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21
I
heard
the
other
raise
his
voice
incredulously
What
?
The
Captain
himself
?
Then
a
few
more
murmurs
,
a
door
closed
,
then
another
.
A
few
moments
later
I
went
on
deck
.
22
My
strangeness
,
which
had
made
me
sleepless
,
had
prompted
that
unconventional
arrangement
,
as
if
I
had
expected
in
those
solitary
hours
of
the
night
to
get
on
terms
with
the
ship
of
which
I
knew
nothing
,
manned
by
men
of
whom
I
knew
very
little
more
.
Fast
alongside
a
wharf
,
littered
like
any
ship
in
port
with
a
tangle
of
unrelated
things
,
invaded
by
unrelated
shore
people
,
I
had
hardly
seen
her
yet
properly
.
Now
,
as
she
lay
cleared
for
sea
,
the
stretch
of
her
main
-
deck
seemed
to
me
very
fine
under
the
stars
.
Very
fine
,
very
roomy
for
her
size
,
and
very
inviting
.
I
descended
the
poop
and
paced
the
waist
,
my
mind
picturing
to
myself
the
coming
passage
through
the
Malay
Archipelago
,
down
the
Indian
Ocean
,
and
up
the
Atlantic
.
All
its
phases
were
familiar
enough
to
me
,
every
characteristic
,
all
the
alternatives
which
were
likely
to
face
me
on
the
high
seas
everything
!
.
.
.
except
the
novel
responsibility
of
command
.
But
I
took
heart
from
the
reasonable
thought
that
the
ship
was
like
other
ships
,
the
men
like
other
men
,
and
that
the
sea
was
not
likely
to
keep
any
special
surprises
expressly
for
my
discomfiture
.
23
Arrived
at
that
comforting
conclusion
,
I
bethought
myself
of
a
cigar
and
went
below
to
get
it
.
All
was
still
down
there
.
Everybody
at
the
after
end
of
the
ship
was
sleeping
profoundly
.
Отключить рекламу
24
I
came
out
again
on
the
quarter
-
deck
,
agreeably
at
ease
in
my
sleeping
suit
on
that
warm
breathless
night
,
barefooted
,
a
glowing
cigar
in
my
teeth
,
and
,
going
forward
,
I
was
met
by
the
profound
silence
of
the
fore
end
of
the
ship
.
Only
as
I
passed
the
door
of
the
forecastle
,
I
heard
a
deep
,
quiet
,
trustful
sigh
of
some
sleeper
inside
.
And
suddenly
I
rejoiced
in
the
great
security
of
the
sea
as
compared
with
the
unrest
of
the
land
,
in
my
choice
of
that
untempted
life
presenting
no
disquieting
problems
,
invested
with
an
elementary
moral
beauty
by
the
absolute
straightforwardness
of
its
appeal
and
by
the
singleness
of
its
purpose
.
25
The
riding
light
in
the
forerigging
burned
with
a
clear
,
untroubled
,
as
if
symbolic
,
flame
,
confident
and
bright
in
the
mysterious
shades
of
the
night
.
Passing
on
my
way
aft
along
the
other
side
of
the
ship
,
I
observed
that
the
rope
side
ladder
,
put
over
,
no
doubt
,
for
the
master
of
the
tug
when
he
came
to
fetch
away
our
letters
,
had
not
been
hauled
in
as
it
should
have
been
.
I
became
annoyed
at
this
,
for
exactitude
in
some
small
matters
is
the
very
soul
of
discipline
.
Then
I
reflected
that
I
had
myself
peremptorily
dismissed
my
officers
from
duty
,
and
by
my
own
act
had
prevented
the
anchor
watch
being
formally
set
and
things
properly
attended
to
.
I
asked
myself
whether
it
was
wise
ever
to
interfere
with
the
established
routine
of
duties
even
from
the
kindest
of
motives
.
My
action
might
have
made
me
appear
eccentric
.
Goodness
only
knew
how
that
absurdly
whiskered
mate
would
account
for
my
conduct
,
and
what
the
whole
ship
thought
of
that
informality
of
their
new
captain
.
26
I
was
vexed
with
myself
.
27
Not
from
compunction
certainly
,
but
,
as
it
were
mechanically
,
I
proceeded
to
get
the
ladder
in
myself
.
Now
a
side
ladder
of
that
sort
is
a
light
affair
and
comes
in
easily
,
yet
my
vigorous
tug
,
which
should
have
brought
it
flying
on
board
,
merely
recoiled
upon
my
body
in
a
totally
unexpected
jerk
.
What
the
devil
!
.
.
.
I
was
so
astounded
by
the
immovableness
of
that
ladder
that
I
remained
stock
-
still
,
trying
to
account
for
it
to
myself
like
that
imbecile
mate
of
mine
.
In
the
end
,
of
course
,
I
put
my
head
over
the
rail
.
Отключить рекламу
28
The
side
of
the
ship
made
an
opaque
belt
of
shadow
on
the
darkling
glassy
shimmer
of
the
sea
.
But
I
saw
at
once
something
elongated
and
pale
floating
very
close
to
the
ladder
.
Before
I
could
form
a
guess
a
faint
flash
of
phosphorescent
light
,
which
seemed
to
issue
suddenly
from
the
naked
body
of
a
man
,
flickered
in
the
sleeping
water
with
the
elusive
,
silent
play
of
summer
lightning
in
a
night
sky
.
With
a
gasp
I
saw
revealed
to
my
stare
a
pair
of
feet
,
the
long
legs
,
a
broad
livid
back
immersed
right
up
to
the
neck
in
a
greenish
cadaverous
glow
.
One
hand
,
awash
,
clutched
the
bottom
rung
of
the
ladder
.
He
was
complete
but
for
the
head
.
A
headless
corpse
!
The
cigar
dropped
out
of
my
gaping
mouth
with
a
tiny
plop
and
a
short
hiss
quite
audible
in
the
absolute
stillness
of
all
things
under
heaven
.
At
that
I
suppose
he
raised
up
his
face
,
a
dimly
pale
oval
in
the
shadow
of
the
ship
s
side
.
But
even
then
I
could
only
barely
make
out
down
there
the
shape
of
his
black
-
haired
head
.
However
,
it
was
enough
for
the
horrid
,
frost
-
bound
sensation
which
had
gripped
me
about
the
chest
to
pass
off
.
29
The
moment
of
vain
exclamations
was
past
,
too
.
I
only
climbed
on
the
spare
spar
and
leaned
over
the
rail
as
far
as
I
could
,
to
bring
my
eyes
nearer
to
that
mystery
floating
alongside
.
30
As
he
hung
by
the
ladder
,
like
a
resting
swimmer
,
the
sea
lightning
played
about
his
limbs
at
every
stir
;
and
he
appeared
in
it
ghastly
,
silvery
,
fishlike
.
He
remained
as
mute
as
a
fish
,
too
.
He
made
no
motion
to
get
out
of
the
water
,
either
.
It
was
inconceivable
that
he
should
not
attempt
to
come
on
board
,
and
strangely
troubling
to
suspect
that
perhaps
he
did
not
want
to
.
And
my
first
words
were
prompted
by
just
that
troubled
incertitude
.