The concluding sentence was uttered very slowly and clearly. It was
evident he meant the ship's company to understand him. Before any of
his hearers attempted to question him, he jammed the sou'wester on his
head and ran up the stairs. The dog followed, somewhat ruefully, the
cozy saloon being far more to his liking than the wind-swept,
spray-lashed chart-house. Mr. Malcolm promptly stirred his myrmidons
with a command to fall in by boats' crews, and Gomez won his chief's
approval by quietly translating the captain's orders. Beyond Mrs.
Somerville's subdued sobbing there was little outward manifestation
that another crisis in the history of the Kansas and her human
freight had come and gone.
"The skipper did turn up, you see," said the American, when Tollemache
came to him. The silent man screwed his lips together as if he would
put a padlock on them.
"From your knowledge of the coast, do you think he will be able to
beach the ship?" went on Gray, some humorous imp prompting him, even in
that tense moment, to draw the expected answer from his new friend and
ally.
"Yes, in pieces," said Tollemache, and the reply was neither humorous
nor expected.