Читать книгу Lieutenant Hornblower онлайн

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"I tried to. But he wouldn't say a word. He's afraid."

"Don't move from where you are standing, gentlemen" broke in a loud harsh voice; the well-remembered voice of the captain, speaking apparently from the level of the deck on which they stood. All three officers started in surprise.

"Every sign of guilt" blared the voice. "Bear witness to it, Mr. Hobbs."

They looked round them. The skylight of the captain's fore cabin was open a couple of inches, and through the gap the captain was looking at them; they could see his eyes and his nose. He was a tall man and by standing on anything low, a book or a footstool, he could look from under the skylight over the coaming. Rigid, the officers waited while another pair of eyes appeared under the skylight beside the captain's. They belonged to Hobbs, the acting-gunner.

"Wait there until I come to you, gentlemen" said the captain, with a sneer as he said the word "gentlemen". "Very good, Mr. Hobbs."

The two faces vanished from under the skylight, and the officers had hardly time to exchange despairing glances before the captain came striding up the ladder to them.