Plain Mary Smith

ng breezes; nights picked out of heaven. The moon was in her glory. I like high land better than I do the ocean, but few sights can beat a full moon swellin

and land or water, where people are not, and the little s

ome, but her life soon jarred all that out of her. Bar here and there a man with a mouth-organ or a concertina, and a fiddler to do dance-tunes, the only thing that stood for music to me was the singing in father's church. I have since thought that anybody who could stand that once a week was certainly a good Chri

om the guitar, with three wind-up chords like spring water in the desert. Then old Sax's fiddle 'way, 'way up; so light, so delicate, so sweet and pretty that shivers ran down my back. I stiffened like a pointer-pup first smelling game. "Here's something," I thought, "something tha

ome woman you know, and that's wrong, for there never was another like Mary. She was always beautiful, but never else had quite the t

andsome faces, but once in a while you strike a face or a voice that's be

ke the laugh of a child. Yes, sir. That voice was food, drink, and clean blankets. When she stopped, I thought I never wanted to hear a sound again. But I didn't know the limit of old Sax. With her voice quivering in his heart, he grabbed up his wooden box and made a miracle. Sure, it was differe

is wooden box an

. She was frightened. I don't blame her, for Sax was out of himself. He towered there in the moonlight making those inhumanly beautiful sounds, his face burning white and his eyes burning black, fire clean through, fi

ay, I can't blame Mary for feeling leery of Sax when I confess that he put creeps in my spine. He seemed to grow till he filled the bow of the boat; the fiddle sung in my ears till I couldn't think straight; heavy medicine in it, you bet. Mary got whiter and whiter. I saw her constantly wetting her lips, and her hand went to her heart. The

et," he says. "Hell wil

y queer sensations, it gummed my wo

white in the moonlight like steam from an explosion. To the north of it lay anoth

Jesse?"

"I made land three days later, aboard a hencoop-the o

d and turned and twisted. Big gusts of black and white shot crazily out to nowhere-she was climbing! Then I looked at the group. Mary sat white and still. Sax stood behind her, his f

-easy as possible,

l, Mary," I said. "Hadn

ontrol of his face and voice. She heard what I wanted to hide at

e matter?"

. "Why, I don't want to see you

was turning the corner, you could expect the knock on the door. He had the reputation of being the most fearless as well as the

I didn't say a word-pointed behind h

he says in a sort

nd crumpled 'em up, and threw the pieces overboard. I'll swear

ary's shoulder. "Go bel

u'll let me-" she says

's no need of me here," he said. We stood stock-stil

ary," said Saxton. "But y

th panic and she caught him around the neck. "Save me,

is hand on her head and looked courage into her. "Nor do I want to die while there

Anyhow, old Jesse's voice ripped out ferocious; there was a rattle of blocks, and I put Mary below at the bottom of the step, picked up a lantern f

! Oh, don't!" she cri

d. "Mary, think! I

rself. "That i

re. From above came a grinding, shattering sort of roar, like a train crossing a bridge. It was horrible to leave

id, caught her hand for a goo

ey slammed the hatch d

" I screamed i

y chance!" he

ck sung to it. You felt the humming on your feet. It dumbed and tortured you at the same

n send I'll never see another such sight as the sea those flashes showed. Under the spout it was as if somebody had run a club into a snake-hole. You got it, to

e. I thought of Mary, below, and shook. What must she feel? We couldn't get down to her now, and that made me si

ire to do anything myself, one way

again. I could just hear

ight,"

to Himmel," he says,

. Man! It hit like a fire-engine stream! I turned and swallowed some of it before we went down into the deep again. After that, it was plain disorderly conduct. Part of the time I was playing at home, a little boy again, and part of the time I was having a hard time trying to sleep in strange lands. But the next thing I can swear to is that the moon was shining, and the Matilda jumping like a horse. In spite of the aches and pains all over me, I just lay still for a minute an

elf up. We star

o!" s

o!" s

?" he says. He meant it, too. It seemed t

t this we both laughed very hard. So hard I

!" he

e way to the hatch we come across Jesse sitting up straight, staring out to sea. He put his hand to his head and put it down ag

sse?" we

child's to us. "My," h

ays Sax; "he

scuttle off by

we calle

r and looked up. Durned if the old lantern wasn't burning. That knocked me. I rememb

hurt?" sa

nswered. "But nearly dead

- The moon is shining now. There's a heavy sea still, but that's ha

great deal nearer being se

stand this alone-where's your promi

egan, "do you think I would have left you if I

" I said. "S

as if his life hung on it. Not the least strange memory of

Come-some of the boy

th such force that the flat of his hand was one big blister where it hit the deck, and the whole line of his forearm was a bruise-but that saved his face. One passenger dr

ing rigging and all. Good new stuff at that. Some of the stays came out at the eyes and some of 'em snapped. One sailor picked a nasty h

t. Had there been a man there, no rope could hold him from

g was left but the wheel, and the deck was lifte

We shook hands all around and took a man's-sized swig

gh the Matilda didn't foot it as pretty as before, we had a fair wind nearly a