Part 29 (1/2)
”If that isn't mutiny, I'd like to know what is,” cried the captain.
”Well, if that's mutiny, then I'm glad to be a mutineer!” shouted the old salt, ”and any court in the land would uphold me, for I am trying to save lives, and you're trying to throw 'em away.”
”Throw 'em away! What do you mean?”
”You know what I mean,” replied Jack, and there was significance in his voice. ”I won't say anything about putting to sea in a s.h.i.+p that wasn't fit--with masts that were nothin' but dry rot, and with pumps that only half work at best. And I won't say anything about your plot--there isn't time now. But I will say----”
”A plot!” cried Alice, who, with Ruth, stood near her father.
”Yes, a plot, Miss!” Jack Jepson cried. ”I'll tell you about it later.
But now we've got to do something. The water's comin' in fast, and if we can't stop it, we'll have to take to the boats.”
”Look here!” stormed Captain Brisco, and his voice was almost in keeping with the howl of the gale all about them, and almost as raucous as the salty spray that flew over everything. ”Look here! Who is captain of this s.h.i.+p?”
”You are,” replied Jack quietly enough. He looked the angry man full in the eye, and the half-raised fist of the commander fell again.
”Then if I'm captain, I'm going to be obeyed!” came next. ”I order you below, Jepson. You're no longer mate of this craft. You're deposed! Hen Lacomb, I hereby appoint you first mate until my regular one recovers, and you, Hankinson, you're second mate. Lively now. Jepson, go below, and if he makes any more trouble, Hen, clap him in irons,” he added significantly.
For a moment there was silence following this announcement--that is, as much quiet as the storm permitted. Then Alice cried out:
”Father, won't you say something! Mr. Pertell, you're not going to permit this, are you? I'm sure Jack Jepson is honest and that he is faithfully warning us. Don't let him be put down this way. Ask him what he means by a plot!”
”Oh, Alice!” protested her sister. ”At a time like this--when we may all be drowned!”
”We'll all be drowned worse, maybe, if Jack's advice isn't taken. What is it?” she asked, appealing to the old sailor. ”What is the plot you spoke of?”
”Ask him?” cried the old salt, pointing an accusing finger at the captain. ”Ask him, and if he doesn't tell you, I will. Talk about a mutiny! It wouldn't be half as bad as his plot for getting possession of this vessel.”
”What's that!” cried Captain Brisco, starting forward. ”You dare accuse me----”
”Yes, you and Hen Lacomb!” cried Jack, who seemed to have acquired a new boldness. ”I charge you with plotting to make a fizzle of the s.h.i.+pwreck these picture people planned. You were going to pretend the vessel was sinking, before the time set for the pictures, and you were going to get them to abandon the schooner. Then you and Lacomb were going to come back to the s.h.i.+p later, take her to some secret port, fit her out again and use her for your own purposes.
”That's the plot! That's what I overheard you and Lacomb plannin', and when you suspected I knew, you thought I'd be better off in the sea.
That's how I happened to go overboard. I was thrown! That's what I charge you with. Deny it if ye dare!” and he pointed an accusing finger at the two men. ”You threw me overboard, Hen Lacomb! And Captain Brisco planned to have you do it!”
Captain Brisco appeared to struggle with some emotion. His face went red and white by turns. He seemed unable to speak. But at last he choked out:
”What! You dare say that to me. You accuse me----!”
”Yes, and I have the proof!” cried Jack. ”Here's the agreement you made Lacomb sign. You were afraid to trust to him unless he made a promise in writing, and here it is. I found it in the secret compartment in your cabin. Your cabin that used to be mine in the old _Mary Ellen_. That's how I made sure this s.h.i.+p was the old one I used to serve on, made over.
I found this agreement! It's the proof of what I say. Deny it if you can.”
”Why--why--” stammered the captain. ”Do you dare--” but it seemed he could not get any farther. He glanced at Hen Lacomb who stood near him.
A meaning look pa.s.sed between the two men, and Hen started edging around toward Jack Jepson.
”Father! Mr. Pertell!” cried Alice. ”Let us have this settled! Jack has made charges. They may be true or they may not be. But our lives surely are in danger if this vessel is sinking.”
”And I say she isn't sinking! She's as sound as a bell below the water line!” cried the captain.