Sometimes Edith Gale5 and I drew steamer chairs to the extreme bow of the boat, and looking away to the horizon, imagined the land of our quest lying just beyond. At night, from this point, we watched the new constellations6 of the tropics rising from the sea, and those of the North falling back, behind us.
Chauncey Gale and Ferratoni frequently joined us, and at times I was constrained7 through courtesy to leave Ferratoni and Edith Gale together. Perhaps it was not quite wise—the stars and sea form a dangerous combination to a man like Ferratoni.
After one such evening I was taking a morning constitutional on the deck forward when I saw a 77female figure emerge from the cabin. Edith Gale had often joined me in these walks, but it was not she. Neither was it our stewardess—a brawny8, non-committal Scotch9 woman, of whom Mr. Sturritt, though her superior in rank, stood in wholesome10 awe11. It proved to be Miss Gale’s maid and former nurse, the stout12 colored woman, Zarelda, or Zar, as she was commonly called. Miss Gale had long since told me of some of the peculiar13 sayings and eccentricities14 of this privileged person, but thus far my interest in her had been rather casual. Now, however, she planted herself at one end of my promenade15 and sternly faced my approach. I bade her a respectful and even engaging “good morning” as I came on, but the severity of her features did not relax. She nodded ominously16, and proceeded to open fire.
“Look heah,” she demanded, “I wan’ know wheah you gwine wid dis ship?”
“Why, down to the Antarctics,” I said winningly. “I thought everybody knew that.”
I felt a sense of relief in being able to answer so readily. It seemed I was not quite through, however.
“Yes, down to Aunt Ar’tics!” she snorted, “I should say down to Aunt Ar’tics! I like to know whose kinfolks dat Aunt Ar’tics is, anyway! I ain’ nevah heard o’ none o’ Mistah Gale’s people 78by dat name, an’ if she some o’ yo’ po’ relation, I don’ see what foh we-all mus’ go trailin’ off down to de mos’ Godforlonesomest spot on dis earth, to visit in de dead o’ wintah. An’ what my Miss Edith goin’ foh, anyway? What my Miss Edith got to do wid yo’ old Aunt Ar’tics, dat’s what I wan’ to know? Humph! moah antics dan Ar’tics—dat’s what I think!”
My emotions during this assault had been rather conflicting, but I managed to maintain a proper degree of calmness.
“Why,” I said gravely, “this ‘Antarctics’ bears a relationship to us all—to the whole world, in fact.”
I rather prided myself on the cleverness of this rejoinder, but it appeared after all to have been rather poorly thought out.
“Dat’s enough! Dat settles it,” she exploded. “Now I know mighty17 well dey ain’ no sech pussun. Kinfolks to de whole worl’. Look heah, me an’ my Miss Edith has jes’ been deceptified long enough! I know wheah you gwine wid dis boat! You gwine to de Souf Pole—dat’s wheah you gwine! I done heah de Cap’n say so las’ night, an’ dat when he got dar he gwine to sail her off into space wid de whole kit18 an’ possum of us! I know mighty well somp’n gone wrong when I put Miss Edith to baid. She ain’ said two words, an’ befoah dat she been 79mighty chipper de whole trip. I didn’t know what it was, an’ I set an’ hol’ her han’ an’ sing to her, an’ it seem like she ain’ nevah goin’ to sleep. But bimeby when I slip up on deck a li’l’, to look at de sky, I heah de Cap’n an’ Mistah Lahkins argifyin’ up on de bridge, an’ I heah de Cap’n say dat we goin’ to de Souf Pole an’, ’scusin’ de libe’ty, sah, dat you gone plum crazy on de subjec’, and dat you got de Admiral an’ Mistah Macarony an’ Mistah Sturritt all crazy, laikewise; an’ dat he gwine to sail you-all to de Souf Pole, case dat wheah you-all b’long, an’ dat you-all nevah get home, case when he get dere he gwine straight off into space wid de ship, an’ de whole caboodle in it. An’ den19 right away, I knowed what’s de mattah wid my Miss Edith. I knowed she been up dar a-hearin’ somp’n, too. An’ I make up my min’, right den an’ dar, dat me an’ my Miss Edith ain’ gwine. I like to see me an’ my Miss Edith flyin’ off into space, an’ us wid no wings yit, an’ fallin’ down to de bottomless pit an’ lake o’ fiah! Humph! We’s gwine de other way, we is!”
She hesitated a moment for breath, and I took advantage of the recess20.
“What did Mr. Larkins say about it?” I asked.
“Mistah Lahkins! Humph, Mistah Lahkins! What he always say? He jes’ laugh an’ say dat de Souf Pole ’bout de onliest stick o’ timbah he ain’ 80tie up to yit, but he reckon dat it strong enough to hol’ us f’m gwine off into space. Anyway, he willin’ to take chances wid de res’. ‘An’ de Cap’n say, ‘Dat’s all right, same here,’ but dat de bosen, Frenchy, been talkin’ ’roun’ ’mong de sailors, an’ dat some get mighty oneasy an’ wan’ to be put ashoah. An’ dat’s what I want. I wan’ me an’ my Miss Edith put ashoah. Den if you-all mus’ go on aftah de Souf Pole, why jes’ go, and leave me an’ my Miss Edith to go back home; an’ nex’ time tell folks wheah you gwine, an’ not make out like you takin’ all dis perwision down to some po’ kinfolks dat everybody related to, an’ nobody don’t know about.”
There was another brief intermission. The incident was entertaining enough, but there was a grave note in it as well. In the bosen, Frenchy, I recognized the sailor who on the first day had barred my entrance to the Billowcrest. I recalled my unfavorable impression of the man. He would be altogether the one, I thought, to stir up discontent among the sailors—an unpleasant prospect21.
“Please, sah, won’t you put me an’ my Miss Edith ashoah, sah?” In my more serious consideration I had temporarily forgotten Zar’s presence. She had believed me hesitating, perhaps, and had adopted a persuasive22 tone in consequence. “Miss 81Edith mighty sad las’ night,” she added, “an’ I know you don’ want dat po’ gal4 to go spillin’ off into space like a lil’ robin23 when he nes’ break!”
“Not for the South Pole, Antarctics, and the whole world, Zar!” I said with a fervency24 that made the woman suddenly regard me with a new interest. There was a rustle25 behind her, and Edith Gale stepped out on deck. “Here is Miss Gale to speak for herself,” I added, with some confusion.
“What’s the matter, Zar? What do you want of Mr. Chase?”
“I want him to put we ’uns ashoah,” began the old woman. “I tol’ him we done foun’ out about gwine to de Souf Pole, an’ dat you an’ me wan’ to get off right heah, an’ go ashoah.”
“But I don’t want to get off, Zar. I’ve known all along where we are going. I want to go to the South Pole with—with Papa, and we’re going to bring it back with us.”
Zar regarded her mistress a moment in silence. Then she said in a voice of grave wonderment:
“I wish you tell me what dat Paw of yours gwine to do wid dat Souf Pole when he gits it? Ain’ he got money ’nuff already? Anyhow, who gwine to buy dat pole? An’ how dey gwine know hit’s de sho nuff Souf Pole when dey sees hit? What’s to hender us gwine ’shoah right heah, an’ hackin’ down any ole pole, an’ gwine home again 82widout any moah foolishness? Ain’ none dem folks up in New York gwine know de diff’ence!”
“Why, Zar,” laughed Miss Gale, “and you such a good church member!”
“Well, den, if yo’ Paw boun’ to go aftah de sho’ nuff pole, let him go, but don’ you go. You cain’t he’p him any!”
“But, Zar, you know I wouldn’t leave Papa. I never could.”
The old woman tossed her head.
“Humph! Bettah not be too suah!” She regarded me with a fierceness that somehow warmed me to the soul. “Dey ain’ no man livin’ I’d go to de Souf Pole foh,” she concluded, and with this final shot she disappeared, and went rumbling27 down the companion-way, “no, sah, not even if I could be wid him all de way an’ back again.”
“See, there’s a vessel,” said Edith Gale. “Bring the glass, please, and let’s try to make her out.”
I hastened to obey, though with no great interest in the result. The tropics and distant vessels28 had been wonderfully fascinating to me, but just at this moment I was dwelling29 fondly on Zar’s parting salute30.
A little later she sought me again.
“Look heah,” she counselled solemnly, “you turn dis ship right ’round, now, an’ go back home. You go off down dar wid my Miss Edith, an’ bofe 83die an’ get all froze stiff, an’ den what good is you to each other, I like to know? What good is you?”
Zar had meant this for remonstrance31 and admonition, but I was her sworn friend and champion from that moment.
Chauncey Gale found me staring off at the horizon and building a fair castle in which the South Pole had no part.
“Chase,” he said, “don’t you make a mistake, too, and forget what I told you about Johnnie.”
The abruptness32 of it startled me a bit, but there was a quality in his voice that called for confidence and sincerity33.
“Thank you, Mr. Gale, and—and I believe you spoke34 just in time.”
“I had my suspicions of it,” he admitted. “Tony got his medicine last night, I guess.”
“Oh!” I had started a bit, and Zar’s report of Miss Gale’s depression took on a new meaning.
“Yes, he’s no good this morning. He got all tangled35 up on his dynamo and we had an explosion that nearly set the ship afire. Then he went off half crying and I haven’t seen him since. I guess he wishes himself ashore36, now, but wishin’ won’t do any good. He might get a message there all right, but he’s got to have something more than vibrations37 to get himself there. You see this ain’t any matrimonial excursion. We ain’t got any 84preacher along, and Biff’s license38 don’t cover that sort of a splice39. Emory’s got a doctor’s diploma, but that wouldn’t fit the case, either.”
Mr. Emory was the Second Officer of the Billowcrest—a quiet, unobtrusive man whose love for the sea had led him back to it through devious40 ways. A runaway41 cabin boy, he had returned home in early manhood to become a country doctor, a naval42 hospital surgeon, a ship’s doctor and officer by turns, and was now serving us in the double capacity of the last two.
“Anyway,” concluded Gale, “we’ve got the South Pole on hand, and I’m in favor of taking things in their turn. You can’t afford to get in Macarony’s fix just now. We’ll need you when we get down there below the Horn. Besides we’re a long ways from shore, and the water here’s full of sharks.”
The last was certainly true. A black knife-like fin26 at that instant cut the water below us, and the swish of a steel-like tail as it disappeared made me shudder43.
“That chap seems to be following us,” commented Gale, “they say it means a death aboard, but I think it’s more likely he’s after the garbage. ’Twouldn’t be a good time to swim, would it?”
He walked away and left me leaning over the rail. I thought his advice kindly44, on the whole encouraging, 85and made up my mind to remember it. I wondered if Ferratoni had really spoken to Edith Gale. “Poor fellow,” I thought, “it must have been the glamour45 of the tropic night that made his ideal seem real to him for the moment.” And this I still believe to have been the case; but what it was he said that night to Edith Gale, or just what she replied, I shall never know.
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1
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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2
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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3
somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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gal
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| n.姑娘，少女 | |
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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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constellations
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| n.星座( constellation的名词复数 )；一群杰出人物；一系列（相关的想法、事物）；一群（相关的人） | |
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7
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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10
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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11
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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13
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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15
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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16
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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17
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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18
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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persuasive
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| adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的 | |
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robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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fervency
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| n.热情的；强烈的；热烈 | |
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25
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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28
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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29
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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30
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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31
remonstrance
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| n抗议，抱怨 | |
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32
abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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33
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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34
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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35
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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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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38
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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39
splice
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| v.接合，衔接；n.胶接处，粘接处 | |
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40
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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41
runaway
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| n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的 | |
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42
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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43
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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44
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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45
glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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