At Larsen's order, Van Weyden rouses the doctor who, using Leach's blood, saves Ruth's life. Her only chance for survival is a blood transfusion, but Louis Prescott, the ship's doctor, is a drunk and too frightened to perform the operation. Meanwhile, Ruth takes a turn for the worse.
Amused by Van Weyden's sensitive nature, he tells the writer that by the end of the voyage he will have become as soulless as the rest of the crew. He tells Van Weyden the story of his rise from cabin boy to his present position and shows him his impressive library.
The ship's cook shows Van Weyden's candid written observations on the brutal conditions on board the ship to Larsen, who is more interested than enraged by them. As the voyage progresses, Van Weyden learns that the ship is not a sealing ship, as he has supposed, but is really sailing the seas to avoid Larsen's greatest enemy, his brother. While Ruth lies ill below decks, Van Weyden is put to work as the cabin boy. Van Weyden is immediately struck by the callous nature of the crew and is further alarmed when Larsen informs him that he and Ruth will have to sail with the Ghost. Before the ship leaves San Francisco Bay, it picks up writer Humphrey Van Weyden and fugitive Ruth Brewster, who were marooned when their ferry collided with another ship. In 1900, fugitive George Leach signs on to sail with the Ghost, a sailing ship captained by the cold, merciless Wolf Larsen, in order to escape the law.
0 kommentar(er)
