The captain went on reading.
And if any person shall utter any words of sedition or mutiny he shall suffer death
And if any officer, mariner, or soldier shall behave himself with contempt to his superior officer
Those words had a fuller meaning for Bush now, with Hornblower looking down at him; he felt a strange stirring within him. He looked at the captain, unkempt and seedy in his appearance, and went back in his memory through the events of the past few days; if ever a man had shown himself unfit for duty it was the captain, but he was maintained in his position of unlimited power by these Articles of War which he
was reading. Bush glanced up at Hornblower again; he felt that he knew for certain what Hornblower was thinking about as he stood there by the quarterdeck rail, and it was strange to feel this sympathy with the ungainly angular young lieutenant with whom he had had such little contact.
And if any officer, mariner, or soldier or other person in the fleetthe captain had reached the TwentySecond Article nowshall presume to quarrel with any of his superior officers, or shall disobey any lawful command, every such person shall suffer death.
Bush had not realised before how the Articles of War harped on this subject. He had served contentedly under discipline, and had always philosophically assured himself that injustice or mismanagement could be lived through. He could see now very special reasons why they should be. And as if to clinch the argument, the captain was now reading the final Article of War, the one which filled in every gap.
All other crimes committed by any person or persons in the fleet which are not mentioned in this Act
Bush remembered that article; by its aid an officer could accomplish the ruin of an inferior who was clever enough to escape being pinned down by any of the others.
The captain read the final solemn words and looked up from the page. The big nose turned like a gun being trained round as he looked at each officer in turn; his face with its unshaven cheeks bore an expression of coarse triumph. It was as if he had gained by this reading of the Articles reassurance regarding his fears. He inflated his chest; he seemed to rise on tiptoe to make his concluding speech.
Ill have you all know that these Articles apply to my officers as much as to anyone else.
Those were words which Bush could hardly believe he had heard. It was incredible that a captain could say such a thing in his crews hearing. If ever a speech was subversive of discipline it was this one. But the captain merely went on with routine.
Carry on, Mr. Buckland.
Aye aye, sir. Buckland took a pace forward in the grip of routine himself.
On hats!
Officers and men covered their heads now that the ceremonial was completed.
Division Officers, dismiss your divisions!
The musicians of the marine band had been waiting for this moment. The drum sergeant waved his baton and the drumsticks crashed down on the side drums in a long roll. Piercing and sweet the fifes joined inThe Irish Washerwoman, jerky and inspiriting. Smacksmacksmack; the marine soldiers brought their ordered muskets up to their shoulders. Whiting, the captain of marines, shouted the orders which sent the scarlet lines marching and counter-marching in the sunshine over the limited area of the quarterdeck.
The captain had been standing by watching this orderly progress of this ships routine. Now he raised his voice.
Mr. Buckland!
Sir!
The captain mounted a couple of steps of the quarterdeck ladder so that he might be clearly seen, and raised his voice so that as many as possible could hear his words.
Ropeyarn Sunday today.
Aye aye, sir.
And double rum for these good men.
Aye aye, sir.
Buckland did his best to keep the discontent out of his voice. Coming on top of the captains previous speech this was almost too much. A ropeyarn Sunday meant that the men would spend the rest of the day in idleness. Double rum in that case most certainly meant fights and quarrels among the men. Bush, coming aft along the maindeck, was well aware of the disorder that was spreading among the crew, pampered by their captain. It was impossible to maintain discipline when every adverse report made by the officers was ignored by the captain. Bad characters and idlers were going unpunished; the willing hands were beginning to sulk, while the unruly ones were growing openly restless. These good men, the captain had said. The men knew well enough how bad their record had been during the last week. If the captain called them good men after that, worse still could be expected next week. And besides all this the men most certainly knew about the captains treatment of his lieutenants, of the brutal reprimands dealt out to them, the savage punishments. Todays wardroom joint is tomorrows lowerdeck stew, said the proverb, meaning that whatever went on aft was soon being discussed in a garbled form forward; the men could not be expected to be obedient to officers whom they knew to be treated with contempt by the captain. Bush was worried as he mounted the quarterdeck.