CHAPTER XXIV
A STORMY INTERVIEW WITH ALI-NOURY PACHA
The boat of the Pacha was an elegant barge pulled by eight oarsmen, all dressed in Oriental costume. His Highness sat in the stern-sheets on velvet cushions. As the Maud lay alongside the Guardian-Mother's gangway, the coxswain, whose place was abaft the back-board, steered directly for the little steamer. Her gangway was nothing but half a dozen steps, hooked upon the rail, and could be shifted to any part of the vessel. The barge ran alongside, and the bowman fastened to it with a boat-hook.
"No one allowed on board," said Mr. Boulong, who had stationed himself at the gangway with four stout seamen near him.
"I wish to go on board of the steamer at your side, the Guardian-Mother," said the Pacha.
"No one is allowed on board of her, sir," answered the first officer.
"But I wish to see her commander," persisted Ali-Noury.
"He declines to receive you, sir," added Mr. Boulong.
"Declines to receive me!" exclaimed the Pacha. "This is an insult!"
"I don't know what it is; but I obey my orders, sir," returned the officer.
"But I must see him!" protested the owner of the Fatimé, as he laid his hand upon the steps, as though he intended to ascend them to the deck.
"Knott and Williams," called Mr. Boulong; and the two men presented themselves on the instant.
"Haul in the gangway!" said the officer sharply.
The Pacha held on at the steps; but the men, who were good seamen, obeyed their orders to the letter, and in a moment more His Highness was hanging to them over the deep water.
"The Pacha held on at the steps."
"The Pacha held on at the steps."
"The Pacha held on at the steps."
"Shake him off!" said Mr. Boulong in a low tone.
The seamen continued to haul in the gangway, shaking it vigorously as they did so. Knott had an idea of his own; and when they had drawn the steps nearly up, he let them slide back with a jerk, Pacha and all, till the Moor was wrenched from his hold, and thrown back into the barge, all in a heap, in the stern-sheets.
"Very well done, Knott!" exclaimed the first officer.
The coxswain of the boat hastened to pick up his master, and place him on the cushioned seat. Of course he was as wrathy as a respectable Mohammedan could be, to say nothing of such a one as Noury was.
"What do you mean, you rascal?" demanded His Highness, glowering at the first officer as though he would subject him to the bowstring if he could get hold of him. "Do you intend to drown me?"
"I do not, sir; but if you attempt to come on board of this steamer, you, and not I, will be responsible for the consequences," replied Mr. Boulong.
"But I told you I wished to see the commander of the Guardian-Mother," stormed the Pacha.
"And I told you that he declined to receive you."
"May I ask why he declines to receive me?" demanded Noury.
"That is the commander's business, and not mine."
"But I must and will see him!" His Highness persisted.
"I can only say, sir, that if you succeed in getting on the deck of this steamer, it will be my duty to have you thrown overboard, or into your barge, as the case may be," answered Mr. Boulong.
Captain Ringgold had placed himself on his knees on the divan, with his head at the after window of the cabin. He realized that Noury was in earnest, and he considered it rather mean to require the first officer to fight his battle for him. He came out of the cabin, and placed himself at the side of Mr. Boulong.
"Good-evening, Captain Ringgold," said the Pacha as soon as he saw him.
"Good-evening, sir," replied the commander coldly. "If you have any business with me, I will hear it from where you are."
"I desire to go on board of the Guardian-Mother;" and Noury seemed to have an excellent memory, for he remembered all the names.
"I cannot permit you to do so. I decline to receive you on board of my ship, or anywhere else," replied the captain firmly.
"That is an insult, sir!" protested the Moor.
"It is not intended as such, but is simply the plain statement of my position in regard to you."
"What is your position?" demanded the Pacha furiously.
"Simply that I decline to associate with you, and the ladies and gentlemen on board of the Guardian-Mother occupy the same position. In other words, they refuse to associate with you, or to receive you."
"This is very extraordinary!" gasped the Moor.
"I do not so regard it."
"Does the young lady, Miss Blanche, refuse to see me?" asked the Pacha in a more moderate tone.
"Most decidedly; and her mother declines to permit her to see you."
"It is very strange," said Noury with a savage frown on his handsome face. "I thought the young lady was pleased with me."
"You were never more mistaken in your life."
"Will you inform me why you refuse to receive me, Captain Ringgold?"
"I do not wish to offend Your Highness; but I must speak the truth if I speak at all."
"Speak out, by all means, Captain."
"As you insist, I will do so. Your reputation among the respectable people of Funchal, where you go occasionally in your steamer, is so bad, so black, that I should not be justified in introducing you to any true lady," replied the commander boldly and resolutely, hoping this plain statement would put an end to the attempts of the Moor to force himself into the presence of his cabin party.
"This is an unmitigated insult, and I hold you responsible for it, Captain Ringgold!" roared the Pacha, loud enough to be heard on board of the Guardian-Mother. "A friend of mine will wait upon you to-morrow, sir!"
"In advance I decline to receive either you or any friend of yours. I think it is time to terminate this interview."
"You are a coward, sir!"
"I have nothing more to say."
"But I have. You have interfered with my affairs. You have on board of your steamer a young fellow who ran away from my service," continued Noury more calmly as he came down to business. "His name is Scott."
"Scott is my apprentice, bound to me by his father in writing: and when he was seen in Funchal, he was taken and brought back."
"Very well; let that pass. This little steamer was stolen from me by the engineer I employed."
"But she was restored to you, made fast to the Fatimé at this mole," replied the captain. "You took possession of her again, and then sold her to a man by the name of Giles Chickworth."
"I claim the boat as my property," the Pacha insisted.
"You sold her to Chickworth, and I bought her of him."
"It was not a legal sale."
"I beg your pardon, it was; for I have the bill of sale you gave him, signed by you, and with your flourish," argued the commander, taking the paper from his pocket and unfolding it.
He held it up so that the Moor could see his signature. He seemed to be confounded, and had certainly been beaten on every point he had attempted to make. But he was evidently far from satisfied with the result of the conference. He declared that he should cause the arrest of Scott for stealing the suit of clothes he had loaned him; and if he could find the young Spaniard who had stolen his steamer, he would have him arrested also, and have them both sent to Mogadore for trial and punishment.
"You have grossly insulted me, Captain Ringgold; and you have refused to give me the satisfaction which one gentleman has the right to demand of another," stormed the Pacha, apparently as a parting shot.
"I am not a duellist; and if I were, I do not regard you as a gentleman any more than do the people of Funchal, and I should not feel obliged to accept your challenge," replied the commander very quietly.
"Another insult! If I find you in the streets of Gibraltar, I will castigate you as an infidel cur!" foamed the Moor.
"If you assault me, I am able to defend myself, and I shall do so," replied the captain as the barge shoved off.
"Do you suppose he will arrest Scott and Felipe, Captain?" asked Louis, as he jumped down from the promenade deck, not a little disturbed at the apparent peril of his friends.
"He can certainly cause their arrest, and make a great deal of trouble; but it will amount to nothing in the end, unless the law is such that he can extradite them, and send them into Morocco, as he threatens to do. I don't intend to permit him to do anything of the sort," replied the commander so quietly that Louis was satisfied he knew what he was about.
By this time it was quite dark, and the Pacha's boat disappeared in the gloom. Mr. Boulong was called, and directed to have the bunkers of the Maud filled with coal as soon as possible. Two men were stationed on the little steamer as an anchor watch, with orders to allow no person to come on board of her. John Donald was called up from the forecastle, and directed to the cabin, which Knott had been ordered to light.
Donald presented himself before the commander, and he looked like another person. He was clean, and the clothes of Louis fitted him perfectly. He had the appearance of an intelligent person, as the captain had before regarded him.
"Do you speak Spanish, Donald?" asked the commander.
"I do, sir; for I have been the fourth engineer of a Spanish steamer where I was obliged to use it; but I studied it at home with my father, who talked in four languages besides his own," replied the oiler. "I can speak Arabic, for I expected to get a position on an Egyptian steamer."
"Very good. Are you satisfied with the quarters where you dressed yourself?"
"Perfectly, sir."
"Are you ready to go to work at once?"
"Quite ready, sir."
The same wages that Felipe was to receive was offered to him, and he was satisfied with the pay. Louis wondered what the commander was driving at, and what he wanted of another oiler, for he had already shipped one for the Guardian-Mother to take the place of the young Spaniard.
"I am going on board of the ship now, Sir Louis; but I wish to see the whole of your ship's company, as you please to call yourselves, in half an hour, in this cabin," said Captain Ringgold, as he rose to leave. "Introduce Donald to Felipe, for they will have occasion to know each other before morning."
Louis took the new employee to the engine-room, and presented him to the engineer in Spanish; and he left them talking the language with all their might. He went on board of the ship, and summoned the other three of the big four to the conference in the cabin of the Maud, assuring them that "something was up," though he did not know what. The captain went to the chief steward, and an hour or two later several boxes, baskets, and kegs were put on board of the little steamer.
At the time appointed the commander found the big four in the cabin of the Maud. Felipe and Donald were sent for, and all were seated around the table. Captain Ringgold looked more serious than usual. Of course they all knew that he had had an interview, and a stormy one, with the Pacha, and Felipe had been trembling for his own safety all the evening.
"The Pacha threatens to have Scott and Felipe arrested to-morrow; but I have decided that he shall find neither of them here," said the commander. "I shall send you all to sea to-night at twelve in the Maud. Do you think you can navigate her to Valetta, Malta, Captain Scott?"
"I know I can, sir," replied he, delighted with the thought.
"Compelled by circumstances to change my plans, we shall spend the rest of the summer cruising in the Orient," added the captain.