Swords From the Sea

by Harold Lamb

  Some words he spoke to Strelsky, and the ensign answered slowly, clearing the blood out of his eyes as he did so. I caught the name Edwards and the words "the prince." Whatever passed between them, it enlightened John Paul, because he sheathed his rapier and looked at Strelsky as if a snake had come up out of the ground. I think the ensign told much truth, being fearful of his life. Then Paul Jones pointed out over the steppe and said in French:

  "Va t'en!"

  And Strelsky turned away, after dropping his sword. At the edge of the hollow he began to run, and though I called a barbed word after him he did not halt again. It angered me to see him go free even in such a state. But from this time forward John Paul took advice from no man. Indeed, how was Ito consult with him?

  Why did I stand aside, to remain with him when Strelsky went off? An order had been given me and the order was to conduct John Paul safe into Kherson.

  He looked me over and smiled approval, then said-

  "Edwards?"

  By signs I tried to make clear that the lieutenant was slightly wounded and in the hands of the outlaws. He seemed to understand, and thought for a while until there was a great pounding of hoofs and a dozen Cossack lads came up, reining in on top of us and staring at the admiral, who looked them over with interest.

  Eh, I was glad to see them. The sight of several kites hovering over the tall grass where Strelsky had disappeared did not displease me, either. He was something like a vulture himself.

  V

  On land a coward can show you his heels, but on a ship even Satan himself cannot run away.

  My brothers, have you ever called to you a borzoi, a wolfhound, keeping one hand behind your back the while? If the dog does not know you, he will not come. Not until he sees that the hand behind your back does not hold a stick.

  Men are greater fools than dogs. They will go forward even when they see the stick that is going to beat their brains out. So it was with John Paul, and so it was with me.

  For days after the duel I lay on my back in a hut of my village, while my head mended, the American having gone on to Kherson with my mates. Soon they came straggling back, very angry, some drunk and others bloody. Most of them did not return at all, having been impressed by the Russians, John Paul knowing nothing about it.

  They talked with me, and other fellows came who had served in the fleet, bringing with them a Tatar hakim from over the border who brewed herbs that made a new man of me. The Russians' surgeons are good for nothing but to cut off limbs, and of what use to a man is a leg that has been cut off?

  The men who returned from Kherson said that John Paul had been given a banquet by the field marshal in command of the army, but did not appear content. He had asked after old Ivak, which gratified me. My Cossacks said in the taverns of Kherson it was rumored that the admiral would never hoist his flag on the big ship-of-war that was called the flagship. This vessel was commanded by a Greek, Alexiano, who held the rank of brigadier.

  Alexiano, they said, was a loud talker and a quiet doer. He held great feasts and many served him, lording it up and down the mouth of the Dnieper and carrying off whatever merchandise struck their fancy. So the Cossacks had formed patrols to check the raids of the seamen under Alexiano, and the Greek hung some of our boys for taking up arms against the Empress as he said.

  The Turks, seeing the plundering and the lack of order in the fleet, were growing both covetous and bold. They had moved up the gulf to within two cannon shot of our fleet, which was unfit for battle. And rumors in the taverns said that John Paul meant to go out to the Vladimir, the flagship, and take command the next day, Alexiano notwithstanding.

  The Greek would not kiss him on both cheeks you may be sure, because the coming of the American would mean the end of the secret pillaging and piracy of the men under Alexiano, in which pillaging he shared. My Cossacks said that John Paul had insisted on the punishment of the pirates who had attacked us, but no guard ship had gone up the Dnieper and no news of Edwards had come down.

  "My children," I boasted, "when this American hoists his flag on the Vladimir he will make Alexiano pull at a rope, and the whole fleet will be whipped into shape. He is well fitted to command."

  "Impossible, Uncle Ivak!" they said, several at once.

  "How, impossible?"

  "Because the man at the head of the fleet has sworn that he will not yield place to the American."

  "Do you mean Alexiano, the pirate?"

  "Not at all, Uncle. We mean the present commander, who is a Prussian prince and a very high officer."

  I pricked up my ears as they explained how the Empress had appointed one of her favorites, the Prince of Nassau-Siegen, to command, not two years ago. Alexiano served only as chief of the Vladimir, but had charge of the fleet during the winter, while Nassau-Siegen was in Petersburg.

  "Tell me," I demanded, "has this princeling a pock-marked face and full lips and eyes like a fish?"

  "It is he! You have seen him, Uncle Ivak."

  "Then saddle up the best horse in the village."

  I rose up and pulled on my boots and coat, taking tobacco and a pipe from the nearest man and a sword from him who had the likeliest weapon. They protested, saying that they had never done me any ill.

  "Would you have your kunak, your comrade, the first jighit of the village, ride to the fleet dressed like a Jew?"

  Then they protested all the more, saying that Alexiano had heard of my deeds when I rubbed out half a dozen of the pirates, who were his men, on the Dnieper. He would string me up, they said, and they would not see their things again.

  "Is this Prince Nassau-Siegen friendly with Alexiano?" I asked.

  "As God lives, they are like two brothers! They share gold together, and they have not been parted since the Prussian rejoined the fleet, two days ago."

  "Is Nassau-Siegen a good leader, liked by all the men?"

  "Nay, Ivak. You have been away too long, wooing the Russian maids! Nassau-Siegen is a courtier, and, save for Alexiano's bands, the men of the fleet would not follow him if he had gold pieces sewn on his breeches. It is said that he pays gold to the Turks, to let the fleet sit in peace where it is. Meanwhile he crows like a cock, claiming honor for holding off the Turks."

  By the time I had mounted and left the village behind, the last of the smoke that had hidden the fire I smelled in Petersburg had cleared away. I saw all things as they were. I saw a fleet that was only timber and cloth, unfit for battle; I saw two renegades at the head of it, enriching themselves by plunder and paying a part of the plunder to the accursed Moslems, while the Empress thought they were playing the part of valiant men in the face of the foe.

  And I thought that such men would never let the American take over the command from them.

  I meant to reach him and warn him, and perhaps take him back to the Cossack villages. Who knows?

  Just a little I went out of my way to pass through the streets of Kherson, so winning my wager from Edwards, poor fellow. The horse was a good one and we left the shipyards behind us swiftly enough, coming at last to the salt-streaked shores of the gulf and the forest of masts that stood out on the gray water.

  Among the soldiers and caravaneers of the alleys I asked for news of the American admiral, learning then that I was almost too late.

  John Paul was on one of the jetties with another cavalier, making ready to put off in a barge to the Vladimir. I hurried along the waterfront, catching sight of the barge presently, and, giving my horse to the care of a Cossack who was fishing on the jetty, went out to greet my friend.

  When he saw me his face lighted up and he said something to the other officer, who stared at me curiously. There we stood, with so much that should he said between us, and only one word that we both understood! I bowed several times, trying to think of some way to warn him. He ordered a valise to be carried into the barge and took farewell of the other officer, who was most polite.

  My tongue burned in my throat, and I nearly tore my hair to think up some scheme. H
e stood with one foot on the log at the edge of the jetty and glanced at me inquiringly. How could I take an admiral by the arm and lead him to a tavern to talk? How could I make signs before the throng that his life was in danger?

  John Paul spoke to the cavalier, who turned to me indifferently.

  "Cossack," he said in bad Russian, "his Excellency is pleased to praise you and ask if you have a request to make. He says that he will grant it."

  "I would go with him on the ship." I bowed to the girdle. "If it pleases your Honor."

  The barge went out to a high ship with two rows of cannon and we climbed up the ladder to the deck, I carrying John Paul's valise, and swaggering a bit, for the deck was cluttered with groups of men who stared at us and whispered. An under-officer who wore a rapier stood by the ladder with a squad of sailors, also armed, and saluted. After that he went away quickly with his men and left the American alone. John Paul glanced up at a mast where Alexiano's flag hung idly, there being no wind. Then he gave an order to the bargemen and they made fast to the foot of the ladder a light saick, a skiff having one pair of oars, that we had towed behind us from the jetty. After this they rowed away in the barge and John Paul walked slowly to the afterdeck.

  It needed no sailor to tell me that his reception was lacking in respect; Alexiano, who stood on the afterdeck, should have greeted him and his flag should have been hoisted instead of the Greek's. As John Paul climbed the steps at the rump of the ship, Alexiano turned his back and said something amusing to a man who leaned on a small cannon. This man, in gray and gold, was the prince, Nassau, and he had promised to flay me alive if John Paul reached Kherson.

  Nassau picked up in his fingers a little round piece of glass and looked at me, then at the American, and laughed softly at the jest Alexiano had made. John Paul halted a few paces from the pair, his shoulders squared.

  Calling to him the under-officer with the rapier, he drew a letter from his coat and passed it to the Russian, who bowed and gave it to Nassau. The prince bowed and handed it back without reading it. Alexiano, a bull of a man with a fine curly beard, watched Nassau as a dog watches its master. And every man of the crew watched the three on the afterdeck. Still John Paul made pretense that nothing out of the usual was happening. He talked with Nassau in French, and the prince, who had tried to buy the American's death, was most polite. That is the way of the Muscovites and the Prussian nobles.

  But Nassau found time to speak aside with the under-officer, who presently whispered to a Greek with a handkerchief bound over his hair. This chap, who had some rank on the ship, called to him two others who advanced on me with scowls.

  "Hai, dog of a Cossack," one grunted, "your saick waits for you. Get off the deck or we will pitch you overside!"

  I grinned at him, seeing that he meant to provoke a fight, and his mate jostled me. When I reached for my sword the two drew knives and opened their mouths to shout. Instead, the under-officer on the afterdeck shouted-

  "Form in ranks for inspection!"

  John Paul had been watching us, and he it was who gave the order in the first place. Nassau shrugged indifferently, though Alexiano grew red with rage and kept muttering under his breath. He grew angrier when it became clear that the men did not know how to form ranks. Like cows, they trampled here and there, looking all around, until the officers who came on deck began to curse.

  Finally they were drawn up in strange fashion: the Greeks crowded in with the Greeks and the Syrians and -- knows what else, besides scores of Moskya fishermen. On the other side of the ship under a Russian officer about a hundred of the true faith drew up, among them quite a few Cossacks, and I took stand behind them, up against the rampart of the ship. John Paul, accompanied by the under-officer, who translated his orders and answered his questions, went down the front of each rank, looking every man in the face. Nor did he show any disapproval.

  From the men he turned to the deck, where cannonballs were in heaps and ropes in a fine tangle. Everything he pulled toward him, looking at it closely, the sails and the cannon especially. The mob on the deck saw that he knew what he was about, and fell to watching him instead of the officers on the rump of the ship, who had their heads together around Alexiano.

  It was nearly dark when he ended the formation. Without taking any more notice of Nassau or Alexiano he nodded to me, and the interpreter bade me haul the skiff on deck, and select some Cossack carpenters for work. A half-dozen chaps stepped forward at once and hoisted the saick over the rampart of the Vladimir.

  Then Paul Jones had some rags brought and these we wrapped around the middle of the oars as he bade us. A board was cut for a rudder, and a broken pike staff fitted to it for a tiller, the rudder being rigged to the back end of the saick.

  When this was done he ordered us to go and get supper, which was being brought up, the men crowding around the pots without order. One of the Cossacks nudged me while I was dipping out the gruel.

  "Eh, Ivak, better slip over the side before dark, if you don't want Greek steel between your ribs."

  I laughed at him and began to eat.

  "It's true," he went on under his breath. "They have marked you down, Uncle."

  "And the admiral?" I asked. "What of him?"

  "They say he is a foreigner who cannot speak our tongue, and a pirate who would sell us as slaves to the Turks."

  "They say lies, little brother. Nassau would glean gold out of you and leave you for the Moslems to slit up."

  He looked around fearfully and began to scratch his head, saying that such words would earn me a lashing. Was not Nassau a great officer who kept the Turks away because they feared him? Rumors had been heard that the officers of the Vladimir were in league with Alexiano to refuse to serve under the American. Nassau had said that he was a coward who would not make war, save on merchantmen, and Alexiano said that Nassau had a commission to share the command of the fleet with John Paul.

  Now John Paul had been promised sole command, I knew, and it is an evil thing when an army has two leaders. Two oxen hauling a cart go forward swifter than one, but two leaders cannot make plans like one, and the end is disaster.

  "Of the two, Nassau is the coward," I made response, judging that a man who would pay to have another slain does not love danger himself, however boldly he may bear himself.

  "Then let the American prove himself," the Cossack grunted. "Each is in command at present and how do we know which to obey?"

  "Before midnight little brother," I promised, "one or the other will take the leadership! Watch!"

  It was safe to prophesy, knowing how little the two loved each other. But I feared for John Paul, who did not know that Nassau had conspired against him, and who could not summon up Alexiano and the Greeks to his aid. Every word he spoke must be translated, and how was he to be sure that his words were not twisted? As long as I was alive Nassau would try by every means to do away with John Paul for fear that the plot against the American would be known.

  Why did I not speak out? Nay, who would listen? And it is not by threats and tale bearing that a leader's nature is made clear to all men. The crew of the Vladimir were restless because the Turkish fleet had drawn up to within striking distance, and no orders to make ready for battle had been issued. They grumbled at John Paul because he had made them stand long in ranks, but they became curious when the American, instead of going to the officers' table, ate dinner with the men on deck. Then he ordered a double allowance of spirits issued, when the ship's lanthorns were lighted.

  While he sat among us a Cossack began one of our songs, and the American bade us all sing. It was sad, that song of our steppe, and he sat silent, chin on hand, seemingly thinking of nothing at all. Once I thought I saw his eyes glitter with tears, which was no shame in a man far from his own country.

  But the men of the Vladimir all saw that John Paul cared nothing for what Alexiano and Nassau might be doing; and we soon perceived that the high officers had come on deck to see what John Paul was doing. Night had fallen and a
thin mist hung over the water of the narrow gulf. Out at the mouth of the gulf gleamed the small lights of the Moslem fleet, off one of their forts, where they hemmed us in, since the mouth of the gulf, which was the only way to the sea, was narrow as a cannon shot.

  Eh, it was a sad thing that happened on the Vladimir: scores of men ranged against one, who did not understand them. Two plotters against a hero of other wars who did not know how to plot. And yet, no other man was like John Paul. The proof of it was that all eyes on the ship watched him, even when Nassau took to striding up and down the deck near us.

  Meanwhile the under-officer-he of the rapier-came and whispered in my ear. "When you are challenged, pretend to be bringing supplies to the enemy. Ask for the countersign. The admiral wishes to learn it. And Christ receive your spirit!" he added under his breath.

  "At command," I replied promptly, not wishing him to see that the American's instructions were a perfect riddle to me.

  John Paul drew out his watch, looked at it, then at the sky, and the lights of the Turkish frigates. Then he spoke to Nassau, who turned as if a bee had stung him. Long afterward I learned that John Paul had said that they would set out on a reconnoiter of the enemy's fleet!

  Nassau, too surprised to be cautious, refused point blank when he learned that John Paul planned to go in among the enemy, but the American responded that neither Nassau nor Alexiano had any knowledge of the enemy's vessels at close hand, and this was necessary if a battle was to be fought.

  "What a notion!" exclaimed the prince in Russian. "We can send an officer."

  "I am going," said John Paul quietly to the interpreter, "and if Nassau is not afraid he will come, too."

  By the light of the yellow lanthorn, Nassau's pocked face grew sallow and he bit his lips. He was trapped, and there was no way out because the American shared the risk he ran. Then his face changed and he said he would go.