Boon Island - Kenneth Roberts [63]
"It seems to me," Captain Dean said, "that this killing was justifiable."
"Bah!" my father cried. "Justifiable homicide: most dangerous thing in the world! What is justifiable homicide of a private nature? It's the defense against force of a man's person, house or goods. Ah! But how do you interpret the word 'justifiable'? Put all the judges in Britain in one room, and ask 'em to interpret a homicide you consider justifiable, and they'd argue for years! Take it to court, and
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Lord Itchpate, C.J., would press a bunch of flowers to his nose and mumble that we are certainly not prepared to suggest that necessity should in every case be a justification. And what, to the mind of a learned judge with his nose in a bouquet, is necessity, for God's sake? Not the same thing that it would be to Neal Butler, harried, horrified and frightened half out of his wits by the insane maulings of aa creature so frenzied that he impales himself upon a knife. No, no! I can hear Itchpate now!
" 'It is therefore our duty to declare that the prisoner's act in this case was willful murder, that the facts as stated are no legal justification of the homicide'and the honorable Court, in a hurry to down two dozen oysters and a bottle of port, would briskly proceed to pass sentence of death upon the prisoner! No, John: you do as I tell you! Get the Nottingham to sea with Swede and Neal and Miles aboard, and with no loss of time!"
Captain Dean nodded thoughtfully. "Why not? With Neal aboard, Swede will work twice as hard. It'll let me have decent company aft, in place of Langman. It gives me an excuse to send Langman forward with the men. Your idea's a good one, Charles. You won't make a fortune on the venture, but we ought to clear enough to take on a good load of salt codfish in America. It smells, but it's a sure seller in England or France."
"Well, now, look," my father said. "There's a lot to be done tonight." He laughed ruefully. "Doesn't it beat hell how much inconvenience and downright misery just one misguided bruteone betwattled male doxywho deserves nothing but to be officially and legally removed from this world, can cause by getting himself unofficially killed!
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"Anyway, go on back to the Nottingham, John. Go tonightnow! Take Neal with you. Stow him away in your own quarters where nobody'll see him. Keep him out of Langman's way until you're clear of the land. I hunted out Langman, hard at work at his fishmongering, and gave him a talking-to he'll never forget. I doubt that he knows which way is up, as the saying goes, but we can't take chances. He's Malice personified."
He put his hand on Neal's shoulder. "Are you hearing all this, Neal? We're doing this for your own good. Your father will agree."
Neal just stared at him.
"You go along with Captain Dean," my father said, "and try to forget everything that happened to you tonight, as well as everything we've said. Under Captain Dean you'll learn to be a marinera credit to your father and to all of us."
Captain Dean emptied his glass of claret and got to his feet.
"There's one more thing," my father said. "Swede hasn't boarded the Nottingham yet."
"He's signed on," Captain Dean said.
"I know," my father said, "but the hospital authorities don't know about it. I can notify 'em and make everything all legal sometime tomorrow afternoon; but we'll avoid any chance of delay by having Miles go to the hospital first thing in the morning."
To me he said, "The doors open at five o'clock. Find Swede and bring him to me. Tell him I'll arrange things with the hospital authorities after the ship has sailed. There'll be clothes for him here, and we should have him aboard the Nottingham by six o'clock."
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To Captain Dean he added, ''I'll send the money for the cheese and the butter