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diff --git a/527-h/527-h.htm b/527-h/527-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0219610 --- /dev/null +++ b/527-h/527-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6584 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The End of the Tether, by Joseph Conrad + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of End of the Tether, by Joseph Conrad + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere 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 Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: End of the Tether + +Author: Joseph Conrad + +Release Date: January 9, 2006 [EBook #527] +Last Updated: September 9, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK END OF THE TETHER *** + + + + +Produced by Judith Boss and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE END OF THE TETHER + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Joseph Conrad + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> VII </a> + </p> + </td> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#linkeight"> VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> XIV </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + I + </h2> + <p> + For a long time after the course of the steamer <i>Sofala</i> had been + altered for the land, the low swampy coast had retained its appearance of + a mere smudge of darkness beyond a belt of glitter. The sunrays seemed to + fall violently upon the calm sea—seemed to shatter themselves upon + an adamantine surface into sparkling dust, into a dazzling vapor of light + that blinded the eye and wearied the brain with its unsteady brightness. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley did not look at it. When his Serang, approaching the roomy + cane arm-chair which he filled capably, had informed him in a low voice + that the course was to be altered, he had risen at once and had remained + on his feet, face forward, while the head of his ship swung through a + quarter of a circle. He had not uttered a single word, not even the word + to steady the helm. It was the Serang, an elderly, alert, little Malay, + with a very dark skin, who murmured the order to the helmsman. And then + slowly Captain Whalley sat down again in the arm-chair on the bridge and + fixed his eyes on the deck between his feet. + </p> + <p> + He could not hope to see anything new upon this lane of the sea. He had + been on these coasts for the last three years. From Low Cape to Malantan + the distance was fifty miles, six hours’ steaming for the old ship with + the tide, or seven against. Then you steered straight for the land, and + by-and-by three palms would appear on the sky, tall and slim, and with + their disheveled heads in a bunch, as if in confidential criticism of the + dark mangroves. The Sofala would be headed towards the somber strip of the + coast, which at a given moment, as the ship closed with it obliquely, + would show several clean shining fractures—the brimful estuary of a + river. Then on through a brown liquid, three parts water and one part + black earth, on and on between the low shores, three parts black earth and + one part brackish water, the Sofala would plow her way up-stream, as she + had done once every month for these seven years or more, long before he + was aware of her existence, long before he had ever thought of having + anything to do with her and her invariable voyages. The old ship ought to + have known the road better than her men, who had not been kept so long at + it without a change; better than the faithful Serang, whom he had brought + over from his last ship to keep the captain’s watch; better than he + himself, who had been her captain for the last three years only. She could + always be depended upon to make her courses. Her compasses were never out. + She was no trouble at all to take about, as if her great age had given her + knowledge, wisdom, and steadiness. She made her landfalls to a degree of + the bearing, and almost to a minute of her allowed time. At any moment, as + he sat on the bridge without looking up, or lay sleepless in his bed, + simply by reckoning the days and the hours he could tell where he was—the + precise spot of the beat. He knew it well too, this monotonous huckster’s + round, up and down the Straits; he knew its order and its sights and its + people. Malacca to begin with, in at daylight and out at dusk, to cross + over with a rigid phosphorescent wake this highway of the Far East. + Darkness and gleams on the water, clear stars on a black sky, perhaps the + lights of a home steamer keeping her unswerving course in the middle, or + maybe the elusive shadow of a native craft with her mat sails flitting by + silently—and the low land on the other side in sight at daylight. At + noon the three palms of the next place of call, up a sluggish river. The + only white man residing there was a retired young sailor, with whom he had + become friendly in the course of many voyages. Sixty miles farther on + there was another place of call, a deep bay with only a couple of houses + on the beach. And so on, in and out, picking up coastwise cargo here and + there, and finishing with a hundred miles’ steady steaming through the + maze of an archipelago of small islands up to a large native town at the + end of the beat. There was a three days’ rest for the old ship before he + started her again in inverse order, seeing the same shores from another + bearing, hearing the same voices in the same places, back again to the + Sofala’s port of registry on the great highway to the East, where he would + take up a berth nearly opposite the big stone pile of the harbor office + till it was time to start again on the old round of 1600 miles and thirty + days. Not a very enterprising life, this, for Captain Whalley, Henry + Whalley, otherwise Dare-devil Harry—Whalley of the Condor, a famous + clipper in her day. No. Not a very enterprising life for a man who had + served famous firms, who had sailed famous ships (more than one or two of + them his own); who had made famous passages, had been the pioneer of new + routes and new trades; who had steered across the unsurveyed tracts of the + South Seas, and had seen the sun rise on uncharted islands. Fifty years at + sea, and forty out in the East (“a pretty thorough apprenticeship,” he + used to remark smilingly), had made him honorably known to a generation of + shipowners and merchants in all the ports from Bombay clear over to where + the East merges into the West upon the coast of the two Americas. His fame + remained writ, not very large but plain enough, on the Admiralty charts. + Was there not somewhere between Australia and China a Whalley Island and a + Condor Reef? On that dangerous coral formation the celebrated clipper had + hung stranded for three days, her captain and crew throwing her cargo + overboard with one hand and with the other, as it were, keeping off her a + flotilla of savage war-canoes. At that time neither the island nor the + reef had any official existence. Later the officers of her Majesty’s steam + vessel Fusilier, dispatched to make a survey of the route, recognized in + the adoption of these two names the enterprise of the man and the solidity + of the ship. Besides, as anyone who cares may see, the “General + Directory,” vol. ii. p. 410, begins the description of the “Malotu or + Whalley Passage” with the words: “This advantageous route, first + discovered in 1850 by Captain Whalley in the ship Condor,” &c., and + ends by recommending it warmly to sailing vessels leaving the China ports + for the south in the months from December to April inclusive. + </p> + <p> + This was the clearest gain he had out of life. Nothing could rob him of + this kind of fame. The piercing of the Isthmus of Suez, like the breaking + of a dam, had let in upon the East a flood of new ships, new men, new + methods of trade. It had changed the face of the Eastern seas and the very + spirit of their life; so that his early experiences meant nothing whatever + to the new generation of seamen. + </p> + <p> + In those bygone days he had handled many thousands of pounds of his + employers’ money and of his own; he had attended faithfully, as by law a + shipmaster is expected to do, to the conflicting interests of owners, + charterers, and underwriters. He had never lost a ship or consented to a + shady transaction; and he had lasted well, outlasting in the end the + conditions that had gone to the making of his name. He had buried his wife + (in the Gulf of Petchili), had married off his daughter to the man of her + unlucky choice, and had lost more than an ample competence in the crash of + the notorious Travancore and Deccan Banking Corporation, whose downfall + had shaken the East like an earthquake. And he was sixty-five years old. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II + </h2> + <p> + His age sat lightly enough on him; and of his ruin he was not ashamed. He + had not been alone to believe in the stability of the Banking Corporation. + Men whose judgment in matters of finance was as expert as his seamanship + had commended the prudence of his investments, and had themselves lost + much money in the great failure. The only difference between him and them + was that he had lost his all. And yet not his all. There had remained to + him from his lost fortune a very pretty little bark, Fair Maid, which he + had bought to occupy his leisure of a retired sailor—“to play with,” + as he expressed it himself. + </p> + <p> + He had formally declared himself tired of the sea the year preceding his + daughter’s marriage. But after the young couple had gone to settle in + Melbourne he found out that he could not make himself happy on shore. He + was too much of a merchant sea-captain for mere yachting to satisfy him. + He wanted the illusion of affairs; and his acquisition of the Fair Maid + preserved the continuity of his life. He introduced her to his + acquaintances in various ports as “my last command.” When he grew too old + to be trusted with a ship, he would lay her up and go ashore to be buried, + leaving directions in his will to have the bark towed out and scuttled + decently in deep water on the day of the funeral. His daughter would not + grudge him the satisfaction of knowing that no stranger would handle his + last command after him. With the fortune he was able to leave her, the + value of a 500-ton bark was neither here nor there. All this would be said + with a jocular twinkle in his eye: the vigorous old man had too much + vitality for the sentimentalism of regret; and a little wistfully withal, + because he was at home in life, taking a genuine pleasure in its feelings + and its possessions; in the dignity of his reputation and his wealth, in + his love for his daughter, and in his satisfaction with the ship—the + plaything of his lonely leisure. + </p> + <p> + He had the cabin arranged in accordance with his simple ideal of comfort + at sea. A big bookcase (he was a great reader) occupied one side of his + stateroom; the portrait of his late wife, a flat bituminous oil-painting + representing the profile and one long black ringlet of a young woman, + faced his bed-place. Three chronometers ticked him to sleep and greeted + him on waking with the tiny competition of their beats. He rose at five + every day. The officer of the morning watch, drinking his early cup of + coffee aft by the wheel, would hear through the wide orifice of the copper + ventilators all the splashings, blowings, and splutterings of his + captain’s toilet. These noises would be followed by a sustained deep + murmur of the Lord’s Prayer recited in a loud earnest voice. Five minutes + afterwards the head and shoulders of Captain Whalley emerged out of the + companion-hatchway. Invariably he paused for a while on the stairs, + looking all round at the horizon; upwards at the trim of the sails; + inhaling deep draughts of the fresh air. Only then he would step out on + the poop, acknowledging the hand raised to the peak of the cap with a + majestic and benign “Good morning to you.” He walked the deck till eight + scrupulously. Sometimes, not above twice a year, he had to use a thick + cudgel-like stick on account of a stiffness in the hip—a slight + touch of rheumatism, he supposed. Otherwise he knew nothing of the ills of + the flesh. At the ringing of the breakfast bell he went below to feed his + canaries, wind up the chronometers, and take the head of the table. From + there he had before his eyes the big carbon photographs of his daughter, + her husband, and two fat-legged babies —his grandchildren—set + in black frames into the maplewood bulkheads of the cuddy. After breakfast + he dusted the glass over these portraits himself with a cloth, and brushed + the oil painting of his wife with a plumate kept suspended from a small + brass hook by the side of the heavy gold frame. Then with the door of his + stateroom shut, he would sit down on the couch under the portrait to read + a chapter out of a thick pocket Bible—her Bible. But on some days he + only sat there for half an hour with his finger between the leaves and the + closed book resting on his knees. Perhaps he had remembered suddenly how + fond of boat-sailing she used to be. + </p> + <p> + She had been a real shipmate and a true woman too. It was like an article + of faith with him that there never had been, and never could be, a + brighter, cheerier home anywhere afloat or ashore than his home under the + poop-deck of the Condor, with the big main cabin all white and gold, + garlanded as if for a perpetual festival with an unfading wreath. She had + decorated the center of every panel with a cluster of home flowers. It + took her a twelvemonth to go round the cuddy with this labor of love. To + him it had remained a marvel of painting, the highest achievement of taste + and skill; and as to old Swinburne, his mate, every time he came down to + his meals he stood transfixed with admiration before the progress of the + work. You could almost smell these roses, he declared, sniffing the faint + flavor of turpentine which at that time pervaded the saloon, and (as he + confessed afterwards) made him somewhat less hearty than usual in tackling + his food. But there was nothing of the sort to interfere with his + enjoyment of her singing. “Mrs. Whalley is a regular out-and-out + nightingale, sir,” he would pronounce with a judicial air after listening + profoundly over the skylight to the very end of the piece. In fine + weather, in the second dog-watch, the two men could hear her trills and + roulades going on to the accompaniment of the piano in the cabin. On the + very day they got engaged he had written to London for the instrument; but + they had been married for over a year before it reached them, coming out + round the Cape. The big case made part of the first direct general cargo + landed in Hong-kong harbor—an event that to the men who walked the + busy quays of to-day seemed as hazily remote as the dark ages of history. + But Captain Whalley could in a half hour of solitude live again all his + life, with its romance, its idyl, and its sorrow. He had to close her eyes + himself. She went away from under the ensign like a sailor’s wife, a + sailor herself at heart. He had read the service over her, out of her own + prayer-book, without a break in his voice. When he raised his eyes he + could see old Swinburne facing him with his cap pressed to his breast, and + his rugged, weather-beaten, impassive face streaming with drops of water + like a lump of chipped red granite in a shower. It was all very well for + that old sea-dog to cry. He had to read on to the end; but after the + splash he did not remember much of what happened for the next few days. An + elderly sailor of the crew, deft at needlework, put together a mourning + frock for the child out of one of her black skirts. + </p> + <p> + He was not likely to forget; but you cannot dam up life like a sluggish + stream. It will break out and flow over a man’s troubles, it will close + upon a sorrow like the sea upon a dead body, no matter how much love has + gone to the bottom. And the world is not bad. People had been very kind to + him; especially Mrs. Gardner, the wife of the senior partner in Gardner, + Patteson, & Co., the owners of the Condor. It was she who volunteered + to look after the little one, and in due course took her to England + (something of a journey in those days, even by the overland mail route) + with her own girls to finish her education. It was ten years before he saw + her again. + </p> + <p> + As a little child she had never been frightened of bad weather; she would + beg to be taken up on deck in the bosom of his oilskin coat to watch the + big seas hurling themselves upon the Condor. The swirl and crash of the + waves seemed to fill her small soul with a breathless delight. “A good boy + spoiled,” he used to say of her in joke. He had named her Ivy because of + the sound of the word, and obscurely fascinated by a vague association of + ideas. She had twined herself tightly round his heart, and he intended her + to cling close to her father as to a tower of strength; forgetting, while + she was little, that in the nature of things she would probably elect to + cling to someone else. But he loved life well enough for even that event + to give him a certain satisfaction, apart from his more intimate feeling + of loss. + </p> + <p> + After he had purchased the Fair Maid to occupy his loneliness, he hastened + to accept a rather unprofitable freight to Australia simply for the + opportunity of seeing his daughter in her own home. What made him + dissatisfied there was not to see that she clung now to somebody else, but + that the prop she had selected seemed on closer examination “a rather poor + stick”—even in the matter of health. He disliked his son-in-law’s + studied civility perhaps more than his method of handling the sum of money + he had given Ivy at her marriage. But of his apprehensions he said + nothing. Only on the day of his departure, with the hall-door open + already, holding her hands and looking steadily into her eyes, he had + said, “You know, my dear, all I have is for you and the chicks. Mind you + write to me openly.” She had answered him by an almost imperceptible + movement of her head. She resembled her mother in the color of her eyes, + and in character—and also in this, that she understood him without + many words. + </p> + <p> + Sure enough she had to write; and some of these letters made Captain + Whalley lift his white eye-brows. For the rest he considered he was + reaping the true reward of his life by being thus able to produce on + demand whatever was needed. He had not enjoyed himself so much in a way + since his wife had died. Characteristically enough his son-in-law’s + punctuality in failure caused him at a distance to feel a sort of kindness + towards the man. The fellow was so perpetually being jammed on a lee shore + that to charge it all to his reckless navigation would be manifestly + unfair. No, no! He knew well what that meant. It was bad luck. His own had + been simply marvelous, but he had seen in his life too many good men—seamen + and others—go under with the sheer weight of bad luck not to + recognize the fatal signs. For all that, he was cogitating on the best way + of tying up very strictly every penny he had to leave, when, with a + preliminary rumble of rumors (whose first sound reached him in Shanghai as + it happened), the shock of the big failure came; and, after passing + through the phases of stupor, of incredulity, of indignation, he had to + accept the fact that he had nothing to speak of to leave. + </p> + <p> + Upon that, as if he had only waited for this catastrophe, the unlucky man, + away there in Melbourne, gave up his unprofitable game, and sat down—in + an invalid’s bath-chair at that too. “He will never walk again,” wrote the + wife. For the first time in his life Captain Whalley was a bit staggered. + </p> + <p> + The Fair Maid had to go to work in bitter earnest now. It was no longer a + matter of preserving alive the memory of Dare-devil Harry Whalley in the + Eastern Seas, or of keeping an old man in pocket-money and clothes, with, + perhaps, a bill for a few hundred first-class cigars thrown in at the end + of the year. He would have to buckle-to, and keep her going hard on a + scant allowance of gilt for the ginger-bread scrolls at her stem and + stern. + </p> + <p> + This necessity opened his eyes to the fundamental changes of the world. Of + his past only the familiar names remained, here and there, but the things + and the men, as he had known them, were gone. The name of Gardner, + Patteson, & Co. was still displayed on the walls of warehouses by the + waterside, on the brass plates and window-panes in the business quarters + of more than one Eastern port, but there was no longer a Gardner or a + Patteson in the firm. There was no longer for Captain Whalley an arm-chair + and a welcome in the private office, with a bit of business ready to be + put in the way of an old friend, for the sake of bygone services. The + husbands of the Gardner girls sat behind the desks in that room where, + long after he had left the employ, he had kept his right of entrance in + the old man’s time. Their ships now had yellow funnels with black tops, + and a time-table of appointed routes like a confounded service of + tramways. The winds of December and June were all one to them; their + captains (excellent young men he doubted not) were, to be sure, familiar + with Whalley Island, because of late years the Government had established + a white fixed light on the north end (with a red danger sector over the + Condor Reef), but most of them would have been extremely surprised to hear + that a flesh-and-blood Whalley still existed—an old man going about + the world trying to pick up a cargo here and there for his little bark. + </p> + <p> + And everywhere it was the same. Departed the men who would have nodded + appreciatively at the mention of his name, and would have thought + themselves bound in honor to do something for Dare-devil Harry Whalley. + Departed the opportunities which he would have known how to seize; and + gone with them the white-winged flock of clippers that lived in the + boisterous uncertain life of the winds, skimming big fortunes out of the + foam of the sea. In a world that pared down the profits to an irreducible + minimum, in a world that was able to count its disengaged tonnage twice + over every day, and in which lean charters were snapped up by cable three + months in advance, there were no chances of fortune for an individual + wandering haphazard with a little bark—hardly indeed any room to + exist. + </p> + <p> + He found it more difficult from year to year. He suffered greatly from the + smallness of remittances he was able to send his daughter. Meantime he had + given up good cigars, and even in the matter of inferior cheroots limited + himself to six a day. He never told her of his difficulties, and she never + enlarged upon her struggle to live. Their confidence in each other needed + no explanations, and their perfect understanding endured without + protestations of gratitude or regret. He would have been shocked if she + had taken it into her head to thank him in so many words, but he found it + perfectly natural that she should tell him she needed two hundred pounds. + </p> + <p> + He had come in with the Fair Maid in ballast to look for a freight in the + Sofala’s port of registry, and her letter met him there. Its tenor was + that it was no use mincing matters. Her only resource was in opening a + boarding-house, for which the prospects, she judged, were good. Good + enough, at any rate, to make her tell him frankly that with two hundred + pounds she could make a start. He had torn the envelope open, hastily, on + deck, where it was handed to him by the ship-chandler’s runner, who had + brought his mail at the moment of anchoring. For the second time in his + life he was appalled, and remained stock-still at the cabin door with the + paper trembling between his fingers. Open a boarding-house! Two hundred + pounds for a start! The only resource! And he did not know where to lay + his hands on two hundred pence. + </p> + <p> + All that night Captain Whalley walked the poop of his anchored ship, as + though he had been about to close with the land in thick weather, and + uncertain of his position after a run of many gray days without a sight of + sun, moon, or stars. The black night twinkled with the guiding lights of + seamen and the steady straight lines of lights on shore; and all around + the Fair Maid the riding lights of ships cast trembling trails upon the + water of the roadstead. Captain Whalley saw not a gleam anywhere till the + dawn broke and he found out that his clothing was soaked through with the + heavy dew. + </p> + <p> + His ship was awake. He stopped short, stroked his wet beard, and descended + the poop ladder backwards, with tired feet. At the sight of him the chief + officer, lounging about sleepily on the quarterdeck, remained open-mouthed + in the middle of a great early-morning yawn. + </p> + <p> + “Good morning to you,” pronounced Captain Whalley solemnly, passing into + the cabin. But he checked himself in the doorway, and without looking + back, “By the bye,” he said, “there should be an empty wooden case put + away in the lazarette. It has not been broken up—has it?” + </p> + <p> + The mate shut his mouth, and then asked as if dazed, “What empty case, + sir?” + </p> + <p> + “A big flat packing-case belonging to that painting in my room. Let it be + taken up on deck and tell the carpenter to look it over. I may want to use + it before long.” + </p> + <p> + The chief officer did not stir a limb till he had heard the door of the + captain’s state-room slam within the cuddy. Then he beckoned aft the + second mate with his forefinger to tell him that there was something “in + the wind.” + </p> + <p> + When the bell rang Captain Whalley’s authoritative voice boomed out + through a closed door, “Sit down and don’t wait for me.” And his impressed + officers took their places, exchanging looks and whispers across the + table. What! No breakfast? And after apparently knocking about all night + on deck, too! Clearly, there was something in the wind. In the skylight + above their heads, bowed earnestly over the plates, three wire cages + rocked and rattled to the restless jumping of the hungry canaries; and + they could detect the sounds of their “old man’s” deliberate movements + within his state-room. Captain Whalley was methodically winding up the + chronometers, dusting the portrait of his late wife, getting a clean white + shirt out of the drawers, making himself ready in his punctilious + unhurried manner to go ashore. He could not have swallowed a single + mouthful of food that morning. He had made up his mind to sell the Fair + Maid. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III + </h2> + <p> + Just at that time the Japanese were casting far and wide for ships of + European build, and he had no difficulty in finding a purchaser, a + speculator who drove a hard bargain, but paid cash down for the Fair Maid, + with a view to a profitable resale. Thus it came about that Captain + Whalley found himself on a certain afternoon descending the steps of one + of the most important post-offices of the East with a slip of bluish paper + in his hand. This was the receipt of a registered letter enclosing a draft + for two hundred pounds, and addressed to Melbourne. Captain Whalley pushed + the paper into his waistcoat-pocket, took his stick from under his arm, + and walked down the street. + </p> + <p> + It was a recently opened and untidy thoroughfare with rudimentary + side-walks and a soft layer of dust cushioning the whole width of the + road. One end touched the slummy street of Chinese shops near the harbor, + the other drove straight on, without houses, for a couple of miles, + through patches of jungle-like vegetation, to the yard gates of the new + Consolidated Docks Company. The crude frontages of the new Government + buildings alternated with the blank fencing of vacant plots, and the view + of the sky seemed to give an added spaciousness to the broad vista. It was + empty and shunned by natives after business hours, as though they had + expected to see one of the tigers from the neighborhood of the New + Waterworks on the hill coming at a loping canter down the middle to get a + Chinese shopkeeper for supper. Captain Whalley was not dwarfed by the + solitude of the grandly planned street. He had too fine a presence for + that. He was only a lonely figure walking purposefully, with a great white + beard like a pilgrim, and with a thick stick that resembled a weapon. On + one side the new Courts of Justice had a low and unadorned portico of + squat columns half concealed by a few old trees left in the approach. On + the other the pavilion wings of the new Colonial Treasury came out to the + line of the street. But Captain Whalley, who had now no ship and no home, + remembered in passing that on that very site when he first came out from + England there had stood a fishing village, a few mat huts erected on piles + between a muddy tidal creek and a miry pathway that went writhing into a + tangled wilderness without any docks or waterworks. + </p> + <p> + No ship—no home. And his poor Ivy away there had no home either. A + boarding-house is no sort of home though it may get you a living. His + feelings were horribly rasped by the idea of the boarding-house. In his + rank of life he had that truly aristocratic temperament characterized by a + scorn of vulgar gentility and by prejudiced views as to the derogatory + nature of certain occupations. For his own part he had always preferred + sailing merchant ships (which is a straightforward occupation) to buying + and selling merchandise, of which the essence is to get the better of + somebody in a bargain—an undignified trial of wits at best. His + father had been Colonel Whalley (retired) of the H. E. I. Company’s + service, with very slender means besides his pension, but with + distinguished connections. He could remember as a boy how frequently + waiters at the inns, country tradesmen and small people of that sort, used + to “My lord” the old warrior on the strength of his appearance. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley himself (he would have entered the Navy if his father had + not died before he was fourteen) had something of a grand air which would + have suited an old and glorious admiral; but he became lost like a straw + in the eddy of a brook amongst the swarm of brown and yellow humanity + filling a thoroughfare, that by contrast with the vast and empty avenue he + had left seemed as narrow as a lane and absolutely riotous with life. The + walls of the houses were blue; the shops of the Chinamen yawned like + cavernous lairs; heaps of nondescript merchandise overflowed the gloom of + the long range of arcades, and the fiery serenity of sunset took the + middle of the street from end to end with a glow like the reflection of a + fire. It fell on the bright colors and the dark faces of the bare-footed + crowd, on the pallid yellow backs of the half-naked jostling coolies, on + the accouterments of a tall Sikh trooper with a parted beard and fierce + mustaches on sentry before the gate of the police compound. Looming very + big above the heads in a red haze of dust, the tightly packed car of the + cable tramway navigated cautiously up the human stream, with the incessant + blare of its horn, in the manner of a steamer groping in a fog. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley emerged like a diver on the other side, and in the desert + shade between the walls of closed warehouses removed his hat to cool his + brow. A certain disrepute attached to the calling of a landlady of a + boarding-house. These women were said to be rapacious, unscrupulous, + untruthful; and though he contemned no class of his fellow-creatures—God + forbid!—these were suspicions to which it was unseemly that a + Whalley should lay herself open. He had not expostulated with her, + however. He was confident she shared his feelings; he was sorry for her; + he trusted her judgment; he considered it a merciful dispensation that he + could help her once more,—but in his aristocratic heart of hearts he + would have found it more easy to reconcile himself to the idea of her + turning seamstress. Vaguely he remembered reading years ago a touching + piece called the “Song of the Shirt.” It was all very well making songs + about poor women. The granddaughter of Colonel Whalley, the landlady of a + boarding-house! Pooh! He replaced his hat, dived into two pockets, and + stopping a moment to apply a flaring match to the end of a cheap cheroot, + blew an embittered cloud of smoke at a world that could hold such + surprises. + </p> + <p> + Of one thing he was certain—that she was the own child of a clever + mother. Now he had got over the wrench of parting with his ship, he + perceived clearly that such a step had been unavoidable. Perhaps he had + been growing aware of it all along with an unconfessed knowledge. But she, + far away there, must have had an intuitive perception of it, with the + pluck to face that truth and the courage to speak out—all the + qualities which had made her mother a woman of such excellent counsel. + </p> + <p> + It would have had to come to that in the end! It was fortunate she had + forced his hand. In another year or two it would have been an utterly + barren sale. To keep the ship going he had been involving himself deeper + every year. He was defenseless before the insidious work of adversity, to + whose more open assaults he could present a firm front; like a cliff that + stands unmoved the open battering of the sea, with a lofty ignorance of + the treacherous backwash undermining its base. As it was, every liability + satisfied, her request answered, and owing no man a penny, there remained + to him from the proceeds a sum of five hundred pounds put away safely. In + addition he had upon his person some forty odd dollars—enough to pay + his hotel bill, providing he did not linger too long in the modest bedroom + where he had taken refuge. + </p> + <p> + Scantily furnished, and with a waxed floor, it opened into one of the + side-verandas. The straggling building of bricks, as airy as a bird-cage, + resounded with the incessant flapping of rattan screens worried by the + wind between the white-washed square pillars of the sea-front. The rooms + were lofty, a ripple of sunshine flowed over the ceilings; and the + periodical invasions of tourists from some passenger steamer in the harbor + flitted through the wind-swept dusk of the apartments with the tumult of + their unfamiliar voices and impermanent presences, like relays of + migratory shades condemned to speed headlong round the earth without + leaving a trace. The babble of their irruptions ebbed out as suddenly as + it had arisen; the draughty corridors and the long chairs of the verandas + knew their sight-seeing hurry or their prostrate repose no more; and + Captain Whalley, substantial and dignified, left well-nigh alone in the + vast hotel by each light-hearted skurry, felt more and more like a + stranded tourist with no aim in view, like a forlorn traveler without a + home. In the solitude of his room he smoked thoughtfully, gazing at the + two sea-chests which held all that he could call his own in this world. A + thick roll of charts in a sheath of sailcloth leaned in a corner; the flat + packing-case containing the portrait in oils and the three carbon + photographs had been pushed under the bed. He was tired of discussing + terms, of assisting at surveys, of all the routine of the business. What + to the other parties was merely the sale of a ship was to him a momentous + event involving a radically new view of existence. He knew that after this + ship there would be no other; and the hopes of his youth, the exercise of + his abilities, every feeling and achievement of his manhood, had been + indissolubly connected with ships. He had served ships; he had owned + ships; and even the years of his actual retirement from the sea had been + made bearable by the idea that he had only to stretch out his hand full of + money to get a ship. He had been at liberty to feel as though he were the + owner of all the ships in the world. The selling of this one was weary + work; but when she passed from him at last, when he signed the last + receipt, it was as though all the ships had gone out of the world + together, leaving him on the shore of inaccessible oceans with seven + hundred pounds in his hands. + </p> + <p> + Striding firmly, without haste, along the quay, Captain Whalley averted + his glances from the familiar roadstead. Two generations of seamen born + since his first day at sea stood between him and all these ships at the + anchorage. His own was sold, and he had been asking himself, What next? + </p> + <p> + From the feeling of loneliness, of inward emptiness,—and of loss + too, as if his very soul had been taken out of him forcibly,—there + had sprung at first a desire to start right off and join his daughter. + “Here are the last pence,” he would say to her; “take them, my dear. And + here’s your old father: you must take him too.” + </p> + <p> + His soul recoiled, as if afraid of what lay hidden at the bottom of this + impulse. Give up! Never! When one is thoroughly weary all sorts of + nonsense come into one’s head. A pretty gift it would have been for a poor + woman—this seven hundred pounds with the incumbrance of a hale old + fellow more than likely to last for years and years to come. Was he not as + fit to die in harness as any of the youngsters in charge of these anchored + ships out yonder? He was as solid now as ever he had been. But as to who + would give him work to do, that was another matter. Were he, with his + appearance and antecedents, to go about looking for a junior’s berth, + people, he was afraid, would not take him seriously; or else if he + succeeded in impressing them, he would maybe obtain their pity, which + would be like stripping yourself naked to be kicked. He was not anxious to + give himself away for less than nothing. He had no use for anybody’s pity. + On the other hand, a command—the only thing he could try for with + due regard for common decency—was not likely to be lying in wait for + him at the corner of the next street. Commands don’t go a-begging + nowadays. Ever since he had come ashore to carry out the business of the + sale he had kept his ears open, but had heard no hint of one being vacant + in the port. And even if there had been one, his successful past itself + stood in his way. He had been his own employer too long. The only + credential he could produce was the testimony of his whole life. What + better recommendation could anyone require? But vaguely he felt that the + unique document would be looked upon as an archaic curiosity of the + Eastern waters, a screed traced in obsolete words—in a + half-forgotten language. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV + </h2> + <p> + Revolving these thoughts, he strolled on near the railings of the quay, + broad-chested, without a stoop, as though his big shoulders had never felt + the burden of the loads that must be carried between the cradle and the + grave. No single betraying fold or line of care disfigured the reposeful + modeling of his face. It was full and untanned; and the upper part + emerged, massively quiet, out of the downward flow of silvery hair, with + the striking delicacy of its clear complexion and the powerful width of + the forehead. The first cast of his glance fell on you candid and swift, + like a boy’s; but because of the ragged snowy thatch of the eyebrows the + affability of his attention acquired the character of a dark and searching + scrutiny. With age he had put on flesh a little, had increased his girth + like an old tree presenting no symptoms of decay; and even the opulent, + lustrous ripple of white hairs upon his chest seemed an attribute of + unquenchable vitality and vigor. + </p> + <p> + Once rather proud of his great bodily strength, and even of his personal + appearance, conscious of his worth, and firm in his rectitude, there had + remained to him, like the heritage of departed prosperity, the tranquil + bearing of a man who had proved himself fit in every sort of way for the + life of his choice. He strode on squarely under the projecting brim of an + ancient Panama hat. It had a low crown, a crease through its whole + diameter, a narrow black ribbon. Imperishable and a little discolored, + this headgear made it easy to pick him out from afar on thronged wharves + and in the busy streets. He had never adopted the comparatively modern + fashion of pipeclayed cork helmets. He disliked the form; and he hoped he + could manage to keep a cool head to the end of his life without all these + contrivances for hygienic ventilation. His hair was cropped close, his + linen always of immaculate whiteness; a suit of thin gray flannel, worn + threadbare but scrupulously brushed, floated about his burly limbs, adding + to his bulk by the looseness of its cut. The years had mellowed the + good-humored, imperturbable audacity of his prime into a temper carelessly + serene; and the leisurely tapping of his iron-shod stick accompanied his + footfalls with a self-confident sound on the flagstones. It was impossible + to connect such a fine presence and this unruffled aspect with the + belittling troubles of poverty; the man’s whole existence appeared to pass + before you, facile and large, in the freedom of means as ample as the + clothing of his body. + </p> + <p> + The irrational dread of having to break into his five hundred pounds for + personal expenses in the hotel disturbed the steady poise of his mind. + There was no time to lose. The bill was running up. He nourished the hope + that this five hundred would perhaps be the means, if everything else + failed, of obtaining some work which, keeping his body and soul together + (not a matter of great outlay), would enable him to be of use to his + daughter. To his mind it was her own money which he employed, as it were, + in backing her father and solely for her benefit. Once at work, he would + help her with the greater part of his earnings; he was good for many years + yet, and this boarding-house business, he argued to himself, whatever the + prospects, could not be much of a gold-mine from the first start. But what + work? He was ready to lay hold of anything in an honest way so that it + came quickly to his hand; because the five hundred pounds must be + preserved intact for eventual use. That was the great point. With the + entire five hundred one felt a substance at one’s back; but it seemed to + him that should he let it dwindle to four-fifty or even four-eighty, all + the efficiency would be gone out of the money, as though there were some + magic power in the round figure. But what sort of work? + </p> + <p> + Confronted by that haunting question as by an uneasy ghost, for whom he + had no exorcising formula, Captain Whalley stopped short on the apex of a + small bridge spanning steeply the bed of a canalized creek with granite + shores. Moored between the square blocks a seagoing Malay prau floated + half hidden under the arch of masonry, with her spars lowered down, + without a sound of life on board, and covered from stem to stern with a + ridge of palm-leaf mats. He had left behind him the overheated pavements + bordered by the stone frontages that, like the sheer face of cliffs, + followed the sweep of the quays; and an unconfined spaciousness of orderly + and sylvan aspect opened before him its wide plots of rolled grass, like + pieces of green carpet smoothly pegged out, its long ranges of trees lined + up in colossal porticos of dark shafts roofed with a vault of branches. + </p> + <p> + Some of these avenues ended at the sea. It was a terraced shore; and + beyond, upon the level expanse, profound and glistening like the gaze of a + dark-blue eye, an oblique band of stippled purple lengthened itself + indefinitely through the gap between a couple of verdant twin islets. The + masts and spars of a few ships far away, hull down in the outer roads, + sprang straight from the water in a fine maze of rosy lines penciled on + the clear shadow of the eastern board. Captain Whalley gave them a long + glance. The ship, once his own, was anchored out there. It was staggering + to think that it was open to him no longer to take a boat at the jetty and + get himself pulled off to her when the evening came. To no ship. Perhaps + never more. Before the sale was concluded, and till the purchase-money had + been paid, he had spent daily some time on board the Fair Maid. The money + had been paid this very morning, and now, all at once, there was + positively no ship that he could go on board of when he liked; no ship + that would need his presence in order to do her work—to live. It + seemed an incredible state of affairs, something too bizarre to last. And + the sea was full of craft of all sorts. There was that prau lying so still + swathed in her shroud of sewn palm-leaves—she too had her + indispensable man. They lived through each other, this Malay he had never + seen, and this high-sterned thing of no size that seemed to be resting + after a long journey. And of all the ships in sight, near and far, each + was provided with a man, the man without whom the finest ship is a dead + thing, a floating and purposeless log. + </p> + <p> + After his one glance at the roadstead he went on, since there was nothing + to turn back for, and the time must be got through somehow. The avenues of + big trees ran straight over the Esplanade, cutting each other at diverse + angles, columnar below and luxuriant above. The interlaced boughs high up + there seemed to slumber; not a leaf stirred overhead: and the reedy + cast-iron lampposts in the middle of the road, gilt like scepters, + diminished in a long perspective, with their globes of white porcelain + atop, resembling a barbarous decoration of ostriches’ eggs displayed in a + row. The flaming sky kindled a tiny crimson spark upon the glistening + surface of each glassy shell. + </p> + <p> + With his chin sunk a little, his hands behind his back, and the end of his + stick marking the gravel with a faint wavering line at his heels, Captain + Whalley reflected that if a ship without a man was like a body without a + soul, a sailor without a ship was of not much more account in this world + than an aimless log adrift upon the sea. The log might be sound enough by + itself, tough of fiber, and hard to destroy—but what of that! And a + sudden sense of irremediable idleness weighted his feet like a great + fatigue. + </p> + <p> + A succession of open carriages came bowling along the newly opened + sea-road. You could see across the wide grass-plots the discs of vibration + made by the spokes. The bright domes of the parasols swayed lightly + outwards like full-blown blossoms on the rim of a vase; and the quiet + sheet of dark-blue water, crossed by a bar of purple, made a background + for the spinning wheels and the high action of the horses, whilst the + turbaned heads of the Indian servants elevated above the line of the sea + horizon glided rapidly on the paler blue of the sky. In an open space near + the little bridge each turn-out trotted smartly in a wide curve away from + the sunset; then pulling up sharp, entered the main alley in a long + slow-moving file with the great red stillness of the sky at the back. The + trunks of mighty trees stood all touched with red on the same side, the + air seemed aflame under the high foliage, the very ground under the hoofs + of the horses was red. The wheels turned solemnly; one after another the + sunshades drooped, folding their colors like gorgeous flowers shutting + their petals at the end of the day. In the whole half-mile of human beings + no voice uttered a distinct word, only a faint thudding noise went on + mingled with slight jingling sounds, and the motionless heads and + shoulders of men and women sitting in couples emerged stolidly above the + lowered hoods—as if wooden. But one carriage and pair coming late + did not join the line. + </p> + <p> + It fled along in a noiseless roll; but on entering the avenue one of the + dark bays snorted, arching his neck and shying against the steel-tipped + pole; a flake of foam fell from the bit upon the point of a satiny + shoulder, and the dusky face of the coachman leaned forward at once over + the hands taking a fresh grip of the reins. It was a long dark-green + landau, having a dignified and buoyant motion between the sharply curved + C-springs, and a sort of strictly official majesty in its supreme + elegance. It seemed more roomy than is usual, its horses seemed slightly + bigger, the appointments a shade more perfect, the servants perched + somewhat higher on the box. The dresses of three women—two young and + pretty, and one, handsome, large, of mature age—seemed to fill + completely the shallow body of the carriage. The fourth face was that of a + man, heavy lidded, distinguished and sallow, with a somber, thick, + iron-gray imperial and mustaches, which somehow had the air of solid + appendages. His Excellency— + </p> + <p> + The rapid motion of that one equipage made all the others appear utterly + inferior, blighted, and reduced to crawl painfully at a snail’s pace. The + landau distanced the whole file in a sort of sustained rush; the features + of the occupant whirling out of sight left behind an impression of fixed + stares and impassive vacancy; and after it had vanished in full flight as + it were, notwithstanding the long line of vehicles hugging the curb at a + walk, the whole lofty vista of the avenue seemed to lie open and emptied + of life in the enlarged impression of an august solitude. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley had lifted his head to look, and his mind, disturbed in + its meditation, turned with wonder (as men’s minds will do) to matters of + no importance. It struck him that it was to this port, where he had just + sold his last ship, that he had come with the very first he had ever + owned, and with his head full of a plan for opening a new trade with a + distant part of the Archipelago. The then governor had given him no end of + encouragement. No Excellency he—this Mr. Denham—this governor + with his jacket off; a man who tended night and day, so to speak, the + growing prosperity of the settlement with the self-forgetful devotion of a + nurse for a child she loves; a lone bachelor who lived as in a camp with + the few servants and his three dogs in what was called then the Government + Bungalow: a low-roofed structure on the half-cleared slope of a hill, with + a new flagstaff in front and a police orderly on the veranda. He + remembered toiling up that hill under a heavy sun for his audience; the + unfurnished aspect of the cool shaded room; the long table covered at one + end with piles of papers, and with two guns, a brass telescope, a small + bottle of oil with a feather stuck in the neck at the other—and the + flattering attention given to him by the man in power. It was an + undertaking full of risk he had come to expound, but a twenty minutes’ + talk in the Government Bungalow on the hill had made it go smoothly from + the start. And as he was retiring Mr. Denham, already seated before the + papers, called out after him, “Next month the Dido starts for a cruise + that way, and I shall request her captain officially to give you a look in + and see how you get on.” The Dido was one of the smart frigates on the + China station—and five-and-thirty years make a big slice of time. + Five-and-thirty years ago an enterprise like his had for the colony enough + importance to be looked after by a Queen’s ship. A big slice of time. + Individuals were of some account then. Men like himself; men, too, like + poor Evans, for instance, with his red face, his coal-black whiskers, and + his restless eyes, who had set up the first patent slip for repairing + small ships, on the edge of the forest, in a lonely bay three miles up the + coast. Mr. Denham had encouraged that enterprise too, and yet somehow poor + Evans had ended by dying at home deucedly hard up. His son, they said, was + squeezing oil out of cocoa-nuts for a living on some God-forsaken islet of + the Indian Ocean; but it was from that patent slip in a lonely wooded bay + that had sprung the workshops of the Consolidated Docks Company, with its + three graving basins carved out of solid rock, its wharves, its jetties, + its electric-light plant, its steam-power houses—with its gigantic + sheer-legs, fit to lift the heaviest weight ever carried afloat, and whose + head could be seen like the top of a queer white monument peeping over + bushy points of land and sandy promontories, as you approached the New + Harbor from the west. + </p> + <p> + There had been a time when men counted: there were not so many carriages + in the colony then, though Mr. Denham, he fancied, had a buggy. And + Captain Whalley seemed to be swept out of the great avenue by the swirl of + a mental backwash. He remembered muddy shores, a harbor without quays, the + one solitary wooden pier (but that was a public work) jutting out + crookedly, the first coal-sheds erected on Monkey Point, that caught fire + mysteriously and smoldered for days, so that amazed ships came into a + roadstead full of sulphurous smoke, and the sun hung blood-red at midday. + He remembered the things, the faces, and something more besides—like + the faint flavor of a cup quaffed to the bottom, like a subtle sparkle of + the air that was not to be found in the atmosphere of to-day. + </p> + <p> + In this evocation, swift and full of detail like a flash of magnesium + light into the niches of a dark memorial hall, Captain Whalley + contemplated things once important, the efforts of small men, the growth + of a great place, but now robbed of all consequence by the greatness of + accomplished facts, by hopes greater still; and they gave him for a moment + such an almost physical grip upon time, such a comprehension of our + unchangeable feelings, that he stopped short, struck the ground with his + stick, and ejaculated mentally, “What the devil am I doing here!” He + seemed lost in a sort of surprise; but he heard his name called out in + wheezy tones once, twice—and turned on his heels slowly. + </p> + <p> + He beheld then, waddling towards him autocratically, a man of an + old-fashioned and gouty aspect, with hair as white as his own, but with + shaved, florid cheeks, wearing a necktie—almost a neckcloth—whose + stiff ends projected far beyond his chin; with round legs, round arms, a + round body, a round face—generally producing the effect of his short + figure having been distended by means of an air-pump as much as the seams + of his clothing would stand. This was the Master-Attendant of the port. A + master-attendant is a superior sort of harbor-master; a person, out in the + East, of some consequence in his sphere; a Government official, a + magistrate for the waters of the port, and possessed of vast but + ill-defined disciplinary authority over seamen of all classes. This + particular Master-Attendant was reported to consider it miserably + inadequate, on the ground that it did not include the power of life and + death. This was a jocular exaggeration. Captain Eliott was fairly + satisfied with his position, and nursed no inconsiderable sense of such + power as he had. His conceited and tyrannical disposition did not allow + him to let it dwindle in his hands for want of use. The uproarious, + choleric frankness of his comments on people’s character and conduct + caused him to be feared at bottom; though in conversation many pretended + not to mind him in the least, others would only smile sourly at the + mention of his name, and there were even some who dared to pronounce him + “a meddlesome old ruffian.” But for almost all of them one of Captain + Eliott’s outbreaks was nearly as distasteful to face as a chance of + annihilation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V + </h2> + <p> + As soon as he had come up quite close he said, mouthing in a growl— + </p> + <p> + “What’s this I hear, Whalley? Is it true you’re selling the Fair Maid?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, looking away, said the thing was done—money had + been paid that morning; and the other expressed at once his approbation of + such an extremely sensible proceeding. He had got out of his trap to + stretch his legs, he explained, on his way home to dinner. Sir Frederick + looked well at the end of his time. Didn’t he? + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley could not say; had only noticed the carriage going past. + </p> + <p> + The Master-Attendant, plunging his hands into the pockets of an alpaca + jacket inappropriately short and tight for a man of his age and + appearance, strutted with a slight limp, and with his head reaching only + to the shoulder of Captain Whalley, who walked easily, staring straight + before him. They had been good comrades years ago, almost intimates. At + the time when Whalley commanded the renowned Condor, Eliott had charge of + the nearly as famous Ringdove for the same owners; and when the + appointment of Master-Attendant was created, Whalley would have been the + only other serious candidate. But Captain Whalley, then in the prime of + life, was resolved to serve no one but his own auspicious Fortune. Far + away, tending his hot irons, he was glad to hear the other had been + successful. There was a worldly suppleness in bluff Ned Eliott that would + serve him well in that sort of official appointment. And they were so + dissimilar at bottom that as they came slowly to the end of the avenue + before the Cathedral, it had never come into Whalley’s head that he might + have been in that man’s place—provided for to the end of his days. + </p> + <p> + The sacred edifice, standing in solemn isolation amongst the converging + avenues of enormous trees, as if to put grave thoughts of heaven into the + hours of ease, presented a closed Gothic portal to the light and glory of + the west. The glass of the rosace above the ogive glowed like fiery coal + in the deep carvings of a wheel of stone. The two men faced about. + </p> + <p> + “I’ll tell you what they ought to do next, Whalley,” growled Captain + Eliott suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “They ought to send a real live lord out here when Sir Frederick’s time is + up. Eh?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley perfunctorily did not see why a lord of the right sort + should not do as well as anyone else. But this was not the other’s point + of view. + </p> + <p> + “No, no. Place runs itself. Nothing can stop it now. Good enough for a + lord,” he growled in short sentences. “Look at the changes in our time. We + need a lord here now. They have got a lord in Bombay.” + </p> + <p> + He dined once or twice every year at the Government House—a + many-windowed, arcaded palace upon a hill laid out in roads and gardens. + And lately he had been taking about a duke in his Master-Attendant’s + steam-launch to visit the harbor improvements. Before that he had “most + obligingly” gone out in person to pick out a good berth for the ducal + yacht. Afterwards he had an invitation to lunch on board. The duchess + herself lunched with them. A big woman with a red face. Complexion quite + sunburnt. He should think ruined. Very gracious manners. They were going + on to Japan. . . . + </p> + <p> + He ejaculated these details for Captain Whalley’s edification, pausing to + blow out his cheeks as if with a pent-up sense of importance, and + repeatedly protruding his thick lips till the blunt crimson end of his + nose seemed to dip into the milk of his mustache. The place ran itself; it + was fit for any lord; it gave no trouble except in its Marine department—in + its Marine department he repeated twice, and after a heavy snort began to + relate how the other day her Majesty’s Consul-General in French + Cochin-China had cabled to him—in his official capacity—asking + for a qualified man to be sent over to take charge of a Glasgow ship whose + master had died in Saigon. + </p> + <p> + “I sent word of it to the officers’ quarters in the Sailors’ Home,” he + continued, while the limp in his gait seemed to grow more accentuated with + the increasing irritation of his voice. “Place’s full of them. Twice as + many men as there are berths going in the local trade. All hungry for an + easy job. Twice as many—and—What d’you think, Whalley? . . .” + </p> + <p> + He stopped short; his hands clenched and thrust deeply downwards, seemed + ready to burst the pockets of his jacket. A slight sigh escaped Captain + Whalley. + </p> + <p> + “Hey? You would think they would be falling over each other. Not a bit of + it. Frightened to go home. Nice and warm out here to lie about a veranda + waiting for a job. I sit and wait in my office. Nobody. What did they + suppose? That I was going to sit there like a dummy with the + Consul-General’s cable before me? Not likely. So I looked up a list of + them I keep by me and sent word for Hamilton—the worst loafer of + them all—and just made him go. Threatened to instruct the steward of + the Sailors’ Home to have him turned out neck and crop. He did not think + the berth was good enough—if—you—please. ‘I’ve your + little records by me,’ said I. ‘You came ashore here eighteen months ago, + and you haven’t done six months’ work since. You are in debt for your + board now at the Home, and I suppose you reckon the Marine Office will pay + in the end. Eh? So it shall; but if you don’t take this chance, away you + go to England, assisted passage, by the first homeward steamer that comes + along. You are no better than a pauper. We don’t want any white paupers + here.’ I scared him. But look at the trouble all this gave me.” + </p> + <p> + “You would not have had any trouble,” Captain Whalley said almost + involuntarily, “if you had sent for me.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eliott was immensely amused; he shook with laughter as he walked. + But suddenly he stopped laughing. A vague recollection had crossed his + mind. Hadn’t he heard it said at the time of the Travancore and Deccan + smash that poor Whalley had been cleaned out completely. “Fellow’s hard + up, by heavens!” he thought; and at once he cast a sidelong upward glance + at his companion. But Captain Whalley was smiling austerely straight + before him, with a carriage of the head inconceivable in a penniless man—and + he became reassured. Impossible. Could not have lost everything. That ship + had been only a hobby of his. And the reflection that a man who had + confessed to receiving that very morning a presumably large sum of money + was not likely to spring upon him a demand for a small loan put him + entirely at his ease again. There had come a long pause in their talk, + however, and not knowing how to begin again, he growled out soberly, “We + old fellows ought to take a rest now.” + </p> + <p> + “The best thing for some of us would be to die at the oar,” Captain + Whalley said negligently. + </p> + <p> + “Come, now. Aren’t you a bit tired by this time of the whole show?” + muttered the other sullenly. + </p> + <p> + “Are you?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eliott was. Infernally tired. He only hung on to his berth so long + in order to get his pension on the highest scale before he went home. It + would be no better than poverty, anyhow; still, it was the only thing + between him and the workhouse. And he had a family. Three girls, as + Whalley knew. He gave “Harry, old boy,” to understand that these three + girls were a source of the greatest anxiety and worry to him. Enough to + drive a man distracted. + </p> + <p> + “Why? What have they been doing now?” asked Captain Whalley with a sort of + amused absent-mindedness. + </p> + <p> + “Doing! Doing nothing. That’s just it. Lawn-tennis and silly novels from + morning to night. . . .” + </p> + <p> + If one of them at least had been a boy. But all three! And, as ill-luck + would have it, there did not seem to be any decent young fellows left in + the world. When he looked around in the club he saw only a lot of + conceited popinjays too selfish to think of making a good woman happy. + Extreme indigence stared him in the face with all that crowd to keep at + home. He had cherished the idea of building himself a little house in the + country—in Surrey—to end his days in, but he was afraid it was + out of the question, . . . and his staring eyes rolled upwards with such a + pathetic anxiety that Captain Whalley charitably nodded down at him, + restraining a sort of sickening desire to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “You must know what it is yourself, Harry. Girls are the very devil for + worry and anxiety.” + </p> + <p> + “Ay! But mine is doing well,” Captain Whalley pronounced slowly, staring + to the end of the avenue. + </p> + <p> + The Master-Attendant was glad to hear this. Uncommonly glad. He remembered + her well. A pretty girl she was. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, stepping out carelessly, assented as if in a dream. + </p> + <p> + “She was pretty.” + </p> + <p> + The procession of carriages was breaking up. + </p> + <p> + One after another they left the file to go off at a trot, animating the + vast avenue with their scattered life and movement; but soon the aspect of + dignified solitude returned and took possession of the straight wide road. + A syce in white stood at the head of a Burmah pony harnessed to a + varnished two-wheel cart; and the whole thing waiting by the curb seemed + no bigger than a child’s toy forgotten under the soaring trees. Captain + Eliott waddled up to it and made as if to clamber in, but refrained; and + keeping one hand resting easily on the shaft, he changed the conversation + from his pension, his daughters, and his poverty back again to the only + other topic in the world—the Marine Office, the men and the ships of + the port. + </p> + <p> + He proceeded to give instances of what was expected of him; and his thick + voice drowsed in the still air like the obstinate droning of an enormous + bumble-bee. Captain Whalley did not know what was the force or the + weakness that prevented him from saying good-night and walking away. It + was as though he had been too tired to make the effort. How queer. More + queer than any of Ned’s instances. Or was it that overpowering sense of + idleness alone that made him stand there and listen to these stories. + Nothing very real had ever troubled Ned Eliott; and gradually he seemed to + detect deep in, as if wrapped up in the gross wheezy rumble, something of + the clear hearty voice of the young captain of the Ringdove. He wondered + if he too had changed to the same extent; and it seemed to him that the + voice of his old chum had not changed so very much—that the man was + the same. Not a bad fellow the pleasant, jolly Ned Eliott, friendly, well + up to his business—and always a bit of a humbug. He remembered how + he used to amuse his poor wife. She could read him like an open book. When + the Condor and the Ringdove happened to be in port together, she would + frequently ask him to bring Captain Eliott to dinner. They had not met + often since those old days. Not once in five years, perhaps. He regarded + from under his white eyebrows this man he could not bring himself to take + into his confidence at this juncture; and the other went on with his + intimate outpourings, and as remote from his hearer as though he had been + talking on a hill-top a mile away. + </p> + <p> + He was in a bit of a quandary now as to the steamer Sofala. Ultimately + every hitch in the port came into his hands to undo. They would miss him + when he was gone in another eighteen months, and most likely some retired + naval officer had been pitchforked into the appointment—a man that + would understand nothing and care less. That steamer was a coasting craft + having a steady trade connection as far north as Tenasserim; but the + trouble was she could get no captain to take her on her regular trip. + Nobody would go in her. He really had no power, of course, to order a man + to take a job. It was all very well to stretch a point on the demand of a + consul-general, but . . . + </p> + <p> + “What’s the matter with the ship?” Captain Whalley interrupted in measured + tones. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing’s the matter. Sound old steamer. Her owner has been in my office + this afternoon tearing his hair.” + </p> + <p> + “Is he a white man?” asked Whalley in an interested voice. + </p> + <p> + “He calls himself a white man,” answered the Master-Attendant scornfully; + “but if so, it’s just skin-deep and no more. I told him that to his face + too.” + </p> + <p> + “But who is he, then?” + </p> + <p> + “He’s the chief engineer of her. See <i>that</i>, Harry?” + </p> + <p> + “I see,” Captain Whalley said thoughtfully. “The engineer. I see.” + </p> + <p> + How the fellow came to be a shipowner at the same time was quite a tale. + He came out third in a home ship nearly fifteen years ago, Captain Eliott + remembered, and got paid off after a bad sort of row both with his skipper + and his chief. Anyway, they seemed jolly glad to get rid of him at all + costs. Clearly a mutinous sort of chap. Well, he remained out here, a + perfect nuisance, everlastingly shipped and unshipped, unable to keep a + berth very long; pretty nigh went through every engine-room afloat + belonging to the colony. Then suddenly, “What do you think happened, + Harry?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, who seemed lost in a mental effort as of doing a sum in + his head, gave a slight start. He really couldn’t imagine. The + Master-Attendant’s voice vibrated dully with hoarse emphasis. The man + actually had the luck to win the second prize in the Manilla lottery. All + these engineers and officers of ships took tickets in that gamble. It + seemed to be a perfect mania with them all. + </p> + <p> + Everybody expected now that he would take himself off home with his money, + and go to the devil in his own way. Not at all. The Sofala, judged too + small and not quite modern enough for the sort of trade she was in, could + be got for a moderate price from her owners, who had ordered a new steamer + from Europe. He rushed in and bought her. This man had never given any + signs of that sort of mental intoxication the mere fact of getting hold of + a large sum of money may produce—not till he got a ship of his own; + but then he went off his balance all at once: came bouncing into the + Marine Office on some transfer business, with his hat hanging over his + left eye and switching a little cane in his hand, and told each one of the + clerks separately that “Nobody could put him out now. It was his turn. + There was no one over him on earth, and there never would be either.” He + swaggered and strutted between the desks, talking at the top of his voice, + and trembling like a leaf all the while, so that the current business of + the office was suspended for the time he was in there, and everybody in + the big room stood open-mouthed looking at his antics. Afterwards he could + be seen during the hottest hours of the day with his face as red as fire + rushing along up and down the quays to look at his ship from different + points of view: he seemed inclined to stop every stranger he came across + just to let them know “that there would be no longer anyone over him; he + had bought a ship; nobody on earth could put him out of his engine-room + now.” + </p> + <p> + Good bargain as she was, the price of the Sofala took up pretty near all + the lottery-money. He had left himself no capital to work with. That did + not matter so much, for these were the halcyon days of steam coasting + trade, before some of the home shipping firms had thought of establishing + local fleets to feed their main lines. These, when once organized, took + the biggest slices out of that cake, of course; and by-and-by a squad of + confounded German tramps turned up east of Suez Canal and swept up all the + crumbs. They prowled on the cheap to and fro along the coast and between + the islands, like a lot of sharks in the water ready to snap up anything + you let drop. And then the high old times were over for good; for years + the Sofala had made no more, he judged, than a fair living. Captain Eliott + looked upon it as his duty in every way to assist an English ship to hold + her own; and it stood to reason that if for want of a captain the Sofala + began to miss her trips she would very soon lose her trade. There was the + quandary. The man was too impracticable. “Too much of a beggar on + horseback from the first,” he explained. “Seemed to grow worse as the time + went on. In the last three years he’s run through eleven skippers; he had + tried every single man here, outside of the regular lines. I had warned + him before that this would not do. And now, of course, no one will look at + the Sofala. I had one or two men up at my office and talked to them; but, + as they said to me, what was the good of taking the berth to lead a + regular dog’s life for a month and then get the sack at the end of the + first trip? The fellow, of course, told me it was all nonsense; there has + been a plot hatching for years against him. And now it had come. All the + horrid sailors in the port had conspired to bring him to his knees, + because he was an engineer.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eliott emitted a throaty chuckle. + </p> + <p> + “And the fact is, that if he misses a couple more trips he need never + trouble himself to start again. He won’t find any cargo in his old trade. + There’s too much competition nowadays for people to keep their stuff lying + about for a ship that does not turn up when she’s expected. It’s a bad + lookout for him. He swears he will shut himself on board and starve to + death in his cabin rather than sell her—even if he could find a + buyer. And that’s not likely in the least. Not even the Japs would give + her insured value for her. It isn’t like selling sailing-ships. Steamers + <i>do</i> get out of date, besides getting old.” + </p> + <p> + “He must have laid by a good bit of money though,” observed Captain + Whalley quietly. + </p> + <p> + The Harbor-master puffed out his purple cheeks to an amazing size. + </p> + <p> + “Not a stiver, Harry. Not—a—single—sti-ver.” + </p> + <p> + He waited; but as Captain Whalley, stroking his beard slowly, looked down + on the ground without a word, he tapped him on the forearm, tiptoed, and + said in a hoarse whisper— + </p> + <p> + “The Manilla lottery has been eating him up.” + </p> + <p> + He frowned a little, nodding in tiny affirmative jerks. They all were + going in for it; a third of the wages paid to ships’ officers (“in my + port,” he snorted) went to Manilla. It was a mania. That fellow Massy had + been bitten by it like the rest of them from the first; but after winning + once he seemed to have persuaded himself he had only to try again to get + another big prize. He had taken dozens and scores of tickets for every + drawing since. What with this vice and his ignorance of affairs, ever + since he had improvidently bought that steamer he had been more or less + short of money. + </p> + <p> + This, in Captain Eliott’s opinion, gave an opening for a sensible + sailor-man with a few pounds to step in and save that fool from the + consequences of his folly. It was his craze to quarrel with his captains. + He had had some really good men too, who would have been too glad to stay + if he would only let them. But no. He seemed to think he was no owner + unless he was kicking somebody out in the morning and having a row with + the new man in the evening. What was wanted for him was a master with a + couple of hundred or so to take an interest in the ship on proper + conditions. You don’t discharge a man for no fault, only because of the + fun of telling him to pack up his traps and go ashore, when you know that + in that case you are bound to buy back his share. On the other hand, a + fellow with an interest in the ship is not likely to throw up his job in a + huff about a trifle. He had told Massy that. He had said: “‘This won’t do, + Mr. Massy. We are getting very sick of you here in the Marine Office. What + you must do now is to try whether you could get a sailor to join you as + partner. That seems to be the only way.’ And that was sound advice, + Harry.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, leaning on his stick, was perfectly still all over, and + his hand, arrested in the act of stroking, grasped his whole beard. And + what did the fellow say to that? + </p> + <p> + The fellow had the audacity to fly out at the Master-Attendant. He had + received the advice in a most impudent manner. “I didn’t come here to be + laughed at,” he had shrieked. “I appeal to you as an Englishman and a + shipowner brought to the verge of ruin by an illegal conspiracy of your + beggarly sailors, and all you condescend to do for me is to tell me to go + and get a partner!” . . . The fellow had presumed to stamp with rage on + the floor of the private office. Where was he going to get a partner? Was + he being taken for a fool? Not a single one of that contemptible lot + ashore at the “Home” had twopence in his pocket to bless himself with. The + very native curs in the bazaar knew that much. . . . “And it’s true + enough, Harry,” rumbled Captain Eliott judicially. “They are much more + likely one and all to owe money to the Chinamen in Denham Road for the + clothes on their backs. ‘Well,’ said I, ‘you make too much noise over it + for my taste, Mr. Massy. Good morning.’ He banged the door after him; he + dared to bang my door, confound his cheek!” + </p> + <p> + The head of the Marine department was out of breath with indignation; then + recollecting himself as it were, “I’ll end by being late to dinner—yarning + with you here . . . wife doesn’t like it.” + </p> + <p> + He clambered ponderously into the trap; leaned out sideways, and only then + wondered wheezily what on earth Captain Whalley could have been doing with + himself of late. They had had no sight of each other for years and years + till the other day when he had seen him unexpectedly in the office. + </p> + <p> + What on earth . . . + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley seemed to be smiling to himself in his white beard. + </p> + <p> + “The earth is big,” he said vaguely. + </p> + <p> + The other, as if to test the statement, stared all round from his + driving-seat. The Esplanade was very quiet; only from afar, from very far, + a long way from the seashore, across the stretches of grass, through the + long ranges of trees, came faintly the toot—toot—toot of the + cable car beginning to roll before the empty peristyle of the Public + Library on its three-mile journey to the New Harbor Docks. + </p> + <p> + “Doesn’t seem to be so much room on it,” growled the Master-Attendant, + “since these Germans came along shouldering us at every turn. It was not + so in our time.” + </p> + <p> + He fell into deep thought, breathing stertorously, as though he had been + taking a nap open-eyed. Perhaps he too, on his side, had detected in the + silent pilgrim-like figure, standing there by the wheel, like an arrested + wayfarer, the buried lineaments of the features belonging to the young + captain of the Condor. Good fellow—Harry Whalley—never very + talkative. You never knew what he was up to—a bit too off-hand with + people of consequence, and apt to take a wrong view of a fellow’s actions. + Fact was he had a too good opinion of himself. He would have liked to tell + him to get in and drive him home to dinner. But one never knew. Wife would + not like it. + </p> + <p> + “And it’s funny to think, Harry,” he went on in a big, subdued drone, + “that of all the people on it there seems only you and I left to remember + this part of the world as it used to be . . .” + </p> + <p> + He was ready to indulge in the sweetness of a sentimental mood had it not + struck him suddenly that Captain Whalley, unstirring and without a word, + seemed to be awaiting something—perhaps expecting . . . He gathered + the reins at once and burst out in bluff, hearty growls— + </p> + <p> + “Ha! My dear boy. The men we have known—the ships we’ve sailed—ay! + and the things we’ve done . . .” + </p> + <p> + The pony plunged—the syce skipped out of the way. Captain Whalley + raised his arm. + </p> + <p> + “Good-by.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI + </h2> + <p> + The sun had set. And when, after drilling a deep hole with his stick, he + moved from that spot the night had massed its army of shadows under the + trees. They filled the eastern ends of the avenues as if only waiting the + signal for a general advance upon the open spaces of the world; they were + gathering low between the deep stone-faced banks of the canal. The Malay + prau, half-concealed under the arch of the bridge, had not altered its + position a quarter of an inch. For a long time Captain Whalley stared down + over the parapet, till at last the floating immobility of that beshrouded + thing seemed to grow upon him into something inexplicable and alarming. + The twilight abandoned the zenith; its reflected gleams left the world + below, and the water of the canal seemed to turn into pitch. Captain + Whalley crossed it. + </p> + <p> + The turning to the right, which was his way to his hotel, was only a very + few steps farther. He stopped again (all the houses of the sea-front were + shut up, the quayside was deserted, but for one or two figures of natives + walking in the distance) and began to reckon the amount of his bill. So + many days in the hotel at so many dollars a day. To count the days he used + his fingers: plunging one hand into his pocket, he jingled a few silver + coins. All right for three days more; and then, unless something turned + up, he must break into the five hundred—Ivy’s money—invested + in her father. It seemed to him that the first meal coming out of that + reserve would choke him—for certain. Reason was of no use. It was a + matter of feeling. His feelings had never played him false. + </p> + <p> + He did not turn to the right. He walked on, as if there still had been a + ship in the roadstead to which he could get himself pulled off in the + evening. Far away, beyond the houses, on the slope of an indigo promontory + closing the view of the quays, the slim column of a factory-chimney smoked + quietly straight up into the clear air. A Chinaman, curled down in the + stern of one of the half-dozen sampans floating off the end of the jetty, + caught sight of a beckoning hand. He jumped up, rolled his pigtail round + his head swiftly, tucked in two rapid movements his wide dark trousers + high up his yellow thighs, and by a single, noiseless, finlike stir of the + oars, sheered the sampan alongside the steps with the ease and precision + of a swimming fish. + </p> + <p> + “Sofala,” articulated Captain Whalley from above; and the Chinaman, a new + emigrant probably, stared upwards with a tense attention as if waiting to + see the queer word fall visibly from the white man’s lips. “Sofala,” + Captain Whalley repeated; and suddenly his heart failed him. He paused. + The shores, the islets, the high ground, the low points, were dark: the + horizon had grown somber; and across the eastern sweep of the shore the + white obelisk, marking the landing-place of the telegraph-cable, stood + like a pale ghost on the beach before the dark spread of uneven roofs, + intermingled with palms, of the native town. Captain Whalley began again. + </p> + <p> + “Sofala. Savee So-fa-la, John?” + </p> + <p> + This time the Chinaman made out that bizarre sound, and grunted his assent + uncouthly, low down in his bare throat. With the first yellow twinkle of a + star that appeared like the head of a pin stabbed deep into the smooth, + pale, shimmering fabric of the sky, the edge of a keen chill seemed to + cleave through the warm air of the earth. At the moment of stepping into + the sampan to go and try for the command of the Sofala Captain Whalley + shivered a little. + </p> + <p> + When on his return he landed on the quay again Venus, like a choice jewel + set low on the hem of the sky, cast a faint gold trail behind him upon the + roadstead, as level as a floor made of one dark and polished stone. The + lofty vaults of the avenues were black—all black overhead—and + the porcelain globes on the lamp-posts resembled egg-shaped pearls, + gigantic and luminous, displayed in a row whose farther end seemed to sink + in the distance, down to the level of his knees. He put his hands behind + his back. He would now consider calmly the discretion of it before saying + the final word to-morrow. His feet scrunched the gravel loudly—the + discretion of it. It would have been easier to appraise had there been a + workable alternative. The honesty of it was indubitable: he meant well by + the fellow; and periodically his shadow leaped up intense by his side on + the trunks of the trees, to lengthen itself, oblique and dim, far over the + grass—repeating his stride. + </p> + <p> + The discretion of it. Was there a choice? He seemed already to have lost + something of himself; to have given up to a hungry specter something of + his truth and dignity in order to live. But his life was necessary. Let + poverty do its worst in exacting its toll of humiliation. It was certain + that Ned Eliott had rendered him, without knowing it, a service for which + it would have been impossible to ask. He hoped Ned would not think there + had been something underhand in his action. He supposed that now when he + heard of it he would understand—or perhaps he would only think + Whalley an eccentric old fool. What would have been the good of telling + him—any more than of blurting the whole tale to that man Massy? Five + hundred pounds ready to invest. Let him make the best of that. Let him + wonder. You want a captain—I want a ship. That’s enough. B-r-r-r-r. + What a disagreeable impression that empty, dark, echoing steamer had made + upon him. . . . + </p> + <p> + A laid-up steamer was a dead thing and no mistake; a sailing-ship somehow + seems always ready to spring into life with the breath of the + incorruptible heaven; but a steamer, thought Captain Whalley, with her + fires out, without the warm whiffs from below meeting you on her decks, + without the hiss of steam, the clangs of iron in her breast—lies + there as cold and still and pulseless as a corpse. + </p> + <p> + In the solitude of the avenue, all black above and lighted below, Captain + Whalley, considering the discretion of his course, met, as it were + incidentally, the thought of death. He pushed it aside with dislike and + contempt. He almost laughed at it; and in the unquenchable vitality of his + age only thought with a kind of exultation how little he needed to keep + body and soul together. Not a bad investment for the poor woman this solid + carcass of her father. And for the rest—in case of anything—the + agreement should be clear: the whole five hundred to be paid back to her + integrally within three months. Integrally. Every penny. He was not to + lose any of her money whatever else had to go—a little dignity—some + of his self-respect. He had never before allowed anybody to remain under + any sort of false impression as to himself. Well, let that go—for + her sake. After all, he had never <i>said</i> anything misleading—and + Captain Whalley felt himself corrupt to the marrow of his bones. He + laughed a little with the intimate scorn of his worldly prudence. Clearly, + with a fellow of that sort, and in the peculiar relation they were to + stand to each other, it would not have done to blurt out everything. He + did not like the fellow. He did not like his spells of fawning loquacity + and bursts of resentfulness. In the end—a poor devil. He would not + have liked to stand in his shoes. Men were not evil, after all. He did not + like his sleek hair, his queer way of standing at right angles, with his + nose in the air, and glancing along his shoulder at you. No. On the whole, + men were not bad—they were only silly or unhappy. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley had finished considering the discretion of that step—and + there was the whole long night before him. In the full light his long + beard would glisten like a silver breastplate covering his heart; in the + spaces between the lamps his burly figure passed less distinct, loomed + very big, wandering, and mysterious. No; there was not much real harm in + men: and all the time a shadow marched with him, slanting on his left hand—which + in the East is a presage of evil. + </p> + <p> + . . . . . . . + </p> + <p> + “Can you make out the clump of palms yet, Serang?” asked Captain Whalley + from his chair on the bridge of the Sofala approaching the bar of Batu + Beru. + </p> + <p> + “No, Tuan. By-and-by see.” The old Malay, in a blue dungaree suit, planted + on his bony dark feet under the bridge awning, put his hands behind his + back and stared ahead out of the innumerable wrinkles at the corners of + his eyes. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley sat still, without lifting his head to look for himself. + Three years—thirty-six times. He had made these palms thirty-six + times from the southward. They would come into view at the proper time. + Thank God, the old ship made her courses and distances trip after trip, as + correct as clockwork. At last he murmured again— + </p> + <p> + “In sight yet?” + </p> + <p> + “The sun makes a very great glare, Tuan.” + </p> + <p> + “Watch well, Serang.” + </p> + <p> + “Ya, Tuan.” + </p> + <p> + A white man had ascended the ladder from the deck noiselessly, and had + listened quietly to this short colloquy. Then he stepped out on the bridge + and began to walk from end to end, holding up the long cherrywood stem of + a pipe. His black hair lay plastered in long lanky wisps across the bald + summit of his head; he had a furrowed brow, a yellow complexion, and a + thick shapeless nose. A scanty growth of whisker did not conceal the + contour of his jaw. His aspect was of brooding care; and sucking at a + curved black mouthpiece, he presented such a heavy overhanging profile + that even the Serang could not help reflecting sometimes upon the extreme + unloveliness of some white men. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley seemed to brace himself up in his chair, but gave no + recognition whatever to his presence. The other puffed jets of smoke; then + suddenly— + </p> + <p> + “I could never understand that new mania of yours of having this Malay + here for your shadow, partner.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley got up from the chair in all his imposing stature and + walked across to the binnacle, holding such an unswerving course that the + other had to back away hurriedly, and remained as if intimidated, with the + pipe trembling in his hand. “Walk over me now,” he muttered in a sort of + astounded and discomfited whisper. Then slowly and distinctly he said— + </p> + <p> + “I—am—not—dirt.” And then added defiantly, “As you seem + to think.” + </p> + <p> + The Serang jerked out— + </p> + <p> + “See the palms now, Tuan.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley strode forward to the rail; but his eyes, instead of going + straight to the point, with the assured keen glance of a sailor, wandered + irresolutely in space, as though he, the discoverer of new routes, had + lost his way upon this narrow sea. + </p> + <p> + Another white man, the mate, came up on the bridge. He was tall, young, + lean, with a mustache like a trooper, and something malicious in the eye. + He took up a position beside the engineer. Captain Whalley, with his back + to them, inquired— + </p> + <p> + “What’s on the log?” + </p> + <p> + “Eighty-five,” answered the mate quickly, and nudged the engineer with his + elbow. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley’s muscular hands squeezed the iron rail with an + extraordinary force; his eyes glared with an enormous effort; he knitted + his eyebrows, the perspiration fell from under his hat,—and in a + faint voice he murmured, “Steady her, Serang—when she is on the + proper bearing.” + </p> + <p> + The silent Malay stepped back, waited a little, and lifted his arm + warningly to the helmsman. The wheel revolved rapidly to meet the swing of + the ship. Again the mate nudged the engineer. But Massy turned upon him. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Sterne,” he said violently, “let me tell you—as a shipowner—that + you are no better than a confounded fool.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII + </h2> + <p> + Sterne went down smirking and apparently not at all disconcerted, but the + engineer Massy remained on the bridge, moving about with uneasy + self-assertion. Everybody on board was his inferior—everyone without + exception. He paid their wages and found them in their food. They ate more + of his bread and pocketed more of his money than they were worth; and they + had no care in the world, while he alone had to meet all the difficulties + of shipowning. When he contemplated his position in all its menacing + entirety, it seemed to him that he had been for years the prey of a band + of parasites: and for years he had scowled at everybody connected with the + Sofala except, perhaps, at the Chinese firemen who served to get her + along. Their use was manifest: they were an indispensable part of the + machinery of which he was the master. + </p> + <p> + When he passed along his decks he shouldered those he came across + brutally; but the Malay deck hands had learned to dodge out of his way. He + had to bring himself to tolerate them because of the necessary manual + labor of the ship which must be done. He had to struggle and plan and + scheme to keep the Sofala afloat—and what did he get for it? Not + even enough respect. They could not have given him enough of that if all + their thoughts and all their actions had been directed to that end. The + vanity of possession, the vainglory of power, had passed away by this + time, and there remained only the material embarrassments, the fear of + losing that position which had turned out not worth having, and an anxiety + of thought which no abject subservience of men could repay. + </p> + <p> + He walked up and down. The bridge was his own after all. He had paid for + it; and with the stem of the pipe in his hand he would stop short at times + as if to listen with a profound and concentrated attention to the deadened + beat of the engines (his own engines) and the slight grinding of the + steering chains upon the continuous low wash of water alongside. But for + these sounds, the ship might have been lying as still as if moored to a + bank, and as silent as if abandoned by every living soul; only the coast, + the low coast of mud and mangroves with the three palms in a bunch at the + back, grew slowly more distinct in its long straight line, without a + single feature to arrest attention. The native passengers of the Sofala + lay about on mats under the awnings; the smoke of her funnel seemed the + only sign of her life and connected with her gliding motion in a + mysterious manner. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley on his feet, with a pair of binoculars in his hand and the + little Malay Serang at his elbow, like an old giant attended by a wizened + pigmy, was taking her over the shallow water of the bar. + </p> + <p> + This submarine ridge of mud, scoured by the stream out of the soft bottom + of the river and heaped up far out on the hard bottom of the sea, was + difficult to get over. The alluvial coast having no distinguishing marks, + the bearings of the crossing-place had to be taken from the shape of the + mountains inland. The guidance of a form flattened and uneven at the top + like a grinder tooth, and of another smooth, saddle-backed summit, had to + be searched for within the great unclouded glare that seemed to shift and + float like a dry fiery mist, filling the air, ascending from the water, + shrouding the distances, scorching to the eye. In this veil of light the + near edge of the shore alone stood out almost coal-black with an opaque + and motionless solidity. Thirty miles away the serrated range of the + interior stretched across the horizon, its outlines and shades of blue, + faint and tremulous like a background painted on airy gossamer on the + quivering fabric of an impalpable curtain let down to the plain of + alluvial soil; and the openings of the estuary appeared, shining white, + like bits of silver let into the square pieces snipped clean and sharp out + of the body of the land bordered with mangroves. + </p> + <p> + On the forepart of the bridge the giant and the pigmy muttered to each + other frequently in quiet tones. Behind them Massy stood sideways with an + expression of disdain and suspense on his face. His globular eyes were + perfectly motionless, and he seemed to have forgotten the long pipe he + held in his hand. + </p> + <p> + On the fore-deck below the bridge, steeply roofed with the white slopes of + the awnings, a young lascar seaman had clambered outside the rail. He + adjusted quickly a broad band of sail canvas under his armpits, and + throwing his chest against it, leaned out far over the water. The sleeves + of his thin cotton shirt, cut off close to the shoulder, bared his brown + arm of full rounded form and with a satiny skin like a woman’s. He swung + it rigidly with the rotary and menacing action of a slinger: the 14-lb. + weight hurtled circling in the air, then suddenly flew ahead as far as the + curve of the bow. The wet thin line swished like scratched silk running + through the dark fingers of the man, and the plunge of the lead close to + the ship’s side made a vanishing silvery scar upon the golden glitter; + then after an interval the voice of the young Malay uplifted and + long-drawn declared the depth of the water in his own language. + </p> + <p> + “Tiga stengah,” he cried after each splash and pause, gathering the line + busily for another cast. “Tiga stengah,” which means three fathom and a + half. For a mile or so from seaward there was a uniform depth of water + right up to the bar. “Half-three. Half-three. Half-three,”—and his + modulated cry, returned leisurely and monotonous, like the repeated call + of a bird, seemed to float away in sunshine and disappear in the spacious + silence of the empty sea and of a lifeless shore lying open, north and + south, east and west, without the stir of a single cloud-shadow or the + whisper of any other voice. + </p> + <p> + The owner-engineer of the Sofala remained very still behind the two seamen + of different race, creed, and color; the European with the time-defying + vigor of his old frame, the little Malay, old, too, but slight and + shrunken like a withered brown leaf blown by a chance wind under the + mighty shadow of the other. Very busy looking forward at the land, they + had not a glance to spare; and Massy, glaring at them from behind, seemed + to resent their attention to their duty like a personal slight upon + himself. + </p> + <p> + This was unreasonable; but he had lived in his own world of unreasonable + resentments for many years. At last, passing his moist palm over the rare + lanky wisps of coarse hair on the top of his yellow head, he began to talk + slowly. + </p> + <p> + “A leadsman, you want! I suppose that’s your correct mail-boat style. + Haven’t you enough judgment to tell where you are by looking at the land? + Why, before I had been a twelvemonth in the trade I was up to that trick—and + I am only an engineer. I can point to you from here where the bar is, and + I could tell you besides that you are as likely as not to stick her in the + mud in about five minutes from now; only you would call it interfering, I + suppose. And there’s that written agreement of ours, that says I mustn’t + interfere.” + </p> + <p> + His voice stopped. Captain Whalley, without relaxing the set severity of + his features, moved his lips to ask in a quick mumble— + </p> + <p> + “How near, Serang?” + </p> + <p> + “Very near now, Tuan,” the Malay muttered rapidly. + </p> + <p> + “Dead slow,” said the Captain aloud in a firm tone. + </p> + <p> + The Serang snatched at the handle of the telegraph. A gong clanged down + below. Massy with a scornful snigger walked off and put his head down the + engineroom skylight. + </p> + <p> + “You may expect some rare fooling with the engines, Jack,” he bellowed. + The space into which he stared was deep and full of gloom; and the gray + gleams of steel down there seemed cool after the intense glare of the sea + around the ship. The air, however, came up clammy and hot on his face. A + short hoot on which it would have been impossible to put any sort of + interpretation came from the bottom cavernously. This was the way in which + the second engineer answered his chief. + </p> + <p> + He was a middle-aged man with an inattentive manner, and apparently + wrapped up in such a taciturn concern for his engines that he seemed to + have lost the use of speech. When addressed directly his only answer would + be a grunt or a hoot, according to the distance. For all the years he had + been in the Sofala he had never been known to exchange as much as a frank + Good-morning with any of his shipmates. He did not seem aware that men + came and went in the world; he did not seem to see them at all. Indeed he + never recognized his ship mates on shore. At table (the four white men of + the Sofala messed together) he sat looking into his plate dispassionately, + but at the end of the meal would jump up and bolt down below as if a + sudden thought had impelled him to rush and see whether somebody had not + stolen the engines while he dined. In port at the end of the trip he went + ashore regularly, but no one knew where he spent his evenings or in what + manner. The local coasting fleet had preserved a wild and incoherent tale + of his infatuation for the wife of a sergeant in an Irish infantry + regiment. The regiment, however, had done its turn of garrison duty there + ages before, and was gone somewhere to the other side of the earth, out of + men’s knowledge. Twice or perhaps three times in the course of the year he + would take too much to drink. On these occasions he returned on board at + an earlier hour than usual; ran across the deck balancing himself with his + spread arms like a tight-rope walker; and locking the door of his cabin, + he would converse and argue with himself the livelong night in an amazing + variety of tones; storm, sneer, and whine with an inexhaustible + persistence. Massy in his berth next door, raising himself on his elbow, + would discover that his second had remembered the name of every white man + that had passed through the Sofala for years and years back. He remembered + the names of men that had died, that had gone home, that had gone to + America: he remembered in his cups the names of men whose connection with + the ship had been so short that Massy had almost forgotten its + circumstances and could barely recall their faces. The inebriated voice on + the other side of the bulkhead commented upon them all with an + extraordinary and ingenious venom of scandalous inventions. It seems they + had all offended him in some way, and in return he had found them all out. + He muttered darkly; he laughed sardonically; he crushed them one after + another; but of his chief, Massy, he babbled with an envious and naive + admiration. Clever scoundrel! Don’t meet the likes of him every day. Just + look at him. Ha! Great! Ship of his own. Wouldn’t catch <i>him</i> going + wrong. No fear—the beast! And Massy, after listening with a + gratified smile to these artless tributes to his greatness, would begin to + shout, thumping at the bulkhead with both fists— + </p> + <p> + “Shut up, you lunatic! Won’t you let me go to sleep, you fool!” + </p> + <p> + But a half smile of pride lingered on his lips; outside the solitary + lascar told off for night duty in harbor, perhaps a youth fresh from a + forest village, would stand motionless in the shadows of the deck + listening to the endless drunken gabble. His heart would be thumping with + breathless awe of white men: the arbitrary and obstinate men who pursue + inflexibly their incomprehensible purposes,—beings with weird + intonations in the voice, moved by unaccountable feelings, actuated by + inscrutable motives. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="linkeight" id="linkeight"></a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + VIII + </h2> + <p> + For a while after his second’s answering hoot Massy hung over the + engine-room gloomily. Captain Whalley, who, by the power of five hundred + pounds, had kept his command for three years, might have been suspected of + never having seen that coast before. He seemed unable to put down his + glasses, as though they had been glued under his contracted eyebrows. This + settled frown gave to his face an air of invincible and just severity; but + his raised elbow trembled slightly, and the perspiration poured from under + his hat as if a second sun had suddenly blazed up at the zenith by the + side of the ardent still globe already there, in whose blinding white heat + the earth whirled and shone like a mote of dust. + </p> + <p> + From time to time, still holding up his glasses, he raised his other hand + to wipe his streaming face. The drops rolled down his cheeks, fell like + rain upon the white hairs of his beard, and brusquely, as if guided by an + uncontrollable and anxious impulse, his arm reached out to the stand of + the engine-room telegraph. + </p> + <p> + The gong clanged down below. The balanced vibration of the dead-slow speed + ceased together with every sound and tremor in the ship, as if the great + stillness that reigned upon the coast had stolen in through her sides of + iron and taken possession of her innermost recesses. The illusion of + perfect immobility seemed to fall upon her from the luminous blue dome + without a stain arching over a flat sea without a stir. The faint breeze + she had made for herself expired, as if all at once the air had become too + thick to budge; even the slight hiss of the water on her stem died out. + The narrow, long hull, carrying its way without a ripple, seemed to + approach the shoal water of the bar by stealth. The plunge of the lead + with the mournful, mechanical cry of the lascar came at longer and longer + intervals; and the men on her bridge seemed to hold their breath. The + Malay at the helm looked fixedly at the compass card, the Captain and the + Serang stared at the coast. + </p> + <p> + Massy had left the skylight, and, walking flat-footed, had returned softly + to the very spot on the bridge he had occupied before. A slow, lingering + grin exposed his set of big white teeth: they gleamed evenly in the shade + of the awning like the keyboard of a piano in a dusky room. + </p> + <p> + At last, pretending to talk to himself in excessive astonishment, he said + not very loud— + </p> + <p> + “Stop the engines now. What next, I wonder?” + </p> + <p> + He waited, stooping from the shoulders, his head bowed, his glance + oblique. Then raising his voice a shade— + </p> + <p> + “If I dared make an absurd remark I would say that you haven’t the stomach + to . . .” + </p> + <p> + But a yelling spirit of excitement, like some frantic soul wandering + unsuspected in the vast stillness of the coast, had seized upon the body + of the lascar at the lead. The languid monotony of his sing-song changed + to a swift, sharp clamor. The weight flew after a single whir, the line + whistled, splash followed splash in haste. The water had shoaled, and the + man, instead of the drowsy tale of fathoms, was calling out the soundings + in feet. + </p> + <p> + “Fifteen feet. Fifteen, fifteen! Fourteen, fourteen . . .” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley lowered the arm holding the glasses. It descended slowly + as if by its own weight; no other part of his towering body stirred; and + the swift cries with their eager warning note passed him by as though he + had been deaf. + </p> + <p> + Massy, very still, and turning an attentive ear, had fastened his eyes + upon the silvery, close-cropped back of the steady old head. The ship + herself seemed to be arrested but for the gradual decrease of depth under + her keel. + </p> + <p> + “Thirteen feet . . . Thirteen! Twelve!” cried the leadsman anxiously below + the bridge. And suddenly the barefooted Serang stepped away noiselessly to + steal a glance over the side. + </p> + <p> + Narrow of shoulder, in a suit of faded blue cotton, an old gray felt hat + rammed down on his head, with a hollow in the nape of his dark neck, and + with his slender limbs, he appeared from the back no bigger than a boy of + fourteen. There was a childlike impulsiveness in the curiosity with which + he watched the spread of the voluminous, yellowish convolutions rolling up + from below to the surface of the blue water like massive clouds driving + slowly upwards on the unfathomable sky. He was not startled at the sight + in the least. It was not doubt, but the certitude that the keel of the + Sofala must be stirring the mud now, which made him peep over the side. + </p> + <p> + His peering eyes, set aslant in a face of the Chinese type, a little old + face, immovable, as if carved in old brown oak, had informed him long + before that the ship was not headed at the bar properly. Paid off from the + Fair Maid, together with the rest of the crew, after the completion of the + sale, he had hung, in his faded blue suit and floppy gray hat, about the + doors of the Harbor Office, till one day, seeing Captain Whalley coming + along to get a crew for the Sofala, he had put himself quietly in the way, + with his bare feet in the dust and an upward mute glance. The eyes of his + old commander had fallen on him favorably—it must have been an + auspicious day—and in less than half an hour the white men in the + “Ofiss” had written his name on a document as Serang of the fire-ship + Sofala. Since that time he had repeatedly looked at that estuary, upon + that coast, from this bridge and from this side of the bar. The record of + the visual world fell through his eyes upon his unspeculating mind as on a + sensitized plate through the lens of a camera. His knowledge was absolute + and precise; nevertheless, had he been asked his opinion, and especially + if questioned in the downright, alarming manner of white men, he would + have displayed the hesitation of ignorance. He was certain of his facts—but + such a certitude counted for little against the doubt what answer would be + pleasing. Fifty years ago, in a jungle village, and before he was a day + old, his father (who died without ever seeing a white face) had had his + nativity cast by a man of skill and wisdom in astrology, because in the + arrangement of the stars may be read the last word of human destiny. His + destiny had been to thrive by the favor of various white men on the sea. + He had swept the decks of ships, had tended their helms, had minded their + stores, had risen at last to be a Serang; and his placid mind had remained + as incapable of penetrating the simplest motives of those he served as + they themselves were incapable of detecting through the crust of the earth + the secret nature of its heart, which may be fire or may be stone. But he + had no doubt whatever that the Sofala was out of the proper track for + crossing the bar at Batu Beru. + </p> + <p> + It was a slight error. The ship could not have been more than twice her + own length too far to the northward; and a white man at a loss for a cause + (since it was impossible to suspect Captain Whalley of blundering + ignorance, of want of skill, or of neglect) would have been inclined to + doubt the testimony of his senses. It was some such feeling that kept + Massy motionless, with his teeth laid bare by an anxious grin. Not so the + Serang. He was not troubled by any intellectual mistrust of his senses. If + his captain chose to stir the mud it was well. He had known in his life + white men indulge in outbreaks equally strange. He was only genuinely + interested to see what would come of it. At last, apparently satisfied, he + stepped back from the rail. + </p> + <p> + He had made no sound: Captain Whalley, however, seemed to have observed + the movements of his Serang. Holding his head rigidly, he asked with a + mere stir of his lips— + </p> + <p> + “Going ahead still, Serang?” + </p> + <p> + “Still going a little, Tuan,” answered the Malay. Then added casually, + “She is over.” + </p> + <p> + The lead confirmed his words; the depth of water increased at every cast, + and the soul of excitement departed suddenly from the lascar swung in the + canvas belt over the Sofala’s side. Captain Whalley ordered the lead in, + set the engines ahead without haste, and averting his eyes from the coast + directed the Serang to keep a course for the middle of the entrance. + </p> + <p> + Massy brought the palm of his hand with a loud smack against his thigh. + </p> + <p> + “You grazed on the bar. Just look astern and see if you didn’t. Look at + the track she left. You can see it plainly. Upon my soul, I thought you + would! What made you do that? What on earth made you do that? I believe + you are trying to scare me.” + </p> + <p> + He talked slowly, as it were circumspectly, keeping his prominent black + eyes on his captain. There was also a slight plaintive note in his rising + choler, for, primarily, it was the clear sense of a wrong suffered + undeservedly that made him hate the man who, for a beggarly five hundred + pounds, claimed a sixth part of the profits under the three years’ + agreement. Whenever his resentment got the better of the awe the person of + Captain Whalley inspired he would positively whimper with fury. + </p> + <p> + “You don’t know what to invent to plague my life out of me. I would not + have thought that a man of your sort would condescend . . .” + </p> + <p> + He paused, half hopefully, half timidly, whenever Captain Whalley made the + slightest movement in the deck-chair, as though expecting to be + conciliated by a soft speech or else rushed upon and hunted off the + bridge. + </p> + <p> + “I am puzzled,” he went on again, with the watchful unsmiling baring of + his big teeth. “I don’t know what to think. I do believe you are trying to + frighten me. You very nearly planted her on the bar for at least twelve + hours, besides getting the engines choked with mud. Ships can’t afford to + lose twelve hours on a trip nowadays—as you ought to know very well, + and do know very well to be sure, only . . .” + </p> + <p> + His slow volubility, the sideways cranings of his neck, the black glances + out of the very corners of his eyes, left Captain Whalley unmoved. He + looked at the deck with a severe frown. Massy waited for some little time, + then began to threaten plaintively. + </p> + <p> + “You think you’ve got me bound hand and foot in that agreement. You think + you can torment me in any way you please. Ah! But remember it has another + six weeks to run yet. There’s time for me to dismiss you before the three + years are out. You will do yet something that will give me the chance to + dismiss you, and make you wait a twelvemonth for your money before you can + take yourself off and pull out your five hundred, and leave me without a + penny to get the new boilers for her. You gloat over that idea—don’t + you? I do believe you sit here gloating. It’s as if I had sold my soul for + five hundred pounds to be everlastingly damned in the end. . . .” + </p> + <p> + He paused, without apparent exasperation, then continued evenly— + </p> + <p> + “. . . With the boilers worn out and the survey hanging over my head, + Captain Whalley—Captain Whalley, I say, what do you do with your + money? You must have stacks of money somewhere—a man like you must. + It stands to reason. I am not a fool, you know, Captain Whalley—partner.” + </p> + <p> + Again he paused, as though he had done for good. He passed his tongue over + his lips, gave a backward glance at the Serang conning the ship with quiet + whispers and slight signs of the hand. The wash of the propeller sent a + swift ripple, crested with dark froth, upon a long flat spit of black + slime. The Sofala had entered the river; the trail she had stirred up over + the bar was a mile astern of her now, out of sight, had disappeared + utterly; and the smooth, empty sea along the coast was left behind in the + glittering desolation of sunshine. On each side of her, low down, the + growth of somber twisted mangroves covered the semi-liquid banks; and + Massy continued in his old tone, with an abrupt start, as if his speech + had been ground out of him, like the tune of a music-box, by turning a + handle. + </p> + <p> + “Though if anybody ever got the best of me, it is you. I don’t mind saying + this. I’ve said it—there! What more can you want? Isn’t that enough + for your pride, Captain Whalley. You got over me from the first. It’s all + of a piece, when I look back at it. You allowed me to insert that clause + about intemperance without saying anything, only looking very sick when I + made a point of it going in black on white. How could I tell what was + wrong about you. There’s generally something wrong somewhere. And, lo and + behold! when you come on board it turns out that you’ve been in the habit + of drinking nothing but water for years and years.” + </p> + <p> + His dogmatic reproachful whine stopped. He brooded profoundly, after the + manner of crafty and unintelligent men. It seemed inconceivable that + Captain Whalley should not laugh at the expression of disgust that + overspread the heavy, yellow countenance. But Captain Whalley never raised + his eyes—sitting in his arm-chair, outraged, dignified, and + motionless. + </p> + <p> + “Much good it was to me,” Massy remonstrated monotonously, “to insert a + clause for dismissal for intemperance against a man who drinks nothing but + water. And you looked so upset, too, when I read my draft in the lawyer’s + office that morning, Captain Whalley,—you looked so crestfallen, + that I made sure I had gone home on your weak spot. A shipowner can’t be + too careful as to the sort of skipper he gets. You must have been laughing + at me in your sleeve all the blessed time. . . . Eh? What are you going to + say?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley had only shuffled his feet slightly. A dull animosity + became apparent in Massy’s sideways stare. + </p> + <p> + “But recollect that there are other grounds of dismissal. There’s habitual + carelessness, amounting to incompetence—there’s gross and persistent + neglect of duty. I am not quite as big a fool as you try to make me out to + be. You have been careless of late—leaving everything to that + Serang. Why! I’ve seen you letting that old fool of a Malay take bearings + for you, as if you were too big to attend to your work yourself. And what + do you call that silly touch-and-go manner in which you took the ship over + the bar just now? You expect me to put up with that?” + </p> + <p> + Leaning on his elbow against the ladder abaft the bridge, Sterne, the + mate, tried to hear, blinking the while from the distance at the second + engineer, who had come up for a moment, and stood in the engine-room + companion. Wiping his hands on a bunch of cotton waste, he looked about + with indifference to the right and left at the river banks slipping astern + of the Sofala steadily. + </p> + <p> + Massy turned full at the chair. The character of his whine became again + threatening. + </p> + <p> + “Take care. I may yet dismiss you and freeze to your money for a year. I + may . . .” + </p> + <p> + But before the silent, rigid immobility of the man whose money had come in + the nick of time to save him from utter ruin, his voice died out in his + throat. + </p> + <p> + “Not that I want you to go,” he resumed after a silence, and in an + absurdly insinuating tone. “I want nothing better than to be friends and + renew the agreement, if you will consent to find another couple of hundred + to help with the new boilers, Captain Whalley. I’ve told you before. She + must have new boilers; you know it as well as I do. Have you thought this + over?” + </p> + <p> + He waited. The slender stem of the pipe with its bulky lump of a bowl at + the end hung down from his thick lips. It had gone out. Suddenly he took + it from between his teeth and wrung his hands slightly. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you believe me?” He thrust the pipe bowl into the pocket of his + shiny black jacket. + </p> + <p> + “It’s like dealing with the devil,” he said. “Why don’t you speak? At + first you were so high and mighty with me I hardly dared to creep about my + own deck. Now I can’t get a word from you. You don’t seem to see me at + all. What does it mean? Upon my soul, you terrify me with this deaf and + dumb trick. What’s going on in that head of yours? What are you plotting + against me there so hard that you can’t say a word? You will never make me + believe that you—you—don’t know where to lay your hands on a + couple of hundred. You have made me curse the day I was born. . . .” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Massy,” said Captain Whalley suddenly, without stirring. + </p> + <p> + The engineer started violently. + </p> + <p> + “If that is so I can only beg you to forgive me.” + </p> + <p> + “Starboard,” muttered the Serang to the helmsman; and the Sofala began to + swing round the bend into the second reach. + </p> + <p> + “Ough!” Massy shuddered. “You make my blood run cold. What made you come + here? What made you come aboard that evening all of a sudden, with your + high talk and your money—tempting me? I always wondered what was + your motive? You fastened yourself on me to have easy times and grow fat + on my life blood, I tell you. Was that it? I believe you are the greatest + miser in the world, or else why . . .” + </p> + <p> + “No. I am only poor,” interrupted Captain Whalley, stonily. + </p> + <p> + “Steady,” murmured the Serang. Massy turned away with his chin on his + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t believe it,” he said in his dogmatic tone. Captain Whalley made + no movement. “There you sit like a gorged vulture—exactly like a + vulture.” + </p> + <p> + He embraced the middle of the reach and both the banks in one blank + unseeing circular glance, and left the bridge slowly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IX + </h2> + <p> + On turning to descend Massy perceived the head of Sterne the mate + loitering, with his sly confident smile, his red mustaches and blinking + eyes, at the foot of the ladder. + </p> + <p> + Sterne had been a junior in one of the larger shipping concerns before + joining the Sofala. He had thrown up his berth, he said, “on general + principles.” The promotion in the employ was very slow, he complained, and + he thought it was time for him to try and get on a bit in the world. It + seemed as though nobody would ever die or leave the firm; they all stuck + fast in their berths till they got mildewed; he was tired of waiting; and + he feared that when a vacancy did occur the best servants were by no means + sure of being treated fairly. Besides, the captain he had to serve under—Captain + Provost—was an unaccountable sort of man, and, he fancied, had taken + a dislike to him for some reason or other. For doing rather more than his + bare duty as likely as not. When he had done anything wrong he could take + a talking to, like a man; but he expected to be treated like a man too, + and not to be addressed invariably as though he were a dog. He had asked + Captain Provost plump and plain to tell him where he was at fault, and + Captain Provost, in a most scornful way, had told him that he was a + perfect officer, and that if he disliked the way he was being spoken to + there was the gangway—he could take himself off ashore at once. But + everybody knew what sort of man Captain Provost was. It was no use + appealing to the office. Captain Provost had too much influence in the + employ. All the same, they had to give him a good character. He made bold + to say there was nothing in the world against him, and, as he had happened + to hear that the mate of the Sofala had been taken to the hospital that + morning with a sunstroke, he thought there would be no harm in seeing + whether he would not do. . . . + </p> + <p> + He had come to Captain Whalley freshly shaved, red-faced, thin-flanked, + throwing out his lean chest; and had recited his little tale with an open + and manly assurance. Now and then his eyelids quivered slightly, his hand + would steal up to the end of the flaming mustache; his eyebrows were + straight, furry, of a chestnut color, and the directness of his frank gaze + seemed to tremble on the verge of impudence. Captain Whalley had engaged + him temporarily; then, the other man having been ordered home by the + doctors, he had remained for the next trip, and then the next. He had now + attained permanency, and the performance of his duties was marked by an + air of serious, single-minded application. Directly he was spoken to, he + began to smile attentively, with a great deference expressed in his whole + attitude; but there was in the rapid winking which went on all the time + something quizzical, as though he had possessed the secret of some + universal joke cheating all creation and impenetrable to other mortals. + </p> + <p> + Grave and smiling he watched Massy come down step by step; when the chief + engineer had reached the deck he swung about, and they found themselves + face to face. Matched as to height and utterly dissimilar, they confronted + each other as if there had been something between them—something + else than the bright strip of sunlight that, falling through the wide + lacing of two awnings, cut crosswise the narrow planking of the deck and + separated their feet as it were a stream; something profound and subtle + and incalculable, like an unexpressed understanding, a secret mistrust, or + some sort of fear. + </p> + <p> + At last Sterne, blinking his deep-set eyes and sticking forward his + scraped, clean-cut chin, as crimson as the rest of his face, murmured— + </p> + <p> + “You’ve seen? He grazed! You’ve seen?” + </p> + <p> + Massy, contemptuous, and without raising his yellow, fleshy countenance, + replied in the same pitch— + </p> + <p> + “Maybe. But if it had been you we would have been stuck fast in the mud.” + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, Mr. Massy. I beg to deny it. Of course a shipowner may say + what he jolly well pleases on his own deck. That’s all right; but I beg to + . . .” + </p> + <p> + “Get out of my way!” + </p> + <p> + The other had a slight start, the impulse of suppressed indignation + perhaps, but held his ground. Massy’s downward glance wandered right and + left, as though the deck all round Sterne had been bestrewn with eggs that + must not be broken, and he had looked irritably for places where he could + set his feet in flight. In the end he too did not move, though there was + plenty of room to pass on. + </p> + <p> + “I heard you say up there,” went on the mate—“and a very just remark + it was too—that there’s always something wrong. . . .” + </p> + <p> + “Eavesdropping is what’s wrong with <i>you</i>, Mr. Sterne.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, if you would only listen to me for a moment, Mr. Massy, sir, I could + . . .” + </p> + <p> + “You are a sneak,” interrupted Massy in a great hurry, and even managed to + get so far as to repeat, “a common sneak,” before the mate had broken in + argumentatively— + </p> + <p> + “Now, sir, what is it you want? You want . . .” + </p> + <p> + “I want—I want,” stammered Massy, infuriated and astonished—“I + want. How do you know that I want anything? How dare you? . . . What do + you mean? . . . What are you after—you . . .” + </p> + <p> + “Promotion.” Sterne silenced him with a sort of candid bravado. The + engineer’s round soft cheeks quivered still, but he said quietly enough— + </p> + <p> + “You are only worrying my head off,” and Sterne met him with a confident + little smile. + </p> + <p> + “A chap in business I know (well up in the world he is now) used to tell + me that this was the proper way. ‘Always push on to the front,’ he would + say. ‘Keep yourself well before your boss. Interfere whenever you get a + chance. Show him what you know. Worry him into seeing you.’ That was his + advice. Now I know no other boss than you here. You are the owner, and no + one else counts for <i>that</i> much in my eyes. See, Mr. Massy? I want to + get on. I make no secret of it that I am one of the sort that means to get + on. These are the men to make use of, sir. You haven’t arrived at the top + of the tree, sir, without finding that out—I dare say.” + </p> + <p> + “Worry your boss in order to get on,” mumbled Massy, as if awestruck by + the irreverent originality of the idea. “I shouldn’t wonder if this was + just what the Blue Anchor people kicked you out of the employ for. Is that + what you call getting on? You shall get on in the same way here if you + aren’t careful—I can promise you.” + </p> + <p> + At this Sterne hung his head, thoughtful, perplexed, winking hard at the + deck. All his attempts to enter into confidential relations with his owner + had led of late to nothing better than these dark threats of dismissal; + and a threat of dismissal would check him at once into a hesitating + silence as though he were not sure that the proper time for defying it had + come. On this occasion he seemed to have lost his tongue for a moment, and + Massy, getting in motion, heavily passed him by with an abortive attempt + at shouldering. Sterne defeated it by stepping aside. He turned then + swiftly, opening his mouth very wide as if to shout something after the + engineer, but seemed to think better of it. + </p> + <p> + Always—as he was ready to confess—on the lookout for an + opening to get on, it had become an instinct with him to watch the conduct + of his immediate superiors for something “that one could lay hold of.” It + was his belief that no skipper in the world would keep his command for a + day if only the owners could be “made to know.” This romantic and naive + theory had led him into trouble more than once, but he remained + incorrigible; and his character was so instinctively disloyal that + whenever he joined a ship the intention of ousting his commander out of + the berth and taking his place was always present at the back of his head, + as a matter of course. It filled the leisure of his waking hours with the + reveries of careful plans and compromising discoveries—the dreams of + his sleep with images of lucky turns and favorable accidents. Skippers had + been known to sicken and die at sea, than which nothing could be better to + give a smart mate a chance of showing what he’s made of. They also would + tumble overboard sometimes: he had heard of one or two such cases. Others + again . . . But, as it were constitutionally, he was faithful to the + belief that the conduct of no single one of them would stand the test of + careful watching by a man who “knew what’s what” and who kept his eyes + “skinned pretty well” all the time. + </p> + <p> + After he had gained a permanent footing on board the Sofala he allowed his + perennial hope to rise high. To begin with, it was a great advantage to + have an old man for captain: the sort of man besides who in the nature of + things was likely to give up the job before long from one cause or + another. Sterne was greatly chagrined, however, to notice that he did not + seem anyway near being past his work yet. Still, these old men go to + pieces all at once sometimes. Then there was the owner-engineer close at + hand to be impressed by his zeal and steadiness. Sterne never for a moment + doubted the obvious nature of his own merits (he was really an excellent + officer); only, nowadays, professional merit alone does not take a man + along fast enough. A chap must have some push in him, and must keep his + wits at work too to help him forward. He made up his mind to inherit the + charge of this steamer if it was to be done at all; not indeed estimating + the command of the Sofala as a very great catch, but for the reason that, + out East especially, to make a start is everything, and one command leads + to another. + </p> + <p> + He began by promising himself to behave with great circumspection; Massy’s + somber and fantastic humors intimidated him as being outside one’s usual + sea experience; but he was quite intelligent enough to realize almost from + the first that he was there in the presence of an exceptional situation. + His peculiar prying imagination penetrated it quickly; the feeling that + there was in it an element which eluded his grasp exasperated his + impatience to get on. And so one trip came to an end, then another, and he + had begun his third before he saw an opening by which he could step in + with any sort of effect. It had all been very queer and very obscure; + something had been going on near him, as if separated by a chasm from the + common life and the working routine of the ship, which was exactly like + the life and the routine of any other coasting steamer of that class. + </p> + <p> + Then one day he made his discovery. + </p> + <p> + It came to him after all these weeks of watchful observation and puzzled + surmises, suddenly, like the long-sought solution of a riddle that + suggests itself to the mind in a flash. Not with the same authority, + however. Great heavens! Could it be that? And after remaining + thunderstruck for a few seconds he tried to shake it off with + self-contumely, as though it had been the product of an unhealthy bias + towards the Incredible, the Inexplicable, the Unheard-of—the Mad! + </p> + <p> + This—the illuminating moment—had occurred the trip before, on + the return passage. They had just left a place of call on the mainland + called Pangu; they were steaming straight out of a bay. To the east a + massive headland closed the view, with the tilted edges of the rocky + strata showing through its ragged clothing of rank bushes and thorny + creepers. The wind had begun to sing in the rigging; the sea along the + coast, green and as if swollen a little above the line of the horizon, + seemed to pour itself over, time after time, with a slow and thundering + fall, into the shadow of the leeward cape; and across the wide opening the + nearest of a group of small islands stood enveloped in the hazy yellow + light of a breezy sunrise; still farther out the hummocky tops of other + islets peeped out motionless above the water of the channels between, + scoured tumultuously by the breeze. + </p> + <p> + The usual track of the Sofala both going and returning on every trip led + her for a few miles along this reefinfested region. She followed a broad + lane of water, dropping astern, one after another, these crumbs of the + earth’s crust resembling a squadron of dismasted hulks run in disorder + upon a foul ground of rocks and shoals. Some of these fragments of land + appeared, indeed, no bigger than a stranded ship; others, quite flat, lay + awash like anchored rafts, like ponderous, black rafts of stone; several, + heavily timbered and round at the base, emerged in squat domes of deep + green foliage that shuddered darkly all over to the flying touch of cloud + shadows driven by the sudden gusts of the squally season. The + thunderstorms of the coast broke frequently over that cluster; it turned + then shadowy in its whole extent; it turned more dark, and as if more + still in the play of fire; as if more impenetrably silent in the peals of + thunder; its blurred shapes vanished—dissolving utterly at times in + the thick rain—to reappear clear-cut and black in the stormy light + against the gray sheet of the cloud—scattered on the slaty round + table of the sea. Unscathed by storms, resisting the work of years, + unfretted by the strife of the world, there it lay unchanged as on that + day, four hundred years ago, when first beheld by Western eyes from the + deck of a high-pooped caravel. + </p> + <p> + It was one of these secluded spots that may be found on the busy sea, as + on land you come sometimes upon the clustered houses of a hamlet untouched + by men’s restlessness, untouched by their need, by their thought, and as + if forgotten by time itself. The lives of uncounted generations had passed + it by, and the multitudes of seafowl, urging their way from all the points + of the horizon to sleep on the outer rocks of the group, unrolled the + converging evolutions of their flight in long somber streamers upon the + glow of the sky. The palpitating cloud of their wings soared and stooped + over the pinnacles of the rocks, over the rocks slender like spires, squat + like martello towers; over the pyramidal heaps like fallen ruins, over the + lines of bald bowlders showing like a wall of stones battered to pieces + and scorched by lightning—with the sleepy, clear glimmer of water in + every breach. The noise of their continuous and violent screaming filled + the air. + </p> + <p> + This great noise would meet the Sofala coming up from Batu Beru; it would + meet her on quiet evenings, a pitiless and savage clamor enfeebled by + distance, the clamor of seabirds settling to rest, and struggling for a + footing at the end of the day. No one noticed it especially on board; it + was the voice of their ship’s unerring landfall, ending the steady stretch + of a hundred miles. She had made good her course, she had run her distance + till the punctual islets began to emerge one by one, the points of rocks, + the hummocks of earth . . . and the cloud of birds hovered—the + restless cloud emitting a strident and cruel uproar, the sound of the + familiar scene, the living part of the broken land beneath, of the + outspread sea, and of the high sky without a flaw. + </p> + <p> + But when the Sofala happened to close with the land after sunset she would + find everything very still there under the mantle of the night. All would + be still, dumb, almost invisible—but for the blotting out of the low + constellations occulted in turns behind the vague masses of the islets + whose true outlines eluded the eye amongst the dark spaces of the heaven: + and the ship’s three lights, resembling three stars—the red and the + green with the white above—her three lights, like three companion + stars wandering on the earth, held their unswerving course for the passage + at the southern end of the group. Sometimes there were human eyes open to + watch them come nearer, traveling smoothly in the somber void; the eyes of + a naked fisherman in his canoe floating over a reef. He thought drowsily: + “Ha! The fire-ship that once in every moon goes in and comes out of Pangu + bay.” More he did not know of her. And just as he had detected the faint + rhythm of the propeller beating the calm water a mile and a half away, the + time would come for the Sofala to alter her course, the lights would swing + off him their triple beam—and disappear. + </p> + <p> + A few miserable, half-naked families, a sort of outcast tribe of + long-haired, lean, and wild-eyed people, strove for their living in this + lonely wilderness of islets, lying like an abandoned outwork of the land + at the gates of the bay. Within the knots and loops of the rocks the water + rested more transparent than crystal under their crooked and leaky canoes, + scooped out of the trunk of a tree: the forms of the bottom undulated + slightly to the dip of a paddle; and the men seemed to hang in the air, + they seemed to hang inclosed within the fibers of a dark, sodden log, + fishing patiently in a strange, unsteady, pellucid, green air above the + shoals. + </p> + <p> + Their bodies stalked brown and emaciated as if dried up in the sunshine; + their lives ran out silently; the homes where they were born, went to + rest, and died—flimsy sheds of rushes and coarse grass eked out with + a few ragged mats—were hidden out of sight from the open sea. No + glow of their household fires ever kindled for a seaman a red spark upon + the blind night of the group: and the calms of the coast, the flaming long + calms of the equator, the unbreathing, concentrated calms like the deep + introspection of a passionate nature, brooded awfully for days and weeks + together over the unchangeable inheritance of their children; till at last + the stones, hot like live embers, scorched the naked sole, till the water + clung warm, and sickly, and as if thickened, about the legs of lean men + with girded loins, wading thigh-deep in the pale blaze of the shallows. + And it would happen now and then that the Sofala, through some delay in + one of the ports of call, would heave in sight making for Pangu bay as + late as noonday. + </p> + <p> + Only a blurring cloud at first, the thin mist of her smoke would arise + mysteriously from an empty point on the clear line of sea and sky. The + taciturn fishermen within the reefs would extend their lean arms towards + the offing; and the brown figures stooping on the tiny beaches, the brown + figures of men, women, and children grubbing in the sand in search of + turtles’ eggs, would rise up, crooked elbow aloft and hand over the eyes, + to watch this monthly apparition glide straight on, swerve off—and + go by. Their ears caught the panting of that ship; their eyes followed her + till she passed between the two capes of the mainland going at full speed + as though she hoped to make her way unchecked into the very bosom of the + earth. + </p> + <p> + On such days the luminous sea would give no sign of the dangers lurking on + both sides of her path. Everything remained still, crushed by the + overwhelming power of the light; and the whole group, opaque in the + sunshine,—the rocks resembling pinnacles, the rocks resembling + spires, the rocks resembling ruins; the forms of islets resembling + beehives, resembling mole-hills, the islets recalling the shapes of + haystacks, the contours of ivy-clad towers,—would stand reflected + together upside down in the unwrinkled water, like carved toys of ebony + disposed on the silvered plate-glass of a mirror. + </p> + <p> + The first touch of blowing weather would envelop the whole at once in the + spume of the windward breakers, as if in a sudden cloudlike burst of + steam; and the clear water seemed fairly to boil in all the passages. The + provoked sea outlined exactly in a design of angry foam the wide base of + the group; the submerged level of broken waste and refuse left over from + the building of the coast near by, projecting its dangerous spurs, all + awash, far into the channel, and bristling with wicked long spits often a + mile long: with deadly spits made of froth and stones. + </p> + <p> + And even nothing more than a brisk breeze—as on that morning, the + voyage before, when the Sofala left Pangu bay early, and Mr. Sterne’s + discovery was to blossom out like a flower of incredible and evil aspect + from the tiny seed of instinctive suspicion,—even such a breeze had + enough strength to tear the placid mask from the face of the sea. To + Sterne, gazing with indifference, it had been like a revelation to behold + for the first time the dangers marked by the hissing livid patches on the + water as distinctly as on the engraved paper of a chart. It came into his + mind that this was the sort of day most favorable for a stranger + attempting the passage: a clear day, just windy enough for the sea to + break on every ledge, buoying, as it were, the channel plainly to the + sight; whereas during a calm you had nothing to depend on but the compass + and the practiced judgment of your eye. And yet the successive captains of + the Sofala had had to take her through at night more than once. Nowadays + you could not afford to throw away six or seven hours of a steamer’s time. + That you couldn’t. But then use is everything, and with proper care . . . + The channel was broad and safe enough; the main point was to hit upon the + entrance correctly in the dark—for if a man got himself involved in + that stretch of broken water over yonder he would never get out with a + whole ship—if he ever got out at all. + </p> + <p> + This was Sterne’s last train of thought independent of the great + discovery. He had just seen to the securing of the anchor, and had + remained forward idling away a moment or two. The captain was in charge on + the bridge. With a slight yawn he had turned away from his survey of the + sea and had leaned his shoulders against the fish davit. + </p> + <p> + These, properly speaking, were the very last moments of ease he was to + know on board the Sofala. All the instants that came after were to be + pregnant with purpose and intolerable with perplexity. No more idle, + random thoughts; the discovery would put them on the rack, till sometimes + he wished to goodness he had been fool enough not to make it at all. And + yet, if his chance to get on rested on the discovery of “something wrong,” + he could not have hoped for a greater stroke of luck. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + X + </h2> + <p> + The knowledge was too disturbing, really. There was “something wrong” with + a vengeance, and the moral certitude of it was at first simply frightful + to contemplate. Sterne had been looking aft in a mood so idle, that for + once he was thinking no harm of anyone. His captain on the bridge + presented himself naturally to his sight. How insignificant, how casual + was the thought that had started the train of discovery—like an + accidental spark that suffices to ignite the charge of a tremendous mine! + </p> + <p> + Caught under by the breeze, the awnings of the foredeck bellied upwards + and collapsed slowly, and above their heavy flapping the gray stuff of + Captain Whalley’s roomy coat fluttered incessantly around his arms and + trunk. He faced the wind in full light, with his great silvery beard blown + forcibly against his chest; the eyebrows overhung heavily the shadows + whence his glance appeared to be staring ahead piercingly. Sterne could + just detect the twin gleam of the whites shifting under the shaggy arches + of the brow. At short range these eyes, for all the man’s affable manner, + seemed to look you through and through. Sterne never could defend himself + from that feeling when he had occasion to speak with his captain. He did + not like it. What a big heavy man he appeared up there, with that little + shrimp of a Serang in close attendance—as was usual in this + extraordinary steamer! Confounded absurd custom that. He resented it. + Surely the old fellow could have looked after his ship without that + loafing native at his elbow. Sterne wriggled his shoulders with disgust. + What was it? Indolence or what? + </p> + <p> + That old skipper must have been growing lazy for years. They all grew lazy + out East here (Sterne was very conscious of his own unimpaired activity); + they got slack all over. But he towered very erect on the bridge; and + quite low by his side, as you see a small child looking over the edge of a + table, the battered soft hat and the brown face of the Serang peeped over + the white canvas screen of the rail. + </p> + <p> + No doubt the Malay was standing back, nearer to the wheel; but the great + disparity of size in close association amused Sterne like the observation + of a bizarre fact in nature. They were as queer fish out of the sea as any + in it. + </p> + <p> + He saw Captain Whalley turn his head quickly to speak to his Serang; the + wind whipped the whole white mass of the beard sideways. He would be + directing the chap to look at the compass for him, or what not. Of course. + Too much trouble to step over and see for himself. Sterne’s scorn for that + bodily indolence which overtakes white men in the East increased on + reflection. Some of them would be utterly lost if they hadn’t all these + natives at their beck and call; they grew perfectly shameless about it + too. He was not of that sort, thank God! It wasn’t in him to make himself + dependent for his work on any shriveled-up little Malay like that. As if + one could ever trust a silly native for anything in the world! But that + fine old man thought differently, it seems. There they were together, + never far apart; a pair of them, recalling to the mind an old whale + attended by a little pilot-fish. + </p> + <p> + The fancifulness of the comparison made him smile. A whale with an + inseparable pilot-fish! That’s what the old man looked like; for it could + not be said he looked like a shark, though Mr. Massy had called him that + very name. But Mr. Massy did not mind what he said in his savage fits. + Sterne smiled to himself—and gradually the ideas evoked by the + sound, by the imagined shape of the word pilot-fish; the ideas of aid, of + guidance needed and received, came uppermost in his mind: the word pilot + awakened the idea of trust, of dependence, the idea of welcome, clear-eyed + help brought to the seaman groping for the land in the dark: groping + blindly in fogs: feeling their way in the thick weather of the gales that, + filling the air with a salt mist blown up from the sea, contract the range + of sight on all sides to a shrunken horizon that seems within reach of the + hand. + </p> + <p> + A pilot sees better than a stranger, because his local knowledge, like a + sharper vision, completes the shapes of things hurriedly glimpsed; + penetrates the veils of mist spread over the land by the storms of the + sea; defines with certitude the outlines of a coast lying under the pall + of fog, the forms of landmarks half buried in a starless night as in a + shallow grave. He recognizes because he already knows. It is not to his + far-reaching eye but to his more extensive knowledge that the pilot looks + for certitude; for this certitude of the ship’s position on which may + depend a man’s good fame and the peace of his conscience, the + justification of the trust deposited in his hands, with his own life too, + which is seldom wholly his to throw away, and the humble lives of others + rooted in distant affections, perhaps, and made as weighty as the lives of + kings by the burden of the awaiting mystery. The pilot’s knowledge brings + relief and certitude to the commander of a ship; the Serang, however, in + his fanciful suggestion of a pilot-fish attending a whale, could not in + any way be credited with a superior knowledge. Why should he have it? + These two men had come on that run together—the white and the brown—on + the same day: and of course a white man would learn more in a week than + the best native would in a month. He was made to stick to the skipper as + though he were of some use—as the pilot-fish, they say, is to the + whale. But how—it was very marked—how? A pilot-fish—a + pilot—a . . . But if not superior knowledge then . . . + </p> + <p> + Sterne’s discovery was made. It was repugnant to his imagination, shocking + to his ideas of honesty, shocking to his conception of mankind. This + enormity affected one’s outlook on what was possible in this world: it was + as if for instance the sun had turned blue, throwing a new and sinister + light on men and nature. Really in the first moment he had felt sickish, + as though he had got a blow below the belt: for a second the very color of + the sea seemed changed—appeared queer to his wandering eye; and he + had a passing, unsteady sensation in all his limbs as though the earth had + started turning the other way. + </p> + <p> + A very natural incredulity succeeding this sense of upheaval brought a + measure of relief. He had gasped; it was over. But afterwards during all + that day sudden paroxysms of wonder would come over him in the midst of + his occupations. He would stop and shake his head. The revolt of his + incredulity had passed away almost as quick as the first emotion of + discovery, and for the next twenty-four hours he had no sleep. That would + never do. At meal-times (he took the foot of the table set up for the + white men on the bridge) he could not help losing himself in a fascinated + contemplation of Captain Whalley opposite. He watched the deliberate + upward movements of the arm; the old man put his food to his lips as + though he never expected to find any taste in his daily bread, as though + he did not know anything about it. He fed himself like a somnambulist. + “It’s an awful sight,” thought Sterne; and he watched the long period of + mournful, silent immobility, with a big brown hand lying loosely closed by + the side of the plate, till he noticed the two engineers to the right and + left looking at him in astonishment. He would close his mouth in a hurry + then, and lowering his eyes, wink rapidly at his plate. It was awful to + see the old chap sitting there; it was even awful to think that with three + words he could blow him up sky-high. All he had to do was to raise his + voice and pronounce a single short sentence, and yet that simple act + seemed as impossible to attempt as moving the sun out of its place in the + sky. The old chap could eat in his terrific mechanical way; but Sterne, + from mental excitement, could not—not that evening, at any rate. + </p> + <p> + He had had ample time since to get accustomed to the strain of the + meal-hours. He would never have believed it. But then use is everything; + only the very potency of his success prevented anything resembling + elation. He felt like a man who, in his legitimate search for a loaded gun + to help him on his way through the world, chances to come upon a torpedo—upon + a live torpedo with a shattering charge in its head and a pressure of many + atmospheres in its tail. It is the sort of weapon to make its possessor + careworn and nervous. He had no mind to be blown up himself; and he could + not get rid of the notion that the explosion was bound to damage him too + in some way. + </p> + <p> + This vague apprehension had restrained him at first. He was able now to + eat and sleep with that fearful weapon by his side, with the conviction of + its power always in mind. It had not been arrived at by any reflective + process; but once the idea had entered his head, the conviction had + followed overwhelmingly in a multitude of observed little facts to which + before he had given only a languid attention. The abrupt and faltering + intonations of the deep voice; the taciturnity put on like an armor; the + deliberate, as if guarded, movements; the long immobilities, as if the man + he watched had been afraid to disturb the very air: every familiar + gesture, every word uttered in his hearing, every sigh overheard, had + acquired a special significance, a confirmatory import. + </p> + <p> + Every day that passed over the Sofala appeared to Sterne simply crammed + full with proofs—with incontrovertible proofs. At night, when off + duty, he would steal out of his cabin in pyjamas (for more proofs) and + stand a full hour, perhaps, on his bare feet below the bridge, as + absolutely motionless as the awning stanchion in its deck socket near by. + On the stretches of easy navigation it is not usual for a coasting captain + to remain on deck all the time of his watch. The Serang keeps it for him + as a matter of custom; in open water, on a straight course, he is usually + trusted to look after the ship by himself. But this old man seemed + incapable of remaining quietly down below. No doubt he could not sleep. + And no wonder. This was also a proof. Suddenly in the silence of the ship + panting upon the still, dark sea, Sterne would hear a low voice above him + exclaiming nervously— + </p> + <p> + “Serang!” + </p> + <p> + “Tuan!” + </p> + <p> + “You are watching the compass well?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I am watching, Tuan.” + </p> + <p> + “The ship is making her course?” + </p> + <p> + “She is, Tuan. Very straight.” + </p> + <p> + “It is well; and remember, Serang, that the order is that you are to mind + the helmsmen and keep a lookout with care, the same as if I were not on + deck.” + </p> + <p> + Then, when the Serang had made his answer, the low tones on the bridge + would cease, and everything round Sterne seemed to become more still and + more profoundly silent. Slightly chilled and with his back aching a little + from long immobility, he would steal away to his room on the port side of + the deck. He had long since parted with the last vestige of incredulity; + of the original emotions, set into a tumult by the discovery, some trace + of the first awe alone remained. Not the awe of the man himself—he + could blow him up sky-high with six words—rather it was an awestruck + indignation at the reckless perversity of avarice (what else could it + be?), at the mad and somber resolution that for the sake of a few dollars + more seemed to set at naught the common rule of conscience and pretended + to struggle against the very decree of Providence. + </p> + <p> + You could not find another man like this one in the whole round world—thank + God. There was something devilishly dauntless in the character of such a + deception which made you pause. + </p> + <p> + Other considerations occurring to his prudence had kept him tongue-tied + from day to day. It seemed to him now that it would yet have been easier + to speak out in the first hour of discovery. He almost regretted not + having made a row at once. But then the very monstrosity of the disclosure + . . . Why! He could hardly face it himself, let alone pointing it out to + somebody else. Moreover, with a desperado of that sort one never knew. The + object was not to get him out (that was as well as done already), but to + step into his place. Bizarre as the thought seemed he might have shown + fight. A fellow up to working such a fraud would have enough cheek for + anything; a fellow that, as it were, stood up against God Almighty + Himself. He was a horrid marvel—that’s what he was: he was perfectly + capable of brazening out the affair scandalously till he got him (Sterne) + kicked out of the ship and everlastingly damaged his prospects in this + part of the East. Yet if you want to get on something must be risked. At + times Sterne thought he had been unduly timid of taking action in the + past; and what was worse, it had come to this, that in the present he did + not seem to know what action to take. + </p> + <p> + Massy’s savage moroseness was too disconcerting. It was an incalculable + factor of the situation. You could not tell what there was behind that + insulting ferocity. How could one trust such a temper; it did not put + Sterne in bodily fear for himself, but it frightened him exceedingly as to + his prospects. + </p> + <p> + Though of course inclined to credit himself with exceptional powers of + observation, he had by now lived too long with his discovery. He had gone + on looking at nothing else, till at last one day it occurred to him that + the thing was so obvious that no one could miss seeing it. There were four + white men in all on board the Sofala. Jack, the second engineer, was too + dull to notice anything that took place out of his engine-room. Remained + Massy—the owner—the interested person—nearly going mad + with worry. Sterne had heard and seen more than enough on board to know + what ailed him; but his exasperation seemed to make him deaf to cautious + overtures. If he had only known it, there was the very thing he wanted. + But how could you bargain with a man of that sort? It was like going into + a tiger’s den with a piece of raw meat in your hand. He was as likely as + not to rend you for your pains. In fact, he was always threatening to do + that very thing; and the urgency of the case, combined with the + impossibility of handling it with safety, made Sterne in his watches below + toss and mutter open-eyed in his bunk, for hours, as though he had been + burning with fever. + </p> + <p> + Occurrences like the crossing of the bar just now were extremely alarming + to his prospects. He did not want to be left behind by some swift + catastrophe. Massy being on the bridge, the old man had to brace himself + up and make a show, he supposed. But it was getting very bad with him, + very bad indeed, now. Even Massy had been emboldened to find fault this + time; Sterne, listening at the foot of the ladder, had heard the other’s + whimpering and artless denunciations. Luckily the beast was very stupid + and could not see the why of all this. However, small blame to him; it + took a clever man to hit upon the cause. Nevertheless, it was high time to + do something. The old man’s game could not be kept up for many days more. + </p> + <p> + “I may yet lose my life at this fooling—let alone my chance,” Sterne + mumbled angrily to himself, after the stooping back of the chief engineer + had disappeared round the corner of the skylight. Yes, no doubt—he + thought; but to blurt out his knowledge would not advance his prospects. + On the contrary, it would blast them utterly as likely as not. He dreaded + another failure. He had a vague consciousness of not being much liked by + his fellows in this part of the world; inexplicably enough, for he had + done nothing to them. Envy, he supposed. People were always down on a + clever chap who made no bones about his determination to get on. To do + your duty and count on the gratitude of that brute Massy would be sheer + folly. He was a bad lot. Unmanly! A vicious man! Bad! Bad! A brute! A + brute without a spark of anything human about him; without so much as + simple curiosity even, or else surely he would have responded in some way + to all these hints he had been given. . . . Such insensibility was almost + mysterious. Massy’s state of exasperation seemed to Sterne to have made + him stupid beyond the ordinary silliness of shipowners. + </p> + <p> + Sterne, meditating on the embarrassments of that stupidity, forgot himself + completely. His stony, unwinking stare was fixed on the planks of the + deck. + </p> + <p> + The slight quiver agitating the whole fabric of the ship was more + perceptible in the silent river, shaded and still like a forest path. The + Sofala, gliding with an even motion, had passed beyond the coast-belt of + mud and mangroves. The shores rose higher, in firm sloping banks, and the + forest of big trees came down to the brink. Where the earth had been + crumbled by the floods it showed a steep brown cut, denuding a mass of + roots intertwined as if wrestling underground; and in the air, the + interlaced boughs, bound and loaded with creepers, carried on the struggle + for life, mingled their foliage in one solid wall of leaves, with here and + there the shape of an enormous dark pillar soaring, or a ragged opening, + as if torn by the flight of a cannonball, disclosing the impenetrable + gloom within, the secular inviolable shade of the virgin forest. The thump + of the engines reverberated regularly like the strokes of a metronome + beating the measure of the vast silence, the shadow of the western wall + had fallen across the river, and the smoke pouring backwards from the + funnel eddied down behind the ship, spread a thin dusky veil over the + somber water, which, checked by the flood-tide, seemed to lie stagnant in + the whole straight length of the reaches. + </p> + <p> + Sterne’s body, as if rooted on the spot, trembled slightly from top to toe + with the internal vibration of the ship; from under his feet came + sometimes a sudden clang of iron, the noisy burst of a shout below; to the + right the leaves of the tree-tops caught the rays of the low sun, and + seemed to shine with a golden green light of their own shimmering around + the highest boughs which stood out black against a smooth blue sky that + seemed to droop over the bed of the river like the roof of a tent. The + passengers for Batu Beru, kneeling on the planks, were engaged in rolling + their bedding of mats busily; they tied up bundles, they snapped the locks + of wooden chests. A pockmarked peddler of small wares threw his head back + to drain into his throat the last drops out of an earthenware bottle + before putting it away in a roll of blankets. Knots of traveling traders + standing about the deck conversed in low tones; the followers of a small + Rajah from down the coast, broad-faced, simple young fellows in white + drawers and round white cotton caps with their colored sarongs twisted + across their bronze shoulders, squatted on their hams on the hatch, + chewing betel with bright red mouths as if they had been tasting blood. + Their spears, lying piled up together within the circle of their bare + toes, resembled a casual bundle of dry bamboos; a thin, livid Chinaman, + with a bulky package wrapped up in leaves already thrust under his arm, + gazed ahead eagerly; a wandering Kling rubbed his teeth with a bit of + wood, pouring over the side a bright stream of water out of his lips; the + fat Rajah dozed in a shabby deck-chair,—and at the turn of every + bend the two walls of leaves reappeared running parallel along the banks, + with their impenetrable solidity fading at the top to a vaporous mistiness + of countless slender twigs growing free, of young delicate branches + shooting from the topmost limbs of hoary trunks, of feathery heads of + climbers like delicate silver sprays standing up without a quiver. There + was not a sign of a clearing anywhere; not a trace of human habitation, + except when in one place, on the bare end of a low point under an isolated + group of slender tree-ferns, the jagged, tangled remnants of an old hut on + piles appeared with that peculiar aspect of ruined bamboo walls that look + as if smashed with a club. Farther on, half hidden under the drooping + bushes, a canoe containing a man and a woman, together with a dozen green + cocoanuts in a heap, rocked helplessly after the Sofala had passed, like a + navigating contrivance of venturesome insects, of traveling ants; while + two glassy folds of water streaming away from each bow of the steamer + across the whole width of the river ran with her up stream smoothly, + fretting their outer ends into a brown whispering tumble of froth against + the miry foot of each bank. + </p> + <p> + “I must,” thought Sterne, “bring that brute Massy to his bearings. It’s + getting too absurd in the end. Here’s the old man up there buried in his + chair—he may just as well be in his grave for all the use he’ll ever + be in the world—and the Serang’s in charge. Because that’s what he + is. In charge. In the place that’s mine by rights. I must bring that + savage brute to his bearings. I’ll do it at once, too . . .” + </p> + <p> + When the mate made an abrupt start, a little brown half-naked boy, with + large black eyes, and the string of a written charm round his neck, became + panic-struck at once. He dropped the banana he had been munching, and ran + to the knee of a grave dark Arab in flowing robes, sitting like a Biblical + figure, incongruously, on a yellow tin trunk corded with a rope of twisted + rattan. The father, unmoved, put out his hand to pat the little shaven + poll protectingly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XI + </h2> + <p> + Sterne crossed the deck upon the track of the chief engineer. Jack, the + second, retreating backwards down the engine-room ladder, and still wiping + his hands, treated him to an incomprehensible grin of white teeth out of + his grimy hard face; Massy was nowhere to be seen. He must have gone + straight into his berth. Sterne scratched at the door softly, then, + putting his lips to the rose of the ventilator, said— + </p> + <p> + “I must speak to you, Mr. Massy. Just give me a minute or two.” + </p> + <p> + “I am busy. Go away from my door.” + </p> + <p> + “But pray, Mr. Massy . . .” + </p> + <p> + “You go away. D’you hear? Take yourself off altogether—to the other + end of the ship—quite away . . .” The voice inside dropped low. “To + the devil.” + </p> + <p> + Sterne paused: then very quietly— + </p> + <p> + “It’s rather pressing. When do you think you will be at liberty, sir?” + </p> + <p> + The answer to this was an exasperated “Never”; and at once Sterne, with a + very firm expression of face, turned the handle. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy’s stateroom—a narrow, one-berth cabin—smelt strongly + of soap, and presented to view a swept, dusted, unadorned neatness, not so + much bare as barren, not so much severe as starved and lacking in + humanity, like the ward of a public hospital, or rather (owing to the + small size) like the clean retreat of a desperately poor but exemplary + person. Not a single photograph frame ornamented the bulkheads; not a + single article of clothing, not as much as a spare cap, hung from the + brass hooks. All the inside was painted in one plain tint of pale blue; + two big sea-chests in sailcloth covers and with iron padlocks fitted + exactly in the space under the bunk. One glance was enough to embrace all + the strip of scrubbed planks within the four unconcealed corners. The + absence of the usual settee was striking; the teak-wood top of the + washing-stand seemed hermetically closed, and so was the lid of the + writing-desk, which protruded from the partition at the foot of the + bed-place, containing a mattress as thin as a pancake under a threadbare + blanket with a faded red stripe, and a folded mosquito-net against the + nights spent in harbor. There was not a scrap of paper anywhere in sight, + no boots on the floor, no litter of any sort, not a speck of dust + anywhere; no traces of pipe-ash even, which, in a heavy smoker, was + morally revolting, like a manifestation of extreme hypocrisy; and the + bottom of the old wooden arm-chair (the only seat there), polished with + much use, shone as if its shabbiness had been waxed. The screen of leaves + on the bank, passing as if unrolled endlessly in the round opening of the + port, sent a wavering network of light and shade into the place. + </p> + <p> + Sterne, holding the door open with one hand, had thrust in his head and + shoulders. At this amazing intrusion Massy, who was doing absolutely + nothing, jumped up speechless. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t call names,” murmured Sterne hurriedly. “I won’t be called names. I + think of nothing but your good, Mr. Massy.” + </p> + <p> + A pause as of extreme astonishment followed. They both seemed to have lost + their tongues. Then the mate went on with a discreet glibness. + </p> + <p> + “You simply couldn’t conceive what’s going on on board your ship. It + wouldn’t enter your head for a moment. You are too good—too—too + upright, Mr. Massy, to suspect anybody of such a . . . It’s enough to make + your hair stand on end.” + </p> + <p> + He watched for the effect: Massy seemed dazed, uncomprehending. He only + passed the palm of his hand on the coal-black wisps plastered across the + top of his head. In a tone suddenly changed to confidential audacity + Sterne hastened on. + </p> + <p> + “Remember that there’s only six weeks left to run . . .” The other was + looking at him stonily . . . “so anyhow you shall require a captain for + the ship before long.” + </p> + <p> + Then only, as if that suggestion had scarified his flesh in the manner of + red-hot iron, Massy gave a start and seemed ready to shriek. He contained + himself by a great effort. + </p> + <p> + “Require a captain,” he repeated with scathing slowness. “Who requires a + captain? You dare to tell me that I need any of you humbugging sailors to + run my ship. You and your likes have been fattening on me for years. It + would have hurt me less to throw my money overboard. Pam—pe—red + us—e—less f-f-f-frauds. The old ship knows as much as the best + of you.” He snapped his teeth audibly and growled through them, “The silly + law requires a captain.” + </p> + <p> + Sterne had taken heart of grace meantime. + </p> + <p> + “And the silly insurance people too, as well,” he said lightly. “But never + mind that. What I want to ask is: Why shouldn’t <i>I</i> do, sir? I don’t + say but you could take a steamer about the world as well as any of us + sailors. I don’t pretend to tell <i>you</i> that it is a very great trick + . . .” He emitted a short, hollow guffaw, familiarly . . . “I didn’t make + the law—but there it is; and I am an active young fellow! I quite + hold with your ideas; I know your ways by this time, Mr. Massy. I wouldn’t + try to give myself airs like that—that—er lazy specimen of an + old man up there.” + </p> + <p> + He put a marked emphasis on the last sentence, to lead Massy away from the + track in case . . . but he did not doubt of now holding his success. The + chief engineer seemed nonplused, like a slow man invited to catch hold of + a whirligig of some sort. + </p> + <p> + “What you want, sir, is a chap with no nonsense about him, who would be + content to be your sailing-master. Quite right, too. Well, I am fit for + the work as much as that Serang. Because that’s what it amounts to. Do you + know, sir, that a dam’ Malay like a monkey is in charge of your ship—and + no one else. Just listen to his feet pit-patting above us on the bridge—real + officer in charge. He’s taking her up the river while the great man is + wallowing in the chair—perhaps asleep; and if he is, that would not + make it much worse either—take my word for it.” + </p> + <p> + He tried to thrust himself farther in. Massy, with lowered forehead, one + hand grasping the back of the arm-chair, did not budge. + </p> + <p> + “You think, sir, that the man has got you tight in his agreement . . .” + Massy raised a heavy snarling face at this . . . “Well, sir, one can’t + help hearing of it on board. It’s no secret. And it has been the talk on + shore for years; fellows have been making bets about it. No, sir! It’s <i>you</i> + who have got him at your mercy. You will say that you can’t dismiss him + for indolence. Difficult to prove in court, and so on. Why, yes. But if + you say the word, sir, I can tell you something about his indolence that + will give you the clear right to fire him out on the spot and put me in + charge for the rest of this very trip—yes, sir, before we leave Batu + Beru—and make him pay a dollar a day for his keep till we get back, + if you like. Now, what do you think of that? Come, sir. Say the word. It’s + really well worth your while, and I am quite ready to take your bare word. + A definite statement from you would be as good as a bond.” + </p> + <p> + His eyes began to shine. He insisted. A simple statement,—and he + thought to himself that he would manage somehow to stick in his berth as + long as it suited him. He would make himself indispensable; the ship had a + bad name in her port; it would be easy to scare the fellows off. Massy + would have to keep him. + </p> + <p> + “A definite statement from me would be enough,” Massy repeated slowly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir. It would.” Sterne stuck out his chin cheerily and blinked at + close quarters with that unconscious impudence which had the power to + enrage Massy beyond anything. + </p> + <p> + The engineer spoke very distinctly. + </p> + <p> + “Listen well to me, then, Mr. Sterne: I wouldn’t—d’ye hear?—I + wouldn’t promise you the value of two pence for anything <i>you</i> can + tell me.” + </p> + <p> + He struck Sterne’s arm away with a smart blow, and catching hold of the + handle pulled the door to. The terrific slam darkened the cabin + instantaneously to his eye as if after the flash of an explosion. At once + he dropped into the chair. “Oh, no! You don’t!” he whispered faintly. + </p> + <p> + The ship had in that place to shave the bank so close that the gigantic + wall of leaves came gliding like a shutter against the port; the darkness + of the primeval forest seemed to flow into that bare cabin with the odor + of rotting leaves, of sodden soil—the strong muddy smell of the + living earth steaming uncovered after the passing of a deluge. The bushes + swished loudly alongside; above there was a series of crackling sounds, + with a sharp rain of small broken branches falling on the bridge; a + creeper with a great rustle snapped on the head of a boat davit, and a + long, luxuriant green twig actually whipped in and out of the open port, + leaving behind a few torn leaves that remained suddenly at rest on Mr. + Massy’s blanket. Then, the ship sheering out in the stream, the light + began to return but did not augment beyond a subdued clearness: for the + sun was very low already, and the river, wending its sinuous course + through a multitude of secular trees as if at the bottom of a precipitous + gorge, had been already invaded by a deepening gloom—the swift + precursor of the night. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no, you don’t!” murmured the engineer again. His lips trembled almost + imperceptibly; his hands too, a little: and to calm himself he opened the + writing-desk, spread out a sheet of thin grayish paper covered with a mass + of printed figures and began to scan them attentively for the twentieth + time this trip at least. + </p> + <p> + With his elbows propped, his head between his hands, he seemed to lose + himself in the study of an abstruse problem in mathematics. It was the + list of the winning numbers from the last drawing of the great lottery + which had been the one inspiring fact of so many years of his existence. + The conception of a life deprived of that periodical sheet of paper had + slipped away from him entirely, as another man, according to his nature, + would not have been able to conceive a world without fresh air, without + activity, or without affection. A great pile of flimsy sheets had been + growing for years in his desk, while the Sofala, driven by the faithful + Jack, wore out her boilers in tramping up and down the Straits, from cape + to cape, from river to river, from bay to bay; accumulating by that hard + labor of an overworked, starved ship the blackened mass of these + documents. Massy kept them under lock and key like a treasure. There was + in them, as in the experience of life, the fascination of hope, the + excitement of a half-penetrated mystery, the longing of a half-satisfied + desire. + </p> + <p> + For days together, on a trip, he would shut himself up in his berth with + them: the thump of the toiling engines pulsated in his ear; and he would + weary his brain poring over the rows of disconnected figures, bewildering + by their senseless sequence, resembling the hazards of destiny itself. He + nourished a conviction that there must be some logic lurking somewhere in + the results of chance. He thought he had seen its very form. His head + swam; his limbs ached; he puffed at his pipe mechanically; a contemplative + stupor would soothe the fretfulness of his temper, like the passive bodily + quietude procured by a drug, while the intellect remains tensely on the + stretch. Nine, nine, aught, four, two. He made a note. The next winning + number of the great prize was forty-seven thousand and five. These numbers + of course would have to be avoided in the future when writing to Manilla + for the tickets. He mumbled, pencil in hand . . . “and five. Hm . . . hm.” + He wetted his finger: the papers rustled. Ha! But what’s this? Three years + ago, in the September drawing, it was number nine, aught, four, two that + took the first prize. Most remarkable. There was a hint there of a + definite rule! He was afraid of missing some recondite principle in the + overwhelming wealth of his material. What could it be? and for half an + hour he would remain dead still, bent low over the desk, without twitching + a muscle. At his back the whole berth would be thick with a heavy body of + smoke, as if a bomb had burst in there, unnoticed, unheard. + </p> + <p> + At last he would lock up the desk with the decision of unshaken + confidence, jump and go out. He would walk swiftly back and forth on that + part of the foredeck which was kept clear of the lumber and of the bodies + of the native passengers. They were a great nuisance, but they were also a + source of profit that could not be disdained. He needed every penny of + profit the Sofala could make. Little enough it was, in all conscience! The + incertitude of chance gave him no concern, since he had somehow arrived at + the conviction that, in the course of years, every number was bound to + have his winning turn. It was simply a matter of time and of taking as + many tickets as he could afford for every drawing. He generally took + rather more; all the earnings of the ship went that way, and also the + wages he allowed himself as chief engineer. It was the wages he paid to + others that he begrudged with a reasoned and at the same time a passionate + regret. He scowled at the lascars with their deck brooms, at the + quartermasters rubbing the brass rails with greasy rags; he was eager to + shake his fist and roar abuse in bad Malay at the poor carpenter—a + timid, sickly, opium-fuddled Chinaman, in loose blue drawers for all + costume, who invariably dropped his tools and fled below, with streaming + tail and shaking all over, before the fury of that “devil.” But it was + when he raised up his eyes to the bridge where one of these sailor frauds + was always planted by law in charge of his ship that he felt almost dizzy + with rage. He abominated them all; it was an old feud, from the time he + first went to sea, an unlicked cub with a great opinion of himself, in the + engine-room. The slights that had been put upon him. The persecutions he + had suffered at the hands of skippers—of absolute nobodies in a + steamship after all. And now that he had risen to be a shipowner they were + still a plague to him: he had absolutely to pay away precious money to the + conceited useless loafers:—As if a fully qualified engineer—who + was the owner as well—were not fit to be trusted with the whole + charge of a ship. Well! he made it pretty warm for them; but it was a poor + consolation. He had come in time to hate the ship too for the repairs she + required, for the coal-bills he had to pay, for the poor beggarly freights + she earned. He would clench his hand as he walked and hit the rail a + sudden blow, viciously, as though she could be made to feel pain. And yet + he could not do without er; he needed her; he must hang on to her tooth + and nail to keep his head above water till the expected flood of fortune + came sweeping up and landed him safely on the high shore of his ambition. + </p> + <p> + It was now to do nothing, nothing whatever, and have plenty of money to do + it on. He had tasted of power, the highest form of it his limited + experience was aware of—the power of shipowning. What a deception! + Vanity of vanities! He wondered at his folly. He had thrown away the + substance for the shadow. Of the gratification of wealth he did not know + enough to excite his imagination with any visions of luxury. How could he—the + child of a drunken boiler-maker—going straight from the workshop + into the engine-room of a north-country collier! But the notion of the + absolute idleness of wealth he could very well conceive. He reveled in it, + to forget his present troubles; he imagined himself walking about the + streets of Hull (he knew their gutters well as a boy) with his pockets + full of sovereigns. He would buy himself a house; his married sisters, + their husbands, his old workshop chums, would render him infinite homage. + There would be nothing to think of. His word would be law. He had been out + of work for a long time before he won his prize, and he remembered how + Carlo Mariani (commonly known as Paunchy Charley), the Maltese + hotel-keeper at the slummy end of Denham Street, had cringed joyfully + before him in the evening, when the news had come. Poor Charley, though he + made his living by ministering to various abject vices, gave credit for + their food to many a piece of white wreckage. He was naively overjoyed at + the idea of his old bills being paid, and he reckoned confidently on a + spell of festivities in the cavernous grog-shop downstairs. Massy + remembered the curious, respectful looks of the “trashy” white men in the + place. His heart had swelled within him. Massy had left Charley’s infamous + den directly he had realized the possibilities open to him, and with his + nose in the air. Afterwards the memory of these adulations was a great + sadness. + </p> + <p> + This was the true power of money,—and no trouble with it, nor any + thinking required either. He thought with difficulty and felt vividly; to + his blunt brain the problems offered by any ordered scheme of life seemed + in their cruel toughness to have been put in his way by the obvious + malevolence of men. As a shipowner everyone had conspired to make him a + nobody. How could he have been such a fool as to purchase that accursed + ship. He had been abominably swindled; there was no end to this swindling; + and as the difficulties of his improvident ambition gathered thicker round + him, he really came to hate everybody he had ever come in contact with. A + temper naturally irritable and an amazing sensitiveness to the claims of + his own personality had ended by making of life for him a sort of inferno—a + place where his lost soul had been given up to the torment of savage + brooding. + </p> + <p> + But he had never hated anyone so much as that old man who had turned up + one evening to save him from an utter disaster,—from the conspiracy + of the wretched sailors. He seemed to have fallen on board from the sky. + His footsteps echoed on the empty steamer, and the strange deep-toned + voice on deck repeating interrogatively the words, “Mr. Massy, Mr. Massy + there?” had been startling like a wonder. And coming up from the depths of + the cold engine-room, where he had been pottering dismally with a candle + amongst the enormous shadows, thrown on all sides by the skeleton limbs of + machinery, Massy had been struck dumb by astonishment in the presence of + that imposing old man with a beard like a silver plate, towering in the + dusk rendered lurid by the expiring flames of sunset. + </p> + <p> + “Want to see me on business? What business? I am doing no business. Can’t + you see that this ship is laid up?” Massy had turned at bay before the + pursuing irony of his disaster. Afterwards he could not believe his ears. + What was that old fellow getting at? Things don’t happen that way. It was + a dream. He would presently wake up and find the man vanished like a shape + of mist. The gravity, the dignity, the firm and courteous tone of that + athletic old stranger impressed Massy. He was almost afraid. But it was no + dream. Five hundred pounds are no dream. At once he became suspicious. + What did it mean? Of course it was an offer to catch hold of for dear + life. But what could there be behind? + </p> + <p> + Before they had parted, after appointing a meeting in a solicitor’s office + early on the morrow, Massy was asking himself, What is his motive? He + spent the night in hammering out the clauses of the agreement—a + unique instrument of its sort whose tenor got bruited abroad somehow and + became the talk and wonder of the port. + </p> + <p> + Massy’s object had been to secure for himself as many ways as possible of + getting rid of his partner without being called upon at once to pay back + his share. Captain Whalley’s efforts were directed to making the money + secure. Was it not Ivy’s money—a part of her fortune whose only + other asset was the time-defying body of her old father? Sure of his + forbearance in the strength of his love for her, he accepted, with stately + serenity, Massy’s stupidly cunning paragraphs against his incompetence, + his dishonesty, his drunkenness, for the sake of other stringent + stipulations. At the end of three years he was at liberty to withdraw from + the partnership, taking his money with him. Provision was made for forming + a fund to pay him off. But if he left the Sofala before the term, from + whatever cause (barring death), Massy was to have a whole year for paying. + “Illness?” the lawyer had suggested: a young man fresh from Europe and not + overburdened with business, who was rather amused. Massy began to whine + unctuously, “How could he be expected? . . .” + </p> + <p> + “Let that go,” Captain Whalley had said with a superb confidence in his + body. “Acts of God,” he added. In the midst of life we are in death, but + he trusted his Maker with a still greater fearlessness—his Maker who + knew his thoughts, his human affections, and his motives. His Creator knew + what use he was making of his health—how much he wanted it . . . “I + trust my first illness will be my last. I’ve never been ill that I can + remember,” he had remarked. “Let it go.” + </p> + <p> + But at this early stage he had already awakened Massy’s hostility by + refusing to make it six hundred instead of five. “I cannot do that,” was + all he had said, simply, but with so much decision that Massy desisted at + once from pressing the point, but had thought to himself, “Can’t! Old + curmudgeon. <i>Won’t</i> He must have lots of money, but he would like to + get hold of a soft berth and the sixth part of my profits for nothing if + he only could.” + </p> + <p> + And during these years Massy’s dislike grew under the restraint of + something resembling fear. The simplicity of that man appeared dangerous. + Of late he had changed, however, had appeared less formidable and with a + lessened vigor of life, as though he had received a secret wound. But + still he remained incomprehensible in his simplicity, fearlessness, and + rectitude. And when Massy learned that he meant to leave him at the end of + the time, to leave him confronted with the problem of boilers, his dislike + blazed up secretly into hate. + </p> + <p> + It had made him so clear-eyed that for a long time now Mr. Sterne could + have told him nothing he did not know. He had much ado in trying to + terrorize that mean sneak into silence; he wanted to deal alone with the + situation; and—incredible as it might have appeared to Mr. Sterne—he + had not yet given up the desire and the hope of inducing that hated old + man to stay. Why! there was nothing else to do, unless he were to abandon + his chances of fortune. But now, suddenly, since the crossing of the bar + at Batu Beru things seemed to be coming rapidly to a point. It disquieted + him so much that the study of the winning numbers failed to soothe his + agitation: and the twilight in the cabin deepened, very somber. + </p> + <p> + He put the list away, muttering once more, “Oh, no, my boy, you don’t. Not + if I know it.” He did not mean the blinking, eavesdropping humbug to force + his action. He took his head again into his hands; his immobility confined + in the darkness of this shut-up little place seemed to make him a thing + apart infinitely removed from the stir and the sounds of the deck. + </p> + <p> + He heard them: the passengers were beginning to jabber excitedly; somebody + dragged a heavy box past his door. He heard Captain Whalley’s voice above— + </p> + <p> + “Stations, Mr. Sterne.” And the answer from somewhere on deck forward— + </p> + <p> + “Ay, ay, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “We shall moor head up stream this time; the ebb has made.” + </p> + <p> + “Head up stream, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You will see to it, Mr. Sterne.” + </p> + <p> + The answer was covered by the autocratic clang on the engine-room gong. + The propeller went on beating slowly: one, two, three; one, two, three—with + pauses as if hesitating on the turn. The gong clanged time after time, and + the water churned this way and that by the blades was making a great noisy + commotion alongside. Mr. Massy did not move. A shore-light on the other + bank, a quarter of a mile across the river, drifted, no bigger than a tiny + star, passing slowly athwart the circle of the port. Voices from Mr. Van + Wyk’s jetty answered the hails from the ship; ropes were thrown and missed + and thrown again; the swaying flame of a torch carried in a large sampan + coming to fetch away in state the Rajah from down the coast cast a sudden + ruddy glare into his cabin, over his very person. Mr. Massy did not move. + After a few last ponderous turns the engines stopped, and the prolonged + clanging of the gong signified that the captain had done with them. A + great number of boats and canoes of all sizes boarded the off-side of the + Sofala. Then after a time the tumult of splashing, of cries, of shuffling + feet, of packages dropped with a thump, the noise of the native passengers + going away, subsided slowly. On the shore, a voice, cultivated, slightly + authoritative, spoke very close alongside— + </p> + <p> + “Brought any mail for me this time?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Mr. Van Wyk.” This was from Sterne, answering over the rail in a + tone of respectful cordiality. “Shall I bring it up to you?” + </p> + <p> + But the voice asked again— + </p> + <p> + “Where’s the captain?” + </p> + <p> + “Still on the bridge, I believe. He hasn’t left his chair. Shall I . . .” + </p> + <p> + The voice interrupted negligently. + </p> + <p> + “I will come on board.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Van Wyk,” Sterne suddenly broke out with an eager effort, “will you + do me the favor . . .” + </p> + <p> + The mate walked away quickly towards the gangway. A silence fell. Mr. + Massy in the dark did not move. + </p> + <p> + He did not move even when he heard slow shuffling footsteps pass his cabin + lazily. He contented himself to bellow out through the closed door— + </p> + <p> + “You—Jack!” + </p> + <p> + The footsteps came back without haste; the door handle rattled, and the + second engineer appeared in the opening, shadowy in the sheen of the + skylight at his back, with his face apparently as black as the rest of his + figure. + </p> + <p> + “We have been very long coming up this time,” Mr. Massy growled, without + changing his attitude. + </p> + <p> + “What do you expect with half the boiler tubes plugged up for leaks.” The + second defended himself loquaciously. + </p> + <p> + “None of your lip,” said Massy. + </p> + <p> + “None of your rotten boilers—I say,” retorted his faithful + subordinate without animation, huskily. “Go down there and carry a head of + steam on them yourself—if you dare. I don’t.” + </p> + <p> + “You aren’t worth your salt then,” Massy said. The other made a faint + noise which resembled a laugh but might have been a snarl. + </p> + <p> + “Better go slow than stop the ship altogether,” he admonished his admired + superior. Mr. Massy moved at last. He turned in his chair, and grinding + his teeth— + </p> + <p> + “Dam’ you and the ship! I wish she were at the bottom of the sea. Then you + would have to starve.” + </p> + <p> + The trusty second engineer closed the door gently. + </p> + <p> + Massy listened. Instead of passing on to the bathroom where he should have + gone to clean himself, the second entered his cabin, which was next door. + Mr. Massy jumped up and waited. Suddenly he heard the lock snap in there. + He rushed out and gave a violent kick to the door. + </p> + <p> + “I believe you are locking yourself up to get drunk,” he shouted. + </p> + <p> + A muffled answer came after a while. + </p> + <p> + “My own time.” + </p> + <p> + “If you take to boozing on the trip I’ll fire you out,” Massy cried. + </p> + <p> + An obstinate silence followed that threat. Massy moved away perplexed. On + the bank two figures appeared, approaching the gangway. He heard a voice + tinged with contempt— + </p> + <p> + “I would rather doubt your word. But I shall certainly speak to him of + this.” + </p> + <p> + The other voice, Sterne’s, said with a sort of regretful formality— + </p> + <p> + “Thanks. That’s all I want. I must do my duty.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy was surprised. A short, dapper figure leaped lightly on the deck + and nearly bounded into him where he stood beyond the circle of light from + the gangway lamp. When it had passed towards the bridge, after exchanging + a hurried “Good evening,” Massy said surlily to Sterne who followed with + slow steps— + </p> + <p> + “What is it you’re making up to Mr. Van Wyk for, now?” + </p> + <p> + “Far from it, Mr. Massy. I am not good enough for Mr. Van Wyk. Neither are + you, sir, in his opinion, I am afraid. Captain Whalley is, it seems. He’s + gone to ask him to dine up at the house this evening.” + </p> + <p> + Then he murmured to himself darkly— + </p> + <p> + “I hope he will like it.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XII + </h2> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk, the white man of Batu Beru, an ex-naval officer who, for + reasons best known to himself, had thrown away the promise of a brilliant + career to become the pioneer of tobacco-planting on that remote part of + the coast, had learned to like Captain Whalley. The appearance of the new + skipper had attracted his attention. Nothing more unlike all the diverse + types he had seen succeeding each other on the bridge of the Sofala could + be imagined. + </p> + <p> + At that time Batu Beru was not what it has become since: the center of a + prosperous tobacco-growing district, a tropically suburban-looking little + settlement of bungalows in one long street shaded with two rows of trees, + embowered by the flowering and trim luxuriance of the gardens, with a + three-mile-long carriage-road for the afternoon drives and a first-class + Resident with a fat, cheery wife to lead the society of married + estate-managers and unmarried young fellows in the service of the big + companies. + </p> + <p> + All this prosperity was not yet; and Mr. Van Wyk prospered alone on the + left bank on his deep clearing carved out of the forest, which came down + above and below to the water’s edge. His lonely bungalow faced across the + river the houses of the Sultan: a restless and melancholy old ruler who + had done with love and war, for whom life no longer held any savor (except + of evil forebodings) and time never had any value. He was afraid of death, + and hoped he would die before the white men were ready to take his country + from him. He crossed the river frequently (with never less than ten boats + crammed full of people), in the wistful hope of extracting some + information on the subject from his own white man. There was a certain + chair on the veranda he always took: the dignitaries of the court squatted + on the rugs and skins between the furniture: the inferior people remained + below on the grass plot between the house and the river in rows three or + four deep all along the front. Not seldom the visit began at daybreak. Mr. + Van Wyk tolerated these inroads. He would nod out of his bedroom window, + tooth-brush or razor in hand, or pass through the throng of courtiers in + his bathing robe. He appeared and disappeared humming a tune, polished his + nails with attention, rubbed his shaved face with <i>eau-de-Cologne</i>, + drank his early tea, went out to see his coolies at work: returned, looked + through some papers on his desk, read a page or two in a book or sat + before his cottage piano leaning back on the stool, his arms extended, + fingers on the keys, his body swaying slightly from side to side. When + absolutely forced to speak he gave evasive vaguely soothing answers out of + pure compassion: the same feeling perhaps made him so lavishly hospitable + with the aerated drinks that more than once he left himself without + soda-water for a whole week. That old man had granted him as much land as + he cared to have cleared: it was neither more nor less than a fortune. + </p> + <p> + Whether it was fortune or seclusion from his kind that Mr. Van Wyk sought, + he could not have pitched upon a better place. Even the mail-boats of the + subsidized company calling on the veriest clusters of palm-thatched hovels + along the coast steamed past the mouth of Batu Beru river far away in the + offing. The contract was old: perhaps in a few years’ time, when it had + expired, Batu Beru would be included in the service; meantime all Mr. Van + Wyk’s mail was addressed to Malacca, whence his agent sent it across once + a month by the Sofala. It followed that whenever Massy had run short of + money (through taking too many lottery tickets), or got into a difficulty + about a skipper, Mr. Van Wyk was deprived of his letter and newspapers. In + so far he had a personal interest in the fortunes of the Sofala. Though he + considered himself a hermit (and for no passing whim evidently, since he + had stood eight years of it already), he liked to know what went on in the + world. + </p> + <p> + Handy on the veranda upon a walnut <i>etagere</i> (it had come last year + by the Sofala)—everything came by the Sofala there lay, piled up + under bronze weights, a pile of the Times’ weekly edition, the large + sheets of the Rotterdam Courant, the Graphic in its world-wide green + wrappers, an illustrated Dutch publication without a cover, the numbers of + a German magazine with covers of the “<i>Bismarck malade</i>” color. There + were also parcels of new music—though the piano (it had come years + ago by the Sofala in the damp atmosphere of the forests was generally out + of tune.) It was vexing to be cut off from everything for sixty days at a + stretch sometimes, without any means of knowing what was the matter. And + when the Sofala reappeared Mr. Van Wyk would descend the steps of the + veranda and stroll over the grass plot in front of his house, down to the + waterside, with a frown on his white brow. + </p> + <p> + “You’ve been laid up after an accident, I presume.” + </p> + <p> + He addressed the bridge, but before anybody could answer Massy was sure to + have already scrambled ashore over the rail and pushed in, squeezing the + palms of his hands together, bowing his sleek head as if gummed all over + the top with black threads and tapes. And he would be so enraged at the + necessity of having to offer such an explanation that his moaning would be + positively pitiful, while all the time he tried to compose his big lips + into a smile. + </p> + <p> + “No, Mr. Van Wyk. You would not believe it. I couldn’t get one of those + wretches to take the ship out. Not a single one of the lazy beasts could + be induced, and the law, you know, Mr. Van Wyk . . .” + </p> + <p> + He moaned at great length apologetically; the words conspiracy, plot, + envy, came out prominently, whined with greater energy. Mr. Van Wyk, + examining with a faint grimace his polished finger-nails, would say, “H’m. + Very unfortunate,” and turn his back on him. + </p> + <p> + Fastidious, clever, slightly skeptical, accustomed to the best society (he + had held a much-envied shore appointment at the Ministry of Marine for a + year preceding his retreat from his profession and from Europe), he + possessed a latent warmth of feeling and a capacity for sympathy which + were concealed by a sort of haughty, arbitrary indifference of manner + arising from his early training; and by a something an enemy might have + called foppish, in his aspect—like a distorted echo of past + elegance. He managed to keep an almost military discipline amongst the + coolies of the estate he had dragged into the light of day out of the + tangle and shadows of the jungle; and the white shirt he put on every + evening with its stiff glossy front and high collar looked as if he had + meant to preserve the decent ceremony of evening-dress, but had wound a + thick crimson sash above his hips as a concession to the wilderness, once + his adversary, now his vanquished companion. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, it was a hygienic precaution. Worn wide open in front, a short + jacket of some airy silken stuff floated from his shoulders. His fluffy, + fair hair, thin at the top, curled slightly at the sides; a carefully + arranged mustache, an ungarnished forehead, the gleam of low patent shoes + peeping under the wide bottom of trowsers cut straight from the same stuff + as the gossamer coat, completed a figure recalling, with its sash, a + pirate chief of romance, and at the same time the elegance of a slightly + bald dandy indulging, in seclusion, a taste for unorthodox costume. + </p> + <p> + It was his evening get-up. The proper time for the Sofala to arrive at + Batu Beru was an hour before sunset, and he looked picturesque, and + somehow quite correct too, walking at the water’s edge on the background + of grass slope crowned with a low long bungalow with an immensely steep + roof of palm thatch, and clad to the eaves in flowering creepers. While + the Sofala was being made fast he strolled in the shade of the few trees + left near the landing-place, waiting till he could go on board. Her white + men were not of his kind. The old Sultan (though his wistful invasions + were a nuisance) was really much more acceptable to his fastidious taste. + But still they were white; the periodical visits of the ship made a break + in the well-filled sameness of the days without disturbing his privacy. + Moreover, they were necessary from a business point of view; and through a + strain of preciseness in his nature he was irritated when she failed to + appear at the appointed time. + </p> + <p> + The cause of the irregularity was too absurd, and Massy, in his opinion, + was a contemptible idiot. The first time the Sofala reappeared under the + new agreement swinging out of the bend below, after he had almost given up + all hope of ever seeing her again, he felt so angry that he did not go + down at once to the landing-place. His servants had come running to him + with the news, and he had dragged a chair close against the front rail of + the veranda, spread his elbows out, rested his chin on his hands, and went + on glaring at her fixedly while she was being made fast opposite his + house. He could make out easily all the white faces on board. Who on earth + was that kind of patriarch they had got there on the bridge now? + </p> + <p> + At last he sprang up and walked down the gravel path. It was a fact that + the very gravel for his paths had been imported by the Sofala. Exasperated + out of his quiet superciliousness, without looking at anyone right or + left, he accosted Massy straightway in so determined a manner that the + engineer, taken aback, began to stammer unintelligibly. Nothing could be + heard but the words: “Mr. Van Wyk . . . Indeed, Mr. Van Wyk . . . For the + future, Mr. Van Wyk”—and by the suffusion of blood Massy’s vast + bilious face acquired an unnatural orange tint, out of which the + disconcerted coal-black eyes shone in an extraordinary manner. + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense. I am tired of this. I wonder you have the impudence to come + alongside my jetty as if I had it made for your convenience alone.” + </p> + <p> + Massy tried to protest earnestly. Mr. Van Wyk was very angry. He had a + good mind to ask that German firm—those people in Malacca—what + was their name?—boats with green funnels. They would be only too + glad of the opening to put one of their small steamers on the run. Yes; + Schnitzler, Jacob Schnitzler, would in a moment. Yes. He had decided to + write without delay. + </p> + <p> + In his agitation Massy caught up his falling pipe. + </p> + <p> + “You don’t mean it, sir!” he shrieked. + </p> + <p> + “You shouldn’t mismanage your business in this ridiculous manner.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk turned on his heel. The other three whites on the bridge had + not stirred during the scene. Massy walked hastily from side to side, + puffed out his cheeks, suffocated. + </p> + <p> + “Stuck up Dutchman!” + </p> + <p> + And he moaned out feverishly a long tale of griefs. The efforts he had + made for all these years to please that man. This was the return you got + for it, eh? Pretty. Write to Schnitzler—let in the green-funnel + boats—get an old Hamburg Jew to ruin him. No, really he could laugh. + . . . He laughed sobbingly. . . . Ha! ha! ha! And make him carry the + letter in his own ship presumably. + </p> + <p> + He stumbled across a grating and swore. He would not hesitate to fling the + Dutchman’s correspondence overboard—the whole confounded bundle. He + had never, never made any charge for that accommodation. But Captain + Whalley, his new partner, would not let him probably; besides, it would be + only putting off the evil day. For his own part he would make a hole in + the water rather than look on tamely at the green funnels overrunning his + trade. + </p> + <p> + He raved aloud. The China boys hung back with the dishes at the foot of + the ladder. He yelled from the bridge down at the deck, “Aren’t we going + to have any chow this evening at all?” then turned violently to Captain + Whalley, who waited, grave and patient, at the head of the table, + smoothing his beard in silence now and then with a forbearing gesture. + </p> + <p> + “You don’t seem to care what happens to me. Don’t you see that this + affects your interests as much as mine? It’s no joking matter.” + </p> + <p> + He took the foot of the table growling between his teeth. + </p> + <p> + “Unless you have a few thousands put away somewhere. I haven’t.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk dined in his thoroughly lit-up bungalow, putting a point of + splendor in the night of his clearing above the dark bank of the river. + Afterwards he sat down to his piano, and in a pause he became aware of + slow footsteps passing on the path along the front. A plank or two creaked + under a heavy tread; he swung half round on the music-stool, listening + with his fingertips at rest on the keyboard. His little terrier barked + violently, backing in from the veranda. A deep voice apologized gravely + for “this intrusion.” He walked out quickly. + </p> + <p> + At the head of the steps the patriarchal figure, who was the new captain + of the Sofala apparently (he had seen a round dozen of them, but not one + of that sort), towered without advancing. The little dog barked + unceasingly, till a flick of Mr. Van Wyk’s handkerchief made him spring + aside into silence. Captain Whalley, opening the matter, was met by a + punctiliously polite but determined opposition. + </p> + <p> + They carried on their discussion standing where they had come face to + face. Mr. Van Wyk observed his visitor with attention. Then at last, as if + forced out of his reserve— + </p> + <p> + “I am surprised that you should intercede for such a confounded fool.” + </p> + <p> + This outbreak was almost complimentary, as if its meaning had been, “That + such a man as you should intercede!” Captain Whalley let it pass by + without flinching. One would have thought he had heard nothing. He simply + went on to state that he was personally interested in putting things + straight between them. Personally . . . + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Van Wyk, really carried away by his disgust with Massy, became + very incisive— + </p> + <p> + “Indeed—if I am to be frank with you—his whole character does + not seem to me particularly estimable or trustworthy . . .” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, always straight, seemed to grow an inch taller and + broader, as if the girth of his chest had suddenly expanded under his + beard. + </p> + <p> + “My dear sir, you don’t think I came here to discuss a man with whom I am—I + am—h’m—closely associated.” + </p> + <p> + A sort of solemn silence lasted for a moment. He was not used to asking + favors, but the importance he attached to this affair had made him willing + to try. . . . Mr. Van Wyk, favorably impressed, and suddenly mollified by + a desire to laugh, interrupted— + </p> + <p> + “That’s all right if you make it a personal matter; but you can do no less + than sit down and smoke a cigar with me.” + </p> + <p> + A slight pause, then Captain Whalley stepped forward heavily. As to the + regularity of the service, for the future he made himself responsible for + it; and his name was Whalley—perhaps to a sailor (he was speaking to + a sailor, was he not?) not altogether unfamiliar. There was a lighthouse + now, on an island. Maybe Mr. Van Wyk himself . . . + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes. Oh indeed.” Mr. Van Wyk caught on at once. He indicated a chair. + How very interesting. For his own part he had seen some service in the + last Acheen War, but had never been so far East. Whalley Island? Of + course. Now that was very interesting. What changes his guest must have + seen since. + </p> + <p> + “I can look further back even—on a whole half-century.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley expanded a bit. The flavor of a good cigar (it was a + weakness) had gone straight to his heart, also the civility of that young + man. There was something in that accidental contact of which he had been + starved in his years of struggle. + </p> + <p> + The front wall retreating made a square recess furnished like a room. A + lamp with a milky glass shade, suspended below the slope of the high roof + at the end of a slender brass chain, threw a bright round of light upon a + little table bearing an open book and an ivory paper-knife. And, in the + translucent shadows beyond, other tables could be seen, a number of + easy-chairs of various shapes, with a great profusion of skin rugs strewn + on the teakwood planking all over the veranda. The flowering creepers + scented the air. Their foliage clipped out between the uprights made as if + several frames of thick unstirring leaves reflecting the lamplight in a + green glow. Through the opening at his elbow Captain Whalley could see the + gangway lantern of the Sofala burning dim by the shore, the shadowy masses + of the town beyond the open lustrous darkness of the river, and, as if + hung along the straight edge of the projecting eaves, a narrow black strip + of the night sky full of stars—resplendent. The famous cigar in hand + he had a moment of complacency. + </p> + <p> + “A trifle. Somebody must lead the way. I just showed that the thing could + be done; but you men brought up to the use of steam cannot conceive the + vast importance of my bit of venturesomeness to the Eastern trade of the + time. Why, that new route reduced the average time of a southern passage + by eleven days for more than half the year. Eleven days! It’s on record. + But the remarkable thing—speaking to a sailor—I should say was + . . .” + </p> + <p> + He talked well, without egotism, professionally. The powerful voice, + produced without effort, filled the bungalow even into the empty rooms + with a deep and limpid resonance, seemed to make a stillness outside; and + Mr. Van Wyk was surprised by the serene quality of its tone, like the + perfection of manly gentleness. Nursing one small foot, in a silk sock and + a patent leather shoe, on his knee, he was immensely entertained. It was + as if nobody could talk like this now, and the overshadowed eyes, the + flowing white beard, the big frame, the serenity, the whole temper of the + man, were an amazing survival from the prehistoric times of the world + coming up to him out of the sea. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley had been also the pioneer of the early trade in the Gulf + of Pe-tchi-li. He even found occasion to mention that he had buried his + “dear wife” there six-and-twenty years ago. Mr. Van Wyk, impassive, could + not help speculating in his mind swiftly as to the sort of woman that + would mate with such a man. Did they make an adventurous and well-matched + pair? No. Very possible she had been small, frail, no doubt very feminine—or + most likely commonplace with domestic instincts, utterly insignificant. + But Captain Whalley was no garrulous bore, and shaking his head as if to + dissipate the momentary gloom that had settled on his handsome old face, + he alluded conversationally to Mr. Van Wyk’s solitude. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk affirmed that sometimes he had more company than he wanted. He + mentioned smilingly some of the peculiarities of his intercourse with “My + Sultan.” He made his visits in force. Those people damaged his grass plot + in front (it was not easy to obtain some approach to a lawn in the + tropics) and the other day had broken down some rare bushes he had planted + over there. And Captain Whalley remembered immediately that, in + ‘forty-seven, the then Sultan, “this man’s grandfather,” had been + notorious as a great protector of the piratical fleets of praus from + farther East. They had a safe refuge in the river at Batu Beru. He + financed more especially a Balinini chief called Haji Daman. Captain + Whalley, nodding significantly his bushy white eyebrows, had very good + reason to know something of that. The world had progressed since that + time. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk demurred with unexpected acrimony. Progressed in what? he + wanted to know. + </p> + <p> + Why, in knowledge of truth, in decency, in justice, in order—in + honesty too, since men harmed each other mostly from ignorance. It was, + Captain Whalley concluded quaintly, more pleasant to live in. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk whimsically would not admit that Mr. Massy, for instance, was + more pleasant naturally than the Balinini pirates. + </p> + <p> + The river had not gained much by the change. They were in their way every + bit as honest. Massy was less ferocious than Haji Daman no doubt, but . . + . + </p> + <p> + “And what about you, my good sir?” Captain Whalley laughed a deep soft + laugh. “<i>You</i> are an improvement, surely.” + </p> + <p> + He continued in a vein of pleasantry. A good cigar was better than a knock + on the head—the sort of welcome he would have found on this river + forty or fifty years ago. Then leaning forward slightly, he became + earnestly serious. It seems as if, outside their own sea-gypsy tribes, + these rovers had hated all mankind with an incomprehensible, bloodthirsty + hatred. Meantime their depredations had been stopped, and what was the + consequence? The new generation was orderly, peaceable, settled in + prosperous villages. He could speak from personal knowledge. And even the + few survivors of that time—old men now—had changed so much, + that it would have been unkind to remember against them that they had ever + slit a throat in their lives. He had one especially in his mind’s eye: a + dignified, venerable headman of a certain large coast village about sixty + miles sou’west of Tampasuk. It did one’s heart good to see him—to + hear that man speak. He might have been a ferocious savage once. What men + wanted was to be checked by superior intelligence, by superior knowledge, + by superior force too—yes, by force held in trust from God and + sanctified by its use in accordance with His declared will. Captain + Whalley believed a disposition for good existed in every man, even if the + world were not a very happy place as a whole. In the wisdom of men he had + not so much confidence. The disposition had to be helped up pretty sharply + sometimes, he admitted. They might be silly, wrongheaded, unhappy; but + naturally evil—no. There was at bottom a complete harmlessness at + least . . . + </p> + <p> + “Is there?” Mr. Van Wyk snapped acrimoniously. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley laughed at the interjection, in the good humor of large, + tolerating certitude. He could look back at half a century, he pointed + out. The smoke oozed placidly through the white hairs hiding his kindly + lips. + </p> + <p> + “At all events,” he resumed after a pause, “I am glad that they’ve had no + time to do you much harm as yet.” + </p> + <p> + This allusion to his comparative youthfulness did not offend Mr. Van Wyk, + who got up and wriggled his shoulders with an enigmatic half-smile. They + walked out together amicably into the starry night towards the river-side. + Their footsteps resounded unequally on the dark path. At the shore end of + the gangway the lantern, hung low to the handrail, threw a vivid light on + the white legs and the big black feet of Mr. Massy waiting about + anxiously. From the waist upwards he remained shadowy, with a row of + buttons gleaming up to the vague outline of his chin. + </p> + <p> + “You may thank Captain Whalley for this,” Mr. Van Wyk said curtly to him + before turning away. + </p> + <p> + The lamps on the veranda flung three long squares of light between the + uprights far over the grass. A bat flitted before his face like a circling + flake of velvety blackness. Along the jasmine hedge the night air seemed + heavy with the fall of perfumed dew; flowerbeds bordered the path; the + clipped bushes uprose in dark rounded clumps here and there before the + house; the dense foliage of creepers filtered the sheen of the lamplight + within in a soft glow all along the front; and everything near and far + stood still in a great immobility, in a great sweetness. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk (a few years before he had had occasion to imagine himself + treated more badly than anybody alive had ever been by a woman) felt for + Captain Whalley’s optimistic views the disdain of a man who had once been + credulous himself. His disgust with the world (the woman for a time had + filled it for him completely) had taken the form of activity in + retirement, because, though capable of great depth of feeling, he was + energetic and essentially practical. But there was in that uncommon old + sailor, drifting on the outskirts of his busy solitude, something that + fascinated his skepticism. His very simplicity (amusing enough) was like a + delicate refinement of an upright character. The striking dignity of + manner could be nothing else, in a man reduced to such a humble position, + but the expression of something essentially noble in the character. With + all his trust in mankind he was no fool; the serenity of his temper at the + end of so many years, since it could not obviously have been appeased by + success, wore an air of profound wisdom. Mr. Van Wyk was amused at it + sometimes. Even the very physical traits of the old captain of the Sofala, + his powerful frame, his reposeful mien, his intelligent, handsome face, + the big limbs, the benign courtesy, the touch of rugged severity in the + shaggy eyebrows, made up a seductive personality. Mr. Van Wyk disliked + littleness of every kind, but there was nothing small about that man, and + in the exemplary regularity of many trips an intimacy had grown up between + them, a warm feeling at bottom under a kindly stateliness of forms + agreeable to his fastidiousness. + </p> + <p> + They kept their respective opinions on all worldly matters. His other + convictions Captain Whalley never intruded. The difference of their ages + was like another bond between them. Once, when twitted with the + uncharitableness of his youth, Mr. Van Wyk, running his eye over the vast + proportions of his interlocutor, retorted in friendly banter— + </p> + <p> + “Oh. You’ll come to my way of thinking yet. You’ll have plenty of time. + Don’t call yourself old: you look good for a round hundred.” + </p> + <p> + But he could not help his stinging incisiveness, and though moderating it + by an almost affectionate smile, he added— + </p> + <p> + “And by then you will probably consent to die from sheer disgust.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, smiling too, shook his head. “God forbid!” + </p> + <p> + He thought that perhaps on the whole he deserved something better than to + die in such sentiments. The time of course would have to come, and he + trusted to his Maker to provide a manner of going out of which he need not + be ashamed. For the rest he hoped he would live to a hundred if need be: + other men had been known; it would be no miracle. He expected no miracles. + </p> + <p> + The pronounced, argumentative tone caused Mr. Van Wyk to raise his head + and look at him steadily. Captain Whalley was gazing fixedly with a rapt + expression, as though he had seen his Creator’s favorable decree written + in mysterious characters on the wall. He kept perfectly motionless for a + few seconds, then got his vast bulk on to his feet so impetuously that Mr. + Van Wyk was startled. + </p> + <p> + He struck first a heavy blow on his inflated chest: and, throwing out + horizontally a big arm that remained steady, extended in the air like the + limb of a tree on a windless day— + </p> + <p> + “Not a pain or an ache there. Can you see this shake in the least?” + </p> + <p> + His voice was low, in an awing, confident contrast with the headlong + emphasis of his movements. He sat down abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “This isn’t to boast of it, you know. I am nothing,” he said in his + effortless strong voice, that seemed to come out as naturally as a river + flows. He picked up the stump of the cigar he had laid aside, and added + peacefully, with a slight nod, “As it happens, my life is necessary; it + isn’t my own, it isn’t—God knows.” + </p> + <p> + He did not say much for the rest of the evening, but several times Mr. Van + Wyk detected a faint smile of assurance flitting under the heavy mustache. + </p> + <p> + Later on Captain Whalley would now and then consent to dine “at the + house.” He could even be induced to drink a glass of wine. “Don’t think I + am afraid of it, my good sir,” he explained. “There was a very good reason + why I should give it up.” + </p> + <p> + On another occasion, leaning back at ease, he remarked, “You have treated + me most—most humanely, my dear Mr. Van Wyk, from the very first.” + </p> + <p> + “You’ll admit there was some merit,” Mr. Van Wyk hinted slyly. “An + associate of that excellent Massy. . . . Well, well, my dear captain, I + won’t say a word against him.” + </p> + <p> + “It would be no use your saying anything against him,” Captain Whalley + affirmed a little moodily. “As I’ve told you before, my life—my + work, is necessary, not for myself alone. I can’t choose” . . . He paused, + turned the glass before him right round. . . . “I have an only child—a + daughter.” + </p> + <p> + The ample downward sweep of his arm over the table seemed to suggest a + small girl at a vast distance. “I hope to see her once more before I die. + Meantime it’s enough to know that she has me sound and solid, thank God. + You can’t understand how one feels. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh; + the very image of my poor wife. Well, she . . .” + </p> + <p> + Again he paused, then pronounced stoically the words, “She has a hard + struggle.” + </p> + <p> + And his head fell on his breast, his eyebrows remained knitted, as by an + effort of meditation. But generally his mind seemed steeped in the + serenity of boundless trust in a higher power. Mr. Van Wyk wondered + sometimes how much of it was due to the splendid vitality of the man, to + the bodily vigor which seems to impart something of its force to the soul. + But he had learned to like him very much. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIII + </h2> + <p> + This was the reason why Mr. Sterne’s confidential communication, delivered + hurriedly on the shore alongside the dark silent ship, had disturbed his + equanimity. It was the most incomprehensible and unexpected thing that + could happen; and the perturbation of his spirit was so great that, + forgetting all about his letters, he ran rapidly up the bridge ladder. + </p> + <p> + The portable table was being put together for dinner to the left of the + wheel by two pig-tailed “boys,” who as usual snarled at each other over + the job, while another, a doleful, burly, very yellow Chinaman, resembling + Mr. Massy, waited apathetically with the cloth over his arm and a pile of + thick dinner-plates against his chest. A common cabin lamp with its globe + missing, brought up from below, had been hooked to the wooden framework of + the awning; the side-screens had been lowered all round; Captain Whalley + filling the depths of the wicker-chair seemed to sit benumbed in a canvas + tent crudely lighted, and used for the storing of nautical objects; a + shabby steering-wheel, a battered brass binnacle on a stout mahogany + stand, two dingy life-buoys, an old cork fender lying in a corner, + dilapidated deck-lockers with loops of thin rope instead of door-handles. + </p> + <p> + He shook off the appearance of numbness to return Mr. Van Wyk’s unusually + brisk greeting, but relapsed directly afterwards. To accept a pressing + invitation to dinner “up at the house” cost him another very visible + physical effort. Mr. Van Wyk, perplexed, folded his arms, and leaning back + against the rail, with his little, black, shiny feet well out, examined + him covertly. + </p> + <p> + “I’ve noticed of late that you are not quite yourself, old friend.” + </p> + <p> + He put an affectionate gentleness into the last two words. The real + intimacy of their intercourse had never been so vividly expressed before. + </p> + <p> + “Tut, tut, tut!” + </p> + <p> + The wicker-chair creaked heavily. + </p> + <p> + “Irritable,” commented Mr. Van Wyk to himself; and aloud, “I’ll expect to + see you in half an hour, then,” he said negligently, moving off. + </p> + <p> + “In half an hour,” Captain Whalley’s rigid silvery head repeated behind + him as if out of a trance. + </p> + <p> + Amidships, below, two voices, close against the engineroom, could be heard + answering each other—one angry and slow, the other alert. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you the beast has locked himself in to get drunk.” + </p> + <p> + “Can’t help it now, Mr. Massy. After all, a man has a right to shut + himself up in his cabin in his own time.” + </p> + <p> + “Not to get drunk.” + </p> + <p> + “I heard him swear that the worry with the boilers was enough to drive any + man to drink,” Sterne said maliciously. + </p> + <p> + Massy hissed out something about bursting the door in. Mr. Van Wyk, to + avoid them, crossed in the dark to the other side of the deserted deck. + The planking of the little wharf rattled faintly under his hasty feet. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Van Wyk! Mr. Van Wyk!” + </p> + <p> + He walked on: somebody was running on the path. “You’ve forgotten to get + your mail.” + </p> + <p> + Sterne, holding a bundle of papers in his hand, caught up with him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, thanks.” + </p> + <p> + But, as the other continued at his elbow, Mr. Van Wyk stopped short. The + overhanging eaves, descending low upon the lighted front of the bungalow, + threw their black straight-edged shadow into the great body of the night + on that side. Everything was very still. A tinkle of cutlery and a slight + jingle of glasses were heard. Mr. Van Wyk’s servants were laying the table + for two on the veranda. + </p> + <p> + “I’m afraid you give me no credit whatever for my good intentions in the + matter I’ve spoken to you about,” said Sterne. + </p> + <p> + “I simply don’t understand you.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Whalley is a very audacious man, but he will understand that his + game is up. That’s all that anybody need ever know of it from me. Believe + me, I am very considerate in this, but duty is duty. I don’t want to make + a fuss. All I ask you, as his friend, is to tell him from me that the + game’s up. That will be sufficient.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk felt a loathsome dismay at this queer privilege of friendship. + He would not demean himself by asking for the slightest explanation; to + drive the other away with contumely he did not think prudent—as yet, + at any rate. So much assurance staggered him. Who could tell what there + could be in it, he thought? His regard for Captain Whalley had the + tenacity of a disinterested sentiment, and his practical instinct coming + to his aid, he concealed his scorn. + </p> + <p> + “I gather, then, that this is something grave.” + </p> + <p> + “Very grave,” Sterne assented solemnly, delighted at having produced an + effect at last. He was ready to add some effusive protestations of regret + at the “unavoidable necessity,” but Mr. Van Wyk cut him short—very + civilly, however. + </p> + <p> + Once on the veranda Mr. Van Wyk put his hands in his pockets, and, + straddling his legs, stared down at a black panther skin lying on the + floor before a rocking-chair. “It looks as if the fellow had not the pluck + to play his own precious game openly,” he thought. + </p> + <p> + This was true enough. In the face of Massy’s last rebuff Sterne dared not + declare his knowledge. His object was simply to get charge of the steamer + and keep it for some time. Massy would never forgive him for forcing + himself on; but if Captain Whalley left the ship of his own accord, the + command would devolve upon him for the rest of the trip; so he hit upon + the brilliant idea of scaring the old man away. A vague menace, a mere + hint, would be enough in such a brazen case; and, with a strange admixture + of compassion, he thought that Batu Beru was a very good place for + throwing up the sponge. The skipper could go ashore quietly, and stay with + that Dutchman of his. Weren’t these two as thick as thieves together? And + on reflection he seemed to see that there was a way to work the whole + thing through that great friend of the old man’s. This was another + brilliant idea. He had an inborn preference for circuitous methods. In + this particular case he desired to remain in the background as much as + possible, to avoid exasperating Massy needlessly. No fuss! Let it all + happen naturally. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk all through the dinner was conscious of a sense of isolation + that invades sometimes the closeness of human intercourse. Captain Whalley + failed lamentably and obviously in his attempts to eat something. He + seemed overcome by a strange absentmindedness. His hand would hover + irresolutely, as if left without guidance by a preoccupied mind. Mr. Van + Wyk had heard him coming up from a long way off in the profound stillness + of the river-side, and had noticed the irresolute character of the + footfalls. The toe of his boot had struck the bottom stair as though he + had come along mooning with his head in the air right up to the steps of + the veranda. Had the captain of the Sofala been another sort of man he + would have suspected the work of age there. But one glance at him was + enough. Time—after, indeed, marking him for its own—had given + him up to his usefulness, in which his simple faith would see a proof of + Divine mercy. “How could I contrive to warn him?” Mr. Van Wyk wondered, as + if Captain Whalley had been miles and miles away, out of sight and earshot + of all evil. He was sickened by an immense disgust of Sterne. To even + mention his threat to a man like Whalley would be positively indecent. + There was something more vile and insulting in its hint than in a definite + charge of crime—the debasing taint of blackmailing. “What could + anyone bring against him?” he asked himself. This was a limpid + personality. “And for what object?” The Power that man trusted had thought + fit to leave him nothing on earth that envy could lay hold of, except a + bare crust of bread. + </p> + <p> + “Won’t you try some of this?” he asked, pushing a dish slightly. Suddenly + it seemed to Mr. Van Wyk that Sterne might possibly be coveting the + command of the Sofala. His cynicism was quite startled by what looked like + a proof that no man may count himself safe from his kind unless in the + very abyss of misery. An intrigue of that sort was hardly worth troubling + about, he judged; but still, with such a fool as Massy to deal with, + Whalley ought to and must be warned. + </p> + <p> + At this moment Captain Whalley, bolt upright, the deep cavities of the + eyes overhung by a bushy frown, and one large brown hand resting on each + side of his empty plate, spoke across the tablecloth abruptly—“Mr. + Van Wyk, you’ve always treated me with the most humane consideration.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear captain, you make too much of a simple fact that I am not a + savage.” Mr. Van Wyk, utterly revolted by the thought of Sterne’s obscure + attempt, raised his voice incisively, as if the mate had been hiding + somewhere within earshot. “Any consideration I have been able to show was + no more than the rightful due of a character I’ve learned to regard by + this time with an esteem that nothing can shake.” + </p> + <p> + A slight ring of glass made him lift his eyes from the slice of pine-apple + he was cutting into small pieces on his plate. In changing his position + Captain Whalley had contrived to upset an empty tumbler. + </p> + <p> + Without looking that way, leaning sideways on his elbow, his other hand + shading his brow, he groped shakily for it, then desisted. Van Wyk stared + blankly, as if something momentous had happened all at once. He did not + know why he should feel so startled; but he forgot Sterne utterly for the + moment. + </p> + <p> + “Why, what’s the matter?” + </p> + <p> + And Captain Whalley, half-averted, in a deadened, agitated voice, muttered— + </p> + <p> + “Esteem!” + </p> + <p> + “And I may add something more,” Mr. Van Wyk, very steady-eyed, pronounced + slowly. + </p> + <p> + “Hold! Enough!” Captain Whalley did not change his attitude or raise his + voice. “Say no more! I can make you no return. I am too poor even for that + now. Your esteem is worth having. You are not a man that would stoop to + deceive the poorest sort of devil on earth, or make a ship unseaworthy + every time he takes her to sea.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk, leaning forward, his face gone pink all over, with the + starched table-napkin over his knees, was inclined to mistrust his senses, + his power of comprehension, the sanity of his guest. + </p> + <p> + “Where? Why? In the name of God!—what’s this? What ship? I don’t + understand who . . .” + </p> + <p> + “Then, in the name of God, it is I! A ship’s unseaworthy when her captain + can’t see. I am going blind.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk made a slight movement, and sat very still afterwards for a + few seconds; then, with the thought of Sterne’s “The game’s up,” he ducked + under the table to pick up the napkin which had slipped off his knees. + This was the game that was up. And at the same time the muffled voice of + Captain Whalley passed over him— + </p> + <p> + “I’ve deceived them all. Nobody knows.” + </p> + <p> + He emerged flushed to the eyes. Captain Whalley, motionless under the full + blaze of the lamp, shaded his face with his hand. + </p> + <p> + “And you had that courage?” + </p> + <p> + “Call it by what name you like. But you are a humane man—a—a—gentleman, + Mr. Van Wyk. You may have asked me what I had done with my conscience.” + </p> + <p> + He seemed to muse, profoundly silent, very still in his mournful pose. + </p> + <p> + “I began to tamper with it in my pride. You begin to see a lot of things + when you are going blind. I could not be frank with an old chum even. I + was not frank with Massy—no, not altogether. I knew he took me for a + wealthy sailor fool, and I let him. I wanted to keep up my importance—because + there was poor Ivy away there—my daughter. What did I want to trade + on his misery for? I did trade on it—for her. And now, what mercy + could I expect from him? He would trade on mine if he knew it. He would + hunt the old fraud out, and stick to the money for a year. Ivy’s money. + And I haven’t kept a penny for myself. How am I going to live for a year. + A year! In a year there will be no sun in the sky for her father.” + </p> + <p> + His deep voice came out, awfully veiled, as though he had been overwhelmed + by the earth of a landslide, and talking to you of the thoughts that haunt + the dead in their graves. A cold shudder ran down Mr. Van Wyk’s back. + </p> + <p> + “And how long is it since you have . . .?” he began. + </p> + <p> + “It was a long time before I could bring myself to believe in this—this + visitation.” Captain Whalley spoke with gloomy patience from under his + hand. + </p> + <p> + He had not thought he had deserved it. He had begun by deceiving himself + from day to day, from week to week. He had the Serang at hand there—an + old servant. It came on gradually, and when he could no longer deceive + himself . . . + </p> + <p> + His voice died out almost. + </p> + <p> + “Rather than give her up I set myself to deceive you all.” + </p> + <p> + “It’s incredible,” whispered Mr. Van Wyk. Captain Whalley’s appalling + murmur flowed on. + </p> + <p> + “Not even the sign of God’s anger could make me forget her. How could I + forsake my child, feeling my vigor all the time—the blood warm + within me? Warm as yours. It seems to me that, like the blinded Samson, I + would find the strength to shake down a temple upon my head. She’s a + struggling woman—my own child that we used to pray over together, my + poor wife and I. Do you remember that day I as well as told you that I + believed God would let me live to a hundred for her sake? What sin is + there in loving your child? Do you see it? I was ready for her sake to + live for ever. I half believed I would. I’ve been praying for death since. + Ha! Presumptuous man—you wanted to live . . .” + </p> + <p> + A tremendous, shuddering upheaval of that big frame, shaken by a gasping + sob, set the glasses jingling all over the table, seemed to make the whole + house tremble to the roof-tree. And Mr. Van Wyk, whose feeling of outraged + love had been translated into a form of struggle with nature, understood + very well that, for that man whose whole life had been conditioned by + action, there could exist no other expression for all the emotions; that, + to voluntarily cease venturing, doing, enduring, for his child’s sake, + would have been exactly like plucking his warm love for her out of his + living heart. Something too monstrous, too impossible, even to conceive. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley had not changed his attitude, that seemed to express + something of shame, sorrow, and defiance. + </p> + <p> + “I have even deceived you. If it had not been for that word ‘esteem.’ + These are not the words for me. I would have lied to you. Haven’t I lied + to you? Weren’t you going to trust your property on board this very trip?” + </p> + <p> + “I have a floating yearly policy,” Mr. Van Wyk said almost unwittingly, + and was amazed at the sudden cropping up of a commercial detail. + </p> + <p> + “The ship is unseaworthy, I tell you. The policy would be invalid if it + were known . . .” + </p> + <p> + “We shall share the guilt, then.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing could make mine less,” said Captain Whalley. + </p> + <p> + He had not dared to consult a doctor; the man would have perhaps asked who + he was, what he was doing; Massy might have heard something. He had lived + on without any help, human or divine. The very prayers stuck in his + throat. What was there to pray for? and death seemed as far as ever. Once + he got into his cabin he dared not come out again; when he sat down he + dared not get up; he dared not raise his eyes to anybody’s face; he felt + reluctant to look upon the sea or up to the sky. The world was fading + before his great fear of giving himself away. The old ship was his last + friend; he was not afraid of her; he knew every inch of her deck; but at + her too he hardly dared to look, for fear of finding he could see less + than the day before. A great incertitude enveloped him. The horizon was + gone; the sky mingled darkly with the sea. Who was this figure standing + over yonder? what was this thing lying down there? And a frightful doubt + of the reality of what he could see made even the remnant of sight that + remained to him an added torment, a pitfall always open for his miserable + pretense. He was afraid to stumble inexcusably over something—to say + a fatal Yes or No to a question. The hand of God was upon him, but it + could not tear him away from his child. And, as if in a nightmare of + humiliation, every featureless man seemed an enemy. + </p> + <p> + He let his hand fall heavily on the table. Mr. Van Wyk, arms down, chin on + breast, with a gleam of white teeth pressing on the lower lip, meditated + on Sterne’s “The game’s up.” + </p> + <p> + “The Serang of course does not know.” + </p> + <p> + “Nobody,” said Captain Whalley, with assurance. + </p> + <p> + “Ah yes. Nobody. Very well. Can you keep it up to the end of the trip? + That is the last under the agreement with Massy.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley got up and stood erect, very stately, with the great white + beard lying like a silver breastplate over the awful secret of his heart. + Yes; that was the only hope there was for him of ever seeing her again, of + securing the money, the last he could do for her, before he crept away + somewhere—useless, a burden, a reproach to himself. His voice + faltered. + </p> + <p> + “Think of it! Never see her any more: the only human being besides myself + now on earth that can remember my wife. She’s just like her mother. Lucky + the poor woman is where there are no tears shed over those they loved on + earth and that remain to pray not to be led into temptation—because, + I suppose, the blessed know the secret of grace in God’s dealings with His + created children.” + </p> + <p> + He swayed a little, said with austere dignity— + </p> + <p> + “I don’t. I know only the child He has given me.” + </p> + <p> + And he began to walk. Mr. Van Wyk, jumping up, saw the full meaning of the + rigid head, the hesitating feet, the vaguely extended hand. His heart was + beating fast; he moved a chair aside, and instinctively advanced as if to + offer his arm. But Captain Whalley passed him by, making for the stairs + quite straight. + </p> + <p> + “He could not see me at all out of his line,” Van Wyk thought, with a sort + of awe. Then going to the head of the stairs, he asked a little + tremulously— + </p> + <p> + “What is it like—like a mist—like . . .” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, half-way down, stopped, and turned round undismayed to + answer. + </p> + <p> + “It is as if the light were ebbing out of the world. Have you ever watched + the ebbing sea on an open stretch of sands withdrawing farther and farther + away from you? It is like this—only there will be no flood to + follow. Never. It is as if the sun were growing smaller, the stars going + out one by one. There can’t be many left that I can see by this. But I + haven’t had the courage to look of late . . .” He must have been able to + make out Mr. Van Wyk, because he checked him by an authoritative gesture + and a stoical— + </p> + <p> + “I can get about alone yet.” + </p> + <p> + It was as if he had taken his line, and would accept no help from men, + after having been cast out, like a presumptuous Titan, from his heaven. + Mr. Van Wyk, arrested, seemed to count the footsteps right out of earshot. + He walked between the tables, tapping smartly with his heels, took up a + paper-knife, dropped it after a vague glance along the blade; then + happening upon the piano, struck a few chords again and again, vigorously, + standing up before the keyboard with an attentive poise of the head like a + piano-tuner; closing it, he pivoted on his heels brusquely, avoided the + little terrier sleeping trustfully on crossed forepaws, came upon the + stairs next, and, as though he had lost his balance on the top step, ran + down headlong out of the house. His servants, beginning to clear the + table, heard him mutter to himself (evil words no doubt) down there, and + then after a pause go away with a strolling gait in the direction of the + wharf. + </p> + <p> + The bulwarks of the Sofala lying alongside the bank made a low, black wall + on the undulating contour of the shore. Two masts and a funnel uprose from + behind it with a great rake, as if about to fall: a solid, square + elevation in the middle bore the ghostly shapes of white boats, the curves + of davits, lines of rail and stanchions, all confused and mingling darkly + everywhere; but low down, amidships, a single lighted port stared out on + the night, perfectly round, like a small, full moon, whose yellow beam + caught a patch of wet mud, the edge of trodden grass, two turns of heavy + cable wound round the foot of a thick wooden post in the ground. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk, peering alongside, heard a muzzy boastful voice apparently + jeering at a person called Prendergast. It mouthed abuse thickly, choked; + then pronounced very distinctly the word “Murphy,” and chuckled. Glass + tinkled tremulously. All these sounds came from the lighted port. Mr. Van + Wyk hesitated, stooped; it was impossible to look through unless he went + down into the mud. + </p> + <p> + “Sterne,” he said, half aloud. + </p> + <p> + The drunken voice within said gladly— + </p> + <p> + “Sterne—of course. Look at him blink. Look at him! Sterne, Whalley, + Massy. Massy, Whalley, Sterne. But Massy’s the best. You can’t come over + him. He would just love to see you starve.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk moved away, made out farther forward a shadowy head stuck out + from under the awnings as if on the watch, and spoke quietly in Malay, “Is + the mate asleep?” + </p> + <p> + “No. Here, at your service.” + </p> + <p> + In a moment Sterne appeared, walking as noiselessly as a cat on the wharf. + </p> + <p> + “It’s so jolly dark, and I had no idea you would be down to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “What’s this horrible raving?” asked Mr. Van Wyk, as if to explain the + cause of a shudder than ran over him audibly. + </p> + <p> + “Jack’s broken out on a drunk. That’s our second. It’s his way. He will be + right enough by to-morrow afternoon, only Mr. Massy will keep on worrying + up and down the deck. We had better get away.” + </p> + <p> + He muttered suggestively of a talk “up at the house.” He had long desired + to effect an entrance there, but Mr. Van Wyk nonchalantly demurred: it + would not, he feared, be quite prudent, perhaps; and the opaque black + shadow under one of the two big trees left at the landing-place swallowed + them up, impenetrably dense, by the side of the wide river, that seemed to + spin into threads of glitter the light of a few big stars dropped here and + there upon its outspread and flowing stillness. + </p> + <p> + “The situation is grave beyond doubt,” Mr. Van Wyk said. Ghost-like in + their white clothes they could not distinguish each others’ features, and + their feet made no sound on the soft earth. A sort of purring was heard. + Mr. Sterne felt gratified by such a beginning. + </p> + <p> + “I thought, Mr. Van Wyk, a gentleman of your sort would see at once how + awkwardly I was situated.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, very. Obviously his health is bad. Perhaps he’s breaking up. I see, + and he himself is well aware—I assume I am speaking to a man of + sense—he is well aware that his legs are giving out.” + </p> + <p> + “His legs—ah!” Mr. Sterne was disconcerted, and then turned sulky. + “You may call it his legs if you like; what I want to know is whether he + intends to clear out quietly. That’s a good one, too! His legs! Pooh!” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes. Only look at the way he walks.” Mr. Van Wyk took him up in a + perfectly cool and undoubting tone. “The question, however, is whether + your sense of duty does not carry you too far from your true interest. + After all, I too could do something to serve you. You know who I am.” + </p> + <p> + “Everybody along the Straits has heard of you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk presumed that this meant something favorable. Sterne had a + soft laugh at this pleasantry. He should think so! To the opening + statement, that the partnership agreement was to expire at the end of this + very trip, he gave an attentive assent. He was aware. One heard of nothing + else on board all the blessed day long. As to Massy, it was no secret that + he was in a jolly deep hole with these worn-out boilers. He would have to + borrow somewhere a couple of hundred first of all to pay off the captain; + and then he would have to raise money on mortgage upon the ship for the + new boilers—that is, if he could find a lender at all. At best it + meant loss of time, a break in the trade, short earnings for the year—and + there was always the danger of having his connection filched away from him + by the Germans. It was whispered about that he had already tried two + firms. Neither would have anything to do with him. Ship too old, and the + man too well known in the place. . . . Mr. Sterne’s final rapid winking + remained buried in the deep darkness sibilating with his whispers. + </p> + <p> + “Supposing, then, he got the loan,” Mr. Van Wyk resumed in a deliberate + undertone, “on your own showing he’s more than likely to get a mortgagee’s + man thrust upon him as captain. For my part, I know that I would make that + very stipulation myself if I had to find the money. And as a matter of + fact I am thinking of doing so. It would be worth my while in many ways. + Do you see how this would bear on the case under discussion?” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, sir. I am sure you couldn’t get anybody that would care more + for your interests.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it suits my interest that Captain Whalley should finish his time. I + shall probably take a passage with you down the Straits. If that can be + done, I’ll be on the spot when all these changes take place, and in a + position to look after <i>your</i> interests.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Van Wyk, I want nothing better. I am sure I am infinitely . . .” + </p> + <p> + “I take it, then, that this may be done without any trouble.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, sir, what risk there is can’t be helped; but (speaking to you as my + employer now) the thing is more safe than it looks. If anybody had told me + of it I wouldn’t have believed it, but I have been looking on myself. That + old Serang has been trained up to the game. There’s nothing the matter + with his—his—limbs, sir. He’s got used to doing things himself + in a remarkable way. And let me tell you, sir, that Captain Whalley, poor + man, is by no means useless. Fact. Let me explain to you, sir. He stiffens + up that old monkey of a Malay, who knows well enough what to do. Why, he + must have kept captain’s watches in all sorts of country ships off and on + for the last five-and-twenty years. These natives, sir, as long as they + have a white man close at the back, will go on doing the right thing most + surprisingly well—even if left quite to themselves. Only the white + man must be of the sort to put starch into them, and the captain is just + the one for that. Why, sir, he has drilled him so well that now he needs + hardly speak at all. I have seen that little wrinkled ape made to take the + ship out of Pangu Bay on a blowy morning and on all through the islands; + take her out first-rate, sir, dodging under the old man’s elbow, and in + such quiet style that you could not have told for the life of you which of + the two was doing the work up there. That’s where our poor friend would be + still of use to the ship even if—if—he could no longer lift a + foot, sir. Provided the Serang does not know that there’s anything wrong.” + </p> + <p> + “He doesn’t.” + </p> + <p> + “Naturally not. Quite beyond his apprehension. They aren’t capable of + finding out anything about us, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You seem to be a shrewd man,” said Mr. Van Wyk in a choked mutter, as + though he were feeling sick. + </p> + <p> + “You’ll find me a good enough servant, sir.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Sterne hoped now for a handshake at least, but unexpectedly, with a + “What’s this? Better not to be seen together,” Mr. Van Wyk’s white shape + wavered, and instantly seemed to melt away in the black air under the roof + of boughs. The mate was startled. Yes. There was that faint thumping + clatter. + </p> + <p> + He stole out silently from under the shade. The lighted port-hole shone + from afar. His head swam with the intoxication of sudden success. What a + thing it was to have a gentleman to deal with! He crept aboard, and there + was something weird in the shadowy stretch of empty decks, echoing with + shouts and blows proceeding from a darker part amidships. Mr. Massy was + raging before the door of the berth: the drunken voice within flowed on + undisturbed in the violent racket of kicks. + </p> + <p> + “Shut up! Put your light out and turn in, you confounded swilling pig—you! + D’you hear me, you beast?” + </p> + <p> + The kicking stopped, and in the pause the muzzy oracular voice announced + from within— + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Massy, now—that’s another thing. Massy’s deep.” + </p> + <p> + “Who’s that aft there? You, Sterne? He’ll drink himself into a fit of + horrors.” The chief engineer appeared vague and big at the corner of the + engineroom. + </p> + <p> + “He will be good enough for duty to-morrow. I would let him be, Mr. + Massy.” + </p> + <p> + Sterne slipped away into his berth, and at once had to sit down. His head + swam with exultation. He got into his bunk as if in a dream. A feeling of + profound peace, of pacific joy, came over him. On deck all was quiet. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy, with his ear against the door of Jack’s cabin, listened + critically to a deep stertorous breathing within. This was a dead-drunk + sleep. The bout was over: tranquilized on that score, he too went in, and + with slow wriggles got out of his old tweed jacket. It was a garment with + many pockets, which he used to put on at odd times of the day, being + subject to sudden chilly fits, and when he felt warmed he would take it + off and hang it about anywhere all over the ship. It would be seen + swinging on belaying-pins, thrown over the heads of winches, suspended on + people’s very door-handles for that matter. Was he not the owner? But his + favorite place was a hook on a wooden awning stanchion on the bridge, + almost against the binnacle. He had even in the early days more than one + tussle on that point with Captain Whalley, who desired the bridge to be + kept tidy. He had been overawed then. Of late, though, he had been able to + defy his partner with impunity. Captain Whalley never seemed to notice + anything now. As to the Malays, in their awe of that scowling man not one + of the crew would dream of laying a hand on the thing, no matter where or + what it swung from. + </p> + <p> + With an unexpectedness which made Mr. Massy jump and drop the coat at his + feet, there came from the next berth the crash and thud of a headlong, + jingling, clattering fall. The faithful Jack must have dropped to sleep + suddenly as he sat at his revels, and now had gone over chair and all, + breaking, as it seemed by the sound, every single glass and bottle in the + place. After the terrific smash all was still for a time in there, as + though he had killed himself outright on the spot. Mr. Massy held his + breath. At last a sleepy uneasy groaning sigh was exhaled slowly on the + other side of the bulkhead. + </p> + <p> + “I hope to goodness he’s too drunk to wake up now,” muttered Mr. Massy. + </p> + <p> + The sound of a softly knowing laugh nearly drove him to despair. He swore + violently under his breath. The fool would keep him awake all night now + for certain. He cursed his luck. He wanted to forget his maddening + troubles in sleep sometimes. He could detect no movements. Without + apparently making the slightest attempt to get up, Jack went on sniggering + to himself where he lay; then began to speak, where he had left off as it + were— + </p> + <p> + “Massy! I love the dirty rascal. He would like to see his poor old Jack + starve—but just you look where he has climbed to.” . . . He + hiccoughed in a superior, leisurely manner. . . . “Ship-owning it with the + best. A lottery ticket you want. Ha! ha! I will give you lottery tickets, + my boy. Let the old ship sink and the old chum starve—that’s right. + He don’t go wrong—Massy don’t. Not he. He’s a genius—that man + is. That’s the way to win your money. Ship and chum must go.” + </p> + <p> + “The silly fool has taken it to heart,” muttered Massy to himself. And, + listening with a softened expression of face for any slight sign of + returning drowsiness, he was discouraged profoundly by a burst of laughter + full of joyful irony. + </p> + <p> + “Would like to see her at the bottom of the sea! Oh, you clever, clever + devil! Wish her sunk, eh? I should think you would, my boy; the damned old + thing and all your troubles with her. Rake in the insurance money —turn + your back on your old chum—all’s well—gentleman again.” + </p> + <p> + A grim stillness had come over Massy’s face. Only his big black eyes + rolled uneasily. The raving fool. And yet it was all true. Yes. Lottery + tickets, too. All true. What? Beginning again? He wished he wouldn’t. . . + . + </p> + <p> + But it was even so. The imaginative drunkard on the other side of the + bulkhead shook off the deathlike stillness that after his last words had + fallen on the dark ship moored to a silent shore. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you dare to say anything against George Massy, Esquire. When he’s + tired of waiting he will do away with her. Look out! Down she goes—chum + and all. He’ll know how to . . .” + </p> + <p> + The voice hesitated, weary, dreamy, lost, as if dying away in a vast open + space. + </p> + <p> + “. . . Find a trick that will work. He’s up to it—never fear . . .” + </p> + <p> + He must have been very drunk, for at last the heavy sleep gripped him with + the suddenness of a magic spell, and the last word lengthened itself into + an interminable, noisy, in-drawn snore. And then even the snoring stopped, + and all was still. + </p> + <p> + But it seemed as though Mr. Massy had suddenly come to doubt the efficacy + of sleep as against a man’s troubles; or perhaps he had found the relief + he needed in the stillness of a calm contemplation that may contain the + vivid thoughts of wealth, of a stroke of luck, of long idleness, and may + bring before you the imagined form of every desire; for, turning about and + throwing his arms over the edge of his bunk, he stood there with his feet + on his favorite old coat, looking out through the round port into the + night over the river. Sometimes a breath of wind would enter and touch his + face, a cool breath charged with the damp, fresh feel from a vast body of + water. A glimmer here and there was all he could see of it; and once he + might after all suppose he had dozed off, since there appeared before his + vision, unexpectedly and connected with no dream, a row of flaming and + gigantic figures—three naught seven one two—making up a number + such as you may see on a lottery ticket. And then all at once the port was + no longer black: it was pearly gray, framing a shore crowded with houses, + thatched roof beyond thatched roof, walls of mats and bamboo, gables of + carved teak timber. Rows of dwellings raised on a forest of piles lined + the steely band of the river, brimful and still, with the tide at the + turn. This was Batu Beru—and the day had come. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy shook himself, put on the tweed coat, and, shivering nervously + as if from some great shock, made a note of the number. A fortunate, rare + hint that. Yes; but to pursue fortune one wanted money—ready cash. + </p> + <p> + Then he went out and prepared to descend into the engine-room. Several + small jobs had to be seen to, and Jack was lying dead drunk on the floor + of his cabin, with the door locked at that. His gorge rose at the thought + of work. Ay! But if you wanted to do nothing you had to get first a good + bit of money. A ship won’t save you. He cursed the Sofala. True, all true. + He was tired of waiting for some chance that would rid him at last of that + ship that had turned out a curse on his life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + XIV + </h2> + <p> + The deep, interminable hoot of the steam-whistle had, in its grave, + vibrating note, something intolerable, which sent a slight shudder down + Mr. Van Wyk’s back. It was the early afternoon; the Sofala was leaving + Batu Beru for Pangu, the next place of call. She swung in the stream, + scantily attended by a few canoes, and, gliding on the broad river, became + lost to view from the Van Wyk bungalow. + </p> + <p> + Its owner had not gone this time to see her off. Generally he came down to + the wharf, exchanged a few words with the bridge while she cast off, and + waved his hand to Captain Whalley at the last moment. This day he did not + even go as far as the balustrade of the veranda. “He couldn’t see me if I + did,” he said to himself. “I wonder whether he can make out the house at + all.” And this thought somehow made him feel more alone than he had ever + felt for all these years. What was it? six or seven? Seven. A long time. + </p> + <p> + He sat on the veranda with a closed book on his knee, and, as it were, + looked out upon his solitude, as if the fact of Captain Whalley’s + blindness had opened his eyes to his own. There were many sorts of + heartaches and troubles, and there was no place where they could not find + a man out. And he felt ashamed, as though he had for six years behaved + like a peevish boy. + </p> + <p> + His thought followed the Sofala on her way. On the spur of the moment he + had acted impulsively, turning to the thing most pressing. And what else + could he have done? Later on he should see. It seemed necessary that he + should come out into the world, for a time at least. He had money—something + could be arranged; he would grudge no time, no trouble, no loss of his + solitude. It weighed on him now—and Captain Whalley appeared to him + as he had sat shading his eyes, as if, being deceived in the trust of his + faith, he were beyond all the good and evil that can be wrought by the + hands of men. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk’s thoughts followed the Sofala down the river, winding about + through the belt of the coast forest, between the buttressed shafts of the + big trees, through the mangrove strip, and over the bar. The ship crossed + it easily in broad daylight, piloted, as it happened, by Mr. Sterne, who + took the watch from four to six, and then went below to hug himself with + delight at the prospect of being virtually employed by a rich man—like + Mr. Van Wyk. He could not see how any hitch could occur now. He did not + seem able to get over the feeling of being “fixed up at last.” From six to + eight, in the course of duty, the Serang looked alone after the ship. She + had a clear road before her now till about three in the morning, when she + would close with the Pangu group. At eight Mr. Sterne came out cheerily to + take charge again till midnight. At ten he was still chirruping and + humming to himself on the bridge, and about that time Mr. Van Wyk’s + thought abandoned the Sofala. Mr. Van Wyk had fallen asleep at last. + </p> + <p> + Massy, blocking the engine-room companion, jerked himself into his tweed + jacket surlily, while the second waited with a scowl. + </p> + <p> + “Oh. You came out? You sot! Well, what have you got to say for yourself?” + </p> + <p> + He had been in charge of the engines till then. A somber fury darkened his + mind: a hot anger against the ship, against the facts of life, against the + men for their cheating, against himself too—because of an inward + tremor of his heart. + </p> + <p> + An incomprehensible growl answered him. + </p> + <p> + “What? Can’t you open your mouth now? You yelp out your infernal rot loud + enough when you are drunk. What do you mean by abusing people in that way?—you + old useless boozer, you!” + </p> + <p> + “Can’t help it. Don’t remember anything about it. You shouldn’t listen.” + </p> + <p> + “You dare to tell me! What do you mean by going on a drunk like this!” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t ask me. Sick of the dam’ boilers—you would be. Sick of life.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish you were dead, then. You’ve made me sick of you. Don’t you + remember the uproar you made last night? You miserable old soaker!” + </p> + <p> + “No; I don’t. Don’t want to. Drink is drink.” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder what prevents me from kicking you out. What do you want here?” + </p> + <p> + “Relieve you. You’ve been long enough down there, George.” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you George me—you tippling old rascal, you! If I were to die + to-morrow you would starve. Remember that. Say Mr. Massy.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Massy,” repeated the other stolidly. + </p> + <p> + Disheveled, with dull blood-shot eyes, a snuffy, grimy shirt, greasy + trowsers, naked feet thrust into ragged slippers, he bolted in head down + directly Massy had made way for him. + </p> + <p> + The chief engineer looked around. The deck was empty as far as the + taffrail. All the native passengers had left in Batu Beru this time, and + no others had joined. The dial of the patent log tinkled periodically in + the dark at the end of the ship. It was a dead calm, and, under the + clouded sky, through the still air that seemed to cling warm, with a + seaweed smell, to her slim hull, on a sea of somber gray and unwrinkled, + the ship moved on an even keel, as if floating detached in empty space. + But Mr. Massy slapped his forehead, tottered a little, caught hold of a + belaying-pin at the foot of the mast. + </p> + <p> + “I shall go mad,” he muttered, walking across the deck unsteadily. A + shovel was scraping loose coal down below—a fire-door clanged. + Sterne on the bridge began whistling a new tune. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, sitting on the couch, awake and fully dressed, heard the + door of his cabin open. He did not move in the least, waiting to recognize + the voice, with an appalling strain of prudence. + </p> + <p> + A bulkhead lamp blazed on the white paint, the crimson plush, the brown + varnish of mahogany tops. The white wood packing-case under the bed-place + had remained unopened for three years now, as though Captain Whalley had + felt that, after the Fair Maid was gone, there could be no abiding-place + on earth for his affections. His hands rested on his knees; his handsome + head with big eyebrows presented a rigid profile to the doorway. The + expected voice spoke out at last. + </p> + <p> + “Once more, then. What am I to call you?” + </p> + <p> + Ha! Massy. Again. The weariness of it crushed his heart—and the pain + of shame was almost more than he could bear without crying out. + </p> + <p> + “Well. Is it to be ‘partner’ still?” + </p> + <p> + “You don’t know what you ask.” + </p> + <p> + “I know what I want . . .” + </p> + <p> + Massy stepped in and closed the door. + </p> + <p> + “. . . And I am going to have a try for it with you once more.” + </p> + <p> + His whine was half persuasive, half menacing. + </p> + <p> + “For it’s no manner of use to tell me that you are poor. You don’t spend + anything on yourself, that’s true enough; but there’s another name for + that. You think you are going to have what you want out of me for three + years, and then cast me off without hearing what I think of you. You think + I would have submitted to your airs if I had known you had only a beggarly + five hundred pounds in the world. You ought to have told me.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps,” said Captain Whalley, bowing his head. “And yet it has saved + you.” . . . Massy laughed scornfully. . . . “I have told you often enough + since.” + </p> + <p> + “And I don’t believe you now. When I think how I let you lord it over my + ship! Do you remember how you used to bullyrag me about my coat and <i>your</i> + bridge? It was in his way. <i>His</i> bridge! ‘And I won’t be a party to + this—and I couldn’t think of doing that.’ Honest man! And now it all + comes out. ‘I am poor, and I can’t. I have only this five hundred in the + world.’” + </p> + <p> + He contemplated the immobility of Captain Whalley, that seemed to present + an inconquerable obstacle in his path. His face took a mournful cast. + </p> + <p> + “You are a hard man.” + </p> + <p> + “Enough,” said Captain Whalley, turning upon him. “You shall get nothing + from me, because I have nothing of mine to give away now.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell that to the marines!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy, going out, looked back once; then the door closed, and Captain + Whalley, alone, sat as still as before. He had nothing of his own—even + his past of honor, of truth, of just pride, was gone. All his spotless + life had fallen into the abyss. He had said his last good-by to it. But + what belonged to <i>her</i>, that he meant to save. Only a little money. + He would take it to her in his own hands—this last gift of a man + that had lasted too long. And an immense and fierce impulse, the very + passion of paternity, flamed up with all the unquenched vigor of his + worthless life in a desire to see her face. + </p> + <p> + Just across the deck Massy had gone straight to his cabin, struck a light, + and hunted up the note of the dreamed number whose figures had flamed up + also with the fierceness of another passion. He must contrive somehow not + to miss a drawing. That number meant something. But what expedient could + he contrive to keep himself going? + </p> + <p> + “Wretched miser!” he mumbled. + </p> + <p> + If Mr. Sterne could at no time have told him anything new about his + partner, he could have told Mr. Sterne that another use could be made of a + man’s affliction than just to kick him out, and thus defer the term of a + difficult payment for a year. To keep the secret of the affliction and + induce him to stay was a better move. If without means, he would be + anxious to remain; and that settled the question of refunding him his + share. He did not know exactly how much Captain Whalley was disabled; but + if it so happened that he put the ship ashore somewhere for good and all, + it was not the owner’s fault—was it? He was not obliged to know that + there was anything wrong. But probably nobody would raise such a point, + and the ship was fully insured. He had had enough self-restraint to pay up + the premiums. But this was not all. He could not believe Captain Whalley + to be so confoundedly destitute as not to have some more money put away + somewhere. If he, Massy, could get hold of it, that would pay for the + boilers, and everything went on as before. And if she got lost in the end, + so much the better. He hated her: he loathed the troubles that took his + mind off the chances of fortune. He wished her at the bottom of the sea, + and the insurance money in his pocket. And as, baffled, he left Captain + Whalley’s cabin, he enveloped in the same hatred the ship with the + worn-out boilers and the man with the dimmed eyes. + </p> + <p> + And our conduct after all is so much a matter of outside suggestion, that + had it not been for his Jack’s drunken gabble he would have there and then + had it out with this miserable man, who would neither help, nor stay, nor + yet lose the ship. The old fraud! He longed to kick him out. But he + restrained himself. Time enough for that—when he liked. There was a + fearful new thought put into his head. Wasn’t he up to it after all? How + that beast Jack had raved! “Find a safe trick to get rid of her.” Well, + Jack was not so far wrong. A very clever trick had occurred to him. Aye! + But what of the risk? + </p> + <p> + A feeling of pride—the pride of superiority to common prejudices—crept + into his breast, made his heart beat fast, his mouth turn dry. Not + everybody would dare; but he was Massy, and he was up to it! + </p> + <p> + Six bells were struck on deck. Eleven! He drank a glass of water, and sat + down for ten minutes or so to calm himself. Then he got out of his chest a + small bull’s-eye lantern of his own and lit it. + </p> + <p> + Almost opposite his berth, across the narrow passage under the bridge, + there was, in the iron deck-structure covering the stokehold fiddle and + the boiler-space, a storeroom with iron sides, iron roof, iron-plated + floor, too, on account of the heat below. All sorts of rubbish was shot + there: it had a mound of scrap-iron in a corner; rows of empty oil-cans; + sacks of cotton-waste, with a heap of charcoal, a deck-forge, fragments of + an old hencoop, winch-covers all in rags, remnants of lamps, and a brown + felt hat, discarded by a man dead now (of a fever on the Brazil coast), + who had been once mate of the Sofala, had remained for years jammed + forcibly behind a length of burst copper pipe, flung at some time or other + out of the engine-room. A complete and imperious blackness pervaded that + Capharnaum of forgotten things. A small shaft of light from Mr. Massy’s + bull’s-eye fell slanting right through it. + </p> + <p> + His coat was unbuttoned; he shot the bolt of the door (there was no other + opening), and, squatting before the scrap-heap, began to pack his pockets + with pieces of iron. He packed them carefully, as if the rusty nuts, the + broken bolts, the links of cargo chain, had been so much gold he had that + one chance to carry away. He packed his side-pockets till they bulged, the + breast pocket, the pockets inside. He turned over the pieces. Some he + rejected. A small mist of powdered rust began to rise about his busy + hands. Mr. Massy knew something of the scientific basis of his clever + trick. If you want to deflect the magnetic needle of a ship’s compass, + soft iron is the best; likewise many small pieces in the pockets of a + jacket would have more effect than a few large ones, because in that way + you obtain a greater amount of surface for weight in your iron, and it’s + surface that tells. + </p> + <p> + He slipped out swiftly—two strides sufficed—and in his cabin + he perceived that his hands were all red—red with rust. It + disconcerted him, as though he had found them covered with blood: he + looked himself over hastily. Why, his trowsers too! He had been rubbing + his rusty palms on his legs. + </p> + <p> + He tore off the waistband button in his haste, brushed his coat, washed + his hands. Then the air of guilt left him, and he sat down to wait. + </p> + <p> + He sat bolt upright and weighted with iron in his chair. He had a hard, + lumpy bulk against each hip, felt the scrappy iron in his pockets touch + his ribs at every breath, the downward drag of all these pounds hanging + upon his shoulders. He looked very dull too, sitting idle there, and his + yellow face, with motionless black eyes, had something passive and sad in + its quietness. + </p> + <p> + When he heard eight bells struck above his head, he rose and made ready to + go out. His movements seemed aimless, his lower lip had dropped a little, + his eyes roamed about the cabin, and the tremendous tension of his will + had robbed them of every vestige of intelligence. + </p> + <p> + With the last stroke of the bell the Serang appeared noiselessly on the + bridge to relieve the mate. Sterne overflowed with good nature, since he + had nothing more to desire. + </p> + <p> + “Got your eyes well open yet, Serang? It’s middling dark; I’ll wait till + you get your sight properly.” + </p> + <p> + The old Malay murmured, looked up with his worn eyes, sidled away into the + light of the binnacle, and, crossing his hands behind his back, fixed his + eyes on the compass-card. + </p> + <p> + “You’ll have to keep a good look-out ahead for land, about half-past + three. It’s fairly clear, though. You have looked in on the captain as you + came along—eh? He knows the time? Well, then, I am off.” + </p> + <p> + At the foot of the ladder he stood aside for the captain. He watched him + go up with an even, certain tread, and remained thoughtful for a moment. + “It’s funny,” he said to himself, “but you can never tell whether that man + has seen you or not. He might have heard me breathe this time.” + </p> + <p> + He was a wonderful man when all was said and done. They said he had had a + name in his day. Mr. Sterne could well believe it; and he concluded + serenely that Captain Whalley must be able to see people more or less + —as himself just now, for instance—but not being certain of + anybody, had to keep up that unnoticing silence of manner for fear of + giving himself away. Mr. Sterne was a shrewd guesser. + </p> + <p> + This necessity of every moment brought home to Captain Whalley’s heart the + humiliation of his falsehood. He had drifted into it from paternal love, + from incredulity, from boundless trust in divine justice meted out to + men’s feelings on this earth. He would give his poor Ivy the benefit of + another month’s work; perhaps the affliction was only temporary. Surely + God would not rob his child of his power to help, and cast him naked into + a night without end. He had caught at every hope; and when the evidence of + his misfortune was stronger than hope, he tried not to believe the + manifest thing. + </p> + <p> + In vain. In the steadily darkening universe a sinister clearness fell upon + his ideas. In the illuminating moments of suffering he saw life, men, all + things, the whole earth with all her burden of created nature, as he had + never seen them before. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes he was seized with a sudden vertigo and an overwhelming terror; + and then the image of his daughter appeared. Her, too, he had never seen + so clearly before. Was it possible that he should ever be unable to do + anything whatever for her? Nothing. And not see her any more? Never. + </p> + <p> + Why? The punishment was too great for a little presumption, for a little + pride. And at last he came to cling to his deception with a fierce + determination to carry it out to the end, to save her money intact, and + behold her once more with his own eyes. Afterwards—what? The idea of + suicide was revolting to the vigor of his manhood. He had prayed for death + till the prayers had stuck in his throat. All the days of his life he had + prayed for daily bread, and not to be led into temptation, in a childlike + humility of spirit. Did words mean anything? Whence did the gift of speech + come? The violent beating of his heart reverberated in his head—seemed + to shake his brain to pieces. + </p> + <p> + He sat down heavily in the deck-chair to keep the pretense of his watch. + The night was dark. All the nights were dark now. + </p> + <p> + “Serang,” he said, half aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Ada, Tuan. I am here.” + </p> + <p> + “There are clouds on the sky?” + </p> + <p> + “There are, Tuan.” + </p> + <p> + “Let her be steered straight. North.” + </p> + <p> + “She is going north, Tuan.” + </p> + <p> + The Serang stepped back. Captain Whalley recognized Massy’s footfalls on + the bridge. + </p> + <p> + The engineer walked over to port and returned, passing behind the chair + several times. Captain Whalley detected an unusual character as of prudent + care in this prowling. The near presence of that man brought with it + always a recrudescence of moral suffering for Captain Whalley. It was not + remorse. After all, he had done nothing but good to the poor devil. There + was also a sense of danger—the necessity of a greater care. + </p> + <p> + Massy stopped and said— + </p> + <p> + “So you still say you must go?” + </p> + <p> + “I must indeed.” + </p> + <p> + “And you couldn’t at least leave the money for a term of years?” + </p> + <p> + “Impossible.” + </p> + <p> + “Can’t trust it with me without your care, eh?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley remained silent. Massy sighed deeply over the back of the + chair. + </p> + <p> + “It would just do to save me,” he said in a tremulous voice. + </p> + <p> + “I’ve saved you once.” + </p> + <p> + The chief engineer took off his coat with careful movements, and proceeded + to feel for the brass hook screwed into the wooden stanchion. For this + purpose he placed himself right in front of the binnacle, thus hiding + completely the compass-card from the quartermaster at the wheel. “Tuan!” + the lascar at last murmured softly, meaning to let the white man know that + he could not see to steer. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy had accomplished his purpose. The coat was hanging from the + nail, within six inches of the binnacle. And directly he had stepped aside + the quartermaster, a middle-aged, pock-marked, Sumatra Malay, almost as + dark as a negro, perceived with amazement that in that short time, in this + smooth water, with no wind at all, the ship had gone swinging far out of + her course. He had never known her get away like this before. With a + slight grunt of astonishment he turned the wheel hastily to bring her head + back north, which was the course. The grinding of the steering-chains, the + chiding murmurs of the Serang, who had come over to the wheel, made a + slight stir, which attracted Captain Whalley’s anxious attention. He said, + “Take better care.” Then everything settled to the usual quiet on the + bridge. Mr. Massy had disappeared. + </p> + <p> + But the iron in the pockets of the coat had done its work; and the Sofala, + heading north by the compass, made untrue by this simple device, was no + longer making a safe course for Pangu Bay. + </p> + <p> + The hiss of water parted by her stem, the throb of her engines, all the + sounds of her faithful and laborious life, went on uninterrupted in the + great calm of the sea joining on all sides the motionless layer of cloud + over the sky. A gentle stillness as vast as the world seemed to wait upon + her path, enveloping her lovingly in a supreme caress. Mr. Massy thought + there could be no better night for an arranged shipwreck. + </p> + <p> + Run up high and dry on one of the reefs east of Pangu—wait for + daylight—hole in the bottom—out boats—Pangu Bay same + evening. That’s about it. As soon as she touched he would hasten on the + bridge, get hold of the coat (nobody would notice in the dark), and shake + it upside-down over the side, or even fling it into the sea. A detail. Who + could guess? Coat been seen hanging there from that hook hundreds of + times. Nevertheless, when he sat down on the lower step of the + bridge-ladder his knees knocked together a little. The waiting part was + the worst of it. At times he would begin to pant quickly, as though he had + been running, and then breathe largely, swelling with the intimate sense + of a mastered fate. Now and then he would hear the shuffle of the Serang’s + bare feet up there: quiet, low voices would exchange a few words, and + lapse almost at once into silence. . . . + </p> + <p> + “Tell me directly you see any land, Serang.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Tuan. Not yet.” + </p> + <p> + “No, not yet,” Captain Whalley would agree. + </p> + <p> + The ship had been the best friend of his decline. He had sent all the + money he had made by and in the Sofala to his daughter. His thought + lingered on the name. How often he and his wife had talked over the cot of + the child in the big stern-cabin of the Condor; she would grow up, she + would marry, she would love them, they would live near her and look at her + happiness—it would go on without end. Well, his wife was dead, to + the child he had given all he had to give; he wished he could come near + her, see her, see her face once, live in the sound of her voice, that + could make the darkness of the living grave ready for him supportable. He + had been starved of love too long. He imagined her tenderness. + </p> + <p> + The Serang had been peering forward, and now and then glancing at the + chair. He fidgeted restlessly, and suddenly burst out close to Captain + Whalley— + </p> + <p> + “Tuan, do you see anything of the land?” + </p> + <p> + The alarmed voice brought Captain Whalley to his feet at once. He! See! + And at the question, the curse of his blindness seemed to fall on him with + a hundredfold force. + </p> + <p> + “What’s the time?” he cried. + </p> + <p> + “Half-past three, Tuan.” + </p> + <p> + “We are close. You <i>must</i> see. Look, I say. Look.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy, awakened by the sudden sound of talking from a short doze on + the lowest step, wondered why he was there. Ah! A faintness came over him. + It is one thing to sow the seed of an accident and another to see the + monstrous fruit hanging over your head ready to fall in the sound of + agitated voices. + </p> + <p> + “There’s no danger,” he muttered thickly. + </p> + <p> + The horror of incertitude had seized upon Captain Whalley, the miserable + mistrust of men, of things—of the very earth. He had steered that + very course thirty-six times by the same compass—if anything was + certain in this world it was its absolute, unerring correctness. Then what + had happened? Did the Serang lie? Why lie? Why? Was he going blind too? + </p> + <p> + “Is there a mist? Look low on the water. Low down, I say.” + </p> + <p> + “Tuan, there’s no mist. See for yourself.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley steadied the trembling of his limbs by an effort. Should + he stop the engines at once and give himself away. A gust of irresolution + swayed all sorts of bizarre notions in his mind. The unusual had come, and + he was not fit to deal with it. In this passage of inexpressible anguish + he saw her face—the face of a young girl—with an amazing + strength of illusion. No, he must not give himself away after having gone + so far for her sake. “You steered the course? You made it? Speak the + truth.” + </p> + <p> + “Ya, Tuan. On the course now. Look.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley strode to the binnacle, which to him made such a dim spot + of light in an infinity of shapeless shadow. By bending his face right + down to the glass he had been able before . . . + </p> + <p> + Having to stoop so low, he put out, instinctively, his arm to where he + knew there was a stanchion to steady himself against. His hand closed on + something that was not wood but cloth. The slight pull adding to the + weight, the loop broke, and Mr. Massy’s coat falling, struck the deck + heavily with a dull thump, accompanied by a lot of clicks. + </p> + <p> + “What’s this?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley fell on his knees, with groping hands extended in a frank + gesture of blindness. They trembled, these hands feeling for the truth. He + saw it. Iron near the compass. Wrong course. Wreck her! His ship. Oh no. + Not that. + </p> + <p> + “Jump and stop her!” he roared out in a voice not his own. + </p> + <p> + He ran himself—hands forward, a blind man, and while the clanging of + the gong echoed still all over the ship, she seemed to butt full tilt into + the side of a mountain. + </p> + <p> + It was low water along the north side of the strait. Mr. Massy had not + reckoned on that. Instead of running aground for half her length, the + Sofala butted the sheer ridge of a stone reef which would have been awash + at high water. This made the shock absolutely terrific. Everybody in the + ship that was standing was thrown down headlong: the shaken rigging made a + great rattling to the very trucks. All the lights went out: several + chain-guys, snapping, clattered against the funnel: there were crashes, + pings of parted wire-rope, splintering sounds, loud cracks, the masthead + lamp flew over the bows, and all the doors about the deck began to bang + heavily. Then, after having hit, she rebounded, hit the second time the + very same spot like a battering-ram. This completed the havoc: the funnel, + with all the guys gone, fell over with a hollow sound of thunder, smashing + the wheel to bits, crushing the frame of the awnings, breaking the + lockers, filling the bridge with a mass of splinters, sticks, and broken + wood. Captain Whalley picked himself up and stood knee-deep in wreckage, + torn, bleeding, knowing the nature of the danger he had escaped mostly by + the sound, and holding Mr. Massy’s coat in his arms. + </p> + <p> + By this time Sterne (he had been flung out of his bunk) had set the + engines astern. They worked for a few turns, then a voice bawled out, “Get + out of the damned engine-room, Jack!”—and they stopped; but the ship + had gone clear of the reef and lay still, with a heavy cloud of steam + issuing from the broken deckpipes, and vanishing in wispy shapes into the + night. Notwithstanding the suddenness of the disaster there was no + shouting, as if the very violence of the shock had half-stunned the + shadowy lot of people swaying here and there about her decks. The voice of + the Serang pronounced distinctly above the confused murmurs— + </p> + <p> + “Eight fathom.” He had heaved the lead. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Sterne cried out next in a strained pitch— + </p> + <p> + “Where the devil has she got to? Where are we?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley replied in a calm bass— + </p> + <p> + “Amongst the reefs to the eastward.” + </p> + <p> + “You know it, sir? Then she will never get out again.” + </p> + <p> + “She will be sunk in five minutes. Boats, Sterne. Even one will save you + all in this calm.” + </p> + <p> + The Chinaman stokers went in a disorderly rush for the port boats. Nobody + tried to check them. The Malays, after a moment of confusion, became + quiet, and Mr. Sterne showed a good countenance. Captain Whalley had not + moved. His thoughts were darker than this night in which he had lost his + first ship. + </p> + <p> + “He made me lose a ship.” + </p> + <p> + Another tall figure standing before him amongst the litter of the smash on + the bridge whispered insanely— + </p> + <p> + “Say nothing of it.” + </p> + <p> + Massy stumbled closer. Captain Whalley heard the chattering of his teeth. + </p> + <p> + “I have the coat.” + </p> + <p> + “Throw it down and come along,” urged the chattering voice. + “B-b-b-b-boat!” + </p> + <p> + “You will get fifteen years for this.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Massy had lost his voice. His speech was a mere dry rustling in his + throat. + </p> + <p> + “Have mercy!” + </p> + <p> + “Had you any when you made me lose my ship? Mr. Massy, you shall get + fifteen years for this!” + </p> + <p> + “I wanted money! Money! My own money! I will give you some money. Take + half of it. You love money yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “There’s a justice . . .” + </p> + <p> + Massy made an awful effort, and in a strange, half choked utterance— + </p> + <p> + “You blind devil! It’s you that drove me to it.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley, hugging the coat to his breast, made no sound. The light + had ebbed for ever from the world—let everything go. But this man + should not escape scot-free. + </p> + <p> + Sterne’s voice commanded— + </p> + <p> + “Lower away!” + </p> + <p> + The blocks rattled. + </p> + <p> + “Now then,” he cried, “over with you. This way. You, Jack, here. Mr. + Massy! Mr. Massy! Captain! Quick, sir! Let’s get— + </p> + <p> + “I shall go to prison for trying to cheat the insurance, but you’ll get + exposed; you, honest man, who has been cheating me. You are poor. Aren’t + you? You’ve nothing but the five hundred pounds. Well, you have nothing at + all now. The ship’s lost, and the insurance won’t be paid.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley did not move. True! Ivy’s money! Gone in this wreck. Again + he had a flash of insight. He was indeed at the end of his tether. + </p> + <p> + Urgent voices cried out together alongside. Massy did not seem able to + tear himself away from the bridge. He chattered and hissed despairingly— + </p> + <p> + “Give it up to me! Give it up!” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Captain Whalley; “I could not give it up. You had better go. + Don’t wait, man, if you want to live. She’s settling down by the head + fast. No; I shall keep it, but I shall stay on board.” + </p> + <p> + Massy did not seem to understand; but the love of life, awakened suddenly, + drove him away from the bridge. + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley laid the coat down, and stumbled amongst the heaps of + wreckage to the side. + </p> + <p> + “Is Mr. Massy in with you?” he called out into the night. + </p> + <p> + Sterne from the boat shouted— + </p> + <p> + “Yes; we’ve got him. Come along, sir. It’s madness to stay longer.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Whalley felt along the rail carefully, and, without a word, cast + off the painter. They were expecting him still down there. They were + waiting, till a voice suddenly exclaimed— + </p> + <p> + “We are adrift! Shove off!” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Whalley! Leap! . . . pull up a little . . . leap! You can swim.” + </p> + <p> + In that old heart, in that vigorous body, there was, that nothing should + be wanting, a horror of death that apparently could not be overcome by the + horror of blindness. But after all, for Ivy he had carried his point, + walking in his darkness to the very verge of a crime. God had not listened + to his prayers. The light had finished ebbing out of the world; not a + glimmer. It was a dark waste; but it was unseemly that a Whalley who had + gone so far to carry a point should continue to live. He must pay the + price. + </p> + <p> + “Leap as far as you can, sir; we will pick you up.” + </p> + <p> + They did not hear him answer. But their shouting seemed to remind him of + something. He groped his way back, and sought for Mr. Massy’s coat. He + could swim indeed; people sucked down by the whirlpool of a sinking ship + do come up sometimes to the surface, and it was unseemly that a Whalley, + who had made up his mind to die, should be beguiled by chance into a + struggle. He would put all these pieces of iron into his own pockets. + </p> + <p> + They, looking from the boat, saw the Sofala, a black mass upon a black + sea, lying still at an appalling cant. No sound came from her. Then, with + a great bizarre shuffling noise, as if the boilers had broken through the + bulkheads, and with a faint muffled detonation, where the ship had been + there appeared for a moment something standing upright and narrow, like a + rock out of the sea. Then that too disappeared. + </p> + <p> + When the Sofala failed to come back to Batu Beru at the proper time, Mr. + Van Wyk understood at once that he would never see her any more. But he + did not know what had happened till some months afterwards, when, in a + native craft lent him by his Sultan, he had made his way to the Sofala’s + port of registry, where already her existence and the official inquiry + into her loss was beginning to be forgotten. + </p> + <p> + It had not been a very remarkable or interesting case, except for the fact + that the captain had gone down with his sinking ship. It was the only life + lost; and Mr. Van Wyk would not have been able to learn any details had it + not been for Sterne, whom he met one day on the quay near the bridge over + the creek, almost on the very spot where Captain Whalley, to preserve his + daughter’s five hundred pounds intact, had turned to get a sampan which + would take him on board the Sofala. + </p> + <p> + From afar Mr. Van Wyk saw Sterne blink straight at him and raise his hand + to his hat. They drew into the shade of a building (it was a bank), and + the mate related how the boat with the crew got into Pangu Bay about six + hours after the accident, and how they had lived for a fortnight in a + state of destitution before they found an opportunity to get away from + that beastly place. The inquiry had exonerated everybody from all blame. + The loss of the ship was put down to an unusual set of the current. + Indeed, it could not have been anything else: there was no other way to + account for the ship being set seven miles to the eastward of her position + during the middle watch. + </p> + <p> + “A piece of bad luck for me, sir.” + </p> + <p> + Sterne passed his tongue on his lips, and glanced aside. “I lost the + advantage of being employed by you, sir. I can never be sorry enough. But + here it is: one man’s poison, another man’s meat. This could not have been + handier for Mr. Massy if he had arranged that shipwreck himself. The most + timely total loss I’ve ever heard of.” + </p> + <p> + “What became of that Massy?” asked Mr. Van Wyk. + </p> + <p> + “He, sir? Ha! ha! He would keep on telling me that he meant to buy another + ship; but as soon as he had the money in his pocket he cleared out for + Manilla by mail-boat early in the morning. I gave him chase right aboard, + and he told me then he was going to make his fortune dead sure in Manilla. + I could go to the devil for all he cared. And yet he as good as promised + to give me the command if I didn’t talk too much.” + </p> + <p> + “You never said anything . . .” Mr. Van Wyk began. + </p> + <p> + “Not I, sir. Why should I? I mean to get on, but the dead aren’t in my + way,” said Sterne. His eyelids were beating rapidly, then drooped for an + instant. “Besides, sir, it would have been an awkward business. You made + me hold my tongue just a bit too long.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you know how it was that Captain Whalley remained on board? Did he + really refuse to leave? Come now! Or was it perhaps an accidental . . .?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing!” Sterne interrupted with energy. “I tell you I yelled for him to + leap overboard. He simply <i>must</i> have cast off the painter of the + boat himself. We all yelled to him—that is, Jack and I. He wouldn’t + even answer us. The ship was as silent as a grave to the last. Then the + boilers fetched away, and down she went. Accident! Not it! The game was + up, sir, I tell you.” + </p> + <p> + This was all that Sterne had to say. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk had been of course made the guest of the club for a fortnight, + and it was there that he met the lawyer in whose office had been signed + the agreement between Massy and Captain Whalley. + </p> + <p> + “Extraordinary old man,” he said. “He came into my office from nowhere in + particular as you may say, with his five hundred pounds to place, and that + engineer fellow following him anxiously. And now he is gone out a little + inexplicably, just as he came. I could never understand him quite. There + was no mystery at all about that Massy, eh? I wonder whether Whalley + refused to leave the ship. It would have been foolish. He was blameless, + as the court found.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Van Wyk had known him well, he said, and he could not believe in + suicide. Such an act would not have been in character with what he knew of + the man. + </p> + <p> + “It is my opinion, too,” the lawyer agreed. The general theory was that + the captain had remained too long on board trying to save something of + importance. Perhaps the chart which would clear him, or else something of + value in his cabin. The painter of the boat had come adrift of itself it + was supposed. However, strange to say, some little time before that voyage + poor Whalley had called in his office and had left with him a sealed + envelope addressed to his daughter, to be forwarded to her in case of his + death. Still it was nothing very unusual, especially in a man of his age. + Mr. Van Wyk shook his head. Captain Whalley looked good for a hundred + years. + </p> + <p> + “Perfectly true,” assented the lawyer. “The old fellow looked as though he + had come into the world full-grown and with that long beard. I could + never, somehow, imagine him either younger or older—don’t you know. + There was a sense of physical power about that man too. And perhaps that + was the secret of that something peculiar in his person which struck + everybody who came in contact with him. He looked indestructible by any + ordinary means that put an end to the rest of us. His deliberate, stately + courtesy of manner was full of significance. It was as though he were + certain of having plenty of time for everything. Yes, there was something + indestructible about him; and the way he talked sometimes you might have + thought he believed it himself. When he called on me last with that letter + he wanted me to take charge of, he was not depressed at all. Perhaps a + shade more deliberate in his talk and manner. Not depressed in the least. + Had he a presentiment, I wonder? Perhaps! Still it seems a miserable end + for such a striking figure.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes! It was a miserable end,” Mr. Van Wyk said, with so much fervor + that the lawyer looked up at him curiously; and afterwards, after parting + with him, he remarked to an acquaintance— + </p> + <p> + “Queer person that Dutch tobacco-planter from Batu Beru. Know anything of + him?” + </p> + <p> + “Heaps of money,” answered the bank manager. “I hear he’s going home by + the next mail to form a company to take over his estates. Another tobacco + district thrown open. He’s wise, I think. These good times won’t last for + ever.” + </p> + <p> + In the southern hemisphere Captain Whalley’s daughter had no presentiment + of evil when she opened the envelope addressed to her in the lawyer’s + handwriting. She had received it in the afternoon; all the boarders had + gone out, her boys were at school, her husband sat upstairs in his big + arm-chair with a book, thin-faced, wrapped up in rugs to the waist. The + house was still, and the grayness of a cloudy day lay against the panes of + three lofty windows. + </p> + <p> + In a shabby dining-room, where a faint cold smell of dishes lingered all + the year round, sitting at the end of a long table surrounded by many + chairs pushed in with their backs close against the edge of the + perpetually laid table-cloth, she read the opening sentence: “Most + profound regret—painful duty—your father is no more—in + accordance with his instructions—fatal casualty—consolation—no + blame attached to his memory. . . .” + </p> + <p> + Her face was thin, her temples a little sunk under the smooth bands of + black hair, her lips remained resolutely compressed, while her dark eyes + grew larger, till at last, with a low cry, she stood up, and instantly + stooped to pick up another envelope which had slipped off her knees on to + the floor. + </p> + <p> + She tore it open, snatched out the inclosure. . . . + </p> + <p> + “My dearest child,” it said, “I am writing this while I am able yet to + write legibly. I am trying hard to save for you all the money that is + left; I have only kept it to serve you better. It is yours. It shall not + be lost: it shall not be touched. There’s five hundred pounds. Of what I + have earned I have kept nothing back till now. For the future, if I live, + I must keep back some—a little—to bring me to you. I must come + to you. I must see you once more. + </p> + <p> + “It is hard to believe that you will ever look on these lines. God seems + to have forgotten me. I want to see you—and yet death would be a + greater favor. If you ever read these words, I charge you to begin by + thanking a God merciful at last, for I shall be dead then, and it will be + well. My dear, I am at the end of my tether.” + </p> + <p> + The next paragraph began with the words: “My sight is going . . .” + </p> + <p> + She read no more that day. The hand holding up the paper to her eyes fell + slowly, and her slender figure in a plain black dress walked rigidly to + the window. Her eyes were dry: no cry of sorrow or whisper of thanks went + up to heaven from her lips. Life had been too hard, for all the efforts of + his love. It had silenced her emotions. But for the first time in all + these years its sting had departed, the carking care of poverty, the + meanness of a hard struggle for bread. Even the image of her husband and + of her children seemed to glide away from her into the gray twilight; it + was her father’s face alone that she saw, as though he had come to see + her, always quiet and big, as she had seen him last, but with something + more august and tender in his aspect. + </p> + <p> + She slipped his folded letter between the two buttons of her plain black + bodice, and leaning her forehead against a window-pane remained there till + dusk, perfectly motionless, giving him all the time she could spare. Gone! + Was it possible? My God, was it possible! The blow had come softened by + the spaces of the earth, by the years of absence. There had been whole + days when she had not thought of him at all—had no time. But she had + loved him, she felt she had loved him, after all. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of End of the Tether, by Joseph Conrad + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK END OF THE TETHER *** + +***** This file should be named 527-h.htm or 527-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/2/527/ + +Produced by Judith Boss and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions 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. 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