Every morning reg'lar Van used to take two of the chaps down below to
Mr Ward, and he used to doctor their wounds for them, as I used to
hear; for, seeing that they never felt disposed to trust me near the
prisoners, I used to hang away, and never attempt to go near; but I kept
on sending a line now and then by the little bird, telling them that I
was making my plans, and that they were to wait a bit. I used to tell
them too to feed the linnet; and it got to be so at last, that if I
wanted it to take a message, all I had to do was to take away its seed
and water over-night, and let it loose at daybreak, and it would go as
straight as possible to the broken skylight, flit down, and come back in
about ten minutes.
I know it must have been a disappointment often to them below; but then
I daren't often be sending notes, for fear of being noticed. Then, too,
I was puzzled a deal about things: I wanted to know what Van meant by
keeping his five prisoners, and what I ought to do for the best. Try
and seize a boat, and get them aboard, or to get the upper hand when
there was only the watch on deck.
This last seemed the most likely way; for going afloat in an open boat,
with the chance of being picked up, is queer work, and the sort of thing
that, when a man has tried once, he is well satisfied not to try again.
So being, as it were, head man, I settled that we'd seize the ship; and
after talking it over, the first chance I had, with Sam and Bill Smith,
they quite agreed, thinking about salvage, you see; and then I began to
reckon up the stuff I'd got to work with.
To begin with, there was Mr Ward, who was as good as two; so I put him
down in my own mind two.
Then, going on with my best men, there was Sam, who was also good for
two, if he was only put in the right way.
Then Bill Smith, who hadn't quite got his strength again; so I put him
at one and a half.
Next came Tomtit, who was right enough, no doubt, in his way; only being
so long and wankle, [(Lincolnshire dialect), weak, sickly] I couldn't
help thinking he'd be like a knife I used to have--out and out bit of
stuff, but weak in the spring; and just when you were going to use it
for something particular, it would shut up, or else double backwards.
That's just what I expected Tomtit would do--double up somewhere; so I
dursn't only put him down at half a one.
Then there was the fat passenger who cried. He showed fight a bit in
the scrimmage; but I hadn't much faith in him; there was too much water
in him for strength; so I dursn't put him down neither for more than
half. While as for Mr Bell, poor chap, and his sister, they were worse
than noughts, being like in one's way. So you see that altogether I had
to depend on two and two was four, and one and a half was five and a
half, and a half made six; and another half, which I put to balance the
two noughts to the bad, making, all told, what I reckoned as six, and
myself thrown into the bargain.
And now came the question: How was we good men and true to get the
better of seventeen of they? I turned it over all sorts of ways. Once
I thought I'd get the doctor to poison the lot, only it seemed so
un-English like, even if the others were mutineers and pirates, while
most likely they wouldn't have taken the poison if we'd wanted them to.
Poison 'em with rum, so that they couldn't move, might be managed,
perhaps, with some of 'em, if the stuff was laid in their way; and that
might answer, if a better plan couldn't be thought of. To go right at
them without a stratagem would have been, of course, madness, though Sam
Brown was for that when I talked to him, saying, thinking wasn't no use,
and all we had to do was to get first fire at 'em twice, and shoot
twelve, when we could polish off the other five easy. Now, that sounded
all very nice; but I was afraid it wouldn't work; so I gave it up, and
asked Bill Smith his opinion; but he said he hadn't none.
I'd have given something to have had a long palaver with Mr Ward; for I
think we might have knocked up something between us that would have kep'
out water; but a talk with him being out of the question, I had to think
it out myself; and all I could come at was, that the best thing would be
to leave a bottle or two of rum where the watch could find it; and then,
if we could shut down the hatches on the others, we might do some good.
That seemed the simplest dodge I could get hold of; for it looked to me
as if the more one tried to work out something fresh, the more one
couldn't.
I watched my chance, and wrote out all my plan, and started it to Mr
Ward; and this time, I contrived, when no one was looking, to drop my
letter down the skylight, telling him that he was to send me an answer
by the bird, writ big, so as I shouldn't make no mistakes in the reading
of it. Next morning, as soon as I was on deck, I found that I was too
late; for Van and a couple of the chaps were hunting the linnet about;
while, as it flitted from side to side of the deck, you could see a bit
of white paper tied under its wing, and it must have been that as set
them on after it.
I knew well enough that if the bird was caught, it would be all over
with my scheme, and p'r'aps with me; so I went at it with the others,
trying to catch the little thing, contriving, though, to frighten it all
I could, so that it flew up into the rigging; and being nearest at the
time, I followed it out on to the main-yard.
"Be careful, Roberts," says Van, as I went cautiously out till I was
right over the water, the linnet going right off to the end; but I got
my feet in the stirrups and followed on, expecting to see it flit off to
another part of the rigging. I'd made up my mind what to do if I could
get at it; for, though I liked the pretty little thing, there was a
wonderful deal depending on whether it was caught or not; while all the
time I was abusing myself for not being on deck sooner. I'd let the
bird's cage be open the night before, ready for it to get out; and now
it was plain that it had been down to the cabin, and Mr Ward had sent
me an answer.
But it was no use to grumble; there was the bird before me, and if it
would only keep still for another half-minute, I thought I saw my way
clear. Plenty were now watching me from below; and, fortunately for me,
instead of flitting off, the little bird crouched down upon the yardarm;
so that, creeping nearer and nearer, I got quite within reach, when,
making a dash as it were to catch it, I knocked the poor little thing
stunned into the sea, making a sham slip at the same time, and hanging
by my hands.
"Yah-h-h! you clumsy lubber!" roared Van; and then to one or two about
him: "Lower the dinghy, and pick up that bird."
"Lost, after all," I growled to myself; but we were going pretty fast
through the water; and by the time we had heaved-to, and let down the
boat, the little thing was out of sight, and I felt that for this time
we were safe.
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