Dennis Wheatley - Black August

At the sergeant's order there was a quick shuffling among the tables; the soldiers, almost to a man, came smartly to their feet, many of the sailors followed slower to take up the word but obviously still respectful of authority. Yet at several tables there were little knots of men who remained seated, looking guiltily away from the General for the most part, but with anxious faces half frightened and half sullen. The ringleaders at the far end of the Mess Deck remained seated to a man.

For a moment, only the sound of the sea, the pulsing engines and an occasional clang on the steel deck broke the stillness. In his left hand Sallust held a lighted cigarette, and he puffed at it slowly while sizing up the situation. Then in a quiet, level voice he spoke:

'Why are you men not turned in?'

A giant of a man who sat in the centre of the far group sprang to his feet; Gregory guessed him to be Stoker Crowder.

'What's it to do with you?' the big man thundered, 'you're not our officer!' A mutter of approval untraceable to any individual, but clearly perceptible, ran round the deck.

"What have you done with our Bloke?' shrilled a small, ferret faced man who was sat beside the stoker.

'Leading Seaman Nobes,' thought Gregory, and his guess was confirmed when Chief Petty Officer Wilkins stepped out from behind him:

'That's enough of that, Nobes,' said the P.O. heatedly. 'We're now on a special mission an' the General 'ere 'as explained everything to the Commander so it ain't for the likes of you to start gettin' uppish!'

Absolute silence greeted the Chief Petty Officer's words, and Gregory added sharply: 'You hear that men? At the moment, I am in a position to give orders here and I mean to stand no nonsense.'

The men at the nearer tables shuffled awkwardly and looked at their boots. This quiet Army Officer was obviously not to be trifled with, but Nobes had a reputation to maintain.

' 'Ear that?' he shrilled: 'oo's this blinking soldier to order us abart, eh?'

The sailors muttered, looking angrily at their erstwhile companions in khaki.

'Look at 'im!' screamed Nobes; 'in 'is brass 'at 'e's the sort wot grinds the faces of the poor! Wot did I tell yer abart my cousin in the army tied 'im to a gun wheel they did jus' cause 'e overstied is leave w'en 'is old woman was 'aving a kid.'

'That,' rapped out Gregory, 'is a lie. Field Punishment No. 1 was abolished in 1915. Come here, you or do I come and fetch you?'

For a moment Leading Seaman Nobes shrank back, behind his large companion; then feeling so many eyes riveted upon him, came slouching out towards Sallust, a leer upon his face, a half burnt cigarette dangling from his lip.

'Leading Seaman Nobes?' questioned Gregory smoothly.

'That's me,' the ferret faced man nodded.

'You were under arrest until this evening. No order has been given for your release.'

Nobes shook his head, and blowing through his cigarette with a smirk, puffed the ash off on to the deck.

'You will surrender yourself at once to the Chief Petty Officer, said Gregory. 'Quick march!'

The sailor did not move an inch. He only grinned a little sideways at the crowded tables, half closing his eye in the suggestion of a wink. A distinct titter showed the general appreciation of his humour.

'You refuse to obey me?' Sallust snapped out the words.

Nobes nodded with silent insolence.

'All right.' Gregory's tone was silky now: 'You realise that the country is in a state of war, and that for the maintenance of general discipline it is my duty to make an example of you?'

Ark at 'im!' said Leading Seaman Nobes: 'just 'ark at 'im!'

Gregory's left hand still held the cigarette. He smiled faintly, almost as though appreciating the humour of the crowd at the amazing wittiness of Leading Seaman Nobes. His right hand closed upon the butt of his automatic; in a flash he had advanced into the centre of the compartment within a yard of Nobes, and in the same instant the weapon was levelled at the Leading Seaman's head.

Arty Nobes was twenty nine years of age. He had light brown hair and rather pale blue eyes; his mouth was large with mobile lips, which may be taken as a sign of generosity or of looseness of character the two very often go together. His nose was short and freckled, his hands better cared for than those of the majority of his shipmates.

Early in life Arty had associated himself with those discontented elements in his home port whose avowed objective was the downfall of what they termed 'the bloody capitalist.' He was married to a very decent woman a year or two older than himself who was a good hand at cooking him a dish of steak and onions; she secretly kept a scrap book of those photographs which appeared in the daily press chronicling the many activities of the Royal Family. She had often told him with a cheerful unbelief that sooner or later his political opinions would land him in jug. He also contributed small regular sums towards the rent of a small, plump breasted young woman who occupied a room in the back streets of Harwich. He had one daughter aged five, and was a teetotaller.

As the flash came, the upper half of Arty's cranium lifted like the lid of a box. The human head is apt to react that way if the frontal bones are struck in a certain spot by a bullet fired at close range.

Arty pitched forward, and Sallust stepped back. The comparatively small amount of grey "matter which had constituted the brain of Leading Seaman Nobes, spilled upon the spotless deck.

14

Mutiny at Sea

The smoke drifted away from the barrel of the automatic in a little eddy. The report in that confined space had been so shattering that the silence which succeeded it was almost frightening. Only the sound of the water swishing past the scuttles and the rumble of the engines continued unabated. Then Gregory spoke:

'This man has died, not through his folly alone, but largely through your encouragement. Every man of you here is partially responsible. See to it then, that, by encouraging others, you do not compel me to make further examples. Sergeant!'

'Yes, sir.'

'Order your men to their quarters.'

'Fall in,' bellowed the sergeant and the troops quickly separated themselves from among the sailors. Even the red faced Brisket and Saunders of the protruding teeth, who were among Stoker Crowder's group, suppressed' their sullen looks and stepped hurriedly into place.

'Party, 'Shun! Right turn up the 'atch. Quick March!' Most of the soldiers were little more than boys and few had ever seen a man killed before. With white scared faces they filed past Gregory to the upper deck,

'Chief Petty Officer!'

'Yes, sir.'

'Have this cleared up.' Gregory nodded toward the body of Arty Nobes, and stood there grimly silent, while the remains of the leading seaman were carried away and the deck swabbed down. He then addressed the sailors.

'Now, men, wherever this ship may go, one thing is certain, it must finally return to a naval port. If you continue with your duties satisfactorily until then, I will recommend to your Commander that in view of the very terrible example which I have been compelled to make, he should take no further action against any of you. If you make further trouble, however, bear in mind that your court martial and punishment are inevitable.'

As he turned on his heel, the C.P.O. called the sailors to attention again, and after a last stern glance round Gregory left the compartment.

He had no regrets about the swift action which had so suddenly terminated the existence of Arty Nobes. The fact that he had no right to issue orders to anybody, or to the uniform he wore, hardly occurred to him. He was living for the time being in the part which he had created for himself, and he knew that although many people in his situation might have shirked such a terrible responsibility and endeavoured to restore order by half measures, the result would almost certainly have been failure. At least he had put an effective stop to the threatened outbreak, but as he breathed in the sharp salt laden air of the upper deck again, he wondered grimly for how long.