Part 12

The men were puzzled; the cabin was puzzled. And no one was more puzzled by Brander's new way of life than Dan'l Tobey. He was puzzled, but he was at the same time elated. For he perceived that Brander had given him a weapon, a handle to take hold of. And Dan'l was not slow to take advantage of it.

They were working westward at the time, killing whales as they went. Ahead was the Bay of Islands, and Port Russell. Southward, the Solander Rock, and the Solander Grounds, where all the big bull whales of the seven seas have a way of flocking as men flock to their clubs. A cow is seldom or never seen there; the bulls are slain by scores. Toward this hunting ground, as famous for its whales as it was infamous for its ugly weather, the _Sally Sims_ was working. They would touch at Port Russell on the way....

Three days before they were like to make the Port, Dan'l made an occasion to have words with Noll Wing. Noll was on deck, Faith and the officers--save Brander, who was with Mauger forward--were all below. There was a group of men by the tryworks; and Dan'l strolled that way. He moved inconspicuously, approaching them on the opposite side of the ship; and when he came near, he stopped and seemed to listen. Noll, aft, was paying him little attention though Dan'l made sure that the captain saw.

Slatter was among the group of men; Dan'l scattered them, angrily, and drove them forward. When they were gone, he went aft again; and as he had expected, Noll asked:

"What was that, Dan'l?"

Dan'l smiled and said it was nothing that mattered; and his tone suggested that it mattered a great deal. Noll sternly bade him speak, and Dan'l said reluctantly:

"It was but the foolish talk of idle men, sir. I bade them keep their tongues still."

"What manner of foolish talk?"

Dan'l would not meet Noll's eyes. "Why, lies," he said. "Chatter."

Noll said heavily: "I'm not a man to be put off, Dan'l. Speak up, man."

Dan'l frowned sorrowfully: "It was just their talk about Mr. Brander and Faith, sir. Lies, as I told you. They shut up when I spoke to them."

"What talk of Brander and my wife?" Noll asked slowly.

Dan'l shook his head. "You can guess it for yourself, sir. The men have nothing better to do than chatter and gossip like old women. They've had no work for three days. We need another whale to shut their mouths."

"What talk?" Noll repeated.

Dan'l smiled. "I think too well of Faith and of Brander to say it for you," he insisted.

Noll fell silent, his brows lowering for a space; then he waved his great hand harshly. "Bosh," he said. "Foolishness."

Dan'l nodded. "Of course. Nevertheless, I...." He fell silent; and Noll looked at him acutely.

"You--what?" he asked.

"I don't blame Mr. Brander, you understand," said Dan'l. "But--it's in my mind that--being with the crew as much as he is--he should put a stop to it."

Noll's eyes ranged the deck. Brander was amidships now; and Mauger was still with him. Mauger was scraping at the rail, cleaning away some traces of soot from the last trying out, under Brander's eye. They were talking together; and Noll frowned and looked at Dan'l and asked:

"You think Mr. Brander is too much with the crew?"

Dan'l shook his head. "No, not too much. It's as well for an officer to be on good terms with the men. Leastwise, some think so. I was never one to do it. But--no, not too much. Nevertheless, he's much with them."

Noll thought for a while, his brows lowering; and he said harshly, at the end: "That matter of Faith is trash. Their clacking tongues should be dragged out...."

Dan'l nodded. "Aye; but that would not stop them. You know the men, sir." And he added: "Still it seems Brander should be able to hush them." And after a moment more: "You mark, he's all but deserted us in the cabin. He sticks much with the men of late."

Noll's face contracted. He touched Dan'l's arm. "I've seen that he is much with Mauger," he agreed. "And Mauger...." His muscles twitched; and he said under his breath: "Mauger's whetting his knife for me, Dan'l. I'm watchful of that man."

"He has a slinking eye," said Dan'l. "But I make no doubt he's harmless enough, sir. I'd not fear him...."

Noll said stoutly: "I'm not a hand to fear any man, Dan'l. Nevertheless, that twitching eye of his frets me...." He shuddered and gripped Dan'l's arm the tighter. "I should not have kicked the man, Dan'l. I've been a hard man; too hard.... An evil man, in my day. I doubt the Lord has raised up Mauger to destroy me."

Dan'l laughed. "Pshaw, sir.... Even the Lord would have small use for a thing like Mauger." He waited for a moment thoughtfully. "Any case," he said. "If you were minded, you could drop him ashore at Port Russell and be rid of him."

Noll moved abruptly. "Eh," he said. "I had not thought of that." He seemed to shrink from the thought.... "But it may be he is meant to be about me.... I'd not go against the Lord, Dan'l...."

Dan'l looked sidewise at the captain; and there was something like contempt in his eyes. He said slowly: "If it was me, I'd set the man quietly ashore...."

He turned away, left Noll to think of the matter....

* * * * *

Dan'l wondered, all that day, whether Noll would act; but toward nightfall they raised a spout, and killed as dark came upon them. That held them, for cutting in and trying out, three days where they lay; and they killed once more before they made the Bay of Islands. They were touching at Port Russell for water and fresh vegetables; they put in there....

When the anchor went down, Noll sent for Brander to come down to him in the cabin. They had anchored at nightfall, and would not go ashore till morning. Noll sent for Brander; and when Brander came, Noll looked at him furtively....

Brander saw the captain had been drinking; Noll's hands shook, and his fingers and his tongue were unsteady. The muscles of his face twitched; and there was a Bible open in his lap and a bottle beside him. Brander held his eyes steady, masked what he felt. Noll beckoned with a crooked finger.

"Come 'ere," he said huskily.

Brander faced him. They were in the after cabin; and Noll sat still. "We're staying here a day," he said.

Brander nodded. "Wood and stores, sir, I suppose."

Noll nodded heavily. "Oh, aye.... But, something else, Mr. Brander. I'm goin' leave here that man in your boat. Mauger...."

Brander's lips tightened faintly; he held his voice. "Mauger?" he echoed. "Why? What's wrong with him?"

"Don' want him around any more," said Noll slowly.

"Why not?" Brander insisted.

Noll's lips twitched with the play of his nerves, and he poured a drink and lifted it to his mouth with unsteady fingers. He set down the glass, spilling a little of the liquor; and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I had 'casion to discipline Mauger," he said, with awkward dignity, his head wagging. "I had 'casion to discipline Mauger. An' now he's got a knife for me. He's goin' kill me. I ought kill him; put the man shore, 'stead of that."

Brander smiled reassuringly. "Mauger's harmless, sir. And he does his work."

Noll shook his head. "I know 'im. He's a murd'rer. I'm goin' put him ashore."

The fourth mate hesitated; then he said quietly: "All right. If he goes, I go too."

Noll's head jerked back as though he had been struck; and his red eyes widened and narrowed again as he peered at Brander, and he hesitated unsteadily. "Wha's that?" he asked. "Wha's that you say?"

"I say I'll go if he goes."

Noll's head drooped and swayed wearily; but after a moment he asked: "Wha' for?"

"The man shipped for the cruise," said Brander. "He does his work. I'll not be a party to putting him ashore--dumping him in this God-forsaken hole."

Noll raised a hand. "Don' speak of God," he said reprovingly. "You don' understand Him, Mr. Brander." Brander said nothing; and Noll's hand dropped and he whined: "Man can't do what he wants on his own ship...."

Brander said: "Do as you like, sir. I think you should let him stay. He means no harm...."

Noll waved his hand. "Oh, a'right," he agreed. "Say no more 'bout it at all. Let be. Keep'm; keep'm, Mr. Brander. But lis'en." He eyed Brander shrewdly. "Lis'en. I know one thing. He's goin' to knife me some night. I know. He's a murd'rer. And you're defending him.... Pr'tecting him. Birds of a feather flock t'gether, Mr. Brander." The captain got unsteadily to his feet, raised a threatening hand. "When he kills me; just r'member. My blood's on your own head, sir."

Brander hesitated; his heart revolted. His impulse was to leave the ship, take Mauger, trust his luck.... But he thought of Faith. This man, her husband, was dying.... He could see that. And when he was gone, there would be trouble aboard the _Sally_. Faith herself meant trouble; the ambergris in the captain's storeroom meant more trouble.... Brander knew it might well be that Faith would need him in that day.... He could not leave her....

He said quietly: "I take that responsibility, sir."

Noll was slumped in his chair again. "Go 'way," he said, and waved his hand. "Go 'way."

* * * * *

That night, in the small hours, Noll screamed in a way that woke the ship; he had come out of drunken slumber, desperate with a vivid hallucination that appalled him....

He thought that Mauger was at him with a sheath knife, and that Brander was at Mauger's back. Faith and Dan'l fought to soothe him; Faith in her loose dressing-gown, her hair in its thick braid.... Dan'l had more eyes for Faith than for Noll. He had never seen her thus before; never seen her so beautiful; never seen her, he thought, so desperately to be desired.... His lips were wet at the sight of her....

Noll's terror racked and tore at the man; it seemed to rip the very flesh from his bones. When it passed, at last, and he fell asleep again, he was wasted like a corpse.

Dan'l, looking at Noll and at Faith, wished Noll were a corpse indeed.

XX

A change was coming to pass in Faith at this time. As the strength flowed out of Noll, it seemed to flow into her. As Noll weakened, Faith was growing strong.

She had never lacked a calm strength of her own; the strength of a good woman. But she was acquiring now the strength and resolution of a man. At first, this was unconscious; the spectacle of Noll's degeneration moved her by the force of contrast. But for a long time she clung to the picture of the Noll of the past, clung to the hope that the captain would become again the man she had married. And so long as she did this, she made herself a part of him, his support.... She merged herself in him, thought of herself only as his helpmate.... She had always tried to stimulate his pride and strength; she had tried to lead him to reassume the domination of the _Sally_ and all aboard her. And in the days before Noll went out to kill his whale, she thought for a time she had succeeded.

But when Noll came back to her that day, exhausted by the struggle, the fire gone out of him, Faith perceived that he was a weak vessel, cracking and breaking before her eyes.

Noll was gone; he was no longer a man. His hands and his heart had not the force needed to enable him to command the _Sally_, to make the voyage successful, to bring the bark safely back to port in the end. Faith saw this; but she refused to consider the chance of failure. She had married Noll when he was at the height of his apparent strength; the signs of his disintegration were not yet apparent. They had swept upon him suddenly.... But she would not have it said of him, when he was gone, that he had sailed the seas too long; that he had failed at last, and shamefully....

She had come to look upon the success of this last voyage of Noll's as a sacred charge; and when Noll's shoulders weakened, she prepared deliberately to take the burden on her own. The _Sally_ must come safely home, with filled casks for old Jonathan Felt; she must come safely home, no matter what happened to Noll--or to herself. The prosperity of the _Sally Sims_ was almost a religion to Faith....

She had begun to study navigation more to pass the long and dreary days than from any other motive; she applied herself to it now more ardently. And she began, at the same time, to study the men about her; to weigh them; to consider their fitness for the responsibilities that must fall upon them. The fo'm'st hands, and particularly the mates, she weighed in the balance. The mates, and above all Dan'l Tobey. For if Noll were to go, Dan'l, by all the ancient laws of the sea, would become master of the ship; and their destinies would lie in his hands....

Short of the Solander Grounds, they struck good whaling, and lingered for a time; and day by day the tuns and casks were filled, and the _Sally_ sank lower in the water with her increasing load. They were two-thirds full, and not yet two years out. Good whaling.... At dinner in the cabin one day, Dan'l Tobey said to Faith:

"You've brought us good luck, Faith, by coming along, this cruise. We never did much better, since I've been with Cap'n Wing."

Faith looked to Noll. Noll was eating slowly, paying them no attention. Silence was falling upon the captain in those days, like a foreshadowing of the great silence into which he would presently depart. He said nothing; so Faith said: "Yes. We've done well.... I'm glad."

Old James Tichel looked slyly from face to face. "And the 'gris, stowed below us here, will make it a fine fat cruise for old Jonathan Felt when we come home," he chuckled.

At the mention of the ambergris, a little silence fell. Brander was at the table, Brander and the others. Dan'l and Willis Cox and young Roy Kilcup looked at Brander, as though expecting him to speak. He said nothing, and old Tichel, gnawing at his food, chuckled again, as though pleased with what he had said.

The ambergris, so rich a treasure in so small a bulk, had never been forgotten for a minute by any man in the cabin; nor by Faith. But they had not spoken of it of late; there was nothing to be said, and there was danger in the saying. It was as well that it be forgotten until they were home again.... There were too many chances for trouble in the stuff....

When Brander did not speak, however, Dan'l gently prodded him. He said to Tichel: "You're forgetting that Mr. Brander claims it for his own."

Tichel chuckled again. "Oh, aye, I was forgetting that small matter," he agreed. "My memory is very short at times."

Still Brander said nothing. Dan'l looked toward him. "I'll be warrant Mr. Brander does not forget," he said.

Brander looked toward Dan'l, and he smiled amiably. "Thank you," he told the mate. "Keep me reminded. It had all but slipped from my mind."

There was so much hostility in the air, in the slow words of the men, that Faith said quietly: "We'll be on the Solander, soon. I'm looking forward to that, Dan'l. You've seen the Rock?"

She hoped to change them to another topic; but Dan'l brought it smoothly back again. "Yes," he said. "Yes.... Last cruise, the _Betty Howe_, out of Port Russell, picked up a sizable chunk of 'gris not a week before we touched the grounds. That brought two-sixty to the pound, I heard."

"How much was it?" Willis Cox asked; and Dan'l looked to Willis and said amiably:

"Fifteen pound or so. No more than a thimbleful to what we've got.... That is to say, to what Mr. Brander's got, below here."

Brander had finished eating; he rose to go on deck. But Roy Kilcup could no longer hold his tongue. He got to his feet in Brander's path, demanded sharply:

"Do you honestly mean to claim that for your own, Mr. Brander? Are you so much of a hog?"

Brander looked down at the boy; and he smiled. "I'll give you your share, now, if it will stop your worrying, youngster," he said.

"I want to know what you're going to do," Roy insisted. "Are you going to stick to your claim?"

"Others want to know," said Brander, and stepped to one side to pass Roy. Roy would have spoken again; but Noll said heavily from the head of the table:

"Roy, let be."

That put a moment's silence upon them all. In this silence, Brander went on his way to the deck. Roy stared after him for a moment, then sat down in his place. His face was sullen and angry.... No one spoke of the matter again; but Dan'l saw that Faith was thoughtful. Faith was puzzling over Brander, trying to fathom the man.... She was troubled and uneasy.... Dan'l saw that Noll had lifted his heavy head and was watching her.

Afterward, Dan'l went with Noll into the after cabin. Faith had gone on deck; and she and Willis Cox were talking together, by the wheel, with Roy. Brander, as usual, had taken himself to the waist where he was under the eye of the crew. His harpooner, Loum, was with him. Mauger hung within sound of his voice like an adoring dog.

Dan'l, in the after cabin with Noll, made up the log. Noll sat heavily on the seat, half asleep. He got up, while Dan'l was still writing, and got his bottle. It was almost empty; and he cursed at that, and Dan'l looked up and said:

"Sit down, sir. Give that to me. I'll fill it up again."

Noll accepted the offer without speaking, and gave Dan'l the key to his storeroom, where there was a cask of whiskey, and another of rum. Dan'l came back presently with the bottle filled.... His eyes were shining with an evil inspiration, but he said nothing for a little. When his work on the log was done, however, he looked across to Noll, and after a little, as though answering a spoken question, said:

"I wouldn't worry about him, sir."

Noll looked at him dully. "About who, Dan'l?"

"Brander. I saw you watching him...."

Noll dropped his head. "I don't like the man."

"He's a good officer."

"Oh, aye...."

"I doubt if he means trouble over the 'gris."

Noll waved a hand fretfully. "He's too much with the crew, Mr. Tobey."

Dan'l shook his head. "I doubt it. That's one way to handle men--Be one of them. They'll do anything for him, sir."

Noll's eyes narrowed with the shrewdness of a drunken man. "That's the worst part of it. Will they do anything for me, Dan'l? Or for you?"

Dan'l said reluctantly: "Well, sir, maybe they'd jump quicker for him."

"And that's not reassuring," said Noll. "Is it, now?"

"It wouldn't be, if he meant wrong. I don't think he does. Any case, he knows the 'gris is not his, in the end...." And he added: "You're concerned over Faith and him--the way they are when they're together. But there's no need, sir. Faith is loyal...."

Noll looked at the mate, and he frowned. "How are they, when they're together?"

"I thought you had marked it for yourself.... I meant nothing."

"Nothing? You meant something. You've seen something. What is it you've seen, Dan'l?"

Dan'l protested. "Why, nothing at all. There's no harm in their being friends. He's a young man, strong, with wisdom in his head; and she's young, too. It's natural that young folk should be friendly."

Noll's head sank upon his chest; he said dully: "Aye, and you're thinking I'm old."

"No, sir," Dan'l cried. "Not that. You're not so old as you think, sir. Not so old but what you might strike, if there was need. I only meant it was to be expected that they should be drawn together, like. Faith's young...."

Noll's eyes were reddening angrily. "Speak out, man," he exclaimed. "Don't shilly-shally with your tongue. If there's harm afoot, by God, I can take a hand. What's in your mind?"

"Why, nothing at all. No harm in the world, sir.... I was only meaning to reassure you. I thought you had seen her eyes when she looked at the man...."

"Her eyes?"

"Aye."

"What's in her eyes?"

Dan'l frowned uncomfortably. "Why--friendship, if you like. Liking, perhaps. Nothing more, I'll swear. I know Faith too well...."

Noll said heavily: "I'll watch her eyes, Dan'l."

Dan'l said with apparent anxiety: "You should not concern yourself, Cap'n Wing. It's but the fancy of youth for youth.... I...."

Noll came to his feet with sudden rage in him. "Have done, Dan'l. I...."

They both heard, then, Faith's step in the main cabin; and their eyes met and burned. And Dan'l got up quietly, and closed the log, and as Faith came in, he went out and closed the door behind him. Closed the door and crossed to the companion as though to go on deck; but he lingered there, listening....

Listened; but there was little for him to hear. When the door closed behind him, Faith had turned to her own cabin, hers and Noll's. Noll sat down, his eyes sullen.... He watched her through the open door to the cabin where their bunks were. She turned after a moment and came out to him; and he got to his feet with a rush of anger, and stared at her, so that she stood still....

He said hoarsely: "Faith.... By God...."

His words failed, then, before the steady light in her eyes. She was wondering, questioning him.... She met his eyes so fairly that the soul of the man cowered and shrank. The strength of rage went from him. He drew back.

"What is it, Noll?" she asked. "Why are you--angry?"

He lifted a clenched hand over his head; it trembled there for an instant, then came slowly down. He wrenched open the door to the main cabin, and went out and left her standing there....

Faith watched him go; perplexity in her eyes. Dan'l joined him, and they went on deck together.

XXI

They came to the Solander Grounds with matters still in this wise. Brander much with the crew; Noll Wing rotting in his chair in the cabin; Faith gaining strength of soul with every day; Dan'l playing upon Noll, upon Roy, upon all those about him to his own ends....

The Solander received them roughly; they passed the tall Solander Rock and cruised to the westward, keeping it in sight. There was another whaling ship, almost hull down, north of them, and the smoke that clouded her told the _Sally_ she had her trypots going. Dan'l Tobey was handling the vessel; and he chose to work up that way. But before they were near the other craft, the masthead men sighted whales.... Spouts all about, blossoming like flowers upon the blue water. Noll had regained a little of his strength when they came upon the Grounds; he took the ship, and bade Dan'l and the other mates lower and single out a lone whale....

"They'll all be bulls, hereabouts," he said. "Big ones, too.... And we'll take one at a spell and be thankful for that...."

The whale was, as Noll had predicted, a bull. Dan'l made the kill, a ridiculously easy one. The vast creature lifted a little in the water at the first iron; he swam slowly southward; but there was no fight in him when they pulled up and thrust home the lance. The lance thrusts seemed to take out of him what small spirit of resistance there had been in the beginning; and when his spout crimsoned, he lay absolutely still, and thus died....

An hour after lowering, the whale was alongside the _Sally_; a monstrous creature, not far short of the colossus Cap'n Wing had slain. He was made fast to the fluke-chain bitt, and the cutting in began forthwith.... That, too, on Noll Wing's order. "Fair weather never sticks, hereabouts," he said. "Work while there's working seas."

Now the first part of cutting in a whale is to work off the head; and that is no small task. For the whale has no neck at all, unless a certain crease in his thick blubber may be called a neck. The spades of the mates, keen-edged, and mounted on long poles with which they jab downward from the cutting stage, chock into the blubber and draw a deep cut along the chosen line.... The carcass is laboriously turned, the process is repeated.... Thus on, till at last the huge mass can be torn free....

Before the work on this whale was half done, it became apparent that a gale was brewing. Cross swells, angling together at the mouth of Foveaux Straits, kicked up a drunken sea that made the _Sally_ pitch and roll at the same time; a combination not relished by any man. Nevertheless, the head was got off and hauled alongside for cutting up....