Andwhatachest！Jeremyhadneverconceivedthatanyhumanbeingcouldbesothickandsobroad。Theback，spreadingtothefarthestlimitsoftheshinyseamsofthecoat，waslikeawall。Thethighswerepillows，thearmsbolstersandyetnotfat，mindyou，simplymuscle，allofit。Onecouldseeinaminutethatitwasallmuscle，thechestthrustforward，thelegsspreadwide，thebull-neckburstingthehandkerchief，everythingthatJeremyhimselfmostwishedtobe。Asailor，amonumentofstrength，withthescentofhis“shag“strongenoughtosmellamileaway，and——yes，mostmarvellousofall，goldringsinhisears！Hischestwouldbetatooedprobably，andperhapshislegsalso！
　　There，onthebackofhishand，wasablueanchor……Jeremylookedupandtrembledlestthevisionshouldfade，thenflungahurriedlookaroundhimtoseewhetherMissJoneswerenear。Noonewasabout。Hewasalonewiththedesireofhislife。
　　“I’msososorryIhaven’tamatch，“hesaid。“I’mnotallowedtohavethem，youknow。“
　　“No，Isupposenot，“saidthevision。“Justmyblamedluck。ThereI
　　amwith’undredsofpoundslyingaroundmyroomat’omecarelessasyouplease，andthenheldupforabloomin’match。What’sgoldtoamanlikeme？Butamatch……thereyouare……that’slife。“
　　HelookedatJeremywithgreatinterest；hetookin，asJeremyrealised，everydetailofhispersonalappearance。
　　“Ilikeboys，“hesaid。“’Adtwomyself——’ealthylittlenipperstheywas。Bothdead-’ereto-dayandgoneto-morrer，asyoumightsay。Gotyournurse’angingaroundanywhere？“
　　“Nurse？“saidJeremyindignantly。“Idon’thaveanurse。I’mmuchtooold！Thereisagoverness，butshe’sovertheretalkingtoMary。
　　She’smysister——buttheywon’tbotheryet——nottilltheCathedralbellbegins。“
　　“Nointentionof’urtingyourfeelings，youngfellowmylad。Didn’tthinkyou’dwantanurseofcourse——bigchaplikeyou。Thoughtyoumight’aveababybrotherorsuch。Nooffence——Isupposeyou’aven’tbeguntosmokeyet。Can’tofferyousometobacco。“
　　Jeremycoloured。Themanwaslaughingathim。
　　“I’meightifyouwanttoknow，“hesaid，“andI’mgoingtoschoolinSeptember。“
　　“School！“saidthemariner，sniffingcontemptuously。“Idon’tthinkmuchofschoolifyouaskme。NowIneverwenttoschool，andI
　　can’tseethatI’mmuchtheworsefornot’avingbeenthere。
　　Contrariwise——I’veseenmanyafinepromisingladspoiledbytoomuchschoolin’。Beamanoftheworld，Isay；that’sthedirectionyouwanttosailin。“
　　“Didyoureallynevergotoschool？“askedJeremy。
　　“NotI！“reliedthesailor。“Flungoutattheageofsix，Iwas，turnedintoaboatsailingtotheWestIndiesandlefttoshiftformyself——and’ereIamto-dayaCaptainofasfineacraftasyou’reeverlikelytosee，withgoldin’erlockersandpeacocksinthe’old——allinamannerofspeaking，youknow。“
　　Jeremy’seyesglittered；hisfacewasflushedabrilliantred。
　　Hamlethadreturnedfromhisrabbithuntingandsatwithhistongueoutandawildadventurouseyeglitteringupathismasterfrombehindhishair，yethewasnotnoticed。
　　“Youwereverylucky，“hesaiddevoutly，thenhewentonhurriedly：
　　“Wouldyoumind——yousee，MissJonesmaycomeatanymoment——wouldyoumind——“hechoked。
　　“WouldImindwhat？“askedtheCaptain。
　　“Wouldyoumindtellingme？Areyoutatooedonyourbody，snakesandshipsandthings，likeagardeneroncewehad？Hehadasea-serpentalldownhisback。Heshowedmeoneday。“
　　TheCaptainsmiledproudly。
　　“Tatooed！Talkoftatooing！I’llshowyer——anditisn’teverybodyI’ddoitforneither。ButI’vetakenafancytoyou，likemyownyoungnipperwhatdied。“
　　Withanairofvastceremony，asthoughhewerethrowingopenthedoortoalltheuniverse，heslowlyunwoundfromabouthisneckthedarkbluehandkerchief，unbuttonedhiscoat，thenagrimyshirtanddisplayedawallofdeepbrownchest。Thisfineexpansehadnohairuponit，butwasilluminatedwithasuperbpictureofashipinfullsailagainstasettingsun，allworkedinthemosthandsomeofbluetatoo。Jeremygasped。Hehadneverdreamedthatsuchthingscouldbe。Heventuredtotouchtheshipwithhisfinger，andhecouldfeeltheCaptain’smanlyheartthumpinglikeamuffledhammerbeneaththeskin。
　　“There’sQueenVictoriaonmyrightthighandNelsononmyleft，andthebattleofTrafalgaronthemiddleofmyback。P’rapsI’llshow’emyouoneday。Itwouldn’tbedecentexactly’ere——toopublic。ButonedayyoucometomylittleplaceandI’llshow’emyou。“
　　“Willyoureally？“saidJeremy。“Didn’tithurtterribly？“
　　“Hurt！“saidtheCaptain。“Ishouldjustthinkitdid。I’adtoputcottonwoolbehindmyteethtopreventmyselffromscreaming。Butthat’snothing。WhatdoyousaytobeingtorturedbytheCaribbeesnativeseverydayafterbreakfastforthree’olemonths。Atoothoutaday——“
　　“Butyourteethareallthere，“saidJeremy。
　　“False，“saidtheCaptain。“Everyoneof’em。Andthethingsthey’lldotoyourtoenails——it’udmakeyour’aircreeponyour’eadtolistentothethingsIcouldtellyou——“
　　“Oh，it’sawful！“saidJeremy。“Andwhereisyourshipnow？“
　　“Ah，myship！“theCaptainreplied，winkinginthemostmysteriousfashion；“itwouldbetellingtosaywherethatis。Icantrustyou，Iknow；I’magreatjudgeo’character，Iam，butnotevenwithmyownmother，gonetoglorynowtwentyyearsandasholyasoulaseverbreathed，Iwouldn’ttrusteven’erwiththesecret。“
　　“Whyisitasecret？“askedJeremybreathlessly。
　　“Treasure，“saidtheCaptain，droppinghisvoice。
　　“Treasure，nothinglessnormore。Betweenyouandmethere’senoughgoldonthatthereshiptosatisfythePrimeMinister’imself，tosaynothingofthejewels——rubies，pearls，diamonds。Myword，ifyoucouldseethemdiamonds。I’mlookingaboutmenowforanextramanortwo，andthenI’moffagain——silentcome，silentgo’smymotto——“
　　“Isupposeyoudon’thappentowantacabin-boy？“gaspedJeremy，hisvoicechokedinhisthroat。
　　“Well，now，that’safunnything，“saidtheCaptain。“It’soneoftheverythings。ButI’mafraidyou’reabityoung。YetIdon’tknow。Wemight——“
　　Hebrokeoff，suddenlyliftedhisfingertohislip，whispered：
　　“Keepyoureyesopen。I’llberoundagain，“andhadvanished。
　　DirectlyafterJeremyheardMissJones’sunwelcomevoice：“Why，Jeremy，wecouldn’tfindyouanywhere。It’sturningcold——tea-time——
　　“
　　Withathumpandathudandabanghefellbackintothehomelyworld。
　　III
　　Jeremywasaperfectlynormallittleboy，andIdefyanyonetohavediscoveredinhimatthisstageinhisprogress，thosestrangemorbiditiesandirregularinstinctsthatweretobefoundinsuchunhappyhumanbeingsasDostoieffsky’syoungheroin“Podrostok，“ortheunpleasantsonandheirofJudeandSue。Nevertheless，eightyearsoldisnottooearlyforstrangerimpulsesandwilderdreamsthanmostparentseverconceiveof，andthefortnightthatfollowedJeremy’smeetingwiththeSea-Captainwasaspeculiarandfantasticafortnightashewasever，inallhislaterlife，toknow。
　　Forhewashaunted——reallyhauntedinthegoodoldsolidpracticalmeaningoftheterm——hauntedwiththehauntingthatpursuedSintramandmanyanotherfamoushero。AndhewashauntednotonlybytheSea-Captain，butbyathousandthingsthatattendedinthathero’scompany。Hewashauntedbyapicture——whenceithadcometohimhedidnotknow——ofadead-whitehighroad，droppingoverthehillintoshadow，thelightfadingaroundit，black，heavyhedgesoneverysideofit。Frombelowthehillcamethepoundingofthesea，exactlyashehadhearditsomanymanytimesonthehillaboveRafiel，andheknew，althoughhiseyescouldnotcatchit，thatinthevalleyroundtheheadoftheroadwasthefishingvillagewiththelightsjustcominginthewindows，andbeyondthevillagetheslopingshinglyCove。Buthecouldseeonlythedead-whiteroad，anduponthishiseyeswerealwaysfixedasthoughhewereexpectingsomeone。Andhecouldsmellthesea-pinksandthegrassdampwitheveningdew，andthecolddustoftheroad，andthesea-smellinthewind。Andhewaited，knowingthatthetimewouldcomewhenhewouldbetoldtodescendthehill，passthroughthevillage，andstepout，undertheheavygreyclouds，uponthelittleshinglybeach。Hewasawarethenthatoutatseaadark，blackshipwasriding，slippingalittlewiththetide，onelightgleamingandswingingagainstthepaleglowoftheduskyhorizon。Thechurchclockstruckfourbelowthehill；hewasstillonthehighroadwaiting，hiseyesstrainingforfigures……Hewaspreparedforsomejourney，becausehehadathisfeetabundle。Andheknewthatheoughtnottobethere。Heknewthatsomethingawfulwasabouttohappenandthat，whenithadoccurred，hewouldbecommittedalwaystosomethingorsomeone……
　　Alittlecoldbreezethenwouldriseinthehedgesandagainstthesilencethatfollowedthechimingoftheclockhecouldhearfirstthebleatingofasheep，thenasuddenpoundingoftheseaasthoughthebreakersrespondedtothesuddenrisingofthewind，thenthehoofsofahorse，clearandhard，upontheroad……Atthatmomentthepicturecloudedandwasdim。Hadthisbeenadream？WasitsimplyaconfusionofsummervisitstoRafiel，storiestoldhimbyMary，picturesinbooksafineillustratededitionof“Redgauntlet“
　　hadbeenatreasuretohimsincehewasababy，theexcitingfigureoftheCaptain，andthebeginningofspring？Andyetthevisionwassovividlydetailedthatitwaspreciselylikearememberedevent。
　　Hehadalwaysseenthingsinpictures；punishmentmeantstandinginthecornercountingtheshipsonthewallpaper；summerholidaysmeantthedeepgreenmeadowsofCowFarm，orapurplepoolunderanafternoonsun；religionmeantwalkingupthegreatwideaisleoftheCathedralincreakingbootsandcleanunderclothes，andsoon。Itwasnothingnewforhimtomakeapicture，andtoletthatpicturestandforawholecomplexphaseoflife。Butthis？WhathadittodowiththeSea-Captain，audwhywasit，asheknewinhisheartthatitwas，wickedandwrongandfurtive？Forthishadbegunasahighadventurousromance。TherehadbeennothingwronginthatfirsttalkintheMeads，whentheCaptainhadshownhimthetatooes。ThewickednessofithaddevelopedpartlywithhisgrowinglongingtoseetheCaptainagain，partlywiththemeetingthatactuallyfollowed，andpartlywiththesensethatgrewandgrewasthedayspassedthattheCaptainwasalwayswatchinghim。
　　TheCaptain，duringtheseweeks，seemedtobeeverywhere。NeverwasthereanafternoonthatJeremywalkedoutwithMissJonesandhissistersthathedidnotappear。Itwasnotverydifficulttosnatchaconversationwithhim。Becausethebeautyofthespringweathercontinued，thechildrenwenteverydayforawalkintheMeads，andonatleastthreeseparateoccasionsJeremyandtheCaptainenjoyedquitelongconversationstogether。Thesewere，noneofthem，sogoodasthatfirstonehadbeen。TheCaptainwasnotsogenial，norsolight-hearted；itseemedthathehadsomethingonhismind。
　　SometimesheputhishandonJeremy’sshoulder，andtheheavypressureofhisgreatfingersmadeJeremytremble，partlywithterror，partlywithpleasure。Hisface，also，wasscarcelysoagreeableasithadseemedatfirstsight。HistremendousnoseseemedtoburndownuponJeremylikeamalignantfire。Hiseyesweresosmallthatsometimestheydisappearedunderhisfatcheeksaltogether，oronlygleamedlikelittlesharppointsoflightfromunderhisheavy，shaggyeyebrows。Then，althoughhetriedtomakehisvoicepleasant，Jeremyfeltthatthatcomplaisantfriendlinesswasnothisnaturaltone。Sometimestherewouldbeasharp，barkingnotethatmadeJeremyjumpandhischeekpale。TheCaptaintoldhimnomorefascinatingstories，andwhenJeremywantedtoknowabouttheshipwiththediamondsandrubiesandthelittleseavillagewhereshelayhidandtheCaribbeesnatives，andthechancesofbecomingacabinboy，andthefurtherexploitationofthetatooes