The young man flushed. “I beg your pardon, Captain Trigger,” he said simply.
“All you have to do,” said the Second Officer, fixing him with an inimical eye, “is to answer questions and not to tell us how to run this ship.”
Percival did his best to hold back the retort, but, failing, released it with considerable sharpness:
“Well, if I was running this ship I'd head her for shore pretty damned quick.”
The American in command of the gun-crew was the only one who smiled, and he did it openly. Captain Trigger's face darkened redly.
“Take this man in charge, Mr. Shannon. He wants work. Give it him. Under guard.”
“Am I suspected, Captain Trigger, of being in league—”
“Every man, every woman on board this ship is suspected,” said the Captain with decision. “Every one, sir, from myself down. The rest of us grasp that fact, even if you do not.”
And so it was that while Algernon Adonis Percival, under the watchful eye of a burly seaman, fell to work scraping the scuppers on the boat deck, the stern business of searching the ship went forward with a thoroughness that left no room for doubt as to the fears and apprehensions of the men who had her in charge. Despite the fact that intensive, anxious hours of delving revealed no hidden, sinister agent of destruction, there was no relaxation on the part of the officers and crew. One by one the passengers were examined; their rooms and their luggage were systematically overhauled. No one resented these drastic operations, for by midday the whole ship's company knew what had transpired during the night. Eagerly they answered the questions, cheerfully they submitted to the examination of their effects, and then fell silent and subdued, oppressed by the suspense that hung over the ship like a cloud. Crew and passengers alike underwent the most rigid questioning, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, the young and the old.
Early that morning, in fact some time prior to the time that Percival told his story, the wireless operator reported that his transmitter was out of order. While he was satisfied that the apparatus had not been tampered with, he was plainly affected by the rather grim coincidence. He was an old and trusted man in the service, competent, efficient and loyal.