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00:00The Sea Wolf by Jack London
00:03Chapter 17
00:06Strange to say, in spite of the general foreboding, nothing of a special moment happened on the ghost.
00:13We ran on to the north and west till we raised the coast of Japan and picked up the great seal herd.
00:19Coming from no man knew where is the illimitable Pacific.
00:22It was traveling north on its annual migration to the Rookeries of Bering Sea.
00:30And north we traveled with it, ravaging and destroying, flinging the naked carcasses to the shark,
00:35and salting down the skins so that they might later adorn the fair shoulders of the women of the cities.
00:40It was wanton slaughter, and all for woman's sake.
00:43No man ate of the seal meat or the oil.
00:46After a good day's killing, I have seen our decks covered with hides and bodies,
00:51slippery with fat and blood, the scuppers running red, masts, ropes, and rails splattered with the sanguinary color.
00:58And the men, like butchers, blying their trade, naked and red of arm and hand,
01:03hard at work with ripping and flensing knives, removing the skins from the pretty sea creatures they had killed.
01:10It was my task to tally the pelts as they came aboard from the boats,
01:14to oversee the skinning and afterward the cleansing of the decks and bringing things ship-shape again.
01:19It was not pleasant work.
01:21My soul and stomach revolted at it, and yet, in a way, this handling and directing of many men was good for me.
01:26It developed what little executive ability I possessed,
01:29and I was aware of a toughening or hardening which I was undergoing,
01:33and which could not be anything but wholesome for Sissy Van Wieden.
01:37One thing I was beginning to feel, and that was that I could never again be quite the same man I had been.
01:44While my hope and faith in human life still survived Wolf Larsen's destructive criticism,
01:49he had nevertheless been a cause of change in minor matters.
01:53He had opened for me the world of the real, of which I had known practically nothing,
01:58and from which I had always shrunk.
02:00I had learned to look more closely at life as it was lived,
02:04to recognize that there were such things as facts in the world,
02:08to emerge from the realm of mind and idea,
02:11and to place certain values on the concrete and objective phases of existence.
02:15I saw more of Wolf Larsen than ever when we had gained the grounds,
02:20for when the weather was fair and we were in the midst of the herd,
02:24all hands were away in the boats, and left on board were only he and I,
02:29and Thomas Mugridge, who did not count.
02:32But there was no play about it.
02:34The six boats, spreading out fan-wise from the schooner,
02:36until the first weather boat and the last lee boat,
02:39were anywhere from ten to twenty miles apart,
02:41cruised along a straight course over the sea till nightfall,
02:45or bad weather drove them in.
02:47It was our duty to sail the ghost well to leeward of the last lee boat,
02:51so that all the boats should have fair wind to run for us,
02:54in case of squalls or threatening weather.
02:57It is no slight matter for two men,
02:59particularly when a stiff wind has sprung up to handle a vessel like the ghost,
03:03steering, keeping lookout for the boats,
03:05and setting or taking its sail,
03:06so it devolved upon me to learn, and learn quickly.
03:11Steering, I picked up easily,
03:12but running aloft to the cross-trees
03:14and swinging my whole body weight by my arms
03:16when I left the rat lines and climbed still higher
03:19was more difficult.
03:20This, too, I learned, and quickly,
03:22for I felt somehow a wild desire
03:24to vindicate myself in Wolf Larson's eyes,
03:27to prove my right to live in ways other than of the mind.
03:31Nay, the time came when I took joy
03:33in the run of the masthead
03:34and in the clinging on by my legs at that precarious height
03:38while I swept the sea with glasses in search of the boats.
03:42I remember one beautiful day when the boats left early
03:45and the reports of the hunters grew dim and distant
03:47and died away as they scattered far and wide over the sea.
03:50There was just the faintest wind from the westward,
03:54but it breathed its last by the time we managed to get to leeward
03:57of the last lee boat.
03:59One by one,
04:00I was at the masthead and saw the six boats disappeared
04:03over the bulge of the earth
04:05as they followed the seal into the west.
04:08We lay scarcely rolling on the placid sea,
04:11unable to follow.
04:12Wolf Larson was apprehensive,
04:14the barometer was down,
04:15and the sky to the east did not please him.
04:17He studied it with unceasing vigilance.
04:20If she comes out of there, he said,
04:22hard and snappy,
04:23putting us to windward of the boats,
04:25it's likely there'll be empty bunks and steerage and foxicle.
04:28By eleven o'clock, the sea had become glass.
04:32By midday, though we were well up in the northerly latitudes,
04:35the heat was sickening.
04:38There was no freshness in the air.
04:39It was sultry and oppressive,
04:41reminding me of what the old Californians termed earthquake weather.
04:45There was something ominous about it,
04:47and in intangible ways,
04:50one was made to feel that the worst was about to come.
04:52Slowly, the whole eastern sky filled with clouds
04:56that overtowered us like some black sierra of the infernal regions.
05:01So clearly could one see canyon, gorge, and precipice,
05:06and the shadows that lie therein,
05:08that one looked unconsciously for the white surf line
05:10and bellowing caverns where the sea charges on the land.
05:14And still, we rocked gently,
05:17and there was no wind.
05:18It's no square, Wolf Larson said.
05:21Old Mother Nature is going to get up on her hind legs
05:24and howl for all that's in her,
05:26and it'll keep us jumping, hump,
05:29to pull through with our boats.
05:31You'd better run up and loosen the top sails.
05:33But if it's going to howl,
05:35and there are only two of us,
05:37I asked, a note of protest in my voice.
05:40Why, we've got to make the best of the first of it
05:42and run down to your boats
05:43before our canvas is ripped out of us.
05:45After that, I don't give a rap what happens.
05:49The sticks'll stand it,
05:50and you and I will have to,
05:52though we've plenty cut out for us.
05:54Still, the calm continued.
05:57We ate dinner, a hurried and anxious meal for me
05:59with eighteen men abroad on the sea
06:01and beyond the bulge of the earth,
06:02and with that heaven-rolling mountain range
06:04of clouds moving slowly down upon us.
06:08Wolf Larson did not seem affected, however,
06:10though I noticed when we returned to the deck
06:12a slight twitching of the nostrils,
06:14a perceptible quickness of movement.
06:18His face was stern.
06:19The lines of it had grown hard,
06:21and yet in his eyes, blue, clear blue this day,
06:26there was a strange brilliancy,
06:29a bright scintillating light.
06:31It struck me that he was joyous,
06:33in a ferocious sort of way,
06:35and that he was glad there was an impending struggle,
06:38that he was thrilled and upborne with knowledge
06:41that one of the great moments of living,
06:42when the tide of life surges up in a flood,
06:46was upon him.
06:48Once, and unwitting that he did so,
06:51or that I saw,
06:52he laughed aloud,
06:54mockingly and defiantly,
06:56at the advancing storm.
06:58I see him yet standing there
06:59like a pygmy out of the Arabian nights
07:01before the huge front of some malignant genie.
07:05He was daring destiny,
07:07and he was unafraid.
07:09He walked to the galley.
07:12Cookie,
07:12by the time you finish pots and pans,
07:14you'll be wanted on deck.
07:15Stand ready for a call.
07:18Hump?
07:19He said,
07:19becoming cognizant of the fascinated gaze I bent upon him.
07:23This beats whiskey,
07:25and is where your Omar misses.
07:27I think he only half-lived after all.
07:29The western half of the sky had by now grown murky.
07:34The sun had dimmed and faded out of sight.
07:37It was two in the afternoon,
07:39and a ghostly twilight shot through
07:41by wandering purplish lights
07:42had descended upon us.
07:44In this purplish light,
07:47Wolf Larson's face glowed and glowed.
07:50To my excited fancy,
07:51he appeared encircled by a halo.
07:54We lay in the midst of an unearthly quiet,
07:57while all about us were signs and omens
07:58of oncoming sound and movement.
08:01The sultry heat had become unendurable.
08:04The sweat was standing on my forehead,
08:07and I could feel it trickling down my nose.
08:10I felt as though I should faint,
08:11and reached out to the rail for support.
08:13And then, just then,
08:16the faintest possible whisper of air passed by.
08:20It was from the east,
08:21and like a whisper, it came and went.
08:25The drooping canvas was not stirred,
08:27and yet my face had felt the air,
08:29and been cooled.
08:32Cookie, Wolf Larson called in a low voice.
08:36Thomas Mugridge turned a pitiable, scared face.
08:39Let go that four-boom tackle and pass it across,
08:42and when she's willing,
08:44let go the sheet,
08:45and come in snug with the tackle.
08:47And if you make a mess of it,
08:49it will be the last you ever make.
08:51Understand?
08:53Mr. Van Whedon,
08:55stand by to pass the head sails over.
08:58Then, jump for the top sails,
08:59and spread them quick as God'll let you.
09:01The quicker you do it,
09:03the easier you'll find it.
09:04As for Cookie,
09:05if he isn't lively,
09:06bat him between the eyes.
09:09I was aware of the compliment,
09:10and pleased,
09:11in that no threat had accompanied my instructions.
09:14We were lying head to northwest,
09:16and it was his intention to jibe
09:17over all with the first puff.
09:20We'll have the breeze on our quarter,
09:22he explained to me.
09:25By the last guns,
09:26the boats were bearing away slightly
09:28to the souther.
09:30He turned and walked aft to the wheel.
09:32I went forward,
09:34and took my station at the jibs.
09:36Another whisper of wind,
09:38and another passed by.
09:40The canvas flapped lazily.
09:43Thank God she's not coming all of a bunch,
09:46Mr. Van Whedon,
09:48was the Cockney's fervent ejaculation.
09:51And I was indeed thankful,
09:53for I had by this time learned enough to know,
09:56with all our canvas spread,
09:57what disaster in such event awaited us.
10:00The whispers of wind became puffs.
10:03The sails filled.
10:05The ghost moved.
10:07Wolf Larson put the wheel hard up to port,
10:09and we began to pay off.
10:12The wind was now dead astern,
10:14muttering and puffing stronger and stronger,
10:17and my headsails were pounding lustily.
10:20I did not see what went on elsewhere,
10:22though I felt the sudden surge
10:24and heel of the schooner,
10:26as the wind pressures changed
10:28to the jibing of the fore and main sails.
10:30My hands were full with the flying jib,
10:33jib and stay-sail,
10:34and by this time,
10:36this part of my task was accomplished.
10:39The ghost was leaping into the southwest,
10:41the wind on her quarter
10:42and all her sheets to starboard.
10:45Without pausing for breath,
10:46though my heart was beating like a trip-hammer
10:48from my exertions,
10:49I sprang to the top sails,
10:51and before the wind had become too strong,
10:53we had them fairly set
10:54and were coiling down.
10:56Then I went aft for orders.
10:58Wolf Larson nodded approval
10:59and relinquished the wheel to me.
11:01The wind was strengthening steadily
11:03and the sea rising.
11:06For an hour I steered,
11:08each moment becoming more difficult.
11:10I had not the experience to steer
11:12at the gate we were going
11:14on a quartering course.
11:16Now, take a run up with the glasses
11:18and raise some of the boats.
11:20We've made at least ten knots
11:22and we're going twelve or thirteen now.
11:23The old girl knows how to walk.
11:26I contested myself
11:27with the four cross-trees,
11:29some seventy feet above the deck.
11:31As I searched the vacant stretch
11:32of water before me,
11:33I comprehended thoroughly
11:35the need for haste
11:36if we were to recover
11:37any of our men.
11:38Indeed, as I gazed
11:40at the heavy sea
11:40through which we were running,
11:42I doubted that there was
11:43a boat afloat.
11:44It did not seem possible
11:45that such frail craft
11:47could survive such stress
11:48of wind and water.
11:50I could not feel
11:51the full force of the wind
11:52for we were running with it,
11:54but from my lofty perch
11:55I looked down
11:56as though outside the ghost
11:59and apart from her
11:59and saw the shape of her
12:01outlined sharply
12:02against the foaming sea
12:04as she tore along
12:05instinct with life.
12:08Sometimes she would lift
12:09and send across
12:09some great wave,
12:11bearing her starboard rail
12:12from view
12:13and covering her deck
12:14to the hatches
12:15with the boiling water.
12:16At such moments,
12:19starting from a windward roll,
12:21I would go flying
12:22through the air
12:23with dizzying swiftness
12:25as though I clung
12:26to the end of a huge
12:27inverted pendulum,
12:29the arc of which
12:30between the greater rolls
12:31must have been
12:32seventy feet or more.
12:34Once the terror
12:35of this giddy sweep
12:36overpowered me,
12:37and for a while
12:38I clung on,
12:39hand and foot,
12:40weak and trembling,
12:42unable to search the sea
12:43for the missing boats
12:44or to behold
12:46aught of the sea,
12:49but that which roared beneath
12:51and strove
12:51to overwhelm the ghost.
12:54But the thought of the men
12:55in the midst of it
12:57steadied me,
12:57and in my quest for them
12:58I forgot myself.
13:00For an hour I saw nothing
13:01but the naked,
13:01desolate sea,
13:02and then,
13:03where a vagrant shaft
13:04of sunlight struck the ocean
13:06and turned its water
13:07to wrathful silver,
13:08I caught a small black speck
13:10thrust skyward
13:11for an instant
13:13and swallowed up.
13:14I waited patiently.
13:16Again,
13:17the tiny point of black
13:18projected itself
13:19through the wrathful blaze,
13:21a couple of points
13:21off of our port bow.
13:24I did not attempt to shout,
13:26but communicated the news
13:27to Wolf Larson
13:28by waving my arm.
13:30He changed the course,
13:31and I signaled affirmation
13:32when the speck
13:33showed dead ahead.
13:34It grew larger,
13:35and so swiftly
13:36that for the first time
13:37I fully appreciated
13:38the speed of our flight.
13:40Wolf Larson motioned
13:41for me to come down,
13:42and when I stood beside him
13:43at the wheel
13:44gave me instructions
13:44for heaving too.
13:46Expect all hell
13:48to break loose,
13:49he cautioned me,
13:50but don't mind it.
13:51Yours is to do
13:52your own work
13:52and to have Cookie
13:53stand by for the foresheet.
13:55I managed to make
13:56my way forward,
13:58and there was little
13:59choice of sides
14:00for the weather rail
14:01seemed buried
14:01as often as the lee.
14:03Having instructed
14:04Thomas Mugridge
14:04as to what he was to do,
14:06I clambered
14:07into the forerigging
14:08a few feet.
14:09The boat was now
14:10very close,
14:11and I could make out
14:12plainly that it was lying
14:13head to wind and sea
14:15and dragging on
14:16its mast and sail,
14:18from which had been
14:19thrown overboard
14:20and made to serve
14:21as a sea anchor.
14:23The three men
14:24were bailing.
14:25Each rolling mountain
14:26whelmed them from view,
14:28and I would wait
14:29with sickening anxiety,
14:31fearing that they would
14:31never appear again.
14:33Then,
14:34and with sudden blackness,
14:35the boat would shoot clear
14:36through the foaming crest,
14:39bow pointed to the sky,
14:40and the whole length
14:41of her bottom showing
14:42wet and dark,
14:44till she seemed on end.
14:47There would be
14:48a fleeting glimpse
14:49of the three men
14:50flinging water
14:51in frantic haste,
14:53when she would topple over
14:54and fall into the yawning valley,
14:57bow down,
14:58and showing her full
14:59inside length to the stern,
15:01upreared almost directly
15:03above the bow.
15:04Each time
15:05the cheery appeared
15:06was a miracle.
15:08The ghost suddenly
15:09changed her course,
15:10keeping away,
15:10and it came to me
15:11with a shock
15:11that Wolf Larson
15:12was giving up the rescue
15:14as impossible.
15:15Then I realized
15:16that he was preparing
15:16to heave to
15:17and drop to the deck
15:18to be in readiness.
15:20We were now dead
15:21before the wind,
15:22the boat far away
15:22and abreast of us.
15:24I felt an abrupt
15:24easing of the schooner,
15:26a loss for the moment
15:27of all strain and pressure,
15:29coupled with a swift
15:30acceleration of speed.
15:31She was rushing around
15:33on her heel
15:34into the wind.
15:36As she arrived
15:36at right angles
15:37to the sea,
15:38the full force of the wind
15:39from which we had
15:40hitherto run
15:41caught us.
15:44I was unfortunately
15:46and ignorantly facing it.
15:48It stood up against me
15:50like a wall,
15:51filling my lungs with air
15:52which I could not expel.
15:54And as I choked
15:55and strangled
15:55and as the ghost
15:56wallowed for an instant,
15:57broadside on
15:58and rolling straight over
15:59and far into the wind,
16:01I beheld
16:02a huge sea rise
16:04far above my head.
16:06I turned aside,
16:07caught my breath
16:07and looked again.
16:09The wave
16:09overtopped the ghost
16:10and I gazed
16:11sheer up into it,
16:12a shaft
16:13of sunlight
16:14smote the overcurl
16:16and I caught a glimpse
16:17of translucent,
16:19rushing green
16:20backed by a milky
16:22smother of foam.
16:24Then it descended.
16:26Pandemonium broke loose.
16:27Everything happened
16:28at once.
16:28I was struck
16:29a crushing,
16:30stunning blow,
16:31nowhere in particular
16:31and yet everywhere.
16:33My hold
16:33had been broken loose.
16:35I was underwater
16:35and the thought
16:36passed through my mind
16:37that this was
16:38the terrible thing
16:38of which I had heard.
16:39The being swept
16:40in the trow of the sea.
16:42My body struck
16:43and pounded
16:44as it was dashed
16:45helplessly along
16:46and turned over
16:47and over
16:48and when I could
16:48hold my breath
16:49no longer,
16:50I breathed
16:51the stinging salt water
16:52into my lungs
16:53but through it all
16:54I clung to the one idea
16:55I must get the jib
16:57backed over to windward.
16:59I had no fear of death.
17:01I had no doubt
17:02but that I should
17:03come through somehow
17:04and as this idea
17:05of fulfilling
17:06Wilf Larson's order
17:08persisted in my
17:09dazed consciousness
17:10I seemed to see him
17:11standing at the wheel
17:12in the midst
17:13of the wild welter
17:15pitting his will
17:16against the will
17:17of the storm
17:18and defying it.
17:21I brought up
17:22violently
17:22against what I took
17:24to be the rail
17:25breathed
17:26and breathed
17:27the sweet air again.
17:29I tried to rise
17:29but struck my head
17:30and was knocked back
17:31on hands and knees
17:33by some freak
17:34of the waters
17:34I had been swept
17:35clear under
17:36the forecastle head
17:37and into the eyes
17:38as I scrambled
17:40out on all fours
17:41I passed over
17:42the body of
17:42Thomas Mugridge
17:44who lay in a groaning heap
17:46there was no time
17:47to investigate
17:47I must get
17:49the jib backed over
17:50when I emerged
17:51on deck
17:52it seemed that
17:53the end of everything
17:53had come
17:54on all sides
17:55there was a rending
17:56and crashing
17:56of wood
17:57and steel
17:58and canvas
17:59the ghost
18:00was being wrenched
18:01and torn to fragments
18:02the foresail
18:03and foretopsail
18:04emptied of the wind
18:06by the maneuver
18:06and with no one
18:07to bring in the sheet
18:08in time
18:09were thundering
18:10into ribbons
18:11the heavy boom
18:12threshing
18:13and splintering
18:14from rail to rail
18:15the air was thick
18:16with flying wreckage
18:17detached ropes
18:18and stays
18:19were hissing
18:20and coiling
18:20like snakes
18:21and down through it all
18:23crashed the gaff
18:23of the foresail
18:24the spar could not
18:26have missed me
18:26by many inches
18:27while it spurred me
18:28to action
18:29perhaps the situation
18:30was not hopeless
18:31I remembered
18:32wolf larsen's caution
18:33he had expected
18:34all hell to break loose
18:35and here it was
18:36and where was he
18:37I caught sight of him
18:38toiling at the main sheet
18:39heaving it in and flat
18:41with his tremendous muscles
18:43the stern of the schooner
18:44lifted high in the air
18:45and his body outlined
18:46against a white surge
18:48of sea sweeping past
18:49all this and more
18:51a whole world
18:53of chaos and wreck
18:54in possibly fifteen seconds
18:57I had seen
18:58and heard
18:59and grasped
19:01I did not stop to see
19:02what had become
19:03of the small boat
19:04but sprang to the jib sheet
19:05the jib itself
19:06was beginning to slap
19:07partially filling
19:08and emptying
19:09with sharp reports
19:10but with a turn
19:11of the sheet
19:11and the application
19:12of my whole strength
19:13each time it slapped
19:15I slowly backed it
19:16this I know
19:17I did my best
19:18I pulled
19:19till I burst open
19:20the ends
19:21of all my fingers
19:22and while I pulled
19:23the flying jib
19:24and stay still
19:25split their cloths apart
19:28and thundered
19:29into nothingness
19:30still I pulled
19:32holding what I gained
19:33each time
19:34with a double turn
19:35until the next slap
19:36gave me more
19:37then the sheet gave
19:38with greater ease
19:39and Wolf Larson
19:41was beside me
19:42heaving in alone
19:43while I was busy
19:44taking up the slack
19:45make fast
19:46he shouted
19:46and come on
19:47as I followed him
19:49I noted that
19:50in spite of the rack
19:51and ruin
19:51a rough order obtained
19:53the ghost
19:55was hoved to
19:55she was still
19:56in working order
19:57and she was still
19:59working
19:59though the rest
20:00of her sails
20:01were gone
20:01the jib
20:02back to the windward
20:03and the mainsail
20:04hold down flat
20:06were themselves
20:07holding
20:07and holding her bow
20:09to the furious sea
20:10as well
20:10I looked for the boat
20:12and while Wolf Larson
20:13cleared the boat tackles
20:14saw it lift
20:15to leeward
20:16on a big sea
20:17and not a score
20:18of feet away
20:19and so
20:20nicely
20:20had he made
20:21his calculation
20:22we drifted
20:24fairly down upon it
20:25so that nothing
20:26remained to do
20:27but hooked the tackles
20:28to either end
20:29and hoisted a board
20:31but this
20:32was not
20:33so easily done
20:35as it is written
20:36in the boat
20:37was Kerfoot
20:38Oofty Oofty
20:39in the stern
20:40and Kelly
20:40amid ships
20:41as we drifted
20:43closer
20:44the boat
20:44would rise
20:45on a wave
20:45while we sank
20:46in the trow
20:47till almost
20:48straight above me
20:49I could see
20:50the heads
20:50of three men
20:51craned
20:52over side
20:53and looking down
20:54then
20:55the next moment
20:55we would lift
20:56and soar upward
20:57while they sank
20:58down beneath us
21:00it seemed incredible
21:00that the next surge
21:01should not crush
21:02the ghost
21:02down upon
21:03the tiny eggshell
21:04but at the right moment
21:06I passed the tackle
21:07to Kanaka
21:07while Wolf Larson
21:09did the same thing
21:10to Kerfoot
21:11both tackles
21:12were hooked
21:13in a trice
21:14and the three men
21:15deftly timing the roll
21:16made a simultaneous
21:17leap
21:18aboard the schooner
21:19and as the ghost
21:20rolled her side
21:21out of the water
21:21the boat was lifted
21:22snugly against her
21:24and before the return roll
21:25came
21:25we had it heaved
21:27in over the side
21:28and turned it
21:29bottom up
21:30on the deck
21:31I noticed blood
21:32spouting from
21:33Kerfoot's left hand
21:34in some way
21:35the third finger
21:35had been crushed
21:36to a pulp
21:37but he gave no sign
21:39of pain
21:39and with his single
21:40right hand
21:40helped us lash
21:42the boat
21:42in its place
21:43stand by
21:44to let that jib
21:44over you
21:45woofty
21:46Wolf Larson
21:47commanded the very
21:48second we had
21:48finished with the boat
21:49Kelly
21:50come aft
21:50and slack off
21:51the main sheet
21:52you Kerfoot
21:52go forward
21:53and see what's
21:54become of Cookie
21:54Mr. Van Weeden
21:55run aloft again
21:56and cut away
21:56any stray stuff
21:57on your way
21:58and having commanded
21:59he went aft
22:00with his peculiar
22:01tigerish leaps
22:03to the wheel
22:03while I toiled
22:04up the four shrouds
22:06the ghost
22:06slowly paid off
22:07this time
22:09as we went
22:10into the trial
22:11of the sea
22:11and were swept
22:12there were no sails
22:12to carry away
22:13and halfway
22:14to the cross trees
22:15and flattened
22:16against the rigging
22:16by the full force
22:17of the wind
22:18so that it would
22:19have been impossible
22:20for me to have fallen
22:21the ghost
22:22almost on her beam ends
22:24and the mass
22:25parallel with the water
22:26I looked not down
22:27but at almost right angles
22:29from the perpendicular
22:30to the deck
22:30of the ghost
22:31but I saw
22:32not the deck
22:33but where the deck
22:34should have been
22:35for it was buried
22:36beneath a wild
22:37tumbling of water
22:38out of this water
22:39I could see
22:40the two masts rising
22:41and that was all
22:42the ghost
22:43for the moment
22:44was buried
22:44beneath the sea
22:45as she squared off
22:47more and more
22:48escaping from
22:49the wild pressure
22:50she righted herself
22:51and broke her deck
22:52like a whale's back
22:53through the ocean surface
22:55then we raced
22:57and wildly
22:58across the wild sea
22:59the while I hung
23:01like a fly
23:01in the cross trees
23:02and searched
23:03for the other boats
23:03in half an hour
23:05I sighted the second one
23:06swamped and bottom up
23:07to which were
23:08desperately clinging
23:09Jack Horner
23:10Fat Lewis
23:10and Johnson
23:11this time I remained aloft
23:13and Wolf Larson
23:14succeeded in heaving
23:15too without being swept
23:16as before
23:17we drifted down upon it
23:19tackles were made fast
23:20and lines flung
23:21to the men
23:21who scrambled aboard
23:22like monkeys
23:23the boat itself
23:24was crushed
23:25and splintered
23:26against the schooner's side
23:27as it came inward
23:27but the wreck
23:28was securely lashed
23:29for it could be patched
23:31and made whole again
23:32once more
23:33the ghost bore away
23:35before the storm
23:36this time
23:37so submerging herself
23:38that for some seconds
23:39I thought
23:40she would never reappear
23:42even the wheel
23:43quite a deal higher
23:44than the waist
23:45was covered
23:45and swept again
23:47and again
23:48at such moments
23:50I felt strangely
23:52alone with God
23:53alone with him
23:55and watching the chaos
23:56of his wrath
23:57and then
23:58the wheel
23:59would reappear
24:00and Wolf Larson's
24:02broad shoulders
24:03his hands
24:04gripping the spokes
24:05and holding the schooner
24:06to the course of his will
24:07himself
24:07an earth god
24:08dominating the storm
24:09flinging its
24:10descending waters
24:11from him
24:11and riding it
24:12to his own ends
24:13and oh
24:14the marvel of it
24:15the marvel of it
24:17that tiny men
24:19should live
24:20and breathe
24:21and work
24:22and drive
24:22so frail
24:23a contrivance
24:24of wood and cloth
24:25through so tremendous
24:26and elemental strife
24:28as before
24:30the ghost
24:30swung out of the trow
24:32lifted her deck
24:33again out of the sea
24:34and dashed
24:36before that howling blast
24:37it was now
24:38half past five
24:39and a half an hour later
24:40when the last of the day
24:41lost itself
24:42in a dim
24:43and furious light
24:44I sighted a third boat
24:46it was bottom up
24:47and there was no sign
24:49of its crew
24:49wolf larsen
24:50repeated his maneuver
24:51holding off
24:52and then rounding up
24:53to windward
24:54and drifting down upon it
24:55but this time
24:56he missed by forty feet
24:57the boat
24:58passing astern
24:59number four boat
25:02oofty oofty cried
25:04his keen eyes
25:05reading its number
25:06in the one second
25:07when it lifted
25:07clear of the foam
25:08and upside down
25:09it was henderson's boat
25:11and with him
25:12had been lost
25:13holyack and williams
25:15another of the deep
25:16water crowd
25:16lost
25:17they indubitably were
25:19but the boat remained
25:21and wolf larsen
25:21made one more
25:23reckless effort
25:24to recover it
25:25I had come down
25:26to the deck
25:26and I saw Horner
25:27and Kerfoot
25:28vainly protest
25:29against the attempt
25:30by god
25:32I'll not be robbed
25:33of my boat
25:33by any storm
25:34that ever blew
25:35out of hell
25:35he shouted
25:36and though we four
25:37stood with our heads
25:38together
25:39that we might hear
25:40his voice seemed
25:41faint and far
25:42as though
25:43removed from us
25:44an immense distance
25:46Mr. Van Weeden
25:48he cried
25:49and I heard
25:49through the tumult
25:50as one might hear
25:51a whisper
25:52stand by that jib
25:53with Johnson
25:54and oofty
25:55the rest of you
25:56tail aft to the main sheet
25:57lively now
25:58or I'll sail you all
25:59into kingdom come
26:00understand
26:01and when he put
26:04the wheel hard over
26:05and the ghost's bow
26:06swung off
26:07there was nothing
26:07for the hunters
26:08to do
26:08but obey
26:09and make a best
26:11of a risky chance
26:12how great the risk
26:13I realized
26:14when I was once more
26:15buried beneath
26:15the pounding seas
26:16and clinging for life
26:18to the pin rail
26:19at the foot of the foremast
26:20my fingers were torn loose
26:22and I swept across
26:23to the side
26:24and over the side
26:24into the sea
26:25I could not swim
26:26but before I could sink
26:27I was swept back again
26:29a strong hand gripped me
26:31and when the ghost
26:32finally emerged
26:33I found that I owed
26:34my life to Johnson
26:35I saw him looking
26:36anxiously about him
26:37and noted that Kelly
26:38who had come forward
26:39at the last moment
26:40was missing
26:41this time
26:42having missed the boat
26:43not being in the same position
26:44as in the previous instances
26:46Wolf Larson
26:46was compelled
26:47to resort
26:48to a different maneuver
26:49running off
26:50before the wind
26:51with everything to starboard
26:52he came about
26:53and returned
26:54close hold
26:55on the port tack
26:56grand
26:58Johnson shouted in my ear
27:01as we successfully
27:02came through
27:02the attendant deluge
27:04and I knew he referred
27:05not to Wolf Larson's seamanship
27:07but to the performance
27:08of the ghost herself
27:10it was now so dark
27:13that there was no sign
27:14of the boat
27:15Wolf Larson
27:16held back
27:17through the frightful turmoil
27:19as if guided
27:20by unerring instinct
27:21this time
27:23though we were
27:24continually half buried
27:25there was no trow
27:25in which to be swept
27:26and we drifted
27:28squarely down
27:28upon the upturned boat
27:29badly smashing it
27:31as it was heaved
27:33in board
27:34two hours
27:35of terrible work
27:36followed
27:37in which
27:38all hands of us
27:40two hunters
27:41three sailors
27:42Wolf Larson and I
27:44reefed
27:44first one
27:45and then the other
27:46the jib
27:47and mainsail
27:48hoved to
27:49under this short canvas
27:51our decks
27:51were comparatively
27:52free of water
27:53while the ghosts
27:54bobbed and ducked
27:56amongst the combers
27:57like a cork
27:58I had burst open
27:59the ends of my fingers
28:00at the very first
28:01and during the reefing
28:02I had worked
28:03with tears of pain
28:04running down my cheeks
28:05and when all was done
28:06I gave up like a woman
28:07and rolled upon the deck
28:08in the agony of exhaustion
28:10in the meantime
28:12Thomas Mugridge
28:13like a drowned rat
28:14was being dragged out
28:15from under the forecastle head
28:16where he had cravenly
28:17ensconced himself
28:19I saw him pulled
28:20aft to the cabin
28:21and noted with a shock
28:22of surprise
28:23that the galley
28:24had disappeared
28:25a clean space
28:26of deck
28:27showed where it had stood
28:28in the cabin
28:31I found all hands
28:32assembled
28:33sailors as well
28:34and while coffee
28:35was being cooked
28:35over the small stove
28:36we drank whiskey
28:37and crunched hard tack
28:38never in my life
28:40had food been so welcome
28:41and never had hot coffee
28:43tasted so good
28:44so violently
28:45did the ghost pitch
28:46and toss and tumble
28:47that it was impossible
28:49for even the sailors
28:50to move about
28:50without holding on
28:51and several times
28:52after a cry of
28:54now she takes it
28:55we were heaped
28:56upon the wall
28:56of the port cabins
28:57as though it had been
28:58the deck
28:59to hell with the lookout
29:01I heard Wolf Larson
29:02say when we had eaten
29:04and drunk our fill
29:04there's nothing
29:05can be done on deck
29:06if anything's going
29:07to run us down
29:07we couldn't get out
29:08of its way
29:08turn in all hands
29:10and get some sleep
29:11the sailors slipped forward
29:13setting the side lights
29:15as they went
29:15while the two hunters
29:17remained to sleep
29:17in the cabin
29:18it not being deemed
29:19advisable to open
29:20the slide
29:21to steerage companionway
29:22Wolf Larson
29:23and I
29:24between us
29:24cut off
29:25Kerfoot's
29:26crushed finger
29:27and sewed up
29:28the stump
29:28Mugridge
29:30who
29:30during all the time
29:31had been compelled
29:32to cook and serve coffee
29:33and keep the fire going
29:34had complained
29:35of internal pains
29:36now swore
29:37that he had broken
29:37a rib or two
29:38on examination
29:40we found
29:41that he had three
29:41but his case
29:42was deferred
29:43to next day
29:44principally for the reason
29:45that I did not know
29:46anything about broken ribs
29:47and would have to read it up
29:48I don't think it was worth it
29:51I said to Wolf Larson
29:52a broken boat
29:53for Kelly's life
29:54but Kelly didn't amount to much
29:57was the reply
29:58good night
30:00after all that had passed
30:02suffering intolerable anguish
30:05in my finger ends
30:06with three boats missing
30:08to say nothing
30:08of the wild capers
30:09the ghost was cutting
30:10I should have thought
30:11it impossible to sleep
30:12but my eyes must have closed
30:14the instant
30:15my head touched the pillow
30:16and in utter exhaustion
30:18I slept throughout the night
30:19the while the ghost
30:21lonely and undirected
30:22fought her way
30:24through the storm
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