, 1923-04-25
SATAN
| BY
H. DE WE'RE STACPOOLE
oopydst, By R0SrM Mcbride Co.


For all the work Ratcilfe did. she
might have got the supper herself.
He was mostly in the Eay; but 1t was
the companionship that helped. Never
did two beings come together so well
or create more rapidly a little world
OF mutual interests out of the little
things of life, or a weaker being DOM
mate more completely the stronger.
can You make bread?" asked Jude
after he had filled the tin kettle for
her well. you'll have to learn"
She instructed him in the primI-
tive method Of bread making conduct
ed on board the Sarah Tyler, finish
ing up with the information that
hardtack would be their portion at
supper that night and breakfast next
morning. as she was up to the gun
nel' in other business. Among the
other things vas having to put a
patch on her trousers: not the ones
she was wearing, which were her next
best, but her worst. The old guern-
sey she was wearing was her second
best. Coats! Oh, coats were good
enough on Sunday or for going ashore
in, but no use much in a ship. except
an oilskin for dirty weather. Boots
the same; stockings the same. You
had to wear boots, of course, over
rocks and through stuff like that over
there on the island.
Satan, who lever put his hand to
mental work, maintaining, without the
least o%ffense, his position as captain
and owner, came down to upper Be
fore going on deck to smoke he point
ed out Ratcliffe's quarters for the
night. He was to have Pap's cabin,
the space divided off with a curtain.
Jude and he always slept in ham,
mocks slung in the Saloon"
Then, just as the moon was rising,
and after the things were washed up,
they sat on deck, smoking, listening
to the waves on the beach, and watch
ing fish jumping in the track of the
moon. They talked of fish, and to
Ratcliffe's mind two things became
apparent-Satan's profound, awful
knowledge of the sea and all that
lived therein, and his absolute indlf-
ference to sport. Satan fished for
food. Tarpon and tarpon fishermen
filled him with disgust and disdain.
You can't eat tarpon. and the guys
that came from New York and such
places and spent their days fighting
tarpon with a ten-ounce rod and a
21-thread line seemed to him bereft
of reason.
linda SITTING nm tho Ianly nnl y,nrJ
ing her pants by the light of the
moon. %concurred.
But it's the fun of the thing" saiG
Radcliffe; "it's the matching of ones
skill and strength against the fish"
He talked of the Joys of salmon fish
ing.
"what bait do you use for them?'
asked Satan.
"Flies."
Jude shrieked.
Not live flies" he explained
limitation ones" He tried TO de-
scribe artificial fly-making and fin
ished with n sense of failure As of one
who had entered the lists in defense
of a niggling form of business that
had yet a touch of humor in it.
Then they went to rest, and as he
lay in Pap's cabin, listening to the
occasional trickle of the water against
the planking and the grOan of the
rudder moved by the Tilt of the swell,
II seemed to him that daring in its
everyday and cold-blooded form could
not have carried n man much further
than Il had carried him. The hard
ness of Pap's bunk bedding told of
comforts renowned while the morals
of the Tylers, though good enough, no
doubt, had, ms disclosed In their con-
yersation. a touch OF the free lance
and n threat Of port authority troubles
and differences OF opinion with the
customs. What had made him re-
nounce the Dryad for the Sarah?
What. lying In his hard bunk. made
him contented with the exchange?
The love of adventure and the crav-
ing for something new contributed.
no doubt, but the main reason he felt
10 be the Tylers-Sutan with his
strange mentality and queer methods /;
Jude, unlike any other being he had
ever met.
Radcliffe was awakened by Jude
calling on him to SHOW a leg
.Satan's on deck" said Jude, "and
II you believe in washln' he'll give you
n swiIl with n bucket. Hurry up and
come down again, for I want n swill
myself. Swim? Not on your lifel
Sharks, that's why"
The voice came from n hammock
which he had Numbered against In the
scmidarkness. Then on deck after his
swill, drying himself with nm old
towel provided by Satan. he stood for
n moment watching the sun break
M through the water and the great
sea flashing to life and the white
gulls flying.
oh. the splendor OF being alive,