Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (1958 page)

(
Gives a paper to
STEVENTON,
who retires to the back of the Hut, rouses a Sailor, and equips him for going out.
)

Cray.
Frank! Frank Aldersley!

Frank
(
rising from his bed-place
). Yes!

Cray.
One of the officers’ chests has a backgammon-board and dice in it, just before we abandoned the Sea-Mew?

Frank.
It was my chest. I have got them still in my berth here. Shall I get them?

Cray.
I only want the dice and the box for casting lots.

(FRANK
gets the dice, and
STEVENTON,
having dismissed the Messenger, returns to the front.
)

Stev.
(
observing the dice-box, as
FRANK
gives it to
CRAYFORD). Dice! Are we going to gamble at the North Pole?

Cray.
No, no! (
To
FRANK.) I am afraid, Frank, you are hardly strong enough, after your illness, to make one of an exploring party.

Frank.
I am ready to venture. Any risk is better than pining and perishing here.

(
Exit into the inner Hut.
)

Stev.
(
looking off, after
FRANK). He doesn’t think of danger; he thinks of nothing but getting back to his sweetheart. By the way, who does poor Denman’s duty now in the Wanderer’s hut?

Cray.
One of the best officers and one of the hardiest men in the Queen’s navy — Richard Wardour.

Stev.
Your liking for that man amazes me, Crayford.

Cray.
Remember that I have had peculiar opportunities of knowing him. I sailed from England with him in the Wanderer, and was only transferred to the Sea-Mew long after we were locked up in the ice. I was Richard Wardour’s companion on board ship for months, and I learnt there to do him justice.

Stev.
You can’t deny the violence of his temper?

Cray.
I don’t deny it.

Stev.
Or the sullenness of his disposition?

Cray.
Yes, I deny that. He is not naturally a sullen man. Under all his outward defects, there beats a great and generous heart. You are prejudiced against Richard Wardour, from not knowing enough of him.

Stev.
Then Frank is prejudiced too, for he agrees with me.

Cray.
And what opportunities has Frank had of judging? I have never seen him in Wardour’s society for five minutes together.

(
A hail outside — ”Sea-Mew ahoy!”
FRANK
re-enters.
CRAYFORD
and
STEVENTON
rise. The door is opened, and the Men and Officers of the Wanderer enter, headed by
CAPTAIN HELDING
and
RICHARD WARDOUR. RICHARD WARDOUR
has a gun with him. These two come down to the front, and greet the Officers of the Sea-Mew,
CAPTAIN HELDING
shaking hands cordially,
WARDOUR
nodding gruffly to
STEVENTON
and
FRANK,
and only shaking hands with
CRAYFORD.
The remainder of the Wanderer’s Men group themselves at the back.
)

Cray.
(
shaking hands with
CAPTAIN HELDING). Captain Helding, I am heartily glad to see you! Now, my men, the cask in the middle, here. (
Goes up with the Captain.
)

Ward.
(
standing between
STEVENTON
and
FRANK). What are we wanted here for?

Stev.
To consult, I suspect, on the best means of escaping this horrible place.

Ward.
You
may think it horrible —
I
like it.

Frank.
Like it! Good Heavens! why?

Ward.
(
seating himself in a corner
). Because there are no women here.

Frank
(
seating himself on a bench with
STEVENTON). Just as great a bear as ever!

Cray.
Brother-officers and men of the Wanderer and Sea-Mew, — The commander of this expedition, Captain Ebsworth, is, I grieve to say, too ill to rise from his bed and address you himself. He has, therefore, given me his directions, as his second in command, and I now have the honour of speaking to you in his place. Without recalling all the hardships we have suffered for the last three years — the loss first of one of our ships, then of the other, the death of some of our bravest and best companions, the vain battles we have been fighting with the ice and snow, and boundless desolation of these inhospitable regions — without dwelling on these things, it is my duty to remind you that this, the last place in which we have taken refuge, is far beyond the track of any previous expedition, and that consequently our chance of being discovered by any rescuing parties that may be sent to look for us is, to say the least of it, a chance of the most uncertain kind. You all agree with me, gentlemen, so far?

The Officers
(
with the exception of
WARDOUR,
who remains silent throughout the scene
). Yes! yes!

Cray.
It is, therefore urgently necessary that we should make another, and probably a last, effort to extricate ourselves. The winter is coming on, game is getting scarcer and scarcer, our stock of provisions is running low, and the sick — especially, I am sorry to hear, the sick in the Wanderer’s hut — are increasing in number day by day.

Capt. H.
Yes, I am sorry to say so.

Cray.
We must look to our own lives, and to the lives of those who are dependent on us, and we have no time to lose.

The Officers.
Right! right! No time to lose.

Cray.
The plan proposed is, that a detachment of the able-bodied officers and men among us should set forth this very day, and make another effort to reach the nearest Fur Settlements, from which help and provisions may be despatched to those who remain here. The new direction to be taken, and the various precautions to be adopted, are all drawn out ready; the only question now before us is, who is to stop here, and who is to undertake the journey?

The Officers.
Volunteers!

The Men.
Aye, aye, volunteers.

Capt. H.
(
at the same time
). Not volunteers. No! no!

Cray.
Wardour, do you say nothing?

Ward.
Nothing. Go, or stay — it’s all one to me.

Cray.
I am sorry to hear it. (
To the rest.
) Well, suppose we say volunteers — who volunteers to stay?

(
Dead silence. The Officers and Men look at each other confusedly.
)

Cray.
You see, we can’t settle it by volunteering. You all want to go. Every man among us, who has the use of his limbs, naturally wants to go. But what is to become of those who have
not
got the use of their limbs? Some of us must stay and take care of the sick.

The Officers.
True! true!

Cray.
So we get back again to the old question, who among the able-bodied is to go, and who is to stay? Captain Ebsworth says, and I say, let chance decide it.

Officers and Men.
Hear! hear! hear! Hurray!

Cray.
Here are the dice. The numbers run as high as twelve — double sixes. All who throw under six, stay; all who throw over six, go. Is that agreed?

The Officers.
Agreed! agreed!

Cray.
The people shall decide by throwing lots into a hat, if they prefer it. Here (
taking a packet from his pocket
) are a certain number of folded pieces of paper. Half have “Stay” written inside, and half “Go.” Men of the Wanderer and Sea-Mew both, which will you have, the hat or the dice?

The Men.
The hat!

Cray.
Very well. A hat there!

John West
(
comes forward from among the Men with a saucepan
). What do you say to this, sir?

Cray.
Not a hat among us without a hole in it, I suppose. Well! we must put up with the saucepan, and the cook shall hand it round. (
Turns the papers into the saucepan
). Shake it well!

John Want.
May I draw first, sir?

Cray.
The cook ought to stay by the kitchen.

John Want.
Not when he has nothing to put in his saucepan but paper, sir.

(
A general laugh.
)

Cray.
Well, well! I admit the plea. Draw, my men. The officers, in order of seniority, throw meanwhile. The captain of the Wanderer will throw first. Under six, “Stay.” Over six, “Go.” There is the box, Captain Helding. (
Hands the box to the Captain, and addresses one of the Officers.
) Take the slate, and mark down those who go, and those who stay.

(
The Men draw lots. The Officers throw dice, exclaiming at intervals, “Go!” and “Stay!”
)

Capt. H.
(
casting
). Seven!

Cray.
Go! I congratulate you, sir. Now for my own chance. (
Casts.
) Three! Stay! Ah, well! well, if I can do my duty, and be of use to others, what does it matter whether I go or stay? Wardour, you are next, in the absence of your first lieutenant. (WARDOUR
prepares to cast without shaking the dice.
) Shake the box, man! — give yourself a chance of luck!

Ward.
(
letting the dice fall out carelessly
). Not I! I’ve done with luck.

(
Goes back to his place without looking at the dice.
)

Cray.
Six! There! you have a second chance, in spite of yourself. You are neither under nor over — you throw again.

Ward.
Bah! It’s not worth the trouble of getting up for. Somebody else throw for me. (
Looking at
FRANK.) You! — you have got what the women call a lucky face.