"Slatter was th' first. Others now. Dirt."
Brander looked about the deck; there was no one within hearing. He asked
quietly: "What kind of dirt?"
Mauger looked up and grinned unhappily and apologetically. "You know,"
he said. "You and--her...."
Brander's eyes hardened; he said, under his breath: "Thanks, Mauger."
And he walked away from where the one-eyed man was scrubbing. Mauger
rose on his knees to look after the fourth mate with something like
worship in his eyes.
Brander went aft with his problem. A real problem. Faith besmirched....
He would have cut off his right hand to prevent it; but cutting off his
right hand would have done no good whatever. He would have fought the
whole crew of the _Sally_, single-handed; but that would have done even
less good than the other. You cannot permanently gag a man by jamming
your fist in his mouth. And Brander knew it; so that while he boiled
with anger and disgust, he held himself in check, and tried to consider
what should be done....
Must do something.... No easy task to determine what that something was
to be.
Brander considered the members of the crew; the fo'm'st hands. Slatter
he knew; an evil man. Others there were like him, either from weakness
or sheer malignant festering of the soul. But there were some who were
men, some who were decent.... Some who would fight the foul talk, wisely
or unwisely as the case might be; some who had eyes to see the goodness
of Faith, and hearts to trust her....
Brander's task was to help these men. He could not himself go into the
fo'c's'le and strike; to do so would only spread the filth of words
abroad. But--one thing he could do. He saw the way....
Avoid Faith.... That would not be easy, since their lives must lie in
the cabin. Avoid Faith, avoid speaking to her save in the most casual
way, avoid being alone with her. That much he must do; and something
more. The crew would be spying on them now, watching, whispering. He
must give them no food for whispers; he must go further. He must give
them proof that their whispers were ill-founded. He must....
It was this word of Mauger's that led Brander to a determination which
was to threaten him with ruin in the end; it was this word of Mauger's
that determined Brander to give himself to the crew. To keep some of
them always near him, always in sight of him; to force them, if he
could, to see for themselves that he had little talk with Faith and few
words with her. That was what Brander planned to do. He worked out the
details carefully. When he was on deck, he must keep in their sight; and
he must keep himself on deck every hour of the day save when he went
below for meals. He decided to do more; the nights were warm and
pleasant. He had a hammock swung under the boathouse, and planned to
sleep there; he laid open his whole life to their prying eyes. Let them
see for themselves....
He was satisfied with this arrangement, at last. It was the best that
could be done; he put it into action at once, and he saw within three
days' time that Slatter and the others had noticed, and were wondering
and questioning.
The men were puzzled; the cabin was puzzled. And no one was more puzzled
by Brander's new way of life than Dan'l Tobey. He was puzzled, but he
was at the same time elated. For he perceived that Brander had given him
a weapon, a handle to take hold of. And Dan'l was not slow to take
advantage of it.
They were working westward at the time, killing whales as they went.
Ahead was the Bay of Islands, and Port Russell. Southward, the Solander
Rock, and the Solander Grounds, where all the big bull whales of the
seven seas have a way of flocking as men flock to their clubs. A cow is
seldom or never seen there; the bulls are slain by scores. Toward this
hunting ground, as famous for its whales as it was infamous for its ugly
weather, the _Sally Sims_ was working. They would touch at Port Russell
on the way....
Three days before they were like to make the Port, Dan'l made an
occasion to have words with Noll Wing. Noll was on deck, Faith and the
officers--save Brander, who was with Mauger forward--were all below.
There was a group of men by the tryworks; and Dan'l strolled that way.
He moved inconspicuously, approaching them on the opposite side of the
ship; and when he came near, he stopped and seemed to listen. Noll, aft,
was paying him little attention though Dan'l made sure that the captain
saw.
Slatter was among the group of men; Dan'l scattered them, angrily, and
drove them forward. When they were gone, he went aft again; and as he
had expected, Noll asked:
"What was that, Dan'l?"
Dan'l smiled and said it was nothing that mattered; and his tone
suggested that it mattered a great deal. Noll sternly bade him speak,
and Dan'l said reluctantly:
"It was but the foolish talk of idle men, sir. I bade them keep their
tongues still."
"What manner of foolish talk?"