Historical fiction; Love stories; Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction; Sea stories
"That saying is good; it is the touch of a friendly spirit," he said.
"Let two souls be together, and they make each other strong. But let
one be alone, as I was alone, let there be no warmth, no kindliness,
and hope dies. Horrors creep in; the nether world comes close, and the
corporal eye, grown keen by the soul's suffering, is witness to things
it should not see."
Just then there came one of the deep movements which Anthony had noted
more than once; the ocean's scum seemed to heave under the moon. Tom
Horn's hand touched Anthony's arm and held there; his voice fell to a
whisper.
"It is very deep," he said. "Oh, quite deep! I never sounded it. The
life below is monstrous. Ask God that the sight of His work be kept
from your eyes."
Then the man went quietly back to his post in the bow; and Anthony
continued to pace and watch until Corkery came on deck to relieve him.
The wind held all through the night, languid, hot, and of not a deal of
weight; but it bellied the sails and added its urge to the drift of the
current, and the schooner slowly approached the group of broken ships.
It was past daylight when Anthony appeared once more; despite the
mist that enveloped the vessel, he became aware of a vast loom to his
larboard; it was huge, dark, rearing; he hastily stepped across the
deck, and there found mademoiselle.
"It is a ship," she said; "we must have come alongside it in the night.
Mr. Corkery thinks it's one of the wrecks we were watching yesterday."
Corkery, hearing Anthony's voice, approached.
"I have made fast to her," he said. "It's a large vessel of a kind I do
not know, and she seems to lie quite still."
"We have reached one of the outer vessels of the group we saw
yesterday," said mademoiselle. "I do not think we have gone among them,
for we have collided with none."
"True enough, mademoiselle," said Corkery; "with sun-up I think we'll
see your word made good."
But it was still early; the mist clung to the ship, to the surface of
the sea, poisonous, thick; through it the lanterns burned a feeble
yellow. The vast timbers of the vessel at whose side they lay were
rotted and dripped with slime; they could feel open seams, gaping like
mouths; when they spoke their voices came back from its hollows as
though from a cavern. They felt chilled, and their spirits ran low.
Tom Horn, much to the surprise of mademoiselle and Anthony, appeared at
breakfast: it was the first time he had sat down with them since the
_Roebuck_ entered the Sargasso; he had kept the deck night and day, and
what little food he'd eaten had been taken to him by the cook. He had
one of his charts with him and unrolled it upon the table.
"In an hour the mist will lift, and we shall be able to see," said he.
"And this," his finger pointing to a spot among the figures and signs
upon the sheet, "is _what_ we shall see."
The girl and the young man leaned forward and studied the chart; but
the figures told them nothing.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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