{"id":"01KG6GMNZQHGHA01XCNMB8J4PS","cid":"bafkreign26fnm4b7ujxfslye3tzbxofx737ab7c6yluvk45yl47buen2by","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3660,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:03.879Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","start_line":3620,"text":"mind. What he had really discovered was this: a crucifix in indigo and\r\nvermilion tattooed on the chest and on the side of the heart. Slanting\r\nacross the crucifix and paling the pigment there ran a whitish scar,\r\nlong and thin, such as might ensue from the slash of a cutlass\r\nimperfectly parried or dodged. The cross of the Passion is often\r\ntattooed upon the sailor, upon the forearm generally, sometimes, though\r\nbut rarely, on the trunk. As for the scar, the old mastman had in\r\nlegitimate naval service known what it was to repel boarders and not\r\nwithout receiving a sabre mark from them. It may be. The gossips of the\r\nlodging, however, took another view of the discovery, and at last\r\nreported to the landlady that the old sailor was a sort of _man forbid_,\r\na man branded by the Evil Spirit, and it would be well to get rid of\r\nhim, lest the charm in the horse-shoe nailed over the house-door should\r\nbe fatally counteracted and be naught. The good woman, however, was a\r\nsensible lady with no belief in the horse-shoe, though she tolerated it,\r\nand as the old mastman was regular in his weekly dues, and never made\r\nnoise or gave trouble, she turned a deaf ear to all solicitations\r\nagainst him.\r\n\r\nSince in his presence it was ever prudently concealed, the old mariner\r\nwas not then aware of underhand proceedings. At sea it had never come to\r\nhis ears that some of his shipmates thought him a bucanier, for there\r\nwas a quiet leonine droop about the angles of his mouth that\r\nsaid--_hands off_. So now he was ignorant of the circumstances that the\r\nsame rumour had followed him ashore. Had his habits been social, he\r\nwould have socially felt the effect of this and cast about in vain for\r\nthe cause; whether having basis or not, some ill-report is in certain\r\ninstances like what sailors call a _dry tempest_, during which there is\r\nneither rain nor lightning, though none the less the viewless and\r\nintangible winds make a shipwreck and then ask--who did it?\r\n\r\nSo Orme pursued his solitary way with not much from without to disturb\r\nhim. But Time’s moments still keep descending upon the quietest hour,\r\nand though it were adamant they would wear it. In his retirement the\r\nsuperannuated giant begins to mellow down into a sort of animal decay.\r\nIn hard, rude natures, especially such as have passed their lives among\r\nthe elements, farmers or sailors, this animal decay mostly affects the\r\nmemory by casting a haze over it; not seldom, it softens the heart as\r\nwell, besides more or less, perhaps, drowsing the conscience, innocent\r\nor otherwise.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG6GKXWEWYVEB39CKDVT9V08","peer_type":"section","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG6FXSCNX5F3D880P3YP3PKR","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG2T49K0H5GDRB0G4YDTPG8H","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG6GMNZSKZFNWKF5NAWSPW8T","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T03:55:07.639Z","ts":"2026-01-30T03:55:15.791Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}