"Keep up, keep up." "They put in for fresh drinking water, but I tell you, Monsieur Onedin, as harbour master of Brest, I will not permit a ship in mutiny on my mooring." "And I'll not tolerate a mutiny on a ship of my charter." "I tried to talk to the captain but the mate, Monsieur..." " Mr Carby." " He would not allow the captain on the deck." "That is why I sent for you." "The best I could do was to prevent them sailing." "Well, I shall go aboard her and I shall talk to Captain Kirkwood." "Is that wise?" "There are other ways to arrest the crew." "But there's not another way of saving my cargo of pineapples." "I shall sail her to England meself." "With that crew?" "In mutiny?" "There's the matter of harbour dues." "You will be paid." "I will stand off for ten minutes." "If you are knifed and thrown overboard, I will arrange French arrest." "Thank you, Captain." "Thank you." "Keep your hands off me, Mr Carby." "Take me to Captain Kirkwood, will you?" "First, Mr Onedin, you will talk with us." "Then I'll find him myself." "I cannot understand why you're disturbed, Robert." "After all, you have three companies." "No, thank you." "Onedin Line, Onedin Warehouses and Onedin Chandlers." "That's allvery fine and grand on paper but we haven't a penny in our pockets and bill-waving creditors round every corner!" "You're being unfair - if not for James you'd not have a shop." "And if not for James, Robert would not have lost the shop Father left him." "Exactly!" "Here we are, up to our necks in debt and James conveniently slips away to France." "Did you mention to James him that I might be interested in buying some Onedin Line shares?" " Albert..." " No interference in business." "No, you'd be better off investing your money elsewhere." "That's unreasonable." "James has a very shrewd business sense." "Then why doesn't he concentrate on securing a cargo for our own two ships?" "Oh, no, James has to go chartering ships to catch fancy trade like pineapples from the West Indies." "Right." "Always biting off more than he can chew." "I fear James forgets that people run ships." "Winds and tides are not the only enemies with which he has to contend." " Ah, Captain Kirkwood." " You're a welcome face, Onedin." "I did not expect to see you again, or anyone else, come to that." "My sympathies and admiration that you brought the ship this far." " God's work, not mine." " Are we in danger of our lives?" "No, the fools are too confused for violence." " Good, we can talk to them." " Talk to the crew?" "!" "Aye, we must sail the ship to England." "Are the events of this mutiny recorded?" "Of course, in the log." "Every infraction, from small deceits - which I thought were of slight importance, but which ended up in full mutiny." "I will study this." "They will all hang, Mr Onedin." "You will speak with us now, sir." "I will speak to you when I'm ready." "As you will." "But you're the owner and it's your cargo that will rot in the hold." "I'm also a certificated captain, Mr Mate and I'll take no insolence from you." "You, lad, come with me." " Your name, lad?" " Arthur Loog, sir." "Are you aware of the punishment for the crime of mutiny?" "Mr Carby explained, sir, but we're not in mutiny." "We have relieved the captain of his duties." "Well, Mr Carby will rot in jail and you along with him." "My conscience is free of any..." "Don't contradict me, boy!" "I want your story, every event on this ship leading up to the mutiny." "There seems little point, sir." " Meaning?" " You won't listen." "Aye, well, I shall listen." "But woe betide you if you lie or exaggerate." "You appear guilty to me, boy, but you might be in some vein innocent, corrupted by Mr Carby." "Mr Carby is a fine gentleman, sir!" "The captain went mad!" "Who told you that the captain was mad?" "Mr Carby?" " No, I saw it!" " What did you see?" "It started when we were four days' sail out of Lisbon." "The captain lined us up, the whole crew, just before dinner." "He says, "You men are all fat and lazy " ""you must have been stealing victuals."" "Then he ordered the cook to throw the dinner over the side." "The cook did." "Then Mr Carby argued with the captain." " Then the captain got mad." " Four days out of Lisbon?" "Aye, sir." "Now, when the captain and Mr Carby argued, what happened?" "The captain said, "You argue with me and I'll see you're hanged for it!"" "We suspected then he was mad but now we know it." "The log four days north of Lisbon has a position but no mention of what you've said." "Next day, captain called me to his cabin." "He says, "Loog, boy, you are damned"" "and tells me to sing a hymn, Nearer My God To Thee." "And I sing most of it and he stops me and his face is all anger and he says, "Boy, you sing blasphemously"" "and beats me with his stick." "Mr Carby hears, comes in and sends me away." " No mention of this either." " Well, it happened, sir." "A very serious allegation." "Show me the bruises." "That was nine days ago, sir." "The bruises were on my back for six days." "Hm..." "Are you saying that Captain Kirkwood has deliberately written a false log?" "But Kirkwood does lie, sir!" "Like when he said we stole the rum." " Why should the captain lie?" " Why should we lie, sir?" "Now, listen, boy, this is a fruit schooner." "45 tons of perishable pineapple aboard." "I hired Captain Kirkwood because he can bring a ship from Grenada to London in 30 days, driving ship and crew full sail- even in a gale." "So that your ship can be in London with the first pineapple and make your fortune." "Sometimes on these occasions, when the crew and the ship are tested against the elements," " mischief makes itself known." " Tis not this case, sir." "Things the captain says are misreported, one to the other." "Maybe he cuffs you." "Suddenly this becomes a beating until even you are convinced you were beaten." "He beat me with his stick, sir!" "You say Captain Kirkwood stole the rum, eh?" "Captain Kirkwood is a religious man, he does not drink." "No, he poured the stuff away." "It smelt down in the scuppers." "Mr Carby'll tell you, sir." "Well, I fear for you in the courts, lad." "We're not going to the courts, sir." "We're not going back to England, sir." "Oh, you're going back." "Now, take yourself into a quiet corner, think a little while, take your time." "When you've decided on the truth... come back to me." "Oh, and tell Carby that I want to see him." "Ah." "Sit down, Mr Carby." "What brings you to France, Captain Onedin?" "What purpose have you here?" "To get this ship under sail for England." "No chance." "You've been here four days now." "Expect to sit here till the Day of Judgment?" "We've had a mad captain and a hard sail." "30 days of wild westerlies and gales." "At this moment we rest." "Then we'll sail for another Frenchy port and find some Frenchy or Portugais boat." "Why did you mutiny?" "Ten days into the voyage I realised the captain was mad." "I knew we'd have to relieve him of command." "What gave you the right to judge the captain?" "He's done and said a hundred mad things on this voyage." "He's not spoken a word of sense since Grenada." "He is deranged." "How did you expect this senseless mutiny to end?" "I thought we'd go back to England and it would be easy to explain." "Kirkwood will seem like a king's fool in court." "Now I'm not sure." "I think they'll take his word against ours." "As you do." "Not necessarily." "That's one reason why..." "Don't soft talk me, merchant!" "I know why you're here!" "You want your cargo safe in England." "You want your profits!" "You give nothing for a man who lost his life or a boy beaten by the lunatic!" "Kirkwood will come to no harm in our hands." "In a day or two when we're fit, we'll put him over the side." "Captain Kirkwood's free to go now." "Will you wager your life and his on that?" "You make one attempt at ship arrest and you'll both go over the side with throats cut." "Now we know there'll be no justice, we're desperate men." "You're desperate, Carby." "Not the others." "What mean you by that?" "Ten weeks ago when I chartered this ship, Captain Kirkwood hired you as mate." " I saw your papers." " Well?" " You once assaulted a captain." " Aye, that is true." "You are nothing but a vicious mutineer." "Talk to me like that again, Onedin, and I'll have your tongue out on deck." " You sent for me, Captain?" " Come in, Loog." "Sit down, boy, I've some questions for you." "They tell me that I beat you." "Is that true?" "You did, Captain, with your stick." "Why?" "Can you remember?" "There was no reason, Captain, you just beat me." "I do not think that I believe you." " What age have you?" " 17, Captain." " 17 years and you are going to hang." " I think not, sir." "We must all make that journey, the passage home." "It's the journey back that matters." "I do not understand, sir." "200 score years ago, the great navigators " "Da Gama, Magellan - a Portugais and Espagnola - the men who charted the coastlines, they sought out the hidden corners of the world." "Do you know why they made that journey, boy?" "I'll tell you - they did not think the passage out important but the journey home, that was when they drew their contours and learnt their soul's identity." "The maps they drew were of themselves and of man's failing against the elements of sin and storm!" "Oh, I've had my way revealed to me as in a dream." "I've..." "I've failed my god." "But I must be brave." "Death beckons." "And it is this ship, boy, and I am the captain." "We will all die - you, I and every soul on this benighted craft!" "Well, go now and prepare yourself with grace!" "Right." "Your names." "Your name." "Yes, you." "I'm Evans." "From Ffestiniog." "Lovely place." "I look forward to never seeing it again." " Your name?" " Castle." " My mates call me Johnno." " Hm." " And which of you is married?" " That's a very delicate question, sir." "I've got many intimate acquaintances but I don't wanna..." "Shut up!" "I'll be the prosecution witness at your trial." "I shall report this conversation." "I'll ask you again - which of you is married?" " Mattock was married." " Who's married?" "The young lad that was killed by Kirkwood." "When Kirkwood sent him aloft in a force nine." "It was murder." "Kirkwood knew the boy hadn't the strength of Castle here." "Yes." "A wife and two small boys without a father now because Kirkwood murdered him." "I'll ask you again." "Which of you is married?" "You, Castle?" " Aye." " You, Evans?" " Aye." " Have you any children?" "One, Cap'n." "Now, do you want to see your wife and child again?" "Well, of course." "You, Evans?" "I do." "And I will." "Then I've been misinformed by Mr Carby." "He says you want to jump ship, that you'll take foreign charter, that you won't go back to England, that you have no wish to see your wives and children again." "Of course we'll see them again!" "Wait ten years before you set foot in England, you'll still be put in jail." "And you must go back for the sake of your women and children." "Now, why do you not go back home now and argue the case?" "Because we're condemned, we stand no chance, it's jail for us." "If you take this ship home safely you'll have a better chance, a fair hearing and my evidence that you sailed this ship home as a disciplined crew." "Think about it." " Your name?" " Vandoorne." "I wish to see the cargo." "Help me open the hold." "Well, merchant... how are your wares?" "If this cargo's back in London in five days, all will be well." "If not, the court'll hear not only of mutiny but of deliberate spoiling of cargo." "We don't care about your cargo, Onedin." "Take my advice - if you want it, eat it." "Now!" "Now!" "Come on, now." "You've had enough now, lad." " Nay, come on!" " No, you've had enough." " Lay off, Mr Fogarty..." " Watch where you're going!" "Lay off!" "Mr Fogarty, we heard your ship had docked." "Did we not, Elizabeth?" "Yes, we did." "So another drink, Mr Frogarty?" "You must excuse my mate, Mr Speers." "It's his birthday." "Best call a cab and take him home." "Yes, well, if...if you don't mind my rushing off." "Not before you take a peep at our son." "Yes." "I should like to see him." "Not too close, though." "It's easily frightened." "Aye, it's a fine boy." " Well, I must get him home." "Daniel, I wasn't expecting you." "I had to come." " I wanted to apologise." " For what?" "F-For rushing away so abruptly when we met in the market." "Did you manage to get your mate home?" "No.No." "He would not allow me." "He said his wife would give him merry hell, birthday or no, so I tucked him away in his cabin." "I was looking at Mr Frazer's steamship." "The Gold Nugget." "Albert keeps hoping for someone to commission him to design her but he's had no luck so far." "They all say she's too costly to build." "I've not much time for steamships but I must admit she does look beautiful there." " What name did you give him?" " William." "How you must hate me, Daniel." "Yes, I did, for a time." "When I heard you'd married Frazer I could have..." "Your brother James, if he'd not interfered, let us be and allowed us to manage our own affairs..." "I'm to blame, not you." "I should've done as Frazer did and married you!" "You're not to blame, Daniel, nor me brother James." "It was I that refused to marry you." "I loved you, Daniel, but I wanted the life that Albert could give me and that you could not." "Have you not told him?" "I tried but I wasn't brave enough." " Does he suspect?" " Why should he?" " Will you tell him ever?" " I don't know, I..." "He believes the child to be his own." "How can I tell him when he's been so good to me?" " It's too much to ask of me." " That's not why I came here." "Why did you come?" "No reason." "That is, for no other reason than to...to see you." "And to talk to you." "I understand how you felt." "A seaman's wife, that's no life for a lady." "Well, I must go." "I have to take on a crew, we sail on the evening tide." " You're still on the Baltic run?" " Yes, the Baltic timber trade." "Goodbye, Elizabeth." "Goodbye, Daniel." "Would you consider it improper if I wrote to you and maybe you wrote some news of William?" "I think it better not." "I've studied the log, I've questioned the crew." "And you are satisfied?" "Satisfied that the captain's word is always the truth." "Good." "Then I have decided we shall have ship arrest." " What?" " I want these men arrested." " What, here in France?" " Yes." "You may be the owner of a perishable cargo but I am concerned with justice, not money." "These men will be arrested here in Brest." "I must disagree." "As the charterer of the ship and fellow captain," "I must request you take this ship and crew back to England." "This band of cut-throats will not sail to England." "Given time, I'll convince them of the right course." "I will sail in no ship commanding a mutinous crew." "Well, then, with your permission, I'll command her." "Yes?" "We will speak with you, Captain Onedin." "Bellyachers!" "You'll lament for it in Kirkdale jail!" "You don't have a chance in hell of less than six years each." "I want to see my wife and child again." " Then bring them abroad." " No way, she won't go foreign." " You fools!" "We've had a meeting of minds, Mr Onedin." "The ship goes back to London and you can give these men their mock trial." "Near Dover I will take the tender, make my own landfall and take my chances." "Merchant, you've saved your pineapples." "We'll take the ship to London but we'll take no commands from Captain Kirkwood." "You'll take commands from me!" "On deck, sharp!" "Ready to weigh the anchor!" "Away!" "All sail, Mr Mate." "Sou'wester outside." "She'll go like a scalded cat." "Will you take some advice from me, sir?" "What is it, Mr Carby?" "Take off the outer jib, makes more speed if she's not head-weighted." " Set about it, then." " Take in the outer jib!" "Aye aye, sir!" "Thank you, Mr Carby." "There are other things you should know about this ship." "Meaning?" "Come with me, I'll show you." "Five days ago I found this." "Slashed." "All spare sails." "Mainsail, topsail, staysails." "Cut from top to bottom, all ruined beyond repair." " Who would do this, Mr Carby?" " You answer that, Captain." "This was 18 days ago." "I came in here, found these open and rum poured on the biscuits." "That could've been the cook-steward." "He said he knew naught and he's an honest man." "The salt beef open and unwrapped and rum poured on the sugar." "That was before all the rum disappeared." "And then four days ago a fire in the afterpeak." "What are your suspicions, Mr Carby?" "Someone's trying to destroy this ship." "But I'll not say who or you'll call me a liar." "Hm." " In for a gale, Cap'n." " Aye." "You want to run before it?" "She responds well." "No, we'll ride it out." "We'll arrive in London with three masts." "Reef the mainsail and check the cargo." " Cargo checked." " Check it again." "We're narrow in the beam, no room for ballast shifting." "Aye, Cap'n." "Tell the cook to keep hot food on." "We'll all have to be up tonight." "Get for'ard!" " Brief mainsail." " Better than go before it." "Captain Onedin's orders." "Get it done!" "You!" "Up on deck!" " What's up?" " The wind's getting up." "For God's sake, hold her!" "Yes, Cap'n." " Bad news!" " What?" "We can't brief together." "We must." "This wind'll pull the masts out of her." "Some scouring has cut the clew lines." "The rest are knotted, there's nothing we can do about it." "What would you do, Mr Carby?" "You're captain!" "Set fore lower topsail, go with it." "She'll dismast for sure." "No, we can be ready to cut sheets if necessary." "It's worth the risk." "Well?" "Right, Mr Carby!" "We'll ride before it." "Hold her!" "All hands!" "Fore lower topsail!" " Also cut the flying jib." " She won't sail deadline!" "Do as I say!" "Aye aye, Captain!" "Ship's cargo - the sheets!" " Expect to lose 'em." " Aye aye, Cap'n!" " Fore lower topsail on." " Good." " Masting's strained but she'll hold." " Good." "I think we'll weather it." "You have quite a storm on you, Captain Onedin." "I've had worse." "Some devil's cut the clew lines and knotted others." "Who would do that?" "Have you no opinions yourself, Captain?" "What action will you take now, sir?" "I've set the topgallant and the main lower topsail." " What are we on the Beaufort scale?" " Force nine." "We should carry reef mainsail and lower staysails." "What else can I do?" "The topgallant's jammed!" "Well, then you're right." "Best to go before it, out of the storm's centre." "Take care you do not dismast, Onedin, or we'll all be doomed." " Tack ship, Mr Carby!" " What?" "We should wear ship, Captain Onedin." "Tack, Carby." "We're coming out of the centre." "You'd best be right, Captain." "Give the order!" "Tack ship!" "God help this day to end." "Captain Kirkwood, I...didn't hear you enter." "The storm has worsened." "I don't understand you, we're through the gale." "The storm in our minds, worsening." "You, me, the whole crew." "Our minds a turmoil of sin." "But I have prayed long for us and for our speedy end." "Resigned, are you?" "Resigned to what will happen?" " Are you ill?" " Not ill, no." "Destined." "And I'm finding that by turns strange and fearful." "To die, Onedin." "To face the great divide." "I'm not sure I deserve almighty God's hand on the crossing." "You have taken medicinal brandy?" " Sailor?" " You are drunk, sir." "How dare you?" "!" "I am sober, sir." "You will listen while I tell you why we will all die this day." "Listen, Onedin." "Six years ago, out of Dover I commanded the schooner Fay Belle." "Oh, God had given me a crew of evil, devil-venomed men." "In latitude 51, shortly after eight bells, 7th December 1858, these men, by subterfuge and evil sleight, drove my command upon the wreck, sinking her." "Four of them and myself survived." "Why are you telling me all this?" "I wish I had not survived." "At the court of inquiry I was found guilty, of course." "The devil's work makes good men guilty." "I was sentenced to 18 months' suspension." "This I did not know." "I've given my whole life to the sea." "When they said I was incompetent, it was... it was like striking me with a plague, to condemn me to a death, for I could not live with such a sentence." "Well, I must get on deck." "This crew is like them!" "A crew of cut-throats and madmen who steered the Fay Belle onto the wreck." "Oh, I will make these men pay for the Fay Belle and for my terminal humiliation." "I don't understand one word of what you are saying." "I am captain of this ship and it is my duty to inform you that this is my last voyage on earth." "None of these mutineers will survive me." "You are either mad, drunk or both." "Excuse me, I must get on deck." "You have heard my testament, Onedin." "My duty to you, sir, is over." "We'll take the pilot aboard soon, Cap'n." "Aye, Mr Carby." "Dover's a pretty place." "Aye." "I've wenched there." "Pretty girls." "Carby, if you're going to take to the boat, now's the time." "Aye." "Well?" "I think I've changed my thoughts on it." " Why?" " I trust you, Captain Onedin." "Well?" "I'll sail with you to London and arrest." "And pray God you'll say in court what you've seen on this ship." "I promise nothing, Carby." "I shall tell the truth as I saw it." "That's enough." "Here, Captain, here's the pilot." " What are you doing here?" " Leave go of my arm." " Then go ashore." " James, listen." "You'll get dragged through the courts for months!" "Listen to me." "You're low in the water!" "Captain Onedin." "You must know, sir, you're very low in the water." "I thought she'd been handling heavy." "James!" "What...?" "James, I must have words with..." "She must have sprung a plank in the storm." "Well, in God's name, sir, it's a miracle she kept afloat." "Mmm." "Now, tell me, Mr Pilot - can you navigate us like this to London?" "I can but try, sir." "It's better than beaching up." "All right, do so, then, please." "Aye, sir." "Put two men on the pumps." "They won't get the level down but they might stop it rising." "I merely interpret the obvious facts, James - you've soft-soaped those mutineers." " It could look bad in court." " What would you have done, eh?" "Incarcerated them in a French prison and then hired another crew, a crew bright enough to detect a sprung plank before we lose half our cargo." "In a French port you can't sign a crew in a day." "You should have let me come, James." "I would never have treated with that rabble and then we would never have lost our cargo." "If they're all as rotten as that..." "There goes our profits, and put us back into debt again." "As if we haven't got debts enough as it is!" "You've never told us why they mutinied." " Were they justified?" " Mutiny's never justified." "Gravesend." " The pilot, sir." " Come in." "Thank you." "My name is Parsons." "And I'm Captain Kirkwood." "You are aware of the situation?" "Captain Onedin has explained it." "Out." " Captain Onedin has a glib tongue." " But my dear sir..." "He was not witness to the mutinous events." " Sit down, please, Mr Pilot." " Thank you." "I wish to talk to you concerning two things." "First, how the word of Captain Onedin is unreliable." "And two, how the crew of this, my ship, is planning to murder me." " Murder you, sir?" "But..." " Please, listen to what I have to say." "It's not my business to give a verdict, that's up to the courts to decide." "But the mate has been in prison three times?" " Aye." "Once for assault of a captain." " That'll not go in his favour in court." "We're anchoring." "I'll fetch the peelers and the magistrates." "You deal with the cargo," "I'll deal with the magistrates once I've talked to Captain Kirkwood." " Well, come along, Robert!" " All right, all right." "Captain Kirkwood, may I see you on deck, please?" " Why didn't he tell me?" " What, James?" "Captain Kirkwood told the pilot that he overheard the crew saying they were gonna murder him and make it look like suicide." "Why in God's name didn't he tell me?" "Perhaps he thought he couldn't trust you." "I never said they were anything else but mutineers." " And murderers." " Aye, they're all murderers." "Screaming their innocence when the peelers took 'em ashore." "Captain Kirkwood said they'd all hang." "A word with you, Captain Onedin." "Aye, what is it, Mr Parsons?" "They've pumped the water level down, sir." "There's something you ought to see." "It's just over here, sir." "Now, that's not storm damage, sir." "It happened during the storm when we were all on deck." "It could only have been Captain Kirkwood." "But a man wouldn't sink his own ship and crew, it'd be madness." "A man mad enough to hang himself and make it look like murder?" "Well, there's one piece of good news " "I've made a record price for those pineapples." "What are you both looking for?" "James!" "Here." "It's an auger." "What's it doing there?" "Helping to hang an innocent crew." "Yes, it is from your brother Robert." "Is there any news of the crew?" "Patience, me love, give me time to read." "Well, are the men guilty or no?" "James is, er, appearing as witness." "Enjoying the performance but begrudging the time spent in idle talk." "Oh, yes." "Time is money." "But he seems confident that he will see the men freed." " Come in." "Captain Onedin, I wish to thank you." "We've just been released from Brixton." "You saved my life, and the crew's." "We would have hanged." "Glad you've come, Carby, I wanted a word." "Yes, Captain." "You had one clear duty on this voyage and that was to be to be mate of this ship." "You should have made sure to get to London as fast as possible but you didn't, you mutinied." "Did we not have good reason to mutiny?" "Ah, you're a fool, Carby." "Can't you see, if you'd not mutinied, the captain would've had no excuse for his action, which depended on appearing to be murdered by a crew in mutiny." "Ah, well." "The courts have let you free." "Don't ever let me see your face on one of my ships again." "Yes, Captain."