Rudyard Kipling

Abaft the Funnel Rudyard Kipling

THE old cat's tumbled down the ventilator, sir, and he's swearing away under the furnace-door inthe stoke-hole," said the second officer to the Captain of the Whanghoa."Now what in thunder was Erastasius doing at the mouth of the ventilator? It's four feet from theground and painted red at that. Any of the children been amusing themselves with him, d'you think?I wouldn't have Erastasius disturbed in his inside for all the gold in the treasury," said the Captain."Tell some one to bring him up, and handle him delicately, for he's not a quiet beast."In three minutes a bucket appeared on deck. It was covered with a wooden lid. "Think he havemake die this time," said the Chinese sailor who carried the coffin, with a grin. "Catchee him topsidecoals-no open eye-no spit-no sclatchee my. Have got bucket, allee same, and make tight. See!"He dived his bare arm under the lid, but withdrew it with a yell, dropping the bucket at the sametime. "Hya! Can do. Maskee dlop down-masky spilum coal. Have catchee my light there."Blood was trickling from his elbow. He moved aft, while the bucket, mysteriously worked by hiddenforce, trundled to and fro across the decks, swearing aloud. Emerged finally Erastasius, tom-cat and grandfather-in-chief of the Whanghoa-a gaunt brindledbeast, lacking one ear, with every hair on his body armed and erect. He was patched with coal-dust, very stiff and sore all over, and very anxious to take the world into his confidence as to his wrongs. For this reason he did not run when he was clear of the bucket, but sitting on his hunkers regardedthe Captain, as who would say: "You hold a master's certificate and call yourself a seaman, and yetyou allow this sort of thing on your boat.""Guess I must apologise, old man," said the Captain gravely. "Those ventilators are a little too broadin the beam for a passenger of your build. What made you walk down it? Not a rat, eh? You're toowell fed to trouble of rats. Drink was it."Erastasius turned his back on the Captain. He was a tailless Japanese cat, and the abruptness of histermination gave him a specially brusque appearance."Shouldn't wonder if the old man hasn't been stealing something and was getting away from thegalley. He's the biggest reprobate that ever shipped-and that's saying something. No, he isn't myproperty exactly. I've got a notion that he owns the ship. Gathered that from the way he goes roundafter six bells to see the lights out. The chief engineer says he built the engines. Anyway, the old mansits in the engine-room and sort of keeps an eye on the boilers. He was on the ship before I joinedher-that's seven years ago, when we were running up and down and around and about the ChinaSeas."Erastasius, his back to the company, was busied in cleaning his disarranged fur. He licked and sworealternately. The ventilator incident had hurt his feelings sorely."He knows we are talking about him," continued the Captain. "He's a responsible kind o' critter. That's natural when you come to think that he has saved a quarter of a million of dollars. At presenthis wants are few-guess he would like a netting over those ventilators first thing-but some dayhe'll begin to live up to his capital