The Sea-Wolf

he had begun. He relighted his cigar and gla

th a suaveness that was cold

y interpolated, with appeasi

It's unhealthy, you know. The mate's gone, so I can't afford to lose yo

moothness of his previous utterance, snapped li

eply, as the offending head

ounging about a companionway between the galley and the hatch, and who did not seem to be sailors, continued talking in low tones with

obediently. 'Get your palm and needle and sew the beggar up.

sir?' the man asked, after

rsen answered, and elevated h

ed out of his galley

nd fill a sa

k?' was the captain's next demand, this time o

made a jocular remark which I did not

d scarce articles, but one of the men volunteered to pursue the quest among the

him over without any palavering, unless our clerical-l

d swung fully aroun

acher, aren't

ppearance- a laugh that was not lessened or softened by the dead man stretched and grinning on the deck before us; a laugh that was as rough and ha

he square order, yet well filled out, was apparently massive at first sight; but again, as with the body, the massiveness seemed to vanish and a conviction to grow of a tremendous and excessive mental or spiritual strength that lay behind, sleeping, in the deeps of his being. The jaw, the chin, the brow rising to a goodly height and swe

and light, and greenish gray, and sometimes of the clear azure of the deep sea. They were eyes that masked the soul with a thousand guises, and that sometimes opened, at rare moments, and allowed it to rush up as though it were about to fare forth nakedly into the world on some wonderful adventure- eyes that could brood with the hopeless somberness of leaden skies; that

pily for the burial service, I was not

you do for

had I ever canvassed it. I was quite taken aback, and, before

rled in a s

re my judge and I required vindication, and at the same time very

your l

at I was quite beside myself- 'rattled,' as Furuseth would ha

ou?' was his

tongue the next instant. 'All of which, you will pardon my observi

sregarded

You've never had any of your own. You couldn't walk alone between two sunris

I thought mine would be crushed. It is hard to maintain one's dignity under such circumstances. I could not squirm or struggle like a schoolboy. Nor could I attack such a creature, who had but to twist my arm to break it. Nothing remained but to stand still and accept the indignity. I had time to not

ped my hand with

soft. Good for little else tha

,' I said firmly, for I n

er you judge your delay

uriously. Mockery

bin-boy goes for'ard to take sailor's place, and you take the cabin-boy's place, sign the articles for the cruise, twenty dollars per month and found. Now, what do yo

ng toward us, and evidently bound to pass at close range. The wind had been momentarily increasing, and the sun, after a few angry gleams, had disappeared. The sea had turned a dull leaden gray and grown rougher, and was now tossing foaming

a moment's pause. 'As she is going in the opposite dir

nswer, as he turned partly away from

popped out

t boy? Tell h

anionway near the wheel. A moment later he emerged, a heavy-set young fellow of eig

is, sir,' t

d that worthy, turning

your na

nd the boy's bearing showed clearly that he div

napped sharply. 'O'Toole or McCarth

as you toe the mark. Telegraph Hill, of course, is your port of entry. It sticks out all over your mug. Tough as they make them and twice

ady & S

lf Larsen

the boy corrected, his eyes

the adva

y did

em have it. Couldn't make yourself scarce too quick, with

body bunched together as though for a spring, and his fac

ftness in his voice, as though he were over

mastered his temper. 'Not

s right.' This with a gratif

rned sixt

t, with muscles like a horse. Pack up your kit and go for'ard int

o the sailor who had just finished the gruesome task of sewing

o,

te just the same. Get your tr

he cheery response, as

he erstwhile cabin

aiting for?' Wol

as the reply. 'I signed for cabin-boy. A

p and go

thrillingly imperative. The boy glo

same moment, as though I had been struck myself, I felt a sickening shock in the pit of my stomach. I instance this to show the sensitiveness of my nervous organization at the time and how unused I was to spectacles of brutality. The cabin-boy- and he weighed o

ed of me. 'Have you

and not more than a couple of hundred yards away. It was a very trim and neat little craft.

sel is tha

y. 'Got rid of her pilots and running into San Francisc

nal it, then, so that

l-book overboard,' he remarked,

y, and knew that I should very probably receive the same, if not worse. As I say, I debated with myself,

e ashore! A thousand doll

though I expected every moment a killing blow from the human brute behind me. At last, after what seemed centuries, unable longer to stand the st

e matter? An

e cry from t

lungs. 'Life or death! One thousa

Wolf Larsen shouted after. 'This one'- indicating me wit

hed back through the megaphone

final cry, and the two men w

n Francisco in five or six hours! My head seemed bursting. There was an ache in my throat as though my heart were up in it. A curling wave struck the side and

-boy staggering to his feet. His face was ghastly whit

you going for'ard?'

me the answer o

u?' I wa

housand-' I began,

ke up your duties as cabin-boy?

nto the cruel gray eyes. They might have been granite for all the light and warmth of a human soul they con

We

,' I

"Yes,

ir,' I c

is your

Weyden

rst

sir- Humphre

Ag

ty-fiv

to the cook and l

ger than I, that was all. But it was very unreal at the time. It is no less unreal now that I loo

n; don't

ntly in my walk t

verything cleaned up, we'll have the funeral

ach side the deck, against the rail, and bottoms up, were lashed a number of small boats. Several men picked up the hatch-cover with its ghastly freight,

oaths and obscenities; and every minute or so the group of hunters gave mouth to a laughter that sounded to me like a chorus of wolves. The sailors trooped noisily aft, some of the watch below running the sleep from their eyes, and talked in low tones together. There wa

, were English and Scandinavian, and their faces seemed of the heavy, stolid order. The hunters, on the other hand, had stronger and more diversified faces, with hard lines and the marks of the free play of passions. Strange to say, and I noted it at once, Wolf Larsen's features showed no such evil stamp. There seemed nothing vicious in them.

ed anxiously aloft. The whole lee rail, where the dead man lay, was buried in the sea, and as the schooner lifted and righted, the water swept across the deck, wetting us above our shoe-tops

,' he said, 'and that is, "And the body s

er seemed perplexed, puzzled no doubt by the brief

here! What the - 's

and, like a dog flung overside, the dead man slid feet first i

deck now they're here. Get in the topsails and outer jibs. We're in for

especially struck me. The dead man was an episode that was past, an incident that was dropped, in a canvas covering with a sack of coal, while the ship sped along and her work went on. Nobody had been affected. The hunte

weather rail, close by the shrouds, and gazed out across the desolate foaming waves to the low-lying fog-banks that hid San Francisco and the California coast. Rain-squalls were driving in between, and I could scarcel