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Show JACK LONDON- - rr ----- - r '.'.'"nr, .-'LffiorJf 'Cj- I CHAPTER XXVI Continued. 20 A pe.'p at Wolf l.aron showed mo that ho hud nut moved. A bright thought struck mo. 1 stole Into his state room and possessed myself of his revolvers. Thoro were, no other weapons, though 1 thoroughly ransacked ran-sacked tho three remaining staterooms. state-rooms. To nuiko suro. I returned mid went through the steerago and forecastle, fore-castle, and In tho galley gathered up all the sharp meat and vegetable knives. Then 1 bethought mo of the great yachtman's knife ho always carried, car-ried, and 1 camo to him ninl spoke to htm. first softly, then loudly. Ho did not move. 1 bent over nnd took It from his pocket. 1 breathed more freely. Ho had no arms with which to attack mo from a distance; while 1. armed, could always forestall him should he attempt to grapple me with his terrible gorilla arms. Filling a coffee pot and frying ran with part of my plunder, nnd taking some chlnaware from tho cabin pantry, pan-try, I left Wolf Larsen lying In the sun and went ashore. Maud was Btlll asleep. 1 blew up the embers (we had not yet arranged a winter kitchen) and qulto feverishly feverish-ly cooked tho breakfast. Toward tho end. 1 heard her moving about within the hut. making her toilet. Just as all was ready and tho coffee poured, the door opened and she came forth. "It's not fair of you." was her greet-j greet-j Ing. "You are usurping one of my : prerogatives. You know you agreed I that the cooking should be mine, and " I "But Just this once." I rleaded. j "If you promise not to do it again." j she smiled. "Unless, of course, you j have grown tired of my poor efforts." j To my delight she never once looked i I toward the beach, and I maintained j I the banter with such success that all ' unconsciously Ehe sipped coffee from the china cup, ate fried evaporated ! potatoes, and spread marmalade on I her biscuit. But It could not last- I saw the surprise that came over her. She had discovered he china plate from which she was eating. She looked over the breakfast, noting detail de-tail after detail. Then she looked at me. and her face turned slowly toward to-ward the beach. "Humphrey!" she cried. The old unnamable error mounted Into her eyes. "Is he ?" Ehe quavered. I nodded my head. CHAPTER XXVII. We waited all day for Wolf Larsen to come ashore. It was an intolerable period of anxiety. Each moment one or the other of us cast expectant glances toward the Ghost. But he did not come. He did not even appear on deck. "Perhaps It is his headache," I said. "I left him lying on the poop. He may lie there all night. I think I'll go and see." Maud looked entreaty at me. "It is all right," I assured her. "I shall take the revolvers. You know I collected every weapon on board." "But there are his arms, his hands, his terrible, terrible hands!" she objected. ob-jected. And then she cried, "Oh, Humphrey, Hum-phrey, I am afraid of him! Don't go please don't go!" She rested her hand appealingly on mine, and sent my pulse fluttering. My heart was surely in my eyes for a moment. The dear and lovely woman! And she was so much the woman, clinging and appealing, sunshine and dew to my manhood, rooting it deeper and sending through it the sap of a new strength. I was for putting my arm around her, as when in the door of the hut; but I considered, and refrained. re-frained. "I shall not take any risks," I said. "I'll merely peep over the bow and see." She pressed my hand earnestly and let me go. But the space on deck where I had left him lying was vacant. va-cant. He had evidently gone below. That night we stood alternate watches, one of up sleeping at a time; for there was no telling what Wolf Larsen might do. He was certainly capable of anything. The next day we waited, and the next, and still he mad' no sign. "These headaches of his, these attacks," at-tacks," Maud said, on the afternoon of the fourth day; "perhaps he is 111, very ill. He may be dead." I waited, smiling Inwr.rdly at the woman of her which compelled a solicitude solic-itude for Wolf Larsen, of all creatures. Where was her solicitude for me. I thouKntfor me whom she had been afraid to have merely peep aboard? She was too subtle not to follow the trend of my silence. And she was as direct as she was subtle. "You must go aboard, Humphrey, and find out," she said. "And if you want to laugh at me. you have my consent and forgiveness." 1 arose obediently and went down the beach. "Do be careful." she called after me. I waved my arm from the forecastle bead and dropped down to the deck. I took off my shoes and went noiselessly noise-lessly aft in my stocking feet. Can-1 llously descending, I found tho cabin deserted. The door to his stateroom was closed. At first I thought of knocking, then I remembered my o tenslhlo errand anil resolved to carry It out. Carefully avoiding nolso. 1 lifted tho trapdoor In tho floor and set It to ono sldo. Tlio slop chest, as well as the provisions, was stored In tho laaretto, and 1 took ndvantago of tho opportunity to lay In a stock of underclothing. under-clothing. As I emerged from tho lazaretto I heard sounds In Wolf Larson's Btato-room. Btato-room. I crouched and listened Tho doorknob rattled. Furtively, Instinctively. Instinct-ively. I slunk back behind tho table and drew nnd cocked my revolver. The door swung open nnd ho camo forth. Never had I seen bo profound a despair as that which 1 saw on his face the faco of Wolf Larsen tho lighter, tho strong man. tho Indoml-tnblo Indoml-tnblo one. For all tho world llko a woman wringing her hands, ho raised his clenched fists nnd groaned. One fist unclosed, nnd tho open palm swept across his eyes as though brushing away cobwebs. "God! God!" ho groaned, and the clenched fists were raised ngaln to the Infinite despair with which his throat vibrated. It was horrlhle. I was trembling nil over, and I could feel the shivers running up nnd down my spine and the sweat standing out on my forehead. fore-head. Surely there enn bo little In this world more awful than the spectacle spec-tacle of a strong man In the moment when he Is utterly weak and broken. Hut Wolf Larsen regained control of himself by an exertion of his remarkable re-markable will. And It was exertion. His whole frame shook with the struggle. strug-gle. He caught his breath onco or twice and sobbed. Then ho was successful. suc-cessful. I could have thought him the old Wolf Larsen. and yet there was in his movements a vague suggestion sug-gestion of weakness and indecision. He started for the companionway, and stepped forward quite as 1 had been accustomed to see him do; and yet again. In his very walk, there seemed that suggestion of weakness and Indecision. Inde-cision. 1 rose swiftly to my feet, and, I know, quite unconsciously assumed a defiant attitude. He took no notice of me. Nor did he notice the open trap. Before I could grasp the situation, situa-tion, or act. he had walked right Into the trap. One foot was descending into the opening, while the other foot was just on the verge of beginning the up-1 up-1 lift. But when the descending foot He Shoved the Slide Part Way Back and Rested His Arms in It. missed the solid flooring and felt vacancy va-cancy beneath, it was the old Wolf Larsen and the tiger muscles that made the falling body spring across the opening, even as it fell, so that he struck on his chest and stomach, with arms outstretched, on the floor of the opposite side. The next instant in-stant he had drawn up his legs and rolled clear. But he rolled into my marmalade and underclothes and against the trapdoor. The expression on his face was one of complete comprehension. But before be-fore I could guess what he had comprehended, com-prehended, he had dropped the trapdoor trap-door into place, closing the lazaretto. Then I understood. He thought he had me inside. Also, he was blind, blind as a bat. I watched him. breathing carefully so that he should not hear me. He stepped quickly to his stateroom. state-room. I saw his hand miss the doorknob door-knob by an inch, quickly fumble for it, and find it. This was my chance. I tiptoed across the cabin and to the top of the stairs. He came back, dragging a heavy sea chest, which he deposited on top of the trap. Not content with this, he fetched a second chest and placed it on top of the first. Then he gathered up the marmalade and underclothes and put them on the table. When he started up the companionway, com-panionway, I retreated, silently roll-ing roll-ing over on top of the cabin. He shoved the slide part way back and rested his arms on it, his body Btlll In the companion way. His attitude atti-tude was of ono looking forward the length of tho Bihooiier, or Blaring, rather, for his eyes were fixed and unblinking. 1 was only llvo feet awuv and directly In what Blioulil have been his lino of vIhIoii. It was uncanny. 1 felt myself a ghost, what of my Invisibility. Invis-ibility. I wuved my hand back and forth, of course without effect; but when tho moving Hlmdow fell across his faco I haw nt onco that ho was Hiisceptlhld to tho Impression. , Ills face became moro expectant and tense us ho tried to nnalyzo and Identify the Impression. Giving over his attempt to determine deter-mine the shallow, ho Bte'P''d on deck nnd started forward, walking with a swiftness nnd confidence which but-prUed but-prUed ma. And Btlll there was that hint of tho feeblmesB of tho blind In his walk. I know It now for what It was. To my amused chagrin, he dlHcov-ered dlHcov-ered my shoes on tho forecastle head and brought them back with him Into tho galley. I watched him build the llro and Bet nbout cooking food for himself; then I stolo Into tho cabin for my marmalade and underclothes, slipped back past tho galley, and climbed down to tho beach to deliver my barefoot report. CHAPTER XXVIII. "It's too bad the Ghost has lost her masts. Why, wo could sail away In her. Don't you think we could. Hum phrey?" I sprang excitedly to my feet. "1 wonder, I wonder, " I repeated, pacing up and down. Maud's eyes were shining with anticipation an-ticipation as they followed me. She had such faith In me! And the thought of It was so much added power. pow-er. I remembered Mlchelet's "To man. woman Is as the earth was to her legendary son; ho has but to fall down and kiss ber breast and he Is strong Bgain." For the first time I knew tho wonderful truth of hl3 woids. Why. 1 was living them. Maud was all this to me, an unfailing source . f strength and courage. I had but to look at her, or think of her. and be strong ngaln. "It can be done. It can bo done," I was thinking and assarting aloud. "What men have done, I can do; and If they have never done this before, still I can do It." "What? for goodness sake." Maud demanded. "Do be merciful. What Is It you can do?" "We can do It." I amended. "Why. nothing else than put the masts back Into the Ghost and sail away." "Humphrey!" she exclaimed. And I felt as proud of my conception as If It were already a fact accomplished. accom-plished. "But how Is It possible to be done?" she asked. "I don't know," was my answer. "I know only that I am carble of doing anything these dayi." I smiled proudly at her too proudly, proud-ly, for she dropped her eyes and was for the moment silent. "But there is Captain Larsen," she objected. "Blind and helpless," I answered promptly, waving him aside as a straw. "But those terrible hands of his! You know how he leaped across the opening of the lazaretto." "And you know also how I crept about and avoided him," I contended gayly. "And lost your shoes." "You'd hardly expect them to avoid Wolf Larsen without my feet inside of them." We both laughed, and then went seriously to work constructing the plan whereby we were to step the masts of the Ghost and return to the world. Maud stood silently by my side, while I evolved In my mind the contrivance known among sailors as "shears." But, though known to sailors, I Invented it there on Endeavor En-deavor island. By crossing and lashing lash-ing the ends of two spars, and then elevating them in the air like an inverted in-verted "V," I could get a point above the deck to which to make fast my hoisting tackle. To this hoisting tackle I could, if necessary, attach a second hoisting tackle. And then there was the windlass! Maud saw that I had achieved a solution and her eyes warmed sympathetically. sympa-thetically. "What are you going to do?" she asked. "Clear that raffle," I answered, pointing to the tangled wreckage overside. over-side. Ah, the decisiveness, the very sound of the words, was good in my ears. "Clear that raffle!" Imagine so salty a phrase on the lips of the Humphrey Hum-phrey Van Weyden of a few months gone! There must have been a touch of the melodramatic in my pose and voice, for Maud smiled. Her sense of humor was really the artist's Instinct for proportion. "I'm sure I've heard it before, somewhere, some-where, in books," she murmured gleefully. glee-fully. I had an instinct for proportion myself, my-self, and I collapsed forthwith, descending de-scending from the dominant pose of a master of matter to a state of humble hum-ble confusion wh'cfc was, to say the least, very miserablo. Her hand leaped out at once to mine. "I'm so sorry," she said. "No need to be," I gulped. "It does me good. There's too much of the schoolboy in me. All of which is neither here nor there. What we've got to do Is actually and literally to clear that raffle. If you'll come with me in the boat, we'll get to Tvork and straighten things out." " 'When the topmen clear the raffle wlU their claspknives In their teiih,'" Bhe quoted at me; and for tho rest of tho afternoon wo uad merry over our labor Her task was to hold tho boat In po til t Ion while I worked ut the tangle And such a tangli) halyards, sheets, guys, ilownlinuls, Bhrouds, stays, all washed about und bach tnd fjeth and through, und twined and Vnotted by tho sea. I cut no nioro than was necessary, nec-essary, nnd what with passing tho long ropes under and aroutid tho booms and masts, of unreevlng the halyards and HheetH. or colling down In tho boat nnd uncoiling In order to pass through another knot In the bight, I was Boon wet to tho .kln. Tho sails did require some cutting, and the canvas, heavy with water, tried my strength Beverely; but 1 succeeded suc-ceeded before nightfall In getting It all Bpread out on the beach to dry. We were both very tired when we knocked off for supper, fcnd we had done good work, too, tho'b to the eye It appeared Insignlllcart-.. Next morning, with Maud as able afisltitant, I went Into t.ie hold of the Ghost to clear the stes of the mast i 111 The Sound of His Voice Made Maud Quickly Draw Closv to Me. butts. We had no mori. than begun work when the sound of my knocking and hammering brought Wolf Larsen. "Hello below!" he crii d down the open hatch. The sound of his voice made Maud quickly draw close to me. as for protection, pro-tection, and she rested one hand on my arm while we parleyed. "Hello on deck," I replied. "Good morning to you." "What are you doing down there?" he demanded. "Trying to scuttle my ship for me?" "Quite the opposite; I'm repairing her." was my answer. "But what in thunder are you repairing?" re-pairing?" There was puzzlement in his voice. "Why, I'm getting everything ready for restepping the masts." I replied easily, as though it were the simplest project imaginable. "It seems as though you're standing on your own legs at last, Hump," we heard him say; and then for some time he was silent. "But I say, Hump," he called down, "you can't do it." "Oh, yes I can," I retorted. Tm doing do-ing It now." "But this is my vessel, my particular particu-lar property. What if I forbid you?" "You forget," I replied. "You are no longer the biggest bit of the ferment. You were, once, and able to eat me, as you were pleased to phrase it; but there has been a diminishing, and I am now able to eat you. The yeast has grown stale." He gave a short, disagreeable laugh. "I seo you're working my philosophy phi-losophy back on me for all it is worth. But don't make the mistake of underestimating under-estimating me. For your own good I warn you." "Since when have you become a philanthropist?" I queried. "Confess, now, in warning me for my own good, that you are very inconsistent" He ignored my sarcasm, saying. "Suppose I clap the hatch on, now? You won't fool me as you did In the lazaretto." (TO BE CONTINUED.) |
