have to pay for it wi some rare piece o ill luck, so as to keep up the
average. It s no canny to run frae London to the Black Sea wi a wind
ahint ye, as though the Deil himself were blawin on yer sail for his
ain purpose. An a the time we could no speer a thing. Gin we were nigh
a ship, or a port, or a headland, a fog fell on us and travelled wi us,
till when after it had lifted and we looked out, the deil a thing could
we see. We ran by Gibraltar wi oot bein able to signal; an till we
came to the Dardanelles and had to wait to get our permit to pass, we
never were within hail o aught. At first I inclined to slack off sail
and beat about till the fog was lifted; but whiles, I thocht that if the
Deil was minded to get us into the Black Sea quick, he was like to do it
whether we would or no. If we had a quick voyage it would be no to our
miscredit wi the owners, or no hurt to our traffic; an the Old Mon who
had served his ain purpose wad be decently grateful to us for no
hinderin him. This mixture of simplicity and cunning, of superstition
and commercial reasoning, aroused Van Helsing, who said:--
Mine friend, that Devil is more clever than he is thought by some; and
he know when he meet his match! The skipper was not displeased with the
compliment, and went on:--
When we got past the Bosphorus the men began to grumble; some o them,
the Roumanians, came and asked me to heave overboard a big box which had
been put on board by a queer lookin old man just before we had started
frae London. I had seen them speer at the fellow, and put out their twa
fingers when they saw him, to guard against the evil eye. Man! but the
supersteetion of foreigners is pairfectly rideeculous! I sent them aboot
their business pretty quick; but as just after a fog closed in on us I
felt a wee bit as they did anent something, though I wouldn t say it was
agin the big box. Well, on we went, and as the fog didn t let up for
five days I joost let the wind carry us; for if the Deil wanted to get
somewheres--well, he would fetch it up a reet. An if he didn t, well,
we d keep a sharp lookout anyhow. Sure eneuch, we had a fair way and
deep water all the time; and two days ago, when the mornin sun came
through the fog, we found ourselves just in the river opposite Galatz.
The Roumanians were wild, and wanted me right or wrong to take out the
box and fling it in the river. I had to argy wi them aboot it wi a
handspike; an when the last o them rose off the deck wi his head in
his hand, I had convinced them that, evil eye or no evil eye, the
property and the trust of my owners were better in my hands than in the
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