Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-06-21
VIII.
Wrecking of the Golden Horn.

VIII.
Wrecking of the Golden Horn.
Percy barrow. unexpected, made his first
| visit to us the very next evening. He
| sauntered in with Mexican corn-husk
| cigarette between his lips. carrying a Ian
tern: blew the light out and sat down with
| a careless greeting. as though he had seen
1 us only the day before.
| ''Hullo, boys" said he, been busy"
How are ye, sir?" replied Handy Solo
mon. Good Lord. mates look at that,'
Our eyes followed the direction of his
| forefinger Against the dark blue of the
| evening sky to nOrthward glowed a faint
| phosphorescence. arch shaped. from which
shot. with pulsating regularity. long shafts
Of light. They beat almost to the zenith.
| and back again. a half dozen times. then
| the whole illumination disappeared with the
| suddenness of gas turned out.
| Now l wonder what that might be-
| marveled Thrackles
| Northern lights hazarded Pull i've
seen them almost like that in the Behring
| seas"
Northern lights your eyer sneered
| Handy Solomon. You may have seen them
| in the Behrng seas. but this far
south. and in August. and you can kiss the
1 Book on that"
What do you think sir?" Thrackles In
| quired Of the assistant.
|
| briefly. THE islands a little queer I've
| noticed 1t before"
| 'Debbil fire." repeated the Niger.
barrow turned directly to him
Yes. devils fire: and devils. too. for all
| know: and certainly vampires. Did you
| ever hear Of vampires. doctor?"
! mo" growled the Niger.
| We'll. they are women. wonderful. beau
| tiful women. man on a long voyage
| would just smack his lips to them.
They have shiny gray eyes. and lips red as
| raspberries. When you meet them they
| will talk with you and go home with you.
| And then when you're asleep they tear a
! little hole in your neck with their sharp
claws. and they suck the blood with their
i red lips When they aren't women. they
| take the shape Of big bats like birds" He
| turned to me with so beautifully casual an
| air that 1 wanted to clap him on the back
| with the joy of it.
| by the way. Eagen. have you noticed
| those big bats the last few evenings, over
| by the cliff? I can't make out in the dusk
\ whether they are vampires or just plain
! bats He directed his remarks again to
the Niger. Next time you see any Of
those big bats. doctor. just you notice
| close. II they have just plain. black eyes
\ they're all right: but If they have gray
| eyes. with red rims around EN-. they're
vampires. l wish you'd let me know. if
| you do find out. It's interesting"
| Don get me near no bats growled the
Niger.
| he stays ABOARD, HaSIeHeu TO say.
| Wants to keep an eye on the ship"
That's laudable. What have you been
| doing?"
We've been cleaning ship. Just finished
yesterday evening"
What next?"
1--WE were thinking of wreckng the Golden
| Horn.
| "Quite right Well, if you want any help
with your engines or anything of the sort,
| call on me-
| He arose and began to light his lantern.
Il hope as how you're getting on well
there above. sir?" ventured Handy Solo
| mon nsnuatingly.
| Very well. l thank you. my man. re-
piled Percy barrow drily. Remember those
| vampires. DOCTOR
| He swung the lantern and departed with
| out further speech. We followed the spark
| of it until it disappeared in the arroyo
Behind US beloved the sea; over against
us in the sky was the dull threatening glow
| of the volcano; about us were mysterious
noises of crying birds, barking seals, rus
| Ting or rushing winds. 1 felt the throng-
ing ghosts of all the old worlds supersti-
| ton whirling madly behind us in the eddies
| that twisted the smoke of our fire.
| We wrecked the Golden Horn. Forward
| was a ruSted-out donkey engine which We,
| took to pieces and put together again 1t
was mean job. for all the running parts
| had to be cleaned smooth, and with the
| ception Of documentary knowledge or the
| part of Pull and Perdosa. We Were igno-
| rant. In fact we should not have succeeded
| L
| and his lantern. The first evening We took
| him over to the cliffs edge he laughed
aloud.
| "Jove. boys how could you guess it all
wrong" he wondered.
With a few brief words he set us right,
| Pulz. Perdosa and listening intenty: the
others Indifferent in the hopelessness of be-
| ing able to comprehend. OF course, we
went wrong again in our next days expert
| mentS; but barrow was down two or three
times a week. and gradually we edged to-
ward practical result.
His explanations consumed but a few mo-
ments. After they were finished We adj
journed to the fire.
| Thus we came gradually to a better &C
quaintance with the doctors assistant. In
| many respects he remained always a puzzle
| to me. Certainly the men never knew how
| to take him. He was evidently not only
| unafraid of them, but genuinely Indifferent
| to them.
| Yet he displayed certain interest in their
| needs and affairs His practical knowledge
| was enormous. l think / have told you of
| the completeness Of his arrangements
| everything had been foreseen from grind
stones to gas nippers. The same quality of
| concrete speculation showed him what we
| lacked In our own lives.
There was. you remember. the matter
| of Handy Solomon's steel claw. He showed
| Thrackles a kind of lanyard knot that
| deep-sea person had never used. He taught
| Capt. Selover how to make soft soap out of
4 one species of seaweed Me he initial ed in
Our camp itself he reconstructed scien-
| tific lines that we enjoyed less aromatic
| smoke and more palatable dinner. And all
| of it he did amusedly as though his ideas
| We're almost too obvious to need communi-
cation.
| We became in a manner intimate with
| him. He guyed the men in his INDECENT
fashion. playing their credulity. their
good nature even their forbearance. They
| alternately grinned and scowled. He left al
ways confused impression. so that no one
| really knew whether he cherished ranCor
| against Percy Darrow or kindly feeling.
| The Niger was Darrow's especial prey.
! The assistant had early discovered that the
| cook was given to signs, omens and super
| Stitions.
| From a curious scholars lore he drew
| fantasies with which to torment his vic
| tim. He heard of all the witches. warlocks.
| incubi. succibi. harpies devils. imps and
| haunters of Avitchi. from all the teachings
| of history, sacred and profane. Hindu.
| Egyptian. Greek. medieval, Swedenborg.
| Rosicrucan, theosophy, theology. with
! Ia ounce of horror mystery