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- 3082
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- 2026-01-30T20:48:18.535Z
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- 3004
- text
- forced into such very close contact.
However that might be, taking advantage of our descent into the cabin,
Samoa, in desperation fled from his wife, and one-armed as he was,
sailor-like, shifted himself over by the fore and aft-stays to the
main-top, his musket being slung to his back. And thus divided, though
but a few yards intervened, the pair were as much asunder as if at the
opposite Poles.
During the live-long night they were both in great perplexity as to the
extraordinary goblins on board. Such inquisitive, meddlesome spirits,
had never before been encountered. So cool and systematic; sagaciously
stopping the vessel’s headway the better to rummage;—the very plan they
themselves had adopted. But what most surprised them, was our striking
a light, a thing of which no true ghost would be guilty. Then, our
eating and drinking on the quarter- deck including the deliberate
investment of Vienna; and many other actions equally strange, almost
led Samoa to fancy that we were no shades, after all, but a couple of
men from the moon.
Yet they had dimly caught sight of the frocks and trowsers we wore,
similar to those which the captain of the Parki had bestowed upon the
two Cholos, and in which those villains had been killed. This, with the
presence of the whale boat, united to chase away the conceit of our
lunar origin. But these considerations renewed their first
superstitious impressions of our being the ghosts of the murderous
half-breeds.
Nevertheless, while during the latter part of the night we were
reclining beneath him, munching our biscuit, Samoa eyeing us intently,
was half a mind to open fire upon us by way of testing our
corporeality. But most luckily, he concluded to defer so doing till
sunlight; if by that time we should not have evaporated.
For dame Annatoo, almost from our first boarding the brigantine,
something in our manner had bred in her a lurking doubt as to the
genuineness of our atmospheric organization; and abandoned to her
speculations when Samoa fled from her side, her incredulity waxed
stronger and stronger. Whence we came she knew not; enough, that we
seemed bent upon pillaging her own precious purloinings. Alas! thought
she, my buttons, my nails, my tappa, my dollars, my beads, and my
boxes!
Wrought up to desperation by these dismal forebodings, she at length
shook the ropes leading from her own perch to Samoa’s; adopting this
method of arousing his attention to the heinousness of what was in all
probability going on in the cabin, a prelude most probably to the
invasion of her own end of the vessel. Had she dared raise her voice,
no doubt she would have suggested the expediency of shooting us so soon
as we emerged from the cabin. But failing to shake Samoa into an
understanding of her views on the subject, her malice proved futile.
When her worst fears were confirmed, however, and we actually descended
into the forecastle; there ensued such a reckless shaking of the ropes,
that Samoa was fain to hold on hard, for fear of being tossed out of
the rigging. And it was this violent rocking that caused the loud
creaking of the yards, so often heard by us while below in Annatoo’s
apartment.
And the fore-top being just over the open forecastle scuttle, the dame
could look right down upon us; hence our proceedings were plainly
revealed by the lights that we carried. Upon our breaking open her
strong-box, her indignation almost completely overmastered her fears.
Unhooking a top-block, down it came into the forecastle, charitably
commissioned with the demolition of Jarl’s cocoa-nut, then more exposed
to the view of an aerial observer than my own. But of it turned out, no
harm was done to our porcelain.
At last, morning dawned; when ensued Jarl’s discovery as the occupant
of the main-top; which event, with what followed, has been duly
recounted.
And such, in substance, was the first, second, third and fourth acts of
the Parki drama. The fifth and last, including several scenes, now
follows.
- title
- Chunk 2