Wappin' Wharf Part 18

DARLIN': Has yer a Princess vacant? I lolls graceful on a throne.

(_The horrid creature spits._)

CAPTAIN: 'Vast there, me hearties! I 'm thinkin' I 'm hearin' the sound o' footsteps.

DUKE: (_to Patch_). Did yer lords.h.i.+p hear any sound?

PATCH: Askin' your Grice's pardon, I did n't ketch a thing. Did you hear anythin', Princess?

DARLIN': There 's nothin' come ter me pearly ears.

CAPTAIN: Silence! I wants ter listen.

(_No sound is heard._)

CAPTAIN: Well, Patch, yer had better get yer dirk ready. I 'm uncommon sleepy. I wants ter get ter bed.

DARLIN': Ketch him a deep one, Patch.

PATCH: I takes it mighty kind o' you, Captain. Yer has alers been a lovin' father ter me. Joey, I 'll tell yer what yer are. Yer the kind o' feller I hates most perticerler. Yer a spy! Say yer prayers, you hissin' snake!

(_He sharpens his dirk and gayly tests it on his whiskers._)

JOE: My wasted day is done. In the tempest's wrack the stars are dim and faith 's the only compa.s.s. Now or hereafter, what matters it? The sun will gild the meadows as of yesteryear. The moon will fee the world with silver coin. And all across the earth men will traffic on their little errands until nature calls them home. I am a stone cast in a windy pool where scarce a ripple shows. Life 's but a candle in the wind. Mine will not burn to socket.

DUKE: He 's all wound up like a clock--jest tickin' words.

CAPTAIN: Patch, Joe is tellin' us poetical that his wick has burned right down to the bottle. Yer had better put it out, without more hesitatin'.

(_And now, as they are intent for the coming blow--suddenly!

quietly!--a woman's hand and arm--a claw, rather, with long, thin, shrivelled fingers--have come in sight at the window with the broken gla.s.s._

_It quite terrifies me as I write. My pencil shakes. Old ladies will want to scream._

_The fingers grope along the sill. They fumble on the wall. They stretch to reach the gun which stands beside the clock. Another inch and they will grasp it and Red Joe will be saved. The arm rubs against the pendulum of the clock. It swings and the clock starts to tick. And still no one has seen the terrible hand. And now the fingers are thrust blindly against the gun. It falls with a clatter on the stones.

The hand and arm disappear. But Darlin' has seen the swinging pendulum and shrieks._)

DUKE: Does yer see it, Captain?

PATCH: Horrers!

DUKE: It 's never went since Flint was hanged.

CAPTAIN: And would n't run till his death 's revenged and him layin'

peaceful in his coffin.

PATCH: Does yer think it 's grog? Does all o' yer see it?

DUKE: What done it?

(_From the distance is heard a long-drawn whistle._)

CAPTAIN: What 's that?

PATCH: It makes me jumpy.

DUKE: It ain 't a night when folks whistles jest fer cows and such.

Finish yer job, Patch.

PATCH: Are yer feared o' somethin' special, Duke?

DUKE: Feared? If we ain 't quick, there 'll be a gibbet fer all o' us.

CAPTAIN: Ain 't the clock tickin' peaceful?

PATCH: She ain 't got no right ter tick. It 's like a dead man talkin'.

DUKE: Quick! Give me the knife! I 'll stick it in him. And when I 'm done, we scatters. There 's trouble brewin'. Termorrer night, when the tide is out, we meets at the holler cave. And may the devil lend a helpin' hand. Snooper, are yer ready? Does yer see this here blade s.h.i.+nin' in the candle? In about one minute I 'll be wipin' off a streak o' red upon me breeks. Flint--blessin' on yer gentle soul!--yer can rest in peace!

[Ill.u.s.tration: "I 'll be wipin off a streak o' red upon me breeks"]

(_He approaches Joe with upraised knife. Suddenly he cries out._)

DUKE: It 's him the fortin-teller mentioned. It 's the man in a velvet cloak!

CAPTAIN: It 's him! Me G.o.d! Me hook!

(_With a growl of rage the pirates leap forward toward Joe, but are arrested by the sound of running feet. Into the cabin rushes the sailor captain, followed by three sailors. The sailor captain cries "_'Vast there!_" and the pirates turn to face his men. They put up a fight worthy of old Flint. Darlin', to escape the rough-and-tumble runs half way up the ladder. The table is overturned. The stools are kicked across the room. Even the precious grog is spilled. But the pirates' valor is insufficient. They are overpowered at last and tied.

Red Joe's cords are cut. Into the cabin Betsy comes running, followed by old Meg._)

BETSY: Joe! Hal! Thank G.o.d, you are safe.

JOE: Margaret!

SAILOR CAPTAIN: I am the captain of the Royal Harry.

JOE: Captain, I charge you to arrest these men.

SAILOR CAPTAIN: Yes, your Royal Highness.

DUKE: Royal 'Ighness? Did yer hear what he said?

DARLIN': 'Ighness nothin'. He 's jest a snooper.

(_She sits on the floor, with her head on the Duke's knee. She is staunch to the last--a true cook for a pirates' band._)

JOE: You will transport them in chains to London to wait their sentence by a court of law.

SAILOR CAPTAIN: Yes, your majesty.