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第10节

falk-第10节

小说: falk 字数: 每页4000字

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deafening gibberish was difficult to follow; but it

was MY conductmine!that 。 。 。 Damn!  I

wasn't going to stand this。



〃What on earth are you driving at?〃 I asked

in a passion。  I put my hat on my head (he never

offered a seat to anybody); and as he seemed for

the moment struck dumb by my irreverence; I

turned my back on him and marched out。  His vo…

cal arrangements blared after me a few threats of

coming down on the ship for the demurrage of the

lighters; and all the other expenses consequent

upon the delays arising from my frivolity。



Once outside in the sunshine my head swam。  It

was no longer a question of mere delay。  I per…

ceived myself involved in hopeless and humiliating

absurdities that were leading me to something very

like a disaster。  〃Let us be calm;〃 I muttered to

myself; and ran into the shade of a leprous wall。

From that short side…street I could see the broad

main thoroughfare ruinous and gay; running

away; away between stretches of decaying mason…

ry; bamboo fences; ranges of arcades of brick and

plaster; hovels of lath and mud; lofty temple gates

of carved timber; huts of rotten matsan im…

mensely wide thoroughfare; loosely packed as far

as the eye could reach with a barefooted and brown

multitude paddling ankle deep in the dust。  For a

moment I felt myself about to go out of my mind

with worry and desperation。



Some allowance must be made for the feelings

of a young man new to responsibility。  I thought

of my crew。  Half of them were ill; and I really

began to think that some of them would end by dy…

ing on board if I couldn't get them out to sea soon。

Obviously I should have to take my ship down the

river; either working under canvas or dredging

with the anchor down; operations which; in com…

mon with many modern sailors; I only knew theo…

retically。  And I almost shrank from undertaking

them shorthanded and without local knowledge

of the river bed; which is so necessary for the con…

fident handling of the ship。  There were no pilots;

no beacons; no buoys of any sort; but there was a

very devil of a current for anybody to see; no end

of shoal places; and at least two obviously awkward

turns of the channel between me and the sea。  But

how dangerous these turns were I would not tell。  I

didn't even know what my ship was capable of!

I had never handled her in my life。  A misunder…

standing between a man and his ship in a difficult

river with no room to make it up; is bound to end in

trouble for the man。  On the other hand; it must

be owned I had not much reason to count upon a

general run of good luck。  And suppose I had the

misfortune to pile her up high and dry on some

beastly shoal?  That would have been the final un…

doing of that voyage。  It was plain that if Falk

refused to tow me out he would also refuse to pull

me off。  This meantwhat?  A day lost at the

very best; but more likely a whole fortnight of

frizzling on some pestilential mudflat; of desperate

work; of discharging cargo; more than likely it

meant borrowing money at an exorbitant rate of

interestfrom the Siegers' gang too at that。  They

were a power in the port。  And that elderly seaman

of mine; Gambril; had looked pretty ghastly when

I went forward to dose him with quinine that morn…

ing。  HE would certainly dienot to speak of two

or three others that seemed nearly as bad; and of

the rest of them just ready to catch any tropical

disease going。  Horror; ruin and everlasting re…

morse。  And no help。  None。  I had fallen amongst

a lot of unfriendly lunatics!



At any rate; if I must take my ship down myself

it was my duty to procure if possible some local

knowledge。  But that was not easy。  The only per…

son I could think of for that service was a certain

Johnson; formerly captain of a country ship; but

now spliced to a country wife and gone utterly to

the bad。  I had only heard of him in the vaguest

way; as living concealed in the thick of two hundred

thousand natives; and only emerging into the light

of day for the purpose of hunting up some brandy。

I had a notion that if I could lay my hands on him

I would sober him on board my ship and use him

for a pilot。  Better than nothing。  Once a sailor

always a sailorand he had known the river for

years。  But in our Consulate (where I arrived drip…

ping after a sharp walk) they could tell me noth…

ing。  The excellent young men on the staff; though

willing to help me; belonged to a sphere of the

white colony for which that sort of Johnson does

not exist。  Their suggestion was that I should hunt

the man up myself with the help of the Consulate's

constablean ex…sergeant…major of a regiment of

Hussars。



This man; whose usual duty apparently consisted

in sitting behind a little table in an outer room

of Consular offices; when ordered to assist me in

my search for Johnson displayed lots of energy

and a marvellous amount of local knowledge of a

sort。  But he did not conceal an immense and scep…

tical contempt for the whole business。  We explored

together on that afternoon an infinity of infamous

grog shops; gambling dens; opium dens。  We

walked up narrow lanes where our gharrya tiny

box of a thing on wheels; attached to a jibbing Bur…

mah ponycould by no means have passed。  The

constable seemed to be on terms of scornful inti…

macy with Maltese; with Eurasians; with China…

men; with Klings; and with the sweepers attached

to a temple; with whom he talked at the gate。  We

interviewed also through a grating in a mud wall

closing a blind alley an immensely corpulent Ital…

ian; who; the ex…sergeant…major remarked to me

perfunctorily; had 〃killed another man last year。〃

Thereupon he addressed him as 〃Antonio〃 and

〃Old Buck;〃 though that bloated carcase; appar…

ently more than half filling the sort of cell where…

in it sat; recalled rather a fat pig in a stye。  Fa…

miliar and never unbending; the sergeant chucked

absolutely chuckedunder the chin a horribly

wrinkled and shrivelled old hag propped on a stick;

who had volunteered some sort of information: and

with the same stolid face he kept up an animated

conversation with the groups of swathed brown

women; who sat smoking cheroots on the door…steps

of a long range of clay hovels。  We got out of the

gharry and clambered into dwellings airy like

packing crates; or descended into places sinister

like cellars。  We got in; we drove on; we got out

again for the sole purpose; as it seemed; of looking

behind a heap of rubble。  The sun declined; my

companion was curt and sardonic in his answers;

but it appears we were just missing Johnson all

along。  At last our conveyance stopped once more

with a jerk; and the driver jumping down opened

the door。



A black mudhole blocked the lane。  A mound of

garbage crowned with the dead body of a dog ar…

rested us not。  An empty Australian beef tin

bounded cheerily before the toe of my boot。  Sud…

denly we clambered through a gap in a prickly

fence。 。 。 。



It was a very clean native compound: and the

big native woman; with bare brown legs as thick

as bedposts; pursuing on all fours a silver dollar

that came rolling out from somewhere; was Mrs。

Johnson herself。  〃Your man's at home;〃 said the

ex…sergeant; and stepped aside in complete and

marked indifference to anything that might follow。

Johnsonat homestood with his back to a native

house built on posts and with its walls made of

mats。  In his left hand he held a banana。  Out of

the right he dealt another dollar into space。  The

woman captured this one on the wing; and there

and then plumped down on the ground to look at

us with greater comfort。



My man was sallow of face; grizzled; unshaven;

muddy on elbows and back; where the seams of his

serge coat yawned you could see his white naked…

ness。  The vestiges of a paper collar encircled his

neck。  He looked at us with a grave; swaying sur…

prise。  〃Where do you come from?〃 he asked。

My heart sank。  How could I have been stupid

enough to waste energy and time for this?



But having already gone so far I approached a

little nearer and declared the purpose of my visit。

He would have to come at once with me; sleep on

board my ship; and to…morrow; with the first of the

ebb; he would give me his assistance in getting my

ship down to the sea; without steam。  A six…hun…

dred…ton barque; drawing nine feet aft。  I pro…

posed to give him eighteen dollars for his local

knowledge; and all the time I was speaking he

kept on considering attentively the various aspects

of the banana; holding first one side up to his eye;

then the other。



〃You've forgotten to apologise;〃 he said at last

with extreme precision。  〃Not being a gentleman

yourself; you don't know apparently when you in…

trude upon a gentleman。  I am one。  I wish you to

understand that when I am in funds I don't work;

and now 。 。 。〃

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