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- float: left; - margin-right: 1em } - -.align-right { clear: right; - float: right; - margin-left: 1em } - -.align-center { margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto } - -div.shrinkwrap { display: table; } - -/* SECTIONS */ - -body { margin: 5% 10% 5% 10% } - -/* compact list items containing just one p */ -li p.pfirst { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } - -.first { margin-top: 0 !important; - text-indent: 0 !important } -.last { margin-bottom: 0 !important } - -span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } -img.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; max-width: 25% } -span.dropspan { font-variant: small-caps } - -.no-page-break { page-break-before: avoid !important } - -/* PAGINATION */ - -.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } -.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } -.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } -.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } -.toc-pageref { float: right } - -@media screen { - .coverpage, .frontispiece, .titlepage, .verso, .dedication, .plainpage - { margin: 10% 0; } - - div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage - { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } - - .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } -} - -@media print { - div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } - div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } - - .vfill { margin-top: 20% } - h2.title { margin-top: 20% } -} - -/* DIV */ -pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } -</style> -<title>UNDER SAIL</title> -<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" /> -<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Lincoln Colcord" /> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> -<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> -<meta name="PG.Released" content="2014-08-20" /> -<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> -<meta name="DC.Title" content="Under Sail" /> -<meta name="DC.Created" content="1922" /> -<meta name="PG.Id" content="46694" /> -<meta name="PG.Title" content="Under Sail" /> - -<link rel="schema.DCTERMS" href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" /> -<link rel="schema.MARCREL" href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/" /> -<meta content="Under Sail" name="DCTERMS.title" /> -<meta content="/home/ajhaines/sail/sail.rst" name="DCTERMS.source" /> -<meta content="en" name="DCTERMS.language" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" /> -<meta content="2014-08-28T02:32:50.994899+00:00" name="DCTERMS.modified" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" /> -<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" /> -<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" /> -<link rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46694" /> -<meta content="Lincoln Colcord" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> -<meta content="2014-08-20" name="DCTERMS.created" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" /> -<meta content="width=device-width" name="viewport" /> -<meta content="Ebookmaker 0.4.0a2 by Marcello Perathoner <webmaster@gutenberg.org>" name="generator" /> -</head> -<body> -<div class="document" id="under-sail"> -<h1 class="center document-title level-1 pfirst title"><span class="x-large">UNDER SAIL</span></h1> - -<!-- this is the default PG-RST stylesheet --> -<!-- figure and image styles for non-image formats --> -<!-- default transition --> -<!-- default attribution --> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="clearpage"> -</div> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="align-None container language-en pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the </span><a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a><span> included with -this ebook or online at </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>. If you -are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws -of the country where you are located before using this ebook.</span></p> -<p class="noindent pnext"></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<div class="align-None container" id="pg-machine-header"> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Title: Under Sail -<br /> -<br />Author: Lincoln Colcord -<br /> -<br />Release Date: August 20, 2014 [EBook #46694] -<br /> -<br />Language: English -<br /> -<br />Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p> -</div> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line"><span>*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>UNDER SAIL</span><span> ***</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p> -</div> -<div class="align-None container titlepage"> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<!-- --> -<blockquote> -<div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>[Transcriber's note: The source book's idiosyncratic -<br />punctuation has been preserved as printed.]</span></p> -</div> -</blockquote> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="xx-large">UNDER SAIL</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">BY</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="large">LINCOLN COLCORD</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">LONDON -<br />EVELEIGH NASH & GRAYSON LTD. -<br />148 STRAND -<br />1922</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -</div> -<div class="align-None container verso"> -<p class="center pfirst"><em class="italics small">Copyright in the U.S.A.</em><span class="small"> -<br />By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">CONTENTS</span></p> -<p class="noindent pnext"><a class="reference internal" href="#an-instrument-of-the-gods">AN INSTRUMENT OF THE GODS</a><span> -<br /></span><a class="reference internal" href="#the-uncharted-isle">THE UNCHARTED ISLE</a><span> -<br /></span><a class="reference internal" href="#servant-and-master">SERVANT AND MASTER</a><span> -<br /></span><a class="reference internal" href="#rescue-at-sea">RESCUE AT SEA</a><span> -<br /></span><a class="reference internal" href="#id1">UNDER SAIL</a><span> -<br /></span><a class="reference internal" href="#anjer">ANJER</a></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="an-instrument-of-the-gods"><span class="bold x-large">AN INSTRUMENT OF THE GODS</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">AN INSTRUMENT OF THE GODS</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">I</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"The longer I live" said Nichols from the -darkness of his corner "the less of difference I see -between the East and the West. I've been -listening closely to you fellows. We are fond of -saying that we don't understand the Oriental; -but, let me ask you, do we fully understand our -best friends—even ourselves? Whose fault is it? -Or, failing to understand the Oriental, is it logical -for us to consign him to a different sphere of -human nature? Of course, it's the easiest way -to dodge the real answer...."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The old </span><em class="italics">Omega</em><span> had drifted that morning past -Green Island, dropping anchor a little later -among the fleet off Stonecutter's; and after -dinner, moved by a common impulse, we had -called our sampans and joined Nichols under -her spacious after awning. There, with the -broad land-locked harbour of Hong Kong under -a half moon reflecting the perfect outline of the -Peak, talk had wandered lazily along the range -of our shipping activities, to reach at last, as it -always did in such company, that world-old -problem of the races of men.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think I know the race of Chinamen" Nichols -went on, while grunts of assent from several -quarters of the deck gave testimony to his -reputation. "Oh, yes, I know them. They are -made of flesh and blood, if you'll believe me; -they eat with their mouths, and think in the -recesses of their skulls, just as we do. They -marry, beget children, and pass through life. -They love, fight, strive for gain, sin, suffer, learn -lessons, regret, make restitution, are tempted by -devils, struggle and triumph, or give up in despair, -and finally die with their years and their secrets -on their heads. The same old conscience pursues -them. Yes, they are eaten up, like us, by the -savage and devastating contest with self, the -flesh and the spirit striving for the mastery; and -out of the contest, like fire struck from clashing -swords, come the sparks of ideas, of aspirations, -of creative efforts, of wonder and joy, pain and -fear, of all the infinite play of this star-spangled -life of ours against the soft darkness of the -unknown sky.... You fellows have been -discussing only superficialities. At heart, you and -the Oriental are the same. The Chinese are -romantic, I tell you; they are heroic, they are -incorrigibly imaginative. You think not? Let -me tell you a tale"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly Nichols laughed, a snort that might -have been of self-derision. "You won't be -convinced" he chuckled "I see it already. You'll -derive from this tale, no doubt, only further -confirmation of the unlikeness you imagine. So be -it. I merely warn you not to be too sure. Strip -my friend Lee Fu Chang naked, for instance, -destroy and forget about that long silken coat of -his, embroidered so wonderfully with hills and -trees and dragons, dress him in a cowboy's suit -and locate him in the Rocky Mountain region -of fifty years ago, and the game he played with -Captain Wilbur won't seem so inappropriate. It's -only that you won't expect a mandarin Chinaman -to play it. You'll feel that China is too old and -civilized for what he did...."</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">II</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Some of you fellows must remember the -notorious case of Captain Wilbur and the ship -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>" Nichols began "For years it was -spoken of among sailors as a classic instance of -nautical perfidy; and this was the port, you -know, where Wilbur first brought the ship after -he'd stolen her, and settled down to brazen out -his crime. But few men have heard how he lost -her in the end, or why he disappeared for ever -from the life of the sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps I'd better refresh your memories; -let's go back a matter of forty years. Captain -Wilbur was a well-known shipmaster of those -palmy days. He had commanded the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> -for a decade, and possessed a reputation for -sterling seamanship and unblemished integrity. -His vessel was one of the finest moderate clippers -ever launched on the shores of New England. -But she was growing old; and Wilbur himself -had suffered serious financial reverses, although -this fact wasn't known till after the escapade -that estranged his friends and set our little world -by the ears. He seems to have been something -of a gambler in investments, and by bad judgment -or ill luck had brought his fortune to the verge -of ruin if not of actual disgrace. This, so far as -I know, stands as the sole explanation of his -amazing downfall. There was nothing else the -matter with him, physically or mentally, as you -shall hear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Out of a clear sky, this was what he did: he -deliberately put the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> ashore in Ombay -Pass, on a voyage home from Singapore to New -York with a light general cargo, and abandoned -her as she lay. I say he did it deliberately; this -is the common surmise, and subsequent developments -lend point to the accusation. It may have -been, however, that she actually drifted ashore, -and that he didn't try at the time to get her off. -Whether he planned the disaster, or whether he -succumbed to a temptation thrust in his face by -the devil of chance, makes little difference. His -plans were deliberate enough after the event.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Within a month after sailing for home, he -was back again in Singapore with his ship's -company in three longboats and a tale of a lost -vessel. There he remained for three months, -cleaning up the business. No breath of scandal -was raised against him; Ombay Pass on the turn -of the monsoon had caught many a fine vessel -before this one, and the account rendered by his -officers and crew was straightforward and -consistent. The </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>, according to the official -record, had drifted ashore in a light breeze, before -the unmanageable currents of that region, and -had lodged on a coral reef at the top of the tide -in such a position that she couldn't be got off. -It was another case of total loss of ship and cargo; -in those days there were no steam craft in the -East to send on a mission of salvage, and the -Eastern Passages were forbidden hunting -ground. What they caught they were allowed to -keep, with no words said and the page closed. -The insurance companies stood the strain, the -ship's affairs were settled without a hitch, and -the name of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> passed simultaneously -from the Maritime Register and from the books -of her owners in America. Captain Wilbur let it -be known that he was going home, and left -Singapore.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was his remarkable destiny to be the -revealer of his own perfidy; he made no bones -about the job. Instead of going home, he went -to Batavia, and there hired a schooner and crew -with the proceeds of his personal holding in the -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>. This schooner and crew he took -immediately to Ombay Pass. They found the -ship still resting in the same position. What -they did there must remain a mystery; I have the -tale only in fragmentary form from the Lascar -who was serang of Wilbur's native crew.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He, it would seem, was overawed by the -extent of the engineering operations in which he -participated; his description partook of the colour -and extravagance of a myth. Alone in distant -waters they had wrestled like heroes with a -monstrous task; day had followed day, while the -great ship remained motionless and the elements -paused to observe the stupendous effort. They -had unloaded the cargo: they had sent down the -top-hamper and rafted it alongside; they had -patched and pumped, and Wilbur himself had -dived in the lower hold and under the bows to -place the stoppers in their proper position. So -far as I can reckon, it took them a couple of -months to get her off; but, by Jove, they floated -her—a magnificent feat of sailorizing. Then they -loaded the cargo again, and came away.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When Captain Wilbur appeared one morning -off Batavia roadstead with the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> under -top-gallantsails, towing the schooner, it was the -sensation of the port; a sensation that flew like -wildfire about the China Sea, as it became clear -what he intended to do with her. For he -proposed, incredible and unaccountable as it seems, -to hold the ship and cargo as salvage; and -nothing, apparently, could be done about it. She -was actually the property of himself and the -Lascar crew.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The crowd alongshore, everyone interested in -shipping, of course turned violently against him; -for a time there was wild talk of extra-legal -proceedings, and Wilbur might have fared ill had -he attempted to frequent his old haunts just then. -But he snapped his fingers at them all. He found -plenty of men who were willing to advance him -credit on the security of the ship: he bought off -his crew with liberal allowances, took the -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> to Hong Kong and put her in drydock, and -soon was ready for business with a fine vessel -of his own. Well, he knew that personal -repugnance wouldn't be carried to commercial lengths; -that he and the ship, by cutting freights a little, -could find plenty to do. As for the rest of it, -the moral score, he seemed cheerfully prepared -to face the music, and probably foresaw that with -the passage of time he would be able to live down -the record.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The old </span><em class="italics">Omega</em><span> and I were down the China -Sea on a trading voyage while these events were -taking place. When we got back to Hong Kong, -Wilbur had already sailed for Antwerp, leaving -his story to swell the scandal and fire the -indignation of the water-front. I heard it first from my -friend, Lee Fu Chang.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'An extraordinary incident, is it not?' -exclaimed Lee Fu in conclusion 'Extraordinary! -I am deeply interested. First of all, I am -interested in your laws. Here is a man who has stolen -a ship; and your laws, it is discovered, support -him in the act. But the man himself is the most -interesting. It is a crowning stroke, Captain -Nichols, that he has not seen fit to change the -name of the vessel. Consider this fact. All is -as it was before, when the well-known and -reputable Captain Wilbur commanded the fine ship -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> on voyages to the East'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Can it be possible?' said I 'Isn't there -some mistake? The man must have the gall of -a highway robber! Does the crowd have -anything to do with him?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'None of his old associates speak in passing; -they cross the street to avoid him. He goes -about like one afflicted with a pestilence. But -the wonder is that he is not disturbed by this -treatment. That makes it very extraordinary. -He is neither cringing nor brazen; he makes no -protests, offers no excuse, and takes no notice. -In the face of outrageous insult, Captain, he -maintains an air of dignity and reserve, like a man -conscious of inner rectitude'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Did you talk with him, Lee Fu?' I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Oh, yes. In fact, I cultivated his acquaintance. -The study fascinated me; it relieved, as -it were, the daily monotony of virtue. In him -there is no trace of humbug or humility. Do not -think that he is a simple man. His heart in this -matter is unfathomable ... well worth sounding'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'By Jove, I believe you liked him!' I -exclaimed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, not that' Lee Fu folded his hands -within the long sleeves of his embroidered coat -and rested them across his stomach in a -characteristic attitude of meditation. 'No, quite the -opposite. I abhorred him. He seemed to me -unnatural, monstrous, beyond the range of -common measure. Captain, there are crimes and -crimes, and it has been my lot to know men who -have committed many of them. There are -murder, theft, arson, treason, infidelity, and all -the rest; and these, in a manner of speaking, are -natural crimes. Shall we define it thus: a natural -crime is one which eventually brings its own -retribution? Sooner or later, if justice is not -done, the natural crime works havoc with its -perpetrator; it plagues his conscience, it fastens -like a fungus on his soul. Through lust or -passion, natural impulses, he has committed error; -but he cannot escape the final payment of the -price. On the other hand, there are unnatural -crimes, crimes for which there is no reason, crimes -requiring no liquidation; and there are unnatural -criminals, feeling no remorse. Such a criminal, -I take it, is this Captain Wilbur, who goes his -way in peace from the betrayal of a sacred -trust'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Aren't you drawing it a little strong?' I -laughed 'It isn't exactly a crime...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Lee Fu smiled quietly, giving me a glance -that was a mere flicker of the eyelids. 'Perhaps -not to you' said he 'Fixed in the mind of your -race is a scale of violence by which to measure -the errors of men; if no blood flows, then it is not -so bad. Your justice is still a barbarian. Thus -you constantly underestimate the deeper crimes, -allowing your master criminals to go scathless, or -even, in some instances, to prosper and win -repute by their machinations. But, let me tell -you, Captain, murder is brave and honourable -compared with this. Consider what he did. -Trained to the sea and ships, after a lifetime of -honourable service to his traditions, he suddenly -forsakes them utterly. Because the matter rests -with him alone, because there is nothing in it for -him to fear, his serenity condemns his very soul. -He has fallen from heaven to hell; flagrantly, -remorselessly, and without attempt at concealment -or evasion, he has played false with sacred -honour and holy life. It is blasphemy that he -has committed; when the master of the ship is -not to be trusted, the gods tremble in the sky. -So I abhor him—and am fascinated. He does -not speak of his crime, of course, yet I find -myself waiting and watching for a hint, an -explanation. Believe me, Captain, when I tell -you, that in all my talk with him I have received -not a single flash of illumination; no, not one! -There is no key to his design. He speaks of his -ship and her affairs as other captains do. He is -a tall, jovial, healthy man, with frank glances and -open speech. For all that seems, he might have -forgotten what went on at Ombay Pass. I swear -to you that his heart is untroubled. As you -would say, he does not care a damn.... And -that is horrible'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A little amused at my friend's moral fervour, -I adopted a bantering tone. 'Perhaps the man -is innocent' said I 'Perhaps there's something -unexplained....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You forget that he holds the vessel as his -property—the same vessel that he himself ran on -shore' Lee Fu reminded me 'You are still -thinking, Captain, of violence and blood. No -one was lost, no shots were fired ... so, never -mind. It is not vital to you that a strong man -within your circle has murdered the spirit; you -refuse to become excited or alarmed ... Wait -then till actual blood flows'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What do you mean by that, Lee Fu? You -think...?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I think Captain Wilbur will bear watching. -In the meantime, take my advice, and study him -when opportunity offers. Thus we learn of -heaven and hell'"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">III</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"A few years went by, while the case of -Captain Wilbur and the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> passed -through its initial stages of being forgotten. -Nothing succeeds like success; the man owned a -fine ship, and those who did business with him -soon came to take the situation for granted. -Wilbur made fast passages, kept the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> -in excellent trim, and paid his bills promptly; -rumour of course had it that he was growing rich. -In all probability it was true. After a while, -some of his old friends were willing to let -bygones be bygones; there were many more to -whom the possession of a fine piece of property -seemed of enough importance to cover a -multitude of sins. The new fellows who came to the -East and heard the tale for the first time couldn't -credit it after meeting Wilbur in the flesh. -Little by little one began to see him again on the -quarter-deck at the evening gatherings of the -fleet, or among seafaring men ashore at tiffin. -When, in time, it became unwise to start the story -against him, for fear of misconstruction of one's -motive, it was evident that he had well-nigh won -his nefarious match against society.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'd met him a number of times, of course, -during this interval, and had come to understand -Lee Fu's urgent advice. Indeed, for one -curious about the habits of the human species, -Wilbur compelled attention. That perfect -urbanity, that air of unfailing dignity and -confidence, that aura of a commanding personality, of -an able ship-master among his brethren, of a -man whose position in the world was secure -beyond peradventure: all this could spring from -one of only two spiritual conditions—either from -a quiet and innocent conscience, or from a heart -perfectly attuned to villainy. As he sat among -us, taking up his proper word in the conversation, -assuming no mask, showing no concern, it was -with the utmost difficulty that one placed him as -a man with a dark past, with a damnable blot on -his escutcheon. So unconscious was his poise -that one often doubted the evidence of memory, -and found oneself going back over the record, -only to fetch up point-blank against the incontestable -fact that he had stolen his ship and -betrayed his profession. By Jove, it seemed -fantastic! Here he was, to all intents and -purposes a gentleman; a likeable fellow, too, in -many ways. He talked well, was positive -without being arbitrary, usually had a fair and -generous word for the issue under discussion, -never indulged in criticism; and above all, damn -him, he sustained a reputation for expert mastery -over this profession to which he'd dealt such a -foul blow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'It is a triumph of character!' Lee Fu used -to repeat, as we compared notes on the case from -time to time. 'I think he has not been guilty of -a single minor error. His correctness is nothing -short of diabolical. It presages disaster, like too -much fair weather in the typhoon season. Wait -and watch; mark my word, Captain, when -the major error comes it will be a great tragedy'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Must there be a major error?' I asked, -falling into the mood of Lee Fu's exaggerated -concern 'He's carried it off so far with the -greatest ease'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, with the greatest ease' said Lee Fu -thoughtfully 'Yet I begin to wonder whether -he has been properly put to the test. See how -the world protects him! Sometimes I am appalled. -It is as if we wrapped the doers of evil in cotton -wool, so that not even rudeness might disturb -them. He has merely maintained a perfect -silence, and the world has done the rest. It has -seemed more anxious to forget his crime than he -to have it forgotten. So he lives with impunity, -as it were. But he is not invulnerable. Life -will challenge him yet ... it must be ... life, -which is truth, and not the world. Can a man -escape the anger and justice of the gods? That -is why I concern myself with him—to know his -final destiny'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You admit, then, that he's not the incarnate -criminal you once thought him' I chaffed, unable -to take the matter so deeply to heart 'He may -be only a stupid fool with a wooden face and -naturally good manners....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Not stupid' Lee Fu interrupted 'Yet, on -the other hand, not exceptional, not superior to -life. Such faultless power of will is in itself no -mean part of ability. He is, as you might say, -self-centred—most accurately self-centred. But -the challenge of the gods displaces the centre of -all. He will be like a top that is done spinning. -A little breath may topple him at last. Wait and -see.... But, for the present, it is evident that -were is nothing more to be learned. The mask -is inscrutable'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thinking the case over at sea, I often -laughed to myself over Lee Fu's intensity. -Voyage followed voyage; at one time when I -had just come in from Bankok and was on my -way from the Jetty to Lee Fu's office, I passed -Captain Wilbur on the opposite side of Queen's -Road. He waved a hand to me as he turned the -corner: at once it flashed across my mind that -I hadn't observed the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> in the roadstead -as I came in. When I had finished my business -with Lee Fu, I asked him for an explanation of -Wilbur's presence in Hong Kong without his -vessel.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You are mistaken, Captain—it has little -significance' he answered with a quizzical smile -'So, after all, you pay a little attention? The -fact is, the successful Captain Wilbur has retired -from active service on the sea. He is now a ship -owner, nothing more, and has favoured Hong -Kong above all other ports as the seat of his -retirement. He resides in a fine house on -Graham Terrace, and has three chairmen in white -livery edged with crimson.... Captain Nichols, -you should steal a ship'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Who has gone in the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>?' I -inquired</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'An old friend of ours, one Captain Turner' -said Lee Fu slowly, glancing in my direction.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Not Will Turner?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'The same'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I pursed up my mouth in a silent whistle. -Will Turner in the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>! Poor fellow, he -must have lost another of his ill-starred vessels. -Hard luck seemed to pursue him. One ship -would be sold from under his command; several -he had lost in deep water, by fire, storm or old -age; another had sprung a leak in the Java Sea, -to be condemned a little later when he had worked -her into Batavia. A capable sailor and an honest -man; yet life had afforded him nothing but a -succession of hard blows and heavy falls. Death -and sorrow, too; he had buried a wife and child, -swept off by cholera, in the Bay of Bengal. A -dozen years before, Turner and I had landed -together in the China Sea, and were thrown much -in each other's company; I knew his heart, his -history, some of his secrets, and liked him -tremendously for the man he was.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Watching Lee Fu in silence, I thought again -of the relationship between Will Turner and this -extraordinary Chinaman. I won't go into that -story now, but there were overwhelming reasons -why these two should think well of each other; -why Lee Fu should respect and honour Captain -Turner, and why Turner should consider Lee Fu -his best friend. It had come about as the result -of an incident of Turner's early days in the East; -an incident of a ship, a rascal and a doctored -charter-party, that might have turned into an -ugly business save for the conduct and -perspicacity of the two chief victims. It had thrown -them violently together; ever since, they had kept -the bond close and hidden, as became men of -reserve. Probably I was the only man in the -world who knew how strong it was.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And now Turner had taken Wilbur's ship. -Strange how this new development seemed to -impinge on Lee Fu's fancy, how it brought the -Wilbur case nearer home. The next moment, of -course, the impression had passed; and I saw that, -instead of marking another stroke of ill-luck for -Turner, it might spell the beginning of good -fortune.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What happened to the old </span><em class="italics">Altair</em><span>?' I asked. -Turner had commanded a trading packet of that -name three months before.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'She was bought by certain parties for a -store-ship, and now lies moored on Kowloon-side' -answered Lee Fu 'I was about to make a -proposal to Captain Turner, when this plan came -forward' he went on, as if excusing himself 'I -did not know of it until he had actually accepted. -I said everything in my power to dissuade -him...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What's the trouble? Didn't Wilbur do the -right thing by him?' I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Captain, you are perverse. The business -arrangement is immaterial. It is unthinkable that -our friend should command a ship for such a man. -The jealous gods have not yet shown their hand'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Nonsense, Lee Fu!' I exclaimed, finding -myself irritated at the out-cropping of the old -conceit 'Since the thing is done, hadn't we -better try to be practical in our attitude?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Exactly' said Lee Fu 'Let us be practical.... -Captain Nichols, is it impossible for the -Caucasian to reason from cause to effect? There -seems to be no logic in your design—which -explains many curious facts of history. I have -merely insisted, in our consideration of this case, -that a man who would do one thing would do -another, and that sooner or later life would -inevitably present him with another thing to do'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'But I've known too many men who escaped -what you call destiny' I argued peevishly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Have you?' inquired Lee Fu.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He said no more, and we went out to tiffin"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">IV</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"That year I plunged into the Malay -Archipelago for an extended cruise, was gone seven -months among the islands, and wasted another -month coming up the China Sea in order to -dodge the tail-end of the typhoon season. But -luck favoured me, of course, since I wasn't in a -hurry; and so it happened that for the last three -hundred miles across from Luzon I raced with a -typhoon after all, beating it to an anchorage in -Hong Kong by a margin of twelve hours. It was -an exceptionally late storm; and the late ones, -you know, are the least dependable in their -actions. Typhoon signals were flying from the -Peak as I came in; before the </span><em class="italics">Omega's</em><span> sails -were furled the sky to the eastward had lowered -and darkened like a shutter, and the wind had -begun to whip in vicious gusts across the -harbour.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I went ashore at once, for I carried important -papers from Lee Fu's chief agent in the islands. -When I reached his outer office, I found it full of -gathering gloom, although it was still early -afternoon. Sing Toy immediately took in my name. -In a moment I was ushered into the familiar -room where my friend sat beside a shaded lamp, -facing a teakwood desk inlaid with ivory and -invariably bare, save for a priceless Ming vase -and an ornament of old green bronze.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Back again, Lee Fu' said I, placing the -island letters on the desk before him 'And just -in time, it seems' A rising gust outside whined -along the street.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He paid no attention to my greeting or the -letters. 'Sit down, Captain' said he 'I have -bad news'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes?' I queried, somewhat alarmed at the -vagueness of the announcement. So far as I -was aware, no matter that we shared between us -could result in 'bad news' said in such a tone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Folding his hands across his stomach and -slightly bowing his head, he gazed at me with a -level upturned glance that without betraying -expression carried by its very immobility a hint -of deep emotion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'It is as I told you' said he at last 'Now, -perhaps, you will believe'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'For Heaven's sake, what are you talking -about?' I demanded 'Tell me instantly what -is wrong'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He nodded slowly. 'There is plenty of -time—and I will tell. It is often said that the -season that brings a late typhoon, as now, is also -ushered in by an early typhoon. So it was this -season. A very severe storm came down before -its time, and almost without warning.... It -was this storm into whose face our late friend -Captain Turner took his ship, the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>, -sailing from Hong Kong for New York some -four months ago'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You don't mean that Turner has lost her?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I regret to inform you, yes. Also, he has -lost himself. Three days after sailing, he met -the typhoon outside, and was blown upon a lee -shore two hundred miles along the China Coast. -In this predicament, he cut away his masts and -came to anchor. But his ship would not float, -and accordingly sank at her anchors....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Sank at her anchors!' I exclaimed 'How -could that be? A tight ship never did such a -thing'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Nevertheless, she sank there in the midst -of the storm, and all on board perished. -Afterwards, the news was reported from shore, and -the hull of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> was discovered in ten -fathoms of water. There has been talk of trying -to save the ship; and Captain Wilbur himself, -her owner, in a diver's suit, has inspected the -wreck. Surely, he should be well-fitted to save -her again, if it were possible! He says no, and -it is reported that the insurance companies are in -agreement with him. That is, they have decided -that he cannot turn the trick a second time' -Lee Fu's voice dropped to a rasping tone 'The -lives, likewise, cannot be saved'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I sat for some moments in silence, gazing at -the green bronze dragon on the desk. Turner -gone? A friend's death is shocking, even -though it makes so little difference. And -between us, too, there had been a bond.... I -was thinking of the personal loss, and had missed -the significance of Lee Fu's phraseology. I -looked up at him blankly; found him still -regarding me with up-turned eyes, his chin sunk -lower on his breast.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'That is not all' said he suddenly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I sat up as if under the impact of a blow. -Across my mind raced thoughts of all that might -happen to a man on that abandoned coast. -'What more?' I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Listen, Captain, and pay close attention. -I have investigated with great care, and am fully -satisfied that no mistake has been made. You -must believe me.... Some weeks after the -departure and loss of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>, word came -to my ears that a man had a tale worth hearing. -You know how information reaches me, and that -my sources run through unexpected channels -among my people. This man was brought; he -proved to be a common coolie, a lighter-man who -had been employed in the loading of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>. -Note how slight chance may lead to -serious occasions. This coolie had been -gambling during the dinner hour, and had lost the -small sum that he should have taken home as the -product of several days' labour. Like many -others, he feared his wife, and particularly her -mother, who was a shrew. In a moment of -desperation, as the lighter was preparing to leave -the vessel for the night, he escaped from the -others and secreted himself in the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell's</em><span> -lower hold, among the bales of merchandise. -What he planned is hard to tell; it does not -matter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'This happened while yet the ship's lower hold -was not quite filled' Lee Fu went on after a pause -'The coolie, as I said, secreted himself in the cargo, -well forward, for he had entered by the fore hatch. -There he remained many hours, sleeping, and when -he awoke, quietness had descended on the deck -above. He was about to climb into the between-decks, -the air below being heavy with the odours -of the cargo, when he heard a sound on the -ladder that led down from the upper deck. It -was a sound of quiet steps, mingled with a faint -metallic rattling. In a moment a foot descended -on the floor of the between-decks, and a lantern -was cautiously lighted. The coolie retreated -quickly to his former hiding place, from -which post he was able to see all that went on'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Again Lee Fu paused, as if lingering in -imagination over the scene. 'It seems that this -late and secret comer into the hold of the -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> was none other than her owner, Captain -Wilbur' he slowly resumed 'The coolie knew -his face; a distant cousin had once been in the -employment of the Wilbur household, and the man -was already aware whose ship it was. Most of -the inner facts of life are disseminated through -the gossip of servants, and are known to a wide -circle. Furthermore, as the lighter had been -preparing to depart that evening, this coolie had seen -the owner come on board in his own sampan. -Afterwards, through my inquiries among -sampan-men and others, I learned that Captain Turner -had spent that night on shore. It was Captain -Wilbur's custom, it seems, frequently to sleep on -board his ship when she lay here in port; the -starboard stateroom was kept in readiness for him. -So he had done this night—and he had been alone -in the cabin'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What was he doing in the hold with a -lantern?' I asked, unable to restrain my impatience.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Exactly ... you shall hear. I was obliged -to make certain deductions from the story of the -coolie, for he was not technically acquainted with -the internal construction of a vessel. Yet what he -saw was perfectly obvious to the most ignorant -eye.... Have you ever been in the lower hold -of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>, Captain Nichols?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, I haven't'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'But you recall the famous matter of her -bow-ports, do you not?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, indeed. I was in Singapore when they -were cut'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The incident came back to me at once, in full -detail. There had been a cargo of ironwood on -the beach, destined for the repair of a temple -somewhere up the Yang-tse-kiang; among it were seven -magnificent sticks of timber, each over a hundred -feet in length and forty inches square at the -butt—these were for columns, I suppose. It had been -necessary to find a large ship to take this cargo -from Singapore to Shanghai; the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> had -finally accepted the charter. In order to load the -immense column-timbers, she had been obliged to -cut bow-ports of extraordinary size; fifty inches -in depth they were, and nearly seven feet in width, -according to my recollection—the biggest -bow-ports on record.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'It has been my privilege' Lee Fu went on -'to examine the fore-peak of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> when -these ports were in and her hold was empty. I -had once chartered the ship, and felt alarmed for -her safety until I had seen the interior fastenings -of those great windows which, when she was -loaded, looked out into the deep sea. But my -alarm was groundless. There was a most ingenious -device for strengthening the bows where they had -been weakened by the cutting of the ports. Four -or five timbers had been severed; but these had -been reproduced on the port itself, and the whole -was fashioned like a massive door. It lifted -upward on immense wrought iron hinges, a hinge to -every timber; when it was lowered into its place, -gigantic bars of iron, fitted into brackets on the -adjoining timbers, stretched across its inner face -to hold it against the impact of the waves. At -the bottom there were additional fastenings. Thus -the port, when tightly caulked from without, -became an integral part of the hull; I was told, and -could believe it, that there had never been a trace -of leakage from her bows. Most remarkable of -all, I was told that when it became necessary to -lift these ports for use, the task could easily be -accomplished by two or three men and a stout -watch-tackle.... This, also, I am prepared to -believe'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There seemed to be a general drift to Lee -Fu's rambling narrative, but I hadn't yet caught -sight of a logical dénouement. 'To resume the -story of the coolie' he continued with exasperating -deliberation 'This, in plain language, is what he -saw. Our friend, Captain Wilbur, descended into -the lower hold, and worked his way forward to -the fore-peak, where there was little cargo. There -he laboured with great effort for several hours; -you will recall that he is a vigorous man. He had -equipped himself with a short crowbar, and carried -a light tackle wrapped about his body beneath the -coat. The tackle he loosened and hung to a hook -above the middle of the port; I take it that he -had brought this gear merely for the purpose of -lowering easily the iron cross bars, so that they -would make no noise. Had one fallen...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Good God, Lee Fu, what are you trying to -tell me?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Merely occurrences. Many quite impossible -things, Captain, nevertheless get themselves done -in the dark, in secret places, out of sight and -mind.... So, with the short crowbar he pried -loose little by little the iron braces to the port, -slinging them in his tackle and dropping them -softly one by one into the ship's bottom. It was -a heavy task; the coolie said that sweat poured -from the big man like rain. Yet he was bent on -accomplishment, and persevered until he had done -the job. Later he removed all the additional port -fastenings; last of all he covered the cross-bars -with dunnage, and rolled against the bow several -bulky bales of matting to conceal the crime.... -Captain, when the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> sailed from Hong -Kong on her last voyage in command of our -honoured friend one of her great bowports below -the water hung on its hinges without internal -fastenings, held in place only by the tightness -of the caulking. The first heavy sea...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Can it be possible?' said I through clenched -teeth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Oh, yes, so easily. It happened, and has -become a part of life. As I told you, I have -investigated with scrupulous care; my men dare -not tell me lies'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I was still trying to get my bearings, to grasp -a clue. 'But why should he do it, Lee Fu? Had -he anything against Turner?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Not at all. You do not seem to understand. -He was tired of the vessel, and freights were -becoming very poor. He wanted the insurance. -He now assures himself that he had no thought -of disaster; one could hardly foresee an early -typhoon. He had it in mind for the ship to sink -discreetly, in pleasant weather, so that all hands -might escape.... Yet he was willing to run the -risk of wholesale murder. Remember how he -sweated at the task, there in the fetid air of the -lower hold. It was absentee murder, if you will; -he did not contemplate, he was not forced to -contemplate, the possible results of his act on the -lives of others.... What do you think now, -Captain, of a man who will betray his profession?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I got up abruptly and began to pace the floor. -The damnable affair had made me sick at heart, -and a little sick at the stomach. What to think?—what -to believe? It seemed incredible, fantastic; -there must be some mistake.... While -I was pacing, Lee Fu changed his position. He -faced the desk, stretched out an arm, and put his -palm flat down on the polished surface.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Thus the gods have struck' said he, in that -changeless voice that seemed an echo of the ages -'There is blood at last, Captain—twenty-seven -lives, and among them one dear to us—enough -to convince even one of your race that a crime has -been committed. But my analysis was seriously -in error. The criminal, it seems, is destined not -to suffer. He continues to go about carried by -three men in white and crimson livery, his belly -full of food and wine. Others have paid the -price. Instead of toppling, his life spins on with -renewed momentum. My query has been -answered; he has escaped the gods'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Can't you rip the case open, jostle his -security? Isn't there some way...?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No way' said Lee Fu with a shake of the -head 'You forget the fine principle of -extraterritoriality, which you have so kindly imposed -on us by force of arms. Captain Wilbur is not -subject to Chinese justice; your own courts have -exclusive jurisdiction over him, his kind, and all -their works. No, Captain, he is amply protected. -What could I accomplish in your courts with this -fanciful accusation, and for witnesses a coolie and -a sampan-man?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I continued to pace the floor, thinking dark -thoughts. There was a way, of course -... between man and man; but such things aren't -done any longer by civilized people. We're -supposed not to go about with firearms, privately -meting out justice. We are domesticated. -Whatever the thoughts I might have harboured, in the -first anger of the realization of wrong, I knew -very well that I shouldn't act on them. Lee Fu -was right, there was nothing to be done; the man -had made good his escape from the hand of -destiny.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Pacing rapidly, as if pursued by a veritable -phantom of crime, and oblivious of everything but -the four walls of the room, I nearly floored the -chief clerk, Sing Toy, as he pattered in with a -message from the outer office. He ducked, -slipped behind the lamp, and began whispering in -Lee Fu's ear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'</span><em class="italics">Ah!</em><span>' exclaimed Lee Fu sharply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I started, whirled around in my tracks. His -voice had lost the level, passive tone; it had taken -on the timbre of action. Suddenly, with a quick -rustle of silken garments, he stood up behind the -desk; the abrupt motion threw his shadow across -the floor and up the opposite wall. With a subtle -thrill of anticipation, I felt the profound psychic -change that had come over my friend. The very -air of the room had quickened before that single -exclamation, as if a cold breeze had blown -through.... A breeze, indeed, was at that -moment trying hard to find an entrance; the -absolute silence of the room brought out in sharp -relief the tumult outside, the hoarse voice of the -rising gale. We stood as if listening. I looked -at Lee Fu, caught his eye. It was charged with -energy and purpose, with something like -relief—like the eye of a man who has made up his mind -after a long period of bewilderment, who begins -to understand....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Send him in, alone' said he in Chinese to -Sing Toy, now at the outer door.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Who is it?' I asked hoarsely.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'The man we have been speaking of'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Wilbur? What the devil...?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'He merely dropped in as he was passing, to -make a call' said Lee Fu, speaking rapidly 'So -he thinks—but I think otherwise' Leaning -forward across the desk, he fixed me with an -extended arm that trembled slightly before it -found its aim. 'Keep silence' he commanded -'Beware of word or glance. This chanced by -predestination. We are on the threshold of the gods'</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">V</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Lee Fu remained standing as Captain Wilbur -entered the room. His hurried admonition still -rang in my ears 'Keep silence—beware of word -or glance!' But I couldn't have spoken; had I -opened my mouth just then, it would have been -only to emit a snarl of anger. To beware of -glances was a different matter. The task might -be easy enough for Lee Fu, with that perfect -self-control of his that extended to the last nerve -of his eyelids and the last muscle of his fingertips; -but for my part I was spiritually incapable, -as it were, of keeping rage and abomination out -of my eyes. I stood as if rooted to the floor, -gazing point-blank at Wilbur with a stare that -must have made him wonder about my sanity. -For, of course, he hadn't the slightest suspicion -that we knew what we knew.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Good afternoon, Captain Wilbur' said Lee -Fu blandly 'Do you seek refuge from the -storm? ... I think you are acquainted with Captain -Nichols, of the barque </span><em class="italics">Omega</em><span>. He arrived this -morning from the Celebes'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Oh, how do you do, Nichols' said Wilbur, -advancing down the room 'I've missed you -around town for a good while, it seems to me. -So you've been off on one of your famous exploring -trips? Then you'll have a lot to tell us. I -suppose you had the usual assortment of romantic -and tragic adventures?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I drew back behind the desk, to escape -shaking his hand. 'No' I answered 'nothing -like the adventure that awaited me here'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He settled himself in a chair, directly in range -of the light; smiled, and lifted his eyebrows. 'So...? -Well, I can believe you. This office, -you know, is the heart of all adventure. The -most romantic room in the East—presided over -by the very genius of romance' He bowed -toward Lee Fu, and touched a match to a long -Manila. 'Genius, or demon, which is it, now?' -he chuckled, his eyes twinkling from Lee Fu to me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You honour me, Captain' interposed Lee -Fu quickly, cutting me off from the necessity of -speaking. 'If, indeed, you do not flatter. I -merely observe and live. It is life that may be -called the heart of all adventure—life, with its -amazing secrets that one by one transpire into -the day, and with its enormous burden of evil -that weighs us down like slaves'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur laughed. 'Yes, that's it, no doubt. -But there's some good, too, Lee Fu—plenty of -good. Don't be a pessimist. Yet you're right -enough in a way; the evil always does manage -to be more romantic'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Much more romantic' observed Lee Fu -'And the secrets are more romantic still. -Consider, for instance, the case of a man with a dark -secret that by chance has become known, though -he is not aware of the fact. How infinitely -romantic! He feels secure; yet inevitably it will -be disclosed. When, and how? Such a case -would be well worth watching ... as the great -poet had in mind when he wrote "Murder will out"'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The winged words made no impression on -their mark. Wilbur met Lee Fu's glance frankly, -innocently, with interest and even with a trace of -amusement at the other's flight of fancy. The -full light of the lamp illuminated his features, the -least fleeting expression couldn't have escaped -us. By Jove, he was superb; the damned rascal -hadn't a nerve in his body. To be sure, he still -had no suspicion, and attributed Lee Fu's shaft -to a mere chance; yet this very factor of safety -lent additional point to the finish of his -dissimulation. He might at least have indulged himself in -a start, a glance, a knitting of the eyebrows; his -conscience, or his memory if he hadn't a conscience, -might have received a faint surprise. But -his watchfulness must have been unfailing, -automatic. Or was it that a reminder of his appalling -crime woke no echo at all in his breast?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I examined him closely. Above a trimmed -brown beard his cheeks showed the ruddy colour -of health and energy; his eyes were steady, his -mouth was strong and clean, a head of fine grey -hair surmounted a high forehead; the whole -aspect of his countenance was pleasing and -dignified. He had good hands, broad yet closely -knit, and ruddy with the same glow of health that -rose in his face. He was dressed neatly in a -plain blue serge suit, with square-toed russet shoes -encasing small feet, a dark bow-tie at his throat, -and a narrow gold watch chain strung across his -vest. Sitting at ease, with an arm thrown over -the chair-back and one ankle resting on the other -knee, he presented a fine figure of a man, a figure -that might have been that of a prosperous and -benevolent merchant, a man who had passed -through the world with merit and integrity, and -now was enjoying his just reward.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He gave a hearty laugh. 'For the Lord's -sake, you fellows, come on out of the gloom!' he -cried 'A pretty state of mind you seem to have -worked yourselves into, hobnobbing here behind -closed doors. I drop in for a chat, and find a -couple of blue devils up to their ears in the sins -of humanity. Nichols, over there, is just as bad -as the other; he's scarcely opened his mouth since -I came in. What's the matter? ... You have -to fight these moods, you know' he quizzed 'It -doesn't do to let them get the upper hand'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'It is the mood of the approaching storm' -said Lee Fu quietly 'We have been speaking -of typhoons, and of the fate that they sometimes -bring to men'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A fiercer squall than the last shook the -building; it passed in a moment, ceasing suddenly, as -if dropping us somewhere in mid-air. Wilbur -was the first to speak after the uproar.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, it's going to be another terror, I'm -afraid. A bad night to be on the water, -gentlemen. I shouldn't care to be threshing around -outside, now, as poor Turner was such a short -time ago'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I could have struck him across the mouth for -the shocking callousness of the words. A bad -night outside! He dared to speak of it; he, -sitting there so comfortably, so correctly, alive -and well, glad to be safe in port and sorry for -those afloat—the same remorseless devil who had -sent Turner to his doom.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Lee Fu's voice fell like oil on a breaking sea. -'All signs point to another severe typhoon. But, -as I was telling Captain Nichols, these late storms -are often irregular—like the early ones.... It -happened, Captain Wilbur, that the loss of the -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> was the subject we were discussing -when you came in'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Too bad—too bad' said Wilbur soberly, as -if overcome by thoughts of the disaster 'You -were away, Nichols, weren't you? Of course!—then -you've just heard of it. It was a bad week -here, I can tell you, after the news came in. I -shall never forget it.... Well, we take our -chances....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Some of us do, and some of us don't' I snapped.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'That's just the way I felt about it, at the -time' said he simply 'I didn't feel right, to -have both feet on the ground. Seemed as if -there must have been something we could have -done, something we had neglected. It came -home hard to me'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My jaw fairly dropped as I listened to the -man. Something he had neglected? ... Was -it possible that he liked to talk about the affair? -He didn't seem anxious to turn the conversation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Captain Nichols and I were wondering' -observed Lee Fu 'why it was that the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> -did not remain afloat, after she had cast her -anchors. Neither of us can recall another -incident of the kind. What is your opinion, -Captain Wilbur; you have examined the hull, as -it lies on the bottom'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'It isn't a matter of opinion' Wilbur answered -'Haven't I told you?—I thought I'd seen you -since the inspection. I put on a diver's suit, you -know, Nichols, and went down.... Why, the -simple explanation is, her starboard bow-port in -the lower hold is stove in. It must have happened -after she came to anchor. She lay there just -scooping up water at every plunge—filled and -sank as she lay. I've always been afraid of those -big bow-ports; the moment I heard of the peculiar -circumstances of the disaster, I knew in my heart -what had happened'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Did you?' inquired Lee Fu, with a slight -hardening of the voice 'Strange—but so did I'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur gazed at him questioningly, knitting -his brows. 'Oh, yes, I remember. I was -wondering how you happened to think of her -bow-ports. But you told me that you had -examined them....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, I examined them.... Captain -Wilbur, have you collected your insurance -money?' The question came with an abruptness -that marked a change of tactics; to me, who knew -Lee Fu so well, it obviously marked the first -turning point in some as yet impenetrable plan.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur frowned and glanced up sharply, very -properly offended. The next moment he had -decided to pass it off as an instance of alien -manners. 'As a matter of fact, I've just cleaned -up to-day' he replied brusquely 'Had my final -settlement with Lloyds this morning—and did a -silly thing, as a fellow will sometimes. You -know, they had a package of large denomination -bank notes in the office, crisp, wonderful looking -fellows; I took a sudden fancy for them, and in a -moment of childishness asked to have my money -in that form. They chaffed me a good deal, but -I stuck to it. You'd hardly believe, would you, -that a fellow would be such a fool? I can prove -it to you, though; I've got those bills in my -pocket now. By Jove, that reminds me—what -time is it getting to be? I must leave them at the -bank before it closes'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What is the total amount of the bank notes -that you have in your possession?' asked Lee Fu -in a level tone that carried its own insult.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wilbur plainly showed his astonishment now. -'The total amount? ... Well, if you want all -the details, I have about forty thousand dollars -in my pocket. I'm not aware, however, that it's -any concern of yours....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Lee Fu shot at me a stare full of meaning; it -might have been a look of caution, or a glance of -triumph. I was expected to understand something; -but for the life of me I couldn't catch the -drift of the situation. Confused by the terrific -struggle to keep my mouth shut, I only perceived -that a crisis was impending.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'As I was saying, I once examined the bow-ports -of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>' Lee Fu calmly resumed. -'At that time, I satisfied myself as to their -construction; unlike you, Captain Wilbur, I could -not be afraid of them. When properly fastened, -they were impregnable to any danger of the sea.... -And I remember, Captain, that it occurred -to me, as I examined their fastenings, how easily -these ports could be loosened from within, by -anyone who desired to sink the vessel. The iron -cross-bars could be lifted from their brackets by -a single strong man; with a small tackle they -could be dropped without noise into the bottom. -No one need know of it; and, lo, the ship would -sail to meet her destiny riding on the waves. Has -the thought ever occurred to you, Captain -Wilbur?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur's air of mingled repugnance and perplexity -was innocence itself. 'I can't say that it -has' he answered shortly 'Your imagination is -a little morbid, Lee Fu—I won't say worse. Who -would want to sink the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>, I'd like to -know?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Who, indeed?' observed Lee Fu, staring at -Wilbur with a steady, biting gaze. As he stared, -he reached out slowly with his right hand and -opened the top drawer of the desk. Suddenly -he stood up. The hand held a revolver, which -pointed with an unwavering aim at Wilbur's -breast.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'If you move from your chair, Captain, I will -shoot you dead, and your end will never be -known' said he rapidly, throwing a cold -determination into his voice 'It is time we came to -an understanding, for the day wanes'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur uncrossed his legs, leaned forward, -and looked at Lee Fu narrowly. 'What's the -joke?' he demanded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'A joke that will be clear as time goes on—like -one you played with bow-ports on my -friend.... Captain, we are about to go on a -journey. Will you join us, Captain Nichols, or -will you remain on shore?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The question was perfunctory; whatever was -in the wind, Lee Fu knew that my decision rested -in his hands. I stood up—for until now I'd -been chained to my chair by the amazing turn of -the moment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Bow-ports?...' Wilbur was saying -'Put that gun down. What in hell do you -mean?' He started to rise.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>'Sit down!' commanded Lee Fu 'I mean -that I will shoot. This is not play' Their eyes -met in a sharp struggle, which Lee Fu won. -Wilbur sank back, angry and confused.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Are you crazy, Lee Fu?' he growled -'What is it—do you want to rob me? What's -the meaning of this nonsense, Nichols? Have -both of you gone mad?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, Captain' interposed Lee Fu 'But we -have found a man who wanted to sink the -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>,, and we wish to observe him under -certain conditions.... Is it possible that you -do not as yet comprehend that I share your -secret? You were seen, Captain, that black and -cruel night in the forepeak; and those details, -also, are known to me. It is needless to -dissemble longer'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'That night in the forepeak? ... For -God's sake, Lee Fu, what are you talking about? -Nichols, this is too ridiculous! Tell me the -answer, and get over with it'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Ah!' exclaimed Lee Fu with something -like satisfaction 'You are worthy of the -occasion, Captain. It will be most interesting'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He slapped his palm sharply on the desk; -Sing Toy appeared at the door as if by a -mechanical arrangement. 'Bring oilskin coats -and hats for three' Lee Fu commanded 'Also -send in haste to my cruising sampan, with orders -to prepare for an immediate journey. Have -water and food prepared for a week. We come -within the half-hour, and will sail without delay'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Master!' protested Sing Toy breathlessly—their -words, in rapid Chinese, were wholly -unintelligible to Wilbur. 'Master, the -typhoon!' He glanced at the revolver in Lee -Fu's hand, then raised his eyes to the wall that -smothered the tumult of the gale.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I know, fool' answered Lee Fu 'I am -neither deaf nor blind. But it is necessary to -sail. Go, quickly, do as I say'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He sat down, resting the revolver on the -corner of the desk, and resumed his former tone -of bland conversation 'I am sorry, gentlemen, -that the rain has already come; but there is water -also below, as Captain Wilbur should be well -aware. Yes, it was destined from the first that -this should be a wet journey. Yet it will be -possible still to breathe; not quite so bad as solid -water all around, where after a grim struggle one -lies at rest, neither caring nor remembering.... -Captain Wilbur, attend to what I say. We go -from this office to my sampan, which lies moored -at the bulkhead, not far away. During the walk, -you will precede us. I shall hold my revolver in -my hand—and I am an excellent shot. If you -attempt to escape, or to communicate with any -passerby—if you call for help, or even disclose -by your manner the strangeness of the occasion—you -will immediately be dead. Bear this in -mind. And do not think that I should fear -the consequences; we shall pass through Chinese -streets, where action of mine would not be -questioned'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Damn you!' Wilbur burst out 'What -crazy nonsense are you up to? Nichols, will you -permit this? Where are you taking me?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Never mind' replied Lee Fu 'As for -Captain Nichols, he knows, if anything, less than -you do about it. He, also, is at my mercy.... -Ah, here are the raincoats. Put one on, Captain -Wilbur; you will need it sorely before your -return. Now we must hurry. I would be clear -of the harbour before darkness falls entirely'</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VI</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"As we issued from the doorway, the gale -caught us with a swirl that carried us round the -corner and down a side street before we could -get our breath. 'To the right' Lee Fu shouted. -Wilbur, lurching ahead, obeyed sullenly. We -came about and made for the water front through -the fringe of the Chinese quarter—the most -remarkable trio, perhaps, that had ever threaded -those familiar thoroughfares. Few people were -abroad; a Chinaman now and then scurried to -cover in our path, and more infrequently we -caught sight of a stray European in the distance, -called out somewhere by the exigencies of business.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Overhead, the sky had settled low on the -slope of the Peak, cutting off the heights from -view; it presented the aspect of a heavy leaden -roof, spreading above the mainland to northward, -fitting tight along the horizon, and seeming to -compress the whole atmosphere. Torrents of -rain fell from the frequent squalls; the running -water in the streets spurted about our ankles. -We floundered on, enveloped in a sort of grey -gloom like that of an eclipse. When we reached -the harbour, the face of the bay had undergone -a sinister change; its yellow-green waters were -lashed into sickly foam, and shrouded by an -unnatural gleaming darkness. A distant -moaning sound ran through the upper air, vague yet -distinctly audible. It was evident to the -practised eye that the southern margin of the -typhoon wasn't far away; with the wind in this -quarter, its centre was headed straight in our -direction.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"As we staggered along the quay, my thoughts -worked rapidly. The wind and the open had -cleared my mind as to the swift events of the last -half-hour; I began to perceive the plan, now, and -immediately recognized the dangerous nature of -the undertaking on which we'd embarked. It was -to be a game of bluff, in which we should have to -risk our lives if the other held his ground. I'd -seen Lee Fu in action; I knew that he would -hesitate at nothing, since his face was committed -to the enterprise.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I edged toward him. 'Will you go on the -water?' I asked close to his ear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on Wilbur.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'But it can't be done' I told him 'A boat -won't live....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'There is always a definite alternative' he replied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, that she sinks'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Exactly'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I drew away, reviewing the details once -more.... All at once, in a flash of enlightenment, -the greatness of the occasion came to me. -By Jove! Lee Fu had taken the matter into his -own hands, he had stepped in where the gods were -impotent. But not rudely, as men are apt to do -in sudden passion; not with blood and vengeance, -an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. No, -he had observed the divine proprieties; had -recognized that if he presumed to act for the gods, -he must throw his own life as well into the -balance. He himself must run every risk. It -was for them, after all, to make the final choice. -His part was to force action on the gods.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I gazed at him in wonder—and with more -than a flurry of alarm. He advanced stiffly -against the storm, walking like an automaton; his -expression was absolutely inscrutable. Beneath -the close-pulled rim of a black sou'wester his -smooth, oval countenance looked ridiculously -vacant, like the face of a placid moon. He was -the only calm object in earth, sea, or sky; against -the lashing rain, the dancing boats, the scudding -clouds, the hurried shadows of appearing and -vanishing men, he stood out solidly, a different -essence, the embodiment of mind and will. Only -these could have been superior to the grosser -temptation; only these could have met the test, -and risen to the awful stratagem.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And how was it with Wilbur, off there in the -lead? He, too, walked stiffly, wrapped in -thought. Once he turned round, as if to come -back and speak to us; then whirled with a violent -movement of decision and plunged on into the -rain. He must have known, by now, what it was -all about, if not what to expect. He must have -known that his crime had been discovered. Yet -he had made no break; in no particular had he -given himself away. What had he been about to -say?—what had he decided? To hold on, of -course, maintain the bluff—for he could not -believe that we knew all. Would he confess, -when he faced death on the water? How long -would he hold on?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Observing his broad back, his commanding -figure, that looked thoroughly at home in its -oilskin coat and leaning against the storm, it came to -me that he would put up a desperate defence before -he succumbed. He, too, was a strong man, and -no part of a coward; he, too, in a different way, -was a superior being, the embodiment of mind -and will. I didn't under-estimate him. Indeed, -he was worthy of the occasion and of his adversary. -It was to be a battle of the giants, with typhoon -for background and accompaniment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then, for an instant, my own spirit went -slump with the realization of what might lie -ahead, and a great weakness overcame me. I -edged again toward Lee Fu.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'My God, suppose the man is really -innocent?' I cried 'He hasn't turned a -hair....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Lee Fu gave me a flash of the moon-face -beneath the sou'wester.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Have no fear, my friend' said he 'I am -completely satisfied, in regions where the soul -dwells. It has begun very well'</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VII</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"When we reached the sampan, lying under a -weather shore beneath the bulkhead, we found a -scene of consternation. Lee Fu's orders had -arrived and been executed; yet the men couldn't -believe that he actually meant to sail. Gathered -in a panic-stricken group on the fore deck of the -sampan, they chattered like a flock of magpies; -their gleaming wet bodies writhed in wild gestures -under the half-light. As they caught sight of us, -they swarmed across the bulkhead and fell at Lee -Fu's feet, begging for mercy.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Up dogs!' he cried 'There is no danger. -I shall steer; and it is necessary that we go. If -any would remain, let them depart now, with no -tale to tell. Let those who stay prepare at once -for sea'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not a man made a move to go; the presence -and voice of the master had reassured them. -Without another word, they rose and filed on -board.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I found Wilbur beside me. 'What is this -madness, Nichols?' he demanded for the last -time 'Are you fool enough to go on the water -in that craft? What has that lunatic been saying -to the men?—I don't understand their damned -lingo'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'He told his crew to prepare for sea' I -answered shortly 'If he goes, we all go. He -says there is no danger'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Huh! You're a bigger fool than I took you for'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A moment later we stood together on the -quarter-deck of the cruising sampan. Lee Fu -took his station at the great tiller, that archaic -steering arrangement worked by blocks and -tackles which the Chinese cherish like the precepts -of Confucius in the face of mechanical invention. -The wind lulled for a moment, as the trough of a -squall passed over. Lee Fu gave a few sharp -orders. Moorings were cast off, a pinch of sail -was lifted forward. The big craft found her -freedom with a lurch and a stagger; then pulled -herself together and left the land with a steady -rush, skimming dead before the wind across the -smooth weather reach of the harbour, and quickly -losing herself in the murk and spray that hung off -Gowloon Point. If we were sighted from the -fleet, which is extremely doubtful, we were put -down as a junk that had broken adrift. -Somehow Lee Fu managed to avoid the ships at -anchor off Wanchi. Straight down the length -of the bay he struck; in an incredibly short time -we had left the harbour behind, and were whirling -through the narrow gut of Lymoon Pass -before a terrific squall, bound for the open sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I watched Captain Wilbur. He stood in a -careless attitude at the rail in our race down the -harbour, scanning the boat and the water with an -air of confidence and unconcern. A slight sneer -curled his lip; he had made up his mind to see -the nonsense through. The sailor in him had -quickly recognized that the craft would stand the -weather, so long as she remained in quiet water. -Probably he expected every minute that Lee Fu -would change his tactics and put into some -sheltered cove.... But when we shot through -Lymoon Pass, I saw him turn and scrutinize the -Chinaman closely. Darkness was falling behind -the murk, the real night now; ahead of us lay a -widening reach among the islands, that opened -abruptly on the main body of the China Sea. -We were rapidly leaving the protection of -Victoria Island. Soon we should be unable to -see our way. Ten miles outside a high sea was -running. And with every blast of wind that -held in the same quarter, the centre of the -typhoon was bearing down on us with unerring aim.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"These facts were as patent to Wilbur as to -any of us. It was his knowledge, of course, that -finally was his undoing; had he been less of a -sailor, or had he been entirely ignorant of the -sea, he could have resigned himself to the -situation, on the assumption that those who were -sailing the craft wouldn't put themselves in -actual danger. Perhaps Lee Fu had realized -this when he'd chosen the sea as the medium of -justice; perhaps he had glimpsed the profound -and subtle truth that Wilbur couldn't properly -be broken save in his native environment. He -knew the sea, he had trifled with it; then let him -face the sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The time came, just before we lost the loom of -the land, when Wilbur could stand it no longer; -as a sailor, used to responsibility and authority, he -had to speak his mind. He knew that the -situation was growing very dangerous.... For my -part, I had become convinced by now that it was -irretrievable; it began to look as if we'd burned our -last bridge behind us. I didn't pretend to -understand; Lee Fu seemed reckless beyond measure, -he had apparently given away his cards without -trying to play them. One thing was certain—if -some way couldn't be found to hold up this mad -race immediately, we should be forced in the next -five minutes to run the gauntlet of the typhoon -in open water.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur dropped aft beside Lee Fu, and made -a funnel of his hands.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You're running to your death!' he shouted. -'Do you realize what you're doing? You've -already lost Pootoy. If you can't haul up and -make the lee of the Lema Islands...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I intend to pass nowhere near them—and I -know exactly what I am doing' answered Lee Fu, -keeping his eyes on the yawing bow of the sampan.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'There's nothing to the eastward ... no -more shelter..."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Of that I am aware'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Do you know the meaning of </span><em class="italics">that</em><span>?' Wilbur -pointed wildly above the stern rail, into the face -of the onrushing storm.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I think we shall get the centre of the -typhoon, Captain, by noon of tomorrow'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur made a move as if to grasp the tiller. -'Haul up, you fool!...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A stray gleam in the gathering darkness -caught the barrel of the revolver, as Lee Fu -steered for a moment with one hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Beware, Captain! You are the fool; would -you broach us to, and end it now? One thing -alone will send me to seek the last shelter; and -for that thing I think you are not ready'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'To say that you sank the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>, as I -have indicated'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur gathered his strength as if to strike; -his face was distorted with passion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You lie, you yellow hound!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Exactly.... Captain, be careful—come -no nearer! Also, leave me now, and go away, for -I have work to do. If you value your life, you -will keep silence, and stay a little forward. Go, -quickly! Here I could shoot you with even -greater impunity'"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VIII</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Nichols paused. "It may be that some of you -fellows have never seen Lee Fu's cruising -sampan" he remarked "In reality she is more of a -junk than a sampan; a sizeable craft of over a -hundred tons, the best product of the Chinese -shipyard. Lee Fu built her for trips along the -coast, where conditions of wind and weather -are likely to be severe; many of his own ideas, -born of an expert knowledge of ships of every rig -and nationality, entered into her construction. -The result is a distinctly Chinese creation, a craft -that in some unaccountable way seems to reflect -his own personality, that responds to his touch -and works mysteriously for him. She's higher in -the bows than an ordinary junk, and a trifle lower -in the stern; a broad, shallow hull, requiring a -centreboard on the wind. She is completely -decked over for heavy weather. In charge of any -one of us, perhaps, she would be fairly unmanageable; -but in Lee Fu's hands, I can assure you, -she's a sea-boat of remarkable attainments and a -yacht of no insignificant speed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I had seen him handle her under difficult -conditions, but never in such a pass as this. How -he accomplished it was inconceivable to me. -The last I saw of him that evening, he had called -two men to help him at the tiller; so far, he had -managed to keep the craft before the wind.... -He continued to keep her before it throughout -the night, running eastward in open water along -the China coast. That is to say, he must have -kept her before it—because we came through the -night, alive and still afloat. But how, I cannot tell.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For hours I was alone with the elements, -surrounded by pitchy blackness and the storm. I -clung to a stanchion, hardly changing my position -during the night, drenched by rain and spray, -seeing nothing, hearing no word of my -companions. The gale roared above us with the -peculiar tearing sound that accompanies the body -of a typhoon—a sound suggestive of unearthly -anger and violence, as if elemental forces were -ripping up the envelope of the universe—a sound -that carries its own message of latent power, of -savage impulse, of unloosed destruction. The -wind gained steadily in volume; it picked up the -sea in steep ridges of solid water that flung us -like a chip from crest to crest, or caught us, burst -above us, and swallowed us whole, as if we had -suddenly sunk down a deep well. From these -plunges the sampan would emerge after a long -interval, like a fish coming up to blow. It seemed -impossible that she could be kept running; to -come into the wind, however, would have been -certain disaster. Every moment I expected -would be our last. Yet, as time wore on, I felt, -through the boat's frantic floundering, a touch of -mastery. Lee Fu steered—she still was under -his control.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So we came through, and saw the dawn. A -pale, watery light crept little by little across the -east, disclosing a scene of terror beyond description. -The face of the sea was livid with flying -yellow foam; the torn sky hung closely over it -like the fringe of a mighty waterfall. In the -midst of this churning cauldron our little craft -seemed momentarily on the point of disappearing, -about to be engulfed by the sheer wrath of -the elements. It was a scene to compel the eye, -while the heart whined in fear for the return of -darkness or the swift downfall of oblivion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In a lull of the storm my glance encountered -Wilbur; for a long while I'd forgotten him -entirely. He hung to the rail a little farther -forward, gazing across the maelstrom with a fixed -exhausted expression. His face was haggard; -the strain of the night had marked him with a -ruthless hand. As I watched him, his eyes turned -slowly in my direction; he gave me an anxious -look, then crawled along the rail to a place by my side.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Nichols, we're lost!' I heard him cry in my -ear. The voice was uneven, plaintive; it made -me angry, and revived a few sparks of my own -courage.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What of it?' I cried harshly 'Turner was -lost, too'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You believe that?...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I looked at him point-blank; his eyes -suddenly shifted, he couldn't face me now.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Why don't you own up, before it's too late?' -I shouted at him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Without answering he moved away hastily, -like innocence offended. But the strong man -was gone, the air of perfect confidence had -disappeared; he was shattered and spent, but not -yet broken. Pride is a more tenacious quality -than courage; men with hearts of water, with -their knees knocking together, will continue to -function through self-esteem. Besides, what -would have been the use now, as he saw it, to -make confession? Nothing, apparently, could -save us; there was no shelter, no hope in sight....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Looking above his head, where the sky and -the sea met in a blanket of flying spume, I caught -sight for an instant of something that resembled -the vague form of a headland. Watching closely, -I saw it again—unmistakeably the shadow of -land, broad on the port bow.... Land! That -meant that the wind had shifted to southward, -that we were being blown against the shore. And -that, in turn, meant that the centre of the typhoon -had passed inland, behind Hong Kong, and -would issue into the China Sea somewhere down -the coast.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I worked my way cautiously aft, where Lee -Fu stood like a man of iron at the tiller, lashed -to a heavy cross-rail that must have been -constructed for such occasions. He saw me coming, -leaned slightly toward me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Land!' I shouted, pointing on the port bow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He nodded vigorously, disclosing that he'd -already seen it. '... Recognize...' The -rest of his answer was blown away by the storm.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"By pantomime, I called his attention to the -shift of wind. Again he nodded—then ducked -his head in Wilbur's direction, shouting -something that I couldn't quite follow. '... Change -our tactics ...' was what I understood him to say.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What did he mean by that? My mind -refused to function, save in channels of fantastic -conjecture. I'd gained the impression that he -was disappointed at the present turn of affairs. -Had he depended on the centre of the typhoon -for his climax? Good God, had he wanted it to -catch us? As matters stood, it was only by the -extreme grace of providence that we remained -alive. Now, it seems, something had miscarried, -we must change our tactics ... find some new -horror to take the place of the one that had passed -us by.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He beckoned me to come closer; grasping -the cross-rail, I swung down beside him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I know our position' he cried in my ear -'Have no alarm, my friend. There are two large -islands, and a third behind them, small like a -button. Watch closely the button, while I steer. -When it touches the high headland of the -second larger island, give me the news -instantly'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He had hauled the junk a trifle to port as he -spoke, and now with every opportunity began -edging toward the land. Perilous business, in -that tremendous seaway; but he executed the -manoeuvre with infinite patience and caution, with -consummate skill. Wilbur had now seen the -land, had straightened his figure and leaned -forward, watching it intently. Distances were -veiled and distorted in that murky atmosphere; -we were nearer to the headland than I had at first -supposed. For perhaps twenty minutes we ran -on, a tense new excitement tugging at our hearts. -Then, as we raced before the gale, I felt the sea -begin to grow calmer; glancing to windward, I -saw on the horizon a fringe of spouting reefs, and -realized that we'd entered the zone of their -protection. The tall headland, which now revealed -itself as the point of the second island, grew -plainer with every moment; soon I made out the -island like a button, and saw it closing rapidly -on the land behind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'</span><em class="italics">Now!</em><span>' I shouted to Lee Fu, holding up -both my arms, when the two points of land had -touched.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He swung the sampan a couple of points to -starboard, discovering close beneath our bows -the tip of another reef that stretched toward the -land diagonally across the path of the wind. In -a moment we were abreast this point of reef; a -hundred yards away its spray lashed our decks, -as the low-lying black rocks caught the broken -wash of the storm. Another swing of the great -tiller, and we had hauled up in the lee of the -reef—in quiet water at last, but with the gale still -screaming overhead like a defeated demon. We -reached along this weather shore in a smother of -spray, until we came abruptly to the little island. -This we passed with a rush, and shot forward into -a relatively smooth basin that lay under the -protection of the high headland on the larger island.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was like nothing but a return from hell. -The wind held us in a solid blast; but to feel the -deck grow quiet, to be able to think, to speak, to -hear ... to see the land close aboard.... By -Jove, we were saved!—it seemed more incredible -than the adventure itself. Heads began to bob -up forward, faces drawn with terror, frantic with -relief—the faces of men who had lost and found -a world.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A voice spoke gruffly beside us. 'By God, -I hope you're satisfied!' We turned to see -Wilbur standing at the head of the cross-rail. A -twitching face belied the nonchalance that he'd -attempted to throw into the words. It was a new -phase of the man; his former perfect poise was -stripped off like a mask, revealing an inner nature -without force or quality, a common empty soul. -The very assumption of coolness, a reflex of his -over-powering relief, disclosed weakness instead -of strength, impotence instead of authority.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I don't know how we managed to come -through!' he snarled 'In the name of God, what -made you try it? Nothing but luck—and now -the typhoon's leaving us. We can haul up here -until the wind goes down'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Is that all, Captain, that you have to say?' -inquired Lee Fu, his attention still riveted on the -course of the sampan.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur clutched the rail as if he would tear it -from its fastenings. 'A damned sight more, you -blackguards, but I'll save that for the authorities!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You feel no thanks for your escape—and -there is nothing on your mind?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'We shouldn't have needed to escape, if you -hadn't gone crazy. Come, let's wind up this farce -and get to anchor somewhere. I'm fagged out'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, we are going on' said Lee Fu calmly, -making no move to bring the sampan into the -wind 'No time for rest, Captain; the voyage is -not over'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Going on?...' Wilbur's glance swept the -sea ahead. Until that moment, I suppose, he -thought he had won the battle; he hadn't dreamed -that Lee Fu, after such a miraculous escape, -would again put us all in jeopardy. He saw that, -on the course we were holding, in a very brief -interval we should leave the protection of the -headland. What lay beyond, it was impossible -to discover through the murk. He turned back -fiercely; for a moment he and Lee Fu gazed deep -into each other's eyes, in a grapple that gave no -quarter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, Captain!' said Lee Fu sharply 'We -have not yet reached the spot where the -</span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> met her doom. I cannot waste further time -in talk. Return to your station, before I am -forced to threaten you again.... This is merely -an interlude'</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">IX</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Since that experience, I've many times -examined the charts of the region where we were" -Nichols went on "But they don't begin to show -the whole story. Beyond the middle island, -under whose headland we'd found transitory -shelter, stretched a larger island, distant some five -miles from the other; between them lay the most -intricate, extraordinary and terrible nest of reefs -ever devised by the mind of the Maker and the -hand of geologic change. No wonder the surveys -haven't been completed in that region; I defy -any man, in the calmest and clearest of weather, -to take a craft among those reefs and come out -with a whole bottom. Any man, that is, but Lee -Fu Chang, who isn't in the service of the -Admiralty.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The outlying fringe of reefs that had broken -our first approach ended at the middle island; -beyond that, to windward, lay clear water, and the -nest of reefs that I've mentioned received the full -force of the wind and sea. Five miles of water -stretched in mad confusion, a solid whiteness of -spouting foam that seemed to generate a hideous -illumination, that reflected a dingy glow into the -abandoned sky. All the cataracts of the world -rolled into one couldn't have matched the awful -spectacle. We were still flying through quiet -water; but just beyond the point of the middle -island the long wind-swept rollers burst in tall -columns of spray that shut off the farther view -like a curtain, where the reef of rocks stood in an -apparently unbroken wall.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was directly against the face of this wall -that Lee Fu was driving the sampan. The first -lift of the outside swell had begun to catch us. I -held my breath, as moment by moment we cut -down the margin of safety. No use to interfere; -perhaps he knew what he was doing, perhaps he -had really gone mad under the terrific strain of -the night. As he steered, he seemed to be -watching intently for landmarks; his eyes were -everywhere, but more often, I noticed, on the shore to -windward that rapidly changed its contour as we -left it on the port quarter. Was it possible that, -in this abandoned spot, he knew his bearings -... that there was a way through?...</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur, at Lee Fu's command, had left us -without a word. He now stood at the rail, -supporting himself by main strength, facing the -frightful line of the approaching reef; on his back -was written the desperate struggle that went on -in his soul. It bent and twisted, sagging in -sudden irresolution, writhing with stubborn -obduracy, straightening and shaking itself at times -as a wave of firmness and confidence passed over -him, only to quail once more before the sight that -met his eyes ... He couldn't believe that Lee -Fu would hold that suicidal course. Only -another moment!—he kept crying to himself. -Hold on a little longer! Yet the power of his -will had been sapped by the long hours of night -and the terrors of the dawn; and courage, which -with him rested only on the sands of ostentation, -had crumbled long ago.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For my part, I was cruelly afraid. Without -clear comprehension, I felt the tremendous -significance of the moment, perceived that the -crisis had come in the battle of the wills. One or -the other of them must break now; but if it didn't -happen shortly, there would be no time left in -which to record the triumph. My eyes met Lee -Fu's for an instant, as he swept the retreating -shore. He threw some message into the glance—but -I had passed beyond the range of understanding. -It seemed to me that he was excited, even -elated, and as calm as ever—as if he'd found those -marks he had been looking for, as if he knew his -ground.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The deafening roar of the breakers filled our -ears smothering the voice of the storm like an -outburst of heavy artillery. I turned away, -overcome by a sickening sensation. I couldn't bear -to look any longer. Instead, I found myself -watching Lee Fu. He waited tensely, peering -ahead and to windward with lightning glances. A -wave caught us, flung us forward. Suddenly I -heard him cry out at my side in exultation, as he -bore down on the tiller. The cry was echoed -from forward by a loud scream that shot like an -arrow through the thunder, where Wilbur had -sunk beside the rail. The sampan fell off, still -carried high on the crest of the wave....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then, in a moment like the coming of death, -we plunged into the reef. I have no knowledge -of what took place; there are no words to tell the -story. Solid water swamped us; the thunder of -the surf crushed the mind.... But we didn't -strike, there was a way through, we had crossed -the outer margin of the reef. The sampan -emerged from the breakers, remained afloat, -slowly became manageable. The wind caught us -again. Ahead stretched the suggestion of a -channel. Ten minutes passed, ten minutes -that seemed like as many ages, while we ran the -terrible gauntlet of the reef, surrounded by -towering breakers, lost in the appalling steady roar of -the elements. Suddenly, without warning, we -were flung between a pair of jagged ledges and -launched forward bodily on the surface of an open -lagoon.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A low rocky island lay in the centre of the -nest of reefs, a stretch of open water to leeward of -it, all completely hidden from view until that -moment. The open water ran for perhaps a -couple of miles; beyond that, again, the surf -began in another unbroken line. It would take -us ten minutes to cross this lagoon ... another -interlude.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Bring Captain Wilbur' said Lee Fu in my ear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I crept forward, where Wilbur lay beside the -rail, his arm around a stanchion. He was moaning -to himself like an injured man. I kicked him -roughly; he lifted an ashen face.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Come aft—you're wanted' I cried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He followed like a whipped cur. Lee Fu, at -the tiller, beckoned us to stand beside him. I -pulled Wilbur up by the slack of the coat, and -pinned him against the cross-rail.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'This is the end' said Lee Fu, speaking in -loud jerks, as he steered across the lagoon 'From -this haven there is no way out, except by the way -we came. That way, of course, is closed by the -gale. To windward is shelter, ahead is destruction. -I will seek the shelter if you will speak. If -not, I shall go on. By this time, Captain, you -know me to be a man of my word'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You yellow devil!...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Waste no time in recriminations. Beyond -these reefs, Captain, lies the wreck of your ship, -the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>. I have brought you to see the -scene. There my friend met death at your hands. -You have had full time to consider. Will you -join him beneath the waves, or will you return to -Hong Kong? A word will save you. Remember, -the moments pass very swiftly'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What about yourself and Nichols?' -blustered Wilbur.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'We go too ... or stay ... it makes little -difference. This is a matter that you cannot -understand. We do not care'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"At this juncture, I was fated to under-estimate -Wilbur after all. I thought him broken; but a -last flicker of obstinate pride remained, to prop -his extraordinary ego. He pulled himself -together again, and whirled on us.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I didn't do it!' he snarled. 'It's a damned, -scoundrelly lie!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Very well, Captain. Go forward once more, -and reserve your final explanation for the gods'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The flicker of pride persisted; Wilbur -staggered off, holding by the rail. I waited -beside Lee Fu. Thus we stood, like wooden -images, watching the approach of the lagoon's -leeward margin. Had Lee Fu spoken truthfully—was -there no way out, in that direction? I -couldn't be certain. All I knew was that the wall -of spouting surf was at our bows, that the jaws of -death were opening again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Suddenly Wilbur's head snapped back; he -flung up his arms in a gesture of finality, shaking -clenched fists into the sky. With a thrill that -tingled to my finger-tips, I realized that he was -at the point of surrender. The torture had -reached his vitals. He turned and floundered aft, -holding his hands before his face like a man -struck blind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What is it I must say?' he cried hoarsely, in -a voice that by its very abasement had taken on a -certain dignity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You know. The truth, or nothing!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"His face was shocking in its self-revelation; -a strong man breaking isn't a pleasant object. I -saw how awful had been this struggle of the wills. -He came to his final decision as we watched, lost -his last grip....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I did it—as you said—you must know all -about it. I suppose I sank her—I had no -intention ... You madman! For God's sake, -haul up, before you're in the breakers!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Show me your insurance money' said Lee -Fu inexorably.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur dug frantically in an inside pocket, -produced a packet of bank notes, and held them -out in a hand that trembled violently as the gale -fluttered the crisp leaves.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Throw them overboard'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For the fraction of a second he hesitated; -then all resolution went out in his eyes like a dying -flame. He extended his arm rigidly, and loosed -the notes. They were gone down the wind -almost before our eyes could follow them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In the same instant, Lee Fu flung down the -great tiller. The sampan came into the wind with -a shock that threw us all to the deck. Close -under our lee quarter lay the breakers, less than a -couple of hundred yards away. Lee Fu made -frantic signals forward, where the crew were -watching us in a state of utter terror. I felt the -centreboard drop; a patch of sail rose slowly on -the mainmast. The boat answered, gathered -headway, drove forward....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was just in time. We had run past the low -island, and couldn't hope to regain its shelter in -such a gale; but a pile of tumbled rocks lay off its -leeward end, carving out a small sub-zone of -protection. This spot we might be able to fetch, if -we managed to escape the clutch of the breakers. -Escape them we did, after a hair-raising five -minutes, and threw out our anchors in the most -precarious berth ever afforded, with our stern -brushing the very fringe of the breakers. But -the anchors held; and there we rode until the -storm was over.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wilbur lay as he had fallen after the sampan's -frantic plunge. He made no movement; and we, -on our part, left him where he was"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">X</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Two nights later, under a clear starry sky, we -slipped through Lymoon Pass on the tail of the -land breeze. Before we reached Wanchi, it fell -flat calm. We shipped the long sweeps and began -to row; the chattering crew, who'd never expected -to see Hong Kong again, fell to work willingly. -The lights of the city twinkled against the Peak, -the sleeping fleet swung at anchor in the -landlocked harbour; all was silence and tranquillity -... as we see it now. But that night, let me -tell you, the familiar scene was invested with a -poignant charm. At length we reached the -bulkhead, from which we'd taken our maniac departure -three days before, and settled in our berth as -comfortably as if we'd just returned from a -pleasure trip down the bay.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No words were said as we came in. I sat -against the bulwarks, almost afraid to move, like -a man awakening to consciousness after a long -siege of fever. A little forward of my position, -Wilbur rose to his feet. He hadn't spoken or -touched food since that tragic hour under the -reefs two nights before; had spent most of his time -below decks, locked in a tiny stateroom, and had -come out only in the last few minutes, as if in -response to the nearing sounds of the land. He -stood at the rail, a figure wrapped in silence and -immobility, watching them berth the sampan. -Then, without a glance in our direction, he walked -to the gangway and stepped ashore. On the -bulkhead he paused for a moment irresolute, -turning and gazing across the harbour. His form -stood out plainly against a bright light up the -street. It had lost those lines of vigour and -alertness; it was the figure of a different and older -man. A broken figure, that could never again be -the same....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A moment later he had lurched away, vanishing -suddenly in the darkness of a side street. -Three days afterwards, we heard that he had taken -the boat for Singapore. He hasn't been seen or -heard of in this part of the world since that day.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When he had gone, that night at the bulkhead -Lee Fu approached me; we crossed the deck of -the sampan, and stood for a long while silent at -the harbour rail.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Thank you, Captain' said he at last 'As I -foresaw, it has been supremely interesting. For -your part, I hope you feel repaid?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'It's quite enough to be alive, just now' I -confessed without shame 'I want to see a chart -of that locality, Lee Fu. I want to find out what -you did'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Oh, that? It was not much. The gods -were always with us, as you must have observed. -As for the rest of it, I know that region pretty -well'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Evidently.... Did the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span> fetch -up among those same reefs, or to leeward of them?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'The </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>? Captain, you did not -believe my little pleasantry? We were nowhere -near the wreck of the </span><em class="italics">Speedwell</em><span>, at any time—as -Captain Wilbur should have known, had he -retained his mental perspective'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I smiled feebly. 'Well, I didn't know it. -Tell me another thing, Lee Fu. Were you bluffing, -there at the last, or was there really no passage -through the reef?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'So far as I am aware, Captain, there was no -passage. I believe we were heading for solid rock -when we came into the wind'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The answer surprised me. 'Would you have -piled us up' I asked 'if Wilbur hadn't given in?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'That is a hypothetical question. I knew -perfectly well that I should not be forced to do -it. I was only afraid lest, in the final anguish, -Captain Wilbur might lose his seaman's judgment, -and so might wait too long. That, I confess, -would have been unfortunate. Otherwise, there -was no especial doubt or danger'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I'm glad to hear it!' I exclaimed, with a -shudder of recollection 'It wasn't apparent at -the time'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, perhaps not. Time was very swift, just -then. I will tell you now, Captain Nichols, that -I myself had begun to grow alarmed. He waited -very long. He was more wilful than I had fully -anticipated; a strong, determined man, and an -arch-criminal. But, as it chanced, this made it -the more interesting'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I didn't care to argue such a subtle point. -'What did you have in mind, Lee Fu' I asked -'before the typhoon shifted? Did you expect the -centre of it to catch us?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The question seemed to amuse him. 'Captain, -I had no plan' he explained in a puzzled -tone 'It is dangerous to make plans, or to live -according to a fixed design. There was a task to -be begun; the determination of its direction and -result lay with the gods. It was plain to me that -I had been called upon to act; beyond that I -neither saw nor cared to see. Action once begun, -I seized events as they came my way.... How -characteristic that you ask me for my plan! -Would you have the temerity to inquire into the -divine control of events? Or do you think that a -man really may make a plan?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I could believe his statement only because I'd -witnessed his incredible calmness.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He waved a hand toward the city. 'Come, -my friend, let us sleep' said he 'We have earned -our rest—and that is something not always won -from life. But beware of over-confidence, and -never plan. It is by straining to see the future -that men exhaust themselves for present -usefulness. It is by daring to make plans that men -bring down on their heads the wrath of heaven. -We are the instruments of the gods; through us, -they put their own plans in operation. The only -failure in life is not to hear when the gods -command. In this case, however, there could have -been no question; the design was too apparent. -From the first, I was sure and happy. There -were constantly too many propitious signs'"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="the-uncharted-isle"><span class="bold x-large">THE UNCHARTED ISLE</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">THE UNCHARTED ISLE</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">I</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"They say the man is mad" I whispered, -nodding across the room "Pendleton pointed him -out to me in Wellington Street this morning"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols gave his twisted smile. "Yes, mad, or -inspired, or something very wonderful. Who is -competent to judge? But I haven't seen him up -this way for a long while. Another expedition -must be on foot in search of the Uncharted Isle"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's that? You know him, then?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps I am the only man in the East who -does know him, in the proper sense of the word. -Every one else listens, laughs, and passes on. -But I believe. Yes, in spite of ridicule and life's -disaster, I continue to believe ... well, not so -much in the fact itself, as in the man. By Jove, -he's faithful—and that, you must admit, is marvel -enough. And his madness isn't entirely -impossible; it can be explained. Yet it strikes the -world as being funny—and that's his crowning -misfortune. A man in search of a lost and -apparently non-existent island can't help being a -little ridiculous, I suppose, until he becomes a -thundering bore. For no one else, of course, is -looking for such a thing, or wants to find one. -We keep safely within the charted area.... -But let me tell you the story, and you can form -your own opinion. Don't attract his attention; he -won't notice us here in the shadow"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There used to be a certain tea-house in Hong -Kong, the name of which was jealously guarded -from touring vandals. It opened on the face of -an enchanted terrace high above the harbour and -the town; from the parapet the eye travelled -inland over the low peninsula of Kowloon, as -far as the foothills of China, the fringe of a -mighty land veiled in mystery. Romance came -to that terrace, filtering through lacy bamboo -leaves, borne on the night breeze along with the -fragrance of flowers and the music of hidden -voices. The place wasn't a temple of the -conventional. It isn't running now; the songs are -still, the little cups no longer tinkle in the -half-darkness, and no sweet, startled faces, -peep out at visitors from behind the dragon-screens.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols and I had been sitting there some time -that evening, when the man came in. Of course -Nichols knew him; who with any pretentious to -a history wasn't catalogued in his omnivorous -files? While I waited, I listened to a rapid -conversation in Chinese somewhere in the back -of the establishment. Dusk had swallowed the -white houses and green slopes below us; the -riding lights on the harbour had begun to prick -out the berths of ships; with the coming of -night, voices seemed hushed among the yellow -lanterns.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is madness? Who will lay down the -line between madness and sanity?" demanded -Nichols suddenly "They are like right and -wrong, or good and evil .... much as you want -to believe. If we dared for a moment to face -the logic of existence, I think we should find that -we're all a little mad, each in his own way. An -entirely sane man would sort of puff out, like a -candle. It's our madness that keeps us going, -feeds the flame. The world's an illusion, -anyway, of course; ergo, why aren't the maddest -people the sanest? Certainly, the maddest man -of all would be he who tried to define the states -of the human mind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For that's beyond our province. They say, -for instance, that Devereux is mad: what they -mean is that they can't fathom him. His life, -likewise, hasn't been charted. Well, what's the -difficulty? All the lives and islands haven't been -discovered yet. And there are certain bald facts, -written in black-and-white records, that seem to -support his claim...."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A waxy Chinaman changed our tea. Nichols -gazed thoughtfully into the soft darkness beyond -the terrace, getting his story under way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Devereux is no longer a young man, as you -see" he began slowly "I'd say he was about -our own age. He was born and reared, I believe, -in our own New England, though I've never -heard the name of his home town. I presume he -had parents there once, brothers and sisters, -maybe a sweetheart. The Devereuxs, you know, -are a fine family, with strains of originality -cropping out here and there, which might once in a -while have amounted to genius in a free -atmosphere. They're a high-strung breed. I'd -be willing to affirm that, even before the episode -of the island, this particular Devereux was a -serious and romantic soul. Look at his face, -hanging in the glow of that lantern. Temperament, -sensibility, melancholy.... But what he -was, and what he might have been, are both sunk -in the tremendous distances of a lifetime, -obscured by the apparition of an island, the -wraith of a tragic destiny.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He went to sea, in the wake of his generation. -At the age of twenty-one, he had worked -up from the forecastle to a room on the port side -of the forward cabin; in due time he became first -mate of the ship </span><em class="italics">Evening Star</em><span>. I forget who -was captain of her, or what was the name of the -second mate who managed to reach Callao in the -whaleboat. Those who survived the disaster have -vanished along with those who never returned, -and Devereux alone has perpetuated the event -in nautical history because of a madness that -descended on him out of the sky.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They sailed from New York for San Francisco -in a year that is likewise immaterial, and -had a long and tedious passage round the Horn. -It was one of those unlucky and exasperating -voyages, you know—calms, and even trade winds, -and unseasonable storms; so that when they -finally got headed north in the Pacific, they were -a disheartened ship's company. The southeast -trades in the Pacific failed them completely; -whatever wind they found, from 20 south up -to the line, came from the east and north; and -with the best course they could make, the ship -was crowded over far to the westward of the -regular track. Then, as they approached the line, -the northeast breeze settled down in earnest, and -nothing for it but to hold her on a -N.N.W. course, as close to the wind as possible on the -starboard tack. They managed to weather the -fringe of the South Sea Islands by a few hundred -miles, and drifted across the line somewhere in -the neighbourhood of 135° west longitude. -Provisions and water were holding out well, though -one hundred and seventy-five days had passed -since they'd lost sight of Sandy Hook.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"One evening in the early dog-watch, they -noticed a few land birds flying about the ship. -Devereux told me they were quite excited over -the incident for an hour or two, with the quick -sympathy of sailors for an unusual manifestation -of life-forces. The nearest land at that time was -the Marquesas, five hundred miles away to the -southward. Some of the men tried to entice the -birds to alight on deck or in the rigging, but they -didn't seem at all weary, and scorned the -blandishments of food.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Wonderful creatures—birds' said the -captain, as they were discussing the occurrence -on the quarter-deck 'Five hundred miles isn't a -drop in the bucket to them. All the bob-o'-links -at home go to Brazil and back every winter'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'They've probably run over from the -Marquesas since supper' chimed in the second -mate 'Half an hour from now they'll be back -there, perching on some tree above an island -beauty. God, I'd like to be a bird!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But Devereux demurred to their conclusion—he -knew something of the habits of birds. -'That's all right in the migrating season, but -these birds don't migrate' said he 'You can see -that they aren't bound anywhere in particular. -And land birds don't fly five hundred miles to -sea for the fun of going back again. They -do get tuckered, too. I think it's mighty strange'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He had the first watch. It was one of those -typical Pacific nights—a velvet sky, a smooth sea, -the air somehow expressing the character of an -ocean illimitable and magnificent, an ocean that -spreads like the floor of the universe. After the -captain had gone below for the night, Devereux -cast his imagination adrift to follow those birds, -to see the land again. What could their visit -have meant? Was there any land nearer than -the Marquesas—perhaps an uninhabited island? -He promised himself a careful survey of the chart -when he went below at midnight.... He'd -been thinking in this desultory fashion some time, -lost in the dreams of night watches, when a sharp -cry from forward struck him like a knife flying -through the darkness.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You know those single cries on shipboard, in -the dead of night—cries of warning, of apprehension, -of impending danger. The heart stops for -a moment at the sound. Then a thousand -possibilities crowd into the mind at once, a thousand -processes of thought leap into action. There can -be no indecision; moments are priceless. And -there must be no mistake.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The cry met him a second time as he passed -the mizzen rigging, running forward. '</span><em class="italics">Breakers -ahead!</em><span>' Instinctively, he shouted the order over -his shoulder as he ran.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Put the helm down! </span><em class="italics">Hard down! Hard down!</em><span>'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But it was too late to save her. He told me -that he paused at the break of the poop, listening, -and in a sudden hush that went over the ship, -heard distinctly a low sucking sound under the -bows—the horrible gasping of water over rocks -awash. He clung to the rail, cowed by the only -fear a sailor knows. At that moment, she struck -heavily, and stood still. She had been making -about five knots, enough to give her plenty of -momentum. The shock was terrific: some of the -top-hamper crashed to the deck, and the voices -of men suddenly broke out in screams of terror. -The ship rose a little by the head, seemed to draw -back, and surged forward again with a dull, -rending, sickening plunge.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But what's the need to rehearse the details of -that oldest tragedy of the sea? There was time -enough for them to get out the boats, time enough, -even, to fully provision them—and that's more -than some have been allowed. But the ship was -dead and done for. Her whole bow must have -been stove in under water. Five minutes after -they pushed clear of her, she slumped like a rock, -and they lost her in the darkness. A whirlpool of -foam showed for a while on the surface of the -black water. Then that, too, faded; and the wide, -open Pacific received them in their three boats as -frail as cockle-shells, and the velvet night covered -it all.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The captain commanded the longboat, the -second mate and Devereux had a whaleboat -apiece. Devereux's was the smallest; his crew -consisted of six men besides himself. The boats -drew together on the quiet water for a consultation. -A deep stillness invested the place, the stillness -of a lofty cavern, of an empty world; and -somewhere off in the gloom that awful sucking sound -went on, now loud, now dying out to a faint -echo, like a demon chuckling over human -disaster.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"All night they played hide-and-seek with that -demon in the darkness. The breeze fell off, and -after a while it grew flat calm. At times the voice -of the reef was hoarse and low and languid; at -times it purred and bubbled energetically; at -times it would be silent so long that they'd lean -over the gunwale to listen, thinking they had lost -it—when unexpectedly it would snarl out again, -close at hand. In the middle of the night they -did seem to be really losing the sound, and were -afraid they'd drifted from the vicinity; they bent -to the oars rather aimlessly, for no one could -judge the exact direction, and before they knew -it were almost running afoul of the hideous thing. -Some of the men swore that the sound moved on -the water; this seemed plausible, for it was to be -supposed that the reef extended a considerable -distance, yet the notion nevertheless gave rise to -a vague superstitious fear. Either it moved, or -they were surrounded by a nest of reefs—one was -about as bad as the other. Devereux said it was -a night to drive a nervous man crazy, a night that -they began to think would never end.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When dawn came at last, they looked about -them and saw nothing at all—nothing but an -unbroken horizon, a boundless ocean, a few spars -floating idly in the midst of a great calm, and a -little dark dot like a pimple on the face of the -waters, just in front of the rising sun.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They rowed toward this pimple on the surface. -It opened and closed with the sucking motion of -a loose mouth, and between the monstrous flickering -lips of water a point of rock protruded, black -and swollen like the tongue of a drowned man. -It seemed impossible that this solitary rock had -made all the commotion of the night, had invested -them as if with an army of breakers; yet there -was absolutely nothing else in sight—the rest had -been imagination.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They rowed across the south face of the rock, -where the ship had struck, and found the water -there deep past all knowing. The rock wasn't -coral, and no coral formation surrounded it. In -the clear blue water beneath them huge banners -of kelp waved and winnowed like lifeless hands. -Not a vestige of the </span><em class="italics">Evening Star</em><span> remained; she -had disappeared in the unfathomable gulfs of the -Pacific. It was a mere crag that had caught her, -a needle-point piercing the floor of an otherwise -unobstructed ocean, the topmost spire of some -mighty mountain sunk in the bowels of the world. -It may never before have been seen by mortal -man; it certainly wasn't indicated on the best -charts of that day. She would have had to seek -a thousand years to touch it. A ship's length -either side would have cleared her....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They waited beside the rock till noon, to get -an observation. Then they rowed away to the -northward, bound for the Sandwich Islands. The -dark spot on the water dwindled and disappeared -in their wake. Devereux told me that, quite -unaccountably, he felt his heart sinking as they -lost sight of it; after all, it was their only -link with a remote and perhaps unattainable world.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The first night after the disaster, a heavy -squall separated the boats. They couldn't find -each other, and never came together again. The -second mate reached Callao after a terrible -journey, the first to report the loss of the </span><em class="italics">Evening -Star</em><span>. He had been nearly swamped in that first -squall. For two days he had hunted frantically -for the other boats. Then, not being a good -navigator, and having a very imperfect chart of -the Pacific Islands, he had changed his course -and steered due east, knowing that he would strike -the American continent if he could keep on going. -The fact of his arrival in Callao, its date, and his -reported date of the disaster, are beyond dispute; -for my own satisfaction, I have looked these -matters up in the official records.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The captain, in the longboat, was never -heard of again. Him and his crew the Pacific -took for toll.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Devereux was picked up at sea, alive, well, -and alone in the </span><em class="italics">Evening Star's</em><span> small whaleboat, -</span><em class="italics">exactly one year and three months after the ship -went down</em><span>"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Easy, Nichols!" I remonstrated "Say that -again, please. You can't expect me to swallow it -whole at the first try"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Those are the facts, I tell you" said Nichols -calmly "I have also verified this latter -statement, through correspondence with the captain -who picked him up. It really happened—and the -dates were as I said. He was picked up just -north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean by the -ship </span><em class="italics">Vanguard</em><span>, and brought in to San Francisco. -I was informed by the captain of the </span><em class="italics">Vanguard</em><span> -that he had been driven out of his course by -meeting the northeast trade winds too far south, -and had sighted Devereux adrift one morning in -about 135° west and 2° north. The man was -nearly dead from thirst, and was quite mad when -they took him aboard; raved about an island -nearby, said he'd been blown away from it, and -begged them to cruise in search of it before they -left the ground. There was no island in that -vicinity, of course, nearer than the Marquesas. -'I was sorry for the poor fellow' the captain of -the </span><em class="italics">Vanguard</em><span> wrote me 'but we couldn't waste -time in indulging his fancy. He quieted down -after a day or two, and seemed to settle into a sort -of dull melancholy'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This castaway, giving his name as Devereux, -claimed to have been mate of the </span><em class="italics">Evening Star</em><span>, -lost in that same quarter of the Pacific the year -before. The people on the </span><em class="italics">Vanguard</em><span> had heard -nothing of this disaster; in fact, the first report -of it, brought in by the second mate, had just -reached San Francisco from Callao when they -got in. To corroborate the story, however, the -whaleboat in which Devereux had been picked up -had presented a battered and weather-beaten -appearance, her paint peeling off and her bottom -badly scarred, as if she'd been used a good while -on the beach; and on her stern they had -been able to decipher the letters—ENI-G —AR. -Devereux claimed that his ship had touched a -needle of rock and had sunk immediately; but no -danger of that nature was laid down on the -</span><em class="italics">Vanguard's</em><span> chart. A year later, as a result of these -conflicting and sensational tales, the United States -Government sent a gunboat to look for the rock, -perhaps with secret instructions to keep a weather -eye open for Devereux's island; but nothing was -to be found. Devereux couldn't remember the -</span><em class="italics">Evening Star's</em><span> exact latitude and longitude on -the day before the disaster; his records and -instruments had vanished along with his crew in -the heart of a deep mystery. And the second -mate, who alone came in in regular order, was a -poor navigator, you'll remember, and may easily -have made an error about the place of his -departure. At any rate, nothing was to be found. On -the charts of the Hydrographic Office to-day you'll -see, in that position, a dotted circle, marked -Evening Star Rock, with an interrogation point after -the name.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Devereux's story was a nine days' wonder in -San Francisco, confirmed in substance as it was -by the recent authentic report from Callao. The -newspapers made good copy of it. Many believed -him outright; a man doesn't float about in the -Pacific for over a year and emerge from the -experience in robust health, without there being -some simple and practical explanation. Yet -sensational publicity quickly prejudiced the case, as -it invariably does. After the first flush of -pleasurable excitement, public interest began to put him -down either as a hoax or a madman, and then -promptly forgot him. One of the papers tried to -start a subscription for a schooner, so that he might -search for his island, but it met with little response. -The return wave of prosaic life rolled over him, -left him submerged and helpless. For a while he -went about seeking sympathy and assistance, but -his melancholy tale soon came to be a nuisance, -doors were shut in his face, and men avoided him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"At length he had the good sense to go away. -He wandered to the East, moved about from -place to place. The story followed him, distorted -in the passage of time. And so we meet him -here, a man with a strange hallucination—an -interesting case, and romantic, but unquestionably mad"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">II</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Nichols leaned toward me, his eyes kindling. -"Let me take you back to the morning after the -squall that separated the boats" said he "The -sun rose in a clear sky; the quick tropical storm -had entirely disappeared. Devereux looked -about him, and saw no sign of the others. One -hardly realizes, until one has experienced the fact, -how easy it is for boats to become separated in -the night, especially under severe conditions of -weather, or how rapidly a dozen miles may spring -up between them. And a dozen might as well -be as many hundreds, for all chances of their -coming together again. The wind had died to a -baffling breeze that seemed to be trying to blow -from all directions at once. Devereux had no -chronometer—nothing but a pocket watch, a -sextant, a compass, and an old general chart of the -Pacific. After an hour's study of his situation, he -came to a quick decision. The chart and the -pocket watch couldn't be trusted to get him to the -Sandwich Islands; like the second mate, somewhere -within a radius of twenty-five miles from -him at that moment, he changed the boat's course -and steered due east in search of a continent.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"While they were getting up the sail to catch a -wandering air that seemed to have settled in the -west, a man forward shouted in tones of horror -that the water cask was empty. A frantic -investigation verified the fact. An oar carelessly -thrown down had loosened the plug in the head -of the cask, and their precious supply of water -was washing around in the bottom of the boat. -They tasted it, but found it too salt to drink; -the boat, fresh from the top of the forward house, -was leaking quite a little.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then began the nightmare of heat and thirst. -The sun that day was pitiless. They had no luck -with the wind, which soon fell flat calm; the -exertion of rowing added to the misery. Not a -drop of rain fell. By noon, the horror of the first -day's thirst had begun to grip them; by nightfall -it had them cowed and broken, whining for water. -It's that first day which is always the worst, you -know—until the end. Devereux still hoped that -he might pick up one of the other boats, and all -hands kept a sharp lookout; but the hope died -as the hours wore on. The sheer loneliness of -the vast Pacific under a brilliant sun oppressed -them like a foretaste of death, like a vista of -eternity. They made little progress that day.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A night passed, between sleeping and waking; -dawn once more showed them a deserted sea. -After a couple of hours' rowing, they threw down -the oars in despair. What was the use of making -little dabs with a wooden blade at an ocean beyond -span or circumference? Devereux says that he, -too, was completely disheartened. They rested -all that forenoon, waiting for a breeze. By this -time the thirst had eaten into their vitals. Spots -were dancing before their eyes, and frequently -one of the men would insist that he saw a boat on -the horizon; but after a while they learned to -accept the cruelty of this delusion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Some time a little after noon, Devereux was -in the stern sheets steering; he had persuaded -the men to take up the oars again. He was -gazing off on the port quarter, in an aimless state -of misery, when all at once he thought his mind -must be breaking with the thirst. A vision swam -before him—a vision of a peaceful island, fringed -with palm trees, crowned by a low green hill, all -shimmering with heat and inverted in the sky. -He says he gazed at it a long time without daring -to speak; he was afraid the others wouldn't be -able to see it, afraid it wasn't real. Finally he -could stand the suspense no longer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Look!' he cried, pointing 'Is anything there?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And they saw it, too. For it was nothing but -the mirage of an actual island, an indeterminate -distance away. It hung in the sky like a mysterious -apparition. They regarded it fixedly, with -glances almost hostile, as if questioning its -integrity; but the vision persisted. Then they -turned the boat, and rowed like madmen throughout -the afternoon. The mirage had faded in the -course of an hour; but Devereux urged them on -by arguments and promises, explaining the nature -of the phenomenon and enlarging on their chances -of deliverance. Hadn't they all seen it? It -couldn't be far off; it must lie somewhere along -the line of the compass bearing that he had taken.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That night they rowed by watches, Devereux -himself taking stroke oar with either crew. And -when morning dawned, the real island lay right -side up a couple of miles ahead, fair and alluring -on the steel-blue rim of the sea. You can imagine -the hoarse shout that went up from parched -throats! Weak and wild, they struggled -painfully at the oars; and shortly after sunrise the -boat entered a little cove that split the front of -the island, where the ground swell at once dropped -off under the shelter of a curving point of land. -A few strokes more, and the surf caught them. -A long roller flung them high up the beach—a -lucky thing, for God knows they wouldn't have -had the strength to save themselves. The roller -went out, leaving them planted upright on a white -coral strand; in the silence before the coming of -another wave, they heard the drip of a little -stream running down the hillside at the head of -the cove. Water! They left the boat as she -was, the oars cock-billed in the rowlocks, the sail, -which they'd hoisted just before dawn and had -been too weak or excited to take in, flapping loose -across the gunwale, and ran with the last strength -in their bodies toward the sound. The rivulet -had cut a shallow channel in the coral, from the -jungle to the water's edge; they threw themselves -face downward, buried their mouths in the stream, -and drank like animals.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For some time afterwards they lay as they had -fallen, saturated like so many sponges, feeling the -water sink into their blood. Then Devereux, who -had exercised his will power and drunk as -sparingly as possible, got to his feet and turned -toward the jungle. A second time he thought his -eyes were deceiving him. A woman stood there -in the half-shadow, still grasping the branches -she had parted as she stepped out on the beach. -She didn't appear frightened, but gazed at him -frankly in wonder and admiration. He thought -she was the most beautiful creature he had ever -seen. His heart went out to her in that -astonishing moment of their meeting, went out freely, -without restraint or volition ... and she's held -it ever since, and always will. One can hardly -imagine, to see him sitting over there so -dejectedly, that off on the floor of the Pacific, -years ago, and utterly unseen of the world of men, -he lived such a transcendent moment, that such a -romance came to him under the sun that we all -know. It takes one back to the days of Sinbad -and Urashima and Oisin.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He advanced toward her, making signs of -friendliness—of affection, it's to be supposed. -Their hearts were free as the air, and they went -naturally, like God's children, into each other's -arms. She remained unafraid ... so he -discovered that she loved him, too. Their meeting -at the head of the beach had been unobserved; -they melted together into the jungle like creatures -of the light, and the boughs that she'd parted as -if opening the door of life silently closed behind them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A little later he returned to the beach and -aroused his crew; the men had fallen into a sort -of stupor as they lay in the hot sun. The girl led -them inland to the main village of her people, -where they were received like gods dropped from -the sky"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols leaned back in his chair, smiling -crookedly. "The story of the advance of civilization" -said he grimly "is the story of how savages -have had to learn that white men aren't gods. It's -an old story now—old and threadbare. It's been -pretty nearly completely learned.... These -people among whom Devereux and his party had -fallen had never seen a white man before. The -story was all new and fresh to them. But owing -to the wholly exceptional circumstances, its -ending didn't run according to the usual -distressful formula. In fact, it resulted in a real -victory.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The white men were very few, to begin with; -and they couldn't call on their governments, at -the head of the organized world, to support and -further with mechanical engines of destruction -their various lusts and designs. Happily, three -of them died within a week after they had landed, -from the effects of that first drink of water and the -intemperate eating that followed. The other -three, however, rapidly recovered strength and -peccancy, and began casting their eyes on the -women of the village. You know the ripe, -luxuriant beauty of the Marquesan women: these -people were of the same root stock. It wasn't -many days before a number of violent outrages -had been committed, which rang around the -island—a couple of husbands murdered, maidens -violated, and wives put to shame.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now, these people were moral, of course, -after the wise and simple code of nature; and the -chief of the village was a man of character and -decision. He didn't waste time in parley; when -the crimes were brought home beyond peradventure, -and it was seen that the gods had turned to -clay, he had the offending sailors taken into -custody, and himself dispatched all three of them -with the same club. Later their best parts were -eaten at a feast of fairly legitimate rejoicing. -Devereux was spared because he had behaved -himself, and because of the love of the girl, who, -it appears, was the chief's daughter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We've all dreamed of a life of truth and -freedom; but few of us have both won it and lost -it, in the brief span of a year. You should see -Devereux's eyes kindle, while he tells you of it, -while he's trying to convince you that he isn't -mad. The people of this island had no traditions -of their origin, no legends of visits from the -outside world. It happens, through the fact of -prevailing winds in the Pacific, that no sailing -ship route passed near this region; steamers, also, -gave it a wide berth, for it didn't lie between -anywhere and anywhere. It was a place apart, -visited by human agency only on the remotest -chance. It may well be that during a period of -many years the only two vessels to wander down -those particular miles of waters were the ship that -left Devereux floating on the ocean and the ship -that picked him up in the same spot over a year -later. Thus it was that the island had remained -undiscovered, peopled by a race without knowledge -of the world. They were honest and lovable -children—much as God intended all of us to be, -I suppose, much as we might have been if we -hadn't found a way temporarily to surmount our -destiny.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The island itself was an emerald anchored in -a field of cobalt, a jewel floating on the broad -bosom of the sea. The rustling palm trees waved -day and night before the steady trade winds; the -air hung cool in the shadows, the white surf broke -on the reefs in constant thunder, and the tropical -sunlight surrounded the gem like a halo of misty -gold. Devereux lived there a year, and the love -that came to him partook of the nature of the -place—fresh, divine, alluring, rich with colour and -meaning, pure as the light, true as the unchanging -wind. A son was born to them. Nothing crossed -their lives of sorrow or evil. They had forgotten -time and its desperate occasions. The new day -was but a repetition of the old.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But I can't begin to show you half of the -peace and beauty of that year. Ask me what the -heart of man desires, and I'll answer that every -element of it existed there on the island—conquest, -honour, joy, creative impulse, love—enough -for a dreamer or a doer, the wise design -of nature with her uneasy and aspiring -offsprings. Devereux grew to love the people; -and because he seemed so different, yet -conformed naturally to the island proprieties, they -exalted him. And, marvellous to relate, he knew -the worth of what he had found; he fulfilled the -opportunity, he appreciated the honour, he was -worthy of the romantic choice"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols struck the table sharply with his fist. -"Beware of too much happiness!" he growled -"That's another lesson of a jaundiced civilization. -It isn't expedient to embrace truth too -hard.... Who could have conceived an -existence safer than Devereux's, or one more -likely to last? The broadest ocean in the world -guarded him; the place of his retreat had never -been discovered. The people adored him, the -arms of a great love enfolded him; and he was -glad to stay. What better ramparts could life -have built for his defence? But fate, the old -destroyer, willed it otherwise; and he was sent -back to us, to an unbelieving world—to point -some obscure moral, I suppose, perhaps in an -attempt to show up all the hollowness and -unreality ... if we only had the eyes to see.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They had saved the whaleboat, of course; -Devereux used to cruise about the island in her, -catching wonderful fish, for he was a sailor at -heart, and couldn't keep off the water. One day -something led him far off shore—a speck on the -horizon, which he'd no sooner seen than he wished -to investigate. It looked like a piece of -wreckage, or a boat; he became suddenly excited -to think of finding traces of his fellow-men. -Thus the devil with a memory lured him to -destruction. The object was farther away than -he had at first realized; it continued for a long -while to look like a boat with a man's figure -propped up in one end. But when he finally -came up to it, he found nothing more interesting -than a tree floating half submerged with a huge -root that indeed resembled, even at close range, -the fancy his mind had created.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"About this time it fell flat calm; he noticed -a heavy squall gathering on the eastern horizon. -He took down the sail and started to row with -two short oars which he carried for an emergency. -But four or five miles lay between him and the -island; before he'd covered a third of the distance, -the squall met him head on.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was one of those savage arch-squalls that -occur on the fringe of the trade winds once or -twice in the course of a year. The island lay to -windward of him; he didn't set the sail, of course, -for he would have been unable to do anything -but run before it. In fact, there was nothing left -but to try to keep her head in the wind with the -two short oars. The squall became more violent; -a short choppy sea sprang up as if by magic, and -spray flew from the wave-tops in blinding sheets. -At last he had to give it up. He managed to -save the oars; with one of them in his hand he -scrambled aft. The boat sped around like a -chip as his weight settled in the stern. Then she -gathered headway, and he began to steer, -running away from the island. Darkness was -falling; he couldn't see how fast he was dropping -the land. But his sailor's instinct told him all -about it. As night closed in, he realized the -worst; he and the whaleboat were being blown -to sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It seemed as if the squall would never end. -The gale rushed at him for hours, a veritable -hurricane of wind, accompanied by a deluge of -warm rain. He was badly frightened, not so -much for his physical safety as on account of his -imagination. He says that during those long -hours of tumult and darkness, a premonition of -doom became as real to his fancy as if an actual -spirit, an embodiment of disaster, had settled -down out of the night to keep him company. -He didn't feel alone—fate sailed with him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In the morning, the island had, of course, -disappeared. The squall had at length passed -over; the sea grew calm, and the hot sun burned -down on the water. It remained calm all day, -so that he couldn't use the sail. He rowed the -heavy boat until his hands could barely touch the -oars, steering as best he knew how by the sun. -He had no compass, and his idea of the direction -of the island was vague; the squall, he thought, -had struck him from about E.S.E., but he -couldn't be certain. It might have veered a -point or two in the night, blowing him off at a -new angle. And what did it matter?—for he -couldn't pick out the points of the compass with -the wind gone and the sun directly overhead. A -horrible fear oppressed him that with all his -frantic pulling he was shaping a course past the -island. But which side—which side? As the -day wore on, with no land appearing, this fear -became a certainty.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The second night was terrible; he had begun -to comprehend the immensity of the ocean. He -was lost on the Pacific. Nothing but a miracle -of miracles would lead him back to the island. -In his mind's eyes he saw a chart of the region; -a dot marked the island, a smaller dot his present -position—the rest was a waste of waters. -Thousands of lines radiated from the smaller -dot; these were the possible directions in which -he might steer. Only three or four of them -approached the island; the rest led nowhere.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He remembered that he was far from the -track of vessels. Not that he wanted to return to -the world, but a vessel might help him to find the -island. He was too full of life to want to die.... -Scenes of the island crossed his mind with -poignant intensity. They would be searching -for him in their frail dug-out canoes. The -women would be wailing behind the village. -Would his love believe that he had left her? -No, he felt her faith, across the silence. In -fancy, he saw her standing at the head of the -beach, where she had first appeared to him. But -her face now was drawn in wild sorrow, her -streaming eyes ranged the horizon as if she would -pierce the veil of death. He cried out to her; -but the vast cavern of the sky swallowed his words.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It would have been merciful to kill him there -in the boat; hunger and thirst of the body are -nothing, are soon over with. But think of the -surpassing cruelty of saving him! Great pains -were taken to that end; winds were manipulated, -a ship was selected and driven from her course; -it was as if the elements had conspired together -and the whole machinery of the universe had -paused a moment for the consummation of the -act. On a certain morning he was sighted from -the quarter-deck of the </span><em class="italics">Vanguard</em><span>; an hour later -he was picked up, half dead from thirst, and -babbling of an island—as mad as a hatter, of -course, since the nearest land was the Marquesas, -five hundred miles away"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">III</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"I've often tried to imagine Devereux's outlook -on life, as he begged the captain of the -</span><em class="italics">Vanguard</em><span> that morning to turn his ship about and -institute a search for an uncharted island. How -the refusal must have stunned him, with the -reality still a living presence in his heart. By -Jove, you know, the smell of the land lingered -in his nostrils as if he'd just that moment left it; -he could hear the voices, could feel the touch of -lips that were barely parted from his.... But -they were rough and practical on board the -</span><em class="italics">Vanguard</em><span>; they had to be, for weren't they -sailing in the employment of a strictly ordered -enterprise? They laughed at him, and held -their course. It was then that he began to hate -a world that wouldn't listen. He's used to it -now; like the savages, he has learned his lesson. -And his interpretation of it is accepted only as -a further indication of his madness. He says -simply that we have lost our souls.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"On the top of this, came the experience in -San Francisco. To have his hopes raised so -high, only to be shattered overnight when public -interest threw down the new plaything, was the -final stroke of disillusionment. He went back -to the sea; this was his only means of livelihood, -and in spite of the romantic hallucination he -remained a good sailor. The ship on which he -sailed from San Francisco took him south -through the Pacific, along the route of homeward -bound vessels. This, of all Pacific sailing routes, -strikes nearest to the region where Devereux had -been lost and found. But it doesn't run quite -far enough to the westward actually to cross it. -Devereux went to the captain, told him -straight-forwardly the inwardness of his trouble and -adventure, and begged him to shift the course a -little—just to run to leeward, so that they might -strike the longitude of the place. He didn't -ask to waste any time in search. But the captain, -who'd heard about his mate before he shipped -him, saw nothing in this but a mild outcropping -of the madness, and of course couldn't listen to -the appeal. Running a ship to leeward was a -matter of dollars and cents.... So they drew -near the island, passed it a few hundred miles -away, and left it astern as they picked up the -southeast trades.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This was the first of many voyages; he -remained in the San Francisco trade for several -years. Half a dozen times he passed the island, -always leaving it far to leeward; and the memory -didn't grow cold. Rather, it burned warmer and -higher under this harrowing tantalization, a flame -fed by hope and clarified by love. Some time, if -he waited patiently, the elements would be -propitious, the right chance would come.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But he, too, became practical about it, -recognizing that until he was his own master he -wouldn't be free to seize a chance if it came his -way. He saved his money, and worked hard to -advance his reputation. In due time he was -rewarded with the command of a little barque. -For a number of voyages his owners sent him to -the China Sea; it was at this time that I first met -him, to fall under the spell of his romantic -destiny. At last, however, he arrived in Singapore -one voyage to learn that he'd been chartered -to carry coals from Newcastle, New South -Wales, to San Francisco. He felt a wonderful -elation at the news. It looked like his -long-awaited opportunity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"In the natural order of things, you know, on -the passage from Newcastle to California, he -would cross the Pacific in the westerlies below -the southeast trades, strike north through the -trade winds close hauled on the starboard tack, -fetch within a reasonable distance of the coast of -Mexico, pick up the northeast trades there, and -take a weatherly departure for the last stage of -the journey. By crossing the equator in 135° -west longitude he would be thrown to leeward -heavily on that last stage. But he must chance -it; no one would know, and he could make his -easting in the North Pacific, above the trades. -Chance it?—he couldn't have failed to accept the -opening, his whole life was centred on the play. -God knows, he'd waited long enough, devotedly -enough, for deliverance from this protracted -anguish, for the resumption of happiness, for -another glimpse of the form of love and beauty, -for a sight of the island that more and more -appeared to him in the nature of a vivid dream.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And, by Jove, when he got there, he couldn't -find it! It didn't seem, to be in existence any -longer; at least, it wasn't to be discovered in the -region where he had expected to come across it. -He couldn't remember the exact latitude and -longitude, you'll remember, although he had an -approximate position which ought to have served -the purpose. He cruised in the locality for over -a week, backward and forward, around and -around, combing every square mile of its waters; -but he saw no sign of land. He had a terrible -feeling that he might have passed it by night, -that if the night could have been turned to day -he might have caught a glimpse of it on the -distant horizon. It was at night, he says, that the -sense of its nearness was most acute, an ethereal -presence lying all about him in the soft, -impenetrable obscurity. At times he could almost smell -the land. He felt that she, too, had remembered, -and had remained faithful to him; that the pain -and longing in her heart hung in mysterious -vibrations about the island, to guide him to her -if ever he came that way. But, as of old, he -couldn't tell the direction; it was always his bitter -fate to lack a compass at the crises of life. He -didn't find either the island or the rock that had -split the </span><em class="italics">Evening Star</em><span>; and in the end he had -to go away.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He tried again, some years later, but with the -same lack of success. I have an idea that his -latitude and longitude were away off; yet the -place where he had been picked up was exact -enough. Or perhaps ... But what's the use of -speculating on a hypothesis without tangible -grounds? He couldn't find the island. </span><em class="italics">He</em><span> -is the story—as you see him over there.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"By this time a hopeless melancholy had settled -on him; yet he persisted in what he conceived to -be the main business of life. His faith, indeed, -was unquestioning; he apparently couldn't have -done otherwise, and all his days and designs -arranged themselves around this central purpose -as naturally as mists rise to the sun. He left the -sea, and went into the pearl fishing enterprise -down on the north coast of Australia. He wanted -to make money—and he made it. As soon as he -possessed the means, he bought a schooner, fitted -her up for a year's cruise, and disappeared over -the eastern rim of the Pacific. It was well -over a year, in fact, before he turned up again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I happened to be in Singapore when he -arrived from that first cruise. Going down the -Jetty late one afternoon to lake my sampan, I met -him wandering in the opposite direction. One -look at his face told me that he'd failed again. -He had come in at noon, wasn't going anywhere, -didn't know what he wanted to do. I took him -aboard with me to supper, and we had a long -evening on deck under the awning.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Devereux, has it ever occurred to you that -the island may have sunk in a volcanic -disturbance?' I suggested, after he'd gone over the -affair for the twentieth time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The idea gave him comfort, strange as it may -seem; he could contemplate the entire destruction -of his beloved as an event of minor importance. -It offered something to fall back on, in his mental -agony; a practical explanation to dull the edge of -the frantic feeling that all the while the island -existed, if he could only find it. When I noted -how he devoured the suggestion, I enlarged -on its possibility.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You see, you haven't been able to find the -rock, either' I pointed out 'And I remember -you told me there wasn't any coral formation in -the neighbourhood of that rock. A sure sign of -recent volcanic activity. I'd be willing to bet -that it hadn't been on the surface very long; it -had been poked up recently for your especial -benefit. And where volcanic action is busy -poking things up, it's just as liable to sink them -down again'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'But the island had been there a long while' -he objected 'It had a coral reef all the way -round; our boat crossed it by a miracle that -morning. And the people, Nichols—people don't -rise full grown from the sea, or drop down out of -the air'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wondered whether they didn't, in this case. -'Never mind, this was the way of it' said I 'The -rock was an indication of volcanic action that -hadn't yet extended to the island. But the whole -area was in danger, and the next outbreak, which -happened to be one of depression, dragged down -the island, too'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We left the question pending, and went our -various ways. Now and then I'd run into him, -wandering about the world, as the years went by. -He's never wholly given up the search. The -singular thing about it is that material fortune has -fairly pursued him. He's made a lot of money, -and sunk it all in fruitless expeditions. Too bad -it is that he didn't possess a scientific bent; he -knows all there is to know of the Pacific islands on -their practical side—that is, on the side that isn't -worth knowing"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols struck the table again. "Well, what -do you think of it?" he demanded "There he -goes, now—alone, always alone. Why was he -sent back to us? What's his obscure moral? -Do you get any hint?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nichols, do you yourself believe in the reality -of this island?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He glanced at me keenly. "Isn't that wholly -beside the point?" said he "I don't believe the -island exists to-day, if that is what you mean. But -there's a year in an open boat, back at the -beginning of the record, to be explained. The -point is that he believes in the island. By Jove, -he remembers it—do you understand? See that -droop in his back, as he stands absently looking -out of the door? He's growing old, and the -woman would be past middle age to-day, and the -boy would be a man; but they have a trick of -remaining young in his memory. Oh, he faces -the fact, of course, in his practical moments; -wonders what they have come to, whether the boy -ever matured, whether the woman waited, or gave -him up for lost and married another man. He can -speak about these things, because he's quite -determined to believe that the island is sunk under -the ocean, that they're all dead. But when the -moon's out, and he gets to dreaming, they come -back to him just as he left them, a young and -beautiful woman with a child at her breast, both -of them perfectly alive. How can you ask me -... whether I believe in the island?"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">IV</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The day following this conversation, Nichols -introduced me to Devereux; I met and talked -with him several times before I left Hong Kong. -If he was mad, the fact didn't affect his daily -intercourse. He was a man of charming personality; -a man who held something back, of course, but -this merely added interest to the charm. Only -his eyes were strange; as he talked, they invariably -wandered upward, and were recalled to the scene -in intermittent sharp flashes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then I left Hong Kong, and forgot all about -him for a couple of years. At the end of that time -I found myself in Batavia on business, when who -should arrive but Nichols in the barque </span><em class="italics">Omega</em><span>. -I left a message for him at his broker's, and that -evening he called on me at the hotel. Already, I -had determined to ask him for a passage north.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But it'll take me a couple of months to reach -Hong Kong" he told me "I'm going from here -to Macassar, then on up the straights to Cebu and -Iloilo"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Time is no object to me" I answered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good" said he "I'll be glad enough of -your company. I have one passenger already, -but he's hardly exhilarating. It's Devereux—you -remember him. The fellow who lost an -island in the Pacific"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, indeed. How is he now?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He's in bad shape" said Nichols, tapping his -head significantly "I've had him aboard the -round trip, for his health, but it hasn't seemed to -help him. I'm afraid he is really breaking up, -this time"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So it was arranged that I accompany Nichols -northward. I went off on board with him that -night, to enjoy the fresh sea-breeze in the outer -roads. There I renewed my acquaintance with -Devereux in more intimate circumstances.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The change in him was decidedly noticeable. -His manner was odder, more distrait; throughout -the evening he sat with his chair pulled close to -the side, speaking only when spoken to, gazing -off into the night and drumming constantly on the -rail with his hand. We sailed from Batavia in a -couple of days. Quite abruptly, on the morning -of our departure, Devereux approached me with a -new manner, as if anxious to enter into confidences. -The anchor had just fetched away, the ship had -begun to turn on her heel. Something had moved -him to the depths, some gleam of colour, some -distant view of the palm-covered islands in the -offing. He stopped me in the weather alley-way, -his delicate features working with a powerful -emotion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've tried..." he began; then broke off for -an instant, and drew nearer. "You know, I -hardly said good-bye" he told me impressively -"I went off in a great hurry that morning" He -gazed at me profoundly, like a man looking at his -own image in a mirror. "Do you know the -Pacific?" he suddenly demanded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not very well" I answered "I've been to -Honolulu, and New Caledonia. Nothing in -between"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh..." he murmured "Then I must tell -you" Without warning, he plunged into a -relation of his own tale. I listened politely, then -curiously, then with growing excitement. The -tale transported him, inspired him. It was poetic -drama, tragic and magnificent, that I heard; scene -after scene unfolded itself before me as he talked, -made real by his unconscious perfection of detail, -and invested with truth by his air of fervour and -simplicity. I saw the island in bold outline, in -vivid colouring; I felt the hunger and thirst, and -tasted the water that they found there on the -beach; I looked up with him to behold the woman -of his dreams. His dreams, or his memories—which -was it? Had there ever been an island? -The question seemed never so baffling as at that -moment, when his present madness stood so -openly revealed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After this experience he retained me in his -confidence—didn't want to talk about anything else -but the vision that he saw and the sorrow that lay -on his heart. It was very distressing. One -morning as I came up the companion-way after -breakfast, he plucked me nervously by the sleeve.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Look here" said he, leading me to windward -"Nichols knows the position of that island. He's -trying to pass it..."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nonsense, Devereux!" I exclaimed "You -mustn't credit such a thought. Nichols knows -less about it than we do"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He's always poring over the chart" said -Devereux darkly "He tries to keep our position -from me. Oh, I can see it in his eye!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But we aren't in that part of the world" I -argued, like a man wrestling with the wind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He passed a hand wearily across his eye. "It -looks the same" said he. Suddenly he shot at -me a piercing glance. "I don't know whether to -believe you or not!" he snarled "You're all -against me, every damned one of you!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He quickly dropped the mood of suspicion, -however, for that evening we had another long -talk about the island. The next forenoon he took -a notion to go aloft; spent a number of hours -perched on the main royal yard. There we could -see him steadily searching the horizon. We -seized the opportunity to talk over his case at -length in the cabin, but could come to no decision -except to let affairs run their course.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good Lord, Nichols, suppose he really sights -an island, up there!" I suddenly exclaimed. We -bent over the chart, pricking off our exact position -that morning; and breathed a sigh of relief to -discover that, as we were going, we shouldn't sight -any land till the following day.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was in Macassar that we saw the first evidence -of violent abberration in Devereux. The three -of us had gone ashore for the day; after an early -dinner, we were taking a short drive in the cool of -the evening through a region of small rice and -coffee plantations. Somewhere beyond the -outskirts of the town, a native woman stepped from -the road in front of us to make way for our horses. -She drew back against a fringe of bamboo trees -by the roadside, stretched out her arms to part the -branches behind her, and stood there motionless, -in sharp relief against the sunset, watching us pass -by. Beside us, Devereux uttered a wild cry, some -unintelligible name, and leaped from the moving -vehicle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We found him prostrate at the feet of the -woman, babbling in a musical, strange tongue. -The light on his face was the very madness of joy. -The woman shrieked, drawing back among the -bamboo stems. Nichols reassured her in the -Bugis dialect.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Devereux, come away!" he commanded -sharply "You don't know her. For God's sake, -come away!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Devereux got up slowly, gazing at us in wild -alarm; then held out his arms to the woman. -She struggled farther back into the bamboo -thicket. Again he turned to us, drew himself -together, and spoke with authority and defiance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She is my wife!" said he.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was pathetic and terrible—the very devil of -a scene. He fought and struggled; we had to -take him to the carriage by main strength. A -crowd had gathered. At last Devereux grew -quiet. Nichols explained as best he could to the -woman, while half a hundred ears listened eagerly -to the astonishing tale. A rapid colloquy ensued; -though I couldn't understand the words, I heard -the woman's voice melt with pity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She wants to know whether your wife had a -birthmark on her bosom" Nichols interpreted, -turning to the carriage.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Devereux shook his head; he was still dazed -with the struggle. The woman left cover, and -came close to the carriage without fear. The -upper part of her sarong slipped down, disclosing -a broad red blotch on the dusky skin above her -right breast. Leaning forward, she spoke a few -words in a soothing voice.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She says that you must be mistaken" repeated -Nichols "She says she is sorry—but now you -have seen that it cannot be"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Devereux stiffened in his seat, and the light -suddenly went out of his eyes. He gazed at her -a moment like a rudely awakened somnambulist. -Then he slumped in the corner, as if felled by a -sharp invisible blow. The woman nodded to us, -and we drove rapidly away.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was ill for several days after that, keeping -close in his room. When he was able to come on -deck again, we had reached well across the Celebes -Sea, and were about to make Sibutu Passage on -the coast of Borneo. We watched him anxiously -that forenoon for signs of a return of his malady. -But he'd evidently forgotten the incident in -Macassar; he talked with us all day in a normal -manner, without reference to his affairs. It -seemed as if the worst of the attack was over.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A long, narrow island lies on the west side of -Sibutu Passage, clear of the mainland and hiding -several smaller islands behind it. This was -sighted while we were at dinner that noon; when -we came up for our cigars, it stood in plain view -on the lee bow. Being an island against the -main, with land rising behind it as we came on, -we didn't think of it as a possible new source of -excitement. As the afternoon passed, however, -Nichols called my attention to Devereux, who -was acting strangely again. For a while he -would lean against the lee rail, talking rapidly to -himself; suddenly he would leave that off and take -to pacing the deck in short, quick turns, rubbing -his hands together. His eyes, it was to be -noticed, kept watching the island, now less than -four miles away. His face worked with nervous -energy. His whole air was one of suppressed -excitement, mingled with a certain quiet elation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He's using that Polynesian dialect!" Nichols -exclaimed in a worried whisper "What can we -do with him? We must pass the island"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can't you stop there long enough to set him -ashore—convince him that it isn't his island?" I -suggested.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols considered soberly, then shook his -head. "It wouldn't work" said he "First -place, the currents are bad, there's no harbour or -village, and no anchorage, so far as I'm aware. -Second place, would anything convince him? -Even if there was once a real island, mightn't this -one, in his present condition, look as good as the -next to him? Suppose he were to insist on a -hunt for the inhabitants? We'd have to bring -him away in the end—and that might only prolong -the agony"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I guess you're right, Nichols; but what's the -alternative?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Tack ship, and stand away till night" he -answered without hesitation "Slip through the -passage under cover of darkness. Trust to luck -that he'll change the mood again tomorrow, and -forget what he saw this afternoon. We can get -him to sleep somehow—drug him if necessary"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But he'll make a row at once, when you tack ship"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I suppose so. We'll have to play him at his -own game"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It seemed the better plan, and Nichols acted -on it immediately. Devereux, lost in his own -sphere of unreality, didn't discover that the ship -was coming about until the island began to change -its position along the rail. He watched it a -moment, looked up to see the sails flat aback, then -turned in alarm and ran toward the stern.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What are you doing?" he cried "You can -make the anchorage on this tack. The cove lies -just round that first point"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I know" said Nichols easily "But it's -getting late, and I am afraid of the reefs. The -channel is narrow, the wind's dying, the currents -can't be trusted around that entrance. I'm going -to stand off and on all night, and wait for the -morning"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nonsense!" urged Devereux "We could -easily make it! Why, Nichols, I know that -channel like a book. There's plenty of daylight -left...."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sorry, old fellow, but I just don't dare try -it" said Nichols decisively, throwing into the -words all the power of his normality "You must -remember that I have the ship on my hands"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Devereux regarded him sourly, in a sort of -hostile dejection. His case throughout was -marked by a singular docility, as if all things -assumed an illogical aspect to him, and were to -be met by circumlocutory methods. "Well, I -suppose your word is law" he allowed "But -its damned hard on me. I've waited a good many -years, Nichols, for this night" Without deigning -to discuss the matter further, he went off -down the companion like a sulky child. Following -him a few moments later to reconnoitre, I -found the door of his stateroom tightly closed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He didn't appear at the supper table; as the -evening passed it seemed evident that he wasn't -coming out again. We began to have hope of -getting through the night without another painful -scene. When I looked into his room after supper -and found him sound asleep in the bunk, it -seemed too good to be true. Nichols at once -tacked ship again, and we stood back toward -Sibutu Passage.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Our plan for slipping through under cover of -the darkness, however, had failed to reckon with -the moonlight; that both of us had forgotten it -is a good indication of the state of our minds. -For the night, when it settled down, was positively -radiant. A great soft moon hung high in the -heavens, flooding the sea with a subdued glare, -and revealing every detail of the land as we came -abreast of the point of the island shortly after -midnight. Sleep was out of the question. -Nichols, of course, had to navigate the ship -through the intricate passage. Thus it became -my duty to run below every little while, keeping -a watch on Devereux's door. But no sound or -movement came from the closed room.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We had already forged past the main point of -the island, which lay abaft the lee beam, less than -half a mile distant, when I started on this errand -for the last time. Going down the companion, -I was struck by an uneasy feeling, and found -myself hurrying through the entry. When I -reached the cabin, Devereux's door stood open, -a black hole in the dim light of the swinging lamp -above the chart table. A glance into the room -showed me that he was no longer in the bunk. -I ran to the forward cabin door, but seeing no one -out there, turned and jumped up the after -companion on the dead run.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you seen Mr Devereux come on -deck?" I cried to the helmsman.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols, at the stern rail, had heard my question, -and ran forward to meet me. "Isn't he in -his room?" he asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No. I can't find him anywhere in the cabin. -Must have gone up the forward companion"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Together we hurried forward along the weather -alley. Reaching the corner of the house, where -the main deck opened before us, we made out two -men standing to leeward of the mainmast, -apparently in earnest conversation. One seemed -eager, excited; the other was evidently on the -defensive. Devereux and the mate, we saw the -next instant. It crossed my mind that the mate -was ignorant of the intimate details of Devereux's -malady; he wasn't the sort of fellow to take into -confidential relations.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We heard his voice, now, sharply raised, as if -in a final attempt to quell the other's insistence.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But we aren't going to stop here, I tell you! -There's nothing to stop for, no place to -call...."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"</span><em class="italics">Not going to stop?...</em><span>" Devereux -repeated wildly. He turned toward the rail, -holding his arms stiffly outstretched in a gesture -of utter distraction. Who can imagine the -thoughts that leaped through his brain at that -moment, or fathom the depths of the disappointment -that suddenly crushed his already broken mind?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Look out" cried Nichols at my elbow -"Don't let him get away!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But it was already too late; Devereux had -heard the warning, too, and accepted it as a -challenge. With a wild cry that seemed to -tremble among the upper sails and echo back -from the wooded heights of the island, he leaped -forward, dodging the mate, and gained the -bulwarks just abaft the fore preventor backstay. -For an instant he stood there, silhouetted against -the bright track of the moonlight, confronting -the vision that was reality—then plunged with -a magnificent abandon, and disappeared under -the silvery surface of the water.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We saw him strike out toward the island. -The ship forged ahead, carrying the moon-track -with her; before we could get out a boat, he had -vanished in the shrouded wastes astern. We -sought for a night and a day, but could find no -trace of his body. In that swift current setting -seaward, it was impossible that he could have -reached the land.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="servant-and-master"><span class="bold x-large">SERVANT AND MASTER</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">SERVANT AND MASTER</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">I</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Steward!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, sir, Cappen"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The little old Chinaman looked up from the -brass threshold that he was polishing. Kneeling -at the entrance to the forward cabin, with his back -toward Captain Sheldon, he peered round his -shoulder with a gnome-like movement, his hands -pausing on the brass.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon laid down his book. He -pointed an accusing forefinger at the -stateroom threshold, which the steward had just -finished.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's dirty, Wang. You haven't half -polished it. What's the matter with you lately?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"All light, Cappen, all light. Eye gettee old"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He shifted his pan of brick-dust, scuttled -across on his knees to the stateroom threshold, -and attacked the brass again. With head bent -low and hands flying, he worked silently. His -back disclosed nothing beyond the familiar -mechanical impersonality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon watched him with narrowing -eyes. He realized that he was beginning to -"get down on" the old steward; yet to his mind -there was justice in the feeling. Wang wasn't -so neat or careful as he used to be. He frowned -as he noted the greasy collar of the Chinaman's -tunic. A dirty steward!—he had always abhorred -the notion. To his strict ideas of nautical -propriety, it meant the beginning of a ship's -disintegration. The time was not far distant, he saw -clearly, when he would have to get rid of old Wang.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He had inherited the steward along with the -ship </span><em class="italics">Retriever</em><span> when his father died. "Wang-ti, -His Mark" the entry had stood voyage after -voyage on the ship's articles; young John Sheldon -had grown up taking the venerable Chinaman for -granted. He was the "old man's" trusted -servant, as much a part of the vessel as her -compass or her keel. He took entire charge of the -ship's provisioning, as well as of the cabin -accessories. He kept the commissary accounts, with -never a penny out of the way; his prudence and -honesty had saved the ship many a dollar. John -often used to hear his father boast that be -wouldn't be able to go to sea without Wang-ti.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In his boyhood on shipboard, there had existed -a natural intimacy between the captain's son and -the factotum of the nautical household. John's -mother was dead, he roamed the ship wild from -forecastle to lazaret; and Wang had guarded his -fortunes with the wise faithfulness that knows -how to keep its attentions unobserved. The -captain had even permitted his son to sit in the -steward's room, watching him smoke a temperate -pipeful of opium after the noon dishes were done; -this was the measure of his trust in the old -Chinaman.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Indeed, John Sheldon, had he been disposed, -might have recalled a great deal that went on -in Wang's narrow room on the port side of the -forward cabin—incidents fraught with deep -importance to boyhood. The room was a place -of retreat, a zone of freedom. It made little -difference whether Wang were there or not, the two -understood each other, conversed only in -monosyllables, and the Chinaman apparently took -no interest in what the boy did. In return, the -boy throughout this period never so much as -made an inquiry into Wang's life; that matter, -too, was taken for granted. Many an afternoon -he would lie for hours on the clean, hard bed, -his head buried in a book, while the steward sat -beside him on a three-legged wooden stool, -sewing or figuring his accounts, neither of them -speaking a word or glancing at the other. The -click of the stone as the Chinaman mixed his ink, -the rustle of the pages, and the faint creak of the -wooden finish in the cabin, would mingle with the -fainter sounds aloft and along decks as the vessel -slipped quietly through the water.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But this was long ago, before life had opened, -before days of responsibility and authority had -overlaid youthful sentiment with a hard veneer -of efficiency. The door of that room had closed -on John Sheldon for the last time when he left -the ship in New York, a boy of thirteen, to spend -a few years at home in school; he was not to -share another hour with Wang until the final -hour. When next he joined the </span><em class="italics">Retriever's</em><span> -company, it was in the capacity of a rousing -young second mate of seventeen, broad -shouldered and full of confidence, believing that -his place in life depended on strength and -self-assertion. He picked quarrels with the crew -largely for the sake of fighting; he was -aggressive and overbearing, as befitted the type of -commanding officer that appealed to his -imagination. In him, real ability was combined with a -physical prowess beyond the ordinary; he failed -to meet the reverses that teach men of lesser -combative powers a much-needed lesson, and the -years conspired to develop the arbitrary side of -his character. As an instance of this unfortunate -tendency, he had allowed himself, after rising to -the position of first mate on the </span><em class="italics">Retriever</em><span>, to -quarrel with his father over some trifling matter -of discipline; so that at the end of the voyage -he had quitted the deck on which he had been -brought up, and had shipped away in another vessel.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was on the voyage immediately following -this incident that his father had died suddenly at -sea, half way across the Indian Ocean on the -passage home. John Sheldon had arrived in -New York from the West Coast almost in -company with the </span><em class="italics">Retriever</em><span>, brought in by the -mate who had taken his place. The first news -he heard was that his father had been buried at -sea. The ship was owned in the family; it -seemed natural, in view of this stroke of destiny, -that he should have her as his first command. -The officers left, he took possession of the cabin -and the quarterdeck that had been his father's -province for so many years; and Wang continued -his duties in the forward cabin as if nothing had -happened. The Chinaman had nursed Captain -Sheldon when he took to his bed, had found him -dying the next morning, had heard his last words, -and had laid out his body for burial.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Six years had passed since then. John Sheldon -was a dashing young shipmaster of twenty-seven; -and now Wang was failing. No doubt about it. -The dishes weren't clean any longer; a greasy -knife annoyed Captain Sheldon almost as much -as an insult. Lately, he had begun to notice a -heavy, musty smell as he passed by the pantry -door. A dirty steward!—it wasn't to be -supported, not on his ship, at any rate.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Chinaman finished the brasses, gathered -up his pan and rags, and started for the forward -cabin. Captain Sheldon laid down his book -again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Steward, have you got a home?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes, Cappen. I got two piecee house, -Hong Kong side"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wang paused in the doorway, turning half -round and steadying himself as the ship lurched. -His fingers left a smudge on the white paint. As -if perceiving it, he wiped the place furtively with -the corner of his cotton tunic, only spreading -the smudge. Captain Sheldon, watching the -manoeuvre, sniffed in disgust, and continued the -inquiry.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you got a wife?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She dead, seven, eight year"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Any children?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, I got some piecee children, maybe three, four"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For God's sake, don't you know how many -children you've got?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, sir, Cappen. I got four piecee, all go -'way. Maybe some dead. I no hear"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hm-m" The captain knit his brows ponderously, -a habit he had acquired in the last few -years, and fixed a severe glance on the old -Chinaman. "Don't you ever want to go home?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, no, Cappen. Why fo' I go home? I -b'long ship side"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After waiting a moment in silence for further -questions, Wang realized that the conversation -was not to be concluded this time. He turned -slowly and shuffled off through the forward cabin, -head bent and eyes peering hard at the floor. -Captain Sheldon did not see him stumble heavily -against the corner of the settee.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the protection of the pantry, Wang put down -the pan of brick-dust and stood for a long time -motionless, holding the dirty rags in the other -hand, facing the window above the dresser. He -could see the small square of light plainly, but the -rest of the room was vague. His tiny, inanimate -figure, in the midst of the dim clutter of the room, -expressed a weary relaxation; he stood like a -man lost in vacant thought. No one would have -suspected the feelings behind the wizened face; -Wang's countenance, as he gazed steadfastly at -the square of light, was an expressionless blank. -He seemed scarcely to breathe; the spark of life -seemed to have sunk low within him, to have -retreated in fear or impotence. The hand holding -the rags paused rigidly, as if petrified in the -act of putting down its grimy burden. Had -Captain Sheldon come upon him at that moment, -he would have ordered him shortly to get busy, -begin to do something.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All his thoughts, in the silence of the pantry, -were of loyalty. That uncommunicative intimacy -of the past had been fruitful to one, at least, of the -parties to the contract. "Young Cappen" who -as a boy had been Wang's pride and charge, was -his pride and charge still. Had not "Old -Cappen" on his deathbed, whispered the final -order "Keep an eye on the boy, Wang. He's -stepping high now—but the time may come when -he will need you" But of these words, his -father's last utterance "Young Cappen" of course -knew nothing. They remained a profound secret -between Wang and the dead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>If it were true, Wang recognized in that -unwavering gaze, that his days of usefulness were -over, he would no longer be able to discharge this -obligation. Not that his strength was less; his -withered, cord-like sinews ached to scrub and -polish, to keep his domain in its old efficient order. -But this voyage he hadn't been able to see what -needed to be done. He had hardly dared allow -his mind to formulate the explanation. But now -he must face it. He was going blind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He comprehended fully the meaning of the -recent conversation in the after cabin. The pain -that held him inert and motionless was half of love -and half of fear. Perhaps, he tried to tell himself -"Young Cappen" was now safely launched on -the sea of life; perhaps he no longer had need of -an old man's service. Yet, in the same moment -of thought, Wang knew that this was not the fact. -The knowledge filled him with a desperate -tenacity; until fate actually laid him low, he could -not submit to the turn of fortune. Old and -wise in life, he realized that "Young Cappen's" -hardest lessons still lay ahead of him. He must -serve as long as he was able.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That night over the supper table, Captain -Sheldon opened a biscuit; there was a dead -cockroach in it. His knife had cut it in halves. -He threw the biscuit down in disgust. Wang -always made the cabin bread.... Well, why -didn't the old fool take it away? He must have -seen the incident. Captain Sheldon knew that -he was standing a few feet away in the pantry -door. Taking up his plate, he snapped over his -shoulder</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Steward!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wang was at his elbow in an instant. The -captain thrust the biscuit into his trembling hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Look at that! Take them all away, and bring -some bread"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, sir, Cappen" The Chinaman mumbled -incoherently, trying to cover his confusion. His -innate sense of the etiquette of human relations, -which even after fifty years of service had not -accommodated itself to the brusque callousness of -European manners, felt bitterly outraged; no way -had been left him to save his face. Yet other and -stronger emotions quickly submerged the insult. -The biscuit plate rattled like a castanet as he set -it down on the pantry dresser. As he cut into a -new loaf of bread, he shook his head slowly from -side to side, like an animal in pain, stopping in the -midst of the operation to bend above the offending -biscuit and examine it closely. He loosened the -cockroach with the point of the bread knife; it fell -to the plate, a dark spot on the white china. -Under his breath he heaved a staccato sigh -"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon found himself unable to forget -this trivial incident; he kept brooding over it all -the evening. At breakfast next morning it came -to his mind again, and followed him intermittently -throughout the day—a day of petty mishaps and -annoyances, one of those days when everything -aboard the vessel seemed to be going wrong, when -even the best efforts of officers and men to please -him resulted in misfortune, and the simplest words -rubbed him the wrong way. Captain Sheldon was -nearing the end of a long and tedious passage, with -nerves and temper badly frayed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Coming below an hour after dinner, in hope to -find a little peace, he met the heavy odour of -opium smoke floating through the cabin. The -door into the forward cabin had been left open. -He strode out angrily; the steward's door was -open, too. Glancing into the stateroom, he saw -the old Chinaman stretched on the bed, staring -with glassy eyes at the ceiling, the pipe slipping -from his fingers. Thin wisps of opium smoke -curled up from the bowl and drifted out into the -cabin.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon's patience snapped suddenly. -By God, this was too much! First, bugs in the -bread; and now ... the lazy old swine, lying -there in an opium dream, too indolent even to -close the door! The ship's discipline was going -plumb to hell. His authority was becoming a -joke. A dirty steward! By God, he wouldn't -stand it any longer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Steward! Steward! Wake up, there!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What, Cappen?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>By a violent effort, Wang pulled himself out of -the delicious stupor and sat up on the edge of the -bunk. The drug had not fully overcome him; in -a long lifetime, he had never exceeded the -moderate daily pipeful that would put him to sleep -for only half an hour.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Steward, I can't permit this any longer. -You've left your door open, and stunk up the -whole cabin with the damned stuff"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I s'pose close him, Cappen. Maybe wind -swing him open"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You didn't close it! You don't finish anything, -now-a-days. It's got to stop, I tell you. I -can see what the trouble is. This devilish opium -is getting the best of you. It's got to stop—and -the best way to stop, is to begin now.... Give -me all the opium you've got"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, sir, Cappen"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The import of the captain's words brought the -old Chinaman to his senses with a rush. He got -up unsteadily, went to his chest, and began -fumbling in the lower corner. Soon he brought out a -number of small square packages done up in -Chinese paper.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cappen, what you do with him?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon snatched the packages from -the steward's hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm going to throw it all overboard! If you've -got any more of the stuff hidden away, you're not -to smoke it—do you understand? I won't have -such a mess in my cabin"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cappen, no can do!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wang was panting; a shrill note of anguish -came into his voice. He reached out a trembling -hand toward the precious drug.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, you can, and you will. It's nothing but -a nasty, degenerate habit. You're too old for such -things. It's making you dirty and careless. -Brace up, now—show that you're good for -something. You used to be the best steward in the -fleet. I'm only trying to help you out. If things -were to go on like this much longer, I'd have to -find a new steward in Hong Kong"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon, struggling to regain control of -himself after the outburst of temper, stamped off -through the after cabin. Wang heard him go up -the companion. He sat down again on the edge -of the bunk, a crumpled heap, inert and silent, his -eyes dulled by a fear beyond any he had yet -known. For fifty years he had smoked daily that -tiny pipeful of opium. With all that life had -brought him, could he summon strength for this -new and terrible ordeal?</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">II</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Fire, like the rain, falls on the just and the -unjust alike, and eats up a tall ship at sea as readily -as it guts a splendid castle. They were half way -across from Luzon to the China coast, only a few -hundred miles from Hong Kong and the end of -the passage, when the blaze was discovered in the -fore hold, already well under way. Quickly it -became unmanageable. Through a day and a -night of frantic effort the whole ship's company -fought the flames, retreating aft inch by inch while -destruction followed them relentlessly under decks. -In the gleam of a dawn striking across a smooth -sea and lighting up the pale faces gathered on the -top of the after house, it became apparent that the -ship was doomed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Daylight found them in the boats, standing off -to watch the last lurid scene. The ship burned -fiercely throughout the forenoon. At midday, -under a blistering sun, her bows seemed suddenly -to crumple and dissolve; surrounded by a cloud -of steam, she settled forward with a loud hissing -noise, and slowly vanished under the waters of the -China Sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon, sitting upright in the stern of -the long-boat, watched the scene with set jaw and -snapping eyes. It was his first disaster, the first -time he had met destiny coming the other way. A -fierce anger, like the fire he had just been fighting, -ran in his blood. He was beside himself. It -seemed inconceivable that there was no way to -bring his ship back out of the deep; that the very -means of authority had vanished, that he was -powerless, that the event was sealed for all time. -He wanted to strike out blindly, hit something, -crush something.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Well he knew that if any blame attached to the -matter, it rested on him alone. For some occult -reason, as it now seemed, the mate a few days -before had broached the subject of fire, in -conversation at the supper table. Not that fire was to -be expected; no one ever had heard of it with such -a cargo. Why had the mate chosen that day, of -all others, when the captain had lost his patience -with old Wang, to talk about fire throughout the -supper period, to follow him on deck with the -subject in the evening? The talk had only -aroused the perversity of his own opposition. -The mate, waxing eloquent and imaginative, had -at length succeeded in frightening himself; had -wanted to take off the fore hatch in the dog watch, -just to look into the hold. Had he done so then, -the fire would probably have been discovered in -season to overcome it. But Captain Sheldon, -sarcastic and bristling with arbitrariness, had -flatly commanded him to leave the fore hatch -alone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Well, no use in crying over spilt milk. The -ship was gone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Give way!" he shouted across the water to the -mate's boat "Keep along with me. We'll strike -in for the coast, and follow it down"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All the afternoon they rowed silently in the -broiling heat and mirror-like calm. The coast of -China came in sight, a range of high blue-grey -mountains far inland. Nearer at hand, a group of -outlying islands appeared on the horizon. -Captain Sheldon swung his course to the westward, -heading directly into the blinding sun that by this -time had sunk low in the western sky.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the extreme bow of the longboat sat the old -steward, gazing straight ahead with unseeing eyes. -His head was uncovered; the sun beat down on -him without effect. He made no movement, -uttered no sound. Alone and helpless, he -suffered the throes of the most desperate struggle -that human consciousness affords—the struggle of -the will against the call of a body habituated to -opium.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the latter part of the afternoon they sighted -a big Chinese junk, close inshore against the -islands. A light breeze had begun to ruffle the -water. On the impulse of the moment, Captain -Sheldon decided to board the junk and have -himself carried to Hong Kong under sail. The idea -caught him and suited his fancy; he couldn't bear -to think of arriving in port in open boats. -Instructions were shouted to the mate's boat, the -head of the longboat was again swung around, and -a course was laid to intercept the brown-sailed -native craft under the lee of the land.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All this passed unnoticed by the silent figure in -the bow, wandering blindly through a grim vale of -endeavour. As time went on, however, Wang -seemed to realize that a change had taken place in -the plan of their progress. The sun no longer -shone full in his face. He glanced up dully, -caught a vague sight of the junk, now close aboard -and standing, to his veiled eyes, like a dark blot -on the clear rim of the horizon; then pulled himself -hastily together and made a low inquiry of the man -at the bow oar. The answer seemed to galvanize -his tortured body into action. He began to -scramble aft under the moving oars.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Here, what's the trouble forward?" Captain -Sheldon tried to make out the cause of the -commotion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wang wants to come aft, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What for? Shove him into the bottom of the boat"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He says he must see you, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, the devil ... Well, let him come. He -needn't hold up the boat for that"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Many hands helped the old Chinaman aft.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Muttering rapidly to himself, he sank into a place -beside the captain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's that you say?" demanded Captain -Sheldon "What are you trying to hatch up now?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wang made a vague beckoning gesture in the -captain's face. Behind all that floated wildly -through his mind, stood the fixed thought that he -must not shame "Young Cappen" by openly -imparting information.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Are you sick or crazy?" demanded Captain -Sheldon again, bending above the maundering old -man.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cappen, junk he no good!" whispered Wang -feverishly "No can do, Cappen! Must go 'way, -chop-chop. Night come soon. Maybe no see"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon gave a loud laugh. He spoke -for all to hear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What damned nonsense have you got into -your head now?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir, Cappen. Look-see!" Wang grasped -the other's arm with frantic strength, pulling him -down "You no savvy him, Cappen. Killee -quick, no good! You no wanchee him. Go -Hong Kong side, chop-chop. Night come, maybe -can do. Cappen, I savvy plenty what for!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, shut up, you raving old idiot!" cried -Captain Sheldon, roughly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At this inopportune moment the mate, ranging -alongside in his boat, offered a suggestion. They -were closing in with the junk now; a row of yellow -faces peered over the side toward them, watching -with narrow bright eyes every movement of the -approaching boats.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Captain Sheldon, I don't like the looks of that -crowd" said the mate nervously "Hadn't we -better sheer off, sir?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, certainly not!" shouted the angry -captain. "I suppose I'm still in charge here, even -if the ship is gone. Do you think I haven't any -judgment? By God, between a timid mate and a -crazy steward.... Give way, boys, there's -nothing to be afraid of!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The breeze had by this time died away, the -junk was scarcely moving. A moment later their -oars rattled against the side. Captain Sheldon -scrambled aboard. He gave a rapid glance along -the low maindeck, but saw nothing to arouse his -suspicion. A man, evidently the captain of the -craft, was advancing toward him; the crew were -crowding around to overhear the conversation. -But all this was only natural. An ordinary -trading junk, of course; heaven alone knew what -all these native craft really were doing. After -a moment's scrutiny, he dismissed from his mind -any thought that may secretly have been aroused -by Wang's warning and the mate's unfortunate -remark.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You losee ship—ha?" The captain of the -junk accosted him in good pidgin English.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes—she burned this morning. I want you -to take me to Hong Kong"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Within half an hour the bargain had been -struck, and they were comfortably established on -the new deck. The breeze had freshened, the -junk's head had been put about, the two ship's -boats trailed astern in single file at the end of a -long line. The </span><em class="italics">Retriever's</em><span> company had -partaken of a Chinese supper; many of them were -spending the last hour of daylight in examining -the queer craft, passing remarks on her strange -nautical points, while the native crew watched -their movements with furtive gaze.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon paced to and fro on the high -poop deck, chewing the end of a cigar and -ruminating on the unaccountable turns of fortune. The -adventure of boarding the junk had for a time -broken the savage current of his thoughts; but -now, with the affair settled and night closing in, -the mood of anger and bitterness claimed him -again with redoubled intensity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The mate ranged up beside him with a friendly -air. He felt the need of a reconciliation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You'll be interested to hear, Captain, that -old Wang has found a pipeful of opium"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The devil you say! I wondered where the -old rascal had disappeared to. How do you -know?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He's been hanging around the Chinese crew, -sir, ever since we came aboard. I went through -their quarters down below forward a while ago, -and there he lay in one of their bunks, dead to -the world, with the pipe across his chest"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The useless old sot!" exclaimed Captain -Sheldon "I had made up my mind to get rid of -him this time, anyway. You know he has been -in the family, so to speak. But I don't like the -idea of his going off with his native gang. -Combined with the opium business, it looks suspicious. -You'd better keep an eye on him. He's got a -grudge against me, you know, since I took away -his stuff"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I guess they'll all bear watching, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, nonsense! There isn't the slightest -cause for alarm. It's perfectly evident that this -craft is a peaceful trader, and we could handle -the whole gang of 'em if they began to make -trouble. They won't, though, never fear; a -Chinaman is too big a coward. This captain -seems to be quite an intelligent fellow; I've just -been having a yarn with him. He has given up -his room to me; well, not much of a room, nothing -but a bunk and a door, but such as it is, it's all -he has. Funny quarters they have down below, -like a labyrinth of passages, all leading nowhere.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The mate laughed. "Funny enough forward, -too; a damned stinking hole, if you ask me, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While they were talking on the poop, Wang -appeared on deck forward, went to the weather -rail and sniffed a deep breath of the land breeze. -He had had an hour's opium sleep—an hour of -heaven, an hour of life again. Now he could -command his faculties. Blindness was no -hindrance to work in the dark; was even an -advantage, since for many months now he had -been accustomed to feeling and groping his way. -Fate had been good to him, at the last. Now he -possessed the strength to do what he would have -to do.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The familiar voices of the mate and the -captain came to his ears, but he did not glance -in their direction. The least move on his part -to give information would have been his last. -He had heard enough already to know that the -death of the whole ship's company that night was -being actively planned, for the sake of the boats -and the mysterious tin box that Captain Sheldon -carried.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">III</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>In spite of physical exhaustion, it was nearly -midnight before Captain Sheldon left the deck -and crawled into the narrow den under the -poop-deck that had been given up to him by the -Chinese captain. He could not get to sleep for -a long while. He was taking his loss very hard; -that inflexible, proud disposition would almost -have met death sooner than admit an error. At -length, however, he fell into a light and uneasy -slumber.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was awakened some time later by a light -touch on the arm—a touch that started him from -sleep without alarming him into action. A voice -whispered softly in his ear</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cappen! Cappen! This b'long Wang. -No makee speakee" A firm hand was laid over -his mouth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the pitchy darkness of the close room, -Captain Sheldon could see absolutely nothing. -Listening intently, he heard stealthy movements -outside the door. On deck there was utter -silence. He became aware instinctively that the -junk was no longer moving, that the wind had gone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He lay perfectly still. The suddenness of the -occasion had brought an unaccountable conflict of -impulses and emotions. He felt that an alarming -crisis was in the air. Along with this feeling -came another, strange enough at such a time—a -sense of confidence in the old steward. He had -immediately recognized the voice in his ear. -Why hadn't he jumped out of bed? Why wasn't -he lying there in momentary expectation of a -knife in the ribs—why didn't he throw himself -aside to avoid it? He could not understand his -own immobility; yet he remained quiet. Something -in the old Chinaman's whisper held him in -its command. Pride had succumbed to intrinsic -authority.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The rapid whisper began again, panting and insistent.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cappen, you come now. Mus' come quick. -I savvy how can do. Maybe got time. S'pose -stay here, finishee chop-chop" The hand -was removed from his mouth, as if -conscious that discretion had sufficiently been -imposed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What has happened, Wang?" whispered the -agitated captain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Makee killee, all samee I know"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where's the mate? Where's the crew?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"All go, Cappen" Again the hand came -over his mouth "You come quick. Bym'by, -no can do"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon flung the steward's arm aside -and sat up wildly. "Good God, let me go, -Wang! I must go out...."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cappen, make no bobbery"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where's my revolver?" The captain was -hunting distractedly through the bed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He go, too" The whisper took on a -despairing tone. "Cappen, s'pose you gotee -match?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Makee one light"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon found the box and struck a -match. The tiny illumination filled the narrow -cabin. As the flame brightened, Wang rolled -over on the floor, disclosing one hand held against -his left breast, a hand holding a bloody wad of -tunic against a hidden wound. A sop of blood -on the floor marked the spot where he had been -lying.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The match burned out. Again came the painful -whisper.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Maybe can do now. Bym'by, no can do"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My God, Wang! You're wounded! How -can we get out? I'll carry you"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir, Cappen. I savvy way. You feelee -here, Cappen"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The steward was already fumbling with his -free hand at a ringbolt in the floor. He guided -the captain's arm to it. Captain Sheldon grasped -the ringbolt, pulled up a trap-door that seemed -to lead into the hold. Letting himself over the -edge, his feet found a deck not far below. He -stood upright in the opening, and lifted Wang -bodily to the lower level. The old Chinaman -struggled to be put down.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wang, keep still—let me carry you"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir, Cappen. Walkee-walkee, can do. -You no savvy way"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Stooping and keeping an arm half around him, -Captain Sheldon followed Wang through a -shallow lazaret. It led forward into the open -hold. They passed beneath a hatch, where Wang -drew aside in the deeper shadow, listening. Not -a sound came from overhead. Again they stole -forward. The wounded man held on indomitably, -bearing his pain in a silence that seemed -almost supernatural, as if unknown to the other -he had been rendered invulnerable by a magic -spell. Beyond the hatch they entered a narrow -passage-way, and came out suddenly into the -junk's forecastle, the quarters of the Chinese -crew. A ladder led to another open hatch in the -deck above.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As they reached the foot of the ladder, a -fearful yelling suddenly broke out toward the stern, -a sound of savage anger. Naked feet pattered -on the deck overhead going aft. Wang grasped -the captain's arm.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"S'pose breakee in door, no findee. One -minute have got! Boat stand off, waitee! Go -quickee, Cappen, jump ovelboa'!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon heard him with a shock of -incredulity. "The boats are standing off? The -crew haven't been killed?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir, Cappen. All hand savee! You go now"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He felt the old man sag in his arms.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wang, I can't leave you here!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why for, Cappen? Wang no good. -Quickee! Makee jump!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The voice broke; the frail body crumpled and -slipped to the floor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gathering all his strength, Captain Sheldon -slung the old steward's unconscious form over his -shoulder and swarmed up the ladder. As he -gained the deck, a tall figure dashed between him -and the rail; other figures were racing through -the waist of the junk. An angry chatter broke -out at the foot of the ladder up which he had just -come.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Holding Wang to one side, he struck out -heavily at the man who blocked his path, felling -him to the deck. Darkness and surprise saved -the day for him; their quarry had appeared like a -whirlwind in their very midst. The next instant -Captain Sheldon had gained the rail, and jumped -clear of the junk's side. The two bodies made a -loud splash that echoed through the calmness of -the night. As he came to the surface, desperately -striking away from the junk and trying to keep -Wang's head above water, he heard a shout a -little distance off in the darkness, and the rattle -of oars as the boats sprang into action.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">IV</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The longboat was the first to reach him. They -pulled him in with his burden still in his arms. -The mate, appearing beside them in the other -boat, gave vent to his anxiety.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good God, Captain Sheldon, I thought you -were done for! Why didn't you come, sir? -Wang gave me your orders; we hauled up the -boats very quietly as you said, and got into them, -while he kept the Chinamen busy forward with -talk. He said you would come, sir; but we were -discovered, and I had to sheer off. I was afraid -they'd sink the boats, sir, before we could do -anything. I didn't know what weapons they had. -I was just planning an attack, sir. Then I -thought I saw them stab old Wang...."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've got Wang" said Captain Sheldon -solemnly "They did stab him. Those weren't -my orders—they were his. And he's the only -one to pay the price!" The young captain was -beginning to face a harder lesson than the mere -loss of a vessel.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't understand, sir. Wasn't it the right -thing to do?" The mate was completely puzzled -by this new development.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes, it was the right thing to do!" cried -Captain Sheldon impatiently "He was right, -and I was wrong. Now leave me alone"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He bent above the shrunken form of the old -steward. Wang's eyelids fluttered; he was -slowly regaining consciousness.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wang, why didn't you come and tell me, in -time to save all this?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Chinaman's eyes regarded him with a stare -of mingled surprise and affection, a stare that -somehow suggested a wise and quiet amusement.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I tellee you, Cappen. You no savvy. -S'pose no savvy, no can do. Mus' wait, makee -savvy."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a terrible condemnation. Captain -Sheldon ground his teeth at the bitter truth of it. -His own obstinacy, his own evil! Nothing that -Wang could have said, before the thing had -happened, would possibly have changed his mind. -He had committed himself to error. The old -servant had been forced to save them single-handed, -to retrieve his master's failure with his -own life.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wang was muttering, as he neared the end. -He was about to join "Old Cappen" With a -good report and a clean record. No one could -have known the depth of the calm that had come -to that aged heart. Even the awful pain of the -wound had stopped, under the shock of the cool -water. He seemed to be drifting off into an -eternal opium dream.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What is it, Wang? Can I do anything for you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir, Cappen. Bym'by, finishee"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He lay quiet for a moment, then plucked at -the other's sleeve.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Old Cappen say, boy step high. Look out! -Maybe more-better stop, look-see"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Sheldon buried his face in his hand. -Had the words come with lesser force, they would -have infuriated him; had the advice been given -as advice, it would have defeated its own ends. -But now it came with the authority of death, -sealed with the final service it came with the -meaning of life, and could not be denied.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="rescue-at-sea"><span class="bold x-large">RESCUE AT SEA</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">RESCUE AT SEA</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>When an Arctic blizzard strikes the Atlantic -Coast without warning, the coal laden schooner -that puts to sea trusting in an uncertain -Providence catches it off to the northward of Cape Cod -or down along the Jersey shore; and you read in -your morning paper how some steamer reached -her in the nick of time, and rescued her frozen -crew as she was on the point of going down.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But this was not always the way of it; a -mechanical age has completely forgotten the day -when steam was an innovation on the sea, when -sailing ships were the accepted mode of travel and -transportation, and when the details of rescue -breathed a more romantic story. It was not so -many years ago that steamers themselves were -heavily rigged, relying to a large extent on their -canvas when the wind was favourable. Then -the lanes of the sea were crowded with handsome -square-rigged sailing vessels; and your morning -paper reported more often how sail had lent a -hand to steam, than steam to sail.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But let me tell it in the captain's own words.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>* * * * *</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>I was coming home that time from Liverpool -to New York in the ship </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span>, a moderate -clipper of the early seventies. A regular run, it -was; voyage after voyage I'd been the rounds from -New York with general cargo to San Francisco, -from San Francisco with wheat to Liverpool, -thence home in ballast, less than a year for the -complete circuit. A famous course, the course -that had called into being the extreme clipper -ship, and the one on which her best and most -astonishing records had been made.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So we were flying light, in a great hurry to -swing across the Western Ocean; for my owners -had cabled that the cargo was ready and the ship -badly needed. A spell of dirty weather had -followed us ever since leaving Liverpool; it had -kept me on deck night and day, but I wasn't -complaining so long as the wind hung on our tail. -At length, however, the easterly spell seemed to -have blown itself out, and a change of weather -was imminent. Nightfall of the day that brought -us abreast of the Banks of Newfoundland closed -in with threatening signs. I kept the deck till -midnight, saw the wind shift into the sout'ard, but -at last decided that we weren't to catch a blow -that night. It was early autumn, a season when -storms in the Atlantic aren't always dependable. -Soon after the watch was changed I went below, -leaving word to be called in case things took a turn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At four o'clock in the morning, when they -changed the watch again, the mate stepped below -and rapped at the cabin door. I came out of my -bunk all-standing, thinking at once of a change -of weather and trying to feel it in the angle of -the deck.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's up, Mr Ridley?" I called "Is it -breezing on from the southeast?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir" he answered through the door -"But there's a strange light on the weather bow, -sir, a long way off. I wish you'd come up and -have a look at it. I think it must be a ship afire"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I dressed immediately, and went on deck. Off -about three points on the weather bow a big glow -lit up the heavens, like an island burning -somewhere below the horizon. It was impossible to -estimate the distance it was away; but only one -thing could cause it, there on the broad Atlantic -with no land nearer than five hundred miles. -That thing was fire. For it distinctly wasn't a -natural phenomenon; all those hard violet rays -that characterize electrical disturbances were -lacking, and in their place were the warm tones of -smoke and flame, reflected brightly in the -low-hanging sky.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I hauled the ship up as close to the wind as -possible, trimmed the yards carefully, and found -that I could just fetch the light of the conflagration -by jamming her hard. Before this, we had been -running free, with the wind a couple of points -abaft the beam. Almost as soon as we brought -her to the wind, it began to breeze on in little -gusts; the delayed southeaster, I realized, was at -last rapping at the door. The skysails were -already furled, and under ordinary conditions I -should now have taken in the royals; but I kept -them set and let her go. She was a smart vessel -on the wind; the more sail she carried, up to a -certain point, the better she liked it and the higher -she would point. She heeled a little harder as -she felt the squalls, gave a lift and a lunge, then -found her pace and settled to it, heading directly -for the lurid glow in the western, sky.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Within an hour we were able to make out the -tops of flame above the horizon, and saw that there -must be a big vessel afire. The flames flickered, -appearing and vanishing behind the rim of the -ocean, as if the world had caught ablaze and was -trying to touch off the sky. A wild sight, almost -supernatural; it sent a chill through our hearts, -and the whole ship's company were terribly -excited. I thought of trying to set the skysails, -but my better judgment prevailed. It wouldn't do -to carry anything aloft at such a time. In the -freshening breeze the </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span> had all the canvas -she wanted, and was making an excellent run of -it, as if she realized that time might be a matter of -life and death.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The burning ship, when the mate first called -me, must have been about thirty-five miles away. -At half past six we had her well in view. She -looked like an enormous torch dropped on a black -and angry ocean; solid flames mounted hundreds -of feet in air, illuminating a wide arc of the western -horizon. Long before we reached her, the fire -lighted our own decks with a wild glare and -painted our sails a hideous red.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At seven o'clock, just as dawn was beginning to -break, we passed a hundred yards to windward of -her, took up a favourable position a short distance -beyond, and swung our main yard. She was a -large three-masted bark-rigged steamer, a -passenger vessel, I saw with increasing alarm. -Her main and mizzen masts had already been -burned away, the middle section of her hull was -red-hot like a stove, and the sheet of solid flame -that we'd been watching for hours rose above her -with a steady appalling roar, as if a great bellows -were blowing under her keel.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It had been apparent to us from the first that -nobody could be left aboard—nobody left alive, -that is. I felt certain, however, that if they had -managed to get away in the boats, they'd be clinging -to the vicinity of the disaster, in the knowledge -that she would attract everything afloat through a -radius of fifty miles or more. Almost immediately, -this notion was confirmed; we sighted a bright -light on the water just astern of the steamer, then -another, and in a few minutes three flare-ups were -burning in as many boats and as many directions. -Nothing for us to do but keep our mainyard aback -and let them row to us. Thus fifteen or twenty -minutes passed, while I was on tenterhooks over -the ship's situation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At length, after a desperate struggle, they -dragged one by one under our lee. The mate -had charge of getting the people aboard. Men in -the main channels passed a bow and stern line to -each boat, others fended them off with boat-hooks, -still others helped the castaways over the rail. It -was a lucky chance that we reached them when we -did; the three boats were badly overloaded, half -full of water, the wind by this time was breezing -on sharply, and the sea making up minute by -minute. They wouldn't have been able to keep -themselves afloat another hour.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The captain's boat was the first to come -alongside. I saw them pass up a woman with a -year-old baby, then an invalid man. Next came -another woman, who proved to be the stewardess -of the steamer; she was carrying a heavy parcel -done up in a tablecloth, that rattled and jangled -like a bag of doubloons. In an overloaded boat, -in half a gale of wind, she had salvaged the ship's -tableware! The rest of the crowd were indiscriminate; -except for the women, of whom there -weren't many, I couldn't tell passengers from -crew. As I stood watching at the break of the -poop, a man with a long beard and a blanket -wrapped around him came up to me. He seemed -half dazed; he was carrying in his hand a small -hatchet, the blade stained with blood.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What the devil are you doing with that -thing?" I demanded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I killed the ox, sir" he answered wildly—it -came over me in a flash that he must be the cook. -"I couldn't leave him there to burn"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The captain was the last man from that boat to -come over the side. I shook his hand, but had no -time just then for conversation; a fact that he -recognized at a glance, drawing a little way aft -along the weather alley and leaving me alone. -For everything had to be done at once, you -know; these people saved, and my own ship -looked after. We were in a ticklish position. -With main yard aback, and every squall heavier -than the last, we might easily get stern-way on -and that would never do. I felt pretty confident -of my gear aloft, but if anything carried away to -hinder the handling of the sails, we should find -ourselves in a pretty kettle of fish. Above all, I -kept a sharp eye on the relative position of the -burning steamer. Aback as we were, with so -much canvas spread, we must, I thought, be -drifting steadily down toward her; and it would -be the end of us to run afoul of that inferno, or -even to fall to leeward of her. Watching closely, -I soon made out that we held our distance from -the craft, or rather, that she held her distance -from us; incredible as it seemed, she was drifting -as fast as we were. I turned to her captain, -calling his attention to this mystery.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, I noticed it" said he "It seems to me -that the sheet of flame must in some way be acting -like an enormous sail. I can think of no other -explanation"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Neither could I—and I believe that he was -right. She had been barque-rigged, as I said, -and the foremast with its heavy yards, still -standing, kept her head three or four points off the wind, -so that she lay in the position of running free; her -sides, too, were high, caught a lot of wind, and -gave her headway. But the sheet of flame must -have helped her progress. For here we were with -a ship flying light, and sufficient canvas spread to -drive us to leeward at a rate of four or five knots -an hour, even with the main yard holding her dead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Too much canvas, in fact; the wind had begun -to come with a new weight and no time afforded -for proper seamanship. No time. We had taken -in the royals before we reached the steamer; had -clewed them up, but been obliged to leave them -hanging, we'd ranged past her so rapidly. As we -backed the main yard, we had let all three of the -topgallant yards run down, and hauled down the -flying jib. All these light sails were threshing and -pounding aloft, while the men who should have -furled them were busy saving life in the lee -channels; the jib was slatting itself to pieces on -the end of the jibboom. At that very moment, -under ordinary conditions, we should have been -housed down under reefed upper topsails.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The captain of the steamer had been waiting for -me to find a free moment. Now he pulled up -beside me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My name is Potter, Captain Clark" said he -"I just heard your mate call you by name. It's -needless to say anything, sir, about what you are -doing for us"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes" I answered "save that for the coffee. -We haven't got through the soup yet"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He gave a short laugh. "Speaking of grub, -Captain, how about fresh water? We haven't -much in the boats, and we're adding a good many -to your ship's company"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've water enough to last a hundred men for a -month" I told him "Water enough for washing, -and all purposes" The iron tank below the main-deck, -five thousand gallons, had just been filled in -Liverpool.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He looked at me a little incredulously. -"Thank God!" said he "I've been worrying about -that ever since I came aboard. Your American -ships go well provided for"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The third boat had then come alongside. "Is -this your whole outfit, Captain Potter?" I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good God, no!" he cried "There's another -boat somewhere—if it hasn't gone down"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We sighted only three. But we'll find it for -you, all in due time" I reassured him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's the second mate's boat" said he "The -poor fellow was half blind from fighting the fire, -but he insisted that he could take charge of a boat. -He couldn't have lost her—he was no more heavily -loaded than we were. I expect he's been left -somewhere to windward, Captain; we have drifted -away from him. You'd hardly believe it, but we -had tough work, rowing our strongest, to keep up -with the drift of the vessel. My orders were to -keep her in company as long as she burned"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, if your second mate is to windward, we -may have difficulty in reaching him" I pointed out -"You see how it is, sir; this will be a living gale -inside of an hour. But we will do everything -possible. Wait till it grows a little lighter. In -the meantime, what about these boats of yours?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm done with them, Captain" he answered -"You can do what you like"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There were two big steel lifeboats, and a smaller -Whitehall boat. "I'll swing the lifeboats aboard, -then, and let the other go" said I "We may -have a fire of our own before we reach New York; -and my boats would barely accommodate my own -ship's company. Mr. Ridley, rig a preventor lift -on the lee main yard-arm, and hoist those two big -boats aboard"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>My mate, I'm sorry to say, had lost his head in -the excitement and confusion. A fine old man, an -excellent seaman, came from down Deer Island -way; but he had outlived his usefulness, as many -of us do. He was running fore and aft the ship, -accomplishing nothing, and chiefly whining about -his sails being slat to pieces.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Just as I gave the order to hoist in the boats, -the third group of castaways, in charge of the -steamer's boatswain, were coming over the rail. -These men were mostly from the forecastle; for -she had been heavily sparred, crossed a couple of -royal yards, and carried fourteen men before the -mast to handle her sails. The boatswain was an -impudent little Londoner, every inch a sailor, and -one of your old-fashioned chanty-men. He caught -my eye from the maindeck, and whipped out his -whistle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Shall I tyke the order, Captain?" he roared -through the din.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Go ahead!" I told him, waving my hand. -Old Ridley hadn't heard me, anyway.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Aloft there, men!" cried the boatswain with a -swagger, giving a long blow on his whistle -"Here's a bloomin' deck under yer feet again, an' -Di-vy Jones'll wyt a while longer. D'ye hear the -Old Man's orders? Preventor lift on the lee -main yard-arm, there, and hoist in the bloomin' -boats. Lively now, lend a hand, my lads, an' -show 'em what ye knows"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They sprang up the ratlines like monkeys; -heaven knows, a tarry rope must have felt good in -their hands again! In a jiffy they had rigged the -lift, and got a sling under the first boat. A few -moments later, as the boat rose slowly across the -rail, I heard the little Cockney's voice aloft, raised -in a hauling chanty:</span></p> -<blockquote> -<div> -<div class="line-block outermost"> -<div class="line"><span>"Oh, Bony was a war-ri-or,</span></div> -<div class="inner line-block"> -<div class="line"><span>A-</span><em class="italics">way</em><span>! Ay-</span><em class="italics">yah!</em></div> -</div> -<div class="line"><span>A war-ri-or, a ter-ri-or,</span></div> -<div class="inner line-block"> -<div class="line"><span>Jean Fran-swar!"</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</div> -</blockquote> -<p class="pfirst"><span>His men came in loudly on the chorus; their -voices gave me a turn, to think of the vicissitudes -of fortune. For they had been snatched from -certain death, and they knew it already. As it -happened, that tall fire in mid-ocean was not -reported by anyone else; we were the only ship -in all those waters to sight and come up with it. -And in less than an hour after we had taken the -last man aboard, we were stripped to three lower -topsails, hove-to in a howling gale.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Full daylight had come while they were hoisting -in the boats. We still lay with the main yard -aback, to windward of the burning steamer; forty -minutes, perhaps, had passed since we'd come into -the wind. In a few minutes more we should be -ready to get under way—and no sign yet of the -fourth boat with her load of frightened humanity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I caught a young scamp running by, a boy from -home that I'd had for the round voyage. "Here, -you young rascal, jump aloft and see if you can -pick up another boat anywhere" said I "She's -likely to be to windward. Hustle, now! You've -been nothing but trouble all the voyage; now earn -your salt" I knew that he had the sharpest pair -of eyes aboard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was up the mainmast in a flash, slipped past -the slatting topgallant-sail, and reached the -sky-sail yard. In a few minutes he sang out</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I see a boat to leeward, sir!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where away?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just abeam, beyond the steamer"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I feared that his imagination had run away with -him, so sent the second mate into the mizzen -cross-trees with a pair of binoculars. He reported a -boat sure enough to leeward—a boat with a tiny -sail set.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That accounts for it!" exclaimed Captain -Potter "I forgot that leg-o'-mutton sail in the -second mate's boat. But why has he used it, to -run away from the steamer, when I ordered him to -stand by her?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm afraid it means that he is hard pressed" I -answered "He's had to run for it, in order to -keep afloat. We must fill away at once. I hope -we can manage to reach him in time"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While we were swinging the main yard, Captain -Potter stood on the after house, alone beside the -mizzen mast, watching his burning vessel. She -was a splendid steamer, only a few years old. He -watched her soberly. I left him to himself. -After we had got the </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span> off before the wind, -with things around decks a little under control, he -said good-bye to his command, as it were, turned -aft, and took his place beside me on the quarterdeck.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can you make out the boat yet from the deck?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She's dead ahead. They have seen her from -the forecastle"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We looked aloft. Yards were groaning, gear -was cracking; under full upper-topsails the ship -swept down the wind like a racehorse, fairly -leaping through the water. She must have been a -splendid sight to those poor fellows in the second -mate's boat, waiting for her at the door of death.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You have a fine ship, sir" said Captain -Potter. "I've never seen a ship handled so -smartly, in such a breeze and under so much sail. -You must avail yourself of any help that my crew -can give you. My officers are thorough seamen, -brought up under sail"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank you, sir—I see that they are" I -answered "But after we have things straightened -around once more, I think we won't need any -assistance" My pride was up, you know, now -that the affair was beginning to turn out so well. -She was a British steamer, and these officers, fine -young Englishmen of the best breed, ambitious -and well-trained in the school of sailing ships, -were watching me and my vessel with critical eyes. -I'd show them what it meant to be picked up by a -Yankee clipper.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I make this passage every year, Captain" I -went on "and always carry extra men for it. -After leaving my wheat in Liverpool, I have to get -back to New York in the quickest possible time, to -load again for California. It's much like your -steamer with her schedule. With extra men I'm -able to carry on sail a little longer, handle her in -ordinary weather with one watch, and save the -wear and tear on the crew. The wear and tear -comes mostly on me. I'll have your crew to fall -back on now, and will be able to hold my sail still -longer. A sort of reserve force, you know, ready -to jump in an emergency"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He glanced over the stern-rail, where the -steamer lay blazing in our wake. In falling off -we had swung a wide circle around her, to escape -the path of the sparks as they whirled down the -wind; and now had left her a couple of miles -astern.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She burns well, Captain" I observed "That's -the hottest fire I ever felt, or ever wanted to -feel"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He gave a bitter laugh. "They loaded her -especially for it" said he "Cotton goods, and -butter, and bacon, and hams" As if not caring -to look at her any longer, he turned forward, -mounted the steps to the top of the house, and -took up his old position by the mizzen mast.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In twenty minutes after filling away, we had -reached the second mate's boat. A look through -the binoculars showed me that things were indeed -in a bad way with them; there wasn't a moment to -lose. The boat seemed momentarily on the point -of filling, while half a dozen men along her sides -baled frantically with buckets and other utensils. -A man in the stern sheets was waving wildly at us, -as if to communicate some information. I had a -notion what it was; they were trying to tell us that -they wouldn't be able to bring the boat into the -wind. I saw that plainly. Captain Potter, -coming hurriedly to the after end of the house, -evidently saw it, too.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How will you pick them up, Captain?" he -asked nervously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think we can do it without difficulty" I -answered, as if such measures were a matter of -course. In point of fact, I had never executed the -manoeuvre that seemed necessary in this pass, and -had never heard of its being tried by anyone else. -As we approached the boat, I hauled the ship well -out on their starboard quarter, passed them several -hundred yards to port and left them a quarter of a -mile astern; then swung the ship across their -course, came up to leeward of them with a shock -and a crash, backed the main yard, lost headway, -and stopped in exactly the right position for them -to fetch our stern as they ran before the wind. In -other words, I cut a half circle around them and -placed myself athwart their hawse, in the way of an -old-fashioned naval manoeuvre.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We looked down on them from the quarter-deck -as they raced toward us. Several men seemed -disabled, water was washing nearly up to her -thwarts, but a few oars were poised in readiness, -showing intelligence and discipline somewhere -aboard. In a moment she was on the point of our -weather quarter, sweeping past our stern.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Round the stern!" shouted Captain Potter -and I together "Get under the lee, and jump for -the main channels!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But they had already seized their last and only -opportunity. A smooth patch on the water -favoured them; they made the turn nicely, let go -their sail, and succeeded in paddling up under our -quarter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Jump while it's smooth!" I cried "Let the -boat go"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>My crew had by this time become expert -channelsmen. One of them caught the painter, -others used their boathooks; and the last load of -castaways from the steamer tumbled over the side, -more dead than alive, but alive enough to know -that they'd been saved. The painter was cast off, -the boat drifted clear of the quarter, filled, -overturned, and was whirled away on the top of a -breaking sea. Safely on our decks, watching this -symbol of elemental destruction, stood every soul -of the steamer's company.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I really must congratulate you again!" said -Captain Potter heartily "That was a feat of -seamanship, sir. You seem to be able to put your -ship through the eye of a needle"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She handles nicely, doesn't she?" I agreed. -As a matter of fact, I felt like congratulating -myself; I won't deny that I had a feeling of pride, -as well as a prayer of thankfulness for our universal -good luck. Things had gone without a hitch, at a -time when a hitch might easily have called for -payment in human life.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So here we were, with sixty people landed -suddenly on our decks; with whole topsails set, -and a gale of wind turned loose upon us. I'd -been obliged to abandon the upper sails, while we -were saving the first three boatloads; they had -slat themselves to shreds before we could find time -to furl them. The chief thing now was to get the -upper topsails in. I made up my mind that we -would shorten sail with our own crew. The crowd -from the steamer were completely fagged out; -they had been fighting fire and the Atlantic for -twenty-four hours. I told them to go below, in -the after cabin or the forward house, anywhere, -have a smoke, and rest wherever they could find -a chance to lie down; and instructed my steward -to pass round a supply of dry tobacco.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When they had faded away and the decks were -cleared for action, Captain Potter approached me -again. "I hardly dare ask about provisions" he -began "I'm sorry to tell you that we brought -very little. The fire cleaned out our galley and -store-rooms first of all, and we were barely able -to save a meal or two of biscuits and canned grub"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I thought a minute, making a rough estimate. -"We can furnish provisions to go with the water, -Captain" I told him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What!—without allowance?" he cried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Without allowance" said I "I never liked -the idea of putting people on an allowance; it's -too much like starving yourself by degrees. I can -guarantee you provisions to last us for a month or -six weeks, three good meals a day; and we can't -in common fortune be out that long. The best -of provisions, I think you'll find"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How does it happen, sir?" he demanded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It doesn't happen. We're always prepared -for just such an emergency. More than once I've -met a ship short of provisions, and furnished her -with a boatload or two. You can't anticipate what -is liable to happen; but a lazaret full of beef -and flour and potatoes fills in almost anywhere"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He shook his head in amazement. "I've often -heard it said that American ships were remarkably -well-found" he observed "But I shouldn't have -believed a yarn like this from my best friend. -Let's see, we've brought you three times your -ordinary ship's company; and you have provisions -and water for all hands to last longer than twice -your usual run to New York. Are you positive, sir?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Positive. Give yourself no further worry on -that score"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Back there in the boats" said Captain Potter -"I was thinking that, if God was good to us, we -might be picked up by some Slavonian bark, with -only macaroni enough aboard to take him to the -Banks of Newfoundland, where he'd depend on -catching a few codfish, and water or not according -as it rained. Then it would have been a case of -Halifax or St. Johns, or else a transfer in open -boats to another vessel, with more danger to my -passengers and crew. This, Captain, seems like -a pleasant dream"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was no necessity for telling him how it -really did happen. In the line for which I was -sailing, a captain had the fitting out of his own -vessel, and was given practically a free hand. I'd -found that there were many things that I could -buy cheaper and better in Liverpool; and I always -laid in a supply of these for the round trip. -Things like hams, and bacon, and tobacco; yes, -tobacco, the best American plug at a shilling a -pound, the same article that I would have had to -pay fifty cents for in New York. At Liverpool, -too, we could get the finest French and Irish -potatoes; though they wouldn't keep for the round -trip, I used to lay in enough to last me to New -York and down to the Line on the outward -passage. We had a ton and a half of potatoes on -board that trip, when we sailed from Liverpool; -we reached New York with half a ton of them left, -so you can judge how short of provisions we were. -Then there were certain things, especially flour, -and canned fruits, vegetables and preserves of -all kinds, which I could buy cheapest and best in -San Francisco; I'd supplied the ship there with -these articles, for the round trip, and a good half of -the stock still remained. Butter—we had barrels -of it. In fact, we could actually have fed all hands -of them for two or three months without allowance; -but I didn't want to spoil the effect by overdoing -it. I let them continue to think that this -was the accepted fashion on board of an American -ship crossing the Western Ocean.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That afternoon, when the </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span> was at last -shortened down, the empty bolt-ropes unbent from -the upper yards, and the decks cleared for heavy -weather, the question of accommodations had to -be disposed of. We started with the after cabin; -the woman with her baby had one spare stateroom, -the invalid man another. To Captain Potter I -assigned a third spare stateroom, so that he could -be by himself. My own room, with double bunk, -sofa, and mattresses on the floor, I gave up to the -rest of the women passengers; the stewardess -slept on the sofa in the after cabin, and generally -looked after the ladies' quarters.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This accounted for all the spare staterooms we -had. For myself, I took the upper bunk in the -mate's room, at the same time moving the second -mate to this room, where he and the mate, having -alternate watches, could share the same bunk. -This left the second mate's room free for the -accommodation of the steamer's three deck -officers, with two single bunks and a knock-down -of pillows and blankets on the floor. In the -steward's room also there were two berths; my -steward kept the lower, the first steward of the -steamer had the upper, and her second steward -another knock-down on the floor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the forward house there were the galley, -carpenter's shop, and sail room, all narrow rooms -running from side to side of the house, each with -two doors and two windows; forward of the sail -room were the two forecastles, separated from each -other by a fore-and-aft partition in the middle of -the house, and opening forward on either side of -the fore hatch. I moved all of my crew into one -forecastle, since my only watch would be sleeping -at a time; and put the steamer's crew into the -vacated one, where bunks and bed clothes were -ready for them to use. The engine room crowd -were assigned to the carpenter's shop; the rest of -the men-folk, a miscellaneous lot, first, second, -and third class passengers all together, were -given the sail room.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We had on board quantities of second-hand -burlap and old sails, rolls and rolls of them, to be -put down under the cargo of wheat, enough to -line the whole inside of the ship when she was -loaded; these were rolled up in the 'tween-decks -after we discharged at Liverpool, to be overhauled -and repaired on the passage across to New York, -before being stowed away for use again in San -Francisco. They were just what we needed for -beds and coverings. In the two narrow rooms in -the forward house, spread plenty thick on the -floors, they made the finest possible knock-downs; -although they were packed in pretty tight, the -men couldn't have been more comfortable in their -own berths.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Potter wanted me to put them below -the hatches. We were ballasted with salt in the -lower hold, but the 'tween-decks were clean and -empty; she was in splendid trim for sailing, dry -as a bone in heavy weather. Undoubtedly, the -'tween-decks would have made a comfortable -place for the men, with plenty of room all around. -But my objection was a perfectly practical one. -Every one of these men had saved his pipe; in -many cases it seemed to be about all that he had -saved. Pipes had been going in every mouth -since they'd come aboard. And the sight of that -burning steamer was seared into my eyes. It -gave me the shivers merely to think of sending -all those pipes to sit on a bed of sail-cloth below -the hatches. Some kind of a fire was only to be -expected; but a fire in the forward house would -be the lesser of two evils.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With all my care, I made a serious mistake in -these arrangements; a mistake due to my ignorance -of steamship etiquette. I assigned the chief -engineer to a place forward with the engine-room -crowd, and paid him no further attention. The -status of engineers wasn't in my category; I -thought of them, when I thought of them at all, -as belonging to some indefinite lower region, and -lumped them all together. But I was careful to -make the proper distinction with the deck officers, -for this was a matter within my own province.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Potter gave me a broad hint that -afternoon. "My chief engineer is a fine man, sir" he -said "There has never been friction between us. -He is highly thought of by the office"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I received the news as something in the way of -conversation; wasn't much interested just then in -the affairs of his vessel. What did I know of -steamers? I'd been brought up under sail; and -a steamer to me was nothing but a new-fangled -usurper of the ocean, a thing to be sneered at, and -to be outsailed when possible. It wasn't till some -years afterwards, I remember, that I learned by -accident that the chief engineer of a steamer was -next in position to her master, above all of the -deck officers. The knowledge was a shock to me; -I recalled Captain Potter's remark, realized what -I'd done, and saw how nice they had been about -it. Even to-day, it annoys me to think of the -mistake, and of the comment it must have caused.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We lived like kings; I gave free access to the -provisions, fore and aft. The first steward of -the steamer said "I'll wait at table" Our -forward cabin table, hauled out to its full length, -would seat fourteen people; he had to set it up -three times for each meal, for all the passengers -ate aft. The second steward said "I'll wash -dishes" So he stood all day in the pantry, -digging away at an endless job; for of course there -weren't dishes enough to go around three whacks. -The cook joined my cook and steward in the -galley forward; among them they kept us fed. -Made up a barrel of flour into bread every day, -for one item. By chance, I overheard the -steamer's first officer say one evening after supper, -that her fare at its best hadn't equalled ours.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They were frank in admiration of the ship; of -her equipment, her sailing qualities, her cleverness, -dryness, and general seaworthiness; I could -see that they were a little envious, too, of the way -we handled her. We had a crew of Liverpool -toughs, hard men, but experienced sailors, bred -to American ships and their ways. They had -caught the spirit of the game, filled the steamer's -crew full of tall yarns in the dog-watch, and -performed feats of seamanship for them on deck -whenever the opportunity offered. Once the -excitement of that first day was over, old Ridley's -superb knowledge of his position emerged again. -My second officer was one of your tall, fiery -down-east youths, twenty-one years old, smart as a steel -trap and able as a whirlwind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>We put the </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span> through her paces, I can -assure you; carried sail till all was blue. Luck -sent us strong and favourable winds. In the dead -of night I would often see the steamer's officers, -dressed and wandering around the decks, or -gathered in a group and holding low conversation; -the ship would be scuppers under, the deck -at a dangerous angle, masts and yards buckling -and groaning, a spread of motionless canvas rising -aloft as hard as a board; the whole hull -humming like a top, as she raced through the water at -a fourteen-knot clip. It made them nervous; -they wanted to give me their advice, but being -young and proud, they wouldn't do it. I suppose -they called me a reckless Yankee. But I knew -my ship and trusted in my gear, knew exactly -what I could do with them; and didn't carry away -so much as a rope-yarn throughout the passage.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Only once did I have to call on our visitors for -help. Closing in with Nantucket, we had run -full-tilt into another southerly wind. It wasn't -more than half a gale, and I had kept her running -under a heavy press of canvas. After twelve -hours had gone by, I knew that soon the wind -would jump into the westward in a flurry, as all -southeasters do in the end. Feeling secure, with -extra men to draw on in case I got caught aback, -I held my sail and course till the last gun was -fired. We were running with the wind on the -port beam, under three whole topsails, whole -mainsail and foresail, spanker, mizzen, main and -foretopmast staysails, and inner jib.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And before I knew it, I had really got caught. -The wind jumped without warning, jumped quick -and hard; one minute it was our old half-gale from -the southward, the next minute it was a howling -westerly squall. Before we could possibly pay -off to the northward, the ship was flat aback. -Then it was "All hands on deck to shorten sail!" -with a vengeance, the vessel lying down to port, -the masts cracking, the shrouds slackening with -an ominous sag, and things in general looking -badly for a while. The officers of the steamer -ran on deck feather white, feeling the ship go over -to windward; her first mate ranged up close beside -me, and kept glancing backward and forward from -my face to the masts, as if he expected them to go -over the side any minute and wanted to watch me -when they fell.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As soon as I'd seen that we were caught aback, -I had let the three upper topsails come down with -a run. My crew were aloft now on fore, main and -mizzen, furling these sails, which I couldn't afford -to lose. Neither could I afford to lose the -mainsail or break the main yard; but at that moment -there were no men to spare from the topsails, -where the second mate was working like a demon; -while old Ridley had all that he could do on deck, -letting go gear and attending to the three topsail -yards. With every fresh puff of westerly wind, -I saw the main yard bending like a bow; it was a -big spar, over ninety feet long. The mainsail -was a new piece of canvas, and probably would -hold; but the tack or the weather brace might -carry away under the unequal strain, and then the -yard was gone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You can blow your whistle, sir" I said to the -young officer who had been watching me so closely—they -all carried whistles in their pockets, to call -their men with. "Take charge of that mainsail, -if you please, and get it off her as quickly as you can"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He needed no second invitation; was off in a -flash, blowing a loud toot as he ran forward. I -heard the call answered by another whistle in the -waist; that little Cockney boatswain had been -getting anxious, too. Out came the steamer's -crew with a rush from their side of the forward -house, where they'd fallen into the habit of loafing -regardless of what went on outside. Clew-garnets -and buntlines were manned with seamanlike -precision, the tack was started, the sheet was eased -away, and in a remarkably short time they had -smothered the big sail and hauled it up to the yard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But they didn't intend to leave the job half -finished. "Aloft, boys, and out on the yard!" -cried the mate. A moment later he sprang up -the ratlines himself, to superintend the job; the -little Cockney took the weather yardarm, piping a -song as he perched above the water; they furled -the sail smartly, reaching the deck along with our -own men from the topsail yard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Potter, who had come on deck in the -interval, was watching his men with manifest -pride. I was glad that it happened so, and took -especial pains to compliment the chief officer -before all hands. He blushed like a school girl, -now that the emergency was over. The little -Cockney, however, couldn't resist a stroke of -impudence.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We thanks ye, Captain" he sang out loudly -"That's the w'y we does it aboard of a bloomin' -lime-juicer"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The sally brought a roar from the whole main-deck, -in which I'd have been a stick if I hadn't -joined.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What do you do with such saucy rascals?" I -called to Captain Potter "Shall I keel-haul him, -or serve him an extra pint of grog?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Myke it a pint o' grog all around, Ol' Bo-ri-i" -giggled the boatswain, dodging around the mast.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I would if I could, my men" I laughed -"But as you know, we have no grog or lime-juice -in a Yankee ship. Beef and biscuit, work and -wages, is what we sail on. You need no grog, if -that's a sample of the way you feel" And I -pointed aloft to the neatly furled mainsail.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With stern way on, we had by this time hauled -out to port, braced the yards sharp up, and caught -the wind in the foresail and three lower topsails. -Our visitors perhaps had saved us from a serious -accident; at any rate, they'd demonstrated their -ability. It gave them something to brag about -on their own account; while the effect on my crew -was only to intensify the spirit of rivalry. In fact, -the incident brought a great improvement to the -tone of the ship; for I had noticed during the last -couple of days a growing animosity between the -steamer's forecastle and ours, due to the forced -inactivity of the former.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On the following day the westerly breeze blew -itself out; in the early afternoon a steamer -overtook us, bound in for New York, passing about -four miles to windward. We were then off to the -southward of Nantucket, having come about on -the starboard tack during the night. I set a string -of signals "Come closer. Have important news -to communicate" The steamer made them out, -changed her course, and ran down within hailing -distance. She was a German vessel, one of the -first oil-tankers to cross the Atlantic, they told me -in New York; her name was the </span><em class="italics">Energie</em><span>. Her -captain couldn't speak English fluently; but he -had picked up a New York pilot somewhere on -the Banks, a man who'd been carried to sea by -another vessel in a storm. He was the fellow who -talked to me from the bridge, although I didn't -know it at the time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Steamer ahoy!" I hailed; "The British -steamer </span><em class="italics">Santiago</em><span> has burned at sea. I have on -board her entire ship's company, and am taking -them to New York. No one was lost, either -passengers or crew. Please report us all well"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They held a consultation over this news on the -bridge of the </span><em class="italics">Energie</em><span>. Soon I was hailed in a -familiar South Street twang.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Captain, don't you want to be relieved of your -guests? You must be short of provisions"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I heard Captain Potter chuckle behind me.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There's your chance to get to New York ahead -of us" said I, turning to him. It was a smooth -day on the water, with little prospect of wind.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do you want to be rid of us, Captain?" he asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, sir" said I emphatically.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then we'll stay aboard, if you don't mind, -and reach New York when you do"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I hailed the steamer again. "We need no -assistance, thank you. Please report us all well, -and inform the steamship company"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The </span><em class="italics">Energie</em><span> went on about her business, and -soon passed out of sight ahead. Late in the -afternoon a fresh breeze sprang up unexpectedly -from a little to the eastward of north; a breeze -that was destined to carry us all the way to -harbour. We braced the yards around to starboard, -set every rag of sail, and laid a course for -Sandy Hook with the wind a couple of points free -on the starboard quarter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Throughout the next day we were running -along the southern shore of Long Island, in -smooth water, the breeze still fresh and steady, -every stitch of canvas drawing, and the ship at -her best point for sailing, logging some fifteen -knots an hour. The days of the extreme clipper -ship had long since gone by, at the time I'm telling -of; but many a moderate clipper of the later years, -with fuller cargo carrying capacity, but retaining -many of the fine lines of the greyhound of the -seas, and embodying all the best of their experience, -could reel off a day's run that might astonish -the nautical historian. I'll never forget that -wonderful reach in the </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span> under the lee of -the Long Island shore. She was a trim and lofty -vessel, lean and graceful on the water; a cloud of -canvas aloft, she heeled at a constant angle, as if -moving through a picture, while the long curl of -a wave rolled out steadily from her lee quarter, as -she swept like a bird over the smooth sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At three in the afternoon, a steamer was -reported dead ahead, some ten or a dozen miles -away. Within half an hour, it was apparent that -we were crawling up on her; and in an hour's time, -we could estimate that we had overhauled her by -something like five miles. I had a strong -suspicion that she was our old friend, the </span><em class="italics">Energie</em><span>, -but said nothing about it just then. Every one -aboard was excited over the race, the </span><em class="italics">Santiago's</em><span> -company no less so than my own. In fact, the -young British officers could hardly contain -themselves, wouldn't for anything have seen us fail to -overtake her, kept running to me and suggesting -this and that, or asking if the wind would hold.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Another hour of this terrific sailing brought -us near enough to read her name. And she was -the </span><em class="italics">Energie</em><span>, sure enough. I thought that handsome -young first officer of the </span><em class="italics">Santiago</em><span> was going -to fling his arms around me, when I took my eye -from the long glass and told them the news.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hurrah for the </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span>!" he shouted, -running forward and waving both his hands "By -Gad, they won't have the chance to report us this -time! We'll do our own reporting"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She must be foul—although these freighters -don't pretend to any speed" observed Captain -Potter, a little concerned, I thought, for the -reputation of steam.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She's making about ten knots" said I -"And we are logging fifteen steady, and sixteen -by spurts, when the breeze puffs a little"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You don't tell me!" he exclaimed, glancing -over the side. Then he looked up at the clumsy -old steamer, ploughing along a quarter of a mile -to leeward. "By Jove, Captain, we're passing -her as if she were standing still!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Indeed, we were; the spectacle, from a romantic -point of view, was an inspiring one, although it -must have been a jealous sight for the German -captain. But now we were drawing in toward -the approaches to New York harbour; our race -had been with daylight as well as with steam. -For I'd promised myself that, by hook or crook, -we would arrive that night. I scanned the -horizon anxiously for a pilot boat—in those days -the New York pilot boats were small but -exceptionally sea-worthy two-masted schooners; and at -seven o'clock in the evening, with half an hour -of daylight still remaining, caught sight of one -standing toward us on the weather bow. We -came together rapidly. By this time we had left -the </span><em class="italics">Energie</em><span> a couple of miles astern.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When the pilot boat was within a mile of us, I -called Mr. Ridley and the mate of the </span><em class="italics">Santiago</em><span>, -and had a private conference with them; gave -them instructions to place all hands in position for -certain manoeuvres, but to keep the men out of -sight behind the bulwarks. Stepping to the after -companionway, I sang out below "Captain -Potter, ask the ladies to come on deck and see -us take the pilot on board" They hurried up in -a flutter of excitement, the captain in their wake. -A glance along the maindeck told him that -something unusual was about to happen, but he -kept his own counsel. It's hard to educate a -taciturn Britisher to new ways, but the constant -surprise of the experience through which Captain -Potter was passing had begun to make an -impression.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The pilot boat was now running down to us -on the opposite tack, about four points on our -weather bow. She expected us, of course, to -heave-to and wait for her. We kept on, however, -at a racing clip, making not the slightest -movement to check our terrific progress. To add zest -to the game, the wind puffed substantially at that -moment, sending us through the water with a rush -really magnificent.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I could see that, on board the pilot boat, they -didn't know what to make of it. As we drew up -on them, changing the angle of their bearing, they -shifted their course little by little, letting their -craft fall off before the wind and following us -with her nose. In another moment she stood -directly abeam of us, less than three hundred -yards away. With a gesture of dismissal, as it -were, they hauled the schooner up again on the -port tack, prepared to stand away to sea and leave -us to our own devices.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At that instant, I waved my hand, and gave a -sharp order to the helmsman. The men jumped -from their concealment under the bulwarks; up -went the courses like a piece of magic, down went -the helm, and ship and main yard swung together, -as if both controlled by a single turn of the wheel. -The </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span> came into the wind with a bird-like -swoop, felt the main yard aback, checked her -pace, and stopped dead in her tracks; there she -lay, nodding sweetly to the slight swell, the last -rays of the setting sun striking through her sails.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A shout went up from the pilot boat. They -fell off immediately, jibbed to the port tack, crossed -our stern waving their hands, and dropped their -skiff overboard. In a few moments the pilot -nosed up under our lee quarter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good Lord, Captain!" he cried, as he came -over the rail "What are you running here, a -packet ship? I haven't seen a trick like that -turned since the days of the Black Ball Line"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm in a hurry to get in" I answered "and -I don't want to waste time over it. I have a -double crew aboard to help me. This is Captain -Potter, pilot, of the British steamship </span><em class="italics">Santiago</em><span>, -burned at sea"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Later that evening we took a towboat off the -lightship, and clewed up our sails. I thought -I'd be extravagant and have a second tug, since -I saw another coming toward us; the wind had -suddenly shifted into the northwest, dead ahead, -and every one was anxious to get in. A hard -enough tow it turned out, even with two boats -ahead, for the wind soon settled down in earnest -for an old-fashioned off-shore gale. I told our -passengers to go to bed as usual; that all was -safe now, and they would wake up next morning -to find the ship at anchor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At three o'clock in the morning we came to -off the Statue of Liberty, and dropped a hook -into the bottom. They had passed us through -quarantine under extraordinary dispensation, -meanwhile sending word of the disaster and its -happy outcome up the bay ahead of us. At daylight, -the </span><em class="italics">Santiago's</em><span> company hurried their biggest -tugboat alongside, stocked with emergency -provision, if you please, for they expected us to be -half starved. Captain Potter met the representative -of his company at the rail; when they had -talked for a while in private, I broke in on them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Captain" said I "it would give us the -greatest pleasure if you and your ship's company -would stay on board and have a last breakfast -with us. Permit me to extend the invitation to -this gentleman. Tell your tug to wait for you -alongside until we're through"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank you, sir—we'll do it" he answered -heartily "Mr. Folsom, this is my good friend -Captain Clark. He has treated us to a reception -aboard the </span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span> unique in the annals of the -Atlantic, as you'll be able to see for yourself -when you go below. I'll promise you as good a -breakfast as you would find ashore"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So the tugboat with her emergency provisions -waited, while we enjoyed a hearty breakfast. I -finished as soon as possible, however, and said -good-bye to my guests; for a tugboat from my -owners had come alongside in the meanwhile, and -I was in a hurry to get ashore. Reaching the -deck with my papers, I found the German tanker -</span><em class="italics">Energie</em><span> churning past us, bound somewhere up -the East River. She had already been -discovered from our forecastle; all hands lined the -bulwarks forward, laughing and jeering, waving -their caps at her.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At my appearance on the quarter-deck, a group -of three men, led by the Cockney boatswain of the -</span><em class="italics">Santiago</em><span>, detached themselves from the others -forward and met me at the break of the poop.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Committee from the crew o' the </span><em class="italics">Santiago</em><span>, -sir" announced the boatswain "We has to -inform you, sir, that we votes your ship is a -beauty, your officers is gentlemen, and yourself is -a man we'd like to sail with whenever you're -looking for a crew. You've treated us like kings, -sir—and we're the boys as knows when we're -well treated. We thanks ye, sir, from the bottom -of our hearts"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I was taken aback for a minute, not being a -ready speechmaker: "Well, boys" said I at last, -blinking back a tear of emotion "it's been a -pleasure to me to be able to make you -comfortable. I can only answer you in the same words, -in a way we all understand: if I needed a crew, -I'd rather have you in the forecastle than any -crowd I ever saw. You have handled yourselves -like seamen under trying circumstances. And, -well, I'm damned glad that I came along!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>I jumped aboard the tug, then, to forestall any -further demonstration. But as I drew away from -the ship's side, Captain Potter, with Folsom -beside him, mounted the after-house.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now, my lads!" he cried "Three cheers for -Captain Clark! And give them with a will!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They gave them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Three cheers, now, for the good ship -</span><em class="italics">Pactolus</em><span>! And when we're cast adrift again, -pray God she picks us up!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>You could hear the cheer all over the upper -harbour. The Staten Island ferryboat, on her -way from the Battery to St. George, changed her -course and passed close beside us, to see what the -excitement was.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="id1"><span class="bold x-large">UNDER SAIL</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">UNDER SAIL</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">I</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>It was at the time of New England's success -and prosperity on the sea that young Captain -Bradley took the ship </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> on her maiden -voyage. In those days the building and sending -forth of a ship was a community enterprise. One -sharp November morning, the seaport that had -seen her keel laid down the previous winter, had -watched her rise on the stocks through the long -days of summer, and had launched her successfully -in the early fall, turned out to bid the -</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> good-bye and Godspeed. Her crew was -made up of home boys; Captain Bradley himself -had been born and reared in the town. He had -started out before the mast at the age of fifteen; -now, at twenty-four, he had set his foot on the top -rung of the nautical ladder. The town was proud -of him. It was proud of all its boys; but -especially of one who had shown such steadiness -and ability as young Frank Bradley, the old man -Jabez Bradley's son.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Perhaps Captain Bradley was a little proud of -his own achievement. He could look back over -a clean, hard record. In his nine years of -seafaring he had not spared himself. Obey, work, -learn, develop judgment and decision, be able to -handle any job or meet any emergency; these -principles had ruled his life, the </span><em class="italics">sine qua non</em><span> of -old-fashioned seamanship. The reward had -come unexpectedly. Captain Marshall, the -leading shipowner of the town, whose fortune and -influence lay behind the building of the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, -had offered him the ship that summer as she -stood on the stocks.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've had my eye on you for a long time, -Frank" the old man had told him "I knew your -father before you, and you're a chip off the same -block. I guess you're just the man for my new ship"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But young Bradley had already received too -many hard knocks, had learned too thoroughly -how to discipline himself, to be unduly puffed -up over success that came in the course of a -deserved advancement. His real pride, from -that moment, was in his ship. She was the -finest square-rigger that had ever been launched -in the town, a ship of eighteen hundred tons, -crossing three skysail yards. Her lines were -those of the moderate or commercial clipper. As -he looked up from the quarter-deck at her lofty -spars that November morning, while they waited -for the tide—at the maze of freshly tarred rigging -and new manila running gear, at the brightly -varnished yards, at the furled sails that stretched -from yardarm to yardarm like caps of snow—a -thrill of genuine sentiment coursed through his -blood. His ship—and he loved her already. -Soon those white sails would be set to the breeze, -soon those strong, slender masts would sway -against the sky, bearing aloft their press of -flattened canvas, soon those new ropes would -snap and sing, settling into a taut network from -deck to truck and from masthead to masthead, -whose every strand would have its use and -meaning. Soon the ship would surge beneath him—his -to control, to guide, to learn, to play upon, as -an organist brings out the tone and volume of -his instrument. His trust, too, and his future; -at moments like this responsibility weighed with -crushing force. The greater the chance, the -greater the danger; the greater the success, the -greater the failure if things went wrong.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I won't fail her!" he cried in a rush of -emotion "We're going on together, the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> -and I. By God, I'll sail her as long as she stays -afloat. She shall be my first and last command"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly he thought of the face that would be -appearing every few minutes, on this morning of -his departure, at the southern window of a house -in town. He could see the house plainly, a high -brick mansion facing the bay. "It will be only -a year" he had told her the previous evening -"Then I'll be back, dear, and we can be married, -and you can go to sea with me. No more of this -sailing and staying at home alone; it's a miserable -business"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She had looked up at him bravely. "Yes, -Frank, I know. But come back safely. Think -what might happen in a year!" It was the cry -of the sailor-woman. She had learned it from -her mother—and from her father, who had been -lost at sea with all hands on one voyage when his -family had remained at home.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>An hour later, when, with all sail set, the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> -had gathered headway before the light -land-breeze, taking her first steps into the world, -Captain Bradley went to the stern-rail and gazed -back at the lessening town. He stood there a -long while, lost in thought. He could still make -out the familiar pattern of streets and houses. -Home. It seemed to him as if he had always -been either leaving or returning. His short, -quick boyhood was already half-forgotten, like a -snatch of another existence. Five years before, -his mother had died there in the town; he had -received the news on his arrival in Singapore. -His father had vanished in a sea tragedy long -before he could remember. No home for him -remained, either there or here; he would have to -make one. What was this seafaring life, that he -had now asked a young girl to share? Every day -he heard men call it a dog's life, growl that the -game wasn't worth the candle. Perhaps so—but -she knew all about it. She had been born in a -ship's cabin; she loved the sea. And here was -the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, young, strong and beautiful—what -better? A fierce determination swept over him -to </span><em class="italics">make</em><span> life worth while, even the life beyond -the horizon; to give her a worthy gift, a home -of love and happiness, all he had. Any life could -be worth while, if full enough of love.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Glancing over his shoulder, to make sure that -no one observed him, for it would not do to give -his men the materials of a jest, he leaned across -the rail and waved his handkerchief toward the -town. She would expect it—would be watching -with the glasses from that southern window. -Sailor women saw the last of their grief; they -didn't turn away and hide.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll try to make up for the waiting, Grace" he -whispered; then swung forward resolutely, to face -the coming years.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">II</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Autumn returned to the old seaport, and with -it the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, back from her first China voyage. -Captain Bradley was welcomed with a hearty -"well done" The voyage had been prosperous; -the homeward run from Hong Kong had been -made in the remarkably fast time of eighty-two -days. Hereafter the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> would be a favourite -among Chinese shippers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A month after his arrival, young Captain -Bradley was married in the high house fronting -the bay. That night he and his wife left town -to join the ship, loading in New York for -Yokohama.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then began ten happy years of life. They -were the last ten years of American maritime -prosperity, the close of the sailing ship era. -Charters were plentiful; the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> made money. -Captain Bradley found himself a man of means. -Without question, he invested his earnings in -ship-property; most of the transactions passed -through Captain Marshall's hands. Why not put -his money into ships? Ships had been his life -and the life of five generations before him, had -made him a good living, had taught him all he -knew. Most of his friends were doing the same -thing. Few there were in those days among the -old shipping people, who saw into the next -quarter-century, who realized the nature and -magnitude of the coming change.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>One year, five thousand dollars went to build -a new house in the home town. Every captain -built a new house, whether he used it or not. -Captain Bradley's house was occupied for the -length of one China voyage, while Mrs. Bradley -remained ashore and gave birth to a son, their -only child. Except for this voyage, she -accompanied her husband constantly on the sea. She -had been reared to the life of wind and wave. In -the </span><em class="italics">Viking's</em><span> spacious and comfortable cabin, they -made their home from year to year. Their son -passed his boyhood on ship-board. He was the -apple of his father's eye. Captain Bradley -invariably spoke of him as "my Frankie" with a -note of pride and affection in his voice. Sturdy -and manly, the little boy filled the ship with the -interest and activity of childhood.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On a quiet evening in the trade winds, when -Frankie had placed his mother's deck-chair near -the weather rail and crouched beside her, perhaps -weaving for her amusement one of the strange -fancies of which his head was full, it seemed to -Captain Bradley that life had brought him all -that a man could desire. A happy wife, a beautiful -son, a splendid ship—good times, comfortable -circumstances, a pleasant prospect: in youth he -had dared to hope for such things, but had not -expected to see the hope come true. Now life -had given him confidence. He would sit on the -weather bitts beside them, dreaming of the future, -of that day when their son would be grown up, -when he and his wife would retire from the sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But the future, in those years, after all seemed -unsubstantial; Captain Bradley believed in -enjoying the present reality. A large share of the -money that he earned he spent. He spent it -extravagantly, spent it with a flush hand. In the -China ports whither all of his charters led him, -there were always a dozen or twenty American -vessels lying in the roads. Lavish entertainment -went the round of the fleet. "What's a little -money, more or less?" Captain Bradley was -fond of saying. "Times are good, aren't they? -More will come" He was for ever buying pieces -of cloisonné and rare porcelain for his empty -house at home, silks and embroideries for his -wife; things to be packed away in camphor wood -chests after she was dead. The habit of -extravagance grew upon him; he spent more money -than he realized.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In fact, from a selfish standpoint, Captain -Bradley was a poor business man. Seamanship -was his vocation; he understood few of the ins -and outs of a financial order founded on usury. -Its sentiment and psychology he understood not -at all; these were considerations entirely alien to -him. To his mind, money, to be clean, had to -be straightforwardly earned. The plain transactions -of a ship's business were all he needed to -know. A certain sum of money put into a ship -would, if she were properly handled, yield certain -dividends: a charter at so much the lump sum, -would pay so much on the voyage. Thus it -always had been; thus, if he ever gave the matter -a thought, he supposed it always would be.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the flush years went by, he developed into a -typical sea captain of the old school; a man of -honour, of ideals, of simple dignity and original -thought, careless, buoyant, at times a little -reckless, a stern disciplinarian, a wise judge of human -nature, a sentimentalist at heart, a believer in the -inherent righteousness of things, a man of sincerity -and individuality. Dishonesty, laziness, hypocrisy, -he hated as he hated crime. Inefficient men -found him a hard taskmaster. By nature and -training he was arrogant and imperious; the -instinct of command ran strongly in his blood. He -spoke his mind at all times; he was equally ready -to defend his position. His pride in his wife, in -his boy, in his ship, in everything he loved, was -enormous. In short, he was a man singularly -adapted to the high and responsible calling of -master mariner—singularly ill-fitted for his -coming encounter with the world.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">III</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The first stroke fell out of a clear sky. Captain -Marshall died suddenly, leaving his business -affairs in a bad way. For three months, the town -was in turmoil. At the end of that time, it -became apparent that the old shipowner had involved -all of his own property, as well as that of many -others, in a series of disastrous speculations. No -one hinted at dishonesty, but the hard fact -remained. Ship property had greatly fallen off in -value in the last few years; this, it would seem, -had been the immediate cause of Captain Marshall's -financial stringency. He, too, had banked -heavily on the old times.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Bradley arrived that year from Hong -Kong, to find himself poorer by more than half -of his modest fortune. All of his ready money -was gone in the wreck; what remained was a -bundle of pieces of vessels, quarters and sixteenths -and thirty-seconds. Worst of all, the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, the -one ship that Captain Marshall had owned -outright, with the exception of the eighth share -standing in Captain Bradley's name, would have -to be sold by auction to satisfy the creditors. -In this crisis, Captain Bradley's idealism -overcame all other considerations. "By God, I'll buy -her myself!" he cried. His friends told him that -he was a fool; but this only heightened his -determination. He called the creditors together, -and made them an offer. By great exertions, he -managed to negotiate on his various ship holdings, -disposing of some at figures below their value, -mortgaging others, selling the house, and finally -raising sufficient money to carry out his word. -It took all he had; but he was glad that he -possessed enough property to do it. When he -sailed from New York on the next voyage, he -was the sole owner of the vessel. His confidence, -momentarily shaken by the failure of one of the -pillars of his world, had begun to return. He -realized that times were not what they had been; -but it seemed impossible that the demand for -sailing ships would ever wholly go by.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The next few years, however, seriously -undermined his assurance. Freights were falling -rapidly, were even becoming hard to get. One -time he had laid her up in Hong Kong for six -months, resolving to wait for a better figure than -had been offered, and had at length been obliged -to accept a charter that barely paid the ship's way. -Steam was to blame for it all. He began to hate -steamers with a bitter and unreasoning hatred. -They were driving the fine old sailing ships off -the sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then, as suddenly as the financial crash, came -the blow from which he never fully recovered. -On the homeward passage, shortly after rounding -the Cape of Good Hope, his wife sickened and -died. She had been ailing ever since they left -Anjer, but he had not realized the seriousness of -her condition. They had already caught the -trades in the South Atlantic; it was hopeless to -think of putting back to Capetown. He urged -the ship with every rag of sail, trying to reach -St. Helena in time; but the trades held light, the -elements were against him. For three days of -nearly flat calm he paced the deck in agony, or -sat beside his wife's bunk while she talked to him -in a low voice, telling him of her love, of what to -do when she was gone; trying to make it easy -for him, for she knew that she was dying. On -the third day, she died in his arms. That night -his hair turned from black to white. He came -on deck the next morning an old and broken man. -The wind continued light and uncertain, there -was no chance of reaching St. Helena in time -for the last rites; and he buried her there in the -deep sea.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That voyage, they had left their son at home -in school. Alone now in the empty cabin, -Captain Bradley's thoughts were much of his boy. -He himself could stand it, must stand it. But -how could he tell Frankie, his Frankie? Night -after night he paced the narrow floor below, going -back over life, living in the past from which he -had now been definitely cut adrift. Perhaps he -was not quite sane for the remainder of the -passage; he could never remember clearly those -weeks before his arrival. But always, behind -every conscious thought, lay the dread of what -he would have to tell Frankie. This he -remembered; it seemed to have been beaten into his -brain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then a wonderful thing happened. He arrived -home to find that the boy they had left behind -had grown into a young man, had developed a -strong and resolute character of his own. He -came to meet his father at the train; the news -had reached him already. "I did all that I could, -Frankie" were Captain Bradley's first words, as -they faced each other on the gloomy platform. -His son looked at him steadily, fighting back the -tears. "I know you did, sir" It was the son -who put his arms around the father's shoulders; -Captain Bradley had felt a strange hesitation, -almost akin to shame or fear. But now his heart -rose for the first time since his wife had gone. This -was the stuff that men were made of. His son.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They entered the house together—the old -Bradley house, where Frankie lived with his aunt -when he was at home. Captain Bradley greeted -his sister, took off his hat and sat down heavily. -Suddenly the boy cried out and fell at his father's -feet, holding him by the knees, his whole body -shaking.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My God, father, your hair is white!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes, Frankie. That doesn't matter. -Poor mother, poor mother!" He leaned forward -to hold the heaving shoulders. For a long while -they cried in each other's arms.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the days went by, Captain Bradley found -himself depending more and more on the new -young strength. The two were inseparable; they -seemed to meet on common ground. Captain -Bradley was one of those men who never lose -their youthful outlook; while the boy was in -reality older than his years.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When the time came to sail on another voyage, -Frankie insisted on leaving school and going away -with his father. For the next eighteen months -they lived together on the ship, at sea and in -foreign ports, and their intimacy grew profound. -They talked, read aloud in the evenings, studied -navigation and history, discussed the mysteries -of life and love; side by side they stood on the -quarter-deck through storm and fair weather, and -Frankie learned the lore of seamanship at the -hands of a past-master. Gradually, Captain -Bradley got back his grip on life. The boy had -renewed his courage. He even began to dream -of the future again—of marriage and a career for -Frankie, no following the sea, but a safe career -ashore.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then another long voyage, alone this time, for -Frankie had entered college to tackle his -education in earnest. He had decided to become a -civil engineer. This voyage was in many ways -a hard one for Captain Bradley. Business was -poor; he had a great deal of trouble with his -crew, for only the outcasts of society could now -be induced to enter the forecastle of a sailing -ship; a succession of storms followed him, and -at last he lost a foretopmast off the coast of Luzon. -He had to face the fact that the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> was -growing old; for several years he had been acutely -aware that her top-hamper needed extensive overhauling.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As for himself, he knew too well that he had -turned the corner of life. The voyage dragged -on to its close. He reached the Atlantic Coast -in the dead of winter. Three weeks of threshing -around outside in the teeth of northeast -snowstorms and icy northwesters completed the -disheartenment. But at length ship and man, -ice-bound and weary, passed in by Sandy Hook and -made a harbour once more.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The news that met Captain Bradley seemed too -heavy to be borne. A month before his arrival, -when the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> had been somewhere off the -Windward Islands, running up in the northeast -trades, his son, skating on the river beside the -college, had fallen through the ice and been -drowned.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">IV</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>After a while, Captain Bradley gathered up -the fag-ends of his life and started out in the -</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> on another voyage. She was all he had -now. A few more years went by, years of -increasing discouragement, aimless and fugitive. -Times were becoming very hard. The day of -China charters was over; steamers monopolized -that business now. The </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> became a tramp -ship, they picked up what freights they could get, -and the old ports knew them no longer. The -vessel barely paid her way; operating expenses -were retrenched on every hand, there was no -money left for upkeep, and Captain Bradley saw -her literally falling to pieces before his eyes. But -the old hull remained sound.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He lived a blank life; but he continued to live, -which was something. The old days were indeed -passing, and with them the ships and the men. -Sailors were not what they used to be; business -ethics was not what it used to be. He began to -feel as if the very fibre of mankind had changed. -Nothing seemed left but memory and the remnants -of an invincible pride. He could not realize that -he had made what would be commonly called a -mistake, in buying the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> with his last dollar. -His philosophy did not provide the materials for -such a conception.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The day came when the old </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> was almost -the last of her race, the only wooden full-rigged -three-masted ship to sail out of Atlantic ports. -All her lofty companions had passed away, or had -been converted into coal barges. Her arrival in -New York was an item of news. This was the -one substantial reward of Captain Bradley's -declining years as a ship-master; he had sailed his -ship beyond her era, he had flaunted her in the -face of a new generation. That compact made -with the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> in her maiden hour had been no -idle sentiment; it had been life's supremest -dedication, and he had kept the vow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A few old friends remained to him, though he -had made no new ones in the latter years. These -friends kept urging him, every voyage, to sell the -</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> for a coal barge while there was time, -while even this way offered for the disposal of -an outworn hull. The coal companies were -beginning to build their own barges. The </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> -would still be worth some fifteen thousand dollars -as a coal barge. He could retire on the proceeds, -and live in modest comfort for the rest of his days.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Never!" he invariably answered "Do I -look like a man who needs to retire? She shall -never be a coal barge while I live"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Yet it had to come to that; perhaps he had -long foreseen it, perhaps the vehemence of his -denial was only the face of pride set against the -inevitable. On a certain voyage he had been -obliged to run into debt, to fit out the vessel. -The voyage netted less than nothing. When he -returned to New York the ship was attached for -the debt. There was no business in sight; the -bottom had at last dropped out of the shipping -world. He did all that was possible, but he could -not raise the money; he and the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> were no -longer a good risk as borrowers—their credit was -gone. The ship was sold at auction, in equity -proceedings, and was bid in by one of the large -coal companies operating along the Atlantic Coast. -Captain Bradley, at sixty years of age, found -himself stranded on South Street without a penny in -his pocket. The proceeds of the sale had barely -covered the debt. But his honour, at any rate, -was clear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Another wreck for Snug Harbour" the word -was passed, as he stalked out of the room where -the transaction had been completed. But they -reckoned without their host. That afternoon the -</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> was towed to Erie Basin, to be stripped -for a coal barge. At almost the same hour, -Captain Bradley disappeared from South Street. -The shipping world never saw him again.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">V</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>A tramp steamer, dirty and ill-kept about decks, -streaked with iron-rust alongside, came up the bay -from Sandy Hook and anchored off Quarantine. -She had arrived from a long and wandering -voyage. When the health officer had left the -vessel, the captain called the second mate to the -bridge. An old man stumbled up the steps.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mr. Bradley, get your things together and go -ashore with me. I'll pay you off at once. You -old trouble-maker, you're not going to stay aboard -the ship an hour longer"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The old mate gazed at his superior officer in -silence. Tears of anger rose to his eyes. He -turned away to hide them, walking to the end of -the bridge. His cup of bitterness was running -over. Frank Bradley, commander on the high -seas for forty years, discharged from a second -mate's billet on a tramp steamer—discharged by -an incompetent captain, because his incompetence -had been found out. He shut his jaws grimly, -recalling the scene of two days before. Out there -in the fog he had refused to obey the captain's -orders; had wrested the wheel from the hands of -the quartermaster, had held them both off with -threats of physical violence, while he steered the -ship himself; and thus had kept her from running -ashore on Diamond Shoal. The captain's orders -had been completely wrong. He had probably -said some sharp things about them; it had been -no time for mincing words. Touch and go—but -he had saved the ship—saved the captain's -certificate, too.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He stood at the end of the bridge, staring down -at the grey water. What should he do now? -While he struggled with himself, his eyes rose -slowly, resting on a hulk that lay at anchor close -alongside, between the steamer and the hills of -Staten Island. For a moment he regarded her -with a dazed and absent concern, trying to fathom -the significance of half-awakened sensations. -Then, with a suddenness that stopped his throat, -his heart gave a great leap of recognition. Neither -coal dust nor dismantlement could hide those -familiar lines. The </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, his old ship, lay -before him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A hoarse cry escaped him. Through the -dreadful pall of the latter years, through -bitterness, shame and inertia, burst in a blinding flood -the memory and presence of other days. The -shock passed instantaneously, and left him utterly -changed. Facing his old ship, he became once -more the man her master had been. Decision and -authority returned to him, as they always did in a -crisis; for they were intrinsic, in spite of life and -destiny.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A rowboat was passing the steamer; he hailed -it sharply. "Rowboat ahoy! Come alongside, -and wait there for me" He crossed the bridge -with strong steps, stood before the captain, gazed -at him steadily, until the eyes of the other fell.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll leave your dirty tramp immediately, sir. -You can keep my wages—I don't want them. -Take them and buy a book on seamanship. -You'll need it the next time you get in shoal -water"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You insolent old devil...!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't touch me!" The old man's voice was -level and hard; his hands swung at his sides. -He advanced threateningly. "You didn't dare -touch me at sea; don't do it now. I..." -Speechlessness overcame him. Too much: it -could never be put into words. "My God!" he -murmured, turning away "I was master of a ship -before he was born"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ten minutes later, seated in the rowboat with -all his worldly belongings stacked around him, he -directed the boatman to row him aboard the -</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>. As they passed under her stern, he -looked up at the well-remembered letters. They -were dim now; time and weather had worn off the -gilt. An afternoon in Hong Kong harbour came -back to him; he recalled it vividly. He had been -coming off from shore in his sampan, full of news; -the ship had been chartered for home. Grace -would be delighted. Approaching the ship, he -had overhauled her with a critical eye, and found -no blemish in her; then, as they rounded the -stern, had looked up at these same letters. His -Frankie had called from the rail, running forward -to meet him at the gangway. Time and weather—the -awful dimming of life. He bowed his head -in his hands, and wept like a child.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VI</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>A stroke of luck was about to befall Captain -Bradley. When he gained the </span><em class="italics">Viking's</em><span> deck, he -found no one in command of the barge. Four -frightened sailors gathered around him, taking him -for their new captain. Piecing together their -incoherent stories, he learned that the captain of -the barge had been killed that morning in an -accident at the loading berth. A hopper had -broken loose, and had brained him as he stood -beside the hatch. The mate, a drunken rascal, -had disappeared on shore the evening before, and -the captain had not expected him to return. The -moment the scene of the accident had been cleaned -up, they had towed the barge into the stream, in -order to free the loading berth. There she lay, -waiting for a new set of officers to be sent off from -shore.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When he had learned this much, a strange idea -came to Captain Bradley. It seemed a slender -chance; but a surprising energy and hope had -taken possession of him. He got the address of -the coal company's shipping office, the place where -these men had found their jobs; left his things -aboard the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, gave the boatman two dollars -to hurry him ashore, and went at once to the -number on West Street where he had been told -to apply. Luck followed him. He found the -shipping office in a quandary over the </span><em class="italics">Viking's</em><span> -case; they had no waiting list of barge officers, -the tow for Boston was to be made up that -afternoon, and the barge could not be sent to sea -without someone in command. Captain Bradley told -his story simply, showing papers that covered a -career of nearly fifty years on the sea. His -dignified and authoritative presence bore out the tale.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, Captain Bradley" said the shipping -superintendent kindly "the job is yours. I guess -you deserve it, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank you" Captain Bradley gave a wry -smile "I think I can fulfil my duties. I'll try to -give satisfaction, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He had not told them of his own relation to the -</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, fearing the injection of sentiment into a -business-like application. That afternoon he -joined his old command, at forty dollars a month -and all found.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He would not have called it a stroke of luck in -the other days. How incredible, then, to look -ahead, would have seemed the natural development -that time had wrought. Could he have -foreseen the end that he was coming to, he would -have blown out his brains. But life had -accomplished it easily and inexorably; failure had at -last ground down the keen edge of his spirit, -disappointment had rounded off the corners of his -imperative nature. As he stepped across the rail -of the barge </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>, only a great and pathetic -happiness found place in his heart. His fight -was finished. He had kept his pride at too -terrible a cost. Now he gave it up, freely, gladly. -Perhaps he would be allowed to die in peace, -aboard the ship that had shared his better days.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Fine old ship—life had gone hard with her, too. -The lofty masts and spreading spars had been -lopped away; nothing remained above decks but -the three lower masts. The decks themselves -were grimy with coal dust; the woodwork had not -seen paint for years. How well Captain Bradley -remembered her appearance, when, spick and span -from the shipyard, the best production of her day, -he had taken her on her maiden voyage. It -seemed impossible that a whole era of such intense -human activity could so completely disappear, -carrying its lore, its lessons, its origins, its very -worth and meaning, into the oblivion of time. -An economic empire had passed away.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Dingy, battered, neglected, yet Captain Bradley -loved the old vessel—loved her all the more for -the hard knocks she had seen. A sentiment that -he had thought to be dead reawoke in his heart. -He had not known, he had not dared to admit, -how much he had missed her. He felt as if he -had come home.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His duties were light. There were on the -barge four men besides himself. He found time -to clean her up. After every loading or -discharging, he would have the decks thoroughly swept -and washed down, and all the paintwork -scrubbed. Later, out of his own pocket (he had -no use for money now), he bought paint and -freshened her appearance about decks; for the -coal company, knowing that she would not last -much longer, would provide nothing for -upkeep. The cabin, the scene of so much that was -sacred to him, he scrubbed and painted with his -own hands, spending many quiet hours over the -task while the barge was towing up and down the -coast. It was a labour of peace and love.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For a long while the matter of sails gave -Captain Bradley deep concern. The barge was -rigged on the three lower masts with fore-and-aft -sails, to be used in an emergency, when she -had broken adrift from her tow. Often these -sails would be set to assist her progress when the -wind was fair. Smothered in coal dust, exposed -to sun and rain, the first suit that had been given -her as a barge was now worn out; the canvas -would hardly hold together to be hoisted. Not -that Captain Bradley cared a pin for his own -safety; nothing would have better pleased him -than to be lost at sea aboard the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>. But -the condition offended his sense of seamanship -and responsibility. It was an indecency to the -old ship to fail to provide her with the ordinary -weapons of battle; and there were other lives -than his involved.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At length, seeing that it was hopeless to expect -her owners to furnish the barge with a new suit -of sails, he began to save his money. In a year's -time he had laid up enough to supply them at his -own expense. It seemed like a touch of the -old seafaring activity to be drawing up their -specifications; he ordered thick duck and stout -bolt-ropes, for this was to be a suit of real -heavy-weather sails. When, one afternoon under the -coal chute at Perth Amboy, he was able to stow -away this strong white canvas in the lazaret, -together with a couple of coils of first-grade -Manila for reeving off new sheets and halyards, -he felt that he could go to sea again with a clear -conscience.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That evening he sat for a long while alone in -the cabin. The interest of looking over and -stowing away the sails had passed; he saw the -truth now, saw how things really stood. Buying -a suit of sails for a coal barge: was it for this that -he had spent his hard apprenticeship, had learned -and practised the intricate lore of the sea? He -could remember greater triumphs. For two -hours of grim thought he sat with hands clenched -on the arms of the chair, facing the world's defeat -without surrender. In his heart of heart he knew -that he had not failed. He had kept respect and -dignity, saved his honour, been true to himself -through it all.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He sat on into the night; the storied cabin -enclosed him as if with loving arms; slowly, as -the mood of revolt wore away, his mind drifted -back into the old days. He remembered how -his wife used to sit there beside him, on evenings -at sea, busy with her sewing; he remembered -how little Frankie used to come running in. -These things had happened so often, so naturally. -But not for a long, long time....</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gone with the era, gone with manhood and -success, gone with the further use of life's -endeavour. The old man's head fell back against -the chair; tears streamed down his cheeks and -sank into his beard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What have I done?" he cried in agony. -"I cannot understand it. What have I done?"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VII</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Two more years passed by, and winter came -on. It was the hardest winter in a decade along -the Atlantic Coast. Beginning in the latter part -of November, snowstorm after snowstorm struck -in from sea in quick succession; one of those -easterly spells that, to the mariner, seems destined -to hang on for ever. Early in January, the wind -backed for a few days into the northwest, and -the harsh weather offered a temporary respite. -Seizing the opportunity, three heavily laden coal -barges, in tow of a powerful seagoing tugboat, -set out from Hampton Roads bound for Boston. -The old </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> was the last barge of the string.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The weather permitted them to get well outside -the Capes of the Chesapeake; then it changed. -Wisps of clouds gathered in the southern sky, a -heavy bank loomed just above the horizon; the -wind began to sing in the rigging with a low -moaning sound. Captain Bradley, pacing his -quarter-deck at the tail of the tow, plainly recognised -the signs. Another spell of easterly weather -was coming on.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They were already too far outside to think of -turning back, and too far offshore to run for Sandy -Hook. Nothing for it but to push on toward -Vineyard Haven. The towboat was doing her -best; a nasty head sea remained from the last -storm, and began to pick up as the wind veered -to the northward and eastward. The barges -strained at their hawsers, pitching and rolling -incessantly. Captain Bradley could never -accustom himself to this motion, so different from the -motion of a ship under sail. It annoyed and -distressed him to the core of his being. Together, -he and the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> had once roamed the sea boldly, -the man striking off the course, the ship leaping -forward along it, bending to the wind, sailing free -under the sun and stars. Now they dragged -about at the end of a hawser, engaged in a servile -traffic, trailing in the wake of steam.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Minute by minute the clouds piled up from the -southward; a grey gloom fell on the ocean. The -wind, now settled in the northeast, rose steadily, -lifting the sea before it. The air grew colder, -the chill of the coming storm. The old ship -wallowed and plunged, groaning in every timber. -She was very low in the water; already green seas -were coming over her bows. Soon the night shut -in, black as a cavern—and Gay Head light not -yet in sight.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At six o'clock Captain Bradley went below to -put on his oilskins and drink a cup of tea. -Coming on deck a little later, rigged for the storm, he -paused a moment beside the binnacle, as an officer -fresh from below always will. In that instant, -the hawser parted. He heard no sound, he saw -no sign; but he knew that the ship was free. -The fact was communicated to him through the -deck, through the motion of the hull. He sprang -to the rail, and ran forward along the starboard -alleyway. Abreast of the mainmast, he stumbled -against the mate in the darkness.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hawser's parted, sir!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I know it. Turn out all hands, and loose the -foresail. She's falling off to the westward—the -wrong way. We must wear her around on the -other tack, and scratch offshore"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They'll be back to pick us up, Captain, as -soon as they miss us"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not if they know their duty. It would -endanger the other two barges; this is going to -be a bad blow. We'll have to look out for ourselves now"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good Lord, sir, what can we do with this old hooker?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do?—everything! Do as I say. Up with -that foresail, now, and be handy about it. There -was a time when you wouldn't have called her an -old hooker! I'll show you what she's made of"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then it was that the labour of love which -Captain Bradley had expended on the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> -bore worthy fruit. Every block was in order, -every rope was clear and fast in its proper pin. -Unconsciously, under his training, the crew had -acquired a measure of seamanship. They had -learned to obey orders, at any rate; had learned, -too, to respect and trust their old wind-jammer -commander.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For the first time in many years, an emergency -confronted Captain Bradley. He faced it without -hesitation, filled with a certain fierce joy, sure of -his power and ability. Almost before the ship -had lost her towing headway, he had decided on -his course. He and the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> had more than -once clawed off the Jersey shore in the teeth of a -northeaster. They could do it again. Then, -when the storm had broken, he would take her to -New York, as if they were arriving from a China voyage.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Before the little foresail, the ship wore around -sweetly, came up to the wind with her nose pointed -toward the broad Atlantic, and hung there steady -and true. The old free motion had returned to -her deck, the old life ran along her keel. -Immediately, they set the spanker, mainsail and jib; -this was all the sail she had. The whole area of -it would hardly have equalled her former mainsail, -dropping its solid square of canvas from an eighty -foot mainyard; but it was enough for the purpose, -and the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> answered to it. The gale had -struck; the ship heeled sharply, plunging forward -on the port tack at a three-knot gait. She made -considerable leeway, but headed up to east-south-east. -Captain Bradley knew that if he could -drive her on this course for the next twelve hours, -they would stand a chance of clearing the danger -that lay under their lee.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Pacing once more the quarter-deck of a ship -under sail, a tempest of recollections beset the -old man's mind. Past voyages, dangers, storms, -past conquests of the elements, thronged upon -him at the call of an awakened vocation. Adrift, -now, in a long-pent flood of creative effort, other -memories flashed before his eyes; scenes of love -and achievement, scenes of weakness and -self-indulgence, scenes of error and wrong. Life had -always been hard for him to live, even at its -happiest; his high spirit had ever been in arms -against itself. He seemed to-night to be able -to remember all of it—snatches of conversations, -lights and colours, tones and meanings, touches -of hands and the unspoken messages of hearts—all -that had ruled his life and formed his character.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Through these recollections constantly -appeared the figures of his wife and child. He -thought of them deeply, tenderly, calmly. Once, -when they had been at sea with him, the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> -had run into a cyclone off Mauritius; he recalled -his going below in the midst of it, to reassure -them. "How is it, Frank? Will it blow much -harder?" "No, dear, the worst has passed" "Oh, -Papa, aren't you afraid?" "No, my son, -there is nothing to be afraid of in the world" -He had said those words—he laughed, now, to -remember. God had punished him well for his -audacity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He was surprised to find himself thinking of -these things without pain. A change had taken -place within him, a change born of the familiar -exigency. In some inexplicable way, he was -happy again. A task of seamanship lay before -him; lives depended on his strength. He was -a master mariner, in charge of his old ship—his -ship, as truly as she had been that other morning, -when, full of ambition and pride and courage, he -had looked up at her untried sails. He felt her -surge beneath the heavy cargo, rising, flanking -the seas, flinging them off savagely, like a man -striking out from the shoulder. He knew, he -understood—that was the way he felt about it, -too. A couple of old hulks, living beyond their -time; but the spirit was in them still.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Unseen, surrounded by darkness, Captain -Bradley stood upright against the weather rail, -an indomitable figure, facing the storm. The -world could crush them—never the sea and the -wind. The sea was their home, the wind was -their brother. This was the fight that found -them armed.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VIII</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The storm increased; the air was thick with -snow, cold with the breath of Arctic winter. In -the middle of the night, the foresail and mainsail -blew out of the bolt-ropes. They bent and set -the heavy new sails. Soon the spanker went, -and was replaced. Captain Bradley was driving -the ship without mercy; for the wind was hauling -inch by inch into the east, heading them off -toward the dangerous lee shore. The </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> -stood the strain; her seaworthiness had never -been put to a harder test, had never shown itself -so handsomely. She had been built in a day -when work and honour had gone hand in hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The morning dawned on a wild scene. Great -waves rushed at the ship, lifted her high in air, -broke above her bows, and stopped her progress -as if she had run against a wall. It was high -time to heave her to. They lowered the -mainsail, foresail and jib, and managed somehow to -get them furled. The quarter-deck was -comparatively dry; they had no difficulty in -double-reefing the spanker. In his specifications to the -sailmaker, Captain Bradley had insisted on a -double row of reef-point for this sail.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>To this tiny patch of canvas the </span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> rode -hove-to for the next forty-eight hours, while the -storm howled down on them from the waste of -waters. The decks were piled with snow, the -ropes and sails were clogged with ice; slowly, -mile after mile, the ship drifted against a pitiless -lee shore. Captain Bradley constantly kept the -deck. There was nothing more to be done—but -he had to see the business through.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When the storm broke, they were less than -five miles off the Jersey shore at Atlantic City—so -close had been their call. The drive through -the night at the beginning of the storm had saved -them; without the offing made at that time, they -would long since have landed in the breakers at -Barnegat. The wind jumped into the southwest, -the clouds quickly rolled away. They chopped -the gaskets, cleared the ice away from the booms -and sheets and halyards, and set all sail. The -ship paid off, heading up the coast; from the -frozen and snowbound shore the sweet land-smell, -always a miracle to sailors nearing port in winter, -came off to them. Night fell, the air grew -crystalline, stars sparkled white and big in the -cloudless sky. Minute by minute the easterly -swell decreased, knocked down by the offshore -wind, as the old barge crept northward. She -sunk the lights of Atlantic City, picked up -Barnegat, brought it abeam, dropped it on her port -quarter. Then Captain Bradley left the deck, -for almost the first time in three days.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He could not have kept on his feet any longer. -The pain in his chest, that had set in the night -before and grown by leaps and bounds during the -last day of the storm, had now become so intense, -at spasmodic intervals, that he felt unable to -conceal his distress. At times it was well-nigh -unbearable. His heart seemed trying to burst -out of his body. Perhaps rest would ease the -pain. At any rate, he wanted to sit down -somewhere, alone, in an effort to face and compass this -new development. He wanted to give his courage -an overhauling.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They had sounded the pumps at sunset, with -no result; the splendid old hull had not leaked a -drop throughout the storm. But at midnight they -found two feet of water in the hold. The mate, -frightened half out of his wits, rushed below with -the news. Captain Bradley sat like a statue in -the big chair, gripping the arms, his face white -and drawn. In his excitement, the mate did not -notice his extraordinary pallor and rigidity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Captain, Captain, she's sprung a leak! -There's two feet of water in the hold already!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Two feet of water? ... Impossible!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The old man heaved himself to his feet and -stumbled on deck, walking slowly and carefully, -holding tight to the rail. The shock of the news -had loosed the terrible pain again; at every breath -he drew, something seemed to be stabbing him -with daggers. He sounded the pumps with his -own hands, to find that the mate's discovery was -only too true.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What can have happened, what can have -happened?" he kept muttering "The change of -tack must have done it. That's it!—the change -of tack" Now that he had found an explanation, -he could face the issue. They manned the pumps -at once—this was before the day of steam pumps -aboard coal barges. But the leak gained steadily -on them, in spite of all they could do.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a race with time now—for both of them. -Captain Bradley gave a bitter laugh; he and the -</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span> were throwing up the sponge together. -The breeze had freshened, but the old ship was -pitifully slow. He swore to himself as he clung -to the weather rail, watching the water drag past. -He was thinking of the speed that she would have -shown under her former canvas; twelve to fifteen -knots, she would easily have reeled off with -sky-sails set in this smashing breeze. While he -watched, the swift stabbing went on in his chest, -as if some invisible enemy were taking full and -cruel satisfaction. Was he not to be permitted -to bring his old ship to port? Was this final -insignificant success to be denied him?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The winking eye of Navesink came in sight -just before dawn. At eight o'clock, they were -abreast the Highland lightship. The old barge -was very low in the water, but she still retained -a margin of buoyancy. With Captain Bradley, -conditions for the last hour had been a little -better. He had kept the deck since the pumps -began, refusing to give up to a physical -encumbrance; and the pain had eased away, as if -temporarily succumbing to his invincible will.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Soon after passing the lightship, a towboat -approached them, hauling up alongside.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Barge ahoy! What barge is that?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"</span><em class="italics">Viking</em><span>. Broke adrift from a tow—three -days ago—off Montauk Point"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The devil you say! I'll send a hawser right -aboard"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You'd better. Snatch us—up the bay—quick -as you can. Five feet of water—in the hold"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Perhaps I'd better beach you somewhere -inside the Hook?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No—tow us in. I guess—the leak will -stop—in quiet water"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Whether it was judgment or prescience, Captain -Bradley's surmise proved correct. As they towed -up the bay, pumping continually, the water in the -hold at first remained for a while at a constant -level, then began slowly to fall, enough to show -that they were gaining on the leak.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Below the Narrows, the tugboat dropped astern, -ranging up on the </span><em class="italics">Viking's</em><span> quarter.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, old man, where have you decided to go?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Bradley stood in the starboard alley-way, -one hand grasping the rail, the other the -corner of the after house. It was the only way -that he could hold himself upright. In the last -half hour the pain had returned with fresh violence. -Since its return, he had known what he would -have to do. The ship was all right now; but, for -him, little time remained.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Anchor us—at Tompkinsville—close inshore. -Send word to my office. Get some men—my -crew are—worn out. Bring off a doctor—for -God's sake!..." The strained voice broke in -a shrill cry.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The mate ran aft along the alley-way. "Captain!—what's -the matter, sir?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sick" Captain Bradley's hand flew to his -breast, clutching his coat in a great handful. His -face turned deathly white, his eyes closed, his -mouth twisted in the intensity of the pain. For -an instant he swayed; then opened his eyes again, -and pulled himself upright against the rail.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I brought her in!" he cried loudly "My old -ship ... under sail"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The mate was just in time to catch him as he -pitched forward insensible.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">IX</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The doctor came out of the captain's stateroom -with a grave look on his face. The mate stood -in the middle of the cabin floor, nervous and -unstrung; he had been fond of Captain Bradley. -The afternoon sun streamed through the cabin -skylight. For several hours they had been -watching the old man struggle for breath. The -mate's gaze roved uneasily over the top of the -chart table, where, according to his invariable -habit, the captain had that morning spread the -tablecover that he used in port, and had set out -a few pictures and ornaments, to make the cabin -look more homelike. He had done it between -spasms of pain, while they had been towing up -the bay; had done it for something to occupy his -mind. He always tried to arrange the things as -he remembered his wife used to do.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He can't last much longer" said the doctor -"His heart is practically gone"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The mate nodded without looking up. "Is he -suffering much pain?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not now. I've just given him another -hypodermic. That's all we can do for him"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They went together into the stateroom. Captain -Bradley lay quietly against a heap of pillows, -with his eyes half closed. He had regained -consciousness as soon as they had brought him below. -As the mate bent above him, he opened his eyes -and stared dully around the room. He was -muttering to himself. The mate leaned -closer—then drew back sharply, realizing that the -words were only the product of delirium.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hello, hello! ... that you, Sargent? When -did you arrive? Let's get a couple of chairs this -afternoon, and go along Glenealy Road. I want -to see Hong Kong harbour again through the -bamboo trees.... Remember that day we had -a picnic on Glenealy Road? You had your wife -with you that voyage. My Frankie got tired: -I had to carry him in my arms.... Frankie -never grew up. No.... He died"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The mate shook his head violently, as if to -throw off the mortality of the scene. He turned -away from the bunk. "Why does the old man -have to wander so?" he demanded sharply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The opiate" said the doctor "Don't worry—he -isn't suffering now"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Bradley regarded his officer with a -long and profound stare. Suddenly, recognition -dawned in his eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, Foster!—what do you say? How much -water do the pumps give now? Any chance of -the leak drying up?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Only a couple of feet left in her, Captain. -Four men have come off from shore to relieve our -crew. We'll soon have her as dry as a bone, sir"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No use" Captain Bradley rolled his head -on the pillow "You'll find her larboard strake -started—port side of the keel. She's finished. -She'll have to go to the junk heap now" He lay -quiet a moment, thinking. "If I had my way, -she should be towed to sea, and sunk in deep -water. I ought to go along with her.... But -I suppose she's worth a few dollars as junk" -Suddenly he sat up in bed, threw off the clothes, -and raised his clenched hands above his head. -"Oh, my God!" he screamed "I've been -working all my life, and I haven't a few dollars -to redeem my old ship!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Lie down, Captain. You must keep quiet. -Lie down, sir. You'll feel better in a little while"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, yes" The paroxysm passed; the old -man fell back exhausted. Again his mind -wandered; he seemed to be sinking off into a -doze. Like a child at the end of the day, half -way between sleeping and waking, he babbled -of endeavours on the playground of the world.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"After that typhoon, I rigged a jury rudder and -brought her into Manila.... Oh, yes, they said -it was.... You wouldn't expect an accident in -the trade winds. The fore-topmast went at the -head of the lower mast, carrying the jibboom with -it; but in a couple of weeks you couldn't have -told that anything had happened.... Pleasant -weather, pleasant weather.... I looked up, and -saw his green light almost hanging over my bow.... -Funny, isn't it, how things come round?..."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Gradually he stopped muttering. The doctor -took his pulse, then beckoned the mate to follow -him into the cabin. "It can't be long now" he -whispered "Who was the old fellow, anyway? -He seems to have a strange assortment on his mind"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't know much about him. He was a -fine man.... Say, you stand in the door, there, -and tell me when he's finished. I can't bear to -watch him any longer"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They had been waiting some time in silence, -when a quick movement in the bunk started them -running toward the stateroom. Captain Bradley -was sitting up in bed again. All trace of pain -had left his features. His hands lay quietly on -the coverlet, his eyes were fixed on something far -away. The faint shadow of a smile crossed his -face, illuminating it with an expression of wisdom -and serenity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Grace! Frankie! </span><em class="italics">Under sail!</em><span>" he cried in -a loud voice—then settled slowly back among the -pillows.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When they reached him, the old man was dead.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="anjer"><span class="bold x-large">ANJER</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">ANJER</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">I</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Do you see that mass of trees in the deep -shadow?" asked Nichols, pointing toward the -shore "There's a house behind them—the old -consulate bungalow. Years ago, when the China -trade was flourishing, all ships used to stop at -Anjer for mail and orders; for this reason, I -suppose, our government used to keep a consul -here, though he wasn't much but a postmaster. -Anjer was the first port of call after the long -outward passage; every man who has sailed to the -East remembers it with affection. You crossed -the Indian Ocean in the 'roaring forties' then -swung abruptly north through the southeast trades. -At length, one morning, fresh from a three months' -chase of the empty horizon, you sighted Java -Head, that black old foreland looming out of the -water like a gigantic sperm whale; and before the -day had gone, you'd entered the Straits of Sunda, -with Java to starboard, close aboard, and Sumatra -in the distance to port; had passed Princess -Island, sighted and drawn abreast of Krakatoa, -taken your cross-bearings on the Button and the -Cap, turned off at Twart-the-Way; and, toward -sunset, had drifted into Anjer Roads, before the -last puffs of the sea-breeze.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You had reached the land again. Reached -it?—you'd plunged into its very heart. And such -a heart—and such a land. The Gateway of the -East, the Portal of the Dawn—a scene of love -and longing, the ecstasy of life, rich with -tumultuous growth, and charged with the passionate -odour of blooming flowers. You had come to it -from the ocean, remember; from wide expanses -of waste and emptiness, from the high sky and -the brooding night and the homeless wind, from -the mental standpoint of one who had forgotten -his measure of comparison, who had lost his grip -on reality. The very strangeness of the limited -and circumscribed sea, with shores on every hand, -with mountains piling the whole horizon, inspired -a sensation of wonder and curiosity, as if this had -been your first view of the terrestrial world. But -ere this sensation, the breaking of the sea-habit, -the shortening of the focus, the opening of the -door, had fairly possessed you, other allurements -were striving for the mastery. There was the -hand of the East, held out in alien greeting; -there was the breath of romance in the nostrils, -the call of love in the heart, the smells, the voices, -the colours, the whisper of adventure, the touch -of magic and mystery. All this, in the old days, -was meant to you by Anjer, by that cluster of -bamboo houses beyond the fringe of the banyan -trees, that point, that lighthouse, those hills -climbing the eastern sky, and this secluded anchorage, -where we happened to drift before the tide—deserted -now, as you see it, and quite forgotten, -but once the toll-keeper of the sailing fleets of the -world"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Nichols waved a hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What about the old consulate bungalow?" -someone asked,</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh, yes; I'll tell you" The captain of the -</span><em class="italics">Omega</em><span> pulled himself up abruptly "I knew it -first as a boy before the mast. My maiden voyage -was made into the East; I came to Anjer, saw -the native dugouts gather around the ship, -examined their wares of fruit and birds and monkeys, -rolls of painted cloth and wonderful shells; I saw -the consul's boat bring off the old tin post-box -that visited every ship calling at Anjer—it -disgorged for my delight, I remember, a letter from -my mother, the first home letter that I had ever -received at sea; and later in the day, I pulled bow -oar in the captain's, boat when he went ashore -to pay the consul a social call. From that time -onward, hardly a year passed that I didn't see the -consulate bungalow. When I became master of -a vessel, I always used to go ashore and visit the -place; it's beautifully situated among palm trees, -with an open view of the roadstead and a winding -path leading up from the landing. Old Reardon -was glad to see a fellow countryman; we'd have -a drink or two, chat for an hour over some month-old -piece of news that had just reached this outpost -of civilization; then part for another interval, he -to hold the lodge of the Orient, I to continue an -endless pilgrimage.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, I felt that I knew the consulate bungalow -of Anjer pretty well. But, in these quick -lands, a house is a mere incident, is nothing -but its inhabitants; and my familiarity with this -structure in Reardon's time didn't exactly prepare -me for what I was afterwards to meet between -its walls.... And now I'll have to begin at the -beginning"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">II</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>He waited so long in silence that we began to -grow impatient. A faint evening breeze drew -across the water, bringing the heavy scent of -the land. Above the Anjer hills hung a full -golden moon, beneath which, in vague, -translucent shadow, the shores of Java seemed sunk -in an enchanted calm.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I was wondering whether I could show you -the sort of man Bert Mackay was" Nichols -resumed suddenly "It's difficult enough to lay -down the lines of any human being; and Bert -was a doubly complex subject, chiefly, perhaps, -because the key to his nature was so simple. -Simplicity seems the most erratic of qualities to -a world trained in suppression and negation. He -was one of those startling fellows whom people -instinctively like, but daren't approve of. He -was brilliant but not entirely well balanced, let -us put it; as primitive a soul as I've ever come -in contact with. In fact, he was really wild, like -nature—didn't attempt to pause or reckon, but -let life come and go; and like nature, too, his -growth was a series of instinctive processes. A -man of the open, swift-minded, magnetic, and -sincere, he was a tremendous vital force, stirring -life violently wherever he touched it; while a -romantic conscience, which plunged him into -moods of contrition and despair, seemed to bring -him out of every experience with a clear eye and -an innocence apparently unimpaired.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You can imagine, with all this, that his way -with women was rash, sudden, appalling, and -awfully fascinating. He couldn't talk well, but -had a presence and manner that spoke for him -louder than words. He was tall and dark and -virile, a devilishly handsome chap. In fact, he -possessed the secret of power that can't be -cultivated or affected, the emanation of love, a -glorious and terrible inheritance. Something -quite different, you know, from any trace of -carnality; he wasn't a sensual man at all. He -broke many hearts, I'm afraid; how, in the -ordinary course of life and days, could it have -been otherwise? I used to warn him to watch -out; to tell him that some day, in a stroke of -divine retribution, his own heart would be broken -past mending.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I hope so, Nichols!' he used to fling out, -with the serious gaiety that was one of his most -charming characteristics 'You can't imagine what -a lost soul I am. Nothing else will save me'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'd known Bert Mackay since college days, -when for a couple of years we had roomed -together and established one of the priceless -understandings of life. The affection that lay between -us was closer than that of brothers, close enough -mutually to excuse our faults in each other's eyes. -He became an electrical engineer, went to New -York, and rose rapidly in his profession; while I, -as you know, followed the sea. Every now and -then I'd come to New York; and while in port, -would move my things uptown and live with him. -He was well connected, knew many groups of -interesting people, and seemed, to my eye, to be -living the richest sort of life. Our intermittent -relation was an ideal one for two friends; our -intimacy grew closer, as voyage followed voyage, -and I supposed there wasn't an adventure of his -that I didn't know about. But I might have -realized, of course, that when the bolt of divine -retribution actually struck him, it would be the -last subject on which he'd give me his confidence.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"However that may be, I wasn't aware of any -trouble, hadn't anticipated disaster, and was both -shocked and alarmed, on my arrival in New York -one summer, to find a brief note from him saying -that he had gone away. He gave no address, and -told me not to hunt for him. The letter was four -or five months old. 'I am trying to do the right -thing' he wrote 'God knows, I've done enough -wrong things. Perhaps you'll hear from me again, -perhaps you won't. It will depend on how I feel. -I'm throwing up the whole game here. Something -pretty hard has come into my life, and I -have got to go. I must work this out alone. -There isn't much of a chance—but that doesn't -matter. The price has to be paid just the same' Then, -after a few instructions about some of his -private affairs, he asked me to forgive him, said -I was not to worry, and assured me of his -unfailing affection.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You can imagine how the news took hold of -me. The nature of the affair was unmistakeable; -a tragedy of the heart had overtaken him—the -fate that I'd often lightly predicted, and that he -as often had expressed a willingness to find. -Well, he was saved now, it would seem. I -wondered.... Searching the past for a clue to -this untoward development, I recalled his air of -mingled restraint and melancholy at the time of -our last meeting, the year before. I had noticed -it only to put it down to one of his many -incomprehensible moods. The night of my -departure, I remembered, after we'd come in from -the theatre, he had spent hours, it seemed, on the -couch in the studio living-room, strumming on an -old guitar and singing to himself in an incoherent -form of improvisation, a habit of his when he was -feeling especially blue. I'd been trying to write -some letters, and the maddening mournful sounds, -with the notes of the guitar picking through, had -at length driven me to desperation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'For God's sake, sing something!' I cried, -dashing out of my room—he was a brilliant -musician. 'But if you go on whining like the -wind through a knothole, I can't be answerable -for the consequences'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'All right, Nicky, I'll stop' he had answered -with a grin 'I'm a selfish ass, I know. But I'm -not whining.... No, I don't feel like singing -to-night' I realized now that, even then, he must -have been in the toils of the tragedy.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So this was the end of a comradeship all too -brief, as life goes. Friends are scarce enough, -heaven knows, without a fellow's losing one in -such vague circumstances. But the years went -by, and I didn't hear a word from Bert. At first, -I missed and worried about him acutely; then, -little by little, he faded off into the background, -as even the sharpest details of the great picture -of life do if we keep moving. Perspectives -change, too. I continued, of course, to think of -him now and then, wondering what he might have -lost or found. But I never felt occasion to doubt -the nature of his quest; he had come into that -heritage foreordained at the launching of his -sensitive and romantic soul. Something had -called him down the wind, some note, some -fragrance, some face of beauty, some revelation of -delight; and he'd gone out to find the answer and -consummation—love or death—that hearts like -his pursue"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">III</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Nichols reached for a cigar. "Ten years and -more had gone by" he went on slowly "when, one -voyage, I reached the Straits of Sunda, bound for -Hong Kong and Amoy. The southwest monsoon -was on the point of breaking; for several days -we'd been treated to baffling winds. It was in -the latter part of the afternoon that, favoured by -an unexpected slant of offshore wind, I managed -to fetch the anchorage here, slipped into Anjer -Roads with quite a rush, and dropped my anchor -in a berth abreast of the landing. I hadn't been -through Sunda for a couple of years.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The first boat that came off from shore—Reardon's -old whaleboat—brought me disappointing -news. Reardon himself, it seemed, had been -transferred to Batavia the year before, and the -consulate had been discontinued; my letters, if -any had been sent to Anjer, were being held in -Batavia or Singapore. Old Sa-lee, Reardon's -boatswain, was still in charge of the boat, but -seemed to be merely following a lifelong habit in -coming off to every ship that called. He wanted -to see his old friends, to gossip, and to bemoan the -decline of human institutions. While we talked, -leaning across the rail, he told me in the course -of conversation that, some time after Reardon had -left Anjer, the consulate bungalow had been -occupied by a stranger. The fact wasn't of -sufficient interest to me just then to elicit an -inquiry. I had just reached the realization, with -a shock of deep regret, that Anjer the beautiful -had taken its place with the rest of the world's -lost glories, that another page in the romantic -annals of seafaring had closed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The air was hot and heavy that evening—one -of those nights of threatening showers that -never come. After supper, I had settled myself -morosely in a deck-chair; it seemed quite -unaccountable not to be going ashore in this familiar -situation. The moon was high and full above -the hills, as it is to-night, but clouded by a faint -mist like descending veils of dew. The ship -seemed resting after the long passage; on the -forecastle-head a couple of men were singing, -accompanied by an old accordion. Across the -water, as if in answer, floated the voices of natives -somewhere in the jungle, lifted in wild and -startling melodies. The same breeze fanned down -from the land—the breeze that seems always to -be blowing here in the early evening, filling the -straits with the overpowering sweetness of bloom -and decay.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It must have been quite late—the moon had -risen overhead, and the singing had died out -forward and ashore—when I first noticed lights -in the old consulate bungalow. I at once thought -of the stranger whom Sa-lee had mentioned. -Who could he be? What misanthrope had chosen -that house of solitude for his habitation? How -did he manage to pass the time? It went without -saying that he was a European; Sa-lee would not -have mentioned him otherwise. I kept my eye -on the light, which seemed to travel about, -vanishing now and then as if behind a closed door. As -I watched, my interest became more and more -awakened. I began to imagine all sorts of people -in that bungalow; a tremendous failure, a fellow -who'd fled from the wreck of a tragic past; an exile, -for some romantic reason or other, who had seen -my ship in the offing, had hurried home, and was -making ready for a visit, longing for the sight -of a strange face and a word from the outside -world; a criminal, who feared my presence in the -roadstead, who was even now busy concealing -evidence, sweeping tables, locking drawers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Suddenly it occurred to me to go ashore and -satisfy my curiosity. Why hadn't I thought of it -before? I called my mate. 'Mr. Hunter' said -I 'send some men aft and throw the dingey -overboard. Then haul her up to the side-ladder'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Handling the tiller-ropes of the dingey, with -two men rowing, I directed her bow toward -Reardon's old landing. Under the hills the land -loomed high. You know that feeling of strangeness, -of transmutation, which comes at the end of -a voyage at sea, when for the first time you step -from the ship's deck into a small boat, when you -look across the water from a lower level, see the -shore approach, and hear the hum of waves on a -beach close at hand. There's a trace almost of -apprehension mingled with it, the instinct of the -sailor warning him of shallow water and danger in -proximity. I felt it, a nameless tingling excitement; -besides, I had by this time worked myself -to quite a pitch of fancy over Sa-lee's stranger.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Reardon's landing was already dilapidated; I -scrambled up it and picked my way to the shore, -telling the men to wait there for me without fail, -for I didn't want them straying to the village. -Striking the path at the head of the pier, I hurried -forward, keeping myself as much as possible in -the deep shadow of palm trees that lined the -up-hill slope. I wanted to catch this fellow napping, -whoever he was, wanted to observe his face in a -moment of surprise. Then I should be better -able to place him. The air under the trees was -thick with the reek of tropic earth; sounds made -themselves distinctly heard in the great silence. -I advanced up the path noiseless and unseen, and -in a few minutes arrived in plain sight of the -bungalow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The little house, with its broad flanking -verandahs, stood surrounded by trees and -underbrush. It had a neglected appearance; even in -the night I could make out how the jungle had -closed around it in the two years since Reardon's -departure. The light inside the bungalow was -gone; heavy shadows filled the verandahs, so that -I couldn't have seen a person sitting there. I -began to wonder whether the tenant had turned -in for the night; stepped aside from the path, and -started to skirt the house, with the instinct that -invariably leads a man to the rear when he's -eavesdropping; and was about to strike across a -patch of bright moonlight toward the side porch, -when a strange sound broke the intense stillness -and knocked me back into the shadow as if by a -physical blow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Someone had begun to play a guitar on the -verandah. The next moment a voice came out -on the night, soft and suppressed, a voice like an -echo, that seemed to lose itself in the silken -chamber of the night. Either a baritone or a -very deep contralto; but I felt it to be a man's -voice, without understanding why. I listened, -but couldn't hear distinctly. While I listened, -I was conscious of an exquisite perfection of -emotion. I seemed to stand at the heart of an -old and visionary land, the witness of an ancient -parable; the voice was the voice of Adam -singing the first love song in Eden, and the veiled -languorous moon was the same moon that had -stirred that song through the untold nights of men.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Suddenly the voice rose and swelled; I -caught the words, the tone, the melody.... All -at once I remembered—and knew, with a shock -of recollection, who it was. The quality of the -voice hadn't changed; the song itself was familiar. -I'd heard it often, as he lay on the couch in the -New York studio, or sat at the piano in one of -his wandering musical moods. It seemed -impossible. How could he be here? I choked, in the -midst of uttering a low exclamation—must have -made quite a fuss. He got up abruptly, breaking -off the song; I heard the guitar strike the floor -with a hollow clash.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Who is there?' he asked softly, as if -expecting a visitor from that direction.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I pulled myself together, started across the -patch of open ground, and came into the moonlight. -When I'd reached a little nearer, I saw -him standing at the rail of the verandah; he -leaned out, showing his face—a good deal older -than I remembered, but unmistakeably the face -of my vanished friend.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Who is it?' he asked again, sharply now, for -he had discovered that it was a man.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I felt the need of making an excuse for introduction. -'Bert' said I 'I haven't been following -your trail. It's just an amazing stroke of chance. -That is my ship in the roadstead. I happened to call.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He leaned out farther, a look of helpless -bewilderment on his face. Then recognition -dawned with a great rush. 'Nichols!' he cried -desperately. Gazing at me wide-eyed, he -repeated my name in a lower tone, in accents of -simple wonder. Suddenly, as he gazed, the -weight of the years seemed to strike him with a -crushing force; he crumpled, dropped to his -knees, and buried his face on the railing. When -I took his hand, he gripped me like a vice. We -didn't speak for a long time.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">IV</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"After I'd sent my boat back aboard, with -orders to come ashore for me in the morning, we -sat talking on the verandah till late in the night. -Ten years of life had to be reconstructed; the -astonishing thing was that I had found him even -then. 'Of all places on earth' I asked 'how did -you happen to land in this God-forsaken spot?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Oh, I came up from Australia, about eight -months ago' said he 'A friend of mine down -there, a sea captain, told me about it; said the -bungalow was vacant and could be had almost -for the asking. It's quiet here, and yet a fellow -sees ships and things—watches life go by' He -had been pacing backward and forward, and now -stopped in front of my chair. 'It's heaven!' he -cried 'Nothing to raise a row, nothing to fight -for, nothing to live for, much.... Nothing to -bother—that is.... You can't imagine how quiet -and peaceful it seems'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"His words confirmed the impression I'd -always had of his disappearance; yet, even in -the midst of his hopelessness I seemed to detect -a note of hesitation, something concealed from -me—perhaps concealed from him, for he rarely -analyzed his own reactions. I led him away from -his story for a while, trying to fix the status of -his existence. We talked of old times; he -remembered them keenly, kept citing queer details, jests -that used to amuse us, chance remarks that seemed -to have lodged in his mind. Almost at once, his -infectious laugh came into play. The old spirit -was unquenchable. By Jove, the man wasn't half -so hopeless as he would have himself believe.... -I took my eyes away from him, looked -around at the jungle rising against the hills; and -all at once it struck me how closely he resembled, -in essential nature, the land he'd stumbled on. -A land full of the instinct of beauty, the gift of -love; weary, too, and wise with age, yet fired with -the undying youth of quick vitality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Why don't you stay here?' I demanded 'Why -talk of going home? I have a notion that -you belong here. Why don't you love, be -happy?...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, no!' he interrupted hurriedly 'You -don't know what you're talking about' He -stopped short, gazing at me as if he were -searching my mind. 'Love won't come to me again' -said he.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Nonsense!' I answered 'That's morbid, -Bert. What possible reason...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Good God!' he burst out 'Haven't I the -right to know?' He wandered to the railing, -leaned against a post there, and turned his face -away. 'Long ago' said he slowly 'I took every -ray and hope of love out of my heart, and took -them in my hands—so—and crushed them, and -killed them, and threw them down—as if I'd taken -my heart itself and squeezed the last drop of -blood out of it like a sponge. I tell you, Nichols, -the thing's dead'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'But you haven't told me' I reminded him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He took a longer walk this time, round the -corner of the verandah; when he came back, he -sat down beside me like a man tired with carrying -a load. 'Do you remember a little girl I used to -talk about?' he asked 'I think you met her once -in New York, the year before I left. Her name -was Helen Rand'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'A slender girl with dark hair and brown eyes?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes.... Well, she went away. She's got -the same eyes now, wide childish....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Now!' I shouted 'You don't mean—she isn't...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, no' said he 'I haven't seen her for -these eight months. She's down in Australia—was -then—Melbourne'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What have you been doing now?...' I -began, but he cut me off sharply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Nothing' said he 'She isn't mine—never has -been' He leaned toward me 'But I've been -near her night and day—as near as I could get. -Ready to help, you know—anything. God, I had -to be in the same place. But perhaps you won't -understand' He hesitated, then went on -doggedly 'I found out too late that I loved her. I -found it out just one day too late. I've been -paying for that one day. And all I've done, all I -could do, wouldn't begin to balance the account. -I wonder whether you see?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'How could you keep it going so long?' I asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He laughed harshly. 'I knew you wouldn't -understand. Just because you think that love -means faith and chastity, quietness, placid days -and years, you have no eye for the love that lives -in the fires of hell. But it's the same love. Bad -as she is, I can't help loving her'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The story, coming brokenly, by fits and -starts, achieved by its very barrenness a certain -grim intensity. The white light of his -extraordinary narrative revealed a background sombre -and hard, against which stood the drama of his -ineffectual warfare, a play without hope and -without reward, saved from inanity only by the -tremendous fervour of his love. She had fled -from New York without warning, it seems, fleeing -from life, from him, from the scene and memory, -perhaps, of that one day. He had a slight clue, -but it took him half a year to find her. When -at last they met, she didn't want him, didn't need -him, wouldn't have him. This was in San Francisco, -where she went on the stage again, and lived -for over a year, successful, apparently happy, -and growing more beautiful every day. 'People -talked about her, you know' he told me 'She -became quite the rage. Such a little girl, with -serious eyes....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She must have been clever, too, for she kept -a good grip on herself. Soon she married a man -of twice her years with a considerable fortune, and -passed into another world. Bert had forsaken -his profession, and had gone into journalism; he -could have done anything passably well. One -thing, however, he could not bring himself to do -again, and that was to enter society. He didn't -get on as a journalist—couldn't put his heart into -the business of life. He told me that for a time -he went shabby and hungry. Once in a great -while he would see her, perhaps in passing, and -they would have a few words together; but the -occasions became more and more infrequent.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Then she left her husband, in the whirlwind -of a sensational scandal. Bert missed only by the -merest chance having to write about it for his -paper. He sought her out at once; she had gone -to an hotel there in the city, where she lived openly -as the mistress of the other man. 'What are you -doing, Bert, hanging around this town?' she had -asked him point blank 'I want to be near in case -you need me, Helen' he answered humbly. She -gazed at him with those eyes that, according to -his account, still retained their innocence—though -it's hard to believe they hadn't by then acquired -a trace or two of calculation. 'It's gone a long -way beyond that' said she coldly 'I won't need -you again' He tried to take her hand. 'I can't -let you go thus, Helen!' he cried 'Let me -go? You sent me' she told him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What was the use?' said he to me 'I -thought of the old days—they seemed old already; -and when I looked at her, I couldn't realize that -there had been any change. But it seemed pretty -evident that she had left off caring. So I left -her—but I couldn't go away'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Some months later, she went in a yacht for -a cruise among the South Sea Islands. The -cruise was a long one; it ended, for her, in a -quarrel at Honolulu, as a result of which she -changed her second man for a third, and took up -her abode in that glorious island of the Pacific -where everything but happiness is supposed to -wither and die in the magic sun. In the course -of time Bert heard the details, folded his tent and -followed her. But almost as soon as he landed -in Honolulu she was off on another tack; for by -now she had settled into the stride of her career.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So it went on, year after year, from Honolulu -to Shanghai, from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and -down the coast to Singapore; a term in Calcutta, -another term in Batavia; a year on the West -Coast, Lima, Iquiqui, Valparaiso, she never -resting, and he following in due time. It's hard -to imagine what her life must have been during -this pilgrimage; for now we know that she loved -him, too, and that her heart likewise burned in -the fires of hell. Pride, pride, what anguish will -be borne in thy name! She had of course grown -into a strong, clear-headed woman; only strength -could have carried her so far. But he must have -managed things very badly. I haven't a doubt -that the thought of him constantly at her heels, -the sight of him now and then in her wake, making -hard weather of it, spurred her to the course that -she had chosen. No woman respects a man who -can't solve his own destiny.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How they finally came to Australia, I don't -clearly remember. They must have been there -some time; he spoke of Sydney, of Newcastle, -of Brisbane, and of Melbourne, where he saw her -for the last time. 'I met her face to face one -day' said he 'She looked a little tarnished—as -if things had been going downhill with her. I -suppose I told her so; I wasn't in the mood to -dodge facts that day. She was angry at my -comment—I don't blame her. But I tried to make up -for it the next moment—show her what I really -meant, how glad I would be—that is, that it rested -with her to change everything. I asked her if I -mightn't come to see her; she answered that it -wasn't difficult to gain access to her apartment. -All the while she was looking me over with a sort -of amused scorn. Then she said something that -was quite unnecessary. She said I didn't look -as if I had the price.... That woke me up. -I realized suddenly, fully, decisively, how -impossible it was to keep on. Impossible!...' By -chance, I'd been talking about Anjer with Captain -Roach that very morning. He was sailing the -next day, bound up this way, and I came along -with him. Reardon leased me the bungalow; I -went with Roach to Batavia, for he knew that the -consulate had been abandoned. So here I am. -I've got a little money, enough to live on. And -God's being good to me—I've found a measure of -peace. Now you have come along—I think I'll -be all right....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, this certainly was the place for you' -I temporized, struggling with irritation at the mess -he had made of existence. I couldn't but recognize -the inevitability of what he had told me; but -my heart kept asking, why is it necessary for men -to be so selfish, so helpless in the face of results -clearly to be foreseen?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Exactly' he agreed with my spoken word. -'This land has taught me a great lesson. I'm -getting back my grip ... more than I hoped....' He -stopped abruptly. Again I had the -feeling of something being held back, of something -missing from the story. I awoke to the fact -that, notwithstanding all he had told me, his -present spiritual status remained unexplained. -He quite obviously </span><em class="italics">had</em><span> recovered his grip—but -how, and why? It wasn't in keeping with the -rest of the hidden years. And of course I didn't -believe my own platitude on the influence of the -land.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I mean, I'm getting back my self-respect' -he said 'I'm really thinking of going home. The -past begins to look like a sort of joke—a horrible, -fantastic joke; but I shall leave off loving her -now. Try to, anyway. I've learned....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wondered what it could be that so puzzled -me about the case. After I'd gone to bed that -night—it was nearly morning—I lay awake for a -long while trying to think the problem out. Why -had he lost his self-respect, in the beginning? -Because she wouldn't love him? I thought I knew -him well enough to recognize this as the correct -answer; he belonged to the unhappy company of -men who can't support life when the ego is denied. -But she had sent him away, at last, with a lash -of the whip, with scorn that even his tried humility -couldn't brook. How the devil, then, had he -recovered his self-respect? Self-respect is a -matter of human relations; it can't be drawn out -of the air.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">V</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"While I tossed on the bed, vainly trying to -piece this broken logic together, I heard someone -moving on the opposite side of the house. Bert -and I were alone in the bungalow. He, too, had -been kept awake by the excitement of our -meeting. Soon he began to pace softly up and down -the far side of the verandah. I was debating in -my mind the wisdom of going out to have another -smoke with him, when his footsteps seemed to -leave the porch and sink into the grass. In a -moment I heard low voices outside, a little -distance from the house. I couldn't make out -what was being said. Suddenly I thought that -someone must have come with a message from -the ship. I jumped up and ran to the window.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My window opened on the patch of moonlight -across which I'd come earlier in the evening. He -stood there now, as if waiting; and, before I could -speak, a woman came toward him with a gliding, -crouching step, starting out of the very shadow -where I'd paused to hear the song. As she drew -near, he held out his arms; she quickened her -pace, like a jungle deer, and flung herself on his -breast, uttering low, native cries. 'You are safe? -You will not go?' she asked breathlessly. -'Safe?' he asked, bending above her 'Have you -been watching?' She looked into his face with -a glance of infinite concern. 'The man stood -beside me, as I was about to call' said she 'I -would have killed him, but I saw that you were -warned' 'Thank God!' he exclaimed 'You -should have known—and gone away' She drew -her arms about his neck. 'I could not go!' she -cried 'I had to see you!' 'Hush!' said he -'Speak lower—you will wake my friend'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She used perfect English, though her language -was picturesque. 'Your friend? Who is your -friend?' she asked fiercely 'In all the time that -you have dwelt here, no ships have waited, you -have had no friends come. Who is your friend -that comes in a great ship, unknown and -unbidden?' He smiled down at her. 'Dear heart' -said he 'he is more than brother to me, and I -have not seen him for many years'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She shrank away from him. 'Ah!' she cried -'Then he will take you—you will go?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'No, not yet' he told her 'Not, perhaps, for -a long time'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'But you will go?' she persisted 'Some day -you will not be here—and, for me, the sun will -fail to rise, and the moon and stars will grow cold, -and all light will die—and you will not be here!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I have told you, dear, it must be so' said he. -'You knew it long ago'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Again her arms clasped him. 'No, no!' she -cried 'I cannot let you! You are mine! Stay -here. It is a fair land—and am I not fair?' She -touched her breast 'You will not look at me!' -said she.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I dare not!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Then look!' she whispered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I saw him take her in his arms. So he had -found ... this, beyond what he had hoped. -Another wave of irritation at his heartlessness -swept over me. I turned away angrily—then -paused a moment, considering the true nature of -the phenomenon that had appeared before me as -if out of the sky. I felt that he hadn't sought -this new entanglement. No, but he had evidently -accepted it. Yet the woman had furnished the -motive force, literally had flung herself at his -head. Nonsense!—why be a prudish ass? It -wasn't in the least a matter of morals; why persist, -then, in viewing it on the moral plane? Incurable -habit of conventionality, never so strong as when -we strive to be unconventional! Here was a -meeting of instincts and elements, a transaction in -lucid terms, according to a simple formula. It -was a phase of God's excruciating biological -experiment. She wanted him alone, and had -taken her way to get him. He was receptive, for -he wanted love. Could she have awakened love -in him, he would not have denied it. Failing that, -he would be forced to seek elsewhere. In the -meantime, why repel divine experience? ... But -the shocking callousness of this experiment! -While he dallied, detached and unconcerned, his -life had been refreshed as if at a fountain of -vitality. His heart sang with the knowledge that -she loved him; he was happy, whole, and -conscious of his power again. He'd said that he had -recovered his self-respect—a curious choice of -words, in view of the occasion; but now I -understood what he had meant.... This had been -her priceless gift to him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A quick exclamation outside drew me again -to the window—could you fellows have kept away? -He was trying to disengage her arms from about -his neck. 'It cannot be!' said he decisively 'It -is impossible! So, to save greater pain, I will go -at once'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She clung to him desperately. 'I do not -understand' she cried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Dear heart' he answered 'I have seen too -much, and failed too miserably, to want the spell -to fall on you. All that I touch turns to ashes; -whoever enters my life is cursed with my own pain'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She gazed deeply into his eyes. 'I am not -afraid' said she 'It is for this I love. For what -is past, I have no memory. To-day lives, -to-morrow we carry with us like a child unborn, but -yesterday is dead. What do you seek? Love? -Have I not given you all?' She threw out her -arm in a sweeping gesture 'My love will never -fail!' she cried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I prize your love above all else' said he.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'What do you seek?' she cried again, springing -away, confronting him with a savage crouching -intensity. 'Faith? Happiness? Peace? All are -here. My people will honour you, for I am noble -in the hills. What do you seek? Ask, and I will give!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He leaned toward her, held her at arm's -length, returned her gaze. I heard him heave a sigh.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'It is because you do not love!' said she -quite low 'Before Allah, am I not fair? Why -have I not your love? Look—we are alone. See -how I hold you, feel my heart here, behold my -eyes—ah!' Her face was close to his. 'If love -lay in your heart, you could not stand thus' she -whispered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Stop!' he cried 'You cannot see...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I cannot see, my eyes are dim with love!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He thrust her away suddenly, as if in fear. -'Listen' said he in a dead voice 'For many -years I have followed a woman who would not -love me. To the ends of the earth I have followed -her, until I am weary, and heartsick, and must -forget. I have left my home, I have forsaken my -friends. But now I must return. Dear heart' -said he 'if I were young and full of hope, I would -not stand here idly, I would stay with you. But -I have nothing left to offer. An old -heart—broken—a brain without fire...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I will make well the heart, and fire the -brain!' she cried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He swayed toward her, met her in a brief -embrace—then broke away. She gave a little cry. -'You will not?' said she 'I cannot ask again'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Dear, it is not to hurt you...' he began -'Why won't you understand?' He covered his -face with his hands 'Oh, God, why can't I make -you understand?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She pointed toward the house. 'It is because -your friend has come' said she fiercely 'Never -before have you been as to-night. Never before -have you refused me. He brings you memory, -and now you think of home. I should have killed -him when I stood at his side!' She fell back a -step, a savage figure, magnificently tall 'So—you -have chosen' said she 'This which I offer, -you throw down. What is it that you seek? -What will you find? Is love so strong in your -land, are nights like this, is happiness so deep? -In convent-school I learned otherwise' He put -out his hand; she drew away like a wild creature. -'No! It is done' she cried.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A moment passed. He stood irresolute, the -plaything of fate, while she devoured him with -her eyes. Then, with a swift motion, she left him -standing in the grass, and ran toward the shadow. -He started to follow. She must have turned at -the border of the jungle; I couldn't see her clearly, -but she seemed to make a violent gesture, and the -moonlight struck sharply on a bracelet that she wore"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VI</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Bert spent the following day with me aboard -the ship; I had decided to remain another night -in Anjer. We found much to talk about, but -didn't approach the incident outside my window -that morning; although I'd felt certain that he, -not suspecting my awareness, would broach the -subject. In fact, I more than once adroitly -guided the conversation in this direction; but his -mouth was closed. This gave me both alarm and -satisfaction; at least, he took the affair with the -seriousness that it deserved.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Late in the afternoon, as we sat here under a -little patch of awning spread from the spanker -boom, we sighted a small barque to the westward, -coming up the straits. She'd just appeared beyond -the lower point, some three or four miles distant. -Watching her idly through the glass—-I had a -powerful telescope—I seemed to find something -familiar about her; and a little later, when she had -drifted another mile nearer, I suddenly recognized -the craft. 'That's Halsted, in his little packet' -I remarked 'Her name's the </span><em class="italics">Senegal</em><span>. You -must have seen her before, if you've been here -over six months. He makes two trips a year'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bert took the glass from my hand. 'I can't -remember' said he after a moment's scrutiny -'Ships look all alike to me. Where has she come -from? You seem to know about her'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Why, Australia, of course!' I exclaimed, -suddenly remembering his own point of departure -for Anjer 'You must have seen this little barque -in Melbourne, if you were familiar with the -waterfront. Halsted runs a sort of packet service from -there to Singapore'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Halsted, Halsted' said Bert 'No, I think -I've never met anyone of that name—certainly -not there. Look, Nichols, he seems to have run -into a strip of calm'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, and that strip of calm will spread until -it covers the straits' I answered 'I know the box -he's in—he's just about an hour too late. There's -a nasty current off the point, with a tide-rip on the -ebb. He'll drift away from us for several hours, -then slip back in the night, when he picks up the -land breeze'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"After supper we went ashore. I planned to -sail in the morning, but should be down the -China Sea again in three months' time. Bert -had promised to make his arrangements in the -meanwhile, and to leave Anjer with me on my -return. I'd urged him to come at once, and would -have waited a day or two longer, but he wouldn't -listen to it. It was another calm, hazy evening, -with no wind on the water, but a faint languorous -breeze among the palms. We sat on the verandah -planning the future, if you please; he seemed to -want to talk about the world, and I felt it best to -encourage the inclination.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Well, old man' said he at last 'I've got to -turn in. I'm weary to the bone—didn't sleep well -last night, at all. This has been an exciting time -for me, you know'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Go ahead, and leave me here to finish out my -smoke' I answered 'I'll be all right—I know my -way about'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"To tell the truth, I welcomed the opportunity -to sit for a while alone, in the midst of the -luminous night, close to the land. Perhaps I -might achieve the hint of a solution; I was baffled -and pained by the tremendous vital difficulties I'd -observed. The wind had risen; it swept down -the hillside in a solid breath of sweetness, softly -clashing together the broad leaves of the palms. -Halsted, it occurred to me in a wandering moment, -would now be creeping up under the lee of the -land. I drew my chair to the edge of the -verandah. The scene of the previous night stood -vividly before me; I couldn't keep my eyes away -from that region of heavy shadow, where she stood -at my elbow undecided whether to kill me or let me -go. Suddenly I started; was there a movement -in the shadow? I watched it narrowly—-and, by -Jove, in a moment she actually materialized there, -as if in answer to my thoughts; advanced, became -substantial, and moved into the moonlight, coming -swiftly in my direction. I remained seated, -chained to my chair. She came to the railing -and put her hand lightly on my arm, as if -administering caution. Her eyes were level with -mine.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I must see you' said she in a repressed voice -'I have waited for him to go'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Me?' I exclaimed, for my first thought had -been that she'd mistaken the figure on the -verandah 'What do you want of me?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Like you, I am his friend' she answered simply.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes?...' I parried. Face to face with her, -I saw how beautiful she was. She had the golden -Malay skin, dusky, full, smooth as dark marble; -across her brow she wore an ornament of ivory -and carved blackwood; her breast was bare in a -long slit, shadowed like the face of a quiet pool. -The moonlight revealed her, the jungle stood at -her back: and through her hand on my arm I felt -the blood of the East, rustling like water in the -hills after a tropical rain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I stood up abruptly. 'All are his friends' -said I. She lifted her eyebrows. 'Has it been -thus?' she asked with meaning. I nodded, -marvelling meanwhile at her admirable directness; a -woman pure as diamond, true as steel. She lived, -like light, in instantaneous collimation. 'Yes' -said I 'he has found many friends'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She pondered the fact. 'But none have loved -him with the heart?' Was it a question, or a -statement? 'Many' I answered 'but none gained -the answer' 'None?' she asked, searchingly -'You know, and I can only repeat what is true' -said I 'His heart is given to one who wears it -on a chain for play'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She trembled at the thought. 'Where is -she?' she demanded. I told her that I didn't -know. 'Not ... home?' she asked 'Not -there?...' She stretched out a hand vaguely. -'Oh, no' said I, relieved to be able to speak an -open word 'Then it is not for her that he goes?' -she cried, pathetically relieved. 'No' said I -again. She leaned toward me, as if to make a -critical examination. 'Why have you come, to -change and take him from me?' she asked bitterly. -'I came by chance, without knowing' I answered -'It is the hand of destiny' Throwing back her -head, with a passionate gesture she flung an -uplifted arm across her eyes. 'Is she so beautiful?' -she cried in a low voice, like one pleading with fate.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I heard a slight movement behind me, and -whirled, to find Bert standing in the doorway. He -gazed from one to the other of us in troubled -silence; then crossed the porch and stood beside -me at the rail. She heard his step, and turned, a -superb figure, her uplifted arm still shading her -eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Nichols, I'm awfully sorry...' he began weakly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Ah!' she cried, her arrow-like candour -tearing the veil he would have dropped. She went -to him swiftly. 'All day I have wandered in the -hills' said she 'All day I have thought of your -choice. I have asked the forest, why? and the -mountains, why? and the great ocean, why? I -have held up my hands to the white clouds, to the -sun of life and wisdom, asking why, why? Now -I have come to you—and him—to ask you, why? -My Love' said she softly 'I think it is that you -do not understand, and your words fall without -knowledge. You are the light of life to me, and -the breath of the body. I cannot live alone. You -have taken my heart from my breast, and now -would carry it with you to a strange land, where -it would perish and die. But these are -words—you cannot mean them. You will not go. See -how I hold you fast!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He gazed at her in trepidation. 'It is -decided' said he 'When the ship returns, I am -to go' 'Then I shall follow!' she told him. 'I -shall go with you ... home' He snatched his -hands away. 'Oh, no, you can't!' he shouted -'It isn't what you think' 'Blind one' she -answered 'would I not be near you?' He started -violently; she took his lands again. 'Then stay -with me, here in my land, which waits for us alone. -Stay with me in these nights that never end!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He sighed profoundly. 'It would soon be -over....'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'When it had ended, we could die' she whispered -'I would gladly die thus, having lived for -a time. Stay with me till love grows cold!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He pushed her off like one dazed and -distracted. For a long while he stood perfectly -motionless. 'Stay!' she whispered once more -'Be quiet—let me think' said he. She pressed -against the railing. 'Look down!' said she -'To-night we live—but there may be no -to-morrow!' While she was speaking, clear and -sharp across the water came the rattle of a falling -anchor-chain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He seemed to stiffen where he stood. His -face in the moonlight looked sterner than its wont, -set in the struggle that came hard to him. 'No!' -he cried in a loud voice. The word seemed to -echo among the palms, a tragic whisper of -universal negation. She gazed at him a moment -in naked terror—then tottered and sank slowly to -the ground, uttering little stifled cries. I saw him -leap the railing and kneel beside her; but I didn't -wait for more. I'd stayed too long already; and -what was coming would be harder than what had gone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It must have been fully an hour later, after -I'd lost the path and threshed around in the jungle -until I was tired out, that I succeeded in regaining -the bungalow. Bert was sitting on the porch, -alone. I dropped into a chair beside him. 'Too -bad, old man' said he, observing the state of my -white linens 'It was decent of you, though'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Yes, we're a decent breed, aren't we?' I -snapped in reply 'Anyway, let's not balance a -heart against an hour of discomfort and a suit of -clothes' He turned his head and looked me -over. 'I can't say that I blame you' he exclaimed -'But honestly, old man, I think she will forget' -'I don't' said I 'Did you?' He winced, but -I went on angrily 'You ought to know better by -this time. You've had a double experience -now—the chaser and the chased....' 'Hold on, -Nichols!' he interrupted 'You're getting -unpardonable. What would you have me do? Do -you want me to stay here and live with her?' -'No, I don't!' I shouted 'I merely want a -revision of life and human nature—no one to be -unhappy, no love to go unrequited, no heart to -be thrown away' He laughed. 'I'd like that, -too' said he.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The silence lengthened between us, as we -gazed across the placid harbour, thinking our own -thoughts. In the brilliant moonlight, every object -in the roadstead was plainly discernible. 'I see -your friend has arrived' said Bert suddenly 'He's -anchored pretty close to your vessel. By Jove, -that must have been his chain..' 'It was' -I answered, musing on the fortuitousness of -events that shape our lives. 'Now he seems to -be getting a boat into the water. Where are your -night glasses?' In a moment Bert brought them -to me. Aboard the new arrival there was an -unaccountable flurry, but I couldn't make out the -scene below the rail. In a short while, however, -a boat appeared out of the shadow there, and -swam toward us through the bright moonlight. -'I wonder why he's coming ashore, at this time -of night' I murmured. 'Can't imagine' Bert -replied. Soon we heard the chunking of oars in -the rowlocks, and two or three quick commands. -The boat was nearing the beach. She passed -for a moment behind the point of the jetty. Now -she had reached the landing. A confusion of -voices broke out, loud and jarring, pitched in a -key of anger and violence. Then, cutting the -stillness like a knife, came a sudden sharp cry.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My heart leaped into my mouth. 'My God, -did you hear that?' asked Bert, breathlessly. -'Keep still—it sounded like a woman's voice' -said I. We leaned across the rail, straining our -eyes, but couldn't see what was taking place; the -landing lay too close under the trees. After the -cry, an absolute silence had fallen. This lasted -a full minute. Then a man's voice started up, -the same angry, jarring tone 'Give way, boys!' -Almost immediately, we heard the sound of the -oars again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The unexpectedness of the occurrence had -held us spellbound; we stood gazing at each other -like two wooden images. Then, in the same -instant, we found our voices, began to confer -hurriedly, and started on the run for the centre -of the verandah, where a broad flight of steps led -down to the jetty path. At the head of the path -we both halted as if transfixed. Someone was -coming up from the landing. The moonlight -plainly showed it to be a woman. She advanced -slowly, stopping now and then, staggering as she -walked. When she drew nearer, we could see -that she was hatless and empty-handed. She -walked like a somnambulist, gazing fixedly on the -ground before her, now and then holding out a -hand as if to feel the way. At the last turn of -the path, she stopped and raised her head. Bert, -at my side, made a low strangling sound. -Evidently discovering us, she started forward again. -Her face was quite terrible. All hope seemed -gone from it, like the dead face of a suicide that -I once saw; her eyes stared at us blankly, and -she clutched with one hand at the bosom of her -dress.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Who is there?' she asked brokenly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bert left my side and flung himself toward -her. 'Helen!' he cried. She would have fallen, -but he caught her in his arms. 'Helen!' said -he again, with his face close to hers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Bert?' she asked in eager fearfulness. Her -low voice seemed to tear the heart. She gazed -at him long and deep, while desperation turned -to wonder in her eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For the second time that evening I fled the -scene of life's amazing hazard. This time I -hurried down the path with all haste, making for -the jetty; by shouting, I should be able to raise -the ship and have a boat sent ashore for me. As -I glanced back at the corner, I saw Bert help the -woman up the steps. I thought I heard her -sobbing; but, in a moment, I realized that the -sound came from another direction. Off among -the trees, in the heavy shadow, someone was -uttering smothered, choking cries. I broke into -a run. The ways of the land were getting too -damnably complicated altogether; I wanted to -surround myself again with a safe strip of water.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VII</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Nichols reached for another cigar. "And -that's the way he found her" he went on "For -it wouldn't be true to say that she had found him; -until the moment in front of the bungalow when -he took her in his arms, she hadn't dreamed that -he was there.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I heard the final chapter of their romance -while we were going up the China Sea; I'd waited -for him, after all, and had taken them both north -with me. After Bert had left Melbourne, she -had missed him, and had awakened to the realization -that she'd driven him out of her life. So she -discovered what it meant to her, what she'd been -doing, and bowed before the law that through -any wrong keeps the heart pure and the spirit -ready to fulfil itself. She had determined to -follow, but couldn't locate him. Some said he -was in Singapore, some in Hong Kong; the -consensus of many vague rumours, however, agreed -that he had gone north into the China Sea region. -It was familiar ground to her; she had friends -there, and sources of information. She's always -known of Halsted's packet service; the next time -he came around, she had taken passage in the -</span><em class="italics">Senegal</em><span> for an indeterminate trip up the coast.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Unfortunately, Halsted also knew of her. He -was a beastly sort of character. The moment -they got outside he grew familiar, and soon was -making forthright approaches. She was the only -woman on the vessel; the other passenger was -an elderly man, to whom she couldn't hope to look -for protection. She, of course, was a woman of -experience, as capable of protecting herself as is -humanly possible; but there are limits to the -power of the mind over brute force, when passion -is engaged. Make no mistake—her aversion -from him was virginal, and nothing could have -induced her submission.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'I took my revolver on deck one morning, to -show him my marksmanship' said she 'I shot -a bird on the end of the spanker gaff. Then I -got him on one side, and told him what I would -do. I told him that I should be constantly on -the watch, and that I would shoot him dead if -he came near me. It was the only way—but I -knew he was a coward'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So this was the situation on board the </span><em class="italics">Senegal</em><span>—on -the one hand defiance, on the other baulked -and fermenting desire. Halsted watched her as -a cat watches a mouse, trying to catch her off -guard. Throughout the afternoon while they had -been coming up the straits, even while my glass -had been looking them over, the silent battle had -been going on. The presence of the land had -filled her with nameless apprehension. Then -they had run into the calm; in this condition, the -supper hour had arrived. She had waited on -deck until she thought the others would be nearly -finished; when she entered the forward cabin, she -saw that she had waited too long. The mate and -the old gentleman had gone on deck forward; -Halsted sat there alone. She had to pass him -to reach her seat. As she attempted to slip by, -he rose suddenly and crushed her in his arms. -The Chinese steward in the pantry turned his -back on the scene.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'My hand fell on a table knife' said she 'I -fought him with it—succeeded in cutting him -badly about the hands. The blood frightened -him; he had to let me go. I've never seen a -human being in such a dreadful rage. He swore -he wouldn't keep me on board an hour longer'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The rage had persisted; as soon as the sails -had been furled, after dropping the anchor, he -had put a boat overboard and bundled her into -it, bag and baggage—well he knew that she was -in no position to make trouble for him. She had -thought of trying to attract the attention of the -other vessel, but finally had decided that she had -better take her chances on land. She had -supposed there were white people ashore; at the -landing, where her things had been pitched at her -feet, she had asked Halsted the way to the -settlement. When he'd told her brutally what an -abandoned place it was, she'd suddenly lost heart. -It was then that we had heard her cry out.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Go up to the consulate bungalow' Halsted -had told her 'See the lights? Somebody must -live up there'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So she had climbed the hill, trusting to luck, -which had already arranged the scene. It might -have been vastly different, you know. Suppose -she had found him with the native woman? Well, -suppose it—the renunciation would merely have -changed hands. Inexorable formula!—for them, -one or the other; for him, heads I win, tails you lose"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">VIII</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Nichols went to the rail, and stood for some -time in silence, facing the land. "And I have -seen the other" said he slowly "It was about a -year later that my course led me again through -Sunda Straits, and I arrived at Anjer on another -evening of moonlight and stillness and awakened -memory. After the anchor was down I ordered -a boat to be set overboard, and went ashore in -the late evening to revisit the bungalow. As I -went up the path, the shadows seemed to start and -move about me, and a wandering breeze stirred -the palm trees with a quick rustle as of departing -feet. I found the wreck of a rattan chair standing -on the verandah, pulled it to the railing, and -sat there a long while facing the oval of grass -flooded with moonlight, the fixed scene, as it were, -where the actors of this unseen drama had stalked -through their extravagant business and said their -futile words.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nothing had changed; I seemed as if I had -left the place but yesterday. I turned to the -heavy shadow where I had seen and heard her -last, the shadow that must have marked the end -of a hillside trail; and it wasn't surprising to me, -but only natural, to see her standing there once -more, her form drawn back as if from a sight she -didn't dare behold. In a moment the tense figure -moved. She walked like a tiger, with a crouching -step of absolute grace, cautious yet unafraid. -Crossing the oval, she came directly to the railing. -I got up hastily, in excitement and alarm; and we -faced each other without speaking for quite a -period.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'You?...' said she at last in a low voice, -drawing back. Her hand tightened on the rail. -She was regally beautiful.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'For what do you wait?' I asked, striving to -be calm.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She threw down her arms with a violent -gesture. 'A word, a message!' she cried 'Can -you tell me nothing? Has he come?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'He is far away' I answered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She put her hand on mine. 'You are his -friend' said she 'I do not blame you now; I -see that it rested with him alone. But keep -nothing from me. Has he sent no word by you?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'He does not know that I have come' said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Ah, I have waited, night upon night!' she -cried 'Whenever ships stop, I have waited here—in -darkness, in rain—always!—thinking to see -you, or that he might come, or that a message.... -Will he not come? Tell me!'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'He will never come' said I.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She drew her hand away, and stepped back -sharply. Her voice rang out, fierce with hate. -'He was a child. The woman took him! Tell -me, why?...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'The woman was his wife' I felt obliged to say.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Enough!' she cried. Her form became -rigid, as if every muscle were stretched to the -point of breaking. Suddenly she relaxed, and -turned to me for the last time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'He is happy?' she asked quietly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I nodded—for the moment I couldn't speak.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'She loves him?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Again I nodded.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Her voice caught at the next question, but -rallied bravely. 'He loves her?—you are -sure?...'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I cursed myself for having come—but there -could be no kindness in sustaining the delusion. -'I am certain' I answered 'He will never tire -of her. He loves her better than all the world'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She gave a quick cry, like one who has -received a mortal wound. Before I could -recognize the significance of the moment, she had -moved swiftly into the open. For an instant she -stood with arms outstretched; but not until the -dagger flashed above her breast did I see what -she held in her hand. When I reached her she'd -fallen in the rank grass, and life had gone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And that's the way I left her, a figure very -beautiful, crouching low as if to spring, the tall -grass closing over her, the mystery dissolved in -mystery. Aha!—these high spirits, this gruelling -difficulty of life. But she, you'll note, had solved -the difficulty, had met it boldly and triumphantly, -with the master stroke that levels fate itself to the -dust. As for the others, they had solved it, too, -though not so keenly, had triumphed, though not -so magnificently—had gone away, had found their -home, were happy, for a little longer.... What -did it signify?"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY -<br />THE NORTHUMBERLAND PRESS LTD. -<br />WATERLOO HOUSE, THORNTON STREET, -<br />NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 6em"> -</div> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="backmatter"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst" id="pg-end-line"><span>*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>UNDER SAIL</span><span> ***</span></p> -<div class="cleardoublepage"> -</div> -<div class="language-en level-2 pgfooter section" id="a-word-from-project-gutenberg" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<span id="pg-footer"></span><h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><span>A Word from Project Gutenberg</span></h2> -<p class="pfirst"><span>We will update this book if we find any errors.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This book can be found under: </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46694"><span>http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46694</span></a></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. -Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this -license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ -electronic works to protect the Project Gutenberg™ concept and -trademark. 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