CHAPTER IX
The hour that followed the rattle of the anchor chain stamped on Norah's brain the impression of a flood of talk, whose waves broke over her head.
Her eyes were on Dick, white clad, tall and elegant, in the centre of a sooty group, whose rags dripped with sweat and whose hands waved in wild gesticulation. Her ears were assailed by the clamour raised by captain and engineer, stokers and crew, gabbling in a dozen tongues explanations of what had happened, conjectures of what might have happened, prophecies of what would happen, while into the babble cut Dick's sharp queries and criticism. Advice, questions, protests, orders, oaths, exhortation rolled in a stream as muddy as the water of the yellow river. Only the sinister figure of the lean Indian passenger kept aloof and silent, contemptuous of past and future alike.
At length the obese engineer detached himself from the agitated mob and vanished below. Reappearing unexpectedly through a hatch, he held out to Dick an armful of warm, distorted metal with the air of an afflicted father submitting to a doctor the corpse of his first-born.
The interruption had the effect of dispersing the conference. Still plying him with questions, Dick led Alibaba aft. Norah, who had little confidence in male brains unassisted, joined them.
As she listened, certain facts emerged. If not dangerous, the situation was at least unpleasant. There seemed no doubt that the Mimi was immobile. Alibaba supported the engineer in insisting that the engines (connecting rod, was it?) were damaged beyond his power of repair.
'I said it was monstrous,' remarked Dick. 'Only niggers to run the ship.' He turned to the Arab. 'Why can't you patch them up?' he asked.
Alibaba spread his hands and gabbled apologetically. Norah gathered from the polyglot flow that welding or brazing was necessary, and the bellows of the boat's portable forge were under repair at Kigoma. In any case the job was too big for the Mimi's resources.
'Well, what do you mean to do about it?' asked Dick sourly.
Alibaba was silent. He foresaw that the solution he eventually proposed would be ill-received. They must stay where they were till the ship could be towed into Kigoma, 300 miles away.