BUTLER--[_Determinedly._] No!
ABEL--[_Crying weakly._] Yuh dirty mut!
BUTLER--[_Quietly._] There! Don’t get riled. It only makes you
hotter--and thirstier. [_The boy sinks back exhausted and closes his
eyes._ BUTLER _begins to talk in a more assured voice, as if the sip of
water had renewed his courage_.] That’ll save us yet, that bit of water.
A lucky notion of mine to think of it--at the last moment. They were
just lowering the boots. I could hear you calling to me to hurry and
come. They didn’t care if I went down with that stinking whaling ship or
not, damn them! What did the dirty cook matter to them? But I thought of
filling this bottle. It’d been lying there in the galley for two years
almost. I’d had it on my hip, full of whiskey, that night in Oakland
when I was shanghied. So I filled it out of a bucket before I ran to the
boat. Lucky I did, son--for you and me--not for them--damn ’em!
ABEL--[_Struggling to a sitting posture, evidently strengthened by his
drink._] Gee if the Old Man was wise you got it----
BUTLER--He won’t know--nor Horne, nor Cates, nor Jimmy Kanaka, neither.
[_As if in self-justification._] Why should I tell ’em, eh? Did I ever
get anything better than a kick or a curse from one of them?
[_Vindictively._] Would they give it to me if they had it? They’d see me
in hell first! And besides, it’s too late for them. They’re mad as
hatters right now, the four of them. They ain’t had a drop since three
nights back, when the water in the cask gave out and we rowed up against
this island in the dark. Think of it, and them out walking and roasting
in the sun all day, looking for water where there ain’t any. Wouldn’t
you be crazy? [_Suddenly he laughs queerly._] Didn’t you hear them
shouting and yelling like lunatics just before I came?
ABEL--I thought I heard something--on’y maybe I was dreamin’.
BUTLER--It’s them that are doing the dreaming. I was with them. I had to
go. [_With rising anger._] He kicked me awake--and every time I tried to
get away he beat me back. He’s strong yet--[_With threatening
vindictiveness._]--but he can’t last long, damn him! [_Controlling
himself, goes on with his story excitedly._] Well, we went looking for
water--on this sand pile. Then Jimmy Kanaka saw a boat sunk half under
down inside the reef--a Malay canoe, only bigger. They got down in her
the best way they could, up to their waists in water. They thought there
might be something to drink on her. I was trying to sneak off, scared to
go in on account of sharks. All of a sudden they gave an awful yell. I
thought they’d found something to drink and ran back. They was all
standing about a box they’d forced open, yelling and cursing and out of
their heads completely. When I looked I seen the box was full of all
sorts of metal junk--bracelets and bands and necklaces that I guess the
Malays wear. Nothing but brass and copper, and bum imitations of
diamonds and things--not worth a dam; and there they were, shouting with
joy and slapping each other on the back. And that hellion of a skipper
shouts at me: “Get out of this! No share here for a stinking cook!” he
yells. I didn’t say nothing but just picked up some of the stuff to make
sure. Then I told him straight. “This ain’t gold. It’s brass and
copper--not worth a damn.” God, he got wild! I had to run, or he’d
knifed me--then and there. That was when I woke you up.
ABEL--And ain’t it worth nothin’, honest? How’d you know it ain’t?
BUTLER--D’you think I ain’t learned to know gold in my time? And
polished enough copper and brass to know them, too? Just as if it was
gold it’d do ’em any good! You can’t drink gold, can you? [_With sudden
violence._] It serves ’em right, all that’s happened and going to
happen. Kicks and smacks in the face if I even winked an eye--two years
of it! And me shanghied when I was drunk--taken away from a good job and
forced to cook the swill on a rotten whaler. Oh, I’ll pay him back for
it! His damn ship is wrecked and lost to him--that’s the first of it.
I’ll see him rot and die--and the three with him! But you and me’ll be
saved! D’you know why I’ve let you go halves on this water, instead of
hogging it all myself? It’s because you were the only one on board that
didn’t treat me like a dog--and they kicked and beat you, too. We were
in the same boat. And now we’ll get even! Them and their dirty box of
junk! [_He sinks back, exhausted by this outburst_.]
ABEL--[_Suddenly, in a piteous voice._] Gee, I wisht I was back home
again!
BUTLER--You’ll get back. We both will. [_He closes his eyes. After a
pause--weakly._] When I close my eyes, everything gets to rocking under
me, like I was in that open boat again. I won’t forget these four days
in a hurry. Up and down---- Nothing but sun and water. [_They are both
silent, leaning with closed eyes against the bole of the tree, panting
exhaustedly. A murmur of men’s voices comes from the right, rear, and
gradually get nearer._]
ABEL--[_Opening his eyes with a start._] Butts! I hear ’em comin’!
BUTLER--[_Listening, wide-eyed, for a moment._] Yes, it’s them. [_He
gets to his feet weakly._] Come, let’s get out of this. [ABEL _staggers
to his feet. They both move to the left._ BUTLER _shades his eyes with
his hands and looks toward the beach_.] Look! They’re dragging along
that box of junk with ’em, the damn fools! [_Warningly._] They’re crazy
as hell. Don’t give ’em no chance to pick on you, d’you hear? They’d
stop at nothing when they’re this way. [_There is a scuffling of heavy
footsteps in the sand, and_ CAPTAIN BARTLETT _appears, followed by_
HORNE, _who in turn is followed by_ CATES _and_ JIMMY KANAKA. BARTLETT
_is a tall, huge-framed figure of a man, dressed in a blue
double-breasted coat, pants of the same material, and rubber sea-boots
turned down from the knees. In spite of the ravages of hunger and thirst
there is still a suggestion of immense strength in his heavy-muscled
body. His head is massive, thickly covered with tangled, iron-grey hair.
His face is large, bony, and leather-tanned, with a long aquiline nose
and a gash of a mouth shadowed by a bristling grey mustache. His broad
jaw sticks out at an angle of implacable stubbornness. Bushy grey brows
overhang the obsessed glare of his sombre dark eyes._ SILAS HORNE _is a
thin, parrot-nosed, angular old man, his lean face marked by a life-time
of crass lusts and mean cruelty. He is dressed in grey cotton trousers,
and a singlet torn open across his hairy chest. The exposed skin of his
arms and shoulders and chest has been blistered and seared by the sun. A
cap is on his head._ CATES _is squat and broad-chested, with thick,
stumpy legs and arms. His square, stupid face, with its greedy pig’s
eyes, is terribly pock-marked. He is gross and bestial, an unintelligent
brute. He is dressed in dungaree pants and a dirty white sailor’s
blouse, and wears a brown cap._ JIMMY KANAKA _is a tall, sinewy, bronzed
young Islander. He wears only a loin cloth and a leather belt with a
sheath-knife. The last two are staggering beneath the weight of a heavy
inlaid chest. The eyes of the three white men are wild. They pant
exhaustedly, their legs trembling with weakness beneath them. Their lips
are puffed and cracked, their voices muffled by their swollen tongues.
But there is a mad air of happiness, of excitement, about their scorched
faces._]
BARTLETT--[_In a crooning, monotonous voice._] It’s heavy, I know,
heavy--that chest. Up, bullies! Up with her! [_He flings himself in the
shade, resting his back against the tree, and points to the sand at his
feet._] Put ’er there, bullies--there where I kin see!
HORNE--[_Echoing his words mechanically._] Put’er there!
CATES--[_In thick, stupid tones._] Aye-aye, sir! Down she goes, Jimmy!
[_They set the chest down._]
BARTLETT--Sit down, lads, sit down. Ye’ve earned your spell of rest.
[_The three men throw themselves on the sand in attitudes of spent
weariness. Bartlett’s eyes are fixed gloatingly on the chest. There is a
silence suddenly broken by Cates, who leaps to a kneeling position with
a choked cry._]
CATES--[_His eyes staring at the Captain with fierce insistence._] I
want a drink--water! [_The others are startled into a rigid, dazzed
attention._ HORNE’S _lips move painfully in a soundless repetition of
the word. There is a pause. Then Bartlett strikes the side of his head
with his fist, as if to drive this obsession from his brain._ BUTLER
_and_ ABEL _stand looking at them with frightened eyes_.]
BARTLETT--[_Having regained control over himself, in a determined voice,
deep-toned and menacing._] If ye speak that word ever again, Ben
Cates--if ye say it once again--ye’ll be food for the sharks! Ye hear?
CATES--[_Terrified._] Yes, sir. [_He collapses limply on the sand
again._ HORNE _and the_ KANAKA _relax hopelessly_.]
BARTLETT--[_With heavy scorn._] Are ye a child to take on like a sick
woman--cryin’ for what ye know we’ve not got? Can’t ye stand up under a
little thirst like a man? [_Resolutely._] There’ll be water enough--if
ye’ll wait and keep a stiff upper lip on ye. We’ll all be picked up
today. I’ll stake my word on it. This state o’ things can’t last. [_His
eyes fall on the chest._] Ye ought to be singin’ ’stead o’ cryin’--after
the find we’ve made. What’s the lack of water amount to--when ye’ve gold
before you? [_With mad exultation._] Gold! Enough of it in your share
alone to buy ye rum, and wine, and women, too, for the rest o’ your
life!
CATES--[_Straightening up to a sitting posture--his small eyes staring
at the box fascinatedly--in a stupid mumble._] Aye--aye--rum and wine!
BARTLETT--[_Half closing his eyes as if the better to enjoy his
vision._] Yes, rum and wine and women for you and Horne and Jimmy. No
more hard work on the dirty sea for ye, bullies, but a full pay-day in
your pockets to spend each day o’ the year. [_The three strain their
ears, listening eagerly. Even_ BUTLER _and_ ABEL _advance a step or two
toward him, as if they, too, were half hypnotized_.] And Cates grumbling
because he’s thirsty! I’d be the proper one to complain--if complainin’
there was to do! Ain’t I lost my ship and the work o’ two years with
her? And what have ye lost, all three, but a few rags o’ clothes? [_With
savage emphasis._] I tell ye, I be glad the Triton went down! [_He taps
the box with his fingers._] They’s more in this than ever was earned by
all the whalin’ ships afloat. They’s gold--heavy and solid--and diamonds
and emeralds and rubies!--red and green, they be.
CATES--[_Licking his lips._] Aye, I seen ’em there--and emeralds be
green, I know, and sell for a ton of gold!
BARTLETT--[_As if he hadn’t heard and was dreaming out loud to
himself._] Rum and wine for you three, and rest for me. Aye, I’ll rest
to home ’til the day I die. Aye, woman, I be comin’ home now for good.
Aye, Nat and Sue, your father be comin’ home for the rest o’ his life!
No more stinkin’ blubber on the deck. I’ll give up whalin’ like ye’ve
always been askin’ me, Sarah. Aye, I’ll go to meetin’ with ye on a
Sunday like ye’ve always prayed I would. We’ll make the damn neighbors
open their eyes, curse ’em! Carriages and silks for ye--they’ll be
nothin’ too good--and for Sue and the boy. I’ve been dreamin’ o’ this in
my sleep for years. I never give a damn ’bout the oil--that’s just
trade--but I always hoped on some voyage I’d pick up ambergris--a whole
lot of it--and that’s worth gold!
HORNE--[_His head bobbing up from his chest--drowsily._] Aye, ambergris!
It’s costly truck.
BUTLER--[_In a whisper to the boy--cautiously._] There! Wasn’t I right?
Mad as hatters, all of ’em! Come on away!
ABEL--[_Staring at the Captain fascinatedly._] No. I wanter see ’em open
it.
BUTLER--Look out! You’ll be going batty yourself, first thing you know.
[_But he also stays._]
BARTLETT--[_His voice more and more that of a somnambulist._] It’s time
I settled down to home with ye, Sarah, after twenty years o’ whalin’.
They’s plenty o’ big trees on my place, bullies, and shade and green
grass, and a cool wind off the sea. [_He shakes off the growing
drowsiness and glares about him in a rage._] Hell’s fire! What crazy
truck be I thinkin’ of? [_But he and the others sink back immediately
into stupor. After a pause he begins to relate a tale in a droning
voice._] Years ago, when I was whalin’ out o’ New Bedford--just after I
got my first ship, it was--a man come to me--Spanish-looking, he
was--and wanted to charter my ship and me go shares. He showed me a map
o’ some island off the coast of South America somewhere. They was a
cross marked on it where treasure had been buried by the old pirates.
That was what he said. But I was a fool. I didn’t believe him. I didn’t
see’s I could take a chance. He got old Scott’s schooner--finally. She
sailed and never was heard o’ since. But I’ve never forgot him and his
map. And often I’ve thought if I’d ’a’ went that vige---- [_He
straightens up and shouts with aggressive violence._] But here she be!
Run right into it--without no map nor nothin’. Gold and diamonds and
all--all them things he said was there--there they be in front o’ our
eyes! [_To the now alert_ JIMMY.] Open ’er up, Jimmy!
JIMMY--[_Getting up--in his soft voice._] Aye, Captain. [_He reaches
down to lift the lid._]
BARTLETT--[_A sudden change of feeling comes over him, and he knocks_
JIMMY’S _arm aside savagely_.] Hands off, ye dog! I’m takin’ care o’
this chest, and no man’s hand’s goin’ to touch it but mine!
JIMMY--[_Stepping back docilely--in the same unmoved, soft tone._] Aye,
Captain. [_He squats down to the left of the chest._]
BARTLETT--[_Seeming suddenly to notice the cook for the first time._] So
there you be, eh? [_His voice growing thick with rage._] I ain’t forgot
what ye said down by the shore there! Lucky for ye I didn’t catch ye
then! “Brass and copper--junk,” ye said--“not gold! Not worth a damn,”
ye said! Ye blasted son o’ a liar! No share for ye! I’ll not forget.
And keep your distance o’ me if ye want your hide! [_Looking at_ ABEL.]
Ye’ve been tellin’ that boy your lies too, I kin tell by the look o’
him. [_Sternly._] Come here, boy!
ABEL--[_Advances with faltering steps._] Y-yes, s-sir?
BARTLETT--Open up that chest! Open it up, ye brat! [_With a desperate
movement of fear_ ABEL _reaches down and flings open the lid of the
chest._ _As he does so_, BARTLETT’S _huge hand fastens on the collar of
his coat, and holds him with face bent over the box_. HORNE, CATES,
_and_ JIMMY KANAKA _pull themselves close, their necks craning for a
look inside_. BUTLER _takes a few steps toward them_.]
BUTLER--[_In a low uncertain tone._] Maybe I was wrong, Captain
Bartlett, sir.
BARTLETT--[_Shaking the terror-stricken boy._] What d’ye see there, ye
little swab? What d’ye see there?
ABEL--Aw--leggo--I’m chokin’!
BARTLETT--[_Grimly._] Ye’ll choke in earnest if ye don’t answer me. What
d’ye see? Is it gold? Answer me--is it gold?
ABEL--[_Stutteringly._] Yes--sure--gold--I see it!
BARTLETT--[_Thrusts him away. The boy staggers and falls to the sand._
BARTLETT _turns to_ BUTLER _triumphantly_.] Ye see, ye liar? Gold!
Gold! Even a child can tell it at a look. [_With a sombre menace in his
tone._] But ye--don’t believe--do ye?
BUTLER--[_Frightenedly._] Maybe I was wrong, sir. I--didn’t--look very
careful.
BARTLETT--Come here! [_He stands up, his back against the tree._] Come
here!
BUTLER--Yes, sir. [_But he looks about him shiftily, as if to run
away._]
BARTLETT--Jimmy! [_The_ KANAKA _leaps to his feet_.] Knife him, Jimmy,
if he tries to run.
JIMMY--[_His hand goes to his knife, his dark eyes lighting up with
savagery--in his soft voice._] Aye, Captain!
BARTLETT--[_To the trembling cook._] Come here!
BUTLER--[_Goes to him with the courage of desperation._] Yes, sir.
BARTLETT--[_Pointing to the contents of the chest._] Is it gold--or not?