Crittenden Marriott

“ Dorothy bowed haughtily. “Very well,” she returned. “I will wait. Now, will you kindly summon my friends. I wish to return to my ship.”
Forbes’ lips curved in a cruel smile. “Your ship, Miss Fairfax,” he echoed. “You have no ship. You and your companions abandoned the Queen of your own accord, and by the law of the sea she and everything on her became the property of any one who salvaged her. My men have taken possession of everything, including your abandoned trunks—which are now mine. You have no place to lay your head, and nothing in the world except what you have on your person. ”

“ To the great snake the resistance of a man’s body was as nothing. One unhampered constriction of its mighty coils would have crushed an ox. But the davit and the stanchion stood firm; not for nothing had they been planned to withstand the assaults of the sea. They held firm, while Howard, with starting eyeballs and slowly crushing chest, strove to beat back the forked death that flicked about his face.
The end could not be long deferred; yet the man fought on, as living things [188] will fight for life—life so common, life so cheap, yet so desperately clung to. ”

“ Slowly she rose again, and then into the weed. Howard could see its slimy fronds through the thick glass of the conning-tower. Slowly and more slowly it seemed to brush downward as the Seashark worked herself upward. Slowly and more slowly until all motion ceased, leaving the vessel still far below the surface.
With a shrug of his shoulders, Howard pulled a lever, and in quick response came the throb of the pumps beneath him as with powerful strokes they drove out the water-ballast and made the Seashark lighter. ”

“ Dorothy tried to smile. “Very well, then,” she particularized, “just give me a telegraph-office.”
“With pleasure. We have a complete outfit. I’m sorry to say, though, that the wires are not strung yet.”
“Then give me a boat and a—compass, isn’t it, that we need?”
“Those are about the only things we cannot furnish, Miss Fairfax. When sailors are forced to leave their ships, they invariably take the boats and the compasses with them. But why do you wish to leave us? It will be our constant study to make you happy. You shall have the best of everything, and your lightest wish shall be law.” ”

“ Dead! all of them. Some newly dead; others long dead; but all unburied, waiting in the haven of dead ships for the long-deferred end. The trees were not trees, but masts hung with ravelled cordage; the beaches were the black hulls of ships; and the white houses were deck-houses or patches of canvas.
[75] For a moment no one spoke. Dorothy stood staring, every muscle tense, while the tears dripped slowly from her distended eyes. Jackson’s mouth fell open; his pistol hand fell nerveless to his side. For the first time he realized the situation. ”

“ Tossing on the waves, just visible in the glowing light, were two of the ship’s boats, crowded with passengers. The nearest was already a hundred yards away, and rapidly increasing its distance. The guard stared at it hungrily.
“There goes our last chance!” he muttered.
Howard eyed the tiny craft dispassionately.
“Oh! I don’t know,” he said. “If that boat was your best chance, it was a slim one. Never mind, Jackson; take comfort from me. Nobody doomed to hang was ever drowned. I’ll send you home to your wife and babies yet—I suppose you have a wife and babies; people like you always do.” ”

“ Suddenly, with terrifying swiftness, came a sound and a shock that shook the Seashark from stem to stern. Simultaneously the black hull of a great ship showed across the path, not a hundred [251] feet away. There was no time to stop; no time to check the speed; scarcely time to deflect the course. But quicker than thought, quicker than lightning, automatically, Howard’s trained brain and hand met the danger.
The horizontal rudders sent the Seashark diving down, down, down, in a desperate endeavor to pass beneath the obstruction—down till Howard saw clear water in front of him. ”

“ Come, Jackson! Get Miss Fairfax out of this and back to the Queen. I’ll cover your retreat.”
But escape was not to be so easy. As Howard turned to face the sailors, Forbes struggled to his feet. His face was gray with rage and his words came thick.
[174] “You’ve won,” he gritted. “You’ve won. Take your prize.” Then his eyes fell on Dorothy and Jackson, now close to the edge of the deck. “Stop those two!” he yelled. “By Heaven, no one shall say Peter Forbes does not play fair. She’s chosen you, you infernal convict, and marry you she shall, here and now.” ”

“ Dorothy tried to laugh the words away, but could not. She told herself that all this was some horrible dream from which she would presently awake, but all the while she knew it was terribly real. The toils were closing round her fast. Her thoughts flew to Howard. He, she felt, would save her, if man could; but he was one, and Forbes and his followers were many. If it came to a struggle the result would be inevitable. What could she do? What could she do?
Forbes was watching her keenly. “You realize the situation now?” he continued. “For our own welfare we cannot permit you to remain single. ”

“ But Jackson, at least, changed his opinion the next morning when he came on deck and viewed the scene before him.
During the night the Queen, drawn by the same natural attraction that holds the planets in their sphere and brings floating [77] chips together in a basin, had taken its place with the dead ships. Under her counter lay a water-logged schooner; beside her rubbed a dismasted sailing-ship; over her submerged bow hung a tramp steamer, whose blackened masts, bare of cordage, gave evidence of the flames that had ravaged her. ”

“ But all was still save for a very faint, rustling sound impossible to locate—a sound like dry leaves whisking through a November night; a sound that made Howard’s hair stir upon his head. At two o’clock in the morning courage is rare, and never perfect.
Still Howard crept on until he reached a spot where a broken boat-davit was twisted across a stanchion. ”

“ Miss Fairfax rose from her steamer-chair and looked around her, then paused, awestruck. Down in the southeast a mass of black clouds darkened the day as they spread. Puffs of wind ran before them, each carrying sheets of spray torn from the tops of the waves; one stronger than the rest dashed its burden into Miss Fairfax’s face with little stinging cuts. The cry of the stewards, “All passengers below!” was not needed to tell her that the deck was rapidly becoming no place for women.
[25] III
An hour later the deck had grown dangerous, even for men. ”