Part 20 (1/2)

”I had not thought you so great a coward,” I sneered

He favoured me with a contemptuous stare ”If I raised never a hand for that poor fool,”-pointing astern to the tiny sail,-”d'ye think I'erin' for a broken head for a woman I never laid me eyes upon before this day?”

I turned scornfully away and went aft

”Better get in those topsails, Mr Van Weyden,” Wolf Larsen said, as I came on the poop

I felt relief, at least as far as the two men were concerned It was clear he did not wish to run too far away froht and put the order swiftly into execution I had scarcely opened erto halyards and downhauls, and others were racing aloft This eagerness on their part was noted by Wolf Larsen with a grim smile

Still we increased our lead, and when the boat had dropped astern several , even Wolf Larsen's; but he was the only unperturbedfixedly, betrayed a trouble in his face he was not quite able to hide

The boat drew closer and closer, hurling along through the seething green like a thing alive, lifting and sending and uptossing across the huge-backed breakers, or disappearing behind theain and shoot skyward It seemed impossible that it could continue to live, yet with each dizzying sweep it did achieve the i wet the boat eed, almost upon us

”Hard up, there!” Wolf Larsen shouted, hiain the Ghost sprang away and raced before the wind, and for two hours Johnson and Leach pursued us We hove to and ran away, hove to and ran away, and ever astern the struggling patch of sail tossed skyward and fell into the rushi+ng valleys It was a quarter of a mile ahen a thick squall of rain veiled it froain, but no patch of sail broke the troubled surface I thought I saw, for an instant, the boat's botto crest At the best, that was all For Johnson and Leach the travail of existence had ceased

The one below, and no one was speaking Nor were any looks being exchanged Each man seemed stunned-deeply conte to realize just what had taken place Wolf Larsen gave theht He at once put the Ghost upon her course-a course which meant the seal herd and not Yokohaer as they pulled and hauled, and I heard curses ast them, which left their lips smothered and as heavy and lifeless as were they Not so was it with the hunters Smoke the irrepressible related a story, and they descended into the steerage, belloith laughter

As I passed to leeward of the galley on ineer we had rescued His face hite, his lips were tre

”Good God! sir, what kind of a craft is this?” he cried

”You have eyes, you have seen,” I answered, almost brutally, what of the pain and fear at my own heart

”Your pro of taking them aboard when I ree I've not laid hed a mo, my mind was too confused Ieven now in the spare cabin, was a responsibility, which I ht that flickered throughhastily if I were to be any help to her at all

CHAPTER XX

The re slip of a gale, having wetted our gills, proceeded to ineer and the three oilers, after a warm intervieith Wolf Larsen, were furnished with outfits froned places under the hunters in the various boats and watches on the vessel, and bundled forward into the forecastle They went protestingly, but their voices were not loud They were awed by what they had already seen of Wolf Larsen's character, while the tale of woe they speedily heard in the forecastle took the last bit of rebellion out of theineer-slept on and on At supper I requested the hunters to lower their voices, so she was not disturbed; and it was not till nextthat she made her appearance It had been my intention to have her meals served apart, but Wolf Larsen put down his foot Who was she that she should be too good for cabin table and cabin society? had been his de in it The hunters fell silent as cla stealthy glances at her now and again, and even taking part in the conversation The other four lued their eyes on their plates and chewed steadily and with thoughtful precision, their ears , in time with their jaws, like the ears of so many ani no more than reply when he was addressed Not that he was abashed Far from it This woman was a new type to him, a different breed from any he had ever known, and he was curious He studied her, his eyes rarely leaving her face unless to follow the movements of her hands or shoulders I studied her h it was I who maintained the conversation, I know that I was a bit shy, not quite self-possessed His was the perfect poise, the supre could shake; and he was no more timid of a woman than he was of storm and battle

”And when shall we arrive at Yokoha him squarely in the eyes

There it was, the question flat The jaws stopped working, the ears ceased wobbling, and though eyes rereedily for the answer

”In four months, possibly three if the season closes early,” Wolf Larsen said