The Golden Rock Part 6

They went aft, now breasting the slanting deck as the bows dipped, now bending back to the answering lift, and came up to the bridge, where the Captain gave them a surly nod, and the lady flashed a smile on them.

"The new hand, mam, come to report himself. I found him afloat in his cabin with a feeling that he was an empty nothing, but he is better now," and Webster turned a perfectly grave face upon Hume, his voice expressing the deepest sympathy.

"I am indebted to Mr Webster for his kindness, but he is premature in cla.s.sing me as a new hand."

"If you will come up here, Mr --"

"Hume," said Frank briefly, filling up the pause.

"Mr Hume, you may talk with less discomfort."

Webster, with a whispered word to Frank to "come off his stilts,"

lurched to the chart-room, and Frank, with a feeling of resentment at the girl's cold speech, mounted the steps to the bridge, where he waited with what patience he could muster until she chose to take her gaze off the sea, which she did presently, turning her magnificent eyes, and letting them dwell on his face in a calm scrutiny.

"Did Mr Webster tell you," she asked in slow, formal speech, "that I had an offer to make?"

"He did suggest that I might hope for a berth in the cook's galley."

She did not smile at this as a man would have done, but frowned slightly. "I am--rather, the ship is--short-handed, and I wish you to take your turn in the officers' watch."

"But, Miss--" Here he paused with an inquiring look at her.

"You can call me madam," she said.

He bowed, with a smile at her composure. "I am obliged for your confidence in me; but I am not competent to fill a responsible place."

"You showed yourself last night equal to an emergency," was the quick reply.

"Anyone could have done as well. But, madam, even if I were competent, I am not sure I could give my services unless I were satisfied as to the nature of the enterprise upon which this warship is embarked."

She threw her head back with a haughty toss, and with a ring in her voice, replied: "I am not at liberty to satisfy your curiosity."

"Pardon me," he continued quietly, though his cheeks flushed, "I do not wish to pry into your secrets, but it is impossible for me to act in this matter blindfold, especially as I am not here of my own free will."

"Then you refuse to help me?"

"I would help you willingly," he replied eagerly, "if you tell me I can do so without hurt to my conscience or my country."

"I will give you no a.s.surance whatever. Do you, or do you not, accept my offer?" she said imperiously.

"No, madam, I cannot."

"Then go back to your cabin; I will take the watch myself." She turned away with an angry glow in her dark eyes, and he, after pausing awhile, slowly descended to the deck.

CHAPTER FIVE.

DOWN THE CHANNEL.

"Well, shipmate," said Webster, coming out of the chart house, "have you been promoted from the saloon to the bridge, pa.s.sing over the cook on the way, just after the old style when a lord-in-waiting, who did not know a brig from a b.u.mboat, was appointed admiral? No apprenticeship, no navigation, no examination, but an order from the Commodore: 'Mr Hume, sir, please take the third watch.'"

"No," was the gloomy response; "I could not accept."

"You swab! You mean to tell me you've declined to help the Commodore?"

"I presume you refer to the young lady?"

"Presume be d.a.m.ned. Have you no eyes, man, no gallantry; can you stand by and see a girl like that eat her heart out with sorrow and anxiety?

Not that I care a bra.s.s b.u.t.ton whether you help or not, for double work doesn't hurt me; but just think what she'll be like after a fortnight in this crazy roundabout."

"You forget I know nothing about the lady, nor this ship, nor its mission."

"And what's that got to do with your keeping an eye on the binnacle, or a cheerful face that will do something to keep her spirits up? As for the matter of that, I know precious little about the object of this voyage, but it's enough for me to know that she wants my help, and that Captain Pardoe is in command."

"It is not enough for me. My knowledge of Captain Pardoe does not inspire me with much confidence in his designs, and you forget the circ.u.mstances under which I was trapped."

"Well, well, you're just like the rest. You landsmen don't mind what you do ash.o.r.e, but no sooner do you come aboard than you're as nice with your conscience as a lady's-maid with her mistress's borrowed gown. I warrant you'd not trouble your head about the policy of a merchant's business if you entered his service, not though he was selling bad pork to sailors or robbing the widows."

"You're going rather wide of the mark, Mr Webster," said Frank sternly.

"There, now, you've taken offence, and that's what makes me sad to think of you tossing like a log in your cabin--like that cold-blooded creature of a Commins who's drinking champagne in his bunk, the swab."

"Mr Webster!" hailed the Captain.

"Yes, sir!"

"Take the remainder of my watch, please, and keep a sharp look-out on the starboard quarter."

Webster swung quickly to the bridge, where he touched his hat to the lady, and then braced himself fast to sweep the channel with the gla.s.s.

Captain Pardee came down slowly, and reeled a little on the deck, as though he had taken too much grog, thought Frank, as he caught him by the arm.

"Thank 'ee," said he. "I've not quitted the bridge before since we left the Pool, and my legs are rather stiff."

He staggered on to the small gangway and descended, leaving Frank to his own reflections, which were not very pleasant. If a man so tough and strong, and inured to hardship, as Captain Pardoe evidently was, felt the strain of the long watch on board, it was clearly beyond the power of a girl to undertake any part of work so trying.

She was still standing on the bridge, her face wet with the driving spray, and a tense look about the mouth which told of nerves high-strung. She was looking fixedly before her, and did not, as she had on her first coming on deck, bend her head to the flying spume in playful defiance. As he watched her, hesitating between his wish to help and his stubborn regard for his own rights, he saw her lips tremble, and that settled the matter.

"Madam," he said, reaching her side in a moment, "I am ready to help."

She withdrew her face from the sea, and he saw that her thoughts had been far from him or the ship, and in some confusion he repeated his words. A faint flush came to her cheek, and a brighter look in her eye.

"I'm so glad," she whispered, and Frank, feeling something coquettish in this, flushed himself. With the faintest smile, she continued: "I come of a superst.i.tious race, and your refusal, so brusquely given, too, had shaken my faith in my own power, and what is of more importance, in the success of my undertaking. I was reading 'failure' out there in the tumbling waters--But now you have rea.s.sured me. That is why I am glad."

He flushed more deeply yet to think how easily she read his thoughts.

"You must forgive me," he said, with a frank smile, "but I only wanted an excuse to satisfy my reasonable suspicions."