1. food and drink
2. food
3. fruits and vegetables

ORANGES
WILD
BY
HERGESHEIMER
JOSEPH
ILLUSTRATED
KING
A
GROSSET
WITH
VIDOR'S
GOLDWYN
PICTURE
DUNLAP
NEW
Made
FROM
PHOTOPLAY
"
PUBLISHERS
SCENES
in the United State* of America
YORK
COPYRIGHT,
ALFRED
Published,
"Gold
entitled
First
KNOPF,
A.
April,
in
1918,
and
published
BY
1918,
Iron,"
a
INC.
volume
and
separately,
PS
3515
out
now
then
of
twice.
reprinted
March,
print,
192*
TO
GEORGE
HORACE
LORIMER
ORANGES
WILD
drifted
ketch
THE
the
bay
Beyond
sky
western
left
the
their
the
land
that
the
clear
yellow;
old
stillness
the
emphasized
was
the
the
sea
on
gathering
foliage.
ceaseless
the
on
ter.
wa-
cypress,
faint
own
by
breaking
waves
of
with
their
ing
mov-
farther
limbs
hung
as
hid
of
the
of
were
delicate
reflections
surface
of
single,
a
bare,
as
of
mirrorlike
arm
inclosure
serene
the
as
pale, incalculably
roots
The
low
was
the
shadows
a
the
silently
as
over
into
mur
mur-
far, seaward
bars.
John
Woolfolk
intended
to
white-clad
was
the
an
He
covered
His
jib,
secured
the
berth.
his
folding
chair
and
and
a
The
swift
covered
the
a
He
handful
mainsail
[9]
he
carpet-
was
tired.
about
rolled
of
and
impo-
a
on
moved
hawser,
locked
Woolfolk
by.
near
efficiency;
then, with
turned
form
There
imperceptibly
wheel
long
of
rasp
he
stooping
go!"
yacht
John
Halvard,
the
to
sudden
where
up
"Let
the
absent-minded,
dropped
and
bow:
idle, and
sailor, Poul
noiseless
the
her
ketch
called
splash,
swung
into
the
and
in
answering
tently; and,
it.
anchor
figure
booms
settled
brought
canvas
with
and
a
cased
stops,
proceeded
aft
WILD
ORANGES
the
jigger. Unlike
was
Woolfolk, Halvard
short
a square
figurewith a smooth,deep-tanned
colorless and
countenance,
steady, pale blue
His mouth
closed so tightly
that it appeared
eyes.
durate
obimmovable, as if it had been carved from some
material that opened for the necessities of
neither speechnor sustenance.
Tall John Woolfolk
was
darkly tanned,too, and
had a grey gaze, by turns sharply focused with
He
brightblack pupilsand blanklyintrospective.
with bare ankles and
was
garbed in white flannels,
sandals, and an
old, collarless silk shirt,with
sleeves rolled back on virile arms
tattooed
incongruously
to
"
with gauzy green cicadas.
stayed motionless while
He
Halvard
put the
yacht in order for the night. The day's passage
through twistinginland waterways, the hazard of
the continual concentrathe tides on shifting
tion
flats,
trivial and highlynecessary,
details at once
on
had been more
wearing than the cyclonethe ketch
weathered
had
off
Barbuda
been landbound
year
before.
dawn; and all day
instinct had revolted againstthe
Woolfolk's
fields and wooded
points,turningtoward the open
They
John
had
the
since
sea.
disappearedinto the cabin; and, soon
after,a faint,hot air,the smell of scorched metal,
of the vapor stove, the prepthe lighting
announced
arations
Halvard
for supper.
of the
bay.
The
Not
a
breath
water,
[10]
as
stirred the
face
sur-
clear
transparently
ORANGES
WILD
hardly darkened air,lay like a great amethyst
of the land.
claspedby its dim corals and the arm
The
glossy foliagethat, with the exceptionof a
small silver beach, choked
the shore might have
It was,
been stamped from metal.
John Woolfolk
phere,
atmossuddenly thought, amazingly still. The
too, was
peculiarlyheavy, languorous. It
laden with the scents of exotic,floweringtrees ;
was
he recognizedthe smooth, heavy odor of oleanders
the
as
and
the clearer sweetness
He
was
known
of orange
blossoms.
idly surprisedat the latter;he had
that
survived
orange
groves
had
been
planted
gazed more
in
not
and
tentive
atGeorgia. Woolfolk
at the shore,and made
out, in back of the
luxuriant tangle,the broad white fagade of a dwelling.
A pair of marine
glasseslay on the deck at
his hand ; and, adjustingthem, he surveyed the face
of a
the
windows
on
distinguishedruin. The
stained wall were
in
broken
they resembled the
empty eyes of the dead; storms had battered loose the
and
to sun
neglected roof, leaving a corner
open
rain; he could see through the foliagelower down
great columns fallen about a sweeping portico.
The
house was
deserted,he was certain of that
the melancholy wreckage of a vanished
and resplendent
Its small principality,
time.
flourishing
when
had
and communication
commerce
by
gone
"
"
water,
was
and
one
of the innumerable
of the concentration
impersonalities.He
thought
of
he
victims
of progress
effort into
could
trace
huge
other
WILD
ORANGES
complete ruins,but his interest waned.
He
laid the glassesback
the deck.
The
upon
choked
bubble of boilingwater
from
sounded
the
ing
cabin, mingled with the irregularsputter of cookfat and the clinkingof platesand silver as Halvard set the table. Without, the lightwas
fading
swiftly;the wavering cry of an owl quiveredfrom
the cypress across
the water, and the western
sky
Woolfolk
changed from paler yellow to green.
moved
abruptly,and, securing a bucket to the
handle of which a short rope had been splicedand
finished with an ornamental
Turk's-head,he swung
it overboard
and brought it up half full. In the
even
more
darkness
of the bucket
the water
shone
with
a
faint
phosphorescence. Then from a basin he lathered
with a thick,pinkish paste, washed
his
his hands
face,and started toward the cabin.
He
was
already in the companionway when,
the stillsurface of the bay, he saw
glancingacross
about a small point. He
a swirl moving into view
ment
thought at first that it was a fish,but the next mothe white, gracefulsilhouette of an
arm.
saw
It was
a woman
swimming. John Woolfolk could
of her
now
plainlymake out the free,solid mass
She
hair, the naked, smoothly turning shoulder.
was
swimming with deliberate ease, with a long,
stroke;and it was evident that she
singleoverarm
Woolfolk
the ketch.
had not seen
stood,his gaze
level with the cabin top, watching her assured progress.
the
She turned again, moving out from
[12]
ORANGES
WILD
shore, then suddenly stopped. Now, he realized,
she
him.
saw
swimmer
The
with
motionless
for
a
breath;then,
drive,she whirled about and
She was
visible
the point of land.
strong, sinuous
a
swiftlyfor
made
hung
for
a
short
space,
in the
low
water, her
hair
wavering in the clear flood,and then disappeared
last
a
abruptly behind the point,leavingbehind
a
smooth,
vanishing trace of her silent passage
subsidingwake on the surface of the bay.
John Woolfolk mechanicallydescended the three
There had been something
short steps to the cabin.
in the woman's
brief appearance
out
extraordinary
of the odorous
tangle of the shore,with its ruined
habitation.
It had
caught him unprepared, in a
of half weary
and his imaginamoment
relaxation,
tion
respondedwith a faint questionto which it had
been long unaccustomed.
But Harvard, in crisp
white,standingbehind the steaming supper viands,
brought his thoughts again to the day's familiar
"
"
routine.
cabin
The
divided
through its forward half
by the centerboard casing,and againstit a swinging
table had been elevated,an immaculate
cover
laid,
and
the yacht'schina, marked
in cobalt with the
name
formal
Gar, placed in a polished and
order.
table
was
was
Halvard's
as
service
silent and
from
skillful
as
the
his
stove
to
housing of
the
the
sails;he replacedthe hot dishes with cold,and provided
of translucent preservedfigs.
a glassbowl
[13]
WILD
ORANGES
from
Supper at an end,Woolfolk rolled a cigarette
black tea and returned
shag that resembled coarse
to the deck.
Night had fallen on the shore,but the
still held a palelight;
in the east the sky was
water
the
It was
filled with an increasing,
cold radiance.
The
risingswiftlyabove the flat land.
moon,
moonlight grew in intensity,
castinginky shadows
of the spars and cordage across
the deck, making
the lightin the cabin a reddish blur by contrast.
The icyflood swept over
the land,bringingout with
a new
emphasis the close,glossyfoliageand broken
facade
it appearedunreal,portentous. The odors
of the flowers,of the orange blossoms,uncoiled in
the water, accompanied
across
heavy, palpable waves
of
The
sense
by the owl's fluctuating
cry.
imminence
increased,of a genius loci unguessed
in the perfumed
and troublous,
vaguelythreatening
"
dark.
[14]
II
had
WOOLFOLK
JOHN
vard
for
remaining
become
invested
be
had
He
bay.
would
add.
to
him
silent
with
interest
of
Interests
with
the
world, with
and
lighted
of
spurt
felt,
He
discussion.
he
society, with
life.
his
ful
care-
was
serving
sort,
to
the
in
nect
con-
women,
rolled
He
mouth
his
match
that, he
episode,
from
thing
minute
somber
was
forbidding.
The
had
unexpected
merely
swim
at
dusk
only
now
There
the
chart
in
of
in their
bays
he
in
the
knew,
no
it his
the
mere
canvas
of
did
knowledge
[IS]
water
here, and
camps
sodden
of
squatters.
the
by
he
the
obtained
civilization.
highest
moon,
riosity.
cu-
commonly
not
simplicity
case
the
glassy
slight, fanciful
hunting
were
its flat
a
coast
; such
of
crystal flood
from
that
reaches
inhabitants
lay
being
women
the
were,
local
and,
in
into
the
on
appearance
started
The
A
the
the
but
her;
cigarette, and
fresh
a
that
in
particular
no
glamour
a
in the
totally disappeared
and
of
about
to Hal-
swimming
seen
conscious
was
had
orange
had
nothing
destroyed by commonplace
personal
no
he
woman
the
reason
had
of the
said
wheel;
easily
yacht's
affirmed
re-
pos-
WILD
ORANGES
ition.
be close
and
that
Nothing could
such wreckage as
by but scattered huts
looming palelyabove the
oleanders.
Yet
had
woman
a
swimming
from
bow
of the Gar.
and
the men,
unquestionably appeared
behind
the point of land off the
The women
native to the locality
of any unnecessary
His thoughtsmoved
in the avoidance
fanatical
too, were
exterior
applicationof water,
in a monotonous
while
circle,
the enveloping radiance
constantlyincreased. Il
of unnatural day, where
became
as light
as a species
clearlyrevealed but robbed of all
every leaf was
color and familiar meaning.
and
He
restless,
rose, making his wa)
grew
about
the narrow
forward
deck-space outside
the
cabin.
Halvard
rope
folk
beside the windlass
seated
was
and
on
coil
a
stood erect
as
of
Wool-
approached. The sailor was smoking a shon
pipe, and the bowl made a crimson spark in his
fingered
thick, powerful hand.
John Woolfolk
the wood
surface
it rough and
"I'd
bitts and
of the windlass
Halvard
gummy.
better start
scrapingthe
found
said
instinctively
row,
mahogany tomor-
it's gettingwhite."
good man.
He had the valuable qualityof commonly anticipating
spoken desires. He was a Norwegian, out of
the Lofoden
Islands,where sailors are surpassingly
Poul Halvard, so far as
schooled in the Arctic seas.
Woolfolk could discover,
was
imperviousto cold,to
Woolfolk
nodded.
Halvard
[16]
was
a
ORANGES
WILD
behind
them
rough clearingpf saw
grass swept up to the debris of the fallen portico.
[To the left,beyond the black hole of a decaying
well, rose the walls of a second brick building,
smaller than the dwelling. A few shreds of rotten
porch clung to its face; and the moonlight,pouring
through a break above, fell in a livid bar across the
obscurityof a high singlechamber.
the faint
Between
the crumbling pilesthere was
advance to where,
trace of a footway, and Woolfolk
inside a dilapidated
fence,he came
sheltering
upon
creasin
of trees and smelled the ina dark, compact mass
and
flowering,
sweetness
of
the remains
a
a
He struck
of orange blossoms.
with the
board path,and progressed
leaves of the orange trees brushinghis
in the grey brightness,
he saw
There
was,
cold,waxen
face.
ripe fruit among
picked an
small but
were
He
It
tore
one
at
was
after
a
possessed
tasted in
him,
as
a
the
no
a
and
orange
he
cally
mechani-
another.
then
had
heavy, and
They
fine skins.
open and put a section in his mouth.
volunta
first surprisingly
bitter,and he in-
flungaway
But
branches, and
the
moment
pungency
others.
remained
what
he
and
Then
found
in his hand.
that
the
oranges
zestful flavor that he had
he
saw,
lightwhich
pale,rectangular
opened door of a habitation.
[18]
before
directly
he recognized
Ill
advanced
HE
slowly, and
more
detached
house
The
within,
Woolfolk
it
that
saw
was
vanished
small
the
clad
He
before
gone
the
figure of
stopped just
voice
held
moved
the
at
question
woman's
bore
voice
furtive
second
stir
on
slender, white-
the
a
forward.
low, clear
want?"
you
and
yet the
tone
The
apprehension.
acute
delicate, bell-like
a
had
man
a
in which
do
inexplicably
an
swiftly
a
directly put,
was
John
uncertainly
moment
"What
and
that
was
and
portico,
demanded:
The
There
woman
a
realized
he
hall.
covered
it, so
cross
all
invisible
an
by;
near
now
shape
a
into
was
the
it from
upon
doorway, dimly lighted by
from
lamp
from
itself
tangled growth pressing
sides.
regular
low, ir-
a
shiver
of
fear.
he
"Nothing,"
ashore
came
"You're
I
hastened
thought
from
the
to
no
her.
assure
one
boat
I
living here."
was
white
"When
that
sailed
in
at
sunset?"
he
"Yes,"
replied,
"and
I
returning
am
immediately."
"It
without
like
was
a
magic
sound,
you
!"
she
"Suddenly,
continued.
were
[19]
anchored
in
the
bay."
WILD
Even
this
ORANGES
quietstatement
bore the
John Woolfolk realized
by his abrupt appearance;
that it had
"I
have
robbed
won't
"You
like
been caused
of dread
continued
in
a
in my
pocket."
she returned indirectly;
are
oranges
them,"
alarm.
before him.
too,'*he
you
"Your
lightertone.
not
the faint accent
fixed in the illusive form
was
shadowy
"they'verun wild. We can't sell them."
"They have a distinct flavor of their own,"
assured her.
"I should be glad to have some
he
on
the Gar."
"All
want."
you
"My
will get them
and
you."
"Please don't
She stoppedabruptly,
if
as
consideration
sudden
had interrupted
liberal
a
a
she spoke again the apprehension,
courtesy. When
Woolfolk
thought,had increased to palpablefright.
she said finally.
would charge you very little,"
"We
man
pay
"
attends to that."
"Nicholas
Silence fell upon
She stood with her hand
them.
restinglightlyagainst an upright support, coldly
revealed by the moon.
saw
that,
John Woolfolk
her body was
full,and
delicately
although slight,
somehow
held a droop which
that her shoulders
resembled
the shadow
unmistakable
localityof
lacked
the
her
on
voice.
She
bore
an
being,strange in that
humanity. Her speech totally
meager
loose slurring of the
unintelligible,
refinement
of
natives.
"Won't
you
sit down,"
she
[20J
at
last broke
the
ORANGES
WILD
silence.
"My
but he went
Woolfolk
the
The
father
came
you
Strangersdisturb him."
moved
elevated
to the portico,
up,
in.
he
ground, where
sank
woman
here when
was
back
found
into
a
a
above
place.
momentary
low chair.
The
ness
still-
and
he
once
gathered about them
more,
mechanicallyrolled a cigarette.Her white dress,
tinctio
although simply and rudely made, gained disfrom
her free,gracefullines;her feet,in
black, heelless slippers,were
cut.
He
palloron
on
that
saw
which
her
her
and
narrow
countenance
eyes made
bore
shadows
sharply
an
even
like those
marble.
unremarkable
in themselves,
were
details,
charged with a peculiarintensity.John Woolfolk,
who long ago had put such considerations from his
was
existence,
yet clearlyconscious of the disturbing
She possessed the indefinable
qualityof her person.
he knew,
Such women,
property of charm.
stirred life profoundly,reanimating it with
traordinar
exThese
efforts and
the pressure
desires.
of their
Their
mere
sage,
pas-
were
more
fingers,
ative
imperthan the life service of others; the flutter of
their breath could be more
tyrannicalthat the most
poignantmemories and vows.
John Woolfolk thoughtthese thingsin a manner
at
no
absolutelydetached.
They touched him
point. Nevertheless,the faint curiositystirred
him
within
The
house
remained.
unexpectedly
inhabited behind the ruined f agade on the water, the
[21]
ORANGES
WILD
magnetic
with
woman
the echo
of
her cultivated
apprehension in
easilydisturbed,
voice,the parent, so
the mere
even
name
"Nicholas,"all held a marked
of emotion; they were
almost
set in an
potentiality
hysterical
key.
He
of the odorous
was
suddenly conscious
of the flowering trees, of the
pressure
orange
blossoms
and the oleanders.
It was
stifling.He
felt that he must
escape at once, from all the cloying
and insidious scents of the earth,to the open
and
sterile sea.
The
thick tangle in the colorless light
of the moon,
the dimmer
porticowith its enigmatic
of the existence from
figure,were a cunning essence
which
he had fled. Life's traps were
set with just
such
treacheries
perfume and mystery and the
"
veiled lure of
sex.
with
uncouth
abruptness,a meager
the path to the
commonplace, and hurried over
beach, toward the refuge,the release,of the Gar.
A thin, bluish
woke
at dawn.
John Woolfolk
was
washing
lightfilled the cabin; above, Halvard
The
latter was
the deck.
vigorouslyswabbing the
appeared, but he paused.
cockpit when Woolfolk
"Perhaps," the sailor said, "you will stay here
I'd like to unship the propeller,
for a day or two.
and there's the scraping. It's a good anchorage."
stating
"We're moving on south,"Woolfolk
replied,
He
rose
an
the determination
Then
the full
sense
with
which
of Halvard's
[22]
he
words
had
retired.
penetrated
ORANGES
WILD
The propeller,
he knew, had not
waking mind.
opened properlyfor a week; and the anchorage was
fore
the last place, beundoubtedly good. This was
enteringthe Florida passes, for whatever minor
adjustments were
necessary.
The
matted
shore, flushed with the risingsun,
starred with white and deep pink blooms; a
was
ray gilded the blank wall of the deserted mansion.
his
The
ent
of the orange blossoms
not so insistwas
it had been on
the previous evening. The
scent
as
land
appeared normal
influence
Last
"You
are
; it exhibited
of which
night'smood
quiteright,"he
"we'll
put the Gar
he
of the disturbing
none
had
been
first
scious.
con-
absurd.
seemed
altered his ment;
pronouncein order here.
People
livingbehind the grove, and there'll be water."
He had, for breakfast,oranges
brought down the
coast, and he was
surprisedat their sudden insipidity.
little better than faintlysweetened
They were
He
turned and in the pocket of his
water.
flannel coat found
of those he had picked the
one
night before. It was as keen as a knife; the peculiar
aroma
had, without doubt, robbed him of all
are
desire for the cultivated
Halvard
would
be wise
of
this
of
commerce.
tender,under the stern of the
occurred
that it
to John Woolfolk
in the
was
ketch, when
oranges
it
to go
ashore
and
establish his
adequate water supply.
brieflyto the sailor,who put him
an
[23]
He
on
tion
asser-
explained
the small
ORANGES
WILD
shingle of sand.
moving idly in a
There
he
turned
direction away
to
from
the
right,
that he had
taken before.
crossed the
He
of the demolished
abode,
made
his way
through a press of sere cabbage
palmettos,and emerged suddenly on the blinding
of the sea.
The
limpid water lay in a
expanse
over
bright rim
corrugated and pitted rock,
where shallow ultramarine poolsspreadgardens of
The
land
anemones.
sulphur-yellowand rose
curved in upon the left;a ruined landingextended
the placidtide,and, seated there with her back
over
toward him, a woman
was
fishing.
It was, he saw
of the
immediately,the woman
she turned,
of recognition
portico. At the moment
and after a brief inspection,
slowlywaved her hand.
He approached,crossingthe openingsin the precarious
boarding of the landing,until he stood over
her.
corner
She said:
"There's
after for
an
a
old
year.
sheepsheadunder
If you'llbe very
here I've been
still you
can
him."
see
She
her
same
her face up
without
were
turned
cheeks
to
him, and he
trace
of
saw
color.
At
that
the
time he reaffirmed all that he felt before with
a
the potent qualityof her being. She had
brown
hair twisted into
of warm
lustrous mass
a
loose
regardto
knot
that had
slid forward
brow; a pointed chin; and
her most
lips. But her eyes were
low
[24]
broad,
pale, disturbing
over
a
notable
feature
WILD
is
ORANGES
gettingserious.
"and
He
blue
The
not
sport,is my
looked
stain
to where
through
tide,he
"There
out
saw
should
Dinner," she
object."
the
from
be
a
a
channel
informed
made
paler cerulean
the piling,
was
rockfish
him,
a
of the
deep
sea.
low.
in the
pass," he
pronounced.
"What
good if there is?" she returned. "I
couldn't possibly
-throw out there. And if I could,
why disturb a rock with this?" She shook the
short awkward
rod, the knotted line.
He privately
acknowledged the palpabletruth of
her objections,
and rose.
"I've some
fishingthingson the ketch,"he said,
He blew shrilly
on
a whistle from
moving away.
the beach, and Halvard
dropped over the Gar's
side into the tender.
back
wharf, stripping
ing
the canvas
from
the long cane
cover
tip of a fishrod brilliantly
with green and vermilion,
wound
butt. He
it into a dark, silver-capped
and fitting
locked a capaciousreel into place,and, drawing a
thin line through agate guides,attached a glistening
hook.
steel leader and chained
Then, adding a
freelyswinging lead,he picked up the small mullet
that lay by his companion.
"It's
"Does
that have to go?" she demanded.
such a slim chance, and it is my only mullet."
sliced a piecefrom the silvery
He ruthlessly
side;
and, risingand switchinghis reel's gear, he cast.
Woolfolk
was
soon
on
[26]
the
ORANGES
WILD
The
on
the water
lead swung
far out across
the farther side of the channel.
that's
"But
dazzling!"
though you had shot it out
He tightened
the line,and
in
a
leather socket
she
"Now,"
sacrifice of
The
blue
an
day
was
of
a
sat
exclaimed;
gun."
with
fell
"as
the rod resting
fastened to his belt.
stated,"we will watch at the vain
only mullet."
superb,the sky sparkledlike a great
schools
sun;
she
and
of
swept through the
young
snappers
mangrove
The
pellucidwater.
woman
said:
"Where
did
you
going?"
"Cape Cod,"
he
from
come
and
replied;"and
I
where
am
are
going to
you
the
Guianas."
"Isn't that South
traveled
far
"
on
America?"
maps.
she
queried. "I've
Guiana," she repeatedthe
the faint dread in her
softly. For a moment
voice changed to longing. "I think I know
all the
the earth,"she conbeautiful names
of places on
tinued:
bodia."
Cam"Tarragona and
Seriphos and
name
"Some
of them
you
have
seen?"
born
"None," she answered
simply. "I was
been
here,in the house you know, and I have never
fiftymiles away."
This, he told himself,was incredible. The mystery
that surrounded
her deepened,stirring
more
stronglyhis impersonalcuriosity.
[27]
WILD
"You
she added;
surprised,"
are
There
true.
ORANGES
there
"
is
a
reason."
"it's mad, but
She
stopped
abruptly,and, neglectingher fishingrod, sat with
her hands
clasped about slim knees. She gazed
at him slowly,and he was
impressedonce more
by
the remarkable
qualityof her eyes, grey-green like
olive leaves and strangelyyoung.
The
tary
momeninterest created in her by romantic
and far
names
faded,gave placeto the familiar trace of fear.
In the long past he would have responded immediately
to the appeal of her pale,magnetic countenance.
He
.
.
had broken
.
ety,
all connection with soci-
with
There
sudden,impressivejerk at his line,
the rod instantly
the shape of a bent bow,
assumed
and, as he rose, the reel spindlewas lost in a grey
blur and the line streaked out through the dipping
tip. His
companion hung breathless at his
was
a
shoulder.
the
as
line," she lamented
straight,outward
course,
take
all your
his
fish continued
"He'll
while
Woolfolk
kept
an
even
on
pressure
the
rod.
"A
hundred
threaded
mark
yards,"he
announced
from
wheel
under
as
he
his
felt
a
thumb.
fifty. I'm afraid it's a
shark."
As he spoke the fish leaped clear of the
and fell back in a
water, a spot of molten silver,
"It's a rock," he added.
sparkling blue spray.
He stoppedthe run
momentarily;the rod bent perThen:
"A
hundred
and
[28]
WILD
ORANGES
double,but the fish halted. Woolfolk reeled
ilously
in smoothly, but another rush followed,as strong
the first. A long,equal struggle
as
ensued,the thin
line was
drawn
as
rigidas metal, the rod quivered
Once the rockfish was
and arched.
close enough
to be clearlydistinguishablestrongly
built,heavydrawn
from gillsto
shouldered, with black stripes
tail. But he was
off again with a short,blundering
"
rush.
"If
his
up
he
rod," Woolfolk
bent
the
over
wharf's
She
directed
took the rod
side.
The
fish,
the surface of the water, half turned; and, ing
strikthe gaff through a gill,
Woolfolk
him
swung
the
boarding.
"There," he pronounced, "are
on
I'll carry
him
"Nicholas
him; "and
a
the
companion, "I'll gaff him."
while
on
will hold
you
to
would
my
your
several
dinners.
kitchen."
do it,but he's
father is not
away," she told
strong enough. That's
leviathan."
John Woolfolk placeda handle through the rockfish's gills,
and, carryingit with an obvious effort,
he followed
her over
a
trampled path
narrow,
through the rasped palmettos. They approached
the dwelling from
behind
the orange
and,
grove;
ibly
coming suddenly to the porch,surprisedan incredin the act of lighting
small
thin, grey man
a
stone pipe with a reed stem.
He
was
sitting,
but,
seeingWoolfolk, he started sharplyto his feet,and
the pipe fell,
the bowl.
shattering
[29]
WILD
ORANGES
"My father,"the woman
pronounced: "Lichfield Stope."
I
"Millie," he stuttered painfully,
"you know
"
"
"
strangers
"
Woolfolk
John
had
that he
never
thought,as
before
he
presentedhimself,
such
seen
immaterial
an
livingfigure. Lichfield Stope was like the shadow
of a man
draped with unsubstantial,dusty linen.
Into his waxen
face beat a pale infusion of blood,
if a diluted wine had been poured into a semias
lapsed;
goblet;his sunken lipspuffed out and colopaque
like his garb,
his fingers,dust-colored
opened and shut with a rapid,mechanical rigidity.
"Father," Millie Stope remonstrated,"you must
I wouldn't
know
yourself better. You
manage
would
hurt us.
who
to the house
bring any one
And
are
see
we
fetchingyou a splendidrockfish."
effort to regain
made
The older man
a convulsive
"
his composure.
so."
"Ah, yes," he muttered; "just
The
flush receded
Woolfolk
like
a
"We
away.
saw
his indeterminate
that he
had
his
wasted
yellow fingeron
hung on wrists like
a
tenance.
coun-
goatee laid
chin, and
that
wires
twisted copper
tons.
circular cuffs fastened with large mosaic but-
his hands
from
from
here," he proceeded in
voice, the voice of a shadow; "the
are
My
alone
daughter" I
[30]
"
He
grew
a
man
tuating
flucis
inaud-
WILD
ORANGES
ible, although his lips maintained
The
faint
a
ment.
move-
fear that lurked
in the daughter
illusively
in the parent magnified to an appallingpanic,
was
that had crushed everyacute
an
instinctive,
agony
thing
but
a
thin, tormented
spark of life. He
brow as dry as the spongy
a
passed his hand over
limbs of the cypress, brushing a scant
lock like
dead, bleached moss.
"The
fish/'he pronounced; "yes
acceptable."
"If you will carry it back for me," Millie Stope
requested;"we have no ice;I must put it in water."
He
followed
her about a bay window
with
mental
ornagated
frettingthat bore the shreds of old, variepaint. He could see, amid an incongruous
wreckage within, a dismantled billiard table, its
cloth faintlygreen
torn
film of dust.
beneath
a
They turned and arrived at the kitchen door.
"There, please." She indicated a bench on the
outside wall, and he depositedhis burden.
"You
have been very nice,"she told him, making
her phrase less commonplace
by a glance of her
wide, appealing eyes.
"Now, I suppose, you will
.
go
on
across
.
.
the world?"
"Not
We
tonight,"he replieddistantly.
ashore
"Perhaps, then, you will come
again.
few people. My
father would
be benesee
so
fited.
It was
only at first,so suddenly he was
"
startled."
[31]
WILD
"There
is
a
ORANGES
great deal
to do
the
on
ketch,"he
repliedindirectly,
maintaininghis retreat from the
advance
of life. "I came
ashore to discover
slightest
if you had a largewater supply and if I might
fillmy
casks."
"Rain
water," she informed
him;
"the cistern is
full."
I'll send
"Then
a
A
Halvard
step,but paused
sudden
weariness
at the
had
drew
you." He withing.
of his leavincivility
to
settled
over
ders
the shoul-
Stope; she appeared young and very
Woolfolk
white.
was
acutely conscious of her
the
isolation with the shiveringfigure on
utter
She had delicate
porch,the unmaterialized Nicholas.
of Millie
hands.
said, bowing formally. "And
thank you for the fishing."
He whistled sharplyfor the tender.
"Good-by,"
he
1321
IV
the afternoon, with
THROUGHOUT
he
scraping iron,
removing
while
wood,
far
rays
The
into
the
motionless
the
pallid
watched
of
in
in the half
He
the
again
He
man
and
with
took
ruined
of
the
a
bay.
pale
ning
eve-
on
by
parrakeets.
Wool-
With!
pain.
its air
of
scents
floated
healthy
un-
fagade glimmered
of
her
back
turned
wistful
with
the
voice
thought
of
the
the
of
accent
of the
to
and
perfume
places, of Tarragona
them
birth
the
diagonal
John
as
mingled, heavy
miasma
of far
desire.
land
thoughts
heard
names
of
febrile
in
its
threaded
green
seemed,
the
across
light.
Woolfolk's
in
the
sickly tide;
a
living
the
day
flowers
and
twist
to
the
like
water
silver
cypresses
them,
waning
depths
on
vermilion
the
painted
mystery;
out
and
from
silently, with'
plunged
sun
transparent
purple
Inshore
folk
the
in
edges drawing
westering
floated
Gar
over
fish
the
the
of
Halvard
varnish
worked
They
shrill note
the
only
whitened
the
yacht's mahogany.
assisted
gular
trian-
a
and
secret
[33]
into
the
his
vesting
in-
hopeless
inexplicable place
pulsing
fear.
Seriphos,
intense
an
woman
pronounce
riven, unsubstantial
blood
the
figure
ocherous
of her
of
the
face.
WILD
ORANGES
Some
old, profound error or calamityhad laid its
entable
blightupon him, he was certain;but the most laminheritance
the
This
apprehension in
acute
was
not
was
different in kind
sufficient to account
his
from
of the
for
daughter'stones.
the spiritual
collapse
actual,he realized
It was
aging man.
that; proceeding in part at least from without.
He wondered, scrapingwith difficulty
the underturningof a cathead,if whatever dark tide was centered
above her would, perhaps, descend through
the oleander-scented night and stifleher in the stagnant
dwelling. He had a swift,vividlycomplete
"
vision of the old
"
face down
man
the floor in
upon
reddish light.
flickering,
He smiled in self-contempt
at this neurotic fancy;
his cramped muscles, rolled a
and, straightening
cigarette.It might be that the years he had spent
alone on the silence of various waters
had
virtually
affected his brain.
Halvard's
broad, concentrated
countenance, the steady,grave gaze and determined
mouth, cleared Woolfolk's mind of its phantoms.
He moved
there said:
to the cockpitand from
"That will do for today."
Halvard
once
more
followed, and commenced
the familiar, ordered
preparations for supper.
John Woolfolk, smoking while the sky turned to
of the unthinkable
malachite, became sharply aware
a
monotony
of the universal
wheeling
Life
seemed
in
to him
dull
no
course,
succession
more
[34]
varied
of the
into
than
turies
cen-
infinity.
the wire
ORANGES
WILD
drum
lot,he told
Existence
It had
seemed
worked
with
gold
he
when
enough
gay
drab
same
crimson
and
own
than
worse
no
all of the
was
His
nowhere.
raced
squirrels
himself grimly,was
in which
was
other.
an-
piece.
young,
threads, and
then
broken by Halvard's
thoughtswere
ance
appearto his
in the companionway, and he descended
solitarysupper in the contracted,still cabin.
Again on deck his sense of the monotony of life
about the edges
trebled. He had been cruising
now
His
of
he had
taken
twelve
for
continents
twelve
For
years.
years
part in the existence of the cities
no
passed,as often as possiblewithout stopping,
and of the villages
gatheredinvitinglyunder their
be
canopies of trees. He was
yes, he must
forty-six.Life was passingaway; well,let it
he had
"
"
...
worthless.
The
across
the water
veil.
The
of the
radiance
growing
the land
folded
and
go ashore that had seized upon
The
reasserted its influence.
floated
him
about
like
a
night of the matted trees.
longerthan before ; but in
the tender,pullingtoward
He
entered
the
with
a
the
orange
house
in
gossamer
inchoate desire to
uneasiness,the
same
glimmered
moon
him
a
the
night before,
face of Millie Stope
magical gardenia in the
He
resisted the pressure
the end
he
was
seated
in
the beach.
grove
beyond.
quick welcome.
[35]
and
Millie
slowly
Stope
proached
ap-
vanced
ad-
WILD
ORANGES
"I'm
glad," she said simply."Nicholas is bade.
The fish weighed""
"I think I'd better not know," he interrupted.
"I might be tempted to mention
it in the future,
when
it would
take on
the historic suspicionof
the fish story."
"But it was
imposing,"she protested. "Let's go
to the sea; it's so limitless in the moonlight."
He followed her over
the rethe path to where
mains
of the wharf projectedinto a sea as black,
and as solid apparently,
which
across
as ebony,and
the moon
like a chalk mark.
flung a narrow
way
Millie Stope seated herself on the boarding and he
found a place near
by. She leaned forward, with
her arms
propped up and her chin couched on her
inished
palms. Her potency increased rather than dimher skin had a rare
with association;
ture;
texher movements, the turn of the wrists,wrere
again at the strangedistinguished.He wondered
ness
of her situation.
suddenly and surprisedhis
palpablequestioning.
"You
are
puzzled,"she pronounced. "Perhaps
of romance.
in the middle
are
settingme
you
She
Please don't !
Nothing you might guess"
broke off abruptly,returned to her former
pose.
"I have a perverse
"And
yet,"she added presently,
desire to talk about myself. It's perverse because,
although you are a littlecurious,you have no real
There is something
interest in what I might say.
She
looked
about
[36]
ORANGES
WILD
about
like
you
yes,
"
But
the hour.
stolid
cast-iron
that
dog
It rusted away, cold to
indifferent,
although I talked to it by
used to stand in
the last and
like the
our
lawn.
I did
get
a
Perhaps you'd act
paintedeye.
from
littlecomfort
in the
its
same
way.
"And
then," she
somberly
away,
you
failed
will
went
on
when
had
Woolfolk
going
"you are
I
forget,it can't possiblymatter.
that I have urged myself this far.
to
comment,
talk,now
But where
back.
After all,you needn't have come
should know
shall I begin? You
somethingof the
My
happened in Virginia.
very first. That
father didn't go to war," she said,sudden and clear.
She turned her face toward
him, and he saw that it
it looked as if it had
had Ipstits flower-like quality;
must
.
.
.
been carved in stone.
small, intensely
loyaltown," she
continued; "and when Virginia seceded it burned
with a singlehigh Hame
of sacrifice. My
father
he collected
been
had
always a diffident man;
avoided
the
mezzotints
and
people. So, when
from the crowds
enlistment began, he shrank away
and hot speeches,
and the men
off without him.
went
lived in complete retirement
He
then, with his
It wasn't impossible
prints,in a town of women.
he discussed the situation with the few old
at first;
tradesmen
that remained, and exchanged bows with
the wives and daughtersof his friends.
But when
the dead commenced
to be brought in from the front
"He
lived in
a
[37]
WILD
it
got
ORANGES
Belle
worse.
Semple
thought her unusually nice
him
the street.
on
"After
that
had
servants
in
Then
tied to the knob
apron
he
windows;
empty
him, and
in
even
see,
when
the
returned
another
the
war
was
life of the town
started
a
of
to
could
that
at
wrists,
the
wheelchair
shabby
left
were
men
the
"
but my father
Little subscriptions
more,
it.
small
of
some
for getting
asked.
never
was
again, even
schemes
the
Men
women.
all.
think
it
fastened
dread
what
gone
made
were
him
to
was
news
bad
from
went
and
once
up,
the necessities,
but he
spoke
"I
outside
ever
burials
That
South
hands
legs in
for
the
be shouted
over
with
one
"
for
Sometimes
paused, and John Woolfolk
the obscurity,
the slow shudder
without
was
at
her.
passed over
"When
an
through his
thrown in,but mostly he
stones
were
It must
have been frightful
in his
once
She
he found
night. His
lived by himself
he
house.
would
rooms
worse."
at
"
only
out
deaths
let alone.
was
always
pretty mocked
morning
one
went
deserted
of losses and
and
had
of the front door.
biggish,solemn
a
he
"
then
was
on
that
his mind
"
a
a
curious, perpetual
fear of the wind
in
night,of breakingtwigs or sudden voices. He
ordered thingsto be left on the steps,and he would
the
peer out
walk
was
"You
from
under
the blind to make
sure
that the
empty before he opened the door.
must
she said
realize,"
[38]
in
a
sharpervoice,
ORANGES
WILD
hotel where
this
theywere married.
here
place,and they came
had
Woolfolk
Lichfield
a
father
Then
to live."
vision of the tenuous
Stope; he
bought
figureof
surprisedthat such acute
had left the slightest
trace of.humanity; yet
agony
the other,after fortyyears of torment, stillsurvived
to shudder
the advent of a
at a chance
footfall,
casual and
was
harmless stranger.
the historyof the
This, then,was by implication
at his side;it disposedof the mystery that
woman
had veiled her situation here.
It was
surprisingly
to the subtle influence that,inherited
clear,even
from
her father,had set the shadow
of his own
obsession upon
her voice and eyes.
Yet, in the
that she had been made
he remoment
called
explicable,
the conviction that the knowledge of an
actual
lurked
menace
the tension of her
glances.
he
The latter,
symptom
body, in
be
in
as
the
; he had
anxietyof
seen
it in
ward
fleetback-
himself,might be merely a
sickness,a condition natural to
told
of mental
the influences under
He
in her mind
which
she had
been
formed.
that possibilitythere could
rejected
doubt of her absolute sanity. It was
no
patent
in her mentality
details of her carriage,
a hundred
balanced
it had been revealed in her restrained,
tested 'and
"
narrative.
There
was,
of her mother
Stope had known
the self-evident
her, principally
considered.
about
too, the element
Millie
[40]
very
to be
little
fact of the
ORANGES
WILD
latter's "brave
heart."
It would
have
needed
tliat
steadfast
through the racking recitals of
the long,waking darks; to accompany
late
to this desoand lonelyrefuge the man
had had an
who
In the degreethat the
apron tied to his doorknob.
daughter had been a prey to the man's fear she
would
have benefited from
the stiffer qualities
of
the Englishgoverness.
Life once
assumed
its
more
enigmaticmask.
His companion said:
to
remain
"All
that
the
and
"
real
end
I haven't
of
said
a
word
about
soliloquy. I'm
have qualms about
my
self,
my-
nently
perma-
discouraged;I
boring
find another listener as satisfactory
No, I shall never
you.
the iron dog."
as
A lightglimmered far at sea.
"I sit here a great
and watch the ships,a
deal," she informed him,
thumbprint of blue smoke at day and a spark at
night,going up and down their water roads. You
enviable
are
getting up
anchor, sailing
your
where you like,safe and free."
Her voice took on
that surprisedhim; it was
a
passionateintensity
sick with weariness and longing,with sudden revolt
from the pervasiveapprehension.
"Safe and free,"he repeatedthinly,
if satirizing
as
the condition impliedby those commonplace,
He
assuaging words.
had, in his flightfrom
society,
sought simply peace.
John Woolfolk now
He had found
questionedall his implied success.
"
"
the elemental
hush
of the sea,
[41]
the iron aloofness of
WILD
rocky and
ORANGES
uninhabited
coasts,but he had
never
been
able to stillthe dull rebellion
within,the legacyof
the past. A feeling
of completefailure ^ttled over
him.
His safetyand freedom
amounted
to this"
that life had
broken
him
and
cast
him
aside.
A
long, hollow wail rose from the land, and
Millie Stope moved
sharply.
"There's Nicholas," she exclaimed,"blowing on
the conch!
They don't know where I am; I'd
better go in."
A small, evident
the shiver in her
of her;
panic took possession
voice swelled.
"I'll be quicker
"No, don't come," she added.
the wharf to
her way over
without you." She made
the shore,but there paused. "I suppose you'llbe
going soon?"
"Tomorrow
On
the ketch
probably,"he
Halvard
had
answered.
gone
below
for the
night. The yacht swayed slightlyto an unseen
backward
and forward,
swell; the ridinglightmoved
the glassywater.
its ray flickering
over
John
Woolfolk brought his bedding from the cabin and,
it on deck,lay with his wakeful dark face
disposing
set againstthe far,multitudinous worlds.
'[42]
IN
the
the
of
Florida
And
the
in
answered
ketch
it
put
There
hawser
the
the
tender
shortly
tender
and,
the
to
beach.
and
preparing
when
back
over
with
a
vindictive
evidently
fast
to
Halvard
container
anchorages,
powerful,
cask
in
they
regard
cask.
pulled
water
when
with
a
forward,
coral
tramping
the
and,
man
empty
night."
over-
peared
disap-
trees.
was
for
The
the
the
Woolfolk
a
and
shouldered
among
his
drained
tender
the
on
sounded
cockpit,
directed
metal
anchored.
remained
the
in
hollow,
he
repainting
a
"eats
said,
Woolfolk
day
refilling. They
their
with
air," he
the
cradled
casks
proposed
engine.
"The
Later
Halvard
morning
and
had
He
with
aboard
ketch.
the
toward
made
He
his
tered
en-
rowed
shove,
left behind.
been
vard
Hal-
saw
sand.
vicious
sweep
swung
he
the
chain
a
notable
agility.
"There's
in
a
a
damn
surprising
idiot
in that
departure
from
house,"
his
he
declared,
customary
tached
de-
manner.
"Explain
yourself,"
"But
going
I'm
back
Woolfolk
after
[43]
demanded
him,"
the
shortly.
sailor
stub-
WILD
ORANGES
bornlyproceeded.
hand."
It
'Til turn
any
evident that he
was
knife out
of his
laboringunder
was
intense
an
growing excitement and anger.
only idiot's not on land," Woolfolk
"The
him.
"Where's
the water
cask you
told
took ashore?"
"Broken."
"How?"
"I'll tell you fast enough. There
was
nobody
about when I went up to the house,althoughthere
was
chair
a
justleft.
I
rockingon
I knocked
at
porch as if a
the door; it was
certain that I heard
was
answered.
back.
The
sight.
I
when
up,
the
Then
kitchen
saw
was
the water
could
you
open,
and
bit I went
a
open,
had
inside,but
someone
after
person
too, and
around
no
in
one
cistern and
say
body
no-
thought I'd
something afterward.
fill
I
did, and was rollingthe cask about the house when
this
He
of the bushes.
out
loggerhead came
wanted to know
what I was
gettingaway with,and
I explained,but it didn't suit him.
said I
He
facts and again I mightn't. I saw
might be telling
there was
no
use
talking,and started rollingthe
cask again; but he put his foot on it,and I pushed
"
one
"
and he the other
way
"And
between
you, you
stove
in the
cask,"Wool-
folk
interrupted.
"That's
it,"Poul Halvard
I got mad, and offered
"Then
but he had
his
grip
"
a
knife.
I've done
answered
I could
have
it before
in
[44]
beat
to
concisely.
in his face,
broken
a
it out of
place or
two
"
ORANGES
WILD
fore
aboard and reportbethoughtI'd better come
anythinggeneralbegan."
tablish
John Woolfolk was momentarily at a loss to esof Halyard's assailant.
the identity
olas,
He soon
realized,
however, that it must be Nich-
but I
he had
whom
such
Halvard's
before.
moved
he
and
seen,
imperativesummons
an
him;
never
the conch
on
temper
blown
the
night
communicated
was
abruptlyto
had
who
where
to
the tender
was
fastened.
"Put
ashore," he directed.
me
it clear that his
was
could not
to be
make
in
interrupted
the
of his
tender
ran
upon
secured,Halvard
been
not
would
orders,and that his property
be arbitrarily
destroyed.
the execution
When
man
He
Woolfolk
him
waved
the beach
started to follow
back.
There
was
and
had
him, but
a
stir
on
of an unsubstantial
approached,the flitting
form; but, hastening,John Woolfolk
arrested Lichfield Stope in the doorway.
to
"Morning," he nodded
abruptly. "I came
speak to you about a water cask of mine."
The
other swayed like a thin, grey column
of
the
porticoas
he
smoke.
"Water
"Ah, yes,"he pronounced with difficulty.
"
cask
"It
was
At the
fell upon
Lichfield
broken
here
littlewhile back."
a
suggestionof violence
the
older
Stope raised
man
such
that
his hands
[45]
a
pitiable
panic
Woolfolk
as
halted.
if to ward
off
WILD
the
impact
mere
stained
was
"You
with
have
proceeded.
The
"I
named
should
as
the
like to
a
his
hall.
undecided
moment
toward
the thin red
made
indeterminate
into
of the words
man
a
other
ORANGES
and
themselves;his face
tide of congestion.
Nicholas," Woolfolk
him."
see
gesture
as
speech and appeared
stood
John Woolfolk
then moved
and
tremulous
about
to
solve
dis-
for
a
the house
the kitchen.
There, he thought,he might
obtain an explanationof the breaking of the cask.
A man
to the
was
walking about within and came
door as Woolfolk
approached.
The
latter told himself
had
never
seen
In
a
profileit showed
narrow
brow, a huge, drooping nose, a pinched
From
chin.
the front the
mouth
and insignificant
in the doorway held the round,
face of the man
unscored cheeks of a fat and sleepyboy. The eyes
were
mere
long glimmers of vision in thick folds
of flesh;the mouth, upturned at the corners, lent a
It was
smile to the whole.
a
fixed, mechanical
a
blanker
that he
countenance
countenance.
on
which
the
passage
of
time
and
had been
thoughts had left no mark; its stolidity
moved
heavy and
by no feeling. His body was
recognized, a
sagging. It possessed,Woolfolk
and was
considerable unwieldy strength,
completely
covered by a variouslyspottedand streaked apron.
demanded.
"Are you Nicholas?"
John Woolfolk
The
other nodded.
[46]
WILD
fumbled
hand
heaved
with
ORANGES
under
the maculate
apron;
his chest
sudden, tempestuous breathing.
"Don't start me," he repeatedin a voice so blurred
that the words were
lowed
hardlyrecognizable.He swalhis emotion
convulsively,
mounting to an
inchoate passion, when
suddenly a change was
He made
violent effort to regain
evident.
a short,
his self-control,
his gaze fastened on a pointbehind
a
LWoolfolk.
The
latter turned
her
has
countenance
happened?"
little distance
she
and
the
agony
"Tell
away.
in
Stopeapproaching,
haggard with fear. "What
cried breathlessly
while yet
"Nothing," Woolfolk
by
Millie
saw
me
at
a
"
once
appalled
promptly replied,
her
voice.
"Nicholas
and
he
misunderstanding. A triviality,"
added, thinkingof the other's hand gropingbeneath
I had
a
small
the apron.
'[48]
I
the
ON
his
cask
water
and
across
the
"Are
She
brasswork
the
"Why,"
"I
warn
regard
not
will
is
newly
wood
surprise
be
old
you,"
that
the
most
yacht's
in
the
rested
on
the
sun,
shone,
mahogany
couldn't
"it
deck
a
as
be
if
neater
"
ladies!
the
the
scraped.
Woolfolk
that
cockpit
lay precisely housed,
ropes
as
order
ambitious
will
"Halvard
replied,
particularly
you
Gar's
the
at
they
as
the
into
varnished
exclaimed,
nice
assure
beyond
down
sails
coiled
could
she
two
were
you
cLeaj
and
over
gangway
of
The
mathematically
as
She
and
tender,
freshly tarred, glistened
and
spotless
the
lightly
order.
stays,
a
expression
immaculate
the
beach.
thin
coming
with
in
stepped
naive
a
voice
dropped
approached,
with
the
on
der
slen-
the
saw
of
encouraged?"
"
Halvard
sent
side.
breaking
water:
visitors
He
Millie
her
called,
the
Woolfolk
John
of
figure
waved
following
morning
He
compliment.
a
of
a
dream
yacht
proper
of
mere
a
housekeeper."
She
She
laughed
was,
Woolfolk
as
Halvard
thought,
[49]
placed
lighter
chair
a
in
for
spirit
on
her.
the
WILD
ketch
than
she
ORANGES
had
been
shore; there was
the faintest imaginable stain on
her petal-like
cheeks ; her eyes, like olive leaves,
almost gay.
were
She sat with her slender knees crossed,her fine
held with hands claspedbehind her head, and
arms
clad in a crisply
ironed,crude white dress,into the
band
of which
she had
on
thrust
a
spray
of orange
blossoms.
John Woolfolk
peculiarcharm.
conscious of her
increasingly
Millie Stope,he suddenly realized,
like the wild oranges in the neglected
was
grove
A man
at her door.
brought in contact with her
magneticbeing charged with appealingand mysterious
of exotic nightand black
emotions,in a setting
the ordinaryconcourse
sea, would find other women,
of society,
water.
insipid like faintlysweetened
She was
entirelyat home on the ketch, sitting
againstthe immaculate rim of deck and the sea. He
trusion
inunwarranted
resented that familiarity
as
an
of the world he had left. Other people,
women
them, had unavoidably crossed his
among
deck, but they had been patentlyalien,momentary;
but Millie,with her stilldelightat the yacht'scompact
comfort, her intuitive comprehension of its
details the lamps set in gimbals, the
various
china
racks and chart cases
tered
enslung overhead
of the craft that was
into the spirit
at once
John Woolfolk's sole place of being.
with which
disturbed by the ease
He
was
now
she had established herself both in the yacht and in
[50]
was
"
"
"
ORANGES
WILD
imagination. He had thought,after
years, to have destroyedall the bonds which
his
so
many
ily
ordinar-
curiosity
a mere
life;but now
and the interest
into a tangibleinterest,
had grown
unmistakable
showed
signs of becoming sympathy.
She smiled at him from her position
by the wheel;
customed,
and he instinctively
responded with such an unacing
ready warmth that he said abruptly,seekrefuge in occupation:
The
conditions
"Why not reach out to sea?
are
perfect."
"Ah, please!" she cried. "Just to take up the
connect
anchor
with
men
thrill
would
for months."
me
blowing; and deliberate,
lightwest wind was
cent
exactlyspaced swells,their tops laced with irideswere
sweeping in from a sea like a
spray,
issued a short
Woolfolk
glassy blue pavement.
his
forward
with
order, and the sailor moved
A
The
sails
shaken
customary smooth
-swiftness.
loose, the mainsail
panse
slowly spread its dazzling exthe jib and jiggerwere
trimmed,
to
and
the sun,
the anchor
Millie
high
and
"Free!
rose
came
up
with
with
her
arms
a
were
short rush.
outspread,her
chin
eyes closed.
"
she
proclaimed with
slow, deep breath.
The
sails filled and
the ketch
forged ahead.
John Woolfolk, at the wheel, glanced at the chart
a
section beside him.
"There's
four
feet
on
the bar
[51]
at low
water," he
WILD
told Halvard.
The
Gar
ORANGES
"The
tide's at
half
flood
now."
increased her
speed,slippingeasilyout
of the bay, gladly,it seemed to Woolfolk, turning
toward the sea.
The bow rose, and the ketch dipped
forward
Millie Stope grasped
over
a spent wave.
the wheelbox.
"Free!"
she said again with shining
eyes.
The
yacht rose more
sharply,hung on a wave's
slid lightlydownward.
crest and
Woolfolk, with
a
sinewy, dark hand directingtheir course, was
intent upon
the swellingsails. Once
he stopped,
and the sailor said :
a 'halyard,
tightening
"The main peak won't flatten,
sir."
The swells grew larger. The
Gar climbed their
smooth
heightsand coasted like a feather beyond.
unbroken, but
Directlybefore the yacht they were
into a silver quicklyreeither side they foamed
on
absorbed in the deeperwater within the bar.
turned
from his scrutinyof the ketch
Woolfolk
to see her,with
to his companion, and was
surprised
all the joy evaporatedfrom her countenance, clinging
sick."
rigidlyto the rail. He said to himself,"SeaThen
he realized that it was
not a physical
illness that possessed
her,but a profound,increasing
endeavored
She
terror.
gaze,
"It's
For
so"
a
so
moment
and
to
said in
a
smile back
small,uncertain voice:
big!"
he
saw
in her
a
clear resemblance
shrinkingfigureof Lichfield Stope. It was
though suddenly she had lost her fine profile
to the
as
at his questioning
[52]
ORANGES
WILD
sire?"
and destroys
us
forts,
againstall knowledge and de"that is
be called heredity/'
he replied;
"It may
into the
others extend
its simplestphase. The
of the fantastic."
realms
"to be condemned
unjust,"she cried bitterly,
to die in a pitwith all one's instinct in the sky !
The
old plea of injustice
quiveredfor a moment
the water
and then died away.
over
John Woolthe same
folk had made
passionateprotest,he had
"It's
"
cried it with clenched
and
the
profound
his agony.
the
at
the withdrawn
A
pity moved
thrill of
beside him.
There
was
in her
Her
stars,
had
inattention of Nature
sufferingwoman
stillunrelaxed.
a
hands
him
mouth
the material
invidious past.
In her slender frame the rebellion took
palled
ap-
for
was
for
struggleagainstthe
of the heroic.
he had
gone
down
Woolfolk
recalled how
before mischance.
been
extreme, he
wrong
at the hand
had
had
on
suffered
of Fate.
But
an
Halvard
an
cent
ac-
utterly
his
case
able
unendurdiverted
thoughtsby placingbefore them a tray of sugared
pineapple and symmetrical cakes. Millie,
too, lost her tension ; she showed a feminine pleasure
at the yacht'sfine napkins,approved the polishof
the glass.
"It's all quitewonderful," she said.
"I have nothingelse to care
for,"Woolfolk told
his
her.
"No
placenor
peopleon land?"
[54]
ORANGES
WILD
"None."
"And
satisfied?"
are
you
"Absolutely,"he repliedwith an unnecessary
emphasis. He was, he told himself aggressively;
ing
from livingand had nothhe wanted nothingmore
to give. Yet his pity for Millie Stope mounted
dim obligations
bringingwith it thoughts,
obscurely,
A sudden
of the
to be envied?"
are
past,swept
of
killed for
were
"Can
into
"
a
it
story,it has
twelve
married, and
we
country.
After
and
I
when
It
a
came
was
white
a
road
moral
no
years
"
ago.
to
gone
days I had
back
so
related,
un-
I
meaning. Well
had
just been
a
property in the
no
had
two
was
It can't be dressed
blind.
senseless and
was
cart.
nothing to tell;it
almost
"There's
it?"
talk about
you
so
an
thingsthat men
in the flutter
instant,
the
skirt."
white
a
in
me
him.
over
"Hardly," he replied. "All
value
she
queried.
self,
astoundingwillingnessto speak of himif you
"I wonder
even
dead.
declared himself
he had
to which
desires,
and
Ellen met
flagstation, buried
winding back to
to
me
go into town,
in a breaking
in
maples, with
where
we
were
staying.
"Ellen
train
had
left,and
station.
It
was
holdingthe horse when
the beast
shied going from
Monday, clothes hung from a
trouble in
the
the
line
yard and a skirt fluttered in a littlebreeze.
[The horse reared,the strapped back of the seat
in
a
side
[55]
ORANGES
WILD
Ellen
broke, and
thrown
was
"
her
on
head.
It
killed her."
He
Millie
fell silent.
ripplestruck
with
breathed
sharply,and
a
faint
slap on the yacht'sside.
"One
Then:
can't allow that," he continued
in a
lower voice,as if arguing with himself; "arbitrary,
wanton; impossibleto accept such conditions"
"She
took
the
was
more
young," he once
up
narrative;"a girlin a tennis skirt with a gay scarf
her waist
about
The
quite dead in a second.
clothes still fluttered on
the line.
You
see," he
ended, "nothing instructive,
tragic only a crude
a
"
"
dissonance."
"Then
He
left
you
everything?"
failed to answer,
understanding
and
and
she
interest
over
gazed
the
with
a
Gar.
new
Her
attracted to the
beach, and, following
her gaze, John Woolfolk
the bulky figure of
saw
Nicholas
gazing at them from under his palm. A
palpable change, a swift shadow, envelopedMillie
attention
was
Stope.
"I
be
must
go
back," she said uneasily;"there will
dinner, and
my
father
has
been
alone
all
morning."
But
these
dread
certain
vincing
conthat, however
she put forward, it was
of
the reasons
none
The
that was
taking her so hurriedlyashore.
Woolfolk
that
yanished
for
from
was
the
her
past few hours had almost
tones, her gaze, had returned
[56]
ORANGES
WILD
the objective
fear;
multiplied.It was, he realized,
her entire being was
shrinkingas if in anticipation
of an imminent
calamity,a physicalblow.
Woolfolk
with
himself
the tender
put her
canted
on
the
beach; and,
the
sand, steadied her
it gripped
spring. As her hand rested on his arm
him with a sharp force;a response
pulsed through
his body; and an involuntary
color rose in her pale,
on
fine cheeks.
set with his shoes half buried
Nicholas, stolidly
in the sand, surveyed them
without
shade
of
a
But Woolfolk
feelingon his thick countenance.
that the other's fingers
were
saw
crawlingtoward his
pocket. He realized that the man's dully smiling
mask
concealed sultry,
ungoverned emotions, blind
springsof hate.
[57]
VII
the
AGAIN
on
when
years
his
to
world,
it.
of
to
he
In
lightly,in
of
of
again,
a
with
a
from
with
old
instinct, his
however
first
past
complications,
hardly
a
struggle, he
the
in
fury
been
the rest
had
years
fresh
was
trap.
[58]
he
a
he
hold
Chance.
following
advanced
had
that
soon
wild
of the
Whatever
twelve
would
error
mistake, and
ease.
the
there
with
octopus
for
had
slightest
him
bind
arm,
victim
scent
Millie
return
fatal
new
of
edge
resolution
caught him,
the
disastrous
a
insistent
His
of
ciences
his
realized, the
after
arm
helpless
where
of the
result
he
attachments;
made
curiosity,the
portico.
all the
reference
his
his
interest, would
dreaded, uncoiling
house
all
Ellen's
the
on
betrayed
and
out
surrender,
his
multitude
the
had
of
through
now,
wanderer
a
reaction
its tentacles.
opening
had
until
against
reached
least
He
spoken
he
Life,
The
him
had
bitterly regretted
speaking
wishes, had
He
been
he
solitude.
inevitable
one
no
had
and
the
him.
overtook
death
ketch
his
to
oranges,
on
the
had
dim
the
inevitable
followed
been
the
defi-
had
been
free
fr"Sidlfi"[gs-Now,
falling back
into
the
ORANGES
WILD
The
wind
died
absolutely,and a haze
the sea, thickeningthrough
over
gathereddelicately
the afternoon,and turned rosy by the declining
sun.
The shore had faded from sight.
A sudden
energy leapedthrough John Woolfolk
and rang out in an
to Halvard.
abrupt summons
"Get
anchor," he commanded.
up
Poul
Halvard, at the mainstay, remarked
tentatively:"There's not a capful of wind."
wide
The
but a
calm, Woolfolk
thought,was
his
part of a generalconspiracyagainsthis liberty,
"Get
the anchor
memories.
up," he repeated
under
the
harshly. "We'll
engine." The
go
sudden jarringof the Gar's enginesounded muffled
in
a
The
shut
space
yacht moved
gauze,
into
John
for
He
a
like the flushed
forward, with
shimmer
Woolfolk
an
away
sat
occasional
a
of formless
at
the
scant
heart of
wake
and
a
shell.
like folded
pure
color.
cept
wheel, motionless exshiftingof his hands.
the patent log,trailing
sailingby compass ;
its long cord, maintained
behind
on
a
constant,
jerking registeron its dial. He had resolutely
banished
all thought save
that of navigation.
Halvard
was
occupied forward, clearingthe deck
of the accumulations
of the anchorage. When
he
aft Woolfolk
said shortly:"No
mess."
came
The
haze deepened and night fell,
and the sailor
lightedand placed the port and starboard lights.
The binnacle lamp threw up a dim, orange radiance
on
was
Woolfolk's
somber
countenance.
[59]
He
continued
WILD
for three and
while
the
four and
smooth
quiver of
through an
Once
ORANGES
the
then five hours
clamor
hull, alone
invisible
more
of
he
the aspect of
the
at the
engine, a
marked
wheel,
slight
their progress
element.
had
left life behind.
This
had
than at any time previous.
flight
It was,
obscurely,an unpleasant thought,and he
endeavored
unsuccessfully to put it from him.
He was
but pursuing the course
he had laid out, following
more
a
"
his necessary,
inflexible determination.
for a moment
mind
turned
independently
His
back
had
"
to Millie
with her double
left her without
a
burden
of fear.
He
las,
word, isolated with Nicho-
concealingwith a blank smile his enigmatic
being,and with her impotent parent.
for her,he had paid
Well, he was not responsible
for the privilege
of immunity; he had but listened to
her story, volunteeringnothing. John Woolfolk
useful
wished, however, that he had said some
final,
word
certain that,
to her before going. He
was
looking for the ketch and unexpectedlyfindingthe
ness.
bay empty, she would suffer a pang, if only of loneliIn the short while that he had
had
been
there she
depend on him for companionship,
for relief from the insuperable
roundings;
monotony of her surHe wondered
for,perhaps, still more.
He
what
that more
thought of
might contain.
Millie at the present moment,
probablylyingawake,
His flight
assumed
the asnow
steepedin dread.
come
to
[60]
ORANGES
WILD
questions. The
wind
freshened,grew
said:
Woolfolk
sail."
"Make
after,the mainsail
Soon
sustained.
rose,
a
ghostlywhite
panse
ex-
the
trimmed
the
night. John Woolfolk
jigger,shut off the engine; and, moving through a
The
sudden, vast hush, they retraced their course.
vanced,
the morning well adbay was ablaze with sunlight,
on
when
under
the ketch
floated back
the oleanders.
[62]
to her
age
anchor-
VIII
returned
he
WHETHER
efficient
After
short
a
of
discharge
cabin, where,
his
on
an
a
dim
berth,
interior
and
the
duties.
descended
unmade
post.
with
exacting
narrow,
Woolfolk
John
space
at his
proceeded
indefatigable Halvard
The
an
relinquished
He
seated, drooping
wheel, but remained
in
enveloped
was
of defeat.
atmosphere
the
he
thought,
folk
fled, Wool-
or
to
the
ately
fell immedi-
he
asleep.
He
woke
outside.
shaved
He
with
"
to
meticulous
Later
coat.
he
without
"
and
care,
rowed
the
directly through
twilight gathering
conscious
put
the
on
purpose
blue
himself
ashore
and
orange
grove
to
flannel
proceeded
the
house
beyond.
Millie
laid
rose,
The
his
a
Stope
restraining hand
attempting
latter,with
an
to
a
her
on
retreat
the
on
at
portico,
father's
Woolfolk's
and
he
as
arm
approach.
greeting, resumed
commonplace
place.
Millie's
and
seated
was
face
Lichfield
a
dim
Stope
ghost.
uneasy
to
was
period
He
and
potent
than
more
muttered
directed
at
[63]
him
in
ever
an
the
gloom,
resembled
indistinct
by Woolfolk
sponse
re-
and
WILD
turned
The
arm,
with
low, urgent appeal to his daughter.
with a hopelessgesture,relinquished
his
latter,
Then
A
a
the other vanished.
and
"You
"I
ORANGES
mented
sailingthis morning," Millie comlistlessly.
had
gone," he said without explanation.
were
he added:
"But
silence threatened
I
came
back."
them
which
he
resolutely
remember, when you told me about
reallyto talk about
your father,that you wanted
yourself? Will you do that now?"
"Tonight I haven't the courage."
he persisted.
"I am
not idlycurious,"
"Justwhat are you?"
"I don't know," he admitted frankly. "At tHe
I'm lost,fogged. But, meanwhile,
presentmoment
broke: "Do
you
give you any assistance in my power.
in a mysteriousway, needful of help."
You
seem,
She turned her head sharply in the direction of
the open hall and said in a high,clear voice,that
quitewell cared
yet rang strangelyfalse: "I am
closer
She moved
for by my father and Nicholas."
the uneven
porch,
to him, dragging her chair across
in the rasp of which she added,quick and low:
"Don't"
please."
crecy
A mounting exasperationseized him at the sethat veiled her, hid her from him, and he
answered stiffly:"I arn merely intrusive."
ward
seated above him, and she leaned forShe was
and
swiftly pressed his fingers,loosely
I'd like to
[64]
ORANGES
WILD
claspedabout
knee.
a
Her
irritation vanished
hand
before
was
as
cold
as
wellingpity.
He got now
a sharp,recognized
happinessfrom her
his feelingfor her increased with the accumulating
nearness;
mission
seconds.
After the surrender,the adof his return he had grown
sitized
elemental,sensalt.
His
to
emotions
His
rather than
ardor had
a
tellect
processes of inthe poignancy of the period
to
beyond youth. It had a trace of the consciousness
of the fatal waning of life which gave it a depth
denied to younger
passions. He wished to take
of the troubfrom all memory
lous
Millie Stope at once
different
past, to have her alone in a totally
and thrilling
existence.
It was
blind desire,born in the
a personaland
tumult of his newly released feelunaccustomed
ings.
They sat for
when
trivialities,
she declined in
It seemed
addressed
long while,silent or speaking in
he proposed a walk to the sea; but
that curiouslyloud and false tone.
a
to Woolf
oik that,for the moment,
she had
immediately present; and
he looked around.
The lightof the
involuntarily
hidden lamp in the hall fell in a pale,unbroken
the irregular
on
rectangle
porch. There was not the
of a pound'sweight audible in the stillness.
shifting
Millie breathed unevenly; at times he saw
she
shivered
this
his
uncontrollably.At
feeling
mounted
beyond all restraint. He said,takingher
cold hand :
"I didn't tell you why I went last night
[65]
someone
not
WILD
it
"
because
was
; I
were
about
ORANGES
afraid
was
afraid of the
was
in
I
life.
my
to
stay where
change you
That's
all
over
were
you
bringing
now,
I"
"Isn't it quitelate?" she
She
He
must
of
was
and
rose
about
to
him uncomfortably.
interrupted
creased
her agitationvisiblyin-
force her to hear
all that he
wretchedness
say, but he stopped at the mute
her pallid face.
He
stood gazing up at her
from
rough sod. She clenched her hands, her
heaved
sharply,and she spoke in a level,
the
breast
strained voice:
"It would
have
without
coming
anyone
about
been
back.
better if you had gone"
My father is unhappy with
except myself
"
and
Nicholas.
You
porch nor walk about
his grounds. I am
not in need of assistance,
as you
thank
Good
And
to think.
seem
night."
you.
He
stood without moving, his head thrown back,
He
tened
lisregarding her with a searching frown.
and thought he heard
again, unconsciously,
It could
the low creakingof a board from within.
of Lichbe nothing but the uneasy
peregrination
field Stope. The sound was
repeated,
grew louder,
and the sagging bulk of Nicholas
appeared in the
doorway.
The
latter stood for a moment, a dark, magnified
the porticoto
shape; and then, moving across
the farthest window, closed the shutters. The
hinges gave out a raspinggrind,as if they had not
see
"
he will not
stay
on
the
"
[66]
ORANGES
WILD
anchor
firmlybedded.
was
of the
The
and
waves
on
yacht swung
The
pervasivefar
mur
mur-
the outer bars grew louder.
lightlyover the choppy water,
strong affection for the ketch that had been
his home, his occupation,his solace through the
a
expanded his heart. He knew
the Gar's every capability
and mood, and they were
all good. She was
His feeling
boat.
an
exceptional
was
acute, for he knew that the yacht had been
superseded. It was alreadyan element of the past,
of that past in which
Ellen lay dead in a tennis
waist.
with a brightscarf about her young
skirt,
He placedhis hand on the mainmast, in the manner
the
in which
another might drop a palm on
shoulder of a departingfaithful companion, and the
in the rigging vibrated through the wood
wind
past dreary years
like
went
a
Then
affectionate response.
he
fuinto the cabin,facingthe ture.
down
resolutely
sentient
and
night,listened for a
wind
moment
to the straininghull and
shrilling
amine
aloft,and then rose and went forward again to exreached
the mooring. A second hawser
now
John Woolfolk
into the darkness.
put
out
another
woke
in the
Halvard
anchor.
had
The
been
wind
on
deck
beat
and
salt
the
stingingfrom the sea, utterlydissipating
languorous breath of the land, the odors of the
exotic,floweringtrees.
and
[68]
IX
the
morning
IN
the
enveloped
The
the
of
the
wind
the
circled
had
everything
rain
stopped,
with
boat
a
any
whatever
him
out
of the
He
as
to
the
suspension,
the
storm
had
a
volume,
into
the
resolve
day
ended.
Soon
deliberate
dissipated
the
after,
He
to
was
put aside
This
him.
to
His
passionate need,
the
and
tender
the
from
the
When
beach.
the
casionally
oc-
Halvard
order.
of
Millie
another
its
determination
held
by
meridian
the
vigorously.
upon
the
but
her, increasing
life,
middle
opaque
grew
ketch.
his
dropped
crystallized into
before
rain.
yellow oilskins,
of
bailed
obstacles
rapidly
for
plan
deck
sailor
stepped
without
east,
pall.
perfection
a
sponge
Woolfolk
with
in
the
the
maintained
dripping
in
Woolfolk,
John
wind
leaden
a
bay
After
scars.
the
beneath
clamoring
The
seas.
white
ceased, but
the rain
the
frigid, lashing
a
steadily through
racing
with
seamed
and
of
out
increasing pitch accompanied
an
of the
basso
in
coast
mounted
with
day
driving
storm,
a
calm
sunny
take
her
feeling
had
stroyed
de-
of
his
peace
coast.
paused
before
the ruined
[69]
f agade,
weighing
her
WILD
ORANGES
that it would
statement
have been better if he had
fect
returned; and he wondered how that would afher willingness,
her ability,
ta see him today.
He added the word "ability"
and without
instinctively
explanation. And he decided that,in order to
have any satisfactory
speechwith her,he must come
her alone, away
from the house.
he
Then
upon
not
could force her to hear to the finish what
he wanted
in the open
explica
theymight escape from the ininhibition that lay upon
her expression
of feeling,
of desire. It would
be necessary,
at the same
time,to avoid the notice of anyone who
would
her of his presence.
This precluded
warn
his waiting at the familiar place on
the rotting
to say;
wharf.
marble
Three
to the lawn
the
desolate
from
and
steps,awry
a
mansion.
French
moldy, descended
window
They
were
there
tangle of rose-mallow, and
seated himself
waiting.
in the side of
screened
John
by
a
Woolfolk
"
The
there
wind
shrilled about
the
corner
of the
house;
shinglesfrom above
and the frenzied lashingof boughs. The noise was
tion
indicaso
great that he failed to hear the slightest
ual
of the approach of Nicholas until that individbefore him.
Nicholas
stopped
passed directly
at the inner fringeof the beach and, from
a point
from
where he could not be seen
the ketch, stood
gazing out at the Gar pounding on her long anchor
remained for an oppressively
The man
chains.
exwas
a
mournful
clatter of
[70]
ORANGES
WILD
tended
period; Woolf
shoulders
and
oik could
see
his
heavy,drooping
sunken
head; and then the other
moved
behind
to the left,crossingthe rough open
the oleanders.
Woolfolk
had a momentary
glimpse
of a huge nose
and rapidlymoving lipsabove an
impotentchin.
a
Nicholas, he realized, remained
complete
enigma to him; beyond the conviction that the man
minor
in some
leaden- witted,he knew
was,
way,
nothing.
A brief,
watery ray of sunlightfell through a rift
in the flyingclouds and stained the tossingfoliage
followed
pale gold; it was
by a sudden drift of
Woolfolk
the naked
wind.
more
rain, then once
fast determiningto go up to the house and insist
was
Millie's hearing him, when unexpectedly
upon
she appeared in a somber, fluttering
cloak,with her
head uncovered
and hair blown back from her pale
He
brow.
waited until she had passed him, and
then rose, softly
her name.
calling
She stopped and turned, with a hand pressedto
"I was
her heart.
afraid you'd gone out," she told
him.
'The
is like a pack of wolves."
Her
sea
voice was
of relief and fear.
a low complexity
"Not
alone,"he replied;"not without you."
ing
"Madness," she murmured, gatheringher wavercloak about her breast. She swayed, graceful
as
He made
a reed in the wind, chargedwith potency.
an
involuntarygesture toward her with his arms;
but in
a
sudden
accession of fear she eluded him.
[71]
WILD
"We
ORANGES
talk,"he told her. "There is a great
Seal that needs explaining,
I think
I have
that
a
rightto know, the rightof your dependence on
Somethingto save you from yourself. There is another
right,but only you ran givethat
"Indeed," she interrupted
tensely,
"you mustn't
stand here talkingto me."
"I shall allow nothing to interrupt
turned
us," he redecidedly."I have been long enough in the
must
"
"
"
dark."
"But
you
don't understand
what
you
will,perhaps,
bring on yourself on me."
"I'm forced to ignoreeven
that last."
She glancedhurriedly
about.
"Not here then,if
"
you must."
She walked
him, toward the second ruined
pilethat fronted the bay. The steps to the gaping
forced to
had rotted away
and they were
entrance
insecure side piece. The
mount
an
interior,as
.Woolfolk had seen, was composed of one high room,
while,above, a narrow, open second story hung like
a
ledge. On both sides were
long counters with
mounting sets of shelves behind them.
"This was
Millie told him.
"It was
the store,"
a
great estate."
A dim
and moldering fragment of cotton stuff
ware
tinwas
bolt;above, some
hanging from a forgotten
was
floor and
eaten
lay
from
with rust ; a scale had crushed in the
broken on the earth beneath; and a
ledger,its leaves
a
sodden
single,
[72]
film of grey,
was
WILD
ORANGES
A
stillopen on a counter.
to the flooring
above, and
precariousstair mounte'd
her
Millie Stope made
upward, followed by Woolf
There, in the double gloom
oik.
way
small
dormer
window
of the clouds
and
a
obscured
by cobwebs, she
sank on a broken box.
The
decayed walls shook
Below
perilouslyin the blasts of the wind.
they
could see the empty floor,
and through the doorway
the somber, gleaming greenery without.
All the patientexpostulation
that John Woolfolk
had prepared disappearedin a sudden tyranny of
fore
emotion, of hunger for the slender,weary figurebehim.
Seating himself at her side, he burst
into a torrential expressionof passionate
desire that
mounted
with
the
tide of
his
eager
words.
He
caught her hands, held them in a painfulgrip,and
into her still,
gazed down
frightenedface. He
silent for a tempestuous
stopped abruptly,was
moment, and then baldly repeatedthe fact of his
love.
Millie
Stope said:
"I know
littleabout the love you mean."
Her
voice trailed to silence;and in a lull of the storm
they heard
so
the thin patter of rats
the stir of bats among
"It's
do you
on
the floor
the rafters.
quicklylearned,"he assured her.
feel any
below,
at all in your
response
of my longing?"
"Millie,
heart
"
the
return
slightest
"I don't know," she answered,turningtoward him
troubled
a
scrutiny. "Perhaps in another sur-
[73]
ORANGES
WILD
I might care
rounding,with thingsdifferent,
for you
"
very much
ing,"
"I am
going to take you into that other surroundhe announced.
She
ignored
have
never
his
interruption."But
chance
a
to learn."
shall
we
silenced his
She
attemptedprotestwith a cool,flexible palm against
his mouth.
"Life,"she continued, "is so dreadfully
in the dark. One is lost at the beginning.There are
to take you
safelyto the Guianas, but none
maps
for souls.
are
Again I don't
Perhaps religions
found
I have
know.
only a
nothing secure
whirlpoolinto which I will not drag others."
"I will drag you out,"he asserted.
She smiled at him, in a momentary tenderness,
"
"When
continued:
and
that I would
doubted
the
I
was
sea.
.
.
was
conquer
risingin triumph
leaves
I never
young
life. I picturedmyself
I
.
over
circumstance,as
When
I
was
a
gull
If
young
...
thought,of course,
deeperthan my
grown
afraid of the dark then I
I would
outgrow it;but it has
The
courage.
passed over
"You
night
is terrible now."
A
shiver
her.
are
"but
ill,"he insisted,
you
shall be
cured."
somethingmight have been
with
Then,
assistance; yes
done, with
you.
lay?"
whatever is,hadn't materialized.
Why did you deshe cried in a sudden suffering.
he declared stoutly.
"You'll go with me tonight,"
"Perhaps,a
year ago,
"
[74]
WILD
known
element
"
ORANGES
the
for her backward
reason
ces,
glan-
her
sudden,loud banalities,
ical
mechanyesterday's
repudiationof his offered assistance and the
impliedwish for him to go. He said gravely:
"I have been impatient,
but you came
so
sharply
into my empty existence that I was
upset. If you
ill you can
are
cure
yourself. Never forget
your
mother's
'brave heart.'
But
there is
jective
something ob-
Tell
immediate,threatening
you.
it is,Millie,and together
will overcome
we
it away
from
you
what
me
and
put
for ever."
She
into the empty gloom
gazed panic-stricken
"No!
below.
no!" she exclaimed, rising. "You
don't know.
I won't drag you down.
You
must
in the storm."
at once, tonight,
even
go away
"What
She
is it?" he demanded.
stood
rigidlyerect with her eyes shut and
hands clasped at her sides. Then
she slid down
to him a white mask
of fright.
upon the box, lifting
"It's Nicholas," she said, hardly above
her
breath.
sudden
A
his mind
John Woolfolk.
the heavy
negligible
In
over
his soiled apron.
the other could have got such
fumbling
how
relief swept
he dismissed as
beneath
He
a
man
wondered
grip on
Millie
Stope'simagination.
The
mystery that had envelopedher
was
fast disappearin
leavingthem without an obstacle to the
happiness he proposed. Woolfolk said curtly:
"Has
Nicholas been annoying you?"
[76]
ORANGES
WILD
shivered, with
She
says he's crazy
shuddering voice that
"He
that I must
says
clasped straininghands.
about me," she told him in a
must
"
immediate
grew
"
or
Her
to silence.
periodtrailed abruptlyout
Woolfolk
him,
marry
"He
his heart.
contracted
animated
with
Nicholas
be
an
determination,
purpose.
would
"Where
at
this hour?"
he
asked.
"You
hastily,clingingto his arm.
mustn't," she exclaimed, yet not loudly. "You
He is watching
don't know!
somethingfrightful
would happen."
he returned
tolerantly,
"Nothing 'frightful,'"
olas."
preparingto descend. "Only unfortunate for NichShe
rose
"
her
mustn't," she repeated desperately,
weighthanging from her hands claspedabout
"You
sheer
his neck.
"Nicholas
somethingfunny
is not
about
"
him.
not
human.
I don't
There's
mean
funny,
"
j
unclaspedher fingersand quietlyforced her
Then
he took a place
to the seat on the box.
He
back
at her side.
"what
"Now," he asked reasonably,
is this about
Nicholas?"
She
glanceddown into
store; the ghostlyremnant
in
a
floor
draft like
was
a
torn
and
the desolate
of cotton
cavern
goods fluttered
grimy cobweb
palpablybare.
[77]
of the
; the lower
WILD
"He
in
came
without
ORANGES
April," she
life.
any
"The
commenced
woman
in
voice
had
had
we
a
for
dead; and when Nicholas asked for work
the smallest
He wanted
we
were
glad to take him.
possiblewages and was willingto do everything; he
cooked
even
quite nicely. At first he was
jumpy
he had
asked
if many
by; but
strangers went
then when
He
no
one
appeared he got easier.
I
got easier and began to do extra things for me.
was
years
"
.
thanked
him
until I understood.
"
send
father
to
before
I could
him
but
away,
get up my
he
.
I asked
Then
afraid; and,
was
to do
courage
.
it,Nicholas
spoke
"He
said
he
was
be
please try
and
wanted
marry,
to
about
crazy
good
he
him.
to
went
on,
He
and
would
and
me,
I
had
live
always
right,but
that he
I told him
things had gone against him.
was
impertinentand that he would have to go at
but he cried and begged me
not to say that,
once;
not
to
'started. '
get him
That, John Woolf
the
"I went
was
recalled,
what
precisely
said to him.
had
man
oik
back
Nicholas
to father and
told him
why
he must
turned
almost
off,but father nearly suffocated. He
Then
I got frightenedand
black.
locked
myself
in my
send
on
the stair and
In the
morning
Jiisduties
as
sobbed
I had
while
room,
sat
out
night. It was ghastly!
down, and he went about
all
to go
Nicholas
usual.
[78]
ORANGES
WILD
spoke again, on the porch,
making
twistinghis hands exactly as if he were
to be nice to
bread.
He repeatedthat he wanted
me
would
He said something wrong
him.
happen if I
pushed him to it.
"That
evening
"I think
been
have
he
threatened
if he had
to kill
me
it would
possiblethan his hints and sobs.
along for a month, then six weeks,
happened. I started again and
more
The
thing went
and nothing more
again to tell them at the store,two miles back in the
from
Nicholas;
get away
pines,but I could never
ing
he was
always at my shoulder,muttering and twisthis hands.
"At
last
found
I
glancing once
gloom, while her
of her waist.
band
"I
done
tated,
hesisomething." She
down
more
through the empty
in the
fingersswiftly fumbled
was
and
cleaninghis
had
room
"
it
simply had
to be
bureau
drawer, when I saw
this underneath.
He was
in the house, and I
not
took one look at it,then put the thingsback as near
I was
as
possibleas they were.
so
frightenedthat
I slippedit in my dress
had no chance to return it."
"
out
a
"
He
took
from
her
hand a folded rectangle
unresisting
of coarse
and, opening it,found
grey paper;
handbill with the crudelyreproduced photoa small
graph
of a man's
head with a long,drooping nose,
and a lax undersleepyeyes in thick folds of flesh,
lip with a fixed,dull smile:
[79]
WILD
ORANGES
WANTED
authorities of
The
HUNDRED
the
FOR
DOLLARS
MURDER!
Coweta
for the
offer
THREE
apprehension of
below, Iscah
Nicholas, convicted of the
murder
of Elizabeth Slakto,an aged woman.
General
description:
Age about forty-eight.
Head
pression.
receding,with largenose and stupidexolas
Body corpulentbut strong. Nichhas no trade and works at generalutility.
He
is
a
homicidal
maniac.
WANTED
told
"He
FOR
that his
me
MURDER!
name
Nicholas
was
Brandt,"
Millie noted in her dull voice.
gravitypossessedJohn Woolfolk.
"You must
not go back to the house," he decided.
"Wait," she replied. "I was terribly
frightened
A
when
new
he went
he thanked
up to his
for
me
When
room.
cleaningit.
he
came
I told him
down
he
was
mistaken,that I hadn't been in there,but I could
he was
see
suspicious.He cried all the time he was
ward
cooking dinner,in a queer, choked way; and aftertouched
the water
his
me
in the
bay
fingers. Then
the
on
"
wouldn't
I
I swam,
but all
the feel of
take away
arm.
saw
the
boat
"
you
came
ashore.
"Nicholas
pinesfor
a
was
day
or
dreadfullyupset, and hid in the
if I spoke of
He told me
more.
[80]
WILD
will
give him
o'clock
to
without
kinder
at
early tonight
walk
"
is all.
hesitation;
you
any
But
it must
be
must
even
eight
out
be done
cheerful,
to him."
He
to
dark
That
Then
tomorrow.
answer
it will be
"
wharf.
the
when
an
ORANGES
was
thinking:
I meet
the ordeal
She
Nicholas.
must
She
be out
must
that will release her
not
of the way
be subjected
from
the dread
fast
crushingher spirit.
She swayed, and he caught her,held her upright,
circled in his steady arms.
let him
"Don't
hurt us," she gasped. "Oh,
don't!"
"Not
ished.
now," he reassurred her. "Nicholas is finBut you must
help by doing exactlyas I
It won't
You'd
better go on.
told you.
long,hardly three hours, until freedom."
have
be
againsthis face,while her
arms
crept round his neck. She said nothing;and
he held her to him with a sudden throb of feeling.
in the deepeninggloom,
They stood for a moment
bound in a straining
embrace, while the rats gnawed
in the sagging walls of the store and
the storm
thrashed
without.
descended
She reluctantly
the
floor and
stair, crossed the broken
disappeared
throughthe door.
A sudden unwillingness
to have her return alone
of Iscah Nicholas,the impoto the sobbingmenace
tent
wraith that had been Lichfield Stope,carried
him in an impetuousstride to the stair. But there
[82]
She laid her cold cheek
WILD
ORANGES
plan he had
a
larger measure
simplicity,
immediate, unconsidered course.
John Woolfolk waited until
he
halted.
made
The
the orange-grove;
toward
the beach.
enter
then
safety than
she had
he
had
any
time to
followed,turning
already at the sand's edge,
waiting uneasilywith the tender,and they crossed
the broken water
to where the Gar's cabin flungout
a remote, peacefullight.
He
found
Halvard
of
held, in its
[83]
X
sailor
THE
tasks, while
homely
of
inspection
(descended
and
to
neglected
breast, in
the
Halvard
roused
the
box.
For
the
He
berths
an
sealed
called
Halvard.
get
brow,
rose.
to
arduous
John
address
Halvard's
chin
on
shelf
that
he
more
he
hesitated; then, with
a
wrote
man
took
he
and
[84]
saw
"Here,"
the pen.
letters of his
accomplished,
bluish
he
signatures,"
The
again
tin
various
Then
wafers.
these
Halvard
ran
engaged
was
carefully reading
other, when
was
Woolfolk
small, locked
a
clumsily grasped
Woolfolk
face
fore
be-
placed
John
the
to
witness
to
task
the
tion,
abstrac-
cigarette,which
and
linking fortuitouslythe unsteady
This
of
was
a
vermilion
indicated.
Woolfolk
or
and
with
you
table
secured
hour
said, rising. Poul
furrowed
He
rigging.
motionless,
sat
turned
and
alternately writing
papers
rolled
nute
mi-
a
stillness.
warm
himself.
"I'll
he
cleared
above
ketch's
whatever
light, and
to
made
expression
an
familiar,
his
Woolfolk
the
mechanically
Afterward
him.
he
with
supper
ate
set about
immediately
he
his
slowly,
name.
immediately
place, turning
that
one
side
rapidly swelling.
of
ORANGES
WILD
with your
the matter
"What's
he
jaw?"
promptly
inquired.
Woolfolk's
but
speak,
Then
insistent.
"I met
obviouslyreluctant to
silent interrogation
was
avoided his gaze,
Halvard
that
:
out
admitted;"with-
Nicholas,"Halvard
knife."
a
Woolfolk
"Well?"
insisted.
with
something wrong
place,"Halvard said defiantly."You
but there's
My grandmother could
the
and
named
it.
natural.
She
heard
death, and read
strangulated herself.
back I got doubtful
that called Tollfsen's
ravens
Linga's
Anyhow,
have
laugh,
can
in the air that's not
matter
a
cursed
this
"There's
eyes
before
when
you
took
the
she
didn't
tender
come
in.
Then
I
saw
Nicholas
beating up through the bushes, hiding here and
there,and doublingthrough the grass ; so I came
on
him
from
the back and
and kicked him, quite
"
sudden.
"He
hulk
went
on
like himself.
it'sBiblical
kick
his
than
"
foolish
he didn't take any
if it had
againsthim.
hands, but got
Sir,this is hard
He
been
a
said 'Go
more
up
to
quick for a
but
believe,
notice of the
flag halyard brushed
away,' and waved his
hands.
"I closed
in,stillcareful of the knife,with a remark,
and
got onto his heart. He only coughed
and kepttelling
in a crying whisperto go away.
me
Nicholas
I got this
that's how
pushed me back
"
[85]
WILD
face.
hit
a
a
What
ORANGES
the use?
was
pudding.
littleit sent
me
Even
I
might
talk didn't
cold."
He
as
well have
him.
move
In
stoppedabruptly,
grew
sullen ; it was
evident that he would say no
that direction. Woolfolk
opened another
in
more
subject:
"Life,Halvard," he said,"is uncertain;perhaps
unreliable.
What
tonightI shall find it absolutely
I am
gettingat is this : if anythinghappens to me
the Gar is yours, the ketch
death, to be accurate
"
"
and
a
sum
box, which
There
It is secured to you in this
of money.
you will deliver to my address in Boston.
is another
provisionthat I'll mention merely
from
to giveyou the opportunity
to repeat itverbally
bility
my lips: the bulk of anything I have, in the possiwill go to a Miss Stope,
we
are
considering,
the daughter of Lichfield
Stope, formerly of
Virginia." He stood up.
"Halvard," Woolfolk
said abruptly,extendinghis hand, expressingfor
the firsttime his repeatedthought,"you are a good
You are the onlysteadyquantityI have ever
man.
I have paid you for a part of this,
known.
but the
is beyond dollars. That I am
edging."
acknowlmost
now
Halvard
cruellyembarrassed.
to
obviously desiring a chance
Woolfolk
"I
want
cabin and
was
continued
the
in
canvas
a
He
waited,
retreat, and
different vein:
division
three berths made.
rigged across
Then
the
get the yacht
ready to go out at any time."
One thingmore
remained; and, going deeperin[86]
WILD
ORANGES
box, John Woolfolk brought out a packet
of square
envelopesaddressed to him in a faded,
all that remained
now
They were
angular hand.
of his youth, of the past. Not
a
ghost, not a
remembered
fragrancenor accent, rose from the
delicate paper.
They had been the property of a
dead twelve years ago, slain by incomprehenman
sible
in the contracted
mischance; and the man
cabin, vibratingfrom the elemental and violent
He burned
forces without,forebore to open them.
the packetto a blackish ash on a plate.
from
the chronometer, seven
he saw
It was,
o'clock;and he rose charged with tense energy,
engaged in activities of a far different order. He
folds of oiled silk a flat,
unwrapped from many
uglierin its bleak outline than
amorphous pistol,
the familiar weapons
of more
gracefuldays; and,
slidinginto placea filled cartridge
clip,he threw a
load into the barrel.
This
he depositedin the
pocket of a black wool jacket,closelybuttoned
about his long,hard body, and went
deck.
up on
close
Halvard, in a glistening
yellow coat, came
speaking with the wind whipping the
up to Mm,
words from his lips. He said: "She's ready,sir."
to the tin
For
a
moment
Woolfolk
made
no
answer;
stood
he
gazinganxiouslyinto the dark that enveloped
and hid Millie Stopefrom him.
There was
another
darkness about her,thicker than the mere
night,like
a black cerement
dropping over her soul. His eyes
narrowed
as he replied
to the sailor: "Good!
[87]
"
XI
WOOLFOLK
JOHN
towa/d
"Put
"at
Halvard;
sailor
The
followed.
from
the
land.
me
ashore
secured
the
small
boat
With
the
and
beating
wind.
rim
the
of
forced
blurs
where
had
how
seemed.
into
the
forward
water
the
into
the
to
passage
water
followed
the
on
the
land's
short, telling strokes,
livid
being
momentary
first
her
actuality
which
the
effort
cleanse
to
Woolf
of
had
oik's
the
face
stain
He
her
into
of
Iscah
in
his
was
the
called
re-
had
than
stranger
no
he
[88]
point
appearance
hardened;
weight
the
swimming.
been
driven
the
cold
about
unexpected
however,
had,
boat
Millie
seen
strange
It
the
guided
the
conscious
broken
away
phosphorescence.
he
touch.
into
fell
struck
choppy
a
with
pulled
Woolfolk
John
told
he
Woolfolk
they
turning, they
the
stirring
night
sea."
the
push
oars
made
of
point,"
while
steady
tender
bay, where,
Halvard
of
on
the
tender, and, dropping
the
They
oarblades
his
wharf
Halyard's
thin, pale glimmer
edge.
the
vigorous
a
Gar.
smartly
beyond
half-sunk
a
the
it, held
peered through
in
bay
Nicholas'
suddenly
pocket.
He
ORANGES
WILD
with
his
palm, saw
eight. Millie,he
wharf
would
before
not
the
that it
had
was
ten
minutes
thought,would
hour
he
had
before
reach
indicated.
the
She
cost be late.
at any
was
as
impenetrable. Halvard
night was
absolutelylost as if he had dropped, with all the
the bare,wet spot where Woolfolk
world save
stood,
which floated up great,
into a nether region from
He followed this idea
shudderinggasps of agony.
more
minutely,picturingthe details of such a
terrestrialcalamity;then he put it from him with an
Black
oath.
thoughts crept insidiouslyinto his
like rats in a cellar. He had ordinarilya
mind
brain,an incisive logic,and he
rigidlydisciplined
to
disturbed by the distorted visions that came
was
He wished, in a momentary panic,
him unbidden.
that he were
safelyaway with
instantly
suppressed,
The
Millie in the ketch.
he told himself with
becoming hysterical,
compressed lips no better than Li ch field Stope.
and fled across
The latter rose greylyin his memory,
the sea, a phantom body pulsingwith a veined fire
like that stirred from the nocturnal bay. He again
consulted his watch, and said aloud, incredulously:
"Five minutes past eight." The inchoate crawling
of his thoughtschanged to an acute, tangible
doubt,
a mounting dread.
He rehearsed the details of his plan, tried it at
him at the moment
every turning. It had seemed to
of its birth the best no, the only thing to do,
He
was
"
"
"
[90]
ORANGES
WILD
and
happening,an unforeseen need
delayed Millie for a minute
increased
minutes
into
merged
preliminary. The
materialize,and his anger
But
two.
a
sank
the
All his
passionof
cold
without
word's
a
did
out, Millie
drew
time
had
father's,
appear.
kill Nicholas
would
He
anger.
or
she did not
and
emotions
conflicting
of her
trivial
Some
fault.
stillwithout obvious
it was
not
to the realization of
appallingpossibilities.
would
longer. In
he thought he heard,
the act of moving forward
wind, a sudden
risingthinlyagainstthe fluctuating
with every
He stoppedautomatically,
listening
cry.
of the uncertain
no
repetition
nerve, but there was
As Woolfolk
sound.
swiftlyconsidered it he was
possessedby the feelingthat he had not heard the
but with a deeper,more
cry with his actual ear
He
that
decided
unaccountable
he
He
sense.
wait
no
forward
went
in
a
blind
rush, feelingwith extended hands for the opening
in the tangle,groping a stumblingway
through the
close dark
of the matted
root, blundered
emerged
finally
Here
his way
the blades
No
at
lightshowed
him, and
he
sudden
a
came
throughsaw
him
from
chill,wet
over
an
posed
ex-
trunk, and
like
grass, waist
high,and
lithe,vindictive knives.
the face of the house
abruptlyagainstthe bay
of the dismantled
A
into
fell
at the side of the desolate mansion.
led
cut
He
trees.
caution
billiard
toward
window
room.
arrested him
"
the sound
bf his
and
a
approach might precipitate
catastrophe,
[91]
he
WILD
ORANGES
felt his passage
soundlessly
portico. The steps creaked
about the house
beneath
his
to the
careful
At first
tread,but the noise was lost in the wind.
he could see no light;the hall door,he discovered,
of a faint glimmer
was
aware
closed;then he was
seepingthrough a drawn window shade on the right.
From
without he could distinguish
nothing. He
but not a sound rose.
stillness was
The
listened,
more
ominous
than cries.
took the pistolfrom his pocket
John Woolfolk
to
and, automaticallyreleasingthe safety,moved
the door, opening it with his left hand.
The hall
was
unlighted;he could feel the pressure of the
darkness
above.
The
dank
silence flowed
over
him
like chill water
risingabove his heart. He turned,
and a dim
thread of light,showing through the
chink of a partlyclosed doorway, led him swiftly
forward.
He
before entering,
paused a moment
shrinkingfrom what might be revealed beyond,and
then flungthe door sharplyopen.
His pistol
directed at a low-trimmed
was
lamp in
a
chamber
empty
of all life. He
saw
a
row
of
low supports,a sewingbag
on
largeblack portfolios
spilledits contents from a chair,a table bore a tin
tobacco jar and the empty skin of a plantain. Then
his gaze rested upon the floor,
on
a thin,inanimate
body in crumpled alpaca trousers and dark jacket,
with a peaked, congestedface upturned toward the
palelight. It was Lichfield Stope dead.
SVoolfolkbent over him, searchingfor a mark of
"
[92]
ORANGES
WILD
At first
for the cause
of the other's death.
violence,
he found nothing;then, as he moved
its
the body
he saw
to him
that one
came
as
a shock
lightness
fragilearm had been twisted and broken; the hand
leaf from its circular
hung like a withered autumn
"
"
cuff fastened with the mosaic
He
straightenedup
levelled at the door.
other than
button.
That
sharply, with
But
there had
that of the wind
his
been
plucking at
all.
was
pistol
noise
no
the old tin
frames of the windows.
roof,rattlingthe shrunken
Lichfield Stopehad fallen back with his countenance
lyingon a doubled arm, as if he were attemptingto
hide from his extinguishedgaze the horror of his
of the common
end.
The lamp was
glassvariety,
without shade; and, in a sudden
eddy of air,it
threatened
to go out, and a thin ribbon of
flickered,
smoke swept up againstthe chimney and vanished.
On the wall was
a wide
stipple
printof the early
nineteenth
sward of a village
century the smooth
glebesurrounded by the low stone walls of ancient
dwellings,with a timbered inn behind broad oaks
and a swinging sign. It was
in the print serenely
evening, and long shadows
slipped out
through an ambient glow. Woolfolk, with pistol
drawn
elevated,became suddenly conscious of the with"
"
scene,
him
and
spellbound.
for
It
a
was
the unattainable
with
a
The
"
another
repose
peace held
curity,
world, for the se-
its utter
moment
of
which, he longed
passionatebitterness.
wind
shifted its direction and
[93]
beat upon
the
WILD
front
of
the
ORANGES
house;
different
a
set
of
windows
rattled,and
through
the blast swept compact and cold
up
the blank hall.
cursed his
John Woolfolk
inertia of
mind, and
once
addressed
more
the profound,
tragicmystery that surrounded him.
He
with Millie.
thought: Nicholas has gone
Or perhaps he has left her
in some
dark, upper
A maddening sense
of impotence settled upspace.
on
"
"
him.
If the
man
had
taken
Millie
out
into the
night he had no chance of following,findingthem.
of bushes lay on every hand,
Impenetrable screens
with, behind them, mile after mile of shrouded pine
woods.
His
plan
had
terriblyamiss, with possibilities
which
he could not bring himself to face.
All that had happened before in his life,and that
had seemed
so
insupportableat the time, faded to
of horror swept
insignificance.Shuddering waves
him.
He raised his hand unsteadily,
drew it
over
his brow, and it came
across
dripping wet.
away
He
was
oppressed by the feelingfamiliar in evil
dreams
of gazing with leaden limbs at deliberate,
unspeakable acts.
gone
"
He
act
not
"
shook
at
off the numbness
once!
find Iscah
without.
To
A
How?
Nicholas
raise
of dread.
thousand
in the
the
He
men
confused
scattered
and
must
could
darkness
meager
entire day.
an
neighborhood would consume
The wind agitateda rocking chair in the hall,an
[94]
WILD
ORANGES
started
creaking responded, and Woolfolk
tified
forward, and stopped as he heard and then identhe noise.
This, he told himself, would not
do; the hysteriawas
creepingover him again. He
shook
his shoulders, wiped his palm and
took a
fresh grip on the pistol.
the heavy, unmistakable
Then
from
above came
It was
not
fall of a foot.
repeated; the silence
But
spread once more, broken only from without.
of mistake, there had been
there was
no
possibility
foot had moved, a
no
a slow
subtletyin the sound
erratic
"
heavy body had shifted.
determinat ion seized him ;
At this actualitya new
conscious of a feelingthat almost resembled
he was
relief at the prospect of action
joy,an immeasurable
He
the lamp, held it
and
retaliation.
took up
elevated while he advanced
to the door with a ready
pistol. There, however, he stopped,realizingthe
mark
he would
minated,
present moving, convenientlyilluThe
floor above was
totally
up the stair.
unknown
to him; at any
prised,
turning he might be surrendered
overcome,
useless.
He
had
a
preme
su-
perform. He had already, perhaps
be no
further
erred, and there must
fatally,
misstep.
realized that he must
John Woolfolk
go upstairs
in the dark, or with, at most, in extreme
a
necessity,
and guarded matchlight. This, too, since he
fleeting
would
be
entirely without
knowledge of his
purpose
to
[95]
WILD
surroundings,would
ORANGES
be
possibl
inconvenient,
perhaps imHe must
try. He put the lamp back upon
the table,moving it farther out of the eddy from
the door, where
it would
stay lightedagainst a
possiblepressingneed. Then he moved from the
radiance into the nightof the hall.
wan
[96]
XII
HE
house:
the
of
the
left
on
room;
kitchen
been
opened
wing,
carried
find
second
floor.
the
into
to
billiard
be
of
he
that
the
on
smaller;
means
a
had
above,
probable
was
and
lamp,
behind, while
chamber
would
hall
bath; and
a
of the
room
a
hall's
the
to
"
orange
the
on
gave
a
It
the
general arrangement
same
The
for
inclosed
mounted
chamber
added.
obviously
would
the
was
of
general aspect
faced
door
a
seen,
that, he had
the
stair
which
back
width
its
the
grove,
right,in
the
in his mind
formed
space
a
the
to
ascent
roof.
possible,placing
silentlyas
body
the
of
At
steps.
his
and, with
moved
until
interior
above
floor
the
his
he
the
had
back
to
the
crossed
certain
that
door.
He
continued, following
places
the
plaster
no
the
on
he
one
bare
narrowly
had
a
billiard
heard
had
feet
top the
encountered
he
was
opposite
the stair
mounted
Woolfolk
John
a
of
room;
squarely
on
handrail
peared;
disap-
the
it
was
the
on
he
was
closed
hall
the
dank
wall.
his
fingers
or
a
At
countered
en-
Farther
house.
down
he
That
door.
the
the
as
plaster wall,
footfall, and
escaped knocking
[97]
and
closed
fallen, and
skeleton
quickly
a
heavily
WILD
framed
ORANGES
picture another,he thought,of Lichfield
but he caught it,left it hanging
Stope'smezzotints
crazilyawry.
He passed an open door,recognized
the bathroom
from the flat odor of chlorides,
reached an angle of
the wall
and
caution.
proceeded with renewed
"
"
Next
he encountered
of
then
found
room
the cold panes
entrance
to the
the
a
window
and
above
the
kitchen.
He
sound
stopped
"
he
it
heard
the wisdom
barely possiblethat the
was
had
echoed
from
here.
He
volved
re-
he had promatch, but
gressed
decided negatively.One
very well so far
aspect of the situation troubled him greatly the
It
absence of any sound or warning from Millie.
was
highlyimprobablethat his entrance to the house
The contrary was
had been unnoticed.
probable
of
a
"
"
"
"
that his sudden
appearance
had
driven
Nicholas
above.
Woolfolk
started forward
more
urged
hurriedly,
when his foot went
increasingapprehension,
into the opening of a depressedstep and flunghim
In his instinctive effort to avoid
sharplyforward.
ness.
into the darkfallingthe pistoldropped clattering
beside him,
A sudden
choked
cry sounded
and
a
heavy, envelopingbody fell on his back.
This sent him
reelingagainst the wall, where he
felt the muscles of an unwieldlyarm
tightenabout
by
his
his neck.
John Woolfolk
threw
himself
[98]
back,when
a
wrist
ORANGES
WILD
jarringblow fell
The
the wall.
hand, he knew, had held a
upon
over
knife, for he could feel it groping desperately
the plaster,
and he put all his strengthinto an effort
to drag his assailant into the middle of the floor.
his pistol,
It was
but
to recover
impossiblenow
his shoulder
heavilystruck
he would
knife.
He
men
make
The
in
turned
were
and
a
it difficult for Nicholas
strugglein that
the grippingarms
chest to chest.
way
was
about
to
get the
equalized.
him
and
the
spoke; each fought
Neither
veloped
solelyto get the other prostrate,while Nicholas dethe blade
a
secondary pressure toward
buried in the wall.
This
Woolfolk
successfully
In the supreme
effort to bring the strugblocked.
gle
to
a
decisive end
neither dealt the other minor
blows
no
injuries.There were
nothing but the
straining
pullof arms, the sudden weight of bodies,
the cunning twistingof legs. They foughtswiftly,
whirlingand staggeringfrom placeto place.
The hot breath of an invisible gaping mouth beat
He
Woolfolk's
cheek.
was
an
exceptionally
upon
His spare body had been hardened
powerful man.
by its years of exposure to the elements,in the constant
labor he had expended on the ketch,the long
"
contests
with
littledoubt
adverse
of his
winds
and
seas,
and
he had
issuingsuccessful from the present
crisis. Iscah Nicholas, though his strength
was
beyond question,was
heavy and slow. Yet
he was
with surprising
struggling
agility.He was
animated
by a convulsive energy, a volcanic out[99]
WILD
ORANGES
burst characteristic of the obsession
The
strife continued
for
of monomania.
astonishing,an
an
became
riated
infuabsurd, length of time. Woolfolk
at his inability
to bring it to an end, and he
expended an even
greater effort. Nicholas' arms
about his chest;he was
were
endeavoringby sheer
to crush Woolfolk's
when
the
opposition,
pressure
latter injecteda mounting wrath
into the conflict.
They spun in the open like a grotesque human top,
and fell. Woolfolk
was
momentarily underneath,
but he twisted lithely
He felt a heavy,
uppermost.
blunt hand leave his arm
and feel,in the dark, for
Its purpose
his face.
and he caught it
to spoil,
was
and savagely bent it down
and back; but a cruel
forcingof his leg defeated his purpose.
This, he realized,could not go on indefinitely;
one
or
doubt
his
the other would
soon
An
weaken.
insidious
of his ultimate
victorylodged like a burr in
creased
brain.
Nicholas' strengthwas
inhuman; it inrathefr than waned.
He was
dictive
growing vinin
a
petty way
throat,dug the flesh
warm
"
from
and
gummy
folk's grip insecure.
The
doubt
he
tore
his lower
blood
made
Woolfolk's
at
arm.
John
after
ThereWool-
he fought more
grew;
thoughts,which tillnow had been
of his
success
desperately.His
blurred in blind spurts
clear,logically
aloof,were
of passion. His mentalitygraduallydeserted him;
he reverted to lower
animal; during
the
and
lower
types of the human
accumulating seconds
[100]
of the
ORANGES
WILD
through countless centuries
to the primitive,
snarling brute. His shirt was
from
torn
a
shoulder,and he felt the sweating,
bare skin of his opponent pressedagainsthim.
"The conflict continued without diminishing. He
to his feet,with Nicholas, and
struggledonce more
they exchanged batteringblows, dealt necessarily
his arm
Sometimes
at random.
swept violently
through mere
space, at others his fist landed with a
shock on the body of his antagonist. The
satisfying
dark
was
occasionallycrossed by flashes before
Woolfolk's smitten eyes, but no actual lightpierced
hall. At times
the profound night of the upper
their strugglegrew
audible,smacking blows fell
sharply;but there was no other sound except that
of the wind tearingat the sashes,thunderingdully
in the loose tin roof,rockingthe dwelling.
ened,
They fell again, and equallytheir efforts slacktheir grips became
feeble. Finally,as
more
if by common
consent, they rolled apart. A leaden
tide of apathy crept over
Woolfolk's battered body,
folded his aching brain.
He listened in a sort of
indifferent attention to the tempestuous breathing
of Iscah Nicholas.
John Woolfolk wondered dully
where Millie was.
There had been no sign of her
strife he
swung
since
had
cried
He
he
back
fallen down
the
step and
she
had
from
dead
Perhaps she was
fright.
Considered this possibility
in a hazy, detached
manner.
He
out.
She
would
be better dead
"
if he
failed.
heard, with littleinterest,
on
a
stirring
[101]
the
WILD
ORANGES
floor beside him, and
weariness
thought with
an
ing
overwhelm-
and distaste that the strife was
to
mence
com-
Nicholas moved
But, curiously,
from him.
Woolfolk
was
glad; and then he
away
was
puzzled for a moment
by the slidingof hands
invisible wall.
He slowlyrealized that the
over
an
other was
groping for the knife he had buried in the
considered
similar
a
plaster. John Woolfolk
search for the pistol
he had dropped; he might even
It was
rather wonderful
a
lighta match.
weapon
once
and
would
would
like
more.
spray
in
like
exceedinglywell
with Nicholas
Then
lead
a
a
hose
to have
of water.
He
it in his hand
before him.
sudden
mental
illumination he realized
the extreme
ing
perilof the moment; and, lurchhe again threw himself on the other.
to his feet,
The
it
strugglewent on, apparentlyto infinity;
less vigorousnow;
the blows, for the most part,
was
said a word;
were
impotent. Iscah Nicholas never
and fantastic thoughtswheeled through Woolfolk's
He lost all sense
of his opbrain.
of the identity
ponent
and
became
convinced
that he
was
ing
combat-
the thingthat gasped and
impersonalhulk
smeared
his face,that strove to end him, was
the
of the place,a place that
embodied
and evil spirit
HalvUrd
had seen
He
was
even
damnably wrong.
if a being
questionedif such a force could be killed,
materialized from the outer dark could be stopped
the latest,
most
ingenious
by a pistolof even
an
"
mechanism.
[102]
XIII
with
rose
HE
who
man
the
had
ludicrous
taken
a
The
wan
misstep.
within, made
from
descended
had
sprawling
him,
He
feeling
shifted
wheeling
with
pale
Here
the
his
feet
about
him
and
dead
darkness
visible
black
he
passed
into
He
in the
saw
these
He
they
now
of
vital
Woolfolk
he
was
"
seemed
repulsive
with
this
defiantly
conscious
of
to
life.
their
on
quadrupeds,
The
them, and
they
crawl
oozed
with
entire
palpable,
sentient
faced
still,cold
an
with
arm.
significance
new
normally
portfolios
things, remembered
horror, they
and
charged
had
room.
floor, still hiding his
of his
crook
was
mezzotint
flattened
the
on
the
the
and
the
room.
streaked
rings
became
saw
peace,
Stope
face
behind
the
grotesque
Lichfield
and
John
carefully, for
in
that
floor.
lighted
sunny
stands, like
the
fused
dif-
motion,
the
objects, dimensions,
sere
bulk
to
placed, recognizable.
its
the
it,his hand
from
entrance
as
orange
visible
a
ward
awk-
and
lamplight,
step and
backward
for
public
lay without
It
lower
a
moved
Woolfolk
him.
with
upon
just
of
alacrity
the
unseen
[104]
a
a
yet
sort
nant
malig-
room
was
evil.
John
inclosure;
scrutiny, of
a
men-
ORANGES
WILD
that lived in
ace
that could
dead, and
his heart
He
was
said
take
fingersof the
bulk and pound
the
actual
sore.
that inhabited
afraid of the wrongness
of house
and grove
and
not
this muck
He
moved
pictures,
bush.
matted
loudly to the prostrate form; then,
smash
little,
repeatedit. He would
this
waiting a
The
the printwith its fallacious expanse
of peace.
broken glassof the smitten picturejingledthinlyon
the floor.
Woolfolk
turned suddenly and defeated
the purpose
of whatever
behind
had been stealthily
stood in a
it had disappeared. He
him; anyway
strained
attitude, listeningto the aberrations
of the wind
actual presence
an
without, when
slipped by him, stopping in the middle of the
floor.
Millie
their widest
Stope. Her eyes were
opened to
extent, but they had the peculiarblank
of the
fixity
slippedand
eyes of the blind.
slid in a loosened
It
was
"I had
to walk
round
we'd
"It's
knot.
no
was
close
a
low,
other
way.
She broke
.
"
skirt
to
John
.
.
off
Woolfolk.
ding.
away," she told him, nodquite impossiblehere,with him in the
drew
to pass
back
that he had
so
from
part of the house; she had
flame
her hair
better go
hall,where you have
Woolfolk
them
in
him," she protested
voice, "there
fluctuating
Right by his head.
My
and, shuddering,came
"I think
Above
followed
close."
her.
led him
She
there
too
"
into the swamp.
[105]
was
a
a
white
And
WILD
this
ordinary marsh.
no
was
ORANGES
It was,
he
added
of souls."
aloud, "A swamp
"Then," she replied,"we must leave at once."
A dragging sound
from
the hall. Millie
rose
Stope cowered in a voiceless accession of terror;but
John Woolfolk, lamp in hand, moved to the door.
He was
curious to see exactlywhat was
happening.
The
bulk had risen; a broad back swayed like a
pendulum, and a swollen hand gripped the stair
rail. The
form
heaved
itself up a step, paused,
and then mounted
tottering,
again. Woolfolk saw
that the other was
at once
going for the knife buried
in the wall above.
He watched with an impersonal
interest the dragging ascent.
At the seventh step
it ceased; the figurecrumpled,slid halfway back
to
the floor.
"You
The
can't
do
other sat
downward,
it," Woolfolk
bowed, with
of the
lamp
Woolfolk
moved
back
lamp on its table.
open, hanging hands,
cally.
criti-
leg extended
the stair that mounted
on
radiance
the
one
observed
from
stiffly
the pale
into
impenetrabledarkness.
into the room
and replaced
Millie Stope stillstood with
a
dread.
Her
eyes did not
entered
and
passed her;
countenance
shift from
her
gaze
of expectant
the door as he
hung starklyon
might emerge from the hall.
A deep loathingof his surroundingsswept over
John Woolfolk, a sudden revulsion from the dead
the floor,from the ponderous menace
on
on
man
[106]
what
ORANGES
WILD
stair,the white figurethat had brought it all
A mounting horror of the place poshim.
sessed
upon
fled.
him, and he turned and incontinently
A completepanicenvelopedhim at his flight,
a blind
and he ran heedlessly
to get away,
through
necessity
His
extended.
the night,with head up and arms
feet struck upon
rotten
a
fragment of board that
broke beneath him, he pushed through a tangleof
held by soft and
grass, and then his progress was
later he was
halted
dragging sand. A moment
He
by a chill flood risingabruptlyto his knees.
drew back sharplyand fell on the beach, with his
heels in the water of the bay.
An
insuperableweariness pinned him down, a
completeexhaustion of brain and body. A heavy
wind
struck like a wet cloth on his face. The sky
had been swept clear of clouds,and stars sparkled
in the pure depths of the night. They were
white,
the
with the
steady
exceptionof one that burned with an unyellow ray and seemed close by. This, John
Woolfolk
thought,was strange. He concentrated a
frowning gaze upon it perhaps in fallinginto the
soiled atmosphereof the earth it had lost its crystal
gleam and burned with a turgidlight. It was very,
very probable.
He continued to watch
it,facingthe tonic wind,
until with a clearing
of his mind, a gasp of joyful
he knew that it was
the ridinglightof
recognition,
"
the Gar.
;Woolfolk
sat very
stillunder
[107]
the pressure
of his
ORANGES
WILD
renewed
on
ory,
memsanity. Fact upon fact,memory
built up
returned,and in proper perspective
his logic,
his scattered powers
again his mentality,
her anchor
Gar rode uneasilyon
of being. The
chains; the wind was
shifting.They must
get
the
wharfaway! Halvard, waiting at
"
Millie
hurriedlyto his feet he had
Millie;left her, in all her anguish,with
He
rose
deserted
"
her dead
His love for her swept
parent and Iscah Nicholas.
back, infinitely
heightenedby the knowledge of her
the
suffering.At
familiar fear of
of chords
that
a
were
time
same
a
the
returned
permanent disarrangementin her1
unresponsiveto
strain that
might
she had
strong will;and
the
science.
of affection and
subjectedto
there
pedients
clumsy ex-
had
She
well unsettle
been
been
a
fragilein
atively
relthe
beginning.
he
told
be
grove; she must
that is,if it were
not
orange
"
a
of
violence,
hurriedly through the
be led quietlyto the tender
tire
alreadytoo late. His en-
part of no
himself, moving
She must
more
scenes
ders,
effort to preserve her had been a series of blunof which
each one
might well have proved
fatal,and
He
now,
mounted
together,
perhaps had.
to the porch and entered
the hall.
the
on
lightflowed undisturbed from the room
olas
right;and, in itsthin wash, he saw that Iscah Nichdiately,
had disappearedfrom the lower steps. Immehowever, and from higher up, he heard
The
[108]
ORANGES
WILD
and could justmake
out a form heaving
shuffling,
obscurelyin the gloom. Nicholas patently was
of his
making progress toward the consummation
decided that at presfixed idea; but Woolfolk
one
ent
he could best afford to ignorehim.
and found Millie
He
entered the lightedroom,
at the figure
seated and gazing in dull wonderment
a
the floor.
on
"I must
versationall
father,"she said conthe women
know, in Virginia,
about
tell you
"You
tied
not go
apron to his door because he would
and for years that preyed on his mind, until
an
to war,
he
my
out
thing. He was withslightest
a
particleof strength just to watch the sun
the sky wearied him, and the smallest disagreement
afraid of the
was
"
cross
upset him
She
for
"Then
templated,
con-
But
that isn't
sail there.
He
important.
we
were
going away together,
it would be peaceful. We
were
said at eighto'clock. Well, at
Nicholas
was
in the kitchen.
to meet
was
a
man
placewhere
to some
to
she
at what
to follow.
was
Nicholas
week."
in amazement
stopped,lost
what
I
a
seven
"
I got father into
his very heaviest coat, and laid out a muffler and his
I didn't need anygloves,then sat and waited.
thing
father
extra, my
heart
asked
I had
he
why
would
quite warm.
changed his coat
died of fright
Then
was
"
if I'd
him,
he
olas
Nichhot,and he fretted and worried.
heard him, and he wanted to know
why I had
was
have
too
[109]
"
he
said
told
WILD
put
ORANGES
father's winter
on
He
coat.
found
the muffler
and
glovesready and got suspicious.
"He
olas
stayed in the hall, crying a little Nichcried rightoften
while I sat with father and
"
"
tried to think
I
had
to
go
of
"
wouldn't
told
I
some
for
to
excuse
I
an
orange,
believe it. He
At
get away.
said
pushed
olas
Nich-
but
"
me
last
back
and
going out to the other.
'Nicholas, I said, 'don't be silly;nobody
would come
from a boat on a night like this.
away
Besides,he's gone away/ We had that last made
I heard
But he pushed me
back again. Then
up.
father move
behind us, and I thought he's going
to die of frightrightnow.
But father's footsteps
me
was
"
'
"
came
"
'Don't
do
hand
from
your
his
across
on
a
Her
moment,
and
killed
and
away
told
up to my
that,Nicholas,'he told
him; 'take
daughter. He swayed a little,
It was
he stood facing him.
my
but
voice died away,
and she was
gazing at the vision of that
can
"Of
surprisingcourage.
him," she added.
"He
died.
didn't
father
That
Woolfolk; "but the other
anyone
see
side.
'
lips shook,
father ! "
for
the floor and
was
silent
pected
unsus-
course
twisted
olas
Nichhim
matter," she
terribly
important,
that."
Woolfolk
listened
but there was
intently,
sound from without.
no
Then, with every appearance
of leisure,
he rolled and lighteda cigarette.
"Splendid!" he said of her recital;"and I don't
doubt you'rerightabout the importantthing." He
[110]
John
WILD
He
caught a
for
our
ORANGES
rockfish and
breakfast."
Nicholas
boiled it in milk
At the mention
of Iscah Nicholas
her.
This
was
slightshiver passed over
what Woolfolk
hoped for a return of her normal
revulsion from her surroundings,
from
the past.
"Nicholas," he said sharply,contradicted by a
faint dragging from the stair,"is dead."
"If you could only assure
of that,"she replied
me
wistfully."If I could be certain that he wasn't in
I'd go gladly. Any other way it
the next shadow
a
"
would
heart.
be
useless."
"I
must
father did.
His
laid her
She
get him
quite clearly: 'Don't
daughter.'
do
of
out
lipstrembled
hand
a
that.
her
over
here
but
little,
Don't
My
he
said
touch
my
"
"Your
father
was
a
brave man,"
singularly
he
her, rebelling
againstthe leaden monotony
them.
"Your
fallen upon
of speech that had
mother
too was
brave," he temporized. He could,
he decided,wait no longer. She must, if necessary,
chance
be carried away forcibly. It was
a desperate
the least pressure might result in a permanent,
janglingdiscord. Her waist,torn, he saw, upon
insufficient covering
her pallid shoulder, was
an
covered
againstthe wind and night. Looking about he disfor
her
the muffler, laid out
father,
crumpled on the floor;and, with an arm about her,
assured
"
folded
"Now
it over
we're
her throat and
away," he
breast.
declared in
[112]
a
forced
ness,
light-
ORANGES
WILD
She
into
John
His
it
empty;
was
heavy,
his
gaze
dragging
and
moment,
a
then
lapsed
col-
support.
Woolfolk
hall.
for
him
resisted
half
searched
but
from
step.
led,
half
the
above
of
obscurity
came
into
her
carried
the
the
sound
the
stair;
of
a
XIV
she
cowered
OUTSIDE
violent
blast
of
pitifullyfrom
the
wind, the boundless,
stirred space.
the
of
corner
rectangle
glimmering
Woolfolk
thicket
the
They made
house, leaving
the
of
stumbled
slowly. Millie
apparently at the
way,
ground.
of
sweep
He
felt
the
sea
for
halted
He
a
a
forced
shoulders, facing his
dark
was
being, of
"I
rocklike
his
delayed,"
was
inadequacy
of
had
In
time.
grove
he
he
Had
had
into
the
lived
to
they
dark
his
rough
to
the
cool
Halvard
and
about
arm
in
Even
man.
Halvard's
express
been
of
the
stalwart
two
the
or
the
at
pressure
four?
the
of
tual
ac-
orange
ages,
measured
the
He
of
passage
tormented
through
Halvard
the
behind
house
depths beyond
of Greenwich.
more
the
when
finally,amazed
said
totallyunconscious
been
slipping
him
Poul
In
integrity.
his words
past hours.
the
pale,
the
over
with
moment,
of
the
proceed
to
relief
supreme
conscious
behind
weakly
point of
Millie's
he
about
their way
lighted window.
opened before
the gloom.
from
emerged
the
was
the
scended
de-
standard
said:
"Yes, sir."
The
sound
of
a
blundering
[114]
progress
rose
from
the
ORANGES
WILD
path behind them, the breakingof branches and the
slipping of a heavy tread on the water-soaked
ground. John Woolfolk, with an oath, realized
by his fixed,
the sound,
Millie Stoperecognized
murderous
idea.
He
too, for she trembled violentlyon his arm.
knew
that she could support no more
violence,and
he turned to the dim, square-set figurebefore him.
sane
inHe's
"Halvard, it's that fellow Nicholas.
Will you stop him while I get
has a knife.
She's pretty well
Miss
Stope into the tender?
through." He laid his hand on the other's shoulder
"I shall have
he started immediatelyforward.
as
occurs,"
to go on, Halvard, if anythingunfortunate
that it
Nicholas, still animated
was
"
he said in
The
Millie
different voice.
a
sailor made
out
down
reply;but
he
the wharf
over
himself upon
The tender
no
a
as
saw
made
fast fore and
into the uneasy
throw
Halvard
dark bulk that broke
was
urged
Woolfolk
from
the wood.
aft;and, getting
boat, Woolfolk
reached
She dropped
up and lifted Millie bodilyto his side.
He unfastened
white heap on the bottom.
in a still,
the
painterand
the
wharf, with
on
his gaze
land.
sional
nothing,and heard only an occacult
diffiIt was
tramplingof the underbrush.
remain
detached, give no assistance,while
could
He
to
Halvard
in
holding the tender close to
ing
his head above its platform,strainthe direction of the obscure struggle
stood
see
encountered
Iscah
[115]
Nicholas.
Yet
with
WILD
Millie in
ORANGES
and the bare possibility
semi-collapse,
of Nicholas' knifingthem both,he felt that this was
his only course.
Halvard
was
an
unusuallypowerful,
a
active
from
and
man,
the stress
the other
of his
have
must
long
fered
suf-
conflict in
the
hall.
The
thing terminated speedily. There was the
sound of a heavy fall,a diminishingthrashingin
the saw
indistinguishable
grass, and silence. An
form advanced
over, the wharf, and Woolfolk
pared
preto
shove
Halvard.
He
and
sat
aft,with
stopped
Missed
his hand
rested
He
The
tender
rock
of the
But
it
was
Poul
got down, Woolfolk
sailor said
"I
free.
mechankally assumed
Woolfolk
The
the tender
an
arm
sily,
thought,clumhis placeat the oars.
about Millie Stope.
fretfully:
him.
at
the
He
first
"
was
all
the dark
"
pumped
a
out.
scratch."
fingeringhis shoulder.
the corrugated
dangerouslynear
swung
shore,and Woolfolk
sharply directed:
on
oars,
"Keep way on her."
once
more
"Yes, sir,"Halvard replied,
swinging
It was, however, less
into his short,efficientstroke.
missed its hold and skittered
than usual; an oar
sure
impotentlyover the water, drenchingWoolfolk
with a brief,cold spray.
der
Again the bow of the tening,
dipped into the point of land they were roundand John Woolfolk
spoke more
abruptlythan
before.
He
was
seriouslyalarmed
[116]
about
Millie.
Her
WILD
He
beside
sat
effort to
her, restrainingher convulsive
in a far,dark angle of the cabin.
he told her brusquely. "You
are
cower
"Nonsense!"
the Gar.
on
be in
a
"With
"I
am
"But
"I
ORANGES
new
You
safe.
In
an
hour
you
will
world."
John
John
he"
are
Woolfolk?"
Woolfolk."
you"
left me."
here,"he insisted with
heart.
He
animated
by
rose,
necessityto get the ketch under
am
a
tighteningof his
an
overwhelming
way,
leave
to
at
for ever, the invisible shore of the bay. He
gently folded her again in the blanket,but she resisted
once,
him.
sudden
"I'd rather stay up," she said with
lucidity."It's nice here; I wanted to come
a
before,but he wouldn't let me."
A glimmer of hope swept over
him as he mounted
swiftlyto the deck. "Get up the anchors," he
called;"reef down the jiggerand put on a handful
of jib."
immediate
There was
no
response, and he peered
over
the obscured
man
rose
boom.
deck
in search of Halvard.
slowlyfrom a sitting
posture by
"Very good, sir,"he repliedin
The
the main
a
forced
tone.
ting
disappearedforward, while Woolfolk, shutthe cabin door on the confusingillumination
gine,
within,lightedthe binnacle lamp, bent over the enswiftlymaking connections and adjustments,
the wheel with a sharp, expert turn.
and cranked
[118]
He
ORANGES
WILD
sion,
explosionssettled into a dull,regularsuccesand slowlymanand he coupledthe propeller
euvered
the anchors,reducingthe
the ketch up over
and allowingHalvard
to get
strain on the hawsers
He
waited impatientlyfor the sailor's
in the slack.
The
cry of all clear,and
demanded
the
of the
cause
delay.
"The
bightslipped,"the
"One's
other called in
a
fled,
muf-
clear
now," he added.
ketch forged ahead,
up again." The
but the wait was
longer than before. "Caught,"
voice drifted thinlyaft; "coral ledge."
Halvard's
until the sailor
Woolfolk
held the Gar stationary
cried weakly: "Anchor's
apeak."
through the dark, into
They moved inperceptibly
the greater force of the wind
beyond the point.
of the breaking surf ahead
dull roar
The
grew
should have had the jib up and
louder.
Halvard
been aft at the jigger,but he failed to appear.
wondered, in a mounting impatience,
John Woolfolk
with the man.
what was
the matter
Finally
the
obscure form
an
passed him and hung over
housed
and removing the
sail,strippingits cover
stops. The sudden thoughtof a disconcerting
sibility
posangry
"Bring her
voice.
banished
Woolfolk's
annoyance.
knife
Nicholas
he
vard,"
"Hal-
demanded, "did
you?"
"A scratch,"
the other stubbornlyreiterated. "I'll
I stopped him pertie it up later. No time now
manent."
"
The
reefed
jigger,
to
a
mere
[119]
irregular
patch,rose
ORANGES
JVILD
with
a
and
jerk,
the ketch
rapidlyleft the protection
dipped sharply and, flattened
She
of the shore.
by a violent ball of wind, buried her rail in the
black,swinging water, and there was a small crash
of breakingchina from within. The wind appeared
to sweep
ally
high up in empty space and occasiondescend to deal the yacht a staggeringblow.
The
Halvard
had earlier
bar, directlyahead
as
covered with the smother of
was
now
pointedout
covered
a
lowering tide. The pass, the other had distoo, had filled. It was charted at four feet,
the Gar drew a full three,and Woolfolk
knew that
there must
in running
be no error, no uncertainty,
over
"
"
out.
Halvard
was
so
long in stowingaway
shears that Woolfolk
sailor
had
to make
sure
jigger
that the
The
swept from the deck.
was
certain,
deeperthan the other
been
not
"scratch,"he
turned
the
was
admitted.
When
insist upon
an
they were
safelyat
sea
he would
examination.
subjectof this consideration fell rather than
stepped into the cockpit,and stood rocked by the
of the swells,clingingto the cabin's edge.
motion
shifted the engine to its highestspeed,
Woolfolk
and they were
drivingthroughthe tempestuous dark
He
confronted
to the bar.
now
was
on
by the
Halvard
decision.
or
necessityfor an immediate
himself would have to stand forward, clingingprecariousl
sound the depth
to a stay, and repeatedly
of the shallowingwater
as
they felt their way out
[120]
The
ORANGES
WILD
to
He
sea.
him, and
that the sailor had
saw
"Halvard," he demanded
time
no
pretense. How
for
through clenched
before
men
lost his staunchness
The
cabin
Stockholm.
at
the
I
night."
lurch
open, and a sudden
Woolfolk
against the wheel.
until the
terror, and
next
attemptedto
knives
door swung
stark with
the
it was
"
flung Millie Stope
caught and held her
while
I've taken
"
the docks
on
"
again sharply,"this
are
you?"
repeated desperately,
"I've
teeth.
at first
his hand
missed
was
other
right," the
"All
from
bulk before
ation.
outline,his aspect of invincible determin-
of
is
the dark
gazed anxiouslyat
urge
swell
rolled
wave
by.
held
lifted
her back
to
cabin, but she resisted with
abjectlyto the
them
upward.
of
the protection
such
convulsive
a
She
rail
He
the
termina
de-
that he
veloped
relinquishedthe effort and enher in his glistening
oilskin.
This
had consumed
of time;
a perilousamount
Halvard
to
and, swiftlydecisive,he commanded
take the wheel.
secured
ahead
and
the
on
swung
himself
to the deck
long sounding pole.
either side the
and
dissolving,
"Mark
On
He
dim
white
called to the
the breakers!
Fetch
the
man
her
He
bars
could
and
see
forming
at the wheel
:
between."
bow, leaningout over the surgingtide,he
drove the sounding pole forward
and down, but it
floated back free.
the bar.
not yet on
They were
The
ketch heeled until the black plain of water
[121]
WILD
above
ORANGES
his
ful
knees, drivingat him with a deceitforce,sinkingback slowlyas the yacht straightened
buoyantly. He
again sounded; the pole
struck bottom, and he cried:
rose
"Five."
The
infuriated
beatingof the waves
their path drowned
across
drawn
and
he shouted
another
"Four
the mark
once
more.
the obstructi
on
his voice,
Then
after
sounding:
and
three."
yacht fell away dangerouslybefore a heavy
diagonalblow; she hung for a moment, rollinglike
Woola
log,and then slowly regainedher way.
It would, perhaps,
folk's apprehensionincreased.
have been better if they had delayed,to examine
had
Halvard's
insisted that it
injury. The man
of no
had been
was
moment, and John Woolfolk
matic
driven by a consuming desire to leave the miasshore.
the pole forward
He
and
swung
The
cried:
"Four
The
and
a
half."
was
shoalingrapidly.
The
breaking
the port and starboard
waves
on
swept by with
ketch
veered
again,
lightning rapidity. The
shipped a crushingweight of water, and responded
more
slowlythan before to a tardy pressure of the
The
rudder.
knew,
greatestperil,John Woolfolk
before them.
He realized from the action
lay directly
of the ketch that Halvard
uncertainly,
was
steering
and
that at any moment
the Gar
might
[122]
water
ORANGES
WILD
strike and
fall off too
when
far for recovery,
pounding surf.
one," he cried hoarsely. And
she
could not live in the
and
"Four
immediatelyafter:
then
"Four."
he
againsthim from the first,
thought,and there flashed through his mind the
the accumulating disasters of the
dark panorama,
his existence that
night. A negation lay upon
Chance
would
had
not
sinister
be
been
lifted.
shadow
for
It had
to
years
of water, to the Gar
under an impotenthand.
smother
heroically;no
so
followed
him
like
a
obscure, black
ward
reelingcrazilyforhaving
beThe yacht was
this
other ketch could
have
lived
to a wavering wheel.
long,respondedso gallantly
"Three
and three,"he shouted above the combined
stridor of wind
The
next
and
sea.
their safe passage
or
beatingto pieceson the bar, with
minute
would
see
helplesshulk
three human
fragmentswhirlingunder the crushing
of water, floating,
masses
perhaps,with the dawn
of the bay.
into the tranquillity
"Three and a half,"he cried monotonously.
a
The
Gar
The
trembled
solid
like
a
wounded
and
dull animal.
reachinghungrilyover
Woolfolk's legs. A sudden
stolidity
possessedhim.
He thrust the pole out deliberately,
skillfully:
"Three
and a quarter."
A lower
the end.
He
sounding would mean
paused for a moment, his dripping face turned to
in silent,
the far stars; his lipsmoved
unformu[123]
seas
were
ORANGES
WILD
himself,in the sea
that had been their home ; but Millie was
!
so fragile
between the heaving
the sounding precisely,
He made
the pole instantly
driven
swells,and marked
backward
by their swinging flight.
lated
aspirations Halvard
"Three
"
and
a
half."
and
His
voice held
sounded
quiver. He
s."
"And
three-quarter
They had passedthe bar.
[124]
a
new,
again
controllab
un-
diately:
imme-
WILD
clutch
to
ORANGES
the
at
boards
it had
often
so
and
thoroughlyswabbed; but without avail. The face
yond
momentarily turned upward; it was
haggard beand bore stamped upon it,in lines
expression,
that resembled
those of old age, the agonized
struggleagainstthe inevitable last treacheryof life.
"When
John Woolfolk
stopped in sheer,
"
leaden
amazement.
"Just
when
that
Before
you
he
called
had
'Three
fallen
on
and
his
a
quarter.'
knees.
He
He
said
begged me to help him hold the wheel.
you'd be lost if I didn't. He talked all the time
I helped him.
about keeping her head up and up.
Your
voice
back
came
years
apart.
At the last he
the
floor,holding the bottom of the wheel.
His
ahead.
He
told me
to keep it steady,dead
that I couldn't hear; and then
voice grew so weak
I
I held on
called
he slippedaway.
all at once
But againstthe wind
to you.
He
braced
his knee
against the wheel and,
leaningout, found the jiggersheet and flattened the
the jib sheet led
reefed sail; he turned to where
The yacht
after,and then swung the ketch about.
the long,even
rode smoothly,slippingforward over
ground swell, and he turned with immeasurable
was
on
"
"
"
emotion
The
lightfrom
face,and
gone.
and
beside him.
to the woman
Her
he
saw
the cabin
out
over
her
the fear had
that,miraculously,
countenance
the hideous
flooded
was
drawn
strain of the past
[126]
with weariness
minutes, but her
ORANGES
WILD
Her chin was
squarelymet the night and sea.
in
its gracefulline firm, and her mouth
was
lifted,
She had, as he had recognizedshe alone
repose.
must, conquered the legacy of Lichfield Stope;
while he, John Woolfolk, and Halvard, had put
gaze
Nicholas
"If
out
you
of her
could
life.
She
below
go
was
"
free.
suggested.
he
morning, with this wind, we'll be at anchor
under a fringe of palms, in water like a blue silk
counterpane."
"I think I could now,
with you," she replied.
She pressedher lips,salt and enthralling,
against
his face, and made
her way
into the cabin.
He
the
locked
wheel
momentarily and, following,
wrapped her in the blankets,on the new sheets prepared
for her coming. Then, puttingout the light,
"In
he
the
shut the cabin
The
body
rested
there.
door
of Poul
A
and
Halvard
returned
struck
to
the wheel.
his feet and
good man, born by the sea, who
had known
its every expression
; with a faithful and
had.
simple heart, as such men
occasionally
The
wind
diminished
swept in a clear diapason
through the pellucid sky; the resplendentsea
reached vast and magnetic to its invisible horizon.
for the
A
sudden
distaste seized John Woolfolk
dragging death ceremonials of land. Halvard had
known
the shore mostly as a turbulent and unclean
stripthat had finally
broughtabout his end.
He
leaned forward
and found beyond any last
doubt that the other was
dead; a black,clotted sur[127]
WILD
adhered
face
invincible
found
the
narrow
the
waves
John
"
deck
Christ.'
the
afterdeck
anchor
outside the
for
wan
over
ketch
the
rail,and,
his
.
general
body
tender,
a
in
long dip,
soundlesslyaway.
the
to
resurrection
.
a
.
.
deep, looking
through
.
.
.
"
Then, upright anil motionless
the
Woolfolk
said:
Commit
the
pride, his
him to deny.
driven
carried it smoothly and
.
his
rope; and he slowly completed the preparations
for his purpose.
He
lifted the body to
'
for
folded
spare
Woolfolk
.
which
wound
beneath
space
a
length of
the
to
determination, had
the
In
ORANGES
radiance
his hollow
southward
at the
of the binnacle
cheeks
and
through
the
[128]
set
wheel, with
lamp floatingup
gaze,
night.
he
held
the