"I then heard Mr. Gladden cry out at length against Captain Hay. He accused the captain of prejudice against him… of being 'unfair,' as he put it. In the middle of Mr. Gladdens outburst, I heard a roar of rage, and a grunt. Then I heard the cabin door close behind Mr. Gladden-"
"How did you know it was Mr. Gladden?" asked Hoare.
Mr. McHale looked surprised. "Why, sir, Mr. Gladden and the captain were the only men in the cabin. And it certainly wasn't the captain that ran out the cabin door."
"And if you believed Mr. Arthur Gladden and his captain to have come to blows, why did you not raise the alarm?"
"I could not be sure of that, sir, not from where I was standing. Besides, there was the Marine guard at the cabin door."
"So you, an experienced sea officer, left it to an unknown Marine private to decide whether or not to raise the alarm. Eh? This will do your career little good, Mr. McHale. That will be all, sir."
Called and sworn, Mr, Watt repeated in essence the story he had told Hoare a few days ago. When the little man arrived at his captain's dying words, the junior member of the court spoke up again. He had been the only one besides Captain Wright to take an active part in the proceedings. Bernard Weatherby was his name, master and commander in Crocus, 20; a man of promise and one to remember, Hoare told himself.
"Frankly, gentlemen, I'm at a loss," Captain Weatherby said. "No one has suggested for a minute Captain Hay was poisoned by one of the lobsters he had been consuming, and Mr. Bennett tells us the captain's steward swears the creatures were alive when he dropped them into the pot of hock. We have no reason to doubt the man's word. Why did the captain talk of 'lobsters' as he was dying, then?"
" 'A babbled of green tomalley,' " someone muttered in the back of the cabin. Someone else tittered.
"Belay that nonsense." Captain Wright's quiet, flat voice brought silence. "Another episode of that kind, and I'll have the perpetrator publicly gagged, even if he's a post captain."
Silence fell.
Mr. Prickett slipped into the cabin and whispered a few words into Hoare's ear. Nodding his thanks, Hoare leaned forward and relayed the whisper to Peter Gladden.
"Having received the court's prior permission, gentlemen," said the latter, "Mr. Hoare asked Sergeant Miller of Defiant's Marine detachment to take as many of his men as required and board Vantage, where he was to replace Vantage's entire Marine detachment for as long as might be required. I also gave Miller certain instructions.
"Sergeant Doyle of Vantage has now mustered his detachment in the waist below the break of Defiant's quarterdeck. Mr. President, may I ask you to adjourn this court to the quarterdeck?"
Captain Wright caught Bennett's eye and nodded. Arthur Gladden, guarded by his two Marines, left the cabin first, to be followed by his brother, Hoare, Bennett, and the members of the court. Next, His Royal Highness clambered up the companionway to gleam in the summer sun. Behind them all limped Lieutenant Wallace in a pair of loose pantaloons. The lieutenant would see himself damned if he would witness any man of his being grilled by some whispering upstart of a duelist without his officer present to protect him in case of need.
Sergeant Doyle had drawn up Vantage's forty-seven Marines in the waist of Defiant, in two facing ranks. Upon catching sight of his officer among the gathering on the quarterdeck above him, the sergeant called his redcoats to attention, and they presented arms with a familiar clank. Wallace hitched himself painfully down the larboard companionway into the waist, and took position between the two ranks. From there he looked up at Captain Wright and raised his hat in salute.
"What d'ye want to do now, sir?" Wright rasped at Peter Gladden. "You may as well know these fancy departures from proper procedure do your client no good at all in the eyes of this court."
Mr. Gladden bowed. "By your leave, sir, I would like him to accompany me down the ranks of these Marines. I want him to identify the man who stood on guard outside Captain Hay's door when he reported to the captain on the evening of the murder."
"Very good, Mr. Gladden. You may accompany your bro- the accused into the waist."
The procession made its way down the starboard gangway-first a Marine guard, then the prisoner, then the second Marine, and finally the prisoner's friend and brother. Arthur Gladden walked slowly and gravely along the first rank of lobsters, stopping now and then to peer into a face. He came to the end of the first rank, turned, and walked the length of the facing rank, until he had examined every Marine in Vantage's detachment. Concluding with Sergeant Doyle himself, Arthur looked up at the officers of the court-martial as they stood at the quarterdeck rail.
"He's not here," said Arthur Gladden.
"What d'ye mean 'he's not here'?" Captain Wright barked.
"The man I saw is not one of this detachment, sir. As I think of it now, the man on guard had a most unusual face. The skin had a peculiar coarse, florid quality; his eyes were larger than normal. And his mouth… Well, sir, his mouth looked almost painted. Like a mask. I can see no Marine here with those features. I am sorry, sir."
"I have an explanation for that, sir," said Peter Gladden. He spoke on his own, without Hoare's prompting. "However, I must ask that what follows be heard in… in…" He turned to Hoare for the proper term.
"Yes. In camera."
"If you expect this court to subject itself to still more harlequinades, Mr. Gladden," said Captain Wright, "you will have to convince a very skeptical group of officers, I assure you. Draw nigh, sir-yes, Mr. Hoare, you, too-and explain yourselves."
Thereupon the officers of the court-martial put their heads together to hear the whispered explanation Hoare and Gladden had prepared for them. Considerable head-shaking and protest followed, especially from the fire-breathing Commander Weatherby. At last Captain Wright rapped sharply on the quarterdeck rail.
"Mr. Hoare, Mr. Gladden," he said with some asperity, "I would be happy to let these proceedings run as long as necessary to arrive at a true bill. By doing so, as you pointed out just now, this board would conform with the letter of Admiralty regulations. However, I, like you, am an officer of the Royal Navy. My first duty, like yours, is to marshal all our naval forces as swiftly as may be to the defense of the realm which we serve.
"If, in order that this ship and the five others commanded by the captains on this court may sail with all possible speed to reinforce Lord Nelson, I must hang Mr. Arthur Gladden out of hand tomorrow. I shall do so, sir, be he innocent or guilty.
He will become a casualty, a single casualty out of all too many. But if he dies to let these ships go free, he may save England.
"So this court grants your request to continue these proceedings in camera for the remainder of the day, reconvening here tomorrow at eight bells of the forenoon watch. However, at noon tomorrow, if needs must and even if I hang for it myself, I will direct this court to declare Mr. Arthur Gladden guilty, adjourn this court-martial, and see him hanged.
"Not a minute later than noon tomorrow, therefore, this vessel and those commanded by my fellow captains on this court will have their anchors up and down in preparation for departure. Do you understand, gentlemen?"
The other captains, Arthur Gladden, and his two friends nodded solemnly.
"Very well. The board will now reconvene below. I ask all unofficial persons to withdraw. Your Royal Highness, will you go or stay?"
"I'll stay, sir," said the duke. "My presence might even save your necks, what what?"
When the observers had left Defiant and the board had returned to his cabin, Captain Wright turned to Peter Gladden. "Proceed, sir," he said.