Part 21 (1/2)

Their leader made his proposal at once. ”All right-a, Captain, I see how you want. We take charge now, and take-a you into Ferrol without you being at more trouble.”

”Nothing of the kind,” said Kettle. ”I'm just wanting the loan of two or three hands to give my fellows a spell or two at that pump. We're a bit short-handed, that's all. But otherwise we're quite comfortable. I'll pay A.B.'s wages on Liverpool scale, and that's a lot more than you Dagos give amongst yourselves, and if the men work well I'll throw in a dash besides for 'bacca money.'”

[Ill.u.s.tration: HE PICKED UP THE MAN AND SENT HIM AFTER THE KNIFE.]

”Ta-ta-ta,” said the Portuguese, with a wave of his yellow fist. ”It cannot be done, and I will not lend you men. It shall do as I say; we take-a you into Ferroll. Do not fear-a, captain; you shall have money for finding sheep; you shall have some of our salvage.”

Dayton-Philipps, who was standing near, and knew the little sailor's views, looked for an outbreak. But Kettle held himself in, and still spoke to the man civilly.

”That's good English you talk,” he said. ”Do all your crowd understand the language?”

”No,” said the fellow, readily enough, ”that man does not, nor does him, nor him.”

”Right--oh!” said Kettle. ”Then, as those three man can't kick up a bobbery at the other end, they've just got to stay here and help work this vessel home. And as for the rest of you filthy, stinking, scale-covered cousins of apes, over the side you go before you're put.

Thought you were going to steal my lawful salvage, did you, you crawling, yellow-faced--ah!”

The hot-tempered Portuguese was not a man to stand this tirade (as Kettle antic.i.p.ated) unmoved. His fingers made a vengeful s.n.a.t.c.h toward the knife in his belt, but Kettle was ready for this, and caught it first and flung it overboard. Then with a clever heave he picked up the man and sent him after the knife.

He tripped up one of the Portuguese who couldn't speak English, dragged him to the cabin companion, and toppled him down the ladder.

Dayton-Philipps (surprised at himself for abetting such lawlessness) captured a second in like fas.h.i.+on, and the English fireman and coal-trimmer picked up the third and dropped him down an open hatchway on to the grain in the hold beneath.

But there were six of the fishermen left upon the deck, and these did not look upon the proceedings unmoved. They had been slow to act at first, but when the initial surprise was over, they were blazing with rage and eager to do murder. The Italian and the Sierra Leone n.i.g.g.e.r ran out of their way on to the forecastle head, and they came on, vainglorious in numbers, and armed with their deadly knives. But the two English roughs, the English gentleman, and the little English sailor, were all of them men well accustomed to take care of their own skins; the belaying pins out of the pinrail seemed to come by instinct into their hands, and not one of them got so much as a scratch.

It was all the affair of a minute. It does not do to let these little impromptu scrimmages simmer over long. In fact, the whole affair was decided in the first rush. The quartette of English went in, despising the ”Dagos,” and quite intending to clear them off the s.h.i.+p. The invaders were driven overboard by sheer weight of blows and prestige, and the victors leaned on the bulwark puffing and gasping, and watched them swim away to their boat through the clear water below.

”Ruddy Dagos,” said the roughs.

”Set of blooming pirates,” said Kettle.

But Dayton-Philipps seemed to view the situation from a different point.

”I'm rather thinking we are the pirates. How about those three we've got on board? This sort of press-gang work isn't quite approved of nowadays, is it, Skipper?”

”They no speakee English,” said Kettle drily. ”You might have heard me ask that, sir, before I started to talk to that skipper to make him begin the show. And he did begin it, and that's the great point. If ever you've been in a police court, you'll always find the magistrate ask, 'Who began this trouble?' And when he finds out, that's the man he logs.

No, those fishermen won't kick up a bobbery when they get back to happy Portugal again; and as for our own crowd here on board, they ain't likely to talk when they get ash.o.r.e, and have money due to them.”

”Well, I suppose there's reason in that, though I should have my doubts about the stonemason. He comes from Sierra Leone, remember, and they're great on the rights of man there.”

”Quite so,” said Kettle. ”I'll see the stonemason gets packed off to sea again in a stokehold before he has a chance of stirring up the mud ash.o.r.e. When the black man gets too pampered, he has to be brought low again with a rush, just to make him understand his place.”

”I see,” said Dayton-Phillips, and then he laughed.

”There's something that tickles you, sir?”

”I was thinking, Skipper, that for a man who believes he's being put in the way of a soft thing by direct guidance from on high, you're using up a tremendous lot of energy to make sure the Almighty's wishes don't miscarry. But still I don't understand much about these matters myself.

And at present it occurs to me that I ought to be doing a spell at those infernal pumps, instead of chattering here.”

The three captive Portuguese were brought up on deck and were quickly induced by the ordinary persuasive methods of the merchant service officer to forego their sulkiness and turn-to diligently at what work was required of them. But even with this help the heavy s.h.i.+p was still considerably undermanned, and the incessant labor at the pumps fell wearily on all hands. The Bay, true to its fickle nature, changed on them again. The suns.h.i.+ne was swamped by a driving gray mist of rain; the gla.s.s started on a steady fall; and before dark, Kettle snugged her down to single topsails, himself laying out on the foot-ropes with the Portuguese, as no others of his crew could manage to scramble aloft with so heavy a sea running.