Part 16 (1/2)
It was during this period, between the death of Johansen and the arrival on the sealing grounds, that I passed my pleasantest hours on the Ghost Wolf Larsen was quite considerate, the sailors helped ridge And I make free to say, as the days went by, that I found I was taking a certain secret pride in myself Fantastic as the situation was,-a land-lubber second in co that brief tirew to love the heave and roll of the Ghost under h the tropic sea to the islet where we filled our water-casks
But my happiness was not unalloyed It was comparative, a period of less reat reat miseries For the Ghost, so far as the seamen were concerned, was a hell-shi+p of the worst description They never had a ainst the he had received in the forecastle; and ht as well, he devoted hi life unlivable for the, and it was the little things by which he kept the creorked up to the verge of madness I have seen Harrison called from his bunk to put properly away a misplaced paintbrush, and the tatches below haled from their tired sleep to acco, truly, but when enious devices of such a mind, the htly co went on, and little outbursts were continually occurring Bloere struck, and there were always two or threeinjuries at the hands of the human beast as their master Concerted action was impossible in face of the heavy arsenal of weapons carried in the steerage and cabin Leach and Johnson were the two particular victims of Wolf Larsen's diabolic temper, and the look of profound melancholy which had settled on Johnson's face and in his eyes made my heart bleed
With Leach it was different There was toobeast in hiave no tirief His lips had becoht of Wolf Larsen broke out in sound, horrible andand, I do believe, unconsciously I have seen him follow Wolf Larsen about with his eyes, like an animal its keeper, the while the animal-like snarl sounded deep in his throat and vibrated forth between his teeth
I re hi an order His back was toward ht in the air and away fro his head as he leaped He had for the moment mistaken me for the man he hated
Both he and Johnson would have killed Wolf Larsen at the slightest opportunity, but the opportunity never came Wolf Larsen was too wise for that, and, besides, they had no adequate weapons With their fists alone they had no chance whatever Tiht back always, like a wildcat, tooth and nail and fist, until stretched, exhausted or unconscious, on the deck And he was never averse to another encounter All the devil that was in hied the devil in Wolf Larsen They had but to appear on deck at the sa; and I have seen Leach fling hi or provocation Once he threw his heavy sheath-knife,Wolf Larsen's throat by an inch Another time he dropped a steel marlinspike from theshi+p, but the sharp point of the spike, whistling seventy-five feet through the air, barely ed froth two inches and over into the solid deck-planking Still another tie, possessed hi a rush for the deck with it when caught by Kerfoot and disarmed
I often wondered why Wolf Larsen did not kill hihed and seemed to enjoy it There seemed a certain spice about it, such aspets of ferocious aniives a thrill to life,” he explained to areater the odds, the greater the thrill Why should I denyLeach's soul to fever-pitch? For that reatness of sensation is h he does not know it For he has what they have not-purpose, so end to strive to attain, the desire to killdeep and high I doubt that he has ever lived so swiftly and keenly before, and I honestly envy hi at the summit of passion and sensibility”
”Ah, but it is cowardly, cowardly!” I cried ”You have all the advantage”
”Of the two of us, you and I, who is the greater coward?” he asked seriously ”If the situation is unpleasing, you compromise with your conscience when you reat, really true to yourself, you would join forces with Leach and Johnson But you are afraid, you are afraid You want to live The life that is in you cries out that it noainst your whole pitiful little code, and, if there were a hell, heading your soul straight for it Bah! I play the braver part I do no sin, for I as of the life that is in me I am sincere with my soul at least, and that is what you are not”
There was a sting in what he said Perhaps, after all, I was playing a cowardly part And the ht about it thewhat he had advised, lay in joining forces with Johnson and Leach and working for his death Right here, I think, entered the austere conscience ofht conduct I dwelt upon the idea It would be a most moral act to rid the world of such a monster Humanity would be better and happier for it, life fairer and sweeter
I pondered it long, lying sleepless inin endless procession the facts of the situation I talked with Johnson and Leach, during the night watches when Wolf Larsen was below Both men had lost hope-Johnson, because of temperamental despondency; Leach, because he had beaten hiht :
”I think yer square, Mr Van Weyden But stay where you are and keep yer mouth shut Say nothin' but saood We're dead ht be able to do us a favour some time e need it daht Island loomed to ard, close abeam, that Wolf Larsen opened his mouth in prophecy He had attacked Johnson, been attacked by Leach, and had just finished whipping the pair of the to kill you some time or other, don't you?”
A snarl was the answer
”And as for you, Johnson, you'll get so tired of life before I' yourself over the side See if you don't”
”That's a suggestion,” he added, in an aside to me ”I'll bet you a month's pay he acts upon it”
I had cherished a hope that his victi our water-barrels, but Wolf Larsen had selected his spot well The Ghost lay half-a-mile beyond the surf-line of a lonely beach Here debauched a deep gorge, with precipitous, volcanic walls which no man could scale And here, under his direct supervision-for he went ashore himself-Leach and Johnson filled the small casks and rolled them down to the beach They had no chance to make a break for liberty in one of the boats
Harrison and Kelly, however, made such an attempt They composed one of the boats' crews, and their task was to ply between the schooner and the shore, carrying a single cask each trip Just before dinner, starting for the beach with an empty barrel, they altered their course and bore away to the left to round the promontory which jutted into the sea between thees of the japanese colonists and s valleys which penetrated deep into the interior Once in the fastnesses they promised, and the two men could defy Wolf Larsen
I had observed Henderson and S, and I now learned why they were there Procuring their rifles, they opened fire in a leisurely manner, upon the deserters It was a cold-blooded exhibition of marks the surface of the water on either side the boat; but, as the men continued to pull lustily, they struck closer and closer
”Noatcha lasses, and I saw the oar-blade shatter as he shot Henderson duplicated it, selecting Harrison's right oar The boat slewed around The two re oars were quickly broken The men tried to roith the splinters, and had them shot out of their hands Kelly ripped up a botto, but dropped it with a cry of pain as its splinters drove into his hands Then they gave up, letting the boat drift till a second boat, sent froht theot away Nothing was before us but the three or four rounds The outlook was black indeed, and I went about loom seemed to have descended upon the Ghost Wolf Larsen had taken to his bunk with one of his strange, splitting headaches Harrison stood listlessly at the wheel, half supporting hiht of his flesh The rest of theto the lee of the forecastle scuttle, his head on his knees, his arms about his head, in an attitude of unutterable despondency
Johnson I found lying full length on the forecastle head, staring at the troubled churn of the forefoot, and I reestion Wolf Larsen had made It seemed likely to bear fruit I tried to break in on thehim away, but he smiled sadly at me and refused to obey