trend of my
speech and she knew that I was going aboard not because of condensed milk and
marmalade but because of her and of her anxiety which she knew she had failed
to hide
I took off my shoes when I gained the forecastle head and went noiselessly
aft in my stocking feet Nor did I call this time from the top of the
companionway Cautiously descending I found the cabin deserted The door to his
stateroom was closed At first I thought of knocking then I remembered my
ostensible errand and resolved to carry it out Carefully avoiding noise I
lifted the trapdoor in the floor and set it to one side The slopchest as
well as the provisions was stored in the lazarette and I took advantage of the
opportunity to lay in a stock of underclothing
As I emerged from the lazarette I heard sounds in Wolf Larsens stateroom
I crouched and listened The doorknob rattled Furtively instinctively I
slunk back behind the table and drew and cocked my revolver The door swung open
and he came forth Never had I seen so profound a despair as that which I saw on
his face the face of Wolf Larsen the fighter the strong man the indomitable
one For all the world like a woman wringing her hands he raised his clenched
fists and groaned One fist unclosed and the open palm swept across his eyes as
though brushing away cobwebs
»God God« he groaned and the clenched fists were raised again to the
infinite despair with which his throat vibrated
It was horrible I was trembling all over and I could feel the shivers
running up and down my spine and the sweat standing out on my forehead Surely
there can be little in this world more awful than the spectacle of a strong man
in the moment when he is utterly weak and broken
But Wolf Larsen regained control of himself by an exertion of his remarkable
will And it was exertion His whole frame shook with the struggle He resembled
a man on the verge of a fit His face strove to compose itself writhing and
twisting in the effort till he broke down again Once more the clenched fists
went upward and he groaned He caught his breath once or twice and sobbed Then
he was successful I could have thought him the old Wolf Larsen and yet there
was in his movements a vague suggestion of weakness and indecision He started
for the companionway and stepped forward quite as I had been accustomed to see
him do and yet again in his very walk there seemed that suggestion of
weakness and indecision
I was now concerned with fear for myself The open trap lay directly in his
path and his discovery of it would lead instantly to his discovery of me I was
angry with myself for being caught in so cowardly a position crouching on the
floor There was yet time I rose swiftly to my feet and I know quite
unconsciously assumed a defiant attitude He took no notice of me Nor did he
notice the open trap Before I could grasp the situation or act he had walked
right into the trap One foot was descending into the opening while the other
foot was just on the verge of beginning the uplift But when the descending foot
missed the solid flooring and felt vacancy beneath it was the old Wolf Larsen
and the tiger muscles that made the falling body spring across the opening even
as it fell so that he struck on his chest and stomach with arms outstretched
on the floor of the opposite side The next instant he had drawn up his legs and
rolled clear But he rolled into my marmalade and underclothes and against the
trapdoor
The expression on his face was one of complete comprehension But before I
could guess what he had comprehended he had dropped the trapdoor into place
closing the lazarette Then I understood He thought he had me inside Also he
was blind blind as a bat I watched him breathing carefully so that he should
not hear me He stepped quickly to his stateroom I saw his hand miss the
doorknob by an inch quickly fumble for it and find it This was my chance I
tiptoed across the cabin and to the top of the stairs He came back dragging a
heavy seachest which he deposited on top of the trap Not content with this
he fetched a second chest and placed it on top of the first Then he gathered up
the marmalade and underclothes and put them on the table When he started up the
companionway I retreated silently rolling over on top of the cabin
He shoved the slide part way back and rested his arms on it his body still
in the companionway His attitude was of one looking forward the length of the
schooner or staring rather for his eyes were fixed and unblinking I was only
five feet away and directly in what should have been his line of vision It was
uncanny I felt myself a ghost what of my invisibility I waved my hand back
and forth of course without effect but when the moving shadow fell across his
face I saw at once that he was susceptible to the impression His face became
more expectant and tense as he tried to analyze and identify the impression He
knew that he had responded to something from without that his sensibility had
been touched by a changing something in his environment but what it was he
could not discover I ceased waving my hand so that the shadow remained
stationary He slowly moved his head back and forth under it and turned from
side to side now in the sunshine now in the shade feeling the shadow as it
were testing it by sensation
I too was busy trying to reason out how he was aware of the existence of
so intangible a thing as a shadow If it were his eyeballs only that were
affected or if his optic nerve were not wholly destroyed the explanation was
simple If otherwise then the only conclusion I could reach was that the
sensitive skin recognized the difference of temperature between shade and
sunshine Or perhaps who can tell it was that fabled sixth sense which
conveyed to him the loom and feel of an object close at hand
Giving over his attempt to determine the shadow he stepped on deck and
started forward walking with a swiftness and confidence which surprised me And
still there was that hint of the feebleness of the blind in his walk I knew it
now for what it was
To my amused chagrin he discovered my shoes on the forecastle head and
brought them back with him into the galley I watched him build the fire and set
about cooking food for himself then I stole into the cabin for my marmalade and
underclothes slipped back past the galley and climbed down to the beach to
deliver my barefoot report
Chapter XXXIV
»Its too bad the Ghost has lost her masts Why we could sail away in her
Dont you think we could Humphrey«
I sprang excitedly to my feet
»I wonder I wonder« I repeated pacing up and down
Mauds eyes were shining with anticipation as they followed me She had such
faith in me And the thought of it was so much added power I remembered
Michelets »To man woman is as the earth was to her legendary son he has but
to fall down and kiss her breast and he is strong again« For the first time I
knew the wonderful truth of his words Why I was living them Maud was all this
to me an unfailing source of strength and courage I had but to look at her or
think of her and be strong again
»It can be done it can be done« I was thinking and asserting aloud »What
men have done I can do and if they have never done this before still I can do
it«
»What for goodness sake« Maud demanded »Do be merciful What is it you
can do«
»We can do it« I amended »Why nothing else than put the masts back into
the Ghost and sail away«
»Humphrey« she exclaimed
And I felt as proud of my conception as if it were already a fact
accomplished
»But how is it possible to be done« she asked
»I dont know« was my answer »I know only that I am capable of doing
anything these days«
I smiled proudly at her too proudly for she dropped her eyes and was for
the moment silent
»But there is Captain Larsen« she objected
»Blind and helpless« I answered promptly waving him aside as a straw
»But those terrible hands of his You know how he leaped across the opening
of the lazarette«
»And you know also how I crept about and avoided him« I contended gayly
»And lost your shoes«
»Youd hardly expect them to avoid Wolf Larsen without my feet inside of
them«
We both laughed and then went seriously to work constructing the plan
whereby we were to step the masts of the Ghost and return to the world I
remembered hazily the physics of my school days while the last few months had
given me practical experience with mechanical purchases I must say though
when we walked down to the Ghost to inspect more closely the task before us
that the sight of the great masts lying in the water almost disheartened me
Where were we to begin If there had been one mast standing something high up
to which to fasten blocks and tackles But there was nothing It reminded me of
the problem of lifting oneself by ones bootstraps I understood the mechanics
of levers but where was I to get a fulcrum
There was the mainmast fifteen inches in diameter at what was now the butt
still sixtyfive feet in length and weighing I roughly calculated at least
three thousand pounds And then came the foremast larger in diameter and
weighing surely thirtyfive hundred pounds Where was I to begin Maud stood
silently by my side while I evolved in my mind the contrivance known among
sailors as »shears« But though known to sailors I invented it there on
Endeavor Island By crossing and lashing the ends of two spars and then
elevating them in the air like an inverted »V« I could get a point above the
deck to which to make fast my hoisting tackle To this hoisting tackle I could
if necessary attach a second hoisting tackle And then there was the windlass
Maud saw that I had achieved a solution and her eyes warmed
sympathetically
»What are you going to do« she asked
»Clear that raffle« I answered pointing to the tangled wreckage overside
Ah the decisiveness the very sound of the words was good in my ears
»Clear that raffle« Imagine so salty a phrase on the lips of the Humphrey Van
Weyden of a few months gone
There must have been a touch of the melodramatic in my pose and voice for
Maud smiled Her appreciation of the ridiculous was keen and in all things she
unerringly saw and felt where it existed the touch of sham the overshading
the overtone It was this which had given poise and penetration to her own work
and made her of worth to the world The serious critic with the sense of humor
and the power of expression must inevitably command the worlds ear And so it
was that she had commanded Her sense of humor was really the artists instinct
for proportion
»Im sure Ive heard it before somewhere in books« she murmured
gleefully
I had an instinct for proportion myself and I collapsed forthwith
descending from the dominant pose of a master of matter to a state of humble
confusion which was to say the least very miserable
Her hand leapt out at once to mine
»Im so sorry« she said
»No need to be« I gulped »It does me good Theres too much of the
schoolboy in me All of which is neither here nor there What weve got to do is
actually and literally to clear that raffle If youll come with me in the boat
well get to work and straighten things out«
»When the topmen clear the raffle with their claspknives in their teeth«
she quoted at me and for the rest of the afternoon we made merry over our
labor
Her task was to hold the boat in position while I worked at the tangle And
such a tangle halyards sheets guys downhauls shrouds stays all washed
about and back and forth and through and twined and knotted by the sea I cut
no more than was necessary and what with passing the long ropes under and
around the booms and masts of unreeving the halyards and sheets of coiling
down in the boat and uncoiling in order to pass through another knot in the
bight I was soon wet to the skin
The sails did require some cutting and the canvas heavy with water tried
my strength severely but I succeeded before nightfall in getting it all spread
out on the beach to dry We were both very tired when we knocked off for supper
and we had done good work too though to the eye it appeared insignificant
Next morning with Maud as able assistant I went into the hold of the Ghost
to clear the steps of the mastbutts We had no more than begun work when the
sound of my knocking and hammering brought Wolf Larsen
»Hello below« he cried down the open hatch
The sound of his voice made Maud quickly draw close to me as for
protection and she rested one hand on my arm while we parleyed
»Hello on deck« I replied »Good morning to you«
»What are you doing down there« he demanded »Trying to scuttle my ship for
me«
»Quite the opposite Im repairing her« was my answer
»But what in thunder are you repairing« There was puzzlement in his voice
»Why Im getting everything ready for restepping the masts« I replied
easily as though it were the simplest project imaginable
»It seems as though youre standing on your own legs at last Hump« we
heard him say and then for some time he was silent
»But I say Hump« he called down »you cant do it«
»Oh yes I can« I retorted »Im doing it now«
»But this is my vessel my particular property What if I forbid you«
»You forget« I replied »You are no longer the biggest bit of the ferment
You were once and able to eat me as you were pleased to phrase it but there
has been a diminishing and I am now able to eat you The yeast has grown
stale«
He gave a short disagreeable laugh »I see youre working my philosophy
back on me for all it is worth But dont make the mistake of underestimating
me For your own good I warn you«
»Since when have you become a philanthropist« I queried »Confess now in
warning me for my own good that you are very inconsistent«
He ignored my sarcasm saying »Suppose I clap the hatch on now You wont
fool me as you did in the lazarette«
»Wolf Larsen« I said sternly for the first time addressing him by this his
most familiar name »I am unable to shoot a helpless unresisting man You have
proved that to my satisfaction as well as yours But I warn you now and not so
much for your own good as for mine that I shall shoot you the moment you
attempt a hostile act I can shoot you now as I stand here and if you are so
minded just go ahead and try to clap on the hatch«
»Nevertheless I forbid you I distinctly forbid your tampering with my
ship«
»But man« I expostulated »you advance the fact that it is your ship as
though it were a moral right You have never considered moral rights in your
dealings with others You surely do not dream that Ill consider them in dealing
with you«
I had stepped underneath the open hatchway so that I could see him The lack
of expression on his face so different from when I had watched him unseen was
enhanced by the unblinking staring eyes It was not a pleasant face to look
upon
»And none so poor not even Hump to do him reverence« he sneered
The sneer was wholly in his voice His face remained expressionless as ever
»How do you do Miss Brewster« he said suddenly after a pause
I started She had made no noise whatever had not even moved Could it be
that some glimmer of vision remained to him or that his vision was coming back
»How do you do Captain Larsen« she answered »Pray how did you know I was
here«
»Heard you breathing of course I say Humps improving dont you think
so«
»I dont know« she answered smiling at me »I have never seen him
otherwise«
»You should have seen him before then«
»Wolf Larsen in large doses« I murmured »before and after taking«
»I want to tell you again Hump« he said threateningly »that youd better
leave things alone«
»But dont you care to escape as well as we« I asked incredulously
»No« was his answer »I intend dying here«
»Well we dont« I concluded defiantly beginning again my knocking and
hammering
Chapter XXXV
Next day the maststeps clear and everything in readiness we started to get
the two topmasts aboard The maintopmast was over thirty feet in length the
foretopmast nearly thirty and it was of these that I intended making the
shears It was puzzling work Fastening one end of a heavy tackle to the
windlass and with the other end fast to the butt of the foretopmast I began to
heave Maud held the turn on the windlass and coiled down the slack
We were astonished at the ease with which the spar was lifted It was an
improved crank windlass and the purchase it gave was enormous Of course what
it gave us in power we paid for in distance as many times as it doubled my
strength that many times was doubled the length of rope I heaved in The tackle
dragged heavily across the rail increasing its drag as the spar arose more and
more out of the water and the exertion on the windlass grew severe
But when the butt of the topmast was level with the rail everything came to
a standstill
»I might have known it« I said impatiently »Now we have to do it all over
again«
»Why not fasten the tackle part way down the mast« Maud suggested
»Its what I should have done at first« I answered hugely disgusted with
myself
Slipping off a turn I lowered the mast back into the water and fastened the
tackle a third of the way down from the butt In an hour what of this and of
rests between the heaving I had hoisted it to the point where I could hoist no
more Eight feet of the butt was above the rail and I was as far away as ever
from getting the spar on board I sat down and pondered the problem It did not
take long I sprang jubilantly to my feet
»Now I have it« I cried »I ought to make the tackle fast at the point of
balance And what we learn of this will serve us with everything else we have to
hoist aboard«
Once again I undid all my work by lowering the mast into the water But I
miscalculated the point of balance so that when I heaved the top of the mast
came up instead of the butt Maud looked despair but I laughed and said it
would do just as well
Instructing her how to hold the turn and be ready to slack away at command
I laid hold of the mast with my hands and tried to balance it inboard across the
rail When I thought I had it I cried to her to slack away but the spar
righted despite my efforts and dropped back toward the water Again I heaved
it up to its old position for I had now another idea I remembered the
watchtackle a small double and single block affair and fetched it
While I was rigging it between the top of the spar and the opposite rail
Wolf Larsen came on the scene We exchanged nothing more than good mornings
and though he could not see he sat on the rail out of the way and followed by
the sound all that I did
Again instructing Maud to slack away at the windlass when I gave the word I
proceeded to heave on the watchtackle Slowly the mast swung in until it
balanced at right angles across the rail and then I discovered to my amazement
that there was no need for Maud to slack away In fact the very opposite was
necessary Making the watchtackle fast I hove on the windlass and brought in
the mast inch by inch till its top tilted down to the deck and finally its
whole length lay on the deck
I looked at my watch It was twelve oclock My back was aching sorely and
I felt extremely tired and hungry And there on the deck was a single stick of
timber to show for a whole mornings work For the first time I thoroughly
realized the extent of the task before us But I was learning I was learning
The afternoon would show far more accomplished And it did for we returned at
one oclock rested and strengthened by a hearty dinner
In less than an hour I had the maintopmast on deck and was constructing the
shears Lashing the two topmasts together and making allowance for their
unequal length at the point of intersection I attached the double block of the
main throathalyards This with the single block and the throathalyards
themselves gave me a hoisting tackle To prevent the butts of the masts from
slipping on the deck I nailed down thick cleats Everything in readiness I
made a line fast to the apex of the shears and carried it directly to the
windlass I was growing to have faith in that windlass for it gave me power
beyond all expectation As usual Maud held the turn while I heaved The shears
rose in the air
Then I discovered I had forgotten guyropes This necessitated my climbing
the shears which I did twice before I finished guying it fore and aft and to
either side Twilight had set in by the time this was accomplished Wolf Larsen
who had sat about and listened all afternoon and never opened his mouth had
taken himself off to the galley and started his supper I felt quite stiff
across the small of the back so much so that I straightened up with an effort
and with pain I looked proudly at my work It was beginning to show I was wild
with desire like a child with a new toy to hoist something with my shears
»I wish it werent so late« I said »Id like to see how it works«
»Dont be a glutton Humphrey« Maud chided me »Remember tomorrow is
coming and youre so tired now that you can hardly stand«
»And you« I said with sudden solicitude »You must be very tired You have
worked hard and nobly I am proud of you Maud«
»Not half so proud as I am of you nor with half the reason« she answered
looking me straight in the eyes for a moment with an expression in her own and a
dancing tremulous light which I had not seen before and which gave me a pang of
quick delight I know not why for I did not understand it Then she dropped
her eyes to lift them again laughing
»If our friends could see us now« she said »Look at us Have you ever
paused for a moment to consider our appearance«
»Yes I have considered yours frequently« I answered puzzling over what I
had seen in her eyes and puzzled by her sudden change of subject
»Mercy« she cried »And what do I look like pray«
»A scarecrow Im afraid« I replied »Just glance at your draggled skirts
for instance Look at those threecornered tears And such a waist It would not
require a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that you have been cooking over a campfire
to say nothing of trying out sealblubber And to cap it all that cap And all
that is the woman who wrote A Kiss Endured«
She made me an elaborate and stately courtesy and said »As for you sir «
And yet through the five minutes of banter which followed there was a
serious something underneath the fun which I could not but relate to the strange
and fleeting expression I had caught in her eyes What was it Could it be that
our eyes were speaking beyond the will of our speech My eyes had spoken I
knew until I had found the culprits out and silenced them This had occurred
several times But had she seen the clamor in them and understood And had her
eyes so spoken to me What else could that expression have meant that dancing
tremulous light and a something more which words could not describe And yet it
could not be It was impossible Besides I was not skilled in the speech of
eyes I was only Humphrey Van Weyden a bookish fellow who loved And to love
and to wait and win love that surely was glorious enough for me And thus I
thought even as we chaffed each others appearance until we arrived ashore and
there were other things to think about
»Its a shame after working hard all day that we cannot have an
uninterrupted nights sleep« I complained after supper
»But there can be no danger now from a blind man« she queried
»I shall never be able to trust him« I averred »and far less now that he
is blind The liability is that his part helplessness will make him more
malignant than ever I know what I shall do tomorrow the first thing run out
a light anchor and kedge the schooner off the beach And each night when we come
ashore in the boat Mr Wolf Larsen will be left a prisoner on board So this
will be the last night we have to stand watch and because of that it will go
the easier«
We were awake early and just finishing breakfast as daylight came
»Oh Humphrey« I heard Maud cry in dismay and suddenly stop
I looked at her She was gazing at the Ghost I followed her gaze but could
see nothing unusual She looked at me and I looked inquiry back
»The shears« she said and her voice trembled
I had forgotten their existence I looked again but could not see them
»If he has « I muttered savagely
She put her hand sympathetically on mine and said »You will have to begin
over again«
»Oh believe me my anger means nothing I could not hurt a fly« I smiled
back bitterly »And the worst of it is he knows it You are right If he has
destroyed the shears I shall do nothing except begin over again«
»But Ill stand my watch on board hereafter« I blurted out a moment later
»And if he interferes «
»But I dare not stay ashore all night alone« Maud was saying when I came
back to myself »It would be so much nicer if he would be friendly with us and
help us We could all live comfortably aboard«
»We will« I asserted still savagely for the destruction of my beloved
shears had hit me hard »That is you and I will live aboard friendly or not
with Wolf Larsen«
»Its childish« I laughed later »for him to do such things and for me to
grow angry over them for that matter«
But my heart smote me when we climbed aboard and looked at the havoc he had
done The shears were gone altogether The guys had been slashed right and left
The throathalyards which I had rigged were cut across through every part And
he knew I could not splice A thought struck me I ran to the windlass It would
not work He had broken it We looked at each other in consternation Then I ran
to the side The masts booms and gaffs I had cleared were gone He had found
the lines which held them and cast them adrift
Tears were in Mauds eyes and I do believe they were for me I could have
wept myself Where now was our project of remasting the Ghost He had done his
work well I sat down on the hatchcombing and rested my chin on my hands in
black despair
»He deserves to die« I cried out »and God forgive me I am not man enough
to be his executioner«
But Maud was by my side passing her hand soothingly through my hair as
though I were a child and saying »There there it will all come right We are
in the right and it must come right«
I remembered Michelet and leaned my head against her and truly I became
strong again The blessed woman was an unfailing fount of power to me What did
it matter Only a setback a delay The tide could not have carried the masts
far to seaward and there had been no wind It meant merely more work to find
them and tow them back And besides it was a lesson I knew what to expect He
might have waited and destroyed our work more effectually when we had more
accomplished
»Here he comes now« she whispered
I glanced up He was strolling leisurely along the poop on the port side
»Take no notice of him« I whispered »Hes coming to see how we take it
Dont let him know that we know We can deny him that satisfaction Take off
your shoes thats right and carry them in your hand«
And then we played hideandseek with the blind man As he came up the port
side we slipped past on the starboard and from the poop we watched him turn and
start aft on our track
He must have known somehow that we were on board for he said »Good
morning« very confidently and waited for the greeting to be returned Then he
strolled aft and we slipped forward
»Oh I know youre aboard« he called out and I could see him listen
intently after he had spoken
It reminded me of the great hootowl listening after its booming cry for
the stir of its frightened prey But we did not stir and we moved only when he
moved And so we dodged about the deck hand in hand like a couple of children
chased by a wicked ogre till Wolf Larsen evidently in disgust left the deck
for the cabin There was glee in our eyes and suppressed titters in our mouths
as we put on our shoes and clambered over the side into the boat And as I
looked into Mauds clear brown eyes I forgot the evil he had done and I knew
only that I loved her and that because of her the strength was mine to win our
way back to the world
Chapter XXXVI
For two days Maud and I ranged the sea and explored the beaches in search of the
missing masts But it was not till the third day that we found them all of
them the shears included and of all perilous places in the pounding surf of
the grim southwestern promontory And how we worked At the dark end of the
first day we returned exhausted to our little cove towing the mainmast behind
us And we had been compelled to row in a dead calm practically every inch of
the way
Another day of heartbreaking and dangerous toil saw us in camp with the two
topmasts to the good The day following I was desperate and I rafted together
the foremast the fore and main booms and the fore and main gaffs The wind was
favorable and I had thought to tow them back under sail but the wind baffled
then died away and our progress with the oars was a snails pace And it was
such dispiriting effort To throw ones whole strength and weight on the oars
and to feel the boat checked in its forward lunge by the heavy drag behind was
not exactly exhilarating
Night began to fall and to make matters worse the wind sprang up ahead
Not only did all forward motion cease but we began to drift back and out to
sea I struggled at the oars till I was played out Poor Maud whom I could
never prevent from working to the limit of her strength lay weakly back in the
sternsheets I could row no more My bruised and swollen hands could no longer
close on the oar handles My wrists and arms ached intolerably and though I
had eaten heartily of a twelve oclock lunch I had worked so hard that I was
faint from hunger
I pulled in the oars and bent forward to the line which held the tow But
Mauds hand leaped out restrainingly to mine
»What are you going to do« she asked in a strained tense voice
»Cast it off« I answered slipping a turn of the rope
But her fingers closed on mine
»Please dont« she begged
»It is useless« I answered »Here is night and the wind blowing us off the
land«
»But think Humphrey If we cannot sail away on the Ghost we may remain for
years on the island for life even If it has never been discovered all these
years it may never be discovered«
»You forget the boat we found on the beach« I reminded her
»It was a sealhunting boat« she replied »and you know perfectly well that
if the men had escaped they would have been back to make their fortunes from the
rookery You know they never escaped«
I remained silent undecided
»Besides« she added haltingly »its your idea and I want to see you
succeed«
Now I could harden my heart As soon as she put it on a flattering personal
basis generosity compelled me to deny her
»Better years on the island than to die tonight or tomorrow or the next
day in the open boat We are not prepared to brave the sea We have no food no
water no blankets nothing Why youd not survive the night without blankets
I know how strong you are You are shivering now«
»It is only nervousness« she answered »I am afraid you will cast off the
masts in spite of me«
»Oh please please Humphrey dont« she burst out a moment later
And so it ended with the phrase she knew had all power over me We shivered
miserably throughout the night Now and again I fitfully slept but the pain of
the cold always aroused me How Maud could stand it was beyond me I was too
tired to thrash my arms about and warm myself but I found strength time and
again to chafe her hands and feet to restore the circulation And still she
pleaded with me not to cast off the masts About three in the morning she was
caught by a cold cramp and after I had rubbed her out of that she became quite
numb I was frightened I got out the oars and made her row though she was so
weak I thought she would faint at every stroke
Morning broke and we looked long in the growing light for our island At
last it showed small and black on the horizon fully fifteen miles away I
scanned the sea with my glasses Far away in the southwest I could see a dark
line on the water which grew even as I looked at it
»Fair wind« I cried in a husky voice I did not recognize as my own
Maud tried to reply but could not speak Her lips were blue with cold and
she was holloweyed but oh how bravely her brown eyes looked at me How
piteously brave
Again I fell to chafing her hands and to moving her arms up and down and
about until she could thrash them herself Then I compelled her to stand up and
though she would have fallen had I not supported her I forced her to walk back
and forth the several steps between the thwart and the sternsheets and finally
to spring up and down
»Oh you brave brave woman« I said when I saw the life coming back into
her face »Did you know that you were brave«
»I never used to be« she answered »I was never brave till I knew you It
is you who have made me brave«
»Nor I until I knew you« I answered
She gave me a quick look and again I caught that dancing tremulous light
and something more in her eyes But it was only for the moment Then she smiled
»It must have been the conditions« she said but I knew she was wrong and
I wondered if she likewise knew
Then the wind came fair and fresh and the boat was soon laboring through a
heavy sea toward the island At halfpast three in the afternoon we passed the
southwestern promontory Not only were we hungry but we were now suffering from
thirst Our lips were dry and cracked nor could we longer moisten them with our
tongues Then the wind slowly died down By night it was dead calm and I was
toiling once more at the oars but weakly most weakly At two in the morning
the boats bow touched the beach of our own inner cove and I staggered out to
make the painter fast Maud could not stand nor had I strength to carry her I
fell in the sand with her and when I had recovered contented myself with
putting my hands under her shoulders and dragging her up the beach to the hut
The next day we did no work In fact we slept till three in the afternoon
or at least I did for I awoke to find Maud cooking dinner Her power of
recuperation was wonderful There was something tenacious about that lilyfrail
body of hers a clutch on existence which one could not reconcile with its
patent weakness
»You know I was travelling to Japan for my health« she said as we lingered
at the fire after dinner and delighted in the movelessness of loafing »I was
not very strong I never was The doctors recommended a sea voyage and I chose
the longest«
»You little knew what you were choosing« I laughed
»But I shall be a different woman for the experience as well as a stronger
woman« she answered »and I hope a better woman At least I shall understand
a great deal more of life«
Then as the short day waned we fell to discussing Wolf Larsens blindness
It was inexplicable And that it was grave I instanced his statement that he
intended to stay and die on Endeavor Island When he strong man that he was
loving life as he did accepted his death it was plain that he was troubled by
something more than mere blindness There had been his terrific headaches and
we were agreed that it was some sort of brain breakdown and that in his attacks
he endured pain beyond our comprehension
I noticed as we talked over his condition that Mauds sympathy went out to
him more and more yet I could not but love her for it so sweetly womanly was
it Besides there was no false sentiment about her feeling She was agreed that
the most rigorous treatment was necessary if we were to escape though she
recoiled at the suggestion that I might sometime be compelled to take his life
to save my own »our own« she put it
In the morning we had breakfast and were at work by daylight I found a
light kedge anchor in the fore hold where such things were kept and with a
deal of exertion got it on deck and into the boat With a long runningline
coiled down in the stern I rowed well out into our little cove and dropped the
anchor into the water There was no wind the tide was high and the schooner
floated Casting off the shore lines I kedged her out by main strength the
windlass being broken till she rode nearly up and down to the small anchor
too small to hold her in any breeze So I lowered the big starboard anchor
giving plenty of slack and by afternoon I was at work on the windlass
Three days I worked on that windlass Least of all things was I a mechanic
and in that time I accomplished what an ordinary machinist would have done in as
many hours I had to learn my tools to begin with and every simple mechanical
principle which such a man would have at his finger ends I had likewise to
learn And at the end of three days I had a windlass which worked clumsily It
never gave the satisfaction the old windlass had given but it worked and made
my work possible
In half a day I got the two topmasts aboard and the shears rigged and guyed
as before And that night I slept on board and on deck beside my work Maud who
refused to stay alone ashore slept in the forecastle Wolf Larsen had sat
about listening to my repairing the windlass and talking with Maud and me upon
indifferent subjects No reference was made on either side to the destruction of
the shears nor did he say anything further about my leaving his ship alone But
still I had feared him blind and helpless and listening always listening and
I never let his strong arms get within reach of me while I worked
On this night sleeping under my beloved shears I was aroused by his
footsteps on the deck It was a starlight night and I could see the bulk of him
dimly as he moved about I rolled out of my blankets and crept noiselessly after
him in my stocking feet He had armed himself with a drawknife from the tool
locker and with this he prepared to cut across the throathalyards I had again
rigged to the shears He felt the halyards with his hands and discovered that I
had not made them fast This would not do for a drawknife so he laid hold of
the running part hove taut and made fast Then he prepared to saw across with
the drawknife
»I wouldnt if I were you« I said quietly
He heard the click of my pistol and laughed
»Hello Hump« he said »I knew you were here all the time You cant fool
my ears«
»Thats a lie Wolf Larsen« I said just as quietly as before »However I
am aching for a chance to kill you so go ahead and cut«
»You have the chance always« he sneered
»Go ahead and cut« I threatened ominously
»Id rather disappoint you« he laughed and turned on his heel and went
aft
»Something must be done Humphrey« Maud said next morning when I had told
her of the nights occurrence »If he has liberty he may do anything He may
sink the vessel or set fire to it There is no telling what he may do We must
make him a prisoner«
»But how« I asked with a helpless shrug »I dare not come within reach of
his arms and he knows that so long as his resistance is passive I cannot shoot
him«
»There must be some way« she contended »Let me think«
»There is one way« I said grimly
She waited
I picked up a sealclub
»It wont kill him« I said »And before he could recover Id have him bound
hard and fast«
She shook her head with a shudder »No not that There must be some less
brutal way Let us wait«
But we did not have to wait long and the problem solved itself In the
morning after several trials I found the point of balance in the foremast and
attached my hoisting tackle a few feet above it Maud held the turn on the
windlass and coiled down while I heaved Had the windlass been in order it would
not have been so difficult as it was I was compelled to apply all my weight
and strength to every inch of the heaving I had to rest frequently In truth
my spells of resting were longer than those of working Maud even contrived at
times when all my efforts could not budge the windlass to hold the turn with
one hand and with the other to throw the weight of her slim body to my
assistance
At the end of an hour the single and double blocks came together at the top
of the shears I could hoist no more And yet the mast was not swung entirely
inboard The butt rested against the outside of the port rail while the top of
the mast overhung the water far beyond the starboard rail My shears were too
short All my work had been for nothing But I no longer despaired in the old
way I was acquiring more confidence in myself and more confidence in the
possibilities of windlasses shears and hoisting tackles There was a way in
which it could be done and it remained for me to find that way
While I was considering the problem Wolf Larsen came on deck We noticed
something strange about him at once The indecisiveness or feebleness of his
movements was more pronounced His walk was actually tottery as he came down the
port side of the cabin At the break of the poop he reeled raised one hand to
his eyes with the familiar brushing gesture and fell down the steps still on
his feet to the main deck across which he staggered falling and flinging out
his arms for support He regained his balance by the steerage companionway and
stood there dizzily for a space when he suddenly crumpled up and collapsed his
legs bending under him as he sank to the deck
»One of his attacks« I whispered to Maud
She nodded her head and I could see sympathy warm in her eyes
We went up to him but he seemed unconscious breathing spasmodically She
took charge of him lifting his head to keep the blood out of it and despatching
me to the cabin for a pillow I also brought blankets and we made him
comfortable I took his pulse It beat steadily and strong and was quite
normal This puzzled me I became suspicious
»What if he should be feigning this« I asked still holding his wrist
Maud shook her head and there was reproof in her eyes But just then the
wrist I held leaped from my hand and the hand clasped like a steel trap about
my wrist I cried aloud in awful fear a wild inarticulate cry and I caught one
glimpse of his face malignant and triumphant as his other hand compassed my
body and I was drawn down to him in a terrible grip
My wrist was released but his other arm passed around my back held both
my arms so that I could not move His free hand went to my throat and in that
moment I knew the bitterest foretaste of death earned by ones own idiocy Why
had I trusted myself within reach of those terrible arms I could feel other
hands at my throat They were Mauds hands striving vainly to tear loose the
hand that was throttling me She gave it up and I heard her scream in a way
that cut me to the soul for it was a womans scream of fear and heartbreaking
despair I had heard it before during the sinking of the Martinez
My face was against his chest and I could not see but I heard Maud turn and
run swiftly away along the deck Everything was happening quickly I had not yet
had a glimmering of unconsciousness and it seemed that an interminable period
of time was lapsing before I heard her feet flying back And just then I felt
the whole man sink under me The breath was leaving his lungs and his chest was
collapsing under my weight Whether it was merely the expelled breath or his
consciousness of his growing impotence I know not but his throat vibrated with
a deep groan The hand at my throat relaxed I breathed It fluttered and
tightened again But even his tremendous will could not overcome the dissolution
that assailed it That will of his was breaking down He was fainting
Mauds footsteps were very near as his hand fluttered for the last time and
my throat was released I rolled off and over to the deck on my back gasping
and blinking in the sunshine Maud was pale but composed my eyes had gone
instantly to her face and she was looking at me with mingled alarm and
relief A heavy sealclub in her hand caught my eyes and at that moment she
followed my gaze down to it The club dropped from her hand as though it had
suddenly stung her and at the same moment my heart surged with a great joy
Truly she was my woman my matewoman fighting with me and for me as the mate
of a caveman would have fought all the primitive in her aroused forgetful of
her culture hard under the softening civilization of the only life she had ever
known
»Dear woman« I cried scrambling to my feet
The next moment she was in my arms weeping convulsively on my shoulder
while I clasped her close I looked down at the brown glory of her hair
glinting gems in the sunshine far more precious to me than those in the
treasurechests of kings And I bent my head and kissed her hair softly so
softly that she did not know
Then sober thought came to me After all she was only a woman crying her
relief now that the danger was past in the arms of her protector or of the one
who had been endangered Had I been father or brother the situation would have
been in no wise different Besides time and place were not meet and I wished
to earn a better right to declare my love So once again I softly kissed her
hair as I felt her receding from my clasp
»It was a real attack this time« I said »another shock like the one that
made him blind He feigned at first and in doing so brought it on«
Maud was already rearranging his pillow
»No« I said »not yet Now that I have him helpless helpless he shall
remain From this day we live in the cabin Wolf Larsen shall live in the
steerage«
I caught him under the shoulders and dragged him to the companionway At my
direction Maud fetched a rope Placing this under his shoulders I balanced him
across the threshold and lowered him down the steps to the floor I could not
lift him directly into a bunk but with Mauds help I lifted first his shoulders
and head then his body balanced him across the edge and rolled him into a
lower bunk
But this was not to be all I recollected the handcuffs in his stateroom
which he preferred to use on sailors instead of the ancient and clumsy ship
irons So when we left him he lay handcuffed hand and foot For the first time
in many days I breathed freely I felt strangely light as I came on deck as
though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders I felt also that Maud and I
had drawn more closely together And I wondered if she too felt it as we
walked along the deck side by side to where the stalled foremast hung in the
shears
Chapter XXXVII
At once we moved aboard the Ghost occupying our old staterooms and cooking in
the galley The imprisonment of Wolf Larsen had happened most opportunely for
what must have been the Indian summer of this high latitude was gone and
drizzling stormy weather had set in We were very comfortable and the
inadequate shears with the foremast suspended from them gave a businesslike
air to the schooner and a promise of departure
And now that we had Wolf Larsen in irons how little did we need it Like
his first attack his second had been accompanied by serious disablement Maud
made the discovery in the afternoon while trying to give him nourishment He had
shown signs of consciousness and she had spoken to him eliciting no response
He was lying on his left side at the time and in evident pain With a restless
movement he rolled his head around clearing his left ear from the pillow
against which it had been pressed At once he heard and answered her and at
once she came to me
Pressing the pillow against his left ear I asked him if he heard me but he
gave no sign Removing the pillow and repeating the question he answered
promptly that he did
»Do you know you are deaf in the right ear« I asked
»Yes« he answered in a low strong voice »and worse than that My whole
right side is affected It seems asleep I cannot move arm or leg«
»Feigning again« I demanded angrily
He shook his head his stern mouth shaping the strangest twisted smile It
was indeed a twisted smile for it was on the left side only the facial muscles
of the right side moving not at all
»That was the last play of the Wolf« he said »I am paralyzed I shall
never walk again Oh only on the other side« he added as though divining the
suspicious glance I flung at his left leg the knee of which had just then drawn
up and elevated the blankets
»Its unfortunate« he continued »Id liked to have done for you first
Hump And I thought I had that much left in me«
»But why« I asked partly in horror partly out of curiosity
Again his stern mouth framed the twisted smile as he said
»Oh just to be alive to be living and doing to be the biggest bit of the
ferment to the end to eat you But to die this way «
He shrugged his shoulders or attempted to shrug them rather for the left
shoulder alone moved Like the smile the shrug was twisted
»But how can you account for it« I asked »Where is the seat of your
trouble«
»The brain« he said at once »It was those cursed headaches brought it on«
»Symptoms« I said
He nodded his head »There is no accounting for it I was never sick in my
life Somethings gone wrong with my brain A cancer a tumor or something of
that nature a thing that devours and destroys Its attacking my
nervecentres eating them up bit by bit cell by cell from the pain«
»The motorcentres too« I suggested
»So it would seem and the curse of it is that I must lie here conscious
mentally unimpaired knowing that the lines are going down breaking bit by bit
communication with the world I cannot see hearing and feeling are leaving me
at this rate I shall soon cease to speak yet all the time I shall be here
alive active and powerless«
»When you say you are here Id suggest the likelihood of the soul« I said
»Bosh« was his retort »It simply means that in the attack on my brain the
higher psychical centres are untouched I can remember I can think and reason
When that goes I go I am not The soul«
He broke out in mocking laughter then turned his left ear to the pillow as
a sign that he wished no further conversation
Maud and I went about our work oppressed by the fearful fate which had
overtaken him how fearful we were yet fully to realize There was the
awfulness of retribution about it Our thoughts were deep and solemn and we
spoke to each other scarcely above whispers
»You might remove the handcuffs« he said that night as we stood in
consultation over him »Its dead safe Im a paralytic now The next thing to
watch out for is bed sores«
He smiled his twisted smile and Maud her eyes wide with horror was
compelled to turn away her head
»Do you know that your smile is crooked« I asked him for I knew that she
must attend him and I wished to save her as much as possible
»Then I shall smile no more« he said calmly »I thought something was
wrong My right cheek has been numb all day Yes and Ive had warnings of this
for the last three days by spells my right side seemed going to sleep
sometimes arm or hand sometimes leg or foot«
»So my smile is crooked« he queried a short while after »Well consider
henceforth that I smile internally with my soul if you please my soul
Consider that I am smiling now«
And for the space of several minutes he lay there quiet indulging his
grotesque fancy
The man of him was not changed It was the old indomitable terrible Wolf
Larsen imprisoned somewhere within that flesh which had once been so invincible
and splendid Now it bound him with insentient fetters walling his soul in
darkness and silence blocking it from the world which to him had been a riot of
action No more would he conjugate the verb to do in every mood and tense To be
was all that remained to him to be as he had defined death without movement
to will but not to execute to think and reason and in the spirit of him to be
as alive as ever but in the flesh to be dead quite dead
And yet though I even removed the handcuffs we could not adjust ourselves
to his condition Our minds revolted To us he was full of potentiality We knew
not what to expect of him next what fearful thing rising above the flesh he
might break out and do Our experience warranted this state of mind and we went
about our work with anxiety always upon us
I had solved the problem which had arisen through the shortness of the
shears By means of the watchtackle I had made a new one I heaved the butt
of the foremast across the rail and then lowered it to the deck Next by means
of the shears I hoisted the main boom on board Its forty feet of length would
supply the height necessary properly to swing the mast By means of a secondary
tackle I had attached to the shears I swung the boom to a nearly perpendicular
position then lowered the butt to the deck where to prevent slipping I
spiked great cleats around it The single block of my original shearstackle I
had attached to the end of the boom Thus by carrying this tackle to the
windlass I could raise and lower the end of the boom at will the butt always
remaining stationary and by means of guys I could swing the boom from side to
side To the end of the boom I had likewise rigged a hoisting tackle and when
the whole arrangement was completed I could not but be startled by the power and
latitude it gave me
Of course two days work was required for the accomplishment of this part
of my task and it was not till the morning of the third day that I swung the
foremast from the deck and proceeded to square its butt to fit the step Here I
was especially awkward I sawed and chopped and chiselled the weathered wood
till it had the appearance of having been gnawed by some gigantic mouse But it
fitted
»It will work I know it will work« I cried
»Do you know Dr Jordans final test of truth« Maud asked
I shook my head and paused in the act of dislodging the shavings which had
drifted down my neck
»Can we make it work Can we trust our lives to it is the test«
»He is a favorite of yours« I said
»When I dismantled my old Pantheon and cast out Napoleon and Cæsar and their
fellows I straightway erected a new Pantheon« she answered gravely »and the
first I installed was Dr Jordan«
»A modern hero«
»And a greater because modern« she added »How can the Old World heroes
compare with ours«
I shook my head We were too much alike in many things for argument Our
points of view and outlook on life at least were very like
»For a pair of critics we agree famously« I laughed
»And as shipwright and able assistant« she laughed back
But there was little time for laughter in those days what of our heavy work
and of the awfulness of Wolf Larsens living death
He had received another stroke He had lost his voice or he was losing it
He had only intermittent use of it As he phrased it the wires were like the
stock market now up now down Occasionally the wires were up and he spoke as
well as ever though slowly and heavily Then speech would suddenly desert him
in the middle of a sentence perhaps and for hours sometimes we would wait for
the connection to be reëstablished He complained of great pain in his head and
it was during this period that he arranged a system of communication against the
time when speech should leave him altogether one pressure of the hand for
»yes« two for »no« It was well that it was arranged for by evening his voice
had gone from him By hand pressures after that he answered our questions and
when he wished to speak he scrawled his thoughts with his left hand quite
legibly on a sheet of paper
The fierce winter had now descended upon us Gale followed gale with snow
and sleet and rain The seals had started on their great southern migration and
the rookery was practically deserted I worked feverishly In spite of the bad
weather and of the wind which especially hindered me I was on deck from
daylight till dark and making substantial progress
I profited by my lesson learned through raising the shears and then climbing
them to attach the guys To the top of the foremast which was just lifted
conveniently from the deck I attached the rigging stays and throat and peak
halyards As usual I had underrated the amount of work involved in this portion
of the task and two long days were necessary to complete it And there was so
much yet to be done the sails for instance which practically had to be made
over
While I toiled at rigging the foremast Maud sewed on canvas ready always
to drop everything and come to my assistance when more hands than two were
required The canvas was heavy and hard and she sewed with the regular sailors
palm and threecornered sailneedle Her hands were soon sadly blistered but
she struggled bravely on and in addition doing the cooking and taking care of
the sick man
»A fig for superstition« I said on Friday morning »That mast goes in
today«
Everything was ready for the attempt Carrying the boomtackle to the
windlass I hoisted the mast nearly clear of the deck Making this tackle fast
I took to the windlass the shearstackle which was connected with the end of
the boom and with a few turns had the mast perpendicular and clear
Maud clapped her hands the instant she was relieved from holding the turn
crying
»It works It works Well trust our lives to it«
Then she assumed a rueful expression
»Its not over the hole« she said »Will you have to begin all over«
I smiled in superior fashion and slacking off on one of the boomguys and
taking in on the other swung the mast perfectly in the centre of the deck
Still it was not over the hole Again the rueful expression came on her face
and again I smiled in a superior way Slacking away on the boomtackle and
hoisting an equivalent amount on the shearstackle I brought the butt of the
mast into position directly over the hole in the deck Then I gave Maud careful
instructions for lowering away and went into the hold to the step on the
schooners bottom
I called to her and the mast moved easily and accurately Straight toward
the square hole of the step the square butt descended but as it descended it
slowly twisted so that square would not fit into square But I had not even a
moments indecision Calling to Maud to cease lowering I went on deck and made
the watchtackle fast to the mast with a rolling hitch I left Maud to pull on
it while I went below By the light of the lantern I saw the butt twist slowly
around till its sides coincided with the sides of the step Maud made fast and
returned to the windlass Slowly the butt descended the several intervening
inches at the same time slightly twisting again Again Maud rectified the twist
with the watchtackle and again she lowered away from the windlass Square
fitted into square The mast was stepped
I raised a shout and she ran down to see In the yellow lantern light we
peered at what we had accomplished We looked at each other and our hands felt
their way and clasped The eyes of both us I think were moist with the joy of
success
»It was done so easily after all« I remarked »All the work was in the
preparation«
»And all the wonder in the completion« Maud added
»I can scarcely bring myself to realize that that great mast is really up
and in that you have lifted it from the water swung it through the air and
deposited it here where it belongs It is a Titans task«
»And they made themselves many inventions« I began merrily then paused to
sniff the air
I looked hastily at the lantern It was not smoking Again I sniffed
»Something is burning« Maud said with sudden conviction
We sprang together for the ladder but I raced past her to the deck A dense
volume of smoke was pouring out of the steerage companionway
»The Wolf is not yet dead« I muttered to myself as I sprang down through
the smoke
It was so thick in the confined space that I was compelled to feel my way
and so potent was the spell of Wolf Larsen on my imagination I was quite
prepared for the helpless giant to grip my neck in a strangle hold I hesitated
the desire to race back and up the steps to the deck almost overpowering me
Then I recollected Maud The vision of her as I had last seen her in the
lantern light of the schooners hold her brown eyes warm and moist with joy
flashed before me and I knew that I could not go back
I was choking and suffocating by the time I reached Wolf Larsens bunk I
reached my hand and felt for his He was lying motionless but moved slightly at
the touch of my hand I felt over and under his blankets There was no warmth
no sign of fire Yet that smoke which blinded me and made me cough and gasp must
have a source I lost my head temporarily and dashed frantically about the
steerage A collision with the table partially knocked the wind from my body and
brought me to myself I reasoned that a helpless man could start a fire only
near to where he lay
I returned to Wolf Larsens bunk There I encountered Maud How long she had
been there in that suffocating atmosphere I could not guess
»Go up on deck« I commanded peremptorily
»But Humphrey « she began to protest in a queer husky voice
»Please please« I shouted at her harshly
She drew away obediently and then I thought What if she cannot find the
steps I started after her to stop at the foot of the companionway Perhaps she
had gone up As I stood there hesitant I heard her cry softly
»Oh Humphrey I am lost«
I found her fumbling at the wall of the after bulkhead and half leading
her half carrying her I took her up the companionway The pure air was like
nectar Maud was only faint and dizzy and I left her lying on the deck when I
took my second plunge below
The source of the smoke must be very close to Wolf Larsen my mind was made
up to this and I went straight to his bunk As I felt about among his blankets
something hot fell on the back of my hand It burned me and I jerked my hand
away Then I understood Through the cracks in the bottom of the upper bunk he
had set fire to the mattress He still retained sufficient use of his left arm
to do this The damp straw of the mattress fired from beneath and denied air
had been smouldering all the while
As I dragged the mattress out of the bunk it seemed to disintegrate in
midair at the same time bursting into flames I beat out the burning remnants
of straw in the bunk then made a dash for the deck for fresh air
Several buckets of water sufficed to put out the burning mattress in the
middle of the steerage floor and ten minutes later when the smoke had fairly
cleared I allowed Maud to come below Wolf Larsen was unconscious but it was a
matter of minutes for the fresh air to restore him We were working over him
however when he signed for paper and pencil
»Pray do not interrupt me« he wrote »I am smiling«
»I am still a bit of the ferment you see« he wrote a little later
»I am glad you are as small a bit as you are« I said
»Thank you« he wrote »But just think of how much smaller I shall be before
I die«
»And yet I am all here Hump« he wrote with a final flourish »I can think
more clearly than ever in my life before Nothing to disturb me Concentration
is perfect I am all here and more than here«
It was like a message from the night of the grave for this mans body had
become his mausoleum And there in so strange sepulture his spirit fluttered
and lived It would flutter and live till the last line of communication was
broken and after that who was to say how much longer it might continue to
flutter and live
Chapter XXXVIII
»I think my left side is going« Wolf Larsen wrote the morning after his
attempt to fire the ship »The numbness is growing I can hardly move my hand
You will have to speak louder The last lines are going down«
»Are you in pain« I asked
I was compelled to repeat my question loudly before he answered
»Not all the time«
The left hand stumbled slowly and painfully across the paper and it was
with extreme difficulty that we deciphered the scrawl It was like a spirit
message such as are delivered at séances of spiritualists for a dollar
admission
»But I am still here all here« the hand scrawled more slowly and painfully
than ever
The pencil dropped and we had to replace it in the hand
»When there is no pain I have perfect peace and quiet I have never thought
so clearly I can ponder life and death like a Hindoo sage«
»And immortality« Maud queried loudly in the ear
Three times the hand essayed to write but fumbled hopelessly The pencil
fell In vain we tried to replace it The fingers could not close on it Then
Maud pressed and held the fingers about the pencil with her own hand and the
hand wrote in large letters and so slowly that the minutes ticked off to each
letter
»BOSH«
It was Wolf Larsens last word bosh sceptical and invincible to the end
The arm and hand relaxed The trunk of the body moved slightly Then there was
no movement Maud released the hand The fingers spread slightly falling apart
of their own weight and the pencil rolled away
»Do you still hear« I shouted holding the fingers and waiting for the
single pressure which would signify »Yes« There was no response The hand was
dead
»I noticed the lips slightly move« Maud said
I repeated the question The lips moved She placed the tips of her fingers
on them Again I repeated the question »Yes« Maud announced We looked at each
other expectantly
»What good is it« I asked »What can we say now«
»Oh ask him «
She hesitated
»Ask him something that requires no for an answer« I suggested »Then we
will know with certainty«
»Are you hungry« she cried
The lips moved under her fingers and she answered »Yes«
»Will you have some beef« was her next query
»No« she announced
»Beeftea«
»Yes he will have some beeftea« she said quietly looking up at me
»Until his hearing goes we shall be able to communicate with him And after that
«
She looked at me queerly I saw her lips trembling and the tears swimming up
in her eyes She swayed toward me and I caught her in my arms
»Oh Humphrey« she sobbed »when will it all end I am so tired so tired«
She buried her head on my shoulder her frail form shaken with a storm of
weeping She was like a feather in my arms so slender so ethereal »She has
broken down at last« I thought »What can I do without her help«
But I soothed and comforted her till she pulled herself bravely together
and recuperated mentally as quickly as she was wont to do physically
»I ought to be ashamed of myself« she said Then added with the whimsical
smile I adored »but I am only one small woman«
That phrase the one small woman startled me like an electric shock It was
my own phrase my pet secret phrase my love phrase for her
»Where did you get that phrase« I demanded with an abruptness that in turn
startled her
»What phrase« she asked
»One small woman«
»Is it yours« she asked
»Yes« I answered »mine I made it«
»Then you must have talked in your sleep« she smiled
The dancing tremulous light was in her eyes Mine I knew were speaking
beyond the will of my speech I leaned toward her Without volition I leaned
toward her as a tree is swayed by the wind Ah we were very close together in
that moment But she shook her head as one might shake off sleep or a dream
saying
»I have known it all my life It was my fathers name for my mother«
»It is my phrase too« I said stubbornly
»For your mother«
»No« I answered and she questioned no further though I could have sworn
her eyes retained for some time a mocking teasing expression
With the foremast in the work now went on apace Almost before I knew it
and without one serious hitch I had the mainmast stepped A derrickboom
rigged to the foremast had accomplished this and several days more found all
stays and shrouds in place and everything set up taut Topsails would be a
nuisance and a danger for a crew of two so I heaved the topmasts on deck and
lashed them fast
Several more days were consumed in finishing the sails and putting them on
There were only three the jib foresail and mainsail and patched
shortened and distorted they were a ridiculously illfitting suit for so trim
a craft as the Ghost
»But theyll work« Maud cried jubilantly »Well make them work and trust
our lives to them«
Certainly among my many new trades I shone least as a sailmaker I could
sail them better than make them and I had no doubt of my power to bring the
schooner to some northern port of Japan In fact I had crammed navigation from
textbooks aboard and besides there was Wolf Larsens starscale so simple a
device that a child could work it
As for its inventor beyond an increasing deafness and the movement of the
lips growing fainter and fainter there had been little change in his condition
for a week But on the day we finished bending the schooners sails he heard
his last and the last movement of his lips died away but not before I had
asked him »Are you all there« and the lips had answered »Yes«
The last line was down Somewhere within that tomb of the flesh still dwelt
the soul of the man Walled by the living clay that fierce intelligence we had
known burned on but it burned on in silence and darkness And it was
disembodied To that intelligence there could be no objective knowledge of a
body It knew no body The very world was not It knew only itself and the
vastness and profundity of the quiet and the dark
Chapter XXXIX
The day came for our departure There was no longer anything to detain us on
Endeavor Island The Ghosts stumpy masts were in place her crazy sails bent
All my handiwork was strong none of it beautiful but I knew that it would
work and I felt myself a man of power as I looked at it
»I did it I did it With my own hands I did it« I wanted to cry aloud
But Maud and I had a way of voicing each others thoughts and she said as
we prepared to hoist the mainsail
»To think Humphrey you did it all with your own hands«
»But there were two other hands« I answered »Two small hands and dont
say that was a phrase also of your father«
She laughed and shook her head and held her hands up for inspection
»I can never get them clean again« she wailed »nor soften the
weatherbeat«
»Then dirt and weatherbeat shall be your guerdon of honor« I said holding
them in mine and spite of my resolutions I would have kissed the two dear
hands had she not swiftly withdrawn them
Our comradeship was becoming tremulous I had mastered my love long and
well but now it was mastering me Wilfully had it disobeyed and won my eyes to
speech and now it was winning my tongue ay and my lips for they were mad
this moment to kiss the two small hands which had toiled so faithfully and hard
And I too was mad There was a cry in my being like bugles calling me to her
And there was a wind blowing upon me which I could not resist swaying the very
body of me till I leaned toward her all unconscious that I leaned And she knew
it She could not but know it as she swiftly drew away her hands and yet could
not forbear one quick searching look before she turned away her eyes
By means of decktackles I had arranged to carry the halyards forward to the
windlass and now I hoisted the mainsail peak and throat at the same time It
was a clumsy way but it did not take long and soon the foresail as well was up
and fluttering
»We can never get that anchor up in this narrow place once it has left the
bottom« I said »We should be on the rocks first«
»What can you do« she asked
»Slip it« was my answer »And when I do you must do your first work on the
windlass I shall have to run at once to the wheel and at the same time you
must be hoisting the jib«
This manoeuvre of getting under way I had studied and worked out a score of
times and with the jibhalyard to the windlass I knew Maud was capable of
hoisting that most necessary sail A brisk wind was blowing into the cove and
though the water was calm rapid work was required to get us safely out
When I knocked the shacklebolt loose the chain roared out through the
hawsehole and into the sea I raced aft putting the wheel up The Ghost seemed
to start into life as she heeled to the first fill of her sails The jib was
rising As it filled the Ghosts bow swung off and I had to put the wheel down
a few spokes and steady her
I had devised an automatic jibsheet which passed the jib across of itself
so there was no need for Maud to attend to that but she was still hoisting the
jib when I put the wheel hard down It was a moment of anxiety for the Ghost
was rushing directly upon the beach a stones throw distant But she swung
obediently on her heel into the wind There was a great fluttering and flapping
of canvas and reefpoints most welcome to my ears then she filled away on the
other tack
Maud had finished her task and come aft where she stood beside me a small
cap perched on her windblown hair her cheeks flushed from exertion her eyes
wide and bright with the excitement her nostrils quivering to the rush and bite
of the fresh salt air Her brown eyes were like a startled deers There was a
wild keen look in them I had never seen before and her lips parted and her
breath suspended as the Ghost charging upon the wall of rock at the entrance to
the inner cove swept into the wind and filled away into safe water
My first mates berth on the sealing grounds stood me in good stead and I
cleared the inner cove and laid a long tack along the shore of the outer cove
Once again about and the Ghost headed out to open sea She had now caught the
bosombreathing of the ocean and was herself abreath with the rhythm of it as
she smoothly mounted and slipped down each broadbacked wave The day had been
dull and overcast but the sun now burst through the clouds a welcome omen and
shone upon the curving beach where together we had dared the lords of the harem
and slain the holluschickie All Endeavor Island brightened under the sun Even
the grim southwestern promontory showed less grim and here and there where
the seaspray wet its surface high lights flashed and dazzled in the sun
»I shall always think of it with pride« I said to Maud
She threw her head back in a queenly way but said »Dear dear Endeavor
Island I shall always love it«
»And I« I said quickly
It seemed our eyes must meet in a great understanding and yet loath they
struggled away and did not meet
There was a silence I might almost call awkward till I broke it saying
»See those black clouds to windward You remember I told you last night the
barometer was falling«
»And the sun is gone« she said her eyes still fixed upon our island where
we had proved our mastery over matter and attained to the truest comradeship
that may fall to man and woman
»And its slack off the sheets for Japan« I cried gayly »A fair wind and a
flowing sheet you know or however it goes«
Lashing the wheel I ran forward eased the fore and main sheets took in on
the boomtackles and trimmed everything for the quartering breeze which was
ours It was a fresh breeze very fresh but I resolved to run as long as I
dared Unfortunately when running free it is impossible to lash the wheel so
I faced an allnight watch Maud insisted on relieving me but proved that she
had not the strength to steer in a heavy sea even if she could have gained the
wisdom on such short notice She appeared quite heartbroken over the discovery
but recovered her spirits by coiling down tackles and halyards and all stray
ropes Then there were meals to be cooked in the galley beds to make Wolf
Larsen to be attended upon and she finished the day with a grand housecleaning
attack upon the cabin and steerage
All night I steered without relief the wind slowly and steadily increasing
and the sea rising At five in the morning Maud brought me hot coffee and
biscuits she had baked and at seven a substantial and piping hot breakfast put
new life into me
Throughout the day and as slowly and steadily as ever the wind increased
It impressed one with its sullen determination to blow and blow harder and
keep on blowing And still the Ghost foamed along racing off the miles till I
was certain she was making at least eleven knots It was too good to lose but
by nightfall I was exhausted Though in splendid physical trim a
thirtysixhour trick at the wheel was the limit of my endurance Besides Maud
begged me to heave to and I knew if the wind and sea increased at the same
rate during the night that it would soon be impossible to heave to So as
twilight deepened gladly and at the same time reluctantly I brought the Ghost
up on the wind
But I had not reckoned upon the colossal task the reefing of three sails
meant for one man While running away from the wind I had not appreciated its
force but when we ceased to run I learned to my sorrow and wellnigh to my
despair how fiercely it was really blowing The wind balked my every effort
ripping the canvas out of my hands and in an instant undoing what I had gained
by ten minutes of severest struggle At eight oclock I had succeeded only in
putting the second reef into the foresail At eleven oclock I was no farther
along Blood dripped from every finger end while the nails were broken to the
quick From pain and sheer exhaustion I wept in the darkness secretly so that
Maud should not know
Then in desperation I abandoned the attempt to reef the mainsail and
resolved to try the experiment of heaving to under the closereefed foresail
Three hours more were required to gasket the mainsail and jib and at two in the
morning nearly dead the life almost buffeted and worked out of me I had
barely sufficient consciousness to know the experiment was a success The
closereefed foresail worked The Ghost clung on close to the wind and betrayed
no inclination to fall off broadside to the trough
I was famished but Maud tried vainly to get me to eat I dozed with my
mouth full of food I would fall asleep in the act of carrying food to my mouth
and waken in torment to find the act yet uncompleted So sleepily helpless was I
that she was compelled to hold me in my chair to prevent my being flung to the
floor by the violent pitching of the schooner
Of the passage from the galley to the cabin I knew nothing It was a
sleepwalker Maud guided and supported In fact I was aware of nothing till I
awoke how long after I could not imagine in my bunk with my boots off It was
dark I was stiff and lame and cried out with pain when the bedclothes touched
my poor fingerends
Morning had evidently not come so I closed my eyes and went to sleep again
I did not know it but I had slept the clock around and it was night again
Once more I woke troubled because I could sleep no better I struck a match
and looked at my watch It marked midnight And I had not left the deck until
three I should have been puzzled had I not guessed the solution No wonder I
was sleeping brokenly I had slept twentyone hours I listened for a while to
the behavior of the Ghost to the pounding of the seas and the muffled roar of
the wind on deck and then turned over on my side and slept peacefully until
morning
When I arose at seven I saw no sign of Maud and concluded she was in the
galley preparing breakfast On deck I found the Ghost doing splendidly under her
patch of canvas But in the galley though a fire was burning and water boiling
I found no Maud
I discovered her in the steerage by Wolf Larsens bunk I looked at him
the man who had been hurled down from the topmost pitch of life to be buried
alive and be worse than dead There seemed a relaxation of his expressionless
face which was new Maud looked at me and I understood
»His life flickered out in the storm« I said
»But he still lives« she answered infinite faith in her voice
»He had too great strength«
»Yes« she said »but now it no longer shackles him He is a free spirit«
»He is a free spirit surely« I answered and taking her hand I led her on
deck
The storm broke that night which is to say that it diminished as slowly as
it had arisen After breakfast next morning when I had hoisted Wolf Larsens
body on deck ready for burial it was still blowing heavily and a large sea was
running The deck was continually awash with the sea which came inboard over the
rail and through the scuppers The wind smote the schooner with a sudden gust
and she heeled over till her lee rail was buried the roar in her rigging rising
in pitch to a shriek We stood in the water to our knees as I bared my head
»I remember only one part of the service« I said »and that is And the
body shall be cast into the sea«
Maud looked at me surprised and shocked but the spirit of something I had
seen before was strong upon me impelling me to give service to Wolf Larsen as
Wolf Larsen had once given service to another man I lifted the end of the hatch
cover and the canvasshrouded body slipped feet first into the sea The weight
of iron dragged it down It was gone
»Goodby Lucifer proud spirit« Maud whispered so low that it was drowned
by the shouting of the wind but I saw the movement of her lips and knew
As we clung to the lee rail and worked our way aft I happened to glance to
leeward The Ghost at the moment was uptossed on a sea and I caught a clear
view of a small steamship two or three miles away rolling and pitching head on
to the sea as it steamed toward us It was painted black and from the talk of
the hunters of their poaching exploits I recognized it as a United States
revenue cutter I pointed it out to Maud and hurriedly led her aft to the safety
of the poop
I started to rush below to the flaglocker then remembered that in rigging
the Ghost I had forgotten to make provision for a flaghalyard
»We need no distress signal« Maud said »They have only to see us«
»We are saved« I said soberly and solemnly And then in an exuberance of
joy »I hardly know whether to be glad or not«
I looked at her Our eyes were not loath to meet We leaned toward each
other and before I knew it my arms were about her
»Need I« I asked
And she answered »There is no need though the telling of it would be
sweet so sweet«
Her lips met the press of mine and by what strange trick of the
imagination I know not the scene in the cabin of the Ghost flashed upon me
when she had pressed her fingers lightly on my lips and said »Hush hush«
»My woman my one small woman« I said my free hand petting her shoulder in
the way all lovers know though never learn in school
»My man« she said looking at me for an instant with tremulous lids which
fluttered down and veiled her eyes as she snuggled her head against my breast
with a happy little sigh
I looked toward the cutter It was very close A boat was being lowered
»One kiss dear love« I whispered »One kiss more before they come«
»And rescue us from ourselves« she completed with a most adorable smile
whimsical as I had never seen it for it was whimsical with love