The stricken sloop lay like a log on the ocean as the _Swift_ stretched
along into the Atlantic. In less than half an hour she had been struck
down, maimed, and humbled by an enemy which she had treated with
contempt.
"Why didn't you sink her?" said Commins softly, coming to the side of
Captain Pardoe, who stood with a dull flush in his face, fixedly
regarding the labouring sloop. "You are fighting for the National
Government. Why didn't you sink her?"
Pardoe turned and regarded the man at his side under his brows for a
moment. "What a devil you are, Commins!"
"Am I really?" remarked Commins imperturbably; "but, however flattering
to my sagacity, that is scarcely an answer to my question. You have
committed a blunder, Pardoe, and if the authorities at Rio were informed
of it they might--I'm not saying they would, mind you--but they might
court-martial you."
"Court-martial me for smashing an enemy's ship? You're a fool,
Commins!"
"Pardon me, but you have not smashed the enemy. There he goes leisurely
on his way back to port after you had him in your power, and if either
of us is to be called a fool I am inclined to think you are entitled to
that honour. Take my advice: go back and sink that ship."
"Do you mean that?"
"Certainly, in your own interests. The Brazilian Admiral would be the
last man to suppose you had let the enemy escape from motives of
humanity. And, then, you saved the life of that fiend, Juarez."
"Juarez is my prisoner."
"Yes, truly; but, observe how absurd your case would be when you say to
the Admiral: `I let the warship escape, but I have brought you her
Captain, who would have been assassinated by his own crew.'"
"I see you have already placed me on my trial," said Pardoe dryly. "I
presume you wish me to murder Juarez as well as to sink the ship?"
"You have a brutal way with you, Pardoe, as befits, no doubt, a brave
sailor; but it jars. As for Juarez, it may give our friends some
pleasure to dispose of him at Rio, though his presence on board will
cause me a feeling of nausea; but it is necessary that you should do
your work thoroughly, and for your safety, and the success of our
mission, you must destroy that ship."
"I must!" said the Captain, with a dark look.
"Well, there is no compulsion; but that is my opinion, and the opinion
of Miss Laura de Anstrade."
"You lie!"
Commins grew white to the lips, and his gloved fingers, resting on the
bridge rail, trembled, but recovering himself, he said: "I will bring
her here, and you shall receive the orders from her own lips," then left
the bridge.
Captain Pardoe flung himself round, took a hasty turn up and down the
cramped bridge, then, with a stern and angry visage, faced Miss
Anstrade.
She came swiftly, with a rustling of skirts, and a faint perfume that
seemed strangely out of place, as much out of place as would be the
inhuman order from her woman's lips to destroy a helpless ship. Her
large eyes glared with a feverish light, her breast heaved, and her
hands were clutched in a sort of hysterical passion.
"Captain Pardoe," she cried, in a thin, unnatural voice, "why have you
let that ship escape?"
"Because, madam, I had not men enough to work her, and she would never
have reached Rio."
"No; but she can reach the bottom."
"Good God!" he muttered, his face turning an ashen grey, "Miss Laura,
you cannot mean that?"
"Yes; but I do!" she said, with a gasp.
"Then," he said fiercely, "you must put someone else in command."
"Oh, no, no!" she cried, "I never--"
"Be firm," whispered Commins; "think how your case will be strengthened.
If you can say you have destroyed one of the enemy's ships. Remember
your brother!"
Captain Pardoe noticed the action, and, pointing to Commins, he said
bitterly: "Appoint that man your Captain, madam; he alone is capable of
such an act, and perhaps Juarez would assist him."
"It is policy," whispered Commins.
The name of Juarez had a strange effect on the girl. She drew herself
up, and in a hard voice called Lieutenant Webster.
He, seeing something unusual occurring, as, indeed, had all those on the
main-deck, had drawn near.
"At your service, madam," he said, with a hasty look at Captain Pardee's
dark face.
"I wish to appoint you Captain, Mr Webster."
"Thank you, madam!"
Commins smiled as Pardoe threw his head up with a snort of indignant
surprise.
"Mr Pardoe has refused to obey orders. I beg your pardon, what were
you about to say?"
"I don't think I wish to say anything, madam, and I'd rather not hear
anything more;" saying which, Webster, with a distressed look on his
frank face, stepped by, and stood beside Captain Pardoe.
"Ah!" cried Miss Anstrade, "you desert me for him. Let it be so. I
would rather know at once whom I may trust." The weakness and
hesitation which at first she had shown disappeared, giving place to a
feeling of wounded pride. She drew herself up, and regarded the two
officers scornfully, forgetting, as only an angry woman can, the
services they had already performed.
"I will have you placed on board yonder ship with that defeated crew,
and perhaps then, when they turn their fury on you, you will repent your
ingratitude. Once before I had to turn to these gallant sailors in
order to shame you into doing your duty, and now, with confidence, I
will appeal to them once more." Her voice rang out clear and loud, and,
charmed herself by the sound, she dwelt on her words. The men edged up,
looking at the group on the bridge; and, if she had not been carried
away by the confidence of her tone, she would have seen that their
aspect was not friendly to her or to the man at her side. Hot, and most
of them bleeding from a fight into which they had been led with courage
and skill by their officers, it was not to be thought that they would,
on the bidding of a woman, turn their backs upon their leaders. Commins
was quick to note their bearing, and so was Hume, who stood by, amazed
at the scene.
As she stood there with a proud smile on her lips, Frank swung himself
up, unceremoniously shouldered Commins away, and stood by her side.
"Men," he said, "it is a fine custom after a fight for the Captain to
thank his officers and men, and one that should be kept up by us. This
lady is our commander, and she wishes to thank you all for the splendid
courage with which you have fought at this engagement against a foe of
double our strength."
"Sir," she said, recovering from the shock of surprise, "what is the
meaning of this insolence?"
"For Heaven's sake," whispered Commins, "let him speak. Don't you see
the men side with them?"
She flashed a startled look over the upturned faces, then, with a motion
of her hand, signified to Frank to continue.
"Say a word to them, madam, yourself."
"Do you command me?" she asked haughtily.
"No, madam, I implore."
With a terrible look at Commins she went forward, and with a smiling
face, though her hands were clenched, she thanked them.
The men touched their caps, but they lingered, casting puzzled glances
at the Captain and Lieutenant.
"If so please you, mam," said the big Quartermaster in deep tones, "we'd
like to know what's been said by way of thanks to the Captain for the
handsome way he took the ship into action, and to the Lieutenant for the
way he worked `The Ghost' Isn't it so, mates?"
There was a deep growl of assent.
"My men," said the Captain, in a deep bass that had a thrilling touch of
emotion in it, "I am pleased with you, and I think you are satisfied
with me and with the ship. And all of us are proud of the young lady,
who, trusting herself fully in our keeping, has so bravely shared our
dangers."
"Three cheers for the lady," sang out Dick the Owl; and "God bless her!"
chimed in the Quartermaster.
The ship rang again to the shouts of the men, and Commins slipped below.
Miss Laura coloured, then grew white, but the Captain was too
experienced a man to show his triumph, though he could not forbear one
shot:
"If you will allow me, madam, I will go to my cabin, for I have been on
the bridge all night."
"All night! you are cruel to remind me of it, Captain."
"Am I Captain again, then?"
"Go to your room, sir," she said, with a frown, "and consider yourself
under arrest till eight bells. Now, Mr Webster," she continued, with a
sudden change of manner, "you will show me over the ship, and explain to
me all about the action. I see you are wounded."
"Merely a scratch, madam, from a flying link from the anchor chain."
He led the way down, and Hume and the Captain, lingering on the bridge,
saw her chatting with the men, and examining the damage done aft, where
a flight of missiles had struck the deck.
"That was a timely speech of yours, Hume," said the Captain, "and saved
us from an awkward fix, for had the men once got the notion that they
had done me an obligation, there would have been an end to discipline,
tried men as they are. I am not satisfied that we have a plain course
before us, for we have to reckon with that man Commins, and the whims of
a young lady."
"She appears to be quite reconciled now," remarked Hume.
"Maybe, and I hope so, but a woman can sail under false colours and
dummy portholes without a sign of her real feelings. See the way she's
smoothing down Black Henderson. I shouldn't wonder if she's scheming to
gain the men over in preparation for the next mad-brained jamboree."
"What relation does Mr Commins hold to her?"
"That is no business of ours," said the Captain gruffly, "and harkee, my
lad, remember that you are sailing under her orders, and that you have
to stand by her, and not me." With that he swung down below, leaving
Frank to his own reflections, which were not of the brightest. He
noticed that Miss Anstrade had ignored his presence, and wondered
whether she was displeased at his interference, then dwelt on the
influence which Mr Commins undoubtedly exercised over her, and finally
blamed himself for having committed himself to this mad venture. His
thoughts went back to his uncle, and to the promise which he had given
to search for that impossible Golden Rock, and he asked himself if he
would not have been happier had he started on that forlorn enterprise;
but, even as he thought, his mental image of that imaginary rock faded
away before the visible presence of the wayward, passionate girl whose
beauty had already beguiled him.
She had parted from Webster, who was busy with the men, and came slowly
picking her way over the litter of coal scattered from the bags by a
shell which had ripped up the whole row on the port side, her one hand
stretched gracefully to its full length at her side to hold up her
skirts, the other at her throat holding a black mantilla which framed
her face. Passing up to the bridge, she leant forward with her elbows
on the rails, the wide lace on her sleeves falling back and disclosing
shapely arms, and, with her chin in her hands, looked dreamily over the
grey sea to a faint blur which marked the toiling sloop. She had not
noticed him by so much as a glance, and, accepting this as a hint, he
put the length of the bridge between him and her.
"Mr Hume."
He turned, but she was still absorbed in watching the sloop.
"Must I call twice?" she said in her low, rich tones; and he was by her
side.
"I feared I had offended you by my interference."
"And would my displeasure disturb you?" she asked, reclining her head
until she could look at him, and so keeping it.
Frank thought of Captain Pardoe, and wondered if she could be acting a
part.
"Why do you look at me so? Tell me, what do you think of me?"
"I think you are very beautiful," he said daringly, carried away by her
beauty, and forgetting the part she had just played.
"Don't. This is no ball-room interlude, and such a vapid compliment is
out of place here. Be frank. Come, tell me." She nestled her face
more comfortably in her supporting palm, and looked at him with a faint
smile that parted her lips.
"Don't," he murmured, repeating her word; "I am only human."
"And I am not. Is that it? Well, perhaps you are right."
"I did not say so. What I meant was, that if you look at me so--"
"Spare me! I detest explanations. Do you see that ship?" she turned
her face to the labouring sloop. "It carries many souls--men who have
friends waiting for them in some far-off hacienda, gleaming white in the
bright sun, wives, mothers, and others as dear, who would grieve were
they lost. You know, I had it in my head to sink that ship and all on
board. What do you think of me? I would like to know."
"It was a horrible fancy," he said a little sternly; "but I do not
believe you meant to carry it out."
"Ah! you do not know me," she whispered, with a shudder; "I am sometimes
afraid of myself."
"You brood too much over your sorrows. Why not come up here more often
and talk with us?" he said, with a jealous thought of Commins.
"That is very good of you," she answered demurely, with a swift change
of expression; "and I appreciate the invitation all the more because of
the evident implication that I alone am to benefit from it."
"You misunderstand me," he said hastily; "what I meant--"
"Yes, yes; how dull you are, Mr Hume!"
"I am sorry you should think so, madam," he answered stiffly.
"Now go off in a pet, and leave me to my own thoughts, which, of course,
are very pleasant company for a lonely girl among a lot of morose and
fiery men, who cannot see that the strain upon her is almost too much."
She said this with a smile, but Hume noticed that the lips trembled
while they smiled, and that in the eyes there was a worn, almost wild,
look.
"Take my arm, Miss Laura," he said gently. "Let me tell you my story;
it may interest you."
She took his arm with almost a convulsive grasp, and for a moment she
bent her head; then with a soft and womanly look she asked him to talk
and not to heed her silence. So they paced up and down, six paces one
way, six another, and were necessarily thrown together by the narrowness
of the passage. He talked of his uncle, the tough old hunter, of the
simple life he led, of his sacrifice and quiet death, and a sweeter look
stole into her face.
"And so," she said, "you have put aside the quest entrusted to you by
that good old man and thrown in your lot with me? I thank you, but you
must find the Golden Rock."
"If it is there," he said, smiling at her eagerness.
"Oh, it exists; I am sure of it. I can see the gleam of it now;" and
she shaded her eyes with her hand.
"But it is not on the sea," he said laughingly.
"I am looking beyond the sea, among your African mountains, to a flame
that glows under the rays of the morning sun, and there is a ring of red
around the flame. Ah! you will encounter many dangers."
"What will it matter," he said, "since I am alone in the world?"
"It may matter," she whispered, and then withdrew her arm, and hastily
quitted the bridge, after one anxious look at the sloop, and a murmured
prayer that it would safely reach port.