Bertram Atkey

Name: The Man Who Knew
Author: Bertram Atkey

The Man Who Knew (1909)

Summary

“The Man Who Knew”, published in 1909, is a work by Bertram Atkey. It explores elements such as Macklan, sharks and captain.

Quotes from The Man Who Knew (Bertram Atkey)

Bertram Atkey, The Man Who Knew (1909)

“ Had I been in command of the ship there would have been no wreck, no fear, no death. I knew. It was so obvious. The folly of it—the gross, criminal folly.” He wrung his iron-stained hands, and rocked to and fro. “The man was a coward—it was in his eyes, his mouth, his chin, the movement of his eyebrows, his hands.” He seemed to catch sight of me for the first time.
“The most obvious type in the world is the cowardly type,” he said. “Like the man Macklan—a slender, prying man, who used to laugh unnecessarily when the other men in the fo'c'sle saw nothing to laugh at.” ”

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Source: Wikisource

Bertram Atkey, The Man Who Knew (1909)

“ The man who had coughed sat upon a bowlder at the foot of the cliff. He was old, I fancied, but his beard was a sort of greasy purplish red. Those who have seen the earth about an iron mine will know the color. His hair was of the same hue, and it fell down over his ear in straight, lank locks—like the tails of eels. There was a gloss to it, I remember—a red, oily gloss. His eyes were quite black, and I do not desire to see again a face so unutterably white as this man's face was. He wore clothes—I was unreasonably surprised at this—and they, too, were red with the redness of iron ore. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Bertram Atkey, The Man Who Knew (1909)

“ There was something human about the sea. It reared itself up from under the ship. A day passed, and the darkness closed on us, and the sea behind grew angry and enormous. Cliffs—precipices—huge and foaming. And it grew and grew, towering. At dawn, like a little naked thing crouching at the foot of a mountain, I said to myself, 'Now! It is now that we shall see!'
“I could no longer see the tops of the waves—the walls of water—that swung up behind us. They were high up in the skies. And I clung on to wait for Macklan—for Macklan's trick at the wheel. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Bertram Atkey, The Man Who Knew (1909)

“ The captain must have seen—at last—for he began to shout, running aft.
“'For God's sake, hold her!' he screamed.
“But he was too late, for Macklan had left the wheel and was running like a madman from that mighty wave. And then it broke over the ship, and I was under the water for ten thousand years as it seemed. And all that time men struggled and choked and drowned, but no man was at the wheel. So the ship broached and the waves beat her to pieces.”
The man on the rock crumbled a fragment of soft ore to powder in his red fingers. “And beat her to pieces,” he repeated. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Bertram Atkey, The Man Who Knew (1909)

“ The ship Gratitude sailed from London for Dunedin in October, 1900, in the afternoon—and I was the only man with brains aboard her. The others were the sailors that work sailing ships in the twentieth century. I was the passenger. For my health, they said, as I remember it; to build me up. I told the captain that the man Macklan was weak and a coward, a man with an unhealthy soul. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Bertram Atkey, The Man Who Knew (1909)

“ And they knew—these devils—they knew in their cowardly hearts that they could capsize that little boat. It was so small. And I knew, also—and Macklan knew. And all of them. But only I knew what was in my own heart. They tried to frighten the sharks with splashings of the water, but the beasts accustomed themselves to the noises and grew bolder.
“Twice the boat heeled—heeled to the very water's edge. Slowly the land came nearer. We heard the sound of breaking waves, but the hosts of sharks were closing in. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Bertram Atkey, The Man Who Knew (1909)

“ At times he would appear to become aware of me, and at these times he would throw me a scrap of the tale or jerk out a query to which he did not await a reply.
“The secret of all success is the ability to distinguish between types of men,” he began in a nervous whisper. “It is the Key. ”

Bertram Atkey

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Quotes from The Man Who Knew (Bertram Atkey)

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