text
stringlengths 1.96k
5.76k
| author
int64 1
50
|
|---|---|
with all his wife s letters under his pillow now and again he was asked out to dinner where he got both a and an drink but this was seldom for people objected to a boy who had evidently the instincts of a scotch and who lived in h a nasty fashion could not to any amusement so he found no amusement except the pleasure of turning over his bank book and reading what it said about on approved security that cost nothing he through a bank by the way and the station knew nothing of bis private affairs every month he sent home all he could possibly spare for his wife and for another reason which was expected to explain its k would require more money plain tales from the hills about this time was overtaken with the nervous haunting fear that married men when they are out of sorts he had no to look to what if he should die suddenly and leave his wife for the thought used to lay hold of him in the still hot nights on the roof till the shaking of his heart made him think that he was going to die then and there of heart disease now this is a frame of mind which no boy has a right to know it is a strong man s trouble but coming when it did it nearly drove poor less mad he could tell no one about it a certain amount of screw is as necessary for a man as for a ball it makes them both do wonderful things needed money badly and he worked for it like a horse but naturally the men who owned him knew that a boy can live very comfortably on a certain income pay in india is a matter of age not merit you see and if their particular boy wished to work like two business forbid that they should stop him but business forbid that they should give him an increase of pay at his present age so won certain rises of salary ample for a boy not enough for a wife and child certainly too little for the seven hundred passage that he and mrs had discussed so lightly once upon a time and with this he was forced to be content somehow all his money seemed to fade away in home and the crushing exchange and the tone oi the home letters changed and in the pride his youth why wouldn t have his wife and the baby out surely he had a a fine salary and it was too bad of him to enjoy himself hi india but would lie could he make the next a little more elastic here followed a list of baby s as long as a s bill then heart to his wife and the little son he had never seen which again is a feeling no boy is entitled to enlarged the and wrote queer half boy half man letters saying tha t life was not so after all and would the little wife wait yet a little longer but the little wife however much she approved of money objected to waiting and there was a strange hard sort of ring in her letters that didn t understand how could he poor boy later on still just as had been told of another who had made a fool of himself as the saying is that matrimony would not only ruin his further chances of advancement but would lose him his present appointment came the news that the baby his own little little son had died and behind this forty lines of an angry woman s saying that death ht have been averted if certain things all money had been done or if the mother and the baby had been with the letter struck at s naked heart but not being entitled to a baby he could show no sign of trouble how won through the next four months and w hat hope he kept alight to force him into bis work no one date t l o t f tales from the hills ed on the seven hundred passage as far away as ever and his style of living unchanged except he launched into a new there was the strain of his office work and the strain of has and the knowledge of his boy s death wliich touched the boy more perhaps than it would have touched a man and beyond all the enduring strain of his daily life gray headed who approved of his and his fashion of denying himself everything pleasant reminded him of the old saw that says if a youth would be distinguished in his art art art he must keep the e away from his heart heart heart and w ho fancied lie had been through every trouble that a man is permitted to know had to laugh and with the last line of his balanced bank book in his head day and night but he had one more sorrow to before the end there arrived a letter from the little wife the natural of the others if had only known it and the burden of that letter was gone with a man than you it was a rather curious production without stops something like this she was not going to wait forever and the baby was dead and was only a boy and he would never set eyes on her again and why hadn t he waved his handkerchief to her when he left and god was her judge she was a wicked woman but worse enjoying himself in india and this man loved the ground she trod on and in the pride of his youth would ever forgive her for she would never forgive and there was no address to write to instead | 39 |
of thanking his lucky stars that he was free discovered exactly how an injured husband feels again not at all the knowledge to which a boy is entitled for his mind went back to his wife as he remembered her in the thirty shilling in square when the dawn of his last morning in england was breaking and she was crying in the bed he rolled about on his bed and bit his fingers he never stopped to think whether if he had met mrs after those two years he would have discovered that he and had grown quite different and new persons this he ought to have done he spent the night after the english mail came in rather severe pain next morning felt to work he argued that he had missed the pleasure of youth he was tired and he had tasted all the sorrow in life before three and twenty his honor was gone that was the man and now he too would go to the devil that was the boy in him so he put his head down on the green oil cloth table cover and wept before his post and all it offered but the reward of his services came he was given three days to himself and the head of the establishment after some said that it was a most unusual step but in view of the ability that mr had displayed at such and such a tales from the hills such he was in a position to offer him an infinitely superior post first on and later in the natural course of things on confirmation and how much does the post carry said six hundred and fifty said the head slowly expecting to see the young man sink with gratitude and joy and it came then the seven hundred passage and enough to have saved the wife and the little son and to have allowed of assured and open marriage came then burst into a roar of laughter laughter he could not check nasty merriment that seemed as if it would go on forever when he had recovered himself he said quite seriously fm tired of work i m an old man now it s about time i retired and i will the boy s mad said the head i think he was right but never reappeared to settle the question pig go stalk the red deer o er the ride follow the fox if you can but for pleasure and profit together allow me the hunting of man the chase of the human the search for the soul to its ruin the hunting of man the old i believe the difference began in the matter of a horse with a twist in his temper whom pig sold to and by whom was nearly slain there may have been other causes of offence the horse was the official horse was very angry but laughed and said thai he had never the beast s manners laughed too though he vowed that he would write off his fall against if he waited five years now a from beyond will forgive an when the lets a man live but a south man is as soft as a you can see from their names that had the race advantage of he was a peculiar man and his notions of humor were cruel he taught me a new and fascinating form of he from to and from to up and across the a large province and in places remarkably dry he said that he had no intention of allowing assistant to sell him in the shape of screaming without making their lives a burden to them most assistant develop a bent for some work after their first hot weather in the country the boys with hope to write their names large on the frontier and struggle for dreary places like and the ones climb into the which is very bad for the liver others are bitten with a for district work or poetry while some who come of farmers stock find that the smell of tke plain tales from the hills earth after the rains gets into their blood and calls them to develop the resources of the province these men are belonged to their class he knew a many facts bearing on the cost of and temporary wells and and what happens if you bum too much rubbish on a field in the hope of used up soil all the come of a breed and so the land only took back her own again unfortunately most unfortunately for he was a as as a farmer watched him and thought about the horse said see me chase that boy till he drops i said you can t get your knife into an assistant told me that i did not the administration of the province our government is rather peculiar it on the ag and general information side and will supply a respectable man with all sorts of if he speaks to it prettily for instance you are interested in gold washing in the sands of the you pull the string and find that it wakes up half a dozen and finally say with a friend of yours in the telegraph who once wrote some notes on the customs of the gold when he was on construction work in their part of the empire he may or may not be pleased at being ordered to write out everything he knows for your benefit this depends on his the cr man you are the more information and tjie greater trouble can you was not a big man but he had th reputation of being very earnest an earnest man can do much with a government there was an earnest man who once nearly wrecked but all india knows that i am not sure what | 39 |
the government in stately language of the of help accorded to me in my earnest attempts to start a industry and the with which my for information are treated by a gentleman whose should at lest have taught him the differences between the and the variety of the if i am to understand that the letter to which he me contains his serious views on the of a valuable though possibly animal i am reluctantly compelled to believe etc etc there was a new man at the head of department of the wretched was told that the service was made for the country and not the country for the service and that he had better begin to supply about pig tales from the hills answered that he had written everything that could be written about pig and that some was due to him got a copy of that letter and sent it with the essay on the pig to a down country paper which printed both in full the essay was rather but if the editor had seen the of paper in s handwriting on s table he would not have been so sarcastic about the and self of the modern competition wa and his utter inability to grasp the practical issues of a practical question many friends cut out these remarks and sent them to i have already stated that came of a soft stock this last stroke frightened and shook him he could not understand it but he felt he had been somehow betrayed by he realized that he had wrapped himself up in the without need and that he could not well set himself right with his government all his acquaintances asked after his or his and this made him miserable he took a train and went to whom he had not seen since the pig business began he also took the cutting from the paper and feebly and called names and then died down to a watery weak protest of the i say it s too bad you know order was very sympathetic i m afraid i ve given you a good deal of trouble haven t i said he the of the white hu ar trouble i mind the trouble so much though that was bad enough but what i resent is this showing up in print it will stick to me like a all through my service and i did do my best for your interminable swine it s too bad of you on my soul it is i don t know said have you ever been stuck with a horse it isn t the money i mind though that is bad enough but what i resent is the that follows especially from the boy who stuck me but i think we ll cry quite now found nothing to say save bad words and smiled ever so sweetly and asked him to dinner the of the white it was not in the open fight we threw away the sword but in the lonely watching in the darkness by the ford the waters the night wind blew full armed the fear was born and and we were flying ere we knew from panic in the night bar some people hold that an english cavalry regiment cannot run this is a mistake t have seen four hundred and thirty se x tales the hills over the face of the country in abject seen he best regiment that ever drew br die wiped off the army list for the space of two hours if you repeat this tale to the white they will in all probability treat you severely they are not proud of the incident you may know the white by their side which is greater than that of all the cavalry on the if this is not a sufficient mark you may know them by their old brandy it has been sixty years in and is worth going far to taste ask for the old brandy and see that you get it if the mess thinks that you are and the genuine article will be lost on you he will treat you accordingly he is a good man but when you are at mess you must never talk to your hosts about forced or rides the mess are very sensitive and if they think you are laughing at them will tell you so as the white say it was all the colonel s fault he was a new man and he ought never to have taken the command he said that the regiment was not smart enough this to the white who knew they could walk round any horse and through any guns and over any foot on the face of the earth that insult was the first cause of offence then the colonel cast the drum horse the drum horse of the white perhaps vou do not see what an unspeakable crime he had committed i will try to make it clear the soul of the regiment lives in the drum the of the white hu ar who carries the silver kettle drums he is nearly always a big is a point ot honor and a regiment will spend anything you please on a he is beyond the ordinary laws of casting his work is very light and he only at a foot pace wherefore so long as he can step out and look handsome his well being is assured he knows more about the regiment than the and could not make a mistake if he tried the drum horse of the white was only eighteen years old and perfectly equal to his duties he had at least six years more work in him and carried himself with all the pomp and dignity of a drum major of the guards the regiment had paid rs for him but the colonel said that he must go and he was cast in due | 39 |
form and replaced by a bay beast as ugly as a mule with a neck rat tail and cow the detested that animal and the best of the band horses put back their ears and showed the of their eyes at the very sight of him they knew him for an and no gentleman i fancy that the colonel s ideas of extended to the band and that he wanted to make it take part in the regular parade movements a cavalry band is a sacred thing it only turns out commanding officers and the band master is one degree more important than the colonel he is a high priest and the is his holy song the row is the cavalry trot and the man who has never heard that tune rising high and shrill x i plain tales from tee hills the regiment going past the base has something yet to hear and understand when the colonel cast the drum horse of the white there was nearly a the officers were angry the regiment were furious and the swore uke the drum horse was going to be put up to public to be bought perhaps by a and put into a cart it was worse than exposing the inner life of the re ment to the whole world or selling the mess plate to a jew a black jew the colonel was a mean man and a bully he knew what the regiment thought about his action and when the offered to buy the drum horse he said that their offer was and forbidden by the but one of the an bought the drum horse for rs i o at the sale and the colonel was professed repentance he was and said that as he had only made the purchase to save the horse from possible ill treatment and starvation he would now shoot him and end the business this appeared to soothe the colonel for he wanted the drum horse disposed of he felt that he had made a mistake and could not of course acknowledge it meantime the presence of the drum horse was an annoyance to him took to himself a glass of the old brandy three and his friend and they ail left the mess together and tor two hours in s quarters but only the bout of the white bar the bull who keeps watch over s boot trees knows what they said a horse and to his ears left s stables and was taken very unwillingly into the civil lines s groom went with him two men broke into the theatre and took several paint pots and some large scenery then night fell over the and there was a noise as of a horse kicking his loose box to pieces in s stables had a big old white trap horse the next day was a thursday and the men hearing that was going to shoot the drum horse in the evening determined to give the beast a regular funeral a finer one than they would have given the colonel had he died just then they got a cart and some and and of roses and the body under was carried out to the place where the cases were two thirds of the regiment followed there was no band but they all sang the place where the old horse died as something respectful and appropriate to the occasion when the corpse was into the grave and the men began throwing down of roses to cover it the out an oath and said aloud why it ain t the drum horse any more than it s me the troop ma asked him whether he had left his head in the the said that he knew the drum horse s feet as well as he knew his own but he was silenced when he saw the number burnt in on hie poor stiff flaw tales from the hills thus was the drum horse of the white buried the grumbling the that covered the corpse was in places with black paint and the drew attention to this fact but the troop major of e troop kicked him severely on the and told him that he was undoubtedly drunk on the monday following the burial the colonel sought revenge on the white unfortunately being at that time temporarily in command of the station he ordered a day he said that he wished to make the regiment sweat for their damned insolence and he carried out his notion thoroughly that monday was one of the hardest days in the memory of the white they were thrown against a skeleton enemy and pushed forward and withdrawn and dismounted and handled in every possible fashion over dusty country till they their only amusement came late in the day when they fell upon the battery of horse and chased it for two miles this was a personal question and most of the had money on the event the saying openly that they had the legs of the white they were wrong a march past concluded the campaign and when the regiment got back to their lines the men were with dirt from spur to the white have one great and i privilege they won it at i think many possess special rights such the bout of the white hu as wearing with uniform or a bow of ribbon between the shoulders or red and white roses in their on certain days ol the year some rights are connected with saints and some with all are valued highly but none so highly as the right of the white to have the band playing when their horses are being watered in the lines only one tune is played and that tune never i don t know its real name but the white call it take me to london it sounds very pretty the | 39 |
regiment would sooner be struck off the than forego their distinction after the dismiss was sounded the officers rode off home to prepare for stables and the men filed into the lines riding easy that is to say they opened their tight buttons shifted their and began to joke or to swear as the humor took them the more careful slipping off and and a good his mount exactly as much as he himself and or should believe that the two together are irresistible where women or men girls or guns are concerned the orderly officer gave the order water horses and the regiment off to the which were in rear of the stables and between these and the there were four huge one for each arranged en so that the whole regiment could water in ten minutes if it liked but it lingered for seventeen as a rule while the band played x g s from ths hills the band struck up as the filed off the and the men slipped their feet out of the and each other the sun was just in a big bed of red cloud and the road to the ci il lines seemed to run straight into the sun s eye there was a little dot on the road it grew and grew till it showed as a horse with a soil of thing on his back the red cloud glared through the bars of the some of the shaded their eyes with their hands and said w hat the mischief as that there got on im in another minute they heard a that every soul and man an the regiment knew and saw heading straight towards the band the dead drum horse of the white on his and the draped in and on his back very stiff and sat a bare headed skeleton the band stopped playing and for a moment there was a hush then some one in e troop men said it was the troop major swung hb horse round and no one can account exactly for what happened afterwards but it seems at t one man in each troop set an example of panic and the rest followed like sheep ine horses that had barely put their into the reared and but as soon as the band broke which it did when the ghost of the drum horse was about a distant all followed suit and the clatter of the quite different from the orderly throb and the bout of the white aft roar of a on parade or the rough horse play of watering in camp made them only more terrified felt that the men on their backs were afraid of something when horses once know that all is over except the troop after troop turned from the f and ran anywhere and everywhere like spit it was a most extraordinary spectacle for men and horses were in all stages of and the against their sides urged the horses on men were shouting and cursing and trying to pull clear of the band which was being chased by the drum horse whose rider had fallen forward and seemed to be for a the colonel had gone over to the mess for a drink most of the officers were with him and the of the day was preparing to go down to the lines and receive the watering reports from the troop when take me to london again stopped after twenty bars every one in the mess said what on earth has happened a minute later they heard noises and saw far across the plain the white scattered and broken and flying the colonel was speechless with rage for he thought that the regiment had risen against bim or was drunk the band a mob tore past and at its heels labored the drum se the dead and buried drum horse with the skeleton whispered softly to m w c ti plain tales from the hills wire will stand that treatment and the band which had doubled uke a hare came back again but the rest of the regiment was gone was all over the province for the dusk had shut in and each man was howling to his neighbor that the drum horse was on his flank troop horses are for too tenderly treated as a rule they can on do a deal even with seventeen stone on their backs as the found out how long this panic lasted i cannot say i believe that w hen the moon rose the men saw they had nothing to fear and by and and half troops crept back into very much ashamed of themselves meantime the drum horse disgusted at his treatment by old friends pulled up wheeled round and trotted up to the mess steps for bread no one liked to run but no one cared to go forward till the colonel made a movement and laid hold of the skeleton s foot the band had halted some distance away and now came back slowly the colonel called it and every evil name that occurred to him at the time for he had set his hand on the bosom of the drum horse and found flesh and blood then he beat the kettle drums with his clenched fist and discovered that they were but made of paper and next still swearing he tried to drag the skeleton out of the saddle but found that it had been into the the sight of the colonel with his arms round the skeleton s and his knee in the old drum horse s was striking not the of the white hu ar i to say amusing he worried the thing off in a minute or two and threw it down on the ground saying to the band here you that s what you re afraid of the skeleton | 39 |
did not look pretty in the twilight the band seemed to recognize it for he began to chuckle and choke shall i take it away sir said the band yes said the colonel take it to hell and ride there yourselves the band saluted hoisted the skeleton across his saddle bow and led off to the stables then the colonel began to make inquiries for the rest of the regiment and the language he used was wonderful he would the regiment he would court martial every soul in it he would not command such a set of and so on and so on as the men dropped in his language grew until at last it exceeded the utmost limits of free speech allowed even to a colonel of horse took aside and suggested retirement from the service as a necessity when all was discovered was the weaker man of the two put up his eyebrows and remarked that he was the son of a lord and secondly that he was as innocent as the babe of the theatrical of the drum horse my instructions said with a singularly sweet smile were that the drum horse should be sent back as as possible i ask you am i responsible if a friend sends him back in such a manner as to disturb the peace of mind of a re vo her majesty s cavalry plain tales from the said you are a great man and will in time became a general but i d give my chance of a troop to be safe out of this providence saved and the second in command led the colonel away to the little wherein the of the white were accustomed to play of nights and there after many oaths on the colonel s part they talked together in low tones i fancy that the second in command must have represented the scare as the work of some whom it would be hopeless to detect and i know that he dwelt upon the sin and the shame of making a public of the scare they will call us said the second in command who had really a fine imagination they will call us the fly by nights they will call us the ghost hunters they will us from one end of the army list to the other all the explanations in the world won t make understand that the officers were away when the panic began for the of the regiment and for your own sake keep this thing quiet the colonel was so exhausted with anger that soothing him down was not so difficult as might be imagined he was made to see gently and by degrees that it was obviously impossible to court martial the whole regiment and equally impossible to proceed against any who in his belief had any concern in the but the beast s alive he s never been shot at all shouted the colonel it s flat i ve known a man broke for less the bout of the white hu ar d sight less they re mocking me i tell you they re mocking me once more the second in command set himself to the colonel and with him for half an hour at the end of that time the major reported himself the situation was rather novel tell to him but he was not a man to be put out by circumstances he saluted and said regiment all come back sir then to the colonel an none of the horses any the worse sir the colonel only and answered you d better the men into their then and see that they don t wake up and cry in the night the withdrew his httle stroke of humor pleased the colonel and further he felt slightly ashamed of the language he had been using the second in command worried him and the two sat talking far into the night next day but one there was a commanding officer s parade and the colonel the white vigorously the of his speech was that since the drum horse in his old age had proved himself capable of cutting up the whole regiment he should return to his post of pride at the head of the band but the regiment were a set of with bad the white shouted and threw everything about them into the air and when the parade was over they cheered the colonel till they couldn t speak no cheers were put tip for lieutenant who smiled very sweetly in the background tales from the hills said the second in command to the colonel these little popularity and do not the least affect but i went back on my word said the colonel never mind said the second in command the white will follow you an from to day are just like women they will do anything for a week later received an extraordinary letter from some one who signed himself secretary charity and zeal e c and asked for the return of our skeleton which we have reason to believe is in your possession who the deuce is this lunatic who trades in bones said beg your pardon sir said the band but the skeleton is with me an i ll return it if you ll pay the carriage into the civil lines there s a coffin with it sir smiled and handed two to the band saying write the date on the skull will you if you doubt this story and know where to go you can see the date on the skeleton but don t mention the matter to the white i happen to know something about it because i prepared the drum horse for his he did not take kindly to the skeleton at ah the divorce case in the when she moved about me in the night when she was sleeping at my side | 39 |
in this piece but i m afraid i m getting rusty in my talk he rose and went into bid s bedroom where his trunk had been put and shut the door an hour later we heard him say i hadn t the heart to part with my old when i mar the br r t divorce will this do there was a in the doorway now lend me fifty said and give me your words of honor that you won t tell my wife he got all that he asked for and left the house while the table drank bis health what he did only he himself knows a hung about s compound for twelve days then a appeared and when heard of he said that was an angel full whether the made love to mrs s is a question which concerns exclusively he came back at the end of three weeks and said quietly you spoke the truth the whole business is put up from beginning to end jove it almost me that beast isn t fit to live there was uproar and and said how are you going to prove it you can t say that you ve been on s compound in disguise no said tell your lawyer fool whoever he is to get up something strong about inherent and of evidence he won t have to speak but it will make him happy fm going to run this business held his tongue and the other men wanted to see what would happen they trusted as men trust quiet men when the case came off the court was crowded hung about in the of the n tales from the hills tl a s blessing in his ear and asked him how his second did the man spun round and as he looked into the eyes of his jaw dropped you must remember that before was married he was as i have told you a power among natives whispered a rather coarse proverb to the effect that he was abreast of all that was going on and went into the court armed with a g t s whip the was the first witness and beamed upon him from the back of the court the man his lips with his tongue and in his abject fear of the went back on every detail of his evidence said he was a poor man and god was his witness that he had forgotten every thing that had told him to say between his terror of the judge and he weeping then began the panic among the witnesses the behind her veil turned gray and the bearer left the court he said that his mamma was dying and that it was not wholesome for any man to lie in the presence of said politely to your witnesses don t seem to work haven t you any letters to produce but was swaying to and fro in his chair and there was a dead pause after had been called to order s counsel saw the look on his s face and without more pitched his tee br r t i z papers on the little green table and something about having been the whole court applauded wildly like soldiers at a theatre and the judge began to say what he thought came out of the place and dropped a s whip in the ten minutes later was cutting into ribbons behind the old court quietly and without scandal what was left of was sent home in a carriage and his wife wept over it and nursed it into a man again later on after had managed to hush up the counter charge against of false evidence mrs with her faint watery smile said that there had been a mistake but it wasn t her s fault altogether she would wait till her came back to her perhaps he had grown tired of her or she had tried his patience and perhaps we wouldn t cut her any more and perhaps the mothers would let their children play little again he was so lonely then the station invited mrs everywhere until was fit to appear in public when he went home and took his wife with him according to the latest her did come back to her and they are happy though of course he can never forgive her the that she was the means of getting for him what wants to know is why didn t i home the charge against the and have him run x y from the hills what mrs wants to know is how did my husband bring such a lovely lovely from your station i know all his and fm certain he didn t buy it what i want to know is how do women like mrs come to marry men like and my is the most of the three and the years went on as the years must do but our great was always new fresh and blooming and and fair with eyes and with hair and all the folk as they came or went offered her praise to her heart s content of she had nothing to do with number eighteen in the of the between s and the god of the she was purely an indian deity an indian deity that is to say and we called her the to distinguish her from other of the same everlasting order there was a legend among the hills that she had once been young but no living man was prepared to come forward and say boldly that the legend was true men rode up to and stayed and went away and made their name and did their life s work and returned again to find the exactly as they had left her she was as as the hills but not quite so green | 39 |
one in a large sized man love like his would have been touching in a good man it would have been grand he being what he was it was only a nuisance you will believe this much what you will not believe is what follows and the man who knew that the was were at the club together was complaining of life in general his best had rolled out of stable down the hill and had broken her back his were being reversed by the upper courts more than an assistant of eight years standing has a right to expect he knew liver and fever and for weeks past had felt out of sorts altogether he was disgusted and club dining room is built as all the world knows in two sections with an arch arrangement dividing them come in turn to your own left take the table under the window and you cannot see any one who has come in turning to the right and taken a table on the right side of the arch curiously enough every word that you say can be heard not only by the other but by the servants beyond the screen through which they bring dinner this is worth knowing an echoing room is a trap to be against half in fun and half hoping to be believed the man who knew told the story of the of at rather j v g tales from the hills than i have told it to you in this place winding up with the that might as well throw the little box down the hill and see whether all his troubles would go with it in ordinary ears english ears the tale was only an interesting bit of folk lore laughed said that he felt better for his and went out pack had been by himself to the right of the arch and had heard everything he was nearly mad with his absurd for miss that all had been about it is a curious thing that when a man or loves beyond reason he is ready to go beyond reason to gratify his feelings which he would not do for money or power merely depend upon it solomon would never have built to and all those ladies with queer names if there had not been trouble of some kind in his and nowhere else but this is beside the story the facts of the case are these pack called on next day when was out left his card and stole the of from its place under the clock on the stole it like the thief he was by nature three days later all was by the news that miss had accepted pack the rat pack do you desire clearer evidence than this the of had been stolen and it worked as it had always done when won by foul means there are three or four times in a man s life when he is justified in with other pie s affairs to play providence the man who knew felt that he was the of j but believing and acting on a belief are quite different things the insolent satisfaction of pack as he by the side of miss and s striking release from liver as soon as the of had gone decided the man he explained to and laughed because he was not brought up to believe that men on the government house list steal at least little things but the miraculous acceptance by miss of that tailor pack decided him to take steps on suspicion he vowed that he only wanted to find out where his studded silver box had vanished to you cannot accuse a man on the government house list of stealing and if you rifle his room you are a thief yourself prompted by the man who knew decided on if he found nothing in pack s room but it is not nice to think of what would have happened in that case pack went to a dance at was in those days and not an office and danced fifteen out of twenty two with miss and the man took all the keys that they could lay hands on and went to pack s room in the hotel certain that his servants would be away pack was a cheap soul he had not purchased a decent cash box to keep his papers in but one of those native that you buy for ten it opened to any sort of key and there at the bottom under pack s policy lay the of called pack names put the of in bis pocket and went o v with the man at least he came tv plain tales from the hills supper and saw the beginning of the end in miss s eyes she was hysterical after suffer and was taken away by her mamma at the dance with the abominable in his pocket twisted his foot on one of the steps leading down to the old and had to be sent home in a grumbling he did not believe in the of any the more for this but he sought out pack and called him some ugly names and thief was the of them pack took the names with the nervous smile of a little man who wants both soul and body to resent an insult and went his way there was no public scandal a week later pack got his definite dismissal from miss there had been a mistake in the placing of her affections she said so he went away to where he can do no great harm even if he lives to be a colonel insisted upon the man who knew taking the of as a gift the man took it went down to the cart road at once found an pony with a blue head the of inside the with a piece of shoe string and | 39 |
thanked heaven that he was rid of a danger remember in case you ever find it that you must not destroy the of i have not time to explain why just now but the power lies in the little wooden fish or could tell you more about it than i you will say that all this story is made up very well if ever you come across a little silver studded box seven of an inch long the of j by quarters wide with a dark brown wooden fish wrapped in gold cloth inside it keep it keep it for three years and then you will discover for yourself whether my story is true or false better still steal it as pack did and you will be sorry that you had not killed yourself in the beginning the gate of a hundred sorrows if i can attain heaven for a why should be envious s proverb this is no work of mine my friend the half caste spoke it all between and morning six weeks before he died and i took it down from his mouth as he answered my questions so it lies between the copper smith s and the pipe stem quarter within a hundred yards too as the crow flies of the of i don t mind telling any one this much but i defy him to find the gate however well he may think he knows the city you might even go through the very it stands in a hundred times and be none the wiser we used to call the the of the black smoke but its native name is altogether different of course a loaded donkey couldn t pass between the walls and at one point just before o x mi plain tales from the hills the gate a house front makes people go along all sideways it isn t really a gate though it s a house old had it first five years ago he was a boot maker in they say that he murdered his wife there when he was drunk that was why he dropped rum and took to the black smoke instead later on he came up north and opened the gate as a house where you could get your smoke in peace and quiet mind you it was a respectable and not one of those stifling that you can find all over the city no the old man knew his business thoroughly and he was most clean for a was a one eyed little chap not much than five feet high and both his middle fingers were gone all the same he was the man at rolling black i have ever seen never seemed to be touched by the smoke either and what he took day and night night and day was a caution i ve been at it five years and i can do my fair share of the smoke with any one but i was a child to that way all the same the old man was keen on his money very keen and that s what i can t understand i heard he saved a good deal before he died but his nephew has all that now and the old man s gone back to china to be buried he kept the big upper room where his best customers gathered as neat as a new pin in one comer used to stand s almost as ugly as and there were s sticks burning under his nose but you tee gate of a hundred sorrows never smelt em when the pipes were going thick opposite the was s he had spent a good deal of his on that and whenever a new man came to the gate he was always introduced to it it was with red and gold writings on it and i ve heard that brought it out all the way from china i don t know whether that s true or not but i know that if i came first in the evening i used to spread my mat just at the foot of it it was a quiet comer you see and a sort of breeze from the came in at the window now and then besides the there no other furniture in the room only the coffin and the old all g en and blue and purple with age and polish never told us why he called the place the gate of a hundred sorrows he was the only i know who used fancy names most of them are as you ll see in we used to find that on you so much if you re white as the black smoke a yellow man is made different doesn t tell on him scarcely at all but white and black suffer a good deal of course there are some people that the smoke doesn t touch any more than tobacco would at first they just a bit as one would fall asleep naturally and next morning they are almost fit for work now i was one of that sort when i be n but i ve been at it for five years pretty steadily and its different now there was an old aunt of mine down a a way and she left me a little at her death about sixty ee tales from the bills a month secured sixty isn t much i can recollect a time seems hundreds and hundreds of years ago that i was getting my three a month and when i was working on a big timber contract in i didn t stick to that work for l ng the black smoke does not allow of much other business and even though i am very uttle affected by it as men go i couldn t do a day s work now to save my life after all sixty is what i want when old | 39 |
was alive he used to draw the money for me give me about half of it to live on i eat very little and the rest he kept himself i was free of the gate at any time of the day and night and could smoke and sleep there when i liked so i didn t care i know the old man made a good thing out of it but that s no matter nothing matters much to me and besides the money always came fresh and fresh each month there was ten of us met at the gate when the place was first opened me and two from a government office somewhere in but they got the sack and couldn t pay no man who has to work in the daylight can do the black smoke for any length of time straight on a that was s nephew a woman that had got a lot of money somehow an somebody i think but i have forgotten that smoked heaps but never seemed to pay anything they said he had saved s life at some trial in when he was a another like myself from a half caste woman the gate of a hundred sorrows and a couple of men who said they liad come from the north i think they must have been or or something there are not more than five of us living now but we come regular i don t know what happened to the but the woman she died after six months of the gate and i think took her and nose ring for himself but i m not certain the englishman he drank as well as smoked and he dropped off one of the got killed in a row at night by the big well near the a long time ago and the police shut up the well because they said it was full of foul air they found him dead at the bottom of it so you see there is only me the the half caste woman that we call the she used to live with the other and one of the the looks very old now i think she was a young woman when the gate was opened but we are all old for the matter of that hundreds and hundreds of years old it is very hard to keep count of time in the gate and besides time doesn t matter to me i draw my sixty fresh and fresh every month a very very long while ago when i used to be getting three hundred and fifty a month and on a big timber contract at i had a wife of sorts but she s dead now people said that i killed her by taking to the black smoke perhaps i did but it s so long since it doesn t matter sometimes when i first came to the gate i used to feel sorry for it but that s all over and done with long ago and i draw my sixty go tales from the hills fresh and fresh every month and am quite happy not drunk happy you know but always quiet and soothed and contented how did i take to it it began at i used to try it in my own house just to see what it was like i never went very far but i think my wife must have died then anyhow i found myself here and got to know i don t remember rightly how that came about but he told me of the gate and i used to go there and somehow i have never got away from it since mind you though the gate was a respectable place in s time where you could be comfortable and not at all like the where the go no it was clean and quiet and not crowded of course there were others beside us ten and the man but we always had a mat apiece with a head piece all covered with black and red and things just like a coffin in the comer at the end of one s third pipe the used to move about and fight i ve watched em many and many a night through i used to my smoke that way and now it takes a dozen pipes to make em stir besides they are all torn and dirty hke the and old is dead he died a couple of years ago and gave me the pipe i always use now a silver one with queer beasts crawling up and down the bottle below the cup before that i think i used a big stem with a copper cup a very small one and a green it was a little thicker than a walking the gate of a hundred sorrows stick stem and smoked sweet very sweet the seemed to up the smoke silver doesn t and i ve got to clean it out now and then that s a great deal of trouble but i smoke it for the old man s sake he must have made a good thing out of me but he always gave me clean and pillows and the best stuff you could get an when he died his nephew ling took up the gate and he called it the temple of the three possessions but we old ones speak of it as the hundred sorrows all the same the nephew does things very and i think the must help him she lives with him same as she used to do with the old man the two let in all sorts of low people and all and the black smoke isn t as good as it used to be i ve found burnt in my pipe over and over again the old man would have died if that had happened in his time besides the room is never cleaned and all | 39 |
was coming and fled followed by a dry howl which reached the servants quarters far more quickly than any command of mine had ever done in ten seconds din was in the dining room then despairing sobs arose and i returned to find din the small sinner who was using most of his shirt as a handkerchief this boy said din is a a big he will without doubt go to the jail for his behavior renewed from the penitent and an elaborate apology to myself from din tell the baby said i that the is not angry and take him away din conveyed my forgiveness to the who had now gathered all his shirt round his neck and the yell subsided into a sob the two set off for the door his name said din as though the name were part of the crime is din and he is a freed from present danger din turned round in his father s arms and said gravely it is true that my name is din but i am not a i am a man from that day dated my acquaintance with din never again did he come into my dining room but on the ix tales from the hills the compound we greeted each other with much state h our conversation was confined to t from his side and din from mine daily on my return from office the little white shirt and the fat little body used to rise from the shade of the covered where they had been hid and daily i checked my horse here that my salutation might not be over or given din never had any companions he used to trot about the compound in and out of the oil bushes on mysterious errands of his own one day i stumbled upon some of his far down the ground he had half buried the ball in dust and stuck six old flowers in a circle round it outside that circle again was a rude square traced out in bits of red brick with fragments of broken china the whole bounded by a little bank of dust the from the well put in a plea for the small saying that it was only the play of a baby and did not much my garden heaven knows that i had no intention of touching the child s work then or later but that evening a stroll through the garden brought me unawares full on it so that i trampled before i knew heads dust bank and fragments of broken soap dish into confusion past all hope of mending next morning i came upon din crying softly to himself over the ruin i had wrought some one had cruelly told him that the was very angry the t rt of din with him for the garden and had scattered his rubbish using bad language the while din labored for an hour at every trace of the dust bank and fragments and it was with a tearful face that he said when i came home from the office a hasty inquiry resulted in din informing din that by my singular favor he was permitted to himself as he pleased the child took heart and fell to tracing the ground plan of an edifice which was to the creation for some months the little in his humble among the oil bushes and in the dust always magnificent palaces from stale flowers thrown away by the bearer smooth water worn pebbles bits of broken glass and feathers pulled i fancy from my fowls always alone and always to himself a spotted sea dropped one day close to the last of his little buildings and i looked that din s build something more than ordinarily splendid on the strength of it nor was i disappointed he meditated for the better part of an hour and his rose to a song then he began tracing in dust it would certainly be a wondrous palace this one for it was two yards long and a yard broad in ground plan but the palace was never completed next day there was no at die head of the carriage drive and no o n tales from the hills so he went forward with most of his blood in his temples it was impossible for many reasons that the woman in the could be the girl he had known she was he discovered later the wife of a man from or or some of the way place and she had come up to early in the season for the good of her health she was going back to or wherever it was at the end of the season and in all would never return to again her proper hill station being that night savage from the up of all old feelings took counsel with himself for one measured hour what he decided upon was this and you must decide for yourself how much genuine affection for the old love and how much a very natural inclination to go abroad and enjoy himself affected the decision mrs would never in all human cross his path again so whatever he did didn much matter she was like the girl who took a deep interest and the re of the all things considered it would be pleasant to make the acquaintance of mrs and for a little time only a very little t me to make that he was with again every one is more or less mad on one point s particular was his old love he made it his business to get introduced to mrs and the introduction he also made it his business to see as much as he could of that lady when a man is in earnest as to the which offers on the strength of a i are there are garden parties and parties and and at and matches and dinners | 39 |
and balls besides rides and walks which are matters of private arrangement had started with the of seeing a likeness and he ended by doing much more he wanted to be deceived he meant to be deceived and he deceived himself very thoroughly not only were the face and figure the face and figure of but the voice and lower tones were exactly the same and so were the turns of speech and the little that every woman has of gait and were absolutely and the same the turn of the head was the same the tired look in the eyes at the end of a long walk was the same the stoop and over the saddle to hold in a pulling horse was the same and once most marvellous of all mrs singing to herself in the next room while was waiting to take her for a ride note for note with a quiver of the voice in the second line poor wandering one exactly as had it for in the dusk of an english drawing room in the actual woman herself in the soul of there was not the least likeness she and being cast in different but all that wanted to know and see and think about was this and likeness of face and voice and manner he was bent on making a fool of himself that way and he was in no sort disappointed tales from the hills open and obvious devotion from any sort of man is always pleasant to any sort of woman but mrs being a woman of the world could make nothing of s admiration he would take any amount of trouble was a selfish man habitually to meet and if possible her wishes anything she told him to do was law and he was there could be no doubting it fond of her company so long as she talked to him and kept on talking about but when she launched into expression of her personal views and her wrongs those small social differences that make the of life was neither pleased nor interested he didn t want to know anything about mrs or her experiences in the past she had travelled nearly all over the world and could talk cleverly he wanted the likeness of before his eyes and her voice in his ears anything outside that reminding him of another personality and he showed that it did under the new post office one evening mrs turned on him and spoke her mind shortly and without warning mr said she will you be good enough to explain why you have appointed yourself m special i don t understand it but i am perfectly certain somehow or other that you don t care the least little bit in the world for me this seems to support by the way the theory that no man can act or tell lies to a woman being found out was taken on the strength op a likeness j off his guard his defence never was a strong one because he was always thinking of himself and he out before he knew what he was saying this answer no more i do the of the situation and the reply made mrs laugh then it came out and at the end of s explanation mrs said with the least little touch of scorn in her voice so i m to act as the lay figure for you to hang the rags of your tattered affections on am i didn t see what answer was required and he devoted himself generally and vaguely to the praise of which was unsatisfactory now it is to be thoroughly made clear that mrs had not the shadow of a ghost of an interest in only only no woman likes being made love through instead of to specially on behalf of a divinity of four years standing did not see that he had made any very particular exhibition of himself he was glad to find a sympathetic soul in the arid of when the season ended went down to his own place and mrs to hers it was like making love to a ghost said to himself and it doesn t matter and now i ll get to my work but he found himself thinking steadily of the ghost and he could not be certain whether it was or that made up the g x v n the pretty phantom p tales from the hills he got understanding a month later a peculiar point of this peculiar country is the way in which a heartless government men from one end of the empire to the other you can never be sure of getting rid of a friend or an enemy till he or she dies there was a case once but that s another story s department ordered him up from to the frontier at two days notice and he went through losing money at every step from to his station he dropped mrs at to stay with some friends there to take part in a big ball at the and to come on when he had made the new home a little comfortable was s station and mrs stayed a week there went to meet her and the train came in he discovered which he had been thinking of for the past month the of his conduct also struck him the week with two dances and an unlimited quantity of rides together matters and found himself pacing this circle of thought he adored at least he had adored her and he admired mrs because she was like but mrs was not in the least like being a thousand times more now was the bride of another and so was mrs and a good and honest wife too therefore he was he called himself several hard names and wished that he had | 39 |
on a high rough with a blue velvet cap crammed over her eyes her name was and she was delightful she took s heart at a hand gallop and found that it was not good for man to live alone even with half the foreign office records in his presses then laughed for in love was slightly ridiculous he did his best to interest the girl in himself that is to say his work and she after the manner of women did her best to appear interested in what behind his back she called mr s for she very prettily she did not understand one little thing about them but she acted as if she did men have married on that sort of error before now providence however had care of he was immensely struck with miss s intelligence he would have been more impressed had he heard her private and confidential accounts of his calls he held peculiar notions as to the of girls he said that the best work of a man s career should be laid reverently at their feet writes something like this somewhere i think but in life a few kisses are better and save time about a month after he had lost his heart to miss and had been doing his work in consequence the first idea of his native ride in central india struck and filled him tales from the hills with joy it was as he it a great thing the work of his life sl really comprehensive survey of a most fascinating subject to be written with all the special and laboriously acquired knowledge of of the foreign office gift fit for an he told miss that he was going to take leave and hoped on his return to bring her a present worthy of her acceptance would she wait certainly she would drew seventeen hundred a month she would wait a year for that her mamma would help her to wait so took one year s leave and all the available documents about a load that he could lay hands on and went down to central india with his notion hot in his head he began his book in the land he was writing of too much official correspondence had made him a workman and he must have guessed that he needed the white light of local color on his this is a dangerous paint for to play with heavens how that man worked he caught his his and traced them up into the mists of time and beyond with their queens and their he dated and cross dated and triple compared noted strung selected inferred and counter for ten hours a day and because this sudden and new light of love was upon him he turned those dry bones of history and dirty records of into things to weep or to laugh le of the foreign office over as he pleased his heart and soul were at the end of his pen and they got into the link he was with sympathy insight humor and style for two hundred and thirty days and nights and his book was a book he had his vast special knowledge with him so to speak but the spirit the woven in human touch the poetry and the power of the were beyond all special knowledge but i doubt whether he knew the gift that was in him then and thus he may have lost some happiness he was toiling for not for himself men often do their best work blind for some one else s sake also though this has nothing to do with the story in india where every one knows every one else you can watch men being driven by the women who govern them out of the file and sent to take up points alone a good man once started goes forward but an average man so soon as the woman loses interest in his success as a tribute to her power comes back to the and is no more heard of bore the first copy of his book to and blushing and presented it to miss she read a little of it i give her review oh your book it s all about those how i didn t under stand it of the foreign was broken smashed i am not by one frivolous little girl all that he could say feebly was but but it s my us tales from tee bills work of my life miss did not know what meant but she knew that captain had won three races at the last didn t press her to wait for him any longer he had sense enough for that then came the reaction after the year s strain and went back to the foreign office and his a report writing hack who would have been dear at three hundred a month he by miss s review which proves that the inspiration in the book was purely temporary and with himself nevertheless he had no right to sink in a hill five packing cases brought up at enormous expense from of the best book of indian history ever written when he sold off before retiring some years later i was turning over his shelves and came across the only existing copy of native rule in central india the copy that miss could not understand i read it sitting on his as long as the light lasted and offered him his own price for it he looked over my shoulder for a few pages and said to himself now how in the world did i come to write such damned good stuff as that then to me take it and keep it write one of your penny about its birth perhaps perhaps the whole business may have been ordained to that end which knowing | 39 |
village she was in a blue dress and she lifted the veil of her bonnet and said ram give my to the and tell him that i shall meet him next month at then i ran away because i was afraid what said or did i do not know br word of mouth ram declares that he said but walked up and down the all the cold night waiting for the to come up the hill and stretching out his arms into the dark like a madman but no came and next day he went on to cross questioning the bearer every hour ram could only say that he had met mrs and that she had lifted up her veil and given him the message which he had faithfully repeated to to this statement ram he did not know where was had no friends at and would most certainly never go to even though his pay were doubled is in and has nothing whatever to do with a doctor serving in the it must be more than twelve hundred miles from went through without halting and returned to there to take over charge from the man who had ben for him during his tour there were some accounts to be explained and some recent orders of the surgeon general to be noted and altogether the taking over was a full day s work in the evening told his who was an old friend of his bachelor days what had happened at and the man said that ram might as well have chosen while he was about it at that moment a telegraph came in with a from ordering not to take over charge at but to go at tales from the hills once to on special duty there was a nasty outbreak of at and the being as usual had borrowed a surgeon from the threw the across the table and said well the other doctor said nothing it was all that he could say then he remembered that had passed through on his way from and thus might possibly have heard the first news of the impending transfer he tried to put the question and the implied suspicion into words but stopped him with if i had desired that i should never have come back from i was shooting there i wish to live for i have things to do but i shall not be sorry the other man bowed his head and helped in the twilight to pack up s just trunks ram entered with the lamps where is the going he asked to said softly ram s knees and boots and begged him not to go ram wept and howled till he was turned out of the room then he wrapped up all his and came back to ask for a character he was not going to to see his die and perhaps to die himself so gave the man his wages and went down to alone the other doctor bidding him good bye as one under sentence of death to be held for reference eleven days later he had joined his and the government had to borrow a fresh doctor to cope with that at the first lay dead in d k to be held for reference by the of the wild goat up tossed from the where she lay in the sun fell the stone to the where the daylight is lost so she fell from the light of the sun and alone now the fall was ordained from the first with the goat and the and the but the stone knows only her life is accursed as she sinks in the depths of the and alone oh thou who has the world oh thou who hast lighted the sun oh thou who hast darkened the judge thou the sin of the stone that was hurled by the goat from the light of the sun as she sinks in the mire of the even now even now from the papers of say is it dawn is it dusk in thy bower thou whom i long for who longest for me oh be it night be it o plain tales from the hills here he fell over a little that was sleeping in the where the horse and of the from central asia live and because he was very drunk indeed and the night was dark he could not rise again till i helped him that was the beginning of my acquaintance with when a and drunk sings the song of the bow er he must be worth he got off the s back and said rather thickly t i i m a bit but a dip in will put me right again and i say have you spoken to about the mare s knees now was six thousand weary miles away from us close to where you mustn t fish and is le and stable a half mile further across the it was strange to hear all the old names on a may night among the horses and of the then the man seemed to remember himself and sober down at the same time he leaned against the and pointed to a comer of the where a lamp was burning i live there said he and i should be extremely obliged if you would be good enough to help my feet thither for i am more than usually drunk most most tight but not in respect to my head my brain cries out against how does it go but my head rides on the rolls on the hill i should have said and the i helped him through the of horses and he on the edge of the in front of the line oi c to for t a thanks o and little stars to think that a man should so | 39 |
infamous liquor in exile drank no worse better it frozen alas i had no ice good night i introduce you to my wife were i or she civilized a native woman came out of the darkness of the room and began calling the man names so i went away he was the most interesting that i had the pleasure of knowing for a long time and later on he became a friend of mine he was a tall well built fair man fearfully shaken with drink and he looked nearer fifty than the thirty five which he said was his real age when a man begins to sink in india and is not sent home by his friends as soon as may be he falls very low from a respectable point of view by the time that he changes his creed as did he is past in most big cities natives will tell you of two or three generally low caste who have turned or and who live more or less as such but it is not often that you can get to know them as to say if i change my religion for my stomach s sake i do not seek to become a martyr to mi h nor am i anxious for at the outset of acquaintance warned me remember this i am not an object for charity i require neither your money your food nor your cast off i am that rare animal a self if you choose i will smoke with you for the tobacco of plain tales from the hills the does not i admit suit my and i will borrow any books which you may not specially value it is more than likely that i shall sell them for bottles of excessively filthy in return you shall share such hospitality as my house affords here is a on which two can sit and it is possible that there may from time to time be food in that drink unfortunately you will find on the premises at any hour and thus i make you welcome to all my poor i was admitted to the household i and my good tobacco but nothing else one cannot visit a in the by day friends buying horses would not understand it consequently i was obliged to see after dark he laughed at this and said simply you are perfectly right when i enjoyed a position in society rather higher than yours i should have done exactly the same thing good heavens i was once he spoke as though he had fallen from the command of a regiment an oxford man this accounted lor the reference to stable you said slowly have not had that advantage but to outward you do not seem possessed of a craving for strong drinks on the whole i fancy that you are the of the two yet i am not certain you are t forgive my saying so even while i am smoking your excellent tobacco painfully ignorant of many things we were sitting together on the edge of his for he owned no chairs watching the to be held for being watered for the night while the native woman was preparing dinner i did not like being by a but i was his guest for the time being though he owned only one very torn coat and a pair of trousers made out of bags he took the pipe out of his mouth and went on au things considered i doubt whether you are the i do not refer to your extremely limited classical or your quantities but to your gross ignorance of matters more immediately under your notice that for instance he pointed to a woman cleaning a near the well in the centre of the she was the water out of the in regular there are ways and ways of cleaning if you knew why she was doing her work in that particular fashion you would know what the spanish meant when he said i the illustrate drinking watered orange in three the while he his at one and many other things which now are hidden from your eyes however has prepared dinner let us come and eat after the fashion of the people of the country of whom by the way you know nothing the native woman dipped her hand in the dish with us this was wrong the wife should always wait until the husband has eaten saying from tee it is an english prejudice which i have not been able to overcome and she loves me why i have never been able to understand i with her at three years ago and she has remained with me ever since i believe her to be moral and know her to be skilled in he patted the woman s head as he spoke and she softly she was not pretty to look at never told me what position he had held before his fall he was when sober a scholar and a gentleman when drunk he was rather more of the first than the second he used to get drunk about once a week for two days on those occasions the native woman tended him while he in all tongues except his own one day indeed he began in and went through it to the end beating time to the swing of the verse with a leg but he did most of his in greek or german the man s mind was a perfect rag bag of useless things once when he was beginning to get sober he told me that i was the only rational being in the into which he had descended a in the shades he said and that in return for my tobacco he would before he died give me the materials of a new that should make | 39 |
s now best addresses black temple s letters sentences and child s garden of verses s e the s old organ christmas a of an de on the hearth crown of wild olive the comedy of errors shakespeare of strong courtship of miles day the days vith sir de dog of a dream life daily food for christians s addresses s essays first series s essays series essays of of the dust l s i her i ji i of fl d oa c e sand for brood of st or hm s a dust m the hero of house of the seven house of the wolf idle of an idle fellow ef the of holy scripture in black and white in imitation of christ a in his ji shakespeare s first j john s pictures john s talk loo king richard iii shakespeare loi s history fill h il ng m m new n i i k t fer m l m n a i i la and hum lady of the lake scott no iii last of lays of rome ii let us follow light of asia x that failed the little lame z s vol x s poems vol ik s poems line upon line legends of the magic nuts the x master of the milton s poems mine own people minister of the world a from an old stories shakespeare natural law in the nature addresses and lectures i s christmas m c the paradise lost paradise regained paul and virginia phantom l progress the plain tales from the hills pleasures of s s lives j s poems house of david bi princess and and i j peep of day upon queen of the air and his friends brown representative men of a bachelor van h ing man of and robert hardy s seven days at j scarlet letter the school lor scandal sentimental journey a and lilies shakespeare s he to conquer n w series x sketch book the the the tales from shakespeare tales of ofl the a ten in a bar arthur things will take a turn thoughts r o through tlie looking tom brown s school days c treasure island twice told tales two years before the mast x the shakespeare the merry wives of shakespeare uncle tom s cabin the of a mar of visits of elizabeth the water babies weird tales what is art s poems vol s poems vol ii window in women s work in the home wonder book a papers the by author of dainty series op choice books cents bound in half white sides unique design in gold with half tone illustrations size x inches i the silver by m with illustrations charles children stories with illustrations the children s shakespeare with illustrations young robin hood by g with illustrations honor bright by mary c with illustrations the voyage of the mary by b with illustrations the s egg by l x with illustrations by with illustrations the doings of a dear little couple by mary d with illustrations our soldier boy by g with illustrations xi the little by g with illustrations little and other stories with illustrations the christmas fairy by john strange winter with illustrations the boy company s illustrated syllable series for readers embracing popular works arranged for the young folks in words of one syllable fine english cloth new original designs cents s illustrations a child life of christ illustrations a child s story of the bible the adventures of robinson illustrations s pilgrim s ss illustrations family robinson illustrations s travels illustrations stories for children illustrations library cents robinson chiefly in words of one syllable his life and strange surprising adventures with beautiful illustrations by walter s adventures in with illustrations by john the most delightful of children s stories ct t and delicious nonsense saturday review through the glass and what pound there a companion to in with illustrations by john stories for little ve t i the stories t ct pictures of favorite beasts va young s pilgrim s progress for readers with full page aod text a child s story of the with page t a s life of christ with ken children are earl attracted and sweetly by the story of the master from the to the throne family robinson th the father of the family tells the tale of the through he and his wife and children pass the wonderful discoveries made and dangers encountered the book is full ot interest and instruction and the of america with illustrations every am boy and girl should be acquainted wit the story of the life of the great with its struggles adventures and trials the story of and discovery fa africa with so illustrations records the experiences of adventures and discoveries in developing the dark continent the of from the best accepted sources with illustrations the of j are among the very earliest of this kind and probably have never been surpassed for point and s travels adapted for young readers with illustrations mother goose s and fairy tales with illustrations lives of the of the united states by with portraits of the i and also of the unsuccessful dates for the office as well as the of a cabinet officers an x o u the of a fox bj more march with the story of in the sees with by the book | 39 |
shows how much can be accomplished by steady perseverance and pluck natural history by the j o wood with illustrations this author has done more to the study of natural history than any other writer the illustrations are striking and life like a a history of bv charles with illustrations tired of listening to his children the of english history the author covered the ground in his own peculiar and happy style for his own children s use when the work was published its success was blade beauty the of a horse by with o illustrations this work is to the animal what tom s cabin was to the american the nights with illustrations contains the most of the stories s fairy tales with illustrations the tales are a wonderful collection as interesting from a literary point of view as they are delightful as stories flower by may with numerous illustrations full page and text a series of very interesting fairy tales by the most charming of american story s fairy tales by christian with illustrations these wonderful tales are not only attractive to the young but equally acceptable to those of mature years s chair a history f r youth b the of from uie ng of the to the reserve of the independence the united a comer by mary and elizabeth with tea rice and and other the cupboard battles of tho war for by pre with a and full history of the rebellion of the colonies from the yoke and oppression of england including also an account of the second war with great britain and the war with battles of the war for the union by with illustrations a correct aud account of the greatest civil war in the annals of history both of these histories of american wars are part of the education of all intelligent american bo rs and girls water babies by charles with illustrations a charming fairy people s history of the war with spain by with illustrations the story of the war for the freedom of arranged for young readers heroes of the united states navy by james with illustrations from the days of the revolution the end of the war with spain heroes of the united states by james with nearly their brave deeds from to told in a manner tom s cabin by with illustrations arranged for young tales from shakespeare by charles a l x i with m la d low t of rose with the of tho per empire th tho aad with the of with the king of with king of with tlie cart with c the roman with illustrations alfred the of england th illustrations tlie conqueror of england with illustrations the conqueror of with illustrations mary queen of with queen elizabeth of england with illustrations king charles the first of england with illustrations king the second of england with illustrations maria queen of france th illustrations madam a heroine of the french revolution with illustrations of france with illustrations van with illustrations a child s garden ot m illustrations i an hue ot i printed oa fine and bound m white new in gold end cents i abide in christ s addresses best bible book addresses buy your own cross the life christian living z s old organ coming to christ daily food for christians day tlie i s addresses z evening thoughts dust holy in christ imitation of christ the a rock of holy scripture s first a john s an john s talk kept for tbe s use s year i t us follow him like m line upon line e the henry mt of peace the p thoughts my king and his service natural law in the spiritual world pathway of promise pathway of safety peep of day pilgrim s progress the z upon prince of the house of david shepherd steps into the blessed life stepping the throne of grace with christ cloth ornamental large x each i the bible gallery containing by s paradise lost with full page by s with page by s and paradise with by s of the king with by the of the ancient by samuel full page by l popular library s adventures in and through the and what found there by i cloth illustrated i oo tales shakespeare by charles and mary lamb cloth illustrated i oo young people s history of the united states by edward s cloth i oa young people s history of england by edward s cloth illustrated z oo young people s history of by edward s cloth illustrated i oo young people s history of by edward s cloth illustrated i oo young people s history of rome by edward s cloth illustrated i oo young people s history of greece by edward s cloth illustrated i oo a tale of the time of by henry cloth illustrated i oo with and sword a tale of the put by henry cloth illustrated pen michael a historical tale ft cloth le r m a r paul a herald by kin illustrate in color ji oa a soldier of the cross by morsel cloth ir o iii the cross by li cloth illustrated in color i oo i i f i manual of by alexander s cloth illustrated ji ob fable by thomas illustrated ji oo or the of old york by william o cloth f i oo the woman who by n i mo cloth the by d b cloth illustrated ji oo the house of the seven by cloth illustrated ji oo the scarlet letter by cloth illustrated fi oo paul and virginia by de cloth illustrated i oa by cloth i oo the song of by henry | 39 |
w i low cloth illustrated black beauty by ll cl v ji oo i j i t y a miscellaneous v r she who will not ie y g gilt top edges ji oo calf gilt top edges naked truths and veiled allusion y thomas cloth cents calf gilt top and other s by william j i ton cloth gilt top edges t the s progress as john wrote it a of the first edition ed in antique o the fairest of the fair by r cloth i mo i around the in ity over of the m st famous places and with descriptive text cloth cents shakespeare s complete works m th and numerous other illustrations volumes over pa es i mo per set i the care of children by r cloth i oo um t for by r cloth i oo baby by r limp binding cents names for by robinson cloth cents women should know by mrs e b cloth cents and by john of s babies cloth cents poor boys chances by john a book for modem boys cloth pages illustrations cents sea kings and naval heroes by james stories of famous sea fights of the world cloth pages illustrations cents a son of the by c e cloth cents the joys of sport by w y cloth illustrated cents dictionary of phrase and fable giving the source or origin of common phrases allusions and words that have a tale to tell by the rev e d imitation half nearly pages x a conversation english french english german and english spanish combined and phrase books pocket size each i oo henry i s s witb cloth size x inches full child s history of with fine cloth s x inches i paul and virginia by de saint with cloth size x inches i full i bible and stories page cloth size x inches i oo and adventures of cloth size i x inches i my odd little folks by cloth illustrated size x inches the rise of the dutch republic a history by john with over fifty full page half tone aad a map complete in two over pages i per set a oa half gilt top per set l new the talking pony by cloth i oo the immediate effect of reading die first chapters of to the s children was to make the ther of those children order a dozen copies of the book for the of other children thi outlook new n y no child can resist the of a little horse that talked once a k v the literary boston i the by cloth i oo it is fortunate that on his way to america meet the talking pony as otherwise another of mr charming books for readers might never have been written it is well to read all that mr tells us about animals that talk caps and by b cloth i the book is a happy creation young people will read it with keen interest daily new la a happy title to a happy book a merry chronicle of boarding school new n y and by e cloth fi oo mrs is known as ar of delightful stories this is one of her best it will win the appreciation of all readers for prey and spoils or the boy cloth r oo mr is the best living authority on spanish america and when he writes of and the jolly and pieces of eight and tall ships one is sure to be foster s adventures by a cloth i oo is an lad and ht from one to another with a diligence which will the heart of the youthful reader record herald hi is an every day honest wide awake little fellow who went out into the world by himself and really saw things christian register boston mass a thoroughly story of life that cannot fail to delight boy readers weekly sm iii henry new folly in by m wells cl th ji oo it the of a little girl who went to the realm of the but unlike the immortal her experiences were ell pleasant told in miss wells own crisp and original manner it is one of the and of s books it is a well written fairy story itself is folly in folly in the forest by wells cloth i oo another of miss wells books this time folly visits the forest of the past where she meets and is entertained by the famous animals of his tory and literature the little her book by cloth i oa a volume of exquisitely conceived stories which will delight any child christian advocate a bit of child literature never has been written than this exquisite story the household realm iii it in the love and the unconscious humor and pathos of the real child press philadelphia pa adventures by b cloth illustrated ji oo a rogue elephant and other stories by f z s illustrations in color cloth net cents additional books that help us to a more intimate acquaintance with the habits traits and characteristics of animals are very welcome the latest addition to this literature is a volume of spirited and well told stories from the pen of a writer of many successful books for children a of acknowledged ability and a fellow f the society l in his name series half white and gold with sides mt by for ko by thb s by invitation for the by the king s by pillows by morning bells by the the in whom by by the beauty of a of by thought and action by how to study the bible by l moody t us to y by in my name by the thing in the by henry | 39 |
that boy gets two hundred a month pocket money he told me he isn t sixteen either his father t it said the german that and mines and lumber and shipping built one place at san the old man has another at los owns half a dozen half the lumber on the pacific slope and lets his wife spend the money the went on lazily the west don t suit her she says she just tracks around with the boy and her nerves trying to find out what ll amuse him i guess hot springs new york and round again he isn t much more than a second hand hotel clerk now when he s finished in europe he ll be a holy terror what s the matter with the old man attending to him personally said a voice from the old man s up the rocks don t want to be disturbed i guess he ll find out his error captains courageous f a few years from now pity because there s a heap of good in the boy if you could get at it a rope s end a rope s end growled the once more the door and a slight boy perhaps fifteen years old a half smoked hanging from one comer of his mouth leaned in over the high his yellow complexion did not show well on a person of his years and his look was a mixture of and very cheap he was dressed in a cherry coloured red stockings and shoes with a red flannel cap at the back of the head whistling between his teeth as he eyed the company he said in a loud high voice say it s thick outside you can hear the fish boats all around us say wouldn t it be great if we ran down one shut the door said the new shut the door and stay outside you re not wanted here who ll stop me he answered deliberately did you pay for my passage martin guess i ve as good right here as the next man he picked up some from a board and began throwing right hand against say gen this is n mud can t we make a game of between us captains courageous there was no answer and he puffed his swung his legs and on the table with rather dirty fingers then he pulled out a roll of bills as if to count them how s your mamma this afternoon a man said i didn t see her at lunch in her state room i guess she s most always sick on the ocean fm going to give the fifteen dollars for looking after her i don t go down more n i can avoid it makes me feel mysterious to pass that butler s place say this is the first time been on the ocean oh don t who s this is the first time i ve crossed the ocean gen and except the first day i haven t been sick one little bit a sir he brought down his fist with a triumphant bang his finger and went on counting the bills oh you re a high grade machine with the writing in plain sight the yawned you ll blossom into a credit to your country if you don t take care i know it i m an american first last and all the time i ll show em that when i strike europe my s out i can t smoke the the steward any gen got a real on him it captains courageous the chief engineer entered for a moment red smiling and wet say cried cheerfully how are we it much in the ordinary way was the grave reply the yoimg are as polite as ever to their elders an their elders are e en to appreciate it a low chuckle came from a comer the german opened his cigar and handed a black cigar to dot is der apparatus to smoke my young he said you dry it yes den you be so happy lit the thing with a flourish he felt that he was getting on in grown up society it would take more n this to me over he said ignorant that he was lighting that terrible article a dot we shall see said the german where are we now mr just there or mr said the engineer we ll be on the grand bank to night but in a general way o we re all among the fishing fleet now we ve shaved three an near the boom off a frenchman since noon an that s close ye may say you like my cigar eh the german asked for s eyes were full of tears captains courageous fine full he answered through shut teeth guess we ve down a little haven t we ril out and see what the log says i might if i you said the german staggered over the wet decks to the nearest rail he was very unhappy but he saw the deck steward chairs together and since he had boasted before the man that he was never his pride made him go aft to the deck at the stern which was finished in a back the deck was deserted and he crawled to the extreme end of it near the there he doubled up in limp agony for the joined with the and jar of the screw to out his soul his head swelled sparks of fire danced before his eyes his body seemed to lose weight while his heels wavered in the breeze he was fainting from and a roll of the ship him over the rail on to the smooth lip of the back then a low grey mother wave swung out of the fog tucked under one arm so | 39 |
to speak and pulled him and away to the great green closed over him and he went quietly to sleep he was roused by the sound of a dinner horn such as used to blow at a summer school he had once attended in the slowly he remembered that he was captains courageous drowned and dead in mid ocean but was too weak to fit things together a new smell filled his nostrils wet and ran down his back and he was helplessly of salt water when he opened his eyes he perceived that he was still on the top of the sea for it was running round him in silver coloured hills and he was lying on a pile of half dead fish looking at a broad human back clothed in a blue it s no good thought the boy dead sure enough and this thing is in charge he groaned and the figure turned its head showing a pair of little gold rings half hidden in curly black hair you feel some pretty well now it said lie still so we trim better with a swift jerk he the flickering on to a sea that lifted her twenty full feet only to slide her into a pit beyond but this mountain climbing did not interrupt s talk fine good job i say that i catch you eh at better good job say your boat not catch me how you come to out i was sick said sick and couldn t help it just in time i blow my horn and your boat she a little then i see you come all down eh at i think you are cut into by the screw but you to me and i captains courageous make a big fish of you so you shall not die this time where am i said who could not see that life was particularly safe where he lay you are with me in the my name and i come from we re here of i live to by and by we get supper eh at he seemed to have two pairs of hands and a head of cast iron for not content with blowing through a big shell he must needs stand up to it swaying with the sway of the flat and send a grinding shriek through the fog how long this entertainment lasted could not remember for he lay back terrified at the sight of the smoking he fancied he heard a gun and a horn and shouting something bigger than the but quite as lively loomed alongside several voices talked at once he was dropped into a dark heaving hole where men in gave him a hot drink and took off his clothes and he fell asleep when he he listened for the first breakfast bell on the steamer wondering why his had grown so small turning he looked into a narrow cave lit by a lamp hung against a huge square beam a three table within arm s reach ran from the angle of the captains courageous n bows to the at the after end behind a well used stove sat a boy about his own age with a flat red face and a pair of twinkling grey eyes he was dressed in a blue and high rubber boots several pairs of the same sort of foot wear an old cap and some worn out lay on the floor and black and yellow swayed to and fro beside the the place was packed as full of smells as a is of cotton the had a peculiarly thick of their own which made a sort of background to the smells of fish burnt paint and stale tobacco but these again were all together by one smell of ship and salt water saw with disgust that there were no sheets on his bed place he was lying on a piece of dingy full of and then too the boat s motion was not that of a steamer she was neither sliding nor rolling but rather herself about in a silly way like a at the end of a water noises ran by close to his ear and beams and about him all these things made him and think of his mother better said the boy with a grin some coffee he brought a tin cup full and it with is n t there milk said looking captains courageous round the dark double tier of as if he expected to find a cow there well no said the boy ner there ain t likely to be till mid september tain t bad coffee i made it drank in silence and the boy handed him a plate full of pieces of crisp pork which he ate i ve dried your clothes guess they ve shrunk some said the boy they ain t our style much none of em twist round an see ef you re hurt any stretched himself in every direction but could not report any injuries that s good the boy said heartily fix an go on deck wants to see you i m his son dan they call me an i m cook s an everything else aboard that s too dirty for the men there ain t no boy here me went overboard an he was only a an twenty year old at that how d you come to fall off in a dead flat ca am t a calm said it was a gale and i was guess i must have rolled over the rail there was a little common swell yes day an last night said the boy but ef s your notion of a gale he whistled you ll know more fore you re through hurry s lo captains courageous like many other unfortunate young people had never in all his life received a direct order never at | 39 |
least without long and sometimes tearful explanations of the advantages of obedience and the reasons for the request mrs lived in fear of breaking his spirit which perhaps was the reason that she herself walked on the edge of nervous he could not see why he should be expected to hurry for any man s pleasure and said so your can come down here if he s so anxious to talk to me i want him to take me to new york right away it ll pay him dan opened his eyes as the size and beauty of this joke dawned on him say he shouted up the fo c he says you kin slip down an see him ef you re anxious that way hear the answer came back in the deepest voice had ever heard from a human chest quit dan and send him to me dan and threw his shoes there was something in the tones on the deck that made the boy his extreme rage and console himself with the thought of gradually the tale of his own and his father s wealth on the voyage home this rescue would certainly make him a hero among his friends for life he hoisted himself on deck up captains courageous a perpendicular ladder and stumbled aft over a score of to where a small thick set clean shaven man with grey eyebrows sat on a step that led up to the quarter deck the swell had passed in the night leaving a long sea dotted round the horizon with the sails of a dozen fishing boats between them lay little black showing where the were out fishing the with a riding sail on the played easily at anchor and except for the man by the house they call it she was deserted good afternoon i should say you ve nigh the clock around young was the greeting said he did not like being called young and as one rescued from drowning expected sympathy his mother suffered agonies whenever he got his feet wet but this did not seem excited let s hear all it it s quite first an last fer all concerned what might be your name where from we it s york an where we it s europe gave his name the name of the steamer and a short history of the accident winding up with a demand to be taken back immediately to captains courageous new york where his father would pay anything any one chose to name h ni said the shaven man quite unmoved by the end of s speech i can t say we think special of any man or boy even that falls overboard from that kind o packet in a flat ca am least of all when his excuse is he s excuse cried d you suppose i d overboard into your dirty little boat for fun not what your notions o fun may be i can t rightly say young but if i was you i wouldn t call the boat which under providence was the means o ye names in the first place it s blame in the second it s to my s an i m troop o the re here o which you don t seem rightly to know i don t know and i don t care said i m grateful enough for being saved and all that of course but i want you to understand that the sooner you take me back to new york the better it ll pay you troop raised one shaggy over a suspiciously mild blue eye dollars and cents said delighted to think he was making an impression cold dollars and cents he thrust a hand into a pocket and threw out his stomach a little which i captains courageous was his way of being grand you ve done the best day s work you ever did in your life when you pulled me in i m all the son has he s bin favoured said and if you don t know who is you don t know much that s all now turn her around and let s hurry had a notion that the greater part of america was filled with people discussing and his father s dollars i do an i don t take a in your young it s full o my heard a chuckle from dan who was pretending to be busy by the stump and the blood rushed to his face we ll pay for that too he said when do you suppose we shall get to new york i don t use york any ner boston we may see eastern point september an your pa i m real sorry i t tell of him may give me ten dollars all your talk then o course he t ten dollars i why see here i into his pocket for the of bills all he brought up was a packet of not lawful an bad for the lungs heave em overboard young and try ag in captains courageous if s been stolen cried hotly you ll to wait till you see your pa to reward me then a hundred and thirty four dollars all stolen said hunting wildly through his pockets give them back a curious change flitted across old troop s hard what might you have been at your time o life with one hundred an thirty four dollars young it was part of my pocket money for a month this thought would be a blow and it was indirectly oh one hundred and thirty four dollars is only part of his pocket money for one month only you don t remember anything when you fell over do you crack ag in a le s say old man o the east wind troop | 39 |
seemed to be talking to himself he tripped on a an the with his head three weeks afterwards old man he would it that the east wind was a commerce man o war an so he declared war on island because it was an the run too far they him up in a bed bag his head an feet fer the rest o the trip an now he s to home in with little rag choked with rage but troop went on ii captains courageous we re sorry fer you we re very sorry fer you an so young we won t say no more the money i guess course you won t you stole it suit yourself we stole it ef it s any comfort to you goin back we could do it which we can t you ain t in no fit state to go back to your home an we ve jest come on to the banks fer our bread h e don t see the ha af of a hundred dollars a month let alone pocket money an with good luck we ll be ashore again the first weeks o september but but it s may now and i can t stay here nothing just because you want to fish i can t i tell you right an jest jest an right no one asks you to do there s a heap as you can do for he went overboard on le have i he lost his grip in a gale we fund there he never come back to deny it tou ve turned up plain for all concerned i though there s few things you kin do ain t so i can make it lively for you and your crowd when we get ashore said with a vicious nod murmuring vague threats about at which troop almost not quite smiled talk i d forgot that you ain t captains courageous f asked to talk more n you ve a mind to aboard the w re here keep your eyes open an help dan to do he s bid an an i ll give you you ain t it but i ll give ten an a ha af a month say thirty five at the end o the trip a little work will ease up your head an you kin tell us all your an your ma an your money she s on the steamer said his eyes filling with tears take me to new york at once poor woman poor woman when she has you back she ll it all though there s eight of us on the iv re here an ef we went back it s more n a thousand mile we d lose the season the men they wouldn t it i was agreeable but my father would make it all right he d try i don t doubt he d try said troop but a whole season s catch is eight men s bread an you ll be better in your health when you see him in the fall go forward an help dan it s ten an a ha af a month i said an o course all fund same the rest o us do you mean i m to clean pots and and things said an other things you ve no call to shout young i won t my either will give you enough to buy this dirty little fish kettle stamped captains courageous on the deck ten times over if you take me to new york safe and and you re in a hundred and thirty by me anyway ha ow said troop the iron face darkening how you know how well enough on top of all that you want me to do work was very proud of that till the fall i tell you i will not you hear troop regarded the top of the with deep interest for a while as fiercely all around him he said at last i m out my in my own mind it s a matter o dan stole up and plucked by the elbow don t go to with any more he pleaded you ve called him a thief two or three times over an he don t take that from any bein i won t i almost shrieked the advice and still troop meditated seems kinder he said at last his eye travelling down to i don t blame you not a young nor you won t blame ic when the s out o your be sure you sense what i say ten an a ha af fer second boy on the an all fund fer to teach you an fer the sake o your health yes or no i captains courageous no said take mc back to new york or fu see you he did not exactly remember what followed he was lying in the holding on to a nose that while troop looked down on him serenely dan he said to his son i was ag in this young when i first saw him on account o hasty never you be led astray by hasty dan i m sorry for him because he s clear distracted in his upper works he ain t responsible fer the names he s give me nor fer his other statements nor fer overboard which i m ha af convinced he did you be gentle with him dan r i ll give you twice what i ve give him them the head let him it off troop went down solemnly into the cabin where he and the older men leaving dan to comfort the heir to thirty millions chapter ii i warned ye said dan as the drops fell thick and fast on the dark ain t hasty but you | 39 |
fair earned it i there s no sense on so s shoulders were rising and falling in of dry sobbing i know the first time laid me out was the last and that was my first trip makes ye feel an know it does moaned that man s either crazy or drunk and and i can t do anything don t say that to whispered dan he s set ag in all liquor an well he told me jou was the madman what in creation made vou call him a thief he s my sat up his nose and told the story of the missing of bills i m not crazy he wound up only your father has never seen more than a five dollar bill at a time and my father could buy up this boat once a week and never miss it you don t know what the ive re here s worth captains courageous your must a pile o money how did he it can t shake out a straight go ahead in gold mines and things west i ve read o that kind o business out west too does he go around with a pistol on a trick pony same the they call that the wild west and i ve heard that their spurs an was solid silver you a said amused in spite of himself my father hasn t any use for when he wants to ride he takes his car car no his own private car of course you ve seen a private car some time in your life he one said dan cautiously i saw her at the union in boston with three her run dan meant cleaning the windows but he owns every railroad on long island they say an they say he s bought ha af an run a line fence around her an filled her up with lions an an bears an an an such all he s a i ve seen bis car yes well my father s what they call a and he has two private cars one s captains courageous named for me the and one for my mother the hold on said dan don t ever let me swear but i guess you can fore we go ahead i want you to say hope you may die if you re lying of course said ain t say hope i may die if i ain t truth hope i may die right here said if every word i ve spoken isn t the cold truth hundred an thirty four dollars an all said dan i heard ye to an i ha af looked you d be up same s protested himself red in the face dan was a shrewd young person along his own lines and ten minutes questioning convinced him that was not lying much besides he had bound himself by the most terrible oath known to boyhood and he sat alive with a red ended nose in the upon i said dan at last from the very bottom of his soul when had completed an of the car named in his honour then a grin of mischievous delight his broad face i believe you s made a mistake fer once in his life he has sure said who was meditating an early revenge captains courageous he ll be mad clear through jest hates to be in his dan lay back and his oh don t you the catch by on i don t want to be knocked down again i ll get even with him though never heard any man ever got even with but he d knock ye down again sure the more he was the more he d do it but and pistols i never said a word about pistols cut in for he was on his oath so no more you did two private cars then one named fer you an one fer her an two hundred dollars a month pocket money all knocked into the fer not fer ten an a ha af a month it s the top haul o the season he exploded with noiseless then i was right said who thought he had found a you was wrong the kind o wrong you take right hold an pitch in o me or you ll catch it an i ll catch it fer you up always gives me double helps cause i m his son an he hates folk guess you re kinder mad at i ve been that way time an again but s a mighty jest man all the fleet says so looks like justice this don t it pointed to his outraged nose captains courageous s lets the shore blood outer you did it for yer health say though i can t have s with a man that thinks me or or any one on the ive re here s a thief we ain t any common wharf end crowd by any manner o means we re an we ve together for six years an more don t you make any mistake on that i told ye don t let me swear he calls em vain oaths and pounds me but ef i could say what you said your an his s i d say that your dollars i what was in your pockets when i dried your fer i didn t look to see but i d say using the very same words you used jest now neither me nor an we was the only two that you after you was brought aboard knows the money s my say the had certainly cleared s brain and maybe the loneliness of the sea had something to do with it that s all right he said then he looked down seems to me that for a fellow just saved from drowning i haven t been | 39 |
over and above grateful dan well you was shook up and silly said dan anyway there was an me aboard to see it the cook he don t count i might have thought about losing the bills captains courageous that way said half to himself instead of calling everybody in sight a thief where s your in the cabin what d you want o him again you ll see said and he stepped rather for his head was still singing to the cabin steps where the little ship s clock hung in plain sight of the wheel troop in the and yellow painted cabin was busy with a note book and an enormous black pencil which he sucked hard from time to time i haven t acted quite right said surprised at his own what s wrong said the walked into dan ye no it s about you i m here to listen well i i m here to take things back said very quickly when a man s saved from drowning he ey you ll make a man yet ef you go on this way he t begin by calling people names jest an right right an jest said troop with the ghost of a dry smile so i m here to say i m sorry another troop heaved himself slowly off the he was sitting on and held out an eleven inch hand captains courageous i do you sights o good an this shows i weren t in my a smothered chuckle on deck caught his ear i am very seldom in my the eleven inch hand closed on s it to the elbow we ll put a little more to that fore we ve done with you young an i don t think any worse of ye fer s gone by you wasn t fairly responsible go right your business an you won t take no hurt you re white said dan as regained the deck flushed to the tips of his ears i don t feel it said he i didn t mean that way i heard what said when allows he don t think the worse of any man s give himself away he hates to be in his too ho ho a he d sooner dip his colours to the british than change it i m glad it s settled right up s right when he says he can t take you back it s all the we make here the men u be back like after a dead whale in ha af an hour what for said supper o course don t your tell u you ve a heap to learn guess i have said looking at the of ropes and blocks overhead captains courageous she s a said dan misunderstanding the look wait till our s bent an she walks home with all her salt wet there s some work first though he pointed down into the darkness of the open between the two that for it s all empty said you an me an a few more got to fill it said dan s where the fish goes alive said well no they re so s to be dead an flat an salt there s a hundred o salt in the an we t more n covered our to now where are the fish though in the sea they say in the boats we pray said dan quoting a s proverb you come in last night with forty of em he pointed to a sort of wooden pen just in front of the quarter deck you an me we ll that out when they re through send we ll full pens to night i ve seen her down ha af a foot with fish to clean an we stood to the tables till we was ourselves o them we was so sleepy yes they re in dan looked over the low at half a dozen towards them over the shining sea captains courageous never seen the sea from so low down said it s fine the low sun made the water all purple and with golden lights on the barrels of the long and blue and green shades in the hollows each in sight seemed to be pulling her towards her by invisible strings and the little black figures in the tiny boats pulled like toys they ve struck on good said dan between his half shut eyes t room fer another fish low a lily in still water ain t he which is i don t see how you can tell em way as you do last boat to the south ard he fund you last night said dan pointing rows ye can t mistake him east o him he s a heap better n he rows is loaded with bv the looks of him o him see how pretty they string out all along with the shoulders is long jack he s a man south boston where they all live mostly an mostly them men are good in a boat north away yonder you ll hear him tune up in a minute is tom man o war s man he was on the old first of our navy he says to go the horn he never talks of much else when he sings but captains courageous he has fair luck there what did i tell you a melodious stole across the water from the northern heard something about somebody s hands and feet being cold and then bring forth the the see where them meet the clouds are thick around their heads the mists around their feet full boat said dan with a chuckle if he gives us o captain it s full the continued and to thee o most earnestly i that they shall bury me in church or grey | 39 |
then my luck s turned fer forty five though i be stung outer all shape forty two or forty five lost count the small voice said it s an uncle catch this beats the any day said dan jest look at em i come in come in roared long jack it s wet out children two ve said this was uncle i ll count again then the voice replied meekly the two swung together and into the s side patience o snapped uncle water with a splash what a farmer like you to set foot in a boat beats me you ve nigh stove me all up i am sorry mr i came to sea on i captains courageous account of nervous you advised me i think you an your be drowned in the whale hole roared uncle a fat and little man you re down on me ag in did ye say forty two or forty five i ve forgotten mr let s count don t see as it could be forty five vm said uncle you count troop came out of the cabin you pitch your fish in at once he said in the tone of authority don t the catch dan murmured them two are on y jest mother delight he s them wan by wan howled long jack as uncle got to work laboriously the little man in the other counting a line of on the that was last week s catch he said looking up his forefinger where he had left off dan who darted to the and leaning far slipped the hook into the stem rope as made her forward the others pulled gallantly and swung the boat in man fish and all one two four nine said tom counting with a practised eye forty seven you re it dan let the after tackle run and slid captains courageous him out of the stem on to the deck amid a torrent of his own fish hold on roared uncle by the waist hold on a bit mixed in my he had no time to protest but was and treated like forty one said tom beat by a farmer an you a sailor too t fair said he stumbling out of the pen an i m stung up all to pieces his thick hands were and white some folks will find bottom said dan addressing the newly risen moon ef they to fer it seems to me an others said uncle eats the fat o the land in an their own blood kin seat ye seat ye a voice had not heard called from the fo c troop tom long jack and went forward on the word little bent above his square and the tangled lines lay down full length on the deck and dan dropped into the hold where heard him with a hammer salt he said returning soon as we re through supper we to dressing down you ll pitch to tom an they to captains courageous an you ll hear em we re second ha af you an me an an the youth an beauty o the boat what s the good of that said i m hungry they ll be through in a minute she smells good to night ships a good cook ef he do suffer with his brother it s a full catch today ain t it he pointed at the pens piled high with what water did ye twenty father said the they strike on good an some day i show you the moon was beginning to walk on the still sea before the elder men came aft the cook had no need to cry second half dan and were down the and at table ere tom last and most deliberate of the elders had finished wiping his mouth with the back of his hand followed and sat down before a tin pan of s tongues and sounds mixed with scraps of pork and a loaf of hot bread and some black and powerful coffee hungry as they were they waited while solemnly asked a blessing then they in silence till dan drew breath over his tin cup and demanded of how he felt most full but there s just room for another piece captains courageous the cook was a huge jet black negro and unlike all the had met did not talk himself with smiles and dumb show invitations to eat more see said dan with his fork on the table it s jest as i said the young an handsome men like me an an you an we re second ha af an we eats when the first ha af are through they re the old fish and they re mean an an their has to be humoured so they come first which don t deserve ain t that so doctor the cook nodded can t he talk said in a whisper to along not much o anything we know his natural tongue s curious comes from the in of cape he does where the farmers speak home made scotch cape s full o whose folk run in there war an they talk like the farmers all that is not scotch said that is so i read in a book reads a heap most of what he says is so when it comes to a o fish eh does your father just let them say how many they ve caught without checking them said captains courageous why yes where s the sense of a man a few old was a man once lied for his catch put in lied every day ten more fish than come he say there was where was that said dan none o folk frenchman of | 39 |
tumbled after captains courageous it that s no way o into a boat said dan ef there was any sea you d go to the bottom sure you got to learn to meet her dan fitted the pins took the forward and watched s work the boy had rowed in a fashion on the but there is a between pins and well balanced light and eight foot sea oars they stuck in the gentle swell and short row short said dan ef you your oar in any kind o sea you re liable to turn her over ain t she a mine too the little was clean in her bows lay a tiny anchor two of water and some seventy of thin brown a tin rested in just under s right hand beside an ugly looking a short and a shorter wooden stick a couple of lines with very heavy leads and double all neatly on square were stuck in their place by the where s the sail and mast said for his hands were beginning to dan chuckled ye don t sail much ye pull but ye needn t pull so hard don t you wish you owned her well i guess my father might give me one or two if i asked em replied he had captains courageous been too busy to think much of his family till then that s so i forgot your s a you don t act any but a an craft an gear dan spoke as though she were a whale boat costs a heap think your u d give you one fer fer a pet like shouldn t wonder it would be most the only thing i haven t stuck him for yet must be an expensive kinder kid to home don t way short s the trick because no sea s ever dead still an the u crack i the loom of the oar kicked under the chin and knocked him backward that was what i was goin to say i to learn too but wasn t more than eight years old when i got my regained his seat with aching jaws and a frown no good mad at things says it s our own fault ef we can t handle em he says le s try here ll give us the water the was rocking fully a mile away but when dan up ended an oar he waved his left arm three times thirty said dan a salt on to the hook over with the boys bait same s i do an don t your captains courageous dan s line was out long before had mastered the mystery of and heaving out the leads the drifted along easily it was not worth while to anchor till they were sure of good ground here we come dan shouted and a shower of spray rattled on s shoulders as a big and kicked alongside under your hand quick evidently could not be the so passed over the and dan stunned the fish before he pulled it and out the hook with the short wooden stick he called a stick then felt a and pulled up why these are he shouted look the hook had among a bunch of red on one side and white on the other perfect of the land fruit except that there were no leaves and the stem was all and don t em em off don t the warning came too late had picked them from the hook and was admiring them he cried for his fingers as though he had grasped many ye know what bottom means fish should be with captains courageous ly the naked fingers says em off ag in the an bait up won t help any it s all in the wages smiled at the thought of his ten and a half dollars a month and wondered what his mother would say if she could see him hanging over the edge of a fishing in mid ocean she suffered agonies whenever he went out on lake and by the way remembered distinctly that he used to laugh at her anxieties suddenly the line flashed through his hand even through the the supposed to protect it he s a give him room to his strength cried dan i ll help ye no you won t snapped as he hung on to the line it s my first fish is is it a whale dan peered down into the water alongside and flourished the big ready for all chances something white and oval and fluttered through the green i ll lay my an share he s over a hundred are you so anxious to land him alone s were raw and bleeding where they had been against the his face was purple blue between excitement and exertion he with sweat and was half blinded from staring at the sun captains courageous lit about the swiftly moving line the boys were tired long ere the who took charge of them and the for the next twenty minutes but the big flat fish was and hauled in at last s luck said dan wiping his forehead he s all of a hundred looked at the huge grey and creature with unspeakable pride he had seen many times on marble ashore but it had never occurred to him to ask how they came inland now he knew and every inch of his body ached with fatigue f was along said dan up he d read the signs plain s print the fish are smaller an smaller an you ve took as a s we re apt to find this trip yesterday s catch did ye notice it was all big fish an no he d read them signs right off says on the banks is signs an can be read wrong er right s | 39 |
deeper n the whale hole even as he spoke some one fired a pistol on the w te here and a basket was run up in the fore what did i say that s the call fer the whole crowd s outer something er he d never break this time o day up an we ll pull back captains courageous they were to of the just ready to the over the still sea when sounds of woe half a mile off led them to who was around a fixed point for all the world like a gigantic water the little man backed away and came down again with enormous energy but at the end of each his swung round and herself on her rope we ll to help him else he ll root an seed here said dan what s the matter said this was a new world where he could not lay down the law to his elders but had to ask questions humbly and the sea was horribly big and anchor s s always losing em lost two this trip a ready on sandy bottom too an says next one he loses sure s he ll give him the that u d break s heart what s a said who had a vague idea it might be some kind of marine torture like in the story books big stone of an anchor you kin sec a in the bows fur s you can see a an all the fleet knows what it means they d him dreadful couldn t stand that no more n a dog with a to his tail captains courageous he s so sensitive stuck again don t try any more o your come up on her and keep your straight up an down it doesn t move said the little man ing it doesn t move at all and indeed i tried everything what s all this s nest for ard said dan pointing to a wild of spare oars and all together by the hand of oh that said proudly is a spanish mr showed me how to make it but even that does nt move her dan bent low over the to hide a smile once or twice on the and behold the anchor drew at once haul up he said laughing er she stuck again they left him regarding the weed hung of the little anchor with big pathetic blue eyes and thanking them oh say while i think of it said dan when they were out of ear shot ain t quite all he ain t dangerous but his mind s give out see is so or is it one of your other s judgments asked as he bent to his oars he felt he was learning to handle them more easily ss captains courageous ain t this time s a sure no he ain t exactly so much a harmless it was this way you re quite so an i tell you cause it s right you know he was a preacher once jacob his name told me an he lived with his wife an four children out way well he took his folks along to a camp most like an they stayed over jest one night in you ve talk o considered yes i have but i don t know why it sticks in my head same as both was big accidents s why well that one single night and his folks was to the hotel was wiped out dam bu st an her an the houses struck adrift an into each other an sunk i ve seen the pictures an they re he saw his folk drowned all n a heap fore he rightly knew what was his mind give out from that on he happened up to but for the poor life of him he couldn t remember what an he jest drifted an he didn t know what he was nor what he bin an way he run ag in uncle who was n captains courageous city ha af my mother s folks they live scattered inside o uncle he visits uncle he kinder adopted well what his trouble an he brought him e t an he give him work on his farm why i heard him calling a last night when the boats is your uncle a farmer shouted dan there ain t water enough here an to wash the mould off n bis boots he s jest why i ve seen man up a bucket long towards an set the to the butt same s ef a cow s bag he s much former well an he they ran the farm up way uncle he sold it this spring to a from boston as wanted to build a an he got a heap for it well them two scratched along till one day s church he d belonged to the found out where he drifted an an wrote to uncle never what they said exactly but uncle was mad he s a mostly but he jest let em it both sides o the bow he was a an he t goin to give up to any blame connection in or else captains courageous i then he come to was two back an he an must fish a trip fer their health guess he thought the wouldn t hunt the banks fer jacob was agreeable fer uncle he d been off an on fer thirty years when he t patent an he took quarter share in the re here an the trip done so much good made a habit o him some day he ll remember his wife an an an then like s not he ll die don t yer talk about ner such things to r uncle he ll heave ye overboard poor murmured i shouldn t ever have thought | 39 |
said dan when your lead s all the eye you re like to for a week what d you make it captains courageous s face relaxed his skill and honour were involved in the march he had stolen on the rest of the fleet and he had his reputation as a master artist who knew the banks sixty ef fm any judge he replied with a glance at th tiny compass in the window of the house sixty sung out tom in great wet the gathered way once more heave said after a quarter of an hour what d you make it dan whispered and he looked at proudly but was too proud of his own performances to be impressed just then fifty said the father i we re right over the nick o green bank on old sixty fifty fifty roared tom they could scarcely see him through the fog she s bu st within a yard like the shells at fort ma on bait up said dan for a line on the the seemed to be through the her head sail wildly the men waited and looked at the boys who began fishing dan s lines on the and rail now in thunder did captains courageous know help us here it s a big un too they hauled together and landed a eyed twenty pound he had taken the bait right into his stomach why he s all covered with little cried turning him over by the great hook block they re already said long jack ye your spare eyes under the splash went the anchor and they all heaved over the lines each man taking his own place at the are they good to eat panted as he in another covered sure when they re it s a sign they ve all been together by the thousand and when they take the bait that way they re hungry never mind how the bait sets they ll bite on the bare hook say this is great cried as the fish came in gasping and nearly all as dan had said why can t we always fish from the boat instead of from the can till we begin to dress the heads and u d scare the fish to boat ain t reckoned though unless ye know as much as knows guess we ll run to night harder on the back this than the ain t it captains courageous it was rather back breaking work for in a the weight of a is water borne till the last minute and you are so to speak abreast of him but the few feet of a s free board make so much extra dead and stooping over the the stomach but it was wild and furious sport so long as it lasted and a big pile lay aboard when the fish ceased biting where s and uncle asked the off his and up the line in careful imitation of the others s coffee and see under the yellow glare of the lamp on the post the fo c table down and opened utterly unconscious of fish or weather sat the two men a board between them uncle at s every move what s the matter said the former as one hand in the leather at the head of the ladder hung shouting to the cook big fish and heaps and heaps replied quoting long jack how s the game little s jaw dropped t none o his fault snapped uncle s weren t it said dan as staggered aft with the steaming coffee in a tin that lets us out o up to night s a jest man they ll have to do it captains courageous an two young i know u bait up a tub or so o while they re said the wheel to his taste um guess i d clean up don t doubt it ye t though dress u pitch while you two bait up why in thunder didn t them blame boys tell us you d struck on said uncle shuffling to his place at the table this knife s dan f out cable don t wake ye guess you d better hire a boy o your own said dan about in the dusk over the full of line lashed to of the house oh don t ye want to slip down an s bait bait we are said i will pay better things go that meant the boys would bait with selected of the as the fish were cleaned an improvement on in the little bait barrels below the were full of neatly line carrying a big hook each few feet and the and of every single hook with the of the line so that it should run clear when shot from the was a scientific business dan managed it in the dark without looking while caught his fingers on the and his but the captains courageous hooks flew through dan s fingers like on an old maid s lap i helped bait up ashore fore i could well walk he said but it s a job all the same oh this shouted towards the where and tom were how many you reckon we ll need three hurry i there s three hundred to each tub dan explained more n enough to lay out tonight slipped up there i did he stuck his finger in his mouth i tell you there ain t money in u d hire me to ship on a lar it may be but that it s the est business top of earth i don t know what this is if t regular said my fingers are all cut to i this is jest one o s blame experiments he don t less there s mighty good reason fer it knows s why he s he is we ll her full when we | 39 |
take her up er we won t see a fin and uncle cleaned up as had ordained but the boys little no sooner were the furnished than tom and long jack who had been exploring the inside of a with a lantern snatched them captains courageous away loaded up the and some small painted and the boat overboard into what regarded as an exceedingly rough sea they ll be drowned why the s loaded like a freight car he cried we ll be back said long jack an in case you ll not be for us we ll lay into you both if the s the up on the crest of a wave and just when it seemed impossible that she could avoid against the s side slid over the ridge and was swallowed up in the damp dusk take a hold here an keep steady said dan passing the of a bell that hung just behind the rang for he felt two lives depended on him but in the cabin in the log book did not look like a murderer and when he went to supper he even smiled at the anxious j ain t no weather said dan why you an me could set they ve only gone out jest ir so s not to foul our cable they don t need no bell cling kept it up varied with occasional rub a for another there was a and a alongside and dan to the hooks of the i captains courageous tackle long jack and tom arrived on deck together it seemed one half the north atlantic at their backs and the followed them in the air landing with a clatter said tom as he you ll do yet the pleasure your company to the said long jack the water from his boots as he like an elephant and stuck an arm into s face we do be to honour the second half our presence and off they all four rolled to supper where stuffed himself to the brim on fish and and fell fast asleep just as produced from a a lovely two foot model of the his first boat and was going to show the ropes never even his fingers as pushed him into his it must be a sad thing a very sad thing said watching the boy s face for his mother and his father who think he is dead to lose a child to lose a man child out o this said dan go aft and finish your game with uncle tell i ll stand s watch ef he don t he s played ver good boy said slipping out of his boots and disappearing into the black shadows captains courageous of the lower he make good man i no see he is any so mad as your he says eh at dan chuckled but the chuckle ended in a it wa thick weather outside with a rising wind and the elder men stretched their watches the hours struck clear in the cabin the bows and with the seas the fo c and as the spray caught it and the boys slept on while long jack tom and uncle each in turn aft to look at the wheel forward to see that the anchor held or to out a little more cable against with a glance at the dim anchor light between each round chapter iv to find the first half at breakfast the fo c door drawn to a crack and every square inch of the singing its own the black bulk of the cook balanced behind the tiny over the glare of the stove and the pots and in the pierced wooden board before it and to each plunge up and up the fo c climbed yearning and and quivering and then with a clear like came down into the seas he could hear the bows cut and and there was a pause ere the divided waters came down on the deck above like a of buck shot followed the sound of the cable in the hole a and of the a a and a kick and the here gathered herself together to repeat the motions now ashore he heard long jack saying ye ve an ye must do in any weather here we re well clear of the fleet an we ve no an that s a good night all he passed like a big snake from the table to his captains courageous and began to smoke tom followed his example uncle with fought his way up the ladder to stand his watch and the cook set for the second half it came out of its as the others had entered theirs with a shake and a it ate till it could eat no more and then filled his pipe with some terrible tobacco himself between the post and a forward cocked his feet up on the table and smiled tender and indolent smiles at the smoke dan lay at length in his with a gaudy gilt stopped whose tunes went up and down with the of the w re here the cook his shoulders against the where he kept the dan was fond of potatoes with one eye on the stove in event of too much water finding its way down the pipe and the general smell and were past all description considered wondered that he was not sick and crawled into his again as the and safest place while dan struck up i don t want to play in your yard as accurately as the wild allowed how long is this for asked of till she get a little quiet and we can row to perhaps to night perhaps two days more you do not like eh at captains courageous i should have been crazy sick a week ago but it doesn t seem to upset me now much that is because | 39 |
we make you these days if i was you when i come to i would give two three big candles for my good luck give who to be sure the virgin of our church on the hill she is very good to all the time that is why so few of us men ever are drowned you re a roman catholic then i am a man i am not a boy shall i be then eh at i always give candles two three more when i come to the good virgin she never forgets me i don t sense it that way tom put in from his his face lit up by the glare of a match as he sucked at his pipe it stands to reason the sea s the sea and you ll jest about what s goin candles or fer matter tis a mighty good thing said long jack to have a nd at though i m o s way o about tin years back i was crew to a sou boston market boat we was off s ledge a butt first captains courageous of us thicker n the ould man was his chin on the an i to myself if i stick my boat into t wharf again fu show the saints manner o craft they saved me out now i m here as ye can well see an the model of the ould that took me a month to make i gave ut to the priest an he hung ut up the altar there s more sense in a model that s by way o bein a work art than any candle ye can buy candles at store but a model shows the good saints ye ve trouble an are grateful d you believe that irish said tom turning on his elbow would i do ut if i did not wa al fuller he made a model o the old and she s to museum now mighty pretty model too but i guess he never done it no sacrifice an the way i take it there were the of an hour long discussion of the kind that love where the talk runs in shouting circles and no one proves anything at the end had not dan struck up this cheerful rhyme up jumped the with his striped in the and haul on the tack f r it s windy weather captains courageous here long jack joined in and it s weather when the winds begin to blow pipe all hands together dan went on with a cautious look at tom holding the low in the up jumped the with his chuckle head went to the main chains to heave at the lead for it s windy weather etc tom seemed to be hunting for something dan crouched lower but sang louder up jumped the that to the ground chuckle head chuckle head mind where ye sound tom s huge rubber boot whirled across the tb c and caught dan s uplifted arm there was war between the man and the boy ever since dan had discovered that the mere whistling of that tune would make him angry as he heaved the lead thought rd yer said dan returning the gift with precision ef you don t like my music out your fiddle i ain t goin to lie here all day an listen ro you an long jack candles fiddle tom or i ll learn here the tune tom leaned down to a and brought up an old white fiddle s eye captains courageous m and from somewhere behind the he drew out a tiny like thing with wire strings which he called a tis a concert said long jack beaming through the smoke a lar boston concert there was a burst of spray as the opened and in yellow descended ye re just in time s she outside jest this he dropped on to the with the push and heave of the iv re here we re co our down ye u lead course said long jack guess there ain t more n two old songs i know an ye ve them both his excuses were cut short by tom into a most tune like unto the moaning of winds and the creaking of with his eyes fixed on the beams above began this ancient ancient tom flourishing all round him to make the and words fit a little there is a crack packet crack packet o fame she from york an the s her name yoa may talk o your swallow and black ball but the t the packet that can beat them all now the she lies in the river because of the to take her to sea but when she s off you shortly will know captains courageous chorus she s the liverpool packet o lord let her go now the she s the banks o where the water s all shallow and the bottom s all sand all the little fishes that swim to an fro chorus she s the liverpool packet o lord let her go there were scores of verses for he worked the every mile of the way between liverpool and new york as as though he were on her deck and the and the fiddle beside him tom followed with something about the rough and tough who would pilot the vessel in then they called on who felt very flattered to contribute to the entertainment but all that he could remember were some pieces of s ride that he had been taught at the camp school in the it seemed that they might be appropriate to the time and place but he had no more than mentioned the title when brought down one foot with a bang and cried don t go on young that s a mistaken | 39 |
dan cut in we had a good catch the cook threw up his head and laughed suddenly a queer thin laugh he was a most murder said long jack don t do that again doctor we ain t used to s wrong said dan ain t he our m captains courageous and didn t they strike on good after we d struck him oh said the cook i know that but the catch not finish yet he ain t goin to do us any harm said dan hotly where are ye an to he s all right no harm no but one day he will be your master that all said dan placidly he t not by a master said the cook pointing to man i and he pointed to dan that s news soon said dan with a laugh in some years and i shall see it master and man man and master how in thunder d ye work that out said tom in mv head where i can see this from all the others at once i do not know but so it will be he dropped his head and went on the potatoes and not another word could they get out of him well said dan a heap o things ll to come fore s any master o mine but i m glad the doctor ain t to mark him for a now i uncle fer captains courageous n the in the fleet his own special luck ef it s same s he ought to be on the that boat s her own sure an gear make no differ to her christmas she ll loose in a flat ca am we re well clear o the fleet anyway said an all there was a on the deck uncle has his luck said dan as his either departed blown clear cried and all the fo c tumbled up for a bit of fresh air the fog had gone but a sullen sea ran in great behind it the if re here slid as it were into long sunk avenues and which quite sheltered and if they would only stay still but they changed without rest or mercy and flung up the to crown one peak of a thousand grey hills while the wind through her as she down the slopes far away a sea would burst in a sheet of foam and the others would follow suit as at a signal till s eyes swam with the vision of and four or five mother s chickens round in circles shrieking as they swept past the bows a rain or two strayed over the hopeless waste ran down wind and back again and melted away a captains courageous seems to me i saw jest over yonder said uncle pointing to the can t be any of the fleet said peering under his eyebrows a hand on the fo c as the solid bows into the sea s over fast don t you want to up a piece an see how lays in his big boots trotted rather than climbed up the main this consumed with envy himself around the and let his eye till it caught the tiny black flag on the shoulder of a mile away swell she s all right he hailed sail o dead to the no th ard down like smoke she be too they waited yet another half hour the sky clearing in patches with a of sickly sun from time to time that made patches of water then a stump lifted and disappeared to be followed on the next wave by a high stern with old fashioned wooden s horn the sails were shouted dan no tain t neither da ad that s no french said captains courageous your blame luck holds n a screw in a i ve eyes it s uncle you can t tell fer sure the head king of all groaned tom oh why wasn t you an asleep how could i tell f said poor as the swung up she might have been the very flying so foul and was every rope and stick aboard her old style quarter deck was some four or five feet high and her flew knotted and tangled like weed at a wharf end she was running before the wind her let down to act as a sort of extra they call it and her fore boom out over the side her cocked up like an old fashioned s her boom had been and and nailed and beyond further repair and as she herself forward and sat down on her broad tail she looked for all the world like a bad old woman at a decent girl said full o gin an men an the judgments o providence fer him an never good he s run in to bait way i captains courageous he ll run her under said long jack that s no fer this weather not he r he d a done it long ago replied looks s if he to run us under ain t she by the head more n natural tom ef it s his style o her she ain t safe said the sailor slowly ef she s her he d better to his mighty quick the creature up wore round with a clatter and rattle and lay head to wind within ear shot a over the and a thick voice something could not understand but s face darkened he d every stick he to carry bad news says we re in fer a shift o wind he s in fer worse he waved his arm up and down with the gesture of a man at the and pointed forward the crew him and laughed ye an strip ye an trip ye uncle a gale a gale i cast up fer your last trip all you | 39 |
tou won t see no more no more full as usual said tom wish he hadn t us though captains courageous she drifted out of hearing while the something about a dance at the bay of and a dead man in the fo c shuddered he had seen the decks and the savage eyed crew an a fine little hell her draught said long jack what mischief he s been at ashore he s a dan explained to an he runs in fer bait all along the coast oh no not home he don t go he along the south an east shore up yonder he nodded in the direction of the pitiless won t never take me ashore there they re a mighty tough crowd an s the you saw his boat well she s nigh seventy year old they say the last o the old heel they don t make them quarter decks any more don t use though he ain t wanted there he s in debt an like you ve heard bin a fer years an years he liquor the boats fer an selling winds an such crazy i guess t be any use the to night said tom with quiet despair he come alongside special to us i d give my an share to see him at the o captains courageous the old fore we quit jest six dozen an sam em on i the heel danced down wind and all eyes followed her suddenly the cook cried in his voice it his own death made him speak so he i tell you look she sailed into a patch of watery sunshine three or four miles distant the patch and faded out and even as the light passed so did the she dropped into a hollow and was not run under by the great hook block shouted jumping aft drunk or sober we ve got to help em heave short and break her out i smart i was thrown on the deck by the shock that followed the setting of the and for short on the cable and to save time jerked the anchor bodily from the bottom heaving in as they moved away this is a bit of brute force seldom resorted to except in matters of life and death and the little ive re here complained like a human they ran down to where s craft had vanished found two or three a gin bottle and a stove in but nothing more let em go said though no one had hinted at picking them up i wouldn t a match that belonged to captains courageous aboard guess she run clear under must ha been her fer a week an they never thought to pump her that s one more boat gone along o port all hands drunk glory be said long jack we d ha been obliged to help em if they was top o water o that myself said tom said the cook rolling his eyes he taken his own luck with him ver good thing i think to tell the fleet when we see eh at said if you that way before the wind and she work open her he threw out his hands with an indescribable gesture while sat down on the house and sobbed at the sheer horror and pity of it all could not that he had seen death on the open waters but he felt very sick then dan went up the and them back to within sight of their own just before the fog the sea once again we go mighty quick when we do go was all he said to you think on that fer a spell young that was liquor after dinner it was calm enough to fish from the decks and uncle were very zealous this time and the catch was large and large j captains courageous has took his luck with him said the wind t backed ner how the i despise superstition anyway tom insisted that they had much better haul the thing and make a new berth but the cook said the luck in two pieces you will find it so when you look know this so long jack that he tom and the two went out together a means pulling it in on one side of the picking off the fish the hooks and passing them back to the sea again something like and linen on a wash line it is a business and rather dangerous for the long line may a boat under in a flash but when they heard and to thee o out of the fog the crew of the h e re here took heart the alongside well loaded tom for to act as relief boat the luck s cut square in two pieces said long jack in the fish while stood open mouthed at the skill with which the plunging was saved from destruction one half was jest tom wanted to haul her an ha done ut but i said i ll back the doctor that has the second sight an the other half come up sap full o big hurry man captains courageous an bring s a tub o bait there s luck afloat tonight the fish bit at the newly hooks from which their brethren had just been taken and tom and long jack moved up and down the length of the the boat s nose under the wet line of hooks the sea that they called oflf the fresh caught against the and s till dusk ril take no risks said then not with him around so near won t sink a week heave in the an we ll after supper that was a mighty dressing down attended by three or four blowing it lasted till nine o clock and was | 39 |
desperately wicked if not indeed positively but he listened as as the others and their at the end gave entirely new notions on clothes with gold leaf tips rings watches scent small dinner parties champagne card playing and hotel accommodation little by little he changed his tone when speaking of his friend whom long jack had the crazy kid the gilt edged baby the and other pet names and with his sea feet cocked up on the table would even invent histories about silk and specially imported to the friend s was a very person with a keen eye and ear for every face and tone about him before long he knew where kept the old green that they called the captains courageous yoke under the bed bag in his when he took the sun and with the help of the old farmer s found the latitude would jump down into the cabin and scratch the reckoning and date with a nail on the of the stove pipe now the chief engineer of the could have done no more and no engineer of thirty years service could have assumed one half of the ancient air with which first careful to spit over the side made public the s position for that day and then and not till then relieved of the there is an etiquette in all these things the said yoke an the blunt s coast pilot and s were all the weapons needed to guide him except the deep sea lead that was his spare eye nearly with it when tom taught him first how to fly the blue pigeon and though his strength was not equal to continuous sounding in any sort of a sea for calm weather with a seven pound lead on water used him freely as dan said tain t s wants it s her up good would the cup at the end and carefully bring the sand shell or whatever it might be to who and smelt it and gave judgment as has been said when thought of a captains courageous he thought as a and by some long tested mixture of instinct and experience moved the ive re here from berth to berth always with the fish as a player moves on the unseen board but s board was the grand bank a two hundred and fifty miles on each side a waste of sea with fog vexed with with drifting ice by the tracks of the reckless and dotted with the sails of the fishing fleet for days they worked in fog at the bell till grown familiar with the thick airs he went out with tom his heart rather in his mouth but the fog would not lift and the fish were biting and no one can stay helplessly afraid for six hours at a time devoted himself to his lines and the stick as tom called for them and they rowed back to the guided by the bell and tom s instinct s sounding thin and faint beside them but it was an experience and for the first time in a month dreamed of the shifting smoking floors of water round the the lines that strayed away into nothing and the air above that melted on the sea below ten feet from his straining eyes a few days later he was out with on what should have been forty bottom but the whole length of the ran captains courageous out and still the anchor found nothing and grew afraid for that his last touch with earth was lost whale hole said in that is good joke on come and he rowed to the to find tom and the others at the because for once he had led them to the edge of the barren whale deep the blank hole of the grand bank they made another berth through the fog and that time the hair of r s head stood up when he went out in s a whiteness moved in the whiteness of the fog with a breath like the breath of the grave and there was a roaring a plunging and it was his first introduction to the dread summer of the banks and he in the bottom of the boat while laughed there were days though clear and soft and warm when it seemed a sin to do anything but loaf over the hand lines and the drifting sun with an oar and there were days of light airs when was taught how to steer the from one berth to another it thrilled through him when he first felt the answer to his hand on the and slide over the long hollows as the back and forth against the blue sky that was magnificent in spite of saying that it would break a snake s back to follow his wake but as i captains courageous usual pride ran before a fall they were sailing on the wind with the an old one luckily set and her right into it to show dan how completely he had mastered the art the went over with a bang and the and through the which was of course prevented from going over by the they lowered the wreck in awful silence and spent his leisure hours for the next few days under tom s lee learning to use a needle and palm dan with joy for as he said he had made the very same blunder himself in his early days all the men by turns till he had combined s peculiar stoop at the wheel long jack s swinging when the lines were hauled s round shouldered but effective stroke in a and tom s generous stride along the deck tis beautiful to see how he takes to ut said long jack when was looking out by the one thick noon i ll lay my an share tis more n half play | 39 |
to him an he himself he s a watch his little bit a back now that s the way we all begin said tom the they make believe all the time till j they ve cheated into bein men an so till they die an done captains courageous it on the old i know stood my first watch harbor watch n dan s full o the same kind o notions see em now to be moss backs every hair a rope an blood tar he spoke down the cabin stairs guess you re in your judgments fer once what in rome made ye tell us all here the kid was crazy he replied crazy a when he come aboard but i ll say he s up ble i cured him he good said tom t other night he told us a kid of his own size a little an four up an down i think twas an to a crowd o sim lar kind o fairy tale but blame he knows scores of em guess he strikes em his own head called from the cabin where he was busy with the log book stands to reason that sort is all made up it don t take in no one but dan an he laughs at it i ve heard him behind my back y ever hear what sim on peter ca said when they up a match his sister an an the boys put up that joke on him to uncle who was dripping under the lee of the nest captains courageous tom puffed at his pipe in scornful silence he was a cape man and had not known that tale more than twenty years uncle went on with a chuckle sim on peter he said an he was jest right ha af on the he said an t other ha af blame fool an they told me she s married a man sim on peter ca he t no roof to his mouth an talked that way he didn t talk any dutch tom replied you d better leave a cape man to tell that tale the ca was way back i don t profess to be any said i m to the moral o things that s jest what be ha af on the an t other ha af blame fool an there s some u believe he s a rich man did ye ever think how sweet be to sail a full crew o said long jack ha af in the an other ha af in the as ca did not say an makes out he s a a little laugh went round at s expense held his tongue and wrought over the log book that he kept in a faced square hand this was the kind of thing that ran on page after soiled page io captains courageous july bis day thick fog and few fish made berth to so ends this day july t his day comes in with thick fog caught a few fish july bis day comes in with light breeze from n e and fine weather made a berth to eastward caught plenty fish july his the sabbath comes in with fog and light winds so ends this day caught they never worked on sundays but shaved and washed themselves if it were fine and sang once or twice he suggested that if it was not an impertinence he thought he could preach a little uncle nearly jumped down his throat at the mere notion reminding him that he was not a preacher and mustn t think of such things we d him next explained an what would happen then so they on his reading aloud from a book called it was an old leather bound volume smelling of a hundred voyages very solid and very like the bible but with accounts of battles and and they read it nearly from cover to cover otherwise was a silent little body he would not utter a word for three days on end sometimes though he played listened to the songs and laughed at the stories captains courageous when they tried to stir him up he would answer i don t wish to seem but it is because i have nothing to say my head feels quite empty i ve almost forgotten my name he would turn to uncle with an expectant smile why would shout you ll me next i no never would say shutting his lips firmly of course he would repeat over and over sometimes it was uncle who forgot and told him he was or rich or but was equally content till next time he was always very tender with whom he pitied both as a lost child and as a lunatic and when saw that liked the boy he relaxed too was not an amiable person he esteemed it his business to keep the boys in order and the first time in fear and trembling on a still day managed to up to the dan was behind him ready to help he esteemed it his duty to hang s big sea boots up there a sight of shame and derision to the nearest with took no liberties not even when the old man dropped direct orders and treated him like the rest of the crew to don vou want to do so and so and guess vou d better and so forth there was i captains courageous something about the clean shaven lips and the comers of the eyes that was to young blood showed him the meaning of the and pricked which he said laid over any government publication whatsoever led him pencil in hand from berth to berth over the whole string of banks le have western st green and grand talking meantime taught him too the principle on | 39 |
which the yoke was worked in this dan for he had inherited a head for figures and the notion of stealing information from one glimpse of the sullen bank sun appealed to all his keen wits for other sea matters his age him as said he should have begun when he was ten dan could bait up or lay his hand on any rope in the dark and at a pinch when uncle had a sore on his palm could dress down by sense of touch he could steer in anything short of half a gale from the feel of the wind on his face the iv re here just when she needed it these things he did as as he about the or made his a part of his own will and body but he could not communicate his knowledge to still there was a good deal of general captains courageous tion flying about the on stormy days when they lay up in the or sat on the cabin while spare eye leads and rings rolled and rattled in the pauses of the talk spoke of voyages in the of great she slain beside their young of death agonies on the black tossing seas and blood that forty feet in the air of boats smashed to of patent that went off wrong end first and the trembling of cutting in and boiling down and that terrible of when twelve hundred men were made on the ice in three days wonderful tales all true but more wonderful still were his stories of the and how they argued and reasoned on their private deep down below the long jack s tastes ran more to the supernatural he held them silent with ghastly stories of the yo on beach that mock and lonely of sand and who were never properly buried of hidden treasure on fire island guarded by the spirits of s men of ships that sailed in the fog straight over of that harbour in where no one but a stranger will lie at anchor twice in a certain place because of a dead crew who row alongside at midnight with the anchor in the bow of their old fashioned boat captains courageous whistling not calling but whistling for the soul of the man who broke their rest had a notion that the east coast of his native land from mount desert south was chiefly by people who took their horses there in the summer and entertained in with floors and he laughed at the ghost tales not as much as he would have done a month before but ended by sitting still and shuddering tom dealt with his interminable trip round the horn on the old in the days with a navy more extinct than the the navy that passed away in the great war he told them how red hot shot are dropped into a cannon a of wet clay between them and the how they and when they strike wood and how the little ship boys of the miss jim buck water over them and shouted to the fort to try again and he told tales of long weeks of swaying at anchor varied only by the departure and return of that had used up their coal there was no change for the sailing ships of and cold cold that kept two hundred men night and day and at the ice on cable blocks and when the was as as the fort s shot and men drank by the bucket tom had no use for steam his captains courageous service closed when that thing was comparatively new he admitted that it was a invention in time of peace but looked for the day when sails should come back again on ten thousand ton with hundred and s talk was slow and gentle all about pretty girls in washing clothes in the dry beds of streams by moonlight under waving legends of saints and tales of queer dances or fights away in the cold ports was mainly agricultural for though he read and it his mission in life was to prove the value of green and specially of against every form of whatsoever he grew about he dragged greasy orange books from his and them his finger at to whom it was all greek little was so pained when made fun of s lectures that the boy gave it up and in polite silence that was very good for the cook naturally did not join in these conversations as a rule he spoke only when it was absolutely necessary but at times a queer gift of speech descended on him and he held forth half in half in broken english an hour at a time he was specially with the captains courageous boys and he never withdrew his prophecy that one day would be dan s master and that he would see it he told them of mail carrying in the winter up cape way of the that goes to and of the ram steamer that breaks the ice between the and prince edward island then he told them stories that his mother had told him of life far to the southward where water never and he said that when he died his soul would go to lie down on a warm white beach of sand with waving above that seemed to the boys a very odd idea for a man who had never seen a palm in his life then too regularly at each meal he would ask and alone whether the cooking was to his taste and this always made the second half laugh yet they had a great respect for the cook s judgment and in their hearts considered something of a by consequence and while was taking in knowledge of new things at each pore and hard health with every of the good air the | 39 |
iv re here went her ways and did her business on the bank and the silvery grey of well pressed fish mounted higher and higher in the hold no one day s work was out of the common but the average days were many and close together naturally a man of s reputation was captains courageous closely watched upon dan called it by his neighbours but he had a very pretty of giving them the slip through the fog banks avoided company for two reasons he wished to make his own experiments in the first place and in the second he objected to the mixed of a fleet of all nations the bulk of them were mainly boats with a scattering from and some of the ports but the drew from goodness knows where risk and when is added there are fine chances for every kind of accident in the crowded fleet which like a mob of sheep is huddled round some leader let the two lead em said we re to lay among em fer a spell on the eastern though ef luck holds we won t to lay long where we are ain t considered good ain t it said who was drawing water he had learned just how to the bucket after an unusually long dressing down shouldn t mind striking some poor ground for a change then all the i want to see don t want to strike her is eastern point said dan say it looks s if we wouldn t to lay captains courageous more n two weeks on the you ll meet all the ny you want then that s the time we begin to work no lar meals fer no one then up when ye re hungry an sleep when ye can t keep awake good job you wasn t picked up a month later than you was or we d never ha had you dressed in shape fer the old understood from the that the old virgin and a nest of curiously named were the turning point of the and that with good luck they would wet the balance of their salt there but seeing the size of the virgin it was one tiny dot he wondered how even with the yoke and the lead could find her he learned later that was entirely equal to that and any other business and could even help others a big four by five hung in the cabin and never understood the need of it till after some blinding thick days they heard the of a foot power fog horn a machine whose note is as that of a elephant they were making a short berth the anchor under their foot to save trouble fer his latitude said long jack the dripping red of a bark glided out of the fog and the w re here rang her bell thrice using sea t captains courageous the larger boat backed her with shrieks and frenchman said uncle scornfully boat from st the farmer had a sea eye most outer too same here said tom hi you where you from st eh ah ha qui out st st et cried the other crowd waving caps and laughing then all together bring up the board beats mc how them fetch america s forty six forty nine s good enough fer them an i guess it s right too dan the figures on the board and they hung it in the main to a chorus of from the bark seems kinder to let em off like this suggested feeling in his pockets ye learned french then last trip said don t want no more stone at us long o your n boats same s you did have captains courageous rush he said that was the way to rise em plain united states is good enough fer me we re all short on young don t speak french oh yes said and he hi say four ah p they cried and laughed again that hit em let s heave a over anyway said tom i don t exactly hold no on french but i know another that goes i guess come on an interpret the and confusion when he and were hauled up the bark s black side was indescribable her cabin was all stuck round with glaring coloured prints of the virgin the virgin of they called her found his french of no recognised bank brand and his conversation was limited to and but tom waved his arms and got along the captain gave him a drink of unspeakable gin and the opera crew with their hairy throats red caps and long knives greeted him as a brother then the trade began they had tobacco plenty of it american that had never paid duty to france they wanted and rowed back to captains courageous arrange with the cook and who owned the stores and on his return the and were counted out by the frenchman s wheel it looked like a division of but tom came out of it with black and stuffed with cakes of and smoking tobacco then those jovial swung off into the mist and the last heard was a gay chorus par ma ii y a un et ic y t le et la qui je et saint how was it my french didn t go and your sign talk did demanded when the had been distributed among the ive re sign talk well yes twas sign talk but a heap older n your french them french boats are full o an that s why are you a then looks that way don t it said the man o war s man his pipe and had another mystery of the deep sea to brood upon chapter vi the thing that struck him most was the exceedingly casual way in which some | 39 |
craft about the broad atlantic fishing boats as dan said were naturally dependent on the courtesy and wisdom of their neighbours but one expected better things of that was after another interesting interview when they had been chased for three miles by a big old cattle boat all over on the upper deck that smelt like a thousand cattle pens a very excited officer at them through a speaking trumpet and she lay and helplessly on the water while ran the iv re here under her lee and gave the a piece of his mind where might ye be eh ye don t deserve to be you barn yard go the road on the high seas with no blame consideration fer your neighbours an your eyes in your coffee cups o in your silly heads at this the danced on the bridge and said something about s own eyes we haven t had an observation for three days d you suppose we can run her blind he shouted captains courageous wa retorted what s e o i a et ii i can t ye smell bottom are t ro j r ik at j em said uncle s w ii ti r the smell of the pr l i r in him they say they a v v ii f as it s any o c m r i ve a kind o notion that oil k i ir a l cattle man in a a t si what ii u i r ii i tore we go any i y i r u f k off his cup wi i r me he s b k n it the i shut his h ad t t va e c may hap i i w o me sa i hi i not stand up t s kid si a out t v r sure u t j ai he sc vo j e i i j captains courageous n him an his crowd are the ever seen said as the ff e re here slid away i was jest him my on round these waters like a lost child an you must cut in with your fool can t ye never keep things rate dan and the others stood back one to the other and full of joy but and seriously till evening arguing that a cattle boat was practically a bam on blue water and that even if this were the case decency and pride demanded that he should have kept things rate long jack stood it in silence for a time an angry makes an unhappy crew and then he spoke across the table after supper s the good o they ll say f said he they ll tell that tale ag in us fer years all said oil cake sprinkled with salt o course said reading the reports from a week old new york paper it s to all my s the went on can t see ut that way said long jack the look at here is there another packet afloat this day in this weather c u d ha met a tramp an over an above her her captains courageous over an above that i say c u her quite intelligent on the management an such at sea ut they will not twas the most conversation that double game an twice all to us dan kicked under the table and choked in his cup well said who felt that his honour had been somewhat i said i didn t know as any business o mine fore i spoke an right there said tom experienced in discipline and etiquette right there i take it you should ha asked him to stop cf the conversation likely in your to be what it shouldn t but that s so said who saw his way to an honourable retreat from a fit of the why o course it was so said you bein here an i d cheerful stopped on a hint not from any or conviction but fer the sake o an example to these two blame boys of didn t i tell you come to us fore we d done always those blame boys but i wouldn t have missed the show fer a half share in a dan whispered captains courageous things should ha been separate said and the light of new argument lit in s eye as he cut into his pipe there s a power in things separate said long jack intent on the storm that s of and hare s fund when he sent fer on the d o cap that was took with t ry an couldn t go the we called him nick he never went aboard fer a night a pond o rum in the manifest said tom playing up to the lead he used to bum the c mission houses to boston fer the lord to make him captain of a on his merits sam up to atlantic give him his board free fer a year or more on account of his stories han the dead these fifteen year ain t he seventeen i guess he died the year the was built but he could keep things rate him fer the reason the thief the hot stove there was else that season the men was all to the banks and he up an hard crowd fer crew rum ye c u d ha captains courageous floated the and all in they aboard her they boston harbour for the great grand bank a nor behind em an all hands full to the an the looked after for a watch did they set an | 39 |
a rope did they lay hand to till they d seen the bottom a fifteen o that was about wan week so far as remembered if i c u d only tell the tale as he told ut all that the wind blew like ould glory an the twas summer and they d give her a struck her gait and kept ut then the yoke an over it for a an made out that an the an the in his head that they was to the south ard o island along glorious but then they another an quit about fer another spell the she lay down she dropped boston light and she never her lee rail up to that time on one an the same but they saw no weed nor nor an they they d been out a matter o fourteen days and they the bank had payment so they sounded an got sixty that s me that s me iv ry time i ve run her on the bank fer you an when we get thirty we ll captains courageous turn in like little men is the b y he the cast they got ninety either the lead line s too or else the bank s sunk they hauled ut up bein just about in that state when ut seemed right an reasonable and sat down on the deck the knots an her up the she d struck her gait and she ut an along come a tramp an spoke her ye seen any boats now he quite casual there s s them off the irish coast the tramp go shake have i to do the irish coast then are ye here the tramp christianity he always said that his sucked an he was not good christianity he where am i at thirty five mile west sou west o cape clear the tramp if that s any consolation to you fetched wan jump four feet inches measured by the cook consolation he brass d ye take me fer a dialect thirty five mile from captains courageous cape clear an fourteen days from boston light christianity tis a record an by the same token i ve a mother to think the um i but ye see he could keep things rate the crew was mostly cork an men one that wanted to go back but they called him a an they ran the ould into an they had an time around with on the ould sod fer a week thin they back an it cost em two an thirty days to beat to the banks again twas on towards fall and was low so ran her back to boston no more bones to ut and what did the firm say demanded could they the fish was on the banks an was at t wharf his record trip east i they their satisfaction out that an ut all came not the crew and the rum rate in the first place an in the second the rest his he was an citizen i once i was in the said in his gentle voice they not want any of her in eh at give us no price so we go across the water and think to captains courageous sell to some man then it blow fresh and we cannot see well eh at then it blow some more fresh and we go down below and drive very fast no one know where by and by we see a land and it get some hot then come two three in a brick eh at we ask where we are and they say now what you all think grand said after a moment shook his head smiling said tom no worse than that we was below and the brick she was from so we sell our there not bad so eh at can a like this go right across to africa said go the horn ef there s worth goin fer and the holds said my he run his packet an she was a kind o fifty ton i guess the he run her over to s icy mountains the year ha af our fleet was after there an what s more he took my mother along with him to show her the money was earned i an they was all up an i was bom at don t remember it o course we come back when the ice in the spring but they named me fer the place captains courageous kinder mean trick to put up on a baby but we re all to make mistakes in lives sure sure said his head all to make mistakes an i tell you two boys here after you ve made a mistake ye don t make fe n a hundred a day the next best thing s to own up to it like men long jack winked one tremendous wink that embraced all hands except and and the incident was closed then they made berth after berth to the northward the out almost every day running along the east edge of the grand bank in forty water and fishing steadily it was here first met the who is one of the best but uncertain in his moods they were out of their one black night by of o from and for an hour and a half every soul aboard hung over his a piece of lead painted red and armed at the lower end with a circle of pins bent backward like half opened umbrella ribs the for some unknown reason likes and himself round this thing and is hauled up ere he can escape from the pins but as he leaves his home he first water and next ink into his s face and it was | 39 |
curious to see the men weaving their heads from side to side to the shot they captains courageous were as black as sweeps when the ended but a pile of fresh lay on the deck and the large thinks very well of a little shiny piece of at the tip of a hook next day they caught many fish and met the to whom they shouted their luck and she wanted to trade seven for one but would not agree at the price and the dropped sullenly to and half a mile away in the hope of striking on to some for herself said nothing till after supper when he sent dan and out to the ff re here s cable and announced his intention of turning in with the broad axe dan naturally repeated these remarks to a from the who wanted to know why they were their cable since they were not on rocky bottom he wouldn t trust a within five mile o you dan howled cheerfully why don t he out then who s said the other cause you ve jest the same lee bowed him an he don t take that fi om any boat not to speak o a butt as you be she ain t any this trip said the man angrily for the had an reputation for breaking her ground tackle then d you make f said dan captains courageous it s her best p int o an ef she s quit what in thunder are you with a new boom that shot went home hey you organ take your monkey back to go back to school dan troop was the answer o ver o ver dan who knew that one of the s crew had worked in an factory the winter before you to call a man a is not well received dan answered in kind yourself ye with your brick in your and the forces separated but had the worst of it i knew be said she s the wind already some one put a on packet she ll till midnight an jest when we re our sleep she ll strike adrift good job we ain t crowded with craft but i ain t goin to up anchor fer she may hold the wind which had hauled round rose at and blew steadily there was not enough sea though to disturb even a s tackle but the was a law unto herself at the end of the boys watch they heard captains courageous the of a huge revolver aboard her glory glory sung dan here she comes butt end first in her sleep same s she done on had she been any other boat would have taken his chances but now he cut the cable as the with all the north atlantic to play in down directly upon them the if re here under and riding sail gave her no more room than was absolutely necessary did not wish to spend a week hunting for his cable but up into the wind as the passed within easy hail a silent and angry boat at the mercy of a of b good said raising his an does your garden grow go to an hire a mule said uncle we don t want no here will i lend you my anchor cried long jack your an stick it in the mud said tom say dan s voice rose shrill and high as he stood on the wheel box sa ay is there a strike in the o ver all factory or they hired girls ye out the lines cried and captains courageous nail em to the bottom that was a salt jest he had been put up to by tom leaned over the stem and play the organ he flourished his broad thumb with a gesture of unspeakable contempt and derision while little covered himself with glory by up a little i come here they rode on their chain for the rest of the night a short uneasy motion as found and wasted half the recovering the cable but the boys agreed the trouble was cheap at the price of triumph and glory and they with grief over all the beautiful things that they might have said to the j chapter vii next day they fell in with more sails all slowly from the east towards the west but just when they expected to make the by the virgin the fog shut down and they surrounded by the of invisible bells there was not much fishing but occasionally met in the fog and exchanged news that night a little before dawn dan and who had been sleeping most of the day tumbled out to hook there was no reason why they should not have taken them openly but they tasted better so and it made the cook angry the heat and smell below drove them on deck with their plunder and they found at the bell which he handed over to keep her said he i i hear f it s anything fm best where i am so s to get at things it was a forlorn little the thick air seemed to pinch it off and in the pauses heard captains courageous the muffled shriek of a s and he knew enough of the banks to know what that meant it came to him with horrible distinctness how a boy in a cherry coloured he despised fancy now with all a s contempt how an ignorant boy had once said it would be great if a steamer ran down a that boy had a state room with a hot and cold bath and spent ten minutes each morning picking over a gilt edged bill of fare and that same boy no his very much older brother was up at four of | 39 |
the dim dawn in streaming literally for the dear life on a bell smaller than the steward s breakfast bell while somewhere close at hand a thirty foot steel stem was along at twenty miles an hour the bitterest thought of all was that there were folks asleep in dry who would never learn that they had a boat before breakfast so rang the bell yes they slow one turn o their blame said dan applying himself to s fer to keep inside the law an that s when we re all at the bottom hark to her she s a went the ir went the bell went the while sea and sky were captains courageous all up in fog then felt that he was near a moving body and found himself looking up and up at the wet edge of a bow leaping it seemed directly over the a little feather of water curled in front of it and as it lifted it showed a long ladder of roman xv xvi and so forth on a salmon coloured gleaming side it forward and downward with a heart the ladder disappeared a line of brass port holes flashed past a jet of steam puffed in s helplessly uplifted hands a of hot water roared along the rail of the w re here and the little staggered and shook in a rush of screw tom water as a s stem vanished in the fog got ready to hint or be sick or both when he heard a crack like a trunk thrown on a and all small in his ear a far away voice heave to you ve sunk us is it us he gasped no boat out yonder ring we re goin to look said dan running out a in half a minute all except and the cook were and away presently a s stump snapped clean across drifted past the bows then an empty green came by knocking on the re her s side as though she wished to be taken in then captains courageous something face down in a blue but it was not the whole of a man changed colour and caught his breath with a click at the bell for he feared they might be sunk at any minute and he jumped at dan s hail as the crew came back the said dan cut clean in half up an on at that not a quarter of a mile away s got the old man there ain t any one else and there was his son too oh i can t stand it i ve seen he dropped his head on his arms and sobbed while the others dragged a grey headed man aboard what did you pick me up for the stranger groaned what did you pick me up for dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder for the man s eyes were wild and his lips trembled as he stared at the silent crew then up and spoke who was also or rich or when uncle forgot and his face was changed on him from the face of a fool to the countenance of an old wise man and he said in a strong voice the lord gave and the lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the lord i was i am a minister of the leave him to me i oh you be be you said the man then pray my son back to me pray back a nine captains courageous thousand dollar boat an a thousand of fish if you d left me alone my widow could ha gone on to the an worked fer her board an never known an never known now i ll to tell her there ain t to say said better lie down a piece when a man has lost his only son his summer s work and his means of in thirty counted seconds it is hard to give consolation all men wasn t they said tom helplessly with a oh that don t make no odds said wringing the wet from his beard i ll be summer e t this fall he rolled heavily to the rail singing birds that ting and fly round o most high come with me come below said as though he had a right to give orders their eyes met and fought for a quarter of a minute i who you be but i ll come said i ll get back some o the some o the nine thousand dollars led him into the cabin and slid the door behind that ain t cried uncle it s captains courageous jacob an he s remembered i never seed such eyes in any man s head what s to do what u i do they could hear s voice and s together then s went on alone and slipped off his hat for was praying presently the little man came up the steps huge drops of sweat on his face and looked at the crew dan was still sobbing by the wheel he don t know us groaned it s all to do over again and everything an what u he say to me spoke they could hear that it was to strangers i have prayed said he our people believe in prayer i have prayed for the life of this man s son mine were drowned before my eyes she and my eldest and the others shall a man be more wise than his maker i prayed never for their lives but i have prayed for this man s son and he will surely be sent him looked at to see if he remembered how long have i been mad | 39 |
or the eastern but so close lay the boats that even single hooks and found himself in hot argument with a gentle hairy on one side and a howling on the other worse than any of fishing lines was the captains courageous confusion of the below water each man had where it seemed good to him drifting and round his fixed point as the fish struck on less quickly each man wanted to haul up and get to better ground but every third man found himself intimately connected with some four or five neighbours to cut another s is crime unspeakable on the banks yet it was done and done without detection three or four times that day tom caught a man in the black act and knocked him over the with an oar and served a fellow in the same way but s anchor line was cut and so was s and they were turned into boats to carry fish to the w re here as the filled the once more at twilight when the mad was repeated and at dusk they rowed back to dress down by the light of lamps on the edge of the pen it was a huge pile and they went to sleep while they were dressing next day several boats right above the cap of the virgin and with them looked down on the very weed of that lonely rock which rises to within twenty feet of the sur ce the were there in marching solemnly over the when they bit they bit all together and so when they stopped there was a slack time at noon and captains courageous the began to search for amusement it was dan who sighted the hope of just coming up and as her boats joined the company they were greeted with the question who s the meanest man in the fleet three hundred voices answered cheerily nick it sounded like an organ chant who stole the lamp that was dan s contribution nick sang the boats who the salt bait fer soup this was an unknown a quarter of a mile away again the joyful chorus now was not especially mean but he had that reputation and the fleet made the most of it then they discovered a man from a boat who six years before had been convicted of using a tackle with five or six hooks a they call it on the naturally he had been jim and though he had hidden himself on the ever since he found his honours waiting for him full blown they took it up in a sort of fire chorus jim i o jim jim i jim i jim that pleased everybody and when a poetical man he had been making it up all day and talked about it for weeks sang the s anchor captains courageous doesn t hold her for a cent the felt that they were indeed fortunate then they had to ask that man how he was off for beans because even poets must not have things all their own way every and nearly every man got it in turn was there a careless or dirty cook anywhere the sang about him and his food was a badly found the fleet was told at full length had a man tobacco from a he was named in meeting the name tossed from to s judgments long jack s market boat that he had sold years ago dan s sweetheart oh but dan was an angry boy s bad luck with s views on s little slips from virtue ashore and s handling of the oar all were laid before the public and as the fog fell around them in silvery sheets beneath the sun the voices sounded like a bench of invisible judges sentence the and and till a swell the sea then they drew more apart to save their sides and some one called that if the swell continued the virgin would break a reckless man with his nephew denied this hauled up anchor and rowed over the very rock itself many voices called them to come away while others dared them to hold on as captains courageous the smooth backed passed to the south ward they the high and high into the mist and dropped her in ugly water where she spun round her anchor within a foot or two of the hidden rock it was playing with death for mere and the boats looked on in uneasy silence till long jack rowed up behind his countrymen and quietly cut their can t ye hear ut he cried pull for your miserable lives pull the men swore and tried to argue as the boat drifted but the next swell checked a little like a man on a carpet there was a deep sob and a gathering roar and the virgin flung up a couple of acres of foaming water white furious and ghastly over the sea then all the boats greatly applauded long jack and the men held their tongue ain t it elegant said dan like a young seal at home she ll break about once every ha af hour now less the swell piles up good what s her lar time when she s at work tom once fifteen minutes to the you ve seen the greatest thing on the banks an but for long jack you d seen some dead men too there came a sound of merriment where the fog lay thicker and the were ringing captains courageous their bells a big bark cautiously out of the mist and was received with shouts and cries o come along from the another frenchman said t you eyes she s a boat in fear an said dan we u the very sticks out of her guess it s the time her ever met up with the fleet this way she was a | 39 |
black eight hundred ton craft her was up and her in what little wind was moving now a bark is feminine beyond all other daughters of the sea and this tail hesitating creature with her white and gilt looked just like a bewildered woman half lifting her skirts to cross a muddy street under the of bad little boys that was very much her situation she knew she was somewhere in the neighbourhood of the virgin had caught the roar of it and was therefore asking her way this is a small part of what she heard from the dancing the virgin are you of this is le have on a sunday go home an sober up go home ye home an tell em we re half a dozen voices together in a most captains courageous chorus as her stern went down with a roll and a into the she strikes hard up hard up fer your life you re on top of her now hard let go everything all hands to the an pole her here the lost his temper and said things instantly fishing was suspended to answer him and he heard many curious facts about his boat and her next port of call they asked him if he were and whence he had stolen his anchor because they said it belonged to the they called his boat a mud and accused him of to frighten the fish they offered to tow him and charge it to his wife and one audacious youth slipped almost under the counter it with his open palm and up buck the cook emptied a pan of ashes on him and he replied with heads the bark s crew fired small coal from the and the threatened to come aboard and her they would have warned her at once had she been in real peril but seeing her well clear of the virgin they made the most of their chances the was spoilt when the rock spoke again a half captains courageous mile to and the tormented bark set everything that would draw and went her ways but the felt that the honours lay with them all that night the virgin roared hoarsely and next morning over an angry white headed sea saw the fleet with flickering waiting for a lead not a was out till ten o clock when the two of the eye imagining a lull which did not exist set the example in a minute half the boats were out and in the but troop kept the re at work dressing down he saw no sense in dares and as the storm grew that evening they had the pleasure of receiving wet strangers only too glad to make any refuge in the gale the boys stood by the with the men ready to haul one eye cocked for the sweeping wave that would make them drop everything and hold on for the dear life out of the dark would come a yell of they would hook up and haul in a man and a half sunk boat till their decks were down with nests of and the were full five times in their watch did with dan jump at the where it lay lashed on the boom and cling with arms legs and teeth to rope and and canvas as captains courageous a big wave filled the decks one was smashed to pieces and the sea pitched the man head first on to the decks cutting his forehead open and about dawn when the racing seas white all along their cold edges another man blue and ghastly crawled in with a broken hand asking news of his brother seven extra mouths sat down to breakfast a a a boy from one and three men there was a general out among the fleet next day and though no one said anything all ate with better when boat after boat reported full aboard only a couple of and an old man from were drowned but many were cut or bruised and two had parted their tackle and been blown to the southward three sail a man died on a frenchman it was the same bark that had tobacco with the k she slipped away quite quietly one wet white morning moved to a patch of deep water her sails all hanging anyhow and saw the funeral through s spy glass it was only an bundle slid did not seem to have any of service but in the night at anchor heard them across the star powdered black something that sounded like a it went to a slow tune captains courageous la qui va et pour m oh pour i adieu adieu tom visited her because he said the dead man was his brother as a it came out that a wave had doubled the poor fellow over the heel of the and broken his back the news spread like a flash for contrary to general custom the frenchman held an of the dead man s he had no friends at st or and everything was spread out on the top of the house from his red cap to the leather belt with the knife at the back dan and were out on twenty water in the s and naturally rowed over to join the crowd it was a long pull and they stayed some little time while dan bought the knife which had a curious brass handle when they dropped and pushed off into a of rain and a of sea it occurred to them that they might get into trouble for the lines guess t hurt us any to be warmed up said dan shivering under his and they captains courageous rowed on into the heart of a white fog which as usual dropped on them without warning there s too much blame tide to trust to your he said heave over | 39 |
the safe side he murmured at last i d give a month s pay if this fog u d lift things go in a fog that ye don t see in clear weather yo an and such like i m relieved he come the way he did o he might ha walked do on t dan we re right on top of him now wish i was safe aboard bein by uncle captains courageous they ll be fer us in a little the dan took the tin dinner but paused before he blew go on said i don t want to stay here all night question is b d take it there was a man down the coast told me once he was in a where they t ever blow a horn to the the not the man he was with but a captain that had run her five years before he d a boy alongside in a drunk fit an ever after that boy he d row alongside too and shout with the rest a voice cried through the fog they again and the horn dropped from dan s hand hold on cried it s the cook what made me think o fool tale either said dan it s the doctor sure enough dan dan we re here sung both boys together they heard oars but could see nothing till the cook shining and dripping rowed into them what happened said he you will be beaten at home s what we want s what we re for said dan anything s good enough fer us we ve had kinder c captains courageous company as the cook passed them a line dan told him the tale i he come for hiss knife was all he said at the end never had the little rocking ft e re here looked so home like as when the cook bom and bred in rowed them back to her there was a warm glow of light from the cabin and a satisfying smell of food forward and it was heavenly to hear and the others all quite alive and solid leaning over the rail and promising them a first class but the cook was a black master of he did not get the aboard till he had given the more striking points of the tale explaining as he backed and round the counter how was the to destroy any possible bad luck so the boys came as rather heroes and every one asked them questions instead of them for making trouble little delivered quite a speech on the folly of but public opinion was against him and in favour of long jack who told the most ghost stories to nearly midnight under that influence no one except and said anything about when the cook put a lighted candle a cake of flour and water and a pinch of salt on a and floated them out to keep the frenchman quiet in case he was still restless dan captains courageous lit the candle because he had bought the belt and the cook and muttered charms as long as he could see the point of flame said to dan as they turned in after watch how about progress and catholic i guess i m as enlightened and as the next man but when it comes to a dead st deck hand a couple o pore boys fer the sake of a thirty cent knife why then the cook can take hold fer all o me i or dead next morning all except the cook were rather ashamed of the ceremonies and went to work double tides speaking to one another the iv re here was racing neck and neck for her last few loads against the and so close was the struggle that the fleet took sides and tobacco all hands worked at the lines or dressing down till they fell asleep where they stood beginning before dawn and ending when it was too dark to see they even used the cook as and turned into the hold to pass salt while dan helped to dress down luckily a man his ankle down the fo c and the re gained could not see how one more fish could be crammed into her but and tom and and the mass captains courageous down with big stones from the and there was always jest another day s work did not tell them when all the salt was he rolled to the aft the cabin and began out the big this was at ten in the morning the riding sail was down and the main and were up by noon and came alongside with letters for home their good fortune at last she cleared decks hoisted her flag as is the right of the first boat off the banks up and began to move pretended that he wished to accommodate folk who had not sent in their mail and so worked her gracefully in and out among the in reality that was his little triumphant procession and for the fifth year running it showed what kind of he was dan s and tom s fiddle supplied the music of the magic verse you must not sing till all the salt is wet send your letters ah our salt is an the anchor s off the bend oh bend your we re back to with fifteen an fifteen old an grand the last letters pitched on deck wrapped round pieces of coal and the men captains courageous shouted messages to their wives and and owners while the iv re here finished the musical ride through the fleet her head sails quivering like a man s hand when he raises it to say good bye very soon discovered that the w re here with her riding sail strolling from berth to berth and the | 39 |
ff e re here headed west by south under home canvas were two very different boats there was a bite and kick to the wheel even in boy s weather he could feel the dead weight in the hold flung forward across the and the streaming line of made his eyes dizzy kept them busy with the sails and when those were like a racing dan had to wait on the big which was put over by hand every time she went about in spare moments they for the packed fish which does not improve a cargo but since there was no fishing had time to look at the sea from another point of view the low sided was naturally on most intimate terms with her surroundings they saw little of the horizon save when she a swell and usually she was and her steadfast way through grey grey blue or black hollows across and across with streaks of shivering foam or rub captains courageous herself along the flank of some water hill it was as if she said you wouldn t hurt me surely i m only the little ire re here then she would slide away softly to herself till she was brought up by some fresh obstacle the of folk cannot see this kind of thing hour after hour through long days without noticing it and being anything but dull began to comprehend and enjoy the dry chorus of wave tops turning over with a sound of incessant tearing the hurry of the winds working across open spaces and the purple blue cloud shadows the splendid of the red sunrise the folding and packing away of the morning mists wall after wall withdrawn across the white floors the glare and blaze of noon the kiss of rain falling over thousands of dead flat square miles the chilly of everything at the day s end and the million wrinkles of the sea under the moonlight when the boom solemnly at the low stars and went down to get a from the cook but the best fun was when the boys were put on the wheel together tom within hail and she her lee rail down to the crashing blue and kept a little home made rainbow unbroken over her then the jaws of the against the and the captains courageous sheets and the sails filled with roaring and when she slid into a hollow she trampled like a woman tripped in her own silk dress and came out her wet half way up yearning and peering for the tall twin lights of s island they left the cold grey of the bank sea saw the lumber ships making for by the straits of st with the salt from spain and found a friendly off bank that drove them within view of the e t light of island a sight did not linger over and stayed with them past western and le have to the northern fringe of s from there they picked up the deeper water and let her go merrily s pulling on the string dan confided to an ma next sunday you ll be a boy to throw water on the windows to make ye go to sleep guess you ll keep with us till your folks come do you know the best of ashore again hot bath said his eyebrows were all white with dried spray that s good but a night shirt s better i ve been o night shirts ever since we bent our ye can your toes then ma u a new one fer me all washed soft it s home it s home ye can sense it in the air we re into the of a hot captains courageous wave an i can smell the wonder if we ll get in fer supper port a trifle the hesitating sails and in the close air as the deep smoothed out blue and round them when they whistled for a wind only the rain came in rods and and behind the rain the thunder and the lightning of mid august they lay on the deck with bare feet and arms telling one another what they would order at their first meal ashore for now the land was in plain sight a boat drifted alongside a man in the little pulpit on the flourishing his his bare head down with the wet and well he sang cheerily as though he were watch on a big s waiting fer you what s the news o the fleet shouted it and passed on while the wild summer storm overhead and the lightning along the from four different quarters at once it gave the low circle of hills round harbour ten pound island the fish sheds with the broken line of house roofs and each and on the water in blinding photographs that came and went a dozen times to the minute as the ive re here crawled in on half flood and the whistling moaned and mourned behind her then the storm died out captains courageous in long separated vicious of blue white flame followed by a single roar like the roar of a mortar battery and the shaken air under the stars as it got back to silence the flag the flag said suddenly pointing upward what is ut said long jack ha af mast they can see us shore now rd clean forgot he s no folk to has he girl he was goin to be married to this fall mary pity her said long jack and lowered the little flag half mast for the sake of swept overboard in a gale off le have three months before wiped the wet from his eyes and led the iv re here to s wharf giving his orders in whispers while she swung round and night hailed her from the ends of | 39 |
and campaign but now he sat liis soft black hat pushed forward on to his nose captains courageous his big body shrunk inside his loose clothes staring at his boots or the chinese in the bay and to the secretary s questions as he opened the saturday mail was wondering how much it would cost to drop everything and pull out he carried huge could buy himself royal and between one of his places in and a little society that would do the wife good say in washington and the south islands a man might forget plans that had come to nothing on the other hand the click of the stopped the girl was looking at the secretary who had turned white he passed a repeated from san picked up by fishing we re here having fallen off boat great times on banks fishing all well waiting mass care for money or orders wire what shall do and how is n the father let it fall laid his head down on the top of the shut desk and breathed heavily the secretary ran for mrs s doctor who found pacing to and fro what what d you think of it is it c captains courageous is there any meaning to it i can t quite make it out he cried i can said the doctor i lose seven thousand a year that s all he thought of the struggling new york practice he had dropped at s imperious bidding and returned the with a sigh you mean you d tell her may be a fraud what s the motive said the doctor coolly detection s too certain it s the boy sure enough enter a french maid as an indispensable one who is kept on only by large wages mrs she say you must come at once she think you are seek the master of thirty millions bowed his head meekly and followed and a thin high voice on the upper landing of the great square staircase cried what is it what has happened no doors could keep out the shriek that rang through the echoing house a moment later when her husband out the news and that s all right said the doctor serenely to the about the only medical statement in novels with any truth to it is that joy don t kill miss i know it but we ve a heap to do first captains courageous miss was from somewhat direct of speech and as her fancy leaned towards the secretary she divined there was work in hand he was looking earnestly at the vast map of america on the wall we re going right across private car straight through boston fix the connections shouted down the staircase i thought so the secretary turned to the and their eyes met out of that was bom a story nothing to do with this story she looked doubtful of his resources he signed to her to move to the as a general brings into action then he swept his hand wise through his hair regarded the ceiling and set to work while miss s white fingers called up the continent of america h los tht is at los isn t she miss miss nodded between as the secretary looked at his watch ready send private car and arrange far special to leave here sunday in time to connect with new limited at sixteenth street tuesday next click click click couldn t you better that not on those that gives em sixty captains courageous hours from here to they won t gain anything by taking a special east of that ready arrange u ith lake shore and southern to take on new central and river to and b and a the same to boston indispensable i should reach boston evening be sure nothing prevents have l and sign miss nodded and the secretary went on now then and of course ready please take my private car fro n fe at sixteenth street next t p n on n t limited through to and deliver n t c for ever bin to n york miss we ll go some day ready car to on limited tuesday p n that s for haven t bin to york but i know that with a toss of the head beg pardon now boston and same instructions from through to boston leave three five p m you needn t wire that arrive nine five p m wednesday that covers everything will do but it pays to shake up the it s great said miss with a look of admiration this was the kind of man she understood and appreciated captains courageous t bad said modestly now any one but me would have lost thirty hours and spent a week working out the run instead of handing him over to the straight through to but see here about that york limited himself couldn t his car to a miss suggested recovering herself yes but this isn t it s lightning it goes even so guess we d better wire the boy you ve forgotten that anyhow i ll ask when he returned with the father s message bidding meet them in boston at an appointed hour he found miss laughing over the keys then laughed too for the frantic firom los ran we want to why why general ness developed and spreading ten minutes later appealed to miss in these words if crime of century is please warn friends in time we are au getting to cover here this was by a message from and wherein was concerned even could not guess don t colonel will smiled grimly at the consternation of captains courageous his enemies when the were laid before him they think we re on the war path tell em we don | 39 |
into hills lower and lower till at last came the true plains at city an unknown hand threw in a copy of a paper containing some sort of an interview with who had evidently fallen in with an on from boston the joyful revealed that it was beyond question their boy and it soothed mrs for a while her one word hurry was conveyed by the to the at and where captains courageous the are easy and they brushed the continent behind them towns and villages were close together now and a man could feel here that he moved among people i can t see the dial and my eyes ache so what are we doing the very best we can there s no sense in getting in before the limited we d only have to wait i don t care i want to feel we re moving sit down and tell me the miles sat down and read the dial for her there were some miles which stand for records to this day but the seventy foot car never changed its long steamer like roll moving through the heat with the hum of a giant bee yet the speed was not enough for mrs and the heat the august heat was making her giddy the clock hands would not move and when oh when would they be in it is not true that as they changed engines at fort passed over to the brotherhood of an sufficient to enable them to fight him and his fellows on equal terms for he paid his obligations to and as he believed they deserved and only his bank knows what he gave the who had q captains courageous with him it is on record that the last crew took entire charge of operations at sixteenth street because she was in a at last and heaven was to help any one who her now the highly paid who the lake shore and southern limited from to is something of an and he does not approve of being told how to back up to a car none the less he handled the as if she might have been a load of and when the crew him they did it in whispers and dumb show said the and fe men discussing life later we weren t for a record s wife she were sick back an we didn t want to her come to think of it our time from san to was you can tell that to them eastern way trains when we re for a record we ll let you know to the western man though this would not please either city and boston are cheek by and some encourage the delusion the limited whirled the into and the arms of the new york central and river illustrious with white whiskers and gold charms on their watch chains her here to talk a little captains courageous business to who slid her gracefully into where the boston and completed the run from tide water to tide water total time eighty seven hours and thirty five minutes or three days fifteen hours and one half was waiting for them after violent emotion most people and all boys demand food they the returned prodigal behind drawn curtains cut off in their great happiness while the trains roared in and out around them ate drank and enlarged on his adventures all in one breath and when he had a hand free his mother it his voice was with living in the open salt air his palms were rough and hard his wrists dotted with the marks of and a fine full of fish hung round rubber boots and blue the father well used to judging men looked at him keenly he did not know what enduring harm the boy might have taken indeed he caught himself thinking that he knew very little whatever of his son but he distinctly remembered an faced youth who took delight in calling down the old man and his mother to tears such a person as adds to the gaiety of public rooms and hotel where the young of the wealthy play with or the bell boys but this well set up i captains courageous youth did not looked at him with eyes steady clear and and spoke in a tone distinctly even respectful there was that in his voice too which seemed to promise that the change might be permanent and that the new had come to stay some one s been him thought now would never have allowed that don t see as europe could have done it any better but why didn t you tell this man troop who you were the mother repeated when had expanded his story at least twice troop dear the best man that ever walked a deck i don t care who the next is why didn t you tell him to put you ashore you know papa would have made it up to him ten times over i know it but he thought i was crazy i m afraid i called him a thief because i couldn t find the bills in my pocket a sailor them by the that that night sobbed mrs that explains it then i don t blame troop any i just said i wouldn t work on a banker too and of course he hit me on the nose and oh i like a stuck my poor darling they must have abused you horribly captains courageous quite well after that i saw a light his leg and chuckled this was going to be a boy after his own hungry heart he had never seen precisely that twinkle in s eye before and the old man gave me ten and a half a month he s paid me half now and i took hold with dan and pitched right in i can | 39 |
t do a man s work yet but i can handle a most as well as dan and i don t get rattled in a fog much and i can take my trick in light winds that s dear and i can most bait up a and i know my ropes of course and i can pitch fish till the cows come home and i m great on old and i ll show you how i can clear coffee with a piece skin and i think i ll have another cup please say you ve no notion what a heap of work there is in ten and a half a month i began with eight and a half my son said that so you never told me sir you never asked i ll tell you about it some day if you care to listen try a stuffed troop says the most interesting thing in the world is to find out how the next man gets his it s great to have a trimmed up meal captains courageous again we were well fed though best on the banks fed us first class he s a great man and dan that s his son dan s my partner and there s uncle and his an he reads he s sure i m crazy yet and there s poor little and he is crazy you mustn t talk to him about because and oh you must know tom and long jack and saved my life i m sorry he s a he can t talk much but he s an everlasting he found me struck adrift and drifting and hauled me in i wonder your nervous system isn t completely wrecked said mrs what for i worked like a horse and i ate like a and i slept like a dead man that was too much for mrs who began to think of her visions of a corpse rocking on the seas she went to her state room and curled up beside his father explaining his you can depend upon me to do everything i can for the crowd they seem to be good men on your showing best in the fleet sir ask at said but believes still he s cured me of being crazy dan s the only one let on to about you and our private cars and ail the rest of it and i m not quite sure dan be captains courageous i want to em to morrow say can t they run the over to don t look fit to be moved anyway and we re bound to finish cleaning out by to morrow takes our fish you see we re first off the banks this season and it s four twenty five a we held out till he paid it they want it quick you mean you ll have to work to morrow then i told troop i would i m on the scales i ve brought the with me he looked at the greasy with an air of importance that made his ther choke there isn t but three no two ninety four or five more by my reckoning hire a substitute suggested to see what would say can t sir i m man for the troop says i ve a better head for figures than dan troop s a mighty just man well suppose i don t move the to night how u you fix it looked at the clock which marked twenty past eleven then i ll sleep here till three and catch the four o clock freight they let us men from the fleet ride fi ee as a rule a notion but i think we can get captains courageous the around about as soon as your men s freight better go to bed now spread himself on the sofa kicked off his boots and was asleep before his father could shade the sat watching the young face under the shadow of the arm thrown over the forehead and among many things that occurred to him was the notion that he might perhaps have been as a father one never knows when one s taking one s biggest risks he said it might have been worse than drowning but i don t think it has i don t think it has if it hasn t i haven t enough to pay troop that s all and i don t think it has morning brought a fresh sea breeze through the windows the was side among freight cars at and had gone to his business then he ll fall overboard again and be drowned the mother said bitterly we ll go and look ready to throw him a rope in case you ve never seen him working for his bread said the father what nonsense i as if any one expected well the man that hired him did he s about right too they went down between the stores full of s to s wharf where captains courageous the w re here rode high her bank flag still flying all hands busy as in the glorious morning light stood by the main and uncle at the tackle dan was swinging the loaded baskets as long jack and tom filled them and with a represented the s interests before the clerk of the scales on the salt sprinkled ready cried the voices below haul cried hi said here said dan swinging the basket then they heard s voice clear and checking the the last of the fish had been whipped out and leaped from the string piece six feet to a as the shortest way to hand the shouting two ninety seven and an empty hold what s total said eight sixty five three thousand six hundred and seventy six dollars and a quarter wish i d share as well | 39 |
as well i won t go so far as to say you t deserved it don t you want to slip up to s office and take him our who s that boy said to dan well used to all manner of questions from those idle called summer captains courageous well he s a kind o was the answer we picked him up struck adrift on the banks fell overboard from a he he was a passenger he s by way o bein a now is he worth his keep ye this man wants to know ef s worth his keep say would you like to go aboard we ll fix a ladder for her i should very much indeed t hurt you and you ll be able to see for yourself the woman who could not lift her head a week ago scrambled down the ladder and stood aghast amid the mess and aft be you interested in said well ye es he s a good boy an right hold jest as he s bid you ve heard we found him he was from nervous i guess r else his head had hit when we hauled him aboard he s all over that yes this is the cabin tain t in order but you re quite welcome to look around those are his figures on the stove pipe where we keep the mostly did he sleep here said mrs sitting on a yellow and surveying the captains courageous no he forward madam an only him an my boy an up when they ought to ha been asleep i as i ve any special fault to find with him there weren t wrong with said uncle descending the steps he hung my boots on the main and he ain t over an above respectful to such as knows more n he do especially about but he were mostly by dan dan in the meantime by dark hints from early that morning was a war dance on deck tom tom he whispered down the his folks has come an t caught on yet an they re in the cabin she s a an he s all claimed he was by the looks of him smoke said long jack climbing out covered with salt and fish skin d ye his tale the kid an the little four horse was i knew it all along said dan come an see in his judgments they came just in time to hear say i m glad he has a good character because he s my son s jaw fell long jack always vowed that he heard the click of it and he stared alternately at the man and the woman captains courageous f i got his in san four days ago and we came over in a private car said dan he said ye might in a private car of course dan looked at his father with a of there was a tale he us four little in a his own said long jack was that now likely said was it he had a little drag when we were in i think said the mother long jack whistled oh said he and that was all i i am in my worse n the men o said as h the words were being out of him i don t mind to you as i the boy to be crazy he talked kinder odd about money so he told me did he tell ye anything else cause i him once this with a somewhat anxious glance at mrs oh yes replied i should say it probably did him more good than anything else in the world i necessary er i wouldn t ha captains courageous done it i don t want you to think we abuse our boys any on this packet i don t think you do mr troop mrs had been looking at the faces s ivory yellow iron countenance uncle s with its rim of agricultural hair s bewildered simplicity s quiet smile long jack s grin of delight and tom s rough by her standards they certainly were but she had a mother s wits in her eyes and she rose with outstretched hands oh tell me which is who said she half sobbing i want to thank you and bless you all of you faith that pays me a time said long jack introduced them all in due form the captain of an old time could have done no better and mrs she nearly threw herself into s arms when she understood that he had first found but how shall i leave him said poor what do you yourself if you find him so eh we are in one good boy and i am ever so pleased he come to be your son and he told me dan was his partner she cried dan was already sufficiently pink but he a rich crimson when mrs kissed him captains courageous on both cheeks before the assembly then they led her forward to show her the fo c at which she wept again and must needs go down to see s identical and there she found the cook cleaning up the stove and he nodded as though she were some one he had expected to meet for years they tried two at a time to explain the boat s daily life to her and she sat by the post her hands on the laughing with trembling lips and crying with dancing eyes and who s ever to use the ff e re here after this said long jack to tom i feel it as if she d made a cathedral ut all cathedral sneered tom oh ef it had bin even the fish c boat o this | 39 |
o ef we only some decency an order an side boys when she goes over she ll have to climb that ladder like a hen an we we ought to be the i then was not mad said slowly to no indeed thank god the big replied stooping down tenderly it must be terrible to be mad except to lose your child i do not know anything more terrible but your child has come back let us thank god for that captains courageous said looking down upon them from the wharf i i said swiftly holding up a hand i in my ye needn t rub it in any more guess i take care o that said dan under his breath you ll be goin off won t ye well not without the balance of my wages less you want to have the w re here attached s so i d clean forgot and he counted out the remaining dollars you done all you contracted to do and you done it s well as ef you d been brought up here brought himself up he did not quite see where the sentence was going to end outside of a private car suggested dan come on and i ll show her to you said stayed to talk to but the others made a procession to the with mrs at the head the french maid shrieked at the invasion and laid the glories of the before them without a word they took them in in equal silence stamped leather silver door handles and rails cut velvet bronze iron and the rare woods of the continent n captains courageous i told you said i told you this was his crowning revenge and a most ample one mrs a meal and that nothing might be lacking to the tale long jack told afterwards in his boarding house she waited on them herself men who are accustomed to eat at tiny tables in howling have curiously neat and finished table manners but mrs who did not know this was surprised she longed to have for a butler so silently and easily did he himself among the frail and dainty silver tom remembered great days on the oh o and the manners of foreign who dined with the officers and long jack being irish supplied the small talk till all were at their ease in the re here s cabin the fathers took stock of each other behind their cigars knew well enough when he dealt with a man to whom he could not offer money equally well he knew that no money could pay for what had done he kept his own counsel and waited for an opening i t done anything to your boy or r your boy make him work a piece an learn him how to handle the yoke said he has twice my boy s head for by the way answered casually what d you calculate to make of your boy captains courageous removed his cigar and waved it round the cabin dan s jest plain boy an he don t allow me to do any of his he ll this able little packet when i m laid by he ain t anxious to quit the business i know that ever been west mr troop bin s fer york once in a boat i ve no use for no more dan salt water s good enough fer the troops i ve been most everywhere in the way o course i can give him all the salt water he s likely to need till he s a s that i thought you a kinder railroad king told me so when i was in my we re all apt to be mistaken i fancied perhaps you might know i own a line of tea san to six of em iron built about seventeen hundred and eighty tons apiece blame that boy he never told i d ha listened to tbat o his an pony carriages he didn t know little thing like that slipped his mind i guess no i only took hold of the blue captains courageous m and s old line this summer where he sat beside the stove great almighty i i ve bin from one end to the other why he went from this very town six year back no seven an he s mate on the san now twenty six days was her time out his sister she s here yet an she reads his letters to my woman an you own the blue m nodded if i d known that i d ha jerked the here back to port all on the word perhaps that wouldn t have been so good for ef i d only known i ef he d only said about the line i d ha understood i ll never stand on my own again never they re well found he says so i m glad to have a recommend from that quarter s of the san now what i was getting at is to know whether you d lend me dan for a year or two and we ll see if we can t make a mate of him would you trust him to it s a taking a raw boy i know a man who did more for me captains courageous look at here i ain t dan special because he s my own flesh an blood know bank wa rs ain t ways but he t much to learn steer he can no boy better ef say it an the rest s in our blood an get but i could wish he t so weak on will attend to that he ll ship as a boy for a voyage or two and then we can put him | 39 |
in the way of doing better suppose you take him in hand this winter and i ll send for him early in the spring i know the pacific s a long ways oflf we troops an dead are all around the earth an the seas thereof but i want you to understand and i mean this any time you think you d like to see him tell me and i ll attend to the t won t cost you a cent ef you ll walk a piece with me we ll go to my house an talk this to my woman i ve bin so crazy in all my it don t seem to me this was like to be real they went over to troop s eighteen blue trimmed white house with a retired full of in the front yard and a parlor which was a museum of plunder there sat a large woman silent and grave with the dim eyes of those who look long captains courageous to sea for the return of their beloved addressed himself to her and she gave consent wearily we lose one hundred a year from only mr she said one hundred boys an men and i ve come so s to hate the sea as if alive an god never made it to anchor on these o yours they go straight out i take it and straight home again as straight as the winds let em and i give a for record passages tea don t improve by being at sea when he little he used to play at keeping store an i had hopes he might follow that up but soon s he could a i knew that were goin to be denied me they re square mother iron built an well found remember what s sister reads vou when she his letters i ve never known as told lies but he s too like most of em that use the sea ef dan sees fit mr he can go fer all o me she jest the ocean explained an i i to act polite i guess er i d thank you better my father my own eldest brother two an my second sister s man she said captains courageous dropping her head on her hand would you care fer any one that took all those was relieved when dan turned up and accepted with more delight than he was able to put into words indeed the meant a plain and sure road to all desirable things but dan thought most of commanding watch on broad decks and looking into r away mrs had spoken privately to the unaccountable in the matter of s rescue he seemed to have no desire for money pressed hard he said that he would take five dollars because he wanted to buy something for a girl otherwise how shall i take money when i make so easy my eats and you some if i like or no eh at then you shall me money but not that way you shall all you can think he introduced her to a priest with a list of semi destitute as long as his as a strict mrs could not with the creed but she ended by respecting the brown little man faithful son of the church appropriated all the blessings on her for her charity that me out said he i have now ver good for six months and he strolled forth to get a handkerchief for the girl of the hour and to break the hearts of all the others captains courageous went west for a season with and left no address behind he had a dread that these people with private cars might take undue interest in his companion it was better to visit inland relatives till the coast was clear never you be adopted by rich folk he said in the cars or i ll take n break this board over your head ef you your name which is you remember you belong with troop an set down right where you are till i come fer you don t go after them whose eyes out with to chapter x but it was otherwise with the ive re her s silent cook for he came up his in a handkerchief and the pay was no particular object and he did not in the least care where he slept his business as revealed to him in dreams was to follow for the rest of his days they tried argument and at last persuasion but there is a difference between one cape and two and the matter was referred to by the cook and porter the only laughed he presumed might need a body servant some day or other and was sure that one was worth five let the man stay therefore even though he called himself and swore in the car could go back to boston where if he were still of the same mind they would take him west with the which in his heart of hearts he departed the last remnant of s and he gave himself up to an energetic idleness this was a captains courageous new town in a new land and he to take it in as of old he had taken in all the cities from to san of that world whence he hailed they made money along the crooked street which was half wharf and half ship s store as a leading professional he wished to learn how the noble game was played men said that four out of every five fish balls served at new england s sunday breakfast came from and overwhelmed him with figures in proof of boats gear wharf capital invested packing wages and profits he talked with the owners of | 39 |
the large whose were little more than hired men and whose were almost all or then he conferred with one of the few who owned their craft and compared notes in his vast head he himself away on chain in marine shops asking questions with cheerful western curiosity till all the water front wanted to know what in thunder that man was after anyhow he into the mutual rooms and demanded explanations of the mysterious remarks up on the day by day and that brought down upon him of s widow and aid society within the city limits they each man anxious to beat the captains courageous other institution s record and at his beard and handed them all over to mrs she was resting in a boarding house near point a strange establishment managed apparently by the where the table were red and white and the population who seemed to have known one another intimately for years rose up at midnight to make if it felt hungry on the second morning of her stay mrs put away her diamond before she came down to breakfast they re most delightful people she confided to her husband so friendly and simple too though they are all boston nearly that isn t he said looking across the behind the apple trees where the were it s the other thing that wc that i haven t got it can t be said mrs quietly there isn t a woman here owns a dress that cost a hundred dollars why we i know it dear we have of course we have i guess it s only the style they wear east are you having a good time i don t see very much of he s always with you but i ain t near as nervous as i was haven t had such a good time since died i never rightly understood that i had a son captains courageous before this s got to be a great boy anything i can fetch you dear cushion under your head well we ll go down to the wharf again and look around was his father s shadow in those days and the two strolled along side by side using the as an excuse for laying his hand on the boy s square shoulder it was then that noticed and admired what had never struck him before his father s curious power of getting at the heart of new matters as learned from men in the street how d you make em tell you everything without opening your head demanded the son as they came out of a s i ve dealt with quite a few men in my time and one sizes em up somehow i guess i know something about myself too then after a pause as they sat down on a wharf edge men can most always tell when a man has things for himself and then they treat him as one of themselves same as they treat me down at s wharf i m one of the crowd now has told every one i ve earned my pay spread out his hands and rubbed the palms together they re all soft again he said keep em that way for the next few years captains courageous while you re getting your education you can em up after ye es i suppose so was the reply in no delighted voice it rests with you you can take cover behind your of course and put her on to about your nerves and your and all that kind of have i ever done that said uneasily his father turned where he sat and thrust out a long hand tou know as well as i do that i can t make anything of you if you don t act straight by me i can handle you alone if you ll stay alone but i don t pretend to manage both you and life s too short anyway don t make me out much of a fellow does it i guess it was my fault a good deal but if you want the truth you haven t been much of anything up to date now have you thinks say what d you reckon it s cost you to raise me ft om the start first last and all over smiled i ve never kept track but i should estimate in dollars and cents nearer fifty than forty thousand maybe sixty the young generation comes high it has to have things and it of em and the old man the captains courageous whistled but at heart he was rather pleased to think that his had cost so much and all that s sunk capital isn t it invested invested i hope making it only thirty thousand the thirty i ve earned is about ten cents on the hundred that s a mighty poor catch his head solemnly laughed till he nearly fell off the pile into the water has got a heap more than that out of dan since he was ten and dan s at school half the year too oh that s what you re after is it no i m not after anything i m not stuck on myself any just now that s all i ought to be kicked i can t do it old man or i would i presume if i d been made that way then i d have remembered it to the last day i lived and forgiven you said his chin on his doubled fists exactly that s about what do you see i see the fault s with me and no one else all the something s got to be done about it drew a cigar from his pocket bit off the end and fell to smoking father and son captains courageous n were very much alike for | 39 |
the beard hid s mouth and had his father s slightly nose close set black eyes and narrow high cheek bones with a touch of brown paint he would have made up very as a red indian of the story books now you can go on from here said slowly me between six or eight thousand a year till you re a well we ll call you a man then you can go right on from tbat living on me to the tune of forty or fifty thousand besides what your mother will give you with a and a or a fancy where you can pretend to raise trotting stock and play cards with your own crowd like put in or the two boys or old man s son s full of em and here s an while we re talking a shiny black steam with mahogany deck house and white striped puffed up the harbour flying the of some new york club two young men in what they conceived to be sea were playing cards by the saloon and a couple of women with red and blue looked on and laughed shouldn t care to be caught out in her in any sort of a breeze no beam said captains courageous as the to pick up her they re having what stands them for a good time i can give you that and twice as much as that how d you like it that s no way to get a said still intent on the if i couldn t slip a tackle better than that i d stay ashore what if i don t stay ashore or what and and live on the old man and get behind when there s trouble said with a twinkle in his eye why in that case you come right in with me my son ten dollars a month another twinkle not a cent more until you re worth it and you won t begin to touch that for a few years i d sooner begin sweeping out the office isn t that how the big start and touch something now than i know it we all feel that way but i guess we can hire any sweeping we need i made the same mistake myself of starting in too soon thirty million dollars worth o mistake wasn t it i d risk it for that i lost some and i gained some i ll tell you pulled his beard and smiled as he i captains courageous looked over the still water and spoke away from who presently began to be aware that his either was telling the story of his life he talked in a low even voice without gesture and without expression and it was a history for which a dozen leading journals would cheerfully have paid many dollars the story of forty years that was at the same time the story of the new west whose story is yet to be written it began with a boy turned loose in and went on through a hundred changes and of life the scenes shifting from state after western state from cities that sprang up in a month and in a season utterly withered away to wild in that are now laborious paved it covered the building of three and the deliberate wreck of a fourth it told of forests and mines and the men of every nation under heaven creating and digging these it touched on chances of gigantic wealth flung before eyes that could not see or missed by the merest accident of time and travel and through the mad shift of things sometimes on horseback more often now rich now poor in and out and back and forth deck hand train hand keeper engineer agent dead beat mine captains courageous owner cattle man or tramp moved alert and quiet seeking his own ends and so he said the glory and advancement of his country he told of the faith that never deserted him even when he hung on the ragged edge of despair the faith that comes of knowing men and things he enlarged as though he were talking to himself on his very great courage and resource at all times the thing was so evident in the man s mind that he never even changed his tone he described how he had his enemies or forgiven them exactly as they had or forgiven him in those careless days how he had entreated and towns companies and all for their enduring good crawled round through or under mountains and dragging a string and iron railroad after him and in the end how he had sat still while tore the last fragments of his character to the tale held almost breathless his head a little cocked to one side his eyes fixed on his father s face as the twilight deepened and the red cigar end lit up the cheeks and heavy eyebrows it seemed to him like watching a across country in the dark a mile between each glare of the opened but this could talk and the captains courageous words shook and stirred the boy to the core of his soul at last pitched away the and the two sat in the dark over the water never told that to any one before said the either gasped it s just the greatest thing that ever was said he that s what i got now i m coming to what i didn t get it won t sound much of anything to you but i don t wish you to be as old as i am before you find out i can handle men of course and i m no fool along my own lines but but i can t with the man who has been taught i ve picked up as i went along and | 39 |
i guess it sticks out all over me i ve never seen it said the son indignantly you will though you will just as soon as you re through college don t i know it don t i know the look on men s faces when they think me a a as they call it out here i can break them to little pieces yes but i can t get back at em to hurt em where they live i don t say they re way way up but i feel i m way way way off somehow now got your chance you ve got to up all the learning that s around and you ll live with a crowd that are doing the same thing they ll be doing it for a few thousand dollars a year at most but re captains courageous member be doing it for millions you ll learn law enough to look after your own property when i m out o the light and you ll have to be solid with the best men in the market they are useful later and above all you ll have to away the plain common sit down with on your elbows book learning nothing pays like that and it s bound to pay more and more each year in our country in business and in politics you ll see there s no sugar my end of the deal said four years at college i wish i d chosen the and the i never mind my son insisted you re your capital where it ll bring in the best returns and i guess you won t find our property shrunk any when you re ready to take hold think it over and let me know in the morning hurry we ll be late as this was a business talk there was no need for to tell his mother about it and naturally took the same point of view but mrs saw and feared and was a little jealous her boy who rode rough shod over her was and in his stead a keen faced youth silent who addressed most of his conversation to his father she understood it was business and therefore a matter beyond her premises if she had any doubts they were re captains courageous i solved when went to boston and brought back a new diamond ring what have you two men been doing now she said with a weak little smile as she turned it in the light talking just talking there s nothing mean about there was not the boy had made a treaty on his own account he explained gravely interested him as little as lumber real estate or what his soul after was control of his s newly purchased sailing ships if that could be promised him within what he conceived to be a reasonable time he for his part diligence and at college for four or five years in he was to be allowed full access to all details connected with the line he had asked not more than two thousand questions about it from his father s most private papers in the safe to the in san harbour if s a deal said at the last you ll alter your mind twenty times before you leave college o course but if you take hold of it in proper shape and if you don t tie it up before you re twenty three i ll make the thing over to you how s that never pays to split up a going concern there s too much competition in the world any captains courageous way and says blood kin to stick together his crowd never go back on him that s one reason he says why they make such big say the h e re here goes off to the on monday they don t stay long ashore do they well we ought to be going too i guess left my business hung up at loose ends between two and it s time to connect again i just hate to do it though haven t had a holiday like this for twenty years we can t go without seeing off said and monday s memorial day let s stay over that anyway what is this memorial business they were talking about it at the boarding house said weakly he too was not anxious to spoil the golden days well as far as i can make out this business is a sort of song and dance act up for the summer don t think much of it he says because they take up a collection for the and s independent haven t you noticed that well yes a little in spots is it a town show then the summer is they read out the names of the fellows drowned or gone astray last time and they make speeches and captains courageous and all then says the of the aid societies go into the back yard and fight over the catch the real show he says is in the spring the ministers ail take a hand then and there aren t any summer around i see said with the brilliant and perfect comprehension of one bom into and bred up to city pride we ll stay over for memorial day and get off in the afternoon guess i ll go down to s and make him bring his crowd up before they sail i ll have to stand with them of course oh that s it is it said i m only a poor summer and you re a banker full blooded banker called back as he a and went on with his dreams for the future had no use for public functions where appeals were made for charity but pleaded that the glory of the day would be lost so | 39 |
far as he was concerned if the themselves then made conditions he had heard it was astonishing how all the world knew all the world s business along the he had heard that a philadelphia was going to take part in the exercises and he that she would deliver s ride personally he had as little use for as for summer but justice was captains courageous justice and though he himself here dan had once slipped up on a matter of judgment this thing must not be so came back to east and spent half a day explaining to an amused with a royal reputation on two the of the mistake she contemplated and she admitted that it was justice even as had said knew by old experience what would happen but anything of the nature of a public was meat and drink to the man s soul he saw the hurrying west in the hot morning full of women in light summer dresses and white faced straw men fresh from boston the of outside the post the come and go of busy officials greeting one another the slow and of in the heavy air and the important man with a the brick mother he said suddenly don t you remember after was burned out and they got her going again mrs nodded and looked down the crooked street like her husband she understood these all the west over and compared them one against another the began to mingle with the crowd about the town hall doors blue their women bare headed or for the most captains courageous part clear eyed and men of the provinces french and with outside of and everywhere women in black who saluted one another with a gloomy pride for this was their day of great days and there were ministers of many of great gilt edged at the for a rest with of the regular work from the priests of the church on the hill to bush bearded ex sailor hail fellow with the men of a score of boats there were owners of lines of large to the societies and small men their few craft to the with and marine agents captains of and water boats boat and and all the mixed population of the water front they drifted along the line of seats made gay with the dresses of the summer and one of the town officials and till he shone all over with pure pride had met him for five minutes a few days before and between the two there was entire understanding well mr and what d you think of our city yes madam you can sit anywhere you please you have this kind of thing out west i presume captains courageous yes but we aren t as old as you that s so of course you ought to have been at the exercises when we celebrated our two hundred and birthday i tell you mr the old city did herself credit so i heard it pays too what s the matter with the town that it don t hav a first class hotel though right over there to the left heaps o room for you and your crowd why that s what tell em all the time mr there s big money in it but i presume that don t affect you any what we want is a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and the flushed of a coal and ice spun him half round what in thunder do you fellows mean by the law on the town when all decent men are at sea this way town s dry s a bone an smells a sight worse i quit might ha left us one saloon for soft drinks anyway don t seem to have your nourishment this morning i ll go into the politics of it later sit down by the door and think over your arguments till i come back what good s arguments to me in champagne s eighteen dollars a case and the into his seat as an organ silenced him i captains courageous our new organ said the official proudly to cost us four thousand dollars too we ll have to get back to high next year to pay for it i wasn t going to let the ministers have all the religion at their those are some of our standing up to sing my wife taught em see you again later mr i m wanted on the platform high clear and true children s voices bore down the last noise of those settling into their places o au ye of the lord bless ye the lord praise bim and him for ever the women throughout the hall leaned forward to look as the filled the air mrs with some others began to breathe short she had hardly imagined there were so many in the world and instinctively searched for he had found the iv re at the back of the audience and was standing as by right between dan and uncle returned the night before with from sound received him suspiciously t your folk gone yet he what are you here young o ye seas and floods bless ye the lord praise bim and him for ever t he good right said dan he s bin there same as the rest of us not in them clothes captains courageous shut your head said your s gone back on you stay right where ye are then up and spoke the orator of the occasion another pillar of the bidding the world welcome to and incidentally pointing out wherein the rest of the world then he turned to the sea wealth of the city and spoke of the price that must be paid for the yearly harvest they | 39 |
would hear later the names of their lost dead one hundred and seventeen of them the stared a little and looked at one another here could not boast any overwhelming mills or her sons worked for such as the sea gave and they all knew that neither nor the banks were cow pastures the utmost that folk ashore could accomplish was to help the and the and after a few general remarks he took this opportunity of thanking in the name of the city those who had so consented to in the exercises of the occasion i jest despise the pieces in it growled it don t give folk a fair notion of us ef folk won t be fore handed an put by when they ve the chance returned it stands in the nature o things they to be you take by that young riches captains courageous but for a season ef you scatter them on but to lose everything everything said what can you do then once i the watery blue eyes stared up and down as looking for something to steady them once i read in a book i think of a boat where every one was run down except some one and he said to me said cutting in you read a little less an take more int in your and you ll come nearer your keep among the felt a thrill that began in the back of his neck and ended at his boots he was cold too though it was a stifling day that the from philadelphia said troop at the platform you ve fixed it about old man t ye ye know why it was not s ride that the woman delivered but some sort of poem about a called and a fleet of beating in against storm by night while the women made a guiding fire at the head of the with everything they could lay hands on they took the s blanket who shivered and bade them go they took the baby s cradle who could not say them no captains courageous said dan peering over long jack s shoulder that s great must ha bin expensive though ground case said the man badly lighted port a and knew not all the while if they were lighting a or only a funeral pile the wonderful voice took hold of people by their and when she told how the were flung ashore living and dead and they carried the bodies to the glare of the fires asking child is this your father or wife is this your man you could hear hard breathing all over the benches and when the boats of go out to face the think of the love that travels like light upon their sails there was very little applause when she finished the women were looking for their handkerchiefs and many of the men stared at the ceiling with shiny eyes h m said that u d cost ye a dollar to hear at any maybe two some folk captains courageous i can afford it seems downright waste to me how in did cap strike adrift here f no him under said an man behind he s a poet an he s to say his piece comes from way too he did not say that captain b had for five years to be allowed to a piece of his own composition on memorial day an amused and exhausted committee had at last given him his desire the simplicity and utter happiness of the old man as he stood up in his very best sunday clothes won the audience ere he opened his mouth they sat through seven and thirty verses describing at fullest length the loss of the off the in the gale of and when he came to an end they shouted with one kindly throat a far sighted boston slid away for a full copy of the and an interview with the author so that earth had nothing more to offer captain ex master and poet in the seventy third year of his age i call that sensible said an man i ve bin over that with his jest as he read it in my two hands and i can testify that he s got it all in captains courageous if dan here couldn t do better n that with one hand before breakfast he ought to be said the honour of on general principles not but what i m free to own he s considerable ery fer still guess uncle s goin to die this trip compliment he s ever paid me dan what s wrong with you you act all quiet and you look sick don t know what s the matter with me replied seems if my were too big for my i m all crowded up and too bad we ll wait for the an then we ll quit an catch the tide the they were nearly all of that season s making themselves rigidly like people going to be shot in cold blood for they knew what was coming the summer girls in pink and blue shirt stopped over captain s wonderful poem and looked back to see why all was silent the pressed forward as that town official who had talked with up on the platform and began to read the year s list of losses dividing them into months last september s were mostly single men and strangers captains courageous but his voice rang very loud in the of the hall september th lost with tu aboard off the master single main street city single street city single single main street city supposed single s boarding house city joseph joseph st john s no a voice cried from the body of the hall he from st | 39 |
john s said the reader looking to see i know it he belongs in my the reader made a on the margin of the list and resumed same liverpool single may street city single september th married drowned in off eastern point that shot went home for one of the where she sat clasping and captains courageous her hands mrs who had been listening with wide opened eyes threw up her head and choked dan s mother a few seats to the right saw and heard and quickly moved to her side the reading went on by the time they reached the january and february the shots were falling thick and fast and the drew breath between their teeth february th harry on the way home from music married main street city lost overboard february d hope went astray in robert married native of but his wife was in the hall they heard a low cry as though a little animal had been hit it was stifled at once and a girl staggered out of the hall she had been hoping against hope for months because some who have gone adrift in have been picked up by sailing ships now she had her certainty and could see the policeman on the a hack for her it s fifty cents to the the driver began but the policeman held up his hand but i m goin there anyway jump right in look at here you don t pull me next time my lamps ain t lit sec the side door closed on the patch of bright captains courageous sunshine and s eyes turned again to the reader and his endless list april i lost on die banks witli all hands edward master married city d married g w clay coloured married city and so on and so on great were rising in s throat and his stomach reminded him of the day when he fell from the may loth w re here the blood all over him single city lost overboard once more a low tearing cry from somewhere at the back of the hall she shouldn t ha come she shouldn t ha come said long jack with a of pity don t dan heard that much but the rest was all darkness spotted with fiery wheels leaned forward and spoke to his wife where she sat with one arm round mrs and the other holding down the catching hands lean your head right she whispered it ll go off in a minute i ca an t i do don t oh let me mrs did not at all know what she said captains courageous you must mrs troop repeated your boy s jest fainted dead away they do that some when they re their growth wish to tend to him we can this side quite quiet you come right along with me my dear we re both women i guess we must tend to men folk come the ive re promptly went through the crowd as a body guard and it was a very white and shaken that they propped up on a bench in an his ma was mrs troop s only comment as the mother bent over her boy how d you suppose he could ever stand it she cried indignantly to who had said nothing at all it was horrible horrible we shouldn t have come it s wrong and wicked it it isn t right why why couldn t they put these things in the papers where they belong are you better darling that made very properly ashamed oh i m all right i guess he said struggling to his feet with a broken must ha been something i ate for breakfast coffee perhaps said whose face was all in hard lines as though it had been cut out of bronze we won t go back again guess be s well to to the wharf said it s close in along captains courageous with them an the fresh air will fresh mrs up announced that he never felt better in his life but it was not till he saw the iv re here fresh from the s hands at s wharf that he lost his all feelings in a queer mixture of pride and other people summer and such like played about in cat boats or looked at the sea from but he understood things from the inside more things than he could begin to think about none the less he could have sat down and howled because the little was going off mrs simply cried and cried every step of the way and said most extraordinary things to mrs troop who her till dan who had not been since he was six whistled aloud and so the old crowd felt like the most ancient of dropped into the old among the battered while slipped the fast from the pier head and they slid her along the wharf side with their hands every one wanted to say so much that no one said anything in particular bade dan take care of uncle s sea boots and s anchor and long jack entreated to remember his lessons in but the jokes fell flat in the presence of the two women captains courageous and it is hard to be funny with green between good friends up and shouted getting to the wheel as the wind took her see you later but i come near a heap o you an your folks then she glided beyond ear shot and they sat down to watch her up the harbour and still mrs wept my dear said mrs troop we re both women i guess like s not it ll case your heart to your cry god he knows it never done me a o good but then he | 39 |
ll lovers speech and life her mystery so shalt thou rule by every school till love and longing die who or yet the lights were met a whisper in the void who shalt be through young when this is clean destroyed beyond the bounds our staring rounds across the pressing dark the children wise of outer skies look and mark a light that a glare that thus and thus not all forlorn for thou hast borne strange tales to them of us by ic to the vii time hath no tide but must abide the servant of thy will tide hath no time for to thy rhyme the stars stand still of that hold our our hopes invisible oh twas at thy we fashioned heaven and hell pure wisdom hath no certain path that thy and captains bold by thee controlled most like to gods design thou art the voice to boys to lift them through the fight and of to give the dead good a veil to draw god his law and man s infirmity a shadow kind to dumb and blind the where we die a sum to trick th too base of odds the spur of trust the of lust thou of the gods i o charity all patiently abiding and i o faith that meets ten thousand yet drops no of faith i by ic many devil and brute thou dost to higher show who art in that utter truth the careless angels know i thy face this ov r wa t our and cry i may not find thee am d kind nor know thee tiu i die may i look with heart on blow brought home or missed may with equal ear the down the list set my la above and ride the ok hit or miss how us my lady is not there by ic many inventions the op from the wheel and the drift of thing deliver good lord and we will meet the wrath of kings the and the swords lay not thy toil before our eyes nor vex ns with thy wars lest we feel the straining skies o by stars veil ns and thee dread lord a veil us and thee lest we hear too clear too clear and madness see i thb brothers of the order that none with their service shall be in or on one of their lights during the hours of darkness but their servants can be led to think otherwise if you are fair spoken and take an interest in their duties they will allow you to sit with them through the long night and help to scare the ships into of the english south coast lights that of st under the cliff is the most powerful for it guards a very coast when the sea mist by co by ic all st turns a head to the sea and sings a song of two words once every minute from the land that song the of a brazen bull but off shore they understand and the gratefully in answer who was on duty one night lent me a pair of black glass spectacles without which no man can look at the light and busied himself in last touches to the before twilight fell the width of the english channel beneath lay as smooth and as many coloured as the inside of an shell a little cargo boat had made her signal to s agency half a mile up the coast and was down to the sunset her wake lying white behind her one star came out over the cliffs the waters turned lead colour and st s light shot out across the sea in eight long that wheeled slowly from right to left melted into one beam of solid light laid down directly in front of the tower dissolved again into eight and passed away the light frame of the thousand on its and the compressed air engine that drove it like a under a glass the hand of the on the wall from mark to mark eight timed one half revolution of the light neither more nor less checked the first few care fully he opened the engine s feed pipe a trifle by ic thb di of traffic r looked at the racing and again at the and said shell do for the next few hours we ve just sent our regular engine to london and this spare one s not by any manner so accurate and what would happen if the compressed air gave out i asked from curiosity we d have to turn the flash by hand keeping an eye on the there s a regular for that but it hasn t happened we ll need all our compressed air to night why said i i had been watching him for not more than a minute look he answered and i saw that the dead had risen out of the lifeless sea and wrapped us while my back had been turned the of the light marched across floors of white cloud from the balcony the the white walls of the ran down into smoking space the noise of the tide coming in very lazily over the rocks was choked down to a thick s the way our sea come said with an air of hark now to that little fool calling out fore he s hurt something in the mist was like an indignant calf it might have been half a mile or half a miles away does he suppose we ve gone to bed continued by ic many you ll hear us talk to him in a minute he knows where he is and he s carrying on to be told like if he was who is he that boat o course ah i i could hear a steam en ne hiss down below in tiie mist where the that fed the light were | 39 |
together then there came a roar that split the fog and shook the too the of st the ceased little fool i repeated then listening if that aren t another of them well well they always say that a fog do draw the ships of the sea together they ll be calling all night and soil the we re expecting some tea ships up channel if you put my coat on that chair feel more so sir it is no pleasant thing to thrust your company upon a man for the night i looked at and looked at me each the other s for and being bored was an old clean shaven gray haired man who had followed the sea for thirty years and knew nothing of the land except the in which he served he cautiously to find out the little that i knew and talked down to my level till it came out that i had met a captain in the merchant service who had once commanded a ship in which s by ic the di of son had served and further that i had seen places that had touched at he began with a on in the i had been privileged to know a pilot intimately had only seen the imposing and breed from a ship s chains and his intercourse had been cut down to quarter less five and remarks of a strictly business like nature he ceased to talk down to me and became so that i was forced to beg him to explain every other sentence this set him fully at his ease and then we spoke as men together each too interested to think of anything except the subject in hand and that subject was and voyages and trading and ships cast away in desolate seas we both had known their merits and s and above all lights the talk always came back to lights lights of the channel lights on forgotten islands and men forgotten on them light ships two months duty and one month s leave tossing on in and lights that men had seen where never was marked on the all those stories and also the wonderful ways by which he arrived at them i tell here from s mouth one that was not the least amazing it was delivered in pieces between the rattle of the revolving the of the fog horn below the answering calls by ic many from the sea and the sharp tap of reckless night birds that flung themselves at the glasses it concerned a man called once an intimate friend of now a at believing that the guilt of blood is on his head and finding no rest either at or hard and if anybody was to come to you and say i know the currents don t you listen to him for those currents is never yet known to mortal man sometimes they re here sometimes they re there but they never runs less than five knots an hour through and among those islands of the eastern there s reverse currents in the gulf of and that s up north in that no man can explain and through all those passages from the dutch out and which i take it is the safest they chop and they change and they banks the tides on one shore and then on another till your ship s tore in two i ve come through the stem first in the heart o the south east with a sou sou west wind blowing of the flood and our said he wouldn t do it again not for all s you ve heard o s sir yes and was stationed in the i said no he was not at but much more east o by ic the di of passages and that s strait at the east end o it s all on the way south to when you re running through that eastern sometimes you go through if you re full and sometimes through strait so as to stand south at once and fetch round keeping well clear o the bank if you aren t full why it stands to reason you go round by the passage keeping careful to the north side tou understand that sir i was not f i and judged it safer to keep to the north of silence and on strait in the between island and the they put in charge of a screw pile light called the light it s less than a mile across the head of strait then it opens out to ten or twelve mile for strait and then it again to a three mile with a by it that s old by strait and if you keep his light and the light in a line you won t take much harm not on the darkest night s what told me and i can well believe him knowing these seas myself but you must ever be of the currents and there they put since he was the only man that that dutch government which owns could find that would go to and tend a fixed light mostly they uses dutch and englishmen by ic being said to drink when alone i never rightly find out what made accept of that position but accept he did and used to sit for to watch the come out of the forests to hunt for and such like round about the at low tide the water was always warm in those parts as i know well and uncommon and it ran with the tides as thick and smooth as in a there was another man along with in the light but he wasn t rightly a man he was a no nor yet a he wasn t but his skin was in little and cracks all over from so much in the salt water as was his usual | 39 |
custom his hands was all foot too he was called i remember saying now an orange lord on account of his habits tou to heard of an orange lord sir i suggested that s the name said his knee an of course and his name was what they call a sea told me that that man long hair and all would go swimming up and down the straits just for something to do running down on one tide and back again with the other swimming side stroke and the tides going strong he d be about the beach along with the at low tide for he was most part a beast or he d sit in a little boat praying to old of an by ic the of when the was red at the south end of the strait told me that he wasn t a man like you and me might have been to now i can never rightly come at what it that began to ail after he had been there a year or something less he was saving of all his pay and tending to his light and now and again he d have a fight with and tip him off the light into the sea then he told me his head began to feel from looking at the tide so long he said there was long streaks of white running inside it like wall paper that hadn t been properly up he said the streaks they would run with the tides north and south twice a day to them currents and he d lie down on the it was a screw pile with his eye to a crack and watch the water through the piles just so quiet as he said the only comfort he got was at slack water then the streaks in his head went round and round like a in a tide but that was heaven he said to the other kind of streaks the straight ones that looked like arrows on a wind but much more regular and that was the trouble of it no more he couldn t ever keep his eyes off the tides that ran up and down so strong but as soon as ever he looked at the high hills standing all along strait for rest and comfort his eyes would be pulled down like to the by ic many inventions water and when they once got there he couldn t pull them away again till the tide changed he told me all this himself speaking just as though he was talking of somebody else where did you meet him i asked in harbour a cleaning the of a boat but known him off and on through following the sea for many years yes he spoke about himself very curious and all as if he was in the next room there dead those streaks they upon his he said and he made up his mind every time that the dutch that to the lights in those parts come along that he d ask to be took off but as soon as she did come something went click in his throat and he was so took up with watching her because they ran in the contrary direction to bis streaks that he could never say a word until she was gone away and her was under sea again then he said he d cry by the hour and round and round the light at him and water with his f hands at last he took it into his pore sick head that the ships and particularly the that came by there wasn t many of them made the streaks instead of the tides as was natural he used to sit he told me cursing every boat that come along sometimes a sometimes a dutch and now and again a steamer by ic the op head and about in the mouth of the strait or there d come a boat from running north past old hunting for a fair current but never throwing out any papers that might pick up for to read generally speaking the kept more but now and again they came looking for and the west coast of used to shout to them to go round by the passage and not to come past him making the water all but it wasn t likely they d hear he says to himself after a month ni give them one more chance he says if the next boat don t attend to my just representations he says he remembers using those very words to i ll stop the the next boat was a two streak cargo boat very anxious to make her she through under old at the south end of the strait and she passed within a quarter of a mile of the light at the north end in seventeen o water the tide against her took the trouble to come out with in a little that they had all and and he lay in the waving a palm branch and so he told me wondering why and what for he was making this fool of himself up come the two streak boat and shouts don t you come this way again making my head all i gk round by and leave me alone some by ic one looks over the port and a at and that s all sits down in the bottom of the boat and cries fit to break his heart then he says what am i a crying for and they fetch up by the light on the half flood he says there s too traffic here and that s why the water s so as it is it s the and the and the that do it he says and all the time he was speaking he was thinking lord lord what a crazy fool | 39 |
the news went to and back from to and to where the railway is that runs to all through the seas everybody got the word to keep clear o straits and he was left alone except for such and small craft as didn t know they d come up and look at the straits like a bull over a gate but those nodding wreck scared them away by and by the survey the i think she lay in roads oflf fort alongside of the a dirty little dutch that used to clean there and the dutch captain says to our captain what s wrong with straits he says wed if i know says our captain who d u t come up from the by ic the of then why did you go and it says the if i have says our captain that s your it is said the dutch captain according to what they tell me and a whole fleet of wreck too says our captain it s a s life at sea any way i must have a look at this you come along after me as soon as you can and down he that very night round the heel of three days steam to head and he met a two streak very angry out of the head of the strait and the merchant captain gave our survey ship something of his mind for leaving in those narrow waters and wasting his company s coal it s no fault o mine says our captain i don t care whose fault it is says the merchant captain who had come aboard to speak to him just at dusk the s choked with wreck enough to knock a hole through a dock gate i saw their big ugly sticking up just under my lord ha mercy on us he says spinning round the place is like street of a hot summer night and so it was they looked at straits and they saw lights one after the other across the he had seen the by ic inventions hanging there before dark and he said to we ll give em something to remember all the and iron pots you can and hang them up alongside o the regular four lights we must teach em to go round by the passage or they ll be up our water again i took a off the got aboard the little with his soaked in oil and all the he muster and he began to show his lights four ones and half a dozen new lights hung on that rope which was a little above the water then he went to all the spare with all his spare and hung a on every pole that he could get at about seven poles so you see taking one with another there was the light four lights on the rope between the three centre that was hung out as a usual custom six or eight ones that had hung up on the same rope and seven dancing that belonged to seven wreck eighteen or twenty lights in all crowded into a mile of seventeen f water where no tide d ever let a wreck rest for three weeks let alone ten or twelve as the showed the captain he saw the lights come out one after another same as the merchant did who was standing at his side and he said there s been an catastrophe here by ic the of traffic or and then he whistled tm going to stand on and off all night till the comes he says tm off says the merchant my owners don t wish for me to watch that strait s choked with wreck and i shouldn t wonder if a hadn t driven half the o china there with that he went away but the survey ship she stayed all night at the head o strait and the men admired the lights till the lights was burning out and then they admired more than ever a little bit before morning the dutch come up and the two ships stood together watching the lights bum out and out till there was nothing left straits all green and wet and a dozen wreck and light had slept very quiet that night and got rid of his streaks by means of thinking of the angry outside was busy and didn t come back to his till late in the very early morning looked out to sea being as he said in torment and saw all the of the world riding outside straits in a half moon seven miles from wing to wing most wonderful to behold those were the words he used to me time and again in telling the then he says he heard a gun fired with a most explosion and all them great by ic ao to little pieces of clouds and there was only remaining and a man o war s boat to the light with the oars going sideways instead o as the morning tides ebb or flow would continually run what the devil s wrong with this strait says a man in the boat as soon as they was in distance has the whole english navy sunk here or what there s nothing wrong says sitting on the platform outside the light and keeping one eye very watchful on the of the tide which he always hated specially in the morning you leave me alone and leave you alone gk round by the passage and don t cut up my water you re making it all the time he was saying that he kept on thinking to himself now s foolishness now that s nothing but foolishness and all the time he was holding tight to the edge of the platform in case the of the tide should carry him away somebody answers from the boat very soft and quiet | 39 |
we re going by in a minute if just come and speak to our captain and give him his bearings he felt very highly flattered and he slipped into the boat not paying any attention to but along to the ship after the boat when was in the boat he by ic this of found lie says he couldn t speak to the to call them white with chains about their neck and lord knows he hadn t seen or thought o white since he was a little bit of a boy and kept em in his handkerchief so he kept himself quiet and so they come to the survey ship and the man in the boat the quarter deck with something that could not rightly understand but there was one word he out again and again m a d mad and he heard some one behind him saying it backwards so he had two words m a d mad d a m dam and he put those two words together as he come on the quarter deck and he says to the captain very slowly i be damned if i am mad but all the time his eye was held like by the of rope on the pins and he followed those ropes up and up with his eye till he was quite lost and comfortable among the which ran cross and and up and down and any way but straight along under his feet north and south the deck they ran that way and t look at them they was the same as the streaks of the water under the of the then he heard the captain talking to him very kindly and for the life of him he couldn t tell why and what he wanted to tell the was that strait was too like bacon and the only made it worse but all he could do by ic s k was to keep his eye yery careful on the and sing i a ship a sailing a on the sea and oh it was all with pretty things for me then he remembered that was foolishness and he started off to say about the passage but all he said was the captain was a duck meaning no offence to you sir but there was something on his back that ive forgotten and when the ship began to the captain he noticed the captain turn very red and angry and he says to himself my foolish tongue s run away with me again ill go forward and he went forward and the reflection of himself in the and he saw that he was standing there and talking mother naked in front of all them sailors and he ran into the howling most grievous he must ha gone naked for weeks on the light and o course never noticed it was round and round the ship dam for to please the men and to be took aboard because he didn t know any better didn t tell what happened after this but seemingly our survey ship lowered two boats and went over to s they took one sounding and then it was all correct they cut the by ic the di of that and had made and let the tide carry em out through the end of the strait and the dutch she sent two men ashore to take care o the light and the she went away with leaving to try to follow them a calling dam dam all among the wake of the screw and half heaving himself out of water and joining his foot hands together he dropped in minutes and i suppose he went back to the light you can t drown an orange lord not even in strait on flood tide come across me when he came to england with the survey ship after being more than six months in her and cured of his streaks by working hard and not looking over the side more than he could help he told me what i ve told you sir and he was very much ashamed of himself but the trouble on his mind was to know whether he hadn t sent something or other to the bottom with his and his and such like he put it to me many times and each time more and more sure he was that something had happened in the straits because of him i think that him because i found him up at one day in a red a praying before the salvation army which had produced him in their papers as a they knew from his mouth that he had committed evil on the deep waters that was what by ic lie told them nd which no one does now except was all they knew of i says to him don t be a fool take off that and come along with me he says fm a saving of my soul for i do believe that i have killed more men in strait than i says a man that thought he d seen all the of the earth standing round in a ring to watch his foolish false wreck those was my very words i used ain t fit to have a soul and if he did he couldn t kill a with it john you was mad then but you are a damn sight now take off that there he took it off and come along with me but he never got rid o that suspicion that he d sunk some ships a of his at straits and now he s a from to where the tides run and you can t row straight for ten strokes together so late as all this i look left his chair passed to the light touched something that and the glare ceased with a suddenness that | 39 |
was pain day had come and the channel needed st no longer the sea fog rolled back from the cliffs in wreaths and dragged patches as the sun rose and made the dead sea alive and splendid the stillness of the morning held us both silent as we stepped on the by ic thb of balcony a lark went up from the cliffs behind st and we smelt a smell of cows in the pastures below so you see we were both at liberty to thank the lord for another day of clean and wholesome life by ic a conference of the powers life but in life and doth not to other lands if all be well at home solid as ocean foam foam thb room was blue with the smoke of three pipes and a cigar the leave season had opened in india and the first fruits on this side of the water were of the th cavalry who called on me after three years absence te discuss old things which had happened fate who always does her work handsomely sent up the same staircase within the same hour the infant fresh from upper and he and looking out of my window saw walking in the street one late in a regiment which had been through the black mountain expedition they to him to come up and the whole street was aware that they desired him to come up and he came up and there followed in my room because we had from the ends of the earth and three of us were on a holiday and none of us were twenty five and all the delights of all london lay waiting our pleasure bj by ic a of the f took the only other chair the infant by right of his bulk the sofa and being a little man sat cross legged on the top of the and we all said who d ha thought it i and what are you doing till speculation was exhausted and the talk went over to shop was full of a great scheme for win a military o ship at si had hopes of the staff college and the infant had been moving heaven and earth and the horse guards for a commission in the egyptian army what s the use o that said round on the oh heaps course if you get stuck with a regiment you re sold but if you are appointed to a lot you re in they are first class fighting men and just think of the eligible central position of egypt in the next row this was putting the match to a magazine we all began to explain the central question off hand flinging army corps f om the to with more than russian each of the boys made for himself a war to his own liking and when we had settled all the details of killed all our senior officers handled a division apiece and nearly torn the in two in attempts to explain our theories needs must lift up his voice above the and cry any by ic how be the hell of a in tones that far down the staircase entered in the smoke william the silent to see you sir said he and disappeared leaving in his stead none other than mr william would have introduced the of with equal disregard ef present company i i beg your pardon i didn t know that there was with you i but it was not to allow mr to depart he was a great man the boys remained where they were for any movement would have choked up the little room only when they saw his gray hairs they stood on their feet and when the infant caught the name he said r are did you write that book called as it was in the beginning f mr admitted that he had written the book then then i don t know how to thank you sir said the infant flushing pink i was brought up in the country you wrote about all my people live there and i read the book in camp on the and i knew every stick and stone and the dialect too and by jove i it was just like being at home and hearing the country people talk you know as u was in the beginning f so does by ic a of the mr has tasted as much praise public aud private as one man may safely swallow but it seemed to me that the out spoken admiration in the eyes and the little stir in the little company came home to him very nearly indeed won t you take the sofa said the infant f sit on s chair and here he looked at me to spur me to my duties as a host but i was watching the s face had not the least intention of going away but settled himself on the sofa following the first great law of the army which says all property is common except money and you ve only got to ask the next man for that the infant offered tobacco and drink it was the least he could do but not the most lavish praise in the world held half as much appreciation and reverence as the infant s simple say when sir above the long glass said when and more for he was a golden and he sat in the midst of hero worship devoid of all taint of self interest the boys asked him of the birth of his book and whether it was hard to write and how his notions came to him and he answered with the same absolute simplicity as he was questioned his big eyes he dug his long thin hands into his gray beard and it as he grew animated he dropped little by little from the peculiar of the | 39 |
orders was fifteen miles away and we used to to them and they used to give us orders same too many orders who was your co said ma more than he went out up way shot or cut down last year said the infant what are these in a strange tongue f said to me professional information like the talk said i he did not approve of his major who died a violent death on infant far too many orders you couldn t take the out for a two days s without being blown up for not asking leave by ic a of ths p web and the whole country was humming with i used to send out and act on their information as soon as a man came in and told me of a gang in hiding take thirty men with some and go out and look for them while the other lay in camp lay i pardon me but did he said lay lay quiet with the other thirty men when i came back he d take out his half of the men and have a good time of his own who was he said of the gk od chap but too and went four days out of seven he s gone out too don t interrupt a man looked helplessly at me the other i translated swiftly came from a native regiment and was in his he suffered much from the fever of the country and is now dead gk on infant after a bit we got into trouble for using the men on frivolous occasions and so i used to put my under arrest to prevent him reading the orders then i d go out and leave a message to be sent an hour after i got clear of the camp something like this received important information start in an hour unless if i was ordered back it didn t much matter i swore by ic the c o s watch was wrong or when i came back the enjoyed the fun and oh yes there was one who was the bard of the he used to make up verses on everything that happened what sort of verses said lovely verses and the used to sing em there was one song with a chorus and it said something like this the infant dropped into the true room the king did a foolish thing when e mastered forces in ar little thought that i from far across the sea would send our armies up to o gorgeous i said and how direct i the notion of a bard is new to me but of course it must be so he was ly popular with the men said the infant he had them all down in rhyme as soon as ever they had done anything he was a great bard he was always ready with an when we picked up a that s a leader of how did you pick him up said oh shot him if he wouldn t surrender tou i have you shot a man there was a subdued chuckle from all three boys and it dawned on the that one experience in life which was denied to himself and he weighed the souls of men in a balance had been shared by by ic a op thb three very young gentlemen of engaging appearance he turned round on who had climbed to the top of the and was sitting as before and have you too think so said sweetly in the black he was rolling cliffs on to my and our formation i took a rifle from a man and brought him down at the second shot good heavens and how did you feel after wards thirsty i wanted a smoke too looked at the youngest surely his hands were of blood shook his head and laughed gk on infant said he and you too said fancy so it was a case of cut cut or be with me so i cut one i couldn t do any more sir looked as though he would like to ask many questions but the infant swept on in the full tide of his tale well we were called young at last and strictly forbidden to take the out any more without orders i wasn t sorry because is such an sort of creature he wants to live as though he were in all the time i was on fowls and by ic inventions boiled com but the wanted l pound of fresh meat and their half of this and their two of t other thing and they used to come to me and me for tobacco when we were four days in i said i can get you tobacco but i don t keep a up my sleeve they couldn t see it they wanted all the luxuries of the season confound em you were alone when you were dealing with these men said watching the infant s face under the palm of his hand he was receiving new ideas and they seemed to trouble him of course unless you count the they were nearly as big as the men after i had to lie i began to look for something to do and i was great with a man called in the police the best man that ever stepped on earth a first class man nodded applause he knew how to enthusiasm and i were as thick as thieves he had some mounted armed with sword and they rode with string red cloth and red bell rope used to lend me six or eight of them when i asked little devils keen as but they told their wives too much and all my plans got known till i learned to give false marching orders over by ic a w p night and take the men to quite a different village | 39 |
in the morning then we to catch the simple before breakfast and made him very sick it s a ghastly country on the all with paths about four feet wide winding through it the knew all the paths and at us as we came round a comer but the mounted police knew the paths as well as the and we used to go em in and out once we flushed em the men on the had the advantage of the men on foot we held all the country absolutely quiet for ten miles round in about a month then we took na and i and the civil officer that was a lark i i think i am beginning to understand a little said it was a pleasure to you to administer and fight i there s nothing than a satisfactory little expedition when you find your plans fit together and your s correct you know and the whole sub l mean when everything works out like on a had all the information about the he had been burning villages and people right and left and cutting up government and all that he was lying in a village about fifteen miles off waiting to get a fresh gang together so we arranged to take thirty mounted police and turn him out before he could plunder by ic into our newly settled villages at the last minute the civil officer in our part of the world thought he d assist at the performance who was he said his name was said the infant slowly and we ll let it stay so he s a better man now than he was then but how old was the civil power said the situation is developing itself he was about six and twenty and he was ly clever he knew a lot of things but i don t think he was quite steady enough for hunting we started for s village and we got there just before morning without raising an alarm had turned out armed to his teeth two a and all sorts of things i was talking to about the men and edged his pony in between us and said what shall i do what shall i do tell me what to do you fellows we didn t take much notice but his pony tried to bite me in the leg and i said pull out a bit old man till we ve settled the attack he kept in and with his reins and his and saying dear me dear me oh dear me what do you think i d better do the man was in a deadly and his teeth were chattering i with the civil power said continue young by ic a of the the fun of it was that he was supposed to be our superior officer took a good look at him and told him to attach himself to my party mean of that the chap kept on in and instead of asking for some men and taking up his own position till i got angry and the began on the other side of the village then i said for god s sake be quiet and sit down where you are if you see anybody come out of the village shoot at him knew he couldn t hit a at a yard then i took my men over the garden over the y know somehow or other and the fun began had found the in bed under a curtain and he had taken a flying jump on to him a flying jump said is that also war yes said the infant now thoroughly warmed don t you know how you take a flying jump on to a fellow s head at school when he in the the was sleeping in a of swords and pistols and came down like through the and the net got mixed up with the pistols and the and and they all rolled on the floor together i laughed till i couldn t stand and was cursing me for not helping him so i left him to fight it out and went into the village our men were about and i by ic many inventions and so were the and in the thick of the mess some ass set fire to a house and we all had to out i on to the nearest and ran to the him in front of me he loose and bounded over the other side i came after him but when i had one leg one side and one leg the other of the i saw that the had fallen flat on s head that man had never moved from where i left him they rolled on the ground together and s went off and nearly shot me the picked himself up and ran and his after him and it caught him on the back of his head and knocked him silly you never saw anything so funny in your life i doubled up on the top of the and hung there yelling with laughter but began to weep like anything oh killed a man he said i ve killed a man and i shall never know another peaceful hour in my life is he dead oh is he dead good lord i ve killed a man i came down and said don t be a fool but he kept on shouting is he dead till i could have kicked him the was only knocked out of time with the he came to after a bit and i said are you hurt much he groaned and said no his chest was all cut with over the the white man s gun didn t do that he said i did that and i knocked the white man over just like a by ic of the wasn t it but wouldn t be happy at any price he | 39 |
said tie up his wounds hell to death oh he ll to death tie em up yourself i said if you re so anxious i can t touch him said but here s my shirt he took off his shirt and fixed the again over his bare i the shirt up and the quite he was grinning at all the time and s was lying on the ground bursting fuu of greedy i took some and offered some to how can i eat he said how can you ask me to eat his very blood is on your hands now and you re eating my all right i said i ll give em to the so i did and the little chap was quite pleased and em down like one o clock brought his hand down on the table with a that made the empty glasses dance that s art he said flat i don t tell me that happened on the spot the pupils of the infant s eyes contracted to two pin points i beg your pardon he said slowly and stiffly but i am telling this thing as it happened looked at him a moment my fault entirely said he i should have known please go on came out of what was left of the village with his prisoners and all neatly tied up by ic many inventions na was and one of the aa soon as he found the old helpless began kicking him quietly the stood it as long as he could and then groaned and we saw what was going on tied the up and gave him a half a dozen good with a to remind him to leave a prisoner alone you should have seen the old grin oh but was in a furious rage with everybody he d got a wipe over the elbow that had up his funny bone and he was with me for not having helped him with the and the net i had to explain that i couldn t do anything if you d seen em both tangled up together on the floor in one kicking you d have laughed for a week swore that the only decent man of his acquaintance was the and all the way to camp was talking to the and the was complaining about the of his bones when we got back and had had a bath the wanted to know when he was going to be hanged said he couldn t oblige him on the spot but had to send him to the went down on his knees and oflf a catalogue of his he ought to have been hanged seventeen times over by his own confession and implored to settle the business out of hand if i m sent to said he keep me in jail all my life and that is a death every time the sun gets up or the wind blows but we by ic a of the q had to send him to and of he was let off down there and given for life when i came to i went over the jail i had helped to fill it y and the old was there and he spotted me at once he begged for some first and i tried to get him some but that was against the rules then he asked me to have his sentence changed to death because he was afraid of being sent to the i couldn t do that either but i tried to cheer him and told him how things were going up and the last thing he said was give my compliments to the fat white man who jumped on me if td been awake have killed him i wrote that to next mail and and that s all i m f i ve been ly sir said nothing for a long time the infant looked uncomfortable he feared that by enthusiasm he had filled up the s time with recital of trivial anecdotes then said i can t understand why should you have seen and done all these things before you have cut your wisdom teeth don t know said the infant i haven t seen only and dead men and war and power said under his breath tou won t have any sensations left at thirty if you go on as you have done but i want to hear more tales by ic more tales i he seemed to forget that even might have engagements of their own we re thinking of dining out the lot of and going on to the empire afterwards said with hesitation he did not like to ask to come too the invitation might be regarded as near to cheek and anxious not to wag a gray beard among boys at large said nothing on his side solved the little difficulty by out won t you come too sir p almost shouted yes and while he was being helped into his coat continued to murmur heavens i at intervals in a way that the boys could not understand i don t think i ve been to the empire in my life said he what my life after all p let us go they went out with and at home because they had come to see me but had gone over to the better man which was humiliating they packed him into a cab with utmost reverence for was he not the author of aa it was i beginning and a person in whose company it was an honour to go abroad p from all i gathered later he had taken less interest in the performance before him than in their conversations and they protested with emphasis that he was as od a man as they make knew what a man was by ic a of the at almost before lie said it and yet he s so damned | 39 |
simple about things any man knows that was one of many comments at midnight they returned that they were highly respectable and that and stout were what they chiefly needed the eminent was still with them and i think he was calling them by their shorter names i am certain that he said he had been moving in worlds not and that they had shown him the empire in a new light still sore at recent neglect i answered shortly thank heaven we have within the land ten thousand as good as they and when he departed asked him what he thought of things generally he replied with another quotation to the that though singing was a remarkably fine per i was to be quite sure that few lips would be moved to song if they could find a of kissing whereby i understood that and in words was his own art and would be sorry for this in the morning by ic my lord the limb yon want your toes trod off yon d better get at for the are two by two the are two by two the are two by two an the bring the guns i ho black forty guns to and fro as big as a in tow broad beggars o room ballad the of this tale there need be no at all for it was told to me by at the back of the elephant lines one warm evening when we were taking the dogs out for exercise the twelve government rocked at their outside the big mud walled stables one arch as wide as a bridge arch to each restless beast and the were preparing the evening meal now and again some impatient would smell the cooking flour cakes and and the naked little children of the elephant lines would down the row shouting and commanding silence or reaching up would slap at the eager by d ft co by ic the tt then the feigned to be deeply interested in pouring dust upon their heads but so soon as the children passed the rocking and muttering broke out again the sunset was dying and the heaved and swayed dead black against the one sheet of rose red low down in the dusty gray sky it was at the beginning of the hot weather just after the troops had changed into their white clothes so and looked like ghosts walking through the dusk had gone off to another to buy for his last dog under suspicion of and with delicacy had put his into at the back of the furnace where they the cases tou wouldn t like little woman p said turning my over on her fat white back with his foot you re no end you are oo wouldn t take no notice o me t other day cause she was goin ome all alone in er cart eh on the box seat like a little you was now you run along an make them sick em loo little dogs herself down the and in a minute all the were kicking and and together oh you soldier men said a angrily by ic many call off your she dog she is our elephant folk beggars i said call em people same as if they was an they are too not so when you come to think of it neither returned to show that she could do it again if she liked and established herself between s knees smiling a large smile at his lawful dogs who dared not fly at her seed the battery this said he meant the newly arrived elephant battery otherwise he would have said simply guns three go to each gun and those who have not seen the big forty of position along in the wake of their gigantic team have yet something to behold the had behaved very badly on parade had been cut loose sent back to the lines in disgrace and was at that hour and out with his trunk at the end of the line a picture of blind bound bad temper his standing clear of the like blows was trying to soothe him that s the beggar that cut up on p e s must said pointing be murder in the lines soon and then per ell get loose an well ave to be turned out to shoot im same as when one o they native king s last june e will by ic the must be said from his resting place on a pile of dried he s no more than in a powerful bad bein put upon td lay my he s new to the gun team an by he hates ask the i hailed the old white bearded who was pet words on his sulky red eyed charge he is not the man replied indignantly only his honour has been touched is an elephant an ox or a mule that he should at a trace p his strength is in his peace peace my lord i it was not my fault that they thee this morning only a low caste elephant will pull a gun and is a of the it cost a year and the life of a man to break him to burden they of the put him in the gun team because one of their base bom brutes had gone lame no wonder that he was and is wrath most unusual rum said e is in a temper though s pose e got loose began to speak but checked himself and i asked the what would happen if the heel chains broke gk d knows who made he said simply in his now state he might kill you three or run at large till his rage he would not kill me except he were then by ic would he kill me before any one in the world be cause lie loves | 39 |
ran down the road i the began to investigate the the in ut an that was the me i tripped over wan of the that my had discarded they was an i got up i f t other way about an the was for the i can see his big fat back yet that he didn t dig he car on for all the world like little here at a rat hole he put his head down by my he nearly stood on ut i to down the thin he d and run round to the other ind in case the by ic my lord elephant was gone out by the an he d his trunk down the an get ut filled mud an blow ut out an an swear my he swore all down upon that an what a had to do a passed me me nowhere to go except to i in the road the rifle a an no upon the rear ind the an al all round me miles and miles there was desolation for human two legs or four for the that was an this ould on his head an above the his tail up to the sky an he to through three feet road s up his twas to behold he caught sight me alone in the wide wide world on the rifle that him he thought i was the got out he looked his feet at the an he looked at me an i to myself my son you ve been this s ark too long run for the life dear knows i wanted to tell him i was only a poor on my way to an no at all at all but he put his ears forward his thick head an i down the road the rifle my back as as a an the slack my where i made sure by ic many inventions he d take apprehension i might ha run till i i was the two straight lines the road an a man or a thousand men for the that are the like sheep in right an left marks same as said from the darkness draw a line on a little board put their little there stay so for an amen they will seed a ment i ave walk along the edge of a two foot water cut o to cross it men is sheep sheep go on but i saw his shadow the tail my eye continued the man of experiences an wheel i wheel an i wheeled tis truth that i hear the from my heels an i into the nearest compound fetched wan jump from the gate to the the house an fell over a tribe of a half caste boy at a desk all harness twas s carriage at ye know ut ould must ha wheeled abreast me for his trunk came into the like a belt in a room row before i was in the shop the an the half caste boy howled an out at the an i lone as s by ic my the wife among the harness a powerful thirsty thing is harness by reason the smell to nt i into the back room nobody bein there to invite an i f a bottle and a the first an the second i noticed bein but the fourth an the fifth good me an i begun to think scornful take the upper ground in i an be a gen yet l an that i up to the flat mud roof the house an looked over the edge the delicate ould barrel belly was in the compound to an fro a piece grass here an a weed there for all the world like our colonel that is now his wife s given him a down an he s to ease his his back was to me an by the same token i he checked in his walk wan ear forward like a deaf ould lady an ear an his out in a kind fore reaching hook thin he his ear do my deceive me as plain as print an he ye know s twas as full thin as tis now new and ould and second hand an for hire an b an and wag description thin i again an he began to study the ground beneath him his tail emotion thin he his by ic inventions round the shaft a wag an ut out an thoughtful he s not there he in the cushions his thin i again an that he lost his patience good an all same as this wan in the lines here the gun elephant was breaking into peal after peal of indignant to the disgust of the other animals who had finished their food and wished to between the we could hear him picking at his ankle ring as i was went on he behaved he let out his fore like a steam hammer bein convinced that i was in an that wag ran back among the other carriages like a field gun in charge thin he hauled ut out again an ut an by nature it came all to little pieces af ther that he went sheer damn lunatic the whole of s for the season he kicked an he and he stamped an he all at his big bald head up an down solemn as a he a new shiny an kicked ut on wan comer an ut opened out like a lily an he wan fool foot through the ut an a wheel was on his at that he got scared an by this an that he fair sat down plump among the carriages an they pricked im by ic my the till he was a in the middle the mess the was wan on top the other an off the walls an their him their wheels off i heard the sound ul on the | 39 |
an the whole firm an was me an him from the roof next door me i d taken refuge them and he he was dances the carriages the aristocracy his attention on the roof in his big white waistcoat his attention he or i ll you an the whole f am ly shouts hit him a kick soldier he s himself i for it was just the worth a man s life to go down into the compound but by way show i threw the bottle twas not full i came there at him he round from what was left the last an his head into the not three feet below me maybe twas the ness his back or the the next thing i knew was me my hands full mud an mortar all on his back an the just off the slope his head i that an on his neck my knees his big ears an we to glory out that a that crawled up my back an down my by ic many belly thin i the an i nt by the an hit him on the head twas most forlorn like the deck a a cane to stop the engines yon re sea sick bnt i till i an at last from no notice at all he began to i hit the full strength that was in me in those days an it might ha him we came back to the p forty mile an hour i never stopped him a twas by way him from the trees an me off like a the p an the road was all empty but the was on the roofs the an ould s an mine for i was my stone i heard them an he was growing more confused an to in circles i to there s in all things tis like you ve his head and you come out you ll be put under for a at that i him ow the devil did you do that might as well pat a said all manner but bein more than a little up i what the would answer to so good dog i pretty i mare i by ic lord the elephant d an at that i fetched him a the butt for to him and he still among the will no one take me off the top this i at the top my shout an i heard a man on faith an patience the other are mother glory i will i rough ride the whole an take me down ye thin a brace fat she an a came shuffling the corner the an the was ould s mother an blood kin my i they re goin to take you to my son an the child calamity put his ears forward an swung head on to those females the pluck mm af ther my on his brain pan to the heart me tm in i but i ll do what i can for ye will ye go to like a man or fight like a fool there s no that i fetched him wan last on the head an he fetched a groan an his think i to him an to they was anxious so to do i could feel the ould meditating under me at last he put his trunk straight out an gave a most the like a sigh an an by that i knew the white flag was up an the rest was no more than his s by ic inventions he s done i open left an right alongside we ll go to quiet the to me from his are yon a man or a he tm an i to set up stiff back an what i may ha set this animal off in this i the gun butt light an easy on my hip an my left hand such as behave we was on to the lines under escort all this time i was not in the li the began the they him off car tents an such like an put him to the gun team i knew he would not like ut but by token ut fair tore his heart out li wan man s meat is another s poison i twas bein put on to carry tents that was the ruin me an my heart to ould double ends he had been put upon we ll close on him here the we got to the lines all the an their was round the my pony from a mile to hear you off on to my s back he there ll be bind that crowd away i or he ll the life out i feel his ears to an do you an your she go well clear away i will get down here he s an i for all his long by my ths jew s nose an lie shall be like an man are ye tired life the a bit i but wan of lis has to win an i m opinion tis me get back i the two off an smith came to a halt dead above his own down i him on the head an down he over like a hill side rain now i down his nose an to the front him you will see the man that s than you his big head was down his big an they was twisted in sideways like a s he looked the picture an f an by this an that his big hairy was an he winked his eyes together to e from for the love god i f he was a dumb don t take ut to heart so be i an with that i rubbed his cheek an his eyes an the top his all the time now i i ll make you comfortable for the night send wan or two here i to the who was for to see | 39 |
me killed he ll rouse at the sight a man tou got clever all of a sudden said w did you come to know is funny little ways that soon by ic many said with emphasis i had conquered the beggar my son ho said between doubt and derision g on his s child an wan or two other line babies came up not bein afraid anything an some got an i washed the top his poor sore head i had done him to a turn an some the pieces carts out his hide an we scraped him an handled him all over an we put a big leaves the same that ye stick on a pony s on his head an it looked like a cap an we put a pile young sugar cane him an he began to pick at ut now i down on his fore foot we ll have a an let be i sent a child for a an the s wife she me out four fingers an the liquor came i see by the twinkle in ould s eye that he was no more a stranger to ut than me worse luck than so he his like a christian an thin i put his on chained him fore an aft to the an gave him my an back to and after i said in the pause ye can guess said there was confusion an the colonel gave me ten an the gave me five an my ny captain gave by ic lord the elephant me five an the men carried me round the did you go to said i heard a word more about the s if that s what you mane but ril the was off sudden to the holy christians hotel that night small blame to they had twenty in i to lie down an sleep ut off for i was as done an double done as him there in the lines tis no small thing to go ride me an the venerable father sin became mighty i go down to the lines i was in an spend an af him he wan stick sugar cane an me another as thick as thieves he d take all i had out my pockets an put ut back again an now an thin i d bring him beer for his an i d give him advice about bein well behaved an off the books that he the way the army an that s bein as soon as you ve made a good friend so you never saw him again i demanded do you believe the first half the affair said ill wait till comes i said except when he was carefully by the other two and the immediate money benefit explained by ic inventions the did not tell lies and i knew had a imagination there s another part still said was in that then til believe it all i answered not from any special belief in s word but from desire to learn the rest he stole a from me once when our acquaintance was new and with the little beast stifling under his overcoat denied not only the but that he ever was interested in dogs that was at the the business said years the men that had seen me do the was dead or gone home i came not to speak ut at the last i do not care to knock the face man that calls me a liar at the very the i sick like a fool i had a boot but i was all for up the and like foolishness so i finished up a hole in my heel that you ha a tent into faith how often have i preached that to since for a to to look their feet i our who knew our business as well as his own he to me in the middle the pass ut was sheer damned carelessness he how often have you that a man is no stronger than his feet his feet his feet i he now to hospital you go he for three weeks an expense to your an a by ic my the to your next time he perhaps put some the you pour down your throat an some the you put into your hair into your he faith he was a just man so soon as we come to the head the i to hospital on wan disappointment twas a field hospital all flies an native an in a way close by the head the the hospital was mad us sick for there an we was mad at bein kept an through the day an night an night an day the an horse an guns an an tents an followers the was like a coffee mill the came through scores an scores an they d turn up the hill to hospital their sick an i lay in bed my heel an the men bein out i wan night the time i was fever a man came through the tents an is there any room to die here he there s none the columns an at that he dropped dead a cot an thin the man in ut began to complain against all alone in th dust dead men thin i must ha turned mad the fever an for a week i was the saints to stop the noise the columns through the gun wheels ut was that wore my head thin ye know how his fever by ic we nodded there was no need to explain gun wheels an feet an people but mostly gun wheels twas neither night nor day to me for a week in the they d up the tent flies and we sick look at the pass an what was next horse or guns they d be sure to wan or two sick us an we d get | 39 |
news wan the fever off ay me i was the an twas just like the picture on the the men an an guns wan at a time out of a it were a said with feeling i ve fell out an been sick in the twice an turns my ain t no neither the pass give a twist at the end so everything shot out an they d built a bridge mud an dead over a at the head ut i lay an counted the gun the bridge their an out sagacious the fifth s head came round the corner an he threw up his an he fetched a an there he at the head of the a cork in a bottle faith thinks i to he will not thrust the bridge there will be trouble my said i was be ind that up to my stock in dust trouble by ic mt low the elephant tell on then little man i only saw the hospital end ay knocked the ashes ont of his pipe as heaved the dogs aside and went on we was escort to them three companies of ns he said was our major an onr orders was to roll np anything we come across in the an it out t other end sort o pop gun see we d rolled up a lot o lazy beggars o native followers an some supplies that was for ever ly an all the s of a dozen things what ought to ave bin at the front weeks ago an he to us you re most sweeps e for s sake e do a little now so we s me ow we did sweep em along there was a full ment be ind us most anxious to get on they was an they on to us with the colonel s compliments and what in ell was we the way for please oh they was particular polite i so was e sent em back f or an e give us f or an we give the guns f or an they give the for an the give first class for to the native followers an on we d go again till we was stuck an the pass ud be for a mile an a we t no nor no seats to our an our coats an our was in the carts so as we might ha been by ic inventions cut up any minute an we was work that was it was on the road i i was close up at the of the column when we saw the end of the out ahead of us an i the door s open boys oo ll to the ry i then i saw is in is eye an straight on propped beggar he an the be ind end o that old was through the dusk like a old moon made d then we all a block one o the other an right at the back o the guns there sails in a lot o silly what the was in charge of aw y as if they was at the gardens an our men most awful the dust was that up you couldn t see your and an the more we it em on the the more their drivers an by it was at yer before you knew where you was an that s be ind end stuck in the pass good an tight an no one knew for thing we ad to do was to fight they i wasn t goin to be eat by no bull so i up my with one and on a rock an it away with my belt at every nose i saw above me then the fell back an they ad to fight to keep the rear guard an the native followers from into them an the rear by ic my lord the elephant guard ad to send down the to warn the other ment that we was blocked i the in front that the wouldn t cross the bridge an i saw about through the du t like a worm in a then our companies got tired o an begun to mark time an some goat struck up make room for r uncle after that you couldn t neither see nor breathe nor ear an there we was to the end of a elephant that don t care for tunes i sung too i couldn t do else they was the bridge in front all for the sake of the by an by a caught me by the throat an choked the sing out of me so i caught the next man i could see by the throat an choked the sing out of im what s the between being choked by an officer and being hit i asked remembering a little affair in which s honour had been injured by his lieutenant one s a lark an one s a insult said besides we was on service an no one cares what an does then s long as e gets our an don t get us unusual cut up after that we got quiet an i say that e d court martial the lot of us soon as we was out of the then we give three cheers for an three more for the an the s be ind end was in the pass so we cheered thai by ic many then they said the bridge had been strengthened an we give three cheers for the bridge but the wouldn t move a not then we cheered im again an that was comer man at all the sing songs e died on the way down began to give a lecture on the be ind ends of an e tried to keep is face for a minute but lord you couldn t do such when was the fool an whether e | 39 |
t ave leave to rent a villa an raise is orphan children in the e couldn t get ome no more then up come a mounted like a fool too from the ment at the back with some more of his colonel s pretty little compliments an what was this delay please we sung im there s another row downstairs till is bolted an then we give im three cheers an e was goin to write to tlie times about the awful state o the streets in the s be ind end was in the pass all the time at last one o the came to an some thing oh lord j don t know the beggar s visiting list i ll give im another ten minutes an then i ll shoot im things was pretty in the so we all listened e wants to see a friend out loud to the men an e is forehead an sat down on a gun tail i leave it to you to judge ow the ment by ic mt lord the elephant that s all right we three cheers for s friend we why didn t you say so at first f pass the word for old s wife and such like some o the men they didn t laugh they took it same as if it might have been a introduction like they knew about then we all run forward over the guns an in an out among the legs lord i wonder the companies wasn t an the next thing i saw was ere like a sheet o wet paper down the a i i might ha e d be at the bottom of any cat s trick i now you tell your end i lay be the same as you did little man to the noises an the i heard an the doctor get out this my sick your jokes about an another man all angry tis a joke that is two thousand men in the that son sin a an or the for him that he wants to see a friend an hell not lift hand or till he finds him i m wore out an to him an his hide s as full o bay net as a net holes an i m here dear to ask if any one sick or well or alive or dead knows an i m not mad he on a box medical comforts tis my by ic many inventions an tis my mother lie that would at me for the father all fools to day does any wan here know an we sick was all quiet now you ve had your answer the doctor go away on i in my cot an i did not know my own voice i m by way bein an i that s delirium the doctor see what you ve done lie down man he me to get up tis not i i rode him round he will not ha forgotten i his head a rifle mad as a the doctor an thin he felt my head it s he man he if you go d you know either kill or cure what do i care i if i m mad tis better dead faith that s sound enough the doctor you ve no fever on come on the we re all mad to day an the are their dinner he put his arm round me an i came into the sun the hills an the rocks big giddy seventeen years have i been in the army the an the days are not by ic my the they ll be us more pay next he the brute knows you ould was like all i came up an i heard forty million men up the he knows him thin the big came round me an i was nigh fainting weakness are you well i him the name he answered to in the lines my son are you well i for i am not at that he again till the pass rang to ut an the other it up thin i got a little strength back down i an put me up but touch me for i am not good he was on his knees in a an he me up as gentle as a girl go on now my son i you re the road he fetched wan more joyous an swung grand out the head the his gun gear on his back an at the back him there the most shout i heard an thin i felt my head an a mighty sweat out on me an was taller an taller to me on his back an i foolish like an weak all round an about take me down i or fall the next i was in my cot again limp as a rag but cured of the fever an the as empty as the back my hand they d all gone up to the front an ten days later i up by ic too blocked an an entire corps what do you think ut p i ll wait till i see repeated ah m here said a shadow from among the shadows t tale too is it true ay true as t has f yo t let t to do wi her by ic one view of the question from son of in the red service of his the of which is in the northern borders of and orderly to his this to ud din son of ud din n in the service of the a minister much ed from thai place which they call the club in the town of london under the shadow of the em press it is written between brother and chosen brother be no long of love and sincerity heart speaks naked to hearty and the head answers for all glory and honour on thy house till | 39 |
the ending of the years and a tent in the borders of paradise my in regard to that for which i was despatched follows the account i have purchased for the and paid sixty pounds in every hundred the things he most desired thus two of the great coloured tiger dogs male and female by d k co by ic many w their being written upon paper and silver their necks for the greater pleasure i send them at once by the steamer in charge of a man who will render account of them at to the there they are the best of all dogs in this place of guns i have bought five two silver in the stock with gold about the hammer both double hard striking in velvet and red leather three of but lacking a pump gun that fires fourteen times this when the drives pig a double shell gun for tiger and that is a miracle of and a piece no lighter than a feather with green and blue by the thousand also a very small rifle for that yet would a man at four hundred paces the harness with the golden for the coach is not yet complete by reason of the difficulty of the red velvet into leather but the two horse harness and the great saddle with the golden that is state use have been put with into a tin box and i have signed it with my ring of the case of women s tools and for the hair and beard of the and the and all that was wanted by the women behind the curtains i have no knowledge they are matters of long coming and the hawk bells and with the golden are as much delayed as by ic one view of the question they bead this in the s ear and speak of my diligence and zeal that may not be by absence and keep the eye of npon that dog without teeth for by thy aid and voice and what i have done in regard to the guns i look as thou for the of the army of that one desires it also and i have heard that the have ye done then with the drinking of wine in your house my brother or has become a of brandy i would not that drink should end him but the well mixed draught leads to madness consider and now in regard to this land of the follows that thou hast demanded god is my witness that i have to understand all that i saw and a little of what i heard my words and are those of truth yet it may be that i write of nothing but lies since the first wonder and bewilderment of my beholding is gone we note the jewels in the but later the on the i see clearly that this town london which is as large as all is accursed being dark and devoid of sun and full of low bom who are perpetually drunk and howl in the streets like men and women together at nightfall it is the custom of countless thousands of women to descend into the by ic many inventions streets and sweep them roaring making and demanding liquor at the hour of this attack it is the custom of the to take their wives and children to the and the places of entertainment evil and good thus home together as do from the pools at i have never seen any sight like this sight in all the world and i doubt that a double is to be found on the hither side of the gates of hell touching the mystery of their craft it is an ancient one but the in herds being men and women and cry aloud to their that it is not there the said women i at the doors without moreover upon the day when they go to prayer the drink places are only opened when the are shut as who should dam the river for friday only therefore the men and women being forced to accomplish their desires in the shorter space become the more furiously drunk and roll in the together they are there regarded by those going to pray further and for visible sign that the place is forgotten of there falls upon certain days without warning a cold darkness whereby the sun s light is altogether cut off from all the city and the people male and female and the drivers of the and howl in this pit at high noon none seeing the other the air being filled with the smoke of hell and pitch as it is they die speedily with and by ic view of the question are buried in the dark this is a terror beyond the pen but by my hand i write of what i have seen i it is not true that the worship one as do we of the faith or that the differences in their creed be like those now running between and i am but a fighting man and no caring as thou as much for as but i have spoken to many people of the nature of their one there is who is the head of the i and he is worshipped by men in blood red clothes who shout and become without sense another is an image before whom they bum candles and incense in just such a place as i have seen when i went to to buy for the yet a third has naked facing a great assembly of dead to him they sing chiefly and for others there is a woman who was the mother of the great prophet that was before the common folk have no god but worship those who may speak to them hanging from the lamps in the street the most wise people worship | 39 |
themselves and such things as they have made with their mouths and their hands and this is to be found among the barren women of whom there are many thou wilt not believe this my brother nor did i when i was first told but now it is nothing to me by ic many inventions so greatly has the foot of travel let out the holes of be but thou wilt say what matter to us whether s beard or s be the longer speak what thou of the accomplishment of desire would that thou here to talk face to face to walk abroad with me and learn with this people it is a matter of heaven and hell whether s beard and s or differ but by a hair thou the system of their it is this certain men themselves go about and speak to the low bom the the leather workers and the cloth and the women saying give us leave by your favour to speak for you in the council securing that permission by large promises they return to the council place and sitting some six hundred together speak at random each for himself and his own ball of low bom the and of the must ever beg money at their hands for unless more than a half of the six hundred be of one heart towards the spending of the neither horse can be shod rifle loaded or man clothed throughout the land remember this very continually the six hundred are above the above the of india above the head cf the army and every other power that thou hast ever known because they hold the they are divided into two the one per by ic one view of the question abuse at the other and bidding the low bom and rebel against all that the other may devise for government except that they sit and so call each other liar dog and without fear even under the shadow of the s throne they are at bitter war which is without any end they pit lie against lie till the low bom and common folk grow drunk with lies and in their turn begin to lie and refuse to pay the further they divide their women into bands and send them into this fight with yellow flowers in their hands and since the belief of a woman is but her lover s belief ed of judgment very many wild words are added well said the slave girl to m in the pages of the son of oppression and the sword fast thy breath slowly bat at last if they desire a thing they declare that it is true if they desire it not though that were death itself they cry aloud it has never been thus their talk is the talk of children and like children they snatch at what they not considering whether it be their own or another s and in their when the army of has come to the of dispute and there is no more talk left on either side they dividing count heads and the will of that side which has the larger number of heads makes that law but the side run speedily among the common people and bid them on that by ic many q law and the thereof follows slaughter by night of men and the slaughter of cattle and to women they do not cut off the noses of women but they crop their hair and scrape the flesh with pins then those ones of the council stand up before the judges wiping their mouths and making oath they say before we are free from did we say heave that stone out of that road and kill that one and no other so they are not made shorter by the head because they said only here are stones and yonder is such a fellow obeying the law which is no law because we do not desire it read this in the s ear and ask him if he remembers that season when the refused not because they could not pay but because they judged the extreme i and thou went out with the all one day and the black raised the so that there was hardly any need of firing and no man was slain but this land is at secret war and veiled killing in five years of peace they have slain within their own borders and of their own kin more men than would have fallen had the ball of been left to the of the army and yet there is no hope of peace for soon the sides again divide and then they will cause to be slain more men and in the fields and so much for that matter which is to our advantage there is a better thing by ic one view of the question to be told and one tending to the accomplishment of desire read here with a fresh mind after sleep i write as i understand above all this war without honour lies that which i find hard to put into writing and thou i am of the pen i will ride the of inability sideways at the wall of expression the earth is sick and sour with the much handling of man as a ground under cattle and the air is sick too upon the ground they have laid in this town as it were the boards of a stable and through these boards between a thousand thousand houses the rank of the earth sweat through to the air that returns them to their breeding place for the smoke of their cooking fires keeps all in as the cover the of the sheep and in like manner there is a green sickness among the people and especially among the six hundred men who talk neither winter nor autumn that malady of the soul i have | 39 |
seen it among women in our own country and in boys not yet blooded to the sword but i have never seen so much thereof before through the peculiar operation of this air the people honour and question all authority not as men question but as girls with in the back when the back is turned and if one cries in the streets there has been an injustice they take him by ic inventions not to make complaint to those appointed but all who pass drinking his words fly to the house of the accused and write evil things of him his wives and his daughters for they take no thought to the weighing of evidence but are as women and with one hand they beat their who guard the streets and with the other beat the for that beating and fine them when they have in all things made light of the state they cry to the state for help and it is given so that the next time they will cry more such as are oppressed riot through the streets bearing that hold four days labour and a week s bread in cost and toil and when neither horse nor foot can pass by they are satisfied others receiving wages refuse to work till they get more and the priests help them and also men of the six hundred for where rebellion is one of those men will come as a to a dead and priests and men together declare that it is right because these will not work that no others may attempt in this manner they have so confused the and the of the ships that come to this town that in sending the s guns and harness i saw fit to send the cases by the train to another ship that sailed from another place there is now no certainty in any sending but who the merchants the door of well being on the city and the army and ye know what sa by ic one view op the how may the merchant westward fare when he hears the tale of the there y no man can keep faith because he cannot tell how his will go they have made the servant greater than the master for that he is the servant not reckoning that each is under to the appointed task that is a thing to be put aside in the cupboard of the mind further the misery and the common folk of whom the earth s bosom is weary has so wrought upon the minds of certain people who have never slept under fear nor seen the flat edge of the sword on the heads of a mob that they cry out let us everything that is and altogether labour with our bare hands their hands in that employ would at the second stroke and i have seen for all their at the agonies of others that they no whit of soft living the common folk or indeed the minds of men they strong drink of words such as they themselves use to empty and that wine of soul the persons stand all day long at the door of the drink places to the number of very many thousands the people of small give them words or attempt in schools to turn them into or of whom there be more than enough yet they have not the wisdom to look at the hands of the taught whereon a by ic many man s craft and that of his father is written by and necessity they believe that the son of a shall drive a straight and the do plaster work they take no thought in the of generosity which is as the closed fingers of a water palm therefore the rough timber of a very great army through the of their streets if the government which is to day and to morrow changes spent on these hopeless ones some money to clothe and i should not write what i write but these people despise the trade of arms and rest content with the memory of old battles the women and the talking men them thou wilt say why speak continually of women and fools i answer by the of the heart the fools sit among the six hundred and the women sway their hast thou forgotten when the order came across the seas that out the armies of the english with us so that soldiers fell sick by the hundred where but ten had before p that was the work of not more than twenty of the men and some fifty of the barren women i have seen three or four of them male and female and they triumph openly in the name of their god because three of the white troops are not this is to our advantage because the sword with the spot breaks over the of the enemy but if they thus tear by ic one view of the their own flesh and blood ere their madness be risen to its height what will they do when the moon is full seeing that power lay in the hands of the six hundred and not in the or elsewhere i have throughout my stay sought the shadow of those among them who talk most and most they lead the common folk and receive permission of their good will it is the desire of some of these men indeed of almost as many as caused the of the english army that our lands and should accurately resemble those of the english upon this very day may god the of folly forbid i myself am accounted a show among them and of us and ours they know naught some calling me and others and using towards me in ignorance slave talk and expressions of great some of them are but the greater part are low bom waving their | 39 |
arms high without dignity slack in the mouth eyed and as i have said swayed by the wind of a woman s cloak now this is a tale but two days old there was a company at meat and a high woman spoke to me in the face of the men of the of our it was her ignorance that made each word an edged insult remembering this i held my peace till she had spoken a new law as to the by ic control of our s and of all who are behind the curtains then i hast thou ever felt the life stir under thy heart or laid a little son between thy breasts o most unhappy she hotly with a haggard eye no for i am a free woman and no servant of then i god deal lightly with thee my sister for thou art in heavier bondage than any slave and the fuller half of the earth is hidden from thee the first ten years of the life of a man are his mother s and from the dusk to the dawn surely the wife may command the husband is it a great thing to stand back in the waking hours while the men go abroad by thy hands on the then she wondered that a heathen should speak thus yet she is a woman honoured among these men and openly that she hath no profession of faith in her mouth read this in the ear of the and demand how it would fare with me if i brought such a woman for his use it were worse than that yellow desert bred girl from who set the girls to fighting for her own pleasure and the young prince across the mouth thou in truth the fountain head of power is with long standing still these men and women would make of all india a cake and would fain leave the mark of the fingers upon it and they have power and the control of the by ic one view of the question and that is why i am so particular in description they have power over au india of what they speak they understand nothing for the low born s soul is bounded by his field and he not the connection of from pole to pole they boast openly that the and the others are their servants when the masters are mad what shall the servants do some hold that all war is sin and death the greatest fear under god others declare with the prophet that it is evil to drink to which teaching their streets bear evident witness and others there are specially the low bom who that all dominion is wicked and of the sword accursed these protested to me making as it were an apology that their kin should hold and hoping that some day they would withdraw knowing well the breed of white man in our borders i would have laughed but f remembering that these had i in the counting of heads yet others cry aloud against the of under the rule to this i assent remembering the yearly mercy of the when the of the ers come through the com and the women s go into the melting pot but i am no good speaker thai i the duty of the boys from hill with an eastern from and like these moving among fools represent by ic selves as the sons of some one being beggar taught offspring of grain of bottles and money as thou now we of owe naught save friendship to the english who took us by the sword and having taken us let us go assuring the s succession for all time but these base bom having won their learning through the mercy of the government attired in english clothes the faith of their fathers for gain spread rumour and debate against the government and are therefore very dear to certain of the six hundred i have heard these cattle speak as princes and rulers of men and i have laughed but not altogether once it happened that a son of some grain bag sat with me at meat who was arrayed and speaking after the manner of the english at each he committed against the salt that he had eaten the men and women when he had oppression and invented wrong together with the of his gods he demanded in the name of his people the government of all our land and turning laid palm to my shoulder saying here is one who is with us he another faith he will bear out my words this he delivered in english and as it were exhibited me to that company preserving a smiling countenance i answered iu our own tongue take away that by ic one view of the question without a father or the folly of these folk shall not save thee nor my silence guard thy reputation sit off herd and in their speech i said he speaks truth when the favour and wisdom of the english allows us yet a little larger share in the burden and the reward the will deal with the he alone saw what was in my heart i was merciful towards him because he was our desires but remember that his father is one in lay thy hand upon his shoulder if ever chance sends it is not good that bottle and should the sons of princes i walk abroad sometimes with the man that all the world may know the and are one but when we come to the streets i bid him walk behind me and that is sufficient honour and why did i eat dirt thus my brother it seems to my heart which has almost burst in the consideration of these matters the and the beggar taught boys know well that the power to govern | 39 |
comes neither from the nor the head of the army but from the hands of the six hundred in this town and peculiarly those who talk most they will therefore yearly address themselves more and more to that protection and working on the green sickness of the land as has ever been their custom will in time cause through the perpetually by ic many inventions interference of the six hundred the hand of the indian government to become so that no measure nor order may be carried through without and argument on their part for that is the delight of the english at this hour have i the bounds of possibility no even thou must have heard that one of the six hundred having neither knowledge fear nor reverence before his eyes has made in sport a new and a written scheme for the government of and openly shows it abroad as a king might read his crowning and this man in affairs of state speaks in the council for an assemblage of makers of boots and harness and openly glories in that he has no god has either minister of the or any other raised a voice against this leather man is not his power therefore to be sought and that of his with it thou the telegraph is the servant of the six hundred and all the in india not one are the servants of the telegraph yearly too thou the beggar taught will hold that which they call their first at one place and then at another with rumour echoing the talk among the low bom people here and demanding that they like the six hundred control the and they will bring every point and latter over tiu of the and the by ic one view op the question and whoever hold authority and cast it at the feet of the six hundred here and certain of those word and the barren women will assent to their demands and others will weary of thus fresh confusion will be thrown into the of the even as an island near by is helped and comforted into the smothered war of which i have written then yearly as they have begun and we have seen the low bom men of the six anxious for honour will for our land and staying a little while will gather round them and before the beggar taught and these departing from their side will assuredly inform the and the fighting men for whom there is no employ that there is a change toward and a coming of help from over the seas that rumour will not grow smaller in the spreading and most of all the con when it is not under the eye of the six hundred who though they and death pretend great reverence for the law which is no law will stepping aside deliver words to the speaking as it has done already of the of and promising a new rule that is to our advantage but the flower of danger is in the seed of it thou what evil a rumour may do though in the black year when thou and i were young our standing to the english brought gain to and enlarged borders for the by ic gk gave ns land on both sides of the itself nothing is to be feared that ten could not remove but if its words too soon the minds of those waiting or of princes in idleness a flame may come before the time and since there are now many white hands to it all will return to the former condition if the flame be kept under we need have no fear because and panting the one on the other the white people here are digging their own graves the hand of the will be tied the hearts of the will be downcast and all eyes will turn to england any orders meantime keeping on the sword against the hour when the score must be made smooth by the blade it is well for us to assist and greatly the that he may get control of the and the posts we must even write to england that we be of one blood with the school men it is not long to wait by my head it is not long this people are like the great king who eaten with the of long idleness plucked off his crown and danced naked among the hills but i have not forgotten the profitable end of that tale the set him upon a horse and led him into battle presently his health returned and he caused to be on the crown though i wm t away by the king through god i returned and he added to my two great and by ic one view of the question if this people be and out by battle their sickness may go and their eyes be cleared to the necessities of things but they are now far gone in even the too long forgets how to fight and these men are i do not lie when i say that unless they are and taught with the whip they will hear and obey all that is said by the and the black men here hoping to turn our land into their own for the men of the six hundred being chiefly low bom and unused to authority desire much to exercise rule extending their arms to the sun and moon and shouting very greatly in order to hear the echo of their voices each one saying some new strange thing and parting the goods and honour of others among the that he may obtain the favour of the common folk and all this is to our advantage therefore write that they may read of gratitude and of love and the law i myself when i return will show how the dish should be dressed to | 39 |
take the taste here for it is here that we come cause to be established in a newspaper and fill it with of their papers a beggar taught may be brought from for thirty a month and if he writes in our people cannot read create further other than the of village by village and district by district them beforehand by ic many what to say according to the order of the print all these things in a book in english and send it to this place and to every man of the six hundred bid the beggar taught write in front of all that follows fast on the english plan if thou the shrine at and it is ripe the head tax and perhaps the marriage tax with great but above all things keep the s ready and in good pay even though we the with the wheat and the s women all must go softly protest thou thy love for the voice of the common people in all things and affect to despise the troops that shall be taken for a witness in this land the of the troops must be mine see that s wits go wandering over the wine but do not send him to god i am an old man but i may yet live to lead if this people be not out and regain strength we watching how the tide runs when we see that the shadow of their hand is all but lifted from must bid the demand the removal of the or set going an uneasiness to that end we must have a care neither to hurt the life of the englishmen nor the honour of their women for in that case six times the six hundred here could not hold those who remain from making the land swim we must care that they are not by the but escorted while the land is by ic one view of the question i held down with the threat of the sword if a hair of their heads fall thus we shall gain a good name and when rebellion is by as has lately befallen in a far country the english honour call it by a new name one who has been a minister of the but is now at war against the law praises it openly before the common folk so greatly are they changed since the days of and then if all go well and the who through continual checking and will have grown sick at heart see themselves abandoned by their kin for this people have allowed their greatest to die on dry sand through delay and fear of expense we may go forward this people are swayed by names a new name therefore must be given to the rule of and that the may settle among themselves and there will be many writings and oaths of love such as the little island over seas makes when it would fight more bitterly and after that the are diminished the hour comes and we must strike so that the sword is never any more questioned by the favour of god and the of the these many years contains very much plunder which we can in no way eat hurriedly there will be to our hand the a gentleman once of some in india t by ic s ing of the house of state for the shall con to do our work and must account to us for the and learn his seat in the order of things whether the kings of the west will break in to share that spoil before we have swept it altogether thou better than i but be certain that then strong hands will seek their own and it may be that the days of the king of will return if we only our desires pay due obedience to the outward appearances and the names thou the old song not called it love i bad said it were a drawn sword bat since thou spoken i believe die it is in my heart that there will remain in our land a few of returning to england these we must cherish and protect that by their skill and cunning we may hold together and preserve unity in time of war the kings will never trust a in the core of their counsels i say again that if we of the faith confide in them we shall upon our enemies is all this a dream to thee gray fox of my mother s bearing i have written of what i have seen and heard but from the same clay two men will never fashion alike nor from the same facts draw equal conclusions once more there is a green sickness upon all the people of this country they eat dirt even now to stay their by ic op the question honour and have from their and the knife of has brought down upon their heads the flapping tent flies of confusion the is they speak of her and hers in the street they despise the sword and believe that the tongue and the pen sway all the measure of their ignorance and their soft belief is greater than the measure of the wisdom of solomon the son of david all these things i have seen whom they regard as a wild beast and a spectacle by god the of intelligence if the in india could breed sons who lived so that their houses might be established i would almost fling my sword at the s feet saying let us here fight for a kingdom together thine and mine the across the water write a letter to england that we love them but would depart from their and make all clean under a new crown but the die out at the third generation in our land and it may be that i dream dreams yet not altogether | 39 |
until a white calamity of steel and the bearing of burdens the trembling for life and the hot rage of or v them if eyes not to men see befall this people our path is safe they are sick the fountain of power is a which all may and the voices of the men are by the of and the of by ic many inventions barren if through they become wise then my brother strike with and for them and later when thou and i are dead and the disease grows up again the young men bred in the school of fear and trembling and word have yet to live out their appointed span those who have fought on the side of the english may ask and receive what they choose at present seek quietly to and delay and and make of no effect in this business four score of the six hundred are our true now the pen and the ink and the hand weary together as thy eyes will weary in this reading be it known to my house that i return soon but do not speak of the hour letters without name have come to me touching my honour the honour of my house is thine if they be as i believe the work of a dismissed groom lai that ran at the tail of my wine coloured his village is beyond look to it that his tongue no longer itself on the names of those who are mine if it be otherwise put a guard upon my house till i come and especially see that no of or have entrance to the women s rooms we rise by our slaves and by our slaves we fall as it was said to all who are of my remembrance i bring gifts according to their worth i have written twice of the gift that i would cause to be given to by ic one view op the question the blessing of god and his prophet on thee and thine till the end which is appointed give me felicity by informing me of the state of thy health my head is at the feet my sword is at his left side a little above my heart follows my seal by ic the finest story in the world or t r the were gone with the old world to the i was a king in and jou were a w e his name was lie was the only son of his mother who was a widow and he lived in the north of london coming into the city every day to work in a bank he was twenty years old and suffered from aspirations i met him in a public saloon where the called him by his first name and he called the explained a little nervously that he had only come to the place to look on and since looking on at games of skill is not a cheap amusement for the young i suggested that should go back to his mother that was our first step towards better acquaintance he would call on me sometimes in the evenings instead of running about london with his fellow clerks and before long speaking of himself as a young man must he told me of his aspirations bj d go by ic the finest st b in the which were all literary he desired to make himself an name chiefly through verse though he was not above sending stories of love and death to the penny in the journals it was my fate to sit still while read me poems of many hundred lines and fragments of plays that would surely shake the world my reward was his confidence and the self revelations and troubles of a young man are almost as holy as those of a maiden had never fallen in love but was anxious to do so at the first opportunity he believed in all things good and all things honourable but at the same time was curiously careful to let me see that he knew his way about the world as a bank clerk on twenty five shillings a week he dove with love and moon with june and devoutly believed that they had never so been before the long lame in his plays he filled up with hasty words of apology and description and swept on seeing all that he intended to do so clearly that he esteemed it already done and turned to me for applause i fancy that his mother did not encourage his aspirations and i know that his writing table at home was the edge of his this he told me almost at the outset of our acquaintance when he was my and a little before i was implored to speak the truth as to his chances of writing something really great you know by ic many inventions maybe i encouraged too much for one night he called on me his eyes flaming with excitement and said do you can you let me stay here and write all this evening p i won t interrupt you i won t really there s no place for me to write in at my mother s what s the trouble p i said knowing well what that trouble was i ve a notion in my head that would make the most splendid story that was ever written do let me write it out here it s such a notion there was no resisting the appeal i set him a table he hardly thanked me but plunged into the work at once for half an hour the pen scratched without stopping then sighed and his hair the scratching grew slower there were more and at last ceased the finest story in the world would not come forth it looks such awful rot now he said mournfully and yet it seemed so good when i was | 39 |
thinking about it what s wrong i could not him by saying the truth so i answered perhaps you don t feel in the mood for writing yes i except when i look at this i bead me what you ve done i said he read and it was wondrous bad and he i at all the specially es expecting a little by ic the finest ik thb approval for he was proud of those sentences as i knew he would be it needs i suggested cautiously i hate cutting my things down i don t think you could alter a word here without the sense it reads better aloud than when i was writing it you re suffering from an alarming disease a numerous class put the thing by and tackle it again in a week i want to do it at once what do you think of it how can i judge from a half written tale tell me the story as it lies in your head told and in the telling there was everything that his ignorance had so carefully prevented from escaping into the written word i looked at him wondering whether it were possible that he did not know the originality the power of the notion that had come in his way it was distinctly a notion among notions men had been puffed up with pride by ideas not a as excellent and practicable but on serenely interrupting the current of pure fancy with of horrible sentences that he to use i heard him out to the end it would be folly to allow his thought to remain in his own hands when i could do so much with it not all that could be done indeed but oh so much by ic what do you think he said at last i fancy i shall call it the story of a ship i think the idea is pretty good but you won t be able to handle it for ever so long now i would it be of any use to you p would you care to take it p i should be proud said promptly there are few things sweeter in this world than the hot headed open admiration of a junior even a woman in her devotion does not fall into the gait of the man she her bonnet to the angle at which he wears his hat or her speech with his pet oaths and did all these things still it was necessary to my conscience before i possessed myself of s thought let s make a bargain ill give you a for the notion i said became a bank clerk at once oh that s impossible between two you know if i may call you so and speaking as a man of the world i couldn t take the notion if it s any use to you i ve heaps more he had none knew this better than i but they were the notions of other men look at it as a matter of between men of the world i returned five pounds will buy you any number of poetry books business is business and you may be sure i shouldn t give that price by ic the t bt in the hi oh if you put it way said visibly by the thought of the books the bargain was with an agreement that he should at intervals come to me with all the notions that he possessed should have a table of his own to write at and right to inflict upon me all his poems and fragments of poems then i said now tell me how you came by this idea it came by itself s eyes opened a little yes but you told me a great deal about the hero that you must have read before somewhere i haven t any time for reading except when you let me sit here and on sundays i m on my or down the river all day there s nothing wrong about the hero is there tell me again and i shall understand clearly you say that your hero went how did he live he was on the lower deck of this ship thing that i was telling you about what sort of ship p it was the kind rowed with oars and the sea through the oar holes and the men row sitting up to their knees in water then there s a bench running down between the two lines of oars and an with a whip walks up and down the bench to make the men work how do yo i know that p by ic it s in the there s a rope running over head to the upper deck for the to catch hold of when the ship rolls when the the rope once and falls among the remember the hero laughs at him and gets licked for it he s chained to his oar of course the hero how is he chained with an iron band round his waist fixed to the bench he sits on and a sort of on his left wrist him to the oar he s on the lower deck where the worst men are sent and the only light comes from the and through the oar holes can t you imagine the sunlight just through between the handle and the hole and about as the ship rolls i can but i can t imagine your imagining it how could it be any other way now you listen to me the long oars on the upper deck are managed by four men to each bench the lower ones by three and the lowest of all by two remember it s quite dark on the lowest deck and all the men there go mad when a man dies at his oar on that deck he isn t thrown overboard but cut | 39 |
my head tenderly between both hands to make certain that it was not coming off or turning round then but there seemed to be no interval between leaving my rooms and finding myself arguing with a policeman outside a door marked private in a corridor of the british museum all i demanded as politely as possible was the greek antiquity man the policeman knew nothing except the rules of the museum and it became necessary to through all the houses and offices inside the gates an elderly gentleman called away from his lunch put an end to my search by holding the between finger and thumb and at it scornfully what does this h mm said he so far as i can ascertain it is an attempt to write extremely corrupt greek on the part here he glared at me with intention of an extremely person he read slowly from the paper four names familiar to me by ic us inventions can you tell me what the corruption is to the of the thing i asked i have many times overcome with weariness in this particular employment that is the meaning he returned me the paper and i fled without a word of thanks explanation or apology i might have been excused for forgetting much to me of all men had been given the chance to write the most marvellous tale in the world nothing less than the story of a greek slave as told by himself small wonder that his dreaming had seemed real to the that are so careful to shut the doors of each successive life behind us had in this case been and was looking though that he did not know where never man had been permitted to look with full knowledge since time began above all he was absolutely ignorant of the knowledge sold to me for five pounds and he would retain that ignorance for bank clerks do not understand and a sound commercial education does not include greek he would supply here i among the dumb gods of egypt and laughed in their battered with material to make my tale sure o sure that the world would hail it as an impudent and fiction and i i alone would know that it was absolutely and literally true i i alone held this jewel to my hand for the cutting and therefore i danced again among the by ic thb in the world gods of the egyptian court till a policeman saw me and took steps in my direction it remained now only to encourage to talk and here there was no difficulty but i had forgotten those accursed books of poetry he came to me time after time as useless as a drunk on or knowing now what the boy had been in his past lives and desperately anxious not to lose one word of his i could not hide from him my respect and interest he both into respect for the present soul of to whom life was as new as it was to adam and interest in his he stretched my patience to breaking point by poetry not his own now but that of others i wished every english poet blotted out of the memory of mankind i the names of song because they had drawn from the path of direct narrative and would later spur him to imitate them but i choked down my impatience until the first flood of enthusiasm should have spent itself and the boy returned to his dreams what s the use of my telling you what i think when these wrote things for the angels to read he growled one evening why don t you write something like theirs i don t think you re treating me quite fairly i said speaking under strong restraint by ic i ve given you the story he said shortly into but i want the details the things i make up about that damned ship that you call a they re quite easy you can just make em up for yourself turn up the gas a little i want to go on reading i could have broken the gas globe over his head for his amazing stupidity i could indeed make up things for myself did i only know what did not know that he knew but since the doors shut behind me i could only wait his youthful pleasure and strive to keep him in good temper one minute s want of guard might spoil a revelation now and again he would toss his books aside he kept them in my rooms for his mother would have been shocked at the waste of good money had she seen them and launched into his sea dreams again i cursed all the poets of england the mind of the bank clerk had been coloured and distorted by that which he had read and the result as delivered was a confused of other voices most like the and hum through a city in the part of the day he talked of the his own had he but known it with illustrations borrowed from the bride of he pointed the experiences of his hero with from the and by ic the in the world threw in deep and desperate moral reflections from and expecting me to use them au only when the talk turned on were the cross currents dumb and i knew that was speaking the truth as he remembered it what do you think of this i said one evening as soon as i understood the medium in which his memory worked best and before he could read him nearly the whole of the of king he listened open mouthed flushed his hands on the back of the sofa where he lay till i came to the song of and the verse then the arrow taking from the | 39 |
make that fit quite he said with a puzzled look the must have gone down with all hands and yet i fancy that the hero went on living afterwards perhaps he climbed into the attacking ship i wouldn t see that of course i was dead you know he shivered slightly and protested that he could remember no more by ic many i did not press him further but to satisfy myself that he lay in ignorance of the workings of his own deliberately introduced him to c s and gave him a sketch of the plot before he opened the pages what rot it all is he said f at the end of an hour i don t understand his nonsense about the bed planet and the king and the rest of it me the again i handed him the book and wrote out as much as i could remember of his description of the appealing to him from time to time for confirmation of fact or detail he would answer without raising his eyes from the book as assuredly as though all his knowledge lay before him on the printed page i spoke under the normal key of my voice that the current might not be broken and i know that he was not aware of what he was saying for his thoughts were out on the sea with i asked when the on the how did they kill their tore up the benches and em that happened when a heavy sea was running an on the lower deck slipped from the centre plank and fell among the they choked him to death against the side of the ship with their chained hands quite quietly and it was too dark for the other to see what had happened when he asked by ic the finest in the world he was pulled down too and choked and the lower deck fought their way up deck by deck with the pieces of the broken benches behind em how they howled and what happened after that i don t know the hero went away red hair and red beard and all that was after he had captured our i think the sound of my voice irritated him and he slightly with his left hand as a man does when interruption you never told me he was red headed before or that he captured your i said after a discreet interval did not raise his eyes he was as red as a red bear said he he came from the north they said so in the when he looked for not for slaves but free men afterwards years and years afterwards news came from another ship or else he came back his lips moved in silence he was some poem before him where had he been then i was almost whispering that the sentence might come gently to whichever section of s brain that was working on my behalf to the the long and wonderful was the reply after a minute of silence by ic many to i asked from head to foot yes to he pronounced the word in a new fashion and i too saw the voice failed do you know what you have said i shouted he lifted his eyes fully roused now no he snapped i wish you d let a chap go on reading hark to this but the old sea captain he neither paused nor till the king listened and then more took up his pen and wrote down every word and to the king of the in witness of the truth raising his noble head he stretched his brown hand and said behold this tooth by jove what those must have been to go sailing all over the shop never knowing where they d fetch the land i pleaded if only be sensible for a minute or two make our hero in our tale every inch as good as wrote that i i don t care about writing things any more i want to read he was thoroughly out of tune now and raging over my own ill luck i left him by ic the finest ik the conceive yourself at the door of the world s treasure house guarded by a child an idle child playing bones on whose favour depends the gift of the key and you will imagine one half my torment till that evening had spoken nothing that might not lie within the experiences of a greek but now or there was no virtue in books he had talked of some desperate adventure of the of s sailing to which is america in the ninth or tenth century the battle in the harbour he had seen and his own death he had described but this was a much more startling plunge into the past was it possible that he had half a dozen lives and was then dimly remembering some episode of a thousand years later it was a and the worst of it was that hears in his normal condition was the last person in the world to clear it up i could only wait and watch but i went to bed that night full of the wildest there was nothing that was not possible if s detestable memory only held good i might the of as it had never been written before might tell the story of the first discovery of america myself the but i was entirely at s mercy and so long as there was a three and volume within his reach would not tell i by ic many inventions dared not curse him openly i hardly dared his memory for i was dealing with the experiences of a thousand years ago told through the mouth of a boy of to day and a boy of to day is affected by every change of tone and gust of opinion | 39 |
so that he must lie even when he most desires to speak the truth i saw no more of for nearly a week when next i met him it was in street with a bill book chained to his waist business took him over london bridge and i accompanied him he was very full of the importance of that book and it as we passed over the thames we paused to look at a steamer great of white and brown marble a drifted under the steamer s stem and a lonely ship s cow in that s face changed from the face of the bank clerk to that of an unknown though he would not have believed this a much man he flung out his arm across the of the bridge and laughing very loudly said when they heard the ran away i waited only for an instant but the and the cow had disappeared under the bows of the steamer before i answered what do you suppose are never heard of em before they sound like a by ic thb t ik thb world new kind of sea what a chap you are for asking questions he replied i have to go to the of the company yonder will you wait for me and we can lunch somewhere together i ve a notion for a poem no thanks i m off you re sure you know nothing about not he s been entered for the liverpool he nodded and disappeared in the crowd now it is written in the of the red or that of that nine hundred years ago when no s came to which had erected in the unknown land called which may or may not have been island the and the lord he knows who these may or may not have been came to trade with the and ran away because they were frightened at the of the cattle which had brought with him in the ships but what in the world could a greek slave know of that affair i wandered up and down among the streets trying to the mystery and the more i considered it the more it grew one thing only seemed certain and that certainty took away my breath for the moment if i came to full knowledge of anything at all it would not be one life of the soul in s body but half a dozen half a dozen several and separate exist by ic spent on blue water in the morning f the world then i walked round the situation obviously if i used my knowledge i should stand alone and until all men were as wise as myself that would be something but i was ungrateful it seemed bitterly that s memory should fail me when i needed it most great powers above i looked up at them through the fog did the lords of life and death know what this meant to me nothing less than eternal fame of the best kind that comes from one and is shared by one alone i would be content remembering olive i stood astounded at my own moderation with the mere right to tell one story to work out one little contribution to the light literature of the day if were permitted full recollection for one for sixty short of that had extended over a thousand years i would forego all profit and honour from all that i should make of his speech i would take no share in the commotion that would follow throughout the particular comer of the earth that calls itself the world the thing should be put forth nay i would make other men believe that they had written it they would hire bull self englishmen to it abroad would found a fresh conduct of life upon it swearing that it was new and tha by ic thb t bt in the they had lifted the fear of death from all mankind every in europe would it with and terrible women would invent of the men s belief for the elevation of their sisters churches and would war over it between the and re starting of an i foresaw the that would arise among half a dozen all the doctrine of the true as applied to the world and the new era and saw too the respectable english newspapers like frightened over the beautiful simplicity of the tale the mind leaped forward a hundred two a thousand years i saw with sorrow that men would and the story that rival would turn it down till at last the western world which to the dread of death more closely than the hope of life would set it aside as an interesting superstition and after some faith so long forgotten that it seemed altogether new upon this i changed the terms of the bargain that i would make with the lords of life and death only let me know let me write the story with sure knowledge that i wrote the truth and i would bum the manuscript as a solemn sacrifice five minutes after the last line was written i would destroy it all but i must be allowed to write it with absolute certainty by ic there was no answer the flaming colours of an caught eye and i wondered whether it would be wise or prudent to into the hands of the professional there and whether if he were under his power he would speak of his past lives if he did and if people believed him would be frightened and fluttered or made conceited by the in either case he would begin to lie through fear or vanity he was safest in my own hands they are very funny fools your english said a voice at my elbow and turning round i recognised a casual acquaintance a young law student called whose | 39 |
i know that or else if nothing happens he will become in the trade and the financial speculations like the rest it must be so you can see that it must be so but the woman will come first i think by ic the finest t by in the world there was a rap at the door and charged in he had been released from office and by the look in his eyes i could see that he had come over for a long talk most probably with poems in his pockets s poems were very but sometimes they led him to talk about the looked at him keenly for a minute i beg your pardon said uneasily i didn t know you had any one with you i am going said he drew me into the as he departed that is your man he said quickly i tell you he will never speak all you wish that is rot but he would be most good to make to see things suppose now we pretend that it was only play i had never seen so excited and pour the ink pool into his hand eh what do you think i tell you that he could see anything that a man could see let me get the ink and the he is a and he will tell us very many things he may be all you say but i m not going to trust him to your gods and devils they will not hurt him he will only feel a and dull when he wakes up ton have seen boys look into the ink pool before that is the reason why i am not going to see it any more you d better go by ic k he went far down the staircase that it was throwing away my only chance of looking into the future this left me unmoved for i was concerned for the past and no peering of boys into and ink pools would help me to that but i recognised s point of view and with it what a big black brute that was said when i returned to him well look here i ve just done a poem did it instead of playing after lunch may i read it let me read it to myself then you miss the proper expression besides you always make my things sound as if the were all wrong read it aloud then you re like the rest of em mouthed me his poem and it was not much worse than the average of his verses he had been reading his books faithfully but he was not pleased when i told him that i preferred my with then we began to go through the ms line by line every objection and with yes that may be better but you don t catch what i m driving at was in one way at least very like one kind of poet by ic thb in the there was a pencil at the back of the paper and what s that i said oh that s not poetry at all it s some rot i wrote last night before i went to bed and it was too bother to hunt for so i made it a sort of blank verse instead here is s blank verse we for yoa when the wind was against us and the sails were low wiu you never we ate bread and when took towns or ran aboard quickly when you were beaten back by the foe the captains walked up and down the deck in fair weather singing songs but we were below we fainted with our on the oars and you did not see that we were idle for we still swung to and fro wiu you never the salt made the oar handles like skin our knees were cut to the bone with salt cracks our hair was stuck to our and our lips were cut to our and you whipped us because we could not row wiu you never but in a little time we shall run out of the as the water runs along the oar blade and though you tell the others to row after us you will never catch us till you catch the oar and tie up the winds in the belly of the sail t wiu you never h m what s oar the water washed up by the oars that s the sort of song they might sing in the y know aren t yon ever going to finish that story and give me some of the profits it depends on yourself if you had only told by ic me more about your hero in the first instance it might have been finished by now you re so in your notions i only want to give you the general notion of it the knocking about from place to place and the fighting and all that can t you fill in the rest yourself make the hero save a girl on a and marry her or do something you re a really i suppose the hero went through some few adventures before he married well then make him a very artful a low sort of a sort of political man who went about making and breaking them a black haired chap who hid behind the mast when the fighting began but you said the other day that he was i couldn t have make him black haired of course you ve no imagination seeing that i had just discovered the entire principles upon which our half memory called imagination is based i felt entitled to laugh but for the sake of the t le you re right the man with imagination a black haired chap in a ship i said no an open like a big boat this was by ic the j st | 39 |
t bt ik the your ship has been built and designed closed and in you said so yourself i protested no no not that ship that was open or because by jove you re right you made me think of the hero as a red haired chap of course if he were red the ship would be an open one with painted sails surely i thought he would remember now that he had served in two at least in a one under the black haired political man and again in a s open sea serpent under the man red as a red bear who went to my devil prompted me to speak why of course said i i don t know are you making fun of me the current was broken for the time being i took up a note book and pretended to make many in it it s a pleasure to work with an imaginative chap like yourself i said af t r a pause the way that you ve brought out the character of the hero is simply do you think so p he answered with a pleased flush i often tell myself that there s more in me than my than people think there s an enormous amount in you then won t you let me send an essay on the ways of bank clerks to tu and get the guinea prize by ic that wasn t exactly what i meant old fellow perhaps it would be better to wait a little and go ahead with the story ah but i get the credit of that tu would publish my name and address if i what are you grinning at they i know it suppose you go for a walk i want to look through my notes about our story now this youth who left me a little hurt and put back might for aught he or i knew have been one of the crew of the had been certainly slave or comrade to ne therefore he was deeply interested in guinea remembering what had said i laughed aloud the lords of life and death would never allow to speak with full knowledge of his and i must even piece out what he had told me with my own poor inventions while wrote of the ways of i got together and placed on one file all my notes and the net result was not cheering i read them a second time there was nothing that might not have been at second hand from other people s books except perhaps the story of the fight in the harbour the adventures of a had been written many times before the history of a slave was no new thing and though i wrote both who could challenge or confirm tiie by ic thb t bt in thb world accuracy of my details i might as well tell a tale of two thousand years hence the lords of life and death were as cunning as had hinted they would allow nothing to escape that might trouble or make easy the minds of men though i was convinced of this yet i could not leave the tale alone exaltation followed reaction not once but twenty times in the next few weeks my moods varied with the march sunlight and flying clouds by night or in the beauty of a spring morning i perceived that i could write that tale and shift thereby in the wet windy i saw that the tale might indeed be written but would be nothing more than a false sham piece of street work at the end then i blessed in many though it was no fault of his he seemed to be busy with prize and i saw less and less of him as the weeks went by and the earth cracked and grew ripe to spring and the swelled in their he did not care to read or talk of what he had read and there was a new ring of self assertion in his voice i hardly cared to remind him of the when we met but alluded to it on every occasion always as a story from which money was to be made i think i deserve twenty five per cent don t i at least he said with beautiful frankness i au the ideas didn t i by ic inventions this for silver was a new side in his nature i assumed that it had been developed in the city where was picking up the curious of the city man when the thing s done we ll talk about it i can t make anything of it at present bed haired or black haired hero are equally difficult he was sitting by the fire staring at the red coals i can t understand what you find so difficult it s all as clear as mud to me he replied a jet of gas puffed out between the bars took light and whistled softly suppose we take the red haired hero s adventures first from the time that he came south to my and captured it and sailed to the i knew better now than to interrupt i was out of reach of pen and paper and dared not move to get them lest i should break the current the gas jet puffed and s voice dropped almost to a whisper and he told a tale of the sailing of an open to of on the open sea seen under the curve of the one sail evening after evening when the s was into the centre of the sinking and we sailed by that for we had no other guide he spoke of a landing on an island and in its woods where the crew killed three men whom they found asleep under the pines their ghosts said followed the swimming and choking in the water and the crew cast by | 39 |
ic the finest in the lots and threw one of their number overboard as a sacrifice to the strange gods whom they had offended then they ate sea weed when their provisions failed and their legs swelled and their leader the red haired man killed two who and after a year spent among the woods they set sail for their own country and a wind that never failed carried them back so safely that they all slept at night this and much more told sometimes the voice fell so low that i could not catch the words though every nerve was on the strain he spoke of their leader the red haired man as a pagan speaks of his for it was he who cheered them and them as he thought best for their needs and it was he who them for three days among floating ice each crowded with strange beasts that tried to sail with us said and we beat them back with the handles of the oars the gas jet went out a burnt coal gave way and the fire settled with a tiny crash to the bottom of the grate ceased speaking and i said no word by jove he said at last shaking his head been staring at the fire till i m dizzy what was i going to say something about the book i remember now it s a quarter of the profits isn t it it s you like when i ve done the tale by ic k i wanted to be sure of that i go now i ve i ve an appointment and he left me had not my eyes been held i might have known that that broken muttering over the fire was the swan song of but i thought it the to fuller revelation at last and at last i should cheat the lords of life and death i when next came to me i received him with rapture he was nervous and embarrassed but his eyes were very full of light and his lips a little parted i ve done a poem he said and then quickly it s the best i ve ever done bead it he thrust it into my hand and retreated to the window i groaned inwardly it would be the work of half an hour to that is to say the poem sufficiently to please then i had good reason to groan for his favourite had into shorter and verse and verse with a motive at the back of it this is what i read the day is most fair the cheery wind behind the hill where he the wood as good and the to his will t riot wind there is that in my blood that would not have thee still t she gave me herself earth sky gray sea she is mine alone i let the sullen hear my cry and rejoice tho they be but by ic the finest t by in the mine i have won her good brown earth make merry t tis hard on spring make merry m j lore ib doubly worth all worship your fields can bring t let the hind that yon feel my mirth at the early yes it s the early past a doubt i said with a dread at my heart smiled but did not answer red cloud of the sunset tell it abroad i am victor greet me sun dominant master and absolute lord oyer the soul of one well said looking over my shoulder i thought it far from well and very evil indeed when he silently laid a photograph on the paper the photograph of a girl with a curly head and a foolish slack mouth isn t it isn t it wonderful he whispered pink to the tips of his ears wrapped in the rosy mystery of first love i didn t know i didn t it came like a tes it comes like a are you very happy my gk d she loves me he sat down repeating the last words to himself i looked at the face the narrow shoulders already bowed by desk work and wondered when where and how he had loved in his past lives what will your mother say i asked cheerfully by ic i don t care a damn what she says at twenty the things for which one does not care a damn should properly be many but one must not include mothers in the list i told him this gently and he described her even as adam must have described to the newly named beasts the glory and tenderness and beauty of eve incidentally i learned that she was a s assistant with a weakness for pretty dress and had told him four or five times already that she had never been kissed by a man before spoke on and on and on while i from him by thousands of years was considering the of things now i understood why the lords of life and death shut the doors so carefully behind us it is that we may not remember our first and most beautiful were it not so our world would be without inhabitants in a hundred years now about that story i said still more cheerfully in a pause in the rush of the speech looked up as though he had been hit the what gk od heavens don t joke man i this is serious you don t know how serious it is was right had tasted the love of woman that remembrance and the finest story in the world would never be written by ic his private honour thb autumn of for the old r had just been as usual they were said to be the worst that had ever come from the looked them over scornfully and immediately reported himself very sick is it the regular autumn fever f | 39 |
said the doctor who knew something of s your temperature s normal tis a hundred and thirty seven to the bad i m not very sick now but i will be dead if these boys are thrown at me in my condition doctor dear you was in charge of three an gk to hospital then you old said the doctor laughing himself into a blue was away attending to a major s lady who preferred without a to anybody else with a hundred put a pipe in his teeth and the hospital balcony to be a father to the new bj h by ic many inventions they re mostly your own sort little man he said with a grin the top spit them they re more like something they will be an that s a good soldier like me indignantly he knew as well as what the coming work meant and he thought s conduct mean then he strolled off to look at the new cattle who were staring at the landscape with large eyes and asking if the were and the dogs well you are a holy set of faced beggars you are he said to a knot in the square then running his eye over them fish an is about your sort if they haven t sent some pink eyed jews too you chap with the greasy ed which o the was your father moses my name s said a voice sullenly h all right an how many o the likes o you are to spoil b company there is no scorn so complete as that of the old soldier for the new it is right that this should be so a must learn first that he is not a man but a thing which in time and by the mercy of heaven may develop into a soldier of the queen if it takes care and to good s was his cap one eye and his hands were by ic his private d his back as lie walked round growing more contemptuous at each step the did not dare to answer for they were new boys in a strange school who had called themselves soldiers at the in comfortable england not a single pair o shoulders in the whole lot ive seen some bad in my time some bad but this ere beats any ever known come an look at these ham beggars was walking across the square he arrived slowly round the knot as a whale circles round a of small said nothing and went away whistling yes you may well look to the boys it s the likes of you breaks the of the likes of us we ve got to you into shape and never a ha penny do we get for so and you ain t never grateful neither don t you go it s the colonel nor yet the company that makes you it s me you you a company officer had come up behind at the end of this you may be right he said quietly but i shouldn t shout it the grinned as saluted and some days afterwards i was privileged to look over the new and they were everything that by ic had said and more b company had been by forty or fifty of them and b company s on i was a sight to shudder at asked them lovingly whether they had not been sent out by mistake and whether they had not better post themselves back to their friends them one by one without haste but without and the older soldiers took the from and went over them in their own fashion stayed in hospital and grinned from the balcony when called him a and other worse names by the grace god well men them yet said one day be an me son there s the s in that mob if we only go deep enough a belt replied dancing with rage i just like you and your we s ere s b company like a drunk ment so i ve been was the answer from on high but i m too sick this tide to make certain an you you fat tin and up there among the an the n the port wine you ve forgot the port wine it s none so bad his lips and we re wore oft our feet with these ere by ic his private come out o that an earn your pay come on down outer tliat an do stead o up there like a jew monkey you f when i m better my various complaints have a little private you in the mean while duck flung an empty medicine bottle at s head and dropped into a long chair and came to tell me his opinion of three times over each time entirely varying all the words be a one o these days he concluded well it s none o my fault but it s ard on b company it was very hard on b company for twenty men cannot push twice that number of fools into their places and keep their own places at the same time the should have been more distributed through the regiment but it seemed good to the colonel to mass them in a company where there was a large proportion of old soldiers he found his reward early one morning when the was advancing by companies in from the right the order was given to form company squares which are compact little bricks of men very unpleasant for a line of charging cavalry to deal with b company was on the left flank and had ample time to know what was by ic many going on for tliat reason it gathered itself into a thing like a decayed the pointing anywhere in general and nowhere in particular and in that or | 39 |
mob it stayed till the dust had gone down and the colonel could see and speak he did both and the speaking part was admitted by the regiment to be the finest thing that the old man had ever risen to since one delightful day at a sham fight when a cavalry division had occasion to walk over his line of he said almost weeping that he had given no order for groups and that he preferred to see a little dressing among the men occasionally he then for having mistaken b company for men he said that they were but weak little children and that since he could not offer them each a and a this may sound comic to read but b company heard it by word of mouth and s the best thing for them to do would be to go back to to that end he proposed sending them out of their turn to garrison duty in fort five miles away d company were next for this detestable duty and nearly cheered the colonel there he devoutly hoped that their own would them to death as they were of no use in this their present life it was an exceedingly painful scene and i made to be near b company when parade by ic his private honour was dismissed and the men were free to talk there was no talking at first because each old soldier took a new and kicked him very severely the officers had neither eyes nor ears for these accidents they left the to themselves and improved the occasion by a speech i did not hear that speech but fragments of it were quoted for weeks afterwards it covered the birth and education of every man in the company by name it gave a complete account of fort from a and social point of view and it wound up with an abstract of the whole duty of a soldier each his use in life and s views on the use and fate of the of b company tou can t you can t walk you can t shoot you you awful s the good of you you eats and you sleeps and you eats and you goes to the doctor for medicine when your is out o order for all the world as if you was an now you ve it all you eyed beggars with getting us out to that fort we ll fort you when we get out there yes an we ll you too don t you think you ve come into the to drink an your ny an lie on your an scratch your fat heads you can do that at ome matches which is all you re fit for you penny toy baggage by ic backed se pre spoke you as fair as i know ow and you give good cause if stops gets out o when we re in the fort i lay your lives will be trouble to you that was s and it caused b company to be the boot black with this disgrace on their slack shoulders they went to garrison duty at fort under three officers who were under instructions to twist their little tails the army unlike every other profession cannot be taught through shilling books first a man must suffer then he must learn his work and the self respect that that knowledge brings the learning is hard in a land where our army is not a red thing that walks down the street to be looked at but a living reality liable to be needed at the shortest notice when there is no time to say hadn t you better and won t you please the company officers divided themselves into three when the captain was wearied he gave over to and when was hoarse he ordered the junior to bucket the men through and company till could go on again out of parade hours the old soldiers spoke to the as old meant which means pigs by ic his private soldiers will and between the four forces at work on them the new began to stand on their feet and feel that they belonged to a good and honorable service this was proved by their once or twice s es drop it now lad said coming to the rescue th are biting back they re none so rotten as we looked for ho yes you think yourself soldiers now cause you don t fall over each other on p don t you you think cause the dirt don t cake you week s end to week s end that you re clean men you think cause you can fire your rifle without more nor both eyes you re something to fight don t you know later on said to the room generally not but what you re a little better than you was he added with a gracious wave of his it was in this transition stage that i came across the new once more their officers in the zeal of youth forgetting that the old soldiers who the sections must suffer equally with the raw material under had made all a little stale and with continuous in the square instead of marching the men into the open and supplying them with the month of garrison duty in the fort was nearly at an end and b company were quite fit for a regiment to with they had no by ic many inventions style or spring that would come in time but as far as they went they were i met one day and inquired after their health he told me that young was putting a polish on a half company of them in a great square by the east of the fort that afternoon because the day was saturday i went to taste the full beauty of leisure in watching | 39 |
and dressed immediately opposite my resting place s face was perfectly the man was a dark red and i could see his lips moving in wicked words he was i after seven years service and three he had been struck by a boy younger than himself further he was my friend and a good man a proved man and an englishman the shame of the thing made me as hot as it made cold and if had slipped in a and cleared the account at once i should have rejoiced the fact that of all men had been struck proved that the boy could not have known whom he was but he should have remembered that he was no longer a boy and then i was sorry for him and then i was angry again and stared in front of him and grew and the halted for a moment no one knew why for not three men could have seen the insult the wheel being end on to at the time then by ic his honour led i conceived by the hand of fate the captain crossed the ground and his eye was caught by not more than a square foot of gray shirt over a shoulder blade that should have been covered by well fitting heavens and earth he said crossing in three strides do you let your men come on parade in rags sir what s that scare crow doing here fall out that flank man what do you mean by you of all men i what the deuce do you mean beg y pardon sir said i scratched it against the guard gate running up to parade scratched it it up you mean it s half oflf your ba ck it was a little tear at first sir but in arms it got stretched sir an an i can t look behind me i felt it sir hm said i should think you did feel it give i thought it was one of the new you ve a good pair of shoulders on he turned to go stepped after him very white and said something in a low voice hey what what the voice dropped i saw salute say something and stand at attention dismiss said the men were dismissed i can t make this out you say he nodded at who said something again by ic stood still the torn of his falling nearly to his waist belt he had as said a good pair of shoulders and himself on the fit of his beg y pardon sir i heard him say but i think lieutenant has been in the sun too long he don t quite remember things sir i come on p with a bit of a and it spread sir through arms as i have said sir looked from one face to the other and i suppose drew his own conclusions f or he told to go with the other men who were hack to then he spoke to and went away leaving the boy in the middle of the parade ground with his sword knot he looked up saw me lying on the gun and came to me biting the back of his forefinger completely thrown off his balance that he had not sense enough to keep his trouble to himself i say you saw that i suppose he jerked his head back to the square where the dust left by the departing men was settling down in white circles i did i answered for i was not feeling polite what the devil ought i to do he bit his finger again i told what i had done i hit him i m perfectly aware of that i said and i don t has forgotten it already ye es but fm dashed if i know what i ought by ic private to do exchange into another company i i can t ask the man to exchange i suppose hey the suggestion showed the of proper sense but he should not have come to me or any one else for help it was his own affair and i told him so he seemed and began to talk of the possibilities of being at this point the spirit moved me on behalf of the to paint him a beautiful picture of his in the scheme of creation he had a papa and a mamma seven thousand miles away and perhaps some friends they would feel his disgrace but no one else would care a penny he would be only lieutenant of the old regiment dismissed the queen s service for conduct an officer and a gentleman the commander in chief who would confirm the orders of the would not know who he was his mess would not speak of him he would return to if he had money enough to go home more alone than when he had come out finally i rounded the sketch with precision he was only one tiny of red in the vast gray field of the indian empire he must work this crisis out alone and no one could help him and no one this was because i cared immensely he had spoken the truth to on the spot whether he pulled through it or did not pull through it at last his face set and his figure by ic many thanks quite enough i don t want to hear any more he said in a dry grating voice and went to his own quarters spoke to me afterwards and asked me some absurd questions as to whether i had seen cut the coat off s hack i knew that jagged of silver would do its work well but i contrived to impress on the completeness the wonderful completeness of my from that i began to tell him all about my dreams for the new army in india and he left me i could | 39 |
not see for some days but learned that when he returned to his fellows he had told the story of the blow in vivid language the jew then asserted that it was not good enough to live in a regiment where you were off your feet and knocked about like a dog the remark was a perfectly innocent one and exactly with s expressed opinions yet had called an jew had accused him of kicking women on the head in london and howling under the cat had him as a a barn door cock from one end of the room to the other and finally had heaved every single article in s and roll into the and the outer dirt kicking every time that the bewildered creature stooped to pick anything up by ic his my could not account for this but it seemed to me that was working oflf his temper had heard the story in hospital first his face clouded then he and then he laughed i suggested that he had better return to active duty but he saw it in another light and told me that was quite capable of looking after himself and his own affairs an if i did come out said like as not i would be young by the his an an example him before the men came back i would be under court martial an all for the sake a little bit a that ll make an yet what s he goin to do do ye know which said i i ve no fear for the mom tho if ut had come to me but it could not have so come i d ha made him cut his on his own sword i don t think he knows himself what he means to do i said i should not wonder said there s a before a young man he s done wrong an knows ut an is how to put ut right give the word from me to our little man there that if he had ha told on his i d ha come out to fort to kick him into the fort an that s a f f ut drop t by ic many was not in good condition to talk to he wandered up and down with brooding far as i could see over his lost honour and using as i could hear language would nod and spit and smoke and nod again and he must have been a great comfort to almost as great a comfort as whom if the jew opened his mouth in the most casual remark would plunge down it with all arms and while the room stared and wondered had retired into himself to i saw him now and again and he avoided me because i had witnessed his shame and spoken my mind on it he seemed dull and moody and found his anything but pleasant to the men did their work and gave him very little trouble but just when they should have been feeling their feet and showing that they felt them by spring and swing and snap the died out and it was only with war game blocks there is a beautiful little ripple in a well made line of men exactly like the play of a perfectly tempered sword s half company moved as a moves and would have broken as easily i was whether had sent money to which would have been bad or had to him in private which would have been worse or had decided to let the whole affair slide by ic his which would have been worst of all when orders came to me to leave the station for a while i had not spoken directly to for his honour was not my honour and he was its only guardian and he would not say anything except bad words i went away and from time to time thought a great deal of that and that private in fort and wondered what would be the of everything when i returned it was early spring b company had been shifted from the fort to regular duty in the roses were getting ready to bud on the and the regiment which had been at a camp of exercise among other things was going through its spring course under an who had a notion that its shooting average was low he had stirred up the company officers and they had bought extra for their men the government allowance is just sufficient to foul the and e company which counted many was and offering to challenge all the other companies and the third class shots were very sorry that they had ever been bom and all the were a rich ripe from sitting at the six or eight hours a day i went off to the after breakfast very full of curiosity to see how the new had come forward was there with his men by the bald by ic many inventions that marks the six hundred yards range and the men were in gray green that shows the best points of a soldier and shades off into every background he may stand against before i was in hearing distance i could see as they on the dusty grass or stood up and shook themselves that they were men made over again wearing their with the cock of self possession swinging easily and jumping to the word of command coming nearer i heard whistling between his teeth as he looked down the range with his and the back of lieutenant was the back of a free man and an he nodded as i came up and i heard him fling an order to a officer in a sure and certain voice the flag ran up from the and flung himself down on his stomach to put in his ten shots he winked at me over | 39 |
the block as he settled himself with the air of a man who has to go through tricks for the benefit of children watch you men said to the behind he s half your weight but he isn t afraid of his rifle had his little and pet ways as the rest of us have he weighed his rifle gave it a little kick up down again and across the ground that was beginning to dance in the miss said a man behind by ic ms private too much background in front muttered i should allow two feet for said fired again made his outer crept in found the bull and stayed there the non officer off the shots can t make out ow i missed that first he said rising and stepping back to my side as took his place is it company practice i asked no only just about ten for second class shots i m outer it of course but i come on to show em the proper style o things looks like a sea lion at the an down there don t e what a butt this end of im would make b company has come up very well i said they ad to they re none so dusty now are they even e can shoot sometimes we re on as well as can be expected thank you how do you get on with oh im there s wrong with im was it all settled then t told you i should say it waa e s a gentleman e is by ic let s hear i said all over tucked his rifle across liis knees and repeated a gentleman e s an officer too you saw all that mess in fort t none o my fault as you can guess only some goat in the judged it was behaviour or something to play the fool on p that s why we so bad when e it me i was so took i couldn t do nothing an when i wished for to knock im down the wheel ad gone on an i was f you there on the guns after the captain had come up an was me about my bein tore i saw the young beggar s eye an fore i could myself i begun to lie like a good un you that it was quite but my i was in a then he said to the captain i struck im i e an i whistle an then i come out with a new set o lies all about arms an ow the such as you i done that too before i knew where i was then i give what for in when he was dismissed you should ha seen is by the time i d finished with it it was all over the fort then me an went off to in five mile walk an i was mad e it was court for me if i it im back e ha well i to under the balcony i what in ell am i to do i told by ic his im all about the row same as you saw e like a old up there in an e you ain t to blame e i d you suppose i ve come ere five mile in the sun to take blame i i want that young beggar s hide took off i ain t a i i m a private of the queen an as good a man as e is i for all is commission an is airs an is money i what a fool you were i interrupted being neither a nor an american but a free man had no excuse for that s exactly what said i wonder you see it the same way so pat if e t been to you e to me you ought to have more sense e at your time of life what differ do it make to you e whether e as a commission or no commission that s none o your affair it s between man an man e if e a general s commission moreover e you don t look about on your ind legs like that take him away then e went inside an that s all i got outer e as slow as a march in slow time e that young beggar didn t go for to it you i don t give a damn whether e did or e didn t it me e did i then you ve only got to report to what d yer take me f or i as i was so mad i nearly it an he got by ic many nt ns me by the neck an my into a bucket o water in the cook an then we went back to the fort an i give a little more trouble with is e to me i haven t been without back well you re goin to be now i an i give im one or two for an im very polite to it back but he didn t i d ha killed im if e ad that done me a lot o good e didn t make no show for some days not till after you was gone an i was f sick an miserable an didn t know what i wanted to black his little eyes good i e might send me some money for my then i d ha ad it out with him on p and took my chance was in still you see an e wouldn t give me no advice the day after you left come across me carrying a bucket on fatigue an e to me very quiet you ve got to come out with me e i felt like to the bucket in is eye but i didn t i got | 39 |
ready to go instead oh e s a gentleman we went out together neither to the other till we was well out into the beyond the river with grass all round pretty near that place where i went oflf my with you then e puts his gun down and very quietly i struck you on p e yes sir i you did i ve been studying it out by myself e oh you ave by ic ms ave you i to myself an a nice time been about it you faced little beggar yes sir l what made you screen me e i don t know i an no more i did nor do i can t ask you to exchange e an i don t want to exchange myself e what s now i thinks to myself yes sir i he looked at the grass all about an e to himself more than to me i ve got to go through it alone by myself e looked so queer for a minute that s me i thought the little beggar was going to pray then he turned round again an e what do you think yourself e i don t quite see what you mean sir i what would you like e an i thought for a minute e was goin to give me money but e run is and up to the top button of is coat an it thank you sir i i d like that very well i an both our coats was oflf an put down i i shouted don t make a noise on the said from the shooting place it puts the men oflf i and went on our coats was oflf an e are you ready e come on then i come on a bit uncertain at first but he took me one under the chin that warmed me up i wanted to mark the little beggar an i hit high but he went an me over the heart like a good one he wasn t so strong as me by ic but e knew more an in about two minutes i time e steps back we was in then come on when you re ready e and when i had my wind i come on again an i got im one on the nose that painted is little aristocratic white shirt for im that fetched im an i knew it quicker nor he come all round me goin steady for my heart i held on all i could an split is ear but then i began to an the game was up i come in to feel if i could throw im an e got me one on the mouth that me an look ere i raised the left comer of his upper lip an eye tooth was wanting e stood over me an e have you ad enough e thank you i ave i he took my and an pulled me up an i was pretty shook now e i ll for you it was all my fault e an it wasn t meant for you i that sir i an there s no need for no apology then it s a accident e an you must let me pay for the coat else be stopped out o your pay i wouldn t ha took the money before but i did then e give me ten enough to pay for a coat twice over an we went down to the river to wash our faces which was well marked his was special then he to the water out of is mouth i wonder if i done right e yes sir i by ic his no fear about that it s all well for yon e bnt what the company your i sir i i don t think the ny will give no trouble then we went an when we come back i was f as as a an i took an rolled up an down the an give out to the ny that the difficulty between me and lieutenant was put a stop to i told o course an didn t say nothing but e you re a pair you two an i don t know which was the better man there ain t wrong with e s a gentleman all over an e s come on as much as b ny i lay e d lose is commission tho if it come out that e d been with a private ho ho all an afternoon with a private like me i what do you think he added brushing the of his rifle i think what the said at the sham fight both sides deserve great credit but i wish you d tell me what made you save him in the first place i was pretty sure that e t meant it for me though that wouldn t ha made no difference if e d been for it an e was that young too it wouldn t ha been fair besides if i had ha done that i d ha missed the fight and i d ha felt bad all my time don t you see it that way sir p by ic it was your right to get him if yon chose i insisted my right answered with deep scorn my right i ain t a to go about my rights to this an my rights to that as if i couldn t look after myself my rights a mighty i m a man the last were finishing their shots in a storm of low withdrew to a little distance in order to leave the men at ease and i saw his face in the full sunlight for a moment before he up his sword got his men together and marched them back to it all right the boy was by ic a matter | 39 |
of fact and if ye doubt the tale i tell steer through the south pacific swell go where the coral strife of endless lives where about the boat the rainbow fill and and where the the on all her fingers where his the sea egg down the rock an orange wonder dimly guessed from darkness where the rest o er the darker that hide the blind white sea snake and his bride who nose the long lost ships let down through darkness to their lips thi palms a priest always a priest once a al ways a but once a always and f o ever a there were three of ns all newspaper men the only passengers on a little tramp steamer that ran where her owners told her to go she had once been in the iron ore business had been lent to the spanish government for service at and was ending her days in the cape town trade ck by by ic many inventions with occasional to and even as far as england we found her going to in and in her because the were there was of an american paper on his way back to the states from palace in there was a half called who owned and a paper up country and there was myself who had solemnly put away all to forget that i had ever known the difference between an and a advertisement three minutes after spoke to me as the cleared cape town i had forgotten the al x i desired to and was in heated dis on the of beyond a certain fixed point then came out of his state room and we were all at home instantly because we were men of the same profession no introduction we the boat formally broke open the passengers bath room door on the lines the do not wash cleaned out the orange and cigar ends at the bottom of the bath hired a to us throughout the voyage and then asked each other s names three ordinary men would have quarrelled through sheer before they reached we by virtue of our craft were anything but ordinary men a large of the tales by ic a of fact of the worlds the thirty nine that cannot be told to ladies and the one that can are common property coming of a common stock we told them all as a matter of form with all their local and specific which are surprising then came in the intervals of steady card play more personal histories of adventure and things seen and reported among white folk when the blind terror ran from man to man on the bridge and the people crushed each other to death they knew not why fires and faces that opened and shut their mouths horribly at red hot window frames in frost and snow reported from the rescue at the risk of frost bite long rides after diamond thieves on the and in with the glimpses of lazy tangled cape politics and the mule rule in the card tales horse tales woman tales by the score and the half hundred till the first mate who had seen more than us all put together but lacked words to clothe his tales with sat far into the dawn when the tales were done we picked up cards till a curious hand or a chance remark made one or other of us say that reminds me of a man who or a business which and the anecdotes would continue while the kicked her way northward through the warm water in the morning of one specially warm night by ic we three were sitting immediately in front of the wheel house where an old whom we called the was at the wheel pretending that he could not hear oar once or twice spun the curiously and lifted his head from a long chair to ask what is it can t you get any pull on her there is a feel in the water said that i cannot understand i think that we run or she bad this morning nobody seems to know the laws that govern the pulse of the big waters sometimes even a can tell that the solid ocean is a and that the ship is working herself up a long unseen slope and sometimes the captain says when neither full steam nor fair wind justify the length of a day s run that the ship is but how these and downs come about has not yet been settled no it is a following sea said and with a following sea you shall not get good way the sea was as smooth as a duck pond except for a regular swell as i looked over the side to see where it might be following us from the sun rose in a perfectly clear sky and struck the water with its light so sharply that it seemed as though the sea should like a th by ic a of wake of the screw and the little white streak cut by the log line hanging over the stem were the only marks on the water as far as eye could rolled out of his chair and went aft to get a pine apple from the stock that were inside the after the log line has got tired of swimming it s coming home he what said his voice jumping several home leaning over the stem i ran to his side and saw the log line which till then had been drawn tense over the stem rail ing and come up off the port quarter called up the speaking to the bridge and the bridge answered yes nine knots then spoke again and the answer was what do you want of the and call him up by this time and myself had caught something of s excitement for any emotion on is most | 39 |
the captain ran out of his cabin spoke to looked at the log line jumped on the bridge and in a minute we felt the steamer swing as turned her going back to cape town said did not answer but tore away at the wheel then he beckoned us three to help and w by ic many held the wheel down till the answered it and we found ourselves looking into the white of our own wake with the still sea tearing past our bows though we were not going more than half steam ahead the captain stretched out his arm from the bridge and shouted a minute later i would have given a great deal to have shouted too for one half of the sea seemed to shoulder itself above the other half and came on in the shape of a hill there was neither crest comb nor curl over to it nothing but black water with little waves chasing each other about the i saw it stream past and on a level with the s bow plates before the steamer made up her mind to rise and i argued that this would be the last of all earthly voyages for me then we rose for ever and ever and ever till i heard saying in my ear the of the deep good lord and the stood poised her screw racing and on the slope of a hollow that stretched downwards for a good half mile we went down that hollow nose under for the most part and the air smelt wet and muddy like that of an emptied there was a second hill to climb i saw that much but the water came aboard and carried me aft till it me against the smoking room door and before i could catch breath or clear my eyes again we were rolling to by ic a of fact and fro in torn water with the pouring like in a there were three waves said and the hold s the were on deck waiting apparently to be drowned the engineer came and dragged them below and the crew gasping began to work the clumsy board of trade pump that showed nothing serious and when i understood that the bath mines was really on the water and not beneath it i asked what had happened the captain says it was a blow up under the sea a said it hasn t warmed anything i said i was feeling bitterly cold and cold was almost unknown in those waters i went below to change my clothes and when i came up everything was wiped out by clinging white fog are there going to be any more surprises said to the captain i don t know be thankful you re alive gentlemen that s a wave thrown up by a probably the bottom of the sea has been lifted a few feet somewhere or other i can t quite this cold spell our sea says the surface water is and it should be at least if abominable said shivering but hadn t you better attend to the fog horn it seems to me that i heard something by ic many inventions heard good heavens said the captain from the bridge i should think you did he pulled the string of our fog horn which was a one it and choked because the hold was full of water and the fires were half drowned and at last gave out a moan it was answered from the fog by one of the most appalling steam i have ever heard turned as white as i did for the fog the cold fog was upon us and any man may be forgiven for fearing the death he cannot see give her steam there said the captain to the engine room steam for the whistle if we have to go dead slow we again and the damp off the to the deck as we listened for the reply it seemed to be this time but much nearer than before the by said and then well thank god we shall sink her too it s a side wheel steamer i whispered can t you hear the this time we whistled and roared till the steam gave out and the answer nearly us there was a sound of frantic in the water apparently about fifty yards away and something shot past in the whiteness that looked as though it were gray and red the bottom up said by ic a of fact who being a always sought for tions that s the colours of a castle we re in for a big thing the sea is said from the wheel house there are two another sounded on our bow and the little steamer rolled in the wash of something that had passed unseen we re evidently in the middle of a fleet said quietly if one doesn t run us down the other will what in creation is that i for there was a poisonous rank smell in the cold air a smell that i had smelt before if i was on land i should say that it was an it smells like i answered not ten thousand could make that smell said i have smelt them said the sea she is turned down and we are walking along the bottom again the rolled in the wash of some unseen ship and a silver gray wave broke over the bow leaving on the deck a sheet of the gray that has its place in the of the sea a of the wave fell on my face and it was so cold that it stung as boiling water the dead and most untouched deep water of the sea had been heaved to the top by the the still water that by ic j many n all life and smells of desolation and we did not need either the blinding fog | 39 |
or that indescribable smell of to make us unhappy we were shivering with cold and wretchedness where we stood the hot air on the cold water makes this fog said the captain it ought to clear in a little time whistle whistle and let s get out of it said the captain whistled again and far and far the invisible twin steam answered us their shriek grew louder till at last it seemed to tear out of the fog just above our quarter and i while the plunged bows under on a double swell that crossed no more said it is not good any more let us get away in the name of god now if a boat with a of paris went mad and broke her and hired a friend to help her it s just conceivable that we might be carried as we are now otherwise this thing is the last words died on s lips his eyes began to start from his head and his jaw fell some six or seven feet above the port framed in fog and as utterly as the full moon hung a face it was not human and it certainly was not animal for it did not belong to this earth as known to man the mouth was open by ic a matter of fact a tiny u absurd as the tongue of an elephant there were tense wrinkles of white skin at the angles of the drawn lips white like those of a sprang from the lower jaw and there was no sign of teeth within the mouth but the horror of the face lay in the eyes for those were white in as white as scraped bone and blind yet for all this the face wrinkled as the mask of a lion is drawn in was alive with rage and terror one long white touched our then the face disappeared with the swiftness of a blind worm into its and the next thing that i remember is my own voice in my own ears saying gravely to the but the air ought to have been forced out of its mouth you know came up to me white he put his hand into his t took a cigar bit it dropped it thrust his shaking thumb into his mouth and the giant and the a a light i say a light a little bead of blood dropped from his i respected the motive though the was absurd stop you ll bite your thumb off i said and laughed as he picked up his cigar only leaning over the port seemed self possessed he declared later that he was very sick by ic inventions we ve seen it he said turning round that ib it what said the cigar as he spoke the fog was blown into and we saw the sea gray with mud rolling on every side of us and empty of all life then in one spot it and became like the pot of that the bible speaks of from that wide trouble a thing came up a gray and red thing with a neck a thing that and in pain drew in his breath and held it till the red letters of the ship s name woven across his and opened out as though they had been type badly set then he said with a little in his throat ah me it is blind that thing is blind and a murmur of pity went through us all for we could see that the thing on the water was blind and in pain something had and cut the great sides cruelly and the blood was out the gray of the sea lay in the monstrous wrinkles of the back and poured away in the blind white head flung back and battered the wounds and the body in its torment rose clear of the red and gray waves till we saw a pair of quivering shoulders with weed and rough with shells but as white in the clear spaces as the nameless blind head afterwards came a dot on the horizon and the sound by ic a op fact of a shrill scream and it was as though a shot all across the sea in one breath and a second head and neck tore through the driving a whispering wall of water to right and left the two things met the one untouched and the other in its death male and female we said the female coming to the male she round him and laid her neck across the curve of his great back and he disappeared under water for an instant but flung up again in agony while the blood ran once the entire head and neck shot clear of the water and and i heard saying as though he was watching a street accident give him air for god s sake give him air then the death struggle began with and and of the white bulk to and fro till our little steamer rolled again and each gray wave her plates with the gray the sun was clear there was no wind and we watched the whole crew and all in wonder and pity but chiefly pity the thing was so helpless and save for his mate so alone no human eye should have beheld him it was monstrous and to exhibit him there in trade waters between degrees of latitude he had been up and dying from his rest on the sea floor where he might have lived till the judgment day and we saw the tides of his life go from him as an angry tide out across rocks in the teeth of a by ic many gale the mate lay rocking on the water a little distance off continually and the smell of came down upon the ship making us cough at last the battle for life ended | 39 |
in a of coloured seas we saw the neck fall like a the turn sideways showing the of a white belly and the of a gigantic hind leg or then all sank and sea boiled over it while the mate swam round and round darting her blind head in every direction though we might have feared that she would attack the steamer no power on earth could have drawn any one of us from our places that hour we watched holding our the mate paused in her search we could hear the wash beating along her sides reared her neck as high as she could reach blind and lonely in all that loneliness of the sea and sent one desperate across the as an shell across a pond then she made off to the westward the sun shining on the white head and the wake behind it till nothing was left to see but a little pin point of silver on the horizon we stood on our course again and the with the sea from bow to stem looked like a ship made gray with terror we must pool our notes was the first remark from we re three trained journal by ic a of fact we hold absolutely the biggest on record start fair i objected to this nothing is gained by in when all deal with the same facts so we went to work each according to his own lights triple headed his account talked about our gallant captain and wound up with an allusion to american enterprise in that it was a citizen of that had seen the sea serpent this sort of thing would have the creation much more a mere sea tale but as a specimen of the picture writing of a half people it was very interesting took a heavy column and a half giving and and the whole list of the crew e had sworn on oath to testify to his facts there was nothing fantastic or in i wrote three quarters of a column roughly speaking and refrained from putting any into it for reasons that had begun to appear to me was insolent with joy he was going to cable from to the new york world mail his account to america on the same day london with his three columns of loosely and generally the earth see how i work a big when i get it he said is this your first visit to england i asked yes said he you don t seem to appreciate the by ic many beauty of our it s the death of the sea serpent d heavens alive man the biggest thing ever vouchsafed to a paper curious to think that it will never appear in any paper isn t it i said was near me and he nodded quickly what do you mean said k you re enough of a to throw this thing away i sha n t i thought you were a newspaper man i am why i know don t be an ass remember i m seven hundred years your senior and what your may learn five hundred years hence i learned from my about five hundred years ago you won t do it because you can t this conversation was held in open sea where everything seems possible some hundred miles from we passed the needles light at dawn and the lifting day showed the on the green and the awful of england line upon line wall upon wall solid stone dock and pier we waited an hour in the shed and there was ample time for the effect to in now you face the music the ha goes out to day mail by her and take you to the telegraph office i said i heard gasp as the influence of the land about him him as they say by ic a of fact heath cows a young horse to open country i want to my suppose we wait till we get to london he said by the way had torn up his account and thrown it overboard that morning early his reasons were my reasons in the train began to his copy and every time that he looked at the trim little fields the red and the of the line the blue pencil plunged through the slips he appeared to have the dictionary for ad i could think of none that he had not used yet he was a perfectly sound player and never showed more cards than were sufficient to take the pool aren t you going to leave him a single i asked remember everything goes in the states from a button to a double eagle that s just the curse of it said below his breath we ve played em for so often that when it comes to the golden truth i d like to try this on a london paper you have first call there though not in the least i m not touching the thing in the papers i shall be happy to leave em all to you but surely cable it home no not if i can make the here and see the sit by ic you won t do it with three column of believe me they don t sit up as quickly as some people i m beginning to think that too does nothing make any in this country he said looking out of the window how old is that new it can t be more than two hundred years at the most um fields too that hedge there must have been for about eighty years labour cheap eh pretty much well i suppose you d like to try the times wouldn t you no said looking at cathedral might as well try to a hay and to think that the world would take three columns and ask for with illustrations too | 39 |
it s sickening but the times might i began flung his paper across the carriage and it opened in its austere majesty of solid type opened with the of an might you work your way through the bow plates of a look at that first page it strikes you that way does it i said then i d recommend you to try a light and frivolous by ic a of fact with a thing like this of of ours it s sacred history i i showed him a paper which i conceived would be after his own hearty in that it was on american lines that s he said but it s not the real thing now i should like one of these fat old times columns probably there d be a bishop in the office though when we reached london disappeared in the direction of the strand what his experiences may have been i cannot tell but it seems that he invaded the office of an evening paper at a m i told him english were most idle at that hour and mentioned my name as that of a witness to the truth of his story i was nearly fired out he said furiously at lunch as soon as i mentioned you the old man said that i was to tell you that they didn t want any more of your practical jokes and that you knew the hours to call if you had anything to sell and that they d see you condemned before they helped to one of your infernal in advance say what record do you hold for truth in this city anyway a beauty you ran up against it that s all why don t you leave the english papers alone and cable to new york everything goes over there can t you see that s just why he repeated by ic inventions i saw it a long time ago you don t intend to cable then yes i do he answered in the over emphatic voice of one who does not know his own mind that afternoon i walked him abroad and about over the streets that run between the like channels of and over the bridges that are made of enduring stone through and sided with yard thick between houses that are never and by river steps to the eye from the living rock a black fog chased us into westminster abbey and standing there in the darkness i could hear the wings of the dead centuries round the head of a of u s a whose mission it was to make the sit up he stumbled gasping into the thick gloom and the roar of the traffic came to his bewildered ears let s go to the telegraph office and cable i said can t you hear the new york world crying for news of the great sea serpent blind white and smelling of stricken to death by a assisted by his loving wife to die in as by an american citizen a newspaper man of for the state step lively both gates ah was a man and he seemed to need encouragement by a of fact you ve got me on your own ground said he at his overcoat pocket he pulled out his copy with the cable forms f or he had written out his and put them all into my hand groaning i pass if i hadn t come to your cursed if sent it off at if i ever get you west of the if never mind it isn t your fault it s the fault of your country if you had been seven hundred years older you d have done what i m going to do what are you going to do tell it as a ue fiction this with the full blooded disgust of a for the branch of the profession you can call it that if you like i shall call it a ke and a lie it has become for truth is a naked lady and if by accident she is drawn up from the bottom of the sea it a gentleman either to give her a print or to turn hia face to the wall and vow that he did not see by ic the lost when the indian broke out and a little time before the siege of a regiment of native irregular horse was stationed at on the frontier of india that regiment caught what john called at the time the and would have thrown in its lot with the had it been allowed to do so the chance never came for as the regiment swept down south it was headed off by a remnant of an english corps into the hills of and there the newly conquered turned against it as wolves turn against buck it was hunted for the sake of its arms and from hill to hill from to up and down the dried beds of rivers and round the shoulders of till it disappeared as water sinks in the sand this rebel regiment the only trace left of its existence to day is a roll drawn up in neat round hand and by an officer who called himself late irregular cavalry the paper is yellow with years and dirt but on the back bj by ic the lost of it you can still read a pencil note by john to this effect see that the two native officers who remained loyal are not deprived of their estates j l of six hundred and fifty only two stood strain and john in the midst of all the agony of the first months of the found time to think about their merits that was more than thirty years ago and the across the border who helped to the regiment are now old men sometimes a speaks of his share in the they came | 39 |
he will say across the border very proud calling upon us to rise and kill the english and go down to the sack of we who had just been conquered by the same english knew that they were over bold and that the government could account easily for those down country dogs this regiment therefore we treated with fair words and kept standing in one place till the came after them very hot and angry then this regiment ran forward a little more into our hills to avoid the wrath of the english and we lay upon their watching from the sides of the hills till we were well assured that their path was lost behind them then we came down for we desired their clothes and their and their and their boots more especially their boots that was a great killing done slowly here the old man will rub his nose and shake his long by ic d locks and his bearded lips and grin till the yellow tooth show tea we killed them because we needed their gear and we knew that their lives had been to on account of their the sin of treachery to the salt which they had eaten they rode up and down the valleys stumbling and rocking in their and howling for mercy we drove them slowly like cattle till they were all assembled in one place the wide valley of sheer many had died from want of water but there still were many left and they could not make any stand we went among them pulling them down with our hands two at a time and our boys killed them who were new to the sword my share of the plunder was such and such so many guns and so many the guns were good in those days now we steal the government and despise smooth barrels tes beyond doubt we wiped that regiment from off the face of the earth and even the memory of the deed is now dying but men say at this point the tale would stop abruptly and it was impossible to find out what men said across the border the were always a race and vastly preferred doing something wicked to saying anything at all they would be quiet and well behaved for months till one night without word or warning they would rush a police post cut the throats of a or two dash through a by ic the lost carry away three or four women and withdraw in the red glare of burning driving the cattle and before them to their own desolate hills the indian government would become almost tearful on these occasions first it would say please be good and well forgive you the tribe concerned in the latest would put its thumb to its nose and answer rudely then the government would say hadn t you better pay up a little money for those few you left behind you the other night here the tribe would and lie and bully and some of the younger men merely to show contempt of authority would another police post and fire into some frontier mud fort and if lucky kill a real english officer then the government would say observe if you really persist in this line of conduct you will be hurt if the tribe knew exactly what was going on in india it would or be rude according as it learned whether the government was busy with other things or able to devote its full attention to their performances some of the tribes knew to one corpse how far to go others became excited lost their heads and told the government to come on with sorrow and tears and one eye on the british at home who insisted on regarding these exercises as brutal wars of the government would prepare an expensive little field and some guns and send all up by ic many into the hills to chase the wicked tribe out of the valleys where the com grew into the hill tops where there was nothing to eat the tribe would turn out in full strength and enjoy the campaign for they knew that their women would never be touched that their would be nursed not and that as soon as each man s bag of com was spent they could surrender and with the english general as though they had been a real enemy afterwards years afterwards they would pay the blood money by to the government and tell their children how they had slain the by thousands the only to this kind of war was the weakness of the for solemnly blowing up with powder their fortified towers and keeps this the tribes always considered mean chief among the leaders of the smaller tribes the little who knew to a penny the expense of moving white troops against them was a chief whom we will call the his enthusiasm for border murder as an art was almost dignified he would cut down a mail from pure or a mud fort with rifle fire when he knew that our men needed to sleep in his leisure moments he would go on circuit among his neighbours and try to other tribes to also he kept a kind of hotel for fellow in his own village which by ic the lost lay in a called any respectable murderer on that section of the frontier was sure to lie up at for it was reckoned an exceedingly safe place the sole entry to it ran through a narrow which could be converted into a in five minutes it was surrounded by high reckoned inaccessible to all save bom and here the lived in great state the head of a colony of mud and stone huts and in each mud hut hung some portion of a red uniform and the plunder of dead men the particularly wished | 39 |
for his capture and once invited him formally to come out and be hanged on account of the many in which he had taken a direct part he replied i am only twenty miles as the crow flies from your border come and fetch me some day we will come said the and hanged you will be the let the matter from his mind he knew that the patience of the was as long as a summer day but he did not that its arm was as long as a winter night months afterwards when there was peace on the border and all india was quiet the indian turned in its sleep and remembered the at with his thirteen the movement against him of one single regiment which the would have translated as war by ic inventions would have been this was a time for silence and speedy and above all absence of ton must know that all along the north west frontier of india there is spread a force of some thirty thousand foot and horse whose duty it is to quietly and shepherd the tribes in front of them they move up and down and down and up from one desolate little post to another they are ready to take the field at ten minutes notice they are always half in and half out of a difficulty somewhere along the monotonous line their lives are as hard as their own muscles and the papers never say anything about them it was from this force that the picked its men one night at a station where the mounted night fire as they challenge and the wheat rolls in great blue green waves under our cold northern moon the officers were playing in the club house when orders came to them that they were to go on parade at once for a night they grumbled and went to turn out their men a hundred english troops let us say two hundred and about a hundred cavalry of the finest native cavalry in the world when they were on the parade ground it was explained to them in whispers that they must set off at once across the hills to the english troops were to post themselves round the hills at the by ic the lost side of the valley the would command the and the death trap and the cavalry would fetch a long march round and get to the back of the circle of hills whence if there were any difficulty they could charge down on the s men but orders were very strict that there should be no fighting and no noise they were to return in the morning with every round of and the and the thirteen bound in their midst if they were successful no one would know or care anything about their work but failure meant probably a small border war in which the would pose as a popular leader against a big power instead of a common border murderer then there was silence broken only by the of the compass needles and snapping of as the heads of columns compared bearings and made for the five minutes later the parade ground was empty the green coats of the and the of the english troops had faded into the darkness and the cavalry were away in the face of a blinding what the and the english did will be seen later on the heavy work lay with the horses for they had to go far and pick their way clear of many of the were natives of that i art of the world ready and anxious to fight by ic many inventions against their kin and some of the officers had made private and excursions into those hills before they crossed the border found a dried up that walked through a stony risked crossing a low hill under cover of the darkness skirted another hill leaving their marks deep in some ground felt their way along another water course ran over the neck of a spur praying that no one would hear their horses and so worked on in the rain and the darkness till they had left and its of hills a little behind them and to the left and it was time to swing round the ascent commanding the back of was steep and they halted to draw breath in a broad level valley below the height that is to say the men up but the horses blown as they were refused to halt there was language the worse for being delivered in a whisper and you heard the in the darkness as the horses plunged the at the rear of one troop turned in his saddle and said very softly what the blessed heavens are you doing at the rear bring your men up man there was no answer till a replied is forward not there there is nothing behind us there is said the the s walking on its own tail by ic the lost then the major in command moved down to the rear swearing softly and asking for the blood of lieutenant the who had just spoken look after your said the major some of your infernal thieves have got lost they re at the head of the and you re a several kinds of idiot shall i tell off my men sir said the for he was feeling wet and cold tell em off said the major whip em off by you re them all over the place there s a troop behind you now i so i was thinking said the calmly i have all my men here sir better speak to sends and wants to know why the regiment is stopping said a to lieutenant where under heaven is said the major forward with his troop was the answer are we walking in a ring then or are we | 39 |
the centre of a blessed said the major by this time there was silence all along the column the horses were still but through the drive of the fine rain men could hear the feet of many horses moving over stony ground we re being stalked said lieutenant they ve no horses here besides d have by ic fired before this said the major it s villagers then our horses would have and spoilt the attack long ago they most have been near ns for half an hour said the queer that we can t smell the horses said major his finger and rubbing it on his nose as he up wind well it s a bad start said the shaking the wet from his overcoat what shall we do sir on said the major we shall catch it tonight the column moved forward very for a few paces then there was an oath a shower of blue sparks as shod on small stones and a man rolled over with a of that would have the dead now we ve gone and done it said lieutenant all the awake and all the to climb in the face of fire this comes of to do night hawk work the trembling picked himself up and tried to explain that his horse had fallen over one of the little that are built of loose stones on the spot where a man has been murdered there was no need to give reasons the major s big next and the column came to a halt in what seemed to be a very of little by ic thb lost all about two feet high the of the are not reported men said that it felt like mounted without training and with out the music but at last the horses breaking rank and choosing their own way walked clear of the till every man of the and drew rein a few yards up the slope of the hill then according to lieutenant there was another scene very like the one which has been described the major and insisted that all the men had not joined rank and that there were more of them in the rear and among the dead men s lieutenant told off his own again and resigned himself to wait later on he said to me i didn t much know and i didn t much care what was going on the row of that falling ought to have scared half the and i would take my oath that we were being stalked by a full regiment in the rear and they were making row enough to rouse all i sat tight but nothing happened the mysterious part of the night s work was the silence on the everybody knew that the had his huts on the reverse side of the hill and everybody expected by the time that the major had sworn himself into quiet that the there would open fire when nothing happened they said that the by ic of the rain had the sound of the horses and thanked providence at last the major satisfied himself a that he had left no one behind among the and that he was not being taken in the rear by a large and powerful body of cavalry the men s were thoroughly spoiled the horses were and and one and all prayed for the daylight they set themselves to climb up the hill each man leading his mount carefully before they had covered the lower slopes or the breast plates had begun to a came up behind rolling across the low hills and drowning any noise less than that of cannon the first flash of the lightning showed the bare ribs of the ascent the hill crest standing blue against the black sky the little falling lines of the rain and a few yards to their left flank an built of stone and entered by a ladder from the upper story the ladder was up and a man with a rifle was leaning from the window the darkness and the thunder rolled down in an instant and when the lull followed a voice from the cried who goes there the cavalry were very quiet but each man his and stood beside his horse again the voice called who goes there and in a louder key brothers give the alarm now every man in the cavalry would have died in his by ic lost long boots sooner than have asked for quarter bnt it is a fact tliat the answer to the second call was a long wail of which means have mercy have mercy it came from the climbing regiment the cavalry stood till the big had time to whisper one to another was that thy i ice f call lieutenant stood beside his and waited so long as no firing was going on hi was content another flash of lightning showed the horses with heaving and nodding heads the men white eye glaring beside them and the stone watch tower to the left this time there was no head at the window and the rude iron that could turn a rifle bullet was closed on men said the major up to the top at any rate the toiled forward the horses their tails and the men pulling at the the stones rolling down the and the sparks flying lieutenant declares that he never heard a make so much noise in his life they scrambled up he said as though each horse had eight legs and a spare horse to follow him even then there was no sound from the and the men stopped exhausted on the ridge that overlooked the pit of darkness in which the village of lay were chains shifted and adjusted and the men dropped by ic down among the stones whatever might happen now they held the upper ground of any attack the thunder ceased and with it the | 39 |
rain and the soft thick darkness of a winter night before the dawn covered them all except for the sound of falling water among the below everything was still they heard the of the below them thrown back with a and the voice of the calling oh the echoes took up the call la la la and an answer came from the hidden round the curve of the hill what is it replied in the high pitched voice of the hast thou seen the answer came back yes gk d deliver us from all evil spirits there was a pause and then i am alone come to me i am alone also but i dare not leave my post that is a lie thou art afraid a longer pause followed and then i am af be silent they are below us still pray to god and sleep the listened and wondered for they could not what save earth and stone could lie below the began to call again they are low us i can see them for the pity of gk d by ic ths lost come over to me my father ten of them come over i answered in a very loud voice mine was hear ye men of the night neither my father nor my blood had any part in that sin bear thou thine own punishment oh some one ought to stop those two away like there said the lieutenant shivering under his rock he had hardly turned round to expose a new side of him to the rain before a bearded long locked evil smelling rushed up the hill and tumbled into his arms sat upon him and thrust as much of a sword as could be spared down the man s if you cry out i kill you he said cheerfully the man was beyond any expression of terror he lay and gasping when took the sword from between his teeth he was still inarticulate but clung to s arm feeling it from elbow to wrist the the dead he gasped it is down there no the the very much alive it is up here said his and the man s hands why were you in the towers so foolish as to let us pass the valley is full of the dead said the it is better to fall into the hands of the english is by ic than the hands of the dead they march to and fro below there i saw them in the lightning he recovered his composure after a little and whispering because s pistol was at his stomach said what is this there is no war between us now and the will kill me for not seeing you pass best easy said we are coming to kill the if god please his teeth have grown too long no harm will come to thee unless the daylight shows thee as a face which is desired by the gallows for crime done but what of the dead regiment i only kill within my own border said the man immensely relieved the dead is below the men must have passed through it on their journey four hundred dead on horses stumbling among their own graves among the little dead men all whom we said that accounts for my cursing and the major cursing me four hundred eh no wonder we thought there were a few extra men in the troop he whispered to a native officer that lay within a few feet of him hast thou heard anything of a dead in these hills p assuredly said with a grim chuckle otherwise why did i who have served the queen for seven and twenty years and killed by ic the lost many hill dogs shout aloud for quarter when the lightning revealed us to the when i was a young man i saw the killing in the valley of there at our feet and i know the tale that grew up rom but how can the ghosts of prevail against us who are of the faith that dog s hands a little an is like an but a dead said his captive s wrist that is foolish talk the dead are dead hold still the the dead are dead and for that reason they walk at night what need to talk we be men we have our eyes and ears thou both see and hear them down the said stared and listened long and intently the valley was full of stifled noises as every valley must be at night but whether he saw or heard more than was natural alone knows and he does not choose to speak on the subject at last and just before the dawn a green shot up from the far side of the valley of at the head of the to show that the were in position a red light from the at left and right answered it and the cavalry burnt a white in winter are late and it was not till full day that the by ic many inventions s men began to from their huts rubbing their eyes they saw men in green and red and brown leaning on their arms neatly arranged all round the of the village of in a that not even a wolf could have broken they rubbed their eyes the more when a pink faced young man who was not even in the army but represented the political department tripped down the with two at the door of the s house and told him quietly to step out and be tied up for safe transport that same young man passed on through the huts tapping here one and there another lightly with his cane and as each was pointed out so he was tied up staring hopelessly at the crowned heights around where the english soldiers looked down with eyes only the tried to carry it off with curses | 39 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.