A " Sea Wolf" al Bay.

Evening Post, Volume LXVII, Issue 150, 25 June 1904, Page 10

A " Sea Wolf" al Bay.

Mr. Jack London, author of "Tho Call of the Wild," in his now story, "The Sea Wolf," appearing in the Century Magazine, pictures with painful realism what may be called "the* law of fist and foot" on board a whaling schooner. The "Sea Wolf" is the Herculean captain Wolf Lurbeu, a queer blend of brulu and philosopher, and tho narrator in Humphrey van Weyden, a litorary man, whom ho bus picked up -t sm, and "pressed" for duty. In tho April instalment of tho story there is a cruel scene, in which tho victim is Johnson, a young seaman, who has grumbied at tho oilskins supplied to him. Ho is aounmonud to tho cubin, nnd Wolf Lursen asks: — "(Jan you guess why 1 have wot for you V "Yes, and no, sir," was the slow leply. "My work is done well. The muto knowa that, ihui you know it, sir. So thero cannot- be any coinpiuint, " "And is that all?" Wolf La r sen queried, his voice soit and low and purring. "1 know you have it in for me," Johnson continued with his unullcrablo and ponderous slowness. "You do nob like me. YYoyou — you — " "Go on," Wolf Larsen, prompted. "Don't bo afraid of my Jeelinga." "I am not afraid," the sailor retorted, a sJgut flush rising through his sunburn. "You do nob hko me because I am too much of a man, that jh why, sir." "You aro too much of a man for ahip discipline, if that is what you mean, ana if you know what I mean/ v was Wolf Ijarfon's retort. "I know English, and I know what* you mean, sir," Johnson nnswcied, his llush deepening nt blio slur on bis knowledge of the English language. "Johnson," Well Larsen said, with an air of difcmissmg all that had gone before a« introductory to tho main busiTiees in hand. "I understand you'ro not quite satisfied with thoso oilskins." "No, I am not. They are no good, sir.". "And you've been shooting off your mouth about them." '"i say what 1 think, sir," tho sailor answered courageously, not failing nt tho samo time in ship courtesy, which demanded that "sir" be- appended to teach speech he made. It was at this moment that I chanced to glance at Johunson. His big fists were clenching and .unclenching, and his face wns positively fiendish, so malignantly did ho look at Johnson. I noticod a black discolouration, arill faintly visiblo, under Johanaeu's eye, a mark of tho thrashing ho had received a, few nights beforo from tho sailor. For tho first umo 1 began to divine that something terrible was about to be enacted— what, I could not imagine. "Do you know what lutppons |o men who say what you've said about my slop-che&t and me?" .Wolf Lurscn was demanding. "1 know, sir," was tho answer. "WJiat?" Wolf Larsen demanded sharply and imperatively. "What you nnd the mute there are going to do to me, sir." At this Lnrson sprang from tho sitting posture like a vjla animal, a rigor, and liko a tiger covered tb,e intervening space in nn avalancho of fury that Johnson strove vainly to fend off. Ho tlnew one arm down to protect tho stomach, tJio other arm up to protect tho head j but Wolf Larsen's fist drove midway between, on the chest, with «. crushing, resounding impact. Johnson's breath suddenly expelled snob from Jus mouth, and ns sudaouly checked, with tho forced, nudiblo expiration of a man wielding an axo. He nlmosb fell backward, nnd swayed from side to sido in an effort to recover hin balance. Johnson fought brav6ly enough, bub he wns no match for Wolf Larsen, much leas for Wolf Larsen and the mate. It wnt frightful. I had not imagined a human being could endure so much and still live nnd struggle on. And struggle ou Johnson did. Of course, theTO wns no hopa for him, not tho slightest, nnd ho knew it as well us I, but by the manhood that Trns in him lie pould not eeuso fiom fighting for thnt manhood. It was too much for mo to witness. I felt thai I should lose my mind, nnd I rnn up the compnnlon-stnirs lo open tho doors and eecnpo on deck. But Wolf T <m*en. leaving hi* viciim for the mo.

inenb, and' with one of his tremendous springs, gained my side, and flung me into the far -corner of the cabin. "The phenomenon of life, Hump," he girded at me. "Slay and watch it. You may gather data on the lmmoitality of the soul. Besides, you know, we can't hurt Johnson's soul. It's only the fleeting form wo may demolish." It flcemed centuries, po&hibly it was no moie than ten minutta, thai the beating continued. And when Johnson could no lougor ribe, they still continued to beat and kick him where he lay. "Eafcy, Johnnsen ; easy as she goes," Wolf Larsen fiunlly said. But the beast m the mate was up and rampant, and Wolf Ltirsen was compelled to brush him away with a back-handed sweep of tho arm, gentle enough, apfiaiontly, but which hurled Jobansen back iko a cork, driving hia head against the wall with a crash. He fell to tho lloor, half stunned for tho moment, breathing heavily, nnd blinking his eyes in a stupid sort of way. "Jerk open tho door, Hump," Larsen commanded. I obeyed, and tho two brutes picked up tho senseless man like a sack of rubbish, and hovo him clean up the com-pamon-fclairs, through the narrow doors, and out on deck. Louis, his boat-mate, gave a turn of the wheel ond gazed imperturbubly into the binnacle Not co George Leach, the erstwhile cabin-boy. Fore and aft there was nothing that, could hr.ye Nurprised us more than his consequent behaviour. He it was that came up on tho poop, without orders, and dragged Johnson forward, where ho set about dressing his wounds as well as he could and making him comfortable. I had come up on deck for a breath of fresh air and to try to get some repose for my overwrought nerves. Wolf Larson was smoking a cigar and examining the patent log which the Ghost usually towed astern, but which had been hauled in for somo purpose. Suddenly Leach's voioo came to my ears. It was tense and hoarse with an overmastering rnge. I turned and saw him standing just beneath the break of tho poop on tho port side of tho galley. His fuco was coiwulsed and while, his eyes were flushing, hm clenched fist raised overhead, as the boy hurled his imprecations reclclewly full in the face of tho captain, who had sauntered slowly fonvnid to the break of the poop, and leaning his elbow on the corner of the cabin, Raxed down thoughtfully nnd curiously at tho excited boy. Leach went on, indicting Wolf Ln.rsen as ho had novor beon indicted before. The sailors assembled in a fearful group juht outsido the forecastle scnttlo, nnd watched and listened. The hunters piled pell-mell out of the steerage, but as Leach's tirade continued I saw that there was no levity -in their face*. Even they were frightened, not at the hoy's terrible words, but at his terribla audacity. It did nor seem possible that nny living crcnture could thus beard Wolf Larcen to bis tcoth. I •know for mysolf I was shocked into admiration of the boy a nnd I saw in him the splendid invincibleness of immortality rising above the flesh and the fears of the flesh, aB in the propnets of old, to condemn unrighteousness. And nuch condemnation ! He haled forth Wolf Larsen's soul naked, to the scorn of men. Ho rained upon it curses from God and high heaven, nnd withered it witli a heat of invective that savoured of a mediajval excommunication of tho Catholic Church. He ran tho gamut of denunciation, rising to heights of wrath, and from sheer exhaustion sinking to the most indecent abuse. Evorybody looked for Larsen to leap upon the boy and destroy him. But it was nob hi« whim. His cigar went out, and lie continued to gazo silently and curiously. Leach had worked himself into an ecstasy of impotent rage. " Pig ! Pig ! Pig !" he was reiterating at tho top of his luno;s. "Why don't you como down and kill me, you murdorcr^ You can do it. I ain't afraid. There's no one. to atop you ! Come on, you coward 1 Kill me! Kill me! Kill me!" • ••••» Somo days afterwards, a, plot is hatched, at tho instigation of Leach and Johnson, to murder captain and mate. Both officer* go overboard during a night watch, but Larsi'n scrambles bleeding on board by aid of the log Hue. SViih Humphrey as lantern-bearer he descends to the forecastle to identify the mutineers among tho pretended sleepers by such a test as Boccaccio describes in one of tho Decameron tolos : — "As Wolf Larsen bent down to the lower bunk to take Johnson's pulse, I, standing erect and holding tho lamp, saw Leach's head raise stealthily as ho peered over tho sido of .his bunk to see ' what \vi\a R oing on. Ho must have divined Wolf Larson's trick and the sureness of detection, for the light was at once dn*hcd from my hand and the forecastle loft in darkness. He must haye 1 ! leaped, also, at the same instant, straight down on Wolf Larsen. " The first sounds were those of a conflict between a bull and a wolf. I heard a great infuriated bellow go up from Wolf Larsen, and from Leach a snarling that wns desperate nnd blood-curdling. Johnson must havo joined him immediately, so that his abject nnd grovelling conduct on deck for tho last few days had been no moro than planned deception. " I was so terror-stricken by this fight in tho dark that I leaned against the ladder, trembling and unablo to ascend. And upon me wns that old sickness at the pit of the stomach, caused always by the spectacle of physical violence. In this instanco I could not sec, but I could hear the impact of blows—the soft, crushing sound made by flesh striking forcibly against llesh. Thon there was the crashing about of tho entwined bodies, the laboured breathing, tho short, quick gasps of sudden pain. " There must have been moro men in tho conspiracy to murder the captain nnd the mat«, for by the sounds I knew that Leach and Johnson had beon quickly reinforced. Get a knife," somebody, 1 Leach was shouting. '"Pound him on tho head! Mash his brains out!' was Johnson's cry. " Bnt after his first bellow "Wolf Larsen made no noise. Ho was fighting grimly and silently for very life. "Down at the very first, ho had been able to gain his feet, and for all his tremendous (strength. I felt that there was no hope for him. " The force with which they struggled wns vividly impressed on me, for I wns knocked down by the surging bodies and badly bruised. But in tho confusion I managed to crawl into a lower bunk out of the w ay. "'All hands! Wove got him ! We've got him !' I could hear Lench crying. " ' Who' asked those who hiid been aaleop. " ' It's tho bloody mate !' wns Leach's crafty answer. The words were strained from Him in a smothered sort of way. " This was greeted with whoops of joy, nnd from then on Wolf Larson had seven strong men on top of him, Louis, I believe, taking no part in it. The forecastle wns like an angry hivo of bees. " ' What's the row thereof I hoard Lntimer shout down the scuttle, too cautious to descend into the inferno. " ' Won't somebody get n knife? 1 Leach pleaded, in the first, interval of comparative silence. " Tho number of tho assailants was a cause of confusion. They blocked their own efforts, while Wolf Laiscn, with but a eimrle purpose, achieved his. This was

to fight his way across the floor to the ladder. Though in total il.ukness, I followed his progress by its sound. No man loss than a giant could have done what he did, onco he had gained the foot of the ladder. Step by htep, by the might of his arms, the whole pack of men striving to drag him b.ick and down, he drew his body up fioin the lloor till he stood erect. And then, stup by step, hand aud foot, he slowly bliuggled up the ladder."