FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120  
121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   >>   >|  
another long sleep. The look of pain on his face lessened, a healthy glow appeared on his cheek, and he slept so soundly that I turned in--on the floor. I was awake along in the small hours of the morning, and heard my patient stirring, so I got up and drew the little curtain over the bulls-eye port--it was already daylight. I gave him a drink and a biscuit, and told him I would go to the cook's galley and get him some broth, but he begged to wait until breakfast time--said he felt refreshed, and would just nibble a sea biscuit. Then he ate a dozen in as many minutes. "Did you take care of my pack?" he said eagerly, throwing his legs out of the berth, and looking wildly at me. "Yes, it's all right; lie down and rest," said I; for I thought that to cross him would set him off his head again. "Do you know that dirty old pack contains more treasures than the mines of Africa?" "It don't look it," I answered, and laughed to get him in a pleasant frame of mind--for I hadn't seen nor heard of his pack. "Not for the little gold and other valuable things, but the proofs of a discovery as great as Columbus made, the discovery of a new continent, a new people, a new language, a new civilization, and riches beyond the dreams of a Solomon--" He shut his eyes for a minute, and then continued: "But beyond Purgatory, through Death, and the other side of Hell--" Just here Enoch came in to inquire after his health, and sat down for a minute's chat. Enoch is first, last, and all the time captain of a whaler; he knows about whales and whale-hunters just as an engineer on the road knows every speck of scenery along the line, every man, and every engine. Enoch couldn't talk ten minutes without being "reminded" of an incident in his whaling life; couldn't meet a whaleman without "yarning" about the whale business. He lit his pipe and asked: "Been whaling, or hunting the North Pole?" "Well, both." "What ship?" "The 'Duncan McDonald.'" "The--the 'McDonald!'--why, man, we counted her lost these five years; tell me about her, quick. Old Chuck Burrows was a particular friend of mine--where is he?" "Captain, Father Burrows and the 'Duncan McDonald' have both gone over the unknown ocean to the port of missing ships." "Sunk?" "Aye, and crushed to atoms in a frozen hell." Enoch looked out of the little window for a long time, forgot his pipe, and at last wiped a tear out of his eye, saying, as much to himself as
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120  
121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

McDonald

 

biscuit

 

Burrows

 

minutes

 

whaling

 

Duncan

 

minute

 

discovery

 
couldn
 

reminded


engine

 

incident

 

scenery

 

captain

 

continued

 

Purgatory

 

inquire

 
whales
 

hunters

 

engineer


whaler
 

health

 

unknown

 

missing

 

Captain

 

Father

 

crushed

 

forgot

 

window

 

frozen


looked

 

friend

 

hunting

 
whaleman
 

yarning

 
business
 

counted

 

begged

 

galley

 

breakfast


eagerly

 
refreshed
 
nibble
 
daylight
 

appeared

 

soundly

 
healthy
 

lessened

 

turned

 

curtain