Carlton Dawe 
 
✓ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2019 with funding from 
 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 https://archive.org/details/captaincastletalOOdawe 
 
SAVE ME ! SAVE ME !” 
 
 Page 130 . 
 
CAPTAIN CASTLE 
 
 A TALE OF 
 
 THE CHINA SEAS 
 
 BY 
 
 CARLTON DAWE 
 
 AUTHOR OF “YELLOW AND WHITE,” “MOUNT DESOLATION.” 
 “KAKEMONOS,” ETC. 
 
 WITH A FRONTISPIECE 
 
 LONDON 
 
 SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE 
 
 1897 
 
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson dr 3 Co. 
 At the Ballantyne Press 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. 
 
 I JOIN THE “COREA” . 
 
 
 . 
 
 • 
 
 PAGF. 
 
 I 
 
 II. 
 
 STEERING SOUTHWARDS 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 16 
 
 III. 
 
 A LESSON IN NAVIGATION 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 3 i 
 
 IV. 
 
 JI JI GETS ANXIOUS 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 5 o 
 
 V. 
 
 THE CAPTAIN’S WIFE . 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 73 
 
 VI. 
 
 MUTINY .... 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 92 
 
 VII. 
 
 BESIEGED 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 112 
 
 VIII. 
 
 I AM OVERWHELMED WITH 
 
 GRATITUDE 
 
 
 134 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE CAPTAIN DOES SOME SHOOTING . 
 
 
 154 
 
 X. 
 
 IN IRONS 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 
 174 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE THREE JUNKS 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 
 T90 
 
 XII. 
 
 THE ATTACK . 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 
 00 
 
 0 
 
 N 
 
 XIII. 
 
 HOW CRAIGIEMORE PUT OUT 
 
 THE FIRE 
 
 
 226 
 
 XIV. 
 
 AFTERWARDS . 
 
 • 
 
 • 
 
 
 245 
 
 XV. 
 
 A NEW TERROR 
 
 • 
 
 » 
 
 
 26l 
 
 XVI. 
 
 TWO BELLS . 
 
 
 
 
 
 XVII. 
 
 THE END OF THE VOYAGE 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 
 286 
 
 V 
 

 
 
 
 
 
CAPTAIN CASTLE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 I JOIN THE “ COREA ” 
 
 I went out to China in one of the smartest 
 boats of the well-known Red Funnel Line, but 
 an attack of fever—caught, I believe, during 
 a night ashore at Singapore—necessitated 
 my being conveyed to the hospital as soon 
 as we arrived in Hong-Kong. There I lay 
 for some time in an extremely precarious 
 condition, knowing nothing of what was 
 going on about me, and caring less. When, 
 however, I had recovered sufficient energy 
 to think at all, the whereabouts of my ship 
 was naturally uppermost in my mind. I 
 wanted to know if she had yet returned 
 from Shanghai—that port being her outward 
 
2 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 destination. The doctor smiled as I put the 
 question. 
 
 “ I should say she has left Penang by this.” 
 
 “ Left Penang ? ” said I. 
 
 “ My dear fellow/’ he replied, “ you have 
 been lying here practically unconscious for 
 the last six weeks. Your ship sailed on her 
 homeward voyage some eight days ago.” 
 
 “ Six weeks ! ” I murmured. It had all been 
 a blank to me, though I had a dim recollection 
 of seeing strange faces at intervals, of hearing 
 strange voices. 
 
 “They came to see me, of course ?” 
 
 It was, perhaps, a childish question, but I 
 felt weak and lonely, and home seemed such 
 a long way off. 
 
 “ Yes, all the officers came in turns, and 
 the captain called every day. He left word 
 that you were to want for nothing, and that 
 if you recovered—for I must tell you there 
 was some doubt of it at the time—you were 
 not to bother about a ship, but wait for him.” 
 
 I think I must have blubbered a bit at this, 
 for the doctor, wiping my eyes with his own 
 handkerchief, spoke to me as though he did 
 not approve of such feeble exhibitions, though 
 
I Join the "Corea” 3 
 
 even his sharpest reproofs had a pleasant ring 
 of kindness in them. Mine, apparently, had 
 been blit an ordinary case. It was not till 
 after that I learned how much he had done 
 for me. 
 
 But it was weeks before I was able to get 
 about, and when I was at length discharged 
 from the hospital, the doctor stood by me, 
 and gave me a room in his own bungalow, 
 nor would he hear of me looking out for a 
 ship. 1 was to wait patiently till my own 
 returned, and then if I was well enough he 
 would be only too glad to see the back of me. 
 Truth to tell, I was doubly indebted to his 
 extreme kindness ; for had I gone to sea in 
 my then enfeebled condition, it is probable 
 that I would not have survived a three weeks’ 
 voyage. As it was, thanks to his generosity 
 and unceasing attention, I made rapid strides 
 towards recovery. For being young, and of 
 powerful physique, once I had fairly got the 
 upper hand of my weakness I gave it no 
 quarter. The bout had been a long one, and 
 I was in no mood for trifling. 
 
 But just then, while I was beginning to 
 entertain hopes of soon joining my old 
 
4 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 captain, one of the Red Funnel boats came in 
 with the news that my ship would probably 
 not be out for another three months, as she 
 had gone north to the Clyde to be re-engined. 
 This, of course, at once decided me to look 
 out for a new berth, as it was against both 
 my wish and inclination, now that I had 
 entirely recovered, any further to impose on 
 the hospitality of my friend. 
 
 All my papers being in good order, and 
 the cause of my leaving the Red Funnel boat 
 duly certified, the shipping-master informed 
 me that he did not think I would have much 
 difficulty in getting a berth. True, the Red 
 Funnel Line would have sent me home, or 
 I might, if I waited, get on another boat of 
 the company ; but I preferred to do a little 
 independent cruising on my own account. 
 After all, the fellows on the regular liners 
 see very little of the country, if one may so 
 speak. To go backwards and forwards be¬ 
 tween the same ports is like going from station 
 to station on a railway, or crossing the Alps 
 through a tunnel. 
 
 Four mornings in succession I called at the 
 shipping office, but without any favourable 
 
I Join the “Corea” 5 
 
 result. Yet on the fifth, as I entered, the 
 shipping-master called me to him and asked 
 how I would like a run down to Java. I 
 answered with a smile that I would like any¬ 
 thing that came along. He nodded, and went 
 on with his writing. I stood back and waited. 
 
 Presently a man in white ducks, white 
 shoes, and a big cork helmet, walked quietly 
 into the office. As he entered he cast a quick, 
 comprehensive glance round the room, and 
 for a moment or two his keen eye rested on 
 me. He was a middle-aged man of medium 
 height, with a thin sallow face, which looked 
 as though it had weathered many a fierce gale, 
 fair hair, and a long yellow moustache, in 
 which was a fair sprinkling of grey. A fine- 
 looking man, notwithstanding his heavy under¬ 
 lip ; his eyes were blue and keen, but on the 
 whole not unpleasant. 
 
 Noiselessly he stepped across to the ship¬ 
 ping-master and shook hands in a lackadaisical 
 sort of way, as though the operation were a 
 most fatiguing ordeal. 
 
 “ Morning to you.” 
 
 Apparently this salutation cost him a con¬ 
 siderable effort. 
 
6 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Morning/' grinned the shipping-inaster, 
 who was as agile as the new-comer was 
 slow. 
 
 “ Have you forgotten what we spoke about 
 last night ? " 
 
 “ No, captain." 
 
 “I thought, perhaps-" and he smiled 
 
 pensively as at some agreeable recollection. 
 
 The shipping-master giggled like a girl, and 
 then looked at me. 
 
 “ Will you step this way, Mr. Quenton ?" 
 
 I immediately approached his desk and 
 stood on the left-hand side : the captain was 
 on the right. 
 
 “ Let me introduce you to Captain Castle,” 
 he said. “ Captain, this is Mr. Quenton, the 
 man I have fixed upon for your second 
 officer." 
 
 The captain eyed me coolly, and at close 
 quarters I saw that his eyes were of a very 
 pale blue and singularly penetrating. He 
 stroked his big moustache affectionately, and 
 was polite enough to drawl out that he was 
 pleased to meet me. 
 
 “ I have told Captain Castle all about you," 
 said the shipping-master, “and I think we 
 
7 
 
 I Join the “Corea” 
 
 may consider this little affair settled, eh, 
 captain ? ” 
 
 The captain was still busy tenderly strok¬ 
 ing his moustache : then he fixed his necktie 
 and patiently scrutinised the set of his pants. 
 This done, he carefully fondled his mous¬ 
 tache again, and replied in his effeminate 
 drawl that he thought so, but that he would 
 leave everything in the hands of the ship¬ 
 ping-master. 
 
 “And when shall I go aboard, sir?” I 
 asked. 
 
 “ The deuce take it! ” said he, as though 
 the suggestion were sprung on him. “ I think 
 you had better go aboard at once.” 
 
 “ Very well, sir.” 
 
 Off I went, marvelling much at the style 
 of Captain Castle, who looked more like a 
 swaggering major from the barracks than 
 the master of a tramp. As a rule, the sea 
 dandy is a very dreadful person, a person 
 who assumes sundry exalted airs without 
 possessing the true air of consequence, who 
 outwardly despises the graces of the lands¬ 
 man, yet inwardly cultivates them, with a 
 result incongruous in the extreme. Certainly 
 
8 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 Captain Castle seemed a remarkably quiet 
 man, and in a way a gentleman, which was 
 the more astounding considering he but com¬ 
 manded a China coaster. I could imagine 
 him on the deck of a big mail boat surrounded 
 by crowds of admiring lady passengers. What 
 a handsome hero they would have thought him, 
 and wouldn’t he have played the game for 
 all it was worth ! 
 
 That afternoon, taking my belongings with 
 me, I hired a sampan and put off to the 
 ship. She was an iron screw-steamer, of about 
 eighteen hundred tons gross, and was called 
 the Corea . Built entirely for the coasting 
 trade, she was in no essential a thing of 
 beauty. Indeed, when I first set my foot on 
 her deck amidships, which was tarred to hide 
 the disgraceful condition of the planks, I 
 felt a sudden, ominous twinge shoot through 
 me. Her funnel was low, black and dirty, 
 with here and there great cracks where the 
 tar had peeled off ; while her two short 
 stumps of masts were begrimed with soot. 
 A most forbidding object I thought her, but 
 undoubtedly a sturdy craft, as her build 
 showed and her record proved. However, 
 
I Join the “Corea" 
 
 9 
 
 I was in for it now. She was to be my 
 home for the next six weeks or so, and I 
 had not been reared so luxuriously that I 
 could not sleep unless on a bed of down. 
 
 As I stood with my trunk on the deck and 
 looked about me, I noticed a burly, ginger- 
 bearded fellow forward, who was shaking his 
 fist and shouting furiously at some Chinese 
 sailors, whose method of working did not meet 
 with his approval. He pulled the peak of his 
 cap down over his eyes, he jammed his great 
 hands into his pockets and spat derisively. 
 Then in unqualified terms he called upon the 
 mothers to witness the stupidity of their sons, 
 and having duly exhausted a somewhat com¬ 
 prehensive vocabulary, he turned his great 
 back on them in disgust. This brought me 
 into his immediate line of vision, and after 
 staring at me for a second or two he came aft. 
 
 A closer inspection of him was not con¬ 
 ducive to unqualified adoration. I thought 
 him more like an orang-outang than a man. 
 His face, or what you could see of it for his 
 thick beard, was burnt to a vivid red, and 
 shone luridly with grease and perspiration. 
 His attire consisted of a pair of greasy brown 
 
10 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 trousers, a singlet that had been unduly with¬ 
 held from the wash-tub, a pair of sloppy 
 shoes, and no socks. 
 
 “Hullo,” he cried, “who the deuce are you?” 
 
 1 was not enamoured of his style, but I 
 replied as civilly as I could, “ My name is 
 Quenton. I have come aboard as second 
 officer.” 
 
 He looked me up and down in a critical, 
 quizzing fashion, cocking his head on one 
 side just as a monkey will before it cracks a 
 nut. Somehow I didn't feel on roses. For 
 all I knew to the contrary, the baboon might 
 take me for a nut. As his eyes reached my 
 collar and tie, a grim smile flitted over his 
 whiskers. I began to wonder if there were 
 any means of escape handy. 
 
 “Oh,” he said, “you've come aboard as 
 second officer , have you ? Sorry, but we 
 don't have officers aboard this boat.” 
 
 I looked my wonder : he grinned con- 
 sum edly. 
 
 “ I'm afraid I don’t quite follow you.” 
 
 “Don't you ?” He laughed contemptuously. 
 “ Officers are for mail boats. We are only a 
 tramp and have mates!' 
 
I Join the '‘Corea" ii 
 
 I smiled aft ably, thinking that the best way 
 to soothe the monster. When one goes to 
 pat the head of a strange dog, one instinc¬ 
 tively calls him " Good boy." So with a 
 good-natured grin I metaphorically patted 
 the head of this brute. 
 
 "Very well, then, I have come as second 
 mate. Can you tell me if the chief is 
 aboard ?" 
 
 " I can." 
 
 " Is he ?" 
 
 “ He is." 
 
 " Where is he ? " 
 
 " At your service," and the monster bowed. 
 
 "You ! You are the chief officer ?" 
 
 " I am the chief mate ” and he grinned 
 again. 
 
 "Yes," I said, in a reflective, musing sort 
 of way, " there is a difference between a mate 
 and an officer." I don’t think he liked the 
 way I looked him up and down. 
 
 " There is also a difference between a first 
 and a second mate,” he replied, and slopped 
 off in his clattering shoes. 
 
 This was not an auspicious beginning, and 
 had I possessed much wisdom I would have 
 
12 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 acted more diplomatically ; but somehow the 
 fellow's style got on my nerves, and I grew 
 desperate. 
 
 Later on, when I came up from below and 
 reported myself as ready for duty, the mate 
 looked me up and down in his leering, 
 impertinent way, and said, u My stars, we are 
 coming out on the old Corea. Talk about a 
 mail boat. Scissors ! " 
 
 I knew the brute was referring to my collar 
 and tie, the like of which his red neck had 
 not known for many a long day; but I 
 smiled good-humouredly, determined not to 
 be provoked into a hostile attitude. Though 
 never reckoned much of a wit, I had an idea 
 that chaff would be the safest outlet for my 
 feelings, and perhaps the most acceptable to 
 my chief. 
 
 “ 1 heard that she was rather a smart boat," 
 I replied, assuming a look of intense gravity ; 
 “that's why I was so anxious to join her. 
 Dress coats for dinner, isn't it ? " 
 
 H is little eyes wrinkled up in a grin ; his 
 heavy eyebrows came down over them like a 
 ragged hedge. He certainly was a most ex¬ 
 traordinary monster. 
 
I Join the “Corea” 13 
 
 “ Only on Sundays—after prayers. Then 
 we put on our patent leathers." 
 
 u With socks ? " 
 
 He didn’t like this. It was getting personal. 
 A bad look swept out of his little eyes ; but 
 he laughed in a hard, dry fashion, as he said, 
 “ I see. You’re a bit of a smarty. We shall 
 get on well together." 
 
 About six that evening we all took tea 
 together in the saloon, and here I met for the 
 first time the three engineers, they, with the 
 captain, the mate, the third and myself, being 
 the only Europeans on board. All the others, 
 sailors, firemen, &c., were Chinese. 
 
 The engineers, it is perhaps scarcely neces¬ 
 sary to say, were Scots. The chief was a 
 pale-faced little fellow called Campbell, with 
 watery blue eyes of a shifty, uncertain gaze, 
 and a broad intelligent brow. The second 
 was a huge fellow of twenty-six called Craigie- 
 more, as different in every particular from his 
 chief as a man could be. The third was a 
 nondescript sort of fellow with a mouthful of 
 bad teeth. 
 
 Craigiemore and I seemed to hit it off at 
 once. His fearless eye, his open brow, his 
 
H 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 well-built frame, were points no ordinary ob¬ 
 server could easily pass. I know I admired 
 him immensely. He came and sat beside me 
 at tea, and generally made himself agreeable ; 
 and it was all done in such an awkward, kind, 
 shy sort of way, as to make me doubly cherish 
 his civility. 
 
 After tea was over we went up on deck 
 and smoked a pipe together, and during a 
 long conversation he told me most of the 
 things I wished to know concerning the Corea. 
 As a rule, the English he spoke was excellent, 
 though when he grew excited, or emphatic, 
 he came out with words that would charm a 
 chronicler of the kailyard. But being a Scots¬ 
 man he knew just how much to say; and 
 though I was sure he could have told me a 
 good deal about Captain Castle, he would 
 never go beyond the statement that the cap¬ 
 tain was a “ verra good man—a verra good 
 man indeed.’’ I could not help admiring his 
 caution, though I knew how unnecessary it 
 was. 
 
 Of my friend, the mate, whose name was 
 Minton, he would say nothing one way 
 or the other. He admitted that the chief 
 
I Join the "Corea" 15 
 
 engineer and Minton got on well together : 
 also the captain and his chief officer. Indeed, 
 from what I could gather, the Corea was a sort 
 of floating mutual admiration society. 
 
 A little later on the captain came aboard, 
 but only to change his light suit for a darker 
 one. Before going off again he called the 
 mate aside to give him an order, and I could 
 not help noticing the obsequious manner of 
 the man ; though truth to confess, the cap¬ 
 tain did seem a being of another world. 
 As he passed me I saluted, but he merely 
 gave me a curt little nod. It was evident that 
 there was only one master on the Corea when 
 Captain Castle was aboard. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 \ 
 
 STEERING SOUTHWARDS 
 
 Early the next morning some carpenters 
 came off from the shore, and immediately pro¬ 
 ceeded to demolish the bulkhead next the 
 captain’s cabin, thus knocking two cabins into 
 one ; and though at first we wondered at the 
 reason of this enlargement, it soon leaked out 
 that our gallant captain was about to marry, 
 and that his bride was to accompany him on 
 the voyage. This news caused considerable 
 commotion on board. No one had suspected 
 such a thing, though Captain Castle, true to 
 the traditions of his profession, had ever been 
 a warm admirer of the gentle sex. Our 
 gorilla of a mate grinned consumedly when¬ 
 ever he spoke of it ; the chief engineer looked 
 serious ; Craigiemore confessed that it was 
 “verra curious.” I couldn’t see it myself. 
 Was marriage such a singular thing to these 
 
 16 
 
Steering Southwards 17 
 
 Bohemians of the waves ? What was more 
 natural than that the captain should take his 
 bride with him ? He was a lucky fellow. 
 Had he been in the Red Funnel Line he 
 would not have been allowed such a luxury. 
 
 But in the meantime the carpenters went on 
 with their work, and when they had finished, 
 some upholsterers and decorators came off 
 and transformed the 4 huge cabin into a charm¬ 
 ing bed-sitting-room. Then a' couple of days 
 before we sailed the captain brought his bride- 
 elect off to inspect the ship, and whatever she 
 may have thought of us above deck, she could 
 not have thought ill of the nest he had 
 rigged up for her below. I saw her as she 
 came up after her inspection, and a stylish, 
 fine-figured woman she seemed ; but as she 
 wore a thick grey gossamer over her face, 
 my imagination had to supply the cut of 
 her features. 
 
 We hadn't much in the way of cargo : a 
 miscellaneous collection of odds and ends, 
 with enough coal to last us the round trip. 
 There were no passengers aft, and only about 
 a dozen coolies forward. We were to load 
 with sugar at Java, and from what I could 
 
 B 
 
i8 Captain Castle 
 
 make out the fellows on board agreed that 
 the charter was a good one. Whether they 
 knew for certain, or merely guessed, I did 
 not know, nor was I curious enough to in¬ 
 quire. Personally 1 was glad of the change. 
 I had never been to Java or through the 
 Java Sea, and I looked forward with pleasur¬ 
 able anticipations to getting out of the beaten 
 track. 
 
 At last the day of sailing arrived. The blue- 
 peter went up at the fore, our gorgeous 
 house-flag at the mizzen. I have invariably 
 noticed that the more insignificant the com¬ 
 pany, the greater its show of house-flag, 
 badge, and band ; nor were we in the least 
 exceptional. 
 
 But in the meantime the usual hurry-skurry 
 and bustle of preparing for sea went on. 
 The mate, in a clean singlet, looked im¬ 
 portant as he drove the loiterers down 
 the gangway into their sampans ; while our 
 Chinese bo'sun, Ji Ji, swore at his compatriots 
 in his very best style. Then, about half-past 
 eight, a launch from the Hong-Kong and 
 Shanghai Bank came off with some $80,000 in 
 silver, which the mate and I saw carefully 
 
Steering Southwards 
 
 T 9 
 
 stowed away in one of the after-cabins. This 
 done, we were ready to up anchor ; but as yet 
 neither the captain nor his lady had put in 
 an appearance. We smiled, of course; but 
 when we recollected that the marriage had 
 taken place only the day before, we had no 
 inclination to be severe. 
 
 However, about half-past ten, we saw a 
 launch making rapidly towards us, the forward 
 part of which was heaped up with trunks 
 and packing-cases. Presently, away aft, we 
 discovered a man and a woman, and in a 
 few minutes the captain and his wife were 
 aboard. Our worthy mate smiled affably as 
 he saw the trunks, bandboxes, and packing- 
 cases come up the gangway, though that smile 
 had something of lofty condescension about 
 it. After all, it was pretty woman’s pretty 
 way. No doubt the mate was a man in feeling, 
 though a satyr in appearance. 
 
 The skipper looked extremely affable. He 
 shook hands with Minton, and was good 
 enough to greet me with a pleasant nod. He 
 asked if everything was ready, and receiving 
 a reply in the affirmative, escorted his bride 
 below. In about half-an-hour’s time he re- 
 
20 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 appeared, having donned a brass-bound reefer 
 jacket and a gorgeously-braided cap. Arrayed 
 thus he sauntered forward, the lady accom¬ 
 panying him. I was on the bridge as they 
 came up, but as she still wore her veil I had 
 not much chance of getting a good peep at 
 her features. 
 
 Once the captain trod the bridge he seemed 
 to increase in size and in importance. He 
 was as different from the lackadaisical dandy 
 of my early acquaintance as a man could well 
 be. His slow, drawling voice gave way to 
 sharp, stern tones of command. It was, 
 “Now then, put her hard over/' and “Are 
 you ready there, forward ? ” There was no 
 mistake about the tone either. 
 
 “ Ay, ay, sir,” yelled the mate. 
 
 “ Then haul away.” 
 
 Rattle, rattle went the winch, and the great 
 cable rolled up rapidly link on link. Then 
 came the mate's voice— 
 
 “ All clear, sir.” 
 
 “ Slow ahead,” cried the captain. 
 
 I, who was standing by the telegraph, 
 signalled accordingly : the gong clattered, 
 an answering clatter came from below. A 
 
Steering Southwards 
 
 21 
 
 moment of suspense followed : there was a 
 low thud from the engines, and the ship began 
 slowly to forge ahead. 
 
 Carefully we threaded our way through the 
 shipping, the old man yelling out the orders 
 in his firm, commanding tones; and when¬ 
 ever he said port, starboard, or steady, his 
 bride turned upon him and positively beamed 
 through her veil. Certainly he was, in her 
 estimation, the most wonderful man that ever 
 trod a bridge. It was really so very clever of 
 him to say starboard or steady, just when star¬ 
 board or steady was the right thing. I envied 
 him such intense worship. I almost fancied 
 I was smart enough to gain it myself. When 
 we finally cleared the channel she squeezed 
 his arm, and said he was a clever old dear. 
 He patted her hand and called her his love, 
 or something equally nice. It was most 
 affecting. 
 
 But she had yet a lot to see, and hav¬ 
 ing exhaustively scrutinised the compass she 
 turned to scrutinise me. Not that I was 
 much, but I suppose she regarded me as an 
 instrument for working the ship, and as such 
 a sort of curiosity. I was standing by the 
 
22 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 engine-room telegraph : the captain was over 
 in the port corner of the bridge. She came 
 quite close to me and looked me straight in 
 the eyes, and though her veil was fairly thick, 
 I saw that she had a startling pair of lamps 
 and an extremely well-cut face. 
 
 “ What is that thing ? ” she said, pointing 
 to the telegraph. Her voice, if somewhat 
 sharp, was of a very fine quality, and had 
 a curious little foreign accent, Portuguese or 
 Spanish, I could not quite make out; but I 
 was not surprised when I heard afterwards 
 that she had lived many years in Manilla. 
 
 I was explaining to her the uses of the 
 instrument, when the old man happened to 
 overhear me. A sudden scowl darkened his 
 yellow face ; but when he saw her and guessed 
 who was the real culprit, he tried to smooth 
 away the frown, and succeeded wretchedly. 
 He came over, and in half-a-dozen sharp words 
 explained the use of the instrument. Then 
 as he led her away, I heard him mutter, “ My 
 dear girl, I think I ought to tell you that I 
 never permit any one to speak to my officers 
 on duty.” This was said so that I could hear 
 it. She tossed her head and laughed, and 
 
Steering Southwards 
 
 2 3 
 
 added something that I couldn't catch ; but 
 whatever it was it didn’t seem to please him 
 overmuch. 
 
 On ordinary occasions the Corea could 
 steam her nine or ten knots ; but a somewhat 
 lengthy spell in the harbour of Hong-Kong 
 had given the barnacles an admirable oppor¬ 
 tunity to accumulate, of which they took such 
 advantage that our present rate of progression 
 was not expected to exceed six or seven. 
 However, that should be of little consequence 
 to a fellow who is paid by the month ; though 
 it is really astonishing how eager a sailor 
 always is to drop anchor. Nevertheless, a 
 fortnight or thereabouts seemed rather a long 
 time in which to make Batavia. 
 
 For the first three or four days things w^ent 
 along quite as well as I expected. The weather 
 was gloriously fine, the sea smooth. We had 
 safely passed the Macclesfield Bank, and were 
 well on our way down the China Sea. Every¬ 
 thing worked smoothly, from the engines to the 
 
 tx 
 
 captain. Sometimes his wife accosted me .as 
 I passed aft, and occasionally she made her 
 way to the bridge during my watch ; but her 
 husband finding her there one day, called her 
 
2 4 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 down to" him, and she seemed rather afraid to 
 look at me after that. 
 
 I was a little annoyed, and not a little sorry. 
 It seemed unreasonably boorish that he should 
 forbid her to speak to me, for by no possible 
 stretch of the imagination could I believe him 
 to be jealous so soon. To say the least of it, 
 I thought it extremely inconsiderate of him. 
 I also feared that she had already found 
 marital bliss a little disconcerting. Hour 
 after hour she sat under the awning aft, a 
 book in her lap, her eyes fixed dreamily on 
 the sea. I could see her quite plainly as I 
 walked up and down the bridge, and I used 
 to try to fathom her thoughts. Sometimes 
 she appeared to look absolutely wretched. 
 Her face was pale, and when in repose 
 singularly careworn. Taking her thus at such 
 a disadvantage I built fancy upon fancy, and 
 a foolish edifice constructed. And yet it was 
 curious how her face changed when she wished 
 to please. Then it lit up grandly : her great 
 dark eyes shone till she seemed all eyes. But 
 it was a sad face all the same, and I caught 
 myself thinking about it much more than was 
 good for me. 
 
Steering Southwards 
 
 2 5 
 
 That Captain Castle was the proper mate for 
 such a woman I already began to doubt, which 
 doubt, though the result of much observation, 
 consisted of mere surmise. After the first day 
 out he left her pretty much to herself, sleeping 
 below while she wandered aimlessly about the 
 decks, or sat under the awning reading. In 
 the course of time I mentioned my doubt to 
 Craigiemore, but that cautious Scot merely 
 shook his head mysteriously. 
 
 “ My dear man, be thankful for sma' 
 mercies.” 
 
 “ You’re a mysterious beggar, Craigiemore.” 
 
 u Ay,” he said. “ Do ye ken that wisdom was 
 never born wi' a lang tongue ?” 
 
 “ My dear fellow, I grant you the wisdom. 
 I am even aware that that admirable lady was 
 born in Scotland.” 
 
 “ Ay,” he cut in, “ every Scot kens that.” 
 
 “ Granted ; but why should this particular 
 Scot refuse to gratify a most commendable 
 craving after knowledge ? ” 
 
 He took a glance round before speaking. 
 Then he said, “ My dear man, Captain Castle 
 is a verra curious individual, and if you kenned 
 him as well as I do, you’d thank your stars 
 
26 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 that he has brought his wife wi' him this 
 voyage. Look ye, I think we'll see him at 
 his best.” 
 
 “ Really ! But honestly, Craigiemore, aren't 
 you trying to make a fool of me ? ” 
 
 “ May the deil slap me if I am.” 
 
 “Then in what way is Captain Castle so 
 verra curious ? I can't say that I have found 
 him so extremely different from other men.” 
 
 “ Indeed I hope ye will na,” was all he 
 said. 
 
 Here the captain appeared out of the deck¬ 
 house aft, and after taking a few hurried turns 
 up and down beckoned to me. 
 
 As I advanced he stood bolt upright, and 
 looked me up and down somewhat contemp¬ 
 tuously. His face was flushed, his eye singu¬ 
 larly forbidding. He had the look of a man 
 who has suddenly been wakened from sleep, 
 and who is surly in consequence. 
 
 Watching me for a moment or two as I 
 stood before him, he said abruptly, “ I think 
 it’s your watch below ? ” 
 
 “ Yes, sir.” 
 
 “Then why don't you keep it there ?” 
 
 I looked my surprise : his face darkened. 
 
Steering Southwards 27 
 
 The transition was as sudden as it was un¬ 
 expected. 
 
 “ Why don't you keep it there ? " he repeated 
 harshly. “ I don't like to see my officers loaf¬ 
 ing about the decks." 
 
 “ It was very hot below. I came up to smoke 
 a pipe." 
 
 “ And gossip with that canting Scotchman !" 
 
 “ Sir !" 
 
 “ Oh, I know your style," he blurted out 
 angrily; “you’re all alike. But I tell you it 
 won't do for me. Why don't you smoke your 
 pipe below ?" 
 
 “ Why should I ? " 
 
 “ Why should you !" he shouted, his yellow 
 face flushing a deep crimson. “ Because I 
 wish it; that's why you should, and what I wish 
 is law aboard this packet." 
 
 Though usually considered an amiable sort 
 of fellow, one who has no wish but to pursue 
 his way in peace, I fairly trembled with rage. 
 A hot retort sprang to my tongue, but I shut 
 it in, for which piece of self-restraint I duly 
 patted my own shoulder. Then I turned to 
 go. 
 
 “ Look here, you—Mr.-” he blurted out. 
 
28 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Quenton, sir/' 
 
 “ Quenton, or whatever you call yourself, I 
 want you to remember that I am the captain 
 of this ship." 
 
 “ Very well, sir." 
 
 “And that I'll have no philandering round 
 with the engineers. I know your sort : now 
 you know me." 
 
 I thought it extremely hard to be black¬ 
 guarded in this way, and for no apparent 
 reason ; but it was harder to keep my mouth 
 shut, my hands to my sides. Though his 
 subordinate, I was not a dog. I said I was 
 sorry if I had done anything of which he did 
 not approve, but as yet I was utterly ignorant 
 of his idiosyncrasies. 
 
 “You’ll soon know them," he said, with a 
 harsh laugh. “ I've had sea-lawyers like you 
 aboard of me before, and damned bad cargo 
 they are." 
 
 Though, generally speaking, a mild sort of 
 man, and one who knew his place, I was never 
 one who could contentedly turn my cheek to 
 the smiter; for though discretion is an excel¬ 
 lent quality, I hold that it should never lean 
 towards cowardice. I had not been accus- 
 
Steering Southwards 29 
 
 tomed to usage of this sort, and I hardly knew 
 how to take it. I stepped up to him and looked 
 him squarely in the face. 
 
 “ What reason have you for insulting me in 
 this manner ? ” 
 
 He turned almost black with anger, and for 
 the moment I thought he was going to hit me. 
 If he had, I fear I should have hit him back. 
 
 “ Insult you ! ’’ he roared, and out came a 
 string of oaths. “ By Heaven, sir, do you 
 forget who I am ? " 
 
 Had he been a port-admiral instead of the 
 master of a dirty little tramp, he could not have 
 given himself a grander air. 
 
 “No, sir, / don’t," and by the emphasis 1 
 implied just what he liked. 
 
 He poked his angry face right into mine, his 
 eyes burning horribly. His hot breath sweep¬ 
 ing my face explained the cause of this unex¬ 
 pected outbreak. The man had been drinking. 
 
 “ Look here," he said, “ I shan’t waste any 
 more words over you. If you’re too big to be 
 told a thing, you and I shan’t get on very 
 well." 
 
 “ But, sir, you quite misunderstand me. 
 Why should I wish to run counter to you ? ” 
 
3° 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “Then see that you don't, that’s all. Now 
 no more talk. Go forward, and don’t forget 
 that I shall keep my eye on you." 
 
 Was I a skulker, a rogue, or what ? After 
 all, one may have some feeling—even on a 
 tramp. I said, and I would have said it had 
 he been the devil himself, “ I hope, sir, that I 
 shall not forget for what purpose I shipped." 
 Which meant that I also hoped other people 
 would remember. 
 
 “You shipped to do what you’re told," he 
 replied. “ That’s quite enough for you." 
 
 With that he waved me forward, he him¬ 
 self strutting away aft, where he was immedi¬ 
 ately joined by his wife, who had viewed a 
 little of this scene with evident concern. 
 
 As I passed below I met Craigiemore near 
 the entrance to the engine-room. He greeted 
 me with a half-amused, half-eager “ Weel ? " 
 
 “You’re right," I said. “Captain Castle is 
 indeed a verra curious person." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A LESSON IN NAVIGATION 
 
 About the third day out we passed the dreaded 
 Macclesfield Bank, which, with the adjacent 
 Paracel Islands and reefs, forms a pretty trap 
 for the careless or unskilful navigator. That 
 Captain Castle knew his China Sea I had not 
 the slightest doubt, though the man who is too 
 sure of his way is just the one most likely to 
 stumble. I should not have cut it quite so 
 hue myself; but I suppose it matters little 
 how near one goes to danger so long as one 
 escapes it. Some fellows will skim rocks with 
 impunity to the end of the chapter, others 
 strike at the first false step. He probably had 
 passed the Bank at least a score of times, 
 and in precisely the same manner, and what 
 answered then must necessarily answer now. 
 Still, if he had made his reckoning tally with 
 mine, I could not help thinking him rash. 
 
3 2 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 For the rest, he and I got on as well as 
 could be expected, though naturally there was 
 no love lost. He rarely addressed a word to 
 me, and to my morning salutation merely 
 nodded his head. This, however, concerned 
 me little, for I had already taken his measure, 
 and cared not twopence whether he liked me 
 or not. 1 had shipped as second mate for the 
 voyage, and I was determined that he should 
 find no fault with me in my capacity as an 
 officer of the ship. I flattered myself that I 
 had been brought up in a school of which he 
 must approve ; for with all his faults, chief of 
 which was a violent nature run wild, he was 
 not of the class one usually finds in command 
 of a tramp. Indeed, under other conditions, 
 with a severe disciplinarian placed over him, 
 he might have made a capable officer. But 
 unfortunately for him the contrary had been 
 his experience. He had been placed in com¬ 
 mand of men before he could command him¬ 
 self, the result of which was almost sure to 
 end in disaster. 
 
 But had I known him better, perhaps I 
 would have credited him with less virtue. 
 Though he kept quiet enough I knew he had 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 33 
 
 not forgotten our little quarrel, and I guessed 
 that he only awaited the opportunity to take 
 me down. Probably he had never been ques¬ 
 tioned in such a way before. It was a thing 
 to which he was not accustomed. No captain 
 is—a British captain above all others, who 
 seems to live in constant terror of his own 
 appalling greatness. Moreover, I had summed 
 him up, or he thought I had, and the thought 
 stung. In a dozen little ways he showed his 
 contempt of me. When he gave me an order, 
 he might have been flinging a skimpy bone 
 to a dog. If I ever approached him to ask a 
 question, or to carry a message from the mate, 
 he always stared me insolently in the face 
 before answering, and not infrequently I 
 turned away with his jeering reply ringing 
 in my ears. 
 
 But one day the fates favoured, or seemed 
 to favour him. Having learnt that I had been 
 the navigating officer of the Red Funnel boat, 
 he had ordered me to take the sun with him 
 every day at noon, and so work out.our posi¬ 
 tion. Accordingly I had done this, taking my 
 paper to him as soon as it was ready. How 
 near to his reckoning mine came I cannot say 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 34 
 
 but as he never found fault with me I imagined 
 that there could be but a slight discrepancy 
 between us. Indeed, I was under the impres¬ 
 sion—which was like my vanity, though the^ 
 chart seemed to suggest it—that my paper was 
 found extremely useful in determining the 
 position of the ship. I was apparently labour¬ 
 ing under a very serious delusion, which, 
 somehow, Captain Castle did not succeed in 
 dispelling. 
 
 He was sitting under the awning aft when 
 I brought him my paper, his wife beside him. 
 Pretty she looked in her cool white dress and 
 her big white hat, and when she turned her 
 face up to me I thought it looked almost as 
 cool and white as her dress. She gave me a 
 charming smile, to which I replied by gravely 
 bowing and raising my cap. The old man 
 looked up with his insolent, contemptuous leer, 
 and held out his hand for the paper. 
 
 “You haven’t been long,” he said, in his 
 slow, sarcastic way. 
 
 “ The chief officer called me away, sir.” 
 
 He took the paper and opened it. I turned 
 to go. 
 
 “Hullo,” he cried, “what’s all this ? What 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 35 
 
 the devil do you mean by bringing me this 
 sort of thing ? Haven't I any one on board 
 who can work out a simple sum in arithmetic ? 
 My stars, what a nice lot go to sea nowa¬ 
 days ! Is this what you call navigation, eh ? 
 Where did you get your ticket—Singapore or 
 Portland ?" 
 
 I need hardly say that I was somewhat taken 
 aback at this sudden outburst; but, suppress¬ 
 ing the inclination to reply in fitting terms, I 
 ventured to suggest that I had given him the 
 wrong paper. 
 
 “No, not at all. ‘Thursday, 25th.’ Look." 
 He handed it over to me. 
 
 “ You are right, sir. It is to-day's." 
 
 “Then what does this mean ?" he went on, 
 examining the paper once more. “You are 
 at least ten miles out in your longitude. A 
 nice state of things, isn't it ? Is this the way 
 they navigate in the Red Funnel Line ?" 
 
 “ I believe their navigation is usually fairly 
 accurate." 
 
 “ Then you must be an extraordinary sample. 
 Take this thing away and work it out correctly 
 —if you can. Then bring it back." 
 
 Taking the paper from him I slunk off, for 1 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 3 6 
 
 was never so shamed in all my life. Were we 
 alone, his taunts would have been hard enough 
 to bear ; but to jeer at me before a woman, 
 well knowing that I dare not defend myself 
 like a man, was intolerable to a degree. I 
 feel conscious of having looked a fool : I 
 know I felt like one. My face, sun-scorched 
 as it was, flushed painfully. By the mocking 
 light in his eyes I knew he enjoyed my 
 confusion. 
 
 I strode away forward, every nerve in me 
 throbbing with anger. But I was glad to get 
 away, glad to withdraw from the range of his 
 insolent eyes, and hers so calm and full of 
 wonder. Somehow I had wished to stand 
 well with this woman, and yet everything I 
 did was turned to my disadvantage in her 
 eyes. She interested me, and in a way I 
 thought I interested her. We might have 
 been good friends had not the captain inter¬ 
 dicted the friendship. As it was, I believe she 
 would have ignored that rather unnecessary 
 decree had she not feared that I might suffer 
 through her imprudence. 
 
 Though I knew that I had most assuredly 
 worked out my sights correctly, yet for the 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 37 
 
 sake of being absolutely certain I carefully 
 went over the work again, and with a like 
 result. There could be no doubt that as far 
 as I was concerned there was no mistake. I 
 had had double proof, and if he would con¬ 
 descend to go into it with me I thought I 
 could soon show him who was wrong. One 
 thing was sure, l was in his bad books, and 
 no humility on my part could make amends. 
 He did not like me, and he guessed the feeling 
 was reciprocated. He therefore laid himself 
 out to annoy me and make me look small, 
 and either the devil or the liquor, which is 
 about the same thing, had turned his blood 
 bad. 
 
 He was still taking his ease beneath the 
 awning when I re-appeared, like a dunce at 
 school, my work in my hand. He, stroking 
 his big yellow moustache, looked up at me, 
 his pale blue eyes twinkling with anticipated 
 fun. His wife watched me earnestly, her face 
 full of anxiety. I thought her lips moved. 
 Indeed, as by an inspiration, I guessed they 
 formed the two words, “ Be careful.” 
 
 “Well,” he drawled, “have you discovered 
 
 the error ? ” 
 
3« 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “No, sir.” 
 
 “ Why is that ? ” 
 
 “There is no error to discover.” 
 
 “Indeed,” he sneered. “Then if that is 
 the case it is I who am at fault ? ” 
 
 “ I did not say so, sir.” 
 
 “ But you thought it, eh ? ” 
 
 “ Some one has certainly made a mistake.” 
 He rose quickly, his under lip quivering ex¬ 
 citedly. Advancing, he looked me threaten¬ 
 ingly in the face. 
 
 “ I see what it is,” he cried passionately, 
 “you're trying to provoke me, and I must 
 admit you’re doing pretty well : but be care¬ 
 ful how far you go. I’ve had my eye on you 
 for a long time ; I’ve written you down, do you 
 understand ? and I shan't forget it either.” 
 
 “ Really, Captain Castle,” I replied, “ I don’t 
 know why you should speak to me like this. 
 If I have in any way offended you, I can 
 assure you that it has been entirely unpre¬ 
 meditated, and I beg your pardon. But this 
 question of navigation touches my capacity 
 as a competent officer. I think I am right, 
 but if wrong I should like to be shown my 
 error.” 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 
 
 39 
 
 “Very likely/’ he jeered, pale with sup¬ 
 pressed anger, “but the Corea is not a 
 kindergarten for half-fledged navigators. I 
 tell you that you are wrong. Isn’t that 
 enough ? ” 
 
 “ Well, sir, since you ask for it—no." 
 
 He grew almost livid with rage : the blood 
 even forsook his thick under-lip. 
 
 “ I know what you want," he spluttered 
 hoarsely, “and, my stars, you shall get it. I 
 can see what it is, I can read you like a book : 
 but let me tell you that there is only one 
 master aboard this ship." 
 
 I bowed, and as I did so I caught an en¬ 
 treating look in the woman’s eyes. Pity, 
 anger, fear were all blended in that look, the 
 whole appearing to consist of one great warn¬ 
 ing. Perhaps she was right, but whether right 
 or not, I could not resist that appeal ; though 
 I was in the mood to have it out with the 
 bully, let the consequences be what they 
 might. 
 
 Luckily my better sense prevailed, and 
 while yet master of myself I turned and went 
 forward. After all, what credit would there 
 have been in a victory over an irresponsible 
 
4° 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 drunkard ? I was as sure of my navigation as 
 mortal man could be sure of anything, and 
 Captain Castle knew it, and doubted himself 
 accordingly. He likewise knew that I had 
 already summed him up, and his own con¬ 
 science, brutal as himself, would have told 
 him the truth. But it was most distressing, 
 this continual state of loggerheads, and I 
 found myself wondering at the strange freak 
 which had cast me into this strange man's 
 company. 
 
 The next morning, about a quarter of an 
 hour before noon, and just as I was getting 
 out my sextant, the mate appeared at my 
 cabin door, and grinning his foolish, monkey 
 grin, told me that I needn't trouble to get the 
 instrument ready. 
 
 Guessing there was something in the wind, 
 but determined not to show any surprise, I 
 asked indifferently, “Why ?" 
 
 “ Navigation too bad. Old man disgusted. 
 Swears he never came across such a duffer in 
 all his life." 
 
 I laughed loudly, perhaps a little too loudly. 
 
 “The old man knows when he's well off." 
 
 “ Eh !" said the mate, pricking up his ears. 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 
 
 4 1 
 
 “ My dear fellow, it just amounts to this : 
 The captain has found me out.” 
 
 “Ay, that he has,” grinned the fair gorilla. 
 
 “Found me out to be a man who knows a 
 bit too much,” I added with a fair semblance 
 of modesty. 
 
 “ Um,” muttered the mate, “you don't hide 
 behind the door anyway. But what do vou 
 mean by knowing a bit too much ? ” 
 
 “ Merely this, that I should like to check the 
 old man’s reckoning.” 
 
 “ Oh, come,” said he, “ you’re too dashed 
 modest. Check the old man's reckoning ! ” 
 and he roared at the thought. “And you just 
 sacked because he had no patience with your 
 stupidity. Oh, it won’t do, you know, it won't 
 do!” 
 
 “You forget that I have no appeal from 
 him. Would you like to know the real reason 
 why he has sent you with this message ? ” 
 
 “ Don’t trouble. Explanations only make 
 matters worse.” 
 
 “ And yet I must explain. The reason why 
 he has forbidden me any further to participate 
 in the navigation of the ship is,—because he is 
 not sure of himself, and he knows I know it.” 
 
4 2 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Pooh," laughed the mate, {i what rot! He 
 could go up and down the China Sea with his 
 eyes shut. I daresay you’re a very clever 
 chap—I've heard of the smarties of the Red 
 Funnel boats before to-day. But ten miles to 
 the westward ! Why you might have piled 
 up on the Macclesfield Bank." 
 
 “ It would not have surprised me if we 
 had struck. We must have gone precious 
 near." 
 
 “ So you say." 
 
 “ I only say what I know, and you can tell 
 Captain Castle so, with my compliments. 
 
 “ I’ll tell him, of course. It will please him 
 immensely. Nor will I forget the compli¬ 
 ments. He’ll like 'em. But what I can t 
 understand is that he should sack such a 
 skilful navigator." The man was jeering at 
 me, but I only laughed. 
 
 “ I don’t think you need trouble to ask 
 yourself that question. Believe me, the old 
 man knows what he's doing." 
 
 “ Rather. What do you think ? " 
 
 The fellow went off with a laugh, the in¬ 
 sinuating tone of which lingered unpleasantlv 
 
 in my ear. 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 43 
 
 I took myself severely to task over this. 
 Now that the breach had irrevocably widened, 
 I tried hard to discover with whom the chief 
 fault lay; nor did I spare myself in any 
 particular, though I fear my argument was 
 most unconscionably prejudiced. Still, I had 
 striven to do my duty, and strive I would 
 while I was aboard the ship; but Captain 
 Castle was evidently a man who required 
 something more than duty from a subor¬ 
 dinate. That I was not prepared to give, and 
 without it there could be no peace. 
 
 During my watch that afternoon he never 
 came near the bridge, but spent most of the 
 time in his long cane chair beneath the 
 awning aft, smoking, drinking, and sleeping. 
 His wife, on another long chair, lay stretched 
 out beside him, and even from where I stood 
 I could see that very little conversation was 
 carried on between them. She had a book 
 in her hand, which she made a pretence of 
 reading, though her chief occupation seemed 
 to be staring moodily out across the sea. It 
 was singularly sad that even at this early date 
 they had apparently exhausted every topic of 
 mutual interest. 
 
44 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 Later on in the day I happened to pass her 
 as she was looking down the engine-room 
 skylight. She turned, made a step towards 
 me ; then suddenly drew back, her face flush¬ 
 ing hotly. I saw the movement, and a half¬ 
 glance over my shoulder showed me the 
 cause of her confusion. The captain had 
 just emerged from below. I raised my cap 
 and hurried on : she turned to a still closer 
 inspection of the flving pistons. 
 
 That night, just after two bells had struck 
 the first hour of the middle watch, while I 
 leant on the rail in the port corner of the 
 bridge, gazing somewhat moodily out into the 
 narrow sphere of sea, which the moonlight 
 lit with countless quaint shapes, I thought 
 I saw the glimmer of something white flitting 
 about the after-deck. The impression, I might 
 say, was flashed upon my mind; but so 
 absorbed was I in my own thoughts that I 
 did not even take the trouble to look round, 
 till that something white began to mount the 
 steps beside me. Then I turned and saw 
 that it was Mrs. Castle. She came swiftly up 
 the ladder, and seeing me gave me a slight 
 bow. Then without waiting for any move- 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 
 
 45 
 
 ment of mine, she walked towards the man 
 who was steering, peeped in at the compass, 
 and then made her way to the other end 
 of the bridge. There, resting her face in her 
 hands, she looked dead ahead into the misty 
 night. 
 
 Meanwhile the ship swung on, pushing the 
 water back from her heavy bows in long oily 
 waves, waves which broke softly, monoto¬ 
 nously pleasant. The engines kept up their 
 dull thump, thump : the screw churned the 
 water white astern. No other sound was 
 there. We were a little throbbing world in 
 a mighty still one. 
 
 Presently she changed her position ; then 
 looking round she came over to me. 
 
 “ I have been thinking a good deal over 
 what occurred yesterday," she said, a little 
 abruptly, perhaps, and yet with a charming 
 touch of diffidence. “ I am very sorry for 
 you, Mr. Quenton.” 
 
 “ I am extremely grateful." 
 
 “Now you don’t mean that, and you think 
 me officious, eh ? Well, perhaps I am : most 
 women are. What is left us but to interfere 
 
 in other people’s affairs ?” 
 
4 6 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Surely that is not the whole mission of 
 woman ? ” 
 
 a No, perhaps not. Only of some. You 
 are sorry for such ? So am I. What a 
 beautiful night ! ” As she turned her face to 
 the sea I thought she sighed. 
 
 I stood beside her without speaking, though 
 her abrupt manner of changing the conversa¬ 
 tion did not escape me. What though she 
 had expressed sympathy in a casual sort of 
 way, I could not forget that she was the 
 captain’s wife, and that from principle, if not 
 from inclination, she must be my enemy. 
 
 “ I understand,” she said presently, “that 
 this is your first voyage in the Corea ? ” 
 
 “ Yes.” 
 
 I saw her teeth gleam in the moonlight as 
 she smiled. 
 
 “ And it will be your last ? ” 
 
 “ I’m afraid Captain Castle would not care 
 to ship me for another voyage.” 
 
 Again she smiled ; then suddenly coming 
 nearer, said, “ You have been disappointed ?” 
 
 After a moment’s hesitation I admitted that 
 what she suggested was substantially correct. 
 She sighed and muttered something beneath 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 
 
 47 
 
 her breath. I thought she too seemed dis¬ 
 appointed in a way. 
 
 “ It seemed to me that Captain Castle was 
 unnecessarily severe/’ she said. "I did not 
 imagine he could be so harsh. It was 
 distressing, most distressing. What would 
 you have done if you had not been his 
 subordinate ? ” 
 
 “ Perhaps angered him still more.” 
 
 “You are rather obstinate, Mr. Quenton !” 
 
 I admitted as much, but added that it was 
 rather hard to be laughed at for an ignoramus 
 when I knew I was right. 
 
 “Can one be sure of being right ?” 
 
 “ I think so—sometimes.” 
 
 “ It is of this I wish to speak. Do you know, 
 you made the captain exceedingly angry ? ” 
 
 “ I am very sorry.” 
 
 “No, you’re not, nor do I see any reason 
 why you should be—if you are right.” 
 
 “ Dear madam, how can I talk to you— 
 his wife ? You think me obstinate. Well, 
 perhaps I am ; but this time I honestly believe 
 myself to be right. Will Captain Castle take 
 the trouble to prove me wrong ? ” 
 
 “ I’m much afraid Captain Castle will have 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 48 
 
 nothing more to do with you. He is intensely 
 annoyed. Indeed, I don’t know what he 
 would say if he caught me here talking to 
 you.” 
 
 “ Perhaps he may come, madam.” 
 
 “ I don’t think so. He’s asleep—fast asleep. 
 Of course, Mr. Quenton, I think you must 
 be wrong,” she added naively, “ because a 
 captain ought to be a better navigator than 
 a second officer, oughtn’t he ? ” 
 
 “Yes, of course.” 
 
 “Now if you had only been as wise with 
 him.” 
 
 She came close to me and laughed in my 
 face. But I read her meaning, and my heart 
 went out to the sweet peacemaker. 
 
 “ If he had only been you,” I said. 
 
 The exclamation was unintentional—an in¬ 
 voluntary tribute to her sweetness. I could 
 see her eyes flash even though she stood 
 in shadow. She looked like a lily of a woman 
 —a sea-maiden. Then I smiled grimly as 
 I thought of the incongruity of mermaids 
 and China tramps. 
 
 “Well, we are one, you know, so it amounts 
 to the same thing.” 
 
A Lesson in Navigation 49 
 
 I watched her white form flit along the 
 after-deck. When she reached the deck¬ 
 house she stopped, and I guessed she looked 
 back. Then she disappeared below. 
 
 I saw many sea-maidens before the mate 
 came to relieve me at eight bells. 
 
 D 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 JI JI GETS ANXIOUS 
 
 In monotonous fashion the days slipped slowly 
 onward. The captain rarely favoured me with 
 a word now. If he condescended to return 
 my morning salute, it was as much as I ex¬ 
 pected. Sometimes even this slight courtesy 
 was ignored. There was no doubt of it, he 
 had taken an insuperable objection to me, 
 and nothing that I did found favour in his 
 eyes. It followed as a matter of course that 
 the others took their tone from him, and 
 though they had not the courage to be down¬ 
 right rude, they let me see that they knew I 
 was out of court. The captain's wife was, 
 perhaps, the only exception ; though I don't 
 include Craigiemore among the others, he and 
 I continuing to be the best of friends. But 
 of those who dwelt aft, Mrs. Castle was the 
 only one who treated me with any considera- 
 
 5 ° 
 
Ji Ji Gets Anxious 51 
 
 tion. She had always a charming smile for 
 me, and, if she could get the opportunity, a 
 pleasant word ; but she never paid me any 
 more moonlight visits on the bridge, and I 
 will not say that life proved any the brighter 
 for her prudence. However, I did my duty 
 to the best of my ability, being determined 
 to acquit myself with as much credit as was 
 possible under the circumstances. 
 
 We were now well down the China Sea, and 
 approaching the coast of Borneo. What 
 particular point of land we should make, or 
 whether we should make any, I did not know, 
 for since my disgrace I had been debarred 
 even a glance at the chart. Beyond a little 
 natural irritation, subject to a plaguy bit of 
 curiosity, I did not let myself run. After all, 
 what did it matter what land we made, so that 
 we eventually reached our destination in 
 safety ? 
 
 In the meantime the old tramp plodded 
 steadily along through the slow-moving sea, 
 a glorious sun above her all day long, a 
 dazzling moon at night. It seemed as though 
 no monsoon had ever lashed this great, soft, 
 sleeping sea to madness ; as though it knew 
 
5 2 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 nothing of wrecks and the drowning cry of 
 agony. No sign was visible here : all was 
 serene and beautiful. Even our old tramp, 
 belching out vile clouds of smoke, added to 
 the glory of man and the greatness of God. 
 
 Early one morning we made land on the 
 port bow. Then things began to brighten up 
 a bit. The deck grew more animated : work 
 was brisker ; and though the captain drank 
 considerably during this period, I will say that 
 he got about a good deal and was continually 
 on the alert. We were now in the thick of a 
 very intricate piece of navigation, and the 
 mate told me that, all going well, we ought to 
 run into Batavia in three or four days. I was 
 not sorry. I would be less sorry when we 
 once more ran into the harbour of Hong- 
 Kong. 
 
 Hitherto our passengers forward had proved 
 extremely inoffensive. Indeed they had spent 
 most of their time between decks, smoking, 
 fan-tan playing, or messing about with their 
 disgusting food. They seemed, to all intents 
 and purposes, the average hard-working coolie, 
 and as such were quite unworthy the notice 
 of any self-respecting European. But once 
 
53 
 
 Ji Ji Gets Anxious 
 
 we had sighted the land, and were well amid 
 the islands, they appeared for the first time 
 to take an interest in life. Away forward, in 
 the extreme bows of the ship, they sat for 
 hours together scanning the horizon and talk¬ 
 ing eagerly. Nor did they confine themselves 
 to that particular quarter, but indulged in 
 the liberty of an occasional promenade aft 
 when they thought no one was likely to be 
 about. 
 
 But a still more attractive spot for them—or 
 at least for one of their number, a big, long- 
 limbed chap who stood a head and shoulders 
 above his companions—was the engine-room 
 skylight. For an hour at a time, even after 
 his companions had gone forward, this 
 fellow would stand gazing down at the flying 
 machinery, eyes and mouth wide open, as 
 though he could not see too much of the 
 wonder, or inhale too much of the vile and 
 stifling odour. Sometimes 1 passed him un¬ 
 expectedly, and once or twice I gave his pig¬ 
 tail a playful tug. It was marvellous to see 
 with what rapidity he turned about and faced 
 me, and curious beyond words the transition 
 of his face from apprehension and rage to 
 
54 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 smiling humility. His smile was not alluring : 
 it conjured up no pretty pictures, for it showed 
 a mouth full of bad and prominent teeth. His 
 little slits of eyes contracted to two black 
 beads : his broad, squat nose stretched right 
 across his face. The fellow, whose name was 
 Li Chee, had nothing comforting about him, 
 nothing open or benevolent. The devil him¬ 
 self, or his son the Chinese dragon, had 
 squirted venom in his face. 
 
 But for some time now we had other things 
 to think of than Chinese passengers. The 
 navigation had become extremely intricate, 
 and the captain rarely left the bridge. Indeed 
 I must admit that, notwithstanding his many 
 faults, he never neglected his duty at this 
 trying period. I could see now the sort of 
 man he was. With plenty of sea-room, and 
 the engines running easily, he left things 
 pretty much to themselves ; but when the 
 opposite was the case he was at his post. 
 
 Well, slowly but surely we threaded our 
 way through the islands, and when we even¬ 
 tually cleared the Carimata Channel we had 
 a straight run right across the java Sea to 
 Batavia. Now[ all seemed to be going well 
 
Ji Ji Gets Anxious 55 
 
 with us, and the old man, freed of his arduous 
 labours, went below to drink his own health. 
 Considering all things, he had some cause for 
 self-congratulation. 
 
 But that same night, about three bells of 
 the middle watch, while I tramped mechani¬ 
 cally up and down the bridge, now keeping 
 a sharp look-out and now watching the moon¬ 
 light skipping on the water, there came a 
 sudden bumping and rumbling from away 
 aft. The engines clattered horribly, and then 
 raced with all their two thousand horse-power 
 madness. But luckily only for a very little 
 while. The steam was shut off, and they 
 were stopped before any serious damage was 
 done. 
 
 The sudden stoppage of the engines at sea 
 has a most surprising effect on the voyager. 
 People who have gone to sleep night after 
 night with the grinding of the screw or the 
 swirl of the waters in their ears, cannot sleep 
 half as well without those noisy accompani¬ 
 ments. The vibration seems to enter and be¬ 
 come a part of the individual : when that 
 ceases he wakes. 
 
 In a few minutes everybody came tumbling 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 5 6 
 
 up on deck. Lights were flashed K here and 
 there : the mate blew his whistle, being at a 
 loss for something to do, and presently the 
 old man was heard aft roaring at the top of 
 his voice. 
 
 In the first mad rush the general opinion 
 was that we had struck. The crew ran hither 
 and thither calling excitedly to each other : 
 the passengers, gesticulating wildly, screamed 
 to the crew for information. But in a very 
 short time all the alarm and terror were dis¬ 
 sipated. One whispered consolation to the 
 other. It was nothing serious. True, the 
 engines had broken down, but the damage 
 would soon be repaired and the ship sent 
 on her way. 
 
 The passengers and crew gathered in little 
 groups here and there to discuss the situation, 
 and by the uncertain flashings of a lantern, 
 which our Chinese bo'sun carried, I could 
 make out the long gaunt figure of the China¬ 
 man Li Chee. He seemed ubiquitous, like 
 the rest of his race. Head bare and pigtail 
 flying, barefooted and scantily clad, he was 
 here, there, and everywhere like a veritable 
 imp of darkness, and, though I knew it 
 
Ji Ji Gets Anxious 57 
 
 not, more of a danger than the disabled 
 engines. 
 
 At length I was called from the bridge, 
 and then I learned for the first time the seri¬ 
 ousness of the disaster. The chief engineer 
 had just come up from an examination, and 
 as I approached he advanced towards the 
 captain. 
 
 “Well, Campbell, well, well ! cried the 
 old man irritably. “ What's the extent of the 
 damage ?" 
 
 “Verra conseederable," replied the engineer 
 in his dull, sententious way, “ verra conseeder¬ 
 able indeed." 
 
 “Well, what is it ?" and the captain ground 
 out an impatient oath. 
 
 “Weel," said Campbell, “it's a bad job, I'm 
 thinkin'." 
 
 “ Bad job, eh !" roared Castle, now quite 
 beyond himself with anger. “Then why the 
 devil don't you out with it, you blundering, 
 dundering idiot !" 
 
 “ Easy, my dear man," said the Scot. “ I’m 
 no used to the like o' such, Captain Castle. 
 I tell ye it's a bad job, a verra bad job, 
 indeed." 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 58 
 
 “ But what is it ?'" roared the infuriated 
 captain, and^he chewed a whole mouthful of 
 expletives. 
 
 “It's just this/' said the engineer: “we've 
 broke our shaft." 
 
 “ You don't mean that, Campbell ? Broken 
 the shaft, you say ? " 
 
 “Ay, sir; clean gone through like a bit o' 
 gas pipe." 
 
 The captain, who was evidently still under 
 the influence of liquor, began to blaspheme 
 in a shocking manner. Indeed, I felt like 
 saying my prayers where I stood, for I could 
 not conceive the Almighty letting a ship float 
 with such a monster on board. Moreover, 
 I was painfully conscious of not having said 
 my prayers for a long time, and this seemed 
 an excellent opportunity. There is no time 
 for praying like that in which one encounters 
 a personal danger. Then every word comes 
 straight from the heart. 
 
 The old man continuing to blaspheme, the 
 Scot kept on repeating, “ Shockin', shockin' ; 
 it’s awfu’ shockin' of ye, Captain Castle, man. 
 God forgie ye, and the mither that bore ye, 
 and the de’il that will get ye. Man, man, 
 
•59 
 
 Ji Ji Gets Anxious 
 
 will ye no listen to reason ? The shaft is 
 broke, ay, there's nae doot aboot that; but 
 it’s no sayin’ that we shan’t be able to make 
 shift till we get to Batavy.” 
 
 But the captain continued to rave. Such 
 a thing had never happened to him before, 
 and he accordingly damned his eyes and 
 the eyes of the whole world, and in his 
 wrath cursed the son-of-a-gun who con¬ 
 structed the engines, and every one connected 
 with them. 
 
 “ Not forgettin’ yoursel’,” muttered the 
 engineer, though I doubt if Castle heard him. 
 It was natural that Campbell should stand 
 on his dignity. The accident, notwithstand¬ 
 ing the captain’s imputations, had happened 
 through no fault of his, and there certainly 
 was no one on board who could teach him 
 his business. Captain Castle was a mighty 
 fine fellow on the bridge, or with a whisky 
 bottle in his hand ; but the de’il might stop 
 Campbell’s grog for ever if the captain was 
 much of a man among the cog-wheels. 
 
 Having delivered himself of a choice collec¬ 
 tion of epithets, which were enough to make 
 the heavens fall, Captain Castle gradually 
 
6 o 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 simmered down ; and presently, in a milder 
 key, he inquired what the engineer proposed 
 to do. 
 
 “ I’m for patchin’ it mysel’,” said the man ; 
 “ but of course, captain, if you have anything 
 better to suggest I’m willin’ to gie it my 
 earnest conseederation.” 
 
 “ I have nothing better to suggest,” growled 
 the old man, who saw through the affected 
 humility of the engineer, “ and may the devil 
 choke you with one of your own grease 
 rags ! But see that you get to work sharp, 
 that’s all. I don’t want to roll about here for 
 eternity.” 
 
 "Nay, it’ll no be in a place like this,” mur¬ 
 mured the Scot. 
 
 “ What’s that your mumbling ? ” cried the 
 skipper. 
 
 “Nay, I was only thinkin’,” answered the 
 engineer. 
 
 “ Then keep your thoughts to yourself and 
 get to work.” 
 
 “ Ay, ay,” muttered the man as he walked 
 away, “ this comes o’ being over-friendly with 
 the people above deck.” 
 
 The captain laughed. This was turning the 
 
6 i 
 
 Ji Ji Gets Anxious 
 
 tables with a vengeance, and all because he 
 had condescended to hobnob with a bit of 
 greasy Scotch tweed. 
 
 Seeing me, he advanced swiftly and peered 
 into my face. 
 
 "Well, what do you want ?" 
 
 "You sent for me, sir." 
 
 He seemed rather surprised at this, and for 
 the moment was in doubt. Then he said, 
 "Very well. Keep a good look-out and let 
 me know if you see anything. We shall pro¬ 
 bably not get under way for the next four-and- 
 twenty hours." Then he turned on his heel 
 and disappeared aft. 
 
 He had spoken hurriedly, beneath his breath, 
 like a man who scarcely knows what he is 
 saying. I could discern the guttural tones 
 in his voice, the savage inconsequence of 
 his replies, which reminded me of a dog 
 who snarls for snarling’s sake. I guessed 
 easily enough what had brought him to this 
 pitch. In fancy I pictured him sitting forty 
 fathoms deep, a whisky bottle in his cold dead 
 hand. 
 
 The next morning I learned from Craigiemore 
 that we should be exceedingly lucky if twice 
 
62 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 twenty-four hours saw us under way. A care¬ 
 ful examination had shown that the shaft had 
 been tampered with, in so much as one of the 
 supports had been purposely weakened. Who 
 the villain was, or why he had done such a 
 thing, no one seemed to have the remotest 
 idea ; but Craigiemore admitted that they had 
 some “terrible bad” characters down the stoke¬ 
 hole, fellows who were capable of anything. 
 As for the patching up, of which the chief 
 engineer spoke so glibly, Craigiemore was not 
 sanguine. To begin with, they had neither 
 the men nor the proper appliances for such a 
 task, and how, hampered with such conditions, 
 could they succeed ? True, we were not far 
 from Batavia—some two hundred and fifty 
 miles or so—but taking all things into con¬ 
 sideration, quite far enough. 
 
 The news that the shaft had been tampered 
 with caused me much uneasiness, more especi¬ 
 ally as I on more than one occasion had seen 
 the Chinaman, Li Chee, in close confab with 
 some of our firemen. I also recollected that 
 ugly fellow’s penchant for the engine-room 
 skylight, the odour of grease, and the suffocat¬ 
 ing smell of steam. Indeed, so much did it 
 
Ji Ji Gets Anxious 63 
 
 prey on me that I suggested to the mate that 
 it might be wise to watch our passengers 
 closely, or put a little restraint on their move¬ 
 ments ; but the monster laughed so suddenly 
 and uproariously that he almost spat his quid 
 in my face. He taunted me with being a 
 greenhorn, hinted that I was a cur, and that 
 I ought to go home to my mother; which 
 was a wise piece of advice in its way, but 
 which I received with a stolidity that made 
 him laugh louder than ever. 
 
 Now I don't think I was really a coward, 
 though I would rather drink with a man any 
 day than fight him. Of course I had got into 
 trouble more than once during my comings 
 and goings across the world, and that too in 
 spite of my prudence, and a knack I had of 
 looking ahead and right through things. I 
 was by nature a man of peace, and never got 
 into a scuffle if I could keep out of it, which 
 I take it is not altogether cowardly, if some¬ 
 what cautious. Left to myself, I certainly 
 should have clapped the hideous Li Chee 
 under lock and key, for I firmly believed that 
 worthy capable of giving us much trouble. 
 Perhaps I did the gentleman an injustice. 
 
6 4 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 If so, I was willing to apologise when all the 
 danger was over. The police will lock up a 
 man under suspicion, and what were we but 
 our own police ? 
 
 Shortly after this unsatisfactory interview 
 with the mate, our Chinese bo’sun, Ji Ji, 
 approached me, a look of much importance 
 in his thin, ugly face. 
 
 “ Me speakee you, mas'r ? ” he said. 
 
 “ Certainly, Ji. What is it ?” 
 
 Ji looked carefully about him and then 
 motioned me towards the rail. I followed 
 him, wondering what possessed this sober- 
 minded old chow. A good worker, and, 
 for a Chinaman, fairly honest, Ji was a 
 general favourite with all on board. It 
 was agreed that you could get as much 
 work out of him, without watching him, 
 as you could out of any Chinaman living, 
 and in our eyes he could have no better re¬ 
 commendation. 
 
 He laid one hand on the rail and gazed 
 seriously into my face, his ugly little eyes 
 trying their best to look impressive. 
 
 “ How long this ship leach Java ?” 
 
 “ Why do you ask ? ” 
 
Ji Ji Gets Anxious 65 
 
 " Plenty leason. You sabbee big man, 
 Li Chee ? ” 
 
 “ Yes.” 
 
 “ Li Chee welly bad man—him plenty no 
 good. No can pidgin to Li Chee/' 
 
 “ Really ?” 
 
 “He come Canton side—what you call 
 plisoner." 
 
 “ So he has been in prison ? " 
 
 " Plenty much. Li Chee welly bad man," 
 and he shook his head gravely. 
 
 "Well, we must keep our eye on him, that's 
 all. I don't like the look of him myself." 
 
 "Welly dam bad look," and he passed his 
 long skinny fingers over his eyes. " How 
 long you tink leach Java side ?" 
 
 " About three days." 
 
 “Thlee day!" He looked mightily con¬ 
 cerned. “Thlee day too muchee long, too 
 muchee long," he added significantly. 
 
 “ I'm afraid we can’t shorten it. Come, 
 cheer up Ji, old man. What the deuce makes 
 you pull such a long face ? " 
 
 “ Me no likee this clew," he muttered. 
 
 “ Why, what’s the matter with the crew ? 
 Are they bad men like Li Chee ?" 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Li Chee, he belong big bad man : he 
 makee the clew big bad men." 
 
 “ I sabbee. So he’s been corrupting the 
 
 _ o y> 
 
 crew r 
 
 “ Yes, masT—collupting the clew. Li Chee, 
 he allee same collupt the debbil.” 
 
 This was serious, coming on the top of 
 Craigiemore’s information about the tamper¬ 
 ing with the shaft, and what rendered it 
 worse was the knowledge that we had a set 
 of officers on board who wilfully shut their 
 eves to the movement of events. Because for 
 
 j 
 
 years they had sailed these seas with impunity, 
 and had successfully carried all sorts of in¬ 
 flammable cargo, it naturally followed, to their 
 way of thinking, that they would continue 
 to be successful. That is, if they thought of 
 it at all, which I am inclined to doubt. Our 
 mate had handled all sorts and conditions 
 of coolies, though they are mostly of one 
 sort—dirty and bad : our captain had con¬ 
 descended to carry them, though woe betide 
 the wretch he caught prowling round the 
 after-deck. This Captain Castle understood 
 himself to be a man of considerable import¬ 
 ance, and I was of opinion that he was 
 
Ji Ji Gets Anxious 67 
 
 capable of much under an emergency; but 
 unfortunately for us he was at this period 
 in the midst of a prolonged carousal, and 
 such being the case, it was not to be expected 
 that he should think of such a little thing as 
 the safety of his ship. 
 
 “Your news is serious, Ji, though I half- 
 expected it. Still I can do nothing. The 
 mate laughs at precautions : the captain 
 is-” 
 
 “ Dlunk, bah ! ” and the honest fellow spat 
 disdainfully over the side. “ Englishyman 
 welly dam funny. He say, 1 Poor Chinaman ! 
 he smokee opium. Opium welly bad : opium 
 kill the blain—makee mad—makee die. Poor 
 Chinaman ! ’ ” and he laughed disdainfully. I 
 laughed too, his disgust being extremely 
 quaint. I knew the old rogue was a bit 
 fond of the pipe himself. “ But Englishy¬ 
 man," he continued warmly, “ he dlink whisky 
 —blandy—lum—and makee mad—makee die, 
 and Chinaman he say, ‘ Poor Englishyman ! ’ ” 
 
 Though fully appreciating the irony of the 
 worthy Ji Ji, who duly went up one in my 
 estimation, I yet gave no outward sign of 
 agreement; for I thought that sort of thing 
 
68 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 rather derogatory to our race, and I could 
 not countenance any lowering of the captain's 
 dignity, though of that dignity I was not 
 enamoured. 
 
 “That’s all very well, Ji,” I said, not wish¬ 
 ing to argue such a delicate matter, “ but the 
 Englishman is a very great personage and must 
 not be judged in common with an opium- 
 smoking coolie. Just keep your eyes open, and 
 let me know if you see anything suspicious.” 
 
 “Cap’n no likee you, eh?” queried the 
 fellow. 
 
 I admitted that we had had a slight mis¬ 
 understanding, but that we now were exceed¬ 
 ingly devoted to each other. 
 
 “ Sabbee all li,” and he smiled in an 
 offensively knowing manner. Then seeing 
 that 1 took his badinage but sourly, he grew 
 serious. “This ship ’ave got dollar—plenty ?” 
 
 “ I believe so.” Indeed I knew so, as I 
 helped to take them on board. There were, 
 if I remembered rightly, some eighty thou¬ 
 sand of them. 
 
 “Ah, too muchee dollar. Li Chee—sup¬ 
 pose he know—he.” 
 
 He stopped suddenly, for at that moment 
 
Ji Ji Gets Anxious 69 
 
 this very Li Chee appeared round the corner 
 of one of the forward deckhouses and ad¬ 
 vanced towards us, a curious, irritating smile 
 on his face. The rascal always smiled. I 
 could imagine him fighting and dying with 
 the same contemptuous curl of the lip, the 
 same inscrutable twinkle of the eyes. 
 
 “ Good molnin', Mas’r Quenton,” he said 
 in excellent English, his ugly face irradiated 
 with inward laughter. “ Welly solly this 
 blakedown. When you tink dm mend ? ” 
 
 “ In a few hours.” 
 
 He looked surprised at this. “And Batavia 
 —'ow long ? ” 
 
 I was just on the point of answering truth¬ 
 fully when the bo'sun cut in with, “ Batavia 
 —to-mollow molnin', welly early.” 
 
 Li Chee looked reproachfully at his com¬ 
 patriot, as though he knew that worthy was 
 lying; but Ji Ji kept his ugly face as solemn 
 as a joss image. 
 
 “To-mollow ?” repeated the bad man, turn¬ 
 ing to me for confirmation. 
 
 I nodded. “ Certainly, if we can only get 
 up steam enough.” Which in its way was 
 perfectly true. 
 
7° 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ See plenty ships to-night/’ continued Ji Ji. 
 “ Batavia, Samalang, Austlalia, Singlaplore— 
 all go this way.” 
 
 Li Chee looked from one to the other 
 incredulously. Then he leant over the rail 
 and spat viciously.. If what the bo’sun said 
 was true, the bad man was sadly out in his 
 reckoning. 
 
 “ Me no sabbee,” he said as he turned and 
 went away forward, his bare heels making a 
 clicking noise on the deck. 
 
 “You sabbee !” queried Ji Ji significantly. 
 
 “ Plenty.” 
 
 I sabbeed much too well, though I won¬ 
 dered why Li Chee, if B he were really as 
 bad as we imagined, did not strike at once. 
 Perhaps, even if he were conspiring, he had 
 not the conspiracy quite to a head ; perhaps 
 again our position, or our supposed position, 
 did not suit him. That he doubted Ji Ji 
 and me was certain, but that he was to a 
 considerable extent in the dark was equally 
 obvious. 
 
 I went once more to the mate. 
 
 “ Mr. Minton,” I said, “ I have good cause 
 to believe that we have some very desperate 
 
7 1 
 
 Ji Ji Gets Anxious 
 
 characters on board, and that they mean us 
 no good. Don’t you think we had better let 
 the captain know ? ” 
 
 He came close to me and poked his ugly 
 snub nose into my face. 
 
 “You be damned,” he hiccuped, his dirty 
 eyes rolling in drunken savagery. “ If I had 
 my way, I’d keep you in the stokehole for 
 a month, that I would, and be damned to 
 you.” 
 
 Though a man of peace, as I have said, 
 and, according to my own lights, of much 
 prudence, I sometimes butt at my own philo¬ 
 sophy. I have heard of people doing the 
 like before : of preaching one thing and 
 practising another. It was even so with me. 
 I said, “If you were not drunk, you brute, I’d 
 kick you.” 
 
 It was a mad, a foolish thing to say, one 
 for which I was sorry immediately after ; but 
 I think that in the mildest of men there are 
 a few drops of hot blood which flow most 
 erratically at times. 
 
 The mate stepped back and raised his hairy 
 fist. His jutting eyebrows bristled up, his 
 flushed eyes gleamed savagely. I have since 
 
72 Captain Castle 
 
 wondered what I should have- done had he 
 struck me. I fear I should have smitten him 
 hard. 
 
 Luckily he changed his mind. 
 
 “ If you were a man," he spluttered, “ I’d 
 know how to speak to you ; but as you are 
 only the backwash of a barge’s bump, I’ll see 
 you damned.” With which formidable out¬ 
 burst he once more waved his huge fist 
 before my eyes and staggered aft. I went 
 forward, feeling exceedingly lonesome and 
 low-spirited. Apparently the old Corea was 
 not going to prove the most delightful of 
 homes. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE CAPTAIN'S WIFE 
 
 We officers kept watch as usual, though the 
 ship la) 7 idly rolling on the smooth sea. The 
 engineers and their assistants hammered away 
 for dear life below, producing an unceasing 
 clatter which bore eloquent testimony to their 
 prodigious labours. Occasionally the skipper 
 staggered up to have a look round, but only 
 at the rarest of intervals. When he did he 
 made direct for the rail and clung to it like 
 a man who is afraid to trust his legs. I 
 passed him once, very close, having some 
 business in the after wheel-house. His eyes 
 met mine, and fearful he looked. A sodden 
 wretch : one who ought to have been double- 
 shotted and sunk out of sight. I think he 
 saw something in my face that didn't please 
 him, for he snarled out, “ Hi, you—what's 
 your name ? " 
 
 73 
 
74 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 I stood still and looked at him without 
 speaking. 
 
 “ What’s your beastly name ? ” he roared, 
 holding to the rail with one hand, while he 
 savagely clenched the other. 
 
 “ Poor man ! ” I said. Perhaps it was meant 
 for a thought rather than an exclamation ; 
 but whatever it ought to have been I cer¬ 
 tainly gave it utterance. His yellow face 
 grew livid with rage. He did not appreciate 
 my pity, or that soft word which turneth 
 away wrath. 
 
 “ I’ll tell you what it is,” he said, after 
 sundry ineffectual splutterings, the while he 
 clung to the rail like a peevish sick man who 
 cannot rise, “this ship’s not big enough for 
 you and me.” 
 
 I didn’t believe it was, but being one who 
 always showed the utmost outward respect 
 to my superior officers, I said nothing. 
 
 “You looked at me just now,” he blustered. 
 
 Really ! I wouldn’t have believed myself 
 capable of such a liberty. 
 
 “ Looked at me in a way I didn’t like,” he 
 added. 
 
 “ In what way did I look, sir ?” 
 
The Captain’s Wife 
 
 IS 
 
 “In a cursed, insolent, offensive way. Don’t 
 let it happen again.” 
 
 “ No, sir.” 
 
 His impotence was painful to witness. I 
 knew he would like to slaughter me, and yet 
 all he could do was to cling to the rail and 
 feebly jabber curses. No, on second thoughts 
 I did not hate Captain Castle. 
 
 From a safer position forward I watched 
 him for a few minutes longer. He still clung 
 to the rail, and by the way he wagged his 
 head I knew that he was still mumbling inco¬ 
 herently. Then he suddenly staggered across 
 the few feet to the companion-way and went 
 below. I saw him no more that day. 
 
 His wife also kept strictly to her cabin, 
 dancing attendance on him, I had no doubt. 
 Or perhaps other and more shameful reasons 
 kept her below. It was a curious experience 
 for a bride, and I tried hard to get into the 
 lay of her thoughts ; surely no very difficult 
 task if I knew anything of human nature ? 
 Of the wooing of this strange pair I knew 
 nothing, and I found that Craigiemore and 
 the others knew as little. To me the woman’s 
 conduct seemed inexplicable : yet how could 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 76 
 
 I judge knowing so little of the true course 
 of events ? Captain Castle was rather a 
 grand-looking man than otherwise, though 
 I had but little affection for his big yellow 
 moustache, which always seemed to me an 
 insidious, downy sort of beast. But perhaps, 
 being dark, I have a bias in favour of my 
 own colour. Such a thing, I believe, is not 
 absolutely unknown. One thing is certain, 
 strangers meeting the captain would at once 
 pronounce in favour of his looks, and I had 
 no doubt that he could behave with a toler¬ 
 able degree of decorum if the humour took 
 him. When I first met him he might easily 
 have passed for anything but what he was. 
 And who was she ? What was her story ? 
 What did I know of it ? And what business 
 was it of mine ? 
 
 What went on above deck during my watch 
 below I cannot say, but all through the long 
 hours I heard the incessant beat of the 
 hammers as the engineers grappled manfully 
 with their gigantic task. But though they 
 worked all that day, and far into the night, 
 Craigiemore told me, when he crawled up 
 half-dead for a mouthful of fresh air, that the 
 
The Captain’s Wife 77 
 
 job was not yet half through, and that he 
 was not too sanguine of its success even 
 when finished. This was cheering news, 
 though it only made me comparatively happy. 
 
 I was getting surfeited with good things. 
 
 The second morning broke like the first, 
 giving every token of a hot, clear day. The 
 sea in here was wonderfully smooth and 
 innocent-looking, and at times I fancied I 
 could see the coral beds lying many fathoms 
 below. Again the picture came to me of my 
 revered captain lying away down there in a 
 coral bed, a whisky bottle in his cold dead 
 hand. It would have made a singularly 
 pathetic picture, but I had no wish to go 
 down so far—not yet for a long time. The 
 Corea was bad, and there were some bad 
 men aboard of her, but there might be 
 many things much worse some fifty fathoms 
 down. 
 
 They were but dull days, lying there flopping 
 about in the great swell. The sun beat down 
 on our tarry decks till every seam and grease 
 spot fairly bubbled, while to make matters 
 worse the mate sent up to say that the third 
 and I were to take watch and watch about, 
 
78 Captain Castle 
 
 as he was too ill to take his turn. I knew 
 what that illness meant—an attack of laziness 
 brought on by too much grog—but there 
 was no gainsaying the order. 
 
 Throughout the best part of that sweltering 
 day I tried to keep myself awake and the 
 crew at work ; but it was a task that fairly 
 taxed my powers and took the stiffness out 
 of my back. Occasionally Ji Ji came to me 
 with some whispered information concern¬ 
 ing the bad man Li Chee, who sedulously 
 kept between decks, and who, from informa¬ 
 tion received, appeared to be in a condition 
 of extreme unrest. After all, it is not so easy 
 to do wrong, with success, as many imagine ; 
 while mutinies and conspiracies have an un¬ 
 fortunate predilection for being nipped in 
 the bud ; which shows that conspiracies are 
 abhorred of Heaven, or that the conspirators 
 are only half-hearted. If Li Chee meant to 
 strike, he deserved the utmost contempt for 
 not striking now. Not that I was in a par¬ 
 ticular hurry. Indeed I much preferred to 
 wait till we were swinging at anchor off 
 Batavia. I was not absolutely dying for a 
 better acquaintance with the worthy Li, 
 
The Captain's Wife 79 
 
 though no doubt I should have found his a 
 most interesting personality. 
 
 Well, the second day dragged slowly on 
 beneath a most exasperating sun, which in¬ 
 sisted upon shining his very brightest and 
 hottest. There was not a breath of air on 
 the sea : it was frightful, sweltering heat. 
 The very water seemed to throw back a 
 reflection that scorched the eyes. It was 
 thick and oily, and seemed on fire half the 
 day. In those latitudes the sun comes down 
 pretty straight, down like a sheet of flame 
 right on the top of one's head, and woe 
 betide the fellow whose skull is not of more 
 than average thickness. Fortunately, and I 
 say it with pride, mine w T as. I had a fairly 
 stout covering to what bit of brain God had 
 given me, and it behaved with infinite credit. 
 Mind you, I never was one who thought more 
 of the outside of a head — unless it was a 
 woman’s—than I did of the inside ; but when 
 it comes to tropic suns and hard blows one 
 needs a fairly thick skull. 
 
 I was in an amazing doze when the sun 
 sank, but I was glad, when I awoke, to find 
 him gone : sunk in the bottom of the sea. 
 
8o 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 I devoutly wished the beggar would stay 
 there till I called him. 
 
 The night was stagnant, oppressive; but 
 the awful glare was gone, and the innumer¬ 
 able stars looked clean and cool. The ship 
 still lunged and floundered about in the 
 great swell, flopping from side to side like 
 a fat woman, and smashing the phosphorus 
 into thousands of dancing stars. 
 
 I think it must have been about ten o’clock. 
 I had a vague recollection of having heard 
 four bells go some few minutes previously, 
 when of a sudden something touched my 
 arm. I was looking over the side at the 
 time watching the fish cleave long lines of 
 light as they dashed through the phospho¬ 
 rescent water. I was dreaming, I think, 
 
 dreaming of-But no matter what I dreamt. 
 
 It was something very foolish, no doubt : 
 about a mother, I suppose, or a sister, or 
 something equally absurd. An officer on duty 
 has no right to dream at all. But whatever 
 it was, the touch soon awakened me, and I 
 started back with a bound. No, no, it was 
 not Ji Ji nor Li Chee, nor any of his 
 infernal crew. It was the captain’s wife. 
 
The Captain's Wife 8i 
 
 bareheaded and dressed in white ; dressed 
 as she was the night she came to me on 
 the bridge.- 
 
 “ Did I startle you ? ” 
 
 Her voice, though low, was so sweet that 
 it rang in my ears like music. I have since 
 thought some pretty things about sirens, and 
 how the sea makes musical a woman's voice. 
 But I am like that. Some really fine ideas 
 come to me when I don't want them. 
 
 I admitted as much : she did startle me. 
 
 “ What were you looking at so earnestly ? " 
 
 “ These fish. Come here." 
 
 The words were certainly short, but I am 
 inclined to think the tone was more gracious ; 
 because she came as she was bidden and 
 looked long and strangely into the brilliantly- 
 illuminated water. 
 
 “ How beautiful ! " she said, “how gloriously 
 cool and beautiful ! Was there ever such an 
 inviting bed ? " 
 
 “A most uncanny bed," I admitted. I had 
 no fancy myself for the like, much preferring 
 the greasy deck of the old packet. 
 
 u But so peaceful." 
 
 “ Perhaps : look at the fish." 
 
82 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 She looked at me as though I were a goth 
 or a vandal wild-fowl. The thought of the 
 fish had never entered her pretty head. She 
 would think the grave lovely, and never dream 
 of worms. But I knew what she thought. 
 The devil burn me badly if I hadn't thought 
 something of the same thing as I stood watch¬ 
 ing the fishes; but I wasn't going to give 
 way to the silly sentiment. It seemed right 
 enough in me, but it was sentimental rub¬ 
 bish in her. Moreover, I don't think I half 
 liked her encroaching on my preserves. What 
 right had a bride of a couple of weeks to 
 think of such things ? 
 
 She was silent for a while, and I who felt 
 a trifle absurd had nothing to say. If I had 
 spoken, I should not have improved my posi¬ 
 tion. I let her think, knowing that I was 
 the subject of her thoughts ; though I feared 
 for the manner in which I should emerge 
 from the ordeal. And yet a strange sudden 
 beating of the heart told me I knew what 
 she wanted. 
 
 “You must think me horribly sentimental, 
 Mr. Quenton ? ” 
 
 I thought her charming, and almost had 
 
The Captain’s Wife 83 
 
 the audacity to tell her so. But, as I have 
 said before, I am a prudent man. 
 
 “ I am very fond of the sea," she said. 
 
 “ So am I—when I am in port." 
 
 “ Of course ; you are a sailor." 
 
 “ And you are a sailor’s wife. You’ll soon 
 get to hate it as much as I do." 
 
 She started at my reference to her hus¬ 
 band, and seemed not to hear the rest of 
 my speech. I marked the swift rise and 
 fall of her breast. Then she turned, and 
 looking down into the water, sighed. Pretty 
 goings on, thought I, for a bride of two 
 weeks. 
 
 Presently, looking up at me, she said, “ What 
 do you think of sailors, Mr. Quenton ? ’’ 
 
 “ They are a noble race of fellows," ! 
 answered with enthusiasm. 
 
 She smiled in spite of herself, though I 
 knew she was thinking of the drunken dog 
 between decks. 
 
 “ I am rather disappointed in them." 
 
 “ You astound me ! " 
 
 “ Mr. Minton, the chief officer, is a sailor ! ’’ 
 
 “ Is he indeed ?” I asked incredulously. 
 
 u I do not think he is a nice man, and I am 
 
v C aftaix 
 
The Captain's Wife 85 
 
 without an effort ? Neither Captain Castle 
 nor Mr. Minton has a word to say in your 
 favour." 
 
 “ I am sorry, of course, for if I have one 
 weakness it is that my fellow-man should 
 think well of me. I have never wilfully done 
 anything to disoblige Captain Castle or Mr. 
 Minton : indeed, prudential motives alone 
 would not sanction the folly. I can only add 
 that I am sorry, and that I wish the voyage 
 was over." 
 
 “ Ah," she said, “ don’t I ! " And if ever a 
 woman was in earnest it was this two weeks' 
 bride. 
 
 I clean forgot my own position in the 
 contemplation of hers. That the captain 
 should have taken such a violent dislike to 
 me naturally occasioned me much concern ; 
 that the mate should have followed suit was 
 what a very ordinary intelligence might have 
 expected. My first interview with the latter 
 was not propitious : the former, perhaps, had 
 some reason, but not enough, I thought, to 
 let his enmity sink deep. A good man is all 
 the better for a burst of passion, but a surly 
 brooder is an abomination. I could have 
 
86 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 found it in my heart to forgive him his dis¬ 
 like of me, but that he should forget himself 
 before his young wife was a thought not 
 to be endured. A pretty woman too, one 
 whom he must have loved much ; for a man 
 is not usually in a hurry to give a woman 
 his name — unless she brings him money. 
 I did not think she had brought him any. 
 Under such conditions even Captain Castle 
 would not play the blackguard for at least 
 six weeks. 
 
 I thought she looked very fragile as she 
 stood there gazing down into the water : a 
 white sad figure round which I was involun¬ 
 tarily building a huge halo of romance. Not 
 that romance was much in my line. Indeed 
 I despised such sentimental rubbish, and 
 speedily relegated it to the limbo of absur¬ 
 dities. There was too much sentiment aboard 
 the Corea. I wasn’t going to let it influence 
 me. But much as I dislike it myself, and 
 convinced as I am that I can always keep it 
 in check, I was inclined to think it not amiss 
 in her. I felt sure that, had I been the biggest 
 scoundrel afloat, she should not have dis¬ 
 covered it under a month. 
 
The Captain's Wife 87 
 
 I started, and was about to say something 
 infinitely consoling, for I was feeling very 
 paternal just then, when there was an oath, 
 a sudden shuffling of feet, and the captain 
 lurched between us. He seized her by the 
 shoulder, and so rudely, that she cried out 
 with the pain. 
 
 “What do you mean by this?" he cried. 
 “ What are you doing here ? " 
 
 Swinging herself free she faced him. 
 
 “ How dare you lay your hand on me ?" 
 
 He laughed coarsely, but he was so un¬ 
 steady on his legs that he had to cling to the 
 rail for support. 
 
 “ I thought you were in bed : I find you 
 here with—who is it ?" peering into my 
 face. “ Ah you ! what the devil are you 
 doing here ? " 
 
 “ It's my watch, sir." 
 
 “ Is this the way to keep it-—loafing round 
 the quarter-deck ?" 
 
 “You forget, sir, that the ship is not under 
 way." 
 
 He must indeed have forgotten, for he 
 looked over the side and then muttered inco¬ 
 herently to himself. 
 
88 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Under way or not, I’ll not have my orders 
 disobeyed/' he fumed with charming incon¬ 
 sequence. “You are taking too much upon 
 yourself, Mr. Quenton. You and I will have 
 to come to an understanding presently." 
 
 “ Mr. Quenton is not to blame," said his 
 wife. “ It was I who came to him." 
 
 “ I thought I told you that I did not approve 
 of Mr. Quenton ?" 
 
 “ That made me all the more eager to culti¬ 
 vate his acquaintance." 
 
 He ground out an oath for which he should 
 have been kicked right round the deck, and 
 said certain things which no man should 
 say to his wife, and for which, had we been 
 ashore, he might have smarted. I hope I am 
 an obedient man and a prudent one ; but 
 my toes itched terribly. His wife shrank 
 from him in horror, while I, fearing that my 
 boasted prudence might make a fool of me, 
 made my way forward. As I walked along I 
 heard him still railing loudly at her, though 
 what he said I was fortunate enough not to 
 hear. Captain Castle was getting beyond a 
 joke. 
 
 The next morning Ji ]i came to me with 
 
The Captain's Wife 89 
 
 a long face, though I doubt if it was much 
 longer than my own. 
 
 “ Clew getting welly leckless," he said ; u last 
 night Li Chee go down among them and talkee 
 talkee plenty long time. This molnin' he 
 came speakee me. He say, cap'n dlunk, mate 
 dlunk—ebelybody dlunk. No tlubble takee 
 ship, takee dollar. Sabbee ? " 
 
 “ Sabbee plenty. And what did you say ? " 
 
 “ Me say, cap'n no dlunk, mate no dlunk, 
 ebelybody no dlunk—only pletend. But Li 
 Chee, he laugh with all him bad teeth. Li 
 Chee bad man, welly bad man. No can fool 
 bad man : only can fool good man." 
 
 "Well, Ji, what are we to do ? I can’t 
 go to the captain. He doesn’t like me : he 
 would laugh in my face, just as the mate 
 did." 
 
 Ji looked very serious, but when I suggested 
 that he might go, he solemnly shook his head. 
 The fact is, much as he wished the conspiracy 
 nipped in the bud, he would not presume to 
 approach such an exalted individual as the 
 captain, and I knew that no pressure would 
 make him. 
 
 “ Suppose," he said, " suppose you all ’ee 
 
9° 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 samespeakee along Missee Cap’n ? She plenty 
 sabbee : she tell ole man.” 
 
 “ Why, Ji, it's as much as my life’s worth.” 
 
 Ji looked as though he had played his last 
 card. But after a few moments of gloomy 
 reflection his honest face lightened. 
 
 “ Suppose you lite ? ” 
 
 Ay, to be sure — if it were necessary. I 
 might easily write what I could not say. And, 
 after all, it might be necessary. Though I 
 had no love for Captain Castle, and wouldn’t 
 have cared much if his cranky old packet had 
 taken a sudden dive down some fifty fathoms 
 or so, I had no wish to go with her. His ruin 
 would assuredly mean mine, and hers, and 
 Craigiemore’s; but it would chiefly mean 
 mine. I had no fancy for a stab from Li 
 Chee's creese : the very thought of it made 
 me queer all over. It may be a very heroic 
 thing to shed the blood of others, but to shed 
 your own is rank idiocy. 
 
 So I snipped out a leaf from my notebook 
 and wrote as follows :— 
 
 “ Dear Madam,—Will you tell the captain 
 that the crew is disaffected, and that the 
 passengers forward are in a state of revolt ? 
 
The Captain's Wife 91 
 
 If something is not done at once it may be 
 difficult to foresee the result.” 
 
 I did not sign my name, or even my initials, 
 for I guessed that if her husband saw it he 
 would at once contemn it. I handed it over 
 to Ji Ji, telling him that it must be delivered 
 into the Missee Cap’n’s hands, and into the 
 hands of no other. He went off looking 
 reassured. 
 
 A few minutes later he returned. Across 
 the back of my note the captain had written, 
 
 “ If you don't mind your own-business I’ll 
 
 have you put in irons.” 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 MUTINY 
 
 It was not till the afternoon of the fourth day 
 that we were ready to proceed once more, 
 and then it was only at half-speed. The work 
 had been extremely difficult, and was nothing 
 more or less than a triumph of desperate 
 energy. As it was, Craigiemore shook his head 
 solemnly when I questioned him, though he 
 admitted that it was no bad job under the 
 circumstances. This might mean much or 
 little, but I guessed it meant a good deal, 
 coming from him. When 1 learned afterwards 
 that it was mainly owing to him the work had 
 been completed at all, I didn’t think any the 
 less of his reticence. 
 
 But in the meantime the old vessel waddled 
 slowly onward, making up the leeway in her 
 own peculiar style. That we had a consider¬ 
 able leeway to make up I did not doubt, for 
 
 92 
 
M UTINY 
 
 93 
 
 the currents run briskly at times round some 
 of these islands. We were now well out in 
 the Java Sea, free of all sign of land, which 
 proved that we had been drifting in a south¬ 
 easterly direction. Well, we had plenty of 
 sea-room now, and all going smoothly, we 
 ought to see the Java coast rise before we 
 were many hours older. 
 
 Two or three times during the night the 
 engines were stopped while an examination 
 was made of the shaft, an examination which 
 lasted but a few minutes. Then came the 
 slow grind, grind, as she was once more sent 
 on her way. As I lay listening in my bunk 
 I heaved a sigh of relief. Every throb of the 
 screw brought us so many yards nearer our 
 destination—brought me nearer the end of my 
 contract, and my forced association with un¬ 
 congenial company. Though I have remarked 
 before that sailors are always in a desperate 
 hurry to reach port, I had never experienced 
 such intense eagerness till now. It was 
 curious, but I hated every mile of water that 
 lay between us and Batavia. 
 
 An eager, restless watch I kept that night, 
 expecting every moment to hear the sudden 
 
94 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 thump, bang, which would tell of the shaft 
 having gone again ; but heavily the slow 
 hours dragged on, and when the mate came 
 to relieve me, the old ship still pushed for¬ 
 ward at from four to five knots an hour. 
 
 I went below feeling thankful for small 
 mercies; and secure in the knowledge that 
 our progress, if slow, was sure, was soon fast 
 asleep. But my sleep was not as serene or 
 uneventful as one in my state of mind had 
 a right to expect. There were some distress¬ 
 ing pictures of the captain and his young 
 wife, and some very ugly doings with the 
 redoubtable Li Chee, who seemed over-fond 
 of flourishing a formidable knife which had 
 a blade as big and ugly as a hedger’s scythe. 
 That he meant to kill us all I had not the 
 slightest doubt : I could see it in the hideous 
 softness of his smile. Why he did not, see¬ 
 ing we were all unarmed and entirely at his 
 mercy, I was sorely puzzling myself to discover 
 when of a sudden I awoke. 
 
 At first I really thought Li Chee was upon 
 me, and half-dreaming though I was, 1 whipped 
 my hand under the pillow for my revolver, 
 where I had slept with it ever since things 
 
Mutiny 
 
 95 
 
 began to look black. But there was no Li 
 Chee, only a most ominous stillness, which 
 was worse. I sprang to the port and looked 
 out. It was broad daylight, the sun rising 
 red and angry away on the port quarter : but 
 we had come to a standstill. Whether we had 
 stopped for a further examination of the shaft, 
 or whether the shaft itself had gone again, I 
 could not say. But of course I thought the 
 worst. For a moment I hesitated whether to 
 turn in again, or go up and see what was the 
 matter : then my anxiety getting the better 
 of me, I slipped the pistol into the pocket of 
 my pyjamas and rushed up on deck. 
 
 As I did so half-a-dozen fellows who were 
 crouching behind the funnel made an im¬ 
 mediate set at me ; but I seized a huge bar of 
 iron that lay athwart the engine-room skylight 
 and held it threateningly aloft. This kept the 
 rascals in check, for there was murder in my 
 face and a fearful brain-smasher in my hand. 
 
 For a moment they stood looking at me 
 and I at them ; then that arch-thief Li Chee 
 pushed his way forward, and smiling most 
 graciously salaamed with all the obsequious¬ 
 ness of a true oriental. 
 
9 6 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “Welly solly to seem lude,” he said, “but 
 ’ave made plenty mistake. Tink you nudder 
 man, sabbee ! ” And he smiled his oily smile 
 till I felt quite bilious. 
 
 “Don’t mention it,” 1 answered; “there’s 
 no harm done. But,” as the oily one con¬ 
 tinued stealthily to advance, “keep back,” 
 and I took a tighter grip of the bar. 
 
 Li’s benevolent face expressed the utmost 
 concern. Though he smiled, and smiled as 
 fondly as before, it evidently caused him 
 much grief to think I had so little faith in 
 human nature. 
 
 “ Mas'r Quenton angly,” said the fellow peni¬ 
 tently ; “what for Mas’r Quenton angly ? ” 
 
 “ Good cause, I should think. What the 
 deuce do you mean by rushing me in this 
 mutinous fashion ? I tell you what it is—if 
 you don’t go forward at once, you’ll be sorry 
 for it.” 
 
 “ Li welly solly,” said the rogue hypocriti¬ 
 cally. “ Engine, ’e blake down : wakee Li 
 up flom sleep : Li glow welly flightened : 
 lush up on deck, tinkee you engineer—that’s 
 all.” 
 
 As the ingenuous one offered this explanation 
 
Mutiny 
 
 97 
 
 he smiled more sweetly and blandly than ever, 
 backing slowly as he spoke. 
 
 It was then I for the first time thought of 
 my pistol, which shows what a blundering 
 man-o’-warsman I was after all. But then 
 fighting was not my business, and it ought to 
 be nobody’s business unless there’s a good 
 pension and plenty of glory at the back of 
 it. Indeed, without those two inducements I 
 think there would be little war, for I never 
 yet met the man who cared so much for a 
 rap on the nose that he yearned to lose a leg. 
 
 But seeing the man Li make a pretence of 
 retreating, and thinking a little apparent con¬ 
 fidence might not be out of place, I dropped 
 my bar, looked Li straight in the face as 
 much as to say, “There, you see how I 
 trust you," and was about to put it down. 
 But a moment’s reflection suggested another 
 thought. I had shown them what a formid¬ 
 able weapon of assault it was : suppose they 
 were wise enough to profit by the lesson ? 
 John Chinaman’s antipathy to the “foreign 
 devil" is not so great as to prevent him 
 taking a useful hint. Without more ado I 
 swung the bar over the side. 
 
 G 
 
9 8 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 Li, grinning till he showed every bit of his 
 horrid white gums, immediately advanced, his 
 right hand going up under his loose blouse 
 to his belt. For what reason I guessed. But 
 I was quicker than he. In an instant I had 
 him covered. 
 
 “ If you move a step I’ll shoot.” 
 
 His hand came down from under his blouse 
 —empty : but he looked very blue. 
 
 “ Mas’r Quenton no unnerstan’,” he said 
 sorrowfully. “ Li Chee welly solly Mas’r Quen¬ 
 ton no unnerstan’.” 
 
 “Anyway, you keep back. Li Chee unner¬ 
 stan’ that ? ” 
 
 “ Sabbee,” he said, but it was with a tone 
 of the most profound regret. It evidently cut 
 him to the heart to think his pure motives 
 should be so persistently misconstrued. 
 
 Presently a voice, a voice I knew too well, 
 yelled out from the other side of the sky- 
 light— 
 
 “You, there! What the devil’s the mean¬ 
 ing of this rumpus ? ” 
 
 With a quick backward movement I slipped 
 from Li and his companions and darted round 
 to the old man, who stood there just as he 
 
MUTINY 
 
 99 
 
 had sprung from his bed—barefooted and in 
 his pyjamas. The red light of the early sun 
 struck flush on his distorted face. I thought 
 I never saw a man look a more pitiable 
 wreck. 
 
 “ Hollo!" he cried, as I sprang panting to 
 his side, “ it’s you, is it ? Damn you, you’re 
 always in my wav.’’ 
 
 “ It may be a good thing for you that I 
 am,” I answered crossly. I could have kicked 
 him for his cursed incivility. 
 
 “Heh!” he said, “what's that?” and his 
 pale eyes shone ominously. “ Look here, 
 you son-of-a-gun,” he began. 
 
 “ Sir,” I cried, “ for God’s sake don’t let us 
 quarrel now. Look ! ” 
 
 I pointed to Li and his men, who were 
 quietly surrounding us. 
 
 “ What does this mean ? ” he asked, not 
 liking, I could see, the attitude of the yellow 
 men. 
 
 “ I think it very serious, sir. The shaft has 
 gone again, and the crew, led on by the 
 passengers forward, have mutinied.” 
 
 “Mutinied, have they ?” he cried desperately; 
 “by God, mutinied have they! I’ll soon let 
 
100 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 them know!” He strode savagely towards 
 Li and the half-dozen men who stood be¬ 
 tween him and the quarter-deck. 
 
 “ Hi, you there !” he shouted, “go forward 
 at once—every mother’s son of you ! ” But 
 not a man of them moved. I saw each dirty 
 right hand go up under each dirty blouse : 
 when it came down again it held a long 
 knife. 
 
 The captain fell back with an exclamation 
 of terror. Bad as the business seemed, he 
 had expected nothing like this. Li Chee 
 smiled seraphically. 
 
 “ Good molnin’, cap’n,” he said, saluting 
 quite respectfully, “ a welly nice molnin' 
 indeed. Me 'ope Missee Cap’n no hully go 
 java side ? The Colea a welly unfortunate 
 ship, cap'n : 'e blake 'im shaft—no can go. 
 Li welly solly. Li say, 1 Poor cap’n, poor 
 Missee Cap’n.’ Poor engineer 'ave work welly 
 'ard : Li welly solly for poor engineer : Li 
 welly solly for ebelybody.” But even as he 
 spoke so kindly, and smiled so reassuringly, 
 he ran his horrid little finger with its horrid 
 long nail up and down the keen edge of 
 his creese. 
 
Mutiny 
 
 ioi 
 
 “ What's the meaning of this?” gasped the 
 old man, who saw and knew perfectly well 
 what it meant. But 1 suppose he had to say 
 something, poor beggar; make some show of 
 authority. Then he began to bluster : vowed 
 he would clap them all in irons and hand 
 them over to the authorities when we arrived 
 at Batavia. 
 
 Li positively beamed. His delight was so 
 great that I believe he would have danced a 
 fandango if he had only known how. 
 
 “ Cap’ll welly good cap’n,” he said, “ but 
 dlink two muchee no good. Li allee same 
 belong new cap’n now; ” and out went his 
 ragamuffin of a chest just as 1 had seen the 
 skipper stick out his, when he suddenly re¬ 
 membered his greatness. “ Ole cap’n he likee 
 plenty dlink, plenty long dlink. Welly good. 
 Plenty long dlink 'ere.” He waved his hand 
 over the wide expanse of sea. 
 
 “ You villain,” roared the captain, still 
 hoping to overawe them with fierce words 
 and looks, though no one could fail to note 
 his extreme uneasiness, “would you murder 
 me ? ” 
 
 Li looked the sorrow he could not speak. 
 
102 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 I believe he would have cried had he not 
 feared it would give us too much pain. 
 
 "No, cap’n,” he said ; “ Li welly kind man. 
 Li the welly kindest man that ever lived. 
 Cap'n likee plenty dlink : Li give ’im plenty 
 dlink.” 
 
 The old man turned to me a hopeless, 
 imploring look. 
 
 “ He means it too/' I said. It was a mean 
 thing to do, considering his condition, but 1 
 couldn’t help it. I will even admit to a 
 momentary glow of satisfaction, but no more. 
 After all, 1 was as badly off as he ; and though 
 1 did not reckon his life as much when placed 
 in the scale with mine, I guessed that the 
 loss of one would probably mean the loss 
 of two. 
 
 The captain looked this way and that, as 
 though seeking a means of escape ; but the 
 mutineers surrounded him on three sides: at 
 his back was the sea. 
 
 “Where's the mate ?” he roared. “ Minton, 
 hi there, Minton ! ” 
 
 Li quickly communicated his whereabouts. 
 The mate had been secured, and was now 
 bound to the port corner of the bridge, and 
 
Mutiny 
 
 I0 3 
 
 in such a way that he was still enabled to 
 keep a good look-out. The third was shut 
 up in his room : the engineers were secured 
 below. The firemen and greasers had joined 
 the revolt, and were now lording it over their 
 erstwhile masters. 
 
 All this Li told in his most insinuating voice, 
 with his most winning smile, and neither I 
 nor the captain doubted him for a moment. 
 Indeed I believe I would have shared a similar 
 fate had I kept below a minute longer. The 
 captain would have been an easy victim. As 
 it was, the saloon was the only part of the 
 ship which was not entirely in the hands of 
 the mutineers. 
 
 Captain Castle looked at me and I looked 
 at him. It was a quick, searching, and yet 
 irresolute look ; a look which, while it pro¬ 
 claimed his impotence, yet showed its distrust 
 of me. And yet, notwithstanding a decided 
 antipathy, he must make the best of a bad 
 bargain. I believe I smiled : I know I did 
 inwardly even in the face of our great danger. 
 We were met on a common level now, and 
 I believe he thought I was the better man. 
 Or if he didn’t, I made up for his lack of 
 
104 Captain Castle 
 
 appreciation by believing so myself, though I 
 duly deplored his want of penetration. 
 
 True, there was little love or confidence in 
 his look, but I was a unit, and units were very 
 useful just then. It must have been hard for 
 him to do it, but the thought of that long 
 drink of the Java Sea was enough to make 
 any man's stomach turn, especially a stomach 
 that has grown accustomed to the soothing 
 influence of good Scotch whisky. 
 
 He made the best of it as he turned 
 to me. 
 
 “ Quenton." 
 
 “ Sir ? " 
 
 “There's nothing for it but to make a rush 
 aft." 
 
 “ Easier said than done,” I muttered. 
 
 “Hand me over your pistol. I’ll soon 
 clear the way." 
 
 Much as I loved the man and admired the 
 officer, I felt unable to comply with this 
 request. Moreover, I had no wish to see 
 blood, for I guessed that the first drop spilt 
 would end in a hideous massacre. And yet, 
 if we wished to retain the semblance of 
 authority, it was imperative that we should 
 
Mutiny 105 
 
 reach the deckhouse aft, or gain cover of 
 some sort. 
 
 Though it takes some time to describe, it 
 all passed very quickly. It was evident that 
 Li would not be able much longer to control 
 the more adventurous spirits of his band, 
 who were already chafing under the restraint. 
 Some exceedingly ugly looks were shot at us 
 from beady black eyes, and presently an 
 inward movement was made. It was now 
 or never. I stepped before the old man, 
 and raising my pistol pointed it fair in 
 Li’s face. 
 
 “ You sabbee this ? ” I said. 
 
 He shrank back grinning a ghastly grin. 
 
 “ Sabbee,” he muttered. 
 
 “ Then stand aside.” 
 
 As I spoke I edged aft, the man falling 
 back before me. I manoeuvred so as to get 
 them in a lump abreast of the skylight, or 
 forward of me, leaving the way to the deck¬ 
 house clear ; and ere they had quite grasped 
 my intention I had to a considerable extent 
 succeeded in carrying out this plan. Then 
 Li said something sharp and quick under his 
 breath, and three of the hindmost men 
 
io6 Captain Castle 
 
 suddenly darted forward. At once I guessed 
 what the order had been. The men were 
 to run round by the funnel and take us in 
 the rear. 
 
 u Now, sir—quick ! ” 
 
 The captain did not require a second telling. 
 I heard his bare feet swish over the deck as 
 he bounded aft. Li made a spring and I fired, 
 but purposely missed him. The mutineers 
 uttered a sharp cry of alarm, though none of 
 them was hit, and taking advantage of the 
 momentary confusion, I slid rapidly sideways 
 in the wake of the captain. Quite half the 
 distance I traversed in this manner, when 
 with a sudden yell they rushed towards me. 
 
 There was no time for fancy action now. 
 I turned my back on them and bounded 
 aft for dear life. My destination was only a 
 few yards off, but I covered the distance with 
 a speed which has amazed me ever since. 
 Fortunately the deckhouse door was on the 
 swing. Like a flash I bounded through and 
 swung it to after me, but not so quickly as to 
 escape a knife which came hissing in my 
 wake. Luckily it was nothing more than a 
 flesh wound in the shoulder ; but had the 
 
VTTINY 
 
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io8 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 For what was this shelter but a temporary 
 refuge at best ? With all the other officers 
 captive or dead, what hope was there for 
 us ? The doors must give way once they 
 were attacked in earnest, and then, though 
 each shot of my revolver told, the end for 
 me would be the same. 
 
 There may be some satisfaction in dying 
 for one's country, but there is absolutely 
 none in dying for one's self. There is no 
 eclat , no distinction about it. A coolie creese 
 rummaging in one's internals cannot be a 
 very delightful sensation. But there's no 
 knowing. Only I didn’t fancy it, and in my 
 despair I roundly cursed the drunken stupidity 
 of the commander of the S.S. Corea . 
 
 By the way, where was he ? For the first 
 time I took a glance down the companion, 
 and there, standing at the foot of the steps, 
 looking up at me with the most intense 
 alarm depicted on his face, stood that hero. 
 I smiled, and instinct told me that that smile 
 was first-cousin to one of Li’s oily ones. 
 
 But in the meantime blows were aimed 
 incessantly on the doors, and with such 
 vigour that I stood in awful expectation of 
 
Mutiny 
 
 109 
 
 seeing them suddenly give way. I pictured 
 it all, went through it all quite realistically— 
 even to the sensation of being run through 
 by the villainous creese. A vivid imagination 
 is not always an unmixed blessing. 
 
 Suddenly the captain’s voice reached me 
 from below, and a husky, querulous voice it 
 seemed. 
 
 “ Quenton." 
 
 “Sir ?” 
 
 “ How long do you think those doors will 
 hold?" 
 
 “ Quite impossible to say, sir ; but not long 
 once the men set to work in earnest." 
 
 He relapsed into silence, and strangely 
 enough the noise outside ceased at the same 
 moment. I stooped low against the lock 
 and listened, but no sound of any descrip¬ 
 tion reached me. The stillness was something 
 awful. What did it mean ? what did it fore¬ 
 tell ? Just then it seemed to me that of all 
 the agonies that which is called suspense is 
 the greatest. 
 
 Presently the captain’s voice came again. 
 
 “ What do you think they intend to do ? ’’ 
 
 “ Make themselves absolute masters of this 
 
110 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 ship. What they will do with us afterwards 
 depends on the mood they’re in.” 
 
 “ By God, Quenton, they mustn’t take the 
 ship !” 
 
 All very well, but how were we to stop 
 them ? 
 
 He didn’t know, and with a despairing oath 
 admitted it; but stop them we must. The 
 ship must not be given up. 
 
 “ Well,” I said, “ though fighting is not my 
 business, to save the ship, if possible, is. I 
 am ready to back you up in anything. What 
 do you propose ? ” 
 
 A second—ten—twenty passed and he never 
 spoke. Outside, the mutineers were still as 
 quiet as death, though now and again came 
 a great solitary splash as the ship floundered 
 in the heavy swell. 
 
 “ What arms have you got ? ” I asked. 
 
 “ I think I have a revolver somewhere, but 
 —but I’m not sure. If you’ll keep guard 
 there a minute I’ll go and see. You won’t 
 let them in, Quenton ?” 
 
 “Not if I can keep them out.” 
 
 “That’s a good fellow. A pity we didn’t 
 understand each other before.” 
 
Mutiny 
 
 hi 
 
 u Yes/' I answered drily. It is so easy to 
 treat a man respectfully when you want to get 
 something out of him. 
 
 “ See that you reload the empty chamber 
 of your revolver, and shoot the first man that 
 shows his ugly face.” 
 
 I laughed somewhat unpleasantly to myself. 
 I don’t think Captain Castle would have felt 
 pleased could he at that moment have seen a 
 reflection of my mind. No flattering portrait 
 of himself would he have found there : just 
 a flabby piece of putty of a man, wobbling 
 this way and that : never steady for a second. 
 Not that my own courage was anything to 
 boast about. Indeed I felt some uncanny 
 shivers run down me as I thought of my 
 probable end. It was a bad business which¬ 
 ever way I looked at it, with no back door to 
 sneak out through, and I deplored that eager¬ 
 ness for adventure which had led me into the 
 byways of the ocean. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 BESIEGED 
 
 In the meantime I was anxious to ascertain 
 what was keeping the mutineers so abnor¬ 
 mally quiet, the hope that the engineers had 
 in some way broken free, and were causing 
 trouble, coming to me. For Hope, cruel 
 as she is, comes with a soft face and a 
 flattering smile, making the worst extremity 
 tolerable. Like many other people I had 
 often said that a drowning man will cling 
 to a straw; but I never really knew the 
 meaning of the adage till I stood there 
 hoping against hope. Every moment I won¬ 
 dered if I should hear Craigiemore cry out 
 in his broadest Scotch, “ Open the door, man, 
 open the door ; ” and though I had never been 
 an unreasoning worshipper of the northern 
 accent, I am sure it would have sounded just 
 then like the sweetest of music. 
 
Besieged 
 
 113 
 
 But Craigiemore not appearing, it behoved 
 me to cast about for some means to ap¬ 
 pease my curiosity. This deckhouse, which 
 formed the only entrance to the saloon, 
 had, beside the tw^o doors mentioned, a 
 corresponding window or porthole, and a 
 little bit of a skylight on the roof, just big 
 enough to ventilate the place when the 
 doors were shut. To reach this last being a 
 physical impossibility, I turned my attention 
 to the porthole just above me. It was of 
 the usual size, with the usual thick, opaque 
 glass, through w 7 hich the light came dully,, 
 but through which it was next to impos¬ 
 sible to see. And yet it was imperative 
 that I should see, my anxiety quite sub¬ 
 duing my prudence. I loosened the screw 
 and listened. No sound : nothing but the 
 lapping of the little waves against the great 
 iron plates of the ship, as she rolled with 
 slow motion from side to side. I took two 
 —three more turns, till the heavy window, 
 suddenly bereft of its support, fell back 
 with a creaking noise. I pressed hard against 
 the side, expecting some movement from 
 without ; but listening eagerly and detecting 
 
 H 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 114 
 
 no sound, recommenced carefully to unscrew 
 the port. 
 
 Favoured by the carelessness of the watchers, 
 I soon had it open about half-an-inch, and 
 getting a side glance along the deck, saw 
 the cause of the ominous silence. The 
 mutineers, having grown tired of beating 
 the door, and taking the edge off their 
 keen knives by sticking them into it, had 
 
 thought of a better and safer way of batter- 
 
 ♦ 
 
 ing down that obstacle. A little bit forward 
 of where I stood our lifeboat was swung, 
 and the heavy boom to which it had been 
 lashed the mutineers had unshipped. This, 
 under the direction of Li Chee, they now 
 laid hold of with something of deadly earnest 
 in their looks. 
 
 I guessed in a moment what it meant, and 
 my heart gave a sickening, despairing sort of 
 thump. The wretches, with their improvised 
 battering-ram, were going to smash down the 
 door ! I confessed my ingenuity was checked. 
 I could not for the life of me see my next 
 move. Hemmed in on either side, driven like 
 a rat into that trap of a saloon, I knew the 
 game was up. From Li Chee I might expect 
 
Besieged 
 
 *i 5 
 
 but a short shrift. The Chinaman is a fiend 
 when he has the blood in his eye, and the 
 opportunity favours him. No torture is too 
 cruel for him to practise, no anguish so great 
 as to check his savagery. I admit I felt de¬ 
 cidedly uncomfortable. 
 
 Just then, and while I yet vainly sought a 
 solution to the problem, a shot rang out over¬ 
 head, and my heart instantly formed the word 
 
 u Craigiemore.” The next moment a tingling 
 
 * 
 
 sensation down my left side told me that I was 
 
 ♦ 
 
 hit. In my anxiety about the door I had 
 entirely forgotten the small skylight. I looked 
 up. A hideous grinning face and a smoking 
 pistol met my view. It was no Craigiemore 
 with his honest brown eyes, but one of Li's 
 abandoned villains. Where the wretch had 
 got the revolver I did not know ; but luckily 
 for me he was a bad shot, or the psychological 
 moment was too much for his overstrung 
 nerves. A tearing of the skin was luxury com¬ 
 pared to a bullet in the ribs. Yet I had no 
 great liking for the attempt, as I considered it 
 showed a predisposition to evil. 
 
 But, quick as thought, I took sudden aim 
 and fired. A savage growl followed and the 
 
n6 Captain Castle 
 
 face was instantly withdrawn ; but the pistol 
 went clattering down the stairs exploding as 
 it fell. With it came the tip of a finger. 
 
 So this constituted a still heavier reckoning. 
 I had drawn blood, and I knew that blood 
 for blood would be the law. And the only 
 consolation given me was the knowledge 
 that I had been dragged into this horrible 
 scrape through no fault of my own. Egad, 
 once in it, it didn’t much matter whose fault 
 it was. 
 
 It behoved me now to make the best of 
 my poor opportunities. I had still four shots 
 left, and something might yet be done could 
 I only make sure of bringing a man down 
 with each shot. Four men, perhaps five, 
 accounted for, and, for all the mutineers 
 knew to the contrary, an unbounded supply 
 of ammunition, must make them pause. I 
 paused too, wondering if I had not better 
 keep a last shot for reasons of my own. 
 But fortunately I was always a practical sort 
 of fellow, and, as I have said before, no 
 lighting man ; but I think that even the 
 mildest of non-combatants, when driven into 
 a corner, will put up his hands. I will not 
 
Besieged 
 
 117 
 
 go so far as to say that the spirit of a thou¬ 
 sand heroes leaped to my veins ; but I don't 
 mind admitting that I indulged in a reckless 
 flow of blood which was highly improper. 
 
 But during all this time preparations were 
 going on without, except for the minute or so 
 which followed the passage-at-arms between 
 me and the man at the skylight. He had 
 evidently clambered down among them, and 
 was showing his bleeding hand, for after a 
 little space the men broke out into fierce 
 cries, and a dozen savage blows were showered 
 upon the door, accompanied by sundry threats 
 which, luckily, I did not understand. But I 
 understood enough to know what I had to 
 expect, and my stomach grew hard. 
 
 Presently Li’s voice rose above the din, and 
 the rat-tatting and cursing instantly ceased. 
 A few seconds of suspense followed, and then 
 the beam came bang against the door with an 
 awful crash. At first I thought it had really 
 come through, or that the door had given 
 way, and I sprang down half-a-dozen of the 
 companion steps as though the devil were at 
 my heels; as indeed he was, with a whole 
 host of devils much blacker than himself. But 
 
n8 Captain Castle 
 
 nothing of the kind had happened. The door 
 still held and stoutly withstood half-a-dozen 
 attempts all equally vigorous. But presently, 
 as they hit lower at the panels, an ominous 
 groaning followed, and then in came the day¬ 
 light in cool white shafts. The besiegers yelled 
 excitedly as they swung the beam to and fro : 
 thump followed thump, and crash crash, till 
 the whole structure gave way with a loud 
 creak and a splashing of splinters. 
 
 I gripped the pistol in my right hand, and 
 took a firm hold of the rail with the other. 
 
 Four shots, and then ?- I waited, grimly 
 
 desperate. There was murder in my heart 
 just then, which made me wish for a Maxim 
 or a Gatling gun. At that moment, and with¬ 
 out the slightest compunction, I could have 
 slain every Chinaman beneath the sun. 
 
 Scarcely had the door fallen before half-a- 
 dozen pig-eyed, yellow faces crowded into the 
 entrance. I raised my pistol and shouted, 
 “ Keep back. I’ll shoot the first man that 
 enters.” 
 
 Though they may not have understood my 
 words, and I was not sure of any of them 
 speaking English but Li, there was no mis- 
 
Besieged 
 
 119 
 
 taking my gesture or my meaning; and as I 
 had already given them an instance of my 
 determination, they drew back as one man. 
 Then suddenly Li Chee spoke, and I knew by 
 the tone of his voice that he was exhorting 
 them onward. Lucky Li Chee, to stand out¬ 
 side and get others to face the music ! I 
 envied him, the sly fox, and wished I had a 
 dozen pig-eyes to rush up and clear the decks 
 for me. 
 
 As Li spoke, the mutineers pushed farther 
 into the entrance, and one big ugly fellow 
 sprang in on the mat, a knife in his hand, a 
 most inhuman cry on his lips. Though it was 
 only a matter of a second or so, I noticed his 
 dirty blouse, his flying pigtail, and the eyes 
 that shone almost as cruelly as the knife. 
 The eyes I saw, and the savage look therein 
 as I raised the revolver to his face and fired. 
 He drew himself up straight as a soldier at 
 salute, and seeming to look me fair in the 
 face, flung his knife at me. I stooped ; the 
 weapon flew hissing over my head and stuck 
 in the woodwork behind me. Then the man 
 lurched heavily forward and shot head first 
 down the companion way into the saloon. 
 
I 20 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 His comrades looking on seemed stunned 
 at the suddenness, the awful suddenness of his 
 fate ; but seeing only one man holding the 
 stair, they plucked up courage and made a 
 sudden rush. 
 
 Snap, snap, snap ! went my pistol, the 
 sudden furious shooting disconcerting them 
 not a little. One of the two leaders, throwing 
 up his arms, fell back among his companions, 
 wildly clawing them and dragging two or 
 three over with him ; the other, falling for¬ 
 ward, rolled to the edge of the stairs, but as 
 he came tumbling down he made a last in¬ 
 effectual attempt to stick his knife in me. 
 
 I sprang after him and caught him savagely 
 by the throat, but no violence was necessary, 
 as the man was either stunned or dead. What 
 I wanted was his knife, and this, which he still 
 held in a firm grip, I soon wrenched from 
 him. Then, without so much as turning 
 round, I sprang to the foot of the stairs, with 
 no other thought in my mind than to contest 
 the way inch by inch. If the old man hadn’t 
 been such an awful coward, we two might 
 have caused the enemy considerable incon¬ 
 venience. As it was, I had emptied my 
 
Besieged 
 
 I 21 
 
 revolver, I had no reserve of ammunition, no 
 one to fetch me any, and I was only one. 
 
 I admit to feeling precious queer as I stood 
 at the bottom of that stair and gazed up at 
 the scowling faces above me. The desperate 
 game I was playing would have been all very 
 well for a fire-eater, but for a man of peace it 
 was extremely disconcerting. Still I ought 
 in fairness to add that I didn’t feel very peace¬ 
 ful as I watched the pig-eyes; nor could I 
 have looked much like a man of peace with the 
 long knife in one hand and the empty revolver 
 in the other. Oh, if it were only charged ! 
 Gods ! I believe I would have given twelve 
 months' pay for half-a-dozen cartridges then. 
 
 I started and withdrew my hand hastily. 
 Some one was touching it ! My first thought 
 was that one of the wounded Chinamen had 
 crawled over and was trying his best to de¬ 
 spatch me. Instantly my knife went up as I 
 turned to strike ; but as quickly it descended 
 to my side, for the person so close to me was 
 Mrs. Castle. She was dressed in white as 
 usual—a white morning gown it looked like— 
 her hair was coiled up loosely over her head : 
 her face deadly white, but calm. 
 
122 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Courage," she whispered, “ courage." 
 
 As she spoke she pressed into my hands a 
 revolver, the one, I afterwards learned, which 
 the man at the skylight had let fall. Indeed, 
 I guessed as much at the time. 
 
 “ Is it loaded ? ” I whispered. 
 
 “ Four chambers/’ she answered. “ Courage.” 
 
 I gripped her by the hand, still keeping my 
 eyes on the doorway, and without speaking, 
 pressed it warmly. She returned the pressure 
 in a way that made me thrill. I noticed that 
 her palm was quite cool as though her pulse 
 beat regularly. 
 
 But things were evidently not going well 
 with the enemy above. The unexpected re¬ 
 sistance had taken a good deal of the courage 
 out of them, and they now hung about the 
 door in the most irresolute manner, glaring 
 down at me, but never venturing to move. 
 Not that they could not have overpowered 
 me had they rushed me in a body ; but such 
 an act might be fraught with no little danger 
 to some of them, and none seemed to have 
 any inclination to court that danger. I 
 didn’t blame them. Anybody could have 
 had my post for the asking. 
 
Besieged 
 
 123 
 
 The seconds hurried by, and yet the enemy 
 made no movement, which inaction of theirs 
 caused me the greatest anxiety. What was 
 to be the next diabolical move in this dia¬ 
 bolical game ? 
 
 Presently the voice of that arch-villain Li 
 reached me. 
 
 “ Mas'r Quenton.” 
 
 “Well ?” 
 
 “ Me likee talkee talkee.” 
 
 “Well, what do you want to say ?” 
 
 “ You no shootee ? ” 
 
 “ Not if you behave yourself.” 
 
 “ Plomise ? ” 
 
 “ I promise.” 
 
 “You belong Englishyman,” said the beggar, 
 laying on the soft soap. “ Englishyman neber 
 bleak 'im word ? ” 
 
 “Never,” I answered stoutly. 
 
 There was a moment’s consultation out¬ 
 side, and then Li appeared. Excitement had 
 turned his face to a pale, dirty yellow, but it 
 still wore the bland and winning smile I shall 
 ever associate with him. 
 
 “Well,” said I boldly, knowing that nothing 
 affects the ignorant mind so much as a brave 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 124 
 
 outward show, “ this is a nice sort of business, 
 isn't it ?" 
 
 Li turned up his hideous little eyes, and 
 seemed to ask Heaven’s pardon for the outrage. 
 
 “Welly sad, Mas'r Quenton," he murmured 
 sorrowfully, “ too muchee welly dam sad.” 
 
 The hypocrite ! I knew that he was laugh¬ 
 ing at me, and felt as though I would like to 
 jerk his queue. Then I wondered what sort 
 of feeling he had for me. 
 
 “All very well,” I said, “but you have gone 
 too far, Mr. Li. Whether you know it or not, 
 mutiny is a very serious matter.” 
 
 He looked as though he could scarcely be¬ 
 lieve his ears. Mutiny a serious matter ! Really 
 these barbarians from Europe were too droll. 
 
 “You flighten me, Mas’r Quenton ; you too 
 muchee flighten this poor piecee Chinaman.” 
 
 He was getting the better of me, and I 
 felt as though I would like to make him smart 
 for his sauce. A week ago he would hardly 
 have dared to look impudent; now he plainly 
 showed who he thought was master. I, 
 however, ignored his irony. I could not 
 admit, even to myself, that I had been jeered 
 at by a chow. 
 
Besieged 125 
 
 “ Have you any idea what this means when 
 we reach Batavia ? " 
 
 “ Li no wantee leach Batavia. The Colea 
 no leach Batavia either, if Li say she no 
 leach." 
 
 “What do you mean by that ?" I demanded 
 in my most impressive voice, though I had a 
 pretty fair notion. 
 
 “ Suppose you sullender—me explain." 
 
 “No, thank you, Li. I am very comfort¬ 
 able here. Plenty pistol—plenty shoot. You 
 sabbee ? " 
 
 “ Sabbee," said Li. 
 
 “Very well then. Don't talk any more 
 nonsense about surrendering. If you are 
 wise you will surrender to me before it is 
 too late." 
 
 “ Solly," he replied, “ but no can sullender 
 now. Clew too muchee angly ; too muchee 
 all 'ee same gone ’long. Suppose you no 
 sullender, you no escape." 
 
 I believed him, though I had no intention 
 of admitting as much. 
 
 “ Very well," I answered ; “ but as I wouldn’t 
 like to hurt you, be sure you keep out of range. 
 This pistol shoot plenty stlaight." 
 
126 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Sabbee,” said Li thoughtfully, favouring 
 me with an inquiring look. But as I made 
 no attempt to pot him, he rapidly regained 
 confidence. There is not much in which a 
 Chinaman believes, though he can assume a 
 belief with an excellent grace. 
 
 “ MasT Quenton,” he said after a pause. 
 
 “ Well ? ” 
 
 “ Me no wantee cut your dam thloat.” 
 
 I told him it was very kind of him, and that 
 I should esteem it a great favour if he would 
 entirely banish the thought from his mind. 
 
 u But me must—suppose you no sullender. 
 This ship cally seventy—eighty tousand dollar. 
 Li wantee that dollar. Suppose you let Li 
 'ave that dollar, ’e allee same no cut your 
 thloat : suppose you no let dm ’ave that dollar, 
 'e slit your thloat sure, sabbee ?” 
 
 I assured him that I had no particular wish 
 to die, but that the captain had charged me 
 to guard the stair, and that I meant to do it. 
 
 “ Cap’ll dlunken fool,” he cried disdainfully. 
 u What for 'e no come allee same fightee ? 
 You belong blave man, Mas’r Quenton. Li 
 no likee cut thloat of blave man. He welly 
 solly, but ’e must ’ave dollar. Suppose you 
 
Besieged 
 
 127 
 
 lettee dollar go, Li leavee ship in boat and takee 
 clew along o’ ’im. Li no wantee ship, no wantee 
 cut anybody's thloat : Li only wantee dollar.” 
 
 I confess to being sorely tempted. What 
 other hope was there for me, for those on 
 board ? The victory must go to the stronger, 
 and Li was undoubtedly that. But could I 
 trust him ? A Chinaman’s word is all very 
 well when circumstances over which he has 
 no control force him to keep it, and in that 
 respect he is not much worse than any of 
 his western brothers; but trusting to the 
 word of a rascal like Li was an entirely 
 different matter. 
 
 “ Suppose I let you take the dollars, you 
 swear that you will leave the ship, you and 
 your crew, without molesting us, or in any 
 way injuring the vessel ?” 
 
 “ Me swear,” said Li, and again he raised 
 his dirty little eyes to the skylight, taking the 
 attitude of a medieval Chinese joss. “ Me 
 'ave ’ad plenty fight. No likee too muchee 
 shootee shootee.” 
 
 I hesitated, thinking how best I could make 
 myself secure while the rascals pillaged the 
 strong-room; and then a silly quixotic fit 
 
128 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 took hold of me, and an obstinacy, of which 
 I feel ashamed, made me act like an idiot. 
 I thought I was betraying my trust : that 
 as the captain had left me in charge of 
 the ship, I ought to fulfil that duty, even 
 though I saw its utter futility. Nor was it 
 any argument in my favour that the captain 
 had basely deserted me and left me to cope 
 with overwhelming odds. That was his affair ; 
 mine was to obey orders and protect, as 
 far as lay within me, the property of my 
 employers. 
 
 “ It can't be, Li," I answered. “ My orders 
 were to protect the ship, and I intend to obey 
 them." 
 
 “You lefuse !" cried he incredulously. 
 
 “ Absolutely. If you want the dollars you 
 must come and fetch 'em." 
 
 Li’s even smile changed, and for a little 
 while he looked very fierce and cruel. 
 
 “All li,” he said; “you sabbee?" With 
 his long nail he drew an imaginary cut across 
 his yellow throat. 
 
 “ Sabbee," I said, feeling a fool, but despe¬ 
 rate. 
 
 “No, no," cried Mrs. Castle, coming for- 
 
Besieged 
 
 129 
 
 ward for the first time. “ Mr. Quenton, you 
 cannot he so wicked ! " 
 
 Wicked ! I liked that. Foolish, perhaps— 
 
 I was ready to admit as much ; but wicked ! 
 
 I didn't fancy the word. 
 
 “ Wicked, madam!" I echoed. Was it 
 possible that I could not trust my own ears ? 
 
 “Very wicked," she repeated. “You know 
 what these men are ; you know what our fate 
 will be, and yet you wilfully court it." 
 
 “ But," I stammered, “ my orders—the cap¬ 
 tain-" 
 
 “ The captain !" she echoed scornfully. “ Do 
 you know that he is lying at this moment 
 dead drunk with fear and whisky ? Why 
 should you consider such a man ? " 
 
 I stupidly mumbled something about my 
 duty. 
 
 “Your duty is to save those who wish to be 
 saved. Mr. Quenton, you are a brave man ; 
 you have even won the admiration of your 
 enemy. You have done all that a brave man 
 could do ; but the odds are against you, and 
 there can only be one result. I know you 
 are not afraid to die, but oh, my God, I am. 
 I don't want to die—I can't—I won't die !" 
 
 1 
 
130 Captain Castle 
 
 She flung herself at my feet, and seizing 
 my hand pressed it convulsively to her lips, 
 murmuring, “ Save me, save me ! " 
 
 “ Please don't do that," I said. “I—I—" 
 and there I broke down. This was a thou¬ 
 sand times worse than Li with all his threats. 
 At blows I might have played a fairly decent 
 hand, but at this game I was nothing but a 
 raw beginner. Li and his men watched me 
 eagerly, the former smiling his inscrutable 
 yellow smile, the latter all agape with wonder. 
 
 “You understand?" I said as I caught his 
 eye. 
 
 “Plenty. Missee Cap’n welly wise woman. 
 Li no halm Missee Cap’n, no halm nobody. 
 Li only wantee dollar." 
 
 Mrs. Castle had turned the tables on me with 
 a vengeance, and though at the moment I felt 
 a little foolish pique, I was glad enough after. 
 
 “ It shall be as you wish," I mumbled un¬ 
 graciously, addressing Li ; “ but upon one 
 condition." 
 
 “Twenty condition allee same me," he 
 answered with a grin. 
 
 “ You say you only want the dollars ?" 
 
 “ Tlue." 
 
Besieged 
 
 I 3 I 
 
 u And that you will neither injure us nor 
 the ship ?” 
 
 “ Tlue.” 
 
 “ You know you can trust me ?” 
 
 “ Plenty tlust you/’ 
 
 “ Then come down into the saloon and sit 
 with me till your men have cleared out the 
 dollars." 
 
 “ Ah! ” he gasped, seeing what I meant. 
 He looked hard at me, at his men, and seemed 
 to hesitate. Then he laughed and said, u All 
 li ; me plenty tlust you,” and without more 
 ado he came fearlessly down the companion, 
 albeit his face wore a somewhat uneasy grin. 
 I did not let him get too close to me, but 
 smiled a welcome and let him have a good 
 look at my revolver. 
 
 “ Now understand, Li,” I said, fixing him 
 with a deadly earnest look. “ Treat me fairly 
 and we shall get along all right; but if you 
 try any of your games Til shoot you.” 
 
 He grinned, looking about him anxiously. 
 
 “ No game, MasT Quenton. Only want 
 dollar.” 
 
 “ Very well. Now, Mrs. Castle, will you get 
 the key of the strong-room ? ” 
 
i3 2 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 She at once made her way to the cabin, 
 returning almost immediately with the key. 
 
 This I told her to place on the lowest step 
 of the companion way, which having done, 
 she drew back behind me. 
 
 "Now, Li, there’s the key, and that door 
 yonder is the room. But first, sit there ; ” 
 and I made him sit opposite me where I had 
 him well under my eye. The position also 
 gave me command of the companion. "You 
 sabee ? ” 
 
 “ Sabbee,” he answered sullenly. 
 
 “Then call down your men.” 
 
 He shouted out something in a high key, 
 and immediately there was a clatter of naked 
 feet on the stairway. As the men tumbled 
 into the saloon and saw us sitting there like a 
 pair of old friends, the look of wonder in their 
 faces was almost amusing. 
 
 But Li, speaking in his most authoritative 
 tone, soon had them at work. The dollars 
 had all been packed in little iron-bound cases, 
 and these the men quickly cleared out of the 
 strong-room and bore aloft to the deck, Li 
 keeping a loud tally as each one passed. The 
 mutineers next broke into the store-room and 
 
Besieged 
 
 i 33 
 
 sent up enough provisions to last the ship's 
 company for a week. And all the while I 
 was forced to sit still and watch the robbery, 
 though my blood fairly tumbled with rage. 
 Devoutly I wished that Li would give me a 
 half-excuse to shoot him, no matter what the 
 consequence. But that worthy seemed quite 
 satisfied with the arrangement, nor had he 
 the least intention of giving me a chance to 
 perforate his hide. Things were going along 
 very pleasantly. Indeed I harboured the half¬ 
 belief that he was inwardly congratulating 
 himself upon getting off so cheaply. 
 
 Mrs. Castle stood behind me clutching the 
 rail that ran from end to end of the saloon. 
 No sound escaped her, not even so much as 
 a little sigh or a hard breath. Catching an 
 occasional glimpse of her, I saw that she was 
 very pale, and that her big eyes had grown 
 bigger ; but she uttered no word, and though 
 hopeless as she must have felt, I was sure she 
 possessed courage enough for even a greater 
 ordeal. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 I AM OVERWHELMED WITH GRATITUDE 
 
 At last everything being got out from below, 
 Li looked towards me, smiled, and nodded 
 approvingly. 
 
 “All leady now/’ he said. “Me go top 
 side/’ 
 
 He rose as he spoke, I immediately follow¬ 
 ing his example. What if the beggar, having 
 got the cash, refused to keep his word ? 
 
 “Top side welly good,” I replied. 
 
 He sprang to the companion, I following 
 at his heels, though I doubt now if he had 
 any thought of treachery. Still, I was not 
 to know. At any rate, I meant to take it out 
 of him. 
 
 On deck the boxes of specie were piled up 
 against the starboard rail, while on the top 
 of them sat grim-looking fellows with long 
 ugly knives, knives and the men seeming 
 
 134 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 135 
 
 extremely well matched. Here and there the 
 provisions were scattered about in the most 
 shocking disorder, and had it not been for 
 the generalship of Li, inextricable confusion 
 must have resulted. With his appearance on 
 the scene, things underwent an immediate 
 change. Taking his stand beside the specie, 
 he shouted out his orders like a man who 
 knows what he wants, and means to get it 
 done. I couldn’t help admiring him, ragged 
 rascal that he was, and contrasting him with 
 Captain Castle. 
 
 As he shouted the men ran hither and 
 thither, quickly restoring order out of chaos. 
 The provisions were first equally divided, 
 then the boxes of specie ; and while one 
 body of men began to load and provision 
 the starboard boat, another provisioned the 
 port. 
 
 Seeing that Li had really meant what he 
 said, I now stood away back by the after 
 wheel-house, Mrs. Castle by my side, and 
 watched the whole proceeding with a variety 
 of emotions. What her feelings were it might 
 be difficult to say ; but whenever I stole a 
 glimpse at her, which I did occasionally, I 
 
136 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 thought her face looked almost triumphant. 
 But that might only have been my fancy, for 
 the glances I got of her were but momen¬ 
 tary ones stolen when I thought she wasn’t 
 looking. 
 
 At last specie and provisions being duly 
 stowed away, the men began to lower both 
 boats at the same time, which, as the sea was 
 still smooth, was a comparatively easy task. 
 The boats swung lightly on the water, a man 
 at either end easily keeping them from bump¬ 
 ing against the ship’s sides. Then the order 
 being given, the mutineers, who had stood 
 by a grinning, gibbering crowd, swung them¬ 
 selves over the side like so many cats, and 
 in various ways succeeded in getting into the 
 boats, though not before some of them had 
 got a wet jacket. 
 
 I breathed easier as the last dirty face went 
 over the side, and walking forward returned 
 Li’s salute as that worthy pushed off. Near 
 him in the stern were half-a-dozen of his 
 close companions, while the others crowded 
 forward and amidships, the latter sadly ham¬ 
 pering the men who were trying to step the 
 mast. Li was sitting high up on a box 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 137 
 
 of specie, and as I leaned over the side he 
 waved his hand gaily and favoured me with 
 an extraordinary grin. 
 
 “ Good-bye, Quenton," he shouted, grinning 
 greatly at his own familiarity. “ Li welly 
 solly 'e 'ave to take both boats; but clew 
 too muchee big for one, dollar too muchee 
 'eavy." 
 
 “ Look out they don't sink you," I cried ; 
 “ though better that than Singapore or Sama- 
 rang." With my hand I drew an imaginary 
 noose round my neck, and then a straight 
 line upwards. Li understood and laughed. 
 
 “No likee Singlaplore," he said; “no can 
 pidgin to Samalang. Find nicee place, makee 
 land." 
 
 I don't believe the fool had any idea where 
 he was ; but I pitied him and his crew if the 
 south-west monsoon caught them in the open 
 sea. However, he seemed as anxious to get 
 away from the ship as I was to see him go, 
 and calling to his men he made them lay on 
 their oars with a good will. Some five hun¬ 
 dred yards or so astern the two boats met. 
 A council of war followed, the result of which 
 was that the boats put about and steered due 
 
138 Captain Castle 
 
 west. Li knew something of his whereabouts 
 after all. 
 
 “ Well/' said I, turning to my companion, 
 who once more had stolen to my side and 
 was watching the distant boats with eager 
 eyes, “what do you think? Have we come 
 out of this well or ill ?” 
 
 “You have come out of it gloriously,” was 
 the somewhat unexpected reply. 
 
 Being but a modest man, and quite unused 
 to anything in the way of a compliment, I 
 blushed most painfully. Nor did the sudden 
 flush of colour to her cheek, nor the quick 
 sparkle of her eye, reassure me. It is very 
 nice to know that people speak well of you, 
 but to have such splendid things thrown bang 
 in your face is decidedly disconcerting. I 
 thought I might be safer if I altered my course 
 a point or two. 
 
 “ I don’t think you need be so severe,” 
 I protested. “ I did my best for everybody’s 
 sake.” 
 
 She came very close to me and laid her 
 hand on my arm. 
 
 “Good heavens! Mr. Quenton, you don’t 
 think that I am insincere ? ” 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 139 
 
 I tried to brazen it out, but I simply 
 couldn't look into her eyes. They were 
 burning, and they set me burning, and I 
 didn’t want to burn just then. Besides, I 
 was only a man, and perhaps not the best 
 man that ever trod a ship’s deck. 
 
 “ Of course you are very kind,” I mumbled, 
 like the great dunderhead I was, “but being 
 a woman, you are over-generous. What do 
 you think Captain Castle will say when he 
 hears of my surrender ?” 
 
 “ Nothing.” 
 
 I smiled, but I let her see that I was not of 
 her way of thinking. 
 
 “He dare not,” she added, “he dare not, 
 after his own behaviour.” 
 
 I still held a contrary opinion, which was 
 just like my boorishness. What right had 
 I even to think No, when she said Yes ? Yet, 
 come what might, or be I ever so ungallant, 
 I felt convinced that I had a sturdy advocate 
 in the captain's wife. 
 
 Begging her to excuse me, I then hurried 
 forward to the bridge, in the port corner of 
 which, made fast to one of the stanchions, 
 I beheld the mate. His back was to me, 
 
140 Captain Castle 
 
 but I could see by the way he was lashed 
 that he must have suffered much agony. 
 His huge red neck was twice its ordinary 
 size, and seemed close upon bursting. As 
 I got on a level with him I saw that his 
 eyes were closed, and that a gag had been 
 stuffed in his mouth. Thinking he had 
 fainted, my first action was to remove the 
 gag, which proved to be a piece of oily, dirty 
 waste from the engine-room—the revenge, no 
 doubt, of some fireman or greaser whom the 
 mate had kicked and cuffed in the hour of 
 his might. 
 
 As I removed this most obnoxious gag, 
 Minton opened his eyes in a dreamy, far¬ 
 away manner ; and then suddenly seeming 
 to realise that his lips were free, he began to 
 expectorate in the most noisy and vulgar 
 fashion, to the accompaniment of which 
 nice music I quickly undid his bonds. For 
 quite a minute I had to steady him while 
 his blood began to circulate, and all the 
 while he kept up an incessant kicking and 
 spitting. When at last he had regained his 
 blood and his breath, he turned his ugly little 
 eyes inquiringly upon me. 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 141 
 
 “ I feel dashed funny, Quenton : what's 
 happened ?" 
 
 I told him. 
 
 “ Phew!" he said. u I recollect. The 
 beggars took me by surprise, and one of 
 those filthy greasers jammed his dirty waste 
 in my mouth, the swine ! So they're gone, 
 you say ? Why the blazes didn't you stop 
 'em?" 
 
 “ Why didn't you ? " 
 
 “ If I’d been free I would ;" and he swore 
 a mighty oath to it. 
 
 “ Well, I was glad to see them go." 
 
 “ I daresay. You would be," he added 
 meaningly. 
 
 “ Unfortunately I am not a hero like 
 you." 
 
 “ Pah ! " 
 
 Shading his eyes he looked away to the 
 westward, where the boats were still distinctly 
 to be seen. 
 
 “ That's them out yonder ?" 
 
 “ Yes." 
 
 He looked long and then turned to me with 
 another brave oath. 
 
 “ Um,” he snarled, “and both bally boats 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 142 
 
 too. You’ve made a pretty mess of it. Egad, 
 they’d have found me a different cuss to 
 tackle. Where’s the old man ? ” 
 
 “ Below.” 
 
 “ What does he say ? ” 
 
 “ He hasn’t said anything.” 
 
 He favoured me with an inquiring look. 
 
 “What d’ye mean ?” 
 
 “ Can’t you guess ? ” 
 
 “ He’s dead ? ” 
 
 “Yes—dead drunk.” 
 
 “Look here,” said Minton, “you’re a bit 
 too free with your tongue. I should think 
 it had got you into enough trouble already. 
 Take my advice and belay. Thank your 
 stars I’m not a talebearer. I've seen smarter 
 men than you come to grief over the same 
 thing, and it’s that way you’re steering.” 
 
 “A sort of Macclesfield Bank in the China 
 Sea of my destiny ? ” 
 
 “Well,” he growled, “I warn you, that’s 
 all. You can take it or leave it. You’re 
 very clever, I know, but it’s a very funny 
 thing that you should be the only man 
 whom they did not entrap.” 
 
 I didn’t relish the tone in which this was 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 143 
 
 said, but I made due allowance for the 
 greasy rag which had oiled his tongue. 
 
 “ I am the only one who showed the 
 ordinary intelligence of a country police¬ 
 man. When I told you what was brewing, 
 you only laughed at me." 
 
 “ And how did you know it was brewing ? ” 
 he asked suspiciously. 
 
 “ Any man who keeps a good look-out can 
 see a squall before it strikes the ship.” 
 
 “ Oh, I know you’re a smarty,” he mum¬ 
 bled ungraciously. “ I only hope the old 
 man will take your view.” But the tone 
 belied the words. 
 
 The engineers were even in a worse plight 
 than the mate, being all bound and thrown 
 into the stokehole; and when at length 
 I freed them, the air resounded with some 
 singular Scotch oaths. Craigiemore told me 
 how it was done, how he was felled with a 
 shovel and pounced upon before he could 
 offer any resistance : how they were all 
 laid in front of the furnace and threatened 
 with burning and tortures of the cruellest 
 description, the wretches even going so far 
 as to kindle the furnace for that purpose. 
 
144 Captain Castle 
 
 Indeed, had not Li and I come to terms, 
 there is no knowing what would have be¬ 
 fallen them. Craigiemore gripped my hand 
 as with a few brief words I let him know 
 my share of the transaction. He didn’t 
 say anything, this Scot, but I saw a light 
 in his eyes that made me feel glad : felt 
 his honest grip shoot right through me. 
 Such a grip from a man who feared no 
 one but God was worth a good deal to 
 me just then. 
 
 My next duty was to liberate the Chinese 
 bos’un, Ji Ji, he out of all the native crew 
 being the only one to remain loyal. As I 
 made my way forward to his quarters I 
 became possessed of an extreme feeling of 
 uneasiness. I feared his loyalty to us might 
 be attended with the gravest consequence, 
 for where they might have hesitated to ill- 
 treat us, I knew they would show no mercy 
 to one of their own blood. 
 
 The door of his cabin was locked, the 
 key missing. I knocked loudly and called 
 “Ji, Ji;” but though I put my ear to the 
 keyhole I could catch nothing. Once I 
 thought the sound of a low gurgle, as 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 145 
 
 though some one was trying hard to breathe, 
 reached me; but hearing no more, I im¬ 
 mediately put it down to my imagination, 
 which at such a time was naturally a little 
 active. However, the worst must be known. 
 I shot out my foot and sent the lock flying. 
 
 Poor old Ji Ji was lying in his bunk, 
 bound and gagged, a great clot of con¬ 
 gealed blood on the side of his face : but 
 I saw with pleasure his eyes move as I 
 entered. It did not take me long to set 
 him free, and though for a short time he 
 appeared quite dazed, he was not long be¬ 
 fore he sat up of his own accord. Then I 
 saw that he had bled profusely from a severe 
 wound below the temple, which I after¬ 
 wards learned was given him in the struggle 
 that followed his surprise. 
 
 I led him up on deck and there left him 
 slowly to recover, though I first ran down to 
 my room and brought him up a little whisky 
 and water. The poor chap quaffed the liquor 
 greedily, and though he sat almost sullenly 
 mute, which I think was owing to the dazed 
 condition of his brain, his pained, pathetic 
 eyes never left my face for a moment. 
 
 K 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 146 
 
 About eight o’clock that night, as I sat 
 forward with Craigiemore smoking and chat¬ 
 ting about our late experiences—for we were 
 now entirely at the mercy of the sea and could 
 do nothing to help ourselves—the mate ambled 
 towards us, and with an insinuating smile 
 informed me that the captain was anxiously 
 awaiting me aft. Then he stood grinning 
 horribly, this satyr of a man, as though he 
 wished me to question him ; but I would not 
 give him the satisfaction of appearing curious. 
 I could imagine too easily the pleasure he 
 would derive from his answers. 
 
 Slowly I arose, and with charming non¬ 
 chalance knocked the ashes from my pipe. 
 It seemed a magnificent thing to keep Caesar 
 waiting, though, truth to tell, I anticipated 
 nothing pleasant from the interview. 
 
 “Now then, smarty,” cried the gorilla faceti¬ 
 ously, “belay there, or you’ll be slipping out 
 of your skin. The old man’s not in a hurry, 
 not in the least. He doesn’t believe in hurry¬ 
 ing. He says it’s bad form.” 
 
 He grinned knowingly at Craigiemore, but 
 if he expected an answering grin from that 
 quarter he was mistaken. The Scot stared him 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 147 
 
 stolidly in the face with a look of blank con¬ 
 tempt. The mate turned away with a scowl. 
 
 I followed him aft where the captain and 
 little Campbell, the chief engineer, sat. The 
 old man was in his wife’s long cane chair, 
 and as I approached him I thought he looked 
 more fit for the sick-room than the chair of 
 authority. His cheeks were of a dreadful 
 ashen yellow, his eyes glazed and thickly 
 clotted with veins. As he stroked his long 
 yellow moustache his hand visibly trembled. 
 
 There was little love in the look he turned 
 on me, and not one gleam of gratitude. I 
 felt, though I struggled hard with the feeling, 
 as though I had been guilty of some fearful 
 breach of duty. 
 
 “ I want to talk to you,” he began abruptly. 
 “ It’s a curious fact, but I seem to spend most 
 of my time talking to you.” 
 
 “ Verra curious,” muttered the engineer. 
 
 I thought of something else he spent a 
 good deal of time over, and with less profit 
 to himself; but I refrained from mentioning 
 it, wishing to return good for evil. 
 
 “ Will you be good enough to give me your 
 version of this affair ? ” 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 148 
 
 Resenting the tone, I said, “ From the time 
 you left me, promising to return ? ” 
 
 The dark blood leaped to his yellow face : 
 anger burned ominously in his thick eyes. 
 He waved impatiently for me to begin. 
 
 In as few words as possible I told him all, 
 explaining my reasons for what I did; the 
 chief of which was the utter impossibility of 
 holding out with success. 
 
 “ And yet you say you were armed : had 
 actually four shots in your revolver ? ” 
 
 I admitted as much, but rather sullenly, for 
 I could see how the land lay, and knew there 
 was neither honesty nor justice in the man. 
 Moreover, I guessed that this examination was 
 held merely to pick holes in my coat. 
 
 “ It seems to me," he said coldly, his im¬ 
 pudence being really sublime, “that you might 
 easily have shown to better advantage. But 
 I suppose that skin of yours is too tender to 
 be touched ? ” 
 
 The mate laughed pleasantly : the little 
 greased rag of an engineer turned up his 
 watery blue eyes and murmured that it was 
 a peety that such an apparently fine young 
 man should be so verra much to blame. 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 149 
 
 “ What, sir, would you have done in my 
 case ?" said I, addressing the captain. 
 
 “ Stuck to my post/' said he, “ stuck to my 
 post as I was bidden, and shot the mutinous 
 dogs rather than disobey orders/’ 
 
 “ With four cartridges ? " 
 
 “At any rate, I would have used up those 
 four cartridges." 
 
 “If I had, you would be a dead man now 
 —and you—and you," I added, turning to the 
 mate and the engineer. 
 
 “Better that," said the hero, “than the shame 
 of this." 
 
 “ Much better," echoed the mate. 
 
 “ Oh, the peety of it !" murmured the 
 engineer. 
 
 “ I am sorry, but I cannot agree with you. 
 Yet had I known the true state of your 
 feelings I might have been tempted to con¬ 
 sider them. For myself, I had no wish to 
 die. 1 even preferred life on the Corea!' 
 
 “ But even life on the Corea may not 
 always be a bed of roses," said he, ill con¬ 
 cealing the effect of my words: “ at least, 
 not for the disobedient officer. I must say 
 you do not seek to allay suspicion." 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 ! 5 ° 
 
 “ Suspicion ? ” I asked, for though my in¬ 
 dignation almost stifled me, I would not 
 give him or them the satisfaction of seeing 
 it. 
 
 “Well,” he said, “I don’t know how it 
 appears to you, though judging by your re¬ 
 cord I can make a shrewd guess ; but to the 
 unbiassed mind it looks pretty much like a 
 job.” 
 
 The mate shook his big head and wagged 
 his eyelids thoughtfully. 
 
 “Comes of mixing with the engineers,” he 
 blurted out. 
 
 “The junior engineers,” said Campbell, cor¬ 
 recting him. The captain smiled languidly. 
 
 “A job !” I stammered, for of all the cruel 
 things he had said to me this was the cruellest. 
 “ Do you mean-” 
 
 “ I mean exactly what I say : the business 
 looks bad—for you. I'm not sure that I 
 oughtn't to place you under arrest.” 
 
 Fairly bewildered, I looked from one to the 
 other, not knowing what to make of this 
 sudden turn of affairs. That he had power 
 to do it too was certain, but that he was so 
 bad I could not believe ; though I knew 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 151 
 
 something of what he was, and guessed what 
 he might be. 
 
 “As you please/’ I said. “I am not the 
 one who need shirk an inquiry.” 
 
 He understood well enough. Yet when he 
 tried to laugh, he showed his teeth as I have 
 seen a terrier do a score of times. 
 
 “ At all events, you will admit that you are 
 the only one who knew anything of their 
 intention to mutiny. How came it that you 
 should guess the existence of a plot of which 
 we had no suspicion ? ” 
 
 “That is a question for you to decide. I told 
 the mate of my suspicions, and he laughed. I 
 told you, and you insulted me.” 
 
 “And yet is it not strange that these muti¬ 
 neers, who, according to your own show¬ 
 ing, were masters of the ship, should go off 
 without molesting you, though you were the 
 one who caused so much confusion in their 
 ranks ?” 
 
 “ I have told you the whole truth, sir. I 
 have nothing more to say.” 
 
 “ But I have,” said a voice, and out from 
 the side of the deck-house stepped Mrs. Castle. 
 Her usually pale face showed a beautiful 
 
!52 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 glow, a glow of intense indignation, while 
 her fine dark eyes flashed with no ordinary 
 light. 
 
 “ You ! " cried her husband angrily. 
 
 “Yes, I. I have listened till I could listen 
 no longer to your horrible suggestions. You 
 know perfectly well that Mr. Quenton did all 
 that a brave man could do, and that but for 
 him we should all be lying dead at the bottom 
 of the sea/' 
 
 “ Really," sneered Castle, “ Mr. Quenton is 
 fortunate in his advocate. But I am not 
 aware that I require you. Will you kindly 
 go below ? ” 
 
 “No, I will not." 
 
 “Humph!" he cried affectedly, “more 
 mutiny ! Minton, what do you make of 
 this ? " 
 
 The mate smiled and looked exceedingly 
 sheepish ; but there was a devil, or something 
 just as bad, in the pale eyes of the engineer. 
 He watched the woman in a way that brought 
 a deeper flush to her face. 
 
 “ Mistress Castle," he said in his slow, 
 drawling, Scotch way, a way that made the 
 northern dialect sound hideous in southern 
 
Overwhelmed with Gratitude 153 
 
 ears, “ye are a bonnie bit o' bride, but ye 
 dinna ken the deefficulty under which ye're 
 guid man labours." 
 
 “ I know," said she, “ all that I wish to 
 know. Moreover, sir, if you had any feeling 
 of gratitude in you, you would go down on 
 your knees to Mr. Quenton and thank him 
 for what he has done." 
 
 “ I have promised mysel' that treat," he 
 answered with a sneer ; “ but I have no yet 
 recovered the use o' me knees. Bide a wee, 
 Mistress Castle. Ye wadna ha' me rush the 
 thing without due conseederation ?" 
 
 She turned from him in disgust and her 
 eyes met mine : the softness came back to 
 her face; her eyes grew marvellously soft. 
 “We are friends," she seemed to say: “in 
 danger we have stood beside each other. We 
 understand each other, you and I. Come, is 
 it not so ?" And I could only murmur to 
 myself, “ Yes, yes." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE CAPTAIN DOES SOME SHOOTING 
 
 It might be difficult to say what would have 
 happened but for her intervention. I was in 
 no mood to bear uncomplainingly the cap¬ 
 tain’s brutal insinuations, while he and his 
 friends were ready to press me to the hilt. 
 Though a peaceful man, I was not Christian 
 enough to endure without demur such a piece 
 of gross injustice. I admit I thought it very 
 bad payment. Though I had not entirely 
 succeeded, I still considered that I had capitu¬ 
 lated with no little honour, and that my reward 
 should have been anything but what it was. 
 Nor was it either wise or gracious of him to 
 taunt and jeer at me now that all danger was 
 over; for though I still possessed all that 
 regard for him which one is bound to feel 
 for one’s superior officer, I might none the 
 
 less have forgotten myself. 
 
 154 
 
Does some Shooting 155 
 
 But her appearance and her uncompro¬ 
 mising style of talk acted so much in my 
 favour that the captain immediately motioned 
 for me to withdraw, saying he would speak 
 with me later on. I accordingly went forward, 
 glad to shut out the sight of the hateful three, 
 and glad that I had not let my -tongue run 
 away with my prudence. 
 
 All the rest of that day, and through the 
 whole of the following night, we rolled help¬ 
 lessly on the greasy sea. No attempt was 
 made to remend the shaft, the last break being 
 one which rendered the task impossible. So 
 backwards and forwards we rolled with a low 
 groaning sound, occasionally forcing an oily 
 wave from the side, which, forming as it ran, 
 burst some yards away, a gleaming row of 
 white teeth in the green lips of the sea. The 
 ship carried two sticks of masts, upon which 
 a couple of sails might once have been set; 
 but sails were of no use now, and even had 
 the wind favoured us I doubt if our spread 
 of canvas would have sent us along more than 
 a knot an hour. Our only hope was that we 
 might fall in with some steamer which would 
 tow us into port; failing that, there was no 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 ! 5 6 
 
 knowing where we should drift, or what would 
 become of us. I feared myself that we were 
 already far out of the track of steamers, and 
 that each hour the tide was carrying us farther 
 to the eastward. If so, our chance of falling 
 in with a coaster grew more and more remote ; 
 nor are the junks that frequent these byways 
 of the ocean at all times the most desirable 
 of visitors. 
 
 Towards morning a slight breeze sprang up 
 from the south, which by eight o’clock had 
 increased to a strong wind. This, gradually 
 veering round to the west, set in a steady 
 blow, and we knew that the south-west mon¬ 
 soon had come at last, or if not exactly the 
 monsoon, one of its forerunners. The sea 
 rose instantly, and in an hour or so the white 
 racing waves rushed helter-skelter over the 
 green sea. The Corea rolled from side to 
 side as helpless as a great boiler ; the waves 
 smacked her fore and aft till she shook with 
 the smacking. Her decks ran water : splashed 
 with spray, she glistened from stem to stem. 
 A hundred times she rolled so far over that 
 I thought she would never right herself. As 
 I stood in the lee corner of the bridge I saw 
 
Does some Shooting 157 
 
 the water hiss beneath my feet, and I mur¬ 
 mured a hurried prayer. At such moments 
 one grows very good, and wonders if there is 
 a heaven. There is death, certainly—palpable, 
 staring death—and that is enough to give a 
 sinner qualms. But no, she is not going over 
 this time. With a bob of her nose and a 
 shiver that makes every plate tremble, the old 
 boat shakes herself free, and rising hurls the 
 wave back right in the face of the gale, where 
 it breaks with a hiss and a roar. 
 
 All through that day the sea raged furiously, 
 and when night came, black, squally, and 
 threatening, I did not believe that we should 
 live it through. I really did not see how the 
 old tub could keep herself afloat much longer. 
 One of these times she would roll so far as 
 to defy all laws of balance or gravitation. The 
 sea is but a treacherous prop at best, and one 
 big wave following out of order would do 
 the trick. Yet it was singular how methodi¬ 
 cally, almost mechanically, everything worked. 
 Wave followed wave, thud thud, and wash 
 wash, with the regularity of clockwork. Now 
 she swayed to starboard, now to port; now 
 she stood upright for a few seconds, and 
 
158 Captain Castle 
 
 thrilled like a young thing who is not accus¬ 
 tomed to such rough kissing ; which was only 
 her coy, skittish way, for she was really an old 
 hand at the game. Then came a ponderous 
 thud ; a wild swirling of water followed, and 
 backwards and forwards she swung with little 
 dignity and no ease. I knew exactly how 
 many times she would swing to port, how 
 many to starboard, and during my watch 
 below that night I sent myself to sleep merely 
 by counting her movements. 
 
 When I went up on deck at eight bells, the 
 night was still dark, the wind howled angrily, 
 and the rain descended in torrents. The 
 noble old packet still rolled, and groaned, and 
 strained as if she would split herself; but 
 though she tried her best, that destiny which 
 watches over drunkards and fools safeguarded 
 her always. 
 
 Slowly out of the east the dawn began to 
 break, and a difficult task it must have been 
 to break in the teeth of such a gale. The 
 mate was more than half-an-hour late in 
 coming to relieve me, which was another 
 little way he had of showing his brotherly 
 love. 
 
Does some Shooting 159 
 
 You may be sure that there was very little 
 doing aboard of us while this elemental hulla¬ 
 baloo went on. Those hours I was not forced 
 to spend on deck I kept religiously in my 
 cabin, with Craigiemore as my only com¬ 
 panion and the worthy Ji Ji in attendance. 
 He, poor fellow, now that his crew were gone, 
 wandered aimlessly about, the most miserable 
 of Chinamen, till I called him in to make 
 tea for me and generally mess about. The 
 quarters forward were very lonely now that 
 all the men had gone, and I'm inclined to 
 believe that Ji was half-afraid during the long 
 awful night. 
 
 At noon there was no cessation of the 
 storm, but by this time we had almost got 
 used to it. It was now evident that unless 
 the gale increased to a hurricane the Corea 
 would ride it safely; for after last night's 
 knocking about there could be no longer any 
 question of her sea-worthiness. 
 
 As usual I relieved the third at noon. The 
 sky was still black and lowering, and at 
 intervals thick rain-squalls came shrieking 
 across the sea. The glass betokened a con¬ 
 tinuance of stormy weather, and sometimes 
 
i 6 o Captain Castle 
 
 I thought the wind was almost increasing in 
 fury. As for help, no steamer could have 
 come near us then even had we sighted one. 
 
 Just about six bells, one of those periodic 
 squalls of which I have spoken rushed down 
 and struck us with terrific force. The ship 
 seemed to spin round as on a pivot; then of 
 a sudden she buried her lee rail so far in the 
 water that I seemed to lean right out over 
 the sea. I clung to the stanchion with all 
 my might; but for the moment 1 thought my 
 time had come. 
 
 For fully two minutes this dreadful squall 
 roared and hissed and shrieked about us, the 
 rain coming down in such torrents that, had 
 I not clung tightly, I believe it would have 
 washed me off the bridge. Then when it 
 passed away the sky grew clearer, and the 
 sun made sundry ineffectual efforts to shine. 
 Deeply interested, I watched him for a time, 
 and then with an ironical smile turned to 
 contemplate the stormy quarter. 
 
 The late squall, which was now dying away 
 to the eastward, had considerably cleared the 
 western horizon ; and as I gazed in that direc¬ 
 tion I thought I saw something unusual tossing 
 
Does some Shooting 161 
 
 upon the waves. A closer scrutiny assured 
 me that I was right, and on getting out my 
 glasses I distinctly made out a ship's boat. 
 In five minutes more I saw her mast, to which 
 fluttered a rag of a sail. I also thought I could 
 see the dark forms of people crouching low in 
 her. But of this I would not like to swear. 
 
 Without more ado I made my way aft, for 
 the old man had given orders that he was to 
 be called if anything was seen. It was the 
 usual order given in the usual off-hand way ; 
 for though he hated me to come near him, 
 he had to make a pretence of doing things in 
 the proper style. It also contained an under¬ 
 meaning which was not flattering to a com¬ 
 petent officer. 
 
 As I opened the door of the deck-house, 
 the smell of tobacco smoke and the sound of 
 merry voices reached me. Pausing half-way 
 down the companion, I heard the captain say, 
 “ There you are, you damned monkey, there's 
 the whisky. See that you don't choke your¬ 
 self with it." 
 
 The mate laughed and said something in a 
 low guttural voice. 
 
 There was silence for a moment or two : a 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 significant silence. Then the captain cried 
 again, his voice having a merry, friendly ring 
 in it, “Now then, you baboon, tune up and 
 tip us a stave." 
 
 “Ay, Meenton," came the whining voice of 
 the chief engineer, “ let us hae ane o' your 
 decent, ceevil sailor songs." 
 
 “No, Scotchie, it’s your turn," replied the 
 mate. 
 
 “Come, come, Minton, no rot," exclaimed 
 the old man irritably. “ Give us a chanty." 
 
 The mate guffawed loudly: then he was 
 silent awhile. I guessed that he was oiling 
 up. The next moment he burst forth into 
 the following well-known chanty, giving it 
 with the proper fo’c’sle drawl :— 
 
 “ Oh, whisky hot and whisky cold, 
 
 Whisky, Johnnie ! 
 
 Oh, whisky’s good for young and old, 
 
 Whisky for my Johnnie ! ” 
 
 The captain and the engineer bellowed the 
 chorus, “ Whisky, Johnnie ! " with aright good¬ 
 will, the hoarse voices of the men contrasting 
 strangely with the hoarse roaring of the 
 wind. I also thought their tones proclaimed 
 a generous appreciation of that popular fluid. 
 
Does some Shooting 163 
 
 The soloist continued :— 
 
 • “ Oh, whisky killed my poor old dad, 
 
 Whisky, Johnnie ! 
 
 And whisky drove my mother mad, 
 
 Whisky for my Johnnie ! ” 
 
 How often had I sung this same chanty in 
 my apprentice days as we laid on to the top¬ 
 sail halliards ! Then it seemed a rollicking, 
 harmless sort of song, and acted as a great 
 incentive to work; for with every “ Whisky, 
 Johnnie !” the men gave two stout pulls. A 
 chanty always put the hands in a good 
 humour, no matter how dirty the night or 
 how heavy the labour. But as it came reek¬ 
 ing up from the saloon that day it sent a 
 shudder of disgust right through me. 
 
 Without giving the mate a chance of further 
 displaying his vocal abilities, or of giving an 
 exhibition of his marvellous memory—for 
 your ordinary sea chanty goes on for ever 
 like a Chinese poem — I at once descended 
 into the midst of this jovial company. 
 
 At the head of the table, in his own par¬ 
 ticular arm-chair, sat the captain : on his 
 right was the mate, on his left the engineer. 
 They were all smoking, and each held a 
 
164 Captain Castle 
 
 tumbler in his hand, the rolling of the ship 
 preventing the aforesaid tumblers from being 
 placed on the table. In the swinging rack 
 above them were a couple of suspicious-look¬ 
 ing black bottles. 
 
 The old man stared savagely across at me 
 as I stood near the bottom of the companion. 
 
 “ You ! ” he thundered. 
 
 That exclamation meant much, a meaning 
 to which the contemptuous tone of the voice 
 added in a singularly distasteful manner. I 
 was the detested skeleton at the feast. Alas, 
 I knew it ; but duty is duty. 
 
 “ There’s a boat about five miles away to 
 the windward,” I said. 
 
 “A what ?” he roared. 
 
 Thinking the whisky might have got into 
 his ears, though he was too old a hand to 
 pour it in that way, I advanced three or four 
 paces and bellowed, “ A boat, sir.” 
 
 u Damn you, I’m not deaf.” 
 
 I turned without more ado and ascended 
 to the deck. Acting with my usual discretion, 
 I thought it better to avoid all unseemliness ; 
 for I had no wish to see my captain do any¬ 
 thing derogatory to his dignity, well knowing 
 
Does some Shooting 165 
 
 that the junior officer reflects the lustre of 
 his superior. Moreover, I could see that he 
 was in a nasty mood — one of his 11 yellow 
 moods," Craigiemore called them—when face 
 and moustache took unto themselves a dull 
 -bilious yellow. At such times, if you were 
 not entirely lacking in wisdom, you would 
 give Captain Castle a wide berth. As I think 
 I said before, I am very cautious where my 
 own skin is concerned. 
 
 It was rather a journey to get to the bridge 
 with the big seas slopping over us and the 
 decks as slippery as glass ; but, waiting my 
 opportunity, I satisfactorily accomplished the 
 passage. Then I found that the boat was 
 approaching us with inconceivable rapidity, 
 impelled onward by the wind and sea. Again 
 I fixed my glasses on it, and this time I felt 
 sure that the boat was familiar. Indeed, as 
 I swept the seas a little to the right of it, I 
 saw its mate—our other boat. The presence 
 of the one explained the presence of the other. 
 Overtaken by the strong south-westerly gale, 
 the mutineers had no option but to 'bout ship 
 and run before it, which, by a strange freak 
 of fortune, had driven them straight back to 
 
i66 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 their starting-point. By what I could make 
 out ; both seemed to be in much the same 
 plight; though both had out oars and were 
 making straight for us. 
 
 Five—ten minutes passed, and as yet the 
 captain had not appeared. I began ner¬ 
 vously to fidget. In a little while now the 
 foremost boat would be upon us, and what 
 was I to do ?—drive her off with a curse, 
 or fling her a rope ? True I knew Castle 
 didn't want the mutineers aboard, but all 
 the same aboard they must come if left 
 to me. 
 
 But fortunately for my peace of mind the 
 captain and his two companions now ap¬ 
 peared, and taking up a secure position well 
 aft, watched with evident interest the boat 
 draw near. Craigiemore, stealing an occa¬ 
 sional glimpse to windward, sheltered himself 
 behind the funnel; while Ji Ji, smothered in 
 oilskins, dared the fury of the waves, so keen 
 was his interest in the matter. 
 
 I was surprised that no movement came 
 from the captain, that even the mate failed to 
 yell out in his melodious voice, “ Stand by 
 there with a rope." Was nothing to be done ? 
 
Does some Shooting 167 
 
 or what was going to be done ? I did in no 
 case expect that which followed. 
 
 But in the meantime the boat continued 
 rapidly to advance, and when about five 
 hundred yards off, her crew hailed us with 
 multitudinous strange cries. They waved their 
 hands in the air : some even took off their 
 wet blouses and shook them with joy. They 
 had evidently had quite enough of mutineer- 
 ing and life in a longboat, and were eager 
 to surrender on any terms. When you 
 have nothing between you and death but 
 a frail shell of wood there is not much in 
 piracy. 
 
 But no response came from the Corea. No 
 doubt the castaways saw the little group aft, 
 and me on the bridge, and they must have 
 been sorely puzzled to know why no answer 
 was made to their signals ; but still on they 
 came, regarding our helpless old tub as a sort 
 of promised land. 
 
 As the boat came nearer I easily distin¬ 
 guished several members of the crew, and in 
 a wretched plight they seemed. Some were 
 busy baling ; others were crouched low as if 
 to escape the rude, stinging smacks of the 
 
i68 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 sea; while at least half the number that went 
 away in her had disappeared altogether. 
 
 Down on the wind she came at a great rate 
 till I thought she would smash herself to 
 pieces on our stem. But no : the steersman 
 brought her sharp under our counter, and 
 presently she jvas riding in comparatively 
 smooth water. Then the sodden wretches 
 set up a fearful howling, which they accom¬ 
 panied with wild gesticulations. I can even 
 now hear the despairing cry of the poor 
 wretch in the bows as he shrieked out, “ A 
 lope, cap'n, a lope!" But no rope was 
 thrown him, no sign made by Castle or his 
 companions. I could imagine the fierce yellow 
 look, though, and the vengeful smile. 
 
 The men at the oars now set to with a will, 
 for the boat was rapidly drifting out of the 
 shelter of the ship, and had already touched 
 the fringe of broken water. It was a stout 
 pull, but they bent to their oars with the 
 strength of desperation, and inch by inch 
 forged their way forward. It was then I 
 noticed that the bottom of the boat was full 
 of water, and that the specie boxes were 
 almost buried in it. I don’t think there could 
 
Does some Shooting 169 
 
 have been eight men left out of the sixteen 
 or so who had put off in her. Whether the 
 others had been swept overboard, or thrown, 
 I of course could only surmise ; but the ship 
 wanted lightening, and it would not have sur¬ 
 prised me to know that the living ballast had 
 been sacrificed. 
 
 As the boat drew near us the cries for 
 assistance were redoubled, but as yet no 
 movement had been made aft: the three 
 men might have been so many carven blocks 
 for all the sign of life they gave. Then as 
 the boat nosed up alongside, the fellow in 
 the bows, who had been doing most of the 
 gesticulating and talking, made fast with a 
 boat-hook, and began to speak earnestly to 
 the captain. And still no aid was offered. 
 What was the meaning of this awful in¬ 
 activity ? what the intention ? 
 
 My blood grew hot and cold by turns, and 
 in another moment I should have rushed aft 
 and flung the wretches a rope, had not the 
 action of the captain arrested my attention. 
 I saw him slip his hand into his pocket, and 
 then lean over the rail till he seemed almost 
 to touch the man in the bows. What he said 
 
170 Captain Castle 
 
 I do not know, but I saw the look of terror 
 in the man’s face, saw him shrink back as 
 though he would escape some sudden and 
 unforeseen danger. Then followed a flash 
 and a sharp report. The man threw up his 
 arms with a shriek, and fell sideways into 
 the sea. 
 
 I could scarcely believe my eyes, even when 
 I saw the wreath of smoke start up from the 
 captain’s hand. Though I believed him guilty 
 of any meanness or cowardice, I thought he 
 would stop short at murder. When I handed 
 over to him my pistol with its four chambers 
 intact, I little thought he would put it to such 
 a use. 
 
 The blood rushed to my head and drove 
 me fairly mad with indignation, an indigna¬ 
 tion which might have found vent in some¬ 
 thing more than words had not a terrible 
 thing happened just then. I have said that 
 the boat was close up alongside. Well, for a 
 moment or so after the captain fired, horror 
 and stupefaction were writ large on the 
 miserable faces of the mutineers, and they all 
 cowered low in the boat, as though they had 
 no wish to encounter that awful man. At 
 
Does some Shooting 171 
 
 that very moment a gigantic wave struck us 
 a thundering blow amidships, and with such 
 force that it drove us clean over on our 
 beam ends. Whether we touched the boat 
 or not I cannot say, for I had to cling like 
 death to save myself from going overboard ; 
 but as the big wave passed under us it caught 
 the boat in its crest, swung it round like a 
 cork, and then upset it. 
 
 The sight that followed was horrible beyond 
 all comprehension. Precipitated into the water 
 in this sudden and awful manner, the splut¬ 
 tering, agonised shrieks that followed were 
 such as I hope I may never hear again. 
 Very few of the men seemed able to swim, 
 while those who could appeared either to be 
 paralysed with terror or powerless in the 
 grip of such a sea. They made but a feeble 
 fight with the waves—all but one, the man 
 who had been steering, the fellow who had 
 acted as bo'sun's mate to Ji Ji. Not alone 
 was he a powerful swimmer, but, what was 
 almost as good, he kept his head. The water 
 evidently had no terrors for him, though 
 I could see by the look he cast towards 
 us that the ship had. 
 
172 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 Having found this fellow a fairly good man, 
 I had taken a certain amount of interest in 
 him, though that interest had considerably 
 lessened since he took sides with the muti¬ 
 neers. Still, I remembered what he had 
 been, and when I saw him struggling there 
 with death, I made up my mind to help him. 
 As at that moment he happened to look my 
 way I beckoned for him to approach. He 
 waved his hand, and then turning on his 
 side, came along in good style. 
 
 In each end of the bridge was a lifebuoy, 
 and seizing the one near me I darted down 
 the steps with the intention of making it fast 
 to a line and flinging it over to him. But 
 while I was engaged in this humane intention 
 another shot suddenly rang out, and on look¬ 
 ing along the deck I saw that the old man 
 had been at his devil's practice again. I was 
 almost afraid to look into the sea, but when 
 I did I saw the bo’sun's mate carried away to 
 leeward on the top of a big wave. He was 
 lying on his back, his eyes wide open, his 
 face set in a ghastly grin. 
 
 At that moment the other boat came sweep¬ 
 ing round our stern, the redoubtable Li Chee 
 
Does some Shooting 173 
 
 at the tiller. He must have seen this last act 
 of the captain’s, for his face was awful to 
 behold as he shook his fist at the little group 
 aft. Castle replied with two shots in quick 
 succession, and then finding he had missed, 
 he savagely flung his revolver into the sea. 
 Li laughed and waved his hand, but this time 
 there was a bare knife in it. He, however, 
 made no attempt to board us. The sea, 
 cruel as it was, was safer than the Corea 
 with Captain Castle aboard. 
 
 I watched the boat disappear amid the 
 great seas, a feeling of heaviness at my heart. 
 H ow could we, who had shown ourselves so 
 merciless, expect that God would show us 
 mercy ? 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 IN IRONS 
 
 All through that night the storm blew with 
 great vehemence, but towards morning the 
 wind dropped and the sun rose with every 
 prospect of a brighter day. In a few hours 
 at most the sea would go down, when life 
 on board might once more be endurable. 
 After living so long in constant terror of a 
 speedy and unpleasant termination to one's 
 existence, the prospect of a smooth sea, and 
 a steady, if useless ship, was one to which 
 the heart looked forward with the most 
 pleasurable anticipations. 
 
 I know I turned in that morning with some 
 such grateful feeling, notwithstanding the ever¬ 
 present picture of the awful doings of yester¬ 
 day. But about five bells, or half-past six, 
 I was awakened from a sound sleep through 
 
 experiencing some very rough usage. Some 
 
 174 
 
In Irons 
 
 !75 
 
 one had seized me firmly by the wrists, so 
 firmly indeed that for the moment I was 
 not sure whether I was waking or dream¬ 
 ing. I tried to sit up, but a heavy hand 
 held me back, a huge red hand covered 
 with long fair hair. There was only one 
 such hand in the world, or I had only seen 
 one. 
 
 “ Keep still, can’t you ? " growled the mate. 
 “ It's useless to attempt any hanky-panky.” 
 
 I tried to raise my hands, but they seemed 
 chained together. I looked at them. I was 
 in irons. 
 
 Minton smiled grimly as he read the won¬ 
 der, the surprise of my look. 
 
 “ Captain's orders,” he said shortly. 
 
 “ What for ?" 
 
 “ You'd better ask him.” 
 
 “ Where is he ? ” 
 
 “Gone below. He'll be up again in an 
 hour or two.” 
 
 “ I suppose you have no suspicion ?” 
 
 The monster smiled and rubbed his horrid 
 snub nose. 
 
 “That’s just it—suspicion. The old man 
 don't know how to take you.” 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 176 
 
 “ But you do.” 
 
 He smiled in a superior sort of way, but 
 continued, “You see, you've crossed him so 
 often that he thinks you'll be safer under lock 
 and key.” 
 
 “ So that he may murder with impunity ? ” 
 
 “ Rubbish ! Those fellows were pirates. 
 They would have done for us if we had 
 allowed them to come aboard. The captain 
 was justified in self-defence. And if he wasn't, 
 he did it all the same.” 
 
 “ Might is evidently right with Captain 
 Castle,” and I held up my manacled hands. 
 
 He grinned. “ Might is right with every¬ 
 body.” 
 
 “ Still it's poor payment for what he owes 
 me—what you all owe me.” 
 
 “Ah, that’s just it—what do we owe you ?” 
 There was an insinuating tone about the man 
 that did not please me. 
 
 “Ask Li Chee, when you see him : ask the 
 captain’s wife.” 
 
 “ Pooh ! ” he sneered, “ the captain's wife is 
 not the woman who would influence me. • I 
 think she too has been taught a lesson.” 
 
 I looked up anxiously. “ How ? ” 
 
In Irons 
 
 T 77 
 
 He laughed his horrid, tantalising, baboon 
 laugh. 
 
 “ Perhaps for the future she’ll keep her 
 opinions to herself.” 
 
 I asked for a fuller explanation, but the 
 man was obdurate. He only added mysteri¬ 
 ously, “The person who crosses Captain Castle 
 will live to regret it.” 
 
 In a way I believed he was right. Some 
 queer things might be done on the Corea 
 without the outside world being a penny the 
 wiser. 
 
 Turning to my own case I asked him how 
 long I might expect to suffer the disgrace of 
 confinement. 
 
 “Your sentence is no fixed term,” he said. 
 “You are simply detained during his majesty’s 
 pleasure.” 
 
 Though positively seething with rage, I 
 kept an outward appearance of calm, and 
 apparently bore my misfortune with philo¬ 
 sophical indifference. I don't suppose I de¬ 
 ceived the mate overmuch ; but when he was 
 gone, and the door locked upon me, I threw 
 myself back in my bunk and ineffectually 
 tried to deceive myself. It seemed a bad 
 
 M 
 
178 Captain Castle 
 
 return for what I had done, and at intervals 
 I found myself wishing that I had done 
 nothing at all. But not for long. Captain 
 Castle hated me with an unreasoning hatred : 
 suspicion would presently turn to open ac¬ 
 cusation. All this I guessed, and yet I tried 
 to look beyond him into a clearer, wider 
 sea. 
 
 It was with much concern that I saw the 
 hours slip by, for as yet no one had brought 
 me either food or drink, and I was feeling 
 abominably hungry and thirsty. I got up and 
 rapped and kicked at the door: I shouted 
 myself hoarse, but all to no purpose. No one 
 heard me, or if I was heard no one heeded 
 me. The air of my cabin grew stiflingly 
 close, and even when, after much difficulty, 
 I succeeded in opening the port, I enjoyed 
 little benefit therefrom ; for my room was on 
 the lee side of the vessel, and the wind had 
 died away to a gentle breeze. 
 
 It was now a gloriously fine day. The sea 
 had gone down as though in haste to rest, and 
 I could see the sun glinting brightly on the 
 water. But in my cabin the stuffiness became 
 unendurable : the perspiration oozed out of 
 
In Irons 
 
 *79 
 
 me like a thick dew. With my watch in my 
 hand I counted the minutes as they slipped 
 into hours, and presently dinner-time came 
 and passed. I listened eagerly, but no one 
 approached to turn the key in the lock. For¬ 
 tunately I had about half a pint of water in 
 my water-jug, and with this I managed to 
 sustain life throughout that trying day. 
 
 I think I must have dozed for a couple of 
 hours that afternoon, for when I awoke, almost 
 choking with thirst, I could see that the sun 
 had already begun to set. As I lay there half- 
 dazed, staring dreamily out through the port, 
 a very strange thing happened. A shadow 
 fell between me and the light, but so enfeebled 
 had I become, so utterly prostrate both in 
 mind and body, that I lay staring at it without 
 any thought of rising to investigate. And yet 
 the shadow hung fair against the port, and 
 even seemed to bump like a solid thing. 
 Then it disappeared, and as suddenly appeared 
 again, and each time it hung before me it 
 shook itself as though it wanted to come in. 
 But it was not till the thing disappeared down¬ 
 wards, as though it would rush into the sea, 
 that my faculties returned to me. Then I saw 
 
180 Captain Castle 
 
 that it was attached to a line, and I guessed in 
 a moment what it meant. 
 
 Springing hurriedly across the cabin I was 
 about to put out my hands to draw in the line, 
 when suddenly it slipped and fell, and I had 
 the mortification of knowing that I had lost 
 a good meal, and probably a bottle of tea. 
 Simultaneously, with the dropping of the line 
 came the mate’s voice in angry altercation. A 
 blow followed, and then I distinctly heard 
 Ji Ji grunt. Poor old Ji Ji ! In a minute I 
 was as soft as butter. 
 
 Slowly the horrible hours crept on. I saw 
 the sun go down, and watched the darkness 
 come creeping up with soft silver steps, but 
 I never saw it approach with greater terror. 
 Were the fiends going to leave me all night 
 without food or drink ? If they did, I knew 
 that I should either be dead in the morning, 
 or mad. With such strength as was still left 
 me I hurled myself against the door, and 
 shouted till my greatest effort wore itself to 
 a whisper. 
 
 When I awoke to consciousness I saw the 
 moon shining in on me through the port, 
 and for a while I wondered where I was and 
 
In Irons i8i 
 
 what had happened. But recollection soon 
 came to the aid of thought. My assault on 
 the door must have laid me prostrate, and 
 there on the floor I had lain ever since. 
 Nor had I any inclination to move now, but 
 seemed quite content to lie there and watch 
 the moon as she hove in sight with every roll 
 of the vessel. I put my hands to my mouth, 
 but it might have been carved of stone : my 
 tongue was so dry that it lost its sense of 
 touch, or else my fingers were dead. I was 
 not strong enough to be unhappy. I only 
 knew that I had just awakened from a long 
 sleep, and I had a presentiment that I was 
 about to embark on a longer. 
 
 Just then, while I was in that middle stage 
 between waking and sleeping, I thought I 
 heard a clicking, scratching sound above my 
 head; but I was in an almost comatose 
 state and paid no heed to it. I was thinking 
 how bright the moon was, and how civil it 
 was of the ship to roll in such an agreeable 
 manner. A few inches less would have left 
 me in utter darkness. 
 
 Then, undoubtedly, something did click 
 sharply above my head, and with a sudden 
 
182 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 heart-beat I listened. The next thing I felt was 
 a draught of cool air rushing across my face. 
 I was not so far gone but I knew what this 
 meant. My door had been suddenly opened. 
 Yet I was too much exhausted to make an 
 effort to move. There I lay wondering in a 
 vague sort of manner what was going to 
 happen next. 
 
 And this is what happened. A figure, cool 
 and white as an angel, glided into my room ; 
 angel arms pressed my head to a soft white 
 breast; a pair of angel eyes stared down 
 into mine ; an angel hand gave me something 
 cool to drink. I still have a clear recollection 
 of that drink, the more than honey sweetness 
 of it, the heavenly coolness. I didn’t know 
 what it was : I only knew that it was some 
 glorious elixir. 
 
 The angel, as she stroked my brow, kept 
 murmuring “ Poor boy, poor boy ! ” and some 
 other things which no doubt were only my 
 fancy. I know it was heavenly to lie in those 
 soft arms, to feel those cool fingers on my 
 throbbing temples, to press my parched lips 
 to the nectar. I closed my eyes and sighed, 
 and the “ poor boying ” went on with greater 
 
In Irons 
 
 i8 3 
 
 earnestness than before. There was something 
 delightful in such maternal anxiety : some¬ 
 thing delightful in such exquisite helplessness. 
 It was a long time since I had been nursed 
 in such a way. The experience was so full of 
 sweet memories that I bore it unflinchingly. 
 
 My next recollection was that my hands 
 were free, and this produced such a strong 
 feeling of gratitude in me that I sat bolt up¬ 
 right and opened my eyes. Beside me knelt 
 Mrs. Castle, her big dark eyes full of anxiety. 
 I looked about me wonderingly, from her to 
 the door, and seemed to ask the question. 
 
 “ Precisely," she said. “ I heard them boast¬ 
 ing of the way you had been treated : indeed 
 I think they spoke chiefly for my benefit. The 
 result is this. Oh, it was easy enough to get 
 the key once he was drunk. But never mind 
 him or them. I want you to eat and drink. 
 You must keep strong, for who can say what 
 will happen next on such a ship as this ? " 
 
 “You are very kind/’ I said. Surely a 
 miserable speech when my heart was brim¬ 
 ming with gratitude ? 
 
 “ I am not ungrateful," was her reply. “ You 
 would do as much for me ? " 
 
184 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Surely ! " 
 
 “Then please eat. It's only bread and 
 potted tongue, but it’s the best I could get." 
 
 “ I would like some more of that delicious 
 drink first." 
 
 “ Poor boy! " she murmured. The elixir 
 was only water, and none too good at that. 
 
 When I had eaten and drunk my fill I 
 felt but little the severity of my imprison¬ 
 ment. A turn or two on deck and a little 
 fresh air would have set me up. 
 
 “ And now," I said, “ can you tell me 
 why the captain has subjected me to this 
 indignity ? " 
 
 She was on the little settle beneath the 
 port : I lounged against my bunk at the 
 far end. 
 
 “ Who shall explain his reasons ?" she 
 answered bitterly. “He hates you, that is 
 the only reason I know." 
 
 “ But this hint that the mate threw out— 
 have you heard nothing of that ? " 
 
 “ The mate has thrown out so many hints." 
 
 “ But this one touches me nearly. It 
 amounts to this, that the captain suspects me 
 of being concerned in the mutiny." 
 
In Irons 
 
 185 
 
 “An excuse to hide his own vacillation. 
 He knows nothing could be more absurd : 
 his object is to lay you under suspicion. You 
 can guess the reason. In short, Mr. Quenton, 
 if we should ever steer safely through this 
 sea of calamities—which I am beginning to 
 doubt—he will have ruined your evidence.” 
 
 I admitted that such was my solution. 
 What reliance could be placed upon the 
 word of an officer whose conduct had been 
 written down as refractory, who had been 
 put in irons under the gravest suspicion ? 
 The clean sheet I had brought with me from 
 the Red Funnel Line was now smeared with 
 horrid blots. 
 
 But I was somewhat astonished to hear 
 her speak so bluntly of her lord. There was 
 no mincing of matters, no attempt at pallia¬ 
 tion : what she did not say in words she 
 made up for in accent. It was painfully 
 evident that she had already conceived for 
 her husband a most profound dislike, which 
 I am bound to admit that worthy man did 
 nothing to soften. Had he set out with the 
 intention of making his young wife hate him, 
 he could not have gone to work in a better 
 
186 Captain Castle 
 
 way. That she was a woman capable of 
 strong feeling I did not doubt. There was 
 something defiant in her eye, something con¬ 
 temptuous in the curl of her lip, which plainly 
 indicated that she was not a woman with 
 whom one might trifle. I marvelled much at 
 Castle : his surpassing egoism. In his blind 
 wilfulness he was preparing much future dis¬ 
 tress. I had long thought it : her words but 
 confirmed the thought. 
 
 But in the meantime, growing confidential, 
 she expatiated rather freely on the abuses 
 aboard the Corea , which abuses she did not 
 hesitate to lay at the door of her husband, 
 of whom she spoke in a most unwifely 
 fashion. 
 
 “ And yet if what I say is true/’ she went 
 on, her dark eyes flashing inquiringly into 
 mine, “you must be asking yourself why I 
 —why I married him. Sometimes I wonder 
 myself, wonder at my madness, at my utter 
 lack of penetration. Just a woman’s folly, I 
 suppose. There is no one so easily imposed 
 upon—not even a child. Then, too, there 
 are many circumstances. Life is governed 
 by condition.” 
 
In Irons 
 
 187 
 
 I thought I understood her : I understand 
 at least the human aspiration for something 
 different, something better. Black bread is 
 good enough till you have eaten white. 
 Only her white bread had turned sour : the 
 weevils had stolen into it and eaten out the 
 heart. 
 
 I think she must have stayed with me close 
 on two hours, and I never knew two hours 
 pass so quickly. In that time I learned much 
 of her history, for she seemed as though she 
 wished to stand well with me, and at times 
 grew almost embarrassingly communicative. 
 That she had been deceived in Captain Castle 
 I did not doubt. The lackadaisical, shore¬ 
 going dandy was totally different from the 
 sailor-man. Ashore, as I have said, he might 
 easily pass for a very good sort of fellow : 
 afloat, with the whisky aboard, the man 
 seemed to assume another temperament with 
 his uniform. Off duty and on duty seemed 
 to make all the difference in the world. 
 
 Before she went, which was not till the 
 first grey shadows of the morning began to 
 shoot up out of the sea, she made me finish 
 the tongue and the remainder of the bread. 
 
i88 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 Then she went off to forage for more, re¬ 
 turning a few minutes later with a similar 
 load. Nor did she forget to replenish my 
 water-bottle, or do her best to make me as 
 comfortable as my unpleasant circumstances 
 would permit. 
 
 I held out my hands for her to slip the 
 irons on. 
 
 “ It must be,” she said, “ if only to avert sus¬ 
 picion. I will come again as soon as I can.” 
 
 I did not like the thought of her going, and 
 I told her so. 
 
 “Ah,” she replied with an undeniable tone 
 of regret, “if we hadn’t to waste our lives in 
 vain sighing, what a paradise this earth would 
 be ! ” 
 
 “ Perhaps it’s as well.” 
 
 “No, no — how can it be?” Then she 
 blushed and smiled, and her eyes meeting 
 mine turned me giddy* 
 
 “Well, I shall not rail at captivity while I 
 have such a gaoler,” I mumbled, which might 
 have been rather a pretty compliment if it 
 had only been said properly. 
 
 I thought it easier facing Li Chee and his 
 savages than the battery of her eyes. How 
 
In Irons 189 
 
 Castle could have treated her with such scant 
 respect seemed more of a mystery than ever. 
 But as I am a modest man I do not like my 
 looks misconstrued. It is even probable that 
 she might have seen something in my eyes 
 which had no business there, and for which 
 I could not honestly account. Such a thing 
 would have been decidedly embarrassing to a 
 man of a retiring disposition. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE THREE JUNKS 
 
 Some four or five hours later the lock again 
 clicked and the mate entered, this time with 
 a jug of water and some bread and bacon. 
 The water he pushed towards me, the food 
 he flung into the bunk. The bright daylight 
 streaming into the port lit his ugly satyr face 
 in a way that rendered it hideously repulsive. 
 His eyes were red as though he had been 
 weeping. He looked ineffably surly and only 
 half-awake. The brute, who had evidently gone 
 to bed in his clothes, reeked of whisky and a 
 stuffy bunk. Egad, the whisky drunk aboard 
 that ship would have set her well afloat. 
 
 “Well,” said he, “enjoying yourself ?” 
 
 “ Only moderately.” 
 
 “ Oh, you’re too beastly particular.” 
 
 “Well, you see, the Corea would spoil 
 any one.” 
 
The Three Junks 191 
 
 “ You look well on it anyway/’ he answered 
 suspiciously. 
 
 “Thanks to your great kindness and con¬ 
 sideration.” He looked round inquiringly. 
 I immediately added, “You left me the water- 
 
 jug-" 
 
 “ I’m too dashed kind,” he growled. “ Even 
 that was against the captain’s orders.” 
 
 I doubted him, though I did not tell him 
 so. Sweet are the uses of adversity. A man 
 can’t talk well in irons. I looked my grati¬ 
 tude. He grinned in a surly, unsociable 
 fashion. The baboon, I could have twisted 
 his ears ! 
 
 I put the water-jug to my mouth and drank 
 deeply, but not so deeply as I pretended. I 
 had to practise a little deceit on the brute, 
 who eyed me with an amused smile. 
 
 “ Scissors ! ” he said. 
 
 I smiled faintly, apologetically. I was really 
 ashamed of such a prodigious thirst, but if 
 they would keep me on such short commons 
 the fault was scarcely mine. The mate, stand¬ 
 ing with his great back to the door, shuddered 
 as he thought of so much water. Uncon¬ 
 sciously he pressed his stomach. 
 
192 Captain Castle 
 
 “There's the grub/' he growled. “Why 
 don't you tuck in ? ” 
 
 The inward pangs were more than he could 
 bear. 
 
 The grub consisted of a stale half-loaf and 
 some fat edges of bacon, the remains, I 
 doubted not, of the breakfast aft. I begged 
 him to excuse me. My confinement had left 
 me without appetite or inclination. 
 
 He admitted that he had seen better stuff; 
 but that he had eaten worse ; and after all a 
 chap who was ironed on suspicion of being 
 concerned in a mutiny had no right to ex¬ 
 pect much consideration. I smiled, and he 
 saw the smile, but as he passed it by I bore 
 his insinuation with my usual philosophic 
 calm. My uncomplaining attitude might give 
 me a great reputation for obstinacy, but that 
 I could not help. I did not even ask him 
 how long he thought my incarceration would 
 last. In fact, I rather looked forward to the 
 night and what it might bring forth. Given 
 certain conditions, there was a good deal in 
 potted tongue. 
 
 But it was a weary day, for once the mate 
 had gone I never caught sight or sound of 
 
*93 
 
 The Three Junks 
 
 anything human. All through the long bright 
 hours I lay dozing, listening, or trying to read: 
 now peering eagerly through the port, now 
 stamping the few feet of my room. I saw 
 the sun reach his meridian, and knew by the 
 sky when he was about to take his evening 
 plunge. Then gradually the night stole up 
 out of the sea, just as the day had done 
 some twelve hours before, and I saw the 
 moonbeams dance upon the water, which glim¬ 
 mered and glinted like a golden pathway. 
 
 With the night came the hope that I might 
 see her again, and even as I lay dozing I 
 thought of the cool angel hands and the soft 
 voice that had cried so pitifully, “ Poor boy, 
 poor boy ! ” But she never came near me, 
 and though a dozen times I awoke and sat 
 up thinking I heard the click of the lock, the 
 day eventually broke, and I knew that she 
 would not come. 
 
 For a long time I lay watching the gradually- 
 increasing light, chagrined not a little, and not 
 a little glad. She was much too nice to be 
 unhappy, and though I was a philosopher, 
 and prudent to a degree, I am inclined to 
 believe that a few weak places might have 
 
 N 
 
194 Captain Castle 
 
 been found in my composition. That is, if 
 any one searched very assiduously. But while 
 I worshipped Prudence I felt like giving her a 
 sly pinch; She is an aggravating wench, make 
 what you will of her. 
 
 I admit the unphilosophic nature of these 
 reflections, and I hope I am duly ashamed 
 of them. They annoyed me exceedingly. I 
 might have smacked myself had my hands 
 been free. As it was, I endeavoured to make 
 amends by hurling some most offensive 
 epithets at my own head. Then suddenly my 
 thoughts forsook their vituperative channel, 
 and I listened intently. 
 
 A scramble was going on above deck. I 
 could distinctly hear the clatter of feet as the 
 men ran hither and thither. Then at intervals 
 the mate’s voice roared out an order, and now 
 and again I thought I heard the captain. I 
 listened, half-expecting to hear the engines 
 throb. But, of course, that could not be. 
 Craigiemore had explained the smash. The 
 thing was impossible. Yet what could the 
 unwonted bustle mean ? Somebody rapped 
 on my door as he went hurrying by, to whom 
 I called out rather cynically, “ Come in.” 
 
x 95 
 
 The Three Junks 
 
 Then came an interval of silence, presently 
 to be followed by the renewed clatter and 
 the hoarse shoutings of the mate. And all 
 the while I lay staring out through the port 
 wondering in a vague sort of way of the doings 
 above deck. 
 
 At last, to appease my curiosity, and with 
 the instinctive feeling that all was not well, 
 I scrambled out of my bunk and flew to the 
 port, and there, not five hundred yards away, 
 I saw a junk. I could easily make out the 
 dim-coloured figures that swarmed her deck, 
 and I guessed that she was on no charitable 
 purpose bent. Her curiously - shaped sails 
 stood out boldly in the sun, and she flung the 
 water from her low sharp nose with the 
 dignity of a liner. On her quaint high poop 
 she carried a brass gun, the flashings of which 
 came ominously across the sea. 
 
 So this was the cause of the bustle. It was 
 no joke to fall in with the predatory junk in 
 our disabled condition. If she were not com¬ 
 panionless the situation would be critical. No 
 wonder the mate swore and the men clattered, 
 though something more than swearing would 
 be required now. I had heard a good deal of 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 196 
 
 the pirates who infest the China Seas seeking 
 whom they may devour. Ostensibly engaged 
 in honest trade, they only await their oppor¬ 
 tunity. With everything going well aboard 
 there is no fear of them ; but once let the ship 
 run ashore, or in any way roll disabled, then 
 it is best to keep a good look-out and be pre¬ 
 pared for any emergency. 
 
 I watched the junk with a singular sort of 
 fascination. These curiously-shaped craft are 
 beautiful sailers, and this one was no excep¬ 
 tion to the rule. The wind had freshened a 
 little, and the sea showed a dozen white caps 
 here and there ; but the junk rode it like a 
 bird, her great mainsail keeping her as steady 
 as a rock. Her intention was evidently to 
 beat up as close under our lee as possible, 
 for as I watched her she came up to the wind 
 and put about as daintily as a cat. Then she 
 went away to starboard, but I could see that 
 she was nosing fair up into the wind, and 
 that another board would bring her mighty 
 close. 
 
 Then the next question arose : Was she by 
 herself ? I doubted it. She seemed to carry 
 a big crew, but big crew notwithstanding, I 
 
x 97 
 
 The Three Junks 
 
 did not think she would dare attack us single- 
 handed. That these Chinese freebooters are 
 a desperate lot everybody knows, but they 
 are hardly desperate enough, unless they be 
 in great numbers, to attack a European. I 
 screwed my head out of the port and looked 
 to right and left, but could see no sign of 
 any other junk. If there were any in the 
 neighbourhood they must have been well on 
 the weather side. 
 
 I was not at all reassured by what I had 
 seen, though what I had not seen caused me 
 the greater anxiety. Nor did my ignorance 
 of the means we had adopted for our defence 
 lessen that feeling. Knowing something of 
 Captain Castle’s mode of fighting, I did not 
 place much reliance in him or his officers. 
 Craigiemore might do something if left to 
 himself, and Ji Ji if properly led; but I 
 held the others in no great esteem. Minton 
 the mate might be a very good man in a 
 rough and tumble, but I doubted his head 
 as well as his heart. Still, Heaven knows, I 
 was no fighting man myself, and if the mate 
 valued his baboon hide, it was the only one 
 he had. 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 198 
 
 I admit I had no fancy for being shut up 
 in my room while there was any excitement 
 aboard, and though I had had quite enough 
 of fighting, I was seized with a plaguy fit of 
 curiosity. I wanted to know what was going 
 on, and for the first time my philosophic calm 
 almost forsook me. I rattled noisily on the 
 door, and was about to shout through the 
 port when I heard the key click in the lock. 
 Stepping back, I waited. Presently the door 
 opened, and Mrs. Castle stood in the entrance. 
 
 “ You ! ” I gasped. 
 
 Somehow I had not expected her. I thought 
 my release might come, for in the attack I 
 anticipated every unit would be of value; but 
 I had not thought of her as my liberator. 
 
 She smiled, but it was an anxious, ill-at- 
 ease sort of smile. 
 
 “Yes. We are in great danger. You are 
 wanted.” 
 
 I held out my hands; she unlocked the 
 irons : I was free. 
 
 “ What is the matter ? ” 
 
 “Three big junks, crowded with pirates, are 
 preparing to attack us, and in one of them is 
 the man Li Chee.” 
 
The Three Junks 199 
 
 Phew ! This was news indeed. Li Chee 
 safe and ripe for revenge ! I recalled the look 
 of hate in his hideous face as the waves swept 
 him by ; I saw again his bared knife, as he 
 shook it threateningly at the captain. What 
 was the reckoning to be this time ? 
 
 I turned to the woman. She was very 
 pale, with a paleness that spoke of incessant 
 worry ; the sort of look that takes lodgment 
 in the face despite the bravest effort to keep 
 it down. 
 
 “I am sorry for you, Mrs. Castle. You are 
 having a dreadful experience/’ 
 
 “ Oh,” she answered, making a pitiful 
 attempt to smile, “ I have always been accus¬ 
 tomed to sad experiences.” 
 
 I thought her look invited confidence, and 
 at any other time I might have shown some 
 curiosity ; but the occasion was extraordinary, 
 and the object of my solicitude was the wife 
 of my dearest enemy. The whole matter was 
 so exceedingly incongruous that I knew not 
 how to deal with it. 
 
 But in the meantime we found our way on 
 deck, she walking by my side as if to protect 
 me. Immediately making for the weather 
 
200 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 side, I saw the three junks in a cluster sailing 
 well away to windward, but so far off were 
 they that I could just make out the men on 
 board. 
 
 “ How do you know Li Chee is there ?" 
 I asked. 
 
 “He sailed quite close just now, and shook 
 his knife at us. The chief officer said that 
 the other mutineers were with him. Do you 
 think they intend to sail away ? " 
 
 “ I hope so with all my heart, but I fear 
 they are only arranging a plan of attack. 
 They are not likely to sheer off without strik¬ 
 ing a blow." 
 
 She pressed her lips close and looked 
 almost angry in her impatience. 
 
 “ How I wish we were safe ashore ! " 
 
 A humorous twinge, grim as death, shot 
 through me. To her pious wish I added a 
 devout amen. She looked at me and smiled. 
 
 “ Are you afraid ? ” 
 
 “ Horribly." 
 
 “ I wish 1 were afraid in the same way." 
 
 “Then you would experience a most un¬ 
 pleasant sensation." 
 
 She smiled. It was evidently no use 
 
201 
 
 The Three Junks 
 
 attempting to convince her. She had made 
 up her mind that I was a ferocious fire-eater, 
 and my attempts to prove the contrary but 
 strengthened that conviction. I wonder how 
 many heroes are made in the same way ? 
 
 When I emerged upon the deck I noticed 
 here and there large heaps of lump-coal, with 
 a coal-hammer, a shovel, or a crowbar stacked 
 alongside of each heap ; and even as I looked 
 I saw Craigiemore, the third, and Ji Ji come 
 up from below, each carrying a sack of coals 
 on his back, the lumps from which were dis¬ 
 tributed amongst the various heaps. Though 
 guessing the meaning of these preparations, 
 I was about to advance to the second engineer 
 to make inquiries, when the captain, who had 
 been standing aft watching the junks through 
 his glasses, saw me. For a moment he looked 
 hard as though to make sure. Then like an 
 angry lion he bounded forward, his mous¬ 
 taches bristling furiously. 
 
 “ Hallo !“ he shouted, “what are you doing 
 here ? ” 
 
 As I was doing nothing just then I felt like 
 saying so, but thinking such an admission 
 might savour overmuch of impertinence, I 
 
202 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 held my tongue and saluted. This incessant 
 nag, nag, was the most wearisome thing in 
 existence. 
 
 “Who let you out?” he roared; “tell me, 
 who let you out ? ” 
 
 “ I did,” said his wife. 
 
 “You, eh ? My God, madam, you seem 
 mighty solicitous of this young man's wel¬ 
 fare ! ” 
 
 The sneer was most apparent, but beyond 
 a sudden deep flushing of the face she did 
 not seem to heed it. 
 
 “And yours,” she said coldly. “He is the 
 man who saved us : he is the only man who 
 can save us now.” 
 
 “We shall see. You will go below, sir, and 
 remain there till further orders.” 
 
 “Are you mad?” she cried. “Have you 
 so many men that you can easily spare a 
 good one ? ” 
 
 He hesitated : then he laughed insolently, 
 but rather more loudly than the occasion 
 seemed to warrant. 
 
 “No, you're right, I cannot spare a good 
 man ; neither can I trust a bad one.” 
 
 “ This is sheer obstinacy. Mr. Quenton 
 
203 
 
 The Three Junks 
 
 has no wish to set your authority at defiance, 
 but it is your duty to use every available man. 
 If we succeed in beating these pirates off, I 
 am sure he will go back to his cabin and 
 await your pleasure/’ 
 
 There was much sense in what she said, 
 but she entirely spoiled its effect by the tone 
 she adopted. The emphasis she put on the 
 two words, “your pleasure,” was enough to 
 make a man curl up and hide himself for 
 ever. The old man fairly squirmed. His 
 yellow eyebrows came down in a ragged 
 fringe; his yellow moustache took a fierce 
 upward curl; his yellow face grew almost 
 black with the rush of bad blood. 
 
 “ Damn you ! ” he muttered, “ you take too 
 much upon yourself. Go below instantly and 
 stay there till you learn how to behave your¬ 
 self.—As for you, you mutinous dog,” and he 
 turned furiously upon me, “ let me warn you 
 to be careful. You have seen how I treat 
 people who would endanger the safety of my 
 ship. I have very little more patience to 
 spare.” 
 
 Yes, I had seen, and from that I had gathered 
 much. But I was sick of him and his ways. 
 
204 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “As anything I may say will only be mis¬ 
 construed, I had better not say anything. I 
 was certainly under the impression that I had 
 been liberated to take part in the defence of 
 the ship ; but I really haven’t much stomach 
 for fighting, sir, and I daresay I shall be much 
 safer below.” 
 
 As I spoke I saluted and turned to go, but 
 at that moment the report of a gun was heard, 
 and looking away to windward we saw that 
 the junks were bearing down on us, three 
 abreast, and that a little white cloud of smoke 
 was sailing before the middle one. The 
 captain immediately sprang away aft, where 
 the mate was already standing, while every 
 available man flew to his station, which was 
 beside one of the coal heaps. Craigiemore, 
 who was standing just opposite, beckoned 
 me over. 
 
 “ Don’t you think you had better go below, 
 Mrs. Castle ? ” I ventured to suggest. 
 
 “Oh, I’m not afraid,” she answered. “Where 
 all are heroes I must not be lacking in heroism.” 
 
 “ But you might get hit, you know.” 
 
 “ And what then ? ” The question was 
 reckless, almost hysterical. 
 
205 
 
 The Three Junks 
 
 “Well, it might—it might hurt." 
 
 “ So it might. I never thought of that. 
 But if it only hurts I shall be able to 
 bear it." 
 
 I never liked those mysterious hints, and 
 she was rather fond of them. They always 
 made me feel a bit of a fool : made me 
 feel as though I were standing on something 
 of which I knew not the nature. 
 
 “ Don’t bother about me, Mr. Quenton," 
 she continued. “ I am sure to come out 
 all right." Another of those double-meaning 
 speeches! “Now take your place and let 
 them see the mistake they have made." 
 And lightly waving her hand she tripped 
 away aft. I went over to Craigiemore, 
 who looked a rare sight covered from head 
 to foot with coal-dust. 
 
 “ Glad to see ye, man," he shouted, for 
 no particular reason that I was aware of. 
 “ I was afraid yon mule would keep ye 
 under lock and key. We have a busy time 
 the day." 
 
 “ So it appears. Mrs. Castle told me Li 
 Chee was aboard one of those junks. Is 
 that so ? " 
 
206 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Sure,” said he. “ I saw him with my 
 own eyes. The son-of-a-gun shook his fist 
 at us as he passed.” 
 
 “ I suppose we have no arms of any 
 sort aboard ? ” 
 
 “None whatever; and this is our only am¬ 
 munition.” He pointed to the great lumps 
 of coal. “ Lucky we had a few tons of Welsh 
 aboard as well as the Nagasaki. They’re no 
 such verra bad nut-crackers ! ” 
 
 “ If the nuts get in the way.” 
 
 “Ay, to be sure.” 
 
 Craigiemore looked as though the sugges¬ 
 tion had awakened another thought, and not 
 a very consoling one. 
 
 Here another shot rang out from the ad¬ 
 vancing junks, but though we presented a fairly 
 wide surface, we fortunately escaped without 
 injury. The brass gun which I had noticed, 
 and which, no doubt, had once been the pride 
 of a peaceful poop, was engaged in an ad¬ 
 venture for which she was never intended. 
 
 “ Whose brilliant idea is this ? ” said I, 
 pointing to the coal heaps. 
 
 The second engineer hung his head like 
 a boy caught doing something wrong. 
 
The Three Junks 
 
 207 
 
 “ Mine.” 
 
 “And a very good idea too—if we only 
 had a catapult. Now if you could only 
 bring your engines or boilers into play.” 
 
 He regarded me with a pitying look, a 
 look which said, “Ye’re a puir body, Quen- 
 ton. I’m awfu’ sorry for ye, but ye’re a puir 
 creeture.” Then all at once a sudden, bright 
 look leaped to his eyes. He bounded in the 
 air, and throwing up his hands shouted, 
 “ The verra thing—the verra thing, by God ! ” 
 
 I looked at him inquiringly, but without 
 deigning to explain himself he said, “ Here, 
 man, take my place and bide awee.” Then 
 without further ceremony he darted from 
 me, and I saw him descend the forward 
 companion. 
 
 Had Craigiemore gone mad ? 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE ATTACK 
 
 The junks were now bearing down on us 
 with the evident intention of boarding. Down 
 they came on the wind, three abreast, their 
 long low snouts tossing up the foam in little 
 clouds. Notwithstanding their mission, I 
 could not help admiring the advance, it was 
 so regular, free, and pretty. Like three great 
 birds—vultures for choice—they came swoop¬ 
 ing down upon us, approaching so close 
 without altering their course, that I began to 
 wonder if it was their stupid intention to ram 
 us. Alas, the stupidity was all mine. When 
 within a hundred yards or so they opened 
 out : one junk made for our stem, the other 
 for our stern, while the one in the middle 
 came sweeping onward. Now it looked any 
 odds on a collision, but when within a dozen 
 lengths of us she suddenly spun round sharp 
 
 208 
 
The Attack 
 
 209 
 
 as you please, and again her brass gun 
 snapped. This time a projectile of some 
 sort shattered a corner of the deck-house a 
 little aft of me. The battle had begun. 
 
 Ranged at intervals along our deck stood 
 our little army of defenders. I was about 
 midships ; a bit forward of me was Ji Ji, his 
 yellow face almost livid with excitement. 
 Beyond him again was the third, and away 
 in the bows loomed the figure of the third 
 engineer. Each stood beside his heap of coal, 
 a big piece ready for heaving. Ji Ji had also 
 armed himself with some cable links and a 
 long sharp piece of iron like a lance. Though 
 terribly excited, I knew he would stand his 
 ground, and that meant more opposition than 
 at first appeared. I waved my hand to him 
 and smiled. He grinned in a blue sort of 
 way, his face appearing to be ten times more 
 hideous than it really was. 
 
 Away aft stood the captain, mate, and chief 
 
 engineer, talking, gesticulating, and apparently 
 
 much perturbed. Now and again they looked 
 
 at me, and then held an excited confab. The 
 
 captain was very angry, but I had much faith 
 
 in the counsels of the canny engineer. Castle 
 
 o 
 
210 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 was the sort of man who would butt down a 
 stone wall : the engineer would walk round it. 
 After all, perhaps I was better where I was. 
 
 Presently the captain approached me, and 
 I wondered what was coming. 
 
 “Where's that skulking Scotchman?" he 
 shouted. 
 
 “He went forward, sir." 
 
 “ What for ? " 
 
 “ I don’t know, sir." 
 
 “ Curse him, the canting humbug," he roared. 
 “Am I never to be obeyed ?" 
 
 He looked as though he expected an answer, 
 but I was chary of engaging him in such a 
 mood. He went aft muttering furiously. 
 Poor man, he had much to trouble him. 
 
 Against the lee-shrouds of the mizzen-mast 
 stood his wife, apparently the coolest soul 
 aboard the ship. She saw the junks, and no 
 doubt guessed what her fate would be if the 
 pirates succeeded in boarding us : yet she 
 seemed to watch the whole proceedings with 
 but an impersonal sort of interest, an indiffer¬ 
 ence which was my envy and admiration. 
 Though anything but a warrior myself, I 
 have a sneaking regard for any one who 
 
The Attack 
 
 2 11 
 
 turns a good front to the enemy : when a 
 woman teaches me such an object lesson, I 
 admit words fail to express my admiration. I 
 think her presence, her undaunted bearing, 
 did us all a world of good. If, hitherto, we 
 had considered the struggle hopeless, we could 
 not now that we looked on her. Our duty 
 was to beat off the would-be boarders. While 
 she was there to watch us I believe we almost 
 felt equal to the task. I admit I had no taste 
 for the work, for if the pirates possessed any¬ 
 thing in the shape of firearms, it would be a 
 sad business—for us. And yet her presence 
 acted on me in a way that made me feel ex¬ 
 tremely foolish. My head grew large and 
 light. I felt equal to half-a-dozen junks. If 
 the pirates boarded us it would not be from 
 where I stood. That’s the sort of fool I felt 
 just through looking at her. 
 
 But in the meantime the junks had swung 
 to under our lee, absolutely not three dozen 
 yards away. I easily made out the bad man 
 Li Chee, who looked more villainous than ever. 
 As he saw me he waved his hand and grinned 
 till I saw every one of his bad teeth. I never 
 knew any one have such a slit as Li Chee. 
 
212 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 I waved my hand in reply—and then bobbed 
 suddenly. A fellow in the stern was pointing 
 a gun in my direction. I believe it is bad 
 form for a soldier to bob. It looks as though 
 he were afraid of being hit, which of course no 
 man is. Yet it struck me that I might be, so I 
 sank on one knee while the bullet whistled 
 harmlessly over my head. I admit to thinking 
 discretion the better part of valour. Those 
 who like bullets can have them : I don’t care 
 much for them myself. It even appeared to 
 me that the sea was much the better place for 
 that sort of thing ; much better, at any rate, 
 than my body. But perhaps I was prejudiced. 
 
 This shot was the signal for three or four 
 more, but thanks to the erratic movements 
 of the junks no one seemed a bit the worse. 
 Their three or four guns apparently com¬ 
 prised the whole armament of the attacking 
 force, and by the time they were reloaded 
 the wind and sea had carried the enemy well 
 to leeward. They therefore hauled taut their 
 sails and began again to beat close up. Li 
 shook his fist at us and smiled. He was 
 coming on presently, was Mr. Li. 
 
 The pirates, foiled in a first attempt, would 
 
The Attack 
 
 213 
 
 learn wisdom ere they ventured a second. 
 
 I was glad the wretches had gone off, but 
 otherwise I found little cause for self-con¬ 
 gratulation — unless it was that my good 
 friend Neptune had very kindly swallowed 
 the ball intended for me. I knew the enemy 
 would return to the attack, an attack which 
 only had to be bold enough to succeed. 
 
 Just here the absent Craigiemore stole to 
 my side. 
 
 u Did I not hear some firin' ? " he asked. 
 
 “ Probably." 
 
 Truth to tell, I was at a loss to under¬ 
 stand his sudden retreat below. His reap¬ 
 pearance as soon as the enemy had sheered 
 off was not a source of consolation. I was 
 very fond of Craigiemore, but at the same 
 time I hoped he had a decent explanation to 
 offer. 
 
 “ We’ll make it a trifle warm for them 
 presently,, km thinkin’. The de'il himself is 
 in the thought. Do ye ken, Quenton, man— 
 the de’il himself is in it ? " 
 
 “ In what ?" I asked rather gruffly, not a 
 little annoyed at his impudent exuberance. 
 
 “ Ye'll ken presently, laddie, never fear." 
 
214 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 His big, dirty, honest face positively beamed 
 with joy. I felt like being nasty. No doubt 
 I also should have enjoyed the situation could 
 I have sneaked below and got some fool to 
 take my place. I had no special yearning to 
 join in the excitement, or pose as a living 
 target. I am a peaceful man, and do not 
 approve of such rash experiments. 
 
 “ I’ve been jolly near shot/’ I growled. 
 “ Where’s the fun of it ? ” 
 
 “ Ay, lad, the fun’s to come. Dinna ye ken, 
 ye crab, the fun’s a’ to come ? ” 
 
 “Um,” I muttered. “I suppose you mean 
 to take your share of it ? ” 
 
 He looked puzzled. His keen eyes stopped 
 laughing : he favoured me with a solemn, 
 penetrating look. 
 
 “ I dinna quite follow ye, laddie.” 
 
 I could have bitten my tongue out. The 
 pained look in his face showed me what he 
 thought. Had he turned round and kicked 
 me I would have borne it without a murmur. 
 
 “ Oh, I’m in a beast of a humour,” I 
 mumbled. “ Don’t take any notice of me.” 
 “Nay, laddie, but ye meant something ?” 
 
 “ Fighting always annoys me,” I answered 
 
The Attack 
 
 215 
 
 feebly. “ I think it's the most stupid thing 
 a man can do." 
 
 He laid his big hand on my shoulder and 
 pulled me round so that I had to look him in 
 the face. 
 
 “ Look ye here, laddie," he said, “ if ye hear 
 onybody say that Jim Craigiemore is a coward, 
 just ye tell him for me that he's a dumned 
 liar." 
 
 I didn't know the man who would call 
 Craigiemore a coward to his face. I could 
 have kicked myself with vexation. Of all the 
 surly, blundering idiots that ever lived, I be¬ 
 lieved this same Dick Quenton to be the most 
 blundering. I looked fore and aft, to wind¬ 
 ward, to leeward—anywhere to escape those 
 reproving eyes. But his pride would not let 
 him explain, and I knew 1 was not worth an 
 explanation. 
 
 In looking round I saw the mate draw the 
 attention of the chief engineer to something 
 forward. Following the direction of his hand 
 I beheld smoke issuing from the funnel in a 
 goodly quantity : like the bat that I was I 
 saw nothing but smoke. 
 
 The chief engineer stepped briskly towards us. 
 
2 l6 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Craigiemore ! " 
 
 “ Sir." 
 
 “ What's the meanin’ o’ yon smoke ? " 
 
 “ Eh, that just means that we're boilin’ the 
 kettle for afternoon tea." 
 
 “ Boilin' the kettle ! " growled the chief. “Do 
 ye no ken that it’s wastin' the company’s 
 coal ?" 
 
 “ Maybe a scuttleful or twa," protested 
 Craigiemore. “Ye wadna grudge a leetle 
 extra by way o' entertainment for our 
 veesitors ? " 
 
 It was curious how Scotch the second grew 
 when speaking to the chief. 
 
 “ I dinna ken ye, man, but ye’re sair gifted 
 wi’ your tongue." 
 
 “Aweel, aweel," said his subordinate, “I’ll 
 no forget to send you an inveetation to the 
 christenin'." 
 
 “ Look ye here, Craigiemore," replied the 
 chief, “an ye dinna ken your wharabouts 
 better, your ain mither’s son will have an 
 awfu' bad tale to tell when he gangs hame." 
 
 Craigiemore laughed. “ Ooch, chief, ye 
 wadna tur-rn on me ? " 
 
 “Weel, weel," mumbled the chief, “ye ken 
 
The Attack 
 
 217 
 
 noo whar ye stand, and ye ken your Archibald 
 Campbell." 
 
 Craigiemore nodded and the chief hurried 
 aft, for by this time the enemy was just on 
 the point of executing another movement. 
 The three junks had drawn fairly close to¬ 
 gether away out to windward, and I doubted 
 not that they had formed their plan of attack. 
 At any rate they put about and came down 
 towards us, though this time in different 
 formation. 
 
 The junk with the brass cannon led the 
 way, the amiable Li bringing up the rear. 
 They made a brave show as they came swing¬ 
 ing down on the wind, though I did not like 
 the look of the preparations that were going 
 on along the starboard side of each. They 
 savoured overmuch of a desperate attempt to 
 board. I could see the men standing with 
 coils of rope in their hands : I guessed the 
 destined use of those ropes, and what kind 
 of implement was attached to the end of each. 
 
 All this, of course, took time. Indeed, 
 something more than half-an-hour must have 
 elapsed between their sheering off and their 
 second formation ; though the enemy's move- 
 
2 l8 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 ments seemed to be executed with such 
 lightning-like rapidity as to make it difficult 
 to gauge the time correctly. 
 
 Craigiemore stood watching them, a strange 
 glow in his usually thoughtful eyes. 
 
 “ I'm thinkin’ we’re in for a bad time, 
 Quenton,” he said. There was no trace of 
 resentment in his voice. He knew I had 
 made a mistake : he knew I was sorry. 
 
 I nodded. It seemed to me that I had had 
 
 ■' • * 
 
 nothing else since joining the Corea. • * 
 
 “ Ye havena said your prayers for a lang 
 day, I doot ? ” 
 
 I admitted as much. There is but a feeble 
 shred of godliness in man. When I was a 
 boy I had such a great terror of Satan that 
 I dared not turn in without praying, for fear 
 of waking up in hell. When the boy becomes 
 a man, hell seems farther off—and heaven ! 
 
 “ Weel, weel, laddie,” muttered the engineer, 
 “ you’d better say them the noo.” 
 
 “ My dear Craigiemore, do give me credit 
 for a little decency.” 
 
 “ False pride, false pride,” said he, stooping 
 and balancing a big block of coal. “Ye dinna 
 ken the comfort o’ prayer. It makes ye feel 
 
The Attack 
 
 219 
 
 keen an’ eager for the fray—as though ye wad 
 like to take on a whole ridgyment. It's awfu' 
 wicked, na doot," he added with a smile, “ but 
 when ye hae to face wicked folk ye must 
 fight them with their ain weepons. Now 
 what think ye, Quenton : how many nuts 
 ought I to crack wi' this wee bit o’ coal ? " 
 
 I could not help laughing, serious as was 
 
 the occasion. It was Cromwell's advice over 
 
 again : “ Pray to God, men—but keep your 
 « 
 
 powder dry." 
 
 “Just as many as you hit," I said. 
 
 He smiled his grave, double-meaning smile. 
 
 “Ah weel, I’m sorry for them, puir mis¬ 
 guided bodies, but I hope they’ll no come 
 near enough to get hurt." 
 
 I hoped so too—devoutly. In fact, the 
 farther oft they kept the better I should like 
 it. I had had quite enough of John China¬ 
 man at close quarters. He did not smell 
 sweet. 
 
 But John had no intention of sheering off 
 just yet. As Craigiemore and I were speak¬ 
 ing the junks rapidly approached, the fore¬ 
 most one passing close in under our stern 
 and then sailing through the comparatively 
 
220 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 smooth water on our lee. The second fol¬ 
 lowed close at her heels, the third rounding 
 our quarter just as the second began to beat 
 across our stern. At the tiller of the hindmost 
 junk stood the redoubtable Li, and as he shot 
 by the little group aft he waved towards the 
 captain. On passing Craigiemore and me, by 
 which time considerable way had been taken 
 off his boat, he favoured us with one of his 
 most seraphic grins. 
 
 “ Good molnin’, Quenton,” he shouted, the 
 impertinent rogue. 
 
 “ Good mornin' to ye,” said Craigiemore. 
 
 11 Me come aboard plesently.” 
 
 “ Nay, laddie, ye needna bother. We’ll con- 
 seeder that ye’ve already called and left your 
 card.” 
 
 But by this time Li was well out of reach 
 of this witticism, and was following the other 
 two junks round our bows. What this man¬ 
 oeuvre meant I at first failed utterly to com¬ 
 prehend. The fellows had made no attempt 
 to board us. On the contrary, it seemed by 
 the way they grinned and nodded that nothing 
 more dangerous than curiosity had brought 
 them to such close quarters, or a vain desire 
 
The Attack 
 
 221 
 
 to show off their seamanship and the excellent 
 qualities of their craft. Certainly, if such was 
 the case, they had succeeded admirably in 
 their intentions, for both seamanship and 
 ships seemed to be of the first order. If 
 their determination and fighting qualities were 
 as good, I anticipated a most unpleasant ex¬ 
 perience. 
 
 But this evolution was not all vanity, as we 
 were soon to learn. In fact, as soon as I 
 saw them shaping as if to repeat the move¬ 
 ment, I knew their object had been to see 
 how close up under our lee they could sail. 
 This time, indeed, the leading junk, rounding 
 to windward, steered as if she meant to strike 
 our stern ; and so close did she come that 
 she seemed to graze us. As she swept round 
 and swung close under our counter she was 
 received with a volley from the three men aft. 
 
 This evidently disconcerted her, as it did 
 several of her crew, who had not anticipated 
 such an uncivil greeting. The steersman, los¬ 
 ing his head, let his ship fall away a few 
 points, so that by the time she was abreast of 
 us she had passed beyond our reach. She, 
 however, nosed up rapidly, and her crew fired 
 
222 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 a couple of indignant shots at the group aft. 
 The cannon, fortunately, was not brought into 
 play. It might, by accident, have caused some 
 damage. 
 
 But in the meantime the second and third 
 junks came whizzing round, nosing in so close 
 to us that I saw in a moment their order of 
 battle, and knew that Craigiemore and I would 
 have to deal with junk number two. 
 
 The helm being put hard down she swung 
 round with such force that her nose grated on 
 our side, and at the same moment a couple of 
 her crew sprang forward, each with a coil of 
 rope in his hand, to which was attached a 
 big hook. I at once flung a great lump of 
 coal at the foremost ruffian, but missing him 
 brought another man to his knees. The 
 engineer, more sure of aim, laid his man out 
 as flat as a flounder. Then amid screams and 
 oaths, varied by an occasional gunshot, the 
 fight began along the whole lee side of the 
 ship. 
 
 Like a madman I fell upon the lumps of 
 coal, and, I fear much, like a madman I 
 heaved them down upon the enemy ; that is, 
 my aim was hardly as true as it might have 
 
The Attack 
 
 222 
 
 been. Craigiemore, on the contrary, seemed 
 in a capital humour, and shot with much 
 vigour and accuracy. With each projectile 
 discharged by him he sent a sympathetic 
 message, such as, “ Look oot, laddie, or ye'll 
 be gettin' hurt,” and “ There noo, I told ye 
 so. Dinna ye think it’s aboot time ye were 
 awa’ ? ” “ Bless me, man, your mither’ll never 
 
 ken ye,” as he flattened out one gigantic 
 ruffian : u I hope the lasses 'll nae grieve too 
 much,” as he spoilt the beauty of another. 
 u The Lord be wi’ ye,” he cried as he brought 
 the big coal shovel down on the head of an 
 imprudent rascal, “ for the de’il’s in the thing.” 
 Of one truth I was assured : a devil had got 
 hold of the handle, a devil who fought none 
 the gentler for all his appearance of Christian 
 solicitude. 
 
 But while all this was going on I had not 
 been idle, and chiefly owing to my exertions 
 our coal-heap rapidly disappeared. Yet the 
 whole affair was more of a confused scramble 
 than a fight, and in the melee some of the 
 monkeys had flung their grappling irons 
 round our rail and made their ship fast to 
 ours. As we swung broadside to broadside 
 
224 Captain Castle 
 
 we found that we had a considerable area to 
 guard. Craigiemore took the after part of 
 the junk, I the forward. He was armed with 
 his formidable, coal shovel : I had a big lump 
 of iron not unlike a crowbar. 
 
 But it was not to be imagined that during 
 all this time we escaped scot-free. Profiting 
 by our example, and for the want of better 
 material, the enemy began to pelt us back 
 with our own ammunition. In this way I 
 came by several nasty knocks. Nothing very 
 serious, but just serious enough to let me 
 know that I was not made of iron. Craigie¬ 
 more fared even worse, one cut over his 
 eye almost blinding him. The experience was 
 novel and intensely interesting. 
 
 I could never quite make out whether a 
 blow had stunned him, or whether he had 
 stopped for a moment to wipe the blood from 
 his eyes, nor was he sure himself; but as I 
 watched my end of the junk, now dodging 
 the lumps of coal, and now having a smack 
 at a shaven head, I heard a scuffle going on 
 Craigiemore’s way, and looking round I saw 
 that hero driven back from the rail and sore 
 beset by half-a-dozen yelling fiends. Instantly 
 
The Attack 
 
 22 
 
 I was by his side, and laying about me with 
 my iron bar, soon cleared a passage. He 
 was making no real attempt to fight, but in 
 a dazed kind of way kept putting up his 
 hands as if to guard his face. 
 
 u Craigiemore, Craigiemore ! ” I shouted. 
 
 Of a sudden his head went up, and he 
 straightened himself as though he had been 
 shot. Then, waking as it were, he laid about 
 him with such zeal that he soon drove the 
 enemy back to the rail. 
 
 But his rescue had not been effected with¬ 
 out sacrifice. Seeing me leave my post, the 
 men had seized the moment to board, and 
 when I turned about again a dozen grimy 
 wretches, some with bleeding heads and faces, 
 and all with bared knives, stood between me 
 and the rail. 
 
 There was no time for parley, no time for 
 thinking out the situation. The enemy were 
 before us; that was an incontestable fact. 
 Without a moment’s hesitation Craigiemore 
 sprang straight at them. I sprang after 
 Craigiemore. 
 
 p 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 HOW CRAIGIEMORE PUT OUT THE FIRE 
 
 The fight that followed was so desperate, 
 blurred, and furious that I don’t seem to 
 remember much about it. It was give and 
 take with a vengeance, and from what followed 
 I am inclined to believe that we gave a good 
 deal more than we took. Craigiemore used 
 his heavy shovel with the most deadly effect, 
 and I believe I swung my bar to some pur¬ 
 pose. But what chiefly astonished me in the 
 Scot was the manner in which he swore. All 
 his exquisite coolness had utterly forsaken 
 him. Excitement of the most red-headed 
 kind had fairly got him in her clutches, and 
 he swore with a hundred trooper-power. I 
 can remember now, busy as I then was, and 
 actually staring death in the face, thinking 
 how strange it was that the quiet Craigiemore 
 should thus blaspheme. It is very wicked, 
 
 226 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 227 
 
 no doubt, but even now I catch myself smiling 
 quietly as I think of those awful oaths. They 
 made danger and death ridiculous. 
 
 I cannot admit that the brawny engineer 
 fought any the less nobly on account of his 
 profanity. Where he got the breath to do it 
 puzzled me. But then the beggar was as 
 hard as one of his own pistons, and seemed 
 capable of dealing as many quick and terrible 
 blows. How he escaped annihilation I never 
 could make out, for a dozen times at least 
 his recklessness carried him into the most 
 dangerous quarters, and as I had to follow 
 him I was not much pleased with such be¬ 
 haviour. However, he managed to escape 
 without serious injury, and gradually the 
 mutineers were driven back over the rail. 
 That is, those who were in front of him were 
 only too glad of the chance to slip down 
 into the junk ; but others, unseen by us at 
 that moment, made their way aft where the 
 captain and his companions faced the re¬ 
 doubtable Li. 
 
 Craigiemore leaned on the rail and fairly 
 gasped for breath. The blood and perspira¬ 
 tion streaming down his face made him an 
 
228 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 awesome sight. His hands and arms seemed 
 cut in a dozen places, and if his face had not 
 been so thickly smeared with coal-dust, which 
 did not add to its beauty, one might have 
 seen the pain in it. 
 
 On the deck before us lay at least half-a- 
 dozen of our opponents, some, I feared, never 
 to rise again ; others, unable to stand, crawled 
 away round the engine-room skylight as if 
 for dear life. I think none of them wished 
 to get a further glimpse of that terrible Scot. 
 What he must have seemed to them with his 
 charmed life, his blackened and bloody face, 
 and his more than human strength, must ever 
 remain a mystery ; but I should say he would 
 give the survivors something to talk about for 
 many a day to come. 
 
 For a few moments only he clung gasping 
 to the rail. Then, stooping down and picking 
 up a knife that lay near him, he leaned out and 
 severed the grappling line aft, I doing the 
 same by the one forward. At this the pirates 
 set up an infernal buzzing, and in the im¬ 
 potence of their fury they let fly a volley at 
 us, one lump catching me a villainous crack 
 beside the ear. Craigiemore got one on the 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 229 
 
 face, a nasty sharp bit that laid his cheek 
 open. He turned to the junk, and shaking 
 his shovel at its occupants, roared out a mag¬ 
 nificent oath in extra special Scotch. The 
 only answer was another volley, which hit 
 him in several places. So furious was he at 
 this that I thought he would have jumped 
 down into the junk and laid about him ; and 
 probably he would have done something just 
 as foolish had not the thing, its lashings cut, 
 alreadv drifted some little distance. For a 
 
 j 
 
 moment his eyes sought mine—a wild, im¬ 
 ploring look. Then dropping his shovel he 
 seized one of the bodies that lay near, and 
 swinging it above his head, flung it down 
 into the junk. A shriek, a crash, and three 
 or four of the pirates were fairly flattened by 
 the missile. 
 
 “ There, ye yellow swine, tak' that ! ” roared 
 the infuriated Scot; “ and may ye a' sup in 
 hell the nicht.” 
 
 But so far I have only been able to describe 
 our bout with the middle junk, though fore 
 and aft the others were similarly engaged. 
 It is of the after one I have now to speak. 
 
 We had effectually cleared out our own im- 
 
230 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 mediate enemy : indeed he was now rolling a 
 good eight lengths to leeward ; but those who 
 had escaped our onslaught and made their 
 way aft occasioned an unpleasant diversion 
 in the captain's flank. 
 
 Craigiemore's breath came fast, but not so 
 fast, I think, as mine. He looked at me. 
 There was no need to speak of our danger. 
 We knew it. He began to mutter, and I, look¬ 
 ing round, saw Mrs. Castle on the weather side 
 calmly walking forward. True, her face was 
 as white as her dress, and in her eyes was an 
 awful look of terror ; and yet about her there 
 was a wonderful appearance of calm. She 
 was frightened, horribly frightened, but by her 
 desperate calmness I knew she had made up 
 her mind to die her own way. 
 
 I sprang across to her, Craigiemore at my 
 heels. 
 
 “ God, madam, why don’t you go below ? " 
 
 .She smiled, but without answering pointed 
 to the sea. 
 
 I think she saw the look of horror in my 
 face, for she instantly added, with much gentle¬ 
 ness, laying her hand on my arm, u Only when 
 there is no other hope." 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 231 
 
 “ You promise ? " 
 
 “ I promise." 
 
 What could I say ? Indeed, there was no 
 time for saying anything, for the hubbub 
 aft increased every moment, as the pirates 
 swarmed over the stern. 
 
 “ Quick, quick/' I cried, “go below now. 
 These wretches will be on us in a minute." 
 
 “ Let them come," she said. 
 
 “Nay, Mistress Castle," cried Craigiemore, 
 “ the de’il’s in them imps o’ Belzeebawb. See, 
 they're cornin’ this way. I’m thinkin’ it’s time 
 we were awa’." 
 
 As he spoke he seized her hand and dragged 
 her forward, apparently much against her will, 
 and to my exceeding amazement I saw him 
 disappear with her down the forward com¬ 
 panion. I was so astounded that a baby 
 could have flattened me. Craigiemore shirk 
 a battle ! Craigiemore run away and hide him¬ 
 self when there were blows impending ! And 
 yet I saw it with my own eyes. 
 
 All this occurred within the space of a very 
 few moments, as hurriedly, in short, as men 
 would act who know not which moment will 
 be their last; but brief as was the period it 
 
232 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 sufficed for Li and his adventurers to get a 
 footing aft. Thinking of Craigiemore with 
 sorrow, a sorrow not unmixed with shame, I 
 rushed and took up a position by the captain. 
 His yellow face had turned to a deathly white : 
 in the quick glance I got of him I thought 
 his moustache had gone white also. Campbell 
 was laid out with a cut across his forehead, 
 and the mate seemed to have undergone some 
 rough usage. 
 
 The captain's eye brightened as it rested on 
 me. He nodded encouragingly. Once before 
 he had nodded in a similar manner. Even 
 then, face to face as we were with what I 
 truly believed to be the end, I could not 
 forget. 
 
 It all happened in a moment, even with 
 our eyes riveted upon the wretches. There 
 was a sudden movement, a quick cry, and 
 they were upon us. Then began a desperate 
 hand-to-hand conflict, and sickening dull thuds 
 and piercing shrieks were the order of the 
 dav. The whole air seemed full of knife- 
 
 •j 
 
 flashes, of hideous yellowy-white faces and 
 horrid burning eyes. Then a blow on the 
 side of the head laid me out. It was a 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 233 
 
 terrific smack, and had it descended fairly 
 there would have been an end of me from 
 that moment; but fortunately it only grazed 
 the side of my head, though it nearly broke 
 my shoulder. At any rate, I reeled and fell, 
 and immediately a long sinewy hand was at 
 my throat; a knife flashed before my eyes. 
 I made sure that my end was come, though 
 I was so confused that I didn't seem to mind 
 much. Then, just as I was wondering how 
 it would feel to have a knife between the ribs, 
 I heard a crash above me, and my would-be 
 murderer fell in a heap across my chest. 
 
 This proved the most wonderful restorative 
 of my experience. I was on my feet in a 
 second, and there stood dear old Ji Ji by my 
 side, his ugly face livid with excitement. He 
 had struck, and not a moment too soon. 
 With my own bar of iron he had dealt the 
 blow, and this he now forced into my hands. 
 Without more ado I stood on my defence. 
 But I no longer felt eager for fighting. For 
 a man who had no wish to pose as a warrior 
 I had certainly fallen upon evil times. That 
 I stood upright I guessed, but how I did not 
 know. My ears buzzed painfully : I had 
 
234 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 suddenly grown extremely weak at the knees. 
 In short, that blow had taken a good deal 
 of the pride out of me. 
 
 But luckily at this moment we were rein¬ 
 forced by the advent of the third engineer. 
 He with Ji Ji made up a formidable addition 
 to our fighting strength. They, like Craigie- 
 more and I, had succeeded in beating their 
 adversaries off for the loss of the third mate. 
 
 Li's men now hesitated to advance, for 
 which excellent piece of prudence I heaved 
 a devout sigh. There is nothing so painfully 
 wearisome as this incessant fighting when the 
 result, as far as you are concerned, is doubt¬ 
 ful. Some fellows may rather relish uncer¬ 
 tainty. I have no particular leaning that way 
 myself. 
 
 Had we known it then, or had we a Craigie- 
 more to lead us, we might have turned this 
 momentary check into a complete rout; for 
 Li's blackguards could not have anticipated 
 such a strenuous opposition from unarmed 
 men, and they had had their fill of hard knocks. 
 A rush then would probably have sent them 
 helter-skelter over the rail. But the idea, as 
 usual, came to me when too late ; though I 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 235 
 
 doubt if our fellows had any great yearning 
 for closer quarters. Be that as it may, the 
 combatants stood glaring at each other, one 
 glad of the respite, the other furious but 
 irresolute. 
 
 Presently Li detached himself from the 
 th long and advanced, the same inscrutable 
 smile on his ugly face. He bowed very 
 low and seemed quite pleased to renew the 
 acquaintanceship. 
 
 “Good molnin', cap'n,” he said. “This 
 welly bad business; makee Li feel too 
 muchee sad.” 
 
 The captain pressed hard his livid lips. 
 Had he opened them I believe he would 
 have shrieked. 
 
 “ What do you want ? ” asked the mate. 
 
 Li turned to him, smiled and bowed. Even 
 the mate's red face had lost some of its 
 glorious colouring. 
 
 “You welly fine mate,” said Mr. Li admir¬ 
 ingly. “ Hope you no belong sick ?” 
 
 The mate mumbled something about some¬ 
 body being sicker before he had finished with 
 him, at which Li's heavenly smile grew more 
 beautifully intense. 
 
236 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “ Mate belong too muchee fightee fightee. 
 Li no likee fightee. Li allee same belong 
 Chlistian man : he sabbee Chlistian man's 
 joss, Chlistian man’s gloly. Ploper Chlistian 
 man no fightee : ploper Chlistian man let 'im 
 brudder kick ’im. What for mate no belong 
 ploper Chlistian man ? ” 
 
 The yellow-skinned son of Confucius was 
 not without his wisdom and his sophistries. 
 I could have found it in my heart to love 
 him, were the beggar not so eager to cut my 
 throat. 
 
 “ Well," growled the mate, who rather 
 liked the allusion to his warlike propensities, 
 “ you'd better cut the cackle. What do you 
 want ? " 
 
 That was just it; what did he want ? Li 
 began a long rigmarole about the hardship 
 to which he had been subjected, proclaiming 
 the belief that he would have died had not 
 the good people of the junks taken him and 
 his men aboard. He assured us that they 
 were a most respectable class of traders, and 
 that nothing but a recital of his wrongs had 
 urged them to revenge him. He was ex¬ 
 tremely sorry for what had happened, and 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 237 
 
 wished to come to some amicable arrange¬ 
 ment with the skipper. 
 
 Now it all sounded very smooth and simple, 
 for Mr. Li had a charming, oily voice when 
 he liked ; but to me it seemed sadly lacking 
 in sincerity, nor did I like the furtive glances 
 he kept casting about him as he spoke. How¬ 
 ever, it was not my place to venture an opinion 
 without being asked; moreover, I guessed 
 that the captain and the mate would gladly 
 welcome any arrangement which would relieve 
 them of any further fighting or anxiety. 
 
 But I who knew something of Li was not 
 to be deceived by his apparent sincerity. His 
 speech lacked a clear idea, a decisive point, ' 
 and in my opinion was a mere subterfuge 
 to gain time. Indeed, no sooner had this 
 thought dawned upon me than 1 looked round 
 and saw that the forward junk, beaten off at 
 the bows, had gradually dropped astern till 
 she was now alongside Li's boat. A moment 
 later the thought was confirmed, for presently 
 five or six wretches came scrambling over 
 the stern. 
 
 Li grinned as he felt the edge of his villain¬ 
 ous knife. 
 
238 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “Now, cap'n,” he said, “suppose you no 
 sullender, me slit your dam thloat.” 
 
 The old man’s livid lips opened and he 
 yelled, “ I'll see you in hell first!” 
 
 “ Welly good. Li no pa'ticler. Sure to 
 meet all good cap'ns there anyway.” 
 
 The first batch being reinforced by a further 
 detachment, the outlook suddenly grew critical. 
 I saw nothing for it now but a desperate rush 
 —and oblivion. A ragged, dirty, villainous- 
 looking lot were the new-comers, and by the 
 way they grinned I could see they thought 
 we were trapped at last. 
 
 The captain and the mate looked blankly 
 at each other ; there was no open admission, 
 but each saw that the game was up. With 
 a civilised enemy surrender would have been 
 imperative ; but surrender to a gang of law¬ 
 less cut-throats would not alone mean death, 
 but death from which the bravest might 
 shrink. Truly Captain Castle in all his glory, 
 clothed in the majestical authority of office, 
 was a very different person from the scared 
 creature who cowered by the forward end of 
 the deck-house. 
 
 Now, had I really been as ill-natured as I 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 239 
 
 sometimes believe myself to be, this would 
 have been my triumph ; but instead of that 
 I found myself so much concerned that I 
 actually forgot my boasted prudence. 
 
 “ If you will gradually retreat forward, sir,” 
 I whispered to the old man, “ I will endeavour 
 to hold these rascals in check." 
 
 Surprise and incredulity leaped to his 
 troubled face ; he seemed to ask me what 
 object there was in going forward. 
 
 “ It may for a time stave off the inevitable," 
 I said. “ Craigiemore is there. I saw him go 
 down the forward companion." 
 
 The mate, who had overheard me, was not 
 so slow to act as his captain. Stooping and 
 seizing the engineer by the collar, he began 
 slowly to drag him forward. Ji Ji, the third 
 engineer, and myself, closed up to cover 
 their retreat. But I knew it was a futile 
 effort. Quite a score of grinning fiends faced 
 us, and slowly but surely we were driven 
 back. 
 
 All this time the enemy kept up a fearful 
 jabbering, which had anything but a soothing 
 effect on the nerves, while the smiling Li 
 expended no inconsiderable quantity of wit 
 
240 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 upon us. Sometimes the jab of a knife came 
 mighty close ; sometimes an imprudent skull 
 tested the weight of our metal. But, happily, 
 there was no rush. They were so sure of 
 eventually getting us that they meant to incur 
 no risks, which wise policy of theirs we duly 
 appreciated. Indeed, I might say that our 
 admiration of Mr. Li’s caution was almost 
 intense. 
 
 Nevertheless we were slowly being driven 
 into a corner. Forward of the after deck¬ 
 house was the main hatch, and forward of 
 that again was the winch. Just about here 
 was the clearest space of the whole deck. 
 Here the pirates seized the opportunity to 
 surround us, and surround us they did till 
 we were pressed back upon the rail. Further 
 movement was now entirely out of the ques¬ 
 tion, unless we took a back somersault over¬ 
 board. Truly a case of between the devil 
 and the deep sea. 
 
 Ji Ji, the third, and myself still stood on 
 guard, the captain and mate with the wounded 
 engineer being behind us. We smote hard 
 whenever a chance offered ; but recognising 
 the hopelessness of our position, my interest 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 241 
 
 in the affair began to wane. Perhaps I was 
 tired, perhaps I had lost more blood than 
 was good for me ; at all events, I was gradu¬ 
 ally losing all zest in the affair, and once 
 or twice I found myself striking aimlessly, 
 with no particular intention to hurt. 
 
 This frightened me. I knew what was 
 coming, and forthwith braced myself for a 
 last effort. I was just on the point of turn¬ 
 ing to the captain to tell him that he must 
 prepare for a final rush, when I beheld the 
 runaway Craigiemore emerge from the for¬ 
 ward companion. In his hand he held the 
 big brass nozzle of our fire-hose, and as I 
 looked I saw him haul several lengths of hose 
 up on deck. My heart gave a quick beat, and 
 I turned giddy with wonder. 
 
 As soon as he was observed, about five 
 or six of the pirates rushed towards him 
 with a yell. He saw them coming and his 
 head flew into the companion-way. Then 
 came his big voice in its broadest Scotch, 
 “ Noo ! ” 
 
 Immediately facing about, he pointed the 
 hose fair at the rascals. They fell back, ex¬ 
 pecting they knew not what. A few moments 
 
 Q 
 
2J-2 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 of intense anxiety followed. Every eye was 
 turned upon the redoubtable Scot who stood 
 there, a grim smile on his grimy face, hold¬ 
 ing in check those desperate ruffians by the 
 sheer power of moral force. 
 
 Then Li Chee, who as usual was the first 
 to recover his senses, shouted out something 
 in his shrillest and most authoritative tones, 
 and the men forward at once made a move 
 on Craigiemore. But their former irresolu¬ 
 tion proved to be his salvation. Before they 
 had advanced a couple of paces I saw the 
 hose shake violently : the next moment the 
 wind came hissing through the nozzle, and 
 then followed a huge jet of water and steam 
 which thoroughly drenched the miscreants. 
 Immediately the air was filled with the most 
 fearful shrieks imaginable, and the would-be 
 murderers turned and fled aft, as though the 
 devil himself were at their heels. Nor did 
 they stop for a second, once they reached 
 the after-rail, but springing upon it, some 
 took headers into the sea, while others clam¬ 
 bered down the ropes into the junks. 
 
 The fellows, who up till now had guarded 
 us, seeing the formidable Craigiemore ap- 
 
Craigiemore puts out the Fire 243 
 
 proach, the streaming hose in his hand, turned 
 like one man and fled ; but not so quickly 
 as to escape entirely the scalding flood. The 
 same mad confusion followed ; the same wild 
 shrieks split the air. Some jumped into the 
 sea as before, others swung themselves down 
 by the ropes. In an incredibly short space 
 of time there was not a single pirate left 
 aboard us. 
 
 Craigiemore passed us with a grin. 
 
 “ It’s verra curious," he said, “how much 
 these dirty vermin hate warm water." And 
 so he marched on aft, for he had not done 
 yet. 
 
 Leaning over the side I saw that the ut¬ 
 most confusion prevailed aboard the junks, the 
 crews of which seemed even more eager to 
 get away from us than they had been to 
 come. The lashings were slashed, the sails 
 hurriedly hoisted : even long oars were got 
 out to push off from our hateful side. But 
 quick as they were, they could not escape 
 the vengeful Craigiemore with his dreadful 
 hose. Now into one junk he turned it, now 
 into another, till to escape him half the men 
 leaped overboard, while the other half cowered 
 
2 44 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 shrieking under every available piece of cover. 
 So terrible was the confusion, so great the 
 agony they endured, that I was not sorry 
 when the wind at length caught them, and 
 carried them beyond his reach. I did not 
 expect any further danger from that quarter. 
 Craigiemore had put out the fire. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 AFTERWARDS 
 
 As soon as Craigiemore saw that there was 
 nothing more to be feared from the enemy, 
 he dropped the hose rather sharply and let 
 its boiling flood pour over the side. As he 
 came towards us he kept chafing his hands, 
 which I saw were boiled as red as a lobster, 
 What he must have suffered while holding that 
 hose no one but himself will ever know. 
 
 “Weel, Quenton," he said—and I could see 
 the proud boyish smile breaking out all over 
 his dirty face—“ye never kenned the power of 
 a hot bath, did ye ? ” 
 
 “You've done well, Craigiemore," said the 
 old man. “ I shall not forget the service." 
 
 “Ooch, Captain Castle," said he, “ye mustna 
 speak of it. Once given the suggestion, it was 
 a verra seemple matter. You must thank the 
 second mate for the suggestion," he added in a 
 meaning tone. 
 
 2 45 
 
2/1 Captain Castle 
 
 Yhe captain looked at me. It was a singular 
 thing, but fate seemed to insist upon his being 
 always in my debt. 
 
 “ I think Mr. Quenton and I understand each 
 other better,” he said. 
 
 “ Indeed, I hope so, sir ; but I am sorry to 
 say that I myst disclaim all responsibility for 
 this.” 
 
 “ Oot, man," said Craigiemore, “ did you no 
 suggest that I should use the engines or 
 boilers ? Weel, don’t ye see, I couldna use 
 the engines, so I just went and made use o' 
 the boilers.” 
 
 “And good use too,” laughed the captain,who, 
 now that all immediate danger was passed, 
 seemed to come round like a vane. “ But just 
 now you shouted to some one below ? ” 
 
 Craigiemore smiled. “ Eh, to be sure. An 
 apprentice o’ mine, captain; ” and without 
 further explanation he walked forward to the 
 companion and called down it. A moment or 
 two after Mrs. Castle emerged, her white dress 
 smeared with coal and grease, her soft white 
 hands almost as dirty as the engineer’s. 
 
 Craigiemore did not speak, none of us 
 spoke ; but her husband seized her by both 
 
Afterwards 
 
 2 47 
 
 hands, and looked as he must have looked in 
 the days of his wooing. As he led her away 
 aft her eyes met mine, and something seemed 
 to tell me that she was seeking my approval. 
 If eyes can speak you may be sure she did 
 not seek in vain. 
 
 We carried the chief engineer below and 
 put him to bed. He was still unconscious, 
 suffering from a severe blow on the head, 
 and though we had no doctor aboard to give 
 us a correct diagnosis, I knew that the poor 
 little man was in a bad way. However, we 
 did what we could for him, and then set 
 about putting our own house in order ; nor 
 was it till we came to examine ourselves that 
 we had any idea of the extent or nature of 
 our injuries. Still, we washed them carefully, 
 and then each in turn anointed the other. 
 
 When 1 again went up on deck I found that 
 the wind from the south-west had freshened 
 considerably, and that the three junks were 
 lying well down on the eastern horizon. It 
 was a pleasant sight, though I knew that their 
 occupants must still be suffering the agonies 
 of the scalded. I prayed that Li Chee might 
 change his ways with his new skin. 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 248 
 
 Forward, stretched out, lay the third mate, 
 the knife that had brought him down still 
 sticking in his side. He was, of course, quite 
 dead. That we knew before going below; 
 but it was a sad thing to see him lying there, 
 a young man still in his early twenties. I 
 pulled the knife out of him and tossed the 
 hideous thing overboard : then reverently 
 covered him with an old piece of sailcloth. 
 In time he too would follow the knife. 
 
 The after deck was in a shocking state of 
 dirt and confusion, while here and there 
 were huddled at least half-a-dozen dead bodies. 
 These I picked up and flung over the side, and 
 then, getting a bucket, well washed the decks. 
 By this time I could scarcely stand, while to 
 keep my eyes open required an effort of 
 which I was no longer capable. 
 
 When I awoke the next morning the sun 
 was well up, and though I knew myself to 
 be in full possession of all my faculties, 
 for which I devoutly thanked God, I was so 
 fearfully stiff in every joint that for a time I 
 could not move. But I recollect it was a de¬ 
 licious sort of helplessness, the mild twinges 
 of pain producing a rather agreeable sensa- 
 
Afterwards 
 
 2 49 
 
 tion. What had been done aboard the Corea 
 that night I had not the remotest idea, but if 
 a watch had been set I am perfectly certain 
 no one could have kept it. 
 
 Relieved somewhat by this thought I began 
 to chafe my nether limbs, and presently had 
 the satisfaction of being able to throw them 
 over the bunk. The rest was comparatively 
 easy, and in a little while I was able to 
 scramble up on deck. Once there, my first 
 thought was to look out for the junks ; but 
 they were nowhere to be seen. Indeed there 
 seemed to be no living thing on the water but 
 ourselves. But the wind was blowing very 
 hard, and the sea looked angry and threaten¬ 
 ing. The old ship swung to and fro with a 
 gentle, easy motion, and as the wind swept 
 through my hair and clothes I felt glad that I 
 was alive, though on board the Corea. 
 
 I took a few turns up and down aft, but no 
 one appearing, 1 filled my pipe and strolled 
 forward, sitting just under the bridge. Save 
 for an occasional harsh shriek of the wind, 
 and the low drowsy hum of breaking seas, 
 it was strangely lonesome sitting there with 
 my thoughts. No throb of the engines, which 
 
250 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 had kept me company for so many long 
 hours ; no sight or sound of anything human : 
 a deserted ship and the great melancholy 
 waters all around. The bridge looked but 
 the skeleton of a real bridge : even the great 
 anchors forward had a lonesome, desolate 
 look about them which no self - respecting 
 anchors should have. The funnel, never a 
 thing of beauty, had become encrusted with 
 salt, which gave it that uncared-for, plain¬ 
 tive look which is the despair of a tidy 
 officer. 
 
 Heigho ! I sighed consumedly as 1 pulled 
 away at my old bull-dog. I watched the wind 
 catch the blue smoke and whirl it overboard. 
 I saw some quaint shapes in the smoke, some 
 interesting ones too : white faces and strange 
 dark eyes. 
 
 Poof! Surely I suffered yet from that 
 vicious blow on the head. How else was I to 
 account for such foolish dreaming ? What 
 had I to do with white faces and strange dark 
 eyes ? I was only the second mate aboard 
 the Corea , and she was little better than a 
 derelict. 
 
 I looked up, angry with myself, and there 
 
Afterwards 
 
 25 1 
 
 stood the excellent Ji Ji, a steaming cup of 
 coffee in his hand, a smile on his amiable 
 face. 
 
 “ Mas'r better ?” he inquired. 
 
 “ Quite, thank you, Ji. And you ? ” 
 
 He tossed his head disdainfully at the mere 
 absurdity of the question. 
 
 “Ji always too muchee well.” 
 
 “A good failing, Ji : see that you cultivate 
 it.” 
 
 At that moment Craigiemore dragged 
 himself round the corner and came towards 
 
 us. 
 
 “Hollo — cawfee ! ” he cried. “Just run 
 awa’, laddie, and fetch me a wee drap.” 
 
 Ji smiled and went forward : Craigiemore 
 came and sat beside me. His face, which 
 could not have had less than a dozen cuts on 
 it, looked picturesquely sad and ugly in the 
 early day, for where it had no sticking-plaister 
 it was smeared with ointment. Under such 
 conditions it is scarcely necessary to say that 
 he looked anything but well, though when I 
 mentioned that self-evident fact he grew ex¬ 
 ceedingly irritable. 
 
 “ Well, Quenton,' I can't say that you look 
 
252 Captain Castle 
 
 much of a beauty yourself/' he answered 
 sourly. “ You've something down that left 
 cheek of yours that will take the conceit out 
 of you for many a day to come." 
 
 “You misunderstand me, you battered bag¬ 
 pipe. I wasn't thinking of your beauty, which 
 was always a myth, but your health, you 
 Sawney." 
 
 “ Ah, weel noo," said he, relapsing into his 
 native dialect, “ why did ye no mention it afore ? 
 Dinna ye ken, Quenton, that I'm in no sae 
 muckle bad way ? But ye look terrible 
 pale, man, and nane sa sprightie as I've seen 
 ye." 
 
 “ I shan't cry, Craigiemore, but I may go 
 precious near it." 
 
 “ Oot, man, an' ye cry I'll wallop the life 
 oot o' ye—if I dinna cry too muckle mysel'. 
 But here comes that hideous heathen wi' the 
 cawfee. Ji, ye dour son o' the fag-end o' a 
 yellow fever, do ye ken me ain borinie Scote- 
 land ? " 
 
 Ji, who had handed him the coffee, looked 
 down into the engineer's battered face and 
 smiled his idiotic yellow smile. 
 
 “ No sabbee." 
 
Afterwards 
 
 253 
 
 “ Do ye ken the Bruce ? ” 
 
 “ No sabbee,” said ]i. 
 
 “Nor the Wallace, ye pig-eyed blastie ?” 
 
 “No sabbee,” said Ji. 
 
 “Then, man, do ye ken the Battle o' Ban¬ 
 nockburn ? ” 
 
 “No sabbee/’ murmured the imperturbable 
 chow. 
 
 The Scot was at his wits’ end. He took 
 a long gulp at the coffee : then his eye 
 brightened. 
 
 “ Perhaps, ye saffron-faced cuckoo, ye ken 
 one Rabbie Bur-rns ? ” 
 
 Ji smiled sweetly. 
 
 “No sabbee Labbie Bul-luns.” 
 
 Craigiemore dropped his head with a sigh. 
 His patriotism had received a rude shock. 
 That there lived a man, even a heathen, who 
 did not know all about Scotland and the 
 Battle of Bannockburn was nothing less than 
 a calamity. 
 
 Though I was in no mood for joking, 1 
 couldn’t help completing Craigiemore’s con¬ 
 fusion. 
 
 “ Ji, you sabbee England ?” 
 
 “ Plenty sabbee England,” said the yellow 
 
2 54 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 man. u England welly gleat countly : plenty 
 soldier man, plenty ship. Queen Wictolia 
 plenty lich." 
 
 “Oot, ye yellow baboon/' cried the engineer, 
 “dinna ye ken that we crushed England at 
 the Battle o’ Bannockburn ?" 
 
 Ji smiled softly and amiably. 
 
 “ No sabbee clush," he said. 
 
 I laughed outright as Ji walked away, while 
 Craigiemore began moodily to fill his pipe. 
 Then presently he looked up at me and smiled, 
 or smiled as much as his stiff face would 
 allow. 
 
 “ Quenton, they say it takes a Scot a long 
 time to see a joke ; but he's nae sa hopeless 
 if he gets there in the end." 
 
 It was a glorious day, and though I felt 
 delightfully sore after my late buffetings, I 
 thought it was some recompense to sit there 
 smoking in the sun. The breeze was ex¬ 
 tremely invigorating, and the sunshine seemed 
 to filter through my clothes right into my 
 body. I don't think I really knew how sweet 
 tobacco was till then. 
 
 After some moments of exquisite dreaming 
 I turned once more to the second engineer, 
 
Afterwards 255 
 
 who was busy picking the skin off his scalded 
 fingers. 
 
 “ By the way, how is Campbell ? ” 
 
 Craigiemore shook his head. 
 
 “ Campbell's nae sae well that I’d care to 
 change places wi' him. His nut was crackit 
 terrible bad.” 
 
 “ Serious, eh ? ” 
 
 “Weel now,” he murmured slowly, but 
 pointedly, “wad ye think it seerious if your 
 own nut was crackit ? ” 
 
 “Oh, but it takes such a lot to crack a 
 Scotchman’s skull.” 
 
 “Nae doot it’s nae so soft as an English¬ 
 man’s, but it’s nae sae hard as a cannon ball 
 neither. Campbell’s in a bad way. Deleerium, 
 I’m thinkin'. It was an awfu’ hard blow, 
 Quenton, and Campbell’s brain, after twenty 
 years o’ hard drinkin’, is not as firm as it was. 
 Now, had it been you or me-” 
 
 “At any rate, I can answer for you.” 
 
 Craigiemore laughed loudly as he answered, 
 “ Ay, that ye can, laddie, that ye can, nae 
 doot.” He was like a great boy who has 
 been given a holiday, and who, unconsciously, 
 is glad that he is alive. To hear him air his 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 256 
 
 feeble wit, and mark his odd vanity, one would 
 scarcely imagine that he was the Craigiemore 
 of such courage and resource. 
 
 Later on, when the captain appeared on 
 deck, I made my way aft, for I had not for¬ 
 gotten his wife's promise that I would go 
 below again when all danger was over. He 
 sat in his long chair, his wife by his side. 
 She, I thought, looked extremely pale and 
 fatigued ; but he seemed to have recovered 
 himself in a wonderful manner. His face 
 looked clearer and more cheerful : his mous¬ 
 tache had something of its early curl. 
 
 He looked up eagerly as I advanced, and 
 interrogated me with a smile. 
 
 “ I want to know, sir, if it is your wish 
 that I should still consider myself under 
 arrest ?" 
 
 He stroked his moustache affectionately, 
 and after hesitating a few moments graciously 
 replied, "No, I don’t think so. I must admit 
 you have won your liberty.” 
 
 “ Thank you, sir.” 
 
 “ By the way, what has become of the 
 debris ? ” 
 
 I pointed overboard. He smiled. 
 
Afterwards 
 
 2 57 
 
 “ By George, it was a tight corner. But 
 how is Campbell ? ” 
 
 I told him all I had learned from Craigie- 
 more. 
 
 “ Poor little Campbell! ” he muttered. “ I 
 must go and see how the little beggar’s 
 coming along.” 
 
 With that he got up and set out for the 
 chief engineer’s room, while I was left face 
 to face with his wife. I don’t know why, but 
 when I looked into her eyes 1 felt as though I 
 had neither tongue nor intellect. It appeared 
 to me that she too was embarrassed, though 
 why she should be I could not fathom. 
 
 “ You are ill ?” I said, blurting it out in my 
 blunt, savage way. The fact is, I was never 
 quite myself when under the immediate influ¬ 
 ence of this woman. I think she sympathised 
 with me. At any rate she never resented my 
 rudeness. 
 
 “What makes you think so ?” 
 
 “You look it.” 
 
 “ Thank you.” 
 
 I could have bitten out my stupid tongue. 
 Seeing my confusion she smiled. 
 
 “ If I were, would that surprise you ?” 
 
 R 
 
258 Captain Castle 
 
 “ No : but I hope it may not be.” 
 
 She sighed and looked out over the sea. 
 She had a strange habit of staring away out 
 into the horizon as though she saw there 
 something more than sky and water. 
 
 “ It would not matter much.” 
 
 “ What would not ? ” 
 
 Her eyes met mine, and I thought they 
 were full of tears. 
 
 “ If I were to—die.” 
 
 “It would matter a great deal to some 
 people.” 
 
 “ No, you are quite wrong. It would matter 
 to nobody.” 
 
 I did not like to hear her talk in this miser¬ 
 able manner. A young woman, with her 
 whole life before her, to talk about dying, 
 was not to be tolerated—she who had passed 
 successfully through so much, who had proved 
 herself so worthy to live. 
 
 “There is nothing before me but a long 
 life of labour, of labour too which is not 
 entirely without its hardship and danger, and 
 yet I have no wish to die.” 
 
 “Nor I, Mr. Quenton. It is but an out¬ 
 burst of petty dissatisfaction. I know you 
 
Afterwards 
 
 259 
 
 think me ungrateful; perhaps I am. Some¬ 
 times I think I show gratitude enough for 
 what I get; perhaps you think I don't. 
 Perhaps, too, you don’t understand.” 
 
 Did I ? Sometimes I thought so ; occasion¬ 
 ally I censured myself freely for the thought. 
 Certain I was that her marriage with Captain 
 Castle was a hideous mistake. Unfortunate 
 in her choice, she had been doubly unfortu¬ 
 nate in seeing that choice under the most dis¬ 
 advantageous of circumstances. If she were 
 a woman of spirit, as I fully believed, how 
 could she be other than shocked and humili¬ 
 ated ? It was most distressing to see her thus 
 cast down, she who had faced the dangers 
 with a cooler head and a calmer pulse than 
 any among us. It seemed as though action 
 and danger were as the breath of life to her. 
 When she sat down to think, she was a 
 wretched woman. 
 
 Well, I could do nothing even if I would. 
 After all, she had married Castle with her 
 eyes open, and if he had turned out other 
 than she expected, perhaps under different 
 circumstances he might have shown to more 
 advantage. It is no easy matter to be genial 
 
260 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 in adversity. At least, such is the way I 
 argued with myself. But then I was not a 
 woman and bound to him. If I had been, I 
 wonder what I would have done ? 
 
 That night, or rather early the next morn¬ 
 ing, Campbell the chief engineer died. The 
 blow he received had given him concussion 
 of the brain, and it might be said that he 
 never regained consciousness. Craigiemore 
 made his shroud, and then he and I bore him 
 up on deck. We held no funeral service of 
 any description, as there was not such a thing 
 as a prayer-book on board ; but as we tipped 
 him over the side, Craigiemore said in a loud 
 solemn voice, “ God be wi’ ye, Campbell,” to 
 which I responded, "Amen.” 
 
 Then just as the sun shot up out of the east 
 the body of the engineer sank beneath the 
 
 waves. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 A NEW TERROR 
 
 Red and angry rose the sun, shot with ugly 
 black bars of cloud, and shortly after his 
 appearance the monsoon began to blow. A 
 fair fresh breeze at first, it gradually increased 
 in vehemence, till about noon we got it in full 
 force. The sea rose roughly as if at a pre¬ 
 concerted signal, and the helpless old vessel 
 once more began to pitch and toss. Long 
 black streamers of clouds angrily tore them¬ 
 selves in strips across the sky, while squall 
 upon squall of rain came rushing along, trans¬ 
 forming the face of the heavens and beating 
 the ugly green sea into a still uglier green. 
 The sun peeped in and out at odd intervals, 
 sometimes with a sickly yellow smile, at others 
 with a hard black look of fury. The sea, now 
 driven white with anger, flung itself savagely 
 against us till we reeled beneath the impetus 
 
262 Captain Castle 
 
 of the shock. Nor did the night bring any ces¬ 
 sation of the fury of this attack ; but all through 
 the drear black hours the thump, thump, 
 thump of the seas went on, the shrieking of 
 the wind, and the groaning of the ship. 
 
 For seven full days and nights we knew not 
 a moment’s respite. How we managed to get 
 through the time would be difficult to say. Ji 
 Ji was advanced to the post of cook, and I 
 may add that I did not fare badly in con¬ 
 sequence, though our meals partook more of 
 the nature of a scramble than anything else. 
 Craigiemore and the third engineer, forsaking 
 their beloved machinery, were enrolled as 
 deck officers, and throughout those long days 
 and nights kept watch with me, the chief mate 
 rarely honouring the bridge. Occasionally 
 the captain poked his nose up for a few 
 minutes; but this was only on rare occasions, 
 when the atmosphere below almost stifled 
 him. Then I knew by his watery eyes and 
 the uncertain quivering of his protruding 
 under lip that he had been at the bottle again. 
 Well, I hardly blamed him. Sometimes, when 
 the outlook appeared its blackest, I felt as 
 though I would like to join him. After all, 
 
A New Terror 263 
 
 there was warmth and comfort, and a delicious 
 sort of oblivion in drink. For a man who no 
 longer considered appearances, the bottle was 
 a glorious friend. 
 
 Of the captain’s wife I saw next to nothing. 
 Indeed I did not see her at all for something 
 like four days. Then she crept up to the lee 
 side of the deck-house, and for a while held 
 on to the rail ; but the weather was too 
 stormy, the rain too incessant to prolong the 
 gloomy view. 
 
 I escorted her back to the door, and I 
 thought she looked absolutely like a dying 
 woman. Her face was distressingly pale, 
 which the dark blue under her eyes seemed 
 to accentuate : her eyes themselves had ia 
 bright uncanny glare in them which was 
 positively painful to witness. 
 
 “ You are ill ? ” I said. 
 
 “Oh no.” 
 
 I believe she would have said, “ Oh no,” 
 had she been on her death-bed. Had she 
 complained more she might have been more 
 of a woman and thus gained more consolation, 
 though I doubt if she would have gained such 
 consolation as was now awarded her. Still, I 
 
264 Captain Castle 
 
 wanted no admission of illness. The truth 
 was written upon her face with horrible 
 distinctness. 
 
 “ Mr. Quenton," she said, “do you believe 
 our troubles will ever end ? " 
 
 My own impression was that troubles never 
 end this side of the grave, and, if the Scrip¬ 
 tures be true, not always then ; but I told her 
 in my philosophical way that what we call 
 trouble is a mere myth, that the thing does 
 not exist, or if it does it is but a morbid sort 
 of vanity. Some people find their only pleasure 
 in imagination, which, taking a melancholy 
 turn, renders its possessor ecstatic. 
 
 She smiled. Had I been her husband she 
 probably would have called me a fool. 
 
 “ I know you better than you imagine/’ she 
 said. “Why do you always try to be some¬ 
 body else ? " 
 
 “ Perhaps there is a reason for that too." 
 
 “Tell me." 
 
 Not feeling much at home I tried to hide 
 my confusion in a smile ; but I was already 
 conscious of a pair of dark, eager eyes which 
 seemed to penetrate to my inmost thoughts. 
 How could I tell her ? 
 
A New Terror 265 
 
 “ I dare not. You would think me vainer 
 than I am." 
 
 “ Well then," she admitted, a sad little smile 
 playing nervously round the corners of her 
 mouth, “there is no such thing as trouble, 
 and the Corea is the easiest and most luxurious 
 ship that ever sailed the seas." 
 
 “ I wouldn’t contradict you for the world." 
 
 For seven days, as I have said, the gale blew 
 with great fury, but on the morning of the 
 eighth it abated somewhat, and we were able 
 to get about on deck without the constant fear 
 of being washed overboard. So far we had 
 passed fairly well through the ordeal, though 
 towards the end of it the third engineer began 
 to complain of certain inward pains, coupled 
 with a most feverish burning of the body. 
 I did not like the look of him myself, the fact 
 that his wounds had not properly healed being 
 in my opinion an extremely bad sign. However, 
 no one seemed to think the case a serious 
 one, and I tried to think with the others. But 
 when one morning the poor fellow was too ill 
 to get up, I admit to much uneasy imagining. 
 
 “ What’s the matter wi’ ye, Alick ?" said 
 Craigiemore, who came in just as I was giving 
 
266 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 the poor chap a little bit of something to eat. 
 “ Ye're no so awfu' sick, man ? ” 
 
 “ Nay, Jamie," said the man, “ I'm nae sick 
 at a’, [ust a wee bit knockit oot, ye ken ! " 
 
 “ Oot! " repeated Craigiemore; “ what hae ye 
 been doin', man, that ye should be knockit 
 oot ? " 
 
 “Naething, Jamie. It's just the burnin' 
 sores that willna mend." 
 
 “ Pish, Alick, man," said the second engineer, 
 “ what's a sore ? " 
 
 “ It's nae the sore, don't ye ken : it's just 
 the mendin’ what troubles me. Ye ken, 
 Jamie, I'm no complainin', man ; but I’m no 
 so muckle fond o' me bed as some o' ye may 
 think." 
 
 It was a brave struggle ; but the pathos and 
 pain in the wide brown eyes could not be 
 hidden. 
 
 “Nay, nay, laddie," said the engineer softly, 
 “ I ken a' aboot it. Gang to sleep an ye can. 
 Verra soon, I'm thinkin’, we shall a' be safely 
 at anchor." 
 
 I thought so too, though he might have 
 added, with all steam shut off. 
 
 I went below to report the case to the 
 
A New Terror 267 
 
 captain, who questioned me very closely, not 
 so much, I think, through compassion for the 
 sick man, as to learn definitely if the symp¬ 
 toms were those of fever. I feared they were, 
 and told him so, though I could not tell its 
 name. 
 
 “ Tell him how sorry I am,” said the old 
 man, u and that I hope he'll soon pull round." 
 
 His wife, who was in the saloon at the 
 time, followed me up on deck to put a few 
 more questions. Did I really think the third 
 engineer was seriously ill ? I replied, undoubt¬ 
 edly. He had been really ill for some days 
 without complaining : now he could no longer 
 hide the fact. She listened to me very atten¬ 
 tively : then thanked me and went below. 
 
 The first thing I did after I had finished my 
 watch on deck was to descend to the sick 
 man's cabin, and there, to my great surprise, 
 and, I may add, delight, I discovered Mrs. 
 Castle. She was sitting near the foot of the 
 bunk, a book in her hand from which she was 
 reading aloud. The man's hot eyes were 
 fixed intently upon her cool white face ; his 
 lips were parted in a happy smile. The book 
 was glorious “ Westward Ho," the chapter that 
 
268 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 which describes the fight between the English 
 mastiffs and the Spanish bloodhounds. 
 
 “ Ay," murmured the sick man, “ but they 
 were braw laddies, they were braw laddies." 
 
 Then my shadow fell athwart the door and 
 the reading ceased. The sick man favoured 
 me with a reproachful look. 
 
 “ Pray go on," I said, for I had heard some 
 of the tones of that voice, and wished to hear 
 more. 
 
 She looked at me and smiled. Then turn¬ 
 ing to the engineer, said, “ I must not tire 
 you, Mr. Cameron." 
 
 “Nay, nay, ye canna tire me," he protested. 
 “ It's a heavenly fight, ye ken, and your voice 
 is just like sweet music. I wadna miss the 
 end o’ this for twa bawbees." 
 
 If she had hesitated for a moment she could 
 not possibly hesitate any longer. What greater 
 compliment could the engineer have paid to 
 her skill in reading, or the interest of the 
 story ? So on she read to the glorious finish, 
 and the magnetic thrill in her voice set me 
 throbbing from head to foot. As for the 
 invalid, he grew so fearfully excited that in 
 my heart I censured her choice of subject, 
 
A New Terror 269 
 
 though I could have stood there in the door¬ 
 way and listened to her for ever. 
 
 When she was gone I put a few hurried 
 questions to the sick man, and learned from 
 him how she had come and announced her 
 intention of nursing him. Even as I looked 
 about the poor little cabin I saw many traces 
 of her presence. The place, though bare, 
 had a neat, tidy appearance which was quite 
 foreign to it, while round the port and over 
 the doorway she had hung some kind of soft 
 muslin curtains. Indeed the poor fellow con¬ 
 fessed that when he opened his heavy eyes 
 and saw her moving about the room, a white 
 sweet creature in a soft white dress, he in¬ 
 dulged in some extremely fanciful reflections. 
 
 But notwithstanding her almost unexampled 
 attention to her self-imposed duty, the patient 
 sank rapidly, so rapidly that his death came 
 like a shock. 
 
 It was during the middle watch, which I 
 still continued to keep. The captain was fast 
 asleep below, every one was snoring soundly— 
 every one but the captain's wife and the dying 
 man. Every few minutes, after taking a good 
 look round, I bobbed down to see how the 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 270 
 
 patient was progressing. He had been in a 
 fierce delirium for several hours, but it had 
 worn itself out and he now lay dying. 
 
 As I stood in the doorway I looked the 
 question—How is he ? She shook her head 
 sadly. I was shocked to see how ill she 
 looked. 
 
 “Go to bed,” I whispered. “At any rate, 
 go and lie down. You look fagged to death. 
 If he takes a turn for the worse I will call 
 you.” 
 
 “No, I would rather stay.” 
 
 “You will let me stay with you ?” 
 
 “ If you like.” 
 
 It was not a long watch after all. About 
 an hour before daybreak the sick man moved. 
 Then, with his eyes glued to the deck above 
 him, he began to mutter softly to himself. 
 Leaning close over him I distinctly heard him 
 whisper, “ Doon by the burnie, lass, doon 
 there by the burnie.” Poor fellow, he was 
 home again in far-off Scotland, perhaps a boy 
 playing with his sister in the fields : perhaps 
 a lover walking with his lass. Whatever it was, 
 he smiled, and I knew he was happy. 
 
 Well, we gave him as decent a burial as we 
 
A New Terror 
 
 271 
 
 had given his chief, but neither the captain 
 nor the mate attended the ceremony, nor 
 would they in any way approach the dead 
 man for fear of infection. Indeed, so fearful 
 was the former of contracting the disease, 
 that he would not allow his wife to come near 
 him till she had thrown all her nursing clothes 
 overboard, and in various other ways freed 
 herself of contagion. As for Craigiemore and 
 me, we were regarded as men already infected 
 and warned to keep our distance. Nor would 
 the old man even allow me to pass to wind¬ 
 ward of him, while the mate, taking his tone 
 from the master, bore himself with the affec¬ 
 tation of an idiot. 
 
 As yet I was not certain that the illness 
 from which Cameron had died was contagious. 
 Sometimes I thought it was cholera, or a sort 
 of enteric fever. But I could not absolutely 
 know, though I heard that he had shown some 
 symptoms of it. Certain it is that I suffered 
 much anxiety during the next forty hours or 
 so. Then came that which I feverishly ex¬ 
 pected, yet dreaded so much to hear. 
 
 The mate, who notwithstanding his exces¬ 
 sive drinking was gradually losing colour and 
 
272 Captain Castle 
 
 flesh, approached me with a look of blank 
 dismay on his ugly face. 
 
 “ My God, Quenton,” he began, “ this is a 
 nice go ! ” 
 
 “What is ?” I asked, anxious and yet afraid 
 to hear. 
 
 “The captain’s wife is laid up, and the old 
 man's afraid to go near her.” 
 
 “Afraid !” 
 
 “Well, you see, she’s picked up that com¬ 
 plaint that killed the engineer. I believe it’s 
 cholera, and so does the old man, and it’s 
 beastly catching. She was told not to go 
 forward, but you might as well shout to the 
 wind as tell a woman not to do anything. 
 The devil take it, we have had nothing but 
 trouble since she came aboard.” 
 
 I could not argue with a man who took this 
 view of the situation. Moreover, I felt too 
 full of anxiety to argue. It was hard that 
 she should suffer thus for her goodness ; but 
 hardest of all was the thought that her husband 
 dared not approach her. 
 
 “ Some one must attend to her,” I said. 
 “ She cannot be allowed to lie there and die.” 
 
 “Well,” he replied, “if you’re willing to 
 
A New Terror 
 
 2 73 
 
 risk it you’re welcome to the office. But you 
 must carry her forward and keep there.” 
 
 “ Are those the captain’s orders ? ” 
 
 “The suggestion was mine : the old man 
 thought it a good one. But, Quenton, much 
 as we have misunderstood each other, I must 
 warn you of the danger.” 
 
 “Thanks. I must risk it.” 
 
 The thought came to me that I would make 
 a hospital of my room, and though eager as 
 I was to see her, I first went there and made 
 things as shipshape and comfortable as I 
 could. 
 
 Near the after companion I met the captain. 
 He had a cigar in his mouth, and at the first 
 glance appeared to be his usual self; but a 
 closer scrutiny disclosed the fact that he had 
 changed much during the last three weeks. 
 The flesh about his face had sunken into dark, 
 ominous-looking wrinkles : his eyes appeared 
 to have sunk back a quarter of an inch. When 
 he addressed me he hesitated like a man who 
 scarcely knows what he is saying. 
 
 “You have spoken to the mate ?” 
 
 “ Yes, sir.” 
 
 “Then recollect—I will allow no communi- 
 
 s 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 274 
 
 cation between the fore and after parts of the 
 ship." 
 
 I dared not speak, even though my indigna¬ 
 tion tried its hardest to choke me. Truly 
 Captain Castle was a man of great surprises. 
 
 “ But, sir, the lady is your wife." 
 
 “Yes, I know. That’s why I wish to avoid 
 her. She’d give it to me for spite." 
 
 I bit my tongue and went below without 
 another word, though I admit I felt ashamed 
 of my silence. Yet what sense is there in 
 dashing one’s head against a stone wall ? 
 
 She was in her room, lying on the settee 
 beneath the port, her white face pressed hard 
 on the crimson velvet of the cushion. She 
 wore a loose cream dressing-gown, a soft sweet 
 thing, a mass of ribbons and laces. 
 
 I think she must have been asleep when I 
 entered, for she never so much as raised an 
 eyelid to let me know that she was aware of 
 my presence. So I stood quite still watching 
 her sweet face and waiting for her to wake. 
 Fancy being afraid to come near her ! But 
 no, it was no use thinking. Fancy utterly failed 
 to comprehend the soul of Captain Castle. 
 
 At last her eyes opened, and when she saw 
 
A New Terror 
 
 2 75 
 
 me a faint flush stole into her white face. I 
 held out my hand and she pressed it kindly. 
 
 “ I am so glad you have come,” she whis¬ 
 pered. “ I was afraid everybody had deserted 
 me.” 
 
 “ How could you think so ? " 
 
 “ They told me I had the plague : that I was 
 a source of danger to everybody on board. 
 If I only had had the strength to get up on 
 deck I would have thrown myself into the 
 sea." 
 
 “ Hush ! you do not know what you are 
 saying. How long have you been like this?" 
 
 “ Longer than anybody knows. I believe I 
 am even worse now than I was before I went 
 to sleep. But it's so good of you to come. I 
 wanted to see you before—before I went." 
 
 She seemed to wring every fibre of my 
 being. My brain whirled, my blood ran hot 
 and cold in sickening rushes. 
 
 “For God’s sake, hush!" I whispered. “There 
 is nothing to fear. You are fatigued — ex¬ 
 hausted. A little rest, and you will be quite 
 well again. This cabin is close, oppressive." 
 
 “It is horrible !" she murmured. “ It is full 
 
 of him!' 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 276 
 
 I winced, though I ought to have had no 
 cause. 
 
 * “ If I could only prevail upon you to make 
 use of mine.” 
 
 “ But you ? ” 
 
 “ Oh, there are plenty of empty cabins now.” 
 
 “Yes,” she said, “isn't it awful!” Then 
 she added under her breath, “There will soon 
 be another one.” 
 
 This I pretended not to hear. Much as I 
 liked her, I could not indulge her in such 
 deplorable sentiments. 
 
 “ I have only one wish now,” she said ; 
 “ that I may die soon.” 
 
 “ Why should you wish that ? ” 
 
 “Think of the trouble I shall be if I have 
 a lingering illness.” 
 
 “ You are cruel.” 
 
 She opened wide her eyes. 
 
 “Would you be sorry—you ?” 
 
 “ Yes.” 
 
 “ Why ? ” 
 
 “ Because you have been my good friend, 
 and—and because I want you to live.” 
 
 She was too weak to stand, so I had to 
 carry her. As I emerged from the companion 
 
A New Terror 277 
 
 way I saw the captain and the mate lounging 
 over against the weather rail. The former, 
 feeling, no doubt, a momentary throb of com¬ 
 punction, moved as though to advance, but 
 the mate held him back. I passed on with 
 my precious charge. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 TWO BELLS 
 
 She brightened up wonderfully when she 
 found herself in my cabin, declaring that she 
 could breathe at last. I didn’t ask her what 
 she meant, but I was delighted to welcome 
 the sweet change in her. Then, after I had 
 made her a cup of beef essence, she talked 
 to me for a good hour, now as bright as the 
 sunshine on the sea outside, and now as 
 serious as the grave she believed she was 
 about to enter. During this time I learned 
 much of her personal history, for she seemed 
 exceedingly eager to make all clear to me. 
 By what I gathered she must have had rather 
 a hard time. 
 
 Born in Sydney, where her father at one 
 time had been a well-to-do merchant, she 
 had eventually migrated with an uncle to 
 Manilla, where she experienced many singular 
 
 278 
 
Two Bells 279 
 
 reverses of fortune. From Manilla she found 
 her way to Hong-Kong, and when she first 
 met Captain Castle she was companion in 
 the house of one of the owners of the Corea. 
 The Captain plied his suit assiduously, and 
 each time he came back from a voyage he 
 seemed to be but the more enamoured. ~ Per¬ 
 sistence won as it invariably does. She liked 
 him well enough to place her life in his 
 charge. Then there were ma. jther con¬ 
 siderations, which I understood v ell enough. 
 Of her husband’s true nature she had no ink¬ 
 ling till she stepped aboard his ship. 
 
 I listened to her recital, told as it was in 
 broken murmurs, with some very curious 
 sensations running through me. What a 
 shock to her must have been the discovery 
 of her husband’s real character ! And yet I 
 could not help thinking that she had been 
 especially unfortunate in coming on this par¬ 
 ticular voyage. That Captain Castle had 
 always been considered a violent man I knew 
 from certain things I heard aboard ; but those 
 who knew him best, never having seen him 
 under such trying conditions, guessed not 
 what he could be. Perhaps in the ordinary 
 
28o 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 way he would have passed muster. Given 
 certain conditions, one must not expect too 
 much. I admit I had no idea what manner 
 of man he really was, and in my own modest 
 way I rather prided myself on my powers of 
 observation ; therefore, making all due allow¬ 
 ances, I could not blame her at all. My own 
 opinion is, that the captain's behaviour sur¬ 
 prised no one more than the captain himself. 
 Yet what good ever came out of a whisky 
 bottle ? 
 
 Our position was now an extremely delicate 
 one, but, considering all things, I think she felt 
 it but little. She liked me, and trusted me, 
 and her face lit up whenever I entered the 
 cabin. Of her husband she never spoke, his 
 last act of cowardice having severed every 
 bond of sympathy between them. 
 
 But it would be profitless, perhaps tedious, 
 to narrate at length the course of her illness. 
 I feared how it would end ; and one morning, 
 just after four o'clock, as I descended from 
 my watch on deck, I saw that the end was 
 not far off. 
 
 She greeted me with a glad smile and a 
 warm pressure of the hand. 
 
Two Bells 
 
 281 
 
 “ I’m so glad you've come. Your watch is 
 over ? " 
 
 “ Yes." 
 
 “ Mine will be over soon." 
 
 Again I pretended not to understand her, a 
 course I invariably adopted whenever she in¬ 
 dulged in these gloomy insinuations. 
 
 “ You look better," I said, attempting to 
 infuse a little cheeriness into the remark. 
 “ Tell me, you have slept ? " 
 
 “ Sweetly ; and I am better." 
 
 “Ah, that’s the style. I told you things 
 were not as bad as you thought. Keep this 
 up and we shall have you on deck in a few 
 days now." It was an effort, but I’ll swear I 
 looked pleased, though I was never so near 
 crying in my life. 
 
 “ In less than a few days," she said. 
 
 Again I tried the blank look of misunder¬ 
 standing ; but oh the misery of it! In the 
 dull lamplight her poor face looked already 
 dead : but her eyes shone marvellously. She 
 was all eyes. 
 
 I fooled about trying to mix her a draught, 
 for I had taken over the medicine chest, and 
 with the aid of a doctor’s book had managed 
 
282 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 to mix various compounds ; but there was 
 such a devil of a mist in the cabin that I could 
 scarcely see. 
 
 A long silence followed, for she had sunk back 
 on the pillow with closed eyes and seemed to 
 sleep. I sat gazing at her, scarcely daring to 
 breathe. It was the most awesome watch that 
 I had ever kept. 
 
 After a long time she moved : her eyes 
 opened and rested on me. 
 
 “ Dick,” she whispered. 
 
 “ Yes : I am here.” 
 
 It seemed quite natural that she should call 
 me by my Christian name, though until then 
 I was not aware that she knew it. 
 
 She smiled sadly, almost imploringly. 
 
 u I have always called you Dick—to myself. 
 You are not angry ? ” 
 
 “ How could you think so ?” 
 
 “ Because I have no right to call you Dick ; 
 but you didn’t know, did you 1 ?” 
 
 “ I wish I had known.” 
 
 “ Then you will be sorry when—when—” I 
 think she must have seen the agony in my 
 face, for she added quickly, “You have been 
 very good to me. I shall never be able to 
 
Two Bells 283 
 
 repay you—but—but—” The tears welled up 
 in her eyes and she stopped, gasping. 
 
 “You distress yourself—and me.” 
 
 For a full minute or two she was silent : then 
 when she looked again at me her face bore the 
 softest, most delicious flush imaginable. 
 
 “ Dick,” she whispered again. 
 
 “Yes.” 
 
 “When I am gone, and there can no longer 
 be any harm in the act, will you—will you 
 just kiss me once ? ” 
 
 “ My dear ! ” 
 
 “ Ah ! ” 
 
 For a moment the woman in her conquered 
 all else. She drew my face down to her 
 breast. Just then the man on deck struck 
 two bells. 
 
 “ What’s that ? ” 
 
 “Two bells.” 
 
 “That means five o’clock ?” 
 
 “ Yes.” 
 
 “You will remember two bells ?” 
 
 “ Always.” 
 
 #- • • • • 
 
 Some two hours later I went aft to tell the 
 captain that his wife was dead. He was 
 
284 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 asleep, but to my persistent knocking at last 
 awoke and inquired surlily, “ Who’s there ?" 
 
 “ I—Quenton." 
 
 “ What do you want ? " he roared. “ Didn’t 
 I tell you to keep forward ?" 
 
 “ Yes, sir ; but I thought I ought to tell you 
 that-” 
 
 “ Curse you, go away ! " he snarled. “ Don’t 
 tell me anything. You breathe contagion, 
 I tell you. I’ll have nothing to do with 
 you." 
 
 “ But, sir, your wife-" 
 
 “ What ! Hasn't she gone yet ? " 
 
 “ She died two hours ago." 
 
 “Good God !” 
 
 I knew by the tone of his voice that he was 
 deeply affected, but whether it was terror at 
 the thought of the new death that had come 
 aboard us, or sorrow at her loss, I would not 
 like to say. 
 
 As I was turning away, his voice reached me. 
 
 “ Quenton !" 
 
 “ Sir." 
 
 “ See that everything is done decently—and 
 quickly." 
 
 “Yes. You would not like to see her ?" 
 
Two Bells 285 
 
 “ No, no ! I'm awfully sorry, but it wouldn’t 
 be safe." 
 
 I nearly let out something, but with difficulty 
 managed to suck it in between my teeth. At 
 any rate, she wouldn't know. 
 
 Craigiemore and I did all that was necessary. 
 Neither fevers nor plagues held any terrors 
 for him. 
 
 “ It's just this," he used to say in the blunt 
 way of his class, “ there's nae doot aboot it— 
 we’re a’ doomed : but I just ken that God’s 
 as much wi’ us as He is wi’ the angels 
 yonder." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE END OF THE VOYAGE 
 
 It was like fate that the next person to be 
 seized by the new terror should be the mate. 
 Despite the utmost precaution, and unlimited 
 quantities of whisky, the thing had seized^him 
 and struck him down. When the captain heard 
 of it he raved and foamed like one demented, 
 and, in his eagerness to ward off infection, 
 went and got villainously drunk. He had 
 but one cure for every ailment—whisky; and 
 now that necessity had prescribed that par¬ 
 ticular fluid he took it to excess. Nor was 
 he mean with it once he fully recognised 
 the dire straits into which we had fallen ; 
 but neither Craigiemore nor I was to be 
 tempted, notwithstanding a decided partiality 
 for a tot now and again. Sometimes we 
 mixed a little with our quinine, of which 
 drug I found a goodly quantity in the 
 
 286 
 
The End of the Voyage 287 
 
 medicine chest; but otherwise we would have 
 none of it. 
 
 Though, to be candid, to hear of the mate's 
 death would not have rendered me absolutely 
 inconsolable, I could not let him die without 
 such assistance or comfort as it was possible 
 for me to give. But when I approached him 
 he shrieked at me to go away, and then began 
 to jabber about irons, mutineers, and many 
 other things, all bearing on our past experi¬ 
 ences. I offered him some of our quinine 
 mixture ; but he no sooner tasted it than he 
 flung it at me, declaring I wanted to poison 
 him. I was sorry, of course, but I did not 
 love him well enough to care for his company 
 under such conditions. 
 
 As I emerged into the saloon from the 
 cabin I encountered the captain, and I saw 
 in a moment that he had been stricken with 
 the disease. 
 
 “ Keep off," he roared. “ By Heaven, I'll 
 kill you if you don't keep off!" 
 
 “ You distress yourself unnecessarily." 
 
 “What do you mean?" he thundered. 
 “ Back, keep back !" But it was he who 
 continued to advance, not I. 
 
288 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 “Need you ask what I mean ?” 
 
 Ashen as was his face it instantly grew more 
 like death. The fright alone almost killed him. 
 
 “ Do you mean—” He could not utter the 
 awful thought, but let it die in a sort of gurgle 
 between his lips. 
 
 “Precisely. The Terror has fastened on you.” 
 
 He threw up his arms with an awful shriek. 
 
 “ It’s a lie, an infernal lie ! ” he roared. 
 “ You are only saying that to frighten me. 
 You know it’s not true, Quenton,” he added 
 imploringly; “ my God, you know it’s not 
 true ! ” And all the time his pallid fingers 
 crawled nervously over his pallid face. 
 
 “ Perhaps not : at any rate let us hope not.” 
 
 “ I see what it is,” he went on ; “this is your 
 revenge, this is your way of paying me out. 
 But if you think I’m going like the others, you 
 make a great mistake. It’s a lie to say that 
 I’ve got the Terror ; its a lie to say that I’m 
 going. I haven’t got it, and I won’t go ; by 
 God, I won’t ! ” 
 
 I tried to pacify him, but it was useless. 
 
 • “ I know your game, you whining hound,” he 
 cried furiously, advancing upon me in a most 
 threatening manner. “You think if I go, that 
 
The End of the Voyage 289 
 
 you’ll escape my charge of insubordination; but 
 I won’t go. By God, I’ll live to spite you.” 
 
 “ I sincerely trust that you may live for a 
 nobler purpose.” 
 
 “ Oh yes, I know you, you canting hypo¬ 
 crite : I tell you, I know you. Whine and 
 snuffle as much as you please, but you won’t 
 take me in. You know very well that the 
 Terror has not got hold of me. Curse you 
 for a mischief-maker ! I tell you, you know 
 the Terror has not got hold of me.” 
 
 He made a vicious blow at my head, which, 
 however, I easily avoided. The man was 
 quite mad with drink and fear. As I retreated 
 he continued to advance. 
 
 “ I have an account to settle with you,” he 
 hissed, “an account of long standing. Ever 
 since you have been aboard this ship you 
 have seized every opportunity to defy my 
 authority, or to make me look ridiculous. 
 Well, I’m going to have a settlement with you 
 now, you soor ; I’m going to pay you back 
 with compound interest.” 
 
 Advancing stealthily as he spoke he drew a 
 big sheath-knife from his belt and menaced 
 me with it. I retreated almost imperceptibly 
 
 T 
 
290 Captain Castle 
 
 till my back touched the far end of the saloon. 
 I could go no farther that way. A devilish 
 smile lit his face : his eyes shone madly. I 
 knew that in a moment now he would spring. 
 Of Captain Castle I had no particular fear, 
 but of the madman and his terrible knife I 
 experienced a wholesome dread. His big 
 moustache bristled up like the whiskers of a 
 cat; he showed his teeth in a way that made 
 me shiver. He would spring presently. I 
 knew it. I could see the devil dancing in his 
 bloodshot eyes. 
 
 There was very little time for thought, and 
 I doubt if what happened was as much the 
 outcome of thought as of instinct. But just 
 when the madman was about to spring I 
 pointed my finger over his right shoulder and 
 shrieked with all my might— 
 
 “ My God, sir—look! ” 
 
 The cry of horror that escaped him made 
 me shiver from head to foot. As I think of it, 
 it turns me faint even now. He sprang round 
 like a flash expecting to see—what ? Who 
 knows ? Who can attempt to fathom his 
 horrid thoughts ? In an instant I was on him. 
 
 I candidly admit I had no love for the work 
 
The End of the Voyage .291 
 
 and yet I fought with as much zest as though 
 I really enjoyed it. He was a man of good 
 build, and his fury lent him additional strength. 
 For a few moments the tension was so extreme 
 that I thought the muscles of my arms would 
 crack. I knew such a state of things could 
 not last, and even in my despair I wondered 
 who would give way first. 
 
 Fortunately, when I sprang, I had slipped 
 my arm over his shoulder and seized him by 
 the right wrist, which, as he held the knife in his 
 right hand, for the moment paralysed his action; 
 but quick as thought he swung round, shifting 
 the knife from one hand to the other. It flashed 
 before my eyes, and I felt it rip the breast of 
 my coat; but it did me no real injury. Being a 
 right-handed man, he was unable to use his left 
 with .equal dexterity.. Then I closed with him. 
 
 In the narrow space between the table and 
 the cabins we rolled together, he making futile 
 efforts to stab me, I clinging to his wrist with 
 desperate energy. He foamed at the mouth 
 like a mad dog ; his cries of rage and terror 
 were such as 1 shall never forget. Sometimes 
 in the night I hear them now, and wake up 
 thinking the fiend has got me by the throat. 
 
292 
 
 Captain Castle 
 
 I, however, held my breath tight, knowing its 
 value, and concentrating all my energy in one 
 great effort, gradually forced him back across 
 the table. He seemed to guess my intention, 
 and fought with renewed vigour ; but I had 
 him tightly by the throat, and getting him at 
 a proper angle against the table, back he went 
 slowly, slowly, in spite of his mad struggle. I 
 had the purchase on him, and he knew it. 
 
 Suddenly a scream of the most intense 
 agony escaped him, and he collapsed like a 
 man of straw. The knife rattled to the floor 
 on the other side of the table : the stiff muscles 
 of the man grew limp. I had nothing beneath 
 me but a man's form, a form void of conscious¬ 
 ness or energy. My last desperate effort had 
 in some way injured him internally. 
 
 I laid him out on the saloon table and 
 sprinkled his face with cold water; but it 
 was a long time before he came round, and 
 when he did he seemed to have no recollection 
 of his murderous attack, nor did I plague him 
 with any details. I knew that drink and 
 terror, coupled with the idea that I was his 
 bitter enemy, had suddenly driven him mad, 
 and that in his madness he wished to be 
 
The End of the Voyage 293 
 
 revenged for a thousand imaginary wrongs. 
 All this could in no way have bettered my case, 
 and I speedily saw that he was beyond hope. 
 The Terror had swooped down upon him with 
 tenfold violence, and by five o’clock that after¬ 
 noon he was black in the face. Curiously 
 enough, the next morning, at two bells, he died. 
 The mate survived him but a few hours. 
 
 No one now was left but Craigiemore, Ji Ji, 
 and myself, nor could we help asking who was 
 to be the next. We shut up the saloon—it had 
 too many awful memories—and lived forward. 
 Sometimes Craigiemore and I walked up and 
 down the after deck, but even that went 
 against my inclination. I could not help 
 wondering if by any chance she was listen¬ 
 ing, or if my footfall broke in upon her rest. 
 I was always thinking of her, always seeing 
 her, always dreaming strange dreams. So I 
 kept forward as much as possible, occasionally 
 taking a turn on the bridge, trying to make 
 myself believe that I was keeping watch. 
 Each morning that I awoke I sprang at once 
 to my mirror and searched my features 
 intently, and when I saw no sign of the 
 Terror there, I wondered why he did not 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 2 94 
 
 
 come. With Craigiemore it was the same. 
 Being a bit of a fatalist he knew its coming 
 was but a question of time. As for Ji Ji, that 
 heathen never bothered his head about it. 
 If it came, well and good : if it didn’t, it 
 mattered just as much, or as little. 
 
 And in this way the days rolled on till I 
 forgot to count. The wind blew and the sea 
 splashed us ; the day came and went and the 
 night duly followed. It mattered little now 
 whether it was day or night. Craigiemore 
 grew as gloomy as death, and I little better. 
 Whole days passed in which he used scarcely 
 half-a-dozen words. For hour after hour he 
 would sit jammed forward in the bows, 
 smoking his pipe and staring moodily across 
 the sea. Even when I hailed him he rarely 
 deigned to turn his head. Truly the Terror 
 had not struck him, but I feared that he was 
 possessed of something which might prove 
 even worse. It was curious, but in some 
 way each seemed to typify the awful mono¬ 
 tony, and in avoiding each other we to a 
 certain extent made life tolerable. I don’t 
 mean that I was absolutely sick of Craigie¬ 
 more, or that he was sick of me, but I am 
 
The End of the Voyage 295 
 
 sure we got on each other’s nerves in the 
 most distressing manner. 
 
 No doubt he thought me an exceedingly 
 dreary companion, for I was conscious of 
 speaking little and wearing a face like a 
 London fog. Moreover, if he had a pre¬ 
 ference for the bows of the ship, I had a 
 decided weakness for the bridge : the hours 
 he spent sullenly staring at the sea, I spent 
 moodily watching him. Ji Ji was the only 
 one who had no fads, nor did he seem to 
 think it strange that the engineer should eat his 
 dinner in the stem, while I ate mine on the 
 bridge. Fortunately for his peace of mind, Ji 
 Ji was not cursed with a very vivid imagina¬ 
 tion. But I often think now of those strange 
 days, and I can see it all as clearly as though 
 it were happening again before my eyes. The 
 wide expanse of sea, the helpless ship, and 
 in the bows the gaunt figure of the silent 
 engineer. But it is not a pleasant thought, 
 and truth to tell I fear it somewhat. 
 
 To narrate in detail the dreadful loneliness 
 of those days, would be but to repeat myself. 
 Suffice it therefore if I say that, as nearly as I 
 can guess, some seventeen or eighteen days after 
 
Captain Castle 
 
 296 
 
 the death of the captain, a coaster bore down 
 upon us, took us aboard, and the Corea in tow, 
 and safely towed her into Samarang, to which 
 port the aforesaid coaster was steering when 
 she sighted us. From there Craigiemore, Ji 
 Ji, and I were sent on to Batavia, thence to 
 Singapore, and so back to Hong-Kong. 
 
 I am glad to say that both the engineer 
 and I succeeded in casting our gloom over¬ 
 board long before we reached the great port 
 of South China, and that our varied experi¬ 
 ences have left no permanent effects of an 
 injurious nature; but sometimes I wake up 
 in the middle of the night, and fancy I am 
 again sailing the China Seas in company with 
 Captain Castle. 
 
 THE END 
 
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RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 SMITH, ELDER 
 1062