United States or Iceland ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
The accommodations below decks were narrow, and of an inferior description; however, I gladly retired to the berth that was allotted me by my entertainers, and fatigue and the rocking of billows combined to lull me into a quiet and dreamless sleep. Next morning, one of the men, whose name was Angerstoff, came to my bedside, and called me to breakfast in a surly and imperious manner.
"Is he ill and in good health at the same time? he had as well be overboard as in that condition." "Overboard!" repeated Angerstoff, "what! how do you mean? all false! but listen to me, Are there any news stirring ashore?" "Why," said the stranger, "the chief talk there just now is about a curious thing that happened this morning.
I grew sick at heart, and began to identify myself with Angerstoff the murderer. The sea, the beacon, and the sky, appeared of a sanguine hue; and I thought I heard the dying exclamations of Morvalden sounding a hundred fathom below me, and echoing through the caverns of the deep.
The wind blew violently, and we drifted along at a rapid rate, and the weather grew so hazy that our pursuers soon became quite indistinguishable. Marietta and Angerstoff appeared to be stupified with terror.
The doors were now unfastened, and I opened them without any difficulty. The first thing I saw on going below, was Angerstoff stretched along the floor, and fast asleep. His torpid look, flushed countenance, and uneasy respiration, convinced me that he had taken a large quantity of ardent spirits. Marietta was in her own apartment.
"How do you know that?" said he, staggering back; "I'm sure you never saw " "Hush, hush," cried Marietta to him; "are you mad? Speak again! What frightens you? Why don't you run and help Morvalden?" "Has XXXX anything happened to him?" inquired Angerstoff, with a gaze of consternation. "You told us he had fallen overboard," returned Marietta; "must my husband perish?"
Angerstoff did not make his appearance till noon, and his looks were ghastly and agonised. He seemed stupified with horror, and sometimes entirely lost all perception of the things around him for a considerable time. He suddenly came close up to me, and demanded, with a bold air, but quivering voice, what I had meant by calling him a murderer? "Why, that you are one," replied I, after a pause.
The cabin doors were suddenly burst open, and Angerstoff next moment appeared before us, crying out, "Morvalden has fallen overboard. Throw a rope to him! He will be drowned." His hands and dress were marked with blood, and he had a frightful look of horror and confusion. "You are a murderer!" exclaimed I, almost involuntarily.
At that moment, Angerstoff hurriedly entered the cabin, exclaiming, "What noise is this? Oh, just as I expected! Has that devil that spy been trying to get above boards? Why haven't I the heart to despatch him at once? But there's no time now. The people are waiting Marietta, come and lend a hand." They now forced me down upon the floor, and bound me to an iron ring that was fixed in it.
Next day, when Morvalden proceeded as usual to put the beacon in order, he called upon Angerstoff to come and assist him, which the latter peremptorily refused. Morvalden then went down to the cabin, where his companion was, and requested to know why his orders were not obeyed. "Because I hate trouble," replied Angerstoff.
Word Of The Day