I lived in the place for three weeks. We were afoot shortly after daybreak, under way by sun-up, and at work before the heats began. Three of us worked on the buildings, and the rest formed a pack train carrying all sorts of things from the shore to the valley. The men grumbled1 fiercely at this, but Captain Selover drove them with slight regard for their opinions or feelings.
"You're getting double pay," was his only word, "earn it!"
They certainly earned it during those three weeks. The things they brought up were astounding2. Besides a lot of scientific apparatus3 and chests of chemical supplies, everything that could possibly be required, had been provided by that omniscient4 young man. After we had built a long, low structure, windows were forthcoming, shelves, tables, sinks, faucets6, forges, burners, all cut out, fitted and ready to put together, each with its proper screws, nails, clamps, or pipes ready to our hands. When we had finished, we had constructed as complete a laboratory on a small scale as you could find on a college campus, even to the stone pillar down to bed-rock for delicate microscopic7 experiments, and hot and cold water led from the springs. And we were utterly8 unskilled. It was all Percy Darrow.
I was toward the last engaged in screwing on a fixture9 for the generation of acetelyne gas.
"Darrow," said I, "there's one thing you've overlooked; you forgot to bring a cupola and a gilt10 weather-cock for this concern."
After the laboratory was completed, we put up sleeping quarters for the two men, with wide porches well screened, and a square, heavy storeroom. By the end of the third week we had quite finished.
Dr. Schermerhorn had turned with enthusiasm to the unpacking11 of his chemical apparatus. Almost immediately at the close of the freight-carrying, he had appeared, lugging12 his precious chest, this time suffering the assistance of Darrow, and had camped on the spot. We could not induce him to leave, so we put up a tent for him. Darrow remained with him by way of safety against the men, whose measure, I believe, he had taken. Now that all the work was finished, the doctor put in a sudden appearance.
"Percy," said he, "now we will have the defence built."
He dragged us with him to the narrow part of the arroyo13, just before it rose to the level of the valley.
"Here we will build the stockade14-defence," he announced.
Darrow and I stared at each other blankly.
"What for, sir?" inquired the assistant.
"I haf come to be undisturbed," announced the doctor, with owl-like, Teutonic gravity, "and I will not be disturbed."
Darrow nodded to me and drew his principal aside.
They conversed15 earnestly for several minutes. Then the assistant returned to me.
"No use," he shrugged16 in complete return to his indifferent manner. "Stockade it is. Better make it of fourteen foot logs, slanted17 out. Dig a trench18 across, plant your logs three or four feet, bind19 them at the top. That's his specification20 for it. Go at it."
"But," I expostulated, "what's the _use_ of it? Even if the men were dangerous, that would just make them think you _did_ have something to guard."
"I know that. Orders," replied Percy Darrow.
We built the stockade in a day. When it was finished we marched to the beach, and never, save in the three instances of which I shall later tell you, did I see the valley again. The next day we washed our clothes, and moved ashore21 with all our belongings22.
"I'm not going to have this crew aboard," stated Captain Selover positively23, "I'm going to clean her." He himself stayed, however.
We rowed in, constructed a hasty fireplace of stones, spread our blankets, and built an unnecessary fire near the beach.
"Clean her!" grumbled Thrackles, "my eye!"
"I'd rather round the Cape," growled24 Pulz hopelessly.
"Come, now, it can't be as bad as all that," I tried to cheer them. "It can't be more than a week or ten days' job, even if we careen her."
"You don't know what you're talking about," said Thrackles. "It's worse than the yellow jack25. It's six weeks at least. Mind when we last 'cleaned her'?" he inquired of Handy Solomon.
"You can kiss the Book on it," replied he. "Down by the line in that little swab of a sand island. My eye, but _don't_ I remember! I sweated my liver white."
They smoked in silence.
"That's a main queer contrivance of the Perfessor's--that stockade-like," ventured Solomon, after a little.
"He doesn't want any intrusion," I said. "These scientific experiments are very delicate."
"Quite like," he commented non-committally.
We slept on the ground that night, and next morning, under Captain Selover's directions, we commenced the task of lightening the ship. He detailed26 the Nigger and Perdosa for special duty.
"I'll just see to your shore quarters," he squeaked27. "You empty her."
All day long we rowed back and forth5 from the ship to the cove28, landing the contents of the hold. These, by good fortune, we did not have to carry over the neck of land, for just above the gravel29 beach was a wide ledge30 on which we could pile the stores. We ate aboard, and so had no opportunity of seeing what Captain Selover and his men were about, until evening. Then we discovered that they had collected and lowered to the beach a quantity of stateroom doors from the wreck31, and had trundled the galley32 stove to the edge where it awaited our assistance. We hitched33 a cable to it, and let it down gently. The Nigger was immensely pleased. After some experiment he got it to draw, and so cooked us our supper on it. After supper, Captain Selover rowed himself back to the ship.
"Eagen," he had said, drawing me aside, "I'm going to leave you with them. It's better that one of us--I think as owner I ought to be aboard----"
"Of course, sir," said I, "it's the only proper place for you."
"I'm glad you think so," he rejoined, apparently34 relieved. "And anyway," he cried, with a burst of feeling, "I hate the gritty feeling of it under my feet! Solid oak's the only walking for a man."
He left me hastily, as though a trifle ashamed. I thought he seemed depressed35, even a little furtive36, and yet on analysis I could discover nothing definite on which to base such a conclusion.
It was rather a feeling of difference from the man I had known. In my fatigue37 it seemed hardly worth thinking about.
The men had rolled themselves in their blankets, tired with the long day.
Next morning Captain Selover was ashore early. He had quite recovered his spirits, and offered me a dram of French brandy, which I refused. We worked hard again; again the master returned at night to his vessel38, this time without a word to any of us; again the men, drugged by toil39, turned in early and slept like the dead.
We became entangled40 in a mesh41 of days like these, during which things were accomplished42, but in which was no space for anything but the tasks imposed upon us. The men for the most part had little to say.
"Por Dios, eet is too mooch work!" sighed Perdosa once.
"Why don't you kick to the Old Man, then?" sneered43 Thrackles.
The silence that followed, and the sullenness44 with which Perdosa readdressed himself to his work, was significant enough of Captain Selover's past relations with the men.
And how we did clean her! We stripped her of every stitch and sliver45 until she floated high, an empty hull46, even her spars and running rigging ashore. I understood now the crew's grumbling47. We literally48 went at her with a nail brush.
Captain Selover took charge of us when we had reached this period. He and the Nigger and Perdosa had long since finished the installation of the permanent camp. They had built us huts from the wreck, collecting stateroom doors for the sides, and hatches for the roofs, huge and solid, with iron rings in them. The bronze and iron ventilation gratings to the doors gave us glimpses of the coast through fretwork; the rich inlaying of woods surrounded us. We set up on a solid rock the galley stove--with its rails to hold the cooking pots from upsetting, in a sea way. In it we burned the debris49 of the wreck, all sorts of wood, some sweet and aromatic50 and spicy51 as an incensed52 cathedral. I have seen the Nigger boiling beans over a blaze of sandal wood fragrant53 as an Eastern shop.
First we scrubbed the _Laughing Lass_, then we painted her, and resized and tarred her standing54 rigging, resized and rove her running gear, slushed her masts, finally careened her and scraped and painted her below.
When we had quite finished, we had the anchor chain dealt out to us in fathoms55, and scraped, pounded and polished that. These were indeed days full of labour.
Being busy from morning until night we knew but little of what was about us. We saw the open sea and the waves tumbling over the reef outside. We saw the headlands, and the bow of the bay and the surf with its watching seals and the curve of yellow sands. We saw the sweep of coast and the downs and the strange huts we had built out of departed magnificence. And that was all; that constituted our world.
In the evening sometimes we lit a big bonfire, sailor fashion, just at the edge of the beach. There we sat at ease and smoked our pipes in silence, too tired to talk. Even Handy Solomon's song was still. Outside the circle of light were mysterious things--strange wavings of white hands, bendings of figures, callings of voices, rustling56 of feet. We knew them for the surf and the wind in the grasses: but they were not the less mysterious for that.
Logically Captain Selover and I should have passed most of our evenings together. As a matter of fact we so spent very few. Early in the dusk the captain invariably rowed himself out to his beloved schooner57. What he did there I do not know. We could see his light now in one part of her, now in the other. The men claimed he was scrubbing her teeth. "Old Scrubs" they called him to his back: never Captain Selover.
"He has to clean up after his own feet, he's so dirty," sagely58 proffered59 Handy Solomon. And this was true.
The seaman's prophecy held good. Seven weeks held us at that infernal job--seven weeks of solid, grinding work. The worst of it was, that we were kept at it so breathlessly, as though our very existence were to depend on the headlong rush of our labour. And then we had fully60 half the stores to put away again, and the other half to transport painfully over the neck of land from the cove to the beach.
So accustomed had I become to the routine in which we were involved, so habituated to anticipating the coming day as exactly like the day that had gone, that the completion of our job caught me quite by surprise. I had thrown myself down by the fire prepared for the some old half hour of drowsy61 nicotine62, to be followed by the accustomed heavy sleep, and the usual early rising to toil. The evening was warm; I half closed my eyes.
Handy Solomon was coming in last. Instead of dropping to his place, he straddled the fire, stretching his arms over his head. He let them fall with a sharp exhalation.
"'Lay aloft, lay aloft,' the jolly bos'n cried.
_Blow high, blow low, what care we!_
'Look ahead, look astern, look a-windward, look a-lee.'
_Down on the coast of the high Barbare-e-e._"
The effect was electrical. We all sprang to our feet and fell to talking at once.
"By God, we're _through_!" cried Pulz. "I'd clean forgot it!"
The Nigger piled on more wood. We drew closer about the fire. All the interests in life, so long held in the background, leaped forward, eager for recognition. We spoke63 of trivialities almost for the first time since our landing, fused into a temporary but complete good fellowship by the relief.
"Wonder how the old doctor is getting on?" ventured Thrackles, after a while.
"The devil's a preacher! I wonder?" cried Handy Solomon.
"Let's make 'em a call," suggested Pulz.
"Don't believe they'd appreciate the compliment," I laughed. "Better let them make first call: they're the longer established." This was lost on them, of course. But we all felt kindly64 to one another that evening.
I carried the glow of it with me over until next morning, and was therefore somewhat dashed to meet Captain Selover, with clouded brows and an uncertain manner. He quite ignored my greeting.
"By God, Eagen," he squeaked, "can you think of anything more to be done?"
I straightened my back and laughed.
"Haven't you worked us hard enough?" I inquired. "Unless you gild65 the cabins, I don't see what else there can be to do."
Captain Selover stared me over.
"And you a naval66 man!" he marvelled67. "Don't you see that the only thing that keeps this crew from gettin' restless is keeping them busy? I've sweat a damn sight more with my brain than you have with your back thinking up things to do. I can't see anything ahead, and then we'll have hell to pay. Oh, they're a sweet lot!"
I whistled and my crest68 fell. Here was a new point of view; and also a new Captain Ezra. Where was the confidence in the might of his two hands?
He seemed to read my thoughts, and went on.
"I don't feel _sure_ here on this cussed land. It ain't like a deck where a man has some show. They can scatter69. They can hide. It ain't right to put a man ashore alone with such a crew. I'm doing my best, but it ain't goin' to be good enough. I wisht we were safe in 'Frisco harbour----"
He would have maundered on, but I seized his arm and led him out of possible hearing of the men.
"Here, buck70 up!" I said to him sternly. "There's nothing to be scared of. If it comes to a row, there's three of us and we've got guns. We could even sail the schooner at a pinch, and leave them here. You've stood them off before."
"Not ashore," protested Captain Selover weakly.
"Well, they don't know that. For God's sake don't let them see you've lost your nerve this way." He did not even wince71 at the accusation72. "Put up a front."
He shook his head. The sand had completely run out of him. Yet I am convinced that if he could have felt the heave and roll of the deck beneath him, he would have faced three times the difficulties he now feared. However, I could see readily enough the wisdom of keeping the men at work.
"You can wreck the _Golden Horn_," I suggested. "I don't know whether there's anything left worth salvage73; but it'll be something to do."
He clapped me on the shoulder.
"Good!" he cried, "I never thought of it."
"Another thing," said I, "you better give them a day off a week. That can't hurt them and it'll waste just that much more time."
"All right," agreed Captain Selover.
"Another thing yet. You know I'm not lazy, so it ain't that I'm trying to dodge74 work. But you'd better lay me off. It'll be so much more for the others."
"That's true," said he.
I could not recognise the man for what I knew him to be. He groped, as one in the dark, or as a sea animal taken out of its element and placed on the sands. Courage had given place to fear; decision to wavering; and singleness of purpose to a divided counsel. He who had so thoroughly75 dominated the entire ship, eagerly accepted advice of me--a man without experience.
That evening I sat apart considerably76 disturbed. I felt that the ground had dropped away beneath my feet. To be sure, everything was tranquil77 at present; but now I understood the source of that tranquillity78 and how soon it must fail. With opportunity would come more scheming, more speculation79, more cupidity80. How was I to meet it, with none to back me but a scared man, an absorbed man, and an indifferent man?
收听单词发音 |
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grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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omniscient
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| adj.无所不知的；博识的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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faucets
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| n.水龙头( faucet的名词复数 ) | |
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microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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fixture
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| n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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unpacking
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| n.取出货物，拆包[箱]v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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lugging
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| 超载运转能力 | |
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arroyo
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| n.干涸的河床，小河 | |
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stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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specification
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| n.详述；[常pl.]规格，说明书，规范 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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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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detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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squeaked
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| v.短促地尖叫( squeak的过去式和过去分词 )；吱吱叫；告密；充当告密者 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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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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hitched
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| （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 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mesh
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| n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sullenness
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| n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
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sliver
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| n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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aromatic
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| adj.芳香的，有香味的 | |
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spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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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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fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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sagely
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| adv. 贤能地，贤明地 | |
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proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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nicotine
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| n.(化)尼古丁，烟碱 | |
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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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64
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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65
gild
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| vt.给…镀金，把…漆成金色，使呈金色 | |
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66
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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67
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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69
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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70
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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71
wince
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| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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72
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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73
salvage
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| v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救 | |
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74
dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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75
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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76
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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77
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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78
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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79
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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80
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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