CHAPTER I<br >"Out oars! Give way together!" the gig s m<br >dered. He glanced up at the small gual<br >uniformed marines and the gang of fettered<br >had paused in their labors to witness the be<br >a~d added crisply， "Remember you re from<br >my， lads--let fall togetherI"<br > ~e oars splashed into the sun-dappled ri<br >not ~in unison， and the faces of the four sea<br >Majesty s sloop-of-war Porpoise were sullen<br >~ . . the faces of men wholly lacking in e<br >their task.<br > "I m sorry， Mrs. Putland，" the midshipm~<br >ing his voice and aware that his crew s behav<br >matter of some distress to his passenger. She<br >the widowed daughter of His Excellency Co<br >liam Bligh， the deposed Governor of the c<br >South Wales and his present commander. In<br >show his sympathy for her， Richard Tempe<br >dent hand on hers. "We ve all been here<br >ma am. It s hard to keep up the men s morale<br > "I know that， Mr. Tempest，" Mary Put<br >edged. "You have no need to apologize to me<br > She had been conscious of the seamen s fc<br > as she had stepped into the gig， and after eve<br > of frustrating inaction--spent for the most i<br ><br >