The Madison journal., 1915-12-25
CHAPTER vi.

BY the following morning the storm
had blown itself quite out and the
Ghost was rolling slightly on calm
sea without breath Of wind. The
men were all on deck and busy pre-
pairing their various boats for the sea-
sons hunting. There are seven boats
aboard. the captains dinghy. the six
which the hunters will use. Three, a
hunter, a boat puller. and boat
steerer. compose a boats crew. On
board the schooner the boat pullers
and steerers are the crew. The hunt
ers. too. are supposed to be in COM
mand of the watches. subject. always,
to the orders of Wolf Larsen.
All this. and more. l have learned.
The Ghost is considered the fastest
schooner in both the San Francisco
and Victoria fleets. In fact, she was
once a private yacht, and was built
for speed. Johnson was telling me
about her in a short chat | had with
him during yesterdays second dog
watch. He spoke enthusiastically
with the love for a fine craft such as
some men feel for horses.
Every man aboard, with the excep-
tion of Johansen. who is rather over
come by his promotion. seems to have
an excuse for having sailed on the
Ghost. Half of the men forward are
deep-water sailors, and their excuse is
that they did not know anything about
her or her captain. And those who do
know whisper that the hunters, while
excellent shots. we're so notorious for
their quarrelsome and rascally pro-
clivities that they could not sign on
any decent schooner
have made the acquaintance Of an.
other one of the, crew-Louis, he is
called, a rotund and jovial-faced Nova
Scotia Irishman, and a very sociable
fellow. prone to talk as long as he can
find a listener. In the afternoon
while the cook was below and asleep
and was peeling the everlasting po
tatoes. Louis dropped into the galley
for a yarn" His excuse for being
aboard was that he was drunk when
he signed. He is accounted one of the
two or three very best boat steerers
in both fleets.
"Ah. my boy".-he shook his head
ominously at me-"'tis the worst
schooner ye could iv selected. mol
were We drunk at the time as was |
Don't l remember him in Hakodate
two years gone. when he had a row
an shot four iv his men? An there
was a man the same year he killed
with a blow iv his fist An wasn't
there the governor of Kura island, an
the chief iv police. Japanese gentle
men, sir. an didn't they come aboard
the Ghost as his guests. a-bringin
their wives along-wee an pretty
little bits Of things like you see EN-
painted on fans. An as he was a-get
tin under way. didn't the fond hus
bands get left astern-like in their sam
pan, as it might be by accident? An
wasn't 1t a week later that the poor
little ladies was put ashore on the
other side of the island, with nothin
before 'em but to walk home acros,
the mountains on their weeny-teeny
little straw sandals, which wouldn't
hang together a mile? Don't know
IT'S the beast he is. this Wolf Lar
sen-the great. big beast mentioned In
Revelation; an no good end will he
ever come to. But I've said nothin' tc
ye. mind ye. I've whispered never q
word; for old. fat Louis1l live the voy
age out II the last mothers son OF
yez go to the fishes"
But IL he is so we'll known for wha,
he is" queried. how Is II that hs
can get men to ship with himT"