CHAPTER XXI
JUSTICE
Some twenty minutes after the flight of the Germans two figures appearedat the farther end of the village, and walked quickly up the centralpath. Trentham, sitting just outside the gate, waved his hand andstarted to meet them. Hoole flourished his hat in reply, and turned tospeak to the man accompanying him.
'Let me name to you Captain Rolfe, of the _Wanda_, old man,' said Hoole,when Trentham joined them.
'Pleased to meet you, sir,' said the seaman, clasping Trentham's hand ina crushing grip. 'We 're in at the death, and that's about all we cansay for ourselves. You carry off the honours, sir.'
'Thanks, captain,' said Trentham. 'It was my friend Josiah Grinson whodealt the finishing stroke; I 'll introduce him to you presently.'
'The boatswain bold, as they say in the song,' added Hoole.
'Mr. Hoole has told me about him,' said the captain, 'and I 'll be gladto give him a berth.'
'You must take Meek too,' said Trentham with a smile. 'They 've beentogether twenty-five years or so, and I 'm sure nothing will part themnow. At the present moment Grinson is acting as nurse. Meek wasunlucky enough to get hit; not seriously, I 'm glad to say; but hewasn't in very good condition, and appears to have fainted from loss ofblood. Grinson found him on the field, and after an explosive moment hecarried him off to our hut. Grinson is a big burly fellow, with a heartas tender as a woman's.'
'A mixture you 'll often find among sailormen, if I may say so,' saidthe captain. 'But Grinson mustn't have all the credit, you know, Mr.Trentham. That dodge of yours with the Raider----'
'Is she sunk?' asked Trentham.
'Sunk by the stern; all below water except a bit of her fore deck andher funnel. But she can be salved, and there 'll be something to shareout, or I 'm a Dutchman.'
'You came into the cove?'
'I did, sir, and anchored within half a cable's length of the Raider. Acouple of Germans on shore flung up their hands at once, and we marchedup under Mr. Hoole's lead without delay. You 're surprised to see nomore of us, but the fact is, we met the Germans running for their lives.They were glad enough to surrender, for these savages don't know themeaning of mercy, and I 'm afraid they had already killed a number ofthem before we came on the scene. However, my ship's company--thequeerest mixture I ever commanded--are marching the rest of them down tothe cove, and as I 've plenty of cargo space on board, I gave 'em ordersto drop them into the hold; by this time to-morrow we 'll hand 'em overin proper form as prisoners of war. I take it you 're ready to comewith us?'
'Quite, I can assure you. But I think we ought to bury the German deadfirst. These people are cannibals.'
'Burying 's no good; they 'd dig 'em up as soon as our backs wereturned. We can't give them seamen's burial, the sea being so far away.The only thing left is to burn them; certainly we couldn't leave themfor a cannibal feast. And we had better set about it while most of thesavages are away; there 'll be less trouble. Oh! here we are. A mostuncommon native village. A few photographers will take a trip out herewhen your story is known. That's Grinson, I suppose. Who 's the fellowwith him?'
Grinson was walking towards the hut, accompanied by the medicine-mancarrying water in a huge banana stalk. Trentham laughed.
'That's the village doctor,' he said. 'A thorn in our flesh untilGrinson tamed him by a sort of strong man exhibition. Now he 'll followGrinson like a dog.'
'Natural philosophy,' said Hoole. 'The Germans will be the better for adose of the same physic. It's a low order of intelligence that admitsno superiority but brute force, and I guess you must deal with people asyou find 'em. Ahoy, Grinson! How 's Meek?'
'Doing well, sir,' roared Grinson. He came towards the three men, themedicine-man trotting behind, and said in a confidential whisper, 'Youmust humour poor Ephraim a bit, gentlemen. He 's got it fair fixed inhis mind as there 's no justice in this world, and nothing 'll shakehim.'
'Why?' asked Trentham.
''Cos he was knocked out afore he began to fight. I never knowedEphraim so obstropolous. He 'll hardly speak civil to me; says I kep'him out of it on purpose, a-holding revolvers as any funk could 'a done;and then, when he 'd picked up a spear in spite o' me, blest if hewasn't spun round directly afore he had a chanst. I told him wounds ishonourable, and he rounded on me; "Honour be deed," says he, mostunusual language for Ephraim; "they never give me a chanst; there's nojustice in this world, not a morsel." Humour him, gents, if you 'll beso kind, and I dare say with time he 'll be the same lad again.'
Twelve hours later, under a brilliant moon, the little tramp _Wanda_puffed out of the cove on her voyage eastward. Trentham, the centre ofan interested group, was relating in detail the story of the past weeks.Some distance away, sitting on the deck with his back against a coil ofrope, Grinson, in tones much subdued, talked to Meek, slung in a hammockbefore him.
'Yes, Ephraim, Mr. Hoole came out in his true colours at last, justafore he flew away, which I mean to say he's true blue, and not adeceiving coat o' paint like that there Raider, though I own he did takeus in, but no great sin. He 's a inventor, Ephraim; invented somethingas 'll make them airyplanes terrible engines o' mischief, and when Isaid as how there was enough mischief in the world----'
'There 's no justice in it.'
'I was coming to that. When I said as how there was enough mischief inthis wicked world, he laughed, he did, and said what he 'd inventedwould do for sewing machines when the war 's over. Now ain't therejustice in that? Look at it straight, Ephraim, me lad. The Germansmust be beat, or what's the good of anythink? Well, then, this notion o'Mr. Hoole's will help to beat 'em; Mr. Trentham says it's certain.Well, then, it's a good thing, and good things didn't oughter be wasted,so when the war 's over he just reverses the engine, as you may say, andthen it's sewing machines what 'll make shirts and other peacefulthings. Ain't there justice in that?'
'I never had a chanst.'
'No, and I feel for you; I wouldn't like it myself. But there 's morejustice. By what Cap'n Rolfe says, they 're calling for hands for theRoyal Navy, and I 'm going to sign on, and in course you 'll sign ontoo. Well, now, s'pose you 'd got your chanst, and been killed, likeTrousers--'cos a savage speared him arter Mr. Trentham made himhelpless--you might a' been killed; then you wouldn't have got my pollparrot, and you wouldn't 'a been alive to sign on with me, and no chanstthen o' beating the Germans and making 'em sick o' themselves, andmedals and all. Look at it straight, Ephraim, and you 'll see 'tis alljustice, to say nothing of merciful Providence.'
'I don't rightly see as I can bear you out, Mr. Grinson,' said Meeksleepily.
'But you will, Ephraim, you will, me lad.... He 's going off, sir,'Grinson whispered as Trentham came up. 'Gripes! what a job I 've had!But he 'll be all right in the morning.'
Trentham won the Military Cross at the Battle of the Somme; Hoole was onthe point of starting for Berlin when the armistice was broached;Grinson and Meek have hunted submarines in an armed trawler. Meek hasbeen led to trace the hand of what he calls Justice from the moment whenthe Blue Raider sank the _Berenisa_ to the moment when, followingsomewhat sheepishly his more self-assured companion, he shambled throughthe courtyard of Buckingham Palace to receive his medal from the hand ofthe King.
Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty at the Edinburgh University Press
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