The Mutiny of the Elsinore by Jack London
page 19 of 429 (04%)
page 19 of 429 (04%)
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Pathurst. Skippers are not particular for mates getting around the
seventy mark. And owners neither. I've had my hopes for this ship, and I'd a-got her, I think, except for the old man decidin' to go to sea again. As if he needed the money! The old skinflint!" "Is he well off?" I inquired. "Well off! If I had a tenth of his money I could retire on a chicken ranch in California and live like a fighting cock--yes, if I had a fiftieth of what he's got salted away. Why, he owns more stock in all the Blackwood ships . . . and they've always been lucky and always earned money. I'm getting old, and it's about time I got a command. But no; the old cuss has to take it into his head to go to sea again just as the berth's ripe for me to fall into." Again I started to enter the cabin, but was stopped by the mate. "Mr. Pathurst? You won't mention about my age?" "No, certainly not, Mr. Pike," I said. CHAPTER III Quite chilled through, I was immediately struck by the warm comfort of the cabin. All the connecting doors were open, making what I might call a large suite of rooms or a whale house. The main-deck |
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