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At the same moment a shot from the helmsman struck Williams in the chest as he and Edwards dashed toward him and the man fell to the deck, mortally wounded. Edwards, unarmed, dashed upon the other, but even as he would have grappled with the man, the latter dodged and Edwards went staggering by. Before he could recover himself, the German had clubbed him over the head with his revolver butt.
"We wish to go to Friedrichshafen," said he, apparently troubled by the discovery he had made. "So do I," replied Shuffles, quietly, without taking his eye from the sail. "This will not bring us there," added the ex-skipper. "Any port in a storm," said the gallant helmsman. "If I let the boat fall off enough to lay a course for Friedrichshafen, she will fill in the twinkling of an eye."
She is overhauling the other two, hand over hand." "We had better bear away a bit, boatswain. The captain said we were to scatter as much as we could, so as to divide their fire." "All right, sir!" and the boatswain gave the orders to the helmsman, and slightly altered the trim of the sails. "I suppose we can do nothing with that broken yard, boatswain?"
My own experience of sailing ships was neither prolonged enough nor responsible enough to estimate just what weight to attach to these impressions, but they existed; and in any case, as the helm varying far from amidships showed something wrong, the question was frequent to the helmsman, "How does she carry her helm?" varied sometimes to, "What sort of helm does she carry?"
But André, in his impatience, was often imprudent. He had several times declared that the search for the castaways was useless, when some new trace contradicted him, and enabled Penellan to exult over him. The mate, therefore, cordially detested the helmsman, who returned his dislike heartily.
He was almost motionless, except that his bands moved the spokes of the wheel, and his eyes were turned aloft looking at the sails as they filled with the breeze. Fairburn had again loaded his musket. He had observed the helmsman. He lifted up his piece and fired.
This done, the exhausted crew were sent below to get a good substantial meal, and the deck was left practically in charge of the officers, the helmsman and a couple of hands to keep a look-out being air of the crew who were required to keep the deck until the regular night watches should be resumed. This opportunity was seized by George to explain to the officers his more immediate plans.
So that at last all three of us lifelessly swung from the spars, and for every swing that we made there was a nod from below from the slumbering helmsman. The waves, too, nodded their indolent crests; and across the wide trance of the sea, east nodded to west, and the sun over all.
He sniffed the wind and measured the distance with his eye. When his calculations were complete he turned and held up his hand in signal to the helmsman. As the swivel allowed movement only from side to side, he must depend on the cant of the deck for his elevation.
The free-lances bore their execrations and reprisals more or less resignedly, though that did not prevent them occasionally exchanging compliments with oar butts or sealing clubs, but the Muscovite was a grim, mysterious figure they feared and hated. "Then you'd have tried up north?" Wyllard suggested. "Sure," said the helmsman.
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