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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40563 ***
+
+Note: Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive. See
+      http://archive.org/details/cu31924011107400
+
+
+
+
+
+CAPTAIN CALAMITY
+
+by
+
+ROLF BENNETT
+
+Author of "The Adventures of Lieut. Lawless, R.N."
+
+Second Edition
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Hodder And Stoughton
+London New York Toronto
+MCMXVI
+
+Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld.,
+London and Aylesbury.
+
+
+
+
+      To
+    MY WIFE
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+        CHAPTER I. THE PARTNERS                                13
+
+       CHAPTER II. THE DEPARTURE OF THE "HAWK"                 21
+
+      CHAPTER III. MUTINY                                      29
+
+       CHAPTER IV. THE CASTAWAYS                               36
+
+        CHAPTER V. DORA FLETCHER                               44
+
+       CHAPTER VI. MR. DYKES RECEIVES HIS LESSON               53
+
+      CHAPTER VII. THE AGITATOR                                61
+
+     CHAPTER VIII. THE PRIZE                                   69
+
+       CHAPTER IX. TRAGEDY                                     78
+
+        CHAPTER X. THE CAPTAIN'S "APPEAL"                      86
+
+       CHAPTER XI. THE FIGHT                                   95
+
+      CHAPTER XII. A DESPERATE VENTURE                        103
+
+     CHAPTER XIII. THE EBB TIDE                               114
+
+      CHAPTER XIV. THE ATTACK                                 120
+
+       CHAPTER XV. MCPHULACH EXPLAINS                         129
+
+      CHAPTER XVI. CALAMITY KEEPS HIS WORD                    135
+
+     CHAPTER XVII. THE CONFESSION                             147
+
+    CHAPTER XVIII. DORA FLETCHER'S CHANCE                     155
+
+      CHAPTER XIX. AT THE WHEEL                               163
+
+       CHAPTER XX. IN COMMAND                                 171
+
+      CHAPTER XXI. THE SIGNAL GUN                             179
+
+     CHAPTER XXII. MR. SMITH SEEKS A PARTNER                  185
+
+    CHAPTER XXIII. DORA FLETCHER ANSWERS "NO"                 194
+
+     CHAPTER XXIV. THE MACHINATIONS OF MR. SOLOMON            201
+
+      CHAPTER XXV. THE ARREST                                 209
+
+     CHAPTER XXVI. THE TRIAL                                  217
+
+    CHAPTER XXVII. THE LETTER                                 228
+
+   CHAPTER XXVIII. HOME                                       239
+
+     CHAPTER XXIX. NOBLESSE OBLIGE                            248
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE PARTNERS
+
+
+     "_Know all men that we do by these presents issue forth and grant
+     Letters of Marque and reprisals to, and do license and authorise
+     John Brighouse to set forth in a warlike manner the ship called the
+     'Hawk,' under his own command and therewith by force of arms to
+     apprehend, seize and take the ships, vessels and goods belonging to
+     the German Empire, wherefore it may and shall be lawful for the
+     said John Brighouse to sell and dispose of such ships, vessels and
+     goods adjudged and condemned in such sort and manner as by the
+     course of Admiralty hath been adjudged._"
+
+The man who had been reading aloud from the closely written parchment
+laid it down on the table and glanced inquiringly at his companion. He
+was a man of between forty and fifty, a little over five feet in height,
+but so squarely built that, without exaggeration, he was well-nigh as
+broad as he was long. His head was small and bullet-shaped with a thatch
+of wiry black hair, and his face, bronzed to a copper-hue, was
+clean-shaven. A pair of thick, shaggy eyebrows brooded over eyes that
+usually produced a shock when first seen; for while one was steely-grey
+and possessed extraordinary mobility, the other was pale green and gazed
+upon the beholder with the fixed and stony stare of a dead fish. But
+this alarming optical phenomenon admitted of a simple explanation. At
+some period in his eventful career, Captain Calamity--for thus he was
+known throughout the length and breadth of the Pacific--had had the
+misfortune to lose an eye. After experiencing some difficulty in
+obtaining a glass substitute, he had at last managed to secure one
+second-hand from the relative of a gentleman who no longer required it.
+
+The other man, Isaac Solomon by name, might have been any age from forty
+to sixty. He was lean and angular, with features of a pronounced Hebraic
+cast and a pair of beady black eyes that conveyed the impression of
+mingled cunning and humour. His upper lip was shaven, but he wore a
+beard which, like the few remaining hairs upon his head, was of a dingy
+grey colour.
+
+This oddly assorted pair were seated in a small room, half parlour, half
+office, at the rear of the premises wherein Mr. Solomon carried on the
+business of ship-chandler. The one window, partly shuttered to keep out
+the fierce glare of the sun, looked out upon Singapore Harbour, with its
+forest of masts and busy fleet of small craft darting to and fro across
+the sparkling, unruffled surface of the water.
+
+"That good enough for you, Solomon?" inquired Captain Calamity, tapping
+the parchment.
+
+"Vell----" the other paused and meditatively rubbed the palms of his
+long, skinny hands together. "I suppose," he went on hesitatingly, "it
+is all O.K.; genuine--eh?"
+
+"What; this letter of authority?"
+
+Mr. Solomon nodded in a deprecating, half-apologetic sort of way.
+
+"I thought that the British Government did not issue any Letters of----"
+
+"Listen!" interrupted his companion, snatching up the document. "'In the
+name and on the behalf of His Britannic Majesty, King George the
+Fifth----'"
+
+He stopped abruptly and, pushing the parchment across the table with an
+impatient gesture, pointed to a signature just above the large red seal.
+
+"Look at that," he said.
+
+Mr. Solomon scrutinised the signature as a bank clerk might scrutinise a
+doubtful cheque.
+
+"Yes," he murmured at last, "it is not a forg--I mean," he corrected
+himself hastily, happening to catch the Captain's eye, "it seems quite
+genuine. Oh yes, quite. Still, I would like to know----"
+
+"How I came by this authority--eh?" broke in the other with a
+contemptuous laugh. "And you'd like to know why I'm referred to there as
+John Brighouse and not as Captain Calamity. You're itching to know,
+aren't you, Solly?"
+
+"Merely as a matter of pissness."
+
+"Exactly. Well, as a matter of business, I'm not going to enlighten you.
+How I obtained the Letters of Marque is my concern; the reason why I am
+referred to therein as John Brighouse is not your concern. For the rest,
+to you and to every one else in these parts, my name remains what it
+always has been--Captain Calamity. Savvy?"
+
+"A tree is known by its fruit--eh, Captain?" And Mr. Solomon
+laughed--that is to say, his throat emitted a strange, creaking noise
+which suggested that his vocal organs needed oiling, while his lips
+twitched convulsively.
+
+"And your ship," he went on when this mirthful mood had passed, "vere is
+she?"
+
+"That is a question which you can answer better than I."
+
+Mr. Solomon's face was eloquently interrogative.
+
+"I mean that, if you intend to join in this little venture with me, you
+must solve the problem."
+
+"But I don't understand," said the other anxiously. "You tell me you
+have a ship called the _Hawk_, and now----" he shrugged his shoulders
+with a helpless gesture.
+
+"I'm afraid your enthusiasm's carried you away, friend Solomon. I never
+said anything of the sort. The _Hawk_ referred to in that document is a
+legal fiction--an illegal fiction some might call it. If you want to go
+in for pigeon-plucking, you must provide the bird of prey," and Captain
+Calamity chuckled grimly at his own facetiousness.
+
+"Me! Provide a ship! Out of the question!" cried Mr. Solomon, backing
+nervously from the table as though the mere suggestion alarmed him.
+
+Calamity reached across the table and took from a box a big, fat,
+Burmese cigar. This he proceeded to light, which done, he leaned back in
+his chair and emitted huge clouds of smoke with obvious satisfaction.
+
+"You must think of something else, Captain," went on his companion,
+drawing still farther away from the table to escape being suffocated by
+the Captain's smoke.
+
+"Now see here," said Calamity, taking the cigar from his mouth and
+speaking with great deliberation. "You're a clever business man; a
+damned clever business man, or you wouldn't have kept out of jail all
+these years. Well, here's a business proposition after your own heart.
+You provide the ship and fit her out, and I'll provide the crew. Then,
+within three months, I'll undertake to earn a bigger dividend for each
+of us than you, with all your rascality, could make in a year. Doesn't
+that tickle your palate, my friend?"
+
+He paused and watched with a smile the obvious signs of perturbation on
+his companion's face. It was clear to him that in the mind of Mr.
+Solomon a terrific battle was in progress between exceeding avarice and
+excessive caution.
+
+"Vat security could you give?" asked the Jew at last. The struggle must
+have been fierce, for he drew from his pocket a large, yellow silk
+handkerchief and mopped the beads of perspiration from his face.
+
+"Security!" echoed Calamity fiercely. "Why, the security of my name.
+Have you ever known me break my word, Solomon? Is there, in the whole of
+the Pacific to-day, a man living whom I've sworn to kill?"
+
+Mr. Solomon started uneasily and edged towards the window as though to
+be in readiness to call for help if necessary.
+
+"But there aren't many enemy ships to capture now," he protested in a
+feeble voice. "They have all been driven off the seas."
+
+"I'll wager there are enough ships left to pay a healthy dividend on
+your capital, Solomon. Besides, if the supply does run short we're not
+dainty and----" He concluded his sentence with a grimly significant
+laugh.
+
+For some moments there was silence, broken only by the Captain's puffing
+as he exhaled cloud after cloud of fierce tobacco-smoke. Mr. Solomon's
+expressive countenance was again exhibiting signs of deep mental
+agitation, and his brow was wrinkled by a perplexed frown. Suddenly this
+cleared away and into his shifty eyes there came the triumphant look of
+one who has unexpectedly found the solution to a seemingly impossible
+problem. The change was so marked that Calamity regarded him with
+undisguised suspicion, for when Solomon looked like that it generally
+meant that somebody was going to be made wise by experience.
+
+"I vill dink it over," he said at last.
+
+A bland smile came over Calamity's face. He had not had intimate
+business relations with his companion during the past ten years for
+nothing, and knew that this was mere bluff, a sort of playful
+coquettishness on Mr. Solomon's part. But he, also, was an old hand at
+this game as his next remark proved.
+
+"Please yourself," he answered indifferently, rising as if to go. "You
+think it over as you say, and in the meantime I'll trip over to Johore
+and see your pal Rossenbaum. He may be glad of the chance to----"
+
+"Vait a minute! Vait a minute!" interrupted Mr. Solomon, starting to his
+feet. "Vat you in such a 'urry for?"
+
+In moments of excitement he was apt to drop the _h's_ which at other
+times he assiduously cultivated.
+
+"Well, you don't suppose I'm going to hang about Singapore and get drunk
+on the local aperients while you make up your mind, do you?" inquired
+Calamity.
+
+"Now just you sit down, Captain, and ve'll talk the matter over," said
+Mr. Solomon in a mollifying tone. "Make yourself at home now."
+
+With an appearance of great reluctance, Captain Calamity reseated
+himself and took another big, rank cigar from the box on the table.
+
+"Go ahead," he said laconically as he lit the poisonous weed.
+
+"Vat I propose," began Mr. Solomon, "is that you give me a bond...."
+
+He continued for over half an hour to state his conditions, Calamity
+never once interrupting him. When he had got through the Captain threw
+the stump of his third cigar out of the window and drew his chair closer
+to the table.
+
+"Now you've used up your steam, and, I hope, feel better, we'll talk
+business," he said in a cool, determined voice.
+
+Two hours elapsed before Captain Calamity rose to his feet and prepared
+for departure. It had been a tremendous battle, for Mr. Solomon's
+demands had continued to be outrageous and he had resisted every
+reduction tooth and nail. But they had at last come to an agreement,
+though, even so, each felt that he was conceding far too much to the
+other. The main points were, that Isaac Solomon was to procure a ship
+and fit her out; that the profits of each privateering expedition were
+to be divided into four equal shares, of which the partners each took
+one. The remaining two shares were to be used for refitting,
+victualling, bonuses for the crew, wages, and so forth. Mr. Solomon's
+connection with the venture was to be kept secret from every one but his
+partner, for, with a modesty that had its root in wisdom, the
+ship-chandler avoided publicity as much as possible.
+
+"I suppose you're going to wet the contract?" remarked Calamity as he
+picked up his hat.
+
+Mr. Solomon affected not to understand.
+
+"Vet it?" he inquired innocently.
+
+"Yes, drink to the prosperity of the venture, partner."
+
+With no great show of alacrity, Mr. Solomon crossed to a cupboard and
+was about to bring out a bottle of red wine, when Calamity stopped him.
+
+"Damn you!" he cried. "I'm not going to drink that purple purgative;
+save it for your fellow Sheenies. Come, out with that bottle of rum, you
+old skinflint!"
+
+Mr. Solomon made a chuckling noise in his throat, and, replacing the red
+fluid, brought forth a square bottle and two glasses. He was about to
+dole out a modest measure, when Calamity took the bottle from him and
+more than half filled one of the glasses.
+
+"Now help yourself, partner," he said, handing back the bottle.
+
+The other carefully poured out about a teaspoonful of the spirit,
+deluged it with water, and then held up his glass.
+
+"Long life and success to Calamity and Co!" cried the Captain, and
+tossed off the raw spirit with no more ado than if it had been milk.
+
+"Calamity and Co!" echoed Mr. Solomon in a thin, shrill voice.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE DEPARTURE OF THE "HAWK"
+
+
+Captain Calamity appeared to be one of those men who, for various
+reasons and often through force of circumstances, have drifted into the
+backwaters of civilisation to a life of semi-barbarism. Men of this sort
+are to be found all over the New World, but more particularly in the
+luxuriant islands of the South Pacific, where life can be maintained
+with a minimum of effort. Some are mere beachcombers, derelicts for whom
+the striving, battling world has no further use. Some are just
+"remittance men," social outcasts, bribed to remain at a safe distance
+from their more respectable relatives.
+
+A few, a very few, are men obsessed by a spirit of adventure; men who
+can find no scope for their superabundant energy and vitality in the
+overcrowded, over-civilised cities of the world. Of such as these was
+Captain Calamity. Yet his past was as much a mystery to those who knew
+him as was the origin of the suggestive name by which he was known
+throughout the Pacific. No one--until to-day, not even Isaac
+Solomon--had the slightest inkling of his real name. And, as might be
+expected under such circumstances, various stories, each more incredible
+than the last, were current among the islands concerning him. Still, the
+one most generally believed, no doubt because it sounded romantic,
+described him as an ostracised member of an aristocratic English family
+upon whom he had in earlier years brought disgrace.
+
+But, whatever the truth might be, Calamity never by any chance referred
+to his past, and, as to the stories concerning himself, he did not take
+the trouble to deny or confirm them.
+
+For some days after his interview with Mr. Solomon Calamity was busily
+engaged in collecting a crew--a crew which, as the _Hawk_ was to be a
+fighting ship, would have to consist of about thrice the number which
+she would have carried as a merchantman. So far as deck-hands and
+firemen were concerned this was fairly easy, but when it came to finding
+officers and engineers the task proved much more difficult. Men of this
+class, who, for some reason or other, found themselves adrift in
+Singapore without a ship, fought shy of the notorious skipper. They
+believed--and probably with very good reason--that to sail under him
+would ruin all prospects of getting a job with a reputable firm again.
+So, while willing enough to absorb "pegs" at the Captain's expense, they
+politely declined his offers of a berth on the _Hawk_.
+
+Eventually, he ran across an engineer who had made several voyages with
+him on trading and pearling expeditions; one Phineas McPhulach, a
+little, red-haired Scotsman with no professional prospects, but an
+unlimited capacity for death-dealing drinks. McPhulach, being in his
+customary state of "down and out," and having no future that
+necessitated consideration, eagerly accepted the berth of chief-engineer
+which Calamity offered him. Moreover, he was able to introduce a
+companion in misfortune named Ephraim Dykes. Mr. Dykes was a lean,
+lanky individual, with a cast in one eye, and an accent that proclaimed
+him a native of New England. He had once held a master's certificate,
+but this, it appeared, had been suspended indefinitely owing to his ship
+having piled herself up on a reef off New Guinea. Therefore, when
+Calamity proposed that he should ship as first mate, he was quite
+willing, as he put it, to "freeze right on."
+
+Partly through the instrumentality of this latter acquisition, Calamity
+was able to secure a second mate in the person of Mr. Sam Smith, a
+little Cockney of unsober habits. A second engineer named Sims, a
+taciturn man of middle age, was also picked up, and thus Calamity
+succeeded in collecting a ship's company suitable in quantity if not in
+quality.
+
+In the meantime, Mr. Solomon had also been busy. On the day following
+his entry into partnership with Calamity, he went to Johore and paid an
+afternoon call on Mr. Rossenbaum, a gentleman of similar persuasions to
+his own. For some weeks past they had been haggling over a business
+deal, which, up to that day, had not been settled. Mr. Rossenbaum
+possessed a steamer which he wanted repaired, and Mr. Solomon had the
+docking facilities necessary for the job, and the only thing which had
+so far stood between them was a difference of opinion as to price.
+
+The meeting between these two gentlemen afforded a magnificent piece of
+acting. Both appeared to have forgotten all about the subject over which
+they had been negotiating, and conversed amicably on neutral topics. The
+war, of course, came up for discussion, and this led Mr. Solomon to
+remark that money was scarce. Mr. Rossenbaum agreed, not only because it
+was the truth, but because he had always maintained this view, even
+when money was plentiful.
+
+Mr. Solomon went on to say that, in consequence of the said scarcity of
+coin, he was now obliged to undertake contracts on unremunerative terms,
+simply for the sake of the cash. Mr. Rossenbaum expressed his sympathy
+and added, as though the matter had never before been mentioned between
+them, that he had a steamer laying up, solely because he was unable to
+pay the extortionate prices demanded by ship-repairers for overhauling
+her.
+
+This was tantamount to a challenge, and Mr. Solomon accepted it. For a
+time they fenced and dodged, but at last, casting aside all pretence,
+came to grips over the bargain. It was a combat of wits between two men
+as well matched as any in the world, and it lasted well into the
+afternoon. Eventually Mr. Solomon made a great business of giving way
+and agreed to accept the contract on the amended terms if half the money
+were paid in advance. Mr. Rossenbaum reluctantly consented on condition
+that he was allowed 5 per cent discount on the advance. Mr. Solomon
+nearly fainted, and, with tears in his eyes, declared that if he agreed
+ruination would stare him in the face. Finally, he consented to a 2-1/2
+per cent discount, and the business was concluded at last. Each, on
+parting, assured the other that he had spent one of the most enjoyable
+days of his life, and this was probably the only truthful statement
+either had made throughout the interview.
+
+Over a week elapsed before Calamity and his partner met again, and,
+contrary to the Captain's expectations, Mr. Solomon evinced no desire to
+back out of the venture. On the contrary, he exhibited an almost painful
+desire to see the expedition set out with as little loss of time as
+possible--a fact which his partner regarded with not unreasonable
+suspicion.
+
+"It depends on the ship," he said in reply to Mr. Solomon's eager
+inquiries. "How long am I to wait for her?"
+
+"No need to vait at all; the ship is vaiting for you," said the other,
+pointing towards a newly painted steamer in the harbour.
+
+Calamity gazed at the vessel and then at his companion with an air of
+mistrust. Such promptitude on Mr. Solomon's part was, to say the least,
+unusual.
+
+"What about provisions, coal, guns, and so forth?" he demanded curtly.
+
+"Everything's ready, and as to guns----" Mr. Solomon put his hand on the
+Captain's shoulder and whispered the rest in his ear.
+
+"H'm," grunted Calamity, "I hope she's not some cursed old derelict
+you've picked up for a song."
+
+"Picked up for a song!" echoed Mr. Solomon indignantly. "Vat you mean?
+She cost me----"
+
+"Well?" inquired Calamity with interest as the other paused abruptly.
+
+"Nodding--I mean," Mr. Solomon corrected himself hastily, "it has
+noddings to do with the matter. She is a peautiful ship."
+
+"We shall see," said the Captain, rising to leave. "I'll go and have a
+look at your hooker now and see what she's like. Meet you this evening."
+
+Mr. Solomon nodded, and stood watching the short, squat figure of his
+partner disappear in the direction of the harbour. Then, rubbing his
+hands together and chuckling wheezily, he turned away from the window.
+
+On reaching the harbour, Calamity engaged a sampan and was taken to the
+steamer. There being no one on board, he was able to make an
+uninterrupted and very thorough examination, and, to his surprise, found
+that she was all that Solomon had claimed her to be. She was
+comparatively new--not more than five years old at most--of about 3,000
+odd tons and with every indication of being seaworthy and sound. The
+food, too, was not as bad as it might have been; some of it, indeed,
+seemed quite eatable. Moreover, Mr. Solomon, in an extraordinary fit of
+liberality, had not only re-painted the ship, but had also caused the
+name _Hawk_ to be emblazoned on her stern in letters of gold--which, by
+the way, Calamity had painted out the very next day. Nor had Solomon
+forgotten the primary object of the expedition, for in the after-hold
+were six machine-guns--rather antiquated as such weapons go, perhaps,
+but most decidedly serviceable. Ammunition and small-arms were there in
+plenty, the latter a somewhat miscellaneous collection of varying
+degrees of deadliness.
+
+The Captain, as he noted all this, felt a growing sense of perplexity.
+It was so utterly unlike Mr. Solomon to do anything thoroughly--always
+excepting his clients, of course--that he felt almost apprehensive. He
+was like an animal, sniffing an appetising morsel, while fearing that it
+was merely the bait of some concealed trap. For some time he stood
+leaning on the bulwarks thinking hard, but at last the worried
+expression left his face and was succeeded by a smile; a smile that
+would not have made Mr. Solomon any the happier had he seen it.
+
+Having made himself acquainted with the ship, Calamity decided to waste
+no further time. Going ashore again, he collected his crew and sent
+them aboard under Mr. Dykes, the mate. Those who were not sober enough
+to walk were carried by those who were and flung unceremoniously into
+the boats--a joyful, polyglot crowd with complexions as varied as their
+sins. On reaching the _Hawk_, the firemen were kicked below to get up
+steam and the deck-hands set to holy-stoning and polishing.
+
+When Calamity came on board a little later, he sent for Mr. Dykes, and
+the two had a brief conference appertaining to the work of the ship.
+
+"What's the crew like, Mr. Dykes?" asked the Captain presently.
+
+"Like!" echoed the mate. "I reckon the devil's opened hell's gates
+somewheres around here and we've picked up a few of them what's got out.
+There'll be red, ruddy, blazin' mutiny before a week's out, and, with
+the number we've got on board, we shan't stand a yaller dog's chance."
+
+Calamity smiled.
+
+"Don't worry yourself, Mr. Dykes, I don't think we shall have very much
+trouble with them. One or two, I know, have sailed with me before and
+they, probably, will give the others the benefit of their experience."
+
+Mr. Dykes having been dismissed, chief-engineer McPhulach was summoned
+to the cabin. Asked his opinion of the men under him, his reply varied
+in terms but agreed in spirit with that already given by the mate.
+
+"The scum of the bottomless pit," was how he put it.
+
+"They may not be a liner's crew exactly," said Calamity in an almost
+gentle voice, "but I think we shall understand one another before long."
+
+Whereat McPhulach departed with an almost happy smile and knocked down
+an insolent fireman for the good of his soul.
+
+That evening, according to his promise, Captain Calamity arrived at Mr.
+Solomon's store, accompanied by Mr. Dykes, whom he duly introduced. This
+done, he informed his partner that he was sailing that night.
+
+"Vat, so soon!" ejaculated Mr. Solomon.
+
+"You don't want your capital lying idle longer than necessary, do you?"
+
+"No, no, but----"
+
+"Then sign these bills of lading and don't waste my time."
+
+Mr. Solomon turned up the smoky little oil-lamp which inadequately
+illuminated the room, put on his spectacles, and proceeded to examine
+the papers Calamity had thrust before him. He scrutinised each one so
+long and so carefully that at last the Captain lost patience and swore
+he would not sail at all unless the remainder were signed without delay.
+So, much against his better judgment, Mr. Solomon put his name to the
+rest without doing more than glance over the contents.
+
+That night the _Hawk_ weighed anchor and steamed unostentatiously out of
+Singapore Harbour without troubling the customs authorities or any other
+officials whatever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MUTINY
+
+
+By dawn the _Hawk_ was churning her way at full speed towards the Java
+Sea and a destination unknown to any one but the Captain. It was too
+early to judge of the qualities of the ship, but those of the crew were
+already becoming manifest. Indeed, it looked as if the prophecies of the
+mate and the engineer were likely to be fulfilled sooner than even they
+expected. The men did not work with a will; worse still, they didn't
+even grumble. They maintained a solid, stolid, sullen silence that had
+the same effect on the nerves as a black and threatening cloud on a
+still day. They quarrelled amongst themselves, but for the officers they
+only had lowering glances and threats muttered below the breath. One
+would imagine that they had all been shanghaied or shipped under false
+pretences. Besides the boatswain, his mate and a couple of
+quartermasters, there were very few white men amongst them, and between
+these and the rest of the crew a state of hostility already existed.
+
+When the boatswain's mate put his head inside the forecastle door to
+call the morning watch no one swore at him, and that was a very bad sign
+indeed.
+
+"Now then, my sons, and you know the sons I mean! Show a leg, show a
+leg, show a leg!" he called.
+
+Nobody threw a boot at him, nobody consigned him to the nether regions,
+nobody told him what his mother had been. The men tumbled out of their
+bunks with surly, glowering faces and with scarcely a word spoken.
+
+"Rouse out! Rouse out! You hang-dog, half-caste, loafing swine!" roared
+the boatswain's mate, hoping that he might thus goad them into
+cheerfulness and induce a homely feeling.
+
+He failed, however, and though one man made a tentative movement with
+his hand in the direction of a sheath-knife at his hip, nothing came of
+it.
+
+The matter was reported to Mr. Dykes, who shook his head gloomily.
+
+"You ought, by rights, to be half-dead by now," he said, looking
+resentfully at the boatswain's mate.
+
+The latter evidently felt his position and tried to look apologetic.
+
+"Can't even get an honest curse out of 'em," he said. "They've had three
+feeds already, and the cook says not one's threatened to kill 'im. He
+don't like it because, of course, he feels something's wrong. 'Tain't
+natural that men should just fetch their grub and go away without
+telling the cook just what they think of 'im. I've never see'd anything
+like it before."
+
+"Something's going to bust, and pretty soon," remarked the mate. "An'
+it'll be a gaudy shindy when it does."
+
+Later on he reported the state of affairs to Calamity, who merely
+smiled.
+
+"The men are doing their work, aren't they?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"The fact is, sir, things ain't settlin' down as they ought to. The ship
+feels like a theatre when the boys are loosenin' their guns before the
+curtain goes down. I've been in the foc'sle and there ain't so much as a
+photo nor a picture-postcard nailed up. There's nothing homely about it,
+sir, like you'd expect to see; no cussin' nor rowin' nor anything
+cheerful."
+
+"Probably the men will be more cheerful later on, Mr. Dykes," answered
+the Captain. "They are new to the ship, remember."
+
+The mate went away in deep dudgeon. So this was the notorious Captain
+Calamity; the man whose name, he had been told, was sufficient to cow
+the most disorderly ruffians that ever trod a ship's decks. Here he was,
+with a crew who were on the very verge of mutiny, making excuses for
+them and talking like some mission-boat skipper with the parson at his
+elbow. It was disgusting.
+
+That evening he confided his opinions to McPhulach, in the latter's
+cabin.
+
+"I reckon we've got this old man tabbed wrong," he said. "He ain't no
+bucko skipper as they talks about; a crowd of Sunday School sailors is
+about his mark. When I told him the men were only waitin' a good
+opportunity to slit all our throats, he jest coo'd like a suckin' dove.
+'Remember they're new to the ship,' says he, as soft as some old
+school-marm."
+
+"Aye, but he's a quare mon till ye ken him," remarked the engineer
+thoughtfully.
+
+"Queer! He'll let us all be dumped into the ditch before he raises a
+finger."
+
+"I wouldna go sa far as tae say that. Yon's a michty strange mon, I'm
+telling ye, and the lead-line hasna been made that can fathom him."
+
+Mr. Dykes gave a contemptuous grunt, and, as he walked away, opined that
+the skipper and the chief engineer were a pair, and about as fit to
+control men as their grandmothers would have been.
+
+As he had anticipated, matters were not long in coming to a head. At the
+machine-gun drill and rifle exercise, which occupied several hours each
+day, the men grew increasingly slack. On the fourth day out it was as
+much as he could do to get the men to obey orders, and if ever a crew
+showed signs of mutiny it was the crew of the _Hawk_. But, early in the
+morning of the following day, an incident occurred which, if it served
+to distract everybody's attention for a little while, had the ultimate
+effect of bringing about the long-threatened crisis.
+
+The grey mist of dawn still lay upon the waters, when the sound of
+firing was heard, apparently coming from the eastward. The _Hawk's_
+course was changed slightly and an hour later those on the bridge were
+able to make out, with the aid of glasses, a small German gunboat
+"holding up" a French liner.
+
+"Guess we could sink that little steam can as easy as swallowin' a
+cocktail," remarked the mate. "Say, Cap'n, do we butt in here?"
+
+Instead of answering, Calamity stepped up to the engine-room telegraph
+and rang down "Stop!" By this time the Germans could be seen conveying
+things from the liner to their own vessel, and, somehow or other, the
+rumour spread among the _Hawk's_ crew that they were bullion cases.
+Presently the liner was allowed to proceed on her way, and the German
+steamed off in a north-easterly direction. Then Calamity rang down,
+"Full speed!" to the engine-room and turned to the mate.
+
+"Follow that packet," he said, indicating the German, "but don't
+overhaul her."
+
+"Then we're goin' to let that square-head breeze away?" asked Mr. Dykes
+in a tone of acute disappointment. "Durned if this lay-out don't get me
+stuck," he went on. "We could have froze on to them bars ourselves."
+
+His opinion of Captain Calamity had touched zero by now, and he hardly
+troubled to conceal his contempt. He, like the remainder of the _Hawk's_
+company, knew that she was engaged on a privateering expedition, and was
+eager to "taste blood." And it must be admitted that Calamity had
+induced many of the men to ship with him by holding out promises of fat
+bonuses, with, perhaps, the opportunity of a little plundering thrown
+in. Now, when chance had thrown what appeared to be a rich prize under
+their very noses, the skipper was calmly letting it slip through his
+fingers.
+
+It was pretty obvious that the mate's resentment was shared by the crew.
+For the last half-hour they had lined the bulwarks, watching the Germans
+transfer their plunder from the liner. Every man-Jack of them felt
+certain that, in the course of a very short time, that same plunder
+would find its way on board the _Hawk_ with material benefit to
+themselves. When, however, it was seen that the Captain had no intention
+of carrying out their notion, scowling faces were turned towards the
+bridge, and there were angry mutterings. Soon the muttering grew louder,
+and at last one of the men, a huge serang, stepped out of the crowd, and
+shook his fist at Calamity, who was watching from the bridge.
+
+Then, urged on by the others, he demanded that the ship should be put
+back to Singapore and the men discharged with a month's wages. They did
+not like, he said, being on a ship without knowing what port she was
+bound for. They did not like the officers, and, more than anything
+else, they did not like the Captain. The spokesman wound up his
+peroration in broken English by hinting that, unless the _Hawk_ was put
+about at once, the crew would take charge of her.
+
+All this while Calamity had stood leaning on the bridge-rail, listening
+to the serang with an expression of quiet, almost anxious, attention.
+The mate, watching him out of the corner of his eyes, saw no sign of
+that terrible berserker rage with which he had so often heard the
+Captain credited. In fact, a member of Parliament could not have
+listened to a deputation of constituents with more polite attention.
+
+"I reckon if we don't do what they want they'll hand out some trouble,"
+said the mate. "Them that ain't got one knife ready at their hips has
+got two."
+
+Calamity made no answer, but a peculiar pallor had overspread his face.
+He turned away from the bridge-rail, and, without any sign of haste,
+descended the companion-ladder and stepped calmly into the midst of the
+snarling rabble.
+
+"What are you doing on deck?" he asked the serang quietly. "Your place
+is in the stokehold."
+
+The man started to make an impudent reply, but before he had uttered two
+words the Captain had snatched him off his feet as easily as if he had
+been a child and flung him bodily into the crowd of astonished men,
+knocking several of them over. Then, as the serang landed against a
+steam-winch with a terrible crash, Calamity snatched up a capstan bar
+and dashed into the crowd.
+
+Then the mate, standing on the bridge, witnessed such a spectacle as he
+had never seen before and devoutly hoped he would never see again.
+Swinging the heavy iron bar above his head as though it were a flail,
+the Captain smashed left and right among the men, hitting them how and
+where he could--on the head, body, limbs--no matter where so long as he
+hit them. Two or three drew their knives and made a desperate rush at
+him, but there was no getting through the swinging circle of iron. In
+two minutes the forward deck bore a horrible resemblance to a shambles,
+for it was littered with injured men and blood was trickling down the
+white planks into the scuppers. Groans, shrieks, and curses resounded on
+all sides; the men scurried for shelter in every direction like rats,
+and two or three, reaching the forecastle, locked themselves in. But a
+couple of blows from the iron bar smashed the door to splinters and then
+cries rang out again and with them the sound of the terrible weapon as
+it crashed against a bulkhead or smashed a bunk to splinters. One man
+managed to escape out of the forecastle and was running for his life
+towards the poop when Calamity, his face distorted with demoniac fury,
+flung the bar at him. It caught the man on the back of the head and he
+pitched forward on the deck, where he lay weltering in his own blood.
+
+Then, without so much as a glance at the fearful havoc he had wrought,
+the Captain returned to the bridge.
+
+"What were you saying before I left, Mr. Dykes?" he inquired calmly.
+
+"Er--I was saying that it looked as if the wind would change round to
+the nor' west before long, sir," answered the mate in a subdued and
+extremely respectful tone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE CASTAWAYS
+
+
+The following morning, at eight bells, those of the crew not on duty or
+on the sick-list were assembled upon the forward hatch. Many of them had
+heads or limbs in bandages, and they were as meek as little lambs. As
+the ship's bells were struck, Calamity mounted the bridge, accompanied
+by the mate, and walked up to the rail.
+
+"I'm not going to waste my breath by telling such a crowd of doss-house
+and prison scum as you are what I think about you," he said in a harsh,
+grating voice, that seemed to emphasise the insults. "What I want to say
+is this: the first man who raises a murmur about anything or hesitates
+in carrying out an order, that man I'll string up at the end of a
+derrick with a hawser for a collar. And remember this: I like a cheerful
+crew, and if I see a man who doesn't look as cheerful as he ought, by
+God, I'll clap him in the bilboes. Now get out of my sight."
+
+The Captain stepped back from the rail and turned to the mate.
+
+"I always believe in exercising patience and in using persuasion, Mr.
+Dykes," he said. "If, however, we should have any more trouble--and I
+don't somehow think we shall--it will become necessary to deal
+drastically with the offenders."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, he walked into the chart-room, leaving Mr.
+Dykes and the second-mate gasping.
+
+"What in thunder would he call 'drastic,' I'd like to know?" inquired
+the former. "He's already maimed half the crew and calls that
+persuasion. The Lord stand between me and his persuading, that's all I
+say."
+
+"He's a bloomin' knock-aht, swelp me Bob," replied the second-mate in a
+tone of subdued admiration. "I thought the yarns I'd heard about him was
+all kid, but now--help!"
+
+Later on, when Mr. Dykes conveyed his impressions to the chief engineer,
+the latter merely nodded without evincing the slightest surprise.
+
+"I told ye he was a michty quare mon," he remarked calmly. "I wouldna
+advise ye to run athwart him even if ye've got liquor as an excuse."
+
+"You bet I won't, not after this. I guess I'll have to load up pretty
+considerable on liquor before I try to hand him a song and dance."
+
+"Talkin' about liquor, ye'll find a bottle o' rum under the pillow o' my
+bunk, Meester Dykes. We'll jest have a wee drappie an' I'll tell ye hoo
+I marrit me fairst wife."
+
+"Your first wife?" repeated the mate. "Say, how many have you had?"
+
+"I couldna tell ye off-hand, mon. Ye see, the saircumstances in mony
+cases were compleecated, if ye ken me," answered McPhulach thoughtfully.
+"Me fairst, now ..."
+
+Mr. Dykes listened for some time to the engineer's account of his
+matrimonial complications and then turned in. For the first time since
+leaving Singapore, he closed his eyes without an uneasy suspicion that
+he and the rest of the officers might have their throats cut before the
+morning. Indeed, the crew might henceforward have served as a model for
+the most exacting skipper that ever sailed the seas. The men could not
+have turned out for their respective watches with more promptitude had
+they been aboard a battleship, and their language on such occasions was
+such that even the boatswain's mate had no cause for complaint. And they
+were cheerful, laboriously cheerful. Whenever Calamity happened to
+approach a man, that man would start to hum a tune as if his life
+depended on it; he'd smile if he had a ten-thousand-horsepower
+toothache; everybody was happy, and only the ship's cat led a dog's
+life.
+
+"It's a bloomin' wonder," said the second-mate to Mr. Dykes, "that the
+old man don't put up a blighted maypole and make all us perishers dance
+round it."
+
+For two days the _Hawk_ kept the smoke-trail of the German gunboat in
+view, but made no attempt to overhaul her. Every one agreed that the
+_Hawk_, with her four-inch guns, could sink the German. They were
+puzzled, therefore, as to the Captain's seeming reluctance to engage
+her. But never a word of wonder reached Calamity, never a hint or a
+question from his officers; every one was certain that he knew his
+business, or, if they weren't, carefully kept it to themselves. And the
+Captain himself vouchsafed no explanation.
+
+On the third morning the look-out reported that the gunboat was chasing
+a large steamer. Immediately afterwards the men, even those who were not
+on watch, came tumbling up on deck, in the hope that at last they were
+going to sniff the promised booty. But not a word was spoken, not a man
+so much as glanced at the bridge where the skipper stood with his
+glasses focussed on the chase. They were patiently cheerful.
+
+Presently there came the faint echo of a shot and the steamer lay-to,
+apparently waiting for the pirates to board her. At her stern fluttered
+the red ensign of the British Mercantile Marine.
+
+The _Hawk_ had slowed down to quarter speed, and Calamity, through his
+glasses, continued to watch events. In a remarkably short space of time
+the Germans transferred a portion of the cargo, whatever it might be, to
+their own vessel, after which the steamer was allowed to pursue her way.
+One thing seemed clear, which was that the Germans cared less for
+sinking enemy ships than for laying hands on the more valuable and
+portable articles of cargo they happened to carry. The gunboat, having
+captured and dismissed her prey, continued on her course, and so also
+did the _Hawk_.
+
+Calamity, no doubt, had fully developed his plans, but he appeared,
+also, to have developed a very bad memory. For the instructions
+accompanying his commission contained, among numerous other clauses, one
+which laid it down that "if any ship or vessel belonging to us or our
+subjects, shall be found in distress by being in fight, set upon, or
+taken by the enemy ... the commanders, officers, and company of such
+merchant ships as shall have Letters of Marque shall use their best
+endeavours to give aid and succour to all such ship and ships...."
+
+Which, of course, for reasons known only to himself, the Captain of the
+_Hawk_ had not done, nor attempted to do.
+
+The morning had been unusually hot, even for such latitudes, and, as the
+day advanced, the heat became almost unbearable. The pitch boiled and
+bubbled up between the deck-seams and the exposed paintwork became
+disfigured with huge blisters. An awning had been rigged up over the
+bridge, but, despite this and the fact that it was high above the decks,
+the atmosphere was like that of a super-heated bakehouse, dry and
+shimmering, nor was there a breath of wind to stir it. Occasionally a
+whiff of hot, oily vapour came up through the engine-room gratings and
+helped to make the air still more heavy and oppressive. Even the sea,
+calm as a pond, looked oily and hot under the glare of a burning noonday
+sun set in a sky of metallic blue.
+
+Then, towards eight bells in the afternoon watch, a faint breeze sprang
+up; the sky changed imperceptibly from blue to grey, and the sun became
+a red, glowing disc with a slight haze round it. The sea had taken on a
+yellowish-green tint and angry little wavelets began to chase each other
+and to dash themselves viciously against the _Hawk's_ sides. Presently
+the breeze died away as suddenly as it had arisen, but the sky became
+more and more overcast and the wavelets grew into boulders,
+white-crested and threatening. The sun disappeared behind a bank of
+black, evil-looking clouds, while the atmosphere became still more
+oppressive and the decks and awnings steamed. A strange, uncanny silence
+had settled over everything, so that the least noise sounded curiously
+distinct. The throb of the engines, usually mellow and subdued, came now
+in sharp, staccato beats; the clang of the furnace-doors and the rattle
+of rakes and shovels in the stokehold could be plainly heard on the
+bridge.
+
+"Strike me pink, if we ain't in for a bloomin' typhoon, a reg'lar
+rip-snorter," muttered the second-mate as he mopped his perspiring
+forehead.
+
+The quartermaster set his teeth and gripped the wheel more
+tightly--something was going to happen. A moment later, Calamity stepped
+on to the bridge and gave a quick, comprehensive glance around him.
+
+"Everything lashed up and made secure, Mr. Smith?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, sir," answered the second, and added: "We're runnin' into a proper
+blazer; none of your bloomin' twopenny-ha'penny breezes this time."
+
+Already the awnings had been taken in, spars and loose gear made fast,
+derricks secured, and ports screwed down. Every moment it grew darker
+and the _Hawk_ was beginning to roll in an uncomfortable fashion.
+
+Suddenly the sky was split by a blinding flash of lightning followed by
+a crashing peal of thunder that seemed to shake the vessel from stem to
+stern. There was a moment's interval, during which rain-spots the size
+of pennies appeared on the deck and a grey haze settled over the sea.
+Then came another flash of lightning, a terrific roar of thunder, and
+the storm burst in all its fury. The rain came down now in solid sheets
+of water, pouring off the bridge and deck-houses in cascades and
+flooding out the scuppers which could not drain it fast enough. The sea
+had gained in fury with the hurricane and now broke over the bulwarks,
+mounted the forecastle, and swept along the decks from bow to stern. One
+great wave even leapt up to the bridge, tearing away the awning spars,
+smashing the woodwork to splinters, and very nearly wrenching the wheel
+from the quartermaster's hands.
+
+Another great roller struck the _Hawk_ amidships and she reeled till her
+port bulwarks were under water. Gradually she righted, her funnel-guys
+twisted into a mass of tangled wire, her boats carried away or stove in,
+her decks, fore and aft, littered with wreckage and gear which had been
+swept loose. Between the deafening peals of thunder, the shouts and
+curses of the poor wretches in the stokehold could be heard as they were
+thrown against the glowing furnace doors, or the firebars slipped out,
+shooting great masses of red-hot coal and clinker among their half-naked
+bodies.
+
+Sometimes a wave would catch the vessel under the stern, lifting her so
+that her bows plunged forward into the boiling sea ahead, her propeller
+racing high in the air until the plates quivered with the vibrations. Or
+she would lift her nose to an oncoming billow, and, rising with it, bury
+her stern in the seething vortex till the wheel-house disappeared from
+view beneath the turbid, foaming water. It seemed impossible that any
+ship could live through such a storm.
+
+But at last the lightning began to grow less vivid, the thunder
+gradually died away in the distance and the sea, little by little,
+subsided. Firemen, black from head to foot, staggered along the deck to
+the forecastle and threw themselves just as they were upon their bunks;
+the second engineer came off duty, a bloody sweat-rag twisted round his
+head, and reeled, rather than walked, to his cabin. Then McPhulach
+appeared at the fiddley, mopping his face with a lump of oily waste.
+
+"Are you all right below?" shouted Calamity from the bridge.
+
+"Aye, but some of the puir deils will carry the mairks o' this day upon
+their bodies as long as they live," answered the engineer. "Hell must
+be a garden party to what it was down yon a wee while aback."
+
+As he spoke, two injured firemen, the upper parts of their bodies
+wrapped round with oil-soaked waste, were brought on deck and carried to
+the forecastle. Their faces, which had evidently been wiped with
+sweat-rags, were of a corpse-like whiteness that was accentuated by the
+circles of black coal-dust round their eyes.
+
+"Half roasted," said McPhulach, indicating with a jerk of his head the
+two injured men. "If they hadna rinds like rhinoceros hide, they'd be
+dead the noo. Mon, the stokehold smelt like a kitchen wi' the stink o'
+scorching meat."
+
+The engineer disappeared and Calamity turned to Mr. Dykes, who had
+relieved Smith on the bridge.
+
+"Serve out a tot of rum to all hands," he said. "It's been a trying
+experience."
+
+"Trying experience!" echoed the mate. "It was as near hell as ever I
+touched, sir."
+
+The Captain was about to make some remark when he suddenly snatched a
+pair of binoculars out of the box fastened to the bridge-rail. He
+focussed them upon the seemingly deserted waste of tossing grey waters
+and then handed them to the mate.
+
+"What do you make of that, Mr. Dykes?" he asked, indicating a point on
+the port quarter.
+
+The mate stared through the glasses for some minutes, then handed them
+back to the Captain.
+
+"It's a boat with a man and a woman in it, or I'm a nigger," he said.
+
+"So I thought," answered the Captain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+DORA FLETCHER
+
+
+A signal was immediately hoisted to let the castaways know that they
+were observed and the steamer's course was changed to bring her as near
+as possible to the drifting boat. But there was still such a heavy sea
+running that a near approach would have involved the risk of the boat
+being dashed against the _Hawk's_ side before the occupants could be
+rescued. So the bos'n, standing on the foc'sle head, cast a line which,
+after three vain attempts, was caught by the young woman in the stern
+sheets, who made it fast to one of the thwarts. Then one of the
+steamer's derricks was slung outboard with a rope sling suspended and
+half a dozen men laid on to the line attached to the boat.
+
+"Catch hold of that sling as you pass under it!" roared Calamity from
+the bridge.
+
+After some difficult manoeuvring, boat and steamer were brought into
+such a position that the former passed immediately under the sling.
+
+"Quick now, my girl, or you'll lose it!" shouted the Captain.
+
+But, to the amazement and indignation of everyone, it was the man and
+not the girl who caught the sling and was hoisted safely out of the
+boat.
+
+"Oh, the gory swine," growled the second-mate. "Get the derrick inboard,
+men," he added aloud.
+
+The derrick swung round and the sling was let go with a run that
+deposited the man on the deck with a terrific bump.
+
+"Outboard again!" cried Calamity. "Stand by, bos'n."
+
+"Get up, you swab!" ejaculated the second-mate, administering the
+rescued man a heavy kick. "If the skipper wasn't lookin' I'd pitch your
+ugly carcass back into the ditch."
+
+The fellow staggered to his feet and cast an ugly look at the Cockney.
+He was a great, hulking brute over six feet tall and broad in
+proportion, with a sullen, hang-dog countenance that was far from
+prepossessing.
+
+"What d'you want to kick me for?" he asked truculently.
+
+The second-mate was so astounded at what he regarded as super-colossal
+impudence and ingratitude, that he just gasped. Then, before he could
+recover his speech, the boatswain's mate came up, and, gripping the man
+by the collar of his jersey, ran him into the foc'sle.
+
+Meanwhile two unsuccessful attempts had been made to repeat the first
+manoeuvre, but at the third the sling passed over the boat and the
+girl caught hold of it. Next moment she was swung on board and lowered
+gently to the deck.
+
+"We ain't no stewardesses aboard this packet, Miss," said Mr. Dykes, who
+had arrived just in time to frustrate the second-mate in assisting the
+young woman to her feet. "Still, if you'll come to my cabin I'll send
+you somethin' hot and you can make free with my duds."
+
+"Or you can go to my cabin," put in the second eagerly. "Sorry I 'aven't
+any 'airpins," he added with an admiring glance at the tawny mane of
+hair which had become unfastened during her passage from the boat to
+the ship's deck. "But I've a----"
+
+"The young lady'll find better accommodation in my cabin, Smith,"
+interrupted the mate. "This way, please," he added in the tone and
+manner of a shop-walker, and departed with his prize.
+
+"Talk about nerve," muttered the disgruntled Smith. "That Yank's got
+more bloomin' nerve than a peddlin' auctioneer."
+
+Calamity had sent word that, as soon as the survivors had been given
+food and dry clothes, they were to be brought into his cabin. Half an
+hour later, the man was ushered in by the mate and stood in front of the
+Captain with the same hang-dog air that he had exhibited when first
+rescued.
+
+"Your name and all the rest of it, my man," said the skipper curtly.
+
+"I'm Jasper Skelt, bos'n of the barque _Esmeralda_, London to
+Singapore," answered the fellow in a surly voice. "We were hit by that
+there typhoon and so far's I know she's at the bottom of the sea by
+now."
+
+"What about the Captain and the rest of the crew?"
+
+"The skipper was knocked overboard by a boom. Then the crew took to the
+boats and only me and Miss Fletcher, the Cap'n's daughter, was left. We
+tried to keep the ship head-on to the seas, but she sprang a leak and we
+had to abandon her."
+
+"You don't know whether any of the other boats survived?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"And the ship's papers?"
+
+"Miss Fletcher's got 'em."
+
+"And now I want to know why you caught on to that sling before the woman
+had a chance?"
+
+"She told me to, and anyhow my life's as good as hers," answered the man
+defiantly.
+
+"I see. Well, by your own confession you're a coward, and by your looks
+you're a scoundrel," answered Calamity. "Mr. Dykes," he added, turning
+to the mate, "take this blackguard to Mr. McPhulach with my compliments
+and tell him to give the rascal the worst job he's got in the
+stokehold."
+
+"I'm not going into no blasted stokehold!" cried the man fiercely.
+"You've no right to make me work, damn you!"
+
+"Very good," answered Calamity in that quiet voice which those who knew
+him dreaded more than the most curseful outpourings. "You shall be a
+passenger as long as you wish. Take him back to the foc'sle, Mr. Dykes,
+and send the carpenter to me."
+
+"Very good, sir," replied the mate, greatly wondering.
+
+By the time the carpenter had received his instructions and departed to
+carry them out, the mate reported that the girl, whose clothes had been
+dried in front of the galley fire, was ready to be interviewed.
+
+"Fetch her along then, Mr. Dykes," said the Captain.
+
+A few moments later Miss Fletcher entered the cabin accompanied by the
+mate. She was, without doubt, the most remarkable young woman that
+either Calamity or his mate had ever set eyes on. Tall, and almost as
+powerfully built as a man, her face was nearly the colour of mahogany
+through constant exposure to the weather. Her eyes, a clear, cold grey,
+had an almost challenging steadiness and directness of gaze, and she
+held her head high as one who is accustomed to look the whole world
+squarely in the face. Her whole manner was a curious blending of
+authority and aloofness, suggesting a very difficult personality to deal
+with. But, if lacking much of conventional feminine charm, there was a
+freshness and vigour about her that was eminently pleasing. One womanly
+attraction she certainly did possess in abundance, and that was a
+wonderful mass of chestnut hair which she now wore tightly plaited round
+her head. For the rest, this extraordinary young woman was attired in a
+short, blue serge skirt, a man's blue woollen jersey, and a pair of
+rubber sea-boots.
+
+"Sit down," said the Captain.
+
+The girl obeyed, looking at Calamity with an expression of mingled
+perplexity and resentment. This may have been due to a little feminine
+pique at his seeming indifference to her sex--for he had not risen to
+his feet, nor had his face relaxed from its usual stern grimness. Or it
+may have been due to the fact that his glass eye was cocked fully upon
+her with its unswerving, disconcerting stare. The other eye--the
+practical one--was not looking at her at all, but was meditatively
+gazing down at the table.
+
+"The man who was with you in the boat tells me that you are the daughter
+of the Captain of a barque," he said. "His story was not altogether
+satisfactory, so I should like to hear your version--as briefly as
+possible," he added with a snap.
+
+A slight flush of annoyance tinged the girl's face. Evidently she was
+not used to being treated in this curt, unceremonious manner, and
+resented it. Mr. Dykes, who was very impressionable where the opposite
+sex was concerned, mentally compared the Captain's attitude with what
+his own would have been under similar circumstances.
+
+"My name is Dora Fletcher, and my father, who was killed during the
+recent storm by being knocked overboard, was John Fletcher, master and
+owner of the barque _Esmeralda_ of Newcastle," said the girl in a voice
+as curt as Calamity's own. "We were bound from London to Singapore with
+general cargo. During the height of the storm, the vessel sprang a leak
+and the crew took to the boats, but I doubt if any of them survived."
+
+"So you and the bos'n, Jasper Skelt, were left on board?" said the
+Captain as the girl paused.
+
+"Yes; Skelt would have gone with the men, only they threatened to throw
+him overboard if he did. He's a damned rascal."
+
+Mr. Dykes started and even looked shocked. It was not so much the
+expletive itself which had disturbed his sense of propriety, but the
+cool, forceful manner in which it was uttered; obviously it was not the
+first time that Miss Fletcher had availed herself of this, as well as of
+other masculine prerogatives.
+
+"You have the ship's papers?" asked Calamity.
+
+For answer the young woman drew from beneath her jersey a packet of
+papers which she handed to the Captain. He glanced through them and then
+handed them back to her.
+
+"I should prefer to leave them in your charge till I am put ashore,"
+said the girl. "What port do you touch first?"
+
+"I can't say. This is not an ordinary merchant ship, but a licensed
+privateer."
+
+"A privateer! Then you expect to fight?"
+
+"You will arrange what accommodation you can for Miss Fletcher, Mr.
+Dykes," said the Captain, ignoring her question.
+
+"Yes, sir; I suppose she will have her food in the cabin, sir?"
+
+"Not in this one, Mr. Dykes."
+
+Again the hot, angry blood rushed to the girl's face and she turned a
+pair of blazing eyes on the Captain.
+
+"Thank you for that privilege, at any rate!" she said with furious
+sarcasm.
+
+"Not at all," murmured Calamity imperturbably, and made a gesture to
+signify that he wished to be alone.
+
+As the mate escorted Miss Fletcher from the cabin, he was very nearly as
+hot and indignant as herself at the Captain's behaviour. Here was a
+handsome, strapping girl who had unexpectedly come into their midst and
+Calamity treated her as if she were a derelict deck-hand. He had not
+even expressed a word of sympathy for the death of her father.
+
+"I'm real sorry you should have been treated like this," he said
+awkwardly. "The skipper ain't no dude, but I did think----"
+
+"I assure you it makes no difference to me," interrupted the girl. "I am
+only too glad to think that I shan't have to see more of him than is
+necessary."
+
+"An' you ain't the only one who thinks that way, Miss," answered the
+mate thoughtfully. "I wouldn't envy the man who took the inside track
+with him; it'd be as pleasant as takin' your grub in a den with a hungry
+lion."
+
+Passing out of the alleyway, their ears were suddenly assailed by the
+sound of oaths, curses, and blasphemies, intermingled with threats,
+groans, and appeals for mercy. They emanated from Jasper Skelt, whose
+demands to be treated as a passenger were now receiving attention
+according to the Captain's instructions. Resting on two trestles placed
+one on each side of the after-hatch was a thick wooden beam, inclined so
+that one of its sharp edges was uppermost. Astride this unpleasant
+perch, his feet about six inches from the deck, was the ex-bos'n of the
+_Esmeralda_. His ankles were tied together beneath the beam, his wrists
+securely fastened behind his back, and to a cord round his neck was
+suspended a spit-kid--this last for the benefit of any man who felt a
+desire to expectorate. To judge from Skelt's condition, there were many
+indifferent marksmen aboard the _Hawk_.
+
+"That guy was fool enough to sass the old man and now he's learnin'
+better," explained Mr. Dykes to his companion. "He ain't a pretty sight,
+is he?"
+
+Seeing Miss Fletcher, the misguided Jasper had suddenly checked his
+output of assorted profanity and now wildly appealed to her for help.
+
+"Surely you ain't going to stand by, Miss, and see me tortured like
+this!" he cried.
+
+"You're a coward and it serves you right," answered the girl.
+
+"Oh, you----" began the man, but someone interrupted him by shoving a
+wet deck-swab into his face.
+
+"He'll be there four hours," said the mate as they walked aft. "By that
+time he won't have spirit enough to utter a cuss, not if you offered him
+a dollar for the pleasure of hearin' it. When the skipper does hand out
+trouble, he does it with both fists."
+
+Mr. Dykes's prognostication was only partly correct, for the ex-bos'n,
+though a strong man, lost consciousness after the third hour and had to
+be carried into the foc'sle.
+
+"Repeat the treatment to-morrow and every day until he volunteers to
+work," said Calamity when this was reported to him.
+
+The "treatment" was not repeated, however, for, on recovering his
+senses, Mr. Skelt eagerly and anxiously begged to be allowed to share in
+the work of the crew.
+
+On the following morning they picked up the smoke-trail of the German
+gunboat and the chase--if chase it could be called--was resumed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+MR. DYKES RECEIVES HIS LESSON
+
+
+For three days the _Hawk_ continued to follow in the gunboat's trail,
+and everybody was asking everybody else in hushed whispers what the
+Captain's plans were. The consensus of opinion now was that he intended
+the German to play the part of the cat in the fable and pull the
+chestnuts out of the fire: in other words, to wait till the enemy had
+got all the plunder he could carry and then swoop down upon him. The
+question was, when would the swooping start?
+
+During all this time, Calamity had not spoken a single word to Miss
+Fletcher, or, indeed, betrayed any sign that he was aware of her
+existence. He had never even mentioned her or asked how she was
+accommodated, and, for all he knew to the contrary, she might have been
+sleeping on deck under a steam-winch. Mr. Dykes had not told him that he
+had given up his own cabin to the girl and was sharing the
+second-mate's. He feared, not without reason, that, had he done so,
+Calamity would have ordered him back to his own quarters. As to the
+ex-bos'n Skelt, he had become a very unobtrusive member of the crew, and
+nothing further had been heard from him concerning his right to be
+treated as a passenger. It is true that he once let out a dark hint to
+the effect that he was "biding his time," but no one paid the slightest
+attention to him.
+
+Meanwhile, a change had come over the lives and habits of the two mates
+and the chief engineer. The refining influence of feminine society--as
+McPhulach poetically termed it--was already beginning to tell on them.
+The mate, for instance, now used up two clean shirts a week and quite a
+number of white pocket-handkerchiefs; the second followed the good
+example by having his shoes cleaned every day, and substituting,
+whenever he happened to think of it, "blooming," for the sanguinary
+adjective he had hitherto favoured, and the engineer not only washed his
+face every night when coming off watch, but, on his own confession,
+changed his socks rather more frequently than he had done in the past.
+
+Whether the lady on whose behalf these sacrifices were made was aware of
+them, and duly appreciative, the three dandies had no means of
+determining. McPhulach, who was a practical man and saw no merit in
+hiding his light under a bushel, did once suggest that Miss Fletcher
+should be tactfully made aware of the astonishing changes she had
+wrought. The suggestion, however, was promptly sat upon by the mates,
+who wanted to convey the impression that their present exemplary mode of
+life was in nowise abnormal despite the strain it entailed.
+
+"I've had twa pairs o' socks washed sin' we started, and that's no' a
+month ago," grumbled the engineer, when his publicity proposition was
+opposed.
+
+"You've got to remember you're a--bloomin' gentleman nah," answered
+Smith.
+
+"It's awfu' expenseeve," murmured McPhulach plaintively.
+
+Although Miss Fletcher was the last person to encourage familiarity, she
+was capable of a certain _camaraderie_ through having lived so much
+among men. She had, it seemed, lost her mother at an early age, and
+since then had accompanied her father on nearly all his voyages.
+Therefore she exhibited neither the coy timidity nor coquettish lure
+which might have been expected from a girl of her age under
+circumstances like the present. Her manner towards the three men who
+had, as it were, appointed themselves her hosts was disarmingly frank;
+as a woman she kept them at arm's length, as a companion she was as free
+and easy as a man. Smith, when discussing her one day with the mate,
+remarked that she only remembered she was a woman when something was
+said which any decent man would resent. Mr. Dykes alone occasionally
+assumed a patronisingly masculine attitude, towards which, so far, the
+girl had shown no resentment. This, he sometimes tried to believe, was a
+tacit admission that she regarded him with special favour, if not with
+some degree of awe, though at other times common sense prevailed and he
+realised that it was due to sheer indifference.
+
+But Mr. Dykes was becoming very dissatisfied with things as they were.
+For no particular reason, unless it was that he had given up his cabin
+to her, the mate somehow felt that he had a prior claim to Miss
+Fletcher's respect and esteem. He was, therefore, secretly aggrieved to
+think that Smith and McPhulach, whose sacrifices on her behalf had not
+exceeded a little extra personal cleanliness, were as much in favour as
+himself. In short, Mr. Dykes was in danger of falling a victim to the
+tender passion--if, indeed he had not already done so--hence the jealous
+feelings that were beginning to ferment in his bosom. He suffered most,
+however, when it happened that he was taking the second dog-watch, and,
+from his post on the bridge, could see Miss Fletcher, Smith, and
+McPhulach, laughing and chatting on the after-hatch as though he,
+Ephraim Dykes, had never existed.
+
+It was during one of these "free and easys," as Smith called them, that
+the girl suddenly began to discuss the Captain of the _Hawk_. Hitherto
+she had ignored him as completely as he had ignored her, though a keen
+observer might have noticed that she frequently cast a curious glance
+towards the bridge when he happened to be on it.
+
+"Bless you, he's a bloomin' bag of mystery, he is; a reg'lar
+perambulatin' paradox," replied the second-mate in answer to a question
+which the girl had put regarding the skipper. "There ain't no gettin'
+the latitude nor longitude of him."
+
+"He's a michty quare mon," corroborated the engineer.
+
+"But is his name really Calamity?" asked the girl.
+
+"Meybe it is and meybe it isna," answered McPhulach cautiously. "Some
+say he's a mon o' guid family, and others declare the revairse is the
+truth; but which is right I dinna ken."
+
+"Well, I've never sailed with him before," put in Smith, "but from the
+little I've see'd of his gentle habits I should say he'd die of throat
+trouble all of a sudden."
+
+"Throat trouble?" queried the girl.
+
+"Yes; the throat trouble that comes of wearin' a rope collar too tight.
+Why, we'd only been out a few days when he starts to half murder the
+whole bloomin' crew. A roarin', ravin', rampin' lunatic he was," and
+Smith proceeded to relate, in pungent, picturesque language, the manner
+in which Calamity had quelled the mutiny single-handed.
+
+"I wish I'd been here to see it," murmured the girl almost fervently,
+while a light leapt to her grey eyes which made Smith think of firelight
+seen through a closed window in winter time.
+
+"Blimey! I don't admire your taste, Miss," he ejaculated. "The decks
+were like a blood--yes, they were--like a bloody slaughter-house.
+There's no other way of puttin' it."
+
+"At any rate, he's a man," retorted Miss Fletcher with a queer note of
+defiance in her voice, "and I admire him for it."
+
+Smith gazed at her for a moment in utter perplexity. He had confidently
+expected that, after the way in which the Captain had treated her, the
+girl would be only too ready to accept anything that could be said to
+his disadvantage. Yet she was actually expressing admiration for him and
+his bloodthirsty methods! Her attitude not only amazed him, but struck
+him as being shockingly unfeminine. As a woman she ought to have
+expressed the strongest disgust at the skipper's brutality, and not
+gloried in it.
+
+"Lummy! You're a queer'n and no error," he murmured.
+
+He rose to his feet, and, going to the taffrail, expectorated over the
+side with unnecessary violence. Like most men whose lives have been
+spent in rough places and whose knowledge of women is limited, he
+cherished a pathetic belief in their legendary gentleness and timidity.
+It was true that this particular young woman had not displayed these
+qualities in any marked degree, but he had never doubted their existence
+even so. He felt now that, in being a woman, she was living under false
+pretences, so to speak. It was a very real grievance in his eyes, more
+especially when he reflected on the noble restraint he had exercised
+over his speech and manners out of regard for her sex.
+
+He returned moodily to the hatch and sat down. The girl was still
+discussing Calamity with McPhulach, her voice defiantly enthusiastic.
+
+"If I were a man I'd ask for no better Captain to sail under," she was
+saying.
+
+"It's a pity you ain't, then," growled Smith, who had returned just in
+time to overhear this remark.
+
+"I've often thought so myself," she retorted. "Men are getting too soft
+nowadays."
+
+"Meybe so," put in the engineer soothingly. "But ye'll hae no cause to
+complain o' the saftness aboord this packet, I'm thinkin'. And gin it's
+devilry ye're so muckle fond of, ye've no need to fash yersel' aboot
+missin' any here."
+
+"Not half you needn't," added Smith with a grim chuckle. "When the old
+man----" he broke off abruptly as the ship's bell struck. "Holy Moses!
+eight bells already!" he ejaculated, and, rising to his feet, went off
+to relieve Mr. Dykes.
+
+As the latter descended the companion-ladder after handing over the
+watch to the second-mate, he paused suddenly before reaching the deck.
+He was not an imaginative man and had never made a study of beauty
+except as represented by the female crimps and spongers who infested the
+various ports he had visited. But for a moment the sight of the girl
+sitting on the hatch, her beautiful hair softly radiant in the
+moonlight, and her figure in its close-fitting jersey so strangely
+alluring in the half-concealment of the shadows, held him spellbound.
+The splendour of the night, with its star-powdered sky of deepest,
+limpid blue; the brilliant moon whose beams made an ever-widening track
+of molten silver with shimmering tints of bronze, across the blue-black
+waters; the wake of foaming, sparkling iridescence in the steamer's
+track,--all these things moved him not one jot for he had witnessed them
+times without number. He saw nothing, in fact, but the girl, sitting
+with her face resting on her hands, gazing pensively out to sea. Never
+before had he realised that she was beautiful and intensely feminine
+despite all her affected masculinity.
+
+"Durned if she don't look like a picture postcard," he murmured
+ecstatically.
+
+He walked up to the hatch and sat down near her, but she did not turn
+her head nor show any sign of being aware of his presence. He coughed to
+attract her attention, but without result; she continued gazing with
+sad, thoughtful eyes into the distant mingling of crystal blue and
+glistening silver-grey which marked the junction of sea and sky.
+
+"Say, ain't it a dandy night?" he observed, unable to keep silence any
+longer.
+
+The girl made no answer, but the remark aroused McPhulach from the
+reverie into which he, also, had fallen. Rising to his feet, he knocked
+the ashes out of his pipe and yawned.
+
+"Gin I bide here any langer, I'll be consooming anither pipe o' bacca;
+so I'll wish ye a verra guid nicht, Miss Fletcher," he said.
+
+"Good-night, McPhulach," answered the girl, who rarely used the prefix
+"Mr." when addressing her companions.
+
+The engineer strolled off towards his cabin and the mate, to his great
+satisfaction, was left alone with her. For some time he sat fidgeting,
+anxious to speak, yet unable to think of anything to say. He watched
+her furtively out of the corner of his eye, secretly gloating over the
+outlines of her shapely figure, the delicate poise of her head, and the
+fascinating profusion of her wonderful hair.
+
+Suddenly the girl rose to her feet, and, seeing the mate, started.
+
+"I didn't know you were there," she said.
+
+The mate made as if to speak, but uttered no sound. He rose unsteadily,
+and as the girl was about to move away, strode to her side.
+
+"I want you," he said in a hoarse, quivering voice.
+
+He made a movement as if to encircle her waist with his arm, but, before
+he could do so, her left fist shot out and, catching him unexpectedly
+squarely between the eyes, sent him reeling into the scuppers.
+
+When he recovered himself and sat up he was a different man. All the
+passionate ardour, all the irresistible desire had left him, and he was
+conscious only of a singing in the head.
+
+"No," he remarked thoughtfully, addressing himself to an iron stanchion,
+"she ain't no dime novel heroine, she ain't."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE AGITATOR
+
+
+It was Sunday morning and those of the crew who were not on watch lay
+upon the foc'sle head, sat on the for'ad hatch, or still lay snoring in
+their bunks. A favoured few were lounging round the galley, some peeling
+potatoes--for which they would receive their reward in due course--and
+others helping them with good advice. From within the galley came the
+voice of "Slushy," the cook, bellowing out snatches of hymns
+intermingled with pungent profanities, each equally sincere.
+
+    "There is a fountain filled with blood,
+      Drawn from Emmanuel's veins,"
+
+he roared. "Get to hell out o' this, you perishin' son of a swab!" he
+added to a fireman who was making a surreptitious effort to get at the
+hot water.
+
+"Damn your 'ot water, you pasty-faced dough-walloper!" retorted the
+fireman.
+
+Then followed a scuffle, more profanities, and the fireman performed an
+acrobatic feat which landed him in the scuppers.
+
+"Put your lousy 'ead in 'ere again and I'll murder you," said the cook.
+"I won't 'ave no bloomin' bad language in 'ere," he added warningly to
+the others. "There's a damned sight too much of it on this bug-trap."
+
+He again lifted up his voice in song.
+
+    "And sinners plunged beneath the flood,
+      Lose all their guilty sta--a--ains."
+
+He paused to administer a cutting admonition to one of his assistants.
+
+"Lose all their guilty stains," he trilled forth, pouring the hot water
+in which potatoes had been boiled, into the iron kettle that held the
+crew's tea.
+
+In another part of the ship, under the lee of the forecastle a second
+and somewhat different meeting was in progress. Jasper Skelt,
+ex-boatswain of the _Esmeralda_, was addressing half a dozen men in
+fierce whispers, emphasising his remarks with violent gestures of the
+head and hands. The men listened, placidly smoking their pipes and
+occasionally turning a nervous glance towards the bridge to make sure
+that they were not being observed by the Captain.
+
+"What proof have we that this boat is a licensed privateer?" Skelt was
+saying--or rather, whispering--"only the Captain's word. We ain't seen
+his Letters of Marque and ain't likely to. Why?"
+
+The orator paused as if for a reply. It came.
+
+"'Cause the first man 'as asked to see 'em 'ud get murdered," said one
+of the audience.
+
+For a moment Skelt was disconcerted by the subdued laughter which
+followed this answer. But he pulled himself together and went on:
+
+"No; and I'll tell you why we ain't likely to see his Letters of Marque:
+because he ain't got any."
+
+This statement, delivered with all the confidence of one who knew,
+produced an effect. The men stared at each other with puzzled faces.
+
+"'Ow the blazes do you know?" asked one of the men angrily.
+
+"Because the British Government haven't granted any for this war,"
+answered the agitator. "They're chartering merchant steamers and arming
+'em themselves. Commerce-destroyers they call them, but they're really
+Government-owned privateers."
+
+"Who told you so?" queried a sceptic.
+
+"Don't ask me, read the papers and see for yourself," answered Skelt.
+
+"Ho yus, I forgot all about me Sunday paper!" ejaculated another member
+of the audience sarcastically. "Boy, give me a _Lloyds_ and the
+_Observer_."
+
+A roar of unrestrained laughter went up at this witticism, and the
+orator had some ado to master his wrath.
+
+"It's all very well to laugh about it now," he said heatedly. "But wait
+till later on; wait till this lunatic who calls himself a Captain sinks
+one or two vessels; wait till he's called upon to show his papers--then
+you'll change your tune, my merry clinker-knockers!"
+
+"What the 'ell does it matter to us, anyway?" asked someone.
+
+"I'll tell you, my innocent babe. If we start in to sink ships, commit
+murder and rob the cargoes without having the proper authority--that is
+Letters of Marque--we're not privateers at all; we're blooming, God-damn
+pirates, that's what we are," answered Skelt. "What's more, if any
+brainless swab here doesn't know what the punishment is for piracy, I'll
+have much pleasure in telling him."
+
+"'Anging, ain't it?"
+
+"Right first time; hanging it is."
+
+"It ain't nothin' to do with us, any'ow," said one of the objectors. "We
+ain't responsible for what the skipper does."
+
+"P'raps not, but if he orders you to shoot a man and you do it, you're a
+murderer and will be treated as such. You won't save your neck by
+telling the beak that you thought you were a privateer. No, my son,
+it'll be a hanging job, you can take your Davy on that. Maybe they'll
+put a photo of your handsome dial in the newspapers, but your gal will
+soon be looking for another jolly sailor-boy to sponge on, and mother'll
+lose her curly-headed darling."
+
+There was a constrained silence for some moments, during which Skelt
+grinned at his audience sardonically. Despite the affected incredulity
+of his listeners, they were evidently beginning to feel nervous. To even
+the most ignorant among them, piracy was an ugly word, much akin to
+murder.
+
+"S'posing what you say's right, what are we to do?" asked one of the
+hecklers at last.
+
+"Ask the skipper to let us get out and walk," suggested someone amidst
+laughter.
+
+"If any of you had brains a fraction of the size of your guts you
+wouldn't ask me a fool question like that," answered Skelt. "If a bloke
+came up and said 'I'm going to hang you in five minutes,' what would you
+do?"
+
+"Knock 'is bloomin' light out," said a fireman.
+
+"Shove a knife between 'is ribs," suggested another.
+
+"Of course you would," said the ex-boatswain. "But here's a man who gets
+you on board his ship and then tells you to do something that'll get you
+hanged as sure as infants eat pap. And you'd sooner risk your necks than
+tell him that, if he wants any murdering done, he'd better do it
+himself. You're a perishing set of heroes, strike me blind!"
+
+"Why don't you tell that to the old man yourself?" asked one of the
+audience. "Your neck's as much in danger as ours."
+
+"Aye, aye, tell 'im yourself," echoed the others.
+
+"So I would if I thought you'd stand by me. But you're such a set of
+white-livered skunks that, at the first word from this one-eyed skipper,
+you'd turn on me. Why, if you were men instead of a damned pack of
+slaves, you'd take charge of this packet yourselves and clap that
+lunatic aft in irons. Then you'd take the ship into the nearest port and
+claim salvage, and a nice little fortune you'd make out of it. It'd be
+every man his own pub then and don't you forget it."
+
+"What about the orf'cers, old son?" inquired someone.
+
+"Treat 'em the same if they refused to come in with us. One of them
+would have to do the navigating, and if he had any objections we'd soon
+get rid of them. A bit of whipcord tightened round a man's head is a
+wonderful persuader."
+
+"So's the wooden 'orse," cried a fireman, referring to the manner in
+which the fiery orator had been induced to waive his claim to be
+regarded as a passenger.
+
+There was another burst of laughter at this sally, but the would-be
+righter of wrongs, though annoyed, was not to be put down.
+
+"Whose fault was that?" he demanded. "One man couldn't fight the whole
+crowd of you, and if that swivel-eyed swine had given the word you'd
+have been on me like a pack of dogs. But I haven't forgotten, and I'll
+lay my life against a mouldy biscuit that I get even before I leave this
+stinking slave-dhow."
+
+"You oughter be in 'Ide Park, you ought," said the sceptical fireman.
+"You'd look fine on a Sunday afternoon standin' on the top of a tub."
+
+"If it pleases you to be funny, it doesn't hurt me," retorted Skelt.
+"But wait till you're up before the beak on a charge of piracy on the
+high seas; maybe you'll sing a different tune."
+
+He stuck his hands in his pockets and, with an expression of utter
+contempt on his face, turned away. But, despite the scornful incredulity
+with which his remarks had been received, they had not fallen on
+entirely barren soil. As a general rule, the sailor-man is hopelessly
+ignorant of the law, and, in consequence, has a vague but very real
+dread of it. For him, it possesses all the terrors of the unknown; its
+very jargon cows him, and the wording of a summons sounds more terrible
+in his ears than the worst abuse of the worst skipper that ever sailed
+the seas. Skelt, it was true, had not served out any fear-inspiring
+legal phrases, but he had mentioned piracy, which is an ugly word to use
+on a ship whose character and mission savour somewhat of that offence.
+
+So, while they pretended to laugh at the ex-boatswain's words, those who
+had heard them began to feel a new and unpleasant sense of dread. This
+quickly communicated itself to the rest of the crew, and before the
+first dog-watch was called that day there was hardly a man who was not
+obsessed by it. Many of them would have cut a person's throat for the
+price of a drink; not a few had seen the inside of a prison for some
+offence or other, but piracy, the greatest crime of which a sailor can
+be guilty, made them shudder. It belonged to the highest order of crime,
+and, though the punishment could not be greater than that meted out for
+stabbing a man in the back, the fact that it was vaster and infinitely
+more daring than anything their coarse minds had ever conceived, made it
+seem appallingly stupendous.
+
+During the afternoon those who were off watch discussed the subject in
+whispers. Some were for sending a deputation to the skipper, but no one
+could be found whose courage was equal to the task. Skelt, who was
+approached on the subject, flatly declined to act as the crew's
+representative. He had done his part, he asserted, by warning them of
+their danger; let somebody else have the privilege of bearding Calamity.
+
+"You didn't help me when I was strung across that damned spar and I'm
+not going to help you," he said. "Still," he added, "I'll give you a bit
+of advice. When the time comes for you to man the guns and start blazing
+away at some ship or other, stand fast. Let the swivel-eyed blighter do
+his own murdering."
+
+"That's all right," growled a voice, "but 'e'll start doin' it on us."
+
+"Yes, and you'll ask his kind permission to take off your jumpers so's
+he can cut your throats easier," sneered Skelt.
+
+"No, by God, we won't!" exclaimed someone truculently.
+
+The new note of defiance was taken up. It was one thing to face the
+terrible skipper in his cabin, but quite another to swear to disobey his
+orders, when there was no immediate prospect of those orders being
+given. Their courage went up by leaps and bounds, and they discussed
+plans for defying the Captain's commands--in whispers.
+
+"That's the right spirit," said Skelt encouragingly. "This skipper may
+be a holy terror, but he can't murder us all if we stick together. Just
+show him that you don't mean to put your necks in the hangman's rope for
+his sake, and he'll soon calm down, I'll swear. I know them bucko
+skippers: all froth and fury so long as they think you're afraid of 'em;
+but once they see you don't care a Dago's damn for all their bullying,
+they become as meek as lambs. Oh, I know 'em! Sailed with one----"
+
+The ex-boatswain's reminiscence was cut short by the sound of a whistle
+on deck. Next moment the foc'sle door was flung open and the second-mate
+put his head in.
+
+"To your stations, every man!" he shouted. "Uncover the guns and stand
+by for orders!"
+
+There was a rush from the foc'sle, and the first man to take his station
+and start peeling the tarpaulins off the machine-gun, was the fiery and
+defiant Jasper Skelt.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE PRIZE
+
+
+A slight haze hung over the water, so that sea and sky were merged in a
+film of brooding grey. Through this, looking strangely flimsy and unreal
+by reason of the mist, could be seen a large cargo-steamer of about five
+thousand tons. She was steaming in the opposite direction to the _Hawk_
+at something like ten knots, and from her triatic stay fluttered a hoist
+of signal-flags indicating the question: "What ship are you?"
+
+"What shall I answer, sir?" inquired Mr. Dykes of Calamity.
+
+"'British steamer _Hawk_. Singapore for London.'"
+
+The signal was hoisted and the reply came: "British steamer _Ann_, Rio
+for Hongkong." At the same time the red ensign was hoisted at the stern.
+
+"You say that when you first saw her she was flying the German flag?"
+Calamity inquired of Mr. Dykes.
+
+"Yes, sir. I think she must have just passed another German ship, for
+the ensign was being hauled down when I sighted her."
+
+"H'm, she was German a few minutes ago; now she's British. Signal her to
+stop, Mr. Dykes."
+
+The signal was duly hoisted, but the steamer paid no attention and
+proceeded on her course, while from her funnel arose a thick cloud of
+black smoke, showing that the stokers were firing up. Although the
+skipper of the _Ann_ might resent being called upon to stop by what
+looked like another merchant vessel, this sudden attempt to accelerate
+speed, coupled with an unusual freedom in the use of national flags, was
+suspicious to say the least of it.
+
+"Put a shot through her funnel, Mr. Dykes," said Calamity.
+
+With his own hands, the mate sighted the quick-firer on the bridge and
+then nodded to the boatswain, who was also chief gunner. Next moment a
+sheet of flame leapt from the muzzle, there was a terrific roar, and a
+shell struck, not the _Ann's_ funnel, but the supporting guys and passed
+through a ventilating cowl above the engine-room. Despite this
+unequivocal hint, the steamer did not stop, and the foam under her stern
+showed that she was putting on speed.
+
+"Aim for the chart-room and make a better shot of it," said Calamity.
+
+Mr. Dykes, greatly chagrined at his first shot having gone wide of its
+mark, again sighted the gun. Meanwhile the Captain was bringing round
+the _Hawk_ in the arc of a circle to get her in the wake of the
+retreating steamer.
+
+Bang!
+
+This time the mate had better luck, his second shot smashing through the
+chart-room and completely wrecking it.
+
+"That ought to bring them to reason," he remarked complacently.
+
+It did. Before the thin veil of smoke had drifted away a man was seen on
+the _Ann's_ stern, frantically calling up the _Hawk_ in the semaphore
+code. A man on the privateer's bridge answered and then the other
+started to flap his flags about.
+
+"Don't fire, stopping," read the message.
+
+The foam under the stranger's stern was subsiding and an arrow of white
+steam shot into the air out of her exhaust-pipe. Already the distance
+between the two vessels was rapidly diminishing and soon they were
+within hailing distance. The skipper of the _Ann_ was the first to avail
+himself of this, for, making a funnel of his hands, he demanded to know
+what the sanguinary blazes was meant by this hold-up.
+
+"I demand to see your papers," bellowed Calamity.
+
+The other appeared to execute a sort of complicated war-dance on the
+bridge, wildly waving his clenched fists above his head. No words came
+for a second or more, and then a burst of raw, pungent, and
+kaleidoscopic profanity hurtled across the intervening space, evoking by
+its wonderful variety the admiration even of the _Hawk's_ crew.
+
+"Blimey!" murmured Smith in an awed tone, "it's a treat to 'ear a bloke
+handle cuss-words like that."
+
+Even Mr. Dykes, who rather prided himself on his mastery of the
+refreshing art of invective, was moved to wonder. Indeed, he made a
+mental note of several vituperative combinations whose force and
+originality impressed him.
+
+When, at last, the master of the _Ann_ paused, presumably for want of
+breath, the crew of the _Hawk_ looked expectantly towards Calamity.
+Would he be able to rise to the occasion and wither his opponent by a
+scorching blast of even deadlier profanity, or would he humiliate them
+by using the commonplace swear-words of everyday life? He did neither.
+
+"I'm going to board you!" he shouted. "Make one attempt to hinder me and
+you go to the bottom."
+
+His words, backed by the guns which were trained on the _Ann_, brought
+an immediate reply:
+
+"Come aboard if you must, but for the love of God don't sink me."
+
+"Fizzled out like a damp squib," muttered Smith.
+
+"I guess he's played his long suit," remarked the mate, who also felt
+disappointed at the ignoble collapse of the _Ann's_ skipper after such
+brilliant promise.
+
+A boat was quickly lowered from the _Hawk_, and the Captain, before
+getting into it, gave Mr. Dykes certain instructions.
+
+"And remember," he added, "if you see any sign of trickery put a shot
+under her water-line amidships."
+
+"Very good, sir," answered the mate.
+
+A few minutes afterwards Calamity had reached the deck of the _Ann_,
+where he was met by the Captain and the first mate.
+
+"I demand an explanation of this outrage!" blustered the former. "Are
+you aware that you are committing piracy? that----"
+
+Calamity cut him short.
+
+"I know perfectly well what I'm doing, or I shouldn't be here. Your
+papers, Captain."
+
+"By what right do you ask for my papers?" demanded the other, who showed
+signs of again becoming truculent.
+
+"That," answered Calamity shortly, pointing to the _Hawk's_ guns.
+
+"This is outrageous, and I shall----"
+
+"Your papers, Captain," interrupted Calamity peremptorily.
+
+There was something in his voice which made the _Ann's_ skipper realise
+that argument was not only useless, but probably dangerous as well. He
+shrugged his shoulders and led the way to his cabin, where he invited
+Calamity to sit down. Then he unlocked a drawer and took from it a metal
+deed-box which he placed on the table.
+
+"Where the devil are the keys?" he muttered, and, stooping over the box,
+began to fumble in his pockets.
+
+Suddenly stepping back, he raised his head, and, as he did so, gave a
+sharp exclamation of mingled rage and fear. He was staring right into
+the barrel of a nasty-looking automatic pistol which Calamity was
+pointing directly at him.
+
+"I've seen that game played before," said Calamity with a quiet smile.
+"Hand me your pistol; butt first, please."
+
+And the discomfited skipper of the _Ann_ reluctantly handed over a fully
+loaded revolver, which he had been in the act of drawing from his pocket
+when he chanced to look down the barrel of the automatic pistol.
+
+"Thanks," said Calamity as he took it. "Now for those papers, if you'll
+be so kind."
+
+Without a word, the other unlocked the box and handed over a bundle of
+documents. Calamity glanced over them hastily and then smiled.
+
+"Your other papers, Captain," he said.
+
+"Other papers! What other papers d'you mean? They're all there."
+
+"I think not. If you wish to avoid trouble, you will fetch out your
+alternative papers at once. You didn't hoist the German ensign without
+having something to justify it."
+
+"I swear that----"
+
+"Don't," broke in Calamity. "I can do all the swearing I want for
+myself."
+
+"But I can't give you what I haven't got!"
+
+Calamity leant across the table till his face almost touched the
+other's.
+
+"The papers," he said in a low, menacing voice. "Understand me?"
+
+The other did, apparently, for, with a muttered curse, he unlocked one
+of the table drawers and took therefrom a second bundle of documents.
+
+"Take them and be damned to you," he said, flinging them on the table.
+
+Calamity picked up the papers, and, as he glanced at them there was a
+look of grim satisfaction on his face.
+
+"Will you be good enough to explain to me, Captain Noel, how it is that
+you happen to have two different sets of papers?" he inquired. "The
+first state that the _Ann_ is a British ship, owned by Masters and Ready
+of Sunderland, and that she has cleared for Hongkong from Rio. The
+second batch declare her to be a German vessel, cleared for Bangkok from
+Bremen. They give the owner as----"
+
+He stopped abruptly as he glanced again at the paper he was holding. A
+look of incredulous astonishment appeared on his face, but it was almost
+immediately succeeded by one of the keenest satisfaction.
+
+"----Isaac Solomon of Singapore," he concluded.
+
+The other made no answer, and for a moment or two Calamity regarded him
+thoughtfully.
+
+"It's a clever trick and how you managed to obtain these two sets of
+papers I don't pretend to guess," he went on. "It may interest you,
+however, to know that the esteemed Mr. Isaac Solomon is a dear--one
+might almost say, expensive--friend of mine, and no doubt he will let me
+into the secret later on. What is your cargo, Captain?"
+
+"Sand ballast and Portland cement," growled the other.
+
+"No doubt the cargo you took out was rather more interesting. But what's
+this?" he added, holding up a document heavily sealed.
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Still, it would be as well to find out," and without hesitation he
+calmly broke the seals.
+
+To the astonishment of them both, the document was absolutely blank; to
+all appearances a virgin sheet of paper.
+
+"H'm, this is strange," murmured Calamity. "It is not usual to enclose
+and seal a blank sheet of paper with the ship's documents. Have you got
+a candle?"
+
+Captain Noel produced one from a shelf and lit it. He seemed as eager to
+find out the meaning of this mysterious enclosure as Calamity himself.
+The latter held the paper in front of the flame and, as he had expected,
+writing began to appear. When the whole communication became legible he
+spread the document out on the table and commenced to read.
+
+It was, in effect, a letter from a German official to Mr. Isaac Solomon
+of Singapore, informing him that his last cargo had reached its first
+destination, a neutral port, without mishap. This was followed by some
+very valuable advice concerning the manner in which another
+cargo--referred to as "Eastern merchandise"--might be delivered at the
+same port. There were also other matters of even greater interest, but
+Calamity decided to study these at a more convenient time.
+
+"I have only one more question to ask you, Captain," he said. "What was
+the exact nature of this 'Eastern merchandise'?"
+
+"Copper and nickel," answered the other.
+
+"A very profitable cargo, I should imagine; yet not as profitable as
+this one little piece of paper should prove to me--eh, Captain Noel?"
+
+"I'll take my oath I knew nothing of this," answered the latter eagerly.
+
+"You knew about the cargo, at any rate. However, that's a matter which
+doesn't concern me. I shall hand you back your German clearance papers,
+but the English ones, together with this interesting little document, I
+shall keep."
+
+"You--you're going to keep the English papers?" faltered the other.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But, good God, man, I shall be captured! I can't reach a port with
+German papers. I'm at the mercy of the first British cruiser I meet!"
+
+"Exactly. And dear Isaac Solomon, bless his gentle heart, will have his
+ship confiscated. Still, I'll wager he'd sooner the authorities took his
+ship than this piece of paper."
+
+Calamity rose to his feet, and, leaving the German papers on the table,
+put the others in his pocket.
+
+"I'll wish you good-day, Captain Noel," he said. "I may capture a few
+prizes during my cruise, but I can never hope to get another like this.
+If you should meet Mr. Solomon during the next week or so kindly
+remember me to him. Captain Calamity; he'll not have forgotten the
+name."
+
+He left the steamer, and, returning to the _Hawk_, told Mr. Dykes to
+continue the original course.
+
+"Very good, sir," answered the mate. "I suppose," he added, "there
+weren't nothin' worth freezin' on to aboard that packet?"
+
+Calamity made no answer, and, going to his cabin, locked himself in.
+Meanwhile, to the surprise and disappointment of the crew, the _Ann_ was
+permitted to proceed on her way and the _Hawk_ resumed her course.
+
+"Don't savee what it means, don't you?" Jasper Skelt was saying in the
+foc'sle. "It means this, my jolly sailor-boys. The skipper's helped
+himself to the money-chest on that blooming barge and he's going to
+stick to it. Yes, my festive deck-wallopers, all the prize-money and
+plunder that comes your way you'll be able to stick in a hollow tooth."
+
+A low, angry murmur went up, and then a man, bolder than the rest, rose
+to his feet.
+
+"If I b'lieved you, Jas Skelt, I'd 'ave a go at that un'oly swine aft,
+and chance it."
+
+"Aye, aye," growled some others. "We ain't goin' to be done out of our
+rights."
+
+"Then you stand by me," answered Skelt, "and I'll see that you get 'em."
+
+"We'll stand by you, mate," said the first speaker. "And, what's more,
+we'll make you skipper of the _'Awk_. Ain't that so?" he added, turning
+to the others.
+
+There was a low murmur of approval.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+TRAGEDY
+
+
+As Calamity sat in his cabin reading the secret document which had so
+unexpectedly fallen into his hands, he chuckled grimly. It proved,
+beyond any vestige of a doubt, that Mr. Isaac Solomon was playing an
+extremely profitable, but also extremely hazardous game. It was not
+simply a case of blockade-running, it was a matter of trading with the
+enemy--in effect, treason. He was, by devious tricks and dodges,
+supplying the enemy with war material, and, it went without saying,
+making a gigantic profit on each rascally transaction. His method was
+wonderfully ingenious, for, by providing German and English clearance
+papers for his ships, he was reasonably sure of their getting through,
+whether stopped by British vessels or those of the enemy. Moreover, the
+cargoes were shipped to neutral ports and their real nature disguised,
+to lessen further the risk of discovery. But how the astute Solomon had
+managed to get these papers Calamity could not imagine; still, he had
+done so.
+
+This remarkable document also shed a light on the character and variety
+of some of Mr. Solomon's numerous business activities, and seemed to
+show that he was even wealthier than rumour had alleged. Until now,
+Calamity himself had never guessed that his partner possessed any
+ships, and certainly Singapore knew nothing of it.
+
+"Inscrutable are the ways of Solomon," he murmured with a smile.
+
+He would not have parted with the incriminating document for a fortune
+because it meant that, henceforward, Solomon would be in his power. In
+all his transactions with the wily ship-chandler, he had always been
+made to feel that it was the latter who held the whip-hand. He had been
+conscious of it when he left Singapore on this privateering expedition
+and had more than suspected that Solomon's motives for financing him had
+been only partly concerned with the making of a profit out of possible
+prizes. He felt even more sure of it now, but it only increased his
+sense of grim satisfaction. The tables had been turned, and it was he
+who held the whip-hand, for it was in his power not only to ruin his
+partner financially, but to have him sent to prison for what, in all
+probability, would be the term of his natural life.
+
+While Calamity was gloating over these matters, and while Jasper Skelt
+was doing his best to incite the crew to mutiny, Mr. Dykes was
+ventilating a grievance to the chief engineer. What puzzled and
+irritated him, as it did nearly everyone else on the _Hawk_, was the
+Captain's seeming folly in letting the _Ann_, admittedly an enemy ship,
+get away. Even if she carried no cargo of any value, she could have been
+escorted into Singapore and claimed as a prize. The Admiralty award
+would surely have been generous, and well worth all the trouble.
+
+This view he explained at some length to McPhulach, who was absorbing a
+fearful concoction of gin and rum. The engineer was not a very
+sympathetic listener at any time, but as both the second-mate and the
+second-engineer were on watch, there was no one else to whom Mr. Dykes
+could unburden himself with anything like freedom.
+
+"I ain't saying but what he mayn't have his reasons, and very good
+ones," said the mate; "but, if he has, he ought to tell us. The crew are
+startin' to look nasty again, and who's to blame 'em? Three times
+already we've had a chance to rope in a prize and he's let every one
+breeze away. It gets by me, and that's a fact."
+
+McPhulach, who had been dozing between drinks, opened his eyes as the
+speaker paused.
+
+"He's a michty quare mon; a verra michty--hic--quare mon," he murmured,
+and closed his eyes again.
+
+"Mind you," went on the mate, "I ain't grouchin', but, all the same, I'd
+like to know where this dance is going to end. Is he goin' to tote us
+all over the Pacific for the fun of stoppin' ships and letting 'em go
+again? And where's the prize-money that we were goin' to get such
+lashings of?"
+
+A stentorian snore was the only reply, and Mr. Dykes, realising that the
+engineer was fast asleep, suppressed a desire to administer him a hearty
+kick, and left the cabin. Outside he came upon Miss Fletcher sitting on
+a camp-stool at the door of the cabin that had once been his.
+
+"What's the matter? You're looking very serious," she said.
+
+Mr. Dykes paused, and, leaning his back against the opposite bulkhead,
+stuck both hands in his pockets and assumed an air of weary resignation.
+
+"I was jest tryin' to figger out whether we're on a yachtin' trip or
+whether the old man is jest dodgin' about for the sake of his health,"
+he answered.
+
+The girl looked puzzled.
+
+"I don't understand," she said.
+
+The mate heaved a sigh and sat down on the cabin step beside her. In
+spite of that past episode when he had forgotten himself, they were on
+very friendly terms. She did not appear to resent or even to remember
+the incident, probably because she knew that Mr. Dykes had learnt his
+lesson and would be more discreet in future. Certainly she had not
+reported the matter to Calamity, as he had at first feared she would,
+and this fact raised her in his esteem as much as the blow between the
+eyes had done. In fact, he had a very healthy respect for this
+self-possessed young woman.
+
+"I don't understand what you mean," she reiterated.
+
+Whereupon Mr. Dykes repeated more or less what he had said to the
+engineer concerning the Captain's apparent want of enterprise.
+
+"You may be sure he knows what he's about," she said, when the mate had
+finished.
+
+"I'm willin' to allow that," he answered; "but it don't help us any. We
+didn't sign on this packet for a pleasure cruise, and good intentions
+don't cut no ice."
+
+"Then you don't trust the Captain?" she inquired, with a touch of scorn
+in her voice.
+
+"Now you're gettin' a hitch on the wrong cow. I didn't say anything of
+the sort. What I want to know is, when are we goin' to start biz, the
+real biz? I ain't out to study the beauties of the deep; none of us are;
+we've seen 'em too often, and they ain't none too beautiful neither."
+
+"Why don't you ask the Captain?"
+
+"That ain't all," went on Mr. Dykes, ignoring the question, "it won't do
+to bank too much on this here crew. They're gettin' ugly, and when they
+do stampede it won't be like last time. There'll be real, genuine
+trouble accompanied by corpses--you can put your shirt on that."
+
+"But you told me he quelled a mutiny single-handed when you were only a
+few days out."
+
+"Yes; but this is different. Then the men were unprepared, they didn't
+know what to expect, and so the old man was able to raise Cain before
+they'd got their bearin's. This time it'll be different; it'll be a
+real, genuine, bloody mutiny, with hell to pay."
+
+"Personally, I have no fear. I would back your Captain against any
+number of such scum," answered the girl a little contemptuously.
+
+Mr. Dykes shook his head gloomily.
+
+"This ain't the sort of ship for a woman to be on," he remarked.
+
+"I am quite capable of taking care of myself."
+
+The mate made no answer, and, realising that his forebodings were not
+meeting with any sympathy, rose slowly from the step and yawned.
+
+"Guess I'll turn in for a spell," he said; "mine's the middle watch."
+
+She made no attempt to detain him, and he lounged away towards the
+second-mate's cabin to get some sleep before going on duty.
+
+The brief twilight of the tropics had given place to night, and, though
+there was no moon, the sky was ablaze with myriads of brilliant stars,
+some in clusters like groups of sparkling gems, others strewn, as it
+were, promiscuously over the translucent blue dome and a few isolated
+and outstanding by reason of their wonderful brilliance. The cool
+night-air was filled with a subtle, intoxicating perfume, and the sea
+was like a vast steel mirror save for the expanding streak of bubbling,
+foam-flecked water in the steamer's wake. And the only sounds to be
+heard were the steady, rhythmic beat of the engines and the gurgling
+swish of the water as it swept past the ship's sides, clear, cool, and
+enticing. The mast-head light shone out steady and bright like a star of
+enormous magnitude and on either beam the navigating lights cast red or
+green reflections on the placid sea.
+
+Dora Fletcher retired to her cabin, where she sat watching, through an
+open port, the beauty and wonder of the starlit night. She had
+extinguished the lamp the better to enjoy this and the sense of peace
+which the darkness induced. Presently, however, she turned away with a
+sigh to prepare for bed, and, as she did so, glanced carelessly out of
+the port which looked across the deck towards the foc'sle. The door of
+the latter was shut, but through the chinks a yellow ray of light
+penetrated, and, listening intently, she caught the murmur of voices.
+
+For a moment she forgot all about the beauty and peacefulness of the
+night, and her thoughts turned to the lugubrious forebodings of the
+mate. On such a night, and under such conditions, it was almost
+impossible to imagine a scene such as he had hinted; impossible to
+picture the silent and deserted decks aswarm with savage, bloodthirsty
+men, intent upon murder and destruction. Yet she, who had been afloat
+before most children have left the nursery, knew that it was possible,
+just as she knew that it was only the iron mastery of one man which kept
+this horde of ruffians in check. Since babyhood, almost, she had
+listened to tales of mutiny and crime on the high seas; had sailed with
+men who had witnessed such things, and some who even boasted of the
+parts they had played therein.
+
+Suddenly she was roused from the vague, waking dream into which she had
+fallen by the sound of a man's voice raised almost to a shout. It
+dropped abruptly as though the speaker had suddenly recollected himself
+and was conscious of having committed an indiscretion. It was evident,
+however, that something unusual was going on in the foc'sle which,
+ordinarily, should have been silent till the relief watch was routed out
+and the off-going watch tumbled in. After a while she again heard
+voices, and then sounds that seemed to suggest subdued quarrelling.
+These sounds again died down, all was silent, and soon afterwards the
+light in the foc'sle was extinguished.
+
+For some moments the girl lingered at the port, wondering what the
+commotion for'ad portended, wondering also whether the officer on the
+bridge had noticed it. The chances were that he had not, for the noise
+of the engines coming through the gratings would probably have drowned
+the sounds in the foc'sle, and the fact that it had been lighted up was
+not in itself suspicious; a dim light was always kept burning there.
+
+She was just about to move away and turn in, when she saw the foc'sle
+door open and a man creep stealthily out. Had he stepped out boldly she
+would have thought nothing of it, but his furtive movements at once
+roused her curiosity. Keeping well in the shadow of the bulwarks, he
+crept forward till at last he reached the alleyway between the cabins
+amidships and disappeared. Next moment the girl heard soft footsteps
+approach her cabin, pass the door, and die away.
+
+She kept quite still for a few seconds in order to let the man pass,
+then softly opened her door and peered out. At the other end of the
+alleyway, giving upon the after-deck, she caught sight of the shadowy
+figure making its way aft, and still keeping well in the shadows.
+Stepping noiselessly out of the cabin, she followed him in obedience to
+an insistent desire to find out what he was about to do. On reaching the
+deck-house aft which led to the Captain's quarters, the man stopped and
+the girl had barely time to sink behind a steam-winch before he turned
+round and gazed furtively about him.
+
+Then, apparently satisfied that he was not being watched, the man did an
+extraordinary thing. Climbing over the taffrail, he began to lower
+himself gently towards the water. A wild fear that he intended to commit
+suicide took possession of the girl, and she was about to cry out, when
+his next action arrested her. With his feet on the iron wind-shoot that
+projected from the scuttle of the Captain's cabin, he lowered himself
+still farther and then, grasping the shoot with his hands, let himself
+down till he was nearly up to the waist in water.
+
+Then, and not till then, the girl guessed what his intention was. The
+Captain's bunk was situated immediately beneath the porthole, a fact she
+had noticed during her first and, so far, last interview with Calamity.
+From his present insecure position, the man could, by putting his arm
+through the open port, reach the Captain as he lay asleep, and,
+providing he had a weapon, a knife for instance, stab him before he
+could utter a cry for help or defend himself.
+
+And, even as she looked, Dora Fletcher saw the gleam of a knife in the
+man's hand; saw it raised for the murderous blow. Involuntarily she
+closed her eyes and was about to shriek for help when she felt herself
+seized from behind and a hand pressed tightly over her mouth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE CAPTAIN'S "APPEAL"
+
+
+"Not a word," whispered a harsh voice which, to her astonishment, she
+recognised as belonging to Captain Calamity.
+
+He removed his hand from her mouth.
+
+"Go back to your bunk," he said in a low tone. "And not a whisper of
+what you have seen to a soul. Understand?"
+
+She nodded.
+
+He jerked his head in a manner signifying that she was to go, and the
+girl crept back to her cabin, feeling very much like a school-boy who
+has been discovered breaking bounds. What she had thought to be a
+horrible tragedy had, so far as she was concerned, turned out to be a
+farce. Yet, with feminine inconsistency, her secret admiration for
+Calamity was increased a hundredfold. His extraordinary preparedness,
+his calm, unshakable self-reliance, his independence of everyone else,
+fascinated her. There was nothing picturesque or heroic in his manner or
+appearance, yet he had proved himself a match, and more than a match,
+for the desperadoes who surrounded him. There was not a man on board his
+equal in resourcefulness, watchfulness, or strength of purpose; he was
+master of them all.
+
+Even while she felt deeply humiliated at his treatment of her, she
+realised the absurdity of such a feeling. To him she was of less
+consequence even than the most inefficient fireman or sailor on board;
+for all she knew to the contrary, he had, until this brief and
+unexpected encounter, forgotten her very existence. She felt that to
+nourish resentment on this account would be childish; a wave might as
+well nourish resentment against the rock on which it ineffectually
+dashed itself. For the first time in her life Dora Fletcher had met a
+man who was as indifferent to her feelings as he was to her sex, and,
+curiously enough, she was not altogether displeased by this.
+
+Calamity, meanwhile, was playing his own game in his own way.
+Withdrawing into the shadows, he awaited the return of Skelt from his
+murderous errand. He had not long to wait. A moment or two after Dora
+Fletcher had been so curtly ordered back to her cabin, the head of the
+ex-boatswain appeared over the taffrail. He cast a hurried glance right
+and left, then cautiously clambered over the rail and lowered himself on
+to the deck. As he did so a hand shot out from the darkness and clutched
+his throat with a grip of steel. Not until he was on the verge of being
+suffocated did the choking grip relax, and then a hand fastened upon his
+shoulder.
+
+"Silence. Come with me," said a voice which sent a thrill of terror
+through him.
+
+Skelt had no alternative but to obey, and so, with the Captain's heavy
+hand still upon his shoulder, accompanied him into the cabin.
+
+"Now," said Calamity as he seated himself and surveyed his prisoner, "be
+good enough to explain this disobedience to orders."
+
+The fellow looked at him in astonishment. It was disconcerting enough to
+find himself a prisoner in the hands of the man he had intended to
+murder, but it was amazing to be accused by him of what sounded like a
+minor offence.
+
+"I don't understand," he answered sullenly.
+
+"Is that how you have been in the habit of addressing your Captain?"
+
+"Sir," growled the man.
+
+"Remember that the next time you speak. Now then, what is your excuse
+for being on the after-deck when, as you know, no men are allowed there
+after sunset unless by express command?"
+
+Something akin to hope arose in the ex-bos'n's breast. Could it be
+possible, he thought, that the Captain was unaware of his real intention
+and thought that he had merely disobeyed one of the ship's regulations?
+And, being wholly ignorant of the extraordinary methods of the terrible
+skipper of the _Hawk_, Jasper Skelt permitted himself the luxury of a
+little secret contempt.
+
+"I didn't know anything about the orders, sir," he answered.
+
+"Indeed? Do you know the penalty for disobedience on board a privateer?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Death."
+
+The man started nervously and turned a shade paler. Things were not
+going quite so well as he had thought, after all.
+
+"I've never been aboard a privateer before, sir," he replied humbly.
+
+"So I presume. What's more, I don't think you're likely ever to be
+aboard another."
+
+Again the ex-boatswain glanced nervously at the skipper. The last remark
+struck him as being unpleasantly ominous. The question which followed
+confirmed his worst fears.
+
+"Did the men know why you came aft to-night?"
+
+"I--I can't say, sir," faltered Skelt.
+
+"You mean to say that you told none of them what you intended to do?"
+
+The man's knees were trembling. He made an attempt to speak, but seemed
+to choke before he could get the words out.
+
+"Answer me!" rapped out the Captain, and Skelt started as if at the
+sound of a pistol-shot.
+
+"N--no, sir," he faltered, hardly realising what he said.
+
+"Then I am to understand that they didn't know you intended to murder
+me?"
+
+Skelt's last hope deserted him. His face turned an ashen grey. He tried
+to speak, but only a dry sob of abject terror escaped him.
+
+"If you don't answer my question, you die inside two minutes," said
+Calamity quietly.
+
+"Not all of them, sir," replied the wretched man.
+
+"You admit that you meant to kill me, then?"
+
+"God forgive me, sir, I----"
+
+"Never mind about God," interrupted the Captain grimly. "It's me you're
+up against at the moment. Answer me, did all the men know of this?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And they were all quite willing you should do it."
+
+"Only two objected, sir."
+
+"Who were they?"
+
+"Li Chang and Brunton, sir."
+
+"But they made no effort to warn me."
+
+"The others said they'd kill them if they did."
+
+"I see."
+
+Calamity leant back in his chair and surveyed his prisoner with the
+calm, questioning scrutiny of a scientist surveying some new and
+interesting specimen.
+
+"So," he remarked at length, "it never occurred to any of you that I
+might be acquainted with everything that went on in the foc'sle; you
+even felt sure that I knew nothing of the little indignation meeting you
+held last Sunday. You were actually such fools as to suppose that,
+having shipped the worst gang of port vermin that ever soiled a ship's
+decks, I should remain quietly in my cabin in the hope that they were
+behaving themselves like decent men. I never thought that rascality and
+faith went hand in hand."
+
+Skelt made no answer, and the Captain rang a little hand-bell on the
+table. Next moment the steward, a huge Chinaman called Sing-hi, entered
+the cabin.
+
+"You lingee?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes." Calamity turned to the prisoner. "Have you anything to say?" he
+asked.
+
+"For God's sake don't be hard on me," implored the would-be murderer
+with abject piteousness. "Give me a chance, sir, and I'll do anything
+for you. Only one chance, sir, only one, and, before Christ, I'll be
+your slave."
+
+A queer smile came over Calamity's face as he regarded the cringing
+servility of the ruffian.
+
+"You would, would you?" he observed. "If I asked you to kill a certain
+man fora'd while he was asleep, would you do it?"
+
+"Yes, sir, if you'll spare my life. I'll do anything, sir!" cried the
+man, with grovelling eagerness.
+
+"You'd swear to do it?"
+
+"I'll take my oath on the Bible, sir."
+
+"I thought you would," answered the Captain grimly. "Steward, lock the
+man up in your room and don't hesitate to kill him if he tries to
+escape. Savee?"
+
+"Savee plenty muchee," answered the huge Chinaman with a grin, whereupon
+he caught hold of the ex-boatswain's collar, swung him round, and
+hustled him out of the cabin. When they had gone, Calamity arose and
+made his way to the bridge, where Mr. Dykes was on watch.
+
+"Anything to report?" asked the Captain.
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"How are you managing with the crew?"
+
+"Well, sir, they ain't quite as peaceful as they might be; not since we
+met the _Ann_."
+
+"Indeed? why?"
+
+"They seem to think we might have made her a prize and taken her into
+port. In fact," added the mate, warming up, "I may as well tell you
+there's going to be trouble, sir."
+
+"Mutiny, you mean?"
+
+"Yep, and when they start there'll be blue murder. It's that swine we
+picked up that's been workin' the mischief."
+
+"Then we must deal with him, Mr. Dykes."
+
+"I guess it'll be a stiff proposition, Cap'n; he's gotten all the crew
+behind him. D'rectly you lay hands on him, it'll be like a spark in a
+powder-barrel."
+
+"Then you regard him, virtually, as Captain of the ship?"
+
+The mate made no answer, but shrugged his shoulders significantly. He
+believed that, in utterly disregarding the wishes of the crew, and, at
+the same time, maintaining an iron discipline, Calamity had bitten off
+"a bigger chunk than he could chew." However, he considered it prudent
+to keep this opinion to himself, and therein he was undoubtedly right.
+
+"By to-morrow morning," went on the Captain after a pause, "all signs of
+mutiny will, I think, have disappeared."
+
+"I hope to God they will, sir."
+
+"I feel sure that an appeal to the men's reason, such as I shall make
+to-morrow, will not fail in its effect."
+
+"An appeal to their reason, sir!" gasped the mate.
+
+"Yes. A mild demonstration of the absurdity of attempting to mutiny."
+
+"I don't get you, sir."
+
+"No? Well, muster all hands on deck at eight bells. Good-night, Mr.
+Dykes."
+
+"Good-night, sir," answered the mate, and, walking to the bridge-rail,
+expectorated over the side. "Well," he muttered, "if it ain't enough to
+make a feller spit blood. An appeal to their reason! Gee, he'll be
+holdin' family prayers in the cabin next."
+
+At six bells, which was an hour before his watch was up, the mate
+perceived a man mounting the bridge-ladder.
+
+"Hello!" he exclaimed, "who are you?"
+
+"Brunton, sir," answered the man.
+
+"Well, what d'you want? It's not your watch."
+
+"Have you seen Skelt, sir?"
+
+"Seen Skelt!" roared the mate. "What the hell do you take me for? D'you
+think I know where every perishin' son of a cock-eyed monkey aboard this
+packet is?"
+
+"He was going to murder the Captain, sir. I couldn't get away before, as
+all the others were watching me. I only got out now because they think
+he's funked it."
+
+"Goin' to murder--here, fetch the second-mate up, quick!"
+
+The man hurried to Smith's cabin and roused out the sleeping occupant,
+who stumbled up to the bridge vomiting profanity of varied hues.
+
+"Get aft!" shouted the mate, "they're murderin' the old man."
+
+Smith turned and dashed off to the Captain's cabin, which he entered
+without even the ceremony of knocking. It was empty, but from a small
+room adjoining came the sound of stentorian snores.
+
+"Blimey!" muttered Smith, glancing round him. "He don't sound as if he
+were dead."
+
+His eye fell on the ship's log which lay open on the table.
+Instinctively he glanced at it and, under the entry for the day, read
+the following:
+
+"Jasper Skelt, boatswain of the barque _Esmeralda_. Died at sea. Cause,
+misadventure."
+
+He slowly returned to the bridge and told the mate what he had seen.
+
+"You're sure he was alive?" asked the latter.
+
+"Well, he was makin' a noise like a motor-'bus climbin' a hill,"
+answered Smith.
+
+At eight bells that morning Mr. Dykes, in quite a different frame of
+mind to that of a couple of hours ago, sent the bos'n to muster all
+hands on deck. The men tumbled out sullenly, muttering among themselves
+in a manner which seemed to justify the mate's recent warning to the
+Captain.
+
+Suddenly one of them gave a cry.
+
+In the clear, grey morning light, they beheld, hanging from one of the
+derricks, the lifeless body of Jasper Skelt. His hands and feet were
+tightly bound with cords, and he was suspended from the boom by a rope
+round his neck.
+
+Judging from the men's faces as they stared at the ghastly spectacle,
+Calamity's "appeal" was not likely to prove a vain one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE FIGHT
+
+
+The German gunboat, that the _Hawk_ had been following so assiduously,
+had disappeared in the fog of the Sunday on which the _Ann_ was stopped.
+Nevertheless, Calamity set the course each day with an unhesitating
+decisiveness which seemed to suggest that he had some definite plan in
+view. A day or two after that encounter a large steam-yacht painted
+war-grey, and flying no ensign, was sighted steaming in a northerly
+direction. Calamity, who was on the bridge at the time, examined her
+through his glasses and then handed them to Smith, the mate being below.
+
+"What do you make of her?" he asked.
+
+The second-mate, after a long and careful scrutiny, handed the glasses
+back.
+
+"Looks like a commerce-destroyer," he said, "but blowed if I can tell
+what nationality she is."
+
+"H'm, we'll soon find out," answered the Captain. "Go for'ad and send a
+shot after her as soon as I've altered the course."
+
+Smith left the bridge, and, mounting the foc'sle, took the tarpaulin
+cover off the quick-firer which was mounted there. Meanwhile Calamity
+had brought the _Hawk's_ nose round so that he was now in the wake of
+the strange ship.
+
+"All ready, sir!" shouted Smith.
+
+"Then let her have it."
+
+The second-mate carefully laid the gun and next minute a shell went
+hurtling over the yacht's stern; too high to do any damage, yet near
+enough to make any nervous persons on board feel more nervous still. The
+noise brought the privateer's crew tumbling on deck, eager to see what
+was happening. Then, before the sound of the shot had died away, the
+yacht was observed to be changing her course--steaming round in the arc
+of a circle to starboard of the _Hawk_. Obviously she was not running
+away, and the inference was that she intended to fight.
+
+"Pipe to quarters!" cried Calamity from the bridge; but before the bos'n
+had time to obey the order the men were rushing to their places. It
+seemed as if there was going to be a fight at last.
+
+The yacht, a steamer of about 3,000 tons, came round with her bows
+pointing towards the _Hawk's_ starboard quarter, and, as she reached
+that position, there came the sullen boom of a gun. A shell whistled
+above the privateer's upper works, smashing to splinters one of the
+boats which the carpenter had been repairing on the davits. A second
+shot followed hard upon the first, and then a third, which smashed one
+of the raised skylights above the engine-room, sending a shower of
+broken glass upon the men below.
+
+"Blimey!" ejaculated Smith as he stood by his gun, lanyard in hand,
+"this looks like the real thing--not half it don't."
+
+The damage done by the last two shots would have been greater still had
+not Calamity thrust the quartermaster away from the wheel and taken it
+himself. Under his control, the _Hawk_ slewed round so that she
+presented only her bows as a target for her opponent. As the sound of
+the latter's guns died away, she was seen to hoist the German naval
+ensign at her stern, while a signal hoist was run up to the mast-head
+signifying "Surrender or I sink you."
+
+There was a lull, the two vessels facing each other bows-on like a
+couple of fierce dogs about to fight. Then a little bundle trundled up
+to the _Hawk's_ triatic stay, broke, and two burgees, one blue and
+white, the other red, fluttered out in the breeze. It was Calamity's
+answer: "Stand by to abandon ship." As his men looked up and read the
+signal there was a burst of hoarse laughter, followed by a ringing
+cheer. They realised the grim humour of the message, and thoroughly
+appreciated it.
+
+During the next half-hour the engagement consisted only of the exchange
+of a few shots, one or two of which did damage on both sides. The
+belligerents were manoeuvring for position, each trying to force the
+other to fight facing the sun, which would, of course, place him at a
+serious disadvantage. While these tactical evolutions were in progress,
+a couple of the _Hawk's_ men received wounds and Miss Fletcher, who had
+been watching the spectacle through her cabin porthole, rushed on deck,
+in spite of the risk she ran of being hit herself. She was helping to
+remove one of the injured men, when Calamity caught sight of her.
+
+"Send that fool-woman to her cabin!" he roared to Mr. Dykes.
+
+The mate hesitated. He was extraordinarily impressed by the girl's
+plucky act, but the Captain's order, though a wise one, struck him as
+being unduly harsh. Besides, he was loth to miss such a unique
+opportunity of, perhaps, doing daring deeds under her very eyes.
+
+"D'you hear what I say?" shouted the Captain.
+
+"Excuse me, sir," he answered; "but who's to look after the wounded if
+Miss Fletcher doesn't?"
+
+"If the girl wants to make herself useful she can dress the men's wounds
+in the hold. But I won't have a woman on deck during a fight."
+
+It was an ungracious order, but Mr. Dykes had nothing for it but to
+leave the bridge and acquaint Miss Fletcher with the Captain's
+instructions.
+
+"The skipper's compliments," he said, "and would you attend to the
+wounded when they're taken down to the hold?"
+
+The girl glanced at him sharply; probably the hesitating manner in which
+he spoke roused her suspicions.
+
+"That's not what he said?" she challenged.
+
+"Well, I guess it's as near as no matter."
+
+"You mean he has ordered me off the deck?"
+
+The mate made a deprecatory gesture and turned away. For a moment the
+girl hesitated, half inclined to defy the Captain's orders and remain on
+deck. Then the futility of any such act of defiance occurred to her, and
+she returned to her cabin, locking the door behind her.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, stamping her foot with rage, "I hate him!"
+
+She continued to hate him ardently for a while, and then, as this gave
+little real satisfaction, she opened her cabin door and peered out just
+as Smith was passing.
+
+"Are you going on to the bridge?" she asked.
+
+"Yes," he answered, pausing.
+
+"Then be good enough to tell the Captain that he can tend the wounded
+himself," she burst out, and slammed the door before the astonished
+second-mate could recover from his surprise.
+
+He duly delivered her message, but it was doubtful if Calamity heard it;
+certainly he made no comment, and Smith thought it wise to let the
+matter go at that.
+
+The two vessels were still fencing and manoeuvring, getting a shot in
+when and wherever they could. But at last both the commanders tired of
+these fruitless tactics, and then the engagement began in real earnest.
+The yacht was armed with lighter guns than those of her opponent, but
+she had more of them, and, in addition, possessed the advantage of
+speed, being capable of answering her helm twice as quickly as the
+privateer. This enabled her to swing round at all angles, catch the
+_Hawk_ broadside-on and sweep her decks fore and aft. Notwithstanding
+this, she by no means had it all her own way, for the privateer kept up
+a steady, well-trained fire that made things aboard her adversary more
+than lively.
+
+As only those men who served the guns were allowed on deck, the
+casualties were relatively small on the _Hawk_. Whenever a man fell, his
+place was taken by another from the reserve men in the foc'sle and thus
+unnecessary losses were avoided. A hospital of sorts had been rigged up
+in the for'ad hold and here the wounded men were carried and placed on
+mattresses until such time as they could be attended to.
+
+Calamity had thrown off his jacket, and, with arms bared to the elbows,
+was working the quick-firer on the bridge, three of the gun's crew
+having been killed or wounded.
+
+"Hit her amidships, in the engine-room!" he shouted to Mr. Dykes, who
+had charge of the gun on the poop.
+
+A minute or two later there was a loud explosion on the yacht, owing to
+one of her guns being hit while loaded, by a shell from the _Hawk_. A
+wild cheer went up from the privateers' men, and Calamity, thinking he
+might board his adversary in the confusion, bellowed an order to the
+quartermaster.
+
+"Hard a starboard! Quick, damn your eyes!"
+
+"Hard a----" the quartermaster started to echo, but before he could
+finish a fragment of shell struck him, and Calamity, swinging round to
+see what had happened, was bespattered with blood and brains. He sprang
+to the wheel, and, pushing aside the dead body with his foot, altered
+the helm. But it was too late, the other had divined his purpose and was
+drawing off. Instantly the _Hawk_ started in pursuit, but, as she came
+round in the yacht's wake, a ricocheting shell dropped through the
+engine-room skylight and there was an explosion below which shook the
+vessel from stem to stern. Volumes of hissing steam ascended through the
+gratings and ventilators, while, above the roar, came the agonised
+shrieks of some wretched firemen who were being scalded to death in the
+stokehold.
+
+A man, his face a wet, shapeless, raw mass of flesh, stumbled out of the
+fiddley, staggered a few paces, and fell sprawling on the deck. Another
+followed whose hair, still attached to the skin, was falling off in
+lumps, and he, too, collapsed on the deck. At the same moment the steady
+throb of the engines ceased and the _Hawk_ began to lose way. Meanwhile
+the German had drawn off, and, for the time being, firing ceased on both
+sides. The enemy, it would seem, was in little better condition than the
+privateer, for she was steaming at a rate of certainly not more than
+five knots. Calamity, watching her from the bridge, cursed aloud as he
+saw his hoped-for prize slowly but surely getting away while he was
+unable to prevent her or to go in pursuit.
+
+"Send for McPhulach!" he cried; but, before anyone could obey, the
+chief-engineer mounted to the bridge.
+
+"I'm sair dootin' we'll hae to bide where we are," he remarked placidly.
+
+"Do you mean to say the engines are wrecked?" demanded Calamity.
+
+"I wouldna go sae far as tae say that," answered the engineer. "Ye micht
+speak o' them as assorted scrap-iron."
+
+The Captain laid a firm hand on McPhulach's arm.
+
+"You've got to repair those engines," he said quietly.
+
+"Eh!"
+
+"You heard me."
+
+"Losh presarve us, mon, the A'michty Himsel' couldna do it!"
+
+"The Almighty's not chief engineer of the _Hawk_, so you needn't worry
+about that. Get those engines going or I'll string you up at the end of
+a derrick."
+
+"Guid God, are ye mad, mon!" gasped the engineer.
+
+"Mad or sane, I'll do what I say."
+
+"I tell ye the engine-room's like a steam-laundry," wailed McPhulach.
+"There isna a pipe that isna squairting steam out of some crack or itha,
+and it'll take all the cotton-waste in the ship to bind up the leaks.
+It's a plumber's job, no' an engineer's."
+
+"Well, if you can't do your job, I'll undertake to do mine," said the
+Captain grimly.
+
+McPhulach emitted a groan, then took from his pocket a short and very
+rank briar pipe. A look of phlegmatic resignation had come over his
+face.
+
+"Maybe ye're richt, skipper," he said. "Hae ye got sic a thing as a plug
+o' tobaccy on ye'r pairson?"
+
+Calamity handed him a pouch of tobacco. McPhulach filled his pipe, and,
+remarking that he might run short, also put some tobacco loose in his
+pocket.
+
+"Gin ye hae a match, I'll go below and see what can be done," he said.
+
+The Captain produced a box of vestas. The engineer lit his pipe, and,
+absent-mindedly dropping the matches into his own pocket, left the
+bridge.
+
+The mate, meanwhile, had been superintending the removal of the wounded
+and the washing down of the decks. Three men had been killed, not
+including two firemen scalded to death in the stokehold, and the wounded
+numbered eleven. The latter were made as comfortable as possible in the
+hold and the former were carried into the wheel-house pending burial.
+
+Gradually the commerce-destroyer became smaller and smaller, until, by
+evening, all that was visible of her was a feathery smoke-trail on the
+horizon.
+
+Soon after eight bells that night, McPhulach succeeded in performing a
+miracle--the _Hawk's_ engines began to move.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A DESPERATE VENTURE
+
+
+Slowly, like a convalescent taking his first walk and as yet doubtful of
+his strength, the _Hawk_ began to push the seas aside and move ahead.
+The engines, instead of working with rhythmic regularity, were banging
+and thumping in jerky spasms--still, they were working--the bridge shook
+with their ponderous vibrations, while the wire funnel stays tautened
+and slacked as the smokestack quivered.
+
+The first duty accomplished after the clearing up of the decks was the
+disposal of the dead, which were placed in canvas bags weighted with
+firebars to ensure their sinking. There were no prayers, services, or
+ceremonies of any kind; they were simply dropped over the side....
+
+In the hold Calamity and the mate were at work with their coats off and
+shirt-sleeves rolled up. Some of the hatch-covers had been removed to
+secure better ventilation and a couple of lanterns suspended from the
+girders flickered feebly in the semi-twilight. Against the bulkheads
+were two rows of mattresses arranged so as to leave a passage between
+them, and on some of these lay wounded men, each with a coarse, black
+blanket thrown over him. The Captain, assisted by Mr. Dykes, was
+attending to the more serious cases in a manner which caused the mate
+considerable secret astonishment. He had expected to see the skipper
+perform the duties of surgeon in a rough and ready if not a brutal way,
+and had felt a strong sympathy for his prospective victims. Instead,
+Calamity handled the men with almost professional skill, performing even
+serious operations with deft, quick fingers, and without either
+nervousness or hesitation. A smile, a cheery word of encouragement, a
+full-flavoured joke worked wonders, and a man, even in excruciating
+pain, would grin feebly at some broad jest uttered by the Captain.
+
+Dora Fletcher, who had thought better of her first hasty decision, was
+dressing some of the minor wounds. To her, Calamity's new rôle came as a
+startling revelation of a hitherto unsuspected phase of his character.
+She, who had seen him commit acts of unquestionable brutality, now
+watched him pass from bed to bed with an air of quiet assurance that
+inspired even the worst cases with new confidence and hope. Men flinched
+apprehensively as he approached to examine their injuries, but his
+touch, though firm, was as gentle as a woman's, and their fears were
+quickly set at rest.
+
+He scarcely even glanced at the girl, and when he did so it was to give
+some curt directions as from a surgeon to a nurse. Yet she felt
+strangely happy and triumphant, for at last he had been forced to
+recognise and to demand her assistance. She felt herself necessary to
+him, and the terse orders, involving her co-operation in the work of
+succour, seemed to her a tacit admission of the fact. Henceforth she
+would at least be an entity in his eyes; he would have to acknowledge
+her existence, even if he resented it.
+
+After the Captain and Mr. Dykes had gone; throughout the whole night,
+indeed, the girl remained at her post. She found plenty to do; giving
+cooling drinks to those whose throats were parched with fever,
+readjusting dressings which had worked out of place, and performing the
+hundred and one offices which fall to the lot of a watcher of the sick.
+At intervals during the night the mate or Smith would enter the dim
+hold, which now reeked with the pungent odour of antiseptics, to proffer
+their services, and once Mr. Dykes tried to persuade her to turn in. But
+she rejected the suggestion indignantly, and ordered him out of the
+place, whereupon he departed sheepishly. At about five o'clock in the
+morning Calamity looked in again and seemed surprised to find her there.
+
+"How long have you been on watch?" he asked.
+
+"Since you left," she answered.
+
+"Then you'd no right to. Dykes or Smith should have told off a man to
+keep watch. Get off to your bunk. I don't want a sick woman aboard."
+
+Without a word she left the sick-bay, and then, for the first time,
+realised how exhausted she really was. Without troubling to undress, she
+flung herself upon the bunk and was asleep almost before her head
+touched the pillow.
+
+All that day and the next as well, the _Hawk_ chugged her way in a
+northerly direction, her speed never exceeding six knots and sometimes
+falling below that. How McPhulach had contrived to patch up her engines
+sufficiently to do even so much was a mystery no one but himself could
+have explained. Still, they might break down again at any moment, and it
+was absolutely necessary to find some port where the repairs could be
+carried out more thoroughly, and with the proper appliances. In the
+meantime much of the damage sustained in the encounter with the yacht
+had been repaired. Paint and canvas had done much to cover the effects
+of shot and shell, and outwardly, at least, the _Hawk_ had resumed her
+normal appearance. But it was merely superficial, like the creams and
+cosmetics used by a faded beauty to hide the ravages of time. In fact
+she was, as Smith put it, "a whited bloomin' sepulchre."
+
+On the second morning, as Miss Fletcher was going down to the hold, she
+met Mr. Dykes.
+
+"The skipper's orders are that you're to take four-hour watches, so that
+you'll have a rest between each spell," he said.
+
+She merely nodded and passed into the hold. The dim, yellow glow of the
+lanterns was fading in the growing daylight, making the surroundings
+more gloomy and depressing than even the half-light. She moved from bed
+to bed with noiseless steps, performing various little services for the
+sufferers. One man, who knew that he was dying, asked her to write down
+and witness his last will and testament--a curiously pathetic
+document--and for another she wrote a letter that was to be posted at
+the first port the ship touched. In a far corner she found a man making
+feeble efforts to undo the front of his shirt. He was too weak to speak,
+and, wondering what he wanted, the girl unbuttoned it to find a small
+silver crucifix suspended from a piece of string round his neck.
+Divining his need, she placed it in his hand, and the coarse, misshapen
+fingers closed over the Symbol; thus he died.
+
+Soon afterwards the Captain entered and passed between the beds,
+stopping to ask each of the patients how he was getting on, and giving a
+cheery word of encouragement to everyone. At last he reached the bed
+where Dora Fletcher stood over the dead figure, whose fingers still
+clasped the little silver crucifix.
+
+"H'm," he grunted, "another loss. Anything to report?"
+
+In a few words the girl described the condition and progress of the
+various patients. At the conclusion Calamity nodded, but made no
+comment.
+
+"I should like to ask you a favour, Captain," she said quietly.
+
+"A favour? Well, what is it?" he demanded in a tone that was the reverse
+of encouraging.
+
+"Do you think you could give this poor fellow"--she indicated the dead
+man on the bed--"a Christian burial? I--I think he would have wished
+it."
+
+A look of mingled surprise and annoyance came into the Captain's face as
+he glanced at the unconscious figure.
+
+"The man's dead, isn't he?"
+
+"Yes, of course," answered the girl, puzzled by the question.
+
+"Then what difference can it make to him how he's buried?" demanded
+Calamity, and, without waiting for an answer, walked away.
+
+Later on that day Mr. Dykes urged the request again at Miss Fletcher's
+desire.
+
+"I can't make distinctions," replied the Captain. "The man's got to take
+his chance of paradise with the rest. I'm not going to give him an
+unfair advantage over the others. Besides, this is a cheerful ship, and
+I don't intend to depress the living by reading burial services over the
+dead. They'll get their proper ratings without my assistance."
+
+So that evening the corpse, sewed up in canvas and weighted with a
+piece of pig-iron, was cast over the side without ceremony.
+
+Early on the following morning the look-out upon the foc'sle head
+reported land on the starboard bow.
+
+The news brought the men rushing on deck at once, for the sight of land
+to sailors at sea is always an interesting event, savouring of
+adventure, women, and wine. The news was immediately reported to the
+Captain, who hurried on to the bridge and scrutinised the seeming cloud
+for some time through the glasses which Smith, who was on watch, handed
+to him.
+
+"H'm," grunted Calamity, "an island."
+
+"One of the Palau Group I should say, sir."
+
+"Which means that it's German--eh?"
+
+"_Was_ German, sir," corrected the second-mate.
+
+"There's no knowing; among so many scattered islands it's quite possible
+that one or two may have been overlooked by our cruisers."
+
+"Maybe, sir," answered Smith doubtfully.
+
+Calamity again focussed the glasses on the dark smudge in the dim
+distance. As he had just pointed out to the second-mate, it was quite
+possible that some of the small islands which went to make up what was
+once called the Bismarck Archipelago had escaped official annexation.
+This seemed the more probable since two German vessels, the gunboat and
+the commerce-destroyer, were apparently still at large in these waters.
+Both ships, particularly the former, would require a coaling station not
+too far away, and what more likely, therefore, than that there should be
+one hidden away among these innumerable islands?
+
+The _Hawk_ slowly bore down upon the land, but her speed was now so
+reduced that night had set in before those on board were able to get a
+really good view. By the following morning, however, they found
+themselves within a mile of it, and its palm-fringed beaches could be
+seen plainly from the deck. There was nothing about the island to excite
+wonder or interest, save that it just happened to be dry land amidst a
+boundless waste of blue waters. Numbers of such islands, many of them
+far larger, were to be met with in these latitudes.
+
+Yet, because it was land, and suggestive of illicit pleasures, there was
+an air of suppressed excitement aboard the _Hawk_. Throughout the day
+she coasted slowly round it, but never once did a canoe or a catamaran
+put off to trade; indeed, not a vestige of human life was to be seen. At
+last, after they had nearly completed a circuit of the island, a small
+harbour was sighted at the eastern extremity. On a hill, overlooking the
+entrance, was a structure which suggested a fort, and this at once gave
+Calamity the idea that the gunboat which had hitherto eluded him was
+probably ensconced within this harbour. To "dig out" the pirate and take
+possession of her spoils was the first thought which occurred to him,
+but another and a stronger motive made him decide to enter the harbour
+at all costs. This was the fact that the _Hawk's_ engines were next door
+to useless, and, unless they could be more effectually repaired, would
+become entirely so. It was quite possible, he reflected, that if the
+island really was a German station, there would be appliances for
+dealing with engine-room mishaps.
+
+So, towards sundown, he steered boldly for the harbour, even blowing the
+steam syren to call attention to his visit. The flagstaff on the fort,
+he noticed, was bare, although as the _Hawk_ drew nearer it was possible
+to make out an inconspicuous wireless installation.
+
+"German without a doubt," he remarked to himself. "If it were British
+the Union Jack would be floating up there."
+
+He turned to Mr. Dykes and in a few words explained what he wanted done.
+The _Hawk_ was to pose as a harmless American merchantman which had put
+in for the purpose of trying to obtain some coal. The large crew,
+totally out of proportion to the number required to man a peaceful
+"tramp," were to remain in the foc'sle, except one or two who were to
+lounge about the deck for show purposes. Therefore in a very few minutes
+the decks were deserted except for the look-out and a couple of grimy
+firemen who leant over the bulwarks expectorating into the water. Half
+an hour later, the _Hawk_ reached the mouth of the harbour and the syren
+emitted three ear-piercing shrieks.
+
+The sound had scarcely died away when a boat, manned by natives and with
+a white man seated in the stern-sheets, put off from a small, wooden
+jetty beneath the fort. When within hailing distance, the man in the
+stern stood up and put both hands to his mouth.
+
+"Wie heisst das schiff?" he bawled.
+
+"Don't get you," answered Calamity; "have another try."
+
+"Vot schip vos dot?" bellowed the other, who was evidently some sort of
+port official.
+
+"This is the American steamer _Hawk_, Singapore for Valparaiso."
+
+"Vy you no show your flarg?" inquired the official, his boat coming
+nearer the _Hawk_ every moment.
+
+"Sorry; if I'd known it was your birthday, guess I'd have hoisted a bit
+of bunting," replied the pseudo Yankee skipper, and gave an order which
+resulted in the Stars and Stripes fluttering out astern.
+
+The reply, however, did not appear to please the official.
+
+"You 'eave-to!" he commanded. "I vant to see your papers."
+
+Calamity rang down "Stop," the engines ceased thudding and a couple of
+men came out on deck and threw a rope-ladder over the side. A moment
+later the boat came alongside and the official, a short, fat little man,
+ascended the ladder with some difficulty, alighting on deck hot and
+breathless. Meanwhile his coffee-coloured cox'n having made the boat
+fast to a rung of the rope-ladder, sat down and lighted a cheroot.
+
+"You vas der Captain?" asked the newcomer of Calamity, as soon as he had
+recovered his breath.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You must produce your papers."
+
+"If you'll come with me, sir, I'll show them to you," answered Calamity
+politely, and led the way towards his cabin.
+
+Suddenly he stopped near the after-hatch, from which a couple of the
+covers had previously been removed.
+
+"Like to have a squint at the cargo?" he asked. "Guess it'll interest
+you."
+
+The fussy little man looked surprised at the question, but he stepped up
+to the hatch, and, leaning over the combing, peered into the obscure
+depths below. While he was still in this convenient attitude an
+impelling force caught him in the small of the back, and he shot
+downwards into the hold, alighting head foremost on a heap of
+sand-ballast. Then, before he had recovered sufficiently to raise a
+shout, the hatch-covers were promptly clapped on again and he was left
+there in the dark to meditate on the ups and downs of a port official's
+life.
+
+Having satisfactorily disposed of this inquisitive person, Calamity
+returned to the bridge and the _Hawk_ began to steam slowly past the
+fort into the harbour. Two or three sentinels on the hill watched her
+progress, but they having seen her boarded by one of their officials
+doubtless concluded that all was well. Meanwhile Mr. Dykes had managed
+to convince the dusky cox'n in the waiting boat alongside that his
+master would remain on board, whereupon the man saluted, cast off the
+painter, and steered his boat shorewards.
+
+When the _Hawk_ had rounded the bend which hid the upper portion of the
+harbour from view, Mr. Dykes gave vent to a sudden exclamation of
+astonishment.
+
+"Durned if that ain't our old bug-trap?"
+
+Looking in the direction indicated by the mate, Calamity saw the pirate
+gunboat beached just beyond the jetty and lying on her side, evidently
+for the purpose of being repaired. His assumption, then, had been
+correct: this island was a secret coaling station and place of refuge
+for the very few German vessels which were still at large. However, he
+made no comment aloud, and in a few more minutes the anchor was let go
+and the _Hawk_ swung peacefully at her moorings.
+
+The situation in which Calamity had voluntarily placed himself by
+entering this harbour was, as he fully realised, fraught with infinite
+peril. He knew that if he now attempted to escape he risked being sunk
+by the guns on the fort, yet he could not remain where he was much
+longer without being subjected to investigations which would result in
+capture, if not worse. Under the circumstances, therefore, there was
+only one thing to do, and that was to attack the fort and capture it.
+This plan, viewed impartially, seemed hopelessly impossible, especially
+if, as appeared highly probable, the fort were strongly garrisoned.
+Still, Calamity did not hesitate between this and the only
+alternative--surrender.
+
+He sent for the two mates to whom, in a few curt sentences, he outlined
+his plan of action. It was simple in the extreme, and, by reason of its
+amazing boldness, might even be successful. The Germans, he argued,
+though regarding the vessel with suspicion, would hardly anticipate the
+landing of an armed party, which was what he contemplated. The brief
+twilight would soon descend, and, the _Hawk_ being safely bottled up in
+the harbour, the enemy would probably not worry much about her till the
+morning; therefore the attack was to be carried out as soon as darkness
+fell.
+
+When this had been explained Calamity and his officers set about making
+preparations for the landing. A party consisting of as many men as could
+be packed into the ship's boats was to effect a landing under cover of
+the darkness, while those left on board were to open fire on the fort
+with the machine-guns directly the enemy discovered the attack. By this
+means it was hoped to cover the landing operations and prevent the
+defenders turning their heavier guns on the storming party. To this end
+Mr. Dykes was placed in temporary command of the _Hawk_, Calamity
+himself undertaking to lead the attack from the shore.
+
+In a remarkably short space of time the preparations were complete, and
+the only thing they waited for now was darkness--the swift, enveloping
+darkness of the tropics.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE EBB TIDE
+
+
+At last night came. Calamity gave the word and the men streamed out of
+the foc'sle, some rushing to the falls ready to lower the boats from the
+davits, others stowing arms and ammunition under the thwarts. Every man
+had his own particular duty to discharge; there was no confusion, no
+shouting of orders, no wild and objectless rushing about--everything was
+done quietly and systematically.
+
+"Stand by!"
+
+The Captain's voice was low but penetrating. Everyone stood still at his
+post.
+
+"Slip!"
+
+The boats dropped from the davits, the falls were cast off, the oars
+flung out, and the bowmen stood up, ready to push off at the order.
+Quickly, and with scarce a sound, the landing party swarmed down the
+rope-ladders and took their places in the boats.
+
+"Give way!"
+
+As one man, the rowers bent to their oars, the boats shot out into the
+darkness, and were lost to view by those left on board. The oars had
+been muffled, so that the only sounds which could be heard were the soft
+plash of the blades as they dipped into the water and the creaking of
+the thwarts and stretchers. But soon these noises died away in the
+distance, and then all seemed perfectly still to the dark figures
+crouching beside the guns on the _Hawk's_ decks.
+
+About five minutes after the boats had left a tongue of flame suddenly
+leapt from the fort, followed by a dull boom. Evidently the Germans had
+just discovered the attack, and were attempting to sink the boats before
+they reached the shore. The sound of the gun had scarcely died away when
+Mr. Dykes passed the word to open fire on the fort, and there ensued a
+lively duel between the latter and the _Hawk_. As it was a pitch dark
+night, each side had to guide its fire by the flashes of the enemy's
+guns, so that, at first, the shooting was somewhat erratic. But, after a
+while, the Germans began to get the range of the _Hawk_ and to make such
+good practice that Mr. Dykes had to order some of his men to fill bags
+with sand ballast and stack them along the bulwarks to afford additional
+protection to the gun crews. Unfortunately, the enemy's guns were of
+much heavier calibre than the _Hawk's_, so that, when a shell struck the
+vessel, it did considerable damage.
+
+"By Gum!" ejaculated the mate, "this is getting durned hot."
+
+He had not reckoned upon receiving such a tremendous fusillade from the
+fort, and, though by no means a timorous man, began to fear that the
+_Hawk_ would be sunk at her moorings. So far as he was able to tell at
+present, there had been only a few casualties on board, the bulwarks and
+sandbags affording an excellent protection for the men working the guns,
+although, had it been daylight, these would probably have been of little
+avail. But the steamer herself had suffered considerably; the
+deck-houses were mostly in splinters, all the skylights had been
+smashed, and where the funnel had once stood there was now only a jagged
+stump. Once the enemy succeeded in battering down the defences, his guns
+would simply annihilate every living thing on board.
+
+"I wish some of them shells would cut our cables," he murmured to
+himself, "then we could just skidoo out of the harbour, and the old man
+couldn't say a word."
+
+The notion of slipping the cables himself and creeping out of the
+harbour occurred to him more than once, but each time he dismissed it
+from his mind. It would certainly savour of cowardice to leave Calamity
+and his men on the island without a chance to retreat, while, if the
+Captain should ever succeed in getting within reach of him afterwards,
+the consequences would be very far from pleasant.
+
+By this time one of the _Hawk's_ machine-guns had been put out of
+action, and still the fort kept up an unceasing bombardment. Mr. Dykes
+was now fervently hoping that Calamity would abandon the attack, return
+on board, and get out of this hornet's nest with all possible speed--if,
+of course, the steamer was not already too battered about to get under
+way. With this possibility in view, he sent a man to fetch McPhulach and
+was exceedingly surprised to learn that the engineer could not be found.
+
+"Ain't he in his cabin?" he inquired.
+
+"No, sir, nor yet in the engine-room," replied the messenger.
+
+"But he must be, the skipper said he was to stand by the engines."
+
+"'E's not there," repeated the man.
+
+"See if he's in the alleyway."
+
+The man departed but returned with the information that McPhulach was
+not in the alleyway. Moreover, nobody on board had seen him since the
+landing party left.
+
+"Fetch up Mr. Sims," said the mate.
+
+Mr. Sims was the second-engineer, a melancholy man with watery eyes, a
+pallid face, and chronic dyspepsia, who never mixed with the other
+officers or uttered a word if he could possibly help it. He was, too, an
+indifferent engineer; but, as McPhulach had once said, the biggest
+success as a nonentity he had ever met.
+
+"How long will it take us to get under way?" inquired the mate when Mr.
+Sims appeared.
+
+"Half an hour, may be."
+
+"What!" ejaculated Mr. Dykes.
+
+Mr. Sims nodded in confirmation of his statement.
+
+"Ain't there no steam, then?"
+
+Mr. Sims shook his head.
+
+"Then what in thunder have you been doing down there? Didn't you have
+orders to keep up a full head of steam?"
+
+Mr. Sims nodded.
+
+"For God's sake use your tongue, man," roared the mate. "Why ain't there
+no steam?"
+
+"Because all the firemen are on deck."
+
+Mr. Dykes almost danced with rage, yet this time he could say nothing
+for the simple reason that he now recollected having ordered all hands
+on deck for the purpose of serving the guns and passing up ammunition
+out of the hold.
+
+"Oh, get to hell out of it!" he spluttered and Mr. Sims vanished back
+into obscurity.
+
+Having despatched some firemen below to get up steam, the mate again
+fell to considering the advisability of drawing off since the enemy's
+fire showed no signs of slackening. To do him justice, it was not from
+fear of being himself hit at any moment, but rather from a vivid
+anticipation of the fate in store for him and the others on board if
+they fell into the hands of the enemy. Still, if Mr. Sims's report was
+correct, nothing could be done for at least half an hour.
+
+In order to assure himself that the firemen were doing their utmost, Mr.
+Dykes left the bos'n's-mate in charge of the deck and descended to the
+stokehold--a thing he would not have dared to do had McPhulach been on
+board. Having ascertained that there was already a fair pressure of
+steam, he returned to the deck and personally tested the capstans used
+for hauling up the anchors.
+
+"I'm goin' to get out of this death-trap," he said to the bos'n's-mate,
+"so stand by to pick up the anchor. Keep the men at the guns till I give
+the word to cease firing, else them durned Germans will smell a rat and
+butt in before we can quit."
+
+"'Ow about the Cap'n, sir?" asked the man doubtfully.
+
+"Damn your eyes, do what I tell you, and don't ask fool questions!"
+snapped the mate.
+
+The man walked away, somewhat unwillingly Mr. Dykes thought, which made
+him all the more angry and determined to carry out his plan. He wasn't
+going to be dictated to by a swab of a bos'n's-mate or anyone else so
+long as he was in charge of the ship.
+
+Having rung down "Stand by" to the engine-room, he went on to the
+foc'sle head to superintend the weighing of the anchor. When all was
+ready and he was about to pass the word to the man at the steam capstan,
+Miss Fletcher suddenly appeared on the foc'sle.
+
+"What are you going to do?" she asked.
+
+"Get under way," he answered curtly.
+
+"And leave the Captain and his men in the lurch?"
+
+"There ain't any Captain, nor men either, by now, so just quit this
+foc'sle," answered the mate in a voice of suppressed rage.
+
+"That's as it may be," said the girl quietly, "but you're not going to
+heave that anchor."
+
+"Eh!" exclaimed Mr. Dykes, scarce able to believe his ears.
+
+"I say that you shan't leave this harbour till the Captain comes on
+board."
+
+For a moment Mr. Dykes was so overcome with mingled astonishment and
+indignation that he could not speak. Then, uttering an oath, he sprang
+towards her, apparently with the intention of thrusting her off the
+foc'sle. Suddenly, however, he stopped dead as he caught sight of a
+revolver in the girl's hand. Then, while they still stood eyeing each
+other, the vessel gave an unexpected lurch which nearly threw them off
+their feet. The mate sprang to the side and gazed down into the dark
+water below.
+
+"Euchred!" he ejaculated. "The tide's runnin' out and we're fast
+aground."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE ATTACK
+
+
+Having failed in his attempt to effect a landing without discovery,
+Calamity regarded the crossfire between the fort and the _Hawk_ as the
+next best thing, as it would to some extent distract the attention of
+the Germans from his own operations. Nevertheless, the defenders did not
+concentrate their fire wholly on the steamer, and some of their guns
+were firing, more or less promiscuously, into the harbour. Fortunately,
+they did not appear to have either searchlights or illuminating shells,
+for it was only the darkness and consequent inaccurate aim of the
+gunners that prevented the little force from being annihilated before a
+single boat touched the shore. Even as it was, the water around them was
+constantly sending up cascades where shells or fragments of bursting
+shrapnel struck it.
+
+"Pull like hell!" roared Calamity above the din.
+
+The men needed no urging and the boats leapt through the water with oars
+that bent under the strain. Suddenly, above the thunder of the guns, a
+terrible cry was heard, and where there had been a boatload of men a
+moment before, there was now only some splintered wreckage with a few
+wounded men clinging to it. Yet none dared go to their assistance for
+that would have meant inevitable destruction now that one, at least, of
+the enemy's guns had found the range. So, deaf to the shrieks of their
+comrades, the men in the remaining boats pulled like demons, expecting
+every moment to be blown out of the water by a well-placed shot. But at
+last the first boat, which was under the charge of the Captain himself,
+grounded. The men leapt out, waist-deep in the water, and, grabbing
+their rifles and cartridge belts, waded ashore. The other boats quickly
+followed, and Calamity, collecting his force, led it up the beach at the
+double towards some warehouses or "go-downs" that served to screen the
+enemy's fire.
+
+Here he let them have a few minutes "stand-easy," while he consulted
+with his lieutenants, Smith and the bos'n. He had already formed a
+fairly accurate idea of the nature and strength of the defences to be
+overcome, and had arranged his plans accordingly. The fort, so far as he
+had been able to ascertain with the aid of glasses when steaming past
+it, appeared to be built principally of mud and shale with an outer
+defence consisting of a tall bamboo stockade. The approach from the
+harbour side consisted of a very steep incline which seemed totally
+devoid of any sort of cover and without anything in the nature of a road
+or track. But the fact that it was so steep placed the defenders at one
+disadvantage, because it made it practically impossible for them to
+train their big guns on the attacking force, although a well-directed
+musketry fire could not fail to cause fearful havoc in the latter's
+ranks. Still, Calamity's chief asset was the darkness, which, for one
+thing, prevented the Germans from seeing what a ridiculously small force
+he had with him.
+
+Calamity gave the order to advance, the party left the shelter of the
+"go-downs," and moved towards the hill in open order. It was not till
+they started to climb that the enemy showed himself to be aware of their
+presence on the island. Then a brisk rifle-fire was opened on them from
+the fort, but the aim was too high, and the bullets flew harmlessly
+above the sailors' heads. Even by the time they were halfway up, only
+one man had been hit, and his wound was so slight that he continued to
+advance with the others. But now with each forward step the danger
+increased, and, as the attackers drew nearer and nearer to the stockade
+the bullets came perilously near, one or two men dropping out of the
+advance. But the long, thin line of creeping figures never wavered,
+though not one of them had as yet fired a shot. For the last fifty yards
+or so they simply crawled forward on their bellies, while a hail of
+bullets whistled above their heads.
+
+Then, high above the din, there arose the long, shrill call of the
+bos'n's pipe. This was the signal to storm the fort, and the men,
+leaping to their feet, rushed across the few remaining yards that
+separated them from the stockade. While some, slinging their rifles
+across their backs, made prodigious efforts to scale the bamboo
+defences, others, provided with dynamite cartridges, tried to blow gaps
+in it to enable their comrades to enter. For a few minutes there was a
+terrific struggle, those of the attacking party who had succeeded in
+getting over or through the stockade, engaging in fierce hand-to-hand
+encounters with the defenders, using whatever weapon came handiest,
+rifle-butt, sheath-knife, or simply bare fists. But eventually the
+seamen, finding themselves hopelessly outnumbered, began to waver and
+fall back, fighting desperately all the time. At last they were forced
+to abandon the hardly-won ground altogether and then, as if acting on a
+common impulse, they turned and fled.
+
+The Captain made a vain attempt to rally them, but they were unnerved,
+and, heedless of his shouts, fled in panic down the hill, till they
+reached the shelter of the "go-downs" at the bottom of the slope.
+
+"To the boats!" cried someone. "We've 'ad enough of this 'ell. To the
+boats!"
+
+But just as the men were about to make a move towards the water's edge,
+there came the sound of a terrific explosion and a great flame shot
+upwards from the fort on the hill, lighting up the landscape with a
+weird, lurid glare that must have been observable for miles around.
+Calamity's first thought was that a shell from the _Hawk_ had exploded
+the magazine in the fort, but, whatever the cause, he saw here an
+opportunity to convert a rout into a victory.
+
+"Fall in!" he shouted.
+
+At sight of the disaster which had overtaken the enemy, the men regained
+their courage, and, forming into line once more, followed their Captain
+up the slope. On this occasion no deadly fire swept down upon them, and,
+in the light of the flames, they could see small bodies of terrified
+soldiers scrambling over the stockade or forcing their way through the
+gaps, in panic-stricken endeavours to escape from the blazing enclosure.
+
+"Steady, lads!" cried Calamity. "Now give it them."
+
+The straggling line of seamen halted, and next moment a hail of lead
+swept through the chaotic mass of Germans with fearful effect. Another
+volley followed, and some of the fugitives, in their terror, dashed back
+towards the blazing fort while others, more cool-headed, flung
+themselves flat upon the ground. Even so, a heap of dead and wounded lay
+around the stockade, and the few who had escaped threw up their arms in
+token of surrender.
+
+Since it was impossible to enter the fort here owing to the flames,
+Calamity led his men round to the other side which, so far, had escaped
+the fire, and gave the word to attack. With a wild yell of triumph, the
+party rushed up to the palisades and those who could not scale them,
+smashed a way through with their rifle butts. So far there had been no
+resistance, but, as Calamity reformed his men inside the enclosure, some
+twenty or thirty soldiers advanced upon them, led by an officer who
+appeared to be the commandant of the fort. The space was too confined
+for an exchange of rifle-fire and so the two parties immediately engaged
+in a close encounter with whatever weapons came handiest. The defenders
+fought with the desperate courage of men determined to sell their lives
+as dearly as possible, the seamen with the savage ferocity of men still
+smarting under defeat and eager to avenge it. Yet so fierce was the
+resistance that it seemed as though the _Hawk's_ party might even now be
+forced to retreat, when, from the dense smoke in the Germans' rear,
+there came the sound of shots. The defenders, believing themselves
+attacked by another force from behind, threw down their arms, and their
+officer called out that he surrendered unconditionally.
+
+There was a brief lull while Smith and the bos'n took charge of the
+prisoners. Then suddenly above the crackling of the flames, there arose,
+from amidst the smoke, a hoarse, stentorian voice bawling:
+
+    "Oh I'll tak' the high road,
+    An' you'll tak' the low----"
+
+The voice ceased abruptly and there staggered into the open the figure
+of Phineas McPhulach, a revolver in one hand and a gin-bottle--which, at
+the moment, he was holding up to his mouth--in the other.
+
+    "For the days of auld Lang Syne!"
+
+bellowed the engineer as he removed the bottle from his lips.
+
+Then, heedless of the sensation he was causing among friend and foe
+alike, he commenced to dance a Highland fling, at the same time waving
+the revolver above his head and firing it to the peril of all beholders.
+Suddenly he threw the weapon from him, tried to execute a complicated
+step, failed, and collapsed on a heap of smoking timber.
+
+"How the devil did you get here?" demanded Calamity.
+
+A beatific but uncomprehending smile illumined the engineer's face and
+he made a vain effort to raise the gin-bottle to his lips.
+
+"It's a--hic--michty square bus--hic--iness," he murmured.
+
+"Get up," commanded the Captain.
+
+"Eh, mon, but will ye no hae a wee sup o' this--hic--cordial. It's a
+verra----"
+
+His voice died away into an incoherent murmur, his eyes closed, and he
+emitted a lusty snore. Calamity seized his arm and dragged him to his
+feet; but McPhulach, still snoring, slid gently back into his former
+recumbent position. Suddenly, however, he sat up with a jerk and his
+expression changed from befuddled contentment to genuine horror.
+
+"Mon!" he cried, pointing a trembling finger in front of him, "D'ye ken
+yon snake? An' losh presairve us, there's anither beastie, a pink ane,
+wi' thairty legs!"
+
+He raised the bottle above his head and threw it with all his might at
+the imaginary reptile, narrowly missing Calamity.
+
+"Smith!" called the latter, "take this drunken sot back to the ship and
+pour a bucket of cold water over him."
+
+With the assistance of a couple of men, the inebriated engineer was
+raised to his feet. After a vain attempt to embrace Calamity, whom he
+addressed as "me ain dear mither," and to kiss one of the German
+prisoners, he burst into tears and was carried away by four seamen, who
+ducked him in the water before depositing him in the bottom of one of
+the boats. Here, although soaked to the skin, he fell into a peaceful
+slumber, from which he did not awake till the morning, when he found
+himself back in his bunk.
+
+In the meantime, the prisoners were marched down the hill and placed in
+the "go-down," except the commandant, whom Calamity wished to question
+concerning the place where the booty taken by the gunboat was
+stored--for it was pretty certain the Germans had not left it on board
+her. He was, however, unable at first to elicit any satisfactory reply,
+the prisoner declaring that he knew nothing about it.
+
+"Very well," said Calamity, "since you refuse to tell me, I must take
+measures to induce you to change your mind."
+
+"What is that?" asked the prisoner, starting. Like most German officers,
+he understood English perfectly.
+
+"I mean," answered the Captain suavely, "that if your memory is at fault
+concerning the disposal of the gunboat's plunder, I shall try and find
+some means of refreshing it."
+
+"You would not dare to torture me, sir!" exclaimed the commandant,
+turning pale.
+
+"There are a few things I wouldn't dare, perhaps, but that's not one of
+them."
+
+At last the commandant, fearing that his captor was in earnest,
+reluctantly gave the required information, and Calamity, with the bos'n
+and half a dozen picked men, made his way to the place indicated. There
+they found, on the side of the hill, a strong iron door, in front of
+which was a narrow foot-track about twenty yards long, evidently the
+result of sentinels pacing up and down. This door, of course, was
+securely fastened, but a charge of dynamite sufficed to blow it in, and
+Calamity, followed by the others, who carried storm lanterns, entered.
+There was nothing romantic or suggestive of Aladdin's cave about the
+place; in fact, it looked much like an ordinary store-house, with cases
+and packages stacked around it.
+
+"Open that," said Calamity, indicating one of several heavily sealed
+cases, edged with metal.
+
+After some little difficulty, for the case was very stoutly made, the
+top was knocked off, revealing bars of bullion.
+
+"Very good," murmured the Captain, "very good."
+
+From the marks on the cases, he judged that the gold had been sent out
+from England to a Colonial bank. Obviously the ship carrying it had been
+stopped and robbed by the German pirate-captain, who, taking one thing
+with another, appeared to have been both industrious and successful in
+the profession of his adoption. A methodical search showed that there
+were quite a number of these cases, not all of them bearing the same
+marks, for some were French, and must have been taken from a different
+ship. There were other things besides bullion: bales of cloth, cases of
+wines and spirits, tobacco and cigars, and so forth. A money-chest, well
+stocked with English, American, and German notes and gold, was probably
+the property of the German Government for use in paying wages,
+purchasing coal, ammunition, and such-like necessaries, while the
+Kaiser's cruisers were still at large in the Pacific.
+
+Dawn was breaking and the fires which had consumed the fort were dying
+down as if satiated, when the treasure, strongly guarded, was taken on
+board the _Hawk_, where, under Calamity's personal supervision, it was
+carefully stowed away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MCPHULACH EXPLAINS
+
+
+On the following morning Calamity went ashore, Mr. Dykes having preceded
+him for the purpose of finding out what stores, coal, and so forth had
+escaped the fire. Of coal there proved to be an abundance stored in a
+"go-down" near the little jetty that ran out into the harbour, and so
+arrangements were made to replenish the _Hawk's_ bunkers, which were
+running low.
+
+"By the way," said the Captain after Mr. Dykes had made his report,
+"have you come across any natives? Surely there ought to be some on an
+island like this."
+
+"Well, sir, I guess if there ever were any they've been cleared out by
+the squareheads," answered the mate. "I ain't seen a sign of one."
+
+"Well, come with me and bring half a dozen men with you," said Calamity,
+and led the way up the hill to the smoking remains of the fort. Upon the
+very summit a spar was set up on end with the Union Jack nailed to it,
+and Calamity formally annexed the island in the name of His Britannic
+Majesty, King George the Fifth. This done, the Captain, accompanied by
+Mr. Dykes, paid a visit to the beached gunboat and found that, although
+her propeller had been damaged, the work of repair was all but
+completed. Moreover, in a shed near by they found a forge and a
+well-fitted engineer's workshop, with all the tools and machinery for
+repairing damaged engines.
+
+"This is better than I could have hoped," said Calamity. "They seem to
+have established a regular small dockyard here."
+
+"German thoroughness, sir," answered the mate. "You see, if any of their
+small boats in the Pacific got knocked about they could put in here for
+repairs. I'll bet the _Emden_ would have quitted business long ago if it
+hadn't been for this little cosy corner."
+
+"Well, we'll take over the gunboat since we can't cram all the prisoners
+on board the _Hawk_, otherwise I should blow her up."
+
+"Don't know how you're going to officer her, sir."
+
+"We must manage somehow," answered Calamity.
+
+Mr. Dykes, however, mildly protested. He pointed out that there were
+only himself and Smith available to take command of her, and, since only
+one of them could be spared from the _Hawk_, the whole work of
+navigating the gunboat would fall on one man.
+
+"It would mean that he'd have to be on the bridge practically night and
+day, sir," he concluded.
+
+"You'll have to make the best arrangements you can, that's all."
+
+"Me, sir!" ejaculated the mate.
+
+"Yes, I shall place you in command of the gunboat with some of the
+_Hawk's_ men. You must divide the watches with the bos'n's-mate and any
+other man you like to select. You may pick your crew."
+
+Mr. Dykes groaned, but decided that it was not safe to offer any further
+objections. To be placed in command of a steamer without even one
+reliable officer under him, and with, perhaps, twenty or more prisoners
+on board, was a great deal more than he had bargained for.
+
+"What about an engineer, sir?" he asked.
+
+"You can have Sims."
+
+The mate choked back the remark he was about to make concerning
+the qualities of Mr. Sims. But inwardly he vowed that, if the
+second-engineer had no conception of what hell might be like, he would
+be in possession of a good working theory before he left the gunboat.
+
+"Now that's settled," went on the Captain, "you had better go aboard her
+and make preparations for coaling and victualling."
+
+"Very good, sir," answered Mr. Dykes in a spiritless voice, and departed
+in deep dudgeon. Had the Captain shown any inclination to listen to his
+advice, he would have suggested leaving the prisoners on the island
+under a strong guard, till the British authorities were informed and
+could send a vessel to take them away. However, to argue with Calamity
+would be about as cheerful a job as trying experiments with a live
+shell, and so the mate wisely accepted his burden with what fortitude he
+could muster.
+
+Having acquainted himself with what resources the one-time German colony
+possessed, Calamity returned to the _Hawk_. He was anxious to consult
+McPhulach concerning the repairs to the engines and other parts of the
+ship which had suffered from the fort's guns on the preceding night.
+There was to be explained, also, the mystery of the engineer's presence
+in the fort, when, according to orders, he should have been in the
+engine-room of the _Hawk_.
+
+"Where is Mr. McPhulach?" asked the Captain as soon as he stepped on
+board.
+
+"In his cabin, sir," answered one of the men.
+
+"Then go and fetch him--no, stay though, I'll go to him myself," and
+Calamity made his way to the engineer's abode.
+
+"Wha's there?" inquired a feeble voice in answer to the Captain's knock.
+
+Calamity, instead of answering, opened the door and stepped in. The
+cabin was darkened by having the curtains drawn across the ports, but he
+could make out the figure of McPhulach propped up in his bunk with the
+aid of a battered leather bag and a pillow. The engineer presented a
+sorry spectacle; his head was enveloped in a wet towel, and on a locker
+by his side stood a cup of tea and a half-eaten slice of dry toast.
+
+"How are you?" inquired the Captain, drawing the curtains apart to admit
+the daylight.
+
+"I'm no verra weel, an' I thank ye," replied McPhulach, still in a
+feeble voice. "Ma heid is like a footba' filled wi' lead."
+
+"Naturally," remarked the Captain coldly.
+
+"Aye, I ken it weel," groaned the sufferer.
+
+"What I want to know is, how the devil you got into the fort and what
+you did when you got there," went on Calamity.
+
+"It's a michty quare business, skeeper, an' I dinna a'togither ken it
+mesel'."
+
+"You were ordered to remain on board, instead of which, I suppose, you
+smuggled yourself into one of the boats when they put off."
+
+"Weel, I didna swim," answered McPhulach testily, and held his aching
+head in both hands.
+
+"You disobeyed orders."
+
+There was an ominous ring in the Captain's voice which made the victim
+of alcoholic excess pull himself together sharply.
+
+"It was a' due to a nichtmare I had, d'ye ken?" he said, thinking as
+hard as his befuddled brain would permit.
+
+"A nightmare! What in hell are you talking about?"
+
+"Weel, I must ha' walked in ma sleep. I thocht ma second--or mebbe 'twas
+ma thaird--wife was after me...."
+
+McPhulach rambled on till Calamity, losing patience, pulled him up and
+demanded to know the truth. It came out gradually, and the Captain
+learnt that, just as the boats were putting off from the _Hawk_,
+McPhulach had been seized with an irresistible desire to feel dry land
+under him again. So, unobserved in the darkness, he had slipped into the
+last boat and been taken ashore. There he mingled with the men and
+advanced with them in the first attack. During the fight which followed,
+he succeeded in scaling the stockade and had just landed safely on the
+other side when a soldier sprang forward and clubbed him with the
+butt-end of a rifle. For a time he lay there unconscious, but, on coming
+to, quickly realised that he was inside the stockade and might be killed
+at any moment. As this latter contingency did not figure on his
+programme, he started to crawl away and at last came to an orderly-room
+which was untenanted. Taking careful observations, he noticed on the
+table several bottles of spirits, and drew the conclusion that the place
+was a sort of smoking-room used by the officers of the fort; at any
+rate, he decided to sample the contents of the bottles.
+
+By the time he had finished what must have been nearly two pints of
+mixed spirits, he felt equal to taking the fort single-handed; in fact,
+as he now confessed to Calamity, he would have charged a whole
+battalion.
+
+"I didna quite ken what to do," he said, gazing dreamily out of the
+porthole, "so I sat doon on the doorstep an' waited for ma temper to
+rise."
+
+Apparently it rose pretty quickly, for soon afterwards he wandered out
+into the dark enclosure--having first placed the remains of a bottle of
+gin in his pocket--to see what he could do. As a start, he drew his
+revolver and one of the first shots, fired at random, hit a charge of
+powder as it was being removed from the magazine.
+
+"An' after that," concluded the engineer wearily, "I kenned no mair."
+
+"I see," murmured Calamity, for now the mysterious explosion which had
+resulted in the capture of the fort was explained. "I suppose," he
+added, with unwonted geniality, "you don't remember trying to kill pink
+snakes with an empty gin-bottle?"
+
+McPhulach slowly shook his head.
+
+"I ca' to mind seein' a green spider an' a blue centipede creepin'
+across yon bulkhead a whiles since," he replied. "But ye meet wi' unco'
+quare animals in these latitudes."
+
+Calamity rose to his feet.
+
+"I've a good mind to log you a week's pay for disobeying orders," he
+said.
+
+The threat did not seem to impress the engineer, who suddenly leant over
+the side of his bunk and stared fixedly at the floor.
+
+"I'll hae to get a rat-trap," he murmured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+CALAMITY KEEPS HIS WORD
+
+
+The next day a number of sampans and canoes loaded with fruit,
+vegetables, and flowers, came alongside the _Hawk_. Mr. Dykes had been
+in error when he stated his belief that the Germans had cleared all the
+natives out. As it was discovered afterwards, the people had fled to the
+interior on hearing the guns and had only come back that afternoon.
+
+Smith, walking along the deck, caught sight of Dora Fletcher leaning
+over the taffrail, just below which was a sampan loaded with wonderful
+tropical flowers. Its owner had been endeavouring to sell these, but
+without much success, because none of the crew wanted flowers, being
+chiefly concerned with the eatables.
+
+"How much?" asked the girl of the native in the sampan.
+
+The man did not understand English, but he comprehended the girl's
+gestures, and made some unintelligible reply.
+
+Miss Fletcher, seeing Smith, asked if he would help her.
+
+"Like a bird," answered the second-mate cheerfully, and, addressing the
+owner of the flowers, shouted something in the vernacular.
+
+"Well?" queried the girl, when the man had answered.
+
+"He says," answered Smith, "that you can have all those flowers for a
+pair of old trousers."
+
+The girl stared at him with a look of astonishment that gradually gave
+place to amusement.
+
+"It's the truth, straight," went on Smith, as though she had questioned
+the accuracy of his translation.
+
+"What am I to do?" she asked helplessly. "I wanted those flowers."
+
+"I dunno, unless--half a mo' though. I'll be back in a jiff," and the
+second-mate darted off towards his cabin.
+
+He returned a couple of minutes later with a pair of greasy,
+paint-daubed trousers over his arm.
+
+"Here, corffee-dial," he said, and flung the garments into the sampan.
+
+The native's face expanded into a broad grin, he cast an approving eye
+over the discarded trousers, and then started to hand up the flowers.
+
+"How's that?" demanded Smith triumphantly, when the sampan had been
+emptied.
+
+"It's very kind of you," answered the girl. "How much do I owe you for
+the trousers?"
+
+"Owe me!" ejaculated the other. Then he smiled. "Well, I reckon I could
+have got a bob for them from a Whitechapel Sheeny."
+
+"Then I owe you a shilling."
+
+Smith nodded. He knew she would insist on paying him that shilling and
+was wondering how on earth she would raise it. He helped her to carry
+the flowers away and heap them on the bunk in her cabin.
+
+"Oh, aren't they lovely?" she murmured.
+
+"Um--m, I s'pose so," answered Smith, eyeing them critically, "but I'd
+rather have a cokernut myself," whereupon he departed.
+
+Dora Fletcher, susceptible to beauty herself, was amused at the
+second-mate's polite contempt for the flowers. She began to arrange them
+about the cabin, and, while doing so, was struck by a whimsical thought.
+
+What, she wondered, would the grim and taciturn Captain think if he came
+back and found his cabin full of tastefully arranged flowers?
+
+She paused for a minute with one finger on her underlip, considering the
+startling proposition. Then her mouth curved in an ironical little
+smile, and, half-amused, half-contemptuous of her action, she gathered
+up some scarlet hibiscus into a bunch and made her way towards the
+Captain's cabin. Descending the companion quietly, she found herself for
+the second time in that mysterious sanctum. It was not very large, and
+there were none of the homely decorations--photographs, pictures, and so
+forth--with which some skippers decorate their quarters. Some maps and
+charts, a pair of pistols, one or two bracket-shelves with books hung
+from the bulkheads, and the sideboards were littered with odds and
+ends--tobacco-pipes, half-empty boxes of matches, and other masculine
+lumber. The place reeked, too, of strong tobacco, and there were two or
+three cigar-butts lying on the table.
+
+The girl glanced around her with an expression of mingled amusement and
+perplexity, then took a tumbler from the rack and filled it with water.
+Having arranged the flowers in it to her satisfaction, she stood for a
+moment surveying the effect, with that half-ironical smile still playing
+about her lips.
+
+As she stood thus, the cabin door opened softly and she swung round, the
+blood mounting in a crimson flood to her face. But, with a gasp of
+relief, she saw that the intruder was Sing-hi and not the Captain, and
+her heart ceased beating tumultuously.
+
+The imperturbable celestial showed not the slightest sign of surprise at
+finding her there, and merely greeted her with his usual urbane smile.
+
+"Sing-hi, I have been putting some flowers here for the Captain," she
+said; "but you're not to tell him I've been here--savee?"
+
+"Savee," answered Sing-hi, and the girl left the cabin feeling tolerably
+sure that the Chinaman would not betray her.
+
+She was quite correct in this assumption, for, after watching her
+disappear up the companion, Sing-hi shuffled back into the cabin,
+emptied the flowers out of the port, dried the glass, and returned it to
+the rack.
+
+During the afternoon McPhulach, who had recovered from the effects of
+his debauch, went ashore to meet Calamity. The engineer wished to
+inspect the workshop and the plant it contained, in order to make
+arrangements for repairing the _Hawk's_ engines as speedily as possible.
+Also, since the Captain had decided to convey some of the prisoners to
+Singapore in the gunboat, the latter had to be examined and overhauled
+before she could be floated; thus, in one way and another, McPhulach and
+his staff were likely to be kept busy for several days to come.
+
+Leaving the engineer to attend to these matters, Calamity went in search
+of Mr. Dykes, whom he found superintending the loading of lighters with
+coal for replenishing the _Hawk's_ bunkers. To facilitate this work, the
+mate had pressed some of the German prisoners into his service and these
+were employed in transferring the coal from the "go-down" to the jetty.
+
+"Thought I might as well make use of these squareheads, sir," he
+explained when the Captain came up.
+
+"Where are the others?"
+
+"Still in the shack yonder, sir. Before rations were served out this
+morning I made 'em all take a bath in the harbour. One of 'em, who
+speaks English, said he should complain to you."
+
+"On account of the bath?"
+
+"Yes, sir. Called it cruelty towards defenceless prisoners."
+
+"We'll see about that later. How many have you got, Mr. Dykes?"
+
+"Somewhere between thirty and forty I guess, sir. One of them--the slob
+who complained about the bath--reckons that the explosion and the fire
+did for about the same number, not countin' those who were killed and
+wounded in the fighting."
+
+"Which means that there must have been about a hundred men in the fort
+all told."
+
+"That's how I figger it out, sir."
+
+"Well, you'd better fetch the prisoners out, Mr. Dykes, and I'll have a
+look at them," said Calamity.
+
+Accordingly they were marched out of the "go-down" under an armed guard
+and paraded before the Captain. Most of them were soldiers, but a few
+had formed part of the gunboat's crew and belonged to the German Naval
+Reserve.
+
+"Which is the man who wishes to make a complaint?" asked Calamity, when
+the prisoners had filed past him.
+
+"You with the grouch, fall out!" cried the mate.
+
+A man in sailor's uniform stepped out of the ranks, and, drawing himself
+up stiffly, saluted the Captain. The latter, as he glanced at him more
+closely, started, and a look of recognition flashed between the two.
+
+"Your name?" asked Calamity.
+
+"Fritz Siemann, sir," answered the prisoner.
+
+"Mr. Dykes," said the Captain, "have this man sent aboard the _Hawk_,
+and see that he's kept away from the other prisoners."
+
+"Very good, sir," answered the mate, who supposed that Calamity was
+going to deal with the grumbler in a manner that would check any further
+display of discontent.
+
+When, later on in the day, the Captain returned on board the _Hawk_, he
+ordered Fritz Siemann to be brought to his cabin. The prisoner was
+brought in by a couple of sailors, who, at a word from Calamity, left
+them together.
+
+"This is a strange meeting, my worthy Fritz," said the Captain, looking
+at the man with an ironical smile.
+
+The prisoner shrugged his shoulders, but made no answer. He was a man of
+between thirty and forty, very fair, tall, and with a pair of small,
+cunning eyes.
+
+"Well, how is it that I find you out here in the Pacific, a sailor
+instead of a valet?" asked the Captain after a pause.
+
+"I came out on a cruiser as a Naval Reservist, and was afterwards
+transferred to the gunboat," answered the fellow.
+
+"When did you leave England?"
+
+"A day or two before war was declared."
+
+"You were recalled by the German Government?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"H'm; and how was your master when you left?"
+
+"He died about three months before I went," answered the man.
+
+"Died!"
+
+"Yes, sir, he fell from his horse while hunting."
+
+Calamity was silent for some moments, and then he turned once more to
+the German.
+
+"Did he ever mention my name in your presence?"
+
+"Not often, but he was always trying to find out if you were dead."
+
+A grim smile stole over the Captain's face at this. Somehow it seemed to
+amuse him.
+
+"But, so far as you know, he was never able to find out for certain?"
+
+"I don't think so, but everyone thought you were dead, except Mr.
+Vayne."
+
+"Yes, Vayne was the only friend I had," muttered the Captain. He turned
+sharply to the prisoner. "Did my brother pay you well for assisting him
+in his rascality?"
+
+"I--I don't understand," faltered the German nervously.
+
+"Nevertheless, I should advise you to try," answered Calamity quietly,
+"it may save you considerable discomfort. Now, answer my question."
+
+"He paid me well enough while I was in his service," growled the man
+reluctantly; "but, as for rascality----"
+
+"I'm referring to the forged cheque," broke in the Captain.
+
+The prisoner started and shot a keen glance at him.
+
+"Forged cheque?" he repeated as if puzzled.
+
+"I am perfectly aware of the part you played in that little affair, so
+don't risk your neck by trying to prevaricate. As it is, I'm half
+inclined to hang you here and now, but you shall assuredly swing, my
+lad, if you utter a single lie."
+
+The ex-valet turned deathly pale, for he realised that the threat was no
+empty one. He shifted uneasily from one foot to another, glanced
+furtively round the cabin as if considering the possibilities of escape,
+and finally let his gaze rest on the Captain.
+
+"What do you want me to say?" he asked sullenly.
+
+"I want you to tell me the truth, and bear in mind that your life
+depends on it."
+
+"About the cheque?"
+
+"About the cheque."
+
+"He forged it."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I was in the room with him?"
+
+"You helped him, in fact?"
+
+"I suppose so."
+
+"By God, you deserve to be hanged if ever a man did," exclaimed the
+Captain.
+
+"You asked me to tell you the truth, sir," said the man, shrinking back.
+
+"Get on with your story."
+
+"There's nothing much to tell, sir. The scheme worked without a hitch,
+and everyone was deceived--except Mr. Vayne; he was always doubtful."
+
+"Well, and what did you get out of it? Such assistance as you gave was
+invaluable."
+
+"Five hundred pounds."
+
+"H'm, a very profitable stroke of business on your part, especially as
+it placed you in a position to levy blackmail at will. Now what fee"--an
+ugly expression crossed the Captain's face as he uttered this--"do you
+require in consideration of your writing down a full account of that
+interesting transaction and signing it in the presence of witnesses?"
+
+The other hesitated a moment.
+
+"A thousand pounds in cash and a guarantee that I shall not be handed
+over to the British authorities as a prisoner of war."
+
+"Agreed. You shall have the money in English and American notes as soon
+as you have prepared the document."
+
+"And if I change my mind?"
+
+"Why, then," answered Calamity with a genial smile, "it'll be the last
+time you ever change it on this earth," and, rising, he laid pen, ink,
+and paper before the prisoner.
+
+"Call the steward when you have finished and he will send for me," said
+Calamity as he left the cabin.
+
+For nearly an hour the German wrote steadily, pausing every now and
+again to read what he had written. When at last he had finished he
+called for the steward.
+
+"Tell the Captain I'm ready," he said as Sing-hi appeared in the
+doorway.
+
+The Chinaman nodded and a few minutes afterwards the Captain entered,
+accompanied by Smith and McPhulach.
+
+"Be seated, gentlemen," said Calamity, himself taking a chair. "I have
+brought you here," he went on, "to witness the signature of a document
+which this man has written. He will read it over first, and when I tell
+you that every word is absolutely confidential, I feel sure you will
+both observe the strictest secrecy. At least," he added significantly,
+"it will be to your advantage to do so."
+
+The two witnesses murmured assent and settled themselves down to listen.
+Then, at a nod from the Captain, Fritz picked up the paper and began to
+read. At the start, the engineer and the second-mate looked mildly
+surprised, but as the man read on their expressions changed to amazement
+and they stared from the reader to Calamity with looks of mingled
+incredulity and awed wonder. At length the prisoner, having finished
+reading the document, laid it on the table and signed it.
+
+"Blimey!" muttered Smith under his breath.
+
+"A michty quare business," remarked McPhulach.
+
+"Now, gentlemen," said Calamity, "I will ask you to append your
+signatures as witnesses of this interesting confession."
+
+Smith picked up the pen, and, after a preparatory flourish, signed his
+name. Then he handed the pen to McPhulach, who took it somewhat
+gingerly.
+
+"I'm no incurrin' ony liabeelity?" he asked cautiously.
+
+"None whatever," answered the Captain.
+
+"I dinna hauld wi' signing papers mesel'," went on the engineer, "it's
+producteeve of unco----"
+
+"Are you going to sign that paper or not?" interrupted the Captain.
+
+McPhulach hesitated no longer, but hastily scrawled his signature
+underneath Smith's.
+
+"Thank you both," said Calamity; "that's all I shall need."
+
+Smith and the engineer, taking the hint, departed and left the Captain
+with his prisoner.
+
+"Now you want your reward, I suppose," remarked Calamity, and, stepping
+into his little sleeping cabin, he brought out the money-chest which had
+been taken from the treasure-house in the fort. From this he counted out
+the equivalent of one thousand pounds, most of it, at the prisoner's
+request, in American notes.
+
+"You must give me a receipt for these," he said.
+
+The man wrote out a receipt, signed it, and took in exchange the parcel
+of notes.
+
+"You've promised not to hand me over to the British, remember," said he.
+
+"I shan't forget it," answered the Captain. "There are quite enough
+scoundrels in English prisons already, without adding to their number."
+
+"And I can't go back to the island."
+
+"I suppose not. Well, I will see what can be done, and in the meantime
+you had better stay here."
+
+Calamity locked the document in a steel deed-box, placed it under the
+bunk in his sleeping-cabin, and then went on deck, having previously
+told Sing-hi to keep watch outside the cabin and not to let the prisoner
+leave it. He was somewhat puzzled with regard to the promise he had made
+Fritz Siemann, for, should he be taken to Singapore with the other
+prisoners, he would certainly be interned. The only way out of it,
+seemingly, was to put in at some neutral port and land the man there.
+
+Some two hours later he returned to the cabin and found the prisoner
+seated on the settee ostensibly reading a book.
+
+"I hope," said the Captain quietly, "you find the book entertaining, Mr.
+Siemann?"
+
+"Ye--yes, thank you," answered the man rather nervously.
+
+"May I ask, purely as a matter of curiosity, whether you always read
+your books upside down?"
+
+The volume slipped from the German's hand and he muttered a guttural
+oath.
+
+"I just picked it up as you came in," he said.
+
+"And did your investigations meet with success?"
+
+"My--I don't understand."
+
+"I mean," went on the Captain, "did you succeed in your efforts to force
+that deed-box and abstract your confession?"
+
+The prisoner's face changed colour, but he tried to bluster out a
+denial.
+
+"I--I haven't touched the box," he said.
+
+"Then it's rather strange that your jacket should be smeared with white
+paint. You see, my bunk was re-painted only this----"
+
+The Captain's remark was cut short, for the German suddenly sprang to
+his feet and aimed a terrific blow at him with a short, pointed
+sheath-knife. Calamity was just in time to avoid the weapon, which
+struck the table with such force that the point snapped off, while the
+would-be murderer stumbled forward under the impetus of the stroke.
+Before he could recover himself, the Captain had seized him by the
+throat, at the same time calling for Sing-hi.
+
+"The irons out of my drawer," he said when the Chinaman appeared.
+
+Sing-hi opened a drawer, took therefrom a pair of handcuffs and slipped
+them over the prisoner's wrists.
+
+"You'd better lock the fellow in your pantry for the time being," said
+Calamity as he went out.
+
+The same night Mr. Fritz Siemann--that is to say, his mortal
+remains--was lowered into the sea, sewed up in a canvas bag. And, inside
+that bag, besides the firebars used as sinkers, was the thousand pounds
+in notes.
+
+Captain Calamity was not the man to break his word.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE CONFESSION
+
+
+During the next three days the work of repairing the _Hawk's_ engines
+went on unceasingly under McPhulach's supervision. The gunboat, which,
+it was found, had already been repaired by the Germans, was floated, and
+arrangements were made for accommodating the prisoners she would have to
+carry. Calamity christened her _Satellite_, and the name was painted on
+her stern in big white letters over the word _Gnesen_, which had
+formerly been there.
+
+On the afternoon of the day preceding Calamity's departure three of the
+guns in the fort which had escaped damage from the fire were rendered
+useless, while such stores, ammunition, and coal as could not be taken
+away were destroyed or flung into the sea. This seeming waste was
+necessary in order to prevent any stray vessel that might put in there
+from re-coaling or victualling with what would otherwise have been left.
+
+On the following morning, McPhulach, grimy of person and half-dead from
+want of sleep, reported that the engines were in working order and that
+he had a full head of steam in the boilers. A few hours afterwards
+everything was ready for the departure; the prisoners had been divided
+into two lots, one being sent aboard the _Satellite_, now under the
+command of Mr. Dykes, and the other transferred to the _Hawk_, whose
+after-hold had been fitted up for the purpose.
+
+A blast from the _Hawk's_ syren gave the signal to weigh anchor; the
+winches rattled, the cables came rumbling up through the hawse-pipes,
+and the privateer slowly steamed towards the harbour mouth with the
+_Satellite_ in her wake. As she passed the ruined fort with the Union
+Jack fluttering above it, she fired an irregular salute of three guns,
+while the _Satellite_, not to be outdone, dipped her flag.
+
+Leaning over the _Hawk's_ stern rail, watching the hissing water being
+churned into foam by the propeller, was Dora Fletcher. She was still
+there when the trees which lined the shore had dissolved into a vague
+green outline that presently took on a bluish tint, and finally became
+merged in the hills beyond. When the hills themselves faded, became
+blurred, and melted into the horizon leaving against the sky-line
+nothing but a dark smudge resembling a low-lying cloud, the girl had not
+moved from her post, but still continued to gaze with wistful eyes into
+the distance. Long before the brief twilight cast a cooling shadow
+across the flaming sky the last vestige of the island had faded out of
+sight and nothing was to be seen save an unbroken vista of sea that
+changed from green to grey, was for a few moments transformed into a
+shimmering expanse of molten gold in the rays of the dying sun, then
+slowly changed to purple, and so to a deep, unfathomable blue. Darker it
+grew as the twilight deepened, and when night abruptly blotted out the
+soft half-lights, the sea became a vast and trembling mirror, reflecting
+in its depths a thousand twinkling points of light.
+
+It was not by any means the first time that Dora Fletcher had seen sea
+and sky swallow up the land, but for a reason she could not explain even
+to herself, there seemed to be something unusually depressing in this
+departure from the island. It was not that it had possessed any
+particular charm for her; she had seen lands far more beautiful and
+islands infinitely more picturesque--no, it was not this.
+
+To add to her unaccountable depression came thoughts of her dead father
+and the great, empty future which lay before her. Now that her father
+had gone, she reflected, there was no one in all the world to whom she
+mattered, or who would miss her were she never to return. A sensation of
+utter loneliness descended upon her, and with it a strange foreboding,
+none the less disquieting because it was so vague. She felt an urgent
+desire for human companionship, and, looking round the deck, saw that it
+was deserted. Smith was on the bridge, but she had no wish to speak to
+him, even had it been possible. And Mr. Dykes, now aboard the
+_Satellite_, would not have satisfied this hunger of her soul for
+fellowship. Her thoughts turned to the Captain, and him she did not
+dismiss from her mind, but lingered contemplatively upon this strange,
+taciturn man; so vital, so dominating.
+
+Illogically, she found herself wishing that this cruise might last for
+ever; there was something soothing in the thought of her utter
+dependence on this man's will. For a moment she lingered luxuriously
+upon the thought of her life ordered and controlled by him, and gave
+herself up to a delicious feeling of absence from care and
+responsibility. Suddenly she experienced a revulsion of feeling, and
+flushed vividly with a sensation of shame. Was it possible, she asked
+herself angrily, that she was no stronger than some bread-and-butter
+miss who had lived sheltered all her days? Was she so dismayed because
+she must start life for herself, that she must needs wish for dependence
+and protection; in short, a master?
+
+The cool night-wind fanned her hot cheeks and she made an effort to
+compose herself and reduce the chaos of her thoughts to some sort of
+order. Unfortunately for her efforts in this direction the door of the
+little deck-house above the companion-way opened, and turning, she saw
+the Captain himself.
+
+"Good evening," she said, but for some reason her voice was half-choked
+and utterly unlike her own.
+
+Something about her, perhaps the unconscious appeal of her graceful
+figure or the unusual note in her voice, arrested him as he was about to
+pass on.
+
+"Good evening," he answered, a little less curtly than was his wont.
+
+She hoped he would go on, but, as if recollecting something, he paused.
+
+"I suppose you know we are bound for Singapore?" he said.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Have you, by any chance, friends there?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I gathered from the papers you placed in my charge that your home is in
+England."
+
+"My home is not in England," she answered; "it is here," and she waved
+her arm dramatically as if to indicate sea and space.
+
+"At any rate, I presume you will go to England," he said, in nowise
+affected by her poetic suggestion.
+
+"If I must."
+
+"I can't force you to go anywhere against your will," he answered in
+the tone of one trying to keep patient. "If you take my advice, you will
+consult the British Consul."
+
+"You seem very anxious to get rid of me!" exclaimed the girl with sudden
+bitterness. "Have I been such an encumbrance since I came on board?"
+
+Calamity gazed at her flushed and angry face with surprise.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked.
+
+"I mean this," she replied impulsively. "Ever since I have been on this
+ship you've either ignored me or else treated me as if I were a nuisance
+which had to be tolerated somehow. Yet I've done my share of the work,
+haven't I?"
+
+The question was flung out like a challenge, and some moments elapsed
+before the Captain spoke. It was, perhaps, the first time he had ever
+considered this girl as an entity, as anything but an unwelcome
+passenger forced upon him by circumstances.
+
+"What has all this to do with your destination?" he asked at last.
+
+"Everything," she answered, in a voice that trembled with anger and
+indignation. "You ask me where I want to be sent, as though I were
+a--a----" her voice failed, and to the Captain's astonishment no less
+than her own, she burst into a passion of tears.
+
+"You had better come to my cabin," said Calamity, when she had regained
+control of herself, and he led the way down the companion.
+
+She felt abashed and humiliated now, and, metaphorically, kicked herself
+for her foolishness. Yet even so, she realised that this sudden burst of
+emotion had not been anger at his treatment of her, so much as despair
+at the thought that she must soon pass out of his life as utterly as
+though she had never been; that to him, henceforward, she would be
+something less, even, than a memory.
+
+On reaching the cabin, Calamity shut the door and swung a chair round
+for her to sit upon.
+
+"Now," he said, "just tell me what you want me to do. You say you have
+no home, and you object, apparently, to being placed in charge of the
+British Consul. What then?"
+
+He spoke very quietly, almost gently, and because of this, perhaps, a
+feeling of utter hopelessness came over the girl.
+
+"You must do as you think best," she answered in a voice from which all
+fire and spirit had gone.
+
+"But just now you refused to let me do this."
+
+"I know. I--I was foolish and unreasonable, I suppose."
+
+Calamity remained silent for a minute or two, regarding her curiously.
+He read her better than she guessed. When he spoke again she recognised
+a new quality in his voice. It made her feel as if they two, though so
+near, were yet miles apart. There was a note of pity in it which hurt
+her more than anything she had ever known before because it demonstrated
+so positively the distance between them.
+
+"You and I, Miss Fletcher," he said slowly, "can never be friends; at
+least, not in the sense I am thinking of, for our paths lie wide apart.
+If my assumption is wrong--and you have sense and discrimination enough
+to know what I mean by that--you must pardon me and put it down to lack
+of insight on my part, not to any presumption or vanity. If it is not
+wrong, you will understand without my saying more, why it is necessary
+that you should leave this ship for good at Singapore."
+
+The girl was looking at him with large, startled eyes. What, she
+wondered, was that unnamable something about him which she had never
+observed before? Why was it that, of a sudden, he seemed to have assumed
+the guise of another class--a class about which she had read, but with
+which she had never come into contact? The bold, fearless sea-captain,
+the man of infinite resource, unscrupulous and even brutal, had
+disappeared. In his place was a quiet, self-contained gentleman,
+speaking in a low, kind voice; chiding her while he apologised for doing
+it.
+
+In some subtle way he had made her feel pitifully small and ignorant; he
+awed her; but in a way she had never been awed before. It was impossible
+to resent this, because she did not know how to do so; it was something
+outside her experience. For the first time in her life she felt herself
+up against that indefinable power which for centuries has made the
+masses of the world subject to the few. It was something more than the
+power to command, it was the power to be obeyed.
+
+There was a long pause, and then the girl, too proud to deny her love
+for him, spoke.
+
+"You have not misunderstood me," she said, with a frankness that lent
+dignity to her confession. "Without knowing it I have come to love you.
+I think I would willingly and gladly have followed you to the uttermost
+ends of the earth; I would have suffered with and for you. I believed
+that I was meant for such as you; but you have made me see how foolish I
+have been. Don't think that I am ashamed you should know this. I'm not."
+
+She stopped, her eyes fixed on his defiantly as though daring him to
+misunderstand her. In any other man but Calamity her words would have
+produced a deep impression, but he, to all appearances, was perfectly
+unmoved.
+
+"We will forget all this," he said quietly. "The thing still to be
+settled is this matter of what's to become of you when we reach
+Singapore."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+DORA FLETCHER'S CHANCE
+
+
+"From what you have told me, I assume you have no mother," Calamity went
+on. The note of pity had left his voice, and his manner, if not brusque,
+was cold and judicial.
+
+"No," answered the girl, "my mother died when I was four years old." Her
+manner, too, had changed; all the heat and defiance had left it and she
+spoke in a subdued, colourless voice, as though these matters hardly
+concerned her.
+
+"And you have no relatives living?"
+
+"I have a couple of aunts in Sunderland. I stayed with them until I was
+eight years old. I--I hate them!" She made a passionate gesture as
+though the very mention of these people aroused bitter memories. "It was
+not that they were unkind exactly; but--well, it doesn't matter now.
+Soon after my eighth birthday my father took me away with him on a
+voyage to the East, and after that I went with him on nearly all his
+voyages. He educated me, too; taught me French, mathematics, navigation,
+and so on."
+
+"Navigation, eh?" remarked Calamity with a note of surprise in his
+voice.
+
+"Yes; if I had been a man I could have passed for mate and got my
+master's ticket long ago. I'd pit my knowledge of seamanship against
+that of any man on this ship," she concluded defiantly.
+
+"That wouldn't be a very hard test," answered the Captain with a cynical
+smile. "But what did your father intend you to be; surely he didn't
+suppose you would eventually command a ship?"
+
+"I don't know what his intentions were; but the trip before this last
+one, he bought a fruit farm near Los Angeles, California, and I think he
+meant to settle down there when he retired from the sea."
+
+"Probably he thought it might provide you with an occupation."
+
+"Perhaps so; but he never spoke of it."
+
+"Then he had no home of his own in England?"
+
+"No. The house my aunts occupy and several others in Sunderland were
+his, but he never lived in any of them."
+
+"He made a will, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, it's among those papers that I handed over to you. I know
+everything's left to me, because he told me so when he made his will."
+
+"H'm, then you're not so badly off after all. I should strongly advise
+you to go to California and see what you can do with the fruit-farm.
+It's both a healthy and remunerative occupation I've been told."
+
+The girl nodded, but made no answer.
+
+"What I propose to do is to take you to Singapore and place you under
+the protection of the British Consul, who, no doubt, will advise you
+concerning the proving of your father's will and so forth, for I know
+nothing of such matters."
+
+"It's very kind of you," murmured the girl.
+
+"Well now, I think that's all we can arrange for the present," said
+Calamity in a tone which intimated that the interview was at an end.
+
+She rose, and, with a murmured "Good-night," left the cabin and mounted
+the companion-way to the deck. Slowly, as one in a dream, she made her
+way to her cabin, casting no glance at the unruffled sea with its
+millions of scintillating reflections. Her bold statement to Calamity,
+admittedly a declaration of love, had met with a rebuff which would have
+induced in most women a feeling of intolerable shame and, in all
+probability, inspired them with a lasting hatred of the man who had so
+humiliated them. But this was not the case with Dora Fletcher; she felt
+neither shame nor anger. Indeed, she would have been puzzled to say
+exactly what her feelings were, so incoherent and altogether strange
+were they. But she knew she had met a hitherto unrecognised force; that
+she had been awed not so much by a man as by a mysterious something
+inherent in him; by a quality rather than an individual.
+
+During the next few days she avoided the Captain in every possible way.
+Not that he ever attempted to seek her out, for, since that memorable
+interview he seemed to have forgotten her existence as completely as
+though she had ceased to be. He had again become the grim, taciturn, and
+mysterious individual she had first encountered. Yet, despite the girl's
+avoidance of him, there was gradually developing in her mind a desire to
+do something which would exalt her in his eyes. She wanted to bridge
+that vague gulf between them; to achieve something which would prove her
+worth. It was a delightfully ingenuous dream, only possible to a girl as
+unsophisticated and natural as this young Amazon of the Seas.
+
+In due time and through no effort of her own, the hoped-for opportunity
+did occur and the girl was able to play the part she had so often
+pictured in her waking dreams. It came about, as such things usually do,
+in quite a fortuitous manner.
+
+One day, about a week after her interview with Calamity, the weather,
+which had been remarkably fine since they left the island, showed signs
+of a change and before mid-day the sun had disappeared behind a curtain
+of sombre-tinted clouds. A wind sprang up and freshened as the day wore
+on, the sea became choppy, and a great bank of black clouds spread over
+the sky till there was barely sufficient light by which to read the
+compass on the bridge. Soon the _Hawk_ was rolling and pitching in a
+nasty fashion and shipping seas over her weather-bow every time she
+ducked her nose. In view of the approaching storm, hand-lines were
+rigged across the decks, the prisoner in the wheel-house was transferred
+to the hold, and a couple of men stationed at the hand steering-gear in
+case the steam-gear should break down at a critical moment.
+
+Swiftly and with ever-increasing violence the hurricane swept down upon
+them. The seas, a turbid green, with great, foaming crests, had
+increased in fury and every moment grew higher, while the valleys
+between them, streaked and mottled with patches of foam, became deeper
+and more engulfing. In the midst of the _mêlée_ of raging waters, the
+_Hawk_ lurched and rolled and pitched, curveted and plunged as though
+she were on gimbals. Blacker and blacker grew the sky, higher and higher
+leapt the waves. Now they rose in front of the straining ship in solid
+walls of inky water, to plunge down upon the forecastle with a roar like
+thunder and a force which made her reel and stagger. Then a great wave
+would leap high above the weather-bow, and, rushing past her listing
+beam, descend with a mighty crash upon the starboard quarter, filling
+the wheel-house waist-deep with seething water.
+
+Night came on, scarce darker than the afternoon which had preceded it,
+and with never a friendly star nor a rift in the solid blackness. Above
+the wild, devouring waste of tumbling seas the mast-head light tossed
+and circled--a dim, luminous speck in the fathomless darkness. The wind
+howled and shrieked and moaned like a chorus of lost souls in torment.
+
+Throughout that seemingly endless night Calamity and Smith kept
+the bridge together, drenched and cold despite their oilskins; their
+faces whipped by the stinging wind, their eyes sore with the salt
+spray that was flung in ghostly eddies against them. Two bells
+struck--four--six--eight; the two relief quartermasters fought their way
+along the sea-swept for'ad deck and took over the wheel from the
+worn-out men who clutched it. Two--four--six--eight bells over again;
+another four hours had passed, and another two quartermasters had come
+upon the bridge to take their "trick" and release the exhausted men at
+the wheel.
+
+Soon after this--it was four o'clock in the morning--Calamity staggered
+up the inclined deck to the spot where Smith was standing.
+
+"You'd better get below," he yelled above the roar of the gale. "You've
+been up here over twelve hours."
+
+"I'm all right, sir," answered the second-mate, as he clung to the
+bridge-rail.
+
+"Never mind, get to your bunk."
+
+Though well-nigh exhausted and shivering with cold, the little Cockney
+obeyed with reluctance, being loth to leave the Captain up there to con
+the ship alone. But he knew better than to disobey or argue, and so,
+grumbling to himself, he crawled down the companion-ladder and sought
+his cabin.
+
+At last the dawn broke, chill and sombre and leaden. Calamity, weary and
+heavy-eyed, scanned the forbidding, sullen sky in the hope of glimpsing
+a break in its glowering expanse. But no break was there; only
+wind-torn, tattered shreds of black cloud driving across it to assemble
+eastward in a massed and solid bank of evil aspect.
+
+At six bells--seven o'clock in the morning watch--Smith tumbled out of
+his bunk after three hours' unbroken slumber, dragged on his oilskins,
+and stepped into the alleyway with the object of relieving the Captain,
+who had now been on the bridge over twenty hours. As he reached the
+deck, still only half awake, he was caught up by a huge sea which came
+leaping over the bulwarks, swept him off his feet, and dashed him
+violently against the iron ladder leading up to the bridge. It was a
+miracle that the wave, as it receded, did not carry him overboard. As it
+was, it left him a limp, crumpled figure, lying motionless under the
+ladder with one foot jammed beneath the lowest rung.
+
+Calamity, who alone had witnessed the accident, took the wheel from the
+quartermasters and sent them to rescue the second-mate from his perilous
+position. After some difficulty they succeeded in releasing the
+imprisoned foot and then carried the unconscious man, whose left leg
+dangled loosely from the knee, to his cabin. Here, after roughly
+bandaging a wound on his forehead, they stripped him of his dripping
+garments and laid him in his bunk.
+
+When these details were reported to the Captain he frowned and muttered
+something under his breath. He dared not leave the bridge, and yet
+there was no one on board but himself who could set a broken leg or even
+administer first-aid. No one, that is, except----
+
+"Tell Miss Fletcher," he said curtly.
+
+That order, probably, represented the biggest humiliation he had ever
+suffered.
+
+One of the men went to Miss Fletcher's cabin and informed her of what
+had taken place, adding that he had been sent by the Captain.
+
+"What did he say?" asked the girl.
+
+"All 'e says was 'Tell Miss Fletcher,'" answered the man.
+
+"Tell him I will attend to Mr. Smith," she said with a curtness that
+matched Calamity's own. "Stop," she added as the man was leaving, "send
+the steward along first."
+
+There was a look of triumph in the girl's eyes as she stepped out of her
+cabin and went over to the one occupied by the hapless second-mate. He
+was still unconscious and she at once proceeded to remove the crude
+bandage from his forehead and bathe the wound properly. While she was in
+the act of binding it up again Sing-hi entered.
+
+"I want you to help me fix Mr. Smith's broken leg," said the girl. "Do
+you think you can manage it?"
+
+"Plenty savee," answered the Chinaman with a grin, "two piecee man fixee
+one piecee leg." He had often assisted Calamity with surgical cases and
+was proud of his experience.
+
+"Yes, that's right. Can you make me a splint?"
+
+"One piecee leg wantchee two piecee wood?" inquired Sing-hi.
+
+"Yes."
+
+The Chinaman glanced round the cabin, then removed the books from a
+narrow shelf just above the bunk and took it down. He split this in two
+with his hands, and, without awaiting further instructions, started to
+wind a towel round it to form a pad on which the injured limb could
+rest.
+
+"Excellent," she said, watching him. "You're a splendid assistant."
+
+Sing-hi understood her tone more than her words.
+
+"Plenty muchee helpee," he replied modestly.
+
+At that moment Smith opened his eyes, stared about him in bewilderment,
+and then uttered a loud groan.
+
+"Gawd, what's happened?" he ejaculated.
+
+"Your left leg is broken and there's a nasty gash on your forehead,"
+answered the girl tersely.
+
+"Just my bloomin' bad luck. As if----" he broke off suddenly, a new
+thought having occurred to him. "What the devil will the old man do now?
+He's been on watch over twenty hours, and there ain't a soul to relieve
+him. Dykes is on that blighted packet astern--leastways, I suppose he is
+if she's still afloat--and I'm half corpsed. It's a cheerful look-out
+and no bloomin' error."
+
+"Don't worry," answered the girl calmly as she took the improvised
+splint from Sing-hi. "I'll relieve the Captain myself presently."
+
+"What--you!" And Smith, despite the pain he was suffering, laughed
+outright. "Oh my stars, I can see him going below and leaving you in
+charge of the ship--I don't think."
+
+"Then the sooner you do think, the better," retorted the girl
+cheerfully.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+AT THE WHEEL
+
+
+Before Smith had time to recover from his astonishment at Miss
+Fletcher's remark, the business of placing his broken leg in splints was
+begun. The operation--no easy one with the ship rolling and lurching
+incessantly--proved so painful that he swooned before he was able to
+make any audible comment.
+
+"There," remarked the girl when the difficult task had been
+accomplished, "it may not be a perfect job, but I think it'll answer
+till we reach port."
+
+"Heap good doctor pigeon," murmured Sing-hi complacently.
+
+Having made the patient as comfortable as circumstances would permit,
+the girl left the cabin and stepped into the alleyway. Here she paused
+for a moment, steadying herself against the bulkhead and gazing at the
+waves breaking over the bulwarks and flooding the decks knee-deep with a
+swirling mass of turbid, green water. Then, with an abrupt movement as
+though she had arrived at some momentous decision, she went to her own
+cabin and hastily donned sea-boots, oilskins, and sou'-wester. This
+done, she passed out into the alleyway again, just as the bos'n, with a
+life-belt strapped over his oilskins, appeared at the entrance,
+staggering and slithering.
+
+"S'truth!" he ejaculated, "it's 'ell down there."
+
+"Down where?" asked the girl.
+
+The bos'n jerked his head in the direction of the after-hatch.
+
+"In the 'old," he answered. "Jest been down there, and, Gawd, it fair
+made me sick. Never see'd anything like it since I was aboard a River
+Plate cattle boat."
+
+"What's the matter there, then?"
+
+"Matter! Why, it's what I said it was just now--'ell. The 'atches are
+battened down, it's as 'ot as a furnace, and the stink of the bilge
+water's enough to knock you down. There ain't no light except for a
+lantern, which don't give no more than a glim, and the air's that thick
+you could cut it into slabs and 'eave it overboard."
+
+He was about to turn away when the girl's attire arrested his attention.
+
+"You ain't going on deck?" he said.
+
+"I am."
+
+"Well, don't you go; you didn't ought to this weather."
+
+"That's my affair, bos'n."
+
+"It'll be the skipper's, too, when 'e catches sight of you," answered
+the man grimly. "Still, it ain't no business of mine, and if you wants
+to try and get drownded, I s'pose you must," with which philosophical
+reflection the bos'n proceeded on his way.
+
+The storm had reached such a pitch of fury that the girl was half
+inclined to follow the bos'n's advice, but pride forbade, and, clinging
+to the handrail, she made her way towards the deck. Experienced sailor
+as she was, it proved no easy task, for the _Hawk_ was rolling to such
+an extent that at times she seemed to lie on her beam-ends, and the
+girl had to cling with both hands to the rails to prevent herself from
+being flung violently against the bulkheads at each terrific lurch.
+However, she succeeded at last in reaching the deck, where the seas came
+thundering down with the force of battering-rams.
+
+She paused here because the nearest hand-line had been torn away, and to
+have ventured further without anything to cling to would have been
+courting certain death. Yet it was very nearly as dangerous to remain
+where she was, since at any moment an extra large sea might swoop down,
+and, tearing her from the insecure handrail, sweep her overboard. And,
+once engulfed in that inferno of raging waters, rescue would be utterly
+impossible, even if anyone happened to witness the catastrophe.
+Therefore, watching her opportunity, she made a dash, reached the iron
+ladder leading up to the bridge, and clung to it while another huge wave
+flung itself upon the reeling ship. When it had passed she started to
+mount, clinging to the rails for dear life. As her head came level with
+the bridge she saw Calamity gripping an iron stanchion to steady
+himself, and apparently trying to peer ahead through the swirling
+spindrift. His back was towards the girl, and he did not even see her as
+she set foot on the sacred bridge and glanced doubtfully around.
+
+She was still hesitating--none but a sailor realises the extraordinary
+sanctity of the bridge--when one of the quartermasters uttered a warning
+cry. Almost before the words had left his lips a terrific sea struck the
+_Hawk_ on the port beam, and, leaping high into the air, discharged
+itself with a deafening roar upon the bridge. The iron stanchion to
+which the Captain had been clinging was wrenched from its socket,
+Calamity was swept off his feet, and, but for the fact that, in falling,
+he became wedged between the rails and the engine-room telegraph, would
+certainly have been carried overboard by the receding water. As it was,
+one of the two quartermasters was swept away and lost for ever in the
+raging sea, while the other lay stunned against the binnacle.
+
+Trained as she had been in seamanship, Dora Fletcher saw in a flash the
+peril which threatened the ship. With no one to control the
+steering-gear, the _Hawk_ would fall away into the trough of that
+tremendous sea and then no mortal power could save her. Even as this
+thought struck her, the girl sprang to the wheel and brought the vessel
+round again bows-on to the rollers just as she was about to swing
+broadside-on.
+
+Calamity, staggering to his feet, saw the girl there at the wheel and
+the inert form of the quartermaster at her feet. Imbued with the
+traditions and customs of the sea as she was, Dora Fletcher experienced
+a momentary misgiving at thought of the sacrilege she had committed and
+wondered whether the Captain, in his just wrath, would order her to be
+locked in her cabin for the rest of the voyage. The fact that, by her
+presence of mind, she had saved the ship and all on board from
+inevitable destruction did not occur to her at the moment. Involuntarily
+she clenched her teeth in expectation of the storm of anger she felt
+sure was about to descend upon her. Then, above the howling of the gale,
+she caught the Captain's voice, harsh and commanding.
+
+"Port a little! That'll do; steady now, steady!"
+
+And that was all. Her presence there at the wheel seemed to have caused
+him no more surprise than if she had been one of the deck-hands. It
+was, in a way, humiliating, because it robbed her of all sense of
+triumph; all the wilful delight of having committed a daring and
+unauthorised act.
+
+In answer to a signal from the bridge, a couple of seamen came up from
+the forecastle and removed the unconscious quartermaster, leaving the
+Captain and the girl by themselves upon the bridge. Calamity took no
+further notice of her, but, hanging on to the rail, continued to gaze
+into the teeth of the gale. Presently, without turning round, he shouted
+a hoarse command which the girl obeyed, repeating the order as she
+turned the wheel. Her apprehension had left her now, and she was even
+conscious of a feeling of pride that the Captain, seemingly, was content
+to trust the steering to her, and, though he had hitherto kept two
+quartermasters at the wheel, seemed to take it for granted that she was
+quite competent to manage alone.
+
+When six bells struck--eleven o'clock in the forenoon watch--Dora
+Fletcher had been at the wheel over three hours. The storm, far from
+abating, had increased in fury, and some there were among the crew who
+began to doubt whether the steamer would live through it.
+
+At eight bells the relief watch came up to take over the wheel. The girl
+relinquished it thankfully, for she was both hungry and exhausted.
+Reaching her cabin, she ate ravenously of the food which the steward had
+left for her, and then turned in, falling asleep almost before she had
+removed her sea-boots. She did not awaken till eight bells in the
+afternoon watch, and then, as the crew were keeping "watch and watch,"
+she turned out of her bunk and donned oilskins and sea-boots once more.
+Whether or no Calamity expected her, she was determined to take it for
+granted that she should do her "trick" as though she were a regular
+member of the crew.
+
+Feeling just a little bit apprehensive, she climbed to the bridge, took
+over the wheel, and was given steering directions by the off-going
+quartermasters, one of whom paused as he was going and bellowed in the
+girl's ear:
+
+"Better keep a bright look-out, Miss. The skipper's got one of 'is
+malaria attacks comin' on. I've sailed with 'im before, and I know."
+
+This was startling, for the girl, somehow, had never conceived it
+possible that Calamity could suffer from any of the ordinary ills which
+flesh is heir to. She watched him more intently after the sailor's
+warning, and noticed that he moved stiffly as if in pain, and that,
+whenever he stood still, he seemed to be trembling in every limb.
+
+On the whole, it was not a very cheerful prospect. The Captain sick and
+likely to become worse, the only officer incapacitated, and the crew, in
+all probability, ready to break into open mutiny if they felt assured
+that the one man they feared was unable to raise a hand against them.
+And there were the prisoners to be reckoned with as well, should there
+be trouble on board. As for Mr. Dykes, it was useless to count on any
+assistance from him, for the gunboat had been lost sight of twelve hours
+ago.
+
+Another two hours passed by, and it was plain that Calamity was growing
+worse. Though he did not utter a word of complaint, the girl realised
+that he was fighting with all his might against the fever which was
+slowly but surely sapping his strength. Once or twice he would have
+fallen had he not clutched the bridge-rail in time to save himself, and
+it became evident that even his iron will could not stave off the
+threatened collapse much longer. Suddenly, as though some sustaining
+force had snapped, he reeled back against the starboard rail and
+collapsed against the pedestal of the engine-room telegraph. The girl,
+who dared not leave the wheel for a second, called to a couple of seamen
+who were on deck, and, when they had arrived on the bridge, told them to
+carry the Captain to his cabin and put him to bed.
+
+"When you have done that," she said, "come back here."
+
+They lifted up the senseless form of the Captain, and, with considerable
+difficulty, carried him aft. When they had done this and returned to the
+bridge, Miss Fletcher placed them in charge of the wheel with directions
+concerning the course they were to steer. It was, of course, a somewhat
+risky proceeding to leave the bridge without any officer there to give
+orders in case of a sudden emergency; but, under the circumstances,
+there was nothing else for it.
+
+She went aft and found Calamity in a semi-conscious condition. Having
+satisfied herself that he had been made comfortable, she unlocked the
+medicine chest and mixed him a stiff dose of quinine. She had just
+administered this and was about to give Sing-hi instructions concerning
+the patient, when there came a knock at the cabin-door.
+
+"Come in," said the girl.
+
+The door opened to admit the bos'n and a couple of able seamen.
+
+"Well?" she inquired curtly, somewhat surprised at this visit.
+
+"We wanted to know if it's true that the skipper's on the sick-list,
+beggin' your pardon, Miss," said the bos'n.
+
+"He is down with an attack of malaria. Why?"
+
+The men exchanged significant glances.
+
+"Well, Miss," went on the bos'n, fingering his dripping sou'-wester
+nervously, "we thought we'd like to know who's in command while the
+skipper's laid up."
+
+"I am," answered the girl without a moment's hesitation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+IN COMMAND
+
+
+For a moment the little group of men remained standing in the doorway,
+staring at the girl open-mouthed. Then abruptly and with one accord they
+left the cabin and she heard the tread of their heavy sea-boots going up
+the companion-way. Having given the steward directions concerning
+medicine and a supply of hot-water bottles so long as the patient
+remained in the cold stage of the fever, Dora Fletcher went up on deck.
+The weather had moderated considerably, but night was coming on, and it
+was quite possible that the hurricane might spring up afresh. To her
+surprise, she found groups of men standing about the after-deck, though
+their presence in that part of the ship had been expressly forbidden by
+the Captain.
+
+"What are you men doing here?" she demanded sharply.
+
+They stared at her with sullen sheepishness, but no one answered.
+
+"Get for'ard to your quarters at once and don't let me find a man aft of
+the bridge unless he has some duty to perform," she went on after a
+pause.
+
+But the men did not stir, and a low murmur, incoherent but menacing,
+reached the girl's ears. Suddenly the bos'n, who had been standing by,
+stepped up to her.
+
+"It's like this 'ere, Miss," he said, in a voice that was
+half-apologetic and half-defiant, "we want to know where we are, we do.
+The skipper's took with fever, the mate ain't 'ere, and the second's
+crippled. Who's going to navigate this packet back to Singapore and take
+the old man's place?"
+
+"I have already told you that I am."
+
+"I know, Miss, but we didn't take it as you was serious."
+
+"Well, you can take it that I'm serious now."
+
+The bos'n shifted awkwardly from one foot to another, and glanced
+doubtfully at the sullen figures of the men.
+
+"I'll tell them what you say, Miss," he said at last, "but I don't know
+how they'll take it. You see," he went on hastily, "maybe some of 'em
+aren't partial to taking orders from a woman, which don't seem natural,
+as you may say."
+
+"See here, bos'n," answered the girl, raising her voice so that all
+could hear, "can you, or any other man on board, navigate this ship to
+Singapore?"
+
+"No, Miss, I can't say as any of us could."
+
+"Well, I can. I'm a practical navigator, and I will undertake to bring
+the _Hawk_ safely into port. But if there's a man among you who thinks
+he can do it, let him take command."
+
+"Of course that alters it a bit," answered the bos'n thoughtfully, "we
+didn't know you could navigate, Miss."
+
+"You don't suppose I should propose to take command otherwise?"
+
+"That's what we was wondering. You see"--the bos'n became
+confidential--"some of us 'ave sailed in ships where the skipper's 'ad
+'is wife aboard, and it's generally she what's done the bossing. Of
+course we know you ain't this skipper's wife, but all the same we
+thought as 'ow you might be wanting to try your 'and like."
+
+"Well, you see the position now," said the girl. "Please explain it to
+the men, and let them understand that, while I am in charge of this
+ship, I am Captain and will be obeyed."
+
+Without quite realising it, she had copied Calamity's curt and decisive
+manner, and this, together with the fact that they were really helpless
+in the matter, was not without its effect on the men. After a short
+discussion with the bos'n, they trooped off to their quarters, some
+sullen, others pulling their forelocks as they passed the girl.
+
+"We'll carry out your orders, if you'll take the ship fair and square
+into Singapore," said the bos'n.
+
+"Then that's agreed; I'll do my part as long as the crew do theirs."
+
+"Very good, Miss," answered the bos'n, and he went for'ad in the wake of
+the men.
+
+Feeling decidedly relieved, Dora Fletcher was about to go on the bridge
+when she caught sight of McPhulach standing at the fiddley door, having
+apparently just come off watch. Seeing her, he came forward, rubbing his
+hands on a piece of oily cotton-waste.
+
+"You must have been getting a rough time of it down below," she said by
+way of greeting.
+
+"Rough, d'ye ca' it," he answered; "if I wasna a guid Presbyterian like
+me fairther before me, I'd be a convairted sinner the noo. Bradlaugh
+himsel' wouldna hae denied hell if he'd been below during the last four
+an' twenty hoors."
+
+The girl nodded sympathetically.
+
+"I want to have a few minutes' chat with you, if you can spare the
+time," she said.
+
+"I'm at ye'r deesposal."
+
+"Then please come into the chart-room. I don't want to leave the bridge
+longer than I can help."
+
+"Leave the bridge!" echoed McPhulach in astonishment. "D'ye----"
+
+"Please come at once," interrupted the girl, and led the way up to the
+bridge. After first ascertaining that Calamity was not there, the
+engineer followed, wondering, as well he might, what such an
+extraordinary invitation portended. When they had entered the chart-room
+the girl shut the door and pointed to a seat.
+
+"Have you heard about the Captain?" she asked.
+
+"Haird what?" inquired McPhulach.
+
+"Then you haven't. He is down with a severe attack of malaria; and is
+quite incapable of doing anything."
+
+"Ye dinna say!"
+
+"It's quite true, he had to be carried off the bridge half an hour ago."
+
+"Weel, weel," murmured the engineer, "he always was a michty quare mon."
+
+"And Smith, as I suppose you know, has broken his leg."
+
+"Aye, ane of the firemen was tellin' me."
+
+"Therefore," she went on, "I have decided to take command of the _Hawk_,
+since no one, except myself, is capable of navigating her."
+
+She had expected the engineer to show some sign of surprise, even
+resentment, and was prepared to combat it. But, for all the emotion
+McPhulach exhibited, she might have been telling him that she had
+decided to alter her time of getting up or going to bed. He did not even
+appear interested, but, stooping down, proceeded to take off one of his
+boots.
+
+"It's verra bad policy to buy ye'r boots second-hand unless ye'r
+sairtain they'll fit," he remarked, and then remained silently staring
+at a hole in his sock as though it were a subject for long and earnest
+meditation.
+
+"I suppose you think I am taking a great deal on myself," she said,
+wishing to force some comment from him.
+
+The engineer jerked his head in a manner which might have been a nod or
+a shake, agreement or disagreement. His eyes were still fixed on the
+gaping aperture in his sock. But at last he spoke, slowly and incisively
+as a man might who had come to a momentous conclusion after much mental
+tribulation.
+
+"Yon's the thaird pair o' sacks I've holed at the first wearin'. Gin I
+go on at this rate I'll no hae a pair to me name by the time we reach
+Singapore."
+
+"I don't believe you've been listening to a word I've said!" exclaimed
+the girl, goaded to exasperation.
+
+McPhulach looked up with an expression of mingled surprise and pain on
+his face.
+
+"Wasna ye tellin' me that ye were goin' to tak' command o' the _Hawk_?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then ye were wrang in saying I didna hear ye," he answered
+triumphantly.
+
+"The point I want to get at," said the girl, trying hard to be patient,
+"is this. Can I depend on your support and assistance if necessary? I
+have made it all right with the crew. Will you be responsible for your
+men down below?"
+
+The engineer did not answer immediately. Apparently he was turning the
+matter over in his mind.
+
+"Ye'll be takin' upon ye'rsel' the privileges and powers of a skipper,
+I'm tae understand?" he inquired at last.
+
+"Yes, since I shall be responsible for the navigation."
+
+Again McPhulach paused meditatively, and the girl noticed, with a
+feeling of apprehension, that his eyes wandered towards the hole in his
+sock. But this time it did not monopolise his thoughts.
+
+"Calamity's no said anything tae ye consairning mesel', I suppose?" he
+asked.
+
+"Certainly not," she replied, rather surprised at the question. "In
+fact, I've had no opportunity to discuss anything with him."
+
+"Because," continued the engineer, "he's as good as promised me a rise
+of a poond a month in recogneetion of me sairvices. But I've heard
+naething aboot it syn."
+
+"I know nothing about that. It's a matter for the Captain to consider
+when he returns to duty."
+
+"Nae, nae, it isna," protested McPhulach. "The captain's the captain
+whether he wears skirts or breeks. I'd like ye, in ye'r capacity of
+skipper of the _Hawk_, to confairm that promise of an extra poond a
+month."
+
+"I will undertake that you shall have the extra money so long as I am in
+command, even if I have to pay it myself," answered the girl.
+
+"Guid enough. Gin ye hae a bit o' paper handy, meybe ye'd no objec' to
+putting it doon in writing. I'm no dootin' ye'r word, mind ye, but
+'twould be mair satisfactory to hae it in black and white, if ye ken
+me."
+
+He drew a fountain-pen from a pocket beneath his dungarees and the girl
+found a piece of paper in one of the table drawers. She took the pen
+from McPhulach, and, hastily scribbling a few lines, handed it to him.
+
+"Will that do?" she asked.
+
+The engineer took the paper and read it with extreme care. It was to the
+effect that, during her command of the _Hawk_, Dora Fletcher agreed that
+Phineas McPhulach, chief engineer of that vessel, should receive a pound
+a month extra pay.
+
+"Aye," he murmured, handing it back to her, "ye'll be guid enough tae
+sign it, please."
+
+The girl did so, and McPhulach waved it gently to and fro to dry the
+ink.
+
+"So ye've made ye'r intentions known tae the crew," he remarked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"An' hoo did they tak' it?"
+
+"Not very well at first. I shouldn't be surprised if some of them tried
+to make trouble, especially as they know we have treasure aboard."
+
+"Aye, I shouldna be sairprised. Sic an ungodly lot o' heathen I've never
+sailed wi' before. But ye're a michty plucky lassie. Mind, ye're no me
+ideal of a woman, but gin it wasna that I'm a wee bit confused in me
+matrimonial obligations I dinna say that I wouldna marry ye mesel'."
+
+"It's good of you, I'm sure."
+
+"Nae, nae, dinna thank me," answered McPhulach hastily, "I wasna meanin'
+to propose tae ye. It jest crossed me mind like that ye'd mak' a guid
+wife gin ye was properly trained." He rose to his feet and yawned. "I'm
+for turnin' in," he said, "so I'll be wishin' ye guid nicht, Miss
+Fletcher."
+
+"Good-night," she answered, and the engineer left the chart-room. When
+he had gone the girl took from a drawer a chart, pencil, and parallel
+rulers, and, sitting down, marked out the ship's course. This done, she
+wrote up the log and then stepped out on to the bridge, just as two
+relief quartermasters came up to take the wheel over.
+
+"I shall only want one man at the wheel now," she said. "The storm, I
+think, has passed over."
+
+A little later on, when she was taking off her sea-boots in the
+chart-room preparatory to lying down, there was a knock at the door.
+
+"Come in," she said.
+
+It was McPhulach, who, with an oilskin over his pyjamas, stood at the
+door.
+
+"I jest wanted to mak' sairtain, Miss Fletcher, that ye didna
+misunderstand me a whiles back," he said anxiously.
+
+"Misunderstand what?" she asked in surprise.
+
+"Weel, I'd like tae mak' it clear that I didna propose tae ye. I wouldna
+like ye tae attach any false hope to what I said aboot marryin' ye
+mesel' gin I was able. It were jest a wee bit joke, ye'll ken."
+
+She reassured him concerning her intentions, and the engineer, with a
+sigh of relief, returned to his bunk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE SIGNAL GUN
+
+
+The morning dawned bright and cloudless, with every promise of a spell
+of fine weather. But although the hurricane had spent itself, there was
+still a heavy sea running which impeded the work of clearing up the
+decks and repairing the damage wrought by the storm. In the brilliant,
+penetrating sunshine, the _Hawk_ presented a disreputable appearance:
+her funnel encrusted with dirty grey rime, both her for'ad derricks a
+heap of splintered wood and tangled cordage, her boats smashed to
+matchwood, and her decks a depository of wreckage of all sorts.
+
+Dora Fletcher had been able to snatch only a couple of hours' sleep
+during the night, but when dawn broke she went to see Calamity. She
+found him tossing in his bunk, and murmuring incoherently. When she
+spoke to him he showed no sign of comprehension. Sing-hi stood by while
+she went to the medicine-chest and took out a bottle of sweet spirits of
+nitre. To him she explained what dose he was to give the patient, and
+the Chinaman nodded comprehendingly; he had already proved himself a
+conscientious and trustworthy sick-nurse, albeit possessed of no
+initiative. He would have gone on pouring medicine down the Captain's
+throat at intervals long after the latter was dead, unless given
+instructions to the contrary.
+
+Her next visit was to Smith, who, as Sing-hi had as much as he could do
+in the cabin, was being attended by one of the deck-hands.
+
+"What cher!" he exclaimed genially as she entered, "how's the old man
+this morning?"
+
+"In the hot stage now," answered the girl. "But how are you?"
+
+"Not so dusty considerin'. It's a bit orf, though, lying here on a shelf
+like a bloomin' parcel that's been left till called for."
+
+"But you're not in pain?"
+
+"Oh, nothing to make a shout about. But how are you getting on with the
+crew? I've been expectin' mutiny ever since the skipper was knocked
+out."
+
+"I don't think there's much fear of that," answered the girl, and
+described her interview with the bos'n on the preceding evening.
+
+"You see," she concluded, "the men are helpless."
+
+"There's something in that," Smith admitted. "By crikey, you're a
+bloomin' knock-out, and no kid," he added admiringly.
+
+"I must leave you now," she said, going to the door, "but I'll look in
+again later on."
+
+"Right you are, sir," replied the patient jocularly.
+
+When she entered the foc'sle to see the injured quartermaster some of
+the men, impelled by a rude courtesy, rose to their feet, but there were
+others who regarded her with an air of aloofness which almost amounted
+to defiance. Having ascertained that the patient was progressing as
+favourably as could be expected, she left the foc'sle and was met on
+the for'ad deck by the bos'n, who appeared to be in an agitated state of
+mind.
+
+"Been looking for you everywhere, Miss," he said breathlessly. "Didn't
+you 'ear the gun?"
+
+"Gun! What gun?"
+
+"A signal from somewheres astern. Struck me it might be the _Satellite_
+in trouble, Miss."
+
+The only thing to do under the circumstances was to search for the
+vessel in distress. The girl went on the bridge, and, telling the
+quartermaster to stand aside, took the wheel herself. At the same moment
+she heard the distant boom of a gun, obviously a signal for help. It now
+became necessary to bring the _Hawk_ round in a semi-circle and this, in
+such a sea, was a task which called for extremely nice judgment and
+skilful seamanship. Yet the amazing young woman accomplished it without
+mishap, though once, when broadside on to a beam sea, those on board
+experienced a few nasty moments with a solid mountain of green water
+towering above them, and looking as if it must fall upon the ship and
+crush her under its stupendous weight.
+
+"S'truth!" ejaculated the bos'n softly when the steamer's nose swung
+round to meet the oncoming rollers, "that was touch-and-go if you like.
+But she can 'andle a boat, can that gal."
+
+And the carpenter, who stood near him, agreed.
+
+Suddenly the look-out shouted "Ship on the port bow!" and, giving the
+wheel to the quartermaster, Dora Fletcher snatched up the glasses and
+looked in the direction indicated. There, sure enough, was a vessel
+which looked remarkably like the _Satellite_, but, most amazing thing of
+all, _she was not rolling_, and the seas were breaking clean over her.
+In a flash the girl divined what had happened; the gunboat had struck
+some uncharted reef and was firmly wedged aground. Presumably,
+therefore, she was making water fast and the only thing to do was to get
+the crew and prisoners off as quickly as possible.
+
+"Signal we're coming to her assistance," said the girl, and the bos'n
+hoisted the flags, H.F. The reply came immediately, "Want a tow, no
+damage."
+
+"Gawd, she must 'ave struck a feather piller instead o' a reef,"
+commented the bos'n _sotto voce_, as he communicated the reply to Miss
+Fletcher.
+
+Slowly the _Hawk_ bore down to leeward of the stranded vessel,
+signalling the _Satellite_ to send a boat with tow-lines, for it was far
+too perilous to come near enough for the lines to be thrown from one
+ship to the other. Thanks to Mr. Dykes's foresight in having thrown out
+oil-bags, the sea around the _Satellite_ had subsided considerably and a
+boat was lowered without much difficulty. But as soon as she got outside
+the oil radius the frail cockleshell of a boat was tossed about like a
+cork, and more than once it looked as if she must inevitably be swamped
+and capsized. But she fought her way manfully, and at last came within
+hailing distance of the _Hawk_.
+
+"Stand off!" shouted the girl through a megaphone. "Heave from where you
+are."
+
+The wisdom of this order was apparent to all, for, had the boat come
+much nearer or attempted to get alongside, she would almost certainly
+have been swept against the steamer and crushed to pieces. So while the
+crew kept her head-on to the sea, the man in the bows waited for a
+favourable opportunity. It came when the boat was carried upwards on the
+crest of a huge wave till on a level with the _Hawk's_ bridge; then he
+stood up, and, swinging one of the lines round his head, gave it a
+cast. The thin rope leapt through the air in a long, sinuous curve, and
+descended on the steamer's deck, where it was promptly caught and
+secured to the drum of a steam-winch. Then ensued another period of
+tense waiting before a chance came to send the other line aboard; but it
+was successfully accomplished at last, and the boat started on its
+return journey.
+
+As soon as the second line had been secured the steam-winches were
+started and began to wind in the lines until the hawsers appeared under
+the _Hawk's_ stern, one on each side.
+
+"Vast heaving!" came the order.
+
+Then, with the assistance of the winches, the ends of the hawsers were
+carried through the hawse-holes and parcelled with chafing-mats to
+lessen the friction. The _Hawk_ was now astern of the _Satellite_, which
+was to be towed off the reef stern foremost, and the work would commence
+as soon as the hawsers had been made secure.
+
+At last the bos'n reported all ready and the girl rang down "Stand by"
+to the engine-room. There was a tense pause, and then she again moved
+the lever. A faint "ting-ting" came from below, the telegraph pointer
+swung round to "Slow," and the _Hawk's_ engines began to move with a
+steady, ponderous beat. All eyes were fixed upon the hawsers, which, as
+the steamer began to move, slowly raised their dripping lengths from the
+water. Then the moment arrived when the great ropes tautened till they
+vibrated under the tension like fiddle-strings when a bow is passed
+across them. The _Hawk_, which had been slowly forging ahead, seemed to
+pull up with a sudden jerk, and then gradually slide back, stern
+foremost, in her own wake, while the hawsers sagged and dipped into the
+sea. The girl on the bridge waited with her hand on the telegraph, every
+nerve braced as if for stupendous effort, while she watched the hawsers
+disappear. Then, as the _Hawk's_ stern-way was arrested, she rang down
+"Half speed" and the engines pulsated with quickened beats.
+
+Again the hawsers grew taut as the steamer forged ahead, only to recoil
+once more like a straining hound suddenly jerked back by its leash. But
+this time the recoil was only momentary and then she gathered a little
+way, while, at the same moment, the _Satellite_ was seen to move. Once
+more Dora Fletcher pressed the lever of the telegraph, the decks
+vibrated to the thunderous beat of the engines, and, to the
+accompaniment of a cheer from the anxious watchers, the gunboat slid
+gently into deep water.
+
+"Gawd!" ejaculated the bos'n, wiping the sweat from his brow, and the
+monosyllable was more eloquent than an oration.
+
+With a little moan of utter fatigue which was not that of the body only,
+Dora Fletcher slipped into the chart-room and flung herself on the
+settee. The terrible nervous strain of these hours when she alone had
+been responsible for the safety of the _Hawk_ and all those souls
+aboard, added to the strain of the last hour, had been too much for her.
+She collapsed suddenly in a dead faint, and it was thus that McPhulach
+discovered her when he put his head into the chart-room some fifteen
+minutes later.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+MR. SMITH SEEKS A PARTNER
+
+
+McPhulach, thinking the girl was asleep, shook her gently by the
+shoulder; but, as this met with no response, he took a closer look at
+her.
+
+"Losh presairve us!" he ejaculated, "the lassie's fainted."
+
+He took from his pocket a small, flat flask, and, after drawing the
+cork, placed the bottle to his nose and sniffed the aroma
+appreciatively. Then, with a sigh, he forced some of its contents
+between the girl's teeth, pillowing her head on his arm as he did so. In
+a moment or two she opened her eyes and stared at him with a dull,
+uncomprehending gaze, which, however, quickly gave place to a look of
+bewilderment.
+
+"Why, what's happened?" she murmured and passed a hand across her
+forehead as if trying to remember.
+
+"Ye've jes' swallowed a drap o' unco' guid whusky," answered the
+engineer, holding up the flask to see how much he had "wasted."
+
+"Why I--I must have fainted!"
+
+"Aye, ye were lying on the cooch like a wax-work figger when I came in."
+
+The girl sat up with cheeks that had suddenly become very red. Obviously
+she was ashamed of being found out in an essentially feminine weakness.
+
+"I was very tired," she said apologetically, "and--and----"
+
+"Ye jes' swooned," put in McPhulach as she hesitated. "Weel, I'm no
+sairprised. I'm subjec' tae it mysel', which is why I always carry a wee
+drappie aboot me pairson. It's likewise a muckle fine thing for stomach
+troubles, ye ken."
+
+The girl nodded absently and gazed through the chart-room window at the
+_Satellite_, now steaming about a cable's length astern. Under the
+bos'n's directions, the towing hawsers had been cast off and hauled back
+aboard the gunboat. It had not occurred to her till this moment that Mr.
+Dykes must have been considerably exercised in his mind at seeing her on
+the bridge, and in command instead of Calamity. She wondered what he
+thought about it.
+
+"Weel, I'll be ganging below," remarked McPhulach. "It was a michty guid
+thing I came up here for a breath o' fresh air an' tae see hoo ye were
+getting alang."
+
+"It was, and I'm very much obliged to you for what you did," answered
+the girl. "But please don't say anything about it to anyone."
+
+She stammered and blushed as though asking him to compound a felony.
+
+"Nae, nae, I'll no breathe a word, gin ye dinna want me tae," he assured
+her. "Mr. Smeeth's man tells me a steam-pipe has burstit in his cabin,
+sae I'll jes' gang doon and hae a speer at it," saying which the
+engineer left the chart-room, and, descending to the deck, made his way
+to the second-mate's cabin.
+
+After an amiable exchange of greetings between himself and Smith, he
+found the leak in the steam-pipe and plugged it with cotton waste.
+
+"'Tis a fine bit o' wark that Miss Fletcher has done," he remarked,
+preparing to leave.
+
+"You mean gettin' the _Satellite_ off?" answered Smith. "Yes, Byles was
+telling me about it; said it was one of the finest feats of seamanship
+he'd ever seen."
+
+"Aye, 'twas that. Mon, she'd mak' a splendid wife for a body who could
+manage her."
+
+"D'you think so?" said Smith thoughtfully.
+
+"Never a doot, lad. But the mon who'd be strang enoo' to marry the like
+o' her, would be strang enoo' not tae marry at a', I'm thinkin'."
+
+There was a pause and McPhulach made to leave the cabin. As he was about
+to open the door, Smith called him back.
+
+"Thinkin' it over," said he, "I ain't such a bad-lookin' cove, am I?"
+
+"It's haird tae say," answered the engineer slowly. "Wi' a few
+alterations an' repairs, some women micht regaird ye as an Adonis."
+
+"Never met the bloke. But," went on the second-mate, trying to pin the
+other down to a definite statement, "you wouldn't say I was hideous,
+would you?"
+
+Again McPhulach regarded him critically before venturing an opinion.
+
+"It's haird tae say," he replied at last.
+
+"Oh hang!" ejaculated Smith in disgust. "Still," he went on, "I'm blowed
+if I don't have a try."
+
+"Eh?"
+
+"She might do worse."
+
+"D'ye mean that ye're goin' tae ax Mees Fletcher tae marry ye?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"You're a brave mon, Smeeth."
+
+"But why shouldn't I?" reiterated the second-mate.
+
+"I wish ye luck," said the engineer dryly. "Hoo-ever, I ken nae reason
+why ye shouldna ax her."
+
+"D'you mean you don't think she'd have me?"
+
+"Nae, nae, women hae quare tastes, an' it isna always the best-lookin'
+mon that comes oot the best."
+
+"Look here, Mac, d'you think you could put out a feeler for us?"
+
+"Eh!"
+
+"Jest sound her, so to speak; find out whether she likes me."
+
+"Nae, nae," answered the engineer hastily. "I've enough troubles of me
+ain, an' I'm no goin' tae do anither body's coorting."
+
+"Tell you what, Mac," went on Smith coaxingly, "you shall be best man at
+the wedding."
+
+"Ye're verra generous, but it's no' the job I'm speerin' after."
+
+"All right, you can give us a wedding present then."
+
+"Eh! Weel, mebbe I'd be ye'r best mon gin ye were marrit."
+
+"Half a mo, Mac," said the second-mate, as the engineer made another
+attempt to escape. "You don't think there's any one else in the runnin',
+do you?"
+
+"It's a verra deeficult question tae answer," replied McPhulach.
+
+"How d'you mean?"
+
+"There is an' there isna'."
+
+"What the devil are you driving at?"
+
+"I mean that she's wishfu' tae marry the skeeper, an' he's no wishfu'
+tae be marrit."
+
+"Crikey!" ejaculated Smith, the look of pleasurable anticipation dying
+out of his face. "Who told you that?"
+
+"Ony fu' wi' a pair o' een in his held could hae telt ye that."
+
+"I guessed she was a bit gone on him at first, but blimey, I never
+thought she was in love with him--why, he's old enough to be her father,
+I should say. Besides, he's only got one eye, and you can't call him
+handsome, look at him any way you like."
+
+"I told ye women hae quare tastes."
+
+"Well, if I ain't a better man to look at than that one-eyed old crock
+aft, I'll eat my bloomin' hat."
+
+"I wouldna advise ye tae mak' rash promises," answered McPhulach, and
+managed to slip out of the cabin before Smith could detain him.
+
+For a time the amorous second-mate lay still, trying to make up his mind
+as to the best and most effective manner of declaring his passion to
+Miss Fletcher. McPhulach's reference to the Captain, though it had
+disconcerted him at the moment, upon mature consideration seemed so
+preposterous that he had found no difficulty in dismissing it from his
+mind. The more he thought over his matrimonial scheme, the more
+convinced he became that, in marrying him, Miss Fletcher would be a very
+fortunate young woman. Besides, she would have the inestimable privilege
+of keeping him "straight," which would, no doubt, provide her with an
+interest in life. Women, he believed, liked reforming, and his future
+wife would have ample opportunity for indulging in this hobby. She
+might, in time and with patience, even effect a permanent reform.
+
+Little guessing the good fortune in store for her, Dora Fletcher stood
+on the bridge with a sextant in her hands, "shooting the sun," it being
+then exactly at the meridian. This was the first time since they had
+been overtaken by the hurricane that a chance had occurred for taking
+observations. For the last two or three days the ship's approximate
+position could only be ascertained by dead reckoning, and, therefore, it
+was necessary to correct this at the earliest opportunity. Having
+concluded her observations, marked the _Hawk's_ position on the chart,
+and laid out the course, the girl lay down on the settee to try and make
+up a little for the inadequate amount of sleep she had had during the
+last forty-eight hours. Later on in the day she again visited the
+Captain's cabin. He was sleeping when she went in, and it was evident
+that his condition had improved. Having given the steward some further
+instructions, she went to Smith's cabin to see how he was getting on.
+
+"Well, how do you feel this evening?" she inquired on entering.
+
+"Pretty fair, thanks," answered the invalid with a deep sigh.
+
+"Your leg's not hurting you?"
+
+"Oh no, my leg ain't hurting me."
+
+"Then what's the matter? You seem rather melancholy."
+
+"I've been thinkin'," said Smith still more gloomily, "of me future."
+
+"Your future?"
+
+"Yes. A man lyin' on a sick bed gets queer notions into his head,
+especially if he's got brains."
+
+"But why should you worry about the future?" asked the girl, puzzled.
+"Your leg will soon be all right, and you'll be able to go on duty
+again."
+
+"The fact is," replied Smith, suddenly becoming confidential, "I'm
+thinking of settlin' down."
+
+"Yes?"
+
+"A man like me, who's always led a rovin' life, so to speak, wants an
+anchor. A home and wife and kids, and so on."
+
+"Then you're thinking of getting married?" asked the girl innocently.
+
+"That all depends," he answered. "Although you mightn't think it, I'm
+rather a particular sort of cove. Of course I've got my faults----" and
+he waved an arm as if to signify that he also had his virtues, which
+were too obvious to specify.
+
+Miss Fletcher, not feeling called upon to make any comment, remained
+silent, and, after a moment or two, Smith went on.
+
+"What I want is a young woman who understands men of my sort. A woman
+with a bit of spirit, mind you, not bad-lookin', and able to turn her
+hand to 'most anything."
+
+"H'm; I should think you'd better advertise, stating all your
+requirements."
+
+"No need," replied Smith triumphantly. "I've got the very woman in my
+eye."
+
+"Oh? That ought to save you a lot of trouble, not to say expense,"
+answered the girl with a touch of irony, which, however, Smith failed to
+perceive.
+
+"Yes, but the trouble is that I ain't quite certain yet whether she'll
+have me," he said.
+
+"I should think the easiest way out of the difficulty would be to ask
+her," she replied, wholly ignorant of the direction in which the
+second-mate's laborious confidences were tending.
+
+"You don't think she'd be offended if I did?"
+
+"Good gracious, how should I know!"
+
+"Better than you think, p'raps," replied Smith mysteriously. "Shall I
+tell you her name?"
+
+"Really, Mr. Smith, I don't think it concerns me in the slightest what
+the lady's name is."
+
+"But it does!" he almost shouted, raising himself on his elbow and
+staring at her hard.
+
+For the first time Dora Fletcher began to see the trend of all this. She
+rose from the locker upon which she had been seated.
+
+"I must leave you now," she said a little coldly. "I have to----"
+
+"Half a mo'," broke in Smith, "you haven't heard the lady's name yet."
+
+"I don't think I want to, thanks. It's not a matter which----"
+
+"Isn't it! You wait. The lady's name is Dora Fletcher--how about that?"
+
+An angry flush mounted to the girl's face, and then, being blessed with
+that rare possession, a sense of humour, she had much ado to prevent
+herself from laughing outright.
+
+"I'm afraid I can't oblige you, Mr. Smith," she said. "Although, of
+course, I appreciate the honour you've done me."
+
+"That ain't any use to me," growled the second-mate, rather taken aback
+at this unhesitating rejection.
+
+"I'm sorry, but----"
+
+"What's wrong with me, then?" he burst out. "Of course I'm not a
+bloomin' earl or a dook nor yet a Captain----"
+
+"I think we had better forget all about it," answered the girl. "Please
+don't speak of it again."
+
+But Smith, his hopes dashed to the ground, and his pride wounded, was
+not inclined to drop the subject so lightly. In fact, he completely
+lost his temper.
+
+"I suppose it's because you're sweet on the skipper," he said savagely.
+"But I can tell you that you ain't got a ghost of a chance there; no,
+not if you lived to a hundred. He ain't no ornery, bloomin' skipper, nor
+Calamity ain't his name. Would you like to know who he is?"
+
+The girl hesitated, torn between an almost irresistible desire to learn
+the secret of that strange man's identity, and disgust at the vulgar
+outburst of the little Cockney.
+
+"You may as well know," he added, noticing her indecision.
+
+"Well, tell me then," she retorted, unable any longer to resist the
+temptation.
+
+Smith glanced furtively around the cabin as if to make sure no one was
+concealed there, and then leaned over the edge of his bunk.
+
+"Come nearer," he said; "it ain't the sort of thing to shout out loud."
+
+Reluctantly she moved a little closer to him, and he whispered two words
+in her ear.
+
+"Well, what do you say to that?" he asked triumphantly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+DORA FLETCHER ANSWERS "NO"
+
+
+A week had passed, and Calamity, now convalescent, was able once more to
+resume command. As, however, Smith was still unable to discharge his
+customary duties, the Captain appointed Miss Fletcher temporary mate.
+
+"Since you are now an officer," he said with that grim smile of his,
+"you had better take your meals in the cabin with me."
+
+The girl's eyes lit up with pleasure for a moment, then the light died
+out of them and her lips hardened.
+
+"Thank you all the same, but I should prefer to have my meals in my own
+cabin as before," she answered.
+
+"Please yourself," answered Calamity carelessly.
+
+After this, although their relationship remained superficially much the
+same as it had always been, the Captain taciturn and abrupt, the girl
+quiet and self-possessed, there was a subtle change in the attitude of
+each towards the other. Calamity had come to rely on the girl, and now
+accepted at her hands many little services which tended towards his
+greater comfort, services which he would have rejected with curt
+imperiousness less than a fortnight ago.
+
+One day he sent for McPhulach, and in due course the engineer appeared,
+clad as usual, in soiled dungarees, and clasping a piece of oily
+cotton-waste in his hand.
+
+"Ye're wishfu' tae see me, sir?" he inquired.
+
+"Yes; sit down."
+
+The engineer perched himself on the cabin skylight, and began
+mechanically to rub the brass rails with his cotton-waste.
+
+"Would you care to go to England after this trip, McPhulach?" asked the
+Captain abruptly.
+
+McPhulach ceased rubbing the brass rails, and stared at Calamity in
+astonishment.
+
+"Tae England?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes. I may want you in connection with that document you signed, and
+quite possibly I shall be able to give you a good shore job."
+
+"It a' depends," answered the engineer thoughtfully. "Ye see, skeeper, I
+hae sairtain financial obleegations in that country which I canna
+dischairge. An' meybe there are ane or twa leddies who'd mak' it no
+verra pleasant for me gin they were tae ken I was back."
+
+"H'm; I should have thought that a man of your resource and experience
+could have overcome that difficulty."
+
+McPhulach considered for a little time, and the cloud on his brow
+lifted.
+
+"I ken brawly wha' tae dae, sir!" he exclaimed. "Gin ye'll ca' me Jones
+and give oot that I'm a Welshman, there's no a body who'd recognise me."
+
+Something like a chuckle escaped the Captain, but he answered in a
+perfectly grave voice.
+
+"If you think that device will overcome your difficulties, I have no
+objection to calling you Jones and informing all whom it may concern
+that you're a Welshman."
+
+"Frae Pontypreed."
+
+"From Pontypridd, if you like. That sounds Welsh enough."
+
+"Then I'll sign on wi' ye, sir."
+
+"Right, then that's settled," answered Calamity, and McPhulach, preening
+himself upon his astuteness, returned to the engine-room.
+
+That evening, when Miss Fletcher came on the bridge to relieve the
+Captain, he seemed inclined to linger.
+
+"By the twenty-seventh," he said, "we ought to be in Singapore."
+
+"In Singapore," murmured the girl, and nodded as if in answer to some
+unspoken thought.
+
+"Yes. Have you finally decided what to do?"
+
+"I shall see the British Consul, lay before him my father's papers, and
+ask him to advance me sufficient money to----"
+
+"There's no need to ask him that," interrupted Calamity. "I could let
+you have whatever you wanted, even if there wasn't----"
+
+"Still, if you don't mind, I should prefer to borrow it from the
+Consul," she broke in without looking at him.
+
+"As you please. Then I take it that you have made up your mind to go to
+California?"
+
+"Yes; I will take your advice and try fruit-farming."
+
+"H'm," grunted Calamity.
+
+"You told me it was the best--in fact, the only thing I could do," she
+said with a faint touch of sarcasm in her voice.
+
+"Yes--yes, I suppose I did."
+
+"The profession I know best and which I love best--that of the sea--I
+cannot follow, being a woman. You pointed that out yourself."
+
+"It is self-evident!"
+
+Calamity turned away as if to leave the bridge, hesitated on the top
+step of the companion-ladder, and then came back again. Seemingly he did
+so only to glance at the compass, but, having done this, he came up to
+the bridge-rail and leant over it.
+
+"You are a strange young woman," he said abruptly.
+
+"Am I?"
+
+He lapsed into silence again and Dora Fletcher, looking at him
+surreptitiously out of the corner of her eye, marvelled exceedingly.
+Once more this extraordinary man was revealing himself to her in a new
+light. Usually so self-confident and determined in manner and speech, he
+exhibited a curious hesitancy this evening that puzzled the girl. He was
+like a man who wished to say something yet, for some reason or other,
+feared to say it. This so impressed her that she grew uneasy, and,
+moving a little farther away from him, leant against the starboard rail
+and gazed fixedly across the darkening waters.
+
+Presently the Captain straightened his back, walked to the port rail,
+and, after standing there a moment or two, crossed to where the girl was
+standing. He did not speak, and, although her back was towards him, she
+knew that he was very close. Involuntarily she clutched the rail tightly
+as if to support herself, her heart began to beat faster and her breath
+came in little catches. And yet, she told herself, there was no reason
+for this; it made her angry, angry with herself for being unreasonably
+agitated, and angry with him for being the cause of it. He remained
+standing close behind her, saying nothing, till at last she could bear
+it no longer.
+
+"Won't you miss your watch below, sir?" she asked.
+
+"That is my affair," he answered in his old curt way, and she felt a
+sense of relief at the familiar tone.
+
+He remained where he was, however, regarding her intently and with an
+expression that would have startled the girl had she seen it. There was
+every excuse for that look on the Captain's face, for she made as comely
+a picture as any man might wish to gaze upon, with her slim, supple
+figure and the great braid of red-brown hair coiled round her shapely
+head. Masculine as she was in her fearlessness, her strength, and her
+power of command, she was withal intensely feminine, possessing besides
+all the lure of blossoming womanhood.
+
+All this Calamity recognised clearly enough now, if he had never done so
+before. He was very far from being a sentimentalist, but, as he stood so
+near to her, the memory of that day when she had frankly avowed her love
+for him came back with poignant vividness. He knew now that he had been
+a blind fool and a brutal fool as well. The greatest treasure that life
+can give had been his for the taking, and he had spurned it. But now he
+had awakened to a sense of what he had lost.
+
+Such were the thoughts which passed through Calamity's mind as he
+lingered irresolutely on the bridge. It was an altogether new sensation
+to him, this self-condemnation and timid hesitancy. For the first time
+in his life, perhaps, Calamity was afraid. It was, if nothing else, a
+chastening experience.
+
+As for Dora Fletcher, her whole being was in a tumult of warring
+emotions. Instinctively she felt something of what was passing through
+the Captain's mind. She could not but guess that this sudden and
+remarkable change in his manner was due to herself, that it meant the
+beginning of a new relationship between them--at least, so far as he was
+concerned. Already their relations had passed through several different
+phases: first she had been a mere nonentity in his eyes; then an
+individual to be tolerated, a nurse later on, then a trusted and
+efficient officer, and finally--finally, she supposed, a memory ever
+growing more indistinct as the years passed.
+
+Just as his near presence was becoming intolerable to the girl because
+of the complex emotions it occasioned, he moved away and strolled
+towards the other end of the bridge. She wished fervently that he would
+go below, for while he remained near her she was in a fever of
+apprehension.
+
+Presently, however, he turned again and walked slowly back to where she
+was standing on the lee side of the bridge.
+
+"Miss Fletcher," he said abruptly.
+
+"Yes, sir," she answered, turning and facing him.
+
+"Will you marry me?"
+
+It had come at last, the inevitable climax she had felt approaching ever
+since his recovery from that illness. For a moment she was conscious of
+a thrill of exquisite joy, and her carefully nursed resolution wavered.
+Then, remembering the communication Smith had made to her, she pulled
+herself together.
+
+"No," she answered in a low voice.
+
+The Captain turned on his heel and walked in a leisurely manner to the
+other end of the bridge, where he lingered for a moment. Then he came
+back, glanced at the compass, and turned towards the girl.
+
+"Keep her west by north," he said, and slowly descended the
+companion-ladder.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE MACHINATIONS OF MR. SOLOMON
+
+
+"Land ahead!"
+
+At that cry the men came tumbling out of the foc'sle on to the for'ad
+deck of the _Hawk_, for it meant they were in sight of port at last.
+With luck, they would be paid off before many more hours had passed, the
+prize-money would be distributed--and then for a flare-up; a riotous,
+drunken orgy which would probably lead to three-fourths of their number
+finishing up in the police-cells. It would be a great night for the
+drink-shops of Singapore when Calamity's men, free from the iron
+discipline they had endured throughout the voyage, let themselves go.
+
+So the men crowded against the bulwarks watching, with hungry eyes, the
+indistinct coast-line far away on the starboard bow. Even the most
+sullen and discontented among them dwelt in cheerful anticipation upon
+the glorious debauch in store. However, they were not permitted to dwell
+upon these delights undisturbed. In common with most captains, Calamity
+was accustomed to bring a ship into port looking like a new pin, with
+not so much as a smudge on the brasswork or a blemish on the white
+paint. So all hands were turned-to for the purpose of scouring,
+cleaning, and polishing. They worked with a will, for this would be
+practically their last day on board, even if the _Hawk_ did not take up
+her moorings till the next morning. One of the men, a grizzled old
+shellback whose memories reached to the days of clippers and
+square-rigged ships, started to drone a chanty, popular enough in its
+day but now consigned to the limbo of masts and sails and salt junk. And
+this was the burden of his song:
+
+    "A Yankee ship's gone down the river,
+    Her masts and yards they shine like silver.
+    How d'you know she's a Yankee clipper?
+    By the Stars and Stripes that fly above her.
+    And who d'you think is captain of her?
+    One-eyed Kelly, the Bowery runner.
+    And what d'you think they had for dinner?
+    Belaying-pin soup and monkey's liver."
+
+There was a chorus between each line of "Blow boys, bully boys blow,"
+which the others took up and yelled at the tops of their voices. In
+fact, the men were in such high spirits that, on the smallest
+provocation, they would have raised three cheers for the skipper--but
+the provocation was not given.
+
+Calamity paced up and down the bridge, grim and taciturn as ever, his
+hands buried in the pockets of his monkey jacket. About a cable's length
+astern was the _Satellite_, with Mr. Dykes lolling on the bridge and
+making mental calculations as to the number of dollars that would fall
+to his share when the final settlement was made. Like their comrades on
+the _Hawk_, the crew was busy making the ship spick and span, nor were
+their anticipations less cheerful. Even the prisoners on both vessels
+were perking up at the prospect of being released from the hot and
+stifling quarters where they had spent so many weary days.
+
+Perhaps the only gloomy members of the expedition were the Captain
+himself and Dora Fletcher. The latter was sitting in her cabin gazing
+thoughtfully out of the open port. Since that evening when Calamity had
+asked her to marry him and she had refused, he had not mentioned the
+subject again; his manner, indeed, seemed to indicate that he had
+dismissed the matter from his mind. With feminine inconsistency she now
+fervently wished that Smith had never told her the secret of the
+Captain's identity, for then everything would have been quite simple.
+Yet she tried to comfort herself with the thought that it was better as
+it was, better that she should know the truth before it was too late and
+she found herself faced by a situation with which, she assured herself,
+she was totally unfitted to grapple. Involuntarily the girl sighed. So
+this was to be the end of her one and only romance. Rightly or wrongly,
+she had rejected the love she desired above all else and the one man
+with whom she would have gladly mated.
+
+Meanwhile the _Hawk_ and her consort were drawing nearer to Singapore,
+and presently, in answer to a signal, a pilot-boat approached, and,
+standing off, lowered a boat which quickly came alongside the yacht. The
+pilot, a grizzled, weather-beaten man, scrambled out of the stern-sheets
+and climbed on board.
+
+"Well I'm jiggered!" he exclaimed as the Captain stepped forward to
+greet him, "if it ain't Calamity."
+
+"The same, Abott," answered the latter as they shook hands, for this was
+not the first time by a good many that the pilot had taken him into
+Singapore.
+
+"But, bless my soul, skipper, this is the hooker that you wafted out of
+Singapore."
+
+"It is," answered Calamity. "But come along to my cabin and have a
+drink, Abott. I'd like to have a little pow-wow with you."
+
+Nothing loth, the pilot accompanied him to the cabin, where Calamity,
+after carefully locking the door, brought out a bottle and some glasses
+from a cupboard.
+
+"The usual?" he inquired.
+
+"Aye, skipper, my tastes ain't changed since we last met."
+
+The Captain poured out a generous helping of brandy, which he handed to
+the pilot and then poured out a like dose for himself.
+
+"Here's luck," said the other as he raised his glass.
+
+Calamity nodded and tossed off his drink.
+
+"What's the news?" he asked.
+
+"About the war? Oh, nothing special, the Germans ain't took Paris, and
+we haven't burnt down Berlin. But say, skipper, what in thunder made you
+hike off with the old _Arrow_?"
+
+"The what?" asked Calamity staring hard at the other.
+
+"The _Arrow_, this old packet of Rossenbaum's."
+
+The Captain made no answer for a moment and then a look of understanding
+came into his face.
+
+"Oh, so the story is that I made off with Rossenbaum's ship?"
+
+"You bet it is and there's a nice old shindy over it," answered the
+pilot. "Rossenbaum accused Solomon of having stolen his blooming
+steamer, and Solomon took his oath that you'd taken it unbeknownst to
+him."
+
+"What you've told me explains a lot of things, Abott. The excellent
+Solomon's manoeuvres puzzled me from the start, but now I begin to see
+daylight. I'll have one or two little bones to pick with Isaac when I
+get ashore."
+
+"Now, see here, skipper, jest you take my tip," said the other
+earnestly. "Don't put into Singapore. It ain't a healthy place for you,
+and that's a fact."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Why not! Well, you don't suppose a man can be accused of pinching some
+other party's ship and the authorities not say a word, do you?"
+
+"You mean they're after me?"
+
+"There's a warrant out for your arrest under the Piracy Act or something
+of that sort."
+
+"H'm," grunted Calamity; "that's news."
+
+"Now see here, skipper, we've known each other a tidy while, and you
+know I'm not the man to lead an old friend into a mess if I can help it.
+Take my advice and make for some other port; you may take your oath that
+I shan't say a word about having picked you up."
+
+"Abott, you're a white man," answered Calamity, "but I'm not taking your
+advice, good as it sounds. Solomon has played his card, but I can trump
+it; he's absolutely in my hands, though he doesn't know it yet. Now
+we'll dismiss that subject for the present, and talk of something far
+more important. First of all, can you trust the men on your boat?"
+
+"Trust 'em? Well, I should say so," answered the pilot in surprise.
+
+"What I mean is, can they keep their mouths shut?"
+
+"Like limpets."
+
+"Right. Now just listen to this little yarn of mine, Abott, and don't
+interrupt before I'm through. Savee?"
+
+"Forge ahead, skipper."
+
+For close upon half an hour the Captain talked in lowered tones, and,
+as he proceeded, the pilot's face exhibited every degree of
+astonishment. Even when Calamity had finished he remained silent for
+some moments, as if unable to wholly realise what the latter had told
+him.
+
+"Well I'm damned!" he muttered at last, and, taking a large blue
+handkerchief from his pocket, mopped his face.
+
+"And now the question is, will you accept the proposal or not?" asked
+the Captain.
+
+"I don't know that I've fairly got my teeth into it yet, skipper. It
+sort o' takes one's breath away, and that's a fact."
+
+"I'm afraid I can't give you much time to think it over, Abott."
+
+"By thunder, I'll take it on then!"
+
+"I'm glad, because there's no other man I could trust," answered
+Calamity. "We'd better set to work and get the job over as quickly as
+possible."
+
+"Wait, though," said the other. "This is the sort of thing that wants to
+be done at night. Suppose we sheer away from land a bit and don't put in
+till to-morrow morning?"
+
+"That's not a bad idea. Your boat could come alongside after dark then?"
+
+"Yes, but there's another thing to consider as well. How about the men?
+Can't you pay them off, prize-money and all, before we put in? You'll
+want to get rid of that crowd as soon as possible after the hook touches
+mud."
+
+"It might be possible. Just lend me a hand, Abott."
+
+With the pilot's assistance, all the boxes containing money, including
+the heavy box found in the fort, were dragged out into the middle of the
+cabin and opened.
+
+"Before we count this you'd better tell the first-mate--a woman, by the
+way--to alter the course and signal the _Satellite_ to do the same,"
+said the Captain.
+
+The pilot left the cabin, and when he returned Calamity had already
+started to count out the money. Even with the two of them at work it
+took a long time, and when it was finished and the values of the various
+currencies adjusted, Calamity made some hurried calculations on paper.
+
+"I can offer each man about a hundred pounds in addition to wages due,"
+he said at last.
+
+"And a pretty fine bonus, too, for such a short trip! They won't jib at
+that offer, you bet your life. The sooner that deal's squared the
+better, I should say, skipper."
+
+The Captain unlocked the cabin door, and, calling Sing-hi, told him to
+fetch the bos'n.
+
+"I want you to make a proposal to the men," said Calamity, when the
+bos'n appeared. "In the ordinary way they might have to wait a week or
+more before they received the prize-money due to them, but, if they
+prefer it, I will pay each man a hundred pounds cash in addition to
+wages. They might get more by waiting till the stuff is valued and
+disposed of, but, if they prefer the cash, I will divide the balance
+among the various marine charities."
+
+"I'm for the cash myself, sir, and I think the others'll be the same;
+but I'll tell them what you say," answered the bos'n.
+
+"As for the officers and engineers," said Calamity when the bos'n had
+left the cabin, "they will have to wait until their shares can be
+properly adjudged."
+
+"As long as we can get rid of the crew, they don't matter, skipper."
+
+In a few minutes the bos'n returned and said that the men were
+unanimously in favour of taking the cash.
+
+"Then assemble the men aft at eight bells, bos'n."
+
+"Aye, aye, sir," answered the latter, and departed.
+
+"Now," said Calamity, rising from his chair, "I'll signal Mr. Dykes to
+put the same proposal to his men."
+
+He accordingly did this, and in a very short time received a message
+back to the effect that the men would prefer the cash payment.
+
+At eight o'clock that evening the crew of the _Hawk_ lined up aft to
+receive their money. As each man's name was called out by the bos'n, the
+owner of it stepped up to the little table where Calamity was seated and
+received in his hat the equivalent in money and notes of about a hundred
+and twenty pounds, prize-money and pay. When they had all been paid, a
+boat was lowered and the Captain went aboard the _Satellite_, where a
+similar distribution was made.
+
+Later on that night, when it was quite dark, a boat approached the
+_Hawk_ and made fast under her stern. Some cases and bags were lowered
+into her and then she slipped away into the darkness again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE ARREST
+
+
+Early on the following morning the _Hawk_, with the gunboat in her wake,
+steamed towards Singapore harbour. As the vessels drew nearer, a
+motor-boat was seen approaching at full speed, and presently a man in
+the stern stood up and began to wave his arms frantically, apparently as
+a signal for the ships to heave-to.
+
+"Now, who the devil's that?" muttered Calamity, who was on the bridge
+with the pilot.
+
+"Looks uncommon like Solomon's new motor bum-boat," answered the latter.
+"That's his water-clerk in the stern."
+
+By this time the motor-boat had come within hailing distance, and the
+excited person ceased waving his arms and applied both hands to his
+mouth funnel-wise.
+
+"Ship ahoy!" he yelled. "Is Captain Calamity on board?"
+
+"Great Scot! How in the name of all that's uncanny did Solomon know that
+I was coming into port!" ejaculated Calamity, turning to the pilot.
+
+"Well, he might have heard from one of my men who went ashore last
+night. I didn't tell them not to say anything about your coming in."
+
+"Is that Captain Calamity?" shouted the water-clerk once more.
+
+"Yes, what do you want?" answered the Captain.
+
+"I want to see you, sir. I have a message from Mr. Solomon."
+
+"Then come alongside."
+
+The motor-boat sheered alongside the _Hawk_, and the water-clerk,
+gripping a rope which had been thrown over the taffrail, hauled himself
+on board. He waited at the foot of the bridge companion-ladder for
+Calamity to come down, having learnt from experience that it was an
+unforgivable offence to go on the bridge himself unless requested to do
+so.
+
+"Now then, what's your message?" asked Calamity, as he descended the
+ladder.
+
+The water-clerk, an undersized Malay half-breed with small, shifty eyes,
+made a movement that was something between a salaam and a salute.
+
+"I have important news from Mr. Solomon, Captain," he said.
+
+"Well, go ahead."
+
+The clerk glanced at the men at work on deck and made a significant
+gesture.
+
+"It is very private, sir," he answered.
+
+"Then you'd better come to my cabin," said the Captain, and led the way
+aft. On entering the cabin he sat down, but did not request his visitor
+to do likewise, and the latter knew enough to remain standing.
+
+"Now unload your instructions," said Calamity.
+
+"The fact is, Captain, there's been great trouble about you in
+Singapore," began the clerk, speaking in subdued tones. "It's said that
+your Letters of Marque were forged and that you're nothing but a
+pirate----"
+
+"A what?" broke in the Captain, so fiercely that the other jumped.
+
+"I--I'm only telling you what people say," the clerk answered nervously.
+
+"You mean you're telling me what Solomon told you to say. Well, get on
+with it."
+
+"I know nothing about the matter myself, Captain, but the authorities
+are going to arrest you and take possession of the ship."
+
+"And Mr. Solomon has sent you to warn me, is that it?" asked Calamity
+with an ironical smile.
+
+"Yes. He is afraid that the authorities will seize the ship and all the
+plunder."
+
+"That's better, now we're getting at the truth. But how does Solomon
+know I've got any plunder?"
+
+"He did not think you would return without any."
+
+"H'm, a far-seeing man is Solomon. But what does he expect me to do?"
+
+"His idea is that you should transfer the most valuable stuff to the
+motor-boat so that it may be taken away to a safe place. Then, you see,
+when the officials board your ship they will find practically nothing."
+
+"An excellent plan," remarked Calamity almost with enthusiasm. "But what
+about me?"
+
+"About you, Captain?"
+
+"Yes; am I to be left to the care of the police while Solomon is looking
+after the plunder?"
+
+"Oh no!" ejaculated the clerk in shocked tones. "If there is nothing of
+value on board the authorities can't do much to you. Besides, Mr.
+Solomon will do his utmost to secure your acquittal if you are tried."
+
+"A very ingenious scheme. And now tell me about this story of the
+_Arrow_."
+
+"The _Arrow_?" repeated the other with affected innocence.
+
+"Exactly. Hasn't Solomon declared that I stole it; that, in short, it
+belonged to Rossenbaum?"
+
+A startled expression crossed the water-clerk's face, but it was gone in
+an instant.
+
+"I think you must be mistaken, Captain," he answered suavely. "I have
+heard nothing about the _Arrow_."
+
+"Well, you go back to Solomon and tell him that his little scheme's gone
+adrift, and that he needn't worry himself about the plunder, because I'm
+looking after it myself. Now quit."
+
+The clerk looked as if he would have liked to protest, but thought
+better of it, and, leaving the cabin, hurried back to the motor-boat
+which then made for the harbour at full speed.
+
+"That'll shake up our friend Solomon a bit, I fancy," said Calamity,
+when he had told Abott about the interview. "It was a clever scheme, and
+might have succeeded if you hadn't told me about that _Arrow_ affair."
+
+"He'll be about the maddest thing between here and 'Frisco when that
+little runt gives him your message," answered the pilot with a grin.
+
+"The whole thing's as clear as daylight now," went on Calamity. "He got
+hold of Rossenbaum's ship and palmed it off on me as his own, so that,
+when the time came, he could get me arrested on a charge of piracy and
+collar the whole of the proceeds himself. There are two things he didn't
+count on, however, and one of them was that I might get rid of the stuff
+before reaching Singapore."
+
+"But you've still got to prove that you didn't pirate old Rossenbaum's
+hooker."
+
+Calamity laughed softly, but made no answer. Very soon afterwards a
+naval steam pinnace hove in sight, and, without signalling the _Hawk_ to
+stop, came alongside. A young Lieutenant caught hold of the rope by
+which the water-clerk had lowered himself into the motor-boat and
+scrambled on board with the agility of a monkey.
+
+"Captain Calamity?" he inquired briskly as the latter, who had left the
+bridge, came forward.
+
+"At your service," answered the Captain.
+
+"It is my duty to inform you, sir, that you are under arrest," said the
+officer.
+
+"On what charge?"
+
+"The charge will be formulated by the authorities," replied the
+Lieutenant, who, apparently, had no very great liking for this police
+work.
+
+"What do you propose to do with me then?"
+
+"I must ask you to accompany me ashore as soon as this vessel is
+anchored."
+
+"I am at your disposal," answered the Captain.
+
+Steaming into the harbour, the _Hawk_ dropped her anchor, and the
+_Satellite_, having received no orders to the contrary, followed suit.
+While this work was proceeding, a native boat put off from the shore and
+approached the yacht. In it was a passenger attired in a frock coat,
+and--a thing as rare in Singapore as snow--a tall silk hat. The boat
+came alongside, and the boatman, in answer to an inquiry from his
+passenger, indicated the rope that was still hanging over the taffrail
+of the _Hawk_.
+
+"Hullo, what is it?" shouted the Lieutenant from the deck above.
+
+"Can you tell me if Mr. John Brighouse is on board?" inquired the
+silk-hatted person in dignified tones.
+
+"I will ask, but who are you?"
+
+The stranger took a card-case from his pocket, but, realising the
+impossibility of handing it up to the officer, put it back again.
+
+"I am Henry Vayne, of Vayne & Paver, solicitors, Chancery Lane, London,"
+he said in the same dignified tone.
+
+"You had better come aboard, sir."
+
+"Thank you, but--er--is there no other means of ascending than by this
+rope?"
+
+"If you'll wait a moment, I'll let down the accommodation ladder,"
+answered the Lieutenant.
+
+The ladder having been lowered, the visitor, who carried a small leather
+handbag, mounted to the deck.
+
+"I should be greatly obliged," said he, taking the card-case from his
+pocket again and presenting a card to the officer, "if you would give
+this to Mr. John Brighouse, and ask if I might be permitted to see him."
+
+The Lieutenant took the card, and, turning to the bos'n who was standing
+near, asked him if there was any one called John Brighouse on board.
+
+"No one as I knows of, sir," answered the bos'n.
+
+"I'm afraid you have made a mistake, sir," said the Lieutenant, but at
+that moment Calamity appeared on deck, and, catching sight of the
+visitor, hurried towards him.
+
+"Vayne, by all that's wonderful!" he exclaimed.
+
+The solicitor stared at him in a puzzled fashion for a moment, and then
+his eyes lit up with a flash of recognition.
+
+"Bless my soul, John, I shouldn't have known you!" he exclaimed as they
+shook hands.
+
+"Fifteen years make a great difference, eh?"
+
+"Fourteen years, ten months and nine days," corrected the lawyer. "I am
+always most exact on the subject of dates. The last time we met was in
+my office, and the circumstances were--er--somewhat painful."
+
+"Yes," answered the Captain, "they were. Still, Vayne, you behaved like
+a brick; you were the only person who believed in me."
+
+"Pah! Nonsense!" exclaimed the other. "But you've altered," he went on,
+"altered most remarkably."
+
+"Yes," said Calamity grimly, "I have altered, as you say. Strange you
+should turn up at this juncture, because I'm in trouble once more."
+
+"Dear me, dear me," murmured the lawyer in a tone of concern.
+
+"Yes, I've been arrested on a charge of piracy, if I'm not mistaken."
+
+"Pi----" began the other, and then, stopping short on the first
+syllable, hastily adjusted a pair of pinc-nez on his nose and regarded
+the Captain through them. "Piracy, did you say?" he went on.
+
+"Yes, that's my latest crime. Last time we met it was forgery."
+
+"Tut, tut," said the lawyer in a peevish tone, "you mustn't put it like
+that. But, my dear John, piracy! Surely you are joking?"
+
+"Ask that gentleman," answered Calamity, indicating the Lieutenant, who
+had moved a little distance away.
+
+"But you will disprove the charge?"
+
+"Yes, I have a pretty good defence, I fancy."
+
+"You will, of course, place it in my hands?"
+
+"Since you've arrived at such an opportune moment, Vayne, it would be an
+insult to the gods not to do so."
+
+"Good," answered the lawyer. "But that reminds me. You haven't asked why
+I'm here. It's some distance from Chancery Lane, eh?"
+
+"Oh, I know why you're here," replied Calamity, "and for that reason we
+can discuss your errand later on. This piracy charge is a more pressing
+matter, and the sooner I place you in possession of the facts, the
+better. I will ask the Lieutenant if he can let us have half an hour
+alone together before I'm taken ashore."
+
+The officer readily consented, and Calamity, accompanied by the lawyer,
+went to his cabin. There they remained in close conference until a
+seaman knocked at the door and informed the Captain that the Lieutenant
+was waiting for him. Then, under an escort of bluejackets, Captain
+Calamity was taken ashore.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE TRIAL
+
+
+A couple of hours later Calamity, with the Lieutenant and Mr. Vayne--the
+latter having been permitted to accompany them in his character of
+solicitor to the accused--was ushered into a spacious room where several
+men sat round a large table, at the head of which was a bronzed,
+hard-featured man in naval uniform, evidently the president.
+
+"You are John Brighouse, otherwise known as Captain Calamity, I
+believe?" said the latter, addressing the prisoner.
+
+"That is correct," answered the Captain.
+
+"Briefly, the charge against you is that you did wilfully and
+feloniously seize in this harbour a steamer called the _Arrow_,
+belonging to Jacob Rossenbaum of Johore, and did detain and use the same
+with criminal intent. Are you guilty or not guilty?"
+
+"Not guilty."
+
+Mr. Rossenbaum having been called upon to give evidence, stated that,
+having contracted with Isaac Solomon of Singapore for the repair of his,
+witness's ship, the _Arrow_, the latter was sent round to Mr. Solomon's
+shipyard. Witness had every reason to believe that the repairs were
+carried out, for he received a wire from Mr. Solomon telling him to
+send a crew to take over the _Arrow_, which had then left the yard and
+was lying in Singapore harbour. He had duly despatched a crew, but, on
+the following morning, received another wire from Mr. Solomon asking him
+to come to Singapore at once. On arrival, he learnt that his vessel had
+been boarded and taken out of the harbour under her own steam by a
+person known as Captain Calamity.
+
+The president then called upon Isaac Solomon. The latter, who had
+carefully abstained from looking at Calamity, took his stand as far from
+him as he possibly could.
+
+"According to the statement previously laid before us," said the
+president, "you undertook to repair the steamer, _Arrow_, belonging to
+Mr. Rossenbaum. The repairs having been duly executed, the steamer was
+anchored in the harbour to await a crew which you had wired Mr.
+Rossenbaum to send?"
+
+"That is so," answered the witness.
+
+"But while the steamer was waiting for this crew, she disappeared
+mysteriously?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you have reason to believe that the accused committed the offence?"
+
+"I can prove it," said Mr. Solomon eagerly, but still carefully avoiding
+the Captain's eye.
+
+"That will do," said the president, and Mr. Solomon, with a grin of
+triumph on his face, was about to retire, when the solicitor rose from
+his chair.
+
+"With your permission, sir," he said, addressing the president, "I
+should like to ask this witness a question."
+
+"Proceed then."
+
+"Was there anything in the nature of a partnership existing between
+yourself and the accused?" asked the solicitor.
+
+"Most emphatically not!" exclaimed the witness. "I have never had any
+dealings vith the man. He showed me a paper vich purported to be a
+privateer's licence, but in my opinion it vas a forgery."
+
+"That was all I wanted to know," said Mr. Vayne, and sat down.
+
+The next witness was Tilak Sumbowa, Solomon's water-clerk, who, in
+answer to the president, proceeded to give a long and detailed account
+of how, on the very day that the _Arrow_ disappeared, his employer, Mr.
+Solomon, had instructed him to wire Mr. Rossenbaum that his steamer was
+awaiting a crew.
+
+"That wire," said the witness impressively, "is in Mr. Rossenbaum's
+possession now. On returning to the office I found that Mr. Solomon had
+gone out and left a note saying that he had been called away on
+business, and would not be back till next morning. I still have that
+note. Then, having certain business to do myself, I went out of town and
+did not get back till the following day."
+
+"Then neither you nor your employer were in Singapore on the night the
+_Arrow_ disappeared?" suggested the president as the witness paused.
+
+"No, sir."
+
+Other witnesses were then called--all of them natives or half-castes--to
+show that Mr. Solomon was not in Singapore on the night of the _Arrow's_
+departure, and that he had never had any business dealings with
+Calamity.
+
+"I will now call upon the accused to make his defence and examine any
+witnesses he thinks fit," said the president.
+
+Mr. Vayne at once stood up, and, adjusting his pinc-nez, addressed the
+tribunal.
+
+"I think it only right to inform the court that my client is not quite
+the nameless adventurer the prosecutor would have you believe," he said
+in a loud, sonorous voice. "It is true that he is known in these parts
+as Captain Calamity, and it is equally true that his name is John
+Brighouse. But he is also Viscount Redhurst of Redhurst--a fact which I
+mention, gentlemen, because I assume that, when we come to deal with
+conflicting statements, you will grant that the word of an English peer
+is at least equal to that of a semi-Asiatic ship-chandler."
+
+Mr. Vayne paused for a moment or two after this _dénouement_, in order
+to let the full significance of his statement sink into the minds of his
+opponents. He had taken their measure pretty accurately, and calculated
+upon the effect which his words would produce.
+
+"With the permission of the court," he went on, "I will recall the
+prosecutor and put a few questions to him."
+
+At a gesture from the president, Mr. Solomon stepped forward. The air of
+conscious rectitude which had distinguished him when giving evidence
+against Calamity was not now so apparent.
+
+"I understand," said the lawyer, focussing his pinc-nez upon the
+ship-chandler, "that it was you, and not Rossenbaum, who informed the
+authorities that my client had illegally appropriated the steamer,
+_Arrow_?"
+
+"Yes," replied the witness.
+
+"How soon, after you had discovered that the _Arrow_ was missing, did
+you inform the authorities of the fact?"
+
+"About three veeks," answered the witness reluctantly.
+
+"You mean that three weeks elapsed before the authorities were made
+aware of what had taken place?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then do you wish the court to believe that if a man stole your watch
+and chain, or broke into your office, you would wait three weeks before
+informing the police?"
+
+"That vould be a different thing."
+
+"I believe you. Now," added the lawyer with sudden vehemence, "I put it
+to you, sir, that your reason for waiting such a long time was that the
+accused might get safely away before the authorities had a chance to
+capture him."
+
+"It vas not!" cried Mr. Solomon hotly. "Vy should I not wish him to be
+captured?"
+
+The lawyer placed both hands on the back of his chair and leaned
+forward.
+
+"Because," he said in a denunciatory tone, "you were the accused's
+partner; because, having partly financed his scheme, you wanted to reap
+all the profits by swindling your partner out of his share. I maintain,"
+he went on, waving aside an interruption that Mr. Solomon was about to
+make, "that your object was to let my client capture what prizes he
+could, and then, by contriving his arrest, seize for yourself all the
+proceeds of the expedition, together with any money that might accrue
+from the Government."
+
+"It is a lie, a vicked lie!" the witness almost shrieked.
+
+"I will go even further," pursued the lawyer, ignoring Mr. Solomon's
+indignant protest. "I will assert that the whole thing was a plot,
+engineered by you as soon as my client had laid his plans before you.
+With or without the connivance of Mr. Rossenbaum, the _Arrow_ was
+brought round to Singapore, coaled, provisioned, and armed by you, and,
+after you had caused the name _Hawk_ to be substituted for _Arrow_, was
+handed over to my client with the understanding that it was your ship."
+
+Mr. Solomon attempted to make a reply, but was so overcome with
+indignation, anger, and other emotions that he could only utter
+inarticulate sounds.
+
+"I should like to recall the witness, Tilak Sumbowa," went on Mr. Vayne,
+and the ship-chandler sat down, biting his nails with rage.
+
+The water-clerk came forward looking very nervous.
+
+"I gathered from your evidence that neither you nor Mr. Solomon were in
+Singapore on the night the _Arrow_, or, as she was then called, the
+_Hawk_, left," said Mr. Vayne.
+
+"No; Mr. Solomon left me a note at mid-day saying he was called away on
+business. I have it here," and the witness triumphantly produced an
+envelope from his pocket.
+
+"Let me see it."
+
+Sumbowa passed the note to the lawyer, who scrutinised the envelope
+critically.
+
+"This envelope is addressed to Mr. Solomon," he said.
+
+"Yes. The note was lying on his desk without an envelope, so I picked
+one out of the waste-paper basket and put the note in it."
+
+"And this is the identical envelope which you picked up out of the
+waste-paper basket?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"At the time you found the note?"
+
+"Directly I had finished reading it."
+
+"All of which circumstance took place a few hours before the _Hawk_ left
+Singapore and during the time that Mr. Solomon was out of town?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then," said the lawyer quietly, "how do you account for the fact that
+this envelope bears on it a postmark dated a week after the _Arrow's_
+departure?"
+
+There was a dead silence. The witness looked from one to the other with
+an almost pitiful expression of bewilderment.
+
+"Well," said the lawyer after a long pause, "what explanation have you
+to offer us? I presume you will not suggest that the postal authorities
+post-date letters?"
+
+"I--I must have made a mistake," faltered the unhappy Sumbowa. "Now I
+come to think of it, I didn't put the note into the envelope till some
+days afterwards."
+
+"Oh yes, you've made a mistake," commented the lawyer drily, "but not
+exactly in the way you would have us believe. However, we will let that
+pass for the moment. Were you in the office yourself on the night that
+the _Arrow_ left?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What time did Mr. Solomon arrive at the office on the following
+morning?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Don't you go to the office in the mornings, then?"
+
+"Oh yes, I went to the office at eight o'clock as usual, but Mr. Solomon
+was not there. I waited about for a little while and then went away.
+When I came back at half-past ten he had returned."
+
+"Was there anyone in the office at the time he arrived?"
+
+"Oh no."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"It was locked up. That was why I went away."
+
+A gleam came into the lawyer's eye as he realised, in a flash, what he
+had accidentally stumbled upon. Without looking, he knew that Solomon
+was making frantic but stealthy signs to Sumbowa, and by a kind of
+hypnotism he kept the little water-clerk's attention fixed upon himself.
+It would never do to let the half-caste guess what a mess he was getting
+his employer into. Mr. Vayne's next question, therefore, was purposely
+casual.
+
+"You, yourself, had no key to the office then?"
+
+"Oh no."
+
+"Mr. Solomon had the only one?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then do you suggest that he went away and left the office unlocked,
+because, if not, how did you get in and find the note? And if it was
+unlocked when you went in, how came it to be locked when you returned in
+the morning, you having no key and Mr. Solomon not having arrived?"
+
+The witness looked bewildered for a moment and then, catching sight of
+Mr. Solomon's face, seemed to crumple up.
+
+"Come, answer my question," rapped out the other.
+
+"He--he must have come back to the office after I found the note,"
+whimpered Sumbowa.
+
+"You have simply been telling the court a tissue of lies from beginning
+to end," thundered the lawyer. "You have contradicted yourself so many
+times that you can't remember what you have said. Now let me tell you
+this, my man: unless you are prepared to confess the whole truth, and
+nothing but the truth, you will find yourself in the dock on a charge of
+perjury and with the moral certainty of being sentenced to a long term
+of imprisonment with hard labour. Now, answer me; did you receive that
+note before or after the departure of the _Hawk_?"
+
+"Af-after," sobbed the witness.
+
+"How long after?"
+
+"About a fortnight."
+
+"Do you know why Mr. Solomon gave you that note?"
+
+"No."
+
+"But he told you to swear that you found it in his office on the day in
+question?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You knew that it was he who provided the vessel with guns and
+ammunition, and also caused the name _Hawk_ to be substituted for that
+of _Arrow_?"
+
+Sumbowa hesitated for the fraction of a minute.
+
+"Well?" rapped out the lawyer.
+
+"Er--yes."
+
+"Thank you; that will do."
+
+The witness tottered back to his seat and almost collapsed in it. Never
+had he passed through such an ordeal before, and, for the time being, he
+was a nervous wreck.
+
+Mr. Vayne turned to the tribunal.
+
+"I shall not waste your time, gentlemen," he said, "by calling witnesses
+for the defence--as, for instance, my client's chief officer, who was
+with him when he visited the prosecutor on the night of sailing--or by
+arguing a matter which I regard as proven. All I shall do is to draw
+from the evidence conclusions which, beyond a doubt, prove my client's
+innocence of the charge brought against him. After having treated us to
+a series of palpable falsehoods at the instigation of his employer, the
+witness Sumbowa has admitted that Solomon did not give him the note
+saying that he would be out of town until a fortnight after the
+_Arrow's_ departure and the inference is that Solomon _did_ see my
+client on that particular night. Had he not done so, why should he have
+tried to establish an alibi; why should he have taken such pains to try
+and prove that he was not in Singapore that night?
+
+"Further, I contend that these deductions are confirmed by the fact that
+Solomon, on his own admission, did not make known the alleged offence
+until three weeks after the steamer had left. I put it to you,
+gentlemen, as men of the world, that this was an extraordinary
+procedure, and can only be accounted for by the assumption that the
+prosecutor did not want his victim to be arrested before the latter had
+secured what, for want of a better term, I shall call a generous profit
+on the initial outlay.
+
+"In short, I submit that Solomon entered into a conspiracy with divers
+persons to bring about the ruination of my client in order that he, the
+prosecutor, might reap the entire benefits of this privateering
+expedition.
+
+"And now a word concerning the allegation that my client possessed
+forged Letters of Marque. I don't think it necessary to prove or
+disprove this charge, seeing that, under the circumstances, Letters of
+Marque were quite unnecessary. Any British ship, or any ship belonging
+to an allied Power, has the right to attack and destroy an enemy vessel,
+a statement which is borne out by the fact that the British Government
+offered rewards to any merchant captain who could prove that he had
+sunk, captured, or destroyed an enemy submarine. This, gentlemen, is
+all I have to say."
+
+After a few minutes' whispered consultation with his colleagues, the
+president turned towards Calamity.
+
+"We are unanimously of opinion that the charge brought against you is
+without the smallest foundation, and that you have been the victim of a
+malicious conspiracy," he said. "You are, therefore, acquitted. As to
+the prosecutor and his witnesses, they will be dealt with in due course
+upon charges arising out of this case."
+
+As the president ceased speaking, Calamity rose and, drawing some papers
+from his pocket, handed them to him. They were the forged clearance
+papers and the secret instructions from a German source, addressed to
+Mr. Solomon, which he had taken from the _Ann_.
+
+The president hastily glanced through them, asked Calamity a few
+questions in a low voice, and then touched a little bell at his side. A
+sergeant of marines entered in answer to the ring and stood at
+attention.
+
+"Arrest that man and see that he is well guarded," said the president,
+indicating the ship-chandler.
+
+With the sergeant's vice-like grip upon his arm, Mr. Isaac Solomon was
+dragged protesting from the room and so vanished for ever from the ken
+of friends and enemies alike.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+THE LETTER
+
+
+Although the trial had been held in camera, the news of Calamity's
+arrest and acquittal soon became known throughout Singapore, though
+there were at least half a dozen different versions of the affair. And,
+as might have been anticipated, various inaccurate accounts of his
+adventures as a privateer were put into circulation by his crew, with
+the result that, before many hours had passed, he was looked upon as a
+hero of the most romantic type. Crowds flocked to the harbour to gaze at
+the two vessels, and the native boatmen did a thriving business in
+taking the more enthusiastic spectators round them. Wild tales were
+spread concerning the amount of booty which had been taken and the
+fabulous sums of prize-money which had been distributed among the crew.
+In addition to these confused exaggerations, another one soon gained
+currency to the effect that Calamity had been created a lord in
+recognition of his exploits.
+
+As for the crew, they were having the time of their lives, being
+regarded as heroes by everybody save the police. They were feted both
+publicly and privately; interviewed, photographed, and written about,
+until, at the end of a week, they had become so overbearing and insolent
+that people grew tired of them and the police intimated that the sooner
+they found ships and departed the better. Most of the men, having spent
+all their money in a brief but glorious debauch, adopted this wise
+counsel, but a few, who overrated the patience of the authorities and
+continued to act as if the town belonged to them, were seized during a
+drunken orgy and locked up.
+
+In the meantime Calamity had left Singapore and gone to Paku, a little
+town easily reached by train, where he was reasonably safe from
+newspaper men and inquisitive people generally. In order that he might
+do this, Mr. Vayne had undertaken to act as his representative in paying
+off the officers and making arrangements for them to receive their share
+of the prize-money in due course. On the day following the trial, the
+lawyer went over to Paku and found Calamity seated on the verandah of
+the house where he was staying, clad in white ducks and smoking a very
+strong cigar.
+
+"By the way, have you seen anything of Miss Fletcher?" asked the Captain
+after they had been talking for some time.
+
+"No, but I heard of her at the Consulate this morning. She had been to
+see the Consul concerning certain private matters and will be leaving
+for Yokohama in a P. and O. boat to-morrow. I gathered that from
+Yokohama she will sail for San Francisco."
+
+"H'm," grunted Calamity, but made no comment.
+
+"And she left this for you," went on the lawyer, and, taking a letter
+from his pocket, he handed it to Calamity who glanced at the
+superscription and put it aside.
+
+"Thanks very much, Vayne, I'm afraid I'm giving you a lot of trouble."
+
+"Not at all, not at all! But if you would just go into these matters
+now, I should be greatly obliged," and the lawyer opened the little
+leather handbag he had brought with him.
+
+"Everything," he went on, taking out some documents, "is perfectly
+straightforward and simple. By your elder brother's death you inherit
+the title and estates, while, of course, his own private property,
+investments, and so forth, go to his wife and child----"
+
+"Child?" interrupted Calamity. "Did George have a child, then?"
+
+"Yes, a little girl. She'd be about twelve now."
+
+"And Lady Betty, I suppose, is still at the Towers?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Calamity's lips tightened and his brows met in a frown. The lawyer
+regarded him for a moment, and then, leaning forward, touched him gently
+on the knee.
+
+"You're thinking of that wretched business of the alleged forgery," he
+said. "You may safely regard it as forgotten now; at least, no one is
+ever likely to refer to it in any way unless----" Vayne hesitated and
+smiled.
+
+"Unless what?"
+
+"Unless you go in for politics."
+
+Calamity laughed in spite of himself.
+
+"You may safely dismiss that possibility from your mind," he said. "But,
+as it happens, I'm going to reopen the matter myself."
+
+"Eh?" ejaculated Vayne.
+
+"You remember the story, don't you? A cheque for five thousand pounds
+was forged in my father's name, and, by a series of artificially
+prepared 'clues,' it was traced to me. The belief that I was the culprit
+was strengthened by the fact that I had been playing the fool pretty
+generally and was head over ears in debt at the time. Well, what you
+don't know is, that my brother forged the cheque in such a way that I
+should be suspected. He had been trying to poison the old man's mind
+against me for a long time and----"
+
+"Was it on account of a woman?" interrupted the lawyer shrewdly.
+
+"Yes; I see you understand. We were both madly in love with the same
+woman, and--well, my brother held the strong suit. But to continue: the
+guv'nor accused me outright of forging his signature, and I, being too
+proud to deny such a vile charge, especially coming from him, was
+branded as a promising young criminal by the entire family. The guv'nor
+offered me a sum of money to clear out, which bribe I refused, though I
+cleared out all the same."
+
+"And you released Lady Betty from her engagement?" murmured Vayne as the
+Captain paused.
+
+The latter winced and went on hurriedly:
+
+"The night before I left I was sitting at the window of an unlighted
+room, thinking--God knows what I was thinking, it doesn't matter
+now--when I heard voices in the shrubbery and recognised them as
+belonging to my brother and his German valet. Hearing my own name, I
+leant out of the window and listened; I felt no shame about it, for I
+guessed the part George had played in my affairs. And, anyway, I wasn't
+caring much about the conventions just then. There's no need to repeat
+what I heard, but my suspicions were confirmed, and when the pair moved
+out of the shrubbery I knew for certain that, between them, they had
+engineered my ruin. To put the matter in a nutshell, my brother had
+forged the cheque, having previously arranged matters so that suspicion
+should fall on me.
+
+"My first thought was to rush to the old man at once and tell him what I
+had discovered. But a moment's reflection convinced me that I hadn't an
+atom of tangible proof, that the whole thing would rest on my word,
+which, under the circumstances, I could hardly expect anyone to accept.
+No, there was nothing for it but to acquiesce in the inevitable and
+go--which I did."
+
+"Yes," said Vayne thoughtfully, "you came up to my office one morning
+early. There was a look in your face that I shan't forget as long as I
+live. It has often puzzled me since why you came to me."
+
+"I don't quite know, myself," answered Calamity. "But you had always
+been pretty decent to me, Vayne, and when I was acting the fool at
+Oxford, you befriended me more than once. Why a staid and eminently
+respectable family lawyer like yourself should lend a helping hand to a
+scatter-brained idiot I don't know; but you did, and there it is."
+
+"As to that, my dear John, your family have been clients of my firm for
+generations," said the lawyer almost apologetically.
+
+Calamity laughed.
+
+"I'm afraid that's a very weak defence, Vayne, not to say irrelevant.
+However, we'll let it pass. You lent me the money to get out of the
+country and--well, you know the rest."
+
+"I know as much as you told me in one scanty letter a year," answered
+the lawyer drily. "I don't believe you would even have written me to
+that extent had I not extracted the promise from you before you left my
+office."
+
+"I'm afraid you wouldn't have been very edified had I given you a full
+and particular account of my adventures. I served three years before the
+mast, got my mate's ticket, and after that a master's ticket. I've
+sailed in whalers, colliers, cattle-boats, liners, tramps, blackbirders,
+and God knows what sort of craft. I've dug for gold in Alaska, been a
+transport rider in South Africa, skippered a pearling-ground poacher in
+Japanese waters, run guns in the Persian Gulf, and--well, ended up by
+becoming a privateer. Also, I nearly pegged out once with malaria, and,
+as you see, I lost an eye."
+
+The lawyer nodded.
+
+"Your father, as I informed you in one of my yearly letters, died in the
+belief that you were dead, and so did your brother," he said. "Seeing
+that they are both gone, I suggest that you do not attempt to reopen the
+matter of the forged cheque. As you have said, you can prove nothing,
+and----"
+
+"But I can now," interrupted Calamity, with almost savage energy. "Look
+at this."
+
+He took a wallet out of his pocket and extracted from it the document
+that Fritz Siemann had drawn up and signed and which Smith and McPhulach
+had witnessed.
+
+"There," he said, handing it to the lawyer.
+
+The latter took the document, adjusted his pinc-nez, and carefully read
+it through twice.
+
+"That clears you once and for all," he remarked as he handed it back.
+
+"It does, and I'm going to use it."
+
+"My dear fellow!" exclaimed the lawyer in a tone almost approaching
+horror.
+
+"Oh, I don't mean that I propose publishing it in the newspapers. But
+all those who knew me and believed in my guilt at the time shall see
+it."
+
+"But whatever wrong your brother may have done you, he is dead now, and
+it would hardly be--er--good form to dishonour his memory. _De mortuis
+nil nisi bonum._"
+
+"Damn his memory!" flashed out Calamity. "I beg your pardon, Vayne," he
+went on in a quieter tone, noticing the other's shocked expression, "but
+I don't see why a live man should suffer in order to shield a dead man's
+reputation. He made me suffer while I was alive, and it is a very poor
+revenge, albeit the only one at my disposal, to charge him with his
+crime now he's dead. I for one won't bow down to the shibboleth of
+honouring the dead just because they are dead; I hate my brother as much
+now as ever I did, and the mere fact that he's no longer able to enjoy
+the fruits of his rascality makes no difference to that."
+
+"As you will, John; it's a matter for you to decide, not me."
+
+The lawyer rose from his chair and slowly fastened his little leather
+bag.
+
+"By the way," he said a little hesitatingly, "have--er--have Letters of
+Marque been revived since the war started?"
+
+"'Pon my word, Vayne, I don't know," answered Calamity.
+
+"Then you----"
+
+"Oh, as usual, I took risks."
+
+"H'm," grunted the lawyer, and added, after a pause, "when will you be
+ready to sail?"
+
+"A fortnight or three weeks from now. I want to make sure that all my
+officers receive their proper share of the profits."
+
+"Very well. I shall see you to-morrow, I suppose?"
+
+"Yes, I shall be here," answered Calamity, shaking hands.
+
+The lawyer had scarcely gone when a native servant entered and stated
+that a gentleman had called to see Captain Calamity.
+
+"What is his name?"
+
+"Abott, master."
+
+"Then show him up."
+
+The pilot was duly ushered in, and, as soon as the servant had departed,
+he congratulated Calamity on having been acquitted of the charge which
+Solomon had brought against him.
+
+"Thanks," answered Calamity. "I told you I had something in store for
+the old rascal."
+
+"Then it's true he's been arrested?"
+
+"Yes; I don't think you're likely to gaze on his benevolent smile again,
+Abott."
+
+"Then there's a story going round that you're a lord or a dook or
+something of that sort."
+
+"Don't take any notice of it," answered Calamity; "you'll hear a good
+deal worse than that when rumour's got well under way. And now to
+business."
+
+"The stuff's down at my old shack, and, as it'll be dark in a few
+minutes, I thought we might as well toddle over there."
+
+Calamity agreed, and, leaving the house, they proceeded at a rapid walk
+till the outskirts of the village were reached. By this time it was
+dark, and Abott, taking an electric torch from his pocket, led the way
+along a narrow foot-track till they reached the sea-shore.
+
+"Here we are," he said, throwing a gleam of light on a tumble-down hut
+about fifty yards from the water's edge. "I'll go first."
+
+He unlocked the door, a crazy affair that a good push would have brought
+down completely, and led the way in. With the aid of the torch he found
+an old lantern with a piece of candle in it, and, after lighting this,
+set it on an upturned barrel.
+
+"There we are," he remarked; "'tain't much of a light, but it'll do to
+talk by."
+
+In the yellow glimmer it was just possible to make out a number of cases
+and sacks piled in a corner with lumber of various sorts, such as empty
+water-beakers, odd spars, rusty anchors, and so forth.
+
+"Looks as if it were worth about half a dollar the lot, doesn't it,
+instead of somewheres around two hundred and fifty thousand dollars?"
+remarked the pilot as he seated himself on a water-beaker. "And to
+think," he went on musingly, "that I pull fifty thousand out of it. What
+for?"
+
+"For playing the game," answered Calamity gravely, and, taking a handful
+of cheroots from his pocket, he offered them to the other.
+
+Abott took one, opened the door of the lantern, and they both lit up.
+
+"Now," said the pilot, exhaling huge clouds of pungent smoke, "we'd
+better fix matters up. This isn't the sort of stuff you can tuck under
+your arm, walk into a bank with, and ask for it to be placed to the
+credit of your account. No, sir, questions might be asked, seeing that
+bar gold and promiscuous jewellery ain't common currency even in this
+country. And, I take it, if the Admiralty knew about it, they'd want to
+confiscate a tidy lump as treasure trove, or whatever it's called."
+
+Calamity nodded.
+
+"Well, I know a man in Sumatra who'll negotiate this little lot, though
+he'll charge 5 per cent. for doing it. How does that strike you?"
+
+"Excellent. Will you see to it, Abott?"
+
+"I will, and you shall hear directly the job's through. I reckon you'll
+have done the right thing by everybody; the Government's got a new
+island, a German war-boat, thirty or forty prisoners, and about a
+thousand pounds' worth of merchandise stacked away on board the _Hawk_."
+
+"Likewise a traitor in the person of the late respected Solomon, and a
+ship called the _Ann_," added Calamity.
+
+"The _Ann_?" queried the other. "I heard of a packet named the _Ann_
+having been collared by a British cruiser and taken into Penang; would
+that be the hooker?"
+
+"Without a doubt, but I haven't time to tell you the story now, Abott.
+If ever you happen to meet Solomon--which isn't likely--ask him about
+it."
+
+The pilot rose, kicked aside the beaker on which he had been sitting,
+and picked up the lantern. Calamity also got up, and, going outside,
+waited while the other extinguished the light and locked the door. They
+returned to Paku and stopped outside the house where Calamity lodged,
+the pilot having refused to go in as he wanted to get back to Singapore
+as quickly as possible.
+
+"I shall see you again before I leave," said Calamity as they shook
+hands.
+
+On reaching his own room, he took from his pocket the letter which Vayne
+had given him earlier in the day. It was addressed to "Captain Calamity"
+in a large, bold handwriting. Tearing open the envelope Calamity took
+out a sheet of notepaper and read:
+
+     "This is to say 'Good-bye' and to explain why, when you asked me to
+     marry you, I refused. During your illness I chanced to learn who
+     you really were, and then I realised why it was that you once said
+     to me 'Our paths lie wide apart.' As the wife of Captain Calamity I
+     might have made you happy, but as the wife of Viscount Redhurst I
+     believe I should fail utterly and bring unhappiness to us both. I
+     am going to California as you suggested, where, should you ever
+     have a desire to see me again, I shall be found."
+
+The note was signed "Dora Fletcher," and Calamity, before folding it up,
+read the last sentence twice--the second time with a faint smile playing
+about his lips. Then he took out his leather wallet which contained the
+confession of Fritz Siemann and placed the note in it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+HOME
+
+
+It was spring, and although spring that year had not done its worst, the
+two men who alighted from the train at Redhurst Station turned up the
+collars of their greatcoats and shivered. One of them, a powerful,
+squarely built man with a glass eye, gazed round the little country
+station as if in search of someone, and at last fixed his serviceable
+eye upon a richly dressed woman in a motor just outside the wicket-gate.
+He thereupon turned to his companion, a red-headed man who was arguing
+in broad Scotch with a porter over the alleged damage done to a very old
+and dilapidated cabin trunk.
+
+"Tell them the luggage must be sent on at once, Jones," he said.
+
+Leaving McPhulach, _alias_ Jones, to see that his instructions were
+carried out, Calamity passed through the wicket-gate. As he approached
+her, the woman leaned out of the tonneau expectantly; but at that moment
+the sun emerged from an obscuring cloud and shone right into her eyes.
+By the time she had opened her sunshade and could see again Calamity had
+reached the car. The words of honeyed welcome died on her lips and she
+shrank back against the cushions as she saw him standing there with a
+grim smile on his face.
+
+"Well, Betty?" he said.
+
+"Is--is it you?" she faltered.
+
+"Yes, you find me changed, eh?"
+
+"A--a little," she answered.
+
+The flicker of a smile crossed Calamity's face again as he looked at
+her.
+
+"You are the same as ever, anyhow," he commented.
+
+His words restored Lady Betty's self-possession. His altered appearance
+had frightened her at first, and she had not recognised in him the man
+she had once promised to marry. But now he had spoken in a familiar
+language words which showed, as she thought, that, despite the years,
+her charms had not lessened in his eyes.
+
+"I am so glad you have come back," she said softly.
+
+At that moment, to her annoyance, McPhulach came up accompanied by a
+porter.
+
+"He says it will be ane an' saxpence to tak' the luggage," said the
+engineer indignantly.
+
+"Pay him then," answered Calamity.
+
+"But, mon, 'tis only a sheeling, forby----"
+
+"Pay him," snapped Calamity, and McPhulach grumblingly paid the money in
+pennies and half-pennies, counting them twice before handing them over.
+
+"Won't you get in?" asked Lady Betty, as Calamity again turned to her.
+
+He obeyed, at the same time calling to McPhulach, who was watching the
+luggage being hoisted on to the station 'bus. As he approached--an
+uncouth figure in an ill-fitting, ready-made overcoat--Lady Betty
+elevated her eyebrows.
+
+"Who is this?" she whispered quickly.
+
+"Let me introduce him," answered the Captain.
+
+"Lady Betty Redhurst, Mr. Jones, until recently my chief engineer.
+Jones, Lady Betty Redhurst."
+
+"I'm unco' pleased tae meet ye," said McPhulach, extending a huge red
+hand with its blunt, misshapen fingers. "I'm frae Pontypreed mesel'," he
+added inconsequently.
+
+The elegant woman touched the engineer's hairy paw with the tips of her
+gloved fingers and smiled sweetly.
+
+"Better sit down there," said Calamity, indicating the seat opposite,
+but Lady Betty spoke hastily.
+
+"Wouldn't you prefer to sit in front, Mr. Jones?" she asked, with
+seeming solicitude for his comfort; "you can see the country much better
+there, and it's really very pretty just now."
+
+McPhulach, only too glad of a chance to sit beside the chauffeur, where
+he might smoke, obeyed with alacrity, and the Captain had to own himself
+out-manoeuvred. The chauffeur then took his seat, and the car glided
+noiselessly out of the station precincts.
+
+"Does it seem strange to you to be coming home again?" asked Lady Betty
+in a voice which sounded almost caressing.
+
+"It does--very," answered Calamity.
+
+His tone puzzled her, and she went on, curious, perhaps, to probe his
+real feelings.
+
+"You are glad?"
+
+"Glad? I should never have returned but for one thing--the memories of
+the place are too unpleasant."
+
+A faint and delicate tinge of colour came into the woman's face, for she
+did not doubt that he was thinking of her and the shattered romance of
+the past. It moved her to think that, after all these years, this
+memory was still fresh with him.
+
+"Why darken your home-coming by thoughts of the unalterable past?" she
+answered softly. "It is all forgotten and forgiven now."
+
+"It is not forgotten, neither is it forgiven--I am not that sort."
+
+A deeper colour flooded her face. He considered himself wronged, then,
+that she had believed in his guilt and married his brother. At that
+moment she wished passionately to justify herself in his eyes, for this
+stranger who had been her lover was beginning to exercise an ascendancy
+over her weaker nature that he had never possessed in the old days.
+
+She was about to stammer out words of excuse and apology, when McPhulach
+turned round and leaned over the wind-screen.
+
+"Hae ye such a thing as a match aboot ye, skeeper?" he inquired.
+
+Calamity tossed him a box of matches, whereupon McPhulach produced a
+well-worn briar from his pocket and transferred it to his mouth.
+
+"You must try and forget all that old story of the cheque," said Lady
+Betty recovering herself. "It is so long ago that everyone is prepared
+to be as nice to you as if it had never happened."
+
+"H'm," grunted Calamity.
+
+"You'll see," she went on hopefully. "I've got some people staying at
+the Towers, and Judge Pennyfeather--Lady Di----you remember her as a
+pert young flapper, I expect--the Bishop and some other people are
+dining with us to-night."
+
+"Then the story of the forgery was not kept in the family," remarked
+Calamity icily. "All these people know it?"
+
+"Well--yes," a little hesitatingly. "It was impossible to keep it
+secret; you know George had a valet----"
+
+"A fitting epitaph," said Calamity grimly.
+
+"What----" began Lady Betty, but was interrupted once more by McPhulach,
+who for some moments had been pulling at an empty pipe.
+
+"I'm oot o' baccy," he said, again peering over the wind-screen. "Ye'll
+no be haein' a pooch on ye'r pairson, skeeper?"
+
+Without a word Calamity passed him a tobacco pouch, while Lady Betty bit
+her lips with annoyance at this interruption of their _tête-à-tête_.
+
+"I'm tell't that yon's ye'r ain hoose," said McPhulach, as he filled his
+pipe. "It's a gey braw place, an' I wouldna mind haein' it mesel'."
+
+He pointed with the stem of his pipe to a picturesque old mansion
+standing in its own luxuriously wooded grounds at the summit of a slope
+just ahead.
+
+Calamity made no answer, but gazed thoughtfully at this home of his
+childhood, the home he had never expected to see again. And thinking of
+his early days there, and of the soft and sheltered lives of those who
+live in such mansions, it seemed very desirable to the world-worn,
+battered man. All sorts of trivial incidents of the past, forgotten
+until now, flashed across his mind as the car turned into a road that
+ran through a wood on the estate. In that wood, as a boy, he had seen an
+adder swallow a young bird and remembered killing the reptile with a
+heavy ash stick. In that piece of marshy ground, almost hidden by trees,
+there used to be a pond fringed with yellow iris; he wondered if that
+pond were still there, and the iris.... He made a resolution to go and
+see later on, but, even as he did so, knew that he would find it the
+same. Everything remained the same; Betty was the same; it was only he
+who had altered.
+
+Then his mood changed, and, while he felt a grim satisfaction at thus
+returning as master to the home from which he had been thrust forth as a
+criminal, he was not at all sure whether, apart from this sense of
+triumph, he was glad to be back or otherwise--probably he was neither.
+He wondered, too, whether the old life, with all its luxury and ease,
+would appeal to him; whether he would feel at home again amidst these
+remembered surroundings, or at variance with them.
+
+And then, of course, there were the people whom he would have to meet;
+people more foreign to him now than the polyglot rabble which had formed
+his last crew. He had seen Lady Betty shrink from him at first sight,
+and imagined that her present amiability was forced; that her words and
+those soft, languishing glances she cast upon him were void of
+sincerity. Others would shrink from him too, he supposed, and then hide
+their feelings under a mask of well-bred composure as she was doing.
+Could he meet these people on their own ground, speak their language,
+lead their life? he asked himself.
+
+Seeing Calamity deep in thought, McPhulach, who had leaned over the
+wind-screen to return the tobacco-pouch, slid gently back into his seat
+and absent-mindedly dropped the pouch into his own pocket.
+
+The car was now proceeding up a broad avenue which led to the main
+entrance of the Towers, and a vision came to Calamity of himself as a
+small boy on horseback, cantering down this same avenue with his father.
+The thought of the latter brought back to his memory the brother who
+had blackened him in his father's eyes and made him what he had been;
+what, in heart, he still was--an outcast and an exile.
+
+Never had he hated his brother as he hated him at this moment.
+
+Lady Betty, meanwhile, was taking advantage of his thoughtfulness to
+examine his profile at her leisure. It was a strong face, she reflected,
+stronger and harder far than that of the youth she had loved fifteen
+years ago.
+
+"A penny for your thoughts," she said lightly, to dissipate an emotion
+induced by his proximity and those memories of their youth.
+
+He turned swiftly, and the baffling, rather grim smile which played
+about his mouth, together with the fixed and merciless stare of his
+glass eye, embarrassed her to the point of actual nervousness.
+
+"You shall have them at your own price when I put them up for sale," he
+answered.
+
+She coloured. Her first thought was that he intended to snub her, but
+she quickly dismissed the idea. No, he must have meant that the moment
+was not propitious. Perhaps he, also, had been thinking of....
+
+"You never married in all those years?" she asked abruptly, and with a
+little tremor in her voice that she could not control.
+
+"No."
+
+"Why?"
+
+He smiled at her in a quizzical way and shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Ah, here we are," he said as the car drew up before the stately
+entrance to Redhurst Towers. Springing out, he made his way round to the
+other side in order to help her to alight. McPhulach, however, was
+before him and stood with his arm crooked at an angle of forty-five
+degrees, his body bent, and an ingratiating leer on his face.
+
+"Hae a care o' yon step, ye'r leddyship," he remarked.
+
+But the lady was equal to the occasion. Ignoring his arm, she sprang to
+the ground.
+
+"Will you be so kind as to bring my furs from the car?" she asked
+sweetly, and to herself: "Why on earth has John brought this uncouth,
+seafaring savage with him?"
+
+The sound of the approaching motor had brought a child of about twelve
+running out on to the terrace. She waited at the head of the stone
+steps, colouring up shyly as she met the stranger's gaze.
+
+"This is my little girl, Elfrida," said Lady Betty. "Elfrida, this is
+your Uncle John."
+
+The child held her hand out frankly to her grim relative, and there was
+no suggestion of shrinking in her manner.
+
+"I came out to be the first to welcome you home to Redhurst, Uncle
+John," she said a trifle primly. Then, becoming all child again, she
+turned to her mother. "Oh, mummy, I thought you'd never come. I'll go
+and tell them you're here. We're all having tea in the hall."
+
+As he watched the fair-haired child disappear, Calamity thought, with
+something of a pang, that she might have been his own. But this feeling
+lasted only a moment, and he remembered once more that she was the child
+of the man who had ruined him.
+
+"Welcome home," said Lady Betty softly.
+
+"Thank you," he answered without enthusiasm.
+
+"It has been home to me, and I have loved it for fourteen years," she
+said, and then continued archly, obviously inviting and expecting a
+denial. "And now you've come to turn me out."
+
+Calamity fixed his disconcerting gaze upon her face.
+
+"There's no hurry for a week or so," he said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+"NOBLESSE OBLIGE"
+
+
+Grouped about the hall--a splendid example of Tudor architecture with
+its oak wainscoting and great, open fireplace--were several people
+chatting and drinking tea. Calamity recognised some of them immediately
+as people he had known in the old days. Life had dealt gently with them,
+and they had changed but little despite the intervening years. They had
+lost the rude vitality and adventurous spirit of youth, and had become
+sleek and soft and habit-governed; but otherwise they were essentially
+the same, living the same clean, sheltered, uneventful lives.
+
+As Calamity entered with Lady Betty, these people gathered about him
+with words of welcome. He was, after all, one of themselves, and in the
+years which had passed the old story of the forged cheque had almost
+faded into a legend of doubtful authenticity. Calamity, despite the
+bitter memories which his home-coming had brought back, knew that these
+greetings were not insincere; that these friends of a by-gone period
+regarded him as a wanderer returned to the fold.
+
+When everyone had settled down again to drink tea and chatter, Calamity
+seated himself between Lady Betty and an eminent politician for whom he
+had "fagged" at Eton, while Elfrida stood near, watching him with the
+grave deliberation of childhood. During a momentary pause in the
+conversation she drew closer to him and placed a beseeching hand on his
+knee.
+
+"Oh, Uncle John," she said breathlessly, "do tell us about fighting the
+pirates. Were you afraid?"
+
+Calamity smiled almost genially as he turned to the eager little
+questioner.
+
+"No, Elfrida, I wasn't afraid. A pirate is a person I thoroughly
+understand. In fact, I came very near being hanged for a pirate,
+myself."
+
+Elfrida clapped her hands with delight and the others smiled tolerantly
+at what they took for granted was a joke.
+
+"Isn't he sweet?" murmured a motherly dowager to McPhulach, who was
+sitting near her.
+
+The engineer started.
+
+"Eh?" he ejaculated.
+
+"Isn't he sweet?" repeated the dowager, shouting at him a little in the
+belief that he was deaf.
+
+McPhulach did not answer for a moment. Before him there arose a vision
+of the Captain of the _Hawk_ smashing right and left among his mutinous
+crew with a capstan-bar, and another picture of the same man as he led
+his rabble followers up the bullet-swept slope of the German island.
+
+"Weel," he replied at last, "I wouldna go sae far as tae say that. He's
+a michty quare mon, ye'll ken."
+
+The dowager's comment had been overheard by Lady Betty, and it set her
+thinking. Was it only to her eyes that this man whom she had once
+promised to marry seemed so grim and terrible? Lady Mitford had called
+him "sweet," Elfrida obviously adored him, and the others seemed to be
+at their ease with him. Why was it that his terrific personality seemed
+to disquiet her alone?
+
+The matter was still exercising her mind when she came down that
+evening, dressed for dinner. She had heard Calamity go down a little
+earlier and had hastened her dressing in order to snatch a quiet talk
+with him before the others left their rooms. But he was in neither the
+smoking-room nor the library, and so she made her way to the gallery,
+where his ancestors gazed down from the walls in painted stiffness.
+
+Here she found him, pacing up and down, apparently in a brown study. He
+looked up as she entered, and Lady Betty, after a second's hesitation,
+went to him and laid her hand upon his arm.
+
+"I was sure you'd be here," she said softly. "I know you so well."
+
+She looked very delicate and sweet in the shaded light, and the fire,
+suddenly flaming up, glinted on the gold of her hair.
+
+He laughed, a little bitterly.
+
+"Know me, do you?" he asked. "Is that why you married my brother after
+promising to marry me?"
+
+She looked at him silently for a moment, affronted by his tone yet not
+knowing what to say.
+
+"It is cruel of you to take that tone," she said at last. "You know very
+well that after what happened I--I couldn't----"
+
+"Be decent to me again," he concluded for her. "You don't seem to find
+it so difficult to-day, although the charge against me has not been
+disproved."
+
+"It's so long ago. You must see, yourself, that it's different now."
+
+"Since I've become head of the family?" he suggested.
+
+She drew herself up haughtily and walked towards the fireplace, where
+she stood looking down into the blaze.
+
+"What would you have had me do?" she asked without looking round.
+
+"Believe in my innocence!"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I couldn't do that," she answered. "But if I had been that kind of--of
+fool, what then?"
+
+He shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. Standing there in the
+firelight, Lady Betty looked unquestionably beautiful, and yet Calamity
+felt a great weariness of her and of this scene. His mind took a leap
+through time and space, and he saw himself once more upon the deck of
+the _Hawk_, facing, not this delicately nurtured woman, but a girl with
+fearless eyes and wind-swept hair; a girl who would have believed in him
+against the world.
+
+Lady Betty crossed to him.
+
+"You are unjust to me," she said.
+
+"You were unjust to me," he replied.
+
+She gave a weary little sigh. It seemed hopeless to try and make him see
+her point of view.
+
+"Suppose I told you that I could now prove my innocence," he said,
+turning on her abruptly, "how would you feel about the past?"
+
+"It's--it's impossible."
+
+"Impossible! Not a bit of it. I suppose you wondered why I brought that
+Scotchman here? Well he's one of the witnesses to a confession signed by
+a confederate of the real criminal. Vayne will be coming to-night
+bringing that confession with him. I told him that we would all adjourn
+to the library after dinner to hear him read it."
+
+Fifteen years ago when her lover had declared his innocence, Lady Betty
+had not believed him; now, when he told her that he could prove himself
+guiltless, she knew intuitively that he spoke the truth.
+
+"John, I--I'm very glad," she said, her face colourless and stricken.
+
+He nodded and moved away. To him, also, the moment was poignant.
+Presently he became aware of her hand on his arm, and turning, saw her
+standing beside him with bowed head.
+
+"John, what can I say? Words are so useless--now."
+
+"You haven't asked me who did it?"
+
+"What does that matter?" she asked, wondering at the passion in his
+face.
+
+"For fifteen years," he went on as though he had not heard her, "I have
+known the truth and hated him. When, by chance, I met the man who made
+this confession, I determined to clear my name no matter how others
+might suffer in consequence."
+
+He paused and then, with a contemptuous laugh, went on,
+
+"Now, at the last moment--the moment of triumph--the traditions of this
+house are too strong for me. I can't do it."
+
+While she looked at him wonderingly, he seized her by the arm and led
+her to the portrait of his brother, her late husband.
+
+"There," he said, pointing violently at it, "George, Viscount Redhurst,
+forger and liar! As unworthy to take his place among these noble members
+of a noble race as I should be if I proved his guilt."
+
+He released her arm, and, turning away, paced up and down the room, his
+face working. Lady Betty groped her way to one of the window-seats,
+and, sinking into it, covered her face with her hands. Of the two she,
+perhaps, was suffering more at that moment than the victim of her dead
+husband's crime, for her world seemed to be crashing about her ears. The
+husband whom she had respected, if not loved, a forger and worse than a
+forger; the man whom she had loved and whom she knew at that moment she
+still loved, guiltless and perhaps extending to her the hatred he bore
+his dead brother. What, indeed, was left to her?
+
+She raised her head to find him standing before her, with no trace in
+his face of the passion of a moment ago.
+
+"Don't be afraid," he said, "there will be no meeting in the library
+to-night, and to-morrow I leave for California."
+
+"California?" she repeated blankly.
+
+"Yes," he answered; "what is there to keep me here? This place is no
+more home to me now than when my father turned me out of it."
+
+A revelation of what the sacrifice he was making meant to this man came
+to her, and she mentally saw him set out again from the home of his
+boyhood, an exile and still bearing the burden of another's guilt.
+
+"Are you doing this for me?" she asked in a trembling voice, dreading
+his answer.
+
+"No."
+
+"Then why----"
+
+"Partly Elfrida, partly these," and he moved his arm to indicate his
+ancestors in their frames. "_Noblesse oblige_, you know."
+
+"But--California." Her voice was a husky whisper.
+
+"California, Betty. I----" he paused a moment and smiled as if at some
+unspoken thought. "I am interested in fruit-farming."
+
+But here Lady Betty's self-control gave way. She knew that he meant what
+he said, and that if he left England she would probably never see him
+again. She began, incoherently:
+
+"Oh, John, I can't let you leave me. Do you understand, I can't----"
+
+A deafening clangour arose close at hand and drowned her words. When it
+had ceased Calamity did not wait for her to continue.
+
+"The dinner-gong," he said. "Shall we go?"
+
+
+
+_Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ld.,
+London and Aylesbury._
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40563 ***