Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling (e manga reader .txt) đ
- Author: Rudyard Kipling
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âThe Jennie Cushman,â said Dan, hysterically, âcut clean in halfâgraound up anâ trompled on at that! Not a quarter of a mile away. Dadâs got the old man. There ainât any one else, andâthere was his son, too. Oh, Harve, Harve, I canât stand it! Iâve seenââ He dropped his head on his arms and sobbed while the others dragged a gray-headed man aboard.
âWhat did you pick me up for?â the stranger groaned. âDisko, what did you pick me up for?â
Disko dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder, for the manâs eyes were wild and his lips trembled as he stared at the silent crew. Then up and spoke Pennsylvania Pratt, who was also Haskins or Rich or McVitty when Uncle Salters forgot; and his face was changed on him from the face of a fool to the countenance of an old, wise man, and he said in a strong voice: âThe Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord! I wasâI am a minister of the Gospel. Leave him to me.â
âOh, you be, be you?â said the man. âThen pray my son back to me! Pray back a nine-thousand-dollar boat anâ a thousand quintal of fish. If youâd left me alone my widow could haâ gone on to the Provident anâ worked fer her board, anâ never knownâanâ never known. Now Iâll hev to tell her.â
âThere ainât nothinâ to say,â said Disko. âBetter lie down a piece, Jason Olley.â
When a man has lost his only son, his summerâs work, and his means of livelihood, in thirty counted seconds, it is hard to give consolation.
âAll Gloucester men, wasnât they?â said Tom Platt, fiddling helplessly with a dory-becket.
âOh, that donât make no odds,â said Jason, wringing the wet from his beard. âIâll be rowinâ summer boarders araound East Gloucester this fall.â He rolled heavily to the rail, singing:
âHappy birds that sing and fly Round thine altars, 0 Most High!â
âCome with me. Come below!â said Penn, as though he had a right to give orders. Their eyes met and fought for a quarter of a minute.
âI dunno who you be, but Iâll come,â said Jason submissively. âMebbe Iâll get back some oâ theâsome oâ the-nine thousand dollars.â Penn led him into the cabin and slid the door behind.
âThat ainât Penn,â cried Uncle Salters. âItâs Jacob Boiler, anââheâs remembered Johnstown! I never seed stich eyes in any livinâ manâs head. Whatâs to do naow? Whatâll I do naow?â
They could hear Pennâs voice and Jasonâs together. Then Pennâs went on alone, and Salters slipped off his hat, for Penn was praying. Presently the little man came up the steps, huge drops of sweat on his face, and looked at the crew. Dan was still sobbing by the wheel.
âHe donât know us,â Salters groaned. âItâs all to do over again, checkers and everythingâanâ whatâll he say to me?â
Penn spoke; they could hear that it was to strangers. âI have prayed,â said he. âOur people believe in prayer. I have prayed for the life of this manâs son. Mine were drowned before my eyesâshe and my eldest andâthe others. Shall a man be more wise than his Maker? I prayed never for their lives, but I have prayed for this manâs son, and he will surely be sent him.â
Salters looked pleadingly at Penn to see if he remembered.
âHow long have I been mad?â Penn asked suddenly. His mouth was twitching.
âPshaw, Penn! You werenât never mad,â Salters began âOnly a little distracted like.â
âI saw the houses strike the bridge before the fires broke out. I do not remember any more. How long ago is that?â
âI canât stand it! I canât stand it!â cried Dan, and Harvey whimpered in sympathy.
âAbaout five year,â said Disko, in a shaking voice.
âThen I have been a charge on some one for every day of that time. Who was the man?â
Disko pointed to Salters.
âYe hainâtâye hainât!â cried the sea-farmer, twisting his hands together. âYeâve moreân earned your keep twice-told; anâ thereâs money owinâ you, Penn, besides haâaf oâ my quarter-share in the boat, which is yours fer value received.â
âYou are good men. I can see that in your faces. Butââ
âMother av Mercy,â whispered Long Jack, âanâ heâs been wid us all these trips! Heâs clean bewitched.â
A schoonerâs bell struck up alongside, and a voice hailed through the fog: â0 Disko! âHeard abaout the Jennie Cushman?â
âThey have found his son,â cried Penn. âStand you still and see the salvation of the Lord!â
âGot Jason aboard here,â Disko answered, but his voice quavered. âThereâwarnât any one else?â
âWeâve fund one, though. âRun acrost him snarled up in a mess oâ lumber thet might haâ bin a focâsle. His headâs cut some.â
âWho is he?â
The âWeâre Hereâsâ heart-beats answered one another.
âGuess itâs young Olley,â the voice drawled.
Penn raised his hands and said something in German. Harvey could have sworn that a bright sun was shining upon his lifted face; but the drawl went on: âSa-ay! You fellers guyed us considârable tâother night.â
âWe donât feel like guyinâ any now,â said Disko.
âI know it; but to tell the honest truth we was kinderâkinder driftinâ when we run agin young Olley.â
It was the irrepressible Carrie Pitman, and a roar of unsteady laughter went up from the deck of the âWeâre Hereâ.
âHednât you âbaoutâs well send the old man aboard? Weâre runninâ in fer more bait anâ graound-tackle. Guess you wonât want him, anyway, anâ this blame windlass work makes us shorthanded. Weâll take care of him. He married my womanâs aunt.â
âIâll give you anything in the boat,â said Troop.
âDonât want nothinâ, âless, mebbe, an anchor thatâll hold. Say! Young Olleyâs gittinâ kinder baulky anâ excited. Send the old man along.â
Penn waked him from his stupor of despair, and Tom Platt rowed him over. He went away without a word of thanks, not knowing what was to come; and the fog closed over all.
âAnd now,â said Penn, drawing a deep breath as though about to preach. âAnd nowââthe erect body sank like a sword driven home into the scabbard; the light faded from the overbright eyes; the voice returned to its usual pitiful little titterââand now,â said Pennsylvania Pratt, âdo you think itâs too early for a little game of checkers, Mr. Salters?â
âThe very thingâthe very thing I was goinâ to say myself,â cried Salters promptly. âIt beats all, Penn, how ye git on to whatâs in a manâs mind.â
The little fellow blushed and meekly followed Salters forward.
âUp anchor! Hurry! Letâs quit these crazy waters,â shouted Disko, and never was he more swiftly obeyed.
âNow what in creation dâye suppose is the meaninâ oâ that all?â said Long Jack, when they were working through the fog once more, damp, dripping, and bewildered.
âThe way I sense it,â said Disko, at the wheel, âis this: The Jennie Cushman business cominâ on an empty stummickââ
âH-he saw one of them go by,â sobbed Harvey.
âAnâ that, oâ course, kinder hove him outer water, julluk runninâ a craft ashore; hove him right aout, I take it, to rememberinâ Johnstown anâ Jacob Boiler anâ such-like reminiscences. Well, consolinâ Jason there held him up a piece, sameâs shorinâ up a boat. Then, beinâ weak, them props slipped anâ slipped, anâ he slided down the ways, anâ naow heâs water-borne agin. Thatâs haow I sense it.â
They decided that Disko was entirely correct.
ââTwould haâ bruk Salters all up,â said Long Jack, âif Penn had stayed Jacob Boilerinâ. Did ye see his face when Penn asked who heâd been charged on all these years? How is ut, Salters?â
âAsleepâdead asleep. Turned in like a child,â Salters replied, tiptoeing aft. âThere wonât be no grub till he wakes, natural. Did ye ever see sech a gift in prayer? He everlastinâly hiked young Olley outer the ocean. Thetâs my belief. Jason was turâble praoud of his boy, anâ I mistrusted all along âtwas a jedgment on worshippinâ vain idols.â
âThereâs others jes as sot,â said Disko.
âThatâs difrunt,â Salters retorted quickly. âPennâs not all caulked, anâ I ainât only but doinâ my duty by him.â
They waited, those hungry men, three hours, till Penn reappeared with a smooth face and a blank mind. He said he believed that he had been dreaming. Then he wanted to know why they were so silent, and they could not tell him.
Disko worked all hands mercilessly for the next three or four days; and when they could not go out, turned them into the hold to stack the shipâs stores into smaller compass, to make more room for the fish. The packed mass ran from the cabin partition to the sliding door behind the focâsle stove; and Disko showed how there is great art in stowing cargo so as to bring a schooner to her best draft. The crew were thus kept lively till they recovered their spirits; and Harvey was tickled with a ropeâs end by Long Jack for being, as the Galway man said, âsorrowful as a sick cat over fwhat couldnât be helped.â He did a great deal of thinking in those weary days, and told Dan what he thought, and Dan agreed with himâeven to the extent of asking for fried pies instead of hooking them.
But a week later the two nearly upset the Hattie S. in a wild attempt to stab a shark with an old bayonet tied to a stick. The grim brute rubbed alongside the dory begging for small fish, and between the three of them it was a mercy they all got off alive.
At last, after playing blindmanâs-buff in the fog, there came a morning when Disko shouted down the focâsle: âHurry, boys! Weâre in taown!â
To the end of his days, Harvey will never forget that sight. The sun was just clear of the horizon they had not seen for nearly a week, and his low red light struck into the riding-sails of three fleets of anchored schoonersâone to the north, one to the westward, and one to the south. There must have been nearly a hundred of them, of every possible make and build, with, far away, a square-rigged Frenchman, all bowing and courtesying one to the other. From every boat dories were dropping away like bees from a crowded hive, and the clamour of voices, the rattling of ropes and blocks, and the splash of the oars carried for miles across the heaving water. The sails turned all colours, black, pearly-gray, and white, as the sun mounted; and more boats swung up through the mists to the southward.
The dories gathered in clusters, separated, reformed, and broke again, all heading one way; while men hailed and whistled and cat-called and sang, and the water was speckled with rubbish thrown overboard.
âItâs a town,â said Harvey. âDisko was right. It IS a town!â
âIâve seen smaller,â said Disko. âThereâs about a thousand men here; anâ yonderâs the Virgin.â He pointed to a vacant space of greenish sea, where there were no dories.
The âWeâre Hereâ skirted round the northern squadron, Disko waving his hand to friend after friend, and anchored as nearly as a racing yacht
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