He sighed again.
"We fished the Farm Yard," Tumm continued, "an" Indian Harbor, an" beat south into Domino Run; but we didn"t get no chance t" use a pound o"
salt for all that. They didn"t seem t" be no sign o" fish anywheres on the s"uth"ard or middle coast o" the Labrador. We run here," an" we beat there, an" we fluttered around like a half-shot gull; but we didn"t come up with no fish. Down went the trap, an" up she come: not even a lumpfish or a lobser t" grace the labor. Winds in the east, lop on the sea, fog in the sky, ice in the water, colds on the chest, boils on the wrists; but nar" a fish in the hold! It drove Mad Bill Likely stark.
"Lads," says he, "the fish is north o" Mugford. I"m goin" down," says he, "if we haves t" winter at Chidley on swile-fat an" sea-weed. For,"
says he, "b.u.t.t o" Twillingate, which owns this craft, an" has outfitted every man o" this crew, is on his last legs, an" I"d rather face the Lord in a black shroud o" sin than tie up t" the old man"s wharf with a empty hold. For the Lord is used to it," says he, "an" wouldn"t mind; but Old Man b.u.t.t would _cry_." So we "lowed we"d stand by, whatever come of it; an" down north we went, late in the season, with a rippin" wind astern. An" we found the fish "long about Kidalick; an" we went at it, night an" day, an" loaded in a fortnight. "An" now, lads," says Mad Bill Likely, when the decks was awash, "you can all go t" sleep, an" be jiggered t" you!" An" down I dropped on the last stack o" green cod, an"
slep" for more hours than I dast tell you.
"Then we started south.
""Tumm," says Botch, when we was well underway, "we"re deep. We"re awful deep."
""But it ain"t salt," says I; ""tis fish."
""Ay," says he; "but "tis all the same t" the schooner. We"ll have wind, an" she"ll complain."
"We coaxed her from harbor t" harbor so far as Indian Tickle. Then we got a fair wind, an" Mad Bill Likely "lowed he"d make a run for it t"
the northern ports o" the French Sh.o.r.e. We was well out an" doin" well when the wind switched t" the sou"east. "Twas a beat, then; an" the poor old _Three Sisters_ didn"t like it, an" got tired, an" wanted t" give up. By dawn the seas was comin" over the bow at will. The old girl simply couldn"t keep her head up. She"d dive, an" nose in, an" get smothered; an" she shook her head so pitiful that Mad Bill Likely "lowed he"d ease her for"ard, an" see how she"d like it. "Twas broad day when he sent me an" Abraham Botch o" Jug Cove out t" stow the stays"l. They wasn"t no fog on the face o" the sea; but the sky was gray an" troubled, an" the sea was a wrathful black-an"-white, an" the rain, whippin" past, stung what it touched, an" froze t" the deck an" riggin". I knowed she"d put her nose into the big white seas, an" I knowed Botch an" me would go under, an" I knowed the foothold was slippery with ice; so I called the fac"s t" Botch"s attention, an" asked un not t" think too much.
""I"ve give that up," says he.
""Well," says I, "you might get another attackt."
""No fear," says he; ""tis foolishness t" think. It don"t come t"
nothin"."
""But you _might_," says I.
""Not in a moment o" grace," says he. "An", Tumm," says he, "at this instant, my condition," says he, "is one o" salvation."
""Then," says I, "you follow me, an" we"ll do a tidy job with that there stays"l."
"An" out on the jib-boom we went. We"d pretty near finished the job when the _Three Sisters_ stuck her nose into a thundering sea. When she shook that off, I yelled t" Botch t" look out for two more. If he heard, he didn"t say so; he was too busy spittin" salt water. We was still there when the second sea broke. But when the third fell, an" my eyes was shut, an" I was grippin" the boom for dear life, I felt a clutch on my ankle; an" the next thing I knowed I was draggin" in the water, with a grip on the bobstay, an" something tuggin" at my leg like a whale on a fish-line. I knowed "twas Botch, without lookin", for it couldn"t be nothin" else. An" when I looked, I seed un lyin" in the foam at the schooner"s bow, bobbin" under an" up. His head was on a pillow o" froth, an" his legs was swingin" in a green, bubblish swirl beyond.
""Hold fast!" I yelled.
"The hiss an" swish o" the seas was h.e.l.lish. Botch spat water an" spoke, but I couldn"t hear. I "lowed, though, that "twas whether I could keep my grip a bit longer.
""Hold fast!" says I.
"He nodded a most agreeable thank you. "I wants t" think a minute," says he.
""Take both hands!" says I.
"On deck they hadn"t missed us yet. The rain was thick an" sharp-edged, an" the schooner"s bow was forever in a mist o" spray.
""Tumm!" says Botch.
""Hold fast!" says I.
"He"d hauled his head out o" the froth. They wasn"t no trouble in his eyes no more. His eyes was clear an" deep-with a little laugh lyin" far down in the depths.
""Tumm," says he, "I--"
""I don"t hear," says I.
""I can"t wait no longer," says he. "I wants t" know. An" I"m so near, now," says he, "that I "low I"ll just find out."
""Hold fast, you fool!" says I.
"I swear by the G.o.d that made me," Tumm declared, "that he was smilin"
the last I seed of his face in the foam! He wanted t" know-an" he found out! But I wasn"t quite so curious," Tumm added, "an" I hauled my hulk out o" the water, an" climbed aboard. An" I run aft; but they wasn"t nothin" t" be seed but the big, black sea, an" the froth o" the schooner"s wake and o" the wild white horses."
The story was ended.
A tense silence was broken by a gentle snore from the skipper of the _Good Samaritan_. I turned. The head of the lad from the Cove o" First Cousins protruded from his bunk. It was withdrawn on the instant. But I had caught sight of the drooping eyes and of the wide, flaring nostrils.
"See that, sir?" Tumm asked, with a backward nod toward the boy"s bunk.
I nodded.
"Same old thing," he laughed, sadly. "Goes on t" the end o" the world."
We all know that.
II-A MATTER OF EXPEDIENCY
Sure enough, old man Jowl came aboard the _Good Samaritan_ at Mad Tom"s Harbor to trade his fish-a lean, leathery old fellow in white moleskin, with skin boots, tied below the knees, and a cloth cap set decorously on a bushy head. The whole was as clean as a clothes-pin; and the punt was well kept, and the fish white and dry and sweet to smell, as all Newfoundland cod should be. Tumm"s prediction that he would not smile came true; his long countenance had no variation of expression-tough, brown, delicately wrinkled skin lying upon immobile flesh. His face was glum of cast-drawn at the brows, thin-lipped, still; but yet with an abundant and incongruously benignant white beard which might have adorned a prophet. For Jim Bull"s widow he made way; she, said he, must have his turn at the scales and in the cabin, for she had a baby to nurse, and was pressed for opportunity. This was tenderness beyond example-generous and acute. A clean, pious, gentle old fellow: he was all that, it may be; but he had eyes to disquiet the sanctified, who are not easily disturbed. They were not blue, but black with a blue film, like the eyes of an old wolf-cold, bold, patient, watchful-calculating; having no sympathy, but a large intent to profit, ultimately, whatever the cost. Tumm had bade me look Jowl in the eye; and to this day I have not forgotten....
The _Good Samaritan_ was out of Mad Tom"s Harbor, bound across the bay, after dark, to trade the ports of the sh.o.r.e. It was a quiet night-starlit: the wind light and fair. The clerk and the skipper and I had the forecastle of the schooner to ourselves.
"I "low," Tumm mused, "_I_ wouldn"t want t" grow old."
The skipper grinned.
"Not," Tumm added, "on this coast."
"Ah, well, Tumm," the skipper jeered, "maybe you won"t!"
"I"d be ashamed," said Tumm.
"You dunderhead!" snapped the skipper, who was old, "on this coast an old man"s a man! He"ve lived through enough," he growled, "t" show it."