Page:Weird Tales Volume 02 Number 2 (1937-02).djvu/80

 the way, dog, shall we bring some vermin off the ship also, so we'll feel at home?"

in his life had Guy attempted such arduous tasks, not even on board The Poppy Pearl, as crowded the next few weeks. They worked from dawn till dark transferring supplies from the ship. They took everything that could possibly be of use to them, provisions, clothes, tools, ropes, sails and even stray bits of the wreckage. Jolly Cauldron was tireless. He worked as hard as he had ever driven his men. His faults were legion, but laziness was not among them.

When all the cargo from the ship had been piled up on the beach, well out of reach of the surf, they set about erecting huts out of the stray bits of wood and pieces of mast. They thatched the roof with palm leaves, held in place by strong ropes and covered with tarpaulin. Jolly Cauldron, after years at sea, was an expert carpenter, and it was he who did the planning.

As time wore on, Guy had an excellent opportunity to study Jolly Cauldron. Guy had long since given up the idea that he was a phantom. He was as real as anybody, more real than most people, for he had individuality. A great many people are merely copies of somebody else.

Jolly Cauldron scoffed at everything, even though he was surprizingly well educated. Guy was a college graduate, and yet Jolly Cauldron's knowledge on many subjects far eclipsed his.

Once he said to Guy, "I can speak seven languages and it doesn't appear as though on this island I'm going to need more than one. What a dreadful waste of knowledge!"

For the first few days of their exile he was in a rare mood. Among other things, he showed Guy the log of the vessel.

"I prize this highly," he said, "because I want to take it to Liverpool to support my insurance claim."

As Jolly Cauldron spoke, Guy glanced at the name on the log-book, "The Golden Glow."

Jolly Cauldron noticed his surprized expression.

"The Poppy Pearl," he exclaimed, "is registered in Liverpool as . She merely goes by the name of The Poppy Pearl when we are smuggling opium because she comes of excellent family and her folks would feel very bad if she went astray. I think you will admit that it was a wise precaution for me to keep changing her name at my convenience. Sometimes she was, sometimes The Golden Glow. I always carried two log-books with me and an extra forged set of ship's papers. Am I not somewhat of a genius? You see, dog, you're learning something from me every day."

He paused for a moment, then continued musingly, "She was a beastly ship. I always wanted to wreck her but couldn't. When I abandoned my efforts, nature took them up. Now she lies on the reefs, her back broken, a total loss; or rather a total gain, for I had her overinsured and my profit will be enormous. Glance at her, dog, and let your poetic spirit have free sway. Can you not write a sonnet about her, a great black pearl strung on a necklace of coral?"

Of all the crew of The Poppy Pearl, only Guy and Jolly Cauldron had safely reached the island. Many of them had been swept overboard during the gale, while those who had been down in the forecastle, steeped in opium, had been drowned like rats as they dreamed of Manchu princesses; for the forecastle had dipped under water and when Jolly Cauldron fought his way into it while securing the supplies, even he had sprung back in horror at the ghastliness of the