Chapter 36

by Jack London

　　Chapter XXXVI

　　For two days Maud and I ranged the sea and explored the beaches insearch of the missing masts. But it was not till the third daythat we found them, all of them, the shears included, and, of allperilous places, in the pounding surf of the grim south-westernpromontory. And how we worked! At the dark end of the first daywe returned, exhausted, to our little cove, towing the mainmastbehind us. And we had been compelled to row, in a dead calm,practically every inch of the way.

　　Another day of heart-breaking and dangerous toil saw us in campwith the two topmasts to the good. The day following I wasdesperate, and I rafted together the foremast, the fore and mainbooms, and the fore and main gaffs. The wind was favourable, and Ihad thought to tow them back under sail, but the wind baffled, thendied away, and our progress with the oars was a snail's pace. Andit was such dispiriting effort. To throw one's whole strength andweight on the oars and to feel the boat checked in its forwardlunge by the heavy drag behind, was not exactly exhilarating.

　　Night began to fall, and to make matters worse, the wind sprang upahead. Not only did all forward motion cease, but we began todrift back and out to sea. I struggled at the oars till I wasplayed out. Poor Maud, whom I could never prevent from working tothe limit of her strength, lay weakly back in the stern-sheets. Icould row no more. My bruised and swollen hands could no longerclose on the oar handles. My wrists and arms ached intolerably,and though I had eaten heartily of a twelve-o'clock lunch, I hadworked so hard that I was faint from hunger.

　　I pulled in the oars and bent forward to the line which held thetow. But Maud's hand leaped out restrainingly to mine.

　　"What are you going to do?" she asked in a strained, tense voice.

　　"Cast it off," I answered, slipping a turn of the rope.

　　But her fingers closed on mine.

　　"Please don't," she begged.

　　"It is useless," I answered. "Here is night and the wind blowingus off the land."

　　"But think, Humphrey. If we cannot sail away on the Ghost, we mayremain for years on the island - for life even. If it has neverbeen discovered all these years, it may never be discovered."

　　"You forget the boat we found on the beach," I reminded her.

　　"It was a seal-hunting boat," she replied, "and you know perfectlywell that if the men had escaped they would have been back to maketheir fortunes from the rookery. You know they never escaped."

　　I remained silent, undecided.

　　"Besides," she added haltingly, "it's your idea, and I want to seeyou succeed."

　　Now I could harden my heart. As soon as she put it on a flatteringpersonal basis, generosity compelled me to deny her.

　　"Better years on the island than to die to-night, or to-morrow, orthe next day, in the open boat. We are not prepared to brave thesea. We have no food, no water, no blankets, nothing. Why, you'dnot survive the night without blankets: I know how strong you are.You are shivering now."

　　"It is only nervousness," she answered. "I am afraid you will castoff the masts in spite of me."

　　"Oh, please, please, Humphrey, don't!" she burst out, a momentlater.

　　And so it ended, with the phrase she knew had all power over me.We shivered miserably throughout the night. Now and again Ifitfully slept, but the pain of the cold always aroused me. HowMaud could stand it was beyond me. I was too tired to thrash myarms about and warm myself, but I found strength time and again tochafe her hands and feet to restore the circulation. And still shepleaded with me not to cast off the masts. About three in themorning she was caught by a cold cramp, and after I had rubbed herout of that she became quite numb. I was frightened. I got outthe oars and made her row, though she was so weak I thought shewould faint at every stroke.

　　Morning broke, and we looked long in the growing light for ourisland. At last it showed, small and black, on the horizon, fullyfifteen miles away. I scanned the sea with my glasses. Far awayin the south-west I could see a dark line on the water, which greweven as I looked at it.

　　"Fair wind!" I cried in a husky voice I did not recognize as myown.

　　Maud tried to reply, but could not speak. Her lips were blue withcold, and she was hollow-eyed - but oh, how bravely her brown eyeslooked at me! How piteously brave!

　　Again I fell to chafing her hands and to moving her arms up anddown and about until she could thrash them herself. Then Icompelled her to stand up, and though she would have fallen had Inot supported her, I forced her to walk back and forth the severalsteps between the thwart and the stern-sheets, and finally tospring up and down.

　　"Oh, you brave, brave woman," I said, when I saw the life comingback into her face. "Did you know that you were brave?"

　　"I never used to be," she answered. "I was never brave till I knewyou. It is you who have made me brave."

　　"Nor I, until I knew you," I answered.

　　She gave me a quick look, and again I caught that dancing,tremulous light and something more in her eyes. But it was onlyfor the moment. Then she smiled.

　　"It must have been the conditions," she said; but I knew she waswrong, and I wondered if she likewise knew. Then the wind came,fair and fresh, and the boat was soon labouring through a heavy seatoward the island. At half-past three in the afternoon we passedthe south-western promontory. Not only were we hungry, but we werenow suffering from thirst. Our lips were dry and cracked, norcould we longer moisten them with our tongues. Then the windslowly died down. By night it was dead calm and I was toiling oncemore at the oars - but weakly, most weakly. At two in the morningthe boat's bow touched the beach of our own inner cove and Istaggered out to make the painter fast. Maud could not stand, norhad I strength to carry her. I fell in the sand with her, and,when I had recovered, contented myself with putting my hands underher shoulders and dragging her up the beach to the hut.

　　The next day we did no work. In fact, we slept till three in theafternoon, or at least I did, for I awoke to find Maud cookingdinner. Her power of recuperation was wonderful. There wassomething tenacious about that lily-frail body of hers, a clutch onexistence which one could not reconcile with its patent weakness.

　　"You know I was travelling to Japan for my health," she said, as welingered at the fire after dinner and delighted in the movelessnessof loafing. "I was not very strong. I never was. The doctorsrecommended a sea voyage, and I chose the longest."

　　"You little knew what you were choosing," I laughed.

　　"But I shall be a different women for the experience, as well as astronger woman," she answered; "and, I hope a better woman. Atleast I shall understand a great deal more life."

　　Then, as the short day waned, we fell to discussing Wolf Larsen'sblindness. It was inexplicable. And that it was grave, Iinstanced his statement that he intended to stay and die onEndeavour Island. When he, strong man that he was, loving life ashe did, accepted his death, it was plain that he was troubled bysomething more than mere blindness. There had been his terrificheadaches, and we were agreed that it was some sort of brain break-down, and that in his attacks he endured pain beyond ourcomprehension.

　　I noticed as we talked over his condition, that Maud's sympathywent out to him more and more; yet I could not but love her for it,so sweetly womanly was it. Besides, there was no false sentimentabout her feeling. She was agreed that the most rigorous treatmentwas necessary if we were to escape, though she recoiled at thesuggestion that I might some time be compelled to take his life tosave my own - "our own," she put it.

　　In the morning we had breakfast and were at work by daylight. Ifound a light kedge anchor in the fore-hold, where such things werekept; and with a deal of exertion got it on deck and into the boat.With a long running-line coiled down in the stem, I rowed well outinto our little cove and dropped the anchor into the water. Therewas no wind, the tide was high, and the schooner floated. Castingoff the shore-lines, I kedged her out by main strength (thewindlass being broken), till she rode nearly up and down to thesmall anchor - too small to hold her in any breeze. So I loweredthe big starboard anchor, giving plenty of slack; and by afternoonI was at work on the windlass.

　　Three days I worked on that windlass. Least of all things was I amechanic, and in that time I accomplished what an ordinarymachinist would have done in as many hours. I had to learn mytools to begin with, and every simple mechanical principle whichsuch a man would have at his finger ends I had likewise to learn.And at the end of three days I had a windlass which workedclumsily. It never gave the satisfaction the old windlass hadgiven, but it worked and made my work possible.

　　In half a day I got the two topmasts aboard and the shears riggedand guyed as before. And that night I slept on board and on deckbeside my work. Maud, who refused to stay alone ashore, slept inthe forecastle. Wolf Larsen had sat about, listening to myrepairing the windlass and talking with Maud and me uponindifferent subjects. No reference was made on either side to thedestruction of the shears; nor did he say anything further about myleaving his ship alone. But still I had feared him, blind andhelpless and listening, always listening, and I never let hisstrong arms get within reach of me while I worked.

　　On this night, sleeping under my beloved shears, I was aroused byhis footsteps on the deck. It was a starlight night, and I couldsee the bulk of him dimly as he moved about. I rolled out of myblankets and crept noiselessly after him in my stocking feet. Hehad armed himself with a draw-knife from the tool-locker, and withthis he prepared to cut across the throat-halyards I had againrigged to the shears. He felt the halyards with his hands anddiscovered that I had not made them fast. This would not do for adraw-knife, so he laid hold of the running part, hove taut, andmade fast. Then he prepared to saw across with the draw-knife.

　　"I wouldn't, if I were you," I said quietly.

　　He heard the click of my pistol and laughed.

　　"Hello, Hump," he said. "I knew you were here all the time. Youcan't fool my ears."

　　"That's a lie, Wolf Larsen," I said, just as quietly as before."However, I am aching for a chance to kill you, so go ahead andcut."

　　"You have the chance always," he sneered.

　　"Go ahead and cut," I threatened ominously.

　　"I'd rather disappoint you," he laughed, and turned on his heel andwent aft.

　　"Something must be done, Humphrey," Maud said, next morning, when Ihad told her of the night's occurrence. "If he has liberty, he maydo anything. He may sink the vessel, or set fire to it. There isno telling what he may do. We must make him a prisoner."

　　"But how?" I asked, with a helpless shrug. "I dare not come withinreach of his arms, and he knows that so long as his resistance ispassive I cannot shoot him."

　　"There must be some way," she contended. "Let me think."

　　"There is one way," I said grimly.

　　She waited.

　　I picked up a seal-club.

　　"It won't kill him," I said. "And before he could recover I'd havehim bound hard and fast."

　　She shook her head with a shudder. "No, not that. There must besome less brutal way. Let us wait."

　　But we did not have to wait long, and the problem solved itself.In the morning, after several trials, I found the point of balancein the foremast and attached my hoisting tackle a few feet aboveit. Maud held the turn on the windlass and coiled down while Iheaved. Had the windlass been in order it would not have been sodifficult; as it was, I was compelled to apply all my weight andstrength to every inch of the heaving. I had to rest frequently.In truth, my spells of resting were longer than those of working.Maud even contrived, at times when all my efforts could not budgethe windlass, to hold the turn with one hand and with the other tothrow the weight of her slim body to my assistance.

　　At the end of an hour the single and double blocks came together atthe top of the shears. I could hoist no more. And yet the mastwas not swung entirely inboard. The butt rested against theoutside of the port rail, while the top of the mast overhung thewater far beyond the starboard rail. My shears were too short.All my work had been for nothing. But I no longer despaired in theold way. I was acquiring more confidence in myself and moreconfidence in the possibilities of windlasses, shears, and hoistingtackles. There was a way in which it could be done, and itremained for me to find that way.

　　While I was considering the problem, Wolf Larsen came on deck. Wenoticed something strange about him at once. The indecisiveness,or feebleness, of his movements was more pronounced. His walk wasactually tottery as he came down the port side of the cabin. Atthe break of the poop he reeled, raised one hand to his eyes withthe familiar brushing gesture, and fell down the steps - still onhis feet - to the main deck, across which he staggered, falling andflinging out his arms for support. He regained his balance by thesteerage companion-way and stood there dizzily for a space, when hesuddenly crumpled up and collapsed, his legs bending under him ashe sank to the deck.

　　"One of his attacks," I whispered to Maud.

　　She nodded her head; and I could see sympathy warm in eyes.

　　We went up to him, but he seemed unconscious, breathingspasmodically. She took charge of him, lifting his head to keepthe blood out of it and despatching me to the cabin for a pillow.I also brought blankets, and we made him comfortable. I took hispulse. It beat steadily and strong, and was quite normal. Thispuzzled me. I became suspicious.

　　"What if he should be feigning this?" I asked, still holding hiswrist.

　　Maud shook her head, and there was reproof in her eyes. But justthen the wrist I held leaped from my hand, and the hand claspedlike a steel trap about my wrist. I cried aloud in awful fear, awild inarticulate cry; and I caught one glimpse of his face,malignant and triumphant, as his other hand compassed my body and Iwas drawn down to him in a terrible grip.

　　My wrist was released, but his other arm, passed around my back,held both my arms so that I could not move. His free hand went tomy throat, and in that moment I knew the bitterest foretaste ofdeath earned by one's own idiocy. Why had I trusted myself withinreach of those terrible arms? I could feel other hands at mythroat. They were Maud's hands, striving vainly to tear loose thehand that was throttling me. She gave it up, and I heard herscream in a way that cut me to the soul, for it was a woman'sscream of fear and heart-breaking despair. I had heard it before,during the sinking of the Martinez.

　　My face was against his chest and I could not see, but I heard Maudturn and run swiftly away along the deck. Everything was happeningquickly. I had not yet had a glimmering of unconsciousness, and itseemed that an interminable period of time was lapsing before Iheard her feet flying back. And just then I felt the whole mansink under me. The breath was leaving his lungs and his chest wascollapsing under my weight. Whether it was merely the expelledbreath, or his consciousness of his growing impotence, I know not,but his throat vibrated with a deep groan. The hand at my throatrelaxed. I breathed. It fluttered and tightened again. But evenhis tremendous will could not overcome the dissolution thatassailed it. That will of his was breaking down. He was fainting.

　　Maud's footsteps were very near as his hand fluttered for the lasttime and my throat was released. I rolled off and over to the deckon my back, gasping and blinking in the sunshine. Maud was palebut composed, - my eyes had gone instantly to her face, - and shewas looking at me with mingled alarm and relief. A heavy seal-clubin her hand caught my eyes, and at that moment she followed my gazedown to it. The club dropped from her hand as though it hadsuddenly stung her, and at the same moment my heart surged with agreat joy. Truly she was my woman, my mate-woman, fighting with meand for me as the mate of a caveman would have fought, all theprimitive in her aroused, forgetful of her culture, hard under thesoftening civilization of the only life she had ever known.

　　"Dear woman!" I cried, scrambling to my feet.

　　The next moment she was in my arms, weeping convulsively on myshoulder while I clasped her close. I looked down at the brownglory of her hair, glinting gems in the sunshine far more preciousto me than those in the treasure-chests of kings. And I bent myhead and kissed her hair softly, so softly that she did not know.

　　Then sober thought came to me. After all, she was only a woman,crying her relief, now that the danger was past, in the arms of herprotector or of the one who had been endangered. Had I been fatheror brother, the situation would have been in nowise different.Besides, time and place were not meet, and I wished to earn abetter right to declare my love. So once again I softly kissed herhair as I felt her receding from my clasp.

　　"It was a real attack this time," I said: "another shock like theone that made him blind. He feigned at first, and in doing sobrought it on."

　　Maud was already rearranging his pillow.

　　"No," I said, "not yet. Now that I have him helpless, helpless heshall remain. From this day we live in the cabin. Wolf Larsenshall live in the steerage."

　　I caught him under the shoulders and dragged him to the companion-way. At my direction Maud fetched a rope. Placing this under hisshoulders, I balanced him across the threshold and lowered him downthe steps to the floor. I could not lift him directly into a bunk,but with Maud's help I lifted first his shoulders and head, thenhis body, balanced him across the edge, and rolled him into a lowerbunk.

　　But this was not to be all. I recollected the handcuffs in hisstate-room, which he preferred to use on sailors instead of theancient and clumsy ship irons. So, when we left him, he layhandcuffed hand and foot. For the first time in many days Ibreathed freely. I felt strangely light as I came on deck, asthough a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I felt, also,that Maud and I had drawn more closely together. And I wondered ifshe, too, felt it, as we walked along the deck side by side towhere the stalled foremast hung in the shears.