“There were a mother and two sons among the passengers. Maybe that will bring it back to your mind.”

Captain Sharkey leant back in thought, with his huge thin beak of a nose jutting upwards. Then he burst suddenly into a high treble, neighing laugh. He remembered it, he said, and he added details to prove it.

“But burn me if it had not slipped from my mind!” he cried. “How came you to think of it?”

“It was of interest to me,” said Copley Banks, “for the woman was my wife and the lads were my only sons.”

Sharkey stared across at his companion (Шарки уставился через /стол/ на своего товарища), and saw that the smouldering fire which lurked always in his eyes (и увидел, что огонь, всегда скрывавшийся в /глубине/ его глаз, /ранее/ только тлевший; to lurk – скрываться, оставаться незамеченным) had burned up into a lurid flame (/теперь/ разгорелся в смертоносное пламя; lurid – мертвенно-бледный; зловещий, угрожающий). He read their menace (он прочитал в них угрозу; to read), and he clapped his hands to his empty belt (и хлопнул руками по пустому поясу). Then he turned to seize a weapon (потом повернулся, чтобы схватить оружие), but the bight of a rope was cast round him (но наброшенная веревка кольцом обхватила его; bight – излучина /реки/; бухта /троса/), and in an instant his arms were bound to his side (и через мгновение его руки оказались прикрученными к бокам; bound – связанный). He fought like a wild cat and screamed for help (он дрался, как дикая кошка, и кричал о помощи; to fight).

“Ned!” he yelled (Нэд! – вопил он). “Ned! Wake up (Нэд, проснись)! Here’s damned villainy (здесь подлая измена; damned – чертовски, дьявольски; villainy – злодейство; подлость)! Help, Ned, help (на помощь, Нэд)!”

But the three men were far too deeply sunk in their swinish sleep (но /остальные/ трое были слишком погружены в свой свинский сон; to sink) for any voice to wake them (чтобы проснуться от его криков: «чтобы какой-нибудь голос разбудил их»).

 Sharkey stared across at his companion, and saw that the smouldering fire which lurked always in his eyes had burned up into a lurid flame. He read their menace, and he clapped his hands to his empty belt. Then he turned to seize a weapon, but the bight of a rope was cast round him, and in an instant his arms were bound to his side. He fought like a wild cat and screamed for help.

“Ned!” he yelled. “Ned! Wake up! Here’s damned villainy! Help, Ned, help!”

But the three men were far too deeply sunk in their swinish sleep for any voice to wake them.

Round and round went the rope (виток за витком наматывалась веревка), until Sharkey was swathed like a mummy from ankle to neck (пока Шарки не был спеленут, как мумия, от лодыжек до шеи; to swathe – бинтовать; закутывать, обматывать, пеленать). They propped him stiff and helpless against a powder barrel (неподвижного и беспомощного, его прислонили к бочонку с порохом; to prop – подпирать, поддерживать; прислонять /к чему-л./; stiff – жесткий, негибкий), and they gagged him with a handkerchief (а в /рот/ ему вставили кляп из носового платка), but his filmy, red-rimmed eyes still looked curses at them (но его подернутые пленкой глаза в обрамлении красных век /метали/ в них проклятия). The dumb man chattered in his exultation (немой восторженно залопотал; to chatter – болтать, пустозвонить; бормотать), and Sharkey winced for the first time (и Шарки в первый раз вздрогнул) when he saw the empty mouth before him (когда увидел, что во рту у немого не было языка: «когда увидел пустой рот перед собой»). He understood that vengeance, slow and patient (он понял, что отмщение, медленное, но неотвратимое: «терпеливое»; to understand), had dogged him long, and clutched him at last (давно идущее по его следам, наконец настигло: «схватило» его; dog – собака, пес; to dog – выслеживать; преследовать).

 Round and round went the rope, until Sharkey was swathed like a mummy from ankle to neck. They propped him stiff and helpless against a powder barrel, and they gagged him with a handkerchief, but his filmy, red-rimmed eyes still looked curses at them. The dumb man chattered in his exultation, and Sharkey winced for the first time when he saw the empty mouth before him. He understood that vengeance, slow and patient, had dogged him long, and clutched him at last.

The two captors had their plans all arranged (мстители заранее разрабатывали свой план; captor – тот, кто захватил кого-л. в плен), and they were somewhat elaborate (и, насколько возможно, предусмотрели в нем все детали; somewhat – кое-что; до некоторой степени; elaborate – детально разработанный, скрупулезный).

First of all they stove the heads of two of the great powder barrels (первым делом они вышибли днища у двух больших бочонков с порохом; to stave – снабжать бочарными клепками; пробивать, разбивать бочку; head – голова; днище /бочки и подобных сосудов/), and they heaped the contents out upon the table and floor (и высыпали их содержимое на стол и на пол; to heap – бросать в кучу, наваливать кучами). They piled it round and under the three drunken men (они /принялись/ обсыпать им со всех сторон троих пьяных людей; to pile – складывать, сваливать в кучу; round – вокруг; under – под), until each sprawled in a heap of it (покуда каждый /из них/ не /оказался/ лежащим в груде пороха; to sprawl). Then they carried Sharkey to the gun (затем они перенесли Шарки к орудию) and they triced him sitting over the port-hole (и подтянули его в сидячем положении к пушечному порту так), with his body about a foot from the muzzle (чтобы тело его /находилось/ примерно в футе от дульного среза; muzzle – рыло, морда; дуло).

 The two captors had their plans all arranged, and they were somewhat elaborate.

First of all they stove the heads of two of the great powder barrels, and they heaped the contents out upon the table and floor. They piled it round and under the three drunken men, until each sprawled in a heap of it. Then they carried Sharkey to the gun and they triced him sitting over the port-hole, with his body about a foot from the muzzle.