'
"'What do you mean. Lee Fu?'
"'I mean that Captain Wilbur will bear watching. In the meantime, do not
fail to study him when opportunity offers. Thus we learn of heaven and
hell.'
"A few years went by, while the case of Captain Wilbur and the
'Speedwell' was in its initial stages of being forgotten. Nothing
succeeds like success; the man was growing rich, and there were many to
whom the possession of a fine vessel covered a multitude of sins. Some
of his old friends were willing after a while to let bygones be bygones.
Little by little, one began to see him again on the quarter-deck of an
evening, among the fleet captains. When, in time, it became unwise to
start the story against him for fear of misconstruction of the motive,
it was evident that he'd won his nefarious match against society.
"I'd met him a number of times during this interval. Indeed, he
compelled attention. That perfect urbanity, that air of unfailing
dignity and confidence, that aura of a commanding personality, of an
able shipmaster among his brethren, of a man whose position in the world
was secure beyond peradventure; these could spring only from a quiet
conscience or from a heart perfectly attuned to villainy. So unconscious
was his poise that one often doubted the evidence of memory, and found
one's self going back over the record, only to fetch up point-blank
against the incontestable fact that he had stolen his ship and had
betrayed his profession.
Pages:
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147