CHAPTER 21
"He's heard!" stammered Hovey, pointing. "Guard the door! Get him!"
"Bash in his head an' overboard with the lubber!" growled Sam Hall.
Not one of the others spoke; their actions were the more significant.Some leaped to the door and barred the exit.
Others started for Harrigan. The latter leaped off his bunk and,sweeping up a short-legged, heavy stool, sprang back against the wall.This he held poised, ready to drive it at the first man who approached.Their semicircle grew compact before him, but still they hesitated, forthe man who made the first move would die.
"You fools!" said Harrigan, brandishing his stool. "Keep off!"
He was thinking desperately, quickly.
"Harrigan," said Hovey, edging his way to the front of the sailors,"you heard!"
"I did!"
They growled, infuriated. His death was certain now, but they kept backfor another moment, astonished that this man would sign his ownsentence of doom. From marlinspikes to pocketknives, every man heldsome sort of a weapon. Garry Cochrane, flattening himself against thewall at one side, edged inch by inch toward Harrigan.
"I heard it all," said the Irishman, "and until the last word I thoughtyou were a lot of bluffin' cowards."
"You had your chance, Harrigan," said Hovey, "an' you turned me down.Now you get what's due you."
The sailors crouched a little as if at a command to leap forward in theattack. Cochrane was perilously near.
"If I get my due," said Harrigan coolly, "you'll go down on your knees.Stand back, Cochrane, or I'll brain ye! You'll go down on your kneesan' thank God that I'm with ye!"
"Stand fast, Garry!" ordered Hovey. "What do you mean, Harrigan?"
The Irishman laughed. Every son of Erin is an actor, and now Harrigan'slaughter rang true.
"What should I mean except what I said?" he answered.
"He's tryin' to save his head," broke in Kyle, "but with the fear ofdeath lookin' him in the eye, any man would join us. Finish him, lads."
"You fool!" said Harrigan authoritatively. "Don't talk so loud, oryou'll have White Henshaw down on our heads. Maybe he's heard that bullvoice of yours already!"
It was a master stroke. The mention of the terrible skipper and theskillful insinuation that he was one of them, made them straighten andstare at him.
"Go guard the door," said Hovey to one of his sailors, "an' see thatnone of the mates is near. Now, Harrigan, what d'you mean? You'd hearno word of mutiny when I talked to you. Speak for your life now,because we're hard to convince."
"We can't be convinced," said Garry Cochrane, "but maybe it'll be funto hear him talk before we dump him overboard."
Instead of answering the speaker, Harrigan looked upon Hovey with acold eye of scorn.
He said: "I changed my mind. I'm _not_ one of you. I thought the bos'nwas a real captain for the gang, but I'll not follow a dog that letsevery one of his pack yelp."
"I'm a dog, am I?" snarled Hovey furiously. "I'll teach you what I am,Harrigan. An' you, Cochrane, keep your face shut. I'll learn you who'sboss of this little crew!"
"If you're half the man you seem," went on Harrigan, "this game looksgood to me."
"You lie," said the bos'n. "You turned me down cold when I talked toyou."
"You fool, that was because you said no word outright of wipin' out theofficers an' takin' control of the ship. You sneaked up to me in thedark; you felt me out before you said a word; you were like a catwatchin' a rathole. Am I a rat? Am I a sneak? Do I have to be whisperedto? No, I'm Harrigan, an' anyone who wants to talk to me has got tospeak out like a man!"
The very impudence of his speech held them in check for anotherprecious moment. He whirled the heavy stool.
"If you wanted me, why didn't you come an' say: 'Harrigan, I know you.You hate Henshaw an' McTee an' the rest. We're goin' to wipe 'em outan' beach the ship. Are you with us?' Why, then I'd of shook hands withyou, and that would end it. But when you come whisperin' andinsinuatin', sayin' nothin' straight from the shoulder, how'd I knowyou weren't sent by Henshaw to feel me out, eh? How do any of you knowthe bos'n ain't feelin' you out for the skipper he's sailed with tenyears?"
The circle shifted, loosened; half the men were facing Hovey withsuspicious eyes. They had not thought of this greater danger, and thebos'n was desperate in the crisis.
"Boys," he pleaded, "are you goin' to let one stranger ball up ourgame? Are you goin' to start doubtin' me on his say-so?"
The men glanced from him to Harrigan. Plainly they were deep in doubt,and the Irishman made his second masterful move. He stepped forward,dropping his stool with a crash to the floor, and clapped a hand uponHovey's shoulder.
"I spoke too quick," he said frankly, "but you got me mad, bos'n. Iknow you're straight, an' I'm with you, for one. A man Harrigan willtoiler ought to be good enough for the rest, eh?"
Jerry Hovey wiped his gleaming forehead. The kingdom of his ambitionwas rebuilt by this speech.
"Sit down, boys," he ordered. "The last man in the forecastle is withus now. We're solid. Sit down and we'll plan our game."
The plan, as it developed after the circle re-formed, was a simple one.They were to wait until the ship was within two or three days' voyagefrom the coast of Central America--their destination--and then theywould act. They had secured to their side the firemen and the firstassistant engineer. That meant that they could run the ship safely withthe bos'n, who understood navigation, at the wheel. They would select anight, and then, on the command of Hovey, the men would take the armswhich they had prepared.
One of the Japanese cabin boys, Kamasura, was a member of the plot. Hewould furnish butcherknives and cleavers from the kitchen. Besidesthis, there were various implements which could be used as bludgeons;and finally there were the pocketknives with which every sailor isalways equipped, generally stout, long-bladed instruments. Theadvantage of firearms was with the officers of the ship, but apparentlythere were no rifles and probably very few revolvers aboard. Againstpowder and lead they would have the advantage of a surprise attack.
First, Sam Hall and Kyle were to go down to the hole of the ship andlead the firemen in their attack upon the oilers and wipers, most ofwhom had not been approachable with the plan of mutiny because theywere newly signed on the ship. In this part of the campaign the mostimportant feature would be the capturing of Campbell, who would bereserved for a finely drawn-out, tortured death. The firemen hadinsisted upon this.
In the meantime Hovey with Flint and the rest would attack the cabinsof Henshaw, McTee, and the mates. Here they depended chiefly upon theeffect of the surprise. If it were possible, Henshaw also was to betaken alive and reserved for a long death like Campbell. This done,they would lead the ship to an uninhabited part of the shore, beachher, and scatter over the mainland, each with his share of the booty.
Harrigan forced himself to take an active part in the discussion of theplans. Several features were his own suggestion, among others the ideaof presenting a petition for better food to Henshaw, and beating himdown while he was reading it; but all the time that the Irishman spoke,he was thinking of Kate.
When the crew turned into their bunks at last, he went over a thousandschemes in his head. In the first place he might go to Henshaw at onceand warn him of the coming danger, but he remembered what the bos'n hadsaid--in such a case he would not be believed, and both the crew andthe commander would be against him.
Finally it seemed to him that the best thing was to wait until thecritical moment had arrived. He could warn the captain just in time--orif absolutely necessary he could warn McTee, who would certainlybelieve him. In the meantime there were possibilities that the mutinywould come to nothing through internal dissension among the crew. Inany case he must play a detestable part, acting as a spy upon the crewand pretending enthusiasm for the mutiny.
With that shame like a taste of soot in his throat, he climbed to thebridge the next morning with his bucket of suds and his brush, andthere as usual he found McT
ee, cool and clean in the white outfit ofHenshaw. At sight of the Scotchman he remembered at once that he mustpretend the double exhaustion which comes of pain and hard labor.Therefore he thrust out his lower jaw and favored McTee with a glare ofhate. He was repaid by the glow of content which showed in thecaptain's face.
"And the hole of the _Heron_," he said, speaking softly lest his voiceshould carry to the man in the wheelhouse, "is it cooler than thefireroom of the _Mary Rogers?_"
Harrigan glanced up, glowering.
"Damn you, McTee!"
"The palms of your hands, lad, are they raw? Is the lye of the sudscool to them?"
Another black glance came in reply and McTee leaned back against therail, tapping one contented toe against the floor.
"It was a fine tale you told me yesterday, Harrigan," he said atlength, "but afterward I saw Kate, and she was never kinder. I spoke ofyou, and we laughed together about it. She said you were like a horsethat's too proud--you need the whip!"
Harrigan was in doubt, but he concealed his trouble with a mightyeffort and smiled.
"That's a weak lie, Angus. When I was a boy of ten, I would of hung mehead for shame if I could not have made a better lie. Shall I tell youwhat really happened when you met Kate? You came up smilin' an'grinnin' like a baboon, an' she passed you by with a look that wentthrough you as if you were just a cloud on the edge of the sky. Am Iright, McTee?"
"You've seen her, and she's told you this," exclaimed the captain.
Harrigan chuckled his triumph and went on with the scrubbing of thebridge.
"No, Angus, me dear, I've not seen her, but when two souls are as closeas hers and mine--well, cap'n, I leave it to you!"
McTee ground his teeth with rage and turned his back on the worker fora moment until he could master the contorted muscles of his face.
"Tut, McTee," went on the Irishman, "you've but felt the tickle of thespur; when I drive it in, you'll yell like a whipped kid. Always youplay into me hands, McTee. Now when you see Kate, you'll feel me grinin the background mockin' ye, eh?"
The banter gave the captain a shrewd inspiration. He leaned, andcatching one of Harrigan's hands with a quick movement, turned it palmup. It was as he suspected; the palm, though red from the effect of thestrong suds and still scarcely healed after the torment of the _MaryRogers_, was nevertheless manifestly unharmed by the labor which it wassupposed Harrigan had performed the day before. The hand was wrenchedaway and a balled fist held under McTee's nose.
"If you're curious, Angus, look at me knuckles, not me palm. It's theknuckles you'll feel the most, cap'n."