Asiatic Breezes Part 11

"You will not speak?"

"If you desire it, I will; but simply to suggest that you wait on Captain Ringgold with your grievance."

"That he has tried to do, and called upon him in Constantinople for that purpose; but Captain Ringgold is a coward, a poltroon! He keeps himself shut up in his cabin, and refuses to give my n.o.ble master any satisfaction."

It was with a struggle that Louis maintained his dignity and preserved his silence.

"Finding all the avenues to any satisfaction closed against him, my n.o.ble master, one of the most exalted dignitaries of the Empire to which he is an honor, employed me to obtain the redress to which he is honorably ent.i.tled. So far I have not been successful. My n.o.ble master has been graciously pleased to modify the terms and conditions upon which he will consent to discontinue his efforts to obtain adequate satisfaction for the insults heaped upon him. He will accept the atonement of two hundred thousand francs for the injury done him, a.s.sured that this penalty would be the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon a cowardly and penurious American like Captain Ringgold."

"Why don't you send in your bill to him for the boodle?" asked Louis, who thought somebody must have written out the speech of Mazagan for him.

"He would not notice the claim," replied the pirate.

"I don't think he would," said Louis, inclined to laugh.

"I intend to make the matter sure this time. If you will do me the favor to come on board of the Fatime, and remain with me in the cabin, which is quite as luxurious as your own on board of your large steam-yacht, until the money is paid, it will save all trouble and settle the matter at once," continued the Pacha's representative with a suavity creditable to his French education.

"If you please, Captain Mazagan, we will not settle it in just that way; and without any disrespect to you personally, I object to taking up my quarters in the cabin of the Fatime," replied Louis blandly.

"Then I must take you by force!" exclaimed the pirate.

He gave the order for his men to pull. Captain Scott called out his force.

CHAPTER X

"JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE, MOTHER"

Morris Woolridge did not make use of any military forms, for he did not claim to understand them; but he simply came on the forecastle himself, followed by the other four of his party; for Louis had joined it when directed to do so by his superior. Captain Scott took the rifle he had reserved for his own use from the pilot-house. Those who had been waiting for the order had only to move a few feet, and not a second of delay had been made.

A boat large enough to contain six men, as did the pirate's, does not overcome its inertia and shoot ahead forty feet without any apparent lapse of time, like a bullet shot from a rifle. Morris and his men were in position before the boat had made ten feet.

Morris gave no orders according to the manual of the soldier, but he ranged his command on the forecastle, close to the starboard rail. The guns were all loaded, and every one of the party had had some experience in the use of the weapon, so that none of them had to be taught how to fire it.

"Aim at the boat," said the first officer in a quiet tone; and all the rifles were directed to the enemy.

It was a fact which came out afterwards, that every one of them aimed at Mazagan, not only because he was the most prominent mark as he stood in the standing-room, but he was regarded as the biggest villain of the a.s.sailants, and they could shoot him with less compunction than the Moors in his train. He was the representative of the villain behind the scenes, and all the mischief seemed to come out of him.

"Stop where you are, or I shall order my men to fire!" shouted Captain Scott, as soon as the rifles were all aimed at the boat. "Say that in Arabic to them, Don!"

The engineer translated the warning for the benefit of those who were back to the Maud, and perhaps did not see the weapons that were pointed at the boat. But Mazagan could see the six rifles, including the one in the hands of the captain; and before Don could finish his Arabic sentence, he had given the order to cease rowing. At least it was supposed he had done so, for the Moors dropped their oars, some of them into the water.

The boat's crew were in a panic without any doubt, and Captain Scott was inclined to feel that "the c.o.o.n had come down." Mazagan spoke to them in a savage tone, as though he was reproving them for their cowardice; but they plainly did not relish the idea of being shot down without being able to make any resistance, for there was nothing that looked like a musket to be seen in the boat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "STOP WHERE YOU ARE OR I SHALL ORDER MY MEN TO FIRE!"

Page 92.]

After his recent experience in Cairo, probably Captain Mazagan was provided with a revolver; but he did not exhibit it, and in the face of half a dozen breech-loaders, capable of sending three dozen bullets into the boat, it would be a piece of useless bravado. It could be seen on the forecastle of the Maud that the pirate's crew were demoralized. The Mohammedans are said to be fatalists; and in what they regard as a holy cause they have no fear of death, for they believe it bears them directly to paradise. But some of them must have had sense enough to understand that they were engaged in piracy, and that their heaven did not open wide its gates to those who fell in the commission of crime.

The boat lost its headway, and became motionless at a distance of twenty feet from the Maud, with the rifles still pointed at its crew. If the pirate chief had a revolver in his pocket, this was the time to use it; but he did not even produce it. He could not help seeing that if he fired a shot, it would immediately cause half a dozen bullets to be sent into the boat; and he had good reason to believe that he would himself be the first victim.

"What are you about?" he demanded in angry tones.

"About to fire if you come any nearer," replied Captain Scott.

"Can't you see that we are unarmed? Do you mean to shoot us down like dogs?"

"That depends upon you, Captain Mazagan. But you are so very polite while you act as a pirate, that I think it is proper for me to say, with your permission, that my crew can fire thirty-six b.a.l.l.s without stopping to load again. If you persist in this business, not one of your number will ever get on board of the Fatime again," added the captain of the Maud, as decided as before; but the politeness of the pirate and Louis had amused him at such a time, and he was disposed to imitate them.

"If you mean to murder us all, I cannot help myself just now," howled Mazagan, furiously mad at the disappointment which had suddenly overtaken him; and he seemed like an angry child who had been denied a piece of candy, and resented it with tears and yells.

"All you have to do is to pull back to your ship, and we shall not take the trouble to follow you," answered Scott. "This difficulty is not of our seeking."

"I came to you peaceably, unarmed, with a fair proposition"--

"A most impudent and presumptuous proposition!" shouted Captain Scott.

"I have been respectful and polite to you, and you threaten to shoot me and my men."

"You have plainly announced your intention to take Mr. Belgrave on board of your steamer by force. Do you call that respectful and polite?"

"But I gave him a polite invitation to take possession of my cabin without the use of force, and he declined to accept it," argued Captain Mazagan, somewhat mollified in his tone and manner.

"Which he had a perfect right to do. You proposed to rob him of the sum of two hundred thousand francs; and you invite him to become a prisoner on board of your ship in the capacity of a hostage for the payment of the money of which you propose to rob him."

"What is the use of arguing the question with him, Captain Scott?"

interposed Louis, who retained his place in the ranks. "His position is absurd, and the fellow is a fool as well as a knave."

"I have distinctly stated that my claim is to be indemnification for the injury done to my n.o.ble master," replied the pirate, in reply to Scott's last remark. "I do not propose to rob you."

"Call it blackmail then, if you please."

"I do not know what that means."

"Mr. Belgrave has nothing to do with your claim. He has not insulted or a.s.saulted your ign.o.ble master; and, in United States dialect, you 'have taken the wrong pig by the ear.' To come back to first principles, I have nothing more to say," added Captain Scott, as he turned his back to the claimant.

"I have something more to say," returned Mazagan, bristling up with anger again. "My boat is unarmed; but I have not come up here without being prepared to meet you. I wish to be fair and just, and I will state the truth to you."

"I don't believe you know how to do it!" exclaimed Scott.

"I would not irritate him any more than is necessary," said Louis in a whisper.

"I have lost all patience with him," replied the captain; and his manner indicated that he spoke the truth.

"You will find before you have done with me that I can and do speak the truth, Captain Scott. When I made my first attempt to obtain satisfaction for my n.o.ble master in the Archipelago, I failed because your large ship was armed with cannon, and she disabled my felucca. When my n.o.ble master offered me the command of the Fatime, to be used in carrying out his wishes, I stipulated that she should be armed with two twelve-pounders, with a supply of ammunition. I may add that I have served as an officer in the Turkish navy. Now, Captain Scott, I have nothing more to say from this boat, and the next time I speak it will be with twelve-pounders; and my last word is that the Fatime will not go out of this bay till she leaves with Mr. Belgrave on board of her."