FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118  
119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   >>  
lockers in great confusion, but the crew had left food enough of one sort or another to satisfy our immediate needs. There was an awful task before us, and I explained it to Helen. We must consign those dead bodies to the sea. She shuddered at the thought, but, like an obedient child, tried to help me. How I managed to encase those silent forms in canvas I hardly know, but I did, and got them to the side of the ship. Then I got my prayer book and read the blessed burial service, while Helen looked on in troubled wonder. Then came the hardest task of all, but it was done, and the bodies, one after the other, fell with a great splash into the still sea. I had thought to bind heavy weights to the feet, and they sank at once, and Helen and I were left quite alone. I am writing this with great difficulty, for we are dying--dying of thirst. Why I write I do not know. There is no water on board. The sailors, after filling their casks from the great casks in the hold, left the water running. When we sought to draw there was not a drop left. There is a change coming over Helen. She sometimes looks at me strangely. She seems almost shy. I wonder what it is. Is memory coming back? Or has she learned that she is a woman and I a man? But she is not for me. There is John Bruce, and I vowed to take her safely to him, and I shall----. Mother, good----. I can't write more. I see that the end is.... V. The writing in the little water-soaked book became entirely illegible. Indeed, the last few lines were very indistinct, and showed the failing of mental and physical strength. I sat staring at the yellow page and then looked up at Judson. He was gazing intently at me. "Well, go on; go on," he said impatiently. "That's all," said I. He seized the book from my hands, and turned the leaves feverishly. "Yes, yes. That is all. Why man, we're not much wiser than we were. We've got something, but we haven't solved the mystery of the headless skeletons." "No, nor are we likely to," said I. "Not likely to? We must!" said Judson, in a sharp, strained voice. He seemed to be much excited. I looked at my watch. "It's Sunday morning," said I, and luckily Sunday, I thought. Judson wouldn't be good for much in a trial after such an evening as this. As for myself, I was tired and hungry, and I said so. "So am I," said Judson, dropping the excited air, but with an effort. "Sit still a moment." He came back soon with a tray on wh
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118  
119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   >>  



Top keywords:

Judson

 

thought

 

looked

 
coming
 
writing
 

bodies

 
excited
 

Sunday

 

physical

 

effort


strength
 

mental

 

failing

 

dropping

 

yellow

 
showed
 

staring

 

Mother

 

moment

 
hungry

Indeed

 
illegible
 

soaked

 

indistinct

 

strained

 

headless

 

skeletons

 
mystery
 

solved

 

feverishly


evening

 

intently

 

wouldn

 

turned

 

leaves

 

seized

 

luckily

 

impatiently

 

morning

 

gazing


canvas

 

managed

 

encase

 

silent

 

prayer

 

hardest

 
troubled
 

blessed

 

burial

 

service