Part 7 (1/2)

Hozier tried to ascertain from the watch if they had found the cause of the disturbance, but the men could only guess that a chance blow with an adze had straightened a kink in one of the casings. c.o.ke treated the incident with nonchalance.

”Thought you was to be called w'en the Cross hove in sight, Miss Yorke?” he said abruptly.

”I am sorry to have to inform you that some people on board cannot distinguish between falsity and truth,” she answered. ”But please don't be angry with any of the men on my account. Mr. Hozier tells me they often confuse the False Cross with the real one, and the mistake has been enjoyable. Now I know all about it--what were those stars you were telling me the names of, Mr. Hozier?”

Philip took the cue she offered.

”Sirius, and Orion, and Ursa Major. I shall write the names and particulars for you after breakfast,” he said with a smile.

”Reg'lar 'umbug the Southern Cross,” grunted c.o.ke; ”it ain't a patch on the Bear.”

”Mr. Hozier said something like that,” put in Iris mischievously.

”Did 'e? Well 'e's right for once. But don't you go an' take as Gospel most things 'e says. Every s.h.i.+pmaster knows that the second officer simply can't speak the truth. It ain't natural. W'y, it 'ud bust a steam pipe if 'e tole you wot 'e really thought of the ole man.”

c.o.ke grinned at his own pleasantry. To one of his hearers, at least, it seemed to be pa.s.sing strange that he was so ready to forget such a vital defect in the steering gear as had manifested its existence a few minutes earlier.

At any rate, he remained on the bridge until long after Iris had seen and admired the cl.u.s.ter of stars which oldtime navigators used to regard with awe. When shafts of white light began to taper, pennon-like, in the eastern sky, the girl went back to her cabin.

Contrary to Hozier's expectation, c.o.ke did not attempt to draw from him any account of their conversation prior to the inexplicable mishap to the wheel. He examined a couple of charts, made a slight alteration in the course, and at four o'clock took charge of the bridge.

”Just 'ave a look round now while things is quiet,” he said, nodding to Hozier confidentially. ”I'll tell you wot I fancy: a rat dragged a bit of bone into a gear-box. If the plankin' is badly worn anywhere, get the carpenter to see to it. I do 'ate to 'ave a feelin' that the wheel can let you down. S'pose we was makin' Bahia on the homeward run, an'

that 'appened! It 'ud be the end of the pore ole s.h.i.+p; an' oo'd credit it? Not a soul. They'd all say 'Jimmie threw 'er away!' Oh, I know 'em, the swine--never a good word for a man while 'e keeps straight, but tar an' feathers the minnit 'e 'as a misforchun!”

Hozier found a gnawed piece of ham-bone lying in the exact position antic.i.p.ated by c.o.ke. An elderly salt who had served with the P. & O.

recalled a similar incident as having occurred on board an Indian mail steamer while pa.s.sing through the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. He drew a lurid picture of the captain's dash across the forms of lady pa.s.sengers sleeping inside a curtained s.p.a.ce on deck, and his location of the area of disturbance with an ax just in time to prevent a disaster.

The carpenter busied himself with sawing and hammering during the whole of the next two days, for the _Andromeda_ revealed many gaps in her woodwork, but the escapade of an errant ham-bone was utterly eclipsed by a new sensation. At daybreak one morning every drop of water in the vessel's tanks suddenly a.s.sumed a rich, blood-red tint. This unnerving discovery was made by the cook, who was horrified to see a ruby stream pouring into the earliest kettle. Thinking that an iron pipe had become oxidized with startling rapidity, he tried another tap.

Finally, there could be no blinking the fact that, by some uncanny means, the whole of the fresh water on board had acquired the color if not the taste of a thin Burgundy.

c.o.ke was summoned hastily. _n.o.blesse oblige_; being captain, he valiantly essayed the task of sampling this strange beverage.

”It ain't p'ison,” he announced, gazing suspiciously at the little group of anxious-faced men who awaited his verdict. ”It sartinly ain't p'ison, but it's wuss nor any teetotal brew I've tackled in all me born days. 'Ere, Watts, you know the tang of every kind o' likker--'ave a sup?”

”Not me!” said Watts. ”I don't like the look of it. First time I've ever seen red ink on tap. For the rest of this trip I stick to bottled beer, or somethink with a label.”

”It smells like an infusion of permanganate of potash,” volunteered Hozier.

”Does it?” growled c.o.ke, who seemed to be greatly annoyed. ”Wot a pity it ain't an infusion of whisky an' potas.h.!.+” and he glared vindictively at Watts. ”Some ijjit 'as bin playin' a trick on us, that's wot it is--some blank soaker 'oo don't give a hooraw in Hades for tea an'

corfee an' cocoa, but wants a tonic. Stooard!”

”Yes, sir,” said the messroom attendant.

”Portion out all the soda water in the lockers, an' whack it on the table every meal till it gives out. See that n.o.body puts away more'n 'is proper allowance, too. I'm not goin' to cry hush-baby w'en the _Andromeda_ gets this sort of kid's dodge worked off on 'er.”

”If you're alloodin' to me,” put in the incensed ”chief,” whose temper rose on this direct provocation, ”I want to tell you now----”

”Does the cap fit?” sneered c.o.ke.

”No, it doesn't. I never 'eard of that kind of potash in me life.