The herald., 1897-08-22
Donkin did not conceal his delight. v


were dismayed.
Then illogical Belfast reproached our
niger with great fury.
James Wait, with his elbow on the
pillow, choked. gasped out: did ask
you to bone the drafted thing? Blow
your blamed pie. 1t has made me worse
you little Irish lunatic, you!"
Belfast. with scarlet face and trem-
bling lips, made dash at him. Every
man in the forecastle rose with a shout.
There was a moment of wild tumult.
Some one shrieked piercingly: Easy,
Belfast! Easy!" We expected Belfast
to strangle Wait without more ado.
Dust flew. We heard through it the
niggers cough. metallic and explosive
like a gong. Next moment we saw Bel
fast hanging over him.
| He was saying plaintively: DON'T!
Don't, Jimmy! Don't be like that An
angel couldn't put up with ye-sick as
we are" He looked round at us from
Jimmys bedside, his comical mouth
twitching. and through fearful eyes.
| Was James Wait frightened, or
/ touched, or repentant? No! Decidedly
James Wait was not touched or repen-
tant. Truth to say, he seemed rather
startled. He sat up with incredible
suddenness and ease.
"Ah! You think I am bad, do you?"
he said gloomily, in his clearest bari
tone voice Ito hear him speak some
times you would never think there was
anything wrong with that mani. DO
you? Well. act according! Some of
you haven't sense enough to put a
blanket ship-shape over a sick man.
|
howl"
| Belfast turned away Imply with a
gesture of Encouragement In the si-
lence of the forecastle, full of interested
men. Donkin pronounced distinctly,
"Well, I'm blowed" and sniggered
| Wait looked at him. He looked at him
| in a quite friendly manner. Nobody
could tell what would please our incom-
prehensible invalid. But for us the
scorn of that Singer was hard to bear.
Donkin's position in the forecastle
was distinguished but unsafe. He stood
on the bad eminence of a general dis
like. He was left alone. And in his
isolation he could do nothing but think
Of the gales of the Cape of Good Hope
i and envy us the possession of warm
clothing and waterproofs. Our sea-
boats, our oilsllin coats. our well-filled
sea a-chests. were to him so many causes
for bitter meditation. He had none of
those things, and he felt instinctively
that no man, when the need arose,
would offer to share them with him.
He was impudently cringing to us .and
Systematically insolent to the officers
He anticipated the best results, for
himself, from such line of conduct
and was mistaken. Such natures for
get that under extreme provocation
men will be just-whether they want to
be so or not. He was pitiless; told
Jimmy that he was "black fraud"
hinted to us that we were an imbecile
| lot, daily taken in by n vulgar niger.
And Jimmy seemed to like the fellow!
Sullivan lived untouched by human
emotions. Taciturn and unsmiling, he
breathed amongst us-in that alone re-
sembling the rest of the crowd. We
were trying to be decent chaps. and
found it 3olly difficult. We oscillated
between the desire of virtue and the
fear of ridicule. We wished to save
ourselves from the pain of remorse, but
did not want to be made the contemp-
tble dupes of our sentiment. Jimmy's
hateful accomplice seemed to have
blown with his impure breath un-
dreamt-of subtilities into our hearts
We We're disturbed and cowardly
That we knew. Sullivan seemed tc
know nothing, understand nothing. We
had thought him till then as wise as
he looked, but now we dared, at times
suspect him of being stupid-from ole
age.
One day, however, at dinner, as we
sat on our boxes round a tin dish that
stood on the deck within the circle oi
our feet, Jimmy expressed his general
disgust with men and things in words
that were particularly disgusting. Sui
livan lifted his head. We became mute
The old man. addressing Jimmy, asked
'Are you dying?" So interrogated
James Wait appeared horribly startled
and confused. We all were startled
Mouths remained open; hearts thump-
ed; eyes blinked. A dropped tin fork
ratified in the dish. A man rose as II
to go out, and stood still. In less thar
minute Jimmy pulled himself togeth-
er.
why? Can't you see am?" he an
swered shakily.
Sullivan lifted piece of soaked bis
cult ("his teeth'-he declared-"had nc
edge on them now") to his lips. "Well
get on with your dying" he said with
venerable mildness; don't raise a
blamed fuss with us over that job. We
can't help you." Jimmy fell back in his
bunk, and for a long time lay very still
wiping the perspiration off his chin.
On deck we discussed the Incl
dent in whispers. One of the young
Scandinavians, much tormented by
doubt, ventured in the second dog
watch to approach Sullivan (the old
man did not encourage us much to
speak to him) and ask sheepishly, ''You
think he will die?" Sullivan looked up
'Why, of course he will die" he said
deliberately, "and so will you"
We were appalled,. We began to hate
Sullivan for making fun of us. All our
certitudes were going. We suspected
Jimmy, one another, and even our very
selves. We did not know what to do.
At every insignificant turn of our hum
BILE life we met Jimmy, overbearing and
blocking the way. arm-in-arm with his
awful and yelled familiar. 1t was a
weird servitude.
1t began a week after leaving Bonn
bay and came on us stalthily, like any
other great misfortune. Every one had
noticed that Jimmy from the first was
very slack at his work. But we thought
it simply the outcome of his philosophy
of life. Donkin said, you put no more
| ,,-,;oI,l IN ,.opa than b1oo6v Snar-