"Help! help! help!" someone was shouting, and then it rose from a shout
into a scream.
"My God! Sir!" I shouted. "That's one of the men up at the fore royal!"
"Listen!" ordered the Second Mate. "Listen!" Even as he spoke, it came
again--broken and, as it were, in gasps.
"Help!... Oh!... God!... Oh!... Help! H-e-l-p!"
Abruptly, Stubbins's voice struck in.
"Hup with us, lads! By God! hup with us!" and he made a spring into the
fore rigging. I shoved the handle of the lantern between my teeth, and
followed. Plummer was coming; but the Second Mate pulled him back.
"That's sufficient," he said. "I'm going," and he came up after me.
We went over the foretop, racing like fiends. The light from the lantern
prevented me from seeing to any distance in the darkness; but, at the
crosstrees, Stubbins, who was some ratlines ahead, shouted out all at
once, and in gasps:
"They're fightin' ... like ... hell!"
"What?" called the Second Mate, breathlessly.
Apparently, Stubbins did not hear him; for he made no reply. We cleared
the crosstrees, and climbed into the t'gallant rigging. The wind was
fairly fresh up there, and overhead, there sounded the flap, flap of
sailcloth flying in the wind; but since we had left the deck, there had
been no other sound from above.
Now, abruptly, there came again a wild crying from the darkness over us.
A strange, wild medley it was of screams for help, mixed up with
violent, breathless curses.
Beneath the royal yard, Stubbins halted, and looked down to me.
"Hurry hup ... with ther ... lantern ... Jessop!" he shouted, catching
his breath between the words. "There'll be ... murder done ... hin a
minute!"
I reached him, and held the light up for him to catch. He stooped, and
took it from me. Then, holding it above his head, he went a few ratlines
higher. In this manner, he reached to a level with the royal yard. From
my position, a little below him, the lantern seemed but to throw a few
straggling, flickering rays along the spar; yet they showed me
something. My first glance had been to wind'ard, and I had seen at once,
that there was nothing on the weather yard arm. From there my gaze went
to leeward. Indistinctly, I saw something upon the yard, that clung,
struggling. Stubbins bent towards it with the light; thus I saw it more
clearly. It was Jacobs, the Ordinary Seaman. He had his right arm
tightly round the yard; with the other, he appeared to be fending
himself from something on the other side of him, and further out upon
the yard. At times, moans and gasps came from him, and sometimes curses.
Once, as he appeared to be dragged partly from his hold, he screamed
like a woman. His whole attitude suggested stubborn despair. I can
scarcely tell you how this extraordinary sight affected me. I seemed to
stare at it without realising that the affair was a real happening.
During the few seconds which I had spent staring and breathless,
Stubbins had climbed round the after side of the mast, and now I began
again to follow him.
From his position below me, the Second had not been able to see the
thing that was occurring on the yard, and he sung out to me to know what
was happening.
"It's Jacobs, Sir," I called back. "He seems to be fighting with someone
to looard of him. I can't see very plainly yet."
Stubbins had got round on to the lee foot-rope, and now he held the
lantern up, peering, and I made my way quickly alongside of him. The
Second Mate followed; but instead of getting down on to the foot-rope,
he got on the yard, and stood there holding on to the tie. He sung out
for one of us to pass him up the lantern, which I did, Stubbins handing
it to me. The Second held it out at arm's length, so that it lit up the
lee part of the yard. The light showed through the darkness, as far as
to where Jacobs struggled so weirdly. Beyond him, nothing was distinct.
There had been a moment's delay while we were passing the lantern up to
the Second Mate. Now, however, Stubbins and I moved out slowly along the
foot-rope. We went slowly; but we did well to go at all, with any show
of boldness; for the whole business was so abominably uncanny. It seems
impossible to convey truly to you, the strange scene on the royal yard.
You may be able to picture it yourselves. The Second Mate standing upon
the spar, holding the lantern; his body swaying with each roll of the
ship, and his head craned forward as he peered along the yard. On our
left, Jacobs, mad, fighting, cursing, praying, gasping; and outside of
him, shadows and the night.
The Second Mate spoke, abruptly.
"Hold on a moment!" he said. Then:
"Jacobs!" he shouted. "Jacobs, do you hear me?"
There was no reply, only the continual gasping and cursing.
"Go on," the Second Mate said to us. "But be careful. Keep a tight
hold!"
He held the lantern higher and we went out cautiously.
Stubbins reached the Ordinary, and put his hand on his shoulder, with a
soothing gesture.
"Steady hon now, Jacobs," he said. "Steady hon."
At his touch, as though by magic, the young fellow calmed down, and
Stubbins--reaching round him--grasped the jackstay on the other side.
"Get a hold of him your side, Jessop," he sung out. "I'll get this
side."
This, I did, and Stubbins climbed round him.
"There hain't no one here," Stubbins called to me; but his voice
expressed no surprise.
"What!" sung out the Second Mate. "No one there! Where's Svensen,
then?"
I did not catch Stubbins's reply; for suddenly, it seemed to me that I
saw something shadowy at the extreme end of the yard, out by the lift. I
stared. It rose up, on the yard, and I saw that it was the figure of a
man. It grasped at the lift, and commenced to swarm up, quickly. It
passed diagonally above Stubbins's head, and reached down a vague hand
and arm.
"Look out! Stubbins!" I shouted. "Look out!"
"What's up now?" he called, in a startled voice. At the same instant,
his cap went whirling away to leeward.
"Damn the wind!" he burst out.
Then all at once, Jacobs, who had only been giving an occasional moan,
commenced to shriek and struggle.
"Hold fast onto him!" Stubbins yelled. "He'll be throwin' himself off
the yard."
I put my left arm round the Ordinary's body--getting hold of the
jackstay on the other side. Then I looked up. Above us, I seemed to see
something dark and indistinct, that moved rapidly up the lift.
"Keep tight hold of him, while I get a gasket," I heard the Second Mate
sing out.
A moment later there was a crash, and the light disappeared.
"Damn and set fire to the sail!" shouted the Second Mate.
I twisted round, somewhat, and looked in his direction. I could dimly
make him out on the yard. He had evidently been in the act of getting
down on to the foot-rope, when the lantern was smashed. From him, my
gaze jumped to the lee rigging. It seemed that I made out some shadowy
thing stealing down through the darkness; but I could not be sure; and
then, in a breath, it had gone.
"Anything wrong, Sir?" I called out.
"Yes," he answered. "I've dropped the lantern. The blessed sail knocked
it out of my hand!"
"We'll be all right, Sir," I replied. "I think we can manage without it.
Jacobs seems to be quieter now."
"Well, be careful as you come in," he warned us.
"Come on, Jacobs," I said. "Come on; we'll go down on deck."
"Go along, young feller," Stubbins put in. "You're right now. We'll take
care of you." And we started to guide him along the yard.
He went willingly enough, though without saying a word. He seemed like a
child. Once or twice he shivered; but said nothing.
We got him in to the lee rigging. Then, one going beside him, and the
other keeping below, we made our way slowly down on deck. We went very
slowly--so slowly, in fact, that the Second Mate--who had stayed a
minute to shove the gasket round the lee side of the sail--was almost as
soon down.
"Take Jacobs forrard to his bunk," he said, and went away aft to where a
crowd of the men, one with a lantern, stood round the door of an empty
berth under the break of the poop on the starboard side.
We hurried forrard to the fo'cas'le. There we found all in darkness.
"They're haft with Jock, and Svenson!" Stubbins had hesitated an instant
before saying the name.
"Yes," I replied. "That's what it must have been, right enough."
"I kind of knew it all ther time," he said.
I stepped in through the doorway, and struck a match. Stubbins followed,
guiding Jacobs before him, and, together, we got him into his bunk. We
covered him up with his blankets, for he was pretty shivery. Then we
came out. During the whole time, he had not spoken a word.
As we went aft, Stubbins remarked that he thought the business must have
made him a bit dotty.
"It's driven him clean barmy," he went on. "He don't hunderstand a word
that's said ter him."
"He may be different in the morning," I answered.
As we neared the poop, and the crowd of waiting men, he spoke again:
"They've put 'em hinter ther Second's hempty berth."
"Yes," I said. "Poor beggars."
We reached the other men, and they opened out, and allowed us to get
near the door. Several of them asked in low tones, whether Jacobs was
all right, and I told them, "Yes"; not saying anything then about his
condition.
I got close up to the doorway, and looked into the berth. The lamp was
lit, and I could see, plainly. There were two bunks in the place, and a
man had been laid in each. The Skipper was there, leaning up against a
bulkshead. He looked worried; but was silent--seeming to be mooding in
his own thoughts. The Second Mate was busy with a couple of flags, which
he was spreading over the bodies. The First Mate was talking, evidently
telling him something; but his tone was so low that I caught his words
only with difficulty. It struck me that he seemed pretty subdued. I got
parts of his sentences in patches, as it were.
"...broken," I heard him say. "And the Dutchman...."
"I've seen him," the Second Mate said, shortly.
"Two, straight off the reel," said the Mate "...three in...."
The Second made no reply.
"Of course, yer know ... accident." The First Mate went on.
"Is it!" the Second said, in a queer voice.
I saw the Mate glance at him, in a doubtful sort of way; but the Second
was covering poor old Jock's dead face, and did not appear to notice his
look.
"It--it--" the mate said, and stopped.
After a moment's hesitation, he said something further, that I could not
catch; but there seemed a lot of funk in his voice.
The Second Mate appeared not to have heard him; at any rate, he made no
reply; but bent, and straightened out a corner of the flag over the
rigid figure in the lower bunk. There was a certain niceness in his
action which made me warm towards him.
"He's white!" I thought to myself.
Out loud, I said:
"We've put Jacobs into his bunk, Sir."
The Mate jumped; then whizzed round, and stared at me as though I had
been a ghost. The Second Mate turned also; but before he could speak,
the Skipper took a step towards me.
"Is he all right?" he asked.
"Well, Sir," I said. "He's a bit queer; but I think it's possible he may
be better, after a sleep."
"I hope so, too," he replied, and stepped out on deck. He went towards
the starboard poop ladder, walking slowly. The Second went and stood by
the lamp, and the Mate, after a quick glance at him, came out and
followed the Skipper up on to the poop. It occurred to me then, like a
flash, that the man had stumbled upon a portion of the _truth_. This
accident coming so soon after that other! It was evident that, in his
mind, he had connected them. I recollected the fragments of his remarks
to the Second Mate. Then, those many minor happenings that had cropped
up at different times, and at which he had sneered. I wondered whether
he would begin to comprehend their significance--their beastly, sinister
significance.
"Ah! Mr. Bully-Mate," I thought to myself. "You're in for a bad time if
you've begun to understand."
Abruptly, my thoughts jumped to the vague future before us.
"God help us!" I muttered.
The Second Mate, after a look round, turned down the wick of the lamp,
and came out, closing the door after him.
"Now, you men," he said to the Mate's watch, "get forrard; we can't do
anything more. You'd better go and get some sleep."
"i, i, Sir," they said, in a chorus.
Then, as we all turned to go forrard, he asked if anyone had relieved
the look-out.
"No, sir," answered Quoin.
"Is it yours?" the Second asked.
"Yes, Sir," he replied.
"Hurry up and relieve him then," the Second said.
"i, i, Sir," the man answered, and went forrard with the rest of us.
As we went, I asked Plummer who was at the wheel.
"Tom," he said.
As he spoke, several spots of rain fell, and I glanced up at the sky. It
had become thickly clouded.
"Looks as if it were going to breeze up," I said.
"Yes," he replied. "We'll be shortenin' 'er down 'fore long."
"May be an all-hands job," I remarked.
"Yes," he answered again. "'Twon't be no use their turnin' in, if it
is."
The man who was carrying the lantern, went into the fo'cas'le, and we
followed.
"Where's ther one, belongin' to our side?" Plummer asked.
"Got smashed hupstairs," answered Stubbins.
"'ow were that?" Plummer inquired.
Stubbins hesitated.
"The Second Mate dropped it," I replied. "The sail hit it, or
something."
The men in the other watch seemed to have no immediate intention of
turning-in; but sat in their bunks, and around on the chests. There was
a general lighting of pipes, in the midst of which there came a sudden
moan from one of the bunks in the forepart of the fo'cas'le--a part that
was always a bit gloomy, and was more so now, on account of our having
only one lamp.
"Wot's that?" asked one of the men belonging to the other side.
"S--sh!" said Stubbins. "It's him."
"'oo?" inquired Plummer. "Jacobs?"
"Yes," I replied. "Poor devil!"
"Wot were 'appenin' w'en yer got hup _ther'_?" asked the man on the
other side, indicating with a jerk of his head, the fore royal.
Before I could reply, Stubbins jumped up from his sea-chest.
"Ther Second Mate's whistlin'!" he said. "Come hon," and he ran out on
deck.
Plummer, Jaskett and I followed quickly. Outside, it had started to rain
pretty heavily. As we went, the Second Mate's voice came to us through
the darkness.
"Stand by the main royal clewlines and buntlines," I heard him shout,
and the next instant came the hollow thutter of the sail as he started
to lower away.
In a few minutes we had it hauled up.
"Up and furl it, a couple of you," he sung out.
I went towards the starboard rigging; then I hesitated. No one else had
moved.
The Second Mate came among us.
"Come on now, lads," he said. "Make a move. It's got to be done."
"I'll go," I said. "If someone else will come."
Still, no one stirred, and no one answered.
Tammy came across to me.
"I'll come," he volunteered, in a nervous voice.
"No, by God, no!" said the Second Mate, abruptly.
He jumped into the main rigging himself. "Come along, Jessop!" he
shouted.
I followed him; but I was astonished. I had fully expected him to get on
to the other fellows' tracks like a ton of bricks. It had not occurred
to me that he was making allowances. I was simply puzzled then; but
afterwards it dawned upon me.
No sooner had I followed the Second Mate, than, straightway, Stubbins,
Plummer, and Jaskett came up after us at a run.
About half-way to the maintop, the Second Mate stopped, and looked down.
"Who's that coming up below you, Jessop?" he asked.
Before I could, speak, Stubbins answered:
"It's me, Sir, an' Plummer an' Jaskett."
"Who the devil told you to come _now_? Go straight down, the lot of
you!"
"We're comin' hup ter keep you company, Sir," was his reply.
At that, I was confident of a burst of temper from the Second; and yet,
for the second time within a couple of minutes I was wrong. Instead of
cursing Stubbins, he, after a moment's pause, went on up the rigging,
without another word, and the rest of us followed. We reached the royal,
and made short work of it; indeed, there were sufficient of us to have
eaten it. When we had finished, I noticed that the Second Mate remained
on the yard until we were all in the rigging. Evidently, he had
determined to take a full share of any risk there might be; but I took
care to keep pretty close to him; so as to be on hand if anything
happened; yet we reached the deck again, without anything having
occurred. I have said, without anything having occurred; but I am not
really correct in this; for, as the Second Mate came down over the
crosstrees, he gave a short, abrupt cry.
"Anything wrong, Sir?" I asked.
"No--o!" he said. "Nothing! I banged my knee."
And yet _now_, I believe he was lying. For, that same watch, I was to
hear men giving just such cries; but, God knows, they had reason enough.
X
_Hands That Plucked_
Directly we reached the deck, the Second Mate gave the order:
"Mizzen t'gallant clewlines and buntlines," and led the way up on to the
poop. He went and stood by the haulyards, ready to lower away. As I
walked across to the starboard clewline, I saw that the Old Man was on
deck, and as I took hold of the rope, I heard him sing out to the Second
Mate.
"Call all hands to shorten sail, Mr. Tulipson."
"Very good, Sir," the Second Mate replied. Then he raised his voice:
"Go forrard, you, Jessop, and call all hands to shorten sail. You'd
better give them a call in the bosun's place, as you go."
"i, i, Sir," I sung out, and hurried off.
As I went, I heard him tell Tammy to go down and call the Mate.
Reaching the fo'cas'le, I put my head in through the starboard doorway,
and found some of the men beginning to turn-in.
"It's all hands on deck, shorten sail," I sung out.