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12 - Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other Stories of Pirates by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle · Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other Stories of Pirates

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Speaker 1: Jersey, that little square box, all board, said the captain,
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Speaker 1: all board, sirs to the mate, and stand by, let
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Speaker 1: her go. It was nine o'clock on a Wednesday morning.
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Speaker 1: The good ship Spartan was lying off Boston Key, with
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Speaker 1: her cargo under hatches, her passengers shipped, and everything prepared
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Speaker 1: for a start. The warning whistle had been sounded twice,
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Speaker 1: the final bell had been rung, her bowsprit was turned
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Speaker 1: towards England, and the hiss of escaping steam showed that
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Speaker 1: all was ready for her run of three thousand miles.
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Speaker 1: She strained at the warps that held her like a
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Speaker 1: greyhound at the leash. I have the misfortune to be
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Speaker 1: a very nervous man. A sedentary literary life has helped
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Speaker 1: to increase the morbid love of solitude, which even in
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Speaker 1: my boyhood was one of my distinguishing characteristics. As I
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Speaker 1: stood upon a quarter deck of the Transatlantic steamer, I
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Speaker 1: bitterly cursed the necessity which drove me back to the
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Speaker 1: land of my forefathers. The shouts of the sailors, the
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Speaker 1: rattle of the cordage, the farewells of my fellow passengers,
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Speaker 1: and the cheers of the mob. Each and all jarred
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Speaker 1: upon my sensitive nature. I felt sad too, an indescribable
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Speaker 1: feeling as of some impending calamity seemed to haunt me.
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Speaker 1: The sea was calm and the breeze light. There was
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Speaker 1: nothing to disturb the equanimity of the most confirmed of landsmen.
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Speaker 1: Yet I felt as I stood upon the verge of
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Speaker 1: some great, undefinable danger. I have noticed that the presentiments
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Speaker 1: occur often in men of my peculiar temperament, and that
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Speaker 1: they are not uncommonly fulfilled. There is a theory that
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Speaker 1: it arises from a species of second sight, a subtle
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Speaker 1: spiritual communication with the future. I will remember that hair Roalmer,
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Speaker 1: the imminent spiritualest for remarked on one occasion that I
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Speaker 1: was the most sensitive subject as regards supernatural phenomenon that
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Speaker 1: he had ever encountered in the whole of his wide experience.
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Speaker 1: Be it as it may, I certainly felt far from
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Speaker 1: happy as I threaded my way among the weeping, cheering
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Speaker 1: groups which dotted the white decks of the good ship Spartan.
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Speaker 1: Had I known the experience which awaited me in the
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Speaker 1: course of the next twelve hours, I should even then,
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Speaker 1: at the last moment, have sprung upon the shore and
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Speaker 1: made my escape from the accursed vessel. Times up, said
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Speaker 1: the captain, closing his chronomen of the snap and replacing
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Speaker 1: it in his pocket. Times up, said the maid. And
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Speaker 1: there was a last whale from the whistle, a rush
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Speaker 1: of friends and relatives upon the land. One warp was loosened,
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Speaker 1: the gangway was being pushed away, when there was a
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Speaker 1: shout from the bridge, and two men appeared, running rapidly
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Speaker 1: down the key. They were waving their hands and making
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Speaker 1: frantic gestures, apparently with the tension of stopping the ship.
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Speaker 1: Look sharp, shouted the crowd. Hold hard, cried the captain,
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Speaker 1: ease her, stop her up at the gangway, and the
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Speaker 1: two men sprang aboard, just as the second warp parted,
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Speaker 1: and the convulsive throb of the engine shot us clear
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Speaker 1: the shore. There was a cheer from the deck, another
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Speaker 1: from the key, a mighty fluttering of handkerchiefs, and the
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Speaker 1: great vessel plowed its way out of the harbor and
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Speaker 1: steamed grandly away across the Placid Bay. We were fairly
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Speaker 1: started upon our fortnight's voyage. There was a general dive
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Speaker 1: among the passengers in quests of birth and luggage, while
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Speaker 1: a popping of corks and the saloon proved that more
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Speaker 1: than one Berief traveler was adopting artificial means for drowning
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Speaker 1: the pangs of separation. I glanced fund the deck and
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Speaker 1: took a running inventory of my chimpagnons de voyage. They
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Speaker 1: presented the usual types met with upon these occasions. There
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Speaker 1: was no streaking face among them. I speak as a connoisseur,
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Speaker 1: for faces are a specialty of mine. I pounce upon
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Speaker 1: a characteristic feature as a botanist does a flower, and
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Speaker 1: bear it away with me, to analyze my leisure and
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Speaker 1: classify it and label it my little anthropological museum. There
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Speaker 1: was nothing worthy of me here. Twenty types of young
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Speaker 1: American going to Europe, a few respectable middle aged couples
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Speaker 1: as an antidote, a sprinkling of clergymen and professional men,
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Speaker 1: young ladies, bagmen, British exclusives, and all the olla patridad
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Speaker 1: of an ocean going steamer. I turned away from them
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Speaker 1: and gazed back the receding shores of America, and as
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Speaker 1: a cloud of remembrances rose before me, my heart warmed
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Speaker 1: towards the land of my adoption. A pile of portmanteaus
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Speaker 1: and luggage chanced to be lying on one side of
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Speaker 1: the deck, awaiting their turn to be taken below. With
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Speaker 1: my usual love for solitude, I walked behind these, and,
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Speaker 1: sitting on a coil of rope between them and the
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Speaker 1: vessel's side, I indulged in the melancholy reverie. I was
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Speaker 1: aroused from this by a whisper behind me. Here's a
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Speaker 1: quiet place, said the voice. Sit down and we can
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Speaker 1: talk it over in safety. Glancing through a chink between
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Speaker 1: two colossal chests, I saw that the passengers who had
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Speaker 1: joined us at the last moment were standing at the
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Speaker 1: other side of the pile. They evidently failed to see
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Speaker 1: me as I crouched in the shadows of the boxes.
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Speaker 1: The one who had spoken was a tall and very
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Speaker 1: thin man with a blue black beard and a colorless face.
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Speaker 1: His manner was nervous and excited. His companion was a short,
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Speaker 1: plethoric little fellow with a brisk and resolute air. He
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Speaker 1: hit a cigar in his mouth and a large ulster
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Speaker 1: slung over his left arm. They both glanced round uneasily,
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Speaker 1: as if to ascertained whether they were alone. This is
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Speaker 1: just the place, I heard the other say. They sat
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Speaker 1: down on the bale of goods, with their backs turned
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Speaker 1: towards me, and I found myself much against my will,
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Speaker 1: playing the unpleasant part of eavesdropper to their conversation. Well, Muller,
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Speaker 1: said the taller of the two. We've got to the
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Speaker 1: board right enough. Yes, assented the man whom he had
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Speaker 1: addressed his Muller. It's safe aboard. It was rather a
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Speaker 1: near go, it was that Flanagan. It wouldn't have done
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Speaker 1: to have missed the ship. No, they would have put
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Speaker 1: our plans out ruin them entirely, said the little man,
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Speaker 1: and puffed furiously at his cigar for some minutes. I've
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Speaker 1: got it here, he said, At last, let me see.
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Speaker 1: Is no one looking? No, they're all nearly all below.
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Speaker 1: We can't be too careful. We're so much as at stake,
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Speaker 1: said Muller, as he uncoiled the ulster which hung over
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Speaker 1: his arm and disclosed a dark object which he laid
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Speaker 1: upon a deck. One glance at it was enough to
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Speaker 1: cause me to sprin to my feet with an exclamation
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Speaker 1: of horror. Luckily, there were so engrossed in the matter
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Speaker 1: at hand that nether of them had deserved me. Had
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Speaker 1: they turned their heads, they would and foul me have
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Speaker 1: seen my pale face glaring at them from over the
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Speaker 1: pile of boxes. From the first moment of the conversation
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Speaker 1: a horrible misgiving had come over me. It seemed more
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Speaker 1: than confirmed as a gaze that would lay before me.
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Speaker 1: It was a little square box, made of some dark
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Speaker 1: wood and ribbed with brass. I supposed to be the
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Speaker 1: size of a cubic foot. It reminded me of a
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Speaker 1: pistol case, only it was decidedly higher. There was an
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Speaker 1: appendage to it, however, on which my eyes were riveted,
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Speaker 1: and which suggested the pistol itself rather than its receptacle.
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Speaker 1: This was a trigger like arrangement upon a lid, to
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Speaker 1: which a coil of string was attached. Beside this trick
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Speaker 1: there was a small square aperture through the wood. The
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Speaker 1: tall man, flanting again as his companion called him, applied
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Speaker 1: his eye to this and peered in for several minutes,
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Speaker 1: with an expression of intense anxiety upon his face. It
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Speaker 1: seems right enough, he said, at last. I tried not
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Speaker 1: to shake it, said his companion. Such delicate things need
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Speaker 1: delicate treatment. Put in some of the needful muller. The
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Speaker 1: shorter man fumbled in his pocket for some time, and
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Speaker 1: then produced a small paper packet. He opened this and
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Speaker 1: took it out of it half a handful of whitish granules,
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Speaker 1: which he poured down through the hole. A curious clicking
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Speaker 1: noise followed from the inside of the box, and both
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Speaker 1: men smiled in a satisfied way. Nothing much wrong there,
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Speaker 1: said flanagain, right as a trivet, answered his companion. Look out,
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Speaker 1: here's someone coming take account to our berth. It wouldn't
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Speaker 1: do to have anyone suspecting what our game is, or
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Speaker 1: worse still, having them fumbling with it and letting it
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Speaker 1: off by mistake. Well, it would come to the same
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Speaker 1: whoever let it off, said Mueller. They'd be rather astonished
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Speaker 1: if they pulled the trigger, said the taller, with a
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Speaker 1: sinister laugh. Ha ha, fancy their faces. It's not a
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Speaker 1: bad bit of workmanship. I flatter myself, No, said Muller.
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Speaker 1: I hear it is your own design, every bit of it,
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Speaker 1: isn't it. Yes, the springing slide and shudder on my own.
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Speaker 1: We should take out a patent. And the two men
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Speaker 1: laughed again with a cold, harsh laugh, as he took
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Speaker 1: up a little brass bound package and concealed it in
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Speaker 1: Muther's voluminous overcoat. Come down and we'll stow it in
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Speaker 1: our berth, said Flanagan. We won't need it until tonight,
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Speaker 1: and it will be safe there. His companion assented, and
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Speaker 1: the two went arm in arm along the deck and
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Speaker 1: disappeared down the hatchway, bearing the mysterious little box away
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Speaker 1: with them. The last words of herb were a muttered
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Speaker 1: injunction from Flanagin to carry it carefully and avoid knocking
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Speaker 1: it against the bulwarks. How long I a maid sitting
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Speaker 1: on the coil of rope, I shall never know. The
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Speaker 1: horror of the conversation I just overheard was aggravated by
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Speaker 1: the first sinking palms of sea sickness. The long roll
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Speaker 1: of the Atlantic was beginning to assert itself over both
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Speaker 1: ship and passengers. I felt prostrated in mind and in body,
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Speaker 1: and fell into a state of collapse, from which I
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Speaker 1: was finally aroused by the hearty voice of our worthy quartermaster.
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Speaker 1: Do you mind moving off that, sir? He said, we
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Speaker 1: want to get this lumber cleared off deck. His bluff
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Speaker 1: manner and ruddy health the face seemed to be a
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Speaker 1: positive insult to me in my present condition. Had I
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Speaker 1: been a courageous or musculary man, I would have struck him.
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Speaker 1: As it was, I treated the honest sailor to a
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Speaker 1: melodramatic scale, which seemed to cause him no small astonishment,
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Speaker 1: and strode past him to the other side of the deck.
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Speaker 1: Solitude was what I wanted, Solitude in which I can
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Speaker 1: brood over the frightful crime which was being hatched before
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Speaker 1: my very eyes. One of the quarter boats was hanging
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Speaker 1: at a low down upon a davits. An idea struck me,
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Speaker 1: and climbing on the bulwarks, I stepped into the empty
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Speaker 1: boat and laid down in the bottom of it, stretched
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Speaker 1: on my back, with nothing but the blue sky above
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Speaker 1: me and an occasional view with a mizzen. As the
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Speaker 1: vessel rolled, I was at last alone with my sickness
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Speaker 1: and my thoughts. I tried to recall the words which
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Speaker 1: had been spoken in the terrible dialogue I had overheard.
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Speaker 1: Would they admit of any construction but the one which
8:44
Speaker 1: stared me in the face. My reason forced me to
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Speaker 1: confess that they would not. I endeavored to eray the
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Speaker 1: various facts which formed the chain of circumstantial evidence, and
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Speaker 1: to find a flaw in it, But no, not a
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Speaker 1: link was missing. There was a strange way in which
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Speaker 1: our passengers had come aboard, enabling them to invade any
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Speaker 1: examination their luggage, the very name of Flan again'spect of Fenianism,
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Speaker 1: while Mueller suggested nothing but socialism and murder. Then their
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Speaker 1: mysterious manner there remarked that their plans would have been
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Speaker 1: ruined had they missed the ship, their fear of being observed, Last,
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Speaker 1: but not least, the clenching evidence in the production of
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Speaker 1: the little square box with the trigger, and their grim
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Speaker 1: joke about the face of the man who sho had
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Speaker 1: let it off by mistake. Could these facts lead to
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Speaker 1: any conclusion other than they were the desperate emissaries of
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Speaker 1: somebody political or otherwise, who intended to sacrifice themselves, their
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Speaker 1: fellow passengers, and the ship in one great holocaust. The
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Speaker 1: whitest granules which I had seen, one of the important
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Speaker 1: of a box, formed no doubt of fuse or train
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Speaker 1: for exploding it. I have myself heard a sound come
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Speaker 1: from it, which might have emanated from some delicate piece
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Speaker 1: of machinery. But what did they mean about their allusion
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Speaker 1: to tonight? Could it be that they contemplated putting their
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Speaker 1: horrible design and execution. On the very first evening of
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Speaker 1: our voyage. The mere thought of it, said a cold
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Speaker 1: shudder over me, made me, for a moment superior even
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Speaker 1: to the agonies of seasickness. I have remarked that I
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Speaker 1: am a physical coward, I am a moral one. All Also,
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Speaker 1: it is seldom the two defects of united to such
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Speaker 1: a degree in one character. I have known many men
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Speaker 1: who are most sensitive to bodily danger, yet were distinguished
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Speaker 1: for the independence and strengthen their minds. In my own case, however,
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Speaker 1: I regret to say that my quiet and retiring habits
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Speaker 1: had fostered a nervous dread of doing anything remarkable or
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Speaker 1: making myself conspicuous, which exceeded, if possible, my fear of
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Speaker 1: personal peril. An ordinary mortal, placed under the circumstances which
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Speaker 1: I now found myself, would have gone at once to
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Speaker 1: the captain, confessed his fears and put the matter into
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Speaker 1: his hands. To me, however, constituted as I am, the
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Speaker 1: idea was most repuken. The thought of becoming the observed
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Speaker 1: of all observers, cross questioned by a stranger and confronted
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Speaker 1: with two desperate conspirators, and the character of a denouncer
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Speaker 1: was hateful to me? Why did not, by some remote possibility,
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Speaker 1: prove that I was mistaken? What would be my feelings
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Speaker 1: if there should turn out to be no gray outs
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Speaker 1: from my accusation. No, I would procrastinate. I will keep
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Speaker 1: my eye on the two desperadoes and dog them at
10:53
Speaker 1: every turn. Anything was better than a possibility of being wrong.
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Speaker 1: Then it struck me that even at that moment, some
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Speaker 1: new phase of the conspiracy might be developing itself. The
11:02
Speaker 1: nervous excitement seemed to have driven away in my incipient
11:04
Speaker 1: attack of sickness, for I was able to stand up
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Speaker 1: and lower myself in the boat without experiencing any return
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Speaker 1: of it. I stared along the deck with the intention
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Speaker 1: of descending into the cabinet, finding out how my acquaintances
11:14
Speaker 1: of the morning were occupying themselves, just as I have
11:17
Speaker 1: my hand with the companion reel. I was astonished by
11:19
Speaker 1: receiving a hearty slap in the back, which nearly shot
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Speaker 1: me down the steps with more haste than dignity. Is
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Speaker 1: that you, Hammond, said a voice which I seemed to recognize.
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Speaker 1: God bless me, I said, as I turned around. It
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Speaker 1: can't be Dick Merton. Why how are you, old man?
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Speaker 1: This was an unexpected piece of luck in the midst
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Speaker 1: of my perplexities. Dick was just the man I wanted.
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Speaker 1: Kindly and shrewd in his nature and prompt in his actions.
11:40
Speaker 1: I should have no difficulty in telling him my suspicions,
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Speaker 1: and could rely upon his sound sense to point out
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Speaker 1: the best course to pursue. Since I was a little
11:46
Speaker 1: lad in the second form of Harrow, Dick had been
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Speaker 1: my adviser and protector. He saw at a glance at
11:51
Speaker 1: something had gone wrong with me. Hello, he said, in
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Speaker 1: a kindly way. What's put you about? Hammond? You look
11:57
Speaker 1: as white as a sheet mal de mere. Ah, No,
12:00
Speaker 1: not that altogether, said I. Walk up and down with me, Dick.
12:03
Speaker 1: I want to speak to you. Give me your arm.
12:06
Speaker 1: Supporting myself in Dick's stalwart frame, I tottered along by
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Speaker 1: his side. But it was some time before I can
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Speaker 1: muster resolution to speak. Have a cigar, said he, breaking
12:14
Speaker 1: the silence. No thanks, said I, Dick. We shall all
12:18
Speaker 1: be corpses tonight. That's no reason to get you are
12:20
Speaker 1: having a cigar now, said Dick in his cool way.
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Speaker 1: But looking hard at me from under his shaggy eyebrows
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Speaker 1: as he spoke. He evidently thought that my intellect was
12:28
Speaker 1: a little gone. No, I continued, it's no laughing matter,
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Speaker 1: and I speak in sober earnest. I assure you I
12:34
Speaker 1: have discovered an infamous conspiracy, Dick, to destroy this ship
12:37
Speaker 1: and every soul that is in her. Then it proceeded systematically,
12:40
Speaker 1: and in order to lay before him the chain of
12:42
Speaker 1: advance which I had collected there Dick, I said, as
12:45
Speaker 1: I concluded, what do you think of that? And above all,
12:48
Speaker 1: what am I to do? To my astonishment, he burst
12:51
Speaker 1: into a hearty fit of laughter. I'd be frightened, he said,
12:54
Speaker 1: if any fellow but you had told me as much
12:56
Speaker 1: he always had away him. And of discovering Mare's nests,
12:59
Speaker 1: I like to see the old traits breaking out again.
13:01
Speaker 1: Do you remember at school how you swore there was
13:03
Speaker 1: a ghost in the long room. Now it turned out
13:05
Speaker 1: to be your own reflection in the mirror. Why, man,
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Speaker 1: he continued, what object would anyone have in destroying this ship?
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Speaker 1: We have no great political guns aboard. On the contrary,
13:14
Speaker 1: the majority of the passengers are Americans. Besides, in the
13:17
Speaker 1: sober nineteenth century. The most wholesome murderers stop it, including
13:20
Speaker 1: themselves among their victims, depend upon it. You have misunderstood them,
13:24
Speaker 1: and have mistaken a photographic camera or something equally innocent
13:27
Speaker 1: for an inferil machine. Nothing of the sort, sir, said I,
13:31
Speaker 1: rather touchily, you will learn to your cost. I fear
13:34
Speaker 1: that I have neither exaggerated nor misinterpreted a word. As
13:37
Speaker 1: to the box. I've certainly never before seen one like it.
13:40
Speaker 1: It contained delicate machinery. Of that I am convinced from
13:42
Speaker 1: the way in which the men handled it and spoke
13:44
Speaker 1: of it, you'd make out every packet of perishable goods
13:47
Speaker 1: to be a torpedo, said Dick. If that is to
13:48
Speaker 1: be your only test, the man's name was Flanagin. I continued.
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Speaker 1: I don't think that would go very far at a
13:54
Speaker 1: court of law, said Dick. But come, I have finished
13:56
Speaker 1: my cigar. Suppose to go down together and split a
13:58
Speaker 1: bottle of claret. You can point out these two orsinis
14:01
Speaker 1: to me if there are still in the cabin. All right,
14:04
Speaker 1: I answered, I am determined not to lose sight in
14:05
Speaker 1: them all day. Don't look hard at them, though, for
14:08
Speaker 1: I don't want them to think that they're being watched.
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Speaker 1: Trust me, said Dick, I'll look as unconscious and guileless
14:13
Speaker 1: as a lamb. And with that we passed down the
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Speaker 1: companion into the saloon. A good many passengers were scattering
14:18
Speaker 1: around the great central table, some wrestling with refractory carpet
14:22
Speaker 1: bags and rug straps, some having their luncheon, and a
14:25
Speaker 1: few reading and otherwise amusing themselves. The object of our
14:28
Speaker 1: quest were not there. You passed down the room and
14:30
Speaker 1: peered into every berth, but there was no sign of them. Heavens,
14:33
Speaker 1: thought I perhaps, at this very moment there are beneath
14:36
Speaker 1: our feet in the hold or engine room, preparing their
14:38
Speaker 1: diabolical contrivance. It was better to know the worst than
14:42
Speaker 1: to remain in such suspense. Stuart said, Dick, are there
14:45
Speaker 1: any other gentlemen about? There's two in the smoking room, Sir,
14:48
Speaker 1: answered the stewart. The smoking room is a little snuggery,
14:51
Speaker 1: luxuriously fitted up and adjoining the pantry. You pushed the
14:54
Speaker 1: door open and entered. The sigh of relief escaped from
14:57
Speaker 1: my bosom. The very first object in which my eyed
14:59
Speaker 1: rest it was a cadaverous face of plan again, with
15:02
Speaker 1: its heart set mouth and unwinking eye his companion set
15:04
Speaker 1: opposite to him. They were both drinking, and a pile
15:07
Speaker 1: of cards lay upon the table they were engaged in playing.
15:10
Speaker 1: As we entered, I nudged Dick to show and that
15:12
Speaker 1: we found our quarry, and we sat down beside them
15:14
Speaker 1: with as unconcerned air as possible. The two conspirators seem
15:17
Speaker 1: to take little notice of our presence. I watched them
15:19
Speaker 1: both narrowly. The game at which they were playing was Napoleon.
15:23
Speaker 1: Both were adepts at it. I could not help admiring
15:25
Speaker 1: the consummate nerve of men, who, with such a secret
15:27
Speaker 1: at their hearts, could devote their minds to the manipulation
15:30
Speaker 1: of a long suit or the finessing of a queen.
15:33
Speaker 1: Money changed hands rapidly, but the run of luck seemed
15:35
Speaker 1: to be all against the taller of the two players.
15:37
Speaker 1: At last, he threw down his cars on the table
15:39
Speaker 1: with an oath and refused to go on. No, I'm
15:42
Speaker 1: hanged if I do, he said, I haven't had more
15:44
Speaker 1: than two of a suit for five hands. Never mind,
15:47
Speaker 1: said his comrade, as he gathered up his winnings. A
15:49
Speaker 1: few dollars one way or the other won't go very
15:51
Speaker 1: far after tonight's work. I was astonished the rascal's audacity,
15:55
Speaker 1: but took care to keep my eyes fixed abstractedly upon
15:57
Speaker 1: the ceiling, and I drank my wine in this unconscious
15:59
Speaker 1: manner as possible. I felt that Flannigan was looking towards
16:02
Speaker 1: me with his wolfish eyes to see if I had
16:04
Speaker 1: noticed the illusion. He whispered something to his companion, which
16:07
Speaker 1: I failed to catch. It was a caution, I suppose,
16:10
Speaker 1: for the other answered rather angrily, nonsense. Why shouldn't I
16:13
Speaker 1: say what I like? Overcaution is just what would ruin us.
16:16
Speaker 1: I believe you want it not to come off, said Flanagan.
16:19
Speaker 1: You believe nothing of the sword, said the other, speaking
16:20
Speaker 1: rapidly and loudly. You know as well as I do
16:23
Speaker 1: that when I play for a stake, I like to
16:24
Speaker 1: win it. But I won't have my words criticized and
16:26
Speaker 1: cut short by you or any other man. I have
16:29
Speaker 1: as much interest in our success as you have more,
16:31
Speaker 1: I hope. He was quite hot about it, and puffed
16:34
Speaker 1: furiously at a cigar. For some minutes. The eyes of
16:37
Speaker 1: the other Ruffian wandered alternately from Dick Merton to myself.
16:40
Speaker 1: I knew that I was in the presence of a
16:42
Speaker 1: desperate man, that a quiver of my lip might be
16:44
Speaker 1: the signal for him to plunge a weapon into my heart.
16:46
Speaker 1: But I'd betrayed more self command than I should have
16:48
Speaker 1: given myself credit for under such trying circumstances. As to Dick,
16:52
Speaker 1: he was as immovable and apparently as unconscious as the
16:54
Speaker 1: Egyptian shinks. There was silence for some time in the
16:57
Speaker 1: smoking room, broken only by the crisp rattle of the
16:59
Speaker 1: col as the man Muller shuffled them up for placing
17:02
Speaker 1: them in his pocket. He still seemed to be somewhat
17:04
Speaker 1: flushed and irritable, throwing the end of his cigar into
17:07
Speaker 1: this spatoon. He glanced defiantly at his companion and turned
17:10
Speaker 1: towards me. Can you tell me, sir, he said, when
17:13
Speaker 1: the ship will be heard of again? They were both
17:15
Speaker 1: looking at me, But though my face may have turned
17:17
Speaker 1: a trifle paler, my voice was as steady as ever
17:19
Speaker 1: as I answered, I presume, sir, that'll be heard of
17:22
Speaker 1: first when it enters Queenstown Harbor. Ha ha, laughed the
17:25
Speaker 1: angry little man. I knew you would say that, don't
17:27
Speaker 1: you kick me under the table. Flinn again. I won't
17:29
Speaker 1: stand it. I know what I am doing. You are wrong, sir,
17:32
Speaker 1: he continued, turning to me. Utterly wrong. Some passing ship perhaps,
17:36
Speaker 1: suggested Dick. No, nor that either the weather is fine?
17:40
Speaker 1: I said, why should we not be heard of at
17:41
Speaker 1: our destination? I didn't say we shouldn't be heard of
17:44
Speaker 1: at our destination. Possibly we may not, and in any case,
17:47
Speaker 1: that is not what we shall be heard of first where?
17:50
Speaker 1: Then asked Dick that you shall never know. Suffice it
17:53
Speaker 1: that a rapid and mysterious agency will signal our whereabouts,
17:56
Speaker 1: and that before the day is out. Ha ha, and
17:58
Speaker 1: he chuckled once again. Come on deck, roiled his comrade.
18:01
Speaker 1: You have drunk too much of that confounded brandy and
18:03
Speaker 1: water that is loosen your tongue. Come away, and taking
18:07
Speaker 1: him by the arm, he half led him, half forced
18:08
Speaker 1: him out of the smoking room. When we heard them
18:10
Speaker 1: stumbling up, the companion together and onto the deck. Well,
18:14
Speaker 1: what do you think now, I guessed, as I turned
18:15
Speaker 1: toward Dick. He was as imperturbable as ever think. He said,
18:20
Speaker 1: why I think what his companion thinks? That we've been
18:21
Speaker 1: listening to the ravings of a half drunken man. The
18:24
Speaker 1: fellow stunk of brandy nonsense. Dick, you saw how the
18:27
Speaker 1: other try to stop his tongue. Of course he did.
18:30
Speaker 1: He didn't want his friend to make a fool of
18:31
Speaker 1: himself before strangers. Maybe the short one is a lunatic
18:35
Speaker 1: and the other his private keeper. It's quite possible, Oh, Dick, Dick,
18:39
Speaker 1: I cried, how can you be so blind? Don't you
18:42
Speaker 1: see that every word confirmed our previous suspicion. Humbug Man said, Dick,
18:47
Speaker 1: you're working yourself into a state of nervous excitement. Why
18:50
Speaker 1: what the devil do you make of all that nonsense
18:51
Speaker 1: about a mysterious agent which would signal our whereabouts. I'll
18:55
Speaker 1: tell you what he meant, Dick, I said, bending forward
18:57
Speaker 1: and grasping my friend's arm. He meant, a suddenly and
19:00
Speaker 1: a flash seen far out at sea by some lonely
19:02
Speaker 1: fishermen off the American coast. That's what he meant. I
19:06
Speaker 1: didn't think you were such a fool. Hem and said
19:07
Speaker 1: Dick testly. If you try to fix a literal meaning
19:10
Speaker 1: on a twaddle that every drunken man talks, you will
19:13
Speaker 1: come to some queer conclusions. Let us follow their example
19:16
Speaker 1: and go on deck. You need fresh air. I think
19:18
Speaker 1: depend upon it. Your liver is out of order. A
19:20
Speaker 1: sea voyage would do you a world of good. If
19:23
Speaker 1: ever I see the end of this one, I groaned,
19:25
Speaker 1: I'll promise never to venture on another. They are laying
19:28
Speaker 1: the cloth, so it's hardly worthwhile going up. I'll stay
19:31
Speaker 1: below and unpack my things. I hope dinner will find
19:34
Speaker 1: you in a more pleasant state of mind, said Dick,
19:36
Speaker 1: and he went out, leaving me to my thoughts. Into
19:37
Speaker 1: the clang of the great gong summoned us to the saloon.
19:41
Speaker 1: My appetite, I need hardly say, had not been improved
19:43
Speaker 1: by the incidents which had occurred during the day. I
19:46
Speaker 1: sat down, however, mechanically, at the table and listened to
19:48
Speaker 1: the talk that was going on around me. There were
19:51
Speaker 1: nearly one hundred first class passengers, and as the wine
19:53
Speaker 1: began to circulate, their voices combined with the clash of
19:56
Speaker 1: the dishes to form a perfect babble. I've found myself
19:59
Speaker 1: seated between a very stout and nervous old lady and
20:01
Speaker 1: a prim little clergyman, and as neither made any advances,
20:04
Speaker 1: I retired into my shell and spent my time in
20:06
Speaker 1: observing the appearance of my fellow voyagers. I could see
20:09
Speaker 1: Dick in the dim distance, dividing his attention between a
20:12
Speaker 1: jointless foul in front of him and a self possessed
20:14
Speaker 1: the young lady at his side. Captain Dowie was doing
20:17
Speaker 1: the honors at my end, while the surgeon of the
20:18
Speaker 1: vessel was seated at the other. I was glad to
20:21
Speaker 1: notice that flanagain was placed almost opposite me. As long
20:24
Speaker 1: as I had him before my eyes, I knew that
20:26
Speaker 1: for the time at least we were safe. He was
20:28
Speaker 1: sitting with what was meant to be a sociable smile
20:30
Speaker 1: on his grim face. It did not escape me that
20:33
Speaker 1: he drank largely of wine, so largely that even before
20:35
Speaker 1: the dessert appeared, his voice had become decidedly husky. His
20:38
Speaker 1: friend Muller was seated a few places lowered down. He
20:41
Speaker 1: ate little and appeared to be nervous and restless. Now, ladies,
20:45
Speaker 1: said argenial captain, I trust that you will consider yourselves
20:48
Speaker 1: at home aboard my vessel. I have no fears for
20:50
Speaker 1: the gentleman. A bottle of champagne steward. Here's to a
20:53
Speaker 1: fresh breeze and a quick passage. I trust our friends
20:56
Speaker 1: in America. We hear of our safe arrival in eight days.
20:58
Speaker 1: We're at nine. In the very least. I looked up
21:02
Speaker 1: quick as was the glance which passed between Flanagan and
21:04
Speaker 1: his confederate. I was able to intercept it. There was
21:07
Speaker 1: an evil smile upon the former's thin lips. The conversation
21:10
Speaker 1: rippled down politics, the sea, amusements, religion. Each was in
21:15
Speaker 1: turn disgusted. I remained a silent, though an interested listener.
21:19
Speaker 1: It struck me that no harm could be done by
21:21
Speaker 1: introducing the subject which was ever in my mind. It
21:24
Speaker 1: could be managed in an offhand way, when at least
21:26
Speaker 1: have the effect of turning the Captain's thoughts in that direction.
21:29
Speaker 1: I could watch too what effect it would have upon
21:31
Speaker 1: the faces of the conspirators. There was a sudden lull
21:34
Speaker 1: in the conversation. The ordinary subject of the interest appeared
21:37
Speaker 1: to be exhausted. The opportunity was a favorable one. Now,
21:40
Speaker 1: I asked captain, and I said, bending forward and speaking
21:43
Speaker 1: very distinctly, what you think of Fenian manifestos? The Captain's
21:47
Speaker 1: ready face became a shade darker from honest indignation. They
21:50
Speaker 1: are poor, cowardly things, he said, as silly as they
21:53
Speaker 1: are wicked. The impinite threats of a set of anonymous scoundrels,
21:56
Speaker 1: said a pompous looking old gentleman beside him, Oh the
22:00
Speaker 1: fact they hit my side. You don't really think they
22:01
Speaker 1: would blow up a ship. I have no doubt they
22:05
Speaker 1: would if they could, But I'm very sure they'll never
22:07
Speaker 1: blow up mine. May I ask what precautions are taking
22:10
Speaker 1: it against them? Asked an elderly man at the end
22:11
Speaker 1: of the table. All goods sent aboard the ship are
22:14
Speaker 1: strictly examined, said Captain Dowie. But suppose a man brought
22:17
Speaker 1: explosives aboard with him, I suggested they are too cowardly
22:21
Speaker 1: to risk their own lives in that way. During this conversation,
22:23
Speaker 1: Flanagan had not portrayed the slightest interest in what was
22:26
Speaker 1: going on. He raised his head now and looked at
22:28
Speaker 1: the captain. Don't you think you are rather underrating them?
22:31
Speaker 1: He said? Every secret society has produced desperate men. Why
22:34
Speaker 1: shouldn't the finians have them? Too? Many men think it
22:37
Speaker 1: is a privilege to die in the service of a
22:38
Speaker 1: cause which seems right in their eyes, though others may
22:41
Speaker 1: think it wrong, indiscriminate murder cannot be fight in anybody's eyes,
22:45
Speaker 1: said the little clergyman. The bombardment of Paris was nothing else,
22:49
Speaker 1: said Flanagan. Yet the whole civilized world agreed to look
22:52
Speaker 1: on with folded arms and change the ugly word murder
22:55
Speaker 1: into the more euphonious one of war. It seems right
22:57
Speaker 1: enough to germanize. Why shouldn't dynamites seem so to the Fenian?
23:01
Speaker 1: At any rate, their empty vaporings have led to nothing
23:03
Speaker 1: as yet, said the captain. Excuse me, returned Flanagan. But
23:07
Speaker 1: is there not room for doubt yet as to the
23:09
Speaker 1: fate of the dotteral I have met men in America
23:11
Speaker 1: who asserted from their personal knowledge that there was a
23:13
Speaker 1: coal torpedo aboard that vessel. Then they lied, said the captain.
23:18
Speaker 1: It was proving conclusively at the court martial to have
23:19
Speaker 1: arisen from an explosion of coal gas. But we have
23:22
Speaker 1: better change the subject, when may cause the ladies to
23:24
Speaker 1: have a restless night. And the conversation once more drifted
23:27
Speaker 1: back to its original channel. During this little discussion, Flanagan
23:31
Speaker 1: had argued this point with a gentlemanly deference and a
23:33
Speaker 1: quiet power for which I had not given him credit.
23:35
Speaker 1: I could not help admiring a man who, on the
23:38
Speaker 1: eve of a desperate enterprise, could courteously argue upon a
23:40
Speaker 1: point which much touched him. So nearly he had, as
23:44
Speaker 1: I've already mentioned, partaking of a considerable quantity of wine.
23:47
Speaker 1: But though there was a slight flush upon his pale cheek,
23:49
Speaker 1: his manner was as reserved as ever. He did not
23:52
Speaker 1: join in the conversation. Again. It seemed to be lost
23:54
Speaker 1: in thought. A whirl of conflicting ideas was battling in
23:58
Speaker 1: my own mind. What was I Should I stand up
24:01
Speaker 1: now and denounce them before both passengers and captain should
24:04
Speaker 1: demand a few minutes conversation with the latter in his
24:05
Speaker 1: own cabin and reveal it all. For an instant I
24:08
Speaker 1: was half resolved to do it. But then the old
24:10
Speaker 1: constitutional timidity came back with redoubled force. After all, there
24:14
Speaker 1: might be some mistake. Dick had heard the evidence and
24:17
Speaker 1: had refused to believe in it. I determined the liftings
24:19
Speaker 1: to know their course. A strange, reckless feeling came over me.
24:23
Speaker 1: Why should I help men who were blind to their
24:24
Speaker 1: own danger. Surely it was the duty of the officers
24:27
Speaker 1: to protect us, not ours to give a warning to them.
24:30
Speaker 1: I drank off a couple of glasses of wine and
24:31
Speaker 1: staggered up on deck with the determination of keeping my
24:34
Speaker 1: secret locked my own boosom. It was a glorious evening.
24:38
Speaker 1: Even in my excited state of mind. I could not
24:39
Speaker 1: help leaving as the bulwarks and enjoying them refreshing breeze.
24:43
Speaker 1: Away to the westward, a solitary sail stood out as
24:45
Speaker 1: a dark speck against the great sheet of flame left
24:48
Speaker 1: by the setting sun. I shuddered as I looked at it.
24:51
Speaker 1: It was grand but appalling. A single star was twinkling
24:54
Speaker 1: faintly above our main mast, but a thousand seemed to
24:56
Speaker 1: gleam in the water below with every stroke of the propeller.
24:59
Speaker 1: The only a lot in the fair scene was a
25:01
Speaker 1: great trail of smoke, which stretched away behind us, like
25:03
Speaker 1: a black slash upon a crimson curtain. It was hard
25:06
Speaker 1: to believe that the great piece which hung over all
25:08
Speaker 1: nature could be marred by a poor, miserable mortal. After all,
25:12
Speaker 1: I thought, as a gaze into the blue depths beneath me,
25:14
Speaker 1: if the worst comes to the worst, it is better
25:16
Speaker 1: to die here. The linger and agony upon a sick
25:18
Speaker 1: bed on land, A man's life seems a very paltry
25:21
Speaker 1: thing amid the great forces of nature. All my philosophy
25:24
Speaker 1: could not prevent my shuddering. However, when I turned my
25:26
Speaker 1: head and saw the two shadowy figures at the other
25:28
Speaker 1: side of the deck, which I had no difficulty in recognizing,
25:31
Speaker 1: they seemed to be conversing earnestly, and I had no
25:33
Speaker 1: opportunity of overhearing what was said, so I contented myself
25:36
Speaker 1: with pacing up and down, keeping a vigilant watch upon
25:39
Speaker 1: their movements. There was a relief to me when Dick
25:42
Speaker 1: came on deck. Even an incredulous confidant is better than
25:44
Speaker 1: none at all. Well, old man, he said, giving me
25:47
Speaker 1: a facetious dig in the ribs who've not been blown
25:49
Speaker 1: up yet? No, not yet, said I. That's no proof
25:52
Speaker 1: that we're not going to be nonsense man, said Dick.
25:56
Speaker 1: I can't conceive what has put its extraordinary idea into
25:58
Speaker 1: your head. I've been talking to one of your supposed assassins.
26:01
Speaker 1: They seem a pleasant fellow enough, quite a sporting character,
26:04
Speaker 1: I should think, from the way he speaks, Dick, I said,
26:07
Speaker 1: I am as certain that those men have an infernal
26:09
Speaker 1: machine and that we are on the verge of eternity,
26:11
Speaker 1: as if I saw them putting the match to the fuse. Well,
26:14
Speaker 1: if you really think so, said Dick, half awed for
26:16
Speaker 1: the moment by the earnestness of my manner, it's your
26:18
Speaker 1: duty to let the captain know of your suspicions. You
26:21
Speaker 1: are right, I said, I will. My absurd timidity has
26:24
Speaker 1: prevented my doing so sooner. I believe our lives can
26:26
Speaker 1: only be saved by laying the whole matter before him. Well,
26:29
Speaker 1: go and do it now, said Dick. But for goodness sake,
26:32
Speaker 1: don't mix me up in the matter. I'll speak to
26:35
Speaker 1: him when he comes off the bridge, I answered, And
26:36
Speaker 1: in the meantime I don't need to lose sight of them.
26:39
Speaker 1: Let me know the result, said my companion, and with
26:41
Speaker 1: a nod, he strolled away in search. I fancy of
26:43
Speaker 1: his partner at the dinner table. Left to myself, I
26:46
Speaker 1: bethought me of my retreat of the morning, and climbing
26:48
Speaker 1: on the bulwark, I mounted into the quarter boat and
26:50
Speaker 1: lay down there in it I could reconsider my course
26:54
Speaker 1: of action, and by raising my head I was able
26:56
Speaker 1: at any time to get a view of my disagreeable neighbors.
26:59
Speaker 1: An hour passed and the captain was still on the bridge.
27:02
Speaker 1: He was talking to one of the passengers, a retired
27:04
Speaker 1: naval officer, and the two were deep in debate concerning
27:06
Speaker 1: some abstruse point of navigation. I could see the red
27:09
Speaker 1: tips of their cigars from where I lay. It was dark, now,
27:12
Speaker 1: so dark that I could hardly make out the figures
27:14
Speaker 1: of Flannagin and his accomplice. They were still standing in
27:17
Speaker 1: the position which they had taken up after dinner. A
27:20
Speaker 1: few of the passengers were scattered about the deck, but
27:22
Speaker 1: many had gone below. A strange stillness seemed to pervade
27:25
Speaker 1: the air. The voices of the watch and the rattle
27:27
Speaker 1: of the wheel were the only sounds which broke the silence.
27:30
Speaker 1: Another half hour passed. The captain was still upon the bridge.
27:33
Speaker 1: It seemed as if he would never come down. My
27:35
Speaker 1: nerves were in a state of unnatural tension, so much
27:38
Speaker 1: so that the sounds of two steps upon the deck
27:39
Speaker 1: made me start up in a quiver of excitement. I
27:42
Speaker 1: peered over the edge of the boat and saw that
27:43
Speaker 1: our suspicious passengers had crossed from the other side were
27:46
Speaker 1: standing almost directly beneath me. The light of a binnacle
27:48
Speaker 1: fell full upon the gassy face of the ruffian Flannagin.
27:52
Speaker 1: Even in that short glance, I saw that Muller had
27:54
Speaker 1: the ulster whose use I knew so well, slung loosely
27:56
Speaker 1: over his arm. I sank back with a groan. That
28:00
Speaker 1: my fatal procrastination had sacrificed two hundred innocent lives. I
28:04
Speaker 1: had read of the fiendest vengeance which had waited the spy.
28:06
Speaker 1: I knew that men with their lives in their hands
28:08
Speaker 1: would stick at nothing. All I could do was to
28:10
Speaker 1: cower at the bottom of the boat and listen silently
28:12
Speaker 1: to their whispered talk below. This place will do, said
28:15
Speaker 1: the voice. Yes, the leeward side is best. I wonder
28:19
Speaker 1: if the trigger will act. I'm sure it will. We
28:21
Speaker 1: were to let it off at ten were we not? Yes?
28:24
Speaker 1: At ten sharp? If eight minutes yet? There was a pause,
28:27
Speaker 1: Then the voice began again. They'll hear the drop of
28:29
Speaker 1: the trigger, won't they. It doesn't matter. It will be
28:31
Speaker 1: too late for anyone to prevent it's going off. That's true.
28:35
Speaker 1: There will be some excitement about those we left behind,
28:37
Speaker 1: won't there. Rather, how long do you reckon it will
28:40
Speaker 1: be before they hear of us. The first news will
28:42
Speaker 1: get in about midnight at earliest. That will be my doing,
28:45
Speaker 1: no mine. We'll settle that. There was a pause here,
28:49
Speaker 1: and I heard mother's voice in a ghastly whisper. There's
28:52
Speaker 1: only five minutes more. How slowly the moments seemed to pass.
28:56
Speaker 1: I can count them by the throbbing of my heart.
28:58
Speaker 1: It'll make a sensation on land, said a voice. Yes,
29:01
Speaker 1: it will make a noise in the newspapers. I raised
29:04
Speaker 1: my head and peered over the side of the boat.
29:05
Speaker 1: There seemed no hope, no help. Death stared me in
29:09
Speaker 1: the face. Whether I did or did not give the alarm,
29:12
Speaker 1: the captain had at last left the bridge. The deck
29:14
Speaker 1: was deserted, save with the two dark figures crouching in
29:16
Speaker 1: the shadow of the boat. Flanningon had a watch lying
29:19
Speaker 1: open in his hand. Three minutes more, he said, put
29:21
Speaker 1: it down upon the deck. No, put it here. In
29:24
Speaker 1: the boltwarks there was a little square box. I knew
29:27
Speaker 1: by the sound that they had placed it near the davit,
29:29
Speaker 1: and almost exactly under my head. I looked over again.
29:32
Speaker 1: Flanningan was pouring something out of a paper in his hand.
29:34
Speaker 1: It was white and granular. It seemed that I had
29:36
Speaker 1: seen him use in the morning. It was meant as
29:38
Speaker 1: a fuse, no doubt, for he shoved it into the
29:40
Speaker 1: little box, and I heard the strange noise which had
29:42
Speaker 1: previously arrested my attention. A minute and a half more,
29:46
Speaker 1: he said, shall you or I pull the string? I
29:48
Speaker 1: will pull it, said Mueller. He was kneeling down and
29:50
Speaker 1: holding the end in his hand. Flanning had stood behind,
29:53
Speaker 1: with his arms folded in the air of grim resolution
29:55
Speaker 1: upon his face. I could stay it no longer. My
29:58
Speaker 1: nervous system seemed to give away an moment. Stop, I screamed,
30:02
Speaker 1: springing to my feet. Stop misguided and unprincipled men. They
30:05
Speaker 1: both staggered backwards. I fancy they thought I was a spirit,
30:08
Speaker 1: with the moonlight streaming down upon my pale face. I
30:11
Speaker 1: was brave enough now I had gone too far to retreat.
30:14
Speaker 1: Kane was damned, I cried, and he slew. But one,
30:17
Speaker 1: would you have the blood of two hundred upon your souls?
30:20
Speaker 1: He's mad, said Flanagin. Time's up. Let it off, Mueller.
30:22
Speaker 1: I sprang down upon a deck. You shan't do it,
30:25
Speaker 1: I said, But what right do you prevent us? By
30:28
Speaker 1: every right human and define it's no business of yours.
30:31
Speaker 1: Clear ahead of this, never said I confound the fellow.
30:35
Speaker 1: There's too much a stake to stand on ceremony. I'll
30:37
Speaker 1: hold hi muller when you pull the trigger. Next moment,
30:40
Speaker 1: I was struggling in the heartfully and grasped with the irishman.
30:43
Speaker 1: Resistance was useless. I was a child in his hands.
30:46
Speaker 1: He pinned me up against the side of the vessel
30:48
Speaker 1: and held me there. Now, He said, look sharp, he
30:51
Speaker 1: can't prevent us. I felt that I was standing on
30:54
Speaker 1: the verge of eternity, half strangled in the arms of
30:56
Speaker 1: the tall ruffian. I saw the other approach the fatal box.
30:59
Speaker 1: He stoop over and seized the string. I breathed one
31:02
Speaker 1: prayer when I saw his grass tighten upon it. Then
31:04
Speaker 1: came a short snap, a strange, rasping noise. The trigger
31:07
Speaker 1: had fallen the side of the box, flew out and
31:09
Speaker 1: let off two gray carrier pigeons. Little more need be said.
31:16
Speaker 1: It's not a subject in which I cared a d well.
31:17
Speaker 1: The whole thing is too utterly disgusting and absurd. Perhaps
31:20
Speaker 1: the best thing I could do is to retire gracefully
31:22
Speaker 1: from the scene and let the sporting correspondent of the
31:24
Speaker 1: New York Herald fill my unworthy place. Here is an
31:27
Speaker 1: extra clip from its columns shortly after our departure from America.
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Speaker 1: Pigeon flying Extraordinary. A novel match had been brought off
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Speaker 1: last week between birds of John H. Flann again at
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Speaker 1: Boston and Jeremia Muller, a well known citizen of Lowell.
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Speaker 1: Both men have devoted much time and attention to an
31:42
Speaker 1: improved breed of bird, and the challenge is an old
31:45
Speaker 1: standing one. The pigeons were back to a large amount,
31:48
Speaker 1: and there was considerable local interest in the result. The
31:50
Speaker 1: start was from the deck of the Transatlantic Steamership Spartan
31:53
Speaker 1: at ten o'clock in the evening of the day of starting,
31:55
Speaker 1: the vessel being then reckoned to be about one hundred
31:57
Speaker 1: miles from the land. The bird which retombed first was
31:59
Speaker 1: to be declared the winner. Considerable caution had we believed
32:02
Speaker 1: to be observed, as some captains have a prejudice against
32:04
Speaker 1: bringing off of sporting events aboard their vessels. In spite
32:08
Speaker 1: of some little difficulty at the last moment, the trap
32:10
Speaker 1: was sprung almost exactly at ten o'clock muellersbird arrived in
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Speaker 1: loll and extreme state of exhaustion on the following morning.
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Speaker 1: While Flanagan's has not been heard of, the backers of
32:19
Speaker 1: the latter had the satisfaction of knowing, however, that the
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Speaker 1: whole affair had been characterized by extreme fairness. The pigeons
32:24
Speaker 1: were confined in a specially invented trap which could only
32:27
Speaker 1: be opened by the spring. It was thus possible to
32:29
Speaker 1: feed them through an aperture in the top, but any
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Speaker 1: tamperings with their wings was quite out of the question.
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Speaker 1: A few such matches would go far towards popularizing pigeon
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Speaker 1: flying in America and form an agreeable variety to the
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Speaker 1: morbid exhibitions of human endurance which have assumed such proportions
32:43
Speaker 1: during the last few years. End of chapter twelve, The
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Speaker 1: end end of the Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other
32:51
Speaker 1: Stories of Pirates by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle