No Defense: Chapter 15

Chapter 15

THE ADMIRAL HAS HIS SAY

The admiral's face was naturally vigorous and cheerful, but, as he looked
at Dyck Calhoun, a steely hardness came into it, and gave a cynical twist
to the lips. He was a short man, and spare, but his bearing had dignity
and every motion significance.

He had had his high moment with the French admiral, had given his
commands to the fleet and had arranged the disposition of the captured
French ships. He was in good spirits, and the wreckage in the fleet
seemed not to shake his nerve, for he had lost in men far less than the
enemy, and had captured many ships--a good day's work, due finally to the
man in sailor's clothes standing there with Captain Ivy. The admiral took
in the dress of Calhoun at a glance--the trousers of blue cloth, the
sheath-knife belt, the stockings of white silk, the white shirt with the
horizontal stripes, the loose, unstarched, collar, the fine black silk
handkerchief at the throat, the waistcoat of red kerseymere, the shoes
like dancing-pumps, and the short, round blue jacket, with the flat gold
buttons--a seaman complete. He smiled broadly; he liked this mutineer and
ex-convict.

"Captain Calhoun, eh!" he remarked mockingly, and bowed satirically.
"Well, you've played a strong game, and you've plunged us into great
difficulty."

Dyck did not lose his opportunity. "Happily, I've done what I planned to
do when we left the Thames, admiral," he said. "We came to get the chance
of doing what, by favour of fate, we have accomplished. Now, sir, as I'm
under arrest, and the ship which I controlled has done good service, may
I beg that the Ariadne's personnel shall have amnesty, and that I alone
be made to pay--if that must be--for the mutiny at the Nore."

The admiral nodded. "We know of your breaking away from the mutinous
fleet, and of their firing on you as you passed, and that is in your
favour. I can also say this: that bringing the ship here was masterly
work, for I understand there were no officers on the Ariadne. She always
had the reputation of being one of the best-trained ships in the navy,
and she has splendidly upheld that reputation. How did you manage it, Mr.
Calhoun?"

Dyck briefly told how the lieutenants were made, and how he himself had
been enormously indebted to Greenock, the master of the ship, and all the
subordinate officers.

The admiral smiled sourly. "I have little power until I get instructions
from the Admiralty, and that will take some time. Meanwhile, the Ariadne
shall go on as she is, and as if she were--and had been from the first, a
member of my own squadron."

Dyck bowed, explained what reforms he had created in the food and
provisions of the Ariadne, and expressed a hope that nothing should be
altered. He said the ship had proved herself, chiefly because of his
reforms.

"Besides, she's been badly hammered. She's got great numbers of wounded
and dead, and for many a day the men will be busy with repairs."

"For a man without naval experience, for a mutineer, an ex-convict and a
usurper, you've done quite well, Mr. Calhoun; but my instructions were,
if I captured your ship, and you fell into my hands, to try you, and hang
you."

At this point Captain Ivy intervened.

"Sir," he said, "the instructions you received were general. They could
not anticipate the special service which the Ariadne has rendered to the
king's fleet. I have known Mr. Calhoun; I have visited at his father's
house; I was with him on his journey to Dublin, which was the beginning
of his bad luck. I would beg of you, sir, to give Mr. Calhoun his parole
on sea and land until word comes from the Admiralty as to what, in the
circumstances, his fate shall be."

"To be kept on the Beatitude on parole!" exclaimed the admiral.

"Land or sea, Captain Ivy said. I'm as well-born as any man in the king's
fleet," declared Dyck. "I've as clean a record as any officer in his
majesty's navy, save for the dark fact that I was put in prison for
killing a man; and I will say here, in the secrecy of an admiral's cabin,
that the man I killed--or was supposed to kill--was a traitor. If I did
kill him, he deserved death by whatever hand it came. I care not what you
do with me"--his hands clenched, his shoulders drew up, his eyes
blackened with the dark fire of his soul--"whether you put me on parole,
or try me by court-martial, or hang me from the yard-arm. I've done a
piece of work of which I'm not ashamed. I've brought a mutinous ship out
of mutiny, sailed her down the seas for many weeks, disciplined her,
drilled her, trained her, fought her; helped to give the admiral of the
West Indian squadron his victory. I enlisted; I was a quota man. I became
a common sailor--I and my servant and friend, Michael Clones. I shared
the feelings of the sailors who mutinied. I wrote petitions and appeals
for them. I mutinied with them. Then at last, having been made leader of
the ship, with the captain and the lieutenants sent safely ashore, and
disagreeing with the policy of the Delegates in not accepting the terms
offered, I brought the ship out, commanding it from the captain's cabin,
and have so continued until to-day. If I'm put ashore at Jamaica, I'll
keep my parole; if I stay a prisoner here, I'll keep my parole. If I've
done you service, admiral, be sure of this, it was done with clear
intent. My object was to save the men who, having mutinied and fled from
Admiralty control, are subject to capital punishment."

"Your thinking came late. You should have thought before you mutinied,"
was the sharp reply.

"As a common sailor I acted on my conscience, and what we asked for the
Admiralty has granted. Only by mutiny did the Admiralty yield to our
demands. What I did I would do again! We took our risks in the Thames
against the guns that were levelled at us; we've taken our risks down
here against the French to help save your squadron, and we've done it.
The men have done it, because they've been loyal to the flag, and from
first to last set to make the Admiralty and the people know they have
rights which must be cherished. If all your men were as faithful to the
Crown as are the men on the Ariadne, then they deserve well of the King.
But will you put for me on paper the written word that every man now
aboard the Ariadne shall be held guiltless in the eyes of the admiral of
this fleet; that the present officers shall remain officers, that the
reforms I have made shall become permanent? For myself, I care not; but
for the men who have fought under me, I want their amnesty. And I want
Michael Clones to be kept with me, and Greenock, the master, and Ferens,
the purser, to be kept where they are. Admiral, I think you know my
demands are just. Over there on the Ariadne are a hundred and fifty
wounded at least, and fifty have been killed. Let the living not suffer."

"You want it all on the nail, don't you?"

"I want it at this moment when the men who have fought under me have
helped to win your battle, sir." There was something so set in Dyck's
voice that the admiral had a sudden revulsion against him, yet, after a
moment of thought, he made a sign to Captain Ivy. Then he dictated the
terms which Dyck had asked, except as to the reforms he had made, which
was not in his power to do, save for the present.

When the document had been signed by the admiral, Dyck read the contents
aloud. It embodied nearly all he had asked.

"Now I ask permission for one more thing only, sir--for the new captain
of the Ariadne to go with me to her, and there I will read this paper to
the crew. I will give a copy of it to the new captain, whoever he may
be."

The admiral stood for a moment in thought. Then he said:

"Ivy, I transfer you to the Ariadne. It's better that some one who
understands, as you do, should be in control after Calhoun has gone. Go
with him now, and have your belongings sent to you. I appoint you
temporary captain of the Ariadne, because I think no one could deal with
the situation there so wisely. Ivy, every ship in the squadron must treat
the Ariadne respectfully. Within two days, Mr. Calhoun, you shall be
landed at Jamaica, there to await the Admiralty decree. I will say this:
that as the sure victory of our fleet has come through you, you shall not
suffer in my report. Fighting is not an easy trade, and to fight
according to the rules is a very hard trade. Let me ask you to conduct
yourself as a prisoner of war on parole."

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