Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1916-03-03
CHAPTER X.

The Ghost has attained the south
ernmost point of the arc she is de-
scribing across the Pacific. and is al
ready beginning to edge away to the
west and north toward some lone
island. it is rumored. where she will!
fill her water casks before proceeding
to the seasons hunt along the coast OF
Japan. The hunters have experiment
ed and practiced with their rifles and
shotguns till they are satisfied. and
put their boats in apple-pie order-to
use Leach's homely phrase.
His arm. by the way. has healed
nicely. though the scar will remain all
his life. Thomas Mugridge lives In
mortal fear of him. and is afraid to
venture on deck after dark. Louis
shakes his head obviously over the
outlook for the man Johnson. who has
collided two or three times with Wolf
Larsen over the pronunciation OF his
name. Johansen he thrashed on the
amidships deck the other night. since
| which time the mate has called him
by his proper name. But OF course 1t
is out of the question that johnson
should thrash Wolf Larsen.
Louis has also given me additional
information about Death Larsen.
which ITALICS with the captains brief
description. We may expect to meet
Death Larsen on the Japan coast.
And look out for squalls" is Louis
I hot
like the wolf whelps they are" Death
Larsen is in command of the only seal
| ing steamer in the feet. the Mace
donia. which carries fourteen boats.
whereas the rest Of the schooners
carry only six.
AS 1t is forward and in the galley.
so 1t is in the steerage and aft. on this
veritable hell-ship. Men fight and
struggle ferociously for one another's
lives The hunters are looking for
shooting scrape at any moment be-
tween Smoke and Henderson. whose
old quarrel has not healed. while Wolf
Larsen says positively that he will kill
the survivor of the affair. II such af
fair comes of. think even the hunt
ers are appalled, at his cold-blooded
ness. Wicked men though they be.
they are certainly very much afraid
of him.
Thomas Mugridge is curlike in his
subsection to me. while / go about in
secret dread of him. His Is the cour-
age of fear-a strange thing ! know
well of myself-and at any moment 1t
may master the fear and impel him
to the taking of my life. My knee is
much better. though 1t often aches for
long periods. and the stiffness is grad
ually leaving the arm which Wolf
Larsen squeezed.
was amused. a couple Of evenings
back, by seeing Wolf Larsen reading
the Bible. q copy OF which had been
found in the dead mates sea-chest.
! wondered what Wolf Larsen could
get from it. and he read aloud to me
from Ecclesiastes. | can hear him now
as shall always hear him. the primal
melancholy vibrant in his voice as he
read.
There you have it. Hump" he said
closing the book upon his finger and
looking up at me. THE Preacher who
was king over Israel in Jerusalem
thought as / think. All Is vanity and
vexation of spirit There Is no prof,
under the SUM- There Is one event
unto ALL to the fool and the wise. the
clean and the unclean. the sinner and
the saint. and that event is death. and
an evil thing. he says. For the Preach
er loved life. and did not want to die
saying, For living dog is better than
a dead lion. He preferred the vanity
and vexation to the silence and un
movableness of the grave. And SO
To crawl is piggish: but to not crawl
to be as the clod and rock. is loathsome
to contemplate Life itself is unsat
isfaction. but to look ahead to death IL
greater dissatisfaction"
ITO BE CONTINUEDJ
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