The Equinox (Volume I, Number II)

THE MAN-COVER discarded the two pigeons and the dog. I had only to choose between the three sailors and the man-whose-nose-sings-at- will. As the latter was of great help to us, and kept the negroes amused for hours with the harmonious though plain- tive accords springing at will from his nasal organ, there remained only the sailors. The natives were, of course, totally unfit for such a fate. They could find no inner delectation in the perpetual sufferings occasioned by so dreadful an ordeal— or doom ! Of the three sailors, one was much too short to prove of any use. If I could easily shorten, lop, prune, and curtail a too big substitute, I could not possibly add anything to that small pattern of our race. I decided, in consequence, to slay him, during his sleep, so that a useless impediment be done away with. As the four men, since the wreck of our ship, were sunk in a state of torpor and only stared at me with vacant looks, it proved easy to settle this slight matter. I removed the body; and left to time and the natural dryness of the air the care of dividing its various elements. The man-whose-nose-sings-at-will was the first to notice the absence of the sailor, but he said nothing to me. In fact, I believe him to be mad also. He is continually looking anxiously towards the east, and seems lost to this world, since his friend or master has disappeared in the wreck. From the middle of his face gushed a sad tune, and from his eyes many a bitter tear; but, as I said before, he addressed me not. I was not a little surprised, as he is the only one with me to know the secrets of the box. But I respected his silence. The two others were more suitable for my purpose. One was a strongly built fellow, with a certain air of intelligence I 2A 369