THE HALLETT HE HALD.
r
Tft
JAtK'lONDON;; .
N THIS TALE
. JACK LON-
DON'S SEA EX-
PER1ENCE IS
JSED WITH ALL J
'H^POWERyOF^
i -HIS-VlRlLE-EENr
SYNOPSIS.
—10—
Humphrey Van Weyden. critic and dilet-
tante, la thrown Into the water >y the
pinking of a ferryboat In a fox In Ban
Francisco t ay, and becomes unconx'!<oua
before help nachea him. On J"01"1!?*,,,®
hla aeneea he finds himself aboard th«
pealing m-booner Ghost, ( aptaln \N <>ir
I .a Won. bound to Japan waters, witnesses
-tift death "f the first mate and htarathe
captain curse Hie dead man for presuming
to die. The captain refuses to put
Humphrey ashore and makes nlm caDin
boy '"for the good of his """l 1,0
♦o learn potato peeling and dish washing
under the cockney cook. MugrldKe. ls
caught by a heavy aea shipped over tne
quarter as he Is currylnR tea aft and nis
knee la seriously hurt, but no one pays
any attention to his Injury. Hump si quar-
ters are changed aft. Mugrtdge steals his
money and chases him when accu^d of
It. Later he listens to Wolf give his Idea
Df life—"like yeaat. a ferment . . . the bU
eat the little . . ." Cooky la Jealous of
Hump and huiea him. Wolf haiea a sea-
man and makes It the basil for another
philosophic discussion with Hump. Wolf
entertains MuRrldge In his cabin, wins
from him at cards the money he stole
from Hump, and then tells Hump It Is his.
Wolf's, by right of might. Cooky and
Hump whet knives at each other. Hump s
Intimacy with Wolf Increases, and Wolf
sketches the story of his Hfe to Hump_
Wolf discusses the Bible, and Omar with
Hump and Illustrates the Instinctive love
af lift by choking Hump nearly to death.
A carnival of t>nitallty breaks loose In
the ship and Wolf proves himself the
master brute. Wolf Is knocked overboard
at nlRht, comes back aboard by the loK-
\lne and wins clear In a fight In the
'orecaatle.
CHAPTER XIII.
There was a deal of cursing and
groaning as the men at the bottom of
the ladder crawled to their feet.
"Somebody strike a light, my
thumb's out of Joint," said one of the
men. Parsons, a swarthy, saturnine
man, boat steerer In Standlsh's boat. In
which Harrison was puller.
"You'll find It knockln' about by the
bltts," Leach Bald, sitting down on the
edge of the bunk In which I was con-
cealed.
There was a fumbling and a scratch-
ing of matches, and the sea-lamp
flared up, dim and smoky, and In Its
weird light baro-legged men moved
about, nursing their bruises and caring
for their hurts.
"How did he get away?" Johnson
asked.
He was sitting on tho side of his
bunk, the whole pose of his figure in-
dicating utter dejection and hopeless-
ness. He was still breathing heavily
from the exertion he had made. His
shirt had been ripped entirely from
him In the strugglo, and blood from
a gash In the cheek was flowing down
his naked chest, marking a rod path
across his white thigh and dripping to
the floor.
"Because he Is a devil, as I told you
before," was Leach's answer; and
thereat he was on his foet and raging
his disappointment with tears In his
eyes.
All the while I had been apprehen-
sive concerning my own predicament.
What would happen to mo when these
men discovered my pretence? I could
never fight my way out as Wolf Lar-
son had done. And at this moment
Latimer called down the scuttles:
"Hump! Tho old man wants you!"
called back.
"Yes he Is," I said, sliding out of the
bunk and striving my hardest to keep
my voice Bteady and bold.
The sailors looked at me In conster-
"He ain't down here!" Parsons
nation. Fear was strong in their
faces, and the devlllshness which
comes of fear.
"I'm coming 1" I shouted up to Lati-
mer.
"No you don't!" Kelly cried, step-
ping between me and the ladder, his
right hand shapes Into a veritable
strangler's clutch. "You damn little
snoak! I'll shut yer mouth!"
"Let him go," Leach commanded.
"Not on yer life," was tho angry
retort.
Leach never changed his position
on the edge of tho bunk. "Let him
go, 1 say," he repeated; but this time
his voice was gritty and metallic.
The Irlshmau wavered. I made to
step by him, and he stood aside. When
1 had gained the ladder, 1 turned to
the circle of brutal and malignant faces
peering at me through tho semldark-
neas A sudden and deep sympathy
welled up in me.
"I have seen and heard nothing, be-
lieve me," I said quietly.
"I tell yer, he's all right," 1 could
hear Leach saying as I went up the
ladder. "He don't like the old man
no more nor you or me."
1 found Wolf Larsen In the cabin,
stripped and bloody, waiting for me.
He greeted me with one of his whim-
sical smiles.
"Come, get to work, doctor. The
signs ar* favorable for an extenslvs
practice this voyage. 1 don't know
what the tihost would have been with-
out you, and If I could only cherish
such noble sentiments I would tell you
her master Is deeply grateful."
I knew the run of the simple medi-
cine chest the Ghost carried, and while
I was heating water on the cabin stove
and getting the things ready for dress-
ing his wounds, he moved about, laugh-
ing and chatting, and examining his
hurts with a calculating eye. I had
never before Been him stripped, and
tho sight of his body quite took my
breath away, it has never been my
weakness to exalt tho flesh far from
It; but there is enough of the artist In
me to appreciate Its wonder.
Wolf Larsen was the man-type, the
masculine, and almost a god In his
perfectness. As he moved about or
raised his arms the great muscles
leapt and moved under the satiny skin.
I have forgotten to say that the bronze
ended with his face. His body, thanks
to his Scandinavian stock, waB fair as
the fairest woman's. 1 remember his
putting his hand up to feel of the
wound on his head, and my watching
the biceps move like a living thing
under Its white sheath. It was the
biceps that had nearly crushed out
my life once, that I had seen strike
so many killing blows. I could not
take my eyes from him. 1 stood mo-
tionless, a roll of antlBeptlc cotton
In my hand unwinding and spilling It-
self down to the floor.
He noticed me, and I became con-
scious that I was staring at him.
"God made you well," 1 said.
He braced his legs and feet, press-
ing the cabin floor with his toes In a
clutching sort of way. Knots and
ridges and mounds of muscles writhed
and bunched under tfce Bkln.
"Feel them," he commanded.
They wore hard as Iron. And I ob-
served, also, that his whole body had
unconsciously drawn Itself together,
tense and alert; that muscles were
softly crawling and shaping about the
hips, along the back, and across the
shoulders; that the arms were slightly
lifted, their muscles contracting, the
fingers crooking till the hands were
like talons; and that even the eyes
had changed expression and Into them
were coming watchfulness and meas-
urement and a light none other than
of battle.
"Stability, equilibrium," he said, re-
laxing on the Instant and sinking his
body Into repose. "Feot with which
to clutch the ground, lees to stand on
"Not necessary at all."
"1 really do not care to sit in the
high places," I objected. "I find life
precarious enough in my present hum-
ble situation. I have no experience.
Mediocrity, you see, has its compen-
sations."
He Bmlled as though it were all sot-
tied.
"I won't be mate on this hell-ship!'
I cried defiantly.
1 saw his face grow hard and the
merciless glitter come Into hla eyes.
He walked to the door of his room,
saying:
"And now, Mr. Van Weyden, good
night"
"Good night, Mr. Larsen," I an-
swered weakly.
settled on Johnson's face and in his
eyes made my heart bleed.
With Leach it was different. There
was too much of the fighting beast In
him. He seemed possessed by an In-
satiable fury which gave no time for
grief. His Hps had become distorted
into a permanent snarl, which, at
mere sight of Wolf Larsen. broke out
In sound, horrible and menacing, and,
I do believe, unconsciously. I have
seen him follow Wolf Larsen about
with his eyes, like an animal Its
keeper, the while the animal-like snarl
sounded deep in his throat and vi-
brated forth between his teeth.
Both he and Johnson would have
killed Wolf Larsen at the slightest op-
portunity, but the opportunity never
came. Wolf Larsen was too w'.ae for
that, and, besides, they bad no ade-
quate weapons. With their fists alone
they had no chance whatever. Time and
again ho fought it out with Leach, who
fought back, always, like a wildcat,
tooth and nail and fist, until stretched,
exhausted or unconscious, on the deck.
And he was never averse to another
encounter.
I often wondered why Wolf Larsen
did not kill htm and make an end
of It. But he only laughed and
C1DMLIEST
CHAPTER XIV.
No You Don't 1" Kelly Cried. Stepplnfl
Between Me and the Ladder.
and to help withstand, while with arms
and hands, teeth and nails, 1 struggle
to kill and to bo not killed. Purpose?
Utility Ib the hotter word."
1 did not argue. 1 had seen the
mechanism of the primitive fighting
beast, and I was as strongly Impressed
as If 1 had seen the engines of a great
battleship or Atlantic liner.
1 was Burprlsod, considering tho
fierce struggle in the forecastle, at the
superficiality of hli hurts, and 1 pride
my elf that I dres ed them dexter
ouily-
"By the way. Hump, as I have re-
marked, you are a handy man," Wolf
Larsen began, when my work was
done. "As you know, we're short a
mate. Horeafter you shall stand
watches, receive seventy-five dollars
per mouth, and be addressed fore and
aft a> Mr. Van We) den."
"1—1 don't understand navigation,
you know," I gasped.
I cannot say that the position of
mate carried with it anything more
Joyful than that there were no more
dishes to wash. I was ignorant of the
simplest duties of mate, and would
have fared badly Indeed had the sail-
ors not sympathized with me. I knew
nothing of the minutiae of ropes and
rigging, of the trimming and Betting of
sails; but the sailors took pains to put
me to rights, Louis proving an espe-
cially good teacher, and I had little
trouble with those under me.
With the hunters It was otherwise.
Familiar In varying degree with the
sea, they took me as a sort of Joke.
In truth, it was a Joke to me that I,
the veriest landsman, should be filling
the office of mate; but to be taken as
a Joke by others was a different mat-
ter. I made no complaint, but Wolf
Larsen demanded the most punctili-
ous sea etiquette in my case—far
more than poor Johansen had ever
received; and at the expense of sev-
eral rows, threats and much grum-
bling, he brought the hunters to time.
I was "Mr. Van Weyden" fore and
aft, and It was only unofficially that
Wolf Larsen himself ever addressed
me aB "Hump."
It was amusing. Perhaps the wind
would haul a few points while we
were at dinner, and as I left the table
ho would say, "Mr. Van Weyden, will
you kindly put about on tho port
tack?" And I would go on deck, beck-
on Louis to me, and learn from him
what was to be done. Then, a few
minutes later, having digested his In-
structions and thoroughly mastered
' tho maneuver, I would proceed to
I Issue my orders. I remember an
I early Instance of this kind, when Wolf
Larsen appeared on the scene Just
as 1 had begun to give orders. He
smoked his cigar and looked on qui-
etly till the thing was accomplished,
and then paced aft by my Bide along
the weather poop.
"Hump," he said—"I beg pardon, Mr.
Van Weyden—I congratulate you. 1
think you can now fire your father's
legs back Into the grave to him.
You've discovered your own and
learned to stand on them. A little
ropework, sailmaklng and experience
with storms and such things, and by
the end of the voyage you could ship
on any coasting schooner."
It was during this period, between
the death of Johansen and the arri-
val on the sealing grounds, that I
pasBcd my pleasantest hours on the
Ghost. Wolf Larsen was quite con-
siderate, the sailors helped me, and I
waB no longer in irritating contact
with Thomas Mugridge. And I make
free to say, as the days went by. that
I found I was taking a certain secret
pride In myself. Fantastic as the situ-
ation was—a landlubber second In
command—I was, nevertheless, carry-
ing it off well; and during that brief
time I was proud of myself, and I
grew to love the heave and roll of the
Ghost under my feet as she wallowed
north anil west through the tropic sea
to the Islet where we filled our water
casks.
But my happiness was not unal-
loyed. It was comparative, a period
of Iosb misery slipped In between a
past of great miseries and a future
of great miseries. For the Ghost, so
far as the seamen were concerned,
was a hell-ship of the worst descrip-
tion. They never had a moment's rest
or peace. Wolf Larsen treasured
against them the attempt on his life
and the drubbing he had received in
the forecastle; and morning, noon and
night, and all night aB well, he de-
voted himself to making life unllvable
for them. Leach and Johnson were
the two particular victims of Wolf
Larsen's diabolic temper, and the look
of profound melanrhol* which had
I Have Seen Him Follow Wolf Larsen
About With His Eyes.
seemed to enjoy It. There seemed a
certain spice about it, such as men
must feel who take delight in mak-
ing pets of ferocious animals.
"ft gives a thrill to life," he ex-
plained to me. "when life is carried
in one's hand. Man Is a natural
gambler, and life is the biggest stake
ho can lay. The greater the odds
the greater the thrill."
"Ah, but it is cowardly, cowardly!"
I cried. "You have all the advan-
tage." ^ .
"Of the two of us, you and I. who
is tho greater coward?" he asked se-
riously. "If the situation is unpleas-
lng, you compromise with your con-
science when you make yourself a
party to it. If you were really great,
really true to yourself, you would Join
forces with Leach and Johnson. But
you are afraid. You want to live. The
life that is in you cries out that it
must live, no matter what the cost;
bo you live ignominiously, untrue to
the best you dream of, sinning against
your whole pitiful little code, and, If
there were a hell, heading your soul
straight for It. Bah! I play the
braver part. I do not sin, for I am
true to the promptings of the life that
Is In me. I am sincere with my soul
at least, and that Is what you are not."
There waB a sting In what he Bald.
Perhaps, after all, I was playing a
cowardly part.
I pondered It long, lying sleepless
In my bunk and reviewing iu endless
procession the facts of the situation.
I talked with Johnson and Leach, dur-
ing the night watches when Wolf Lar-
sen was below. Both men had lost
hope—Johnson, because of tempera-
mental despondency; Leach, be-
cause he had beaten himself out in
the vain Btruggle and was exhausted.
But he caught my hand in a passion-
ate grip one night, saying:
"I think yer square, Mr. Van Wey
den. But stay where you are and keep
your mouth shut. Say nothin' but saw
wood. We're dead men, 1 know it;
but all the same you mlgh* be able
to do ub a favor some time when we
need It damn bad."
It was only next day, when Wain
wrlght Island loomed to windward,
close abeam, that Wolf Larsen opened
bis mouth In prophecy. He had at-
tacked Johnson, been attacked by
Leach, and had Just flnlsbsd whipping
the pair of them.
"Leach," he said, "you know I'm
going to kill you some time o  other,
don't you?"
A snarl was the answer.
"And as for you, Johnson, you'll get
so tired of life before I'm through
with you that you'll fling yourself over
the side. 8ee If you don't."
"That's a ■uggestlon," he added, in
an aside to me. "I'll bet you a month'i
pay he acts upon 1L"
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Bank Clearings Increase-Agri-
culture Is a Paying Indus-
try—Manufactures /
Doing Well.
"Business experts assert that Can-
ada Is on the threshold of perhaps
the most prosperous era In her his-
tory. The unprecedented value of
the farm products of 1915, together
with the very large output of factories
working on munitions of war has sud-
denly brought the country Into a po-
sition, financially, scarcely hoped for
as a nntlon for years to come. Ex-
port surplus of $50,000,000 a mouth Is
making Canada very strong in cash.
—Extract from official bulletin of Feb-
ruary 11, 1010.
The response by the farmers of Can-
ada to the call for Increased produc-
tion in 1915 was a total net output
exceeding one billion dollars, an in-
crease over normal years of at least
three hundred millions. Tho three
l'ralrle Provinces contributed prob-
ably nearly one-half of the total prod-
uct.
The wheat crop was worth $310,000.-
000, and accounted for about 80 per
cent of the total agricultural product
Other things counted also. I^ook at
dairying. In Ontario the dairy pro-
duction was increased 20 per cent,
and prices were over 10 per cent
ahead of 1914. Other provinces shared
In the Increase, especially Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Quebec and Nova Sco-
tia. The dairy cow was "on the Job"
In 1915. So also were the beef cattle,
the pigs and the hens.
It Is not fair to the farmers of the
Prairies to call the wheat crop of 1915
a "miracle" crop. The farmers culti-
vated more land and gave attention
to their seed. Providence gnve them
favorable weather. Then they tolled
early and late In the harvesting nnd
threshing. Good cultivation gave big-
ger yields than careless work, 45 bush-
els as against 25.
The wealth of Western Canada Is
by no means all In Its wheat crop. If
the country had no wheat at all It
would still be famous as a land of sue
cessful farmers on uccount of Its stock
production. From one shipping point
(High River, Alberta) over $75,000.00
worth of horses have been sold in tho
last two months. The avernge price
to the fanner has been about $175.00
per head. According to Government
returns there are a million and a half
horses In Manitoba. Saskatchewan and
Alberta, worth probably $150,000,000.
The Investments which farmers of
Western Canada are making In live-
stock and farm Improvements are
good evidence of the fact that they
have money for these purposes. It Is
apparent, however, tfmt they are also
spending some of their profits on
those things which will bring greater
comfort and enjoyment to themselves
their wives and their families. The
automobile trade all through tho
country Is particularly active, and
farmers are the biggest buyers. A re-
cent report of tho Saskatoon district
shows that In two months a million
dollars' worth of automobiles have
been sold, largely to farmers. Nor are
all of these cars of the cheaper makes;
some high-priced machines are In de-
mand.
Bank clearings throughout the West-
ern Provinces show greater commer-
cial activity than at the sntne season
In 1915 or 1914, the increase for the
lust week of February being $8,000,000
and almost $9,000,000, respectively,
for the first week of March $15,000,-
000 over 1915 and $18,000,000 over
1914. The same excellent story comes
from Moose Jaw, Sask., where they
showed from 40 to 100 per cent over
the previous year. Calgary, Aita.,
bank clearings continue to reflect the
greatly Unproved business conditions
as compared with a year ago. Cana-
da's bank clearings for the month of
February, 1910, were the greatest for
any February In the country's history.
The totals amounted to $004,222,000.00,
us compared with $487,296,000.00 for
the same month a year ago. An In-
crease of $177,000,000.00 In bank clear-
ings for the month tells Its own story
of the country's prosperity.—Adver-
tisement.
Something Different.
"Flabdub hus written a very un-
usual romance."
"What's the startling theme?"
"It's about a married couple who
live happily together."
Never Varies.
Doctor—What was the patlent't
mean temperature last week?
Wlte—Oh, doctorglt'i always mean.
Yes, Verily 1
Little Lemuel—What an easay, pawT
Paw—An essay, aon, is a paragraph
padded with words.
I