‘Do they mean to wreck the ship?’ said I. ‘Are they men or beasts? Listen to them!’ ‘They’re beasts! Don’t I know! But why do they shout and roar? After the long discipline of silence, I could roar myself. It has made a devil of me.’ ‘What you are, I am,’ said I. He shook his head passionately, and said: ‘My business will be to get out of this ship with you quickly. They trust me, and their trust will be my opportunity. How long should I keep you in this ship of demons? There’s Bates and there’s young Johnstone. I have a scheme. The three of us are sailors.’ ‘Are the convicts without any chiefs, without any head they are willing to own? If there’s no discipline, what must happen? They’ll get at the liquor; they’ll eat and waste the provisions; they’ll knock the ship to pieces and sink her. Is that the wretches’ idea of liberty?’ ‘There are heads; Abram’s one. There are others I needn’t name. I’m supposed to be one, as taking charge of the ship. They’ll fall into some sort of order by-and-by. Many of them are not wholly beasts, and they’ll understand for their lives’ sake what’s wanted and what must be done. Marian, I had no hand in this business. They asked me if I’d navigate the ship if the prisoners seized her. I said yes, and that that would be my share in the outbreak. I’d do no more; I’d have no man’s blood upon my head. If they seized the ship, good and well; I’d navigate her to any agreed part of the world. Understand me, Marian, I am accountable for no life that has been lost to-day. What is that bundle?’ I explained. ‘The clothes may prove useful,’ said he. He pointed to the convict’s mattress on deck and said, ‘Has that been your bed?’ ‘Yes, dear.’ He tossed his hands and looked at me with a face of sorrow and love, then put the parcel into my bunk and the mattress on top of it. ‘They’ll give me the captain’s cabin,’ said he, ‘and you must be near me. I couldn’t rest to think of you sleeping down here. The men’ll be filling these cabins; they’ll sleep in bowlines over the side sooner than occupy the prisoners’ quarters, though many of them’ll have to live down there all the same. Come with me on deck. I must see what’s doing.’ ‘Be careful how you address me, Tom. I must be thought a boy whilst I am in this ship.’ We went out, and he locked the door after him and gave me the key. He shouted to the convicts, some of whom seemed to be dancing, others playing at leap-frog, whilst others again ran in and out of the pantry and cabins hallooing like madmen: ‘Let no man enter that berth! My friend occupies it, and that’s enough!’ He then passed his arm through mine, and we walked to the steps of the hatch that led into the cuddy.