Part 6 (2/2)
For the first time that night Williams showed signs of anger, but, quickly checking himself, he said:
”Well, if that card won't take the trick, I have another that will!”
And again he sat down and resumed his whispering.
It was evident by the expression of his countenance that this time Ned was not only horrified but also thoroughly frightened; and when Williams ceased the poor lad hung his head and murmured in a scarcely audible voice:
”Enough! you have conquered! though I can scarcely believe you _could_ be so inhuman--to those poor children, too! But remember! if, after what you have promised, the slightest insult or injury is offered to any one of them, I'll--I'll--”
”There, that will do!” interrupted William. ”I've pledged you my word, boy; and I hope to have you with us long enough to convince you that I _never_ break it. But mind! I must have you faithfully do whatever you are told to do, in return. And now, as we thoroughly understand each other, you may go back to your berth and turn in until morning; and then I shall expect that when the pa.s.sengers make their appearance you will tell them what has happened aboard here, and also mention our intentions about them. And be careful to make them clearly understand that, whilst we are all against bloodshed, the slightest suspicious action on their part will be looked upon as treachery, and treated as such. Cast our new sailing-master adrift there, some of you, and let him go back to his berth.”
Williams' order was promptly obeyed; and Ned, half-dazed, rose to his feet, advanced to the door, and then stopped. ”What about Captain Blyth and Mr Manners?” he asked. ”What are you going to do with them?”
”They will have to put up with such accommodation as they can find here until we have an opportunity to land them,” was the reply. ”But make your mind easy on their account, Mr Damerell; their comfort will be properly looked after, and no harm will come to them _unless an attempt is made to retake the s.h.i.+p_. In such a case as that I won't answer for the consequences. The blame for whatever happens must fall upon the shoulders of them that bring it about.”
Ned was obliged to be content with this; and with a heavy heart he turned and left the deck-house, not daring to look his commander in the face, and feeling as guilty in his new dignity as though he had voluntarily thrown in his lot with the mutineers, notwithstanding the fact that pressure had been brought to bear upon him which he was equally powerless to avoid or to resist.
Ned's first act, on returning aft, was to enter Captain Blyth's state- room, with the object of securing the keys of the arm-chests; but the mutineers seemed to have been beforehand with him, for the keys were gone. He next sought the lock-up tin box in which the s.h.i.+p's papers were kept; but here, too, the mutineers had been ahead of him, for the box, as also the captain's desk, was missing. Being thus foiled in the only matters which occurred to him at the moment, he left the state- room, closing the door after him as silently and reverently as if the captain's dead body had been lying there, and reluctantly returned to his own berth. Not to sleep, of course, that was utterly out of the question, the poor lad was so overwhelmed with consternation at the unexpected seizure of the s.h.i.+p, and with dismay at the way in which he had been compulsorily identified with the movement, that he just then felt as though he would never be able to sleep again. No; sleep and he were strangers, at least for the time being, so he flung himself down on the sofa-locker and tried to think. But for the first half-hour or so even the power of thought was denied him. The catastrophe had been so utterly unattended by any warning that it was like a levin stroke falling from a cloudless sky, and for the moment Ned found himself unable to recognise it as an actual fact. Over and over again he stood up and shook himself to ascertain whether or not he was really awake, or whether his disjointed cogitations and the cause of them were only parts of an ugly dream. At length, however, his mind grew clearer, the disastrous reality of the whole business finally a.s.serted itself, and he then began to cast blindly about him for the means of rectification.
But, alas, the longer he thought about it, the more hopeless did the situation appear. He began to see that Williams had only spoken the simple truth when he a.s.serted that the mutiny was the result of long premeditation. They had laid their plans well, the scoundrels! and had carried them out with such consummate artifice and attention to detail, that as Ned turned over in his mind scheme after scheme for the recovery of the s.h.i.+p, it was only to realise that each had been antic.i.p.ated and provided against. At length, baffled and in despair, he gave up, temporarily, all hope of effecting a recapture, and allowed his thoughts to turn in another direction. ”What was to become of the pa.s.sengers?”
True, Williams had guaranteed for them perfect immunity from molestation, the price of this privilege being on Ned's part true and faithful service as navigator of the s.h.i.+p for the mutineers, but a time was to come when the pa.s.sengers would be landed on some out-of-the-way spot, doubtless, and exposed to countless perils from hunger, thirst, exposure, and worse than all, perhaps the nameless horrors of a captivity among savages! And yet Ned felt that they would be in even greater peril so long as they remained on board the _Flying Cloud_. The mutineers seemed peaceably disposed for the moment certainly, but how long would that state of things continue after they had gained access to the liquor on board? Ned shuddered as his excited imagination pictured the scene of bloodshed which might be enacted within the next twenty- four hours, and he finally began to realise that even falling into the hands of a tribe of savages might not prove to be the very worst evil possible for those poor weak women and children. His next thought was that they must be got out of the s.h.i.+p with all possible expedition. Ha!
but that involved the necessity for saying ”good-bye”--for a parting!
Well; what of that? He had said ”good-bye” before now to plenty of pleasant people, both on the Melbourne quays, and on the dock walls at London. But, somehow, this time it seemed different; he did not know how it was, but these people seemed _more_ than friends, the ladies especially; for them he felt that he entertained a regard as tender, almost--or quite--as that which he felt for Eva, and this now made the idea of parting so distasteful to him that, as his mind began to dwell upon it, the feeling amounted almost to agony. And this, too, quite apart from the sensation of indignant disgust with which he regarded Williams' unscrupulous resolution to involve him and his fortunes with the future career of the mutineers. But it should not be; he would outwit the rascals somehow, and join the little party of pa.s.sengers when they were landed, even if he had to steal over the s.h.i.+p's side, drop overboard, and swim ash.o.r.e as the vessel sailed away.
Whilst cogitating thus, the returning daylight surprised him; and shortly afterwards he heard a movement in the saloon which told him that the gentlemen were about to make their appearance on deck to indulge in the usual matutinal ”tub.”
He opened his state-room door and entered the saloon with a cheery ”Good-morning, gentlemen!”
”Good-morning, Mr Damerell,” was the equally cheery reply; and then Mr Gaunt, happening to notice the lad's worn and haggard appearance, exclaimed:
”Why, good heavens, Ned, what is the matter? Are you ill?”
”Hus.h.!.+” said Ned. ”No, I am not ill, Mr Gaunt, but I am in great trouble and perplexity. I have pa.s.sed through a rather startling experience during the night; and”--in a low tone of voice, so that the ladies, if awake, might not hear him--”I have bad news to communicate.
Will you kindly step into my cabin for a moment?”
The two gentlemen pa.s.sed into the state-room and seated themselves on the sofa-locker, Ned following and closing the door after him.
”Now, Ned, what is it?” asked the engineer. ”If I may judge from the expression of your countenance the matter is serious; and, if so, out with it at once. You need not be afraid of startling us, I fancy.”
”You _will_ be startled, nevertheless, I expect,” was the reply. ”The matter is simply this. The crew have seized the s.h.i.+p, and poor Captain Blyth and Mr Manners are at this moment close prisoners in the deck- house for'ard!”
The two gentlemen stared first at each other, and then at Ned, in the utmost perplexity. For a moment or two they were both so completely astounded that neither could find a word to say. At length, however, the engineer so far recovered his powers of speech as to e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.e:
”But--but--good heavens! what will become of the women and children?
And how is it, sir, that, if what you state be true, _you_ are free--as you apparently are?”
”You are all perfectly safe--I hope and believe--at all events for the present. And the price of your safety is a promise on my part to faithfully navigate the s.h.i.+p to the best of my ability for the mutineers,” answered Ned with quivering lips; and then suddenly and completely overcome by a sense of his desolate and desperate situation, the poor lad turned away, buried his face in his hands, and burst into tears.
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