Caine Mutiny, The - Herman Wouk [60]
On the third day the formation moved in to shallow waters near a beach and swept some dummy mines. Not till Willie saw the yellow-painted horned iron balls bobbing on the foamy blue waves did he truly realize that the fantastic rig of cables and paravanes was good for anything but races against time between the captains of minesweepers. He took a strong interest in this part of the show. Once the Caine narrowly missed a mine cut by the Moulton. Willie pictured what might have happened had the mine been a live one, and began to wonder whether he ought to wait six months before applying to the admiral for rescue.
The last sweep was completed two hours before sunset. There remained a chance that the ships could get back into Pearl Harbor before the submarine nets were closed for the night, by running for home at twenty knots. Unluckily the Moulton, which had the squadron commander aboard, lost a paravane in the last moments of recovery, and fished for it for an hour while the other vessels waited and the crews fretted. When the Moulton grappled its paravane at last the sun was setting. The four old sweepers had to steam all night outside the channel entrance in futile circles.
When they went in next morning, the Caine and Moulton were paired in one buoy berth. As soon as the gangplank was laid between the ships Willie got Gorton’s permission to cross over and visit Keggs.
He was startled by the difference between the two ships the moment he set foot on the other quarterdeck. In structure they were identical. It was hardly conceivable that they could look so unlike. There was no rust here, no splashes of green prime coats. The bulwarks and decks were a clean uniform gray. The cording on ladder railings was new-white. The leather wrappings of the life line, tightly sewed, were a natural rich brown, where those of the Caine were frayed, hung loose, and were covered with cracked gray paint. The dungarees of the sailors were clean, and the shirts tucked inside the trousers, whereas a flapping shirttail would have been a proper heraldic device for the Caine. Willie saw that it was not necessary for a DMS to look like his ship; it was only necessary for the outcast Caine to look like what it was.
“Keggs? Sure, he’s in the wardroom,” said the OOD, neat as an admiral’s aide.
Willie found Keggs at the green-covered table, drinking coffee with one hand and working a coding device with the other. “Hello, Keggsy boy! Knock off for a minute, for Pete’s sake-”
“Willie!” The cup clattered to the saucer. Keggs jumped up and grabbed Willie’s outstretched hand with both his own. Willie thought- the other’s hands were trembling. He was disturbed by his friend’s appearance. Thin as he had been, he had lost more weight. The bones protruded from his cheeks and the pallid skin seemed to stretch with difficulty the long distance to his jaw. There were a few strands of gray in his hair which Willie had never noticed before. His eyes were ringed in blue shadow.
“Well, Ed, stuck you in communications, too, did they?”
“I relieved the communication officer last week, Willie. I’ve been his assistant for five months-”
“Department head already, eh? Nice going.”
“Don’t make jokes,” said Keggs haggardly.
Willie accepted coffee and sat. After they chatted awhile he said, “Have you got the duty tonight?”
Keggs pondered foggily. “No-not tonight-”
“Great. Maybe Roland hasn’t shoved off yet. We’ll hit the beach and hunt him up-”
“Sorry, Willie. I’d love to, but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Keggs looked over his shoulder. There were no other officers in the immaculate wardroom. He dropped his voice. “The paravane.”
“The one you lost? What about it? You recovered it.”
“The whole ship is restricted for a week.”
“The whole ship? Officers, too?” Keggs nodded. “Everybody.”
“Why, in God’s name? Who was responsible for losing it?”
“Everybody is responsible for everything on this ship, Willie-it’s the way-” Keggs suddenly stiffened, sprang to his feet, and swept the coding device off the table. “Oh, God,” he said. Willie saw or