The Sea-Story Megapack: 30 Classic Nautical Works Read online

  Table of Contents

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  THE SHIP THAT SAW A GHOST, by Frank Norris

  GHOST LANTERNS, by Alan B. LeMay

  THE DANGER FROM THE DEEP, by Ralph Milne Farley

  THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURE OF A CHIEF MATE, by W. Clark Russell

  THE DERELICT, by H. M. Tomlinson

  THE TEMPLE, by H. P. Lovecraft

  A DAUGHTER OF THE SEA, by Charles Wesley Sanders

  THE ADVENTURES OF BILLY TOPSAIL, by Norman Duncan

  BILLY TOPSAIL & COMPANY, by Norman Duncan

  THE SEA-WOLF, by Jack London

  THE SEA FOGS, by Robert Louis Stevenson

  THE DOLLAR, by Morgan Robertson

  THE “REXMEL,” by Ralph Milne Farley

  A FIGHT WITH A CANNON, by Victor Hugo

  MS. FOUND IN A BOTTLE, by Edgar Allan Poe

  THE CRUISE OF THE SHINING LIGHT, by Norman Duncan

  “WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD,” by Morgan Robertson

  THE BRAIN OF THE BATTLE-SHIP, by Morgan Robertson

  THE WIGWAG MESSAGE, by Morgan Robertson

  THE TRADE-WIND, by Morgan Robertson

  SALVAGE, by Morgan Robertson

  BETWEEN THE MILLSTONES, by Morgan Robertson

  THE BATTLE OF THE MONSTERS, by Morgan Robertson

  FROM THE ROYAL-YARD DOWN, by Morgan Robertson

  NEEDS MUST WHEN THE DEVIL DRIVES, by Morgan Robertson

  WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK, by Morgan Robertson

  PRIMORDIAL, by Morgan Robertson

  THE STRIPED CHEST, by Arthur Conan Doyle

  THAT LITTLE SQUARE BOX, by Arthur Conan Doyle

  THE DOOM FROM PLANET 4, by Jack Williamson

  THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

  COPYRIGHT INFO

  The Sea-Story Megapack is copyright © 2013 by Wildside Press LLC.

  * * * *

  “The Ship That Saw a Ghost,” by Frank Norris, originally appeared in 1902.

  “Ghost Lanterns” by Alan B. LeMay, originally appeared in Adventure, December 20, 1922.

  “The Danger from the Deep,” by Ralph Milne Farley, originally appeared in Astounding Stories, August, 1931.

  “The Extraordinary Adventure of a Chief Mate,” by W. Clark Russell, is taken from The Mystery of the Ocean Star and Other Stories (1888).

  “The Derelict,” by H. M. Tomlinson, originally appeared in 1920.

  “The Temple,” by H. P. Lovecraft, originally appeared in Weird Tales, February 1925.

  “A Daughter of the Sea,” by Charles Wesley Sanders, originally appeared in Argosy, February 18, 1923.

  The Adventures of Billy Topsail, by Norman Duncan, originally appeared in 1906.

  Billy Topsail & Company, by Norman Duncan, originally appeared in 1910.

  The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London, originally appeared in 1904.

  “The Sea Fogs,” by Robert Louis Stevenson, originally appeared in 1887.

  “The Dollar,” by Morgan Robertson, is taken from Land Ho! (1896).

  The “Rexmel,” by Ralph Milne Farley, originally appeared in Fantasy Magazine #32, July 1935.

  The Cruise of the Shining Light, by Norman Duncan, originally appeared in 1907.

  “‘Where Angels Fear to Tread,’” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in the Atlantic Monthly.

  “Salvage,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in the Century Magazine.

  “The Brain of the Battle-Ship,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in The Saturday Evening Post.

  “The Wigwag Message,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in The Saturday Evening Post.

  “Between the Millstones,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in The Saturday Evening Post.

  “The Battle of the Monsters,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in The Saturday Evening Post.

  “The Trade-Wind,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in Collier’s Weekly.

  “From the Royal-Yard Down,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in Ainslee’s Magazine.

  “Needs Must when the Devil Drives” by Morgan Robertson, was first published by McClure’s Syndicate.

  “When Greek Meets Greek,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published by McClure’s Syndicate.

  “Primordial,” by Morgan Robertson, was first published in Harper’s Monthly Magazine.

  “MS. Found in a Bottle,” by Edgar Allan Poe, was originally published in 1831.

  “The Striped Chest,” by Arthur Conan Doyle, is taken from The Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other Tales of Pirates (1905).

  “That Little Square Box,” by Arthur Conan Doyle, is taken from The Dealings of Captain Sharkey and Other Tales of Pirates (1905).

  “The Doom from Planet 4,” by Jack Williamson, originally appeared in Astounding Stories, July, 1931.

  “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was writtenin 1797.

  A NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER

  Over the last few years, our “Megapack” series of ebook anthologies has proved to be one of our most popular endeavors. (Maybe it helps that we sometimes offer them as premiums to our mailing list!) One question we keep getting asked is, “Who’s the editor?”

  The Megapacks (except where specifically credited) are a group effort. Everyone at Wildside works on them. This includes John Betancourt, Mary Wickizer Burgess, Sam Cooper, Carla Coupe, Steve Coupe, Bonner Menking, Colin Azariah-Kribbs, Robert Reginald. A. E. Warren, and many of Wildside’s authors…who often suggest stories to include (and not just their own!).

  —John Betancourt

  Publisher, Wildside Press LLC

  www.wildsidepress.com

  A NOTE FOR KINDLE READERS

  The Kindle versions of our Megapacks employ active tables of contents for easy navigation…please look for one before writing reviews on Amazon that complain about the lack! (They are sometimes at the ends of ebooks, depending on your reader.)

  RECOMMEND A FAVORITE STORY?

  Do you know a great classic science fiction story, or have a favorite author whom you believe is perfect for the Megapack series? We’d love your suggestions! You can post them on our message board at http://movies.ning.com/forum (there is an area for Wildside Press comments).

  Note: we only consider stories that have already been professionally published. This is not a market for new works.

  TYPOS

  Unfortunately, as hard as we try, a few typos do slip through. We update our ebooks periodically, so make sure you have the current version (or download a fresh copy if it’s been sitting in your ebook reader for months.) It may have already been updated.

  If you spot a new typo, please let us know. We’ll fix it for everyone. You can email the publisher at [email protected] or use the message boards above.

  THE MEGAPACK SERIES

  MYSTERY

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Charlie Chan Megapack

  The Craig Kennedy Scientific Detective Megapack

  The Detective Megapack

  The Father Brown Megapack

  The Girl Detective Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Mystery Megapack

  The First Mystery Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Raffles Megapack

  The Victorian Mystery Megapack<
br />
  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  GENERAL INTEREST

  The Adventure Megapack

  The Baseball Megapack

  The Cat Story Megapack

  The Second Cat Story Megapack

  The Third Cat Story Megapack

  The Christmas Megapack

  The Second Christmas Megapack

  The Classic American Short Stories Megapack, Vol. 1.

  The Classic Humor Megapack

  The Dog Story Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The Horse Story Megapack

  The Military Megapack

  SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Martian Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Pulp Fiction Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Science-Fantasy Megapack

  The First Science Fiction Megapack

  The Second Science Fiction Megapack

  The Third Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Fifth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Sixth Science Fiction Megapack

  The Seventh Science Fiction Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  The Steampunk Megapack

  The Time Travel Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  HORROR

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Second Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Cthulhu Mythos Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The Ghost Story Megapack

  The Second Ghost Story Megapack

  The Third Ghost Story Megapack

  The Haunts & Horrors Megapack

  The Horror Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Macabre Megapack

  The Second Macabre Megapack

  The Mummy Megapack

  The Occult Detective Megapack

  The Vampire Megapack

  The Werewolf Megapack

  WESTERNS

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The Buffalo Bill Megapack

  The Cowboy Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Western Megapack

  The Second Western Megapack

  The Wizard of Oz Megapack

  YOUNG ADULT

  The Boys’ Adventure Megapack

  The Dan Carter, Cub Scout Megapack

  The Doll Story Megapack

  The G.A. Henty Megapack

  The Girl Detectives Megapack

  The Penny Parker Megapack

  The Pinocchio Megapack

  The Rover Boys Megapack

  The Tom Corbett, Space Cadet Megapack

  The Tom Swift Megapack

  AUTHOR MEGAPACKS

  The Achmed Abdullah Megapack

  The Edward Bellamy Megapack

  The B.M. Bower Megapack

  The E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Second E.F. Benson Megapack

  The Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Second Algernon Blackwood Megapack

  The Max Brand Megapack

  The First Reginald Bretnor Megapack

  The Wilkie Collins Megapack

  The Ray Cummings Megapack

  The Guy de Maupassant Megapack

  The Philip K. Dick Megapack

  The Erckmann-Chatrian Megapack

  The Jacques Futrelle Megapack

  The Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Second Randall Garrett Megapack

  The Anna Katharine Green Megapack

  The Zane Grey Megapack

  The Edmond Hamilton Megapack

  The Dashiell Hammett Megapack

  The M.R. James Megapack

  The Selma Lagerlof Megapack

  The Murray Leinster Megapack

  The Second Murray Leinster Megapack

  The George Barr McCutcheon Megapack

  The Talbot Mundy Megapack

  The Andre Norton Megapack

  The H. Beam Piper Megapack

  The Mack Reynolds Megapack

  The Rafael Sabatini Megapack

  The Saki Megapack

  The Robert Sheckley Megapack

  OTHER COLLECTIONS YOU MAY ENJOY

  The Great Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany (it should have been called “The Lord Dunsany Megapack”)

  The Wildside Book of Fantasy

  The Wildside Book of Science Fiction

  Yondering: The First Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  To the Stars—And Beyond! The Second Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Once Upon a Future: The Third Borgo Press Book of Science Fiction Stories

  Whodunit?—The First Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  More Whodunits—The Second Borgo Press Book of Crime and Mystery Stories

  X is for Xmas: Christmas Mysteries

  THE SHIP THAT SAW A GHOST, by Frank Norris

  Very much of this story must remain untold, for the reason that if it were definitely known what business I had aboard the tramp steam-freighter Glarus, three hundred miles off the South American coast on a certain summer’s day some few years ago, I would very likely be obliged to answer a great many personal and direct questions put by fussy and impertinent experts in maritime law—who are paid to be inquisitive. Also, I would get “Ally Bazan,” Strokher and Hardenberg into trouble.

  Suppose, on that certain summer’s day, you had asked of Lloyd’s agency where the Glarus was, and what was her destination and cargo. You would have been told that she was twenty days out from Callao, bound north to San Francisco in ballast; that she had been spoken by the bark Medea and the steamer Benevento; that she was reported to have blown out a cylinder head, but being manageable, was proceeding on her way under sail.

  That is what Lloyd’s would have answered.

  If you know something of the ways of ships and what is expected of them, you will understand that the Glarus to be some half a dozen hundred miles south of where Lloyd’s would have her, and to be still going south, under full steam, was a scandal that would have made her brothers and sisters ostracize her finally and forever.

  And that is curious, too. Humans may indulge in vagaries innumerable, and may go far afield in the way of lying; but a ship may not so much as quibble without suspicion. The least lapse of “regularity,” the least difficulty in squaring performance with intuition, and behold she is on the black list and her captain, owners, officers, agents and consignors, and even supercargoes are asked to explain.

  And the Glarus was already on the blacklist. From the beginning her stars had been malign. As the Breda, she had first lost her reputation, seduced into a filibustering escapade down the South American coasts, where in the end a plain-clothes United States detective—that is to say a revenue cutter—arrested her off Buenos Ayres and brought her home, a prodigal daughter, besmirched and disgraced.

  After that she was in some dreadful black-birding business in a far quarter of the South Pacific; and after that—her name changed finally to the Glarus—poached seals for a syndicate of Dutchmen who lived in Tacoma, and who afterwards built a club house out of what she earned.

  And after that we got her.

  We got her, I say, through Ryder’s South Pacific Exploitation Company. The “President” had picke
d out a lovely, lively little deal for Hardenberg, Strokher and Ally Bazan (the three Black Crows), which he swore would make them “independent rich” the rest of their respective lives. It is a promising deal (B. 300 it is on Ryder’s map), and if you want to know more about it you may write to ask Ryder what B. 300 is. If he chooses to tell you that is his affair.

  For B. 300—let us confess it—is, as Hardenberg puts it, as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. It is as risky as barratry. If you pull it off you may—after paying Ryder his share—divide sixty-five, or possibly sixty-seven, thousand dollars betwixt you and your associates. If you fail, and you are perilously like to fail, you will be sure to have a man or two of your companions shot, maybe yourself obliged to pistol certain people, and in the end fetch up at Tahiti, prisoner in a French patrol boat.

  Observe that B. 300 is spoken of as still open. It is so, for the reason that the Three Black Crows did not pull it off. It still stands marked up in red ink on the map that hangs over Ryder’s desk in the San Francisco office; and anyone can have a chance at it who will meet Cyrus Ryder’s terms. Only he can’t get the Glarus for the attempt.

  For the trip to the island after B. 300 was the last occasion on which the Glarus will smell blue water or taste the trades. She will never clear again. She is lumber.

  And yet the Glarus on this very blessed day of 1902 is riding to her buoys off Sausalito in San Francisco bay, complete in every detail (bar a broken propeller shaft), not a rope missing, not a screw loose, not a plank started—a perfectly equipped steam-freighter.

  But you may go along the Front in San Francisco from Fisherman’s Wharf to the China steamships’ docks and shake your dollars under the seamen’s noses, and if you so much as whisper Glarus they will edge suddenly off and look at you with scared suspicion, and then, as like as not, walk away without another word. No pilot will take the Glarus out; no captain will navigate her; no stoker will feed her fires; no sailor will walk her decks. The Glarus is suspect. She has seen a ghost.

  * * * *

  It happened on our voyage to the Island after this same B. 300. We had stood well off from shore for day after day, and Hardenberg had shaped our course so far from the track of navigation that since the Benevento had hulled down and vanished over the horizon, no stitch of canvas nor smudge of smoke had we seen. We had passed the Equator long since, and would fetch a long circuit to the southard, and bear up against the Island by a circuitous route. This to avoid being spoken. It was tremendously essential that the Glarus should not be spoken. I suppose, no doubt, that it was the knowledge of our isolation that impressed me with the dreadful remoteness of our position. Certainly the sea in itself looks no different at a thousand than at a hundred miles from shore. But as day after day I came out on deck, at noon, after ascertaining our position on the chart (a mere pin point in a reach of empty paper), the sight of the ocean weighed down upon me with an infinitely great awesomeness—and I was no new hand to the high seas even then.