Show re BEN AMES WILLIAMS LLIAMS W C BEN N LJ amea S cloel CHAPTER al continued 12 richards boat was near the dead whale moving to and fro ro richard stin standing ding high in the bow and pointing this way and that to guide pip at the steering oar end and mary could see now and then a man lean and pick something up out of the water with both hands mary looked around for or information peter was aft but isaiah was here with them his elbows on the rail squinting at the boats yonder mary asked asked him what they were doing mats cutting p a hole in the small sos he cantow tier her in 1 I mean richard picking upa up oh might be grease he suggested you see tt it sometimes where a whales costive mary looking down into richards boat sa saw w that it was half full of 0 some strange stuff noisome in appearance pea pe arance ance a mass of gouts bouts and chunks and fragments deep gray in color from which an unpleasant odor rose the stuff was piled around the feet of the men the whole whaleboat messed with it peter came here beside them and he 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 ahr threw e W up lip his hand greasy luck today peter its ambergris I 1 he cried mary remembered bagu vaguely ly having heard someone at some time speak peak of amber ambergris gri she had an obscure impression that Is was valuable and she he decided now with an amused grimace that it must be or richard would not have brought this boatload ot 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 swing swung the whaleboat aboard he I 1 spoke poke to peter y what s ambergris good tor for rich w ard it smells awful richard chuckled reassuringly it 11 get over that as soon as it dries out they use it to make perfumes est I 1 where does ambergris come com e 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 lean clean out its stomach on the hook you 11 see chunks of squid half as big as a man floating around a whale after hes he s fin out and sometimes you find ambergris the same way w a mary watched him her eyes at 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 3 around and realized tor for the first v time that george was no longer here beside her she saw him by the cabin skylight aft richard returned past her agot got to go get dry he said she tollo follo aved wed 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 I 1 t take a full breath tor for ten minutes he smiled it if whaling caan corr ill stick to the ministry richard chuckled in shy pleasure shucks most times its like beefing a steer nine whales out of ten just 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 wa watched t hed the long spades slice through blubber and flesh and gristle as easily as hot butter peter she saw aw was shrewd and skilful at this business mary watched the whole operation from the first cut into the black caress carcass scarred white by the sharks the sh sharp arp blades the men used fascinated her hiram was kept busy grinding them tommy turning for or 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 you d be nervous having them around well our tools he reminded her we get used to them and he said you know peters the best I 1 ever saw on the cutting stage she fl 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 red lighted inferno of 0 smoke and flame and the smell ol of hot oil penetrated every part of the ship it would be days before the ven was spick and span again the whale beside the ambergris added sixteen barrels of spermaceti and anc forty odd of oil to their cargo but the ambergris had captured the amr 91 nation olevery of every man aboard that single small barrel which a 1 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 aher 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 powders powers on which now he could build at table he was more ready to talk about himself and about the things he had seen in his ten years of seafaring when he spoke of whales and whaling even george was interested te 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 talk 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 it I 1 tri 4 ca 1 I knew darned well be crying a fine one but richards fire in his way too dont you think there are two ways at least tor 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 relationship between men and women a game to be played for fun un when a man does things like that and brags about them 1 I dont think he was bragging braggin g she argued 1 I thought he was just telling some of the foolish things he 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 butak ink 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 funt they were foolish perhaps but all young men do foolish things dont they most of them I 1 suppose that make them any less tools 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 IOU to defend himl 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 vit hout 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 for him to speak she felt his weight on the bunk as he sat down beside her his hand band upon her shou shoulder ider and she turned over oven to look up at him and saw not gedrge but peter he bent close above her so that she could not rise prid and he whispered hotly 1 I knew darned well be crying blast himl it II he were mans size id take him apart she shook her head from side to side on the pillow 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 maryt 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 the way they show it 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 ear 1 I could do anything with a woman like you he was pressing her down 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 ups lips which again now he had kissed crying in low tight tones stop it peter stop III it get out of here I 1 I 1 she flung him back he stood against the door muttering brokenly im sorry I 1 help it youre so sweet I 1 lost my head get out of herel here he said in sudden sullen wrath youre not fooling me you knowl youve always been crazy about you never would look at mel she took a quick step toward him so 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 hl dont yell mary george will hear he turned and ran up the companionway to the deck after the that t whale which richard killed had b been e en 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 on watch at the crosstrees cros saw them nodding on their lofty perch when the was on 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 oft off the coast of south america richard tor for the sake ol 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 Us lis boners beners said he hes a good man a good sailor and a storyteller story teller in the helps keep the men contented someone 0 e 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 pret i 1 ty 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 a preacher dont you remember he chuckled that was partly to make me feel good and partly because he saw how fim impressed pressed 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 afler that ugly hour in her cabin when by defending richard 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 tor for loving her but sometimes when she looked at him suddenly she surprised a sultry hunger bunger 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 hearing bearing she and george discussed it too mary asked corkran straightforwardly one day why he be had changed he was he confessed uneasy 1 I dont like the looks ol of things forward he be said nor the talk I 1 hear what talk saying theres a packet of pearls aboard this ship worth a fortune his eyes touched hers you mind pearls made trouble enough back there at the island tor for himself and you I 1 dont like the pretty little things TO BE |