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Show ' ' - - - cowyTtuvMr ty JACK LONCoSl" SYNOPSIS. 19 Humphrey Van Weyden. critic and dtlet-. dtlet-. ls.nte. finds himself aboard the sealing schooner Ghost, Captain Wolf Larsen, bound to Japan waters. The captain ..-makes hint cabin boy "for the pood of It is soul." Wolf hazes a seaman and makes tt the basts for a philosophic discussion - with Hump. Hump's Intimacy with Wolf Increases. A carnival of brutality breaks loose In the ship. Wolf proves himself the master brute. Hump Is mado mate . on the hell-ship and proves that he has learned "to stand on his own legs." Two men desert the vessel In one of the small boats. A young woman and four men, survivors of a steamer wreck, are rescued res-cued from a small boat. The deserters are sighted, btit Wolf stands away and leaves them to drown. Maude Brewster, the rescued girl, begins to realize her .danger at the hands of Wolf. Van Weyden Wey-den realizes that he loves Maude. Wolf's brother. Death Larsen. conies on the sealing seal-ing grounds In the steam sealer Macedonia. Mace-donia. "hoi;s" the sea. and Wolf captures several of his boats. The Ghost runs away In a fog. Wolf furnishes liquor to the prisoners. He attacks Maude. Van Weyden attempts to kill him and falls. Wolf Is suddenly stricken helpless by the return of a blinding head trouble, and wUh all hands drunk and asleep Van Weyden and Maude escape in a small boat together. Thev land on Endeavor 'island. CHAPTER XXV Continued. "Oh," was all she replied; but I -could have sworn there was a note of disappointment in her voice. But "my woman, my mate" kept ringing in my head for the rest of the day and for many days. Yet never did it ring more loudly than that night, as 1 watched her draw back the blanket of moss from the coals, blow up the fire, and cook the evening meal. It must have been latent sav- - agery stirring in me, for the old words, so bound up with the roots of the race, to grip me and thrill me. And grip and thrill they did, till 1 fell asleep, murmuring them to myself over and over again. j it was a dark and evil-appearing tning. that hut, not fit for aught better than swine in a civilized land; but for us, who had known the misery of the open boat. It was a snug little habitation. habita-tion. Following the housewarmkig, which was accomplished by means of -seal-oil and a wick made from cotton calking, came the hunting for our winter's win-ter's meat and the building of the second hut. It was a simple affair, j : dow, to go forth in the morning and return by noon with a boatload of l seals. And then, while I worked at building the hut, Maud tried out the oil from the blubber and kept a slow tire under the frames of meat. I had heard of Jerking beef on the plains, and our seal meat, cut In thin strips and hung in the smoke, cured excellently. excel-lently. The second hut was easier to erect, for I built it against the first, and only three walls were required. But it was work, hard work, all of It. Maud and I worked from dawn till dark, to the limit of our strength, so that when night came we crawled stiffly to bed and slept the animal-like sleep of exhaustion. ex-haustion. And yet Maud declared that she had never felt better or stronger In her life. I knew this was true of myself, but hers was such a lily strength that 1 feared she would break down. Often and often, her last reserve re-serve force gone, I have seen her stretched flat on her back on the sand - In the way she had of resting and re-. re-. cuperatlng. And then she would be . up on her feet and tolling hard as . ever. Where she obtained this strength was the marvel to me. "Think of the long rest this winter," was her reply to my remonstrances. "Why, we'll be clamorous for some-ithlng some-ithlng to do." We hold a housewarming In my hut -the night it was roofed It was a pleasant evening indeed, and we voted that as a social function on Endeavor island it had not yet been eclipsed. Our minds were at ease. Not only had we resigned ourselves our-selves to the bitter winter, but we were prepared for It. The seals could .depart on their mysterious Journey Into the south at any time, now, for all we cared; and the storms held no terror for us. Not only were we Bure of being dry and warm and sheltered -from the wind, but we had the softest and most luxurious mattresses that could be made from moss. This had been Maud's Idea, and she had herself Jealously gathered all the moss. This was to bo my first night on the mattress, mat-tress, and I knew I should sleep the sweeter because she had made It. As she rose to go sho turned to nie with tho whimsical way sho had, and said: ".Something Ih going to happen Is .happening, for that matter. I feel it. Homethlng Is coming here, to us. It Is .coming now. I don't know what, but It In coming." "Good or bad?" I asked. Klin shook her head. "I don't know, ..but It is there, somewhere." Klio pointed In tho direction of tho ea and wind. "It's a leo shore," I laughed, "and I am sure I'd rnthor ho hero than arriving, ar-riving, a night llko this." "You aro not frightened?" I asked I stepped to open tho door for her. Ilor eyes looked bravely Into mlno. "And you feel well? perfectly woll?" "Nover better," was hnr aimwor. Wo talked a little, longer before m wont. -Good night, Mo4," I I1. "Uood night, Humphrey," she said. This use of our given names had come quite as a matter of course, and was as unpremeditated as it was natural. nat-ural. In that moment I could have put my arms around her and drawn her to me. I should certainly have done so out in that world to which we belonged. As it was, the situation stopped there in the only way it could; but I was left alone in my little hut, glowing warmly through and through with a pleasant satisfaction; and I knew that a tie, or a tacit something, existed between us which had not existed ex-isted before. CHAPTER XXVI. I awoke, oppressed by a mysterious sensation. There seemed something missing in my environment. But the mystery and oppressiveness vanished after the first few seconds of waking, when I identified the missing something some-thing as the wind. When 1 had dressed and opened the door, I heard the waves still lapping on the beach, garrulously attesting the fury of the night. I had slept late, and I stepped j outside with sudden energy, bent upon I making up lost time as befitted a dweller on Endeavor island. And when outside, I stopped short. I believed my eyes W:thout question, and yet I was for the moment stunned by what they disclosed to me. There, on the beach, not fifty feet away, bow on, dismasted, was a black-hulled vessel. ves-sel. Masts and boomj, tangled with shrouds, sheets, and rent canvas, were rubbing gently alongside. I could j have rubbed my eyes as I looked. There was the home-made galley we had built, the familiar break of the poop, the low yacht-cabin scarcely rising above the rail. It was the Ghost. ! It came upon me suddenly, s strange, that nothing moved aboard. I Wearied from the night of struggle ' and wreck, all hands were yet asleep. I j Maud and I might yet escape. I would I call her and start. My hand was lift-I lift-I ed at her door to knock, when I reool- lected the smallness of the island. ! We could never hide ourselves upon j j it. There was nothing for us but the ! wide raw ocean. I thought of our snuj : j little huts, our supplies of meat and j oil and moss and firewood, and I knew . that we could never survive the wintry n .. ' It Was the Ghost. sea and the great storms which were to come. And then, In a flash, tho better solution solu-tion came to mo. All hands were asleep. Why not creep aboard tho Ghost well I knew tho way to Wolf J-arsen'B bunk and kill him In his sleep? After that well, we would see. Hut with him dead there was time and space In which to prepare to do other things; and besides, whatever what-ever new situation arose, It could not possibly bo worse than tho present one. My knife was at my hip. I returned to my hut for tho shotgun, mado sure It was loaded, and went down to the Ghost. With somo difficulty, and at tho expenso of a wetting to tho waist, I climbed aboard. Tho forecastlo scuttle scut-tle was open. I paused to listen for tho breathing of the men, but thero was no breathing. I cautiously descended de-scended tho ladder. Tho placo had tho empty and musty feel and smell usual to a dwelling no longer Inhabited. Inhab-ited. Everywhere was a thick Utter of tho worthless forecastlo dunnage of a long voyage. I noted that tho boats wero missing. Tho steerago told tho same tnlo us tho forecastle. Tho huntcTs had packed their belongings belong-ings with similar haste. Tho Ghost was deserted. Tho reaction from my fear, and tho knowledge that tlio terrible deed I had como to do wits no longer necessary, neces-sary, mado mo boyish and eager. I sprang up tho break of the poop, and saw Wolf Ijirsen. What of my Impetus Im-petus and tho stunning surprise, I clattered threo or four steps along tho dock before I could stop myself, lie I was standing la Ik companion?, only his head and shoulders visible, staring straight at me. His arms were resting on the half-open slide. He made no movement whatever simply stood there, staring at me. I began to .reruble. The old stomach stom-ach sickness clutched me. I put one hand on the edge of the house to steady myself. My lips seemed suddenly sud-denly dry and I moistened them against the need of speech. Nor did I for an instant take my eyes off him. Neither of us spoke. There was something some-thing ominous in his silence, his im-j im-j mobility. All my old fear of him returned re-turned and by new fear was increased a hundred fold. And still we stood, the pair of us, staring at each other. I was aware of the demand for action, ac-tion, and, my old helplessness strong upon me, I was waiting for him to take the initiative. Then, as the moments mo-ments went by, it was at last impressed im-pressed upon me that 1 was there, not to have Wolf Larsen take the initiative, initia-tive, but to take it myself. I cocked both barrels and leveled the shotgun at him. Had he moved, attempted to drop down the compan-ionway, compan-ionway, I know I would have shot him. But he stood motionless and staring as before. And as I faced him, with leveled gun shaking in my hands, 1 had time to note the worn and haggard appearance of his face. It was as if some strong anxiety had wasted it. The cheeks were sunken, and there was a wearied, puckered expression on the brow. And it seemed to me that his eyes were strange, not only the expression, but the physical seeming, as though the optic nerves and supporting muscles had suffered strain and slightly twisted twist-ed the eyeballs. All this I saw, and my brain now working rapidly, I thought a thousand thoughts; and yet I could not pull the triggers. I lowered the gun and stepped to the corner of the cabin, primarily to relieve the tension on my nerves and to make a new start, and incidentally to be closer. Again I raised the gun. He was almost at arm's length. There was no hope for him. I was resolved. There was no possible chance of missing him, no matter how poor my marksmanship. And yet I wrestled with myself and could not pull the triggers. '"Well?" he demanded impatiently. I strove vainly to force my fingers down cn the triggers, and vainly 1 strove to say something. "Why don't you shoot?" he asked. I cleared my throat of a huskiness which prevented speech. "Hump," he said slowly, "you can't do it. Y'ou are not exactly afraid. You are impotent. Your conventional morality is stronger than you. You are the slave to the opinions which have credence among the people you have known and have read about. Their code has been drummed into your head from the time you lisped, and in spite of your philosophy, and of what I have taught you, it won't let you kill an unarmed, unresisting man." "I know It," I said hoarsely. "And you know that 1 would Kill an unarmed man as readily as I would smoke a cigar," he went on. "You know me for what I am my worth in the world by your standard. Y'ou have called me snake, tiger, shark, monster, and Caliban. And yet, you little rag puppet, you little echoing mechanism, you are unable to kill me as you would a snake or a shark, because be-cause I have hands, feet, and a body shaped somewhat like yours. Bah! 1 had hoped better things of you, Hump." He stepped out of the companion-way companion-way and came up to mo. "Put down that gun. I want to ask you some questions. 1 haven't had a chanco to look around yet. What place Is this? How is the Ghost lying? How did you get here? Where's Maud? I beg your pardon, Miss Brewster or should I say, 'Mrs. Van Weyden'?" I had backed away from him, almost al-most weeping at my Inability to shoot him, but not fool enough to put down the gun. I hoped, desperately, that he might commit somo hostile act, attempt at-tempt to strike mo or thoke mo; for In such way only I know 1 could be stirred to shoot. "This is Endeavor Island," I said. "Never heard of it," ho broke in. "At least, that's our namo for It," I amended. "Our?" he queried. "Who's our?" "Miss Brewster and myself. And tiie Ghost Is lying, as you can soe for yourself, bow on to tho beach." "There aro seals here," ho said. "They woko me up with their barking, or I'd bo sleeping yet. I heard them when I drove in last night. They wero tho first warning that I was on a lee shore. It's a rookery, the kind of a thing I'vo hunted for years. Thanks to my brother Death, I've lighted on a fortune. It's a mint. What's Its bearings?" "Haven't " the least Idea." I said. "But you ought to know quite closely. What wero your last observations?" Ho smiled Inscrutably, but did not answer. "Well, whore's all hands?" I asked. "How docs It como that you are alone?" I was prepared for him again to set aside my finest Inn, and was surprised sur-prised at tho readiness of his reply. "My brother got mo Insldo forty-eight forty-eight hours, and through no fault of mine. Boarded mo In the night with only tho watch on deck. Hunters went back on mo. Ho gavo them a bigger lay. Heard him offering it. Did It right before mo. Of courso tho crow gave mo tho go by. That was to bo expected. All handH went over tho Hide, nnd thoro I was, marooned on my own voshoI. It was Death's turn, and it's all In tho family anyway." "But how did you lotto tho moats?" 1 asked. "Walk over and examine those lanyards," lan-yards," he said, pointing to where the mizzen rigging should have been. 'They have been cut with a knife!" I exclaimed. "Not quite." he laughed. "It was a neater Job. Look again." I looked. The lanyards had been almost al-most severed, with just enough left to hold the shrouds till some severe strain should be put upon them. "Cooky did that," he laughed again. "1 know, though I didn't spot him at it. Kind of evened up the score a bit." "Good for Mugridge!" I cried. "Y'es, that's what I thought when everything went over the side. Only I said it on the other side of my mouth." "But what were you doing while ill this was going on?" I asked. "My best, you may ue sure, which wasn't much under the circumstances." circum-stances." I turned to re-examine Thomas Mugridge's work. "I guess I'll sit down and take the sunshine," I heard Wolf Larsen saying. say-ing. There was a hint, Just a slight hint, of physical feebleness in his voice, and it was so strange that I looked quickly at him. His hand was sweeping sweep-ing nervously across his face, as though he were brushing away cobwebs. cob-webs. I was puzzled. The whole thing was so unlike the Wolf Larsen I had known. "How are your headaches?" I asked. "They still trouble me," was his answer. an-swer. "I think I have one coming on now." He slipped down from his sitting posture till he lay on the deck. Then he rolled over on his side, his hid resting on the biceps of the unu'er arm, the forearm shielding his eyes from the sun. I stood regarding him wonderingly. "N'ow's your chance, Hump," he said. "1 don't understand," I lied, for I thoroughly understood. "Oh, nothing," he added softly, as If he were drowsing; "only you've rot me where you want me." "No, I haven't," I retorted; "for I want you a few thousand miles away from here." He chuckled, and thereafter spoke no more. He did not stir as I passed by him and went down into the rabin. I lifted the trap in the floor, but for some moments gazed dubiously into the darkness of the lazaretto beneath. I hesitated to descend. What if his lying down were a ruse? Pretty, indeed, in-deed, to be caught there like a rat. I crept softly up the companlonway and peeped at him. He was lying as I had left him. Again I went he-low; he-low; but before 1 dropped Into the lazaretto I took the precaution of casting cast-ing down the door In advance. At least there would be no lid to the trap. But It was all needless. I regained tho cabin with a store of Jams, sea-biscuits, sea-biscuits, canned meats, and such tilings all 1 could carry and replaced re-placed the trap door. fTO BE CONTINUED.) |