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Chapter 3
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 "What part are you from?" asked Jim Barnes.
 
"Illinois," said Ellen Maggs. "From Elgin, where they make watches. Were you ever there?"
 
"No closer than the outside of a watch," responded Barnes. "But now I'm going there some day."
 
"Why?"
 
"To see where you came from."
 
Ellen Maggs laughed a little and actually forgot to blush.
 
"Do it again," said Barnes.
 
"Do what?"
 
"Laugh that way. It's the prettiest thing I ever saw."
 
Ellen blushed at that, then turned as Nora Sayers joined them.
 
"Nora! Mr. Barnes comes from Baltimore, too! He was born there!"
 
"Good for him!" Nora Sayers laughed in her hearty1, energetic fashion. "Perhaps you know my father there, Mr. Barnes—the physician, Doctor Sayers?"
 
"Don't know anybody there," admitted Jim Barnes. "I've been at sea ever since the war finished up, and before. But I'm going to settle down some day, across the bay from San Francisco. Ever been there, Miss Maggs?"
 
"Only when I came out to China."
 
"Well," said Jim Barnes, in his whimsical [Transcriber's note: line of text missing from source book] all picked out! A fine little bungalow3 on one of the hills at Sausalito, where you can see the ships all up and down the bay, and the campanile at Berkeley clear across—
 
"Have you got the girl picked out, too?" asked Nora Sayers amusedly.
 
"Well," said Jim Barnes, in his whimsical way, "I didn't have up to a couple of weeks ago, but lately I've sort of got my mind made up. By the way, girls, you'd better get all ready. We're going to leave the ship in an hour or two."
 
"Leave her?" they repeated as one, in dismayed accents. "How?"
 
"You'll see. I'll take the bridge when watches are changed at eight bells—eight o'clock. You come up to the bridge a little before then, and stick around. Excuse me, now; I'll have to pack a few things myself."
 
Barnes hurried away, leaving the two women at the rail.
 
 
 
Dinner was over, a meal from which all three were glad to escape, coming out on deck to find the sun gone and the afterglow staining the horizon like old church windows. A tragic4 affair, that dinner! The captain was ill and did not appear; Vanderhoof was on deck, more drunk than usual; the second engineer quarreled with the wireless5 cub6, who lost his head in a fit of idiotic7 rage and had to be taken away and locked up, screaming curses. The chief engineer was also locked in his own cabin, enjoying a spell of "the horrors."
 
Wishing vainly that he understood something about the wireless outfit8, Barnes sought his cabin and packed up the few belongings9 that he wished to take from the ship. While he was at this task, Li Fu knocked at the door and entered hurriedly.
 
"Hello! What news? Is it set for two bells?"
 
Li Fu assented10. He was bursting with laughter over some joke of the cruel Chinese variety, and Barnes presently learned what it was. He was ordering Li to warn Abdullah of what was intended, with the intent to get the Arab's family away safely, when the quartermaster exploded in a laugh and reported a conversation that he had overheard among some of the lascars.
 
It appeared that Abdullah was as much in the plot as anyone, and was to receive as his booty the two white women. The assistant engineers had an eye on the same prey11; while Lim Tock and Gajah, the serang, were equally concerned. To the Chinese, this was a huge jest all around, for it meant that the wolves would turn and rend12 each other.
 
"Hell!" said Jim Barnes. "I hate to leave the kids here. But go ahead, now; and tell Hi John to attend to the engines as soon as he goes off watch, then to get up to the bridge and stand by. Have you got the boat ready?"
 
"Aye, sir," assented Li Fu. "Plenty wate'; eve'ything leady."
 
"On your way, then!"
 
Barnes made his way to the bridge, where Hi John and two lascars were in charge, and passed behind the chart-house unremarked. Vanderhoof was not in evidence. Aboard the Sulu Queen the clear night was already insufferably warm, for she was steaming with the wind.
 
Passing to the centre starboard boat, Barnes found the cover loosely in place. He put in his few effects, then gave his attention to the lines. Like most old ships of a past generation, the steamer was equipped with Clifford's lowering gear, the most beautiful boat-gear ever devised, in theory, permitting a boat to be lowered by slacking a single line. This was the boat carried for use in emergencies. It was not stowed in chocks but was swung out and left clear, secured by gripes to a toggle which could be slipped in ah instant.
 
"If we have luck she'll do," thought Barnes, examining the lowering line. "The pendants are new line and not swelled13; we ought to get down without spilling. Hm! If anybody'd ever told me that I'd owe life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to this cursed ancient Clifford gear, I'd have called him a liar14! But wait. We're not off yet by a long shot."
 
True enough.
 
 
 
An automatic in either side pocket of his jacket, Jim Barnes took over the bridge from Hi John as eight bells struck. Then, dismay seized upon him. His own lack of foresight15 had brought on the crisis before he wanted or expected it! Ellen Maggs and Nora Sayers were on the bridge. They had brought some personal effects, each in a small grip; and from the look cast at them by the departing lascar wheelmen, Barnes knew that suspicion was up.
 
Two fresh lascars came to the wheel, with Li Fu. Disregarding these, Barnes made a slight gesture to Hi John, who slipped out of sight instantly on his errand below. Unless the engines were disabled, Barnes knew that his preparations were of no avail. He greeted the two women with his usual air of cheerful assurance, however.
 
"All ready? Fine! The two quartermasters are with us. Come along, now, and climb into the boat—no time to lose, I assure you! In ten minutes this ship is going to be about the unhealthiest spot you ever heard of."
 
He led them around the chart-house toward the boat.
 
"But the captain!" protested Nora Sayers. "Surely, if you know there will be some trouble, the other officers——"
 
"Nix," said Barnes. "Good Lord, girl! Haven't you seen already what sort o' swine the others are? Hear that so-called wireless officer scream? He's still off his head—and couldn't send a message if he were sane16. And the old man's soggy with opium17. Here you are! Step on this water breaker, and over into her; she's solid."
 
Indeed, his words were given emphasis by the screaming of the wireless man, which had broken out anew down below. Miss Sayers stepped to the breaker, and Barnes helped her up into the boat. Then he turned, picked up Ellen Maggs bodily and lifted her over the edge, laughing as he did so.
 
"Got your pistol? Good. Sit tight, and don't scream when things bust18 loose. See you later."
 
He left them hurriedly and returned to the wheel, fighting down his appalling19 helplessness to prevent what was going to happen. About the ship's officers he cared less than nothing; he was thinking now of the Arab woman and her brown children below. Abdullah might or might not protect them from the yellow fiends.
 
The tall figure of the serang rose at the starboard ladder. One glance from Li Fu told Barnes that this was the end. The two lascars were here to finish the quartermaster, and Gajah had come to attend to the second mate. The time was at hand.
 
Barnes went to the door of the chart-house. A shot would do the business, but he wanted no shooting up here if possible.
 
"Serang!" he exclaimed crisply. "Step aft. Something I want to show you."
 
That suited the Malay, who loosened his kris in its sheath and followed. At the corner of the chart-house, Barnes pointed20 across the deck, obscure in the starlight, to the boat.
 
"What's that?"
 
Sincerely astonished, Gajah peered at the boat, with the two women sitting in her. And as he stared, Barnes let drive with the heavy barrel of his automatic, a full, fair blow across the skull21. A grunt22 broke from the serang, who pitched sideways and flung out his arms. Barnes caught him and lowered the bleeding form to the deck, then darted23 back to the chart-house.
 
Just in time, too! For all his watchful24 care, Li Fu had been taken unawares, one of the lascars gripping him in both arms, the other with kris upraised for the blow. Barnes was in upon them unseen, and struck down the man with the kris. The other lascar leaped away, gained the far door of the chart-house—and ran into the arms of Hi John. Something happened there. Steel flashed and a man gasped25; the lascar slipped to the deck quietly.
 
"You two men watch the ladders!" snapped Barnes. "When you hear me call, come to the boat."
 
Revolvers out, each quartermaster took one of the ladders. Barnes turned and ran aft along the deck at top speed, disregarding the low call that the two women sent after him as he passed the boat. He was listening desperately26 for sounds from below. They came to him, came all in a jumble27 that his brain sorted out mechanically. First came a jarring wrench28 that shook the whole ship. Then the engines stopped. Whatever Hi John had done, the work was effective. And at the same instant the night was split by a sudden cry.
 
"Allah! Allah——"
 
Then the screaming of the wireless man was cut very short. An oath of desperation on his lips, Jim Barnes gained the small after ladder that led to the stern of the main deck. From below him burst a storm of cries; the shriek29 of a woman, the staccato yells of men, and a thin, shrill30 wail31 that maddened him. He dropped to the deck below, and found himself in the midst of an inferno32, clearly illumined by the deck-lights.
 
Abdullah lay across his water-pipe, stabbed in the back. Nearby was his eldest33 child, also stabbed, and two lascars were fighting to take another child from the arms of its dying mother. Barnes saw only this much, and then began to fire. He forgot everything but the horror in front of him, and only laughed when several of the lascars began to converge34 on him.
 
A shot rang out from one of the forward cabins. Barnes, seizing the child, thrust aim up the ladder and then swung about to meet three lascars plunging35 at him. He shot the first and second, ducked the kris-swing of the third, then tripped the man and shot him as he fell. Then he plunged36 for the nearest cabin, whence came screams.
 
Just what happened next is something of which Jim Barnes never speaks. The orders of Lim Tock, to make a clean sweep of Abdullah's family, were being followed to the letter. Barnes was in the cabin for fully37 a minute—which, just then, was a very long space of time.
 
By the time he emerged, much had happened. There was a crashing and smashing from the length of the cabins as the doors were battered38 in. From the bridge, a spatter of revolver shots; and, from below, more shots followed by the wild scream of the old chief as he reached the deck—a scream of half rage, half agony. He died at the rail, trailing blood across the deck, in his fist a blood-spattered spanner. After him, the Chinese stokers poured up to the deck and scattered39 for loot.
 
Jim Barnes came out of the cabin, thrusting a dead lascar ahead of him. About his neck clung one of Abdullah's daughters, and under his left arm was another. From the passage leaped a stoker, whom Barnes shot. Then, at the ladder, he urged the two little girls upward to join their brother above.
 
A shot rang out at him, and the bullet slithered on the steel beside him. Barnes paused to empty his automatics, then went up the ladder on the jump. At the top, he caught hold of the frightened children and rushed them along, shouting as he did so to the two quartermasters.
 
They, after shooting at the forms down below on the foredeck and in the well, joined him at the boat. Barnes chucked in the three children and cast off the toggle.
 
"In with you, men, and lower away! I'll slide down the pendant. Where's your pistol, Ellen? Hand it over—thanks. Sit still, all of you! Lower, Li, lower! That's it——"
 
Li Fu slacked the lowering line about the cleat, and the boat fell away rapidly. Barely in time, too; Barnes perceived a rush of figures coming from the after ladder, and opened fire. They scattered.
 
There was a moment's breathing spell, while from fore2 and aft, alow and aloft, rose sing-song calls in Cantonese and the harsher gutturals of the lascars. A rush was being planned from both sides.
 
Barnes caught a soft call from below, and breathed a prayer of thanks. A number of figures showed at the corner of the chart-house. He emptied his pistol at these, then turned, caught one of the pendants hitched40 to the davit-head, and let himself go sliding down.
 
A burst of yells rang out from the bridge deck, but he was in the boat below ere any could reach the rail. The two quartermasters had already put out the oars41, and Barnes cast off the line and let the pendants unreeve as the roller whirled. The boat started away from the ship's side.
 
"Here," came a voice, and Barnes felt one of his own pistols shoved into his hand. "My clip fitted your automatic and——"
 
"Good girl, Ellen!" he cried out, and laughed as he fired at the rail above. A shot made answer, and a kris sang through the air to splash alongside—but the boat was clear. She drew away from the ship before the mutineers were sure just what had happened.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 hearty Od1zn     
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的
参考例句:
  • After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了,他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
  • We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。
2 fore ri8xw     
adv.在前面;adj.先前的;在前部的;n.前部
参考例句:
  • Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
  • I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。
3 bungalow ccjys     
n.平房,周围有阳台的木造小平房
参考例句:
  • A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
  • The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子,搬进了小平房。
4 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
5 wireless Rfwww     
adj.无线的;n.无线电
参考例句:
  • There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
  • Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。
6 cub ny5xt     
n.幼兽,年轻无经验的人
参考例句:
  • The lion cub's mother was hunting for what she needs. 这只幼师的母亲正在捕猎。
  • The cub licked the milk from its mother's breast. 这头幼兽吸吮着它妈妈的奶水。
7 idiotic wcFzd     
adj.白痴的
参考例句:
  • It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
  • The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。
8 outfit YJTxC     
n.(为特殊用途的)全套装备,全套服装
参考例句:
  • Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
  • His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。
9 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
10 assented 4cee1313bb256a1f69bcc83867e78727     
同意,赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The judge assented to allow the prisoner to speak. 法官同意允许犯人申辩。
  • "No," assented Tom, "they don't kill the women -- they're too noble. “对,”汤姆表示赞同地说,“他们不杀女人——真伟大!
11 prey g1czH     
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
参考例句:
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
12 rend 3Blzj     
vt.把…撕开,割裂;把…揪下来,强行夺取
参考例句:
  • Her scrams would rend the heart of any man.她的喊叫声会撕碎任何人的心。
  • Will they rend the child from his mother?他们会不会把这个孩子从他的母亲身边夺走呢?
13 swelled bd4016b2ddc016008c1fc5827f252c73     
增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 ); 肿胀; (使)凸出; 充满(激情)
参考例句:
  • The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染,他的手肿了起来。
  • After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后,河水猛涨。
14 liar V1ixD     
n.说谎的人
参考例句:
  • I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了,一个又偷又骗的家伙!
  • She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。
15 foresight Wi3xm     
n.先见之明,深谋远虑
参考例句:
  • The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
  • It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。
16 sane 9YZxB     
adj.心智健全的,神志清醒的,明智的,稳健的
参考例句:
  • He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
  • He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。
17 opium c40zw     
n.鸦片;adj.鸦片的
参考例句:
  • That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
  • Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
18 bust WszzB     
vt.打破;vi.爆裂;n.半身像;胸部
参考例句:
  • I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
  • She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。
19 appalling iNwz9     
adj.骇人听闻的,令人震惊的,可怕的
参考例句:
  • The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
  • Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。
20 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
21 skull CETyO     
n.头骨;颅骨
参考例句:
  • The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
  • He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去,跌裂了颅骨。
22 grunt eeazI     
v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝
参考例句:
  • He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
  • I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽,他只哼了一声。
23 darted d83f9716cd75da6af48046d29f4dd248     
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔
参考例句:
  • The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了,瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
24 watchful tH9yX     
adj.注意的,警惕的
参考例句:
  • The children played under the watchful eye of their father.孩子们在父亲的小心照看下玩耍。
  • It is important that health organizations remain watchful.卫生组织保持警惕是极为重要的。
25 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
26 desperately cu7znp     
adv.极度渴望地,绝望地,孤注一掷地
参考例句:
  • He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
  • He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
27 jumble I3lyi     
vt.使混乱,混杂;n.混乱;杂乱的一堆
参考例句:
  • Even the furniture remained the same jumble that it had always been.甚至家具还是象过去一样杂乱无章。
  • The things in the drawer were all in a jumble.抽屉里的东西很杂乱。
28 wrench FMvzF     
v.猛拧;挣脱;使扭伤;n.扳手;痛苦,难受
参考例句:
  • He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
  • It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。
29 shriek fEgya     
v./n.尖叫,叫喊
参考例句:
  • Suddenly he began to shriek loudly.突然他开始大声尖叫起来。
  • People sometimes shriek because of terror,anger,or pain.人们有时会因为恐惧,气愤或疼痛而尖叫。
30 shrill EEize     
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫
参考例句:
  • Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
  • The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。
31 wail XMhzs     
vt./vi.大声哀号,恸哭;呼啸,尖啸
参考例句:
  • Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里,一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
  • One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。
32 inferno w7jxD     
n.火海;地狱般的场所
参考例句:
  • Rescue workers fought to get to victims inside the inferno.救援人员奋力营救大火中的受害者。
  • The burning building became an inferno.燃烧着的大楼成了地狱般的地方。
33 eldest bqkx6     
adj.最年长的,最年老的
参考例句:
  • The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
  • The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。
34 converge 6oozx     
vi.会合;聚集,集中;(思想、观点等)趋近
参考例句:
  • The results converge towards this truth.其结果趋近于这个真理。
  • Parallel lines converge at infinity.平行线永不相交。
35 plunging 5fe12477bea00d74cd494313d62da074     
adj.跳进的,突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发,生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》
36 plunged 06a599a54b33c9d941718dccc7739582     
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
  • She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳,从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。
37 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
38 battered NyezEM     
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损
参考例句:
  • He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
  • The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。
39 scattered 7jgzKF     
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的
参考例句:
  • Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来,塞进文件夹里。
40 hitched fc65ed4d8ef2e272cfe190bf8919d2d2     
(免费)搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 ); 搭便车; 攀上; 跃上
参考例句:
  • They hitched a ride in a truck. 他们搭乘了一辆路过的货车。
  • We hitched a ride in a truck yesterday. 我们昨天顺便搭乘了一辆卡车。
41 oars c589a112a1b341db7277ea65b5ec7bf7     
n.桨,橹( oar的名词复数 );划手v.划(行)( oar的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
  • The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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