Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Married people -- Fiction; Seafaring life -- Fiction; Whaling -- Fiction
That gale was dying, now. Above them the wind still raced and played
with the flying clouds; but there was no pressure of it upon what little
canvas the _Sally_ still flew. They were at peace....
At peace. Faith, studying the position of the _Sally_, was herself at
peace. This was her first reaction to her husband's death; she was at
peace. Noll was gone, Noll Wing whom she had loved and married.... Poor
Noll; she pitied him; she was conscious of a still-living affection for
him.... There was no hate in her; there was little sorrow.... He was
gone; but life had burdened him too long. He was well rid of it, she
thought.... Well rid of his tormented flesh; well rid of the terror
which had pursued him....
When Noll went over the stern, Dan'l Tobey appeared from nowhere, and
saw Mauger with the knife in his hand, standing paralyzed with horror.
Dan'l fell upon Mauger, fists flying.... He downed the little man,
dropped on him with both knees, gripped for his throat.... Then Brander,
coming from the waist of the ship on Mauger's heels, caught Dan'l by the
collar and jerked him to his feet. Dan'l's hands, clenched on Mauger's
throat, lifted the little man a foot from the deck before they let go to
grip for Brander. The men clustered aft; old Tichel's teeth bared.... In
another moment, there would have been a death-battle astir upon the
littered decks.
But Faith cried through the gloom: "Dan'l. Mr. Brander. Drop it. Stand
away."
There was a command in her clear tones which Dan'l must have obeyed; and
Brander did as she bade instinctively. The two still faced each other,
heads forward, shoulders lowered.... Behind Brander, Mauger crawled to
his feet, choking and fumbling at his throat. Faith said to Dan'l:
"It was not the fault of Mauger, Dan'l."
"He had a knife...."
"He fell," she said. "I saw. He fell when she struck; his knife dropped
from its sheath.... He picked it up.... That was all."
"All?" Dan'l protested. "He drove Noll Wing to death."
She shook her head. "No.... Noll's own terrors. Noll was mad...."
"What was he doing aft, then? He'd no place here...."
Brander explained: "I had him forward, watching for breakers. He saw
them, and yelled, and when no one heard he raced to give the word...."
Faith nodded. "Yes; he was gripping for the wheel to swing it down, even
when Noll...."
Dan'l swung to Brander. "You're over quick to come between me and the
men, Mr. Brander," he said harshly. "Best mend that."
"I'll not see Mauger smashed for no fault," Brander told him steadily.
Dan'l took a step nearer the other.
"You'll understand, I'm master here, now."
There was battle in Brander's eyes. Men's blood was hot that morning....
But Faith stepped between. "Dan'l. Noll's gone. First thing is to get
the _Sally_ free."
Dan'l still eyed Brander for a moment; then he drew back, swung away,
looked around. The island they had struck was barely visible through the
drifting rain.... He said: "This is not where we headed."
"You know this place?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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