CHAPTER V THE LAW OF THE BAY
The bug-eye, Z. B. Brandt, lay more easily at anchor as the night woreaway and morning began to come in. The wind that had brought the rain hadfallen flat, and, in its stead, there was blowing a gentle breezestraight out the mouth of the river, from the west. The day bade fair tobe clear. Still, with the increasing warmth of the air upon the surfaceof the water, a vapour was arising, which shut out the shore in somedegree.
To one looking at it from a little distance, the vessel might havepresented a not unpleasing appearance. Its lines were certainlygraceful--almost handsome--after the manner of that type of bay craft.The low free-board and sloping masts served to add grace to the outlines.The Z. B. Brandt was a large one of its class, something over sixty feetlong, capable evidently of carrying a large cargo; and, at the same time,a bay-man would have known at a glance that she was speedy.
Built on no such lines of grace and speed, however, was her skipper,Captain Hamilton Haley, who now emerged from the cabin, on deck,stretched his short, muscular arms, and looked about and across thewater, with a glance of approval and satisfaction at the direction of thewind. He was below the medium height, a lack of stature which was mademore noticeable by an unusual breadth of chest and burliness ofshoulders.
Squat down between his shoulders, with so short and thick a neck that itseemed as though nature had almost overlooked that proportion, was arounded, massive head, adorned with a crop of reddish hair. A thick, butclosely cut beard added to his shaggy appearance. His mouth was small andexpressionless; from under heavy eye-brows, small, grayish eyes twinkledkeenly and coldly.
Smoke pouring out of a funnel that protruded from the top of the cabin onthe starboard side, and a noise of dishes rattling below in the galley,indicated preparation for breakfast. Captain Haley, his inspection ofconditions of wind and weather finished, went below.
A half hour later, there appeared from the same companion-way anotherman, of a strikingly different type. He was tall and well proportioned,powerfully built, alert and active in every movement. His complexionshowed him to be of negro blood, though of the lightest type of mulatto.His face, smooth-shaven, betrayed lines that foreboded little good to thecrew of any craft that should come under his command. His eyes told ofintelligence, however, and it would have required but one glance of ashrewd master of a vessel to pick him out for a smart seaman. LetHamilton Haley tell it, there wasn't a better mate in all the dredgingfleet than Jim Adams. Let certain men that had served aboard the Brandton previous voyages tell it, and there wasn't a worse one. It was amatter of point of view.
Captain Hamilton Haley having also come on deck, and it being now closeon to five o'clock of this November morning, it was high time for theBrandt to get under way. Captain Haley motioned toward the forecastle.
"Get 'em out," he said curtly.
The mate walked briskly forward, and descended into the forecastle. Thetwo seamen in the upper bunks, sleeping in their clothes, tumbled hastilyout, at a word from the mate, and a shake of the shoulder. The men in thetwo lower bunks did not respond. Angrily raising one foot, shod in aheavy boot, Jim Adams administered several kicks to the slumberers. Theystirred and groaned, and half awoke. Surveying them contemptuously for amoment, the mate passed them by.
"I'll 'tend to you gentlemen later on, I reckon," he muttered. JackHarvey, aroused by the stirring in the forecastle, had scrambled hastilyout, and was on his feet when the mate approached. The latter grinned,showing two rows of strong, white teeth.
"Well done, sonny," he said. "Saved you'self gettin' invited, didn't you?Just be lively, now, and scamper out on deck. Your mammy wants ter seeyou."
"All right," answered Harvey, and stooped for his shoes. To his surprise,he felt himself seized by the powerful hand of the mate, and jerkedupright. The mate was still smiling, but there was a gleam in his eyesthat there was no mistaking.
"See here, sonny," he said, "would you just mind bein' so kind as to callme 'mister,' when you speaks to me? I'm Mister Adams, if you please.Would you just as lieves remember that?"
Jack Harvey was quick to perceive that this sneering politeness was nojoke. He answered readily, "Certainly, Mr. Adams; I will, sir."
The mate grinned, approvingly.
"Get along," he said.
Pausing for a moment before the bunk in which Mr. Tom Edwards was stillsleeping, the mate espied the black tailor-made coat which the owner hadcarefully folded and stowed in one corner before retiring. From that andthe general appearance of the sleeper, it was evident Jim Adams hadgathered an impression little favourable to the occupant of the bunk.
"Hmph!" he muttered. "Reckon he won't last long. Scroop's rung in acounter-jumper on Haley. Wait till Haley sees him."
His contempt for the garment, carefully folded, did not however, preventhis making a more critical inspection of it. Drawing it stealthily out ofthe bunk, the mate quickly ran through the pockets. The searchdisappointed him. There was a good linen handkerchief, which heappropriated; an empty wallet, which he restored to a pocket; and somepapers, equally unprofitable. Tossing the coat back into the bunk, themate seized the legs of the sleeper and swung them around over the edgeof the bunk; which being accomplished, he unceremoniously spilled Mr. TomEdwards out on the floor.
There was a gleam of triumph in his eyes as he did so; a consciousnessthat here, in these waters of the Chesapeake, among the dredging fleet,there existed a peculiar reversal of the general supremacy of the whiteover the black race; a reversal growing out of the brutality of many ofthe captains, and the method of shipping men and holding them prisoners,to work or perish; in the course of which, captains so disposed had foundthat there was none so eager to brow-beat and bully a crew ofrecalcitrant whites as a certain type of coloured mates.
Tom Edwards, awakened thus roughly, opened his eyes wide in astonishment;then his face reddened with indignation as he saw the figure of the matebending over him.
"Would you just as lieve 'blige me by gettin' your coat on an' steppingout on deck?" asked the mate, with mock politeness.
Tom Edwards arose to his feet, somewhat shaky, and glared at thespokesman.
"I want to see the captain of this vessel," he said. "You fellows havemade a mistake in your man, this time. You'd better be careful."
"Yes, sir, I'm very, unusual careful, mister," responded the mate,grinning at the picture presented by the unfortunate Mr. Tom Edwards,unsteady on his legs with the slight rolling of the vessel, but strivingto assert his dignity. "Jes' please to hustle out on deck, now, an'you'll see the cap'n all right. He's waiting for you to eat breakfas'with him, in the cabin."
Tom Edwards, burning with wrath, hurriedly adjusted his crumpled collarand tie, put on his shoes and coat, and hastened on deck. Glancingforward, he espied Harvey engaged at work with the crew.
"Here, Harvey," he cried, "come on. I'll set you right, and myself, too,at the same time. I'll see if there's any law in Maryland that willpunish an outrage like this."
Somewhat doubtfully, Jack Harvey followed him. Jim Adams, leering asthough he knew what would be the result, did not stop him. The twoseamen, also, paused in their work, and stood watching the unusual event.Captain Hamilton Haley, standing expectantly near the wheel, eyed theapproaching Mr. Edwards with cold unconcern. Perhaps he had met similarsituations before.
Under certain conditions, and amid the proper surroundings, Mr. ThomasEdwards might readily have made a convincing impression and commandedrespect; but the situation was unfavourable. His very respectablegarments, in their tumbled and tom disarrangement, his legs unsteady,from recent experiences and from weakness, his face pale with theevidence of approaching sea-sickness, all conspired to defeat his attemptat dignity. Yet he was determined.
"Captain," he said, stepping close to the stolid figure by the wheel,"you have made a bad mistake in getting me aboard here. I was drugged andshipped without my knowing it. I am a travelling man, and connected witha big busin
ess house in Boston. If you don't set me ashore at once,you'll get yourself into more kinds of trouble than you ever dreamed of.I'm a man-of-the-world, and I can let this pass for a good joke among theboys on the road, if it stops right here. But if you carry it anyfarther, I warn you it will be at your peril. It's a serious thing, thisman-stealing."
Captain Hamilton Haley, fortifying himself with a piece of tobacco, eyedMr. Thomas Edwards sullenly. Then he clenched a huge fist and replied.
"I've seen 'em like you before," he said. "They was all real gentlemen,same as you be, when they come aboard, and most of 'em owned up to bein'pickpockets and tramps when they and I got acquainted. I guess you're nogreat gentleman. When a man goes and signs a contract with me, I makeshim live up to it. You've gone and signed with me, and now you getfor'ard and bear a hand at that winch."
"That's an outrageous lie!" cried Tom Edwards, shaking his fist in turnat Captain Haley. "I never signed a paper in my life, to ship with you oranybody else. If they've got my signature, it's forged."
"Look here, you," answered Haley, advancing a step, "don't you go an'tell me as how I lie, young feller. Ain't I seen the contract with my owneyes? Didn't Scroop show it, along with the contract of that other youngchap there? Don't you go telling me I ain't doin' things legal like. I'llshow you some Chesapeake Bay law."
"Well, Chesapeake Bay law is the same as the law for the rest ofMaryland, I reckon," exclaimed Tom Edwards hotly. "You've got no law onyour side. I've got the law with me, and I'll proceed against you. You'llfind Chesapeake Bay law and State law is much the same when you get intocourt."
For a moment something like a grin overspread the dull features ofCaptain Hamilton Haley. Then he raised his arm, advanced another stepforward, and shook his fist in the other's face.
"I reckon you ain't had no experience with Chesapeake Bay law," he criedangrily. "But it's easy to larn, and it don't take no books to teach it.Do you see that fist?"
He brandished his huge, red bunch of knuckles in Tom Edwards's face.
"Do you see that fist?" he cried again, his own face growing more fiery."That's the law of the Bay. That's the law of the dredging fleet. Thereain't no other. Any man that goes against that law, gets it laid down tohim good and hard. There it is, and you gets your first lesson."
With a single blow of his arm, planting the aforesaid digest and epitomeof dredging law full in the face of Tom Edwards, he stretched himsprawling on the deck, dazed and terrified.
Captain Hamilton Haley, having thus successfully demonstrated the mightand majesty of dredging-fleet law, according to his own interpretation ofits terms, proceeded now to expound it further. His anger had increasedwith his act of violence, and the veins in his neck and on his foreheadstood out, swollen.
"See here you, young fellow," he cried, advancing toward Harvey,threateningly, "don't you go starting out uppish, too. Don't you beginsea-lawyerin' with me. I know the law. There it is, and I hand it outwhen needed. There ain't no other law among the dredgers that I knows of,from Plum Point down to the Rappahannock. Some of 'em larns it quick, andsome of 'em larns it slow; and them as larns it quickest gets itlightest. Now what have you got to say?"
Jack Harvey, thus hopelessly confronted, thought--and thought quickly.
"I signed for a cruise, all right," he replied, returning the infuriatedcaptain's gaze steadily, "and I'm ready to go to work."
"Then you get for'ard, lively now, and grab hold of that winch. Youloafers get back and yank that anchor up. This ain't a town meetin'. Getthem men to work again, mate. Take him along, too."
The captain pointed, in turn, to Harvey, to the sailors who had edgedtheir way aft, to watch proceedings, and to the unfortunate Mr. Edwards,who had arisen from the deck and stood, a sorry, woe-begone object,unable physically to offer further resistance.
"Shake things up now, Jim Adams, shake 'em up," urged Haley. "Here we arelosing good wind over a lot of tramps that costs ten dollars apiece toget here, and little good after we've got 'em. How's a man goin' to makehis livin' dredging, when he pays high for men an' gets nothin' to showfor his money? I'd like to get that fellow, Jenkins, out here once,himself. I'd show him this isn't a business for school-boys andcounter-jumpers. I'd get ten dollars' worth of work out of him, and agood many more ten dollars' worth that he's got out of me, or he'd knowthe reason why."
Thus relieving his mind of his own troubles, Captain Hamilton Haley, in astate of highly virtuous indignation, watched with approval the actionsof the mate. The latter, seizing Tom Edwards, hurried him forwardunceremoniously and bade him take hold at the handle of the winch andhelp raise the anchor. Tom Edwards weakly grasped the handle, asdirected, in company with one of the sailors. Jack Harvey and the otherseaman worked at the opposite handle.
Two men could have done the job easily, and the four made quick work ofit. By the time the anchor chain was hove short, the mate and Haley hadgot the main-sail up. One of the seamen left the windlass and set one ofthe jibs; the anchor was brought aboard and stowed. The bug-eye, Brandt,began to swing off from its mooring, as the wind caught the jib, whichwas held up to windward. Easily the craft spun 'round, going before thewind out of the harbour and running across the bay, headed for theEastern shore.