WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:07.639
Prologue of the Pirates. This is
a librifox recording. All LibriVox recordings are

2
00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:12.439
in the public domain. For more
information, are a volunteer, please visit

3
00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:21.480
librifox dot org. Read by Joe
Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey. The

4
00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:29.719
Pirates by Morgan Robertson prologue. Two
young men met in front of the post

5
00:00:29.800 --> 00:00:35.200
office of a small country town.
They were of the same age, eighteen.

6
00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:41.960
Each was well dressed, comely,
and apparently of good family, and

7
00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:46.399
each had an expression of face that
would commend him to strangers, save that

8
00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:50.920
one of them, the larger of
the two, had what is called a

9
00:00:51.079 --> 00:00:56.280
bad eye, that is, an
eye showing just a little too much white

10
00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:04.319
above the iris, in the other's
white predominated below the iris. The former

11
00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:11.959
is usually the index of violent,
though restrained temper, the ladder of intuitive

12
00:01:11.319 --> 00:01:19.719
psychic disposition with very little self control. The difference in characters so indicated may

13
00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:26.719
lead one person to the presidency,
another to the gallows, and no such

14
00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:33.760
results are promised. With similar divergence
of path of pain and pleasure, of

15
00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:42.920
punishment and reward is this story concern
The two boys were schoolmates and friends,

16
00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:48.519
with never a quarrel, since they
had known each other they had graduated together

17
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:55.120
from the high school, but neither
had been validatorian. They later sought the

18
00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:59.640
competitive examination given by the congressman of
the district for an appointment to the Naval

19
00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:04.760
account. To me, I had
one out overall, but so close together

20
00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:10.560
that the congressman had decreed another test. They had taken it, and since

21
00:02:10.599 --> 00:02:15.199
then had waited for the letter that
named the winner. Hence the daily visits

22
00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:21.319
to the post office, ending in
this one with a larger boy about to

23
00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.639
go up the steps met the smaller
coming down with an open letter and smiling.

24
00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:32.719
I've got it, Jack, said
the smaller boy, joyously. Here

25
00:02:32.759 --> 00:02:39.840
it is I win, but of
course you're the alternate. Read it.

26
00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:47.800
He handed the letter to Jack,
but it was declined. What's the use

27
00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:54.039
was the somewhat sulky response. I've
lost, sure enough. All I've got

28
00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:59.919
to do is to forget it.
Then let me read it to you,

29
00:03:00.360 --> 00:03:04.840
said the winner eagerly. I want
you to feel glad about it, same

30
00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:10.639
as I would if you had passed
first. Listen, mister William Denman,

31
00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:15.960
Dear sir, I am glad to
inform you that you have successfully passed the

32
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:22.439
second examination for an appointment to the
Naval Academy, winning by three points in

33
00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:28.400
history over the other contestant, mister
John Forsyth, who, of course,

34
00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:32.159
is the alternating In case you do
not pass the entrance examination at Annapolis,

35
00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:38.719
be ready at any time for instructions
from the Secretary of the Navy to report

36
00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:47.840
an Annapolis. Sincerely, yours,
Jacob Blain. What do I care for

37
00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:53.840
that, said Forsyth. I suppose
I've got a letter in there too.

38
00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:01.439
Let's see, Walt demon waited.
Forsyth entered the post office and soon emerged

39
00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:09.719
reading a letter, same thing.
He said. I failed by three points

40
00:04:09.719 --> 00:04:14.479
in my special study. How is
it, Bill, he demanded fiercely,

41
00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:19.879
as his disappointment grew upon him.
I've beaten not only you, but the

42
00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:25.800
whole class from the primary up in
history, ancient, modern and local.

43
00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:34.800
Until now there's something crooked here.
His voice sank to a mutter. Crooked,

44
00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:43.319
Jack, What are you talking about, replied Denman hotly. I don't

45
00:04:43.360 --> 00:04:46.759
know, Bill, Never mind,
Come on, if you're going home.

46
00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:55.600
They walked side by side the direction
of their homes, near together and on

47
00:04:55.639 --> 00:05:02.240
the outskirts of the town, each
busy with his thoughts. Denman little proud

48
00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:05.720
and joyous over the prize he had
won. Was he yet hurt by the

49
00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:11.399
speech and manner of Forsyth, and
hurt still further by the darkening cloud in

50
00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:16.759
his face as they walked on.
Forsyth's thoughts were best indicated by his suddenly

51
00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:25.040
turning toward Denman and blurting out,
yes, I say there's something crooked in

52
00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.639
this. I could beat you in
history any day in the week, but

53
00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:36.839
your dad and old Bland are close
friends. I see it now. Denman

54
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:42.600
turned white as he answered, do
you want me to report your opinion to

55
00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:47.519
my father and mister Bland? Oh? You would, wouldn't you? And

56
00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:53.920
take from me the alternate two?
Well, you're a cur bill Denman,

57
00:05:54.879 --> 00:06:00.439
go ahead and report. They were
now on a block bounded by vic and

58
00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:05.480
Lotts, and no one was within
sight. Denman stopped, threw off his

59
00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:14.079
coat and said, no, I'll
not report your opinion, but you square

60
00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:16.519
yourself, Jack Forsythe, and I'll
show you the kind of cur I am.

61
00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:26.199
Forsythe turned saw the anger in Denman's
eyes and promptly shed his coat.

62
00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:32.720
It was a short fight of one
round, only each one courageously and with

63
00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:38.439
such fistic skills as schoolboys acquire,
and each was equal to the other in

64
00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:43.680
strength, but one possessed about an
inch longer reach than the other, which

65
00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:51.079
decided the battle. Denman, with
nose bleeding and both eyes closing, went

66
00:06:51.160 --> 00:06:58.480
down at last and could not arise, not even see the necessity of rising.

67
00:07:00.720 --> 00:07:04.399
But soon his brain cleared, and
he staggered to his feet, his

68
00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:09.839
head throbbing viciously, and his face
and clothing smeared with blood from his nose.

69
00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:14.879
To see between puffed eyelids, the
erect figure of forsythe swaggering around a

70
00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:20.720
distant corner. He staunched a blow
with his handkerchief, but as there was

71
00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:25.839
not a brook, a ditch,
or a puddle in the neighborhood, he

72
00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:29.639
could only go home, as he
was trusting that he would meet no one

73
00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:39.240
licked. He muttered, for the
first time in my life too, what

74
00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:46.319
do the old gentleman and mother say? What the father and mother might say,

75
00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:50.560
or what they did say, has
no part in this story. But

76
00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:55.439
what another person said may have a
place in value and will be given here.

77
00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:01.600
This person was the only one he
met before we reached home, A

78
00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:07.879
very small person about thirteen years old, with big gray eyes and long dark

79
00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:13.480
ringlets, who ran across the street
to look at him. Why, Billy

80
00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:18.759
Denmon, she cried, shocked and
anxious, What has happened to you?

81
00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:28.759
Run over? No florry, he
answered painfully, I've been licked. I

82
00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:35.279
had a fight. But don't you
know what's wrong to fight? Billy maybe,

83
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.759
answered Denman, trying to get more
blood from his face to the already

84
00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:50.639
saturated handkerchief. But we all do
wrong sometimes. The child planted herself directly

85
00:08:50.679 --> 00:08:56.919
before him and looked chartingly into his
discolored and disfigured face. Billy Demon,

86
00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:03.080
she said, shaking a small finger
at him. Of course, I'm sorry,

87
00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:07.639
But if you've been fighting, when
you know what is wrong, why

88
00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:13.159
why it served you right? Had
he not been aching in every joint,

89
00:09:15.159 --> 00:09:20.600
his nose, his lips, and
his eyes, this unjust speech might have

90
00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:28.279
amused him. As it was,
he answered testily, Florence Fleming. You're

91
00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:33.120
only a kid yet, though,
the best one I know. And if

92
00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:35.159
I should tell you the name I
was called which brought on the fight,

93
00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:41.240
you would not understand. But you'll
grow up some day and then you will

94
00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:48.960
understand. Now, remember this fight, and when some woman or possibly some

95
00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:56.240
man calls you a a cat,
you'll feel like fighting too. But I

96
00:09:56.279 --> 00:10:03.120
wouldn't mind, she answered firm.
And Papa called me a kitten today and

97
00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:11.039
I didn't get mad. Well,
Florrie, he said wearily. I won't

98
00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:16.639
try to explain. I'm going away
before long, and perhaps I won't come

99
00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:24.000
back again. What if I do, there will be another fight? Going

100
00:10:24.039 --> 00:10:31.799
away, Billy, she cried in
alarm, where too to Annapolis? I

101
00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:39.360
may stay or I may come back. I don't know. And you are

102
00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:43.720
going away and you don't know that
you'll come back. Oh, Billy,

103
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:48.399
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You
got licked too. Who did it?

104
00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:56.480
I hate him who licked you?
Billy? Never mind, Floory. He'll

105
00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:03.759
tell the news and you'll soon know
who he is. He walked on,

106
00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:09.159
but the child headed him and faced
him. There were tears in the gray

107
00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:16.360
eyes. And you're going away,
Billy, she exclaimed again. When are

108
00:11:16.399 --> 00:11:22.080
you going? I don't know,
he answered, whenever I am sent for.

109
00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:28.200
If I don't see you again,
goodbye, Florrie girl. He stooped

110
00:11:28.200 --> 00:11:33.080
to kiss her, but straightened up, remembering the condition of his face.

111
00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:39.639
But I will see you again,
she declared, I will, I will,

112
00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:45.600
I'll come to your house and Billy, I'm sorry I scolded you.

113
00:11:45.879 --> 00:11:52.559
Really I am, he smiled ruefully. Never mind that, Flory. You

114
00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:58.440
always scolded me, you know,
and I'm used to it, but only

115
00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:03.480
when you did wrong, Billy,
she answered gravely, And somehow I feel

116
00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:07.559
that this time you have not done
wrong. But I won't scold you the

117
00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:13.919
next time you really do wrong.
I promise. Oh, yes you will,

118
00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:20.879
little girl. It's the privilege and
prerogative of your sex. He patted

119
00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:24.519
her on the head and went on, leaving her staring, open eyed and

120
00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:30.399
tearful. She was the child of
a neighbor. He had mended her dolls,

121
00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:35.399
soothed her griefs, and protected her
since infancy, but she was only

122
00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:43.720
as a small sister to him.
While waiting for orders to Annapolis, he

123
00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.799
saw her many times, but she
did not change to him. She changed,

124
00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:54.600
however. She had learned the name
of his assailant, and through her

125
00:12:54.600 --> 00:12:58.080
expressed hatred for him, and through
her sympathy for Billy as a disfigurements left

126
00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:07.080
his face. She passed the border
between childhood and womanhood. When orders came,

127
00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:11.600
he stopped at her home, kissed
her goodbye and went to Annapolis,

128
00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:18.639
leaving her sad eye with quivering lips, and he did not come back.

129
00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:33.840
And of prologue chapter one of the
Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording

130
00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:39.279
is in the public domain. Read
by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey,

131
00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:46.440
Chapter one. She was the largest, fastest and the latest thing in

132
00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:52.679
seagoing destroyers, And though the specifications
called from a thirty six knots speed,

133
00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:58.200
she had made thirty eight on her
trial trip, and later, under careful

134
00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:01.279
nursing by her engineers, she had
increased this to forty knots an hour,

135
00:14:03.559 --> 00:14:09.559
five knots faster than any craft of
float, and with a clean bottom,

136
00:14:09.399 --> 00:14:16.000
this speed could be depended upon at
any time it was needed. She derived

137
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:20.320
the speed from six water or two
boilers feeding at a pressure of three hundred

138
00:14:20.320 --> 00:14:28.000
pounds live steam to five turbine engines
working three screws, one high pressure turbine

139
00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:35.639
on the center shaft and four low
pressure on the wing shafts. Besides these,

140
00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:43.320
she possessed two astern turbines and two
cruising turbines, all four on the

141
00:14:43.320 --> 00:14:50.679
wing shafts. She made steam with
oil fuel there would be no coal on

142
00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.039
board except for heating and cooking,
and could carry one hundred and thirty tons

143
00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:58.200
of it, which gave her a
cruising radius of about two thousand miles.

144
00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:05.720
Also, with piece tanks filled,
she could stem three thousand miles without replashing.

145
00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:13.600
This would carry her across the Atlantic
at thirteen knots speed, but if

146
00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:18.000
she was in a hurry using all
turbines, she would exhaust her oil in

147
00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:24.080
two days. When in a hurry, she was a spectacle to remember.

148
00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:30.039
Built on conventional lines, she showed
her a miles distance nothing but a high

149
00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.480
bow and four short funnels over a
mighty bow wave that hid the rest of

150
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:39.559
her long, dark hued hull,
and a black, horizontal cloud of smoke

151
00:15:39.000 --> 00:15:46.519
that stretched astern half a mile before
the wind could catch and rendered. She

152
00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:52.120
carried four twenty one inch torpedo tubes
and a battery of six twelve pounder rapid

153
00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:58.320
fire guns. Also, she carried
two large searchlights and a wireless equipment of

154
00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:03.080
seventy miles reach, the aerials of
which stretched from the truck of her short

155
00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:11.000
signal mast aft to the short pole
of the taffrail. Packed with machinery,

156
00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:15.200
she was a hot box even when
at rest, and when in action,

157
00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:22.039
a veritable bake of him. She
had a hygienic air space below decks for

158
00:16:22.039 --> 00:16:26.480
about a dozen men, and this
number could handle her, but she carried

159
00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:33.360
births and accommodations for sixty. Her
crew was not on board, however,

160
00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.559
newly scraped and painted in the dry
dock, she had been hauled out,

161
00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:44.679
stored, and fueled by a Navy
yard gang, and now lay at the

162
00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:48.480
dock ready for sea, ready for
her drafted men in the morning, and

163
00:16:48.600 --> 00:16:52.960
with no one on board for the
night. But the executive officer, who

164
00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:59.559
was something on his mind, had
elected to remain while the captain and other

165
00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:07.079
commission officers went ashore for the night. Four years of the Naval Academy,

166
00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:11.680
but two years sea crews and a
year of actual service, had made many

167
00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:19.319
changes in Denman. He was now
twenty five and ensign, but because of

168
00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:26.200
his position as executive bearing the complimentary
title of lieutenant, he was a little

169
00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:30.680
taller and much straighter and square of
shoulder than he was when he had gone

170
00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:34.839
to the academy. He had grown
a trim mustache, and the sun and

171
00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.759
winds of many seas had tanned his
face to the color of his eyes,

172
00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:42.599
which were of a clear brown,
and only in repose did they now show

173
00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:51.480
the old time preponderance of white beneath
the brown. In action, these eyes

174
00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:56.319
looked out through two slits formed by
nearly parallel eyelids, and with the tightly

175
00:17:56.359 --> 00:18:00.119
closed lips and the high arching eyebrows
sure side to the highest and best form

176
00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:04.440
of physical and moral courage. They
gave his face a sort of take care

177
00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:12.799
of look, which most men heeded. Some women would have thought him handsome,

178
00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:18.119
some would not. It all depended
upon the impression they made of him

179
00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:26.039
and the consequent look in his eyes. At Annapolis he had done well.

180
00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:30.799
He was the most popular man of
his class, had one honors from his

181
00:18:30.839 --> 00:18:36.480
studies, and fist fights from his
fellows. While at sea he had shown

182
00:18:36.519 --> 00:18:41.039
a reckless disregard for his life in
such matters as bursting flues, men overboard,

183
00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:47.480
and other casualties of seafaring that brought
him many typewritten letters from Washington,

184
00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.599
a few numbers of advancement, and
the respect and admiration of all that knew

185
00:18:52.799 --> 00:19:00.799
where had heard of him. His
courage, like Missus Caesar's morals, was

186
00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.839
above suspicion. Yet there was one
man in the world who was firmly convinced

187
00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:10.400
that Lieutenant Denman had a yellow streak
in him, and that man was Denman

188
00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:18.519
himself. He had never been home
since his departure for Annapolis. He had

189
00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:22.440
promised a small girl that if he
came back, there would be another fight,

190
00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:29.680
in which, as he mentally vowed, he would redeem himself. In

191
00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:33.799
this he had been sincere But as
the months of the academy went on,

192
00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:38.079
with the unsettled fight still in the
future, his keen resentment died away,

193
00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:47.920
leaving his place a sense of humiliation
and chagrin. He's still meant to go

194
00:19:47.960 --> 00:19:51.839
back, however, and would have
done so when vacation came, But a

195
00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:56.559
classmate invited him to his home,
and there he went, glad of the

196
00:19:56.599 --> 00:20:03.680
reprieve from embarrassing and as seemed to
him now an undignified conflict with a civilian.

197
00:20:06.039 --> 00:20:14.200
But the surrender brought its sting and
his self respect Lesson at the next

198
00:20:14.279 --> 00:20:18.440
vacation, he surrendered again, and
this thing began eating into his soul.

199
00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:23.000
He felt of the overdue redemption he
had promised himself at all times and upon

200
00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:29.599
all occasions, but oftenest just before
going to sleep with the mental picture of

201
00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.839
Jack Forsyth swaggering around the corner while
he lay conquered and helpless on the ground,

202
00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:38.640
would accompany him through his dreams and
be with him when he wakened in

203
00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:47.640
the morning. It became an obsession, and very soon the sudden thought of

204
00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:51.400
his coming fight with Forsyth brought the
uplift of the heart and the slight,

205
00:20:51.480 --> 00:20:59.240
choking sensation that betokened nothing but fear. He would not admit it at first,

206
00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:04.720
but finally he was compelled to honest
with himself as he was with others.

207
00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:08.960
He finally yielded in the mental struggle
and accepted the dict him of his

208
00:21:10.039 --> 00:21:17.559
mind. He was afraid to fight
Jack forsythe with no reference to or regard

209
00:21:17.599 --> 00:21:22.839
for his standing as an officer and
a gentleman. But now it seemed all

210
00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:29.720
this was to leave him. A
month before, he had thought strongly of

211
00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:34.440
his child friend Florey, and with
nothing to do, one afternoon, he

212
00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:41.279
had written her a letter, a
jolly, rollicking letter filled with masculine colloquialisms

213
00:21:41.319 --> 00:21:47.799
and friendly endearments such as he had
bestowed upon her at home. And it

214
00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:52.880
was the dignity of her reply received
that day with the contents of the letter,

215
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:59.960
which was the something on his mind
that kept him aboard. His chief

216
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:03.039
burned as he realized that she was
now about twenty years old, a young

217
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:07.880
lady, and that his letter to
her had been sadly conceived and much out

218
00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:14.720
of place. But the news in
the letter, which began with dear sir

219
00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:25.839
and ended with sincerely yours, affected
him most. It read, I presume

220
00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.480
that you know your enemy Jack Forsythe
took his disappointment so keenly that he never

221
00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:34.599
amounted too much at home, but
about two years ago enlisted in the navy.

222
00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:41.920
This relieves you, as father tells
me, from the necessity of thrashing

223
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:49.240
him, as you declared you would. Officers and enlisted men cannot fight,

224
00:22:49.279 --> 00:22:53.359
he said. As the officer has
the advantage, I can always order the

225
00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:59.799
man to jail. I thank you
very much for remembering me after all of

226
00:22:59.799 --> 00:23:07.240
these years. In fact, I
shall never forget your kindness. His cheeks

227
00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:11.599
and ears had burned all day,
and when his fellow officers had gone and

228
00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:21.200
he was alone, he reread the
letter, sarcasm and contempt between every line,

229
00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:27.240
he muttered, she expected me.
The whole town expected me to come

230
00:23:27.240 --> 00:23:37.759
back and lick that fellow well.
His eyelids became rigidly parallel. I'll do

231
00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:41.880
it when I find him, I'll
get shortly for both of us, take

232
00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:51.799
him home and square the account.
This resolution did him good. The heat

233
00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:55.200
left his cheek, and the sudden
jump of the heart did not come with

234
00:23:55.240 --> 00:24:02.640
the occasional thought of the task.
Gradually the project took form. He would

235
00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:07.359
learn what ship forsythe was in,
could transferred to her, and when in

236
00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:11.640
port arranged the shore leave. He
could not fight him in the navy,

237
00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:18.839
but as man to man in civilian's
clothing in the town park, he would

238
00:24:18.839 --> 00:24:25.519
fight him and thrash him before the
populace. It was late when he had

239
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:30.000
finished the planning. He lighted the
last cigar and salted around the deck until

240
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.160
the cigar was consumed. Then he
went to his room and turned in,

241
00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:40.599
thinking of the caustic words of miss
Floury for giving her the while, and

242
00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:47.400
wondering how she looked grown up.
They were pleasant thoughts to go to sleep

243
00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:53.640
on, but sleep did not come. It was an intensely hot, muggy

244
00:24:53.799 --> 00:25:00.799
night, and the mosquitoes were thick. He tried another room, then another,

245
00:25:02.839 --> 00:25:07.119
and at last Driven out of the
wardroom by the pests, he took

246
00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:11.039
refuge in the stowage pantry, and, spreading his blanket on the floor,

247
00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:22.759
went to sleep on it. End
of chapter one, chapter two of The

248
00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:30.480
Pirates by Morton Robinson. This LibriVox
recording is in the public domain. Read

249
00:25:30.519 --> 00:25:41.480
by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New
Jersey, Chapter two. He slept soundly,

250
00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:45.599
and as he slept, the wind
blew up from the east, driving

251
00:25:45.599 --> 00:25:49.319
the mosquitoes to cover, and bringing
with it a damp, impenetrable fog that

252
00:25:49.400 --> 00:25:56.039
sank down over the navy yard and
hid century from century, compelling them to

253
00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:02.640
count their steps as they pace.
They were scattered throughout the yard at various

254
00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:07.839
important points, what at the gangway
of each ship of the docks, others

255
00:26:07.839 --> 00:26:11.759
at corners and entrances to the different
walks that traversed the green lawn, and

256
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:19.240
others under the walls of a huge
naval prison. One of these, whose

257
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:26.200
walk extended from corner to corner,
heard something and paused often to listen intently,

258
00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:32.799
his eyes peering around into the fog. But the sound was not repeated.

259
00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:37.200
While he listened, only as his
footfalls sounded soggily on a damp path,

260
00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:45.079
where they punctuated by this still small
sound that they cannot localize or remember.

261
00:26:47.160 --> 00:26:51.640
If ast he might have likened it
to the rustling of paper or the

262
00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:56.920
sound of the cat's claws digging into
a carpet. But at last it ceased,

263
00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:02.599
and they went back and forth many
times without hearing him. Then,

264
00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:07.119
when about a halfway from corner to
corner, a heavy body came down from

265
00:27:07.160 --> 00:27:11.319
above, landing on his head and
shoulders and baring him to earth, Waile's

266
00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:18.920
rifle was knocked from his hand,
and big fingers clutched his throat. He

267
00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:22.200
struggled and endeavored to call out,
but the grip on his throat was too

268
00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:29.160
strong, and finally he quieted,
his last flicker of consciousness, cognizing other

269
00:27:29.240 --> 00:27:36.759
dropping bodies and the muttered and whispered
words of men. So much for this

270
00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:42.200
sentry, I know the way,
whispered the corotor, and a few gathered

271
00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:48.480
around him. We'll make a beeline
for the dock and avoid him. Then

272
00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:52.359
if we can't find a boat,
we'll swim for it. It's the only

273
00:27:52.400 --> 00:28:00.000
way, right, whispered another,
falling here behind Jenkins, all of you.

274
00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:07.480
The whispered word was passed along and
in single file, the dark brown

275
00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:11.480
bodies, each marked a knee and
elbow with a white number, followed the

276
00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:18.880
leader Jenkins. He led them across
the green, around corners where centuries were

277
00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:25.359
not, and down to the dock
were lay the des drawer. Here was

278
00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:30.880
a century pacing up and down.
But so still was their approach that he

279
00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:36.240
did not see them until they were
right upon him. Who goes? He

280
00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:42.319
started, but the challenge was caught
in his throat. He too was choked

281
00:28:42.359 --> 00:28:48.480
until consciousness almost left him. Then
the stricture was relaxed while they questioned him.

282
00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:56.680
Got a boat around here, hissed
Jenkins in his ear whisper, don't

283
00:28:56.720 --> 00:29:04.200
speak, No, gasped the sentry, unable to speak louder, and he

284
00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:12.119
dared, how many men are aboard? To destroy her? Was asked none?

285
00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:21.000
Now crew joins in the morning.
Nobody on board to say, lie

286
00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:26.079
quiet. If you raise a row, I'll drop you overboard. Come here,

287
00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:33.039
you fellows. They closed about him, thirteen in all, and listen

288
00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:40.240
to his project. He was a
pilot of the bay. How many machinists

289
00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:45.720
were there in the party? Four? Laying the rating right? Enough,

290
00:29:47.119 --> 00:29:52.519
said Jenkins, we'll run her out. She's oil fuels. I understand you

291
00:29:52.559 --> 00:30:00.640
can fire up in ten minutes,
can't you good? Come on, wait

292
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:07.279
though, Jenkins, with his grip
of steel, was equal to the task

293
00:30:07.319 --> 00:30:11.960
of tearing a strip from his brown
prison jacket, and with this he securely

294
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:18.160
gagged the poor sentry. Another strip
from another jacket bound his hands behind him,

295
00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:26.319
and still another secured him to a
mooringflat face upward. This done,

296
00:30:26.759 --> 00:30:33.160
they suddenly filed aboard and spread through
the interior. The sentry had spoken truly,

297
00:30:33.240 --> 00:30:38.319
they agreed when they mustered together.
There was no one on board,

298
00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:45.920
and the machinists reported plenty of oil
fuel. Soon the fires were lighted and

299
00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:52.000
the indicator began to move as the
boilers made steam. They did not wait

300
00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:56.559
for full pressure. Jenkins has spread
out a chart in the pilot house,

301
00:30:56.200 --> 00:31:02.960
and when the engines could turn over, he gave the word lines were taken

302
00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:07.240
in except the spring to back on. Then this was cast off, and

303
00:31:07.319 --> 00:31:15.599
the long, slim hull moved almost
silently away from the deck. Jenkins steered

304
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.680
by the light of a match held
over the compass until there were steam enough

305
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:22.920
to turn the dynamos. Then the
electrics were turned on. In the pilot

306
00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:27.160
house engine room and side light boxes, by which time the dock was out

307
00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:33.519
of sight in the fog, and
they dared speak in articulate words. Their

308
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:44.440
language was profane but joyous, and
their congratulations hardy and sincere. A table

309
00:31:44.519 --> 00:31:48.000
knife is an innocent and an innocuous
weapon, but two table knives are not,

310
00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:52.799
For one can be used against the
other so skillfully as to form a

311
00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:59.640
fairly good hack saw with which prison
bars maybe saw it. The sawing of

312
00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:06.200
steel bars was a sound of the
century had heard mingling his footfalls. Jenkins

313
00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:09.839
at the wheel called to the crowd. Take the wheel, one of you,

314
00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:15.720
He ordered, I've just rounded the
corner. Keeper saw east half south

315
00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:21.440
for a mile. I'll be here. Then I want to rig the log

316
00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:27.559
over the stern. The man answered, and Jenkins departed with the boat's patent

317
00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:34.480
log. Down. In the engine
and boiler rooms were the four machinists engineers.

318
00:32:34.519 --> 00:32:38.240
They would be called in merchant steamers, and under their efforts the engines

319
00:32:38.359 --> 00:32:44.119
turned faster while the growing bow waves
spread from each side to the sharp stern.

320
00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:52.079
The fog was still thick, so
thick that the fansheet beams from the

321
00:32:52.119 --> 00:32:54.400
side legs could not pierce it.
As far as the bottle, and the

322
00:32:54.480 --> 00:33:04.880
forward funnel was barely visible a magnified
black stump. Jenkins was back among them,

323
00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:09.519
soon, remarking that she made twenty
knots already. Then he slowed down,

324
00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:15.480
ordered the lead hove each side,
and ringing full speed, quietly took

325
00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:23.160
the wheel, changing the course again
to the east's quarter north, and ordering

326
00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:27.640
a man aloft to keep a lookout
in the thinner fog for lights ahead.

327
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:35.359
In a few minutes the man reported
a fixed white light four points off the

328
00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:39.160
star Wars bow, and a little
later a fixed white and red flashlight two

329
00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:46.519
points off the port bow. Good, grunted Jenkins. I know just where

330
00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:52.519
I am. Come down from aloft, he called, and watch out for

331
00:33:52.559 --> 00:34:00.039
buoys. I'm going out to south
into Pocrity channels. Then a dull boom

332
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:07.920
rang out from a stern, followed
by another and another, and Jenkins laughed.

333
00:34:09.360 --> 00:34:14.280
They found that century, he said, And I telephoned Fort Independence,

334
00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:20.559
but it's no good. They've only
got salute guns. We passed that fort

335
00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:28.880
twenty minutes ago. Any others,
they asked, Fort Warren down on the

336
00:34:29.000 --> 00:34:34.920
narrows. That's why I'm going through
the hippocratey. Keep your eyes peeled for

337
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:40.800
buoys, you ginks, and keep
those leads going, calm and imperturbable.

338
00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:46.719
A huge, square faced, giant
of a man, Jenkins naturally assumed the

339
00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:53.039
leadership of this band of jailbreakers.
The light from the binnacle illuminated the countenance

340
00:34:53.079 --> 00:35:00.159
of rugged yet symmetrical features, stamped
with a prison pollor, but also camp

341
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:05.920
with a stronger imprint of refinement.
A man probably out of place, no

342
00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:12.239
doubt, a square peg in a
round hole, a man with every natural

343
00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:17.559
attribute of a master of men.
Some act of rage or passion, perhaps

344
00:35:19.800 --> 00:35:23.400
some non adjustment to an unjust environment
had sent him to the naval prison to

345
00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:30.039
escape and become a pirate, for
that was a legal status of all.

346
00:35:32.599 --> 00:35:37.840
Soon the wind shifted in the fog, cleared to seaward, but still held

347
00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:44.440
its impenetrable wall between them and the
town. Then it turned on both search

348
00:35:44.599 --> 00:35:52.320
lights and saw a boiz ahead to
starboard and port. Jenkins boasted a little.

349
00:35:52.840 --> 00:35:57.639
I've run these channels for years,
he said, and I know them

350
00:35:57.880 --> 00:36:05.440
as I know the old backyard at
home. Hello, what's up? A

351
00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:10.679
man had run to the pilot house
door in great excitement, an officer aboard.

352
00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:16.440
He whispered, I was down looking
for grub and saw him. He's

353
00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:23.880
been asleep. Take the wheel,
said Jenkins. Calmly, keep her as

354
00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:29.800
she goes, and leave that black
booie to starboard. Then he stepped out

355
00:36:29.800 --> 00:36:42.760
on deck. End of chapter two, Chapter three of the Pirates by Morgan

356
00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:50.320
Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain. Read by Joe Denoia,

357
00:36:50.559 --> 00:37:00.519
Chesterfield, New Jersey. Chapter three, seaman off a surgeon, as

358
00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:05.679
well as men accustomed to watch and
watch a four hours alternate duty and sleep,

359
00:37:06.840 --> 00:37:10.079
usually wakened at eight bells, even
when sure of an all night's sleep.

360
00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:16.079
It was long after midnight when Denman
had gone asleep on the pantry floor,

361
00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:22.119
and the slight noise of getting underway
did not arouse him. But when

362
00:37:22.119 --> 00:37:28.679
eight bells came round again, he
sat up, confused, not conscious that

363
00:37:28.679 --> 00:37:32.840
he had been called, but dimly
realizing that the boat was at sea and

364
00:37:32.920 --> 00:37:38.719
that he was culpable in not being
on deck. The crew had come,

365
00:37:38.840 --> 00:37:45.119
no doubt, and he had overslept. He did not immediately realize that it

366
00:37:45.159 --> 00:37:50.320
was still dark, and that if
the crew had come, the steward would

367
00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:55.119
have found him. He dressed hurriedly
in his room and went on deck,

368
00:37:55.639 --> 00:38:00.199
spying a fleeing man in brown mounting
the steps ahead of him and looking round.

369
00:38:02.840 --> 00:38:07.480
Astern was a fog bank, and
ahead the open sea, toward which

370
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:14.039
the boat was charging at full speed. As he looked, a man came

371
00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:19.559
aft and faced him. Denmon expected
that he would step aside while he passed,

372
00:38:20.119 --> 00:38:27.559
but he did not. Instead,
he blocked his way. Are you

373
00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:32.840
an officer of this boat, sir, asked a man respectfully. I am.

374
00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:38.719
What are you on only to tell
you, sir, that she is

375
00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:44.639
not now under the control of the
Navy department. My name is Jenkins,

376
00:38:45.159 --> 00:38:47.559
and with twelve others I escaped from
the prison to night and took charge of

377
00:38:47.599 --> 00:38:52.760
this boat for a while. We
did not know you were on board.

378
00:38:54.679 --> 00:38:59.400
Demon started back and fell for his
pocket pistol, but it was in his

379
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:05.760
room. However, Jenkins had noticed
the movement and immediately sprang upon him,

380
00:39:06.199 --> 00:39:12.920
bearing him against the nearest ventilator and
pinioning his arms to his side. None

381
00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:16.760
of that, sir, said the
giant sternly. Were there any others on

382
00:39:16.800 --> 00:39:23.559
board beside yourself? Not that I
know of, answered Denman, with forced

383
00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:30.679
calmness. The crew had not joined
when I went to sleep. What do

384
00:39:30.760 --> 00:39:36.360
you intend to do with me?
He had seen man after man approach from

385
00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:42.880
forward, and now a listening group
surrounded him. That's for you to decide,

386
00:39:42.920 --> 00:39:46.599
sir. If you will renounce your
official position, we'll put you on

387
00:39:46.679 --> 00:39:52.039
parole. If you will not,
you will be confined below decks who are

388
00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:59.639
ready to leave this craft? Oh
we want is our liberty? Have you

389
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:02.840
intend to get it? Every worship
in the world will chase this boat.

390
00:40:06.079 --> 00:40:08.079
There's not a craft in the world
I can catch her or join, Jenkins,

391
00:40:09.199 --> 00:40:14.039
but that is beside the point.
Will you go on parole, sir?

392
00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:22.119
Or in irons? How many are
there in your party? Thirteen all

393
00:40:22.199 --> 00:40:29.039
told, and that too is beside
the point. Answer quickly, sir,

394
00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:36.400
I'm needed at the wheel. I
accept your offers at Deniman because I want

395
00:40:36.440 --> 00:40:39.039
fresh air, and nothing will be
gained an honor and integrity. And by

396
00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:45.960
resisting you, however, I shall
not assist you in any way. Even

397
00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:52.960
if I see you go into destruction, I shall not warn you. That

398
00:40:52.119 --> 00:40:57.599
is enough, sir, answered Jenkins. You give me your word of honor?

399
00:40:57.639 --> 00:41:00.599
Do you, as an American naval
officer not to interfere with the workings

400
00:41:00.599 --> 00:41:04.679
of this boat or the movements of
her crew until after we have left her.

401
00:41:07.360 --> 00:41:10.480
I give you my word, said
the young officer, not without some

402
00:41:10.639 --> 00:41:16.559
misgivings. You seem to be in
command. What shall I call you?

403
00:41:20.360 --> 00:41:29.679
Herbert Jenkins? Seaman gunner Captain Jenkins
growled A man and others repeated it.

404
00:41:31.239 --> 00:41:38.119
Captain Jenkins responded, Denman, I
greet you cordially. My name is William

405
00:41:38.159 --> 00:41:44.159
Denman, and sign in the United
States Navy and formerly executive officer of this

406
00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:52.239
boat. A suppressed exclamation came from
the group. A man stepped forward,

407
00:41:52.920 --> 00:41:59.800
peered closely into Demon's face, then
stepped back. None of that force,

408
00:42:00.679 --> 00:42:07.559
said Jenkins sternly. We're all to
treat mister Denman with respect. Now,

409
00:42:07.679 --> 00:42:12.639
you fellows step forward and introduce yourselves. I know only a few of you

410
00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:19.880
by name. Jenkins went to the
wheel, picked up the buoys played upon

411
00:42:19.920 --> 00:42:23.639
by the searchlights, and sent the
man to join the others as one after

412
00:42:23.639 --> 00:42:31.559
another faced Denman and gave his name. Guess you know me, mister Denman,

413
00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:38.760
said Forsyth, the first to respond, I know you, Forsyth answered,

414
00:42:38.760 --> 00:42:44.360
deadman, hot and ashamed for at
the sight and sound of him,

415
00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:50.559
the old heart jump and throwed Achad
returned. He fought it down, however,

416
00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:55.199
and listened to the names as the
men gave them. William Hawks,

417
00:42:55.920 --> 00:43:06.440
Seaman, George Davis, Seaman John
Kelly, Gunner's mate, Percy Daniels,

418
00:43:06.960 --> 00:43:15.480
ship's cook and Thomas Buildings wardroom steward, John Casey, and Frank Munson.

419
00:43:15.519 --> 00:43:21.280
They explained, we're at the searchlights
forward and down below with the four machinists

420
00:43:21.400 --> 00:43:30.159
Riley, Simpson, King and Dwyer. Demon politely bowed his acknowledgments and asked

421
00:43:30.159 --> 00:43:37.440
the raidings of the searchlight men.
Why areless operators? They answered, you

422
00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:40.559
seem well equipped and well chosen men, He said, to run this boat

423
00:43:42.199 --> 00:43:46.400
and to lead the government a lively
dance for a while. But until the

424
00:43:46.480 --> 00:43:53.000
end comes, I hope we will
get on without friction. In the absence

425
00:43:53.000 --> 00:44:00.320
of the masterful Jenkins, they made
embarrassed replies, all but Forsyth, who

426
00:44:00.360 --> 00:44:06.400
remains silent, for no sudden upheaval
and reversing relations will eliminate the list of

427
00:44:06.440 --> 00:44:15.239
man's respect for an officer. Daylight
had come, and Jenkins, having cleared

428
00:44:15.239 --> 00:44:21.320
the last of the buoys, called
down the man of the searchlights. Your

429
00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:25.480
wireless sharps, aren't you, he
asked, Go down to the apparatus and

430
00:44:25.519 --> 00:44:30.679
see if you could pick up any
messages. The whole coast must be roused.

431
00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:37.360
The two obeyed him and wait in
search of the wireless room. Soon

432
00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:44.559
one return. The air's full of
talk, he said. Cases at the

433
00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:49.239
receiver are still listening. But I
made out only a few words like Charleston,

434
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:59.119
Brooklyn, jail, pirates, Pensacola, and one phrasing send in pursuit

435
00:45:01.800 --> 00:45:07.000
the open sea for us, said
Jenkins grimly, until we could think out

436
00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:15.000
a plan. Send one of those
soldiers to the wheel. A soldier,

437
00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:21.159
one who so far had done no
work, relieved him, and he mustered

438
00:45:21.159 --> 00:45:25.000
his men, all but two in
the engine room, to a council amidships.

439
00:45:29.719 --> 00:45:32.880
Briefly, he stated the situation as
hinted that by deadman, and verified

440
00:45:32.920 --> 00:45:38.440
by the wireless messages, every niche
in the world will send its cruisers after

441
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:45.599
them, and no civilized country would
receive them. There was but one thing

442
00:45:45.599 --> 00:45:51.280
to do, on the circumstances made
for the wild coast of Africa. Destroy

443
00:45:51.360 --> 00:45:55.079
the boat and land. Each man
to work out as future as he could.

444
00:45:59.039 --> 00:46:02.400
After a little party. They assented, taking no thought of fuel or

445
00:46:02.519 --> 00:46:10.039
food, and trusting the Jenkins power
to navigate. Then, it being broad

446
00:46:10.119 --> 00:46:15.039
daylight, they rated the boats stores
for clothing, and discarded their prison suits

447
00:46:15.039 --> 00:46:22.960
of brown for the blue of the
navy. Jenkins, the logical commander,

448
00:46:22.440 --> 00:46:30.960
donning the uniform of the captain,
as large a man as himself. Next

449
00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:35.800
they chose their bunks in the forecastle, and as they left the deck,

450
00:46:36.719 --> 00:46:39.559
Jenkins picked up a bright object on
the floor and absolutely put it in his

451
00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:54.480
trouser pocket end of chapter three,
Chapter four of The Pirates by Morgan Robertson.

452
00:46:55.960 --> 00:47:01.440
This LibriVox recording is in the public
domain. Read by Joe Denoia,

453
00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:12.679
Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter four. The boat was now charging due east

454
00:47:12.719 --> 00:47:16.719
at full speed, out in the
broad Atlantic, and as the full light

455
00:47:16.760 --> 00:47:21.760
of day spread over the sea,
a few specks and trails of smoke astern

456
00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:25.239
showed themselves, but whether or not
they were pursuing craft that had crept close

457
00:47:25.280 --> 00:47:30.880
in the darkness while they were making
steam could not be determined, for they

458
00:47:30.960 --> 00:47:38.360
soon sank beneath the horizon. A
shirt of immediate safety. Jenkins now stationed

459
00:47:38.360 --> 00:47:45.519
his crew. Forsyth was a seaman. He and Hawkes, Davis and Kelly,

460
00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:52.199
the gunner's mate who comprised the deck
force, Riley, Sampson, King

461
00:47:52.199 --> 00:47:58.239
and Dwyer, all machinists, would
attend to the engine and boilers. Casey

462
00:47:58.239 --> 00:48:02.360
and Munson, the two wireless operators, would attend to their department, Walt

463
00:48:02.440 --> 00:48:09.519
Daniels and buildings. The cooking steward
would cook and serve the meals. There

464
00:48:09.559 --> 00:48:15.880
would be no officers, Jenkins declared, all were to stand watch and work

465
00:48:15.960 --> 00:48:21.559
faithfully and amicably for the common good, and all disputes were to be referred

466
00:48:21.599 --> 00:48:28.360
to him. To this they agreed, for though many of they were of

467
00:48:28.480 --> 00:48:34.320
higher comparative rating in the navy,
Jenkins had a strong voice, a dominating

468
00:48:34.360 --> 00:48:40.480
personality, and a heavy fist.
But Jenkins had his limitations, as came

469
00:48:40.480 --> 00:48:46.159
out during a confab. He could
not navigate. He had been an expert

470
00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:51.760
pilot of Boston Bay before joining the
Navy, but in the open sea he

471
00:48:51.920 --> 00:48:59.360
was as helpless as any. However, he said, in extenuation, we

472
00:48:59.400 --> 00:49:02.800
only need to say all about southeast
to reach the African coast. When we

473
00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:08.320
hid it, we'll know it.
So the course was changed, and soon

474
00:49:08.360 --> 00:49:13.559
they sat down to their breakfasts such
a meals they had not tasted in years,

475
00:49:15.079 --> 00:49:24.079
wardroom grub every mouthful. Demon was
invited, and as he was a

476
00:49:24.119 --> 00:49:30.079
prisoner on parole, he was not
too dignified to accept, though he took

477
00:49:30.119 --> 00:49:37.599
no part in the hilarious conversation.
But neither did Forsyth. Denmon went to

478
00:49:37.679 --> 00:49:42.480
his room, locked up his private
papers, and surrendered his revolver to Jenkins,

479
00:49:43.519 --> 00:49:46.760
who declined it. He then put
it with his papers and returned to

480
00:49:46.800 --> 00:49:53.119
the deck, seating himself in a
deck chair on the quarter. The watch

481
00:49:53.119 --> 00:49:58.840
had gone down, and those on
deck under Jenkins, who stood no watch,

482
00:49:59.599 --> 00:50:04.119
busy themselves and necessary cleaning up of
decks and stewing below of the fenders

483
00:50:04.159 --> 00:50:09.519
the boat had worn at the dock. Forsyth had gone below, and Demon

484
00:50:09.599 --> 00:50:13.719
was somewhat glad in his heart to
be free of him, until he'd sell

485
00:50:13.840 --> 00:50:19.800
his mind in regard to his attitude
towards him. Manifestly, he, a

486
00:50:19.880 --> 00:50:25.000
prisoner on parole, could not seek
a conflict with him. On the contrary,

487
00:50:25.559 --> 00:50:30.280
should Forsyth to seek it by word
or deed, he could not meet

488
00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:37.480
him without breaking his parole, which
would bring him close confinement. Then two

489
00:50:38.000 --> 00:50:43.719
that perspective, fight and vindication before
Miss Floury and his townsmen seemed of very

490
00:50:43.719 --> 00:50:49.000
small importance compared with the exigency at
hand, the stealing by jailbreakers of the

491
00:50:49.079 --> 00:50:55.000
navy's best destroyer and one of its
officers. His duty was to circumvent these

492
00:50:55.039 --> 00:51:01.039
fellows and return the boat to the
government. To accomplish this, he must

493
00:51:01.079 --> 00:51:06.639
be tactful and diplomatic, deferring action
till the time should come when he could

494
00:51:06.679 --> 00:51:10.639
safely ask to be released from parole. In regard to this, he was

495
00:51:10.719 --> 00:51:15.880
led that Forsyth, though as evil
eyed as before and with an additional truckling

496
00:51:15.960 --> 00:51:23.159
expression of the face, had thus
far shown him no incivility. He was

497
00:51:23.239 --> 00:51:28.880
glad too, because in his heart
there was no revengeful thoughts about Forsyth,

498
00:51:30.159 --> 00:51:37.239
nothing but thoughts of duty to himself
that had been sadly neglected. Thus tranquilized,

499
00:51:37.519 --> 00:51:43.400
he lit a cigar and looked around
the horizon. A specting the north

500
00:51:43.440 --> 00:51:47.039
caught his eye, and as he
watched it became a spot, then a

501
00:51:47.079 --> 00:51:53.360
tangible silhouette, a battleship, though
of what country he could not determine.

502
00:51:57.599 --> 00:52:00.480
It was heading on a course that
would intercept their own, and in a

503
00:52:00.559 --> 00:52:04.920
short time at the speed they were
making, the destroyer would be within range

504
00:52:04.920 --> 00:52:07.920
of our heavy guns, one shell
from which could break the frail craft in

505
00:52:08.000 --> 00:52:15.719
two. Jenkins and his grab were
busy. The man at the wheel was

506
00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:20.159
steering by compass and looking ahead,
and it was the wireless operator on watch

507
00:52:21.039 --> 00:52:25.079
Casey, who rushed on deck,
looked at the battleship and shouted the Jenkins.

508
00:52:28.519 --> 00:52:31.559
Don't you see that, fellow,
he yelled excitedly. I heard him

509
00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:38.000
before I saw him. He asked, what ship is that? Jenkins looked

510
00:52:38.000 --> 00:52:42.119
at the north, just in time
to see a tongue of red dark from

511
00:52:42.159 --> 00:52:46.039
the casemate port. Then, as
the bark of the gun came down the

512
00:52:46.039 --> 00:52:50.880
wind, a spurt of water lifted
from the sea about one hundred yards ahead.

513
00:52:52.039 --> 00:52:58.199
Port. Your wheel hard over,
yelled Jenkins, running forward. The

514
00:52:58.280 --> 00:53:02.159
destroyer swung to the southward, showing
her stern to the battleship and increasing her

515
00:53:02.199 --> 00:53:06.280
speed. As the engine room staff
nursed the oil feed and the turbines,

516
00:53:07.599 --> 00:53:13.880
black smoke, unconsumed carbon and even
the blowers could not ignite belched up from

517
00:53:13.880 --> 00:53:21.480
the four short funnels and partly hid
her from the battleship's view, but obscure

518
00:53:21.519 --> 00:53:24.400
though she was, she could not
quite hide herself in her smoke, nor

519
00:53:24.440 --> 00:53:28.960
could her speed carry her faster than
the twelve in shells that now came plowing

520
00:53:28.960 --> 00:53:36.039
through the air. They fell close
to starboard into port, and a few

521
00:53:36.079 --> 00:53:42.239
came perilously near to the stern,
but none hit or exploded, and soon

522
00:53:42.280 --> 00:53:45.559
they were out of range and the
firing ceased. The battleship heading to the

523
00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:52.800
west. Jenkins came aft and looked
sternly at them, and still smoking his

524
00:53:52.880 --> 00:54:01.280
cigar. Did you see that fellow
before we did? He asked? I

525
00:54:01.320 --> 00:54:07.199
did, answered Denman, returning us
stare, Why didn't you sing out?

526
00:54:08.239 --> 00:54:15.159
If we're sunk? You drowned too? Don't you you forget Captain Jenkins,

527
00:54:15.159 --> 00:54:19.800
that I accepted my parole and condition
that I shouldn't neither interfere with you nor

528
00:54:19.840 --> 00:54:28.719
assist you, but your life.
Don't you value that? Not under some

529
00:54:28.800 --> 00:54:32.480
conditions? If I cannot emerge from
this adventure with credit and honor, intact,

530
00:54:34.079 --> 00:54:40.679
I prefer death. Do you understand? Jenkins' face worked visibly as anger

531
00:54:40.760 --> 00:54:46.480
left it and wondering doubt appeared.
Then his countenance cleared and he smiled,

532
00:54:50.119 --> 00:54:52.679
you're right, sir, I understand
now, but you know what we mean

533
00:54:52.719 --> 00:54:59.320
to do. Don't you make the
African coast and scatter. You can stand

534
00:54:59.360 --> 00:55:05.360
for that, not unless I have
to, But you will not reach the

535
00:55:05.400 --> 00:55:13.440
coast. You will be hunted down
and caught before then. Jenkins's face clouded

536
00:55:13.480 --> 00:55:17.239
again. And what part will you
play if that comes, he asked?

537
00:55:20.639 --> 00:55:27.039
No part active or resistant unless first
released from parole. But if I ask

538
00:55:27.119 --> 00:55:30.159
for that release, it will be
at a time when I'm in greater danger

539
00:55:30.159 --> 00:55:36.960
than now. I promise you that
very well, sir, Ask for it

540
00:55:36.960 --> 00:55:43.800
when you like, and Jenkins went
forward. The course to the southeast was

541
00:55:43.840 --> 00:55:46.719
resumed, but in half an hour
or two other specs in the southern horizon

542
00:55:46.800 --> 00:55:52.239
resolved into scout cruisers heading their way, and they turned to the east,

543
00:55:52.719 --> 00:55:59.480
still rushing at full speed. They
soon dropped the scouts, however, but

544
00:55:59.559 --> 00:56:02.440
were driven to the north by a
second battleship that shelled their vicinity for an

545
00:56:02.480 --> 00:56:12.079
hour before they got out of range. It was somewhat discouraging, but as

546
00:56:12.159 --> 00:56:17.079
darkness closed down they once more headed
their course, and all night they charged

547
00:56:17.079 --> 00:56:22.159
along at forty knots, with lights
extinguished. Both every man's eyes searching the

548
00:56:22.239 --> 00:56:30.079
darkened horizon for other lights. They
dodged a few, but daylight brought to

549
00:56:30.159 --> 00:56:35.480
view three cruisers ahead into port that
showed unmistakable hostility in the shape of screaming

550
00:56:35.480 --> 00:56:43.360
shells and solid shot. Again they
charged in the north, and it was

551
00:56:43.400 --> 00:56:47.559
midday before the cruisers were dropped.
They were French, as all knew by

552
00:56:47.599 --> 00:56:54.360
their building, though there was no
one navigating the boat, dead men in

553
00:56:54.519 --> 00:56:59.480
view. A future naed of it
took upon himself the winding of the chronometers,

554
00:57:00.800 --> 00:57:04.880
and the days went on. Casey
and Munson reporting messages sent from shore

555
00:57:04.920 --> 00:57:12.000
to ship, battleships, cruisers,
scouts and destroyers appearing and disappearing in their

556
00:57:12.039 --> 00:57:17.639
craft, racing around the Atlantic like
a hunted fox. James did his best

557
00:57:17.639 --> 00:57:24.239
to keep track of the various courses, but not skilled at traverse group bewildered

558
00:57:24.280 --> 00:57:29.440
at last, and finally intimated that
he did not know where they were.

559
00:57:31.440 --> 00:57:44.480
End of chapter four. Chapter five
of The Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This

560
00:57:44.519 --> 00:57:50.559
LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield,

561
00:57:50.559 --> 00:57:59.280
New Jersey, Chapter five. One
morning, there was a council of war

562
00:57:59.400 --> 00:58:04.840
amidship, to which denmon was not
invited until it adjourned as a counsel to

563
00:58:04.880 --> 00:58:09.039
become a committee of ways and means. Then they came after a body and

564
00:58:09.079 --> 00:58:15.440
asked him to navigate. No,
said Denman, firmly, rising to his

565
00:58:15.480 --> 00:58:21.360
feet and facing them, I will
not navigate unless you surrender this craft to

566
00:58:21.440 --> 00:58:24.360
me and work her back to Boston, where you will return to the prison.

567
00:58:28.159 --> 00:58:32.599
Well, we won't do that.
Shout it several angrily. Wait you,

568
00:58:32.719 --> 00:58:37.199
fellows, said Jenkins, firmly,
and speak respectfully to an officer while

569
00:58:37.239 --> 00:58:43.960
he asked like one, mister Denman, your position need not be changed for

570
00:58:43.960 --> 00:58:47.000
the worse. You can command this
boat and all hands if you will take

571
00:58:47.039 --> 00:58:53.079
us to the African coast. My
position would be changed, answered Denman.

572
00:58:54.159 --> 00:58:59.280
If I command this boat, I
take her back to Boston, not to

573
00:58:59.320 --> 00:59:05.880
the African coast. Very well,
sir, said Jenkins, a shade of

574
00:59:05.880 --> 00:59:10.320
disappointment on his face. We cannot
force you to join us or to help

575
00:59:10.400 --> 00:59:20.119
us, so well, come forward, you, fellows, say Jenkins,

576
00:59:20.320 --> 00:59:25.559
broken forsythe You're doing a lot of
dictating here, and I've wondered why who

577
00:59:25.599 --> 00:59:31.280
gave you the right to decide?
You admit your incompetency. You can't navigate,

578
00:59:31.360 --> 00:59:38.519
can you? No, I cannot, retorted Jenkins, flushing. Neither

579
00:59:38.559 --> 00:59:45.679
can I learn at my age?
Neither can you? I can't, stormed

580
00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:51.880
forsythe his eyes glaring white as he
glanced from Jenkins to Denman and back.

581
00:59:52.760 --> 00:59:57.880
Well, I'll tell you I can. I tell you I haven't forgotten I

582
00:59:58.039 --> 01:00:00.960
learned at school, and I could
pick him navigation without currying favor from this

583
01:00:01.079 --> 01:00:07.800
milk fed thief. You know well, he advanced and held his fist on

584
01:00:07.880 --> 01:00:13.119
a demon's face, that I won
the appointment you robbed me of another uniform

585
01:00:13.159 --> 01:00:19.760
you wear belongs to me. At
the first word, Demon's heart gave the

586
01:00:19.760 --> 01:00:25.159
old familiar thump and jump into his
throat. Then came a quick reaction by

587
01:00:25.280 --> 01:00:30.079
tingling at the hair roots and opening
of the eyes, followed by the closing

588
01:00:30.119 --> 01:00:37.360
to narrow slits, and with the
full weight of his body behind, he

589
01:00:37.440 --> 01:00:42.280
crashed his fist into Foresight's face,
sending him reeling and whirling to the deck.

590
01:00:45.159 --> 01:00:49.199
He would have followed to repeat the
punishment, but the others stopped him,

591
01:00:50.920 --> 01:00:53.719
and an intoxication of ecstasy at the
unexpected adjustment of his mental poise,

592
01:00:54.480 --> 01:01:00.000
he struck out again and again and
floored three or four of them before Jenkins

593
01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:06.519
backed him against the companion. He's
broke his parole, put him in irons,

594
01:01:07.119 --> 01:01:14.079
shook him overboard. They coursed and
closed around him threateningly, though forsythe

595
01:01:14.960 --> 01:01:21.360
his hand to his face remained in
the background. That's right, sir,

596
01:01:21.639 --> 01:01:25.400
said Jenkins, holding Demon at the
end of one long arm. You have

597
01:01:25.519 --> 01:01:30.599
violated your agreeving with us, and
we must consider you a prisoner under confinement.

598
01:01:35.039 --> 01:01:38.840
All right, panted Demon, iron
me if you like, but first

599
01:01:38.880 --> 01:01:44.400
form a ring and let me thrash
that dog. He thrashed me at school

600
01:01:44.480 --> 01:01:49.519
when I was a smaller and weaker. I've promised him a licking. Let

601
01:01:49.559 --> 01:01:54.159
me give it to him. No, sir, we will not answer Jenkins.

602
01:01:55.599 --> 01:02:00.960
Things are too serious for fighting.
You must have that pistol and any

603
01:02:00.039 --> 01:02:05.639
arms that you may have, and
be confined to the wardroom. And you,

604
01:02:06.119 --> 01:02:09.639
Forsyth, he said, looking at
the victim, if you can master

605
01:02:09.760 --> 01:02:15.760
navigation, get busy and make good, and you other ginks get out of

606
01:02:15.880 --> 01:02:21.320
here. Talk it over amongst ourselves. And if you agree with Forsyth,

607
01:02:21.360 --> 01:02:24.440
then I'm not in command here.
Get busy too, and I'll overrule you.

608
01:02:29.239 --> 01:02:32.800
He released Denmon moved around among them, looking each man steadily in the

609
01:02:32.840 --> 01:02:39.880
face, and then staggered forward.
Now, sir, he said to Denman,

610
01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:50.559
come below. Denmon followed him down
to the companion and into the wardroom.

611
01:02:50.760 --> 01:02:53.320
Knowing the etiquette as well as Jenkins, he led him to his room,

612
01:02:54.199 --> 01:03:01.199
opened his desk and all receptacles,
and Jenkins secured the revolver. Is

613
01:03:01.199 --> 01:03:07.800
this all you have, sir,
asked Jenkins. Why do you ask that,

614
01:03:07.440 --> 01:03:13.320
answered Denman hotly, as a prisoner. Why may I not lie to

615
01:03:13.360 --> 01:03:20.559
you, because, mister Denman,
I think you wouldn't. However, I

616
01:03:20.599 --> 01:03:24.199
won't ask. I'll search this room
in the whole boat, confiscating every weapon.

617
01:03:25.719 --> 01:03:29.719
You'll have the run of your stateroom
in the wards room, but will

618
01:03:29.760 --> 01:03:34.239
not be all out on deck,
and you will not be annoyed, except

619
01:03:34.280 --> 01:03:37.840
perhaps to lend force like any books
he may want. He's the only educated

620
01:03:37.880 --> 01:03:44.400
man in the crowd. Better send
him down under escort, responded Denman.

621
01:03:45.239 --> 01:03:52.159
If you want him back, yes, yes, that'll be attended to have

622
01:03:52.320 --> 01:03:54.519
no part in your private affair,
sir, But you gave him a good

623
01:03:54.519 --> 01:03:59.960
one, and that ought to be
enough for a while. If you tackle

624
01:04:00.079 --> 01:04:04.079
him again, build a whole bunch
at you better let well enough alone.

625
01:04:08.679 --> 01:04:14.199
Deamon sat down in this room,
and Jenkins departed. Soon he came back

626
01:04:14.239 --> 01:04:17.159
with three others, the steadiest men
of the crew, and they made a

627
01:04:17.199 --> 01:04:21.239
systematic search for weapons in the wardroom
and all the staterooms opening from it.

628
01:04:24.320 --> 01:04:28.039
Then they locked the doors leading to
the captain's quarters and the doors leading forward,

629
01:04:28.480 --> 01:04:32.880
and went on deck, leaving Deadmon
a prisoner. Freddy concoct any antagonistic

630
01:04:32.960 --> 01:04:41.280
plan that came to his mind,
but he made none as yet. It

631
01:04:41.440 --> 01:04:45.519
was too well contented and happy,
not so much of being released from a

632
01:04:45.559 --> 01:04:48.679
somewhat false position as a prisoner under
parole, as in the lifting of the

633
01:04:48.719 --> 01:04:57.280
burden of the years, the shame, humiliation, chagrin, and anger dating

634
01:04:57.320 --> 01:05:01.880
from the school day thrashing. He
smiled as he recalled the picture of foresight

635
01:05:02.000 --> 01:05:09.039
staggering along the deck. The smile
became a grin, then a soft chuckle,

636
01:05:09.800 --> 01:05:15.000
ending in joyous laughter. Then he
applied the mask from the lever of

637
01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:25.119
all emotion. He smoked. The
state rooms, robbed of all weapons,

638
01:05:25.519 --> 01:05:30.840
were left open, and as each
room contained a deadlight or circular window,

639
01:05:30.599 --> 01:05:35.000
he had a view of the sea
on each beam, but nothing ahead or

640
01:05:35.039 --> 01:05:40.559
astern, nor could he hear voices
on deck, unless pitched in a high

641
01:05:40.639 --> 01:05:47.840
key. For the men their training
strung upon them remained forward. There was

642
01:05:47.880 --> 01:05:53.840
nothing on either horizon at present.
The boat was storming along to the southward,

643
01:05:54.480 --> 01:05:58.519
as he knew by a glance at
the telltale overhead, and all seemed

644
01:05:58.559 --> 01:06:01.440
well with the runaways, until a
sudden stopping of the engines roused him up

645
01:06:01.800 --> 01:06:09.800
to peer out the deadlight and speculate
as to what was ahead. But he

646
01:06:09.840 --> 01:06:14.760
saw nothing from either side, and
strained his ears for sounds from the deck.

647
01:06:16.280 --> 01:06:21.760
There was excitement above. Voices from
forward came to him, muffled but

648
01:06:21.880 --> 01:06:29.920
angry and argumentative. They grew louder
as the men came aft, and soon

649
01:06:29.960 --> 01:06:36.440
he can distinguish Jenkins's loud profanity,
drowning the protests of the others. She's

650
01:06:36.440 --> 01:06:42.159
a fire in her boats are burned. There's a woman aboard. I tell

651
01:06:42.159 --> 01:06:45.239
you we're not going to let him
drown over with that boat, or I'll

652
01:06:45.280 --> 01:06:54.280
stretched somebody out on debt. Oh
you will Forsythe then came a thud as

653
01:06:54.280 --> 01:06:58.159
of the swift contact of too hard
objects, and to sound as of a

654
01:06:58.199 --> 01:07:02.119
bag of potatoes falling to the deck, which told Demon that someone had been

655
01:07:02.199 --> 01:07:09.920
knocked down. Go ahead with the
machine, Sampson, said Jenkins again,

656
01:07:10.440 --> 01:07:16.440
and forward there, pour your wheel
and steer for the yacht. Demon sprang

657
01:07:16.519 --> 01:07:21.639
to a starboard deadlight and loot.
He could now see, slant wise through

658
01:07:21.639 --> 01:07:27.480
the thick glass, a large steam
yacht, a fire from her mainmast to

659
01:07:27.519 --> 01:07:31.480
a bow, and on the steel
and taft quarter deck, a woman frantically

660
01:07:31.480 --> 01:07:42.159
beckoning men nearer. The fire seemed
to be fighting in the picture disappeared from

661
01:07:42.199 --> 01:07:45.920
view as the boat under the impulse
of her engines and wheel straight into a

662
01:07:45.960 --> 01:07:51.639
course for the wreck. Soon the
engine stopped again, and Demon heard the

663
01:07:51.639 --> 01:07:57.519
sounds of the boat being lowered.
He saw this boat leave the side,

664
01:07:58.039 --> 01:08:02.679
manned by hawks Davis, Forsyth and
Kelly, but it soon left his field

665
01:08:02.679 --> 01:08:11.159
of vision, and he waited.
Then came a dull, coughing, prolonged

666
01:08:11.239 --> 01:08:19.079
report, and the voices on deck
broke out. Blown up, yelled Jenkins,

667
01:08:19.079 --> 01:08:25.800
she's sinking forward, she's cutting two. Where are they? Where's the

668
01:08:25.840 --> 01:08:33.439
woman? That wasn't powder, Riley, what was it steam, answered the

669
01:08:33.479 --> 01:08:39.399
machinist coolly. They didn't rip the
fires until too late, I suppose,

670
01:08:40.479 --> 01:08:44.600
and left the engine under one bell, possibly while they steered for the wind

671
01:08:44.760 --> 01:08:51.000
with the preventor tiller. They've got
somebody, can't you see? It's the

672
01:08:51.079 --> 01:09:00.199
woman blown overboard. See anyone else? I don't. Riley did not answer,

673
01:09:01.119 --> 01:09:09.039
and soon Jenkins spoke again. They're
coming back. Only the woman,

674
01:09:09.920 --> 01:09:15.199
Only the woman, out of the
whole crowd. A better hurry up,

675
01:09:15.199 --> 01:09:21.199
responded Riley. What's that over the
norward? Nothing but a tramp, said

676
01:09:21.279 --> 01:09:27.319
Jenkins at length. But we don't
want to be interviewed. Bear a hand,

677
01:09:27.359 --> 01:09:32.720
you, fellows, he shouted.
There's the woman dead. No guess

678
01:09:32.720 --> 01:09:39.159
not, came the answer through the
small dead light. Fainted away since we

679
01:09:39.239 --> 01:09:53.000
picked her up burned or scalded somewhat. End of chapter five, Chapter six

680
01:09:53.119 --> 01:09:59.560
of The Pirates by Morgan Robertson.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

681
01:10:00.159 --> 01:10:10.000
Read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield,
New Jersey, Chapter six. Denman

682
01:10:10.079 --> 01:10:14.079
saw the boat for a moment or
two as it came alongside, and noticed

683
01:10:14.079 --> 01:10:17.399
the still form of the woman in
the stern sheets, her face hidden by

684
01:10:17.399 --> 01:10:24.359
a black silk neckkerchief. Then he
could only know by the voices that they

685
01:10:24.359 --> 01:10:29.159
were lifting her aboard and aft to
the captain's quarters, but he was somewhat

686
01:10:29.159 --> 01:10:32.640
surprised to see the door that led
to these quarters opened by Jenkins, who

687
01:10:32.680 --> 01:10:39.720
beckoned him. We've picked up a
poor woman, sir, he said,

688
01:10:40.399 --> 01:10:45.479
and put her in here now.
We're too busy on deck to then to

689
01:10:45.520 --> 01:10:53.479
her, mister Denman, and then
we don't know how, But well,

690
01:10:54.000 --> 01:11:00.960
you're an educated man and a gentleman. Would you mind chase the bunch out?

691
01:11:00.279 --> 01:11:04.199
And I will let him bother you. It's just an extension of your

692
01:11:04.199 --> 01:11:12.399
cruising radius, certainly, said Denman. I'll do what I can for her,

693
01:11:14.720 --> 01:11:17.399
all right, sir. I'll leave
this door open, but I must

694
01:11:17.399 --> 01:11:24.279
lock the after companion, he went
on deck by the wardroom stairs, while

695
01:11:24.319 --> 01:11:30.000
Demon passed through to the woman.
She lay on a transom, dripping water

696
01:11:30.079 --> 01:11:32.840
from her clothing to the carpet,
and with the black cloth still over her

697
01:11:32.840 --> 01:11:41.079
face, But on hearing his footsteps, she removed it, showing a countenance

698
01:11:41.159 --> 01:11:45.439
puffed and crimson from the scalding of
the live steam that had blown her overboard.

699
01:11:47.079 --> 01:11:53.560
Then, groaning pitifully, she sat
up and looked at him and threw

700
01:11:53.600 --> 01:12:00.840
swollen eyelids. What is it?
She exclaimed? Wigly, what has happened?

701
01:12:01.560 --> 01:12:10.920
Where is father? Madam? Said
Denman gently, you have been picked

702
01:12:10.960 --> 01:12:15.079
up from a steam yacht which exploded
your boilers. Are you in pain?

703
01:12:15.199 --> 01:12:23.279
What can I do for you?
I don't know. Yes, I am

704
01:12:23.359 --> 01:12:30.840
in pain my face. Wait,
I'll get you what I can from the

705
01:12:30.920 --> 01:12:39.319
medicine chest. Devon explored the surgeon's
quarters and return with bandages and a mister

706
01:12:39.399 --> 01:12:45.640
of linseed oil and lime water.
He gently laughed and bound the poor woman's

707
01:12:45.720 --> 01:12:51.319
face, and then led her to
the captain's birth Go in, he said,

708
01:12:53.199 --> 01:12:57.840
take off your wet clothes and put
on these pajamas. Here they are

709
01:12:58.760 --> 01:13:03.079
he produced them from a lot,
and then turn in. I will be

710
01:13:03.199 --> 01:13:10.800
here and we'll take care of you. He departed, and when he saw

711
01:13:10.880 --> 01:13:14.600
the wet garments flung out, he
gathered them and hung them up to dry.

712
01:13:15.319 --> 01:13:18.880
It was all he can do except
to look through the surgeon's quarters for

713
01:13:18.920 --> 01:13:26.680
stimulants, which he found. He
poured out a strong dose of brandy,

714
01:13:26.720 --> 01:13:30.359
which he gave to the woman and
had the satisfaction of seeing her sink into

715
01:13:30.399 --> 01:13:36.279
profound slumber. Then, returning to
the wardroom, he found Jenkins waiting for

716
01:13:36.359 --> 01:13:44.680
him. I'm after a sextant,
mister Denman, he said, an almanac,

717
01:13:45.119 --> 01:13:51.600
a nautical almanac. Forsythe wants,
then you must find them yourself,

718
01:13:51.640 --> 01:13:57.760
then answered Denman. Neither under parole
nor confinement. Why aid you in any

719
01:13:57.760 --> 01:14:04.920
way unless you surrender nonsense, said
Jenkins impatiently, as he stepped past Denman

720
01:14:05.159 --> 01:14:11.720
and approached the bookcase. When we
throw the boat, you can have her.

721
01:14:14.399 --> 01:14:17.640
He had incautiously turned his back.
Demon saw the protruding butt of his

722
01:14:17.680 --> 01:14:24.600
pistol in Jenkins's pocket, and,
without any formulated plan for the future,

723
01:14:25.119 --> 01:14:29.279
only seeing a momentary advantage in the
possession of the weapon, passed on his

724
01:14:29.319 --> 01:14:34.039
shoulders and endeavored to secure it.
But he was not able to. He

725
01:14:34.079 --> 01:14:40.720
could only hold on his arms around
Jenkins's neck, while the big sailor hove

726
01:14:40.840 --> 01:14:46.199
his huge body from side to side
and gripping his legs, endeavored to shake

727
01:14:46.279 --> 01:14:55.079
him off. No word was spoken, only their deep breathing attested to their

728
01:14:55.119 --> 01:14:59.159
earnestness, and they thrashed around the
wardroom like a dog and a cat.

729
01:15:00.520 --> 01:15:06.479
Denman in the latter similitude in the
air most of the time, but he

730
01:15:06.520 --> 01:15:10.600
was getting the worst of it,
and at last, to say the trick,

731
01:15:10.640 --> 01:15:14.399
he knew of taught him in Japan, and to be used as a

732
01:15:14.479 --> 01:15:19.760
last resort. Gripping his legs tightly
around the body of Jenkins, he sagged

733
01:15:19.800 --> 01:15:25.359
down and pressed the tips of his
forefingers into two vulnerable parts of the thick

734
01:15:25.479 --> 01:15:30.600
neck, where certain important nerves approached
the surface parts as vulnerable as the heel

735
01:15:30.640 --> 01:15:40.840
of Achilles. Still clinging, he
mercilessly continued the pressure while Jenkins swayed back

736
01:15:40.880 --> 01:15:47.560
and forth and finally fell backward to
the floor. Deadman immediately secured the pistol.

737
01:15:48.920 --> 01:15:57.039
Then, panting hard, he examined
his victim. Jenkins was breathing with

738
01:15:57.039 --> 01:16:01.520
the greatest difficulty, but could not
speak or move, and his big eyes

739
01:16:01.560 --> 01:16:08.960
glared piteously up at his conqueror.
The latter would have ironed him at once,

740
01:16:09.760 --> 01:16:14.279
but the irons were forward in the
arm room, so he temporarily bound

741
01:16:14.359 --> 01:16:20.399
him hand and foot with neckties repleveted
and from his fellow officers staterooms. Then,

742
01:16:21.039 --> 01:16:26.359
relieving Jenkins of his keys, he
went forward through the front door to

743
01:16:26.399 --> 01:16:30.680
the arm room, from which he
removed not only wrist and leg arms whatever

744
01:16:30.680 --> 01:16:35.560
he cultless a service revolver at the
boat was stocked with at a plentiful supply

745
01:16:35.600 --> 01:16:44.600
of ammunition. First properly securing the
still a nerd and helpless Jenkins, he

746
01:16:44.720 --> 01:16:47.800
dragged into a corner and then stowed
the paraphernalia of war in his room,

747
01:16:48.560 --> 01:16:56.000
loading as many as a dozen of
the heavy revolvers. He was still without

748
01:16:56.000 --> 01:17:00.520
a plan, working under intense excitement, and could only follow impulses, the

749
01:17:00.560 --> 01:17:04.880
next of which was to lock the
wardroom companion down which Jenkins had come,

750
01:17:05.920 --> 01:17:12.720
and to see that the forward door
and the after companion were secured. This

751
01:17:12.920 --> 01:17:16.199
done, he sat down abreast of
his prisoner to watch him and think it

752
01:17:16.239 --> 01:17:24.840
out. There was no change in
Jenkins. He still breathed hard and endeavored

753
01:17:24.880 --> 01:17:30.439
unsuccessfully to speak, while his eyes, the angry glaire gone from them,

754
01:17:30.079 --> 01:17:38.600
looked up inquiringly. Oh you're all
right, Captain, Jenkins said, denman,

755
01:17:40.159 --> 01:17:44.800
you'll breathe easier tomorrow, and in
a week perhaps you may speak a

756
01:17:44.800 --> 01:17:48.760
whisper. But you are practically deprived
from command, so make the best of

757
01:17:48.760 --> 01:17:56.720
it. Jenkins seemed willing to,
But this did not solve the problem.

758
01:17:57.960 --> 01:18:00.720
There were twelve other counciltrants on dead
who might not be so easily. Jiu

759
01:18:00.760 --> 01:18:11.279
jitsued into weakness and dumbness. As
the situation cleared, he saw two ways

760
01:18:11.279 --> 01:18:16.640
of solving it. One to remain
below and from the shelter of his room,

761
01:18:17.039 --> 01:18:23.039
to pop them one by one as
they came down. The other to

762
01:18:23.039 --> 01:18:28.159
take the initiative, assert himself on
the deck behind the menace of cock revolvers,

763
01:18:28.239 --> 01:18:35.319
and overawe them into submission. The
first plan involved hunger, for he

764
01:18:35.319 --> 01:18:42.520
could eat nothing not provided by them. The other a quick and certain ending

765
01:18:42.520 --> 01:18:45.680
of the false position he was in, a plan very appealing to his temperament.

766
01:18:48.680 --> 01:18:51.439
He rose to his feet, with
a final inspection of Jenkins bonds,

767
01:18:53.319 --> 01:18:58.600
and going to his room, belted
and armed himself with three heavy revolvers.

768
01:18:59.640 --> 01:19:05.039
Then opened the ward room companion door
and stepped to the deck. No one

769
01:19:05.119 --> 01:19:10.760
was in sight except the man at
the wheel, not now steering in the

770
01:19:10.800 --> 01:19:16.760
close armored conning tower, but at
the upper wheel on the bridge. He

771
01:19:16.800 --> 01:19:25.279
looked a haft and spying. Denman
gave a shout of warning, but no

772
01:19:25.319 --> 01:19:30.439
one responded, and Denman, with
a clear field, advanced forward, looking

773
01:19:30.479 --> 01:19:35.000
to the right and left until he
reached the engine room hatch, down which

774
01:19:35.039 --> 01:19:43.039
he peered. Riley's ANSWER's face looked
up at him, and farther down was

775
01:19:43.079 --> 01:19:49.479
the cringing form of King has made
the starboard watch Them did not know their

776
01:19:49.560 --> 01:19:57.560
names, but he sternly commanded them
to come up. We can't leave the

777
01:19:57.560 --> 01:20:00.199
engine, Sir, said Riley,
tricking on the the cold argument of two

778
01:20:00.239 --> 01:20:09.079
cold blue tubes, pointing at them. Shut off your gas and never mind

779
01:20:09.119 --> 01:20:14.399
your engines, commanded Demon, come
up on deck quietly, or I'll put

780
01:20:14.439 --> 01:20:20.319
holes in you. King, shut
off the gas. Riley turned a valve

781
01:20:20.319 --> 01:20:28.319
that eased off the making steam,
and the two appeared before Demon. Lie

782
01:20:28.359 --> 01:20:30.119
down on deck. The two of
you, said, Demon, sharply,

783
01:20:31.800 --> 01:20:40.399
take off your neckerchiefs and give them
to me. They obeyed him. He

784
01:20:40.479 --> 01:20:44.119
took the two squares of black silk, similar to that which I had covered

785
01:20:44.119 --> 01:20:47.520
the face of the rescued woman,
and with them he bound their hands tightly

786
01:20:47.520 --> 01:20:56.479
behind their backs. Lie still now, he said, until I settled matters.

787
01:21:00.000 --> 01:21:02.039
They could rise and move, but
could not for him. Immediately,

788
01:21:03.640 --> 01:21:10.359
he went forward and mounted to the
bridge. How are you heading, he

789
01:21:10.439 --> 01:21:16.079
demanded, with a pistol pointed toward
the helmsman. South. Do south?

790
01:21:16.199 --> 01:21:24.640
Sir, answered the man. It
was Davis of the starboard. Watch leave

791
01:21:24.680 --> 01:21:29.399
the wheel. The engine is stopped
down on deck with you, and take

792
01:21:29.439 --> 01:21:36.680
off your neckerchief. Davis descended meekly, gave him the neckerchief, and was

793
01:21:36.760 --> 01:21:45.319
bound, as were the others.
Then Demon looked for the rest. So

794
01:21:45.359 --> 01:21:49.560
far good. He had three prisoners
on deck and one in the wardroom.

795
01:21:50.840 --> 01:21:58.319
The rest were below on duty or
asleep. They were in the forecastle,

796
01:21:58.880 --> 01:22:02.399
the cruise quarters, in the wireless
room below the bridge, in the galley

797
01:22:02.479 --> 01:22:10.159
just forward of the wardroom. Deadmon
had his choice, and the sound on

798
01:22:10.159 --> 01:22:15.880
the forecastle as the place containing the
greatest number. Down the fore hatch,

799
01:22:15.880 --> 01:22:19.800
he went and entered the apartment.
A man rolled down of a bunk and

800
01:22:19.920 --> 01:22:28.960
faced him up with your hands,
said deadman, softly, up quickly.

801
01:22:30.319 --> 01:22:38.079
The man's hands went up. All
right, sir, he answered, sleepily

802
01:22:38.520 --> 01:22:44.960
and somewhat weakly. My name's Hawks. And having yet disobeyed an order from

803
01:22:44.960 --> 01:22:55.439
an officer, don't, warned Demon, sharply take off your neckerchief. Off

804
01:22:55.479 --> 01:23:01.920
came the black silk square. Wake
up, demand nearest you tie his hands

805
01:23:01.960 --> 01:23:09.920
behind his back and take off his
necktie. It was a machinist named Sampson

806
01:23:09.920 --> 01:23:14.880
who was wakened and bound with the
cold blue tube of Demon's pistol looking at

807
01:23:14.920 --> 01:23:20.920
him. And then it was Dwyer
his watch me and Munson, the wireless

808
01:23:20.920 --> 01:23:27.520
man off duty, ending with Old
Kelly, the gunner's maid, each tied

809
01:23:27.520 --> 01:23:32.199
with the neckerchief or the last man
wakened, and Hawks the first to surrender,

810
01:23:32.640 --> 01:23:40.880
with the Neckerchief of Kelly on deck
with you, all commanded Demon,

811
01:23:41.840 --> 01:23:45.199
and he drove them up the steps
to the deck, where they laid down

812
01:23:45.239 --> 01:23:54.039
beside Riley, King and Davis.
None spoke or protested. Each felt the

813
01:23:54.039 --> 01:23:58.199
inhibition of the presence of a commissioned
officer, and Demon might have won,

814
01:23:59.039 --> 01:24:02.159
might have secured the and brought him
under control, had not a bullet sped

815
01:24:02.159 --> 01:24:06.720
from the after companion, which,
besides knocking his cap from his head,

816
01:24:08.319 --> 01:24:12.239
inflicted a glancing wound on his scalp
and sent him headlong to the deck.

817
01:24:15.319 --> 01:24:28.359
End of chapter six seven of The
Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording

818
01:24:28.479 --> 01:24:32.720
is in the public domain. Read
by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey,

819
01:24:35.279 --> 01:24:41.680
Chapter seven. After the rescue of
the woman, all but those in

820
01:24:41.680 --> 01:24:45.760
the duty had mustered forward near the
bridge. Jenkins, with a pair of

821
01:24:45.800 --> 01:24:50.319
binoculars to his eyes, inspecting a
receding steamer on the horizon. The others,

822
01:24:50.399 --> 01:24:57.439
passing comments, all had agreed that
she was a merchant craft, the

823
01:24:57.520 --> 01:25:00.760
first they had met at close quarters, but not all were agreed that she

824
01:25:00.880 --> 01:25:09.039
carried no wireless of women. Jenkins, even with the glasses, could not

825
01:25:09.159 --> 01:25:15.840
be sure, but he was sure
of one thing, he asserted. Even

826
01:25:15.840 --> 01:25:19.439
though the steamer had recognized and reported
their position, it made a little difference.

827
01:25:23.520 --> 01:25:27.840
Well, said Forsyth. If she
can report us, why can't we

828
01:25:28.960 --> 01:25:31.640
Why can't we fake a report,
send that a message that we've been seeing

829
01:25:31.680 --> 01:25:39.520
a thousand miles north. That's a
good idea, said Casey, the wireless

830
01:25:39.560 --> 01:25:45.000
man off duty. We needn't give
any name, only a jumble of letters

831
01:25:45.000 --> 01:25:49.800
that spell nothing. How far can
you send with what you've got, asked

832
01:25:49.880 --> 01:25:58.479
Jenkins. With those aerials, answered
Casey, glancing aloft at the long gridiron

833
01:25:58.560 --> 01:26:05.560
of wire. About fifty miles Not
much good, I'm afraid, said Jenkins.

834
01:26:08.079 --> 01:26:11.800
Lord knows where we are, but
we're more than fifty miles from land.

835
01:26:13.920 --> 01:26:19.560
That as far as you can reason, broke in forsythe Jenkins, you're

836
01:26:19.600 --> 01:26:24.359
handy at a knockdown, but if
you can't use what brains you've got,

837
01:26:24.840 --> 01:26:31.479
you'd better resign command here. I
don't know who elected you anyhow, Are

838
01:26:31.479 --> 01:26:38.800
you looking for more, Forsythe asked
Jenkins, taking a step toward him.

839
01:26:38.840 --> 01:26:43.439
If you are, you can have
it. If not, get down to

840
01:26:43.520 --> 01:26:45.720
your studies and find out where this
craft is so we can get somewhere.

841
01:26:48.760 --> 01:26:55.119
Forsythe, hiding his emotions under a
forced grin, retreated toward the Forehatch.

842
01:26:58.000 --> 01:27:01.239
I can give you a latitude,
he said, before descending by a meridian

843
01:27:01.319 --> 01:27:05.960
observation this noon. I picked up
the method in one lesson this morning.

844
01:27:08.239 --> 01:27:14.920
But I tell you, Fellows,
I'm tired of get knocked down. Jenkins

845
01:27:14.920 --> 01:27:19.199
watched him descend, then said to
Casey, pick up a message claiming to

846
01:27:19.199 --> 01:27:23.600
be from some ship with a jumbled
name, as you say, and be

847
01:27:23.680 --> 01:27:28.439
ready to send it. If he
gets a position, then you think well

848
01:27:28.439 --> 01:27:34.600
of it. Certainly Forsyth has brains. The only trouble with him as if

849
01:27:34.600 --> 01:27:43.319
he wants to run things too much. Casey, a smooth faced, keyn

850
01:27:43.319 --> 01:27:48.680
eyed Irish American, descended to consult
with his confrere Munson, and Forsyth appeared

851
01:27:49.119 --> 01:27:56.279
swinging a book, laying this on
the bridge stairs. He passed Jenkins and

852
01:27:56.479 --> 01:28:05.039
walked aft. Where are you going, asked the ladder. Forsythe turn white

853
01:28:05.039 --> 01:28:12.479
with rage, and answered slowly and
softly, down to the officers quarters to

854
01:28:12.479 --> 01:28:16.119
get a sextant or a quadrant.
I found that book on a navigation in

855
01:28:16.159 --> 01:28:23.279
the pilot house, but I need
the instrument and a nautical almanac. That

856
01:28:23.439 --> 01:28:29.079
is as far as my studies have
progressed. You stay out of the officers

857
01:28:29.159 --> 01:28:33.199
quarters, said Jenkins. There's a
man there that will eat you alive if

858
01:28:33.239 --> 01:28:40.359
you show yourself. You want a
sextant, an a naunticle almanac, anything

859
01:28:40.399 --> 01:28:47.840
else, let us all. I'll
get them, and remember you and the

860
01:28:47.880 --> 01:28:55.159
rest are to stay away from the
after end of the boat. Forsyth made

861
01:28:55.159 --> 01:29:00.720
no answer as Jenkins passed him on
the way aft, but muttered me alive.

862
01:29:01.199 --> 01:29:10.239
We'll see Riley. One of the
machinists appeared from the engine room hatch

863
01:29:10.319 --> 01:29:19.640
and came forward, halting before forsythe
say he grumbled or caused that big lobster

864
01:29:19.720 --> 01:29:24.359
to bully rag this crowd the way
he's been doing. I heard him just

865
01:29:24.399 --> 01:29:27.880
now giving you hell. He gave
me hell yesterday when I spoke with a

866
01:29:27.960 --> 01:29:36.680
short Oil. Short Oil queried forsythe
do you mean that? I mean that

867
01:29:36.720 --> 01:29:42.039
the oil won't last but a day
longer. We've been storming along at forty

868
01:29:42.079 --> 01:29:48.199
knots and eating up oil. What
do we do? God knows, answered

869
01:29:48.239 --> 01:29:57.680
Forsyth reflectively. With that oil we
stop in mid ocean? What then?

870
01:30:00.079 --> 01:30:04.960
What then? Queried Riley? Well
before them, we must hold up some

871
01:30:05.000 --> 01:30:10.000
craft and get the oil, also
grubbing water. If I guess right,

872
01:30:11.119 --> 01:30:18.800
this bunch is hard on the commissary, Riley, said Forsyth impressively. Will

873
01:30:18.840 --> 01:30:25.119
you stand by me? Yes,
if you could bring that big chump to

874
01:30:25.319 --> 01:30:31.000
terms? All right, talk to
your partners. Something must be done,

875
01:30:31.319 --> 01:30:39.880
and he can't do it. Wait
a little, as though to verify Riley

876
01:30:40.199 --> 01:30:45.720
and uphold him in his contention.
Daniels, the cook came forward from the

877
01:30:45.720 --> 01:30:49.560
galley and said, just about one
week's whack a grub and water left.

878
01:30:50.520 --> 01:30:56.680
We'll have to go on an allowance. Then he passed on what was called

879
01:30:56.720 --> 01:31:08.000
back one week's grub left, asked
Forsyth, Sure that, Daniels, surest

880
01:31:08.000 --> 01:31:12.720
thing? You know? Plenty of
beans in hearttack, But who wants beans

881
01:31:12.720 --> 01:31:19.560
and hardtack? Have you spoken Jenkins
about it? No? What we meant

882
01:31:19.600 --> 01:31:27.560
to something's got to be done.
Where is he now? Down aft?

883
01:31:28.079 --> 01:31:34.880
Said Forsyth reflectively, what's keeping him? Riley sank into the engine room,

884
01:31:35.359 --> 01:31:41.319
and Daniels went forward to the forecastle, reappearing before Forsyth had reached a conclusion.

885
01:31:44.319 --> 01:31:46.840
Come aft with me, Daniels,
he said, let's find out what's

886
01:31:46.840 --> 01:31:55.840
doing. Together. They crept aft
and peered down the wardroom skylight. I

887
01:31:55.920 --> 01:32:01.279
saw demon Jenkins locked in furious embrace
and washed. Jenkins sat down, helpless

888
01:32:01.319 --> 01:32:09.239
and impotent. They saw them and
bind him, disappear from sight and reappear

889
01:32:09.279 --> 01:32:13.600
with the irons. Then they listened
to his part in lecture to Jenkins,

890
01:32:15.640 --> 01:32:23.319
Come, said forsythe down below with
us quick. They descended the galley companion,

891
01:32:23.640 --> 01:32:27.640
from which a passage led after the
petty officers quarters, which included the

892
01:32:27.720 --> 01:32:33.319
arm room, and thence through the
forward door of the wardroom. Here they

893
01:32:33.399 --> 01:32:39.119
halted and listened to them his movements
while he armed himself and climbed the companion

894
01:32:39.239 --> 01:32:46.479
stairs. They could also see through
the keyhole. He's healed, cried forsythe

895
01:32:47.640 --> 01:32:54.319
Where did he get the guns?
Where's the arm room? Here about somewhere?

896
01:32:54.680 --> 01:33:00.760
Where is it? They heard these
searched and found the arm room.

897
01:33:00.800 --> 01:33:09.119
It contained cumbersome rifles, cutlasses,
and warheads, but no pistols. He's

898
01:33:09.159 --> 01:33:14.239
removed them all. Can we break
in that door, asked forsythe rushing towards

899
01:33:14.239 --> 01:33:20.680
the bulkhead. Nah hold on,
said Daniels. We'll watch from the companion,

900
01:33:21.439 --> 01:33:28.800
and when he's forward, we'll sneak
down the other and heal ourselves good.

901
01:33:30.000 --> 01:33:33.600
So while Demon crept up and walked
forward, glancing right and left,

902
01:33:34.279 --> 01:33:39.920
but she watched him for the galley
hatch, and after he had baland two

903
01:33:39.920 --> 01:33:45.520
engineers and the helmsman, they slipped
aft and descended the wardroom stairs. Here

904
01:33:45.560 --> 01:33:49.880
they looked at Jenkins, vainly trying
to speak, but ignored him for the

905
01:33:49.920 --> 01:33:57.920
present. They hurried through the quarters
and finally found Demon's room with his arsenal

906
01:33:58.079 --> 01:34:03.479
loaded revolvers. They belted and armed
themselves and carefully climbed the steps, just

907
01:34:03.600 --> 01:34:10.319
in time as he Demon drive the
forecastle contingent to the deck. The Forsyth,

908
01:34:11.239 --> 01:34:15.199
taking careful aim, sent the bullet, which knocked them and unconscious,

909
01:34:15.239 --> 01:34:27.479
to the deck. End of chapter
seven, Chapter eight of the Pirates by

910
01:34:27.520 --> 01:34:34.079
Morgan Robertson this LibriVox recording is in
the public domain. Read by Joe Denoia,

911
01:34:34.319 --> 01:34:44.319
Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter eight, Forsyth and Daniels ran forward,

912
01:34:45.000 --> 01:34:49.399
while Billings, the cook Off watch
followed from the galley. Hatch and Casey

913
01:34:49.479 --> 01:34:56.600
came up from the wireless room.
Each asked questions, but nobody answered at

914
01:34:56.640 --> 01:35:01.960
once. There were eight men lying
upon the deck, and these must first

915
01:35:01.960 --> 01:35:10.920
be released, which was soon done. Denman, lying prone with a small

916
01:35:10.920 --> 01:35:16.479
pool of blood near his head,
was next examined and pronounced alive. He

917
01:35:16.560 --> 01:35:21.920
was breathing, but dazed and shocked. For a large caliber bully glancing upon

918
01:35:21.920 --> 01:35:30.199
the skull has somewhat the same effect
as the blow of a cudgel. He

919
01:35:30.319 --> 01:35:33.119
opened his eyes as the men examined
him, and dimly heard what they said.

920
01:35:35.960 --> 01:35:42.920
Now, said Forsyth, when these
preliminaries were concluded. Here we are

921
01:35:43.520 --> 01:35:47.319
miles at sea, with short store
of oil according to Riley, in a

922
01:35:47.399 --> 01:35:53.880
short store of grub according to Daniels. What's to be done? Hey?

923
01:35:55.720 --> 01:36:00.079
The man who has bossed us so
far hasn't seen this as now down in

924
01:36:00.159 --> 01:36:04.239
the wardroom, knocked out by this
brass button, duodm ling, what are

925
01:36:04.239 --> 01:36:12.399
you gonna do? Hey? Forsythe
flourished his pistols dramatically. BEng larret unspeakable

926
01:36:12.439 --> 01:36:19.279
things to doodling on the deck.
Well, forsythe said old Kelly, the

927
01:36:19.319 --> 01:36:25.000
gunner's mate. You've pretended to be
a navigator. What do you say?

928
01:36:28.079 --> 01:36:32.159
I say this, declared forsythe I'm
not a navigator, but I can be.

929
01:36:33.479 --> 01:36:38.600
But I want to understood. There's
got to be a leader, a

930
01:36:38.760 --> 01:36:44.439
commander. If you fellows agree,
I'll master the navigation and take this boat

931
01:36:44.439 --> 01:36:48.359
to the African coast. But I
want no halfway work. I want my

932
01:36:48.520 --> 01:36:54.840
orders to go just as I give
them. Do you agree you've gone wrong

933
01:36:54.880 --> 01:37:02.479
under Jenkins? Take your choice.
You're right, Forsyth said, Casey the

934
01:37:02.520 --> 01:37:09.960
wireless man, the the starboard watch. Jenkins is too easy, too careless.

935
01:37:11.199 --> 01:37:16.239
Take the job. I say.
Do you all agree, yelled Forsyth

936
01:37:16.359 --> 01:37:23.560
wildly in his excitement. Yes,
yes, they exclaimed, Take charge and

937
01:37:23.640 --> 01:37:30.520
get us out of these seas.
Who wants to be locked up? All

938
01:37:30.640 --> 01:37:34.640
right? Said Forsyth, that I'm
the commander. Lift that baby down to

939
01:37:34.680 --> 01:37:40.359
the skipper's room with a sick woman
and let them nurse each other. Lift

940
01:37:40.439 --> 01:37:45.800
Jenkins out of the wardroom and stow
him in the forecastle bunker. Riley,

941
01:37:45.359 --> 01:37:49.439
nurse your engines and save oil,
but keep the dynamo going for the wireless

942
01:37:51.119 --> 01:37:57.560
and you, Casey, have you
got that message cooked up? I have.

943
01:37:58.560 --> 01:38:00.039
All I want is the latitude and
the lawn to descend it from.

944
01:38:02.239 --> 01:38:06.760
I'll give it to you soon.
Get busy now and do your share.

945
01:38:08.479 --> 01:38:15.399
I must study a little. The
meeting adjourney, deadman, still days with

946
01:38:15.439 --> 01:38:19.760
a splitting headache, was assisted aft
and below to the spare birth in the

947
01:38:19.800 --> 01:38:24.960
captain's quarters, where he sank at
the unconsciousness. With the moaning of the

948
01:38:25.000 --> 01:38:30.239
stricken woman in his ears, Casey
went down to his partner and his instruments.

949
01:38:31.640 --> 01:38:35.560
Riley and King, with their confrares
with the other watch, went down

950
01:38:35.560 --> 01:38:42.239
to the engines to nurse them,
and forsythe after Jenkins had been lifted out

951
01:38:42.279 --> 01:38:45.479
of the wardroom and forward to the
forecastle bunk, searched the bookshelves and the

952
01:38:45.520 --> 01:38:50.960
desks of the officers, and,
finding what he wanted, went forward to

953
01:38:51.000 --> 01:38:59.039
study. He was at He was
a high school graduate and only needed to

954
01:38:59.039 --> 01:39:04.439
apply himself to produced results, and
Forsyth produced them as he had promised.

955
01:39:04.640 --> 01:39:12.119
He took him ridiant observation that day
and half an hour announced the latitude thirty

956
01:39:12.119 --> 01:39:18.119
five degrees forty minutes north. Now, Casey, he called, after he

957
01:39:18.159 --> 01:39:26.520
had looked the track chart. Got
your fake message ready only this, answered

958
01:39:26.600 --> 01:39:35.359
Casey, scanning a piece of paper. Listen, stolen destroyer bound north latitude

959
01:39:35.479 --> 01:39:43.199
so and so, longitude so and
so that'll do, or anything like it.

960
01:39:44.920 --> 01:39:49.640
Send it from latitude forty north fifty
five west. That's up close to

961
01:39:49.640 --> 01:39:54.439
the corner of the lanes. And
if it's caught up, they'll keep him

962
01:39:54.439 --> 01:40:01.439
busy up there for a while.
What's our longitude? Don't know and what

963
01:40:01.720 --> 01:40:06.039
until I learned the method. But
just north of us is the west to

964
01:40:06.199 --> 01:40:13.760
east track of outbound low power steamers, which I take it means tramps and

965
01:40:13.800 --> 01:40:20.279
tankers. Well, we'll have good
use for a tanker. You mean,

966
01:40:20.520 --> 01:40:26.680
we'll hold up one for oil,
of course, and for grub if we

967
01:40:26.720 --> 01:40:33.199
need it. Piracy, Forsyth,
Have pirates got anything on us? Now?

968
01:40:33.319 --> 01:40:42.520
Asked Forsyth, What are we mutineers, convex strong arm men, thieves

969
01:40:43.640 --> 01:40:47.680
or just simply pirates? Off the
deck with you, Casey, and keep

970
01:40:47.720 --> 01:40:54.600
your wires high forty north forty five
west for a while. Then we'll have

971
01:40:54.680 --> 01:41:00.920
it farther north. Casey jotted down
the figures and departed to the wireless room,

972
01:41:01.159 --> 01:41:05.319
where at intervals throughout the day he
sent out into the ether of the

973
01:41:05.399 --> 01:41:11.640
radiating waves, which, if picked
up within fifty miles by a craft beyond

974
01:41:11.640 --> 01:41:17.800
the horizon, might be relayed on. The success of the scheme cannot be

975
01:41:17.880 --> 01:41:23.520
learned by any tangible signs, But
for the next few days, while the

976
01:41:23.520 --> 01:41:28.439
boat lay with wide engines and Forsyth
studied navigation, they were marked that they

977
01:41:28.439 --> 01:41:33.960
were not pursued or noticed by passing
craft. And as the boat with dead

978
01:41:34.039 --> 01:41:42.199
engines rolled lazily in the long Atlantic
swell, while the men all but Forsyth,

979
01:41:42.720 --> 01:41:45.960
the two cooks, and the two
wireless experts lulled lazily about the deck,

980
01:41:46.920 --> 01:41:55.479
the three invalids of the ship's company
were convalescing in different degrees. Jenkins,

981
01:41:56.319 --> 01:42:00.800
dumb and wheezy, lay prone in
the forecastle bunk, trying to wonder

982
01:42:00.800 --> 01:42:04.880
how it happened. His mental faculties, though apprising him that he was alive,

983
01:42:05.720 --> 01:42:11.640
would hardly carry him to the point
of wonder, for wonder predicates imagination,

984
01:42:12.600 --> 01:42:17.319
and what little Jenkins was born with
had been shocked out of him.

985
01:42:17.520 --> 01:42:23.479
Still, he struggled and puzzled,
and guessed weakly as to what had happened

986
01:42:23.520 --> 01:42:28.640
to him. When a committee from
the loungers above visited him and asked him

987
01:42:28.640 --> 01:42:32.039
what struck him, he could only
point suggestively to his throat and wag his

988
01:42:32.079 --> 01:42:39.960
head. He could not even whisper, and so they left him pondering over

989
01:42:39.960 --> 01:42:45.600
the profanely expressed opinion of old Kelly
that it was a visitation from God.

990
01:42:48.159 --> 01:42:54.800
The committee went after the skipper's quarters, and here loud talk and profanity ceased,

991
01:42:55.680 --> 01:43:00.000
for there was a woman below.
And while these fellows were not gentlemen,

992
01:43:00.319 --> 01:43:06.159
as his term is understood, they
were men, bad men, but

993
01:43:06.399 --> 01:43:15.159
men. On the way down the
stairs, Kelly struck bare handed his watchmate

994
01:43:15.239 --> 01:43:20.159
Hawks for expressing an interest in the
good books of the woman, and Sampson,

995
01:43:21.199 --> 01:43:28.760
a giant like his namesake, smote
Old Kelly hip and thigh for qualifying

996
01:43:28.800 --> 01:43:35.439
his strictures on the common of Hawks. Thus corrected and enjoyed with captain hand,

997
01:43:36.039 --> 01:43:40.960
they approached the open door of the
starboard room, where lady injured woman

998
01:43:41.000 --> 01:43:45.239
in the berth, fully blowthed in
her now dried garments, and her face

999
01:43:45.359 --> 01:43:54.119
still hidden in demon's bandage. Excuse
me, madam, said Sampson, the

1000
01:43:54.199 --> 01:44:00.640
present chairman of the committee. Can
we do anything for you? I cannot

1001
01:44:00.680 --> 01:44:06.399
see you, she answered faintly.
I did not know where I am nor

1002
01:44:06.479 --> 01:44:14.119
what will happened to me, but
I haven't need of attention. One man

1003
01:44:14.279 --> 01:44:18.279
is kind to me, but he's
not returned. Who are you you men?

1004
01:44:21.840 --> 01:44:28.119
We're a crew of the boat,
answered Sampson awkwardly. The skipper's forward,

1005
01:44:28.119 --> 01:44:30.600
and I guess the man that was
kind to you as our prisoner.

1006
01:44:31.039 --> 01:44:39.159
He's not on the job now.
But what can we do? Tell me

1007
01:44:39.159 --> 01:44:44.439
where I am and where I'm going? What boat is this? Who are

1008
01:44:44.479 --> 01:44:51.239
you well, madam broke an old
jilly. We're a crowded jailbreakers that stole

1009
01:44:51.239 --> 01:44:56.880
a torpedo boat destroyer and put the
seat we got you off a burn in

1010
01:44:56.920 --> 01:45:00.880
seeking yacht. Then you're here with
us. But I'm blessed if I know

1011
01:45:01.000 --> 01:45:05.199
what we'll do with you. Our
next are in the halter, so to

1012
01:45:05.279 --> 01:45:11.079
speak, or rather, our hands
and ankles are in irons for life.

1013
01:45:11.119 --> 01:45:15.640
If we're caught, you've got to
make the best of it until we get

1014
01:45:15.640 --> 01:45:18.319
caught. And if we don't,
you've got to make the best of it

1015
01:45:18.399 --> 01:45:25.800
too. Lots of young men among
us, and you're no spring chicken.

1016
01:45:25.840 --> 01:45:30.680
But it looks at you. Oh. Kelly went down before a fist of

1017
01:45:30.720 --> 01:45:34.640
blows from Hawks, who thus strove
to rehabilitate himself in the good opinion of

1018
01:45:34.680 --> 01:45:41.439
his mates, and Hawks went backward
from a blow from Sampson, who,

1019
01:45:42.119 --> 01:45:46.359
as yet unsullied from unworthy thought,
held this position as peacemaker and moralist.

1020
01:45:48.239 --> 01:45:53.920
And while they were recovering from the
excitement, denman, with blood in his

1021
01:45:54.039 --> 01:46:00.560
face from the wound in his scalp, appeared among them. You fellows,

1022
01:46:00.600 --> 01:46:04.920
utterly devoid of manhood and self respect. He said sternly that you appear before

1023
01:46:04.960 --> 01:46:09.399
the door of a sick room and
bade a woman who cannot defeat herself even

1024
01:46:09.399 --> 01:46:15.880
by speech, Shame upon you.
You have crippled me, but I am

1025
01:46:15.880 --> 01:46:20.840
recovering. If you cannot aid this
woman, leave her to me. She

1026
01:46:20.880 --> 01:46:27.680
has burned, scalded, disfigured.
She hardly knows her name or where she

1027
01:46:27.760 --> 01:46:32.199
came from. You have saved her
from the wreck and have since collected her.

1028
01:46:34.560 --> 01:46:39.760
Men, you are jailbirds, as
you say, but you are American

1029
01:46:39.880 --> 01:46:45.359
seamen. If you cannot help her
leave her, Do not insult her.

1030
01:46:47.399 --> 01:46:53.079
I am helpless. If I had
power, I would decreate further relief in

1031
01:46:53.159 --> 01:47:01.239
the medicine chest. But I am
a prisoner restricted. Sampson squared his big

1032
01:47:01.239 --> 01:47:12.079
shoulders on deck, with you fellas, all of you get quick. They

1033
01:47:12.119 --> 01:47:19.600
followed up the companion, leaving Sampson
looking at Demon. Lieutenant, he said,

1034
01:47:21.000 --> 01:47:25.399
you take care of this poor woman, and if anyone in her fears,

1035
01:47:26.000 --> 01:47:30.560
notify me. Almost big a man
as Jenkins who's knocked out, and

1036
01:47:30.640 --> 01:47:36.600
a bigger man than Forsyth who's now
in command. But we're fair, understand

1037
01:47:38.479 --> 01:47:45.640
We're fair the most of us.
Yes, yes, answered Demon as he

1038
01:47:45.720 --> 01:47:53.520
staggered back to a transmit scene.
Want anything yourself, asked Sampson as he

1039
01:47:53.640 --> 01:47:59.560
noted the soup and figure of Demon. You're still lieutenant, Demon of the

1040
01:47:59.640 --> 01:48:09.479
Navy, understand No, I do
not leave me alone. Samson followed his

1041
01:48:09.560 --> 01:48:15.800
mates. Demon sent out a few
moments, nursing his aching head and trying

1042
01:48:15.840 --> 01:48:19.880
to adjust himself to conditions, And
as he sat there, he felt a

1043
01:48:19.880 --> 01:48:26.600
hand on his shoulder and heard a
weak voice saying, are you Lieutenant Demon?

1044
01:48:27.920 --> 01:48:33.920
Billy Denmon. He looked up the
bandaged face of the woman was above

1045
01:48:34.000 --> 01:48:40.239
him. Out of the folds of
the bandage looked two serious gray eyes,

1046
01:48:41.079 --> 01:48:47.000
and he knew them. Florrie,
he said, in a choke. Is

1047
01:48:47.039 --> 01:48:57.640
this you grown up? Florrie Fleming? How? Why what brings you here?

1048
01:49:00.600 --> 01:49:03.920
I started on the trip, Billy, she said, calmly, with

1049
01:49:04.039 --> 01:49:10.880
father on a friend's yacht, bound
for the bermudas we caught fire and I

1050
01:49:10.960 --> 01:49:15.520
was the only one saved, it
seems. But how are you here subordinate

1051
01:49:15.560 --> 01:49:23.680
to these men? Are you injured? Billy? You're bleeding? What is

1052
01:49:23.720 --> 01:49:30.319
happened? The finger of fate,
Flory or the act of God? Answered

1053
01:49:30.359 --> 01:49:35.399
Demon with a painful smile. We
must have the conceit taken out of us

1054
01:49:35.399 --> 01:49:42.720
on occasions. You know, Forsyth, my schoolmate is a command of this

1055
01:49:42.760 --> 01:49:50.760
crowd of jailbreakers and pirates. Forsyth, your conqueror. She received this step

1056
01:49:53.600 --> 01:49:57.640
I had Do you know, mister
Demon, that you were my hero when

1057
01:49:57.640 --> 01:50:02.159
I was a child, that I
never forgot gave Jack Forsyth. I had

1058
01:50:02.199 --> 01:50:08.920
hoped to hear. Oh I know, he interrupted hotly, while's head frobbed

1059
01:50:08.920 --> 01:50:13.640
anew with the surge of emotion.
I know what you and the whole town

1060
01:50:13.720 --> 01:50:19.000
expected, But well, I knocked
him down on the deck a short time

1061
01:50:19.000 --> 01:50:24.720
back, and the knockdown stands,
but they would not allow a finish.

1062
01:50:26.199 --> 01:50:31.479
Then he shot me when I was
not looking. I am glad, she

1063
01:50:31.600 --> 01:50:39.439
answered, simply for your sake,
and perhaps for my own. For I

1064
01:50:39.479 --> 01:50:45.800
too, it seems am in his
power. He answered her as he could,

1065
01:50:45.520 --> 01:50:51.199
incoherently and meaninglessly. But she went
to her room and closed the door.

1066
01:50:55.119 --> 01:51:03.880
End of chapter eight, Chapter nine
of the Pirates by Morgan Robertson.

1067
01:51:05.359 --> 01:51:12.399
This LibriVox recording is in the public
domain. Read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield,

1068
01:51:12.439 --> 01:51:21.199
New Jersey, Chapter nine. Down
the wardroom companion came Forsyth, followed

1069
01:51:21.199 --> 01:51:26.560
by Sampson, who edgured alongside of
him as he appeared into the after compartment,

1070
01:51:27.199 --> 01:51:31.279
where Denman sat on the transom.
What do you want down here with

1071
01:51:31.399 --> 01:51:35.600
me, asked Forsyth in a snarl, as he looked sidewise at Sampson,

1072
01:51:38.800 --> 01:51:43.279
to see that you act like a
man, answered the big machinist. There's

1073
01:51:43.319 --> 01:51:48.560
a sick woman here, and a
more or less sick man. Answered Forsyth

1074
01:51:50.079 --> 01:51:55.800
that if I hadn't made sick,
would have had you in irons. Get

1075
01:51:55.880 --> 01:52:02.359
up on deck all I want is
a chronometer under the circumstances, where,

1076
01:52:02.479 --> 01:52:09.079
joined Sampson Cooley, do I acknowledge
your authority as far as governing this cruise

1077
01:52:09.119 --> 01:52:13.840
concerned? When it comes to a
sick woman defended only by a wounded officer,

1078
01:52:14.640 --> 01:52:18.560
I shift to a jurisdiction of the
officer. If Lieutenant Demon asked that

1079
01:52:18.640 --> 01:52:27.119
I go on deck, I will
go. Otherwise I remain, wait,

1080
01:52:27.680 --> 01:52:33.520
said Demon weakly. For your lost
much blood, Perhaps Forsyth need not be

1081
01:52:33.600 --> 01:52:41.319
antagonized or coerced. Forsyth, do
you remember a little girl at home named

1082
01:52:41.319 --> 01:52:48.319
Florrie Fleming? Well, that woman
is she? I appeal to whatever is

1083
01:52:48.399 --> 01:52:55.880
left to your boyhood ideals to protect
this woman and care for her. Yes,

1084
01:52:56.199 --> 01:53:01.359
I remember her, answered Forsyth with
a bitter smile. She thought you

1085
01:53:01.359 --> 01:53:05.399
were a tin god on wheels and
told me after you've gone, had you

1086
01:53:05.520 --> 01:53:11.880
come back and thrash me? You
didn't, did you? His speech ended

1087
01:53:11.920 --> 01:53:17.359
in the sneer. No, but
I will when the time comes, answered

1088
01:53:17.399 --> 01:53:24.960
Denman. But the mental transition from
pity to anger overcame him and he sank

1089
01:53:25.000 --> 01:53:31.960
back. Now this is neither here
nor there, Forsyth said Sampson sternly.

1090
01:53:33.439 --> 01:53:38.800
You want a chronometer. When you
get it, you have no more business

1091
01:53:38.880 --> 01:53:42.720
here than I have. I think
you better use your authority like a man

1092
01:53:43.239 --> 01:53:48.560
or. I'll call a meeting of
the boys, of course, answered Forsyth,

1093
01:53:49.039 --> 01:53:54.840
looking at the big shoulders of Samson. But inasmuch as I knew this

1094
01:53:54.880 --> 01:53:58.880
fellow from boyhood, and knew this
girl when I was a child, the

1095
01:53:58.960 --> 01:54:01.159
best care I can give her is
to remove this chap from her vicinity.

1096
01:54:02.760 --> 01:54:06.119
We'll put him down the fore peak
and let one of the cooks feed her

1097
01:54:06.279 --> 01:54:14.359
and nurse her. We'll see about
that on deck, said Sampson, indignantly.

1098
01:54:15.520 --> 01:54:20.560
I'll talk, yes, broken,
Demon, standing up, Forsyth is

1099
01:54:20.640 --> 01:54:25.000
right. It is not fitting that
I should be here alone with her.

1100
01:54:26.199 --> 01:54:30.600
Put me anywhere you like, but
take care of her as you are men

1101
01:54:30.760 --> 01:54:40.319
and Americans. Forsyth made no answer, but Sampson gave Demon a troubled,

1102
01:54:40.479 --> 01:54:45.239
doubtful look, then nodded and followed
Forsyth to the various rooms until it secured

1103
01:54:45.279 --> 01:54:51.800
what he wanted. Then they went
on deck together, but in an hour

1104
01:54:53.319 --> 01:54:59.159
they were back, and though Demon
had heard nothing of a conclave on deck,

1105
01:55:00.279 --> 01:55:02.319
he judged by their faces that there
had been one, And then at

1106
01:55:02.359 --> 01:55:09.319
Forsyth had been overruled by the influence
of Samson. For Sampson smiled and forsythe

1107
01:55:09.399 --> 01:55:14.720
scowled as they lived. Demon into
the wardroom to his own birth and locked

1108
01:55:14.760 --> 01:55:17.520
him in with the assurance that cooks
would feed him and attend to the wants

1109
01:55:17.520 --> 01:55:26.800
of himself and the woman. Billings
had come with arnica, plaster and bandages

1110
01:55:27.319 --> 01:55:30.960
and roughly dressed his wound, but
he gave them no information of their plans.

1111
01:55:32.800 --> 01:55:40.319
However, Demon could still look out
through a deadlight. A few hours

1112
01:55:40.319 --> 01:55:44.199
after the boat's engines had started,
he could see a steamer on the horizon.

1113
01:55:44.800 --> 01:55:50.119
Steamer on course that would soon intercept
without the destroyer. She was a

1114
01:55:50.199 --> 01:55:57.560
one funneled, two masted craft,
a tramp possibly a working boat, surely,

1115
01:55:59.159 --> 01:56:01.079
but he only learned when her striped
funnel came to view that she belonged

1116
01:56:01.119 --> 01:56:06.720
to a regular line. She made
no effort to avoid them, but held

1117
01:56:06.760 --> 01:56:11.279
on until with inhaling distance. When
he heard Forsyth's voice from the bridge.

1118
01:56:13.680 --> 01:56:20.680
Steamer ahoy, He shouted, what's
your cargo? Oil? Answered the man

1119
01:56:20.680 --> 01:56:27.079
in the steamer's bridge. What are
you holding me up for? Oil?

1120
01:56:27.439 --> 01:56:34.439
Answered Forsyth, How is it stowed
in cases or in bulk. In bulk

1121
01:56:34.560 --> 01:56:44.520
you dog one full? Very good? We want some of that oil you

1122
01:56:44.720 --> 01:56:48.800
do? Hey? Who are you? You look like that runaway destroyer.

1123
01:56:48.800 --> 01:56:54.479
I've heard so much about who's going
to recompense the company for the oil you

1124
01:56:54.520 --> 01:57:01.279
want? Hey? Where do I
come in? Who pays the bill?

1125
01:57:01.319 --> 01:57:04.640
Send it to the United States Government? Or send it to the devil?

1126
01:57:05.880 --> 01:57:13.039
Pass a hose over the side and
dip your end in the tank. Suppose

1127
01:57:13.079 --> 01:57:16.840
I said no, well, we'll
send a few shells into your waterline.

1128
01:57:19.520 --> 01:57:24.199
Is that straight? Are you pirates? That would sink a working craft?

1129
01:57:26.359 --> 01:57:30.399
As far as you're concerned, we
are. Pass over your hose and stop

1130
01:57:30.439 --> 01:57:36.399
talking about it. All we want
is a little oil. Will you give

1131
01:57:36.439 --> 01:57:44.119
me our written receipt? Of course, name your bill. We'll toss it

1132
01:57:44.199 --> 01:57:50.720
up in the drift boat. Pass
over the hose, all right, Hook

1133
01:57:50.800 --> 01:57:55.720
up your own reducer and suck it
full with your pump. That will siphon

1134
01:57:55.840 --> 01:58:03.399
down. Got reducers, Sampson got
several. I guess we could start the

1135
01:58:03.439 --> 01:58:11.399
flow. The two craft drew close
together, The hose was flung from the

1136
01:58:11.439 --> 01:58:15.399
tanker to the destroyer, and the
four machinists worked for a while with wrenches

1137
01:58:15.439 --> 01:58:20.439
and pump fittings until the connection was
made. Then they started the pump,

1138
01:58:21.239 --> 01:58:30.760
filled the hose, and disconnecting,
dropped their end into the tanks. The

1139
01:58:30.880 --> 01:58:35.199
oil, by the force of gravity, flowed from one craft to the other

1140
01:58:35.279 --> 01:58:41.479
until the gages showed a full supply. Then a written received for one hundred

1141
01:58:41.479 --> 01:58:44.960
and twenty five tons of oil was
signed by the leaders, tied to a

1142
01:58:44.960 --> 01:58:49.199
piece of iron and tossed aboard the
tanker, and the two craft separated,

1143
01:58:50.119 --> 01:58:59.720
the pirate heading south. As Denman
conceived by the telltale Denman, his wounded

1144
01:58:59.760 --> 01:59:02.640
sky up easier, laid down in
his berth and smoked while I thought out

1145
01:59:02.640 --> 01:59:11.920
his plans. Obviously the men were
pirates, fully committed, it would probably

1146
01:59:11.960 --> 01:59:15.000
repeat the performance, And as obviously
they would surely be caught in time.

1147
01:59:17.000 --> 01:59:20.600
There was nothing he can do except
to heal his womb. And wait,

1148
01:59:24.640 --> 01:59:28.560
you cannot even assist missus Floury,
no matter what peril might menace her.

1149
01:59:30.600 --> 01:59:33.399
Then, as he remembered a bunch
of duplical keys given him when he joined

1150
01:59:33.399 --> 01:59:39.840
an executive officer, he thought that
perhaps he might. They were in his

1151
01:59:39.920 --> 01:59:47.760
desk, and rolling out he secured
them. He tried them in turn on

1152
01:59:47.880 --> 01:59:54.079
his door lock, and finally found
the one that fitted. This he took

1153
01:59:54.079 --> 01:59:58.479
off the ring and secured his own
bunch of keys, placing the others,

1154
01:59:59.239 --> 02:00:01.399
which he easily your eyes belonged to
all the locking doors in the boat in

1155
02:00:01.479 --> 02:00:09.359
another pocket. Then he lay back
to finish his smoke, but Sampson opened

1156
02:00:09.359 --> 02:00:15.720
his door and interrupted, you'll excuse
me, sir, he began, while

1157
02:00:15.760 --> 02:00:20.520
Devon appeared critically on him through the
smoke. But I suppose you know we've

1158
02:00:20.560 --> 02:00:28.079
just done, yes, he answered, I could see a little and hear

1159
02:00:28.159 --> 02:00:33.840
more. You've held up and robbed
an old steamer, and as a piracy,

1160
02:00:33.880 --> 02:00:41.439
sir, in the old sense,
a hanging matter if we're caught hardly,

1161
02:00:41.520 --> 02:00:45.000
no, said Denman after a moment's
reflection. Laws are repealed every now

1162
02:00:45.039 --> 02:00:54.680
and then. Did you kill anyone? No, sir, Well, I

1163
02:00:54.840 --> 02:00:57.880
just that a pirate it sees about
on the same plane as a burglar on

1164
02:00:58.000 --> 02:01:02.520
shore. If he kills anyone while
committing a felony, he's guilty of murder

1165
02:01:02.520 --> 02:01:09.119
in the first degree. Better not
kill any fellow men. Then you'll only

1166
02:01:09.159 --> 02:01:16.279
get a long term, perhaps for
life, when you're nabbed. Thank you,

1167
02:01:16.359 --> 02:01:23.079
mister, Denman. They're talking big
things on deck, but there'll be

1168
02:01:23.119 --> 02:01:27.920
no killing. Forsythe is something of
a devil, and we'll stop at nothing.

1169
02:01:29.319 --> 02:01:34.039
But I'll pardon me, said Demon
lazily. He'll stop at me if

1170
02:01:34.039 --> 02:01:42.039
you release me. Not yet,
sir, it may be necessary, but

1171
02:01:42.119 --> 02:01:49.159
at present we're thinking of ourselves,
all right. But tell me how did

1172
02:01:49.199 --> 02:01:56.560
you get a key to my door? How many keys are there? From

1173
02:01:56.560 --> 02:02:02.359
billing, sir? Not with Forsythe's
knowledge. However, Billings and some others

1174
02:02:02.800 --> 02:02:09.319
think no more of him than I
did. That's right, responded Denman.

1175
02:02:10.800 --> 02:02:15.279
I know him at school. Look
out for him. By the way,

1176
02:02:15.600 --> 02:02:23.079
is the lady Aft being attended to, Yes, Sir Daniels. The other

1177
02:02:23.159 --> 02:02:29.439
cook brings her what she needs.
She's not locked up, though. That's

1178
02:02:29.439 --> 02:02:31.720
good. Give her the run of
the deck and take care of her.

1179
02:02:33.920 --> 02:02:39.039
Yes, sir, we will,
answered Samson, as respectfully as though we're

1180
02:02:39.039 --> 02:02:45.239
a legitimate order. Per force of
habit is strong. Then he left the

1181
02:02:45.319 --> 02:02:51.239
room, locking the door behind him. Denmon smoked until he finished the cigar,

1182
02:02:53.159 --> 02:02:57.560
and after he had eaten a supper
brought by Billings, he smoked again

1183
02:02:57.760 --> 02:03:05.880
until darkness closed down there, closing
down of darkness came a plan end of

1184
02:03:05.960 --> 02:03:18.159
chapter nine, chapter ten of the
Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording

1185
02:03:18.319 --> 02:03:24.520
is in the public domain, read
by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey,

1186
02:03:27.720 --> 02:03:33.840
Chapter ten. Tossing his cigar through
the open deadlight, Demon arose and

1187
02:03:33.960 --> 02:03:41.039
unlocked his door, passing into the
small and empty wardroom. First, he

1188
02:03:41.119 --> 02:03:45.159
tried the forward door leading into the
petty officer's quarters and to the arm room,

1189
02:03:45.399 --> 02:03:49.680
and, finding it locked, sought
for the key, which opened it,

1190
02:03:50.159 --> 02:03:58.520
and passed through, closing the door
softly behind him. Farther forward,

1191
02:03:58.520 --> 02:04:02.159
he could hear the voice of Billing, singing cheerfully to himself in the galley,

1192
02:04:02.560 --> 02:04:08.840
and filtering through the galley hash and
open deadlights, the voice of Forsyth

1193
02:04:09.479 --> 02:04:16.199
uttering angry commands to someone on deck. He had no personal design upon Billings,

1194
02:04:17.000 --> 02:04:24.640
nor at present upon Forsyth, so
he searched the arm room. As

1195
02:04:24.640 --> 02:04:30.640
Forsyth and Daniels had found, there
was nothing there more formidable than Cutlass's rifles

1196
02:04:30.680 --> 02:04:35.960
and torpedo heads. The pistols had
been removed to some other place, so

1197
02:04:36.039 --> 02:04:42.560
Demon went back and searched the wardroom, delving into closets and receptacles, looking

1198
02:04:42.600 --> 02:04:46.840
for arms, but he found none
and sat down on the chair to think.

1199
02:04:49.439 --> 02:04:54.239
Presently, he arose and tapped on
the glazed glass door of the Captain's

1200
02:04:54.239 --> 02:05:01.680
apartment Floorry. He said, in
a half whisper, Florry, are you

1201
02:05:01.720 --> 02:05:09.239
awake? There was no answer for
a moment. Then he saw a shadow

1202
02:05:09.319 --> 02:05:17.079
move across the door. Floury,
He repeated, are you awake? Who

1203
02:05:17.199 --> 02:05:24.000
is this? Came in, answering
whisper through the door, Denmon, Billy

1204
02:05:24.079 --> 02:05:29.279
Denman, He answered, if you
are awaking clothed, let me in.

1205
02:05:30.600 --> 02:05:34.079
I have a key and I want
to talk with you. All right,

1206
02:05:34.880 --> 02:05:42.359
yes, come in, but I
have no key and the door is locked.

1207
02:05:44.720 --> 02:05:49.880
Deamon quickly found the key and opened
the door. She stood there with

1208
02:05:49.880 --> 02:05:55.000
her face still tied up in claws
and only her gray eyes showing in a

1209
02:05:55.119 --> 02:06:01.039
light from the electric bulbs of the
room. Floory. He said, will

1210
02:06:01.079 --> 02:06:05.920
you do your part towards helping us
out of our present trouble. I'll do

1211
02:06:05.960 --> 02:06:12.479
what I can, Billy, but
I cannot do much. You can do

1212
02:06:12.520 --> 02:06:15.720
a lot, he responded. Just
get up on deck with your face tied

1213
02:06:15.800 --> 02:06:21.600
up and walk around. Speak to
any man you meet, and go forward

1214
02:06:21.600 --> 02:06:28.439
to the bridge. Ask anyone you
see any question you're like as to where

1215
02:06:28.479 --> 02:06:31.600
we are going, or what is
to be done with us, anything at

1216
02:06:31.640 --> 02:06:36.239
all which will justify your presence on
deck. Just let them see that you

1217
02:06:36.239 --> 02:06:40.840
are on deck, and we'll be
on deck again, will you, Flory?

1218
02:06:43.840 --> 02:06:46.239
My face is still very bad,
Billy, and the wind cuts like

1219
02:06:46.279 --> 02:06:53.920
a knife. Why must I go
up among those men? I'll tell you

1220
02:06:54.000 --> 02:07:01.720
afterward. Go along, Flory,
just show yourself and come down. I

1221
02:07:01.760 --> 02:07:05.520
am in the dark. Why do
you not tell me what is ahead?

1222
02:07:06.279 --> 02:07:12.319
I would rather stay here and go
to bed. You can go to bed

1223
02:07:12.359 --> 02:07:16.720
in ten minutes, said Deadman.
But go up first and show yourself and

1224
02:07:16.880 --> 02:07:24.840
come down. I will do the
rest. Well, Billy, I will.

1225
02:07:25.920 --> 02:07:29.199
I do not like to, but
you seem to have some plan which

1226
02:07:29.199 --> 02:07:34.199
you did not tell me of,
So well, all right, I'll go

1227
02:07:34.279 --> 02:07:42.199
up. She put on a cloak
and ascended the companion stairs, and Deadman

1228
02:07:42.319 --> 02:07:47.199
sat down to wait. He heard
nothing, not even a voice of congratulation,

1229
02:07:48.119 --> 02:07:55.079
and after a few moments Florrie came
down. I met them all,

1230
02:07:55.199 --> 02:08:00.239
she said, and they were civil
and polite. What more do you want

1231
02:08:00.239 --> 02:08:05.479
of me, Billy? Your cloak, your hat, and your skirt.

1232
02:08:05.640 --> 02:08:13.960
I will furnish the banager. What
exactly. I will go up dressed like

1233
02:08:15.000 --> 02:08:22.199
you and catch them on awares one
by one. But Billy, they will

1234
02:08:22.279 --> 02:08:30.439
kill you or hurt you. Don't
do it, Billy, now here,

1235
02:08:30.479 --> 02:08:35.680
Florrie girl, he answered firmly.
I'll go into the wardroom and you toss

1236
02:08:35.720 --> 02:08:39.960
in the materials from my disguise.
Then you go to bed, and if

1237
02:08:39.960 --> 02:08:46.439
I get into trouble, they will
return the clothes. But suppose they kill

1238
02:08:46.520 --> 02:08:52.880
you, I will be at their
mercy, Billy. I'm alone here without

1239
02:08:52.920 --> 02:09:01.840
you, Floury. They are sailors. That means they are men. If

1240
02:09:01.840 --> 02:09:05.279
I win, you are all right, of course. Now let me have

1241
02:09:05.439 --> 02:09:13.319
the things I want to get command
of this boat. Take them, Billy,

1242
02:09:13.399 --> 02:09:16.239
but return to me and tell me. Don't leave me in suspense.

1243
02:09:18.720 --> 02:09:26.359
I won't. I'll report, Florey. Just wait and be patient. He

1244
02:09:26.439 --> 02:09:31.600
passed into the wardroom, and soon
the skirt, hat and cloak were thrown

1245
02:09:31.600 --> 02:09:39.000
to him. He had some trouble
in donning the garments, for while the

1246
02:09:39.079 --> 02:09:43.720
length of the skirt did not matter, the width certainly did, and he

1247
02:09:43.800 --> 02:09:48.159
must needs piece out the waistband the
length of string ruthlessly punching holes to receive

1248
02:09:48.199 --> 02:09:54.680
it. The cloak was a tight
squeeze for his broader shoulders, but he

1249
02:09:54.760 --> 02:09:58.279
managed it, and after he had
thoroughly massed his face with bandages, he

1250
02:09:58.399 --> 02:10:05.199
tried to they were happins sticking to
it, which he knew the utility of,

1251
02:10:07.640 --> 02:10:11.119
But as she furnished him nothing of
her thick crown of hair, he

1252
02:10:11.279 --> 02:10:18.640
jabbed these through the bandage and surveyed
himself in the skipper's large mirror. Most

1253
02:10:18.760 --> 02:10:24.399
ladylike, he muttered, squinting through
the bandages. Then he went on deck.

1254
02:10:28.159 --> 02:10:31.039
His plan had progressed no further than
this, to be able to reach

1255
02:10:31.079 --> 02:10:35.600
the deck unrecognized, so that he
can watch, listen to the talk,

1256
02:10:37.239 --> 02:10:43.399
and decide what he might do later
on. Billings still sang cheerily in the

1257
02:10:43.479 --> 02:10:48.439
galley, and the voices forward were
more articulate, chiefly concerned, it seemed,

1258
02:10:48.720 --> 02:10:52.560
with the replenishing of the water and
food supply, and the necessity of

1259
02:10:52.600 --> 02:10:58.199
foresights pursuing his studies so that they
can know where they were. The talk

1260
02:10:58.279 --> 02:11:03.359
ended by their dry having their commander
below, and when the watches were set,

1261
02:11:03.159 --> 02:11:09.560
demon himself went down. He decided
as he had come up by the

1262
02:11:09.600 --> 02:11:15.840
captain's companion reported the safety to floorry
through the part of the open stateroom door,

1263
02:11:16.640 --> 02:11:20.359
and also requested that each night,
as she retired, she should toss

1264
02:11:20.439 --> 02:11:26.880
the hat, cloak and skirt into
the wards room. To this she agreed,

1265
02:11:28.319 --> 02:11:31.439
and he discarded the uncomfortable rig and
went to his room, locking the

1266
02:11:31.479 --> 02:11:39.760
captain's door behind him. Also his
own. His plan had not progressed.

1267
02:11:39.600 --> 02:11:43.359
They had only found a way to
see things from the deck instead of through

1268
02:11:43.399 --> 02:11:46.640
a dead light, and he went
to sleep with a troubled thought that even

1269
02:11:46.680 --> 02:11:50.920
though he shouldn't master them all as
he had once an they succeeded in doing,

1270
02:11:50.800 --> 02:11:54.680
he would need to release them in
order that they should work ship.

1271
02:11:56.520 --> 02:12:03.560
To put them on parole was out
of the question. The sudden stopping of

1272
02:12:03.560 --> 02:12:05.760
the turbines awoke him in the morning, and the sun shine into his dead

1273
02:12:05.800 --> 02:12:11.039
light apprised him that he had slept
late. He looked out in a head

1274
02:12:11.600 --> 02:12:16.920
and saw a large white steam yacht
resting quietly on the rolling ground swell,

1275
02:12:16.560 --> 02:12:22.439
apparently waiting for the destroyer to creep
up to her. But another hold up,

1276
02:12:22.760 --> 02:12:30.840
he said, and for grubbing water
this time, I suppose wishing to

1277
02:12:30.840 --> 02:12:33.479
see this from the deck. He
rushed after the captain's room and tapped on

1278
02:12:33.600 --> 02:12:39.760
the door, meanwhile fumbling for his
keys. There was no answer, and

1279
02:12:41.600 --> 02:12:48.760
tapping again, he opened the door
and entered floory. He called in a

1280
02:12:48.760 --> 02:12:56.159
whisper, are you awake? She
did not reply, but he heard Sampson's

1281
02:12:56.239 --> 02:13:01.560
voice from the deck. This is
your chance. It's miss he said.

1282
02:13:01.760 --> 02:13:05.640
We're going to get stores from that
yacht, but no doubt she'll take you

1283
02:13:05.720 --> 02:13:13.279
on board. Is she bound to
New York or some port where I may

1284
02:13:13.279 --> 02:13:22.239
reach friends? As the girl no
bound to the Mediterranean? Will you release

1285
02:13:22.319 --> 02:13:26.800
mister Denman as well? No,
I'm pretty sure the boys will not.

1286
02:13:28.039 --> 02:13:31.399
He knows our plans, and as
a naval officer, you see, with

1287
02:13:31.520 --> 02:13:37.880
a strong interest in landing us once
on shore, he would have every warship

1288
02:13:37.880 --> 02:13:43.159
in the world after us. Then
I stay here with mister Denman. He

1289
02:13:43.279 --> 02:13:50.600
is wounded and is my friend.
Demon was on the point of calling up

1290
02:13:50.960 --> 02:13:56.119
to insist that she leave the yacht, but he thought in time that it

1291
02:13:56.199 --> 02:14:03.039
would reveal his position and leave him
more helpless us. While perhaps she might

1292
02:14:03.079 --> 02:14:09.319
still refuse to go, He heard
Sampson's footsteps going forward and called to her

1293
02:14:09.399 --> 02:14:16.239
softly, but she too had moved
forward, and he went back to his

1294
02:14:16.279 --> 02:14:24.199
dead light. It was a repetition
of the scene with the oil steamer Forsyth

1295
02:14:24.680 --> 02:14:28.319
loudly and profanely announcing his wants and
calling the yachts attention to two twelve pounders

1296
02:14:28.479 --> 02:14:35.880
aimed at her waterline. She was
at the standard type clipper bowed square stern

1297
02:14:37.479 --> 02:14:41.399
with one funnel and two masts,
and from the trucks of these masks stretched

1298
02:14:41.399 --> 02:14:48.119
a three wire grid for wireless outfit. Forward was a crowd of blue clad

1299
02:14:48.119 --> 02:14:54.520
sailors on the bridge, an officer
and a helmsman, and aft on the

1300
02:14:54.560 --> 02:15:03.960
fantail a number of guests. While
amidships conversing earnestly were two men whose dress

1301
02:15:03.000 --> 02:15:09.520
indicated that they were the owner and
sailing master. In the door of a

1302
02:15:09.560 --> 02:15:13.279
small deck house near them stood another
man in uniform, and to this man,

1303
02:15:13.359 --> 02:15:18.520
the owner turned and spoke a few
words. The man disappeared inside,

1304
02:15:20.399 --> 02:15:24.359
and denman, straining his ears,
heard the rasping sound of a wireless ascender,

1305
02:15:26.279 --> 02:15:33.640
and simultaneously Casey's warning shout to forsythe
He's calling for help, Forsyth stop

1306
02:15:33.720 --> 02:15:41.680
him. Then came Forsyth's vibrant voice. Call that man out of the wireless

1307
02:15:41.760 --> 02:15:46.119
room, he yelled, Or we'll
send a shell into it. Train that

1308
02:15:46.239 --> 02:15:52.079
gun, Kelly, and stand by
for the word. Call him out,

1309
02:15:52.720 --> 02:16:00.600
he continued. Stop that message.
The rasping sound ceased, and the operator

1310
02:16:00.640 --> 02:16:09.000
appeared. Then, with their eyes
distended, the three ran forward. Anyone

1311
02:16:09.039 --> 02:16:16.199
else in that deck house called Forsyth. No, answered the sailing master.

1312
02:16:16.079 --> 02:16:22.880
What are you going to do,
Kelly, said Forsyth, aim low,

1313
02:16:24.119 --> 02:16:28.840
and send a shell into the house, aim Low, so to smash the

1314
02:16:28.880 --> 02:16:35.680
instruments. Keilly's reply was inarticulate,
but in a moment the gun barked and

1315
02:16:35.760 --> 02:16:39.920
the deck house disintegrated into a tangle
of kindling, from which ooze the cloud

1316
02:16:39.920 --> 02:16:48.000
of smoke. Women screamed, and
forward and aft beats. People crowded were

1317
02:16:48.040 --> 02:16:54.040
the ends of the craft. What
in thunder are you trying to do?

1318
02:16:54.840 --> 02:16:58.200
Roared the sailing master, shaking his
fist. Are you going to sink us?

1319
02:17:01.559 --> 02:17:07.479
Not unless necessary? Replied Forsyth.
Well we want grub, good grub

1320
02:17:07.520 --> 02:17:13.399
too, and water. We want
water through your own hose because ours is

1321
02:17:13.440 --> 02:17:20.760
full of oil. Do you agree? There was a short confab between the

1322
02:17:20.799 --> 02:17:26.079
owner and the sailing master ending with
the ladders calling out, We'll give you

1323
02:17:26.120 --> 02:17:31.719
water and grub, but don't shoot
any more hardware at us. Come closer

1324
02:17:31.760 --> 02:17:35.840
and throw a heaving line and send
your boat if you like for the grub.

1325
02:17:35.879 --> 02:17:46.000
Our boats are all lashed down.
That's reasonable, answered Forsyth Hawks Davis

1326
02:17:46.079 --> 02:17:52.239
Daniels Billings, you fell as clear
away of that boat of ours and stand

1327
02:17:52.280 --> 02:17:58.879
by to go for the grub.
The two craft drew together and for the

1328
02:17:58.920 --> 02:18:05.920
rest it was like the other hold
up. The hose was passed and while

1329
02:18:05.920 --> 02:18:09.399
the tanks were filling, the boat
passed back and forth, making three trips,

1330
02:18:11.319 --> 02:18:18.360
heavily laden with barrels, packages and
boxes. Then, when forsythe key

1331
02:18:18.440 --> 02:18:22.120
of the word, the hose was
drawn back, the boat hoisted and secured,

1332
02:18:22.879 --> 02:18:30.799
and the two craft separated without another
word of threat or protest. End

1333
02:18:30.840 --> 02:18:41.799
of chapter ten. Chapter eleven of
the Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox

1334
02:18:41.840 --> 02:18:48.040
recording is in the public domain.
Read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New

1335
02:18:48.120 --> 02:18:56.479
Jersey. Chapter eleven fully committed,
muttered Denman as he drew back from the

1336
02:18:56.520 --> 02:19:05.000
deadlight. They'll up at nothing now. He was about to open his door

1337
02:19:05.040 --> 02:19:09.200
to visit Florry if she had descended. When it was opened from without by

1338
02:19:09.280 --> 02:19:13.959
Billings, who had brought his breakfast. Well, I have better grow up

1339
02:19:13.959 --> 02:19:16.000
in a while, sir, he
said, as he deposited the tray on

1340
02:19:16.040 --> 02:19:22.799
the desk. Suppose you know what
happened? Yes, and I see the

1341
02:19:22.840 --> 02:19:30.200
life imprisonment for all of you unless
you are killed in the catching. Can't

1342
02:19:30.200 --> 02:19:35.319
help it, Sir, answered Billings
with a deprecatory grin. We're not going

1343
02:19:35.360 --> 02:19:39.399
back to jail, nor will we
starve in the high seas. All we're

1344
02:19:39.440 --> 02:19:48.239
waiting for is the course of the
African coast unless he paused, unless what

1345
02:19:48.840 --> 02:19:54.319
demanded Denman, leaning over his breakfast. Well, unless the vote is to

1346
02:19:54.360 --> 02:20:01.959
stay at sea, we've got a
good fast boat under us. What do

1347
02:20:01.959 --> 02:20:09.600
you mean continued piracy. I can't
tell you anymore, Sir, answered Billings

1348
02:20:09.719 --> 02:20:16.520
as he went off, after carefully
locking the door behind him. When Denman

1349
02:20:16.600 --> 02:20:22.120
had finished his breakfast, he quietly
let himself out. Tapping on the afterdoor.

1350
02:20:22.680 --> 02:20:28.280
He saw Florie's shadow on the translucent
glass and opened it. She stood

1351
02:20:28.280 --> 02:20:33.600
before him with the bandages removed,
and he saw her features for the first

1352
02:20:33.600 --> 02:20:39.440
time since she had come aboard.
They were pink, and here there was

1353
02:20:39.440 --> 02:20:45.639
a blister that had not yet disappeared, but even so handicapped, her face

1354
02:20:45.799 --> 02:20:48.239
shone with a beauty that he had
never seen in the woman, nor imagine

1355
02:20:48.239 --> 02:20:54.399
in a grown up child that he
remembered. The large, serious gray eyes

1356
02:20:54.440 --> 02:21:00.600
were the same, but the short, dark ringlets had developed a wealth of

1357
02:21:00.639 --> 02:21:07.479
hair that would have suitably crowned a
queen. Demon stood transfixed for a moment,

1358
02:21:09.399 --> 02:21:15.440
then found his tongue floury. He
said softly, So it's not to

1359
02:21:15.479 --> 02:21:20.360
be heard from above. Is this
really you? I would never known you.

1360
02:21:22.760 --> 02:21:26.680
Yes, I know, she answered, with a smile, which immediately

1361
02:21:26.760 --> 02:21:33.319
changed to a little grimace of pain. I was badly scalded, but I

1362
02:21:33.360 --> 02:21:39.040
had to take off the cloth to
eat my breakfast. No, he said,

1363
02:21:39.440 --> 02:21:46.360
I didn't mean that. I mean
you've improved. So why, Flory,

1364
02:21:48.079 --> 02:21:54.440
you've grown up to be a beauty. I never imagine you you looking

1365
02:21:54.520 --> 02:22:01.360
so fine. Don't talk like that, billy. I'm disfigured for life.

1366
02:22:01.600 --> 02:22:09.639
I know I can never show my
face again. Nonsense, Floory, the

1367
02:22:09.719 --> 02:22:15.879
redness will go away. But tell
me why didn't you go aboard that yacht?

1368
02:22:16.479 --> 02:22:22.360
I overheard you talking to Sampson.
Why didn't you go and get away

1369
02:22:22.399 --> 02:22:28.200
from this bunch. I have just
told you, she answered, Walt hadn't

1370
02:22:28.200 --> 02:22:33.479
overspread her pink face. That did
not come out of the scolding. There

1371
02:22:33.520 --> 02:22:37.000
were women on that yacht. Do
you think I want to be stared at

1372
02:22:37.399 --> 02:22:43.840
and pitied and laughed at? I
never thought of that, said Denman.

1373
02:22:46.200 --> 02:22:52.639
But I suppose it is a very
vital reason for a woman. Yet it's

1374
02:22:52.680 --> 02:22:56.840
too bad. This boat is sure
to be captured, and there may be

1375
02:22:56.920 --> 02:23:03.840
gunfire. It's a bad place for
you. But Floory, let me tell

1376
02:23:03.879 --> 02:23:09.639
you. Did you see what came
on board from the yacht, boxes and

1377
02:23:09.799 --> 02:23:16.559
barrels and the water. Yes,
and some of those boxes contained whiskey and

1378
02:23:16.639 --> 02:23:24.040
brandy. Whiskey and brandy make men
forget that they are men. Have you

1379
02:23:24.120 --> 02:23:31.319
a key for your door? No, I never saw one. Demon tried

1380
02:23:31.360 --> 02:23:35.280
his bunch of keys on the stateroom
door until he found the right one.

1381
02:23:35.760 --> 02:23:41.479
This he took off the ring and
inserted it in the lock. Lock your

1382
02:23:41.479 --> 02:23:46.959
door every time you go in there, he said, impressively. And floury

1383
02:23:48.760 --> 02:23:52.079
another thing, Keep that pretty face
of yours out of sight of these men.

1384
02:23:54.879 --> 02:24:00.680
Go right in there now and replace
the bandages. Then, after a

1385
02:24:00.680 --> 02:24:05.760
while, about nine o'clock, go
on deck for a walk around and then

1386
02:24:05.840 --> 02:24:11.000
let me have your rig. I
want to daylight look at things, check,

1387
02:24:11.120 --> 02:24:15.280
we asked, and he went back
to his room, locking himself in

1388
02:24:16.040 --> 02:24:18.360
just in time to escape the notice
of Billings, who had come for the

1389
02:24:18.440 --> 02:24:26.840
tray. Are you feels going to
deprive me of all exercise? He demanded?

1390
02:24:28.040 --> 02:24:33.520
Even an an irons is allowed to
walk the deck A little don't know,

1391
02:24:33.639 --> 02:24:39.319
sir, answered Billings. Forsyth is
demand to talk to I'll do more

1392
02:24:39.360 --> 02:24:46.360
than talk to him, growled Deam
in between his teeth. Carry my request

1393
02:24:46.399 --> 02:24:50.799
for exercise to him. Say that
I demand the privileges of a convict.

1394
02:24:52.719 --> 02:25:00.360
Very good, sir, answered Buildings. As he went out. A few

1395
02:25:00.360 --> 02:25:03.079
moments he was back with the news
that Forsyth had profanely denied the request.

1396
02:25:05.159 --> 02:25:13.280
Whereat Demon's heart hardened the more.
He remained quiet until two bells nine o'clock

1397
02:25:13.719 --> 02:25:18.879
had struck. Then went out and
approached the after door just in time see

1398
02:25:18.879 --> 02:25:24.360
Florrie's shadow passed across the glass as
she mounted the stairs. He waited,

1399
02:25:24.920 --> 02:25:30.799
and in about five minutes she came
down, and, no doubt, seeing

1400
02:25:30.799 --> 02:25:35.719
his shadow on the door, tapped
gently. He promptly opened it, and

1401
02:25:35.840 --> 02:25:41.159
she said, leave the door open
and I'll throw you my things in a

1402
02:25:41.200 --> 02:25:48.079
minute. They are drinking up there, drinking, he mused as he waited.

1403
02:25:50.319 --> 02:25:54.719
Well, perhaps I can get a
gun if they drink his stupidity.

1404
02:25:58.760 --> 02:26:05.079
Soon Florrie's hand opened the door and
the garments came through. Deadmon had a

1405
02:26:05.120 --> 02:26:09.040
little trouble now and dotting them,
and with his head tied up as before,

1406
02:26:09.799 --> 02:26:15.600
he passed through the captain's apartment to
the deck. It was a mild

1407
02:26:15.680 --> 02:26:22.920
sunshiny morning with little wind, and
that for the northeast. White globes of

1408
02:26:22.959 --> 02:26:26.399
clouds showed here and there, and
Deadman knew them from the unmistakable sign of

1409
02:26:26.440 --> 02:26:33.159
the trade winds, but he was
more interested in matters on deck. All

1410
02:26:33.200 --> 02:26:37.680
hands except Billings, who was singing
in the gallery, and Munson, one

1411
02:26:37.680 --> 02:26:41.280
of the wireless men, were clustered
around the forward funnel, and there were

1412
02:26:41.319 --> 02:26:48.799
several bottles circulating around. Forsyth,
with a sex in his hand, was

1413
02:26:48.879 --> 02:26:54.520
berating them. Go slow, you
infernal ginks, he snarled at them.

1414
02:26:56.719 --> 02:27:01.120
But he'll be so drunken an hour
that you won't know your names. Ready

1415
02:27:01.159 --> 02:27:09.079
in there, Munson, Yes,
answered Munson from the pilot house. Forsyth

1416
02:27:09.079 --> 02:27:11.159
put this sext into his eye and
swept it back and forth for a few

1417
02:27:11.159 --> 02:27:20.319
moments. Time he called suddenly and
lowering the sexton looked in at Munson,

1418
02:27:22.520 --> 02:27:28.120
got it, asked Monthson, yes, and have it down in black and

1419
02:27:28.159 --> 02:27:33.360
white. Forsyth made a notation from
the sexton on a piece of paper.

1420
02:27:35.200 --> 02:27:41.920
Now again, said Forsyth, And
again he took a sight, shouted time,

1421
02:27:41.799 --> 02:27:46.360
and made another notation. Then he
went into the pilot house, and

1422
02:27:46.479 --> 02:27:52.840
Munson came out and made the shortest
cut to the nearest bottle. He's taken

1423
02:27:52.879 --> 02:27:56.159
the chronometer sights, mused them,
and he leaned against the companion hood.

1424
02:27:58.719 --> 02:28:03.040
Well, he's progressing fast, but
there was never a doubt that he is

1425
02:28:03.079 --> 02:28:07.239
a scholar. He went down and
threw a crack of the door, obtained

1426
02:28:07.280 --> 02:28:11.120
Miss Florrie's permission to keep the cloak
and skirt for the morning, as he

1427
02:28:11.159 --> 02:28:16.799
wanted to see later how the drinking
was progressing. Florrie consented, and he

1428
02:28:16.879 --> 02:28:22.639
went to his room to wait.
As he waited, the sounds above grew

1429
02:28:22.680 --> 02:28:31.159
ominous ohs and loud laughter, shouts, whoops, and grumblings, mingled with

1430
02:28:31.239 --> 02:28:35.200
Forsyth's angry voice. Of command came
down to him through the open deadlight.

1431
02:28:37.440 --> 02:28:41.120
Soon he heard the thumping of human
bodies on deck and knew there was a

1432
02:28:41.120 --> 02:28:48.239
fight going on, a fight always
appealed to him, and yielding to this

1433
02:28:48.360 --> 02:28:52.799
unworthy curiosity, Demon again passed through
the captain's quarters, making sure on the

1434
02:28:52.799 --> 02:28:58.200
way that Flory was locked in,
and reached the deck. There were two

1435
02:28:58.200 --> 02:29:05.680
fights in proper, one a stand
up and knockdown affair near the pilothouse,

1436
02:29:05.920 --> 02:29:15.399
the other a wrestling match amidships.
He couldnot recognize contestants, and with the

1437
02:29:15.399 --> 02:29:18.000
thought that perhaps Forsyth is one of
them, stepped forward a few feet to

1438
02:29:18.040 --> 02:29:26.239
observe. At this moment, buildings, the cheerful buildings came up to Galley

1439
02:29:26.280 --> 02:29:31.360
Hatch, no longer cheerful, but
morose of face and menacing of gait,

1440
02:29:31.360 --> 02:29:37.639
as is usual with this type of
man when drunk. He spiked Demon in

1441
02:29:37.639 --> 02:29:43.399
his skirt, cloak, hat and
bandage, and with a clucking chuckle in

1442
02:29:43.440 --> 02:29:50.440
his throat and a leering grin on
his face, made for him sale girl.

1443
02:29:52.200 --> 02:29:58.600
He said, thickly, let's have
a kiss. Denman, anxious about

1444
02:29:58.639 --> 02:30:05.680
his position in peculiar privilege, backed
away, but the unabashed pursuer still pursued

1445
02:30:05.120 --> 02:30:11.040
and caught him on the companion.
He attempted to pass his arm around Denman,

1446
02:30:11.639 --> 02:30:18.799
but did not succeed. Demon pushed
him back a few feet, then,

1447
02:30:18.079 --> 02:30:22.879
with the whole weight of his body
behind it, launched forth his fist

1448
02:30:22.959 --> 02:30:28.920
and struck the sailor squarely between the
eyes. Billings was lifted off his feet

1449
02:30:28.920 --> 02:30:33.159
and hurled backwards his whole length before
he reached the deck. Then he lay

1450
02:30:33.200 --> 02:30:37.440
still for a moment, and as
he showed signs of life, Demon darted

1451
02:30:37.440 --> 02:30:41.000
down to the wardroom, where he
shot as disguised as quickly as possible.

1452
02:30:41.840 --> 02:30:46.719
Then he roused Florey, passed the
garments into her, warned her to keep

1453
02:30:46.760 --> 02:30:50.399
her door locked, and went to
his own room, locking the doors behind

1454
02:30:50.479 --> 02:30:58.239
him. He waited and listened while
the shouts and oaths above crew less,

1455
02:30:58.360 --> 02:31:05.959
and finally he's silent, though at
times he recognized Forsyth's threatening voice. He's

1456
02:31:05.959 --> 02:31:11.120
supposed that by now all of them
except Forsyth were stupidly drunk. I was

1457
02:31:11.200 --> 02:31:18.159
much surprised when at eight bells Billions
opened the door with his dinner well cooked

1458
02:31:18.319 --> 02:31:24.520
and savory. He was not quite
sober, but a sober as a drunken

1459
02:31:24.559 --> 02:31:28.360
man may become, who was at
every nerve sinew an eternal organ, shocked

1460
02:31:28.520 --> 02:31:35.440
as by the kick of a mule. Bad times on deck, Sir,

1461
02:31:35.520 --> 02:31:41.200
he said, this drinkings all to
the bad. He leered comically through his

1462
02:31:41.239 --> 02:31:46.239
clothes and blacken eyelids, and tried
to smile, but it was too painful,

1463
02:31:46.799 --> 02:31:56.440
and his face straightened. Why what
has happened? Inquired Demon. I

1464
02:31:56.559 --> 02:32:03.959
heard the row but couldn't see nothing
serious, Sir, answered Billings, except

1465
02:32:03.959 --> 02:32:09.600
to me, say, sir,
that woman aft. Keep away from her.

1466
02:32:11.639 --> 02:32:13.959
Take it from me, sir.
She's a bad one. Got a

1467
02:32:15.040 --> 02:32:18.399
punch like a battering ram. Did
you ever get the big end of a

1468
02:32:18.440 --> 02:32:24.319
handspike jammed into your face by a
big man? Sir, Well, that's

1469
02:32:24.319 --> 02:32:31.360
the kind of punch she has.
Billings departed and Demon grinned maliciously while he

1470
02:32:31.520 --> 02:32:37.079
ate his dinner, and after Billings
had taken away the dishes, with more

1471
02:32:37.079 --> 02:32:41.159
comments on the woman's terrible punch,
Deadmon went out into the wardroom intending to

1472
02:32:41.239 --> 02:32:50.719
visit Miss Floury. A glance overhead
stopped him and sent him back The lover's

1473
02:32:50.799 --> 02:33:03.760
point on the telltale marked due west
northwest end of chapter eleven, Chapter twelve

1474
02:33:03.840 --> 02:33:09.639
of the Pirates by Morgan Robertson.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

1475
02:33:11.760 --> 02:33:20.479
Read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield,
New Jersey, Chapter twelve. He

1476
02:33:20.600 --> 02:33:26.159
sat down to think. Sampson had
hinted at big things, talked about buildings,

1477
02:33:26.159 --> 02:33:31.920
had spoken of a vote to stay
at sea or not. However,

1478
02:33:31.520 --> 02:33:35.159
there could have been no vote,
as billions last visit, because of their

1479
02:33:35.159 --> 02:33:41.120
condition. But Forsyth had in dubabally
taken chronometer sites in the morning, and

1480
02:33:41.600 --> 02:33:46.840
being most certainly sober, had doubtless
worked them out and ascertained the longitude,

1481
02:33:46.719 --> 02:33:52.079
which, with a meridian observation at
noon, would give him the position of

1482
02:33:52.159 --> 02:33:58.799
the yacht. The big things require
our vote, We're all in Forsyth's head.

1483
02:34:00.000 --> 02:34:05.719
He had merely anticipated the vote,
not only their position himself. Except

1484
02:34:05.719 --> 02:34:09.840
as indicated by the trade wind clouds
Denmon can only surmise that a west northwest

1485
02:34:09.920 --> 02:34:16.920
course would hit the American coast somewhere
between Boston and Charleston. But what they

1486
02:34:16.000 --> 02:34:24.280
wanted there was beyond his comprehension.
He gave up the puzzle at last and

1487
02:34:24.360 --> 02:34:28.799
visited Floory, finding her dressed swathed
in a bandage and sitting in the outer

1488
02:34:28.920 --> 02:34:37.360
apartment. Reading briefly. He explained
the occurrences on the deck, and as

1489
02:34:37.399 --> 02:34:43.000
all was quiet, now asked of
a step up and investigate. She did

1490
02:34:43.040 --> 02:34:50.239
so and returned. Forsyth is steering, she said, and two or three

1491
02:34:50.239 --> 02:34:54.840
are awake but staggering around, and
several others are asleep on the deck.

1492
02:34:56.760 --> 02:35:03.040
Well, he said, hopefully.
Forsythe evidently can control himself, but not

1493
02:35:03.079 --> 02:35:07.559
the others if they remain drunk or
get drunker. I mean to do something

1494
02:35:07.600 --> 02:35:15.559
tonight. No use trying now.
What will you do, Billy, she

1495
02:35:15.719 --> 02:35:22.159
asked, with concern in her voice. I don't know. I'll only know

1496
02:35:22.200 --> 02:35:26.399
when I get at it. I
hope that forsythe will load up too.

1497
02:35:28.840 --> 02:35:37.120
Hello, what's up? Run up, Florian? Look? The engine had

1498
02:35:37.200 --> 02:35:43.239
stopped and Forsyth's fury as an effective
could be heard. Florrie ran up the

1499
02:35:43.319 --> 02:35:50.399
steps, peeped out, and returned. He is swearing at someone, she

1500
02:35:50.520 --> 02:35:58.079
said, so it seems, said
denman. Let me have a look.

1501
02:36:00.040 --> 02:36:05.319
He ascended and carefully peeped over the
companion hood. Forsyth was looking down the

1502
02:36:05.360 --> 02:36:09.920
engine room hatch, and his voice
came clear and distinct, as he had

1503
02:36:09.920 --> 02:36:16.200
anathematized the engineers below. Shut off
your oil, you drunken mutts, peopleciferated.

1504
02:36:18.079 --> 02:36:22.600
If the whole four you can't keep
steam on the steering gear, shut

1505
02:36:22.600 --> 02:36:26.000
it off, all of it.
I say, shut off every burner and

1506
02:36:26.040 --> 02:36:33.520
get into your bunks, to your
silver. Then Samson's deep voice rose from

1507
02:36:33.520 --> 02:36:37.200
the hatch. You'll stop talking like
that to me, my lad, before

1508
02:36:37.280 --> 02:36:45.920
long, he said, or all
break some of your bones. Shut off

1509
02:36:45.920 --> 02:36:54.000
the oil every burner, reiterated Forsyth. We'll drift for a while. Right,

1510
02:36:54.159 --> 02:37:00.120
you are saying out another voice,
which Damon recognized as Dwires, And

1511
02:37:00.200 --> 02:37:03.360
here you're booming, crank. Take
a drink and get into a good humor.

1512
02:37:05.399 --> 02:37:09.799
Pass it up. Then I need
a drink by this time. But

1513
02:37:09.959 --> 02:37:16.399
shut off that oil, demon saw. Forsyth reached down and bring up a

1514
02:37:16.399 --> 02:37:22.000
bottle, from which took a deep
draft. The electric lights slowly dimmed in

1515
02:37:22.079 --> 02:37:26.440
the cabin, indicating the slowing down
of the Dynamo engine. Then he went

1516
02:37:26.479 --> 02:37:33.559
out, demon descended, uneasy in
mine, into the half darkness of the

1517
02:37:33.600 --> 02:37:39.799
cabin. He knew, for when
he had learned of Forsyth, that the

1518
02:37:39.840 --> 02:37:46.440
first drink would lead to the second
and the third, and then his example

1519
02:37:46.440 --> 02:37:50.159
would influence the rest to further drinking. But he gave none of his fears

1520
02:37:50.159 --> 02:37:54.360
to Floory. He simply bade her
go into a room and locked the door.

1521
02:37:56.639 --> 02:38:00.280
Then he went to his own room
against the possible advent of buildings supper

1522
02:38:00.360 --> 02:38:07.639
time, But there was no supper
for any that evening. Long before the

1523
02:38:07.680 --> 02:38:13.719
time for it, pandemonium raged above
in the loudest Angry's voice was that of

1524
02:38:13.799 --> 02:38:22.719
Forsyth, until toward the last Sampson's
voice rose above it, And as a

1525
02:38:22.799 --> 02:38:26.360
dull thud on the deck came to
Denon's ears, he knew that his fist

1526
02:38:26.440 --> 02:38:33.879
had silenced it. Evidently the sleeping
men had wakened to further quotations, and

1527
02:38:35.040 --> 02:38:39.520
at last the stumbling feet of some
of them approached the stern. Then again

1528
02:38:39.959 --> 02:38:48.000
King Sampson's voice, come back here, he roared, Keep away from that

1529
02:38:48.079 --> 02:38:52.799
companion the law of you, or
I'll give you what I gave Forsyth.

1530
02:38:54.479 --> 02:38:58.680
A burst of invective and malediction answered
him, and then there were the sounds

1531
02:38:58.680 --> 02:39:03.600
of lamplict, even the crashing of
fists, as well as the thuds on

1532
02:39:03.639 --> 02:39:11.559
the deck coming to demon through the
deadlight for we y'all, continued Sampson between

1533
02:39:11.559 --> 02:39:16.200
the sounds of impact, and soon
the shuffling of feet indicated a retreat.

1534
02:39:18.799 --> 02:39:22.760
Denman, who had opened his door
ready for a rush to Floy's defense,

1535
02:39:24.879 --> 02:39:30.879
now went aft to reassure her.
She opened the door at his tap and

1536
02:39:30.959 --> 02:39:35.879
his voice through the keyhole. It's
all right for the present, Flory,

1537
02:39:37.239 --> 02:39:45.319
he said, while Sampson is sober, they won't come aft again. Oh,

1538
02:39:45.319 --> 02:39:50.440
Billy, she gasped, I hope, so, don't deserve me.

1539
02:39:50.520 --> 02:39:56.760
Billy, don't worry, he said, reassuringly. They'll all be stupid before

1540
02:39:56.840 --> 02:40:05.719
long, and then tonight there will
be something doing on our side. Now,

1541
02:40:05.799 --> 02:40:09.600
I must be in my room when
Billings comes, or until I'm sure

1542
02:40:09.799 --> 02:40:13.959
and he will not come, and
you stay here. I'll be on hand

1543
02:40:15.000 --> 02:40:20.680
if anything happens. He went back
to his room, but Billings did not

1544
02:40:20.760 --> 02:40:26.799
come with his supper, and one
by one the voices above grew silent,

1545
02:40:26.559 --> 02:40:31.760
and their shuffling footsteps ended in thuds
as their owners dropped the deck. And

1546
02:40:31.799 --> 02:40:37.840
when darkness had closed down and all
above was still, demon crept out to

1547
02:40:37.840 --> 02:40:43.159
reconnoiter. He reached the door leading
to the Captain's room. It was just

1548
02:40:43.200 --> 02:40:50.200
about to open it when a scream
came to his ears. Billy, Billy,

1549
02:40:50.280 --> 02:40:58.200
come, come quick help. Then
a tense voice, Shut up your

1550
02:40:58.239 --> 02:41:01.399
noise in there and open the door. I don't want to have a talk

1551
02:41:01.440 --> 02:41:07.639
with you. Demon was in the
room before the voice had ceased, and

1552
02:41:07.680 --> 02:41:09.799
then the darkness barely made out the
figure of a man fumbling at the knob

1553
02:41:09.840 --> 02:41:16.159
of the stateroom door. He knew, as much by intuition as by recognition

1554
02:41:16.159 --> 02:41:22.600
of the voice, that it was
Forsyth, and without a word of warning,

1555
02:41:22.280 --> 02:41:28.920
sprang in his throat with an oath. Forsyth gripped him, and they

1556
02:41:28.959 --> 02:41:33.319
swayed back and forth in a small
cabin, locked together and embraced as strained

1557
02:41:33.399 --> 02:41:39.799
muscles and sinews to the utmost.
Forsyth expended breath and energy in curses.

1558
02:41:43.120 --> 02:41:46.719
Demon said nothing until Florrie screamed again. Then he found voice to call out,

1559
02:41:48.399 --> 02:41:54.079
all right, Floorie, I've got
him. She remained silent while the

1560
02:41:54.079 --> 02:41:58.680
battle continued. At first, there
was a wrestling match, each with the

1561
02:41:58.799 --> 02:42:03.239
right arm around the body of the
other, and with Demon's left hand gripping

1562
02:42:03.280 --> 02:42:09.479
Forsight's left wrist. Their left hands
swayed about above their heads to the right,

1563
02:42:09.239 --> 02:42:13.799
to the left, and down between
the close pressure of their chests.

1564
02:42:15.920 --> 02:42:18.280
Devon soon found that he was the
stronger of arm, for he twisted his

1565
02:42:18.360 --> 02:42:22.040
enemy's arm around as he pleased.
But he also found that he was not

1566
02:42:22.159 --> 02:42:28.280
stronger of fingers, for suddenly forsyights
broke away from his grip and seized tightly

1567
02:42:28.280 --> 02:42:35.680
the rist of Denmon thus reversed.
The battle continued, and as they reeled

1568
02:42:35.680 --> 02:42:41.000
about, chairs, table and desk
were overturned, making a ragget. As

1569
02:42:41.000 --> 02:42:46.559
the compatents stumbled around over and among
them that would have aroused all hands had

1570
02:42:46.600 --> 02:42:54.559
they been but normally asleep. As
it was, there was no interruption,

1571
02:42:54.959 --> 02:43:00.440
and the two battled out in the
darkness to an end. It came soon.

1572
02:43:01.120 --> 02:43:07.120
Forsyth suddenly released his clasp on Demon's
wrist and gripped his throat. Then

1573
02:43:07.280 --> 02:43:11.399
suddenly he brought his right hand up, and Demon felt the pressure of his

1574
02:43:11.479 --> 02:43:18.000
thumb to his right eyeball. He
was being choked and gouged, and strangely

1575
02:43:18.200 --> 02:43:22.479
enough, in this exigency, there
came to him no thought of the trick

1576
02:43:22.520 --> 02:43:28.479
by which he had mastered Jenkins,
But instead he mustered his strength pushed Forsyth

1577
02:43:28.520 --> 02:43:35.840
from him and struck out blindly.
It was a lucky blow, for his

1578
02:43:35.959 --> 02:43:41.840
eyes were filled lights of various hue
and he could not see yet. His

1579
02:43:41.879 --> 02:43:45.920
fist caught Forsyth on the chin,
and demon heard him crash back over the

1580
02:43:46.000 --> 02:43:52.280
upturned table. Forsyth uttered no sound, and when a light had gone out

1581
02:43:52.319 --> 02:43:58.799
of his eyes, deadmon groped for
him and found him just beginning to move.

1582
02:44:01.079 --> 02:44:13.799
He groaned and sat up. End
of chapter twelve thirteen of the Pirates

1583
02:44:13.799 --> 02:44:20.200
by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain. Read by

1584
02:44:20.319 --> 02:44:31.000
Joe Denoia Chesterfield, New Jersey,
chapter thirteen. No you don't, said

1585
02:44:31.079 --> 02:44:37.200
Denman grimly. Fair play is wasted
on you, So back you go to

1586
02:44:37.239 --> 02:44:41.680
the land of nod. He drew
back his right fist and again sent it

1587
02:44:41.799 --> 02:44:45.879
crashing on the chin of his victim, whom we can just see in the

1588
02:44:45.959 --> 02:44:52.680
starlight from the companion, and Forsyth
rolled back. Like Jenkins. He had

1589
02:44:52.719 --> 02:44:58.239
arrayed himself in an officer's uniform.
There was no convenient neckerchief which to bind

1590
02:44:58.319 --> 02:45:01.959
him. But then and then took
his own and securely tied his hands behind

1591
02:45:01.959 --> 02:45:07.040
his back. And with another string
tied from his room, tied his ankles

1592
02:45:07.079 --> 02:45:13.079
together. Then only did he think
of Floory and called to her. She

1593
02:45:13.200 --> 02:45:20.360
answered hysterically, it's all right,
Floory girl. He said, it was

1594
02:45:20.399 --> 02:45:24.159
Forsyth, but I've knocked him silly
and have him tied hand and foot.

1595
02:45:24.600 --> 02:45:30.959
Go to sleep now. I can't
go to sleep, Billy, she wailed.

1596
02:45:31.680 --> 02:45:37.239
I can't. Don't leave me alone
anymore. I must Floory, he

1597
02:45:37.319 --> 02:45:43.159
answered, I'm going on deck to
get them all. I'll never have a

1598
02:45:43.200 --> 02:45:46.719
better chance. Keep quiet and don't
come out no matter what you hear.

1599
02:45:50.319 --> 02:45:54.440
But come back soon, Billy,
she pleaded. I will as soon as

1600
02:45:54.440 --> 02:46:01.319
I can, but stick quiet in
there until I do. He stole softly

1601
02:46:01.399 --> 02:46:07.680
up the stairs and looked forward.
The stars illuminated the decks, efficiently for

1602
02:46:07.760 --> 02:46:11.680
him to see the prostrate forms that
scattered about, but not enough for him

1603
02:46:11.719 --> 02:46:18.719
to distinguish one from another until he
had crept close the big machinist Sampson,

1604
02:46:20.040 --> 02:46:22.600
he found nearest to the companion,
as though he had picked this spot to

1605
02:46:22.719 --> 02:46:31.959
guard, even in drunken sleep,
the sacred after Gavin Demon's heart felt a

1606
02:46:31.959 --> 02:46:35.520
little twinge of pain as he softly
untied and withdrew the big Fill's neckerchief and

1607
02:46:35.600 --> 02:46:43.920
bound his hands behind him. Sampson
snored on through the process the same with

1608
02:46:45.000 --> 02:46:52.040
the others. Kelly, Daniels,
and Billings lay near the afterfall. Munson,

1609
02:46:52.719 --> 02:47:00.079
Casey, Dwyer and King were in
the scuppers and midships. Riley he

1610
02:47:00.159 --> 02:47:03.200
was in. Hawks were huddled close
to the pilot house, and not a

1611
02:47:03.280 --> 02:47:09.559
man moved in protests as Demon bound
them one and all with their own neckerchiefs.

1612
02:47:11.040 --> 02:47:16.520
There was one more, the stricken
Jenkins, in the forecastle, and

1613
02:47:16.680 --> 02:47:22.200
Demon descended and examined him by the
light of a match. He was awake

1614
02:47:22.559 --> 02:47:31.479
and blinked and grimaced at Denman,
striving to speak sorry for you, Jenkins

1615
02:47:31.639 --> 02:47:35.799
said, Billy, you'll get well
in time, but you have to wait.

1616
02:47:35.840 --> 02:47:41.840
You're harmless enough now. However,
there was more to do before he

1617
02:47:41.879 --> 02:47:48.000
felt secure his victory. He must
tie their ankles, and as Neckertius had

1618
02:47:48.040 --> 02:47:52.520
run out, he sought, by
the light of matches the bos'n's logger in

1619
02:47:52.559 --> 02:47:58.120
the four peak. There he found
spun yarn, and cutting enough lengths of

1620
02:47:58.159 --> 02:48:03.360
it, he came up and finished
a job, tying us so hard and

1621
02:48:03.399 --> 02:48:09.920
seemingly that the strongest fingers of a
fellow prisoner could not untie them. Then

1622
02:48:09.920 --> 02:48:16.159
he went aft. Forsyth was still
unconscious, but he regained his senses while

1623
02:48:16.239 --> 02:48:22.000
them and dragged him up the steps
and forward beside his enemy Samson, and

1624
02:48:22.079 --> 02:48:31.159
he admitted various sulfurous comments on the
situation that cannot be recorded here. Demon

1625
02:48:31.280 --> 02:48:35.639
wanted the weapons, but with engines
dead, there was no light saved from

1626
02:48:35.639 --> 02:48:41.879
his very small supply of matches,
and for the simple and perhaps very natural

1627
02:48:41.079 --> 02:48:46.440
desire to save these for his cigar
lights, he forbore a search for them.

1628
02:48:46.639 --> 02:48:52.639
Beyond an examination of each man's pockets, he found nothing. However,

1629
02:48:52.680 --> 02:48:58.079
it seemed that they might have agreed
upon disarmament before the drinking began, But

1630
02:48:58.239 --> 02:49:03.520
from Forsyth he secured a bunch of
keys, which he was to find useful

1631
02:49:03.600 --> 02:49:11.559
later on. All else was well. Each man was bound hand and foot,

1632
02:49:11.680 --> 02:49:16.680
Jenkins was still living corpse, and
Forsyth, the soberest of the lot,

1633
02:49:18.559 --> 02:49:22.159
had apparently succumbed to the hard knocks
of the day and gone to sleep

1634
02:49:22.200 --> 02:49:28.239
again. So Demon went down,
held the jubilant conversations with Floory through the

1635
02:49:28.280 --> 02:49:33.319
keyhole, and returned to the deck, where with a short spanner in his

1636
02:49:33.360 --> 02:49:37.200
hand, replevin from the engine room
for us in case of an emergency.

1637
02:49:37.120 --> 02:49:43.399
He spent the night on watch four, with all the lights out. A

1638
02:49:43.520 --> 02:49:50.639
watch was necessary, but nothing happened. The men snored away their drunkenness,

1639
02:49:52.319 --> 02:49:56.639
and at daylight most of them were
awake and aware of their plight. Demon

1640
02:49:56.680 --> 02:50:03.040
paid no attention to their questions,
but when a light permitted, went on

1641
02:50:03.120 --> 02:50:05.280
a search for the arms and irons, which he found in the forecastle,

1642
02:50:05.559 --> 02:50:13.520
carefully stowed in a bunk. He
counted the pistols and satisfied himself that they

1643
02:50:13.520 --> 02:50:18.840
were all there. Then he carried
them aft to his room, belted himself

1644
02:50:18.840 --> 02:50:22.399
with one of them, and returned
for the cutlasses, which he hid in

1645
02:50:22.440 --> 02:50:28.680
another room. But the irons he
spread along the deck, and while they

1646
02:50:28.680 --> 02:50:33.920
cursed him aligned him. He replaced
the silk and spun yard fetters with manacles

1647
02:50:33.920 --> 02:50:39.159
of steel. Next, he dragged
protesting prisoners from forward and aft until he

1648
02:50:39.239 --> 02:50:45.000
had them all bunched a midships,
and, then, walking back and forth

1649
02:50:45.040 --> 02:50:50.760
before them, delivered a short comprehensive
lecture on the unwisdom of stealing to a

1650
02:50:50.760 --> 02:50:58.040
pedo boat destroyers and getting drunk like
all lecturers, He allowed his audience to

1651
02:50:58.120 --> 02:51:03.680
answer, and when he refuted the
last argument, he unlocked the irons of

1652
02:51:03.760 --> 02:51:09.280
Billings and Daniels and sternly ordered them
to cook breakfast. They meekly arose and

1653
02:51:09.319 --> 02:51:18.559
went to the galley, from which
before long savory odors arose, and while

1654
02:51:18.559 --> 02:51:24.239
waiting for breakfast, Demon aroused Miss
Florey and brought her on deck, clothed

1655
02:51:24.239 --> 02:51:28.760
and bandaged, to show her his
catch. And what will you do now,

1656
02:51:28.799 --> 02:51:33.399
Billy, she asked, as she
looked at the unhappy men amidships,

1657
02:51:35.040 --> 02:51:41.079
having to slayed his idea. They've
got to think it out. I off

1658
02:51:41.159 --> 02:51:43.239
to release some of them to work
the boat, and off to shut down

1659
02:51:43.280 --> 02:51:48.840
and iron them while I sleep.
I suppose I've already freed the two cooks.

1660
02:51:48.360 --> 02:51:54.280
I'm a lot of breakfast soon.
I'm glad of that, she answered,

1661
02:51:56.319 --> 02:52:01.239
There was no supper last night,
and hungry as a wolf myself.

1662
02:52:01.879 --> 02:52:07.600
Well, they are hungry too.
We'll have our breakfast on deck before they

1663
02:52:07.600 --> 02:52:13.840
get theirs. Perhaps the site will
bring them to terms. Why could not

1664
02:52:13.959 --> 02:52:18.559
I help, Billy asked the girl. I could watch while you were asleep

1665
02:52:18.000 --> 02:52:24.559
and wake you if anything happened.
Oh no, Florrie girl. Of course,

1666
02:52:24.639 --> 02:52:28.799
I'll throw the stuff overboard, but
I wouldn't trust some of them drunk

1667
02:52:30.159 --> 02:52:35.000
or sober. Billings soon reported breakfast
ready and asked how you should serve the

1668
02:52:35.040 --> 02:52:41.600
captives. Do not serve them at
all, said Demon. Sharply, bring

1669
02:52:41.600 --> 02:52:46.920
the cabin table on deck and place
it on a starboard quarter. Serve breakfast

1670
02:52:46.959 --> 02:52:52.719
for two, and you and Daniels
eat your own in the galley. Very

1671
02:52:52.719 --> 02:52:56.120
good, sir, answered to subdued
Billings. With a glance at the long

1672
02:52:56.159 --> 02:53:01.639
blue revolver at Demon's waist, he
departed, and, with Daniel's help,

1673
02:53:01.879 --> 02:53:09.479
arranged the breakfast as ordered. Florrie
was forced to remove her bandage, but

1674
02:53:09.559 --> 02:53:13.600
as she faced aft at the table, her face was visible to Demon only

1675
02:53:16.120 --> 02:53:22.440
he faced forward, and while he
ate, he watched the men who squirm

1676
02:53:22.479 --> 02:53:28.920
as the appetizing odors of broiled ham, corn bread and coffee assailed their nostrils

1677
02:53:31.079 --> 02:53:35.879
on each countenance. Besides the puffed
blow to the appearance coming of heavy and

1678
02:53:35.920 --> 02:53:41.159
unaccustomed drinking, was a look of
anxiety and disquiet. But they were far

1679
02:53:41.239 --> 02:53:52.360
from being conquered in spirit. At
least breakfast over Demons and Flory below ordered

1680
02:53:52.360 --> 02:53:56.959
the dishes and table below, and
again put the irons on Billings and Daniels.

1681
02:53:58.360 --> 02:54:05.600
Then he went on them. What
do you mean to do, asked

1682
02:54:05.639 --> 02:54:11.399
Forsyth sirily, as Demon looked down
on him. Keep us here and starve

1683
02:54:11.479 --> 02:54:16.719
us. I will keep you in
irons while I have the power, answered

1684
02:54:16.719 --> 02:54:22.760
Demon, No matter what I may
do with the others. Sampson, he

1685
02:54:22.799 --> 02:54:26.520
said to the big machinist, you
played a man's part last night, and

1686
02:54:26.600 --> 02:54:31.159
I feel strongly in favor of releasing
you on parole. You understand the nature

1687
02:54:31.159 --> 02:54:37.200
of parole, do you not?
Well? I do, sir, answered

1688
02:54:37.200 --> 02:54:41.079
the big fellow thickly, and if
I give it, I would stick to

1689
02:54:41.159 --> 02:54:48.399
it. What are the conditions,
sir, that you stand watch and watch

1690
02:54:48.479 --> 02:54:52.680
with me while we take this boat
back to Boston, That you aid me

1691
02:54:52.719 --> 02:54:56.799
in keeping this crowd and subjection,
that you do your part in protecting the

1692
02:54:56.879 --> 02:55:03.079
Lady Aft from annoyance. In return, I promise you my influence at Washington.

1693
02:55:03.840 --> 02:55:09.680
I have some and can arouse more. You will, in all probability

1694
02:55:11.000 --> 02:55:18.440
be pardoned. No, sir,
answered Samson promptly. I am one of

1695
02:55:18.479 --> 02:55:22.600
this crowd. You are not one
of us. I wouldn't deserve a pardon

1696
02:55:22.639 --> 02:55:28.840
if I went back on my mates, even this dog alongside me. He's

1697
02:55:28.879 --> 02:55:31.680
one of us too, And while
I have smashed him, and we'll smash

1698
02:55:31.719 --> 02:55:37.000
him again, I will not accept
my liberty while he or any of the

1699
02:55:37.040 --> 02:55:46.840
others is in irons. Demon bowed
load to him and went on. He

1700
02:55:46.040 --> 02:55:52.399
questioned only a few those who seemed
trustworthy, but met with the same response,

1701
02:55:52.760 --> 02:56:05.520
and he left them troubled in mind. End of chapter three, chapter

1702
02:56:05.639 --> 02:56:13.000
fourteen of The Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in the public

1703
02:56:13.040 --> 02:56:20.559
domain. Read by Joe Denoia,
Chesterfield, New Jersey. Chapter fourteen.

1704
02:56:22.840 --> 02:56:26.040
He sat down in the deck chair
and loaded the cigars and aid to his

1705
02:56:26.079 --> 02:56:31.879
mental processes. Three projects presented themselves
to his mind, each of which included,

1706
02:56:33.479 --> 02:56:37.440
of course, the throwing overboard of
the liquor and the secure hiding of

1707
02:56:37.440 --> 02:56:43.479
the arms, except the pistol for
himself and one for Flory. The first

1708
02:56:43.760 --> 02:56:50.680
was to release them all, and
backed by his pistol, his uniform,

1709
02:56:50.719 --> 02:56:54.879
and the power of the government to
treat them as mutineers and shoot them if

1710
02:56:54.879 --> 02:57:01.079
they defied or disobeyed him to This
was the logical objection that they were already

1711
02:57:01.120 --> 02:57:07.440
more than mutineers, but there was
no future for them. That, even

1712
02:57:07.479 --> 02:57:13.159
though he overawed and conquered them,
compelling them to work the boat shoreward,

1713
02:57:13.319 --> 02:57:18.479
each passing minute would find them more
keen to revolt, and that if they

1714
02:57:18.559 --> 02:57:24.879
rushed him in a body I can
only halt a few, the others would

1715
02:57:24.920 --> 02:57:31.280
master him. The second plan was
born of his thoughts before breakfast. It

1716
02:57:31.319 --> 02:57:35.719
was to release one cook, one
engineer, and one helmsman at a time

1717
02:57:37.879 --> 02:57:41.879
to guard them until sleep was necessary, then to shut off steam, lock

1718
02:57:41.959 --> 02:57:48.120
them up, and allow the boat
to drift while they slept. Against this

1719
02:57:48.159 --> 02:57:52.959
plan was the absolute necessity to seem
his mind of a watch, even a

1720
02:57:54.040 --> 02:57:58.399
one man watch, and this one
man could work mischief while he slept,

1721
02:57:58.440 --> 02:58:03.959
could, even if handy with tools, file out a key that would unlock

1722
02:58:03.000 --> 02:58:09.479
the shackles. The third plan was
to starve them to contrition and subjection,

1723
02:58:11.639 --> 02:58:16.239
torturing them the while with the odors
of food cooked for himself and floory.

1724
02:58:16.319 --> 02:58:20.360
But this was an inhuman expedient only
to be considered as a last resource.

1725
02:58:22.000 --> 02:58:26.319
And besides, it would not affect
a man doing the cooking. He can

1726
02:58:26.399 --> 02:58:33.280
keep himself well fed and obdurate and
even though they surrendered and worked their way

1727
02:58:33.319 --> 02:58:37.319
back to our prison, whether surrender
last beyond a couple of good meals?

1728
02:58:39.239 --> 02:58:43.840
He thought, not get out of
this plan came another, and he went

1729
02:58:43.879 --> 02:58:54.239
down to the companion floory. He
called, can you cook? She appeared

1730
02:58:54.239 --> 02:58:58.680
at the stateroom door without her bandages, smiling at his query, and for

1731
02:58:58.719 --> 02:59:05.000
the moment demon forgot all about his
plans. But the pink tinge still overspread

1732
02:59:05.000 --> 02:59:07.760
her face. The blisters were gone, and in the half light of the

1733
02:59:07.799 --> 02:59:11.280
cabin it'd shone with a new beauty
that had not appeared to him in the

1734
02:59:11.360 --> 02:59:16.719
garrets sunlight. When I breakfast,
When he was intent upon watching the men,

1735
02:59:18.079 --> 02:59:22.680
his heart gave a sudden jump,
and his voice was a little unsteady

1736
02:59:22.760 --> 02:59:28.639
as he repeated the question. Welly, yes, Billy, she answered,

1737
02:59:28.760 --> 02:59:35.879
I know something about cooking, not
much, though, Will you cook for

1738
02:59:35.920 --> 02:59:41.000
yourself and me? He asked?
If so, I'll keep the men locked

1739
02:59:41.079 --> 02:59:45.799
up and will wait for something to
come along. I will, she said,

1740
02:59:46.639 --> 02:59:50.959
But you must keep them locked up, Billy. I'll do that and

1741
02:59:52.079 --> 02:59:58.040
fit you out with a pistol too. I'll get you one now. He

1742
02:59:58.159 --> 03:00:03.399
brought her a revolver loaded with a
further supply of cartridges and fitted the belt

1743
03:00:03.399 --> 03:00:09.760
about her waist. Then, his
heart still jumping, he went on deck

1744
03:00:11.559 --> 03:00:18.239
love her, he mused, joyously. Of course, why didn't I think

1745
03:00:18.239 --> 03:00:22.600
of it before? But that was
work to be done, and he set

1746
03:00:22.680 --> 03:00:30.319
himself about it. He searched the
storerooms and expected the forecastle. In the

1747
03:00:30.360 --> 03:00:33.399
first he found several cases of liquor, also a barrel of hard bread.

1748
03:00:35.159 --> 03:00:39.760
In the forecastle, he found that
the water supply was furnished by a small

1749
03:00:39.760 --> 03:00:45.479
faucet on the after bulkhead. Trying
it, he found a clear flow.

1750
03:00:46.280 --> 03:00:50.479
Then he selected from his bunch of
keys the one belonged to the forecastle door

1751
03:00:50.000 --> 03:00:58.479
and put it in the lock outside. Next, with a few cautionary remarks

1752
03:00:58.520 --> 03:01:03.239
to the men, he unlocked their
wrist irons one by one, and,

1753
03:01:03.360 --> 03:01:09.760
after making each man place his hands
in front, relocked the irons. Now

1754
03:01:09.799 --> 03:01:15.680
Then he said, standing over the
last man, you can help yourselves and

1755
03:01:15.799 --> 03:01:20.200
jenkins to bread and water. One
by one, Get up on your feet

1756
03:01:20.239 --> 03:01:26.079
and pass into the forecastle. If
any man needs help, I will assist

1757
03:01:26.159 --> 03:01:31.280
him. Some managed to scrambled to
their feet unaided, while others could not.

1758
03:01:33.159 --> 03:01:39.239
These demon helped, but as he
assisted them with one hand holding his

1759
03:01:39.319 --> 03:01:43.239
pistol in the other. There was
no demonstration against him with double fists,

1760
03:01:43.440 --> 03:01:50.440
which is possible and potential. Mumbling
and muttering, they floundered down the small

1761
03:01:50.479 --> 03:01:56.639
hatch and forward into the forecastle.
The last in line with Samson, and

1762
03:01:56.760 --> 03:02:03.680
Denman stopped him of a job for
you, Sampson, He said, after

1763
03:02:03.719 --> 03:02:09.360
the brest had disappeared, you were
the strongest man in the crowd. Go

1764
03:02:09.440 --> 03:02:13.319
down the hatch, but after the
storeroom and get the barrel of hard bread

1765
03:02:13.319 --> 03:02:20.520
into the forecastle. You can do
it without my unlocking you. Very good,

1766
03:02:20.559 --> 03:02:28.680
sir, answered Sampson respectfully, and
descended demon washed him from above,

1767
03:02:28.319 --> 03:02:33.239
as with his manacled hands, he
twirled the heavy barrel forward and into the

1768
03:02:33.239 --> 03:02:41.079
men's quarters, shut the door,
turned the key on them, and come

1769
03:02:41.120 --> 03:02:48.120
aft here, he commanded. Sampson
obeyed. Now lift up on the deck

1770
03:02:48.440 --> 03:02:54.479
and then toss overboard every case of
liquor in that storeroom. Very good,

1771
03:02:54.520 --> 03:03:00.399
sir, and up came six cases, as easily in his powerful grip as

1772
03:03:00.399 --> 03:03:03.680
thought they had been bandboxes. And
then he hoisted his own huge bulk to

1773
03:03:03.760 --> 03:03:13.760
the deck over the side with them
all commanded Denman. Sampson picked them up,

1774
03:03:13.479 --> 03:03:18.799
and whether or not it came from
temper, threw them from where he

1775
03:03:18.879 --> 03:03:24.760
stood above and beyond the rail.
But the fifth struck the rail and fell

1776
03:03:24.799 --> 03:03:31.280
back to the deck. He advanced
and threw it over. Carry the other

1777
03:03:31.280 --> 03:03:37.319
one, said Denman, and Samson
lifted it up. It was a low

1778
03:03:37.680 --> 03:03:45.000
skeleton rail, and as the big
man hobbled toward it, somehow neither he

1779
03:03:45.159 --> 03:03:48.319
nor Demon ever knew how, his
foot slipped, and he and the box

1780
03:03:48.360 --> 03:03:54.760
went overboard together. The box floated, but when Samson came to the surface

1781
03:03:56.040 --> 03:04:07.040
it was out of his reach.
He gurgled, I can't swim Without a

1782
03:04:07.079 --> 03:04:11.639
thought. Demon laid his pistol on
the deck, shed his coat, and

1783
03:04:11.760 --> 03:04:18.760
dove overboard, reaching the struggling man
in three strokes. Keep still, he

1784
03:04:18.879 --> 03:04:22.159
commanded, as he got behind and
secured a light but secure grip on Sampson's

1785
03:04:22.200 --> 03:04:30.520
hair. Tridwater if you can,
but don't struggle, I'll tell you back

1786
03:04:30.559 --> 03:04:37.280
to the boat. But those Sampson
grew quiet, and Demon succeeded in reaching

1787
03:04:37.319 --> 03:04:41.120
the dark steel side. There was
nothing to catch hold of, not a

1788
03:04:41.159 --> 03:04:46.000
trailing rope, nor eyebowl, nor
even the open deadlights, for they were

1789
03:04:46.079 --> 03:04:52.959
high out of reach. The crew
were locked in the forecastle and there was

1790
03:04:52.000 --> 03:04:58.239
only floorry. There was no wind, and only the long, heaving ground

1791
03:04:58.239 --> 03:05:03.799
swell, which rolled the boats slightly, but not enough to bring those tantalizing

1792
03:05:03.840 --> 03:05:09.040
deadlights within reach. And at last, at the sound of dishes rattling the

1793
03:05:09.079 --> 03:05:18.879
galley, Denman called out, floury. He shouted, floury, Come on

1794
03:05:18.040 --> 03:05:26.879
deck, throw a rope over.
Floury, Oh, floury. End of

1795
03:05:26.959 --> 03:05:39.399
chapter fourteen, Chapter fifteen of the
Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording

1796
03:05:39.520 --> 03:05:46.520
is in the public domain. Read
by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey,

1797
03:05:48.280 --> 03:05:54.959
Chapter fifteen. She came hurriedly and
peered over the rail with a startled,

1798
03:05:56.280 --> 03:06:01.559
frightened expression. Then she screamed,
can you see any ropes lying on

1799
03:06:01.639 --> 03:06:11.319
deck? Floory called Denman, if
you can throw one over. She disappeared

1800
03:06:11.319 --> 03:06:16.479
for a moment, then came back
and cried out frantically, No, there

1801
03:06:16.559 --> 03:06:22.760
is nothing, no ropes. What
shall I do? Go down and get

1802
03:06:22.799 --> 03:06:28.760
the tablecloth, said Denman as calmly
as he could, with his nose just

1803
03:06:28.840 --> 03:06:33.799
out of water and a big,
heavy, frightened man bearing him down.

1804
03:06:35.879 --> 03:06:41.879
Florey vanished and soon reappeared with the
tablecloth of the morning's breast. There was

1805
03:06:41.920 --> 03:06:48.200
a cloth of generous size as she
lowered it over tie one corner to the

1806
03:06:48.280 --> 03:06:54.680
rail floory, said Denman, while
he held the irresponsible Samson away from the

1807
03:06:54.760 --> 03:07:01.159
still frail support, she bade him
y the not that all women tie,

1808
03:07:01.200 --> 03:07:05.319
which no sailor can name, and
then Deadman led his man up to it.

1809
03:07:07.680 --> 03:07:13.120
Sampson clutched it with both hands,
drew it taught, and supported his

1810
03:07:13.159 --> 03:07:22.600
weight on it. Fortunately, the
not slip demon also held himself up by

1811
03:07:22.639 --> 03:07:26.760
it until he had recovered his breath. Then cast about for means of getting

1812
03:07:26.760 --> 03:07:31.959
on board. He felt that the
hiplecloth would not bear his weight and that

1813
03:07:33.040 --> 03:07:37.159
of his water soil clothing, and
temporarily gave up the plan of climbing it

1814
03:07:39.479 --> 03:07:45.559
forward with the signal halliards, and
they too were of a small line,

1815
03:07:46.319 --> 03:07:50.520
and even if doubled again and again
until strong enough, he knew by experienced

1816
03:07:50.520 --> 03:07:54.959
the wonderful strength of arm required in
climbing out of water hand over hand.

1817
03:07:56.280 --> 03:08:01.680
This thought also removed the tablecloth from
the problem, but suggested another by its

1818
03:08:01.680 --> 03:08:09.159
association with the necessity of feet then
climbing with wet clothes. He remembered that

1819
03:08:09.280 --> 03:08:15.719
forward just under the anchor davit was
a small fixed ladder bolted into the bow

1820
03:08:15.760 --> 03:08:22.280
of the boat for use in getting
the anchor. So, cautioning Samson not

1821
03:08:22.319 --> 03:08:28.799
to let go, he swam forward, with Florrie's frightened face following above and

1822
03:08:28.959 --> 03:08:37.159
reaching the ladder easily climbed on board. He was on the high forecastle deck,

1823
03:08:37.680 --> 03:08:43.799
but the girl had reached it before
him. Billie, she exclaimed,

1824
03:08:43.920 --> 03:08:48.840
as she approached him. Oh,
Billy. He caught her just as her

1825
03:08:48.840 --> 03:08:56.040
face grew white and her figure limp
and forgot Samson for the moment. The

1826
03:08:56.159 --> 03:09:00.360
kisses he planted on her lips and
cheek forestalled the faith, the spell,

1827
03:09:01.120 --> 03:09:07.440
and she roused herself. I thought
you would drown, Billy, she said,

1828
03:09:07.479 --> 03:09:11.239
weakly, with her face of a
deeper pink than he had seen.

1829
03:09:13.600 --> 03:09:18.280
Don't drown, Billy, Don't do
that again. Don't leave me alone.

1830
03:09:20.239 --> 03:09:26.879
I won't floory, he answered,
stoutly and smilingly. I'm born to be

1831
03:09:26.959 --> 03:09:33.360
hanged. You know I won't drown. Come on, I must get Samson.

1832
03:09:35.360 --> 03:09:39.600
They descended Devon, picking up his
pistol on the way, and found

1833
03:09:39.639 --> 03:09:45.600
Sampson quietly waiting at the end of
the table cloth. With his life temper

1834
03:09:45.639 --> 03:09:52.559
really safe, his natural courage had
come to him. I'm going to tell

1835
03:09:52.600 --> 03:09:56.440
you forward to the anchor ladder,
Samson. Go off the climate the best

1836
03:09:56.440 --> 03:09:58.479
way you can, for there isn't
a purchase on board that will bear your

1837
03:09:58.479 --> 03:10:07.120
weight. Hold tight now, he
untied floor. He's not, and slowly

1838
03:10:07.200 --> 03:10:11.239
dragged the big man forward, experiencing
a check at the break of the forecastle,

1839
03:10:11.040 --> 03:10:15.479
where he had the halt and piece
out the tablecloth with a length of

1840
03:10:15.520 --> 03:10:22.479
signal halliards. But finally Sampson got
to the ladder. Sampson had some trouble

1841
03:10:22.479 --> 03:10:26.000
in mounting, for shackles would not
permit one hand to reach up to a

1842
03:10:26.079 --> 03:10:31.879
wrong without letting go with the other, but he finally accomplished the feet and

1843
03:10:33.040 --> 03:10:39.559
floundered over the rail, where he
sat undecked to recover himself. Finally he

1844
03:10:39.680 --> 03:10:48.040
scrambled to his feet. Mister Denman, he said, you saved my life

1845
03:10:48.040 --> 03:10:52.440
for me. Whatever I can do
for you, except his face took out

1846
03:10:52.440 --> 03:10:58.520
a look of embarrassment. Except going
back on my mates, as I said

1847
03:10:58.520 --> 03:11:05.360
I would do at any time of
my life. That was what I might

1848
03:11:05.399 --> 03:11:11.799
have suggested, answered demon calmly that
you aid me in controlling this crew until

1849
03:11:11.799 --> 03:11:18.799
we reached Boston. I cannot,
sir. There's prison for life for all

1850
03:11:18.840 --> 03:11:22.360
of us if we were taken and
this crowd will break out, Sir,

1851
03:11:22.120 --> 03:11:30.680
mark my words, you won't have
charge very long. But in that case,

1852
03:11:31.520 --> 03:11:35.239
I mean, I might be of
service. I can control them all,

1853
03:11:37.000 --> 03:11:46.559
even Forsyth when I'm awake, Forsyth
Grinnen demon. You can thank Forsyth

1854
03:11:46.639 --> 03:11:50.159
for your roundup. If he hadn't
remained sober enough to attempt to break into

1855
03:11:50.159 --> 03:11:54.079
Missfleming's room while you were all dead
drunk, I might not have knocked him

1856
03:11:54.120 --> 03:11:58.600
out. I might not have roused
myself to tie you all hand and foot.

1857
03:12:01.040 --> 03:12:05.360
Did he do that, Sir asked
Sampson, his rugged features darkening.

1858
03:12:09.440 --> 03:12:15.559
He did, But I got there
in time to knock him out, well,

1859
03:12:15.639 --> 03:12:20.399
Sir, said Sampson. I can
promise you this much. I must

1860
03:12:20.440 --> 03:12:24.559
be locked up, of course,
I realized that. But if we again

1861
03:12:24.639 --> 03:12:28.719
get charged, I must be asleep
part of the time, and so I

1862
03:12:28.719 --> 03:12:33.559
will see to it. They retained
possession of your gun, and the lady

1863
03:12:33.600 --> 03:12:39.399
too, but they see she carries
one. Also, Sir, that you

1864
03:12:39.399 --> 03:12:46.559
will have the run of the deck
on parole. Of course, that's kind

1865
03:12:46.600 --> 03:12:50.040
of you, smiled demon. But
I don't mean to let you take charge.

1866
03:12:52.040 --> 03:12:56.360
It is bread and water for you
all until something comes along to furnish

1867
03:12:56.399 --> 03:13:05.000
me a crew. Come on,
Sam to the forecastle. Sampson preceded them

1868
03:13:05.040 --> 03:13:11.440
down the steps, down the hatch
and to the forecastle door, through which

1869
03:13:11.479 --> 03:13:16.760
Denman admitted him, then relocked the
door and bunched the key with the others.

1870
03:13:18.680 --> 03:13:24.760
Then he joined Floury, where she
had awaited amidships. Now, then,

1871
03:13:24.879 --> 03:13:30.000
Flory girl, he said, jubilantly, you can have the use of

1872
03:13:30.040 --> 03:13:33.959
the deck and go and come as
you like. I'm going to turn in.

1873
03:13:35.120 --> 03:13:41.360
You see, I was awake all
night. Are they secured safely,

1874
03:13:41.399 --> 03:13:48.159
Billy, she asked, tremulously got
them all in the forecastle in double irons

1875
03:13:48.440 --> 03:13:54.559
with plenty of hard attack and water. We needn't bother about them anymore.

1876
03:13:56.120 --> 03:14:00.399
Just keep your eyes open for a
sail or smoke on the horizon, and

1877
03:14:00.479 --> 03:14:07.040
if you see anything call me.
I will, she answered, and I'll

1878
03:14:07.040 --> 03:14:13.680
have dinner ready at noon. That's
good. A few hours sleep will be

1879
03:14:13.799 --> 03:14:20.479
enough, and I'll try and polish
up what I once learned about wireless and

1880
03:14:20.719 --> 03:14:26.040
say Florrie, next time you go
below, look in the glass and see

1881
03:14:26.040 --> 03:14:31.559
how nice you look. She turned
her back to him, and he went

1882
03:14:31.600 --> 03:14:37.520
down. In five minutes he was
asleep, and as he slipped off into

1883
03:14:37.600 --> 03:14:41.719
unconsciousness, there came to his mind
the thought that one man in the forecastle

1884
03:14:43.000 --> 03:14:46.840
was not manacled. And when Florrie
wakened him at noon, the thought was

1885
03:14:46.879 --> 03:14:54.120
still with him, but he dismissed
it. Jenkins was helpless for a while,

1886
03:14:54.680 --> 03:15:01.239
unable to move or speak, and
need not be considered. End of

1887
03:15:01.319 --> 03:15:13.680
chapter fifteen. Chapter sixteen of The
Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording

1888
03:15:13.799 --> 03:15:20.399
is in the public domain. Read
by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey,

1889
03:15:22.479 --> 03:15:28.159
Chapter sixteen. Florrie had proven herself
a good cook, and they ate

1890
03:15:28.200 --> 03:15:35.159
dinner together. Then Denman went on
deck. The boat was still rolling on

1891
03:15:35.200 --> 03:15:39.000
a calm sea, but the long, steady, low moving hills of blue

1892
03:15:39.600 --> 03:15:43.719
were now mingled with a cross swell
from the northwest, which indicated the push

1893
03:15:43.959 --> 03:15:50.719
from beyond the horizon not connected with
the trade wind. And in the west

1894
03:15:50.760 --> 03:15:54.000
a low bank of cloud rose up
from and merged its lower edge with the

1895
03:15:54.000 --> 03:16:03.840
horizon, while still higher shown up
mackerel sky and mare's tail clouds sure index

1896
03:16:03.959 --> 03:16:07.440
of coming wind, but there was
nothing on the horizon in the way of

1897
03:16:07.479 --> 03:16:15.680
sale or smoke, and anticipating another
long night watch, he began preparations for

1898
03:16:15.719 --> 03:16:22.639
it. Three red lights at the
mastheadward needed as a signal that the boat

1899
03:16:22.239 --> 03:16:28.799
a steamer, was not under command. These he found in the lamp room.

1900
03:16:28.840 --> 03:16:33.479
He filled, trimmed, and brigged
them to the signal halliards on the

1901
03:16:33.520 --> 03:16:39.600
bridge, ready for hoisting at nightfall. Then for a day signal of distress,

1902
03:16:41.280 --> 03:16:48.239
he hoisted an ensign Union down at
the small yard aloft. Next thing

1903
03:16:48.319 --> 03:16:52.879
his mind came to wish to know
his position, and he examined the log

1904
03:16:52.920 --> 03:16:58.719
book. Forsyth had made an attempt
to start a record, and out of

1905
03:16:58.719 --> 03:17:01.200
his crude efforts, hevn't picked the
figures which he had noted down as the

1906
03:17:01.280 --> 03:17:07.680
latitude and longitude at noon of the
day before. He corrected this with the

1907
03:17:07.680 --> 03:17:11.559
boat's course throughout the afternoon until the
time was shutting off the oil feed,

1908
03:17:11.280 --> 03:17:16.319
and added the influence of a current, which is more expert knowledge told him

1909
03:17:16.319 --> 03:17:24.959
of thirty one north and fifty five
forty west was the approximate position and he

1910
03:17:24.040 --> 03:17:30.799
jotted it down. This done,
he thought of the possibility of lighting the

1911
03:17:30.840 --> 03:17:35.239
boat through the night and sought the
engine room. He was put a theoretical

1912
03:17:35.280 --> 03:17:39.280
engineer, having to vote at most
of his studies to the duties of a

1913
03:17:39.360 --> 03:17:43.399
line officer, but he mastered in
a short time the management of the small

1914
03:17:43.440 --> 03:17:48.520
gas engine that worked at Dynamo,
and soon had it going. Electric bulbs

1915
03:17:48.520 --> 03:17:54.639
in the engine room sprang into life, and after watching the engine for a

1916
03:17:54.680 --> 03:17:58.799
short time, he decided that it
required only occasional inspection and sought the deck.

1917
03:18:01.319 --> 03:18:05.600
The cross seat was increasing and the
bank to the northwest was larger and

1918
03:18:05.760 --> 03:18:11.840
blacker, while the mayor's tales and
mackerel scales had given way to serious clouds

1919
03:18:11.159 --> 03:18:20.239
that raced across the sky. Damp
gusts of wind blew cold and heavy against

1920
03:18:20.239 --> 03:18:24.159
his cheek, and he knew that
a storm was coming that would try out

1921
03:18:24.200 --> 03:18:28.760
a low built craft to the last
of its powers. But before it came,

1922
03:18:30.319 --> 03:18:35.040
he would polish up his forgotten knowledge
of wireless telegraphy and searched the wireless

1923
03:18:35.120 --> 03:18:41.719
room for books. He found everything, but what he wanted most the code

1924
03:18:41.719 --> 03:18:48.120
book, by which he could furbish
up dots and dashes. Angry and his

1925
03:18:48.239 --> 03:18:52.440
bad memory, he studied the apparatus, founded him working order, and left

1926
03:18:52.440 --> 03:18:58.000
the task to go on deck.
An increased ruling of the boat threatened the

1927
03:18:58.000 --> 03:19:03.399
open deadlights. Trusting that the men
in the forecastle were close theirs, he

1928
03:19:03.479 --> 03:19:07.760
attended to all the others, then
sought Floury in the galley, where she

1929
03:19:07.799 --> 03:19:13.399
had just finished the washing of the
dishes. Her face was not pale,

1930
03:19:13.000 --> 03:19:16.760
but there was a wild look in
her eyes, and she was somewhat unsteady

1931
03:19:16.760 --> 03:19:24.280
on her feet. Oh, billy, I'm sick, sea sick, she

1932
03:19:24.360 --> 03:19:30.879
said weakly. I'm a poor sailor. Go to bed, little girl,

1933
03:19:31.200 --> 03:19:35.000
he said gently. We're gonna have
some bad weather, but we're all right,

1934
03:19:35.799 --> 03:19:43.159
so stay in bed. He supported
her after the wardroom to her stateroom

1935
03:19:43.200 --> 03:19:50.040
door. In the after Kevin,
I'll get supper florry, and if you

1936
03:19:50.079 --> 03:19:54.639
can eat, I'll bring you some. Lie down now, and don't get

1937
03:19:54.680 --> 03:20:01.920
up until I call you, or
until you feel better. He again sought

1938
03:20:01.920 --> 03:20:07.440
the deck. The wind now came
steadily, while the whole sky above and

1939
03:20:07.479 --> 03:20:13.239
the sea about were assuming the gray
hue of a gale. He closed all

1940
03:20:13.280 --> 03:20:18.079
hatches and companions, taking a peep
down into the engine room before closing it

1941
03:20:18.159 --> 03:20:24.360
up. The dynamo was buzzing.
Finally, a few splashes of rain fell

1942
03:20:24.360 --> 03:20:28.120
on him, and they clothed himself
in oilskins and robber boots to watch out

1943
03:20:28.120 --> 03:20:33.239
the gale, choosing to remain halft, whereas footsteps over her might reassure that,

1944
03:20:33.319 --> 03:20:37.079
he said, grow below instead of
the bridge, where it would have

1945
03:20:37.120 --> 03:20:46.639
placed himself under normal conditions. The
afternoon wore on, each hour, marked

1946
03:20:46.680 --> 03:20:50.120
by a heavier pressure of the wind
and an increasing height to the seas,

1947
03:20:50.319 --> 03:20:56.040
which, at first just lapping at
the rail, now lifted up and washed

1948
03:20:56.040 --> 03:21:01.319
across the deck. The boat old
somewhat, but not the act of his

1949
03:21:01.360 --> 03:21:07.079
discomfort or that of those below.
But there were no loose articles on deck

1950
03:21:07.120 --> 03:21:13.159
to be washed overboard, so Denman
paced the deck, occasionally peeping down the

1951
03:21:13.200 --> 03:21:18.319
engine room hatch at the dynamo,
and again trying the drift by the old

1952
03:21:18.399 --> 03:21:24.600
fashioned chip and reel log at the
stern. When tired, he would sit

1953
03:21:24.680 --> 03:21:28.040
down in the depth chair, which
he had wedged between the after torpedo and

1954
03:21:28.120 --> 03:21:37.360
the taffrail, then resumed his pacing. As darkness closed down, he sought

1955
03:21:37.360 --> 03:21:43.200
Florrie's door and asked her if she
would eat something. She was too ill,

1956
03:21:43.319 --> 03:21:48.479
she said, and knowing that no
words could comfort her, he left

1957
03:21:48.520 --> 03:21:54.200
her and in the galley eat his
own supper, tinned meat, bread and

1958
03:21:54.319 --> 03:22:01.680
coffee. Again the deck the minute, pacing and resting in the chair.

1959
03:22:03.959 --> 03:22:09.360
The gale became a hurricane in the
occasional squalls, but at these times the

1960
03:22:09.440 --> 03:22:13.920
sea were beaten to a level of
creamy frought luminous with a phosphorescent blow,

1961
03:22:15.200 --> 03:22:18.559
while the boat's rolling motion would give
way to a stiff inclination to starboard of

1962
03:22:18.719 --> 03:22:26.399
fully ten degrees. Then the squalls
would pass, the seas rise the higher

1963
03:22:26.440 --> 03:22:31.040
for the momentary suppression, and the
boat resumed her wallowing, rolling, both

1964
03:22:31.120 --> 03:22:39.079
rails under and practically underwater except for
the high forecastle deck, the funnels,

1965
03:22:39.200 --> 03:22:46.840
and the companions. Denman did not
worry with the wind northwest. The storm

1966
03:22:46.879 --> 03:22:50.760
center was surely to the north and
eastward of him, and he knew that,

1967
03:22:52.360 --> 03:22:54.639
according to the laws of storms in
the North Atlantic, it would move

1968
03:22:54.680 --> 03:23:01.159
away from him and out to sea, And so it continued until about midnight,

1969
03:23:01.399 --> 03:23:05.000
when he heard the rasping of the
companion hood, then saw Florrie's face

1970
03:23:05.040 --> 03:23:11.920
peering out. He sprang to the
companion. Billy, oh, billy,

1971
03:23:13.559 --> 03:23:18.799
she said plaintively. Let me come
up here with you, but you'll feel

1972
03:23:18.799 --> 03:23:26.319
better lying down, Dear, he
said, better go back. It's so

1973
03:23:26.479 --> 03:23:31.520
close and hot down here. Please
let me come up. Why, yes,

1974
03:23:31.600 --> 03:23:37.120
Florrie, if you like, but
wait until I figure out come down

1975
03:23:37.120 --> 03:23:43.159
a moment. They descended, and
he found rubber boots a Southwester, and

1976
03:23:43.319 --> 03:23:48.200
a long oil skin coat, which
she donned in their room. Then he

1977
03:23:48.280 --> 03:23:52.200
brought up another chair, lashed it
with more neckt eyes to his own,

1978
03:23:54.159 --> 03:24:00.319
and seated her in it. Don't
be frightened, he said, as a

1979
03:24:00.319 --> 03:24:03.479
sea clawed on board and washed aft, nearly flooding their rubber boots, and

1980
03:24:03.719 --> 03:24:09.639
listening a little scream from the girl, We're safe and the wind will blow

1981
03:24:09.680 --> 03:24:18.639
out in a few hours. He
seated himself beside her as they faced a

1982
03:24:18.719 --> 03:24:22.319
leeward The long brims of the Southwesters
sheltered their faces from a blast of rain

1983
03:24:22.399 --> 03:24:28.159
and spume, permitting conversation. But
they did not converse for a time.

1984
03:24:31.840 --> 03:24:35.239
Demon only reached up inside a long
sleeve of her big coat toward her small

1985
03:24:35.239 --> 03:24:41.239
hand, nestled soft and warm in
its shelter. He squeezed it gently,

1986
03:24:41.840 --> 03:24:48.000
but there was no answering pressure,
and he contented himself withholding it. He

1987
03:24:48.079 --> 03:24:54.319
was a good sailor, but a
poor lover, and a reeling, water

1988
03:24:54.360 --> 03:24:58.079
washed deck in a gill of wind
is an embarrassing obstacle to love making.

1989
03:25:01.520 --> 03:25:05.520
Yet he squeezed again. After ten
minutes of silence had gone by, and

1990
03:25:05.600 --> 03:25:11.319
several seas had bombarded their feet,
still no response in kind, and he

1991
03:25:11.360 --> 03:25:18.680
spoke, Floury, he said,
as gently as he could, when he

1992
03:25:18.719 --> 03:25:22.760
was compelled to shout. Do you
remember the letter you sent me the other

1993
03:25:22.879 --> 03:25:31.239
day? The other day? She
answered? Why? It seems like years

1994
03:25:31.319 --> 03:25:39.159
since then last week, Floury,
it made me feel like like thirty cents.

1995
03:25:41.959 --> 03:25:46.479
Why, Billy, Oh, the
unwritten roast from the lines, little

1996
03:25:46.520 --> 03:25:52.639
girl, I knew what you thought
of me. I knew that I'd never

1997
03:25:52.719 --> 03:26:01.760
made good. How what do you
mean about the years ago? I was

1998
03:26:01.799 --> 03:26:05.600
to come back and look him,
you know, and didn't. That's all?

1999
03:26:07.840 --> 03:26:13.559
Are you still thinking of that?
Billy? What you've won? You're

2000
03:26:13.600 --> 03:26:20.000
an officer while he is a sailor. Yes, but he looked me at

2001
03:26:20.040 --> 03:26:26.479
school, and I know you expected
me to come back, and you did

2002
03:26:26.520 --> 03:26:30.959
not come back. You never let
me hear from you. You might have

2003
03:26:31.000 --> 03:26:35.920
been dead for years before I could
know it. Is that it, Florrie,

2004
03:26:35.319 --> 03:26:39.959
He exclaimed, in amazement. Was
it me you thought of? I

2005
03:26:41.000 --> 03:26:46.520
suppose you had grown to despise me. She had not answered this, but

2006
03:26:46.639 --> 03:26:52.680
when he again pressed her hand,
she responded. Then over the sounds of

2007
03:26:52.680 --> 03:26:58.600
the storm, he heard a little
sob, and, reaching over, drew

2008
03:26:58.639 --> 03:27:05.559
her close to his and kissed her. I'm sorry, Floory, but I

2009
03:27:05.600 --> 03:27:11.040
didn't know. I've loved you all
these years, but I did not know

2010
03:27:11.120 --> 03:27:15.000
it until a few days ago.
And I'll never forget it, Floory.

2011
03:27:15.360 --> 03:27:20.520
And I promise you and myself too, that I'll still make good as I

2012
03:27:20.559 --> 03:27:28.680
promised before. Poor lover, though
he was he had one. She did

2013
03:27:28.719 --> 03:27:35.120
not answer, but her own small
hand reached for his, and so they

2014
03:27:35.120 --> 03:27:39.399
passed the night until just as a
light or gray shone in the east,

2015
03:27:39.120 --> 03:27:43.120
he noticed the one of the red
lamps the signal yard had gone out.

2016
03:27:45.079 --> 03:27:48.360
As the lights were still necessary,
he went forward to lower them, but

2017
03:27:48.520 --> 03:27:52.959
just as he was about to mount
the bridge stairs, a crashing blow from

2018
03:27:52.000 --> 03:27:58.639
two heavy fists, and in headlong
and senseless to the deck. When he

2019
03:27:58.680 --> 03:28:01.879
came to he was bound hand and
foot as he had bound the men with

2020
03:28:03.120 --> 03:28:09.959
neckerchiefs and lay close to the forward
funnel with the whole thirteen Jenkins and all

2021
03:28:09.040 --> 03:28:16.959
looking down at him. But Jenkins
was not speaking. Forsyth, searching demon's

2022
03:28:16.959 --> 03:28:24.840
pockets, was doing all at the
occasion required. End of chapter sixteen,

2023
03:28:31.000 --> 03:28:37.280
Chapter seventeen of the Pirates by Morgan
Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in the

2024
03:28:37.280 --> 03:28:45.879
public domain. Read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter seventeen.

2025
03:28:48.520 --> 03:28:52.079
When Sampson had entered the forecastle after
his rescue by Denman, he found

2026
03:28:52.120 --> 03:28:56.239
a few of his mates in their
bunks, the rest sitting around in disconsolate

2027
03:28:56.280 --> 03:29:03.840
postures, some holding their aching heads, others looking indifferently at him with bleary

2028
03:29:03.840 --> 03:29:11.239
eyes. The apartment, long and
triangular in shape, was dimly lighted by

2029
03:29:11.280 --> 03:29:16.879
four deadlights, two each side,
and for a moment Sampson cannot distinguish one

2030
03:29:16.920 --> 03:29:24.239
from another. Where's my bag?
He demanded, generally, I want dry

2031
03:29:24.239 --> 03:29:31.399
clothes. He groped his way to
the bunk he had occupied, found his

2032
03:29:31.479 --> 03:29:37.840
clothes bag, and drew out a
complete change of garments. Who's got a

2033
03:29:37.920 --> 03:29:43.680
knife was his next request, and
as no one answered, he repeated the

2034
03:29:43.680 --> 03:29:50.719
demand in a louder voice. What
do you want of a knife, asked

2035
03:29:50.760 --> 03:29:56.760
forsythe with a slight snarl. To
cut your throat, you hang dog scoundrel,

2036
03:29:58.079 --> 03:30:03.680
said Sampson irately. Forsyth, you
speak kindly and gently to me while

2037
03:30:03.680 --> 03:30:09.440
we're together, or I'll break some
of you small bones. Who's got a

2038
03:30:09.520 --> 03:30:16.120
knife? Here's one, Sampson said
Hawks, offering one of the square bladed

2039
03:30:16.200 --> 03:30:22.319
jack knives used in the navy.
All right, Hawks, now you stand

2040
03:30:22.399 --> 03:30:26.840
up and rip these wet duds off
me. I can't get them off with

2041
03:30:26.920 --> 03:30:33.040
the darbies in the way. Hawks
stood up and obeyed him. Soon the

2042
03:30:33.120 --> 03:30:39.120
dripping garments fell away, and Sampson
rubbed himself dry with the towel while Hawks

2043
03:30:39.360 --> 03:30:46.280
sleepily turned in. What kept you
and what happened? Asked Kelly? Did

2044
03:30:46.319 --> 03:30:52.079
any DAUSI with a bucket of water? Sampson did not answer at once,

2045
03:30:52.840 --> 03:30:56.200
not until he had slashed the side
seams of a whole new suit and crawled

2046
03:30:56.239 --> 03:31:01.200
into it. Then, as he
began fasten to get on with buttons and

2047
03:31:01.280 --> 03:31:09.239
strings, he said coldly, worse
than that he's made me his friend,

2048
03:31:11.959 --> 03:31:20.239
his friend queried two or three His
friend repeated Sampson, not exactly while he

2049
03:31:20.280 --> 03:31:24.639
has me locked up, he added, but if I ever get out again,

2050
03:31:24.680 --> 03:31:30.559
that's all. And his friend in
some ways while I'm here, do

2051
03:31:30.600 --> 03:31:35.959
you hear that? Forsyth. Forsyth
did not answer, and Samson went on,

2052
03:31:37.520 --> 03:31:43.360
and not only his friend, but
the woman's too here that Forsyth.

2053
03:31:45.879 --> 03:31:52.440
Forsyth refused to answer. That's right, and proper went on Samson as he

2054
03:31:52.520 --> 03:31:58.120
fastened the last button, hide your
head and saw wood the snake eyed imitation

2055
03:31:58.159 --> 03:32:05.079
of a man. What's up,
Sampson, We really, asked Casey from

2056
03:32:05.079 --> 03:32:09.159
a bunker. What dast you?
What you got on? Forsyth? Now

2057
03:32:13.040 --> 03:32:18.280
I'll tell you in good time,
responded Simpson. I'll tell you now about

2058
03:32:18.319 --> 03:32:22.440
denman. I throw all the booze
overboard at his orders. Then I tumbled

2059
03:32:22.440 --> 03:32:28.760
over, and as I can't swim, would have been there yet if he

2060
03:32:28.799 --> 03:32:33.559
hadn't jumped after me, then we
couldn't get up the side, and the

2061
03:32:33.639 --> 03:32:37.159
woman came in the tablecloth that held
me until I was towed to the anchor

2062
03:32:37.239 --> 03:32:43.200
ladder. That's all. I just
want to hear one of you ginks say

2063
03:32:43.200 --> 03:32:46.200
a word about the woman that she
wouldn't like to hear. That's for you

2064
03:32:46.319 --> 03:32:54.799
all, and for you Forsyth a
little more in good time. Bully for

2065
03:32:54.840 --> 03:33:01.799
the woman, growled old Kelly.
Wonder if we traded her right? We

2066
03:33:01.879 --> 03:33:07.079
treated her as well as we knew
how, said Sampson. That is all

2067
03:33:07.079 --> 03:33:13.639
but one of us. But I've
promised Denman and the woman threw him.

2068
03:33:13.000 --> 03:33:18.959
I they'll have a better show if
we get charge again. I forget it,

2069
03:33:20.079 --> 03:33:24.040
grunted Forsyth from his bunk. She's
no good. She's been stuck on

2070
03:33:24.120 --> 03:33:31.959
that baby since she was a kid. Samson went toward him, seized him

2071
03:33:31.959 --> 03:33:37.719
by the shirt collar, and pulled
him bodily from the bunk, then smother

2072
03:33:37.879 --> 03:33:41.000
his protesting voice by a grip in
his throat, slatted him from side to

2073
03:33:41.079 --> 03:33:46.440
side as a farmer uses a flail, and threw him headlong against the after

2074
03:33:46.520 --> 03:33:54.719
bookhead and halfway into an empty bunk. Samson had uttered no word, and

2075
03:33:54.840 --> 03:33:58.440
Forsyth only muttered as he crawled back
to his own bunk. But he found

2076
03:33:58.440 --> 03:34:03.479
courage to say, what do you
pick on me for? If you hadn't

2077
03:34:03.520 --> 03:34:11.840
all got drunk, you wouldn't be
here. You mean, said Sampson quietly,

2078
03:34:11.959 --> 03:34:16.120
that if you hadn't remained sober enough
to find your way into the aftercabin,

2079
03:34:16.159 --> 03:34:20.559
and frightened the woman. We wouldn't
have been here, for that's what

2080
03:34:20.760 --> 03:34:26.680
roused Denmon. A few oaths and
growls followed this, and men sat up

2081
03:34:26.680 --> 03:34:31.239
in their bunks, well, those
that were out of their bunks stood up.

2082
03:34:33.000 --> 03:34:39.920
Sampson sat down. Is that so, Sampson got that right? Old

2083
03:34:39.920 --> 03:34:46.079
man? Sure of it? They
asked, And then over the hubbub of

2084
03:34:46.120 --> 03:34:56.200
profane indignation rose Forsythe's voice. Who
gave you that? Yelled Denmon. Yes,

2085
03:34:56.600 --> 03:35:03.559
Denman, answered Sampson. He lied. I did nothing of a You

2086
03:35:03.719 --> 03:35:09.520
lie yourself, you dog. You're
shown on your chin the marks of Denman's

2087
03:35:09.559 --> 03:35:16.120
fist. You did that just now, answered Forsyth, fingering a small bleeding

2088
03:35:16.159 --> 03:35:22.440
bruise. I didn't hit you.
I choked you. Denman knocked you out,

2089
03:35:26.520 --> 03:35:31.479
well, answered Forsyth, forgetting the
first accusation in light of his last.

2090
03:35:33.120 --> 03:35:35.079
It was a lucky blow in the
dark. He couldn't do it in

2091
03:35:35.120 --> 03:35:46.280
a daylight. Self convicted, said
Sampson quietly. Then, for a matter

2092
03:35:46.319 --> 03:35:50.360
of ten minutes, the air in
nicost apartment might have smelt sulfurous to one

2093
03:35:50.440 --> 03:35:56.799
strange to forecastle a discourse. Forsyth, his back toward them, listen quietly

2094
03:35:56.840 --> 03:36:03.040
while they called him all the names
printable and unprintable, which angry and disgusted

2095
03:36:03.079 --> 03:36:09.000
men may think of. But when
it had ended, when a last voice

2096
03:36:09.000 --> 03:36:11.399
had silenced, and the last man
gone to the waterfawcet for a drink before

2097
03:36:11.440 --> 03:36:18.200
turning in, Forsyth said, I'll
even things up with you fellows if I

2098
03:36:18.280 --> 03:36:24.639
get on deck again. Only a
few grunts answered him, and soon all

2099
03:36:24.680 --> 03:36:33.760
were asleep. They waken one by
one in the afternoon to find the electric

2100
03:36:33.799 --> 03:36:39.000
bulbs glowing and the boat rolling heavily, while splashes of rain came in through

2101
03:36:39.000 --> 03:36:46.440
the weather deadlights. These they closed, and better humored after their sleep,

2102
03:36:46.799 --> 03:36:50.079
and hungry as well, they attacked
the barrel of bread and the water fawcet

2103
03:36:52.200 --> 03:36:58.200
he started the dynamo, or Mark
Riley, one of the engineers, Why

2104
03:36:58.200 --> 03:37:03.000
don't he start the end and keep
her head to the sea, because he

2105
03:37:03.079 --> 03:37:07.360
knows too much, came a horse
whisper, and he turned to Jenkins,

2106
03:37:07.440 --> 03:37:15.840
who was sitting up regarding them disapprovingly. Because he knows too much, he

2107
03:37:15.920 --> 03:37:20.600
repeated in the same horse whisper,
this is a so called seagoing destroyer.

2108
03:37:22.639 --> 03:37:26.280
But no one but a fool would
buck one into a head seat. And

2109
03:37:26.360 --> 03:37:31.680
that's what's coming with a big blow
too. Remember the English boat that broke

2110
03:37:31.719 --> 03:37:37.920
her back in the North Sea.
Hello Jenkins, you alive, answered one,

2111
03:37:39.520 --> 03:37:45.440
and others asked of his health.
I'm pretty near all right, he

2112
03:37:45.479 --> 03:37:48.280
said to them. I've been able
to move and speak a little for twenty

2113
03:37:48.319 --> 03:37:54.799
four hours. But I saved my
energy. I wasn't sure of myself though,

2114
03:37:54.239 --> 03:37:56.719
or I didn't nabbed deadman when he
came in here for the pistols,

2115
03:38:00.239 --> 03:38:03.040
as he got them queered or few, and they examined the empty bunk.

2116
03:38:05.239 --> 03:38:13.040
He sure has, they continued,
got them all. We're in for it,

2117
03:38:13.120 --> 03:38:18.760
not necessarily, said Jenkins. I've
listened to all this pow wow,

2118
03:38:18.200 --> 03:38:22.360
and I gather that you got drunk
to the last man, and he gathered

2119
03:38:22.399 --> 03:38:28.840
you in. That's about it,
Jenkins, assented Sampson. We all got

2120
03:38:28.840 --> 03:38:37.000
gloriously drunk, and before you got
drunk, you made this pinheaded educated rat.

2121
03:38:37.840 --> 03:38:43.680
He jerked his thumb towards Forsyth,
your commander. Well, we needed

2122
03:38:43.680 --> 03:38:50.959
a navigator and you were out of
commissioner, Jenkins. I'm in commission now,

2123
03:38:50.000 --> 03:38:54.079
though when we get on deck,
we'll still have a navigator and it

2124
03:38:54.120 --> 03:39:01.559
won't be Denman either. What do
you mean began for safe that you'll take

2125
03:39:01.639 --> 03:39:07.799
charge again and make yes, said
Jenkins. Make you navigate, Make you

2126
03:39:07.920 --> 03:39:13.239
navigate under orders and under fear of
punishment. You're the worst hammered man in

2127
03:39:13.280 --> 03:39:20.200
this crowd, but hammering doesn't improve
you. You'll be keelholed or triced up

2128
03:39:20.200 --> 03:39:26.719
by the thumbs, or spread eagle
over a boiler. But you'll navigate now.

2129
03:39:26.879 --> 03:39:33.200
Shut up. There was silence for
a while, then one said,

2130
03:39:33.600 --> 03:39:41.280
you spoke about getting on deck again. Jenkins got the plan. I want

2131
03:39:41.280 --> 03:39:46.079
to go on deck now and watching
this storm. Jenkins retorted, no,

2132
03:39:48.040 --> 03:39:52.879
not unless necessary, and get in
your bunk and wait for this to blow

2133
03:39:52.879 --> 03:39:58.159
over. If there's any real need
of us, Denman will call us out.

2134
03:40:01.120 --> 03:40:05.159
This was good slily logic, and
they climbed back into their bunks to

2135
03:40:05.319 --> 03:40:11.520
smoke, to read, or to
talked himself to sleep again. As the

2136
03:40:11.559 --> 03:40:16.440
wind and sea arose, they closed
the other two deadlights, and my Darkness

2137
03:40:16.440 --> 03:40:20.719
closed down. They turned out all
the dazzling bulbs and slept through the night

2138
03:40:20.280 --> 03:40:28.319
as only sailors can. Just before
daylight, Jacob has lifted his big bulk

2139
03:40:28.360 --> 03:40:33.959
out of the bunk, and taking
a key from his pocket, unlocked the

2140
03:40:33.000 --> 03:40:39.680
forecastle door. He stepped into the
passage and found the hatch loose on the

2141
03:40:39.719 --> 03:40:46.760
combings. Then came back and quietly
wakened them all. I found the skin

2142
03:40:46.760 --> 03:40:52.239
in the deck near the door first
day aboard, he volunteered, but put

2143
03:40:52.280 --> 03:40:58.840
it in my pocket instead of the
door. They softly crept into the passage

2144
03:40:58.920 --> 03:41:03.799
and lifted the hatch. But it
was the impressible and most certainly courageous Forsyth

2145
03:41:03.000 --> 03:41:07.959
who was the first to climb up. He reached the deck just in time

2146
03:41:09.000 --> 03:41:11.680
to dodge into the darkness behind the
bridge ladder at the sight of Demon coming

2147
03:41:11.719 --> 03:41:16.559
forward to attend to the lamps.
And it was he who sent both fists

2148
03:41:16.600 --> 03:41:22.239
in the side of Demon's face with
force enough to knock him senseless. Then

2149
03:41:22.319 --> 03:41:37.120
came the others and of chapter seventeen. Chapter eighteen of the Pirates by Morgan

2150
03:41:37.200 --> 03:41:43.479
Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain. Read by Joe Denoia,

2151
03:41:43.719 --> 03:41:52.520
Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter eighteen. That'll do, Forsyth, said

2152
03:41:52.600 --> 03:41:58.799
Sampson, interrupting the flow of Billingsgate
will admit prayers and flowers at this funeral

2153
03:42:00.959 --> 03:42:07.479
stand up. Forsyth arose, waving
two bunches of keys, and Devon's revolver

2154
03:42:09.000 --> 03:42:13.120
got on foul. He yelled excitedly, all the keys and his gun.

2155
03:42:16.920 --> 03:42:24.760
All right, just hand that gun
to meet what you won't forsythe that backed

2156
03:42:24.760 --> 03:42:31.760
away at the command, but Samson
sprang upon him and easily disarmed him.

2157
03:42:31.920 --> 03:42:35.760
Now, my lad, he said
sternly, just find the key of these

2158
03:42:35.879 --> 03:42:45.239
derbies and unlock us. Forsyth,
muttering, got one good smashing him anyhow,

2159
03:42:46.360 --> 03:42:50.399
found the key of the handcuffs,
and first unknocking his own, went

2160
03:42:50.479 --> 03:42:56.040
the rounds. Then he found the
key of the leg irons, and soon

2161
03:42:56.079 --> 03:42:58.840
they were all free, and the
minacles tossed down the hatch to be gathered

2162
03:43:00.120 --> 03:43:07.040
later. Then Big Jenkins reached his
hand out to Forsyth, but not in

2163
03:43:07.040 --> 03:43:13.719
a token of amnesty. The keys, he said, in a hoarse whisper,

2164
03:43:15.719 --> 03:43:20.360
aren't they safe enough? With me? Quivered Forsyth hotly. Jenkins still

2165
03:43:20.399 --> 03:43:28.239
maintained the ostriched hand, and Forsyth
lookally resolutely around. He saw no signs

2166
03:43:28.239 --> 03:43:33.440
of sympathy. They were all closing
in on him. And he meekly handed

2167
03:43:33.440 --> 03:43:39.959
the two bunches to Jenkins, who
pocketed them. Meanwhile, Sampson had lifted

2168
03:43:39.959 --> 03:43:46.559
Dem into his feet, and as
the boat still rolled heavily, he assisted

2169
03:43:46.639 --> 03:43:48.639
him to the bridge stairs or he
get a grip on the railing with his

2170
03:43:48.760 --> 03:43:56.959
fettered hands. Daylight had come and
Demon could see Floury still seated in the

2171
03:43:56.000 --> 03:44:05.079
deck chair, looking forward with frightened
eyes. Jenkins stubb here a moment,

2172
03:44:05.360 --> 03:44:13.440
said Sampson, and you other fellows
keep back. Jenkins drew near. Did

2173
03:44:13.440 --> 03:44:18.680
you hear in the forecastle? Sampson
went on what I said about mister Demon

2174
03:44:18.799 --> 03:44:22.319
saving my life, and that I
promised him parole and the possession of his

2175
03:44:22.399 --> 03:44:28.280
gun in case we got charged again. Jenkins nodded, but said he broke

2176
03:44:28.319 --> 03:44:37.360
his parole before, so would you
under the same provocation forsythe called him a

2177
03:44:37.360 --> 03:44:43.840
milk fed thief, wouldn't you have
struck out? Jenkins nodded again, and

2178
03:44:43.959 --> 03:44:52.360
Sampson continued, all right, my
proposition is the place mister Demon under parole

2179
03:44:52.440 --> 03:44:54.959
once more, to give him and
a lady the run of the deck up

2180
03:44:56.000 --> 03:44:58.920
after the galley hatch, and to
leave them both the possession of their guns.

2181
03:45:00.479 --> 03:45:05.559
For self defense in case. He
looked humorously around at the others.

2182
03:45:05.760 --> 03:45:13.680
These are nubriates get drunk again.
But the other guns, he has them

2183
03:45:13.719 --> 03:45:22.440
somewhere. We want power of self
defense too, mister Denman, said Sampson,

2184
03:45:22.079 --> 03:45:28.440
turning to the prisoner. You've heard
the conditions. Will you tell us

2185
03:45:28.440 --> 03:45:31.479
where your arms are? And when
you keep after the galley hatch you and

2186
03:45:31.559 --> 03:45:39.879
the lady I will, answered Denman, on condition that you all and particularly

2187
03:45:39.920 --> 03:45:46.319
your navigator keep forward to the galley
hatch. We'll do that, sir,

2188
03:45:48.000 --> 03:45:54.079
except of course, in case of
working or fighting ship. Now tell us

2189
03:45:54.079 --> 03:46:01.000
where the guns are and we'll release
you. Have a we something to say

2190
03:46:01.000 --> 03:46:05.719
about this, inquired Forsyth. Well
if you others grumbled the disapproval of the

2191
03:46:05.760 --> 03:46:13.479
plan, No, you have not, answered Jenkins. His horse whispered,

2192
03:46:13.479 --> 03:46:18.600
becoming a voice, not a one
of you. Sampson, and I will

2193
03:46:18.600 --> 03:46:24.680
be responsible for this, all right, then, responded Forsyth. But I'll

2194
03:46:24.719 --> 03:46:28.360
carry my gun all the time.
I'm not going to be shut down without

2195
03:46:28.399 --> 03:46:35.239
a white man's chance. You'll carry
a gun, my son, said Sampson,

2196
03:46:37.120 --> 03:46:39.200
when we give it to you,
and then it won't be to shoot.

2197
03:46:39.239 --> 03:46:43.680
Mister Denman, that's on your account. Remember that we're giving him a

2198
03:46:43.719 --> 03:46:54.399
gun. Now, mister Denman,
where are the pistols and toothpicks. The

2199
03:46:54.440 --> 03:46:58.559
pistols are in my room, the
cutlasses in the room opposite. You have

2200
03:46:58.639 --> 03:47:07.399
the key aft all hands, ordered
Jenkins, fumbling in his pockets for the

2201
03:47:07.479 --> 03:47:13.200
keys, and get the weapons away. They trooped and crowded down the wardroom,

2202
03:47:13.239 --> 03:47:18.479
companion Sampson, lifting his cap politely
to the girl in the chair.

2203
03:47:20.479 --> 03:47:24.239
In a short time they reappeared,
each man loaded down with pistols and cutlasses.

2204
03:47:26.719 --> 03:47:28.680
They placed them in the forecastle,
and when they had come up,

2205
03:47:30.120 --> 03:47:37.399
Sampson released Demon's bonds. Now,
sir, you are free. We'll keep

2206
03:47:37.399 --> 03:47:43.159
our promises. Let me expect you
to keep yours. Here's your gun,

2207
03:47:43.239 --> 03:47:50.559
mister Demon. Thank you, Sampson
said Demon, pocketing the revolver and shaking

2208
03:47:50.559 --> 03:47:56.120
his aching hands to circulate the blood. Of course, we are to keep

2209
03:47:56.159 --> 03:48:01.760
our promises, even though he see
things done that will raise your hair.

2210
03:48:01.840 --> 03:48:07.719
Sir, what do you mean by
that? Asked Denman, with sudden interest.

2211
03:48:09.520 --> 03:48:13.399
Can't tell you anything, sir,
except what you may know, or

2212
03:48:13.520 --> 03:48:20.040
we'll know. This boat is not
bound for the African coast. That's all

2213
03:48:20.079 --> 03:48:33.479
sir go below the watch broken juggens
Husky voice two stations the rest end of

2214
03:48:33.559 --> 03:48:46.799
chapter eighteen nineteen of the Pirates by
Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in

2215
03:48:46.840 --> 03:48:54.079
the public domain. Read by Joe
Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter

2216
03:48:54.239 --> 03:49:01.959
nineteen. What happened, Billy,
asked Florrie as Denman joined her. Not

2217
03:49:03.040 --> 03:49:07.280
much, florry, he replied,
as cheerfully as was possible in his mood,

2218
03:49:07.719 --> 03:49:11.920
Only a physical and practical demonstration that
I am the two ends and the

2219
03:49:11.959 --> 03:49:18.879
bite a fool. You're not a
fool, Billy. But what happened?

2220
03:49:18.840 --> 03:49:24.920
How did they get out by picking
the lock of the door I suppose,

2221
03:49:26.559 --> 03:49:31.120
or perhaps they had a key inside. That's where the fool comes in.

2222
03:49:33.120 --> 03:49:37.879
I should have nailed the door on
them. And what do they mean to

2223
03:49:37.920 --> 03:49:45.159
do? Don't know they have some
new project in mind. But we're better

2224
03:49:45.200 --> 03:49:48.399
off than before. Girl. We're
at liberty to carry arms and to go

2225
03:49:48.440 --> 03:49:54.959
and come. Provided we stay this
side of the galley hatch, they will

2226
03:49:54.040 --> 03:49:58.680
let us alone and stay forward to
the hatch. By the way, he

2227
03:50:00.879 --> 03:50:07.399
in view of the rather indeterminate outlook, Let's carry our hardware outside, he

2228
03:50:07.399 --> 03:50:11.159
removed his belt from his waist and
buckled it outside his bill skin coat.

2229
03:50:13.360 --> 03:50:16.159
Then, when he transferred the pistol
from his pocket to the scabbard, he

2230
03:50:16.239 --> 03:50:22.079
assisted the girl. There, he
said, as he stood back and looked

2231
03:50:22.120 --> 03:50:28.559
at her admiringly. With all due
regard for your good looks, Floory,

2232
03:50:28.680 --> 03:50:33.639
you resemble little cross between a cowboy
and a second mate. No more so

2233
03:50:33.760 --> 03:50:39.000
than you, she retorted, But
I've lost my place as cook, I

2234
03:50:39.040 --> 03:50:45.920
think. She pointed at the galley
chimney from which smoke was arising. Deadman

2235
03:50:46.040 --> 03:50:52.079
looked and also became interested in an
excited convention. Forward. Though Jenkins had

2236
03:50:52.079 --> 03:50:56.079
sent to watch below and the rest
of stations, only the two cooks had

2237
03:50:56.079 --> 03:51:01.280
a babe, the others, with
the boat still rolling in the heavy sea,

2238
03:51:01.559 --> 03:51:07.879
has surrounded Jenkins and seemed to be
arguing with him. The big man,

2239
03:51:07.479 --> 03:51:13.520
saving his voice, answered only by
signs as yet, but the voices

2240
03:51:13.559 --> 03:51:20.120
of the others soon became audible to
the two act I tell you it all

2241
03:51:20.159 --> 03:51:24.760
worked out, Jenkins, all figured
out while you were dopy in your bunk.

2242
03:51:26.120 --> 03:51:31.719
Jenkins shook his head. Then follow
an exciting burst of reason and flow

2243
03:51:31.760 --> 03:51:37.399
of words from which Denman could only
gather a few disjointed phrases. Dead easy,

2244
03:51:37.479 --> 03:51:46.159
Jenkins running close in the land.
Casey's brother can hope it too,

2245
03:51:48.319 --> 03:51:52.120
might get a job which be better. Got a private code made up,

2246
03:51:54.040 --> 03:52:01.280
don't need money, can't beat his
way in. My brother has a wireless

2247
03:52:03.040 --> 03:52:07.360
take the dinghy. We don't need
it. I'll take the chance if you

2248
03:52:07.399 --> 03:52:13.120
have a life buoy, handy chance
of a lifetime. Who wants beachcombing in

2249
03:52:13.200 --> 03:52:20.479
Africa? You'll see, you'll watch
the financial news. I'll stow away in

2250
03:52:20.559 --> 03:52:26.719
hert. I'll tell you, Jenkins, there'll be no killing. I've made

2251
03:52:26.760 --> 03:52:31.280
up my mind to that, and
we'll see to it. The last speech

2252
03:52:31.319 --> 03:52:39.200
was from Samson, and on hearing
it, Jenkins weaved them all away.

2253
03:52:39.360 --> 03:52:46.000
Then he used his voice get to
stations. He said, I'll think it

2254
03:52:46.079 --> 03:52:52.040
out. Forsyth, take the bridge
and dope out where we are. They

2255
03:52:52.079 --> 03:52:58.120
scattered, and Forsyth mounted to the
bridge, while Jenkins, still a sick

2256
03:52:58.159 --> 03:53:05.680
man, descended the forecastle. What
does it all mean, Billy asked the

2257
03:53:05.719 --> 03:53:13.040
girl having the slightest idea, answered
Denman as he seated himself beside her.

2258
03:53:15.760 --> 03:53:18.600
They've all been hinting at big things, and Sampson said that they might raise

2259
03:53:18.680 --> 03:53:26.040
my hair. However, well,
no, soon the wind is going down.

2260
03:53:26.000 --> 03:53:31.399
This was the outer fringe of a
cyclone. Why don't they go ahead

2261
03:53:33.399 --> 03:53:39.639
too much sea? These boats are
made for speed, not strength. You

2262
03:53:39.680 --> 03:53:46.239
can break their backs by steaming into
a head seat, Daniels. The cook

2263
03:53:46.799 --> 03:53:50.319
came on deck and after the limits
of the hatch, indicating by his face

2264
03:53:50.360 --> 03:53:56.159
and manner that he wished to speak
to Demon. Demon arose and approached him.

2265
03:53:58.440 --> 03:54:03.760
But you and lady breakfast together,
sir, he asked. I believe

2266
03:54:03.840 --> 03:54:09.120
so, answered Demon, then turning
to Floory, how will it be?

2267
03:54:11.280 --> 03:54:16.680
May I eat breakfast with you this
morning? She nodded, Then, Sir

2268
03:54:18.360 --> 03:54:24.239
said Daniels, I'll have to serve
it in the aftercabin. Why not the

2269
03:54:24.280 --> 03:54:31.239
wardroom? Why not keep out of
miss Fleming's apartment, because mister Demon are

2270
03:54:31.280 --> 03:54:35.680
workers laid out buildings. Attends to
the wardroom and swears he won't serve this

2271
03:54:35.799 --> 03:54:43.280
lady or get within reach of her. Serve it in the aftercabin, then,

2272
03:54:43.559 --> 03:54:48.520
said Denman, turning away to hide
the coming smile, and Daniels departing,

2273
03:54:52.680 --> 03:54:56.879
not caring to agitate the girl with
the account of buildings, drunken overtures

2274
03:54:56.120 --> 03:55:01.559
and his own vicarious repulse of them. He not explained to her building's trouble

2275
03:55:01.600 --> 03:55:05.600
of mind, but he found trouble
of his own, and explaining his frequent

2276
03:55:05.760 --> 03:55:11.200
burst of laughter when they ate their
breakfast in the cabin, and Flory found

2277
03:55:11.200 --> 03:55:18.040
trouble in accepting these explanations, for
they were irrelevant, incompetent and the name.

2278
03:55:20.159 --> 03:55:24.920
After breakfast, they went on deck
with app oilskins, for wind and

2279
03:55:24.000 --> 03:55:31.840
sea were going down. There was
a dry deck and above a sky which

2280
03:55:31.799 --> 03:55:37.200
still gray with the background of storm
cloud, yet showed an occasional glimmer of

2281
03:55:37.239 --> 03:55:41.920
blue, while to the east the
sun shone clear and unobstructed. But on

2282
03:55:41.959 --> 03:55:46.120
the whole clean cut horizon there was
not a sign of sail or smoke.

2283
03:55:50.040 --> 03:55:54.840
Eight bells having struck, the watches
were changed, but except possibly a man

2284
03:55:54.879 --> 03:55:58.559
in the engine room getting up steam, for smoke was pouring out of the

2285
03:55:58.559 --> 03:56:07.319
forefalls, no one was at stations. The watch on deck was scattered about

2286
03:56:07.319 --> 03:56:11.719
forward, and Forsyth had given way
to Jenkins, who, with his eye

2287
03:56:11.719 --> 03:56:18.440
fixed to a long telescope, was
scanning the horizon from the bridge. Denman

2288
03:56:20.079 --> 03:56:24.680
for over forty eight hours without sleep, could have turned in had not curiosity

2289
03:56:24.760 --> 03:56:31.000
kept him awake, so he waited
until nine o'clock when Forsyth, with Munson's

2290
03:56:31.000 --> 03:56:35.360
help, took morning sights, and
later until ten when Forsyth handed Jenkins and

2291
03:56:35.399 --> 03:56:43.479
Si both paper on which presumably he
had jotted the boat's approximate position. Immediately,

2292
03:56:43.799 --> 03:56:50.159
Jenkins ran the engine bills and the
boat forced ahead. Demon watched her

2293
03:56:50.200 --> 03:56:54.879
swing to a starboard wheel, and
when the rolling gave way to a pitching

2294
03:56:54.959 --> 03:56:58.959
motion as she met the head seat, he glanced at the after binnacle compass

2295
03:57:01.799 --> 03:57:09.280
northwest by north half north. He
said, whatever their plan is, Jenkins

2296
03:57:09.319 --> 03:57:18.319
had been won over. Florrie.
Better turn in. I'm going to lock

2297
03:57:18.399 --> 03:57:24.920
your door and keep that gun handy. But they were not menaced, not

2298
03:57:24.920 --> 03:57:30.840
even roused for dinner, for Daniels
had gone below, and Billings, on

2299
03:57:30.920 --> 03:57:35.440
watch for the morning, could not
wake deadman and would not approach this Florrie's

2300
03:57:35.479 --> 03:57:39.879
door. So it was late in
the afternoon when they again appeared on deck.

2301
03:57:43.040 --> 03:57:46.840
The weather had cleared, the sea
was smoothing, and the boats surging

2302
03:57:46.879 --> 03:57:54.319
along under the cruising turbines. While
Hawks had the wheel and Forsyth still an

2303
03:57:54.360 --> 03:58:03.280
officer's uniform, haste back and forth. Evidently Jenkins the light of his physical

2304
03:58:03.280 --> 03:58:09.479
and mental limitations, had seen the
need of an assistant. Paul Kelly,

2305
03:58:09.559 --> 03:58:13.319
the gunner's mate, was fussing around
a twelve pounder. The rest were out

2306
03:58:13.319 --> 03:58:20.520
of sight. Demon concluded that some
kind of seed discipline had been established while

2307
03:58:20.520 --> 03:58:24.239
he slept, and that Kelly had
been put in charge of the gunnery department

2308
03:58:24.440 --> 03:58:31.319
and been relieved from standing watch.
Otherwise, by the former arrangement, Kelly

2309
03:58:31.319 --> 03:58:37.360
would have been below while forsython hawks
were on deck. The horizon was dotted

2310
03:58:37.399 --> 03:58:46.360
with specks, some showing smoke,
others under their glass showing canvas. Demon

2311
03:58:46.479 --> 03:58:50.639
examined each by the captain's binoculars,
but saw no signs of a government craft.

2312
03:58:52.760 --> 03:58:58.000
All were peaceably going their way.
Why is it, asked Flourie,

2313
03:58:58.239 --> 03:59:03.719
as she took the last from Denman, that we see so many vessels now

2314
03:59:03.159 --> 03:59:09.680
we in the life for days without
seeing any. We were in a pocket,

2315
03:59:09.760 --> 03:59:16.000
I suppose, answered Denman. Lane
routes, trade routes for high and

2316
03:59:16.120 --> 03:59:20.559
low power craft, as well as
for sailing craft, are so well established

2317
03:59:20.559 --> 03:59:26.159
these days that if you get between
them, you can wait for weeks without

2318
03:59:26.200 --> 03:59:31.200
seeing anything. Do you think there's
any chance of our being rescued? Soon.

2319
03:59:33.319 --> 03:59:37.600
I don't know, Flory, but
we can't go much nearer the coast

2320
03:59:37.639 --> 03:59:41.319
without being recognized. In fact,
I haven't thought about it much lately.

2321
03:59:43.600 --> 03:59:48.440
The truth is I'm getting interested in
these fellows. This is the most daring

2322
03:59:48.520 --> 03:59:52.600
and desperate game I ever saw a
plane, And how they'll come out as

2323
03:59:52.639 --> 04:00:00.600
a puzzle. Hello, eight bells, the bell will struck on the bridge,

2324
04:00:00.920 --> 04:00:05.200
and the watches changed, except that
Jenkins, after a short talk with

2325
04:00:05.239 --> 04:00:09.479
Forsyth, did not relieve him,
but came after the engine room hatch,

2326
04:00:09.719 --> 04:00:13.440
where he held another short talk with
Sampson and Riley, who, instead of

2327
04:00:13.440 --> 04:00:22.120
going below, had waited only a
few words came to demon's years and these

2328
04:00:22.200 --> 04:00:28.280
and the horse accents of Jenkins as
he left them. Six days at cruising

2329
04:00:28.280 --> 04:00:35.479
speed, you say, and two
at full stein? All right? Jenkins

2330
04:00:35.479 --> 04:00:39.559
continued aft, but halted and called
to retreating Sampson, who joined him.

2331
04:00:41.920 --> 04:00:48.879
Then the two approached to galley hatch
and held denman. Captain Jenkins can't talk

2332
04:00:48.000 --> 04:00:52.959
very well, sir, said Sampson, with a conciliatory grin. But he

2333
04:00:54.000 --> 04:00:56.079
wants me to ask you what you
did to him, he says, he

2334
04:00:56.120 --> 04:01:03.840
bears no grudge, can't tell you
answered Demon. Probably there's a trick of

2335
04:01:03.920 --> 04:01:09.719
Japanese jiu jitsu not taught in the
schools and known only to experts. I

2336
04:01:09.840 --> 04:01:15.959
learned it in Japan when my life
was in danger. Jenkins nodded as though

2337
04:01:16.000 --> 04:01:22.680
satisfied with the explanation, and Samson
resumed. Another thing we came after,

2338
04:01:22.920 --> 04:01:26.360
mister Demon, is to notify you
that we must search this keeper's room in

2339
04:01:26.399 --> 04:01:31.479
the wardroom for whatever money there is
on board. There may be none.

2340
04:01:31.959 --> 04:01:39.040
What we want the last cent?
What on earth, exclaimed Demon do you

2341
04:01:39.079 --> 04:01:46.920
want with money? Then, as
their faces clouded, he said, oh,

2342
04:01:46.000 --> 04:01:50.920
go ahead, don't turn my room
upside down. You'll find my pile

2343
04:01:52.159 --> 04:01:58.079
and a sort of citizens clothes hanging
up about four and a half. Four

2344
04:01:58.120 --> 04:02:01.799
and a half as a whole lot, sir, remarked Samson. As they

2345
04:02:01.840 --> 04:02:07.479
descended the wards. A match,
got any money down below FLOORI inquired Demon,

2346
04:02:07.799 --> 04:02:15.440
joining the girl, She shook her
head. No, I lost everything,

2347
04:02:15.479 --> 04:02:20.079
but what I wear? The tears
that started to her eyes apprized Demon

2348
04:02:20.239 --> 04:02:24.200
that hers was more than a money
loss. But there was no comfort of

2349
04:02:24.280 --> 04:02:30.440
mere words for such loss, and
he went on quickly. They were going

2350
04:02:30.479 --> 04:02:35.239
through the cabin for money. They'll
get all I've got. Did you see

2351
04:02:35.280 --> 04:02:41.840
any cash in the captain's desk?
What? Yes, Billy, she said

2352
04:02:41.920 --> 04:02:46.760
hesitatingly. I wanted a place to
put my combs when I wore the bandage,

2353
04:02:46.959 --> 04:02:50.399
and I saw some money in the
upper desk. It was a role.

2354
04:02:52.879 --> 04:02:58.280
He's lost it then, always was
a careless man. Did you count

2355
04:02:58.280 --> 04:03:05.600
it? Oh? I had no
right to, But the question in Demon's

2356
04:03:05.639 --> 04:03:11.760
mind was answered by Sampson. When
Ian Jenkins emerged from the hatch five hundred,

2357
04:03:11.000 --> 04:03:16.159
he said, fine, we won't
need a quarter of it. Jenkins

2358
04:03:18.120 --> 04:03:24.280
five hundred, repeated Demon to the
girl, jail breaking, steal in government

2359
04:03:24.319 --> 04:03:33.280
property, mutiny against me, piracy
and burglary. Having helped them when they

2360
04:03:33.280 --> 04:03:43.200
are caught, but will they be
can't help but be caught. I know

2361
04:03:43.319 --> 04:03:46.760
nothing of their plans, but I
do know that they're running it right into

2362
04:03:46.799 --> 04:03:50.040
the horns nest. If a single
one of those crafts on the horizon recognizes

2363
04:03:50.079 --> 04:03:58.479
this boat and can wireless in the
rostation, will be surrounded tomorrow. But

2364
04:03:58.959 --> 04:04:03.040
as it happened, they were not
recognized. They took desperate chances in charging

2365
04:04:03.079 --> 04:04:09.719
through a coasting fleet in daylight.
In at nightfall, Jenkins gave the order

2366
04:04:09.799 --> 04:04:22.399
for full speed end of chapter nineteen, Chapter twenty of The Pirates by Morgan

2367
04:04:22.479 --> 04:04:30.040
Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in
the public domain. Read by Joe Denoia,

2368
04:04:30.280 --> 04:04:37.760
Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter twenty
for an hour, demon Will remained

2369
04:04:37.760 --> 04:04:41.879
with Floria to witness the unusual spectacle
of a forty knot destroyer in a hurry.

2370
04:04:43.959 --> 04:04:48.000
The wind was practically gone, though
a heavy ground swell still met the

2371
04:04:48.040 --> 04:04:54.000
boat from the northwest. And as
there was no moon nor starlight, and

2372
04:04:54.040 --> 04:04:56.719
as all lights were out but the
white masthead and the red and green side

2373
04:04:56.799 --> 04:05:03.920
lights invisible from a but dally lighting
the sea ahead, the site presented was

2374
04:05:03.000 --> 04:05:09.760
unusual and aspiring. They seemed to
be looking at an ever receding wall of

2375
04:05:09.840 --> 04:05:16.479
solid blackness beneath which rose and spread
from the high bow to star warning port

2376
04:05:16.399 --> 04:05:22.559
two huge moving snow drifts, lessening
in size as the bow lifted over the

2377
04:05:22.559 --> 04:05:26.559
crest of a sea it had climbed, and increasing into a liquid avalanche of

2378
04:05:26.600 --> 04:05:30.719
foam that said spangles up the bright
illumination of the mast head light. When

2379
04:05:30.760 --> 04:05:35.440
the prow buried itself in the base
of the next sea astern was a white,

2380
04:05:35.680 --> 04:05:39.559
self luminous wake that narrowed to a
point in the distance before it had

2381
04:05:39.600 --> 04:05:46.680
lost its phosphorescent glow. Flori was
interested only in the glorious picture as a

2382
04:05:46.719 --> 04:05:52.040
whole. Denman, equally impressed,
was interested in the somewhat rare spectacle of

2383
04:05:52.040 --> 04:05:58.399
a craft meeting at forty knots a
sea running at twenty for not a drop

2384
04:05:58.440 --> 04:06:03.079
of water hit the deck where they
stood. They went below at last,

2385
04:06:05.040 --> 04:06:09.680
but Denman, having slept in nearly
all day, was long in getting to

2386
04:06:09.719 --> 04:06:16.760
sleep. A curious, feudal and
inconsequential thought bothered him, the thought that

2387
04:06:16.760 --> 04:06:24.040
the cheerful buildings had ceased his singing
in the galley. The monotonous humming of

2388
04:06:24.079 --> 04:06:28.799
the turbines brought sleep at last.
But he awakened at daylight from a dream

2389
04:06:28.840 --> 04:06:33.239
in which Billings, dressed in a
mother hubbard and a poke bonnet, was

2390
04:06:33.280 --> 04:06:37.200
trying to force a piece of seawater
soap into his mouth, and had almost

2391
04:06:37.239 --> 04:06:41.040
succeeded when he awoke. But it
was a stopping of the turbines that really

2392
04:06:41.040 --> 04:06:48.680
had awakened him, and he dressed
hurriedly and went on deck. There was

2393
04:06:48.719 --> 04:06:52.959
nothing amiss. No one was in
sight but Jenkins, who leaned lazily against

2394
04:06:52.959 --> 04:06:58.079
the bridge rail. In the dim
light that shone, nothing could be seen

2395
04:06:58.120 --> 04:07:05.600
on the horizon or within it.
So, a little ashamed of his uncalled

2396
04:07:05.639 --> 04:07:13.159
for curiosity, he hurried down and
turned in all standing to wait for breakfast

2397
04:07:13.479 --> 04:07:20.840
and an explanation. But no explanation
was given him, either by events or

2398
04:07:20.840 --> 04:07:26.040
the attitude of the men. Those
on deck avoided the after end of the

2399
04:07:26.079 --> 04:07:31.920
boat, all except old Kelly,
whose duties brought in finally to the after

2400
04:07:31.959 --> 04:07:37.639
guns and tubes. But while civilly
lifting his captain, Miss Floury, he

2401
04:07:37.680 --> 04:07:43.600
was grouching taciturn in his manner until
his work was done. Then he halted

2402
04:07:43.639 --> 04:07:46.799
at the galley hatch on his way
forward to lean over and pronounced anathema of

2403
04:07:46.799 --> 04:07:54.479
the heads of the cooks because of
the quality of the food. While waiting

2404
04:07:54.479 --> 04:07:58.479
for breakfast, Devon had listened to
an angry and wordy argument between the two

2405
04:07:58.479 --> 04:08:01.360
cooks, which Daniel had voiced his
opinion of buildings for waking him from his

2406
04:08:01.399 --> 04:08:09.120
watch below to serve the prisoners.
When the watches were changing the eight bells

2407
04:08:09.200 --> 04:08:13.719
that morning, he had heard Hawks
and Davis, the two seamen of the

2408
04:08:13.760 --> 04:08:18.920
depth department, protesting violently to Jenkins
at the promotion of Forsyth and Kelly,

2409
04:08:18.000 --> 04:08:24.520
which left them to do all the
steering. Jenkins had not answered orally,

2410
04:08:26.120 --> 04:08:31.680
but his gestures overruled the protest.
Even Casey and Munson argued almost to quarreling

2411
04:08:31.680 --> 04:08:37.159
over various tricks of their trade,
which Denman as he listened that only some

2412
04:08:37.360 --> 04:08:41.559
eyes were to form a part of
the private code they had spoken of when

2413
04:08:41.600 --> 04:08:48.760
haranguing Jenkins. There was a nervous
unrest pervading them all, which while even

2414
04:08:48.799 --> 04:08:56.600
Florian Devon intact even reached the engine
room at noon, Sampson and Dwyer were

2415
04:08:56.600 --> 04:09:01.280
relieved, and the former turned back
to shout down the hatch, I told

2416
04:09:01.280 --> 04:09:05.959
you to do it, and that
goes. We've overhauled and cleaned it.

2417
04:09:07.040 --> 04:09:11.799
You two assemble and oil it up
this afternoon, or you will hear from

2418
04:09:11.840 --> 04:09:18.120
me at eight bells. The voice
of Riley, who was nearly as large

2419
04:09:18.120 --> 04:09:22.639
a man as Sampson, answer hotly
but inarticulately, and Denmon can only ascribe

2420
04:09:22.639 --> 04:09:26.159
the row to a difference of opinion
concerning the condition of some parts of the

2421
04:09:26.200 --> 04:09:33.079
engines. Sampson, though possibly the
lesser engineer than the others of his department.

2422
04:09:33.639 --> 04:09:39.639
He had dominated them as Jenkins dominated
them all by pure force of personality.

2423
04:09:41.399 --> 04:09:45.360
He had made himself chief engineer,
and his orders were obeyed, as

2424
04:09:45.399 --> 04:09:48.520
evidenced by the tranquil silence that emanated
from the engine room when Sampson returned at

2425
04:09:48.559 --> 04:09:56.719
four in the afternoon. All day
the boat lay with quiet engines and a

2426
04:09:56.799 --> 04:10:00.639
bare head of steam, rolling slightly
in a swell that came from the east,

2427
04:10:01.280 --> 04:10:05.559
while the sun shone brightly overhead from
east to west, and only a

2428
04:10:05.559 --> 04:10:13.319
few specs appeared on the horizon to
remain for a time then vanish. Meanwhile,

2429
04:10:13.920 --> 04:10:20.239
Florrie worried Denman with questions he cannot
answer. Forsyth took the sights in

2430
04:10:20.239 --> 04:10:24.360
the morning, he explained at length, and a meridian observation at noon.

2431
04:10:26.879 --> 04:10:31.239
He has undoubtedly found another pocket,
as I call these triangular spaces between the

2432
04:10:31.319 --> 04:10:37.680
routes. But I did not know
where we are, except that computing our

2433
04:10:37.760 --> 04:10:41.440
yesterday and last night's run, we
were within from sixty to one hundred miles

2434
04:10:41.440 --> 04:10:48.360
of New York. He was further
mystified when, on going to his room

2435
04:10:48.360 --> 04:10:54.360
for a cigar after supper, he
found his suit of citizens clothes missing from

2436
04:10:54.360 --> 04:11:01.440
its hook not the same thief,
he grumbled, Sampson and Jenkins are too

2437
04:11:01.440 --> 04:11:07.639
big for it. He did not
mention his loss to Florry, not wishing

2438
04:11:07.639 --> 04:11:15.760
to arouse further feminine speculation. And
when at a later hour in his higher

2439
04:11:15.799 --> 04:11:20.719
latitude, darkness had come and full
speed was roamed to the engine room,

2440
04:11:20.760 --> 04:11:26.680
he induced her to retire. I
don't know what's up, he said,

2441
04:11:26.719 --> 04:11:31.520
but get all the sleep you can. I'll call you if anything happens.

2442
04:11:35.840 --> 04:11:39.719
He did not go to sleep himself, but smoked and waited while the humming

2443
04:11:39.719 --> 04:11:46.600
turbines gathered in the miles one hour, two hours, nearly three, until

2444
04:11:46.639 --> 04:11:54.360
a quarter to eleven o'clock, when
speed was reduced. Remembering his embarrassment of

2445
04:11:54.360 --> 04:11:58.600
the morning, deadman did not seek
the deck, but look through his dead

2446
04:11:58.680 --> 04:12:03.280
leg. Nothing but darkness met his
eye. It was a black night with

2447
04:12:03.520 --> 04:12:09.920
rain. He entered the lighted wardroom
and looked at the tell tale above.

2448
04:12:11.239 --> 04:12:16.520
They told him that the boat was
heading due north. Then he entered an

2449
04:12:16.520 --> 04:12:22.079
opposite room. All were unlocked now, from which, slanting through the deadlight,

2450
04:12:22.440 --> 04:12:28.719
he saw lights. He threw open
the thick round window and saw more

2451
04:12:28.799 --> 04:12:41.079
clearly lights shore lights ahead enter port, he saw no land, but from

2452
04:12:41.079 --> 04:12:46.120
the perspective of the lights he judged
that they ran east and west. Then

2453
04:12:46.159 --> 04:12:52.799
he heard the call of the lead
a quarter seventeen, and a little later

2454
04:12:52.680 --> 04:13:01.520
by the deep seventeen, delivered in
the sing song voice by Hawks. The

2455
04:13:01.600 --> 04:13:09.280
coast of Long Island muttered demon well
for picked up schoolboy navigation. It is

2456
04:13:09.280 --> 04:13:18.760
certainly a feat to run over six
hundred miles and stop over soundings. The

2457
04:13:18.840 --> 04:13:22.799
boat went on at reduced speed until
Hawks had called out by the mark ten.

2458
04:13:24.239 --> 04:13:26.680
When the engine stopped, and there
was a rush of footsteps on deck

2459
04:13:28.040 --> 04:13:31.440
that centered over the open deadlight above, which was slung to the davits.

2460
04:13:31.719 --> 04:13:35.399
The boat called by them the dinghy, but which was only a very small

2461
04:13:35.520 --> 04:13:43.559
gasoline. Launch in with you,
Casey, said Jenkins in a low,

2462
04:13:43.639 --> 04:13:48.639
hoarse voice, and turn her over. See about the bottom plug. Two

2463
04:13:50.040 --> 04:13:54.840
clear away, those guys four and
aft you fellows. In a few moments

2464
04:13:54.879 --> 04:14:00.959
came the buzzing of a small engine. Then it stopped, and Casey said,

2465
04:14:01.200 --> 04:14:05.959
engines, all right, and so
is the plug. Shove out and

2466
04:14:07.040 --> 04:14:13.440
lower away. Got everything right,
Casey, got your money, got the

2467
04:14:13.440 --> 04:14:22.559
code, got everything? Was the
impatient answer. Well, remember you're to

2468
04:14:22.639 --> 04:14:26.200
head the boat out from the beach, pull the bottom plug and let her

2469
04:14:26.239 --> 04:14:33.760
sink in deep water. Make sure
your wheels and midships shove out and lower

2470
04:14:33.840 --> 04:14:39.479
away, retorted Casey, do you
think I never learned to run a naft

2471
04:14:39.479 --> 04:14:45.319
to launch? Demon heard the creaking
sound of the davits turning in their beds,

2472
04:14:46.159 --> 04:14:50.760
then the slackening away of the falls
they're unhooking by Casey, and the

2473
04:14:50.840 --> 04:14:56.280
chugging of the engine as the launch
drew away. Good luck, Casey called

2474
04:14:56.360 --> 04:15:03.239
Jenkins. All right, answered Casey
from the distance, have your life Bowie's

2475
04:15:03.280 --> 04:15:09.239
handy. Demon ducked out of sight
as the launch was lowered, and he

2476
04:15:09.280 --> 04:15:15.239
did not see Casey. But on
opening a locker in his room for a

2477
04:15:15.239 --> 04:15:20.639
fresh box of cigars, he noticed
that his laundry had been tampered with six

2478
04:15:20.680 --> 04:15:28.159
shirts and twice as many collars were
gone. On looking further, he missed

2479
04:15:28.159 --> 04:15:31.639
a new Derby hat that he had
prized more than usual. Also his suitcase.

2480
04:15:35.360 --> 04:15:37.879
Casey and I are about the same
size, he muttered, But what

2481
04:15:39.000 --> 04:15:45.159
the deuce does it all mean?
He went to sleep with the turbines humming

2482
04:15:45.159 --> 04:15:48.079
full speed in his ears, but
he wakened. We were reduced to cruising

2483
04:15:48.120 --> 04:15:54.239
speed. Looking at his watch in
the light from the wardroom, he found

2484
04:15:54.280 --> 04:15:58.000
that it was half past two,
and on stepping out for a look at

2485
04:15:58.000 --> 04:16:04.680
the tail tale, he found the
boat heading due south. Back in the

2486
04:16:04.719 --> 04:16:11.280
pocket, he said, as he
returned to his room. But the engines

2487
04:16:11.319 --> 04:16:15.559
did not stop as he partly expected, but remained at half speed, and

2488
04:16:15.680 --> 04:16:22.520
the boat still headed south when he
wakened at breakfast time. End of chapter

2489
04:16:22.520 --> 04:16:36.280
twenty Chapter twenty one of the Pirates
by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording is

2490
04:16:36.280 --> 04:16:44.319
in the public domain. Read by
Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey,

2491
04:16:44.520 --> 04:16:52.239
Chapter twenty one. After breakfast,
King, one of the machinists, and

2492
04:16:52.319 --> 04:16:56.520
a pleasant faced young man came after
with an ensign, a hammer, chisel,

2493
04:16:57.000 --> 04:17:02.680
and paint pot. This is work, sir, he said, as

2494
04:17:02.680 --> 04:17:07.159
he passed, tipping his cap politely
to missus. Floury should have been done

2495
04:17:07.159 --> 04:17:14.440
before. He went to the taffrail
and leading over with the hammer and chisel,

2496
04:17:15.040 --> 04:17:19.040
removed the raised letters that spelled the
boat's name. Then he covered the

2497
04:17:19.120 --> 04:17:26.200
hiatus with paint and hoisted the ensign
to the flagstaff. Now, sir,

2498
04:17:26.000 --> 04:17:30.479
he remarked, as he gathered up
his tools in paint pot. She's a

2499
04:17:30.559 --> 04:17:37.959
government craft again, I see,
commented Demon, then to Florey as King

2500
04:17:38.000 --> 04:17:44.360
went forward. They're getting foxy.
We're steaming into the crowd again, and

2501
04:17:44.399 --> 04:17:48.559
they want to forestall inspection and suspicion. I wonder if our being allowed on

2502
04:17:48.600 --> 04:17:53.360
the deck is part of the plan. A lady and an officer aft look

2503
04:17:53.479 --> 04:18:02.239
legitimate. At noon, every man
was rest of the regulations, being clean

2504
04:18:02.319 --> 04:18:07.399
blue with neckerchief and knife lanyard,
while Jenkins and Forsyth appeared in full undressed

2505
04:18:07.479 --> 04:18:15.159
uniform with tasteful linen and neckware.
That this was part of the plan was

2506
04:18:15.239 --> 04:18:18.840
proven when, after a display of
bunting in the international signal code from the

2507
04:18:18.920 --> 04:18:25.280
yard up forward, they ranged alongside
of an outboard tank steamer that had kindly

2508
04:18:25.319 --> 04:18:33.479
slowed down for them. All hands
but one cook and one engineer had mustard

2509
04:18:33.520 --> 04:18:37.479
on deck, showing a fair semblance
of a full powered watch, and the

2510
04:18:37.559 --> 04:18:42.360
one cook, Billings, displayed himself
above the hatch for one brief moment,

2511
04:18:42.760 --> 04:18:48.719
glad in spotless white jacket. Then, just before the two bridges came together,

2512
04:18:49.559 --> 04:18:52.719
Jenkins hurried down the steps and after
Demon to speak a few words,

2513
04:18:53.479 --> 04:19:00.760
then hastened forward. It was sufficiently
theatrical to impress the ski grow the tanker.

2514
04:19:00.719 --> 04:19:06.680
But what Jenkins really said to Demon
was you would have remember your parole,

2515
04:19:06.799 --> 04:19:11.920
sir, and not hell that steamer
to which Demon had nodded, assent

2516
04:19:15.040 --> 04:19:21.719
steamer, ahoy, shout at Forsyth
through a small megaphone. You are laden

2517
04:19:21.760 --> 04:19:25.840
with oil, as you said by
signal. We would like to replenish our

2518
04:19:25.879 --> 04:19:30.840
supply, which is almost exhausted.
Yes, sir, answered the skipper.

2519
04:19:32.840 --> 04:19:37.399
But to whom shall I send the
bill to the superintendent of the Charleston Navy

2520
04:19:37.479 --> 04:19:41.760
Yard. Will very lovely be paid
to your owners before you get back.

2521
04:19:44.319 --> 04:19:47.760
We want as much as one hundred
tons. I have made out a receipt

2522
04:19:47.799 --> 04:19:52.680
for that amount. Throw us a
heaving line to take our hose and I

2523
04:19:52.719 --> 04:19:59.159
will send it up on the bike. Very well, sir. Anything else

2524
04:19:59.200 --> 04:20:03.639
I could do for you, sir? Yes, we want about two hundred

2525
04:20:03.639 --> 04:20:11.120
gallons of water? There now a
long time, certainly, sir, Very

2526
04:20:11.120 --> 04:20:17.760
glad to accommodate you. Then,
after that runaway torpedo boat, yes,

2527
04:20:18.680 --> 04:20:23.559
any news of her on shore?
Our wireless is out of order. Well,

2528
04:20:25.040 --> 04:20:26.399
the opinion is that she was lost
in a big blow. A few

2529
04:20:26.440 --> 04:20:32.319
days ago she was reported well to
the nord and it was a Saint Lawrence

2530
04:20:32.399 --> 04:20:38.360
Valley storm. Did you get any
of it? Very little, answered Forsyth.

2531
04:20:40.200 --> 04:20:45.079
We were well to the southern.
A slight stumble and good diction there,

2532
04:20:45.159 --> 04:20:55.000
mister Forsyth muttered the listening demon otherwise
very well carried out. But the

2533
04:20:55.079 --> 04:21:00.639
deluded tankskeeper made no strictures on forsythed
diction. And while the pleasant conversation was

2534
04:21:00.680 --> 04:21:06.040
going on, the two lines of
hose were passed and the receipt for oil

2535
04:21:06.040 --> 04:21:11.239
and water sent up to the steamer. In a short time, the tanks

2536
04:21:11.239 --> 04:21:15.920
were filled, the hose hauled back, and the starting bells run in both

2537
04:21:15.959 --> 04:21:22.520
engine rooms. The destroyer was first
together way, and as a stern drew

2538
04:21:22.520 --> 04:21:27.079
abreast of the tanker's bridge, the
skipper lifted his capt to Florian Denman and

2539
04:21:27.200 --> 04:21:33.159
called out, good afternoon, Captain. I'm very glad I was able to

2540
04:21:33.200 --> 04:21:38.760
combinate you. Twitch Denman, with
all hands looking expectantly at him, only

2541
04:21:38.799 --> 04:21:44.600
replied with a bow as became a
dignified commander with two well trained officers on

2542
04:21:44.680 --> 04:21:51.879
his bridge to attend to the work. The boat circled around, headed northwest

2543
04:21:52.280 --> 04:21:56.120
and went on at full speed until
not only the tanker, but every other

2544
04:21:56.120 --> 04:22:02.840
craft in view had sunk beneath the
horizon. Then the engines were stopped and

2545
04:22:02.959 --> 04:22:08.319
the signal yard sent down back in
the pocket again, said Deadman to Flory,

2546
04:22:10.840 --> 04:22:17.079
what on earth can they be driving
at? And why? She answered

2547
04:22:17.079 --> 04:22:21.000
with another query. Did they go
to all that trouble to be so polite

2548
04:22:21.000 --> 04:22:26.239
and nice, when, as you
say, they are fully committed to piracy

2549
04:22:26.680 --> 04:22:33.079
and robbed the other vessels by force? This seems to show, he said,

2550
04:22:33.680 --> 04:22:37.920
the master hand of Jenkins, who
was a natural born gentleman, as

2551
04:22:37.959 --> 04:22:45.000
against the work of forsythe who was
a natural born brute. Yet he is

2552
04:22:45.040 --> 04:22:52.040
a high school graduate, and Jenkins
is a past seaman apprentice. What is

2553
04:22:52.079 --> 04:22:59.000
that one who enters the Navy at
about fifteen or sixteen to serve until he

2554
04:22:59.079 --> 04:23:04.879
is twenty one, then to leave
the Navy or reenlist. They seldom reenlist,

2555
04:23:06.200 --> 04:23:11.399
for they are trained, tutor and
discipline into good workmen to whom shore

2556
04:23:11.399 --> 04:23:18.000
life offers better opportunities. Those who
do reenlist have raised the standard of the

2557
04:23:18.079 --> 04:23:22.879
Navy sailor to the highest in the
world. But those that don't are sad

2558
04:23:22.920 --> 04:23:32.760
loss to the Navy. Jenkins reenlisted, so did Forsyth. What do you

2559
04:23:32.760 --> 04:23:37.079
think the training and tutoring the Jenkins
received equal to an education like Forsyth's or

2560
04:23:37.159 --> 04:23:45.719
yours they learn more facts, answered
Deadman. The training makes a man of

2561
04:23:45.719 --> 04:23:51.920
a bad boy and a gentleman of
a good one. What a ghastly pity

2562
04:23:52.000 --> 04:23:56.920
that, because of conservatism and politics, all the splendid material for officers should

2563
04:23:56.920 --> 04:24:00.959
go to waste, and the appointments
to an anapolis be given to good high

2564
04:24:02.000 --> 04:24:07.479
school scholars who might be cowardly sissies
at heart, or blackguards like Forsythe.

2565
04:24:10.040 --> 04:24:14.079
But that is how you received your
appointment, Billy Denman, said the girl

2566
04:24:14.159 --> 04:24:21.680
warmly. And you are neither a
sissy nor a blackguard. I hope not,

2567
04:24:22.360 --> 04:24:27.920
he answered grimly. Yet if I
had first served my time as seaman

2568
04:24:27.959 --> 04:24:33.520
apprentice before being appointed to Annapolis,
I might be up on that bridge now

2569
04:24:33.079 --> 04:24:40.239
instead of standing supinely while one seaman
apprentice doesn't navigating and another the bossing.

2570
04:24:42.840 --> 04:24:48.559
There is that man again. I'm
afraid of him, Billy. All the

2571
04:24:48.600 --> 04:24:55.399
others except Forsythe have been civil to
me, but he looks at me so

2572
04:24:55.399 --> 04:25:03.520
so hatefully. Billings minus his clean
white jacket had come up the hatch and

2573
04:25:03.639 --> 04:25:10.319
gone forward. He came back soon
showing a sullen, scowling face, as

2574
04:25:10.319 --> 04:25:15.760
though his cheerful disposition had entirely left
him. As he reached the galley hatch,

2575
04:25:17.159 --> 04:25:21.200
he cast upon the girl a look
of such intense hatred and malevolence that

2576
04:25:21.360 --> 04:25:27.559
Denman White with anger, sprang through
the hatch and halted him. If ever

2577
04:25:27.639 --> 04:25:32.959
again, he said explosively, I
catch you glaring at this lady in that

2578
04:25:33.040 --> 04:25:40.840
manner. Parole or no parole,
I'll throw you overboard. Building's face straightened,

2579
04:25:41.840 --> 04:25:47.799
he saluted, and without a word, went down the hatch, while

2580
04:25:47.840 --> 04:25:55.319
demon returned to the girl. He's
an enlisted man, he said, barely,

2581
04:25:56.200 --> 04:25:59.840
not a past to seem an apprentice. So I down him easily with

2582
04:26:00.079 --> 04:26:07.360
few words. And then came the
thought which he did not expressed the Flory,

2583
04:26:07.399 --> 04:26:11.879
that his fancied limitations which prevented him
from being on the bridge, also

2584
04:26:11.879 --> 04:26:17.760
prevented him from enlightening the mord Billings
as to the real source of the terrible

2585
04:26:17.840 --> 04:26:22.440
punch he had received. Four.
While he could justify his silence to Flory,

2586
04:26:23.360 --> 04:26:29.600
he could only with regard to Billings, Philip masculine dread of ridicule addressing

2587
04:26:29.680 --> 04:26:41.680
in feminine clothing end of chapter twenty
one, Chapter twenty two of the Pirates

2588
04:26:42.000 --> 04:26:48.760
by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain. Read by

2589
04:26:48.840 --> 04:26:59.440
Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter twenty two. At supper that

2590
04:26:59.559 --> 04:27:04.280
evening, they were served with prunes, bread without butter, and weak tea

2591
04:27:04.399 --> 04:27:11.360
with neither milk nor sugar. Or
it is from forward, sir, said

2592
04:27:11.440 --> 04:27:18.479
Daniels, noticing Demon's in volunteered a
look of surprise. All hands are to

2593
04:27:18.479 --> 04:27:23.680
be on short allowance for a while
until something comes our way again. But

2594
04:27:23.840 --> 04:27:29.760
why, asked Demon, do you
men include us in your plans and economies?

2595
04:27:30.840 --> 04:27:33.760
Why did you not rid yourself of
us last night when you said one

2596
04:27:33.799 --> 04:27:40.159
of your number is sure. Daniels
was a tall, somber faced man,

2597
04:27:40.760 --> 04:27:45.920
a typical ship's cook, and he
answered slowly, I cannot tell you,

2598
04:27:47.000 --> 04:27:49.840
sir, except that both you and
the lady might talk about this boat.

2599
04:27:52.280 --> 04:27:57.120
Oh well, said Demon, I
was speaking for this lady who doesn't belong

2600
04:27:57.159 --> 04:28:04.200
with us. Place is right here, yes, sir, agreed Daniels.

2601
04:28:06.040 --> 04:28:10.280
But I am at liberty to say, sir, to you and the lady

2602
04:28:10.360 --> 04:28:15.319
that you best look out for Billings. He seems to be going batty.

2603
04:28:15.559 --> 04:28:19.600
I have him talking to himself threatening
harm to this lady. I don't know

2604
04:28:19.639 --> 04:28:26.000
what he's got against her myself.
Tell him, said Denman, sharply that

2605
04:28:26.040 --> 04:28:30.600
if he enters this apartment or steps
one foot of bath the galley hatch on

2606
04:28:30.680 --> 04:28:34.120
deck, the parole is broken.
I'll put a bullet through his head.

2607
04:28:36.559 --> 04:28:42.040
You might tell it to Jenkins too. Daniels got through the wardroom door before

2608
04:28:42.120 --> 04:28:48.760
answering, I'll not do that,
s Jenkins might confine him and leave all

2609
04:28:48.799 --> 04:28:57.040
the work to me. I think
Billings needs a licking. Whether Daniels applied

2610
04:28:57.079 --> 04:29:03.159
this treatment for the insane to Billings
or the Billings, with an equal right

2611
04:29:03.200 --> 04:29:07.959
to a judge Daniel's saying, had
applied the same treatment to him could not

2612
04:29:07.000 --> 04:29:11.639
be determined with a violation of the
parole. But when they had finished supper

2613
04:29:11.680 --> 04:29:15.360
and reached the deck, sounds of
conflict came up from the galley hatch,

2614
04:29:17.000 --> 04:29:22.559
unheard and uninterrupted by those forward.
It was a series of thumps, bows,

2615
04:29:23.079 --> 04:29:26.280
growlings, and the rattling of pots
and pants in the galley floor.

2616
04:29:27.879 --> 04:29:36.440
Then there was silence. You see, said Denman to Floury with mock seriousness.

2617
04:29:37.440 --> 04:29:45.079
The baleful influence of a woman aboard
ship. It never fails. I

2618
04:29:45.159 --> 04:29:48.959
can't help it, she said,
with a pout and a blush. Her

2619
04:29:48.000 --> 04:29:52.479
blushes were discernible now, for the
last vestige of the scolding had gone.

2620
04:29:55.680 --> 04:29:59.520
But I mean to wear a veil
from this on. I had one in

2621
04:29:59.520 --> 04:30:04.360
my pocket. I think that would
be wise, he answered Denman gravely.

2622
04:30:06.719 --> 04:30:11.520
These men, are you see,
Billy? She interrupted, I've got a

2623
04:30:11.559 --> 04:30:17.879
new complexion, brand new peaches and
cream for the first time in my life,

2624
04:30:18.239 --> 04:30:22.120
and I'm gonna take care of it. That's right, he said,

2625
04:30:22.159 --> 04:30:27.719
with a laugh. But I'll wager
you won't patent the process. Live steam

2626
04:30:27.840 --> 04:30:36.760
is rather severe as a beautifier,
but she kept her word. After the

2627
04:30:36.799 --> 04:30:41.000
meager breakfast next morning, which Daniel
served with no explanation of the route,

2628
04:30:41.760 --> 04:30:45.360
she appeared on deck with her face
hidden. From then on wore the veil.

2629
04:30:48.239 --> 04:30:52.079
There was a new activity among the
men, a partial relief from the

2630
04:30:52.200 --> 04:31:00.680
all pervading nervousness and irritability gun and
torpedo practice, which brought to real every

2631
04:31:00.680 --> 04:31:06.040
man on board except Munson, buried
in his wireless room, and one engineer

2632
04:31:06.079 --> 04:31:14.559
on duty was inaugurated and continued through
the day. Their natty blue uniforms discarded,

2633
04:31:15.280 --> 04:31:19.239
they toiled and perspired at the task, and when toward the end of

2634
04:31:19.280 --> 04:31:23.000
the afternoon, Old Kelly decided that
they could be depended upon to fire a

2635
04:31:23.079 --> 04:31:29.520
gun or ejected torpedo, Jenkins decreed
they should get on deck and lashed to

2636
04:31:29.600 --> 04:31:36.600
the rail in their chocks four extra
torpedoes, as there was one in each

2637
04:31:36.639 --> 04:31:41.680
tube. This made Aida the Dudley's
weapons of warfare ready at hand. When

2638
04:31:41.680 --> 04:31:47.479
a task was done, they quit
for the day, the debt force going

2639
04:31:47.520 --> 04:31:51.760
to the bridge for a look around
the empty horizon, the cooks to the

2640
04:31:51.799 --> 04:31:59.559
galley, and the machinists to the
engine room. Denman, who with doubt

2641
04:31:59.559 --> 04:32:03.879
and misty, had watched the day's
preparations, led Floory down the companion.

2642
04:32:06.319 --> 04:32:08.920
They're getting ready for a mix of
some kind, and there must be someplace

2643
04:32:08.959 --> 04:32:15.520
to put you away from the gunfire. How's this? He opened a small

2644
04:32:15.559 --> 04:32:21.200
hatch covered by the loose after edge
of the cabin carpet, and disclosed a

2645
04:32:21.280 --> 04:32:26.600
compartment below which might have been designed
for stores, but was contained nothing.

2646
04:32:26.239 --> 04:32:33.399
As the lighted electric bulb showed him
coming up, he threw a couple of

2647
04:32:33.440 --> 04:32:38.600
blankets down and said, there's a
cyclone cellar for you, Flory below the

2648
04:32:38.639 --> 04:32:45.520
water line. If we're fired upon, jumped down and don't come up until

2649
04:32:45.600 --> 04:32:51.760
cold or until water comes in.
Then he went to his room for the

2650
04:32:51.840 --> 04:32:57.959
extra store of cartridges he had secreted, but found them gone angrily. Returning

2651
04:32:57.959 --> 04:33:04.479
to Floury, he asked for her
supply, and she too searched and found

2652
04:33:04.520 --> 04:33:14.080
nothing. But both their weapons were
fully loaded. Well, he said philosophically,

2653
04:33:14.240 --> 04:33:18.759
as they returned to the deck,
they only guaranteed us the privilege of

2654
04:33:18.840 --> 04:33:26.080
carrying arms. I suppose they feel
justified from their standpoint, But Undecy found

2655
04:33:26.080 --> 04:33:30.959
something to take their minds temporarily off
the loss. Sampson, red in the

2656
04:33:32.040 --> 04:33:38.080
face, was mosciperating down the engine
room hatch. Come up here, he

2657
04:33:38.159 --> 04:33:42.479
said, loudly and defiantly. Come
up here and prove it. If you

2658
04:33:42.560 --> 04:33:47.400
think you're a better man than I
am, come up and square yourself,

2659
04:33:47.799 --> 04:33:56.959
you flannel mouth mick. The flannel
mouth mick in the person of Riley White,

2660
04:33:56.000 --> 04:34:00.400
a face rather than red, both
eyes blazing and mouth, said an

2661
04:34:00.479 --> 04:34:08.159
ugly grin lined up. It was
a short fight. The blows delivered by

2662
04:34:08.200 --> 04:34:14.240
Samson. The paying done by Riley, and ended with a crashing swing on

2663
04:34:14.360 --> 04:34:18.479
Riley's jaw that sent him to the
deck, not to rise for a few

2664
04:34:18.520 --> 04:34:26.439
moments. Had enough, asked Samson
triumphantly, had enough you imitation of an

2665
04:34:26.439 --> 04:34:34.319
ashcat. Oh, I guess you
have think it out. He turned and

2666
04:34:34.439 --> 04:34:41.040
met Jenkins, who had run aft
from the bridge. Now, Samson,

2667
04:34:41.400 --> 04:34:45.119
this will be enough of this.
What have you got to say about it,

2668
04:34:45.240 --> 04:34:52.159
inquired Sampson. By Rayley plenty to
say, answered Jenkins, calmly,

2669
04:34:53.639 --> 04:34:57.479
not much. You haven't you keep
away from the engine room and the engine

2670
04:34:57.479 --> 04:35:03.119
more affairs. I could tend to
my department, you tend to yours.

2671
04:35:06.000 --> 04:35:08.680
I can tend to yours as well. When the time comes. There's work

2672
04:35:08.680 --> 04:35:14.319
ahead for well. Attend to me. Now. You sweated me all day

2673
04:35:14.479 --> 04:35:18.279
like a stoker at your work.
Now go on and finish it up.

2674
04:35:18.520 --> 04:35:25.639
I'll take a fall out of you
Jenkins right here. No, you won't

2675
04:35:26.439 --> 04:35:33.919
wait until the work's done, and
I'll accommodate you. Jenkins went forward,

2676
04:35:33.680 --> 04:35:40.000
and Sampson, after a few moments
of scarcely audible grumbling, followed to the

2677
04:35:40.040 --> 04:35:45.680
forecastle. Then Riley got up,
looked after him and shook his fist.

2678
04:35:48.439 --> 04:35:53.680
I'll get even with you for this, he declared, with lurid profanity.

2679
04:35:55.520 --> 04:36:02.040
I'll have your life for this,
Sampson, anyone down the hatch, while

2680
04:36:02.080 --> 04:36:04.759
Forsyth on the bridge, who had
watched the whole affair with an evil grin,

2681
04:36:06.319 --> 04:36:11.840
turned away from Jenkins when the ladder
joined him. Perhaps he enjoyed the

2682
04:36:11.880 --> 04:36:18.840
sight of Sewing beside himself being knocked
down. It looks rather bad, Floury

2683
04:36:18.400 --> 04:36:25.720
said then, and dubiously, all
this quarreling among themselves. Whatever job they

2684
04:36:25.759 --> 04:36:30.040
have on hand, they must hold
together or we'll get the worst of it.

2685
04:36:30.720 --> 04:36:34.599
I don't like to see Jenkins and
Samson hennan, though the two cooks

2686
04:36:34.880 --> 04:36:41.919
are only a joke. But there
was no more open quarreling for the present.

2687
04:36:42.439 --> 04:36:47.040
As the days wore on, a
little gun and torpedo drill was carried

2688
04:36:47.040 --> 04:36:52.959
out, while with steam up,
the book made occasional darts to the north

2689
04:36:52.639 --> 04:36:59.919
or south to avoid too close contact
with passing craft, and gradually, by

2690
04:37:00.080 --> 04:37:07.159
fits and starts, crept more to
the westward, and Jenkins recovered complete control

2691
04:37:07.200 --> 04:37:15.040
of his voice and movements, while
Munson the Wireless Man grew haggard and thin

2692
04:37:18.639 --> 04:37:23.959
at last and nine o'clock one evening, just before Demmon went down, Munson

2693
04:37:25.040 --> 04:37:30.599
ran up the sheet of paper,
shouting to the bridge, caught on with

2694
04:37:30.759 --> 04:37:40.040
the United night shift. Then,
having delivered the sheet to Jenkins, he

2695
04:37:40.080 --> 04:37:44.520
went back, and the rasping sound
of his sending instruments kept up through the

2696
04:37:44.599 --> 04:37:49.479
night. But when Demon sought the
deck after breakfast, it had stopped,

2697
04:37:51.040 --> 04:37:55.720
and he saw Munson, still haggard
to face, talking to Jenkins at the

2698
04:37:55.759 --> 04:38:03.279
hatch, got his wavelength. Now
Demon heard him say, took all night,

2699
04:38:04.080 --> 04:38:11.000
but that in the code or full
them all. From then on Munson

2700
04:38:11.040 --> 04:38:17.439
stood watching his instrument only from six
in the evening until midnight, got more

2701
04:38:17.520 --> 04:38:23.560
sleep thereby, and soon the tired
haggard look left his face and it resumed

2702
04:38:23.560 --> 04:38:37.759
his normal expression of intelligence and cheerfulness. End of chapter twenty two Chapter twenty

2703
04:38:37.759 --> 04:38:44.759
three of The Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in the public

2704
04:38:44.799 --> 04:38:52.240
domain. Read by Joe Denoia,
Chesterfield, New Jersey, Chapter twenty three.

2705
04:38:53.680 --> 04:38:57.319
After supper, about a week later, Demon and Flory sat in the

2706
04:38:57.360 --> 04:39:03.360
deck chairs, watching the twilight way
to the gloom of the evening and speculating

2707
04:39:03.639 --> 04:39:07.799
in a desultory manner on the end
of this never ending voyage, when Munson

2708
04:39:07.840 --> 04:39:11.759
again darted on deck and ran up
the bridge stairs with a sheet of paper,

2709
04:39:12.360 --> 04:39:17.759
barely discernible in the gathering darkness,
and handed it to Jenkins, who

2710
04:39:17.759 --> 04:39:22.639
appeared over it in the glow from
the binnacle. Then Jenkins blew in the

2711
04:39:22.639 --> 04:39:30.240
bo'sun's whistle, the shrill, trilling
and penetrating call that rouses all hands in

2712
04:39:30.279 --> 04:39:34.319
the morning, but i seldom given
again throughout the day, except in emergencies.

2713
04:39:37.840 --> 04:39:42.840
All hands responded. Both cooks rushed
out from the galley, the engineers

2714
04:39:42.840 --> 04:39:48.840
on watch, shut off all burners, and appeared the men tumbling up from

2715
04:39:48.840 --> 04:39:56.439
the forecastle, all joining Jenkins and
Munson on the bridge. Demons strained his

2716
04:39:56.560 --> 04:40:00.880
ears but could hear nothing, though
we saw each man bending over the paper

2717
04:40:00.959 --> 04:40:07.040
in turn. Then they quickly went
back to their places below were on deck,

2718
04:40:07.880 --> 04:40:11.919
and as the bells were given to
the engine room, the rasping of

2719
04:40:11.959 --> 04:40:17.799
the wireless could be heard. As
the two cooks came aft, Demon heard

2720
04:40:17.799 --> 04:40:23.880
them discussing excitedly but inaudibly, the
matter in hand, and his curiosity getting

2721
04:40:23.919 --> 04:40:27.759
the better of his pride, he
waited only long enough to see the boat

2722
04:40:27.799 --> 04:40:33.319
steadied at east northeast. They went
down and forward to the door leading to

2723
04:40:33.400 --> 04:40:40.200
the passage that led to the galley. Billions was doing most of the talking

2724
04:40:40.479 --> 04:40:45.639
in a high pitched querulous tone,
and Daniels answered only by grunts and low

2725
04:40:45.680 --> 04:40:55.880
pitched monosyllables. Gigantia, ten,
tomorrow, five million were a few to

2726
04:40:55.919 --> 04:41:00.279
the words and phrases. Demon caught
and at last he heard the con looting

2727
04:41:00.319 --> 04:41:06.599
words of the talk. Dry up, said Daniels, loudly and threateningly.

2728
04:41:07.360 --> 04:41:11.599
Yes, thirteen isn't unlucky number,
but if you don't shut up and clear

2729
04:41:11.639 --> 04:41:17.360
off these dishes, I'll make our
number twelve. Glad you've got something to

2730
04:41:17.360 --> 04:41:22.240
think about besides that woman, But
shut up, you make me tired.

2731
04:41:26.520 --> 04:41:30.479
Demon went back to Floory, somewhat
worried, but no longer puzzled. Yet

2732
04:41:30.560 --> 04:41:36.119
he gave the girl none of his
thoughts that evening. He waited until morning,

2733
04:41:36.680 --> 04:41:41.959
when, after a look around a
bright horizon dotted with sail and steam,

2734
04:41:41.000 --> 04:41:45.119
he said to her as she came
up, eat all the breakfast you

2735
04:41:45.159 --> 04:41:49.319
can this morning, Floory, for
it, maybe some time before you again.

2736
04:41:52.479 --> 04:41:59.919
Why, Billy, what's the matter, asked the girl, We've traveled

2737
04:42:00.119 --> 04:42:03.520
cruising speed all night, he answered, and now must be up close to

2738
04:42:03.560 --> 04:42:07.599
the corner, as they call the
position where the outbound liners changed to the

2739
04:42:07.639 --> 04:42:17.720
great circle. Course, Well,
she said, inquiringly, did you ever

2740
04:42:17.799 --> 04:42:22.639
hear of the Gigantia. Well,
of course you mean the new liner.

2741
04:42:25.799 --> 04:42:30.439
Yes, the latest and largest steamship
built. She was on her maiden voyage

2742
04:42:30.479 --> 04:42:33.720
when this boat left port, and
is about due to start the east again.

2743
04:42:36.919 --> 04:42:41.639
Floory. She carries five million in
bullion, and these fellows mean to

2744
04:42:41.680 --> 04:42:48.639
hold her up, goodness, exclaimed
the girl. You mean they will rob

2745
04:42:48.720 --> 04:42:55.200
her a big steamship. She's big
enough, of course to tuck this boat

2746
04:42:55.240 --> 04:43:00.439
down a hatchway. But these passengers
boats carry no guns except for looting,

2747
04:43:00.279 --> 04:43:06.279
while this book could sink her with
the armament she carries. Look at those

2748
04:43:06.319 --> 04:43:14.080
torpedoes, eight altogether, and more
below decks eight compartments could be flooded,

2749
04:43:14.560 --> 04:43:22.200
and bulkheads are not reliable. But
will they dare desperate? Though they are?

2750
04:43:22.680 --> 04:43:29.040
Will they dare fire on a ship
full of passengers? How did you

2751
04:43:29.159 --> 04:43:37.520
learn this, billy? It seems
impossible, incredible. Remember the gun and

2752
04:43:37.560 --> 04:43:45.560
torpedo drill, said Denman softly,
excitedly. Our being in these latitudes is

2753
04:43:45.599 --> 04:43:51.119
significant. They put Casey ashore the
other night and robbed the captain and me

2754
04:43:51.240 --> 04:43:56.560
to outfit him. I overheard some
of the talk. He has reached New

2755
04:43:56.680 --> 04:44:02.919
York, secured a position as night
operator in the station, started the financial

2756
04:44:02.959 --> 04:44:07.159
news and send word last night that
the Giganta sails at ten this morning with

2757
04:44:07.279 --> 04:44:14.840
five million in gold. And where
do you think she is now, asked

2758
04:44:14.880 --> 04:44:22.200
the girl, glancing around the horizon
at her dock in New York. She'll

2759
04:44:22.240 --> 04:44:26.119
be out here late in the afternoon, I think, But heavens, what

2760
04:44:26.360 --> 04:44:32.439
chances to wait all day while any
craft that comes along. They recognized this

2761
04:44:32.520 --> 04:44:37.159
boat and notified the nearest station.
Why didn't they intercept the lane route out

2762
04:44:37.200 --> 04:44:42.959
at sea where there's no crowd like
this? I can only account for it

2763
04:44:44.000 --> 04:44:49.560
by the shortage of stores. Yes, that's it. No seeing pirate would

2764
04:44:49.560 --> 04:44:55.319
take such risks. We have plenty
of oil and water, but little food.

2765
04:44:59.040 --> 04:45:02.400
The demon had guessed rightly, was
partly indicated by the action of the

2766
04:45:02.400 --> 04:45:07.479
men and the boat that day.
All hands kept the deck and their first

2767
04:45:07.479 --> 04:45:12.439
task was discard the now useless signal
mast, which might help identify the boat

2768
04:45:12.560 --> 04:45:19.119
as the runaway destroyer. Two engineers
saw it nearly threw the mast at its

2769
04:45:19.119 --> 04:45:26.000
base, while the others cleared away
the light shrouds and four stay. Then

2770
04:45:26.279 --> 04:45:30.639
a few tugs on a lea shroud
sent it overboard, while the men dodghed

2771
04:45:30.639 --> 04:45:38.080
from under beyond, smashing the bridge
rail. It did no damage. The

2772
04:45:38.200 --> 04:45:44.400
dodging tactics were resumed. A steamer, appearing on the east or west horizon,

2773
04:45:44.840 --> 04:45:48.599
heading as to pass to the northward
of southward, was given a wider

2774
04:45:48.599 --> 04:45:53.479
berth by a dash at full speed
in the opposite direction. Every face,

2775
04:45:55.319 --> 04:46:00.360
even floors and demons, wore an
anxious, nervous expression, and attention increased

2776
04:46:00.479 --> 04:46:10.680
as the hours went by. Dinner
was served but brought no relief. Men

2777
04:46:10.720 --> 04:46:14.599
spoke sharply to one another, and
Jenkins roared his orders from the bridge,

2778
04:46:14.959 --> 04:46:22.159
bringing a culmination to the strain that
no one could have foreseen. The sudden

2779
04:46:22.159 --> 04:46:25.520
appearance of an inbound steamer out of
the haze that had arisen to the east

2780
04:46:26.080 --> 04:46:32.279
necessitated immediate full speed. Riley was
in charge of the engine room, but

2781
04:46:32.439 --> 04:46:37.439
Samson stood at the hatch exercising an
unofficial supervision, and it was he that

2782
04:46:37.520 --> 04:46:45.520
received at Jenkins thundering request from more
steam. Samson, in a voice equally

2783
04:46:45.599 --> 04:46:49.840
loud and with more profanity, admonished
Jenkins to descend to lower regions and attend

2784
04:46:49.840 --> 04:46:56.400
to his own affairs. Jenkins yielded, leaving Forsyth in charge of the bridge.

2785
04:46:57.040 --> 04:47:03.759
He came down the stairs and down
the run. Not a word was

2786
04:47:03.799 --> 04:47:07.840
spoken by either, but with the
pressions that men feel at the coming of

2787
04:47:07.840 --> 04:47:12.159
a fight. The two cooks left
their dishes, and the engineers their engines

2788
04:47:12.400 --> 04:47:18.759
to crowd their heads into the hatches. Riley showed his disfigured face over the

2789
04:47:18.759 --> 04:47:23.919
heads of the other two, and
on the bridge forsythe watched with the same

2790
04:47:25.080 --> 04:47:32.959
evil grin. But a few blows
were passed. Then the giants, locked

2791
04:47:33.159 --> 04:47:40.400
and twisting and writhing, whirled about
the deck. Floury scream but them in

2792
04:47:40.479 --> 04:47:47.639
sounds. Their nothing can be done, he said, without violing the parole,

2793
04:47:48.880 --> 04:47:53.919
and even if he stopped, for
the two huge forms, tightly embraced,

2794
04:47:55.360 --> 04:48:00.560
had reeled like one solid object to
the rail, which actually them at

2795
04:48:00.599 --> 04:48:04.240
just above the knees, had sent
them overboard, exactly as Samson had gone

2796
04:48:04.279 --> 04:48:15.959
before. Man overboard, yelled Denman
uselessly, for all had seen but he

2797
04:48:15.040 --> 04:48:19.319
threw a life buoy fast into the
quarter, was about to throw another when

2798
04:48:19.360 --> 04:48:22.759
he looked and saw that his first
was one hundred feet this side of the

2799
04:48:22.799 --> 04:48:32.279
struggling men. He turned the glands
forward. Men were running about frantically and

2800
04:48:32.400 --> 04:48:37.400
shouting, but nothing was done,
and the boat still headed a matter of

2801
04:48:37.479 --> 04:48:45.520
forty knots an hour. Riley grinned
from the hatch and forward on the bridge.

2802
04:48:45.279 --> 04:48:49.840
Forsythe turned his now sober face away
to look at the compass and at

2803
04:48:49.840 --> 04:48:59.200
the steamer, fast disappearing the haze
that followed her. Then Moore's an outlet

2804
04:48:59.200 --> 04:49:00.880
for his anger, and, disgusted
than in the hope of saving life,

2805
04:49:02.720 --> 04:49:06.680
demon threw the second life bowie high
in the air over the stern, and

2806
04:49:06.799 --> 04:49:14.279
led the shot and hysterical Flory down
the stairs. Rest here a while,

2807
04:49:14.680 --> 04:49:19.000
he said, gently, and try
to forget it. I don't know what

2808
04:49:19.040 --> 04:49:26.400
they'll do now, but keep your
pistol with you at all times. He

2809
04:49:26.479 --> 04:49:33.799
went up with a grave face of
many heartfelt misgivings. Four With Forsyth and

2810
04:49:33.880 --> 04:49:41.040
Riley now the master spirits, things
might not go well with them. End

2811
04:49:41.080 --> 04:49:52.439
of chapter twenty three twenty four of
the Pirates by Morgan Robertson. This LibriVox

2812
04:49:52.479 --> 04:49:57.919
recording is in the public domain.
Read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield, New

2813
04:49:57.959 --> 04:50:07.919
Jersey, chapter twenty four. In
about ten minutes, four seth ground the

2814
04:50:07.959 --> 04:50:12.959
wheel over and headed back. But
though demon kept a sharp lookout, he

2815
04:50:14.040 --> 04:50:18.279
saw nothing of the two men or
the life buoys. He could feel no

2816
04:50:18.360 --> 04:50:26.000
hope for Sampson, who was unable
to swim, as for Jenkins, possibly

2817
04:50:26.040 --> 04:50:30.240
a swimmer. Even should he reach
a life bowie, his plate would only

2818
04:50:30.279 --> 04:50:33.799
be prolonged to a lingering death by
hunger and thirst, for there was only

2819
04:50:33.799 --> 04:50:41.799
one chance in a million that he
would be seen and picked up. After

2820
04:50:41.840 --> 04:50:45.439
ten minutes in the backtrack, the
boat was logically in about the same position

2821
04:50:45.520 --> 04:50:51.000
as when she had fled from the
steamer before. Syd kept on for another

2822
04:50:51.040 --> 04:50:56.720
ten minutes. When the Hayes,
having enveloped the whole horizon, he stopped

2823
04:50:56.720 --> 04:51:04.119
the engines and the boat lost way. We stugglishly in the trough. There

2824
04:51:04.240 --> 04:51:10.119
was no win and nothing but a
long ground swell and the Haze team convenience

2825
04:51:10.159 --> 04:51:15.799
them the first and making it difficult
to cite a telescope the second and hiding

2826
04:51:15.840 --> 04:51:22.680
everything on the horizon, though hiding
the boat herself. But at last Forsythe

2827
04:51:22.680 --> 04:51:27.720
fixed something in the glass, gazing
long and intently at a faint spot appearing

2828
04:51:27.759 --> 04:51:33.599
to the northwest, and Denman,
following suit with the binoculars, saw what

2829
04:51:33.639 --> 04:51:37.919
he was looking at, a huge
book coming out of the haze, carrying

2830
04:51:38.000 --> 04:51:44.880
one short mast and five funnels.
Then he remembered the descriptions he had read

2831
04:51:44.959 --> 04:51:49.360
of the mighty Gigantia, the only
ship afloat with five funnels since the Great

2832
04:51:49.400 --> 04:51:56.639
Eastern Forsythe called, and all hands
flocked to the bridge, where they discussed

2833
04:51:56.639 --> 04:52:03.080
the situation, and as them,
and judged by the many faces, turned

2834
04:52:03.080 --> 04:52:08.119
his way, discussed him in floory, but whatever resulted from the ladder came

2835
04:52:08.159 --> 04:52:15.080
to nothing. They suddenly left the
bridge to disappear in the forecastle for a

2836
04:52:15.080 --> 04:52:22.040
few moments, then to reappear,
each man belted in pistol, and one

2837
04:52:22.119 --> 04:52:27.319
bringing an outfit to Forsyth. On
the bridge. Two engineers went to the

2838
04:52:27.360 --> 04:52:33.360
engines. Forsythe rang full speed to
them, and the rest cooks and all

2839
04:52:33.840 --> 04:52:41.439
swung the four torpedo tubes to port
and manned the forward one. The big

2840
04:52:41.439 --> 04:52:47.240
ship seemed to grow in size visibly
as their speed plus the destroyers brought them

2841
04:52:47.279 --> 04:52:55.799
together in a few moments. Demon
made out details six parallel lines of deadlights,

2842
04:52:56.520 --> 04:53:00.200
one above the other and extending from
a bow to stern, a length

2843
04:53:00.560 --> 04:53:07.720
of a thousand feet, three tiers
of deck houses one above the other amidships,

2844
04:53:08.479 --> 04:53:12.000
a line of twenty boats to a
side along the upper deck, and

2845
04:53:12.159 --> 04:53:18.880
her after rails black with passengers.
While as many as six uniform officers stood

2846
04:53:18.880 --> 04:53:26.840
on her bridge eighty feet above the
waterline. A little destroyer rounded two alongside

2847
04:53:26.439 --> 04:53:30.959
and slowed down to a little more
than the speed of a larger ship,

2848
04:53:30.759 --> 04:53:37.040
which permitted her to creep along the
huge black side inch by inch until the

2849
04:53:37.119 --> 04:53:45.159
bridges were nearly abreast. Then a
white whiskered man on the high bridge hailed,

2850
04:53:45.959 --> 04:53:52.360
steamer, ahoy, what do you
want while all that bullion stored in

2851
04:53:52.400 --> 04:53:59.919
your strong room? Answered Forsyth,
through a megaphone, And if you please

2852
04:54:00.799 --> 04:54:04.599
speak more distinctly, for the wash
of your bows wave prevents my hearing what

2853
04:54:04.680 --> 04:54:11.720
you say. The officer was handed
a megaphone, and through it his voice

2854
04:54:11.759 --> 04:54:18.439
came down like a thunderclap. You
want the billions stored in our strong room,

2855
04:54:18.479 --> 04:54:26.200
don't you anything else? You want, sir, Yes, answered Forsyth,

2856
04:54:26.159 --> 04:54:30.319
you want a boat full of provisions, three barrels of flour, the

2857
04:54:30.439 --> 04:54:38.319
rest and canned meats and vegetables anything
else. There was as much derision in

2858
04:54:38.360 --> 04:54:45.479
the voice as can carry through a
megaphone. That is all, answered Forsyth.

2859
04:54:47.159 --> 04:54:51.119
Load your gold into one of your
own boats, the provisions in another.

2860
04:54:52.919 --> 04:54:56.400
Lower them down, and let the
falls unreeve, so that they will

2861
04:54:56.400 --> 04:55:03.680
go adrift. We will pick them
up. Well. Of all the infrontal

2862
04:55:03.720 --> 04:55:08.240
impudence I ever heard, yours is
the worst. I judge that you are

2863
04:55:08.279 --> 04:55:11.959
that crew of jail breakers we've heard
of that stole a government boat and turn

2864
04:55:12.080 --> 04:55:19.159
pirates. You are right, answered
Forsyth, But don't waste our time.

2865
04:55:21.000 --> 04:55:22.759
Will you give us what we ask
for? Or shall we sink you?

2866
04:55:26.279 --> 04:55:30.279
Sink us, you scoundrel. You
can't. You better not try, or

2867
04:55:30.400 --> 04:55:37.200
threatened to. Your position is known, and three scouts started this morning from

2868
04:55:37.200 --> 04:55:45.360
Boston in New York. That bluff
don't go, answered Forsyth. Will you

2869
04:55:45.400 --> 04:55:52.279
cough up? No? Most decidedly
no, roared the officer, who might

2870
04:55:52.759 --> 04:56:00.240
or might not have been the captain. Kelly, said Forsyth, send that

2871
04:56:00.279 --> 04:56:07.840
white head straight into him. Whitehead, torpedoes, be it known, are

2872
04:56:07.840 --> 04:56:15.400
a mechanical fish of machine steel,
self repelling and self steering, actuated by

2873
04:56:15.400 --> 04:56:19.840
a small air engine, and carrying
in their warheads a charge of over two

2874
04:56:19.919 --> 04:56:26.479
hundred pounds of guncotton, and then
their blunt noses a detonating cap to explode

2875
04:56:26.479 --> 04:56:33.599
it on contact. At Forsyth's word, Kelly turned a lever on the tube

2876
04:56:33.080 --> 04:56:41.720
and the contained torpedo dived gently overboard. Denman, looking closely, saw it

2877
04:56:41.759 --> 04:56:47.439
appear once on the surface porpoise like
before it dived to an indicated depth.

2878
04:56:48.840 --> 04:56:57.439
The inhuman devil, he commented with
gritting teeth. A muffled report came from

2879
04:56:57.439 --> 04:57:03.639
the depths. A huge amount of
water lifted up to break the scattered fragments

2880
04:57:03.639 --> 04:57:07.840
and bubbles. Then these bubbles burst, giving vent to clouds of brown and

2881
04:57:07.959 --> 04:57:12.799
yellow smoke. While up through the
ventilators and out through the open lower deadlights

2882
04:57:12.959 --> 04:57:18.639
came more of this smoke and the
sound of human voices screaming and groaning.

2883
04:57:21.680 --> 04:57:25.720
These sounds were drowned in the buzzing
of thousands of other voices on deck as

2884
04:57:25.840 --> 04:57:33.400
men, women and children fought their
way toward the stern. Do you agree,

2885
04:57:33.000 --> 04:57:38.240
yelled Forsyth through the megaphone. Do
you agree, or shall we unload

2886
04:57:38.279 --> 04:57:45.959
every torpedo we've got into your hull. Old Kelly had calmly marshaled the crew

2887
04:57:47.000 --> 04:57:51.840
to the next torpedo and looked up
the Forsyth for the word, but it

2888
04:57:51.880 --> 04:57:56.919
did not come. Instead, over
the buzzing of the voices, came the

2889
04:57:56.959 --> 04:58:04.840
officer's answer, loud and distinct,
we agree. We understand that your necks

2890
04:58:04.840 --> 04:58:08.319
are in the halter. Then you
have nothing to lose, even though you

2891
04:58:08.360 --> 04:58:14.520
should fill every compartment and drown every
soul on board this ship. So we

2892
04:58:14.560 --> 04:58:18.880
will accede to your demands. We
will fill one boat with the bullion and

2893
04:58:18.000 --> 04:58:22.840
another with provisions, and cast them
adrift. But do not fire again.

2894
04:58:22.959 --> 04:58:34.040
For God's sakes, all right,
answered Forsyth. Bear a hand breast to

2895
04:58:34.119 --> 04:58:37.840
breast. The two craft charged along, while two boats were lowered to the

2896
04:58:37.919 --> 04:58:44.799
level of the main deck and swiftered
into the rail. Sailors appeared from the

2897
04:58:44.840 --> 04:58:48.880
doors and pairs, each carrying a
box that taxed their strength and made them

2898
04:58:48.880 --> 04:58:53.959
stagger. There were ten in all, and they slowly and carefully ranged them

2899
04:58:53.959 --> 04:58:57.520
along the bottom of one of the
boats, so as to distribute their weight.

2900
04:59:00.200 --> 04:59:04.319
While this was going on, stewards
and galley helpers were filling the other

2901
04:59:04.360 --> 04:59:12.000
boat with provisions in boxes, barrels
and packages. Then the word was given

2902
04:59:12.319 --> 04:59:17.520
and the boats were cast off and
lowered, the tackles of the heavier groaning

2903
04:59:17.599 --> 04:59:23.840
mightily under the strain. When they
struck the water. The falls were instantly

2904
04:59:23.919 --> 04:59:30.159
let go, and as the boats
drifted astern, the tackles unrove their long

2905
04:59:30.240 --> 04:59:37.400
lengths from the blocks and were hauled
on board Again. Forsyth stopped the engines

2906
04:59:37.799 --> 04:59:44.720
and then back toward the drifting boats. As the destroyer passed a stern off

2907
04:59:44.720 --> 04:59:48.319
the giant steamer, a shout rang
out, but only Demon heard it about

2908
04:59:48.360 --> 04:59:53.119
the buzzing of voices, and it
seemed that only he saw Casey spring from

2909
04:59:53.119 --> 04:59:56.959
the high rail of the mammoth into
the sea. For the rest were busy

2910
04:59:57.000 --> 05:00:04.000
grappling for the boat's painters, and
Forsyth was looking aft. When the painters

2911
05:00:04.000 --> 05:00:10.439
were secured and the boats drawn alongside, Forsyth rang for half speed, and

2912
05:00:10.560 --> 05:00:15.400
the boat, under a port wheel, swung away from the gigantia and went

2913
05:00:15.439 --> 05:00:22.040
ahead. There's your man, Casey, yelled Demon excitedly. Are you going

2914
05:00:22.119 --> 05:00:29.799
to leave him? Forsyth, now
looking dead ahead, seemed not to hear,

2915
05:00:30.680 --> 05:00:36.119
but Riley spoke from the hatch,
hold your jaw back there, and

2916
05:00:36.240 --> 05:00:42.919
you'll get a passage too. With
Casey's cries in his ears, sick at

2917
05:00:42.919 --> 05:00:45.880
heart, and the belief that not
even a life boy would avail, for

2918
05:00:45.919 --> 05:00:51.639
the Giant's steamship had not stopped her
engines throughout the whole transaction was now half

2919
05:00:51.720 --> 05:00:59.240
mile away. Demon went down the
floory obediently waiting, getting nervous and frightened.

2920
05:01:02.279 --> 05:01:06.200
He told her nothing of what had
occurred, but soothed and quieted her

2921
05:01:06.240 --> 05:01:18.799
with the assurance that they would be
rescued soon. And Chapter twenty four Chapter

2922
05:01:18.880 --> 05:01:23.880
twenty five of The Pirates by Morgan
Robertson. This LibriVox recording is in the

2923
05:01:23.880 --> 05:01:37.000
public domain. Chapter twenty five.
The engine stopped, and climbing the steps

2924
05:01:37.040 --> 05:01:41.159
to look forward, demonstele the bridge
deserted, and the whole ten surrounding an

2925
05:01:41.159 --> 05:01:47.360
equal number of strong boxes stamped and
burned with official looking letters and numbers.

2926
05:01:49.040 --> 05:01:55.319
Farther, along with a provision and
a peep of stern showed Denman drifting boats.

2927
05:01:57.159 --> 05:02:00.919
The big Gigantia had disappeared in the
haze that hid the whole horizon.

2928
05:02:02.919 --> 05:02:07.520
But up in the western sky was
a porten, a black silhouette of irregular

2929
05:02:07.560 --> 05:02:15.000
outline that grew larger as he looked. It was a monoplane, an advanced

2930
05:02:15.040 --> 05:02:21.400
scout of the scout boat, and
Demon recognized the government model. It seemed

2931
05:02:21.400 --> 05:02:23.959
to have sighted the destroyer, for
it came straight on with a rush,

2932
05:02:25.840 --> 05:02:33.759
circled overhead, and turned back.
There was no signal made, and as

2933
05:02:33.799 --> 05:02:38.240
it dwindled away in the west,
Demon's attention was attracted to the men surrounding

2934
05:02:38.279 --> 05:02:45.840
the boxes. Only Munson was still
watching the receding monoplane, but the rest

2935
05:02:45.880 --> 05:02:52.799
were busy with hammers and cold chisels
from the engine room. They were opening

2936
05:02:52.799 --> 05:03:00.159
the boxes of treasure. Did anyone
see that? Fellow before demanded Month and

2937
05:03:00.560 --> 05:03:07.040
pointing to the spot in the sky. A few look and the others answered

2938
05:03:07.040 --> 05:03:12.520
with ohs and commands forget it,
open the boxes, let's have a look

2939
05:03:12.520 --> 05:03:21.799
at the stuff. But Months and
spoke again, forsythe how about the big

2940
05:03:21.840 --> 05:03:26.200
Fellows wireless? We didn't disable it. He has sent the news already.

2941
05:03:26.520 --> 05:03:33.360
What do you think, shut up, answered forsythe irately, I didn't think

2942
05:03:33.400 --> 05:03:40.639
of it. Neither did anyone what
of it? Nothing afloat can catch us.

2943
05:03:41.799 --> 05:03:45.919
Open the box, let's have a
look and we'll beat it for Africa.

2944
05:03:47.599 --> 05:03:52.959
I tell you vociferated months, and
that you better start now at full

2945
05:03:52.959 --> 05:04:00.080
speed too. That's a scout and
the mother boat isn't far away. Will

2946
05:04:00.119 --> 05:04:07.319
you shut up or I shut you
up, shouted Forsyth. You'll not shut

2947
05:04:07.400 --> 05:04:11.759
me up, retorted Munson. You're
the biggest fool in this bunch. In

2948
05:04:11.799 --> 05:04:15.000
spite of your bluff. Why don't
you go ahead and get out of this

2949
05:04:15.040 --> 05:04:22.599
neighborhood. A box cover yielded at
this juncture, and Forsyth did not immediately

2950
05:04:22.639 --> 05:04:30.520
answer, instead with Munson himself and
Billings, the cook insanely admitting whoops and

2951
05:04:30.680 --> 05:04:33.720
yelps as he danced around for a
peeple. He joined the others and tearing

2952
05:04:33.720 --> 05:04:44.279
out Excelsior from the box. Then
the bare contents came to view Lead hald

2953
05:04:44.360 --> 05:04:49.479
Riley as he stood erect giving a
few men back with his shoulders. Lead.

2954
05:04:49.560 --> 05:04:56.279
It is if I know one medal
from another, Open them all,

2955
05:04:56.560 --> 05:05:03.720
roared Forsyth. Get the axes,
pinch bars, anything, Start your engine,

2956
05:05:04.119 --> 05:05:11.479
yelled Munson, but he was not
listening. To with every implement that

2957
05:05:11.479 --> 05:05:15.360
they can lay their hands on.
They attacked the remaining boxes, and as

2958
05:05:15.360 --> 05:05:21.159
each in turn disclosed its contents,
there went up howls of disappointment and rage.

2959
05:05:22.919 --> 05:05:27.520
Lead They shouted that last, all, lad, was this the job

2960
05:05:27.560 --> 05:05:34.919
put up for us? No,
yelled Munson, not for us. Every

2961
05:05:34.959 --> 05:05:41.680
steamer carrying bullion also carries lead in
the same kind of boxes. I've read

2962
05:05:41.720 --> 05:05:47.279
of it many a time. It's
a safeguard against piracy. We've been fulled,

2963
05:05:47.560 --> 05:05:52.919
That's all, Forsyth answered, profanely
and as coherently as his rage and

2964
05:05:53.000 --> 05:06:03.520
excitement would permit. Munson replied by
holding his fist under Forsyth's nose. Get

2965
05:06:03.599 --> 05:06:07.439
up on the bridge, he said, and you, Riley, to your

2966
05:06:07.479 --> 05:06:17.880
engines. Riley obeyed the call of
the exigency, but Forsyth resisted. He

2967
05:06:17.919 --> 05:06:23.159
struck Monthson's fist away, but received
it immediately full in the face. Staggering

2968
05:06:23.240 --> 05:06:29.360
back, he pulled his revolver,
and before Monthson could meet this new antagonism,

2969
05:06:29.439 --> 05:06:37.080
he aimed and fired. Monthson lurched
headlong and lay still. Then an

2970
05:06:37.159 --> 05:06:42.000
uproar began. The others charged on
Forsyth, who retreated with his weapon At

2971
05:06:42.040 --> 05:06:48.720
arm's length. He held them off
until at his command all but oneted place

2972
05:06:48.799 --> 05:06:56.799
his pistol back in the scabbard.
The dilatory one was Old Kelly, and

2973
05:06:56.000 --> 05:07:02.720
him Forsyth shot through the heart.
Then the pistols were redrawn and the shooting

2974
05:07:02.799 --> 05:07:10.119
became general. How Forsyth single handed
against the eight remaining men one in that

2975
05:07:10.200 --> 05:07:14.720
gun fight can only be explained by
the fact at the eight were too wildly

2976
05:07:14.720 --> 05:07:19.279
excited to aim or leave each other
freed with a tempt aiming, while forsythe

2977
05:07:19.799 --> 05:07:23.680
a single target, only needed to
shoot at the compact body of men to

2978
05:07:23.759 --> 05:07:32.240
make a hit. It ended soon
with Hawks, Davis and Daniels writhing on

2979
05:07:32.279 --> 05:07:40.279
the deck and Forsyth hiding uninjured behind
the forward funnel, while Riley, King

2980
05:07:40.400 --> 05:07:47.880
and Dwyer, the three engineers,
were retreating into their engine room. Now,

2981
05:07:47.919 --> 05:07:52.680
if you've had enough, shouted forsythe
start the engine when I give you

2982
05:07:52.720 --> 05:07:59.279
the bells. Then he mounted to
the bridge and took the wheel. But

2983
05:07:59.400 --> 05:08:02.959
though the star of the engines at
full speed indicated that the engineers had had

2984
05:08:03.080 --> 05:08:07.720
enough, there was one man left
who had not. It was Billings who

2985
05:08:07.840 --> 05:08:12.240
danced around the dead and the wounded, shrieking and laughing with the emotions of

2986
05:08:12.240 --> 05:08:18.680
his disordered brain, But he did
not fire on Forsyth, and seemed to

2987
05:08:18.680 --> 05:08:25.200
have forgotten the animus of the recent
friction. He drifted aft, muttering to

2988
05:08:25.279 --> 05:08:30.919
himself, until suddenly he stopped and
fixed his eyes on Denman, who,

2989
05:08:30.560 --> 05:08:37.560
with gritting teeth had washed the deadly
fracas at the companion. I told you

2990
05:08:37.639 --> 05:08:44.240
so, I told you right out, the crazed voice of Billings. A

2991
05:08:44.360 --> 05:08:49.639
woman aboard ship always makes trouble up
there, take it. He pulled his

2992
05:08:49.720 --> 05:08:56.680
revolver and fired, and Denman,
stupefied with the unexpected horror of it all,

2993
05:08:56.200 --> 05:09:00.360
did not know that Florrie had crept
up beside him in the companion until

2994
05:09:00.360 --> 05:09:03.479
he heard her scream in conjunction with
the whizz of the bullet through her hair.

2995
05:09:04.119 --> 05:09:11.360
Then demon awoke. After assuring himself
of the girl's safety and pushing her

2996
05:09:11.400 --> 05:09:18.680
down the companion, he drew his
revolver, and, taking careful aim,

2997
05:09:18.119 --> 05:09:26.680
executed buildings with the cold calmness of
a hangman. A bullet, the nearly

2998
05:09:26.720 --> 05:09:30.639
coincident with the report of a pistol, came from the bridge, and there

2999
05:09:30.680 --> 05:09:34.200
was Forsyth, with one hand on
the wheel, facing aft and taking second

3000
05:09:34.200 --> 05:09:41.720
aim at him. Denmon accepted the
challenge and stepped boldly out of the companion.

3001
05:09:42.119 --> 05:09:48.279
They emptied their revolvers, but neither
did damage, and as Forsyth reloaded,

3002
05:09:48.799 --> 05:09:52.840
Demon cast a momentary glance at the
black spot in the southern sky,

3003
05:09:55.560 --> 05:10:00.279
hardly sweeping the upper horizon. He
saw still another to the east, while

3004
05:10:00.279 --> 05:10:04.119
out of the haze in the northwest
was emerging a scout cruiser, no doubt

3005
05:10:04.200 --> 05:10:10.680
the mother of the first monoplane,
but she was two miles away and soon

3006
05:10:10.720 --> 05:10:18.319
began spitting shot and shell, which
plowed up the water powerlessly near. You're

3007
05:10:18.400 --> 05:10:23.360
caught, Forsyth called out Denman,
pointing to the south and east. Will

3008
05:10:23.400 --> 05:10:33.959
you surrendered before we're sunk or killed? Forsyth's answer was another shot. Floory

3009
05:10:33.639 --> 05:10:38.959
called Demon down the companion, hamming
your gun and pass up the tablecloth.

3010
05:10:40.919 --> 05:10:47.799
Then get down that hatch out of
the way we're being fired at. She

3011
05:10:47.919 --> 05:10:53.119
obeyed him, and with Forsyth's bullets
whistling round his head, he hoisted the

3012
05:10:53.119 --> 05:10:57.799
flag of truce and surrender to the
flagstaff. But just a moment too late,

3013
05:11:00.360 --> 05:11:03.520
a shell entered the boat amidships and
exploded in her vitals. Sending up

3014
05:11:03.560 --> 05:11:08.200
through the engine room hatch out of
smoke and white steam, while fragments of

3015
05:11:08.240 --> 05:11:14.240
the shell punctured the death from below. But there were no cries of pain

3016
05:11:14.919 --> 05:11:21.959
or calls for help from the three
men in the engine room. Forsyth left

3017
05:11:22.000 --> 05:11:26.720
the bridge, breathing vengeance and raging
like a madman. He rushed aft.

3018
05:11:29.680 --> 05:11:34.319
I'll see you go first, he
shrieked. He fired again and again as

3019
05:11:34.319 --> 05:11:38.919
he came. Then, realizing that
he had but one bullet left in his

3020
05:11:38.919 --> 05:11:44.520
pistol, he haulted at the galley
hatch, took careful aim, and pulled

3021
05:11:44.520 --> 05:11:49.439
the trigger for the last time.
There are tricks of the fighting trade taught

3022
05:11:49.479 --> 05:11:56.200
to naval officers that are not included
in the curriculum at Annapolis. Denman,

3023
05:11:56.840 --> 05:12:00.639
his loaded revolver hanging in the right
hand of his side, had waited for

3024
05:12:00.639 --> 05:12:06.759
this final shot. Like a duellist. He watched not his opponent's hand but

3025
05:12:06.880 --> 05:12:11.119
his eye, and the moment that
I gave him the unconcealable signal to the

3026
05:12:11.119 --> 05:12:18.000
trigger finger, he ducked his head
and the bullet sped above. Now,

3027
05:12:18.119 --> 05:12:23.119
Forsyth, he said, as he
covered this chagrined marksman, you should have

3028
05:12:23.119 --> 05:12:30.080
the aimed lower and to the right. But that's all past. Now this

3029
05:12:30.080 --> 05:12:34.479
boat is practically captured, and I'm
not going to kill you, for even

3030
05:12:34.479 --> 05:12:40.880
though it would not be murder,
there's no excuse in my conscious for it.

3031
05:12:40.919 --> 05:12:45.520
Whether the boat sinks or not,
will be taken oftentime for that fellow

3032
05:12:45.599 --> 05:12:49.680
Yonder is coming and has ceased firing. But before you were out of my

3033
05:12:49.720 --> 05:12:53.840
hands, I want to settle an
old score with you, one dating from

3034
05:12:53.840 --> 05:13:00.080
our boyhood, which you'll perhaps remember. Toss that gun forward and step after

3035
05:13:00.159 --> 05:13:14.040
bid Forsythe, his face working convulsively, obeyed him. Florrie called demon down

3036
05:13:14.080 --> 05:13:21.599
the hatch, come up, now, we're all right. She came,

3037
05:13:22.279 --> 05:13:29.040
whitened the face, and stood beside
him. Off with your coat, forsythe

3038
05:13:29.599 --> 05:13:34.159
and stand up to me. We'll
finish that old fight here, girl,

3039
05:13:34.439 --> 05:13:41.040
hold this gun. Florrie took the
pistol, and the two men discarded their

3040
05:13:41.080 --> 05:13:48.360
jackets and faced each other. There's
hardly need of describing in detail the fistfight

3041
05:13:48.439 --> 05:13:53.279
that followed. It was like all
such, for one man is slightly the

3042
05:13:53.319 --> 05:14:00.799
superior of the other in skill,
strength and agility. In this case that

3043
05:14:00.840 --> 05:14:07.560
one was denmon and though again and
again. He felt the weight of Forsyth's

3044
05:14:07.560 --> 05:14:12.119
fist and reeled the deck occasionally.
He gradually tired out his heavier, though

3045
05:14:12.159 --> 05:14:18.319
weaker adversary, and at last,
with the whole weight of his body behind

3046
05:14:18.319 --> 05:14:25.360
it, dealt a crashing blow on
Forsyth's chin. Demon's old time foe staggered

3047
05:14:25.360 --> 05:14:30.240
backward and fell face upward. He
rolled his head to the right and to

3048
05:14:30.279 --> 05:14:37.639
the left a few times, then
sank into unconsciousness. Demon looked down on

3049
05:14:37.759 --> 05:14:44.880
him, waiting for a movement,
but none came. Forsyth had been knocked

3050
05:14:44.880 --> 05:14:52.360
out, and for the last time, Florrie's scream aroused denmon Is the boat

3051
05:14:52.439 --> 05:14:59.080
sinking Billy. He looked and sprang
for a life buoy, which he slipped

3052
05:14:59.080 --> 05:15:03.639
over Floy's head. The bow of
the boat was flushed with the water,

3053
05:15:03.119 --> 05:15:07.360
which was lapping at the now quiet
bodies of the dead and wounded men.

3054
05:15:07.439 --> 05:15:12.400
Forward. He secured another life bowie
for himself. As he donned the cork

3055
05:15:12.479 --> 05:15:21.000
ring, a hail came from a
beam. Jump, it said, jump,

3056
05:15:21.360 --> 05:15:26.360
we'll be carried down with the wash. The big scoutch ship was but

3057
05:15:26.479 --> 05:15:32.279
a few lengths away, and a
bowl full of armed men was approaching Hand

3058
05:15:32.319 --> 05:15:36.680
in hand, they leapt into the
sea, and Denman, towing the girl

3059
05:15:36.759 --> 05:15:40.560
by the becket of her life.
Boy paid no attention to the sinking hull

3060
05:15:41.119 --> 05:15:47.080
until satisfied that they were safe from
the suction. When he looked, the

3061
05:15:47.159 --> 05:15:52.479
bow was under water, the stern
rising in the air, higher and higher

3062
05:15:52.119 --> 05:15:57.159
until a third of the after body
was exposed. Then it slid silently,

3063
05:15:57.520 --> 05:16:02.520
but for the bursting of a huge
air bubbles out of sight in the depths.

3064
05:16:07.080 --> 05:16:11.400
About a year later, Lieutenant Devon
received the letter with a Paris postmark,

3065
05:16:11.880 --> 05:16:17.159
which he opened in the presence of
his wife. In it was a

3066
05:16:17.240 --> 05:16:23.639
draft on a Boston bank made out
his order. Good, he exclaimed,

3067
05:16:23.959 --> 05:16:30.799
as he glanced down the letter.
Listen, Florrie, here's something that pleases

3068
05:16:30.840 --> 05:16:34.279
me as much as my exoneration by
the Board of Inquiry. Then he read

3069
05:16:34.319 --> 05:16:41.439
to her the letter, Dear sir, inasmuch as you threw to life boies

3070
05:16:41.479 --> 05:16:45.240
over for us, you may be
glad, even at this late period,

3071
05:16:45.799 --> 05:16:51.520
to know that we got them.
The fight stopped when we hit the water,

3072
05:16:52.439 --> 05:16:57.240
and since then Samson and myself had
been chums. I saw both booies

3073
05:16:57.319 --> 05:17:03.840
thrown and helped Samson well. I
swam with him to the first. Then

3074
05:17:03.200 --> 05:17:07.799
from the top of the sea I
saw the other and getting it returned to

3075
05:17:07.880 --> 05:17:14.119
him. We were picked up by
a fisherman next day. But you will

3076
05:17:14.159 --> 05:17:17.159
not mind, sir, if I
do not tell you where we landed,

3077
05:17:17.639 --> 05:17:21.279
or how we got here, or
where will be When it's the letter reaches

3078
05:17:21.319 --> 05:17:26.680
you, we will not be here
and never again in the United States.

3079
05:17:27.479 --> 05:17:33.880
We want to thank you for giving
us a chance for our lives. We

3080
05:17:33.919 --> 05:17:37.919
read in the Paris Herald of your
hearing before the Board of Inquiry, and

3081
05:17:37.000 --> 05:17:41.400
the story you told of the mess
Forsyth made of things and the final sinking

3082
05:17:41.400 --> 05:17:48.159
of the boat. Of course we
were sorry for them, for they were

3083
05:17:48.159 --> 05:17:52.799
our mates. What they ought not
to have gone back on Casey, even

3084
05:17:52.799 --> 05:17:59.040
though they saw fit to leave Samson
and me behind, and thinking this way,

3085
05:17:59.639 --> 05:18:03.400
we are glad that you looked Forsyth, even at the last minute,

3086
05:18:04.880 --> 05:18:08.520
being closed a draft for five hundred
and fifty dollars, which we'd like you

3087
05:18:08.560 --> 05:18:14.200
to cash and pay the captain,
whose name we did not know the money

3088
05:18:14.200 --> 05:18:18.119
we took from his desk. We
hope that what has left will square up

3089
05:18:18.119 --> 05:18:23.479
for the clothes and money we took
from your room. You see, as

3090
05:18:23.520 --> 05:18:26.319
we did not give casey but a
little of the money, and it came

3091
05:18:26.360 --> 05:18:30.840
in mighty handy for us too when
we got ashore, it seems we are

3092
05:18:30.840 --> 05:18:36.840
obligated to return it. I will
only say to conclude that we got it

3093
05:18:36.880 --> 05:18:44.119
honestly. Sampson joins me, in
our best perspects to miss Fleming than yourself,

3094
05:18:45.599 --> 05:18:52.439
truly yours, Herbert Jenkins. Oh, I'm glad, Billy, she

3095
05:18:52.560 --> 05:18:59.880
exclaimed. They are honest men,
after all, honest men, repeated demon

3096
05:19:00.119 --> 05:19:07.840
quizzically. Yet they stole a fine
destroyer from Uncle Sam. I don't care,

3097
05:19:07.119 --> 05:19:14.240
she said, stealthy. I'm glad
they were saved. And Billy boy,

3098
05:19:15.119 --> 05:19:18.479
her hands were on his shoulders.
If they hadn't stolen that fine destroyer,

3099
05:19:19.040 --> 05:19:26.360
I wouldn't be here today looking into
your eyes, and Billy gathering her

3100
05:19:26.360 --> 05:19:33.159
into his arms. Let it go
ahead. That end of chapter twenty five,

3101
05:19:34.040 --> 05:19:40.880
End of the Pirates by Morgan Robertson, read by Joe Denoia, Chesterfield,

3102
05:19:40.919 --> 05:19:44.880
New Jersey, March thirteenth, twenty
twenty two.