The First Mate: The Story of a Strange Cruise Page 6

  CHAPTER SIX.

  KENNEDY'S BANSHEE.

  It was shortly after noon, on our fifth day out from Moulmein, and wewere just within the Malacca Strait, when the wind began to fail us; andby two bells in the first dog-watch it had fallen stark calm, and theyacht's head was slowly boxing the compass. We were close enough inwith the land to see from the deck the ridge of the mountain range thatforms the backbone, as it were, of the Malay Peninsula, though not thecoast line itself; but there were quite a number of islands in sight,some of which were of respectable size, while there were others thatcould not have had an area of more than a few acres--some of them indeedbeing scarcely more than rocks. Most of them, however, seemedinhabited, for even on some of the smallest we were able, with the helpof our telescopes, to distinguish one or more ramshackle huts, someperched on the top of long, stilt-like poles; also there were at least ahundred small fishing craft in sight, as well as a few proas, probablycoasting craft, becalmed like ourselves.

  "Now," said Mrs Vansittart, addressing herself to Kennedy and me as wesat upon the poop rail, longing for the sun to go down and leave us thecomparative coolness of the night, "here is just where we miss ourpropeller. If it had not been for that accident I guess we could havestarted the engine; and we should at least have had the draught causedby the ship's passage through the water to cool us; whereas we shallhave to wait where we are and just simmer until a breeze springs upagain. And I guess I see no sign of one as yet, while the glass standsvery high. Mr Leigh, do you happen to know whether there is such athing as a dry dock at Singapore?"

  "I have never been to Singapore," I replied, "so I cannot say forcertain; but I seem to recollect having heard such a thing mentioned.Does not the Directory say anything about it?"

  "There now! I declare to goodness that I never thought to look,"exclaimed the lady. "But," she continued, "I'll go and do so now; andif there happens to be a dock there big enough to take in this vessel, Iguess I will have the _Stella Maris_ docked and cleaned and anotherpropeller fixed. We've got a spare one down below; and I guessMackenzie is man enough to fit it, once we get into harbour, even ifthere is no dock--though I hope there will be one. I'll turn up theDirectory now, and see what it says;" and therewith she descended to thechart-room, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan as she went.

  As soon as Mrs Vansittart was fairly out of earshot, Kennedy turned tome and said:

  "Ever been through here before?"

  "No," I replied. "The nearest I have ever been to it was two passagesthrough Sunda on a voyage to and from Canton."

  "M-m!" returned Kennedy. "Did annything out of the common happen to yethat voyage?"

  "N-o, I think not," said I, trying to remember precisely what, ifanything, had happened. "Why do you ask?"

  "Well," replied my companion, "chiefly, I think, because yonder's theMalay coast, and here we are, a valuable ship, becalmed, and helplessbecause we've lost the blades of our propeller."

  "Oh! but that is sheer nonsense," I said. "You are thinking aboutpirates, I suppose. But, my dear chap, with the incoming of steam,piracy went out, because it no longer paid to be a pirate. You neverhear of such a thing in these days."

  "Not very often, I admit," agreed Kennedy. "Yet it was only about aweek before we sailed from New York that I read in the _Herald_ a storyof a ship being picked up derelict, in this same Strait; and when shewas boarded, her crew, consisting of twenty-seven men, were found lyingabout her decks, murdered; while her main-hatchway was open, and thesigns that she had been plundered were as plain as large print."

  "Indeed!" I said. "I do not remember hearing anything of that case.Anyhow, it only happens once in a blue moon. And I don't think that,with our pretty double row of teeth and our Maxims and Hotchkisses forclose-quarter fighting, we need be very greatly afraid."

  "No," agreed Kennedy, with a laugh. "I guess ye're right there, me lad.Wid those guns, and hands enough to fight them, I calculate we are wellfixed, and could beat off a whole fleet of proas. But I'm rale sorrythat the skipper didn't think of havin' them mounted before, so that themen might have had a chance to practise the workin' of them a bit. An'there's another thing--But here comes the skipper; I guess I'll spake toher about it."

  At that moment Mrs Vansittart returned to the poop with the informationthat, according to the Directory, Singapore possessed a dry dock capableof taking in the _Stella Maris_; and, that being the case, she wouldhave the ship docked and the spare propeller fitted as soon as possibleafter our arrival.

  "And a very wise thing, too, ma'am," agreed Kennedy. "I am only sorrythat we haven't got it shipped this very minute."

  "Are you?" returned Mrs Vansittart, looking up sharply as she detectedthe serious tone of the first mate's voice. "Why? Any reason inparticular?"

  "Sure!" answered Kennedy. "As I was sayin' to Leigh a minute ago,yonder is the Malay coast, and here are we, becalmed and unable to move.Now, I don't want to raise a scare, there's no need for it, but I holdthat it's better to be ready for a thing, even if it doesn't happen,than to be caught unprepared. No doubt ye're well aware, ma'am, thatthe Malays have the name of bein' always ready to undertake a piraticaljob if they think there's half a chance of ut bein' successful; and Iwouldn't be a bit surprised if anybody was to tell me that hundreds ofeyes have been watchin' us all this afternoon and their ownersspeculatin' as to the sort of reception they'd meet with if a fewhundred were to come off to us some time durin' the small hours of themornin'. Av coorse we may not be here then; a breeze may spring up andcarry us far enough away. But then again, it mayn't, and in my opinionthe bettin' is against it; therefore, if I may be allowed to offer asuggestion, it would be somethin' like this.

  "I'd recommend ye to send for Bledsoe, the gunner, and ordher him totell off crews to every one of these guns. Then let him explain to thecaptain of each gun how the thing works; and afther he has done that,send him down to the magazine and let him sort out a few rounds ofammunition for each gun and have them handy to send up on deck. Alsolet each gun be loaded, ready in case of need. If not needed, thecharges can easily be withdrawn and sent below again to-morrow, while,if they are, they'll be ready. Also, it might be quite worth while tohave the small arms ready for servin' out at a moment's notice."

  "My!" exclaimed Mrs Vansittart, "are you quite serious, Mr Kennedy?Because, if you are, it sounds as though we might be in for a real bigfight. What do you think, Mr Leigh?"

  "I fully agree with Mr Kennedy, madam," said I; "not so much because Ianticipate an attack upon the ship, as that I clearly see the force ofhis argument as to the advantage of preparedness."

  "Yes," agreed Mrs Vansittart; "I guess you are both right, and I willact upon your advice, Mr Kennedy. Please send for the gunner and tellhim what to do. I had something of this sort in my mind when I gave theorder for those guns to be put on board."

  By the promptitude with which Kennedy sent for the gunner, and, when hearrived, mustered the crew, I could clearly see that the good man wasdistinctly anxious, although I did not believe he had much cause to beso. Still, I quite agreed with him that the wise and proper thing wasto be prepared for every possible contingency, and I cheerfully did myshare of the work. Fortunately, Bledsoe was an ex-man-o'-war's-man, andhad held a gunner's warrant in the United States navy; he therefore knewhis business from A to Z, and gave us all the help that we needed.

  First, all hands were mustered and paraded; then a crew was told off toeach gun, including the Hotchkisses and Maxims--Kennedy undertaking thesupervision of the Hotchkisses, and I that of the Maxims. Bledsoe nexttook each gun's crew separately in hand, showed one how to work theirweapon, and left them to practise the movements of loading, sighting,firing, and sponging, while he passed on to the next, until bothbatteries were assiduously engaged in repeating the several motions timeafter time. Finally he worked his way round to me, explained themechanism of the Maxim, and showed how the belts of cartridges werefixed and the gun was handled. It was very simple, and I p
icked thewhole thing up in a few minutes, the weapon being to so large an extentautomatic. Finally every piece was loaded, ten rounds for each werebrought on deck, the covers were put on, and the hands were piped down.

  It was my eight hours in that night; and by this time it had come to bea regular custom and a recognised thing for me to dine in the saloon onsuch occasions, that is to say, every other night, the arrangement withregard to Kennedy being similar, so that he and I dined in the saloon onalternate nights, the doctor, the purser, and the two engineers formingthe other guests. Thus as soon as our exercise with the guns was over Irushed off below, took a tepid bath, and then dressed for dinner,completing my preparations just in time to respond to the second buglecall. There was some disposition to make merry over Kennedy's "scare",as the boy Julius would persist in designating it; but as the lad wasthe only one who seemed to regard the matter purely from the jocularpoint of view, the conversation was soon steered in another and moreagreeable direction, and we spent a very pleasant evening, breaking upshortly after ten o'clock.

  Before retiring to my cabin I went up on deck to take a look round. Itwas a most glorious night, still a breathless calm, the heavensperfectly clear, save for a low cloud bank hanging over the land, thestars shining brilliantly, and a half-moon shedding a soft, mysteriousradiance upon the scene powerful enough to enable us to distinguish withtolerable clearness the nearer islands and some half a dozen craft lyingbecalmed within two miles of us, inshore. The moon would set aboutmidnight; yet even then we should still have the stars, if the nightremained clear.

  Kennedy was seated in a deck chair, with a powerful night glass reposingupon his knees, when I went up on the poop; and he informed me thatalthough he had been keeping a careful watch upon matters inshore, hehad seen nothing whatever of a suspicious character.

  "But then," he explained, "I didn't expect to. If those Malays are as'cute as I take them to be, and are cherishing designs against us, youmay bet your bottom dollar that they'll be careful not to do anythingthat would appear to us in the least suspicious. I may be a fool, butthings look almost too quiet, ashore there, to be wholly satisfactory tome. I would rather see a little more movement, a fishing boat or twocoming out, or something like that. Why, I've known cases where, a shipbein' becalmed as we are, widin a few miles of the shore, the nativeshave come off in scores wid fruit and fish and curios to sell; but thosechaps ashore there have kept most religiously away from us. Ah, well!that cloud yonder is risin'--slowly, I admit, still it's risin', and Ihope it'll bring a breeze wid it, if it's only enough to give ussteerage way. I don't like things as they are, not the least littlebit."

  "Why, man," I exclaimed, "what is the matter with you to-night? If Ididn't know better I should be almost inclined to think you wereafraid!"

  "Afraid, is ut?" he laughed. "Begorra! what would I be afraid of, insuch a ship as this, wid all those beautiful guns and what not topurtect us? No, Leigh, it's not afraid I am, as you know well; and yetI have a curious feelin'--I can't describe ut, but it's a sort offeelin' of--Howly Sailor!--what in the nation is that? Did ye hear it,boy?"

  Hear it? I should think so; and so had every other individual on deck,if one might judge by the sudden silence that fell upon the men groupedabout the fore deck, followed by an equally sudden fusillade of low,quick ejaculations and the swift rush of bare feet to the rails. Itbegan as a low, weird moan, which rose rapidly to a sort of sobbing wailand culminated in a sharp, unearthly scream that sent cold shiversrunning down my spine and caused the hairs of my head to bristle upon myscalp. It seemed to come from the water almost immediately under ourbows. I saw a little crowd of men spring up the ladder leading to thetopgallant forecastle, rush to the rail, and peer eagerly down into theblack water. Then one of them straightened up suddenly and hailed:

  "Poop, there! did ye hear that strange cry, sir?"

  "Ay, ay," answered Kennedy, "I heard it right enough. D'ye suppose I'mdeaf? What is ut, anyway, that's makin' it?"

  There was a brief but animated confab on the forecastle, and then thevoice that had hailed came back:

  "Can't see anything anywhere, sir; but the sound seemed to come fromaway yonder, on the starboard bow."

  Instantly there arose a hubbub of protesting voices, one of which,louder than the rest, could be heard exclaiming:

  "You chump! what d'ye mean by sayin' that? Don't ye know the differencebetween starboard and port? It was away off here to port that the soundcame from."

  But this assertion in turn was contradicted by the first speaker and hisadherents, so that in less than a minute a strenuous argument wasproceeding on the forecastle, both parties to which, it seemed to me,were in the wrong.

  "Ay, ay, there ye are," commented Kennedy. "Nobody knows where thesound came from. 'Twas the _banshee_, me bhoy, that's what ut was; andsome Oirishman aboard this good ship is goin' to lose the number of hismess shortly."

  "Oh, nonsense!" I exclaimed. "You surely do not believe that--"

  I had got so far with my protest when again the blood-curdling cry rangout over the dark water, this time sounding more distant than before.Once more a clamorous dispute arose on the forecastle as to thedirection from which the sound proceeded, for, curiously enough, no twoindividuals seemed quite agreed upon the point, while even I felt itimpossible to make an authoritative statement as to whether the cryarose from ahead or astern. And, in the midst of the discussion, upcame the saloon party, _en masse_, to enquire what was the matter.

  I was, for some not very definite reason, glad that Kennedy did notagain assert his _banshee_ theory; he merely stated the facts of thecase, leaving the others to draw their own conclusions. The boy,Julius, no sooner heard the chief mate's statement than he was readywith an explanation. In a high-pitched tone of voice, which could bedistinctly heard from one end of the ship to the other, he positivelyasserted that the cries were those of a sea bird, although I had neverin my life heard a sea bird utter such terrible sounds, nor had the menforward, if one might judge by the low, contemptuous laughter from theforecastle with which the assertion was greeted. But although Kennedydemurred, the boy insisted that he was right; he knew all about it, andfinally rushed off to his cabin for some book, a certain passage inwhich, he declared, would support his contention. And I seized theopportunity thus afforded to retire in good order to my own cabin.

  When I went on deck again, at eight bells, the moon was just on thepoint of ruddily setting, while the cloud bank which I had noticedearlier in the evening hanging low over the land had risen until itsupper edge was almost over our mast-heads, blotting out about half thestars. It was now so dark away to the eastward that nothing whatevercould be seen, not even the faintest loom of the nearest islands; while,if it had not been for a faintly glimmering light here and there, wecould not have told that there were any craft of any kind in ourneighbourhood. There had been no repetition of those strange, weirdsounds that had startled us all earlier in the night, so Kennedyinformed me; but he was still firmly convinced that they had emanatedfrom the banshee, and when I laughingly tried to argue him out of hisconviction he took me up rather sharply with the assertion that, had Ibeen of Irish birth or extraction, I would know better than to makelight of the matter. To my amazement, he seemed quite depressed andlow-spirited at the mere mention of it, so I quickly dropped the subjectand asked him if during his watch he had observed anything to confirmhis earlier suspicion that we might possibly be attacked. He admittedthat he had not, but added:

  "I niver expected to see annything so long as the light lasted. It'snow that they'll be beginnin' to make a musther if those ginks manecomin' off to us at all, so for the love o' Mike keep your eyes skinnedand your ears wide open all through your watch. We can keep them offaisily, if we only get warnin' enough; but if by anny chance they canconthrive to creep up close enough to take us unawares and lay usaboard, they may take the ship through sheer force av numbers."

  "Why," said I, "you talk as though you felt absolutely c
ertain that anattack will be made upon the ship! I can't understand you a bitto-night, and that's a fact."

  "Faith, boy, I cannot undherstand mesilf," replied Kennedy, seriously."I've never before felt as I do this blessed night; but somehow I _know_that something's goin' to happen. And then, there's the banshee--"

  "Oh," I interrupted, "banshee be hanged! I thought you were much toosensible a fellow to be moved by superstitions of any kind. Now, takemy advice--you've got a touch of the sun. Go down to the doc, get himto give you a good stiff dose of quinine, and turn in. You'll feel adifferent man when you are roused at eight bells and find that the shipis all right. And as to anything creeping up and taking us unawares,you may trust me to see that nothing of that sort happens. I will keepa bright look-out, never fear."

  "Well, I hope ye will, that's all," returned Kennedy, as he steppedtoward the head of the poop ladder on his way below. "And, by the by,there's one precaution ye may as well take. Unship the side lights andstow them somewhere handy but where their gleam will not show. They'requite useless, since we're becalmed, unless a steamer should happenalong, and if she does ye'll see her lights and hear her propeller inplenty of time to show her where ye are. And mask the skylights, too.Then, maybe, if annybody comes lookin' for us wid evil intentions,they'll not find us. Good night--and keep a bright look-out."

  With this final caution the first mate took himself off, much to myrelief; for, truth to tell, his undisguised anxiety and uneasiness werebeginning to get a bit upon my nerves. As soon as he was out of the wayI went forward and, in obedience to what I took to be his order, causedthe red and green side lights to be unshipped and placed inboard, justinside the topgallant forecastle door, at the same time cautioning thelook-outs to keep their eyes skinned, as we were in somewhat dangerouswaters. Then I went aft, masked the skylights, and slipped into thesaloon for a moment to extinguish all the lights save one, and draw theblinds across the open ports.

  This task took me less than a couple of minutes, and then I returned tothe poop and took a good look round. But I could see nothing exceptfour dim glimmers of light spaced at irregular intervals, which I tookto be the lights of the becalmed craft which we had seen inshore of usearlier in the evening. And as for sound, there was nothing to be heardsave an occasional faint gurgle of water under the counter when the shiplifted to the almost invisible swell, accompanied by a low flap ofcanvas aloft, a gentle patter of reef points, or the slight creak of aparral or block sheave; but so breathlessly still was the night thatthese sounds, faint as they really were, sounded almost appallinglyloud. There was not the smallest murmur of subdued talk for'ard, forthe watch had curled themselves up in the most comfortable places theycould find in order to steal a "caulk", and I did not attempt to disturbthem, knowing that at my first call they would be upon their feet in amoment.

  To keep myself awake I proceeded to pace the poop to and fro in myrubber-soled shoes, taking care to avoid passing over that portion ofthe deck which formed the roof of our lady skipper's stateroom; andwhile I was thus engaged I nearly collided with a ghostly figure whichproved, upon investigation, to be that of Monroe, the tutor parson, inpyjamas and slippers. He explained that he found it too hot to sleepbelow, so had come up on deck in the hope of being able to cool off abit prior to having another try. He fell into step alongside me, andbegan to talk in a low voice, presently turning the conversation toKennedy and the queerness of his seemingly rooted conviction that weshould be attacked. I let him talk on until he appeared to have saidall that he had to say upon the subject and was about to go below again,when I said to him:

  "I am glad that you came up on deck, because it affords me anopportunity to say something that Kennedy's queer talk has rather forcedupon my mind. It is this. If by any chance we should be attacked, willyou undertake to see that Mrs Vansittart, her daughter, and the boyare, any or all of them, prevented from coming on deck? Their presencehere under such circumstances could be of no possible assistance to us;on the contrary, it would be a distinct hindrance."

  "Yes," acknowledged Monroe; "I see what you mean. But suppose that anyof them should take it into their heads to come on deck, how am I toprevent them? I have no authority over them, not even over the boy."

  "You must bring your moral suasion to bear upon her, if need be," Isaid. "Point out to her that the beating off of a piratical attack--Oh!hang it, what bosh I am talking, to be sure; as though there was theleast likelihood of such a thing! The talk of that ass Kennedy seems tohave hypnotised me as well as himself! But to return to what I wassaying--_if_ such an utterly improbable thing should happen, point outto her that fighting is men's work, and that the presence of women andchildren would be worse than useless at such a time. Let her remainbelow herself, and exercise her authority over that boy of hers to makehim stay below also. I don't suppose that Miss Anthea would need anypersuading."

  "No," agreed Monroe; "she is all right, and on the whole a very sensiblegirl, despite her foolish pride. But let me give you a hint, Leigh. Inthe event of, as you say, such an exceedingly unlikely thing as anattack occurring, don't trust too much to my powers of persuasion, butact upon your own responsibility. Lock the door of the drawing-room,and Mrs Vansittart will be unable to get out on deck, however anxiousshe may be; and then slip down below and lock Master Julius into hiscabin; that is all you will need to do. There will probably be a rowafterward, but I will back you up by saying that what you did was doneby my advice. And now, good night! I feel a trifle cooler than I did,and hope I shall be able to--Hallo! Listen! Did you hear anything?"