Sail Ho! Part 52

"That we will," cried Mr Denning. "Make plenty, Lena, Mr Brymer and-- and the sailors will be glad of some."

She nodded, trying to look cheerful, and we left her, but had not reached the broken companion-way before a door on our right opened, a light was thrown across us, and I felt Mr Denning's arm twitch. For it was Mr Frewen coming out of the cabin in which Walters had been placed, the one in which Mr Preddle had been kept a prisoner, and as soon as he was outside he carefully locked it.

"Not much need for it," he said to us quietly, "for the little wretch is very weak still. Nice sort of characters you choose for your companions, Dale," he continued. "How do we know that you have not been contaminated, and are going to rise against us?"

"There's no fear till the storm's over, Mr Frewen," I said, laughing, and then, with the two gentlemen keeping perfectly silent, we went forward again, and had nearly reached the forecastle-hatch, when, sounding very feeble and strange, there was the report of a pistol, and we hurried forward to hear shouts of rage coming from below the hatch, and the blows of an axe being used with such effect, that before long whoever wielded it must make a way through.

Mr Brymer glanced round at us as we came up, and I saw the barrel of his revolver glistening in the pale light.

Then with his face close to the hatch he shouted--

"Once more, stop that or I fire!"

A shout of derision came from within.

"I warn you again!" roared Mr Brymer. "I fired before without trying to hit you, now I shall aim straight. Stop that this moment!"

"Fire away! Ready below, lads, I'll have it off--"

The report of the revolver, a hoa.r.s.e, half-stifled cry from within, and then a yell of rage arose, to mingle with the shrieking of the wind.

"I was obliged to fire, Mr Frewen," said the mate, sharply, "for at any cost we will keep the upper hand now."

No one spoke, and I could not help shivering as I saw the stern looks of the men by me, even Mr Preddle's round smooth face looking fierce and determined.

Mr Frewen was the first to open his lips.

"It is a bitter necessity," he said; "those men must be kept down, but I am obliged to speak now. Brymer, I am a surgeon, and there are at least two wounded men there below, perhaps more. It is necessary for me to go down."

"It is impossible, Mr Frewen. If I give orders for that hatch to be opened, there will be a rush, and even if we remain masters and beat them down, it can only be at the cost of wounding more, perhaps causing death."

"Why not make a truce with them?"

"With the men it would be easy enough, but not with their leader, a scoundrel who feels that he is fighting with penal servitude before him, perhaps the halter! But, Mr Frewen, these are no times for being humane. No; that hatch shall not be opened."

"But I will stand ready, after telling the men what I am going to do, and if they will keep away while the hatch is open there can be no rush."

"I think differently, sir," said Mr Brymer, coldly.

"I agree with Mr Brymer, sir," said Mr Denning, "that it would be madness."

"But you agree with me, Mr Preddle?" cried the doctor, excitedly.

"No, I don't, Mr Frewen," came in Mr Preddle's high-pitched voice. "I don't like men to suffer, but I won't give my vote for you to go down into that wild beasts' cage."

Mr Frewen laughed bitterly, and turned to me.

"What do you say, fellow-prisoner?" he cried.

"I shall vote against Mr Frewen being allowed to go down," I said st.u.r.dily. "We want your help more than they do."

"Bravo! my lad," cried Mr Brymer.

"Well, yes; bravo! then," said the doctor, sadly. "I am beaten; I give in."

"Thank you, Frewen," cried Mr Brymer, holding out his hand, which the doctor took frankly. "I am sorry to go against you, but you are too valuable to us here. I am sure that if I let you go down, they would not let you come up gain. Jarette is fox enough to know how your absence would weaken us, and then there is the captain; I place his life as of more value than that of a mutinous crew."

"I'm convinced," said Mr Frewen. "My desire was to stay, but as a surgeon I couldn't stand still, knowing that my help was wanted down there."

"You doctors are so greedy," cried Mr Preddle. "You have two patients as it is, and if we're going, on like this I'm afraid you'll soon have some more."

"Yes," said the doctor, turning to Mr Denning, "I shall have another one. Forgive me for speaking, Mr Denning, but I think you ought to go back to your cabin now and remove your wet things."

"You mean well, sir," said Mr Denning, courteously, "but I am wanted here."

"Not now, sir," said the mate. "I think we can manage, and if you would hold yourself in readiness to turn out if we raise an alarm that would be enough."

"I am here, and I have faced so much of the storm and trouble that I will see it through now."

No one attempted to argue with him, and the watch was resumed, with the ship tearing through the water before the storm, for short-handed as we were, Mr Brymer shrank from attempting to alter her course, or riding head to wind.

From time to time there was a stir below, and voices rose angrily, but we could always hear Jarette's shrill utterances, and he generally seemed to calm the men down, or to master them, with the result that the angry sounds ceased and gave place to a low murmuring as if some plan were being discussed. After this had been going on some time, on one occasion Mr Brymer, who had been aft at the wheel with Bob Hampton and had returned in time to hear the talking, shook his head and said to Mr Frewen--

"That sounds bad. They're hatching a new plot against us. It is like having your ship on fire somewhere amongst the cargo in a place where you cannot reach. It goes on smouldering day after day, and you are in the full expectation of its breaking out. You don't know when, but you are sure that it must come before long."

"I was thinking something of the kind," replied the doctor.

And so was I, though I did not speak. And in addition, I had an idea in my head that I could not work out, and while I was trying I had another idea. The first one was, that if by any means we could catch Jarette, the mutiny would all fall to pieces; but then the job was to catch the rascal, and that puzzled me.

It was very close to daylight; and cold, low-spirited, and miserable, I was beginning to think that between the storm and the men below, the poor old Burgh Castle must come to grief, when Bob Hampton came up glistening in his oilskins.

"I were to come and say as the lady's got jorums o' hot coffee ready, sir, in the captain's cabin. Mr Denning and Mr Dale's to go first, and I'm to take the watch till they comes back."

I saw Mr Denning wince and dart a sharp look at the doctor, but the latter did not turn his head, and once more we began fighting our way back, with the ship seeming at times quite to dance on the tops of the waves.

But we reached the shelter in safety, and as soon as we were under cover I felt sure that the wind was not so fierce, and said so.

"I could not tell any difference," said Mr Denning, sadly, as we went right aft, to find the captain's cabin, right in the stern--the one through whose window I had climbed after my hazardous descent from the rigging--looking bright and cheerful, and hot coffee waiting for us, in company with sweet smiles and cheering words.

It was wonderful. One minute I had been ready to give up and think that all was over; the next, as the hot drink sent a glow through me, I was ready to smile back at Miss Denning, and join her in persuading her brother to go to his cabin and change; while the very next minute Mr Brymer came down with a large bottle, and after hastily swallowing a cup of the coffee, he begged for a bottleful to carry up to the men at the wheel.

"Is the storm still so bad, Mr Brymer?" asked Miss Denning, as the mate was about to hurry back on deck.

"No," he said emphatically. "It's one of those gales which blow in a circle, and we're pa.s.sing through it. The gla.s.s is rising, and in less than an hour I think it will begin to lull." This was joyful news, and I rose to hurry back so as to take the place of Mr Preddle.

"You'll stay now, John," I heard Miss Denning say, and he answered her quite pa.s.sionately.

"Don't tempt me, Lena!" he cried. "I want to stay, but I want also to-- there, I will act like a man."