The Arvada enterprise., 1916-08-10

of Hump" which Wolf Larsen had
called me from the poop. Thereafter.
! fore and aft, ! was known by no other
name. until the term became a part
of my thought processes and | identi
fled it with myself, thought of myself
as Hump. as though Hump were | and
had always been l.
II was no easy task. waiting on the
cabin table. where sat Wolf Larsen.
Johanscn and the six hunters. The
| cabin was small. to begin with, and to
move around. as | was compelled to.
was not made easier by the sChooner's
violent pitching and wallowing But
what struck me most forcibly was
the total lack of sympathy on the part
of the men whom | served. | could
feel my knee through my clothes
! swelling and swelling and | was sick
| and faint from the pain of It. ! could
catch glimpses of my face. white and
ghastly. distorted with pain. in the
cabin mirror All the men must have
seen my condition. but not one spoke
or took notice of me. till ! was almost
! grateful to Wolf Larsen. later on Il
was washing the dishcs). when he
| said:
Don't let little thing like that
| bother you. You'll get used to such
things in time. 1t may cripple you
some, but all the same you'll be learn.
| ing to walk.
That's what you call a paradox
isn't it, he added.
He seemed pleased when | nodded
my head with the customary Yes
sir"
Il suppose you know n bit about lit
erary things? Eth? Good. I'll have
some talks with you sometime"
And then, taking no further account
of me. he turned his back and went
up on deck.
That night, when | had finished an
endless amount of work. was sent to
sleep in the steerage. where | made
up spare bunk. | was glad to get out
of the detestable presence of the cook
and to be off my feet. To my surprise,
my clothes had dried on me and there
seemed no indications Of catching cold,
either from the last soaking or from
the prolonged soaking from the foun.
dering OF the Martinez. Under ordl
nary circumstances, after all that
had undergone. should have been fit
for bed and trained nurse.
But my knee was bothering me ter
ribly. AS well as could make out
the kneecap seemed turned up on
edge in the midst of the swelling. As
sat in my bunk examining It (the
! six hunters were all in the steerage
smoking and talking in loud voices).
Henderson took passing glance at II
Looks nasty" he commented Tie
a rag around it and it'll be all right {"
Like the savage. the attitude Of
these men was stoical In great things
childish in little things. | remember
later In the voyage. seeing Kerfoot.
another OF the hunters. lose finger
by having II smashed to Jelly. and
he did not even Rurmur or change tho
expression on his face. Yet | have
seen the same man. time and again
ny into the most outrageous passion
over triiie.
He was doing 1t now. voCIferating
believing. waving his arms. and ours
ing like n hend. and all because OF n
disagreement with another hunter as
to whether seal pup knew instinc
lively how to swim.
For the most part. the remaining
four hunters leaned on the table or lay
In their hunks and left the discussion
to the two antagonists
a,I a I,,a. |, 4,
smoked. using coarse cheap and of
fensive,smelling tobacco, The air
was thick and murky with the smoke
OF II. and this. combined with the vio
lent movement OF the ship as she
struggled through the storm. would
surely have made me scasick, had |
been n victim to that mnlady. As II
was. /, made me quite sQueamish
though this nausea might have been
due to the pain OF my leg and cAhaus
ton.
As lay there thinking | naturally
dwclt upon myself and my situation
|, was unparalleled undrcamod OF
that /, Humphrey Van Wcyden, u
scholar and dilcttnntc. II you please
] III lUlUkN llllNllt anu lN'lhTNs FUNuiI
be- lying here on llcrine sea seal hunt
Ing schooner. Cnbln.boy' had never
done any hard manual labor. or scul
lion labor In my life, My muscles were
small and soft, like womans, or 80
the doctors had said time nnd again
IN the course OF their attempts to per
suadc me TO go In for physical culture
fahs But | had preferred TO rs" my
head rather than my body. and here
| was In no NJ condition for the rough
life In prospect.
These are merely a few OF the things
that went through my mind and are
related for the sake OF vindicntlng my
self IN advance In the weak and help
less role I was destined to play. But
| thought. also. OF my mother and sis
tcrs and pictured their grief was
among the missing dead OF the Mar
tincs disaster, an unrccoyorcd body
| could see tho headlines In the pa
. Tho fRtinua a, tho t'ptyYraIt, .t d