Jimmy Goggles the God by H.G. Wells
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Jimmy Goggles the god

by H .G .Wells

" it isn't every_one who's been a god," said the sunburnt man ." but it's happened to_me-- among other things ."

I intimated my sense of_his condescension .

" it don't leave much for ambition, does it ? " said the sunburnt man .

" i_was one of_those men who were saved from_the ocean pioneer . gummy ! how time flies ! it's twenty years_ago . I_doubt if_you'll remember anything of_the ocean pioneer ? "

the name was familiar, and I tried to recall when and where I had read it . the ocean pioneer ? " something about gold dust," I_said vaguely, " but the precise--"

" that's it," he_said ." in a beastly little channel she hadn't no business in--dodging pirates . it_was before_they'd put the kybosh on_that business . and there'd been volcanoes or something and all the rocks was wrong . there's places about by Soona where you fair have to_follow the rocks about to_see where they're going next . down she went in twenty fathoms before you_could_have dealt for whist, with fifty thousand pounds worth of gold aboard, it_was said, in one form or another ."

"Survivors ? "

" three ."

"I remember the case now," I_said ." there_was something about salvage----"

but at_the word salvage the sunburnt man exploded into language so extraordinarily horrible that I stopped aghast . he_came down to more ordinary swearing, and pulled himself up abruptly ." excuse me," he_said, " but-- salvage ! "

he leant over towards me ." i_was in_that job," he_said ." tried to_make myself a rich man, and got made a god instead .I've got my feelings----

" it ain't all jam being a god," said the sunburnt man, and for some_time conversed by_means of_such pithy but unprogressive axioms . at last he_took up his tale again .

" there_was me," said the sunburnt man, " and a seaman named Jacobs, and always, the mate of_the ocean pioneer . and him it was_that set the whole thing going .I remember him now, when we was in_the jolly- boat, suggesting it all to our minds just by one sentence . he_was a wonderful hand at suggesting things .' there_was forty thousand pounds,' he_said, ' on_that ship, and it's for_me to_say just where she went down .' it didn't need much brains to tumble to_that . and he was_the leader from_the first to_the last . he got hold of_the Sanderses and their brig; they were brothers, and_the brig was_the pride of Banya_, and he it_was bought the diving dress--a second- hand one with acompressed air apparatus instead of pumping . he'd have_done the diving too, if_it hadn't made him sick going down . and_the salvage people were mucking about with a chart he'd cooked up, as solemn as could_be, at Starr race, a hundred and twenty miles away .

" I_can tell you we was a happy lot aboard that brig, jokes and drink and bright hopes all the time . it all seemed so neat and clean and straightforward, and what rough chaps call a'cert .' and we used to speculate how the other blessed lot, the proper salvagers, who'd started two days before_us, were getting on, until our sides fairly ached . we all messed together in_the Sanderses' cabin-- it_was a curious crew, all officers and no men-- and there stood the diving- dress waiting its turn . young Sanders was a humorous sort of chap, and there certainly was something funny in_the confounded thing's great fat head and its stare, and he_made us see it too .'Jimmy Goggles,' he used to_call it, and talk to_it like a Christian . asked if he_was married, and how Mrs Goggles was, and all the little Goggleses . fit to_make you split . and every blessed day all of us used to drink the health of Jimmy Goggles in rum, and unscrew his eye and pour a glass of rum in him, until, instead of_that nasty mackintosheriness, he smelt as nice in_his inside as a cask of rum . it_was jolly times we had in those days, I_can tell you-- little suspecting, poor chaps ! what_was a-coming .

" we weren't going to throw away our chances by any blessed hurry, you_know, and we spent a whole day sounding our way towards where the _Ocean pioneer had gone down, right between two chunks of ropy grey rock-- lava rocks that rose nearly out_of_the water . we had to lay off about half a mile to_get a safe anchorage, and there_was a thundering row who_should stop on board . and there she lay just as she had gone down, so_that you_could_see the top of_the masts that was still standing perfectly distinctly . the row ended in all coming in_the boat .I went down in_the diving- dress on Friday morning directly it_was light .

" what a surprise it_was ! I_can_see it all now quite distinctly . it_was a queer- looking place, and_the light was just coming . people over here think every blessed place in_the tropics is a flat shore and palm-trees and surf, bless 'em ! this place, for instance, wasn't a bit that way . not common rocks they were, undermined by waves; but great curved banks like ironwork cinder heaps, with green slime below, and thorny shrubs and things just waving upon them here and there, and_the water glassy calm and clear, and showing you a kind of dirty gray- black shine, with huge flaring red- brown weeds spreading motionless, and crawling and darting things going through it . and far away beyond the ditches and pools and_the heaps was a forest on_the mountain flank, growing again after_the fires and cinder showers of_the last eruption . and_the other way forest, too, and a kind of broken-- what_is it ? --amby-theatre of black and rusty cinders rising out of it all, and_the sea in a kind of bay in_the middle .

" the dawn, I_say, was just coming, and there wasn't much colour about things, and not a human being but ourselves anywhere in sight up or down the channel . except the pride of Banya_, lying out beyond a lump of rocks towards the line of_the sea .

" not a human being in sight," he repeated, and paused .

"_I don't know where they came from, not a bit . and we were feeling so safe that we were all alone that poor young Sanders was a-singing . i_was in Jimmy Goggles, all except the helmet .' easy,' says always, ' there's her mast .' and after I'd had just one squint over the gunwale, I caught up the bogey, and almost tipped out as old Sanders brought the boat round . when_the windows were screwed and everything was all right, I shut the valve from_the air- belt in_order to help my sinking, and jumped overboard, feet foremost-- for we hadn't a ladder .I left the boat pitching, and all of_them staring down into water after me, as my head sank down into_the weeds and blackness that lay about_the mast .I suppose nobody, not the most cautious chap in_the_world, would_have bothered about a look- out at such a desolate place . it stunk of solitude .

" of_course you_must understand that i_was a greenhorn at diving . none of us were divers . we'd had to muck about with_the thing to_get the way of it, and this_was the first time I'd been deep . it feels damnable . your ears hurt beastly .I don't know if_you've ever hurt yourself yawning or sneezing, but it takes you like that, only ten times worse . and a pain over the eyebrows here--splitting-- and afeeling like influenza in_the head . and it isn't all heaven in your lungs and things . and going down feels like the beginning of a lift, only it keeps on . and you_can't turn your head to_see what's above you, and you_can't get a fair squint at what's happening to your feet without bending down something painful . and being deep it_was dark, let alone the blackness of_the ashes and mud that formed the bottom . it_was like going down out_of_the dawn back into_the night, so to_speak .

" the mast came up like a ghost out_of_the black, and then alot of fishes, and then alot of flapping red seaweed, and then whack I_came with a kind of dull bang on_the deck of_the ocean Pioneer_, and_the fishes that had_been feeding on_the dead rose about me like a swarm of flies from road stuff in summer- time .I turned on_the compressed air again-- for_the suit was a bit thick and mackintoshery after all, in_spite of_the rum-- and stood recovering myself . it struck coolish down there, and_that helped take off the stuffiness a bit ."

" when I began to_feel easier, I started looking about me . it_was an extraordinary sight . even the light was extraordinary, a kind of reddy-coloured twilight, on account of_the streamers of seaweed that floated up on either side of_the ship . and far overhead just amoony, deep green blue . the deck of_the ship, except for a slight list to starboard, was level, and lay all dark and long between_the weeds, clear except where the masts had snapped when she rolled, and vanishing into black night towards the forecastle . there wasn't any dead on_the decks, most were in_the weeds alongside, I suppose; but afterwards I_found two skeletons lying in_the passengers' cabins, where death had come to_them . it_was curious to stand on_that deck and recognise it all, bit by bit; a place against the rail where I'd been fond of smoking by starlight, and_the corner where an old chap from Sydney used to flirt with a widow we had aboard .a comfortable couple they'd been, only a month ago, and now you couldn't have got a meal for a baby crab off either of_them .

"I've always had a bit of a philosophical turn, and I daresay I spent the best part of five minutes in_such thoughts before I went below to_find where the blessed dust was stored . it_was slow work hunting, feeling it_was for_the most part, pitchy dark, with confusing blue gleams down the companion . and there were things moving about, adab at my glass once, and once a pinch at my leg .Crabs, I expect .I kicked alot of loose stuff that puzzled me, and stooped and picked up something all knobs and spikes . what do_you_think ? backbone ! but I never had any particular feeling for bones . we had talked the affair over pretty thoroughly, and always knew just where the stuff was stowed . I_found it that trip .I lifted a box one end an inch or more ."

he broke off in_his story ."I've lifted it," he_said, " as near as_that ! Forty thousand pounds' worth of pure gold ! gold ! I shouted inside my helmet as a kind of cheer, and hurt my ears . i_was getting confounded stuffy and tired by_this_time-- I_must_have been down twenty-five minutes or more-- and i_thought this_was good enough .I went up the companion again, and as my eyes came up flush with_the deck, a thundering great crab gave a kind of hysterical jump and went scuttling off sideways . quite a start it gave_me .I stood up clear on deck and shut the valve behind the helmet to let the air accumulate to carry me up again--I noticed a kind of whacking from above, as_though they were hitting the water with an oar, but I didn't look up .I fancied they were signalling me to_come up .

" and then something shot down by me-- something heavy, and stood a- quiver in_the planks .I looked, and there_was a long knife I'd seen young Sanders handling . thinks I, he's dropped it, and i_was still calling him this kind of fool and_that--- for_it might_have hurt me serious-- when I began to lift and drive up towards the daylight . just about_the level of_the top spars of_the ocean Pioneer_, whack ! I_came against something sinking down, and a boot knocked in front of_my helmet . then something else, struggling frightful . it_was a big weight atop of me, whatever it_was, and moving and twisting about .I'd have thought it a big octopus, or some such thing, if_it hadn't been for_the boot . but octopuses don't wear boots . it_was all in a moment, of_course .

" I_felt myself sinking down again, and I threw my arms about to_keep steady, and_the whole lot rolled free of me and shot down as I went up--"

he paused .

" I_saw young Sanders's face, over a naked black shoulder, and a spear driven clean through his neck, and out of_his mouth and neck what looked like spirts of pink smoke in_the water . and down they went clutching one another, and turning over, and both too far gone to leave go . and in another second my helmet came a whack, fit to split, against the niggers' canoe . it_was niggers ! two canoes full .

" it_was lively times I tell you ? overboard came always with three spears in him . there_was the legs of three or four black chaps kicking about me in_the water .I couldn't see much, but I_saw the game was up at a glance, gave my valve a tremendous twist, and went bubbling down again after poor always, in as awful a state of scare and astonishment as_you_can well imagine .I passed young Sanders and_the nigger going up again and struggling still a bit, and in another moment i_was standing in_the dim again on_the deck of_the ocean pioneer .

" gummy, thinks I, here's a fix ! Niggers ? at first I couldn't see anything for_it but stifle below or Stabs above .I didn't properly understand how_much air there_was to last me out, but I didn't feel like standing very_much more of it down below . i_was hot and frightfully heady, quite apart from_the blue funk i_was in . we'd never reckoned with_these beastly natives, filthy Papuan beasts . it wasn't any good coming up where i_was, but I had to_do something . on_the spur of_the moment, I clambered over the side of_the brig and landed among_the weeds, and set off through_the darkness as fast as I_could .I just stopped once and knelt, and twisted back my head in_the helmet and had a look up . it_was a most extraordinary bright green- blue above, and_the two canoes and_the boat floating there very_small and distant like a kind of twisted H . and it made me feel sick to squint up at it, and think what the pitching and swaying of_the three meant .

" it_was just about_the most horrible ten minutes I ever had, blundering about in_that darkness-- pressure something awful, like being buried in sand, pain across the chest, sick with funk, and breathing nothing as it seemed but the smell of rum and mackintosh . gummy ! after a bit, I_found myself going up asteepish sort of slope .I had another squint to_see if anything was visible of_the canoes and boats, and

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