"Conrad, Josph - Youth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Conrad Joseph)

"The good people there live on casualties of the sea,
and no doubt were glad to see us. A hungry crowd of
shipwrights sharpened their chisels at the sight of that
carcass of a ship. And, by Jove! they had pretty pick-
ings off us before they were done. I fancy the owner
was already in a tight place. There were delays. Then
it was decided to take part of the cargo out and calk her
topsides. This was done, the repairs finished, cargo re-
shipped; a new crew came on board, and we went out--
for Bankok. At the end of a week we were back again.
The crew said they weren't going to Bankok--a hundred
and fifty days' passage--in a something hooker that
wanted pumping eight hours out of the twenty-four;
and the nautical papers inserted again the little para-
graph: 'Judea. Bark. Tyne to Bankok; coals; put
back to Falmouth leaky and with crew refusing duty.'

"There were more delays--more tinkering. The
owner came down for a day, and said she was as right as
a little fiddle. Poor old Captain Beard looked like the
ghost of a Geordie skipper--through the worry and
humiliation of it. Remember he was sixty, and it was his
first command. Mahon said it was a foolish business,
and would end badly. I loved the ship more than ever,
and wanted awfully to get to Bankok. To Bankok!
Magic name, blessed name. Mesopotamia wasn't a patch
n it. Remember I was twenty, and it was my first second
mate's billet, and the East was waiting for me.

"We went out and anchored in the outer roads with a
fresh crew--the third. She leaked worse than ever.
It was as if those confounded shipwrights had actually
made a hole in her. This time we did not even
go outside. The crew simply refused to man the
windlass.

"They towed us back to the inner harbor, and we be-
came a fixture, a feature, an institution of the place.
People pointed us out to visitors as 'That 'ere bark
that's going to Bankok--has been here six months--put
back three times.' On holidays the small boys pulling
about in boats would hail, 'Judea, ahoy!' and if a head
showed above the rail shouted, 'Where you bound to?--
Bankok?' and jeered. We were only three on board.
The poor old skipper mooned in the cabin. Mahon un-
dertook the cooking, and unexpectedly developed all a
Frenchman's genius for preparing nice little messes. I
looked languidly after the rigging. We became citizens
of Falmouth. Every shopkeeper knew us. At the bar-