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09 - 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: Joe Somerset, New Jersey, the fiend of the Cooper Ridge.
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Speaker 1: It was no easy matter to bring the gamecock up
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Speaker 1: to the island, for the river had swept down so
0:10
Speaker 1: much silt that the banks extended for many miles out
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Speaker 1: into the Atlantic. The coast was hardly to be seen
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Speaker 1: when the first white curl of the breakers warned us
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Speaker 1: of our danger, and from there onwards we made our
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Speaker 1: way very carefully under mainsail and jib, keeping the broken
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Speaker 1: water well to the left, as is indicated on the chart.
0:26
Speaker 1: More than once her bottom touched the sand. We were
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Speaker 1: drawing something under six feet at the time, but we
0:30
Speaker 1: had always weigh enough and luck enough to carry us through. Finally,
0:34
Speaker 1: the water showled very rapidly, but they had sent a
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Speaker 1: canoe from the factory, and the Kruboy pilot brought us
0:40
Speaker 1: within two hundred yards of the island. It re dropped
0:42
Speaker 1: our anchor, for the gestures of the Negro indicated that
0:45
Speaker 1: we cannot hope to get any farther. The blue of
0:48
Speaker 1: the sea had changed to the brown of the river,
0:50
Speaker 1: and even under the shelter of the island, the current
0:53
Speaker 1: was singing and swirling around our boughs. The stream appeared
0:56
Speaker 1: to be in space, for it was over the roots
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Speaker 1: of the palm trees, and everywhere upon on its muddy,
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Speaker 1: greasy surface, we could see logs of wood and debris
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Speaker 1: of all sorts which had been carried down by the flood.
1:06
Speaker 1: When I had assured myself that we swung securely at
1:08
Speaker 1: our moorings, I thought it best to begin watering at once,
1:11
Speaker 1: for the place looked as it were reeked with fever.
1:14
Speaker 1: The heavy river with muddy shining banks, the bright poisonous
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Speaker 1: green of the jungle, the moist steam in the air.
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Speaker 1: They were all so many danger signals to one who
1:23
Speaker 1: could read them. I sent the long boat off therefore
1:26
Speaker 1: with two large hogsheads, which should be sufficient to last
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Speaker 1: us until we made Saint Paul de Lawanda. For my
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Speaker 1: own part, I took the dinghy and rowed for the island,
1:34
Speaker 1: for I could see the Union jack fluttering above the
1:36
Speaker 1: palms to mark the position of Armitage in Wilson's trading station.
1:40
Speaker 1: When I had cleared the grove, I could see the place,
1:42
Speaker 1: a long, low, white washed building with a deep veranda
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Speaker 1: in front, and an immense pile of palm oil barrels
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Speaker 1: heaped upon either flank of it. A row of surfboats
1:50
Speaker 1: and canoes lay along the beach, and a single small
1:53
Speaker 1: jetty projected into the river. Two men in white suits
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Speaker 1: with red cumbered ones around their waists were waiting upon
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Speaker 1: the end of it to receive me. One was a large,
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Speaker 1: portly fellow with a grayish beard. The other was slender
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Speaker 1: and tall, with a pale, pinched face, which was half
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Speaker 1: concealed by a great mushroom shaped hat. Very glad to
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Speaker 1: see you, said the latter, cordially. I am Walker, the
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Speaker 1: agent of Armitage and Wilson. Let me introduce doctor severall
2:16
Speaker 1: of the same company. It is not often we see
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Speaker 1: a private yacht in these parts. She's the game cock,
2:21
Speaker 1: I explained, I'm owner and Captain Meldrum is the name exploring,
2:25
Speaker 1: he asked, I am a lepidopterist, a butterfly catcher. I've
2:29
Speaker 1: been doing the west coast from Senegal downwards good Sport,
2:33
Speaker 1: said the doctor, turning a slow, yellow shot eye upon me.
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Speaker 1: I have forty cases full. We came in here to
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Speaker 1: water and also to see what you have in my line.
2:42
Speaker 1: These introductions and explanations had filled up the time whilst
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Speaker 1: my two crew boys were making the dinghy fast. Then
2:47
Speaker 1: I walked down the jetty with one of my new
2:48
Speaker 1: acquaintances upon the other side, each plying with questions, for
2:51
Speaker 1: they had seen no white man for months. What do
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Speaker 1: we do, said the doctor, when I had begun asking
2:56
Speaker 1: questions in my turn, Our business keeps us pretty busy,
2:59
Speaker 1: and in our leisure time we talk politics. Yes, by
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Speaker 1: the special mercy of providence, several halls are rank radical,
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Speaker 1: and I am a good stiff Unionist, and we talk
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Speaker 1: home rule for two solid hours every evening, and drink
3:11
Speaker 1: queenine cocktails. Said the doctor. We're both pretty well salted now,
3:15
Speaker 1: but our normal temperature was about one hundred and three
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Speaker 1: last year. I shouldn't, as an impartial adviser, recommend you
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Speaker 1: to stay here very long unless you are collecting bacilli
3:23
Speaker 1: as well as butterflies. The mouth of the Ogowai River
3:26
Speaker 1: will never develop into a health resort. There is nothing
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Speaker 1: finer than the way in which these outlying pics of
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Speaker 1: civilization distill a grim humor out of their desolate situation,
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Speaker 1: and turn not only a bold but a laughing face
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Speaker 1: upon the chances which their lives may bring everywhere. From
3:41
Speaker 1: Sierra Leone downwards, I had found the same reeking swamps,
3:44
Speaker 1: the same isolated feveric communities, and the same bad jokes.
3:48
Speaker 1: There's something approaching to the divine in the power of
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Speaker 1: a man to rise above his conditions and to use
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Speaker 1: his mind for the purpose of mocking all the miseries
3:54
Speaker 1: of his body. Dinner will be ready in half an hour,
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Speaker 1: Captain Meldrum, said. A doctor walker's in to see about it.
4:01
Speaker 1: He's the housekeeper this week. Meanwhile, if you like, we'll
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Speaker 1: stroll around and I'll show you the sights of the island.
4:07
Speaker 1: The sun had already sunk beneath the line of palm trees,
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Speaker 1: and the great arch of the heaven above herhead was
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Speaker 1: like the inside of a huge shell, shimmering with dainty
4:14
Speaker 1: pinks and delicate iridescence. No one who has not lived
4:17
Speaker 1: in the land. With the weight and heat of the
4:19
Speaker 1: napkin became intolerable upon the knees can imagine the blessed
4:22
Speaker 1: relief which the coolness of evenings brings along with it.
4:26
Speaker 1: In this sweeter and purer air, the doctor and I
4:28
Speaker 1: walked around the little island, he pointing out the stores
4:31
Speaker 1: and explaining the routine of his work. There's a certain
4:34
Speaker 1: romance about the place, said he, in answer to some
4:36
Speaker 1: remark of mine about the dulness of our lives. We
4:39
Speaker 1: are living here just upon the edge of the great unknown.
4:42
Speaker 1: Up there, he continued, pointing to the northeast, De Cailiu
4:45
Speaker 1: penetrated and found the home of the gorilla, that is
4:47
Speaker 1: the Gaboon country, the land of the great Apes. In
4:50
Speaker 1: this direction, pointing to the southeast, no one has been
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Speaker 1: very far. The land which is drained by this river
4:56
Speaker 1: is practically unknown to Europeans. Every log which is carried
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Speaker 1: past us by the current has come from an undiscovered country.
5:02
Speaker 1: I've often wish that I was a better botanist when
5:04
Speaker 1: I have seen the singular orchids and curious thinking plants
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Speaker 1: which have been cast up on the eastern end of
5:08
Speaker 1: the island. The place which the doctor indicated was a
5:12
Speaker 1: sloping brown beach, freely littered with the flotsam of the stream.
5:15
Speaker 1: At each end was a curved point, like a little
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Speaker 1: natural breakwater, so that a small shallow bay was left between.
5:21
Speaker 1: This was full of floating vegetation, with a single huge,
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Speaker 1: splintered tree lying stranded in the middle of it. The
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Speaker 1: current rippling against its high black side These are all
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Speaker 1: from up country, said the doctor. They get caught in
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Speaker 1: our little bay, and then when some extra fresh it comes,
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Speaker 1: they are washed out again and carried out the sea.
5:38
Speaker 1: What is the tree, I asked, Oh, some kind of teak,
5:42
Speaker 1: I should imagine, but pretty rotten by the look of it.
5:44
Speaker 1: We get all sorts of big hardwood trees floating past
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Speaker 1: here to see nothing of the palms. Just come in here,
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Speaker 1: will you. He led the way into a long building
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Speaker 1: with an immense quantity of barrel staves and iron hoops
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Speaker 1: littered about it. This is our couper ridge, said he.
5:59
Speaker 1: We have the stage send out in bundles and we
6:01
Speaker 1: put them together ourselves. Now you don't see any particular
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Speaker 1: sinister about this building? Do you? Looked around? At the
6:07
Speaker 1: high corrugated iron roof and white wooden walls, and the
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Speaker 1: earth and floor. In one corner lay a mattress with
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Speaker 1: a blanket. I see nothing very alarming, said I. And
6:17
Speaker 1: yet there's something out of the common too, he remarked.
6:19
Speaker 1: You see that bed, well, I intend to sleep there tonight.
6:22
Speaker 1: I don't want a buck, but I think it's a
6:24
Speaker 1: bit of a test for nerve. Why, oh, there have
6:28
Speaker 1: been some funny things going on. You were talking about
6:30
Speaker 1: the monotony of our lives, but I assure you that
6:32
Speaker 1: they are sometimes quite as exciting as we wish them
6:34
Speaker 1: to be. You'd better come back to the house now,
6:36
Speaker 1: for after sundown we begin to get the fever fog
6:38
Speaker 1: up from the marshes. There. You can see it coming
6:41
Speaker 1: across the river. I looked and saw a long tentacle
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Speaker 1: of white vapor writhing out from among the thick green
6:47
Speaker 1: underwood and crawling at us over the broad, swirling surface
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Speaker 1: of the brown river. At the same time, the air
6:52
Speaker 1: turned suddenly dank and cold. There's the dinner gong, said
6:56
Speaker 1: the doctor. If this matter interests you, I'll tell you
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Speaker 1: about it afterwards. It did interest me very much, for
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Speaker 1: there was something earnest and subdued in his manner as
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Speaker 1: he stood in the empty cooperridge, which appealed very forcibly
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Speaker 1: to my imagination. He was a big, bluff hearty man,
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Speaker 1: this doctor, and yet I detected a curious expression in
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Speaker 1: his eyes as he glanced about him, an expression which
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Speaker 1: I would not describe as one of fear, but rather
7:17
Speaker 1: of a man who was alert and on guard. By
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Speaker 1: the way, said I, as we returned to the house.
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Speaker 1: You have shown me the huts of the good many
7:24
Speaker 1: of your native assistants, but I have not seen any
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Speaker 1: of the natives themselves. They sleep in the hulk over yonder,
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Speaker 1: the doctor answered, putting over to one of the banks. Indeed,
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Speaker 1: I should not have thought in that case that they
7:34
Speaker 1: would need the huts. Oh, they used the huts until
7:37
Speaker 1: quite recently. We've put them in the hulk, until they've
7:39
Speaker 1: recovered their confidence a little. They were all half mad
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Speaker 1: with fright, so we let them go, and nobody sleeps
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Speaker 1: in the island except Walker and myself. What frightened them?
7:47
Speaker 1: I asked, Well, that brings us back to the same story.
7:51
Speaker 1: I suppose Walker has no objection to your hearing all
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Speaker 1: about it. I don't know why we should make any
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Speaker 1: secret about it, though it is certainly a pretty bad business.
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Speaker 1: He made no further allusion to it. During the excellent
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Speaker 1: dinner which had been prepared in my honor, it appeared
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Speaker 1: that no sooner had the little white topsail of the
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Speaker 1: gamecock shown around the Cape. Lopez that these kind fellows
8:09
Speaker 1: had begun to prepare their famous pepper pot, which is
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Speaker 1: the pungent stew peculiar to the West coast had to
8:14
Speaker 1: boil their yams and sweep atats. We sat down to
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Speaker 1: as good a native dinner as one could wish, served
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Speaker 1: by a smart Sierra of the on a waiting boy.
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Speaker 1: I was just remarking to myself that he at least
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Speaker 1: had not shared in the general fright. When having laid
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Speaker 1: the dessert in the line on the table, he raised
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Speaker 1: his hand to his turban. Anything else I do, Massawaka,
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Speaker 1: he asked, No, I think it should be all right. Mussa,
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Speaker 1: My host answered, I'm not feeling very well tonight, though,
8:38
Speaker 1: and I should much prefer if he would stay on
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Speaker 1: the island. I saw a struggle between his fears and
8:42
Speaker 1: his duty upon the swarthy face of the African. His
8:45
Speaker 1: skin had turned of a livid purplish tint, which stands
8:48
Speaker 1: for pallor in a Negro, and his eyes look furtively
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Speaker 1: about him. No, no, Massawaka, he cried, At last, you
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Speaker 1: bet come to the Hulk with Misa. Look after you
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Speaker 1: much better in the Hulk. Sah, that won't do. Most
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Speaker 1: white men don't run away from the posts when they
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Speaker 1: are placed. Again, I saw the passionate struggle in the
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Speaker 1: Negro's face, and again his fears prevailed. No use mass
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Speaker 1: of Walker saw. He cried, so help me. I can't
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Speaker 1: do it if it was yesterday or if it was tomorrow.
9:14
Speaker 1: But this is the third night's up, and it's more
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Speaker 1: than I can face. Walker shrugged his shoulders off with you,
9:21
Speaker 1: then said he when the mailboat comes, you can get
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Speaker 1: back to Sierra Leaunie, for I'll have no servant who
9:26
Speaker 1: deserts me when I need him most. I suppose this
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Speaker 1: is all mystery to you, or as the doctor told you,
9:30
Speaker 1: Captain Meldrum. I showed Captain Muldrum the Cooperridge, but I
9:34
Speaker 1: did not tell him anything, said Doctor Several. You're looking bad, Walker,
9:37
Speaker 1: he added, glancing at his companion. You have a strong
9:40
Speaker 1: touch coming on you. Yes, I've had the shivers all day,
9:43
Speaker 1: and now my head is like a cannon ball. I
9:46
Speaker 1: took ten grains of quenine, and my ears are singing
9:48
Speaker 1: like a kettle. But I want to sleep with you
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Speaker 1: in the Coopbridge tonight. No, no, my dear chap, I
9:53
Speaker 1: won't hear of such a thing. You must get to
9:55
Speaker 1: bed at once, and I'm sure Meldrum will excuse you.
9:58
Speaker 1: I shall sleep in the Cooperridge and promise you that
10:00
Speaker 1: I'll be round with your medicine before breakfast. It was
10:03
Speaker 1: evident that Walker had been struck by one of those
10:05
Speaker 1: sudden and violent attacks of remittent fever which are the
10:07
Speaker 1: curse of the West Coast. His sallow cheeks were flushed
10:10
Speaker 1: and his eyes shining with fever. And suddenly, as he
10:13
Speaker 1: sat there, he would get to croon out a song
10:15
Speaker 1: in the high pitched voice of a delirium. Come, come,
10:17
Speaker 1: we must get you to bed, Old Chap, said the doctor,
10:20
Speaker 1: and with my aid he led his friend into his bedroom.
10:23
Speaker 1: There we undressed him, and presently, after taking a strong sedative,
10:26
Speaker 1: he settled down into a deep slumber. He's right for
10:29
Speaker 1: the night, said the doctor, and we sat down and
10:31
Speaker 1: filled our glasses once more. Sometimes it is my turn
10:35
Speaker 1: and sometimes his, but fortunately we have never been down together.
10:39
Speaker 1: I should have been sorry to be out of it tonight,
10:41
Speaker 1: for I have a little mystery to an unravel. I
10:43
Speaker 1: told you that I intended to sleep in the Cooper Ridge, Yes,
10:46
Speaker 1: you said so. When I said sleep, I meant watch,
10:50
Speaker 1: for there will be no sleep from me. We've had
10:53
Speaker 1: such a scare there that no native will stay after sundown.
10:55
Speaker 1: And I mean to find out tonight what the cause
10:57
Speaker 1: of it may be. There has always been the custom
11:00
Speaker 1: for a native watchman to sleep in the Coop Ridge
11:02
Speaker 1: to prevent the barrel hoops being stolen. Well, six days
11:05
Speaker 1: ago the fellow who slept there disappeared. We have never
11:08
Speaker 1: seen a trace of him. Since it was certainly singular,
11:10
Speaker 1: for no canoe had been taken, and these waters two
11:13
Speaker 1: full of crocodiles for any man to swim to shore.
11:16
Speaker 1: What became of the fellow or how he could have
11:18
Speaker 1: left the island is a complete mystery. Walker and I
11:21
Speaker 1: were really surprised, But the Blacks are badly scared, and
11:23
Speaker 1: queer voodoo tales began to get about amongst them. But
11:27
Speaker 1: the real stampede broke out three nights ago when the
11:29
Speaker 1: new watchman in the Cooper Ridge also disappeared. What became
11:33
Speaker 1: of him? I asked, Well, we not only don't know,
11:36
Speaker 1: but we can't even give a guess which would fit
11:38
Speaker 1: the facts. The nigger swears there is a fiend in
11:40
Speaker 1: the Cooper Ridge who claims a man every third night.
11:43
Speaker 1: They wouldn't stay in the island. Nothing could persuade them.
11:46
Speaker 1: Even Musa, who was a faithful boy enough would as
11:48
Speaker 1: you have seen him leave his master in a fever
11:51
Speaker 1: rather than remain for the night. If we were to
11:53
Speaker 1: continue to run this place, we must reassure our niggers,
11:55
Speaker 1: and I don't know any better way of doing it
11:57
Speaker 1: than by putting in a night there myself. This is
12:00
Speaker 1: the third night, you see, So I suppose the thing
12:02
Speaker 1: is due, whatever it may be. You have no clue,
12:06
Speaker 1: I asked. Was there no mark of violence, no bloodstain,
12:09
Speaker 1: no footprints, nothing give you hint as to what kind
12:11
Speaker 1: of danger you may have to meet? Absolutely nothing. The
12:15
Speaker 1: man was gone, and that was all last time. Was
12:18
Speaker 1: old Ali, who had been the warf tender here since
12:20
Speaker 1: the place was started. He was always as steady as
12:22
Speaker 1: a rock, and nothing but foul play would take him
12:24
Speaker 1: from his work. Well, said I, I really don't think
12:28
Speaker 1: this is a one man job. Your friend is full
12:30
Speaker 1: of laudanum, and come what might he could be of
12:32
Speaker 1: no assistance to you? You must let me stay and
12:34
Speaker 1: put in a knight with you in the coop ridge. Well,
12:38
Speaker 1: now that's very good of you, Meldrum, he said, he heartily,
12:40
Speaker 1: shaking my hand across the table. It's not a thing
12:42
Speaker 1: I should have ventured to propose, but asking a good
12:44
Speaker 1: deal of a casual visitor. But if you really mean it,
12:48
Speaker 1: certainly I mean it. If you will excuse me a moment,
12:50
Speaker 1: I will hail the game talk and let them know
12:52
Speaker 1: that they need not expect me. As we came back
12:55
Speaker 1: from the other end of the little jetty, we were
12:56
Speaker 1: both struck by the appearance of the night, a huge blue,
12:59
Speaker 1: blae black pile of clouds that built itself upon the
13:02
Speaker 1: landward side, and the wind came from it in little
13:04
Speaker 1: hot pants, which beat upon our faces like the draft
13:06
Speaker 1: from a blast furnace. Under the jetty, the river was
13:10
Speaker 1: swirling and hissing, tossing little white spurts of spray over
13:13
Speaker 1: the planking confound it, said doctor several. We are lucky
13:17
Speaker 1: to have a flood on top of all of our troubles.
13:19
Speaker 1: That rise in the river means heavy rain up country,
13:21
Speaker 1: and when it once begins, you never know how far
13:24
Speaker 1: it will go. We've had the island nearly covered before. Now, well,
13:28
Speaker 1: we'll just go see that walker is comfortable, and then
13:30
Speaker 1: if you like, we'll set it down in knock waters.
13:33
Speaker 1: The sick man was sunk in a profound slumber, and
13:35
Speaker 1: we left him with some crushed limes in the glass
13:37
Speaker 1: beside him, in case he should awake with the thirst
13:39
Speaker 1: of fever upon him. Then we made our way through
13:42
Speaker 1: the unnatural gloom thrown by that menacing cloud. The river
13:46
Speaker 1: had risen so high that the little bay which I
13:47
Speaker 1: had described at the end of the island had become
13:49
Speaker 1: almost obliterated through the submerging of the flanking peninsula. The
13:53
Speaker 1: great raft of driftwood, with the huge black tree in
13:56
Speaker 1: the middle, was swaying up and down the swollen current.
14:00
Speaker 1: One good thing a flood will do for us, said
14:01
Speaker 1: a doctor. It carries away all the vegetable stuff which
14:03
Speaker 1: had brought down on the east end of the island.
14:06
Speaker 1: They came down with the freshet the other day, And
14:07
Speaker 1: here it will stay until the flood sweeps it out
14:09
Speaker 1: into the mainstream. Well, here's our room, and here are
14:13
Speaker 1: some books, and here's my tobacco pouch. Who must try
14:15
Speaker 1: and put in the night as best we may By
14:18
Speaker 1: the light of our single lantern, the great lonly room
14:21
Speaker 1: looked very gaunt and dreary. Save for the piles of
14:23
Speaker 1: staves and heaps of hoops, there was absolutely nothing in it,
14:25
Speaker 1: with the exception of the mattress for the doctor, which
14:27
Speaker 1: had been laid in the corner. We made a couple
14:30
Speaker 1: of seats and a table out of the staves, and
14:32
Speaker 1: settled down together for a long vigil. Several had brought
14:35
Speaker 1: a revolver from me, and was himself armed with a
14:36
Speaker 1: double barreled shotgun. We loaded our weapons and laid them
14:39
Speaker 1: cocked within the reach of our hands. The little circle
14:42
Speaker 1: of light and the black shadows arching over us were
14:44
Speaker 1: so melancholy that he went off to the house and
14:47
Speaker 1: returned with two candles one side of the coop, which
14:50
Speaker 1: was pierced, however, by several open windows, and it was
14:53
Speaker 1: only by screening our lights behind staves that we can
14:55
Speaker 1: prevent them from being extinguished. The doctor, who appeared to
14:58
Speaker 1: be a man of iron nerves, had I settled down
15:00
Speaker 1: to a book, but I observed that every now and
15:03
Speaker 1: then he laid it upon his knees and took an
15:04
Speaker 1: earnest look all around him. For my part, although I
15:08
Speaker 1: tried once or twice to read, I found it impossible
15:10
Speaker 1: to concentrate my thoughts upon the book. They would always
15:13
Speaker 1: wander back to this great, empty, silent room, and that
15:16
Speaker 1: the sinister mystery which overshadowed it. I racked my brains
15:20
Speaker 1: for some possible theory which would explain the disappearance of
15:22
Speaker 1: these two men. There was the black fact that they
15:25
Speaker 1: were gone, and not the least tittle of evidence as
15:27
Speaker 1: to why or whither. And here we are waiting in
15:30
Speaker 1: the same place, waiting without an idea as to what
15:32
Speaker 1: we were waiting for. I was right in saying that
15:35
Speaker 1: it is not a one man job. It was trying
15:37
Speaker 1: enough as it was, but no force upon earth would
15:39
Speaker 1: have kept me there without a comrade. What an endless,
15:43
Speaker 1: tedious night it was. Outside We heard the lapping and
15:47
Speaker 1: gurgling of the great river, and the softening and the
15:49
Speaker 1: rising wind. Within, save for our breathing, the turning of
15:52
Speaker 1: the doctor's pages, and the high shrill ping of an
15:54
Speaker 1: occasional mosquito. There was a heavy silence. Once my heart
15:58
Speaker 1: sprang into my mouth, as several book suddenly fell to
16:00
Speaker 1: the ground, and he sprang to his feet with his
16:02
Speaker 1: eyes on one of the windows. Did you see anything, Meldrum, No,
16:07
Speaker 1: did you well? I had a vague sense of movement
16:10
Speaker 1: outside that window. He caught up his gun and approached it. No,
16:14
Speaker 1: there's nothing to be seen, And yet it could have
16:16
Speaker 1: sworn that something passed slowly across it, a palm leaf, perhaps,
16:20
Speaker 1: said I, for the wind was growing stronger every instant,
16:23
Speaker 1: very likely, said he, and settled down to his book again.
16:26
Speaker 1: But his eyes were forever darting little suspicious glances up
16:29
Speaker 1: at the window. I watched it also, but all was
16:32
Speaker 1: quiet outside. And then suddenly our thoughts were turned into
16:36
Speaker 1: a new direction by the bursting of the storm. A
16:38
Speaker 1: blinding flash was followed by a clap, which shook the
16:41
Speaker 1: building again. And again came the vivid white glare with
16:44
Speaker 1: thunder at the same instant, like the flash and roar
16:46
Speaker 1: of a monstrous piece of artillery. And then down came
16:49
Speaker 1: the tropical rain, crashing and rattling on the corrugated iron
16:52
Speaker 1: roofing of the Cooper Ridge. The big hollow room boomed
16:55
Speaker 1: like a drum. From the darkness rose a strange mystery
16:58
Speaker 1: of noises, a gurglinging, tinkling, bubbling, washing, dripping, every liquid
17:04
Speaker 1: sound that nature can reduce, from the thrashing and swishing
17:06
Speaker 1: of the rain to the deep, steady boom of the river.
17:09
Speaker 1: Hour after hour, the uproar grew louder and more sustained.
17:13
Speaker 1: My word said, severall, we're going to have the father
17:16
Speaker 1: of all floods this time. Well, here's the dawn coming
17:19
Speaker 1: at last, and that is a blessing. We've about exploded
17:22
Speaker 1: the third night superstition. Anyhow, a gray light was stealing
17:26
Speaker 1: through the room, and there was the day upon us.
17:28
Speaker 1: In an instant, the rain had eased off, but the
17:31
Speaker 1: coffee colored river was roaring past. But a waterfall. Its
17:34
Speaker 1: power bade me fear for the anchor of the game cock.
17:37
Speaker 1: I must get a board, said I. If she drags,
17:40
Speaker 1: she'll never be able to beat up the river again.
17:42
Speaker 1: The island is as good as a breakwater. The doctor answered,
17:45
Speaker 1: I'll give you a cup of coffee if you'll come
17:47
Speaker 1: up to the house. I was chilled and miserable, so
17:50
Speaker 1: the suggestion was a welcome one. We left the ill
17:53
Speaker 1: omened Cope Ridge with its mystery still unsolved, and we
17:56
Speaker 1: splashed our way up to the house. There's the spirit
17:59
Speaker 1: lamps that if you would just put a light to it.
18:01
Speaker 1: I'll see how Walker feels this morning. He left me,
18:04
Speaker 1: but was back in an instant with a dreadful face.
18:07
Speaker 1: He's gone, he cried hoarsely. The words sent a thrill
18:11
Speaker 1: of horror through me. I stood with the lamp in
18:13
Speaker 1: my hand, glaring at him. Yes, he's gone, he repeated,
18:17
Speaker 1: Come and look. I followed him without a word, and
18:19
Speaker 1: the first thing I saw as I entered the bedroom
18:21
Speaker 1: was Walker himself, lying huddled on his bed in a
18:23
Speaker 1: gray flannel sleeping suit which I had helped to dress
18:26
Speaker 1: him the night before. Not dead, surely, I gasped. The
18:31
Speaker 1: doctor was terribly agitated. His hands were shaking like leaves
18:33
Speaker 1: in the wind. He's been dead some hours? Was it fever? Fever?
18:38
Speaker 1: Look at his foot? I glanced down, and a cry
18:41
Speaker 1: of horror burst from my lips. One foot was not
18:44
Speaker 1: really dislocated, but was turned completely round in a most
18:47
Speaker 1: grotesque contortion. Good God, I cried, What could have done this?
18:52
Speaker 1: Several had laid his hand upon into the man's chest.
18:54
Speaker 1: Feel here, he whispered. I placed my hand at the
18:57
Speaker 1: same spot. There was no resistance. The body was atsolutely softened, limp.
19:01
Speaker 1: It was like pressing a sawdust doll. The breastbone is gone,
19:05
Speaker 1: said Several, in the same odd whisper. He's broken to bits.
19:08
Speaker 1: Thank God that he had a laudanum. You can see
19:10
Speaker 1: by his face that he died in his sleep. But
19:13
Speaker 1: who could have done this? I've had about as much
19:16
Speaker 1: as I can stand, said to the doctor, weaping his forehead.
19:19
Speaker 1: I don't know that I'm a greater coward than my neighbors,
19:21
Speaker 1: but this gets beyond me. If you're going out to
19:23
Speaker 1: the game cock, come on, said I, and off we started.
19:26
Speaker 1: If we did not run, it was because each of
19:28
Speaker 1: us wished to keep up the last shadow of his
19:30
Speaker 1: self respect before the other. It was dangerous in a
19:33
Speaker 1: light canoe on that swollen river, but we never paused
19:36
Speaker 1: to give the matter a thought. He bailing and eye paddling,
19:39
Speaker 1: we kept her above water and gained the deck of
19:41
Speaker 1: the yacht. There within two hundred yards of water between
19:45
Speaker 1: us and this cursed island. We felt that we were
19:47
Speaker 1: our own men once more. We'll go back in an
19:51
Speaker 1: hour or so, said he, when we need a little
19:53
Speaker 1: time to steady ourselves. I wouldn't have had the niggers
19:55
Speaker 1: see me, as I was just now for a year's salary.
19:59
Speaker 1: I've told this story to prepare breakfast. Then we shall
20:01
Speaker 1: go back, said I. But in God's name, doctor Several,
20:04
Speaker 1: what do you make of it? It beats me, beats
20:07
Speaker 1: me clean. I've heard a voodoo deviltry, and I've laughed
20:10
Speaker 1: at it with the others. But that poor old walker,
20:13
Speaker 1: a decent, god fearing nineteenth century Primrose League Englishman, should
20:17
Speaker 1: go under like this without a whole bone in his body.
20:20
Speaker 1: It's given me a shake. I won't deny it. But
20:23
Speaker 1: look there, Meldrum, is that hand of yours? Mad or drunk?
20:26
Speaker 1: Or what is it? Old Patterson, the oldest man of
20:29
Speaker 1: my crew, and as steady as the pyramids, have been
20:31
Speaker 1: stationed in the bows with a boat hook to fend
20:33
Speaker 1: off the drifting logs which came sweeping down at the current.
20:37
Speaker 1: Now he stood with crooked knees glaring out in front
20:39
Speaker 1: of him, with one forefinger stabbing furilessly at the air.
20:42
Speaker 1: Look at it, he yelled, look at it. At that
20:45
Speaker 1: same instant we saw it, a huge black trunk was
20:48
Speaker 1: coming down the river. It's broad, glistening back, just laughed
20:51
Speaker 1: by the water. And in front of it, about three
20:53
Speaker 1: feet in front, arching upwards like the figurehead of a ship,
20:56
Speaker 1: there hung a dreadful face, swaying slowly from side to
21:00
Speaker 1: It was flattened, malignant, as large as a small beer barrel,
21:04
Speaker 1: and a faded, fungoid color but the neck which supported
21:07
Speaker 1: it was modeled with dull yellow and black. As it
21:10
Speaker 1: flew past the gamecock in the swirl of the waters,
21:12
Speaker 1: I saw two immense coils rope out of some great
21:15
Speaker 1: hollow in the tree, and the fill in his head
21:17
Speaker 1: rose suddenly to the height of eight or ten feet,
21:19
Speaker 1: looking with dull skin covered eyes at the yacht. An
21:23
Speaker 1: instant later, the tree had shot past us and was
21:25
Speaker 1: plunging with its horrible passenger toward the Atlantic. What was it,
21:28
Speaker 1: I cried? It is our fiend of the Couperridge, said
21:31
Speaker 1: doctor several and he had become in an instant the
21:33
Speaker 1: same bluff self confident man that he had been before. Yes,
21:37
Speaker 1: that is the devil who has been haunting our island.
21:39
Speaker 1: It is the great python of the Gaboon. I thought
21:42
Speaker 1: of the stories which I had heard all down the coast,
21:44
Speaker 1: of the monstrous constrictors, of the interior, of their periodical appetite,
21:48
Speaker 1: and of the murderous effects of their deadly squeeze. Then
21:51
Speaker 1: it all took shape in my mind. There had been
21:53
Speaker 1: afreshet the week before that it brought down the huge
21:56
Speaker 1: hollow tree with its hideous occupant. Who knows from what
21:59
Speaker 1: far distant tri Before it may have come. It had
22:02
Speaker 1: been stranded on a little east bay of the island,
22:05
Speaker 1: the coop, which had been the nearest house. Twice. With
22:07
Speaker 1: the return of its appetite, it had carried off the watchmen.
22:10
Speaker 1: Last night. It had doubtless come again when several had
22:12
Speaker 1: thought he had saw something move at the window, but
22:14
Speaker 1: our lights had driven it away. It had arrived onwards
22:17
Speaker 1: and had slain poor walker in leep. Why did it
22:20
Speaker 1: not carry him off? I asked, The thunder and the
22:23
Speaker 1: lightning must have scared the brute away. There's your steward, Meldrum.
22:26
Speaker 1: The sooner we have breakfast and came back to the
22:28
Speaker 1: island the better, or some of those niggers might think
22:30
Speaker 1: that we have been frightened. End of Chapter nine.