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So the three sections of the work went on the firefighting, the lifesaving, and the driving of the ship. McTee on deck managed two ends of it; Harrigan in the fireroom handled the most desperate responsibility. It seemed as if these two men by their naked will power were lifting the lives of the crew away from the touch of death and hurling the ship toward the shore.
Wheat is scarce for export even in the States just now, so I'm taking a gambling chance on getting this to port before the first quantities come from the north. If I get in in time, I'll clean up big." "I understand," said McTee. The captain raised his lantern again and shone it in the eyes of McTee. "Do you understand?" he queried. "Do you?" And he broke again into the harsh laughter.
A flash of instinct like a woman's intuition told Harrigan what impulse was moving McTee. He knew it was the same thing which makes the small schoolboy fight with the stranger; the same curiosity as to the unknown power, the same relentless will to be master, but now intensified a thousandfold in McTee, who looked for the first time, perhaps, on a man who might be his master.
"Do you mean to say " "Tut, man, it's my granddaughter. Look!" Perhaps the whisky had loosened the old man's tongue; perhaps these confidences were merely a tribute to the name and fame of McTee; but whatever was the reason, McTee knew he was hearing things which had never been spoken before.
They plan to take him to hell tomorrow, Angus, and I've an idea that there's one chance in the thousand that I could steal in on the dogs tonight and bring him back with me." "Can they do anything worse to him than they're doing to us?" "Maybe not, but my heart would lie easier, McTee. I'll wait for the fever o' the sun to go out of me head an' for the crew to get drunk an' a little drunker."
"The whole crew the whole forecastle mutiny, Cap'n Henshaw! I know " The piercing whistle of the bos'n cut into his speech, and the crew rolled forward over the hatch with a single shout that might have come from one throat except for its shrill volume. "It's come!" cried Harrigan to McTee. "Kate!" But even as he whirled, two sailors leaped on him from behind and bore him to the deck.
Harrigan glanced up with a start of recognition, and by the light of a swinging lantern he saw McTee. If he were in command, this ship was certainly going to a far port. Black water showed between the dock and the ship. In a moment more it would be beyond reach, and that thought decided Harrigan.
This was to the Chinaman, who answered in a soft guttural as if there were bubbling oil in his throat: "Me sail two year Black McTee, an' " To finish his speech he passed a tentative hand across his swollen jaw. "And you'll sail with him till you die, John," said the Englishman. "When a man has had Black McTee for a boss, he'll want no other. He's to other captains what whisky is to beer."
"It may be," said McTee, "that he'll be put out of the way tonight." "McTee, I begin to see that you have brains." The latter waved the sinister compliment aside. "Suppose the little er experiment fails? Doesn't it occur to you that that message might be written out and sent to Campbell?" The captain changed color, and his eyes shifted. "I've told you " he began. "Nonsense," said McTee.
It was that which won her " "But even when I was in command, you proved yourself the better man, Harrigan." The Irishman leaned back against the wall, gasping, weak with astonishment. McTee went on: "I paraded the deck; I made a play to make her admire me, and for a while I succeeded, until the time came when you were carried up to the deck too weak to keep the men at work in the fireroom.
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