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South Sea Tales | Jack London | |
The House Of Mapuhi |
Page 6 of 15 |
"Way past high water mark," Captain Lynch remarked; "and I've been here eleven years." He looked at his watch. "It is three o'clock." A man and woman, at their heels a motley following of brats and curs, trailed disconsolately by. They came to a halt beyond the house, and, after much irresolution, sat down in the sand. A few minutes later another family trailed in from the opposite direction, the men and women carrying a heterogeneous assortment of possessions. And soon several hundred persons of all ages and sexes were congregated about the captain's dwelling. He called to one new arrival, a woman with a nursing babe in her arms, and in answer received the information that her house had just been swept into the lagoon. This was the highest spot of land in miles, and already, in many places on either hand, the great seas were making a clean breach of the slender ring of the atoll and surging into the lagoon. Twenty miles around stretched the ring of the atoll, and in no place was it more than fifty fathoms wide. It was the height of the diving season, and from all the islands around, even as far as Tahiti, the natives had gathered. "There are twelve hundred men, women, and children here," said Captain Lynch. "I wonder how many will be here tomorrow morning." "But why don't it blow?--that's what I want to know," Raoul demanded. "Don't worry, young man, don't worry; you'll get your troubles fast enough." Even as Captain Lynch spoke, a great watery mass smote the atoll. |
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South Sea Tales Jack London |
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