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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13073 ***
+
+                              Mr. Trunnell
+
+                        Mate of the Ship "Pirate"
+
+                           By T. Jenkins Hains
+
+   Author of "The Wind-jammers," "The Wreck of the Conemaugh," etc.
+
+                                  1900
+
+To _All Hands under the lee of the weather cloth this is inscribed_
+
+
+
+
+MR. TRUNNELL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+By some means, needless to record here, I found myself, not so many years
+ago, "on the beach" at Melbourne, in Australia.
+
+To be on the beach is not an uncommon occurrence for a sailor in any part
+of the world; but, since the question is suggested, I will say that I was
+not a very dissipated young fellow of twenty-five, for up to that time I
+had never even tasted rum in any form, although I had followed the sea
+for seven years.
+
+I had held a mate's berth, and as I did not care to ship before the mast
+on the first vessel bound out, I had remained ashore until a threatening
+landlord made it necessary for me to become less particular as to
+occupation.
+
+It was a time when mates were plenty and men were few, so I made the
+rounds of the shipping houses with little hope of getting a chance to
+show my papers. These, together with an old quadrant, a nautical almanac,
+a thick pea coat, and a pipe, were all I possessed of this world's goods,
+and I carried the quadrant with me in case I should not succeed in
+signing on. I could "spout it," if need be, at some broker's, and thus
+raise a few dollars.
+
+As I made my way along the water front, I noticed a fine clipper ship of
+nearly two thousand tons lying at a wharf. She was in the hands of a few
+riggers, who were sending aloft her canvas, which, being of a snowy
+whiteness, proclaimed her nationality even before I could see her hull.
+On reaching the wharf where she lay, I stopped and noticed that she was
+loaded deep, for her long black sides were under to within four feet of
+her main deck in the waist.
+
+Her high bulwarks shut off my view of her deck; but, from the sounds that
+came down from there, I could tell that she was getting in the last of
+her cargo.
+
+I walked to her stern and read her name in gilt letters: "Pirate, of
+Philadelphia." Then I remembered her. She was a Yankee ship of evil
+reputation, and although I wanted to get back to my home in New York, I
+turned away thankful that I was not homeward bound in that craft. She had
+come into port a month before and had reported three men missing from her
+papers. There were no witnesses; but the sight of the rest of the crew
+told the story of the disappearance of their shipmates, and the skipper
+had been clapped into jail. I had heard of the ruffian's sinister record
+before, and inwardly hoped he would get his deserts for his brutality,
+although I knew there was little chance for it. He belonged to the class
+of captains that was giving American packets the hard name they were
+getting, so I heartily wished him evil.
+
+As I turned, looking up at the beautiful fabric with her long, tapering,
+t'gallant masts, topped with skysail yards fore and aft, and her
+tremendous lower yards nearly ninety feet across, I thought what a
+splendid ship she was. It made me angry to think of what a place she must
+be for the poor devils who would unwittingly ship aboard her. Only a
+sailor knows how much of suffering in blows and curses it cost to
+accomplish all that clean paint and scraped spar.
+
+"Kind o' good hooker, hey?" said a voice close aboard me, and looking
+quickly aft I saw a man leaning over the taffrail. He was a
+strange-looking fellow, with a great hairy face and bushy head set upon
+the broadest of shoulders. As for his legs, he appeared not to have any
+at all, for the rail was but three feet high and his shoulders just
+reached above it; his enormously long arms were spread along the rail,
+elbows outward, and his huge hands folded over the bowl of a pipe which
+he sucked complacently.
+
+"Not so bad to look at," I answered, meaningly.
+
+"She _is_ a brute in a seaway, but she keeps dry at both ends," assented
+the fellow, utterly ignoring my meaning. "It's always so with every
+hooker if she's deep. Some takes it forrad and aft, and some takes it
+amidships. It's all one s'long as she keeps a dry bilge. Come aboard."
+
+I hesitated, and then climbed up the mizzen channels, which were level
+with the wharf.
+
+"Short handed?" I suggested, reaching the deck.
+
+"Naw, there's nobody but me an' the doctor in the after guard; we'll get
+a crew aboard early in the morning, though; skipper, too, if what they
+say is kerrect."
+
+"Where's the captain?" I asked.
+
+He looked queerly at me for a moment; then he spread his short legs
+wide apart, and thrust his great hands into his trousers pockets
+before speaking.
+
+"Ain't ye never heard? Limbo, man, and a bad job, too." Here he made a
+motion with his hand around his neck which I understood.
+
+"Murder?"
+
+He nodded.
+
+I hesitated about staying any longer, and he spoke up.
+
+"Got a hog-yoke, I see," he said, "Be ye a mate?"
+
+I told him I had been.
+
+"Well, sink me, my boy, that's just what I am aboard here, and they'll be
+looking for another to match me. I saw what ye were when I first raised
+ye coming along the dock, and sez I, ye're just my size, my bully."
+
+As he could have walked under my arm when extended horizontally, I
+saw he had no poor opinion of himself. However, his words conveyed a
+ray of hope.
+
+"Is the mate with the skipper?" I asked.
+
+"The second mate is, yep; but he won't raise bail. The old man might
+though, _quien sabe_? The agents will hail us to-night and settle
+matters, for we're on the load line and nigh steved. We can't wait."
+
+I reflected a moment. Here was a possible chance for a mate's berth, and
+perhaps the skipper would not get bail, after all. In that case I thought
+I could hardly manage better, for my fear of the little mate was not
+overpowering. I was not exactly of a timid nature,--a man seldom rises to
+be mate of a deep-water ship who is,--but I always dreaded a brutal
+skipper on account of his absolute authority at sea, where there is no
+redress. I had once been mixed up in an affair concerning the
+disappearance of one, on a China trader--but no matter. The affair in
+hand was tempting and I waited developments.
+
+The little mate saw my course and laid his accordingly.
+
+"S'pose you come around about knock-off time. The agents will be
+along about then--Sauers and Co.; you know them; and I'll fix the
+thing for you."
+
+"All right," I said, and after a little conversation relating to the
+merits of various ships, the _Pirate_ in particular, I left and made my
+way back to my lodgings.
+
+I notified my landlord of my proposed voyage, and he was as gracious as
+could be expected, at the same time expressing some wonderment at the
+suddenness of my good fortune.
+
+The more I thought of the matter, the more I felt like trying elsewhere
+for a berth; but the time flew so rapidly that I found myself on the way
+to the ship before my misgivings took too strong hold of me.
+
+As I turned down the principal thoroughfare, feeling in a more humorous
+frame of mind at the many possibilities open to me, I heard a shout. The
+sound came from a side street, and I looked to see what it meant.
+Through the door of a saloon a man shot head-long as if fired from a
+gun. He struck in the gutter and staggered to his feet, where he was
+immediately surrounded by the crowd of men that had followed him. This
+promised much in the way of diversion, and I stopped to see what hidden
+force lurked behind the door of the saloon. As I did so, a short fellow
+with a great bushy head emerged, struggling with half a dozen men who
+bore down upon him and tried to surround and seize him. The little man's
+face was red from exertion and liquor, but when I caught a glimpse of
+his great squat nose and huge mouth I had no difficulty in recognizing
+my acquaintance on the _Pirate_. He backed rapidly away from his
+antagonists, swinging a pair of arms each of which seemed to be fully
+half a fathom long while every instant he let out a yell that sounded
+like the bellow of a mad bull. Suddenly he turned and made off down the
+street at an astonishing pace for one with such short legs, still
+letting out a yell at every jump.
+
+The men who had set upon him hesitated an instant before they realized he
+was getting away; then they started after him, shouting and swearing at a
+great rate. He was up to me in an instant, and as he dashed by I narrowly
+missed a clip from his hand, which he swung viciously at me as he passed.
+I saw in a moment he couldn't escape at the rate he was moving, in spite
+of his tremendous exertions, so I stepped aside to watch him as the crowd
+rushed past in pursuit.
+
+The little mate's legs were working like the flying pistons of a
+locomotive, and his bush hair and beard were streaming aft in the breeze
+as he neared the corner. Suddenly he stopped, turned about, and dashed
+right into the foremost of the crowd, letting out a screech and swinging
+his long arms.
+
+"Git out th' way! Th' devil's broke loose an's comin' for ye," he
+howled as he sent the foremost man to the pavement. "Don't stop me. I
+ain't got no time to stop. Don't stop a little bumpkin buster what's
+got business in both hands. Stand away, or I'll run ye down and sink
+ye," and he tore through the men, who grabbed him and grappled to get
+him down. In a second he was going up the street again in exactly the
+opposite direction, having hurled over or dashed aside the fellows who
+had seized him.
+
+"Soo--oo--a-y!" he bellowed as he passed. Then he rushed to a doorway
+where stood a boy's bicycle. He jumped upon the saddle with another yell
+as he pushed the machine before him, and the next instant was whirling
+down the thoroughfare with the rapidity of an express train, bawling for
+people to "Stand clear!" In another moment he was out of sight, in a
+cloud of dust, and his yells fell to a drone in the distance.
+
+I was in no hurry to get down to the dock, so I strolled around the
+streets for some time. Then, thinking that the little mate had about run
+himself out, I made my way to the wharf where the _Pirate_ lay.
+
+As I drew near the ship, I was aware of a bushy head above her port
+quarter-rail, and in a moment the little mate, Trunnell, looked over and
+hailed me. He was smoking so composedly and appeared so cool and
+satisfied that I could hardly believe it was the same man I had seen
+running amuck but an hour before.
+
+"Have a good ride?" I asked.
+
+"So, so; 'twas a bit of a thing to do, though I ain't never rid one of
+them things afore. They wanted me to cough up stuff for the whole crowd.
+But nary a cough. One or two drinks is about all I can stand; so when I
+feels good ye don't want to persuade me over much. Come aboard."
+
+He led me below, where we were joined by the "doctor," a good-looking
+negro, who, having washed up his few dishes and put out the fire in his
+galley, came aft and assumed an importance in keeping with a cook of an
+American clipper ship.
+
+We sat in the forward cabin and chatted for a few minutes, becoming
+better acquainted, and I must say they both acquitted themselves very
+creditably for members of the after guard of that notorious vessel. But I
+had learned long ago that there were good men on all ships, and I was not
+more than ordinarily surprised at my reception.
+
+The forward cabin was arranged as on all American ships of large
+tonnage,--that is, with the house built upon the main deck, the forward
+end of which was a passage athwartships to enable one to get out from
+either side when the vessel was heeled over at a sharp angle. Next came
+the mates' rooms on either side of two alleyways leading into the forward
+saloon, and between the alleyways were closets and lockers. The saloon
+was quite large and had a table fastened to the floor in the centre,
+where we now sat and awaited the appearance of the agents. Aft of this
+saloon, and separated from it by a bulkhead, was the captain's cabin and
+the staterooms for whatever passengers the ship might carry.
+
+While we were talking I heard a hail. Mr. Trunnell, the mate, instantly
+jumped to his feet and sprang up the companionway aft, his short, stout
+legs curving well outward, and giving him the rolling motion often
+noticed in short sailors. In a moment there were sounds of footsteps on
+deck, and several men started down the companionway.
+
+The first that reached the cabin deck was a large man with a flowing
+beard and sharp eyes which took in every object in the cabin at a
+glance. He came into the forward saloon, and the "doctor" stood up to
+receive him. He took no notice of the cook, however, but looked sharply
+at me. Then the mate came in with two other men who showed in a hundred
+ways that they were captains of sailing ships. The large man addressed
+one of these. He was a short, stout man with sandy hair; he wore thin
+gold earrings, and his sun-bronzed face showed that he had but recently
+come ashore.
+
+"If you don't want to take her out, Cole," said the large man, roughly,
+"say so and be done with it. I can get Thompson."
+
+"There's nothing in it without the freight money. Halve it and
+it's a go."
+
+"Andrews has the whole of it according to contract."
+
+"But he's jugged."
+
+"He'll need it all the more," put in the other captain, who was one of
+the agents. "Colonel Fermoy has put the rate as high as he can."
+
+"I'm sorry, colonel," said the stout skipper, turning to the large man.
+"Halve or nothing."
+
+"All right, then, nothing. Mr. Trunnell," he continued, turning to the
+mate, "Captain Cole will not take you out in the morning as he promised.
+I'll send Captain Thompson along this evening, or the first thing in the
+morning. I suppose you know him, so it won't be necessary for me to come
+down again. Is this your mate?" And he looked at me.
+
+"Yessir, that's him," said Mr. Trunnell.
+
+"Got your papers with you?" asked the colonel.
+
+I pulled them out of my pocket and laid them upon the table. He glanced
+at them a moment and then returned them.
+
+"All right; get your dunnage aboard this evening and report at the office
+at nine o'clock to-night. Eight pounds, hey?"
+
+I almost gasped. Eight pounds for second mate! Five was the rule.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," I answered.
+
+"Done. Bear a hand, Mr. Trunnell. Jenkinson will have a crew at five in
+the morning. Good night." And he turned and left, followed by all except
+the "doctor," who remained with me until they were ashore. Mr. Trunnell
+came aboard again in a few minutes, and after thanking him for getting me
+the job I left the ship and went to attend to my affairs before clearing.
+
+I had my "dunnage" sent aboard and then stopped at the office and signed
+on. After that, the night being young, I strolled along the more
+frequented streets and said farewell to my few acquaintances.
+
+I arrived at the ship before midnight and found the only man there to be
+the watchman. Trunnell and the "doctor" had gone uptown, he said, for a
+last look around. I turned in at the bottom of an empty berth in one of
+the staterooms and waited for the after guard to turn to.
+
+The mate came aboard about three in the morning, and as there was much to
+do, he stuck his head into a bucket of water and tried to get clear of
+the effects of the bad liquor he had taken. The "doctor" followed a
+little later, and fell asleep on the cabin floor.
+
+"Has the old man turned up?" asked the mate, bawling into my resting
+place and rousing me.
+
+"Haven't seen any one come aboard," I answered.
+
+"Well, I reckon he'll be alongside in a few minutes; so you better stand
+by for a call."
+
+While he spoke, the watchman on deck hailed some one, and a moment later
+a steady tramp sounded along the main deck, and a man came through the
+port door and into the alleyway.
+
+He hesitated for an instant, while a young man with rosy cheeks and
+light curly hair followed through the door and halted alongside the
+first comer.
+
+The stranger was tall and slender, with a long face, and high, sharp
+features, his nose curving like a parrot's beak over a heavy dark
+mustache. His face was pale and his skin had the clear look of a man who
+never is exposed to the sun. But his eyes were the objects that attracted
+my gaze. They were bright as steel points and looked out from under
+heavy, straight brows with a quick, restless motion I had observed to
+belong to men used to sudden and desperate resolves. He advanced into the
+cabin and scrutinized the surroundings carefully before speaking.
+
+"I suppose you are Mr. Trunnell," he said to me, for I had now arisen and
+stood in the doorway of the stateroom. His voice was low and distinct,
+and I noticed it was not unpleasant.
+
+"I have that honor," said the little mate, with drunken gravity, sobering
+quickly, however, under the stranger's look.
+
+"There are no passengers?" asked the man, as the younger companion opened
+the door leading into the captain's cabin and gazed within.
+
+"Not a bleeding one, and I'm not sorry for that," said Trunnell; "the old
+man wasn't built exactly on passenger lines."
+
+"You wouldn't take a couple, then, say for a good snug sum?"
+
+"Well, that's the old man's lay, and I can't say as to the why and
+wherefore. He'll probably be along in an hour or two at best, for the tug
+will be alongside in a few minutes. We're cleared, and we'll get to sea
+as soon as the bloody crimp gets the bleeding windjammers aboard. They
+ought to be along presently."
+
+"Em-m-m," said the man, and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "He'll be
+along shortly, will he,--and you are all ready. I think I can hear the
+tug coming now, hey? Isn't that it?"
+
+"S'pose so," answered the mate.
+
+"Well, just let me insinuate to you politely, my boy, that the sooner you
+clear, the better;" his voice was low and full of meaning, and he leaned
+toward the mate in a menacing manner; "and if I have to speak to you more
+than once, my little friend, you will find out the kind of man Captain
+Thompson is. Can you rise to that?"
+
+Trunnell shrank from the stranger's look, for he stuck his face right
+into the mate's, and as he finished he raised his voice to its full
+volume. The liquor was still in the stout little fellow's head, and he
+drew back one of his long arms as if about to strike; then quickly
+recovering himself, he scratched his head and stepped back a pace.
+
+"How the bleeding thunder could I tell you were Captain Thompson, when
+you come aboard here and ask for a passage?" he demanded. "I meant no
+disrespect. Not a bit. No, sir, not a bloody bit. I'm here for further
+orders. Yessir, I'm here for further orders and nothin' else. Sing out
+and I go."
+
+It was plain that the little bushy-headed fellow was not afraid, for he
+squared his broad shoulders and stood at attention like a man who has
+dealt with desperate men and knew how to get along with them. At the same
+time he knew his position and was careful not to go too far. He was
+evidently disturbed, however, for the little thin silver rings in his
+ears shook from either nervousness or the effects of liquor.
+
+The tall man looked keenly at him, and appeared to think. Then he
+smiled broadly.
+
+"Well, you are a clever little chap, Trunnell," he said; "but for
+discernment I don't think you'd lay a very straight course, hey? isn't
+that it? Not a very straight course. But with my help I reckon we'll
+navigate this ship all right. Who's this?" and he turned toward me.
+
+"That's Mr. Rolling, the second mate. Didn't you meet him at the office?
+He was there only a couple of hours ago. Just signed on this evening."
+
+"Ah, yes, I see. A new hand, hey? Well, Mr. Rolling, I suppose you know
+what's expected of you. I don't interfere with my mates after I get to
+sea. Can you locate the ship and reckon her course?"
+
+I told him I could; and although I did not like the unnautical way this
+stranger had about him, I was glad to hear that he did not interfere with
+his mates. If he were some hard skipper the agents had taken at a pinch,
+it was just as well for him to keep to himself aft, and let his mates
+stand watch as they should on every high-class ship. The young man, or
+rather boy, who had come aboard with him, looked at me curiously with a
+pair of bright blue eyes, while the captain spoke, and appeared to enjoy
+the interrogation, for he smiled pleasantly.
+
+"Everything is all ready, as I see," the captain continued. "So I'll go
+to bed awhile until my things come aboard. This young man will be third
+mate, Mr. Trunnell, and I'll put him under your care. He will go ashore
+now and see to the trunks. But let me know the minute the crew come down,
+for I won't wait for anything after that. You can let the tug take the
+line and be ready to pull us out."
+
+Then the skipper went into the captain's cabin, and we saw him no more
+for several hours. The young man went back up town, and half an hour
+later returned with a cab containing a trunk, which was put in the
+after-cabin. The skipper heard the noise and bade them not reawaken him
+under any circumstances until the ship was well out at sea.
+
+"If I have to get up and see to our leaving, some one will be sorry for
+it," he said, in his menacing voice, and Mr. Trunnell was quite content
+to leave him alone.
+
+At five in the morning the boarding master brought down the men, and a
+sorry lot of sailors they were. They counted nineteen all told, and half
+of them could not speak English. I went among them and searched their
+dunnage for liquor and weapons, and after finding plenty of both, I
+bundled the entire outfit into the forecastle and let them sort it the
+best they could, with the result that they all struck a fair average in
+the way of clothes. Those who were too drunk to be of any use I let
+alone, and they made a dirty mess of the clean forecastle. The rest I
+turned to with some energy and soon had our towing gear overhauled.
+
+There was now a considerable crowd collecting on the dock to watch the
+ship clear, and as it was still too dark to see objects distinctly, I
+couldn't tell what was taking place in the waist, for I had to attend
+sharply to the work on the topgallant forecastle. Mr. Trunnell bawled for
+the tug to pull away, and the ship started to leave the dock.
+
+At that instant a man rushed through the crowd and sprang upon the rail
+amidships, where, seizing some of the running rigging, he let himself
+down to the main deck. He looked aft at Mr. Trunnell, and then seeing
+that the mate had command of the ship, he looked into the forward cabin
+and came to where I stood bawling out orders to the men who were passing
+the tow-line outside the rigging. I called to him and asked who he was
+and what he wanted, and he told me quickly that he was the twentieth man
+of the crew and had almost got left.
+
+"What?" I asked; "after getting your advance money?" And I smiled as I
+thought of his chance of getting away without being caught.
+
+"I never welsh, sir," he replied, "and as I signed on, so will I work. I
+never skinned a ship yet out of sixpence."
+
+"Most remarkable," I sneered; but the fellow had such a frank, open face
+that I felt sorry afterward. He was a young man and had probably not
+learned enough about ships to have such delicate scruples. He had a
+smooth face and looked intelligent, although it was evident that he was
+not much of a sailor.
+
+"Well, don't stand gaping. Get to work and show what you are made of.
+Stow those slops of yours and get into a jumper quick. Where's your bag?"
+I continued.
+
+"I haven't any."
+
+"Well, lay up there and help loose the maintopsail. Don't stand here."
+
+He looked bewildered for a moment and then started up the fore rigging.
+
+"Here, you blazing idiot," I bawled. "What are you about? Don't you know
+one end of a ship from another?"
+
+The fellow came to me and spoke in a low voice.
+
+"I have never shipped before the mast--only as cook, or steward," he
+said.
+
+"Well, you infernal beggar, do you mean to say that you've passed
+yourself off as a seaman or sailor here?" I cried.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Then, blast you, if I don't make a sailor of you before you get clear of
+the ship," I said with some emphasis; for the idea of all hands being
+incapable made me angry, as the ship would be dependent entirely upon the
+sailors aboard, until we had taught the landsmen something. The whole
+outfit was such a scurvy lot it made me sick to think of what would
+happen if it should come on to blow suddenly and we had to shorten down
+to reefed topsails. The _Pirate_ had double topsail yards fore and aft
+and all the modern improvements for handling canvas; but her yards were
+tremendous, and to lift either of her courses on the yards would take not
+less than half a dozen men even in good weather.
+
+The fellow hung about while I dressed him down and told him about what a
+worthless specimen of humanity he was. Finally I sent him aft to help
+where he could, and he lent a hand at the braces in the waist under the
+direction of Mr. Trunnell, who stood on the break of the poop, with the
+young third mate beside him, and gave his orders utterly oblivious to the
+boy's presence.
+
+In a short time we made an offing, and as the pilot was on the tug, we
+had only to let go the line and stand away on our course. The t'gallant
+yards were sent up, then the royals sheeted home, and by dint of great
+effort and plenty of bawling we got the canvas on her fore and aft and
+trimmed the yards so as to make each one look as if at odds with its
+fellows, but yet enough to make a fair wind of the gentle southerly
+breeze. Then we let go the tow-line and stood to the westward, while the
+little tug gave a parting whistle and went heading away into the rising
+sun astern.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+I will say now that when I look back on that morning it is evident there
+was a lack of discipline or command on board the _Pirate_; but at the
+time it did not appear to me to be the fact, because the lack of
+discipline was not apparent in my watch. Trunnell and I divided up the
+men between us, and I believe I laid down the law pretty plain to the
+Dagos and Swedes who fell to my lot. They couldn't understand much of
+what I said, but they could tell something of my meaning when I held up a
+rope's-end and belaying-pin before their eyes and made certain
+significant gestures in regard to their manipulation. This may strike the
+landsman as unnecessary and somewhat brutal; but, before he passes
+judgment, he should try to take care of a lot of men who are, for a part,
+a little lower than beasts.
+
+If a man can understand the language you use, he can sometimes be made to
+pay attention if he has the right kind of men over him, but when he
+cannot understand and goes to sea with the certain knowledge he is on a
+hard ship and will probably come to blows in a few minutes, he must have
+some ocular demonstration of what is coming if he doesn't jump when a
+mate sings out to him. Often the safety of the entire ship depends upon
+the quickness with which an order can be carried out, and a man must not
+hang back when the danger is deadly. He must do as he is told, instantly
+and without question; if he gets killed--why, there is no great loss, for
+any owner or skipper can get a crew aboard at any of the large ports of
+trade. Of course, if he takes a different point of view, the only thing
+for him to do is to stay on the beach. He must not ship on a sailing
+packet that is carrying twenty percent more freight than the law allows
+and is getting from three to four dollars a ton for carrying it some ten
+or fifteen thousand miles over every kind of ocean between the frigid
+zones. My men were surly enough, perhaps because they had heard what kind
+of treatment they should expect; so after I had told them what they must
+do, I bade them go below and straighten out their dunnage.
+
+Mr. Trunnell, after separating his men from mine, cursed them
+individually and collectively as everything he could think of, and only
+stopped to scratch his big bushy head to figure out some new
+condemnations. While doing this he saw me coming from the port side, and
+forthwith he told me to take charge of the ship, as he was dead beat out
+and would have to soak his head again before coming on watch. He smelled
+horribly of stale liquor, and his eyes were bloodshot. I thought he would
+be just as well off below, so I made no protest against taking command.
+
+"Ye see, I never am used to it," he said, with a grin. "I can't drink
+nothin'. Stave me, Rollins, but the first thing I'll be running foul of
+some of these Dagos, and I don't want a fracas until I see the lay of the
+old man. He's a queer one for sure, hey? Did you ever see a skipper with
+such a look? Sech bleeding eyes--an' nose, hey? Like the beak of an old
+albatross. He hasn't come out to lay the course yet, but let her go.
+She'll head within half a point of what she's doin' now. Sink me, but I
+don't believe there's three bloomin' beggars in my watch as can steer the
+craft, and she's got a new wheel gear on her too. Call me if the old man
+comes on deck." As he finished he staggered into the door of the forward
+cabin and made for his room, leaving me in command.
+
+I went aft and saw the lubber's mark holding on west by south, and after
+being satisfied that the man steering could tell port from starboard, I
+climbed the steps to the poop and took a good look around. It was a
+beautiful morning and the sun shone brightly over our quarter-rail. The
+land behind us stood boldly outlined against the sky, and the lumpy
+clouds above were rosy with sunlight.
+
+The air was cool, but not too sharp for comfort; the breeze from the
+southward blew steadily and just sent the tops of the waves to foam, here
+and there, like white stars appearing and disappearing on the expanse to
+windward. The _Pirate_ lay along on the port tack, and with her skysails
+to her trucks she made a beautiful sight. Her canvas was snowy white,
+showing that no money had been spared on her sails. Her spars were all
+painted or scraped and her standing rigging tarred down to a beautiful
+blackness. Only on deck and among the ropes of her running gear was shown
+that sign of untidiness which distinguishes the merchant vessel from the
+man-of-war.
+
+I managed to get some hands to work on the braces, and finally got the
+yards trimmed shipshape and in the American fashion. That was, with the
+lower yards sharp on the back-stays, the topsails a little further aft,
+the t'gallant a little further still, until the main-skysail was almost
+touching with its weather leach cutting into the breeze a point or more
+forward of the weather beam. The fore and aft canvas was trimmed well,
+and the outer jibs lifted the ship along at a slapping rate. She was
+evidently fast in spite of her load, and I looked over the side at the
+foam that was seething past the lee channels in swirls and eddies which
+gave forth a cheerful hissing sound as they slipped aft at the rate of
+six knots an hour. The man at the wheel held her easily, and that was a
+blessing; for nothing is much worse for a mate's discomfort than a wild
+ship sheering from side to side leaving a wake like the path of some
+monstrous snake.
+
+When I looked again on the main deck I saw the figure of a man whom I
+failed to recognize as a member of the ship's company. He was standing
+near the opening of the after-hatchway, which had not yet been battened
+down, and his gaze was fixed upon me. He was a broad-shouldered fellow,
+about the average height, and was dressed in a tight-fitting black coat
+which reached to his knees. On his head was a skull cap with a long
+tassel hanging down from its top, and in his mouth was a handsome
+meerschaum pipe, which hung down by its stem to the middle of his breast.
+His beard was long and just turning gray, and his eyebrows were heavy and
+prominent.
+
+I stood staring at the figure, and I must say I never saw a more
+brutal expression upon a man's face. His large mouth and thick lips
+appeared to wear a sneering smile, while his eyes twinkled with
+undisguised amusement. His nose was large and flat like a Hottentot's,
+and while I gazed at him in astonishment, he raised it in the air and
+gave forth a snort which apparently meant that he was well satisfied
+with the way affairs were being carried on aboard the ship and he was
+consequently amused.
+
+"Here! you man; what the deuce are you doing aboard here?" I asked as I
+advanced to the break of the poop and stared down at him. He gave another
+snort, and looked at me with undisguised contempt, but disdained to
+answer and turned away, going to the lee rail and expectorating over the
+side. Then he came slowly back across the main deck, while my spleen rose
+at his superior indifference. I have always been a man of the people, and
+have fought my way along to whatever position I have held on the
+comprehensive rule of give and take. Nothing is so offensive to me as the
+assumption of superiority when backed solely by a man's own conception of
+his value. Therefore it was in no pleasant tone that I addressed the
+stranger on his return to the deck beneath me.
+
+"My fine cock," said I, "if you haven't a tongue, you probably have ears,
+and if you don't want them to feel like the grate-bars of the galley
+stove, you'll do well to sing out when I speak. Can you rise to that?"
+
+The man looked me squarely in the eyes, and I never saw such a fiendish
+expression come into a human face as that which gathered in his. "You
+infernal, impudent--" he began; and here for a moment followed a string
+of foul oaths from the man's lips, while he passed his hand behind his
+back and drew forth a long knife. Then without a moment's further
+hesitation he sprang up the steps to the poop.
+
+The fiendishness of the attack took me off my guard, for I was not
+prepared for such a serious fracas during the first half hour in command
+of the deck; but I saw there was little time to lose. There were no
+belaying-pins handy, so the thing for me was to get in as close as
+possible and get the fellow's knife.
+
+As he came up the steps, I rushed for him and kicked out with all my
+strength, when his face was level with my knees. The toe of my heavy shoe
+caught him solidly in the neck, and he went over backward almost in a
+complete somersault, landing with a crash upon the main deck just outside
+the window of Mr. Trunnell's room. He was stunned by the fall, and I
+hastened down to seize him before he could recover. Just as I gained the
+main deck, however, he gave a snort and started to his feet. Then he let
+out a yell like a madman and closed with me, my right hand luckily
+reaching his wrist below the knife.
+
+It was up and down, and all over the deck for a time, the men crowding
+aft around us, but fearing to take a hand. The fellow had enormous
+strength, and the way he made that knife hand jump and twist gave me all
+I could do to keep fast to it. Soon I found I was losing ground, and he
+noted the fact, exerting himself more and more as he found me failing.
+Then it dawned upon me that I was in a bad fix, and I tried to think
+quickly for some means to save myself. In another mad struggle he would
+wrench himself clear, and his ugly look told me plainly how much mercy I
+could expect. I gave one last despairing grip on his wrist as he tore
+wildly about, and then I felt his arm slip clear of my fingers, and I
+waited for the stroke with my left arm drawn up to stop its force as far
+as possible. I could almost feel the sting of the steel in my tense
+nerves, when something suddenly caught me around the middle and pressed
+me with great force against my enemy. His face was almost against mine,
+but his arms were pinioned to his sides, powerless, and then I was aware
+that we both were encircled by the ape-like arms of the mate, Mr.
+Trunnell. How the little fellow held on was a marvel. He braced his short
+legs wide apart, and giving a hug that almost took the breath out of me,
+bawled lustily for some man to pass a lashing.
+
+Suddenly a man rushed aft and passed a line around the stranger, and I
+saw that the young landlubber to whom, earlier in the morning, I had been
+so harsh was a man to be depended on. The young fellow tied my enemy up
+in short order, although the knots he used would not have done any credit
+to a sailor. But I was more than thankful when I had a chance to wring
+the long knife out of the murderous stranger's hand, and I spoke out to
+the smooth-faced fellow. "You'll do, my boy, even if you don't know a
+yard from a main-brace bumpkin. Pass a line around his legs and stuff a
+swab into his mouth if he don't stop swearing."
+
+"Steady," said Trunnell, "none of that," as the swab was being brought
+up. "But, Captain Andrews, if you don't belay your tongue we'll have to
+do something." And the little mate squared his shoulders, and gazed
+calmly down upon the prostrate stranger who foamed at the mouth with
+impotent fury.
+
+"So," I said, "this is the ruffian who jumped his bail and is aboard here
+on the sneak? I reckon we'll tack ship and stand back again to put him
+where he belongs."
+
+I was breathing heavily from the fight, and stood leaning against the
+cabin to recover, while Mr. Trunnell and the fellow Jim, who had helped
+tie the skipper up, appeared to be in doubt how to proceed. The noise of
+the scuffle and our conversation had aroused the captain in the cabin,
+and as I finished speaking he came to the break of the poop and looked
+down on the main deck. I was aware of his hooked nose and strange,
+glinting eyes almost before I turned, as he spoke. He placed his foot
+upon the rail and gave a dry cough.
+
+"I reckon there ain't any call to tack ship," he said slowly; "a pair of
+irons'll do the rest. Jest clap them on him, hand and foot, Mr. Rolling,
+and then rivet him to the deck away up forrads. If he don't stow that
+bazoo of his, you might ram the end of a handspike in his mouth and see
+if he'll bite."
+
+"Who are you, you molly-hawk, to give orders aboard here?" roared
+Andrews, from where he lay on deck. "What's happened, Trunnell, when a
+swivel-eyed idiot with a beak like an albatross stands on the poop and
+talks to me like this?"
+
+"He's Captain Thompson, in command, owing to the little--the little
+fracas you was mixed into last v'yage. We didn't exactly expect to have
+ye this trip, sir," said the mate.
+
+"Well, I'm here, ain't I? Sing out, can't you see me? Has your hair
+struck in and tickled your brain so you don't know who's boss aboard
+here? Who's this galoot you've just kept from being ripped to ribbons?
+I'll settle matters with you later on for meddling in this affair, you
+kelp-haired sea-pig. Sink you, Trunnell; I never expected you to turn
+rusty like the miserable swab you are."
+
+"Don't you think it would be best to stand away for port again, sir?"
+said the fellow Jim, looking sharply at the skipper on the poop as he
+spoke, and then to myself and Trunnell.
+
+"We don't keer for your suggestions, young feller," said the skipper,
+leaning over the rail above us. "When there's any orders to be given,
+I'll attend to matters myself." He spoke in a low, even tone, and his
+eyes seemed to focus to two sharp, bright points at the sailor, making
+his great beak-like nose more prominent.
+
+"Cast me adrift, Trunnell," commanded the ruffian Andrews, with an oath.
+"I'm a-going to kill that lubber you've got for mate anyhow, and it might
+as well be done at once as any other time. We'll settle the matter about
+who's skipper afterward."
+
+"I hears ye well enough, Cap'n Andrews," said Trunnell; "but I ain't
+eggzactly clear in my mind as to how ye have authority aboard. If I was,
+I'd cast ye adrift in spite o' the whole crowd, an' ye could rip an' cut
+to your bloody heart's content. Ye know I'd back ye if 'twas all right
+and proper; but I never disobeyed an order yet, and stave me, I never
+will. I don't care who gives it so long as he has the right."
+
+"Spoken like a man an' a sailor," came the sudden sharp tones of the
+skipper on the poop; and as I looked, the skipper drew forth a watch in
+one hand and a long revolver in the other, which clicked to readiness as
+it came in a line between his eye and the body of Andrews. "You have just
+a few seconds less than a minute to get that fellow forrads and out of
+the way," he said slowly, as if counting his words. I made no movement to
+drag the ruffian away, for at that minute I would have offered no
+objection whatever to seeing the skipper make a target of him; but
+Trunnell and the sailor Jim instantly seized Andrews, while he cursed the
+captain and dared him shoot. He struggled vainly to get free of his
+lashings, but the little bushy-headed mate tucked him under his arm,
+while Jim took his feet, and the crowd of gaping men broke away as they
+went forward.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+After I had recovered from my somewhat violent exertions, and bound up
+the slight cut that Andrews had made in my hand with his knife, eight
+bells had struck, and the steward brought aft the cabin hash. The skipper
+went below, and Trunnell and I followed.
+
+Captain Thompson seated himself at the head of the table and signed for
+us to take our places; then it suddenly occurred to me that I was only
+second mate, and consequently did not rate the captain's table. Trunnell
+noticed my hesitation, but said nothing, and the skipper fell to with
+such a hearty good will that he appeared to entirely forget my presence.
+I hastily made some excuse to get back on deck, and the little,
+bushy-headed mate smiled and nodded approvingly at me as I went up the
+alleyway forward. I was much pleased at this delicate hint on his part,
+for many mates would have made uncalled-for remarks at such a blunder. It
+showed me that the little giant who could keep me from being carved to
+rat-line stuff could be civil also.
+
+I was much taken with him owing to what had happened, and I looked down
+at him as he ate, for I could see him very well as I stood near the
+mizzen on the port side of the cabin skylight. The glass of the hatch was
+raised to let the cabin air, and I watched the bushy head beneath, with
+its aggressive beard bending over the dirty table-cloth. The large squat
+nose seemed to sniff the good grub as the steward served the fresh beef,
+and Trunnell made ready with his knife.
+
+He laid the blade on his plate and heaped several large chunks of the
+meat and potatoes upon it. Then he dropped his chin and seemed to shut
+his eyes as he carefully conveyed the load to his mouth, drawing the
+steel quickly through his thick lips without spilling more than a
+commensurate amount of the stuff upon his beard, and injuring himself in
+no way whatever. The quick jerk with which he slipped the steel clear so
+as to have it ready for another load made me a trifle nervous; but it was
+evident that he was not a novice at eating. Indeed, the skipper appeared
+to admire his dexterity, for I saw his small, glinting eyes look sharply
+from the little fellow to the boyish third officer who sat to starboard.
+
+"Never had no call for a fork, eh?" said he, after watching the mate
+apparently come within an inch of cutting his head in two.
+
+"Nope," said Trunnell.
+
+They ate in silence for some minutes.
+
+"I like to see a fellow what can make out with the fewest tools. Tools
+are good enough for mechanics; a bit an' a bar'll do for a man. Ever been
+to New York?"
+
+"Nope," said Trunnell.
+
+There was a moment's silence.
+
+"I might 'a' knowed that," said the skipper, as if to himself.
+
+Trunnell appeared to sniff sarcasm.
+
+"Oh, I've been to one or two places in my time," said he. "There ain't
+nothin' remarkable about New York except the animals, and I don't keer
+fer those."
+
+"Whatchermean?"
+
+"Oh, I was closte into the beach off Sandy Hook onct when we was tryin'
+to get to the south'ard, an' I see an eliphint about a hundred feet high
+on the island acrost the bay. There was a feller aboard as said they had
+cows there just as big what give milk. I wouldn't have believed him, but
+fer the fact that there ware the eliphint before my eyes."
+
+"Stuffed, man,--he was stuffed," explained the captain.
+
+"Stuffed or no; there he ware," persisted Trunnell. "He would 'a' been no
+bigger stuffed than alive. 'Tain't likely they could 'a' stretched his
+hide more'n a foot."
+
+The skipper gave the third mate a sly look, and his nose worked busily
+like a parrot's beak for a few minutes.
+
+"You believe lots o' things, eh?" said he, while his nose worked and
+wrinkled in amusement.
+
+"I believe in pretty much all I sees an' some little I hears," said
+Trunnell, dryly.
+
+"'Specially in eliphints, eh?--a hundred feet high?"
+
+"But not in argufying over facts," retorted Trunnell. "No, sink me, when
+I finds I'm argufying agin the world,--agin facts,--I tries to give in
+some and let the world get the best o' the argument. I've opinions the
+same as you have, but when they don't agree with the rest o' the world,
+do I go snortin' around a-tryin' to show how the world is wrong an' I am
+right? Sink me if I do. No, I tries to let the other fellow have a show.
+I may be right, but if I sees the world is agin me, I--"
+
+"Right ye are, Trunnell. Spoken O.K." said the skipper. "I like to see a
+man what believes in a few things--even if they's eliphints. What do you
+think of the fellow forrads? Do you believe in him to any extent?"
+
+The third mate appeared much amused at the conversation, but did not
+speak. He was a remarkably good-looking young fellow, and I noted the
+fact at the time.
+
+Trunnell did not answer the last remark, but held himself very straight
+in his chair.
+
+"Do you believe much in the fellow who was skipper, especially after his
+tryin' to carve Mr. Rolling?"
+
+"I believe him a good sailor," said Trunnell, stiffening up.
+
+"Ye don't say?" said the skipper.
+
+"I never critisizez my officers," said Trunnell; and after that the
+skipper let him alone.
+
+I was pleased with Trunnell. His philosophy was all right, and I believed
+from that time he was an honest man. Things began to look a little
+brighter, and in spite of an aversion to the skipper which had begun to
+creep upon me, I now saw that he was an observing fellow, and was quick
+to know the value of men. I didn't like his allusion to a bit and bar for
+a man, but thought little about the matter. In a short time Trunnell
+relieved me, and I went below with the carpenter and steward to our mess.
+
+The carpenter was a young Irishman, shipped for the first time. This was
+the first time I had been to sea with a ship carpenter who was not either
+a Russian, a Finn, or a Swede. The steward was a little mulatto, who
+announced, as he sat down, after bringing in the hash, that he was bloody
+glad he was an Englishman, and looked at me for approval.
+
+This was to show that he did not approve of the scene he had witnessed on
+the main deck in the morning, and I accepted it as a token of friendship.
+
+"'Tis cold th' owld man thinks it is, whin he has th' skylight wide
+open," said Chips, looking up at the form of Trunnell, who stood on the
+poop. There was a strange light in the young fellow's eye as he spoke, as
+if he wished to impart some information, and had not quite determined
+upon the time and place. I took the hint and smiled knowingly, and then
+glanced askance at the steward.
+
+"Faith, he's all right," blurted out Chips; "his skin is a little off th'
+color av roses, but his heart is white. We're wid ye, see?"
+
+"With me for what?" I asked.
+
+"Anything," he replied. "To go back, to go ahead. There's a fellow
+forrads who says go back while ye may."
+
+"An' it's bloody good advice," said the steward, in a low tone.
+
+"I'm not exactly in command aboard here," I said.
+
+"D'ye know who is?" asked Chips.
+
+"His name is Thompson, I believe," I answered coldly, for I did not
+approve of this sudden criticism of the skipper, much as I disliked
+his style.
+
+"See here, mate, ye needn't think we're fer sayin' agin the old man, so
+hark ye, don't take it hard like. Did ye iver hear tell av a sailorman
+a-callin' a line a 'rope' or a bloomin' hooker like this a 'boat'? No,
+sir, ye can lay to it he's niver had a ship before; an' so says Jim
+Potts, the same as passed th' line fer ye this mornin'. Kin I pass ye the
+junk? It's sort o' snifty fer new slush, but I don't complain."
+
+"What's the matter with the meat?" I asked, glad to change the
+conversation.
+
+"Jest sort o' snifty."
+
+"That's what," corroborated the steward, looking at me. "Jest sort o'
+smelly like fer new junk."
+
+"What has Jim Potts got against the old man?" I asked. "You said he
+didn't believe the skipper had been in a ship before."
+
+"Nothin' I knows of, 'cept he was hot fer turnin' back this mornin' an'
+tried to get th' men to back him in comin' aft."
+
+"Do you mean it's mutiny?"
+
+"Lord, no; jest to blandander ye inter tackin' ship. He most persuaded
+Mr. Trunnell, an' wid ye too, 'twould ha' been no mutiny to override the
+new skipper, an' land th' other in th' caboose."
+
+Much as I would have liked to get ashore again, I knew there was no
+immediate prospect of it. The skipper would not hear of any such thing.
+As for Trunnell acting against orders, I knew from what I had seen of
+this sturdy little fellow he would obey implicitly any directions given
+him, and at any cost. There was no help for it now. We would be out for
+months with the ruffian skipper forward and the strange one aft. I said
+nothing more to the carpenter or steward, for it was evident that there
+had been some strong arguments used by Jim Potts against the regularity
+of the ship's company. The more I thought of this, the more I was
+astonished, for the young landsman was not forced to come out in the
+ship, and had almost been left, as it was. I went on deck in a troubled
+frame of mind, and determined to keep my eye on every one who approached
+me, for the voyage had the worst possible beginning.
+
+There was much to be done about the main deck, so I busied myself the
+entire afternoon getting the running gear cleared up and coiled down
+shipshape. The skipper stood near the break of the poop much of the time,
+but gave no orders, and I noticed that Jim the sailor, or landsman, kept
+away from his vicinity. Sometimes it seemed as though the captain would
+follow his movements about the deck forward with his keen eyes.
+
+It was Trunnell's dog-watch that evening, and by the time the bells
+struck the vessel was running along to the westward under royals, with
+the southerly breeze freshening on her beam. She was a handsome ship. Her
+long, tapering spars rose towering into the semi-gloom overhead, and the
+great fabric of stretched canvas seemed like a huge cloud resting upon a
+dark, floating object on the surface of the sea, which was carried along
+rapidly with it, brushing the foam to either side with a roaring,
+rattling, seething, musical noise. At least, this is the picture she
+presented from the forecastle head looking aft. Her great main yard swung
+far over the water to leeward, and the huge bellying courses, setting
+tight as a drumhead with the pressure, sent the roaring of the bow-wave
+back in a deep booming echo, until the air was full of vibration from the
+taut fabric. All around, the horizon was melted into haze, but the stars
+were glinting overhead in promise of a clear night.
+
+I left the forecastle head and came down on the main deck. Here the
+six-foot bulwarks shut off the view to windward, but little of the cool
+evening breeze. The men on watch were grouped about the waist, sitting on
+the combings of the after-hatch, or walking fore and aft in the gangways
+to keep the blood stirring. All had pea coats or mufflers over their
+jumpers, for the air was frosty. The "doctor" had washed up his pots and
+coppers for the evening, and had made his way toward the carpenter's room
+in the forward house, where a light shone through the crack of the door.
+
+On nearly all American ships the carpenter is rated as an officer, but
+does not have to stand watch, turning out only during the day-time or
+when all hands are called in cases of emergency. The cook, or "doctor,"
+as he is called, also turns in for the night, as do the steward and cabin
+boys; the steward, however, generally has a stateroom aft near those of
+the mates, while the "doctor" bunks next his galley. The carpenter having
+permission to burn a light, usually turns his shop or bunk-room into a
+meeting place for those officers who rate the distinction of being above
+the ordinary sailor. Here one can always hear the news aboard ships where
+the discipline is not too rigid; for the mates, bos'n, "doctor," steward,
+and sometimes even the quartermasters, enjoy his hospitality.
+
+Trunnell was on the poop, and the captain was below. I had a chance to
+get a little better insight into the natures of my shipmates if I could
+join in their conversation, or even listen to it for a while. My position
+as second mate was not too exalted to prohibit terms of intimacy with the
+carpenter, or, for that matter, even the bos'n.
+
+I took a last look to windward, over the cold southern ocean, where the
+sharp evening breeze was rolling the short seas into little patches of
+white. The horizon was clear, and there was no prospect for some time of
+any sudden call to shorten sail. The sky was a perfect blue vault in
+which the stars were twinkling, while the red of the recent sunset held
+fair on the jibboom end, showing that the quartermaster at the wheel knew
+his business. I edged toward the door of the house, and then seeing that
+my actions were not creating too much notice from the poop, I slid back
+the white panel and entered. The fog from damp clothes and bad tobacco
+hung heavy in the close air and made a blue halo about the little
+swinging lamp on the bulkhead. Chips, who was sitting on his sea-chest,
+waved his hand in welcome, and the "doctor" nodded and showed his white
+teeth. The bos'n was holding forth in full swing in an argument with one
+of the quartermasters, and Jim, the fellow I noticed in the morning, was
+listening. He arose as I entered, as also did the quartermaster, but the
+rest remained seated. I waved my hand in friendly acknowledgment and lit
+my pipe at the lamp, while they reseated themselves.
+
+"Yah, good mornin' to ye--if it ain't too late in the day," said Chips.
+"Sit ye down an' listen to me song, for 'tis a quare ship, an' th' only
+thing to do is to square our luck wid a good song. Cast loose, bos'n."
+
+We were all new men to the vessel except the carpenter, and had never
+even sailed in the same ship before on any previous voyage. Yet the
+bos'n "cast loose" without further orders, and the "doctor" joined in
+with his bass voice. Then Chips and the rest bawled forth to the tune of
+"Blow a man down," and all the dismal prospect of the future in an
+overloaded ship, with bad food and a queer skipper, was lost in the
+effort of each one trying to out-bellow his neighbor. Sailors are a
+strange set. It takes mighty little to please one at times when he
+should, with reason, be sad; while, again, when everything is fair,
+nothing will satisfy his whims.
+
+When the yarn spinning and singing were over, I turned out for my first
+watch well pleased with my shipmates.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+During the following days all hands were so busy bending new sails and
+reeving running gear for our turn of the Cape that there was little time
+for anything else. Much of this work could have been avoided had the ship
+been under better command when she cleared, but Trunnell had no authority
+to do anything, and the agents were waiting until the skipper took
+command and could attend to the necessary overhauling.
+
+At meals I saw little of either Trunnell or Captain Thompson and his
+third mate, but in the short hours of the dog-watch in the evening I had
+a chance to talk with them upon other subjects than those relating
+immediately to the running of the ship.
+
+The dog-watch is the short watch between six and eight o'clock in the
+evening. This is made short to keep one watch from turning to at any
+regular time and consequently getting all the disagreeable work to be
+done during those hours. For instance, if one watch had to be on deck
+every night from twelve until four in the morning, it would mean that the
+other watch would be on deck from four to eight, and consequently would
+have to do all the washing down of decks and other work which occurs upon
+every regulated ship before breakfast. So the dog-watch divides a
+four-hour watch and is served alternately. As second mate I had access to
+the poop and could come aft on the weather side like any officer, all
+sailors, of course, being made to go to leeward.
+
+Trunnell grew to be confidential, and we often discoursed upon many
+subjects during the hours after supper; for there was little time to turn
+in when not on dog-watch, and the skipper allowed me aft with much more
+freedom than many second mates get. He seldom ventured to join in the
+conversations, except when discussing shore topics, for his ignorance of
+things nautical was becoming more and more apparent to me every day, and
+he saw it. I wondered vaguely how he ever managed to get command of the
+ship, and set the reason down to the fact that the agents were glad
+enough to get any one to take her out. He, however, checked up Trunnell's
+sights every day and commented upon their accuracy with much freedom,
+finding fault often, and cautioning him to be more careful in the future.
+This somewhat perplexed the mate, as he always made his reckoning by rule
+of thumb, and could no more change his method than work out a problem in
+trigonometry. The third mate, on the other hand, was quite shy. I noticed
+what I had failed to note before, and that was the peculiar feminine tone
+of his voice and manner. He never swung his hands or lounged along the
+deck like a man used to the sea, and as the regulations call for at least
+two years' sea experience certified to by some reputable skipper before a
+mate's certificate is issued, this struck me as strange. Besides, he
+walked with a short mincing step that failed to swing his rather broad
+hips, and his knees were well set back at each stride, that went to show
+more conclusively than anything else that he was not used to a heaving
+deck. An old sailor, or a young one either, for that matter, will bend
+his knees to catch the roll and not try to walk like a soldier.
+
+One evening after we had been out about a week, Trunnell and I
+happened to be standing aft near the taffrail looking up at a royal
+preventer stay.
+
+"D'ye know what th' old man called this cleat?" asked Trunnell, pointing
+to where it had been made fast.
+
+"No," said I. "What did he call it?"
+
+"A timber noggin."
+
+"Well, that don't prove there is anything wrong with him, does it?"
+I queried.
+
+"Either that or the timber noggins has changed summat in character since
+I seen them last," said Trunnell. "What in Davy Jones would a skipper of
+a ship call a cleat a timber noggin for unless he didn't know no better?"
+
+"A man might or might not have many reasons for calling a cleat a timber
+noggin besides that of not knowing any better than to do so," I
+responded. "For instance--"
+
+But Trunnell cut me short. "No, Mr. Rolling, there ain't no use
+disguising the fact any more, this skipper don't know nothin' about a
+ship. You'll find that out before we get to the west'ard o' the Agullas.
+Mind ye, I ain't making no criticism o' the old man. I never does that to
+no superior officer, but when a man tells me to do the things he does, it
+stands to reason that we've got an old man aboard here who's been in a
+ship for the first time as officer."
+
+I agreed with him, and he was much pleased.
+
+"A man what finds fault an' criticises everybody above him is always a
+failure, Mr. Rolling," he went on. "Yes, sir, the faultfinder is always a
+failure. An' the reason so many sailors find fault all the time is
+because they is failures. I am tryin' not to find fault with the skipper,
+but to pint out that we're in for some rough times if things don't change
+aboard in the sailorin' line afore we gets to the west'ard o' the
+Agullas. Sink me, if that ain't so, for here we is without half the sails
+bent an' no new braces, nothin' but two-year-old manila stuff what's wore
+clean through. Them topsails look good enough, but they is as rotten with
+the lime in them as if they was burned. No, sir, I ain't makin' no
+criticism, but I burns within when I think of the trouble a few dollars
+would save. Yes, sir, I burns within."
+
+Mr. Trunnell here spat profusely to leeward and walked athwartships for
+some moments without further remark. The third mate came on deck and
+stood near the lee mizzen rigging, looking forward at the foam swirling
+from the bends and drifting aft alongside at a rapid rate. The
+phosphorus shone brilliantly in the water, and the wake of the ship was
+like a path of molten metal, for the night was quite dark and the heavy
+banks of clouds which had been making steadily to the westward
+over-spread the sky. It was nearly time for the southwest monsoon to
+shift, and with this change would likely follow a spell o' weather, as
+Trunnell chose to put it. The third mate had never given an order since
+he had come aboard, and I noticed Trunnell's sly wink as he glanced in
+the direction of the mizzen.
+
+"Mr. Rolling," said he, "wimmen have been my ruin. Yes, sir, wimmen have
+been my ruin, an' I'm that scared o' them I can raise them afore their
+topmast is above the horizon. Sink me, if that ain't one." And he leered
+at the figure of the third mate, whom we knew as Mr. Bell.
+
+"What would a woman be doing here as third mate?" I asked; for although I
+had come to the same conclusion some days before, I had said nothing to
+any one about it.
+
+"That's the old man's affair," said Trunnell; "it may be his wife, or it
+may be his daughter, but any one can see that the fellow's pants are
+entirely too big in the heft for a man. An' his voice! Sink me, Rolling,
+but you never hearn tell of a man or boy pipin' so soft like. Why, it
+skeers me to listen to it. It's just like--but no matter."
+
+"Like what?" I suggested gently, hoping much.
+
+But it was of no use. Trunnell looked at me queerly for a moment as if
+undecided to give me his confidence. Then he resumed his walk athwart the
+deck, and I went forward to the break of the poop and took a look at the
+head sails.
+
+The night was growing darker, and the breeze was dying slowly, and I
+wondered why the skipper had not come on deck to take a look around. He
+was usually on hand during the earlier hours of evening.
+
+I reached the side of the third officer, and stood silently gazing at the
+canvas which shone dimly through the gathering gloom. As we had always
+been separated on account of being in different watches, I had never
+addressed the third mate before save in a general way when reporting the
+ship's duties aft.
+
+"Pretty dark night, hey?" I ventured.
+
+The third officer looked hard at me for the space of a minute, during
+which time his face underwent many changes of expression. Then he
+answered in a smooth, even tone.
+
+"Sorter," said he.
+
+This was hardly what I expected, so I ventured again.
+
+"Looks as if we might have a spell o' weather, hey? The wind's falling
+all the time, and if it keeps on, we'll have a calm night without a
+draught of air."
+
+"What do you mean by a ca'm night without a draft of air?" asked the
+young fellow, in a superior tone, while at the same time I detected a
+smile lurking about the corners of his eyes.
+
+If there's one thing I hate to see in a young fellow, it is the
+desire to make fun of a superior's conversation. Being an American
+sailor, I had little use for _r_'s in every word which held an _a_
+but I had no objection to any one else talking the way they wished. I
+was somewhat doubtful just how to sit upon this nebulous third mate,
+so I began easily.
+
+"Do you know," said I, "there are a great many young fellows going out in
+ships as officers when they could be of much more benefit to people
+generally if they stayed home and helped their mothers to 'bark cark,' or
+do other little things around the nursery or kitchen."
+
+As I finished I thought I heard some one swear fiercely in a low tone. I
+looked over the poop rail down to the main deck beneath, but saw no one
+near. The third officer seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
+
+"It isn't good to be too clever," said he, in the tone which was
+unmistakably a woman's. "When a person is good at baking cake, or
+'barking cark,' as you choose to call it, the sea is a good place for
+them. They can look out for those who haven't sense enough to perform the
+function."
+
+I had a strong notion to ask him outright if he was fitted to perform the
+function, but his superior air and the feeling that I might make a
+mistake after all and incur the displeasure of the beak-nosed skipper
+deterred me. But I was almost certain that our third mate was a woman.
+
+We remained standing together in the night for a few moments while
+neither spoke. My advances had not received the favorable acknowledgment
+I had expected, and there was a distinctly disagreeable feeling creeping
+upon me while in this neutral presence. I was young and hot-headed, so I
+spoke accordingly before leaving the field, or rather deck, in retreat.
+
+"I wish you had the distinction of belonging to the port watch."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I think I might strengthen your powers of discernment regarding the
+relative positions of second and third mates."
+
+"We'll see who has the better insight in regard to the matter without my
+being bored to that extent," said the third officer in his softest tones,
+and again I fancied I heard the voice of a man swearing fiercely in a low
+voice as if to himself. Then I turned and went aft.
+
+"It's something queer," said Trunnell, shaking his great shaggy head and
+glancing toward the break of the poop. A step sounded on the companion
+ladder, and the skipper came on deck.
+
+"Pretty dark, hey?" he said, and his quick eyes took in both Trunnell and
+myself comprehensively.
+
+"Looks like we might have a spell o' weather if the wind keeps fallin',"
+observed Trunnell.
+
+"Well, I don't suppose a dark night is any worse than a bright one, and I
+call to mind many a time I'd give something to see it a bit blacker. Do
+you know where you're at?"
+
+"She's headin' about the same, but if ye don't mind, I'll be gettin' her
+down gradual like to her torps'ls if the glass keeps a-fallin'. Short
+commons, says I, on the edge o' the monsoon."
+
+"Short it is, my boy. Get her down low. The more she looks like you, the
+better she'll do, hey? What d'you think of that, Mr. Rolling? The shorter
+the longer, the longer the shorter--see? The sooner the quicker, eh?
+Supposen the question was asked you, Mr. Rolling, what'd you say, hey?
+Why is Mr. Trunnell like a lady's bouquet, hey? Why is the little man
+like a bunch of flowers? Don't insult him, Mr. Rolling. The sanitary
+outfit of the cabin is all right. 'Tain't that. No, split me, it ain't
+that. Think a minute."
+
+Trunnell walked to and fro without a word, while the captain grinned. The
+fellow at the wheel, Bill Spielgen, a square-cut man with an angular face
+and enormous hands, stared sullenly into the binnacle.
+
+"It's because he's a daisy," rapped out the skipper. "That's it, Mr.
+Rolling, he's a daisy, ha, ha, ha! Split me, if he ain't, ho, ho, ho!
+Shorten her down, Trunnell; you're a daisy, and no mistake."
+
+There was a distinct smell of liquor in the light breeze, and as the
+skipper came within the glare of the binnacle lamp I could see he was
+well set up. Trunnell went to the break of the poop and called out for
+the watch to clew down the fore and mizzen skysails. He was much upset at
+the skipper's talk, but knew better than to show it. The captain now
+turned his attention to the man at the wheel.
+
+"How d'you head, Bill?" said he.
+
+"West b' no'the," said Bill.
+
+The skipper came to the wheel and stuck his lean face close to the
+quartermaster's. His glinting eyes grew to two little points and his
+hooked nose wrinkled on the sides as he showed his teeth while he drawled
+in a snarling tone:--
+
+"D'you set up for a wit, Bill, that you joke with your captain, hey? Is
+that it, you square-toed, lantern-jawed swab? Would you like me to rip
+you up the back, or lam some of the dirt out of your hide, hey? Is that
+it? Don't make jokes at your captain, Bill. It's bad business."
+
+Then he went on in a more conciliating tone:--
+
+"Just remember that I'm a knight of a round table, or square one either,
+for that matter, while I'm aboard this boat, and if you forget to mention
+my title of 'Sir,' every time you speak of me, you'll want to get your
+hide sewed on tight."
+
+"I beg pardon, sir," said Bill, taking a fresh grip upon the spokes with
+his great hands.
+
+"That's right, my son; you're a beggar aboard this here boat. Don't
+aspire to anything else."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," said the quartermaster.
+
+"And now that you've got to your bearings, as Trunnell would say, I'll
+tell you a little story about a man who lost a pet dog called Willie."
+
+I saw that it was high time for me to get forward, and slipped away. I
+turned in ready for a call, thinking that perhaps Trunnell was right in
+regard to our future prospects in the South Atlantic.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+When I turned out for the mid-watch that night, Trunnell met me at the
+door of the forward cabin. It was pitch dark on deck, and the wind had
+died away almost entirely. The canvas had been rolled up, as it had begun
+to slat heavily against the masts with the heave from a long, quick swell
+that ran rapidly from the southward. The running gear was not new, and
+Trunnell was a careful mate, so the ship was down to her upper topsails
+on the fore and mizzen and a main t'gallant on mainmast, the courses fore
+and after being clewed up and left hanging.
+
+"He's out for trouble to-night," said the little mate. "Blast him if he
+ain't touching the boose again."
+
+"Who, the skipper?" I asked.
+
+"He's been below twice during the watch, an' each time he's gettin' worse
+an' worse. There he comes now to the edge of the poop."
+
+I looked and saw our old man rolling easily across the deck to the poop
+rail. There he stopped and bawled out loudly,--
+
+"Lay aft to the main-brace."
+
+The men on watch hesitated a moment and then came crowding aft and began
+to cast off the weather-brace from its belaying-pin.
+
+It was so dark I couldn't see how many men were there, but I noticed Bill
+the quartermaster, and as I stood waiting to see what would happen, a
+little sailor by the name of Johnson, who had a face like a monkey's and
+legs set wide apart, so they never touched clear up to his waist, spoke
+out to a long, lean Yankee man who jostled me in the darkness.
+
+"Don't pull a pound on the bleeding line. The old cock's drunk, an' we
+ain't here to be hazed around decks like a pack o' damned boys."
+
+The skipper, however, didn't wait to see if his order was carried out,
+but came down from the poop and asked for Trunnell and myself. We went
+with him into the forward cabin, and he motioned us to sit down.
+
+"Did you ever see such a lot o' confounded fools?" he said. "Here I calls
+for to take a pull in the main-brace, and the whole crowd of duff-eaters
+come layin' aft as if the skipper of a ship should blow them all off to
+drinks. Blast me, Trunnell, I'd 'a' thought you'd get them into better
+discipline. It's come to a fine state o' things when the whole crew turns
+to every time I get thirsty. But never mind, sing out as you says, and
+tell the steward what kind o' pisin you'll mix with your blood current.
+Mine's the same old thing."
+
+"It's my watch below now," said Mr. Trunnell, "an' if you'll excuse me,
+I'll turn in. The third mate's gone below some time ago."
+
+"Oh, the boat's all right. It's dead calm, and she can't hurt herself
+floating around this ocean," said the old man. "You can take a drink
+before you go. Steward! Ahoy there, steward!"
+
+"Yessir," said that active mulatto, springing out of his cabin. "Yessir;
+I hears yo', cap'n."
+
+"What'll you have?" asked Thompson, addressing the mate.
+
+Trunnell scratched his big bushy head a moment, and then suggested
+that a bottle of the ginger pop which the steward had in the pantry
+would do for him.
+
+"Hell'n blazes, man, take a drink o' something," cried Thompson, turning
+upon him with his fierce eyes. "What's the matter with you?"
+
+"Nothin', only I drinks what I drinks or else I don't drink at all," said
+Trunnell. "Ye asked me what I'd have, an' I says it."
+
+"All right, Shorty," said Thompson, in mock gravity. "You drinks what you
+drinks. What's yours, Rolling?"
+
+"As I've just turned to, a little soda will do for me," I answered. "I'd
+rather take my grog in the morning at regular hours."
+
+Thompson let his hand fall upon the table with a crash, and then sat
+motionless, looking from one to the other, his long, beak-like nose
+twitching convulsively.
+
+"Steward," said he, with a nasal drawl which made his hooked nose
+wrinkle, "get Mr. Trunnell a drink o' ginger pop, or milk, if he prefers
+it, and then, steward, you may get Mr. Rolling a drink o' sody water.
+It's hot, but I reckon it'll fizz."
+
+"Yessah. What's yourn, cap'n?"
+
+"You don't think there's a priest aboard here, do you, steward, hey?"
+
+"No, sah, 'tain't likely, but I ken find out, sah. Shall I get yo' drink
+fust, sah?"
+
+"Well, I dunno, I dunno, steward; I can't think what I kin take what
+won't offend these gentlemen. You might see first if there's a priest,
+an' if you find one you can bring me a pint or so o' holy water. If it's
+too strong for you," said he, turning toward Trunnell and myself, "I can
+get the steward to dilute it for me, hey?"
+
+Trunnell made no remark at this. The steward brought in our drinks and
+informed the skipper loudly that there was no one in the crew who had
+held holy orders.
+
+"Never mind, then, steward," said Thompson. "I'll wait till it rains and
+get it fresh from heaven."
+
+In a moment Trunnell rose and went into his room with a rough "good
+night." Thompson arose and passed through the door in the bulkhead, and I
+went on deck to take charge.
+
+The night was quiet, and I leaned over the poop rail, looking into the
+water alongside, which appeared as black as ink. The _Pirate_ had little
+or no headway, for it was now dead calm. Forward at the bends a sudden
+flare of phosphorescent fire would burn for a moment alongside when the
+heavy ship rolled deeply and soused her channels under. The southerly
+swell seemed to roll quickly as if there were something behind it, and
+the topsails slatted fore and aft with loud flaps as they backed and
+filled with the motion. It was a bad night for wearing out gear, and I
+was glad Trunnell had rolled up the lighter canvas. Chafing gear had been
+scarce aboard, and nothing is so aggravating to a mate as to have his
+cotton or spars cut by useless rolling in a quiet seaway. If sails can be
+kept full of wind, they will last well enough with care; but let them
+slat for a few days, and there is more useless wear than would take place
+in a month of ordinary weather, with no headway to pay for it.
+
+While I looked into the dark water I noticed a long thin streak of fire
+moving slowly alongside. It wavered and snaked along, growing brighter at
+times and then dying out almost completely. Suddenly it turned at the
+fore channels and came slowly aft. I looked harder at the black surface
+below me and tried to see what caused the disturbance. In an instant I
+beheld a huge shadow, blacker than the surrounding water, outlined
+faintly with the phosphorescent glow. It was between twenty and thirty
+feet in length, and had the form of a shark. The grim monster swam slowly
+aft and rounded the stern, then sank slowly out of sight into the
+blackness beneath.
+
+There is something so uncanny in the silent watchfulness of these giants
+of the deep that a sailor always feels unpleasantly disposed toward them.
+I thought how ghastly would be the ending of any one who should get
+overboard that night. The sudden splash, the warm water about the body,
+and the heads of the fellows at the rail starting to pull the unfortunate
+aboard. Then the sudden grisly clutch from below, and the dragging down
+out of sight and sound forever.
+
+I began to actually reckon the amount of arsenic I should put into a
+chunk of beef to trick the giant at his last meal.
+
+"Sharp lightning on port bow, sir," came the news from the forward; for,
+although I was supposed to be able to see well enough, I had taught the
+men of my watch to sing out at everything unusual, more to be certain
+that they were awake than anything else.
+
+I looked up from the black depths and my unpleasant reflections, and
+gazed to the southward. As I did so, several sharp flashes showed upon
+the dark horizon. It looked as if something were raising fast, and I
+stepped below a moment to see the glass. It was down to twenty-eight.
+Going on deck at once, I bawled for the watch to clew down the
+main-topgallantsail. In a moment the men were swarming up the main
+rigging, and the sail was let go by the run, the yard settling nicely,
+while the clews, buntlines, and leachlines were hauled down in unison.
+
+"Mizzen topsail!" I cried.
+
+The watch came up the poop ladders with a rush and tramping of feet that
+sounded ominously loud for the work on so quiet a night. The yelling of
+the men at the braces coupled with the tramping aroused Captain Thompson
+in spite of his liquor, and he came up the after-companion to see what
+was the matter.
+
+"Hey, there, hey!" he bawled. "What are you doing, Rolling? Are you
+coming to an anchor already? Have I been asleep six months, and is this
+the Breakwater ahead? No? Well, do you expect to get to port without
+canvas on the ship? Split me, but I thought you knew how to sail a boat
+when you signed on as mate. Don't come any of these grandmother tricks on
+me, hey? I won't have it. Don't make a fool of yourself before these men.
+Get that topsail up again quicker'n hell can scorch a feather, or I'll be
+taking a hand, see! I'll be taking a hand. Jump lively, you dogs!" he
+roared, as he finished.
+
+The topsail was swayed up again, the men silent and sullen with this
+extra work. Then came the order for the t'gallantsail, and by the
+time that was mastheaded, the skipper followed with orders for
+royals, fore and aft.
+
+During the time these affairs were going on upon the ship, the southern
+horizon was lit up again and again by vivid flashes. It appeared to sink
+into a deeper gloom afterward, but in another moment we heard the distant
+boom of thunder. Before we could get the topgallantsail set there was a
+blinding flash off the bow-port, followed by a deep rolling peal of
+thunder. I was standing in the waist and sprang to Trunnell's room--
+
+"All hands!" I bawled.
+
+Then I rushed for the mizzen rigging, yelling for the men to clew down
+the t'gallantsail and let the topsail halyards go by the run. At the cry
+for all hands the men tumbled out, looking around to see what had
+happened. It was dead still, and the only sounds were the cries of the
+men on deck to those aloft, and the rattling of gear. Trunnell was on
+deck in a moment, and as he rushed aft I went for the main rigging with
+the intention of saving the upper topsail if I could. It was quick work
+getting up those ratlines, but even as I went I heard a deepening murmur
+from the southward. The yard came down by the run as I gained the top,
+owing to Trunnell having cast off everything, trusting that we might get
+some stops on the sail before too late. I heard the skipper roaring out
+orders to "hurry there," followed by curses at the slowness of the work.
+He appeared to realize now what was happening, and it sobered him.
+
+As I crawled out to starboard with a couple of hands, Jackson of
+Trunnell's watch and Davis of mine, the murmur to the southward swelled
+rapidly in volume. I glanced into the blackness, and as I did so there
+was a blinding flash. My eyes seemed to be burned out with the
+brightness, and a crashing roar thundered in my ears. Instantly afterward
+I heard Trunnell's voice:--
+
+"Hard up the wheel. Hard up, for God's sake!"
+
+Then, with a rush that made the mast creak with the strain and laid
+us slowly over amid a thunder of thrashing canvas, the hurricane
+struck the ship.
+
+There was nothing to do but hold on with both hands and feet. Jackson,
+who was outside of me, gripped the jackstay and threw his feet around
+the yard-arm which was springing and jumping away at a terrific rate
+with the shock of the cracking topsail. I did likewise, and noticed
+that the canvas was bellying forward, which showed that we were not
+aback. If we were, I knew our lives were only questions of seconds.
+All sounds from below were silenced in the roar about us, but flash
+after flash, following rapidly in succession, showed me momentary
+glimpses of the deck.
+
+We were far over the water as the _Pirate_ was laying down with her
+topgallant rail beneath the sea. The mizzen topsail had disappeared, as
+though made of vapor, leaving the mizzen clear. Forward, the two topsails
+and fore topmast staysail were holding, but between the flashes the upper
+canvas melted away like a puff of steam, the ragged ends flying and
+thrashing into long ribbons to leeward. Three men were on the yard when I
+looked at first, and then, almost instantly afterward, the yard was bare.
+Whether they had gone overboard I could not tell, but the thought made me
+look to myself while I might.
+
+Pulling myself along the jackstay until I reached the bunt, I managed to
+grasp a line that was tailing taut downward toward the deck. This I
+grasped quickly with both hands, and bawling with all my might to Jackson
+and Davis to follow, I swung clear of the yard. Looking below, the sea
+appeared as white as milk in the ghastly light, with the ship's outline
+now dimly discernible in contrast. I breathed a prayer that the line was
+fast amidships and slid down. There was a terrific ripping instantly
+overhead, and I knew the topsail had gone. The line bowed out with the
+wind, but led toward the deck near the mast, and in a moment my feet
+struck the fife rail. I was safe for the present. Jackson followed close
+upon me, but Davis was unable to get the line. He was never seen again.
+
+Making my way aft by the aid of the weather rail, I reached the poop and
+climbed up the steps. The wind nearly swept me from my feet, but I
+managed to crawl aft to where I could make out by the flashes the forms
+of Trunnell and the skipper.
+
+"She'll go off soon," yelled the mate in my ear. "Nothin' gone forrads
+yet, hey?"
+
+"Only the canvas and a couple of men," I yelled in reply.
+
+The wind began to draw further and further aft, showing that the ship was
+gradually gathering headway in spite of her list to starboard. Soon she
+began to right herself in the storm-torn sea. All was white as snow about
+us, and the whiteness gave a ghastly light in the gloom. I could now make
+out the maintopsail, dimly, from where I stood, and the outline of the
+hull forward. Evidently the fore lower topsail was holding still.
+Jackson, who was tall and strong, and who was an American by adoption,
+was put to the lee wheel, as his knowledge of English made him quick to
+obey. John, a Swede, built very broad with stooping shoulders, and
+Erikson, a Norwegian with a great blond head and powerful neck, grasped
+the weather spokes. Bill, the other quartermaster, had not shown up, and
+we found later that he was one of the missing from the fore topsail yard.
+
+Trunnell and Captain Thompson called the men aft to the poop, and away we
+went into the gloom ahead.
+
+She was doing a good fifteen knots under her two, or rather one storm
+topsail; for we found out afterward that the fore had gone almost
+instantly after she had payed off. The water was roaring white astern,
+and the wind blew so hard that it was impossible to face it for more than
+a moment. The sea was making fast, and I began to wonder how long the
+vessel could run before the great heave which I knew must soon follow us.
+
+Thompson stood bareheaded near the binnacle, and roared to the men to be
+careful and keep her steady. It was plain he knew nothing of seamanship,
+but could tell that a thing must be done well after the mate had given
+orders. He was apparently perfectly sober now, and as cool as though on
+the beach. It was evident the man feared nothing and could command. I saw
+that I could be of little use aft, so I started forward, hoping to be
+able to keep a lookout for a shift of wind and get some gear ready to
+heave the vessel to.
+
+On reaching the main deck, things showed to be in a hopeless mess.
+Everything movable had gone to leeward when she was hove down, the
+running rigging was lying about, and no attempt had been made to coil
+it. The sea, which had been over the lee rail, had washed that on the
+starboard side into long tangles which would take hours to clear. I
+stumbled over a mass of rope which must have been the fore topsail
+brace. I saw a figure moving through the gloom along the bulwarks and
+called for the man to lay aft and coil down some of the gear. The man,
+however, paid no attention to me, but made his way into the forward
+cabin, and as the door opened and the light from within flashed out I
+recognized the third mate.
+
+A man named Hans answered my hail, and I started forward again. The sea
+by this time was running rapidly. The ship was so deep that I knew she
+would not keep her deck clear, and I started to gain the topgallant
+forecastle where the height would make it safer.
+
+Just as I gained the highest step, a tremendous sea following broke clear
+along the top of the rail in the waist, and went forward a good five feet
+above her bulwarks, the entire length of the main deck.
+
+It was terrific. The thundering crash and smothering jar nearly
+paralyzed me for a moment. In the dim glare I could see rails,
+stanchions, boats, rigging, all in the furious white rush. The _Pirate_
+settled under the load and seemed to stop perfectly still. Then another
+huge sea went roaring over her and blotted out everything to the edge of
+the forecastle head.
+
+I stood looking down at the main deck in amazement. How long would the
+hatches stand that strain? Everything was out of sight under water, save
+the top of the forward house. I looked up into the roaring void above me
+and breathed a parting prayer, for it seemed that the ship's end must be
+at hand. Then I was aware that she was broaching to, and I grabbed the
+rail to meet the sea.
+
+Every stitch of canvas had gone out of her now, and nothing but the bare
+yards were left aloft. How they ever stood the frightful strain was a
+miracle and spoke volumes for the Yankee riggers who fitted her out. The
+wind bore more and more abeam, and under the pressure she heeled over,
+letting the great load on her decks roar off in a torrent to leeward,
+over the topgallant rail and waterways. A sea struck her so heavily that
+the larger portion of it went thundering clear across her forty feet of
+deck, landing bodily to leeward as though the ship were below the
+surface. I could hear a bawling coming faintly from the poop and knew
+Trunnell was trying to heave her to. Something fluttered from the mizzen
+rigging and disappeared into the night. Part of a tarpaulin had gone, but
+it was a chance to get another piece large enough on the ratlines to hold
+her head up. I tried to make my way aft again to help, for I saw it was
+about our only hope, and started to crawl along the weather topgallant
+rail. Then a form sprang from the black recess under the forecastle head
+and seized me tightly around the body.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+The suddenness of this attack and the peculiar position I was in when
+seized, put me at a disadvantage. The quick breathing of the man behind
+me, and the strong force he put forward as he rushed me toward the ship's
+side, made me aware that I was in a bad fix. The assassin was silent as
+the grave, save for his panting, but his bearded face against mine was
+visible enough to show me the former captain of the ship.
+
+I was carried half over the rail in an instant by the power of the rush.
+The foam showed beneath me, and for a moment it seemed that the man would
+accomplish his deadly purpose. It was with a horrid feeling of certain
+death before me that I clutched wildly at the forecastle rail. Luckily my
+hand caught it, and I was saved from the dive over the side. Then with
+frantic strength I twisted around enough to seize the fellow, and dropped
+on my knees with a grip around his middle. It was up and down and all
+over that side of the forecastle head for some minutes, until we were
+both getting tired. We were apparently alone forward, and the fight would
+be one of endurance, unless the ruffian happened to have some weapon
+about him.
+
+We struggled on and on in the gloom, with the hurricane roaring over us,
+carrying the spray and drift in a smothering storm into our faces. A hand
+would slip with a wet grip only to take a fresh hold again, and strain
+away to get the other under.
+
+We rolled with the ship and after a particularly hard rally, in which I
+had my hand badly bitten, we eased up near the edge of the forecastle
+head. During this breathing spell I managed to get my foot braced against
+a ring-bolt. This gave me a slight advantage for a sudden push. In an
+instant I shoved with all my might, driving us both to the edge. The
+ruffian saw what was coming and tried to turn, but it was too late. One
+single instant of frantic fighting, half suspended in the air, and then
+over we went, myself on top.
+
+We landed heavily upon the main deck, and the shock, falling even as I
+did upon the body under me, stunned me for several moments. My captain
+lay motionless. Then, when a sudden rush of cool water poured over us, I
+came to my senses and started to my feet. In another moment I had passed
+a line around the desperado, and was dragging him under the lee of the
+windlass, where I finally made him fast to the bitts.
+
+When I started aft again, I found that Trunnell had managed to get a
+tarpaulin into the mizzen rigging, and by the aid of this bit of canvas
+the _Pirate_ had at last headed the sea within five points. It now took
+her forward of the beam and hove her down to her bearings with each roll
+to leeward, the sea breaking heavily across the main deck, keeping the
+waterways waist deep with the white surge. In this rush objects showed
+darkly where they floated from their fastenings until they drifted to a
+water-port and passed on overboard.
+
+I finally managed to dodge the seas enough to get aft alive, though one
+caught me under the lee of the fore rigging and nigh smothered me as it
+poured over the topgallant rail.
+
+Trunnell stood near the break of the poop, and beside him were the
+skipper and third mate. I noticed a look of surprise come upon the young
+officer's face when I came close to them. It was much lighter now, and
+the actions of this young fellow interested me.
+
+"I thought you might have been drowned," he cried, in his high female
+voice, but with a significant tone and look at the last word which was
+not lost on me in spite of the elements.
+
+"Everything is all snug forward," I answered, bawling at the captain, but
+looking fairly at the third mate. "You can let a few men go and rivet
+irons on the convict by the windlass bitts. He seems to have little
+trouble unlocking these." And I held up the unlocked irons I had picked
+up under the forecastle.
+
+As I held the irons under the third officer's nose, he drew back. Then he
+took them and flung them with an impatient gesture over the side into the
+sea. I thought I heard a fierce oath in a deep voice near by, but
+Trunnell and the captain were both staring up at the fringe flying from
+the maintopsail yard, and had evidently said nothing. There was little
+more to do now, for as long as the ship held her head to the sea, she
+would probably ride it out, unless some accident happened.
+
+I was worn out with the exertion from handling canvas and my fracas
+forward, so after bawling out some of the details of the occurrence into
+Trunnell's ear, I took my watch below to get a rest. The men who
+preferred to stay aft clear of the water were allowed to lie down near
+the mizzen. Some took advantage of this permission, but for the most part
+they stood huddled in a group along the spanker boom, ready for a call.
+
+I had made it a rule long ago, when I had first gone to sea, that I would
+never miss a watch below when my turn came if I could be spared with
+convenience. It is a question always with a sailor when he will be called
+to shorten sail for a blow, and the best thing he can do is to keep
+regular hours when he can, and stand by for a crisis when all hands are
+necessary. With a captain it might be different, for the entire
+responsibility rests upon him. He also does not have to stand watch, and
+consequently has no reason to be tired after several hours on deck. But
+with a sailor or mate who stands his four hours off and on, he must take
+care he is not pushed beyond his time, for the occasion will certainly
+come sooner or later when he will have to stand through several watches
+without a rest. Then, if he is already tired out, he will be useless.
+
+I turned in with a strange feeling about the matter forward and the
+third officer's conduct. Although I knew Trunnell would take care that
+the ruffian would not get loose again that night during his watch, I
+took out a heavy revolver from my locker and stuck it under the pillow
+of my bunk. Then I saw that the door and port were fast before I jammed
+myself in for a rest.
+
+I lay a long time thinking over the strange outfit on board, and the more
+I thought over the matter, the more I became convinced that the third
+officer had taken a hand in letting Andrews loose to try his hand on me
+again. There was something uncanny about this officer with a woman's
+voice, and I actually began to have a secret loathing not entirely
+unmixed with fear for him.
+
+When I turned out for the morning watch, Trunnell met me in the alleyway.
+He looked wild and bushy from his exposure to the elements, his hair
+being in snarls and tangles from having a sou'wester jammed over his
+ears, and his great flat nose was red from the irritation of the water
+that struck and streamed over his bearded face. His whiskers gleamed with
+salt in the light of the lamp, and he spat with great satisfaction as he
+breathed the quiet air of the cabin.
+
+"It's letting up, Rolling," he said; "there's a little light to the
+easterd now. Sink me, but we've a job bending gear. Everything gone out
+of her but her spars, and Lord knows how they stand it. How'd you come to
+get caught with all that canvas on her?"
+
+"Look here, Trunnell," I answered, "you know I'm a sailor even if I'm not
+much else, and you know how that canvas came to be on her. I'm almost
+glad it's gone. I would be if it wasn't for the fact that we'll be longer
+than usual on this run, and I've about made up my mind that the quicker a
+decent man gets out of this ship, the better."
+
+I was buttoning up my oilskins while I spoke, and Trunnell smiled a queer
+bit of a smile, which finally spread over his bearded face and crinkled
+up the corners of his little eyes into a network of lines and wrinkles.
+"I heard the outfly," said he, "and I was only joking ye about the
+canvas. It's a quare world. Ye wouldn't think it, but if ye want to see a
+true picture of responsibility a-restin' heavy like upon the digestion of
+a man, ye'll do well to take a good look at the old man a-standin' there
+on the poop. 'What for?' says you; 'God knows,' says me; but there he is,
+without a drop o' licker or nothin' in him since he heard ye bellow fer
+all hands."
+
+"I should think he'd feel a little upset after the way he caught her," I
+answered; "he probably has the owners' interests a little at heart."
+
+But Trunnell shook his head until the water flew around.
+
+"Ye're off agin, me son. It ain't that at all. That man don't care a
+whoop for all the owners livin'. Not he. Sink me, Rolling, I got a big
+head, but nothin' much in it; in spite o' this, though, I knows a thing
+or two when I sees it. That man has some other object in bein' nervous
+about this here hooker besides owners. Don't ask me what it is, 'cause I
+don't know. But I knows what it ain't."
+
+"The whole outfit is queer," I answered, "and the sooner I get out of
+her, the better satisfied I'll be. No decent sailor would ship in the
+craft if he could help it."
+
+Trunnell gave me a queer look. Then he saw I meant no offence and shook
+his great head again.
+
+"Did it ever occur to ye that ye had a duty to do in the world beside
+huntin' soft jobs?"
+
+"Certainly not that of hunting hard ones," I answered, fastening my belt.
+
+Trunnell's face underwent a change. He was serious and waited until I had
+strapped my sou'wester under my chin before saying anything.
+
+"Mebbe I'm wrong, an' mebbe I ain't," he said. "But I believes a man has
+duties to stick to while he's on watch above water. One of these is not
+to turn tail and scud away, a-showin' your stern to every hard thing as
+comes along. No, sir, when ye runs into a hard gang like some o' these
+here aboard this hooker, stick to her, says me. If every man who's honest
+should turn his stern to a wessel that's got a bad name, what would
+happen to her? Why, any suckin' swab of a cabin boy kin tell that she'd
+get worse an' worse with the bad ones what would take your place. Ain't
+that reason? There's got to be some men to man a ship, an' if no honest
+ones will, then the owners can't do less than hire raskils. Ye can't sink
+a ship just because things have happened aboard her. Oh, Lord, no. Think
+a bit, Rolling, an' tell me if ye ain't blamed glad ye ware here, an'
+bein' here, ye must 'a' saved some poor devil of a sailor from getting
+killed this voyage?"
+
+"I'm blamed sorry I ever--"
+
+"Well, now, suppose'n I had a been ashore the day ye had the fracas on
+the main deck. Where'd ye been now, hey? A hunderd fathom deep, sure as
+Andrews is aboard this here ship, if I knows anything o' his ways, an'
+I've sailed two voyages with him afore. No, man; brace up and do yer
+dooty as ye may. If every good man was to stay out of bad ships, they'd
+get so the devil himself would be afeard to go to sea in them."
+
+I smiled at the little fellow. Here was a man, who had the reputation of
+being but little better than an unhung pirate, preaching a most unselfish
+doctrine. We had been below for several minutes, and I could hear the
+captain's voice bawling out some order on the deck overhead. The bells
+were struck by the automatic clock in the cabin, and I turned to go.
+
+"You're a good Christian, anyhow, Trunnell," I said as I started.
+
+Trunnell gave a snort and threw his quid in a corner near a cuspidor. "I
+ain't never seen the inside of a church. I only tries to do the square
+thing to whoever is a-runnin' of the sea outfit--same as ye'll do if
+ye'll take the trouble to think a minit--"
+
+I was out on the deck, and the wind almost blew me into the scuppers. The
+captain was standing right above me on the poop watching the growing
+light in the east. The waist was full of foamy water that roared and
+surged and washed everything movable about. Above, the masts and spars
+looked dark in the dim, gray light of the early morning, the strips of
+canvas stretching away from the jackstays and flicking dismally to
+leeward. All the yards, however, were trimmed nicely, showing Trunnell's
+master hand, and on the mainmast, bellying and straining with the
+pressure, was a new storm spencer, set snug and true, holding the
+plunging vessel up to the great rolling sea that came like a living hill
+from the southwest. Forward, a bit of a staysail was set as taut as a
+drumhead, looking no bigger than a good-sized handkerchief. Aft, a
+trysail, set on the spanker boom, helped the tarpaulin in the mizzen to
+bring her head to the sea.
+
+I climbed up the poop ladder and took a look around.
+
+It was a dismal sight. As far as the eye could reach through the white
+haze of the flying drift the ocean presented a dirty steel-gray color,
+torn into long, ragged streaks of white where the combers rolled on the
+high seas before the gale. Overhead all was a deep blank of gray vapor.
+The wind was not blowing nearly as hard as it had during my last watch on
+deck, but the sea was rolling heavier. It took the _Pirate_ fair on the
+port bow, and every now and again it rose so high above her topgallant
+rail that it showed green light through the mass that would crash over to
+the deck and go roaring white to leeward, making the main deck
+uninhabitable. Sometimes a heavy, quick comber would strike her on the
+bluff of the bow, and the shock would almost knock the men off their
+feet. Then the burst of water would shoot high in the air, going
+sometimes clear to the topgallant yard, nearly a hundred feet above the
+deck, while all forward would disappear in the flying spray and spume.
+
+"Fine weather, Rolling, hey?" bawled the skipper to me as I gained the
+poop.
+
+"Oh, it isn't so bad the way she's taking it now. If she hangs on as
+well as this during the watch, she'll make good weather of it all
+right," I said.
+
+"I'm glad you think so, my son. Just call down to the steward to bring me
+a bracer. Whew, just look at that!"
+
+As he spoke a huge sea rose on the weather bow and bore down on the
+staggering ship. It struck her fair and rolled over her so heavily that I
+had to grab a line to keep from being knocked down. The main deck was
+full of water, and as it roared off through the ports and over the lee
+rail, I looked to see if anything had gone with it. Then I realized how
+well we had been washed during the night.
+
+From the forecastle aft to the poop there was nothing left except the
+hatches and deck-house. The boats were all stove to matchwood except one
+that was lashed on the forward house. The bulwarks were smashed for many
+feet along both sides, but this was no real damage, as it allowed the sea
+to run off easier, relieving the deck of the heavy load. The whole main
+deck, fore and aft, was as clean stripped as could be, and the hatches
+alone were saving us from filling and going under.
+
+It was a dismal sight, and the men who stood huddled on the
+forecastle and poop looked, in their yellow oilskins, like so many
+yellow ghosts. I went aft to the wheel and found that Hans and
+Johnson were steering without much difficulty, although they had all
+they could do to hold her when a sea struck aft. Far astern the light
+seemed to be growing brighter, and while I looked there appeared some
+long streaks in the heavy banks of vapor which showed a break or two.
+I took the glass which hung on the side of the grating and cleaned
+the lens with my hand. Sweeping the storm-torn horizon to the
+southward, nothing showed but rolling seas and haze. I turned the
+glass to the northward, and in a moment I saw a black speck rise and
+then disappear from the line of vision.
+
+"Vessel to lor'ard, sir," I bawled to the captain.
+
+"I don't care for forty vessels, Rolling. Get me that steward with the
+liquor, or there'll be one afloat here without a second mate."
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+It was with no good feeling that I went below to get the old man a drink.
+The steward met me and grinned as he brought forth the liquor.
+
+"Yessah, it's nine ob dem he takes endurin' de watch. Lord, man, he's got
+something pow'rful on his mind. Did yo' ebber feel the heft ob his trunk
+he brought aboard, sah? No, sah, dat yo' didn't. Well, it's pow'rful
+heavy fo' a man's baggage."
+
+"What's in it?" I asked.
+
+"'Deed, I doan know, man, jest what is in it, but I reckon it's something
+what worries him. Dat an' Cap'n Andrews forrads worries him some. Chips,
+he say as dey goes aft an' have matters straightened out a bit. Dey is
+fo' either weldin' irons on de cap'n forrads or puttin' him on de beach.
+Jim, Hans, Bendin, an' Frenchy an' a lot more are fo' doing' somethin'
+with him. Yessah, dey is dat. Hab a leetle nip 'fore yo' goes?"
+
+I took one and went back to the quarter-deck. The speck to leeward showed
+a bit of storm canvas flying, and we soon could make out she was a large
+ship hove to like ourselves on the port tack. Her hull showed now and
+again on the seas, and after drifting down toward her for about an hour,
+the light grew strong enough to make her out plainly. She was a large
+ship, English built, with a turtle-backed stern, painted white on the
+tumble-home of the quarter. Her hull was black, and the foam showed in
+long white lines of streamers as it was blown across her topsides. She
+was making heavy weather of it, and every now and again she would ram her
+nose clear out of sight in the high-rolling sea. Then she would rise
+heavily, with the white water pouring from her dripping forefoot and
+wallow dismally, until her weather rail would appear to roll under.
+
+The stump of a foremast showed forward and a stout maintopsail strained
+away amidships, while aft, where the mizzen should have been, there was
+nothing showing above her deck. Her main topgallant mast was also gone at
+the cross-trees, but the maintopsail held strongly. Altogether she was
+pretty well wrecked aloft.
+
+While we watched her we drew nearer, and when she came within a couple of
+miles I could make out a flag, the English ensign, union down, in the
+main rigging. This showed pretty plainly that she was doing badly and
+wanted help, but it was absolutely useless to think of doing anything for
+her while the wind held and the sea showed no signs of going down.
+
+Being much lighter than she was, we drifted off more, and we came nearer
+and nearer as the morning brightened into a dirty day. In a short time we
+had her close under our lee, not half a mile distant. Indeed, it looked
+as though we might get closer than we wished to. The wind slacked
+gradually, however, and before long we managed to get out our
+main-topmast staysail. Then followed a close-reefed foresail balanced aft
+by the mizzen lower topsail, which we had saved. This, with the spencer
+and canvas already set, gave us a good hold of the ship in spite of the
+sea, and we were ready to wear if necessary. The _Pirate_ drifted much
+faster under the extra canvas and went to leeward so far that we saw that
+she would go clear of the stranger. As we drew near, we now saw how deep
+she sat in the water, the seas rolling over her, amidships, with every
+plunge. Still she headed up well and was under control.
+
+While we gazed, a string of flags fluttered from her yard-arm. I dived
+below for the code and soon read the signal for help. They were sinking.
+
+Trunnell turned out on deck, and we waited to see if Captain Thompson
+would give the word to do anything. He stood near the rail and gazed
+through his glass without saying anything or exhibiting any concern
+whatever for the people we could now see upon the stranger's high poop.
+
+Then he turned to the mate and asked:--
+
+"What does he want, Trunnell?"
+
+"Want's us to stand by him, I reckon," the mate replied.
+
+"Can we do it without danger in this seaway, hey?" demanded Thompson.
+"Answer me that. How the devil can we do anything for a fellow in this
+seaway, when we might be rammed by him and sink ourselves?"
+
+"We'll stand by that ship as long as she's above water," answered
+Trunnell, quietly.
+
+Then came a sudden change upon the captain. He turned upon the mate
+quickly, and his bright, glinting eyes seemed to grow to sharp points
+on either side of his hooked nose, which worked and twitched under
+the excitement. His hand went behind his back and he jerked forth a
+long revolver.
+
+"Who's captain of this here boat, Mr. Trunnell, me or you?" said he, in
+his drawling voice.
+
+"You," answered Trunnell, decisively.
+
+"Do you presume to give any orders here what don't agree with mine?"
+
+"No, sir," said Trunnell.
+
+"Well, just let me hint to you, you bushy-headed little brute, that I
+don't want any suggestions from my mates, see? You little snipe, you!
+what d'ye mean, anyhow, by saying what we'll do?"
+
+Several men standing on the poop to keep clear of the seas in the waist,
+hitched their trousers a little, and felt for the sheath knives in their
+belts. I noticed Jim, the young landsman, pass his hand behind him and
+stand waiting. There was an ominous silence and watchfulness among the
+crew which was not lost on the captain. He had inspired no respect in
+their minds as a sailor, even though he had shown himself fearless. It
+was evident that they were with Trunnell.
+
+"I meant that we would stand by that ship as long as she floated," said
+the little mate, looking straight into the pistol barrel, "and I expected
+that it would be by your orders, sir."
+
+Thompson was not a fool. He saw in an instant how the case was, and his
+glinting eyes took in the whole outfit of men and mates at one glance. He
+may not have wished to help the strangers, but he saw that not to do so
+meant more trouble to himself than if he did.
+
+"This time you expected just right, Trunnell. I mean to stand by those
+people, and I order you to get ropes ready to hoist out the boat we have
+on the house, there. What I don't want and won't have is orders suggested
+by any one aboard here but me. I'm glad you didn't mean to do that, for
+I'd hate to kill you. You can get the boat ready."
+
+Then he put the revolver back into his pocket, and Trunnell went forward
+along the shelter of the weather bulwarks and made ready the tackles for
+hoisting the boat out.
+
+By the aid of the powerful glass I made out a figure of a woman standing
+upon the ship's poop. She appeared to be watching us intently. Soon a
+little sailorly and seaman-like fellow named Ford, whose interest in the
+strange ship was marked, came from the group near the mizzen and asked if
+he should get the signal halyards ready. Thompson made no objection, and
+we bent on the flags which told by the code that we would stand by them
+until the sea went down enough to get out a small boat.
+
+At seven bells the "doctor" managed to get some fire started in the
+galley, and all hands had a drink of hot coffee. This was cheering, and
+Trunnell soon had the watch hard at work getting out new canvas from the
+lazaretto aft. The main deck was getting safer, and although she took the
+sea heavily now and then, she was no longer like a half-tide rock in a
+strong current.
+
+Topsails were hoisted out from below and gantlines bent. By the time all
+hands had eaten something and eight bells had struck, we were ready to
+get up new topsails and start the pumps.
+
+Luckily there was little water below. In spite of the tremendous
+straining the ship had made no more than could be expected, and in a
+little over an hour at the brakes we had the satisfaction of having the
+pumps suck.
+
+All that morning we worked aloft getting new gear up. The British ship
+drew away on our weather beam, wallowing horribly in the seaway. The wind
+died away gradually into a good stiff gale, and by noon we had a break or
+two above us that let down the sunlight. This cheered all hands. A good
+meal with extra coffee was served forward, and I sat down to the cabin
+table with Chips and the steward, to eat ravenously of prime junk and
+preserved potatoes.
+
+"'Tis a quare time ye had ag'in last night, forrads, hey?" said Chips.
+
+"It was interesting for a few minutes," I answered. "I hope you fixed
+the fellow's irons all right. Keys seem to have strange ways aboard
+this vessel."
+
+"Well, ye needn't be afear'd av th' raskil takin' leave ag'in. Sure, an'
+I riveted his irons this time, as will take a file an' no less to cut
+through. I votes we get th' old man to put him aboard th' first ship what
+comes a-heavin' down nigh enough, hey?"
+
+"It would suit me all right," I answered.
+
+"Jim and Long Tom an' Hans an' a whole lot av us have th' matter in
+mind, an' we'll speak wid th' skipper afore long. There's a divil's mess
+below in th' fore-peak, where a barrel has bruk loose that I'll have to
+mix wid first. Be ye a-goin' in th' boat aboard th' stranger whin th'
+sea goes down?"
+
+"I suppose so," I said; "that lot generally falls to a second mate."
+
+"Be sure, thin, ye have th' plug in all right an' th' oars sound, fer th'
+sea will be heavy fer a bad craft, and ye mind th' irons last night."
+
+"I'll just take a look at them before I start. Chips," I said. "Thank you
+for keeping tabs on the skipper."
+
+"It's no great matter," he answered; and then we fell to with a will
+until the meal was finished.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+At three bells in the afternoon the sea had begun to go down enough to
+allow us to get our new topsails on her and a main-topgallantsail. The
+_Pirate_ went smoking through it under the pressure, trembling with each
+surge, and throwing a perfect storm of water over her catheads. The
+English ship was now a mere speck to windward, almost hull down, and we
+would have to beat up to her if we could.
+
+Just how badly she needed help we of course could not tell. If she were
+sinking fast, then she would have to depend upon her own boats, for the
+sea was too heavy until late in the afternoon to venture out in our only
+one left. We could no longer see her signals, but carried all the sail
+possible, without danger of carrying away our spars, in the effort to get
+close to her again.
+
+After standing along for an hour or more we wore ship, and found that we
+could just about get within hailing distance to leeward.
+
+Trunnell had the reef tackles rigged from the main yard, and the
+life-boat was slung clear of the lee rail. Then, watching a chance, she
+was let go with Hans and Johnson in her to keep her clear and dropped
+back to the mizzen channels, where the volunteers were ready to get
+aboard her.
+
+Four men besides myself manned her, and she was instantly let go to keep
+her clear of the sea, which hove her first high on the _Pirate's_
+quarter, and then down until our faces were below the copper on her
+bends. By dint of quick work we shoved her clear, and started on the
+pull, dead to windward.
+
+How small the _Pirate_ looked when we were but a few fathoms distant in
+that sea! Our boat rode the waves nicely without shipping much water, and
+several times I turned to look back at the ship, where Trunnell stood
+beside the skipper, watching us through the glasses, and waiting to pick
+us up on our return. I could see the "doctor's" face above the topgallant
+rail forward and that of Chips in the waist.
+
+It was a long pull. The sea was running high and the wind was still
+blowing a half gale, breaking up the heavy oily clouds into long banks
+between which the sun shone at intervals. It was a good half hour's work
+before we could cover the short distance between the ships.
+
+We came slowly up under her lee quarter, and when we were quite close I
+could see that she was indeed very deep, if not actually sinking. The
+words "Royal Sovereign, Liverpool," were painted in gold letters on her
+stern, and on the circular buoys hanging upon her quarter-rail was the
+same name in black. A group of men stood near the mizzen rigging, and one
+short man with a black sou'wester and blue pilot coat hailed us through a
+large-mouthed trumpet, which almost hid his bearded face.
+
+"Boat ahoy! can you come aboard?" he roared.
+
+"We'll try to come alongside," I bawled. "Stand by to heave a line."
+
+A man had one ready and hove it well out with a yell to catch. Long Tom,
+our lean Yankee sailor, who was pulling bow oar, seized it as it fell
+across and took a turn around a thwart. The oars were shipped and we fell
+under the vessel's stern, riding the seas without mishap.
+
+"We're sinking," cried the short man, who was the captain. "Can you take
+some of us with you?"
+
+"Aye, aye; get them aboard here as quick as you can," came the answer.
+
+There was no time lost now. Men swarmed toward the taffrail, and for an
+instant it looked as if there would be something of a panic. The short
+skipper, however, flung them aside without ceremony, and the next instant
+a female figure appeared at the rail.
+
+"Haul easy," came the order. Hans and Tom pulled in the line slowly until
+the boat's bow was leading almost directly beneath the ship's stern. A
+bridle was rigged from the spanker boom and made fast to a life buoy.
+Then the lady who had appeared at the taffrail was slung in it rather
+uncomfortably and carefully lowered away. She was seized by one of the
+men forward, and handed aft to me.
+
+The woman was quite young. She was slightly built, and I supported her
+easily until she was safely in the stern sheets. A few strands of curly
+blond hair blew across my face, and gave me a most peculiar feeling as I
+brushed them aside. Then she turned up her face, and I saw that she had
+most beautiful eyes, soft and gentle, with a trusting look, such as one
+sees in children.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Sailorman," she said, with a smile. "I'm all right now."
+
+"Except, perhaps, for a little wetting, you will stay so, I hope,"
+I answered.
+
+A heavy woman was being lowered away, and Hans caught her boldly around
+the body, trying to keep her from being thrown out of the tossing small
+boat. She shrieked dismally.
+
+"Don't be silly, mamma," cried the young lady aft. "You've been squeezed
+tighter than that before, I am sure."
+
+She was passed aft and took her place beside her daughter in the stern,
+expostulating incoherently at the younger one's insinuations.
+
+Then followed a little man, short and stout, who was evidently the ship's
+carpenter, and he was followed by a dozen sailors.
+
+"Haven't you any boats that will swim?" I asked of the mate, who hung
+over the rail above me.
+
+"We're getting them out now," he answered.
+
+"Then let us go. We've got a big enough load already."
+
+In a few moments we were on our way back to the _Pirate_, making good
+headway before the wind and sea, and shipping little water.
+
+The men explained as we went along that the _Sovereign_ had started a
+butt during the gale, and she was full of water by this time. They had
+kept at the pumps all day, but had given it up when they saw we were
+coming for them. The ship's cargo of oil and light woods from the
+peninsula had kept her from going to the bottom. She was homeward bound
+to Liverpool, and it was the captain's wife and daughter we were bringing
+aboard. The hurricane had caught them aback and dismasted them during the
+night, and after six hours of plunging helplessly into the sea without
+anything but the mainmast and stump of the foremast above the deck, she
+had sprung a leak and filled rapidly. The maintopsail they had bent in
+the morning after extraordinary exertion, and with this they had managed
+to keep her partly under control.
+
+"She will never go to the bottom with all the soft wood she has in her,"
+said a sailor who was old and grizzled and had the bearing of a
+man-of-war's man. "She can't sink for months. The water is up to her
+lower deck already."
+
+"So that's the reason you were not getting your boats out in a
+hurry?" I asked.
+
+"Sure," said he; "I'd as soon stay in her a bit longer as in many a
+bleedin' craft that you sees a-goin' in this trade."
+
+"I noticed you were one of the first to leave her," said the young girl,
+with some spirit.
+
+"Ah, mum, when you gets along in life like me, hardships is not good for
+the constitootion. A sailorman, 'e gets enough o' them without huntin'
+any more. Howsumever, if I see any chance o' gettin' the bleedin' craft
+in port 'way out here in this Hindian Ocean, I'd be the last to leave.
+Bust me, mum, if that ain't the whole truth, an' a little more besides.
+You ask your pa."
+
+Here he gave a sigh, and drew his hand across his forehead as if in pain.
+His large pop eyes blinked sadly for a few moments, and his mouth dropped
+down at the corners. Then his mahogany-colored face became fixed and his
+gaze was upon the craft he had just deserted. What was in the old
+fellow's mind? I really felt sorry for him, as he sat there gazing sadly
+after his deserted home. Captain Sackett would stay aboard until the
+last, his wife informed us, but as there was no necessity of any one
+staying now, if their boats could live in the sea that was still running,
+it was probable that they would all be aboard us before night. Jenks, the
+old sailor, gave it as his opinion that they would have the boats out in
+half an hour.
+
+We came up under the lee of the _Pirate_ and then began the job of
+getting our passengers aboard her.
+
+Trunnell passed a line over the main-brace bumpkin, and held the tossing
+craft away from the ship's side until a bridle could be bent and the
+ladies hoisted aboard.
+
+Mrs. Sackett trembled violently and begged that she would not be killed,
+much to her daughter's amusement. Finally she was landed on deck, where
+she was greeted by the third mate and escorted aft. Miss Sackett was of
+different stuff. She insisted that she could grab the mizzen channel
+plates and climb aboard. I begged her to desist and be hoisted on deck
+properly, but she gave me such a look that I held back and refrained from
+passing the line about her. As the boat lifted on a sea she made a spring
+for the channel. Her hand caught it all right, but her foot slipped, and
+as the boat sank into the hollow trough she was left hanging.
+
+Trunnell instantly sprang over the side, and letting himself down upon
+the channel, seized her hand and lifted her easily to a footing. The
+ship rolled down until they were knee deep in the sea, but the little
+mate held tight, and then, with one hand above his head, as she rose
+again, he lifted his burden easily to the grasp of Jim, who reached over
+the side for her.
+
+After she was landed safely the men crowded up the best way they could,
+and the boat was dropped astern with a long painter to keep her clear of
+the ship's side.
+
+Captain Thompson greeted his female passengers awkwardly. He declared in
+a drawling tone that he was 'most glad that their boat was wrecked,
+inasmuch as it had given him the opportunity to meet the finest ladies he
+had ever set eyes on.
+
+"May the devil grasp me in his holy embrace, madam," said he, "if I am
+lying when I says that word. It is my most pious thought, says I."
+
+Mrs. Sackett was somewhat taken aback at this candor, but managed to keep
+her feelings well hidden. Her daughter came to the rescue. "We appreciate
+your noble efforts, Captain Thompson. The fact is, we have heard so much
+about your gallantry in saving life at sea that we are sure anything we
+could say would sound weak in comparison to what you must already have
+heard. If you have a spare stateroom, we would be very thankful if we
+might have it for a time, as our clothes are quite wet from the sea."
+
+The skipper was somewhat surprised at the young girl's answer, but he hid
+his confusion by bawling for the steward.
+
+When the mulatto came, he gave numerous orders in regard to bunks, linen,
+drying of clothes, etc., regretting over and over again that he was a
+single man, and consequently had no wife from whom he could borrow
+wearing apparel while that of his guests was drying.
+
+The third mate, also, took pains to be very civil to them, and his soft
+voice could be heard in conversation with Miss Sackett long after they
+had gone below.
+
+I went forward and interviewed the men we had rescued, afterward getting
+the "doctor" to serve them something hot, as their galley fire had been
+out many hours and they had been eating nothing but ship's bread.
+
+The _Pirate_ waited all the afternoon with her canvas shortened down to
+her lower topsails to keep her from forging ahead too fast. But even when
+it grew dark and the British ship could no longer be clearly made out,
+her skipper had not gotten out his boats. It was evident that he would
+try to save her if possible, and now that his family were safe he cared
+little for the risk. Captain Thompson still held the _Pirate_ hove to
+under easy canvas, drifting slowly with the wind, which was now no more
+than a moderate breeze. The sea, also, was going down fast, and the sky
+was showing well between the long lines of greasy-looking clouds which
+appeared to sail slowly away to the northeast. The night fell with every
+prospect of good weather coming on the following day.
+
+I went on deck in the dog-watch and took a look around. The _Sovereign_
+was a mere blur on the horizon, but her lights shone clearly.
+
+"We'll stand by her all night," said Trunnell, "and then if the
+skipper doesn't care to leave her,--which he will, however,--we'll
+stand away again."
+
+There was little to do, so the watch lounged around the deck and rested
+from the exertion of the past twenty-four hours. Chips told me I had
+better come forward after supper and take a smoke in his room, for they
+were going to come to some conclusion about the fellow Andrews. There had
+been some talk of putting him aboard the English ship, and if we could
+get the captain to agree to it, it would be done.
+
+I loafed around until I saw a light between the crack of his door and the
+bulkhead. Then I slid it back, and entered.
+
+The stuffy little box was full of men. The bos'n, a large man named
+Spurgen, who had quite a swagger for a merchant sailor, was holding forth
+to the quartermaster, Hans, on nautical operations.
+
+"An' how'd ye do if ye had an anchor atween, decks widout nothin' to
+hoist it out wid?" he was saying as I came in.
+
+Hans affirmed, with many oaths, that he'd let the "bloody hancor go
+bloomin' well to the bottom before he'd fool wid it." This made the bos'n
+angry, and he opened with a fierce harangue, accompanied by a description
+of the necessary manoeuvres. He also made some remarks relating to the
+quartermaster's knowledge of things nautical.
+
+I took occasion to look about the little room while this was going on and
+my fingers warmed up some. I then seated myself on a corner of the chest
+near Chips to make myself easy, during which time the bos'n had gained
+sufficient ground to enforce silence upon his adversary, and relinquish
+the subject of anchors. Then came a pause during which I could
+distinguish the "doctor's" voice above the mutterings, and get a whiff of
+my own tobacco out of the haze.
+
+"--five fat roaches; they'll cure you every time," he was saying to
+Chips. "It's old man Green's sure remedy, sah, yes, sah. I hearn him tole
+his ole mate, Mr. Gantline, when he sailed in the West Coast trade."
+
+"Faith, ye may stave me, shipmate, but that would be an all-fired tough
+dish to swallow," the carpenter declared, with a wry face. "Supposen
+they didn't die? They would make a most eternal disagreeable cargo
+shiftin' about amongst your ribs. May the devil grab me, ye moke, if I
+wouldn't rather swell up an' bust wid th' scurvy than swallow them
+fellows kickin'."
+
+"Bile 'em, white man," said the cook. "Bile 'em in er pint er water--an'
+then fling 'em overboard. Who the debble would eat er roach?"
+
+"Right ye are, shipmate," assented Chips; "'tis an aisy enough dose to
+take if all ye do is to throw th' critters to lor'ard. Sink me, though,
+if I sees th' benefit av a medicine ye fling to David Jones instead av
+placin' it to th' credit av yer own innerds."
+
+"Yah, yah, Mr. Chips, but you beats me. Yes, sah, you beats me, but yer
+haid is thick. Yes, sah, yer haid is thick ernuff, yah, yah," laughed the
+"doctor." "What would yer do but drink the water, white man? yes, sah,
+drink the water for the acid in the critter. It's salt in yer blood makes
+scurvy, from libbin' so long er eatin' nuffin' but salt junk. Lime juice
+is good, ef the ole man gives it to yer straight, but he nebber does. No,
+sah, dat he nebber do. It's too expensive. Anyways, it doan' hab no
+strength like er roach, ner no sech freshness, which am de main pint
+after all."
+
+Seeing himself out of the talk, and having completely growled down the
+quartermaster, the bos'n started another subject. This was a tirade
+against bad skippers and crimps who stood in too thick with the shipping
+commissioners, and whom he swore were in league with each other and the
+devil. He was an old sailor, and his seamed face was expressive when
+launching into a favorite subject. Here was Jim's chance, and he spoke
+out. "Whatever became of Jameson, what was took off by Andrews?" he
+asked Chipps.
+
+"Was he doped?" I asked.
+
+"Didn't ye niver hear tell from O'Toole an' Garnett? They was Andrews's
+mates for a spell, until th' Irishman, God bless him, knocked him
+overboards an' nearly killed him in a scuffle on th' India Docks."
+
+"Cast loose; I want to hear," said the bos'n.
+
+There was a moment's silence, and Chips looked at me as though
+questioning the senior officer of his watch. Then he fixed himself
+comfortably on the chest by jamming himself against the bulkhead, locking
+his hands about his knees, blowing smoke in a thick cloud.
+
+I heard the hail of Trunnell from the bridge during this pause, asking
+about a t'gallant leach-line. Thinking it well to take a look out, I did
+so to see if the men obeyed his orders, and found them rather slow
+slacking the line. This made it necessary for me to take a hand in
+matters and instil a little discipline among them, which kept me on deck
+for some minutes.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+When I had a chance to slip back into the forward house, Chips had
+already "cast loose" and was in full swing.
+
+"There ain't no use of tellin' everything one sees aboard ship," he was
+saying, "for you know whin things happen on deep water th' world ain't
+much th' wiser fer hearing about them. There ain't no telegraphs, an'
+th' only witnesses is the men concerned--or the wimmen. The men may or
+mayn't say a thing or two after getting the run av th' beach, but as
+th' critters have to wait half a year afore getting there, the news av
+th' occurrence wears off an' regard for the effects on th' teller takes
+place. It's just as often as not th' men keep mum. You know that as
+well as I do.
+
+"This same Andrews as is forrads in irons was running the _Starbuck_ with
+Jameson as mate, an' old Garnett as second under him. Ye all know that
+old pirit. But this time he didn't have any hand in Andrews's game.
+Andrews wanted to marry the girl Jameson had, an' whin he found he had
+lost her he played his devil's trick.
+
+"Jameson hadn't been married a week afore Andrews took him around b' th'
+foot av Powell Street in 'Frisco an' set up some drinks. That's the last
+any one sees av Jameson fer a year or more on th' West Coast, fer whin he
+comes to, he was at sea on that old tank, th' _Baldwin_, an' old man
+Jacobs would as soon have landed him on th'moon as put him ashore."
+
+"A purty bloomin' mean trick," interrupted the bos'n.
+
+"Th' poor divil did have a hard time av it, fer he wasn't a very fierce
+sort o' chap. He ware a gentil spoken, kind-hearted feller, an' ye know
+well enough how a man what isn't made of iron wud git along wid Jacobs or
+his mates. They hazed him terrible; an', as they ware one hundred an'
+seventy days an' nights to Liverpool, he took the scurvy. Ye can reckon
+what was left av him afterwards. Whin he left th' hospital, he was glad
+enough to ship on a Chilean liner to get even as far to the West Coast as
+Valparaiso.
+
+"He ware aboard this Dago, puttin' in, whin he saw th' _Starbuck_
+standin' out o' th' harbor. His wife ware on th' quarter-deck--"
+
+"That's the way with most women," snarled the bos'n, interrupting.
+
+"I don't know about that," continued Chips. "You see, after he had been
+gone a few months, an' Andrews had been hangin' around all th' time
+gettin' in his pisonous work, she began to have a little faith in th'
+villain. It wasn't long afore he convinced her Jameson had deserted, fer
+he proved fair enough he had shipped aboard th' _Baldwin_, without so
+much as saying good-by. There ware plenty of men to back him on that,
+includin' th' boatman what rowed them aboard. Finally, partly by
+blandanderin' an' a-feelin' around, fer th' poor gal ware now alone in
+th' world, he got her to step aboard th' bleedin' hooker _Starbuck_ the
+day he ware ready for sea. Thin he jest stood out--an'--an'--well, after
+they'd been out six months th' matter ended as far as Jameson ware
+concerned.
+
+"Jameson took the news hard whin he got th' run av th' beach, but he was
+that kindly disposed chap an' went along th' best he could until th' war
+broke out. He ware still waitin' at Valparaiso whin they drafted him
+into the Dago army, an' he was lucky enough to be on th' side what got
+licked. Then there ware no use waitin' there fer th' _Starbuck_ to come
+in again, so he made a slant for Peru as they niver took no pris'ners.
+Two weeks afterwards Andrews came in again fer nitrates wid Garnett an'
+O'Toole fer mates--"
+
+"Lucky fer Andrews he wasn't there," said the bos'n; "he'd have had his
+ornery hide shot full of holes."
+
+"What's th' use av ye talking like a fool?" said Chips. "Is shootin' up a
+feller a-goin' to undo a wrong like that? Th' shootin' was all done on
+th' other side, an' Andrews is sound yet an' aboard this here ship. Some
+men think av other things besides revenge. Especially kind-hearted
+fellers like Jameson what niver cud hurt no one. As soon as some av
+Jameson's friends who knew of th' affair told his wife, she wint right
+into th' cabin where Andrews was, an' afore he knew what she ware up to,
+she had shot herself. Andrews paid her funeral expenses, an' buried her
+in th' little Dago cemetery out forninst th' city gate. An' thin Garnett,
+who didn't know av his skipper's diviltry, sware vengeance on th' husband
+who deserted her, fer she ware gentil and kind wid th' men forrads."
+
+Here Chips paused and gave me a sidelong look as he refilled his pipe.
+Then he lit it and smiled hopefully.
+
+"They ware a quare pair, them mates, Garnett an' O'Toole," he said. "What
+one wasn't th' other was, and _wice wersa_. They lay there two months
+loadin' on account o' th' war having blocked th' nitrate beds.
+
+"Wan day O'Toole saw an old woman come limpin' along th' dock where th'
+_Starbuck_ lay. She hobbled on to th' gang-plank an' started aboard, an'
+O'Toole began to chaff Garnett. He waren't half bad as a joker.
+
+"''Pon me whurd, Garnett,' sez he, 'I do belave your own mother is comin'
+aboard to visit ye--but no, maybe it's yer swateheart, fer ye have an
+uncommon quare taste, ye know. B' th' saints, ye ware always a bold one
+fer th' ladies.'
+
+"We ware lying in th' next berth, not twenty feet away, an' from where I
+sat on th' rail I cud hear thim talk an' see what was a-goin' on.
+
+"'Stave me,' says old Garnett, solemn like, 'that's true enough. Sink her
+fer a fool, though, to be a-comin' down here to win back an old
+windjammer like me--What? ye mean that old hag driftin' along the deck?
+Blast you for a red-headed shell-back, d'ye s'pose I'd take up wid wimmen
+av your choice? No, I never makes a superior officer jealous;' an' wid
+that he takes out his rag an' mops th' dent in th' top av his head where
+there's no hair nor nothin' but grease, an' he draws out his little
+pestiverous vial av peppermint salts an' sniffs.
+
+"'Faith, an' ye'll need to clear yer old head, ye owld raskil, ye've been
+too gay fer onct,' says O'Toole.
+
+"She ware a tough-lookin' old gal, an' her hat brim flopped over her
+face. O'Toole met her an' pointed to Garnett.
+
+"'If it's th' leddy-killer av th' fleet ye're afther, there he Stan's.'
+
+"Th' old woman looked an' stopped.
+
+"'No,' says she, in a sort o' jangled tone, 'eets my little gal I looks
+fer--she's aboard here wid th' capt'in,'
+
+"'Ye can't see her,' says Garnett, 'an' ye better get ashore afore I
+calls one av thim Dago soldiers to carry ye off an' marry ye.'
+
+"I cud jest get th' glint av th' old woman's eyes, then she bent her
+head lower.
+
+"'E--eets my leetle gal I must see,' an' there was somethin' in her voice
+that made one pay attention, 'twas so deep an' solemn like. I ware
+listening an' a few soldiers av th' army what was camped in th' town came
+up an' stopped an' looked on.
+
+"'She ware a good leetle gal--an' I cared for her--Yes, by God, she ware
+a good gal,' said th' old one, hoarsely.
+
+"I cud see O'Toole turn away his head an' Garnett sniff hard at his vial.
+'Twas good, he used to say, fer things in th' head. Thin he turned to th'
+old woman.
+
+"'Ye better get ashore, old gal, she ain't aboard here. We don't take
+thim kind on deep water.'
+
+"'I must see her afore I goes,' says th' old woman, an' her voice ware a
+whisper that died away, but ware so full av force O'Toole turned to her.
+
+"'Was it Mrs. Jameson ye wished to see?' he asked.
+
+"The old woman nodded.
+
+"'Well--er--faith, an' she--er,' an' thin he stopped to look at Garnett.
+
+"'She had an accident, by yer lave, 'bout a month ago. How was it ye
+niver hearn tell? Waren't ye here whin th' old man brought her ashore?'
+
+"'I come from 'Frisco,' says she.
+
+"'Well, I s'pose ye might as well know now as niver,' O'Toole blurted
+out; 'she's dead, owld woman. Been dead a month gone. Th' old man buried
+her dacent like, fer, as ye say, she ware a rale good gal, 'pon me whurd,
+fer a fact, she ware that. 'Tis hard to tell ye, but it's th' truth, th'
+whole truth, an' divil a bit besides.'
+
+"While he talked th' old woman's head went lower, and whin he finished,
+she gave a hard gasp. Thin she stood huddled forninst th' deck-house, an'
+Garnett started forward to th' men at work stevin' th' last av th' cargo.
+
+"All av a sudden like I saw her raise her face an' spit a button from her
+mouth. Her eyes ware starin' an' lookin' at th' hill away off t' th'
+eastward av th' town an' beyant to th' great southern mountings av th'
+Andes range. Thin she slowly straightened up an' walked wid a firm step
+along th' deck an' th' gang-plank.
+
+"Th' soldier men made way for her on th' dock, but she looked straight
+beyant her nose an' held her way firm an' strong until she went out av
+sight, lavin' O'Toole starin' after her.
+
+"''Pon me whurd, Garnett,' he called, ''tis a most wonderful
+thing, look!'
+
+"''Tis a mother's love, ye haythen; 'pon me whurd, there's nothin' else
+like it. See how th' news affected th' poor old crayther. It puts me in
+mind av the time whin I had an old leddy t' look after me. 'Tis a rale
+jewil av a thing, an' a man only has it th' onct.'
+
+"'More's th' pity,' says Garnett. 'Sink ye, but ye sure are a tough one
+to tell th' old gal on so short notice. But ye niver did have no
+feelin's, ye bloomin' heathen.'
+
+"''Pon me sowl, what cud I do else?'
+
+"'O' course, 'tain't likely a rough feller like you could do any better,
+but whin any wimmen folks come aboard agin, come to a man as is used to
+thim. A man as can talk an' act in a way they likes. A man wid some ways
+to him. A man--' Here he stooped an' picked up th' button th' old gal
+had dropped.
+
+"'Where did this come from?' he asked.
+
+"'She had it in her mouth,' says O'Toole.
+
+"'Well, it's one av th' buttons off a uniform that ain't healthy to be
+wearin' around these parts just now.' An' then they both looked hard at
+th' little thing.
+
+"'D'ye s'pose it cud have been?' asked O'Toole.
+
+"'Been what?' says Garnett.
+
+"'Jameson, ye blatherin' ijiot. Jameson, th' same as left his wife,
+a-comin' here huntin' for her. 'Twas so, fer a fact. He had it in his
+mouth to kape us from knowin' his voice, an' by th' same tokin, I calls
+to mind th' chokin' in his throat, the scand'lous owld woman he was.'
+
+"'Stave me, but ye might have been right for onct in yer life, so bear a
+hand an' let's stand away after him an' ketch th' old leddy an' see,'
+says Garnett.
+
+"They started off without listenin' to my hail, so I climbed down to th'
+dock an' follows. It was evenin' now, an' th' street was crowded, but
+they pushed along ahead av me.
+
+"Ye see it ware Jameson, sure enough, an whin he heard his wife ware
+dead, he wint up that street like a man in a dream. He forgot all about
+his dress, an' his face ware hard set like a man thinkin' over th' past.
+He had some five minutes' start av th' mates, an' whin a poor beggar
+woman spoke to him he scared her half to death with his voice when he
+asked her th' way to th' cemetery. Thin he remembered his disguise,
+stepped into a doorway, pulled off th' dress an' hat an' flung thim to
+th' old beggar woman, an' went his way.
+
+"Garnett an' O'Toole came along a few minutes later an' saw th' beggar.
+
+"'There he is. That's him,' sung out the old sailor, pintin' to th' old
+gal walkin' along wid her rags tied in a bundle tucked under her arm, fer
+she had made shift to change thim fer Jameson's slops.
+
+"''Pon me whurd, ye're right fer onct agin,' says O'Toole.
+
+"'Well, don't go a-spoilin' th' thing this time. Let me sail inter him,
+an' if I wants yer, I'll sing out, an' ye can bear a hand an' help.'
+Garnett swung across th' street to overhaul th' old woman, an' came up
+behind her.
+
+"'Evenin', old lady, I wants to have a talk wid ye;' an' he lays his hand
+on her shoulder wid a grip to take a piece av flesh out. She stopped an'
+turned quick.
+
+"'_Caramba_!' she yells; 'I teach ye to insult a dacent old lady, you
+Yankee dog. Help! Murder! ye bloody raskil! Help, help!' Thin she ware
+upon him like a wild cat, a clawin' an' bitin', screechin' and yellin'.
+
+"'Sink you for a bloody scoundrel, Jameson, I knows ye,' roared Garnett.
+'Larry, there, bear a hand. I have him.'
+
+"'Hold him thin, ye brave man,' sings out O'Toole, comin' up. 'Go it,
+owld gal, give it to him. 'Tis a leddy-killer he is fer sure, 'pon me
+whurd, fer a fact. Claw him, bite him, even though he's as tough as
+nails. Yell him deaf, owld leddy. Do it fer his mether's sake, th'
+scand'lous owld rake he is. Get his year in yer teeth an' hold on, fer
+'tis a leddy-killer ye have in yer hands at last. Whang his hide off!
+Whang him! Whang him!' An' I thought th' old raskil would die av laffin'.
+
+"We ware crowdin' around thim to see th' fun, an' th' way that old gal
+whanged an' lammed, an' lammed an' whanged, wud have brung tears to yer
+eyes. 'Twas too much fer human natur' to stan', an' so away goes Garnett
+down th' street as fast as his bow-legs can git him over th' beach, wid
+his sheets slacked off a-runnin' free, an' likewise, b' th' same tokin,
+away squares th' old leddy wid her skysails set an' everythin' drawin'
+'cept her skirts, which she holds b' th' clews an' bunts.
+
+"'After him! Catch th' blackguard!' bawls O'Toole, rolling on th'
+pavement, laffin' an' bawlin'.
+
+"That old beggar was clipper built, fer sure, for wid her skirts clewed
+up she ware bearin' down fast on th' old mate an' kept his bow-legs
+a-lurchin' afore th' crowd a-comin' along in th' wake a-yellin' an'
+hootin' like mad. A man jumped out to stop him, but I knowed Garnett
+would niver stop this side o' th' gangway av his ship, an' sure 'nuff,
+out flashes his hand an? th' Dago rolls over an' over. They yelled harder
+than ever, an' Garnett had to shake out another reef afore he could make
+th' gang-plank, an' get aboard. He managed to get below jest as some
+soldiers rushed up. Th' noise brought Andrews on deck in time to get men
+to keep th' crowd off his ship, an' thin O'Toole comes up.
+
+"'What's th' row?' he bawls to th' mate, but O'Toole ware laffin' so he
+couldn't spake a whurd. Finally he got it out.
+
+"'Faith, 'tis th' leddy-killer av th' fleet, Garnett, at his owld game,'
+sez he. ''Pon me whurd, 'tis a hangin' matter this time, fer th' damage
+he's done th' sex. He ware--' but he bruk down afore he could finish.
+
+"'Twas five minits afore he could tell what had happened, th' old gal
+cussin' an' swearin' an' th' crowd a-hootin' an' jeerin', but finally th'
+skipper got some soldiers to carry th' old gal away. Thin out comes
+Garnett on th' main deck a-smellin' av his little vial, but avoidin' av
+th' skipper's eye.
+
+"'What th' devil did ye mean?' asked Andrews; 'did ye take her to be
+Jameson in disguise?'
+
+"''Pon me whurd,' says O'Toole, 'th' first wan that comes aboard was no
+other--an' this one looked enough like him from a stern view. 'Tis a bad
+trade, though, this killin' av leddies.' An' he leered so at Garnett he
+swore horrible an' went forrads.
+
+"I ware standin' close enough to catch th' glint in Andrews' eye whin
+this ware said, but he took no notice an' went ashore, an' as I followed
+after him he was thinkin' hard."
+
+Here Chips spat quietly into the corner, fingered his pipe, and rammed
+the ash down. Then he looked up at the light, and a different
+expression came upon him. The bos'n's smile died away, and all sat
+listening for the finish. Far forward sounded the cries of men dressing
+down the head sheets.
+
+"I hadn't much to do," continued Chips, softly, "so I walked on an' saw
+him stop at a flower stand an' buy a bunch av roses. I wint across to th'
+cemetery where th' trees are good to look at an' th' grass is green as
+th' sea nigh th' States. I hadn't gone far whin I sees a man standin'
+nigh a grave wid another man lyin' on it. I couldn't tell who th' men
+ware till I came close, fer 'twas now gettin' dark. Thin when Andrews
+stooped an' lifted th' head av th' one lyin' down, I saw them both plain
+enough. Jameson's head made me feel sick wid th' horror av it. Whin I
+spoke, Andrews let th' poor fellow sink back again, an' as I stood
+alongside I saw th' flowers th' skipper had bought lyin' on th' grave
+nigh th' hand av poor Jameson, which still held his pistil. Th' old man
+said nothin', but there ware a hard look in his eyes as I saw him lookin'
+at th' tops av th' big Chilean mountings where th' sunken sun made them a
+bloody red. He ware thinkin' hard, an' seemed to be watchin' a flock av
+vultures a-comin' over th' range, stringin' out in a long line av black
+specks. Thin all av a sudden he stooped an' picked up the flowers an'
+placed thim gentle like on th' head av the grave--'twas the only gentil
+thing I iver knew him to do--an' thin walked away without a word. That's
+th' last I saw av him until I shipped aboard here, for he cleared from
+Valparaiso th' next day."
+
+"An' this is the beggar we're taking back to the States to be skipper of
+some American ship, maybe this same one, if he gets clear of the killing
+of his quartermaster off Melbourne," said the bos'n.
+
+"An' that's the reason, by your leave, Mr. Rolling," said Jim, "I say
+it's best to go back again and deliver this man up to the proper
+authorities."
+
+"As far as I'm concerned," I answered, "I would just as soon see him safe
+where the wind won't annoy him; but I'm not the skipper, and if you want
+to get any satisfaction you'll have to go aft."
+
+"We did," said the bos'n; "we asked the old man, but he wouldn't hear of
+it, and Trunnell is with him."
+
+"Trunnell is with him because he thinks it right," said Jim, with a
+shrewd look at me; "but if you were to try to persuade him, I believe he
+would come around all right."
+
+"Why fo' not put him abo'ad the English ship, sah," put in the "doctor."
+"I votes we ax the ole man to put 'im abo'ad her."
+
+All were agreeable to this proposition and decided to go aft the first
+thing in the morning watch. Jim stuck out for going back.
+
+"If you were to go with us, Mr. Rolling, we might persuade
+Trunnell," said he.
+
+"It's no use, he never would--" Before we could continue the discussion
+further the bells struck out loudly, and the bos'n and I went on deck for
+our watch.
+
+It was a fine, clear night, and I was glad to get the course from the
+mate and walk fore and aft on the weather side of the poop to enjoy it.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+
+The morning dawned calm and beautiful. The heavy, oily swell, which still
+ran from the effects of the blow, moved in long, smooth humps upon the
+sea. Far to the eastward the light of the rising sun tinted the cirrus
+clouds above with a rosy hue.
+
+I was quite tired from the effects of the gale, and the morning watch is
+always a cheerless one. The steward had coffee ready, however, and after
+a good drink I felt better, and got out the glass to see if I could make
+out the _Sovereign_. We had been drifting all night, so that in the
+mid-watch Trunnell wore ship and stood up for her to keep in sight. There
+she lay, about three miles away off our port beam. Her topsail was the
+only canvas she had set, and she was so low in the water that I could not
+see her deck amidships at that distance. All except a little of her high
+poop appeared to be under, or so low that it was invisible. I wondered
+why her captain had not put off sooner, and I knew that as soon as
+Thompson came on deck he would be in a fury at his having waited so long.
+There was not a breath of air now, so we were certain to be in company
+for several hours at least.
+
+While I looked over the expanse of heaving ocean I saw a black spot
+between the ships. In a moment I made out a boat rising and falling,
+propelled by four oars, and headed for us. Sometimes she would disappear
+behind a high lump of sea and then she would be on top, and I made out
+she was coming along right handily.
+
+As she drew nearer I made her out to be full of men. She came up under
+our mizzen channels and hailed. Half the watch was bending over the side
+looking at her, and one man threw a line. This was seized, and the next
+moment her crew came clambering over the rail.
+
+Jenks, the old sailor who had come over in the boat with me the day
+before, was on deck to receive his shipmates. The old fellow's face
+wrinkled with amusement at the sight of his worn-out countrymen until it
+looked like the slack of a bellows. There was an unholy twinkle in his
+eye as he greeted them.
+
+On the boarding of the officer of the boat, a tall Englishman who was the
+ship's mate, the man Jenks stopped his pleasantry at the tired crew's
+expense, but it was too late. He was ordered into the boat, with three
+other men who were fresh, to be sent away for the remaining men on the
+ship. Then the officer mounted the poop just as Captain Thompson emerged
+from below.
+
+The officer bowed and touched his hat deferentially, but the skipper
+stood looking at him out of his glinting eyes, while his nose worked
+and twitched.
+
+"Don't seem to be in much of a hurry, hey?" said our captain, with
+his drawl.
+
+"We've been working steadily all night at the pumps, sir, hopin' to
+keep her afloat, sir. The old man--I beg pardon, Captain Sackett,--says
+as he'll not abandon her while she swims. The rest of us have
+permission to go, sir."
+
+"Is her cargo of any particular value, then?"
+
+"Yes, sir. It's palm oil and valuable woods. There's eight hundred
+barrels of palm oil in her, and the captain's got his all--every cent he
+has in the world. He won't leave her."
+
+"Do you know what you resemble, hey?" said our skipper, dryly.
+
+"I do not, sir."
+
+"Well, I don't want to hurt the feelings of a poor, shipwrecked sailor,
+nor insinuate nothing sech as no gentleman ought. No, sirree. You are my
+guest aboard here, and damned welcome to you. At the same time, if I ware
+telling anybody as to what kind of a fellow you was, I should
+say,--yessir, after thinking the matter over carefully, and taking all
+points into consideration,--I might say that I thought ye an all-around
+white-livered, cowardly cuss, an' that's a fact."
+
+The English mate turned red. He started to say something, and then
+checked himself. Finally he blurted out:--
+
+"I've heard tell of some Yankee skippers who've given a bad name to your
+infernal shipping, an' I reckon I've run up against one. But no fear! I
+recognize you as our saviour, an' won't say a word, sir. The retort
+courteous, as the saying is, would be a crack on the jaw of such a
+fellow, but I don't say as I'll do it, sir. There's some fellows as needs
+rippin' up the back, but you bein' captain of this here ship, I won't say
+who they is, sir. No, sir, I won't say who they is, or nothin'. I just
+ask that I be sent back aboard the _Sovereign_. The boat ain't gone yet,
+and, by the Lord, I'll drown before I get into a ship like this."
+
+"Well, by hookey, you won't, then," snarled the captain; "you'll stay
+aboard this boat. A man that's born to be hung mustn't be drowned. Hey,
+there, Rolling," he bawled, looking forward to where I stood, "get out
+the boat and go with those fellows. Get all the rest afeard to stay
+aboard, and come back. We won't stay here all day waiting for a lot of
+fellows too afeard to know what they want."
+
+The noise of the talking brought a female figure to the combings of the
+companionway, and as the skipper finished, Miss Sackett stood on deck.
+
+The mate of the _Sovereign_ greeted her, and told of her father's
+determination to stay aboard his ship with three men who desired the
+chance to make heavy salvage. He didn't suppose any of the crew of
+the _Pirate_ cared to take chances, but if they did, he would let
+them. He said he could work the wreck into some port, probably Cape
+Town, and save her.
+
+"But he will surely be lost," cried Miss Sackett. "I shall go to him
+myself and persuade him not to do this foolish thing. You will let me go
+in one of the boats, won't you, Captain Thompson?" she cried, turning to
+our skipper.
+
+Thompson was sour, but he admired nerve. The fact of the Englishman
+staying alone aboard his wrecked ship appealed to him where nothing
+else would.
+
+"My dear madam," said he, with his drawl, "you shall certainly do jest
+what you want to while I'm captain of this boat. But I wouldn't persuade
+your father to do anything against his will. How could a sensible fellow
+refuse you anything, hey?"
+
+The young girl overlooked his insolence, and smiled her satisfaction. She
+came forward to where the first boat was getting ready to shove off. The
+men in her were sullen and ugly, for they had not had their breakfast,
+and the row would be a long one. The old sailor, Jenks, with his pop
+eyes, and face like the slack of a bellows, scowled sourly. At this
+moment our third officer came on deck and to the lady's side. I was just
+about to ask her to wait and go in my boat when I heard the shrill tones
+of our Mr. Bell.
+
+"Clear that boat, and stand by to pass this lady aboard," said he, with
+some show of authority, and a clever nautical style. "Allow me?" he
+continued, as he offered her his arm at the ladder.
+
+His shrill voice caused a smile of wonder and amusement among the
+strangers, but as they knew their own skipper's daughter, they said
+nothing besides a few remarks among themselves.
+
+"Won't you wait and have breakfast before you go," he asked her, as she
+reached the top of the rail; but she refused, and decided that her
+father's strange whim to stay aboard his sinking ship deserved first
+consideration.
+
+"In that case I shall have to go along also, for you may be very much
+exhausted before getting back."
+
+Just what good he could do in such a case he did not stop to explain, but
+climbed over the side, and after lowering her aboard, took his place
+beside her in the stern sheets. Then he gave orders to get clear, and the
+boat shot away, while I made shift to get my men something to eat before
+taking the long pull.
+
+In fifteen minutes we were ready to start. Chips wanted to go along to
+see if anything could be done to help stop the leak in case Captain
+Sackett still insisted staying aboard. Johnson, the little sailor with
+the thin legs set wide apart, showing daylight between clear to his
+waist, Hans, the heavy-shouldered Swede, and Phillippi, a squat Dago,
+made up the rest of the boat's crew. Trunnell had come on deck while we
+were eating from the mess-kids, and met the skipper on the poop, where he
+stopped to talk over some important matter. This importance appeared to
+increase in a moment, for the skipper swore harshly and pointed forward
+just as my men were coming aft to go over the side.
+
+"Rolling," he cried, "hold on with that boat a minute, and lay aft here,"
+I came to the edge of the poop.
+
+"Get that ruffian Andrews ready and put him aboard the _Sovereign_. The
+men here are tired of his ways, and fair exchange is no robbery. We'll
+take their men, they'll take one of ours, hey? Do you rise to that?"
+
+I understood. The men had made it apparent they did not wish to have the
+fellow aboard since he persisted in his murderous ways. The skipper had
+been importuned by Jim to turn back and put him ashore. This he would not
+think of doing, but to propitiate them he had struck upon this new method
+of getting rid of his charge.
+
+I called Jim, the young landsman, to lend a hand getting the fellow
+ready. Andrews cursed us all around and demanded to know what we were
+going to do with him. No attention was paid to him, however, and he was
+bundled into the boat, handcuffed, with his legs free.
+
+"Tell Captain Sackett I say he's welcome to him," drawled out Thompson,
+over the poop rail. "Good luck to you, Andrews," he continued; "you'll
+have a pleasant voyage with no enemies to rip and cut. So long!"
+
+This drew forth a volley of oaths from Andrews, but the skipper smiled,
+and we were soon out of earshot.
+
+"What do you make of the weather, sir?" asked Jim, who pulled stroke oar.
+I looked over the smooth, heaving surface of the quiet ocean, and there
+was not the first sign of a breeze anywhere. The sun was partly obscured
+in a thick haze which seemed to come from everywhere and fill the entire
+atmosphere. The first boat was almost aboard the wreck, and we could see
+her looking like a black speck in the distance.
+
+"It looks as though it might come on thick," I answered Jim, "but
+there's no danger of our parting company with the _Pirate_ yet. There
+isn't enough wind to move her a knot an hour."
+
+It was a long, hard pull to the _Sovereign_ and when we arrived her
+captain was on deck with his daughter. She had finished trying to
+persuade him to leave his fortune, and stood near our third officer,
+who was ready to start back with the remainder of the crew. All but
+four men had insisted on leaving. These were the steward, two
+quartermasters, and a sailor.
+
+"If there is any valuable stuff in the way of currency or spices, you can
+turn them over to me, and our captain will give you his receipt for
+them," I said, as I came over the side.
+
+The little Englishman looked slowly up and down my six feet and more of
+length as I stood on the rail, and I fancied he smiled slightly. He was
+a florid-faced, bearded man, with clear blue eyes which had no sign of
+fear in them.
+
+"I reckon we'll risk taking in what we have," said he; "at the same time
+I want to thank your captain for standing by and taking the men he has
+already. You don't think he could spare a few volunteers to help me in,
+do you? I'll give a hundred pounds to every man who'll stand by and run
+the risk."
+
+"Well," I stammered, "I'm second mate myself, and therefore can't very
+well leave; but he's sent you one extra hand. The fellow is a good enough
+sailor, but he's in irons for fighting. He wants you to take him in
+exchange for the men you've sent."
+
+The florid face of the English captain grew redder. His blue eyes
+seemed to draw to small points that pricked my inner consciousness. I
+suppose I showed some of my embarrassment, for he spoke in a gentler
+tone than I expected.
+
+"Sir. I keep no one in peril against his wish. Neither do I run a
+convict ship. You may take your desperado back to your captain with
+the compliments of Captain Sackett, once of Her Majesty's Naval
+Reserve, and tell him the laws of his country are sufficient to deal
+with all persons."
+
+"If I did," I answered, "you would have your men forced back into your
+wrecked vessel." And I pointed to the main deck, upon which the sea
+rolled and swashed in little foamy waves through the side ports, which
+were now below the heave of the swell. She was clear under amidships, and
+only the topgallant forecastle and poop were out of water, which was now
+nearly level with the floor in the after cabin. Everything showed wreck
+and ruin, from the splintered spars and tangled rigging to the
+yellow-white gaps in her bulwarks where the masts had crashed through.
+
+"The will of the Lord is not to be set aside," he went on, with solemn
+and pious cheerfulness. "I would not risk so many lives for a man in
+irons. If, however, he will recognize the laws of the Almighty, I shall
+turn him adrift and trust that my mercy will not meet with ingratitude.
+You had better get my men ready, and if you can, take the trunks and
+cabin fixings in a boat. They might come to wrong here. My daughter will
+show where the things are I should like saved. As for myself, I shall
+stay where duty calls me, and will take this ship into some port and save
+her cargo, or go down in her. If I lose her, I lose my all, and with a
+wife and family I had better be gone with it. The Lord will temper the
+wind to the shorn lambs."
+
+I called to Hans and Johnson to pass up the prisoner, and he soon stood
+on the _Sovereign's_ poop, where he glared around him and made some
+inaudible remarks. The third mate, who stood near by, was about to speak
+to him when Captain Sackett stepped forward.
+
+"My man," said he, "your captain has asked me to keep you here and help
+me work this ship in. You've been a master yourself, they tell me, so
+you will appreciate my difficulty. The Lord, however, always helps
+those who help themselves, and with his help we will land this vessel
+safe in port."
+
+Andrews looked at the stout skipper sourly for a moment. Then he gave a
+deep snort and spat vulgarly upon the deck at his host's feet.
+
+"What kind o' damn fool have I run up ag'in now, hey?" he mused in a low
+tone, as though speaking to himself, while he looked the skipper over.
+"Am I dreamin', or do I eternally run up ag'in nautical loonatic asylums?
+That's the question."
+
+"My dear fellow, you don't seem to relish the fact that you must serve
+aboard here," said Sackett. "There's nothing irrational in trying to save
+a vessel when it's your plain duty to do so. The Lord sometimes dismasts
+us to try us. We must not give up our duty because we have hardships to
+encounter. Your captain cannot take care of so many people, probably, and
+wishes you to stay here with me. If you will pass your word to do your
+share of the work, as I believe you will, I shall cast off those irons
+this instant and put you second in command. There will then be five of
+us, all able-bodied men, to get her in to the Cape."
+
+"Of all the slumgullion I ever had stick in my craw, this beats me,"
+observed the prisoner, in his even tone, without taking his eyes off
+Sackett. "I pass my word, an' you turn me loose to do my duty. Well--say,
+old man, can you tell me of a miracle you reads out o' your Bible? I
+wants to make a comparison." Here he gave a loud snort and grinned.
+"There's an old sayin' that any port is good in a storm," he went on,
+"an' likewise any ship in a calm. I rise to it, old man. I'll be your
+mate; for, if things ain't all gone wrong, I'll sail straight inter
+Heaven with ye. Cast me loose."
+
+"It shall be done at once," said Sackett. "I shall request, sir," said
+he, turning to me, "that the irons be stricken off your man."
+
+I told Chips to go ahead and cut them, and then followed Miss Sackett and
+the third mate below, to get what belongings they wanted sent aboard the
+_Pirate_ to be kept clear of water.
+
+"It's a pity papa will do this absurd thing," said Miss Sackett,
+impetuously, as she landed upon the cabin deck. I was following close
+behind her on the companion and hastened to cheer her.
+
+"There's not much danger," I said; "for the vessel can't possibly sink
+with all the oil and wood in her. He will probably bring her in all right
+and save many thousands of dollars. Maybe the carpenter can find the leak
+and plug it. In that case she'll be as sound as a dollar and safe as a
+house, when they get her pumped."
+
+"I don't know about it," she answered; "I feel that papa is going to his
+death, and I know that if mamma finds out he won't leave, she'll come
+back aboard. Here is one trunk. That chest under the berth is to go also.
+I'll get what clothes I can gather up, and bring them along in a bundle.
+Goodness! hear the water slapping about under the deck; it is perfectly
+dreadful to think of any one staying aboard a ship half sunk like this."
+
+The steward, a very clever-looking young man with a brown mustache,
+helped us get the things on deck, where they were taken in charge by the
+rest of the men, seven in number, who were going with us.
+
+While we were below, Chips, after cutting Andrews adrift, tried to find
+out where the leak was located. The vessel's hold was so full of water,
+however, that he gave up the search. Only a survey of her bilge outside
+would help clear up matters, and allow work upon it.
+
+Captain Sackett had taken an observation and had figured himself out to
+be within six hundred miles of Cape Town. He was very thankful for our
+kindness and stood near by, wishing us all kinds of good luck, while the
+things were being lowered over the ship's low side. In a few minutes all
+hands were called to get into the _Pirate's_ boat, the one of the
+_Sovereign_ being left for the safety of those on board. Miss Sackett
+took a tearful farewell of her father, and was placed aft. Then we shoved
+off, and were soon leaving the half-sunken ship astern.
+
+"Cap'n," said Jenks, who sat aft near me, "what d'ye make o' that?"
+
+He pointed to a white bank of vapor which had rolled up from the
+southward, and suddenly enveloped the _Sovereign_ while we were still two
+cable lengths distant. I looked and saw the white mist, which we had not
+noticed before to be so dense, rolling in long white clouds upon the calm
+surface of the ocean. In a moment it had enveloped us, and all around us
+was a white wall, the _Pirate_ disappearing ahead. The swell also
+appeared to be getting a cross roll to it, and a light air now blew in
+our faces.
+
+I made no answer to the leather-faced sailor, but tried to keep the
+boat's head before a heavier roll of the sea, and the wake as much like a
+straight line as possible. There was no compass in the craft, and it
+would take some nice guesswork to find a ship three miles away.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+
+We went along in silence for some time, the fog seeming to fall like a
+pall upon the spirits of the men. The wash of the oars and the gurgle of
+the bow-wave were the only sounds that were audible. After half an hour
+of this I arose and sent a hail through the bank of mist, which I thought
+would reach a vessel within half a mile. There was no sound of an answer,
+the dank vapor appearing to deaden my hail and swallow up all noise a
+short distance beyond the boat. It was uncanny to feel how weak that yell
+appeared. I saw Jim looking at me with a strange light in his eyes as
+though he felt danger in the air.
+
+After an hour more of it, the faces of the men plainly showed their
+anxiety. Phillippi, the Dago, was chewing the corner of his dank
+mustache, and his eyes wandered aft and then forward. Jenks, with his
+large wrinkled face gray with the vapor, sat staring ahead, straining his
+ears for the slightest sound that would locate the vessel. I put both
+hands to my mouth again, and strained away my hardest. There was no
+response, the sound falling flat and dull in the wall of mist. Then I
+knew we were in danger, and gave the order to stop rowing.
+
+The silence around us was now oppressive. We were all waiting to hear
+some sound that would locate either one or the other of the vessels. The
+breeze carried the masses of vapor in cool spurts into our faces, and I
+felt sure the _Pirate_ would soon change her bearings under its
+influence. We had been running away from the main heave of the sea, as I
+supposed, but now there appeared to be a sidelong motion running with the
+swell and at an angle to its general direction.
+
+"'Tis no manner av use tryin' to keep along as we are, d'ye think so?"
+suggested Chips. "We must have passed her."
+
+I hailed again, and after waiting for an answer, headed the boat around
+in the hope that we had overreached the ship, and would come within
+hailing distance on our way back. The order was given to pull very
+easily, and listen for sounds.
+
+"This is most disgusting," said Miss Sackett. "I'm as hungry as a bear,
+and here we'll be out for the Lord only knows how long. I think you might
+have seen to it that I had some breakfast." And she looked at Mr. Bell,
+our third officer.
+
+"There's water under the stern sheets," suggested that officer, meekly.
+But the young lady gave a pretty pout, and shrugged her shoulders.
+
+In a little while we stopped again and hailed loudly. The only sound in
+answer was the low hiss of a sea, which had begun to make with the
+breeze, and which broke softly ahead.
+
+Suddenly we heard the distant clang of a ship's bell. It sounded far away
+to starboard.
+
+"Give way, bullies, strong," I cried, and the next instant we were
+heading toward it. Then it died away, and we heard it no more.
+
+After ten minutes' pull, we stopped again, for fear of overreaching our
+mark. We hailed and got no answer. Then we rowed slowly along, listening
+in the hope they would ring again. In a little while we lay drifting, and
+all hands strained their ears for sound.
+
+Suddenly something alongside gave a loud snort. I started up, and the
+men turned their faces forward. A deeper shadow seemed to hang over us,
+and the breeze died away. Then the snort was repeated, and a voice
+spoke forth:--
+
+"Of all the damned fools I ever see, that second mate stands way ahead.
+Now I onct thought Trunnell didn't know nothin', but that young whelp is
+a pizenous fool, an' must be ripped up the back. Sackett, old man, your
+daughter can't leave ye. Here she be alongside with them boatmen agin."
+
+The voice was drawling and not loud, but I recognized it fast enough.
+
+In an instant the boat's bow struck the side of the _Sovereign_, and
+we saw Andrews leaning over the rail near us, looking down with a
+sour smile.
+
+There was nothing to do but go aboard, for we had nothing to eat in the
+small boat, and the danger of getting lost entirely was too great to make
+another attempt to get back to the _Pirate_ while the fog lasted.
+
+Miss Sackett was helped over the rail by her father, who came up
+immediately, and the rest scrambled over with some choice English oaths
+as they commented upon their luck. Andrews gave me a queer look as I
+climbed past him, and for an instant I was ready to spring upon him. But
+he gave a snort of disgust and turned away.
+
+Chips, Jim, and the others of our crew came aboard, and the small boat
+was dropped astern where she towed easily, the breeze just giving the
+sunken ship steering way under the storm topsail.
+
+The beef barrels were in no way injured by their immersion in salt water,
+so Captain Sackett gave the steward orders to prepare a meal for all
+hands upon the cabin stove. Salt junk and tinned fruits were served for
+everybody who cared to eat them, and afterward all hands felt better. The
+ship's water-tanks were full of good water, and as she listed
+considerably to starboard under the gentle breeze, owing to her
+water-logged condition, the port tank was accessible from the deck pipe.
+
+I had enough to eat before coming out, and the predicament we were in did
+not tend to strengthen my appetite. I, however, made out to sit down at
+the cabin table with Captain Sackett, Andrews, who was now his mate, and
+our third officer. Miss Sackett joined us, and we fell to.
+
+No sooner had Andrews started to shovel in the good junk, and Mr. Bell
+the fruit, than Sackett arose from the table and looked severely down
+upon them. Fortunately, my satisfied appetite had prevented any
+unnecessary hurry to eat on my part, for our new skipper frowned heavily.
+
+"I wish to give thanks, O Lord," said he, raising his eyes toward the
+skylight and dropping his voice into a dignified tone, "for thy kind
+mercy in delivering us from the perils of the deep. Make us duly thankful
+for thy mercy and for the food thou hast seen fit to place before us."
+
+"Amen," sounded a gruff voice beside me.
+
+I looked at Andrews, but he appeared to pay no attention whatever to what
+was transpiring. Then I turned to Sackett to see if he had taken offence.
+
+The stout, ruddy-faced skipper seemed to be changed to stone for an
+instant, and his fixed glare was full upon Andrews.
+
+The ruffian appeared to enjoy the situation, for he gave a fierce snort
+and turned his face to the skipper.
+
+"No offence, old man, sit down and eat your grub. There's no use working
+up unchristian-like feeling between us simply because I'm not going to
+let any damn foolishness stand between me and my vittles. Eat while ye
+may, says I, and God bless you for a kind-hearted, gentle skipper. You
+says yourself that the Lord helps them as helps themselves, which goes to
+show I'll just make a stab for another piece o' that junk before some
+other son of a gun runs afoul of it an' helps himself. Which would be
+goin', o' course, agin the will o' the Lord."
+
+Sackett hardly breathed. His face turned purple with rage. Andrews took
+no notice of him save to draw a revolver from his pocket and place it on
+the table beside his plate.
+
+"Sit down and eat, papa," said Miss Sackett, who was at his right hand,
+and as she did so she placed her hand upon his shoulder.
+
+The touch of his daughter's hand seemed to bring the skipper back to his
+senses, or rather seemed to enable him to thrust his present feelings
+aside for her sake. He sat down and stared at Andrews for fully a minute,
+while that ruffian ate and winked ofttimes at Mr. Bell. Once in a while
+he would give a loud snort and hold his face upward for an instant. Then
+a sour smile would play around his ugly mouth as though he enjoyed his
+humor intensely. The third officer frowned severely at him several times,
+and then asked in his silly voice if he would please behave himself.
+
+The effect was altogether too ludicrous to be borne. Miss Sackett
+smiled in spite of herself and I almost laughed outright. Then, feeling
+sorry for my host, I began to eat as an excuse to hide my feelings.
+Sackett ate little, and in silence. When he was through, he arose and
+left for the deck, leaving the rest of us at the table. Miss Sackett
+followed him quickly, as though she instinctively felt what might
+happen if she remained.
+
+I sat there looking at Andrews for some moments. He raised his head
+several times and gave forth his peculiar snort, smiling at Mr. Bell.
+"Young fellow," said he, slowly, "we've had a turn or two, an' nothin'
+much has come of it. Let's shake an' call it square." And he held out his
+hand toward me.
+
+"I suppose you really had some cause to lose your temper," I answered,
+"the day I hailed you from the poop, because you were used to commanding
+there. I've heard many unpleasant things about you, Captain Andrews, but
+if you will let matters pass, I'm willing. I never turned down a man yet
+on hearsay when he was willing to see me half way."
+
+Here I took his hard, muscular hand and held it for a moment. He smiled
+sourly again, but said no more about our fight.
+
+"Ye see," he went on, after a moment's pause, "I'm second in command
+here now, and I'll show you no such treatment like what I got aboard the
+_Pirate_. This gun I has here is only to let a man see his limit afore
+it's too late. If I didn't show it, he might go too far, and then--well,
+I reckon ye know just what might happen, being as Trunnell has told you
+what a gentle, soft-hearted fellow I am. He's a rum little dog, that
+fuzzy-headed fellow, Trunnell. Did ye ever see sech arms in anything but
+an ape? 'Ell an' blazes, he could squeeze a man worse than a Coney
+Island maiden gal. Speakin' of maidens, jest let me hint a minute in
+regard to the one aboard here. She's a daisy. An out an' out daisy. An'
+if there's a-goin' to be any love-makin' going on around, I'll do it.
+Yes, sir, don't take any of my duties upon yourself. I'll do it. I'll do
+it. Jest remind yourself of that, Mr. Rolling, an' we'll get along fust
+rate. The old man don't know me yet, but Mr. Bell here--well, Mr. Bell
+knows a thing or two concernin' captains which'll be worth a heap of
+gold to some people."
+
+The third mate looked at me with his boyish eyes for an instant, and his
+ruddy cheeks seemed to blush. Then he said softly:--
+
+"What he means is, that you and the rest are only passengers, now. All
+the men from the _Pirate_, you know. There'll be some salvage for the
+four who elected to stay aboard this vessel, and if you understand it in
+this light, you, Chips, Jim, and the rest are welcome as passengers. If
+you don't, the boat is at your disposal any time."
+
+"I see," I said. "You are also of the party elected to stay with Captain
+Sackett and draw salvage?"
+
+"That's about the size of it."
+
+I went on deck, and Chips, Jim, and the men went below to get something
+to eat. Sackett was standing at the break of the poop as I came up, and
+his daughter stood beside him. They were evidently in earnest
+conversation over the scene below, for as I drew near, Miss Sackett
+turned to me and said with some show of contempt in her voice:--
+
+"Your captain was very kind to send us your volunteer, and we appreciate
+it, Mr. Rolling. Perhaps the reason he had no more men offer their
+services for a dangerous mission was because he was short of irons."
+
+"If you mean that American sailors have to be ironed into danger, you are
+mistaken," I answered, somewhat nettled. "However, I quite agree with you
+in regard to this one as an awkward fellow. Better wait and see how he
+acts in time of danger before condemning him."
+
+I had not the heart to tell her what a ruffian they had turned loose upon
+her father. It would do little good, for Sackett had passed his word to
+make Andrews second in command, and I knew from what I had seen of this
+religious skipper, that he would keep it at any cost. As for Chips,
+myself, and the rest of the men, seven of the _Sovereign's_ crew and
+ourselves, we were simply passengers, as Mr. Bell had informed us. We had
+no right whatever to take any part in affairs aboard, for the salvage
+would fall to those who elected to stay.
+
+Captain Sackett moved away from me as I stood talking to his daughter and
+showed he did not wish to discuss Andrews. He went to the edge of the
+poop and stared down on the main deck where the water surged to and fro
+with the swell. He had a badly wrecked ship under him, and there was
+little time to lose getting her in better condition, for a sudden blow
+might start to break her up, or roll the seas over her so badly that no
+one could live aboard.
+
+I stood for some minutes talking to the young girl, and when her father
+spoke to me she held out her hand, smiling. "We'll be shipmates now and
+you'll have a chance to show what a Yankee sailor can do. I believe in
+heroes--when they're civil," she added.
+
+"Unfortunately for the worshipper of heroes, there is a great deal left
+to the goddess Chance, in the picking of them," I answered. "Admiration
+for human beings should not be hysterical."
+
+"From the little I've seen of men during the six voyages I've made around
+the world in this ship with papa, your advice is somewhat superfluous,"
+she said, with the slightest raising of the eyebrows. Then she went aft
+to the taffrail and stood gazing into the fog astern.
+
+"Mr. Rolling," said Sackett, "there's no use of thinking about leaving
+the ship while the fog lasts, now. You might have made the _Pirate_ by
+close reckoning before, but she must have changed her bearings fully a
+half a dozen points since you started. She's under canvas, and this
+breeze will send her along at least six knots and drift her two with her
+yards aback. You might as well take hold here and get some of your men to
+lend a hand. The foremast is still alongside, and we might get a jury rig
+on her without danger of heeling her on her bilge. She's well loaded, the
+oil and light stuff on top, so she won't be apt to turn turtle."
+
+It was as he said. We were all in the same ship, so as to speak, wrecked
+and water-logged to the southward of the Cape. The best thing to do was
+to take it in the right spirit and fall to work without delay, getting
+her in as shipshape condition as possible. The fog might last a week, and
+the _Pirate_ might get clear across the equator before stopping a second
+time in her course. I knew that even Trunnell would not wait more than a
+few hours; for if we did not turn up then, it was duff to dog's-belly, as
+the saying went, that we wouldn't heave in sight at all. The ocean is a
+large place for a small boat to get lost in, and without compass or
+sextant there would be little chance for her to overhaul a ship standing
+along a certain course.
+
+The dense vapor rolled in cool masses over the wreck, and the gentle
+breeze freshened so that the topsail, which still drew fair from the
+yard, bellied out and strained away taut on a bowline, taking the wind
+from almost due north, or dead away from the Cape. The _Sovereign_ shoved
+through it log-wise under the pull, the swell roaring and gurgling along
+her sunken channels and through her water ports. She was making not more
+than a mile an hour, or hardly as fast as a man could swim, yet on she
+went, and as she did so, she was leaving behind our last hope of being
+picked up.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+
+The first night we spent aboard the hulk was far from convincing us of
+her seaworthiness. I had been in--a sailor is never "on board"--two ships
+that had seen fit to leave me above them, but their last throes were no
+more trying to the nerves than the ugly rooting of the _Sovereign_ into
+the swell during that night. At each roll she appeared to be on the way
+to turn her keel toward the sky, and, at a plunge slowly down a
+sea-slope, she made us hold our breaths. Down, down, and under she would
+gouge, the water roaring and seething over sunken decks amidships, and
+even pouring over the topgallant rail until it would seem certain she was
+making her way to the bottom, and I would instinctively start to rise
+from the cabin transom to make a break for the deck. Then she would
+finally stop and take a slow heave to windward, which started a Niagara
+thundering below the deck, where the cargo was torn loose and sent
+crashing about in a whirlpool.
+
+I once read a description by an English landsman of a shipwreck, and he
+told how the water would rest for an instant level with the rail, seeming
+to pause motionless for a fraction of a second before flowing over and
+sinking the ship, I lay a long time wondering vaguely at an imagination
+that could make such a description possible, and as a heaving swell would
+start along the rail at the waist, and go thundering along in a roaring
+surf the entire length of the midship section over the edge, fetching up
+with a crash against the forward cabin bulkhead, I heartily wished the
+writer were aboard to share our sufferings. There was no spoon and teacup
+business about that ship, and it sometimes seemed as though seven or
+eight seas were rolling over her rails from all directions at once.
+
+We were still below the thirty-eighth parallel, and consequently the
+morning broke early, for it was January and midsummer. I arose from the
+transom and went on deck at dawn, and found that the fog had lifted.
+Andrews met me as I came from below, and gave me a nod as I took in the
+horizon line at a glance.
+
+"I reckon old hook-nose didn't care to wait any longer," he
+growled sourly.
+
+I took up the glass from the wheel box, and scanned the line carefully.
+There was not a thing in sight save the smooth swell, ruffled now by
+the slight breeze, and turning a deep blue-gray in the light of the
+early morning. The sun rose from a cloudless horizon and shone warmly
+upon the wreck. The foam glistened and sparkled in the rosy sunlight,
+and looking over the rail I could see deep down into the clear depths.
+The copper on the ship's bilge looked a light gray, and even the tacks
+were visible. She drifted slowly along with just steering way, and the
+spar alongside, which the men had tried to get aboard again, made a
+gurgling wake with its heel.
+
+"What do you make of it, Chips?" I asked, as the carpenter waded out in
+the waist and came up the poop ladder.
+
+"Long cruise an' plenty o' water, that's about th' size av ut, don't ye
+think, sir?" the carpenter answered. "Trunnell has been took off, fer
+sure. I don't mind stickin' aboard th' bleedin' hooker if there was a
+chanst to get th' salvage; but no fear o' that while Andrews is here.
+He'll block any argument to divvy up. Seems as we might even get down
+under her bilge durin' this spell av weather, an' see where th' leak is
+located. 'Tis a butt started, most like. Them English stevedores
+generally rams th' stuffin' out av a ship in spite av th' marks they
+puts on 'em."
+
+Captain Sackett came from below and joined us.
+
+"I'd like to get that foremast aboard while it holds calm," said he; "and
+if you'll start the men, we'll have it done by noon. The sooner we all
+work together, the better. We ought to get sail on forward in less than a
+week, and then, with a jury topmast, make enough way to get in while the
+grub holds out."
+
+The steward got breakfast in the after-cabin, and as soon as the men had
+eaten they were turned to rigging tackles to hoist the dragging foremast
+aboard. It was trailing by the lee rigging, which had held, and it had
+thumped and pounded along the ship's side to such an extent during the
+blow that several of her strakes were nearly punched through. It was a
+beautiful morning,--the blue sky overhead and the calm, blue ocean all
+around us. The men worked well, and even the sour ruffian, Andrews, who
+stood near and took charge of part of the work,--for he was an expert
+sailor,--seemed to brighten under the sun's influence. Chips went to work
+at the stump of the foremast, and cut well into it at a point almost
+level with the deck. This he fashioned into a scarf-joint for a
+corresponding cut in the piece of mast which had gone overboard. Tackles
+were rigged from the main-topmast head, and, by a careful bracing with
+guys forward and at both sides, the wreck of the foremast was slowly
+raised aboard.
+
+The _Sovereign_ forged ahead faster when relieved of this load. On the
+second day, when we had the foremast fished, and the yards, which had
+held to it, safe on deck, ready to be hoisted and slung again, we found
+that the vessel had made over seventy miles to the westward along the
+thirty-eighth parallel. This was over a mile an hour; but of course some
+of this drift was due to the edge of the Agullas current, which was
+setting somewhat to the southward and westward.
+
+Andrews had little to say to me or to Chips. In fact, he appeared to be
+satisfied with his lot now that he seemed sure of getting salvage money.
+Only Jim, who seemed to have eyes everywhere, distrusted the man, and
+spoke to me about him. We had now been on the wreck five days, working
+and rigging away at the foremast, and the calm, beautiful weather held
+with no signs of a change. Jim was hanging over the side, resting his
+feet on the fore channels while he helped Chips to bolt in a deadeye
+which had been torn out when the mast had gone. The sun was warm and
+shone brilliantly, and Chips sweated and grunted as he pounded away at
+the iron. There were no other men in our immediate vicinity, so after
+pounding away in silence for a quarter of an hour, the carpenter spoke.
+
+"'Tis bloody well we've been treated to get no share av the wreck, whin
+here we are sweatin' our brains out wid th' work av refittin'," said he.
+
+"And what the devil is a few hundred pounds of salvage to me?" growled
+Jim, hot with his exertion. "See here, man! I've left ten thousand behind
+me on the _Pirate_."
+
+"And a pious regard fer the truth along wid it," added Chips, smiting the
+lug-bolt heavily.
+
+Jim's face was so serious that I asked what he meant, and with the heat
+of the work upon him and the absolute hopelessness of ever getting back
+aboard our ship before his eyes, he spoke out:--
+
+"Did you ever hear of Jackwell, the fellow who cracked the Bank of
+Sydney?" he asked.
+
+Chips and I both admitted that we had. He was the most notorious burglar
+in the southern hemisphere.
+
+"But what are ye askin' sich a question fer?" asked Chips. "What's
+burglars got to do wid losin' salvage?"
+
+"He was aboard the _Pirate_, and a reward awaits the lucky dog who lands
+him. Just a trifle of ten thousand dollars," said Jim, fiercely.
+
+Chips turned on him.
+
+"Is it sure 'nuff truth ye're tellin', or jest a yarn to soothe our
+feelin's?" he demanded. "I don't call to mind any gallus-lookin' chap in
+th' watch."
+
+"He never stood watch, and I wasn't certain of him until we were out to
+sea and it was too late. What d'ye suppose I tried to get Trunnell to go
+back for? 'Twas the old man, you stupid wood-splitter. You don't think
+I'm a sailor, do you?"
+
+"'Pon me sowl, how cud I? I niver had th' heart to hurt yer feelings,
+Jim, me son, or ye'd have heard from me before. But what are ye, thin?"
+And Chips leaned back against the rail.
+
+"Nothing but a--" and Jim opened his coat which he had always worn since
+coming aboard the _Pirate_. On the inside was a silver shield stamped
+handsomely with the insignia of the detective corps of Melbourne.
+
+"A sea lawyer aboard a derelict. Ye do fairly well, considerin'. An' th'
+old man? You don't really mean it?"
+
+"What?" I asked; "do you mean that Thompson's a burglar; and that he's
+Jackwell himself?"
+
+"Nothing else, and I'm out for the reward, which I won't get now. You
+know now how he came aboard. If I'd only been a few hours sooner, it
+would have been all right. He was about to buy his passage when he found
+the real Captain Thompson wasn't there, and would probably not be down
+until the last minute. That was enough for him. Trunnell was taken clear
+aback by his nerve. It was a risky thing to do, but Jackwell takes risks.
+The man has more real cheek and impudence than any above ground, or water
+either, for that matter. He ain't much afraid of a fight when it comes to
+it, although he'd rather use his wits than his gun. That's just what
+makes me feel sore. But that isn't all. Andrews is going to get clear of
+some of us."
+
+"He's tried it several times on me," I said, with a smile. "What makes
+you think he'll try again?"
+
+"I heard enough of what was passing between that third mate and steward
+last night to know it. But I don't want to scare you fellows," he added,
+with a smile.
+
+Chips gave a grunt of disgust, and I spat contemptuously over the side
+without further remark. Our manner was not lost on Jim. He sobered
+instantly.
+
+"You know we're in the way aboard, if we land the hooker all right," he
+said slowly. "That's clear as mud. You know also that Trunnell and the
+rest aboard the _Pirate_ know we don't belong here and haven't any right
+to stay except as passengers. Trunnell saw us put off in the boat. He
+could see us plainly when we started and was, of course, looking at us
+all the time until the fog closed in. You follow this lay, don't you?"
+
+Chips and I nodded.
+
+"Well, if the _Sovereign_ turns up with our boat load missing and Sackett
+dead, she'll be in good evidence of what all hands aboard the _Pirate_
+saw, won't she?"
+
+It dawned suddenly upon us that this was a fact. Trunnell and Thompson,
+and in fact all hands, were looking after us, waiting for us to come back
+aboard before swinging the yards and standing away again on our course.
+There wasn't a man aboard the _Pirate_, we felt certain, who had not seen
+the boat start away from the ship with our men and Miss Sackett aboard
+her, for they had nothing in the world to do but watch. Then they had
+seen the fog envelop us on our way. We had not turned up, and the only
+thing to infer, if the _Sovereign_ came in without us, was that we had
+missed our way and had gone adrift in the southern ocean. The word of
+Andrews and the rest aboard the English ship could hardly be doubted
+under the circumstances. If we cut adrift in the small boat or were done
+away with as Jim suggested, our friends would be witnesses who would help
+our enemies by any testimony they might give.
+
+Chips dropped his hammer and drew a hand across his forehead, thinking.
+
+"What did the third mate say in regard to our going?" I asked Jim.
+
+"I couldn't hear the talk, only part of a sentence whispered by that
+man-woman when the steward came into the cabin during the mid-watch last
+night with a can of salmon and some ship's bread. They stood near the
+door of the alleyway, talking, and I suddenly came bulging into them with
+rubber boots on. He said something about Andrews being a fine captain and
+perfectly capable of taking this ship in or out any port on the African
+coast. That's all."
+
+I stopped serving the end of the lanyard I was at work on and looked
+across the deck to where Andrews stood with several men. His sinister
+face with its sour smile was turned toward us as though he studied
+our thoughts.
+
+"You're not over busy, Mr. Rolling," said Sackett, coming along the rail
+to the rigging. "I wish you and the carpenter would try to get a gantline
+over the side and look along under her for the butt. In this clear water
+the chances are good for getting a sight of it if it's well up on her
+bilge. We ought to stop her up some while the calm lasts."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+
+At noon Sackett came on deck to take the sun. His second officer,
+Journegan, a heavily built man with mutton-chop whiskers of a colorless
+hue, was incapable of the smallest attempt at navigation, so he stood
+idly by while his superior let the sun rise until it had reached its
+highest point.
+
+"Eight bells," cried Sackett, and went below to work out the sight.
+
+"By the grace of God," echoed Andrews, who had come upon the poop.
+
+The second officer smiled at his attempted wit and struck off the bells.
+He appeared to be quite friendly with Andrews and stopped a moment
+afterward to chat with him.
+
+When we went below to dinner the words of Jim were fresh in my mind. How
+would Andrews try to get clear of us? The fact that he intended to do it
+I firmly believed, for the ruffian had such a sinister character that I
+felt certain his only reason for being apparently satisfied at present
+was because he intended some treachery. What part the third officer of
+the _Pirate_ would play in the affair I could hardly guess. Jim knew
+nothing about him, but since he came aboard with Thompson, there was
+every reason to believe that this rosy-cheeked youngster with the girl's
+voice was an accomplished villain. That Andrews and he understood each
+other was certain. Andrews was most blasphemous at meals, and would
+endeavor to engage Sackett in an argument concerning devils, hell, and
+many other subjects not relating to navigation of the Indian Ocean. At
+such times the third mate would raise his piping voice and plead with
+Andrews not to shock him with his profanity. The second officer of the
+_Sovereign_ appeared to enjoy the situation, and would laugh until
+ordered from the table by Sackett. Miss Sackett, of course, would not
+dine with the rest, but had her meals served in her stateroom by the
+steward, who did it with a very bad grace, grumbling and complaining at
+the extra work. He was a good-looking young man, this steward, and the
+fact that he complained told plainly that there was something between the
+men that was doing away with discipline. The steward's name was Dalton,
+and he was a fair specimen of the London cockney. Stout and strong, he
+was as ignorant as an animal and about as easily persuaded into doing
+things as an obstinate mule. He was also about as hard to dissuade. The
+other men of the _Sovereign's_ crew were Bull England, a powerful sailor
+who had served many years in the navy, and who was also a prize fighter,
+and Dog Daniels, a surly old fellow, who was continually growling at
+everything. He was six feet six inches and over in height, and as lean
+and gaunt as the white albatross hovering over our wake. Journegan, the
+second officer, made the last but not least of the select four who had
+elected to stay aboard with Sackett to take in the ship and get salvage.
+
+If Andrews had weapons, which I had reason to believe he had since his
+show of a revolver upon the captain's table, there would be six armed men
+against thirteen and a woman, for I had no reason to doubt Sackett was to
+be done away with if the rest were.
+
+I pondered while I ate the cold junk and ship's bread, listening to
+Andrews holding forth to Mr. Bell and Journegan upon the fallacy of
+trusting to a power that was highly unintelligible.
+
+"For instance," said he, "for why should I give thanks fer this stinkin'
+junk meat when I don't know but what Dalton, there, has put his dirty
+hands on it an' pisened it fit to kill? How do I know if he washes his
+hands afore cookin', hey? Look at them warts an' tell me if they ain't
+ketchin'. Jest think of a stomach full o' warts. Is that anything to be
+thankful for, I'd like to know."
+
+The idea amused Journegan, but it set me to thinking about the medicine
+chest in spite of myself. Sackett scowled while this sort of talk went
+on, but said nothing to bring forth an outbreak from Andrews. I wondered
+why he did not try to get his men with him and clap the fellow in irons.
+There was every reason to believe they would have obeyed him at first,
+but he hesitated for some religious purpose better known to himself,
+until the fellow had obtained such a sway over the crew that it was now
+doubtful if it could be done without an open fight between them and the
+men he had to back him.
+
+Sackett announced to me that we had made no westing to speak of, on
+account of the ship now being in the southeasterly set of the Agullas
+current. We had drifted along with the topsail and two staysails drawing
+from the main, and a sort of trysail set from a preventer-stay leading
+aft. In spite of this amount of canvas the breeze had been so light that
+the sunken ship had not made a mile in two hours. It was disheartening,
+but if we could only get at the leak and stop some of the water from
+flowing into her, we might get her up a bit and then she would move
+faster. Her hatch-combings were high, and the sea had not washed clear
+over them yet, while her high strakes would be all the tighter, now that
+they had been under water for days. This seemed to be a very fair
+argument, but, while the skipper talked, my eyes were upon the glass case
+at the end of the cabin, where a row of bottles showed through the front
+and above the wooden frames. They contained the drugs usually carried
+aboard ship, and while the skipper talked to me I wondered if there were
+any poisons in that case which would be of service to Andrews. When we
+were through, the captain and I left the cabin, for there had been no
+watches at meals; all had eaten together in order to facilitate matters
+of cooking, the men only eating at different times from the officers.
+
+As we passed up the after-companionway, I looked into the case and
+endeavored to interest the skipper in drugs for the men in case of
+sickness. He showed me a bottle of arnica, one of squibbs, another of
+peppermint, and many other drugs used as simple remedies. At the end of a
+long row was one containing a white powder, unlabelled. I picked it up
+and opened the vial, thinking to taste it to see if it was quinine. Its
+weight, however, made me certain this could not be, and I was just about
+to put a bit on my tongue when Sackett stopped me.
+
+"It's bichloride of mercury. Don't taste it," said he.
+
+I was not much of a chemist; for a mate's knowledge of the atomic theory
+must necessarily be slight.
+
+"What's that?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, a poison. I only keep it for vermin and certain skin diseases. It's
+too deadly to keep around, though, and I've a notion to heave it
+overboard--"
+
+"Steamer on starboard quarter, sir," came the cry of England, who was at
+the wheel.
+
+We were bounding up the companionway in an instant, and looking to the
+northward as soon as our feet struck the deck. There, sure enough, was a
+dark smudge of smoke on the horizon.
+
+"Get the glass," said Sackett.
+
+He took it and gazed hard at the dark streak.
+
+"I can just make out her mastheads. She seems to be coming along this
+way,'" he said, after a moment.
+
+All hands gathered upon the poop and watched the smoke. Those who hadn't
+had their dinner, hastily went below and came up again with the junk in
+their hands, munching it as they stood gazing after the rising mastheads.
+Soon the funnel of the steamer rose above the horizon, and showed that
+she was standing almost directly parallel to our course. We had run up a
+distress signal from the main, and now all waited until the stranger
+should make it out and send a boat or heave to. Our own boat was towing
+astern, so Sackett had her drawn up to the mizzen channels, ready for the
+men to get aboard. Miss Sackett came from below and announced that she
+was ready to accompany the boat.
+
+"If you are silly enough to stay, papa, I can't help it," she said. "I am
+tired of sitting around in a cabin with my feet in the water, eating
+stuff fit for pigs. I think you really ought to give the old boat up."
+
+"So do I, Missy," said Andrews. "I can't think of any good a-coming to
+the old man by staying aboard a craft half sunken like this one. I think
+your girl is giving you good advice, Captain Sackett."
+
+"I think you heard me state just how I felt about the matter, Mr.
+Andrews," replied the captain. "If you're disposed to quit, you can go in
+the boat."
+
+"Oh, no," said the ruffian, "I intend to stay." And he lent such emphasis
+to the last word that Sackett gave him a sharp glance to see if he meant
+anything more.
+
+In half an hour the steamer was passing abreast, and we were in the boat
+rowing hard to head her off. We set a signal on our mast forward, and
+pulled desperately, but she never even slowed down, passing along half a
+mile distant on the calm ocean. She must have seen us, for the day was
+bright and cloudless as could be. We hailed and waved until she was a
+speck to the westward, leaving us alone again save for the sunken ship
+under our lee.
+
+"It's just the way with a Dago," said Jenks. "They always leaves a fellow
+just when they shouldn't, and when I first seen that yaller flag I felt
+pretty sure we'd come in fer somethin' like this."
+
+No one said anything further, for our disappointment was sharp. Even
+Phillippi, the Portuguese, took no offence at the allusion to Dagos, but
+rowed in silence back to the _Sovereign_.
+
+"It seems like you can't leave us," said Andrews, sourly, when we
+returned. "There ain't much room aboard this hooker, an' I don't see why
+you forever turn back to her when you ain't wanted here."
+
+Jenks climbed up the mizzen channels, which were now no higher than the
+boat's bow, and made the painter fast on deck without remark. Chips
+followed him closely.
+
+"If ye mane there's no room aboard fer us, thin why in hell don't ye git
+out th' way an' rid th' ship av a useless ruffian," said the Irishman.
+
+Andrews scowled at him, but changed his look into a sour smile.
+
+"By the grace of the good Lord, I never rips up a sailor for slack jaw
+aboard the Lord's special appointed ship. Maybe we'll settle the matter
+of leaving later on," said the ruffian.
+
+"Let there be an end of this talk, sir," said Sackett. "Get your men to
+work, Mr. Andrews, and you, Mr. Rolling, get the passengers out of that
+boat and stand by to try to find the leak. I don't intend to have any
+more of this eternal bickering."
+
+Miss Sackett was helped aboard again. As she stepped on deck she
+whispered, "There's no use, Mr. Rolling. We will have to get out. The
+only trouble is that the water is gaining slowly in the cabin, and I'm
+afraid for papa."
+
+"It's a pity he won't desert her," I answered; "but if we get away,
+Andrews and the rest will be more apt to help him honestly. They won't
+while we're here, and he won't force any of his men to stay and obey
+orders, as he should. If he only would, we might get the ship in before a
+week more of it."
+
+"It's his way," said the girl. "He believes no captain has the right to
+endanger his men for gain. You couldn't take him by force, for he'd make
+things warm after he got ashore. If we could only get some of the water
+out of her and get away, he could get her in with England, Journegan,
+Daniels, and Dalton. Your two men added would make seven. These men could
+handle the canvas and steer her as well as twelve."
+
+I didn't like to tell her that the devil himself would hardly be safe in
+the same ship with Andrews. It was quite possible that the ruffian would
+turn to and do good work for his share of the salvage when he got clear
+of the rest of us, for the amount would be large and tempting. Sackett
+would be of more service to him alive than dead.
+
+"We'll get at the leak this afternoon, if it's possible," I said, and the
+young girl went back to her stateroom.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+
+It was with anything but rising spirits that Chips went at the leak. He
+had a frame slung outboard some fifteen feet from the ship's side,
+supported by guys from the mainmast and jury foremast. It was after eight
+bells in the afternoon before this was finished, and then Sackett and he
+went out on it to study the ship's bilge through the calm water. It was
+almost flat calm, but the _Sovereign_ had steering way enough to turn her
+side to the slanting sun, letting the light shine under her copper. She
+was so deep, however, nothing could be made out on the smooth green
+surface that showed like a started plank end. Only here and there a lump
+or protuberance appeared, showing a bunch of marine growth, or a bent
+edge of a plate where it had started to rip off. The water of the Indian
+Ocean is always remarkably clear, and this day during the still weather
+it was like liquid air. Objects were as distinctly visible three or four
+fathoms below the surface as those at a corresponding distance on deck.
+
+I joined Sackett and Chips on the frame, and studied the ship's bilge the
+entire length of her waist. In about half an hour we shifted to starboard
+and, by dint of handling the canvas, got her head around so that the sun
+shone under this side. Nothing showed like a leak.
+
+"If a man could dive under her a few times," said Sackett, "he might see,
+with the light as good as it is now. What do you think, Mr. Rolling?"
+
+"It would take a good swimmer to go clear under her broad beam," I
+answered. "I don't believe there's any one aboard who could do it, even
+with a line around him."
+
+England, the stout sailor, was standing near the rail while I spoke.
+
+"If ye don't mind, sir, I'll try me hand at it. Put a line about me body
+to haul me in if a shark takes a notion to make a run fer me. Don't haul
+unless ye have to, mind, or ye'll scrape the hide off me body."
+
+"Go ahead at it," said Sackett.
+
+The heavy man slipped off his jumper in a moment, and I noticed the huge
+muscles of his chest and arms. He must have made a good prize fighter in
+his day. Coming out on the frame, he had the line stopped around his
+waist and then started at the fore rigging to go under the ship to the
+other side.
+
+Nearly all hands came to the rail to watch him, although the water was
+knee deep on the deck at this point. He dived gracefully under the side,
+and as the bubbles disappeared I could see him going like a fish beneath
+the shimmering copper, which gave forth a greenish light in the sunshine.
+The line was payed out fast, and in a few moments he arose to port none
+the worse for the trip.
+
+Nothing came of this, as he was too much taken up with the endeavor to go
+clear to see anything. His next trip was a fathom or so further aft, and
+this time he saw nothing save a very foul bottom. After taking a rest and
+a nip of grog he started again, going more slowly as he gained
+confidence.
+
+Six trips tired him greatly in spite of his strength, and he sat for some
+minutes upon the frame before making his plunge. Then he stood up and
+dived again.
+
+I could see him swimming down, down, down under the ship's bilge, growing
+to a faint brownish yellow speck which wavered and shook with the
+refraction of the disturbed surface. Then while I looked the line
+slacked, and the brownish yellow object beneath wavered into a larger
+size. Evidently he was coming up and had failed to make the five fathoms
+necessary to go clear of the keel. I hauled in the line rapidly, for I
+knew that he must be exhausted to give it up so soon. The wavering brown
+spot grew quickly in size, and in a moment, outlined upon it, I made out
+the figure of England straining away for the surface. I hauled
+frantically to aid him, and the next moment he broke water and was landed
+upon the frame, while the great brown object beneath rose right behind
+him, and took the form of a tremendous hammer-headed shark. It came up in
+an instant and broached clear of the water at least three feet, but
+failed to reach the frame where Bull England clung panting and gasping
+for breath.
+
+"I reckon I've had me dose this time," said he, between his gasps; "I
+almost swam down the feller's throat. I ain't exactly skeered, but I'm
+too tired to try agin this afternoon, so if any one wants me place on the
+end o' this line, he can take it while I rests."
+
+"Faith," said Chips, "if ye ain't skeered ye'll be so fast enough if ye
+go in agin. Look at th' monster! Did ye iver see sech a head? Wan would
+think he had sense enough not to be eatin' av a tough sailorman. Big
+head, nothin' in it, as the sayin' is."
+
+Andrews was standing near the rail and appeared much interested in the
+diver's work. The fact that it had been interrupted angered him. His face
+took on that hideous expression of ferocity I knew meant mischief, and a
+string of the foulest oaths followed. He drew forth his pistol and raised
+it slowly to a line with his eye on the shark's head, now just awash
+under the frame a few feet distant.
+
+"Crack!"
+
+The bullet struck it fair on the crown where it was fully three feet
+across the eyes. It smashed through, and the huge fish sank slowly under
+the force of the stroke.
+
+Then it suddenly recovered itself and tore the water into foam,
+lashing out with its tail and turning over and over, snapping with its
+great jaws.
+
+"It is an unnecessary cruelty, Mr. Andrews," said Sackett, loudly. "Put
+that weapon up. It is no use to kill to satisfy a murderous heart. The
+fish would leave us in a few moments if it were fed."
+
+"Watch the Lord's anointed feed it then," snarled the ruffian, with a
+fierce oath. "Say a pater for its soul, for it's on its way to hell."
+
+With that he fired again as the fish broached clear, and I must say one
+could hardly help admiring his shooting. The heavy bullet struck within
+an inch of the first, although the mark was now several fathoms distant
+and thrashing about at a great rate.
+
+The shark whirled round and started off, leaving a trail of blood which
+showed like a dark cloud in its wake. In a moment it had disappeared.
+
+"Don't swear so hard, my dear Mr. Andrews," cried Mr. Bell, in his high,
+piping voice. "You'll scare all the fish."
+
+Andrews coolly broke his pistol at the breech and tossed out the empty
+shells. Then he reloaded it and handed it to the smiling, rosy-cheeked
+third mate.
+
+"You stand by and take care of things while I spell Bull England a bit,"
+said he. "Journegan," he continued, calling to the English mate, "you
+take the line for a while, and let that young fellow rest, while I try
+her bilge aft."
+
+He stripped off his shirt and stood in his trousers. When I saw him, I no
+longer wondered why I had failed to overcome him in our first set-to. The
+fellow was a perfect mass of muscle, and while I gazed at his strong
+frame I wondered at the power in Trunnell's arms, which held us so tight
+and saved me that first day on board.
+
+He came out on the frame, and I made way for Journegan to take the line.
+He took a turn, and over he went without delay.
+
+After four or five attempts to get under the ship, he finally came to the
+surface with news. He had been under her bilge, clear down to the keel on
+a line with the main channels. Not being able to get further, and seeing
+the dark shadow of the keel ahead, he made out to examine as far as he
+could go. Close to her garboard strake on the starboard side he saw where
+a large butt had started, owing probably to the bad loading of the ship.
+This plank end starting outboard was evidently where the water came in.
+
+Andrews came on deck after this, and all hands began overhauling gear to
+get a mattress upon the hole. Lines were rove and passed under the ship's
+bilge and keel. These were made fast on deck to the stump of the mizzen
+mast, and their ends brought to the capstan through snatch blocks. Planks
+were then strapped loosely on the lines and allowed to run along them
+freely, being weighted sufficiently to cause them to sink. After they
+were slung clear of the ship, they were held in position until a pad of
+canvas and oakum was inserted between them and the side.
+
+It was quite late in the evening before this was accomplished, and work
+had to be stopped until daylight.
+
+At the evening meal Andrews was more sulky than usual. It appeared that
+now, since there was a chance of stopping the leak, we would all be
+aboard the ship when she made port, for with the water out of her we
+might easily make the Cape in a fortnight.
+
+Sackett said grace as usual, standing up and bowing gravely over the
+long board.
+
+"What's the sense of asking the Lord to make us truly thankful for stuff
+what ain't fit to eat anyway," growled Andrews, when he finished. "You
+ain't got nothin' to be so blamed thankful for, captain. This grub'll
+sure make some of the men sick before we're through. If I ain't mistaken,
+some of them will be down with trouble before the leak is swabbed."
+
+"I'll say what I think best, sir, at my table. If you don't like it, you
+can eat with the men," answered Sackett.
+
+"Oh, I never said nothin' to the contrary, did I?" asked the fellow.
+
+"Well, pay a little more attention to your behavior, or I'll make a
+passenger of you on board," said Sackett, who had lost patience.
+
+"I never came here on those conditions, and I fail to accept them, my
+Lord's anointed. I wasn't asked to come aboard here. Since I'm here, I'll
+have my rights, and I don't call to mind the names of any one around
+about this ship as will take it upon theirselves to start an argument to
+the contrary. No, sir, I'll obey orders so long as they're sensible, but
+don't try to run it on a man like me, Sackett. I ain't the sort of stuff
+you're made to run against."
+
+"Oh, Captain Andrews, you have such a dreadful way with you," piped Bell,
+the third mate, in his high voice. "Don't you know you really frightened
+me with such strong words."
+
+Journegan laughed outright.
+
+"If I have to put up with any more of your insolence, sir," said Sackett,
+quietly, "I'll have you bound and put away until we are in port."
+
+"Oh, please don't hurt me, captain," cried Andrews, with his ugly smile.
+"I ain't going to do nothing mutinous."
+
+"Well, stop talking to me, sir. Every word you say is mutinous. I'll have
+silence at this table, sir, if I have to bind you up."
+
+"Cruel, unchristian man!" cried Andrews. "Journegan, my boy, this shows
+the uselessness of prayer. Here's a man praying one minute, and before
+the Lord has time to answer him he's ready to commit murder. Sink me, if
+ever I did see any use of praying one minute and doing things the next.
+It's wrorse than my pore old father used to be. 'My son,' he'd say,
+'shake out the bunt of yer breeches,' which I'd do. Yessir, sink me if I
+didn't do it. 'Shake out the bunt of yer breeches and come here.' Then
+he'd grab me and yank me acrost his knee. 'Lord guide a righteous hand,'
+he'd say, and with that down would come that righteous hand like the roof
+of a house where the bunt of my pants had been. 'Lord give me strength to
+lead him into the straight and narrow path,' he'd whine; and sink me,
+Journegan, if he wouldn't give me a twist that would slew my innerds
+askew and send me flying acrost the room. Lead me into the straight and
+narrow path? Man alive, he'd send me drifting along that path like a
+bullet from a gun. What's the sense of it, hey?"
+
+"There ain't none," said Journegan, snickering and rubbing his whiskers
+in appreciation of his friend's wit.
+
+"Mr. Journegan," said Sackett, "you go on deck, sir."
+
+"What am I doing?" asked the fellow, with a smirk.
+
+"You go on deck, sir, or I'll be forced to take some action in the matter
+of discipline. Do you understand?" continued Sackett, now red in the face
+with anger.
+
+Journegan rose leisurely from the table and went up the companion,
+whistling.
+
+"And now, my young man," continued Sackett, addressing the third mate, "I
+don't want to have to tie you up with your friend, but you are not one of
+my crew, and I'll trouble you to keep still at my table. Mr. Andrews," he
+went on, "you'll have no further authority aboard here, and the sooner
+you get into the boat with the rest, the better it will be for you."
+
+"That's where you make a mistake," said Andrews, coolly. "I'm second in
+command here now, and I'll stay until the ship sinks or goes to port, in
+spite of you or any one else, unless you care to give me credit for my
+share of salvage as a volunteer to bring her in."
+
+"You will go to your room and not take any further part in the management
+of the vessel, I say," Captain Sackett ordered, "If you don't go freely,
+I'll order my men to assist you."
+
+"If there's any one who cares to take the responsibility, let him step
+out and make known his name," said Andrews, in an even tone.
+
+Sackett left the table and went on deck at once. I heard him calling for
+Jenks, England, and the rest, and I started up the companion, thinking to
+take a hand with Chips and Jim and our men. As I did so, Andrews cursed
+me foully, and the third mate made a remark I failed to hear.
+
+Meeting Chips and Johnson, I sent the latter for Jim and Hans. Phillippi
+stood near the wheel, and I beckoned to him. When the six of us were
+together, I told them in a few words that Sackett was going to tie
+Andrews up for mutiny. They would stand by me and give him help if
+necessary.
+
+We waited near the edge of the poop while Sackett told his men what he
+wanted done with Andrews.
+
+"Men," said he, "there's only one captain aboard here, and that is
+myself. If you disobey me, it is mutiny, and you know the penalty."
+
+"It ain't that we're scared of him," said England, "but he's a tough one
+to take without no weapons."
+
+"I don't ask you to run any risk," said Sackett. "I'll take him and give
+him to you to tie up and keep until we're safe in port. You must do this
+or you will be insubordinate."
+
+"Sure," said Dog Daniels, "if you'll take the fellow, we'll guarantee to
+keep him fast enough. Hey, Jenks, ain't that so?"
+
+I thought I saw a suspicion of a smile play over the old sailor's
+wrinkled face, and the seams of his leather-like jaws seemed to
+grow deeper.
+
+"That's it," said Dalton. "You take him, and we'll take care of him until
+you say let him loose."
+
+Journegan was at the wheel with one of the men who had left with the old
+sailor, Jenks. Sackett did not question him in regard to the matter of
+Andrews, as he evidently thought he had already showed signs of mutiny.
+
+"I'm sorry to have this trouble aboard, sir," said Sackett to me, as he
+turned to go down the companion to the cabin. "You and your men can stand
+aside while this matter is arranged satisfactorily. Afterward you will
+have to take your man away with you when you can go."
+
+"I'm very sorry the thing has occurred as it has, captain," I said.
+"We'll stand by you, if you wish, and help you to carry out any orders."
+
+"I don't think it will be necessary," answered Sackett. "However, if
+anything disagreeable happens, I trust you will do what you may for the
+welfare of my daughter, sir. You understand how much she is at the mercy
+of these ruffians, should anything happen to me."
+
+"I will pass my word, sir," I answered. "Your daughter shall come to no
+harm while there are a few American sailors afloat to do anything. I do
+warn you, though, to keep a lookout on that ruffian. He has tried to take
+my life twice, and is under sentence for a murder. Don't let him get his
+gun out at you, or there might be an accident."
+
+"A nice fellow for your captain to send me," said Sackett. "It was no
+fault of yours, my friend, so don't think I blame you," he added hastily.
+
+He started toward the companionway, and had just reached it alone when
+the grizzled head of Andrews appeared above the combings. The fellow
+stood forth on deck and was followed by our third mate.
+
+"Lay aft, here, England and Daniels," cried Sackett.
+
+The men came slowly along the poop. Jenks and Dalton, followed by six
+others of the _Sovereign's_ crew who had chosen to desert the ship,
+walked aft to the quarter to see if there was anything for them to do.
+Some of these men were true to their captain without doubt; but Jenks
+placed himself in their front, and by the strange smile the old sailor
+had, I knew he was looking for trouble.
+
+Sackett went straight up to Andrews and stood before him, and for one
+brief moment the tableau presented was dramatic enough to be impressed
+forcibly upon my memory. It was sturdy, honest manhood against
+lawlessness and mutiny. A brave, kind-hearted, religious man, alone,
+against the worst human devil I have ever seen or heard of. He was,
+indeed, a desperate ruffian, whose life was already forfeited, but
+Sackett never flinched for a moment.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+
+The dull night of the southern ocean was closing around the scene on the
+_Sovereign's_ deck, making the faces of the men indistinct in the gloom.
+The Englishmen stood a little apart from ours, but all looked at the
+captain as he walked up to Andrews. England and Daniels stopped when they
+were within a fathom of their skipper as though awaiting further orders
+before proceeding with their unpleasant duty.
+
+The mutineer turned slowly at Sackett's approach as though disdaining to
+show haste in defence. Then, as the stout, bearded commander halted in
+front of him, he raised his head and gave forth that snort of contempt
+and annoyance which I knew to mean mischief.
+
+"Captain Andrews," said Sackett, "you will turn over your weapons to me,
+sir. I don't allow my officers to carry them aboard this ship. Afterward
+I shall have to place you in arrest until you see fit to obey orders and
+show proper discipline, sir."
+
+"Now see here, my old fellow," said Andrews, "I don't want to hurt you,
+but I've obeyed orders here and will obey them when they don't relate to
+what I shall eat or say at the table. Don't try any of your infernal
+monkey games on me, or you might get hurt."
+
+"Will you hand over your weapon, sir?" said Sackett, advancing, and
+standing close before him.
+
+Andrews pulled out his long revolver and pointed it at the skipper's
+head. Then he gave a snort of anger and glared savagely at the
+Englishman.
+
+Sackett turned to his men.
+
+"Seize him, and disarm him," he ordered. But England and Daniels
+stood motionless. Journegan stepped to one side to keep out of the
+line of fire.
+
+Sackett made a move forward, as if to seize the weapon. There was a sharp
+explosion, and both men disappeared for an instant in the spurt of smoke.
+Then I saw Sackett stagger sidelong across the deck with the roll of the
+ship, and go down heavily upon the wheel gratings. He uttered no word. I
+ran to his side, and saw the ashy hue coming upon his ruddy face, and
+knew his time was short. I heard the uproar of voices that followed the
+moment of silence after the shot, but took no heed. Placing my hand under
+his head, I called for Jim to get some brandy from below. Then I bawled
+for Chips and the rest to seize the murderer.
+
+Sackett turned up his kind eyes to mine, and whispered: "I'll be dead in
+a few minutes, Mr. Rolling. Do what you can for my men. I tried to do my
+duty, sir, and I expect every honest man to do his. Save my--"
+
+The light had gone out. He was limp and dead on the deck of the ship he
+had tried so nobly to save. My hand was wet with blood, and as I withdrew
+it, the wild abhorrence of the thing came upon me.
+
+I stood up, and there, within ten feet of me, was that sneering ruffian
+standing coolly, with his pistol in his hand.
+
+It was such a cold-blooded, horrible thing, done without warning, that I
+was speechless. Chips stood near my side, cursing softly, and looking
+with fierce eyes at the assassin. Jim came up the companionway, but saw
+that all was over. My three sailors were like statues, Phillippi
+muttering unintelligibly.
+
+For nearly a minute after the thing happened I stood there gazing at
+Andrews and the rest, paralyzed for action, but noting each and every
+movement of the men as though some movement on their part would give me a
+cue how to act.
+
+All of a sudden the piping voice of our third mate rose in a laugh, while
+he cried, "He's gone to heaven."
+
+It was as though something gave away within me, and before I fairly knew
+what I was doing, I was rushing upon Andrews to close.
+
+I remember seeing a bright flash and feeling a heavy blow on my left
+side. Then I found myself in the scuppers looking up at a struggle upon
+the _Sovereign's_ quarter-deck.
+
+At the signal of my rush for Andrews, Jim, who was somewhat expert at
+tackling persons, dashed at him also from starboard. Chips instantly
+followed on the other side, and then, our men seeing how things were to
+go, closed from the rear. All six of us would have met at Andrews as a
+converging point, had it not been for the scoundrel's pistol.
+
+His first shot struck me fairly under the heart. It knocked me over, and
+I rolled to port, deathly sick. Thinking for a moment I was killed, I
+made no immediate effort to recover myself, but lay vomiting and
+clutching my side. Then in a moment the weakness began to leave me, and I
+was aware that I was clutching the heavy knife I carried in my breast
+pocket. I drew it forth, and as I did so, something fell to the deck at
+my side, and I saw it was a piece of lead. Then I saw that Andrews's
+bullet had jammed itself into the joint of the hilt, smashing flat on the
+steel and breaking up, part of it falling away as I drew it forth. The
+knife had saved my life; for the shot had been true, and would have been
+instantly fatal had it penetrated.
+
+I started to my feet and saw Jim lying motionless just outside the
+swaying crowd, which had now closed about the murderer. At that instant
+Andrews fired again, and Hans, who had tried to use his knife, staggered
+out of the group and fell dead. Three of the _Sovereign's_ own men who
+had intended going back with us were now in the fracas also, and as I
+started in two more joined.
+
+I saw Phillippi's knife flash for an instant. Then came a fierce oath
+from Andrews, followed by a snort of rage and pain. Another shot followed
+instantly, and Phillippi was lying outside the swaying figures with a
+bloody hole through his forehead.
+
+The only thing I remember as I forced my way into the group and struck at
+the scoundrel was that he had one more shot, and I wondered if he would
+land it before we had him.
+
+He warded off my knife-stroke by a desperate wrench, but the blade ripped
+his right arm to the bone from shoulder to elbow, laming it absolutely.
+Even as it was, he lowered his weapon and fired it instantly as it was
+seized. An Englishman named Williams was struck through the body and
+lived but a moment afterward. Chips now had the weapon by the barrel, and
+just as I was about to drive my knife into the murderer over the shoulder
+of Johnson, a heavy hand seized my collar and I was dragged back.
+Wrenching myself around, I found that I was engaging the tall sailor,
+Daniels, and as I did so, Journegan, England, Dalton, Jenks, and our
+third officer fell upon the crowd which had borne Andrews to the deck.
+
+All of the English sailors who had started to leave the _Sovereign_ were
+now fighting with Chips, Johnson, and myself, making eight men as against
+six. But the six were of the strongest and most determined rascals that
+ever trod a ship's deck.
+
+As every sailor carries a sheath-knife, the fight promised to be an
+interesting one if the men of the _Sovereign's_ crew saw fit to fight it
+out. England, however, who was stronger than any two of our men, did not
+like going into the matter with the same spirit as Journegan, Daniels,
+and Andrews. After he had received a severe cut and had cracked the
+skull of the sailor who had given it by knocking him over the head with
+an iron belaying-pin, he began to retreat along the deck. Chips had
+planted his knife in Andrews's thigh, and had cut Dalton and Journegan
+badly in the mix-up.
+
+The Irishman was unharmed save for a few scratches, and being aided by
+Johnson, he soon had the men backing away toward the break of the poop,
+the third mate crying out shrilly to stop fighting. The queer young man
+was defending Andrews mightily with a knife, and for this reason alone
+the scoundrel managed to get to his feet and retreat with the rest,
+backing away as they did to the mizzen and from there to the poop rail,
+where they were brought to bay.
+
+Daniels, however, fared worse. We had a struggle for some moments alone,
+and just as my knife was in a good position a man struck him from behind,
+throwing him off his guard and letting my blade penetrate his throat
+until it protruded three inches beyond the back of his neck. Then the
+fight was over.
+
+Chips stopped at my side with Andrews's revolver in his hand.
+
+"'Tis a pity we've no cartridges fer th' weepin," he panted;
+"'twould save th' hangman a lot o' trouble. Now there'll be a
+butcher's shop aboard."
+
+"Come on," I said. "You get to starboard, and I'll take the port side.
+We'll rush them and make a finish of it. Here, Frank," I called to a
+sailor, "lend me your knife. Mine's no good for this work."
+
+"My own is broken, sir," said he.
+
+"Hold on," cried Journegan; "we're not making any fight."
+
+I could see the five ruffians talking brokenly together while they
+recovered their breath. Our third mate was holding forth in a piping
+tone, but too low for me to hear the words.
+
+"We don't want to press the outfly any further," said England. "We ain't
+no pirates. All we did was to defend ourselves. One of your fellows cut
+me arm open and I hit him over the head, not meanin' no more than to
+knock him out for the time bein', as the sayin' is."
+
+"Will you surrender and put down your knives?" I asked.
+
+Andrews gave his fierce snort and was about to say something in reply,
+but the third mate seized him and stopped him. The assassin was badly
+wounded and swayed as he stood, but his spirit was not in the least
+beaten. He had killed five men out of six shots from his pistol and would
+have had me in the list but for the knife I placed in my breast as a
+precaution at the warning from Chips on taking him aboard. His coolness
+and steadiness were marvellous. Not a shot had he wasted, and if he had
+been relieved a trifle sooner by his half-hearted followers, he would
+have had the whole crowd of us at his mercy. No man could have faced a
+pistol of that size in the hands of one so quick and steady.
+
+There was no answer to my question, and I repeated it, Chips adding that
+they would go free if they would give up the men who had done killing.
+
+"Why o' course, we ain't no pirates," said Journegan.
+
+"Well, chuck out your knives, or we'll be for closing with you," I cried.
+"This thing is over, and one or the other will be in command."
+
+"Why don't ye take the boat an' go clear? Dalton, here, will give ye the
+provisions, an' you can get to the north'ard and make port. There ain't
+no room for both of us aboard here now, even if we gave up, which we
+ain't got no idea o' doin' unless you come out square an' fair."
+
+"Yes," said Jenks, "you men don't want to make a Kilkenny cat go out of
+this ship. Do the square an' fair thing, an' git out. You know, Tommy,"
+he went on, addressing a sailor, "I don't want to hurt you; but you
+know me. You boys can't make no show agin an old man-o'-war's man like
+me, as has been up to his waist in blood many a time, an' never ware
+the worse for it."
+
+The sailor addressed spoke to me.
+
+"Don't you think it a good way, sir? They are good for us if they try
+hard, for England can whip any three of us, an' I, for one, don't want to
+run against him if it can be helped. We have a boat."
+
+"Nonsense," said Chips. "We must take 'em."
+
+I thought a moment. There was a young girl below. Probably she was even
+now frightened nearly to death. If anything did go wrong with us,--and it
+certainly looked as if it would, when I sized up that crowd,--she would
+be worse than dead. There were seven of us left against six, although
+Andrews was too badly hurt to fear, but they were much better men
+physically. After they had once started to do for us, they were not the
+kind who would stick at anything. I was much exhausted, myself, and while
+I thought the matter over, it seemed as though to go were the better way
+out of the trouble.
+
+Chips, however, insisted on closing with the men.
+
+It took me some minutes to convince him that the young fellows with us
+were not of the kind to depend on in such a fracas, and that he would be
+in a bad way should he tackle England alone. Journegan, Jenks, and Dalton
+were all powerful men, armed with sheath-knives sharper and better than
+our own, for they had evidently prepared for just such an emergency.
+
+"Let Dalton provision the whale-boat, and you men get out," said Mr. Bell
+after I had finished whispering my views to Chips.
+
+"Yes," said the steward; "you men stay where you are, and I'll put the
+stuff aboard for you, and then you can get out."
+
+"All right," I answered; "go ahead."
+
+Some of us sat about the after-skylight, while Andrews and his gang
+disposed themselves, as comfortably as they might, around the mizzen.
+Dalton went down over the poop, and entered the cabin from forward, and
+Chips, Johnson, and myself looked over our dead.
+
+Jim lay where he fell. There was no sign of life, and Chips swore softly
+at the villain's work, when we laid his head back upon the planks. Hans
+breathed slightly, but he was going fast. We poured some spirits between
+his lips, but he relaxed, and was lifeless in a few minutes. Phillippi
+lay with his eyes staring up at the sky. His knife was still clutched in
+his dark hand, and his teeth shone white beneath his black mustache. The
+other sailor was dead, and while we looked for some sign of life, I heard
+a smothered sob come from aft. We turned and saw a slender white form
+bending over the body of Captain Sackett. The moon was rising in the
+east, lighting the heavens and making a long silver wake over the calm
+ocean. By its light I made out Miss Sackett, holding the head of her dead
+father in her lap, and crying softly.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+
+The moon rose higher, and Dalton came and went, carrying provisions
+up from the cabin. These he lowered into our boat, which was hauled
+alongside, Jenks taking a hand when necessary, although he never came
+aft far enough to encounter any of our men. Andrews sat quietly on
+the deck and had his cuts bound up and dressed, while Mr. Bell went
+below to the medicine chest for whatever he wanted. We kept well
+apart, each side feeling a distrust for the other, and neither caring
+to provoke a conflict.
+
+In about an hour Dalton announced the boat was ready.
+
+"There's salt junk enough for all hands a week or two, and ship's bread
+for a month. There's water in the breaker. You can go when you're ready,"
+said Journegan.
+
+I went aft to Miss Sackett, where she had sat motionless for a long time
+with her face buried in her hands, as if to shut out the cruel sight
+around her.
+
+"We will leave the ship in a few minutes," said I, taking her by the
+hand, and trying to raise her gently to her feet. "You must try to bear
+up to go with us. Try to walk evenly and quickly when the time comes, for
+there may be a struggle yet."
+
+She let fall her hands from her face, and I saw her eyes, dry and bright
+in the moonlight.
+
+"Can't you kill them?" she asked quietly. "Oh, if I were only a man!"
+Then she drew herself up to her full height, and gazed hard at the group
+of ruffians at the mizzen.
+
+"I'll have to go below first, and get my things," she said. "I suppose
+you know what is best, to go or stay?"
+
+"Hurry," I said. "I will wait here at the companion."
+
+She went below with a firm tread, and I heard her slam the door of her
+stateroom. Andrews looked toward me and spoke.
+
+"You can leave the girl aboard," said he. "You'll have enough in
+the boat."
+
+"Chips," I called, "stand by for a rush. Don't let Dalton get forward
+alive. Miss Sackett either goes with us, or we all stay here together and
+fight it out."
+
+Andrews, who had recovered somewhat, now staggered to his feet and drew
+his knife.
+
+"Stand by and follow along the port rail," he said to Journegan and
+England. "You two," addressing Bell and Jenks, "go to starboard."
+
+Dalton, who was below and separated from his fellows, would be our
+object.
+
+Jenks, however, remonstrated at the attack.
+
+"Hold on," said he, and England stopped. "What's the use of crowding in
+this thing like this? Some of us will get killed sure with seven fresh
+men out for it, and what's the use? All for a gal. No, sir, says I,
+don't go making a fool job of the thing. I ain't out for murder, not
+fer no gal."
+
+"You'll do as I say or get done," answered Andrews, with a fierce snort,
+turning toward him.
+
+Jenks backed toward us, and Bell tried to hold Andrews back. He partly
+succeeded, but was close enough to the old man-o'-war's man to get a
+slight cut from a blow meant for Andrews. Then England took a hand, and
+with Journegan they held the assassin in check.
+
+Jenks came toward us.
+
+"I'll go with you fellows if you say so," said he, and he tossed his
+knife over the rail to show that he meant no treachery.
+
+"'Tis a little late ye are, but ye're welcome," said Chips, who had
+advanced at my cry nearly to him. Frank, the young English sailor, and
+Johnson were both close behind Chins, with the rest following. It looked
+as if there would be a collision, after all.
+
+"Take the girl and go," screamed Bell, almost fainting from the
+cut received.
+
+"Yes, take her and be damned!" cried Journegan. "Only get off before it's
+too late."
+
+"Seems to me," said Chips, "we could do for them now wid no trouble.
+Let's try 'em."
+
+Johnson advanced at the word, but I called him back just as Chips was
+making ready for a spring at England. The big prize fighter had made
+ready for the Irishman, and for an instant it seemed that we would have
+another ending of the affair.
+
+"Come," I said to one of the young sailors who held back, "get aboard the
+small boat," and the fellow, who was shrinking from the knives, took the
+opportunity to get away. This made Chips hesitate, and in another moment
+I had two more of the men going over the side.
+
+Miss Sackett came on deck. Her face was ruddy even in the moonlight, but
+she carried herself with a firm step to the mizzen channels.
+
+"Stand by and hold her below there," I bawled, and a man received her
+into the boat. Then I called to the rest of our fellows and threw a leg
+over the rail to signify that we were going. They came along, Chips last,
+with Johnson at his side. The carpenter was furious and wanted to fight
+it out, and it would have taken very little to have set him upon them
+alone. They, however, when Andrews had been overcome, were by no means
+anxious to engage. This seemed strange to me, for they certainly were men
+who feared nothing, and the sooner we were out of the way, the surer they
+were of getting safe off with their necks. Just what made Bell so
+determined to have us go was a puzzle to me. As Chips climbed over the
+rail, England came to the side with Journegan. I expected some outburst,
+and for an instant the carpenter was at a disadvantage. But they let him
+go over without a hostile movement. He stood up in the bow while a man
+shoved off.
+
+"Ah, ye raskils, it's like runnin' away we are, but we ain't. It's but
+lavin' to th' hangman what I'd do meself, curse ye."
+
+The boat of the _Sovereign_ towing at the quarter came abreast us as we
+dropped back. Chips still standing and glaring at the ship, with rage in
+his voice and eyes.
+
+He stooped down and lifted an oar as the small boat came alongside, and
+with a half-suppressed yell smote her with all his strength upon the
+gunwale. The oar crashed through nearly to the water line under the power
+of the stroke.
+
+"Blast ye," he cried, "ye'll niver leave that ship alive," and he smote
+the boat again and again, crushing her down until she began to fill.
+Johnson took a hand also in spite of England and Journegan hauling away
+at the painter. Our men backed water so hard they held her back until the
+boat was hopelessly stove and had settled to the thwarts. Then we let go
+and drifted away, while the men aboard the _Sovereign_ hurled
+belaying-pins and gratings at us.
+
+"A pleasant voyage to you," came the soft notes of Mr. Bell's voice; and
+then we rowed slowly away to the northward, leaving the _Sovereign_ a
+dark, sunken grisly thing against the moonlit sky.
+
+"Rig the mast and sail," I said. "It's no use getting tired before the
+struggle comes. We're some six hundred miles out, and may not raise a
+vessel for days."
+
+The oars were taken in, and the tarpaulin which had done duty for a sail
+was rigged. Under the pressure of the light air the whale-boat made
+steering-way and a little more. The moon now made the night as light as
+day, and although it was slightly chilly in this latitude, we suffered
+little from the exposure, each settling himself into the most comfortable
+position possible, and gazing back at the strange black outline of the
+wrecked ship. Her sunken decks and patched-up jury rig with the trysail
+set from the after-stay gave her an uncanny look, while her masts and
+spars with the set canvas seemed as black as ink against the light sky
+beyond. There she lay, a horrid, ghastly thing, wallowing along slowly
+toward a port she would never reach.
+
+While I looked at her, Miss Sackett burst into a hard laugh which jangled
+hysterically. She had been silent since she had entered the boat, and
+this sudden burst startled me. Her eyes were fixed upon the grim
+derelict. They shone in the moonlight and she choked convulsively.
+
+"Can I hand you some water, ma'm?" asked Jenks.
+
+"What made you come with us, you rogue?" she asked, without
+turning her head.
+
+"I was with ye from the start, s'help me," said Jenks. "I only goes with
+the other side when I feared they'd kill all hands."
+
+"Well, it's a good thing for you, you contemptible rascal," she answered
+in an even tone.
+
+All of a sudden I noticed a flicker of light above the cabin of the
+_Sovereign_. It died away for an instant and then flared again, Miss
+Sackett laughed convulsively.
+
+"Look," she said.
+
+At that instant a red glare flashed up from the derelict. It shone on her
+maintopsail and staysails and lit up the ocean around her.
+
+"Faith, but she's afire," cried Chips. "Look at them."
+
+I turned the boat's head around and ran her off before the wind, hauling
+up again and standing for the wreck to get near her. Miss Sackett seized
+my arm and held it fast.
+
+"Don't go back for them!" she cried. "You shall not go back for them!"
+
+"I haven't the least intention of going for them," I answered; "I only
+wanted to get close enough to see what they'd do. Did you set her afire?"
+I asked bluntly.
+
+"Of course I did," said the girl, passionately. "Do you suppose I didn't
+hear them telling you I should have to remain aboard? What else was there
+left for me to do? Would you have me fall into their hands?"
+
+"Lord save ye, but ye did the right thing," said Chips. Johnson echoed
+this sentiment.
+
+"An' I knew ye ware up to somethin' of the kind when ye went below,"
+said Jenks, "fer I smelled the smoke and thought to stop it, but there
+ware too much risk as it was to add fire, so I had to step out o' the
+crowd an' jine ye. I never did nothin' in the fracas, as ye know, except
+get hurt."
+
+In ten minutes we were close aboard the derelict, and her cabin was a
+mass of flame. Figures of men showed against the light amidships, and I
+finally made out all hands getting out a spar and barrels to make a raft.
+The oil in the cargo, however, was too quick for them. It had become
+ignited aft and had cut off all retreat by the stove-in boat. Several
+explosions followed, and the flames roared high above the maintopsail.
+Journegan, Andrews, and another man were seen making their way forward
+across the sunken deck. The heat drove them to the topgallant forecastle
+and in a few minutes we could see all standing there near the windlass.
+The bitts sheltered them from the heat.
+
+The oil in the ship was not submerged in the after part, owing to her
+trimming by the head. It had been the last stuff put aboard and was well
+up under her cabin deck. Even that which was awash caught after the fire
+had started to heat things up well, and the entire after part of the
+_Sovereign_ was a mass of flames. They gave forth a brilliant light,
+glowing red and making the sky appear dark beyond. Great clouds of sparks
+from the woodwork above soared into the heavens. The light must have been
+visible for miles.
+
+There was absolutely no escape for the men aboard now, except by getting
+away on some float. Journegan, Dalton, and England were working hard at
+something on the forecastle which appeared to be a raft. The one they had
+started aft they had been forced to abandon after an explosion. The
+carpenter's tools being below in the hold when the ship filled, they had
+nothing but their knives and a small hatchet left to work with.
+
+Suddenly Mr. Bell made us out in the darkness less than a quarter
+of a mile distant. He screamed for us to come back and take him off
+the derelict.
+
+"Pay no attention to him," said Chips.
+
+I hesitated, with the tiller in my hand. The end of those men seemed so
+horrible that I forgot for the instant what they had done.
+
+"You shall not go back for them while I'm aboard this boat," said Miss
+Sackett, quietly, from her seat beside me, and she seized the tiller
+firmly to luff the craft.
+
+"I didn't intend to," I answered; "yet that man's cry had so much of the
+woman in it that it was instinctive to turn."
+
+"Instinctive or not, here we stay. He is the biggest devil of the lot,"
+answered the girl. "There's some horrible game in getting us away. I'm
+certain of it, but don't know what it can be. We'll find out when it's
+too late."
+
+"We might take them aboard one at a time and bind them," I suggested.
+This was greeted with growlings from Chips and Johnson. Even Jenks
+declared it would never do, and the other sailors made antagonistic
+remarks. There was nothing to do but keep away and let them save
+themselves as best they might.
+
+We sailed slowly around the wreck, watching her burn. Hour after hour she
+flamed and hissed, the heat being felt at a hundred fathoms distant. And
+all the while, the sharp, piping voice of our third mate screamed shrilly
+for succor.
+
+After midnight the _Sovereign_ had burned clear to the water line from
+aft to amidships. Even her rails along the waist were burning fiercely
+with the oil that had been thrown upon them by the explosions of the
+heated barrels. And as she burned out her oil, she sank lower and lower
+in the water until she gave forth huge clouds of steam and smoke instead
+of flaring flames. In the early hours of the morning, we were still
+within two hundred fathoms of her; and she showed nothing in the gray
+light save the mainmast and the topgallant forecastle. Her canvas had
+gone, and the bare black pole of her mast stuck out of the sea, which now
+flowed deep around the foot of it. Upon the blackened forecastle head,
+five human forms crouched behind the sheltering bulk of the windlass.
+They were silent now and motionless. While I looked, one of them
+staggered to his feet and stretched out his hands above his head, gazing
+at the light in the east. It was Andrews. He raised his clenched fists
+and shook them fiercely at us and at the gray sky above. Then over the
+calm, silent ocean came the fierce, raving curses of the doomed villain.
+
+A gentle air was stirring the swell in the east, which soon filled our
+sail. We kept the boat's head away until she pointed in the direction of
+the African cape. And so we sailed away, with the echoes of that
+villain's voice ringing in our ears, calling forth fierce curses upon the
+God he had denied.
+
+I turned away from the horrible spectacle of that grisly hulk with its
+human burden. As I did so, my eyes met those of Miss Sackett. She lowered
+hers, took out her handkerchief and, bowing over, buried her face in it,
+crying as though her heart would break.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+
+"If you'll pass the pannikin, I'll take a drink, sir," said Jenks, after
+the sun had risen and warmed the chilly air of the southern ocean.
+
+I tossed the old man-o'-war's man the measure, and he proceeded to draw a
+cupful from the water breaker, which was full and lay amidships.
+
+"It's an uncommon quare taste the stuff has, sure enough," said he, after
+he had laid aside his quid and drank a mouthful, "Try a bit, Tom," he
+went on, and passed the pannikin to a sailor next him.
+
+"You're always lookin' fer trouble, old man," said the sailor, draining
+off the cupful.
+
+"An' bloomin' well ready to get out of it by any way he can," added
+another. "Fill her up agin an' let me have some. This sun is most hot, in
+spite of the breeze. Blast me, Jenks, but you're a suspicious one. It's a
+wonder you ever go to sleep."
+
+The young sailor, Tom, put down the cup and watched Jenks draw it full
+again. Then he grew pale.
+
+"Hold on a bit with that water, you men. There's something wrong with
+it," he said. He gulped and placed his hand over his abdomen, while a
+spasm of pain passed over his features.
+
+"My God!" he muttered, and doubled up. Then he vomited violently and his
+spasms increased.
+
+I saw Chips turn white under his tan, and Johnson look with staring eyes
+at the water breaker, as though it were a ghost.
+
+"Knock in the head," I said, "and let's see what's inside of it."
+
+Two men held the poor fellow gasping over the rail while his agony grew
+worse. The rest crowded around aft as much as possible to see what
+terrible fate was in store for us.
+
+The breaker was upended in a moment. Jenks stove in the head with an oar
+handle, and we peered inside.
+
+The water was a clear crystal, like that in the _Sovereign's_ tanks. It
+was not discolored in the least.
+
+"Pass the bailer here," I said; "and then turn the barrel so we can get
+the sunlight into it."
+
+I bailed out a few quarts, looked at it carefully, tasted it slightly,
+and then put it carefully back again. I noticed a strange acrid taste.
+The barrel was turned toward the sun, and its light was allowed to shine
+straight into its depths. I put my head down close to the surface and
+peered hard at the bottom. Then I was aware of a whitish powder which
+showed against the dark wood. Reaching down, some of this was brought up;
+and then I recognized the same powder Captain Sackett had told me was
+bichloride of mercury.
+
+By this time Tom was in convulsions. He strained horribly, and we could
+do nothing to relieve his agony. Brandy was given, but it did no good,
+and finally he lost consciousness. Miss Sackett nursed him tenderly and
+did all she could to make him comfortable, but it was no use.
+
+The horror of the thing fairly took my senses for a moment. There we
+were, miles away from land, without water. The villains had meant us to
+tell no tales. All adrift in an open boat, with food and water poisoned,
+we had a small chance indeed of ever telling the story of the
+_Sovereign's_ loss. Vessels were not plentiful at the high latitude we
+were in; and, as we were out of the trade, it was doubtful if we could
+even get into the track of the regular Cape route inside a week, to say
+nothing of being picked up. It seemed as though Andrews' villany would
+finish us yet.
+
+Far away on the southern horizon, the single mast stuck up above the blue
+water like a black rod. I stood up and gazed at it. Chips appeared to
+read my thoughts, for he spoke out:--
+
+"'Tis no use now, sir; the tanks would be a couple o' fathoms deep, an'
+we couldn't get at them. She won't float more'n a day or two, anyhow, wid
+th' afterdeck an' cargo burnt free. She'll go under as soon as the oil's
+washed out wid a sea, and that'll be th' last av a bad ship."
+
+I saw that the carpenter was right. There was no water for either Andrews
+or ourselves, and it would be foolish to go back to force the tank.
+
+"Heave the stuff overboard," I said, and Johnson and Jenks raised the
+barrel upon the rail. It poured out clear into the blue ocean, and showed
+no sign of its deadly character.
+
+"Break out that barrel of ship's bread," said Chips.
+
+It was found to be moistened with water all through, and as even the
+little poison I had drunk made me horribly nauseated, there was no
+thought of tasting the stuff. Over the side it went, floating high in the
+boat's wake. Then came the beef.
+
+"Hold on with that," said Miss Sackett. "It isn't likely they'd poison
+everything. I don't remember there being over several pounds of that
+mercury in the medicine chest, and you know it won't dissolve readily in
+water. They must have had something to dissolve it in first, and it would
+have taken too long to fill everything full of the stuff."
+
+"Who cares to taste the beef?" I asked.
+
+"Give me a piece, sir," said Johnson.
+
+He put it in his mouth and chewed slowly upon it at first, as though not
+quite certain whether to swallow it or not. Finally he mustered courage
+and made away with a portion of it, waiting some minutes to see if it
+produced pain. It was apparently all right, and then he swallowed the
+rest. We concluded to keep the beef and eat it as a last resort.
+
+The breeze freshened in the southeast, and we ran along steadily. If it
+held, we could make about a hundred miles a day, and raise the African
+coast within a week. There was a chance, if we could stand the strain.
+
+It was now the sixth day since we had left the _Pirate_, and we figured
+that she must have rounded the Cape, and would now be standing along up
+the South Atlantic with the steady southeast trade behind her. Other
+ships would be in the latitude of Cape Town, and if we could make the
+northing, we might raise one and be picked up. I pictured the horrors the
+poor girl sitting beside me must endure if we were adrift for days in the
+whale-boat. What she had already gone through was enough to shake the
+nerves of the strongest woman, but here she sat, quietly looking at the
+water, her eyes sometimes filled with tears, while not a word of
+complaint escaped her lips.
+
+Her example nerved me. I had passed the order to stop all talking except
+when necessary, as it would only add to thirst. We ran along in silence.
+
+We had no compass save the one hanging to my watch-chain, as big as my
+thumb-nail, but I managed to make a pretty straight course for all that.
+The wind freshened and was quite cool. The sunlight, sparkling over the
+ocean, which now turned dark blue with a speck of white here and there to
+windward, warmed us enough to keep off actual chill, but the men who had
+taken off their coats to make a little more of a spread to the fair wind
+soon requested permission to put them on again. Sitting absolutely quiet
+as we were, the air was keener than if we were going about the sheltered
+decks of a ship.
+
+On we went, the swell rolling under us and giving us a twisting motion.
+Sometimes we would be in a long hollow where the breeze would fail. Then,
+as we rose sternwrard, the little sail would fill, and away we would go,
+racing along the slanting crest of the long sea, the foam rushing from
+the boat's sides with a hopeful, hissing sound, until the swell would
+gain on us and go under, leaving the boat with her bow pointing up the
+receding slope and her headway almost gone, to drop into the following
+hollow and repeat the action.
+
+The English sailor who had drank the water was now stone dead. Johnson
+gave me a look, and I began a conversation with Miss Sackett, endeavoring
+to engage her attention. A splash from forward made her look, and she saw
+what had happened. Then she turned and, looking up at me, placed her soft
+little hand on mine which lay upon the tiller.
+
+"You are very good to me, Mr. Rolling, but I can stand suffering as well
+as a man," she said. "I thank you just the same." Then her eyes filled
+and she turned away her face. I found something to fix at the rudder
+head, and when I was through she was looking over the blue water where
+the lumpy trade clouds showed above the horizon's rim.
+
+As the day wore on, the hunger of the men began to show itself. Jenks
+kept his wrinkled, leather face to the northward, looking steadily for a
+sail, but the other sailors glanced aft several times, and I noticed the
+strange glare of the eye which tells of the hungry animal. Some of these
+men had eaten nothing for twenty-four hours. One big, heavy-looking young
+sailor glanced back several times from the clew of his eye at the girl
+sitting aft. But I fixed my gaze upon him so steadily that he shifted his
+seat and looked forward.
+
+Late in the afternoon some of the men insisted on eating the beef, and it
+was served to them. No ill effects followed, so all hands took their
+ration. This satisfied them for the time being, but I knew the thirst
+which must surely follow. I had been adrift in an open boat before in the
+Pacific. There had been sixteen men at the start, and at the end of four
+weeks of horror seven had been picked up to tell a tale which would make
+the blood curdle. The memory of this made me sick with fear and anxiety.
+
+Johnson felt so much better from his meal that he stood in the bow with
+his little monkey-like figure braced against the mast, his legs on the
+gunwales. He said jokingly that he'd raise a sail before eight bells in
+the afternoon. Suddenly he cried out:--
+
+"Sail dead ahead, sir!"
+
+"'Tis no jokin' matter," growled Chips, angrily. "Shet yer head, ye
+monkey, afore I heave ye over th' side."
+
+Johnson turned fiercely upon him.
+
+"Jokin', you lummax! Slant yer eye forrads, an' don't sit there a-lookin'
+at yerself," he snarled.
+
+"Steady, there!" I cried. "Where's the vessel?"
+
+"Right ahead, sir, and standing down this ways, if I see straight."
+
+I stood up on the stern locker and looked ahead. Sure enough, a white
+speck showed on the northern horizon, but I couldn't see enough of the
+craft's sails to tell which way she headed.
+
+The men all wanted to stand at once, and it took some sharp talk to
+get them under control; but the young girl at my side showed no signs
+of excitement. I looked at her, and her gentle eyes looked straight
+into mine.
+
+"I knew she would come," she said. "I've prayed all the morning."
+
+In twenty minutes, spent anxiously watching her, the ship raised her
+topsails slowly above the line of blue, and then we saw she really was
+jammed on the wind and reaching along toward us rapidly.
+
+"'Tis the _Pirit_, an' no mistake!" cried the carpenter. "Look at them
+r'yals! No one but th' bit av a mate, Trunnell, iver mastheaded a yard
+like that."
+
+"The _Pirate_!" yelled Johnson, from forward.
+
+And so, indeed, it really was.
+
+I looked at her and then at the sweet face at my side. All the hard lines
+of suffering and fright had left it. The eyes now had the same gentle,
+trusting look of innocence I had seen the first morning we had taken off
+the _Sovereign's_ crew. The reaction was too much for me. I was little
+more than a boy in years, so I reached for the girl's hand and kissed it.
+
+When I looked up I caught the clew of Jenks' eye, but the rest were
+looking at the rapidly approaching ship.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+
+When the _Pirate_ neared us, we could make out a man coming down the
+ratlines from the foretop, showing that she had evidently sighted us even
+before we had her. As she drew nearer still, we could see Trunnell
+standing on the weather side of the poop, holding to a backstay and
+gazing aloft at his canvas, evidently giving orders for the watch to bear
+a hand and lay aft to the braces. He would lay his mainyards aback and
+heave her to. Along the high topgallant rail could be seen faces, and on
+the quarter-deck Mrs. Sackett stood with our friend Thompson, better
+known in the Antipodes as Jackwell, the burglar. As I watched him
+standing there pointing to us, I thought of poor Jim.
+
+"Wheel down," I heard Trunnell bawl as the ship came within fifty fathom.
+"Slack away that lee brace; steady your wheel."
+
+Before the ship's headway had slackened we had out the oars and were
+rowing for her. In a moment a sailor had flung us a line, and we were
+towing along at the mizzen channels, with the men climbing aboard as fast
+as they could.
+
+Miss Sackett was passed over the rail, and her mother took her below. I
+was the last one except Johnson to climb up. He stood at the bow ready to
+hitch on the tackles. But other men took his place, and as I went over
+the rail Thompson came and shook my hand warmly.
+
+"Sink me, Mr. Rolling, but you've had a time of it, hey?" he said. "How
+are the men on the _Sovereign_? We've been standing along north and south
+for six days, expecting to pick you up, and here you are. It's all that
+Trunnell's doings. I was for going ahead the day we missed you, but that
+big-headed little rascal insisted on hunting for you after seeing you
+leave the wreck. Where's Jim and Phillippi, and the rest?"
+
+The sincerity of his welcome had taken me off my guard, and I found
+myself standing there shaking his hand. Then I recovered myself.
+
+"It's a pity Captain Thompson missed this ship the day she sailed," I
+said quietly. "We were informed the night before that he'd be with us. It
+might have saved the lives of some good men."
+
+He let go my hand and smiled strangely at me, his hooked nose working,
+and his eyes taking that hard glint I knew so well.
+
+"So you were really waiting for a man you'd never seen, hey? Was that
+the lay of it? And when I came aboard and said I was Thompson, you
+gulped down the bait, hey, you bleeding fool. Who the dickens do you
+think I am, anyhow?"
+
+"I happen to know that you pass by the name of Jackwell," I said. "Here,
+Chips," I called, but the carpenter was already at my side. "What name
+did Jim give the captain, and what was his business?"
+
+"'Tis no use av makin' any more av it, cap'n. We know all about ye. Th'
+best thing ye can do is to step down from the quarter-deck."
+
+"Trunnell," said Thompson, with his drawl, "what d'ye think of these men
+coming back clean daft?"
+
+The mate was close beside us, giving orders for the disposal of the small
+boat, and he turned and clasped my hand for the first time.
+
+"Mighty glad t' see ye both back. I suppose the rest are aboard the
+_Sovereign_" said he, looking us over.
+
+"And they come aboard with a tale that I'm some other man than Captain
+Thompson; that I knew that he was coming, and got aboard before him and
+went out in his place," said Jackwell. "Sink me, Trunnell, but I'm afeard
+you'll have to put them in irons."
+
+"That's quare enough," said the mate, with a smile. "Come below, Rolling,
+and let's have yer yarn. You, too, Chips, ye'll need a nip of good stuff
+as well. I'm sorry ye've turned up with a screw loose. All right, cap'n.
+Square away when ye're ready. The boat's all right." And the little
+bushy-headed fellow turned and led the way down over the poop, entering
+the forward cabin, where the steward was waiting to tell us how glad he
+was we had turned up, and also serve out good grog with a meal of
+potatoes and canned fruit.
+
+I was so tired and hungry from the exertions of the past
+twenty-four hours that I went below without further protest, Chips
+following sullenly.
+
+"I'se sho nuff glad to see yo' folks agin, Marse Rolling," said the
+steward. "Take a little o' de stuff what warms an' inwigerates."
+
+We fell to and ate heartily, and while we did so we told our story.
+Trunnell sat, and every now and again scratched his bushy head with
+excitement and interest while we told of the way Andrews had done. When
+we told how Jim had come to be aboard the _Pirate_, he walked fore and
+aft on the cabin deck, shaking his head from side to side, and muttering.
+
+"Was Jim the only one who knew about the business?" he asked.
+
+We told him he was, and that no one but Chips and myself had heard what
+the detective had said.
+
+Trunnell sat with his hands in his hair for the remainder of the time we
+were filling ourselves. He said nothing further until Chips made some
+remark about his taking the ship in. Then he arose and stood before us.
+
+"It may be as ye say, Rolling. I'd hate to doubt your word, and don't,
+in a way, so to speak. But discipline is discipline. You men know that.
+Our captain comes aboard with a letter sayin' as he's the Thompson
+what'll take the ship out. We has orders to that effect from the owners.
+It ain't possible another man could have known o' the thing so quick,
+and come aboard to take his place. Leastways, we hain't got no evidence
+but the word of a sailor who's dead, to the contrary. It may be as ye
+say, but we'll have to stick to this fellow until we take soundings.
+When we gets in, then ye may tell yer tale an' find men to back it.
+Don't say no more about it while we're out, for it won't do no good, an'
+may get ye both in irons. 'Twas a devil ye had for a shipmate when
+Andrews went with ye,--a terrible man, sure enough. I've insisted on
+standing backwards an' forrads along the track for nearly a week in
+hopes we'd pick ye up, an' I've nearly had trouble with the old man for
+waiting so long. He's heard o' the fracas, an' will stand along to pick
+up his third mate. I don't know as he'll care for Andrews, but he'll
+take the girl-mate sure if he's afloat."
+
+"There's no use av makin' any bones av the matther, Mr. Trunnell," said
+Chips. "That third mate an' the murderin' devil ain't comin' aboard this
+here ship. Ef they do, I'll kill them meself whin they comes over th'
+side." And he arose, lugging out the revolver he had taken from the
+ruffian at the close of the fight.
+
+I stepped into my room and brought forth my own, handing Chips some
+cartridges for his.
+
+"I think the men will stand to us in the matter, Trunnell," I said.
+
+The little mate looked sorrowfully at us both, and shook his great
+head slowly.
+
+"'Tain't no use o' makin' a fuss," he said at last. "Discipline is
+discipline, an' you knows it. If the captain wants them fellows aboard,
+aboard they comes, and no one here kin stop them. There's only one
+captain to a ship. When his orders don't go, there's blood an' mutiny an'
+piracy an' death aboard. Put up your guns. Don't let's say no more about
+it till we raise them, for maybe they're gone under by this time. We
+won't reach the wreck anyways afore night."
+
+It happened as he said. When we went on deck, the _Pirate_ had swung her
+yards and was standing along in the direction we had come. Thompson, or
+rather Jackwell, walked fore and aft on the weather side of the poop, and
+gazed at each turn at the horizon ahead. A lookout was posted in the
+foretop, while the rest of the men lounged about the decks and discussed
+the situation and the tragedy of the day before.
+
+Chips was for open mutiny, and Johnson backed him. All our men were in
+sympathy with us, and some were so outspoken that they could be counted
+on if a fresh fracas occurred. The majority, however, were so well under
+control that they appeared to be satisfied to obey orders under any
+conditions. The Englishmen were neutral. All except Jenks were silent or
+advised the recognition of the established authority, telling how we
+could square matters afterward with our enemies.
+
+This shows how a sailor is at the mercy of any one who has been
+established in authority. If he resists in any manner, he is mutinous and
+is liable to the severest penalties. Here we were with every prospect of
+having Andrews and our third mate on board again, to go through some
+other horror, unless we turned pirates and took the ship. This was a
+risky thing to attempt, for if successful and there was any bloodshed, we
+would certainly either swing or pass under a heavy sentence. That is, of
+course, if we failed to prove that Thompson was the rascal Jim had told
+us he was. On the other hand, if we failed, there was the absolute
+certainty of being at the mercy of the rascal's cruelty, unless Trunnell
+would be able to control them all.
+
+The little mate was a strange character. He believed in obeying orders
+under any conditions whatever, unless absolute proof could be had that
+the one who gave the orders was unauthorized to do so. In spite of his
+friendship for me, I knew full well that he would die rather than disobey
+the captain, no matter what the order was, provided he considered it a
+legitimate one. The fact that the men had committed horrible crimes did
+not in any manner disinherit them from the ship in his opinion. They
+should be dealt with afterward according to the law.
+
+I took no part in an argument. Neither did Trunnell or the skipper. They
+both seemed satisfied of their position and took no pains to talk to the
+men as if they suspected a rising. I stood in the waist and remained
+looking steadily at the horizon until the sun dipped, and there was every
+prospect that night would come before we raised the black mast of the
+wreck. My pistol was in my pocket ready for instant use, and I saw by the
+bunch under Chips' coat that he was also ready. His small black mustache
+was worked into points under the pressure of his nervous fingers, and he
+sat on the hatch-combings apart from all save Johnson. The sailor walked
+athwartships before him on the deck as if to get the stiffness out of his
+little legs, which seemed now thinner than ever, as the setting sun shone
+between them through the curious gap.
+
+The upper limb of the red sun was just touching the line of water when
+the man in the foretop hailed the deck.
+
+"Wreck on weather bow, sir!" he bawled.
+
+My heart gave a great jump and I looked at Chips. Johnson made a movement
+with his hand as if holding a knife and went to the weather rail and
+looked over.
+
+"Weather maintopsail brace!" came the call from Trunnell. The men came
+tumbling aft and took their places.
+
+"Lee braces, Mr. Rolling," he called again, and I crossed the deck,
+knowing that he would jam her as high as he could to make as far to
+windward as possible before darkness set in.
+
+We braced her sharper, and she pointed a bit higher, but she could not
+quite head up to the black stick that showed above the horizon. The wind,
+however, was steady, and under her royals the _Pirate_ was about the
+fastest and prettiest ship afloat. She heeled gently to the breeze and
+went through it to the tune of seven knots, rolling the heft of the long
+sea away from her clipper bows and tossing off the foam without a jar or
+tremble. I looked hard at the distant speck which was now just visible
+from the deck, and wondered how Andrews and his crew felt. I could see
+nothing of the _Sovereign's_ hull, and hope rose within me. I found
+myself saying over and over again to myself, "She's gone under, she's
+gone under." Then just before it grew too dark to see any longer I went
+aft and took up the glass. Through it the black forecastle of the wreck
+showed above the sea.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+
+It was quite dark before the _Pirate_ had come up with the wreck. The
+skipper and Trunnell had gone below to their supper, and I had charge of
+the deck, with orders to heave the ship into the wind when we came
+abreast, and sing out for the mate to man the boat.
+
+We were barely able to make within half a mile dead to leeward, but when
+we did, I backed the main yards and clewed up the courses, taking in the
+royals to keep from drifting off too fast in the gloom.
+
+Trunnell came on deck and gave orders to get out the boat. She was soon
+at the channels, jumping and thrashing in the sea, for the breeze was now
+quite strong. The mate jumped into her with four men, and Thompson went
+to the break of the poop and told me I could go below to supper. Chips
+and the steward came aft, also, and we made out to eat a square meal in
+silence, each making a sign to his neighbor toward the back of his belt.
+
+While we ate, listening for the sound of oars that would tell of the
+return of the boat, we could hear snatches of the sad talk of the
+two women in the after-cabin, through the bulkhead. This did not
+tend to raise our spirits, and we hurried through to be on deck when
+Trunnell returned.
+
+Scarcely had we gained the main deck when we heard the regular sound of
+the oars and oar-locks. Soon the dim shadow of the boat was seen heading
+toward us, outlined against the light in the eastern sky where the moon
+was rising.
+
+We took our places at the waist and awaited developments. Jackwell stood
+directly above me, and I could see his face with its glinting eyes turned
+toward me. His mustache was waxed into sharp points and curved upward,
+while his protruding chin and beak-like nose appeared to draw even nearer
+together. He was evidently quite well satisfied that he would be able to
+take care of his passengers, for he said nothing to me to indicate that
+he was disturbed by my proximity to the gangway.
+
+I had decided to shoot Andrews the moment he came over the side, without
+a word. This much I had confided to Chips and Johnson. They would stand
+by me if there was a general attack, and we would make the best terms
+possible afterward.
+
+The boat drew close aboard, and I could see the backs of the rowers swing
+fore and aft to the stroke. Then she shot alongside and was fast to the
+mizzen channels, and I stepped back ready for action. Jackwell noticed my
+move and drew his pistol. I drew mine, and glancing around I saw that the
+carpenter and Johnson were standing near, with their weapons at hand, and
+half a dozen sailors with them. I would not be alone.
+
+A form sprang over the side, and I raised my weapon almost before I knew
+it. Then I recognized Trunnell.
+
+"You can disarm that young fool, Trunnell," said Jackwell, putting away
+his gun. "It's lucky for him you've come back without any one, or I'd
+have shot him in half a second more."
+
+The little mate came down the poop steps and went up to me.
+
+"You better go below, Rolling," said he. "I didn't tell him," he added
+under his breath, "that you had said you'd mutiny afore I left, or he
+would probably have done for both you and Chips. He doesn't even know now
+that Chips was with you, so get into your room and pipe down."
+
+I was so dazed at Trunnell coming back alone I could hardly talk. I
+looked again over the side to see if there was no mistake. All the men
+were now aboard, and only the empty craft was there, dancing at the end
+of her painter. Then I turned and followed the mate below, he stopping
+just long enough to give orders to hoist in the boat and swing the yards.
+Jackwell went to the wheel, and away the ship went to the westward,
+leaving the shadowy thing there on the eastern horizon to mark the end of
+a fine ship. I stopped a moment to look at the derelict, and the rising
+moon cast a long line of silver light across the sea.
+
+Out in that shining track, a dark stick rose from the water. That was the
+last I saw of the _Sovereign_.
+
+"Where were they?" I asked Trunnell, as we came into the cabin.
+
+"Well," said the little mate, coolly, "since you've worked yourself up so
+much over the matter, and as we're a-goin' along on our course agin, as I
+suggested to the skipper afore we raised the wrack"--here he went to the
+pantry and brought out a bottle, and held it out to me.
+
+"No," I said; "I don't want anything to drink. Tell me what became of the
+fellows on the wreck. It's my second watch, if I remember right, and I'll
+be ready to turn out at eight bells."
+
+"Well," said Trunnell, "where they is an' where they is not, stumps me.
+Where a feller goes when he dies is mostly a matter o' guesswork, so I
+don't know as I can say eggzackly jest where them fellers is at."
+
+Here he took a long drink, and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. I
+put my gun in my room, and sat down at the cabin table, where he held the
+bottle as though undecided whether to take another drink or put it away
+in the pantry. Rum appeared to be easy of access on the ship, and I knew
+I could get it any time I wanted it.
+
+"Well, ye see, the way of it ware like this," went on the mate. "I
+didn't take no stock o' those fellers bein' aboard a ship what had been
+afire, so when ye went into stays an' swore to do bloody murder an'
+suddin death to them fellers, I didn't let on to the old man. What's the
+use? says I. We ain't a-goin' to bring them back noways."
+
+"Weren't they aboard?" I asked.
+
+Trunnell gave me a long, keen look.
+
+"Be ye tellin' o' this yarn, Rolling, or me?" he said.
+
+I asked his pardon for interrupting.
+
+"As I ware a-sayin' afore ye put in your oar, when I hears that ye both
+had told the truth o' the matter o' the fight, it appeared to me that
+them fellers couldn't be aboard that wrack. I told the old man so, but he
+ware fer standin' along after them anyways. Then I ware clean decided
+that the wrack had done fer them."
+
+"Wasn't there a sign of them aboard?" I asked again.
+
+"There's such a thing as bein' inquisitive," said Trunnell, looking at me
+with his keen little eyes from under their shaggy brows. "Them men ain't
+on that wrack--an' I told the skipper so, see?"
+
+He pulled out his sheath-knife, went to the door of the cabin, and flung
+it clear of the ship's side. Then he came back.
+
+"There's some such thing as justice on ships, when the fellers go too
+far; but discipline is discipline. The sooner ye get that through yer
+head, the better. As fer them men with Andrews, they had give up any
+right to live afore I got there. I told the old man that the chances were
+agin their bein' found there. I comes back and reports that they ain't
+there. That's all. Where they is I don't much keer. They is plenty o'
+sharrucks in this here ocean, and some parts o' them is most likely
+helpin' them. The rest is mostly in hell, I reckon, but as I says afore,
+that is a matter o' mostly guesswork."
+
+A dim idea of the horror he had gone through came upon me.
+
+"Good God, Trunnell," I said, "did you do it alone?"
+
+"Well, there ware only one strong one in the lot--but look here, young
+man, if ye don't turn in pretty soon, ye'll be in trouble agin."
+
+He poured himself out another drink, and put the bottle in the pantry.
+Then he went on deck, and I turned in to think over the spectacle that
+must have occurred aboard the blackened derelict. I could see Andrews's
+hope and the third mate's joy at being rescued. I could even picture
+them undergoing the wild joy I had just felt myself, when we had sighted
+the _Pirate_. Then came that nameless something. Had the men seen it? A
+rescuer coming aboard with a bloody knife in his belt, and the ship
+standing away again on her course for the States on the other side of
+the world!
+
+There would be no explanations, and the blackened wreck, half sunken in
+the swell, would tell no tales. Trunnell was really a strange character.
+
+"Discipline is discipline," I seemed to hear him saying all my watch
+below. His step sounded above my head as he walked fore and aft, during
+his watch; and during the periods of fitful slumber I enjoyed before
+eight bells struck, I fancied him a great giant whose feet struck with
+a thunderous sound at every stride. I was almost startled when his
+great bushy head was thrust into my room door, and he announced loudly
+that it was the mid-watch, and that I would need a stout jacket to ward
+off the cold.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+
+For the next three days we went along merrily to the northward, the
+beginning of the southeast trade behind us, and our skysails drawing full
+overhead. On the third day Cape Agullas was sighted on our beam. Then,
+away we went scudding across the South Atlantic Ocean for the equator.
+
+Miss Sackett and her mother came on deck now and enjoyed the beautiful
+weather. The sufferings they had both gone through had made a deep
+impression upon them, and they were very quiet. The older woman would sit
+for hours in a faded dress saved from the wreck of the _Sovereign_,
+gazing sadly at the wake sparkling away in the sunshine astern. The
+bright gleams seemed to light up the memories of her past, and sometimes
+when I saw her she would have a tear trickling slowly down each cheek.
+Men as good as Sackett were scarce on deep water.
+
+But the daughter was different. She was sad enough, at times. Being
+young, however, the loss of her father fell easier upon her. We often
+found time to chat together during the day watches on deck, and she
+showed a marked interest in the ship, and the people aboard, talking
+cheerfully of the future and the probable ending of the voyage. Jenks
+interested her and likewise Trunnell; but the sturdy mate paid little
+attention to her, devoting all his time to the affairs of her mother.
+
+Thompson, or Tackwell, still commanded the ship, and Chips and I agreed
+there was no use in forcing matters with Trunnell against us. We would
+bide our time and wait for him on making harbor. He was doing well enough
+now, and since the women had come aboard he had been quieter in his cups,
+staying below when not sober enough to talk pleasantly. His mustache he
+curled with more care, and his dress was better than before, otherwise he
+walked the deck with the same commanding air, and drawled out his orders
+as usual. He was the most temperate at the very times when I expected him
+to go off into one of his ugly sarcastic fits, and was evidently trying
+to carry out the remainder of the voyage without any friction anywhere.
+This made matters easy for the mates.
+
+During this period of good weather the routine duties of the ship took
+the place of the fierce excitement of the past. The bright sunshine
+cheered us greatly, and the spirits of all on board rose accordingly. The
+day watches were spent in healthy labor on the main deck, bending old
+sails and sending below the new ones. A ship, unlike a human being,
+always puts on her old and dirty clothes in fine weather, and bends her
+new and strong ones for facing foul.
+
+The poultry and pigs, which nearly all deep-water ships carry, were
+turned loose to get exercise and air. The "doctor" worked up his
+plum-duff on the main hatch in full view of hungry men, and tobacco was
+in plenty for those who had money to pay for it, Trunnell giving fair
+measure to all who ran bills on the slop chest.
+
+The little shaggy-headed fellow interested me more than ever now, and he
+was in evidence all day long. His hair and beard, which resembled the
+mane of a lion, could be seen at all times, from the poop to the
+topgallant forecastle, rising above the hatches or going down the
+gangways, where he attended to everything in person. Since the night when
+he came aboard with his bloody knife, I felt strangely toward him. He
+never alluded to the affair again in any way whatever, but went at his
+work in the same systematic and seaman-like manner that had, from the
+first, marked him as a thorough sailor. He was always considerate to the
+men under him, and many times when I expected an outburst of fierce
+anger, such as nine out of ten deep-water mates would indulge in at a
+stupid blunder of a lazy sailor, he simply gave the fellow a quiet
+talking to and impressed him with the absolute necessity of care in his
+work. We had plenty of men aboard, and the crew of the _Sovereign_ were
+turned to each watch and made to do their share.
+
+After a few days, Trunnell came to me and told me I might choose a third
+mate for him out of the men who had been in the _Sovereign's_ crew. None
+of the men of the _Pirate_ he said were up to a mate's berth, except
+Johnson, and he, poor fellow, couldn't read or write. Jenks was too
+slippery for me after his hand in the fracas, so I asked the steward to
+pick me out a man from forward, thinking he would be able to note the
+proper qualities better than myself, as he was thrown in closer contact
+with the men. The steward, Gunning, was a mulatto, as I have said, and he
+was of a sympathetic disposition. Among the men who had first come aboard
+from the wreck was an old fellow of nondescript appearance who had very
+thoughtfully seized several bottles of Captain Sackett's rum to have in
+the small boat in case of sickness. This was made possible by the
+flooding of the ship, which made it necessary for the men to live aft.
+
+The old fellow had apparently enjoyed good health, and had saved a
+couple of bottles which he offered to the steward as a bribe for a
+recommendation. This kindness on the old man's part had appealed
+directly to Gunning, and he had sent him aft to me as the very man I
+wanted. He was very talkative and full of anecdotes, proving a most
+interesting specimen.
+
+"I ain't been out o' sight o' land before in my life," said he, in a fit
+of confidence the first evening we divided watches, "but old Chris Kingle
+believed everything I told him, and here I am, third mate of this hooker,
+as sober as a judge, waitin' to get killed the first time I go aloft.
+Bleed me, but I'm in a fix; but it's no worse than I expected, for
+everything goes wrong nowadays."
+
+"Well, what do you mean by coming aft here as mate when you know you
+can't fill the bill?" I roared, made furious at his confession.
+
+"Cap," said he, as calmly as if I hadn't spoken, "some men is born
+great; some men tries to get great; and some men never has no show at
+all, nohow. Take your chances, says I. Mebbe I'm born great, an' it
+only needs a little opportunity to bring it out--like the measles.
+Anyways, I never let an opportunity fer greatness come along without
+laying fer it. I'm agin it now, an' if y' ever hear o' my bein' at sea
+agin, just let me know."
+
+"If you ever see the beach again, you'll have reason to thank me, and
+I'll just tell you right now, you can make up your mind for double irons
+until we get to Philadelphia," I shouted.
+
+"Bleed me, cap, that's just about what I didn't think you'd do," the
+lubber responded. "Give me a chance, 'n' if I'm no good as third mate,
+I'll probably do as fourth. Try me. If I'm born great, I'll show up. If
+I'm not, I can at least die great, or greater than I am. I've lived on
+land all my life, but I know something about sailing. I'm fifty-two year
+old come next fall, an' if I can't sail a ship after all I've seen o'
+them, I'll be willing to live in irons or brass, or enny thing."
+
+"You go below and tell Mr. Gunning to come here to me," I said, in no
+pleasant tone, and as the fellow shuffled off to do as I said, his
+bloated, red features told plainly what it had cost him to overcome
+Gunning and get the steward into the state he must have been to recommend
+such a fellow for an officer aboard ship.
+
+When Gunning came aft, he was so ashamed of himself that I let him go,
+and he picked a mate from one of the quartermasters of the watch, while I
+turned the old fellow to as a landsman. This had no effect on his
+loquacity, however, for he never lost an opportunity for telling a sad
+yarn full of the woes of this life and the anticipated ones in the world
+to come. He had drank much and thought little, except of his own sorrows
+and ill luck, but as his yearnings for sympathy did no harm, he was
+seldom repressed.
+
+We were three months out before we struck into the rains to the southward
+of the line, so there was an accumulation of dirty clothes aboard that
+would have filled the heart of a laundress with joy--or horror.
+
+The _Pirate_ was running close on her water, for the port tank had sprung
+a leak, and there was no condenser aboard. The allowance had been set at
+two quarts per day for each man. This was barely enough to satisfy
+ordinary thirst and no more.
+
+For the first day or two we made good headway into the squally belt. The
+heavy, black, and dangerous-looking clouds would come along about every
+half-hour, just fast enough to keep the men busy clewing down and
+hoisting the lighter canvas nearly all day long, for some would have a
+puff of wind ahead of them and some a puff behind, making it all
+guesswork as to how hard it would strike.
+
+After the second day we had the doldrums fair enough, and there we lay
+with our courses clewed up and our t'gallantsails wearing out with the
+continuous slatting, as the ship rolled lazily on the long, easy
+equatorial sea. She was heading all around the compass, for there was
+not enough air to give her steering way; so, after dinner, all hands
+were allowed to turn out their outfits on the main deck for a grand
+wash. When we were under one of those squall-clouds, the water would
+fall so heavily that it would be ankle deep in the waist in spite of the
+half-dozen five-inch scuppers spouting full streams out at both sides.
+The waterfall was enough to take away the breath, standing in it, but
+all hands turned out stripped to the waist. The scuppers were plugged,
+and soon the waist of the ship, about forty feet wide and sixty long,
+looked like a miniature lake with the after-hatch rising like a
+snow-white island from the centre, and upon which a miniature surf broke
+as the water swashed and swirled with each roll of the ship. Here were
+hundreds of gallons of excellent water to wash in, and blankets,
+jumpers, flannels, etc., were soon floating at will, while the men
+seized whatever of their belongings they could lay hands on, and rubbed
+piece after piece with soap. The large pieces, such as blankets, were
+hauled into the shallows forward, where the ship's sheer made a gently
+sloping beach. Then they were smeared with soap and laid just awash,
+while the men would slide along them in their bare feet as though on
+ice, squeezing out great quantities of dirty suds. Afterwards they would
+be cast adrift in the deep water to rinse.
+
+I came to the break of the poop and looked down upon the busy scene a few
+feet beneath on the main deck. The water here was fully two feet deep in
+the scuppers when the ship rolled to either side, and the men were almost
+washed off their feet with its rush. Some of them had climbed upon the
+island,--the main hatch,--where they sat and wrung the pieces of their
+apparel dry. Among these washers was my old third mate, now transformed
+into a somewhat shiftless sailor.
+
+The old fellow's wardrobe was limited. It consisted of his natural
+covering in the way of skin and hair, one shirt, and a pair of badly worn
+dungaree trousers. The shirt he had worn during the entire cruise, and
+perhaps some time before, and as it fitted him tightly, and as his
+natural covering of hair on his chest was thick, it had gradually worked
+its way through the cloth, curling sharply on the outside, making the
+garment and himself as nearly one as possible. This had caused him no
+little inconvenience in washing, and it was with great difficulty he had
+removed the garment. He had spent half an hour rubbing it with a piece of
+salt-water soap, rinsed it thoroughly, and had it spread out on the
+hatch-combings. His work being finished, he sat near it, with his knees
+drawn up to his breast, his hands locked around his shins, and his face
+wearing an expression of deep and very sad thought.
+
+Trunnell came out on the deck and had his things cast into the water with
+the rest. Then he peeled off his shirt and stood forth naked to the
+waist, a broad belt strapped tightly about him holding his trousers. His
+muscles now showed out for the first time, and I stood gazing at the
+enormous bunches on his back and shoulders. He was like some monstrous
+giant cut off at the waist and stuck upon a pair of absurdly short legs,
+which, however, were simply knots of muscle.
+
+When he had finished his shirt, he turned over the rest of his belongings
+to Johnson to wash for him. Then his gaze fell upon the unhappy-looking
+old fellow on the hatch, who was holding his single shirt now in his
+hands, waiting for it to dry sufficiently for him to wear it again. As
+the rain fell in torrents every few minutes, this appeared an endless
+task, and the old man grew more sorrowful.
+
+"There ain't nothin' in this world fer me," said he, sadly, cc not even a
+bloomin' shirt. Here I am shipwrecked and lost on a well-found ship, an'
+sink me, I ain't even able to change me clothes, one piece at a time."
+
+"Ye'll soon be ashore agin, old feller," said Trunnell, "an' then ye'll
+have licker an' clothes in plenty."
+
+"What's licker to me?" said the old man.
+
+"Why, meat an' drink, when ye has to quit it off sudden like,"
+said Trunnell.
+
+"It's clothes I wants, not no rum. Can't ye see I'm nakid as Adam, except
+fer this old rag? I wouldn't mind if I ware signed on regular like the
+rest, 'cause I could take it out the slop chest in work. But here I is
+without no regular work, no chanst to draw on the old man, an' next
+month, most like, we'll be running up the latitoods inter frost. I'm in a
+hard fix, shipmate, an' you kin see it."
+
+Trunnell seemed to be thinking for several minutes. Then he spoke.
+
+"There's lots o' bugs an' things forrads, ain't there?" said he.
+
+"If by lots ye means millions, I reckon ye're talkin'," said the man.
+
+"Well," said Trunnell, "I'll tell ye what I'll do. You get a sail needle
+an' a line to it about half a fathom long, see?"
+
+"I sees."
+
+"Well, then ye go about between decks, an' in the alleyways, an' behind
+the bunks, an' around the galley, an' earn yer own outfit with that
+needle, see? When ye have a string o' bugs a-fillin' the string like
+clear up to the needle's eye, ye bring them aft to me, an' I gives ye
+credit fer them in clothes or grog, each string bein' worth a drink, an'
+a hundred worth a shirt or pants. Do ye get on to the game?"
+
+"I get on to it well enough," said the fellow, "but what I wants to know
+is, whether ye'll take me whurd o' honner that I'll catch a string o'
+bugs afore night, an' give me the rum now to stave off the chill."
+
+"I will," said Trunnell.
+
+The old man rose from the hatchway, and struggled hard to get into his
+shirt. The garment had shrunk so, however, that the sleeves reached but
+to his elbows and the tails to his waist band. He seized the open front
+in his hand and looked solemnly at the mate with his sad eyes.
+
+"Lead me to it! Lead me to it! For the Lord's sake, lead me to it!" he
+said quietly.
+
+And Trunnell went into the forward cabin with the apparition following
+eagerly in his wake.
+
+What a strange little giant he was, this mate! "Discipline is
+discipline," he would say, and no man got anything for nothing
+aboard his ship.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+
+We crossed the line in 24 west longitude, running close to the St. Paul's
+Rocks. These strange peaks to the southward of the equator caused some
+interest aboard, rising as they do out of the middle of the ocean a mile
+or more in depth.
+
+The air was hot and muggy the day we crossed into the northern
+hemisphere, and the light breeze died away again, leaving the ship with
+her courses clewed up, rolling and wallowing uneasily in the swell.
+
+Jackwell, as I must always call him now, spruced himself up better than
+usual, and paid more attention to the ladies. He avoided me at every
+opportunity; but as neither Chips nor myself ever alluded to the story
+we had heard from Jim, his courage rose, and he became more familiar
+with the men.
+
+Up to this time, we had not sighted a single sail since the _Sovereign_;
+but here on the line, where the fleets of the maritime world congregate
+to pick up the north or southeast trades, we sighted many ships bound
+both out and in.
+
+One of these that happened near us was the _Shark_, whaling brig of three
+hundred tons, commanded by Captain Henry,--a man who had sailed in
+American ships engaged in the deep-water trade for years before he had
+taken to whaling. This vessel signalled us; and when we had answered and
+found out who our neighbor was, we were invited aboard.
+
+Jackwell was willing to go with the ladies, as he thought it might prove
+a diversion. There was no chance for a breeze, and the ships were within
+half a mile of each other, with a smooth sea between. He insisted,
+however, that I go along to command the boat.
+
+Chips and I had from the first decided to try and get a peep at the
+captain's trunk, and this might prove our chance. Gunning's tale of its
+great weight gave rise to many high thoughts; and if it were gold, much
+might be hoped for if we landed our man when we made port.
+
+A few words with the carpenter was enough, and then I got the men at work
+hoisting out the boat. I found time to try and persuade Trunnell to take
+my place in the small craft, but he was firm. It would never do, he said,
+to leave the ship without a high officer aboard. "There's no telling,
+Rolling, just what might happen in this world while a feller is on the
+deep sea. No, sir; go ahead and enjoy yourself. There's a-goin' to be
+some line jokes, I reckon, aboard that brig. If the skipper ain't been
+acrost before, he'll be liable to catch the fun as well as the rest, but
+he don't know nothin' about sech things."
+
+I was a little suspicious at Trunnell's determination to stay aboard,
+especially when I found out he knew the captain of the whaler very well.
+However, I had the small boat hoisted out and made ready for the
+passengers. This time there was a compass and water breaker aboard, and a
+foghorn in the stern sheets in case of need.
+
+Mrs. Sackett was helped into the small craft, and her daughter followed,
+both women looking brighter than at any time during the cruise. Mrs.
+Sackett was not a bad-looking woman at any time, being of about the
+medium height, with a smooth complexion, and her figure finely
+proportioned. Her daughter seated herself beside her in the stern, and
+Jackwell climbed over the rail.
+
+He was dressed in a very fine suit of clothes, his shirt-front white,
+and his waxed mustache curled fiercely. His glinting eyes had a
+somewhat humorous expression, I thought, and he appeared very well
+pleased with himself.
+
+Trunnell came to the rail and leaned over. "Good luck to ye," he cried.
+"We'll expect ye back to dinner."
+
+"Keep an eye on my room, and don't let the steward disturb the charts on
+my trunk until I come back. The last sight is worked out on the one lying
+on the table," replied Jackwell.
+
+Then the oars fell across, and we shot out over the smooth ocean to the
+brig that rolled lazily half a mile distant.
+
+The skipper appeared in a most humorous mood, which increased as did the
+distance between the ships.
+
+He talked to Mrs. Sackett incessantly and actually had that lady laughing
+happily at his remarks. Miss Sackett did not rise to his humor, however,
+and her mother noticed it.
+
+"Jennie, dear, why don't you laugh? Captain Thompson is so funny," she
+said.
+
+"I will when he gets off a good joke, mother."
+
+"Get off a good joke?" echoed the skipper. "Well, that's what I call
+hard. A good joke? Why, my dear child, I've gotten off the joke of my
+life to-day. Sink me, if I ain't played the best joke of the year, and on
+Trunnell too, at that. A good joke? ha, ha, hah!" and he threw his head
+back and laughed so loud and long that his mirth was infectious, and I
+even found myself smiling at him.
+
+"Tell us what it is," said Miss Jennie.
+
+"Oh, ho, ho, tell you what it is," laughed Jackwell, and his nose worked
+up and down so rapidly that I marvelled at it. His glinting eyes were
+almost closed and his face was red with exertion. "And suppose I'd tell
+you what it is, Miss Sackett? You wouldn't laugh. Not you. You couldn't
+rise to the occasion like your mamma. No, sink me, if I told you what it
+was, you wouldn't laugh; so you'll all have to wait till you get back
+aboard to hear it. But it's a good one, no fear."
+
+We were now almost alongside of the brig, and could see her captain at
+the gangway, waiting to receive us. All along the rail strange faces
+peeped over at us.
+
+"Way enough," cried Jackwell, and the oars were shipped. The boat
+swept alongside, and a ladder was lowered for us. I climbed out first
+to be able to assist the ladies, and as I gained the deck I was
+greeted by a strongly built, bearded man who looked at me keenly out
+of clear blue eyes.
+
+"I'm glad to see you, sir," said he, holding out his hand.
+
+I shook hands and turned to help Mrs. Sackett over the rail. Then came
+Miss Jennie, and last of all our captain.
+
+Jackwell sprang up the ladder quickly, and stood in the gangway.
+
+"How are you, sir, Captain Thomp--"
+
+Captain Henry checked himself, looking at our skipper as though he had
+seen a ghost.
+
+"Why, Jack--"
+
+But Jackwell had put up his hand, smiling pleasantly.
+
+"Jack it is, old man. You haven't forgotten the time I picked you up on
+the beach, have you?" he said, laughing. "Mrs. Sackett," he cried,
+turning, "allow me to introduce my friend, Captain Henry. Miss Sackett,
+also. Here's a skipper who hasn't forgotten the day I pulled him out of
+the water on the coast of South Wales, where he was wrecked. Sink me, but
+it's a blessing to see gratitude," he cried again, laughing heartily.
+"Fancy one skipper pulling another out of the sea, hey? Can you do that?"
+
+"Well, I want to know," replied Henry. "I never knew you was a--"
+
+"You never knew what, old man? What is it ye never knew? Sink me, it
+would fill every barrel you have below, hey? wouldn't it? What you never
+knew, nor never will know, would fill your little ship so full she'd
+sink, Henry, or I'm a soger. Ha, ha, hah! my boy; I don't mean to cast no
+insinuations at you, but that's a fact, ain't it? But what the dickens
+have you got going on aboard?"
+
+He turned and gazed at the brig's main deck, where tubs of water and
+soapsuds were being poured into the trying-out kettles built in the
+brig's waist.
+
+"Why," said Henry, "since you are a sea-capting, you must know the lay of
+it. Hain't you never crossed the line in a sailin' ship before?"
+
+He had apparently recovered himself, and the surprise at meeting an old
+acquaintance appeared to give him pleasure.
+
+Taking Mrs. Sackett by the hand, he led her aft up the poop steps,
+Jackwell following, keeping up a continual talk about whales and
+whaling skippers. Jennie and I followed behind and examined the brig's
+strange outfit.
+
+The first mate, a man of middle age, lean and gaunt, came forward and
+introduced himself. He had sailed in every kind of ship, and was now
+whaling, he declared, for the last time. As I had made several "last
+voyages" myself, I knew that he meant simply to show involuntarily that
+he was a confirmed sailor of the most pronounced sort.
+
+He showed us the lines and irons, the cutting-in outfit, and the kettles
+and furnace for boiling down the blubber. We followed him about, and I
+expressed my thanks when we arrived at the poop again, where he left us.
+Jennie was not interested, and the fact was not lost upon the old fellow,
+who turned away to join his mates at the kettles.
+
+"Do you know, Mr. Rolling, I don't care a rap for ships," said she. "They
+don't interest me any more, and I don't think they are the place for
+women, anyhow."
+
+"It would be mighty lonesome for some men if they acted on that idea and
+kept out of them," I answered.
+
+We were all alone by the mizzen, the captains having gone below with Mrs.
+Sackett to show her the interior of the ship.
+
+The young girl looked up, and I fancied there was just a sparkle of
+amusement in her eyes.
+
+"Do you really think so?" she said. "Can't men find more useful
+occupations than following the sea,--that is, those who are lonely?"
+
+"Some men are fitted to do certain things in this world and unfitted for
+others. It would be hard on those whose lines are laid out like that for
+them. You don't think a man follows the sea after his first voyage
+because he likes it, do you?" I said.
+
+"Then for Heaven's sake why don't they stay ashore?" she demanded.
+
+"Would you care for a man who would stay out of a thing that he was
+fitted for, simply because it was hard?" I asked her.
+
+She blushed and turned away.
+
+"I was not speaking of caring for any one, Mr. Rolling," she replied.
+And then she added quickly, "I think we will go below and see what they
+have for us."
+
+"No, wait just one minute, Jennie," I said, taking her hand and stopping
+her gently without attracting the attention of the men forward. "This is
+the first time we've had a chance to talk of ourselves in two months. I
+want to ask you if you really meant that?"
+
+"Meant what?" she said, stopping and turning around, facing me squarely.
+
+"That you didn't care for any one?" I stammered, and I remember how my
+face burned.
+
+She let me hold her hand and looked up into my eyes.
+
+"I never said any such thing--that I didn't care for any one," she
+replied.
+
+"Then do you, Jennie?"
+
+She made no answer, and let her eyes fall. I let go her hand and drew
+myself up, for I was uncertain.
+
+"I say, Rolling, what the deuce are you two doing?" bawled the voice of
+Jackwell from the companion, and then I realized that there was little
+privacy aboard a ship of three hundred tons.
+
+We went aft guiltily, and met the rest coming up the companion with
+bottled beer and sandwiches which were served as refreshments. Chairs
+were set out by the old mate and two harpooners who had come aft, and the
+cook spruced himself up to get us out a plum-duff for lunch. From where
+we sat behind the poop rise, nothing could be seen forward, and here we
+ate and drank while Jackwell laughed and talked incessantly, being a
+completely changed man from the sarcastic and somewhat truculent skipper
+I had known for the last three months. It was finally suggested that as
+the awning was stretched, the plum-duff could be served on deck better
+than below in the stuffy cabin, so here we enjoyed the meal.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+
+While we ate, Jackwell expanded more and more under the influence of duff
+and beer. He leaned back in his chair and gazed at the mainmast.
+
+"What makes the top of your mast so black, hey? Is it the smoke from the
+kettles, or have you been afire? Sink me, Henry, there couldn't have been
+any such luck as your old hooker afire and being put out, hey? Ha, ha,
+hah! that would have been asking too much of the devil."
+
+"It's hollow," said the old mate.
+
+"What? Hollow? What the deuce is your mast hollow for?"
+
+"Well, that is a question, isn't it, Mrs. Sackett?" said Henry. "Perhaps
+he asks you sometimes what a smoke-pipe is hollow for, don't he? I never
+seen such a funny man. But he'll never get over it, I want to know."
+
+"Is it really hollow?" asked Jennie of the old mate.
+
+"Yessum, it certainly is. Why, it's the smoke-pipe, you know," was the
+reply. "We have an engine in the lazarette that'll take us along more'n
+three knots in dead calm weather. It's been a lot o' help, when the wind
+has been light and ahead, fer picking up the boats. Ye know a whale
+always makes dead to windward, mostly, an' if the wind is light and we've
+got to go a long ways, the poor devils would most starve waitin' fer us,
+like they used to do in the old times. The lower mast is iron. There's
+lots of them that way now. The soot makes the canvas black sometimes, but
+there ain't no sparks to speak of ever comes out of that top, as it's
+mostly blubber we burns."
+
+Jackwell became silent for several minutes, and then, as his eyes were
+still directed at the masthead, I looked again and noticed the topsail
+yard settled below the lower masthead.
+
+"How do you suppose he keeps it up like that?" I asked Jackwell, trying
+to be civil.
+
+"Keeps what up like what?" he said, in his old tone.
+
+"The yard," I answered shortly.
+
+"Oh, mostly by force of habit, I reckon," said he, nodding sarcastically
+at me and wrinkling his nose. "That's it, ain't it, Henry? Your yards
+stay mastheaded mostly by force o' habit, hey? They don't need no ropes."
+
+I saw I was not forgotten, so afterward I kept quiet when he spoke. In a
+moment or two after this there was a wild yell from forward. This
+terminated into a deep bass roar, and we all jumped up to see what was
+the matter.
+
+The form of a man sat on the starboard cat-head, and in his mouth was a
+horn of enormous size, the mouth being fully three feet across.
+
+"Sooaye, Sooa-a-aye!" he roared. "Make way fer the great king o' the
+sea!"
+
+I saw the fellow had on a long, rope-yarn beard and a wig to match, while
+a pair of black wings hung from his shoulders.
+
+While he called, creatures swarmed over the bows. Men with beards and men
+without, some holding long spears and streamers, and some with
+three-pronged tridents, all having huge heads with grotesque faces, and
+forked tails which hung down behind.
+
+"Hooray fer the king o' the sea!" bawled the fellow through the horn; and
+then the motley crowd yelled in chorus, some blowing huge conch-shells,
+and all making a most hideous racket.
+
+Jennie stopped her ears and gazed, laughing at the throng. She had been
+across the line before in some of the older ships with her father, and
+knew of the practice. Mrs. Sackett and Captain Henry cheered and waved
+their handkerchiefs, but Jackwell sat silently looking on. Finally all of
+us went to the break of the poop, where we could get a better view, and
+just as we arrived, a monstrous form came over the knight-heads and stood
+forth on deck.
+
+The fellow had a beard fully a fathom long, and he stood nearly two
+fathoms high, his feet being hoof-shaped. Gigantic black canvas wings
+hung from his shoulders, and a huge wig of rope-yarn, with the hair
+falling to his waist, sat on his head. He was escorted unsteadily to a
+seat upon the trying-out furnace.
+
+"All who have to worship the king, come forth, an' stan' out!" yelled the
+man with the horn. This was greeted with cheers and blasts on the
+conch-shells.
+
+Some of our men had never been over before, and one of the boat's crew
+confessed. He was quickly seized and brought before King Neptune.
+
+"Sit ye down, right there in that there cheer," said the king,
+scowling fiercely.
+
+The fellow sat down and stared, smiling at the monster.
+
+"Have ye paid fer comin' acrost this here latitood, me son?" asked the
+king.
+
+"No," said the sailor.
+
+"No, what?" roared the king.
+
+The chair was placed on the edge of the main kettle and the monster
+simply raised his hand to one of his retainers. This fellow tilted it up,
+sailor and all, into the smother of suds and water. Instantly there were
+roars of laughter, as all hands watched the man trying to get clear of
+the slippery iron tank. Every time he would get a hold, his fingers would
+be rapped sharply, and down he would go, floundering about. He was
+finally let off with a fine of a plug of tobacco, all his belongings save
+the clothes he had with him.
+
+Other men followed, for the whaler had a crew of thirty-five. Some were
+shaved with a barrel hoop for a razor, and tar for lather, being finally
+released for some tobacco.
+
+"Come aft, O king," bawled Henry, after the fun had grown fast and
+furious. "Come aft, and get a donation from the ladies."
+
+The great fellow was escorted unsteadily to the poop, where he saluted
+the women.
+
+"Have ye never paid toll to go to the other world, yet?" asked the king.
+
+"No," said Jackwell, who was getting tired of the fun, "I ain't never
+been acrost, and I ain't a-going to pay toll."
+
+"Shall he pay?" asked the king of Henry.
+
+"Sure," was Henry's response.
+
+Instantly the giant sprang upon the deck, getting clear of his stilts by
+some means or other. He seized Jackwell tightly around the body, and
+rushing to the rail, sprang into the sea, his followers yelling
+themselves hoarse with delight.
+
+When they were hauled aboard, Jackwell was in a fury. I expected him to
+shoot the sailor who had the audacity to pitch him overboard, but he
+controlled himself. The incident, however, ended the fun aboard the brig,
+Henry, between fits of laughing, telling the mate to serve all hands with
+all the grog they wanted.
+
+"Do not wait for me, madam," said Jackwell, to Mrs. Sackett. "I shall not
+come aboard my ship in this condition. You get Mr. Rolling to take you
+and your daughter, and I'll follow, after Captain Henry has given me a
+new suit of clothes."
+
+This appeared to be the best thing to do, as the brig's men were now
+getting boisterous with the grog, and our men were drinking also. The
+ladies were tired of the performance, although they had enjoyed some of
+it very much, and they were glad when I called away the boat's crew to
+take them back to the _Pirate_.
+
+Jackwell appeared at the rail as we started off.
+
+"Rolling," said he, "tell Trunnell not to stay awake at night worrying
+about my health. This bath will not strike in and tickle me to death as
+you might be agreeable enough to suppose."
+
+"Hurry and change your clothes, captain," cried Mrs. Sackett.
+
+"Madam," said he, with great solemnity as the oars were dropped across,
+"do not grieve for me. It will make me unhappy for the rest of my pious
+existence if you do. Fare thee well."
+
+We were now on our way back to the ship, and he stood a moment, waved his
+hand, and then disappeared down the companionway.
+
+In ten minutes we were aboard again, and I met Chips in the waist as I
+stopped to get a piece of tobacco.
+
+"Well, what was it?" I asked.
+
+"Faith, an' I got caught," said Chips, with a sickly grin.
+
+"How was it?" I asked. "Come, tell me, while Ford and Tom get the
+cushions out of the boat;" and I drew the carpenter into the door of the
+forward cabin where Trunnell couldn't see us.
+
+"'Twas a fine thing ye made me do, but no matter," he began. "Ye see,
+whin ye had started well on yer way to th' fisher, I thinks now is th'
+time av me life. Trunnell ware sitting and smokin' on the wheel-gratin',
+an' all ware as quiet as ye please. I wint below whistling to set him off
+his guard, like; an' whin I sees me way clear I takes me chance at the
+afther-cabin, an' in I goes. I stopped whistlin' whin I makes th' enthry,
+an' I steered straight fer th' chist forninst the captin's room. The door
+ware open, an' I see the chist ware a little trunk av a thing, no bigger
+than a hand-bag, so to speak. Up on top av it ware a pile av charts an'
+things sech as th' raskil sung out to Trunnell not to touch. 'Twas a cute
+little thing to do; fer how I could get inter th' outfit without a-movin'
+them struck me.
+
+"I finally grabs th' side av th' trunk an' tries to lift it. Ye may say
+I lie, but s'help me, I cud no more lift that little trunk than th'
+ship herself.
+
+"Gold? Why, how cud it 'a' been anything but solid gold? I cud lift that
+much lead easy. I stopped a minit and took out me knife, me mind made up
+to thry th' lock. I give wan good pick at ut, an' thin I hears a sort av
+grunt. There ware Trunnell a-lookin' right down at me from th' top av th'
+afther-companion.
+
+"Sez he, 'An' what may ye be a-doin' wid th' old man's trunk,' sez he.
+
+"'Sure 'tis me own I thought it ware, by th' weight av it,' sez I.
+
+"'Is it so heavy, thin?' sez he.
+
+"'Faith, ye thry an' lift it,' sez I.
+
+"He come down th' ladder an' took a-hold, shutting th' door to keep th'
+steward from a-lookin' in. Thin he takes hold av th' thing an' lifts fer
+th' good av his soul. Nary a inch does it move.
+
+"'I wud have opened it, but I heard th' captin's order not to disturb th'
+charts atop av it,' sez I.
+
+"'Ye would, ye thafe,' sez he. 'An' if ye had, inter irons would ye go
+fer th' raskil ye are. I never thought ye ware so bad, Chips,' sez he.
+
+"'Tis a victim av discipline I am, fer sure, thin,' sez I. 'Ye know I wud
+no more steal th' matther av a trunk than fly.'
+
+"'An' who give ye th' order, ye disciplinarian?' sez he.
+
+"'Me conscience,' sez I.
+
+"'Ye better go forrads an' tell yer conscience th' fact that it's a bad
+wan fer an honest man to travel wid,' sez he. 'An' tell him also to mind
+what I says about obeyin' orders aboard this here ship. If yer conscience
+iver wants to command a ship, he don't want to forget that discipline is
+discipline, an' whin it comes to thavery, discipline will get ye both in
+irons. Slant away afore I loses my temper an' sails inter ye,' sez he.
+
+"So here I am, all in a mess wid that little mate. But th' trunk av gold
+is safe on th' cabin floor."
+
+I had nothing to say further than that the matter couldn't be helped. If
+the trunk was all right, we might land a fortune yet in the reward Jim
+had told us about. Jackwell must have made off with a snug little sum. I
+climbed over the side again with some of the skipper's clothes, and we
+started slowly back to the brig to get him.
+
+Ford was rowing bow oar, and Johnson aft, and both rowing easily made us
+go very slow. However, there was no hurry. Jackwell would in all
+probability take several drinks after his bath, and we would only have to
+wait aboard the whaler for him until he was ready. The sea was so smooth
+that the boat hardly rippled through it, and the sun was warm, making me
+somewhat drowsy. The two men rowed in silence for some time, and then
+Ford suddenly looked ahead to see how we were going.
+
+"What's the matter with the bloomin' brig?" said he, rowing with his chin
+on his shoulder.
+
+I looked around, and it seemed as though we had already gone the full
+distance to her, and yet had as far again to go. The _Pirate_ was
+certainly half a mile away and there was the brig still far ahead.
+
+"Give way, bullies," I said. "Break an oar or two."
+
+The men made a response to the order, and the boat went along livelier. I
+looked at the brig, and suddenly I noticed a thin trail of smoke coming
+from her maintop where the opening in the lower masthead should be.
+
+We were now within fifty fathoms of her, when Jackwell came to the rail
+aft and looked at us.
+
+"Give way, bullies, you're going to sleep." I said.
+
+In a few moments we were close aboard, but as we came up, the brig slewed
+her stern toward us, and then I noticed for the first time that she was
+moving slowly through the water. There was no wind, and I knew in a
+moment that she was under steam. She drifted away faster, and the men had
+all they could do to keep up. Jackwell leaned over the taffrail and gazed
+calmly down at us.
+
+"That's it, boys, give it to her. You'll soon catch us and be towing
+us back again. Sink me, Rolling, but you're the biggest fool I ever
+saw," he said.
+
+I saw the water rippling away from the brig's side, and now could see the
+disturbance under her stern where a small wheel turned rapidly.
+
+"Throw us a line," I cried to Jackwell.
+
+"What d'ye want a line fer? Are ye a-going with us to the Pacific, or are
+ye jest naturally short of lines, hey?"
+
+"Throw us a line or we'll have to quit," I cried; "the men can't keep up
+as it is."
+
+Jackwell let down the end of the spanker sheet, and Ford grabbed it,
+taking a turn around the thwart. The boat still rushed rapidly along.
+
+"Rolling," said the captain of the _Pirate_, "hadn't you better go home
+and tell Trunnell he wants you? Seems to me you'll have a long row back
+in the hot sun. I'd ask you all aboard, but this ship ain't mine. She
+belongs to a friend who owes me a little due, see? Now be a sensible
+little fellow. Rolling, and go back nicely, or I'll have to do some
+target practice, or else cut this rope. Give my kindest regards to the
+ladies, especially Mrs. Sackett. Tell her that I wouldn't have dreamed of
+deserting her under any other circumstances, but this brig has got the
+devil in her and is running away with me. I can't stop her, and I can't
+say I would if I could. That infernal King Neptune has got hold of her
+keel and is pulling us along. Good-by, Rolling; don't by any possible
+means disturb the charts on my trunk. There, let go, you Ford."
+
+Ford cast the line adrift, and the boat's headway slacked. The brig
+drifted slowly ahead, going at least three knots through the smooth
+water. A long row of smiling faces showed over the rail as we came from
+under her stern. One fellow, waving his hand, cried out to report Bill
+Jones of Nantucket as "bein' tolerable well, thank ye." It was evident
+they knew nothing of Jackwell and treated the going of the brig as a good
+joke on greenhorns.
+
+"That beats me," said Ford, panting from his last exertions.
+
+"An' me too," said Johnson. "If we'd had Tom and one or two more along
+we'd have beat her easy. But ain't he a-comin' back at all at all?"
+
+"I hardly think we'll see Captain Thompson any more this voyage,"
+I answered savagely; "but by the Lord Harry, he's left his trunk
+all right."
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+
+When we rowed back to the ship, Trunnell was looking at us through the
+glass up to the time we came under the _Pirate's_ counter. He evidently
+could see that our skipper wasn't with us, and it seemed as if he could
+not quite make up his mind to the fact, but must keep looking through the
+telescope as though the powerful glass would bring the missing one into
+view. We ran up to the channels, and he looked over the side. A line of
+heads in the waist told of the curiosity among the men forward.
+
+I said nothing, and nothing was said until the painter was made fast and
+Ford had sprung on deck.
+
+"He ain't with ye, Rolling?" asked Trunnell.
+
+I was too much disgusted to answer. The empty boat was enough to satisfy
+any reasonable person.
+
+Chips came to the rail and leaned over as I came up the chain-plates.
+"'Twas so, then? Th' raskil! But what makes th' bloody hooker move? She's
+slantin' away as if th' devil himself ware holdin' av her fore foot!"
+
+"Steam, you poor idiots," I cried out, in disgust, for it was evident
+that even Trunnell couldn't tell what made the _Shark_ get headway,
+although now the smoke poured handsomely from her masthead.
+
+Trunnell scratched his bushy head and seemed to be thinking deeply. Then
+he put down the glasses and led the way aft without a word, Chips and I
+following. We went below and found Mrs. Sackett and Jennie in the saloon.
+
+"Where's the captain?" they asked in a breath.
+
+"Faith, an' he's changed ships, if ye please," said Chips.
+
+"And left a little thing behind he would have liked to have taken with
+him," I said.
+
+"What was the matter?" they both asked.
+
+Chips and I tried to tell, but we soon made a tangle of it, the only
+thing coherent being the fact that the fellow was a crook and had left
+his trunk behind. This was so heavy that Chips had failed to lift it.
+
+"I always knew he was not a sea-captain," cried Jennie. "I don't see how
+you men let him fool you so badly."
+
+Chips and I looked at the mate, but he simply scratched his head.
+
+"Discipline is discipline," he said. "He ware capting o' this here ship,
+an' there ware no way to do but obey his orders. No, sir, discipline is
+discipline, an' the sooner ye get it through your heads, the better."
+
+"But he isn't captain any longer," I said.
+
+"Well, I don't know about that," said Trunnell. "If he ain't a-comin'
+back, he ain't capting, sure. But ye can't tell nothin' about it. He may
+come aboard agin in a little while an' want to know why we didn't wait
+dinner for him."
+
+"He sho' would take his trunk," said Gunning, "an' dat's a fact."
+
+"Why would he?" asked Mrs. Sackett.
+
+"'Cause he take good care o' dat trunk, ma'm. He sleep wid one eye on it
+an' his gun handy. I come near gettin' killed onct when I come into de
+cabin, suddin' like, while he was at work ober de things inside."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, let's look at it," said Mrs. Sackett.
+
+"'Tis th' best thing we cud do," said Chips. "'Tis no less than solid
+gold he stowed in it. Faith, it's as heavy as th' main yard."
+
+Mrs. Sackett led the way to the captain's room, and Trunnell made no
+farther resistance. She opened the door, and we crowded inside. There lay
+the trunk on the floor or deck ahead of us.
+
+"Try yer hand at th' liftin' av th' thing," said Chips to me.
+
+I reached down and took hold of the handle at the side. Pulling heavily,
+I lifted with all my power. The trunk remained stationary.
+
+"Dere's nothin' but gold in dat thing, sho'," said Gunning.
+
+"Well, for Heaven's sake! why don't some one open it?" cried Jennie.
+
+"An' have him a-comin' back aboard, a-wantin' to know who had been at it,
+hey?" said Trunnell. "I didn't think ye ware that kind o' missy."
+
+"Nonsense!" I said. "He isn't coming back. Even if he is, it won't hurt
+to lift it, will it?"
+
+"No, I don't know as it will, only it might upset them charts,"
+said Trunnell.
+
+"Try it," I said. "See if it's gold. It'll clink when you shake
+it, sure."
+
+The little giant stooped and gave a grunt of disdain. "I reckon there
+ain't nothin' that size I can't lift," said he, in a superior tone, which
+was not lost on the women. Trunnell seldom bragged, and we crowded
+around, looking for quick results.
+
+"A little bit o' trunk a-breakin' the backs o' a pair o' fellows as has
+the impudence to say they are men an' question the discipline o' the
+ship!" he said, with a loud grunt of disgust. "Stan' clear an' let a man
+have a chanst. If it's gold, an' ye're right, it'll rattle an' jingle
+fast enough; an' I hopes then ye'll be satisfied."
+
+He took a strong hold of the leather handle at the side and braced his
+little legs wide apart. It was evident he would put forth some power.
+Then he set the great muscles of his broad back slowly, like a dray horse
+testing the load before putting forth his strength. Slowly and surely the
+little mate's back raised. He grew red in the face, and we peered over
+the treasure, hoping it would rise and give forth the welcome jingle.
+
+Suddenly there was a ripping sound. Trunnell straightened up quickly,
+staggered for an instant, and then pitched forward over the trunk,
+uttering a fierce oath.
+
+Mrs. Sackett screamed. Jennie burst into a wild fit of laughter. Chips
+and Gunning stood staring with open mouths and eyes, while Trunnell
+picked himself up, with the trunk handle in his iron fist.
+
+"Faith, an' ye are a good strong man," said the carpenter. "Ye'd make a
+fortune as a porter a-liftin' trunks at a hotel."
+
+"He can lift a little thing like that," said Jennie, mimicking the mate's
+tone to perfection.
+
+Trunnell was now thoroughly mad. If the trunk contained gold, he would
+soon find out.
+
+"Bring yer tools, an' don't stan' laffin' like a loon, ye bloody
+Irishman," he said to Chips, and the carpenter disappeared quickly. He
+returned in a moment with a brace and bit, a cold chisel, and a hammer.
+
+"Knock off the top," said Trunnell.
+
+"Discipline is discipline," whispered Jennie; "and I don't want to be
+around if the captain comes back."
+
+Trunnell was too angry to pay attention to this remark, so he looked
+sourly on while the carpenter cut off the rivets holding the lock.
+
+"There ye are," he said, and we crowded around to look in while the mate
+raised the lid.
+
+Off it came easily enough. We stood perfectly silent for an instant. Then
+all except Trunnell burst out laughing. The trunk was empty!
+
+"Well, sink me down deep, but that ware the heaviest air I ever see,"
+said Trunnell. Then he picked up a slip of paper in the bottom and looked
+at it a moment. It had writing on it, and he unfolded it to read. I
+looked over his shoulder and read aloud:--
+
+"MY DEAR LITTLE MATE: When you get this here billee ducks, don't do
+anything rash. Remember the discipline of the ship, first of all, and
+then take the dollar bill here and get somebody to cut your hair fer ye,
+as it's too loing fer a man of sense and is disagreeable to the ladies.
+If ye thought ye had a pot of gold in this here outfit, ye get left,
+sure, and no mistake. Remember money's the root of all evil and thank yer
+Lord ye ain't got none. There ain't no answer to this note; but if ye
+feel like writing at enny time, address it to Bill Jackwell, care of
+anybody at all what happens to be around at the time I'm there--see?
+Some day we'll meet agin, fer I'm stuck on the sea and am going to buy a
+boat and appoint ye as captain, only yer must cut yer hair and trim up
+yer beard some. That's all."
+
+Trunnell held the dollar bill he had unfurled from the note in his hand
+and dropped the note back into the trunk.
+
+"'Tis screwed fast wid nine big bolts to th' deck," said Chips, who had
+examined the outfit carefully.
+
+Trunnell scratched his bushy head thoughtfully for a moment longer. "Is
+there any sech thing as a few men aboard this ship?" he asked.
+
+I said I thought there was.
+
+"Then man the boat and row, for the love o' God!" he roared, springing up
+the companionway to the deck, leaving us to follow after him.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+
+When we reached the deck and looked after the brig, we found that we had
+spent more time below than at first imagined. The _Shark_ was hull down
+to the southward and evidently going along steadily at a three-knot rate.
+The sun was almost on the horizon, and if we started after her, the
+chances were that night would fall long before we could lessen the
+distance between us materially. Sober appreciation of the affair took the
+place of Trunnell's impetuosity.
+
+"We'll niver see him agin," said Chips, hauling heavily on the
+boat tackles.
+
+"There's no use, Trunnell," I cried; "we can't catch that brig in a
+whale-boat."
+
+He was already hesitating, and stood scratching his shaggy beard.
+
+"Avast heavin' on that tackle," he bawled. Then he turned to me. "You're
+right, Rolling, we've lost a fortune an' the rascal too, but it ain't no
+use making bigger fools of ourselves. Stow the boat. After that send
+Johnson aft to me with a pair o' scissors. You an' Tom can set the
+watches, fer ye see I'm capting of her now. Ye might say, on the side
+like, that the first burgoo eater what comes along the weather side o'
+the poop while I'm on deck will go over the rail. There's a-goin' to be
+some discipline aboard the hooker, or I'll--well, there ain't no tellin'
+just what I won't do. I'm capting o' this here ship, an' ye might jest as
+well muster the men aft to hear the news."
+
+Then he disappeared down the companion aft, and I sent Johnson to him
+with the shears as he had ordered.
+
+When Trunnell came on deck again in the evening, his beard was a sight to
+be remembered. It looked as though a rat had nibbled it in spots. His
+hair was equally well done by the artist, but Jackwell's last order had
+been obeyed. The men were mustered aft, and Trunnell announced that he
+was the man they wanted to stand from under. They remained silent until
+Johnson suggested that three cheers be given for the new skipper. Then
+all hands bawled themselves hoarse. That was all. I was now the first
+mate and took my meals at the cabin table, where Jennie and her mother
+had been wondering at Trunnell's dexterity with his knife. The little
+mate appeared to realize that a certain amount of dignity and dress were
+necessary for the maintenance of correct discipline aboard, and he
+accordingly changed his shirt once a week and wore a new coat of blue
+pilot cloth. He sat at the head of the table, and went through his
+knife-juggling each meal, to the never ending amusement of Jennie, and
+admiration of Gunning, who swore that, "dey ain't no man afloat cud do
+dat no better." He, however, came through the rest of the cruise without
+even cutting his lip.
+
+My duties and rating being those of a first mate, I had no longer the
+pleasure of being intimate with Chips and the rest forward. The
+carpenter, steward, and "doctor" had the quartermaster, Tom, from
+Trunnell's watch for a second mate and companion at the second table. Tom
+was a Yankee and a good companion, so the change was satisfactory all
+around. I sometimes looked in at the carpenter's room in the forward
+house, where he and a few chosen spirits would be holding forth upon some
+nautical subject, but I had to cut my visits short, for they worried
+Trunnell. Being suddenly raised did not quite inspire the necessary
+respect in his eyes, unless the person promoted showed unmistakable
+dignity and authority by dressing down all who came in contact with him.
+For some time it was pretty hard to speak to our little skipper. He
+disliked anything he imagined might tend to lessen the discipline aboard
+and had a horror of a mate or captain being familiar with the men.
+
+My room was still in the forward cabin, but I now spent much time in the
+saloon, and helped Trunnell to shift his belongings aft to Jackwell's
+cabin. The truculent knave had left little behind him save a lot of old
+clothes, bonds which were not negotiable, and some wrappers used by the
+bank of Melbourne for doing up packets of bills. Upon one of these was a
+mark of fifty pounds sterling, showing that Jackwell's assets, unless
+enormous, could be made to fit in a very small space. He probably carried
+all he owned upon his person.
+
+We went through everything in the cabin carefully, but the only thing of
+interest discovered was the photograph of a plump young woman torn fairly
+in two, the lower half bearing the inscription in Jackwell's handwriting,
+"Good riddance to bad rubbish."
+
+I had found this in the chart case and had examined it some minutes
+without comment, when Miss Sackett took it from me. She gazed at it a
+moment, and cried out, "Why! it's the third mate."
+
+I instantly seized it again and looked carefully at the features, and
+then it was plain enough. There he was, in a neat fitting bodice, the
+curly blond hair stylishly dressed, and the plump cheeks showing just
+the faintest trace of the dimples of our former third officer. I looked
+at the back of the photograph. It had the name of a Melbourne artist
+upon it, and beneath, in a female hand, the written words, "Yours
+lovingly, Belle."
+
+Trunnell heard Jennie's exclamation and came up. He took the picture from
+me and gazed long at the face. Then he gave a sigh which sounded like a
+blackfish drawing in air, handed it back to me, and went up the
+companionway, scratching his head in the manner he did when much
+disturbed. He said not a word, nor did he mention Mr. Bell's name, and
+that night at supper he never raised his eyes from his plate. Afterward
+in the mid-watch he came on the poop and walked fore and aft for three
+long hours without so much as speaking to me or asking the man at the
+wheel the vessel's course. He finally went below, carrying the odor of
+grog along with him. He came on deck many nights after this and walked
+fore and aft in silence, as though brooding over some unpleasant subject,
+and we were clear of the trade and knocking about in the uncertain
+latitudes before he appeared to be anything like himself again.
+
+I avoided any subject relating to the earlier part of the voyage and
+tried to cheer him. I thought he had suffered keenly, and was glad
+when he stopped drinking and looked me in the eyes without letting his
+gaze fall in confusion. Sometimes I caught myself wondering at the
+reticence of the men who had rowed him to the burnt wreck that night,
+but I found that no one had boarded her except Trunnell and he had
+sent the boat astern.
+
+Tom, the quartermaster, made mate under me, was a good sailor. He did his
+work thoroughly, and everything went along without friction throughout
+the rest of the voyage to the Breakwater. We picked up the northeast
+trade in a few days, and hauled our starboard tacks aboard, bracing the
+yards sharp up until it gradually swung more and more to the eastward,
+letting us off on a taut bowline for the latitude of the States.
+
+The _Pirate_ showed herself to be the fast ship she had always been, for
+we made the run up the trade in less than three weeks. Trunnell took such
+pride in her that all hands were tired out before we ran over the
+thirtieth parallel, with the scrubbing, painting, holy-stoning, etc.,
+that he considered necessary to have her undergo before arriving in port.
+As mate of the ship, I had much opportunity to command the deck alone;
+that is, without the supervision of any one. Of course, I can't say I
+spent much time alone on deck, even when in charge; but I would never let
+social matters interfere with work sufficiently to merit a rebuke from
+the little skipper. He soon manifested a disposition to be alone during
+his watch on deck, and at first I believed this to be due to the exalted
+dignity of his position. It hurt me to think he should be so changed, and
+I pondered at the peculiarities of mankind for many days. After awhile,
+however, he became absorbed in a game of checkers with Mrs. Sackett which
+lasted two weeks. Then I forgave him. Whenever he saw Jennie and myself
+on deck, he would make haste to get through his business there, and dive
+below again. This kindly interest on his part was kept up until we raised
+the Delaware Capes.
+
+How good the land smelled, and how distinctly. It seemed incredible that
+one could smell the land twenty miles away, almost before the color of
+the water began to change. Yet it was strong in the nostrils; and even
+one of the pigs we had not eaten, but had brought back alive, squealed
+incessantly, as though instinctively feeling that the voyage was over.
+
+It was late in the afternoon, but the men were mustered aft, in the
+time-worn way of merchant-men, to sign off. Nearly all had bills on the
+slop-chest for tobacco or clothes. As each went over the poop he gazed at
+the line on the western horizon and smiled gladly. It meant a new life
+for more than one. Among the last to go was the old landsman whom
+Trunnell had given a chance to earn his clothes by bug-hunting. He smiled
+sadly at the setting sun over the dark line which meant home. Then he
+shook out several strings of vermin, and holding them at arm's length,
+stopped at the cabin window. His cheap trousers failed to reach the tops
+of his coarse shoes, and the gap showed the skin on meagre ankles. I was
+interested to know what he would take.
+
+"What d'ye want?" asked Trunnell.
+
+"I come for a yaller silk ban'kercheef," said he, offering the strings.
+
+"Don't yer think ye'd better get some o' them woollens? It'll be cold on
+the beach."
+
+"I got clothes a plenty. I want a yaller silk ban'kercheef. Yer got one,
+for Sam tole me so. I'm a-goin' ashore to Hennery's, an' I ain't goin'
+like no clown without a wipe. Kin I have it?"
+
+The handkerchief was passed out, and the old fellow went forward smiling.
+
+What a strange thing is the end of a deep-water voyage! Men who have been
+living together for months through suffering and hardship will go over
+the ship's side with a cheery farewell. They may meet for a few moments
+at the office to draw their pay, and then take a drink all around. That
+is all. They seldom see or hear of each other again. The world goes on,
+and they drift about, taking what part in affairs Fate has in store for
+them. One should come back aboard the ship the day after she makes her
+dock and look into the deserted forecastle and about the lonely decks,
+where so much has taken place, to realize man's lonely mission. The old
+ship-keeper, sitting alone smoking on the hatchway in the evening before
+unloading begins, will affront one with his presence. Where are the men,
+rough, honest, coarse, or even bad, that used to sit there so often in
+the twilight of the dog-watch? There is a strange yearning to see them
+again. I watched the sun go down with a feeling of mingled joy and
+sorrow,--joy for the return to the States, and sorrow for the parting
+which must soon take place between my shipmates.
+
+When we came to an anchor and made ready to go ashore, the little giant
+Trunnell came up to say good-by to the ladies. I had decided to accompany
+them to the city.
+
+When he shook hands, the tears ran down out of his little eyes and
+trickled over his bushy beard to the deck.
+
+"I wishes ye all the best o' luck," said he, and he fumbled in his pocket
+for a moment, letting a small piece of paper escape and flutter to the
+deck. I stooped and picked it up, glancing at the writing on it. The
+words were:--
+
+Mrs. William Sackett, 25 Prince St., E.C., London, Eng.
+
+He snatched it from me and seized my hand, gripping it so hard I almost
+cried out.
+
+"Go along, ye lucky dog," he cried. "Say good-by to Chips an' the rest
+afore ye goes ashore. We'll be berthed an' paid off when ye comes back."
+
+I said good-by to the men at the gangway, and then helped the ladies over
+the side into the boat, seating myself in the stern-sheets between them.
+
+"I should think you'd be thankful to get in at last," said Jennie.
+
+"Yes," I whispered; "but I have no objections to sailing again as a
+mate."
+
+Her hand closed upon mine behind the backboard.
+
+"Neither have I," she breathed in return.
+
+"Whose mate?" I asked her.
+
+But that's an old story.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mr. Trunnell, by T. Jenkins Hains
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13073 ***
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mr. Trunnell, by T. Jenkins Hains
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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+
+
+Title: Mr. Trunnell
+
+Author: T. Jenkins Hains
+
+Release Date: August 1, 2004 [EBook #13073]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. TRUNNELL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
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+
+
+                              Mr. Trunnell
+
+                        Mate of the Ship "Pirate"
+
+                           By T. Jenkins Hains
+
+   Author of "The Wind-jammers," "The Wreck of the Conemaugh," etc.
+
+                                  1900
+
+To _All Hands under the lee of the weather cloth this is inscribed_
+
+
+
+
+MR. TRUNNELL
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+By some means, needless to record here, I found myself, not so many years
+ago, "on the beach" at Melbourne, in Australia.
+
+To be on the beach is not an uncommon occurrence for a sailor in any part
+of the world; but, since the question is suggested, I will say that I was
+not a very dissipated young fellow of twenty-five, for up to that time I
+had never even tasted rum in any form, although I had followed the sea
+for seven years.
+
+I had held a mate's berth, and as I did not care to ship before the mast
+on the first vessel bound out, I had remained ashore until a threatening
+landlord made it necessary for me to become less particular as to
+occupation.
+
+It was a time when mates were plenty and men were few, so I made the
+rounds of the shipping houses with little hope of getting a chance to
+show my papers. These, together with an old quadrant, a nautical almanac,
+a thick pea coat, and a pipe, were all I possessed of this world's goods,
+and I carried the quadrant with me in case I should not succeed in
+signing on. I could "spout it," if need be, at some broker's, and thus
+raise a few dollars.
+
+As I made my way along the water front, I noticed a fine clipper ship of
+nearly two thousand tons lying at a wharf. She was in the hands of a few
+riggers, who were sending aloft her canvas, which, being of a snowy
+whiteness, proclaimed her nationality even before I could see her hull.
+On reaching the wharf where she lay, I stopped and noticed that she was
+loaded deep, for her long black sides were under to within four feet of
+her main deck in the waist.
+
+Her high bulwarks shut off my view of her deck; but, from the sounds that
+came down from there, I could tell that she was getting in the last of
+her cargo.
+
+I walked to her stern and read her name in gilt letters: "Pirate, of
+Philadelphia." Then I remembered her. She was a Yankee ship of evil
+reputation, and although I wanted to get back to my home in New York, I
+turned away thankful that I was not homeward bound in that craft. She had
+come into port a month before and had reported three men missing from her
+papers. There were no witnesses; but the sight of the rest of the crew
+told the story of the disappearance of their shipmates, and the skipper
+had been clapped into jail. I had heard of the ruffian's sinister record
+before, and inwardly hoped he would get his deserts for his brutality,
+although I knew there was little chance for it. He belonged to the class
+of captains that was giving American packets the hard name they were
+getting, so I heartily wished him evil.
+
+As I turned, looking up at the beautiful fabric with her long, tapering,
+t'gallant masts, topped with skysail yards fore and aft, and her
+tremendous lower yards nearly ninety feet across, I thought what a
+splendid ship she was. It made me angry to think of what a place she must
+be for the poor devils who would unwittingly ship aboard her. Only a
+sailor knows how much of suffering in blows and curses it cost to
+accomplish all that clean paint and scraped spar.
+
+"Kind o' good hooker, hey?" said a voice close aboard me, and looking
+quickly aft I saw a man leaning over the taffrail. He was a
+strange-looking fellow, with a great hairy face and bushy head set upon
+the broadest of shoulders. As for his legs, he appeared not to have any
+at all, for the rail was but three feet high and his shoulders just
+reached above it; his enormously long arms were spread along the rail,
+elbows outward, and his huge hands folded over the bowl of a pipe which
+he sucked complacently.
+
+"Not so bad to look at," I answered, meaningly.
+
+"She _is_ a brute in a seaway, but she keeps dry at both ends," assented
+the fellow, utterly ignoring my meaning. "It's always so with every
+hooker if she's deep. Some takes it forrad and aft, and some takes it
+amidships. It's all one s'long as she keeps a dry bilge. Come aboard."
+
+I hesitated, and then climbed up the mizzen channels, which were level
+with the wharf.
+
+"Short handed?" I suggested, reaching the deck.
+
+"Naw, there's nobody but me an' the doctor in the after guard; we'll get
+a crew aboard early in the morning, though; skipper, too, if what they
+say is kerrect."
+
+"Where's the captain?" I asked.
+
+He looked queerly at me for a moment; then he spread his short legs
+wide apart, and thrust his great hands into his trousers pockets
+before speaking.
+
+"Ain't ye never heard? Limbo, man, and a bad job, too." Here he made a
+motion with his hand around his neck which I understood.
+
+"Murder?"
+
+He nodded.
+
+I hesitated about staying any longer, and he spoke up.
+
+"Got a hog-yoke, I see," he said, "Be ye a mate?"
+
+I told him I had been.
+
+"Well, sink me, my boy, that's just what I am aboard here, and they'll be
+looking for another to match me. I saw what ye were when I first raised
+ye coming along the dock, and sez I, ye're just my size, my bully."
+
+As he could have walked under my arm when extended horizontally, I
+saw he had no poor opinion of himself. However, his words conveyed a
+ray of hope.
+
+"Is the mate with the skipper?" I asked.
+
+"The second mate is, yep; but he won't raise bail. The old man might
+though, _quien sabe_? The agents will hail us to-night and settle
+matters, for we're on the load line and nigh steved. We can't wait."
+
+I reflected a moment. Here was a possible chance for a mate's berth, and
+perhaps the skipper would not get bail, after all. In that case I thought
+I could hardly manage better, for my fear of the little mate was not
+overpowering. I was not exactly of a timid nature,--a man seldom rises to
+be mate of a deep-water ship who is,--but I always dreaded a brutal
+skipper on account of his absolute authority at sea, where there is no
+redress. I had once been mixed up in an affair concerning the
+disappearance of one, on a China trader--but no matter. The affair in
+hand was tempting and I waited developments.
+
+The little mate saw my course and laid his accordingly.
+
+"S'pose you come around about knock-off time. The agents will be
+along about then--Sauers and Co.; you know them; and I'll fix the
+thing for you."
+
+"All right," I said, and after a little conversation relating to the
+merits of various ships, the _Pirate_ in particular, I left and made my
+way back to my lodgings.
+
+I notified my landlord of my proposed voyage, and he was as gracious as
+could be expected, at the same time expressing some wonderment at the
+suddenness of my good fortune.
+
+The more I thought of the matter, the more I felt like trying elsewhere
+for a berth; but the time flew so rapidly that I found myself on the way
+to the ship before my misgivings took too strong hold of me.
+
+As I turned down the principal thoroughfare, feeling in a more humorous
+frame of mind at the many possibilities open to me, I heard a shout. The
+sound came from a side street, and I looked to see what it meant.
+Through the door of a saloon a man shot head-long as if fired from a
+gun. He struck in the gutter and staggered to his feet, where he was
+immediately surrounded by the crowd of men that had followed him. This
+promised much in the way of diversion, and I stopped to see what hidden
+force lurked behind the door of the saloon. As I did so, a short fellow
+with a great bushy head emerged, struggling with half a dozen men who
+bore down upon him and tried to surround and seize him. The little man's
+face was red from exertion and liquor, but when I caught a glimpse of
+his great squat nose and huge mouth I had no difficulty in recognizing
+my acquaintance on the _Pirate_. He backed rapidly away from his
+antagonists, swinging a pair of arms each of which seemed to be fully
+half a fathom long while every instant he let out a yell that sounded
+like the bellow of a mad bull. Suddenly he turned and made off down the
+street at an astonishing pace for one with such short legs, still
+letting out a yell at every jump.
+
+The men who had set upon him hesitated an instant before they realized he
+was getting away; then they started after him, shouting and swearing at a
+great rate. He was up to me in an instant, and as he dashed by I narrowly
+missed a clip from his hand, which he swung viciously at me as he passed.
+I saw in a moment he couldn't escape at the rate he was moving, in spite
+of his tremendous exertions, so I stepped aside to watch him as the crowd
+rushed past in pursuit.
+
+The little mate's legs were working like the flying pistons of a
+locomotive, and his bush hair and beard were streaming aft in the breeze
+as he neared the corner. Suddenly he stopped, turned about, and dashed
+right into the foremost of the crowd, letting out a screech and swinging
+his long arms.
+
+"Git out th' way! Th' devil's broke loose an's comin' for ye," he
+howled as he sent the foremost man to the pavement. "Don't stop me. I
+ain't got no time to stop. Don't stop a little bumpkin buster what's
+got business in both hands. Stand away, or I'll run ye down and sink
+ye," and he tore through the men, who grabbed him and grappled to get
+him down. In a second he was going up the street again in exactly the
+opposite direction, having hurled over or dashed aside the fellows who
+had seized him.
+
+"Soo--oo--a-y!" he bellowed as he passed. Then he rushed to a doorway
+where stood a boy's bicycle. He jumped upon the saddle with another yell
+as he pushed the machine before him, and the next instant was whirling
+down the thoroughfare with the rapidity of an express train, bawling for
+people to "Stand clear!" In another moment he was out of sight, in a
+cloud of dust, and his yells fell to a drone in the distance.
+
+I was in no hurry to get down to the dock, so I strolled around the
+streets for some time. Then, thinking that the little mate had about run
+himself out, I made my way to the wharf where the _Pirate_ lay.
+
+As I drew near the ship, I was aware of a bushy head above her port
+quarter-rail, and in a moment the little mate, Trunnell, looked over and
+hailed me. He was smoking so composedly and appeared so cool and
+satisfied that I could hardly believe it was the same man I had seen
+running amuck but an hour before.
+
+"Have a good ride?" I asked.
+
+"So, so; 'twas a bit of a thing to do, though I ain't never rid one of
+them things afore. They wanted me to cough up stuff for the whole crowd.
+But nary a cough. One or two drinks is about all I can stand; so when I
+feels good ye don't want to persuade me over much. Come aboard."
+
+He led me below, where we were joined by the "doctor," a good-looking
+negro, who, having washed up his few dishes and put out the fire in his
+galley, came aft and assumed an importance in keeping with a cook of an
+American clipper ship.
+
+We sat in the forward cabin and chatted for a few minutes, becoming
+better acquainted, and I must say they both acquitted themselves very
+creditably for members of the after guard of that notorious vessel. But I
+had learned long ago that there were good men on all ships, and I was not
+more than ordinarily surprised at my reception.
+
+The forward cabin was arranged as on all American ships of large
+tonnage,--that is, with the house built upon the main deck, the forward
+end of which was a passage athwartships to enable one to get out from
+either side when the vessel was heeled over at a sharp angle. Next came
+the mates' rooms on either side of two alleyways leading into the forward
+saloon, and between the alleyways were closets and lockers. The saloon
+was quite large and had a table fastened to the floor in the centre,
+where we now sat and awaited the appearance of the agents. Aft of this
+saloon, and separated from it by a bulkhead, was the captain's cabin and
+the staterooms for whatever passengers the ship might carry.
+
+While we were talking I heard a hail. Mr. Trunnell, the mate, instantly
+jumped to his feet and sprang up the companionway aft, his short, stout
+legs curving well outward, and giving him the rolling motion often
+noticed in short sailors. In a moment there were sounds of footsteps on
+deck, and several men started down the companionway.
+
+The first that reached the cabin deck was a large man with a flowing
+beard and sharp eyes which took in every object in the cabin at a
+glance. He came into the forward saloon, and the "doctor" stood up to
+receive him. He took no notice of the cook, however, but looked sharply
+at me. Then the mate came in with two other men who showed in a hundred
+ways that they were captains of sailing ships. The large man addressed
+one of these. He was a short, stout man with sandy hair; he wore thin
+gold earrings, and his sun-bronzed face showed that he had but recently
+come ashore.
+
+"If you don't want to take her out, Cole," said the large man, roughly,
+"say so and be done with it. I can get Thompson."
+
+"There's nothing in it without the freight money. Halve it and
+it's a go."
+
+"Andrews has the whole of it according to contract."
+
+"But he's jugged."
+
+"He'll need it all the more," put in the other captain, who was one of
+the agents. "Colonel Fermoy has put the rate as high as he can."
+
+"I'm sorry, colonel," said the stout skipper, turning to the large man.
+"Halve or nothing."
+
+"All right, then, nothing. Mr. Trunnell," he continued, turning to the
+mate, "Captain Cole will not take you out in the morning as he promised.
+I'll send Captain Thompson along this evening, or the first thing in the
+morning. I suppose you know him, so it won't be necessary for me to come
+down again. Is this your mate?" And he looked at me.
+
+"Yessir, that's him," said Mr. Trunnell.
+
+"Got your papers with you?" asked the colonel.
+
+I pulled them out of my pocket and laid them upon the table. He glanced
+at them a moment and then returned them.
+
+"All right; get your dunnage aboard this evening and report at the office
+at nine o'clock to-night. Eight pounds, hey?"
+
+I almost gasped. Eight pounds for second mate! Five was the rule.
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," I answered.
+
+"Done. Bear a hand, Mr. Trunnell. Jenkinson will have a crew at five in
+the morning. Good night." And he turned and left, followed by all except
+the "doctor," who remained with me until they were ashore. Mr. Trunnell
+came aboard again in a few minutes, and after thanking him for getting me
+the job I left the ship and went to attend to my affairs before clearing.
+
+I had my "dunnage" sent aboard and then stopped at the office and signed
+on. After that, the night being young, I strolled along the more
+frequented streets and said farewell to my few acquaintances.
+
+I arrived at the ship before midnight and found the only man there to be
+the watchman. Trunnell and the "doctor" had gone uptown, he said, for a
+last look around. I turned in at the bottom of an empty berth in one of
+the staterooms and waited for the after guard to turn to.
+
+The mate came aboard about three in the morning, and as there was much to
+do, he stuck his head into a bucket of water and tried to get clear of
+the effects of the bad liquor he had taken. The "doctor" followed a
+little later, and fell asleep on the cabin floor.
+
+"Has the old man turned up?" asked the mate, bawling into my resting
+place and rousing me.
+
+"Haven't seen any one come aboard," I answered.
+
+"Well, I reckon he'll be alongside in a few minutes; so you better stand
+by for a call."
+
+While he spoke, the watchman on deck hailed some one, and a moment later
+a steady tramp sounded along the main deck, and a man came through the
+port door and into the alleyway.
+
+He hesitated for an instant, while a young man with rosy cheeks and
+light curly hair followed through the door and halted alongside the
+first comer.
+
+The stranger was tall and slender, with a long face, and high, sharp
+features, his nose curving like a parrot's beak over a heavy dark
+mustache. His face was pale and his skin had the clear look of a man who
+never is exposed to the sun. But his eyes were the objects that attracted
+my gaze. They were bright as steel points and looked out from under
+heavy, straight brows with a quick, restless motion I had observed to
+belong to men used to sudden and desperate resolves. He advanced into the
+cabin and scrutinized the surroundings carefully before speaking.
+
+"I suppose you are Mr. Trunnell," he said to me, for I had now arisen and
+stood in the doorway of the stateroom. His voice was low and distinct,
+and I noticed it was not unpleasant.
+
+"I have that honor," said the little mate, with drunken gravity, sobering
+quickly, however, under the stranger's look.
+
+"There are no passengers?" asked the man, as the younger companion opened
+the door leading into the captain's cabin and gazed within.
+
+"Not a bleeding one, and I'm not sorry for that," said Trunnell; "the old
+man wasn't built exactly on passenger lines."
+
+"You wouldn't take a couple, then, say for a good snug sum?"
+
+"Well, that's the old man's lay, and I can't say as to the why and
+wherefore. He'll probably be along in an hour or two at best, for the tug
+will be alongside in a few minutes. We're cleared, and we'll get to sea
+as soon as the bloody crimp gets the bleeding windjammers aboard. They
+ought to be along presently."
+
+"Em-m-m," said the man, and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "He'll be
+along shortly, will he,--and you are all ready. I think I can hear the
+tug coming now, hey? Isn't that it?"
+
+"S'pose so," answered the mate.
+
+"Well, just let me insinuate to you politely, my boy, that the sooner you
+clear, the better;" his voice was low and full of meaning, and he leaned
+toward the mate in a menacing manner; "and if I have to speak to you more
+than once, my little friend, you will find out the kind of man Captain
+Thompson is. Can you rise to that?"
+
+Trunnell shrank from the stranger's look, for he stuck his face right
+into the mate's, and as he finished he raised his voice to its full
+volume. The liquor was still in the stout little fellow's head, and he
+drew back one of his long arms as if about to strike; then quickly
+recovering himself, he scratched his head and stepped back a pace.
+
+"How the bleeding thunder could I tell you were Captain Thompson, when
+you come aboard here and ask for a passage?" he demanded. "I meant no
+disrespect. Not a bit. No, sir, not a bloody bit. I'm here for further
+orders. Yessir, I'm here for further orders and nothin' else. Sing out
+and I go."
+
+It was plain that the little bushy-headed fellow was not afraid, for he
+squared his broad shoulders and stood at attention like a man who has
+dealt with desperate men and knew how to get along with them. At the same
+time he knew his position and was careful not to go too far. He was
+evidently disturbed, however, for the little thin silver rings in his
+ears shook from either nervousness or the effects of liquor.
+
+The tall man looked keenly at him, and appeared to think. Then he
+smiled broadly.
+
+"Well, you are a clever little chap, Trunnell," he said; "but for
+discernment I don't think you'd lay a very straight course, hey? isn't
+that it? Not a very straight course. But with my help I reckon we'll
+navigate this ship all right. Who's this?" and he turned toward me.
+
+"That's Mr. Rolling, the second mate. Didn't you meet him at the office?
+He was there only a couple of hours ago. Just signed on this evening."
+
+"Ah, yes, I see. A new hand, hey? Well, Mr. Rolling, I suppose you know
+what's expected of you. I don't interfere with my mates after I get to
+sea. Can you locate the ship and reckon her course?"
+
+I told him I could; and although I did not like the unnautical way this
+stranger had about him, I was glad to hear that he did not interfere with
+his mates. If he were some hard skipper the agents had taken at a pinch,
+it was just as well for him to keep to himself aft, and let his mates
+stand watch as they should on every high-class ship. The young man, or
+rather boy, who had come aboard with him, looked at me curiously with a
+pair of bright blue eyes, while the captain spoke, and appeared to enjoy
+the interrogation, for he smiled pleasantly.
+
+"Everything is all ready, as I see," the captain continued. "So I'll go
+to bed awhile until my things come aboard. This young man will be third
+mate, Mr. Trunnell, and I'll put him under your care. He will go ashore
+now and see to the trunks. But let me know the minute the crew come down,
+for I won't wait for anything after that. You can let the tug take the
+line and be ready to pull us out."
+
+Then the skipper went into the captain's cabin, and we saw him no more
+for several hours. The young man went back up town, and half an hour
+later returned with a cab containing a trunk, which was put in the
+after-cabin. The skipper heard the noise and bade them not reawaken him
+under any circumstances until the ship was well out at sea.
+
+"If I have to get up and see to our leaving, some one will be sorry for
+it," he said, in his menacing voice, and Mr. Trunnell was quite content
+to leave him alone.
+
+At five in the morning the boarding master brought down the men, and a
+sorry lot of sailors they were. They counted nineteen all told, and half
+of them could not speak English. I went among them and searched their
+dunnage for liquor and weapons, and after finding plenty of both, I
+bundled the entire outfit into the forecastle and let them sort it the
+best they could, with the result that they all struck a fair average in
+the way of clothes. Those who were too drunk to be of any use I let
+alone, and they made a dirty mess of the clean forecastle. The rest I
+turned to with some energy and soon had our towing gear overhauled.
+
+There was now a considerable crowd collecting on the dock to watch the
+ship clear, and as it was still too dark to see objects distinctly, I
+couldn't tell what was taking place in the waist, for I had to attend
+sharply to the work on the topgallant forecastle. Mr. Trunnell bawled for
+the tug to pull away, and the ship started to leave the dock.
+
+At that instant a man rushed through the crowd and sprang upon the rail
+amidships, where, seizing some of the running rigging, he let himself
+down to the main deck. He looked aft at Mr. Trunnell, and then seeing
+that the mate had command of the ship, he looked into the forward cabin
+and came to where I stood bawling out orders to the men who were passing
+the tow-line outside the rigging. I called to him and asked who he was
+and what he wanted, and he told me quickly that he was the twentieth man
+of the crew and had almost got left.
+
+"What?" I asked; "after getting your advance money?" And I smiled as I
+thought of his chance of getting away without being caught.
+
+"I never welsh, sir," he replied, "and as I signed on, so will I work. I
+never skinned a ship yet out of sixpence."
+
+"Most remarkable," I sneered; but the fellow had such a frank, open face
+that I felt sorry afterward. He was a young man and had probably not
+learned enough about ships to have such delicate scruples. He had a
+smooth face and looked intelligent, although it was evident that he was
+not much of a sailor.
+
+"Well, don't stand gaping. Get to work and show what you are made of.
+Stow those slops of yours and get into a jumper quick. Where's your bag?"
+I continued.
+
+"I haven't any."
+
+"Well, lay up there and help loose the maintopsail. Don't stand here."
+
+He looked bewildered for a moment and then started up the fore rigging.
+
+"Here, you blazing idiot," I bawled. "What are you about? Don't you know
+one end of a ship from another?"
+
+The fellow came to me and spoke in a low voice.
+
+"I have never shipped before the mast--only as cook, or steward," he
+said.
+
+"Well, you infernal beggar, do you mean to say that you've passed
+yourself off as a seaman or sailor here?" I cried.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Then, blast you, if I don't make a sailor of you before you get clear of
+the ship," I said with some emphasis; for the idea of all hands being
+incapable made me angry, as the ship would be dependent entirely upon the
+sailors aboard, until we had taught the landsmen something. The whole
+outfit was such a scurvy lot it made me sick to think of what would
+happen if it should come on to blow suddenly and we had to shorten down
+to reefed topsails. The _Pirate_ had double topsail yards fore and aft
+and all the modern improvements for handling canvas; but her yards were
+tremendous, and to lift either of her courses on the yards would take not
+less than half a dozen men even in good weather.
+
+The fellow hung about while I dressed him down and told him about what a
+worthless specimen of humanity he was. Finally I sent him aft to help
+where he could, and he lent a hand at the braces in the waist under the
+direction of Mr. Trunnell, who stood on the break of the poop, with the
+young third mate beside him, and gave his orders utterly oblivious to the
+boy's presence.
+
+In a short time we made an offing, and as the pilot was on the tug, we
+had only to let go the line and stand away on our course. The t'gallant
+yards were sent up, then the royals sheeted home, and by dint of great
+effort and plenty of bawling we got the canvas on her fore and aft and
+trimmed the yards so as to make each one look as if at odds with its
+fellows, but yet enough to make a fair wind of the gentle southerly
+breeze. Then we let go the tow-line and stood to the westward, while the
+little tug gave a parting whistle and went heading away into the rising
+sun astern.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+I will say now that when I look back on that morning it is evident there
+was a lack of discipline or command on board the _Pirate_; but at the
+time it did not appear to me to be the fact, because the lack of
+discipline was not apparent in my watch. Trunnell and I divided up the
+men between us, and I believe I laid down the law pretty plain to the
+Dagos and Swedes who fell to my lot. They couldn't understand much of
+what I said, but they could tell something of my meaning when I held up a
+rope's-end and belaying-pin before their eyes and made certain
+significant gestures in regard to their manipulation. This may strike the
+landsman as unnecessary and somewhat brutal; but, before he passes
+judgment, he should try to take care of a lot of men who are, for a part,
+a little lower than beasts.
+
+If a man can understand the language you use, he can sometimes be made to
+pay attention if he has the right kind of men over him, but when he
+cannot understand and goes to sea with the certain knowledge he is on a
+hard ship and will probably come to blows in a few minutes, he must have
+some ocular demonstration of what is coming if he doesn't jump when a
+mate sings out to him. Often the safety of the entire ship depends upon
+the quickness with which an order can be carried out, and a man must not
+hang back when the danger is deadly. He must do as he is told, instantly
+and without question; if he gets killed--why, there is no great loss, for
+any owner or skipper can get a crew aboard at any of the large ports of
+trade. Of course, if he takes a different point of view, the only thing
+for him to do is to stay on the beach. He must not ship on a sailing
+packet that is carrying twenty percent more freight than the law allows
+and is getting from three to four dollars a ton for carrying it some ten
+or fifteen thousand miles over every kind of ocean between the frigid
+zones. My men were surly enough, perhaps because they had heard what kind
+of treatment they should expect; so after I had told them what they must
+do, I bade them go below and straighten out their dunnage.
+
+Mr. Trunnell, after separating his men from mine, cursed them
+individually and collectively as everything he could think of, and only
+stopped to scratch his big bushy head to figure out some new
+condemnations. While doing this he saw me coming from the port side, and
+forthwith he told me to take charge of the ship, as he was dead beat out
+and would have to soak his head again before coming on watch. He smelled
+horribly of stale liquor, and his eyes were bloodshot. I thought he would
+be just as well off below, so I made no protest against taking command.
+
+"Ye see, I never am used to it," he said, with a grin. "I can't drink
+nothin'. Stave me, Rollins, but the first thing I'll be running foul of
+some of these Dagos, and I don't want a fracas until I see the lay of the
+old man. He's a queer one for sure, hey? Did you ever see a skipper with
+such a look? Sech bleeding eyes--an' nose, hey? Like the beak of an old
+albatross. He hasn't come out to lay the course yet, but let her go.
+She'll head within half a point of what she's doin' now. Sink me, but I
+don't believe there's three bloomin' beggars in my watch as can steer the
+craft, and she's got a new wheel gear on her too. Call me if the old man
+comes on deck." As he finished he staggered into the door of the forward
+cabin and made for his room, leaving me in command.
+
+I went aft and saw the lubber's mark holding on west by south, and after
+being satisfied that the man steering could tell port from starboard, I
+climbed the steps to the poop and took a good look around. It was a
+beautiful morning and the sun shone brightly over our quarter-rail. The
+land behind us stood boldly outlined against the sky, and the lumpy
+clouds above were rosy with sunlight.
+
+The air was cool, but not too sharp for comfort; the breeze from the
+southward blew steadily and just sent the tops of the waves to foam, here
+and there, like white stars appearing and disappearing on the expanse to
+windward. The _Pirate_ lay along on the port tack, and with her skysails
+to her trucks she made a beautiful sight. Her canvas was snowy white,
+showing that no money had been spared on her sails. Her spars were all
+painted or scraped and her standing rigging tarred down to a beautiful
+blackness. Only on deck and among the ropes of her running gear was shown
+that sign of untidiness which distinguishes the merchant vessel from the
+man-of-war.
+
+I managed to get some hands to work on the braces, and finally got the
+yards trimmed shipshape and in the American fashion. That was, with the
+lower yards sharp on the back-stays, the topsails a little further aft,
+the t'gallant a little further still, until the main-skysail was almost
+touching with its weather leach cutting into the breeze a point or more
+forward of the weather beam. The fore and aft canvas was trimmed well,
+and the outer jibs lifted the ship along at a slapping rate. She was
+evidently fast in spite of her load, and I looked over the side at the
+foam that was seething past the lee channels in swirls and eddies which
+gave forth a cheerful hissing sound as they slipped aft at the rate of
+six knots an hour. The man at the wheel held her easily, and that was a
+blessing; for nothing is much worse for a mate's discomfort than a wild
+ship sheering from side to side leaving a wake like the path of some
+monstrous snake.
+
+When I looked again on the main deck I saw the figure of a man whom I
+failed to recognize as a member of the ship's company. He was standing
+near the opening of the after-hatchway, which had not yet been battened
+down, and his gaze was fixed upon me. He was a broad-shouldered fellow,
+about the average height, and was dressed in a tight-fitting black coat
+which reached to his knees. On his head was a skull cap with a long
+tassel hanging down from its top, and in his mouth was a handsome
+meerschaum pipe, which hung down by its stem to the middle of his breast.
+His beard was long and just turning gray, and his eyebrows were heavy and
+prominent.
+
+I stood staring at the figure, and I must say I never saw a more
+brutal expression upon a man's face. His large mouth and thick lips
+appeared to wear a sneering smile, while his eyes twinkled with
+undisguised amusement. His nose was large and flat like a Hottentot's,
+and while I gazed at him in astonishment, he raised it in the air and
+gave forth a snort which apparently meant that he was well satisfied
+with the way affairs were being carried on aboard the ship and he was
+consequently amused.
+
+"Here! you man; what the deuce are you doing aboard here?" I asked as I
+advanced to the break of the poop and stared down at him. He gave another
+snort, and looked at me with undisguised contempt, but disdained to
+answer and turned away, going to the lee rail and expectorating over the
+side. Then he came slowly back across the main deck, while my spleen rose
+at his superior indifference. I have always been a man of the people, and
+have fought my way along to whatever position I have held on the
+comprehensive rule of give and take. Nothing is so offensive to me as the
+assumption of superiority when backed solely by a man's own conception of
+his value. Therefore it was in no pleasant tone that I addressed the
+stranger on his return to the deck beneath me.
+
+"My fine cock," said I, "if you haven't a tongue, you probably have ears,
+and if you don't want them to feel like the grate-bars of the galley
+stove, you'll do well to sing out when I speak. Can you rise to that?"
+
+The man looked me squarely in the eyes, and I never saw such a fiendish
+expression come into a human face as that which gathered in his. "You
+infernal, impudent--" he began; and here for a moment followed a string
+of foul oaths from the man's lips, while he passed his hand behind his
+back and drew forth a long knife. Then without a moment's further
+hesitation he sprang up the steps to the poop.
+
+The fiendishness of the attack took me off my guard, for I was not
+prepared for such a serious fracas during the first half hour in command
+of the deck; but I saw there was little time to lose. There were no
+belaying-pins handy, so the thing for me was to get in as close as
+possible and get the fellow's knife.
+
+As he came up the steps, I rushed for him and kicked out with all my
+strength, when his face was level with my knees. The toe of my heavy shoe
+caught him solidly in the neck, and he went over backward almost in a
+complete somersault, landing with a crash upon the main deck just outside
+the window of Mr. Trunnell's room. He was stunned by the fall, and I
+hastened down to seize him before he could recover. Just as I gained the
+main deck, however, he gave a snort and started to his feet. Then he let
+out a yell like a madman and closed with me, my right hand luckily
+reaching his wrist below the knife.
+
+It was up and down, and all over the deck for a time, the men crowding
+aft around us, but fearing to take a hand. The fellow had enormous
+strength, and the way he made that knife hand jump and twist gave me all
+I could do to keep fast to it. Soon I found I was losing ground, and he
+noted the fact, exerting himself more and more as he found me failing.
+Then it dawned upon me that I was in a bad fix, and I tried to think
+quickly for some means to save myself. In another mad struggle he would
+wrench himself clear, and his ugly look told me plainly how much mercy I
+could expect. I gave one last despairing grip on his wrist as he tore
+wildly about, and then I felt his arm slip clear of my fingers, and I
+waited for the stroke with my left arm drawn up to stop its force as far
+as possible. I could almost feel the sting of the steel in my tense
+nerves, when something suddenly caught me around the middle and pressed
+me with great force against my enemy. His face was almost against mine,
+but his arms were pinioned to his sides, powerless, and then I was aware
+that we both were encircled by the ape-like arms of the mate, Mr.
+Trunnell. How the little fellow held on was a marvel. He braced his short
+legs wide apart, and giving a hug that almost took the breath out of me,
+bawled lustily for some man to pass a lashing.
+
+Suddenly a man rushed aft and passed a line around the stranger, and I
+saw that the young landlubber to whom, earlier in the morning, I had been
+so harsh was a man to be depended on. The young fellow tied my enemy up
+in short order, although the knots he used would not have done any credit
+to a sailor. But I was more than thankful when I had a chance to wring
+the long knife out of the murderous stranger's hand, and I spoke out to
+the smooth-faced fellow. "You'll do, my boy, even if you don't know a
+yard from a main-brace bumpkin. Pass a line around his legs and stuff a
+swab into his mouth if he don't stop swearing."
+
+"Steady," said Trunnell, "none of that," as the swab was being brought
+up. "But, Captain Andrews, if you don't belay your tongue we'll have to
+do something." And the little mate squared his shoulders, and gazed
+calmly down upon the prostrate stranger who foamed at the mouth with
+impotent fury.
+
+"So," I said, "this is the ruffian who jumped his bail and is aboard here
+on the sneak? I reckon we'll tack ship and stand back again to put him
+where he belongs."
+
+I was breathing heavily from the fight, and stood leaning against the
+cabin to recover, while Mr. Trunnell and the fellow Jim, who had helped
+tie the skipper up, appeared to be in doubt how to proceed. The noise of
+the scuffle and our conversation had aroused the captain in the cabin,
+and as I finished speaking he came to the break of the poop and looked
+down on the main deck. I was aware of his hooked nose and strange,
+glinting eyes almost before I turned, as he spoke. He placed his foot
+upon the rail and gave a dry cough.
+
+"I reckon there ain't any call to tack ship," he said slowly; "a pair of
+irons'll do the rest. Jest clap them on him, hand and foot, Mr. Rolling,
+and then rivet him to the deck away up forrads. If he don't stow that
+bazoo of his, you might ram the end of a handspike in his mouth and see
+if he'll bite."
+
+"Who are you, you molly-hawk, to give orders aboard here?" roared
+Andrews, from where he lay on deck. "What's happened, Trunnell, when a
+swivel-eyed idiot with a beak like an albatross stands on the poop and
+talks to me like this?"
+
+"He's Captain Thompson, in command, owing to the little--the little
+fracas you was mixed into last v'yage. We didn't exactly expect to have
+ye this trip, sir," said the mate.
+
+"Well, I'm here, ain't I? Sing out, can't you see me? Has your hair
+struck in and tickled your brain so you don't know who's boss aboard
+here? Who's this galoot you've just kept from being ripped to ribbons?
+I'll settle matters with you later on for meddling in this affair, you
+kelp-haired sea-pig. Sink you, Trunnell; I never expected you to turn
+rusty like the miserable swab you are."
+
+"Don't you think it would be best to stand away for port again, sir?"
+said the fellow Jim, looking sharply at the skipper on the poop as he
+spoke, and then to myself and Trunnell.
+
+"We don't keer for your suggestions, young feller," said the skipper,
+leaning over the rail above us. "When there's any orders to be given,
+I'll attend to matters myself." He spoke in a low, even tone, and his
+eyes seemed to focus to two sharp, bright points at the sailor, making
+his great beak-like nose more prominent.
+
+"Cast me adrift, Trunnell," commanded the ruffian Andrews, with an oath.
+"I'm a-going to kill that lubber you've got for mate anyhow, and it might
+as well be done at once as any other time. We'll settle the matter about
+who's skipper afterward."
+
+"I hears ye well enough, Cap'n Andrews," said Trunnell; "but I ain't
+eggzactly clear in my mind as to how ye have authority aboard. If I was,
+I'd cast ye adrift in spite o' the whole crowd, an' ye could rip an' cut
+to your bloody heart's content. Ye know I'd back ye if 'twas all right
+and proper; but I never disobeyed an order yet, and stave me, I never
+will. I don't care who gives it so long as he has the right."
+
+"Spoken like a man an' a sailor," came the sudden sharp tones of the
+skipper on the poop; and as I looked, the skipper drew forth a watch in
+one hand and a long revolver in the other, which clicked to readiness as
+it came in a line between his eye and the body of Andrews. "You have just
+a few seconds less than a minute to get that fellow forrads and out of
+the way," he said slowly, as if counting his words. I made no movement to
+drag the ruffian away, for at that minute I would have offered no
+objection whatever to seeing the skipper make a target of him; but
+Trunnell and the sailor Jim instantly seized Andrews, while he cursed the
+captain and dared him shoot. He struggled vainly to get free of his
+lashings, but the little bushy-headed mate tucked him under his arm,
+while Jim took his feet, and the crowd of gaping men broke away as they
+went forward.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+After I had recovered from my somewhat violent exertions, and bound up
+the slight cut that Andrews had made in my hand with his knife, eight
+bells had struck, and the steward brought aft the cabin hash. The skipper
+went below, and Trunnell and I followed.
+
+Captain Thompson seated himself at the head of the table and signed for
+us to take our places; then it suddenly occurred to me that I was only
+second mate, and consequently did not rate the captain's table. Trunnell
+noticed my hesitation, but said nothing, and the skipper fell to with
+such a hearty good will that he appeared to entirely forget my presence.
+I hastily made some excuse to get back on deck, and the little,
+bushy-headed mate smiled and nodded approvingly at me as I went up the
+alleyway forward. I was much pleased at this delicate hint on his part,
+for many mates would have made uncalled-for remarks at such a blunder. It
+showed me that the little giant who could keep me from being carved to
+rat-line stuff could be civil also.
+
+I was much taken with him owing to what had happened, and I looked down
+at him as he ate, for I could see him very well as I stood near the
+mizzen on the port side of the cabin skylight. The glass of the hatch was
+raised to let the cabin air, and I watched the bushy head beneath, with
+its aggressive beard bending over the dirty table-cloth. The large squat
+nose seemed to sniff the good grub as the steward served the fresh beef,
+and Trunnell made ready with his knife.
+
+He laid the blade on his plate and heaped several large chunks of the
+meat and potatoes upon it. Then he dropped his chin and seemed to shut
+his eyes as he carefully conveyed the load to his mouth, drawing the
+steel quickly through his thick lips without spilling more than a
+commensurate amount of the stuff upon his beard, and injuring himself in
+no way whatever. The quick jerk with which he slipped the steel clear so
+as to have it ready for another load made me a trifle nervous; but it was
+evident that he was not a novice at eating. Indeed, the skipper appeared
+to admire his dexterity, for I saw his small, glinting eyes look sharply
+from the little fellow to the boyish third officer who sat to starboard.
+
+"Never had no call for a fork, eh?" said he, after watching the mate
+apparently come within an inch of cutting his head in two.
+
+"Nope," said Trunnell.
+
+They ate in silence for some minutes.
+
+"I like to see a fellow what can make out with the fewest tools. Tools
+are good enough for mechanics; a bit an' a bar'll do for a man. Ever been
+to New York?"
+
+"Nope," said Trunnell.
+
+There was a moment's silence.
+
+"I might 'a' knowed that," said the skipper, as if to himself.
+
+Trunnell appeared to sniff sarcasm.
+
+"Oh, I've been to one or two places in my time," said he. "There ain't
+nothin' remarkable about New York except the animals, and I don't keer
+fer those."
+
+"Whatchermean?"
+
+"Oh, I was closte into the beach off Sandy Hook onct when we was tryin'
+to get to the south'ard, an' I see an eliphint about a hundred feet high
+on the island acrost the bay. There was a feller aboard as said they had
+cows there just as big what give milk. I wouldn't have believed him, but
+fer the fact that there ware the eliphint before my eyes."
+
+"Stuffed, man,--he was stuffed," explained the captain.
+
+"Stuffed or no; there he ware," persisted Trunnell. "He would 'a' been no
+bigger stuffed than alive. 'Tain't likely they could 'a' stretched his
+hide more'n a foot."
+
+The skipper gave the third mate a sly look, and his nose worked busily
+like a parrot's beak for a few minutes.
+
+"You believe lots o' things, eh?" said he, while his nose worked and
+wrinkled in amusement.
+
+"I believe in pretty much all I sees an' some little I hears," said
+Trunnell, dryly.
+
+"'Specially in eliphints, eh?--a hundred feet high?"
+
+"But not in argufying over facts," retorted Trunnell. "No, sink me, when
+I finds I'm argufying agin the world,--agin facts,--I tries to give in
+some and let the world get the best o' the argument. I've opinions the
+same as you have, but when they don't agree with the rest o' the world,
+do I go snortin' around a-tryin' to show how the world is wrong an' I am
+right? Sink me if I do. No, I tries to let the other fellow have a show.
+I may be right, but if I sees the world is agin me, I--"
+
+"Right ye are, Trunnell. Spoken O.K." said the skipper. "I like to see a
+man what believes in a few things--even if they's eliphints. What do you
+think of the fellow forrads? Do you believe in him to any extent?"
+
+The third mate appeared much amused at the conversation, but did not
+speak. He was a remarkably good-looking young fellow, and I noted the
+fact at the time.
+
+Trunnell did not answer the last remark, but held himself very straight
+in his chair.
+
+"Do you believe much in the fellow who was skipper, especially after his
+tryin' to carve Mr. Rolling?"
+
+"I believe him a good sailor," said Trunnell, stiffening up.
+
+"Ye don't say?" said the skipper.
+
+"I never critisizez my officers," said Trunnell; and after that the
+skipper let him alone.
+
+I was pleased with Trunnell. His philosophy was all right, and I believed
+from that time he was an honest man. Things began to look a little
+brighter, and in spite of an aversion to the skipper which had begun to
+creep upon me, I now saw that he was an observing fellow, and was quick
+to know the value of men. I didn't like his allusion to a bit and bar for
+a man, but thought little about the matter. In a short time Trunnell
+relieved me, and I went below with the carpenter and steward to our mess.
+
+The carpenter was a young Irishman, shipped for the first time. This was
+the first time I had been to sea with a ship carpenter who was not either
+a Russian, a Finn, or a Swede. The steward was a little mulatto, who
+announced, as he sat down, after bringing in the hash, that he was bloody
+glad he was an Englishman, and looked at me for approval.
+
+This was to show that he did not approve of the scene he had witnessed on
+the main deck in the morning, and I accepted it as a token of friendship.
+
+"'Tis cold th' owld man thinks it is, whin he has th' skylight wide
+open," said Chips, looking up at the form of Trunnell, who stood on the
+poop. There was a strange light in the young fellow's eye as he spoke, as
+if he wished to impart some information, and had not quite determined
+upon the time and place. I took the hint and smiled knowingly, and then
+glanced askance at the steward.
+
+"Faith, he's all right," blurted out Chips; "his skin is a little off th'
+color av roses, but his heart is white. We're wid ye, see?"
+
+"With me for what?" I asked.
+
+"Anything," he replied. "To go back, to go ahead. There's a fellow
+forrads who says go back while ye may."
+
+"An' it's bloody good advice," said the steward, in a low tone.
+
+"I'm not exactly in command aboard here," I said.
+
+"D'ye know who is?" asked Chips.
+
+"His name is Thompson, I believe," I answered coldly, for I did not
+approve of this sudden criticism of the skipper, much as I disliked
+his style.
+
+"See here, mate, ye needn't think we're fer sayin' agin the old man, so
+hark ye, don't take it hard like. Did ye iver hear tell av a sailorman
+a-callin' a line a 'rope' or a bloomin' hooker like this a 'boat'? No,
+sir, ye can lay to it he's niver had a ship before; an' so says Jim
+Potts, the same as passed th' line fer ye this mornin'. Kin I pass ye the
+junk? It's sort o' snifty fer new slush, but I don't complain."
+
+"What's the matter with the meat?" I asked, glad to change the
+conversation.
+
+"Jest sort o' snifty."
+
+"That's what," corroborated the steward, looking at me. "Jest sort o'
+smelly like fer new junk."
+
+"What has Jim Potts got against the old man?" I asked. "You said he
+didn't believe the skipper had been in a ship before."
+
+"Nothin' I knows of, 'cept he was hot fer turnin' back this mornin' an'
+tried to get th' men to back him in comin' aft."
+
+"Do you mean it's mutiny?"
+
+"Lord, no; jest to blandander ye inter tackin' ship. He most persuaded
+Mr. Trunnell, an' wid ye too, 'twould ha' been no mutiny to override the
+new skipper, an' land th' other in th' caboose."
+
+Much as I would have liked to get ashore again, I knew there was no
+immediate prospect of it. The skipper would not hear of any such thing.
+As for Trunnell acting against orders, I knew from what I had seen of
+this sturdy little fellow he would obey implicitly any directions given
+him, and at any cost. There was no help for it now. We would be out for
+months with the ruffian skipper forward and the strange one aft. I said
+nothing more to the carpenter or steward, for it was evident that there
+had been some strong arguments used by Jim Potts against the regularity
+of the ship's company. The more I thought of this, the more I was
+astonished, for the young landsman was not forced to come out in the
+ship, and had almost been left, as it was. I went on deck in a troubled
+frame of mind, and determined to keep my eye on every one who approached
+me, for the voyage had the worst possible beginning.
+
+There was much to be done about the main deck, so I busied myself the
+entire afternoon getting the running gear cleared up and coiled down
+shipshape. The skipper stood near the break of the poop much of the time,
+but gave no orders, and I noticed that Jim the sailor, or landsman, kept
+away from his vicinity. Sometimes it seemed as though the captain would
+follow his movements about the deck forward with his keen eyes.
+
+It was Trunnell's dog-watch that evening, and by the time the bells
+struck the vessel was running along to the westward under royals, with
+the southerly breeze freshening on her beam. She was a handsome ship. Her
+long, tapering spars rose towering into the semi-gloom overhead, and the
+great fabric of stretched canvas seemed like a huge cloud resting upon a
+dark, floating object on the surface of the sea, which was carried along
+rapidly with it, brushing the foam to either side with a roaring,
+rattling, seething, musical noise. At least, this is the picture she
+presented from the forecastle head looking aft. Her great main yard swung
+far over the water to leeward, and the huge bellying courses, setting
+tight as a drumhead with the pressure, sent the roaring of the bow-wave
+back in a deep booming echo, until the air was full of vibration from the
+taut fabric. All around, the horizon was melted into haze, but the stars
+were glinting overhead in promise of a clear night.
+
+I left the forecastle head and came down on the main deck. Here the
+six-foot bulwarks shut off the view to windward, but little of the cool
+evening breeze. The men on watch were grouped about the waist, sitting on
+the combings of the after-hatch, or walking fore and aft in the gangways
+to keep the blood stirring. All had pea coats or mufflers over their
+jumpers, for the air was frosty. The "doctor" had washed up his pots and
+coppers for the evening, and had made his way toward the carpenter's room
+in the forward house, where a light shone through the crack of the door.
+
+On nearly all American ships the carpenter is rated as an officer, but
+does not have to stand watch, turning out only during the day-time or
+when all hands are called in cases of emergency. The cook, or "doctor,"
+as he is called, also turns in for the night, as do the steward and cabin
+boys; the steward, however, generally has a stateroom aft near those of
+the mates, while the "doctor" bunks next his galley. The carpenter having
+permission to burn a light, usually turns his shop or bunk-room into a
+meeting place for those officers who rate the distinction of being above
+the ordinary sailor. Here one can always hear the news aboard ships where
+the discipline is not too rigid; for the mates, bos'n, "doctor," steward,
+and sometimes even the quartermasters, enjoy his hospitality.
+
+Trunnell was on the poop, and the captain was below. I had a chance to
+get a little better insight into the natures of my shipmates if I could
+join in their conversation, or even listen to it for a while. My position
+as second mate was not too exalted to prohibit terms of intimacy with the
+carpenter, or, for that matter, even the bos'n.
+
+I took a last look to windward, over the cold southern ocean, where the
+sharp evening breeze was rolling the short seas into little patches of
+white. The horizon was clear, and there was no prospect for some time of
+any sudden call to shorten sail. The sky was a perfect blue vault in
+which the stars were twinkling, while the red of the recent sunset held
+fair on the jibboom end, showing that the quartermaster at the wheel knew
+his business. I edged toward the door of the house, and then seeing that
+my actions were not creating too much notice from the poop, I slid back
+the white panel and entered. The fog from damp clothes and bad tobacco
+hung heavy in the close air and made a blue halo about the little
+swinging lamp on the bulkhead. Chips, who was sitting on his sea-chest,
+waved his hand in welcome, and the "doctor" nodded and showed his white
+teeth. The bos'n was holding forth in full swing in an argument with one
+of the quartermasters, and Jim, the fellow I noticed in the morning, was
+listening. He arose as I entered, as also did the quartermaster, but the
+rest remained seated. I waved my hand in friendly acknowledgment and lit
+my pipe at the lamp, while they reseated themselves.
+
+"Yah, good mornin' to ye--if it ain't too late in the day," said Chips.
+"Sit ye down an' listen to me song, for 'tis a quare ship, an' th' only
+thing to do is to square our luck wid a good song. Cast loose, bos'n."
+
+We were all new men to the vessel except the carpenter, and had never
+even sailed in the same ship before on any previous voyage. Yet the
+bos'n "cast loose" without further orders, and the "doctor" joined in
+with his bass voice. Then Chips and the rest bawled forth to the tune of
+"Blow a man down," and all the dismal prospect of the future in an
+overloaded ship, with bad food and a queer skipper, was lost in the
+effort of each one trying to out-bellow his neighbor. Sailors are a
+strange set. It takes mighty little to please one at times when he
+should, with reason, be sad; while, again, when everything is fair,
+nothing will satisfy his whims.
+
+When the yarn spinning and singing were over, I turned out for my first
+watch well pleased with my shipmates.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+During the following days all hands were so busy bending new sails and
+reeving running gear for our turn of the Cape that there was little time
+for anything else. Much of this work could have been avoided had the ship
+been under better command when she cleared, but Trunnell had no authority
+to do anything, and the agents were waiting until the skipper took
+command and could attend to the necessary overhauling.
+
+At meals I saw little of either Trunnell or Captain Thompson and his
+third mate, but in the short hours of the dog-watch in the evening I had
+a chance to talk with them upon other subjects than those relating
+immediately to the running of the ship.
+
+The dog-watch is the short watch between six and eight o'clock in the
+evening. This is made short to keep one watch from turning to at any
+regular time and consequently getting all the disagreeable work to be
+done during those hours. For instance, if one watch had to be on deck
+every night from twelve until four in the morning, it would mean that the
+other watch would be on deck from four to eight, and consequently would
+have to do all the washing down of decks and other work which occurs upon
+every regulated ship before breakfast. So the dog-watch divides a
+four-hour watch and is served alternately. As second mate I had access to
+the poop and could come aft on the weather side like any officer, all
+sailors, of course, being made to go to leeward.
+
+Trunnell grew to be confidential, and we often discoursed upon many
+subjects during the hours after supper; for there was little time to turn
+in when not on dog-watch, and the skipper allowed me aft with much more
+freedom than many second mates get. He seldom ventured to join in the
+conversations, except when discussing shore topics, for his ignorance of
+things nautical was becoming more and more apparent to me every day, and
+he saw it. I wondered vaguely how he ever managed to get command of the
+ship, and set the reason down to the fact that the agents were glad
+enough to get any one to take her out. He, however, checked up Trunnell's
+sights every day and commented upon their accuracy with much freedom,
+finding fault often, and cautioning him to be more careful in the future.
+This somewhat perplexed the mate, as he always made his reckoning by rule
+of thumb, and could no more change his method than work out a problem in
+trigonometry. The third mate, on the other hand, was quite shy. I noticed
+what I had failed to note before, and that was the peculiar feminine tone
+of his voice and manner. He never swung his hands or lounged along the
+deck like a man used to the sea, and as the regulations call for at least
+two years' sea experience certified to by some reputable skipper before a
+mate's certificate is issued, this struck me as strange. Besides, he
+walked with a short mincing step that failed to swing his rather broad
+hips, and his knees were well set back at each stride, that went to show
+more conclusively than anything else that he was not used to a heaving
+deck. An old sailor, or a young one either, for that matter, will bend
+his knees to catch the roll and not try to walk like a soldier.
+
+One evening after we had been out about a week, Trunnell and I
+happened to be standing aft near the taffrail looking up at a royal
+preventer stay.
+
+"D'ye know what th' old man called this cleat?" asked Trunnell, pointing
+to where it had been made fast.
+
+"No," said I. "What did he call it?"
+
+"A timber noggin."
+
+"Well, that don't prove there is anything wrong with him, does it?"
+I queried.
+
+"Either that or the timber noggins has changed summat in character since
+I seen them last," said Trunnell. "What in Davy Jones would a skipper of
+a ship call a cleat a timber noggin for unless he didn't know no better?"
+
+"A man might or might not have many reasons for calling a cleat a timber
+noggin besides that of not knowing any better than to do so," I
+responded. "For instance--"
+
+But Trunnell cut me short. "No, Mr. Rolling, there ain't no use
+disguising the fact any more, this skipper don't know nothin' about a
+ship. You'll find that out before we get to the west'ard o' the Agullas.
+Mind ye, I ain't making no criticism o' the old man. I never does that to
+no superior officer, but when a man tells me to do the things he does, it
+stands to reason that we've got an old man aboard here who's been in a
+ship for the first time as officer."
+
+I agreed with him, and he was much pleased.
+
+"A man what finds fault an' criticises everybody above him is always a
+failure, Mr. Rolling," he went on. "Yes, sir, the faultfinder is always a
+failure. An' the reason so many sailors find fault all the time is
+because they is failures. I am tryin' not to find fault with the skipper,
+but to pint out that we're in for some rough times if things don't change
+aboard in the sailorin' line afore we gets to the west'ard o' the
+Agullas. Sink me, if that ain't so, for here we is without half the sails
+bent an' no new braces, nothin' but two-year-old manila stuff what's wore
+clean through. Them topsails look good enough, but they is as rotten with
+the lime in them as if they was burned. No, sir, I ain't makin' no
+criticism, but I burns within when I think of the trouble a few dollars
+would save. Yes, sir, I burns within."
+
+Mr. Trunnell here spat profusely to leeward and walked athwartships for
+some moments without further remark. The third mate came on deck and
+stood near the lee mizzen rigging, looking forward at the foam swirling
+from the bends and drifting aft alongside at a rapid rate. The
+phosphorus shone brilliantly in the water, and the wake of the ship was
+like a path of molten metal, for the night was quite dark and the heavy
+banks of clouds which had been making steadily to the westward
+over-spread the sky. It was nearly time for the southwest monsoon to
+shift, and with this change would likely follow a spell o' weather, as
+Trunnell chose to put it. The third mate had never given an order since
+he had come aboard, and I noticed Trunnell's sly wink as he glanced in
+the direction of the mizzen.
+
+"Mr. Rolling," said he, "wimmen have been my ruin. Yes, sir, wimmen have
+been my ruin, an' I'm that scared o' them I can raise them afore their
+topmast is above the horizon. Sink me, if that ain't one." And he leered
+at the figure of the third mate, whom we knew as Mr. Bell.
+
+"What would a woman be doing here as third mate?" I asked; for although I
+had come to the same conclusion some days before, I had said nothing to
+any one about it.
+
+"That's the old man's affair," said Trunnell; "it may be his wife, or it
+may be his daughter, but any one can see that the fellow's pants are
+entirely too big in the heft for a man. An' his voice! Sink me, Rolling,
+but you never hearn tell of a man or boy pipin' so soft like. Why, it
+skeers me to listen to it. It's just like--but no matter."
+
+"Like what?" I suggested gently, hoping much.
+
+But it was of no use. Trunnell looked at me queerly for a moment as if
+undecided to give me his confidence. Then he resumed his walk athwart the
+deck, and I went forward to the break of the poop and took a look at the
+head sails.
+
+The night was growing darker, and the breeze was dying slowly, and I
+wondered why the skipper had not come on deck to take a look around. He
+was usually on hand during the earlier hours of evening.
+
+I reached the side of the third officer, and stood silently gazing at the
+canvas which shone dimly through the gathering gloom. As we had always
+been separated on account of being in different watches, I had never
+addressed the third mate before save in a general way when reporting the
+ship's duties aft.
+
+"Pretty dark night, hey?" I ventured.
+
+The third officer looked hard at me for the space of a minute, during
+which time his face underwent many changes of expression. Then he
+answered in a smooth, even tone.
+
+"Sorter," said he.
+
+This was hardly what I expected, so I ventured again.
+
+"Looks as if we might have a spell o' weather, hey? The wind's falling
+all the time, and if it keeps on, we'll have a calm night without a
+draught of air."
+
+"What do you mean by a ca'm night without a draft of air?" asked the
+young fellow, in a superior tone, while at the same time I detected a
+smile lurking about the corners of his eyes.
+
+If there's one thing I hate to see in a young fellow, it is the
+desire to make fun of a superior's conversation. Being an American
+sailor, I had little use for _r_'s in every word which held an _a_
+but I had no objection to any one else talking the way they wished. I
+was somewhat doubtful just how to sit upon this nebulous third mate,
+so I began easily.
+
+"Do you know," said I, "there are a great many young fellows going out in
+ships as officers when they could be of much more benefit to people
+generally if they stayed home and helped their mothers to 'bark cark,' or
+do other little things around the nursery or kitchen."
+
+As I finished I thought I heard some one swear fiercely in a low tone. I
+looked over the poop rail down to the main deck beneath, but saw no one
+near. The third officer seemed to be lost in thought for a moment.
+
+"It isn't good to be too clever," said he, in the tone which was
+unmistakably a woman's. "When a person is good at baking cake, or
+'barking cark,' as you choose to call it, the sea is a good place for
+them. They can look out for those who haven't sense enough to perform the
+function."
+
+I had a strong notion to ask him outright if he was fitted to perform the
+function, but his superior air and the feeling that I might make a
+mistake after all and incur the displeasure of the beak-nosed skipper
+deterred me. But I was almost certain that our third mate was a woman.
+
+We remained standing together in the night for a few moments while
+neither spoke. My advances had not received the favorable acknowledgment
+I had expected, and there was a distinctly disagreeable feeling creeping
+upon me while in this neutral presence. I was young and hot-headed, so I
+spoke accordingly before leaving the field, or rather deck, in retreat.
+
+"I wish you had the distinction of belonging to the port watch."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I think I might strengthen your powers of discernment regarding the
+relative positions of second and third mates."
+
+"We'll see who has the better insight in regard to the matter without my
+being bored to that extent," said the third officer in his softest tones,
+and again I fancied I heard the voice of a man swearing fiercely in a low
+voice as if to himself. Then I turned and went aft.
+
+"It's something queer," said Trunnell, shaking his great shaggy head and
+glancing toward the break of the poop. A step sounded on the companion
+ladder, and the skipper came on deck.
+
+"Pretty dark, hey?" he said, and his quick eyes took in both Trunnell and
+myself comprehensively.
+
+"Looks like we might have a spell o' weather if the wind keeps fallin',"
+observed Trunnell.
+
+"Well, I don't suppose a dark night is any worse than a bright one, and I
+call to mind many a time I'd give something to see it a bit blacker. Do
+you know where you're at?"
+
+"She's headin' about the same, but if ye don't mind, I'll be gettin' her
+down gradual like to her torps'ls if the glass keeps a-fallin'. Short
+commons, says I, on the edge o' the monsoon."
+
+"Short it is, my boy. Get her down low. The more she looks like you, the
+better she'll do, hey? What d'you think of that, Mr. Rolling? The shorter
+the longer, the longer the shorter--see? The sooner the quicker, eh?
+Supposen the question was asked you, Mr. Rolling, what'd you say, hey?
+Why is Mr. Trunnell like a lady's bouquet, hey? Why is the little man
+like a bunch of flowers? Don't insult him, Mr. Rolling. The sanitary
+outfit of the cabin is all right. 'Tain't that. No, split me, it ain't
+that. Think a minute."
+
+Trunnell walked to and fro without a word, while the captain grinned. The
+fellow at the wheel, Bill Spielgen, a square-cut man with an angular face
+and enormous hands, stared sullenly into the binnacle.
+
+"It's because he's a daisy," rapped out the skipper. "That's it, Mr.
+Rolling, he's a daisy, ha, ha, ha! Split me, if he ain't, ho, ho, ho!
+Shorten her down, Trunnell; you're a daisy, and no mistake."
+
+There was a distinct smell of liquor in the light breeze, and as the
+skipper came within the glare of the binnacle lamp I could see he was
+well set up. Trunnell went to the break of the poop and called out for
+the watch to clew down the fore and mizzen skysails. He was much upset at
+the skipper's talk, but knew better than to show it. The captain now
+turned his attention to the man at the wheel.
+
+"How d'you head, Bill?" said he.
+
+"West b' no'the," said Bill.
+
+The skipper came to the wheel and stuck his lean face close to the
+quartermaster's. His glinting eyes grew to two little points and his
+hooked nose wrinkled on the sides as he showed his teeth while he drawled
+in a snarling tone:--
+
+"D'you set up for a wit, Bill, that you joke with your captain, hey? Is
+that it, you square-toed, lantern-jawed swab? Would you like me to rip
+you up the back, or lam some of the dirt out of your hide, hey? Is that
+it? Don't make jokes at your captain, Bill. It's bad business."
+
+Then he went on in a more conciliating tone:--
+
+"Just remember that I'm a knight of a round table, or square one either,
+for that matter, while I'm aboard this boat, and if you forget to mention
+my title of 'Sir,' every time you speak of me, you'll want to get your
+hide sewed on tight."
+
+"I beg pardon, sir," said Bill, taking a fresh grip upon the spokes with
+his great hands.
+
+"That's right, my son; you're a beggar aboard this here boat. Don't
+aspire to anything else."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," said the quartermaster.
+
+"And now that you've got to your bearings, as Trunnell would say, I'll
+tell you a little story about a man who lost a pet dog called Willie."
+
+I saw that it was high time for me to get forward, and slipped away. I
+turned in ready for a call, thinking that perhaps Trunnell was right in
+regard to our future prospects in the South Atlantic.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+When I turned out for the mid-watch that night, Trunnell met me at the
+door of the forward cabin. It was pitch dark on deck, and the wind had
+died away almost entirely. The canvas had been rolled up, as it had begun
+to slat heavily against the masts with the heave from a long, quick swell
+that ran rapidly from the southward. The running gear was not new, and
+Trunnell was a careful mate, so the ship was down to her upper topsails
+on the fore and mizzen and a main t'gallant on mainmast, the courses fore
+and after being clewed up and left hanging.
+
+"He's out for trouble to-night," said the little mate. "Blast him if he
+ain't touching the boose again."
+
+"Who, the skipper?" I asked.
+
+"He's been below twice during the watch, an' each time he's gettin' worse
+an' worse. There he comes now to the edge of the poop."
+
+I looked and saw our old man rolling easily across the deck to the poop
+rail. There he stopped and bawled out loudly,--
+
+"Lay aft to the main-brace."
+
+The men on watch hesitated a moment and then came crowding aft and began
+to cast off the weather-brace from its belaying-pin.
+
+It was so dark I couldn't see how many men were there, but I noticed Bill
+the quartermaster, and as I stood waiting to see what would happen, a
+little sailor by the name of Johnson, who had a face like a monkey's and
+legs set wide apart, so they never touched clear up to his waist, spoke
+out to a long, lean Yankee man who jostled me in the darkness.
+
+"Don't pull a pound on the bleeding line. The old cock's drunk, an' we
+ain't here to be hazed around decks like a pack o' damned boys."
+
+The skipper, however, didn't wait to see if his order was carried out,
+but came down from the poop and asked for Trunnell and myself. We went
+with him into the forward cabin, and he motioned us to sit down.
+
+"Did you ever see such a lot o' confounded fools?" he said. "Here I calls
+for to take a pull in the main-brace, and the whole crowd of duff-eaters
+come layin' aft as if the skipper of a ship should blow them all off to
+drinks. Blast me, Trunnell, I'd 'a' thought you'd get them into better
+discipline. It's come to a fine state o' things when the whole crew turns
+to every time I get thirsty. But never mind, sing out as you says, and
+tell the steward what kind o' pisin you'll mix with your blood current.
+Mine's the same old thing."
+
+"It's my watch below now," said Mr. Trunnell, "an' if you'll excuse me,
+I'll turn in. The third mate's gone below some time ago."
+
+"Oh, the boat's all right. It's dead calm, and she can't hurt herself
+floating around this ocean," said the old man. "You can take a drink
+before you go. Steward! Ahoy there, steward!"
+
+"Yessir," said that active mulatto, springing out of his cabin. "Yessir;
+I hears yo', cap'n."
+
+"What'll you have?" asked Thompson, addressing the mate.
+
+Trunnell scratched his big bushy head a moment, and then suggested
+that a bottle of the ginger pop which the steward had in the pantry
+would do for him.
+
+"Hell'n blazes, man, take a drink o' something," cried Thompson, turning
+upon him with his fierce eyes. "What's the matter with you?"
+
+"Nothin', only I drinks what I drinks or else I don't drink at all," said
+Trunnell. "Ye asked me what I'd have, an' I says it."
+
+"All right, Shorty," said Thompson, in mock gravity. "You drinks what you
+drinks. What's yours, Rolling?"
+
+"As I've just turned to, a little soda will do for me," I answered. "I'd
+rather take my grog in the morning at regular hours."
+
+Thompson let his hand fall upon the table with a crash, and then sat
+motionless, looking from one to the other, his long, beak-like nose
+twitching convulsively.
+
+"Steward," said he, with a nasal drawl which made his hooked nose
+wrinkle, "get Mr. Trunnell a drink o' ginger pop, or milk, if he prefers
+it, and then, steward, you may get Mr. Rolling a drink o' sody water.
+It's hot, but I reckon it'll fizz."
+
+"Yessah. What's yourn, cap'n?"
+
+"You don't think there's a priest aboard here, do you, steward, hey?"
+
+"No, sah, 'tain't likely, but I ken find out, sah. Shall I get yo' drink
+fust, sah?"
+
+"Well, I dunno, I dunno, steward; I can't think what I kin take what
+won't offend these gentlemen. You might see first if there's a priest,
+an' if you find one you can bring me a pint or so o' holy water. If it's
+too strong for you," said he, turning toward Trunnell and myself, "I can
+get the steward to dilute it for me, hey?"
+
+Trunnell made no remark at this. The steward brought in our drinks and
+informed the skipper loudly that there was no one in the crew who had
+held holy orders.
+
+"Never mind, then, steward," said Thompson. "I'll wait till it rains and
+get it fresh from heaven."
+
+In a moment Trunnell rose and went into his room with a rough "good
+night." Thompson arose and passed through the door in the bulkhead, and I
+went on deck to take charge.
+
+The night was quiet, and I leaned over the poop rail, looking into the
+water alongside, which appeared as black as ink. The _Pirate_ had little
+or no headway, for it was now dead calm. Forward at the bends a sudden
+flare of phosphorescent fire would burn for a moment alongside when the
+heavy ship rolled deeply and soused her channels under. The southerly
+swell seemed to roll quickly as if there were something behind it, and
+the topsails slatted fore and aft with loud flaps as they backed and
+filled with the motion. It was a bad night for wearing out gear, and I
+was glad Trunnell had rolled up the lighter canvas. Chafing gear had been
+scarce aboard, and nothing is so aggravating to a mate as to have his
+cotton or spars cut by useless rolling in a quiet seaway. If sails can be
+kept full of wind, they will last well enough with care; but let them
+slat for a few days, and there is more useless wear than would take place
+in a month of ordinary weather, with no headway to pay for it.
+
+While I looked into the dark water I noticed a long thin streak of fire
+moving slowly alongside. It wavered and snaked along, growing brighter at
+times and then dying out almost completely. Suddenly it turned at the
+fore channels and came slowly aft. I looked harder at the black surface
+below me and tried to see what caused the disturbance. In an instant I
+beheld a huge shadow, blacker than the surrounding water, outlined
+faintly with the phosphorescent glow. It was between twenty and thirty
+feet in length, and had the form of a shark. The grim monster swam slowly
+aft and rounded the stern, then sank slowly out of sight into the
+blackness beneath.
+
+There is something so uncanny in the silent watchfulness of these giants
+of the deep that a sailor always feels unpleasantly disposed toward them.
+I thought how ghastly would be the ending of any one who should get
+overboard that night. The sudden splash, the warm water about the body,
+and the heads of the fellows at the rail starting to pull the unfortunate
+aboard. Then the sudden grisly clutch from below, and the dragging down
+out of sight and sound forever.
+
+I began to actually reckon the amount of arsenic I should put into a
+chunk of beef to trick the giant at his last meal.
+
+"Sharp lightning on port bow, sir," came the news from the forward; for,
+although I was supposed to be able to see well enough, I had taught the
+men of my watch to sing out at everything unusual, more to be certain
+that they were awake than anything else.
+
+I looked up from the black depths and my unpleasant reflections, and
+gazed to the southward. As I did so, several sharp flashes showed upon
+the dark horizon. It looked as if something were raising fast, and I
+stepped below a moment to see the glass. It was down to twenty-eight.
+Going on deck at once, I bawled for the watch to clew down the
+main-topgallantsail. In a moment the men were swarming up the main
+rigging, and the sail was let go by the run, the yard settling nicely,
+while the clews, buntlines, and leachlines were hauled down in unison.
+
+"Mizzen topsail!" I cried.
+
+The watch came up the poop ladders with a rush and tramping of feet that
+sounded ominously loud for the work on so quiet a night. The yelling of
+the men at the braces coupled with the tramping aroused Captain Thompson
+in spite of his liquor, and he came up the after-companion to see what
+was the matter.
+
+"Hey, there, hey!" he bawled. "What are you doing, Rolling? Are you
+coming to an anchor already? Have I been asleep six months, and is this
+the Breakwater ahead? No? Well, do you expect to get to port without
+canvas on the ship? Split me, but I thought you knew how to sail a boat
+when you signed on as mate. Don't come any of these grandmother tricks on
+me, hey? I won't have it. Don't make a fool of yourself before these men.
+Get that topsail up again quicker'n hell can scorch a feather, or I'll be
+taking a hand, see! I'll be taking a hand. Jump lively, you dogs!" he
+roared, as he finished.
+
+The topsail was swayed up again, the men silent and sullen with this
+extra work. Then came the order for the t'gallantsail, and by the
+time that was mastheaded, the skipper followed with orders for
+royals, fore and aft.
+
+During the time these affairs were going on upon the ship, the southern
+horizon was lit up again and again by vivid flashes. It appeared to sink
+into a deeper gloom afterward, but in another moment we heard the distant
+boom of thunder. Before we could get the topgallantsail set there was a
+blinding flash off the bow-port, followed by a deep rolling peal of
+thunder. I was standing in the waist and sprang to Trunnell's room--
+
+"All hands!" I bawled.
+
+Then I rushed for the mizzen rigging, yelling for the men to clew down
+the t'gallantsail and let the topsail halyards go by the run. At the cry
+for all hands the men tumbled out, looking around to see what had
+happened. It was dead still, and the only sounds were the cries of the
+men on deck to those aloft, and the rattling of gear. Trunnell was on
+deck in a moment, and as he rushed aft I went for the main rigging with
+the intention of saving the upper topsail if I could. It was quick work
+getting up those ratlines, but even as I went I heard a deepening murmur
+from the southward. The yard came down by the run as I gained the top,
+owing to Trunnell having cast off everything, trusting that we might get
+some stops on the sail before too late. I heard the skipper roaring out
+orders to "hurry there," followed by curses at the slowness of the work.
+He appeared to realize now what was happening, and it sobered him.
+
+As I crawled out to starboard with a couple of hands, Jackson of
+Trunnell's watch and Davis of mine, the murmur to the southward swelled
+rapidly in volume. I glanced into the blackness, and as I did so there
+was a blinding flash. My eyes seemed to be burned out with the
+brightness, and a crashing roar thundered in my ears. Instantly afterward
+I heard Trunnell's voice:--
+
+"Hard up the wheel. Hard up, for God's sake!"
+
+Then, with a rush that made the mast creak with the strain and laid
+us slowly over amid a thunder of thrashing canvas, the hurricane
+struck the ship.
+
+There was nothing to do but hold on with both hands and feet. Jackson,
+who was outside of me, gripped the jackstay and threw his feet around
+the yard-arm which was springing and jumping away at a terrific rate
+with the shock of the cracking topsail. I did likewise, and noticed
+that the canvas was bellying forward, which showed that we were not
+aback. If we were, I knew our lives were only questions of seconds.
+All sounds from below were silenced in the roar about us, but flash
+after flash, following rapidly in succession, showed me momentary
+glimpses of the deck.
+
+We were far over the water as the _Pirate_ was laying down with her
+topgallant rail beneath the sea. The mizzen topsail had disappeared, as
+though made of vapor, leaving the mizzen clear. Forward, the two topsails
+and fore topmast staysail were holding, but between the flashes the upper
+canvas melted away like a puff of steam, the ragged ends flying and
+thrashing into long ribbons to leeward. Three men were on the yard when I
+looked at first, and then, almost instantly afterward, the yard was bare.
+Whether they had gone overboard I could not tell, but the thought made me
+look to myself while I might.
+
+Pulling myself along the jackstay until I reached the bunt, I managed to
+grasp a line that was tailing taut downward toward the deck. This I
+grasped quickly with both hands, and bawling with all my might to Jackson
+and Davis to follow, I swung clear of the yard. Looking below, the sea
+appeared as white as milk in the ghastly light, with the ship's outline
+now dimly discernible in contrast. I breathed a prayer that the line was
+fast amidships and slid down. There was a terrific ripping instantly
+overhead, and I knew the topsail had gone. The line bowed out with the
+wind, but led toward the deck near the mast, and in a moment my feet
+struck the fife rail. I was safe for the present. Jackson followed close
+upon me, but Davis was unable to get the line. He was never seen again.
+
+Making my way aft by the aid of the weather rail, I reached the poop and
+climbed up the steps. The wind nearly swept me from my feet, but I
+managed to crawl aft to where I could make out by the flashes the forms
+of Trunnell and the skipper.
+
+"She'll go off soon," yelled the mate in my ear. "Nothin' gone forrads
+yet, hey?"
+
+"Only the canvas and a couple of men," I yelled in reply.
+
+The wind began to draw further and further aft, showing that the ship was
+gradually gathering headway in spite of her list to starboard. Soon she
+began to right herself in the storm-torn sea. All was white as snow about
+us, and the whiteness gave a ghastly light in the gloom. I could now make
+out the maintopsail, dimly, from where I stood, and the outline of the
+hull forward. Evidently the fore lower topsail was holding still.
+Jackson, who was tall and strong, and who was an American by adoption,
+was put to the lee wheel, as his knowledge of English made him quick to
+obey. John, a Swede, built very broad with stooping shoulders, and
+Erikson, a Norwegian with a great blond head and powerful neck, grasped
+the weather spokes. Bill, the other quartermaster, had not shown up, and
+we found later that he was one of the missing from the fore topsail yard.
+
+Trunnell and Captain Thompson called the men aft to the poop, and away we
+went into the gloom ahead.
+
+She was doing a good fifteen knots under her two, or rather one storm
+topsail; for we found out afterward that the fore had gone almost
+instantly after she had payed off. The water was roaring white astern,
+and the wind blew so hard that it was impossible to face it for more than
+a moment. The sea was making fast, and I began to wonder how long the
+vessel could run before the great heave which I knew must soon follow us.
+
+Thompson stood bareheaded near the binnacle, and roared to the men to be
+careful and keep her steady. It was plain he knew nothing of seamanship,
+but could tell that a thing must be done well after the mate had given
+orders. He was apparently perfectly sober now, and as cool as though on
+the beach. It was evident the man feared nothing and could command. I saw
+that I could be of little use aft, so I started forward, hoping to be
+able to keep a lookout for a shift of wind and get some gear ready to
+heave the vessel to.
+
+On reaching the main deck, things showed to be in a hopeless mess.
+Everything movable had gone to leeward when she was hove down, the
+running rigging was lying about, and no attempt had been made to coil
+it. The sea, which had been over the lee rail, had washed that on the
+starboard side into long tangles which would take hours to clear. I
+stumbled over a mass of rope which must have been the fore topsail
+brace. I saw a figure moving through the gloom along the bulwarks and
+called for the man to lay aft and coil down some of the gear. The man,
+however, paid no attention to me, but made his way into the forward
+cabin, and as the door opened and the light from within flashed out I
+recognized the third mate.
+
+A man named Hans answered my hail, and I started forward again. The sea
+by this time was running rapidly. The ship was so deep that I knew she
+would not keep her deck clear, and I started to gain the topgallant
+forecastle where the height would make it safer.
+
+Just as I gained the highest step, a tremendous sea following broke clear
+along the top of the rail in the waist, and went forward a good five feet
+above her bulwarks, the entire length of the main deck.
+
+It was terrific. The thundering crash and smothering jar nearly
+paralyzed me for a moment. In the dim glare I could see rails,
+stanchions, boats, rigging, all in the furious white rush. The _Pirate_
+settled under the load and seemed to stop perfectly still. Then another
+huge sea went roaring over her and blotted out everything to the edge of
+the forecastle head.
+
+I stood looking down at the main deck in amazement. How long would the
+hatches stand that strain? Everything was out of sight under water, save
+the top of the forward house. I looked up into the roaring void above me
+and breathed a parting prayer, for it seemed that the ship's end must be
+at hand. Then I was aware that she was broaching to, and I grabbed the
+rail to meet the sea.
+
+Every stitch of canvas had gone out of her now, and nothing but the bare
+yards were left aloft. How they ever stood the frightful strain was a
+miracle and spoke volumes for the Yankee riggers who fitted her out. The
+wind bore more and more abeam, and under the pressure she heeled over,
+letting the great load on her decks roar off in a torrent to leeward,
+over the topgallant rail and waterways. A sea struck her so heavily that
+the larger portion of it went thundering clear across her forty feet of
+deck, landing bodily to leeward as though the ship were below the
+surface. I could hear a bawling coming faintly from the poop and knew
+Trunnell was trying to heave her to. Something fluttered from the mizzen
+rigging and disappeared into the night. Part of a tarpaulin had gone, but
+it was a chance to get another piece large enough on the ratlines to hold
+her head up. I tried to make my way aft again to help, for I saw it was
+about our only hope, and started to crawl along the weather topgallant
+rail. Then a form sprang from the black recess under the forecastle head
+and seized me tightly around the body.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+The suddenness of this attack and the peculiar position I was in when
+seized, put me at a disadvantage. The quick breathing of the man behind
+me, and the strong force he put forward as he rushed me toward the ship's
+side, made me aware that I was in a bad fix. The assassin was silent as
+the grave, save for his panting, but his bearded face against mine was
+visible enough to show me the former captain of the ship.
+
+I was carried half over the rail in an instant by the power of the rush.
+The foam showed beneath me, and for a moment it seemed that the man would
+accomplish his deadly purpose. It was with a horrid feeling of certain
+death before me that I clutched wildly at the forecastle rail. Luckily my
+hand caught it, and I was saved from the dive over the side. Then with
+frantic strength I twisted around enough to seize the fellow, and dropped
+on my knees with a grip around his middle. It was up and down and all
+over that side of the forecastle head for some minutes, until we were
+both getting tired. We were apparently alone forward, and the fight would
+be one of endurance, unless the ruffian happened to have some weapon
+about him.
+
+We struggled on and on in the gloom, with the hurricane roaring over us,
+carrying the spray and drift in a smothering storm into our faces. A hand
+would slip with a wet grip only to take a fresh hold again, and strain
+away to get the other under.
+
+We rolled with the ship and after a particularly hard rally, in which I
+had my hand badly bitten, we eased up near the edge of the forecastle
+head. During this breathing spell I managed to get my foot braced against
+a ring-bolt. This gave me a slight advantage for a sudden push. In an
+instant I shoved with all my might, driving us both to the edge. The
+ruffian saw what was coming and tried to turn, but it was too late. One
+single instant of frantic fighting, half suspended in the air, and then
+over we went, myself on top.
+
+We landed heavily upon the main deck, and the shock, falling even as I
+did upon the body under me, stunned me for several moments. My captain
+lay motionless. Then, when a sudden rush of cool water poured over us, I
+came to my senses and started to my feet. In another moment I had passed
+a line around the desperado, and was dragging him under the lee of the
+windlass, where I finally made him fast to the bitts.
+
+When I started aft again, I found that Trunnell had managed to get a
+tarpaulin into the mizzen rigging, and by the aid of this bit of canvas
+the _Pirate_ had at last headed the sea within five points. It now took
+her forward of the beam and hove her down to her bearings with each roll
+to leeward, the sea breaking heavily across the main deck, keeping the
+waterways waist deep with the white surge. In this rush objects showed
+darkly where they floated from their fastenings until they drifted to a
+water-port and passed on overboard.
+
+I finally managed to dodge the seas enough to get aft alive, though one
+caught me under the lee of the fore rigging and nigh smothered me as it
+poured over the topgallant rail.
+
+Trunnell stood near the break of the poop, and beside him were the
+skipper and third mate. I noticed a look of surprise come upon the young
+officer's face when I came close to them. It was much lighter now, and
+the actions of this young fellow interested me.
+
+"I thought you might have been drowned," he cried, in his high female
+voice, but with a significant tone and look at the last word which was
+not lost on me in spite of the elements.
+
+"Everything is all snug forward," I answered, bawling at the captain, but
+looking fairly at the third mate. "You can let a few men go and rivet
+irons on the convict by the windlass bitts. He seems to have little
+trouble unlocking these." And I held up the unlocked irons I had picked
+up under the forecastle.
+
+As I held the irons under the third officer's nose, he drew back. Then he
+took them and flung them with an impatient gesture over the side into the
+sea. I thought I heard a fierce oath in a deep voice near by, but
+Trunnell and the captain were both staring up at the fringe flying from
+the maintopsail yard, and had evidently said nothing. There was little
+more to do now, for as long as the ship held her head to the sea, she
+would probably ride it out, unless some accident happened.
+
+I was worn out with the exertion from handling canvas and my fracas
+forward, so after bawling out some of the details of the occurrence into
+Trunnell's ear, I took my watch below to get a rest. The men who
+preferred to stay aft clear of the water were allowed to lie down near
+the mizzen. Some took advantage of this permission, but for the most part
+they stood huddled in a group along the spanker boom, ready for a call.
+
+I had made it a rule long ago, when I had first gone to sea, that I would
+never miss a watch below when my turn came if I could be spared with
+convenience. It is a question always with a sailor when he will be called
+to shorten sail for a blow, and the best thing he can do is to keep
+regular hours when he can, and stand by for a crisis when all hands are
+necessary. With a captain it might be different, for the entire
+responsibility rests upon him. He also does not have to stand watch, and
+consequently has no reason to be tired after several hours on deck. But
+with a sailor or mate who stands his four hours off and on, he must take
+care he is not pushed beyond his time, for the occasion will certainly
+come sooner or later when he will have to stand through several watches
+without a rest. Then, if he is already tired out, he will be useless.
+
+I turned in with a strange feeling about the matter forward and the
+third officer's conduct. Although I knew Trunnell would take care that
+the ruffian would not get loose again that night during his watch, I
+took out a heavy revolver from my locker and stuck it under the pillow
+of my bunk. Then I saw that the door and port were fast before I jammed
+myself in for a rest.
+
+I lay a long time thinking over the strange outfit on board, and the more
+I thought over the matter, the more I became convinced that the third
+officer had taken a hand in letting Andrews loose to try his hand on me
+again. There was something uncanny about this officer with a woman's
+voice, and I actually began to have a secret loathing not entirely
+unmixed with fear for him.
+
+When I turned out for the morning watch, Trunnell met me in the alleyway.
+He looked wild and bushy from his exposure to the elements, his hair
+being in snarls and tangles from having a sou'wester jammed over his
+ears, and his great flat nose was red from the irritation of the water
+that struck and streamed over his bearded face. His whiskers gleamed with
+salt in the light of the lamp, and he spat with great satisfaction as he
+breathed the quiet air of the cabin.
+
+"It's letting up, Rolling," he said; "there's a little light to the
+easterd now. Sink me, but we've a job bending gear. Everything gone out
+of her but her spars, and Lord knows how they stand it. How'd you come to
+get caught with all that canvas on her?"
+
+"Look here, Trunnell," I answered, "you know I'm a sailor even if I'm not
+much else, and you know how that canvas came to be on her. I'm almost
+glad it's gone. I would be if it wasn't for the fact that we'll be longer
+than usual on this run, and I've about made up my mind that the quicker a
+decent man gets out of this ship, the better."
+
+I was buttoning up my oilskins while I spoke, and Trunnell smiled a queer
+bit of a smile, which finally spread over his bearded face and crinkled
+up the corners of his little eyes into a network of lines and wrinkles.
+"I heard the outfly," said he, "and I was only joking ye about the
+canvas. It's a quare world. Ye wouldn't think it, but if ye want to see a
+true picture of responsibility a-restin' heavy like upon the digestion of
+a man, ye'll do well to take a good look at the old man a-standin' there
+on the poop. 'What for?' says you; 'God knows,' says me; but there he is,
+without a drop o' licker or nothin' in him since he heard ye bellow fer
+all hands."
+
+"I should think he'd feel a little upset after the way he caught her," I
+answered; "he probably has the owners' interests a little at heart."
+
+But Trunnell shook his head until the water flew around.
+
+"Ye're off agin, me son. It ain't that at all. That man don't care a
+whoop for all the owners livin'. Not he. Sink me, Rolling, I got a big
+head, but nothin' much in it; in spite o' this, though, I knows a thing
+or two when I sees it. That man has some other object in bein' nervous
+about this here hooker besides owners. Don't ask me what it is, 'cause I
+don't know. But I knows what it ain't."
+
+"The whole outfit is queer," I answered, "and the sooner I get out of
+her, the better satisfied I'll be. No decent sailor would ship in the
+craft if he could help it."
+
+Trunnell gave me a queer look. Then he saw I meant no offence and shook
+his great head again.
+
+"Did it ever occur to ye that ye had a duty to do in the world beside
+huntin' soft jobs?"
+
+"Certainly not that of hunting hard ones," I answered, fastening my belt.
+
+Trunnell's face underwent a change. He was serious and waited until I had
+strapped my sou'wester under my chin before saying anything.
+
+"Mebbe I'm wrong, an' mebbe I ain't," he said. "But I believes a man has
+duties to stick to while he's on watch above water. One of these is not
+to turn tail and scud away, a-showin' your stern to every hard thing as
+comes along. No, sir, when ye runs into a hard gang like some o' these
+here aboard this hooker, stick to her, says me. If every man who's honest
+should turn his stern to a wessel that's got a bad name, what would
+happen to her? Why, any suckin' swab of a cabin boy kin tell that she'd
+get worse an' worse with the bad ones what would take your place. Ain't
+that reason? There's got to be some men to man a ship, an' if no honest
+ones will, then the owners can't do less than hire raskils. Ye can't sink
+a ship just because things have happened aboard her. Oh, Lord, no. Think
+a bit, Rolling, an' tell me if ye ain't blamed glad ye ware here, an'
+bein' here, ye must 'a' saved some poor devil of a sailor from getting
+killed this voyage?"
+
+"I'm blamed sorry I ever--"
+
+"Well, now, suppose'n I had a been ashore the day ye had the fracas on
+the main deck. Where'd ye been now, hey? A hunderd fathom deep, sure as
+Andrews is aboard this here ship, if I knows anything o' his ways, an'
+I've sailed two voyages with him afore. No, man; brace up and do yer
+dooty as ye may. If every good man was to stay out of bad ships, they'd
+get so the devil himself would be afeard to go to sea in them."
+
+I smiled at the little fellow. Here was a man, who had the reputation of
+being but little better than an unhung pirate, preaching a most unselfish
+doctrine. We had been below for several minutes, and I could hear the
+captain's voice bawling out some order on the deck overhead. The bells
+were struck by the automatic clock in the cabin, and I turned to go.
+
+"You're a good Christian, anyhow, Trunnell," I said as I started.
+
+Trunnell gave a snort and threw his quid in a corner near a cuspidor. "I
+ain't never seen the inside of a church. I only tries to do the square
+thing to whoever is a-runnin' of the sea outfit--same as ye'll do if
+ye'll take the trouble to think a minit--"
+
+I was out on the deck, and the wind almost blew me into the scuppers. The
+captain was standing right above me on the poop watching the growing
+light in the east. The waist was full of foamy water that roared and
+surged and washed everything movable about. Above, the masts and spars
+looked dark in the dim, gray light of the early morning, the strips of
+canvas stretching away from the jackstays and flicking dismally to
+leeward. All the yards, however, were trimmed nicely, showing Trunnell's
+master hand, and on the mainmast, bellying and straining with the
+pressure, was a new storm spencer, set snug and true, holding the
+plunging vessel up to the great rolling sea that came like a living hill
+from the southwest. Forward, a bit of a staysail was set as taut as a
+drumhead, looking no bigger than a good-sized handkerchief. Aft, a
+trysail, set on the spanker boom, helped the tarpaulin in the mizzen to
+bring her head to the sea.
+
+I climbed up the poop ladder and took a look around.
+
+It was a dismal sight. As far as the eye could reach through the white
+haze of the flying drift the ocean presented a dirty steel-gray color,
+torn into long, ragged streaks of white where the combers rolled on the
+high seas before the gale. Overhead all was a deep blank of gray vapor.
+The wind was not blowing nearly as hard as it had during my last watch on
+deck, but the sea was rolling heavier. It took the _Pirate_ fair on the
+port bow, and every now and again it rose so high above her topgallant
+rail that it showed green light through the mass that would crash over to
+the deck and go roaring white to leeward, making the main deck
+uninhabitable. Sometimes a heavy, quick comber would strike her on the
+bluff of the bow, and the shock would almost knock the men off their
+feet. Then the burst of water would shoot high in the air, going
+sometimes clear to the topgallant yard, nearly a hundred feet above the
+deck, while all forward would disappear in the flying spray and spume.
+
+"Fine weather, Rolling, hey?" bawled the skipper to me as I gained the
+poop.
+
+"Oh, it isn't so bad the way she's taking it now. If she hangs on as
+well as this during the watch, she'll make good weather of it all
+right," I said.
+
+"I'm glad you think so, my son. Just call down to the steward to bring me
+a bracer. Whew, just look at that!"
+
+As he spoke a huge sea rose on the weather bow and bore down on the
+staggering ship. It struck her fair and rolled over her so heavily that I
+had to grab a line to keep from being knocked down. The main deck was
+full of water, and as it roared off through the ports and over the lee
+rail, I looked to see if anything had gone with it. Then I realized how
+well we had been washed during the night.
+
+From the forecastle aft to the poop there was nothing left except the
+hatches and deck-house. The boats were all stove to matchwood except one
+that was lashed on the forward house. The bulwarks were smashed for many
+feet along both sides, but this was no real damage, as it allowed the sea
+to run off easier, relieving the deck of the heavy load. The whole main
+deck, fore and aft, was as clean stripped as could be, and the hatches
+alone were saving us from filling and going under.
+
+It was a dismal sight, and the men who stood huddled on the
+forecastle and poop looked, in their yellow oilskins, like so many
+yellow ghosts. I went aft to the wheel and found that Hans and
+Johnson were steering without much difficulty, although they had all
+they could do to hold her when a sea struck aft. Far astern the light
+seemed to be growing brighter, and while I looked there appeared some
+long streaks in the heavy banks of vapor which showed a break or two.
+I took the glass which hung on the side of the grating and cleaned
+the lens with my hand. Sweeping the storm-torn horizon to the
+southward, nothing showed but rolling seas and haze. I turned the
+glass to the northward, and in a moment I saw a black speck rise and
+then disappear from the line of vision.
+
+"Vessel to lor'ard, sir," I bawled to the captain.
+
+"I don't care for forty vessels, Rolling. Get me that steward with the
+liquor, or there'll be one afloat here without a second mate."
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+It was with no good feeling that I went below to get the old man a drink.
+The steward met me and grinned as he brought forth the liquor.
+
+"Yessah, it's nine ob dem he takes endurin' de watch. Lord, man, he's got
+something pow'rful on his mind. Did yo' ebber feel the heft ob his trunk
+he brought aboard, sah? No, sah, dat yo' didn't. Well, it's pow'rful
+heavy fo' a man's baggage."
+
+"What's in it?" I asked.
+
+"'Deed, I doan know, man, jest what is in it, but I reckon it's something
+what worries him. Dat an' Cap'n Andrews forrads worries him some. Chips,
+he say as dey goes aft an' have matters straightened out a bit. Dey is
+fo' either weldin' irons on de cap'n forrads or puttin' him on de beach.
+Jim, Hans, Bendin, an' Frenchy an' a lot more are fo' doing' somethin'
+with him. Yessah, dey is dat. Hab a leetle nip 'fore yo' goes?"
+
+I took one and went back to the quarter-deck. The speck to leeward showed
+a bit of storm canvas flying, and we soon could make out she was a large
+ship hove to like ourselves on the port tack. Her hull showed now and
+again on the seas, and after drifting down toward her for about an hour,
+the light grew strong enough to make her out plainly. She was a large
+ship, English built, with a turtle-backed stern, painted white on the
+tumble-home of the quarter. Her hull was black, and the foam showed in
+long white lines of streamers as it was blown across her topsides. She
+was making heavy weather of it, and every now and again she would ram her
+nose clear out of sight in the high-rolling sea. Then she would rise
+heavily, with the white water pouring from her dripping forefoot and
+wallow dismally, until her weather rail would appear to roll under.
+
+The stump of a foremast showed forward and a stout maintopsail strained
+away amidships, while aft, where the mizzen should have been, there was
+nothing showing above her deck. Her main topgallant mast was also gone at
+the cross-trees, but the maintopsail held strongly. Altogether she was
+pretty well wrecked aloft.
+
+While we watched her we drew nearer, and when she came within a couple of
+miles I could make out a flag, the English ensign, union down, in the
+main rigging. This showed pretty plainly that she was doing badly and
+wanted help, but it was absolutely useless to think of doing anything for
+her while the wind held and the sea showed no signs of going down.
+
+Being much lighter than she was, we drifted off more, and we came nearer
+and nearer as the morning brightened into a dirty day. In a short time we
+had her close under our lee, not half a mile distant. Indeed, it looked
+as though we might get closer than we wished to. The wind slacked
+gradually, however, and before long we managed to get out our
+main-topmast staysail. Then followed a close-reefed foresail balanced aft
+by the mizzen lower topsail, which we had saved. This, with the spencer
+and canvas already set, gave us a good hold of the ship in spite of the
+sea, and we were ready to wear if necessary. The _Pirate_ drifted much
+faster under the extra canvas and went to leeward so far that we saw that
+she would go clear of the stranger. As we drew near, we now saw how deep
+she sat in the water, the seas rolling over her, amidships, with every
+plunge. Still she headed up well and was under control.
+
+While we gazed, a string of flags fluttered from her yard-arm. I dived
+below for the code and soon read the signal for help. They were sinking.
+
+Trunnell turned out on deck, and we waited to see if Captain Thompson
+would give the word to do anything. He stood near the rail and gazed
+through his glass without saying anything or exhibiting any concern
+whatever for the people we could now see upon the stranger's high poop.
+
+Then he turned to the mate and asked:--
+
+"What does he want, Trunnell?"
+
+"Want's us to stand by him, I reckon," the mate replied.
+
+"Can we do it without danger in this seaway, hey?" demanded Thompson.
+"Answer me that. How the devil can we do anything for a fellow in this
+seaway, when we might be rammed by him and sink ourselves?"
+
+"We'll stand by that ship as long as she's above water," answered
+Trunnell, quietly.
+
+Then came a sudden change upon the captain. He turned upon the mate
+quickly, and his bright, glinting eyes seemed to grow to sharp points
+on either side of his hooked nose, which worked and twitched under
+the excitement. His hand went behind his back and he jerked forth a
+long revolver.
+
+"Who's captain of this here boat, Mr. Trunnell, me or you?" said he, in
+his drawling voice.
+
+"You," answered Trunnell, decisively.
+
+"Do you presume to give any orders here what don't agree with mine?"
+
+"No, sir," said Trunnell.
+
+"Well, just let me hint to you, you bushy-headed little brute, that I
+don't want any suggestions from my mates, see? You little snipe, you!
+what d'ye mean, anyhow, by saying what we'll do?"
+
+Several men standing on the poop to keep clear of the seas in the waist,
+hitched their trousers a little, and felt for the sheath knives in their
+belts. I noticed Jim, the young landsman, pass his hand behind him and
+stand waiting. There was an ominous silence and watchfulness among the
+crew which was not lost on the captain. He had inspired no respect in
+their minds as a sailor, even though he had shown himself fearless. It
+was evident that they were with Trunnell.
+
+"I meant that we would stand by that ship as long as she floated," said
+the little mate, looking straight into the pistol barrel, "and I expected
+that it would be by your orders, sir."
+
+Thompson was not a fool. He saw in an instant how the case was, and his
+glinting eyes took in the whole outfit of men and mates at one glance. He
+may not have wished to help the strangers, but he saw that not to do so
+meant more trouble to himself than if he did.
+
+"This time you expected just right, Trunnell. I mean to stand by those
+people, and I order you to get ropes ready to hoist out the boat we have
+on the house, there. What I don't want and won't have is orders suggested
+by any one aboard here but me. I'm glad you didn't mean to do that, for
+I'd hate to kill you. You can get the boat ready."
+
+Then he put the revolver back into his pocket, and Trunnell went forward
+along the shelter of the weather bulwarks and made ready the tackles for
+hoisting the boat out.
+
+By the aid of the powerful glass I made out a figure of a woman standing
+upon the ship's poop. She appeared to be watching us intently. Soon a
+little sailorly and seaman-like fellow named Ford, whose interest in the
+strange ship was marked, came from the group near the mizzen and asked if
+he should get the signal halyards ready. Thompson made no objection, and
+we bent on the flags which told by the code that we would stand by them
+until the sea went down enough to get out a small boat.
+
+At seven bells the "doctor" managed to get some fire started in the
+galley, and all hands had a drink of hot coffee. This was cheering, and
+Trunnell soon had the watch hard at work getting out new canvas from the
+lazaretto aft. The main deck was getting safer, and although she took the
+sea heavily now and then, she was no longer like a half-tide rock in a
+strong current.
+
+Topsails were hoisted out from below and gantlines bent. By the time all
+hands had eaten something and eight bells had struck, we were ready to
+get up new topsails and start the pumps.
+
+Luckily there was little water below. In spite of the tremendous
+straining the ship had made no more than could be expected, and in a
+little over an hour at the brakes we had the satisfaction of having the
+pumps suck.
+
+All that morning we worked aloft getting new gear up. The British ship
+drew away on our weather beam, wallowing horribly in the seaway. The wind
+died away gradually into a good stiff gale, and by noon we had a break or
+two above us that let down the sunlight. This cheered all hands. A good
+meal with extra coffee was served forward, and I sat down to the cabin
+table with Chips and the steward, to eat ravenously of prime junk and
+preserved potatoes.
+
+"'Tis a quare time ye had ag'in last night, forrads, hey?" said Chips.
+
+"It was interesting for a few minutes," I answered. "I hope you fixed
+the fellow's irons all right. Keys seem to have strange ways aboard
+this vessel."
+
+"Well, ye needn't be afear'd av th' raskil takin' leave ag'in. Sure, an'
+I riveted his irons this time, as will take a file an' no less to cut
+through. I votes we get th' old man to put him aboard th' first ship what
+comes a-heavin' down nigh enough, hey?"
+
+"It would suit me all right," I answered.
+
+"Jim and Long Tom an' Hans an' a whole lot av us have th' matter in
+mind, an' we'll speak wid th' skipper afore long. There's a divil's mess
+below in th' fore-peak, where a barrel has bruk loose that I'll have to
+mix wid first. Be ye a-goin' in th' boat aboard th' stranger whin th'
+sea goes down?"
+
+"I suppose so," I said; "that lot generally falls to a second mate."
+
+"Be sure, thin, ye have th' plug in all right an' th' oars sound, fer th'
+sea will be heavy fer a bad craft, and ye mind th' irons last night."
+
+"I'll just take a look at them before I start. Chips," I said. "Thank you
+for keeping tabs on the skipper."
+
+"It's no great matter," he answered; and then we fell to with a will
+until the meal was finished.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+At three bells in the afternoon the sea had begun to go down enough to
+allow us to get our new topsails on her and a main-topgallantsail. The
+_Pirate_ went smoking through it under the pressure, trembling with each
+surge, and throwing a perfect storm of water over her catheads. The
+English ship was now a mere speck to windward, almost hull down, and we
+would have to beat up to her if we could.
+
+Just how badly she needed help we of course could not tell. If she were
+sinking fast, then she would have to depend upon her own boats, for the
+sea was too heavy until late in the afternoon to venture out in our only
+one left. We could no longer see her signals, but carried all the sail
+possible, without danger of carrying away our spars, in the effort to get
+close to her again.
+
+After standing along for an hour or more we wore ship, and found that we
+could just about get within hailing distance to leeward.
+
+Trunnell had the reef tackles rigged from the main yard, and the
+life-boat was slung clear of the lee rail. Then, watching a chance, she
+was let go with Hans and Johnson in her to keep her clear and dropped
+back to the mizzen channels, where the volunteers were ready to get
+aboard her.
+
+Four men besides myself manned her, and she was instantly let go to keep
+her clear of the sea, which hove her first high on the _Pirate's_
+quarter, and then down until our faces were below the copper on her
+bends. By dint of quick work we shoved her clear, and started on the
+pull, dead to windward.
+
+How small the _Pirate_ looked when we were but a few fathoms distant in
+that sea! Our boat rode the waves nicely without shipping much water, and
+several times I turned to look back at the ship, where Trunnell stood
+beside the skipper, watching us through the glasses, and waiting to pick
+us up on our return. I could see the "doctor's" face above the topgallant
+rail forward and that of Chips in the waist.
+
+It was a long pull. The sea was running high and the wind was still
+blowing a half gale, breaking up the heavy oily clouds into long banks
+between which the sun shone at intervals. It was a good half hour's work
+before we could cover the short distance between the ships.
+
+We came slowly up under her lee quarter, and when we were quite close I
+could see that she was indeed very deep, if not actually sinking. The
+words "Royal Sovereign, Liverpool," were painted in gold letters on her
+stern, and on the circular buoys hanging upon her quarter-rail was the
+same name in black. A group of men stood near the mizzen rigging, and one
+short man with a black sou'wester and blue pilot coat hailed us through a
+large-mouthed trumpet, which almost hid his bearded face.
+
+"Boat ahoy! can you come aboard?" he roared.
+
+"We'll try to come alongside," I bawled. "Stand by to heave a line."
+
+A man had one ready and hove it well out with a yell to catch. Long Tom,
+our lean Yankee sailor, who was pulling bow oar, seized it as it fell
+across and took a turn around a thwart. The oars were shipped and we fell
+under the vessel's stern, riding the seas without mishap.
+
+"We're sinking," cried the short man, who was the captain. "Can you take
+some of us with you?"
+
+"Aye, aye; get them aboard here as quick as you can," came the answer.
+
+There was no time lost now. Men swarmed toward the taffrail, and for an
+instant it looked as if there would be something of a panic. The short
+skipper, however, flung them aside without ceremony, and the next instant
+a female figure appeared at the rail.
+
+"Haul easy," came the order. Hans and Tom pulled in the line slowly until
+the boat's bow was leading almost directly beneath the ship's stern. A
+bridle was rigged from the spanker boom and made fast to a life buoy.
+Then the lady who had appeared at the taffrail was slung in it rather
+uncomfortably and carefully lowered away. She was seized by one of the
+men forward, and handed aft to me.
+
+The woman was quite young. She was slightly built, and I supported her
+easily until she was safely in the stern sheets. A few strands of curly
+blond hair blew across my face, and gave me a most peculiar feeling as I
+brushed them aside. Then she turned up her face, and I saw that she had
+most beautiful eyes, soft and gentle, with a trusting look, such as one
+sees in children.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Sailorman," she said, with a smile. "I'm all right now."
+
+"Except, perhaps, for a little wetting, you will stay so, I hope,"
+I answered.
+
+A heavy woman was being lowered away, and Hans caught her boldly around
+the body, trying to keep her from being thrown out of the tossing small
+boat. She shrieked dismally.
+
+"Don't be silly, mamma," cried the young lady aft. "You've been squeezed
+tighter than that before, I am sure."
+
+She was passed aft and took her place beside her daughter in the stern,
+expostulating incoherently at the younger one's insinuations.
+
+Then followed a little man, short and stout, who was evidently the ship's
+carpenter, and he was followed by a dozen sailors.
+
+"Haven't you any boats that will swim?" I asked of the mate, who hung
+over the rail above me.
+
+"We're getting them out now," he answered.
+
+"Then let us go. We've got a big enough load already."
+
+In a few moments we were on our way back to the _Pirate_, making good
+headway before the wind and sea, and shipping little water.
+
+The men explained as we went along that the _Sovereign_ had started a
+butt during the gale, and she was full of water by this time. They had
+kept at the pumps all day, but had given it up when they saw we were
+coming for them. The ship's cargo of oil and light woods from the
+peninsula had kept her from going to the bottom. She was homeward bound
+to Liverpool, and it was the captain's wife and daughter we were bringing
+aboard. The hurricane had caught them aback and dismasted them during the
+night, and after six hours of plunging helplessly into the sea without
+anything but the mainmast and stump of the foremast above the deck, she
+had sprung a leak and filled rapidly. The maintopsail they had bent in
+the morning after extraordinary exertion, and with this they had managed
+to keep her partly under control.
+
+"She will never go to the bottom with all the soft wood she has in her,"
+said a sailor who was old and grizzled and had the bearing of a
+man-of-war's man. "She can't sink for months. The water is up to her
+lower deck already."
+
+"So that's the reason you were not getting your boats out in a
+hurry?" I asked.
+
+"Sure," said he; "I'd as soon stay in her a bit longer as in many a
+bleedin' craft that you sees a-goin' in this trade."
+
+"I noticed you were one of the first to leave her," said the young girl,
+with some spirit.
+
+"Ah, mum, when you gets along in life like me, hardships is not good for
+the constitootion. A sailorman, 'e gets enough o' them without huntin'
+any more. Howsumever, if I see any chance o' gettin' the bleedin' craft
+in port 'way out here in this Hindian Ocean, I'd be the last to leave.
+Bust me, mum, if that ain't the whole truth, an' a little more besides.
+You ask your pa."
+
+Here he gave a sigh, and drew his hand across his forehead as if in pain.
+His large pop eyes blinked sadly for a few moments, and his mouth dropped
+down at the corners. Then his mahogany-colored face became fixed and his
+gaze was upon the craft he had just deserted. What was in the old
+fellow's mind? I really felt sorry for him, as he sat there gazing sadly
+after his deserted home. Captain Sackett would stay aboard until the
+last, his wife informed us, but as there was no necessity of any one
+staying now, if their boats could live in the sea that was still running,
+it was probable that they would all be aboard us before night. Jenks, the
+old sailor, gave it as his opinion that they would have the boats out in
+half an hour.
+
+We came up under the lee of the _Pirate_ and then began the job of
+getting our passengers aboard her.
+
+Trunnell passed a line over the main-brace bumpkin, and held the tossing
+craft away from the ship's side until a bridle could be bent and the
+ladies hoisted aboard.
+
+Mrs. Sackett trembled violently and begged that she would not be killed,
+much to her daughter's amusement. Finally she was landed on deck, where
+she was greeted by the third mate and escorted aft. Miss Sackett was of
+different stuff. She insisted that she could grab the mizzen channel
+plates and climb aboard. I begged her to desist and be hoisted on deck
+properly, but she gave me such a look that I held back and refrained from
+passing the line about her. As the boat lifted on a sea she made a spring
+for the channel. Her hand caught it all right, but her foot slipped, and
+as the boat sank into the hollow trough she was left hanging.
+
+Trunnell instantly sprang over the side, and letting himself down upon
+the channel, seized her hand and lifted her easily to a footing. The
+ship rolled down until they were knee deep in the sea, but the little
+mate held tight, and then, with one hand above his head, as she rose
+again, he lifted his burden easily to the grasp of Jim, who reached over
+the side for her.
+
+After she was landed safely the men crowded up the best way they could,
+and the boat was dropped astern with a long painter to keep her clear of
+the ship's side.
+
+Captain Thompson greeted his female passengers awkwardly. He declared in
+a drawling tone that he was 'most glad that their boat was wrecked,
+inasmuch as it had given him the opportunity to meet the finest ladies he
+had ever set eyes on.
+
+"May the devil grasp me in his holy embrace, madam," said he, "if I am
+lying when I says that word. It is my most pious thought, says I."
+
+Mrs. Sackett was somewhat taken aback at this candor, but managed to keep
+her feelings well hidden. Her daughter came to the rescue. "We appreciate
+your noble efforts, Captain Thompson. The fact is, we have heard so much
+about your gallantry in saving life at sea that we are sure anything we
+could say would sound weak in comparison to what you must already have
+heard. If you have a spare stateroom, we would be very thankful if we
+might have it for a time, as our clothes are quite wet from the sea."
+
+The skipper was somewhat surprised at the young girl's answer, but he hid
+his confusion by bawling for the steward.
+
+When the mulatto came, he gave numerous orders in regard to bunks, linen,
+drying of clothes, etc., regretting over and over again that he was a
+single man, and consequently had no wife from whom he could borrow
+wearing apparel while that of his guests was drying.
+
+The third mate, also, took pains to be very civil to them, and his soft
+voice could be heard in conversation with Miss Sackett long after they
+had gone below.
+
+I went forward and interviewed the men we had rescued, afterward getting
+the "doctor" to serve them something hot, as their galley fire had been
+out many hours and they had been eating nothing but ship's bread.
+
+The _Pirate_ waited all the afternoon with her canvas shortened down to
+her lower topsails to keep her from forging ahead too fast. But even when
+it grew dark and the British ship could no longer be clearly made out,
+her skipper had not gotten out his boats. It was evident that he would
+try to save her if possible, and now that his family were safe he cared
+little for the risk. Captain Thompson still held the _Pirate_ hove to
+under easy canvas, drifting slowly with the wind, which was now no more
+than a moderate breeze. The sea, also, was going down fast, and the sky
+was showing well between the long lines of greasy-looking clouds which
+appeared to sail slowly away to the northeast. The night fell with every
+prospect of good weather coming on the following day.
+
+I went on deck in the dog-watch and took a look around. The _Sovereign_
+was a mere blur on the horizon, but her lights shone clearly.
+
+"We'll stand by her all night," said Trunnell, "and then if the
+skipper doesn't care to leave her,--which he will, however,--we'll
+stand away again."
+
+There was little to do, so the watch lounged around the deck and rested
+from the exertion of the past twenty-four hours. Chips told me I had
+better come forward after supper and take a smoke in his room, for they
+were going to come to some conclusion about the fellow Andrews. There had
+been some talk of putting him aboard the English ship, and if we could
+get the captain to agree to it, it would be done.
+
+I loafed around until I saw a light between the crack of his door and the
+bulkhead. Then I slid it back, and entered.
+
+The stuffy little box was full of men. The bos'n, a large man named
+Spurgen, who had quite a swagger for a merchant sailor, was holding forth
+to the quartermaster, Hans, on nautical operations.
+
+"An' how'd ye do if ye had an anchor atween, decks widout nothin' to
+hoist it out wid?" he was saying as I came in.
+
+Hans affirmed, with many oaths, that he'd let the "bloody hancor go
+bloomin' well to the bottom before he'd fool wid it." This made the bos'n
+angry, and he opened with a fierce harangue, accompanied by a description
+of the necessary manoeuvres. He also made some remarks relating to the
+quartermaster's knowledge of things nautical.
+
+I took occasion to look about the little room while this was going on and
+my fingers warmed up some. I then seated myself on a corner of the chest
+near Chips to make myself easy, during which time the bos'n had gained
+sufficient ground to enforce silence upon his adversary, and relinquish
+the subject of anchors. Then came a pause during which I could
+distinguish the "doctor's" voice above the mutterings, and get a whiff of
+my own tobacco out of the haze.
+
+"--five fat roaches; they'll cure you every time," he was saying to
+Chips. "It's old man Green's sure remedy, sah, yes, sah. I hearn him tole
+his ole mate, Mr. Gantline, when he sailed in the West Coast trade."
+
+"Faith, ye may stave me, shipmate, but that would be an all-fired tough
+dish to swallow," the carpenter declared, with a wry face. "Supposen
+they didn't die? They would make a most eternal disagreeable cargo
+shiftin' about amongst your ribs. May the devil grab me, ye moke, if I
+wouldn't rather swell up an' bust wid th' scurvy than swallow them
+fellows kickin'."
+
+"Bile 'em, white man," said the cook. "Bile 'em in er pint er water--an'
+then fling 'em overboard. Who the debble would eat er roach?"
+
+"Right ye are, shipmate," assented Chips; "'tis an aisy enough dose to
+take if all ye do is to throw th' critters to lor'ard. Sink me, though,
+if I sees th' benefit av a medicine ye fling to David Jones instead av
+placin' it to th' credit av yer own innerds."
+
+"Yah, yah, Mr. Chips, but you beats me. Yes, sah, you beats me, but yer
+haid is thick. Yes, sah, yer haid is thick ernuff, yah, yah," laughed the
+"doctor." "What would yer do but drink the water, white man? yes, sah,
+drink the water for the acid in the critter. It's salt in yer blood makes
+scurvy, from libbin' so long er eatin' nuffin' but salt junk. Lime juice
+is good, ef the ole man gives it to yer straight, but he nebber does. No,
+sah, dat he nebber do. It's too expensive. Anyways, it doan' hab no
+strength like er roach, ner no sech freshness, which am de main pint
+after all."
+
+Seeing himself out of the talk, and having completely growled down the
+quartermaster, the bos'n started another subject. This was a tirade
+against bad skippers and crimps who stood in too thick with the shipping
+commissioners, and whom he swore were in league with each other and the
+devil. He was an old sailor, and his seamed face was expressive when
+launching into a favorite subject. Here was Jim's chance, and he spoke
+out. "Whatever became of Jameson, what was took off by Andrews?" he
+asked Chipps.
+
+"Was he doped?" I asked.
+
+"Didn't ye niver hear tell from O'Toole an' Garnett? They was Andrews's
+mates for a spell, until th' Irishman, God bless him, knocked him
+overboards an' nearly killed him in a scuffle on th' India Docks."
+
+"Cast loose; I want to hear," said the bos'n.
+
+There was a moment's silence, and Chips looked at me as though
+questioning the senior officer of his watch. Then he fixed himself
+comfortably on the chest by jamming himself against the bulkhead, locking
+his hands about his knees, blowing smoke in a thick cloud.
+
+I heard the hail of Trunnell from the bridge during this pause, asking
+about a t'gallant leach-line. Thinking it well to take a look out, I did
+so to see if the men obeyed his orders, and found them rather slow
+slacking the line. This made it necessary for me to take a hand in
+matters and instil a little discipline among them, which kept me on deck
+for some minutes.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+When I had a chance to slip back into the forward house, Chips had
+already "cast loose" and was in full swing.
+
+"There ain't no use of tellin' everything one sees aboard ship," he was
+saying, "for you know whin things happen on deep water th' world ain't
+much th' wiser fer hearing about them. There ain't no telegraphs, an'
+th' only witnesses is the men concerned--or the wimmen. The men may or
+mayn't say a thing or two after getting the run av th' beach, but as
+th' critters have to wait half a year afore getting there, the news av
+th' occurrence wears off an' regard for the effects on th' teller takes
+place. It's just as often as not th' men keep mum. You know that as
+well as I do.
+
+"This same Andrews as is forrads in irons was running the _Starbuck_ with
+Jameson as mate, an' old Garnett as second under him. Ye all know that
+old pirit. But this time he didn't have any hand in Andrews's game.
+Andrews wanted to marry the girl Jameson had, an' whin he found he had
+lost her he played his devil's trick.
+
+"Jameson hadn't been married a week afore Andrews took him around b' th'
+foot av Powell Street in 'Frisco an' set up some drinks. That's the last
+any one sees av Jameson fer a year or more on th' West Coast, fer whin he
+comes to, he was at sea on that old tank, th' _Baldwin_, an' old man
+Jacobs would as soon have landed him on th'moon as put him ashore."
+
+"A purty bloomin' mean trick," interrupted the bos'n.
+
+"Th' poor divil did have a hard time av it, fer he wasn't a very fierce
+sort o' chap. He ware a gentil spoken, kind-hearted feller, an' ye know
+well enough how a man what isn't made of iron wud git along wid Jacobs or
+his mates. They hazed him terrible; an', as they ware one hundred an'
+seventy days an' nights to Liverpool, he took the scurvy. Ye can reckon
+what was left av him afterwards. Whin he left th' hospital, he was glad
+enough to ship on a Chilean liner to get even as far to the West Coast as
+Valparaiso.
+
+"He ware aboard this Dago, puttin' in, whin he saw th' _Starbuck_
+standin' out o' th' harbor. His wife ware on th' quarter-deck--"
+
+"That's the way with most women," snarled the bos'n, interrupting.
+
+"I don't know about that," continued Chips. "You see, after he had been
+gone a few months, an' Andrews had been hangin' around all th' time
+gettin' in his pisonous work, she began to have a little faith in th'
+villain. It wasn't long afore he convinced her Jameson had deserted, fer
+he proved fair enough he had shipped aboard th' _Baldwin_, without so
+much as saying good-by. There ware plenty of men to back him on that,
+includin' th' boatman what rowed them aboard. Finally, partly by
+blandanderin' an' a-feelin' around, fer th' poor gal ware now alone in
+th' world, he got her to step aboard th' bleedin' hooker _Starbuck_ the
+day he ware ready for sea. Thin he jest stood out--an'--an'--well, after
+they'd been out six months th' matter ended as far as Jameson ware
+concerned.
+
+"Jameson took the news hard whin he got th' run av th' beach, but he was
+that kindly disposed chap an' went along th' best he could until th' war
+broke out. He ware still waitin' at Valparaiso whin they drafted him
+into the Dago army, an' he was lucky enough to be on th' side what got
+licked. Then there ware no use waitin' there fer th' _Starbuck_ to come
+in again, so he made a slant for Peru as they niver took no pris'ners.
+Two weeks afterwards Andrews came in again fer nitrates wid Garnett an'
+O'Toole fer mates--"
+
+"Lucky fer Andrews he wasn't there," said the bos'n; "he'd have had his
+ornery hide shot full of holes."
+
+"What's th' use av ye talking like a fool?" said Chips. "Is shootin' up a
+feller a-goin' to undo a wrong like that? Th' shootin' was all done on
+th' other side, an' Andrews is sound yet an' aboard this here ship. Some
+men think av other things besides revenge. Especially kind-hearted
+fellers like Jameson what niver cud hurt no one. As soon as some av
+Jameson's friends who knew of th' affair told his wife, she wint right
+into th' cabin where Andrews was, an' afore he knew what she ware up to,
+she had shot herself. Andrews paid her funeral expenses, an' buried her
+in th' little Dago cemetery out forninst th' city gate. An' thin Garnett,
+who didn't know av his skipper's diviltry, sware vengeance on th' husband
+who deserted her, fer she ware gentil and kind wid th' men forrads."
+
+Here Chips paused and gave me a sidelong look as he refilled his pipe.
+Then he lit it and smiled hopefully.
+
+"They ware a quare pair, them mates, Garnett an' O'Toole," he said. "What
+one wasn't th' other was, and _wice wersa_. They lay there two months
+loadin' on account o' th' war having blocked th' nitrate beds.
+
+"Wan day O'Toole saw an old woman come limpin' along th' dock where th'
+_Starbuck_ lay. She hobbled on to th' gang-plank an' started aboard, an'
+O'Toole began to chaff Garnett. He waren't half bad as a joker.
+
+"''Pon me whurd, Garnett,' sez he, 'I do belave your own mother is comin'
+aboard to visit ye--but no, maybe it's yer swateheart, fer ye have an
+uncommon quare taste, ye know. B' th' saints, ye ware always a bold one
+fer th' ladies.'
+
+"We ware lying in th' next berth, not twenty feet away, an' from where I
+sat on th' rail I cud hear thim talk an' see what was a-goin' on.
+
+"'Stave me,' says old Garnett, solemn like, 'that's true enough. Sink her
+fer a fool, though, to be a-comin' down here to win back an old
+windjammer like me--What? ye mean that old hag driftin' along the deck?
+Blast you for a red-headed shell-back, d'ye s'pose I'd take up wid wimmen
+av your choice? No, I never makes a superior officer jealous;' an' wid
+that he takes out his rag an' mops th' dent in th' top av his head where
+there's no hair nor nothin' but grease, an' he draws out his little
+pestiverous vial av peppermint salts an' sniffs.
+
+"'Faith, an' ye'll need to clear yer old head, ye owld raskil, ye've been
+too gay fer onct,' says O'Toole.
+
+"She ware a tough-lookin' old gal, an' her hat brim flopped over her
+face. O'Toole met her an' pointed to Garnett.
+
+"'If it's th' leddy-killer av th' fleet ye're afther, there he Stan's.'
+
+"Th' old woman looked an' stopped.
+
+"'No,' says she, in a sort o' jangled tone, 'eets my little gal I looks
+fer--she's aboard here wid th' capt'in,'
+
+"'Ye can't see her,' says Garnett, 'an' ye better get ashore afore I
+calls one av thim Dago soldiers to carry ye off an' marry ye.'
+
+"I cud jest get th' glint av th' old woman's eyes, then she bent her
+head lower.
+
+"'E--eets my leetle gal I must see,' an' there was somethin' in her voice
+that made one pay attention, 'twas so deep an' solemn like. I ware
+listening an' a few soldiers av th' army what was camped in th' town came
+up an' stopped an' looked on.
+
+"'She ware a good leetle gal--an' I cared for her--Yes, by God, she ware
+a good gal,' said th' old one, hoarsely.
+
+"I cud see O'Toole turn away his head an' Garnett sniff hard at his vial.
+'Twas good, he used to say, fer things in th' head. Thin he turned to th'
+old woman.
+
+"'Ye better get ashore, old gal, she ain't aboard here. We don't take
+thim kind on deep water.'
+
+"'I must see her afore I goes,' says th' old woman, an' her voice ware a
+whisper that died away, but ware so full av force O'Toole turned to her.
+
+"'Was it Mrs. Jameson ye wished to see?' he asked.
+
+"The old woman nodded.
+
+"'Well--er--faith, an' she--er,' an' thin he stopped to look at Garnett.
+
+"'She had an accident, by yer lave, 'bout a month ago. How was it ye
+niver hearn tell? Waren't ye here whin th' old man brought her ashore?'
+
+"'I come from 'Frisco,' says she.
+
+"'Well, I s'pose ye might as well know now as niver,' O'Toole blurted
+out; 'she's dead, owld woman. Been dead a month gone. Th' old man buried
+her dacent like, fer, as ye say, she ware a rale good gal, 'pon me whurd,
+fer a fact, she ware that. 'Tis hard to tell ye, but it's th' truth, th'
+whole truth, an' divil a bit besides.'
+
+"While he talked th' old woman's head went lower, and whin he finished,
+she gave a hard gasp. Thin she stood huddled forninst th' deck-house, an'
+Garnett started forward to th' men at work stevin' th' last av th' cargo.
+
+"All av a sudden like I saw her raise her face an' spit a button from her
+mouth. Her eyes ware starin' an' lookin' at th' hill away off t' th'
+eastward av th' town an' beyant to th' great southern mountings av th'
+Andes range. Thin she slowly straightened up an' walked wid a firm step
+along th' deck an' th' gang-plank.
+
+"Th' soldier men made way for her on th' dock, but she looked straight
+beyant her nose an' held her way firm an' strong until she went out av
+sight, lavin' O'Toole starin' after her.
+
+"''Pon me whurd, Garnett,' he called, ''tis a most wonderful
+thing, look!'
+
+"''Tis a mother's love, ye haythen; 'pon me whurd, there's nothin' else
+like it. See how th' news affected th' poor old crayther. It puts me in
+mind av the time whin I had an old leddy t' look after me. 'Tis a rale
+jewil av a thing, an' a man only has it th' onct.'
+
+"'More's th' pity,' says Garnett. 'Sink ye, but ye sure are a tough one
+to tell th' old gal on so short notice. But ye niver did have no
+feelin's, ye bloomin' heathen.'
+
+"''Pon me sowl, what cud I do else?'
+
+"'O' course, 'tain't likely a rough feller like you could do any better,
+but whin any wimmen folks come aboard agin, come to a man as is used to
+thim. A man as can talk an' act in a way they likes. A man wid some ways
+to him. A man--' Here he stooped an' picked up th' button th' old gal
+had dropped.
+
+"'Where did this come from?' he asked.
+
+"'She had it in her mouth,' says O'Toole.
+
+"'Well, it's one av th' buttons off a uniform that ain't healthy to be
+wearin' around these parts just now.' An' then they both looked hard at
+th' little thing.
+
+"'D'ye s'pose it cud have been?' asked O'Toole.
+
+"'Been what?' says Garnett.
+
+"'Jameson, ye blatherin' ijiot. Jameson, th' same as left his wife,
+a-comin' here huntin' for her. 'Twas so, fer a fact. He had it in his
+mouth to kape us from knowin' his voice, an' by th' same tokin, I calls
+to mind th' chokin' in his throat, the scand'lous owld woman he was.'
+
+"'Stave me, but ye might have been right for onct in yer life, so bear a
+hand an' let's stand away after him an' ketch th' old leddy an' see,'
+says Garnett.
+
+"They started off without listenin' to my hail, so I climbed down to th'
+dock an' follows. It was evenin' now, an' th' street was crowded, but
+they pushed along ahead av me.
+
+"Ye see it ware Jameson, sure enough, an whin he heard his wife ware
+dead, he wint up that street like a man in a dream. He forgot all about
+his dress, an' his face ware hard set like a man thinkin' over th' past.
+He had some five minutes' start av th' mates, an' whin a poor beggar
+woman spoke to him he scared her half to death with his voice when he
+asked her th' way to th' cemetery. Thin he remembered his disguise,
+stepped into a doorway, pulled off th' dress an' hat an' flung thim to
+th' old beggar woman, an' went his way.
+
+"Garnett an' O'Toole came along a few minutes later an' saw th' beggar.
+
+"'There he is. That's him,' sung out the old sailor, pintin' to th' old
+gal walkin' along wid her rags tied in a bundle tucked under her arm, fer
+she had made shift to change thim fer Jameson's slops.
+
+"''Pon me whurd, ye're right fer onct agin,' says O'Toole.
+
+"'Well, don't go a-spoilin' th' thing this time. Let me sail inter him,
+an' if I wants yer, I'll sing out, an' ye can bear a hand an' help.'
+Garnett swung across th' street to overhaul th' old woman, an' came up
+behind her.
+
+"'Evenin', old lady, I wants to have a talk wid ye;' an' he lays his hand
+on her shoulder wid a grip to take a piece av flesh out. She stopped an'
+turned quick.
+
+"'_Caramba_!' she yells; 'I teach ye to insult a dacent old lady, you
+Yankee dog. Help! Murder! ye bloody raskil! Help, help!' Thin she ware
+upon him like a wild cat, a clawin' an' bitin', screechin' and yellin'.
+
+"'Sink you for a bloody scoundrel, Jameson, I knows ye,' roared Garnett.
+'Larry, there, bear a hand. I have him.'
+
+"'Hold him thin, ye brave man,' sings out O'Toole, comin' up. 'Go it,
+owld gal, give it to him. 'Tis a leddy-killer he is fer sure, 'pon me
+whurd, fer a fact. Claw him, bite him, even though he's as tough as
+nails. Yell him deaf, owld leddy. Do it fer his mether's sake, th'
+scand'lous owld rake he is. Get his year in yer teeth an' hold on, fer
+'tis a leddy-killer ye have in yer hands at last. Whang his hide off!
+Whang him! Whang him!' An' I thought th' old raskil would die av laffin'.
+
+"We ware crowdin' around thim to see th' fun, an' th' way that old gal
+whanged an' lammed, an' lammed an' whanged, wud have brung tears to yer
+eyes. 'Twas too much fer human natur' to stan', an' so away goes Garnett
+down th' street as fast as his bow-legs can git him over th' beach, wid
+his sheets slacked off a-runnin' free, an' likewise, b' th' same tokin,
+away squares th' old leddy wid her skysails set an' everythin' drawin'
+'cept her skirts, which she holds b' th' clews an' bunts.
+
+"'After him! Catch th' blackguard!' bawls O'Toole, rolling on th'
+pavement, laffin' an' bawlin'.
+
+"That old beggar was clipper built, fer sure, for wid her skirts clewed
+up she ware bearin' down fast on th' old mate an' kept his bow-legs
+a-lurchin' afore th' crowd a-comin' along in th' wake a-yellin' an'
+hootin' like mad. A man jumped out to stop him, but I knowed Garnett
+would niver stop this side o' th' gangway av his ship, an' sure 'nuff,
+out flashes his hand an? th' Dago rolls over an' over. They yelled harder
+than ever, an' Garnett had to shake out another reef afore he could make
+th' gang-plank, an' get aboard. He managed to get below jest as some
+soldiers rushed up. Th' noise brought Andrews on deck in time to get men
+to keep th' crowd off his ship, an' thin O'Toole comes up.
+
+"'What's th' row?' he bawls to th' mate, but O'Toole ware laffin' so he
+couldn't spake a whurd. Finally he got it out.
+
+"'Faith, 'tis th' leddy-killer av th' fleet, Garnett, at his owld game,'
+sez he. ''Pon me whurd, 'tis a hangin' matter this time, fer th' damage
+he's done th' sex. He ware--' but he bruk down afore he could finish.
+
+"'Twas five minits afore he could tell what had happened, th' old gal
+cussin' an' swearin' an' th' crowd a-hootin' an' jeerin', but finally th'
+skipper got some soldiers to carry th' old gal away. Thin out comes
+Garnett on th' main deck a-smellin' av his little vial, but avoidin' av
+th' skipper's eye.
+
+"'What th' devil did ye mean?' asked Andrews; 'did ye take her to be
+Jameson in disguise?'
+
+"''Pon me whurd,' says O'Toole, 'th' first wan that comes aboard was no
+other--an' this one looked enough like him from a stern view. 'Tis a bad
+trade, though, this killin' av leddies.' An' he leered so at Garnett he
+swore horrible an' went forrads.
+
+"I ware standin' close enough to catch th' glint in Andrews' eye whin
+this ware said, but he took no notice an' went ashore, an' as I followed
+after him he was thinkin' hard."
+
+Here Chips spat quietly into the corner, fingered his pipe, and rammed
+the ash down. Then he looked up at the light, and a different
+expression came upon him. The bos'n's smile died away, and all sat
+listening for the finish. Far forward sounded the cries of men dressing
+down the head sheets.
+
+"I hadn't much to do," continued Chips, softly, "so I walked on an' saw
+him stop at a flower stand an' buy a bunch av roses. I wint across to th'
+cemetery where th' trees are good to look at an' th' grass is green as
+th' sea nigh th' States. I hadn't gone far whin I sees a man standin'
+nigh a grave wid another man lyin' on it. I couldn't tell who th' men
+ware till I came close, fer 'twas now gettin' dark. Thin when Andrews
+stooped an' lifted th' head av th' one lyin' down, I saw them both plain
+enough. Jameson's head made me feel sick wid th' horror av it. Whin I
+spoke, Andrews let th' poor fellow sink back again, an' as I stood
+alongside I saw th' flowers th' skipper had bought lyin' on th' grave
+nigh th' hand av poor Jameson, which still held his pistil. Th' old man
+said nothin', but there ware a hard look in his eyes as I saw him lookin'
+at th' tops av th' big Chilean mountings where th' sunken sun made them a
+bloody red. He ware thinkin' hard, an' seemed to be watchin' a flock av
+vultures a-comin' over th' range, stringin' out in a long line av black
+specks. Thin all av a sudden he stooped an' picked up the flowers an'
+placed thim gentle like on th' head av the grave--'twas the only gentil
+thing I iver knew him to do--an' thin walked away without a word. That's
+th' last I saw av him until I shipped aboard here, for he cleared from
+Valparaiso th' next day."
+
+"An' this is the beggar we're taking back to the States to be skipper of
+some American ship, maybe this same one, if he gets clear of the killing
+of his quartermaster off Melbourne," said the bos'n.
+
+"An' that's the reason, by your leave, Mr. Rolling," said Jim, "I say
+it's best to go back again and deliver this man up to the proper
+authorities."
+
+"As far as I'm concerned," I answered, "I would just as soon see him safe
+where the wind won't annoy him; but I'm not the skipper, and if you want
+to get any satisfaction you'll have to go aft."
+
+"We did," said the bos'n; "we asked the old man, but he wouldn't hear of
+it, and Trunnell is with him."
+
+"Trunnell is with him because he thinks it right," said Jim, with a
+shrewd look at me; "but if you were to try to persuade him, I believe he
+would come around all right."
+
+"Why fo' not put him abo'ad the English ship, sah," put in the "doctor."
+"I votes we ax the ole man to put 'im abo'ad her."
+
+All were agreeable to this proposition and decided to go aft the first
+thing in the morning watch. Jim stuck out for going back.
+
+"If you were to go with us, Mr. Rolling, we might persuade
+Trunnell," said he.
+
+"It's no use, he never would--" Before we could continue the discussion
+further the bells struck out loudly, and the bos'n and I went on deck for
+our watch.
+
+It was a fine, clear night, and I was glad to get the course from the
+mate and walk fore and aft on the weather side of the poop to enjoy it.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+
+The morning dawned calm and beautiful. The heavy, oily swell, which still
+ran from the effects of the blow, moved in long, smooth humps upon the
+sea. Far to the eastward the light of the rising sun tinted the cirrus
+clouds above with a rosy hue.
+
+I was quite tired from the effects of the gale, and the morning watch is
+always a cheerless one. The steward had coffee ready, however, and after
+a good drink I felt better, and got out the glass to see if I could make
+out the _Sovereign_. We had been drifting all night, so that in the
+mid-watch Trunnell wore ship and stood up for her to keep in sight. There
+she lay, about three miles away off our port beam. Her topsail was the
+only canvas she had set, and she was so low in the water that I could not
+see her deck amidships at that distance. All except a little of her high
+poop appeared to be under, or so low that it was invisible. I wondered
+why her captain had not put off sooner, and I knew that as soon as
+Thompson came on deck he would be in a fury at his having waited so long.
+There was not a breath of air now, so we were certain to be in company
+for several hours at least.
+
+While I looked over the expanse of heaving ocean I saw a black spot
+between the ships. In a moment I made out a boat rising and falling,
+propelled by four oars, and headed for us. Sometimes she would disappear
+behind a high lump of sea and then she would be on top, and I made out
+she was coming along right handily.
+
+As she drew nearer I made her out to be full of men. She came up under
+our mizzen channels and hailed. Half the watch was bending over the side
+looking at her, and one man threw a line. This was seized, and the next
+moment her crew came clambering over the rail.
+
+Jenks, the old sailor who had come over in the boat with me the day
+before, was on deck to receive his shipmates. The old fellow's face
+wrinkled with amusement at the sight of his worn-out countrymen until it
+looked like the slack of a bellows. There was an unholy twinkle in his
+eye as he greeted them.
+
+On the boarding of the officer of the boat, a tall Englishman who was the
+ship's mate, the man Jenks stopped his pleasantry at the tired crew's
+expense, but it was too late. He was ordered into the boat, with three
+other men who were fresh, to be sent away for the remaining men on the
+ship. Then the officer mounted the poop just as Captain Thompson emerged
+from below.
+
+The officer bowed and touched his hat deferentially, but the skipper
+stood looking at him out of his glinting eyes, while his nose worked
+and twitched.
+
+"Don't seem to be in much of a hurry, hey?" said our captain, with
+his drawl.
+
+"We've been working steadily all night at the pumps, sir, hopin' to
+keep her afloat, sir. The old man--I beg pardon, Captain Sackett,--says
+as he'll not abandon her while she swims. The rest of us have
+permission to go, sir."
+
+"Is her cargo of any particular value, then?"
+
+"Yes, sir. It's palm oil and valuable woods. There's eight hundred
+barrels of palm oil in her, and the captain's got his all--every cent he
+has in the world. He won't leave her."
+
+"Do you know what you resemble, hey?" said our skipper, dryly.
+
+"I do not, sir."
+
+"Well, I don't want to hurt the feelings of a poor, shipwrecked sailor,
+nor insinuate nothing sech as no gentleman ought. No, sirree. You are my
+guest aboard here, and damned welcome to you. At the same time, if I ware
+telling anybody as to what kind of a fellow you was, I should
+say,--yessir, after thinking the matter over carefully, and taking all
+points into consideration,--I might say that I thought ye an all-around
+white-livered, cowardly cuss, an' that's a fact."
+
+The English mate turned red. He started to say something, and then
+checked himself. Finally he blurted out:--
+
+"I've heard tell of some Yankee skippers who've given a bad name to your
+infernal shipping, an' I reckon I've run up against one. But no fear! I
+recognize you as our saviour, an' won't say a word, sir. The retort
+courteous, as the saying is, would be a crack on the jaw of such a
+fellow, but I don't say as I'll do it, sir. There's some fellows as needs
+rippin' up the back, but you bein' captain of this here ship, I won't say
+who they is, sir. No, sir, I won't say who they is, or nothin'. I just
+ask that I be sent back aboard the _Sovereign_. The boat ain't gone yet,
+and, by the Lord, I'll drown before I get into a ship like this."
+
+"Well, by hookey, you won't, then," snarled the captain; "you'll stay
+aboard this boat. A man that's born to be hung mustn't be drowned. Hey,
+there, Rolling," he bawled, looking forward to where I stood, "get out
+the boat and go with those fellows. Get all the rest afeard to stay
+aboard, and come back. We won't stay here all day waiting for a lot of
+fellows too afeard to know what they want."
+
+The noise of the talking brought a female figure to the combings of the
+companionway, and as the skipper finished, Miss Sackett stood on deck.
+
+The mate of the _Sovereign_ greeted her, and told of her father's
+determination to stay aboard his ship with three men who desired the
+chance to make heavy salvage. He didn't suppose any of the crew of
+the _Pirate_ cared to take chances, but if they did, he would let
+them. He said he could work the wreck into some port, probably Cape
+Town, and save her.
+
+"But he will surely be lost," cried Miss Sackett. "I shall go to him
+myself and persuade him not to do this foolish thing. You will let me go
+in one of the boats, won't you, Captain Thompson?" she cried, turning to
+our skipper.
+
+Thompson was sour, but he admired nerve. The fact of the Englishman
+staying alone aboard his wrecked ship appealed to him where nothing
+else would.
+
+"My dear madam," said he, with his drawl, "you shall certainly do jest
+what you want to while I'm captain of this boat. But I wouldn't persuade
+your father to do anything against his will. How could a sensible fellow
+refuse you anything, hey?"
+
+The young girl overlooked his insolence, and smiled her satisfaction. She
+came forward to where the first boat was getting ready to shove off. The
+men in her were sullen and ugly, for they had not had their breakfast,
+and the row would be a long one. The old sailor, Jenks, with his pop
+eyes, and face like the slack of a bellows, scowled sourly. At this
+moment our third officer came on deck and to the lady's side. I was just
+about to ask her to wait and go in my boat when I heard the shrill tones
+of our Mr. Bell.
+
+"Clear that boat, and stand by to pass this lady aboard," said he, with
+some show of authority, and a clever nautical style. "Allow me?" he
+continued, as he offered her his arm at the ladder.
+
+His shrill voice caused a smile of wonder and amusement among the
+strangers, but as they knew their own skipper's daughter, they said
+nothing besides a few remarks among themselves.
+
+"Won't you wait and have breakfast before you go," he asked her, as she
+reached the top of the rail; but she refused, and decided that her
+father's strange whim to stay aboard his sinking ship deserved first
+consideration.
+
+"In that case I shall have to go along also, for you may be very much
+exhausted before getting back."
+
+Just what good he could do in such a case he did not stop to explain, but
+climbed over the side, and after lowering her aboard, took his place
+beside her in the stern sheets. Then he gave orders to get clear, and the
+boat shot away, while I made shift to get my men something to eat before
+taking the long pull.
+
+In fifteen minutes we were ready to start. Chips wanted to go along to
+see if anything could be done to help stop the leak in case Captain
+Sackett still insisted staying aboard. Johnson, the little sailor with
+the thin legs set wide apart, showing daylight between clear to his
+waist, Hans, the heavy-shouldered Swede, and Phillippi, a squat Dago,
+made up the rest of the boat's crew. Trunnell had come on deck while we
+were eating from the mess-kids, and met the skipper on the poop, where he
+stopped to talk over some important matter. This importance appeared to
+increase in a moment, for the skipper swore harshly and pointed forward
+just as my men were coming aft to go over the side.
+
+"Rolling," he cried, "hold on with that boat a minute, and lay aft here,"
+I came to the edge of the poop.
+
+"Get that ruffian Andrews ready and put him aboard the _Sovereign_. The
+men here are tired of his ways, and fair exchange is no robbery. We'll
+take their men, they'll take one of ours, hey? Do you rise to that?"
+
+I understood. The men had made it apparent they did not wish to have the
+fellow aboard since he persisted in his murderous ways. The skipper had
+been importuned by Jim to turn back and put him ashore. This he would not
+think of doing, but to propitiate them he had struck upon this new method
+of getting rid of his charge.
+
+I called Jim, the young landsman, to lend a hand getting the fellow
+ready. Andrews cursed us all around and demanded to know what we were
+going to do with him. No attention was paid to him, however, and he was
+bundled into the boat, handcuffed, with his legs free.
+
+"Tell Captain Sackett I say he's welcome to him," drawled out Thompson,
+over the poop rail. "Good luck to you, Andrews," he continued; "you'll
+have a pleasant voyage with no enemies to rip and cut. So long!"
+
+This drew forth a volley of oaths from Andrews, but the skipper smiled,
+and we were soon out of earshot.
+
+"What do you make of the weather, sir?" asked Jim, who pulled stroke oar.
+I looked over the smooth, heaving surface of the quiet ocean, and there
+was not the first sign of a breeze anywhere. The sun was partly obscured
+in a thick haze which seemed to come from everywhere and fill the entire
+atmosphere. The first boat was almost aboard the wreck, and we could see
+her looking like a black speck in the distance.
+
+"It looks as though it might come on thick," I answered Jim, "but
+there's no danger of our parting company with the _Pirate_ yet. There
+isn't enough wind to move her a knot an hour."
+
+It was a long, hard pull to the _Sovereign_ and when we arrived her
+captain was on deck with his daughter. She had finished trying to
+persuade him to leave his fortune, and stood near our third officer,
+who was ready to start back with the remainder of the crew. All but
+four men had insisted on leaving. These were the steward, two
+quartermasters, and a sailor.
+
+"If there is any valuable stuff in the way of currency or spices, you can
+turn them over to me, and our captain will give you his receipt for
+them," I said, as I came over the side.
+
+The little Englishman looked slowly up and down my six feet and more of
+length as I stood on the rail, and I fancied he smiled slightly. He was
+a florid-faced, bearded man, with clear blue eyes which had no sign of
+fear in them.
+
+"I reckon we'll risk taking in what we have," said he; "at the same time
+I want to thank your captain for standing by and taking the men he has
+already. You don't think he could spare a few volunteers to help me in,
+do you? I'll give a hundred pounds to every man who'll stand by and run
+the risk."
+
+"Well," I stammered, "I'm second mate myself, and therefore can't very
+well leave; but he's sent you one extra hand. The fellow is a good enough
+sailor, but he's in irons for fighting. He wants you to take him in
+exchange for the men you've sent."
+
+The florid face of the English captain grew redder. His blue eyes
+seemed to draw to small points that pricked my inner consciousness. I
+suppose I showed some of my embarrassment, for he spoke in a gentler
+tone than I expected.
+
+"Sir. I keep no one in peril against his wish. Neither do I run a
+convict ship. You may take your desperado back to your captain with
+the compliments of Captain Sackett, once of Her Majesty's Naval
+Reserve, and tell him the laws of his country are sufficient to deal
+with all persons."
+
+"If I did," I answered, "you would have your men forced back into your
+wrecked vessel." And I pointed to the main deck, upon which the sea
+rolled and swashed in little foamy waves through the side ports, which
+were now below the heave of the swell. She was clear under amidships, and
+only the topgallant forecastle and poop were out of water, which was now
+nearly level with the floor in the after cabin. Everything showed wreck
+and ruin, from the splintered spars and tangled rigging to the
+yellow-white gaps in her bulwarks where the masts had crashed through.
+
+"The will of the Lord is not to be set aside," he went on, with solemn
+and pious cheerfulness. "I would not risk so many lives for a man in
+irons. If, however, he will recognize the laws of the Almighty, I shall
+turn him adrift and trust that my mercy will not meet with ingratitude.
+You had better get my men ready, and if you can, take the trunks and
+cabin fixings in a boat. They might come to wrong here. My daughter will
+show where the things are I should like saved. As for myself, I shall
+stay where duty calls me, and will take this ship into some port and save
+her cargo, or go down in her. If I lose her, I lose my all, and with a
+wife and family I had better be gone with it. The Lord will temper the
+wind to the shorn lambs."
+
+I called to Hans and Johnson to pass up the prisoner, and he soon stood
+on the _Sovereign's_ poop, where he glared around him and made some
+inaudible remarks. The third mate, who stood near by, was about to speak
+to him when Captain Sackett stepped forward.
+
+"My man," said he, "your captain has asked me to keep you here and help
+me work this ship in. You've been a master yourself, they tell me, so
+you will appreciate my difficulty. The Lord, however, always helps
+those who help themselves, and with his help we will land this vessel
+safe in port."
+
+Andrews looked at the stout skipper sourly for a moment. Then he gave a
+deep snort and spat vulgarly upon the deck at his host's feet.
+
+"What kind o' damn fool have I run up ag'in now, hey?" he mused in a low
+tone, as though speaking to himself, while he looked the skipper over.
+"Am I dreamin', or do I eternally run up ag'in nautical loonatic asylums?
+That's the question."
+
+"My dear fellow, you don't seem to relish the fact that you must serve
+aboard here," said Sackett. "There's nothing irrational in trying to save
+a vessel when it's your plain duty to do so. The Lord sometimes dismasts
+us to try us. We must not give up our duty because we have hardships to
+encounter. Your captain cannot take care of so many people, probably, and
+wishes you to stay here with me. If you will pass your word to do your
+share of the work, as I believe you will, I shall cast off those irons
+this instant and put you second in command. There will then be five of
+us, all able-bodied men, to get her in to the Cape."
+
+"Of all the slumgullion I ever had stick in my craw, this beats me,"
+observed the prisoner, in his even tone, without taking his eyes off
+Sackett. "I pass my word, an' you turn me loose to do my duty. Well--say,
+old man, can you tell me of a miracle you reads out o' your Bible? I
+wants to make a comparison." Here he gave a loud snort and grinned.
+"There's an old sayin' that any port is good in a storm," he went on,
+"an' likewise any ship in a calm. I rise to it, old man. I'll be your
+mate; for, if things ain't all gone wrong, I'll sail straight inter
+Heaven with ye. Cast me loose."
+
+"It shall be done at once," said Sackett. "I shall request, sir," said
+he, turning to me, "that the irons be stricken off your man."
+
+I told Chips to go ahead and cut them, and then followed Miss Sackett and
+the third mate below, to get what belongings they wanted sent aboard the
+_Pirate_ to be kept clear of water.
+
+"It's a pity papa will do this absurd thing," said Miss Sackett,
+impetuously, as she landed upon the cabin deck. I was following close
+behind her on the companion and hastened to cheer her.
+
+"There's not much danger," I said; "for the vessel can't possibly sink
+with all the oil and wood in her. He will probably bring her in all right
+and save many thousands of dollars. Maybe the carpenter can find the leak
+and plug it. In that case she'll be as sound as a dollar and safe as a
+house, when they get her pumped."
+
+"I don't know about it," she answered; "I feel that papa is going to his
+death, and I know that if mamma finds out he won't leave, she'll come
+back aboard. Here is one trunk. That chest under the berth is to go also.
+I'll get what clothes I can gather up, and bring them along in a bundle.
+Goodness! hear the water slapping about under the deck; it is perfectly
+dreadful to think of any one staying aboard a ship half sunk like this."
+
+The steward, a very clever-looking young man with a brown mustache,
+helped us get the things on deck, where they were taken in charge by the
+rest of the men, seven in number, who were going with us.
+
+While we were below, Chips, after cutting Andrews adrift, tried to find
+out where the leak was located. The vessel's hold was so full of water,
+however, that he gave up the search. Only a survey of her bilge outside
+would help clear up matters, and allow work upon it.
+
+Captain Sackett had taken an observation and had figured himself out to
+be within six hundred miles of Cape Town. He was very thankful for our
+kindness and stood near by, wishing us all kinds of good luck, while the
+things were being lowered over the ship's low side. In a few minutes all
+hands were called to get into the _Pirate's_ boat, the one of the
+_Sovereign_ being left for the safety of those on board. Miss Sackett
+took a tearful farewell of her father, and was placed aft. Then we shoved
+off, and were soon leaving the half-sunken ship astern.
+
+"Cap'n," said Jenks, who sat aft near me, "what d'ye make o' that?"
+
+He pointed to a white bank of vapor which had rolled up from the
+southward, and suddenly enveloped the _Sovereign_ while we were still two
+cable lengths distant. I looked and saw the white mist, which we had not
+noticed before to be so dense, rolling in long white clouds upon the calm
+surface of the ocean. In a moment it had enveloped us, and all around us
+was a white wall, the _Pirate_ disappearing ahead. The swell also
+appeared to be getting a cross roll to it, and a light air now blew in
+our faces.
+
+I made no answer to the leather-faced sailor, but tried to keep the
+boat's head before a heavier roll of the sea, and the wake as much like a
+straight line as possible. There was no compass in the craft, and it
+would take some nice guesswork to find a ship three miles away.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+
+We went along in silence for some time, the fog seeming to fall like a
+pall upon the spirits of the men. The wash of the oars and the gurgle of
+the bow-wave were the only sounds that were audible. After half an hour
+of this I arose and sent a hail through the bank of mist, which I thought
+would reach a vessel within half a mile. There was no sound of an answer,
+the dank vapor appearing to deaden my hail and swallow up all noise a
+short distance beyond the boat. It was uncanny to feel how weak that yell
+appeared. I saw Jim looking at me with a strange light in his eyes as
+though he felt danger in the air.
+
+After an hour more of it, the faces of the men plainly showed their
+anxiety. Phillippi, the Dago, was chewing the corner of his dank
+mustache, and his eyes wandered aft and then forward. Jenks, with his
+large wrinkled face gray with the vapor, sat staring ahead, straining his
+ears for the slightest sound that would locate the vessel. I put both
+hands to my mouth again, and strained away my hardest. There was no
+response, the sound falling flat and dull in the wall of mist. Then I
+knew we were in danger, and gave the order to stop rowing.
+
+The silence around us was now oppressive. We were all waiting to hear
+some sound that would locate either one or the other of the vessels. The
+breeze carried the masses of vapor in cool spurts into our faces, and I
+felt sure the _Pirate_ would soon change her bearings under its
+influence. We had been running away from the main heave of the sea, as I
+supposed, but now there appeared to be a sidelong motion running with the
+swell and at an angle to its general direction.
+
+"'Tis no manner av use tryin' to keep along as we are, d'ye think so?"
+suggested Chips. "We must have passed her."
+
+I hailed again, and after waiting for an answer, headed the boat around
+in the hope that we had overreached the ship, and would come within
+hailing distance on our way back. The order was given to pull very
+easily, and listen for sounds.
+
+"This is most disgusting," said Miss Sackett. "I'm as hungry as a bear,
+and here we'll be out for the Lord only knows how long. I think you might
+have seen to it that I had some breakfast." And she looked at Mr. Bell,
+our third officer.
+
+"There's water under the stern sheets," suggested that officer, meekly.
+But the young lady gave a pretty pout, and shrugged her shoulders.
+
+In a little while we stopped again and hailed loudly. The only sound in
+answer was the low hiss of a sea, which had begun to make with the
+breeze, and which broke softly ahead.
+
+Suddenly we heard the distant clang of a ship's bell. It sounded far away
+to starboard.
+
+"Give way, bullies, strong," I cried, and the next instant we were
+heading toward it. Then it died away, and we heard it no more.
+
+After ten minutes' pull, we stopped again, for fear of overreaching our
+mark. We hailed and got no answer. Then we rowed slowly along, listening
+in the hope they would ring again. In a little while we lay drifting, and
+all hands strained their ears for sound.
+
+Suddenly something alongside gave a loud snort. I started up, and the
+men turned their faces forward. A deeper shadow seemed to hang over us,
+and the breeze died away. Then the snort was repeated, and a voice
+spoke forth:--
+
+"Of all the damned fools I ever see, that second mate stands way ahead.
+Now I onct thought Trunnell didn't know nothin', but that young whelp is
+a pizenous fool, an' must be ripped up the back. Sackett, old man, your
+daughter can't leave ye. Here she be alongside with them boatmen agin."
+
+The voice was drawling and not loud, but I recognized it fast enough.
+
+In an instant the boat's bow struck the side of the _Sovereign_, and
+we saw Andrews leaning over the rail near us, looking down with a
+sour smile.
+
+There was nothing to do but go aboard, for we had nothing to eat in the
+small boat, and the danger of getting lost entirely was too great to make
+another attempt to get back to the _Pirate_ while the fog lasted.
+
+Miss Sackett was helped over the rail by her father, who came up
+immediately, and the rest scrambled over with some choice English oaths
+as they commented upon their luck. Andrews gave me a queer look as I
+climbed past him, and for an instant I was ready to spring upon him. But
+he gave a snort of disgust and turned away.
+
+Chips, Jim, and the others of our crew came aboard, and the small boat
+was dropped astern where she towed easily, the breeze just giving the
+sunken ship steering way under the storm topsail.
+
+The beef barrels were in no way injured by their immersion in salt water,
+so Captain Sackett gave the steward orders to prepare a meal for all
+hands upon the cabin stove. Salt junk and tinned fruits were served for
+everybody who cared to eat them, and afterward all hands felt better. The
+ship's water-tanks were full of good water, and as she listed
+considerably to starboard under the gentle breeze, owing to her
+water-logged condition, the port tank was accessible from the deck pipe.
+
+I had enough to eat before coming out, and the predicament we were in did
+not tend to strengthen my appetite. I, however, made out to sit down at
+the cabin table with Captain Sackett, Andrews, who was now his mate, and
+our third officer. Miss Sackett joined us, and we fell to.
+
+No sooner had Andrews started to shovel in the good junk, and Mr. Bell
+the fruit, than Sackett arose from the table and looked severely down
+upon them. Fortunately, my satisfied appetite had prevented any
+unnecessary hurry to eat on my part, for our new skipper frowned heavily.
+
+"I wish to give thanks, O Lord," said he, raising his eyes toward the
+skylight and dropping his voice into a dignified tone, "for thy kind
+mercy in delivering us from the perils of the deep. Make us duly thankful
+for thy mercy and for the food thou hast seen fit to place before us."
+
+"Amen," sounded a gruff voice beside me.
+
+I looked at Andrews, but he appeared to pay no attention whatever to what
+was transpiring. Then I turned to Sackett to see if he had taken offence.
+
+The stout, ruddy-faced skipper seemed to be changed to stone for an
+instant, and his fixed glare was full upon Andrews.
+
+The ruffian appeared to enjoy the situation, for he gave a fierce snort
+and turned his face to the skipper.
+
+"No offence, old man, sit down and eat your grub. There's no use working
+up unchristian-like feeling between us simply because I'm not going to
+let any damn foolishness stand between me and my vittles. Eat while ye
+may, says I, and God bless you for a kind-hearted, gentle skipper. You
+says yourself that the Lord helps them as helps themselves, which goes to
+show I'll just make a stab for another piece o' that junk before some
+other son of a gun runs afoul of it an' helps himself. Which would be
+goin', o' course, agin the will o' the Lord."
+
+Sackett hardly breathed. His face turned purple with rage. Andrews took
+no notice of him save to draw a revolver from his pocket and place it on
+the table beside his plate.
+
+"Sit down and eat, papa," said Miss Sackett, who was at his right hand,
+and as she did so she placed her hand upon his shoulder.
+
+The touch of his daughter's hand seemed to bring the skipper back to his
+senses, or rather seemed to enable him to thrust his present feelings
+aside for her sake. He sat down and stared at Andrews for fully a minute,
+while that ruffian ate and winked ofttimes at Mr. Bell. Once in a while
+he would give a loud snort and hold his face upward for an instant. Then
+a sour smile would play around his ugly mouth as though he enjoyed his
+humor intensely. The third officer frowned severely at him several times,
+and then asked in his silly voice if he would please behave himself.
+
+The effect was altogether too ludicrous to be borne. Miss Sackett
+smiled in spite of herself and I almost laughed outright. Then, feeling
+sorry for my host, I began to eat as an excuse to hide my feelings.
+Sackett ate little, and in silence. When he was through, he arose and
+left for the deck, leaving the rest of us at the table. Miss Sackett
+followed him quickly, as though she instinctively felt what might
+happen if she remained.
+
+I sat there looking at Andrews for some moments. He raised his head
+several times and gave forth his peculiar snort, smiling at Mr. Bell.
+"Young fellow," said he, slowly, "we've had a turn or two, an' nothin'
+much has come of it. Let's shake an' call it square." And he held out his
+hand toward me.
+
+"I suppose you really had some cause to lose your temper," I answered,
+"the day I hailed you from the poop, because you were used to commanding
+there. I've heard many unpleasant things about you, Captain Andrews, but
+if you will let matters pass, I'm willing. I never turned down a man yet
+on hearsay when he was willing to see me half way."
+
+Here I took his hard, muscular hand and held it for a moment. He smiled
+sourly again, but said no more about our fight.
+
+"Ye see," he went on, after a moment's pause, "I'm second in command
+here now, and I'll show you no such treatment like what I got aboard the
+_Pirate_. This gun I has here is only to let a man see his limit afore
+it's too late. If I didn't show it, he might go too far, and then--well,
+I reckon ye know just what might happen, being as Trunnell has told you
+what a gentle, soft-hearted fellow I am. He's a rum little dog, that
+fuzzy-headed fellow, Trunnell. Did ye ever see sech arms in anything but
+an ape? 'Ell an' blazes, he could squeeze a man worse than a Coney
+Island maiden gal. Speakin' of maidens, jest let me hint a minute in
+regard to the one aboard here. She's a daisy. An out an' out daisy. An'
+if there's a-goin' to be any love-makin' going on around, I'll do it.
+Yes, sir, don't take any of my duties upon yourself. I'll do it. I'll do
+it. Jest remind yourself of that, Mr. Rolling, an' we'll get along fust
+rate. The old man don't know me yet, but Mr. Bell here--well, Mr. Bell
+knows a thing or two concernin' captains which'll be worth a heap of
+gold to some people."
+
+The third mate looked at me with his boyish eyes for an instant, and his
+ruddy cheeks seemed to blush. Then he said softly:--
+
+"What he means is, that you and the rest are only passengers, now. All
+the men from the _Pirate_, you know. There'll be some salvage for the
+four who elected to stay aboard this vessel, and if you understand it in
+this light, you, Chips, Jim, and the rest are welcome as passengers. If
+you don't, the boat is at your disposal any time."
+
+"I see," I said. "You are also of the party elected to stay with Captain
+Sackett and draw salvage?"
+
+"That's about the size of it."
+
+I went on deck, and Chips, Jim, and the men went below to get something
+to eat. Sackett was standing at the break of the poop as I came up, and
+his daughter stood beside him. They were evidently in earnest
+conversation over the scene below, for as I drew near, Miss Sackett
+turned to me and said with some show of contempt in her voice:--
+
+"Your captain was very kind to send us your volunteer, and we appreciate
+it, Mr. Rolling. Perhaps the reason he had no more men offer their
+services for a dangerous mission was because he was short of irons."
+
+"If you mean that American sailors have to be ironed into danger, you are
+mistaken," I answered, somewhat nettled. "However, I quite agree with you
+in regard to this one as an awkward fellow. Better wait and see how he
+acts in time of danger before condemning him."
+
+I had not the heart to tell her what a ruffian they had turned loose upon
+her father. It would do little good, for Sackett had passed his word to
+make Andrews second in command, and I knew from what I had seen of this
+religious skipper, that he would keep it at any cost. As for Chips,
+myself, and the rest of the men, seven of the _Sovereign's_ crew and
+ourselves, we were simply passengers, as Mr. Bell had informed us. We had
+no right whatever to take any part in affairs aboard, for the salvage
+would fall to those who elected to stay.
+
+Captain Sackett moved away from me as I stood talking to his daughter and
+showed he did not wish to discuss Andrews. He went to the edge of the
+poop and stared down on the main deck where the water surged to and fro
+with the swell. He had a badly wrecked ship under him, and there was
+little time to lose getting her in better condition, for a sudden blow
+might start to break her up, or roll the seas over her so badly that no
+one could live aboard.
+
+I stood for some minutes talking to the young girl, and when her father
+spoke to me she held out her hand, smiling. "We'll be shipmates now and
+you'll have a chance to show what a Yankee sailor can do. I believe in
+heroes--when they're civil," she added.
+
+"Unfortunately for the worshipper of heroes, there is a great deal left
+to the goddess Chance, in the picking of them," I answered. "Admiration
+for human beings should not be hysterical."
+
+"From the little I've seen of men during the six voyages I've made around
+the world in this ship with papa, your advice is somewhat superfluous,"
+she said, with the slightest raising of the eyebrows. Then she went aft
+to the taffrail and stood gazing into the fog astern.
+
+"Mr. Rolling," said Sackett, "there's no use of thinking about leaving
+the ship while the fog lasts, now. You might have made the _Pirate_ by
+close reckoning before, but she must have changed her bearings fully a
+half a dozen points since you started. She's under canvas, and this
+breeze will send her along at least six knots and drift her two with her
+yards aback. You might as well take hold here and get some of your men to
+lend a hand. The foremast is still alongside, and we might get a jury rig
+on her without danger of heeling her on her bilge. She's well loaded, the
+oil and light stuff on top, so she won't be apt to turn turtle."
+
+It was as he said. We were all in the same ship, so as to speak, wrecked
+and water-logged to the southward of the Cape. The best thing to do was
+to take it in the right spirit and fall to work without delay, getting
+her in as shipshape condition as possible. The fog might last a week, and
+the _Pirate_ might get clear across the equator before stopping a second
+time in her course. I knew that even Trunnell would not wait more than a
+few hours; for if we did not turn up then, it was duff to dog's-belly, as
+the saying went, that we wouldn't heave in sight at all. The ocean is a
+large place for a small boat to get lost in, and without compass or
+sextant there would be little chance for her to overhaul a ship standing
+along a certain course.
+
+The dense vapor rolled in cool masses over the wreck, and the gentle
+breeze freshened so that the topsail, which still drew fair from the
+yard, bellied out and strained away taut on a bowline, taking the wind
+from almost due north, or dead away from the Cape. The _Sovereign_ shoved
+through it log-wise under the pull, the swell roaring and gurgling along
+her sunken channels and through her water ports. She was making not more
+than a mile an hour, or hardly as fast as a man could swim, yet on she
+went, and as she did so, she was leaving behind our last hope of being
+picked up.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+
+The first night we spent aboard the hulk was far from convincing us of
+her seaworthiness. I had been in--a sailor is never "on board"--two ships
+that had seen fit to leave me above them, but their last throes were no
+more trying to the nerves than the ugly rooting of the _Sovereign_ into
+the swell during that night. At each roll she appeared to be on the way
+to turn her keel toward the sky, and, at a plunge slowly down a
+sea-slope, she made us hold our breaths. Down, down, and under she would
+gouge, the water roaring and seething over sunken decks amidships, and
+even pouring over the topgallant rail until it would seem certain she was
+making her way to the bottom, and I would instinctively start to rise
+from the cabin transom to make a break for the deck. Then she would
+finally stop and take a slow heave to windward, which started a Niagara
+thundering below the deck, where the cargo was torn loose and sent
+crashing about in a whirlpool.
+
+I once read a description by an English landsman of a shipwreck, and he
+told how the water would rest for an instant level with the rail, seeming
+to pause motionless for a fraction of a second before flowing over and
+sinking the ship, I lay a long time wondering vaguely at an imagination
+that could make such a description possible, and as a heaving swell would
+start along the rail at the waist, and go thundering along in a roaring
+surf the entire length of the midship section over the edge, fetching up
+with a crash against the forward cabin bulkhead, I heartily wished the
+writer were aboard to share our sufferings. There was no spoon and teacup
+business about that ship, and it sometimes seemed as though seven or
+eight seas were rolling over her rails from all directions at once.
+
+We were still below the thirty-eighth parallel, and consequently the
+morning broke early, for it was January and midsummer. I arose from the
+transom and went on deck at dawn, and found that the fog had lifted.
+Andrews met me as I came from below, and gave me a nod as I took in the
+horizon line at a glance.
+
+"I reckon old hook-nose didn't care to wait any longer," he
+growled sourly.
+
+I took up the glass from the wheel box, and scanned the line carefully.
+There was not a thing in sight save the smooth swell, ruffled now by
+the slight breeze, and turning a deep blue-gray in the light of the
+early morning. The sun rose from a cloudless horizon and shone warmly
+upon the wreck. The foam glistened and sparkled in the rosy sunlight,
+and looking over the rail I could see deep down into the clear depths.
+The copper on the ship's bilge looked a light gray, and even the tacks
+were visible. She drifted slowly along with just steering way, and the
+spar alongside, which the men had tried to get aboard again, made a
+gurgling wake with its heel.
+
+"What do you make of it, Chips?" I asked, as the carpenter waded out in
+the waist and came up the poop ladder.
+
+"Long cruise an' plenty o' water, that's about th' size av ut, don't ye
+think, sir?" the carpenter answered. "Trunnell has been took off, fer
+sure. I don't mind stickin' aboard th' bleedin' hooker if there was a
+chanst to get th' salvage; but no fear o' that while Andrews is here.
+He'll block any argument to divvy up. Seems as we might even get down
+under her bilge durin' this spell av weather, an' see where th' leak is
+located. 'Tis a butt started, most like. Them English stevedores
+generally rams th' stuffin' out av a ship in spite av th' marks they
+puts on 'em."
+
+Captain Sackett came from below and joined us.
+
+"I'd like to get that foremast aboard while it holds calm," said he; "and
+if you'll start the men, we'll have it done by noon. The sooner we all
+work together, the better. We ought to get sail on forward in less than a
+week, and then, with a jury topmast, make enough way to get in while the
+grub holds out."
+
+The steward got breakfast in the after-cabin, and as soon as the men had
+eaten they were turned to rigging tackles to hoist the dragging foremast
+aboard. It was trailing by the lee rigging, which had held, and it had
+thumped and pounded along the ship's side to such an extent during the
+blow that several of her strakes were nearly punched through. It was a
+beautiful morning,--the blue sky overhead and the calm, blue ocean all
+around us. The men worked well, and even the sour ruffian, Andrews, who
+stood near and took charge of part of the work,--for he was an expert
+sailor,--seemed to brighten under the sun's influence. Chips went to work
+at the stump of the foremast, and cut well into it at a point almost
+level with the deck. This he fashioned into a scarf-joint for a
+corresponding cut in the piece of mast which had gone overboard. Tackles
+were rigged from the main-topmast head, and, by a careful bracing with
+guys forward and at both sides, the wreck of the foremast was slowly
+raised aboard.
+
+The _Sovereign_ forged ahead faster when relieved of this load. On the
+second day, when we had the foremast fished, and the yards, which had
+held to it, safe on deck, ready to be hoisted and slung again, we found
+that the vessel had made over seventy miles to the westward along the
+thirty-eighth parallel. This was over a mile an hour; but of course some
+of this drift was due to the edge of the Agullas current, which was
+setting somewhat to the southward and westward.
+
+Andrews had little to say to me or to Chips. In fact, he appeared to be
+satisfied with his lot now that he seemed sure of getting salvage money.
+Only Jim, who seemed to have eyes everywhere, distrusted the man, and
+spoke to me about him. We had now been on the wreck five days, working
+and rigging away at the foremast, and the calm, beautiful weather held
+with no signs of a change. Jim was hanging over the side, resting his
+feet on the fore channels while he helped Chips to bolt in a deadeye
+which had been torn out when the mast had gone. The sun was warm and
+shone brilliantly, and Chips sweated and grunted as he pounded away at
+the iron. There were no other men in our immediate vicinity, so after
+pounding away in silence for a quarter of an hour, the carpenter spoke.
+
+"'Tis bloody well we've been treated to get no share av the wreck, whin
+here we are sweatin' our brains out wid th' work av refittin'," said he.
+
+"And what the devil is a few hundred pounds of salvage to me?" growled
+Jim, hot with his exertion. "See here, man! I've left ten thousand behind
+me on the _Pirate_."
+
+"And a pious regard fer the truth along wid it," added Chips, smiting the
+lug-bolt heavily.
+
+Jim's face was so serious that I asked what he meant, and with the heat
+of the work upon him and the absolute hopelessness of ever getting back
+aboard our ship before his eyes, he spoke out:--
+
+"Did you ever hear of Jackwell, the fellow who cracked the Bank of
+Sydney?" he asked.
+
+Chips and I both admitted that we had. He was the most notorious burglar
+in the southern hemisphere.
+
+"But what are ye askin' sich a question fer?" asked Chips. "What's
+burglars got to do wid losin' salvage?"
+
+"He was aboard the _Pirate_, and a reward awaits the lucky dog who lands
+him. Just a trifle of ten thousand dollars," said Jim, fiercely.
+
+Chips turned on him.
+
+"Is it sure 'nuff truth ye're tellin', or jest a yarn to soothe our
+feelin's?" he demanded. "I don't call to mind any gallus-lookin' chap in
+th' watch."
+
+"He never stood watch, and I wasn't certain of him until we were out to
+sea and it was too late. What d'ye suppose I tried to get Trunnell to go
+back for? 'Twas the old man, you stupid wood-splitter. You don't think
+I'm a sailor, do you?"
+
+"'Pon me sowl, how cud I? I niver had th' heart to hurt yer feelings,
+Jim, me son, or ye'd have heard from me before. But what are ye, thin?"
+And Chips leaned back against the rail.
+
+"Nothing but a--" and Jim opened his coat which he had always worn since
+coming aboard the _Pirate_. On the inside was a silver shield stamped
+handsomely with the insignia of the detective corps of Melbourne.
+
+"A sea lawyer aboard a derelict. Ye do fairly well, considerin'. An' th'
+old man? You don't really mean it?"
+
+"What?" I asked; "do you mean that Thompson's a burglar; and that he's
+Jackwell himself?"
+
+"Nothing else, and I'm out for the reward, which I won't get now. You
+know now how he came aboard. If I'd only been a few hours sooner, it
+would have been all right. He was about to buy his passage when he found
+the real Captain Thompson wasn't there, and would probably not be down
+until the last minute. That was enough for him. Trunnell was taken clear
+aback by his nerve. It was a risky thing to do, but Jackwell takes risks.
+The man has more real cheek and impudence than any above ground, or water
+either, for that matter. He ain't much afraid of a fight when it comes to
+it, although he'd rather use his wits than his gun. That's just what
+makes me feel sore. But that isn't all. Andrews is going to get clear of
+some of us."
+
+"He's tried it several times on me," I said, with a smile. "What makes
+you think he'll try again?"
+
+"I heard enough of what was passing between that third mate and steward
+last night to know it. But I don't want to scare you fellows," he added,
+with a smile.
+
+Chips gave a grunt of disgust, and I spat contemptuously over the side
+without further remark. Our manner was not lost on Jim. He sobered
+instantly.
+
+"You know we're in the way aboard, if we land the hooker all right," he
+said slowly. "That's clear as mud. You know also that Trunnell and the
+rest aboard the _Pirate_ know we don't belong here and haven't any right
+to stay except as passengers. Trunnell saw us put off in the boat. He
+could see us plainly when we started and was, of course, looking at us
+all the time until the fog closed in. You follow this lay, don't you?"
+
+Chips and I nodded.
+
+"Well, if the _Sovereign_ turns up with our boat load missing and Sackett
+dead, she'll be in good evidence of what all hands aboard the _Pirate_
+saw, won't she?"
+
+It dawned suddenly upon us that this was a fact. Trunnell and Thompson,
+and in fact all hands, were looking after us, waiting for us to come back
+aboard before swinging the yards and standing away again on our course.
+There wasn't a man aboard the _Pirate_, we felt certain, who had not seen
+the boat start away from the ship with our men and Miss Sackett aboard
+her, for they had nothing in the world to do but watch. Then they had
+seen the fog envelop us on our way. We had not turned up, and the only
+thing to infer, if the _Sovereign_ came in without us, was that we had
+missed our way and had gone adrift in the southern ocean. The word of
+Andrews and the rest aboard the English ship could hardly be doubted
+under the circumstances. If we cut adrift in the small boat or were done
+away with as Jim suggested, our friends would be witnesses who would help
+our enemies by any testimony they might give.
+
+Chips dropped his hammer and drew a hand across his forehead, thinking.
+
+"What did the third mate say in regard to our going?" I asked Jim.
+
+"I couldn't hear the talk, only part of a sentence whispered by that
+man-woman when the steward came into the cabin during the mid-watch last
+night with a can of salmon and some ship's bread. They stood near the
+door of the alleyway, talking, and I suddenly came bulging into them with
+rubber boots on. He said something about Andrews being a fine captain and
+perfectly capable of taking this ship in or out any port on the African
+coast. That's all."
+
+I stopped serving the end of the lanyard I was at work on and looked
+across the deck to where Andrews stood with several men. His sinister
+face with its sour smile was turned toward us as though he studied
+our thoughts.
+
+"You're not over busy, Mr. Rolling," said Sackett, coming along the rail
+to the rigging. "I wish you and the carpenter would try to get a gantline
+over the side and look along under her for the butt. In this clear water
+the chances are good for getting a sight of it if it's well up on her
+bilge. We ought to stop her up some while the calm lasts."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+
+At noon Sackett came on deck to take the sun. His second officer,
+Journegan, a heavily built man with mutton-chop whiskers of a colorless
+hue, was incapable of the smallest attempt at navigation, so he stood
+idly by while his superior let the sun rise until it had reached its
+highest point.
+
+"Eight bells," cried Sackett, and went below to work out the sight.
+
+"By the grace of God," echoed Andrews, who had come upon the poop.
+
+The second officer smiled at his attempted wit and struck off the bells.
+He appeared to be quite friendly with Andrews and stopped a moment
+afterward to chat with him.
+
+When we went below to dinner the words of Jim were fresh in my mind. How
+would Andrews try to get clear of us? The fact that he intended to do it
+I firmly believed, for the ruffian had such a sinister character that I
+felt certain his only reason for being apparently satisfied at present
+was because he intended some treachery. What part the third officer of
+the _Pirate_ would play in the affair I could hardly guess. Jim knew
+nothing about him, but since he came aboard with Thompson, there was
+every reason to believe that this rosy-cheeked youngster with the girl's
+voice was an accomplished villain. That Andrews and he understood each
+other was certain. Andrews was most blasphemous at meals, and would
+endeavor to engage Sackett in an argument concerning devils, hell, and
+many other subjects not relating to navigation of the Indian Ocean. At
+such times the third mate would raise his piping voice and plead with
+Andrews not to shock him with his profanity. The second officer of the
+_Sovereign_ appeared to enjoy the situation, and would laugh until
+ordered from the table by Sackett. Miss Sackett, of course, would not
+dine with the rest, but had her meals served in her stateroom by the
+steward, who did it with a very bad grace, grumbling and complaining at
+the extra work. He was a good-looking young man, this steward, and the
+fact that he complained told plainly that there was something between the
+men that was doing away with discipline. The steward's name was Dalton,
+and he was a fair specimen of the London cockney. Stout and strong, he
+was as ignorant as an animal and about as easily persuaded into doing
+things as an obstinate mule. He was also about as hard to dissuade. The
+other men of the _Sovereign's_ crew were Bull England, a powerful sailor
+who had served many years in the navy, and who was also a prize fighter,
+and Dog Daniels, a surly old fellow, who was continually growling at
+everything. He was six feet six inches and over in height, and as lean
+and gaunt as the white albatross hovering over our wake. Journegan, the
+second officer, made the last but not least of the select four who had
+elected to stay aboard with Sackett to take in the ship and get salvage.
+
+If Andrews had weapons, which I had reason to believe he had since his
+show of a revolver upon the captain's table, there would be six armed men
+against thirteen and a woman, for I had no reason to doubt Sackett was to
+be done away with if the rest were.
+
+I pondered while I ate the cold junk and ship's bread, listening to
+Andrews holding forth to Mr. Bell and Journegan upon the fallacy of
+trusting to a power that was highly unintelligible.
+
+"For instance," said he, "for why should I give thanks fer this stinkin'
+junk meat when I don't know but what Dalton, there, has put his dirty
+hands on it an' pisened it fit to kill? How do I know if he washes his
+hands afore cookin', hey? Look at them warts an' tell me if they ain't
+ketchin'. Jest think of a stomach full o' warts. Is that anything to be
+thankful for, I'd like to know."
+
+The idea amused Journegan, but it set me to thinking about the medicine
+chest in spite of myself. Sackett scowled while this sort of talk went
+on, but said nothing to bring forth an outbreak from Andrews. I wondered
+why he did not try to get his men with him and clap the fellow in irons.
+There was every reason to believe they would have obeyed him at first,
+but he hesitated for some religious purpose better known to himself,
+until the fellow had obtained such a sway over the crew that it was now
+doubtful if it could be done without an open fight between them and the
+men he had to back him.
+
+Sackett announced to me that we had made no westing to speak of, on
+account of the ship now being in the southeasterly set of the Agullas
+current. We had drifted along with the topsail and two staysails drawing
+from the main, and a sort of trysail set from a preventer-stay leading
+aft. In spite of this amount of canvas the breeze had been so light that
+the sunken ship had not made a mile in two hours. It was disheartening,
+but if we could only get at the leak and stop some of the water from
+flowing into her, we might get her up a bit and then she would move
+faster. Her hatch-combings were high, and the sea had not washed clear
+over them yet, while her high strakes would be all the tighter, now that
+they had been under water for days. This seemed to be a very fair
+argument, but, while the skipper talked, my eyes were upon the glass case
+at the end of the cabin, where a row of bottles showed through the front
+and above the wooden frames. They contained the drugs usually carried
+aboard ship, and while the skipper talked to me I wondered if there were
+any poisons in that case which would be of service to Andrews. When we
+were through, the captain and I left the cabin, for there had been no
+watches at meals; all had eaten together in order to facilitate matters
+of cooking, the men only eating at different times from the officers.
+
+As we passed up the after-companionway, I looked into the case and
+endeavored to interest the skipper in drugs for the men in case of
+sickness. He showed me a bottle of arnica, one of squibbs, another of
+peppermint, and many other drugs used as simple remedies. At the end of a
+long row was one containing a white powder, unlabelled. I picked it up
+and opened the vial, thinking to taste it to see if it was quinine. Its
+weight, however, made me certain this could not be, and I was just about
+to put a bit on my tongue when Sackett stopped me.
+
+"It's bichloride of mercury. Don't taste it," said he.
+
+I was not much of a chemist; for a mate's knowledge of the atomic theory
+must necessarily be slight.
+
+"What's that?" I asked.
+
+"Oh, a poison. I only keep it for vermin and certain skin diseases. It's
+too deadly to keep around, though, and I've a notion to heave it
+overboard--"
+
+"Steamer on starboard quarter, sir," came the cry of England, who was at
+the wheel.
+
+We were bounding up the companionway in an instant, and looking to the
+northward as soon as our feet struck the deck. There, sure enough, was a
+dark smudge of smoke on the horizon.
+
+"Get the glass," said Sackett.
+
+He took it and gazed hard at the dark streak.
+
+"I can just make out her mastheads. She seems to be coming along this
+way,'" he said, after a moment.
+
+All hands gathered upon the poop and watched the smoke. Those who hadn't
+had their dinner, hastily went below and came up again with the junk in
+their hands, munching it as they stood gazing after the rising mastheads.
+Soon the funnel of the steamer rose above the horizon, and showed that
+she was standing almost directly parallel to our course. We had run up a
+distress signal from the main, and now all waited until the stranger
+should make it out and send a boat or heave to. Our own boat was towing
+astern, so Sackett had her drawn up to the mizzen channels, ready for the
+men to get aboard. Miss Sackett came from below and announced that she
+was ready to accompany the boat.
+
+"If you are silly enough to stay, papa, I can't help it," she said. "I am
+tired of sitting around in a cabin with my feet in the water, eating
+stuff fit for pigs. I think you really ought to give the old boat up."
+
+"So do I, Missy," said Andrews. "I can't think of any good a-coming to
+the old man by staying aboard a craft half sunken like this one. I think
+your girl is giving you good advice, Captain Sackett."
+
+"I think you heard me state just how I felt about the matter, Mr.
+Andrews," replied the captain. "If you're disposed to quit, you can go in
+the boat."
+
+"Oh, no," said the ruffian, "I intend to stay." And he lent such emphasis
+to the last word that Sackett gave him a sharp glance to see if he meant
+anything more.
+
+In half an hour the steamer was passing abreast, and we were in the boat
+rowing hard to head her off. We set a signal on our mast forward, and
+pulled desperately, but she never even slowed down, passing along half a
+mile distant on the calm ocean. She must have seen us, for the day was
+bright and cloudless as could be. We hailed and waved until she was a
+speck to the westward, leaving us alone again save for the sunken ship
+under our lee.
+
+"It's just the way with a Dago," said Jenks. "They always leaves a fellow
+just when they shouldn't, and when I first seen that yaller flag I felt
+pretty sure we'd come in fer somethin' like this."
+
+No one said anything further, for our disappointment was sharp. Even
+Phillippi, the Portuguese, took no offence at the allusion to Dagos, but
+rowed in silence back to the _Sovereign_.
+
+"It seems like you can't leave us," said Andrews, sourly, when we
+returned. "There ain't much room aboard this hooker, an' I don't see why
+you forever turn back to her when you ain't wanted here."
+
+Jenks climbed up the mizzen channels, which were now no higher than the
+boat's bow, and made the painter fast on deck without remark. Chips
+followed him closely.
+
+"If ye mane there's no room aboard fer us, thin why in hell don't ye git
+out th' way an' rid th' ship av a useless ruffian," said the Irishman.
+
+Andrews scowled at him, but changed his look into a sour smile.
+
+"By the grace of the good Lord, I never rips up a sailor for slack jaw
+aboard the Lord's special appointed ship. Maybe we'll settle the matter
+of leaving later on," said the ruffian.
+
+"Let there be an end of this talk, sir," said Sackett. "Get your men to
+work, Mr. Andrews, and you, Mr. Rolling, get the passengers out of that
+boat and stand by to try to find the leak. I don't intend to have any
+more of this eternal bickering."
+
+Miss Sackett was helped aboard again. As she stepped on deck she
+whispered, "There's no use, Mr. Rolling. We will have to get out. The
+only trouble is that the water is gaining slowly in the cabin, and I'm
+afraid for papa."
+
+"It's a pity he won't desert her," I answered; "but if we get away,
+Andrews and the rest will be more apt to help him honestly. They won't
+while we're here, and he won't force any of his men to stay and obey
+orders, as he should. If he only would, we might get the ship in before a
+week more of it."
+
+"It's his way," said the girl. "He believes no captain has the right to
+endanger his men for gain. You couldn't take him by force, for he'd make
+things warm after he got ashore. If we could only get some of the water
+out of her and get away, he could get her in with England, Journegan,
+Daniels, and Dalton. Your two men added would make seven. These men could
+handle the canvas and steer her as well as twelve."
+
+I didn't like to tell her that the devil himself would hardly be safe in
+the same ship with Andrews. It was quite possible that the ruffian would
+turn to and do good work for his share of the salvage when he got clear
+of the rest of us, for the amount would be large and tempting. Sackett
+would be of more service to him alive than dead.
+
+"We'll get at the leak this afternoon, if it's possible," I said, and the
+young girl went back to her stateroom.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+
+It was with anything but rising spirits that Chips went at the leak. He
+had a frame slung outboard some fifteen feet from the ship's side,
+supported by guys from the mainmast and jury foremast. It was after eight
+bells in the afternoon before this was finished, and then Sackett and he
+went out on it to study the ship's bilge through the calm water. It was
+almost flat calm, but the _Sovereign_ had steering way enough to turn her
+side to the slanting sun, letting the light shine under her copper. She
+was so deep, however, nothing could be made out on the smooth green
+surface that showed like a started plank end. Only here and there a lump
+or protuberance appeared, showing a bunch of marine growth, or a bent
+edge of a plate where it had started to rip off. The water of the Indian
+Ocean is always remarkably clear, and this day during the still weather
+it was like liquid air. Objects were as distinctly visible three or four
+fathoms below the surface as those at a corresponding distance on deck.
+
+I joined Sackett and Chips on the frame, and studied the ship's bilge the
+entire length of her waist. In about half an hour we shifted to starboard
+and, by dint of handling the canvas, got her head around so that the sun
+shone under this side. Nothing showed like a leak.
+
+"If a man could dive under her a few times," said Sackett, "he might see,
+with the light as good as it is now. What do you think, Mr. Rolling?"
+
+"It would take a good swimmer to go clear under her broad beam," I
+answered. "I don't believe there's any one aboard who could do it, even
+with a line around him."
+
+England, the stout sailor, was standing near the rail while I spoke.
+
+"If ye don't mind, sir, I'll try me hand at it. Put a line about me body
+to haul me in if a shark takes a notion to make a run fer me. Don't haul
+unless ye have to, mind, or ye'll scrape the hide off me body."
+
+"Go ahead at it," said Sackett.
+
+The heavy man slipped off his jumper in a moment, and I noticed the huge
+muscles of his chest and arms. He must have made a good prize fighter in
+his day. Coming out on the frame, he had the line stopped around his
+waist and then started at the fore rigging to go under the ship to the
+other side.
+
+Nearly all hands came to the rail to watch him, although the water was
+knee deep on the deck at this point. He dived gracefully under the side,
+and as the bubbles disappeared I could see him going like a fish beneath
+the shimmering copper, which gave forth a greenish light in the sunshine.
+The line was payed out fast, and in a few moments he arose to port none
+the worse for the trip.
+
+Nothing came of this, as he was too much taken up with the endeavor to go
+clear to see anything. His next trip was a fathom or so further aft, and
+this time he saw nothing save a very foul bottom. After taking a rest and
+a nip of grog he started again, going more slowly as he gained
+confidence.
+
+Six trips tired him greatly in spite of his strength, and he sat for some
+minutes upon the frame before making his plunge. Then he stood up and
+dived again.
+
+I could see him swimming down, down, down under the ship's bilge, growing
+to a faint brownish yellow speck which wavered and shook with the
+refraction of the disturbed surface. Then while I looked the line
+slacked, and the brownish yellow object beneath wavered into a larger
+size. Evidently he was coming up and had failed to make the five fathoms
+necessary to go clear of the keel. I hauled in the line rapidly, for I
+knew that he must be exhausted to give it up so soon. The wavering brown
+spot grew quickly in size, and in a moment, outlined upon it, I made out
+the figure of England straining away for the surface. I hauled
+frantically to aid him, and the next moment he broke water and was landed
+upon the frame, while the great brown object beneath rose right behind
+him, and took the form of a tremendous hammer-headed shark. It came up in
+an instant and broached clear of the water at least three feet, but
+failed to reach the frame where Bull England clung panting and gasping
+for breath.
+
+"I reckon I've had me dose this time," said he, between his gasps; "I
+almost swam down the feller's throat. I ain't exactly skeered, but I'm
+too tired to try agin this afternoon, so if any one wants me place on the
+end o' this line, he can take it while I rests."
+
+"Faith," said Chips, "if ye ain't skeered ye'll be so fast enough if ye
+go in agin. Look at th' monster! Did ye iver see sech a head? Wan would
+think he had sense enough not to be eatin' av a tough sailorman. Big
+head, nothin' in it, as the sayin' is."
+
+Andrews was standing near the rail and appeared much interested in the
+diver's work. The fact that it had been interrupted angered him. His face
+took on that hideous expression of ferocity I knew meant mischief, and a
+string of the foulest oaths followed. He drew forth his pistol and raised
+it slowly to a line with his eye on the shark's head, now just awash
+under the frame a few feet distant.
+
+"Crack!"
+
+The bullet struck it fair on the crown where it was fully three feet
+across the eyes. It smashed through, and the huge fish sank slowly under
+the force of the stroke.
+
+Then it suddenly recovered itself and tore the water into foam,
+lashing out with its tail and turning over and over, snapping with its
+great jaws.
+
+"It is an unnecessary cruelty, Mr. Andrews," said Sackett, loudly. "Put
+that weapon up. It is no use to kill to satisfy a murderous heart. The
+fish would leave us in a few moments if it were fed."
+
+"Watch the Lord's anointed feed it then," snarled the ruffian, with a
+fierce oath. "Say a pater for its soul, for it's on its way to hell."
+
+With that he fired again as the fish broached clear, and I must say one
+could hardly help admiring his shooting. The heavy bullet struck within
+an inch of the first, although the mark was now several fathoms distant
+and thrashing about at a great rate.
+
+The shark whirled round and started off, leaving a trail of blood which
+showed like a dark cloud in its wake. In a moment it had disappeared.
+
+"Don't swear so hard, my dear Mr. Andrews," cried Mr. Bell, in his high,
+piping voice. "You'll scare all the fish."
+
+Andrews coolly broke his pistol at the breech and tossed out the empty
+shells. Then he reloaded it and handed it to the smiling, rosy-cheeked
+third mate.
+
+"You stand by and take care of things while I spell Bull England a bit,"
+said he. "Journegan," he continued, calling to the English mate, "you
+take the line for a while, and let that young fellow rest, while I try
+her bilge aft."
+
+He stripped off his shirt and stood in his trousers. When I saw him, I no
+longer wondered why I had failed to overcome him in our first set-to. The
+fellow was a perfect mass of muscle, and while I gazed at his strong
+frame I wondered at the power in Trunnell's arms, which held us so tight
+and saved me that first day on board.
+
+He came out on the frame, and I made way for Journegan to take the line.
+He took a turn, and over he went without delay.
+
+After four or five attempts to get under the ship, he finally came to the
+surface with news. He had been under her bilge, clear down to the keel on
+a line with the main channels. Not being able to get further, and seeing
+the dark shadow of the keel ahead, he made out to examine as far as he
+could go. Close to her garboard strake on the starboard side he saw where
+a large butt had started, owing probably to the bad loading of the ship.
+This plank end starting outboard was evidently where the water came in.
+
+Andrews came on deck after this, and all hands began overhauling gear to
+get a mattress upon the hole. Lines were rove and passed under the ship's
+bilge and keel. These were made fast on deck to the stump of the mizzen
+mast, and their ends brought to the capstan through snatch blocks. Planks
+were then strapped loosely on the lines and allowed to run along them
+freely, being weighted sufficiently to cause them to sink. After they
+were slung clear of the ship, they were held in position until a pad of
+canvas and oakum was inserted between them and the side.
+
+It was quite late in the evening before this was accomplished, and work
+had to be stopped until daylight.
+
+At the evening meal Andrews was more sulky than usual. It appeared that
+now, since there was a chance of stopping the leak, we would all be
+aboard the ship when she made port, for with the water out of her we
+might easily make the Cape in a fortnight.
+
+Sackett said grace as usual, standing up and bowing gravely over the
+long board.
+
+"What's the sense of asking the Lord to make us truly thankful for stuff
+what ain't fit to eat anyway," growled Andrews, when he finished. "You
+ain't got nothin' to be so blamed thankful for, captain. This grub'll
+sure make some of the men sick before we're through. If I ain't mistaken,
+some of them will be down with trouble before the leak is swabbed."
+
+"I'll say what I think best, sir, at my table. If you don't like it, you
+can eat with the men," answered Sackett.
+
+"Oh, I never said nothin' to the contrary, did I?" asked the fellow.
+
+"Well, pay a little more attention to your behavior, or I'll make a
+passenger of you on board," said Sackett, who had lost patience.
+
+"I never came here on those conditions, and I fail to accept them, my
+Lord's anointed. I wasn't asked to come aboard here. Since I'm here, I'll
+have my rights, and I don't call to mind the names of any one around
+about this ship as will take it upon theirselves to start an argument to
+the contrary. No, sir, I'll obey orders so long as they're sensible, but
+don't try to run it on a man like me, Sackett. I ain't the sort of stuff
+you're made to run against."
+
+"Oh, Captain Andrews, you have such a dreadful way with you," piped Bell,
+the third mate, in his high voice. "Don't you know you really frightened
+me with such strong words."
+
+Journegan laughed outright.
+
+"If I have to put up with any more of your insolence, sir," said Sackett,
+quietly, "I'll have you bound and put away until we are in port."
+
+"Oh, please don't hurt me, captain," cried Andrews, with his ugly smile.
+"I ain't going to do nothing mutinous."
+
+"Well, stop talking to me, sir. Every word you say is mutinous. I'll have
+silence at this table, sir, if I have to bind you up."
+
+"Cruel, unchristian man!" cried Andrews. "Journegan, my boy, this shows
+the uselessness of prayer. Here's a man praying one minute, and before
+the Lord has time to answer him he's ready to commit murder. Sink me, if
+ever I did see any use of praying one minute and doing things the next.
+It's wrorse than my pore old father used to be. 'My son,' he'd say,
+'shake out the bunt of yer breeches,' which I'd do. Yessir, sink me if I
+didn't do it. 'Shake out the bunt of yer breeches and come here.' Then
+he'd grab me and yank me acrost his knee. 'Lord guide a righteous hand,'
+he'd say, and with that down would come that righteous hand like the roof
+of a house where the bunt of my pants had been. 'Lord give me strength to
+lead him into the straight and narrow path,' he'd whine; and sink me,
+Journegan, if he wouldn't give me a twist that would slew my innerds
+askew and send me flying acrost the room. Lead me into the straight and
+narrow path? Man alive, he'd send me drifting along that path like a
+bullet from a gun. What's the sense of it, hey?"
+
+"There ain't none," said Journegan, snickering and rubbing his whiskers
+in appreciation of his friend's wit.
+
+"Mr. Journegan," said Sackett, "you go on deck, sir."
+
+"What am I doing?" asked the fellow, with a smirk.
+
+"You go on deck, sir, or I'll be forced to take some action in the matter
+of discipline. Do you understand?" continued Sackett, now red in the face
+with anger.
+
+Journegan rose leisurely from the table and went up the companion,
+whistling.
+
+"And now, my young man," continued Sackett, addressing the third mate, "I
+don't want to have to tie you up with your friend, but you are not one of
+my crew, and I'll trouble you to keep still at my table. Mr. Andrews," he
+went on, "you'll have no further authority aboard here, and the sooner
+you get into the boat with the rest, the better it will be for you."
+
+"That's where you make a mistake," said Andrews, coolly. "I'm second in
+command here now, and I'll stay until the ship sinks or goes to port, in
+spite of you or any one else, unless you care to give me credit for my
+share of salvage as a volunteer to bring her in."
+
+"You will go to your room and not take any further part in the management
+of the vessel, I say," Captain Sackett ordered, "If you don't go freely,
+I'll order my men to assist you."
+
+"If there's any one who cares to take the responsibility, let him step
+out and make known his name," said Andrews, in an even tone.
+
+Sackett left the table and went on deck at once. I heard him calling for
+Jenks, England, and the rest, and I started up the companion, thinking to
+take a hand with Chips and Jim and our men. As I did so, Andrews cursed
+me foully, and the third mate made a remark I failed to hear.
+
+Meeting Chips and Johnson, I sent the latter for Jim and Hans. Phillippi
+stood near the wheel, and I beckoned to him. When the six of us were
+together, I told them in a few words that Sackett was going to tie
+Andrews up for mutiny. They would stand by me and give him help if
+necessary.
+
+We waited near the edge of the poop while Sackett told his men what he
+wanted done with Andrews.
+
+"Men," said he, "there's only one captain aboard here, and that is
+myself. If you disobey me, it is mutiny, and you know the penalty."
+
+"It ain't that we're scared of him," said England, "but he's a tough one
+to take without no weapons."
+
+"I don't ask you to run any risk," said Sackett. "I'll take him and give
+him to you to tie up and keep until we're safe in port. You must do this
+or you will be insubordinate."
+
+"Sure," said Dog Daniels, "if you'll take the fellow, we'll guarantee to
+keep him fast enough. Hey, Jenks, ain't that so?"
+
+I thought I saw a suspicion of a smile play over the old sailor's
+wrinkled face, and the seams of his leather-like jaws seemed to
+grow deeper.
+
+"That's it," said Dalton. "You take him, and we'll take care of him until
+you say let him loose."
+
+Journegan was at the wheel with one of the men who had left with the old
+sailor, Jenks. Sackett did not question him in regard to the matter of
+Andrews, as he evidently thought he had already showed signs of mutiny.
+
+"I'm sorry to have this trouble aboard, sir," said Sackett to me, as he
+turned to go down the companion to the cabin. "You and your men can stand
+aside while this matter is arranged satisfactorily. Afterward you will
+have to take your man away with you when you can go."
+
+"I'm very sorry the thing has occurred as it has, captain," I said.
+"We'll stand by you, if you wish, and help you to carry out any orders."
+
+"I don't think it will be necessary," answered Sackett. "However, if
+anything disagreeable happens, I trust you will do what you may for the
+welfare of my daughter, sir. You understand how much she is at the mercy
+of these ruffians, should anything happen to me."
+
+"I will pass my word, sir," I answered. "Your daughter shall come to no
+harm while there are a few American sailors afloat to do anything. I do
+warn you, though, to keep a lookout on that ruffian. He has tried to take
+my life twice, and is under sentence for a murder. Don't let him get his
+gun out at you, or there might be an accident."
+
+"A nice fellow for your captain to send me," said Sackett. "It was no
+fault of yours, my friend, so don't think I blame you," he added hastily.
+
+He started toward the companionway, and had just reached it alone when
+the grizzled head of Andrews appeared above the combings. The fellow
+stood forth on deck and was followed by our third mate.
+
+"Lay aft, here, England and Daniels," cried Sackett.
+
+The men came slowly along the poop. Jenks and Dalton, followed by six
+others of the _Sovereign's_ crew who had chosen to desert the ship,
+walked aft to the quarter to see if there was anything for them to do.
+Some of these men were true to their captain without doubt; but Jenks
+placed himself in their front, and by the strange smile the old sailor
+had, I knew he was looking for trouble.
+
+Sackett went straight up to Andrews and stood before him, and for one
+brief moment the tableau presented was dramatic enough to be impressed
+forcibly upon my memory. It was sturdy, honest manhood against
+lawlessness and mutiny. A brave, kind-hearted, religious man, alone,
+against the worst human devil I have ever seen or heard of. He was,
+indeed, a desperate ruffian, whose life was already forfeited, but
+Sackett never flinched for a moment.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+
+The dull night of the southern ocean was closing around the scene on the
+_Sovereign's_ deck, making the faces of the men indistinct in the gloom.
+The Englishmen stood a little apart from ours, but all looked at the
+captain as he walked up to Andrews. England and Daniels stopped when they
+were within a fathom of their skipper as though awaiting further orders
+before proceeding with their unpleasant duty.
+
+The mutineer turned slowly at Sackett's approach as though disdaining to
+show haste in defence. Then, as the stout, bearded commander halted in
+front of him, he raised his head and gave forth that snort of contempt
+and annoyance which I knew to mean mischief.
+
+"Captain Andrews," said Sackett, "you will turn over your weapons to me,
+sir. I don't allow my officers to carry them aboard this ship. Afterward
+I shall have to place you in arrest until you see fit to obey orders and
+show proper discipline, sir."
+
+"Now see here, my old fellow," said Andrews, "I don't want to hurt you,
+but I've obeyed orders here and will obey them when they don't relate to
+what I shall eat or say at the table. Don't try any of your infernal
+monkey games on me, or you might get hurt."
+
+"Will you hand over your weapon, sir?" said Sackett, advancing, and
+standing close before him.
+
+Andrews pulled out his long revolver and pointed it at the skipper's
+head. Then he gave a snort of anger and glared savagely at the
+Englishman.
+
+Sackett turned to his men.
+
+"Seize him, and disarm him," he ordered. But England and Daniels
+stood motionless. Journegan stepped to one side to keep out of the
+line of fire.
+
+Sackett made a move forward, as if to seize the weapon. There was a sharp
+explosion, and both men disappeared for an instant in the spurt of smoke.
+Then I saw Sackett stagger sidelong across the deck with the roll of the
+ship, and go down heavily upon the wheel gratings. He uttered no word. I
+ran to his side, and saw the ashy hue coming upon his ruddy face, and
+knew his time was short. I heard the uproar of voices that followed the
+moment of silence after the shot, but took no heed. Placing my hand under
+his head, I called for Jim to get some brandy from below. Then I bawled
+for Chips and the rest to seize the murderer.
+
+Sackett turned up his kind eyes to mine, and whispered: "I'll be dead in
+a few minutes, Mr. Rolling. Do what you can for my men. I tried to do my
+duty, sir, and I expect every honest man to do his. Save my--"
+
+The light had gone out. He was limp and dead on the deck of the ship he
+had tried so nobly to save. My hand was wet with blood, and as I withdrew
+it, the wild abhorrence of the thing came upon me.
+
+I stood up, and there, within ten feet of me, was that sneering ruffian
+standing coolly, with his pistol in his hand.
+
+It was such a cold-blooded, horrible thing, done without warning, that I
+was speechless. Chips stood near my side, cursing softly, and looking
+with fierce eyes at the assassin. Jim came up the companionway, but saw
+that all was over. My three sailors were like statues, Phillippi
+muttering unintelligibly.
+
+For nearly a minute after the thing happened I stood there gazing at
+Andrews and the rest, paralyzed for action, but noting each and every
+movement of the men as though some movement on their part would give me a
+cue how to act.
+
+All of a sudden the piping voice of our third mate rose in a laugh, while
+he cried, "He's gone to heaven."
+
+It was as though something gave away within me, and before I fairly knew
+what I was doing, I was rushing upon Andrews to close.
+
+I remember seeing a bright flash and feeling a heavy blow on my left
+side. Then I found myself in the scuppers looking up at a struggle upon
+the _Sovereign's_ quarter-deck.
+
+At the signal of my rush for Andrews, Jim, who was somewhat expert at
+tackling persons, dashed at him also from starboard. Chips instantly
+followed on the other side, and then, our men seeing how things were to
+go, closed from the rear. All six of us would have met at Andrews as a
+converging point, had it not been for the scoundrel's pistol.
+
+His first shot struck me fairly under the heart. It knocked me over, and
+I rolled to port, deathly sick. Thinking for a moment I was killed, I
+made no immediate effort to recover myself, but lay vomiting and
+clutching my side. Then in a moment the weakness began to leave me, and I
+was aware that I was clutching the heavy knife I carried in my breast
+pocket. I drew it forth, and as I did so, something fell to the deck at
+my side, and I saw it was a piece of lead. Then I saw that Andrews's
+bullet had jammed itself into the joint of the hilt, smashing flat on the
+steel and breaking up, part of it falling away as I drew it forth. The
+knife had saved my life; for the shot had been true, and would have been
+instantly fatal had it penetrated.
+
+I started to my feet and saw Jim lying motionless just outside the
+swaying crowd, which had now closed about the murderer. At that instant
+Andrews fired again, and Hans, who had tried to use his knife, staggered
+out of the group and fell dead. Three of the _Sovereign's_ own men who
+had intended going back with us were now in the fracas also, and as I
+started in two more joined.
+
+I saw Phillippi's knife flash for an instant. Then came a fierce oath
+from Andrews, followed by a snort of rage and pain. Another shot followed
+instantly, and Phillippi was lying outside the swaying figures with a
+bloody hole through his forehead.
+
+The only thing I remember as I forced my way into the group and struck at
+the scoundrel was that he had one more shot, and I wondered if he would
+land it before we had him.
+
+He warded off my knife-stroke by a desperate wrench, but the blade ripped
+his right arm to the bone from shoulder to elbow, laming it absolutely.
+Even as it was, he lowered his weapon and fired it instantly as it was
+seized. An Englishman named Williams was struck through the body and
+lived but a moment afterward. Chips now had the weapon by the barrel, and
+just as I was about to drive my knife into the murderer over the shoulder
+of Johnson, a heavy hand seized my collar and I was dragged back.
+Wrenching myself around, I found that I was engaging the tall sailor,
+Daniels, and as I did so, Journegan, England, Dalton, Jenks, and our
+third officer fell upon the crowd which had borne Andrews to the deck.
+
+All of the English sailors who had started to leave the _Sovereign_ were
+now fighting with Chips, Johnson, and myself, making eight men as against
+six. But the six were of the strongest and most determined rascals that
+ever trod a ship's deck.
+
+As every sailor carries a sheath-knife, the fight promised to be an
+interesting one if the men of the _Sovereign's_ crew saw fit to fight it
+out. England, however, who was stronger than any two of our men, did not
+like going into the matter with the same spirit as Journegan, Daniels,
+and Andrews. After he had received a severe cut and had cracked the
+skull of the sailor who had given it by knocking him over the head with
+an iron belaying-pin, he began to retreat along the deck. Chips had
+planted his knife in Andrews's thigh, and had cut Dalton and Journegan
+badly in the mix-up.
+
+The Irishman was unharmed save for a few scratches, and being aided by
+Johnson, he soon had the men backing away toward the break of the poop,
+the third mate crying out shrilly to stop fighting. The queer young man
+was defending Andrews mightily with a knife, and for this reason alone
+the scoundrel managed to get to his feet and retreat with the rest,
+backing away as they did to the mizzen and from there to the poop rail,
+where they were brought to bay.
+
+Daniels, however, fared worse. We had a struggle for some moments alone,
+and just as my knife was in a good position a man struck him from behind,
+throwing him off his guard and letting my blade penetrate his throat
+until it protruded three inches beyond the back of his neck. Then the
+fight was over.
+
+Chips stopped at my side with Andrews's revolver in his hand.
+
+"'Tis a pity we've no cartridges fer th' weepin," he panted;
+"'twould save th' hangman a lot o' trouble. Now there'll be a
+butcher's shop aboard."
+
+"Come on," I said. "You get to starboard, and I'll take the port side.
+We'll rush them and make a finish of it. Here, Frank," I called to a
+sailor, "lend me your knife. Mine's no good for this work."
+
+"My own is broken, sir," said he.
+
+"Hold on," cried Journegan; "we're not making any fight."
+
+I could see the five ruffians talking brokenly together while they
+recovered their breath. Our third mate was holding forth in a piping
+tone, but too low for me to hear the words.
+
+"We don't want to press the outfly any further," said England. "We ain't
+no pirates. All we did was to defend ourselves. One of your fellows cut
+me arm open and I hit him over the head, not meanin' no more than to
+knock him out for the time bein', as the sayin' is."
+
+"Will you surrender and put down your knives?" I asked.
+
+Andrews gave his fierce snort and was about to say something in reply,
+but the third mate seized him and stopped him. The assassin was badly
+wounded and swayed as he stood, but his spirit was not in the least
+beaten. He had killed five men out of six shots from his pistol and would
+have had me in the list but for the knife I placed in my breast as a
+precaution at the warning from Chips on taking him aboard. His coolness
+and steadiness were marvellous. Not a shot had he wasted, and if he had
+been relieved a trifle sooner by his half-hearted followers, he would
+have had the whole crowd of us at his mercy. No man could have faced a
+pistol of that size in the hands of one so quick and steady.
+
+There was no answer to my question, and I repeated it, Chips adding that
+they would go free if they would give up the men who had done killing.
+
+"Why o' course, we ain't no pirates," said Journegan.
+
+"Well, chuck out your knives, or we'll be for closing with you," I cried.
+"This thing is over, and one or the other will be in command."
+
+"Why don't ye take the boat an' go clear? Dalton, here, will give ye the
+provisions, an' you can get to the north'ard and make port. There ain't
+no room for both of us aboard here now, even if we gave up, which we
+ain't got no idea o' doin' unless you come out square an' fair."
+
+"Yes," said Jenks, "you men don't want to make a Kilkenny cat go out of
+this ship. Do the square an' fair thing, an' git out. You know, Tommy,"
+he went on, addressing a sailor, "I don't want to hurt you; but you
+know me. You boys can't make no show agin an old man-o'-war's man like
+me, as has been up to his waist in blood many a time, an' never ware
+the worse for it."
+
+The sailor addressed spoke to me.
+
+"Don't you think it a good way, sir? They are good for us if they try
+hard, for England can whip any three of us, an' I, for one, don't want to
+run against him if it can be helped. We have a boat."
+
+"Nonsense," said Chips. "We must take 'em."
+
+I thought a moment. There was a young girl below. Probably she was even
+now frightened nearly to death. If anything did go wrong with us,--and it
+certainly looked as if it would, when I sized up that crowd,--she would
+be worse than dead. There were seven of us left against six, although
+Andrews was too badly hurt to fear, but they were much better men
+physically. After they had once started to do for us, they were not the
+kind who would stick at anything. I was much exhausted, myself, and while
+I thought the matter over, it seemed as though to go were the better way
+out of the trouble.
+
+Chips, however, insisted on closing with the men.
+
+It took me some minutes to convince him that the young fellows with us
+were not of the kind to depend on in such a fracas, and that he would be
+in a bad way should he tackle England alone. Journegan, Jenks, and Dalton
+were all powerful men, armed with sheath-knives sharper and better than
+our own, for they had evidently prepared for just such an emergency.
+
+"Let Dalton provision the whale-boat, and you men get out," said Mr. Bell
+after I had finished whispering my views to Chips.
+
+"Yes," said the steward; "you men stay where you are, and I'll put the
+stuff aboard for you, and then you can get out."
+
+"All right," I answered; "go ahead."
+
+Some of us sat about the after-skylight, while Andrews and his gang
+disposed themselves, as comfortably as they might, around the mizzen.
+Dalton went down over the poop, and entered the cabin from forward, and
+Chips, Johnson, and myself looked over our dead.
+
+Jim lay where he fell. There was no sign of life, and Chips swore softly
+at the villain's work, when we laid his head back upon the planks. Hans
+breathed slightly, but he was going fast. We poured some spirits between
+his lips, but he relaxed, and was lifeless in a few minutes. Phillippi
+lay with his eyes staring up at the sky. His knife was still clutched in
+his dark hand, and his teeth shone white beneath his black mustache. The
+other sailor was dead, and while we looked for some sign of life, I heard
+a smothered sob come from aft. We turned and saw a slender white form
+bending over the body of Captain Sackett. The moon was rising in the
+east, lighting the heavens and making a long silver wake over the calm
+ocean. By its light I made out Miss Sackett, holding the head of her dead
+father in her lap, and crying softly.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+
+The moon rose higher, and Dalton came and went, carrying provisions
+up from the cabin. These he lowered into our boat, which was hauled
+alongside, Jenks taking a hand when necessary, although he never came
+aft far enough to encounter any of our men. Andrews sat quietly on
+the deck and had his cuts bound up and dressed, while Mr. Bell went
+below to the medicine chest for whatever he wanted. We kept well
+apart, each side feeling a distrust for the other, and neither caring
+to provoke a conflict.
+
+In about an hour Dalton announced the boat was ready.
+
+"There's salt junk enough for all hands a week or two, and ship's bread
+for a month. There's water in the breaker. You can go when you're ready,"
+said Journegan.
+
+I went aft to Miss Sackett, where she had sat motionless for a long time
+with her face buried in her hands, as if to shut out the cruel sight
+around her.
+
+"We will leave the ship in a few minutes," said I, taking her by the
+hand, and trying to raise her gently to her feet. "You must try to bear
+up to go with us. Try to walk evenly and quickly when the time comes, for
+there may be a struggle yet."
+
+She let fall her hands from her face, and I saw her eyes, dry and bright
+in the moonlight.
+
+"Can't you kill them?" she asked quietly. "Oh, if I were only a man!"
+Then she drew herself up to her full height, and gazed hard at the group
+of ruffians at the mizzen.
+
+"I'll have to go below first, and get my things," she said. "I suppose
+you know what is best, to go or stay?"
+
+"Hurry," I said. "I will wait here at the companion."
+
+She went below with a firm tread, and I heard her slam the door of her
+stateroom. Andrews looked toward me and spoke.
+
+"You can leave the girl aboard," said he. "You'll have enough in
+the boat."
+
+"Chips," I called, "stand by for a rush. Don't let Dalton get forward
+alive. Miss Sackett either goes with us, or we all stay here together and
+fight it out."
+
+Andrews, who had recovered somewhat, now staggered to his feet and drew
+his knife.
+
+"Stand by and follow along the port rail," he said to Journegan and
+England. "You two," addressing Bell and Jenks, "go to starboard."
+
+Dalton, who was below and separated from his fellows, would be our
+object.
+
+Jenks, however, remonstrated at the attack.
+
+"Hold on," said he, and England stopped. "What's the use of crowding in
+this thing like this? Some of us will get killed sure with seven fresh
+men out for it, and what's the use? All for a gal. No, sir, says I,
+don't go making a fool job of the thing. I ain't out for murder, not
+fer no gal."
+
+"You'll do as I say or get done," answered Andrews, with a fierce snort,
+turning toward him.
+
+Jenks backed toward us, and Bell tried to hold Andrews back. He partly
+succeeded, but was close enough to the old man-o'-war's man to get a
+slight cut from a blow meant for Andrews. Then England took a hand, and
+with Journegan they held the assassin in check.
+
+Jenks came toward us.
+
+"I'll go with you fellows if you say so," said he, and he tossed his
+knife over the rail to show that he meant no treachery.
+
+"'Tis a little late ye are, but ye're welcome," said Chips, who had
+advanced at my cry nearly to him. Frank, the young English sailor, and
+Johnson were both close behind Chins, with the rest following. It looked
+as if there would be a collision, after all.
+
+"Take the girl and go," screamed Bell, almost fainting from the
+cut received.
+
+"Yes, take her and be damned!" cried Journegan. "Only get off before it's
+too late."
+
+"Seems to me," said Chips, "we could do for them now wid no trouble.
+Let's try 'em."
+
+Johnson advanced at the word, but I called him back just as Chips was
+making ready for a spring at England. The big prize fighter had made
+ready for the Irishman, and for an instant it seemed that we would have
+another ending of the affair.
+
+"Come," I said to one of the young sailors who held back, "get aboard the
+small boat," and the fellow, who was shrinking from the knives, took the
+opportunity to get away. This made Chips hesitate, and in another moment
+I had two more of the men going over the side.
+
+Miss Sackett came on deck. Her face was ruddy even in the moonlight, but
+she carried herself with a firm step to the mizzen channels.
+
+"Stand by and hold her below there," I bawled, and a man received her
+into the boat. Then I called to the rest of our fellows and threw a leg
+over the rail to signify that we were going. They came along, Chips last,
+with Johnson at his side. The carpenter was furious and wanted to fight
+it out, and it would have taken very little to have set him upon them
+alone. They, however, when Andrews had been overcome, were by no means
+anxious to engage. This seemed strange to me, for they certainly were men
+who feared nothing, and the sooner we were out of the way, the surer they
+were of getting safe off with their necks. Just what made Bell so
+determined to have us go was a puzzle to me. As Chips climbed over the
+rail, England came to the side with Journegan. I expected some outburst,
+and for an instant the carpenter was at a disadvantage. But they let him
+go over without a hostile movement. He stood up in the bow while a man
+shoved off.
+
+"Ah, ye raskils, it's like runnin' away we are, but we ain't. It's but
+lavin' to th' hangman what I'd do meself, curse ye."
+
+The boat of the _Sovereign_ towing at the quarter came abreast us as we
+dropped back. Chips still standing and glaring at the ship, with rage in
+his voice and eyes.
+
+He stooped down and lifted an oar as the small boat came alongside, and
+with a half-suppressed yell smote her with all his strength upon the
+gunwale. The oar crashed through nearly to the water line under the power
+of the stroke.
+
+"Blast ye," he cried, "ye'll niver leave that ship alive," and he smote
+the boat again and again, crushing her down until she began to fill.
+Johnson took a hand also in spite of England and Journegan hauling away
+at the painter. Our men backed water so hard they held her back until the
+boat was hopelessly stove and had settled to the thwarts. Then we let go
+and drifted away, while the men aboard the _Sovereign_ hurled
+belaying-pins and gratings at us.
+
+"A pleasant voyage to you," came the soft notes of Mr. Bell's voice; and
+then we rowed slowly away to the northward, leaving the _Sovereign_ a
+dark, sunken grisly thing against the moonlit sky.
+
+"Rig the mast and sail," I said. "It's no use getting tired before the
+struggle comes. We're some six hundred miles out, and may not raise a
+vessel for days."
+
+The oars were taken in, and the tarpaulin which had done duty for a sail
+was rigged. Under the pressure of the light air the whale-boat made
+steering-way and a little more. The moon now made the night as light as
+day, and although it was slightly chilly in this latitude, we suffered
+little from the exposure, each settling himself into the most comfortable
+position possible, and gazing back at the strange black outline of the
+wrecked ship. Her sunken decks and patched-up jury rig with the trysail
+set from the after-stay gave her an uncanny look, while her masts and
+spars with the set canvas seemed as black as ink against the light sky
+beyond. There she lay, a horrid, ghastly thing, wallowing along slowly
+toward a port she would never reach.
+
+While I looked at her, Miss Sackett burst into a hard laugh which jangled
+hysterically. She had been silent since she had entered the boat, and
+this sudden burst startled me. Her eyes were fixed upon the grim
+derelict. They shone in the moonlight and she choked convulsively.
+
+"Can I hand you some water, ma'm?" asked Jenks.
+
+"What made you come with us, you rogue?" she asked, without
+turning her head.
+
+"I was with ye from the start, s'help me," said Jenks. "I only goes with
+the other side when I feared they'd kill all hands."
+
+"Well, it's a good thing for you, you contemptible rascal," she answered
+in an even tone.
+
+All of a sudden I noticed a flicker of light above the cabin of the
+_Sovereign_. It died away for an instant and then flared again, Miss
+Sackett laughed convulsively.
+
+"Look," she said.
+
+At that instant a red glare flashed up from the derelict. It shone on her
+maintopsail and staysails and lit up the ocean around her.
+
+"Faith, but she's afire," cried Chips. "Look at them."
+
+I turned the boat's head around and ran her off before the wind, hauling
+up again and standing for the wreck to get near her. Miss Sackett seized
+my arm and held it fast.
+
+"Don't go back for them!" she cried. "You shall not go back for them!"
+
+"I haven't the least intention of going for them," I answered; "I only
+wanted to get close enough to see what they'd do. Did you set her afire?"
+I asked bluntly.
+
+"Of course I did," said the girl, passionately. "Do you suppose I didn't
+hear them telling you I should have to remain aboard? What else was there
+left for me to do? Would you have me fall into their hands?"
+
+"Lord save ye, but ye did the right thing," said Chips. Johnson echoed
+this sentiment.
+
+"An' I knew ye ware up to somethin' of the kind when ye went below,"
+said Jenks, "fer I smelled the smoke and thought to stop it, but there
+ware too much risk as it was to add fire, so I had to step out o' the
+crowd an' jine ye. I never did nothin' in the fracas, as ye know, except
+get hurt."
+
+In ten minutes we were close aboard the derelict, and her cabin was a
+mass of flame. Figures of men showed against the light amidships, and I
+finally made out all hands getting out a spar and barrels to make a raft.
+The oil in the cargo, however, was too quick for them. It had become
+ignited aft and had cut off all retreat by the stove-in boat. Several
+explosions followed, and the flames roared high above the maintopsail.
+Journegan, Andrews, and another man were seen making their way forward
+across the sunken deck. The heat drove them to the topgallant forecastle
+and in a few minutes we could see all standing there near the windlass.
+The bitts sheltered them from the heat.
+
+The oil in the ship was not submerged in the after part, owing to her
+trimming by the head. It had been the last stuff put aboard and was well
+up under her cabin deck. Even that which was awash caught after the fire
+had started to heat things up well, and the entire after part of the
+_Sovereign_ was a mass of flames. They gave forth a brilliant light,
+glowing red and making the sky appear dark beyond. Great clouds of sparks
+from the woodwork above soared into the heavens. The light must have been
+visible for miles.
+
+There was absolutely no escape for the men aboard now, except by getting
+away on some float. Journegan, Dalton, and England were working hard at
+something on the forecastle which appeared to be a raft. The one they had
+started aft they had been forced to abandon after an explosion. The
+carpenter's tools being below in the hold when the ship filled, they had
+nothing but their knives and a small hatchet left to work with.
+
+Suddenly Mr. Bell made us out in the darkness less than a quarter
+of a mile distant. He screamed for us to come back and take him off
+the derelict.
+
+"Pay no attention to him," said Chips.
+
+I hesitated, with the tiller in my hand. The end of those men seemed so
+horrible that I forgot for the instant what they had done.
+
+"You shall not go back for them while I'm aboard this boat," said Miss
+Sackett, quietly, from her seat beside me, and she seized the tiller
+firmly to luff the craft.
+
+"I didn't intend to," I answered; "yet that man's cry had so much of the
+woman in it that it was instinctive to turn."
+
+"Instinctive or not, here we stay. He is the biggest devil of the lot,"
+answered the girl. "There's some horrible game in getting us away. I'm
+certain of it, but don't know what it can be. We'll find out when it's
+too late."
+
+"We might take them aboard one at a time and bind them," I suggested.
+This was greeted with growlings from Chips and Johnson. Even Jenks
+declared it would never do, and the other sailors made antagonistic
+remarks. There was nothing to do but keep away and let them save
+themselves as best they might.
+
+We sailed slowly around the wreck, watching her burn. Hour after hour she
+flamed and hissed, the heat being felt at a hundred fathoms distant. And
+all the while, the sharp, piping voice of our third mate screamed shrilly
+for succor.
+
+After midnight the _Sovereign_ had burned clear to the water line from
+aft to amidships. Even her rails along the waist were burning fiercely
+with the oil that had been thrown upon them by the explosions of the
+heated barrels. And as she burned out her oil, she sank lower and lower
+in the water until she gave forth huge clouds of steam and smoke instead
+of flaring flames. In the early hours of the morning, we were still
+within two hundred fathoms of her; and she showed nothing in the gray
+light save the mainmast and the topgallant forecastle. Her canvas had
+gone, and the bare black pole of her mast stuck out of the sea, which now
+flowed deep around the foot of it. Upon the blackened forecastle head,
+five human forms crouched behind the sheltering bulk of the windlass.
+They were silent now and motionless. While I looked, one of them
+staggered to his feet and stretched out his hands above his head, gazing
+at the light in the east. It was Andrews. He raised his clenched fists
+and shook them fiercely at us and at the gray sky above. Then over the
+calm, silent ocean came the fierce, raving curses of the doomed villain.
+
+A gentle air was stirring the swell in the east, which soon filled our
+sail. We kept the boat's head away until she pointed in the direction of
+the African cape. And so we sailed away, with the echoes of that
+villain's voice ringing in our ears, calling forth fierce curses upon the
+God he had denied.
+
+I turned away from the horrible spectacle of that grisly hulk with its
+human burden. As I did so, my eyes met those of Miss Sackett. She lowered
+hers, took out her handkerchief and, bowing over, buried her face in it,
+crying as though her heart would break.
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+
+"If you'll pass the pannikin, I'll take a drink, sir," said Jenks, after
+the sun had risen and warmed the chilly air of the southern ocean.
+
+I tossed the old man-o'-war's man the measure, and he proceeded to draw a
+cupful from the water breaker, which was full and lay amidships.
+
+"It's an uncommon quare taste the stuff has, sure enough," said he, after
+he had laid aside his quid and drank a mouthful, "Try a bit, Tom," he
+went on, and passed the pannikin to a sailor next him.
+
+"You're always lookin' fer trouble, old man," said the sailor, draining
+off the cupful.
+
+"An' bloomin' well ready to get out of it by any way he can," added
+another. "Fill her up agin an' let me have some. This sun is most hot, in
+spite of the breeze. Blast me, Jenks, but you're a suspicious one. It's a
+wonder you ever go to sleep."
+
+The young sailor, Tom, put down the cup and watched Jenks draw it full
+again. Then he grew pale.
+
+"Hold on a bit with that water, you men. There's something wrong with
+it," he said. He gulped and placed his hand over his abdomen, while a
+spasm of pain passed over his features.
+
+"My God!" he muttered, and doubled up. Then he vomited violently and his
+spasms increased.
+
+I saw Chips turn white under his tan, and Johnson look with staring eyes
+at the water breaker, as though it were a ghost.
+
+"Knock in the head," I said, "and let's see what's inside of it."
+
+Two men held the poor fellow gasping over the rail while his agony grew
+worse. The rest crowded around aft as much as possible to see what
+terrible fate was in store for us.
+
+The breaker was upended in a moment. Jenks stove in the head with an oar
+handle, and we peered inside.
+
+The water was a clear crystal, like that in the _Sovereign's_ tanks. It
+was not discolored in the least.
+
+"Pass the bailer here," I said; "and then turn the barrel so we can get
+the sunlight into it."
+
+I bailed out a few quarts, looked at it carefully, tasted it slightly,
+and then put it carefully back again. I noticed a strange acrid taste.
+The barrel was turned toward the sun, and its light was allowed to shine
+straight into its depths. I put my head down close to the surface and
+peered hard at the bottom. Then I was aware of a whitish powder which
+showed against the dark wood. Reaching down, some of this was brought up;
+and then I recognized the same powder Captain Sackett had told me was
+bichloride of mercury.
+
+By this time Tom was in convulsions. He strained horribly, and we could
+do nothing to relieve his agony. Brandy was given, but it did no good,
+and finally he lost consciousness. Miss Sackett nursed him tenderly and
+did all she could to make him comfortable, but it was no use.
+
+The horror of the thing fairly took my senses for a moment. There we
+were, miles away from land, without water. The villains had meant us to
+tell no tales. All adrift in an open boat, with food and water poisoned,
+we had a small chance indeed of ever telling the story of the
+_Sovereign's_ loss. Vessels were not plentiful at the high latitude we
+were in; and, as we were out of the trade, it was doubtful if we could
+even get into the track of the regular Cape route inside a week, to say
+nothing of being picked up. It seemed as though Andrews' villany would
+finish us yet.
+
+Far away on the southern horizon, the single mast stuck up above the blue
+water like a black rod. I stood up and gazed at it. Chips appeared to
+read my thoughts, for he spoke out:--
+
+"'Tis no use now, sir; the tanks would be a couple o' fathoms deep, an'
+we couldn't get at them. She won't float more'n a day or two, anyhow, wid
+th' afterdeck an' cargo burnt free. She'll go under as soon as the oil's
+washed out wid a sea, and that'll be th' last av a bad ship."
+
+I saw that the carpenter was right. There was no water for either Andrews
+or ourselves, and it would be foolish to go back to force the tank.
+
+"Heave the stuff overboard," I said, and Johnson and Jenks raised the
+barrel upon the rail. It poured out clear into the blue ocean, and showed
+no sign of its deadly character.
+
+"Break out that barrel of ship's bread," said Chips.
+
+It was found to be moistened with water all through, and as even the
+little poison I had drunk made me horribly nauseated, there was no
+thought of tasting the stuff. Over the side it went, floating high in the
+boat's wake. Then came the beef.
+
+"Hold on with that," said Miss Sackett. "It isn't likely they'd poison
+everything. I don't remember there being over several pounds of that
+mercury in the medicine chest, and you know it won't dissolve readily in
+water. They must have had something to dissolve it in first, and it would
+have taken too long to fill everything full of the stuff."
+
+"Who cares to taste the beef?" I asked.
+
+"Give me a piece, sir," said Johnson.
+
+He put it in his mouth and chewed slowly upon it at first, as though not
+quite certain whether to swallow it or not. Finally he mustered courage
+and made away with a portion of it, waiting some minutes to see if it
+produced pain. It was apparently all right, and then he swallowed the
+rest. We concluded to keep the beef and eat it as a last resort.
+
+The breeze freshened in the southeast, and we ran along steadily. If it
+held, we could make about a hundred miles a day, and raise the African
+coast within a week. There was a chance, if we could stand the strain.
+
+It was now the sixth day since we had left the _Pirate_, and we figured
+that she must have rounded the Cape, and would now be standing along up
+the South Atlantic with the steady southeast trade behind her. Other
+ships would be in the latitude of Cape Town, and if we could make the
+northing, we might raise one and be picked up. I pictured the horrors the
+poor girl sitting beside me must endure if we were adrift for days in the
+whale-boat. What she had already gone through was enough to shake the
+nerves of the strongest woman, but here she sat, quietly looking at the
+water, her eyes sometimes filled with tears, while not a word of
+complaint escaped her lips.
+
+Her example nerved me. I had passed the order to stop all talking except
+when necessary, as it would only add to thirst. We ran along in silence.
+
+We had no compass save the one hanging to my watch-chain, as big as my
+thumb-nail, but I managed to make a pretty straight course for all that.
+The wind freshened and was quite cool. The sunlight, sparkling over the
+ocean, which now turned dark blue with a speck of white here and there to
+windward, warmed us enough to keep off actual chill, but the men who had
+taken off their coats to make a little more of a spread to the fair wind
+soon requested permission to put them on again. Sitting absolutely quiet
+as we were, the air was keener than if we were going about the sheltered
+decks of a ship.
+
+On we went, the swell rolling under us and giving us a twisting motion.
+Sometimes we would be in a long hollow where the breeze would fail. Then,
+as we rose sternwrard, the little sail would fill, and away we would go,
+racing along the slanting crest of the long sea, the foam rushing from
+the boat's sides with a hopeful, hissing sound, until the swell would
+gain on us and go under, leaving the boat with her bow pointing up the
+receding slope and her headway almost gone, to drop into the following
+hollow and repeat the action.
+
+The English sailor who had drank the water was now stone dead. Johnson
+gave me a look, and I began a conversation with Miss Sackett, endeavoring
+to engage her attention. A splash from forward made her look, and she saw
+what had happened. Then she turned and, looking up at me, placed her soft
+little hand on mine which lay upon the tiller.
+
+"You are very good to me, Mr. Rolling, but I can stand suffering as well
+as a man," she said. "I thank you just the same." Then her eyes filled
+and she turned away her face. I found something to fix at the rudder
+head, and when I was through she was looking over the blue water where
+the lumpy trade clouds showed above the horizon's rim.
+
+As the day wore on, the hunger of the men began to show itself. Jenks
+kept his wrinkled, leather face to the northward, looking steadily for a
+sail, but the other sailors glanced aft several times, and I noticed the
+strange glare of the eye which tells of the hungry animal. Some of these
+men had eaten nothing for twenty-four hours. One big, heavy-looking young
+sailor glanced back several times from the clew of his eye at the girl
+sitting aft. But I fixed my gaze upon him so steadily that he shifted his
+seat and looked forward.
+
+Late in the afternoon some of the men insisted on eating the beef, and it
+was served to them. No ill effects followed, so all hands took their
+ration. This satisfied them for the time being, but I knew the thirst
+which must surely follow. I had been adrift in an open boat before in the
+Pacific. There had been sixteen men at the start, and at the end of four
+weeks of horror seven had been picked up to tell a tale which would make
+the blood curdle. The memory of this made me sick with fear and anxiety.
+
+Johnson felt so much better from his meal that he stood in the bow with
+his little monkey-like figure braced against the mast, his legs on the
+gunwales. He said jokingly that he'd raise a sail before eight bells in
+the afternoon. Suddenly he cried out:--
+
+"Sail dead ahead, sir!"
+
+"'Tis no jokin' matter," growled Chips, angrily. "Shet yer head, ye
+monkey, afore I heave ye over th' side."
+
+Johnson turned fiercely upon him.
+
+"Jokin', you lummax! Slant yer eye forrads, an' don't sit there a-lookin'
+at yerself," he snarled.
+
+"Steady, there!" I cried. "Where's the vessel?"
+
+"Right ahead, sir, and standing down this ways, if I see straight."
+
+I stood up on the stern locker and looked ahead. Sure enough, a white
+speck showed on the northern horizon, but I couldn't see enough of the
+craft's sails to tell which way she headed.
+
+The men all wanted to stand at once, and it took some sharp talk to
+get them under control; but the young girl at my side showed no signs
+of excitement. I looked at her, and her gentle eyes looked straight
+into mine.
+
+"I knew she would come," she said. "I've prayed all the morning."
+
+In twenty minutes, spent anxiously watching her, the ship raised her
+topsails slowly above the line of blue, and then we saw she really was
+jammed on the wind and reaching along toward us rapidly.
+
+"'Tis the _Pirit_, an' no mistake!" cried the carpenter. "Look at them
+r'yals! No one but th' bit av a mate, Trunnell, iver mastheaded a yard
+like that."
+
+"The _Pirate_!" yelled Johnson, from forward.
+
+And so, indeed, it really was.
+
+I looked at her and then at the sweet face at my side. All the hard lines
+of suffering and fright had left it. The eyes now had the same gentle,
+trusting look of innocence I had seen the first morning we had taken off
+the _Sovereign's_ crew. The reaction was too much for me. I was little
+more than a boy in years, so I reached for the girl's hand and kissed it.
+
+When I looked up I caught the clew of Jenks' eye, but the rest were
+looking at the rapidly approaching ship.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+
+When the _Pirate_ neared us, we could make out a man coming down the
+ratlines from the foretop, showing that she had evidently sighted us even
+before we had her. As she drew nearer still, we could see Trunnell
+standing on the weather side of the poop, holding to a backstay and
+gazing aloft at his canvas, evidently giving orders for the watch to bear
+a hand and lay aft to the braces. He would lay his mainyards aback and
+heave her to. Along the high topgallant rail could be seen faces, and on
+the quarter-deck Mrs. Sackett stood with our friend Thompson, better
+known in the Antipodes as Jackwell, the burglar. As I watched him
+standing there pointing to us, I thought of poor Jim.
+
+"Wheel down," I heard Trunnell bawl as the ship came within fifty fathom.
+"Slack away that lee brace; steady your wheel."
+
+Before the ship's headway had slackened we had out the oars and were
+rowing for her. In a moment a sailor had flung us a line, and we were
+towing along at the mizzen channels, with the men climbing aboard as fast
+as they could.
+
+Miss Sackett was passed over the rail, and her mother took her below. I
+was the last one except Johnson to climb up. He stood at the bow ready to
+hitch on the tackles. But other men took his place, and as I went over
+the rail Thompson came and shook my hand warmly.
+
+"Sink me, Mr. Rolling, but you've had a time of it, hey?" he said. "How
+are the men on the _Sovereign_? We've been standing along north and south
+for six days, expecting to pick you up, and here you are. It's all that
+Trunnell's doings. I was for going ahead the day we missed you, but that
+big-headed little rascal insisted on hunting for you after seeing you
+leave the wreck. Where's Jim and Phillippi, and the rest?"
+
+The sincerity of his welcome had taken me off my guard, and I found
+myself standing there shaking his hand. Then I recovered myself.
+
+"It's a pity Captain Thompson missed this ship the day she sailed," I
+said quietly. "We were informed the night before that he'd be with us. It
+might have saved the lives of some good men."
+
+He let go my hand and smiled strangely at me, his hooked nose working,
+and his eyes taking that hard glint I knew so well.
+
+"So you were really waiting for a man you'd never seen, hey? Was that
+the lay of it? And when I came aboard and said I was Thompson, you
+gulped down the bait, hey, you bleeding fool. Who the dickens do you
+think I am, anyhow?"
+
+"I happen to know that you pass by the name of Jackwell," I said. "Here,
+Chips," I called, but the carpenter was already at my side. "What name
+did Jim give the captain, and what was his business?"
+
+"'Tis no use av makin' any more av it, cap'n. We know all about ye. Th'
+best thing ye can do is to step down from the quarter-deck."
+
+"Trunnell," said Thompson, with his drawl, "what d'ye think of these men
+coming back clean daft?"
+
+The mate was close beside us, giving orders for the disposal of the small
+boat, and he turned and clasped my hand for the first time.
+
+"Mighty glad t' see ye both back. I suppose the rest are aboard the
+_Sovereign_" said he, looking us over.
+
+"And they come aboard with a tale that I'm some other man than Captain
+Thompson; that I knew that he was coming, and got aboard before him and
+went out in his place," said Jackwell. "Sink me, Trunnell, but I'm afeard
+you'll have to put them in irons."
+
+"That's quare enough," said the mate, with a smile. "Come below, Rolling,
+and let's have yer yarn. You, too, Chips, ye'll need a nip of good stuff
+as well. I'm sorry ye've turned up with a screw loose. All right, cap'n.
+Square away when ye're ready. The boat's all right." And the little
+bushy-headed fellow turned and led the way down over the poop, entering
+the forward cabin, where the steward was waiting to tell us how glad he
+was we had turned up, and also serve out good grog with a meal of
+potatoes and canned fruit.
+
+I was so tired and hungry from the exertions of the past
+twenty-four hours that I went below without further protest, Chips
+following sullenly.
+
+"I'se sho nuff glad to see yo' folks agin, Marse Rolling," said the
+steward. "Take a little o' de stuff what warms an' inwigerates."
+
+We fell to and ate heartily, and while we did so we told our story.
+Trunnell sat, and every now and again scratched his bushy head with
+excitement and interest while we told of the way Andrews had done. When
+we told how Jim had come to be aboard the _Pirate_, he walked fore and
+aft on the cabin deck, shaking his head from side to side, and muttering.
+
+"Was Jim the only one who knew about the business?" he asked.
+
+We told him he was, and that no one but Chips and myself had heard what
+the detective had said.
+
+Trunnell sat with his hands in his hair for the remainder of the time we
+were filling ourselves. He said nothing further until Chips made some
+remark about his taking the ship in. Then he arose and stood before us.
+
+"It may be as ye say, Rolling. I'd hate to doubt your word, and don't,
+in a way, so to speak. But discipline is discipline. You men know that.
+Our captain comes aboard with a letter sayin' as he's the Thompson
+what'll take the ship out. We has orders to that effect from the owners.
+It ain't possible another man could have known o' the thing so quick,
+and come aboard to take his place. Leastways, we hain't got no evidence
+but the word of a sailor who's dead, to the contrary. It may be as ye
+say, but we'll have to stick to this fellow until we take soundings.
+When we gets in, then ye may tell yer tale an' find men to back it.
+Don't say no more about it while we're out, for it won't do no good, an'
+may get ye both in irons. 'Twas a devil ye had for a shipmate when
+Andrews went with ye,--a terrible man, sure enough. I've insisted on
+standing backwards an' forrads along the track for nearly a week in
+hopes we'd pick ye up, an' I've nearly had trouble with the old man for
+waiting so long. He's heard o' the fracas, an' will stand along to pick
+up his third mate. I don't know as he'll care for Andrews, but he'll
+take the girl-mate sure if he's afloat."
+
+"There's no use av makin' any bones av the matther, Mr. Trunnell," said
+Chips. "That third mate an' the murderin' devil ain't comin' aboard this
+here ship. Ef they do, I'll kill them meself whin they comes over th'
+side." And he arose, lugging out the revolver he had taken from the
+ruffian at the close of the fight.
+
+I stepped into my room and brought forth my own, handing Chips some
+cartridges for his.
+
+"I think the men will stand to us in the matter, Trunnell," I said.
+
+The little mate looked sorrowfully at us both, and shook his great
+head slowly.
+
+"'Tain't no use o' makin' a fuss," he said at last. "Discipline is
+discipline, an' you knows it. If the captain wants them fellows aboard,
+aboard they comes, and no one here kin stop them. There's only one
+captain to a ship. When his orders don't go, there's blood an' mutiny an'
+piracy an' death aboard. Put up your guns. Don't let's say no more about
+it till we raise them, for maybe they're gone under by this time. We
+won't reach the wreck anyways afore night."
+
+It happened as he said. When we went on deck, the _Pirate_ had swung her
+yards and was standing along in the direction we had come. Thompson, or
+rather Jackwell, walked fore and aft on the weather side of the poop, and
+gazed at each turn at the horizon ahead. A lookout was posted in the
+foretop, while the rest of the men lounged about the decks and discussed
+the situation and the tragedy of the day before.
+
+Chips was for open mutiny, and Johnson backed him. All our men were in
+sympathy with us, and some were so outspoken that they could be counted
+on if a fresh fracas occurred. The majority, however, were so well under
+control that they appeared to be satisfied to obey orders under any
+conditions. The Englishmen were neutral. All except Jenks were silent or
+advised the recognition of the established authority, telling how we
+could square matters afterward with our enemies.
+
+This shows how a sailor is at the mercy of any one who has been
+established in authority. If he resists in any manner, he is mutinous and
+is liable to the severest penalties. Here we were with every prospect of
+having Andrews and our third mate on board again, to go through some
+other horror, unless we turned pirates and took the ship. This was a
+risky thing to attempt, for if successful and there was any bloodshed, we
+would certainly either swing or pass under a heavy sentence. That is, of
+course, if we failed to prove that Thompson was the rascal Jim had told
+us he was. On the other hand, if we failed, there was the absolute
+certainty of being at the mercy of the rascal's cruelty, unless Trunnell
+would be able to control them all.
+
+The little mate was a strange character. He believed in obeying orders
+under any conditions whatever, unless absolute proof could be had that
+the one who gave the orders was unauthorized to do so. In spite of his
+friendship for me, I knew full well that he would die rather than disobey
+the captain, no matter what the order was, provided he considered it a
+legitimate one. The fact that the men had committed horrible crimes did
+not in any manner disinherit them from the ship in his opinion. They
+should be dealt with afterward according to the law.
+
+I took no part in an argument. Neither did Trunnell or the skipper. They
+both seemed satisfied of their position and took no pains to talk to the
+men as if they suspected a rising. I stood in the waist and remained
+looking steadily at the horizon until the sun dipped, and there was every
+prospect that night would come before we raised the black mast of the
+wreck. My pistol was in my pocket ready for instant use, and I saw by the
+bunch under Chips' coat that he was also ready. His small black mustache
+was worked into points under the pressure of his nervous fingers, and he
+sat on the hatch-combings apart from all save Johnson. The sailor walked
+athwartships before him on the deck as if to get the stiffness out of his
+little legs, which seemed now thinner than ever, as the setting sun shone
+between them through the curious gap.
+
+The upper limb of the red sun was just touching the line of water when
+the man in the foretop hailed the deck.
+
+"Wreck on weather bow, sir!" he bawled.
+
+My heart gave a great jump and I looked at Chips. Johnson made a movement
+with his hand as if holding a knife and went to the weather rail and
+looked over.
+
+"Weather maintopsail brace!" came the call from Trunnell. The men came
+tumbling aft and took their places.
+
+"Lee braces, Mr. Rolling," he called again, and I crossed the deck,
+knowing that he would jam her as high as he could to make as far to
+windward as possible before darkness set in.
+
+We braced her sharper, and she pointed a bit higher, but she could not
+quite head up to the black stick that showed above the horizon. The wind,
+however, was steady, and under her royals the _Pirate_ was about the
+fastest and prettiest ship afloat. She heeled gently to the breeze and
+went through it to the tune of seven knots, rolling the heft of the long
+sea away from her clipper bows and tossing off the foam without a jar or
+tremble. I looked hard at the distant speck which was now just visible
+from the deck, and wondered how Andrews and his crew felt. I could see
+nothing of the _Sovereign's_ hull, and hope rose within me. I found
+myself saying over and over again to myself, "She's gone under, she's
+gone under." Then just before it grew too dark to see any longer I went
+aft and took up the glass. Through it the black forecastle of the wreck
+showed above the sea.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+
+It was quite dark before the _Pirate_ had come up with the wreck. The
+skipper and Trunnell had gone below to their supper, and I had charge of
+the deck, with orders to heave the ship into the wind when we came
+abreast, and sing out for the mate to man the boat.
+
+We were barely able to make within half a mile dead to leeward, but when
+we did, I backed the main yards and clewed up the courses, taking in the
+royals to keep from drifting off too fast in the gloom.
+
+Trunnell came on deck and gave orders to get out the boat. She was soon
+at the channels, jumping and thrashing in the sea, for the breeze was now
+quite strong. The mate jumped into her with four men, and Thompson went
+to the break of the poop and told me I could go below to supper. Chips
+and the steward came aft, also, and we made out to eat a square meal in
+silence, each making a sign to his neighbor toward the back of his belt.
+
+While we ate, listening for the sound of oars that would tell of the
+return of the boat, we could hear snatches of the sad talk of the
+two women in the after-cabin, through the bulkhead. This did not
+tend to raise our spirits, and we hurried through to be on deck when
+Trunnell returned.
+
+Scarcely had we gained the main deck when we heard the regular sound of
+the oars and oar-locks. Soon the dim shadow of the boat was seen heading
+toward us, outlined against the light in the eastern sky where the moon
+was rising.
+
+We took our places at the waist and awaited developments. Jackwell stood
+directly above me, and I could see his face with its glinting eyes turned
+toward me. His mustache was waxed into sharp points and curved upward,
+while his protruding chin and beak-like nose appeared to draw even nearer
+together. He was evidently quite well satisfied that he would be able to
+take care of his passengers, for he said nothing to me to indicate that
+he was disturbed by my proximity to the gangway.
+
+I had decided to shoot Andrews the moment he came over the side, without
+a word. This much I had confided to Chips and Johnson. They would stand
+by me if there was a general attack, and we would make the best terms
+possible afterward.
+
+The boat drew close aboard, and I could see the backs of the rowers swing
+fore and aft to the stroke. Then she shot alongside and was fast to the
+mizzen channels, and I stepped back ready for action. Jackwell noticed my
+move and drew his pistol. I drew mine, and glancing around I saw that the
+carpenter and Johnson were standing near, with their weapons at hand, and
+half a dozen sailors with them. I would not be alone.
+
+A form sprang over the side, and I raised my weapon almost before I knew
+it. Then I recognized Trunnell.
+
+"You can disarm that young fool, Trunnell," said Jackwell, putting away
+his gun. "It's lucky for him you've come back without any one, or I'd
+have shot him in half a second more."
+
+The little mate came down the poop steps and went up to me.
+
+"You better go below, Rolling," said he. "I didn't tell him," he added
+under his breath, "that you had said you'd mutiny afore I left, or he
+would probably have done for both you and Chips. He doesn't even know now
+that Chips was with you, so get into your room and pipe down."
+
+I was so dazed at Trunnell coming back alone I could hardly talk. I
+looked again over the side to see if there was no mistake. All the men
+were now aboard, and only the empty craft was there, dancing at the end
+of her painter. Then I turned and followed the mate below, he stopping
+just long enough to give orders to hoist in the boat and swing the yards.
+Jackwell went to the wheel, and away the ship went to the westward,
+leaving the shadowy thing there on the eastern horizon to mark the end of
+a fine ship. I stopped a moment to look at the derelict, and the rising
+moon cast a long line of silver light across the sea.
+
+Out in that shining track, a dark stick rose from the water. That was the
+last I saw of the _Sovereign_.
+
+"Where were they?" I asked Trunnell, as we came into the cabin.
+
+"Well," said the little mate, coolly, "since you've worked yourself up so
+much over the matter, and as we're a-goin' along on our course agin, as I
+suggested to the skipper afore we raised the wrack"--here he went to the
+pantry and brought out a bottle, and held it out to me.
+
+"No," I said; "I don't want anything to drink. Tell me what became of the
+fellows on the wreck. It's my second watch, if I remember right, and I'll
+be ready to turn out at eight bells."
+
+"Well," said Trunnell, "where they is an' where they is not, stumps me.
+Where a feller goes when he dies is mostly a matter o' guesswork, so I
+don't know as I can say eggzackly jest where them fellers is at."
+
+Here he took a long drink, and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. I
+put my gun in my room, and sat down at the cabin table, where he held the
+bottle as though undecided whether to take another drink or put it away
+in the pantry. Rum appeared to be easy of access on the ship, and I knew
+I could get it any time I wanted it.
+
+"Well, ye see, the way of it ware like this," went on the mate. "I
+didn't take no stock o' those fellers bein' aboard a ship what had been
+afire, so when ye went into stays an' swore to do bloody murder an'
+suddin death to them fellers, I didn't let on to the old man. What's the
+use? says I. We ain't a-goin' to bring them back noways."
+
+"Weren't they aboard?" I asked.
+
+Trunnell gave me a long, keen look.
+
+"Be ye tellin' o' this yarn, Rolling, or me?" he said.
+
+I asked his pardon for interrupting.
+
+"As I ware a-sayin' afore ye put in your oar, when I hears that ye both
+had told the truth o' the matter o' the fight, it appeared to me that
+them fellers couldn't be aboard that wrack. I told the old man so, but he
+ware fer standin' along after them anyways. Then I ware clean decided
+that the wrack had done fer them."
+
+"Wasn't there a sign of them aboard?" I asked again.
+
+"There's such a thing as bein' inquisitive," said Trunnell, looking at me
+with his keen little eyes from under their shaggy brows. "Them men ain't
+on that wrack--an' I told the skipper so, see?"
+
+He pulled out his sheath-knife, went to the door of the cabin, and flung
+it clear of the ship's side. Then he came back.
+
+"There's some such thing as justice on ships, when the fellers go too
+far; but discipline is discipline. The sooner ye get that through yer
+head, the better. As fer them men with Andrews, they had give up any
+right to live afore I got there. I told the old man that the chances were
+agin their bein' found there. I comes back and reports that they ain't
+there. That's all. Where they is I don't much keer. They is plenty o'
+sharrucks in this here ocean, and some parts o' them is most likely
+helpin' them. The rest is mostly in hell, I reckon, but as I says afore,
+that is a matter o' mostly guesswork."
+
+A dim idea of the horror he had gone through came upon me.
+
+"Good God, Trunnell," I said, "did you do it alone?"
+
+"Well, there ware only one strong one in the lot--but look here, young
+man, if ye don't turn in pretty soon, ye'll be in trouble agin."
+
+He poured himself out another drink, and put the bottle in the pantry.
+Then he went on deck, and I turned in to think over the spectacle that
+must have occurred aboard the blackened derelict. I could see Andrews's
+hope and the third mate's joy at being rescued. I could even picture
+them undergoing the wild joy I had just felt myself, when we had sighted
+the _Pirate_. Then came that nameless something. Had the men seen it? A
+rescuer coming aboard with a bloody knife in his belt, and the ship
+standing away again on her course for the States on the other side of
+the world!
+
+There would be no explanations, and the blackened wreck, half sunken in
+the swell, would tell no tales. Trunnell was really a strange character.
+
+"Discipline is discipline," I seemed to hear him saying all my watch
+below. His step sounded above my head as he walked fore and aft, during
+his watch; and during the periods of fitful slumber I enjoyed before
+eight bells struck, I fancied him a great giant whose feet struck with
+a thunderous sound at every stride. I was almost startled when his
+great bushy head was thrust into my room door, and he announced loudly
+that it was the mid-watch, and that I would need a stout jacket to ward
+off the cold.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+
+For the next three days we went along merrily to the northward, the
+beginning of the southeast trade behind us, and our skysails drawing full
+overhead. On the third day Cape Agullas was sighted on our beam. Then,
+away we went scudding across the South Atlantic Ocean for the equator.
+
+Miss Sackett and her mother came on deck now and enjoyed the beautiful
+weather. The sufferings they had both gone through had made a deep
+impression upon them, and they were very quiet. The older woman would sit
+for hours in a faded dress saved from the wreck of the _Sovereign_,
+gazing sadly at the wake sparkling away in the sunshine astern. The
+bright gleams seemed to light up the memories of her past, and sometimes
+when I saw her she would have a tear trickling slowly down each cheek.
+Men as good as Sackett were scarce on deep water.
+
+But the daughter was different. She was sad enough, at times. Being
+young, however, the loss of her father fell easier upon her. We often
+found time to chat together during the day watches on deck, and she
+showed a marked interest in the ship, and the people aboard, talking
+cheerfully of the future and the probable ending of the voyage. Jenks
+interested her and likewise Trunnell; but the sturdy mate paid little
+attention to her, devoting all his time to the affairs of her mother.
+
+Thompson, or Tackwell, still commanded the ship, and Chips and I agreed
+there was no use in forcing matters with Trunnell against us. We would
+bide our time and wait for him on making harbor. He was doing well enough
+now, and since the women had come aboard he had been quieter in his cups,
+staying below when not sober enough to talk pleasantly. His mustache he
+curled with more care, and his dress was better than before, otherwise he
+walked the deck with the same commanding air, and drawled out his orders
+as usual. He was the most temperate at the very times when I expected him
+to go off into one of his ugly sarcastic fits, and was evidently trying
+to carry out the remainder of the voyage without any friction anywhere.
+This made matters easy for the mates.
+
+During this period of good weather the routine duties of the ship took
+the place of the fierce excitement of the past. The bright sunshine
+cheered us greatly, and the spirits of all on board rose accordingly. The
+day watches were spent in healthy labor on the main deck, bending old
+sails and sending below the new ones. A ship, unlike a human being,
+always puts on her old and dirty clothes in fine weather, and bends her
+new and strong ones for facing foul.
+
+The poultry and pigs, which nearly all deep-water ships carry, were
+turned loose to get exercise and air. The "doctor" worked up his
+plum-duff on the main hatch in full view of hungry men, and tobacco was
+in plenty for those who had money to pay for it, Trunnell giving fair
+measure to all who ran bills on the slop chest.
+
+The little shaggy-headed fellow interested me more than ever now, and he
+was in evidence all day long. His hair and beard, which resembled the
+mane of a lion, could be seen at all times, from the poop to the
+topgallant forecastle, rising above the hatches or going down the
+gangways, where he attended to everything in person. Since the night when
+he came aboard with his bloody knife, I felt strangely toward him. He
+never alluded to the affair again in any way whatever, but went at his
+work in the same systematic and seaman-like manner that had, from the
+first, marked him as a thorough sailor. He was always considerate to the
+men under him, and many times when I expected an outburst of fierce
+anger, such as nine out of ten deep-water mates would indulge in at a
+stupid blunder of a lazy sailor, he simply gave the fellow a quiet
+talking to and impressed him with the absolute necessity of care in his
+work. We had plenty of men aboard, and the crew of the _Sovereign_ were
+turned to each watch and made to do their share.
+
+After a few days, Trunnell came to me and told me I might choose a third
+mate for him out of the men who had been in the _Sovereign's_ crew. None
+of the men of the _Pirate_ he said were up to a mate's berth, except
+Johnson, and he, poor fellow, couldn't read or write. Jenks was too
+slippery for me after his hand in the fracas, so I asked the steward to
+pick me out a man from forward, thinking he would be able to note the
+proper qualities better than myself, as he was thrown in closer contact
+with the men. The steward, Gunning, was a mulatto, as I have said, and he
+was of a sympathetic disposition. Among the men who had first come aboard
+from the wreck was an old fellow of nondescript appearance who had very
+thoughtfully seized several bottles of Captain Sackett's rum to have in
+the small boat in case of sickness. This was made possible by the
+flooding of the ship, which made it necessary for the men to live aft.
+
+The old fellow had apparently enjoyed good health, and had saved a
+couple of bottles which he offered to the steward as a bribe for a
+recommendation. This kindness on the old man's part had appealed
+directly to Gunning, and he had sent him aft to me as the very man I
+wanted. He was very talkative and full of anecdotes, proving a most
+interesting specimen.
+
+"I ain't been out o' sight o' land before in my life," said he, in a fit
+of confidence the first evening we divided watches, "but old Chris Kingle
+believed everything I told him, and here I am, third mate of this hooker,
+as sober as a judge, waitin' to get killed the first time I go aloft.
+Bleed me, but I'm in a fix; but it's no worse than I expected, for
+everything goes wrong nowadays."
+
+"Well, what do you mean by coming aft here as mate when you know you
+can't fill the bill?" I roared, made furious at his confession.
+
+"Cap," said he, as calmly as if I hadn't spoken, "some men is born
+great; some men tries to get great; and some men never has no show at
+all, nohow. Take your chances, says I. Mebbe I'm born great, an' it
+only needs a little opportunity to bring it out--like the measles.
+Anyways, I never let an opportunity fer greatness come along without
+laying fer it. I'm agin it now, an' if y' ever hear o' my bein' at sea
+agin, just let me know."
+
+"If you ever see the beach again, you'll have reason to thank me, and
+I'll just tell you right now, you can make up your mind for double irons
+until we get to Philadelphia," I shouted.
+
+"Bleed me, cap, that's just about what I didn't think you'd do," the
+lubber responded. "Give me a chance, 'n' if I'm no good as third mate,
+I'll probably do as fourth. Try me. If I'm born great, I'll show up. If
+I'm not, I can at least die great, or greater than I am. I've lived on
+land all my life, but I know something about sailing. I'm fifty-two year
+old come next fall, an' if I can't sail a ship after all I've seen o'
+them, I'll be willing to live in irons or brass, or enny thing."
+
+"You go below and tell Mr. Gunning to come here to me," I said, in no
+pleasant tone, and as the fellow shuffled off to do as I said, his
+bloated, red features told plainly what it had cost him to overcome
+Gunning and get the steward into the state he must have been to recommend
+such a fellow for an officer aboard ship.
+
+When Gunning came aft, he was so ashamed of himself that I let him go,
+and he picked a mate from one of the quartermasters of the watch, while I
+turned the old fellow to as a landsman. This had no effect on his
+loquacity, however, for he never lost an opportunity for telling a sad
+yarn full of the woes of this life and the anticipated ones in the world
+to come. He had drank much and thought little, except of his own sorrows
+and ill luck, but as his yearnings for sympathy did no harm, he was
+seldom repressed.
+
+We were three months out before we struck into the rains to the southward
+of the line, so there was an accumulation of dirty clothes aboard that
+would have filled the heart of a laundress with joy--or horror.
+
+The _Pirate_ was running close on her water, for the port tank had sprung
+a leak, and there was no condenser aboard. The allowance had been set at
+two quarts per day for each man. This was barely enough to satisfy
+ordinary thirst and no more.
+
+For the first day or two we made good headway into the squally belt. The
+heavy, black, and dangerous-looking clouds would come along about every
+half-hour, just fast enough to keep the men busy clewing down and
+hoisting the lighter canvas nearly all day long, for some would have a
+puff of wind ahead of them and some a puff behind, making it all
+guesswork as to how hard it would strike.
+
+After the second day we had the doldrums fair enough, and there we lay
+with our courses clewed up and our t'gallantsails wearing out with the
+continuous slatting, as the ship rolled lazily on the long, easy
+equatorial sea. She was heading all around the compass, for there was
+not enough air to give her steering way; so, after dinner, all hands
+were allowed to turn out their outfits on the main deck for a grand
+wash. When we were under one of those squall-clouds, the water would
+fall so heavily that it would be ankle deep in the waist in spite of the
+half-dozen five-inch scuppers spouting full streams out at both sides.
+The waterfall was enough to take away the breath, standing in it, but
+all hands turned out stripped to the waist. The scuppers were plugged,
+and soon the waist of the ship, about forty feet wide and sixty long,
+looked like a miniature lake with the after-hatch rising like a
+snow-white island from the centre, and upon which a miniature surf broke
+as the water swashed and swirled with each roll of the ship. Here were
+hundreds of gallons of excellent water to wash in, and blankets,
+jumpers, flannels, etc., were soon floating at will, while the men
+seized whatever of their belongings they could lay hands on, and rubbed
+piece after piece with soap. The large pieces, such as blankets, were
+hauled into the shallows forward, where the ship's sheer made a gently
+sloping beach. Then they were smeared with soap and laid just awash,
+while the men would slide along them in their bare feet as though on
+ice, squeezing out great quantities of dirty suds. Afterwards they would
+be cast adrift in the deep water to rinse.
+
+I came to the break of the poop and looked down upon the busy scene a few
+feet beneath on the main deck. The water here was fully two feet deep in
+the scuppers when the ship rolled to either side, and the men were almost
+washed off their feet with its rush. Some of them had climbed upon the
+island,--the main hatch,--where they sat and wrung the pieces of their
+apparel dry. Among these washers was my old third mate, now transformed
+into a somewhat shiftless sailor.
+
+The old fellow's wardrobe was limited. It consisted of his natural
+covering in the way of skin and hair, one shirt, and a pair of badly worn
+dungaree trousers. The shirt he had worn during the entire cruise, and
+perhaps some time before, and as it fitted him tightly, and as his
+natural covering of hair on his chest was thick, it had gradually worked
+its way through the cloth, curling sharply on the outside, making the
+garment and himself as nearly one as possible. This had caused him no
+little inconvenience in washing, and it was with great difficulty he had
+removed the garment. He had spent half an hour rubbing it with a piece of
+salt-water soap, rinsed it thoroughly, and had it spread out on the
+hatch-combings. His work being finished, he sat near it, with his knees
+drawn up to his breast, his hands locked around his shins, and his face
+wearing an expression of deep and very sad thought.
+
+Trunnell came out on the deck and had his things cast into the water with
+the rest. Then he peeled off his shirt and stood forth naked to the
+waist, a broad belt strapped tightly about him holding his trousers. His
+muscles now showed out for the first time, and I stood gazing at the
+enormous bunches on his back and shoulders. He was like some monstrous
+giant cut off at the waist and stuck upon a pair of absurdly short legs,
+which, however, were simply knots of muscle.
+
+When he had finished his shirt, he turned over the rest of his belongings
+to Johnson to wash for him. Then his gaze fell upon the unhappy-looking
+old fellow on the hatch, who was holding his single shirt now in his
+hands, waiting for it to dry sufficiently for him to wear it again. As
+the rain fell in torrents every few minutes, this appeared an endless
+task, and the old man grew more sorrowful.
+
+"There ain't nothin' in this world fer me," said he, sadly, cc not even a
+bloomin' shirt. Here I am shipwrecked and lost on a well-found ship, an'
+sink me, I ain't even able to change me clothes, one piece at a time."
+
+"Ye'll soon be ashore agin, old feller," said Trunnell, "an' then ye'll
+have licker an' clothes in plenty."
+
+"What's licker to me?" said the old man.
+
+"Why, meat an' drink, when ye has to quit it off sudden like,"
+said Trunnell.
+
+"It's clothes I wants, not no rum. Can't ye see I'm nakid as Adam, except
+fer this old rag? I wouldn't mind if I ware signed on regular like the
+rest, 'cause I could take it out the slop chest in work. But here I is
+without no regular work, no chanst to draw on the old man, an' next
+month, most like, we'll be running up the latitoods inter frost. I'm in a
+hard fix, shipmate, an' you kin see it."
+
+Trunnell seemed to be thinking for several minutes. Then he spoke.
+
+"There's lots o' bugs an' things forrads, ain't there?" said he.
+
+"If by lots ye means millions, I reckon ye're talkin'," said the man.
+
+"Well," said Trunnell, "I'll tell ye what I'll do. You get a sail needle
+an' a line to it about half a fathom long, see?"
+
+"I sees."
+
+"Well, then ye go about between decks, an' in the alleyways, an' behind
+the bunks, an' around the galley, an' earn yer own outfit with that
+needle, see? When ye have a string o' bugs a-fillin' the string like
+clear up to the needle's eye, ye bring them aft to me, an' I gives ye
+credit fer them in clothes or grog, each string bein' worth a drink, an'
+a hundred worth a shirt or pants. Do ye get on to the game?"
+
+"I get on to it well enough," said the fellow, "but what I wants to know
+is, whether ye'll take me whurd o' honner that I'll catch a string o'
+bugs afore night, an' give me the rum now to stave off the chill."
+
+"I will," said Trunnell.
+
+The old man rose from the hatchway, and struggled hard to get into his
+shirt. The garment had shrunk so, however, that the sleeves reached but
+to his elbows and the tails to his waist band. He seized the open front
+in his hand and looked solemnly at the mate with his sad eyes.
+
+"Lead me to it! Lead me to it! For the Lord's sake, lead me to it!" he
+said quietly.
+
+And Trunnell went into the forward cabin with the apparition following
+eagerly in his wake.
+
+What a strange little giant he was, this mate! "Discipline is
+discipline," he would say, and no man got anything for nothing
+aboard his ship.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+
+We crossed the line in 24 west longitude, running close to the St. Paul's
+Rocks. These strange peaks to the southward of the equator caused some
+interest aboard, rising as they do out of the middle of the ocean a mile
+or more in depth.
+
+The air was hot and muggy the day we crossed into the northern
+hemisphere, and the light breeze died away again, leaving the ship with
+her courses clewed up, rolling and wallowing uneasily in the swell.
+
+Jackwell, as I must always call him now, spruced himself up better than
+usual, and paid more attention to the ladies. He avoided me at every
+opportunity; but as neither Chips nor myself ever alluded to the story
+we had heard from Jim, his courage rose, and he became more familiar
+with the men.
+
+Up to this time, we had not sighted a single sail since the _Sovereign_;
+but here on the line, where the fleets of the maritime world congregate
+to pick up the north or southeast trades, we sighted many ships bound
+both out and in.
+
+One of these that happened near us was the _Shark_, whaling brig of three
+hundred tons, commanded by Captain Henry,--a man who had sailed in
+American ships engaged in the deep-water trade for years before he had
+taken to whaling. This vessel signalled us; and when we had answered and
+found out who our neighbor was, we were invited aboard.
+
+Jackwell was willing to go with the ladies, as he thought it might prove
+a diversion. There was no chance for a breeze, and the ships were within
+half a mile of each other, with a smooth sea between. He insisted,
+however, that I go along to command the boat.
+
+Chips and I had from the first decided to try and get a peep at the
+captain's trunk, and this might prove our chance. Gunning's tale of its
+great weight gave rise to many high thoughts; and if it were gold, much
+might be hoped for if we landed our man when we made port.
+
+A few words with the carpenter was enough, and then I got the men at work
+hoisting out the boat. I found time to try and persuade Trunnell to take
+my place in the small craft, but he was firm. It would never do, he said,
+to leave the ship without a high officer aboard. "There's no telling,
+Rolling, just what might happen in this world while a feller is on the
+deep sea. No, sir; go ahead and enjoy yourself. There's a-goin' to be
+some line jokes, I reckon, aboard that brig. If the skipper ain't been
+acrost before, he'll be liable to catch the fun as well as the rest, but
+he don't know nothin' about sech things."
+
+I was a little suspicious at Trunnell's determination to stay aboard,
+especially when I found out he knew the captain of the whaler very well.
+However, I had the small boat hoisted out and made ready for the
+passengers. This time there was a compass and water breaker aboard, and a
+foghorn in the stern sheets in case of need.
+
+Mrs. Sackett was helped into the small craft, and her daughter followed,
+both women looking brighter than at any time during the cruise. Mrs.
+Sackett was not a bad-looking woman at any time, being of about the
+medium height, with a smooth complexion, and her figure finely
+proportioned. Her daughter seated herself beside her in the stern, and
+Jackwell climbed over the rail.
+
+He was dressed in a very fine suit of clothes, his shirt-front white,
+and his waxed mustache curled fiercely. His glinting eyes had a
+somewhat humorous expression, I thought, and he appeared very well
+pleased with himself.
+
+Trunnell came to the rail and leaned over. "Good luck to ye," he cried.
+"We'll expect ye back to dinner."
+
+"Keep an eye on my room, and don't let the steward disturb the charts on
+my trunk until I come back. The last sight is worked out on the one lying
+on the table," replied Jackwell.
+
+Then the oars fell across, and we shot out over the smooth ocean to the
+brig that rolled lazily half a mile distant.
+
+The skipper appeared in a most humorous mood, which increased as did the
+distance between the ships.
+
+He talked to Mrs. Sackett incessantly and actually had that lady laughing
+happily at his remarks. Miss Sackett did not rise to his humor, however,
+and her mother noticed it.
+
+"Jennie, dear, why don't you laugh? Captain Thompson is so funny," she
+said.
+
+"I will when he gets off a good joke, mother."
+
+"Get off a good joke?" echoed the skipper. "Well, that's what I call
+hard. A good joke? Why, my dear child, I've gotten off the joke of my
+life to-day. Sink me, if I ain't played the best joke of the year, and on
+Trunnell too, at that. A good joke? ha, ha, hah!" and he threw his head
+back and laughed so loud and long that his mirth was infectious, and I
+even found myself smiling at him.
+
+"Tell us what it is," said Miss Jennie.
+
+"Oh, ho, ho, tell you what it is," laughed Jackwell, and his nose worked
+up and down so rapidly that I marvelled at it. His glinting eyes were
+almost closed and his face was red with exertion. "And suppose I'd tell
+you what it is, Miss Sackett? You wouldn't laugh. Not you. You couldn't
+rise to the occasion like your mamma. No, sink me, if I told you what it
+was, you wouldn't laugh; so you'll all have to wait till you get back
+aboard to hear it. But it's a good one, no fear."
+
+We were now almost alongside of the brig, and could see her captain at
+the gangway, waiting to receive us. All along the rail strange faces
+peeped over at us.
+
+"Way enough," cried Jackwell, and the oars were shipped. The boat
+swept alongside, and a ladder was lowered for us. I climbed out first
+to be able to assist the ladies, and as I gained the deck I was
+greeted by a strongly built, bearded man who looked at me keenly out
+of clear blue eyes.
+
+"I'm glad to see you, sir," said he, holding out his hand.
+
+I shook hands and turned to help Mrs. Sackett over the rail. Then came
+Miss Jennie, and last of all our captain.
+
+Jackwell sprang up the ladder quickly, and stood in the gangway.
+
+"How are you, sir, Captain Thomp--"
+
+Captain Henry checked himself, looking at our skipper as though he had
+seen a ghost.
+
+"Why, Jack--"
+
+But Jackwell had put up his hand, smiling pleasantly.
+
+"Jack it is, old man. You haven't forgotten the time I picked you up on
+the beach, have you?" he said, laughing. "Mrs. Sackett," he cried,
+turning, "allow me to introduce my friend, Captain Henry. Miss Sackett,
+also. Here's a skipper who hasn't forgotten the day I pulled him out of
+the water on the coast of South Wales, where he was wrecked. Sink me, but
+it's a blessing to see gratitude," he cried again, laughing heartily.
+"Fancy one skipper pulling another out of the sea, hey? Can you do that?"
+
+"Well, I want to know," replied Henry. "I never knew you was a--"
+
+"You never knew what, old man? What is it ye never knew? Sink me, it
+would fill every barrel you have below, hey? wouldn't it? What you never
+knew, nor never will know, would fill your little ship so full she'd
+sink, Henry, or I'm a soger. Ha, ha, hah! my boy; I don't mean to cast no
+insinuations at you, but that's a fact, ain't it? But what the dickens
+have you got going on aboard?"
+
+He turned and gazed at the brig's main deck, where tubs of water and
+soapsuds were being poured into the trying-out kettles built in the
+brig's waist.
+
+"Why," said Henry, "since you are a sea-capting, you must know the lay of
+it. Hain't you never crossed the line in a sailin' ship before?"
+
+He had apparently recovered himself, and the surprise at meeting an old
+acquaintance appeared to give him pleasure.
+
+Taking Mrs. Sackett by the hand, he led her aft up the poop steps,
+Jackwell following, keeping up a continual talk about whales and
+whaling skippers. Jennie and I followed behind and examined the brig's
+strange outfit.
+
+The first mate, a man of middle age, lean and gaunt, came forward and
+introduced himself. He had sailed in every kind of ship, and was now
+whaling, he declared, for the last time. As I had made several "last
+voyages" myself, I knew that he meant simply to show involuntarily that
+he was a confirmed sailor of the most pronounced sort.
+
+He showed us the lines and irons, the cutting-in outfit, and the kettles
+and furnace for boiling down the blubber. We followed him about, and I
+expressed my thanks when we arrived at the poop again, where he left us.
+Jennie was not interested, and the fact was not lost upon the old fellow,
+who turned away to join his mates at the kettles.
+
+"Do you know, Mr. Rolling, I don't care a rap for ships," said she. "They
+don't interest me any more, and I don't think they are the place for
+women, anyhow."
+
+"It would be mighty lonesome for some men if they acted on that idea and
+kept out of them," I answered.
+
+We were all alone by the mizzen, the captains having gone below with Mrs.
+Sackett to show her the interior of the ship.
+
+The young girl looked up, and I fancied there was just a sparkle of
+amusement in her eyes.
+
+"Do you really think so?" she said. "Can't men find more useful
+occupations than following the sea,--that is, those who are lonely?"
+
+"Some men are fitted to do certain things in this world and unfitted for
+others. It would be hard on those whose lines are laid out like that for
+them. You don't think a man follows the sea after his first voyage
+because he likes it, do you?" I said.
+
+"Then for Heaven's sake why don't they stay ashore?" she demanded.
+
+"Would you care for a man who would stay out of a thing that he was
+fitted for, simply because it was hard?" I asked her.
+
+She blushed and turned away.
+
+"I was not speaking of caring for any one, Mr. Rolling," she replied.
+And then she added quickly, "I think we will go below and see what they
+have for us."
+
+"No, wait just one minute, Jennie," I said, taking her hand and stopping
+her gently without attracting the attention of the men forward. "This is
+the first time we've had a chance to talk of ourselves in two months. I
+want to ask you if you really meant that?"
+
+"Meant what?" she said, stopping and turning around, facing me squarely.
+
+"That you didn't care for any one?" I stammered, and I remember how my
+face burned.
+
+She let me hold her hand and looked up into my eyes.
+
+"I never said any such thing--that I didn't care for any one," she
+replied.
+
+"Then do you, Jennie?"
+
+She made no answer, and let her eyes fall. I let go her hand and drew
+myself up, for I was uncertain.
+
+"I say, Rolling, what the deuce are you two doing?" bawled the voice of
+Jackwell from the companion, and then I realized that there was little
+privacy aboard a ship of three hundred tons.
+
+We went aft guiltily, and met the rest coming up the companion with
+bottled beer and sandwiches which were served as refreshments. Chairs
+were set out by the old mate and two harpooners who had come aft, and the
+cook spruced himself up to get us out a plum-duff for lunch. From where
+we sat behind the poop rise, nothing could be seen forward, and here we
+ate and drank while Jackwell laughed and talked incessantly, being a
+completely changed man from the sarcastic and somewhat truculent skipper
+I had known for the last three months. It was finally suggested that as
+the awning was stretched, the plum-duff could be served on deck better
+than below in the stuffy cabin, so here we enjoyed the meal.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+
+While we ate, Jackwell expanded more and more under the influence of duff
+and beer. He leaned back in his chair and gazed at the mainmast.
+
+"What makes the top of your mast so black, hey? Is it the smoke from the
+kettles, or have you been afire? Sink me, Henry, there couldn't have been
+any such luck as your old hooker afire and being put out, hey? Ha, ha,
+hah! that would have been asking too much of the devil."
+
+"It's hollow," said the old mate.
+
+"What? Hollow? What the deuce is your mast hollow for?"
+
+"Well, that is a question, isn't it, Mrs. Sackett?" said Henry. "Perhaps
+he asks you sometimes what a smoke-pipe is hollow for, don't he? I never
+seen such a funny man. But he'll never get over it, I want to know."
+
+"Is it really hollow?" asked Jennie of the old mate.
+
+"Yessum, it certainly is. Why, it's the smoke-pipe, you know," was the
+reply. "We have an engine in the lazarette that'll take us along more'n
+three knots in dead calm weather. It's been a lot o' help, when the wind
+has been light and ahead, fer picking up the boats. Ye know a whale
+always makes dead to windward, mostly, an' if the wind is light and we've
+got to go a long ways, the poor devils would most starve waitin' fer us,
+like they used to do in the old times. The lower mast is iron. There's
+lots of them that way now. The soot makes the canvas black sometimes, but
+there ain't no sparks to speak of ever comes out of that top, as it's
+mostly blubber we burns."
+
+Jackwell became silent for several minutes, and then, as his eyes were
+still directed at the masthead, I looked again and noticed the topsail
+yard settled below the lower masthead.
+
+"How do you suppose he keeps it up like that?" I asked Jackwell, trying
+to be civil.
+
+"Keeps what up like what?" he said, in his old tone.
+
+"The yard," I answered shortly.
+
+"Oh, mostly by force of habit, I reckon," said he, nodding sarcastically
+at me and wrinkling his nose. "That's it, ain't it, Henry? Your yards
+stay mastheaded mostly by force o' habit, hey? They don't need no ropes."
+
+I saw I was not forgotten, so afterward I kept quiet when he spoke. In a
+moment or two after this there was a wild yell from forward. This
+terminated into a deep bass roar, and we all jumped up to see what was
+the matter.
+
+The form of a man sat on the starboard cat-head, and in his mouth was a
+horn of enormous size, the mouth being fully three feet across.
+
+"Sooaye, Sooa-a-aye!" he roared. "Make way fer the great king o' the
+sea!"
+
+I saw the fellow had on a long, rope-yarn beard and a wig to match, while
+a pair of black wings hung from his shoulders.
+
+While he called, creatures swarmed over the bows. Men with beards and men
+without, some holding long spears and streamers, and some with
+three-pronged tridents, all having huge heads with grotesque faces, and
+forked tails which hung down behind.
+
+"Hooray fer the king o' the sea!" bawled the fellow through the horn; and
+then the motley crowd yelled in chorus, some blowing huge conch-shells,
+and all making a most hideous racket.
+
+Jennie stopped her ears and gazed, laughing at the throng. She had been
+across the line before in some of the older ships with her father, and
+knew of the practice. Mrs. Sackett and Captain Henry cheered and waved
+their handkerchiefs, but Jackwell sat silently looking on. Finally all of
+us went to the break of the poop, where we could get a better view, and
+just as we arrived, a monstrous form came over the knight-heads and stood
+forth on deck.
+
+The fellow had a beard fully a fathom long, and he stood nearly two
+fathoms high, his feet being hoof-shaped. Gigantic black canvas wings
+hung from his shoulders, and a huge wig of rope-yarn, with the hair
+falling to his waist, sat on his head. He was escorted unsteadily to a
+seat upon the trying-out furnace.
+
+"All who have to worship the king, come forth, an' stan' out!" yelled the
+man with the horn. This was greeted with cheers and blasts on the
+conch-shells.
+
+Some of our men had never been over before, and one of the boat's crew
+confessed. He was quickly seized and brought before King Neptune.
+
+"Sit ye down, right there in that there cheer," said the king,
+scowling fiercely.
+
+The fellow sat down and stared, smiling at the monster.
+
+"Have ye paid fer comin' acrost this here latitood, me son?" asked the
+king.
+
+"No," said the sailor.
+
+"No, what?" roared the king.
+
+The chair was placed on the edge of the main kettle and the monster
+simply raised his hand to one of his retainers. This fellow tilted it up,
+sailor and all, into the smother of suds and water. Instantly there were
+roars of laughter, as all hands watched the man trying to get clear of
+the slippery iron tank. Every time he would get a hold, his fingers would
+be rapped sharply, and down he would go, floundering about. He was
+finally let off with a fine of a plug of tobacco, all his belongings save
+the clothes he had with him.
+
+Other men followed, for the whaler had a crew of thirty-five. Some were
+shaved with a barrel hoop for a razor, and tar for lather, being finally
+released for some tobacco.
+
+"Come aft, O king," bawled Henry, after the fun had grown fast and
+furious. "Come aft, and get a donation from the ladies."
+
+The great fellow was escorted unsteadily to the poop, where he saluted
+the women.
+
+"Have ye never paid toll to go to the other world, yet?" asked the king.
+
+"No," said Jackwell, who was getting tired of the fun, "I ain't never
+been acrost, and I ain't a-going to pay toll."
+
+"Shall he pay?" asked the king of Henry.
+
+"Sure," was Henry's response.
+
+Instantly the giant sprang upon the deck, getting clear of his stilts by
+some means or other. He seized Jackwell tightly around the body, and
+rushing to the rail, sprang into the sea, his followers yelling
+themselves hoarse with delight.
+
+When they were hauled aboard, Jackwell was in a fury. I expected him to
+shoot the sailor who had the audacity to pitch him overboard, but he
+controlled himself. The incident, however, ended the fun aboard the brig,
+Henry, between fits of laughing, telling the mate to serve all hands with
+all the grog they wanted.
+
+"Do not wait for me, madam," said Jackwell, to Mrs. Sackett. "I shall not
+come aboard my ship in this condition. You get Mr. Rolling to take you
+and your daughter, and I'll follow, after Captain Henry has given me a
+new suit of clothes."
+
+This appeared to be the best thing to do, as the brig's men were now
+getting boisterous with the grog, and our men were drinking also. The
+ladies were tired of the performance, although they had enjoyed some of
+it very much, and they were glad when I called away the boat's crew to
+take them back to the _Pirate_.
+
+Jackwell appeared at the rail as we started off.
+
+"Rolling," said he, "tell Trunnell not to stay awake at night worrying
+about my health. This bath will not strike in and tickle me to death as
+you might be agreeable enough to suppose."
+
+"Hurry and change your clothes, captain," cried Mrs. Sackett.
+
+"Madam," said he, with great solemnity as the oars were dropped across,
+"do not grieve for me. It will make me unhappy for the rest of my pious
+existence if you do. Fare thee well."
+
+We were now on our way back to the ship, and he stood a moment, waved his
+hand, and then disappeared down the companionway.
+
+In ten minutes we were aboard again, and I met Chips in the waist as I
+stopped to get a piece of tobacco.
+
+"Well, what was it?" I asked.
+
+"Faith, an' I got caught," said Chips, with a sickly grin.
+
+"How was it?" I asked. "Come, tell me, while Ford and Tom get the
+cushions out of the boat;" and I drew the carpenter into the door of the
+forward cabin where Trunnell couldn't see us.
+
+"'Twas a fine thing ye made me do, but no matter," he began. "Ye see,
+whin ye had started well on yer way to th' fisher, I thinks now is th'
+time av me life. Trunnell ware sitting and smokin' on the wheel-gratin',
+an' all ware as quiet as ye please. I wint below whistling to set him off
+his guard, like; an' whin I sees me way clear I takes me chance at the
+afther-cabin, an' in I goes. I stopped whistlin' whin I makes th' enthry,
+an' I steered straight fer th' chist forninst the captin's room. The door
+ware open, an' I see the chist ware a little trunk av a thing, no bigger
+than a hand-bag, so to speak. Up on top av it ware a pile av charts an'
+things sech as th' raskil sung out to Trunnell not to touch. 'Twas a cute
+little thing to do; fer how I could get inter th' outfit without a-movin'
+them struck me.
+
+"I finally grabs th' side av th' trunk an' tries to lift it. Ye may say
+I lie, but s'help me, I cud no more lift that little trunk than th'
+ship herself.
+
+"Gold? Why, how cud it 'a' been anything but solid gold? I cud lift that
+much lead easy. I stopped a minit and took out me knife, me mind made up
+to thry th' lock. I give wan good pick at ut, an' thin I hears a sort av
+grunt. There ware Trunnell a-lookin' right down at me from th' top av th'
+afther-companion.
+
+"Sez he, 'An' what may ye be a-doin' wid th' old man's trunk,' sez he.
+
+"'Sure 'tis me own I thought it ware, by th' weight av it,' sez I.
+
+"'Is it so heavy, thin?' sez he.
+
+"'Faith, ye thry an' lift it,' sez I.
+
+"He come down th' ladder an' took a-hold, shutting th' door to keep th'
+steward from a-lookin' in. Thin he takes hold av th' thing an' lifts fer
+th' good av his soul. Nary a inch does it move.
+
+"'I wud have opened it, but I heard th' captin's order not to disturb th'
+charts atop av it,' sez I.
+
+"'Ye would, ye thafe,' sez he. 'An' if ye had, inter irons would ye go
+fer th' raskil ye are. I never thought ye ware so bad, Chips,' sez he.
+
+"'Tis a victim av discipline I am, fer sure, thin,' sez I. 'Ye know I wud
+no more steal th' matther av a trunk than fly.'
+
+"'An' who give ye th' order, ye disciplinarian?' sez he.
+
+"'Me conscience,' sez I.
+
+"'Ye better go forrads an' tell yer conscience th' fact that it's a bad
+wan fer an honest man to travel wid,' sez he. 'An' tell him also to mind
+what I says about obeyin' orders aboard this here ship. If yer conscience
+iver wants to command a ship, he don't want to forget that discipline is
+discipline, an' whin it comes to thavery, discipline will get ye both in
+irons. Slant away afore I loses my temper an' sails inter ye,' sez he.
+
+"So here I am, all in a mess wid that little mate. But th' trunk av gold
+is safe on th' cabin floor."
+
+I had nothing to say further than that the matter couldn't be helped. If
+the trunk was all right, we might land a fortune yet in the reward Jim
+had told us about. Jackwell must have made off with a snug little sum. I
+climbed over the side again with some of the skipper's clothes, and we
+started slowly back to the brig to get him.
+
+Ford was rowing bow oar, and Johnson aft, and both rowing easily made us
+go very slow. However, there was no hurry. Jackwell would in all
+probability take several drinks after his bath, and we would only have to
+wait aboard the whaler for him until he was ready. The sea was so smooth
+that the boat hardly rippled through it, and the sun was warm, making me
+somewhat drowsy. The two men rowed in silence for some time, and then
+Ford suddenly looked ahead to see how we were going.
+
+"What's the matter with the bloomin' brig?" said he, rowing with his chin
+on his shoulder.
+
+I looked around, and it seemed as though we had already gone the full
+distance to her, and yet had as far again to go. The _Pirate_ was
+certainly half a mile away and there was the brig still far ahead.
+
+"Give way, bullies," I said. "Break an oar or two."
+
+The men made a response to the order, and the boat went along livelier. I
+looked at the brig, and suddenly I noticed a thin trail of smoke coming
+from her maintop where the opening in the lower masthead should be.
+
+We were now within fifty fathoms of her, when Jackwell came to the rail
+aft and looked at us.
+
+"Give way, bullies, you're going to sleep." I said.
+
+In a few moments we were close aboard, but as we came up, the brig slewed
+her stern toward us, and then I noticed for the first time that she was
+moving slowly through the water. There was no wind, and I knew in a
+moment that she was under steam. She drifted away faster, and the men had
+all they could do to keep up. Jackwell leaned over the taffrail and gazed
+calmly down at us.
+
+"That's it, boys, give it to her. You'll soon catch us and be towing
+us back again. Sink me, Rolling, but you're the biggest fool I ever
+saw," he said.
+
+I saw the water rippling away from the brig's side, and now could see the
+disturbance under her stern where a small wheel turned rapidly.
+
+"Throw us a line," I cried to Jackwell.
+
+"What d'ye want a line fer? Are ye a-going with us to the Pacific, or are
+ye jest naturally short of lines, hey?"
+
+"Throw us a line or we'll have to quit," I cried; "the men can't keep up
+as it is."
+
+Jackwell let down the end of the spanker sheet, and Ford grabbed it,
+taking a turn around the thwart. The boat still rushed rapidly along.
+
+"Rolling," said the captain of the _Pirate_, "hadn't you better go home
+and tell Trunnell he wants you? Seems to me you'll have a long row back
+in the hot sun. I'd ask you all aboard, but this ship ain't mine. She
+belongs to a friend who owes me a little due, see? Now be a sensible
+little fellow. Rolling, and go back nicely, or I'll have to do some
+target practice, or else cut this rope. Give my kindest regards to the
+ladies, especially Mrs. Sackett. Tell her that I wouldn't have dreamed of
+deserting her under any other circumstances, but this brig has got the
+devil in her and is running away with me. I can't stop her, and I can't
+say I would if I could. That infernal King Neptune has got hold of her
+keel and is pulling us along. Good-by, Rolling; don't by any possible
+means disturb the charts on my trunk. There, let go, you Ford."
+
+Ford cast the line adrift, and the boat's headway slacked. The brig
+drifted slowly ahead, going at least three knots through the smooth
+water. A long row of smiling faces showed over the rail as we came from
+under her stern. One fellow, waving his hand, cried out to report Bill
+Jones of Nantucket as "bein' tolerable well, thank ye." It was evident
+they knew nothing of Jackwell and treated the going of the brig as a good
+joke on greenhorns.
+
+"That beats me," said Ford, panting from his last exertions.
+
+"An' me too," said Johnson. "If we'd had Tom and one or two more along
+we'd have beat her easy. But ain't he a-comin' back at all at all?"
+
+"I hardly think we'll see Captain Thompson any more this voyage,"
+I answered savagely; "but by the Lord Harry, he's left his trunk
+all right."
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+
+When we rowed back to the ship, Trunnell was looking at us through the
+glass up to the time we came under the _Pirate's_ counter. He evidently
+could see that our skipper wasn't with us, and it seemed as if he could
+not quite make up his mind to the fact, but must keep looking through the
+telescope as though the powerful glass would bring the missing one into
+view. We ran up to the channels, and he looked over the side. A line of
+heads in the waist told of the curiosity among the men forward.
+
+I said nothing, and nothing was said until the painter was made fast and
+Ford had sprung on deck.
+
+"He ain't with ye, Rolling?" asked Trunnell.
+
+I was too much disgusted to answer. The empty boat was enough to satisfy
+any reasonable person.
+
+Chips came to the rail and leaned over as I came up the chain-plates.
+"'Twas so, then? Th' raskil! But what makes th' bloody hooker move? She's
+slantin' away as if th' devil himself ware holdin' av her fore foot!"
+
+"Steam, you poor idiots," I cried out, in disgust, for it was evident
+that even Trunnell couldn't tell what made the _Shark_ get headway,
+although now the smoke poured handsomely from her masthead.
+
+Trunnell scratched his bushy head and seemed to be thinking deeply. Then
+he put down the glasses and led the way aft without a word, Chips and I
+following. We went below and found Mrs. Sackett and Jennie in the saloon.
+
+"Where's the captain?" they asked in a breath.
+
+"Faith, an' he's changed ships, if ye please," said Chips.
+
+"And left a little thing behind he would have liked to have taken with
+him," I said.
+
+"What was the matter?" they both asked.
+
+Chips and I tried to tell, but we soon made a tangle of it, the only
+thing coherent being the fact that the fellow was a crook and had left
+his trunk behind. This was so heavy that Chips had failed to lift it.
+
+"I always knew he was not a sea-captain," cried Jennie. "I don't see how
+you men let him fool you so badly."
+
+Chips and I looked at the mate, but he simply scratched his head.
+
+"Discipline is discipline," he said. "He ware capting o' this here ship,
+an' there ware no way to do but obey his orders. No, sir, discipline is
+discipline, an' the sooner ye get it through your heads, the better."
+
+"But he isn't captain any longer," I said.
+
+"Well, I don't know about that," said Trunnell. "If he ain't a-comin'
+back, he ain't capting, sure. But ye can't tell nothin' about it. He may
+come aboard agin in a little while an' want to know why we didn't wait
+dinner for him."
+
+"He sho' would take his trunk," said Gunning, "an' dat's a fact."
+
+"Why would he?" asked Mrs. Sackett.
+
+"'Cause he take good care o' dat trunk, ma'm. He sleep wid one eye on it
+an' his gun handy. I come near gettin' killed onct when I come into de
+cabin, suddin' like, while he was at work ober de things inside."
+
+"For Heaven's sake, let's look at it," said Mrs. Sackett.
+
+"'Tis th' best thing we cud do," said Chips. "'Tis no less than solid
+gold he stowed in it. Faith, it's as heavy as th' main yard."
+
+Mrs. Sackett led the way to the captain's room, and Trunnell made no
+farther resistance. She opened the door, and we crowded inside. There lay
+the trunk on the floor or deck ahead of us.
+
+"Try yer hand at th' liftin' av th' thing," said Chips to me.
+
+I reached down and took hold of the handle at the side. Pulling heavily,
+I lifted with all my power. The trunk remained stationary.
+
+"Dere's nothin' but gold in dat thing, sho'," said Gunning.
+
+"Well, for Heaven's sake! why don't some one open it?" cried Jennie.
+
+"An' have him a-comin' back aboard, a-wantin' to know who had been at it,
+hey?" said Trunnell. "I didn't think ye ware that kind o' missy."
+
+"Nonsense!" I said. "He isn't coming back. Even if he is, it won't hurt
+to lift it, will it?"
+
+"No, I don't know as it will, only it might upset them charts,"
+said Trunnell.
+
+"Try it," I said. "See if it's gold. It'll clink when you shake
+it, sure."
+
+The little giant stooped and gave a grunt of disdain. "I reckon there
+ain't nothin' that size I can't lift," said he, in a superior tone, which
+was not lost on the women. Trunnell seldom bragged, and we crowded
+around, looking for quick results.
+
+"A little bit o' trunk a-breakin' the backs o' a pair o' fellows as has
+the impudence to say they are men an' question the discipline o' the
+ship!" he said, with a loud grunt of disgust. "Stan' clear an' let a man
+have a chanst. If it's gold, an' ye're right, it'll rattle an' jingle
+fast enough; an' I hopes then ye'll be satisfied."
+
+He took a strong hold of the leather handle at the side and braced his
+little legs wide apart. It was evident he would put forth some power.
+Then he set the great muscles of his broad back slowly, like a dray horse
+testing the load before putting forth his strength. Slowly and surely the
+little mate's back raised. He grew red in the face, and we peered over
+the treasure, hoping it would rise and give forth the welcome jingle.
+
+Suddenly there was a ripping sound. Trunnell straightened up quickly,
+staggered for an instant, and then pitched forward over the trunk,
+uttering a fierce oath.
+
+Mrs. Sackett screamed. Jennie burst into a wild fit of laughter. Chips
+and Gunning stood staring with open mouths and eyes, while Trunnell
+picked himself up, with the trunk handle in his iron fist.
+
+"Faith, an' ye are a good strong man," said the carpenter. "Ye'd make a
+fortune as a porter a-liftin' trunks at a hotel."
+
+"He can lift a little thing like that," said Jennie, mimicking the mate's
+tone to perfection.
+
+Trunnell was now thoroughly mad. If the trunk contained gold, he would
+soon find out.
+
+"Bring yer tools, an' don't stan' laffin' like a loon, ye bloody
+Irishman," he said to Chips, and the carpenter disappeared quickly. He
+returned in a moment with a brace and bit, a cold chisel, and a hammer.
+
+"Knock off the top," said Trunnell.
+
+"Discipline is discipline," whispered Jennie; "and I don't want to be
+around if the captain comes back."
+
+Trunnell was too angry to pay attention to this remark, so he looked
+sourly on while the carpenter cut off the rivets holding the lock.
+
+"There ye are," he said, and we crowded around to look in while the mate
+raised the lid.
+
+Off it came easily enough. We stood perfectly silent for an instant. Then
+all except Trunnell burst out laughing. The trunk was empty!
+
+"Well, sink me down deep, but that ware the heaviest air I ever see,"
+said Trunnell. Then he picked up a slip of paper in the bottom and looked
+at it a moment. It had writing on it, and he unfolded it to read. I
+looked over his shoulder and read aloud:--
+
+"MY DEAR LITTLE MATE: When you get this here billee ducks, don't do
+anything rash. Remember the discipline of the ship, first of all, and
+then take the dollar bill here and get somebody to cut your hair fer ye,
+as it's too loing fer a man of sense and is disagreeable to the ladies.
+If ye thought ye had a pot of gold in this here outfit, ye get left,
+sure, and no mistake. Remember money's the root of all evil and thank yer
+Lord ye ain't got none. There ain't no answer to this note; but if ye
+feel like writing at enny time, address it to Bill Jackwell, care of
+anybody at all what happens to be around at the time I'm there--see?
+Some day we'll meet agin, fer I'm stuck on the sea and am going to buy a
+boat and appoint ye as captain, only yer must cut yer hair and trim up
+yer beard some. That's all."
+
+Trunnell held the dollar bill he had unfurled from the note in his hand
+and dropped the note back into the trunk.
+
+"'Tis screwed fast wid nine big bolts to th' deck," said Chips, who had
+examined the outfit carefully.
+
+Trunnell scratched his bushy head thoughtfully for a moment longer. "Is
+there any sech thing as a few men aboard this ship?" he asked.
+
+I said I thought there was.
+
+"Then man the boat and row, for the love o' God!" he roared, springing up
+the companionway to the deck, leaving us to follow after him.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+
+When we reached the deck and looked after the brig, we found that we had
+spent more time below than at first imagined. The _Shark_ was hull down
+to the southward and evidently going along steadily at a three-knot rate.
+The sun was almost on the horizon, and if we started after her, the
+chances were that night would fall long before we could lessen the
+distance between us materially. Sober appreciation of the affair took the
+place of Trunnell's impetuosity.
+
+"We'll niver see him agin," said Chips, hauling heavily on the
+boat tackles.
+
+"There's no use, Trunnell," I cried; "we can't catch that brig in a
+whale-boat."
+
+He was already hesitating, and stood scratching his shaggy beard.
+
+"Avast heavin' on that tackle," he bawled. Then he turned to me. "You're
+right, Rolling, we've lost a fortune an' the rascal too, but it ain't no
+use making bigger fools of ourselves. Stow the boat. After that send
+Johnson aft to me with a pair o' scissors. You an' Tom can set the
+watches, fer ye see I'm capting of her now. Ye might say, on the side
+like, that the first burgoo eater what comes along the weather side o'
+the poop while I'm on deck will go over the rail. There's a-goin' to be
+some discipline aboard the hooker, or I'll--well, there ain't no tellin'
+just what I won't do. I'm capting o' this here ship, an' ye might jest as
+well muster the men aft to hear the news."
+
+Then he disappeared down the companion aft, and I sent Johnson to him
+with the shears as he had ordered.
+
+When Trunnell came on deck again in the evening, his beard was a sight to
+be remembered. It looked as though a rat had nibbled it in spots. His
+hair was equally well done by the artist, but Jackwell's last order had
+been obeyed. The men were mustered aft, and Trunnell announced that he
+was the man they wanted to stand from under. They remained silent until
+Johnson suggested that three cheers be given for the new skipper. Then
+all hands bawled themselves hoarse. That was all. I was now the first
+mate and took my meals at the cabin table, where Jennie and her mother
+had been wondering at Trunnell's dexterity with his knife. The little
+mate appeared to realize that a certain amount of dignity and dress were
+necessary for the maintenance of correct discipline aboard, and he
+accordingly changed his shirt once a week and wore a new coat of blue
+pilot cloth. He sat at the head of the table, and went through his
+knife-juggling each meal, to the never ending amusement of Jennie, and
+admiration of Gunning, who swore that, "dey ain't no man afloat cud do
+dat no better." He, however, came through the rest of the cruise without
+even cutting his lip.
+
+My duties and rating being those of a first mate, I had no longer the
+pleasure of being intimate with Chips and the rest forward. The
+carpenter, steward, and "doctor" had the quartermaster, Tom, from
+Trunnell's watch for a second mate and companion at the second table. Tom
+was a Yankee and a good companion, so the change was satisfactory all
+around. I sometimes looked in at the carpenter's room in the forward
+house, where he and a few chosen spirits would be holding forth upon some
+nautical subject, but I had to cut my visits short, for they worried
+Trunnell. Being suddenly raised did not quite inspire the necessary
+respect in his eyes, unless the person promoted showed unmistakable
+dignity and authority by dressing down all who came in contact with him.
+For some time it was pretty hard to speak to our little skipper. He
+disliked anything he imagined might tend to lessen the discipline aboard
+and had a horror of a mate or captain being familiar with the men.
+
+My room was still in the forward cabin, but I now spent much time in the
+saloon, and helped Trunnell to shift his belongings aft to Jackwell's
+cabin. The truculent knave had left little behind him save a lot of old
+clothes, bonds which were not negotiable, and some wrappers used by the
+bank of Melbourne for doing up packets of bills. Upon one of these was a
+mark of fifty pounds sterling, showing that Jackwell's assets, unless
+enormous, could be made to fit in a very small space. He probably carried
+all he owned upon his person.
+
+We went through everything in the cabin carefully, but the only thing of
+interest discovered was the photograph of a plump young woman torn fairly
+in two, the lower half bearing the inscription in Jackwell's handwriting,
+"Good riddance to bad rubbish."
+
+I had found this in the chart case and had examined it some minutes
+without comment, when Miss Sackett took it from me. She gazed at it a
+moment, and cried out, "Why! it's the third mate."
+
+I instantly seized it again and looked carefully at the features, and
+then it was plain enough. There he was, in a neat fitting bodice, the
+curly blond hair stylishly dressed, and the plump cheeks showing just
+the faintest trace of the dimples of our former third officer. I looked
+at the back of the photograph. It had the name of a Melbourne artist
+upon it, and beneath, in a female hand, the written words, "Yours
+lovingly, Belle."
+
+Trunnell heard Jennie's exclamation and came up. He took the picture from
+me and gazed long at the face. Then he gave a sigh which sounded like a
+blackfish drawing in air, handed it back to me, and went up the
+companionway, scratching his head in the manner he did when much
+disturbed. He said not a word, nor did he mention Mr. Bell's name, and
+that night at supper he never raised his eyes from his plate. Afterward
+in the mid-watch he came on the poop and walked fore and aft for three
+long hours without so much as speaking to me or asking the man at the
+wheel the vessel's course. He finally went below, carrying the odor of
+grog along with him. He came on deck many nights after this and walked
+fore and aft in silence, as though brooding over some unpleasant subject,
+and we were clear of the trade and knocking about in the uncertain
+latitudes before he appeared to be anything like himself again.
+
+I avoided any subject relating to the earlier part of the voyage and
+tried to cheer him. I thought he had suffered keenly, and was glad
+when he stopped drinking and looked me in the eyes without letting his
+gaze fall in confusion. Sometimes I caught myself wondering at the
+reticence of the men who had rowed him to the burnt wreck that night,
+but I found that no one had boarded her except Trunnell and he had
+sent the boat astern.
+
+Tom, the quartermaster, made mate under me, was a good sailor. He did his
+work thoroughly, and everything went along without friction throughout
+the rest of the voyage to the Breakwater. We picked up the northeast
+trade in a few days, and hauled our starboard tacks aboard, bracing the
+yards sharp up until it gradually swung more and more to the eastward,
+letting us off on a taut bowline for the latitude of the States.
+
+The _Pirate_ showed herself to be the fast ship she had always been, for
+we made the run up the trade in less than three weeks. Trunnell took such
+pride in her that all hands were tired out before we ran over the
+thirtieth parallel, with the scrubbing, painting, holy-stoning, etc.,
+that he considered necessary to have her undergo before arriving in port.
+As mate of the ship, I had much opportunity to command the deck alone;
+that is, without the supervision of any one. Of course, I can't say I
+spent much time alone on deck, even when in charge; but I would never let
+social matters interfere with work sufficiently to merit a rebuke from
+the little skipper. He soon manifested a disposition to be alone during
+his watch on deck, and at first I believed this to be due to the exalted
+dignity of his position. It hurt me to think he should be so changed, and
+I pondered at the peculiarities of mankind for many days. After awhile,
+however, he became absorbed in a game of checkers with Mrs. Sackett which
+lasted two weeks. Then I forgave him. Whenever he saw Jennie and myself
+on deck, he would make haste to get through his business there, and dive
+below again. This kindly interest on his part was kept up until we raised
+the Delaware Capes.
+
+How good the land smelled, and how distinctly. It seemed incredible that
+one could smell the land twenty miles away, almost before the color of
+the water began to change. Yet it was strong in the nostrils; and even
+one of the pigs we had not eaten, but had brought back alive, squealed
+incessantly, as though instinctively feeling that the voyage was over.
+
+It was late in the afternoon, but the men were mustered aft, in the
+time-worn way of merchant-men, to sign off. Nearly all had bills on the
+slop-chest for tobacco or clothes. As each went over the poop he gazed at
+the line on the western horizon and smiled gladly. It meant a new life
+for more than one. Among the last to go was the old landsman whom
+Trunnell had given a chance to earn his clothes by bug-hunting. He smiled
+sadly at the setting sun over the dark line which meant home. Then he
+shook out several strings of vermin, and holding them at arm's length,
+stopped at the cabin window. His cheap trousers failed to reach the tops
+of his coarse shoes, and the gap showed the skin on meagre ankles. I was
+interested to know what he would take.
+
+"What d'ye want?" asked Trunnell.
+
+"I come for a yaller silk ban'kercheef," said he, offering the strings.
+
+"Don't yer think ye'd better get some o' them woollens? It'll be cold on
+the beach."
+
+"I got clothes a plenty. I want a yaller silk ban'kercheef. Yer got one,
+for Sam tole me so. I'm a-goin' ashore to Hennery's, an' I ain't goin'
+like no clown without a wipe. Kin I have it?"
+
+The handkerchief was passed out, and the old fellow went forward smiling.
+
+What a strange thing is the end of a deep-water voyage! Men who have been
+living together for months through suffering and hardship will go over
+the ship's side with a cheery farewell. They may meet for a few moments
+at the office to draw their pay, and then take a drink all around. That
+is all. They seldom see or hear of each other again. The world goes on,
+and they drift about, taking what part in affairs Fate has in store for
+them. One should come back aboard the ship the day after she makes her
+dock and look into the deserted forecastle and about the lonely decks,
+where so much has taken place, to realize man's lonely mission. The old
+ship-keeper, sitting alone smoking on the hatchway in the evening before
+unloading begins, will affront one with his presence. Where are the men,
+rough, honest, coarse, or even bad, that used to sit there so often in
+the twilight of the dog-watch? There is a strange yearning to see them
+again. I watched the sun go down with a feeling of mingled joy and
+sorrow,--joy for the return to the States, and sorrow for the parting
+which must soon take place between my shipmates.
+
+When we came to an anchor and made ready to go ashore, the little giant
+Trunnell came up to say good-by to the ladies. I had decided to accompany
+them to the city.
+
+When he shook hands, the tears ran down out of his little eyes and
+trickled over his bushy beard to the deck.
+
+"I wishes ye all the best o' luck," said he, and he fumbled in his pocket
+for a moment, letting a small piece of paper escape and flutter to the
+deck. I stooped and picked it up, glancing at the writing on it. The
+words were:--
+
+Mrs. William Sackett, 25 Prince St., E.C., London, Eng.
+
+He snatched it from me and seized my hand, gripping it so hard I almost
+cried out.
+
+"Go along, ye lucky dog," he cried. "Say good-by to Chips an' the rest
+afore ye goes ashore. We'll be berthed an' paid off when ye comes back."
+
+I said good-by to the men at the gangway, and then helped the ladies over
+the side into the boat, seating myself in the stern-sheets between them.
+
+"I should think you'd be thankful to get in at last," said Jennie.
+
+"Yes," I whispered; "but I have no objections to sailing again as a
+mate."
+
+Her hand closed upon mine behind the backboard.
+
+"Neither have I," she breathed in return.
+
+"Whose mate?" I asked her.
+
+But that's an old story.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Mr. Trunnell, by T. Jenkins Hains
+
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