A High Wind in Jamaica - Richard Hughes [73]
It had been a near thing with that little bitch Margaret, though. . . lucky the second boat had picked her up....
The light from the cabin lamp shone into the bunk, illuminating part of the wall defaced with Emily's puerile drawings. As they caught his eye a frown gathered on his forehead: but as well a sudden twinge affected his heart. He remembered the way she had lain there, ill and helpless. He suddenly found himself remembering at least forty things about her--an overwhelming flood of memories.
The pencil she had used was still among the bedding, and his fingers happened on it. There were still some white spaces not drawn on.
Jonsen could only draw two things: ships, and naked women. He could draw any type of ship he liked, down to the least detail--any particular ship he had sailed in, even. In the same way he could draw voluptuous, buxom women, also down to the least detail: in any position, and from any point of view: from the front, from the back, from the side, from above, from below: his fore-shortening faultless. But set him to draw any third thing--even a woman with her clothes on--and he could not have produced a scribble that would have been even recognizable.
He took the pencil: and before long there began to appear between Emily's crude uncertain lines round thighs, rounder bellies, high swelling bosoms, all somewhat in the manner of Rubens.
At the same time his mind was still occupied with reflections on his own astuteness. Yes, it had been a near thing with Margaret--it would have been awkward if, when he returned the party, there had been one missing.
A recollection descended on his mind like a cold douche, something he had completely forgotten about till then. His heart sank--as well it might:
"Hey!" he called to Otto on the deck above. "What was the name of that boy who broke his neck at Santa? Jim--Sam--what was he called?"
Otto did not answer, except by a long-drawn-out whistle.
10
Emily grew quite a lot during the passage to England on the steamer: suddenly shot up, as children will at that age. But she did it without any gawkiness: instead, an actual increase of grace. Her legs and arms, though longer, did not lose any of the nicety of their shape; and her grave face lost none of its attractiveness by being a fraction nearer your own. The only drawback was that she used to get pains in the calves of her legs, now, and sometimes in her back: but those of course did not show. (They were all provided with clothes by a general collection, so it did not matter that she grew out of her old ones.)
She was a nice child: and being a little less shy than formerly, was soon the most popular of all of them. Somehow, no one seemed to care very much for Margaret: old ladies used to shake their heads over her a good deal. At least, any one could see that Emily had infinitely more sense.
You would never have believed that Edward after a few days' washing and combing would look such a little gentleman.
After a short while Rachel threw Harold over, to be uninterrupted in her peculiar habits of parthenogenesis, eased now a little by the many presents of real dolls. But Harold became soon just as firm friends with Laura, young though she was.
Most of the steamer children had made friends with the seamen, and loved to follow them about at their romantic occupations--swabbing decks, and so on. One day, one of these men actually went a short way up the rigging (what little there was), leaving a glow of admiration on the deck below. But all this had no glamour for the Thorntons. Edward and Harry liked best to peer in at the engines: but what Emily liked best was to walk up and down the deck with her arm round the waist of Miss Dawson, the beautiful young lady with the muslin dresses: or stand behind her while she did little watercolor compositions of toppling waves with wrecks foundering in them, or mounted dried tropical flowers in wreaths round photographs of her uncles and aunts. One day Miss Dawson took her down to her cabin and showed her all her clothes, every single item--it took