Henry Oyen

“ Once more the sound of George’s name on her tongue shocked me. Could she never get the man out of her head?
I picked aimlessly at a birch bough over my head, and each little budding leaf that I plucked away seemed like the tiny dreams which unconsciously had been in my mind all morning, and which now were driven away. The dreams that come to a man willy-nilly, without reason, without basis of hope. It probably was the stress of yesterday, the natural romance of a cave in the wilderness that were responsible. Well, I had that, anyhow; hours with Betty, in the sunlit, primitive woods. ”

“ But—Captain Brack had smiled. That smile stopped me. The appalling brutality of the captain’s mental processes had started within me a slow, steady flame. It was ghastly; the man’s expression had shown that he considered me a thing to play with! The brute had looked in my eyes, had stripped me to the marrow, read me for a weakling, and smiled, so that I might know that he had seen all! And the worst of it was that he was doing it with a mind which weighed me calmly, without prejudice, with scientific calmness.
It was not fair, it was not human. ”

“ Can you imagine anything more impotent than an unworshiped god? Man creates gods; not gods man. Men are absolutely indispensable to gods; but men can do very well without gods if it pleases them to do so.”
“Has it pleased you to do so, Captain Brack?” I asked.
“Decidedly so. I sail light. Men make a slavery of this job of existence because they encumber themselves with laws, gods, and so on. I decided long ago not to be a slave to gods or anything.” He turned upon me with his devilish smile. “Now, Mr. Pitt, it is easy to see, is a slave to his gods.” ”

“ Once or twice in my life I had taken whisky in sufficient quantity to cause me to experience thoughts, emotions, elations which did not properly belong in the normal, self-controlled Me. Now I experienced something of the same sensation. My mind was buzzing with a hundred swift impressions and conjectures upon Brack.
The picture I had beheld and the words I had heard through the swinging doors of Billy Taylor’s repeated themselves to me, and I felt the same sensation of a chill that I had felt upon recognizing in Brack the big man from the saloon. ”

“ A sight of the yacht, of any one, of Brack even, would have been a relief from the growing sensation that we had been left completely alone.
I went down to the bay and followed its indentations for more than a mile, making no effort at concealment, in another fruitless search for the yacht. I went over the ridge to the cabins and stood in the clearing before them and shouted recklessly. And when the hills had mockingly echoed back my futile shouts, I knew the calmness of resignation to the worst. We were alone, and we must exist, and escape, if escape we could, solely by our own efforts. ”

“ With my pistol in my hand I peered out of the cave, more than half expecting to find Brack calmly awaiting me with his tantalizing smile in its place. But no human presence disturbed the primitive peace of that hillside that morning. A covey of feeding grouse lifted their heads and looked at me without fear. Birds were singing, the sun was bright and warm, and down on the blue water of the bay a pair of tiny ducks played. ”

“ The City of Nome came to a stop a good distance away to port. A boat, well loaded with baggage, and with four oarsmen and an officer in place, was swung briskly out from the davits and dropped into the water. A slender, be-capped figure, sheathed in a coat that reached from chin to ankles, flashed down the ladder and leaped to a seat in the stern. Along the rail of the City of Nome ranged crew and passengers, waving and shouting farewells. The passenger in the boat stood up bowing, cap in hand, and at that a sharp-eyed seaman near me blurted out:
“Well, I’ll be ——! It’s a woman—a girl!” ”

“ I had no right to let George make any sacrifice for me. You—you were my man. Do you understand?”
“Yes, dear.”
“And when I called to poor Captain Brack that night, Gardy, I was calling to you with my heart. Oh! I was calling so to you. Do you understand that, too, dear?”
“Yes; yes!”
“And—and you heard, too, didn’t you, Gardy? You heard me, because you wanted to hear it, didn’t you? And when we came here this morning, and you were so far-awayish I was afraid you hadn’t heard at all. Oh, Gardy!” She looked up with eyes wet from happiness too great to be suppressed. “Isn’t life good to us? ”

“ The movements of the men of the watch, the sullen, slovenly manner in which they attended to their duties, reeked with menace. It seemed to me that the decks of the Wanderer merely hid a cauldron of seething elements, ready to explode and destroy.
Then Wilson came on deck to take the watch in Captain Brack’s absence, and at the sight of his trig seaman’s figure I felt assured. There was one man at least who had not lost his sense of duty toward ship and owner. The yacht might be a mad-house, surcharged with dangerous greed, but Wilson would do his duty as if nothing were out of the way. ”

“ But Fate persisted with its tantalizing pranks, for here was I, an outsider, still necessary in the task of bringing George and Betty to the haven of safety and happiness. The doctor would look after George; I felt sure that Chanler’s condition would keep him free from any cruelty by Brack. I would do my best to look after Betty.
She would be very happy, too. She had the faculty of happiness. That faculty was saving her from the torture of fear now; it would be a guarantee of future happiness for her and George. Verily, when a man forecasts a woman’s ways he is as a child! ”

“ Pitt, if you’ve a tender woman’s heart pining for you some place, better go send her your farewell message, ’cause cappy and I are going to make a wet evening of it until we sail in the interests of science! Glor-ee-ous, glorious science! Hah!”
I accepted his suggestion eagerly as a means to escape from the cabin. There was no woman pining for me; there was no woman in my life. I had no farewell message to send to any one. While Chanler, Brack and the doctor made merry over their bottle I sought the solitude of the upper deck. ”

“ We had little time to speculate on the problem of the Wanderer’s disappearance. After the first moment of stunned silence Chanler broke down, promptly and completely.
“Hang it, hang it!” he cried, striking the bow of the canoe with his paddle. “This is too much. Your fault, too, Gardy. Now find the yacht.”
“Steady, George!” I warned, as the light craft rocked dangerously. “You’re in a canoe, remember. Keep still.”
“Keep still, keep still! How d’you expect me to keep still? Isn’t this enough to make a man nervous. Hang it! I can’t keep still, I tell you. This is too much.” ”

“ All the considerations which cause men to fear danger I had put away. All the responsibilities which hold men to a cautious rôle in life had gone from me. My responsibility toward Betty would be discharged when I had removed for her the danger of Brack. And Betty cared so much for George Chanler that she wouldn’t have him risk his life for her, and consequently there was no reason why anything in the world mattered much to me. ”

“ It was a long day for us all in the cave. When darkness finally began to fall we greeted it with relief. Freddy, peering out at the darkening sky, said:
“Well, your prayers have been answered all right: it’s going to be dark enough to suit anybody. Now put me next, Brains; what’s your stunt?”
“Brack doesn’t know that I’ve got this pistol,” I said.
“What of it?”
“As he thinks I’m unarmed—helpless—he won’t be on his guard—when I go aboard tonight.”
“Oh!” It was Betty who exclaimed, but she smothered the exclamation with her hand.
“What you going to do when you get on board?” asked Pierce. ”

“ I laughed.
“I like you, Gardy; you’re a dear old fellow,” he continued, “but you mustn’t presume on our friendship and talk to me like that. I’ve got to let you out.”
“And I suppose I’m to pack my things and go?” said I. “Oh, come, Chanler; wake up. Try to see things with sane eyes. I don’t care whether I’m fired or whether we remain friends. We’re all on the same plane for the present; you, Miss Baldwin, myself, we’re in the hands of Captain Brack and the crew.” ”

“ And even granting that you know there is gold there—Captain Brack, you will pardon me—but it scarcely seems in keeping with your character to cheerfully sail a ship-load of people to this gold-field, where they will have an equal chance with you to enrich themselves.”
“No?” he said, and his smile was back in its place. “You have sounded my character then, have you, Mr. Pitt?”
“My dear captain! I am sure you hardly expect to impress even a casual observer as a man who would freely invite a crowd to share a gold find with him.” ”

“ The storm grew worse. A life-boat on the port side was torn loose from a davit and swung noisily along the side. Through the brawl of the storm Wilson’s voice rang out sternly, there was a rush of feet on the deck and suddenly men were swinging the boat back to its place, making it fast, while the wind and waves snatched at them hungrily. Then the decks were empty again.
The wind strove to force me back to the cabin, and with a new stubbornness I refused to go. ”

“ My senses had cleared now and I was sure that what I fancied I heard was simply the echo of Brack’s shot in my disordered mind.
I sank gratefully back toward the slumber that invited me, and then— Crack! Crack-crack! Crack-crack-crack! Up on the after deck a perfect splatter of shots which seemed echoed from a distance, drove the sleepiness from my head. ”

“ The sky had begun to clear to the eastward by now; a rift of clean blue Spring heaven was showing through the great pall of Winter-like gray clouds; and as I entered Chanler’s stateroom the sun broke through and relieved the ugly monotony of the raw day.
Chanler was trailing his mandarin-like dressing-gown behind him as he paced the room, and his face was not the face of a man at ease.
“Gardy,” he said, “I want to talk with you. Got to talk with you. Brack’s all right to drink with; Doc Olson doesn’t talk at all; you’re the only one fit to talk to on board. ”

“ The others were fascinated by the gold, and I was fascinated by the expression on their faces. Each face bore the same expression; to a man they had dropped such masks of civilization as they possessed, and greed, pure, primitive greed, shone frankly from their strangely lighted eyes.
Life—raw and crawling! Brack’s words flashed through my mind. He was right, then. Raw and crawling! It was the first time I had viewed the souls of men, naked and unashamed of their nudity, and the vision was appalling.
“Schwartz—Dillon,” Captain Brack spoke over his shoulder. “To the doctor. Jump!” ”

“ The power, the fascination, the dominant will of Captain Brack suddenly took on new possibilities. How would those terrible, compelling eyes affect a woman, a young girl? How had they affected her? For it was obvious that Miss Baldwin’s brief meeting with him had left its mark.
“He has,” said she, “such strange eyes.”
“Miss Baldwin,” I said, “when you came on board the crew practically was in a state of mutiny. Captain Brack sided with them. The crew is composed of a choice lot of brutes, ex-criminals, who may do Heaven knows what.” ”

“ I’m a weak, carefully reared and sheltered girl who must be treated as a child, sheltered from everything unpleasant, and lied to about—about the fact that she is in danger, because she has happened to attract a brute; and that your life is in danger because you’re hiding her.”
“But, really——”
“Well, you needn’t keep up the pretense, Mr. Pitt. I’ve known all the time. I’ve known better than you have; the woman can know better, you know, even if she is a girl. I’ve known ever since Captain Brack came toward me last night up there in the cabin. ”

“ Why did he run so swiftly across the open space of the beach? Why hide himself behind the boulder? It was not like Brack to run or hide. Then, considering the speech I had just heard, I understood. It was Slade and Harris that Brack and his men had come hunting, summoned by my pistol-shot, and the captain, knowing their deadly skill with the rifle, was not wishful to expose himself any more than was necessary.
“Betty,” I said swiftly, as the men came out upon the beach and tumbled into the boat, “they’re going away. It wasn’t us they were after. They’ve no idea we’re here. ”

“ True, Wilson was crippled, but if I had gaged the man’s character rightly it would have required more than a wounded leg to prevent his intervention in so colossal a piece of treachery. As for Pierce, with his terrible neckties and soul of gold, he would have died rather than allow Miss Baldwin to be treated in such fashion. More, he would be too clever to die; he would at least have escaped to join us.
The yacht must be somewhere in the fiord. Riordan would not have moved her without Brack’s orders. ”

“ Life—we can make it a free, glorious thing, or a gray, trapped affair, just as we choose. It is all a matter of courage. There is still much room in the world. It is not crowded except in spots. If we choose to remain in one of those crowded spots, or rather, if we are afraid to leave them, we must, of necessity, become one of the gray, trapped crowd, existing through a certain span of years without ever knowing what it is to be truly alive. But in the great open spaces people live—they are alive. ”

“ Sit down, Gardy, and talk. You can go, Riordan; I’ll have you in when Gardy’s winded.”
Riordan went, scowling at me, and I seated myself in the chair he had vacated.
“Chanler, there is no time for me to talk to you for your entertainment,” I began abruptly. “You’re sober now, you’re yourself, and you can’t shirk responsibility on the pretense of being incapacitated. Brack got Miss Baldwin to accompany him up to the mine with the lie that I was up there and had suggested that she come up. He is up there with her—alone. And the devil only knows what his plans are.” ”

“ They passed on, Brack toward the aft, Garvin toward the bow.
I looked at Pierce. He shivered slightly.
“I feel cold,” he whispered.
I looked up at Wilson. His eyes had widened a little. He swung around and began to pace the bridge. He knew what his duty was; he would do it no matter what went on between captain and crew.
“It’s getting chilly,” said Pierce.
We retired to the wireless house. Pierce shut the door and stared at me.
“Now what—now what do you make of that, Brains?”
I shook my head. I, too, felt inclined to shiver.
“Something’s wrong, Brains, something’s wronger than a fixed fight. ”

“ Isn’t it glorious to be alive!”
“And think of it!” I whispered. “We’re just beginning a new life—just beginning to live.”
“Yes,” she whispered, stroking my hand. “We’ve explored the hidden country.” Then she quoted Brack: “‘There is hidden country in all of us; and until we’ve explored it we don’t know what it is to live.’”
A silence fell upon us as deep, as primitive as the aged rocks about us, and ere we spoke again the Wanderer’s siren had sent its strident notes down the fiord warning us that it was time for luncheon.
“I suppose we must really go now,” sighed Betty as we rose. ”

“ What was this man? Was he the common creature of his thick jowls? or was he the developed man to whom belonged those eyes? Was that animal countenance but a mask? Or did the low instincts, which its lines betrayed, dominate, while the mind struggled in vain beneath such a handicap?
Those tiny eyes held mine and studied me cruelly. Before them I felt stripped to the marrow of my soul. My dreams, my weaknesses, my failures seemed to stand out like print for Brack to read. ”

“ I said hotly. “I thought I knew you, Chanler. I find I am mistaken.”
“By Jove, Gardy!” he repeated. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Oh, drop that! That’s a pose, Chanler, and this is no time for posing. A man has lost his life from your yacht, and you are relieved because that is all. What sort of a condition of affairs is this?”
“I didn’t think you had it in you, Gardy,” he repeated. “No, I didn’t think you’d dare to talk to me this way face to face.”
“Dare!” I cried, and he sat up and looked at me strangely.
“By Jove! Gardy, you’re growing. The sea air is doing wonders for you. ”

“ Pull yourself together and be the man she has been hoping all this time she would find you.”
“Hooray!” he whispered mockingly. “Go on, Gardy; you’re the boy who can say things. King’s peg,” he said to the steward who had come in.
“Wait!” I said. The man stopped. “Chanler, you’ve been overdoing it. You’re not yourself. You’ve done things that aren’t done; you’ve got to sober up and straighten them out.”
“Got to!”
“Yes; as a gentleman you’ve got to. Miss Baldwin’s happiness—perhaps her whole life’s happiness—depends on your being a gentleman from now on. For God’s sake man! ”

“ There came a horrible growl from Garvin’s throat, a piercing scream from the negro. Garvin had bitten deeply into the black’s ear.
I started back from the rail, every sense revolting, and found Brack studying me, the smile with which he favored me fixed on his lips.
“So? The stomach is not strong enough, Mr. Pitt? You feel a faintness. Yes; I have even seen delicate ladies lose consciousness under similar circumstances.” ”