He realized
that many of them would wish to return to the fleet at the Nore, but
while the weather was good he did not fear serious trouble. The danger
would come in rough weather or on a becalmed sea.
They had passed Beachy Head in the mist. They had seen no battle-ship,
and had sighted no danger, as they made their way westward through the
Channel. There had been one moment of anxiety. That was when they
passed Portsmouth, and had seen in the far distance, to the right of
them, the mastheads of Admiral Gardner's fleet.
It was here that Dyck's orderly, Michael Clones, was useful. He brought
word of murmuring among the more brutish of the crew, that some of them
wished to join Gardner's fleet. At this news, Dyck went down among the
men. It was an unusual thing to do, but it brought matters to an issue.
Among the few dissatisfied sailors was one Nick Swaine, who had been
the cause of more trouble on the Ariadne than any other. He had a
quarrelsome mind; he had been influenced by the writings of Wolfe Tone,
the Irish rebel. One of the secrets of Dyck's control of the crew was
the fact that he was a gentleman, and was born in the ruling class, and
this was anathema to Nick Swaine. His view of democracy was ignorance
controlling ignorance.
By nature he was insolent, but under the system of control pursued by the
officers of the Ariadne, previous to the mutiny, he had not been able to
do much. The system had bound him down.
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