The Caine Mutiny (60 page)

“Did you make any effort to persuade Maryk to restore Queeg to command?”

“I did not.”

“Were you next senior officer to Maryk?”

“I was.”

“Didn’t you feel the seriousness of the situation?”

“I certainly did, sir.”

“Didn’t you realize that Captain Queeg’s warning about collusion in mutiny was well founded?”

“I did.”

“Why did you take no remedial action?”

“I wasn’t present when the captain was relieved. I didn’t know what he might have done in a critical moment to convince the executive officer that he was sick. And everyone was concentrating on saving first the
Black
survivors and then our own ship. There was no time for arguing. By the time the storm subsided the situation had crystallized. Maryk was in full command. The entire ship was obeying his orders. To oppose him at that point might have been a mutinous act on my part. I decided that for the safety of the ship my best course was to obey his orders until such time as higher authority endorsed or overruled his action. That was what I did.”

“Lieutenant Keefer, were you aboard the
Caine
throughout the period when Captain Queeg was in command?”

“Yes.”

“Did you ever observe evidence of insanity in him?”

Keefer hesitated, wetted his lips, and looked toward Maryk, who was gnawing a knuckle and staring out of the window at the sunlit trees. “I don’t-I can’t answer that question intelligently, not being a psychiatrist.”

Challee said sternly, “Mr. Keefer, if you saw a man rolling on the deck and foaming at the mouth, or rushing up and down passageways screaming that a tiger was after him, would you venture to say that that man was temporarily deranged?”

“I would.”

“Did Commander Queeg ever exhibit such behavior?”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“Did you ever think he might be insane?”

“Objection,” said Greenwald, rising. “Witness isn’t an expert. Matters of opinion are not admissible evidence.”

“Question is withdrawn,” said Challee with a slight smile, and Blakely ordered it stricken from the record.

When Greenwald sat, Maryk slid the pad under his eyes, with a crimson scrawl all over the pigs:
Why, why, WHY??
Greenwald printed rapidly on a fresh sheet,
Implicating Keefer harms you. Two disgruntled bastards instead of one heroic exec. Take an even strain
.

“Mr. Keefer,” said the judge advocate, “at any time prior to 18 December were you informed that Maryk suspected Queeg of being mentally ill?”

“Yes.”

“Describe how you learned this fact.”

“At Ulithi, about two weeks before the typhoon, Maryk showed me a medical log he’d kept on Queeg’s behavior. He asked me to come with him to the
New Jersey
to report the situation to Admiral Halsey.”

“What was your reaction to the medical log?”

“I was dumfounded to learn that Maryk had kept it.”

“Did you consent to go with him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?„

“Well, I was stunned. And I-that is, he was my superior officer and also my close friend. I didn’t consider refusing.”

“Did you believe that the log justified the relief of Queeg?”

“No. When we arrived aboard the
New Jersey
, I told him as forcibly as I could that in my opinion the log would not justify the action, and that both of us would be liable to a charge of combining to make a mutiny.”

“What was his response?”

“He followed my advice. We returned to the
Caine
and no further reference was made by either of us to the log or to Queeg’s mental condition.”

“Did you inform the captain of Maryk’s log?”

“I did not.”

“Why not?”

“It would have been disloyal and contrary to the best interests of the ship to stir up my captain against my executive officer. Maryk had evidently abandoned his intention to pursue the matter. I considered the matter closed.”

“Were you surprised, two weeks later, when he relieved the captain?”

“I was flabbergasted.”

“Were you pleased, Mr. Keefer?”

Keefer squirmed in his chair, peered at the fierce face of Blakely, and said, “I’ve said that Maryk was my close friend. I was badly disturbed. I anticipated that at best he would be involved in grave difficulties, and I thought all of us might also be. I thought it was a terrible situation. I was very far from pleased.”

“No further questions.” Challee nodded at Greenwald.

The defense counsel rose. “No questions.” All seven members of the court turned to look at Greenwald. Blakely, his eyebrows at maximum altitude, said, “Does the defense intend to recall the witness at a later time?”

“No, sir.”

“No cross-examination?”

“No, sir.”

“Court stenographer will affirmatively note,” said Blakely, “that the accused did not desire to cross-examine Lieutenant Keefer. The court will question the witness. ... Mr. Keefer, the court desires that you describe any factual occurrences you observed which might have led a prudent and experienced officer to conclude that Captain Queeg might be mentally ill.”

“Sir, as I’ve said, I’m not a psychiatrist.” Keefer was now quite pale.

“Now as to this so-called medical log. You did read this log, Mr. Keefer. Were the facts contained in it known to you?”

“For the most part, yes, sir.”

“But these same facts, which convinced Lieutenant Maryk that he ought to report the captain to Admiral Halsey, did not convince you, is that correct?”

“They did not, sir.”

“Why not?”

Keefer paused, looked up at the clock, and back at Blakely. “Sir, it’s not something a layman can intelligently discuss-”

“You have stated you were a close friend of Mr. Maryk. This court is trying to find out among other things any possible extenuating circumstances in his decision to relieve his captain. Did these facts contained in the log merely indicate to you, as a layman, that Captain Queeg was a highly normal and competent officer?”

There was an edge of irony in the tone. Keefer quickly said, “Speaking from ignorance, sir, my understanding is that mental disability is a relative thing. Captain Queeg was a very strict disciplinarian, and extremely meticulous in hunting down the smallest matters, and quite insistent in having his own way in all things. He was not the easiest person in the world to reason with. It wasn’t my place to question his judgments, but there were several occasions when I thought he bore down too hard and spent excessive time on small matters. Those are the things that were recorded in the medical log. They were very unpleasant. But to jump from them to a conclusion that the captain was a maniac-I was compelled in all honesty to warn Maryk against doing that.”

Blakely beckoned to the judge advocate and whispered with him, then said, “No further questions. Witness excused.” Keefer stepped down, turned, and walked out rapidly. Maryk looked after him with a small dismal smile.

In the afternoon session Challee began by calling Harding and Paynter. They were sullen witnesses. Once Paynter was admonished by the court for evasiveness. Challee pressed out of both of them a corroboration of Keefer’s testimony: the captain had not seemed crazy after being relieved, and they did not know what had prompted the exec’s decision. It became obvious in the questioning that they both disliked Queeg. But one after the other they were driven to admit that they had never observed him commit any acts of madness during his entire time of command.

In cross-examining Harding, Greenwald brought out that Stilwell had been restricted to the ship for half a year for reading on watch, and that the whole crew had been docked five days’ leave in the States because some sailors had appeared at general quarters without life jackets. He drew from Paynter a description of Stilwell’s court-martial.

Challee, in a belligerent re-examination, crowded the engineering officer hard. “Mr. Paynter, did Captain Queeg direct you to find Stilwell guilty?”

“He didn’t order me to, no. The way he explained the law, though, he left no doubt what verdict he wanted.”

“What verdict did you think he wanted?”

“Guilty, and a bad-conduct discharge.”

“What verdict did the court hand down?”

“Guilty and deprived of six liberties.”

“Did Captain Queeg attempt to have you change the sentence?”

“No.”

“Did he give letters of admonition to the court?”

“No.”

“Did he punish you in any way?”

“Well, yes. He said there would be no sleeping after 0800 in the wardroom. And he started keeping a black book on errors we made in writing logs.”

“In other words, this cruel punishment consisted of orders to write accurate logs and not to sleep during ship’s working hours, is that correct?”

“Well, at the time we were standing a one-in-three watch, and not to be able to sleep in-”

“Answer the question, please. Was that the extent of your so-called punishment?”

“Yes.”

“No further questions.”

Greenwald rose. “Mr. Paynter, what was the ship doing during that period?”

“Convoy duty in the forward area.”

“Were you at sea much?”

“Practically constantly.”

“Who were the OOD’s?”

“Keefer, Keith, and Handing. I was mostly off the bill because of engine breakdowns.”

“Were they all department heads?”

“Yes.”

“And they were standing OOD watches, four hours on and twelve off, around the clock, week in and week out. How many hours of sleep could they average?”

“Well, see, two nights out of three you lose four hours-either the graveyard or the morning watch. And GQ at dawn-I guess about four or five hours-assuming no night GQ’s.”

“Were there many night GQ’s?”

“Maybe a couple every week.”

“Did Captain de Vriess ever restrict daytime sleeping of OOD’s?”

“No. He used to urge us to grab sleep when we could. He said he didn’t want any foggy zombies conning his ship.”

The judge advocate re-examined briefly. “Mr. Paynter, did any of the OOD’s die of overstrain?”

“No.”

“Did they suffer nervous breakdowns?”

“No.”

“As a result of this terrible persecution of not being allowed to sleep in working hours, were there any mishaps to the ship?”

“No.”

The next witness was Urban. The little signalman’s right hand trembled when he was sworn, and his voice quavered. The judge advocate led him to state that he had been the only person in the wheelhouse beside Queeg, Maryk, Keith, and Stilwell when the captain was relieved.

“What were your duties?”

“Kept the quartermaster’s notebook, sir.”

“Describe in your own words how it happened that Lieutenant Maryk relieved the captain.”

“Well, he relieved him at five minutes to ten. I noted it in my book-”

“How did he relieve him?”

“He said, ‘I relieve you, sir.’ ”

“Didn’t he do anything else?”

“I don’t remember for sure.”

“Why did he relieve him? What was happening at the time?”

“The ship was rolling very bad.”

Challee looked up at the court in exasperation. “Urban, describe everything that happened in the ten minutes before Captain Queeg was relieved.”

“Well, like I say, we were rolling very bad.”

Challee waited, his eyes intent on the sailor. After a long silence he burst out, “That’s all? Did the exec say anything? Did the captain say anything? Did the OOD say anything? Did the ship just roll in silence for ten minutes?”

“Well, sir, it was a typhoon. I don’t remember too well.”

Blakely leaned forward, scowling over his clasped fingers at the signalman. “Urban, you’re under oath. Evasive answers in a court-martial constitute contempt of court, which is a very bad business. Now think over your answer.”

Urban said desperately, “Well, I think the captain wanted to come left and the exec wanted to come right, or something like that.”

“Why did the captain want to come left?”

“I don’t know, sir.”

“Why did the exec want to come right?”

“Sir, I’m a signalman. I was keeping the quartermaster’s log. I kept a good log even though we were rolling so bad. I didn’t know what it was all about and I still don’t.”

“Did the captain act crazy?”

“No, sir.”

“Did the exec?”

“No, sir.”

“Did the exec seem scared?”

“No, sir.”

“Did the captain?”