_ CHAPTER X. "JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE, MOTHER"
Morris Woolridge did not make use of any military forms, for he did not claim to understand them; but he simply came on the forecastle himself, followed by the other four of his party; for Louis had joined it when directed to do so by his superior. Captain Scott took the rifle he had reserved for his own use from the pilot-house. Those who had been waiting for the order had only to move a few feet, and not a second of delay had been made.
A boat large enough to contain six men, as did the pirate's, does not overcome its inertia and shoot ahead forty feet without any apparent lapse of time, like a bullet shot from a rifle. Morris and his men were in position before the boat had made ten feet.
Morris gave no orders according to the manual of the soldier, but he ranged his command on the forecastle, close to the starboard rail. The guns were all loaded, and every one of the party had had some experience in the use of the weapon, so that none of them had to be taught how to fire it.
"Aim at the boat," said the first officer in a quiet tone; and all the rifles were directed to the enemy.
It was a fact which came out afterwards, that every one of them aimed at Mazagan, not only because he was the most prominent mark as he stood in the standing-room, but he was regarded as the biggest villain of the assailants, and they could shoot him with less compunction than the Moors in his train. He was the representative of the villain behind the scenes, and all the mischief seemed to come out of him.
"Stop where you are, or I shall order my men to fire!" shouted Captain Scott, as soon as the rifles were all aimed at the boat. "Say that in Arabic to them, Don!"
The engineer translated the warning for the benefit of those who were back to the Maud, and perhaps did not see the weapons that were pointed at the boat. But Mazagan could see the six rifles, including the one in the hands of the captain; and before Don could finish his Arabic sentence, he had given the order to cease rowing. At least it was supposed he had done so, for the Moors dropped their oars, some of them into the water.
The boat's crew were in a panic without any doubt, and Captain Scott was inclined to feel that "the coon had come down." Mazagan spoke to them in a savage tone, as though he was reproving them for their cowardice; but they plainly did not relish the idea of being shot down without being able to make any resistance, for there was nothing that looked like a musket to be seen in the boat.
After his recent experience in Cairo, probably Captain Mazagan was provided with a revolver; but he did not exhibit it, and in the face of half a dozen breech-loaders, capable of sending three dozen bullets into the boat, it would be a piece of useless bravado. It could be seen on the forecastle of the Maud that the pirate's crew were demoralized. The Mohammedans are said to be fatalists; and in what they regard as a holy cause they have no fear of death, for they believe it bears them directly to paradise. But some of them must have had sense enough to understand that they were engaged in piracy, and that their heaven did not open wide its gates to those who fell in the commission of crime.
The boat lost its headway, and became motionless at a distance of twenty feet from the Maud, with the rifles still pointed at its crew. If the pirate chief had a revolver in his pocket, this was the time to use it; but he did not even produce it. He could not help seeing that if he fired a shot, it would immediately cause half a dozen bullets to be sent into the boat; and he had good reason to believe that he would himself be the first victim.
"What are you about?" he demanded in angry tones.
"About to fire if you come any nearer," replied Captain Scott.
"Can't you see that we are unarmed? Do you mean to shoot us down like dogs?"
"That depends upon you, Captain Mazagan. But you are so very polite while you act as a pirate, that I think it is proper for me to say, with your permission, that my crew can fire thirty-six balls without stopping to load again. If you persist in this business, not one of your number will ever get on board of the Fatime again," added the captain of the Maud, as decided as before; but the politeness of the pirate and Louis had amused him at such a time, and he was disposed to imitate them.
"If you mean to murder us all, I cannot help myself just now," howled Mazagan, furiously mad at the disappointment which had suddenly overtaken him; and he seemed like an angry child who had been denied a piece of candy, and resented it with tears and yells.
"All you have to do is to pull back to your ship, and we shall not take the trouble to follow you," answered Scott. "This difficulty is not of our seeking."
"I came to you peaceably, unarmed, with a fair proposition"--
"A most impudent and presumptuous proposition!" shouted Captain Scott.
"I have been respectful and polite to you, and you threaten to shoot me and my men."
"You have plainly announced your intention to take Mr. Belgrave on board of your steamer by force. Do you call that respectful and polite?"
"But I gave him a polite invitation to take possession of my cabin without the use of force, and he declined to accept it," argued Captain Mazagan, somewhat mollified in his tone and manner.
"Which he had a perfect right to do. You proposed to rob him of the sum of two hundred thousand francs; and you invite him to become a prisoner on board of your ship in the capacity of a hostage for the payment of the money of which you propose to rob him."
"What is the use of arguing the question with him, Captain Scott?" interposed Louis, who retained his place in the ranks. "His position is absurd, and the fellow is a fool as well as a knave."
"I have distinctly stated that my claim is to be indemnification for the injury done to my noble master," replied the pirate, in reply to Scott's last remark. "I do not propose to rob you."
"Call it blackmail then, if you please."
"I do not know what that means."
"Mr. Belgrave has nothing to do with your claim. He has not insulted or assaulted your ignoble master; and, in United States dialect, you 'have taken the wrong pig by the ear.' To come back to first principles, I have nothing more to say," added Captain Scott, as he turned his back to the claimant.
"I have something more to say," returned Mazagan, bristling up with anger again. "My boat is unarmed; but I have not come up here without being prepared to meet you. I wish to be fair and just, and I will state the truth to you."
"I don't believe you know how to do it!" exclaimed Scott.
"I would not irritate him any more than is necessary," said Louis in a whisper.
"I have lost all patience with him," replied the captain; and his manner indicated that he spoke the truth.
"You will find before you have done with me that I can and do speak the truth, Captain Scott. When I made my first attempt to obtain satisfaction for my noble master in the Archipelago, I failed because your large ship was armed with cannon, and she disabled my felucca. When my noble master offered me the command of the Fatime, to be used in carrying out his wishes, I stipulated that she should be armed with two twelve-pounders, with a supply of ammunition. I may add that I have served as an officer in the Turkish navy. Now, Captain Scott, I have nothing more to say from this boat, and the next time I speak it will be with twelve-pounders; and my last word is that the Fatime will not go out of this bay till she leaves with Mr. Belgrave on board of her."
"Adieu!" shouted Scott in mocking tones.
"Do you suppose the villain spoke the truth, Captain?" asked Louis.
"Very likely he did, though he is not in the habit of doing so," replied Scott, laughing; but he was accustomed to put the best face upon an awkward situation.
The boat was pulling away from the Maud, and the danger of an attack was removed for the present. Mazagan appeared to be urging his men to pull with all their might, and they were doing so. He evidently had a purpose before him, born of his failure to accomplish anything by his visit to the Maud.
It seemed to be incredible that this man could be sane and sensible to make such a proposition as he had put forward; and doubtless it was done to clothe piracy in a more seemly garb than it usually wears. It was simply ridiculous on the face of it, with no imaginable foundation for the preposterous claim advanced.
Mazagan went on board of his steamer, and a few minutes later a cloud of black smoke began to pour out of her smokestack. Captain Scott had already ordered Felipe to put his furnaces in order for quick time. At the indication given of the firing up of the enemy, he went to the engine-room himself. Don was at work on the fires; and he gave Felipe directions to get up all the steam possible, and to prepare to run the Maud at the greatest speed she had ever attained.
Then he went to the pilot-house, and did not appear to be inclined to talk even with Louis. He went to work upon the chart which included Khrysoko Bay, called Pifanio on some maps, and studied intently for a considerable time. It was clear to all on deck that he had something in his head, and it was believed that he was preparing to meet the boastful threats of Captain Mazagan.
"Well, my darling, what is to be the next scene in the comedy?" asked Felix, as he seated himself by Louis in the bow.
"I don't know, Felix; but whatever it may be, Captain Scott is evidently getting ready to play his part in it," replied Louis, still watching the captain through the open front windows of the pilot-house.
"They are making the steam sizzle below, and I suppose the captain has ordered this to be done. By the powers of mud! Do you mind that?" exclaimed the Milesian, pointing to the Fatime.
"What of her?"
"Don't you see that she has a gun run out on her port side? She had just thrown open the port when I spoke," replied Felix.
"Then the pirate spoke the truth for once," added Louis.
"He said the vessel had been armed with two twelve-pounders, and we have not even one. I suppose she has the other on the starboard side. If she had half a dozen of those playthings she might do something."
"She may do a deal of mischief with two of them if they are well handled," suggested Louis.
"She can't use but one of them at once, and she will have to come entirely about before she can do anything with the other. Her top-gallant forecastle isn't big enough for them, as the Guardian-Mother's is for hers. I am not much scared yet, my darling."
"Neither am I, Flix; but I think this is about the tightest place we have been in since we came across the Atlantic."
"Captain Scott will arrange the affair all right. If I were a sporting-man, I would bet on him yet," protested Felix.
"But while we are not scared, you know that it is possible for one of those guns to put a shot through our boiler, rip out the engine, or tear a big hole in the plates of the Maud," added Louis.
"We can plug the shot-holes--I believe that is what they call it."
"We have not a single one of the old man-of-war's-men of the Guardian-Mother on board who can tell us what to do in case of accident."
"But we won't croak, whatever else we do. If we are to be sent to the bottom of this bay, we will go down with the best grace possible," added Felix, who was certainly in as good humor as ever he was, in spite of the brass gun that protruded at the side of the Fatime. "Do you suppose Captain Scott knows about that twelve-pounder?"
"He appears to be very busy; and I doubt if he has looked at the enemy since he went into the pilot-house," replied Louis. "I think I had better tell him that Mazagan spoke the truth about his guns."
The young men might well have been excused if they had been intimidated at the situation as it was now presented to them. That the Maud was to be the mark for the cannon of the enemy looked like a settled fact; but no one seemed to be at all excited or nervous. It is true that all of them had been in several fights. They had fought the fishermen in the Canaries, the smugglers at Gibraltar, the Greek pirates in the Archipelago, and the brigands at Zante. They had had some experience of danger, but they had never come into the presence of great guns before. They were to face these on the present occasion; at least, they were prepared to do so.
Before Louis could reach the pilot-house, he saw the captain standing at the wheel, and heard one bell in the engine-room on the gong. It was evident that he was ready to carry out his plan, whatever it was; for he was not expected to announce it. Felix observed the Fatime and her twelve-pounder, whistling, "Just before the Battle, Mother." _