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My daughter's worried." "Oh, Mr Peth's all right," said Jarrow. "His bark's worse'n his bite. He feels a little awkward with you folks aboard, that's all. It was the old man scraped him." "I've already chipped the old man about it," said Locke. "I wish you'd let the matter drop. What did Mr. Peth decide to do?" "He's set on bunkin' with the men," said Jarrow.
Whether this was due to Jarrow's deliberate contrivance, or was the result of a tacit acceptance of Peth's dilatory ways in seamanship, Trask had no means of determining with accuracy. He could only draw conclusions. It might have been that Jarrow was willing to overlook Peth's delays in order to avoid bringing on a new argument with the mate.
It was in this pocket that his automatic revolver was ordinarily carried. "What's the matter?" asked Doc. "Oh, nothing. I've misplaced something, that's all." "Yo' don' reckon Mr. Locke'll go an' git skeered 'count o' Mr. Peth's carryin' on, does ye?" "I don't believe anybody in this party is very scared of Mr. Peth." "Now, Miss Locke, she's a powerful nice lady.
In spite of the captain's evident desire to abandon the crew to their fate, Trask still had a lurking suspicion that Jarrow was more in sympathy with Peth's demands for extra money than his heated language against the mate implied. And the young man was determined that he would not relax his vigilance once Jarrow was on deck again.
It seemed to him that the wind had shifted, and that there was much tacking, for all night there was running about on deck, and thumping of blocks. At least a dozen times he heard Jarrow bawling to "Go about," and Peth's voice from the bows yelling "Hard alee," and the jibs being handled to the accompaniment of shivering sails and the lurch of the schooner as she stood on a new board.
"May be everythin' and nothin'. It's that Peth's too thick with the crew, and it's bad when a mate gits to standin' out with the fo'c's'le agin the master." "Do you want me to understand that it's mutiny?" "I said I don't know what it is, Mr. Trask." "How about Bevins? Is he in on it, too?" "All hands. They're off there in the dinghy now, and I don't know what they're up to."
This gaiety forward was in striking contrast to the sense of gloom which had come over the after part of the schooner. Not that any one was suffering any discomforts from the fact that Jarrow had clashed with the mate, unless it were Jarrow himself, but Peth's irascibility had checked the holiday air with which the schooner's company had put to sea.
At least, he didn't want the loss noticed at once." "So Mr. Peth's got an automatic gun, eh?" said Jarrow, rather in a musing way, and drawing a deep breath. "I might not have missed it for days," went on Trask, "but I had two, and " "Two!" "I had a pair of them." "And Peth got away with both of 'em!" "No, only one. I have the other, and Mr. Locke has two.
Then it came out that Peth's refusal to sleep aft was arranged by Jarrow and Peth to make it appear that they were at odds. The demand for money was to be made ostensibly by Peth, Jarrow always pretending that he was in the power of the crew.
"They want to come back," said Jarrow. "Peth sends word that if you'll take 'em, they'll return to duty if you'll call it square. Seems like they've tried a wrinkle of burnin' the sand to git gold, but it won't work, an' they're plumb disgusted." "We won't take Peth's word about anything," said Trask.
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