A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 59: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

56 , A QUEER RACE. These two were Bolsover and myself. I had gone so much among the sick, exposing myself continually ° to the risk of contagion without suffering the least ill effect, that I began to think my immunity was real, after all, and that I ran no more risk of taking the fever than a man who has been effectively vaccinated runs of taking small-pox. | The boatswain was like Bonaparte—he believed in his star. ‘“‘T am not afraid, Mr. Erle,” he said to me one day, “my time has not come yet. J am bound to see that treasure-ship before I die.” It was about this time that Bucklow (now first officer, his senior being among the dead) took me to the stern, and pointing to the water, said, grimly: ‘There they are, waiting for us. ‘They have been fol- lowing us these last three days. ‘They ” were five or six huge sharks, swimming in the wake of the ship. I looked at them for a while as if fas- cinated, and then with a shudder turned away. I never went near the taffrail that I did not look, and they were always close under the stern. As for Peyton, I thought he was going mad. He at- tended to his duties as diligently as ever, looked after the sick as well as he could, and kept the survivors of his crew to their duties, took the day’s reckoning, and re- corded the day’s run; but he hardly ever spoke, except to give necessary orders. For hours together he would pace about the quarter- deck, muttering, ‘“‘It’s my doing! it’s all mydoing! We shall all die! we shall all die! but my time has not come yet.” Once, when I ventured to suggest that he should cast the Lady Jane off (at the instance of some of the men, who had got it into their heads that so long as we had the fever ship in tow the fever would never leave us) he turned on me almost fiercely. , ‘* No!’ he exclaimed, ‘‘ I shall not cast her off. Why should 1? What harm has shedone? I am doomed—we are all doomed—and the salvage will be a provision for my wife and family. Don’t you understand? a provision for my wife and family, that’s why. But it’s useless te Geom (€ JOO KS Eom ; ee ee” oy)