The Mission of Poubalov — page 161: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE GHOST OF POUBALOYPD. 157 stition and the supernatural but empty words? Had he gone stark mad, or was that the ghost of Poubalov lean- ing negligently over the rail of the promenade deck and grinning down at him in evident amusement at his con- sternation? A long cry of terror seemed to struggle for utterance in Litizki’s throat, but it found vent in a pitiable whine that noobdy heard above the joyous cheering of the passen- gers except his frightened self. He could not take his eyes from that awful face, whose every feature seemed to glow with perfect health. How long he stvod there, gasping, powerless under the terrible spell, Litizki could not have told, but a complete revulsion of feeling overcame him when the figure on the deck above shrugged its shoulders, sneered, and strode forward out of sight. Then Litizki knew that he had failed. Where now was all the exaltation of heroism that had sustained him? Where his devotion to Reason, that false goddess whose dictates had seemed to him infallible? Even in his agony of humiliation the light broke in upon him, and he saw that the guiding spirit of his miserable career had not been abstract, unimpeachable Reason, buta base, weak imitation—the lucubration of a disordered in- tellect, Litizki’s reason, The unhappy man tried to think, not so much to ex- plain how it had happened that the dagger had not done its work, but how should he act now? There was no with- drawal from the voyage already begun, and he wished least of all to go ashore. Why had he so insanely thrown away his revolver? The breast that had resisted a knife driven by his feeble arm could not withstand the force of a well-directed bullet. What should he do? Would fate be once more kind, just once more, and some time during the coming ten. days, put Poubaloy in his way so that he could push the villain overboard? Whisky mounted to his brain and told him to hope. He crawled up the steps to the forecastle-toy,.whenca he..