Books › Blue Book v043 n03 [1926-07], 1926 › scan 80
Scan 80
Blue Book v043 n03 [1926-07], 1926
16 lines. Read by computer on 17 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1as kittens, one moment—the next, screaming and sticking knives into anyone near 'em all over the place, all started by a row between two of 'em. Well—passengers shouldn't be exposed to that sort of risk—not even the once when nothing happened—or the twice—or the three times. Keep the two sorts apart on shipboard, and you know where you're at."
3The most weighty reason of all Doctor Thayer didn't mention. No ship's officer ever would mention it. But, with coolies forward, the thing is always more or less in their minds.
5The first two days out from Durban were very sultry—little or no air stirring—great mother billows, quarter of a mile long, with a surface like glass. With the awnings over the boat-deck, the passengers in their long chairs were as comfortable as they could have been anywhere—with cooling drinks for the asking. Forward there were awnings over the well and the Number One hatch-cover was off—giving a little shade for the Lascars and ventilation for the Chinese. On the morning of the third day the air was lifeless—sky like a copper dome overhead. Captain Ludd was playing, fairly well, on a violin in his own cabin abaft the wheel-house. Fortunately the impulse had seized him but once before since leaving New York—when the weather had been cold enough to keep his windows closed—so that none of the deck-hands had noticed it. But in weather like this, on the Indian Ocean, he couldn't have done anything more likely to upset the morale of his crew. It wasn't that he played badly or that he had a weakness for adagio movements. He was, in fact, practicing the scherzo from "Midsummer Night's Dream"—to which any sailor can dance a hornpipe, with fancy steps of his own. But in the circumstances it simply was asking for trouble according to the superstitions of the sea. The chief bo's'n—acting as fourth mate—nodded with an "I-told-you-so" expression when he stepped along from the port end of the bridge and glanced at the glass. What he saw was no matter of casual interest—it called for prompt action.
7He hurried over to Coffin at the starboard end.
9"Would you mind 'avin' a look at the glawss, sir? Hit's dropped han inch, sir, in the lawst hour!"
11Coffin took one look—then shouted to the Lascars, forward:
13"On deck, there! Get the awnings down and stow them as quickly as you can! Lash everything fast! Get those hatch-covers on—lash the tarpaulins over them with extra marline! Wash-boards in all the gangway doors!" Then, to a deck-steward at the foot of the ladder: "Stow the deck-chairs below! See that everything is made fast in the mess-saloon and galley!" After another quick glance forward and aft, he ran along and stuck his head in at the master's door. "Excuse me, sir, but we seem to be in for a cyclone, and the deck-stewards have their hands full! Can you stow things in your cabin so they'll not shift—especially your violin? It's too good an instrument to have smashed in a blow—could never be repaired as good as it was, you know!"
15"Eh? Bless me! You're quite right, Coffin—I'd be very much put out if anything were to injure it! Typhoon, eh? Never happened to run into one, myself. Outside edge of a West India blow—oh, yes; but we easily steamed away from it. As a matter of fact, no storm at sea can do much to a well-found modern steamer—I'll be out on the bridge, presently, and have a look-see!"
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.