Conradl, joseph. Selectecl Tales froh,, Conrad. Ex Rigen Stews art Conaon Faber an! Faioer 19 79. 96-142 The Secret Sharer pieces of silver marked the windings of the great river; and “The Secret Sharer 1 ‘Onmy right and here were inesoF ishing stakestesembling ‘4 mysterious system of half-submerged bamboo fence, i= comprehensible in is division of the domain of topical fishes, and erazy of aspect as if abandoned for ever by some nomad tribe of Ushermen now gone to the other end ofthe ocean; for there wasno sign of human habitation afar asthe eye could reach. To the ltt a group of barren islets, ‘suggestingruins of tone wall, towers, and blockhouse, bad its foundations st in a blue sea that itelf looked solid, £0 sill and stable did it ie below my fet; even the tack of light from the westering sun shone smoothly, without that snimated glter which telis of an imperceptible ripple. And ‘when I turned my head to take a parting glance atthe tug which had just lft us anchored outside the bar, Lsaw the Straight line ofthe at shore joined tothe stable sea, ede to ‘ge, with a perfect and unmarked closeness, in one levelled floor hal brown, half blue under the enormous dome of the sky. Corresponding in ther insignificance to the islet of the sea, to small clamps of tess, one on each side ofthe only aul the impeccable joint, marked the mouth ofthe river ‘Meinar we had ost ft onthe first preparatory stage of our homeward journey; and, far back om the inland level, larger and lofir mass, the grove surrounding the areat PPeknam pagoda, was the only thing on which the eye could rest from the vain tsk of exploring the momentous sweep ‘ofthe horizon, Hete and thee gleams as of fe sattered 96 ‘on the nearest of them, just within the bac, he tp steaming Fight into the land becime lost tomy sigh, Rll and funnet ‘and masts a8 though the impassve earth had swallowed her Uup without an effort, without a tremor, My eye Tellowed the Tightcloudofhersmoke, nowhere, now there, abovetheplain, acoarding tothe devious curves of the stream, bat always fainter and farther avay, til Host ita last behind the mitre- shaped hil of the great pagoda, And then I was left alone With my ship, anchored atthe head ofthe Galf of Siam. She Moat atthe startingpoint of a Tong journey, very sulla animmense stillness, the shadows of er spars fupgfar to the eastwaed by the setting sun. At that moment I was lone on her decks, There was not @ sound in her—and Around us nothing moved, nothing lived, nota canoe oa the Water, not bird inthe ai, not a cloud in the sky. In this breathles pause at the threshold of along passage we seemed tobemeastring ovr fitness for along and srduousenterprise, the appointed tsk ofboth our existences to be earied out, far from all human eyes, with oly sky and sea for spectators and for judges. “Thote must have been some glare in the wit to interfere with one’s sight, beeause it was ony just before the um eft vs that my roaming eyes made out beyond the highest ridge of ‘the principal ilt of the group something which did away withthe solemnity of perfect solitude. The tide of darkness flowed on swifly; and with topical suddenness a swarm ef starscame out above the shadowy earth, while Tingered yt, ‘my hand resting lightly on my ship's ailas if onthe shoulder ‘of trusted friend. But, wih ll uhat multude of celestial bodies staring own atone, the comfort of quiet communion with her was gone for good. And there Were also disturbing sounds by tis ime—voies, footsteps forward, the steward flted along the maindeck, a busly miaistering spit; & yhand-belltnkled urgently under the poop-deck. > 7The Seeres Sharer found my two officers waiting for me near the supper sable, in te lights caddy. We sat down at once, und as L helped the chief mate, 1 said: “are you aware that there is a ship anchored insie the Islands? saw her mastheads above the ridgeas the sun went down.” ‘He raised sharply his simple face, overcharged by a terrible growth of whisker,andemitedhisusuaejacul “Bless my soul, si! You don't say so!” ‘My second mate was around-cheeked, silent young man, rave beyond his years, I thought; but as our eyes happened to-meet I detected a light quiver on his lips. Looked down at once. It was not my part to encourage soeering on board iy ship, It must be said, too, that T knew very litle of my cers, In consequence of certain events of no partcalar significance, except to mel, I had been appointed to the commandoaly afortight before. Nether did know muchof the hands forward, All these people had been together for cighteen months or so, and my potion vas that ofthe only ‘tanger onboard, Imeation this becauseithas some bearing fon what isto fllow. But what I felt most was my being a Stranger tothe ship; and fall the truth must be told, Twas somewhat ofa stranger to myself, The youngest an on board (barring the second mate), and untried as yet by a position ofthe fullest esponsibility, Iwas wing take the Adequacy ofthe others for granted. They had simply to be qual to their tasks; but I Wondered how far I should turn ‘ut fitfulto that ideal conception of one's own personality very man sets up for himself sere, Meantime the chef mate, with an almost visible effect of collaboration on the part of his round eyes and frightful ‘whiskers, was trying to evolve a theory ofthe anchored ship. “His dominant trait was to take all things ito earnest con. sideration, He was of painstaking turn of mind. As he 38 ‘The Secret Sharer asad to say, he “liked to account to ims” for practically fveryting that came in his way, down-o-a miserable scor~ ‘on he had found in his cabin a week before. The why and the wherefore of that scorpion—tow it got on board and ame to select his room rater than the panty (which Was dark place end more what a scorpion would be partial), and how onearthi¢ managed to drowa tselfintheink-well of his writing desk had exercised him infinitely. The ship ‘within the islands was much more easily accounted for; and Just as we were about to rise from table he made his pro= hounoement. She was, he doubted not, a ship from heme lately arrived, Probably she drew too mach wate to crost the bar except at the top of spring tides. Therefore she weat {no that natural harbour to Walt fra few daysin preference 5 open rondstead confirmed the second mate, suddenly, i his, slightly hoarse voice, "She draws over twenty feet. She's the Liverpool ship Sephora with a cargo of coal. Hundred and twenty-three days from Cardif.” ‘Welooked at hima surprise “The tugboat skipper told me whea he came on board for your lets, sin" explained the young man Hl expect 9 lke her up the iver the day aller tomorrow.” ‘Aer thus overwhelming us with the extet of his infor. smation he slipped out of the cabin. The mate observed ‘regretfully that he “could not account for that young fllow's whims", What prevented him wing us all about it at once? he wanted to know. 1 detained him as he was making a move. For the ast two days the erew had had plenty of hard work, nd the night before they had very ie sleep I fle painfully that =a steanger—was doing something unusual when I directed him ‘oletallhands turnin without setting ananchor-watch.pro- posed to keep on deck myself tilone o'clock or thereabouts would gt the second mate to relieve mea hat hou, ”‘The Seeret Sharer He will (urn out the cook and the steward at four" 1 concloded, “and then give youscall, Ofcourse atthe slighiest Sign of any sort of wind wel have the hands up and make a “He concsiled hs astonishment. "Very wel sit." Outside the caddy he put his head inthe second mate's door to {aform him of my unheard-of caprce to take a five hours faachor-watch on myself, L heard the other raise his voice {ncredulously—"What? The captain himsell?” Then a few more murmirs a door close, then another. A few moments Inter I went on dec. ‘My strangeness, which had made me sleepless, had prompted that unconventional arcangement, as if I had expected in those solitary hours ofthe night to get on terms ‘vith the ship of which I knew nothing, manned by men of ‘whom knew very litle more Fastalongsidea wharf litered Tike any ship in port with a tangle of unrelated things, in- ‘vaded by unrelated shore people, I had hardly seen her yet properly. Now, 8 she lay cleared fr sea the tetch of her ‘ain-deck seemed to me Very ine under the stars, Very fine, ‘ory roomy for he size, and very inviting. I descended the [poop and paced the wast, my mind picturing o myself che ‘Coming pasage through the Malay Atchipelago, down the Indian Ovean, and upthe Atlante, Ais phases weefenilar ‘enough to me, every characteris al te alternatives which tree likely face me onthe high seas—everything! «ex cept the novel responsibilty of command. But | took heart from the reasonable thought thet the ship was like other ‘hips, the men ike other men, and thatthe sea was not likely to keep any special surprises expresly for my discomtur. Arrived at that comforting conclusion, Ibethought myself ‘of cigar and went below to getit All was stil down there Everybody atthe after end of the ship was sleeping pro- foundly, I came out again on the quarter-deck, agreeably at fase in my sleepingsut on that warm breathless night, 100 The Secret Sharer barefooted, glowing cigar in my teth, and, going forward, Las met hy the profound silence of the fore end of the ship. Only a6 1 passed the door of the forecasle I hearé a deep, quiet, trustful sigh of some sleeper inside. And suddenly I rejoiced inthe great security of the ea at com pared with the unrest of the land, in miy choice ofthat un. tempted lfe presenting no disquieting. problems, invested With an elementary moral bebuly by the absolute stright forwardnes ofits appeal and by the sngleess fits purpose. ‘The riinglght in the fore-igging burned with a clear, untroubled, as if symbolic, fame, configent and bright in the mysterious shades of the night. Passing on my way aft along the other side of the ship, T observed thatthe rape side Tadd, put over, no doub, forthe master ofthe tg when he came fo fetch away our liters, had not been hauled in it should have been became annoyed at this, for exactitude in small matters i the very sul of discipline. Then I relected that I had myself peromplosly dismiised my offers from duty, and by my own act had prevented the anchor-watch ‘being formally set and things propery attended to. T asked myself whether it was wise ever to interfere with the estab- lished routine of duties even from the kindest motives. My action might have made me appeat eccentric. Goodness only Knew how thatabsuedly whiskered mate would “scsount” for ‘my conduct, and what the whole ship thought of that infor ality of thei new espa, L was vexed with myself Not from compunction certainly, but, ast were mechani cally, I proceeded to get the ladder in myself Now a side- adder of that sort is ight fait and comes i easly, yet ry vigorous tug, which should have brought it fying on board, merely recoiled upon my bedyina totally unexpected jerk, What the devil... asso astounded by the immoy- Ableness ofthat ladder that T remained stock, tying to Account for it to mysef ike that imbecile mate of mine. In theend, of course, I put my head over the rl. 101