The Last Entry

men?' shouted Mr. Vanderholt. 'I am sorry if

t: 'Tweed, help me to put that scoundrel in i

your hands, men! This is my ship! I am m

rder!' shrieked

cted man; and, catching hold of his daughter's a

with his immensely thick arms covered with hair, arrows and crucifixes. 'I've been wanting the killing of you t

were on fire; his skin was a ghastly white; and his fingers worked like those of one who plays a piano. His breath flew from him in sharp, quite a

the companion-hatch. His right ha

lor, and was a man at sea when you were boys.

lling of this ship, you had the paying of him; and was there ever

alongside, clipped the dog over th

ing deck of his vessel. He was petrified. He stared a

ge of life and letters, his years, his great fortune, should be thus addressed by a brute of the sea, a scab, a we

saw him, three or four-Scott, Toole, Allan, and another-flung themselves upon him. The irons were sen

in, crying this out in a voice frightful to hear with i

hoot!' shouted Vanderholt, pulling out a revolver, a six-barrelled

wrestling. A fourth rushed in; he was Simon Toole. He yelled

u!' shouted Mr. Vanderholt. '

e pulled the trigger. The flash, the report, was followed by a dying groan,

rled it. He flung it with the rage and meaning of murder, standing not a couple of fathoms away

Captain Glew, falling upon one

and they answered him. You would have thought that they were breeding some fresh hellish scene of bloodshed am

pointing to the figure of the dy

m,' said Allan, nodding at the body o

' yelle

' said Scott, stoop

hispered C

ain at the instant, and the r

with a face of sudden horror

ar to the dyin

d filled a pannikin which stood handily by the side of the dipper, and, li

the sun,' mutt

e just now devils, carried the captain aft into the shelter of the awning, wh

in a deep groaning voice. 'This is a swinging matter. What's to be done? I

Maul. 'He's only stunned. Hasn't a man a right to fight for his

s daughter,' e

dow of the brim and under the fluff of hair about her brow, looked twice their usual size-strained,

wly. Legg, at the helm, with

uldn't have got messing about with f

m, or, if she did,

ing a low wailing or moaning noise a

to him, miss. 'Twas hi

ith white eyes, half-closed, at the sky. He had fallen as though shot through the heart. A great, livid weal, dreadful to see, b

ng round at the men, and speak

It's not right the young lady shoul

him aft, followed by Miss Vanderholt, who often staggered as she

!' said one

it?' the

made n

her knees beside him, she began to free his throat. 'He may only b

w he'll come to all right, if

otive was to strike the revolver out of his hand before he could send a second shot. It was him that killed the mate;' and

wl, into which she splashed cold water from a decanter, and for a quarter of an hour she ceaselessly bathed his face and head. He never stirred. Not the least sigh escaped him. She could not find hi

has been stunned. If I sit here patiently,

hooner? What would they do with her? Terrors shook her; t

stood that her father had shot the mate, and that Captain Glew had been assassinated-if he was dead, she was alone in th

on was beginning to work in them. They had gone fearfully and tragically far beyond the unformed wrathful

d pillowed on the rolled-up ensign, was the corpse of the captain. These were sights, coupled with the thought of the dead man below, to

elieved at the

othed; her white breasts of canvas were swelled with the blue gushing of the wind; her jibs yearned at their

his naked, burnt arms on his breast, and leaning against the side of his li

e and stood

he shouted, lifting up his two great hands, with a wild melodramatic gesture, to the heavens. 'I couldn't tell you why, but there was hate of us as sailor-men in the very turn of the ro

olver which yet lay upon the deck. 'There was no mistaking the meaning in his face. I'd pulled

ere moralizing ain't going to help us. Are them

home? 'Ere's Bill for chucking of two warm bodies overboard. Feel their pulses, or try

e boatswain savagely. 'That man th

sailing to?'

eyes slowly travelling over the little ship, 'I'm dum

f hate and horror at the countenance of the dead man. This was a picture to handsomely symbolize one large, old, red tradition of the Merchant Service. Are there any Glews left? So long as they remain

in letting 'em lie here to shock the female, should she come

mall tarpaulin, a

getting on, I wonder

stiff in death on a sofa locker; his daughter sat beside him, inclined forwards, restin

door, holding a council upon their condition and prospects. There was the hurry of nerve in their speech, and agai

something to eat.

ing something to

lt's revolver, and, whilst he examin

runk. I vow to God the first man that falls insensible I'll chuck overboard. We're murderers and pirates-d'ye know that?' he roared, with a ferocious look at the men-a look that might have convinced shrewder perceptions than those about him that he was going mad-'and we're to take care, if we don't want to swing, that we're not found out. Can ye guess what swinging's like? Many's the t

ged, and we don't mean to do it. And who's a-going to fall down dead d

, turning to Gordon, 'you know the ropes aft. Bring something fo

g any drink?'

y got down the

e cases of b

' said the boatswain. 'Joe, go

about their deck-house door, passing and repassing each other in short look-out walks, th

and delicate cabin eatables out of the pantry. It was broiling hot. Mike Scott at the helm bawled to them

of?' asked the boatswain, foll

iss. The men are hungry, and want food, and I've come to fetch 'em some-food and a little beer. What can I get for you, miss?" says I. "This is the luncheon-hour. Let me spread the table for you." She shook, and held ou

now all hands had swarmed into the deck-house-'Maul

own upon their chests, and ate and drank, one taking a plateful of food to

and the sea waved in dull shades of satin and silver in winding dyes of faint violet and glassy brightness, as though a

for ourselves?' said the boatswain, who sat on a chest with a

nd 'am?' Whatever it is, it's

this 'ere bottle for me

d dispose of her, and then disperse?' said Allan, the cook

'ud come aboard, us men 'ud be marched off into a fortress, and lie in cells fourteen or twenty foot under the sea. There o

for kaping on the say, and being

n, and stick to it. What

ul. 'How it came about, I mean? Then s

m not at all sure that the right tack don't lie in our up and telling the truth,

out of that bloke's knife,' said Dabb, with

e!' exclaimed the Irishman. 'Brothers, I'm thinking Joe there would have m

ut up tobacco, and then they lurched to the galley to light their pipes. Th

y, fanning sweet draughts athwartships. The boatswain wal

er heading for the Equator. I'm for g

ettled?'

thi

side there. Him in the cabin's alone enough to take the curl out of a man's spirit. To think of him, with half a fathom of de

' answered the boatswain. 'B

id o'

s of them bodies had jockeyed the yard-arms of

erocity, 'the least I like is murdered bodies. Why don't ye get 'em cleared out overboard, Jim, and sweeten the little

rpaulin, pulled it aside, an

aid he, with a shi

Captain Glew, blind with death, threatened them as malevolently as in life, with his upper lip lifted and stiffened, exposing a snarling grin

ain, a leather pocket-book, a silver-mounted, wooden pipe, a bunch of keys, and other odds and e

heir cabins,' said the boatswain.

ury 'em in their c

ith a significant glance at the s

vertheless, continued to smoke, and the bubbles which flashed to the surface were as lasting a memorial of

d heave, in a delicate blue film, with feelers and crawlers of the

l hands came together in the gangway close beside the bulwark-rail, whenc

ere's it to carry u

, anyhow,' answer

just that sort of craft which is sure to excite notice. "Hallo," they sings out, "a yac

ther to the s'uth'ard,' sa

emperature. So the helm was put hard up, and the little vessel wore. When the ropes had been coiled down and the decks cleared, the boatswain called Gordon and Scott,

ied. Now, the three of us had better go below, with sail-cloth and twine, and stitch him up to the satisfaction of his daughter. I'd give this hand,' said he, holding up a pa

f us as there was balls i

found something to rally him in that thought. 'Le

ghastly hue of the blow that had killed him was fading

boatswain, 'whilst th

took me!' Miss Vanderholt stood near him. She was painfully white, and her eyes were swollen almost to concealment. Yet anyone capable of interpreting human expression must have found a subtle token of resoluti

him?' she exclaimed, in

wain, rearing himself, and

ad a prayer from the servic

her, shaking their heads,

, whilst the lady says a prayer by his side. It'll do him more good than any praye

kissed him, then, weeping silently, went to th

TNO

il, and is used for making a rope fast to. When of wood it is