A company of twenty-nine or thirty men in a staunch ship with a goodly number of brass2 cannon3 and with powder and balls in abundance (which provident4 merchants had bought to defend their venture against pirates!) might have done very well on a merchant voyage or fishing. If there are not too many to share in the adventure, a man can earn his wages by the one; or if he would go to the banks of Newfoundland or to Massachusetts Bay, his lay of a fishing voyage will doubtless bring him enough golden chinks to drink in strong ale or sack the health of every fair maiden5 of Plymouth ere he must be off to fill his pockets anew. Though the times be ever so hard, he is a feckless sailor who cannot earn in such a company the price of drinking the three outs. But to work a ship and lay aboard a rich prize, with perhaps need to show heels to a King's cruiser or to fight her, is quite another game; and the Old One and Harry6 Malcolm, who had their full share of the ill-temper that prevailed throughout the ship, cursed their fortune, each in his own way, and wrangled7 together and quarrelled with the men.
And indeed, among all the men of the Rose of Devon there were only two or three who that morning remained unperturbed by their misadventures of the night. One was Jacob, who sat in this corner or that and eyed all comers coldly and as if from a distance. A second was Philip Marsham, who did not, like Jacob, appear to lose his warmer interest in the ship and her company, but whose interest had been always less as for himself alone.
Meeting in groups of three or five, the men ripped out oaths and told of how one captain or another had once taken a ship or a town with vast bloodshed and plunder8, and thus they stormed about the deck at intervals9 until an hour after sunrise, when Phil from the forecastle and Old Jacob from his corner under the quarter-deck, having observed them for some time putting their heads together and conversing10 in undertones, heard them crying out, "Yea, yea! Go on, go on! We are all with you!" Four of the men then started through the steerage room to the great cabin and the rest gathered in a sullen11 half circle just under the quarter-deck.
Jacob raised his head and listened; his face was very thoughtful and his small mouth was puckered12 tight. At the sounds that issued from the cabin, Phil himself drew nearer.
"Well," cried the Old One in a voice that seemed as full of wonder as of wrath13,—they heard him plainly,—"what in the Devil's name mean ye by this?"
"We ha' lost a dozen men and our shallop by this foolish march, and from this rich town of which you have promised much we have got only blows and balls for our labour." The speaker's voice was loud and harsh, and he larded his speech with such oaths and obscene bywords as are not fit for printing. "We are of a mind to change captains. You shall go forward and Paul Craig shall come aft. Speak up, Paul! Tell your tale of no marching to wear out a man's feet—"
There came a string of oaths in the Old One's voice and a wild stamping and crashing; then out they burst, jostling one another in their haste, and after them the Old One with a clubbed musket14.
He subdued15 his fury, when he faced the ring of sullen men, as if he had taken it with his hands and pushed it down. But they feared him none the less, and perhaps the more. A man looking at him must perceive that his mind was keen and subtle, which made his quietness, when he was angry, more terrible than a great show of wrath.
"I have sailed before with mad, fickle16 crews," said he; "yea, once with a crew so mad that it would send a gentleman post unto the King with a petition of grievances17 because a King's ship had chased us from the South Foreland to the Lizard18. But never saw I a more mad crew than this, which is enough to give a man a grievous affliction of the colic and stone by the very excess of its madness."
"As for madness," cried a man who stood at a safe distance behind the rest, "I charge thee with worse than madness. We have lost two fights and many men and have got to show for it—a kettle of fish."
Some laughed, but more muttered angrily.
"Why—we have had our ill fortunes. But what gentlemen of the sea have not? Come, make an end of this talk. Come out, you who spoke19, and let us consider the matter. Nay20? He will not come, though by his speech he is a bold man?"
Again some of them laughed, but in a mean way, for he had cowed them by his show of violence and they feared more than ever that subtle spirit which over-leaped their understanding.
"Listen, then, my hearts of gold: we will come about and sail back. We will lie tonight by the very town that last night we stormed. We will seek it out as a harbour of refuge. We will tell them a tale of meeting pirates who captured our shallop and part of our men. We will give them such a story that they will think we have met the very men they themselves last night beat off, and will welcome us with open arms to succour our distress21. Who knows but that we can then take them by assault? Or if for the time they are too strong for us, we will mark well the approaches and the defenses, and some night we will again come back."
The idea caught their fancy, and though a few cried nay and whispered that it was the sheerest madness yet, more cried yea and argued there was little risk, for if worst should come to worst, they could turn tail and run as run they had before. As they talked, they forgot their many woes22 and whispered about that none but the Old One would ever think of such a scheme.
Harry Malcolm and the Old One went off by themselves and put their heads together and conversed23 secretly, and throughout the ship there was a great buzz of voices. Only Jacob, who sat in his corner and watched now one and now another, and Philip Marsham, who watched Jacob, kept silence amidst the hubble-bubble.
So they wore ship, and returning along the palm-grown shores, came again at the end of the afternoon into sight of the flat mountain they had seen first by night; and though the wind fell away at times until the sails hung in listless folds, they gathered speed with the evening breeze and came at nightfall into a fine landlocked harbour with the town at its head, where there were lights shining from the houses and a ship still lying at anchor.
Upon their coming there was a great stir in the town. They saw lights moving and heard across the water voices calling; but though the men of the Rose of Devon stood by their guns, ready to lift the ports at a word and run out their pieces, they laughed in their sleeves at their own audacity24 whereby they hoped greatly to enrich their coffers.
Then one in the fort hailed them in Spanish, and while the Old One made answer in the same tongue, those who understood it whispered to the rest that he was giving the men in the fort a sad tale of how the Rose of Devon had fallen in with a band of sailors of fortune who had killed part of her men and would have killed them all had not the Old One himself by a bold and clever stroke eluded25 them. The Old One and the man in the fort flung questions and answers back and forth26; and as they talked, the men at the guns relaxed and softly laughed, and Martin whispered to Philip Marsham, "Yea, they are telling of a band of roving Englishmen who last night singed27 their very whiskers; and being clever men and learning that them whom we ourselves have met and fought were lawless English dogs, they perceive we needs have met the very rascals28 that made them so much trouble." Again Martin listened, then slapped his thigh29. "They are sending us boats!" he exclaimed. "Though they perceive we are English, it seemeth they bear an Englishman no ill will because he is English. Truly, a fool shall be known by his folly30!"
Most of the men were elated, but old Jacob watched and said nought31. His black, bright eyes and his nose, which came out in a broad curve, made him look like an old, wise rat.
As the boats came over the dark water, with the soft splash of oars32, there was hurried talking on the quarter-deck, then the Old One came swiftly. "Good boatswain," said he, "these foolish fellows have bade us ashore33 to break bread with them and share a bottle of wine. Now I am of a mind to go, and Harry Malcolm is of a mind to bear me company. We will take twelve men and so arrange it that they shall not surprise us. Yea, I am too old a dog to be caught by tricks. It may be we can strike them again tonight, and a telling blow. It may be not. But do you and Jacob keep watch on board, with every man at his station in case of need."
So the Rose of Devon let go her anchors and swung with the tide a cable's length from the unknown ship, which lay dark and silent and apparently34 deserted35.
The strange boats came up in the shadow of the poop and the Old One and Harry, with their men mustered36 about them, exchanged greetings with the oarsmen below, in rough English and in rougher Spanish, as each side strove to outdo the other in civility.
The men—heavily armed—slid down into the boats and the Old One smiled as he watched them go, for he was himself well pleased with the escapade. Such harebrained adventures were his bread of life. He followed the men, the cabin lanthorn in his hand, and after him came Harry Malcolm, as cool as a man could desire, and watched very sharply all that went on while the boats rowed slowly away toward the land.
Then Jacob came out of his corner and spoke to Phil. "I will watch first," said he. "The cook hath laid a fine supper on the cabin table. Go you down and eat your fill, then come up and keep the deck and I will go down and eat in my turn."
At something in the man's manner, which puzzled him, Phil hesitated; but the thought was friendly, and he said, "I will not be long."
"Do not hurry."
When Phil turned away, old Jacob cleared his throat.
"Boatswain—"
"Yea?"
"Do not hurry."
As Phil sat at the table in the great cabin, which was so dark that he could scarcely see the plate in front of him (although he ate with no less eagerness because of the darkness), the planks37 and timbers and transoms and benches were merged38 into an indiscriminate background of olive-black, and there hung before him by chance a mirror on the forward bulkhead, in which the reflection of the yellow sky threw into sharp outline the gallery door at his back. Having no means at hand for striking a light, he was hungrily eating and paying little heed39 to his surroundings, when in the mirror before his eyes, against the yellow western sky the silhouette40 of a head wearing a sweeping41 hat appeared over the gallery rail.
There was not the faintest noise, and no slightest motion of the ship was perceptible in the brown stillness of the evening. The head, darkly silhouetted42, appeared in the mirror as if it were a thing not of this earth, and immediately, for he was one who always kept his wits about him, Phil slipped silently off the bench, and letting himself down flat on the deck, slid back into the darkest corner of all, which lay to the starboard of the gallery door. There, without a sound, he rose to his feet.
The black silhouette reflected in the mirror grew larger until it nearly blocked the reflection of the door, then a board in the gallery gently creaked and Phil knew that the man, whoever he was, was coming into the cabin. Presently in the subdued light he could dimly see the man himself, who stood by the table with his back toward Phil and glanced about the cabin from one side to the other. Knowing only that he was a stranger and therefore had no right to enter the great cabin of the Rose of Devon, Phil had it in mind to jump and seize him from behind, for so far as he could appraise43 the man's figure, the two were a fair match in weight and height. But when Phil was gathering44 himself for the leap, he saw in the mirror the reflection of a second head, and then of a third.
Again the gallery creaked, for the newcomers, like the first, were on their way into the cabin. By the door they stood for a moment listening, and in the silence Phil heard a boat gently bumping against the side of the ship. He was first of a mind, naturally, to cry an alarm; but were he to call for help, he would learn no more of their errand. They drew together beside the table and conversed in whispers of which Phil could distinguish nothing, although he was near enough to reach out his hand and seize hold of the curls and brave hat of the nearest of them. To attack them single-handed were an act of plain folly, for they wore swords and doubtless other weapons; but when he perceived that the first had got out flint and steel, he knew that they must soon discover him.
"Whence and for what have you come?" he said in a low voice.
They turned quickly but with admirable composure: there were never seen three calmer men. The first struck light to a slow match and held over it the wick of a candle drawn45 from his pocket, upon which the flame took hold and blazed up, throwing curious shadows into the corner of the cabin and half revealing the hangings and weapons. The man raised the candle and the three drew close about Phil and looked at him steadily46.
"So a watch is set in the cabin, I perceive," the man holding the candle said with a quiet, ironical47 smile.
By mien48 and speech Phil knew upon the instant that they were Englishmen and it took no great discernment to see that they were gentlemen and men of authority.
They pressed closer about him.
"Whence and for what have you come?" he repeated.
They made no reply but stood in the brown light, holding high their candle and looking him hard in the face.
Again he heard the boat bumping against the side of the ship and now the murmur49 of the wind aloft. Far away he heard a faint sound of calling which was growing constantly louder. The three exchanged glances and whispering to one another, moved toward the gallery; but as they started to go, the one turned back and held the candle to Phil's face.
"Of this be assured, my fine fellow," said he, "I shall know you well if ever I see you again."
Phil was of a mind to call after them, to pursue them, to flee with them; but as it is easy to understand, there were strong reasons for his staying where he was, and there had been little welcome in their faces. He stood for a moment by the table and noticed that the sky in the mirror had turned from a clear olive to a deep gray and that the lines of the door and the gallery rail had lost their sharp decisiveness and had blurred50 into the dark background. Then he darted51 out of the cabin through the steerage and called sharply, "Jacob! Jacob!"
The men watching at the guns stirred in suppressed excitement and turned from whispering uneasily.
"There are strange sounds yonder, boatswain," called one.
"And shall we knock out the ports and loose the tacklings?" another asked.
"Be still! Jacob, Jacob!" Phil cried, running up on the quarter-deck.
There was no one on the quarter-deck; there was no one on the poop. The wind was blowing up into a fair breeze and small waves were licking against the dark sides of the Rose of Devon. But the after decks were deserted.
"Jacob!" Phil cried once more, and sent his voice out far across the water. But there was still no answer. Jacob had gone.
For a moment the lad stood by the rail and intently listened. The calling on shore had ceased, but a boat was rowing out from the town and the beat of oars was quick and irregular. Further, to swell52 his anxiety, there was a great bustle53 on board the unknown ship, which had been lying hitherto with no sign of human life.
Then Philip Marsham took the fate of the Rose of Devon in his hands and leaned out over the quarter-deck gun. "Holla, there!" he called, but not loudly, "Let the younkers lay quietly aloft and lie ready on the yards to let the sails fall at a word."
Seeming encouraged and reassured54 by a summons to action, the younger men went swarming55 up the rigging, and as quietly as one could wish; but even the low sound of their subdued voices drummed loud in the ears of the lad on the quarter-deck.
Jacob had gone! The boatswain, for one, remembered old tales of rats leaving ships of ill fortune.
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收听单词发音
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1
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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4
provident
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| adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的 | |
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maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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6
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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7
wrangled
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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9
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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10
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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11
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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12
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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13
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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14
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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15
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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16
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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17
grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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18
lizard
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| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
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19
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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20
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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21
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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22
woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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23
conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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24
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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25
eluded
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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26
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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27
singed
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| v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 )；（毛发）燎，烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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28
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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29
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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30
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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31
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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32
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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33
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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34
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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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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36
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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37
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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38
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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39
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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40
silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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41
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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42
silhouetted
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| 显出轮廓的，显示影像的 | |
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43
appraise
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| v.估价，评价，鉴定 | |
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44
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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45
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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46
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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47
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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48
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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49
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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50
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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51
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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52
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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53
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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54
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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55
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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