The Second Class Passenger: Fifteen Stories

ce of steel bulwark with ropes coiled on the pins, and above it the arched foot of the mainsail. In the darkness forward, where the port watch o

, with the shuffling, involuntary speed that has nothing in it of free strength or good-will. The big German four-master had gathered from the boarding-houses of Philadelphia a crew representing all the nationalities which breed sailors, and carried officers skilled in

com' a

th, long-limbed and slender, clad in a serge shirt, with dungaree trousers rolled up to the knees, and girt with a belt which carried the usual sheath-knife. His pleasant face had a hint of uncertainty; it was conciliatory and amiable; he was an able seaman of the kind which

nvas. The brooms were abaft of the galley when the outcry began which caused them to look apprehensively towards the poop without ceasing thei

hter fool? Vat? Vat? You don't unde

e which cut the words off. It was the mate biting in his breath as he struck. They heard the smack of the fist's impact and Conroy's faint, angry cry as he failed to guard it; then the mate again, bull-

oom, meeting the wondering eyes of the "Dutchmen" and "Dagoes" with a scowl. He was white-haired and red-faced, a veteran among the nomads of the sea, the oldest man aboard, and the only one in th

Conroy. The youth came staggering and crying down the ladder, with tears and blood befouling his face, and stumbled as his foot touched the deck. The olde

was down, didn't he?"

ng and dabbing at his face. "Wit

ht kick you spine more," he advised grimly. "You

oy tremulously, an

ssed to his flank, where the mate's kick was still an agony. Slade was frowning heavily,

thed, and started

d. Slade again put hi

hing short, "is that

for the sheath-knife, which he wore, sa

he asked vacantly

to Slade, the flat blad

face toward Conroy's, so that the other co

idn't he?" said Slade

deck, where it rattled an

not understanding.

though he strangled an impulse to brandish his fists and scream, in a

roy fluster

s arm and turned away with the abrupt

could not think-he could only feel, like fire in his mind, the passion of the feeble soul resenting injustice and pain which it cannot resist or avenge. He stoo

o character of the unusual. The men who plied the brooms and carried the buckets were not shocked or startled by it so much as stimulated; it thrust under their noses t

n daylight had brought its chill, grey light to the wide, wet decks, that the mate came

ation upon his faithful. Short-legged, tending to bigness in the belly, bearded, vibrant with animal force and personal power, his mere presence cowed them. His gross face, the happy face of an egoist with a sound digestion, sent its lofty and sure regard over them; it had a kind of unconsciousness of their sense of humility

ut peril. It is a thing that has happened to a hated officer more than once or ten times, and a lie, solemnly sworn to by every man of the watch on deck, has been entered in the log, and closed the matter for all hands. He was barer of defense than they, for they had their sheath- knives; and he stood by the weathe

dly and insufferable haste. "Lower tobsail-haul! Belay! Ubber tobsail-haul, yo

r moved in every heart among them. At the tail of the brace, Conroy, with his cuts stanched, pulled with them. His abje

ted leisure. The unkempt, weather-stained men, to whom the shifting seas were the sole arena of their lives, sat about on chests and on the edges of the lower bunks, at their breakfast, while

did he punch y

bulkhead. His pot was balanced on his knee, and his venerable, sardonic face, with

misunderstood the mate's order to coil the ropes on the pins, where they would be out of the way of the dec

"You earned a punch an' you got it.

roy. "Why, I thought h

ook at this

shipmates. His body had still a boyish delicacy and slenderness; the labor of his trade had not yet built it and thickened it to a full masculinity of proportion. Measured by any of the other men in the watch, it was fra

hair and eyeball, clicked

l!" he said softly,

d some one else, and yet another

coffee and watching the scene under his heavy white brows. Con

" he said

tting down the pot which he held, he stooped and lifted the belt which Conroy h

h, still with his manner of mockery. "There's some men i

e big Greek flashed a smile through the black, shining curls of his beard, and continued to smile without s

blood rising hectic on h

ent. I didn't have a chance aft there; he came on me too quick,

ant eyes fixed on him, "and he needn't be expecting you.

talk," responded Co

; we'll see," he said, and

th slow relish, with his wry old face upturned, and the leathery, muscular forearms showing below the rolled shirt-sleeves. His years had ground him to an edge; he had an effect,

e on his elbow and stared across at him, craning his

he said u

nded the oth

nly noises were the soothing of the water overside, the stress of the sails and gea

lay down again. Slade smil

were taken as the utterance of a serious determination. Just before eight bells in the afternoon watch he went forward beneath the forecastle head in search of some rope-yarns, and was cutting an end off a bit of waste-line when

k, in a whisper that filled

prehending his me

to saw at the rope in his hand, while the

enly. "Dat-a not sharp-no!

rthy hand, whose knuckles bulged above the haft. His rough, spatulate thumb

aid, in his stage-conspirator's

rew the keen blade toward the wooden door of the bo'sun's locker. It traveled through the air swiftly and stuck, quivering on it

spered. "Better dan yo

himself with a knife in his hand that fell through the strands of the manila li

here--" he be

hless smile was

the Greek, and nodded assuring

s, roused Conroy from a scared reverie over the knife. He started; the mat

You vant me to come an' fetch you?? You vant an

ho had been aloft shuffled down to the rail; a couple of others came into view on the deck; on top of the house, old Slade kneeled to see under the break of the forecastle head. It seemed as though a skeptical a

with sheer amazement written on his fa

said Conroy, ou

f ships, even that was d

ing but the fact that eyes were on him. Even the knife in his hand passed from his mind;

vay!" ordered th

ment to obey, fighting down a

hed with it yet

rush a desperate man armed with a knife, the chances of the grapple were too ugly. There was something lunatic and strange in the youth's glare also; and it will sometimes h

f his tone or manner. "You don't t'ink I'm go

voidable. Before his eye the silent audience melted as swiftly as it had appeared, and Conroy was alo

They, at any rate, had been deceived by his attitude; they praised him by word and look;

was asserting. "And he knew it. You should ha' see

g him. Old Slade, in the backgro

you're satisfied,"

emanded Conroy, coloring. "You

se he made you howl, eh? Well, ain't you calling

ed; Conroy rai

gain," he cried. "His

too often, he has.

etween his lips; it swam in front of hi

won't do it, an

collected all eyes to his

e Greek had given him, holding it before them

d stabbed at the air. "L

early every watch came the roar, "Stand by yer to'gallant halliards!" Then the wait for ten seconds or ten minutes while the wind grew and the big four-masted barque lay over and bumped her bluff bows through racing seas, till the next order, shriller and more urgent, "Lower avay!" and the stiff canvas fought and slatted as th

orecastle, he had the fore part of the ship to himself. He leaned against the after rail of the fore-castle head, where a ventilator somewhat screened him from the bitter wind that blew out of the dark, and gazed ahead at the murk. Now and again the big barque slid

ar aloft, were in his ears; he did not hear one bell strike from the poop, which he should

chleepin' u

to see why he had not answered. He was by the

in'-no

ried the mate, slithering on the wet

nroy, and stooped

he swore shortly, wiping his eyes with his hands. At the same moment, Conroy, still stooping to the bell-lanyard, felt the Villingen lower her nose and slide down in one of her disconcerting curtseys; he caught at th

s knees; he fell back against the hand-rail, which was just high enough for him to sit on. lit was what, for one ridiculous moment, he seemed to be doing. The next, his booted fe

t it," he said to himself, acting out his role

old of him to draw him under the forecastle head, where he would have

cried, "

there to search. He had to grope in gross darkness about the place, touching brass and the uncanny smoothness of glass, before his hand fell on what he sought. At last he was on one knee by the mate's side, and a match shed

s and he dropped it. "Oh Lord!" he said. It occurred t

ure that came sliding and tottering toward them and fell sprawling at the foot

broke out, in a kind

the captain; th

several of them together. The Greek's hands on his should

id you

ning flash of understanding. He had been alone with the mate; he had seen him die;

y, and struck with a wild, feeble hand

k caught him aga

the second mate and captain. The Greek had him clutched to his bosom in a strong

a dollop of water and then rolled, and over he went. I heard his head go sma

l--" the old man exchanged nods with the Greek. "All right.

. A hug that crushed

kin breast s

is al

is cabin. At his back the second mate, with his oilskin co

"And it's scared young Conroy a

e the captain. "Get

, slippery deck slowly, letting

, ye'es?" queried the

his head against a

'ave 'it 'is 'ead? Ah, dat is fine! 'E mi

empt to see their faces clearly, realized that they were laughing, la

ed much that the match-flame had missed from its field-the manner in which the sou'wester and the head it covered were caved in at one side, the cut in the sou'wester through which clotted hair protruded, the whole gha

l over backwards, you said. It is very

none on the rail. Even while they searched, water spouted down on them. But what Conroy noted was th

s dead. I do not understand, quite, how he should fall

ted Conroy, and the

vat i

as me that found him, sir.

rutably, he, the final arbiter of fates. "

ers following like a funeral procession. A man looked shivering out o

inquiry to Conroy, who waved him off and passed to t

hadows wander. From the other side of the bulkhead he could hear stirrings and a murmur of voices as the starboard watch grew aware that something had happened on deck. Conroy, with hi

other could speak. "What are you following me for? You wan

urved in a faint smile. "No!" he said mockingly. "You didn't touch him? An' I make no doubts you'd take yer

kly. He had backed as far from Slade as he cou

ok round while you were spinnin' your yarn to t

is hand into the bosom of his coat, still

make a mistake that 'ud cost him dear;' so I took a look round. An' I found this." F

that is-and that's hair. Look for yourself. Now

t it when he fell," pro

God, I can'

chests and leaned his face aga

snivellin' at? D'ye think yer the only man 'as ever stove in a mate's head-an' him a murderin' man

I never touched him;

m! Here, take the

from it.

repeated. "If yer don't want it, heave it overboard yerself or stick it back

n in that meager light it carried the traces of its part in the mate's death. It had the look of a weapon rather than of a humble ship-fi

and started for the door

de him its toy, he ran fu

, wise and livid. "An' so you 'ad i

against. He walked to the rail and flung the t

him, but none of them mentioned the only matter which all had in mind. They climbed heavily to their bunks, there to smoke the brief pipe, and then to slumber

an effort of mind to recall his trouble. He looked out at his mates, who stood about the place pulling on their clothes, with sleep still heavy on the

said to the others, as h

de near the door w

"You don't bother," an

a queer, sharp interest and turning away when they

ing last night," he

r agreed, with

ought by the volunteer, under the same constraint. He cou

e?" he aske

e Swede who fetched the coffee added,

m to-day," said Slade. "H

agreement, and eyes

smiled

ce too many times

wagged his head. "He t'

he observed profoundl

go up againdst . . . No, it aindt-it aindt safe.

. He stared at them a little wildly, realizing the fact that they were admi

rted at the manner in which they all fell sile

. . . A

, their conciliatory

ll-see? He fell an' stove his head in

m face to face, giving

hey assured him mildly. "You don't

aid, with meaning. "Bu

privilege of saving him that trouble. It comforted him and restored him; it would have been even better bu

of the others were set to scrubbing teak on the poop, and he had a view of the sail-maker at his work on the gratings under the break of the poop, stitching on his knees to make the mate presentable for his last passage. The sailmak

abin, there to tell his tale anew, to see it taken down, a

Conroy. "It was a shock, f

e captain. "I can und

e

ck, he winked to the man at the wheel, who smiled uncomfortably in return. Later he borrowed a

e middle of them, one edge resting on the rail, the other supported by two men. There was a dark smudge on the sky up to windward, and several times the captain glanced

their eyes moving. Conroy collected their glances irresistibly. When the captain had finished his reading he sighed and made a sign, lifting hi

'l halliards!" roar

of his watch. He jerked a thumb in the direction of

"Before we're through I'

atted hi