Then, again, with a fair wind and under a clear sky, the ship went on piling up the South Latitude15. She passed outside Madagascar and Mauritius without a glimpse ot the land. Extra lashings were put on the spare spars. Hatches were looked to. The steward17 in his leisure moments and with a worried air tried to fit washboards to the cabin doors. Stout18 canvas was bent19 with care. Anxious eyes looked to the westward20, towards the cape21 of storms. The ship began to dip into a south-west swell22, and the softly luminous23 sky of low latitudes24 took on a harder sheen from day to day above our heads: it arched high above the ship, vibrating and pale, like an immense dome25 of steel, resonant26 with the deep voice of freshening gales28. The sunshine gleamed cold on the white curls of black waves. Before the strong breath of westerly squalls the ship, with reduced sail, lay slowly over, obstinate30 and yielding. She drove to and fro in the unceasing endeavour to fight her way through the invisible violence of the winds: she pitched headlong into the dark smooth hollows; she struggled upwards32 over the snowy ridges33 of great running seas; she rolled, restless, from side to side, like a thing in pain. Enduring and valiant34, she answered to the call of men; and her slim spars waving for ever in abrupt35 semicircles, seemed to beckon36 in vain for help towards the stormy sky.
It was a bad winter off the Cape that year. The relieved helmsmen came off flapping their arms, or ran stamping hard and blowing into swollen37, red fingers. The watch on deck dodged38 the sting of cold sprays or, crouching39 in sheltered corners, watched dismally41 the high and merciless seas boarding the ship time after time in unappeasable fury. Water tumbled in cataracts42 over the forecastle doors. You had to dash through a waterfall to get into your damp bed. The men turned in wet and turned out stiff to face the redeeming43 and ruthless extractions of their glorious and obscure fate. Far aft, and peering watchfully44 to windward, the officers could be seen through the mist of squalls. They stood by the weather-rail, holding on grimly, straight and glistening47 in their long coats; then, at times, in the disordered plunges48 of the hard-driven ship, they appeared high up, attentive49, tossing violently above the grey line of a clouded horizon, and in motionless attitudes.
They watched the weather and the ship as men on shore watch the momentous50 chances of fortune. Captain Allistoun never left the deck, as though he had been part of the ship’s fittings. Now and then the steward, shivering, but always in shirt sleeves, would struggle towards him with some hot coffee, half of which the gale27 blew out of each cup before it reached the master’s lips. He drank what was left gravely in one long gulp51, while heavy sprays pattered loudly on his oilskin coat, the seas swishing broke about his high boots; and he never took his eyes off the ship. He watched her every motion; he kept his gaze riveted52 upon here as a loving man who watches the unselfish toil53 of a delicate woman upon the slender thread of whose existence is hung the whole meaning and joy of the world. We all watched her. She was beautiful and had a weakness. We loved her no less for that. We admired her qualities aloud, we boasted of them to one another, as though they had been our own, and the consciousness of her only fault we kept buried in the silence of our profound affection. She was born in the thundering peal54 of hammers beating upon iron, in black eddies55 of smoke, under a gray sky, on the banks of the Clyde. The clamorous56 and sombre stream gives birth to things of beauty that float away into the sunshine of the world to be loved by men. The Narcissus was one of that perfect brood. Less perfect than many perhaps, but she was ours, and consequently, incomparable. We were proud of her. In Bombay, ignorant landlubbers alluded57 to her as that ‘pretty grey ship.’ Pretty! A scurvy58 meed of commendation! We knew she was the most magnificent sea-boat ever launched. We tried to forget that, like many good sea-boats, she was at times rather crank. She was exacting59. She wanted care in loading and handling, and no one knew exactly how much care would be enough. Such are the imperfections of mere60 men! The ship knew, and sometimes would correct the presumptuous61 human ignorance by the wholesome62 discipline of fear. We had heard ominous63 stories about past voyages. The cook (technically a seaman64, but in reality no sailor) — the cook, when unstrung by some misfortune, such as the rolling over of a saucepan, would mutter gloomily while he wiped the floor:— ‘There! Look at what she has done! Some voy’ge she will drown all hands! You’ll see if she won’t.’ To which the steward, snatching in the galley65 a moment to draw breath in the hurry of his worried life, would remark philosophically66: — ‘Those that see won’t tell, anyhow. I don’t want to see it.’ We derided67 those fears. Our hearts went out to the old man when he pressed her hard so as to make her hold her own, hold to every inch gained to windward; when he made her under reefed sails, leap obliquely68 at enormous waves. The men, knitted together aft into a ready group by the first sharp order of an officer coming to take charge of the deck in bad weather:— ‘Keep handy the watch,’ stood admiring her valiance. Their eyes blinked in the wind; their dark faces were wet with drops of water more salt and bitter than human tears; beards and moustaches, soaked, hung straight and dripping like fine seaweed. They were fantastically misshapen; in high boots, in hats like helmets, and swaying clumsily, stiff and bulky in glistening oilskins, they resembled men strangely equipped for some fabulous69 adventure. Whenever she rose easily to a towering green sea, elbows dug ribs70, faces brightened, lips murmured:— ‘Didn’t she do it cleverly,’ and all the heads turning like one watched with sardonic72 grins the foiled wave go roaring to leeward73, white with the foam74 of a monstrous75 rage. But when she had not been quick enough and, stuck heavily, lay over trembling under the blow, we clutched at the ropes, and looking up at the narrow bands of drenched76 and strained sails waving desperately77 aloft, we thought in our hearts — ‘No wonder. Poor thing!’
The thirty-second day out of Bombay began inauspiciously. In the morning a sea smashed one of the galley doors. We dashed in through lots of steam and found the cook very wet and indignant with the ship:— ‘She’s getting worse every day. She’s trying to drown me in front of my own stove!’ He was very angry. We pacified78 him, and the carpenter, though washed away twice from there, managed to repair the door. Through that accident our dinner was not ready till late, but it didn’t matter in the end because Knowles, who went to fetch it, got knocked down by a sea and the dinner went over the side. Captain Allistoun, looking more hard and thin-lipped than ever, hung on to full topsails and foresail, and would not notice that the ship, asked to do too much, appeared to lose heart altogether for the first time since we knew her. She refused to rise, and bored her way sullenly79 through the seas. Twice running, as though she had been blind or weary of life, she put her nose deliberately80 into a big wave and swept the decks from end to end. As the boatswain observed with marked annoyance81, while we were splashing about in a body to try and save a worthless wash-tub:— ‘Every blooming thing in the ship is going overboard this afternoon.’ Venerable Singleton broke his habitual82 silence and said with a glance aloft:— ‘The old man’s in a temper with the weather, but it’s no good bein’ angry with the winds of heaven.’ Jimmy had shut his door, of course. We knew he was dry and comfortable within his little cabin, and in our absurd say were pleased one moment, exasperated83 the next, by that certitude. Donkin skulked84 shamelessly, uneasy and miserable85. He grumbled:— ‘I’m perishin’ with cold houtside in bloomin’ wet rags, an’ that ’ere black sojer sits dry on a blamed chest full of bloomin’ clothes; blank his black soul!’ We took no notice of him; we hardly gave a thought to Jimmy and his bosom87 friend. There was no leisure for idle probing of hearts. Sails blew adrift. Things broke loose. Cold and wet, we were washed about the deck while trying to repair damages. The ship tossed about, shaken furiously, like a toy in the hand of a lunatic. Just at sunset there was a rush to shorten sail before the menace of a sombre hail cloud. The hard gust6 of wind came brutal88 like the blow of a fist. The ship relieved of her canvas in time received it pluckily89: she yielded reluctantly to the violent onset90; then, coming up with a stately and irresistible91 motion, brought her spars to windward in the teeth of the screeching92 squall. Out of the abysmal93 darkness of the black cloud overhead white hail streamed on her, rattled94 on the rigging, leaped in handfuls off the yards, rebounded96 on the deck — round and gleaming in the murky97 turmoil98 like a shower of pearls. It passed away. For a moment a livid sun shot horizontally the last rays of a sinister99 light between the hills of steep, rolling waves. Then a wild night rushed in — stamped out in a great howl that dismal40 remnant of a stormy day.
There was no sleep on board that night. Most seamen100 remember in their life one or two such nights of a culminating gale. Nothing seems left of the whole universe but darkness, clamour, fury — and the ship. And like the last vestige101 of a shattered creation she drifts, bearing an anguished102 remnant of sinful mankind, through the distress103, tumult104, and pain of an avenging105 terror. No one slept in the forecastle. The tin oil-lamp suspended on a long string, smoking, described wide circles; wet clothing made dark heaps on the glistening floor; a thin layer of water rushed to and fro. In the bed-places men lay booted, resting on elbows and with open eyes. Hung-up suits of oilskin swung out and in, lively and disquieting106 like reckless ghosts of decapitated seamen dancing in a tempest. No one spoke and all listened. Outside the night moaned and sobbed107 to the accompaniment of a continuous loud tremor108 as of innumerable drums beating far off. Shrieks110 passed through the air. Tremendous dull blows made the ship tremble while she rolled under the weight of the seas toppling on her deck. At times she soared up swiftly as if to leave this earth for ever, than during interminable moments fell through a void with all the hearts on board of her standing111 still, till a frightful112 shock, expected and sudden, started them off again with a big thump113. After every dislocating jerk of the ship, Wamibo, stretched full length, his face on the pillow, groaned114 slightly with the pain of his tormented116 universe. Now and then, for the fraction of an intolerable second, the ship, in the fiercer burst of a terrible uproar117, remained on her side, vibrating and still, with a stillness more appalling118 than the wildest motion. Then upon all those prone119 bodies a stir would pass, a shiver of suspense120. A man would protrude121 his anxious head and a pair of eyes glistened122 in the sway of light, glaring wildly. Some moved their legs a little as if making ready to jump out. But several, motionless on their backs and with one hand gripping hard the edge of the bunk123, smoked nervously124 with quick puffs125, staring upwards; immobilised in a great craving126 for peace.
At midnight, orders were given to furl the fore29 and mizen topsails. With immense efforts men crawled aloft through a merciless buffeting127, saved the canvas, and crawled down almost exhausted128, to bear in panting silence the cruel battering129 of the seas. Perhaps for the first time in the history of the merchant service the watch, told to go below, did not leave the deck, as if compelled to remain there by the fascination130 of a venomous violence. At every heavy gust men, huddled131 together, whispered to one another:— ‘It can blow no harder’ — and presently the gale would give them the lie with a piercing shriek109, and drive their breath back into their throats. A fierce squall seemed to burst asunder132 the thick mass of sooty vapours; and above the wrack133 of torn clouds glimpses could be caught of the high moon rushing backwards134 with frightful speed over the sky, right into the wind’s eye. Many hung their heads, muttering that it ‘turned their inwards out’ to look at it. Soon the clouds closed up, and the world again became a raging, blind darkness that howled, flinging at the lonely ship salt sprays and sleet135.
About half-past seven the pitchy obscurity round us turned a ghastly grey, and we knew that the sun had risen. This unnatural136 and threatening daylight, in which we could see one another’s wild eyes and drawn137 faces, was only an added tax on our endurance. The horizon seemed to have come on all sides within arm’s length of the s hip11. Into that narrowed circle furious seas leaped in, stuck, and leaped out. A rain of salt, heavy drops flew aslant138 like mist. The main-topsail had to be goose-winged, and with stolid139 resignation every one prepared to go aloft once more; but the officers yelled, pushed back, and at last we understood that no more men would be allowed to go on the yard than were absolutely necessary for the work. As at any moment the masts were likely to be jumped out or blown overboard, we concluded that the captain didn’t want to see all his crowd go over the side at once. That was reasonable. The watch then on duty, led by Mr. Creighton, began to struggle up the rigging. The wind flattened140 them against the ratlines; then, easing a little, would let them ascent141 a couple of steps; and again, with a sudden gust, pin all up the shrouds142 the whole drawling line in attitudes of crucifixion. The other watch plunged143 down on the main deck to haul up the sail. Men’s heads bobbed up as the water flung them irresistibly144 from side to side. Mr. Baker grunted145 encouragingly in our midst, spluttering and blowing amongst the tangled146 ropes like an energetic porpoise147. Favoured by an ominous and untrustworthy lull148, the work was done without any one being lost either off the deck or from the yard. For the moment the gale seemed to take off, and the ship, as if grateful for our efforts, plucked up heart and made better weather of it.
At eight the men off duty, watching their chance, ran forward over the flooded deck to get some rest. The other half of the crew remained aft for their turn of ‘seeing her through her trouble,’ as they expressed if. The two mates urged the master to go below. Mr. Baker grunted in his ear:— ‘Ough! surely now . . . Ough! . . . confidence in us . . . nothing more to do . . . she must lay it out or go. Ough! Ough!’ Tall young Mr. Creighton smiled down at him cheerfully:— ‘ . . . She’s right as a trivet! Take a spell, sir.’ He looked at them stonily149 with bloodshot, sleepless150 eyes. The rims151 of his eyelids152 were scarlet153, and he moved his jaw154 unceasingly with a slow effort, as though he had been masticating155 a lump of india-rubber. He shook his head. He repeated:— ‘Never mind me. I must see it out — I must see it out,’ but he consented to sit down for a moment on the skylight, with his hard face turned unflinchingly to windward. The sea spat156 at it — and stoical, it streamed with water as though he had been weeping. On the weather side of the poop the watch, hanging on to the mizen rigging and to one another, tried to exchange encouraging words. Singleton, at the wheel, yelled out:— ‘Look out for yourselves!’ His voice reached them in a warning whisper. They were startled.
A big, foaming157 sea came out of the mist; it made for the ship, roaring wildly, and in its rush it looked as mischievous158 and discomposing as a madman with an axe159. One or two, shouting, scrambled161 up the rigging; most, with a convulsive catch of the breath, held on where they stood. Singleton dug his knees under the wheel-box, and carefully eased the helm to the headlong pitch of the ship, but without taking his eyes off the coming wave. It towered close-to and high, like a wall of green glass topped with snow. The ship rose to it as though she had soared on wings, and for a moment rested poised162 upon the foaming crest163, as if she had been a great sea-bird. Before we could draw breath a heavy gust struck her, another roller took her unfairly under the weather bow, she gave a toppling lurch164, and filled her decks. Captain Allistoun leaped up, and fell; Archie rolled over him, screaming:— ‘She will rise!’ She gave another lurch to leeward; the lower deadeyes dipped heavily; the men’s feet flew from under them, and they hung kicking above the slanting165 poop. They could see the ship putting her side in the water, and shouted all together:— ‘She’s going!’ Forward the forecastle doors flew open, and the watch below were seen leaping out one after another, throwing their arms up; and, falling on hands and knees, scrambled aft on all fours along the high side of the deck, sloping more than the roof of a house. From leeward the seas rose, pursuing them; they looked wretched in a hopeless struggle, like vermin fleeing before a flood; they fought up the weather ladder of the poop one after another, half naked and staring wildly; and as soon as they got up they shot to leeward in clusters, with closed eyes, till they brought up heavily with their ribs against the iron stanchions of the rail; then, groaning166, they rolled in a confused mass. The immense volume of water thrown forward by the last scend of the ship had burst the lee door of the forecastle. They could see their chests, pillows, blankets, clothing, come out floating upon the sea. While they struggled back to windward they looked in dismay. The straw beds swam high, the blankets, spread out, undulated; while the chests, waterlogged and with a heavy list, pitched heavily, like dismasted hulks, before they sank; Archie’s big coat passed with outspread arms, resembling a drowned seaman floating with his head under water. Men were slipping down while trying to dig their fingers into the planks167; others, jammed in corners, rolled enormous eyes. They all yelled unceasingly; — ‘The masts! Cut! Cut! . . . ’ A black squall howled over the ship, that lay on her side with the weather yard-arms pointing to the clouds; while the tall masts, inclined nearly to the horizon, seemed to be of an unmeasurable length. The carpenter let go his hold, rolled against the skylight, and began to crawl to the cabin entrance, where a big axe was kept ready for just such an emergency. At that moment the topsail sheet parted, the end of the heavy chain racketed aloft, and sparks of red fire streamed down through the flying sprays. The sail flapped once with a jerk that seemed to tear our hearts out through our teeth, and instantly changed into a bunch of fluttering narrow ribbons that tied themselves into knots and became quiet along the yard. Captain Allistoun struggled, managed to stand up with his face near the deck, upon which men swung on the ends of ropes, like nest robbers upon a cliff. One of his feet was on somebody’s chest; his face was purple; his lips moved. He yelled also; he yelled, bending down:— ‘No! No!’ Mr. Baker, one leg over the binnacle-stand, roared out:— ‘Did you say no? Not cut?’ He shook his head madly. ‘No! No!’ Between his legs the crawling carpenter heard, collapsed168 at once, and lay full length in the angle of the skylight. Voices took up the shout — ‘No! No!’ Then all became still. They waited for the ship to turn over altogether, and shake them out into the sea; and upon the terrific noise of wind and sea not a murmur71 of remonstrance169 came out from those men, who each would have given ever so many years of life to see ‘them damned sticks go overboard!’ They all believed it their only chance, but a little hard-faced man shook his grey head and shouted ‘No!’ without giving them as much as a glance. They were silent, and gasped170. They gripped rails, they had wound ropes’-ends under their arms; they clutched ring-bolts, they crawled in heaps where there was foothold; they held on with both arms, hooked themselves to any thing to windward with elbows, with chins, almost with their teeth: and some, unable to crawl away from where they had been flung, felt the sea leap up striking against their backs as they struggled upwards. Singleton had stuck to the wheel. His hair flew out in the wind; the gale seemed to take its life-long adversary171 by the beard and shake his old head. He wouldn’t let go, and, with his knees forced between the spokes172, flew up and down like a man on a bough173. As Death appeared unready, they began to look about. Donkin, caught by one foot in a loop of some rope, hung, head down, below us and yelled, with his face to the deck:— ‘Cut! Don’t mind that murderin’ fool! Cut, some of you!’ One of his rescuers struck him a back-handed blow over the mouth; his head banged on the deck and he became suddenly very quiet, with a white face, breathing hard, and with a few drops of blood trickling174 from his cut lip. On the lee side another man could be seen stretched out as if stunned175; only the washboard prevented him from going over the side. It was the steward. We had to sling176 him up like a bale, for he was paralysed with fright. he had rushed up out of the pantry when he felt the ship go over, and had rolled down helplessly, clutching a china mug. It was not broken. With difficulty we tore it from him, and when he saw it in our hands he was amazed. ‘Where did you get that thing?’ he kept on asking, in a trembling voice. His shirt was blown to shreds177; the ripped sleeves flapped like wings. Two men made him fast, and, doubled over the rope that held him, he resembled a bundle of wet rags. Mr. Baker crawled along the line of men, asking:— ‘Are you all there?’ and looking them over. Some blinked vacantly, others shook convulsively; Wamibo’s head hung over his breast; and in painful attitudes, cut by lashings, exhausted with clutching, screwed up in corners, they breathed heavily. Their lips twitched178, and at every sickening heave of the overturned ship they opened them wide as if to shout. The cook, embracing a wooden stanchion, unconsciously repeated a prayer. In every short interval179 of the fiendish noises around he could be heard there without cap or slippers180, imploring181 in that storm the Master of our lives not to lead him into temptation. Soon he also became silent. In all that crowd of cold and hungry men, waiting wearily for a violent death, not a voice was heard; they were mute, and in sombre thoughtfulness listened to the horrible imprecations of the gale.
Hours passed. They were sheltered by the heavy inclination182 of the ship from the wind that rushed in one long unbroken moan above their heads, but cold rain showers fell at times into the uneasy calm of their refuge. Under the torment115 of that new infliction183 a pair of shoulders would writhe184 a little. Teeth chattered185. The sky was clearing, and bright sunshine gleamed over the ship. After every burst of battering seas, vivid and fleeting186 rainbows arched over the drifting hull187 in the flick188 of sprays. the gale was ending in a clear blow, which gleamed and cut like a knife. Between two bearded shellbacks Charley, fastened with somebody’s long muffler to a deck ring-bolt, wept quietly, with rare tears wrung189 out by bewilderment, cold, hunger, and general misery190. One of his neighbours punched him in the ribs, asking roughly:— ‘What’s the matter with your cheek? In fine weather there’s no holding you, youngster.’ Turning about with prudence191 he worked himself out of his coat and threw it over the boy. The other man closed up, muttering:— ‘Twill make a bloomin’ man of you, sonny.’ They flung their arms over and pressed against him. Charley drew his feet up and his eyelids dropped. Sighs were heard, as men, perceiving that they were not to be ‘drowned in a hurry,’ tried easier positions. Mr. Creighton, who had hurt his leg, lay amongst us with compressed lips. Some fellows belonging to his watch set about securing him better. Without a word or a glance he lifted his arms one after the other to facilitate the operation, and not a muscle moved in his stern, young face. They asked him with solicitude193:—
‘Easier now, sir?’ He answered with a curt:— ‘That’ll do.’ He was a hard young officer, but many of his watch used to say they liked him well enough because he had ‘such a gentlemanly way of damning us up and down the deck.’ Others, unable to discern such fine shades of refinement194, respected him for his smartness. For the first time since the ship had gone on her beam ends Captain Allistoun gave a short glance down at his men. He was almost upright — one foot against the side of the skylight, one knee on the deck; and with the end of the vang round his waist swung back and forth195 with his gaze fixed196 ahead watchful45, like a man looking out for a sign. Before his eyes the ship, with half her deck below water, rose and fell on heavy seas that rushed from under her flashing in the cold sunshine. We began to think she was wonderfully buoyant — considering. confident voices were heard shouting:— ‘She’ll do, boys!’ Belfast exclaimed with fervour:— ‘I would give a month’s pay for a draw at a pipe!’ One or two, passing dry tongues on their salt lips, muttered something about a ‘drink of waterl.’ The cook, as if inspired, scrambled up with his breast against the poop water-cask and looked in. There was a little at the bottom. He yelled, waved his arms, and two men began to crawl backwards and forwards with the mug. We had a good mouthful all round. The master shook his head impatiently, refusing. When it came to Charley one of his neighbours shouted:— ‘That bloomin’ boy’s asleep.’ He slept as though he had been dosed with narcotics197. They let him be. Singleton held to the wheel with one hand while he drank, bending down to shelter his lips from the wind. Wamibo had to be poked198 and yelled at before he saw the mug held before his eyes. Knowles said sagaciously:— ‘It’s better’n a tot o’ rum.’ Mr. Baker grunted:— ‘Thank ye.’ Mr. Creighton drank and nodded. Donkin gulped199 greedily, glaring over the rim46. Belfast made us laugh when with grimacing200 mouth he shouted:— ‘Pass it this way. We’re all taytottlers here.’ The master, presented with the mug again by a crouching man, who screamed up at him:— ‘We all had a drink, captain,’ groped for it without ceasing to look ahead, and handed it back stiffly as though he could not spare half a glance away from the ship. Faces brightened. We shouted to the cook:— ‘Well done, doctor!’ He sat to leeward, propped201 by the water-cask and yelled back abundantly, but the seas were breaking in thunder just then, and we only caught snatches that sounded like: ‘Providence’ and ‘born again.’ He was at his old game of preaching. We made friendly but derisive202 gestures at him, and from below he lifted one arm, holding on with the other, moved his lips, he beamed up to us, straining his voice — earnest, and ducking his head before the sprays.
Suddenly some one cried:— ‘Where’s Jimmy?’ and we were appalled203 once more. On the end of the row the boatswain shouted hoarsely:— ‘Has anyone seed him come out?’ Voices exclaimed dismally:— ‘Drowned — is he? . . . No! In his cabin! . . . Good Lord! . . . Caught like a bloomin’ rat in a trap . . . Couldn’t open his door . . . . . . Aye! She went over too quick and the water jammed it . . . Poor beggar! . . . No help for ’im . . . Let’s go and see . . . ’ ‘Damn him, who could go?’ screamed Donkin. — ‘Nobody expects you to,’ growled206 the man next to him; ‘you’re only a thing.’ — ‘Is there half a chance to get at ’im?’ inquired two or three men together. Belfast untied207 himself with blind impetuosity, and all at once shot down to leeward quicker than a flash of lightning. We shouted all together with dismay; but with his legs overboard he held and yelled for a rope. In our extremity208 nothing could be terrible; so we judged him funny kicking there, and with his scared face. some one began to laugh, and, as if hysterically209 infected with screaming merriment, all those haggard men went off laughing, wild-eyed, like a lot of maniacs210 tied up on a wall. Mr. Baker swung off the binnacle-stand and tendered him one leg. He scrambled up rather scared, and consigning211 us with abominable212 words to the ‘divvle.’ ‘You are . . . Ough! You’re a foul-mouthed beggar, Craik,’ grunted Mr. Baker. He answered, stuttering with indignation: — ‘Look at ’em, sorr. The bloomin’ dirty images! laughing at a chum gone overboard. Call themselves men, too.’ But from the poop the boatswain called out:— ‘Come along.’ and Belfast crawled away in a hurry to join him. the five men, poised and gazing over the edge of the poop, looked for the best way to get forward. They seemed to hesitate. The others, twisting in their lashings, turning painfully, stared with open lips. Captain Allistoun saw nothing; he seemed with his eyes to hold the ship up in a superhuman concentration of effort. The wind screamed loud in the sunshine; columns of spray rose straight up; and in the glitter of rainbows bursting over the trembling hull the men went cautiously, disappearing from sight with deliberate movements.
They went swinging from belaying-pin to cleat above the seas that beat the half-submerged deck. Their toes scraped the the planks. Lumps of cold green water toppled over the bulwark213 and on their heads. They hung for a moment on strained arms, with the breath knocked out of them, and with closed eyes — then, letting go with one hand, balanced with lolling heads, trying to grab some rope or stanchion further forward. The long-armed and athletic214 boatswain swung quickly, gripping things with a fist hard as iron, and remembering suddenly snatches of the last letter from his ‘old woman.’ Little Belfast scrambled rageously, muttering ‘cursed nigger.’ Wamibo’s tongue hung out with excitement; and Archie, intrepid215 and calm, watched his chance to move with intelligent coolness.
When above the side of the house, they let go one after another, and falling heavily, sprawled216, pressing their palms to the smooth teak wood. Round them the backwash of waves seethed217 white and hissing219. All the doors had become trap-doors, of course. The first was the galley door. The galley extended from side to side, and they could hear the sea splashing with hollow noises in there. The next door was that of the carpenter’s shop. They lifted it, and looked down. The room seemed to have been devastated220 by an earthquake. Everything in it had tumbled on the bulkhead facing the door, and on the other side of that bulkhead there was Jimmy, dead or alive. The bench, a half-finished meat-safe, saws, chisels221, wire rods, axes, crowbars, lay in a heap besprinkled with loose nails. A sharp adze stuck up with a shining edge that gleamed dangerously down there like a wicked smile. The men clung to one another peering. A sickening, sly lurch of the ship nearly sent them overboard in a body. Belfast howled ‘Here goes!’ and leaped down. Archie followed cannily222, catching223 at shelves that gave way with him, and eased himself in a great crash of ripped wood. There was hardly room for three men to move. And in the sunshiny blue square of the door, the boatswain’s face, bearded and dark, Wamibo’s face, wild and pale, hung over — watching.
Together they shouted: ‘Jimmy! Jim!’ From above the boatswain contributed a deep growl205: ‘You . . . Wait!’ In a pause, Belfast entreated224: ‘Jimmy, darlin’ are ye aloive?’ The boatswain said: ‘Again! All together boys!’ All yelled excitedly. Wamibo made noises resembling loud barks. Belfast drummed on the side of the bulkhead with a piece of iron. All ceased suddenly. The sound of screaming and hammering went on thin and distinct — like a solo after a chorus. He was alive. He was screaming and knocking below us with the hurry of a man prematurely225 shut up in a coffin226. We went to work. We attacked with desperation the abominable heap of things heavy, of things sharp, of things clumsy to handle. The boatswain crawled away to find somewhere a flying end of a rope; and Wamibo, held back by shouts:— ‘Don’t jump! . . . Don’t come in here, muddle-head!’ — remained glaring above us — all shining eyes, gleaming fangs227, tumbled hair; resembling an amazed and half-witted fiend gloating over the extraordinary agitation228 of the damned. The boatswain adjured229 us to ‘bear a hand,’ and a rope descended230. We made things fast to it and they went up spinning, never to be seen by man again. A rage to fling things overboard possessed231 us. We worked fiercely, cutting our hands, and speaking brutally232 to one another. Jimmy kept up a distracting row; he screamed piercingly, without drawing breath, like a tortured woman; he banged with hands and feet. The agony of his fear wrung our hearts so terribly that we longed to abandon him, to get out of that place deep as a well and swaying like a tree, to get out of his hearing, back on the poop where we could wait passively for death in incomparable repose233. We shouted to him to ‘shut up, for God’s sake.’ He redoubled his cries. He must have fancied we could not hear him. Probably he heard his own clamour but faintly. We could picture him crouching on the edge of the upper berth234, letting out with both fists at the wood, in the dark, and with his mouth wide open for that unceasing cry. Those were loathsome235 moments. A cloud driving across the sun would darken the doorway236 menacingly. Every movement of the ship was pain. We scrambled about with no room to breathe, and felt frightfully sick. The boatswain yelled down at us:— ‘Bear a hand! Bear a hand! We two will be washed away from here directly if you ain’t quick!’ Three times a sea leaped over the high side and flung bucketfuls of water on our heads. Then Jimmy, startled by the shock, would stop his noise for a moment — waiting for the ship to sink, perhaps — and began again, distressingly237 loud, as if invigorated by the gust of fear. At the bottom the nails lay in a layer several inches thick. It was ghastly. Every nail in the world, not driven in firmly somewhere, seemed to have found its way into that carpenter’s shop. There they were, of all kinds, the remnants of stores from seven voyages. Tin-tacks238, copper239 tacks (sharp as needles), pump nails, with big heads, like tiny iron mushrooms; nails without any heads (horrible); French nails polished and slim. They lay in a solid mass more inabordable than a hedgehog. We hesitated yearning240 for a shovel241, while Jimmy below us yelled as though he had been flayed242. Groaning, we dug our fingers in, and very much hurt, shook our hands, scattering243 nails and drops of blood. We passed up our hats full of assorted244 nails to the boatswain, who, as if performing a mysterious and appeasing245 rite246, cast them wide upon a raging sea.
We got to the bulkhead at last. Those were stout planks. She was a ship, well finished in every detail — the Narcissus was. They were the stoutest247 planks ever put into a ship’s bulkhead — we thought — and then we perceived that, in our hurry, we had sent all the tools overboard. Absurd little Belfast wanted to break it down with his own weight, and with both feet leaped straight up like a springbok, cursing the Clyde shipwrights248 for not scamping their work. Incidentally he reviled249 all North Britain, the rest of the earth, the sea — and all his companions. He swore, as he alighted heavily on his heels, that he would never, never any more associate with any fool that ‘hadn’t savee enough to know his knee from him elbow.’ He managed by his thumping251 to scare the last remnant of wits out of Jimmy. We could hear the object of our exasperated solicitude darting252 to and fro under the planks, now here, now there, in a puzzling manner. He squeaked253 as he dodged the invisible blows. It was more heartrending even than his yells. Suddenly Archie produced a crowbar. He had kept it back; also a small hatchet254. We howled with satisfaction. He struck a mighty255 blow and small chips flew at our eyes. The boatswain above shouted:— ‘Look out! Look out there. Don’t kill the man. Easy does it!’ Wamibo, maddened with the excitement hung head down and insanely urged us:— ‘Hoo! Strook ’im! Hoo! Hoo!’ We were afraid he would fall in and kill one of us and, hurriedly, we entreated the boatswain to ‘shove the blamed Finn overboard.’ Then, all together, we yelled down at the planks:— ‘Stand from under! Get forward.’ and listened. We only heard the deep hum and moan of the wind above us, the mingled256 roar and hiss218 of the seas. The ship, as if overcome with despair, wallowed lifelessly, and our heads swam with that unnatural motion. Belfast clamoured:— ‘For the love of God, Jimmy, where are ye? . . . Knock! Jimmy darlint! . . . Knock! You bloody257 black beast! Knock!’ He was as quiet as a dead man inside a grave; and, like men standing above a grave, we were on the verge258 of tears — but with vexation, the strain, the fatigue259; with the great longing192 to be done with it, to get away, and lay down to rest somewhere where we could see our danger and breathe, Archie shouted:— ‘Gi’e me room!’ We crouched260 behind him, guarding our heads, and he struck time after time in the joint261 of the planks. They cracked. Suddenly the crowbar went halfway262 in through a splintered oblong hole. It must have missed Jimmy’s head by less than an inch. Archie withdrew it quickly, and that infamous263 nigger rushed at the hole, put his lips to it, and whispered ‘Help’ in an almost extinct voice; he pressed his head to it, trying madly to get out through that opening one inch wide and three inches long. In our disturbed state we were absolutely paralysed by his incredible action. It seemed impossible to drive him away. Even Archie at last lost his composure. ‘If ye don’t clear oot I’ll drive the crowbar thro’ your head.’ he shouted in a determined264 voice. He meant what he said, and his earnestness seemed to make an impression on Jimmy. He disappeared suddenly, and we set to prising and tearing at the planks with the eagerness of men trying to get at a mortal enemy, and spurred by the desire to tear him limb from limb. The wood split, cracked, gave way. Belfast plunged in head and shoulders and groped viciously. ‘I’ve got ’im! Got ’im,’ he shouted. ‘Oh! There! . . . He’s gone;;I’ve got ’im! . . . Pull at my legs! . . . Pull!’ Wamibo hooted265 unceasingly. The boatswain shouted directions:— ‘Catch hold of his hair, Belfast; pull straight up, you two! . . . Pull fair!’ We pulled fair. We pulled Belfast out with a jerk, and dropped him with disgust. In a sitting posture266, purple-faced, he sobbed despairingly:— ‘How can I hold on to ’is blooming short wool?’
Suddenly Jimmy’s head and shoulders appeared. He stuck half-way, and with rolling eyes foamed267 at our feet. We flew at him with brutal impatience268, we tore the shirt off his back, we tugged269 at his ears, we panted over him; and all at once he came away in our hands as though somebody had let go his legs. With the same movement, without a pause, we swung him up. His breath whistled, he kicked our upturned faces, he grasped two pairs of arms above his head, and he squirmed up with such precipitation that he seemed positively270 to escape from our hands like a bladder full of gas. Streaming with perspiration271, we swarmed272 up the rope, and, coming into the blast of cold wind, gasped like men plunged into icy water. With burning faces we shivered to the very marrow273 of our bones. Never before had the gale seemed to us more furious, the sea more mad, the sunshine more merciless and mocking, and the position of the ship more hopeless and appalling. Every movement of her was ominous of the end of her agony and of the beginning of ours. We staggered away from the door, and, alarmed by a sudden roll, fell down in a bunch. it appeared to us that the side of the house was more smooth than glass and more slippery than ice. There was nothing to hang on to but a long brass274 hook used sometimes to keep back an open door. Wamibo held on to it and we held on to Wamibo, clutching our Jimmy. He had completely collapsed now. He did not seem to have the strength to close his hand. We stuck to him blindly in our fear. We were not afraid of Wamibo letting go (we remembered that the brute275 was stronger than any three men in the ship), but we were afraid of the hook giving way, and we also believed that the ship had made up her mind to turn over at last. But she didn’t. A sea swept over us. The boatswain spluttered:— ‘Up and away. There’s a lull. Away aft with you, or we will all go to the devil here.’ We stood up surrounding Jimmy. We begged him to h old up, to hold on, at least. He glared with his bulging276 eyes, mute as a fish, and with all the stiffness knocked out of him. He wouldn’t stand; he wouldn’t even as much as clutch at our necks; he was only a cold black skin loosely stuffed with soft cotton wool; his arms and legs swung jointless277 and pliable278; his head rolled about; the lower lip hung down, enormous and heavy. We pressed round him, bothered and dismayed; sheltering him we swung here and there in a body; and on the very brink279 of eternity280 we tottered281 all together with concealing282 and absurd gestures, like a lot of drunken men embarrassed with a stolen corpse284.
Something had to be done. We had to get him aft. A rope was tied slack under his armpits, and, reaching up at the risk of our lives, we hung him on the foresheet cleet. He emitted no sound; he looked as ridiculously lamentable285 as a doll that had lost half its sawdust, and we started on our perilous286 journey over the main deck, dragging along with care that pitiful, that limp, that hateful burden. He was not very heavy, but had he weighed a ton he could not have been more awkward to handle. We literally287 passed him from hand to hand. Now and then we had to hang him up on a handy belaying-pin, to draw a breath and reform the line. Had the pin broken he would have irretrievably gone into the Southern Ocean, but he had to take his chance of that; and after a little while, becoming apparently288 aware of it, he groaned slightly, and with a great effort whispered a few words. We listened eagerly. He was reproaching us with our carelessness in letting him run such risks: ‘Now, after I got myself from there,’ he breathed out weakly. ‘There’ was his cabin. And he got himself out. We had nothing to do with it apparently! . . . No matter . . . We went on and let him take his chances, simply because we could not help it; for though at that time we hated him more than ever — more than anything under heaven — we did not want to lose him. We had so far saved him; and it had become a personal matter between us and the sea. We meant to stick to him. Had we (by an incredible hypothesis) undergone similar toil and trouble for an empty cask, that cask would have become as precious to us as Jimmy was. More precious, in fact, because we would have had no reason to hate the cask. And we hated James Wait. We could not get rid of the monstrous suspicion that this astounding289 black-man was shamming290 sick, had been malingering heartlessly in the face of our toil, of our scorn, of our patience — and now was malingering in the face of our devotion — in the face of death. Our vague and imperfect morality rose with disgust at his unmanly lie. But he stuck to it manfully — amazingly. No! It couldn’t be. He was at all extremity. His cantankerous291 temper was only the result of the provoking invincibleness of that death he felt by his side. Any man may be angry with such a masterful chum. ‘But, then, what kind of men were we — with our thoughts! Indignation and doubt grappled within us in a scuffle that trampled292 upon the finest of our feelings. And we hated him because of the suspicion; we detested293 him because of the doubt. We could not scorn him safely — neither could we pity him without risk to our dignity. So we hated him, and passed him carefully from hand to hand. We cried, ‘Got him? — ‘Yes, all right. Let go.’ and he swung from one enemy to another, showing about as much life as an old bolster294 would do. His eyes made two narrow white slits295 in the black face. He breathed slowly, and the air escaped through his lips with a noise like the sound of bellows296. We reached the poop ladder at last, and it being a comparatively safe place, we lay for a moment in an exhausted heap to rest a little. He began to mutter. We were always incurably297 anxious to hear what he had to say. This time he mumbled298 peevishly299. ‘It took you some time to come. I began to think the whole smart lot of you had been washed overboard. What kept you back? Hey? Funk?’ We said nothing. With sighs we started again to drag him up. The secret and ardent300 desire of our hearts was to beat him viciously with our fists about the head and we handled him as tenderly as though he had been made of glass.
The return on the poop was like the return of wanderers after many years amongst people marked by the desolation of time. Eyes were turned slowly in their sockets301 glancing at us. Faint murmurs302 were heard. ‘Have you got ’im after all?’ The well-known faces looked strange and familiar; they seemed faded and grimy; they had a mingled expression of fatigue and eagerness. They seemed to have become much thinner during our absence, as if all these men had been starving for a long time in their abandoned attitudes. The captain, with a round turn of a rope on his wrist, and kneeling on one knee, swung with a face cold and stiff but with living eyes he was still holding the ship up heeding303 no one, as if lost in the unearthly effort of that endeavour. We fastened up James Wait in a safe place. Mr. Baker scrambled along to lend a hand. Mr. Creighton, on his back, and very pale, muttered, ‘Well done,’ and gave us, Jimmy and the sky, a scornful glance, then closed his eyes slowly. Here and there a man stirred a little, but most remained apathetic304, in cramped305 positions, muttering between shivers. The sun was setting. A sun enormous, unclouded and red, declining low as if bending down to look in their faces. The wind whistled across long sunbeams that, resplendent and cold, struck full on the dilated306 pupils of staring eyes without making them wink307. The wisps of hair and the tangled beards were grey with the salt of the sea. The faces were earthy, and the dark patches under the eyes extended to the ears, smudged into the hollows of sunken cheeks. The lips were livid and thin, and when they moved it was difficulty, as though they had been glued to the teeth. Some grinned sadly in the sunlight, shaking with cold. Others were sad and still. Charley, subdued308 by the sudden disclosure of the insignificance309 of his youth, darted310 fearful glances. The two smooth-faced Norwegians resembled decrepid children, staring stupidly. To leeward, on the edge of the horizon, black seas leaped up towards the glowing sun. It sank slowly, round and blazing, and the crests311 of waves splashed on the edge of the luminous circle. One of the Norwegians appeared to catch sight of it, and, after giving a violent start, began to speak. His voice, startling the others, made them stir. They moved their heads stiffly, or turning with difficulty, looked at him with surprise, with fear, or in grave silence. He chattered at the setting sun, nodding his head, while the big seas began to roll across the crimson313 disc; and over miles of turbulent waters the shadows of high waves swept with a running darkness the faces of men. A crested314 roller broke with a loud hissing roar, and the sun, as if put out disappeared. The chattering315 voice faltered316, went out together with the light. There were sighs. In the sudden lull that follows the crash of a broken sea a man said wearily, ‘Here’s that bloomin’ Dutchman gone off his chump.’ A seaman, lashed312 by the middle, tapped the deck with his open hand with unceasing quick flaps. In the gathering317 greyness of twilight318 a bulky form was seen rising aft, and began marching on all fours with the movements of some big cautious beast. It was Mr. Baker passing along the line of men. He grunted encouragingly over every one, felt their fastenings. Some, with half-open eyes, puffed319 like men oppressed by heat; others, mechanically and in dreamy voices answered him, ‘Aye! aye! sir!’ He went from one to another grunting320, ‘ Ough! . . . See her through it yet;’ and unexpectedly, with loud angry outbursts, blew up Knowles for cutting off a long piece from the fall of the relieving tackle. ‘Ough! — Ashamed of yourself — Relieving tackle — Don’t you know better! — Ough! — Able seaman! Ough!’ The lame86 man was crushed. He muttered, ‘Get som’think for a lashing16 for myself, sir.’ — ‘Ough!Lashing — yourself. Are you a tinker or a sailor — What?Ough! — May want that tackle directly — Ough!More use to the ship than your lame carcass. Ough! — Keep it!Keep it, now you’ve done it.’ He crawled away slowly, muttering to himself about some men being ‘worse than children.’ It had been a comforting row. Low exclamations321 were heard: ‘Hallo . . . Hallo . . . ’ Those who had been painfully dozing323 asked with convulsive starts, ‘What’s up? . . . What is it?’ The answers came with unexpected cheerfulness:‘The mate is going bald-headed for lame Jack324 about something or other.’ ‘No! . . . ’‘What ’as he done?’ Some even chuckled325. It was like a whiff of hope, like a reminder326 of safe days. Donkin, who had been stupefied with fear, revived suddenly and began to shout:— ‘‘Ear ’im; that’s the way they tawlk to hus. Vy donch ’ee ’it ’im — one ov yer? ’It ’im. ’It ’im! Comin’ the mate hover327 hus. We are as good men as ’ee! We’re hall goin’ to ’ell now. We ’ave been starved in this rotten ship, an’ now we’re goin’ to be drowned for them black-’earted bullies328! ’it ’im!’ He shrieked329 in the deepening gloom, he blubbered and sobbed, screaming: — ‘‘It ’im! ‘It ’im!’ The rage and fear of his disregarded right to live tried the steadfastness330 of hearts more than the menacing shadows of the night that advanced through the unceasing clamor of the gale. From aft Mr. Baker was heard:— ‘Is one of you men going to stop him — must I come along?cq. ‘Shut up! . . . ’ ‘Keep quiet!’ cried various voices, exasperated, trembling with cold. — ‘You’ll get one across the mug from me directly.’ said an invisible seaman, in a weary tone, ‘I won’t let the mate have the trouble.’ He ceased and lay still with the silence of despair. On the black sky the stars, coming out, gleamed over an inky sea that, speckled with foam, flashed back at them the evanescent and pale light of a dazzling whiteness born from the black turmoil of the waves. Remote in the eternal calm they glittered hard and cold above the uproar of the earth; they surrounded the vanquished331 and tormented ship on all sides: more pitiless than the eyes of a triumphant332 mob and as unapproachable as the hearts of men.
The icy south wind howled exultingly333 under the sombre splendour of the sky. The cold shook the men with a restless violence as though it had tried to shake them to pieces. Short moans were swept unheard off the stiff lips. Some complained in mutters of ‘not feeling themselves below the waist’; while those who had closed their eyes, imagined they had a block of ice on their chests. Others, alarmed at not feeling any pain in their fingers, beat the deck feebly with their hands — obstinate and exhausted. Wamibo stared vacant and dreamy. The Scandinavians kept on a meaningless mutter through chattering teeth. The spare Scotchmen, with determined efforts, kept their lower jaws334 still. The West-country men lay big and stolid in an invulnerable surliness. A man yawned and swore in turns. Another breathed with a rattle95 in his throat. Two elderly hard-weather shellbacks, fast side by side, whispered dismally to one another about the landlady335 of a boarding-house in Sunderland, whom they both knew. They extolled336 her motherliness and her liberality; they tried to talk about the joint of beef and the big fire in the downstairs kitchen. The words dying faintly on their lips, ended in light sighs. A sudden voice cried into the cold night, ‘Oh Lord!’ No one changed his position or took any notice of the cry. One or two passed, with a repeated and vague gesture, their hand over their faces, but most of them kept very still. In the benumbed immobility of their bodies they were excessively wearied by their thoughts, that rushed with the rapidity and vividness of dreams. Now and then, by an abrupt and startling exclamation322, they answered the weird337 hail of some illusion; then, again, in silence contemplated338 the vision of known faces and familiar things. They recalled the aspect of forgotten shipmates and heard the voice of dead and gone skippers. They remembered the noise of gaslit streets, the steamy heat of tap-rooms, or the scorching339 sunshine of calm days at sea.
Mr. Baker left his insecure place, and crawled, with stoppages, along the poop. In the dark and on all fours he resembled some carnivorous animal prowling amongst corpses340. At the break, propped to windward of a stanchion, he looked down on the main deck. It seemed to him that the ship had a tendency to stand up a little more. The wind had eased a little, he thought, but the sea ran as high as ever. The waves foamed viciously, and the lee side of the deck disappeared under a hissing whiteness as of boiling milk, while the rigging sang steadily341 with a deep vibrating note, and, at every upward swing of the ship, the wind rushed with a long-drawn clamour amongst the spars. Mr. Baker watched very still. A man near him began to make a blabbing noise with his lips, all at once and very loud, as though the cold had broken brutally through him. He went on:‘Ba — ba — ba — brrr — brr — ba — ba — ‘ ‘Stop that!’ cried Mr. Baker, groping in the dark. ‘Stop it!’ He went on shaking the leg he found under his hand. — ‘What is it, sir?’ called out Belfast, in the tone of a man awakened342 suddenly:‘we are looking after that ’ere Jimmy.’ — ‘Are you? Ough! Don’t make that row then. Who’s that near you?’ — ‘It’s me — the boatswain, sir,’ growled the West-country man; ‘we are trying to keep life in that poor devil.’ — ‘Aye, aye!’ said Mr. Baker, ‘Do it quietly, can’t you.’ — ‘He wants us to hold him up above the rail,’ went on the boatswain, with irritation343, ‘says he can’t breathe here under our jackets.’ — ‘If we lift ’im, we drop ’im overboard,’ said another voice, ‘we can’t feel our hands with cold.’ — ‘I don’t care. I am choking!’ exclaimed James Wait in a clear tone. — ‘Oh, no, my son,’ said the boatswain, desperately, ‘you don’t go till we all go on this fine night.’ — ‘You will see yete many a worse,’ said Mr. Baker, cheerfully. — ‘It’s no child’s play, sir!’ answered the boatswain. ‘Some of us further aft, here, are in a pretty bad way.’ — ‘If the blamed sticks had been cut out of her she would be running along on her bottom now like any decent ship, an’ giv’ us all a chance,’ said some one, with a sigh. — ‘The old man wouldn’t have it . . . much he cares for us,’ whispered another. — ‘Care for you!’ exclaimed Mr. Baker, angrily. ‘Why should he care for you? Are you a lot of women passengers to be taken care of? We are here to take care of the ship — and some of you ain’t up to that. Ough! . . . What have you done so very smart to be taken care of? Ough! . . . Some of you can’t stand a bit of a breeze without crying over it.’ — ‘Come, sorr. We ain’t so bad,’ protested Belfast, in a voice shaken by shivers; ‘we ain’t . . . brrr . . . ’ — ‘Again,’ shouted the mate, grabbing at the shadowy form; ‘again! . . . Why, you’re in your shirt! What have you done?’ — ‘I’ve put my oilskin and jacket over that half-dead nayggur — and he says he chokes,’ said Belfast, complainingly. — ‘You wouldn’t call me nigger if I wasn’t half dead you Irish beggar!’ boomed James Wait, vigorously. — ‘You . . . brrr . . . You wouldn’t be white if you were ever so well . . . I will fight you . . . brrr . . . in fine weather . . . brrr . . . with one hand tied behind my back . . . brrr . . . ’ — ‘I don’t want your rags — I want air,’ gasped out the other faintly, as if suddenly exhausted.
The sprays swept over the whistling and pattering. Men disturbed in their peaceful torpor344 by the pain of quarrelsome shouts, moaned, muttering curses. Mr. Baker crawled off a little way to leeward where a water-cask loomed345 up big, with something white against it. ‘Is it you, Podmore?’ asked Mr. Baker. He had to repeat the question twice before the cook turned, coughing feebly. — ‘Yes, sir. I’ve been praying in my mind for a quick deliverance; for I am prepared for any call . . . I— ‘ — ‘Look here, cook,’ interrupted Mr. baker, ‘the men are perishing with cold.’ — ‘Cold!’ said the cook, mournfully; ‘they will be warm enough before long.’ — ‘What?’ asked Mr. Baker, looking along the deck into the faint sheen of frothing water. — ‘They are a wicked lot,’ continued the cook solemnly, but in an unsteady voice, ‘about as wicked as any ship’s company in this sinful world! Now, I’ — he trembled so that he could hardly speak; his was an exposed place, and in a cotton shirt, a thin pair of trousers, and with his knees under his nose, he received, quaking, the flicks346 of stinging, salt drops; his voice sounded exhausted — ‘now, I— any time . . . My eldest347 youngster, Mr. Baker . . . a clever boy . . . last Sunday on shore before this voyage he wouldn’t go to church, sir. Says I, “You go and clean yourself or I’ll know the reason why!” What does he do? . . . Pond, Mr. Baker — fell into the pond in his best rig, sir! . . . Accident? . . . “Nothing will save you, fine scholar though you are!” says I . . . Accident! . . . I whopped ’im!’ he repeated, rattling348 his teeth; then, after a while, let out a mournful sound that was half a groan3, half a snore. Mr. Baker shook him by the shoulders. ‘Hey! Cook! Hold up, Podmore! Tell me — is there any fresh water in the galley tank? The ship is lying along less, I think; I would try to get forward. A little water would do them good. Hallo! Look out! Look out!’ The cook struggled. — ‘Not you, sir — not you!’ He began to scramble160 to windward. ‘Galley! . . . my business!’ he shouted. —
‘Cook’s going crazy now,’ said several voices. He yelled:— ‘Crazy, am I? I am more ready to die than any of you, officers incloosive — there! As long as she swims I will cook! I will get you coffee.’ — ‘Cook, ye are a gentleman!’ cried Belfast. But the cook was already going over the weather ladder. He stopped for a minute to shout back on the poop: — ‘as long as she swims I will cook!’ and disappeared as though he had gone overboard. The men who had heard sent after him a cheer that sounded like a wail349 of sick children. An hour or more afterwards some one said distinctly: ‘He’s gone for good.’ — ‘Very likely,’ assented350 the boatswain; ‘even in fine weather he was as smart about the deck as a milch-cow on her first voyage. We ought to go and see.’ Nobody moved. As the hours dragged slowly through the darkness Mr. Baker crawled back and forth along the poop several times. Some men fancied they had heard him exchange murmurs with the master, but at that time the memories were incomparably more vivid than anything actual, and they were not certain whether the murmurs were heard now or many years ago. They did not try to find out. A mutter more or less did not matter. It was too cold for curiosity, and almost for hope. They could not spare a moment or a thought from the great mental occupation of wishing to live. And the desire of life kept them alive, apathetic, and enduring, under the cruel persistence351 of wind and cold; while the bestarred black dome of the sky revolved352 slowly above the ship, that drifted, bearing their patience and their suffering, through the stormy solitude353 of the sea.
Huddled close to one another, they fancied themselves utterly354 alone. They heard sustained loud noises and again bore the pain of existence through long hours of profound silence. In the night they saw sunshine, felt warmth, and suddenly, with a start, thought that the sun would never rise upon a freezing world. Some heard laughter, listened to songs; others, near the end of the poop, could hear loud human shrieks, and, opening their eyes, were surprised to hear them still, though very faint, and far away. The boatswain said:— ‘Why, it’s the cook, hailing ‘ from forward I think.’ He hardly believed his own words or recognised his own voice. It was a long time before the man next to him gave a sign of life. He punched hard his other neighbour and said:— ‘The cook’s shouting!’ Many did not understand, others did not care; the majority further aft did not believe. But the boatswain and another men had the pluck to crawl away forward to see. They seemed to have been gone for hours, and were soon forgotten. Then suddenly men that had been plunged in a hopeless resignation became as if possessed with a desire to hurt. They belaboured one another with fists. In the darkness they struck persistently355 anything soft they could feel near, and, with a greater effort than for a shout, whispered excitedly:— ‘They’ve got some hot coffee . . . Bosun got it . . . ’ ‘No! . . . Where?’ . . . ‘It’s coming! Cook made it.’ James Wait moaned. Donkin scrambled viciously, caring not where he kicked, and anxious that the officers should have none of it. It came in a pot, and they drank in turns. It was hot, and while it blistered356 the greedy palates, it seemed incredible. The men sighed out parting with the mug:— ‘‘How ’as he done it?’ Some cried weakly — ‘Bully for you, doctor!’
He had done it somehow. Afterwards Archie declared that the thing was ‘meeraculous.’ For many days we wondered, and it was the one ever-interesting subject of conversation to the end of the voyage. We asked the cook, in fine weather, how he felt when he saw his stove ‘reared up on end.’ We inquired, in the north-east trade and on serene357 evenings, whether he had to stand on his head to put things right somewhat. We suggested he had used his bread-board for a raft, and from there comfortably had stoked his grate; and we did our best to conceal283 our admiration358 under the wit of fine irony359. He affirmed not to know anything about it, rebuked360 our levity361, declared himself, with solemn animation362, to have been the object of special mercy for the saving of our unholy lives. Fundamentally he was right, no doubt; but he need not have been so offensively positive about it — he need not have hinted so often that it would have gone hard with us had he not been there, meritorious363 and pure, to receive the inspiration and the strength for the work of grace. Had we been saved by his recklessness or his agility364, we could have at length become reconciled to the fact; but to admit our obligation to anybody’s virtue365 and holiness alone was as difficult for us as for any other handful of mankind. Like many benefactors366 of humanity, the cook took himself too seriously, and reaped the reward of irreverence367. We were not ungrateful, however. He remained heroic. His saying — the saying of his life — became proverbial in the mouths of men as are the sayings of conquerors368 or sages369. Later on, whenever one of us was puzzled by a task and advised to relinquish370 it, he would express his determination to persevere371 and to succeed by the words:— ‘As long as she swims I will cook!’
The hot drink helped us through the bleak372 hours that precede the dawn. The sky low by the horizon took on the delicate tints373 of pink and yellow like the inside of a rare shell. And higher, where it glowed with a pearly sheen, a small black cloud appeared, like a forgotten fragment of the night set in a border of dazzling gold. The beams of light skipped on the crests of waves. The eyes of men turned to the eastward374. The sunlight flooded their weary faces. They were giving themselves up to fatigue as though they had done for ever with their work. On Singleton’s black oilskin coat the dried salt glistened like hoar frost. He hung on by the wheel, with open and lifeless eyes. Captain Allistoun, unblinking, faced the rising sun. His lips stirred, opened for the first time in twenty-four hours, and with a fresh firm voice he cried, ‘Wear ship!’
The commanding sharp tones made all these torpid375 men start like a sudden flick of a whip. Then again, motionless where they lay, the force of habit made some of them repeat the order in hardly audible murmurs. Captain Allistoun glanced down at his crew, and several, with fumbling376 fingers and hopeless movements, tried to cast themselves adrift. He repeated impatiently, ‘Wear ship. Now then, Mr. Baker, get the men along. What’s the matter with them?’ — ‘Wear ship. Do you hear there? — Wear ship!‘thundered out the boatswain suddenly. His voice seemed to break through the deadly spell. Men began to stir and crawl, — ‘I want the fore-top-mast stay-sail run up smartly,’ said the master, very loudly; ‘if you can’t manage it standing up you must do it lying down — that’s all. Bear a hand!’ — ‘Come along! Let’s give the old girl a chance.’ urged the boatswain. — ‘Aye! aye! Wear ship!’ exclaimed quavering voices. The forecastle men, with reluctant faces, prepared to go forward. Mr. Baker pushed ahead grunting on all fours to show the way, and they followed him over the break. The others lay still with a vile250 hope in their hearts of not being required to move till they got saved or drowned in peace.
After some time they could be seen forward appearing on the forecastle head, one by one in unsafe attitudes; hanging on to the rails; clambering over the anchors; embracing the cross-head of the windlass or hugging the fore-capstan. They were restless with strange exertions377, waved their arms, knelt, lay flat down, staggered up, seemed to strive their hardest to go overboard. Suddenly a small white piece of canvas fluttered amongst them, grew larger, beating. Its narrow head rose in jerks — and at last it stood distended378 and triangular379 in the sunshine. — ‘They have done it!’ cried the voices aft. Captain Allistoun let go the rope he had round his wrist and rolled to leeward headlong. He could be seen casting the lee main braces380 off the pins while the backwash of waves splashed over him. — ‘Square the main yard!’ he shouted up to us — who stared at him in wonder. We hesitated to stir. ‘The main brace, men. Haul! haul anyhow! Lay on your backs and haul!‘he screeched381, half drowned down there. We did not believe we could move the main yard, but the strongest and the less discouraged tried to execute the order. Others assisted half-heartedly. Singleton’s eyes blazed suddenly as he took a fresh grip of the spokes. Captain Allistoun fought his way up to the windward. — ‘Haul men! Try to move it! Haul, and help the ship.’ His hard face worked suffused382 and furious. ‘Is she going off, Singleton?’ He cried. — ‘Not a move yet, sir,’ croaked383 the old seaman in a horribly hoarse204 voice. — ‘Watch the helm, Singleton.’ spluttered the master. ‘Haul men! Have you no more strength than rats? Haul, and earn your salt.’ Mr. Creighton, on his back, with a swollen leg and a face as white as a piece of paper, blinked his eyes, his bluish lips twitched. In the wild scramble men grabbed at him, crawled over his hurt leg, knelt on his chest. He kept perfectly384 still, setting his teeth without a moan, without a sigh. The master’s ardour, the cries of that silent man inspired us. We hauled and hung in bunches on the rope. We heard him say with violence to Donkin, who sprawled abjectly385 on his stomach, — ‘I will brain you with this belaying pin if you don’t catch hold of the brace,’ and that victim of men’s injustice386, cowardly and cheeky, whimpered; — ‘Are you going ter murder hus now?’ While, with sudden desperation he grabbed the rope. Men sighed, shouted, hissed387 meaningless words, groaned. The yards moved, came slowly square against the wind, that hummed loudly on the yard-arms. — ‘Going off, sir,’ shouted Singleton, ‘she’s just started.’ — ‘Catch a turn with that brace. Catch a turn!’ clamoured the master. Mr. Creighton, nearly suffocated388 and unable to move, made a mighty effort, and with his left hand managed to nip the rope. — ‘All fast!’ cried someone. He closed his eyes as if going off into a swoon, while huddled together about the brace we watched with scared looks what the ship would do now.
She went off slowly as though she had been weary and disheartened like the men she carried. She paid off very gradually, making us hold our breath till we choked, and as soon as she had brought the wind abaft389 the beam she started to move, and fluttered our hearts. It was awful to see her, nearly overturned, begin to gather way and drag her submerged side through the water. The dead-eyes of the rigging churned the breaking seas. The lower half of the deck was full of mad whirlpools and eddies; and the long line of the ice rail could be seen showing black now and then in the swirls390 of a field of foam as dazzling and white as a field of snow. The wind sang shrilly391 amongst the spars; and at every slight lurch we expected her to slip to the bottom sideways from under our backs. When dead before it she made the first distinct attempt to stand up, and we encouraged her with a feeble and discordant392 howl. A great sea came running up aft and hung for a moment over us with a curling top; then crashed down under the counter and spread out on both sides into a great sheet of bursting froth. Above its fierce hiss we heard Singleton’s croak:— ‘She is steering393!’ He had both his feet now planted firmly on the grating, and the wheel spun394 fast as he eased the helm. — ‘Bring the wind on the port quarter and steady her!’ called out the master, staggering to his feet, the first man up from amongst our prostrate395 heap. One or two screamed with excitement:— ‘She rises!’ Far away forward, Mr. Baker and three others were seen erect396 and and black on the clear sky, lifting their arms, and with open mouths as though they had been shouting all together. The ship trembled, trying to lift her side, lurched back, seemed to give up with a nerveless dip, and suddenly with an unexpected jerk swung violently to windward, as though she had torn herself out from a deadly grasp. The whole immense volume of water, lifted by her deck, was thrown bodily across to starboard. Loud cracks were heard. Iron ports breaking open thundered with ringing blows. The water topped over the starboard rail with the rush of a river falling over a dam. The sea on deck, and the seas on every side of her, mingled together in a deafening397 roar. She rolled violently. We got up and were helplessly run or flung about from side to side. Men, rolling over and over, yelled. — ‘The house will go!’ — ‘She clears herself!’ Lifted by a towering sea she ran along with it for a moment, spouting398 thick streams of water through every opening of her wounded sides. The ice braces having been carried away or washed off the pins, all the ponderous399 yards on the fore swung from side to side and with appalling rapidity at every roll. The men forward were seen crouching here and there with fearful glances upwards at the enormous spars that whirled about over their heads. The torn canvas and the ends of broken gear streamed in the wind like wisps of hair. Through the clear sunshine, over the flashing turmoil and uproar of the seas, the ship ran blindly, dishevelled and headlong, as if fleeing for her life; and on the poop we spun, we tottered about, distracted and noisy. We all spoke at once in a thin babble400; we had the aspect of invalids401 and the gestures of maniacs. Eyes shone, large and haggard, in smiling, meaagre faces that seemed to have been dusted over with powdered chalk. We stamped, clapped our hands, feeling ready to jump and do anything, but in reality hardly able to keep on our feet. Captain Allistoun, hard and slim, gesticulated madly from the poop at Mr. Baker; ‘Steady these fore-yards! Steady them the best you can!’ On the main deck, men excited by his cries, splashed, dashing aimlessly here and there with the foam swirling402 up to their waists. Apart, far aft, and alone by the helm, old Singleton had deliberately tucked his white beard under the top button of his glistening coat. Swaying upon the din31 and tumult of the seas, with the whole battered403 length of the ship launched forward in a rolling rush before his steady old eyes, he stood rigidly404 still, forgotten by all, and with an attentive face. In front of his erect figure only the two arms moved crosswise with a swift and sudden readiness, to check or urge again the rapid stir of circling spokes. He steered405 with care.
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1
monsoon
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| n.季雨，季风，大雨 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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respites
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| v.延期（respite的第三人称单数形式） | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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manoeuvre
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| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
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hip
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| n.臀部，髋；屋脊 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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resonant
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| adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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beckon
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| v.(以点头或打手势)向...示意，召唤 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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cataracts
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| n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障 | |
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redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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watchfully
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| 警惕地，留心地 | |
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watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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53
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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54
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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clamorous
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| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scurvy
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| adj.下流的，卑鄙的，无礼的；n.坏血病 | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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65
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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66
philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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67
derided
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
obliquely
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| adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大 | |
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69
fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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70
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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71
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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72
sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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73
leeward
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| adj.背风的；下风的 | |
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74
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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75
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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76
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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77
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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78
pacified
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| 使（某人）安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平 | |
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79
sullenly
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| 不高兴地，绷着脸，忧郁地 | |
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80
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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81
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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82
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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83
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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84
skulked
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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86
lame
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| adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的 | |
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87
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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88
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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89
pluckily
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| adv.有勇气地，大胆地 | |
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90
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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91
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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92
screeching
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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93
abysmal
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| adj.无底的，深不可测的，极深的；糟透的，极坏的；完全的 | |
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94
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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95
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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96
rebounded
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| 弹回( rebound的过去式和过去分词 )； 反弹； 产生反作用； 未能奏效 | |
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97
murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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98
turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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99
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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100
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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101
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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102
anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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103
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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104
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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105
avenging
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| adj.报仇的，复仇的v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 )；为…报复 | |
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106
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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107
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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108
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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109
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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110
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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111
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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112
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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113
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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114
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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115
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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116
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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117
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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118
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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119
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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120
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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121
protrude
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| v.使突出，伸出，突出 | |
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122
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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124
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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125
puffs
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| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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126
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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127
buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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128
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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129
battering
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| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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130
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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131
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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132
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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133
wrack
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| v.折磨；n.海草 | |
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134
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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135
sleet
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| n.雨雪；v.下雨雪，下冰雹 | |
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136
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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137
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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138
aslant
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| adv.倾斜地；adj.斜的 | |
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139
stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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140
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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141
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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142
shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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143
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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144
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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145
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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146
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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147
porpoise
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| n.鼠海豚 | |
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148
lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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149
stonily
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| 石头地，冷酷地 | |
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150
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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151
rims
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| n.（圆形物体的）边( rim的名词复数 )；缘；轮辋；轮圈 | |
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152
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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153
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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154
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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155
masticating
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| v.咀嚼( masticate的现在分词 )；粉碎，磨烂 | |
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156
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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157
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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158
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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159
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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160
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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161
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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162
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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163
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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164
lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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165
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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166
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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167
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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168
collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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169
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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170
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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171
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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172
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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173
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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174
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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175
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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176
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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177
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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178
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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179
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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180
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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181
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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182
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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183
infliction
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| n.（强加于人身的）痛苦，刑罚 | |
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184
writhe
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| vt.挣扎，痛苦地扭曲；vi.扭曲，翻腾，受苦；n.翻腾，苦恼 | |
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185
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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186
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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187
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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188
flick
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| n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动 | |
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189
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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190
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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191
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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192
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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193
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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194
refinement
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| n.文雅；高尚；精美；精制；精炼 | |
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195
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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196
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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197
narcotics
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| n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒 | |
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198
poked
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| v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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199
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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200
grimacing
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| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的现在分词 ) | |
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201
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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202
derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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203
appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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204
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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205
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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206
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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207
untied
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| 松开，解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 )； 解除，使自由； 解决 | |
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208
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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209
hysterically
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| ad. 歇斯底里地 | |
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210
maniacs
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| n.疯子（maniac的复数形式） | |
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211
consigning
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的现在分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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212
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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213
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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214
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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215
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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216
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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217
seethed
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| （液体）沸腾( seethe的过去式和过去分词 )； 激动，大怒； 强压怒火； 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
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218
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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219
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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220
devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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221
chisels
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| n.凿子，錾子( chisel的名词复数 )；口凿 | |
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222
cannily
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| 精明地 | |
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223
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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224
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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225
prematurely
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| adv.过早地，贸然地 | |
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226
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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227
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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228
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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229
adjured
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| v.（以起誓或诅咒等形式）命令要求( adjure的过去式和过去分词 )；祈求；恳求 | |
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230
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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231
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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232
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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233
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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234
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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235
loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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236
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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237
distressingly
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| adv. 令人苦恼地；悲惨地 | |
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238
tacks
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| 大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法 | |
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239
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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240
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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241
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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242
flayed
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| v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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243
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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244
assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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245
appeasing
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的现在分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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246
rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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247
stoutest
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| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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248
shipwrights
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| n.造船者，修船者( shipwright的名词复数 ) | |
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249
reviled
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| v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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250
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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251
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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252
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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253
squeaked
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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254
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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255
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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256
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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257
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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258
verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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259
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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260
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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261
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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262
halfway
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| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
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263
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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264
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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265
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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266
posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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267
foamed
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| 泡沫的 | |
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268
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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269
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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270
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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271
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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272
swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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273
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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274
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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275
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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276
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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277
jointless
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| 无接缝的，无关节的 | |
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278
pliable
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| adj.易受影响的；易弯的；柔顺的，易驾驭的 | |
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279
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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280
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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281
tottered
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| v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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282
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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283
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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284
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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285
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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286
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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287
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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288
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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289
astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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290
shamming
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| 假装，冒充( sham的现在分词 ) | |
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291
cantankerous
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| adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的 | |
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292
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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293
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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294
bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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295
slits
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| n.狭长的口子，裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开，撕开( slit的第三人称单数 )；在…上开狭长口子 | |
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296
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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297
incurably
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| ad.治不好地 | |
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298
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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299
peevishly
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| adv．暴躁地 | |
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300
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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301
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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302
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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303
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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304
apathetic
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| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
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305
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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306
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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307
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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308
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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309
insignificance
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| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
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310
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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311
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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312
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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313
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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314
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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315
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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316
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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317
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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318
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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319
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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320
grunting
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| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
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321
exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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322
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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323
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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324
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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325
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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326
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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327
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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328
bullies
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| n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负 | |
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329
shrieked
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| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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330
steadfastness
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| n.坚定，稳当 | |
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331
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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332
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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333
exultingly
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| 兴高采烈地，得意地 | |
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334
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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335
landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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336
extolled
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| v.赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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337
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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338
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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339
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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340
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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341
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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342
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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343
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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344
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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345
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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346
flicks
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的第三人称单数 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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347
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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348
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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349
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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350
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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351
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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352
revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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353
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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354
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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355
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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356
blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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357
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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358
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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359
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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360
rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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361
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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362
animation
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| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
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363
meritorious
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| adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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364
agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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365
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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366
benefactors
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| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
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367
irreverence
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| n.不尊敬 | |
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368
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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369
sages
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| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
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370
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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371
persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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372
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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373
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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374
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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375
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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376
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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377
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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378
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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379
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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380
braces
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| n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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381
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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382
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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383
croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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384
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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385
abjectly
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| 凄惨地； 绝望地； 糟透地； 悲惨地 | |
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386
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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387
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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388
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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389
abaft
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| prep.在…之后；adv.在船尾，向船尾 | |
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390
swirls
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| n.旋转( swirl的名词复数 )；卷状物；漩涡；尘旋v.旋转，打旋( swirl的第三人称单数 ) | |
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391
shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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392
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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393
steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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394
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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395
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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396
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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397
deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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398
spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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399
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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400
babble
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| v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语 | |
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401
invalids
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| 病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 ) | |
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402
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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403
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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404
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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405
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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