登陆注册
5254700000051

第51章 CHAPTER XIV(2)

`There were several questions before the court. The first as to whether the ship was in every respect fit and seaworthy for the voyage. The court found she was not. The next point, I remember, was, whether up to the time of the accident the ship had been navigated with proper and seamanlike care. They said Yes to that, goodness knows why, and then they declared that there was no evidence to show the exact cause of the accident. A floating derelict, probably. I myself remember that a Norwegian barque bound out with a cargo of pitch-pine had been given up as missing about that time, and it was just the sort of craft that would capsize in a squall and float bottom up for months--a kind of maritime ghoul on the prowl to kill ships in the dark. Such wandering corpses are common enough in the North Atlantic, which is haunted by all the terrors of the sea--fogs, icebergs, dead ships bent upon mischief, and long sinister gales that fasten upon one like a vampire till all the the strength and the spirit and even hope are gone, and one feels like the empty shell of a man. But there--in those seas--the incident was rare enough to resemble a special arrangement of a malevolent providence, which, unless it had for its object the killing of a donkey-man and the bringing of worse than death upon Jim, appeared an utterly aimless piece of devilry. This view occurring to me took off my attention. For a time I was aware of the magistrate's voice as a sound merely; but in a moment it shaped itself into distinct words . . . "in utter disregard of their plain duty," it said. The next sentence escaped me somehow, and then . . . "abandoning in the moment of danger the lives and property confided to their charge" . . . went on the voice evenly, and stopped. A pair of eyes under the white forehead shot darkly a glance above the edge of the paper. I looked for Jim hurriedly, as though I had expected him to disappear.

He was very still--but he was there. He sat pink and fair and extremely attentive. "Therefore, . . ." began the voice emphatically. He stared with parted lips, hanging upon the words of the man behind the desk. These came out into the stillness wafted on the wind made by the punkahs, and I, watching for their effect upon him, caught only fragments of official language.

. . . "The Court . . . Gustav So-and-so master . . . native of Germany . . . James So-and-so . . . mate . . . certificates cancelled." A silence fell. The magistrate had dropped the paper, and leaning sideways on the arm of his chair, began to talk with Brierly easily. People started to move out; others were pushing in, and I also made for the door. Outside I stood still, and when Jim passed on his way to the gate, I caught at his arm and detained him. The look he gave discomposed me, as though Ihad been responsible for his state: he looked at me as if I had been the embodied evil of life. "It's all over," I stammered. "Yes," he said, thickly.

"And now let no man . . ." He jerked his arm out of my grasp. I watched his back as he went away. It was a long street, and he remained in sight for some time. He walked rather slow, and straddling his legs a little, as if he had found it difficult to keep a straight line. Just before Ilost him I fancied he staggered a bit.

"`Man overboard," said a deep voice behind me. Turning round, I saw a fellow I knew slightly, a West Australian; Chester was his name. He, too, had been looking after Jim. He was a man with an immense girth of chest, a rugged, clean-shaved face of mahogany colour, and two blunt tufts of iron-grey, thick wiry hairs on his upper lip. He had been pearler, wrecker, trader, whaler, too, I believe; in his own words--anything and everything a man may be at sea, but a pirate. The Pacific, north and south, was his proper hunting-ground; but he had wandered so far afield looking for a cheap steamer to buy. Lately he had discovered--so he said--a guano island somewhere, but its approaches were dangerous, and the anchorage, such as it was, could not be considered safe, to say the least of it. "As good as a gold-mine," he would exclaim. "Right bang in the middle of the Walpole Reefs, and if it's true enough that you can get no holding-ground anywhere in less than forty fathom, then what of that? There are the hurricanes, too. But it's a first-rate thing. As good as a gold-mine--better! Yet there's not a fool of them that will see it. I can't get a skipper to cart the blessed stuff myself." . . . This was what he required a steamer for, and I knew he was just then negotiating enthusiastically with a Parsee firm for an old, brig-rigged seaanachronism of ninety horse-power. We had met and spoken together several times. He looked knowingly after Jim. "Take it to heart?" he asked, scornfully. "Very much," I said. "Then he's no good," he opined. "What's all the to-do about? A bit of ass's skin. That never yet made a man. You must see things exactly as they are--if you don't, you may just as well give in at once. You will never do anything in this world. Look at me. I made it a practice never to take anything to heart.""Yes," I said, "you see things as they are." "I wish I could see my partner coming along, that's what I wish to see," he said. "Know my partner? Old Robinson. Yes; the Robinson. Don't you know? The notorious Robinson. The man who smuggled more opium and bagged more seals in his time than any loose Johnny now alive. They say he used to board the sealing-schooners up Alaska way when the fog was so thick that the Lord God, He alone, could tell one man from another. Holy-Terror Robinson. That's the man. He is with me in that guano thing. The best chance he ever came across in his life." He put his lips to my ear. "Cannibal?--well, they used to give him the name years and years ago. You remember the story? A shipwreck on the west side of Stewart Island; that's right; seven of them got ashore, and it seems they did not get on very well together. Some men are too cantankerous for anything--don't know how to make the best of a bad job--don't see things as they are--as they are, my boy! And then what's the consequence?

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 真的有妖气

    真的有妖气

    偏僻无人的小巷子里,我被一个自称是嫦娥的女人拦住,她让我在七天之内把太阳射下来,否则妖气就会降临!本以为这是新颖的销售方式,却没有想到很快就有接连不断的怪事发生!葡萄变成了血菩提!六味地黄丸变成了六味大还丹!排骨汤变成了十全大补汤!英雄系统人物卡牌随意转换!看来~是时候拯救地球了!
  • 我有一具身外化身

    我有一具身外化身

    看似平静的修仙界,却暗藏波澜,危机四伏。被选入修仙门派,叶纯阳面临的却不是如仙人般超然脱俗,而是一场生死危机,闯三界,渡魔海,入六道,要修得长生,唯有踏碎星辰,斩尽万仙!一口大勺,一具分身,问苍茫仙域,谁主浮沉?!
  • 中国当代文学经典必读·1993中篇小说卷

    中国当代文学经典必读·1993中篇小说卷

    吴义勤主编的这本《中国当代文学经典必读·1993中篇小说卷》共收中篇小说九篇,包括铁凝的《对面》、陈建功的《前科》、王安忆的《“文革”轶事》、毕淑敏的《生生不已》、叶兆言的《人类的起源》、刘醒龙的《暮时课诵》等。每篇小说后都有精短点评。
  • 凋谢的无名花

    凋谢的无名花

    亚楠在这座城市中是人所共知的美人,一个真正的美人。她的美让人不敢多看,让人看了觉得心疼甚至落泪。但是,见过亚楠的人都有一种感觉,这个美丽女人的脸上挂着一种冷酷,冷酷中还流露出一种孤傲,于是就有了一种让人敬而远之的感觉。亚楠是一位诗人,也是一位书画家,是这座城市非常有影响的文化名人,诗歌作品多次在全国获得各种奖项,书画作品不断参加各种规模的展览。人们都说,她写的诗和人一样美,她画的画、写的字同样跟人一样美。尤其是对传统文化的理解,对现代文化的感知,都能明显地渗透在她的笔端和纸背上。于是在诗书画上,就奠定了亚楠的学术地位和高度。
  • 俞总的妻子很傲娇

    俞总的妻子很傲娇

    “你好,我是宋清南,南北的南。”“你好,我是俞燕北,南北的北。”宋清南,俞燕北。一遍又一遍,心心念念。
  • 音乐史学探求录(中国艺术研究院学术文库)

    音乐史学探求录(中国艺术研究院学术文库)

    本书以新的史料与视角对中国的音乐教育、新音乐运动、左翼音乐、抗战音乐、秧歌运动,萧友梅、黄自、黎锦晖等老音乐家,田汉、聂耳、冼星海等革命音乐家的业绩,《国歌》、《黄河大合唱》、歌剧《白毛女》、《哀乐》等的创作与演出等进行了全面、深入的研究,并做出了新的解读。作者坚持唯物主义的立场,在书中贯彻实事求是、客观公正的原则,努力发挥音乐史学研究的正能量。
  • 海贼之九头龙王

    海贼之九头龙王

    “注意!宿主成功绑定系统!”这是穿越者龙八一穿越到海贼王世界吃下了九头龙果实后的故事。“老子龙王八一摸着良心发誓”“砂糖!佩罗娜!做我的儿……!”龙王八一伸出了手说到。
  • UTOPIA

    UTOPIA

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 御魂觉醒

    御魂觉醒

    学生元明清意外获得镇魂元珠,一场车祸让他与珠内的封印之魂太阴幽荧达成了破除封印的协议。在镇魂元珠的影响,元明清无法聚炁修行,却在太阴幽荧的帮助下,踏上了另一条道路----御魂。期间他遇到了自己修行的伴侣,亓官玉儿,也遇到了自己大学的死党王东,由于立场不同,两人也曾兵戎相见。为了破解封印,元明清更是多次深入险境。在与三大势力为敌,失去自主意识后邪化的元明清,险些铸成大错。种种坎坷的磨炼,让元明清最终掌控了镇魂元珠,在修道界也有了一席之地。
  • 古龙文集:英雄无泪

    古龙文集:英雄无泪

    英雄无泪,因为英雄不能流泪,英雄泪只在心中落。英雄的背后有多少落寞,又有多少脆弱?除了英雄,谁也不知道。《英雄无泪》中,最光鲜亮丽的英雄就是司马超群,最可怜可悲的寄生虫也是司马超群。因为他是被他人创造出来的“英雄”。