Captain Jim

“ Captain Jim told me he met you the day you arrived; said you just cottoned to the 'Guardian' at once and thought it a deal too good for Gilead; eh? Oh, well, jest ez likely he DIDN'T say it--it was only his gassin'. He's a queer man--is Captain Jim. ”

“ We continued to look at one another, the older members with darkening faces, the younger with a strong inclination to laugh. Captain Jim, who had been concerned only in his friend's emotion, and who was hanging with undisguised satisfaction on these final convincing proofs of his superior geological knowledge, murmured approvingly and confidingly, "He's right, boys! Thar ain't another man livin' ez could give you the law and gospil like that! Ye can tie to what he says. That's Lacy all over." ”

“ Hey! hey! Ship ahoy! ahoy! Captain! Hey! hey! Egstrom & Blake's man first to speak to you! Hey! hey! Egstrom & Blake! Hallo! hey! whoop! Kick the niggers--out reefs--a squall on at the time--shoots ahead whooping and yelling to me to make sail and he would give me a lead in--more like a demon than a man. Never saw a boat handled like that in all my life. Couldn't have been drunk--was he? Such a quiet, soft-spoken chap too--blush like a girl when he came on board. . . .' I tell you, Captain Marlow, nobody had a chance against us with a strange ship when Jim was out. ”

“ He came. He was received by the Eureka Mining Company lying on their backs on the grassy site of the prospective quartz mill, not far from the equally hypothetical "slide" to the gulch. He came by the future stage road--at present a thickset jungle of scrub-oaks and ferns. He was accompanied by Captain Jim, who had gone to meet him on the trail, and for a few moments all critical inspection of himself was withheld by the extraordinary effect he seemed to have upon the faculties of his introducer.
Anything like the absolute prepossession of Captain Jim by this stranger we had never imagined. ”

“ Howbeit, we went to work the next day under the superintendence of the stranger with youthful and enthusiastic energy, and began the sinking of a shaft at once. To do Captain Jim's friend justice, for the first few weeks he did not shirk a fair share of the actual labor, replacing his objectionable and unsuitable finery with a suit of serviceable working clothes got together by general contribution of the camp, and assuring us of a fact we afterwards had cause to remember, that "he brought nothing but himself into Eureka Gulch." ”

“ It may be added that he certainly had not brought money there, as Captain Jim advanced the small amounts necessary for his purchases in the distant settlement, and for the still smaller sums he lost at cards, which he played with characteristic self-sufficiency.
Meantime the work in the shaft progressed slowly but regularly. Even when the novelty had worn off and the excitement of anticipation grew fainter, I am afraid that we clung to this new form of occupation as an apology for remaining there; for the fascinations of our vagabond and unconventional life were more potent than we dreamed of. ”

“ I said eagerly. "That insult was never written by Captain Jim."
"Captain Jim," repeated Yuba Bill reflectively. "Captain Jim,-- yes, that was the name o' the man I was playin' with. Shortish hairy feller, suthin' between a big coyote and the old-style hair- trunk. Fought pretty well for a hay-footed man from Gil-e-ad."
"But you've whipped the wrong man, Bill," I said. "Think again! Have you had any quarrel lately?--run against any newspaper man?" The recollection had flashed upon me that Lacy Bassett had lately returned from a visit to Stockton. ”

“ He . . . ‘Where did you get drink?’ inquired the German, very savage; but motionless in the light of the binnacle, like a clumsy effigy of a man cut out of a block of fat. Jim went on smiling at the retreating horizon; his heart was full of generous impulses, and his thought was contemplating his own superiority. ‘Drink!’ repeated the engineer with amiable scorn: he was hanging on with both hands to the rail, a shadowy figure with flexible legs. ‘Not from you, captain. You’re far too mean, b’gosh. You would let a good man die sooner than give him a drop of schnapps. ”

“ He could imagine his brother Tom saying:
"Ought to have had me along, Jim; you are too innocent to travel alone."
Hearing the voice of his comrade, Jim drew in his head.
"Catch a sight of the black pirate craft?" inquired the engineer.82
"Dead ahead, and a smooth sea, sir," replied Jim touching his hat.
"Glad to be off the pebbles anyway, Captain," returned the engineer; "it may aid digestion, but it is doocid hard on old bones, like mine."
"I'm going upon deck with the pilot," said Jim. "I can't stay below here while that fellow is within hail." ”

“ A moment after the casement had burst out, the engineer let go, Jim steadied him as he struck, and exerting all his strength barely kept the two of them from sliding down and out. The fog was already upon them with its thick enveloping whiteness, and they could not see more than two feet in either direction. It was indeed a case where fortune appeared to favor the brave.
"They're down there all right," cried the captain in his harsh voice; "we've got 'em where they can't get away. Don't shoot, lads, we'll take 'em alive." ”

“ The captain caught him by the shoulder. "Sit down," he said. "You're dog-tired. There. That's all right. Now."
The old man sat down weakly on a log and took his head in his hands. He shook as if he had a chill. When the tremor had passed Captain Jim said: "Better, eh? Well. When you feel like work come over an' help us on the steam-box. Know how to warp boards, eh? ... Come away, boys. Don't bother him. He's a bit touched." ”

“ It was a part of my youthful inexperience of humanity that I was not above the common fallacy of believing that a man is "known by the company he keeps," and that he is in a manner responsible for its weakness; it was a part of that humanity that I felt no surprise in being more amused than shocked by this revelation. It seemed a good joke on Captain Jim!
"Of course YOU kin laugh at his darned foolishness; but, by Gosh, it ain't a laughing matter to me!"
"But surely he's given you a good position on the 'Guardian,'" I urged. ”

“ Jim and I became aware one morning that our son was, in reality, Captain Crosstrees, and our guest Bo'sun Ben Bobstay—both belonging, as far as we can make out, to a bygone age, the "good days" of Jim's tales. Their conversation is nautical in the extreme—though I regret to say that the Captain frequently lapses into very modern speech—and their behaviour most salty. They go for long rows and short sails alone (you can see how much she has risen in Jim's estimation when he trusts her with Garth and the Ailouros) . ”

“ Jim felt generally angry, but not at the captain, whom he understood, but he hated to have the ship of which he was fond, given a bad name.
“Take the wheel, sir,” said Jim, “and I’ll find [Pg 107] out in a jiffy what’s wrong. If this ship is harboring any ghosts, I’ll fumigate them out.”
“It’s a job for a young man,” replied the captain, taking the wheel. “I wish you good luck, Skipper.”
No sooner did the captain take the helm than Jim strode across the quarter deck in the direction of the tolling sound. It was weird enough to give almost anyone the creeps. ”

“ It was just beginning to get light when a tap on the door brought them quickly out of bed and into their clothes. They found the two captains all ready for the breakfast which Captain Jim had arranged for the night before. The cars were waiting outside by the time they had finished and introductions were made all around.
“Captain Jim’s sure got a fine bunch of men,” Bob whispered to Jack.
“They do look as though they could give a good account of themselves in a fight,” Jack replied. “I wish we could all go together.” ”

“ Finally, when Jim was beginning to feel that he must move, or go mad, a final signal came from the doorway. He heard Baylis say “Thank God!” under his breath, as they slipped out of bed in the darkness and felt their way downstairs. They were the last to come. The others were all crouched in the cupboard, waiting for them, as they reached its door; and just as they did so, the outer doorway swung open, with a blaze of light, and the big Feldwebel strode in.
“Shut the door!” Jim whispered. He launched himself at the German as he spoke, with a spring like a panther’s. ”

“ Just before we began the march back to the coast, Jim and I had a long yarn about what was best for me to do, and the only thing he could suggest—you know, of course, that I only had one arm to use—was for me to keep as close to the Captain as he would let me, and always have my revolver handy, in case any Chinese did get near him. Jim said that there was always the chance of some chaps trying to rush us, and it was the only thing he could think of, and as the Captain only had his big oak stick, and never thought of danger to himself in the least little bit, I might make myself useful. ”

“ Jim stepped gingerly along over the rocks, gliding through the bushes until at last he reached a point above the vessel where he could almost look down upon her decks. The boat from the shore had just come alongside and the prisoners were hustled into the cabin and the door locked. Tom and Juarez were a dejected-looking pair and it made Jim's heart ache to see them.
The Captain went upon the quarter-deck and [117] gave an order to the man at the wheel. The anchor had already been weighed. Slowly and gracefully the Sea Eagle turned, and there stood Captain Broom, as big as life upon the bridge. ”

“ Captain Jim is a harmless fellow, and a good hunter. Sometimes in harvest he goes down in the fields and binds wheat, and gets pay like a white man. His squaws gather berries and sell them to the whites. Sometimes they take a great fancy to children, and give them all the berries they have, and will take nothing for them. Captain Jim says that is not good management. One day some one asked him why he had two squaws. He studied awhile, and said he had two squaws so that they could bury him when he died. ”

“ We could easily correct him if he attempted to impose upon US, as he evidently had upon Captain Jim. Believing, after the fashion of most humanity, that there was something about US particularly awe-inspiring and edifying to vice or weakness of any kind, we good-humoredly yielded to the cheap fascination of this showy, self-saturated, over-dressed, and underbred stranger. Even the epithet of "blower" as applied to him by Rowley had its mitigations; in that Trajan community a bully was not necessarily a coward, nor florid demonstration always a weakness. ”

“ Garth quavered at last.
"Not very near, I'm afraid," said Jim. "Nothing would be just like this, you know."
"I can't," sobbed Garth. "I can't go—away from—the sea."
"Sometimes people have to do things when they think they can't," said Jim.
"But I'd d-die. I couldn't ever like any other place, not if I lived to be a hundred and f-fifty."
"Listen, dear old man," Jim said; "you want to be a sea-captain, and you can't be. But you can help me to be one. If you and Mudder stayed here, I couldn't go and help to beat the Germans. ”

“ Four in a day!”
“Yes, business is looking up,” said Norah, laughing. “Captain Garrett is a dear—and he can ride, Dad. I had him out on Killaloe. I’m a little uneasy about the Hardress person, because he’s just out of a convalescent home, and Jim seemed worried about him. ”

“ At last he rose bodily in the air and fell back upon the surface of the ocean with a mighty whack that could have been heard for miles. The waters retreated from his fall in great waves that made the little steamer rock.
There was great jubilation on the deck of the Sea Eagle when Jim made that shot, which was not [Pg 63] so remarkable either, when one considers the size of the target and the nearness of the object aimed at. But the captain was decidedly enthusiastic over Jim’s success, and clapped him heartily on the back with manifest approval. ”

“ Oh, think of it!"
"Joan lighted the lamp," said Jim, "and she was very, very brave, going to the Coast Guard Station and all; but it was you who saved the transport."
Garth shook his head, but Elspeth and Joan nodded theirs.
"Yes," Jim said. "What you did was as big a thing, for you, as a man could do. Though you were a captain of the seas, you couldn't have done more bravely." ”

“ Gee, he's a full-blooded lad! He's got pluck if you like. And those coloured men come close after him. When I'm feeling better, guess I'd like to take a grip of their hands."
It was evident that he considered Jim to be one of the crew, and his gallant action undertaken in the course of duty; but the captain undeceived him.
"That young chap's a passenger like yourself, sir," he said. "And the darkies are ditto. I allow that you have every reason to want to thank them; you owe them your life. But let us see to the other vessel; this affair has taken her wellnigh out of my head." ”

“ When Captain Jim began, "Ez Lacy was one day tellin' me," or, "Ez Lacy Bassett allows," or more formally, when strangers were present, "Ez a partickler friend o' mine, Lacy Bassett--maybe ez you know him-- sez," the youthful and lighter members of the Eureka Mining Company glanced at each other in furtive enjoyment. Nevertheless no one looked more eagerly forward to the arrival of this apocryphal sage than these indolent skeptics. ”