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35 - Sea Wolf by Jack London · Sea Wolf

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  Speaker 1: Public Domain. The Sea Wolf by Jack London, chapter thirty five.
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  Speaker 1: Next day the mast steps clear, and everything in readiness.
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  Speaker 1: We started to get the two top masts aboard. The
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  Speaker 1: main top mast was over thirty feet in length, the
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  Speaker 1: top foremast nearly thirty and it was of these that
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  Speaker 1: I intended making the shears. It was puzzling work fastening
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  Speaker 1: one end of a heavy tackle to the windlass, and
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  Speaker 1: with the other end fast to the butt of the
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  Speaker 1: fore top mast. I began to heave Maud, held the
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  Speaker 1: turn on the windlass and coiled down the slack. We
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  Speaker 1: were astonished at the ease with which the spar was lifted.
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  Speaker 1: It was an improved crank windlass, and the purchase it
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  Speaker 1: gave was enormous. Of course, what it gave us in
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  Speaker 1: power we paid for in distance. As many times as
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  Speaker 1: it doubled my strength, that many times was doubled the
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  Speaker 1: length of rope I heaved in. The tackle dragged heavily
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  Speaker 1: across the rail, increasing its drag as the spar rose
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  Speaker 1: more and more out of the water and the exertion
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  Speaker 1: on the windlass grew severe. But when the butt of
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  Speaker 1: the topmast was level with the rail, everything came to
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  Speaker 1: a standstill, I might have known it, I said, impatiently.
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  Speaker 1: Now we have to do it all over again. Why
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  Speaker 1: not fasten the tackle part way down the mast? Maud suggested,
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  Speaker 1: it's what I should have done it first, I answered, hugely,
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  Speaker 1: disgusted with myself, slipping off a turn, I lowered the
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  Speaker 1: mast back into the water and fastened the tackle a
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  Speaker 1: third of the way down from the butt. In an hour,
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  Speaker 1: what of this, and of rests between the heaving, I
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  Speaker 1: had hoisted it to the point where I could hoist
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  Speaker 1: no more. Eight feet of the butt was above the rail,
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  Speaker 1: and I was as far away as ever from getting
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  Speaker 1: a spar on board. I sat down and pondered the problem.
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  Speaker 1: It did not take long. I sprang jubilantly to my feet.
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  Speaker 1: Now I have it. I ought to make the tackle
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  Speaker 1: fast at the point of balance, and what we learn
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  Speaker 1: of this will serve us with everything else. We have
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  Speaker 1: to hoist a board once again. I undid all my
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  Speaker 1: work by lowering the mast into the water, but I
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  Speaker 1: miscalculated the point of balance, so that when I heaved,
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  Speaker 1: the top of the mast came up instead of the butt.
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  Speaker 1: Maud looked despair, but I laughed and said it would
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  Speaker 1: do just as well, instructing her how to hold a
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  Speaker 1: turn and be ready to slack away at command. I
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  Speaker 1: laid hold of the mast with my hands and tried
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  Speaker 1: to balance it inboard across the rail. When I thought
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  Speaker 1: I had it, I cried to her to slack away,
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  Speaker 1: but the spar rided despite my efforts and dropped back
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  Speaker 1: toward the water. Again. I heaved it up to its
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  Speaker 1: old position, for I had now another idea. I remembered
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  Speaker 1: the watch tackle, a small double and single block affair,
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  Speaker 1: and fetched it. While I was rigging it between the
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  Speaker 1: top of the spar and the opposite ran well. Wolf
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  Speaker 1: Larsen came on the scene. We exchanged nothing more than
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  Speaker 1: good mornings, and though he could not see, he sat
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  Speaker 1: on the rail out of the way, and followed by
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  Speaker 1: the sound all that I did again instructing mud to
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  Speaker 1: slack away at the windlass. When I gave the word,
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  Speaker 1: I proceeded to heave on the watch tackle slowly. The
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  Speaker 1: masts swung in until it balanced at right angles across
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  Speaker 1: the rail. And then I discovered, to my amazement, that
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  Speaker 1: there was no need for mud to slack away. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the very opposite was necessary, making the watch tackle fast
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  Speaker 1: I hove on the windless and brought in the mast
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  Speaker 1: inch by inch till its top tilted down to the neck,
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  Speaker 1: and finally its whole length lay on the deck. I
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  Speaker 1: looked at my watch. It was twelve o'clock. My back
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  Speaker 1: was aching sorely, and I felt extremely tired and hungry.
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  Speaker 1: And there on the deck was a single stick of
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  Speaker 1: timber to show for a whole morning's work. For the
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  Speaker 1: first time, I thoroughly realized the extent of the task
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  Speaker 1: before us. But I was learning. I was learning the
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  Speaker 1: afternoon would show far more accomplished, and it did, for
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  Speaker 1: we returned at one o'clock, rested and strengthened by a
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  Speaker 1: hardy dinner. In less than an hour, I had the
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  Speaker 1: main top mast on deck, and I was constructing the shears,
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  Speaker 1: lashing the two top masts together and making allowance for
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  Speaker 1: their unequal length. At the point of intersection, I attached
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  Speaker 1: the double block of the main throat halliards. This with
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  Speaker 1: the single block, and the throat halliards themselves gave me
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  Speaker 1: a hoisting tackle to prevent the butts of the masts
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  Speaker 1: from slipping on the deck. I nailed down thick cleats
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  Speaker 1: everything in readiness I made a line fast to the
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  Speaker 1: apex of the shears and carried it directly to the windlass.
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  Speaker 1: I was growing to have faith in that windlass, for
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  Speaker 1: it gave me power beyond all expectation. As usual, Maud
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  Speaker 1: held the turn while I heaved. The shears rose in
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  Speaker 1: the air. Then I discovered I had forgotten guy ropes.
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  Speaker 1: This necessitated my climbing the shears, which I did twice
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  Speaker 1: before I finished guying it for an aft and to
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  Speaker 1: either side. Twilight had set in by the time this
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  Speaker 1: was accomplished. Wolf Larsen, who had sat about and listened
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  Speaker 1: all afternoon and never opened his mouth, had taken himself
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  Speaker 1: off to the galley and started his supper. I felt
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  Speaker 1: quite stiff across the small of my back, so much
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  Speaker 1: so that I straightened up with an effort and with pain.
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  Speaker 1: I looked proudly at my work. It was beginning to show.
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  Speaker 1: I was wild with desire, like a child with a
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  Speaker 1: new toy, to hoist something with my shears. I wish
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  Speaker 1: it weren't so late, I said, I'd like to see
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  Speaker 1: how it works. Don't be a glutton, Humphrey Mud chided me.
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  Speaker 1: Remember tomorrow is coming, and you are so tired now
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  Speaker 1: that you can hardly stand. And you, I said, with
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  Speaker 1: sudden solicitude, you must be very tired. You have worked
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  Speaker 1: hard and nobly. I am proud of you, Maud, not
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  Speaker 1: half so proud as I am of you, nor with
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  Speaker 1: half the reason, she answered, looking at me straight in
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  Speaker 1: the eyes for a moment, with an expression in her
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  Speaker 1: own and a dancing, tremulous light which I had not
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  Speaker 1: seen before, and which gave me a pang of quick delight.
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  Speaker 1: I know not why, for I did not understand it.
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  Speaker 1: Then she dropped her eyes to lift them again, laughing.
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  Speaker 1: If our friends could see us now, she said, look
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  Speaker 1: at us. Have you ever paused for a moment to
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  Speaker 1: consider our appearance? Yes, I have considered yours frequently, I answered,
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  Speaker 1: puzzling over what I had seen in her eyes, and
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  Speaker 1: puzzled by her sudden change of subject mercy. She cried,
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  Speaker 1: And what do I look like? Pray a scarecrow, I
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  Speaker 1: am afraid, I replied. Just glance at your draggled skirts,
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  Speaker 1: for instance, Look at those three cornered tears, and such
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  Speaker 1: a waste. It would not require a Sherlock Holmes to
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  Speaker 1: deduce that you have been cooking over a camp fire.
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  Speaker 1: To say nothing of trying out seal blubber, and to
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  Speaker 1: cop it all that cap and all that is. The
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  Speaker 1: woman who wrote a kiss endured. She made me an
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  Speaker 1: elaborate and stately courtesy, and said, as for you, sir.
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  Speaker 1: And yet through the five minutes of banter which followed,
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  Speaker 1: there was a serious something underneath the fun which I
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  Speaker 1: could not but relate to the strange and fleeting expression
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  Speaker 1: I had caught in her eyes. What was it? Could
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  Speaker 1: it be that our eyes were speaking beyond the will
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  Speaker 1: of our speech. My eyes had spoken, I knew, until
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  Speaker 1: I had found the culprits out and silenced them. This
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  Speaker 1: had occurred several times. But had she seen the clamor
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  Speaker 1: in and understood, and had her eyes so spoken to me?
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  Speaker 1: What else could that expression have meant? That dancing, tremulous light,
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  Speaker 1: and a something more which words could not describe. And
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  Speaker 1: yet it could not be. It was impossible. Besides, I
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  Speaker 1: was not skilled in this speech of eyes. I was
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  Speaker 1: only Humphrey van Wade, a bookish fellow who loved and
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  Speaker 1: to love and to wait and win love. That surely
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  Speaker 1: was glorious enough for me. And thus I thought, even
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  Speaker 1: as we chaffed each other's appearance until we arrived ashore,
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  Speaker 1: and there were other things to think about. It's a shame,
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  Speaker 1: after working hard all day that we cannot have an
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  Speaker 1: uninterrupted night's sleep, I complained after supper. But there can
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  Speaker 1: be no danger now from a blind man, she queried.
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  Speaker 1: I shall never be able to trust him. I have
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  Speaker 1: ad and far less now that he is blind, and
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  Speaker 1: the liability is that his part helplessness will make him
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  Speaker 1: more malignant than ever. I know what I shall do tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: The first thing, run out a light anchor and kedge
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  Speaker 1: the schooner off the beach. And each night, when we
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  Speaker 1: come ashore in the boat, mister wolf Larsen will be
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  Speaker 1: left the prisoner on board. So this will be the
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  Speaker 1: last night we have to stand watch, and because of
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  Speaker 1: that it will go the easier. We were awake early
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  Speaker 1: and just finishing breakfast. As daylight came. Oh umphree, I
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  Speaker 1: heard Maud cry in dismay, and suddenly stop. I looked
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  Speaker 1: at her. She was gazing at the ghost. I followed
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  Speaker 1: her gaze, but could see nothing unusual. She looked at me,
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  Speaker 1: and I looked inquiry back the shears, she said, and
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  Speaker 1: her voice trembled. I had forgotten their existence. I looked again,
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  Speaker 1: but could not see them. If he has, yes, I
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  Speaker 1: muttered savagely. She put her hand sympathetically on mine and said,
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  Speaker 1: you will have to begin over again. Oh, believe me,
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  Speaker 1: my anger means nothing. I could not hurt a fly,
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  Speaker 1: I smiled back bitterly. And the worst of it is
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  Speaker 1: he knows it. You were right. If he has destroyed
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  Speaker 1: the shears, I shall do nothing except begin over again.
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  Speaker 1: But I'll stand my watch on board hereafter, I blurted
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  Speaker 1: out a moment later. And if he interferes, but I
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  Speaker 1: dare not stay ashore all night alone, Maud was saying.
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  Speaker 1: When I came back to myself, it would be so
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  Speaker 1: much nicer if he would be friendly with us and
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  Speaker 1: help us. We could all live comfortably aboard. We will,
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  Speaker 1: I asserted, still savagely, for the destruction of my beloved
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  Speaker 1: shears had hit me hard. That is, you and I
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  Speaker 1: will live aboard, friendly or not with wolf Larsen. It's childish,
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  Speaker 1: I laughed later, for him to do such things, and
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  Speaker 1: for me to grow angry over them for that matter.
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  Speaker 1: But my heart smote me. When we climbed aboard and
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  Speaker 1: looked at the havoc he had done. The shears were
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  Speaker 1: gone altogether. The guys had been slashed right and left.
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  Speaker 1: The throat halliards which I had rigged were cut across
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  Speaker 1: through every part, and he knew I could not splice.
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  Speaker 1: A thought struck me. I ran to the windlass. It
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  Speaker 1: would not work. He had broken it. We looked at
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  Speaker 1: each other in consternation. Then I ran to the side.
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  Speaker 1: The masts, booms and dafts I had cleared were gone.
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  Speaker 1: He had found the lines which held them and catch
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  Speaker 1: them adrift. Tears were in Maud's eyes, and I do
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  Speaker 1: believe they were for me. I could have wept myself.
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  Speaker 1: Where now was our project of remasting the ghost? He
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  Speaker 1: had done his work well. I sat down on the hatch,
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  Speaker 1: combing and rested my chin on my hands in black despair.
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  Speaker 1: He deserves to die, I cried out, and God forgive me.
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  Speaker 1: I am not man enough to be his executioner. But
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  Speaker 1: Maud was by my side, passing her hand soothingly through
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  Speaker 1: my hair, as though I were a child, and saying, there, there,
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  Speaker 1: it will all come right. We are in the right,
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  Speaker 1: and it must come right. I remembered Michelai and leaned
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  Speaker 1: my head against her, and truly I became strong again.
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  Speaker 1: The blessed woman was unfailing font of power. To me,
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  Speaker 1: what did it matter? Only a setback, a delay. The
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  Speaker 1: tide could not have carried the masts far to seaward,
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  Speaker 1: and there had been no wind. It meant merely more
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  Speaker 1: work to find them and tow them back. And besides
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  Speaker 1: it was a lesson. I knew what to expect. He
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  Speaker 1: might have waited and destroyed our work more effectually when
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  Speaker 1: we had more accomplished. Here he comes, now, she whispered.
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  Speaker 1: I glanced up. He was strolling leisurely along the poop
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  Speaker 1: on the port side. Take no notice of him, I whispered.
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  Speaker 1: He's coming to see how we take it. Don't let
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  Speaker 1: him know that we know we can deny him that satisfaction.
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  Speaker 1: Take off your shoes, that's right, and carry them in
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  Speaker 1: your hand. And then we played hide and seek with
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  Speaker 1: the blind man. As he came up the port side,
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  Speaker 1: we slipped past on his starboard, and from the poop
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  Speaker 1: we watched him turn and start aft on our track.
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  Speaker 1: He must have known somehow that we were on board,
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  Speaker 1: for he said good morning very confidently, and waited for
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  Speaker 1: the greeting to be returned. Then he strolled aft, and
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  Speaker 1: we slipped forward. Oh, I know you're aboard, he called out,
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  Speaker 1: and I could see him listen intently after he had.
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  Speaker 1: It reminded me of the great hoodowl listening after its
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  Speaker 1: booming cry for the stir of its frightened prey. But
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  Speaker 1: we did not stir, and we moved only when he moved.
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  Speaker 1: And so we dodged about the deck hand in hand,
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  Speaker 1: like a couple of children chased by a wicked ogre.
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  Speaker 1: Till Wolf Larsen, evidently in disgust, left the deck for
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  Speaker 1: the cabin. There was glee in our eyes and suppressed
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  Speaker 1: titters in our mouths as we put on our shoes
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  Speaker 1: and clambered over the side into the boat. And as
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  Speaker 1: I looked into Maud's clear brown eyes, I forgot the
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  Speaker 1: evil he had done, and I knew only that I
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  Speaker 1: loved her, and that because of her the strength was
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  Speaker 1: mine to win our way back to the world. End
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  Speaker 1: of chapter thirty five