Captain Anderson

“ What does the captain care? He is only going to Egypt. It is nothing to him if he kills one of you outright and hangs up another to keep you awake with dying groans. So you, already undermanned, are overcome at your first battle. What of it, says your captain, safely ashore—"
"Now that's muck-bespattered enough!" growled Tjorr. "One more word from anybody and I'll spray his brains on deck."
"Hail, free companions of the sea," declaimed Flavius, and stepped aside.
Phryne left the pail, her body glistened wet as she ran, and when she caught Eodan's hands her own were like some river nymph's. ”

“ Such incidents as these gave John Anderson an unenviable reputation among sailors. It was seldom that the same crew served him twice. Two voyages under this tartar were more than could be stood, and from his subordinates, therefore, he gained nothing but hatred and fear.
It was very difficult, then, to find out where Captain Anderson's weakness lay. Everybody, of course, has his weakness. But this man appeared to be all strength. His whole life seemed like a rod of burnished steel—a passion-proof life, a fire-proof rod. The owners of the Chrysolite, Messrs. ”

“ For, after all, man is but man, and gold is a thing of comfort.
But had Captain Anderson followed his mental inquiries to a conclusion, had he demonstrated to himself the depth of moral degradation into which he must be plunged, his pride would never have allowed him to do anything but redeem his unuttered word.
As an illustration of the captain's lately acquired habit of indulgence, the most remarkable was his treatment of the watch on deck during the night. The man on the lookout, for instance, was in the habit of going to sleep if the weather made it at all practicable. ”

“ Captain Harve was uneasy. Nothing in the world meant quite so much to him as that godchild of his. It was indeed a pretty kettle of fish. Back and forth through the narrow quarters of his room he paced, puffing forth great clouds of smoke like an ocean liner's funnels.
At six bells he picked up his "warsack" and left the place with Dick, whom he had already "signed up." The wind had freshened, the moon had now completely vanished be hind the storm-clouds scudding across the sky, and before he reached the wharf, vast sheets of rain and spate from off the harbour drove at his face. ”

“ Now the passengers hurried to the side of the ship, and gazed with something like awe at the boat that made swiftly for the German cruiser.
Captain Anderson did not give the signal to get under way until the cruiser’s launch was being hoisted aboard, when there broke out from the cruiser a salvo of guns.
“A salute!” cried Captain Anderson, raising his voice to make himself heard. “He is some one of importance. ”

“ Shirley and Mabel looked with some awe at this British sea fighter. He seemed a veritable hero in their eyes. Once on deck, he strode toward Captain Anderson with quick steps, his carriage erect.
“I thank you for your assistance in saving many helpless sailors,” he said to Captain Anderson. “Without your aid many would have perished.” 161
“How badly is your ship damaged, sir?” asked Captain Anderson, asking the question that was uppermost in the minds of all aboard the Yucatan.
“Very little, sir,” was the reply. “Two guns shot to pieces, and five men injured. No man was killed. ”

“ On the 10th Aug., 1814, Captain Anderson was appointed to the Zealous, 74; and early in the following month he sailed from Spithead, with orders to lay his ship up for the Winter at Quebec; to forward all her guns, masts, yards, sails, rigging, and stores to the lakes ”

“ First of all the anchor had to be raised. The “Great Eastern” swung round with the tide; all was now clear, and Captain Anderson was obliged to choose this moment to set sail, for the width of the “Great Eastern” did not allow of her turning round in the Mersey. He was more master of his ship and more certain of guiding her skilfully in the midst of the numerous boats always plying on the river when stemming the rapid current than when driven by the ebb-tide; the least collision with this gigantic body would have proved disastrous. ”

“ Captain Anderson only expressed the feelings of all who watched the struggle whilst Cable and Ship were adjusting their mutual relations, when—admitting the task was more difficult than he had anticipated, in consequence of the obstacles to the management of the ship, arising from want of steerage way as soon as the engines were stopped—he said, “One feels so powerless—one can do so little to govern events while the affair of picking-up is going on.” ”

“ First, the eye seeks the tall form of Captain Anderson. There he [Pg 314] is, modest and grave, of few words, but seeing every thing, watching every thing, and ruling every thing with a quiet power. And there is his second officer, Mr. Halpin, who keeps a sharp lookout after the crew, to see that every man does his duty. While he thus keeps watch of all on board, Staff Commander Moriarty, R. N., comes on deck, with instruments in hand, to look after the heavenly bodies, and reckon the ship's latitude and longitude. ”

“ If [81] Captain Anderson can make a thing out of that model that will guide an aeroplane, it’ll surely be worth something. Let’s all go partners: we’ll take half because it’s uncle’s idea, and Captain Anderson’ll take half because he works it out.”
Mrs. Leighton looked questioningly at her host.
“That’s fair enough,” answered the captain. “But there’s one objection. I don’t know much about engines. Andy knows all about ’em—”
“He knows a lot about one that won’t run,” recalled his mother with a smile.
“He knows enough,” observed Captain Anderson significantly. ”

“ But the breeze sweeps into the cabin with a faint command from the upper air—"Back the main-yard!"—and he shrewdly guesses that his calculations are correct.
The captain is everywhere at once, urging and aiding. He sees the whole canvas aback, and yet the Chrysolite drifts on. He cannot 'bout his ship nor back her.
The reef is quite within appreciable distance now. The hands can do nothing more, so they gaze at the dancing line of phosphorescent atoms, and curse tremendously—though these may be their last moments.
"All hands wear ship!" comes sharply from Anderson. ”

“ Anderson is the easiest-going woman in the world. But, when she breaks out as she did to-day, I don’t want to cross her. We’ll put the car back into the shop, and—well, we might try a sail until the storm is over.”
“There’s someone out already,” remarked the almost disconsolate boy, pointing toward a speck of sail far down the river.
Captain Anderson looked and led the way to the boathouse. Unbolting the part of the [128] rudder frame he had already attached, he and Andy carried the light frame into the shop. ”

“ At Captain Anderson’s suggestion, Lake Worth was immediately called by telephone, and the Nassau Steamer Company was asked to notify its steamers in transit by wireless of Andy’s flight. He would probably be north of their course, but they were asked to keep a [168] lookout. They were also asked to repeat the message to Nassau, that spongers and fish boats leaving port might also be on the watch.
“He may change his mind,” argued the captain, “and make a landing far down the peninsula, without putting out to sea. If he does, he will be in a wilderness.” ”

“ Captain Anderson had an idea that we grappled it for a moment soon after noon, when the ship’s head came 3 points to the N., and the strain increased for a moment to 60 cwt. The buoy was now 21⁄2 to 3 miles E.—ship’s head being W.N.W. All that could be done was to take up grapnel, and make another cast for the Cable. The wind increased from eastward. At 4·15 p.m. ship’s head was set N. by E. by screw, in order to enable the grapnel line to be taken in, and the capstan was set to haul up the grapnel. The wire rope came over the bows unstranded, and in very bad condition. ”

“ Sir,– The ordnance department having experienced very great attention and accommodation from the active exertions of Captain Anderson, R.N., in his situation of agent for transports at Corunna, and also from the essential service derived from his exertions during the re-embarkation of the heavy ordnance and stores on the expedition to Copenhagen ”

“ He led the way on deck, and then below.
"This ship is somewhat old," explained Captain Brown, "but she is still staunch and seaworthy. As you see, she has once been a passenger boat, and in fact, she still carries passengers—when we can find some who would rather spend twelve days in comfort than be rushed across in six or seven by the latest greyhounds. I say, when we can find such sensible people," repeated the captain, as he looked curiously at his guests.
The dining room was spacious, the berths of the large, roomy kind which the grasp for economy and capacity had not yet cut down. ”

“ The tall good-looking man with the beard is Captain Brent. He's the Captain of the ship in which we came."
"Why did you come here, Mademoiselle? It is the back-stairs of the world, the jumping-off place, the springboard from which one leaps into a sea of oblivion or disaster."
"We came to find a castaway. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it's all true. ”

“ With his charred pipe the captain reproduced in miniature the smoking mountain, before he replied.
"It's a snug little fortune for Sally to lose. Besides, the crew's seen the glint o' that gold and it's got 'em like the smile of the light o' loves when the battleships come to port. Haven't we leeway enough to anchor off the cape in the morning, recover the chest, bag the rascals in the bargain, then sail in the afternoon?" ”

“ The first officer presented a singular contrast to Captain Anderson, and his appearance is easily described:—an active little man, with a very sunburnt skin, a black beard almost covering his face, and legs which defied every lurch of the vessel. ”

“ Ben, you're the chief Bey or Pshaw of this island—so you strike first."
"No, the Captain's daughter always christens the ship. Let Sally try, for good luck."
So the mariners gathered round, and the small black slipper rested on the iron rim of the implement, when she glanced at Spanish Dick, who was rolling his eyes and crossing himself while he muttered incoherently.
"Whatever are you doing now, Spanish Dick?"
"Do not deeg, Señorita. It ees bad luck. The gold ees stain with red. That means someone die a bad death." ”

“ When he saw that it was Captain Anderson, he broke out at once:
“It’s all settled! I don’t care about that gas accumulator or compressor, or whatever it is—we’ve got her tail!”
[76]
“Her tail?” queried the captain. “Whose tail?”
“Why, the airship,” sang out Andy. “We’re goin’ to have the best one ever made. We’ve got a tail for it—a guider. Did you read the book?”
“Never mind about that now,” admonished the captain. “You’d better be thinkin’ of some good reason why you stayed so long. Your mother’s a good deal put out.”
“I’ve been a lookin’ over things,” explained the boy. ”

“ Officers, soldiers, and women rushed at once without dressing on deck, where the confusion and screaming for some minutes became fearful; but the captain and agent assured us that there was land in front of us and that come what may we need not be alarmed for our lives, as we could all be landed with safety. Meanwhile two of the boats were lowered and carried our anchors astern, and with hawsers from these we tried to work the ship off the rocks into deep water, and my endeavours were equally pressing to clear the decks and to get all who were not wanted for work to go below. ”

“ Set and stern was the captain's face, as his fingers held to the spokes, and he peered ahead through the straining ropes and the flying scud at the grey surface that heaved so it was almost breast to breast with the sky. But he held the North Star to her course, and they rode out the storm——
Leagues northward, a strange thing befell. They sailed into a little calm, as sweet and refreshing to the weary sailors as an oasis to travellers after the sand-storms of the Sahara. ”

“ Me on watch here while you're getting in that mess!" he protested. "Let the gypsy stay, and Zeke Yeo, the burglars are on the yacht and she'll be safe. They'll be away from the place in an hour if we don't start."
The Captain yielded, and Spanish Dick and Yeo were left on guard. The crew ran the boat out into the surf and leaped aboard. Then they skirted the shore, twenty strokes to the minute, fast travelling for a heavy skiff in a tumbling sea, and entered South Harbour. ”

“ And at last Dick Deadeye called,--
"Cracky! Look where we are! You'd better go back. Remember what the Toyman told us."
But Captain Jehosophat Kidd knew better.
"Pshaw! It isn't deep at all. It wouldn't drown a rat--not even a little mouse."
Then there was trouble.
They heard shouts along the shore, and, looking back, saw Fatty Hamm, Reddy Toms, and Sammy Soapstone, jumping around like wild Indians. They looked again--sharply this time--and saw that it wasn't boys after all, but pirates, wicked, cruel, bloodthirsty pirates! And that was bad enough! ”

“ Our ladies and soldiers’ wives began crying and moaning at once, for they expected nothing less than our utter destruction. Most of us hurried on deck in our night-dresses, and there saw a clipper brig bearing down upon us under all sail, about fifteen miles distant. Our captain still trusted that she might be a man-of-war, but when she fired a gun there was no doubt of her being a pirate. We returned in great excitement to our cabins and dressed with all dispatch. ”