“Ah, well, then, Lord Erebus, I tell you that if the orders you are going to give are contrary to those, they will not listen to you.”
“That is a lie!”
“Try it.”
“This very instant,” said Erebus, and turning to the steersman and sailors who awaited his orders, he commanded them to make a manoeuvre which would bring the chebec nearer to Maison-Forte.
What was his astonishment when, instead of executing his orders, he saw the steersman and sailors, at a sign from Hadji, make a contrary manoeuvre, which brought the chebec nearer the place of action.
“You refuse to obey me!” cried Erebus.
“Ah, well! Lord Erebus, what did I tell you?”
“Not a word from you, scoundrel!”
Erebus tried in vain to shake the fidelity of the sailors; whether from terror, or the habit of passive obedience, or from the love of their gross and licentious life, they remained faithful to the orders they had received.
Erebus bowed his head in despair.