II
The end to Aggett’s persecution, which the Warrant Officer had said must soon come, came unexpectedly. The ship was out of sight of land. Divisions and Prayers were over, and, there being no Gunnery that day, the hands had been told off for their forenoon duties. Driss, who had kept the First Watch and the Morning, came up from the Gunroom at about ten o’clock. He stood on the quarter-deck, drinking in the fresh air, and wondering how many minutes he might thus spend away from the Engineering drawing which he had deserted. Because he was very tired and thought himself unobserved he was unseamanlike enough to lean on the quarter-deck rails.
“Mr. Driss!”
He turned to see the Captain standing a few yards away from him. He sprang to attention, and saluted.
“Have you nothing to do this forenoon except lean on the quarter-deck rails?”
But Driss was not afraid of the Captain. “I have nothing to do this forenoon, sir, except an Engineering sketch. I came up for a minute to get some air.”
“No lecture?”
“No, sir. Midshipmen engineering don’t do School. We do the sketch in our own time, sir, working it in as we like.”
“So you came up to get some air?” the Captain said, looking steadily into Driss’s face. “Don’t you feel well?”
But one does not betray anyone to the Captain—not even Aggett.
“Yes, sir,” said Driss in such a tone of surprise as he might have used had his cheeks been rosy.
“Quite well?”
“Quite, sir.”
“Sure?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When did you come off watch?”
“Eight bells, sir.”
“You kept the Morning?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And your watch previous to that?”
“The First, sir.”
“First and Morning? Are you making no mistake?”
“No mistake, sir.”
“How many midshipmen are doing Engineering duties?”
“Two, sir.”
“And you keep watch and watch?”
“We both stand off the Afternoon, sir.”
“But haven’t I seen you at a gun in the Afternoon?”
“Yes, sir. The midshipman not on watch attends his gun when there is Gunnery.”
“I see.... Are you undergoing any kind of—er—punishment at present, or is this the customary routine?”
“We are not under punishment, sir.”
“And you feel fit?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And happy?”
Driss, genuinely surprised, looked up at him, and after an instant’s pause answered, “Yes, sir,” in a voice which was somehow not so steady as he could have wished.
“I see. That will do.”
The Captain swung round on his heel and went below to his cabin.
“Messenger!... Tell the Engineer-Commander to speak to me.”
The messenger fled like the wind. He knew the Captain, but failed to recognize this mood. Ordinarily the Captain would have said, “Ask the Engineer-Commander....”
The Engineer-Commander, stirred to unwonted activity by the boy’s breathlessness, came quickly.
“You sent for me, sir?”
“Engineer-Commander, are you personally responsible for the routine of midshipmen performing Engine-room duties?”
“Mr. Aggett is directly responsible, sir—under me, of course.”
“They are keeping watch and watch night and day. Are you aware of that?”
“The Afternoon is regarded as kept, sir.”
“So I am told.... In addition to their watch-keeping they do an Engineering sketch each week?”
“Almost inconsiderable, sir.”
“You forget that they come to me for initials every week. They are elaborate drawings.”
“A few hours, sir....”
“Let that pass.... They attend Divisions and Quarters. They are in charge of the stokers at Upper Deck Evolutions. And they attend their guns. All this in their watch off.”
“I am not responsible for their Upper Deck duties, sir.”
The Captain’s eyes flashed. “That was unnecessary, Engineer-Commander. It is your duty to make your orders conform to circumstances. Have you realized that these young officers get less than eight hours sleep in forty-eight?”
“Surely, sir——”
“I worked it out while I waited. There are the figures.”
“I didn’t think, sir——”
“It is extraordinarily necessary to think when you have young lives in your hands.”
“I will instruct Mr. Aggett at once to make some modification, sir.”
The Captain took back the paper on which his figures were written. “These officers are ill,” he said. “I may as well tell you that I was led to make enquiries entirely by the astonishing appearance of a midshipman I found standing on the quarter-deck. He was whiter than I care to see my midshipmen.”
“I will make a change, sir.”
“Yes.... In future, midshipmen will do duty in three watches, and they will not be below after 10 p.m. or before 5 a.m. That will ensure that they get a night’s sleep every other night.”
“I will give your instructions, sir.”
“And take the control of midshipmen entirely out of Mr. Aggett’s hands. Take charge of them yourself.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That is all then, Engineer-Commander.”
The Engineer-Commander hesitated. Then he gathered courage. “If I might make a suggestion, sir: in the circumstances, you having spoken to a midshipman—probably the Gunroom is talking about it—would it be wise to make this change at once? And from the disciplinary point of view, sir, to take the midshipmen so suddenly out of Mr. Aggett’s hands might look like—like an aspersion, in the circumstances. A little delay, sir?”
The Captain shook his head.
“In the circumstances, Engineer-Commander—no delay.”