Not One Shred of Decency

by Bob Brown

  Rogers said, “Excellent idea, we’ll nominate you to tell the captain that we want Spencer and Cromwell to move in with him. Or better yet, the captain can sit on the spar deck and the prisoners can take over his fine quarters.”

  Leecock said with a smile, “I withdraw my suggestion.”

  Everyone sat quietly for a minute, apparently each one trying to think of a reasonable suggestion to make.

  Finally Perry said, “I think the captain expects us to recommend severe punishment for one or all of the prisoners. Severe enough that it’ll convince the entire crew that any disobedience will not be tolerated.”

  Ganse said, “The letter implies to me that the captain wants us to invent confinement quarters that are secure and easy to guard. Perhaps something can be constructed on the spar deck.”

  Perry said, “I doubt if we have enough materials to build a secure brig on the spar deck.”

  Rogers said, “We might have enough material to build Pandora Boxes like they used on the Bounty.”

  Leecock said, “It’d take a hell of a box for Cromwell. Spencer’ll need a medium box and Small’ll use a tiny one  sorta like the three bears.”

  Rogers said, “One fart and Cromwell’ll blow that box to smithereens.”

  Perry asked, “How would Pandora Boxes be much different from the way they are now, sitting on the spar deck? Anyway, I expect we’ll be taking more prisoners very soon. We’d have Pandora Boxes all over. I think severe punishment would squash any more mutiny ideas.”

  Rogers shrugged his shoulders but offered no reply. Drowsiness was overtaking Hays, his head drooped at intervals and with effort he would jerk it back up and temporarily widen his eyes. Leecock’s eyes appeared glazed and he was obviously not absorbing much of the conversation.

  Ganse asked, “What do you mean by severe punishment, Perry? The crew has witnessed floggings ever since New York and now we’ve mutiny on our hands. I doubt if punishment is the answer.”

  Rogers said, “Let’s build some stockades and let the fools stand in ‘em until they pass out.”

  Perry appeared to be studying that idea. He rubbed his chin and said, “The idea has merit. To watch a man like Cromwell pass out in a stockade would make an impression on the crew, I think.”

  Ganse said, “The sight would be ghastly and inhuman, I fear. Let’s not lose sight of our task. We must insure safe passage for the Somers to New York. The prisoners will be properly tried and punished there.”

  Perry brought his clinched fists down on the table causing Ganse to stiffen and Hays to straighten up and look alert. “Ghastly! Inhuman! Their plan is to murder all the officers along with many of the crew and toss us to the sharks. Now that is ghastly and inhuman. These aren’t mischievous school boys  they’re murderous cutthroats. I say if we don’t stop ‘em now they’ll take the Somers and we’ll never see New York  or any other port.”

  Ganse frowned and for the first time began to take Perry seriously.

  Rogers said, “It wouldn’t bother me to see them all dead.”

  Hays said, “How about we keelhaul ‘em.”

  Ganse said, “I don’t like that, barnacles’ll on the hull ‘ll shred ‘em to ribbons and often as not they drown.”

  Perry said, “I wouldn’t lose a wink if they were shredded or drowned. Your bleeding heart for the prisoners is misplaced, Ganse. If I knew they’d be drowned, I’d be for it, but many times they survive. After they’d suffered their punishment, would you turn them loose? They’d be martyrs in the eyes of the crew. We’d be worse off than ever. I’m against it.”

  Muffled sounds of the ship’s bell could be heard. Perry stood up, firmly hit Hays shoulder with the back of his hand. “Let’s go, its our watch.”

  After a five minute break the meeting reconvened with Heiskill and Thompson taking Perry and Hays place. Ganse showed the letter to the two new members and briefly explained to them that so far they had considered constructing a brig or Pandora Boxes on the spar deck. He said, “Perry seems to favor some kind of strong punishment.”

  Heiskill asked, “What kind of punishment?”

  Ganse said, “Stockades and keelhauling were mentioned, but we never came to any conclusions.”

  Heiskill said, “Except for Spencer’s list, what evidence do we have against these men?”

  Rogers said, “Hell Heiskill, you can tell by lookin’ they’re guilty as sin.”

  Heiskill said, “Did Cromwell or Small have any list on them?”

  Ganse said, “I went through their ditty bags. Cromwell did not have any pencils, paper, books, or any written material. About the only possession he had was a nice jewelry box that his silver boatswain’s whistle came in. Anyway, I didn’t find anything incriminating in any of their gear.”

  Rogers said, “That shiny damn whistle is the only true love Cromwell ever had.”

  Heiskill said, “Hmm, I suppose they are guilty enough.”

  Ganse said, “Their guilt can be determined when they’re tried in New York. We have to find a way to keep them from causing any trouble until then.”

  Heiskill said, “Well, a brig sounds reasonable if we can prevent them from talking to any of the crew.”

  Thompson said, “We’ll have to keep that bastard Cromwell in irons even in the brig or he’ll explode out of anything we can build.”

  Ganse asked, “Is it the consensus of everyone that we recommend building a brig on the spar deck?”

  Rogers said, “A brig won’t satisfy Perry.”

  Ganse said, “It might if we can show that it’s secure.”

  Heiskill said, “We don’t know if we have enough materials on board to build a brig.”

  Rogers said, “We still would have to escort ‘em to the head.”

  Thompson said, “Hell, let’s build a brig that hangs out over the water and we could leave a hole in the bottom of it.”

  Rogers said, “Have you no pity for the poor fish that would die of fright when they looked up and saw Cromwell’s fat ass plugging the hole?”

  Thompson said, “Dead fish is better’n dead Thompson.”

  Ganse said, “Gentlemen, be serious. Heiskill and Thompson, I want you to draw a plan for a brig and inventory our supplies to see if we have sufficient materials for your plan. Can you get right on this?”

  Thompson said, “We can work until our next watch.”

  Ganse said, “You understand this is urgent. Now let’s break for mess. We can’t decide on building a brig until we know if it’s possible. We’ll meet back here as soon as Heiskill and Thompson have a plan.”

  Ganse climbed the ladder to the spar deck. He caught a quick glimpse of Mackenzie and wished then he had not gone on deck. He was rather proud of his brig idea but was not ready to tell Mackenzie about it until after Heiskill and Thompson had researched its possibilities. Unfortunately, Mackenzie was looking at him so Ganse felt obliged to go say something.

  Mackenzie asked, “Have you anything to report?”

  “We are studying the possibility of constructing a secure brig on the spar . . .”

  “Unacceptable, Ganse. I will not sail into New York harbor with a bird cage full of mutineers perched on the spar deck.”

  “Uh, well, sir. We are simply trying to find a way to secure the prisoners without having to guard them so close. And of course we must get them safely back to New York for trial.”

  “Oh, do we now? Their safe return is not my primary concern. Did Perry agree to this?”

  “Perry had to go on watch before we settled on this idea. He seemed to want them punished in some way.”

  “A tantalizing thought, Ganse. Reconvene the officers after you eat and come up with something more realistic. Don’t discount harsh measures. The welfare of the flag, the ship, and the crew must come before all else. Don’t allow the plight of the prisoners to weigh so heavy on your shoulders.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “And Ganse, I honor Perry’s judgment highly in such matters. He has a good head on
his shoulders.”

  “Yes sir.”

  Ganse felt tired, almost weak, as he descended the last step of the ladder to the wardroom. Heiskill was drawing a sketch and Thompson was explaining how he had seen his father build a carriage house once. Ganse said, “Hold up on the brig sketch. Captain Mackenzie isn’t very fond of that idea.”

  Heiskill said, “Actually I’m sure we don’t have enough materials anyway, Mr. Ganse.”

  Leecock and Rogers were now on watch and Perry and Hays rejoined the group. Each pair of officers guarding the prisoners were on watch for four hours and off watch for four hours. Besides eating and sleeping, they had their usual duties to take care of in their off hours. For example, Leecock was the ship’s doctor and Thompson was Water King in charge of rationing the fresh water.

  Ganse said, “We don’t have materials for a brig on the spar deck, and anyway the captain was not inclined to favor that idea.”

  Perry growled, “Foregone conclusion.”

  Ganse just looked at him and continued, “Does anyone have another suggestion?”

  Hays said, “I had an idea while on watch. Suppose we put the scoundrels in a small boat and tow them at the end of a long line. We’d give them enough provisions for several days at a time. That way we wouldn’t have to guard them. The only thing they could do is cut the rope, but they wouldn’t do that for it would leave them at the mercy of the sea.”

  Ganse said, “That sounds reasonable, of course we wouldn’t give them oars.”

  Perry said, “Poppycock.”

  Ganse said, “Do you see a defect in that idea Mr. Perry?”

  “In the first place, in becalmed waters they could float right up to the Somers. In the second place, on a dark night they could pull themselves in on the line and sneak on board the Somers. Then they’d cut our throats while we slept. In the third place, heavy seas could scuttle ‘em and we’d be deprived of inflicting the punishment they deserve. And lastly, Captain Mackenzie might put us in irons just for having such a silly idea.”

  Hays said, “If we ironed them to the boat they couldn’t climb on board.”

  Ganse said, “At least it would only take one person on the stern to make sure they behaved.”

  Perry said, “I repeat, poppycock.”

  “Mr. Perry, you’re quick to criticize our ideas but you haven’t offered any solutions to our dilemma yourself.”

  “Well I think I know what the captain would like for us to recommend.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Hang one or all from the yardarm.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Ganse stammered, “Did Captain Mackenzie tell you this?”

  Perry said, “No.”

  “Well I’m sure the captain isn’t ready for such drastic measures at this time.”

  Perry shrugged his shoulders and with open palms said with a sneer, “I think he is.”

  Looking miserable, Ganse paused for a moment, then in a subdued voice asked, “Does anyone else agree with this?” He silently polled each one by looking at them.

  Hieskill said, “I don’t know.”

  Thompson said, “It’s possible, I guess.”

  Hays said, “Maybe it could come to this.”

  Perry folded his arms and looked at Ganse with a self-satisfied look.

  Ganse said, “I think we are obligated to appraise other options.”

  Perry, suddenly became serious, “Face it Ganse, the officers are exhausted and we can’t trust anyone else to guard the prisoners. We won’t last like this. Meanwhile the crew is plotting  in a few days they’ll wear us down. We have to turn this thing around in a way that we’ll have the upper hand. Flogging won’t do it, stockades won’t do it, silly boats won’t do it  but hanging will.”

  Ganse rested his chin in his hands and studied the grain of the wood planks in the table. “We can hold on for four or five days and by then we’ll be in Saint Thomas. We’ll leave the prisoners there.”

  Perry said, “That’s a foreign country. We can’t leave them there.”

  “They’ll have a U. S. Embassy. We’ll leave them at the embassy.”

  “It’s just a small place. They won’t have a prison. I’ll bet they won’t accept ‘em.”

  There was a long pause while Ganse tried to think of another approach. “Maybe we could . . .” but he did not go on. He wanted desperately to think of something reasonable but no inspired ideas flashed in his mind.

  Thompson put his hand over his eyes, yawned and squeezed his head. “I just want it over with. If you’re not going to hang ‘em, then hang me. I can’t take much more of this.”

  Rogers said, “Won’t work, Thompson. We’d have to hang six of you to be worth one Cromwell.”

  “I could yell and kick like the devil . . .” His voice trailed off since the others were ignoring his attempts to inject a little humor into the meeting.

  Hays appeared to be deep in thought, trying to think of some new idea, or perhaps he was thinking about how Perry had scuttled his boat idea. They all fell still except for Perry’s fingers drumming on the table.

  After a few minutes Ganse said, “We aren’t set up for a court-martial. No one’s experienced in prosecution or defense . . .”

  “For God’s sake, Ganse, we’re at sea. The captain is supreme commander while we’re at sea. Out here he’s God. He doesn’t even need our recommendation. If he says hang ‘em, we hang ‘em. He wouldn’t conduct a court-martial at sea anyway. Wouldn’t need to. His word’s law.”

  Thompson said, “Then why don’t he hang the bastards and let us get some sleep.”

  Hieskill said, “Could it be that he just wants our endorsement?”

  Ganse said, “I don’t think he wants to hang them. Hanging is so  uh, final.”

  Perry said, “Yeah!”

  “What I mean is, there’s no turning back.”

  Perry said, “That’s the beauty of it. Once the boils are lanced, our problems are over. Let’s recommend hanging and see what the captain says. If he doesn’t want it, he’ll tell you so.”

  Ganse said, “I need to think this through.”

  Perry responded sarcastically, “You would.” He took a deep breath, sat erect, and after a few seconds, continued, “Ganse, I’m sorry I said that as I did. You may think that I arrived at my conclusion frivolously. Rest assured that I tried to consider only punishment appropriate for the crime. I also eliminated ideas I didn’t think the captain would consider. Hanging is the only thing that I think will restore order to this brigantine, and unless I have sadly misjudged the captain, I believe he thinks so too.”

  “I accept your explanation, Perry. It’s just that taking lives is so serious and I think we should try to recommend the least punishment that fits the crime  not the most. Of course for whatever we recommend, we must consider its effect on the crew.” Perry nodded to acknowledge he had heard him but Ganse doubted that his opinion had softened any. Perry began drumming his fingers again. Ganse had the urge to ask him to stop but it seemed trivial to make an issue of that. He felt at a loss as to where to lead the group now.

  Stuffy, humid air hung like death in the wardroom. Ganse was suddenly aware of a strange claustrophobic sensation that overwhelmed all his other thoughts. The low ceiling of the wardroom seemed to be sinking lower and lower  soon the beams would be resting on his shoulders. The heavy mustiness brought back an old memory of his boyhood. He was five and his mother quietly told him that his beloved grandfather had suddenly been called to heaven. She said that grandfather had found eternal peace and happiness and they should not want to bring him back to our world of sin and misery. Yet it did not seem real or possible that grandfather was really gone until he entered a hot stuffy chapel with sickly sweet flower odors and observed his grandfather’s chalky face as he lay in his coffin. He ran screaming from the chapel and did not stop until he was deep in the woods.

  Ganse’s head shuddered slightly and he suppressed his thoughts to return to the task at
hand. It had become more difficult than he first thought. He surveyed the group. Heiskill’s eyes drooped and he looked so sad. Thompson’s chin rested on his chest, his eyes were shut and he was breathing heavily, obviously not aware that he was even in the meeting. An artist could paint a portrait of Hays and label it “Perplexed.” Perry sat calmly and expressionless, his restless fingers drumming the death roll on the table. The meeting was sinking in a quagmire so he spontaneously blurted, “We need a short break.”

  Perry took one final grand tap with his fingers and began to stand up. The scraping of stools jarred Thompson awake. He shook his head and struggled to get up, not having the slightest idea what had been concluded, if anything, or why the meeting was breaking up.

  Ganse had thought several times that he should suggest that each man pray to God for guidance in this matter. He thought this again now, but as before, he suppressed it for fear he would feel embarrassed. He felt a tinge of guilt for remaining silent, but saying such things often flushed his cheeks and made sweat pop out on his brow. He watched forlornly as the men climbed the ladder to the spar deck.

  It seemed to Ganse that every time he came up on the spar deck, Mackenzie was waiting for him. Mackenzie surely had seen the men come on deck and wondered about the meeting breaking up.

  Mackenzie said, “You’ve been meeting all day, is it that hard?”

  “We do have some differences of opinion.” He wanted to leave it at that, but he knew Mackenzie expected more. He was not ready to mention the word “hanging.” He did not even want to hear the word coming out of his mouth. Searching for something to report, he continued, “Would you consider enduring the hardship of guarding the prisoners until we reach St. Thomas? We could then place them in the custody of the U. S. Embassy.”

  “No sir, as captain of a U. S. Navel vessel I will not relinquish my responsibility to a foreign country for applying justice to the men under my care.”

  “The embassy would be the same as being in the United States.”

  “Would not. Some local laws would prevail and justice might never be served.”