The sense of loneliness that was borne of Elsie's passing had grown upon her with the hours. She was yearning1 for sympathy and she would have turned to Lavelle, but she sensed that somehow a new barrier had arisen between them—a wall not of her building, but of his. When he spoke2 to her his voice was very gentle, but neither his manner nor his speech invited her to say anything.
As Lavelle lay down at Chang's feet, shortly after luncheon3, to take the sleep which he must have to meet the night, Emily remarked in a tone of anxiety that he had removed the bandage from his head.
"Yes," he answered simply. "It is all right. The clean salt air is a good physician. The sea hurts, but it also heals—if one will only let it."
His face might have been a mask. The gray eyes closed wearily as he spoke and he buried his face in his arm and away from the sun's glare.
The years had taught Paul Lavelle how to suffer alone. He was suffering now. When he looked up from Elsie's dead face that morning into the gold woman's he thought he saw something in her eyes to make him pause. He had surprised the glance again, he imagined, as he turned round from the burial. He knew life too well not to understand whither a woman's sympathy might carry her.
Emily, looking down at the long, lithe4 body stretched in the bottom of the boat, kept repeating to herself: "The sea hurts, but it also heals." She sought a meaning in the words which she felt she had missed.
Rowgowskii, drawing near, interrupted her thoughts with a pleasant salutation in French. This big dark man had a finish and poise5 familiar to her world and he could talk with a brilliance6 which made it possible for her to forget momentarily the unpleasant familiarity of his black eyes, and the pendulous7 underlip which signaled the sensuous8 animal in him. During the morning he had made an effort to be sincerely comforting and reassuring9 and she was thankful to him. After a few idle words Rowgowskii's gaze wandered down to Lavelle.
"He feels badly over the death of that woman?" he asked, looking up at her with a strange directness. Emily answered with a nod of acquiescence10. A smile passed over his face. With a significant shrug11, he added: "I understood aboard the ship—the Cambodia—that they were—très intimes." He searched the face of the golden-haired woman to see if his dart12 had found a mark. But he mistook Emily Granville. She was not one who could be read as one ran. She was silent.
"Men of his kind—well, they are a strange, strange lot," he went on.
"I have no desire to discuss Mr. Lavelle," said Emily.
"Of course not. Pardon me, Miss Granville. I was told the painful story aboard the ship. I understand your feelings. You will pardon me, I hope. It is because of what this man is that I fear for you. These Chinamen would do murder at his word. He is armed; I am helpless, but I will find a way."
Rowgowskii leaned nearer and whispered:
"We should be sailing in the opposite direction. Did you know that, Miss Granville? Over to the east we should be going."
Emily met his gaze now, with a pallor beginning to overspread her face.
"But do you think he does not know?" she asked, and her voice trembled.
"If you will remember it was he—this man—who changed the course of the Yakutat," answered Rowgowskii. "I have been thinking that you might induce him to change—to do right."
Consternation13 seized her at the mention of the Yakutat. It bore quick doubt in her heart; then fear. Her new faith was torn from its moorings. Her mind lost all sense of its bearings.
"Why have you not spoken to him?" she asked.
"I mentioned it this morning. He ignored me. That Chinaman there"—he indicated Chang with a glance—"that beast there—told me that I could walk ashore14 if I did not like the way things were done here."
Neither had observed Chang for some time, but now Emily looked up at him and was startled by the steadiness with which his gaze was fixed15 dead ahead. He stood tense like a hunting dog at a point, his nostrils16 twitching17 nervously18. Rowgowskii followed the direction of the giant's gaze, but could see nothing. Emily started to speak to Chang, but her lips opened only to gasp19.
"Land ho!" cried Chang.
"Where away?" answered Lavelle, leaping to his feet.
"Two points—starboard bow, master," and Chang pointed20 one of his powerful and sinewy21 arms straight ahead.
Emily, Rowgowskii, and the coolie sailors looked eagerly in the direction in which he pointed, but could see nothing. They turned toward Lavelle, who, with his hands shading his eyes, was driving his gaze toward the southwest. The tensity of the moment was terrific. It impinged upon him in every glance. He was the commander; his was the task to bring this boat to land; his was the responsibility. They saw his lips move as if he counted something. As he finished he dropped his hands.
"It is land," he said, speaking directly to Emily, and his voice trembled. "We should be up with it before sunset, Miss Granville. God grant it means your succor—your deliverance."
"What land is it?" she asked eagerly.
"I don't know. It puzzles me."
"I saw you counting—what was that?"
"Trees—I was able to make out three." Turning to Chang he said: "Haul her up until you bring the land two points off the lee bow and then let her go."
With the enthusiasm of a boy Lavelle next ordered a drink of water for all hands in celebration of Chang's discovery. Never was a health in rare wine drunk with finer appreciation23 than the simple tepid24 draught25 which these waifs quaffed26 from a tin cup.
Lavelle took the helm himself and a half-hour before sundown fetched a low-lying island which appeared to be between three-quarters of a mile and a mile long from north to south and about half a mile broad. It had a rise in its center like a camel's hump. The northern side of this and the lower land abutting27 upon it were sprinkled sparsely28 with cocoanut palms. There was not a visible sign of life.
Emily, standing29 alongside of Lavelle as they came within sound of the sea breaking against the island's weather shore, saw the happiness which had come into the commander's eyes suddenly depart. It was replaced by an intense seriousness. She could not help asking what was the matter.
"Nothing," said he simply, but the felt that he was withholding30 something from her.
Lavelle was reading signs which made him pause. First he had noticed the absence of any reefs—an invariable and natural formation of islands in that region of the world. The shore rose abruptly31 and sheer from the sea. The land was brown and raw-looking.
The wind was heightening, and this fact, in combination with the swift approach of darkness and the unweatherly qualities of the boat, determined32 him to abandon a momentary33 impulse to seek the lee side of the island.
Just to the southward of the hump or camel's back Chang sighted what seemed to be a beach. With the coolies and Rowgowskii at the oars34 Lavelle laid the boat toward this point, bow on, taking the precaution to drag the sea anchor astern so as to prevent her from broaching35 to in the heavy sea that was making.
Chang, with the painter in his hand, leaped ashore as the boat grounded. One of the coolies followed him. He heaved on the painter with Chang and then ran hack36 toward the boat to keep her from slewing37 round. Lavelle saw him reach the side of the boat. The next instant he had disappeared—straight down in the twinkling of an eye.
Everybody in the boat, looked on with dumbness. Not even Emily cried out. They sat in their places appalled38.
Lavelle took a running leap from the bow of the boat and landed beside the laboring39 Chang. With their combined strength they pulled the craft safely clear of the water. Then, he ran back and, before he would permit the others to leave the boat, handed Emily ashore.
As Lavelle released the precious weight he felt the ground under him wobble. Emily staggered where she stood and reeled against him.
"I have forgotten how to walk on land," she said in innocent embarrassment40 and with an attempt at a smile.
Lavelle made no answer. His worst fears were true. They had landed on a floating island. Any moment might see it engulfed41.
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1
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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2
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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3
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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lithe
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| adj.(指人、身体)柔软的，易弯的 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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brilliance
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| n.光辉，辉煌，壮丽，（卓越的）才华，才智 | |
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7
pendulous
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| adj.下垂的；摆动的 | |
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sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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11
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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12
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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15
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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16
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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17
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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18
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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19
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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20
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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sinewy
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| adj.多腱的，强壮有力的 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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24
tepid
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| adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的 | |
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25
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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26
quaffed
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| v.痛饮( quaff的过去式和过去分词 )；畅饮；大口大口将…喝干；一饮而尽 | |
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27
abutting
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| adj.邻接的v.（与…）邻接( abut的现在分词 )；（与…）毗连；接触；倚靠 | |
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28
sparsely
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| adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地 | |
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29
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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30
withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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31
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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32
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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33
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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34
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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35
broaching
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| n.拉削；推削；铰孔；扩孔v.谈起( broach的现在分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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36
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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37
slewing
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| n.快速定向，快速瞄准v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
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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39
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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40
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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41
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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