by Max Brand
CHAPTER 34
As Campbell was dragged away, the bos'n said to his companions: "Now,lads, you see where Campbell stands!"
They growled for answer.
"But I'll get him!" went on Hovey. "I'm going to kill Van Roos andBorgson by inches before his eyes. And when he sees 'em die--they'llhave to die, anyway, before we reach shore--Campbell will be water inour hands. He'll see 'em die, an' them in the wireless house will see'em die. Their throats are thick with thirst by now. We'll show 'emwater an' food, an' offer it to 'em if they'll give up Henshaw. If theywon't, we'll show 'em how we'll kill 'em when they're too weak toresist. They'll see a sample in Van Roos and Borgson. Every yell theylet out'll be an argument for us. We'll have Henshaw before the day'sdone."
Sam Hall pushed his thick fingers slowly through his hair, stupefied bythis careful cruelty, and even the one eye of Jacob Flint grew dim, butGarry Cochrane slapped the bos'n on the shoulder heartily.
"Jerry," he said, "you got the makin's of a great man. Let's go startthe fun."
On the way aft they passed the firemen sprawling on the shady side ofthe deck. They stumbled to their feet at sight of Hovey, and sworevolubly that the hole of the ship was too hot for a man to live in itfive minutes. Hovey passed them without a word. He had to tend toCampbell now, and without an engineer it was useless to work men in thefireroom.
First of all he had two buckets of water carried aft and placed justbelow the edge of the raised deck which supported the wireless house.There were dippers floating invitingly on the surface of the water ineach bucket. Then from the galley of the ship Kamasura and Shida, thecabin boys, brought out steaming meats and cut loaves of bread anddisplayed the feast near the buckets of water. Upon this outlay gazedthe famine-stricken fugitives, Sloan, McTee and Harrigan; Kate did notsee, for she was caring for the sick captain. Hovey advanced and made aspeech.
"We're actin' generous and open to you," he began. "We're offerin' youfood an' water--all you want--in exchange for White Henshaw. He soldhis soul to hell long ago, an' we've come to claim payment. It'soverdue, that's what it is!"
"Aye, aye!" came a chorus of yells from the sailors. "White Henshaw'soverdue."
"Look at this here water," went on Hovey, with a tempting wave of hishand. "Why not take this up an' help yourselves--after you've given usHenshaw?"
Sloan crowded in between Harrigan and McTee; his voice was a slaveringmurmur: "For pity's sake, boys, what we going to do?"
Harrigan and the big Scot exchanged glances. Faintly and slowly theysmiled. There was a profound mutual understanding in that smile.
"I'm dying," went on Sloan eagerly and still in that slavering voice."I'm burnin' up inside. For God's sake let 'em take him and finish himoff!"
And always as he spoke his quick eyes went back and forth from face toface. They had neither eye nor voice for him. They turned theirattention back to Hovey, who now spoke again hastily.
"But if you don't give us Henshaw, we'll take him, anyway. In one moreday--or maybe two at the most--we'll come an' get you--understand? An'what we'll do to you when we get you will be this!"
He gestured over his shoulder. Eric Borgson was being led out on thedeck by some of the crew.
"Look him over, Cap'n McTee. He's a big man, an' we're goin' to killhim by inches. So we're goin' to finish Van Roos--the same way. Speakout, lads; d'you want to die like these two are goin' to die, or willyou turn over Henshaw--who needs killin'?"
McTee smiled benevolently down upon the upturned, furious faces of themutineers, and muttered: "Harrigan, I could drink blood."
"An' lick your lips afther it," groaned the Irishman softly. "An' socould I, Angus! They're startin' their devil work. Let's go inside. Ican't be standing the sight of it, McTee."
"Go inside an' let 'em rush the wireless house?" said McTeeincredulously. "No, lad. We _got_ to stay an' watch. Besides, maybethis is the way we'll all die--after we're too weak to fight 'em. AndI'm rather curious to learn just how I'll die; I've always been!"
They were binding Borgson face down on the hatch.
"Look," said Harrigan. "Maybe it ain't goin' to be so bad as wethought. They're just goin' to lick Borgson the way he licked the Jap."
"They'll do more," replied McTee, shaking his head. "Henshaw andBorgson and Van Roos have really put those wild men through hell, andnow they're going to get it back with interest."
In the meantime little Kamasura stepped out from the crowd. He wasnaked to the waist, for the raw incisions which the lash had left wouldnot bear the weight of clothes. He carried the blacksnake in his hands,drawing it caressingly through his hands as Borgson had done. Now thetying of Borgson was completed, and the sailors spread back in a loosecircle to watch their entertainment.
The Japanese took his distance carefully, shifting repeatedly a matterof inches to make sure that no stroke would be wasted. Then he whirledthe blacksnake over his head. They could see Borgson wince as the lashsang above him, and the muscles of his bare back flexed and stood up inknots that glistened under the sunlight. But the stroke did not fall.Kamasura had learned the lesson of creating suspense from the very manhe was now about to torture. Harrigan bowed his head in his hands.
"I can't look, McTee," he muttered. "I'm sick inside--sick--sick!"
The last words came in a growl from the hollow of his throat. Theblacksnake whirled through the air again and fell with a sharp slaplike two broad hands clapped together, but Borgson did not cry out. Hisbody writhed mutely, and down his back appeared a red mark. The whipwhirled again and fell, this time bringing a stifled curse for aresponse. Once more it whirled, and this time merely cracked in theair. Again and again an idle snap in the air. Broken by that grimsuspense, Borgson yelled in terror.
Kamasura laughed and glanced at the circle of sailors like a ringmasterin a circus in search of applause. The whip now whirled rapidly overhis head and fell again and again, and every stroke brought a fresh andlouder scream from the mate. Another sound, rhythmic and barbarous,punctuated those shrieks of anguish. It was the singing of Kamasura,who as he wielded the lash remembered a chant of his native land andshouted it now in time with the blows of the blacksnake.
On the upper deck Sloan lay prone on his face, sobbing with terror;Harrigan kept his face hid and clutched at his head with both hands;McTee stared straight down upon the scene of the torture with burningeyes. Inside the wheelhouse Kate crouched beside the bunk on whichHenshaw was stretched, staring straight above his head. The fever haddeprived him of the last of his senses.
"Your hands!" he muttered at length.
She placed them upon his forehead. She had done that repeatedly duringthe past day, and each time the effect had been marvelously soothing tothe old man. Now at the touch he drew a deep breath of relief.
"Even in hell," he whispered at length--"even in hell you come to me,Beatrice! I knew you would!"
He caught her hands at the wrists; his fingers, despite his fever, weredeadly cold, and a chill ate into her blood.
"I hear them yelling--the souls of the damned," he said quietly. "Youcan't hear it?"
"No, no!" she said. "I cannot hear!"
"Of course not," he went on with the same lack of emotion; "for, yousee, you've come from heaven, and the coolness of heaven is in yourhands, Beatrice. Put them against my temples, so! For every bit of thelove I have given you you are permitted to repay me with coolness--coolness and comfort in hell!"
Suddenly he broke into exultant laughter, a sound more terrible thanthe wild wails from the deck.
"See!" he said, and his eyes twinkled as he stretched out a gaunt armtoward a corner of the room. "There's Johnny Carson lying naked on abed of blue fire. Ha, ha, ha! Have you been waiting long for me tocome, lad?"
She shut out the hungry, hideous light of his eyes with the palms ofher hands. Now the screaming on the deck ceased abruptly.
"Beatrice!" he cried with a sudden terror.
"Yes," answered Kate.
"Ah," he said, and patted her hands e
ndearingly. "When the silencecame, I feared maybe you were leaving me. You won't do that?"
"No. I'll stay."
"So! Then I'll sleep. But waken me when they begin yelling again. Theythought I'd come down to the same hell I sent them to, and that they'dwatch me burn. But I fooled 'em, Beatrice, by loving you. You're thechip of wood that keeps me afloat--afloat--afloat--"
And he drifted into sleep, while she leaned against the bunk, almostunconscious from fear and exhaustion.