The captain had too much to say when the first cutter's crew went on
board and learned that matters had taken place just as had been
anticipated, the lugger having suddenly glided out of what had seemed to
those on board the sloop to be a patch of dense tropical forest, and
then sailed away as if to reach the open sea, paying not the slightest
heed to the repeated summonses which she received from the _Seafowl_.
More stringent commands in the shape of shot would have followed, but
for the fact that the second cutter, which had been despatched up the
river in search of Mr Anderson's expedition, suddenly, to the surprise
of all on board, glided out of the same patch of forest as the lugger
had appeared from some little time before, and upon catching sight of
the sails of the craft they had followed, had continued the pursuit as
rapidly as the crew could force their boat along.
"The place is a regular maze, Mr Anderson," said the captain, as he
described all that had taken place, "and the scoundrel who commands the
lugger--I'll hang him to the yard-arm, Mr Anderson, whether he's a
Yankee or English born, and the bigwigs of the United States and in
Parliament at home may settle among themselves whether I've done right
or not, for he has got the wrong man to deal with if he thinks he is
going to play with me. He played with me, Mr Anderson, and tricked me
into the belief that he had surrendered, so that I should not fire upon
him, and manoeuvred his lugger so as to keep Mr Munday with the second
cutter between us. Bah! I'll never forgive Mr Munday for letting
himself be so out-manoeuvred. He has been as bad as you have, sir."
"I'm very sorry, sir," said the first lieutenant meekly.
"And so you ought to be, sir! But, as I was telling you, the scoundrel
led the second cutter a pretty dance, Munday following him till from the
deck here it seemed that all he had to do was to tell his coxswain to
put his boat-hook on board the lugger and bring his prisoners alongside
here."
"Well, sir, and he did not?" asked the chief officer.
"No, sir, he did not!" cried the captain angrily; and then he stopped
short for a few moments. "Well," he continued then, "aren't you going
to ask why he didn't take the lugger a prize?"
"I was not going to interrupt you, sir, but I should be glad to hear."
"Very good, then, Mr Anderson, I will tell you. It was because the
scoundrel played a regular pantomime trick upon us--yes, sir, a regular
pantomime trick. Look yonder," continued the captain, pointing towards
the shore. "What can you see there?"
"The edge of the forest that comes down to the bay nearly all round as
far as I can make out, sir."
"Exactly. Well, somewhere over yonder the lugger suddenly sailed out,
and of course we were astonished, for no glass that we have on board
shows the slightest sign of an opening, while before we had got over our
surprise, all of a sudden the second cutter, which went up the river to
follow you, popped out of the same place as the lugger. Now, sir, how
do you explain? Could you come out of the mouth of the river where you
went in, while the second cutter, which I sent up the river after you,
came out at the same spot as the lugger? Explain that, if you please."
"It is simple enough, sir; the little river forks and forms two mouths.
I sailed down one, and Mr Munday after we had met sailed down the other
in pursuit of the enemy, and came out as you saw. It is quite simple,
sir."
"Then I must be too dense to understand it, Mr Anderson," said the
captain angrily; "and now look here, sir," he continued, "you tell me
that the river has two mouths?"
"Yes, sir."
"There's one, then," said the captain, pointing to where it could be
plainly seen.
"Yes, sir."
"Then where's the other, sir?"
"Really, sir," replied the first lieutenant, glancing round and seeing
that the two middies were hearing every word and striving hard to keep
their faces straight in spite of an intense desire to laugh--"Really,
sir, I cannot point out the exact spot, but I suppose that it is where
the lugger and the second cutter came out."
"You suppose that, sir, do you--suppose it!" roared the captain,
thumping the rail with his open hand. "Well, that's what Mr Munday
supposes; but where is it, sir--where is it?"
"I must ask Mr Munday, sir, for I suppose he examined that part of the
coast when he came out himself."
"Suppose--suppose--suppose!" cried the captain. "I'm sick of all this
supposition. Mr Munday knows nothing whatever about it. The lugger
sailed out, and after a bit the second cutter sailed out and continued
the pursuit--for I suppose it was a pursuit?"
"Yes, sir, of course."
"Don't say of course, Mr Anderson. I tell you it was all like a
pantomime trick. He has thoroughly examined the coast there, and he can
find no second mouth."
"River's shut it up again, Dick," whispered Murray.
"He has regularly muddled it, Mr Anderson," continued the
captain--"just as you muddled your part of the expedition; and the
fact is that these slaver people have here an intricate
what-do-you-call-it?--the same as the classical fellow. Here, you boys,
it is not long since you left school: What did they call that puzzle?
You, Mr Roberts."
"I forget, sir," said the midshipman, upon whom the captain had turned
sharply.
"More shame for you, sir! Now, Mr Murray, I hope you have a better
memory."
"Labyrinth, sir," replied the lad. "Of course--labyrinth! A child
could have answered such a simple question;" and the speaker turned to
the first lieutenant again, while Murray cocked his eye at Roberts and
Roberts made a derisive "face" suggestive of scorn and contempt, and as
much as to say, Then if a child could have answered it, why couldn't
you?
"Yes," continued the captain--"a labyrinth, Mr Anderson, and it is very
plain that the slaving scoundrels believe that their place is _so_
confusing and strong that they can set his Majesty's sloop of war at
defiance, and continue to carry on their abominable traffic as they
please. But I think not, Mr Anderson--I think not, sir, for we are
going to show them that we laugh at all their slippery talk about the
island, or whatever it is, belonging to the American Government, and
that we are a little too sharp to be deceived over their hiding-places.
Only narrow ditches like so much network through swamps. Dreadfully
confusing, of course, till you have been through them once, and
afterwards as easy to thread as a big packing-needle. I'm disappointed
in Mr Munday, I must say, but here is a splendid opportunity for you,
you young gentlemen. You are not going to allow yourself to be baffled
by a bit of a maze, Mr Murray?"
"No, sir; I hope not," said the lad. "And you, Mr Roberts?"
"No, sir, now we have been through forest, or cane brake, as Murray
calls it."
"Of course you will not let such trifling obstacles stand in your way,"
said the captain, beginning to pace up and down now, and rubbing his
hands. "We are going to find out here more than we expect, and after
long disappointments make up for the past. Now, Mr Anderson, it is
very plain that this Mr er--What do you say the American scoundrel is
called?"
"His principal, Allen, addressed him as Huggins," replied the first
lieutenant.
"Huggins! Bah! What a name! It suggests a convict of the worst type.
It is a name bad enough, young gentlemen, to condemn any ruffian.
Huggins! Why, it literally smells of villainy. But as I was going to
say, this Huggins has placed himself completely in our hands by firing
upon his Majesty's forces, and we are now going to give him a thoroughly
severe lesson."
"I hope so, sir," said the chief officer. "Hope so, Mr Anderson!"
cried the captain, turning. "We are going to, and at once. But look
here, you tell me that the man's principal owns quite a handsome country
seat up yonder?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you saw the slaving barracks where they collect the unfortunate
wretches which are brought over from the West Coast of Africa?"
"No, sir; we saw nothing of that kind, but the surroundings are thickly
wooded as well as highly cultivated, and this must all be done by
numbers of slaves."
"Exactly, and this--what do you say his name is?--Allen?"
"Yes, sir."
"--lives the life of a wealthy slave-owner there?"
"Boat just slipped out from among the trees, sir!" cried Murray
excitedly.
"How dare you interrupt me in that rude--Eh? Yes, of course! A boat,
Mr Murray? What do you make her out to be?--Not coming to the attack?"
"No, sir," replied the middy, giving his fellow a quick glance full of
mirth. "Row-boat, sir, pulled by a dozen black fellows--six oars a
side. Man holding the ropes in white. Looks to me like--"
"The scoundrel Huggins coming out to surrender?"
"No, sir," said the lad eagerly. "I can't quite make out at this
distance, but I think it's like the thin delicate-looking Mr Allen whom
Huggins was so insolent to."
"What!" cried the captain.
"Yes, sir," said the chief officer, who had had his glass to his eye;
"Mr Murray is quite right. This is the head man--proprietor, I
suppose--of the plantation."
"Come to surrender," said the captain, rubbing his hands, and then
taking the glass his chief officer offered to him. "A nice scoundrel!"
muttered the captain, as he scanned the boat. "Everything in style, eh,
and a black slave to hold a white umbrella over his head for fear the
sun should burn his cheeks. Well, things are going to alter a good deal
for him. The cowardly dog! This is showing the white feather, and no
mistake. Well, Mr Anderson, I did not expect this."
The captain tucked the telescope under his arm and drawing himself up,
marched off, while preparations were made for the coming boat's
reception. The men were at their stations, and a couple of marines took
their places at the gangway, while the young officers eagerly scanned
the chief occupant of the boat, the doctor, who had just come on deck
after seeing to the slight injuries of the first cutter's men, joining
the midshipmen.
"Thank you, Murray," he said, handing back the glass the lad had offered
him. "So this is the diabolical ruffian whose men fired upon his
Majesty's able seamen and officers, is it? Well, he doesn't look very
terrible. I think I could tackle him with a little quinine."
"Yes, doctor; he looked to me like a thorough invalid," whispered
Murray.
"He is an invalid, my lad. Had fever badly. The fellow's come for
advice."
"What's that?" said the captain sharply, for the doctor had made no
scruple about giving his opinions aloud.
"I say your slaver or pirate captain looks as if he had come to visit
the doctor and not the captain," replied the gentleman addressed.
"Come to go into irons," said the captain.
"Not he, sir. He doesn't want iron; steel is more in his way. Poor
fellow! He looks as if you could blow him away."
"From the mouth of a gun? Well, he deserves it."
"But surely this is not the ruffian you folks have been talking about--
firing upon the boats, and--Ah, here he is!"
For the well-made cutter now came alongside, the slave crew who rowed it
and the coxswain being well-armed, and hooking on quite as a matter of
course, the latter showing his white teeth, an example followed by the
rest of the crew, while the occupant of the stern sheets rose feebly and
painfully, gladly snatching at the hands offered to him, by whose aid he
climbed the side with difficulty and stood tottering on the deck.
"The captain?" he said to Mr Anderson. "No; I saw you ashore, sir.
Thanks," he added, taking the arm the chief officer extended to him. "I
am greatly obliged, sir, for I am very weak."
"Yes," said the doctor, stepping forward. "A deck-chair, there. That's
right, Mr Murray; a little more under the awning. Sit down, sir. Mr
Roberts, a glass of water, if you please."
"You are very good, gentlemen," said the visitor, recovering a little,
for he was evidently on the point of fainting. "I am better now. Can I
speak to the captain?"
"Yes, sir," said that gentleman, coming forward frowning, and rather
taken aback by the aspect of one he looked upon as a surrendered
prisoner. "Now, sir, what have you to say?"
"Only that I wish to express my grief, captain, that the untoward
business of the past twenty-four hours or so should have occurred."
"Very pretty, sir," said the captain sternly. "You set me at defiance,
fire upon his Majesty's forces, and then presume to come aboard my ship
having the insolence to suppose that all you have to do is to offer an
apology."
"No, sir," said the visitor sadly. "This has all been none of my doing.
I think your officers will bear me out when I tell you that it was far
from my wish that any resistance should be made to one of the King of
England's ships."
"Indeed! To one of your king's ships?"
"Yes; I own myself to be one of his Majesty's most unworthy subjects."
"Indeed!" said the captain sharply. "Why, Mr Anderson, I understood
you to say that this man claimed to be a subject of the United States
Government."
"No--no!" interrupted the planter. "I can bear this no longer; the end
has come. All this trouble, sir, has arisen from my weakness in
allowing myself to be subjected to the oppression and led away by the
villainy of the man whom I at first engaged to manage my plantation."
"Look here, my good fellow," cried the captain sternly, "I do not want
to know anything about your overseer, but I take it that you are a
slaver. Answer me that--yes or no."
"Unwillingly, sir, yes."
"And you confess to having fired upon his Majesty's forces?"
"No, sir; no."
"What, sir!" cried the captain. "Do you deny that your servants--your
slaves--have done this thing?"
"Sir," cried the planter bitterly, "for long enough my chief servant has
made himself my master. I, the slave, have fought hard against what has
been carried out in my name."
"Indeed?" said the captain sharply. "But _qui facit per alium jacit per
se_. Eh, Mr Murray? You can render that for this gentleman if he
requires an interpreter."
"I need no rendering of the old Latin proverb, sir," said the planter
sadly, "and I know that I am answerable. I am a sick man, sick to
death, sir, of the horrible life I have been forced to lead for the past
two years, and I come to you ready to render you every assistance I can
give in clearing away this plague spot."
"Indeed," said the captain, after exchanging looks with Mr Anderson,
"but this plague spot is, I understand, a very prosperous one, and you
seem to lead rather a lordly life with your state barge and retinue of
slaves."
"I beg that you will not mock me, sir," said the planter. "I am indeed
sincere in what I say, and I offer to do everything possible to enable
you and your men to root out this nest of slavery."
"Exactly," said the captain; "now that I have found it out and do not
want your help. Yours is rather a late repentance. Upon what terms do
you propose this?"
"On very easy terms for you, sir," replied the planter; "only that you
will let a broken man die in peace."
The captain looked at his visitor searchingly, and then turned to the
doctor.
"What is your opinion of this gentleman's state?" he said.
"Most serious," replied the doctor, after a very brief examination of
the visitor.
"Humph!" ejaculated the captain. "And I understand," he continued,
"that you are ready to give me every assistance I need to root out this
plague spot, as you term it?"
"Every help I can," replied the planter.
"Now that I do not need it, eh?"
"I beg your pardon, sir," said the planter; "you do need it. You have
made your way to my house and plantations without help."
"Yes; my officers soon made their way there," said the captain.
"And it will be easy to burn and destroy there; but you will not be able
to deal with the slave quarters in different parts of the island, nor
with the three well-equipped slaving schooners that voyage to and from
the West Coast of Africa and carry on their sickening trade with this
depot and the other stations."
"H'm!" ejaculated the captain. "Perhaps not; but I have no doubt that
we shall soon find out all I require."
The planter shook his head sadly.
"No, sir; the task will prove more difficult than you anticipate. Your
officer here has some little experience of one of your opponents."
"Oh! There is more than one to deal with, then?" said Mr Anderson
sharply.
"There are two, sir, who act as heads of the traffic--my overseer
Huggins, and his twin brother."
"Ah! I see," said the chief officer, smiling. "I am of opinion, then,
that we have met the brother yonder upon the West Coast."
"Most likely, sir," said the planter feebly. "If you have, you have
encountered another of the most cunning, scheming scoundrels that ever
walked the earth."
"And these are your friends that I understand you are ready to betray to
justice?" said the captain sternly.
"My friends, sir?" said the planter bitterly. "Say, my tyrants, sir--
the men who have taken advantage of my weakness to make me a loathsome
object in my own sight. Captain," cried the trembling man, "I must
speak as I do to make you fully realise my position. I am by birth an
English gentleman. My father was one of those who came out here like
many others to settle upon a plantation. In the past, as you know,
ideas were lax upon the question of slavery, and I inherited those
ideas; but I can answer for my father, that his great idea was to lead a
patriarchal life surrounded by his slaves, who in their way were well
treated and happy."
"As slaves?" said Mr Anderson sternly.
"I will _not_ enter into that, sir," said the planter sadly, "and I
grant that the custom became a terrible abuse--a curse which has exacted
its punishments. I own fully that I have been a weak man who has
allowed himself to be outwitted by a couple of scheming scoundrels, who
led me on and on till they had involved me in debt and hopelessly so.
In short, of late years my soul has not seemed to be my own, and by
degrees I awoke to the fact that I was nominally the head of a horrible
traffic, and the stalking-horse behind whose cover these twin brothers
carried on their vile schemes, growing rich as merchant princes and
establishing at my cost this--what shall I call it?--emporium of flesh
and blood--this home of horror."
"Do I understand you to say that in this island there is a kind of
centre of the slave-trade?"
"In this island and those near at hand, sir," said the planter. "In
addition there are depots on the mainland which the slavers visit at
regular intervals, and from which the plantations are supplied."
"And you are ready to give information such as will enable me to root
out a great deal of this and to capture the vessels which carry on the
vile trade?"
"I can and will do all this, sir," replied the planter feebly. "I
thought I had explained as much."
"Yes, yes," cried the captain impatiently, "but I want to know more
about the bargain you wish to make."
"What can I say more, sir?" replied the planter. "Your protection, so
that I may die in peace, trying to make some amends for the past."
"H'm!" ejaculated the captain thoughtfully.
The planter smiled.
"You are thinking, sir," he said, "that you cannot trust me, and that
you will be able to root out this accursed trade without my help."
"Perhaps so," said the captain drily.
"Let me tell you, then, that you are setting yourself to cleanse an
Augean stable. You are pitting yourself against men who have made these
swampy forests, these nets of intertwining water-ways, a perfect maze of
strongholds in which your little force of sailors would be involved in a
desperate fight with Nature at her worst. Your officers and men here
have had some slight experience of what they will have to deal with, but
a mere nothing. I tell you, sir, that you have no idea of the
difficulties that await you. I am speaking the plain truth. You cannot
grasp what strong powers you would have to contend with. Ah, you,
doctor, you should know. Tell your captain. You must have some
knowledge of what Nature can do here in the way of fever."
"Humph! Yes," said the gentleman addressed. "You are a proof
positive."
"Yes," said the planter sadly; "I am one of her victims, and an example
of what a strong man can become whose fate has fixed him in these swampy
shades."
"I'll trust you, sir," said the captain suddenly. "I must warn you,
though, that at the slightest suspicion you arouse of playing any
treacherous trick upon me, your life will be the forfeit."
"Of course, sir."
"Then tell me this first; how am I to lay hands upon this overseer of
yours? He is away somewhere in hiding, I suppose, on that lugger?"
"Oh no; that lugger is under the command of one of his men, a mulatto.
He has gone off in a canoe, as I expect, to bring round one of his
schooners."
"What for? Not to attack us here?"
"I expect so; but I can soon tell."
"Ah, how?" asked the captain eagerly.
"By sending a couple of men whom I can trust, to find out."
The captain rubbed his ear and stood looking at the planter
thoughtfully, and then turning to the first lieutenant, he took his arm
and led him right aft, speaking to him hurriedly for a few minutes
before they returned to where the doctor stood evidently looking upon
their visitor in the light of a new patient.
"Now, Mr--Mr Allen," said the captain sharply, "I have been consulting
my chief officer, and he agrees with me that it will be wise to accept
your offer; so tell me what you propose first."
"To return to my little house."
"How can that help us?" exclaimed Mr Anderson sharply. "How are we to
communicate with you right away in that swampy forest?"
"You misunderstand me," said the planter. "I mean I shall return to the
place I have by the side of the bay here;" and he pointed across the
water.
"I do not see where you mean."
"Not from here. It is up one of the little rivers quite hidden amongst
the trees."
"Everything seems to be hidden amongst the trees," said the lieutenant.
"Exactly," replied the planter, smiling; "that is what I wish you to
understand. You must trust me, sir."
"Well," said the captain, "I will trust you, but you understand that you
are offering to serve me at the peril of your life?"
"It is at the peril of my life I am offering to help you, sir. Ezekiel
Huggins will not scruple about shooting me like a dog as soon as he
finds that I am actively helping you."
"Then I must place you under my protection."
"If you please," said the planter gravely. "Your officer here will give
me the credit of being upon your side from the first."
"Yes," said Mr Anderson; "I do that."
"Then I will go back home at once," said the planter, "and I shall look
to you as a friend. It would be best if you sent a boat and men to lie
up in the little river. When will you land?"
"At once," said the captain, and he walked slowly to the gangway with
his visitor, saw him into his boat, where, in quite man-o'-war fashion,
the black crew sat with oars erect, ready to lower them with a splash
and row off for a few dozen yards, and then rest while the first cutter
was lowered again with a well-armed crew, including a couple of marines.
"You will take command, Mr Murray," said the captain, "and take note of
everything, being well on your guard. I trust to your discretion."
Murray listened, conscious the while that Roberts was looking on
scowling blackly.
"In four hours you will be relieved."
"That means you're to take my place," said the middy, telegraphing with
his eyes, greatly to the improvement of his brother middy's aspect.
"Off with you!" was the next command, and as the sailors lowered their
oars, the black crew waiting received their orders to start, leading off
in the direction from which they had come, the cutter following closely,
while her young commander kept a sharp lookout for the mouth of the
little river, which remained invisible, hidden away as it was by the
dense foliage which on all hands came right down to the calm, smooth
water of the great crater-like bay.