I moved away, but he called: “No, Gardy, you stay right here; you look civilized. I need you. Stay and get introduced.”
I remained, but my interest was all for Wilson as he walked briskly toward the lounging men. Brack had been ordered to send the men below, and he had gone forward laughing, and the men had remained. Would they obey the command of the second officer?
Wilson’s first order was given in a tone too low for us to hear. In reply the men grinned at him, and Garvin, through his bandages growled—
“Who the —— are you?”
Wilson’s voice raised itself slightly.
“I am one officer on board that you can’t talk back to or get chummy with,” he said. “Get below or, by glory, I’ll show you what it means to give slack to an officer. Move there! You—Garvin! Get below!”
And they went. Bad men that they were, and in revolt, they were not able to defy Wilson when his blood was up. Chanler looked up at the bridge, puzzled.
“I told cappy to send them below,” he said. “Why didn’t he do it?”
“He gave no order at all,” I volunteered.
George looked at me unsteadily, his tongue wetting his lips.