Billy Edwards came on deck with a line of irritation1 right-angling the furrows2 between his eyes.
"Go ahead," the quarter-deck bade him, seeing him aflush with information.
"The captain won't believe me," blurted3 out Edwards.
"Is it as bad as that?" asked Barnett, smiling.
"It certainly is," replied the younger man seriously. "I don't know that I blame him. I'd hardly believe it myself if I hadn't----"
"Oh, go on. Out with it. Give us the facts. Never mind your credibility."
"The facts are that there lies the _Laughing Lass_, a little weather-worn, but sound as a dollar, and not a living being aboard of her. Her boats are all there. Everything's in good condition, though none too orderly. Pitcher4 half full of fresh water in the rack. Sails all O. K. Ashes of the galley5 fire still warm. I tell you, gentlemen, that ship hasn't been deserted6 more than a couple of days at the outside."
"Are you sure all the boats are there?" asked Ives.
"Dory, dingy7, and two surf boats. Isn't that enough?"
"Plenty."
"Been over her, inside and out. No sign of collision. No leak. No anything, except that the starboard side is blistered8 a bit. No evidence of fire anywhere else. I tell you," said Billy Edwards pathetically, "it's given me a headache."
"Perhaps it's one of those cases of panic that Forsythe spoke9 of the other night," said Ives. "The crew got frightened at something and ran away, with the devil after them."
"But crews don't just step out and run around the corner and hide, when they're scared," objected Barnett.
"That's true, too," assented10 Ives. "Well, perhaps that volcanic11 eruption12 jarred them so that they jumped for it."
"Pretty wild theory, that," said Edwards.
"No wilder than the facts, as you give them," was the retort.
"That's so," admitted the ensign gloomily.
"But how about pestilence13?" suggested Barnett.
"Maybe they died fast and the last survivor14, after the bodies of the rest were overboard, got delirious15 and jumped after them."
"Not if the galley fire was hot," said Dr. Trendon, briefly16. "No; pestilence doesn't work that way."
"Did you look at the wheel, Billy?" asked Ives.
"Did I! There's another thing. Wheel's all right, but compass is no good at all. It's regularly bewitched."
"What about the log, then?"
"Couldn't find it anywhere. Hunted high, low, jack17, and the game; everywhere except in the big, brass-bound chest I found in the captain's cabin. Couldn't break into that."
"Dr. Schermerhorn's chest!" exclaimed Barnett. "Then he was aboard."
"Well, he isn't aboard now," said the ensign grimly. "Not in the flesh. And that's all," he added suddenly.
"No; it isn't all," said Barnett gently. "There's something else. Captain's orders?"
"Oh, no. Captain Parkinson doesn't take enough stock in my report to tell me to withhold18 anything," said Edwards, with a trace of bitterness in his voice. "It's nothing that I believe myself, anyhow."
"Give _us_ a chance to believe it," said Ives.
"Well," said the ensign hesitantly, "there's a sort of atmosphere about that schooner19 that's almost uncanny."
"Oh, you had the shudders20 before you were ordered to board," bantered21 Ives.
"I know it. I'd have thought it was one of those fool presentiments22 if I were the only one to feel it. But the men were affected23, too. They kept together like frightened sheep. And I heard one say to another: 'Hey, Boney, d'you feel like someone was a-buzzin' your nerves like a fiddle-string?' Now," demanded Edwards plaintively24, "what right has a jackie to have nerves?"
"That's strange enough about the compass," said Barnett slowly. "Ours is all right again. The schooner must have been so near the electric disturbance25 that her instruments were permanently26 deranged27."
"That would lend weight to the volcanic theory," said Carter.
"So the captain didn't take kindly28 to your go-look-see?" questioned Ives of Edwards.
"As good as told me I'd missed the point of the thing," said the ensign, flushing. "Perhaps he can make more of it himself. At any rate, he's going to try. Here he is now."
"Dr. Trendon," said the captain, appearing. "You will please to go with me to the schooner."
"Yes, sir," said the surgeon, rising from his chair with such alacrity29 as to draw from Ives the sardonic30 comment:
"Why, I actually believe old Trendon is excited."
For two hours after the departure of the captain and Trendon there were dull times on the quarter-deck of the _Wolverine_. Then the surgeon came back to them.
"Billy was right," he said.
"But he didn't tell us anything," cried Ives. "He didn't clear up the mystery."
"That's what," said Trendon. "One thing Billy said," he added, waxing unusually prolix31 for him, "was truer than maybe he knew."
"Thanks," murmured the ensign. "What was that?"
"You said 'Not a living being aboard.' Exact words, hey?"
"Well, what of it?" exclaimed the ensign excitedly. "You don't mean you found dead----?"
"Keep your temperature down, my boy. No. You were exactly right. Not a living being aboard."
"Thanks for nothing," retorted the ensign.
"Neither human nor other," pursued Trendon.
"What!"
"Food scattered32 around the galley. Crumbs33 on the mess table. Ever see a wooden ship without cockroaches35?"
"Never particularly investigated the matter."
"Don't believe such a thing exists," said Ives.
"Not a cockroach34 on the _Laughing Lass_. Ever know of an old hooker that wasn't overrun with rats?"
"No; nor anyone else. Not above water."
"Found a dozen dead rats. No sound or sign of a live one on the _Laughing Lass_. No rats, no mice. No bugs36. Gentlemen, the _Laughing Lass_ is a charnel ship."
"No wonder Billy's tender nerves went wrong." said Ives, with irrepressible flippancy37. "She's probably haunted by cockroach wraiths38."
"He'll have a chance to see," said Trendon. "Captain's going to put him in charge."
"By way of apology, then," said Barnett. "That's pretty square."
"Captain Parkinson wishes to see you in his cabin, Mr. Edwards," said an orderly, coming in.
"A pleasant voyage, Captain Billy," said Ives. "Sing out if the goblins git yer."
Fifteen minutes later Ensign Edwards, with a quartermaster, Timmins, the bo's'n's mate, and a crew, was heading a straight course toward his first command, with instructions to "keep company and watch for signals"; and intention to break into the brass-bound chest and ferret out what clue lay there, if it took dynamite39. As he boarded, Barnett and Trendon, with both of whom the lad was a favourite, came to a sinister40 conclusion.
"It's poison, I suppose," said the first officer.
"And a mighty41 subtle sort," agreed Trendon. "Don't like the looks of it." He shook a solemn head. "Don't like it for a damn."
收听单词发音 |
1
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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blistered
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| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
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9
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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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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shudders
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| n.颤动，打颤，战栗( shudder的名词复数 )v.战栗( shudder的第三人称单数 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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bantered
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| v.开玩笑，说笑，逗乐( banter的过去式和过去分词 )；（善意地）取笑，逗弄 | |
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presentiments
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| n.（对不祥事物的）预感( presentiment的名词复数 ) | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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plaintively
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| adv.悲哀地，哀怨地 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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deranged
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| adj.疯狂的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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prolix
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| adj.罗嗦的；冗长的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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cockroach
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| n.蟑螂 | |
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cockroaches
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| n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 ) | |
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bugs
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| adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误 | |
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flippancy
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| n.轻率；浮躁；无礼的行动 | |
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wraiths
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| n.幽灵( wraith的名词复数 )；（传说中人在将死或死后不久的）显形阴魂 | |
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39
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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40
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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