In the momentary silence that succeeded, I caught the voice of Stubbins.
"There hain't hardly no wind," he was saying, in a puzzled tone.
There was a low murmur of assent from the surrounding men.
The Second Mate said nothing, and I glanced at him, curiously. Was he
beginning to see, I wondered, how useless it was to try to find any
sensible explanation of the affair? Had he begun at last to couple it
with that peculiar business of the man up the main? I am inclined _now_
to think that this was so; for, after staring a few moments at Tom, in a
doubtful sort of way, he went out of the fo'cas'le, saying that he would
inquire further into the matter in the morning. Yet, when the morning
came, he did no such thing. As for his reporting the affair to the
Skipper, I much doubt it. Even did he, it must have been in a very
casual way; for we heard nothing more about it; though, of course, we
talked it over pretty thoroughly among ourselves.
With regard to the Second Mate, even now I am rather puzzled by his
attitude to us aloft.
Pages:
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64