THE FLAG OF TRUCE
We were not interrupted during all this time, and from the sound of the
screw we could tell that the yacht was still ploughing her way, but
clearly it was not now for Buenos Ayres. At six we took some food
prepared by the cook, and considered the position with more equanimity.
Counting the cook, who had not been reckoned in our previous numbering,
we were now reduced to a party of ten men, if Pye could be accounted a
man after his cowardly behaviour. There were six sailors in the hold at
present useless, and the mutineers, even after their losses, were not
far short of thirty. Of Legrand we knew nothing, but could only hope
for the best. So long as we could hold the saloon we had plenty of food
and water, and our stock of ammunition was ample. The outlook did not
appear so bad. Only on the other side we had to remember that Holgate
had the ship and could go whither he wished. Even if coal failed him he
had the auxiliary power of the sails. Our main hope was to hold out
until his provisions should be exhausted and he should be obliged to
put into some port. Then would come the hour of reckoning, for we were
probably better supplied with provisions than was the forecastle.
The ladies breakfasted in their cabins, but the Prince was present at
our common table, showing a right democratic attitude.
"We are all in a common peril, gentlemen," he said with spirit. "We
must not make differences. But there must be discipline," he added.
There was, therefore, a certain _camaraderie_ reigning which had been
foreign to the yacht before, and Lane gave way to his native garrulity,
enlivening the table by some anecdotes, at which even Barraclough
condescended to smile.
"My hat!" cried the purser suddenly, slapping his flank. "They've not
got what they fought for, and we've none of us thought of it."
There was a pause. It was true, none of us had thought of it; we had
been too busy thinking of other things.
"Are you sure?" said I.
Lane rose. "Let's go and see," said he. "But I've all the keys, and
I'll swear no one came down in the neighbourhood of the strong-room
while I was there."
We trooped down, Prince and all, and it was as the purser had said. The
safes were untouched. Barraclough elevated his eyebrows.
"The fools!" he commented.
"Well, it doesn't seem to me quite that," said I slowly. "It only looks
as if Holgate was certain."
"What do you mean?" he asked, and they all looked at me.
"Why, if he did not take the trouble to touch this, he cannot be in a
hurry. I never came upon a man with a cooler head. He's not in a hurry,
that's a fact. It's been deliberate all through, from the very moment
we left the Thames."
We looked at each other now. "Jerusalem!" said Lane. "What a savage!
He's made sure of us, then."
"He can wait his time," I said. "He has waited, and can wait longer.
The ship's in his hands."
"You take a gloomy view, sir," observed the Prince with a frown.
"Well, Mr. Morland," I replied drily. "I don't think we're here to
glaze matters over. We've got to face things, and one of these things
is that Holgate hasn't worried us since he got possession. How are you
going to account for that, save on my hypothesis?"
"They shall be hanged--every one," he exclaimed angrily, the German
accent emerging roughly now.
"Well, we'll do our best, sir," I replied lightly.
I shut the strong-room door, and Lane locked it; and, as I turned, I
saw the white face of Pye in the background. He had been missing from
breakfast, and he looked very sickly, very pale, and very much abashed.
The Prince noticed him, too, and addressed him sharply.
"Why are you here, sir? What do you mean by leaving your quarters? I
will have discipline kept on this ship."
"I have no quarters," pleaded Pye humbly. "I was feeling sick, and lay
down in my bunk."
"You shall get to your quarters now, sir," declared the Prince
severely. "Sir John, order this man to his post."
The little man was so downcast, and was obviously so unwell, that I
took pity on him, and cheered him as he went upstairs.
"Never mind, Pye," I said. "We'll pull through."
He shook his head. "Ah, it isn't that," he said. "But I disgraced
myself, doctor. I'm not built that way. It was awful--awful." He
shuddered.
"Yes, we'll get our little tum-tums full of it now, I guess," remarked
Lane cheerfully. "You freeze on to your barker, boy. You'll need it
before we fetch up at Albert Docks again. It's Execution Docks for some
of us, I'll lay. Have a cigar, doctor?"
I accepted, but Pye refused, turning a sallow hue. His nerves had not
yet recovered, and he had certainly drunk a good deal of brandy.
Ellison and Jackson were on watch below, and when we reached the
corridor Grant signalled us in a whisper from his peep-hole.
"Some one coming along this way, sir."
Barraclough sprang to his side. "By Heaven, it's Holgate, damn him," he
said, "with a flag of truce."
"Open that door," said the Prince evenly.
Grant turned the key and drew the bolt, and the door fell ajar.
Holgate's big form was stationed before it, and he waved a flag.
"A truce, gentlemen," he said wheezily.
I looked at the Prince and Barraclough for the answer, and to my
amazement saw that the former had his revolver at the level. His finger
was on the trigger. I leaped forward and struck it up, and the bullet
buried itself in the walls of the cabin.
"What do you mean, sir?" he thundered, turning on me savagely. "How
dare you?"
"Mr. Morland," said I. "You spoke of discipline a little ago. Well, how
do you keep it?"
"This is my ship," he said furiously.
"Yes," said I, "and it is in the charge of Sir John Barraclough here,
who will tell you, perhaps, that it is against the laws of equity, not
to say common sense, to fire on a flag of truce."
Sir John looked uneasy. "The doctor is right, sir," he said. "We ought
to hear what he's got to say."
"He is a villainous murderer. I will see that they are hanged," said
the Prince, with a scowl at me. But he let his arm fall. Behind him I
could see the Princess, but her face was averted.
Holgate's figure blocked the doorway. "If I may come in," he said
smoothly, "and you're quite done with your pistol practice, gentlemen,
I should like to make a proposal to you."
"It shall be unconditional surrender, Sir John Barraclough," said the
Prince morosely; "I will have no other terms."
"You may come in," said Barraclough shortly.
Holgate edged himself through. "I claim the protection of this flag,"
said he flatly, and looked about him. "I hope my men haven't knocked
you about too much. Doctor, my respects to you. You've got a head on
you."
"Come to business, sir," said Barraclough harshly.
"Sir John, I've saved your ship, and I hope you'll lay that to my
credit," said Holgate in his leisurely voice. "I found her drifting on
a lee shore when I took charge, and, by thunder, she'd have floundered
in another half-hour. So whatever you set on one side of the ledger,
there's that lump on the other."
"We're not here to talk about these matters," said Barraclough sternly.
"Excuse me, Sir John, we are," said Holgate sweetly. "We're just on
that and nothing else. It's pretty clear how you stand, but if you like
I'll rehearse the situation. And I want you to understand where
_I_ stand. See? I don't think that's so clear to you; and I want
ventilation. This is a duffing game for his Royal Highness there. He
stands to make nothing out of it, as things go, and there's precious
little in it for any of you. Here you are prisoners in these palatial
rooms, outnumbered by more than two to one, and not a man of his hands
among you, if I except the doctor. Well, you can hold out, I daresay. I
know all about that. You've got a call on the food cupboard, and you're
welcome to it. But I've got the yacht, and she'll canter under my
hands, not Sir John's. Don't you make any mistake. You're not in a
first-class position, gentlemen."
"You're a long time coming to the point," said Barraclough with
exemplary curtness. "We have no time to waste."
"Well, gentlemen, I'm willing to make a deal--that's the short of it--a
deal that will suit both parties. That's the pith of the situation."
He gazed from one to another of us unembarrassed, and even with an
expression of amiable cheerfulness. "And my proposal's this----"
"Unconditional surrender," broke in the Prince's harsh voice.
"That so?" says Holgate without concern, directing a glance at the
speaker. "I guess, Mr. Morland, you're in this for more than your
health. So am I. But I should like to know before starting whom I've
got to deal with, just by way of encouragement, so to say." He paused.
"I don't want to pry into any secrets, but it would suit me better if I
knew whom to address. Owing to the unfortunate decease of the late
Captain Day----"
"You infernal ruffian; you murderer!" broke fiercely out of Lane's
throat. "You'll hang yet, by heaven, or I'll eat my hat."
Holgate turned his heavy face and still sombre eyes upon the purser,
but said nothing nor otherwise remarked his outburst. It was
Barraclough who spoke:
"Excuse me, Mr. Lane, this is my affair, not yours," he said abruptly.
"Go on, sir," to Holgate.
"I can wait, of course," said the mutineer with cool irony. "There
isn't much hurry about the matter now the ship lays her course. But I
should prefer a business deal with business people, and I take it that
that means with you, Sir John."
Barraclough nodded. "You may address me," he said. "And you will get
your answer from me."
"That's all right, then. And having settled so much, this is what I've
got to lay before you," proceeded Holgate placidly, breathing out his
words. "There's been a certain amount of pawn-taking in this game, and
we've both got to pass it over if we're coming to business. Now you
know what I want, and by this time you pretty well ought to know what
you want also. You're in a tight fix. Well, if you'll hand over the
contents of the strong-room we'll get out a proper contract, as thus:
self to take the said contents, agreeing therewith to allow his Royal
Highness, or Mr. Morland (which you will), a moiety of the same,
provided that the party be landed at a suitable place not more than ten
miles from a civilised town, and provided always that no more be heard
of the steps leading up to this contract."
He came to a pause, and eyed us, with a gaze divested of any eagerness,
even of any significance. The Prince uttered a loud laugh, but
Barraclough, as became his position, kept his expression. I was a
little out of the group, and I could pick out the faces of the company.
The Princess had moved forward and leaned now with her chin on her open
palm, and one foot upon the settee near the door. She was frankly
staring at the mutineer who made these astounding proposals. The Prince
and Barraclough conferred in whispers, and presently the latter resumed
his position.
"If you want the contents of the strong-room," he said, "it is
suggested that you had better come and take them."
Holgate's eyebrows went up. "Well, I could do that, of course," he said
slowly. "Don't suppose I've overlooked that solution of the little
problem. But I'm dealing with you squarely when I say I'd rather not.
For why? Because I don't want any further mess. We've slopped about
enough for the present, and I should say you gentlemen know it."
He paused again, as if to give us an opportunity of revising our
decision, and once more the Prince and Sir John interchanged whispers.
Barraclough shook his head vigorously, and a frown gathered on his
features. In the fine light of the skylights Princess Alix's silhouette
stood out, and the soft hair on her forehead was ruffled by the breeze.
She was still gazing at Holgate. His bull-neck turned and he faced
towards her, and their glances met. Neither gave way nor winced before
the salvos of the other, and I had the odd thought that some strange
duel was in progress, in which the antagonists were that fair woman and
that villainous, gross man. Holgate's eyes shifted only when
Barraclough spoke next.
"If you leave the yacht at the next port or place of call we shall be
powerless to prevent you and the men under you," said Barraclough in a
dry, formal voice. "But the mutiny will be, of course, reported to the
British Consul at the most accessible port."
"That's a compromise, I reckon," observed Holgate with a grin, which
showed his fang. "That's owner and first officer commanding rolled into
one and halved, or I'm Dutch. Well, I'll let it go; but I've offered
fair terms. And I'll tell you frankly that I wouldn't even have offered
those had it not been for the doctor." He shook his head, wagging it at
me. "Oh, doctor, doctor, to think what I lost in you! Why, we could
have taken our time over the strong-room, barring your little
intervention. You're a real daisy, and I won't forget it. But now it's
in the hands of Providence. It's war. Sir John, I congratulate the
double-barrelled leaders. There's two captains here, and that's one too
many. I only allow one in my quarters. All right, gentlemen." He took
up his flag and waddled towards the door. "Good-morning. I've done what
I could. Don't blame me."
On the threshold he paused, and his glance marched deliberately over us
all, landing at last upon the Princess. "May the Lord help you," says
he in his voice of suet. "May the Lord be merciful to you--all!"
The door went behind him with a snap. I turned almost unconsciously in
that direction in which the last shafts of his eyes had flown. The
accent on the "all" had been perceptible. Princess Alix had lifted her
chin from her hand and set down her foot. She held on to the arm of the
settee, and I could perceive her trembling. Her face had gone white
like paper, and she stared at the closed door. I moved quickly towards
her, for I was a doctor, if I had no other right there. My arrival
broke upon her thought; she started, and the colour flowed back slowly
into her face.
"That man is the most awful man I have ever seen," she said with a
shudder.
"He is not so awful as he thinks," I said encouragingly.
She shook her head, and moved away. I followed her. "If I might
suggest, I would advise you to take a rest," I said. "You have had a
most trying night."
"Yes--I will rest," she returned with a sigh; and then, as we walked
down the corridor together, "I thought you were right when you spoke
to--to my brother in regard to the revolver; but now I don't know. I
think anything that would rid the world of such a monster is
justifiable."
"Perhaps," I replied. "But he is making war, and we are on terms of
war, and more or less bound by them. At least, that is one's general
notion. But who can tell? The ethical boundaries, and the borders of
honour, are indefinable and intangible."
"I think I would have shot him myself," she said vehemently.
"I hope we shall hang him yet," I answered.
She looked at me out of her blue lustrous eyes, as if deliberating.
"We depend a good deal on you, Dr. Phillimore," she said next.
"We are all dependent on one another," said I.
"Do you suppose that man meant what he said?" she asked.
"No," I said. "I would distrust every statement of his. I can't
determine what was in his mind or what he is aiming at. But this I
know, that to make a compact with him would be to be at his mercy. He
is ruthless; he would not consider what blood he shed; and, besides, he
has committed himself too deeply, and is no fool to ignore that."
She sighed again. "I am glad," she murmured. "I thought perhaps that it
would be wise. But my brother would never consent. Only I was afraid.
But I am glad it would have been of no use. That makes only one course
possible."
"Only one," I said gravely. We came to a pause by the door of the
cabin. "I think I had better see to Mademoiselle," I said, "in case of
emergencies."
"Yes, please," she said with a start, and opened the door of the
_boudoir_.
Mademoiselle, clad in a wonderful dishabille, was seated under the
electric light, engaged in a game of dominoes with her maid, and just
threw a glance at us as we entered.
"There ... _tenez_ ... _la_, _la_ ..." she said excitedly, and marked
her board and scrambled up the dominoes in a heap.
"Juliette has won never," she cried in her broken English. "I have won
three times. Where is Frederic, _ma cherie_? He is not fighting?
_Non?_"
"There is no fighting now, Yvonne," replied the Princess with admirable
restraint, as seemed to me. "Frederic is well."
"Oh, but the noise in the night," she rattled on in her own tongue. "It
was dreadful. I could not sleep for the guns. It was abominable to
mutiny. Ah, it is the doctor. Pardon, this light is not good, and they
have boarded up the windows. We must live in darkness," she added
peevishly. "But how are you, doctor? You have not been to cheer us
lately. It is a dull ship."
"Why, we consider it pretty lively, Mademoiselle," I answered lightly.
"It keeps us occupied."
"Ah, yes," she laughed. "But that is over now, and you will only have
to dispose of the prisoners, to guillotine? ... No, to hang?"
"It is we who are prisoners," said the Princess abruptly.
Mademoiselle stared. "_Mon Dieu!_ Prisoners! Oh, but it is not so,
Alix. Juliette, shuffle, or I will box your ears, silly... Whose
prisoners are we?"
"The anterooms, Mademoiselle, are cut off from the rest of the ship," I
explained. "Are you prepared to stand a siege?"
"Oh, but we have gallant defenders enough," she said with her pretty
laugh. "I am not afraid. It will be experience. Juliette, open, open,
stupid. Do not stare at Monsieur like a pig. Play."
I passed on, the Princess following me. "When I left her she was in
tears," she said in a low voice.
"She may be in tears again," I said. "But at present she wants no help
from me. She suffices entirely for herself."
Our eyes encountered, and I am sure of what I saw in hers; if we met on
no other ground we met on a curious understanding of Mademoiselle. I
took my leave ceremoniously.