The Vultures by Henry Seton Merriman
page 24 of 365 (06%)
page 24 of 365 (06%)
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and only pitched her nose into the yellow sea from time to time,
throwing a cloud of spray over the length of her decks, like a bird at its bath. Soon after daylight the Prince Martin Bukaty came on deck, gay and lively in his borrowed oilskins. His blue eyes laughed in the shadow of the black sou'wester tied down over his eyes, his slight form was lost in the ample folds of Captain Petersen's best oilskin coat. "It remains to be seen," he said, peering out into the rain and spray, "whether that little man will come to us in this." "He will come," said Captain Petersen. Prince Martin Bukaty laughed. He laughed at most things--at the timidity and caution of this Norse captain, at good weather, at bad weather, at life as he found it. He was one of those few and happy people who find life a joy and his fellow-being a huge joke. Some will say that it is easy enough to be gay at the threshold of life; but experience tells that gayety is an inward sun which shines through all the changes and chances of a journey which has assuredly more bad weather than good. The gayest are not those who can be pointed out as the happiest. Indeed, the happiest are those who appear to have nothing to make them happy. Martin Bukaty might, for instance, have chosen a better abode than the stuffy cabin of a Scandinavian cargo-boat and cheerier companions than a grim pair of Norse seamen. He might have sought a bluer sky and a bluer sea, and yet he stood on the dripping deck and laughed. He clapped Captain Petersen on the back. "Well, we have got here and we have ridden out the worst of it, and we |
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