He brought word of murmuring among the more brutish of the crew, that some of them wished to join Gardner's fleet.

At this news, Dyck went down among the men.

It was an unusual thing to do, but it brought matters to an issue.
Among the few dissatisfied sailors was one Nick Swaine, who had been the cause of more trouble on the Ariadne than any other.

He had a quarrelsome mind; he had been influenced by the writings of Wolfe Tone, the Irish rebel.

One of the secrets of Dyck's control of the crew was the fact that he was a gentleman, and was born in the ruling class, and this was anathema to Nick Swaine.