The stranger, scowling3 and nursing a bruise4 on his chin, was gathering5 up his blue cap. Cassidy, panting and wheezing6, was leaning against the post and glaring wrathfully at the consul7.
“That man,” said Bob, pointing toward the mate, “is Cassidy, second in command aboard the submarine. He takes it hard because Captain Nemo, junior, placed me in charge, and he came ashore9 without authority. Who the other fellow is, I don’t know; but I presume he is some trouble maker10 the mate picked up.”
“Trouble maker is right,” went on Jordan. “That describes the rascal11 exactly. I know him. He’s Fingal, master of a shady schooner12 called the North Star, an all-around bad one, and the authorities in a dozen ports in Central America will tell you the same. We’ll land him in the lockup. And as for Cassidy, it’s against regulations for an officer to attack one who outranks him. We’ll put him in the cooler, too.”
The consul was about to call some one from the house with the intention of sending for an officer, when Bob interposed.
“I don’t want to do anything like that, Jordan. These men have been drinking.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“But Cassidy, when he’s not half-seas over and got a fancied grievance13, is a good fellow. He has proved33 that to me a hundred times. Besides, Captain Nemo, junior, thinks a lot of him.”
“Well, he can’t think much of the captain,” answered the consul dryly, “or he’d pay more attention to his orders. What do you want to do with the two men?”
“Let Fingal go about his business, if he has any. As for Cassidy, he can go back to the submarine and give his brain a chance to clear. After that he’ll see things differently.”
“I know my rights,” snapped Cassidy, shuffling14 around belligerently15, “and I’m going to hold out for ’em. I’ve been mate of the Grampus ever since she was launched. And now that the old man’s laid up, I ought to be master. This here Bob Steele hasn’t been on the submarine more’n two weeks, put together.”
“Did you hear Captain Nemo, junior, say that Bob Steele was to be put in charge of the craft?” queried16 Jordan.
“I heard it, but——”
“Did the rest of the crew hear it?”
“Yes, only they——”
“Everybody understands the situation, then?”
“I guess they do, if——”
“Then this is a case of all cry and no wolf. You’re making a fool of yourself, Cassidy, let alone showing mighty17 poor taste. Bob Steele is showing a whole lot more forbearance than I’d ever do, in the same circumstances. You made an attack on your commanding officer——”
“I don’t admit he’s that,” broke in Cassidy fiercely.
“Nonsense, man!” cried the consul, out of patience. “You’d admit it quick enough if you weren’t drunk.”
“What business you got buttin’ into this, anyway?”
“This is a patch of American soil right in the mid34dle of a foreign country,” said he. “That flag is yours and mine, and I’m here to adjust just such differences as this between my fellow countrymen. Bob Steele is captain of the Grampus, and you’ve heard his orders. If you and Fingal don’t clear out, I’ll call a policeman and have the pair of you taken to the lockup.”
Fingal edged away toward the veranda steps. As he drew close to Cassidy, he muttered something. The mate gave a thick response, and the two lurched down the steps and out of sight along the walk.
“Fingal,” said Jordan, after watching the two out of sight, “is setting the mate up to act as he’s doing. His influence is bad, particularly as the mate appears to be a good deal of a numskull without much reasoning ability of his own.”
“He has always been a first-rate hand,” returned Bob regretfully, “up in his duties and entirely19 reliable. This sudden move of his is one of the biggest surprises I ever had sprung on me.”
“That’s the way with some people. Give ’em the idea that they’ve been imposed on, and they’re just weak enough in the head to make all sorts of trouble. If you’ve got the rest of the crew with you, though, it will be easy enough to take care of Cassidy. However, if he wanted to he could make lots of trouble for this expedition.”
“I’ll see that he doesn’t do that. If he shows a disposition20 along that line, I’ll have him locked in the torpedo21 room. Why he ever came here and set upon me like he did, is a mystery. I guess it was because he was too drunk to know what he was doing.”
“That’s an easy way to explain it,” was the consul’s sarcastic22 comment. “On the other hand, he may have come here with the expectation of doing something to you that would make it necessary for you to be left in Belize with Captain Nemo, junior.”
35
“No,” answered Bob firmly, “I can’t believe that.”
“You’re altogether too easy,” proceeded the consul. “If you were left here with a couple of fractured ribs23, or a broken arm, Cassidy would be the only one left to command the Grampus.”
Bob shook his head. “Cassidy isn’t a brute,” said he. “I’d like to know, though, why this chap, Fingal, is putting in his oar8.”
“He’s got an ax to grind. Drunk or sober, Abner Fingal always has his eye on the main chance.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s a Yank, from somewhere up in Maine, but he’s been in these waters so long he’s about half Spanish. Crooked24 as a dog’s hind25 leg—that’s Fingal for you. Sometimes he hoists26 the flag of Costa Rica, sometimes that of Nicaragua, and now and then the cross of St. George. But no matter what colors he sails under, he’s the same old sixpence. Too bad Cassidy fell in with him! But there’s no use of our wasting any time on those fellows. We’ve got the job of our lives ahead of us, and we’ve got to get the work started. Any arms aboard the Grampus?”
“I thought you said there wasn’t to be any fighting?”
“I hope there won’t be, my lad, and we’ll do everything possible to avoid it, but there’s always a chance of being mistaken in our calculations. How’s the submarine armed?”
“There’s a Whitehead torpedo in the torpedo room.”
“We’ll not use any torpedoes27. If there’s a scrap28, it will be on the land and hand to hand. Any rifles or ammunition29 aboard?”
“None that I know about.”
“Then I’ll bring a few guns, merely to be on the safe side. You’ll attend to the other equipment?”
36
“About all we’ll need is a barrel of gasoline. I can pick that up and have it taken off to the boat.”
“I’ll come aboard, bringing this pilot I was telling you about, and the rest of the plunder30, along toward evening. We’ll drop down the coast to-night and start for the rendezvous31 of the revolutionists in the morning. It will be well, I think, to go up the river with the Grampus submerged. In that manner we shall be able to hide our approach. However, that is something we can settle later. If you——”
The consul paused, his eyes down the street.
“Well,” he muttered, “here comes your friend, Ferral, and he appears to be in a tearing hurry. I wonder if anything has gone wrong with Nemo, junior?”
This thought was uppermost in Bob’s mind as he sprang to the top of the steps and watched Dick running toward the consulate32 along the street.
“What’s up, Dick?” he asked anxiously, as his chum came close. “Is the captain all right?”
“They’re bringing him on a stretcher, and the doctor thinks he’ll be all right in a few days,” Dick answered. “It wasn’t that that made me hurry, but something else.”
“What else?”
“Cassidy. As we were coming ashore with the captain, I saw the mate pulling off to a schooner that was anchored half a mile t’other side of the Grampus. There was a man with him in a blue cap and coat. They were aboard the schooner when we hit the landing, and before we started for town, the schooner’s anchor was tripped and she was off down the coast with every rag of sail hoisted33 and drawing. What does that mean? What’s Cassidy up to?”
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1
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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2
veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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6
wheezing
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣 | |
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7
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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10
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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15
belligerently
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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17
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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hoists
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的第三人称单数 ) | |
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torpedoes
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| 鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 )； 油井爆破筒； 刺客； 掼炮 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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32
consulate
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| n.领事馆 | |
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33
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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