'Talk! So be it. And it's easy enough to talk of Master Jim, after a good spread, two hundred feet above the sea-level, with a box of decent cigars handy, on a blessed evening of freshness and starlight that would make the best of us forget we are only on sufferance here and got to pick our way in cross lights, watching every precious minute and every irremediable step, trusting we shall manage yet to go out decently in the end -- but not so sure of it after all -- and with dashed little help to expect from those we touch elbows with right and left. Of course there are men here and there to whom the whole of life is like an after-dinner hour with a cigar; easy, pleasant, empty, perhaps enlivened by some fable9 of strife10 to be forgotten before the end is told -- before the end is told -- even if there happens to be any end to it.
'My eyes met his for the first time at that inquiry. You must know that everybody connected in any way with the sea was there, because the affair had been notorious for days, ever since that mysterious cable message came from Aden to start us all cackling. I say mysterious, because it was so in a sense though it contained a naked fact, about as naked and ugly as a fact can well be. The whole waterside talked of nothing else. First thing in the morning as I was dressing11 in my state-room, I would hear through the bulkhead my Parsee Dubash jabbering12 about the Patna with the steward13, while he drank a cup of tea, by favour, in the pantry. No sooner on shore I would meet some acquaintance, and the first remark would be, "Did you ever hear of anything to beat this?" and according to his kind the man would smile cynically15, or look sad, or let out a swear or two. Complete strangers would accost16 each other familiarly, just for the sake of easing their minds on the subject: every confounded loafer in the town came in for a harvest of drinks over this affair: you heard of it in the harbour office, at every ship-broker's, at your agent's, from whites, from natives, from half-castes, from the very boatmen squatting17 half naked on the stone steps as you went up -by Jove! There was some indignation, not a few jokes, and no end of discussions as to what had become of them, you know. This went on for a couple of weeks or more, and the opinion that whatever was mysterious in this affair would turn out to be tragic18 as well, began to prevail, when one fine morning, as I was standing19 in the shade by the steps of the harbour office, I perceived four men walking towards me along the quay20. I wondered for a while where that queer lot had sprung from, and suddenly, I may say, I shouted to myself, "Here they are!"
'There they were, sure enough, three of them as large as life, and one much larger of girth than any living man has a right to be, just landed with a good breakfast inside of them from an outward-bound Dale Line steamer that had come in about an hour after sunrise. There could be no mistake; I spotted21 the jolly skipper of the Patna at the first glance: the fattest man in the whole blessed tropical belt clear round that good old earth of ours. Moreover, nine months or so before, I had come across him in Samarang. His steamer was loading in the Roads, and he was abusing the tyrannical institutions of the German empire, and soaking himself in beer all day long and day after day in De Jongh's back-shop, till De Jongh, who charged a guilder for every bottle without as much as the quiver of an eyelid23, would beckon24 me aside, and, with his little leathery face all puckered25 up, declare confidentially26, "Business is business, but this man, captain, he make me very sick. Tfui!"
'I was looking at him from the shade. He was hurrying on a little in advance, and the sunlight beating on him brought out his bulk in a startling way. He made me think of a trained baby elephant walking on hind-legs. He was extravagantly27 gorgeous too -- got up in a soiled sleeping-suit, bright green and deep orange vertical28 stripes, with a pair of ragged29 straw slippers30 on his bare feet, and somebody's cast-off pith hat, very dirty and two sizes too small for him, tied up with a manilla rope-yarn on the top of his big head. You understand a man like that hasn't the ghost of a chance when it comes to borrowing clothes. Very well. On he came in hot haste, without a look right or left, passed within three feet of me, and in the innocence31 of his heart went on pelting32 upstairs into the harbour office to make his deposition33, or report, or whatever you like to call it.
'It appears he addressed himself in the first instance to the principal shipping-master. Archie Ruthvel had just come in, and, as his story goes, was about to begin his arduous34 day by giving a dressingdown to his chief clerk. Some of you might have known him -- an obliging little Portuguese35 half-caste with a miserably37 skinny neck, and always on the hop22 to get something from the shipmasters in the way of eatables -- a piece of salt pork, a bag of biscuits, a few potatoes, or what not. One voyage, I recollect38, I tipped him a live sheep out of the remnant of my sea-stock: not that I wanted him to do anything for me -- he couldn't, you know -- but because his childlike belief in the sacred right to perquisites39 quite touched my heart. It was so strong as to be almost beautiful. The race -- the two races rather -- and the climate . . . However, never mind. I know where I have a friend for life.
'Well, Ruthvel says he was giving him a severe lecture -- on official morality, I suppose -- when he heard a kind of subdued40 commotion41 at his back, and turning his head he saw, in his own words, something round and enormous, resembling a sixteen-hundred-weight sugar-hogshead wrapped in striped flannelette, up-ended in the middle of the large floor space in the office. He declares he was so taken aback that for quite an appreciable43 time he did not realise the thing was alive, and sat still wondering for what purpose and by what means that object had been transported in front of his desk. The archway from the ante-room was crowded with punkah-pullers, sweepers, police peons, the coxswain and crew of the harbour steam-launch, all craning their necks and almost climbing on each other's backs. Quite a riot. By that time the fellow had managed to tug36 and jerk his hat clear of his head, and advanced with slight bows at Ruthvel, who told me the sight was so discomposing that for some time he listened, quite unable to make out what that apparition44 wanted. It spoke45 in a voice harsh and lugubrious46 but intrepid47, and little by little it dawned upon Archie that this was a development of the Patna case. He says that as soon as he understood who it was before him he felt quite unwell -- Archie is so sympathetic and easily upset -- but pulled himself together and shouted "Stop! I can't listen to you. You must go to the Master Attendant. I can't possibly listen to you. Captain Elliot is the man you want to see. This way, this way." He jumped up, ran round that long counter, pulled, shoved: the other let him, surprised but obedient at first, and only at the door of the private office some sort of animal instinct made him hang back and snort like a frightened bullock. "Look here! what's up? Let go! Look here!" Archie flung open the door without knocking. "The master of the Patna, sir," he shouts. "Go in, captain." He saw the old man lift his head from some writing so sharp that his nose-nippers fell off, banged the door to, and
fled to his desk, where he had some papers waiting for his signature: but he says the row that burst out in there was so awful that he couldn't collect his senses sufficiently48 to remember the spelling of his own name. Archie's the most sensitive shipping-master in the two hemispheres. He declares he felt as though he had thrown a man to a hungry lion. No doubt the noise was great. I heard it down below, and I have every reason to believe it was heard clear across the Esplanade as far as the band-stand. Old father Elliot had a great stock of words and could shout -- and didn't mind who he shouted at either. He would have shouted at the Viceroy himself. As he used to tell me: "I am as high as I can get; my pension is safe. I've a few pounds laid by, and if they don't like my notions of duty I would just as soon go home as not. I am an old man, and I have always spoken my mind. All I care for now is to see my girls married before I die." He was a little crazy on that point. His three daughters were awfully49 nice, though they resembled him amazingly, and on the mornings he woke up with a gloomy view of their matrimonial prospects50 the office would read it in his eye and tremble, because, they said, he was sure to have somebody for breakfast. However, that morning he did not eat the renegade, but, if I may be allowed to carry on the metaphor51, chewed him up very small, so to speak, and -- ah! ejected him again.
'Thus in a very few moments I saw his monstrous52 bulk descend53 in haste and stand still on the outer steps. He had stopped close to me for the purpose of profound meditation54: his large purple cheeks quivered. He was biting his thumb, and after a while noticed me with a sidelong vexed55 look. The other three chaps that had landed with him made a little group waiting at some distance. There was a sallow-faced, mean little chap with his arm in a sling56, and a long individual in a blue flannel42 coat, as dry as a chip and no stouter57 than a broomstick, with drooping58 grey moustaches, who looked about him with an air of jaunty59 imbecility. The third was an upstanding, broad-shouldered youth, with his hands in his pockets, turning his back on the other two who appeared to be talking together earnestly. He stared across the empty Esplanade. A ramshackle gharry, all dust and venetian blinds, pulled up short opposite the group, and the driver, throwing up his right foot over his knee, gave himself up to the critical examination of his toes. The young chap, making no movement, not even stirring his head, just stared into the sunshine. This was my first view of Jim. He looked as unconcerned and unapproachable as only the young can look. There he stood, clean-limbed, clean-faced, firm on his feet, as promising60 a boy as the sun ever shone on; and, looking at him, knowing all he knew and a little more too, I was as angry as though I had detected him trying to get something out of me by false pretences61. He had no business to look so sound. I thought to myself -- well, if this sort can go wrong like that . . . and I felt as though I could fling down my hat and dance on it from sheer mortification62, as I once saw the skipper of an Italian barque do because his duffer of a mate got into a mess with his anchors when making a flying moor63 in a roadstead full of ships. I asked myself, seeing him there apparently64 so much at ease -- is he silly? is he callous65? He seemed ready to start whistling a tune66. And note, I did not care a rap about the
behaviour of the other two. Their persons somehow fitted the tale that was public property, and was going to be the subject of an official inquiry. "That old mad rogue67 upstairs called me a hound," said the captain of the Patna. I can't tell whether he recognised me -- I rather think he did; but at any rate our glances met. He glared -- I smiled; hound was the very mildest epithet68 that had reached me through the open window. "Did he?" I said from some strange inability to hold my tongue. He nodded, bit his thumb again, swore qnder his breath: then lifting his head and looking at me with sullen69 and passionate70 impudence71 -- "Bah! the Pacific is big, my friendt. You damned Englishmen can do your worst; I know where there's plenty room for a man like me: I am well aguaindt in Apia, in Honolulu, in . . ." He paused reflectively, while without effort I could depict72 to myself the sort of people he was "aguaindt" with in those places. I won't make a secret of it that I had been "aguaindt" with not a few of that sort myself. There are times when a man must act as though life were equally sweet in any company. I've known such a time, and, what's more, I shan't now pretend to pull a long face over my necessity, because a good many of that bad company from want of moral -- moral -- what shall I say? -- posture73, or from some other equally profound cause, were twice as instructive and twenty times more amusing than the usual respectable thief of commerce you fellows ask to sit at your table without any real necessity -- from habit, from cowardice74, from good-nature, from a hundred sneaking75 and inadequate76 reasons.
' "You Englishmen are all rogues," went on my patriotic77 Flensborg or Stettin Australian. I really don't recollect now what decent little port on the shores of the Baltic was defiled78 by being the nest of that precious bird. "What are you to shout? Eh? You tell me? You no better than other people, and that old rogue he make Gottam fuss with me." His thick carcass trembled on its legs that were like a pair of pillars; it trembled from head to foot. "That's what you English always make -- make a tam' fuss -- for any little thing, because I was not born in your tam' country. Take away my certificate. Take it. I don't want the certificate. A man like me don't want your verfluchte certificate. I shpit on it." He spat79. "I vill an Amerigan citizen begome," he cried, fretting80 and fuming81 and shuffling82 his feet as if to free his ankles from some invisible and mysterious grasp that would not let him get away from that spot. He made himself so warm that the top of his bullet head positively83 smoked. Nothing mysterious prevented me from going away: curiosity is the most obvious of sentiments, and it held me there to see the effect of a full information upon that young fellow who, hands in pockets, and turning his back upon the sidewalk, gazed across the grass-plots of the Esplanade at the yellow portico85 of the Malabar Hotel with the air of a man about to go for a walk as soon as his friend is ready. That's how he looked, and it was odious86. I waited to see him overwhelmed, confounded, pierced through and through, squirming like an impaled87 beetle88 -- and I was half afraid to see it too -- if you understand what I mean. Nothing more awful than to watch a man who has been found out, not in a crime but in a more than criminal weakness. The commonest sort of fortitude89 prevents us from becoming criminals in a legal sense; it is from weakness unknown, but perhaps suspected, as in some parts of the world you suspect a deadly snake in every bush -- from weakness that may lie hidden, watch ed or unwatched, prayed against or manfully scor
ned, repressed or maybe ignored more than half a lifetime, not one of us is safe. We are snared90 into doing things for which we get called names, and things for which we get hanged, and yet the spirit may well survive -- survive the condemnation91, survive the halter, by Jove! And there are things -- they look small enough sometimes too -- by which some of us are totally and completely undone92. I watched the youngster there. I liked his appearance; I knew his appearance; he came from the right place; he was one of us. He stood there for all the parentage of his kind, for men and women by no means clever or amusing, but whose very existence is based upon honest faith, and upon the instinct of courage. I don't mean military courage, or civil courage, or any special kind of courage. I mean just that inborn93 ability to look temptations straight in the face -- a readiness unintellectual enough, goodness knows, but without pose -- a power of resistance, don't you see, ungracious if you like, but priceless -- an unthinking and blessed stiffness before the outward and inward terrors, before the might of nature and the seductive corruption94 of men -- backed by a faith invulnerable to the strength of facts, to the contagion95 of example, to the solicitation96 of ideas. Hang ideas! They are tramps, vagabonds, knocking at the back-door of your mind, each taking a little of your substance, each carrying away some crumb97 of that belief in a few simple notions you must cling to if you want to live decently and would like to die easy!
'This has nothing to do with Jim, directly; only he was outwardly so typical of that good, stupid kind we like to feel marching right and left of us in life, of the kind that is not disturbed by the vagaries98 of intelligence and the perversions99 of -- of nerves, let us say. He was the kind of fellow you would, on the strength of his looks, leave in charge of the deck -- figuratively and professionally speaking. I say I would, and I ought to know. Haven't I turned out youngsters enough in my time, for the service of the Red Rag, to the craft of the sea, to the craft whose whole secret could be expressed in one short sentence, and yet must be driven afresh every day into young heads till it becomes the component100 part of every waking thought -till it is present in every dream of their young sleep! The sea has been good to me, but when I remember all these boys that passed through my hands, some grown up now and some drowned by this time, but all good stuff for the sea, I don't think I have done badly by it either. Were I to go home to-morrow, I bet that before two days passed over my head some sunburnt young chief mate would overtake me at some dock gateway101 or other, and a fresh deep voice speaking above my hat would ask: "Don't you remember me, sir? Why! little So-and-so. Such and such a ship. It was my first voyage." And I would remember a bewildered little shaver, no higher than the back of this chair, with a mother and perhaps a big sister on the quay, very quiet but too upset to wave their handkerchiefs at the ship that glides102 out gently between the pier-heads; or perhaps some decent middle-aged103 father who had come early with his boy to see him off, and stays all the morning, because he is interested in the windlass apparently, and stays too long, and has got to scramble104 ashore105 at last with no time at all to say good-bye. The mud pilot on the poop sings out to me in a drawl, "Hold her with the check line for a moment, Mister Mate. There's a gentleman wants to ge t ashore.... Up with you, sir. Nearly got carrie
d off to Talcahuano, didn't you? Now's your time; easy does it.... All right. Slack away again forward there." The tugs106, smoking like the pit of perdition, get hold and churn the old river into fury; the gentleman ashore is dusting his knees -- the benevolent107 steward has shied his umbrella after him. All very proper. He has offered his bit of sacrifice to the sea, and now he may go home pretending he thinks nothing of it; and the little willing victim shall be very sea-sick before next morning. By-and-by, when he has learned all the little mysteries and the one great secret of the craft, he shall be fit to live or die as the sea may decree; and the man who had taken a hand in this fool game, in which the sea wins every toss, will be pleased to have his back slapped by a heavy young hand, and to hear a cheery sea-puppy voice: "Do you remember me, sir? The little So-andso."
'I tell you this is good; it tells you that once in your life at least you had gone the right way to work. I have been thus slapped, and I have winced108, for the slap was heavy, and I have glowed all day long and gone to bed feeling less lonely in the world by virtue109 of that hearty110 thump111. Don't I remember the little So-and-so's! I tell you I ought to know the right kind of looks. I would have trusted the deck to that youngster on the strength of a single glance, and gone to sleep with both eyes -- and, by Jove! it wouldn't have been safe. There are depths of horror in that thought. He looked as genuine as a new sovereign, but there was some infernal alloy112 in his metal. How much? The least thing -- the least drop of something rare and accursed; the least drop! -- but he made you -- standing there with his don't-care-hang air -- he made you wonder whether perchance he were nothing more rare than brass113.
'I couldn't believe it. I tell you I wanted to see him squirm for the honour of the craft. The other two no-account chaps spotted their captain, and began to move slowly towards us. They chatted together as they strolled, and I did not care any more than if they had not been visible to the naked eye. They grinned at each other -might have been exchanging jokes, for all I know. I saw that with one of them it was a case of a broken arm; and as to the long individual with grey moustaches he was the chief engineer, and in various ways a pretty notorious personality. They were nobodies. They approached. The skipper gazed in an inanimate way between his feet: he seemed to be swollen114 to an unnatural115 size by some awful disease, by the mysterious action of an unknown poison. He lifted his head, saw the two before him waiting, opened his mouth with an extraordinary, sneering116 contortion117 of his puffed118 face -- to speak to them, I suppose -- and then a thought seemed to strike him. His thick, purplish lips came together without a sound, he went off in a resolute119 waddle120 to the gharry and began to jerk at the door-handle with such a blind brutality121 of impatience122 that I expected to see the whole concern overturned on its side, pony123 and all. The driver, shaken out of his meditation over the sole of his foot, displayed at once all the signs of intense terror, and held with both hands, looking round from his box at this vast carcass forcing its way into his conveyance124. The little machine shook and rocked tumultuously, and the crimson125 nape of that lowered neck, the size of those straining thighs126, the immense heaving of that dingy127, striped green-andorange back, the whole burrowing128 effort of that gaudy129 and sordid130 mass, troubled one's sense of probability with a droll131 and fearsome effect, like one of those grotesque132 and distinct visions that scare and fascinate one in a fever. He disappeared. I half expected the roof to split in two, the little box on wheels to burst open in the manner of a ripe cotton-pod -- but it only sank with a
click of flattened133 springs, and suddenly one venetian blind rattled135 down. His shoulders reappeared, jammed in the small opening; his head hung out, distended136 and tossing like a captive balloon, perspiring137, furious, spluttering. He reached for the gharry-wallah with vicious flourishes of a fist as dumpy and red as a lump of raw meat. He roared at him to be off, to go on. Where? Into the Pacific, perhaps. The driver lashed138; the pony snorted, reared once, and darted139 off at a gallop140. Where? To Apia? To Honolulu? He had 6000 miles of tropical belt to disport141 himself in, and I did not hear the precise address. A snorting pony snatched him into "Ewigkeit" in the twinkling of an eye, and I never saw him again; and, what's more, I don't know of anybody that ever had a glimpse of him after he departed from my knowledge sitting inside a ramshackle little gharry that fled round the corner in a white smother142 of dust. He departed, disappeared, vanished, absconded143; and absurdly enough it looked as though he had taken that gharry with him, for never again did I come across a sorrel pony with a slit144 ear and a lackadaisical145 Tamil driver afflicted146 by a sore foot. The Pacific is indeed big; but whether he found a place for a display of his talents in it or not, the fact remains147 he had flown into space like a witch on a broomstick. The little chap with his arm in a sling started to run after the carriage, bleating148, "Captain! I say, Captain! I sa-a-ay!" -- but after a few steps stopped short, hung his head, and walked back slowly. At the sharp rattle134 of the wheels the young fellow spun149 round where he stood. He made no other movement, no gesture, no sign, and remained facing in the new direction after the gharry had swung out of sight.
'All this happened in much less time than it takes to tell, since I am trying to interpret for you into slow speech the instantaneous effect of visual impressions. Next moment the half-caste clerk, sent by Archie to look a little after the poor castaways of the Patna, came upon the scene. He ran out eager and bareheaded, looking right and left, and very full of his mission. It was doomed150 to be a failure as far as the principal person was concerned, but he approached the others with fussy151 importance, and, almost immediately, found himself involved in a violent altercation152 with the chap that carried his arm in a sling, and who turned out to be extremely anxious for a row. He wasn't going to be ordered about -- "not he, b'gosh." He wouldn't be terrified with a pack of lies by a cocky half-bred little quill-driver. He was not going to be bullied153 by "no object of that sort," if the story were true "ever so"! He bawled154 his wish, his desire, his determination to go to bed. "If you weren't a Godforsaken Portuguee," I heard him yell, "you would know that the hospital is the right place for me." He pushed the fist of his sound arm under the other's nose; a crowd began to collect; the half-caste, flustered155, but doing his best to appear dignified156, tried to explain his intentions. I went away without waiting to see the end.
'But it so happened that I had a man in the hospital at the time, and going there to see about him the day before the opening of the Inquiry, I saw in the white men's ward14 that little chap tossing on his back, with his arm in splints, and quite light-headed. To my great surprise the other one, the long individual with drooping white moustache, had also found his way there. I remembered I had seen him slinking away during the quarrel, in a half prance157, half shuffle158, and trying very hard not to look scared. He was no stranger to the port, it seems, and in his distress159 was able to make tracks straight for Mariani's billiard-room and grog-shop near the bazaar160. That unspeakable vagabond, Mariani, who had known the man and had ministered to his vices161 in one or two other places, kissed the ground, in a manner of speaking, before him, and shut him up with a supply of bottles in an upstairs room of his infamous162 hovel. It appears he was under some hazy163 apprehension164 as to his personal safety, and wished to be concealed165. However, Mariani told me a long time after (when he came on board one day to dun my steward for the price of some cigars) that he would have done more for him without asking any questions, from gratitude166 for some unholy favour received very many years ago -- as far as I could make out. He thumped167 twice his brawny168 chest, rolled enormous blackand-white eyes glistening169 with tears: "Antonio never forget -Antonio never forget!" What was the precise nature of the immoral170 obligation I never learned, but be it what it may, he had every facility given him to remain under lock and key, with a chair, a table, a mattress171 in a corner, and a litter of fallen plaster on the floor, in an irrational172 state of funk, and keeping up his pecker with such tonics173 as Mariani dispensed174. This lasted till the evening of the third day, when, after letting out a few horrible screams, he found himself compelled to seek safety in flight from a legion of centipedes. He burst the door open, made one leap for dear life down the crazy litt
le stairway, landed bodily on Mariani's stomach, picked himself up, and bolted like a rabbit into the streets. The police plucked him off a garbage-heap in the early morning. At first he had a notion they were carrying him off to be hanged, and fought for liberty like a hero, but when I sat down by his bed he had been very quiet for two days. His lean bronzed head, with white moustaches, looked fine and calm on the pillow, like the head of a war-worn soldier with a child-like soul, had it not been for a hint of spectral175 alarm that lurked176 in the blank glitter of his glance, resembling a nondescript form of a terror crouching177 silently behind a pane178 of glass. He was so extremely calm, that I began to indulge in the eccentric hope of hearing something explanatory of the famous affair from his point of view. Why I longed to go grubbing into the deplorable details of an occurrence which, after all, concerned me no more than as a member of an obscure body of men held together by a community of inglorious toil179 and by fidelity180 to a certain standard of conduct, I can't explain. You may call it an unhealthy curiosity if you like; but I have a distinct notion I wished to find something. Perhaps, unconsciously, I hoped I would find that something, some profound and redeeming181 cause, some merciful explanation, some convincing shadow of an excuse. I see well enough now that I hoped for the impossible -- for the laying of what is the most obstinate182 ghost of man's creation, of the uneasy doubt uprising like a mist, secret and gnawing183 like a worm, and more chilling than the certitude of death -- the doubt of the sovereign power enthroned in a fixed184 standard of conduct. It is the hardest thing to stumble against; it is the thing that breeds yelling panics and good little quiet villainies; it's the true shadow of calamity185. Did I believe in a miracle? and why did I desire it so ardently186? Was it for my own sake that I wished to find some sh adow of an excuse for that young fellow whom I had never seen before, but whose appearance alone
added a touch of personal concern to the thoughts suggested by the knowledge of his weakness -- made it a thing of mystery and terror -- like a hint of a destructive fate ready for us all whose youth -- in its day -- had resembled his youth? I fear that such was the secret motive187 of my prying188. I was, and no mistake, looking for a miracle. The only thing that at this distance of time strikes me as miraculous189 is the extent of my imbecility. I positively hoped to obtain from that battered190 and shady invalid191 some exorcism against the ghost of doubt. I must have been pretty desperate too, for, without loss of time, after a few indifferent and friendly sentences which he answered with languid readiness, just as any decent sick man would do, I produced the word Patna wrapped up in a delicate question as in a wisp of floss silk. I was delicate selfishly; I did not want to startle him; I had no solicitude192 for him; I was not furious with him and sorry for him: his experience was of no importance, his redemption would have had no point for me. He had grown old in minor193 iniquities194, and could no longer inspire aversion or pity. He repeated Patna? interrogatively, seemed to make a short effort of memory, and said: "Quite right. I am an old stager out here. I saw her go down." I made ready to vent84 my indignation at such a stupid lie, when he added smoothly195, "She was full of reptiles196."
'This made me pause. What did he mean? The unsteady phantom197 of terror behind his glassy eyes seemed to stand still and look into mine wistfully. "They turned me out of my bunk198 in the middle watch to look at her sinking," he pursued in a reflective tone. His voice sounded alarmingly strong all at once. I was sorry for my folly199. There was no snowy-winged coif of a nursing sister to be seen flitting in the perspective of the ward; but away in the middle of a long row of empty iron bedsteads an accident case from some ship in the Roads sat up brown and gaunt with a white bandage set rakishly on the forehead. Suddenly my interesting invalid shot out an arm thin like a tentacle200 and clawed my shoulder. "Only my eyes were good enough to see. I am famous for my eyesight. That's why they called me, I expect. None of them was quick enough to see her go, but they saw that she was gone right enough, and sang out together -- like this . " . . . A wolfish howl searched the very recesses201 of my soul. "Oh! make 'im dry up," whined202 the accident case irritably203. "You don't believe me, I suppose," went on the other, with an air of ineffable204 conceit205. "I tell you there are no such eyes as mine this side of the Persian Gulf206. Look under the bed."
'Of course I stooped instantly. I defy anybody not to have done so. "What can you see?" he asked. "Nothing," I said, feeling awfully ashamed of myself. He scrutinised my face with wild and withering207 contempt. "Just so," he said, "but if I were to look I could see -- there's no eyes like mine, I tell you." Again he clawed, pulling at me downwards208 in his eagerness to relieve himself by a confidential communication. "Millions of pink toads209. There's no eyes like mine. Millions of pink toads. It's worse than seeing a ship sink. I could look at sinking ships and smoke my pipe all day long. Why don't they give me back my pipe? I would get a smoke while I watched these toads. The ship was full of them. They've got to be watched, you know." He winked210 facetiously211. The perspiration212 dripped on him off my head, my drill coat clung to my wet back: the afternoon breeze swept impetuously over the row of bedsteads, the stiff folds of curtains stirred perpendicularly213, rattling214 on brass rods, the covers of empty beds blew about noiselessly near the bare floor all along the line, and I shivered to the very marrow215. The soft wind of the tropics played in that naked ward as bleak216 as a winter's gale217 in an old barn at home. "Don't you let him start his hollering, mister," hailed from afar the accident casell in a disuessed angry shout that came ringing between the walls like a quavering call down a tunnel. The clawing hand hauled at my shoulder; he leered at me knowingly. "The ship was full of them, you know, and we had to clear out on the strict Q.T.," he whispered with extreme rapidity. "All pink. All pink -- as big as mastiffs, with an eye on the top of the head and claws all round their ugly mouths. Ough! Ough!" Quick jerks as of galvanic shocks disclosed under the flat coverlet the outlines of meagre and agitated218 legs; he let go my shoulder and reached after something in the air; his body trembled tensely like a released harp-string; and while I looked down, the spectral horror in him broke through his glassy gaze. Instantly his
face of an old soldier, with its noble and calm outlines, became decomposed219 before my eyes by the corruption of stealthy cunning, of an abominable220 caution and of desperate fear. He restrained a cry -"Ssh! what are they doing now down there?" he asked, pointing to the floor with fantastic precautions of voice and gesture, whose meaning, borne upon my mind in a lurid221 flash, made me very sick of my cleverness. "They are all asleep," I answered, watching him narrowly. That was it. That's what he wanted to hear; these were the exact words that could calm him. He drew a long breath. "Ssh! Quiet, steady. I am an old stager out here. I know them brutes222. Bash in the head of the first that stirs. There's too many of them, and she won't swim more than ten minutes." He panted again. "Hurry up," he yelled suddenly, and went on in a steady scream: "They are all awake -- millions of them. They are trampling223 on me! Wait! Oh, wait! I'll smash them in heaps like flies. Wait for me! Help! H-e-elp!" An interminable and sustained howl completed my discomfiture224. I saw in the distance the accident case raise deplorably both his hands to his bandaged head; a dresser, aproned to the chin showed himself in the vista225 of the ward, as if seen in the small end of a telescope. I confessed myself fairly routed, and without more ado, stepping out through one of the long windows, escaped into the outside gallery. The howl pursued me like a vengeance226. I turned into a deserted227 landing, and suddenly all became very still and quiet around me, and I descended228 the bare and shiny staircase in a silence that enabled me to compose my distracted thoughts. Down below I met one of the resident surgeons who was crossing the courtyard and stopped me. "Been to see your man, Captain? I think we may let him go to-morrow. These fools have no notion of taking care of themselves, though. I say, we've got the chief engineer of that pilgrim ship here. A curious case. D.T. 's of the worst kind. He has been drinking hard in that Greek's or Italian's grog-shop for three
days. What can you expect? Four bottles of that kind of brandy a day, I am told. Wonderful, if true. Sheeted with boiler-iron inside I should think. The head, ah! the head, of course, gone, but the curious part is there's some sort of method in his raving229. I am trying to find out. Most unusual -- that thread of logic230 in such a delirium231. Traditionally he ought to see snakes, but he doesn't. Good old tradition's at a discount nowadays. Eh! His -- er -- visions are batrachian. Ha! ha! No, seriously, I never remember being so interested in a case of jim-jams before. He ought to be dead, don't you know, after such a festive232 experiment. Oh! he is a tough object. Four-and-twenty years of the tropics too. You ought really to take a peep at him. Noble-looking old boozer. Most extraordinary man I ever met -- medically, of course. Won't you?"
'I had been all along exhibiting the usual polite signs of interest, but now assuming an air of regret I murmured of want of time, and shook hands in a hurry. "I say," he cried after me; "he can't attend that inquiry. Is his evidence material, you think?"
' "Not in the least," I called back from the gateway.'
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1
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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confessions
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| n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔 | |
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8
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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jabbering
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| v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 )；急促兴奋地说话；结结巴巴 | |
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13
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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15
cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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16
accost
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| v.向人搭话，打招呼 | |
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17
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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18
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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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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quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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21
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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22
hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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23
eyelid
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| n.眼睑，眼皮 | |
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24
beckon
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| v.(以点头或打手势)向...示意，召唤 | |
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25
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26
confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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extravagantly
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| adv.挥霍无度地 | |
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28
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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29
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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30
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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31
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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32
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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deposition
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| n.免职，罢官；作证；沉淀；沉淀物 | |
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34
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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35
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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38
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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39
perquisites
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| n.（工资以外的）财务补贴( perquisite的名词复数 )；额外收入；（随职位而得到的）好处；利益 | |
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40
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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41
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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42
flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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43
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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44
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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45
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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46
lugubrious
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| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
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47
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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48
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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50
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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51
metaphor
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| n.隐喻，暗喻 | |
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52
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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53
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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54
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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55
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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56
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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57
stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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58
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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59
jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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60
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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61
pretences
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| n.假装( pretence的名词复数 )；作假；自命；自称 | |
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62
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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63
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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64
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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66
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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67
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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68
epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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69
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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70
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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71
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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depict
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| vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述 | |
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73
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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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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75
sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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76
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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78
defiled
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| v.玷污( defile的过去式和过去分词 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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79
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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81
fuming
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| 愤怒( fume的现在分词 )； 大怒； 发怒； 冒烟 | |
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82
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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83
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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84
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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85
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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87
impaled
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| 钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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88
beetle
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| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
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89
fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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90
snared
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| v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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91
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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92
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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93
inborn
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| adj.天生的，生来的，先天的 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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96
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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97
crumb
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| n.饼屑，面包屑，小量 | |
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98
vagaries
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| n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况 | |
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99
perversions
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| n.歪曲( perversion的名词复数 )；变坏；变态心理 | |
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100
component
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| n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的 | |
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101
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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102
glides
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| n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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103
middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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104
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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105
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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106
tugs
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| n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 )；猛拖；拖船v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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107
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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108
winced
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| 赶紧避开，畏缩( wince的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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109
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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110
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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111
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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112
alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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113
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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114
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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115
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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116
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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117
contortion
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| n.扭弯，扭歪，曲解 | |
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118
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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119
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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120
waddle
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| vi.摇摆地走；n.摇摆的走路(样子) | |
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121
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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122
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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123
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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124
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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125
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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126
thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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127
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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128
burrowing
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻 | |
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129
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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130
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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131
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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132
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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133
flattened
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| [医]（水）平扁的，弄平的 | |
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134
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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135
rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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136
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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137
perspiring
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| v.出汗，流汗( perspire的现在分词 ) | |
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138
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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139
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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140
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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141
disport
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| v.嬉戏，玩 | |
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142
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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143
absconded
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| v.（尤指逃避逮捕）潜逃，逃跑( abscond的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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144
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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145
lackadaisical
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| adj.无精打采的，无兴趣的；adv.无精打采地，不决断地 | |
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146
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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147
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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148
bleating
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的现在分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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149
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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150
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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151
fussy
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| adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的 | |
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152
altercation
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| n.争吵，争论 | |
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153
bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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154
bawled
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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155
flustered
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|
| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
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156
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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157
prance
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| v.（马）腾跃，(人)神气活现地走 | |
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158
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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159
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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160
bazaar
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| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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161
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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162
infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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163
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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164
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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165
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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166
gratitude
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|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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167
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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168
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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169
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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170
immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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171
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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172
irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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173
tonics
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| n.滋补品( tonic的名词复数 )；主音；奎宁水；浊音 | |
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174
dispensed
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| v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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175
spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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176
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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177
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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178
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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179
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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180
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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181
redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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182
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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183
gnawing
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| a.痛苦的，折磨人的 | |
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184
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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185
calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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186
ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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187
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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188
prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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189
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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190
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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191
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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192
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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193
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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194
iniquities
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| n.邪恶( iniquity的名词复数 )；极不公正 | |
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195
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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196
reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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197
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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198
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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199
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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200
tentacle
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| n.触角，触须，触手 | |
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201
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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202
whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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203
irritably
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| ad.易生气地 | |
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204
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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205
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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206
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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207
withering
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| 使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的 | |
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208
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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209
toads
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 ) | |
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210
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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211
facetiously
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| adv.爱开玩笑地；滑稽地，爱开玩笑地 | |
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212
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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213
perpendicularly
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| adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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214
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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215
marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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216
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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217
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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218
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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219
decomposed
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| 已分解的，已腐烂的 | |
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220
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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221
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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222
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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223
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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224
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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225
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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226
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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227
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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228
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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229
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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230
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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231
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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232
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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