Captain Caution (20 page)

"Yes," Marvin said.

"Whether you could beat him or not?" Henry asked.

Marvin nodded. "I want to escape from this hulk," he said. "I want to get back to Morlaix. If nothing stands between me and getting there except beating this Little White, he'll have to kill me to beat me."

Newton laughed, a laugh so nervous that it was almost a titter. "There it isI" he exclaimed to the committeemen. "What more do you want than that?"

"What is it you figure we ought to agree to?" Captain Taylor asked; then puckered his mouth sourly.

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"Nothing unreasonable," Marvin said. "I want to be allowed to escape, and I want the right to pick the men that work with me and go out with me if it ever comes to that. Three others I'd want to take, no more; and all for good and sufficient. I'd expect all four of us to receive the usual supplies and protection while working."

"You mean nobody else would be allowed to use your cutting, provided you're successful?" Henry demanded.

"Not for three nights not until we've had time to get clear."

"I don't agreel" Henry declared angrily.

"Oh, here, herel" Captain Taylor said. "That's fairl If they get away, we can pass men through the bulkhead to answer to roll call, so the four won't be missed; and when the three days are up, everyone can go that has enough money and food. If one of the four should be caught, nobody else would have a chance anyway."

"Well - " said Henry weakly. He looked helplessly from one committeeman to another, his face chalk-white in the flickering light that danced across the ceiling from the reHecffon of the sun on the crinkled water of the Medway.

"Gorryl" exclaimed a committeeman in dogskm trousers, one of the legs being made of the skin of a red setter and the other of the skin of a coach dog. "Gorryl I say yes whether he beats him or notl"

"Nor" Captain Taylor protested sternly. "Not unless he beats himl If he's willing to try under those conditions, I say yes, and so does Henry. You do, don't you, HenryP"

"Yes," Henry said reluctantly, "I guess I do."

A glance at the other committeemen seemed to satisfy Captain Taylor, for he nodded soberly to Newton and then rose from his bench to prod inquiringly at Marvin's biceps.

"In that case," Newton said briskly, "this meeting stands adjourned and I appoint the entire committee to demand a contribution of salt from each prisoner so we can get his hands in pickle with no loss of ffme."

XIX

1nE barge that drew up to the landing stage of the Crown Prince hulk at noon on Saturday seemed to blaze with color; for the oarsmen wore uniforms of blue flannel with the arms of the Stannages on breast and back in silver, gold and red; while in the cockpit sat Stannage himself, resplendent in a hussar's uniform, all gold and scarlet. Around him clung a group of damsels in silks, furs and feathers damsels whose conversation seemed to Marvin, as he peered over the bulwarks at them, to consist largely of shrill laughter and shriller screams.

Between Stannage's knees crouched an enormous brown dog, thin and yellow-eyed, that panted constantly despite the chill wind that blew across the Medway, and cast longing looks over one side of the barge and then over the other. Close behind him stood a towering, smiling negro, whose noisy laughter ran like an undercurrent beneath the high-pitched merriment of the captain's gentle companions, and whose Eastern splendor dimmed the finery of the others. On his head was perched a vast turban of yellow satin, decorated with a tall plume held in place by a glittering bauble seemingly made of pearls and diamonds; beneath his short jacket of crimson satin a broad sash of gold cloth shone dully against the velvety black of his skin; and crimson satin trousers, voluminous enough, Marvin was sure, to make a dozen potato sacks, hung to his ankles, where they were fastened by tight gold bands.

"There he isI" Newton said. "There's Little Whitel What you think of him, Dan?"

Marvin shook his head. "Why," he said, "he looks like a handy man to have around a pivot gun or a galley stove, provided he got a rap from a belaying pin every few minutes to remind him where he belongs."

Newton nodded. "That's something he hasn't had in some little time. These people over here, they're all excited over Molineaux, the American negro who fought Tom Cribb. In consequence, they can't see a black man a little bigger than usual without thinking he's a fighter, and making a pet of him."

Cackling hilariously, Little White, evidently at his master's bid

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ding, leaned over and took one of the damsels beneath the arms as though she had been a doll, held her for a moment over the side of the barge, so that she screamed and kicked like an excited child; then deposited her on the landing stage and spanked her briskly to start her up the gangway.

Stannage, a gaudy figure in his scarlet, fur-trimmed hussar's jacket, laughed as heartily at the playfulness of his dusky favoriteas did any of the jeering prisoners that peered down at him from the bulwarks.

Marvin moved uncomfortably. "Why," he said suddenly, "this Stannage ought to have his face washed and be put to bedl He's only a childl He's never a captain not at his agel"

"Oh, isn't he?" Newton exclaimed. "Well, he is, and he's more than a childl He's an idiot the idiot son of rich idiots; so his family bought him a captaincy to get him out of the way. It's an old English customl There's regiments over here offlcered entirely by idiots and children whose places have been bought for 'em. You can do anything with money in England; there's no place that's not for sale church, state, army or navy."

Marvin laughed. "I guess they're not so bad as thatl" he said. "If you're trying to make me madder at them than I am, you don't need to not by Iying about 'cm."

"vyings" Newton cried. "Lying? Why well, wait till you know 'eml Lyingl It was only a couple of years ago that the Duke of York was helping Mary Anne Clarke to sell any job in England to the highest bidderl The King's son and a bawdl It's no use having merit in England, not unless you have money along with it; and if you have no money, you're no better than a criminal! They pressed me into their damned navy, and I know 'em, and I'm glad I do, because it isn't Nature for people like that to win wars from people like us. ThaPs mighty small consolation to a man who's buried in the hulksl Mighty small, but better than nothing!"

The boyish Stannage, looking petulant, came slowly and awkwardly up the companionway, dragging his enormous and reluctant brown dog; while Little White, crowding close behind with baskets, boxes and cloaks, rolled his eyes defiantly at the prisoners who watched him.

Argandeau, beside Marvin, sighed heavily. "It is well that I understand which is the master and which is the man," he said, "because if I did not, I might think that the smaller one was brought here by the black one for our amusement."

He watched the two gaily caparisoned figures mounting to the CAPTAIN CAUTION 403

quarter-deck from the throng of emaciated, tattered scarecrows that packed the waist; then tapped Marvin on the arm. "In those baskets," he reminded him, "there is wine and fine food and yet more wine that they will be two hours in consuming. Two hours is no great time, so you must come now and have your dinner two rotten carrots and a biscuit palpitating with weevils."

Marvin, climbing the ladders from the lower battery to the upper deck, mounted two hours later into a tumult so violent that the hulk seemed to shudder, as at the roaring of a storm seemed almost to be sinking in a sea of sound.

The deck itself had become an amphitheater, and every exposed part of it, save for the quarter-deck and a square inclosure in front of the break in the poop, was massed with ragged, excited prisoners. There were prisoners clinging like ants to the two stubby signal masts; prisoners ranged in a triple tier along the high bulwarks; prisoners hanging like swarming bees against the face of the forecastle. All of them, wedged immovably in their places though they seemed to be, had freed their arms to shake a fist at the inclosure beneath the poop, so that the whole dreary hulk had the appearance of fluttering and vibrating, while from nine hundred throats there came an angry and derisive screaming.

In the center of the inclosure, set off by ropes from the closepacked prisoners who crouched around it, strutted the towering crimson form of Little White; and from the continuous rapid movement of his grinning lips as well as from the expression of rage on the faces of the prisoners closest to him, Marvin knew he was making game of them. From time to time he turned and looked up to the baby-faced hussar captain, standing at the rail of the quarter-deck with Lieutenant Osmore, and thence to the chattering women, who now sat comfortably, wineglasses in their hands, on either side of the hulk commander and their host. There was pride and almost admiration in the smiles they gave him; and even as Marvin, preceded by Newton and followed closely by Argandeau, forced his way from the main hatch toward the ring, a woman's gaily colored silk scarf floated downward from the quarter-deck and was deftly caught by Little White caught and flaunted proudly in the faces of the howl- ing prisoners.

At the sight of Marvin, crawling under the ropes of the ring with the small and heavily overcoated Newton, Little White ceased his posturing and stared intently at the tall American; then, catching his eye, he thrust out his lower jaw and grimaced horribly, his mouth

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spreading outward so that he seemed to have the face of an ape. Marvin stared hard at him with a horrid fascination and shivered perceptibly, whereupon the roar with which the prisoners were greeting their champion's appearance became enfeebled with misgiving and died pathetically away.

On the quarter-deck two marines thumped on the drums slung at their sides. Lieutenant Osmore placed his right hand between the first and second buttons of his coat, frowned portentously and raised his left hand in a gesture of command. Over the hulk there fell an uneasy silence.

"You know the terms of this exhibition!" Osmore said in his shrill, domineering voice. "Captain Sir Rafe Stannage has kindly consented to permit his attendant ah White ah Little White to display once more that art unknown to more ah effeminate, more cruel and more cowardly peoples ah the art sprung from British hardihood and love of fair play ah the art of pugilism!" He mclined his head to Stannage, who was staring as though baffled at a leather strap in his left hand; and from the throng of prisoners there instantly rose a roar short, sharp and profoundly ironical.

'You know the termsl" Osmore repeated. "Any fighting or opprobAous remarks among the prisoners will result in two days black hole for the offenders. The rules of the exhibition will be Broughton's rules. Each round to be considered ended on the fall of one or both contestants After each fall, each man to be brought to scratch within thirty seconds or be deemed ah beaten. No falling without the staking of an honest blow. Challenger to receive one pound for his brave attempt, and if successful ah, ha-hal if successful twenty guineas!" Osmore chuckled and cleared his throat importantly.

"The challenger of ah White of Little White ah is" he drew a small paper from his coat and peered at it "is one Marvin, of Arundel." He scanned the paper again, frowning, and repeated the word "Arun-del."

Stannage stepped to his side and looked over his shoulder. "Arundel? He's an Englishman?"

Osmore frowned severely down at Marvin, who stood patiently at one side of the ring, his ear inclined to the prolonged whisperings of Newton. "Awn-dell" Osmore exclaimed, striking the paper with his hand. "This says Arun-del! There's no Arun-del in AmeAcal"

Marvin nodded. "A-rundle, it's pronounced."

"Never heard of the place! Where is it?" Osmore asked.

"Where?" Marvin said, looking up at him thoughtfully. "It's no great distance from Bunker Hill and Saratoga."

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A whisper arose from the men crouched at the ringside, a small dry titter that spread through the dense masses of prisoners as ripples spread from the dropping of a rock in a pond.

"Silencel" Osmore screamed, stamping his foot. "Silencel" He stared balefully from one side of the crowded deck to the other, until the unseemly tittering had died away. "Save your damned Yankee impertinence for another occasion or I'll clap you below hatches, all of youl You want to see this fight, and you'll behave yourselves or not see it! I'll say this, too: It's a lesson you need, all of you you Frenchmen with your kicking and knife sticking you Spaniards and Italians with your backhanded stilettos and daggers you Yankees with your tomahawks and scalping tricksl This is to do you goodl You people need all the lessons you can get in the cool courage, the restraint, the skill and the endurance with which the noble art of boxing has filled the breast of every true-hearted Eng- lishman and made the British nation the mistress of the seasl"

There was a patter of applause from the young women seated at the quarter-deck rail.

Newton cleared his throat apologetically. "I'd like to ask a question, sir," he said. He stared up at Osmore from beside Marvin, as harmless as a downy chicken peering from under its mother's wing.

"Be quick about itl" Osmore ordered.

"We hope you'll not permit any of your Lancashire up-and-down fighting, sir," Newton urged. "We wouldn't like to see our man killed or disabled by kicking or gouging when on his back."

Osmore narrowed his eyes at Newton; then swept them quickly over the throng of ragged men beyond. There was a small trembling among them, and a sound like the vague shadow of stifled laughter.

Osmore's face darkened; he opened his lips as though to rebuke Newton; then seemed to cogitate. "Broughton's rulesl" he snapped at length. "You heard me say Broughton's rulesl Get your man ready! Surgeon Rockett has kindly consented to fill the difficult post of referee."

He read again from his paper. "Corporals Quigg and Spratt will act for ah White for Little White. For Marvin, Newton and Argandeau."

Two red-coated marines popped into the ring beside Little White, who straightway leaped into the air, crowing like a rooster and shedding jacket, trousers, waistband and turban in a whirl of scarlet and gold. Beneath these garments he wore small clothes of the brightest green, fastened waist and knee with yellow bands. Above them his naked torso gleamed in the pale October sunlight like polished