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00:00The Seawolf, chapter seven and eight, by Jack London.
00:07At last, after three days of variable winds, we have caught the northeast trades.
00:13I came on deck after a good night's rest, in spite of my poor knee,
00:17to find the ghost foaming along, wing and wing,
00:20and every sail drawing except the jibs, with a fresh breeze astern.
00:25Oh, the wonder of the great trade wind.
00:27All day we sailed, and all night, and the next day and the next,
00:32day after day, the wind always astern, and blowing steadily and strong.
00:38The schooner sailed herself.
00:40There was no pulling and hauling on sheets and tackles,
00:43no shifting of top sails, no work at all for the sailors to do, except to steer.
00:48At night, when the sun went down, the sheets were slackened.
00:52In the morning, when they yielded up the dew and relaxed,
00:56they were pulled tight again, and that was all.
01:01Ten knots, twelve knots, eleven knots, varying from time to time,
01:06is the speed we were making, and ever out of the northeast,
01:10the brave wind blows,
01:13driving us on our course two hundred and fifty miles between the dawns.
01:17It saddens me and gladdens me,
01:20the gate with which we are leaving San Francisco behind,
01:24and with which we are foaming down upon the tropics.
01:27Each day grows perceptibly warmer.
01:31In the second dog watch, the sailors came on deck,
01:34stripped and heave buckets of water upon one another from overside.
01:39Flying fish are beginning to be seen,
01:42and during the night, the watch above scrambles over the deck
01:45in pursuit of those that fall overboard.
01:48In the morning, Thomas Mugridge, being duly bribed,
01:52the galley is pleasantly a-reek with the odor of their frying,
01:55while dolphin meat is served fore and aft on such occasions
01:58as Johnson catches the blazing beauties from the bowsprit end.
02:03Johnson seems to spend all his spare time there,
02:08or laughed at the cross-trees,
02:10watching the ghost cleaving the water under press of sail.
02:13There is passion, adoration in his eyes,
02:17and he goes about in a sort of trance,
02:20gazing in ecstasy at the swelling sails,
02:23the foaming wake,
02:24and the heave and the run of her over the liquid mountains
02:28that are moving with us in stately procession.
02:32The days and nights are all a wonder and a wild delight,
02:37and though I have little time for my dreary work,
02:41I still ought moments to gaze and gaze
02:43at the unending glory of what I never dreamed the world possessed.
02:49Above, the sky is stainless blue,
02:53blue as the sea itself,
02:55which under the forefoot is of the color and sheen of azure satin.
02:59All around the horizon are pale, fleecy clouds,
03:05never changing, never moving,
03:07like a silver setting for the flawless turquoise sky.
03:10I do not forget one night when I should have been asleep
03:15of lying on the forecastle head
03:17and gazing down at the spectral ripple of foam
03:21thrust aside by the ghost's forefoot.
03:24It sounded like the gurgling of a brook over mossy stones
03:27and some quiet dell,
03:28and the crooning song of it
03:30lured me away and out of myself
03:32till I was no longer Hump, the cabin boy,
03:35nor Van Whedon,
03:37the man who had dreamed away thirty-five years among books.
03:41But a voice behind me,
03:42the unmistakable voice of Wolf Larson,
03:45strong with the invincible certitude of the man
03:48and mellow with appreciation
03:49of the words he was quoting,
03:52aroused me.
03:52Oh, the blazing tropic night
03:57when the wakes a welt of light
03:59that holds the hot sky tame
04:02and the steady forefoot snores
04:06through the planet-powdered floors
04:08where the scared whale flukes in flame.
04:13Her plates are scarred by the sun, dear lass,
04:16and her ropes are taut with the dew,
04:19for we're booming down on the old trail,
04:23our own trail, the out-trail.
04:26We're sagging south on the long trail,
04:29the trail that is always new.
04:32Eh, Hump?
04:33How's it strike you?
04:35He asked,
04:36after the dew pause
04:37which words and setting demanded.
04:41I looked into his face.
04:43It was aglow with light,
04:45as the sea itself,
04:46and the eyes were flashing in the starshine.
04:49It strikes me as remarkable,
04:51to say the least,
04:51that you should show enthusiasm,
04:54I answered coldly.
04:55Why, man,
04:57it's living,
04:58it's life,
05:00he cried.
05:01Which is a cheap thing,
05:03and without value.
05:04I flung his words at him.
05:06He laughed,
05:07and it was the first time
05:08I had heard honest mirth in his voice.
05:10I cannot get you to understand,
05:14cannot drive it into your head.
05:16What a thing this life is.
05:18Of course life is valueless,
05:20except to itself,
05:21and I can tell you that my life
05:23is pretty valuable just now.
05:25To myself,
05:26it's beyond price,
05:28which you will acknowledge
05:29is a terrific overrating.
05:31But,
05:31which I cannot help,
05:33for it is the life that is in me
05:35that makes me the rating.
05:38He appeared waiting for the words
05:40with which to express the thought
05:43that was in him,
05:44and finally went on.
05:47Do you know,
05:48I am filled with a strange uplift.
05:51I feel as if all time were echoing through me,
05:54as though all powers were mine.
05:57No truth,
05:58divine good from evil,
06:00right from wrong.
06:02My vision is clear and far.
06:05I could almost believe in God,
06:06but...
06:07And his voice changed,
06:09and the light went out of his face.
06:11What is this condition
06:13in which I find myself?
06:15This joy of living,
06:17this exaltation of life,
06:19this inspiration,
06:21I may well call it.
06:22It is what comes
06:23when there is nothing wrong
06:24with one's digestion,
06:26when his stomach is trim,
06:27and his appetite has an edge,
06:29and all goes well.
06:30It is the bribe for living,
06:32the champagne of the blood,
06:33the effervescence of the ferment,
06:35that makes some men think
06:37holy thoughts,
06:38and other men to see God
06:39or to create him
06:40when they cannot see him.
06:42That is all.
06:44The drunkenness of life,
06:47the stirring and crawling of the yeast,
06:50the babbling of the life
06:51that is insane with consciousness
06:53that it is alive,
06:55and...
06:55tomorrow I shall pay for it
06:58as the drunkard pays,
06:59and I shall know that
07:00I must die,
07:02at sea most likely.
07:04Cease crawling of myself
07:06to be all a crawl
07:07with the corruption of the sea,
07:09to be fed upon,
07:10to be carrion,
07:11to yield up the strength
07:12and movement of my muscles,
07:14that it may become strength
07:15and movement
07:16in fin and scale
07:18and the guts of fishes.
07:21Bah!
07:21And bah again.
07:23The champagne's already flat,
07:25the spark and bubble has gone out,
07:27and it is a tasteless drink.
07:30He left me,
07:34as suddenly as he had come,
07:35springing to the deck
07:36with the weight and softness
07:37of a tiger.
07:38The ghost plowed on her way.
07:40I noted the gurgling forefoot
07:42was very like a snore,
07:44and as I listened to it,
07:46the effect of Wolf Larson's swift rush
07:48from sublime exultation
07:51to despair
07:52slowly left me.
07:53Then some deep-water sailor
07:57from the waist of the ship
07:59lifted a rich tenor voice
08:02in the song of the trade wind.
08:04Oh, I am the wind,
08:08the semen love,
08:10I am steady and strong and true.
08:14They follow my track
08:17by the clouds above,
08:19over the fathomless
08:21tropic blue.
08:25Through daylight and dark
08:27I follow the bark,
08:29I keep like a hound
08:32on her trail.
08:34I'm strongest at moon,
08:38yet under the moon
08:40I stiffen the bunt
08:44of her sail.
08:47Chapter Eight
08:48Sometimes I think Wolf Larson mad,
08:52or half mad at least.
08:53What of his strange moods
08:55and vagaries?
08:55At other times
08:57I take him for a great man,
08:58a genius who has never arrived,
09:00and finally I am convinced
09:01that he is the perfect type
09:03of the primitive man,
09:05born a thousand years
09:06or generations too late,
09:07and an anachronism
09:09in this culminating century
09:10of civilization.
09:12He is certainly an individualist
09:13of the most pronounced type.
09:15Not only that,
09:16but he is very lonely.
09:18There is no congeniality
09:20between him
09:21and the rest of the men
09:21aboard ship.
09:22His tremendous virility
09:24and mental strength
09:25wall him apart.
09:27They are more like children
09:28to him,
09:28even the hunters,
09:29and as children
09:30he treats them,
09:31descending perforce
09:32to their level
09:33and playing with them
09:34as a man plays with puppies,
09:35or else he probes them
09:37with the cruel hand
09:38of a vivisectionist,
09:40groping about
09:40in their mental processes
09:41and examining their souls
09:43as though to see
09:45what soul stuff is made.
09:48I have seen him score
09:50of times at table
09:51insulting this hunter
09:53or that
09:53with cool and level eyes
09:55and with a certain
09:57air of interest,
10:00pondering their actions
10:01or replies
10:01or petty rages
10:02with a curiosity
10:03almost laughable to me
10:05who stood onlooker
10:05and who understood.
10:08Concerning his own rages,
10:09I am convinced
10:10that they are not real,
10:12that they are sometimes
10:14experiments,
10:15but that in the main
10:16they are the habits
10:17of a pose or attitude
10:18he has seen fit
10:20to take toward
10:20his fellow men.
10:22No, with the possible
10:23exception of the incident
10:25of the dead mate,
10:26that I have not seen him
10:27really angry,
10:29nor do I wish ever
10:31to see him
10:31in a genuine rage
10:32when all the force of him
10:35is called into play.
10:37Well, on the question
10:37of vagaries,
10:38I shall tell what befell
10:39Thomas Mugridge
10:40in the cabin
10:42and at the same time
10:43complete an incident
10:44upon which I have already
10:45touched once or twice.
10:48The twelve o'clock dinner
10:49was over one day
10:51and I had just finished
10:53putting the cabin in order
10:55when Wolf Larson
10:56and Thomas Mugridge
10:57descended the companion stairs.
10:59Though the cook
11:00had a cubbyhole
11:01of a stateroom
11:02opening off
11:03from the cabin,
11:04in the cabin itself
11:05he had never dared
11:06to linger or to be seen
11:08and he flitted
11:09to and fro
11:10once or twice a day
11:12like a timid specter.
11:14So, you know
11:17how to play nap,
11:18Wolf Larson
11:19was saying
11:19in a pleased sort of voice.
11:21I might have guessed
11:21an Englishman would know.
11:23I learned it myself
11:24in English ships.
11:26Thomas Mugridge
11:27was beside himself,
11:29a blithering imbecile,
11:30so pleased was he
11:32at chumming thus
11:33with the captain.
11:34The little airs
11:35he put on
11:36and the painful striving
11:37to assume
11:38the easy carriage
11:39of a man born
11:39to a dignified place
11:41in life
11:41would have been sickening
11:43had they not been
11:44ludicrous.
11:46He quite ignored
11:48my presence,
11:49though I credited him
11:50with being simply
11:51unable to see me.
11:52His pale,
11:53wishy-washy eyes
11:54were swimming
11:55like lazy summer seas,
11:57though what blissful
11:58visions they beheld
11:59were beyond
12:00my imagination.
12:02Get the cards,
12:03Hump,
12:04Wolf ordered
12:05as he took seats
12:06at the table,
12:06and bring out
12:07the cigars and whiskey
12:08you'll find in my berth.
12:11I returned
12:12with the articles
12:13in time
12:13to hear the cockney
12:14hinting broadly
12:15that there was
12:15a mystery about him,
12:17that he might be
12:17a gentleman's son
12:18gone wrong,
12:19or something or other.
12:21Also,
12:22that he was
12:23a remittance man
12:24and was paid
12:25to keep away
12:26from England.
12:28Pied ansomely,
12:29sir,
12:30was the way
12:30he put it,
12:31pied ansomely
12:32to sling my oak
12:33and keep slinging it.
12:36I had brought
12:37the customary
12:38liquor glasses,
12:39but Wolf Larson frowned,
12:40shook his head
12:41and signaled
12:42with his hands
12:42for me to bring
12:43the tumblers.
12:44These he filled
12:45two-thirds full
12:45with undiluted whiskey.
12:48A gentleman's strength,
12:50quote Thomas Mugridge,
12:52and they clinked
12:53their glasses
12:53to the glorious
12:54game of nap,
12:55lighted cigars,
12:56and fell to shuffling
12:57and dealing the cards.
12:59They played for money.
13:01They increased
13:02the amounts
13:02of the bets.
13:03They drank whiskey,
13:04they drank it neat,
13:05and I fetched more.
13:06I do not know
13:07whether Wolf Larson
13:08cheated or not,
13:09a thing he was
13:10thoroughly capable
13:11of doing,
13:12but he won,
13:13steadily.
13:14The cook made
13:15repeated journeys
13:15to his bunk
13:16for money
13:16each time
13:17he performed
13:18the journey
13:18with greater swagger,
13:20but he never brought
13:21more than a few dollars
13:22at a time.
13:23He grew maudlin,
13:24familiar,
13:25could hardly see the cards,
13:26or sit upright.
13:27As a preliminary
13:28to another journey
13:29to his bunk,
13:30he hooked
13:30Wolf Larson's
13:31buttonhole
13:32with a greasy
13:33forefinger
13:33and vacuously
13:35proclaimed
13:35and reiterated,
13:36I got money,
13:38I got money,
13:39I tell ya,
13:40and I'm a gentleman's son.
13:43Wolf Larson
13:44was unaffected
13:45by the drink,
13:46yet he drank
13:47glass for glass,
13:49and if anything,
13:50his glasses
13:50were fuller.
13:51There was no change
13:52in him.
13:53He did not appear
13:54even amused
13:56at the other's antics.
13:58In the end,
13:59with loud protestations
14:00that he could lose
14:01like a gentleman,
14:02the cook's last money
14:03was staked on the game
14:04and lost,
14:05whereupon he leaned
14:06his head out
14:06in his hands
14:07and wept.
14:08Wolf Larson
14:09looked curiously
14:09at him
14:10as though
14:10about to probe
14:11and vivisect him,
14:13then changed his mind,
14:14as from the foregone
14:15conclusion
14:15that there was nothing
14:16there to probe.
14:18Hump,
14:19he said to me,
14:20elaborately polite,
14:22kindly take
14:23Mr. Muggridge's arm
14:24and help him
14:24up on deck.
14:25He is not feeling
14:26very well.
14:29And tell Johnson
14:30to douse himself
14:31with a few buckets
14:31of salt water,
14:32he added,
14:33in a lower tone
14:33for my ear alone.
14:35I left Mr. Muggridge
14:36on deck
14:37in the hands
14:38of a couple
14:38of grinning sailors
14:39who had been told off
14:40for the purpose.
14:42Mr. Muggridge
14:43was sleepily
14:44spluttering
14:45that he was
14:46a gentleman's son,
14:48but as he descended
14:49the companion stairs
14:50to clear the table,
14:51I heard him shriek
14:53as the first bucket
14:55of water
14:55struck him.
14:57Wolf Larson
14:58was counting
14:59his winnings.
15:00One hundred
15:02and eighty-five dollars
15:04even,
15:05he said aloud.
15:07Just as I thought,
15:09the beggar
15:09came aboard
15:10without a cent.
15:13And what
15:14you have won
15:14is mine, sir,
15:16I said boldly.
15:18He favored me
15:19with a quizzical smile.
15:21Hump,
15:21I have studied
15:22some grammar
15:23in my time,
15:23and I think
15:24your tenses
15:24are tangled.
15:26Was mine,
15:27you should have said,
15:27not is mine.
15:30It is not a question,
15:32not of grammar,
15:34but of ethics,
15:35I answered.
15:36It was possibly
15:38a minute
15:38before he spoke.
15:40Do you know,
15:44Hump,
15:45he said
15:46with a slow
15:46seriousness,
15:48which had
15:49in it
15:49an indefinable
15:51strain of sadness,
15:53that this is
15:53the first time
15:54I've heard
15:55the word
15:56ethics
15:56in the mouth
15:57of a man.
15:59You and I
16:00are the only men
16:00on this ship
16:01who know
16:02its meaning.
16:05At what time
16:06in my life,
16:07he continued
16:08after another pause,
16:09I dreamed
16:10that I might
16:11some day
16:12talk with men
16:13who use
16:13such language,
16:15that I might
16:15lift myself
16:16out of the place
16:17in life
16:17in which I
16:17had been born,
16:18and hold
16:19conversation
16:20and mingle
16:20with men
16:21who talked
16:21about such
16:21things as
16:22ethics.
16:23And this is
16:24the first time
16:25I have ever
16:25heard the word
16:26pronounced,
16:27which is all
16:28by the way,
16:29for you are wrong.
16:31It is a question
16:31neither of grammar
16:32nor ethics,
16:35but of fact.
16:36I understand,
16:39I said.
16:39The fact is
16:40that you have
16:41the money.
16:42His face
16:42brightened.
16:43He seemed
16:44pleased at
16:44my perspicacity.
16:47But it is
16:49avoiding the
16:49real question,
16:50I continued,
16:51which is one
16:52of right.
16:54Ah, he remarked
16:56with a dry
16:57pucker of his
16:58mouth.
16:59I see you
17:00still believe
17:00in such things
17:01as right
17:02and wrong.
17:03But don't
17:05you?
17:06At all?
17:07I demanded.
17:09Not the
17:09least bit.
17:11Might is
17:11right,
17:12and that
17:12is all
17:13there is
17:13to it.
17:14Weakness
17:14is wrong,
17:15which is a
17:15very poor
17:16way of saying
17:16that it is
17:17good for
17:17oneself to
17:18be strong
17:18and evil
17:19for oneself
17:20to be weak.
17:20Or better
17:21yet,
17:22it is
17:22pleasurable
17:23to be strong
17:24because of
17:24the profits,
17:25painful to
17:25be weak
17:26because of
17:26the penalties.
17:27Just now,
17:28the possession
17:29of this money
17:29is a pleasurable
17:30thing.
17:31It is good
17:32for one
17:32to possess it,
17:33being able
17:34to possess it.
17:35I wrong
17:35myself,
17:36and the
17:37life that
17:37is in me
17:38if I give
17:38it to you
17:39and forego
17:39the pleasure
17:40of possessing
17:41it.
17:42But you
17:43wrong me
17:44by withholding
17:44it,
17:45I objected.
17:46Not at
17:47all.
17:48One man
17:48cannot wrong
17:49another man.
17:50He can
17:50only wrong
17:51himself,
17:52as I see
17:52it.
17:53I do
17:54wrong
17:54always when
17:55I consider
17:56the interests
17:56of others.
17:58Don't you
17:58see?
17:59How can
18:00two particles
18:00of the yeast
18:01wrong each
18:01other by
18:02striving to
18:02devour each
18:03other?
18:04It is
18:04their inborn
18:05heritage to
18:06strive to
18:07devour and
18:08to strive not
18:09to be devoured.
18:10When they
18:10depart from
18:11this,
18:12they sin.
18:13Then you
18:15don't believe
18:16in altruism?
18:17I asked.
18:19He received
18:20the word as
18:21if it had a
18:21familiar ring,
18:22though he
18:23pondered it
18:24thoughtfully.
18:24Let me
18:27see.
18:27It means
18:28something
18:28about
18:29co-yacute
18:31paration,
18:33doesn't
18:33it?
18:36Well,
18:37in a way,
18:38there has
18:39come to
18:40be a
18:40sort of
18:41connection,
18:42I answered,
18:43unsurprised
18:43by this time
18:44at such
18:44gaps in
18:45his
18:45vocabulary,
18:46which,
18:46like his
18:47knowledge,
18:47was the
18:47acquirement
18:48of a
18:48self-read,
18:49self-educated
18:50man,
18:50whom no
18:51one had
18:51directed in
18:52his studies
18:52and who
18:53had thought
18:53much and
18:54talked little
18:55or not at
18:55all.
18:56An altruistic
18:57act is an
18:58act performed
18:59for the
18:59welfare of
18:59others.
19:00It is
19:00unselfish as
19:01opposed to
19:02an act
19:02performed for
19:02oneself,
19:04which is
19:04selfish.
19:06He nodded
19:07his head.
19:08Oh,
19:08yes,
19:08I remember
19:09it now.
19:10I ran
19:10across it
19:11in Spencer.
19:13Spencer?
19:14I cried.
19:15Have you
19:15read him?
19:17Not very
19:17much,
19:18was his
19:18confession.
19:19I understood
19:19quite a good
19:20deal of
19:20first principles,
19:21but his
19:21biology took
19:22the wind
19:22out of
19:22my
19:23cells,
19:23and his
19:23psychology
19:24left me
19:25budding around
19:25in the
19:26doldrums
19:26for many
19:27a day.
19:27I honestly
19:28could not
19:28understand
19:29what he
19:30was driving
19:30at.
19:31I put it
19:31down to
19:31mental
19:31deficiency
19:32on my
19:32part,
19:33but since
19:33then,
19:34I have
19:34decided
19:34that it
19:35was for
19:35want of
19:36preparation.
19:37I had
19:37no proper
19:37basis.
19:38Only Spencer
19:39and myself
19:39know how
19:40hard I
19:41hammered,
19:41but I
19:42did get
19:42something out
19:43of his
19:43data of
19:44ethics.
19:45That's
19:45where I
19:45ran across
19:46altruism,
19:47and I
19:48remember now
19:48how it
19:49was used.
19:51I wondered
19:52what this
19:53man could
19:53have got
19:54from such
19:54a work.
19:55Spencer,
19:55I remember
19:56enough to
19:56know that
19:57altruism was
19:58imperative to
19:58his ideal of
19:59highest conduct.
20:00Wolf Larson
20:01evidently had
20:01sifted the
20:03great philosopher's
20:03teachings,
20:04rejecting and
20:05selecting according
20:05to his needs
20:06and desires.
20:07What else did
20:08you run across?
20:09I asked.
20:10His brows
20:11drew in
20:12slightly with
20:13the mental
20:13effort of
20:13suitably phrasing
20:14thoughts which
20:15he had never
20:16before put
20:17into speech.
20:19I felt an
20:20elation of
20:20spirit.
20:21I was groping
20:22into his
20:22soul stuff as
20:23he made a
20:23practice of
20:24groping in
20:25the soul
20:25stuff of
20:25others.
20:27I was
20:27exploring
20:28virgin
20:29territory.
20:29A strange,
20:31a terribly
20:31strange region
20:33was unrolling
20:34itself before
20:34my eyes.
20:37In as few
20:38words as
20:38possible,
20:39he began.
20:41Spencer puts
20:42it something
20:42like this.
20:43First, a man
20:44must act for
20:44his own
20:45benefit.
20:45To do this
20:46is to be
20:46moral and
20:47good.
20:48Next, he
20:48must act for
20:49the benefit of
20:49his children.
20:50And third, he
20:51must act for
20:52the benefit of
20:52his race.
20:54And the
20:54highest, finest
20:55right conduct,
20:56I interjected,
20:57is that which
20:58benefits at the
20:58same time the
20:59man, his
20:59children, and
21:00his race.
21:01I wouldn't
21:02stand for
21:02that, he
21:03replied.
21:04Couldn't see
21:04the necessity
21:05for it, nor
21:06the common
21:06sense.
21:07I cut out
21:08the race and
21:08the children.
21:09I would
21:09sacrifice nothing
21:10for them.
21:11It's just so
21:12much slush
21:13and sentiment,
21:14and you
21:14must see
21:14it yourself,
21:15at least for
21:16one who
21:16does not
21:16believe in
21:17eternal life.
21:18With
21:18immortality
21:19before him,
21:19altruism will
21:20be a paying
21:21business proposition.
21:23I might elevate
21:23my soul to
21:24all kinds of
21:25altitudes, but
21:26with nothing
21:27eternal before
21:28me but death,
21:29given for a
21:29brief spell this
21:30yeasty crawling
21:31and squirming
21:32which is called
21:32life, why, it
21:34would be immoral
21:35for me to
21:35perform any
21:36act that was
21:36a sacrifice.
21:37Any sacrifice
21:38that makes me
21:39lose one
21:39crawl or squirm
21:41is foolish,
21:42and not only
21:43foolish, for
21:44it is wrong
21:44against myself
21:45and a wicked
21:46thing.
21:47I must not
21:47lose one
21:48crawl or
21:49squirm if I
21:50am to get
21:51the most out
21:52of the
21:52ferment, nor
21:53will the
21:53eternal
21:54movelessness
21:55that is
21:55coming to
21:55me be made
21:56easier or
21:57harder by
21:57the sacrifices
21:58or selfishnesses
22:00of the time
22:00when I was
22:01yeasty and
22:02a crawl.
22:04Then you
22:04are an
22:05individualist,
22:06a materialist,
22:06and logically
22:07a hedonist.
22:09Big words, he
22:10smiled.
22:11But what is a
22:11hedonist?
22:12He nodded
22:13agreement when I
22:14had given the
22:14definition.
22:16And you are
22:16also, I
22:17continued, a
22:18man one could
22:18not trust in
22:19the least thing
22:20were it possible
22:21for selfish
22:21interest to
22:22intervene.
22:24Now you're
22:25beginning to
22:25understand, he
22:27said brightly.
22:28You are a
22:29man utterly
22:30without what
22:31the world
22:31calls morals,
22:33that's it,
22:34a man of
22:35whom to be
22:35always afraid.
22:37That's the
22:37way to put
22:38it.
22:39As one is
22:39afraid of a
22:40snake, or
22:41a tiger, or
22:43a shark.
22:44Now you
22:44know me, he
22:45said, and
22:46you know me
22:47as I am
22:48generally
22:48known.
22:49Other men
22:50call me
22:50wolf.
22:52You're a
22:52sort of
22:53monster, I
22:54added audaciously,
22:55a caliban who
22:56has pondered
22:57Cerebus and
22:58who acts as
22:59you act in
23:00idle moments
23:00by women
23:01fancy.
23:02His brow
23:03clouded at
23:04the illusion.
23:05He did not
23:05understand and
23:06quickly learned
23:06that he did
23:07not know the
23:07poem.
23:08I'm just
23:09reading Browning,
23:10he confessed,
23:11and it's
23:11pretty tough.
23:12I haven't
23:12gotten very
23:13far along,
23:14and as it
23:15is, I've
23:16about lost
23:17my bearings.
23:19Not to be
23:20tiresome, I
23:21shall say that
23:21I fetched the
23:22book from his
23:22stateroom and
23:23read Caliban
23:24aloud.
23:24He was
23:25delighted.
23:26It was a
23:27primitive mode
23:28of reasoning and
23:28of looking at
23:29things that he
23:29understood thoroughly.
23:30He interrupted
23:31again and again
23:32with comment and
23:33criticism.
23:34When I
23:34finished, he
23:35had me read
23:36it over a
23:36second time and
23:37a third.
23:38We fell into
23:38discussion,
23:39philosophy, science,
23:40evolution, religion.
23:41He betrayed the
23:42inaccuracies of the
23:43self-read man, and
23:44it must be granted,
23:45the sureness and
23:46directness of the
23:47primitive mind.
23:48The very simplicity
23:49of his reasoning was
23:50its strength, and his
23:51materialism was far
23:52more compelling than
23:53the subtly complex
23:54materialism of
23:55Charlie Furusev.
23:57Not that I, a
23:58confirmed and, as
23:59Furusev phrased it, a
24:01temperamental idealist, was
24:02to be compelled, but
24:03that Wolf Larson
24:04stormed the last
24:06strongholds of my
24:07faith with a vigor
24:08that received
24:09respect, while not
24:12accorded conviction.
24:14Time passed.
24:15Supper was at hand
24:16and the table not
24:17laid.
24:17I became restless and
24:19anxious, and when
24:19Thomas Muggeridge glared
24:20down the companion
24:21way, sick and angry
24:23of countenance, I
24:24prepared to go about
24:25my duties.
24:25But Wolf Larson
24:26cried out to him,
24:27Cookie, you've got to
24:29hustle tonight.
24:30I'm busy with hum, and
24:31you'll do the best you
24:33can without him.
24:35And again, the
24:36unprecedented was
24:37established.
24:39That night, I sat at
24:41table with the captain
24:42and the hunters, while
24:44Thomas Muggeridge waited
24:45on us and washed the
24:47dishes afterward.
24:48A whim, a caliban mood
24:50of Wolf Larson's, and
24:51one I foresaw would
24:53bring me trouble.
24:54In the meantime, we
24:55talked and talked, much
24:56to the disgust of the
24:57hunters, who could not
24:59understand a word.
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