he had begun. He relighted his cigar and gla
th a suaveness that was cold
y interpolated, with appeasi
It's unhealthy, you know. The mate's gone, so I can't afford to lose yo
moothness of his previous utterance, snapped li
eply, as the offending head
ounging about a companionway between the galley and the hatch, and who did not seem to be sailors, continued talking in low tones with
obediently. 'Get your palm and needle and sew the beggar up.
sir?' the man asked, after
rsen answered, and elevated h
ed out of his galley
nd fill a sa
k?' was the captain's next demand, this time o
made a jocular remark which I did not
d scarce articles, but one of the men volunteered to pursue the quest among the
him over without any palavering, unless our clerical-l
d swung fully aroun
acher, aren't
ppearance- a laugh that was not lessened or softened by the dead man stretched and grinning on the deck before us; a laugh that was as rough and ha
he square order, yet well filled out, was apparently massive at first sight; but again, as with the body, the massiveness seemed to vanish and a conviction to grow of a tremendous and excessive mental or spiritual strength that lay behind, sleeping, in the deeps of his being. The jaw, the chin, the brow rising to a goodly height and swe
and light, and greenish gray, and sometimes of the clear azure of the deep sea. They were eyes that masked the soul with a thousand guises, and that sometimes opened, at rare moments, and allowed it to rush up as though it were about to fare forth nakedly into the world on some wonderful adventure- eyes that could brood with the hopeless somberness of leaden skies; that
pily for the burial service, I was not
you do for
had I ever canvassed it. I was quite taken aback, and, before
rled in a s
re my judge and I required vindication, and at the same time very
your l
at I was quite beside myself- 'rattled,' as Furuseth would ha
ou?' was his
tongue the next instant. 'All of which, you will pardon my observi
sregarded
You've never had any of your own. You couldn't walk alone between two sunris
I thought mine would be crushed. It is hard to maintain one's dignity under such circumstances. I could not squirm or struggle like a schoolboy. Nor could I attack such a creature, who had but to twist my arm to break it. Nothing remained but to stand still and accept the indignity. I had time to not
ped my hand with
soft. Good for little else tha
,' I said firmly, for I n
er you judge your delay
uriously. Mockery
bin-boy goes for'ard to take sailor's place, and you take the cabin-boy's place, sign the articles for the cruise, twenty dollars per month and found. Now, what do yo
ng toward us, and evidently bound to pass at close range. The wind had been momentarily increasing, and the sun, after a few angry gleams, had disappeared. The sea had turned a dull leaden gray and grown rougher, and was now tossing foaming
a moment's pause. 'As she is going in the opposite dir
nswer, as he turned partly away from
popped out
t boy? Tell h
anionway near the wheel. A moment later he emerged, a heavy-set young fellow of eig
is, sir,' t
d that worthy, turning
your na
nd the boy's bearing showed clearly that he div
napped sharply. 'O'Toole or McCarth
as you toe the mark. Telegraph Hill, of course, is your port of entry. It sticks out all over your mug. Tough as they make them and twice
ady & S
lf Larsen
the boy corrected, his eyes
the adva
y did
em have it. Couldn't make yourself scarce too quick, with
body bunched together as though for a spring, and his facftness in his voice, as though he were over
mastered his temper. 'Not
s right.' This with a gratif
rned sixt
t, with muscles like a horse. Pack up your kit and go for'ard int
o the sailor who had just finished the gruesome task of sewing
o,
te just the same. Get your tr
he cheery response, as
he erstwhile cabin
aiting for?' Wol
as the reply. 'I signed for cabin-boy. A
p and go
thrillingly imperative. The boy glo
same moment, as though I had been struck myself, I felt a sickening shock in the pit of my stomach. I instance this to show the sensitiveness of my nervous organization at the time and how unused I was to spectacles of brutality. The cabin-boy- and he weighed o
ed of me. 'Have you
and not more than a couple of hundred yards away. It was a very trim and neat little craft.
sel is tha
y. 'Got rid of her pilots and running into San Francisc
nal it, then, so that
l-book overboard,' he remarked,
y, and knew that I should very probably receive the same, if not worse. As I say, I debated with myself,
e ashore! A thousand doll
though I expected every moment a killing blow from the human brute behind me. At last, after what seemed centuries, unable longer to stand the st
e matter? An
e cry from t
lungs. 'Life or death! One thousa
Wolf Larsen shouted after. 'This one'- indicating me wit
hed back through the megaphone
final cry, and the two men w
n Francisco in five or six hours! My head seemed bursting. There was an ache in my throat as though my heart were up in it. A curling wave struck the side and
-boy staggering to his feet. His face was ghastly whit
you going for'ard?'
me the answer o
u?' I wa
housand-' I began,
ke up your duties as cabin-boy?
nto the cruel gray eyes. They might have been granite for all the light and warmth of a human soul they con
We
,' I
"Yes,
ir,' I c
is your
Weyden
rst
sir- Humphre
Ag
ty-fiv
to the cook and l
ger than I, that was all. But it was very unreal at the time. It is no less unreal now that I loo
n; don't
ntly in my walk t
verything cleaned up, we'll have the funeral
ach side the deck, against the rail, and bottoms up, were lashed a number of small boats. Several men picked up the hatch-cover with its ghastly freight,
oaths and obscenities; and every minute or so the group of hunters gave mouth to a laughter that sounded to me like a chorus of wolves. The sailors trooped noisily aft, some of the watch below running the sleep from their eyes, and talked in low tones together. There wa
, were English and Scandinavian, and their faces seemed of the heavy, stolid order. The hunters, on the other hand, had stronger and more diversified faces, with hard lines and the marks of the free play of passions. Strange to say, and I noted it at once, Wolf Larsen's features showed no such evil stamp. There seemed nothing vicious in them.
ed anxiously aloft. The whole lee rail, where the dead man lay, was buried in the sea, and as the schooner lifted and righted, the water swept across the deck, wetting us above our shoe-tops
,' he said, 'and that is, "And the body s
er seemed perplexed, puzzled no doubt by the brief
here! What the - 's
and, like a dog flung overside, the dead man slid feet first i
deck now they're here. Get in the topsails and outer jibs. We're in for
especially struck me. The dead man was an episode that was past, an incident that was dropped, in a canvas covering with a sack of coal, while the ship sped along and her work went on. Nobody had been affected. The hunte
weather rail, close by the shrouds, and gazed out across the desolate foaming waves to the low-lying fog-banks that hid San Francisco and the California coast. Rain-squalls were driving in between, and I could scarcel