though he did not really know. "But who is at the head?"

"Why, as bold a man as can be--Richard Parker, an Irishman. He was once
a junior naval officer, and left the navy and went into business; now he
is a quotaman, and leads the mutiny. Let me tell you that unless there's
a good round answer to what we demand, the Nore fleet'll have it out
with the government. He's a man of character, is Richard Parker, and the
fleet'll stand by him."

"How long has he been at it?" asked Dyck.

"Oh, weeks and weeks! It doesn't all come at once, the grip of the
thing. It began at Spithead, and it worked right there; and now it's
workin' at the Nore, and it'll work and work until there isn't a ship
and there isn't a man that won't be behind the Delegates. Look. Half the
seamen on this ship have tasted the inside of a jail; and the rest come
from the press-gang, and what's left are just the ragged ends of street
corners. But"--and here the man drew himself up with a flush--"but
there's none of us that wouldn't fight to the last gasp of breath for
the navy that since the days of Elizabeth has sailed at the head of all
the world. Don't think we mean harm to the fleet. We mean to do it good.
All we want is that its masters shall remember we're human flesh and
blood; that we're as much entitled to good food and drink on sea as on
land; and that, if we risk our lives and shed our blood, we ought to
have some share in the spoils. We're a great country and we're a great
people, but, by God, we're not good to our own! Look at them there."

He turned and waved a hand to the bowels of the ship where sailors
traded with the slop-sellers, or chaffered with women, or sat in groups
and sang, or played rough games which had no vital meaning; while here
and there in groups, with hands gesticulating, some fanatics declared
their principles. And the principles of every man in the Nore fleet so
far were embraced in the four words--wages, food, drink, prize-money.

Presently Ferens stopped short. "Listen!" he said.

There was a cry from the ship's side not far away, and then came little
bursts of cheering.

"By Heaven, it's the Delegates comin' here!" he said. He held up a
warning palm, as though commanding silence, while he listened intently.
"Yes, it's the Delegates. Now look at that crowd of seamen!" He swung
his hand towards the bowels of the ship. Scores of men were springing to
their feet. Presently there came a great shouting and cheers, and t