The watch was obeying his every order. He was well aware that the magic of his name had enforced the discipline, over and above that of Gillon. The lookout shouted down that there was a ship. He told himself, as he stood there, by the mizzen rigging now, that it had been the only possible course open to him. Now he was enjoying the storm. He was soaking wet, hatless, but by God he was alive, and aboard. Smith came up to him.
"We were in rather poor case when I took over, Mr. Smith," Barney had time to say. "The—"
"We were foundering, Captain," Smith said baldly. "I put a new gang at the chain pumps, as you ordered." A figure was running toward them carrying an oilskin and cap.
"Officer of the fo'castle, Mr. Hutchinson," Smith said, as Hutchinson handed the oilskin to Barney. Hutchinson fastened his eyes on the famous seaman.
"You saved us from Davy Jones, sir," he said.
Barney shrugged on the oilskin. It was the way of the sea that only minutes had elapsed, and a few orders could save a ship.
At ten o'clock the "South Carolina" was still hauling to westward under reefed tops. Joshua had fallen asleep. In his cabin Trumbull wrote quickly, his pen scratching along the paper. "A squall struck us, heavier than the gale, the ship became unmanageable, the officers lost self-possession, and the crew all confidence in them, while for a few minutes all was confusion and dismay." Trumbull dipped his pen. "Happily for us, Captain Barney was among the passengers —he had just escaped from Mill Prison, in England. Hearing the increased tumult aloft, and feeling the ungoverned motion of the ship, he flew up on deck, saw the dangers, assumed command; the men obeyed and he soon had her again under control. That our danger was imminent no one will doubt." He laid down his pen. He was going to ask Barney for permission to paint him. But Joshua
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had made it quite clear that Barney might get into serious trouble over this. For a moment Trumbull wondered whether trouble followed Barney. He could not have done anything else, this day.
Douglass slipped quietly out of the cabin door. She was still wearing the maroon wool dress. She came out on deck, and for a moment stood in the shadow of one of the long guns.
Over her head the mizzen rose straight up, bare till its tops. The rigging sang. Fore she could see the gleaming white of the headsails as they were blown stiff, angled from the bowsprit, so white against the black seas that curled up and foamed away from the gilded lion figurehead. Lanterns shone on the lifeboats, and at the mastheads; two men were still at the wheel. She could see the figures of the watch moving about the deck and she saw Barney. He had his back to her.
She crossed the deck to him.
For a moment she caught a look of surprise that she had sought him out. Then he drew her over to the weather side of the quarterdeck. She lifted her face to his.
"You saved the ship," she said solemnly.
Barney said, "You're so beautiful, English."
She paid no attention. She was still looking up at his dark face. "We—we all thank you. The officers told us—Mr. Smith said if it had not been for you we would have foundered and been dashed to pieces on the sands there." She gestured to the east.
Barney said, "A northwest squall often follows the northeast storms." The spray suddenly flew high. He put his arm around her; he took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped off her face.
"Thank you," she said.
Barney gave a last wipe at her chin. She said, "You owe me a handkerchief." Her fingers closed over it and she took it from him, and used it on her forehead.
The wind cried a little. "Barney," she said low, into his shoulder.
"Yes?"
She hesitated. "It is a different ship now because no one is afraid. But—" slowly she raised her lashes, still wet and stuck together.
He knew what she was trying to ask. She might suspect, too, that his violence against Gillon would be exaggerated and she would be right. He said only, "I shall not surrender command until eight o'clock tomorrow morning. But I shall leave the ship at Corunna."
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She was well aware that all his plans had now gone awry. "I'm sorry, Barney," she whispered.
"Don't be," he grinned. "I'm going to order you below now. You are exhausted; you've kept a long vigil. And I want my handkerchief back."
Douglass stepped back. "No," she said, her fingers tight around the linen square.
He made a fierce mock scowl. "On my own quarterdeck, you dare to say no?"
She backed away, but she couldn't go far for a gun carriage stopped her. Barney loomed over her. She put both hands behind her back. "I want it, Barney."
"You can't have it."
"You owe it to me!"
He slid one arm around her hand and took her wrist, unfastening her fingers.
"I always repay my debts in my own way," he said, drawing the handkerchief from her and dangling it in front of her eyes. It blew in the wind.
"Brute," she said, leaning back on the gun, laughing at him.
"Now get off my deck. You're confined to quarters."
She looked up at him. Had he been English, she was sure he would have his own squadron by now, and a captain's rank. "What they say about you is true," she said gravely. "You are a magnificent seaman. It is a pity that you—"
This time his frown was real. "No, English." He shook his head. "I sink English ships."
A wry smile touched her hps. "Yes, of course. Goodnight, Yank." She swept him a curtsy. Then she turned. Her voice floated back to him. "Thank you for my English hide."
Chapter 10
CORUNNA WAS THE NORTHERNMOST PORT IN SPAIN. The South Carolina" had put in at eight in the morning.
The evening before Gijon had committed the final ineptitude. He had fired on a Spanish ship, mistaking her for a Britisher. She
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had been damaged before she could make Gillon understand who she was. This incident had completely unstrung the Spanish authorities. Even Joshua didn't know what they would do. He had deposited Douglass at a lodging house and gone out.
The sitting room of the small suite Joshua had taken was on the first floor, about ten feet above the narrow street. It had a small iron grilled balcony, and Douglass had dragged a chair out there. She saw Trumbull coming down the street and she leaned over and called to him.
Trumbull looked up, shading his eyes with his hand. Douglass was wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a sprinkling of roses to match her rose-colored filmy gown.
"If this were the right light I could sketch you, Mrs. Harris," Trumbull said, squinting up at her. "But I'll paint you going home."
Douglass said, "You're sailing with us?"
Trumbull nodded. "We couldn't very well stay aboard the 'South Carolina.' We wanted to back up Barney."
Douglass said warmly, "Oh, I'm glad, Mr. Trumbull."
Her smile was so delighted that Trumbull grinned too. "One of America's lustiest sons, Mrs. Harris."
Douglass forgot Joshua's injunctions. "A damned elusive male, sir," she said, over her fan. In the last two days she had not seen him at all. He had remained in his cabin, where all the officers and men sought him out; he left the cabin only to walk three times around the deck twice a day. Even Joshua had been drawn into that cabin Barney shared with Trumbull.
"Well, it was a mite awkward, the situation," Trumbull said, with true Yankee understatement.
"He needed rest and food, too," Douglass said thoughtfully.
Trumbull eyed her. "So he did."
Douglass heard steps behind her; she turned. "Why, here is Joshua," she said. "Why don't you come in?"
Trumbull patted the box under his arm. "I'm off for a little sketching. I'll say goodbye."
Douglass turned in time to see Joshua disappear into his own room. He was saying, "It's hot as hell and there's not a glass of beer in this damned town. I'm going to change my shirt."