The captain naturally wished to knock it away with the end of
the heavy painter; but he did not dare do it, because anything
resembling an emphatic gesture would have capsized this freighted boat,
and so with his open hand, the captain gently and carefully waved the
gull away. After it had been discouraged from the pursuit the captain
breathed easier on account of his hair, and others breathed easier
because the bird struck their minds at this time as being somehow
grewsome and ominous.
In the meantime the oiler and the correspondent rowed And also they
rowed.
They sat together in the same seat, and each rowed an oar. Then the
oiler took both oars; then the correspondent took both oars; then the
oiler; then the correspondent. They rowed and they rowed. The very
ticklish part of the business was when the time came for the reclining
one in the stern to take his turn at the oars. By the very last star of
truth, it is easier to steal eggs from under a hen than it was to change
seats in the dingey. First the man in the stern slid his hand along the
thwart and moved with care, as if he were of Sevres. Then the man in the
rowing seat slid his hand along the other thwart. It was all done with
most extraordinary care. As the two sidled past each other, the whole
party kept watchful eyes on the coming wave, and the captain cried:
"Look out now! Steady there!"
The brown mats of seaweed that appeared from time to time were like
islands, bits of earth.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33