The King and Captain O'Shea/Chapter 6

Behold, then, that pair of exiled Yankee mariners, Captain Michael O'Shea and Johnny Kent, stanchly enlisted on the side of King Osmond I. of Trinadaro against the designs of all who would thwart his gorgeous and impracticable purposes. That his rank and title were self-assumed, and his realm as yet unpeopled, impressed these ingenuous sailormen as neither shadowy nor absurd. Their services were at his disposal. They would cheerfully face any risks and obstacles to make that distant island in the South Atlantic what O'Shea called "all shipshape and ready for the king business."

Once they had gained the royal ear, it was a matter of course that they should win the royal confidence. King Osmond I. was an elderly gentleman of a singularly guileless disposition, and the notoriety attending his unique project had caused him to be surrounded by persons who knew precisely what they wanted. Of these the vanished minister of finance, Baron Frederick Martin Strothers, of the brisk demeanor and the red waistcoat, had been a conspicuous example.

It was really a rare piece of good fortune for the amiable monarch that there should have come to his aid two such hard-headed and honest adventurers as O'Shea and Johnny Kent. Their advice concerning things nautical was eminently sound; besides which, they were apt to prove a match for the attempts of the relatives of King Osmond, formerly known as Colonel Sydenham-Leach, to prevent him from sailing away to his distant principality.

The result of several conversations was that O'Shea and Johnny Kent were engaged to select a steamer for purchase, and to take charge of her for the voyage to Trinadaro. Their qualifications were warmly indorsed by the well-known ship-broking firm of Tavistock & Huntley, of Leadenhall Street. The managing partner, George Huntley, that solid man with the mutton-chop whiskers and the romantic temperament, was delighted with the arrangement, and took a boyish interest in every detail of the picturesque enterprise. It would have been a temptation not easy to resist if King Osmond had offered him the place of minister of marine, with the bestowal of the insignia of the Grand Cross of Trinadaro.

The august personage was prodigiously busy. Several secretaries and stenographers toiled like mad to handle the vast amount of clerical work and correspondence. To establish a ready-made kingdom from the ground up is no small task. The king planned to carry with him a sort of vanguard of subjects, or colonists, who were to erect buildings, set up machinery, till the soil, prospect for mineral wealth, and otherwise lay the foundations of empire. These pioneers were largely recruited from his own estates and villages in Norfolk, and formed a sturdy company of British yeomanry.

Concerning the natural advantages and resources of Trinadaro as a theater for this drama of royal ambitions and activities, the king and Captain Michael O'Shea became involved in earnest argument. The shipmaster was never one to smother his opinions from motives of flattery or self-interest, and what information about Trinadaro he had been about to pick up on his own account was not dyed in glowing colors.

"I have not seen the island meself, your majesty," said he; "but the 'Sailing Directions' set it down as mostly tall rocks, with a difficult landing place and a dense population of hungry land crabs as big as your hat. And if it was any good would not some one of these benevolent powers have gobbled it up long ago?"

King Osmond appeared untroubled, and to such objections as this he pleasantly made answer:

"Several years ago I made a long voyage in a sailing ship on account of my health, Captain O'Shea, and we touched at Trinadaro to get turtles and fresh water. It was then that I conceived the idea of taking possession of the island as an independent principality. Although it has a most forbidding aspect from seaward, there is an inland plateau fit for cultivation and settlement. It contains the ruined stone walls of an ancient town founded by the early Portuguese navigators. And it is well to remember," concluded the monarch of Trinadaro, with a whimsical smile, "that available domains are so scarce that one should not be too particular. Trinadaro appears to have been overlooked." "'Tis the rule that the Christian nations will steal any territory that isn't nailed down," was the dubious comment of O'Shea. "They must have a poor opinion of Trinadaro; but, as ye say, 'tis about the only chance that's left for a king to work at his trade with a brand-new sign over the door."

Johnny Kent spent most of his time downriver among the London docks. Wherever seagoing steamers were for sale or charter his bulky figure might have been seen trudging from deck to engine room. George Huntley showed him the best vessels the firm had to offer, but the gray-haired mariner was bound to do his own investigating, explaining with brutal candor to the friendly ship broker:

"You're a nice man, George, and I'm fond of you, but you ain't sellin' ships for your health, and you can't help bein' a mite prejudiced in your own favor." At length, with the royal approval, O'Shea had the purchase papers made out for the fine steamer Tarlington, which was berthed in a basin of the East India Docks. She was a modern, well-equipped freighter of four thousand tons which had been in the Australian trade and could be fitted for sea at a few days' notice. The transfer of ownership was given no needless publicity. George Huntley attended to that. He had another interview with his friend, the barrister, who hinted at forthcoming events which gravely threatened the peace and welfare of Osmond I., the kingdom of Trinadaro, and the ship in which the ruler, his court, his colonists, and his cargo were to sail.

O'Shea and Johnny Kent discussed this latest information at supper in the Jolly Mermaid tavern, with a platter of fried sole between them.

"'Tis this way," explained O'Shea: "There is no doubt at all that this grand king of ours will figure in the lunacy proceedings that we heard was in the wind. His relatives are getting greedier and more worried every day. And until the matter is decided one way or another they will use every means the law allows to head him off from spending the good money that belongs to him."

"And how can they stop him from scatterin' his coin for these wise and benevolent purposes of his?" demanded the engineer.

"Well, George Huntley says the law will permit them to clap some kind of a restraining order on the ship and hold her in the dock, with the judges' officers aboard, till the proceedings are over. And they can serve the same kind of documents on King Osmond to prevent his chasing himself beyond the jurisdiction of the court, says George."

"But all this infernal shindy can't be started unless there's proof positive that his majesty intends to fly the coop, Cap'n Mike."

"Right you are, Johnny, you old sea lawyer. They can't bother the king until he is actually on board, and the ship is cleared, so the barrister lad tells George."

"Then they'll be watchin' the Tarlington like terriers at a rat hole," exclaimed the engineer. "No, they won't," cried O'Shea, with tremendous earnestness. "About once in so often I have a bright idea, Johnny. One of them has just now hit me between the eyes. Do ye mind how we slipped out of Charleston harbor in the Hercules steamer, bound on the expedition to Honduras? 'Twas a successful stratagem, and it could be done in London River."

"Sure it could!" And Johnny Kent chuckled joyously. "And the king needn't know anything about it."

"Of course we will keep it from him if we can," agreed O'Shea. "I will do anything short of murder to keep him happy and undisturbed. And it would upset him terribly to know that he must be smuggled out of England to dodge the rascals that would keep him at home as a suspected lunatic."

"We'd better put George Huntley next to this proposition of ours," suggested Johnny. "He itches to be a red-handed conspirator."

The ship broker admired the scheme when it was explained to him. Yes, the old Tyneshire Glen, which they had so scornfully declined to purchase, was still at her moorings, and they were welcome to use her as a dummy, or decoy, or whatever one might choose to call it. O'Shea could pretend to load her; he could send as many people on board as he liked, and put a gang of mechanics at work all over the bally old hooker, said Huntley. If the enemies of King Osmond took it for granted that the Tyneshire Glen was the ship selected to carry him off to Trinadaro, that was their own lookout. It was a ripping good joke, and a regular Yankee trick, by Jove!