Now after this, all men turned to Adam with looks more hopeful, yet none spoke until Bo'sun Ned, glancing up at cloudy night sky and round about upon darkening ocean, nodded and bade them let out another reef in their sail.
So, all night long, this small, lonely boat drove through a windy darkness and turbulent ocean that was bearing them none knew whither, till came the dawn to show them a wide foam-smitten sea where no ship sailed and nothing moved save their own, solitary craft. But presently up came the sun in glory to warm their poor, shivering bodies and hearten them with promise of new life.
CHAPTER XXIV
TELLS HOW AND WHY ADAM MADE HIMSELF CAPTAIN
In this boat, as in all craft that ever swam, were of necessity two orders of society, namely—the few to command (aft at the steerage since Authority sits at the helm) and, forward of this, the many who must obey. But in this crowded space these many, with some few exceptions, began to show themselves sullen and unruly, and the chief of these the man Perez who, being a powerful man and moreover feeling himself now freed of all authority and fear of the lash, became ever more fiercely defiant and quarrelsome and was abetted by others of his like, especially at meal-times. This mutinous conduct reached its climax on the morning of this second day when Perez dashed his pannikin of water over his neighbour, cursing him fiercely.
"Bo'sun," said Adam, softly, "pray lend me your knife."
Perez was yet flourishing his pannikin and making uproar when, all in a moment, came a hand to twist sinewy fingers in his hair, with another hand to lay the keen edge of a knife to his throat, then, as he crouched paralysed by the cold threat of this steel, his head was wrenched violently back till his fearful eyes stared up into the small, fierce visage down-bent above him.
"Beastly rogue!" snarled Adam. "Accursed fool, will ye waste and spill the water is the life of us all? Will ye raise mutinies in the very face o' Providence? Sit still or I'll slit your vile throat! Hearkee now,—raise your hand in strife again and 'twill be my knife in your ribs and your foul carcass overboard to poison the fishes! Now go forrard into the bow, rogue Perez, and bide there. And for your waste o' the precious water you drink none this day. Go! Make way, forrard there!" Hand at throat and eyes wide in dumbly fearful amaze, Perez stumbled forward and all men staring on Adam in a like amazement,—this small, fierce man who grasped glittering knife so purposefully and scanned every face with eyes so keen beneath black brows and wind-tossed silvery hair.
"Now hear ye, shipmates all!" cried he, "though poor, lost castaways yet are we English sailormen, to quit ourselves as such, dreading naught, so my lads, Dreadnoughts let us be. And now, hear this! Henceforth I take charge of ye all to rule ye and command. Henceforth I am your captain to be obeyed and followed. Now if any man o' ye deny, let him step forth and match his knife with this o' mine. How say ye, shipmates, is it mutiny and murder or sailorly duty, are ye against me or to follow me, Dreadnoughts all? How say ye?"
For a moment all were silent, then, from midway in this crowded boat, up went a great, powerful hand:
"Ay!" cried Martin Frant. "Ay, ay, Master Adam, Captain you be!" Scarce had he spoken than from somewhere beside him up went another hand very small and slim and therewith the high, shrill voice of little Smidge.
"Ay, ay, Cap'n Adam, and so says I, Cap'n you be!"
And now spoke John Fenn, the Master Gunner:
"So be it, lads. For Mr. Adam can fight as well as pray, so—a cheer for Captain Adam Penfeather!"
And thus, in this wide desolation of waters, cheer they did, and heartily as only English sailors may.
"Why then," said Adam, looking round upon them all, "God make me able! And now John Fenn and Bo'sun Ned I take you for mates first and second. Sir Benjamin, I pray you take charge of such arms as we possess and see them stowed abaft. Sir George, will you oversee our store of provisions, food and drink, the which shall now be strictly rationed. Martin Frant, you are bo'sun. Now is this known and agreed?"
"Ay, ay, sir!" cried they one and all, and cheerily.
"And what o' me, Cap'n?" piped little Smidge.
"You," answered Adam, beckoning, "you shall be my own seadog to go ever beside me. Well now, Martin Frant, how many do we number?"
"Twenty and seven, sir, all told."
"Then choose your watches, and let all things go sailorly and as aboardship. First let us all turn to and clean ourselves and the boat and set all things trim and orderly. This done, Martin, take a spare sail, if we have one, and rig it for awning against the sun to our comfort. But, shipmates, above all let us each and every keep bold hearts, be of cheery fellowship, trusting in our own manhood, and the God that made us."
And so began this journey that was to test them all, body and soul.
CHAPTER XXV
HERE FOLLOW DIVERS PAGES OF ADAM'S LOG CONCERNING HIS COMPANIONS AND THEIR GRIEVOUS SUFFERINGS IN THE BOAT
To his grief Adam found that his father's sword, this treasured relic and splendid weapon, had been left to go down in the ship and, with this, all his books, charts, instruments and papers. Thus despite all his past laborious studies he must needs trust to the Bo'sun's dead reckoning for guidance to bring them ashore ere all provisions failed and they perish miserably; and the nearest land, according to the Bo'sun and John Fenn, who had sailed this ocean before, was the coast of Brazil, to larboard, south-westerly. So thitherward, by stars and the boat's compass, they set their course.
Now it chanced that among the few possessions that Sir George had brought away was a small pocket memorandum with pencil attached, the which Adam no sooner glimpsed than his eyes glistened.
"Sir," said he, impulsively, "if you could allow me the favour of a page or so in your book I should be extreme grateful, for I would note down the names of these men the Lord hath set in my charge, together with the goods and comforts He hath blessed us withal." Gladly Sir George bestowed this book wherein Adam duly wrote down the names of these castaways, his first crew, with his estimation concerning their chances of life and death; which book, by some miracle, was preserved and divers of its pages, written small and neatly to begin but scrawled large and wavering towards the end, are here interpolated.
June 20
Those with me in the Adventuress.
Her Yawl.
Name --- Condition --- Remarks added later
Sir Benj. Trigg --- Knight --- A mighty swearer and grumbler
Sir Geo. D'Arcy --- do. --- A gentleman patient and resolute
John Fenn --- First Officer --- A valiant and trusty man
Ned Bowser --- Second do. --- A right seaman and mighty help
Martin Frant --- Boatswain --- do.
Charles called Smidge --- Ship's boy --- A right seadog
Joel Bym --- Seaman --- do.
Hosea Sawyer --- do.
Thos. Rendal --- do. --- Died of knife thrust, July 29
Robt. Small --- do. --- Died of knife, July 28
Silas Guppy --- do.
Giles Tregenza --- do.
Job May --- do.
Sim Hopkins --- do.
James Clark --- do. --- Lost overboard in the night, Aug. 8