Lister's Great Adventure

by Harold Bindloss

  CHAPTER XI

  THE START

  Rain was falling and the light had hardly reached the opening betweenthe tall warehouses. In the dock the water was smooth and shone withdull reflections, but the gates were open and the muddy swell the floodtide brought up the river splashed about the entrance. Ponderous lorriesrumbled across a bridge, indistinct figures moved and shouted on thepierhead, and men in wet oilskins splashed about _Terrier's_ deck.

  She was a battered propeller tug and lay against the wall, with largecases of machinery lashed to her bulwarks, and a stack of coal built upbeside the engine-skylights. Her bunkers were full, but the fuel shecarried would not last very long, and coal is dear at foreign ports.Coils of thick wire rope and diving gear occupied her shallow hold, andCartwright was annoyed because she could not take the massivecentrifugal pump which he had sent by an African liner. Some extra coaland supplies were loaded on a clumsy wooden hulk, but he durst not riskher carrying expensive machinery.

  When he talked to the captain in the pilot-house, he was, on the whole,satisfied. Brown's face was flushed and his voice was hoarse, but hewould pull himself together after he got to sea. Cartwright knew Brown'shabits when he gave him the job, although, in an important sense, thejob was Lister's. To trust the young fellow was a bold experiment, butCartwright did so. If Lister were not the man he thought, Cartwrightimagined his control of the line would presently come to an ingloriousend. To some extent this accounted for his bringing Barbara to see thesalvage expedition start. He knew the power of love.

  Barbara had not gone up the greasy ladder to the bridge and waited ondeck. She had left home without much breakfast, in the dark, and wascold and rather depressed. All was gloomy and strangely flat. The tuglooked small and was horribly dirty. Coal-dust covered rails and ropes;grimy drops from the rigging splashed on the trampled black mud on deck.The crew were not sober and their faces were black. Two or threedraggled women called to them from the pierhead, their voices soundingmelancholy and harsh.

  Barbara had not seen Lister and wondered where he was, until a manplunged out from the neighboring door of the engine-room. The abruptnessof his exit indicated that he had been rudely propelled by somebodybehind, and as he lurched across the deck, Lister appeared at the door.His cap was dark with grease, his overalls were stained, and a blacksmear ran from his eye to chin.

  "Hustle and get that oil drum on the wharf, you drunken hog!" heshouted. "If I hadn't watched out you'd have left half the truck."

  He stopped when he saw Barbara. "This is very kind," he said to her. "Iknew Cartwright was on board, but hadn't hoped you would come to give usa good send-off."

  Barbara noted his satisfaction and was moved by something in his voice.He looked thin and fine-drawn in his stained engineer's clothes, and hishands were greasy. The surroundings were not romantic, but somehow theygot brighter and her gloom vanished. Lister's eyes sparkled; he wore thestamp of strength and confidence.

  "I doubted if my step-father would bring me, but I really meant tocome," she said. "For one thing, I wanted to ask you--"

  She hesitated, for it was hard to strike the right note. She had begunto see there was something exciting and perhaps heroic about theadventure. The handful of men had undertaken a big thing; there was muchagainst them, and daunting risks must be run. Moreover, she had studiedCartwright and remarked the anxiety he thought he had hid. Cartwrightwas rather inscrutable, but sympathy had given her power to understand.She thought he was engaged in a reckless gamble and could not afford tolose.

  "Whatever you want--" Lister declared, but she stopped him.

  "I want you to do your best."

  "You can reckon on that, anyhow! Cartwright has hired me; I'm his man."

  Barbara smiled. "Yes; I know! You're honest and will do all you engaged;but in a sense, this is not enough. I want you to make an extra effort,because--"

  She paused and the blood came to her skin when she went on: "You see,it's important you should float the wreck and bring her home. It meansmuch to my step-father; very much, I think. He's kind and I love him. Ifeel I ought to help."

  Lister saw her statement was significant, and her embarrassmentindicated that she knew it was so. In fact, she had admitted that sheknew he would, for her sake, use all his powers. He was moved, but hewas not a fool. The girl, wearing her costly furs, looked rich anddignified; he was a working engineer and conscious of his greasyclothes. He loved her, but for a time he must be cautious. To beginwith, he would not have her think he made a claim.

  "You're not very logical," he replied carelessly. "When I took the job Iundertook to earn my pay. Cartwright sends me off to float the wreck,and if it's possible, I must make good."

  "I am logical," Barbara declared, while her color came and went. "Onethinks one does one's best, but sometimes when the strain comes, one cando better. It really isn't ridiculous! Emotion, sentiment, give oneextra force--" She stopped and resumed in a strangely gentle voice: "Youare young, and if you don't make good it won't hurt very much. Mr.Cartwright's old; he can't try again. Then he's not my step-father only.He's my friend, and I know he trusts you. For his sake, I must befrank--I trust you!"

  Lister smiled, but his voice betrayed him, although he thought he usedcontrol.

  "Very well! If it's possible for flesh and blood, we'll bring _Arcturus_home. That's all. The thing's done with."

  She gave him her hand, and kept the glove with the dark grease stain.Then, seeing there was no more to be said, she looked about. Raggedclouds rolled up from the Southwest, and the disturbed swell thatsplashed about the dock gates indicated wind down channel. A shower beatupon the engine skylights and Barbara moved beneath the bridge. A greatrope rose out of the water as the men at the winch hauled up the clumsyhulk. Two or three others, dragging a thin, stiff wire rope, flounderedunsteadily across the deck.

  "They look rough, and they're not very sober," Barbara remarked.

  Lister laughed. "They're frankly drunk! A pretty hard crowd, but Brownand I have handled a hard crowd before. In fact, I reckon Cartwright hasgot the proper men for the job."

  "Captain Brown is like them," said Barbara, thoughtfully. "You are not."

  "You haven't seen me hustling round when things go wrong."

  "I saw you throw a man out of the engine-room not long since!"

  "With a gang like ours, one must prove one's claim to be boss at thestart. Anyhow, there are different kinds of wastrels, and the fellow whogets on a jag at intervals is often a pretty good sort. The wastrel onehas no use for is the fellow who keeps it up. But I see Mr. Cartwrightcoming and mustn't philosophize."

  A gateman on the pierhead began to shout to the captain, and Cartwrightgave Lister his hand.

  "They are waiting for you and we must get ashore," he said. "Well, I'vegiven you and Brown a big job, but I expect you'll see me out."

  "We'll put in all we've got, sir," said Lister quietly.

  Cartwright nodded, as if he were satisfied, and touched Barbara, whoturned and gave Lister a smile.

  "Good luck!" she said, and following Cartwright, went up the steps inthe wall.

  She thought it significant Cartwright had left her for some time and hadgiven Lister a quick, searching glance. Lister had said nothing abouttheir talk and his promise; she had known he would not do so. Yet thiswas not because he was clever. He had a sort of instinctivefastidiousness. She liked his reply to Cartwright; he _would_ put in allhe had got, and a man like that had much. Fine courage, resolution andstaunch loyalty.

  When Barbara reached the pierhead, _Terrier's_ engines began to throb.The propeller churned the green water, and the tug bumped against thewall. Gatemen shouted, the big tow-rope splashed and tightened with ajerk, and the hulk began to move. Then the tug's bow crept round thecorner and swung off from the gates. The engine throbbed faster, and ablast of the whistle echoed about the warehouses. Brown waved his capand signed to a man in the pilot-house. The hulk swung round in a widesweep, and the adventurous voyage had begun.


  _Terrier_, steaming across the strong current, looked small and dingy;when she rolled as the helm went over, the swell washed her lowbulwarks. She got smaller, until a rain squall blew across from theCheshire side and she melted into the background of dark water andsmoke. Barbara felt strangely forlorn, and it was some relief whenCartwright touched her arm and they set off along the wall.

  After the rain the wind freshened, and when Brown steamed out from theriver, a confused sea rolled across the shoals. The light was not good,but a double row of buoys led out to sea, the ebb-tide was running, and_Terrier_ made good progress. She shipped no water yet, and the hulklurched along without much strain on the rope. The rope was fastened toa massive iron hook and ran across a curved wooden horse at the tug'sstern. Sometimes it slipped along the horse and tightened with a bang,for the clumsy hulk sheered about. When her stern went up one saw anindistinct figure holding the wheel.

  When they passed the Bar Lightship, Lister climbed to the bridge and fora few minutes looked about. The plunging red hull to starboard was thelast of the Mersey marks, for the North-West ship was hidden by lowclouds. Ahead the angry gray water was broken by streaks of foam._Terrier_ rolled and quivered when her bows smashed a sea, and showersof spray beat like hail against the screens on the bridge.

  "She's loggish," Brown remarked. "If you don't burn up that coal soon,she'll wash it off. Looks like a dirty night, and I'm pushing across forLynas Point. With the wind at south-west, I want to get under theAnglesey coast. There'll be some sea in the channel when we open upHolyhead."

  "The boat's good," said Lister. "Engines a bit neglected, but they'rerunning smooth and cool, and she has power to shove her along.Cartwright has an eye for a useful craft."

  Brown nodded. "The old fellow has an eye for all that's useful; I reckonhe sees farther than any man I know. There's something encouraging aboutthis, because the job he's given us looks tough--"

  He stopped, for the tow-rope slipped noisily across the horse. There wasa clang of iron as the hook took the strain, and the captain frowned."That hulk is going to bother us before very long."

  Lister seized the slanted rails. The lightship had vanished, but abright beam pierced the haze astern. Ahead the sea was empty; gray waterrolled beneath low and ragged clouds. Spray flew about the plungingbows, and the tug rolled uneasily. Lister turned and left the bridge,but stopped for a few moments at the engine-room door. Barbara had stoodjust opposite, where the iron funnel-stay ran down. Her rich furs gaveher girlish figure a touch of dignity, the color was in her face, andher eyes shone.

  Lister knew the picture would haunt him, and he would come to the enginedoor to recapture it when he needed bracing. He would need bracing, forthere were obstacles ahead, but he had promised Barbara to helpCartwright out. Stepping across the ledge to a slippery platform, hewent below.

  PART III--THE BREAKING STRAIN