The Man Who Laughs
Copyright© 2025 by Victor Hugo
Chapter 9: THE CHARGE CONFIDED TO A RAGING SEA
The skipper, at the helm, burst out laughing, —
“A bell! that’s good. We are on the larboard tack. What does the bell prove? Why, that we have land to starboard.”
The firm and measured voice of the doctor replied, —
“You have not land to starboard.”
“But we have,” shouted the skipper.
“No!”
“But that bell tolls from the land.”
“That bell,” said the doctor, “tolls from the sea.”
A shudder passed over these daring men. The haggard faces of the two women appeared above the companion like two hobgoblins conjured up. The doctor took a step forward, separating his tall form from the mast. From the depth of the night’s darkness came the toll of the bell.
The doctor resumed, —
“There is in the midst of the sea, halfway between Portland and the Channel Islands, a buoy, placed there as a caution; that buoy is moored by chains to the shoal, and floats on the top of the water. On the buoy is fixed an iron trestle, and across the trestle a bell is hung. In bad weather heavy seas toss the buoy, and the bell rings. That is the bell you hear.”
The doctor paused to allow an extra violent gust of wind to pass over, waited until the sound of the bell reasserted itself, and then went on, —
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