“They want a portion of wine served out to each man while they are at work,” replied O’Hara, to whom Alfonzo had explained the desire of the men, and the reason why they had stopped work.
“Wine!” exclaimed the Prince, in utter disgust.
Mr. Frisbone, as shown in a preceding volume of this series, was a very fierce temperance man, and did not believe that intoxicating drinks of any kind, not even wine and beer of the mildest type, were proper for use under any circumstances. He did not tolerate the drinking customs of any nation he visited. He never tasted the cup in any form himself, never gave it to his neighbor, or permitted it to be given to him if he had the power to prevent it.
“Alfonzo says they asked for wine on board of the Josephine, and were told there was none on board. He did not believe a statement so absurd as this one seemed to him; and he and his associates considered the reply as a refusal to grant their reasonable request. He thought it was no use to ask for wine again; and they have struck for it as the only way they are likely to get it,” explained the captain.
“Struck for wine, have they?” demanded the Prince, gazing with contempt at the firemen. “But, while we are settling this question, the fires are going out; and soon we shall have no steam at all.”
The Prince closed one of the furnace-doors, and Shakings another. All the draughts were adjusted so that the fires began to roar.
Alfonzo spoke a few sharp words to his companions; and they began to arm themselves with such weapons as were at hand,—pokers, shovels, hammers, iron bars. Shakings wanted the party to “clean them out” without any delay. While things were in this attitude, the cook and one of the stewards came down into the fire-room, and intimated that they were ready to do duty as the occasion might require.
“No clubs,” added Shakings, when he saw the steward pick up a coal-breaker. “We don’t want any weapons. We can bring them to their senses quicker without breaking any of their bones; and we want to use them, not kill them.”
The Prince liked this argument, and warmly seconded it. The boatswain of the Josephine was the self-constituted leader of the party, possibly because there was more fight in him than in any other. He made a spring at Alfonzo, who was armed with a hammer used in breaking coal. He clinched with the fellow, to whom the weapon in his hand was rather an incumbrance than otherwise. As he raised it to strike his assailant, Shakings seized him by the arm. A sharp struggle ensued; but the stalwart tar was too much for his opponent, and in a moment he had thrown him to the floor, and put his foot upon him.
The Prince pitched into the Frenchman who had struck him before. He wrenched a shovel out of his hands, and then threw him down. Observing how the boatswain handled his man, he followed his example, holding the rascal down with his foot, while he menaced him with the shovel if he attempted to use his hands. Rimmer was slower and clumsier than the boatswain, but he succeeded in taking down one of the smallest of the Italians. Raymond did not scruple to tackle another; and so quick were his movements, that his man was down almost as soon as the leader of the firemen. All the others went for the remaining two of the foreigners; and they were soon hors de combat. The prestige seemed to be with the Americans from the beginning.