Part 14 (1/2)

”I don't want to talk to you. Get in!”

”We have as much right to remain on this s.h.i.+p as anybody else,” shouted another. ”We paid for our pa.s.sage. We are honest, hard-working--”

”No use! I'll give you ten minutes to climb into those boats.”

There was a moment's silence. ”And what will you do if we refuse to leave the s.h.i.+p?” cried one of the men.

”Be quiet!” he bawled at the whimpering women. ”We cannot hear what the gentleman has to say.”

”You'll soon find out what I'll do, if you don't obey me inside of ten minutes,” replied Percival.

”But the s.h.i.+p is not going to sink any more,” protested another, looking over the rail timidly. ”She is safe. We do not wish to leave now.”

Captain Trigger and Mr. Mott joined Percival. In an undertone he told them what he had said to the mob.

”And now, gentlemen,” he whispered in conclusion, ”it's up to you to intercede in their behalf. They're as tame as rabbits now. They know the s.h.i.+p's all right, and they believe I intend to blow 'em to pieces if they once put off in the boats. Start in now, Captain, and argue with me. Plead for them. They know who I am. They know I come from the hills and they think I'm a bloodthirsty devil. They're like a lot of cattle.

Most of them are simple, honest, G.o.d-fearing people,--and if we handle them properly now we'll not have much trouble with them in the future.

And only the Good Lord knows what the future is going to bring.”

So the three of them argued, two against one. Finally Percival threw up his hands in a gesture of complete surrender.

”All right, Captain. I give in. Perhaps you are right. I suppose it would be butchery.”

There were a few in the crowd who understood English. These edged forward eagerly, hopefully. They called out protestations against the ”slaughter.”

”Tell them you have reconsidered, Mr. Percival,” said the Captain. ”They are to remain on board.”

Excited shouts went up from the few who understood, and then the word went among the others that they were to be spared. There were cries of relief, joy, grat.i.tude, and not a few fell upon their knees!

Percival stood forth once more. Silence fell upon the throng.

”The Captain has put in a plea for you, and I have decided to grant it.

You may remain on board. Now, listen to me! No one is to leave this s.h.i.+p until tomorrow morning. We are safe here. We are stuck fast on the bottom, and nothing can happen to us at present. Tomorrow we will see what is best to be done. Every man and woman here is to return to the task he was given by Mr. Mott at the beginning of our troubles. We've got to eat, and sleep, and--Wait a minute! Well, all right,--beat it, if you feel that way about it.”

He stood watching them as they excitedly withdrew toward the bow of the s.h.i.+p, breaking up into clattering groups, all of them talking at once.

Captain Trigger laid his hand on the young man's shoulder.

”If it had not been for you, Percival, this deck would now be red with blood,--and some of us would be dead. You saved a very ticklish situation. I take off my hat to you, and I say, with a full heart, that I shall never again doubt your ability to handle men. No one but an American could have tricked that mob as you did, my lad.”

From various points of vantage the foregoing scene had been witnessed by uneasy, alarmed persons from upper cabins. Overwhelmed and dismayed by the rush of the yelling mob, the elect had fled for safety, urged by a greater fear than any that had gone before,--the fear of rioting men.

A few of them, more daring and inquisitive than the rest, had ventured recklessly into the zone of danger. Among them were Ruth Clinton and Madame Olga Obosky, who, disregarding the command of Mr. Mott, were the only women to venture beyond the protecting corner of the deck building.

They stood side by side, bracing themselves against the downward slope of the deck. Half-way forward were Trigger and the armed gunners, and beyond them the dense, irresolute ma.s.s of humanity. Percival, in rounding the corner to go to the a.s.sistance of Captain Trigger, observed with dismay the exposed position in which the two women had placed themselves. He paused to cry out to them sharply:

”What are you doing here? Get back to the other side. Can't you see there is likely to be shooting? Don't stand there like a couple of idiots! You're right in line if that gang begins to fire.”

”He is tearing off his bandages,” cried Ruth, as Percival hurried on.

Madame Obosky was silent, her gaze fixed intently on the brisk, aggressive figure of the man who had called them idiots. She understood every word he uttered to the Portuguese. Her eyes glistened with pride when he stepped forward to tackle the mob single-handed, and as he went on with his astonis.h.i.+ng speech she actually broke into a soft giggle.