Evening star., 1952-09-20
The Cuine Mutiny
BY Herman Wouk

matter how much of a turn it was
so long as"
did you come around in a com.
plete circle, Commdr. Queeg, ,ant
cut your own towlfne?"
Queeg's jaw dropped. He CLOSED
and opened his mouth a couple o1
times and at last said in a low
furious tone, stammering a little
"Capt. Grace. with all submission
sir, I must tell you that I resent
that question, and regard it as 8
personal insult"
Grace's stern expression wav-
cred. He looked away from Queeg
mo insult intended, commander
Some questions are more unpleas-
ant to ask than to answer-Did
that happen or didn't it?"
IF it did. sir. I think I ought
to- have recommended my own
general court-martial."
Grace stared hard at Queeg. 81
must tell you, commander, that
you have troublemakers aboard
your ship. We received such a
rumor here this morning. I sell
dom take cognizance Of such
scuttlebutt. However. the admiral
heard it, and in view of several
other actions Of yours which have
seriously troubled him, why, he
ordered me to put the question tc
you. However. I suppose I car
take your word as a naval officer
that it didn't happen"
May I know, sir" Queeg sale
in a faltering tone. "in what re.
lspect the admiral finds fault with
Ime?"
well, hang 1t man, first tim,
under way you run up on tn,
mud-of course, that can happer
to anybody-but then you try t,
duck a grounding report and wher
you do send one in upon request
why. it's just a phony gun-decl
job. And then what do you cal
that despatch to us yesterday
Dear me. I've lost a target, please
ComServPac. what shall I do?
Admiral blew up like a land mine
Not because you lost the target
because you couldn't make a de.
c1Slon that was SO obvious a sea.
man second class could have mad,
it! If the function Of comman.
isn't to make decisions and tax,
responsibility, what is it?"
Queeg's upper lip raised, show.
ing his teeth in a mechanical half,
smile. by your leave, sir, I mad,
my estimate Of the situation ant
my decision. Then, considerin,
the expense Of the target which
you have just mentioned and all
l made another decision, which
was that the matter ought to b,
referred to higher authority. A
for the grounding report I di,
not try to duck it, sir, I did no
wish to trouble higher authorit,
with q dispatch about a trivia
matter. It seems to me that
am being reproved here in on,
case for bothering higher author
ity. and in the other case for no
bothering higher authority. I re-
spectfully submit. sir, that the ad.
miral ought to make up his MINI
as to which policy he prefers.
There was a glimmer of triumph
in the down-hung face.
Admits Difference In Principle.
The operations oficer ran his
fingers through his gray hair
Commander" he said, after ar
extremely long pause, do yor
really see no difference between
those two situations?"
obviously they were different
But in principle they were the
same. 1t was a question of con-
sulting higher authority. But a.
I say. sir. I accept full RESPONSE.
bility for whatever happened
even if it means a general court.
martial"
"Nobody's talking about a gen.
eral court-martial." Grace shool
his head with a panied, exasper,
ated expression. He stood, with 4.
motion to Queeg to keep his seat
and paced the little office sew.
eral times, whirling spirals in tn,
layers Of smoke that hung in tn.
air. He came back to the desl
and rested one haunch on tn,
corner. "See here, Comdr. Queeg
I'm going to ask you a couple o1
straight of -the-record questions
I promise you your answers will
go no farther than this room un.
less you wish. In return, I woulc
greatly value a couple of forth.
right answers" He looked into
Queeg's eyes in a friendly yet
searching way.
The Caine skipper smiled. but
his eyes remained opaque and ex-
Ipressionless. "Sir. I've tried to be
as fortnight as possible in this
interview. and I certainly will not
stop being fortnight at this
lpoint-"
"Okay. Number one. Do you
think your ship. in its presen,
state Of training. and with thu
Icaliber Of subordinates you have
is capable Of carrying out combat
assignments?"
well. sir, as to a definite yes.
and-no commitment on that no.
body can predict the future anc
I can only say that with the linn.
Ii}ad rnco,vp0ac AZ ,,nx, nny,a 4