A PIRATE IN SPITE OF MYSELF.
'TWOULD have needed a strong-minded man with plenty of supporters to
have defied Captain Cleat. Much as I longed to be able to refuse
flatly to serve him, I felt that such a course was inadvisable--nay,
'twould be sheer madness. Moreover, I had such faith in my master's
word that I was convinced that he would have his revenge should I
contrive to break out of the pinnace.
Whatever happened I must submit--reluctantly all the same--and trust
to Providence to deliver me from the meshes of the net that had been
cast about me.
The nine desperate ruffians on board the pinnace lost no time in
preparing to attack the first helpless ship that stood across their
path, and hours were spent in practising the management of the little
craft in action.
Two of the crew manned each of the sakers, and three worked the long
culverin. Captain Cleat had charge of the helm, James was stationed
for'ard, while my duty was to bring powder from the magazine.
To my surprise this magazine was not the place in the Captain's cabin
where Jack had hidden himself, but in the midship hold, where the
powder was stored in huge casks, one barrel only to be opened at a
time as required. This being so, I thought, to what purpose was that
quantity of loose powder kept under the floor of the after-cabin?
After practice with the cannon, the men were exercised with their
arquebuses and long-bows, followed by drill with the cutlass, pike,
and boarding-axe; and the whole of the forenoon passed so rapidly
that I had little time to ponder over my distasteful position.
Meanwhile the breeze had held true, and the _Damsel of Lyme_ was well
on her way down Channel. Late in the afternoon the cry of "Sail-ho!"
brought the watch below tumbling up on deck.
The pinnace's course was altered to intercept the on-coming ship,
while the Red Cross was hoisted to her peak.
"What d'ye make of her?" asked Captain Cleat of his minion James, as
the pair of rascals stood upon the poop.
"Not too big for us to tackle," replied the mate. "A Hollander by the
cut of her bows."
"We could do with a leavening of Dutchmen," continued the Captain
reflectively. "Give 'em plenty of spirits and they'll fight for any
one save a Don. Bid our men lie hidden, and lay us alongside."
Nearer and nearer came the strange craft, the water hissing sullenly
from her bluff cutwater. Then just as James was about to lay the
pinnace across her path, the lofty sides were lined by full twoscore
men, whose breastplates and steel morions showed above the bulwarks,
while from her hitherto unseen ports a tier of brass muzzles were
thrust aggressively forward.
"Where are you coming to, you lubberly rascals?" roared a hoarse
voice. "Heave-to and give a fair account of yourselves."
My heart bounded for joy, for caught redhanded, ere the rascally crew
had time or opportunity to communicate with their friends ashore, it
was more than possible that I might escape their clutches and their
threatened revenge.
Motioning his armed crew to remain hidden, Captain Cleat came to the
gangway.
"_Golden Cross_ ahoy!" he shouted. "I bear letters for the worthy
Captain Amyas Thorrogood."
"This is not the _Golden Cross_," replied the officer on the Queen's
ship for such she was; "who and what are you?"
"The _Mary_ of and from Weymouth," replied Captain Cleat. "Chartered
by Sir John Granville to bear letters to Captain Thorrogood."
"Then make sure 'tis the _Golden Cross_ ere you stand across the bows
of another Queen's ship. Get you on your way."
Laboriously the yards of the pinnace were swung round, and she stood
off on her former course, the overjoyed rascals still lying hid till
the cause of their alarm was well-nigh hull down.
"'Twas a near thing, Cap'n!" exclaimed James, with a mirthless laugh.
"But for your ready wit----"
"Avast flattery," replied Captain Cleat shortly. "It served its
purpose."
All that night and the following day passed without incident, but
just as it was getting dusk, the granite cliffs of Land's End showing
a league or so on our starboard quarter, another sail was reported.
This time 'twas a small sloop manned by four men and a boy.
Unsuspectingly they allowed us to approach to within half a cable's
length, but on Captain Cleat hailing to them to heave-to they took
alarm, put their helm hard down, and attempted flight.
We immediately stood in pursuit, the wind being well on our beam, and
now the _Damsel of Lyme_ showed her speed. Yet the chase was no bad
sailer, and all but held her own.
James was for letting her have a dose from the culverin, but to this
Captain Cleat objected, saying that the noise of the firing would
bring some of the large armed fishing luggers out of Penzance to see
what was amiss.
"Then we stand to lose her in the darkness," objected the mate.
"Peace, fool," replied the Captain, giving a swift glance shorewards.
"Keep her as she is till I give the word, then see to it that you put
the tiller hard over."
Onward tore the sloop in search of shelter or succour, while at her
heels raced the _Damsel of Lyme_, with her ferocious crew ready to
cast grapnels and board the moment 'twas possible to come within
reach.
"Down helm!" roared Captain Cleat, having caught sight of a peculiar
swirl in the water ahead of the two vessels.
Round swung the _Damsel of Lyme_, but ere the pursued could realise
the meaning of this sudden change of course the sloop struck with
terrific force upon a submerged rock. For a brief instant she pounded
heavily, her mast going by the board with a crash, then gradually
sank till she settled upon the reef.
Hastily the pinnace was hove-to, her longboat swung out by means of
tackles from her yard-arms, and into it swarmed James and four of the
men, all armed to the teeth.
Being but a short distance on, I could follow their movements with
ease. Ignoring the entreaties of the master and crew of the sloop,
the villains plundered all that was of value in the cabin. 'Twas but
little, and this served to exasperate the pirates.
"Shall we finish the business?" shouted the mate, passing his
forefinger lightly across his throat.
"Stave in their boat--'twill suffice," replied the Captain; and in an
undertone he added, "'Tis not the first time that the Runnelstone has
served me well--I pray 'twill never be otherwise."
Promptly the pirates carried out the Captain's orders. The only boat
carried by the sloop--and a frail cockle-shell at that--was shattered
across keel and garboards by a few heavy blows with an axe.
Already the waves were beginning to break asunder the planks on the
weather side of the doomed sloop, and her utter destruction would be
the matter of about half an hour. Mutely the crew watched with
despairing eyes the double work of the sea and of the scum who
infested it. They knew the significance of the mate's question, and,
realising that 'twould be useless to beg for mercy, could only wait,
trusting in some chance of fate whereby they might escape.
Their diabolical act having been accomplished, the pirates prepared
to re-embark in the longboat that was moored bow and stern on the
lee-side of the shattered sloop. As they did so Old Garge suddenly
seized the boy, and, in spite of his cries of terror, bore him to the
side and dropped him upon the boat's bottom boards.
I could see James grumblingly protest at this act of mercy, but the
old seaman for once stuck to his point, and soon the longboat was
alongside the pinnace as she tossed and pitched in the short steep
seas. By dint of great exertion and no little risk the boat was
hoisted in, and the work of retrimming the sail was proceeded with.
Ere the _Damsel of Lyme_ had covered half a league no traces of the
wrecked sloop remained, the seas sweeping over the dreaded rock. One
act of wanton cruelty had been committed, and the pirates were no
better off, save to the extent of a few barrels of stale provisions,
some trivial objects from the cabin, and a terror-stricken boy.
"The snivelling youngster may be the cause of our undoing," grumbled
James. "'Twould be well to toss him overboard."
"He'll come in handy to help serve the guns, sir," remarked Garge.
"Besides, he'll soon knuckle under."
"I'll warrant he will," replied Captain Cleat grimly, "or I shall
have something to say in the matter. You, Roy, take this blubbering
boy for'ard, and see to it that he mends his ways, and that quickly."
Ere long I succeeded in quieting the lad, who was not ten years of
age, and gained his confidence sufficiently to hear his story.
It was his first voyage, the sloop being the _Jane_ of and from
Padstow, and bound for Ipswich.
Beyond that he could tell me little, having been down with
sea-sickness during the voyage round Land's End. It was a matter of
some trouble to understand all he said, for he spoke in a quaint
Cornish dialect, many of the words being beyond my comprehension.
After a while I told him of the circumstances under which I had been
bound 'prentice to this villainous Captain Cleat, and impressed upon
him the necessity, for his own sake, of obeying the pirates' orders,
since he might plead compulsion if good fortune delivered him from
this accursed ship.
With that he brightened up, and began to tell me--as they say
Cornishmen are fond of doing--all his family's history, bringing in
names of people whom I never expect to meet. Yet I gleaned that the
lad's name was Dick Buzza, his father being a fisherman of Padstow.
The _Jane_ was not manned by any of the lad's relations, but every
member of her crew was an acquaintance of the elder Buzza, so that
the ruthless abandonment of the hapless men told heavily upon the
sole survivor.
For the next month our cruise was full of incident. Hardly a day
passed without some vessel or other being spoken. In some cases
Captain Cleat thought fit to maintain the role of harmless trader; in
others he did not hesitate to cripple the stranger with gun-fire, and
complete the work by boarding and cutting down every member of the
crew. Then, having plundered the prize, he would send her to the
bottom.
Soon our booty became so large that the _Damsel of Lyme_, deeply
laden, was compelled to put into an obscure port of Brittany, where
unscrupulous persons were ever ready to purchase the ill-gotten cargo
without troubling how or whence it came.
Even though I made up my mind to break away from these lawless
ruffians at the first available opportunity, it seemed as if I was
doomed to exist in a state of bondage, for while in port I was not
allowed to set foot ashore. Even my actions while on deck were
subjected to a strict watch. This, in a measure, was a kind of
consolation, for had Captain Cleat had confidence in the effect of
his threat he would not have been so jealous of my liberty while in
port.
In any case I knew full well that my life was in peril on board the
_Damsel of Lyme_--be it at the hands of the pirates or their
antagonists. This thought prompted me to cast about to find some
means of freeing myself from the toils of Captain Hannibal Cleat, but
ere long my deliverance was effected in a very unsatisfactory manner.
It was, indeed, a case of out of the stock-pot into the fire. But of
that anon.