OTHER STORIES OF THE SEA***


E-text prepared by Paul Hollander, David Clarke, and the Project Gutenberg
Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)



Transcriber's note:

   Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.

   Dialect spellings, contractions and discrepancies have been
   retained.





"WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD"

AND OTHER TALES OF THE SEA

by

MORGAN ROBERTSON







Published by The Century Co.
New York        M DCCC XC IX

Copyright, 1899, by
The Century Co.

Copyright, 1898, by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Copyright, 1898, 1899, by The Curtis Publishing Co.
Copyright, 1899, by Peter Fenelon Collier.
Copyright, 1899, by Street & Smith.
Copyright, 1897, 1898, by The S. S. McClure Co.
Copyright, 1898, by Harper & Brothers.




TO ITS GODFATHER
JOHN S. PHILLIPS
THIS BOOK IS GRATEFULLY
DEDICATED




"'Where Angels Fear to Tread'" was first published in the "Atlantic
Monthly"; "Salvage" in the "Century Magazine"; "The Brain of the
Battle-Ship," "The Wigwag Message," "Between the Millstones," and
"The Battle of the Monsters," in the "Saturday Evening Post"; "The
Trade-Wind" in "Collier's Weekly"; "From the Royal-Yard Down" in
"Ainslee's Magazine"; "Needs Must when the Devil Drives" and "When
Greek Meets Greek" in McClure's Syndicate; and "Primordial" in
"Harper's Monthly Magazine."

To the publishers of these periodicals I am indebted for the privilege
of republishing the stories in book form.

MORGAN ROBERTSON.




CONTENTS


                                                           PAGE

"WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD"                                  1

THE BRAIN OF THE BATTLE-SHIP                                 57

THE WIGWAG MESSAGE                                           88

THE TRADE-WIND                                              111

SALVAGE                                                     137

BETWEEN THE MILLSTONES                                      170

THE BATTLE OF THE MONSTERS                                  193

FROM THE ROYAL-YARD DOWN                                    213

NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES                            233

WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK                                      259

PRIMORDIAL                                                  272




"WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD"

"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of each; and I
believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first."
                                            ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.


PART I

The first man to climb the _Almena's_ side-ladder from the tug was the
shipping-master, and after him came the crew he had shipped. They
clustered at the rail, looking around and aloft with muttered profane
comments, one to the other, while the shipping-master approached a
gray-eyed giant who stood with a shorter but broader man at the
poop-deck steps.

"Mr. Jackson--the mate here, I s'pose?" inquired the shipping-master. A
nod answered him. "I've brought you a good crew," he continued; "we'll
just tally 'em off, and then you can sign my receipt. The captain'll be
down with the pilot this afternoon."

"I'm the mate--yes," said the giant; "but what dry-goods store did you
raid for that crowd? Did the captain pick 'em out?"

"A delegation o' parsons," muttered the short, broad man,
contemptuously.

"No, they're not parsons," said the shipping-master, as he turned to
the man, the slightest trace of a smile on his seamy face. "You're Mr.
Becker, the second mate, I take it; you'll find 'em all right, sir.
They're sailors, and good ones, too. No, Mr. Jackson, the skipper
didn't pick 'em--just asked me for sixteen good men, and there you are.
Muster up to the capstan here, boys," he called, "and be counted."

As they grouped themselves amidships with their clothes-bags, the
shipping-master beckoned the chief mate over to the rail.

"You see, Mr. Jackson," he said, with a backward glance at the men,
"I've only played the regular dodge on 'em. They've all got the
sailor's bug in their heads and want to go coasting; so I told 'em this
was a coaster."

"So she is," answered the officer; "round the Horn to Callao is
coasting. What more do they want?"

"Yes, but I said nothin' of Callao, and they were all three sheets i'
the wind when they signed, so they didn't notice the articles. They
expected a schooner, too, big enough for sixteen men; but I've just
talked 'em out of that notion. They think, too, that they'll have a
week in port to see if they like the craft; and to make 'em think it
was easy to quit, I told 'em to sign nicknames--made 'em believe that a
wrong name on the articles voided the contract."

"But it don't. They're here, and they'll stay--that is, if they know
enough to man the windlass."

"Of course--of course. I'm just givin' you a pointer. You may have to
run them a little at the start, but that's easy. Now we'll tally 'em
off. Don't mind the names; they'll answer to 'em. You see, they're all
townies, and bring their names from home."

The shipping-master drew a large paper from his pocket, and they
approached the men at the capstan, where the short, broad second mate
had been taking their individual measures with scowling eye.

It was a strange crew for the forecastle of an outward-bound,
deep-water American ship. Mr. Jackson looked in vain for the heavy,
foreign faces, the greasy canvas jackets and blanket trousers he was
accustomed to see. Not that