Eliphalet Greer paused. He seemed to be wrestling with some thought, some memory that was keener and more poignant than the rest.
“And what do you guess he did then?” he asked, staring at the wall. “How did he pay me for my kindness? How did he pay me for my forbearance and for the years I stood beside him? Because I wanted to do right he tried to murder me! He offered the crew a hundred dollars apiece above their shares to have me thrown overboard! He tried to throw me to the fishes like Jonah to the whale!”
Eliphalet’s voice had risen to a weird crescendo.
“That’s what came of my kindness. That’s what came of my loving him like a brother! He tried to murder me when I raised my hand to save him from the eternal fire!”
I sometimes wonder if Eliphalet Greer had the same gaunt figure the
