Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1916-05-23


l began to -remble The old stom-
ach sickness clutched me- | put one
hand on the edge of the house to
| steady myself. My lips seemed sud-
denly dry and I moistened them
| against the need of speech. Nor did
for an instant take my eyes off him.
Neither of US spoke. There was some
/ thing ominous in his silence, his i'm
mobility. All my old fear of him re-
turned and by new fear was increased
hundred fold. And still we stood,
the pair of us, staring at each other.
was aware of the demand for &C.
| ton, and, my old helplessness strong
upon me, l was waiting for him to
take the initiative. Then, as the mo-
ments went by, it was at last i'm
pressed upon me that was there, not
to have Wolf Larsen take the initia-
tive, but to take it myself.
/ cooked both barrels and leveled
| the shotgun at him. Had he moved,
| attempted to drop down the compan-
ionway, l know | would have shot
/ AAAA LUZ AO cGOOO 1IOltOLlSSS anu
| staring as before. And as | faced
| him, with leveled gun shaking in my
! hands, l had time to note the worn
and haggard appearance of his face.
| 1t was as if some strong anxiety had
wasted it. The cheeks were sunken,
and there was a wearied, puckered
expression on the brow. And it
seemed to me that his eyes were
| strange, not only the expression, but
the physical seeming, as though the
optic nerves and supporting muscles
had suffered strain and slightly twist
ed the eyeballs.
All this | saw, and my brain now
working rapidly, thought a thousand
thoughts; and yet l could not pull the
triggers. l lowered the gun and
stepped to the corner of the cabin,
primarily to relieve the tension on
my nerves and to make new start,
and incidentally to be closer. Again
raised the gun. He was almost at
arms length. There was no hope for
him. l was resolved. There was no
possible chance of missing him, no
matter how poor my craftsmanship.
And yet l wrestled with myself and
could not pull the triggers.
"Well?" he demanded impatiently.
l strove vainly to force my fingers
down on the triggers, and vainly
strove to say something.
why don't you shoot?" he asked.
l cleared my throat of a huskiness
which prevented speech.
Hump" he said slowly, you can't
do it. You are not exactly afraid. You
are impotent Your conventional
morality is stronger than you. You
are the slave to the opinions which
have credence among the people you
have known and have read about
Their code has been drummed into
your head from the time you lisped,
and in spite of your philosophy, and
of what have taught you, it won't let
you kill an unarmed, unresisting man.
I know it," l said hoarsely.
And you know that l would kill an
unarmed man as readily as l would
smoke a cigar" he went on. You
know me for what | am-my worth
in the world by your standard. You
have called me snake. tiger, shark
monster, and Caliban. And yet, you
little rag puppet, you little echoing
mechanism, you are unable to kill me
as you would a snake or shark, be-
cause l have hands, feet, and body
I CHI cnro0xxrhat lilo Rah
had hoped better things of you
Hump"
He stepped out of the companion
way and came up to me.
Put down that gun. / want to
ask you some questions. l haven't
had a chance to look around yet
What place is this? How is the
Ghost lying? how did you get here!
Where's Maud? FL beg your pardon
Miss Brewster-or should l say, Mrs
Van Weyden'?"
had backed away from him, al
most weeping at my inability to shoot
him, but not fool enough to put down
the gun. l hoped, desperately. that
he might commit some hostile act, at
tempt to strike me or choke me; for
in such way only knew l could be
stirred to shoot.
This is Endeavor island" l said.
Never heard of it," he broke in.
AT least, that's our name for it,"
amended
"Our?" he queried. Who's our?"
Miss Brewster and myself And
the Ghost is lying, as you can see for
yourself, bow on to the beach"
There are seals here" he said
They woke me up with their barking
or I'd be sleeping yet. l heard them
when l drove in last night. They were
the first warning that l was on lee
shore. It's a rookery, the kind of 6
thing I've hunted for years. Thanks
to my brother Death, I've lighted on
a fortune. It's a mint. What's its
bearings?"
Haven't the least idea," I said
But you ought to know quite closely
What were your last observations?
He smiled inscrutably. but did not
answer.
We'll, where's all hands?" l asked
How does it come that you are
alone?"
was prepared for him again to
set aside my question, and was sur
prised at the readiness of his reply.
My brother got me inside forty
eight hours, and through no fault OF
mine. Boarded me in the night with
only the watch on deck. Hunters went
back on me. He gave them a bigger
lay. Heard him offering it. Did ii
right before me. OF course the crew
gave me the go-by. That was to be
expected. All hands went over the
side, and there ! was. marooned on
my own vessel. 1t was Deaths turn,
and it's all IN the family anyway"
But how did you lose the masts?"
asked.