Prev | Current Page 290 | Next

London, Jack

"The Sea-Wolf"

Forty- fifty- sixty feet of line ran out, when Wolf Larsen cried, 'Belay!' Oofty-Oofty took a turn on a bitt, the rope tautened, and the Ghost, lunging onward, jerked the cook to the surface.


? ? ? ? It was a pitiful spectacle. Though he could not drown, and was nine-lived in addition, he was suffering all the agonies of half-drowning. The Ghost was going very slowly, and when her stern lifted on a wave and she slipped forward, she pulled the wretch to the surface and gave him a moment in which to breathe; but after each lift the stern fell, and while the bow lazily climbed the next wave the line slackened and he sank beneath.


? ? ? ? I had forgotten the existence of Maud Brewster, and I remembered her with a start as she stepped lightly beside me. It was her first time on deck since she had come aboard. A dead silence greeted her appearance.


? ? ? ? 'What is the cause of the merriment?' she asked.


? ? ? ? 'Ask Captain Larsen,' I answered composedly and coldly, though inwardly my blood was boiling at the thought that she should be witness to such brutality.


Pages:
278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302