Roger Starbuck

“ Towering above the try-works, with his tall, lithe figure drawn back, and his keen, glistening eyes blazing with a deadly purpose, stood the savage, Driko, holding in his uplifted hands a well-sharpened harpoon, which he was in the act of darting, point foremost, into the corpulent body of Stump.
The latter had so much respect for the wonderful skill of the islander in the use of the barbed weapon with which he was now armed, that he drew back, screening himself behind the mast, with a celerity which was remarkable in a man of his caliber. ”

“ Putting three people in a stove boat is about as unreasonable a thing as can be imagined, seeing as to go down isn’t to go up. You are a parfect humbug, Captain Lark!”
“Silence!” said Lark, sternly, “you are an ignoramus and don’t know any thing about my laws, which I again tell you are all founded upon the great principle of equal rights. This is my ship—you came aboard of it—you rebel against my authority—and I set you adrift in a stove boat to punish you for the mutiny, which is perfect justice, and would be understood as such by any person who, like me, believes in equal rights.” ”

“ The noise became louder every moment, and presently the ears of the young man were saluted with the creaking of ropes, the dull flapping of canvas, and the murmur of voices. An instant afterward the broad black bows and the square foresail of a ship loomed up indistinctly through the fog, a few fathoms ahead of the boat, which lay directly in the track of the vessel. ”

“ Grasping the lower part of the main chains, and drawing himself to the rail, he sprung upon the deck, to be confronted by the mutineer, who drew from one of the pockets of his Guernsey a heavy pistol, which he pointed at the head of the youth.
“You’ve got yourself into a hornet’s nest, youngster. It might have been better for you if you had stuck to the ice!”
“Ay, ay,” said Marline, with perfect coolness, as he fixed his clear, unwavering eye upon the face of the giant. “You have the advantage of me, at present, and can murder me if you wish, but you will swing for it in the end.” ”

“ As he spoke, he seized the hand that Alice extended to him, and helped her into the vessel—his heart throbbing with delight as he listened to the praises that she lavished upon the simple accommodations which had been prepared for her.
“It is almost as warm and snug here,” she said, when she had seated herself, “as the cabin of the Montpelier.”
“My eyes!” whispered Stump in Harry’s ear, “it’s a raal pleasure to do any thing for this gal; she takes every thing so ship-shape and sailor-like!” ”

“ Eager to soothe the young girl with the news of her lover’s safety, he hurried forward until he had gained the side of the boat, when he hastily threw aside the end of the tarred cloth that covered it. To his astonishment and dismay, the vessel was empty!
Little did the harpooner imagine this as he moved onward over the floating bergs. Hope made his step light and his heart buoyant. The horn was still being blown, and he doubted not that he would soon reach the boat. ”

“ Stump slipped at the same moment, falling upon his back, and the next instant the bear, which had paused for a few seconds, seemingly for the purpose of twisting its half-severed head into its natural position, was about to throw itself upon the prostrate man, when Marline plunged his sheath-knife into the creature’s stomach, drawing the edge—“Norwegian fashion”—along its belly, and ripping open the flesh. ”

“ Every one of the mutineers halted. The sight of Stump’s weapon, and the rifle in Marline’s hand, had not been anticipated by these men. They looked at one another in surprise, and even seemed disposed to beat a retreat.
Observing these signs of indecision, the resolution of the harpooner was formed in an instant. Motioning to Stump to follow him, he suddenly leaped over the barricade, and coolly advanced toward the party, with the muzzle of his piece directed toward them.
“Put down your arms, and return to your duty—every man of you!” he cried, sternly, “if you value your lives! ”

“ And Stump rolled up the provision again, and dropped it into the boat, muttering rapidly to himself in an undertone:
“That’s the way with ’em—ay, ay, that’s the way with them lovers the world over. They live on moonlight when they’re together, and on grief when they are separated, and it’s only when they find themselves a-dying for the want of nourishment, that they pitch into the provisions.”
In order, however, to carry out the deception he had commenced, the shipkeeper now crawled into the boat, remarking that he should try a little nap after his meal. ”

“ Then again turning to Marline, he continued:
“It took us as long, if not longer, to get out of the ice than to get in, but, we got clear at last, and Spooner had just given orders to the men to take to their oars—for he intended to make for the shore—when suddenly we heard, ahead of us, a sound like the rushing of a ship through the water. The crew were then made to stop pulling, and we were a-sitting with our oars apeak, when, my eyes! what should come looming out of the fog, and making straight for us, but the Montpelier itself!” ”

“ I’d lay down my life for her any moment—ay, more than that, I’d give her my pigtail if such a present would do her any good. But you’ll be brought to justice, Captain Lark. Them that acts like you, must be brought to justice in the end!”
“Amen!” answered Lark, ironically, and at that instant his attention was drawn to another quarter by the sudden loud flapping of the ship’s canvas against the masts. ”

“ I hope I haven’t committed murder—I hope he isn’t dead!”
“He’s only stunned, I guess,” replied Marline. “He’ll soon come to his senses.”
“You think he will?” cried Stump, twitching his pigtail a little nervously. “You think he’ll broach to again? My eyes! seeing as that’s the case, then I think it would be as well to take time by the forelock—to provide myself with his pistol, and to make him fast, so he can’t do any more harm. He’ll never forgive me—no, never—when he gets over his faint. It’s astonishing how the human family holds grudges!” ”

“ Come, men, bear a hand there; one hundred barrels a-waiting for us to come and take ’em! Poor Wills!—he’s gone to that ‘boom’ from which no man returns! What d’ye say, men, are you ready?”
The men having by this time placed the body upon a shelf of ice, sprung into the boat and seized their paddles. The whale was overtaken and fastened to; but after it had towed the boat a long distance, the line became “foul” and the mate was obliged to cut. A thick fog having risen in the mean time, he was now unable to find the spot where the body of George Wills had been left. ”

“ It was at this juncture that Lark—who stood upon the round-house rubbing his hands with great glee, and mentally predicting the entire discomfiture of Spooner and his crew—was startled by an exclamation from one of the islanders in the waist. He turned quickly, and was still more startled by the sudden apparition of another boat a few fathoms off the lee beam, and rapidly approaching the ship!
“Ship ahoy!” thundered the voice of Captain Howard; “isn’t that the Montpelier?”
“Up helm! Stand by with your harpoons, men!” ”

“ Briggs, and leave the complimenting of girls to those who understand the art better than you do,” said the captain, a little resentfully. “Young ladies, as a general rule, do not care to be told that they have long heads?”
“Indeed, uncle,” cried Alice, in a voice that faltered with the efforts she made to restrain her laughter, “indeed, uncle, I feel much obliged to the mate for the compliment he has paid me.”
“Oh, well,” said her uncle, dryly, “there is no accounting for tastes—especially for those of women. If Briggs’ remark pleased you, I have no more to say.” ”

“ You must not make such a foolish speech as that again, ‘Blueskin.’ You frighten Miss Howard!” and seizing his pigtail, he gave the savage a light blow across the nose with it, as he spoke.
“Takee care!” gritted the native, starting upright with glittering eyes and placing a hand upon his sheath-knife, “takee care, you Stump. No strikee me too much with ‘piggle-tail,’ or me makee you Stump no more.”
“And boil me afterwards in the try-pot, I suppose, seein’ as that’s one of your ‘pow-wow’ customs!”
“Hi! hi! hi!” gritted the New Zealander, while a malicious smile flashed across his dark face. ”

“ It was soon in the young man’s hand, and Stump was about to unfasten the other end from the pendent mass of hair, so as to secure it to one of the rough projections of ice, when his foot slipped, causing him to descend half way down the frozen declivity, which he had mounted with so much trouble, and where he now hung suspended by his pigtail to the rope; for the young harpooner, believing that his corpulent chum was clinging to it with his hands, and that he was doing him a good service by holding on to the piece of rigging, had not allowed it to escape his grasp! ”

“ The lashings were soon unfastened, and, by means of a tackle, which had been rigged over the steerage hatch, a few days previously, the boat was hoisted, and then lowered alongside.
“It leaks bad,” said Driko, who had jumped into the vessel, for the purpose of receiving the oars, and the other articles which Lark had ordered to be passed into it.
“Never mind the leak,” said the giant; “the little craft is good enough for those that are to occupy it. I shall let ’em have some provision for the sake of the gal. That’s what I call equal rights!” ”

“ Alice has not been devoured by the bear, for if she had been the animal would not have attacked us so soon afterward.”
“Ay, ay!” cried Stump, brightening up, “I didn’t think of that. It’s as you say—the bear didn’t eat the poor gal. I ought to have known it by his being so lean, for he couldn’t o’ swallowed such a plump lass as she is, without showing it. No—no. She saw the ravenous creatur’ and she’s gone and hid herself somewhere and is afraid to come out. We’ll find her in the morning, lad, depend upon it!” ”

“ The Stumps have all been matter-of-fact, from generation to generation!”
Harry then proposed that an immediate search should be made for the mysterious creature, and, followed by Stump, who had provided himself with a harpoon and the boat hatchet, he moved quickly forward. They had not gone far when they heard a low growl, which seemed to proceed from some one of the masses of ice directly ahead of them. They were also enabled to distinguish a pair of gleaming eyes bent fiercely upon them, and which Stump declared were the same he had seen peering into the boat. ”

“ He was an excellent steersman, and he now did his best, evidently hoping by this means to find favor in the eyes of the man whom he had insulted while he was a helpless prisoner.
“That’s right, keep her steady!” cried Marline, approvingly, “and you there on the knightheads!” he added, glancing forward—“look sharp for the boats and the ice!”
“Ay, ay,” answered the dusky seaman, and his voice was far from cheerful.
Descending into the cabin—after having ordered Stump to keep close to the companion-way, and to maintain a vigilant watch—the young man now entered the apartment occupied by Alice. ”

“ We are prisoners now for a sartainty.”
“It is too soon yet to despair,” replied Marline. “Lark will wear ship of course, but even then, there’ll be a chance of his falling in with the boats. So keep up your spirits, my friend.”
“My spirits ain’t sunk yet,” retorted Stump, “and I think it would be a heavy sea that ’ud sink ’em. To make light of our misfortun’s is the surest way of getting rid of ’em, and it’s astonishing to me how some of my fellow creatur’s will fret themselves about small matters, and think their troubles is ‘catamount’ to everybody else’s.” ”

“ Harry, I am so glad to see you. I have been so frightened! Those terrible noises! What are they trying to do now? They are at the cabin-door!”
“To break it open,” replied Harry.
“Who? the mutineers?”
“Yes.”
“Why, I—I thought, when I saw you, that all this was over—that you and your gallant crew had come aboard and persuaded those misguided men to return to their duty.”
“I came alone,” said the harpooner, and he then proceeded to make her acquainted with those occurrences of which the reader has already been informed.
“Dear Harry,” faltered the young girl, “how you must have suffered. ”

“ While his mind was still busy with conjectures and fears, he suddenly started to his feet, listening with eager attention, for he fancied he heard a rushing noise ahead of him like that of some heavy object forging slowly through the ice. ”