Some intuition, stronger than the desire to murder, swept the crew. They turned as one man and followed Stirling's steady gaze. They dropped their chins and stared out through the porthole.
"By the jumpin' bowheads!" Whitehouse screamed. "By Heaven, mates. Look! Look!"
Framed by the dull brass was the face of a whiskered Russian whose small eyes surveyed the cabin greedily. A crash sounded at the door, shouts rolled through the iron of the ship, and a grim struggle was begun at once. The Pole Star had been captured by revolutionists.
[CHAPTER XXII—ALONE IN THE CABIN]
The invaders, led by the same whiskered Russian who had peered through the porthole, swept around the deck and crashed through the door leading to the galley cabin.
It was a mad wave of victory for them. They brought surprise and determination as their allies, and were in great numbers. Already they had mopped up the anchor watch and some of the crew who had climbed from the forecastle.
Stirling, rooted to the spot where he had faced his accusers, for the first time in his life felt the grip of fear. He saw Whitehouse felled with a descending swing of a giant club, and the second engineer staggered toward the table with a knife through his breast.
A Kanaka harpooner, whose gin-dulled brain refused to act, dashed into the midst of the inpouring horde and went down, the centre of a wave of infuriated invaders. One hooked-nose boat steerer, noted for his mildness of manner, became crazed, snatched a harpoon from the wall of the cabin, and drove it through a Russian's neck. He, too, was downed and then killed with heavy clubs.
This resistance stemmed the wave of Russians for a moment. Marr shouted shrilly. He was answered by a Russian, who shouted instruction from the doorway. Stones were hurled through the length of the cabin; capstan bars were raised; the invaders faced the survivors, and prepared to charge Stirling and the little skipper who had found common cause in resistance.
Mechanically, Stirling reached downward and grasped the tiny revolver, though afterward he had no recollection of the action. The gun steadied his nerves as he glanced at it, and then into the peering faces gathered about the doorway and the after end of the cabin.