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31 - Sea Wolf by Jack London · Sea Wolf

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  Speaker 1: The Sea Wolf by Jack London, chapter thirty one. It
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  Speaker 1: will smell, I said, but it will keep in the
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  Speaker 1: heat and keep out the rain and snow. We were
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  Speaker 1: surveying the completed seal skin roof. It is clumsy, but
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  Speaker 1: it will serve the purpose, and that is the main thing.
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  Speaker 1: I went on, yearning for her praise, and she clapped
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  Speaker 1: her hands and declared that she was hugely pleased. But
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  Speaker 1: it is dark in here, she said the next moment,
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  Speaker 1: her shoulders shrinking with a little involuntary shiver. You might
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  Speaker 1: have suggested a window when the walls were going up,
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  Speaker 1: I said, it was for you, and you should have
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  Speaker 1: seen the need of a window. But I never do
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  Speaker 1: see the obvious, you know, she laughed back. And besides,
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  Speaker 1: you can knock a hole in the wall at any time.
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  Speaker 1: Quite true, I had not thought of it, I replied,
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  Speaker 1: wagging my head sagely. But have you thought of ordering
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  Speaker 1: the window glass? Just call up the firm Red forty
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  Speaker 1: four fifty one, I think it is, and tell them
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  Speaker 1: what size and kind of a glass you wish. That means,
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  Speaker 1: she began, No window. It was a dark and evil
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  Speaker 1: appearance thing that hut not fit for aught better than
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  Speaker 1: swine in a civilized land. But for us, who had
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  Speaker 1: known the misery of the open boat, it was a
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  Speaker 1: snug little habitation. Following the housewarming, which was accomplished by
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  Speaker 1: means of seal oil and a wick made from cotton calking,
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  Speaker 1: came the hunting for our winter's meat and the building
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  Speaker 1: of the second hut. It was a simple affair now
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  Speaker 1: to go fourth in the morning and return by noon
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  Speaker 1: with a boatload of seals. And then while I worked
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  Speaker 1: at building the hut, Maud tried out the oil from
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  Speaker 1: the blubber and kept a slow fire under the frames
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  Speaker 1: of meat. I had heard of jerking beef on the plains,
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  Speaker 1: and our seal meat, cut in thin strips and hung
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  Speaker 1: in the smoke, cured excellently. The second hut was easier
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  Speaker 1: to erect, for I built it against the first, and
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  Speaker 1: only three walls were required. But it was work, hard work,
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  Speaker 1: all of it. Maud and I worked from dawn till dark,
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  Speaker 1: to the limit of our strength, so that when night
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  Speaker 1: came we crawled stiffly to bed and slept the animal
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  Speaker 1: like sleep of exhaustion. And yet Maud declared that she
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  Speaker 1: had never felt better or stronger in her life. I
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  Speaker 1: knew this was true in myself, but hers was such
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  Speaker 1: a lily strength that I feared she would break down often,
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  Speaker 1: and often, her last reserve force gone. I have seen
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  Speaker 1: her stretched flat on her back on the sand in
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  Speaker 1: the way she had of resting and recuperating, and then
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  Speaker 1: she would be up on her feet and toiling hard
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  Speaker 1: as ever where she obtained. This strength was the marvel
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  Speaker 1: to me. Think of the long rest this winter was
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  Speaker 1: her reply to my remonstrances. While we'll be clamorous for
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  Speaker 1: something to do. We held the housewarming in my hut
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  Speaker 1: the night it was roofed. It was the end of
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  Speaker 1: the third day of a fierce storm which had swung
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  Speaker 1: around the compass from the southeast to the northwest, and
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  Speaker 1: which was then blowing directly in upon us. The beaches
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  Speaker 1: of the outer cove were thundering with the surf, and
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  Speaker 1: even in our landlocked inner cove, a respectable sea was breaking.
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  Speaker 1: No high backbone of island sheltered us from the wind,
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  Speaker 1: and it whistled and bellowed about the hut till at
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  Speaker 1: times I feared for the strength of the walls. The
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  Speaker 1: skin roof stretched tightly as a drumhead. I had thought
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  Speaker 1: sagged and bellied with every gust, and innumerable interstices in
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  Speaker 1: the walls, not so tightly stuffed with moss as Maud
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  Speaker 1: had supposed, disclosed themselves. Yet the seal oil burned brightly,
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  Speaker 1: and we were warm and comfortable. It was a pleasant evening, indeed,
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  Speaker 1: and we voted that as a social function on Endeavour Island,
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  Speaker 1: it had not yet been eclipsed. Our minds were at ease.
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  Speaker 1: Not only had we resigned ourselves to the bitter winter,
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  Speaker 1: but we were prepared for it. The seals could depart
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  Speaker 1: on their mysterious journey into the South at any time now,
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  Speaker 1: for all we cared, and the storms held no terror
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  Speaker 1: for us. Not only were we sure of being dry
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  Speaker 1: and warm and sheltered from the wind, but we had
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  Speaker 1: the softest and most luxurious mattresses that could be made
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  Speaker 1: from moss. This had been Maud's idea, and she had
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  Speaker 1: herself jealously gathered all the moss. This was to be
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  Speaker 1: my first night on the mattress, and I knew I
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  Speaker 1: should sleep the sweeter because she had made it. As
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  Speaker 1: she rose to go, she turned to me with the
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  Speaker 1: whimsical way she had, and said, something is going to
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  Speaker 1: happen is happening? For that matter, I feel it. Something
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  Speaker 1: is coming here to us. It is coming now. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know what it is, but it is coming good
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  Speaker 1: or bad, I asked. She shook her head. I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: but it is there somewhere, she pointed, in the direction
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  Speaker 1: of the sea and wind. It's a LEA sure, I laughed.
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  Speaker 1: And I am sure. I'd rather be here than arriving
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  Speaker 1: a night like this. You are not frightened, I asked,
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  Speaker 1: as I stepped to open the door for her. Her
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  Speaker 1: eyes looked bravely into mine. And you feel well, perfectly well,
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  Speaker 1: never better, was her answer. We talked a little while
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  Speaker 1: longer before she went good night, Maud, I said, good night, Humphrey.
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  Speaker 1: She said. The use of our given names had come
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  Speaker 1: about quite as a matter of course, and was as
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  Speaker 1: unpremeditated as it was natural. In that moment, I could
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  Speaker 1: have put my arms around her and drawn her to me.
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  Speaker 1: I should certainly have done so. Out in that world
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  Speaker 1: in which we belonged, as it was, The situation stopped
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  Speaker 1: there and the only way it could. But I was
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  Speaker 1: left alone in my little hut, glowing warmly through and
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  Speaker 1: through with a pleasant satisfaction, and I knew that a
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  Speaker 1: tie or a tacit something existed between us, which had
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  Speaker 1: not existed before end of chapter thirty one