The L'Anse sentinel., 1916-02-19


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 . part
of my thought processes and identi
fed It with myself, thought OF myself
as Hump, as though Hump were and
had always been I.
II was no easy task. waiting on the
cabin table, where sat Wolf Larsen.
Johansen and the six hunters. Tho
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 vas
the total lack of sympathy on the part
Of the men whom served. l could
feel my knee through my clothes
swelling and swelling. and was sick
and faint from the pain of 1t. could
catch glimpses OF my face. white and
CHASTITY, distorted with pain, in. tho
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 dishes). when he
said:
Don't let little thing like that
bother you. You'll get used to such
things In time. It may cripple you
some. but all the same you'll be learn
ing to walk.
That's what you call paradox.
isn't it?" he added.
He seemed pleased when l nodded
my head with the customary "Yes.
sir"
II suppose you know bit about lit
erary things? Eh? 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 l made
ur spare bunk. was glad to get out
OF the detestable presence of tho 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 tho Martinez. Under ordi.
nary circumstances. after all that I
had undergone, should have been Mt
for bed and trained nurse.
But my knee was bothering me ter
! ribly. AS we'll as l 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 It.
Looks nasty" he commented. "Tie
q rag around it and It'll be all right" T"
Like the savage, the attitude of
these men was stoical in great things.
childish in little things. I remember.
later in the voyage, seeing Kerfoot.
another of the hunters. lose finger
| by having It smashed to q Jelly. and
he did not even murmur or change the
expression on his face. Yet I have
seen the same man. time and again.
Hy into the most outrageous passion
over trine.
He was doing It now. vociferating.
believing. waving his arms, and ours.
ing like a fiend, and all because of q
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 bunks and left the discussion
to the two antagonists.
And they smoked. necessarily
smoked, using coarse cheap and Of
fensive- smelling tobacco. The air
was thick and murky with the smoke
Of Il. and this. combined with the vio
lent movement OF the ship AZ she
struggled through the storm, would
surely have made mo seasick. had
been a victim to that malady. A. II
was. II made me quite sQueamish
though this nausea might have beer
due to the pain Of my leg and exhaus
tion.
Il As I lay there thinking. naturally
dwelt upon myself and my situation
Il was unparalleled. undreamed-of
that !. Humphrey Van Weyden. I
scholar and . dilettante. II you please
In things artistic and literary, SHOULD
be lying here on . Bering sea seal-hunt
Ing schooner. Cabin-boyi had neve
done any hard manual labor. or scul
Hon labor. in my life My muscles wer'
small and soft. like woman's, or q
the doctors had said time and ag1il
in the course OF their attempts to pei
suade me to 50 IN for physical cultur
fads. But I had preferred to use "a.
head rather than my body. and her
IL was. In no At condition for the rougl
life in prospecE
These ere msrsly few Of the thing
that went through my mind and ar
related for the sats Of vindicatins my
!. self In advance IN the weak and helr
! less role vas destined 70 play. Blu
I thcaght also. Of my mother and sia
tefn. and pictured their grief. va
among he missing dead of the MAJ
! f1nGo disaster. on unrocovsred body
I cou11 ~ ne headlines n the ~
psrss tho Ss11oVu ne ~ University clul
) and tho Dibe1ot shaking their bad
n anA ooy1nG epoor 'chaD1~ And coul'