Morgan Robertson

“ The face of Sargent, pale and ghastly, had taken on an expression of horror and fright. He said nothing—merely staring at Waverlie piling up some books on the transom at his feet. Against these books Waverlie leaned the three pictures; then he propped up Sargent's head with pillows.
"There!" he said, as he stood back. "There is the face of the woman you love, the face of the woman you killed, and the face of the man you wronged. Look on them while you die."
Then he motioned me out of the cabin, and followed me. ”

“ But it did not lessen the growing gulf between himself and the jealous first mate; and one day at Charleston, when there was a little friction with the overworked and exhausted crew, the angry first mate twitted the mild-spoken Waverlie with cowardice in not treating the men as men deserved to be treated by competent second mates. Waverlie coolly invited him over the side to the dock, and there he thrashed him into half-consciousness, to the result that the disgruntled and humiliated mate quit the schooner. Waverlie took his berth, and a second mate was shipped in his place. ”

“ We'll see what kind of man I may become with power of life and death. Men change as they grow older. And, by-the-way, steward, express no surprise at any change you may see in my countenance. I mean to take the treatment I spoke of, one feature at a time. You will be the only one to know of it. I want no gossip. Understand?"
I understood. Miss Irene was a prize worth a little suffering for; yet when he came on board on the evening before we sailed, with his nose bandaged, and walked the cabin floor all the night, wheezing with pain, I marveled at his fortitude. ”

“ I determined on this course long before you first came aboard my old bark—before either of us knew Irene. I changed my features while waiting for my opportunity; I schooled myself in brutality, and when I took charge of this big ship I signed a crew that would be glad to scatter in a foreign port. I signed mates able to scatter them. Most of this crew will not see New York again. You will die, shortly, but you must not die in the hope of my punishment. I stood that punishment years ago, Bill Sargent. ”

“ Nine men out o' ten will do as they're told; the tenth may wait; but he'll do it."
There was something on Waverlie's mind—something too deep and heavy for confidence. Often during the last dog-watch, when work was done and he stood in his favorite spot near the weather-poop steps, gazing steadily over the sea, I could hear, as I passed him, his heavy breathing, hoarse and throaty, which in a smaller, weaker man would have been a succession of groans. ”

“ He "came around," as he had said, and we made another voyage, uneventful until within a day's sail of Sandy Hook, when he met with an accident. It came of his never-failing consideration of his crew's comfort; he forebore calling the watch below to wear ship in a wind and sea which made it a hard task for the watch on deck; but, with myself at the wheel so that the sailor could help at the braces, and the captain assisting as well, the bark came around and the yards were swung. ”

“ What progress he was making in Miss Irene's good favor I could not guess; but she seemed very friendly toward him, and I knew that he was a welcome caller at her home. I hoped for the best, and as I witnessed his excruciating agony on the next run to the southward, I felt that he deserved it. ”

“ Sargent. But Waverlie displayed no emotion; it required the presence of his rival to excite him.
In due time we were ready for sea, and the captain shipped three mates, all bigger, noisier, more profane and foul-mouthed than the two he had taken on his last voyage; then he negotiated with Glasgow Mike, boarding-house keeper and shipping-master—the worst scoundrel and blackguard on South Street—for twenty-four able and six ordinary seamen. After the first interview in the cabin, Mike appeared no more in the matter, the details being left to two runners in his employ. ”

“ The moment's glance I allowed myself showed me a picture of a sweet-faced, laughing girl of the blond type, and one of a well- dressed boy, with broad nose, thick lips, prominent ears, and earnest, honest expression of face. ”

“ He had one more voyage to make in the bark before the big ship building in a Maine ship-yard would need his supervision, and this voyage he made with a new crew, refusing to sign a single one of the men who had sailed so long with him. The mates were discharged with recommendations to the owner, and he would have discharged me had I permitted it. It took two days of argument and a downright refusal to quit to bring a reluctant change in his mind.
"But you must take what comes," he said. "I can't take a home crew out deep-water in a big ship with as many more strange men. ”

“ Mitchell," he called to the mate amidships. "I saw that. He was dead before he struck the water. Bring the murderer aft and put him in irons."
In the presence of the whole crew, Mr. William Sargent, a leading member of the New York bar, was ironed and led below to the lazarette, and under the name of George Smithers, with myself as witness, entered in the captain's official log for the murder of a shipmate—John Carruthers. He was put upon a diet of bread and water, and every fifth day given the full allowance of the crew, according to law. ”

“ At Boston he paid me the money loaned, packed his belongings, and left to visit his home, where, he said, he had not been since leaving school. I supposed I had seen the last of him, and was rather surprised when he appeared in less than a week and asked the skipper for his second-mate's berth. He was taken on, and we sailed for Aspinwall. ”

“ This is George Smithers"—he kicked one quiet figure on the deck, then the other—"and this is John Carruthers. Good men when they're sober, too."
The runners went into the cabin with the captain, and the mates ordered the newcomers carried to the forecastle. As they passed me at the galley door I looked at their faces. George Smithers was Mr. Sargent, dressed in filthy canvas rags, and John Carruthers was Glasgow Mike. ”

“ In caring for his clothing I often found programmes of vaudeville shows and music-halls, with literature pertaining to footlight favorites; for many a man of good instincts but no social position will take his entertainment where he can. ”

“ Unless you can make up your mind to see nothing, hear nothing, and know nothing of what happens aboard this ship, you must go. I will get one who is discreet."
I protested, apologized, and promised; then he went to bed, and I followed suit in an unenviable frame of mind. It is not pleasant to be disciplined when gray-headed by one you love as a son. And I soon learned the futility of my gossip. When we were fitted out and towed to New York to load for Hong Kong, the owner came aboard and casually mentioned the coming marriage of his daughter to Mr. ”