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awnings; cut crosswise the narrow planking of the deck



and separated their feet as it were a stream; something



profound and subtle and incalculable; like an unex…



pressed understanding; a secret mistrust; or some sort



of fear。







At last Sterne; blinking his deep…set eyes and sticking



forward his scraped; clean…cut chin; as crimson as the



rest of his face; murmured







〃You've seen?  He grazed!  You've seen?〃







Massy; contemptuous; and without raising his yellow;



fleshy countenance; replied in the same pitch







〃Maybe。  But if it had been you we would have been



stuck fast in the mud。〃







〃Pardon me; Mr。 Massy。  I beg to deny it。  Of course



a shipowner may say what he jolly well pleases on his



own deck。  That's all right; but I beg to 。 。 。〃







〃Get out of my way!〃







The other had a slight start; the impulse of suppressed



indignation perhaps; but held his ground。  Massy's



downward glance wandered right and left; as though the



deck all round Sterne had been bestrewn with eggs that



must not be broken; and he had looked irritably for



places where he could set his feet in flight。  In the end



he too did not move; though there was plenty of room



to pass on。







〃I heard you say up there;〃 went on the mate〃and



a very just remark it was toothat there's always



something wrong。 。 。 。〃







〃Eavesdropping is what's wrong with YOU; Mr。



Sterne。〃







〃Now; if you would only listen to me for a moment;



Mr。 Massy; sir; I could 。 。 。〃







〃You are a sneak;〃 interrupted Massy in a great



hurry; and even managed to get so far as to repeat; 〃a



common sneak;〃 before the mate had broken in argu…



mentatively







〃Now; sir; what is it you want?  You want 。 。 。〃







〃I wantI want;〃 stammered Massy; infuriated and



astonished〃I want。  How do you know that I want



anything?  How dare you? 。 。 。  What do you



mean? 。 。 。  What are you afteryou 。 。 。〃







〃Promotion。〃  Sterne silenced him with a sort of



candid bravado。  The engineer's round soft cheeks quiv…



ered still; but he said quietly enough







〃You are only worrying my head off;〃 and Sterne



met him with a confident little smile。







〃A chap in business I know (well up in the world



he is now) used to tell me that this was the proper way。



'Always push on to the front;' he would say。  'Keep



yourself well before your boss。  Interfere whenever you



get a chance。  Show him what you know。  Worry him



into seeing you。'  That was his advice。  Now I know



no other boss than you here。  You are the owner; and



no one else counts for THAT much in my eyes。  See; Mr。



Massy?  I want to get on。  I make no secret of it that



I am one of the sort that means to get on。  These are



the men to make use of; sir。  You haven't arrived at



the top of the tree; sir; without finding that outI



dare say。〃







〃Worry your boss in order to get on;〃 mumbled



Massy; as if awestruck by the irreverent originality of



the idea。  〃I shouldn't wonder if this was just what the



Blue Anchor people kicked you out of the employ for。



Is that what you call getting on?  You shall get on in



the same way here if you aren't carefulI can promise



you。〃







At this Sterne hung his head; thoughtful; perplexed;



winking hard at the deck。  All his attempts to enter into



confidential relations with his owner had led of late



to nothing better than these dark threats of dismissal;



and a threat of dismissal would check him at once into



a hesitating silence as though he were not sure that



the proper time for defying it had come。  On this occa…



sion he seemed to have lost his tongue for a moment; and



Massy; getting in motion; heavily passed him by with



an abortive attempt at shouldering。  Sterne defeated it



by stepping aside。  He turned then swiftly; opening



his mouth very wide as if to shout something after the



engineer; but seemed to think better of it。







Alwaysas he was ready to confesson the lookout



for an opening to get on; it had become an instinct with



him to watch the conduct of his immediate superiors for



something 〃that one could lay hold of。〃  It was his



belief that no skipper in the world would keep his com…



mand for a day if only the owners could be 〃made to



know。〃  This romantic and naive theory had led him



into trouble more than once; but he remained incorrigi…



ble; and his character was so instinctively disloyal that



whenever he joined a ship the intention of ousting his



commander out of the berth and taking his place was



always present at the back of his head; as a matter of



course。  It filled the leisure of his waking hours with



the reveries of careful plans and compromising discov…



eriesthe dreams of his sleep with images of lucky



turns and favorable accidents。  Skippers had been



known to sicken and die at sea; than which nothing



could be better to give a smart mate a chance of showing



what he's made of。  They also would tumble overboard



sometimes: he had heard of one or two such cases。



Others again 。 。 。  But; as it were constitutionally; he



was faithful to the belief that the conduct of no single



one of them would stand the test of careful watching



by a man who 〃knew what's what〃 and who kept his



eyes 〃skinned pretty well〃 all the time。







After he had gained a permanent footing on board



the Sofala he allowed his perennial hope to rise high。



To begin with; it was a great advantage to have an old



man for captain: the sort of man besides who in the



nature of things was likely to give up the job before



long from one cause or another。  Sterne was greatly



chagrined; however; to notice that he did not seem any…



way near being past his work yet。  Still; these old men



go to pieces all at once sometimes。  Then there was the



owner…engineer close at hand to be impressed by his zeal



and steadiness。  Sterne never for a moment doubted the



obvious nature of his own merits (he was really an ex…



cellent officer); only; nowadays; professional merit alone



does not take a man along fast enough。  A chap must



have some push in him; and must keep his wits at work



too to help him forward。  He made up his mind to



inherit the charge of this steamer if it was to be done



at all; not indeed estimating the command of the



Sofala as a very great catch; but for the reason that;



out East especially; to make a start is everything; and



one command leads to another。







He began by promising himself to behave with great



circumspection; Massy's somber and fantastic humors



intimidated him as being outside one's usual sea experi…



ence; but he was quite intelligent enough to realize al…



most from the first that he was there in the presence of



an exceptional situation。  His peculiar prying imagina…



tion penetrated it quickly; the feeling that there was



in it an element which eluded his grasp exasperated his



impatience to get on。  And so one trip came to an end;



then another; and he had begun his third before he saw



an opening by which he could step in with any sort of



effect。  It had all been very queer and very obscure;



something had been going on near him; as if separated



by a chasm from the common life and the working



routine of the ship; which was exactly like the life and



the routine of any other coasting steamer of that class。







Then one day he made his discovery。







It came to him after all these weeks of watchful ob…



servation and puzzled surmises; suddenly; like the long…



sought solution of a riddle that suggests itself to the



mind in a flash。  Not with the same authority; however。



Great heavens!  Could it be that?  And after remain…



ing thunderstruck for a few seconds he tried to shake



it off with self…contumely; as though it had been the



product of an unhealthy bias towards the Incredible;



the Inexplicable; the Unheard…ofthe Mad!







Thisthe illuminating momenthad occurred the trip



before; on the return passage。  They had just left a



place of call on the mainland called Pangu; they were



steaming straight out of a bay。  To the east a massive



headland closed the view; with the tilted edges of the



rocky strata showing through its ragged clothing of



rank bushes and thorny creepers。  The wind had begun



to sing in the rigging; the sea along the coast; green



and as if swollen a little above the line

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