Part 1 (1/2)
The Sea-Wolf
by Jack London
CHAPTER I
I scarcely knohere to begin, though I sometimes facetiously place the cause of it all to Charley Furuseth's credit He kept a sue in Mill Valley, under the shadow of Mount Tah the winter months and read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer to rest his brain When summer came on, he elected to sweat out a hot and dusty existence in the city and to toil incessantly Had it not been my custom to run up to see him every Saturday afternoon and to stop over till Mondaywould not have found me afloat on San Francisoby
Not but that I was afloat in a safe craft, for the Martinez was a new ferry-stea her fourth or fifth trip on the run between Sausalito and San Francisco The danger lay in the heavy fog which blanketed the bay, and of which, as a landsman, I had little apprehension In fact, I remember the placid exaltation hich I took up my position on the forward upper deck, directly beneath the pilot-house, and allowed the ination A fresh breeze was blowing, and for a time I was alone in the moist obscurity-yet not alone, for I was dimly conscious of the presence of the pilot, and of what I took to be the captain, in the glass house abovehow comfortable it was, this division of labour which s, winds, tides, and navigation, in order to visit ood that e of the pilot and captain sufficed for ation than I knew On the other hand, instead of having to devote s, I concentrated it upon a few particular things, such as, for instance, the analysis of Poe's place in American literature-an essay ofaboard, as I passed through the cabin, I had noticed with greedy eyes a stout gentle the Atlantic, which was open at ain, the division of labour, the special knowledge of the pilot and captain which pere on Poe while they carried him safely fro the cabin door behind hi out on the deck, interrupted h I made a mental note of the topic for use in a projected essay which I had thought of calling ”The Necessity for Freedolance up at the pilot-house, gazed around at the fog, stus), and stood still by s wide apart, and with an expression of keen enjoy when I decided that his days had been spent on the sea
”It's nasty weather like this here that turns heads grey before their time,” he said, with a nod toward the pilot-house
”I had not thought there was any particular strain,” I answered ”It seems as simple as A, B, C They know the direction by compass, the distance, and the speed I should not call it anything more than mathematical certainty”
”Strain!” he snorted ”Simple as A, B, C! Mathematical certainty!”
He seeainst the air as he stared at h the Golden Gate?” he demanded, or bellowed, rather ”How fast is she ebbin'? What's the drift, eh? Listen to that, will you? A bell-buoy, and we're a-top of it! See 'e ca of a bell, and I could see the pilot turning the wheel with great rapidity The bell, which had see fro hoarsely, and from time to ti
”That's a ferry-boat of so a whistle off to the right ”And there! D'ye hear that? Blown by mouth Some scow schooner, ht so Now hell's a poppin' for so blast after blast, and thein terror-stricken fashi+on
”And now they're payin' their respects to each other and tryin' to get clear,” the red-facedceased
His face was shi+ning, his eyes flashi+ng with excitee the speech of the horns and sirens ”That's a steaoin' it over there to the left And you hear that felloith a frog in his throat-a steae, crawlin' in froainst the tide”
A shrill little whistle, piping as if gone s sounded on the Martinez Our paddle-wheels stopped, their pulsing beat died away, and then they started again The shrill little whistle, like the chirping of a cricket a frorew faint and fainter I looked to htenment
”One of them dare-devil launches,” he said ”I almost e'd sunk him, the little rip! They're the cause of ets aboard one and runs it from hell to breakfast, blowin' his whistle to beat the band and tellin' the rest of the world to look out for him, because he's comin' and can't look out for hiot to look out, too! Right of way! Common decency! They don't know the meanin' of it!”
I felt quite anantly up and down I fell to dwelling upon the ro, like the grey shadow of infinitespeck of earth; and ht and sparkle, cursed with an insane relish for work, riding their steeds of wood and steel through the heart of the h the Unseen, and cla in confident speech the while their hearts are heavy with incertitude and fear
The voice of h I too had been groping and floundering, the while I thought I rode clear-eyed through the mystery
”hello! so ”And d'ye hear that? He's co Guess he don't hear us yet Wind's in wrong direction”
The fresh breeze was blowing right down upon us, and I could hear the whistle plainly, off to one side and a little ahead