‘Next,’ I proceeded, ‘I am to be captain, and what I say must be law, and what I do must be done.’
‘Saving this,’ said he, elevating two square fingers in imitation of my gesture: ‘Fust, you ain’t going to order us to speak a ship, and next you ain’t going to get us to obey ye if you should take it into your head to steer for a port.’
‘No,’ I replied, ‘that is a part of my agreement. Yet there is this to be said: it is mere idle cruelty to carry this young lady away round Cape Horn into the Pacific. She is without any other wearing apparel than what you see; she is destitute of almost every convenience; her mother is in bad health, and she wishes to return as speedily as possible, that no news about us may reach England that is not perfectly true. The crew, therefore, will not object to speak a ship that we may transfer this lady to her.’
‘No!’ he roared.
‘Her going will render me easy in my mind as to her safety,’ I continued, ‘and I shall be able to serve you the better by knowing that she is on her way home.’
‘No!’ he roared again; ‘she’s quite safe aboard us. There must be no speaking with ships. ‘Sides,’ he added, falling back a step with a round flourish of his arm, ‘the lady knows all about the gold and where it is and how it’s to be come at.’
‘I can keep a secret, Mr. Lush,’ she exclaimed.
‘No,’ he repeated with a stamp of his foot; ‘sorry for it, lady, but here ye are, and here ye must stop. I know what the crew ‘ud say. I’m but expressing of their minds. Here ye stop, lady. Mr. Dugdale, that was a part of the bargain, as we onderstood it this marning. Besides, lady,’ he added with an indescribable leer, ‘ye wouldn’t care to be separated from him now, would ‘ee?’
She moved so as to bring him between me and her.
‘That will do, Mr. Lush,’ said I. ‘I am acquainted with your wishes, and you know now my resolution;’ and so saying, I walked to a part of the deck where I could command the sun, and went to work with my sextant, talking to Miss Temple in a low voice as I ogled the luminary.