Still the ship went on, for they kept the fires well stoked, and being confident now that they were the sole survivors, after that first general search and the clearing away of the dead, no one troubled about the state saloons. When they reached land, they would unload, and have a fair division of the property.
Meantime they enjoyed themselves, did as little work as they possibly could, after the manner of good Anarchists, and discussed politics and plans for the removal of tyrants and the smashing up of society.
The male portion of this community numbered in all sixty-five, but they had females and children also with them—women, some of whom had been born ladies, others picked up from the slums of continental cities and prisons. The women, perhaps, were even more bitter than the men against society and respectability. The children had grown up to regard bombs as toys, explosions as amusements, and murders as ordinary incidents in their lives. They played on the decks with the nut shells which their elders pitched at them, and were happy, as any children will be under any circumstances, if they get half a chance.
Some of the women were handsome, most of them, however, were haggard and careworn; none of them were particularly virtuous, as mediocre society expects its women to be. These females had liberated themselves from the rigid trammels of society, and become spartan in their ideas. The careworn ones were perhaps the most conventional and orderly, and created less discord on board, for they were left to attend to the children, but the handsome ones caused a good deal of trouble, for even Anarchists will give way to jealousy at times, mediocre and unworthy as the feeling is amongst true comrades and brothers.
