No Defense: Chapter 14

Chapter 14

IN THE NICK OF TIME

Perhaps no mutineer in the history of the world ever succeeded, as did
Dyck Calhoun, in holding control over fellow-mutineers on the journey
from the English Channel to the Caribbean Sea. As a boy, Dyck had been an
expert sailor, had studied the machinery of a man-of-war, and his love of
the sea was innate and deep-seated; but his present success was based
upon more than experience. Quite apart from the honour of his nature,
prison had deepened in him the hatred of injustice. In soul he was
bitter; in body he was healthy, powerful, and sane.

Slowly, sternly, yet tactfully, he had broken down the many customs of
ship life injurious to the welfare of the men. Under his system the
sailors had good coffee for breakfast, instead of a horrible mixture made
of burnt biscuits cooked in foul water. He gave the men pea-soup and rice
instead of burgoo and the wretched oatmeal mess which was the staple
thing for breakfast. He saw to it that the meat was no longer a hateful,
repulsive mass, two-thirds bone and gristle, and before it came into the
cook's hands capable of being polished like mahogany. He threatened the
cook with punishment if he found the meals ill-cooked.

In all the journey to the West Indian seas there had been only three
formal floggings. His attitude was not that of the commander who
declared:

"I will see the man's backbone, by God!"

He wished to secure discipline without cruelty. His greatest difficulty,
at the start, was in making lieutenants. That he overcame by appointing
senior midshipmen before the Ariadne was out of the Channel. He offered a
lieutenancy to Ferens, who had the courage to decline it.

"Make me purser," remarked Ferens. "Make me purser, and I'll do the job
justly."

As the purser of the Ariadne had been sent to the sick-bay and was likely
to die (and did die subsequently), Ferens was put into his
uniform-three-cornered cocked hat, white knee-breeches, and white
stockings. The purser of a man-of-war was generally a friend of the
captain, going with him from ship to ship.

Of the common sailors, on the whole, Dyck had little doubt. He had
informed them that, whatever happened, they should not be in danger; that
the ship should not join the West Indian fleet unless every man except
himself received amnesty. If the amnesty was not granted, then one of two
things should happen--the ship must make for a South American port, or
she must fight. Fighting would not frighten these men.

It was rather among the midshipmen that Dyck looked for trouble.
Sometimes, with only two years' training at Gosport, a youngster became a
midshipman on first going to sea, and he could begin as early as eleven
years of age. A second-rate ship like the Ariadne carried eighteen
midshipmen; and as six lieutenants were appointed from them, only twelve
remained. From these twelve, in the dingy after-cockpit, where the
superficial area was not more than twelve square feet; where the air was
foul, and the bilges reeked with a pestilential stench; where the
purser's store-room near gave out the smell of rancid butter and
poisonous cheese; where the musty taint of old ropes came to them, there
was a spirit of danger.

Dyck was right in thinking that in the midshipmen's dismal berth the
first flowers of revolt to his rule would bloom.

Sailors, even as low as the pig-sty men, had some idea of fair play; and
as the weeks that had passed since they left the Thames had given them
better food and drink, and lessened the severity of those above them,
real obedience had come.

It was not strange that the ship ran well, for all the officers under the
new conditions, except Dyck himself, had had previous experience. The old
lieutenants had gone, but midshipmen, who in any case were trained, had
taken their places. The rest of the ship's staff were the same, except
the captain; and as Dyck had made a friend of Greenock the master, a man
of glumness, the days were peaceful enough during the voyage to the
Caribbean Sea.

The majority saw that every act of Dyck had proved him just and capable.
He had rigidly insisted on gun practice; he had keyed up the marines to a
better spirit, and churlishness had been promptly punished. He was, in
effect, what the sailors called a "rogue," or a "taut one"--seldom
smiling, gaunt of face but fearless of eye, and with a body free from
fatigue.

As the weather grew warmer and the days longer, and they drew near to the
coast of Jamaica, a stir of excitement was shown.

"You'd like to know what I'm going to do, Michael, I suppose?" said Dyck
one morning, as he drank his coffee and watched the sun creeping up the
sky.

"Well, in three days we shall know what's to become of us, and I have no
doubt or fear. This ship's a rebel, but it's returning to duty. We've
shown them how a ship can be run with good food and drink and fair
dealing, and, please God, we'll have some work to do now that belongs to
a man-of-war!"

"Sir, I know what you mean to do," replied Michael. "You mean to get all
of us off by giving yourself up."

"Well, some one has to pay for what we've done, Michael." A dark,
ruthless light came into Dyck's eyes. "Some one's got to pay." A grim
smile crossed his face. "We've done the forbidden thing; we've mutinied
and taken to the open sea. We were fired on by the other mutiny ships,
and that will help our sailors, but it won't help me. I'm the leader. We
ought, of course, to have taken refuge with the nearest squadron of the
king's ships. Well, I've run my luck, and I'll have to pay."

He scratched his chin with a thumb-nail-a permanent physical trait. "You
see, the government has pardoned all the sailors, and will hang only the
leaders. I expect Parker is hung already. Well, I'm the leader on the
Ariadne. I'm taking this ship straight to his majesty's West Indian
fleet, in thorough discipline, and I'll hand it over well-found,
well-manned, well-officered, on condition that all go free except myself.
I came aboard a common sailor, a quota man, a prison-bird, penniless.
Well, have I shown that I can run a ship? Have I learned the game of
control? During the weeks we've been at sea, bursting along, have I
proved myself?"

Michael smiled. "What did I say to you the first night on board, sir?
Didn't I say they'd make an officer of you when they found out what
brains you had? By St. Patrick, you've made yourself captain with the
good-will of all, and your iron hand has held the thing together. You've
got a great head, too, sir."

Dyck looked at him with a face in which the far future showed.

"Michael, I've been lucky. I've had good men about me. God only knows
what would have happened to me if the master hadn't been what he is--a
gentleman who knows his job-aye, a gentleman through and through! If he
had gone against me, Michael"--he flicked a finger to the sky--"well,
that much for my chances! I'd have been dropped overboard, or stabbed in
my cabin, as was that famous Captain Pigot, son of an admiral, who had as
much soul as you'd find in a stone-quarry. When two men had dropped from
the masts, hurrying to get down because of his threat that the last man
should be thrashed--when the two men lay smashed to pieces at his feet,
Pigot said: 'Heave the lubbers overboard.' That night, Michael, the
seamen rose, crept to his cabin, stabbed him to death, pitched his body
overboard, put his lieutenants to sea in open boats, and then ran away to
South America. Well, I've escaped that fate, because this was a good
ship, and all the officers knew their business, and did it without
cruelty. I've been well served. It was a great thing making the new
lieutenants from the midshipmen. There never was a better lot on board a
ship."

Michael's face clouded. "Sir, that's true. The new lieutenants have done
their work well, but them that's left behind in the midshipmen's
berth--do you think they're content? No, sir. The only spot on board this
ship where there lurks an active spirit against you is in the
midshipmen's berth. Mischief's there, and that's what's brought me to you
now."

Dyck smiled. "I know that. I've had my eye on the midshipmen. I've never
trusted them. They're a hard lot; but if the rest of the ship is with me,
I'll deal with them promptly. They're not clever or bold enough to do
their job skilfully. They've got some old hands down there--hammock-men,
old stagers of the sea that act as servants to them. What line do they
take?"

Michael laughed softly.

"What I know I've got from two of them, and it is this--the young
gentlemen'll try to get control of the ship."

The cynicism deepened in Dyck's face.

"Get control of the ship, eh? Well, it'll be a new situation on a king's
ship if midshipmen succeed where the rest dare not try. Now, mark what
I'm going to do."

He called, and a marine showed himself.

"The captain's compliments to the master, and his presence here at once.
Michael," he continued presently, "what fools they are! They're scarcely
a baker's dozen, and none of them has skill to lead. Why, the humblest
sailor would have more sense than to start a revolt, the success of which
depends upon his personal influence, and the failure of which must end in
his own ruin. Does any one think they're the kind to lead a mutiny within
a mutiny? Listen to me I'm not cruel, but I'll put an end to this plot.
We're seven hundred on this ship, and she's a first-class sailer. I
warrant no ship ever swam the seas that looks better going than she does.
So we've got to see that her, record is kept clean as a mutineer."

At that moment the master appeared. He saluted. "Greenock," said Dyck, "I
wonder if you've noticed the wind blowing chilly from the midshipmen's
berth." A lurking devilish humour shot from Greenock's eyes.

"Aye, I've smelled that wind."

"Greenock, we're near the West Indian Islands. Before we eat many meals
we'll see land. We may pass French ships, and we may have to fight. Well,
we've had a good running, master; so I'll tell you what I mean to do."

He then briefly repeated what he had said to Michael, and added

"Greenock, in this last to-do, I shall be the only man in danger. The
king's amnesty covers every one except the leaders--that lets you off.
The Delegate of the Ariadne is aboard the Invincible, if he's not been
hanged. I'm the only one left on the Ariadne. I've had a good time,
Greenock--thanks to you, chiefly. I think the men are ready for anything
that'll come; but I also think we should guard against a revolt of the
midshipmen by healthy discipline now. Therefore I'll instruct the
lieutenants to spread-eagle every midshipman for twelve hours. There's a
stiff wind; there's a good stout spray, and the wind and spray should
cool their hot souls. Meanwhile, though without food, they shall have
water as they need it. If at the end of the twelve hours any still seems
to be difficult, give him another twelve. Look!"

He stretched out a hand to the porthole on his right. "Far away in front
are islands. You cannot see them yet, but those little thickening mists
in the distance mean land. Those are the islands in front of the Windward
Passage. I think it would be a good lesson for the young gentlemen to be
spread-eagled against the mists of their future. It shall be' done at
once; and pass the word why it's done."

An hour later there was laughter in every portion of the ship, for the
least popular members of the whole personnel were being dragooned into
discipline. The sailors had seen individual midshipmen spread-eagled and
mastheaded, while all save those they could bribe were forbidden to bring
them drink or food; but here was a whole body of junior officers,
punished en masse, as it were, lashed to the rigging and taking the wind
and the spray in their teeth.

Before the day was over, the whole ship was alive with anticipation, for,
in the far distance, could be seen the dark blue and purplish shadows
which told of land; and this brought the minds of all to the end of their
journey, with thoughts of the crisis near.

Word had been passed that all on board were considered safe--all except
the captain who had manoeuvred them to the entrance of the Caribbean Sea.
Had he been of their own origin, they would not have placed so much
credence in the rumour; but coming as he did of an ancient Irish family,
although he had been in jail for killing, the traditional respect for the
word of a gentleman influenced them. When a man like Ferens, on the one
hand, and the mutineer whose fingers had been mutilated by Dyck in the
Channel, on the other--when these agreed to bend themselves to the rule
of a usurper, some idea of Calhoun's power may be got.

On this day, with the glimmer of land in the far distance, the charges of
all the guns were renewed. Also word was passed that at any moment the
ship must be cleared for action. Down in the cockpit the tables were got
ready by the surgeon and the loblolly-boys; the magazines were opened,
and the guards were put on duty.

Orders were issued that none should be allowed to escape active share in
the coming battle; that none should retreat to the orlop deck or the
lower deck; that the boys should carry the cartridge-cases handed to them
from the magazine under the cover of their coats, running hard to the
guns. The twenty-four-pounders-the largest guns in use at the time-the
eighteen-pounders, and the twelve-pounder guns were all in good order.

The bags of iron balls called grape-shot-the worst of all--varying in
size from sixteen to nine balls in a bag, were prepared. Then the
canister, which produced ghastly murder, chain-shot to bring down masts
and spars, langrel to fire at masts and rigging, and the dismantling shot
to tear off sails, were all made ready. The muskets for the marines, the
musketoons, the pistols, the cutlasses, the boarding-pikes, the axes or
tomahawks, the bayonets and sailors' knives, were placed conveniently for
use. A bevy of men were kept busy cleaning the round shot of rust, and
there was not a man on the ship who did not look with pride at the guns,
in their paint of grey-blue steel, with a scarlet band round the muzzle.

To the right of the Ariadne was the coast of Cuba; to the left was the
coast of Haiti, both invisible to the eye. Although the knowledge that
they were nearing land had already given the officers and men a feeling
of elation, the feeling was greatly intensified as they came through the
Turk Island Passage, which is a kind of gateway to the Windward Passage
between Cuba and Haiti. The glory of the sunny, tropical world was upon
the ship and upon the sea; it crept into the blood of every man, and the
sweet summer weather gave confidence to their minds. It was a day which
only those who know tropical and semitropical seas can understand. It had
the sense of soaking luxury.

In his cabin, with the ship's chart on the table before him, Dyck Calhoun
studied the course of the Ariadne. The wind was fair and good, the
sea-birds hovered overhead. From a distant part of the ship came the
sound of men's voices in song. They were singing "Spanish Ladies":

     "We hove our ship to when the wind was sou'west, boys,
     We hove our ship to for to strike soundings clear;
     Then we filled our main tops'l and bore right away, boys,
     And right up the Channel our course did we steer.
     "We'll rant and we'll roar like true British sailors,
     We'll range and we'll roam over all the salt seas,
     Until we strike soundings in the Channel of old England
     From Ushant to Scilly 'tis thirty-five leagues."

Dyck raised his head, and a smile came to his lips.

"Yes, you sing of a Channel, my lads, but it's a long way there, as
you'll find. I hope to God they give us some fighting! . . . Well, what
is it?" he asked of a marine who appeared in his doorway.

"The master of the ship begs to see you, sir," was the reply.

A moment afterwards Greenock entered. He asked Dyck several questions
concerning the possible fighting, the disposition of ammunition and all
that, and said at last:

"I think we shall be of use, sir. The ship's all right now."

"As right as anything human can be. I've got faith in my star, master."

A light came into the other man's dour face. "I wish you'd get into
uniform, sir."

"Uniform? No, Greenock! No, I use the borrowed power, but not the
borrowed clothes. I'm a common sailor, and I wear the common sailor's
clothes. You've earned your uniform, and it suits you. Stick to it; and
when I've earned a captain's uniform I'll wear it. I owe you the success
of this voyage so far, and my heart is full of it, up to the brim. Hark,
what's that?"

"By God, it's guns, sir! There's fighting on!"

"Fighting!"

Dyck stood for a minute with head thrust forward, eyes fixed upon the
distant mists ahead. The rumble of the guns came faintly through the air.
An exultant look came into his face.

"Master, the game's with us--it is fighting! I know the difference
between the two sets of guns, English and French. Listen--that quick,
spasmodic firing is French; the steady-as-thunder is English. Well, we've
got all sail on. Now, make ready the ship for fighting."

"She's almost ready, sir."

An hour later the light mist had risen, and almost suddenly the Ariadne
seemed to come into the field of battle. Dyck Calhoun could see the
struggle going on. The two sets of enemy ships had come to close
quarters, and some were locked in deadly conflict. Other ships, still
apart, fired at point-blank range, and all the horrors of slaughter were
in full swing. From the square blue flag at the mizzen top gallant
masthead of one of the British ships engaged, Dyck saw that the admiral's
own craft was in some peril. The way lay open for the Ariadne to bear
down upon the French ship, engaged with the admiral's smaller ship, and
help to end the struggle successfully for the British cause.

While still too far away for point-blank range, the Ariadne's guns began
upon the French ships distinguishable by their shape and their colours.
Before the first shot was fired, however, Dyck made a tour of the decks
and gave some word of cheer to the men, The Ariadne lost no time in
getting into the thick of the fight. The seamen were stripped to the
waist, and black silk handkerchiefs were tightly bound round their heads
and over their ears.

What the French thought of the coming of the Ariadne was shown by the
reply they made presently to her firing. The number of French ships in
action was greater than the British by six, and the Ariadne arrived just
when she could be of greatest service. The boldness of her seamanship,
and the favour of the wind, gave her an advantage which good fortune
helped to justify.

As she drew in upon the action, she gave herself up to great danger; she
was coming in upon the rear of the French ships, and was subject to
fierce attack. To the French she seemed like a fugitive warrior returning
to his camp just when he was most needed, as was indeed the case. Two of
her shots settled one of the enemy's vessels; and before the others could
converge upon her, she had crawled slowly up against the off side of the
French admiral's ship, which was closely engaged with the Beatitude, the
British flagship, on the other side.

The canister, chain-shot, and langrel of the French foe had caused much
injury to the Ariadne, and her canvas was in a sore plight. Fifty of her
seamen had been killed, and a hundred and fifty were wounded by the time
she reached the starboard side of the Aquitaine. She would have lost many
more were it not that her onset demoralized the French gunners, while the
cheers of the British sailors aboard the Beatitude gave confidence to
their mutineer comrades.

On his own deck, Dyck watched the progress of the battle with the joy of
a natural fighter. He had carried the thing to an almost impossible
success. There had only been this in his favour, that his was an
unexpected entrance--a fact which had been worth another ship at least.
He saw his boarders struggle for the Aquitaine. He saw them discharge
their pistols, and then resort to the cutlass and the dagger; and the
marines bringing down their victims from the masts of the French
flag-ship.

Presently he heard the savagely buoyant shouts of the Beatitude men, and
he realized that, by his coming, the admiral of the French fleet had been
obliged to yield up his sword, and to signal to his ships--such as
could--to get away. That half of them succeeded in doing so was because
the British fleet had been heavily handled in the fight, and would have
been defeated had it not been for the arrival of the Ariadne.

Never, perhaps, in the history of the navy had British ships clamped the
enemy as the Aquitaine was clamped by the Beatitude and the Ariadne.
Certain it is that no admiral of the British fleet had ever to perform
two such acts in one day as receiving the submission of a French admiral
and offering thanks to the captain of a British man-of-war whom, while
thanking, he must at once place under arrest as a mutineer. What might
have chanced further to Dyck's disadvantage can never be known, because
there appeared on the deck of the Beatitude, as its captain under the
rear-admiral, Captain Ivy, who, five years before, had visited Dyck and
his father at Playmore, and had gone with them to Dublin.

The admiral had sent word to the Ariadne for its captain to come to the
Beatitude. When the captain's gig arrived, and a man in seaman's clothes
essayed to climb the side of the flag-ship, he was at first prevented.
Captain Ivy, however, immediately gave orders for Dyck to be admitted,
but without honours.

On the deck of the Beatitude, Dyck looked into the eyes of Captain Ivy.
He saluted; but the captain held out a friendly hand.

"You're a mutineer, Calhoun, but your ship has given us victory. I'd like
to shake hands with one that's done so good a stroke for England."

A queer smile played about Calhoun's lips.

"I've brought the Ariadne back to the fleet, Captain Ivy. The men have
fought as well as men ever did since Britain had a navy. I've brought her
back to the king's fleet to be pardoned."

"But you must be placed under arrest, Calhoun. Those are the orders--that
wherever the Ariadne should be found she should be seized, and that you
should be tried by court-martial."

Dyck nodded. "I understand. When did you get word?"

"About forty-eight hours ago. The king's mail came by a fast frigate."

"We took our time, but we came straight from the Channel to find this
fleet. At the mouth of the Thames we willed to find it, and to fight with
it--and by good luck so we have done."

"Let me take you to the admiral," said Captain Ivy.

He walked beside Dyck to the admiral's cabin. "You've made a terrible
mess of things, Calhoun, but you've put a lot right to-day," he said at
the entrance to the cabin. "Tell me one thing honestly before we part
now--did you kill Erris Boyne?" Dyck looked at him long and hard.

"I don't know--on my honour I don't know! I don't remember--I was drunk
and drugged."

"Calhoun, I don't believe you did; but if you did, you've paid the
price--and the price of mutiny, too." In the clear blue eyes of Captain
Ivy there was a look of friendliness. "I notice you don't wear uniform,
Calhoun," he added. "I mean a captain's uniform." Dyck smiled. "I never
have."

The next moment the door of the admiral's cabin was opened.

"Mr. Dyck Calhoun of the Ariadne, sir," said Captain Ivy.

Back to chapter list of: No Defense