II

I will say now that when I look back on that morning it is evident there

was a lack of discipline or command on board the _Pirate_; but at the

time it did not appear to me to be the fact, because the lack of

discipline was not apparent in my watch. Trunnell and I divided up the

men between us, and I believe I laid down the law pretty plain to the

Dagos and Swedes who fell to my lot. They couldn't understand much of

what I said, but they could tell something of my meaning when I held up a

rope's-end and belaying-pin before their eyes and made certain

significant gestures in regard to their manipulation. This may strike the

landsman as unnecessary and somewhat brutal; but, before he passes

judgment, he should try to take care of a lot of men who are, for a part,

a little lower than beasts.

If a man can understand the language you use, he can sometimes be made to

pay attention if he has the right kind of men over him, but when he

cannot understand and goes to sea with the certain knowledge he is on a

hard ship and will probably come to blows in a few minutes, he must have

some ocular demonstration of what is coming if he doesn't jump when a

mate sings out to him. Often the safety of the entire ship depends upon

the quickness with which an order can be carried out, and a man must not

hang back when the danger is deadly. He must do as he is told, instantly

and without question; if he gets killed--why, there is no great loss, for

any owner or skipper can get a crew aboard at any of the large ports of

trade. Of course, if he takes a different point of view, the only thing

for him to do is to stay on the beach. He must not ship on a sailing

packet that is carrying twenty percent more freight than the law allows

and is getting from three to four dollars a ton for carrying it some ten

or fifteen thousand miles over every kind of ocean between the frigid

zones. My men were surly enough, perhaps because they had heard what kind

of treatment they should expect; so after I had told them what they must

do, I bade them go below and straighten out their dunnage.

Mr. Trunnell, after separating his men from mine, cursed them

individually and collectively as everything he could think of, and only

stopped to scratch his big bushy head to figure out some new

condemnations. While doing this he saw me coming from the port side, and

forthwith he told me to take charge of the ship, as he was dead beat out

and would have to soak his head again before coming on watch. He smelled

horribly of stale liquor, and his eyes were bloodshot. I thought he would

be just as well off below, so I made no protest against taking command.

"Ye see, I never am used to it," he said, with a grin. "I can't drink

nothin'. Stave me, Rollins, but the first thing I'll be running foul of

some of these Dagos, and I don't want a fracas until I see the lay of the

old man. He's a queer one for sure, hey? Did you ever see a skipper with

such a look? Sech bleeding eyes--an' nose, hey? Like the beak of an old

albatross. He hasn't come out to lay the course yet, but let her go.

She'll head within half a point of what she's doin' now. Sink me, but I

don't believe there's three bloomin' beggars in my watch as can steer the

craft, and she's got a new wheel gear on her too. Call me if the old man

comes on deck." As he finished he staggered into the door of the forward

cabin and made for his room, leaving me in command.

I went aft and saw the lubber's mark holding on west by south, and after

being satisfied that the man steering could tell port from starboard, I

climbed the steps to the poop and took a good look around. It was a

beautiful morning and the sun shone brightly over our quarter-rail. The

land behind us stood boldly outlined against the sky, and the lumpy

clouds above were rosy with sunlight.

The air was cool, but not too sharp for comfort; the breeze from the

southward blew steadily and just sent the tops of the waves to foam, here

and there, like white stars appearing and disappearing on the expanse to

windward. The _Pirate_ lay along on the port tack, and with her skysails

to her trucks she made a beautiful sight. Her canvas was snowy white,

showing that no money had been spared on her sails. Her spars were all

painted or scraped and her standing rigging tarred down to a beautiful

blackness. Only on deck and among the ropes of her running gear was shown

that sign of untidiness which distinguishes the merchant vessel from the

man-of-war.

I managed to get some hands to work on the braces, and finally got the

yards trimmed shipshape and in the American fashion. That was, with the

lower yards sharp on the back-stays, the topsails a little further aft,

the t'gallant a little further still, until the main-skysail was almost

touching with its weather leach cutting into the breeze a point or more

forward of the weather beam. The fore and aft canvas was trimmed well,

and the outer jibs lifted the ship along at a slapping rate. She was

evidently fast in spite of her load, and I looked over the side at the

foam that was seething past the lee channels in swirls and eddies which

gave forth a cheerful hissing sound as they slipped aft at the rate of

six knots an hour. The man at the wheel held her easily, and that was a

blessing; for nothing is much worse for a mate's discomfort than a wild

ship sheering from side to side leaving a wake like the path of some

monstrous snake.

When I looked again on the main deck I saw the figure of a man whom I

failed to recognize as a member of the ship's company. He was standing

near the opening of the after-hatchway, which had not yet been battened

down, and his gaze was fixed upon me. He was a broad-shouldered fellow,

about the average height, and was dressed in a tight-fitting black coat

which reached to his knees. On his head was a skull cap with a long

tassel hanging down from its top, and in his mouth was a handsome

meerschaum pipe, which hung down by its stem to the middle of his breast.

His beard was long and just turning gray, and his eyebrows were heavy and

prominent.

I stood staring at the figure, and I must say I never saw a more

brutal expression upon a man's face. His large mouth and thick lips

appeared to wear a sneering smile, while his eyes twinkled with

undisguised amusement. His nose was large and flat like a Hottentot's,

and while I gazed at him in astonishment, he raised it in the air and

gave forth a snort which apparently meant that he was well satisfied

with the way affairs were being carried on aboard the ship and he was

consequently amused.

"Here! you man; what the deuce are you doing aboard here?" I asked as I

advanced to the break of the poop and stared down at him. He gave another

snort, and looked at me with undisguised contempt, but disdained to

answer and turned away, going to the lee rail and expectorating over the

side. Then he came slowly back across the main deck, while my spleen rose

at his superior indifference. I have always been a man of the people, and

have fought my way along to whatever position I have held on the

comprehensive rule of give and take. Nothing is so offensive to me as the

assumption of superiority when backed solely by a man's own conception of

his value. Therefore it was in no pleasant tone that I addressed the

stranger on his return to the deck beneath me.

"My fine cock," said I, "if you haven't a tongue, you probably have ears,

and if you don't want them to feel like the grate-bars of the galley

stove, you'll do well to sing out when I speak. Can you rise to that?"

The man looked me squarely in the eyes, and I never saw such a fiendish

expression come into a human face as that which gathered in his. "You

infernal, impudent--" he began; and here for a moment followed a string

of foul oaths from the man's lips, while he passed his hand behind his

back and drew forth a long knife. Then without a moment's further

hesitation he sprang up the steps to the poop.

The fiendishness of the attack took me off my guard, for I was not

prepared for such a serious fracas during the first half hour in command

of the deck; but I saw there was little time to lose. There were no

belaying-pins handy, so the thing for me was to get in as close as

possible and get the fellow's knife.

As he came up the steps, I rushed for him and kicked out with all my

strength, when his face was level with my knees. The toe of my heavy shoe

caught him solidly in the neck, and he went over backward almost in a

complete somersault, landing with a crash upon the main deck just outside

the window of Mr. Trunnell's room. He was stunned by the fall, and I

hastened down to seize him before he could recover. Just as I gained the

main deck, however, he gave a snort and started to his feet. Then he let

out a yell like a madman and closed with me, my right hand luckily

reaching his wrist below the knife.

It was up and down, and all over the deck for a time, the men crowding

aft around us, but fearing to take a hand. The fellow had enormous

strength, and the way he made that knife hand jump and twist gave me all

I could do to keep fast to it. Soon I found I was losing ground, and he

noted the fact, exerting himself more and more as he found me failing.

Then it dawned upon me that I was in a bad fix, and I tried to think

quickly for some means to save myself. In another mad struggle he would

wrench himself clear, and his ugly look told me plainly how much mercy I

could expect. I gave one last despairing grip on his wrist as he tore

wildly about, and then I felt his arm slip clear of my fingers, and I

waited for the stroke with my left arm drawn up to stop its force as far

as possible. I could almost feel the sting of the steel in my tense

nerves, when something suddenly caught me around the middle and pressed

me with great force against my enemy. His face was almost against mine,

but his arms were pinioned to his sides, powerless, and then I was aware

that we both were encircled by the ape-like arms of the mate, Mr.

Trunnell. How the little fellow held on was a marvel. He braced his short

legs wide apart, and giving a hug that almost took the breath out of me,

bawled lustily for some man to pass a lashing.

Suddenly a man rushed aft and passed a line around the stranger, and I

saw that the young landlubber to whom, earlier in the morning, I had been

so harsh was a man to be depended on. The young fellow tied my enemy up

in short order, although the knots he used would not have done any credit

to a sailor. But I was more than thankful when I had a chance to wring

the long knife out of the murderous stranger's hand, and I spoke out to

the smooth-faced fellow. "You'll do, my boy, even if you don't know a

yard from a main-brace bumpkin. Pass a line around his legs and stuff a

swab into his mouth if he don't stop swearing."

"Steady," said Trunnell, "none of that," as the swab was being brought

up. "But, Captain Andrews, if you don't belay your tongue we'll have to

do something." And the little mate squared his shoulders, and gazed

calmly down upon the prostrate stranger who foamed at the mouth with

impotent fury.

"So," I said, "this is the ruffian who jumped his bail and is aboard here

on the sneak? I reckon we'll tack ship and stand back again to put him

where he belongs."

I was breathing heavily from the fight, and stood leaning against the

cabin to recover, while Mr. Trunnell and the fellow Jim, who had helped

tie the skipper up, appeared to be in doubt how to proceed. The noise of

the scuffle and our conversation had aroused the captain in the cabin,

and as I finished speaking he came to the break of the poop and looked

down on the main deck. I was aware of his hooked nose and strange,

glinting eyes almost before I turned, as he spoke. He placed his foot

upon the rail and gave a dry cough.

"I reckon there ain't any call to tack ship," he said slowly; "a pair of

irons'll do the rest. Jest clap them on him, hand and foot, Mr. Rolling,

and then rivet him to the deck away up forrads. If he don't stow that

bazoo of his, you might ram the end of a handspike in his mouth and see

if he'll bite."

"Who are you, you molly-hawk, to give orders aboard here?" roared

Andrews, from where he lay on deck. "What's happened, Trunnell, when a

swivel-eyed idiot with a beak like an albatross stands on the poop and

talks to me like this?"

"He's Captain Thompson, in command, owing to the little--the little

fracas you was mixed into last v'yage. We didn't exactly expect to have

ye this trip, sir," said the mate.

"Well, I'm here, ain't I? Sing out, can't you see me? Has your hair

struck in and tickled your brain so you don't know who's boss aboard

here? Who's this galoot you've just kept from being ripped to ribbons?

I'll settle matters with you later on for meddling in this affair, you

kelp-haired sea-pig. Sink you, Trunnell; I never expected you to turn

rusty like the miserable swab you are."

"Don't you think it would be best to stand away for port again, sir?"

said the fellow Jim, looking sharply at the skipper on the poop as he

spoke, and then to myself and Trunnell.

"We don't keer for your suggestions, young feller," said the skipper,

leaning over the rail above us. "When there's any orders to be given,

I'll attend to matters myself." He spoke in a low, even tone, and his

eyes seemed to focus to two sharp, bright points at the sailor, making

his great beak-like nose more prominent.

"Cast me adrift, Trunnell," commanded the ruffian Andrews, with an oath.

"I'm a-going to kill that lubber you've got for mate anyhow, and it might

as well be done at once as any other time. We'll settle the matter about

who's skipper afterward."

"I hears ye well enough, Cap'n Andrews," said Trunnell; "but I ain't

eggzactly clear in my mind as to how ye have authority aboard. If I was,

I'd cast ye adrift in spite o' the whole crowd, an' ye could rip an' cut

to your bloody heart's content. Ye know I'd back ye if 'twas all right

and proper; but I never disobeyed an order yet, and stave me, I never

will. I don't care who gives it so long as he has the right."

"Spoken like a man an' a sailor," came the sudden sharp tones of the

skipper on the poop; and as I looked, the skipper drew forth a watch in

one hand and a long revolver in the other, which clicked to readiness as

it came in a line between his eye and the body of Andrews. "You have just

a few seconds less than a minute to get that fellow forrads and out of

the way," he said slowly, as if counting his words. I made no movement to

drag the ruffian away, for at that minute I would have offered no

objection whatever to seeing the skipper make a target of him; but

Trunnell and the sailor Jim instantly seized Andrews, while he cursed the

captain and dared him shoot. He struggled vainly to get free of his

lashings, but the little bushy-headed mate tucked him under his arm,

while Jim took his feet, and the crowd of gaping men broke away as they

went forward.