WILLIWAW
A Novel
WILLIWAW
A NOVEL
By
GORE VIDAL
1946
E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY, INC.
NEW YORK
Copyright, 1946, by E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
FIRST EDITION
NO PART of this book may be reproducedin any form without permission in writingfrom the publisher, except by a reviewerwho wishes to quote brief passages in connectionwith a review written for inclusion inmagazine or newspaper or radio broadcast.
American Book—Stratford Press, Inc., New York
For Nina
Note: Williwaw is the Indian word for a big wind peculiarto the Aleutian islands and the Alaskan coast.It is a strong wind that sweeps suddenly down fromthe mountains toward the sea. The word williwaw,however, is now generally used to describe any bigand sudden wind. It is in this last and more colloquialsense that I have used the term.
G.V.
All of the characters, all of the events andmost of the places in this book are fictitious.
WILLIWAW
A Novel
Chapter One
i
Someone turned on the radio in the wheelhouse. A loudand sentimental song awakened him. He lay there for amoment in his bunk and stared at the square window inthe wall opposite him. A sea gull flew lazily by the window.He watched it glide back and forth until it was outof sight.
He yawned and became conscious of an ache behindhis eyes. There had been a party, he remembered. He feltsick. The radio became louder as the door to his cabinopened. A brown Indian face looked in at him.
“Hey, Skipper, chow’s ready below.” The face vanished.
Slowly he got out of his bunk and onto the deck. Hestood in front of the mirror. Cautiously he pressed hisfingers against his eyelids and morbidly enjoyed the painit gave him. He noticed his eyes were bloodshot and hisface was grimy. He scowled at himself in the mirror. Fromthe wheelhouse the sound of Negro music thudded painfullyin his ears.
“Turn that damn thing off!” he shouted.
“O.K., Skipper,” his second mate’s voice answered. Themusic faded away and he began to dress. The second matecame into the cabin. “Quite a party, wasn’t it, Mr Evans?”
[12]Evans grunted. “Some party. What time is it?”
The mate looked at his watch. “Six-twenty.”
Evans closed hi