{"id":"01KG8AKZAYCNT423TH3FP51T48","cid":"bafkreiabricsvbpyekcfpsq2ie5ck3e2x7x32na45qt5nflx7f3l3qqm4q","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3585,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.535Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":3515,"text":"CHAPTER XXXI.\r\nRovings Alow And Aloft\r\n\r\n\r\nEvery one knows what a fascination there is in wandering up and down in\r\na deserted old tenement in some warm, dreamy country; where the vacant\r\nhalls seem echoing of silence, and the doors creak open like the\r\nfootsteps of strangers; and into every window the old garden trees\r\nthrust their dark boughs, like the arms of night-burglars; and ever and\r\nanon the nails start from the wainscot; while behind it the mice rattle\r\nlike dice. Up and down in such old specter houses one loves to wander;\r\nand so much the more, if the place be haunted by some marvelous story.\r\n\r\nAnd during the drowsy stillness of the tropical sea-day, very much such\r\na fancy had I, for prying about our little brigantine, whose tragic\r\nhull was haunted by the memory of the massacre, of which it still bore\r\ninnumerable traces.\r\n\r\nAnd so far as the indulgence of quiet strolling and reverie was\r\nconcerned, it was well nigh the same as if I were all by myself. For\r\nSamoa, for a time, was rather reserved, being occupied with thoughts of\r\nhis own. And Annatoo seldom troubled me with her presence. She was\r\ntaken up with her calicoes and jewelry; which I had permitted her to\r\nretain, to keep her in good humor if possible. And as for My royal old\r\nViking, he was one of those individuals who seldom speak, unless\r\npersonally addressed.\r\n\r\nBesides, all that by day was necessary to navigating the Parki was,\r\nthat—somebody should stand at the helm; the craft being so small, and\r\nthe grating, whereon the steersman stood, so elevated, that he\r\ncommanded a view far beyond the bowsprit; thus keeping Argus eyes on\r\nthe sea, as he steered us along. In all other respects we left the\r\nbrigantine to the guardianship of the gentle winds.\r\n\r\nMy own turn at the helm—for though commander, I felt constrained to do\r\nduty with the rest—came but once in the twenty-four hours. And not only\r\ndid Jarl and Samoa, officiate as helmsmen, but also Dame Annatoo, who\r\nhad become quite expert at the business. Though Jarl always maintained\r\nthat there was a slight drawback upon her usefulness in this vocation.\r\nToo much taken up by her lovely image partially reflected in the glass\r\nof the binnacle before her, Annatoo now and then neglected her duty,\r\nand led us some devious dances. Nor was she, I ween, the first woman\r\nthat ever led men into zigzags.\r\n\r\nFor the reasons above stated, I had many spare hours to myself. At\r\ntimes, I mounted aloft, and lounging in the slings of the topsail\r\nyard—one of the many snug nooks in a ship’s rigging—I gazed broad off\r\nupon the blue boundless sea, and wondered what they were doing in that\r\nunknown land, toward which we were fated to be borne. Or feeling less\r\nmeditative, I roved about hither and thither; slipping over, by the\r\nstays, from one mast to the other; climbing up to the truck; or\r\nlounging out to the ends of the yards; exploring wherever there was a\r\nfoothold. It was like climbing about in some mighty old oak, and\r\nresting in the crotches.\r\n\r\nTo a sailor, a ship’s ropes are a study. And to me, every rope-yarn of\r\nthe Parki’s was invested with interest. The outlandish fashion of her\r\nshrouds, the collars of her stays, the stirrups, seizings,\r\nFlemish-horses, gaskets,—all the wilderness of her rigging, bore\r\nunequivocal traces of her origin.\r\n\r\nBut, perhaps, my pleasantest hours were those which I spent, stretched\r\nout on a pile of old sails, in the fore-top; lazily dozing to the\r\ncraft’s light roll.\r\n\r\nFrequently, I descended to the cabin: for the fiftieth time, exploring\r\nthe lockers and state-rooms for some new object of curiosity. And\r\noften, with a glimmering light, I went into the midnight hold, as into\r\nold vaults and catacombs; and creeping between damp ranges of casks,\r\npenetrated into its farthest recesses.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJRHKM4X7XAKFB7G9REDB","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKZAYDHEZA9VYJR62XA9V","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:21.854Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:28.626Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}