He was still a young man as years go and in spite of the grey streaks3 in his dark hair, the crow's-feet above his cheek-bones; more than passably good-looking, too, with his regular profile and straight, spare, athletic4 figure, though his sleepy eyes were a trifle close-set and more than a trifle untrustworthy, though the black moustache he was twirling with a long, thin, almost womanish hand hid a cruel, selfish mouth.
In his smart white yachting-suit and panama, lounging over the sun-dried teak taffrail with his knees crossed, he seemed to be neither oppressed by the tropical heat nor impressed at all by anything that his companion could say.
"I'd far rather beg in the gutter," she repeated, as if to settle the matter. And the emphasis with which she spoke5 showed that she meant what she said.
"But—that doesn't make any difference, my dear Sallie," he once more answered, displaying his white, even teeth in a slight, amused smile. "You're going to marry me just the same. And you may as well make up your mind right away—that it will pay you best to be pleasant about it.
"Captain Dove has come to the point at last," he went on to explain condescendingly, in the same cool, careless, conversational6 tone, a tone which, however, could not quite hide the ugly determination behind it. "You've upset him for good and all this time. He's aching to get rid of you now. In fact, he's cursing himself that he didn't—when he might have made more out of the deal. And, anyhow, he's promised you to me."
The girl's slim, shapely body had suddenly stiffened7. She started up and away from him with a gesture of blind repulsion. Her pure, proud, sensitive face showed the struggle that was going on in her mind—between fear and hope; quick fear that what he had just said might be true, slow hope that he had been lying to her again.
He had turned on one elbow with a lazy air of inexhaustible tolerance8, that he might the more conveniently follow her with his greedy glance. He was apparently9 quite sure of himself—and her. At any rate, he was openly gloating over her beauty in her distress10 while she stood gazing in dire11 dismay about the shabby, unkempt little steamer which was all the home she had in the world, all the home she had ever had except for a few forgotten years of her childhood.
Its name, on a life-buoy triced to the rusty12 netting between the rails, was the Olive Branch, but its port of registry had been painted out. It rode deep although it was decked after the old-fashioned switchback design and had no cargo13 on board. Its squat14, inconspicuous smokestack helped to give it a somewhat nefarious15 air.
About its ill-kept, untidy decks there were very few signs of life and none at all of luxury. Under a tattered16 canvas sun-screen on the fo'c'sle-head a ragged17 deck hand was on the look-out, his scorched18 face expressive19 of anything but contentment with his circumstances. He shifted frequently from one bare, blistered20 foot to the other; it was impossible to stand still for long, with the deck-plates as hot as any frying-pan on a brisk fire.
On the bridge, the officer of the watch was pacing to and fro. Every time he turned on his beat beneath the dirty, weather-worn awning21 he paused to dart22 a suspicious, expectant glance at the double hatchway which led to the crew's quarters, forward. The open wheel-house behind him was occupied only by the quartermaster on duty. The remainder of the watch on deck were nowhere visible.
Through the heat-haze to starboard the blurred23 outline of the low-lying African coast was dimly discernible. Seaward, ahead, and astern, the long, oily swell24 that the North-east Trades never reach blazed like molten metal under the almost vertical25 afternoon sun. Except for the lonely little grey steamer wallowing sluggishly26 northward27 through it, the world of water was empty to the horizon.
A poignant28 sense of her own no less forlorn plight29 there stirred the girl to glance round at her companion, as if in helpless appeal.
"You don't really mean—what you said, do you, Jasper?" she asked, with a very pitiful inflection in her low, musical voice.
"Every word," he answered her promptly30. "If you don't believe me, go down and ask Captain Dove."
She turned away from him again, to hide the effect of his curt31 reply. But her drooping32 shoulders no doubt betrayed that to him. He pulled out a cigar-case and, having lighted a rank cheroot with languid deliberation, puffed33 that contemplatively.
"I will go down and ask Captain Dove," she said to herself at length, with tremulous courage, and was moving toward the companion-hatch when she heard from the other end of the ship a sudden ominous34 discord35, a sound such as might have come from a nest of hornets about to swarm36. There seemed to be something wrong forward; and she faced about again, instantly.
Peering through the hurtful sunshine with anxious eyes, her scarlet37 lips compressed and resolute38, she saw that the look-out had turned on his half-baked feet to stare from the fo'c'sle into the well-deck behind him. The officer of the watch had ceased his regular march and countermarch, and was also gazing downward in that direction. Even her self-confident companion had started up from his idle posture39, in obvious alarm.
A figure darted40 up one of the two ladders which led to the bridge. The officer of the watch had left his post by the other at the same moment, as if to avoid the new-comer, and was making his way aft, unhurriedly, yet at speed. He did not look back, but she was aware of other figures which also had appeared in a moment from nowhere, and were following him on tiptoe, under cover where it could be had. Once, a flash, as of flame, amidships, almost forced from her lips a wild cry of warning, but that was only a glint of sun on a gun-barrel where the browning had worn away and left the steel bright. And he, seemingly unaware41 of the danger behind him, reached the poop unharmed, a big, fair, bluff-looking, broad-shouldered man in shabby blue sea-uniform.
At the foot of the narrow stairway by which alone access could be had to the poop, he called softly up to the girl at the rail above, "They'll be at our throats in a minute, Sallie. Get you away below, quick—and warn the Old Man."
At the top of the steps he stopped, and turned, and stayed there, blocking the stairway with his great body. And the armed ruffians swarming42 aft in his wake slackened their pace, then hung back about the hatch on the deck below. But each had a finger crooked43 on the trigger of a ready rifle. The simplest word or motion misplaced at that first moment of crisis must have precipitated44 the murder that was to be.
The girl had obeyed him promptly, if without appearance of haste and, once out of sight of the mutineers, there was no need to study her steps. She darted across the dim, daintily appointed saloon below and, having knocked imperatively46 at one of the two doors on that side of the ship entered, without waiting for any permission, the stateroom it opened into.
"The men have broken out, Captain Dove," she cried, breathless a little, her bosom47 heaving. "They're coming aft—there isn't a moment to spare. What are we to do?"
In the berth48 behind the curtains some one was moving. The room was practically in darkness, since the open port was also screened, to shut out the searching sun. But, in spite of all such precautions, the heat was almost unbearable49.
The curtains parted slightly and from their opening a face peered out at her, the blandly50 benevolent51 face of a mild-looking, white-haired old man who, at a casual glance, might perhaps have passed for a clergyman or a missionary52.
But in an instant a most disconcerting change came over his features. Some dormant53 devil seemed to have wakened within him and was glaring out at the girl from behind evil, red-rimmed eyes. His appearance then might have frightened a man away. But she stood her ground undismayed.
No less suddenly he broke into a torrent54 of fierce abuse, freely interspersed55 with blood-curdling, old-fashioned oaths. And that was only stemmed by a frantic56 paroxysm of coughing which left a crimson57 froth about the white stubble upon his chin. He fell back into the gloom behind the curtains, as if he would choke.
The girl hurriedly filled a glass with water from a carafe58 on a rack at one side of the room, pulled the curtains apart, and held it to the sick man's lips. He sipped59 at it and then struck it away so that most of its contents spilled on her skirts.
"Would you poison me now, you witch!" he gasped60, and then, regaining61 his voice a little, "Ambrizette," he called weakly, with a quavering imprecation, "brandy. Bring me the bottle. Your mistress has poisoned me."
A coloured woman, stunted62, misshapen, almost inconceivably ugly, came shambling in with a bottle, which he snatched eagerly from her and set to his lips, while she made off again, in very evident dread63 of him. The colour came back to his face, and at last he laid it aside, with a sigh of relief.
"The men have broken out, have they?" he muttered, half to himself. "And you come to me to ask what's to be done!" He glowered64 down at one of his arms which lay across his chest in a sling65 and tightly bandaged. His voice once more became venomous. "It's your fault that I'm lying here," he snarled66. "You and your bully67 Yoxall have taken charge of my ship between you. Why don't the two of you tackle them? What the Seven Stars d'ye think I care now whether you sink or swim!"
She turned away from him with a little, tired, hopeless gesture.
"I don't care very much, either, now," she answered, dully, "what happens to me. But—it's you they're after, Captain Dove, and there isn't a moment to spare. They've got the guns up already."
The old man was plucking with feverish68 fingers at the fine lace counterpane which covered him. He made an effort to rise, but lay back again with a groan69.
"They've got the guns up, have they!" he growled70, deep down in his throat, with a most horrid71 effect. "Then one of the mates at least must be standing72 in with them—the mutinous73 dogs! And since it's come to settling old scores, I'm ready; I'll settle all with them before we go any farther." His eyes were sunken with sickness and he was so weak that he could scarcely move, but his spirit seemed to be altogether unquenchable.
"I'm going to settle with them now," he declared, "and—don't you interfere74 again, Sallie. I've stood all I'm going to stand from you, too. You've got to fancy yourself far too much, my girl! Listen here! Next time I have to talk to you, it'll be with that,"—he pointed45 to a heavy kourbash of hippopotamus-hide hanging from a hook on the panelling,—"and, by all that's holy! if I've to begin, I'll lace you from head to heel with it—as I should have done long ago."
The girl shrank as if he had actually struck her with it. She knew he was even capable of carrying out that threat.
"Where's Jasper Slyne?" he demanded, in a low whisper, almost exhausted75.
"On deck, above, with Reuben Yoxall," she told him.
"Send him down here to me. I must get up out o' this. To-day's Sunday, isn't it? What was our position at noon?"
She told him exactly, at once, and he seemed content to rely on her nautical76 knowledge. He nodded, as if satisfied.
"That's all right. Off you go now. And don't forget what I've said to you. Tell Slyne to look sharp—and stand the men off somehow till I get on deck," he snapped, as she hurried away.
She did not know what might have happened overhead while she had been below, and heaved a heartfelt sigh of relief as, gaining the open air again, she saw that the two men she had left there were still at the rail, unharmed. Only one of them looked round as she approached, and it was to him she spoke.
"Captain Dove wants you in a hurry, Jasper," she said, and he went below in his turn, not altogether unwillingly77.
As he disappeared behind her, she glanced down at the main-deck alive with armed men, as evil-looking a crowd as could be recruited from the purlieus of Hell's Kitchen or crimped from the Hole-in-the-Wall. The flush on her face died away.
"What are they waiting for, Rube?" she whispered to the big man at the top of the steps, whose steady glance seemed to have such a repressive effect on them.
"Sunset, I suppose," he answered in a low tone. "If no one crosses them, they'll maybe wait till it's dark before they begin. Better go below again, Sallie."
She shook her head and said "No," aloud, since he was not looking at her. And he did not urge that precaution. The sun was already nearing the steamy horizon.
The sullen78, lowering looks of the ill-favoured assemblage about the hatch foretold79 the fate which threatened her and him.
"But they won't shoot you, Sallie," he said, giving voice to his only fear in a shaky whisper, his soul in his honest eyes as he glanced wretchedly round at her.
She laid a clenched80 hand on the rail and opened it slightly. "Don't worry about me, Rube," she whispered back, very matter of fact, while he gazed as if fascinated at the thin blue phial, with its red danger-label, resting in her rosy81 palm. "I always carry a key that will unlock the last gate of all. So there's no need to worry about me. I just wish you'd say you forgive me all the trouble I've brought on you."
"There's nothing to forgive, lass," he asserted stolidly82, and, looking away again as though her appealing regard had hurt him, was taken with a gulping83 in the throat.
Two or three of the mutineers had begun to knock loose the wedges securing the tarpaulin84 cover of the after-hatch, through which alone access to the ship's magazine was to be had.
"There's no use in trying to stop them at that," he said, as if to himself. "It's only a matter of minutes now, I suppose. And—"
"Dutch courage is cheap enough," said a contemptuous, sneering85 voice in the background, and the sound of shuffling86 footsteps succeeded it. The men on the main-deck were gazing past him, handling their rifles, muttering hoarsely87, moving to get more elbow-room. The girl beside him had turned at the words, but he kept his eyes steadfastly88 on the foremost of the fermenting89, murderous rabble90 below.
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收听单词发音
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1
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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3
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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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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5
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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conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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7
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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nefarious
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| adj.恶毒的，极坏的 | |
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tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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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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21
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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23
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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24
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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sluggishly
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| adv.懒惰地；缓慢地 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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33
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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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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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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40
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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41
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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42
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 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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43
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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44
precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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45
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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imperatively
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| adv.命令式地 | |
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47
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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48
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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49
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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50
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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51
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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52
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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53
dormant
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| adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的 | |
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54
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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55
interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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56
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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57
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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58
carafe
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| n.玻璃水瓶 | |
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59
sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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61
regaining
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| 复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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62
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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63
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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64
glowered
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| v.怒视( glower的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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66
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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67
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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69
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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70
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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71
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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72
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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73
mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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74
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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75
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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76
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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77
unwillingly
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| adv.不情愿地 | |
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78
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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79
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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82
stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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83
gulping
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的现在分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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84
tarpaulin
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| n.涂油防水布，防水衣，防水帽 | |
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85
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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86
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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87
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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88
steadfastly
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| adv.踏实地，不变地；岿然；坚定不渝 | |
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89
fermenting
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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90
rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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