All the Brothers Were Valiant

by Ben Ames Williams

One howled like a wolf: “He’s done us. Done us in.”

And another: “They’re going to hog it. Them two....”

The little sea of scowling, twisting faces moved, it surged forward.... The men charged, more than a score, to overwhelm the four.

In the moment before, Joel had marked young Dick Morrell, at one side, twisted with indecision; and in the instant when the men moved, he called: “With us, Mr. Morrell.”

It was command, not question; and the boy answered with a shout and a blow.... On the flank of the men, he swept toward them. And Joel’s harpooner, and one of Asa Worthen’s old men formed a triumvirate that fought there....

They were thus seven against a score. But they were seven good men. And the score were a mob....

It was fists, at the first, as Joel had sworn. The first, charging line broke upon them; and old Aaron was swept back, fighting like a cat, and crushed and bruised and left helpless in an instant. The fat cook dodged into his galley, and snatched a knife and held the door there, prodding the flanks of those who swirled past his stronghold. Joel dropped the first man who came to him; and likewise Mark. But another twined ’round Joel’s legs, and he could not kick them free, and there was no time to stoop and tear the man away.

He and Mark kept back to back for a moment; but Mark was not a defensive fighter. He could not stand still and wait attack; and when his second man fell, he leaped the twisting body and charged into the clump of them. His black hair tossed, his eye was flaming; and his long arms worked like pistons and like flails. He became the center of a group that writhed and dissolved, and formed again. His head rose above them all.

The man who gripped Joel’s legs, freed one hand and began to beat at Joel’s body from below. Joel could not endure the blows; he bent, and took a rain of buffets on his head and shoulders while he caught the attacker by the throat, and lifted him up and flung him away. He staggered free, set his back against the galley wall; and when he shifted to avoid another attack, he found his place in the galley door. The fat cook crouched behind him, and Joel heard him shout: “I’ll watch your legs, Cap’n. Give ’em the iron, sir. Give ’em th’ iron.”

Once Joel, looking down, saw the cook’s knife play like a flame between his knees.... None would seek to pin him there.