St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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24 THE IGNATIAN told them. They laughed in return. 'Just the man we want', they said. 'We want an American merely for ap- pearance' sake, We'll do the business. You sign papers and draw your salaryf They did the business and me in the bargain, They ruined the bank and pocketed the profits. Hundreds of poor Dagos lost their all. The revolutionary funds of the Carbonari vanished into air. Imagine a hornet's nest. One of the directors called on me. 'You better skeep', he said, 'tonight' 'I'll stay', I replied. 'Yes', he said with a broad smile, 'if the Carbonari catch, you stay.' You know now why I would never ship a Dagof' The mate looked grave. Have they ever made an at- tempt? he asked. More than once , the captain replied, the last time in Calcutta. One of the assailants was of the very build of that Dago yonder, but his beard was thick and bushy. If that fellow had a beard, I'd say he was the same. Beards can be shaved. The distant sail no longer interested the Italian. The workings of his heart were no longer reflected in his face. He rose, stretched himself, turned and quietly went his way, re- spectfully saluting captain and mate as he passed them, the model seaman of the Lady Louise. III. It was a gray, stormy afternoon of late December. The Callao-bound bark, Lady Louise, with decks awash, was labor- ing in the throes of a cold Antarctic storm. NVith every spar bending, and the rigging shrieking in the gale, the little craft struggled on, now poised atop of a green mountain of water, now scudding down long, sullen slopes that seemed half a mile in length, to disappear seemingly lost in the valley be- neath. Captain Bellnay and the mate scanned the horizon with anxious eyes. Suddenly the sharp voice of the captain was heard above the storm. IIow's the course, helm?

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THE DERELICT 23 the galleys-of Palermo! They say he was pardoned-bahl they always say these things. How often must he have cursed those whiskers that sent him there-whiskers that I wore to fasten my deeds on him and get revenge! Let him eat his heart outf, The eyes of the Italian glistened. He is there for life. I need not worry. The seene in his mind had changed and brought him back to his reception on the Lady Louise, but his eyes still kept their fire. Dago , he mut- tered, Dago. So they call us when they rob us. VVe are fine people, nice -people, when we toil and slave and put our money in their banks-and when they tieece us-Dagos. But he knows we are on his track. Hiseyes were fixed in- tently on the distant sail. The Italian had proved himself an excellent seaman. Quiet, prompt, respectful, he was possessed of a strength and endurance that seemed out of all proportion to his frame. He was a favorite with the mate and with the crew. No one dared impose upon him. He troubled no one. Fine Seaman, that , said the mate, as he noticed the gaze of the captain intently fixed upon the quiet figure by the rail. Been a great help to me. I 'in glad you took him. 'flt was the mistake of my lifem, said the captain slowly. But we are all fools sometimes. It is the last voyage for o11e or the other or both.'7 '4Tut, tut, Cap 'n',, said the mate. HI fear that you al- low your dark fancies to get the better of you. I can 't for the life of me see why you dislike himf' i'If your life were forfeitedn, said the captain, for- feited innocently g-butpyou may as well hear the story. Per- haps you ean help me. There is an incident in my history of which I have never hitherto spoken. I was at one time the president of an Italian bank in New York. You will think it strange. So it was from many points of view, but not from one. That was my undoing. When the offer was made me, I laughed at the idea. I knew nothing of banking. So I

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THE DERELICT 25 North by west, sir. Bring her west by south. Run up the staysails, men. Each man sprang forward to do his duty. The wind caught the big body of the Swede and for a time he could make no headway. Then he stopped. Every moment counted. The sail was loosed. 'WVe can do by ourselves , sang out a melo- dious voice. Pull In desperation the men obeyed. What strength there was in those arms no one had suspected. The sail rose, up-halfway-yes, they would make it, though the biting cold ate into their muscles, and the snow that had be- gun to fall made their foothold less secure. VVould the ropes hold? How they tugged and strained! Hold? As if the storm had hitherto been toying with them, now it bore down upon them with all its fury, the sails disappeared into the cloud of driving snow over the lee rail, as a sudden blast blew them to shreds. In a blinding swirl of snow, the green seas were charging over the weather rail and spilling out of the lee scuppers, while the icy waves snarled round the sea- men's legs. Every one from the mate down was mustered to rig preventer stays to the bowsprit. The helmsman lashed his wheel to bear a hand. The cook was sent out on the bow- sprit with the rest to assist in hitching a heavy hawser around the end of a spar. At this moment, as if rejoicing to have trapped them, the sea lifted itself up in a mountainous, seething wall to windward, and having gathered in itself the fury of a hundred waves, it swept down with a hideous roar and crashed headlong on the ship. 'KHang on! bellowed the captain. 4'Hang on! 'tHang on to what? The cry was the cry of instinctive desire,-not of reason. The sea in hoarse merriment laughed outright. Those men might have been flies, so easily did it do its work. One alone by the steel-like tenacity of his grip and his more than human agility in avoiding the brunt of the wave remained, one dark and dripping object clinging desperately to a bobstay. Perhaps, too, the demons of the