| Show B esq ames WILLIAMS W C BEW ra amea bervice CHAPTER XI continued lz 12 richards boat was near the dead whale moving to and fro richard standing high in the bow and point ti t tog ing this way and that to guide pip at the st earing oar and mary could see sec now and then a man lean over t side and pick something up out of it the water with both hands mary t looked around for information pe ter was aft but isaiah was here with them his elbows on the rall rail squinting at the boats yonder mary asked him what they were doing mats cutting a hole in the small sos EOS he can tow her in 1 I mean richard picking up oh might be grease he suggested you see it sometimes where a whales costive mary looking down into richards boat saw that it was half full of some borne strange stuff noisome in in appearance pe arance a mass of gouts bouts and chunks and fragments deep gray in color bior from which an unpleasant odor rose the stuff was piled around the feet of the mera men the whole whaleboat messed with it peter came here beside them and he be called down to his brother all that gurry dick richard looked up at them with calm eyes but then his own excitement cit ement made him grin like a proud triumphant boy he threw up his hand greasy luck today peter its ambergris he cried mary remembered vaguely having heard someone at some time speak of ambergris she had an obscure impression that is was valuable and she decided now with an amused grimace that it must be or richard would not have brought this boatload of ill smelling stuff back to the he leaped to the deck beside them dripping with his exertions and drunk with the hot taste of victory and as the men swung the whaleboat aboard he spoke to peter ambergris good for richard it smells awful richard chuckled reassuringly get over that as soon as it dries out they use it to make perfumes where does ambergris come from 1 I guess nobody knows just what it is A whale gets rid of it while hes dying just the way a trout will clean out its stomach on the hook see chunks of squid half as big as a man floating around a whale after hes fin out and sometimes you find ambergris the same way mary watched him her eyes still as woodland pools remembering what she had seen this tall young man do a while ago when he came toward her again she could not face him and like one waking she looked around and realized for the first time that george was no longer here beside her she saw him by the cabin skylight aft richard returned past her got to go get dry he said she followed him toward where george stood and george stopped richard said in unstinted praise the finest thing I 1 ever saw or heard of caan corr richard flushed with pleasure and mary linked her arm through her husbands and held tight to it and echoed did you ever see anything so wonderful richard grinned it was a pretty good fight he admitted it was great george agreed 1 I take a full breath for ten minutes he smiled if whaling capin corr ill stick to the ministry richard chuckled in shy pleasure shucks most times its ake beefing a steer nine whales out of ten lust make a little run and then take it and the bowheads bow heads dont even do that A bowhead killed uncle tom mary remembered oh sometimes act bad the business of cutting in the dead whale was pushed at top speed to beat the threat of weather mary watched the long spades slice through blubber and flesh and gristle as easily as hot butter butler peter she saw was shrewd and skilful at this business mary watched the whole operation from the first cut into the black carcass scarred white by the sharks the sharp blades the men used fascinated her hiram was kept busy grinding them tommy turning for him she and george watched proceedings ce together and once when richard stopped near them she said all these spades and harpoons and lances are pretty deadly arent they I 1 should think be nerv nus aus having them around well our tools he reminded in her we get used to them and he said you know peters the best I 1 ever saw on the cutting stage she thought he wished to restore peters stature in her eyes and said agreeably 1 I could see that he knows just where to cut he all that night the decks were a r red ed lighted inferno of smoke and flame and the smell of hot oil penetrated every part of the ship it would be days before the was spick and span again the whale beside the ambergris added a sixteen barrels of spermaceti and forty odd of oil to their cargo but the ambergris had captured the imagination magi nation of every man aboard that single small email barrel which a strong man could lift and carry away was worth thousands of dollars no one could be sure exactly how much and every man aboard was wondering after they found the ambergris richard who had till then maintained a careful dignity as though to support his new part as captain of the became more expansive pan sive mary thought his luck had given him a sense of his own powers on which now he could build at table he was more ready to talk about himself and about the things he lind seen in his ten years of seafaring when he spoke of whales and whaling even george was interested te sted and attentive but sometimes chuckling at his memories richard spoke of brawling days ashore one day he related a rather gay tale of wine and women that nettled george leaving richard in the outer cabin he stalked out mary quick on his heels george led mary into her own cabin and closed the door and he said at once mary I 1 dont like that balki captain corr ought to mind his tongue she hesitated seeing how anger shook him wondering in embarrassment whether richard could hear then she heard richard go on deck dont you think youre a little unreasonable george she pleaded of course youre a minister and 0 01 it jj f 1 1 I knew darned well weil be crying a fine one but richards fine in his way too dont you think there are two ways at least for men to live he said after a moment with that humility which a consciousness of his own one sidedness always woke in him yes I 1 know mary but I 1 hate his attitude toward well toward women the relations relationship hip between men and women a game to be played for fun when a man does things like that and brags about them 1 I dont think he was bragging she argued 1 I thought he was just telling some of the foolish things he be used to do mary are you trying to justify him yes I 1 am she admitted 1 I think by his standards richards a pretty fine man just as you are by yours I 1 think if you did things like that feel ashamed and degraded so of course you do them but when he did them he feel ashamed he just thought they were fun they were foolish perhaps but all young men do foolish things dont they most of them I 1 suppose that make them any less fools his voice was tight with rage she protested herself half angry now you surely dont expect me to be like you stiff and disapproving and hardly speaking to him at all 1 I dont expect you to defend him I 1 richard need defending george said rigidly 1 I expect you to remember youre my wife mary she told him wearily oh I 1 do george you know I 1 do but something in her tone made him look at her with bleak eyes and he turned without a word and went out of the cabin closing the door harshly behind him she dropped on her bunk lying on her back her eyes open and it occurred to her after a little that she was very tired she wondered why and her eyes filled and she rolled over her head in her arms crying quietly when the door of the stateroom opened and then closed she thought it was george returning to make his peace with her and she lay still waiting tor for him to speak she felt his weight on the bunk as he sat down beside her his hand upon her shoulder and she turned over to look up at him and saw not george but peter he bent close above her so that she could not rise and he whispered hotly 1 I knew darned well be crying blast himl him if he were mans size id take him apart she shook her head from side to side on the pillow iles hes all right peter I 1 was just tired all I 1 dont know why she tried to sit up put her hand against his chest to thrust him aside but he did not move he laughed in a comforting fashion poor little maryl you always were a sweet kid I 1 was crazy about you at home you were sort of mean to me always teasing sure the way boys dol do the way they show it I 1 I 1 he said quickly id do a lot to see you happy and he bent and kissed her CHAPTER XII he said hoarsely his lips against her car 1 I could do anything with a woman like you he was pressing her down she had to fight away to fight to her feet in a sort of blind panic to face him with blazing eyes scrubbing at her lips which again now he had kissed crying in low tight tones stop it stop get out of here she flung him back he stood against the door muttering b brokenly im sorry I 1 help it youre so sweet I 1 lost my head get out of here he said in sudden sullen wrath youre not fooling me you knowl know youve always been crazy about dick you never would look at me she took a quick step toward him S so 0 angry that he recoiled and he opened behind him the cabin door she said if you ever come in here again ill he exclaimed in quick alarm sh h dont yell mary george will hear he turned and ran up the companionway to the deck after that whale which richard killed had been tried out and the decks scoured clean again there were long lazy days when the ship and those aboard her seemed asleep sometimes mary looking up at the men en on watch at the crosstrees cros saw them nodding on their lofty perch when the was en an whaling ground she carried at night only enough sail to make her handy but now richard was making a passage counting on picking up enough oil to fill their casks off the coast of south america richard for the sake of warm weather did not yet turn southward and the sun shone fair and fine and the winds were favoring the watch on deck might be busy with scrimshaw listening perhaps to one of Cor krans yarns and the squawk of the parrot sometimes came aft richard standing with mary one day watching corkran and his listeners said hes a good man a good sailor and a storyteller story teller in the ale helps keep the men contented someone to tell em stories keeps em amused mary reflected thoughtfully you know Cor krans really fond of george why he deserted the sunset at gilead in case george needed him george is a fine fellow mary I 1 like him too the queer part is he likes corkran she said corkran lived with the natives on the island and george knows it and yet he seem to blame him richard looked at her you know you may not understand george yourself he said hes about the bravest man I 1 ever saw hes pretty small and frail but hes never afraid he added he wants to go in one of the boats next time we strike whales she was astonished honestly after seeing that fight the other day he said then hed stick to being ii a preacher dont you remember he chuckled that was partly to make me feel good and partly because he saw how impressed you were and he was trying to please you by agreeing with you george is a grown man mary small as he is will you let him go in a boat maybe george had long since made his peace with mary after that ugly hour in her cabin when by defending richard bichard she roused his anger he was humble and contrite and ashamed of his harsh word peter too came to her with apologies and mary guardedly forgave him as a woman can always forgive a man for loving her but sometimes when she looked at him suddenly she surprised a sultry hunger in his eyes that made her wary she tried not to be left alone with him again there were other reasons too why her nerves drew tight and tighter she saw much low pitched conversation among the men forward even corkran was changed mary when he had the wheel sometimes talked with him puzzled by the difference in his bearing she and george discussed it too mary asked corkran straightforwardly ofie one day why he had changed he was he confessed uneasy 1 I dont like the looks of things forward he said nor the talk I 1 hear what talk saying theres a packet of pearls aboard this ship worth a fortune his eyes touch touched ed hers you mind pea pearls r Is made trouble enough back th there ere at the island for himself and you I 1 dont like the pretty little things TO BE CONTINUED |
