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"Diamonds--yes--it is possible," interrupted the doctor impatiently,
"if it was worth while. But you should see the real importance----"
The ship careened to a chance swell; a door slammed; the voices were
cut off. I looked up. The Nigger's head was thrust forward fairly into
the glow from the companionway. The mask o... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
I was in two minds whether to report the whole matter to Captain
Selover. The only thing that restrained me was the vagueness of the
intention, and the fact that the afterguard was armed, and was four
to the crew's five. An incident, however, decided me. One evening I
was awakened by a sound of violent voices. Captain... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The wind hit us hard, held on a few moments, and moderated to a stiff
puff. There followed the rain, so of course I knew it would amount
to nothing. I was just stooping to throw the stops off the staysail
when I felt myself seized from behind, and forced rapidly toward the
side of the ship.
Of course I struggled. The ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The next morning I approached Captain Selover.
"Captain," said I, "I think it my duty to report that there is trouble
brewing among the crew."
"There always is," he replied, unmoved.
"But this is serious. Dr. Schermerhorn came aboard with a chest which
the men think holds treasure. The other evening Robinson overheard... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"You have a gun, of course?" he inquired. "I forgot to ask."
"No," said I.
He whistled.
"Well, no wonder you feel sort of lost and hopeless! Here, take this,
it'll make a man of you."
He gave me a Colt's 45, the barrel of which had been filed down to
about two inches of length. It was a most extraordinary weapon, but
... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Do we anchor or stand off and on?" I asked.
Captain Selover turned to grip me by the shoulder.
"I have orders from Darrow to get to a good berth, to land, to build
shore quarters, and to snug down for a stay of a year at least!"
We stared at each other.
"Joyous prospect," I muttered. "Hope there's something to do the... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We rowed in. The water was still. A faint ebb and flow whispered
against the tiny gravel beach at the end. I noted a practicable way
from it to the top of the cliff, and from the cliff down again to the
sand beach. Everything was perfect. The water was a beautiful light
green, like semi-opaque glass, and from the indi... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
I returned along the tide sands. The surf dashed and roared, lifting
seaweeds of a blood red, so that in places the water looked pink.
Seals innumerable watched me from just outside the breakers. As the
waves lifted to a semi-transparence, I could make out others playing,
darting back and forth, up and down like distu... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
After a mile of this, the bottom ran up nearly to the level of the
sides, and we stepped out on the floor of a little valley almost
surrounded by more hills.
It was an extraordinary place, and since much happened there, I must
give you an idea of it.
It was round and nearly encircled by naked painted hills. From its
f... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We set to work then in the roaring, steaming valley with the vapour
swirling about us, sometimes concealing us, sometimes half revealing
us gigantic, again in the utterness of exposure showing us dwindled
pigmies against the magnitudes about us. The labour was not difficult.
By the time Darrow returned we had a pile o... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
After the laboratory was completed, we put up sleeping quarters for
the two men, with wide porches well screened, and a square, heavy
storeroom. By the end of the third week we had quite finished.
Dr. Schermerhorn had turned with enthusiasm to the unpacking of his
chemical apparatus. Almost immediately at the close of... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We rowed in, constructed a hasty fireplace of stones, spread our
blankets, and built an unnecessary fire near the beach.
"Clean her!" grumbled Thrackles, "my eye!"
"I'd rather round the Cape," growled Pulz hopelessly.
"Come, now, it can't be as bad as all that," I tried to cheer them.
"It can't be more than a week or ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Of course, sir," said I, "it's the only proper place for you."
"I'm glad you think so," he rejoined, apparently relieved. "And
anyway," he cried, with a burst of feeling, "I hate the gritty feeling
of it under my feet! Solid oak's the only walking for a man."
He left me hastily, as though a trifle ashamed. I thought ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
First we scrubbed the _Laughing Lass_, then we painted her, and
resized and tarred her standing rigging, resized and rove her running
gear, slushed her masts, finally careened her and scraped and painted
her below.
When we had quite finished, we had the anchor chain dealt out to us
in fathoms, and scraped, pounded and... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
So accustomed had I become to the routine in which we were involved,
so habituated to anticipating the coming day as exactly like the day
that had gone, that the completion of our job caught me quite by
surprise. I had thrown myself down by the fire prepared for the some
old half hour of drowsy nicotine, to be followe... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Captain Selover stared me over.
"And you a naval man!" he marvelled. "Don't you see that the only
thing that keeps this crew from gettin' restless is keeping them busy?
I've sweat a damn sight more with my brain than you have with your
back thinking up things to do. I can't see anything ahead, and then
we'll have hell... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"That's true," said he.
I could not recognise the man for what I knew him to be. He groped,
as one in the dark, or as a sea animal taken out of its element and
placed on the sands. Courage had given place to fear; decision to
wavering; and singleness of purpose to a divided counsel. He who had
so thoroughly dominated ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Debbil fire," repeated the Nigger.
Darrow turned directly to him.
"Yes, devil's fire; and devils, too, for all I know; and certainly
vampires. Did you ever hear of vampires, Doctor?"
"No," growled the Nigger.
"Well, they are women, wonderful, beautiful women. A man on a long
voyage would just smack his lips to see t... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We wrecked the _Golden Horn_. Forward was a rusted-out donkey
engine, which we took to pieces and put together again. It was no mean
job, for all the running parts had to be cleaned smooth, and with the
exception of a rudimentary knowledge on the part of Pulz and Perdosa,
we were ignorant. In fact we should not have s... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The Nigger was Darrow's especial prey. The assistant had early
discovered that the cook was given to signs, omens, and superstitions.
From a curious scholar's lore he drew fantastics with which to torment
his victim. We heard of all the witches, warlocks, incubi, succibi,
harpies, devils, imps, and haunters of Avitch... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
It was now well along toward spring. The winter had been like summer,
and with the exception of a few rains of a week or so, we had enjoyed
beautiful skies. The seals had thinned out considerably, but were now
returning in vast numbers ready for their annual domestic
arrangements.
Our Sundays we had mostly spent in r... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
In that, of course, I was deceived by my inexperience. I realised
later the wonderful effect Captain Selover threw away with his empty
brandy bottles. The crew might grumble and plot during the watch
below; but when Captain Ezra Selover said _work_, they worked.
He had been saying work, for eight months. They had, fro... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We left him, scaled the cliff, and turned up a broad, pleasant valley
toward the interior.
There the later lava flow had been deflected. All that showed of the
original eruption were occasional red outcropping rocks. Soil and
grass had overlaid the mineral. Scattered trees were planted
throughout the flat. Cacti and s... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"A man could climb down there," said he.
"Why should he want to?" I demanded sharply.
"_Quien sabe_?" shrugged he.
We turned in silence toward the beach. Each brooded his thoughts. The
sight of that man dressed in overalls, carrying on some mysterious
business, brought home to each of us the fact that our expedition h... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The next day we continued our explorations by land, and so for a week
after that. I thought it best not to relinquish all authority, so I
organised regular expeditions, and ordered their direction. The men
did not object. It was all good enough fun to them.
The net results were that we found a nesting place of sea bi... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We shrank, terrified. From all about us glowed hundreds of eyes like
coals of fire--on a level with us, above us, almost over our heads.
Two by two the coals were extinguished.
Below us the bottom was clouded with black figures, darting rapidly
like a school of minnows beneath a boat. They darkened the coral and
the s... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Thus we spent very pleasantly the greater part of two weeks. At the
end of that time I made up my mind that it would be just as well to
get back to business. Accordingly I called Perdosa and directed him
to sort and clear of rust the salvaged chain cable. He refused flatly.
I took a step toward him. He drew his knife ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Put us aboard ship, sir, and let us hear the Old Man give his orders,
and you'll find no mutiny in us. But here ashore it's different. Did
the Old Man give orders to pound the cable?"
"I represent the captain," I stammered.
He caught the evasion. "I thought so. Well, if you got any kick on
us, please, sir, go get the... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
They gave them, grinning broadly. The villain stood looking at me,
a sardonic gleam in the back of his eye. Then he gave a little hitch
to his red head covering, and sauntered away humming between his teeth.
I stood watching him, choked with rage and indecision. The humming
broke into words.
"'Oh, quarter, oh, quart... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Darrow's "devil fires" were again painting the sky. I had noticed them
from time to time, always with increasing wonder. The men accepted
them easily as only one of the unexplained phenomena of a sailor's
experience, but I had not as yet hit on a hypothesis that suited me.
They were not allied to the aurora; they diff... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The atmosphere of our camp became surly. I recognised the precursor
of its becoming dangerous. One day on a walk in the hills I came on
Thrackles and Pulz lying on their stomachs gazing down fixedly at Dr.
Schermerhorn's camp. This was nothing extraordinary, but they started
guiltily to their feet when they saw me, an... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The impulse came from Percy Darrow and his idle talk of voodoos. As
usual he was directing his remarks to the sullen Nigger.
"Voodoos?" he said. "Of course there are. Don't fool yourself for a
minute on that. There are good ones and bad ones. You can tame them
if you know how, and they will do anything you want them t... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Seventeen months," pursued the logician after a few moments. He
scratched with a stub of lead. "That makes over eleven thousand
dollars since we've been out. How much do you suppose his outfit
stands him?" he appealed to me.
"I'm sure I can't tell you," I replied shortly.
"Well, it's a pile of money, anyway."
Nobody ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Nothing more developed for a long time except a savage fight between
Pulz and Perdosa. I hunted sheep, fished, wandered about--always with
an escort tired to death before he started. The thought came to me
to kill this man and so to escape and make cause with the scientists.
My common sense forbade me. I begin to thin... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Darrow laughed amusedly. "No, this is the truth," he assured. "I'll
tell you what: I'll give you boys six bits apiece for the whisker
hairs, and four bits for the galls. I expect to sell them at a
profit."
Next morning they shook off their lethargy and went seal-hunting.
I was practically commanded to attend. This att... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Percy Darrow showed us how to clean the whiskers. The process was
evil. The masks were, quite simply, to be advanced so far in the way
of putrefaction that the bristles would part readily from their
sockets. The first batch the men hung out on a line. A few moments
later we heard a mighty squawking, and rushed out to ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Still, in one way, an officer's an officer, and a seaman's a seaman,
thinks you, and discipline must be held up among mates ashore or
afloat, thinks you. Quite proper, sir. And I can see you think that
the arms is for the afterguard except in case of trouble. Quite
proper. You can do the shooting, and you can keep th... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"How about Old Scrubs----"
"Don't you believe none in luck?" asked Handy Solomon. "Aye."
"Well, so do I, with w'at that law-crimp used to call joodicious
assistance."
I rowed out to the _Laughing Lass_ very thoughtful, and a little
shaken by the plausible argument. Captain Selover was lying dead drunk
across the cabin... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
You can see by this how our hunting was never at an end. On Tuesday
we would kill the boss bull of a certain establishment. By Thursday,
at latest, another would be installed.
I learned curious facts about seals in those days. The hunting did
not appeal to me particularly, because it seemed to me useless to kill
so la... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Certainly my sincerity would be without question; and I hoped that
two years or more of service such as I had rendered would tickle Dr.
Schermerhorn's sense of his own importance. So adequate did this plan
seem, that I gave up thought on the subject.
My whole life now lay on the shores. I was not again permitted to
bo... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Gradually the smaller things came to worry us more and more. A certain
harmless singer of the cricket or perhaps of the tree-toad variety
used to chirp his innocent note a short distance from our cabin. For
all I know he had done so from the moment of our installation, but
I had never noticed him before. Now I caught ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We were so genuinely emptied, not so much by the cricket as by the
two years of fermentation, that not one of us stirred toward breakfast,
in fact not one of us moved from the listless attitude in which day
found him, until after nine o'clock. Then we pulled ourselves together
and cooked coffee and salt horse. As a si... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The first plan had been to get behind the band and to drive it slowly
toward the entrance to the cave. This was now seen to be impossible.
The cavern was too narrow; its sides at this point too steep, and the
animals too thickly congested. Our eyes, becoming accustomed to the
twilight, now began to make out dimly the ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
This was no chance of sport now, but a struggle for very life. We
realised that once down there would be no hope, for while the seals
were more anxious to escape than to fight, we knew that their jaws
were powerful. There was no time to pick and choose. We hit out with
all the strength and quickness we possessed. It w... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
I can see him yet rolling over and over embracing a big cow, his head
jammed in an ecstasy of ferocity between the animal's front flippers,
his legs clasped to hold her body, only his right arm rising and
falling as he plunged his knife again and again. She struggled,
turning him over and under, wept great tears, and ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
We landed in the cove, and were surprised to find it in shadow. The
afternoon was far advanced. Over the hill we dragged ourselves, and
down to the spring. There the men threw themselves flat and drank in
great gulps until they could drink no more. We built a fire, but the
Nigger refused to cook.
"Someone else turn," ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
And would you believe it, even through the blood haze of their combat
the men heard him, and heeded. They drew reluctantly apart, got to
their feet, stood looking at him through reeking brows half submissive
and half defiant. The bull-headed Thrackles even took a half step
forward, but froze in his tracks when Old Scr... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The looting party returned very shortly. Their plundering had gone
only as far as liquor and arms. Thrackles let down from the cliff top
a keg at the end of a line. Perdosa and the Nigger each carried an
armful of the 30-40 rifles. The keg was rolled to the fire and
broached.
The men got drunk, wildly drunk, but not h... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
he sang. "We'll land in Valparaiso and we'll go every man his way;
and we'll sink the old _Laughing Lass_ so deep the mermaids can't
find her."
Thrackles piled on more wood and the fire leaped high.
"Let's get after 'em,' said he.
"To-morrow's jes' 's good," muttered Pulz. "Les' hav' 'nother drink."
"We'll stay here '... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Their coffin was their ship and their grave it was the sea,
_Blow high, blow low! What care we_?
And the quarter that we gave them was to sink them in the sea,
_Down on the coast of the high Barbare-e-e,_"
bellowed Handy Solomon.
I turned and plunged into the cool darkness of the cañon.
XIV
AN ADVENT... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The doctor's laboratory stood in plain sight between the two columns
of steam blown straight upward through the stillness of the evening.
It seemed bursting with light. Every little crack leaked it in
generous streams, while the main illumination appeared fairly to bulge
the walls outward. This was in itself nothing e... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Then I was jerked off my feet, and the next I knew I was lying on my
back, very wet, on the beach; the day was breaking, and the men, quite
sober, were talking vehemently.
It was impossible to make out what they said, but as Handy Solomon
and the Nigger were the centre of discussion, I could imagine the subject.
I fel... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Handy Solomon and Pulz laid hand on two of the rifles near by and
began surreptitiously to fill their magazines. The Nigger shook his
knife free of the scabbard and sat with it in his left hand, concealed
by his body. I could feel Thrackles's muscles stiffen. Another fifty
paces and it would be no longer necessary to ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
I once took part in a wild boar hunt on the coast of California. Our
dogs had penned a small band at the head of a narrow _barranca_,
from which a single steep trail led over the hill. We, perched on
another hill some three or four hundred yards away, shot at the
animals as they toiled up the trail. The range was long... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The firing now became miscellaneous. No one paid any attention to
anyone else. Each discovered what I could have told them, that even
the human figure at five hundred yards is a small mark for a strange
rifle. The constant correction of elevation, however, brought the
puffs of dust always closer, and I could not but r... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
A gentle shower of white flakes began, powdering the surface of
everything. Far out to sea we could make out the sun on the water.
Gradually the roaring died down; the lightning ceased. Comparative
peace ensued. We looked again toward the cliff. Percy Darrow had not
for one instant ceased to climb. He was just topping... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
But the fates were against us, as always in this ill-starred voyage.
I, watching from my sand dune, saw a second figure emerge from the
arroyo's mouth. It appeared to stagger as though hurt; and every eight
or ten paces it stopped and rested in a bent-over position. The murky
light was too dim for me to make out detai... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"It'll take a man long time to carry down all your things, Perfessor."
"Oh, led them go! The eruption has alretty swallowed them oop. The lava
iss by now a foot deep in the valley. Before long it flows here, so we
must embark."
"But you've lost all them vallyable things, Perfessor," said Handy
Solomon. "Now, I call th... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Let's get out of this!" cried Thrackles.
We turned at the word and ran, Thrackles staggering under the weight of
the chest. All our belongings we abandoned, and set out for the _Laughing
Lass_ with only the tatters in which we stood. Luckily for us a great part
of the ship's stores had been returned to her hold after... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
He left me. Whatever truth lay in his assumption of friendship, and I
doubted there existed much of either truth or friendship in him, I saw the
common sense of his advice. I was in no position to dictate a course of
action.
After the sails were on her we gathered at the starboard rail to watch the
shore. There the hi... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Pulz turned an ashy countenance toward us.
"My God," he screamed. "What's going to happen when she hits the sea?"
She hit the sea, and immediately a great cloud of steam arose, and the
hissing as of a thousand serpents. We felt the strong suction under our
keel, and staggered under the jerk of the ship's cable as she ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"My God," chattered Pulz at my ear. "If we go ashore--"
He did not need to finish. Unless the _Laughing Lass_ could recover before
the squall had driven her to leeward a scant half mile, we should be
cooked alive in the boiling cauldron at the shore's edge.
For an interminable time, as it seemed to me, we lay absolute... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
For ten minutes we stared at him fascinated, during which time the ship
laboured against the staggering winds, gained and lost in its buffeting
with the great surges. The breakers hurling themselves in wild abandon
against the rocks sent their back-wash of tumbling peaks to our very
bilges. The few remains of the _Gol... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
As we made our way from beneath the island, the weight of the wind seemed
to lessen. We got the foresail on her, then a standing jib; finally little
by little all her ordinary working canvas. Before we knew it, we were
bowling along under a stiff breeze, and the island was dropping astern.
From a distance it presented... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"There's always the sea," I suggested.
"And it's deep," he agreed.
We looked out to the horizon in a diplomatic silence. I did not know
whether to be angry, amused, or alarmed that the man estimated my
cleverness so slightly. Why, the hook was barely concealed, and the bait
of the coarsest. That I would go safe to a s... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
While I leaned over the rail engrossed in these thoughts, one of the black
thunder clouds that had been gathering and dissipating over the island
during the entire afternoon suddenly glowed overhead with a strange white
incandescence startlingly akin to Darrow's so-called "devil fires."
Strangely enough, this illumina... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
I paused at the foot of the companion and looked back. A breathlessness of
excitement held the pirates in a vise. From above, the hanging lamp threw
strong shadows across their faces, bringing out the deep lines,
accentuating the dominant passions. With their rags and blood, their
unshaven faces, their firearms, their... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Almost immediately the rectangle on the roof through which the light made
its passage began to splay out, like lighted oil, although the column
retained still the integrity of its outline. The fire, if such it could be
called, ran with incredible rapidity along the seams between the planks,
forward and aft, until the ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
PART THREE
THE MAROON
I
IN THE WARDROOM
Over the wardroom of the _Wolverine_ had fallen a silence. It held after
Slade had finished. Captain Parkinson, stiff and erect in his chair,
staring fixedly at a spot two feet above the reporter's head, seemed to
weigh, as a judge weighs, the facts so picturesquely, set for... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Slade turned to the captain. "Have you any questions to put to me, sir?"
he asked formally.
"Just one moment," interrupted Trendon. "Boy, a pony of brandy for Mr.
Slade."
The reporter drank the liquor and again turned to Captain Parkinson.
"Only about our men," said the commanding officer, after a little thought.
Slad... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"It was all there was," returned Barnett.
"Just let me run this thing over," said the free lance slowly. "You found
the schooner. She wasn't afire. She didn't even seem to have been afire.
You put a crew aboard under your ensign, Edwards. Storm separated you from
her. You picked her up again deserted. Is that right?"
... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Overdone," said Dr. Trendon, with some irritation. "Cost you something in
strength. Foolish performance. Turn in now."
Slade tried to protest, but the surgeon would not hear of it, and marched
him incontinently to his berth. Returning, Trendon reported, with growls
of discontent, that his patient was in a fever.
"Cou... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Time to move, then," grunted Trendon.
The others looked at him inquiringly.
"About as healthful as prussic acid, those volcanic gases," explained the
surgeon.
The ship edged on and inward. Presently the sing-song of the leadsman
sounded in measured distinctness through the silence. Then a sudden
activity and bustle f... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"The Jolly Roger, by God! They've come back!" exclaimed Forsythe.
"And set up the sign of their shop," added Barnett.
"If they stuck to their flag--good-bye," observed Trendon grimly.
"Dr. Trendon," said Captain Parkinson, "you will arm yourself and go with
me in the gig to make a landing."
"Yes, sir," responded the s... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
In the midst of that deathly scene, the flag seemed instinct with a
sinister liveliness. Whoever had set it there had accurately chosen the
highest available point on that side of the island, the spot of all others
where it would make good its signal to the eye of any chance farer upon
those shipless seas. For the sta... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Why didn't we see him on the beach, then?"
"Did you notice a cave around to the north? Good refuge in case of fumes."
"It's worth trying," said the captain, putting up his glass.
"Hold on, sir. What's this? Here's something. Look here."
Trendon pointed to a small bit of wood rather neatly carved to the shape
of an in... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Karl Augustus Schermerhorn,
1409-1/2 Spruce Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.
[Illustration: With a strangled cry the sailor cast the shirt from him]
The opposite page was blank. Captain Parkinson turned half a dozen leaves.
"German!" he cried, in a note of disappointment, "Can you read German
script?"... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"It certainly leaves gaps," admitted the other.
He turned over a few more pages.
"Formulas, formulas, formulas. What's this? Here are some marginal
annotations."
"Unbehasslich," read Trendon. "Let's see. That means 'highly
unsatisfactory,' or words to that effect. Hi! Here's where the old man
loses his temper. Listen:... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Damn his cigarettes!" cried the surgeon. "This must be Darrow. Finicky
beast! Let's see if it's signed."
He whirled the leaves over to the last sheet, glanced at it, and sprang to
his feet. There, sprawled in tremulous characters, as by a hand shaken
with agony or terror, was written:
_Look for me in the cave.
... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
No vocal answer came. But an indeterminable space away they could hear a
low splash followed by a second and a third. Something coughed weakly in
front and to the right. Trendon's hand went to his revolver. The men sat,
stiffened. One of them swore, in a whisper, and the oath came back upon
them, echoing the name of t... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Poisonous," he cried.
"More volcano," said Trendon. He bent to the black hole and sniffed
cautiously.
"I'll go in, sir," volunteered Congdon. "I've had fire-practice."
"My business," said Trendon, briefly. "Decomposition; unpleasant, but not
dangerous."
Pushing the lantern before him, he wormed his way until the ligh... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"We'll see about that," said the captain, grimly. "Head her about. Skirt
the shore as near the breakers as you safely can."
The gig retraced its journey.
"There's the beach, as Slade described it," said Captain Parkinson, as
they came abreast of the little reach of sand.
"And what are those two bird-roosts on it?" ask... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"True enough," said the captain, and fell to consideration.
"Anyway," said Trendon vigorously, "I'd like to have a look at those bird-
roosts. Mighty like signposts, to my mind."
"Very well," said the captain. "It'll cost us only a wetting. Run her in,
Congdon."
With all the coxswain's skill, and the oarsmen's techniq... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
The other shook his head.
"Place is all trampled up with his footprints," said Trendon. "He's
plodded back and forth like a prisoner in a cell."
"The ledger," said the captain. "I'd forgotten it. That grave drove
everything else out of my mind."
"Bring the book here," called Trendon.
Congdon unwrapped it from his jack... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"The fellow is a tobacco maniac," growled Trendon, feeling in his breast
pocket. "The devil," he cried, bringing forth an empty hand.
Silently the captain handed him a cigar. "Thank you, sir," he said,
lighted it, and continued reading.
"_June 5. Had a caller to-day. Climbed the headland this morning. Found
volcano ta... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"June 7. This morning I found a body rolling in the surf. It was the body
of a young man, large and strongly built, dressed in the uniform of an
ensign of our navy. Surely a strange visitor to these shores! There was no
mark of identification upon him except a cigarette case graven with an
undecipherable monogram in T... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Quite right," approved Trendon. "I'll go down. Will you come with me,
sir?" he said to the captain.
They found Slade in profound slumber.
"Won't do to wake him now," growled Trendon. "Hello, what's here?"
Lying in the hollow of the sick man's right hand, where it had been
crushed to a ball, was a crumpled mass of tra... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"There was no clue to Ives and McGuire?" asked Barnett presently.
"None." It was the captain who answered.
The gig grated, and the tide being high, they waded to the base of the
cliff, Barnett carrying his precious explosives aloft in his arms.
"Here's the spot," said the captain. "See where the water goes in through
... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"How is that, Mr. Barnett?" asked the captain, with lively interest.
"You see, sir," returned the demonstrator, perched high, like a sculptor
at work on some heroic masterpiece, "what we want is to split off this
rock." He patted the flank of the huge slab. "There's a lovely vein
running at an angle inward from where ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"This is the little devil," he said, indicating his delicate burden.
"Fulminate of mercury. This is the stuff that'll remove your hand with
neatness and despatch. It's the quickest tempered little article in the
business. Just give it one hard look and it's off."
"Here," said Trendon, "I resign. From now on I'm a spec... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Darrow'll think an earthquake's come after him," remarked Trendon.
"Give way," ordered the captain.
The boat grated on the sand. Captain Parkinson would have entered, but
Barnett restrained him.
"It's best to wait a minute or two," he advised. "Occasionally slides
follow an explosion tardily, and the gases don't alwa... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Oh, you found the diary, then," said Darrow easily. "Rather silly of me
to complain so. But really, in conditions like these, tobacco becomes a
serious problem."
"So one might imagine," said Trendon drily. He looked closely at Darrow.
The man's eyes were light and dancing. From the nostrils two livid lines
ran diagon... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"I hope you've been able to make yourself comfortable," said the
commander, courteously.
"It would be strange indeed if I could not," returned Darrow, smiling.
"You forget that you have set a savage down in the midst of luxury."
"Make yourself free of Ives's things," invited Captain Parkinson. "Poor
fellow; he will no... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Yet, I believe he saved your life," suggested the captain.
Darrow looked up sharply. "Why, yes," he admitted. "So he did. I had
hoped--" He checked himself. "I had thought that all of the crew went the
same way. You didn't find any of the others?"
"None."
Darrow got to his feet. "I think I'd like to see Eagen--Slade-... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
No little cynicism lurked in Darrow's tones as he said:
"You have confidence in Mr. Slade, alias Eagen."
"Yes," replied Captain Parkinson, in a tone that closed that topic.
"Still, I should be glad to have you gentlemen present, if only for a
moment," insisted Darrow, presently.
"Perhaps it would be as well--on accoun... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
Dr. Trendon arose, and Captain Parkinson with him.
"Give you two hours, Mr. Darrow," said the surgeon. "No more. If he seems
exhausted, give him one of these powders. I'll look in in an hour."
At the end of an hour he returned. Slade was lying back on his pillow.
Darrow was talking, eagerly, confidentially. In another... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Now let me get this thing laid out clearly in my own mind. You first saw
the glow--let me see--"
"Night of June 2d," said Barnett.
"June 2d," agreed Darrow. "That was the end of Solomon, Thrackles & Co. A
very surprising end to them, if they had time to think," he added grimly.
"Surprising enough, from the survivor's... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"Do you mean us to understand that he had this power you describe?" asked
Captain Parkinson.
"In his grasp. Then comes a practical gentleman with a steel hook. A
follower of dreams, too, in his way. Conflicting interests--you know how
it is. One well-aimed blow from the more practical dreamer, and the
greater vision p... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"'Pitchblende; no!' he would exclaim. 'It has not the great power. The
mines are not deep enough, yet!'
"Then suddenly the great idea that was to bring him success, and cost him
his life, came to him. The bowels of the earth must hold the secret! He
took up volcanoes.... Does all this sound foolish? It was not if you ... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 | |
"He began his list, as I remember, with three dozen undershirts, a gallon
of pennyroyal for insect bites, a box of assorted fish hooks, thirty
pounds of tea, and a case of carpet tacks. When I hadn't anything else to
worry over, I used to lie awake at night and speculate on the purpose of
those carpet tacks. He had so... | The Mystery | Adams, Samuel Hopkins | 1871 | 1958 | ['en'] | 27 | {'Science fiction'} | PG10008 |
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