Part 3 (1/2)

His opinion of Captain Calamity had touched zero by now, and he hardly troubled to conceal his contempt. He, like the remainder of the _Hawk's_ company, knew that she was engaged on a privateering expedition, and was eager to ”taste blood.” And it must be admitted that Calamity had induced many of the men to s.h.i.+p with him by holding out promises of fat bonuses, with, perhaps, the opportunity of a little plundering thrown in. Now, when chance had thrown what appeared to be a rich prize under their very noses, the skipper was calmly letting it slip through his fingers.

It was pretty obvious that the mate's resentment was shared by the crew.

For the last half-hour they had lined the bulwarks, watching the Germans transfer their plunder from the liner. Every man-Jack of them felt certain that, in the course of a very short time, that same plunder would find its way on board the _Hawk_ with material benefit to themselves. When, however, it was seen that the Captain had no intention of carrying out their notion, scowling faces were turned towards the bridge, and there were angry mutterings. Soon the muttering grew louder, and at last one of the men, a huge serang, stepped out of the crowd, and shook his fist at Calamity, who was watching from the bridge.

Then, urged on by the others, he demanded that the s.h.i.+p should be put back to Singapore and the men discharged with a month's wages. They did not like, he said, being on a s.h.i.+p without knowing what port she was bound for. They did not like the officers, and, more than anything else, they did not like the Captain. The spokesman wound up his peroration in broken English by hinting that, unless the _Hawk_ was put about at once, the crew would take charge of her.

All this while Calamity had stood leaning on the bridge-rail, listening to the serang with an expression of quiet, almost anxious, attention.

The mate, watching him out of the corner of his eyes, saw no sign of that terrible berserker rage with which he had so often heard the Captain credited. In fact, a member of Parliament could not have listened to a deputation of const.i.tuents with more polite attention.

”I reckon if we don't do what they want they'll hand out some trouble,”

said the mate. ”Them that ain't got one knife ready at their hips has got two.”

Calamity made no answer, but a peculiar pallor had overspread his face.

He turned away from the bridge-rail, and, without any sign of haste, descended the companion-ladder and stepped calmly into the midst of the snarling rabble.

”What are you doing on deck?” he asked the serang quietly. ”Your place is in the stokehold.”

The man started to make an impudent reply, but before he had uttered two words the Captain had s.n.a.t.c.hed him off his feet as easily as if he had been a child and flung him bodily into the crowd of astonished men, knocking several of them over. Then, as the serang landed against a steam-winch with a terrible crash, Calamity s.n.a.t.c.hed up a capstan bar and dashed into the crowd.

Then the mate, standing on the bridge, witnessed such a spectacle as he had never seen before and devoutly hoped he would never see again.

Swinging the heavy iron bar above his head as though it were a flail, the Captain smashed left and right among the men, hitting them how and where he could--on the head, body, limbs--no matter where so long as he hit them. Two or three drew their knives and made a desperate rush at him, but there was no getting through the swinging circle of iron. In two minutes the forward deck bore a horrible resemblance to a shambles, for it was littered with injured men and blood was trickling down the white planks into the scuppers. Groans, shrieks, and curses resounded on all sides; the men scurried for shelter in every direction like rats, and two or three, reaching the forecastle, locked themselves in. But a couple of blows from the iron bar smashed the door to splinters and then cries rang out again and with them the sound of the terrible weapon as it crashed against a bulkhead or smashed a bunk to splinters. One man managed to escape out of the forecastle and was running for his life towards the p.o.o.p when Calamity, his face distorted with demoniac fury, flung the bar at him. It caught the man on the back of the head and he pitched forward on the deck, where he lay weltering in his own blood.

Then, without so much as a glance at the fearful havoc he had wrought, the Captain returned to the bridge.

”What were you saying before I left, Mr. d.y.k.es?” he inquired calmly.

”Er--I was saying that it looked as if the wind would change round to the nor' west before long, sir,” answered the mate in a subdued and extremely respectful tone.

CHAPTER IV

THE CASTAWAYS

The following morning, at eight bells, those of the crew not on duty or on the sick-list were a.s.sembled upon the forward hatch. Many of them had heads or limbs in bandages, and they were as meek as little lambs. As the s.h.i.+p's bells were struck, Calamity mounted the bridge, accompanied by the mate, and walked up to the rail.

”I'm not going to waste my breath by telling such a crowd of doss-house and prison sc.u.m as you are what I think about you,” he said in a harsh, grating voice, that seemed to emphasise the insults. ”What I want to say is this: the first man who raises a murmur about anything or hesitates in carrying out an order, that man I'll string up at the end of a derrick with a hawser for a collar. And remember this: I like a cheerful crew, and if I see a man who doesn't look as cheerful as he ought, by G.o.d, I'll clap him in the bilboes. Now get out of my sight.”

The Captain stepped back from the rail and turned to the mate.

”I always believe in exercising patience and in using persuasion, Mr.

d.y.k.es,” he said. ”If, however, we should have any more trouble--and I don't somehow think we shall--it will become necessary to deal drastically with the offenders.”

Without waiting for a reply, he walked into the chart-room, leaving Mr.

d.y.k.es and the second-mate gasping.

”What in thunder would he call 'drastic,' I'd like to know?” inquired the former. ”He's already maimed half the crew and calls that persuasion. The Lord stand between me and his persuading, that's all I say.”