Life on the Mississippi. Марк Твен

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СКАЧАТЬ middle of the afternoon the captain stepped out on the hurricane deck, cast his eye around, and looked a good deal surprised. He glanced inquiringly aloft at Stephen, but Stephen was whistling placidly, and attending to business. The captain stood around a while in evident discomfort, and once or twice seemed about to make a suggestion; but the etiquette of the river taught him to avoid that sort of rashness, and so he managed to hold his peace. He chafed and puzzled a few minutes longer, then retired to his apartments. But soon he was out again, and apparently more perplexed than ever. Presently he ventured to remark, with deference —

      ‘Pretty good stage of the river now, ain’t it, sir?’

      ‘Well, I should say so! Bank-full is a pretty liberal stage.’

      ‘Seems to be a good deal of current here.’

      ‘Good deal don’t describe it! It’s worse than a mill-race.’

      ‘Isn’t it easier in toward shore than it is out here in the middle?’

      ‘Yes, I reckon it is; but a body can’t be too careful with a steamboat. It’s pretty safe out here; can’t strike any bottom here, you can depend on that.’

      The captain departed, looking rueful enough. At this rate, he would probably die of old age before his boat got to St. Louis. Next day he appeared on deck and again found Stephen faithfully standing up the middle of the river, fighting the whole vast force of the Mississippi, and whistling the same placid tune. This thing was becoming serious. In by the shore was a slower boat clipping along in the easy water and gaining steadily; she began to make for an island chute; Stephen stuck to the middle of the river. Speech was wrung from the captain. He said —

      ‘Mr. W – , don’t that chute cut off a good deal of distance?’

      ‘I think it does, but I don’t know.’

      ‘Don’t know! Well, isn’t there water enough in it now to go through?’

      ‘I expect there is, but I am not certain.’

      ‘Upon my word this is odd! Why, those pilots on that boat yonder are going to try it. Do you mean to say that you don’t know as much as they do?’

      ‘They! Why, they are two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar pilots! But don’t you be uneasy; I know as much as any man can afford to know for a hundred and twenty-five!’

      The captain surrendered.

      Five minutes later Stephen was bowling through the chute and showing the rival boat a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar pair of heels.

      Chapter 15

      The Pilots’ Monopoly

      ONE day, on board the ‘Aleck Scott,’ my chief, Mr. Bixby, was crawling carefully through a close place at Cat Island, both leads going, and everybody holding his breath. The captain, a nervous, apprehensive man, kept still as long as he could, but finally broke down and shouted from the hurricane deck —

      ‘For gracious’ sake, give her steam, Mr. Bixby! give her steam! She’ll never raise the reef on this headway!’

      For all the effect that was produced upon Mr. Bixby, one would have supposed that no remark had been made. But five minutes later, when the danger was past and the leads laid in, he burst instantly into a consuming fury, and gave the captain the most admirable cursing I ever listened to. No bloodshed ensued; but that was because the captain’s cause was weak; for ordinarily he was not a man to take correction quietly.

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      1

      Hannibal, Missouri

      2

      ‘Deck’ Passage, i.e. steerage passage.

      3

      It may not be necessary, but still it can do no harm to explain that ‘inside’ means between the snag and the shore. – M.T.

      4

      Two fathoms. ‘Quarter twain’ is two-and-a-quarter fathoms, thirteen-and-a-half feet. ‘Mark three’ is three fathoms.

      5

      ’Partner’ is a technical term for ‘the other pilot’.

      6

      ’Teach’ is not in the river vocabulary.

      7

      True at the time referred to; not true now (1882).

      8

      The term ‘larboard’ is never used at sea now, to signify the left hand; but was always used on the river in my time

      9

      Door

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