The First Mate Part 6

"Well," replied my companion, "chiefly, I think, because yonder's the Malay coast, and here we are, a valuable ship, becalmed, and helpless because we've lost the blades of our propeller."

"Oh! but that is sheer nonsense," I said. "You are thinking about pirates, I suppose. But, my dear chap, with the incoming of steam, piracy went out, because it no longer paid to be a pirate. You never hear of such a thing in these days."

"Not very often, I admit," agreed Kennedy. "Yet it was only about a week before we sailed from New York that I read in the _Herald_ a story of a ship being picked up derelict, in this same Strait; and when she was boarded, her crew, consisting of twenty-seven men, were found lying about her decks, murdered; while her main-hatchway was open, and the signs that she had been plundered were as plain as large print."

"Indeed!" I said. "I do not remember hearing anything of that case.

Anyhow, it only happens once in a blue moon. And I don't think that, with our pretty double row of teeth and our Maxims and Hotchkisses for close-quarter fighting, we need be very greatly afraid."

"No," agreed Kennedy, with a laugh. "I guess ye're right there, me lad.

Wid those guns, and hands enough to fight them, I calculate we are well fixed, and could beat off a whole fleet of proas. But I'm rale sorry that the skipper didn't think of havin' them mounted before, so that the men might have had a chance to practise the workin' of them a bit. An'

there's another thing--But here comes the skipper; I guess I'll spake to her about it."

At that moment Mrs Vansittart returned to the p.o.o.p with the information that, according to the Directory, Singapore possessed a dry dock capable of taking in the _Stella Maris_; and, that being the case, she would have the ship docked and the spare propeller fitted as soon as possible after our arrival.

"And a very wise thing, too, ma'am," agreed Kennedy. "I am only sorry that we haven't got it shipped this very minute."

"Are you?" returned Mrs Vansittart, looking up sharply as she detected the serious tone of the first mate's voice. "Why? Any reason in particular?"

"Sure!" answered Kennedy. "As I was sayin' to Leigh a minute ago, yonder is the Malay coast, and here are we, becalmed and unable to move.

Now, I don't want to raise a scare, there's no need for it, but I hold that it's better to be ready for a thing, even if it doesn't happen, than to be caught unprepared. No doubt ye're well aware, ma'am, that the Malays have the name of bein' always ready to undertake a piratical job if they think there's half a chance of ut bein' successful; and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if anybody was to tell me that hundreds of eyes have been watchin' us all this afternoon and their owners speculatin' as to the sort of reception they'd meet with if a few hundred were to come off to us some time durin' the small hours of the mornin'. Av coorse we may not be here then; a breeze may spring up and carry us far enough away. But then again, it mayn't, and in my opinion the bettin' is against it; therefore, if I may be allowed to offer a suggestion, it would be somethin' like this.

"I'd recommend ye to send for Bledsoe, the gunner, and ordher him to tell off crews to every one of these guns. Then let him explain to the captain of each gun how the thing works; and afther he has done that, send him down to the magazine and let him sort out a few rounds of ammunition for each gun and have them handy to send up on deck. Also let each gun be loaded, ready in case of need. If not needed, the charges can easily be withdrawn and sent below again to-morrow, while, if they are, they'll be ready. Also, it might be quite worth while to have the small arms ready for servin' out at a moment's notice."

"My!" exclaimed Mrs Vansittart, "are you quite serious, Mr Kennedy?

Because, if you are, it sounds as though we might be in for a real big fight. What do you think, Mr Leigh?"

"I fully agree with Mr Kennedy, madam," said I; "not so much because I antic.i.p.ate an attack upon the ship, as that I clearly see the force of his argument as to the advantage of preparedness."

"Yes," agreed Mrs Vansittart; "I guess you are both right, and I will act upon your advice, Mr Kennedy. Please send for the gunner and tell him what to do. I had something of this sort in my mind when I gave the order for those guns to be put on board."

By the prompt.i.tude with which Kennedy sent for the gunner, and, when he arrived, mustered the crew, I could clearly see that the good man was distinctly anxious, although I did not believe he had much cause to be so. Still, I quite agreed with him that the wise and proper thing was to be prepared for every possible contingency, and I cheerfully did my share of the work. Fortunately, Bledsoe was an ex-man-o'-war's-man, and had held a gunner's warrant in the United States navy; he therefore knew his business from A to Z, and gave us all the help that we needed.

First, all hands were mustered and paraded; then a crew was told off to each gun, including the Hotchkisses and Maxims--Kennedy undertaking the supervision of the Hotchkisses, and I that of the Maxims. Bledsoe next took each gun's crew separately in hand, showed one how to work their weapon, and left them to practise the movements of loading, sighting, firing, and sponging, while he pa.s.sed on to the next, until both batteries were a.s.siduously engaged in repeating the several motions time after time. Finally he worked his way round to me, explained the mechanism of the Maxim, and showed how the belts of cartridges were fixed and the gun was handled. It was very simple, and I picked the whole thing up in a few minutes, the weapon being to so large an extent automatic. Finally every piece was loaded, ten rounds for each were brought on deck, the covers were put on, and the hands were piped down.

It was my eight hours in that night; and by this time it had come to be a regular custom and a recognised thing for me to dine in the saloon on such occasions, that is to say, every other night, the arrangement with regard to Kennedy being similar, so that he and I dined in the saloon on alternate nights, the doctor, the purser, and the two engineers forming the other guests. Thus as soon as our exercise with the guns was over I rushed off below, took a tepid bath, and then dressed for dinner, completing my preparations just in time to respond to the second bugle call. There was some disposition to make merry over Kennedy's "scare", as the boy Julius would persist in designating it; but as the lad was the only one who seemed to regard the matter purely from the jocular point of view, the conversation was soon steered in another and more agreeable direction, and we spent a very pleasant evening, breaking up shortly after ten o'clock.

Before retiring to my cabin I went up on deck to take a look round. It was a most glorious night, still a breathless calm, the heavens perfectly clear, save for a low cloud bank hanging over the land, the stars shining brilliantly, and a half-moon shedding a soft, mysterious radiance upon the scene powerful enough to enable us to distinguish with tolerable clearness the nearer islands and some half a dozen craft lying becalmed within two miles of us, insh.o.r.e. The moon would set about midnight; yet even then we should still have the stars, if the night remained clear.

Kennedy was seated in a deck chair, with a powerful night gla.s.s reposing upon his knees, when I went up on the p.o.o.p; and he informed me that although he had been keeping a careful watch upon matters insh.o.r.e, he had seen nothing whatever of a suspicious character.

"But then," he explained, "I didn't expect to. If those Malays are as 'cute as I take them to be, and are cherishing designs against us, you may bet your bottom dollar that they'll be careful not to do anything that would appear to us in the least suspicious. I may be a fool, but things look almost too quiet, ash.o.r.e there, to be wholly satisfactory to me. I would rather see a little more movement, a fishing boat or two coming out, or something like that. Why, I've known cases where, a ship bein' becalmed as we are, widin a few miles of the sh.o.r.e, the natives have come off in scores wid fruit and fish and curios to sell; but those chaps ash.o.r.e there have kept most religiously away from us. Ah, well!

that cloud yonder is risin'--slowly, I admit, still it's risin', and I hope it'll bring a breeze wid it, if it's only enough to give us steerage way. I don't like things as they are, not the least little bit."

"Why, man," I exclaimed, "what is the matter with you to-night? If I didn't know better I should be almost inclined to think you were afraid!"

"Afraid, is ut?" he laughed. "Begorra! what would I be afraid of, in such a ship as this, wid all those beautiful guns and what not to purtect us? No, Leigh, it's not afraid I am, as you know well; and yet I have a curious feelin'--I can't describe ut, but it's a sort of feelin' of--Howly Sailor!--what in the nation is that? Did ye hear it, boy?"

Hear it? I should think so; and so had every other individual on deck, if one might judge by the sudden silence that fell upon the men grouped about the fore deck, followed by an equally sudden fusillade of low, quick e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.ns and the swift rush of bare feet to the rails. It began as a low, weird moan, which rose rapidly to a sort of sobbing wail and culminated in a sharp, unearthly scream that sent cold shivers running down my spine and caused the hairs of my head to bristle upon my scalp. It seemed to come from the water almost immediately under our bows. I saw a little crowd of men spring up the ladder leading to the topgallant forecastle, rush to the rail, and peer eagerly down into the black water. Then one of them straightened up suddenly and hailed:

"p.o.o.p, there! did ye hear that strange cry, sir?"

"Ay, ay," answered Kennedy, "I heard it right enough. D'ye suppose I'm deaf? What is ut, anyway, that's makin' it?"

There was a brief but animated confab on the forecastle, and then the voice that had hailed came back:

"Can't see anything anywhere, sir; but the sound seemed to come from away yonder, on the starboard bow."

Instantly there arose a hubbub of protesting voices, one of which, louder than the rest, could be heard exclaiming:

"You chump! what d'ye mean by sayin' that? Don't ye know the difference between starboard and port? It was away off here to port that the sound came from."

But this a.s.sertion in turn was contradicted by the first speaker and his adherents, so that in less than a minute a strenuous argument was proceeding on the forecastle, both parties to which, it seemed to me, were in the wrong.

"Ay, ay, there ye are," commented Kennedy. "n.o.body knows where the sound came from. 'Twas the _banshee_, me bhoy, that's what ut was; and some Oirishman aboard this good ship is goin' to lose the number of his mess shortly."

"Oh, nonsense!" I exclaimed. "You surely do not believe that--"

I had got so far with my protest when again the blood-curdling cry rang out over the dark water, this time sounding more distant than before.

Once more a clamorous dispute arose on the forecastle as to the direction from which the sound proceeded, for, curiously enough, no two individuals seemed quite agreed upon the point, while even I felt it impossible to make an authoritative statement as to whether the cry arose from ahead or astern. And, in the midst of the discussion, up came the saloon party, _en ma.s.se_, to enquire what was the matter.

I was, for some not very definite reason, glad that Kennedy did not again a.s.sert his _banshee_ theory; he merely stated the facts of the case, leaving the others to draw their own conclusions. The boy, Julius, no sooner heard the chief mate's statement than he was ready with an explanation. In a high-pitched tone of voice, which could be distinctly heard from one end of the ship to the other, he positively a.s.serted that the cries were those of a sea bird, although I had never in my life heard a sea bird utter such terrible sounds, nor had the men forward, if one might judge by the low, contemptuous laughter from the forecastle with which the a.s.sertion was greeted. But although Kennedy demurred, the boy insisted that he was right; he knew all about it, and finally rushed off to his cabin for some book, a certain pa.s.sage in which, he declared, would support his contention. And I seized the opportunity thus afforded to retire in good order to my own cabin.

When I went on deck again, at eight bells, the moon was just on the point of ruddily setting, while the cloud bank which I had noticed earlier in the evening hanging low over the land had risen until its upper edge was almost over our mast-heads, blotting out about half the stars. It was now so dark away to the eastward that nothing whatever could be seen, not even the faintest loom of the nearest islands; while, if it had not been for a faintly glimmering light here and there, we could not have told that there were any craft of any kind in our neighbourhood. There had been no repet.i.tion of those strange, weird sounds that had startled us all earlier in the night, so Kennedy informed me; but he was still firmly convinced that they had emanated from the banshee, and when I laughingly tried to argue him out of his conviction he took me up rather sharply with the a.s.sertion that, had I been of Irish birth or extraction, I would know better than to make light of the matter. To my amazement, he seemed quite depressed and low-spirited at the mere mention of it, so I quickly dropped the subject and asked him if during his watch he had observed anything to confirm his earlier suspicion that we might possibly be attacked. He admitted that he had not, but added:

"I niver expected to see annything so long as the light lasted. It's now that they'll be beginnin' to make a musther if those ginks mane comin' off to us at all, so for the love o' Mike keep your eyes skinned and your ears wide open all through your watch. We can keep them off aisily, if we only get warnin' enough; but if by anny chance they can conthrive to creep up close enough to take us unawares and lay us aboard, they may take the ship through sheer force av numbers."

"Why," said I, "you talk as though you felt absolutely certain that an attack will be made upon the ship! I can't understand you a bit to-night, and that's a fact."

"Faith, boy, I cannot undherstand mesilf," replied Kennedy, seriously.

"I've never before felt as I do this blessed night; but somehow I _know_ that something's goin' to happen. And then, there's the banshee--"

"Oh," I interrupted, "banshee be hanged! I thought you were much too sensible a fellow to be moved by superst.i.tions of any kind. Now, take my advice--you've got a touch of the sun. Go down to the doc, get him to give you a good stiff dose of quinine, and turn in. You'll feel a different man when you are roused at eight bells and find that the ship is all right. And as to anything creeping up and taking us unawares, you may trust me to see that nothing of that sort happens. I will keep a bright look-out, never fear."

"Well, I hope ye will, that's all," returned Kennedy, as he stepped toward the head of the p.o.o.p ladder on his way below. "And, by the by, there's one precaution ye may as well take. Unship the side lights and stow them somewhere handy but where their gleam will not show. They're quite useless, since we're becalmed, unless a steamer should happen along, and if she does ye'll see her lights and hear her propeller in plenty of time to show her where ye are. And mask the skylights, too.

Then, maybe, if annybody comes lookin' for us wid evil intentions, they'll not find us. Good night--and keep a bright look-out."

With this final caution the first mate took himself off, much to my relief; for, truth to tell, his undisguised anxiety and uneasiness were beginning to get a bit upon my nerves. As soon as he was out of the way I went forward and, in obedience to what I took to be his order, caused the red and green side lights to be unshipped and placed inboard, just inside the topgallant forecastle door, at the same time cautioning the look-outs to keep their eyes skinned, as we were in somewhat dangerous waters. Then I went aft, masked the skylights, and slipped into the saloon for a moment to extinguish all the lights save one, and draw the blinds across the open ports.

This task took me less than a couple of minutes, and then I returned to the p.o.o.p and took a good look round. But I could see nothing except four dim glimmers of light s.p.a.ced at irregular intervals, which I took to be the lights of the becalmed craft which we had seen insh.o.r.e of us earlier in the evening. And as for sound, there was nothing to be heard save an occasional faint gurgle of water under the counter when the ship lifted to the almost invisible swell, accompanied by a low flap of canvas aloft, a gentle patter of reef points, or the slight creak of a parral or block sheave; but so breathlessly still was the night that these sounds, faint as they really were, sounded almost appallingly loud. There was not the smallest murmur of subdued talk for'ard, for the watch had curled themselves up in the most comfortable places they could find in order to steal a "caulk", and I did not attempt to disturb them, knowing that at my first call they would be upon their feet in a moment.

To keep myself awake I proceeded to pace the p.o.o.p to and fro in my rubber-soled shoes, taking care to avoid pa.s.sing over that portion of the deck which formed the roof of our lady skipper's stateroom; and while I was thus engaged I nearly collided with a ghostly figure which proved, upon investigation, to be that of Monroe, the tutor parson, in pyjamas and slippers. He explained that he found it too hot to sleep below, so had come up on deck in the hope of being able to cool off a bit prior to having another try. He fell into step alongside me, and began to talk in a low voice, presently turning the conversation to Kennedy and the queerness of his seemingly rooted conviction that we should be attacked. I let him talk on until he appeared to have said all that he had to say upon the subject and was about to go below again, when I said to him:

"I am glad that you came up on deck, because it affords me an opportunity to say something that Kennedy's queer talk has rather forced upon my mind. It is this. If by any chance we should be attacked, will you undertake to see that Mrs Vansittart, her daughter, and the boy are, any or all of them, prevented from coming on deck? Their presence here under such circ.u.mstances could be of no possible a.s.sistance to us; on the contrary, it would be a distinct hindrance."

"Yes," acknowledged Monroe; "I see what you mean. But suppose that any of them should take it into their heads to come on deck, how am I to prevent them? I have no authority over them, not even over the boy."

"You must bring your moral suasion to bear upon her, if need be," I said. "Point out to her that the beating off of a piratical attack--Oh!

hang it, what bosh I am talking, to be sure; as though there was the least likelihood of such a thing! The talk of that a.s.s Kennedy seems to have hypnotised me as well as himself! But to return to what I was saying--_if_ such an utterly improbable thing should happen, point out to her that fighting is men's work, and that the presence of women and children would be worse than useless at such a time. Let her remain below herself, and exercise her authority over that boy of hers to make him stay below also. I don't suppose that Miss Anthea would need any persuading."