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05 - The Island of Dr Moreau - H G Wells · Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Five, the man who had nowhere to go. In the
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  Speaker 1: early morning, it was the second morning after my recovery,
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  Speaker 1: and I believed the fourth. After I was picked up,
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  Speaker 1: I awoke through an avenue of tumultuous dreams, dreams of
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  Speaker 1: guns and howling mobs, and became sensible of a hoarse
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  Speaker 1: shouting above me. I rubbed my eyes and lay listening
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  Speaker 1: to the noise, doubtful for a little while of my whereabouts.
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  Speaker 1: Then came a sudden pattering of bare feet, the sound
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  Speaker 1: of heavy objects being thrown about, a violent creaking, and
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  Speaker 1: the rattling of chains. I heard the swish of the
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  Speaker 1: water as the ship was suddenly brought round, and a
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  Speaker 1: foamy yellow green wave flew across the little round window
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  Speaker 1: and left it streaming. I jumped into my clothes and
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  Speaker 1: went on deck. As I came up the ladder, I saw,
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  Speaker 1: against the flushed sky, for the sun was just rising,
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  Speaker 1: the broad back and red hair of the captain, and
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  Speaker 1: over his shoulder the puma spinning from a tackle rigged
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  Speaker 1: on the Mizzen spanker boom. The poor brute seemed horribly
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  Speaker 1: scared and crouched in the bottom of its little cage.
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  Speaker 1: Overborrow them, bawled the captain. Overborrow them. We'll have a
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  Speaker 1: clean ship sooner, the whole bilin of em. He stood
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  Speaker 1: in my way so that I had perforce to tap
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  Speaker 1: his shoulder to come on deck. He came round with
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  Speaker 1: a start and staggered back a few paces to stare
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  Speaker 1: at me. It needed no expertise to tell that the
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  Speaker 1: man was still drunk. Hello, said he stupidly, and then
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  Speaker 1: with a light coming into his eyes. Why it's mister,
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  Speaker 1: mister Prindick, said I Prindick, be damned, said he shot up.
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  Speaker 1: That's your name. Mister shut up. It was no good
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  Speaker 1: answering the brute, but I certainly did not expect his
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  Speaker 1: next move. He held out his hand to the gangway,
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  Speaker 1: by which Montgomery stood, talking to a massive, gray haired
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  Speaker 1: man in dirty blue flannels who had apparently just come
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  Speaker 1: aboard that way. Mister blasted shot up that way, roared
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  Speaker 1: the captain. Montgomery and his companion turned as he spoke,
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  Speaker 1: What do you mean that way, mister blasted? Shut up?
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  Speaker 1: That's what I mean. Overboard, mister shut Up and Sharp
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  Speaker 1: were cleaning the ship out, cleaning the whole blessed ship out,
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  Speaker 1: and overboard you go. I stared at him, dumbfounded. Then
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  Speaker 1: it occurred to me that it was exactly the thing
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  Speaker 1: I wanted, the last prospect of a journey a sole
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  Speaker 1: passenger with this quarrelsome sot was not one to mourn over.
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  Speaker 1: I turned towards Montgomery. Can't have you, said Montgomery's companion. Concisely,
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  Speaker 1: you can't have me, said I, aghast. He had the
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  Speaker 1: squarest and most resolute face I had ever set eyes upon.
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  Speaker 1: Look here, I began, turning to the captain. Overboard, said
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  Speaker 1: the captain, This ship ain't for beasts and gallibles, and
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  Speaker 1: worse than beasts any more. Overboard you go, mister, shut
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  Speaker 1: up if they can't have you, your goals overboard, But anyhow,
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  Speaker 1: you go with your friends. I've done with this, blessed
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  Speaker 1: I learned, for evermore. Amen, I've had enough of it.
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  Speaker 1: But Montgomery, I appealed. He distorted his lower lip and
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  Speaker 1: nodded his head hopelessly at the gray haired man beside him,
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  Speaker 1: to indicate his powerlessness to help me. Then began a
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  Speaker 1: curious three cornered altercation. Alternately, I appealed to one and
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  Speaker 1: another of the three men, first to the gray haired
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  Speaker 1: man to let me land and then to the drunken
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  Speaker 1: captain to keep me aboard. I even bawled entreaties to
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  Speaker 1: the sailors. Montgomery said never a word, only shook his head.
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  Speaker 1: You're going overboard, I tell you. Was the captain's refrain.
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  Speaker 1: Law be damned. I'm king here at last, I must confess.
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  Speaker 1: My voice suddenly broke in the middle of a vigorous threat.
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  Speaker 1: I felt a gust of hysterical petulance, and went aft
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  Speaker 1: and stared dismally at nothing. Meanwhile, the sailors progressed rapidly
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  Speaker 1: with the task of unshipping the packages and caged animals.
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  Speaker 1: A large launch with two standing lugs lay under the
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  Speaker 1: lee of the schooner, and into this the strange assortment
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  Speaker 1: of goods was swung. I did not then see the
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  Speaker 1: hands from the island that were receiving the packages, for
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  Speaker 1: the whole of the lanch was hidden from me by
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  Speaker 1: the side of the schooner. Neither Montgomery nor his companion
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  Speaker 1: took the slightest notice of me, but busied themselves in
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  Speaker 1: assisting and directing the four or five sailors who were
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  Speaker 1: unloading the goods. The captain went forward, interfering, rather than insisting.
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  Speaker 1: I was alternately despairful and desperate. Once or twice, as
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  Speaker 1: I stood waiting there for things to accomplish themselves, I
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  Speaker 1: could not resist an impulse to laugh at my miserable quandary.
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  Speaker 1: I felt all the wretcheder for the lack of a breakfast,
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  Speaker 1: hunger and a lack of blood. Corpuscles take all the
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  Speaker 1: manhood from a man. I perceived pretty clearly that I
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  Speaker 1: had not the stamina either to resist what the captain
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  Speaker 1: chose to do to expel me, or to force myself
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  Speaker 1: upon Montgomery and his companion. So I waited passively upon
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  Speaker 1: fate and the work of transferring Montgomery's possessions to the
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  Speaker 1: launch when on, as if I did not exist presently,
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  Speaker 1: that work was finished, and then came a struggle. I
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  Speaker 1: was hauled, resisting weakly enough to the gangway. Even then
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  Speaker 1: I noticed the oddness of the brown faces of the
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  Speaker 1: men who were with Montgomery in the launch. For the
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  Speaker 1: launch was now fully laden and was shoved off hastily.
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  Speaker 1: A broadening gap of green water appeared under me, and
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  Speaker 1: I pushed back with all my strength to avoid falling headlong.
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  Speaker 1: The hands in the launch shouted derisively, and I heard
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  Speaker 1: Montgomery curse at them, and then the captain, the mate,
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  Speaker 1: and one of the seamen helping him ran me aft
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  Speaker 1: towards the stern. The dinghy of the Lady Vain had
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  Speaker 1: been towing behind. It was half full of water, had
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  Speaker 1: no oars, and was quite unvictualled. I refused to go
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  Speaker 1: aboard her, and flung myself full length on the deck.
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  Speaker 1: In the end they swung me into her by a rope,
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  Speaker 1: for they had no stern ladder, and then they cut
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  Speaker 1: me adrift. I drifted slowly from the schooner in a
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  Speaker 1: kind of stupor. I watched all hands take to the rigging,
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  Speaker 1: and slowly but surely she came round to the wind.
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  Speaker 1: The sails fluttered and then bellied out as the wind
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  Speaker 1: came into them. I stared at her weather beaten side,
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  Speaker 1: healing steeply towards me, and then she passed out of
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  Speaker 1: my range of view. I did not turn my head
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  Speaker 1: to follow her. At first, I could scarcely believe what
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  Speaker 1: had happened. I crouched in the bottom of the dinghy,
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  Speaker 1: stunned and staring blankly at the vacant, oily sea. Then
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  Speaker 1: I realized that I was in that little hell of
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  Speaker 1: mine again, and now half swamped, and looking back over
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  Speaker 1: the gunwale, I saw the schooner standing away from me,
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  Speaker 1: with the red haired captain mocking at me over the taffrail,
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  Speaker 1: and turning towards the island. Saw the launch growing smaller
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  Speaker 1: as she approached the beach. Abruptly, the cruelty of this
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  Speaker 1: desertion became clear to me. I had no means of
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  Speaker 1: reaching the land unless I should chance to drift there.
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  Speaker 1: I was still weak, you must remember from my exposure
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  Speaker 1: in the boat. I was empty and very faint, or
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  Speaker 1: I should have had more heart, But as it was,
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  Speaker 1: I suddenly began to sob and weep, as I had
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  Speaker 1: never done since I was a little child. The tears
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  Speaker 1: ran down my face. In a passion of despair, I
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  Speaker 1: struck with my fists at the water in the bottom
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  Speaker 1: of the boat, and kicked savagely at the gunwale. I
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  Speaker 1: prayed aloud for God to let me die.