_Court_--“Brother John Bates, is not that the morning which
breaks yonder?”
_Bates_.--“I think it be; but we have no great cause to desire
the approach of day.”
_Will_.--“We see yonder the beginning of the day; but I think
we shall never see the end of it----”
_Henry V._
The ship did not lose her steerage-way. As soon as past the point of the
island, a gentle southerly breeze was felt; and, acting on the spars and
hull, it enabled me, by putting the helm a little up, to keep her head
off shore, and thus increase her distance from the bay. The set of the
tide did more for her than the wind, it is true; but the two, acting in
unison, carried her away from the coast at a rate that nearly equalled
two knots in the hour. This was slow moving, certainly, for a vessel in
such a strait; but it would require fifteen or twenty minutes for the
canoes to return from the creek, and make the circuit of the island by
the other channel. By that time we should be near half a mile at sea.
Smudge, beyond a question, understood that he was in a dilemma, though
totally ignorant of some of the leading difficulties of his case. It was
plain to me he could not comprehend why the ship took the direction of
the offing, for he had no conception of the power of the rudder. Our
tiller worked below, and it is possible this circumstance mystified him,
more small vessels in that day managing their helms without the aid of
the wheel, than with it. At length the movement of the vessel became too
palpable to admit of further delay; and this savage approached me, with
a drawn knife, and a manner that proved natural affection had not been
the motive of his previous moderation. After flourishing his weapon
fiercely before my eyes, and pressing it most significantly, once or
twice, against my breast, he made signs for me to cause the ship to
turn round and re-enter the port. I thought my last moment had come, but
naturally enough pointed to the spars, giving my master to understand
that the vessel was not in her usual trim. I believe I was understood
as to this part of my excuses, it being too apparent that our masts and
yards were not in their usual places, for the fact to be overlooked even
by a savage. Smudge, however, saw that several of the sails were bent,
and he pointed to those, growling out his threats, should I refuse to
set them. The spanker, in particular, being near him, he took hold of
it, shook it, and ordered me to loosen it forthwith.
It is scarcely necessary to say, I obeyed this order with secret joy.
Casting loose the brails, I put the out-hauler in the hands of a dozen
of the savages, and set the example of pulling. In a minute we had
this sail spread, with the sheet a little eased off. I then led a party
forward, and got the fore and main stay-sails on the ship. To these
were added the mizen stay-sail, the only other piece of canvass we could
show, until the top-masts were fidded. The effect of these four sails,
however, was to add at least another knot to the way of the ship, and
to carry her out sooner to a point where she felt the full force of the
light breeze that was blowing from the south-east. By the time the four
sails were set, we were fully a quarter of a mile from the island, every
instant getting more fairly into the true currents of the air.
Smudge watched me with the eyes of a hawk. As I had obeyed his own
orders in making sail, he could not complain of that; but the result
evidently disappointed him. He saw we were still moving in the wrong
direction, and, as yet, not a canoe was visible. As for these last, now
the vessel had way on her, I was not without hopes of being able to
keep them exposed to the fire from the cabin-windows, and, finally, of
getting rid of them by drawing off the land to a distance they would
not be likely to follow. The Dipper, however, I was aware, was a bold
fellow--knew something of vessels--and I was determined to give a hint
to Marble to pick _him_ off, should he come within range of his muskets.
In the meantime the alarm and impatience of Smudge and his companions,
very sensibly increased. Five minutes were an age in the circumstances
in which they were placed, and I saw that it would soon be necessary
to adopt some new expedient, or I might expect to be sacrificed to the
resentment of these savages. Necessity sharpens the wits, and I hit upon
a scheme which was not entirely without the merit of ingenuity. As it
was, I suppose I owed my life to the consciousness of the savages, that
they could do nothing without me.
Smudge, with three or four of the fiercest of his companions, had begun
again to menace me with the knife, making signs, at the same time, for
me to turn the ship's head towards the land. I asked for a little room,
and then describing a long circle on the deck, pointing to the four
sails we had set, and this in a way to tell them that under the canvass
we carried, it would be necessary to go a great distance in order to
turn round. When I had succeeded in communicating this idea, I forthwith
set about giving them to understand that by getting up the top-masts,
and making more sail, we might return immediately. The savages
understood me, and the explanation appearing reasonable to them, they
went aside and consulted together. As time pressed, it was not long
before Smudge came to me with signs to show him and his party how to get
the remainder of the sails set. Of course, I was not backward in giving
the desired information.
In a few minutes, I had a string of the savages hold of the mast-rope,
forward, a luff-tackle being applied. As everything was ready aloft, all
we had to do was to pull, until, judging by the eye, I thought the
spar was high enough, when I ran up the rigging and clapped in the fid.
Having the top-mast out of the way, without touching any of its rigging,
I went down on the fore-yard, and loosened the sail. This appeared
so much like business, that the savages gave sundry exclamations of
delight; and, by the time I got on deck, they were all ready to applaud
me as a good fellow. Even Smudge was completely mystified; and when I
set the others at work at the jeer-fall to sway up the fore-yard, he was
as active as any of them. We soon had the yard in its place, and I went
aloft to secure it, touching the braces first so as to fill the sail.
The reader may rest assured I did not hurry myself, now I had things in
so fair a way. I could perceive that my power and importance increased
with every foot we went from the land; and the ship steering herself
under such canvass, the wheel being a trifle up, there was no occasion
for extraordinary exertion on my part. I determined now to stay aloft as
long as possible. The yard was soon secured, and then I went up into the
top, where I began to set up the weather-rigging. Of course, nothing was
very thoroughly done, though sufficiently so for the weather we had.
From the top I had a good view of the offing, and of the coast for
leagues. We were now quite a mile at sea, and, though the tide was no
longer of any use to us, we were drawing through the water quite at the
rate of two knots. I thought that the flood had made, and that it took
us a little on our lee-bow, hawsing us up to windward. Just as I had got
the last lanyard fastened, the canoes began to appear, coming round
the island by the farther passage, and promising to overtake us in the
course of the next twenty minutes. The crisis demanded decision, and I
determined to get the jib on the ship. Accordingly, I was soon on deck.
Having so much the confidence of the savages, who now fancied their
return depended on me, I soon had them at work, and we had the stay set
up in two or three minutes. I then ran out and cast off the gaskets,
when my boys began to hoist at a signal from me. I have seldom been so
happy as when I saw that large sheet of canvass open to the air. The
sheet was hauled in and belayed as fast as possible, and then it
struck me I should not have time to do any more before the canoes would
overtake us. It was my wish to communicate with Marble. While passing
aft, to effect this object, I paused a moment to examine the movement of
the canoes; old Smudge, the whole time, expressing his impatience that
the ship did not turn round. I make no doubt I should have been murdered
a dozen times, had I lives enough, were it not that the savages felt how
dependent they were on me, for the government of the vessel. I began
to see my importance, and grew bold in proportion. As for the canoes,
I took a look at them through a glass, They were about half-a-mile
distant; had ceased paddling, and were lying close together, seemingly
in consultation. I fancied the appearance of the ship, under canvass,
had alarmed them, and that they began to think we had regained the
vessel, and were getting her in sailing condition again, and that it
might not be prudent to come too near. Could I confirm this impression,
a great point would be gained. Under the pretence of making more sail,
in order to get the ship's head round, a difficulty I had to explain to
Smudge by means of signs some six or eight times, I placed the savages
at the _main_-top-mast mast-rope, and told them to drag. This was a
task likely to keep them occupied, and what was more, it kept them all
looking forward, leaving me affecting to be busied aft. I had given
Smudge a segar too, to put him in good humour, and I had also taken the
liberty to light one for myself.
Our guns had all been primed, levelled, and had their tompions taken out
the night before, in readiness to repel any assault that might be made.
I had only to remove the apron from the after-gun, and it was ready to
be discharged. Going to the wheel, I put the helm hard up, until our
broadside bore on the canoes. Then glancing along my gun, until I saw
it had a tolerable range, I clapped the segar to the priming, springing
back to the wheel, and putting the helm down. The explosion produced a
general yell among the savages, several of whom actually leaped into the
chains ready to go overboard, while Smudge rushed towards me, fiercely
brandishing his knife. I thought my time had come! but, perceiving
that the ship was luffing fast, I motioned eagerly forward, to draw the
attention of my assailant in that quarter. The vessel was coming-to, and
Smudge was easily induced to believe it was the commencement of turning
round. The breathing time allowed me to mystify him with a few more
signs; after which, he rejoined his people, showed them exultingly the
ship still luffing, and I make no doubt, he thought himself, and induced
the rest to think, that the gun had a material agency in producing all
these apparent changes. As for the canoes, the grape had whistled
so near them, that they began to paddle back, doubtless under the
impression, that we were again masters of the ship, and had sent them
this hint to keep aloof.
Thus far I had succeeded beyond my most sanguine expectations; and
I began to entertain lively hopes of not only saving my life, but of
recovering the command of the vessel. Could I manage to get her out
of sight of land, my services would be so indispensable, as almost to
insure success. The coast was very low, and a run of six or eight hours
would do this, provided the vessel's head could be kept in the right
direction. The wind, moreover, was freshening, and I judged that the
Crisis had already four knots way on her. Less than twenty miles would
put all the visible coast under water. But, it was time to say something
to Marble. With a view to lull distrust, I called Smudge to the
companion-way, in order that he might hear what passed, though I felt
satisfied, now that the Dipper was out of the ship, not a soul remained
among the savages, who could understand a syllable of English, or knew
anything of vessels. The first call brought the mate to the door. “Well,
Miles; what is it?”--he asked--“what meant the gun, and who fired it?”
“All right, Mr. Marble. I fired the gun to keep off the canoes, and it
has had the effect I wished.”
“Yes; my head was out of the cabin-window at the time, for I believed
the ship was waring, and thought you had given up, and were going back
into port. I saw the roundshot strike within twenty fathoms of the
canoes, and as for the grape, some of it flew beyond them. Why, we are
more than half a league from the land, boy!--Will Smudge stand that much
longer?”
I then told Marble precisely how we were situated on deck, the sail we
were under, the number of savages we had on board, and the notion the
savages entertained on the subject of turning the ship round. It is not
easy to say which listened with the most attention, Marble, or Smudge.
The latter made frequent gestures for me to turn the ship towards the
coast, for by this time she had the wind abeam again, and was once more
running in a straight line. It was necessary, on more accounts than one,
to adopt some immediate remedy for the danger that began to press on me
anew. Not only must Smudge and his associates be pacified, but, as the
ship got into the offing, she began to feel the ground-swell, and her
spars, aloft, were anything but secure. The main-top-mast was about
half-up, and it was beginning to surge and move in the cap, in a way I
did not like. It is true, there was not much danger yet; but the wind
was rising, and what was to be done, ought to be done at once. I was
not sorry, however, to perceive that five or six of the savages, Smudge
among the number, began to betray signs of sea-sickness. I would have
given Clawbonny, at the moment, to have had all the rascals in rough
water!
I now endeavoured to make Smudge understand the necessity of my having
assistance from below, both to assist in turning the vessel, and in
getting the yards and masts into their places. The old fellow shook his
head, and looked grave at this. I saw he was not sick enough yet, to
be indifferent about his life. After a time, however, he pronounced the
names of Neb and Yo, the blacks having attracted the attention of the
savages, the last being the cook. I understood him, he would suffer
these two to come to my assistance, provided it could be done without
endangering his own ascendency. Three unarmed men could hardly be
dangerous to twenty-five who were armed; and then I suspected that he
fancied the negroes would prove allies to himself, in the event of a
struggle, rather than foes. As for Neb, he made a fatal mistake; nor was
he much nearer the truth in regard to Joe-or Yo, as he called him--the
cook feeling quite as much for the honour of the American flag, as the
fairest-skinned seaman in the country. It is generally found, that the
loyalty of the negroes is of proof.
I found means to make Smudge understand the manner in which these two
blacks could be got on deck, without letting up the rest. As soon as he
fairly comprehended the means to be used, he cheerfully acquiesced, and
I made the necessary communication to Marble. A rope was sent down,
over the stern-boat, to the cabin-windows, and Neb took a turn round his
body; when he was hauled up to the gunwale of the boat, into which he
was dragged by the assistance of the savages. The same process was used
with Joe. Before the negroes were permitted to go aloft, however, Smudge
made them a brief oration, in which oracular sentences were blended with
significant gestures, and indications of what they were to expect,
in the event of bad behaviour. After this, I sent the blacks into the
main-top, and glad enough I thought they were both to get there.
Thus reinforced, we had the main-top-mast fidded in a very few minutes.
Neb was then directed to set up the rigging, and to clear away the yard,
so it might be got into its place. In a word, an hour passed in active
exertions, at the end of which, we had everything rove, bent, and in
its place, on the main-mast, from the top-mast-head to the deck. The
top-gallant-mast was lying fore and aft in the waist, and could not
then be touched; nor was it necessary. I ordered the men to loosen both
sails, and to overhaul down their rigging. In the eyes of Smudge, this
looked highly promising; and the savages gave a yell of delight when
they saw the top-sail fairly filled and drawing. I added the main-sail
to the pressure, and then the ship began to walk off the coast, at a
rate that promised all I hoped for. It was now necessary for me to stick
by the wheel, of the uses of which Smudge began to obtain some notions.
At this time, the vessel was more than two leagues from the island, and
objects began to look dim along the coast. As for the canoes, they
could no longer be seen, and chasing us any farther was quite out of the
question. I felt that the crisis was approaching.
Smudge and his companions now became more and more earnest on the
subject of turning the ship round. The indistinctness of the land began
seriously to alarm them, and sea-sickness had actually placed four of
their number flat on the deck. I could see that the old fellow himself
was a good deal affected, though his spirit, and the risks he ran, kept
him in motion, and vigilantly on the watch. It was necessary to seem to
do something; and I sent the negroes up into the fore-top, to get the
top sail-yard in its place, and the sail set. This occupied another
hour, before we were entirely through, when the land was getting nearly
_awash_. As soon as the mizen-top-sail was set, I braced sharp up, and
brought the ship close upon the wind. This caused the Indians to wilt
down like flowers under a burning sun, just as I expected; there being,
by this time, a seven-knot breeze, and a smart head-sea on. Old Smudge
felt that his forces were fast deserting him, and he now came to me,
in a manner that would not be denied, and I felt the necessity of doing
something to appease him. I got the savages stationed as well as I
could, hauled up the main-sail, and put the ship in stays. We tacked
better than I could have believed possible, and when my wild captors saw
that we were actually moving in the direction of the land, again, their
delight was infinite. Their leader was ready to hug me; but I avoided
this pleasure in the best manner I could. As for the consequences, I
had no apprehensions, knowing we were too far off to have any reason to
dread the canoes, and being certain it was easy enough to avoid them in
such a breeze.
Smudge and his companions were less on the alert, as soon as they
perceived the ship was going in the proper direction. They probably
believed the danger in a measure over, and they began to yield a little
to their physical sufferings. I called Neb to the wheel, and leaning
over the taffrail, I succeeded in getting Marble to a cabin-window,
without alarming Smudge. I then told the mate to get all his forces in
the forecastle, having observed that the Indians avoided that part of
the vessel, on account of the heavy plunges she occasionally made, and
possibly because they fancied our people were all aft. As soon as the
plan was understood, I strolled forward, looking up at the sails, and
touching a rope, here and there, like one bent on his ordinary duty.
The savage stationed at the fore-scuttle was as sick as a dog, and with
streaming eyes, he was paying the landsmen's tribute to the sea. The
hatch was very strong, and it was secured simply by its hasp and a bit
of iron thrust through it. I had only to slip my hand down, remove the
iron, throw open the hatch, when the ship's company streamed up on deck,
Marble leading.
It was not a moment for explanations. I saw, at a glance, that the mate
and his followers regarded the situation of the ship very differently
from what I did myself. I had now been hours with the savages, had
attained a little of their confidence, and knew how dependent they
were on myself for their final safety; all of which, in a small degree,
disposed me to treat them with some of the lenity I fancied I had
received from them, in my own person. But, Marble and the crew had been
chafing below, like caged lions, the whole time, and, as I afterwards
learned, had actually taken an unanimous vote to blow themselves up,
before they would permit the Indians to retain the control of the
vessel. Then poor Captain Williams was much beloved forward, and his
death remained to be avenged. I would have said a word in favour of my
captors, but the first glance I got at the flushed face of the mate,
told me it would be useless. I turned, therefore, to the sick savage
who had been left as a sentinel over the fore-scuttle, to prevent his
interference. This man was armed with the pistols that had been taken
from me, and he showed a disposition to use them. I was too quick in my
motions, however, falling upon him so soon as to prevent one who was not
expert with the weapons from using them. We clenched, and fell on the
deck together, the Indian letting the pistols fall to meet my grasp.
As this occurred, I heard the cheers of the seamen; and Marble, shouting
out to “revenge Captain Williams,” gave the order to charge. I soon had
my own fellow perfectly at my mercy, and got him so near the end of the
jib downhaul, as to secure him with a turn or two of that rope. The
man made little resistance, after the first onset; and, catching up
the pistols, I left him, to join in what was doing aft. As I lay on the
deck, I heard several plunges into the water, and then half-a-dozen of
most cruelly crushing blows succeeded. Not a shot was fired by either
party, though some of our people, who had carried all their arms below
the night the ship was seized, used their pikes with savage freedom.
By the time I got as far aft as the main-mast, the vessel was our
own. Nearly half the Indians had thrown themselves into the sea; the
remaining dozen had either been knocked in the head like beeves, or were
stuck, like so many porkers. The dead bodies followed the living into
the sea. Old Smudge alone remained, at the moment of which I have
spoken.
The leader of the savages was examining the movements of Neb, at the
moment the shout was raised; and the black, abandoning the wheel, threw
his arms round those of the old man, holding him like a vice. In this
situation he was found by Marble and myself, who approached at the same
instant, one on each side of the quarter-deck.
“Overboard with the blackguard!” called out the excited mate; “overboard
with him, Neb, like a trooper's horse!”
“Hold--” I interrupted, “spare the old wretch, Mr. Marble;--he spared
me.”
A request from me would, at any moment, outweigh an order from the
captain, himself, so far as the black was concerned, else Smudge would
certainly have gone into the ocean, like a bundle of straw. Marble
had in him a good deal of the indifference to bodily suffering that is
generated by habit, and, aroused, he was a dangerous, and sometimes a
hard man; but, in the main, he was not cruel; and then he was always
manly. In the short struggle which he had passed, he had actually
dropped his pike, to knock an Indian down with his fist; bundling the
fellow through a port without ceremony, ere he had time to help himself.
But he disdained striking Smudge, with such odds against him; and he
went to the helm, himself, bidding Neb secure the prisoner. Glad of this
little relief to a scene so horrible, I ran forward, intending to bring
my own prisoner aft, and to have the two confined together, below. But
I was too late. One of the Philadelphians had just got the poor wretch's
head and shoulders through the bow-port, and I was barely in time to see
his feet disappear.
Not a cheer was given for our success. When all was over, the men stood
gazing at each other, stern, frowning, and yet with the aspects of those
who felt they had been, in a manner, disgraced by the circumstances
which led them to the necessity of thus regaining the command of their
own vessel. As for myself, I ran and sprang upon the taffrail, to look
into the ship's wake. A painful sight met me, there! During the minute
or two passed in the brief struggle, the Crisis had gone steadily ahead,
like the earth moving in its orbit, indifferent to the struggles of the
nations that are contending on its bosom. I could see heads and arms
tossing in our track for a hundred fathoms, those who could not swim
struggling to the last to preserve their existence. Marble, Smudge and
Neb, were all looking in the same direction, at that instant. Under an
impulse I could not control, I ventured to suggest that we might yet
tack and save several of the wretches.
“Let them drown, and be d----d!” was the chief-mate's sententious
answer.
“No--no--Masser Mile,” Neb ventured to add, with a remonstrating shake
of the head--“dat will nebber do--no good ebber come of Injin. If you
don't drown him, he sartain drown you.”
I saw it was idle to remonstrate; and by this time one dark spot, after
another, began to disappear, as the victims sank in the ocean. As for
Smudge, his eye was riveted on the struggling forms of his followers, in
a manner to show that traces of human feeling are to be found, in some
aspect or other, in every condition of life. I thought I could detect
workings of the countenance of this being, indurated as his heart had
become by a long life of savage ferocity, which denoted how keenly he
felt the sudden destruction that had alighted on his tribe. He might
have had sons and grandsons among those struggling wretches, on whom
he was now gazing for the last time. If so, his self-command was almost
miraculous; for, while I could see that he felt, and felt intensely, not
a sign of weakness escaped him. As the last head sunk from view, I could
see him shudder; a suppressed groan escaped him; then he turned his face
towards the bulwarks, and stood immovable as one of the pines of his own
forests, for a long time. I asked Marble's permission to release the old
man's arms, and the mate granted it, though not without growling a few
curses on him, and on all who had been concerned in the late occurrences
on board the ship.
There was too much duty to be done, to render all secure, to suffer
us to waste much time in mere sympathy. All the top-mast rigging,
backstays, &c., had to be set up afresh, and gangs were sent about
this duty, forward and aft. The blood was washed from the decks, and a
portion of the crew got along the top-gallant-masts, and pointed them.
The topsails were all close-reefed, the courses hauled up, the spanker
and jib taken in, and the ship hove-to. It wanted but two hours of
sunset when Mr. Marble had got things to his mind. We had crossed
royal-yards, and had everything set that would draw, from the trucks
down. The launch was in the water towing astern; the ship was then about
a mile from the southern passage into the bay, towards which she was
steering with the wind very much as it had been since an hour after
sunrise, though slightly falling. Our guns were loose, and the crew was
at quarters. Even I did not know what the new captain intended to do,
for he had given his orders in the manner of one whose mind was too
immovably made up, to admit of consultation. The larboard battery was
manned, and orders had been given to see the guns on that side levelled
and ready for firing. As the ship brushed past the island, in entering
the bay, the whole of this broadside was delivered in among its bushes
and trees. We heard a few yells, in reply, that satisfied us the grape
had told, and that Marble had not miscalculated the position of some of
his enemies, at least.
When the ship entered the little bay, it was with a moderate and steady
movement, the breeze being greatly broken by the forests. The main-yard
was thrown aback, and I was ordered into the launch, with its crew
armed. A swivel was in the bows of the boat, and I pulled into the
creek, in order to ascertain if there were any signs of the savages. In
entering the creek, the swivel was discharged, according to orders, and
we soon detected proofs that we disturbed a bivouac. I now kept loading
and firing this little piece into the bushes, supporting it with
occasional volleys of musketry, until pretty well satisfied that we had
swept the shore effectually. At the bivouac, I found the canoes, and our
own yawl, and what was some little revenge for what had happened, I also
found a pile of no less than six hundred skins, which had doubtless been
brought to trade with us, if necessary, in order to blind-our eyes until
the favourable moment for the execution of the conspiracy should offer.
I made no scruple about confiscating these skins, which were taken on
board the ship.
I next went to the island, on which I found one man dying with a
grape-shot wound, and evidence that a considerable party had left it,
as soon as they felt our fire. This party had probably gone outside the
island, but it was getting too late to follow. On my return, I met the
ship coming out, Captain Marble being determined not to trust her
inside another night. The wind was getting light, and, the tides running
fiercely in that high latitude, we were glad to make an offing again
while there was still day. The success with the skins greatly mollified
the new captain, who declared to me that, after he had hanged Smudge in
sight of his own shores, he should “feel something like himself again.”
We passed the night under our top-sails, standing off and on, with the
wind steady, but light, at the southward. Next morning, the duty of
the ship went on as usual, until the men had breakfasted, when we stood
again into the bay. This time, we hove-to so as to get one of the buoys,
when we dropped the stream, leaving the top-sails set. We then hove up
the anchor, securing the range of cable that was bent to it. Both of the
anchors, and their ranges of cable, were thus recovered; the ends of the
last being entered at the hawse-holes, and the pieces spliced. This work
may have occupied us four hours; after which, the stream-anchor was
hove up, catted and fished. Marble then ordered a whip rove at the
fore-yard-arm.
I was on the quarter-deck when this command was suddenly given. I wished
to remonstrate, for I had some tolerably accurate notions of legality,
and the rights of persons. Still, I did not like to say anything; for
Captain Marble's eye and manner were not the least in the trifling mood,
at that instant. The whip was soon rove, and the men stood looking aft,
in silent expectation.
“Take that murdering blackguard forward, fasten his arms behind his
back, place him on the third gun, and wait for orders,” added our new
captain, sternly.
No one dared hesitate about obeying these orders, though I could see
that one or two of the lads disliked the business.
“Surely,” I ventured to say, in a low voice, “you are not in earnest,
Mr. Marble!”
“_Captain_ Marble, if you please, Mr. Wallingford. I am now master of
this vessel, and you are her chief-mate. I intend to hang your friend
Smudge, as an example to the rest of the coast. These woods are full of
eyes at this moment; and the sight they'll presently see, will do more
good than forty missionaries, and threescore and ten years of preaching.
Set the fellow up on the gun, men, as I ordered. This is the way to
generalize with an Indian.”
In a moment, there stood the hapless wretch, looking about him with an
expression that denoted the consciousness of danger, though it was not
possible he could comprehend the precise mode of his execution. I went
to him, and pressed his hand, pointing upward, as much as to say his
whole trust was now in the Great Spirit. The Indian understood me, for
from that instant he assumed an air of dignified composure, like one
every way prepared to meet his fate. It is not probable, with his
habits, that he saw any peculiar hardship in his own case; for he
had, doubtless, sacrificed many a prisoner under circumstances of less
exasperation than that which his own conduct had provoked.
“Let two of the 'niggers' take a turn with the end of the whip round the
chap's neck,” said Marble, too dignified to turn Jack Ketch in person,
and unwilling to set any of the white seamen at so ungracious an office.
The cook, Joe, and another black, soon performed this revolting duty,
from the odium of which a sailor seldom altogether escapes.
I now perceived Smudge looking upward, seeming to comprehend the nature
of the fate that awaited him. The deeply-seated principle within him,
caused a dark shadow to pass over a countenance already so gloomy and
wrinkled by suffering and exposure; and he turned his look wistfully
towards Marble, at whose command each order in succession had been
obeyed. Our new captain caught that gaze, and I was, for a single
moment, in hope he would relent, and let the wretch go. But Marble had
persuaded himself he was performing a great act of nautical justice; nor
was he aware, himself, how much he was influenced by a feeling allied to
vengeance.
“Sway away!” he called out; and Smudge was dangling at the yard-arm in a
few seconds.
A block of wood could not have been more motionless than the body of
this savage, after one quivering shudder of suffering had escaped it.
There it hung, like a jewel-block, and every sign of life was soon taken
away. In a quarter of an hour, a man was sent up, and, cutting the rope,
the body fell, with a sharp plunge, into the water, and disappeared.
At a later day, the account of this affair found its way into the
newspapers at home. A few moralists endeavoured to throw some doubts
over the legality and necessity of the proceedings, pretending that more
evil than good was done to the cause of sacred justice by such disregard
of law and principles; but the feeling of trade, and the security of
ships when far from home, were motives too powerful to be put down by
the still, quiet remonstrances of reason and right. The abuses to which
such practices would be likely to lead, in cases in which one of the
parties constituted himself the law, the judge, and the executioner,
were urged in vain against the active and ever-stimulating incentive of
a love of gold. Still, I knew that Marble wished the thing undone when
it was too late, it being idle to think of quieting the suggestions
of that monitor God has implanted within us, by the meretricious and
selfish approbation of those who judge of right and wrong by their own
narrow standard of interest.