Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1916-03-24
CHAPTER XIV.

l cannot say that the position of
mate carried with it anything more
joyful than that there were no more
dishes to wash. l was ignorant of the
simplest duties Of mate. and would
have Jared badly indeed had the sail
ors not sympathized with me. l knew
nothing of the minutiae of ropes and
rigging. of the trimming and setting Of
sails; but the sailors took pains to put
me to rights. Louis proving an espe-
cially good teacher. and | had little
trouble with those under me.
With the hunters it was otherwise.
Familiar in varying degree with the
sea, they took me as a sort of joke.
In truth, it was a joke to me that l.,
the veriest landsman, should be filling
the Office of mate; but to be taken as
joke by others was a different mat
ter. / made no complaint, but Wolf
Larsen demanded the most punctili-
Gus sea etiquette in my case-far
more than poor Johansen had ever
received; and at the expense of sew
eral rows, threats and much grum-
bling. he brought the hunters to time.
l was "Mr. Van Weyden" fore and
aft, and 1t was only unofficially that
Wolf Larsen himself ever addressed
me as Hump"
1t was amusing. Perhaps the wind
would haul a few points while we
were at dinner, and as left the table
he would say, Mr.. Van Weyden, will
you kindly put about on the port
tack?" And would 60 on deck. beck
on Louis to me, and learn from him
what was to be done. Then, a few
minutes later, having digested his in
structions and thoroughly mastered
the maneuver, would proceed to
issue my orders. remember an
early instance of this kind, when Wolf
Larsen appeared on the scene just
as l had begun to give orders. He
smoked his cigar and looked on qui-
city till the thing was accomplished,
and then paced aft by my side along
the weather poop.
Hump" he said-"I beg pardon, Mr..
Van Weyden-I congratulate you.
think you can now fire your fathers
legs back into the grave to him.
You've discovered your own and
learned to stand on them. A little
ropework. sailmaking and experience
with storms and such things. and by
the end of the voyage you could ship
on any coasting schooner"
1t was during this period, between
the death Of Johansen and the arri-
val on the sealing grounds. that
passed my pleasantest hours on the
Ghost. Wolf Larsen was quite con-
siderate, the sailors helped me, and I
was no longer in irritating contact
with Thomas Mugridge. And make
free to say, as the days went by, that
found was taking a certain secret
pride in myself. Fantastic as the stu
alton was-a landlubber second in
commando was, nevertheless, carry
ing it of well; and during that brief
time I was proud of myself, and
grew to love the heave and roll of the
Ghost under my feet as she wallowed
north and west through the tropic sea
to the islet where we filled our water
casks.
But my happiness was not unal.
loyed. 1t was comparative, a period
Of less misery slipped in between a
past Of great miseries and a future
Of great miseries. For the Ghost. so
far as the seamen were concerned.
was a hell-ship of the worst descrip-
ton. They never had a moments rest
or peace. Wolf Larsen treasured
against them the attempt on his life
and the drubbing he had received in
the forecastle; and morning, noon and
night. and all night as well. he de-
voted himself to making life unlivable
for them. Leach and Johnson were
the two particular victims of Wolf
Larsen's diabolic temper. and the look
OF profound melancholy which had