_1st Lord_.--“Throca movonsas, cargo, cargo, cargo.”
_All_.--“Cargo, cargo, villianda par corbo, cargo.”
_Par_.--“O! ransome, ransome:--Do not hide mine eyes”
_1st Sold_.--“Boskos Thromuldo boskos.”
_Par_.--“I know you are the Muskos' regiment,
And I shall lose my life for want of language.--”
_All's Well That Ends Well._
The Crisis was tacked, as soon as the body of Smudge was cut down, and
she moved slowly, her crew maintaining a melancholy silence, out of
the little haven. I never witnessed stronger evidence of sadness in the
evolutions of a vessel; the slow and stately departure resembling that
of mourners leaving the grave on which they had just heard the fall of
the clod. Marble told me afterwards, he had been disposed to anchor,
and remain until the body of poor Captain Williams should rise, as it
probably would within the next forty-eight hours; but the dread of a
necessity of sacrificing more of the natives, induced him to quit the
fatal spot, without paying the last duties to our worthy old commander.
I always regretted we did not remain, for I think no Indian would have
come near us, had we continued in the harbour a month.
It was high-noon when the ship once more issued into the broad bosom
of the Pacific. The wind was at south-east, and as we drew off from the
land, it came fresh and steady. About two, having an offing of ten or
twelve miles, orders were issued to set all the larboard studding-sails,
and we stood to the southward and westward under a press of canvass.
Every one saw in this change, a determination to quit the coast; nor did
we regret the measure, for our trade had been quite successful, down to
the moment of the seizure, but could hardly be prosperous after what
had passed. I had not been consulted in the affair at all, but the
second-mate having the watch, I was now summoned to the cabin, and let
into the secret of our future movements. I found Marble seated at the
cabin table, with Captain Williams's writing-desk open before him, and
sundry papers under examination.
“Take a seat, Mr. Wallingford,” said the new master, with a dignity and
manner suited to the occasion. “I have just been overhauling the old
man's instructions from the owners, and find I have done right in
leaving these hang-gallows rascals to themselves, and shaping our
course to the next point of destination. As it is, the ship has done
surprisingly well. There are $67,370 good Spaniards down in the run, and
that for goods which I see are invoiced at just $26,240; and when
you consider that no duties, port-charges, or commissions are to be
deducted, but that the dollars under our feet are all our own, without
any drawbacks, I call the operation a good one. Then that blundering
through the Straits, though it must never be talked of in any other
light than a bold push for a quick passage, did us a wonderful deal of
good, shoving us ahead near a month in time. It has put us so much ahead
of our calculations, indeed, that I would cruise for Frenchmen for five
or six weeks, were there the least probability that one of the chaps was
to the westward of the Horn. Such not being the fact, however, and there
still being a very long road before us, I have thought it best to push
for the next point of destination. Read that page of the owner's idees,
Mr. Wallingford, and you will get their advice for just such a situation
as that in which we find ourselves.”
The passage pointed out by Captain Marble was somewhat parenthetical,
and was simply intended to aid Captain Williams, in the event of his not
being able to accomplish the other objects of his voyage. It had a
place in the instructions, indeed, solely on account of a suggestion of
Marble's himself, the project being one of those favourite schemes of
the mate, that men sometimes maintain through thick or thin, until they
get to be ruling thoughts. On Captain Williams it had not weighed a
feather; his intention having been to proceed to the Sandwich Islands
for sandalwood, which was the course then usually pursued by North-West
traders, after quitting the coast. The parenthetical project, however,
was to touch at the last island, procure a few divers, and proceed in
quest of certain islands where it was supposed the pearl fishery would
succeed. Our ship was altogether too large, and every way too expensive,
to be risked in such an adventure, and so I told the ex-mate without any
scruple. But this fishery was a “fixed idea,” a quick road to wealth,
in the new captain's mind, and finding it in the instructions, though
simply as a contingent course, he was inclined to regard it as the great
object of the voyage. Such it was in his eyes, and such it ought to be,
as he imagined, in those of the owners.
Marble had excellent qualities in his way, but he was not fit to command
a ship. No man could stow her better, fit her better, sail her better,
take better care of her in heavy weather, or navigate her better; and
yet he wanted the judgment necessary to manage the property that must
be committed to his care, and he had no more ideas of commercial thrift,
than if he had never been employed in any of the concerns of commerce.
This was, in truth, the reason he had never risen any higher in his
profession, the mercantile instinct--one of the liveliest and most acute
to be found in natural history--forewarning his different owners that he
was already in the berth nature and art had best qualified him to fill.
It is wonderful how acute even dull men get to be, on the subject of
money!
I own my judgment, such as it was at nineteen, was opposed to the
opinion of the captain. I could see that the contingency contemplated
by the instructions had not arisen, and that we should be acting more in
conformity with the wishes of the owners, by proceeding to the Sandwich
Islands in quest of sandal-wood, and thence to China, after a cargo
of teas. Marble was not to be convinced, however, though I think my
arguments shook him a little. What might have been the result, it is
difficult to say, had not chance befriended the views of each of us,
respectively. It is proper to add, that Marble availed himself of
this opportunity to promote Talcott, who was brought into the cabin as
third-mate. I rejoiced greatly in this addition to our little circle on
the quarter-deck, Talcott being a man of education, much nearer my own
age than the two others, and united to me by unusual ties since our
common adventure in the prize. I was not only rejoiced to be able to
associate with him, but to hear him called _Mr_. Talcott.
We had a long, but mild, passage to the Sandwich Islands. This group
occupied a very different place, in the opinions of the world, in the
year 1800, from that it fills to-day. Still it had made some small
advances in civilization since the time of Cook. I am told there are
churches, taverns, billiard-tables, and stone dwellings in these islands
now, which are fast turning to the Christian religion, and obtaining the
medley of convenience, security, vice, roguery, law and comfort, that is
known as civilization. It was far different then, our reception being
by men who were but a small degree removed from savages. Among those
who first came on board us, however, was the master of an American brig,
belonging to Boston, whose vessel had got on a reef, and bilged. He
intended to remain by the wreck, but wished to dispose of a considerable
amount of sandal-wood that was still in his vessel, and for the safety
of which he was under great concern, as the first gale of wind might
scatter it to the winds of the ocean. If he could obtain a fresh stock
of goods to trade on, he proposed remaining on the islands until another
vessel belonging to the same owners, which was expected in a few
months, should arrive, on board which vessel he intended to embark
with everything he could save from the wreck, and such wood as he could
purchase in the interim. Captain Marble rubbed his hands with delight,
when he returned from a visit to the wreck, his arrangements all
completed.
“Luck is with us, Master Miles,” he said, “and we'll be off for them
pearl fisheries next week. I have bought all the sandal-wood in the
wreck, paying in trumpery, and at prices only about double Indian trade,
and we will heave up, and carry the ship round to the wreck, and begin
to take in this afternoon. There is capital holding-ground inside the
reef, and the ship can be safely carried within a hundred fathoms of her
cargo!”
All turned out as Marble had hoped and predicted, and the Crisis was
back at her anchorage in front of the village, which is now the city of
Honolulu, within the week named. We got our supply of hogs, and having
procured four of the best divers going, we sailed in quest of Captain
Marble's Eldorado of pearls. I was less opposed to the scheme than I
had been, for we were now so much in advance of our time, that we could
afford to pass a few weeks among the islands, previously to sailing for
China. Our course was to the south-west, crossing the line in about 170°
west longitude. There was a clear sea, for more than a fortnight, while
we were near the equator, the ship making but little progress. Glad
enough was I to hear the order given to turn more to the northward
again; for the heat was oppressive, and this was inclining towards our
route to China. We had been out from Owyhee, as it was then usual
to call the island where Cook was killed--Hawaii, as it is called
to-day--we had been out from this island, about a month, when Marble
came up to me one fine, moon-light evening, in my watch, rubbing
his hands, as was his custom when in good humour, and broke out as
follows:--
“I'll tell you what, Miles,” he said, “you and I have been salted down
by Providence for something more than common! Just look back at all our
adventures in the last three years, and see what they come to. Firstly,
there was shipwreck over here on the coast of Madagascar,” jerking his
thumb over a shoulder in a manner that was intended to indicate about
two hundred degrees of longitude, that being somewhat near our present
distance from the place he mentioned, in an air line; “then followed
the boat business under the Isle of Bourbon, and the affair with the
privateer off Guadaloupe. Well, as if that wern't enough, we ship
together again in this vessel, and a time we had of it with the French
letter-of-marque. After that, a devil of a passage we made of it through
the Straits of Magellan. Then came the melancholy loss of Captain
Williams, and all that business; after which we got the sandal-wood out
of the wreck, which I consider the luckiest transaction of all.”
“I hope you don't set down the loss of Captain Williams among our luck,
sir!”
“Not I, but the stuff is all logged together, you know; and, in
overhauling for one idee, in such a mess, a fellow is apt to get hold
of another. As I was saying, we have been amazingly lucky, and I expect
nothing else but we shall discover an island yet!”
“Can that be of any great service to us? There are so many owners ready
to start up and claim such discoveries, that I question if it would do
us any great benefit.”
“Let them start up--who cares for them; we'll have the christening, and
that's half the battle. Marble Land, Wallingford Bay, Talcott Hills, and
Cape Crisis, would look well on a chart--ha! Miles?”
“I have no objection to see it, sir.”
“Land ho!” cried the look-out on the forecastle.
“There it is now, by George!” cried Marble, springing forward--“I
overhauled the chart half an hour since, and there ought to be nothing
within six hundred miles of us.”
There it was, sure enough, and much nearer to us than was at all
desirable. So near, indeed, that the wash of the breakers on the reef
that so generally lies off from the low coral islands of the Pacific,
was distinctly audible from the ship. The moon gave a strong light, it
is true, and the night was soft and balmy; but the air, which was very
light, blew directly towards this reef, and then there were always
currents to apprehend. We sounded, but got no bottom.
“Ay, this is one of your coral reefs, where a man goes on the rocks from
off soundings, at a single jump,” muttered Marble, ordering the ship
brought by the wind on the best tack to haul off shore. “No notice, and
a wreck. As for anchoring in such a place, a fellow might as well run a
line out to Japan; and, could an anchor find the bottom, the cable would
have some such berth as a man who slept in a hammock filled with open
razors.”
All this was true enough; and we watched the effect of our change of
course with the greatest anxiety. All hands were called, and the men
were stationed, in readiness to work the ship. But, a few minutes
satisfied us, the hope of clawing off, in so light an air, was to the
last degree vain. The vessel set in fast towards the reef, the breakers
on which now became apparent, even by the light of the moon; the certain
sign they were fearfully near.
This was one of those moments in which Marble could show himself to be
a true man. He was perfectly calm and self-possessed; and stood on the
taffrail, giving his orders, with a distinctness and precision I had
never seen surpassed. I was kept in the chains, myself, to watch the
casts of the lead. No bottom, however, was the never-failing report;
nor was any bottom expected; it being known that these reefs were quite
perpendicular on their seaward side. The captain called out to me,
from time to time, to be active and vigilant, as our set inshore was
uncontrollable, and the boats, if in the water, as the launch could not
be for twenty minutes, would be altogether useless. I proposed to lower
the yawl, and to pull to leeward, to try the soundings, in order to
ascertain if it were not possible to find bottom at some point short of
the reef, on which we should hopelessly be set, unless checked by some
such means, in the course of the next fifteen or twenty minutes.
“Do it at once, sir,” cried Marble. “The thought is a good one, and does
you credit, Mr. Wallingford.”
I left the ship in less than five minutes, and pulled off, under the
ship's lee-bow, knowing that tacking or waring would be out of the
question, under the circumstances. I stood up in the stern-sheets, and
made constant casts with the hand-lead, with a short line, however, as
the boat went foaming through the water. The reef was now plainly
in sight, and I could see, as well as hear, the long, formidable
ground-swells of the Pacific, while fetching up against these solid
barriers, they rolled over, broke, and went beyond the rocks in angry
froth. At this perilous instant, when I would not have given the poorest
acre of Clawbonny to have been the owner of the Crisis, I saw a spot
to leeward that was comparatively still, or in which the water did
not break. It was not fifty fathoms from me when first discovered; and
towards it I steered, animating the men to redoubled exertions. We were
in this narrow belt of smooth water, as it might be in an instant, and
the current sucked the boat through it so fast, as to allow time to make
but a single cast of the lead. I got bottom; but it was in six fathoms!
The boat was turned, and headed out again, as if life and death depended
on the result. The ship was fortunately within sound of the voice,
steering still by the wind, though setting three feet towards the reef,
for one made in the desired direction; and I hailed.
“What now, Mr. Wallingford?” demanded Marble, as calmly as if anchored
near a wharf at home.
“Do you see the boat, sir?”
“Quite plainly;--God knows you are near enough to be seen.”
“Has the ship steerage-way on her, Captain Marble?”
“Just that, and nothing more to boast of.”
“Then ask no questions; but try to follow the boat. It is the only hope;
and it may succeed.”
I got no answer; but I heard the deep, authoritative voice of Marble,
ordering the “helm up,” and the men “to man the weather-braces.” I could
scarcely breathe, while I stood looking at the ship's bows, as they fell
off, and noted her slow progress ahead. Her speed increased sensibly,
however, and I kept the boat far enough to windward to give the vessel
room fairly to enter the pass. At the proper moment, we moved towards
the inlet, the Crisis keeping more and more away, in order to follow.
I was soon in the pass itself, the water breaking within ten fathoms on
each side of me, sending portions of its foam, to the very blades of our
oars; but the lead still gave me six fathoms. At the next cast, I got
ten; and then the shin was at the point where I had just before found
six. Two breakers were roaring behind me, and I pulled round, and waited
for the ship, steering to the southward, sounding as I went. I could
see that the ship hauled up, and that I was already behind the reef.
Straining my voice, I now called out--
“Anchor, sir--bear a hand and anchor, as soon as possible.”
Not a word came back; but up went the courses, followed by the
top-gallant-sails, after which down went the jib. I heard the fore and
main-top-sail-halyards overhauling themselves, spite of the roar of the
breakers, and then the ship luffed into the wind. Glad enough was I to
hear the heavy plunge of one of the bowers, as it fell from the cathead
into the water. Even then I remained stationary, to note the result. The
ship took her scope of cable freely, after which I observed that she was
brought up. The next moment I was on board her.
“A close shave, Mr. Wallingford,” said Marble, giving me a squeeze of
the hand, that said more for his feelings than any words such a being
could utter; “and many thanks for your piloting. Is not that land I see,
away here to leeward--more to the westward, boy?”
“It is, sir, beyond a doubt. It must be one of the coral islands; and
this is the reef that usually lies to seaward from them. There is the
appearance of trees ashore!”
“It's a discovery, youngster, and will make us all great names!
Remember, this passage I call 'Miles's Inlet;' and to the reef, I give
the name of 'Yawl Reef.'”
I could not smile at this touch of Marble's vanity, for concern left
me no thoughts but for the ship. The weather was now mild and the bay
smooth; the night was fine, and it might be of the last importance to
us to know something more of our situation. The cable might chafe off,
probably _would_, so near a coral reef; and I offered to pull in towards
the land, sounding as I went, and otherwise gaining the knowledge that
might be necessary to our security. After a little reflection, the
captain consented, ordering me to take provisions and water in the boat,
as the duty might detain me until morning.
I found the bay between the reef and the island about a league in
_breadth_, and across its entire _width_, the soundings did not vary
much from ten fathoms. The outer barrier of rock, on which the sea
broke, appeared to be an advanced wall, that the indefatigable little
insects had erected, as it might be, in defence of their island, which
had probably been raised from the depths of the ocean, a century or two
ago, by some of their own ancestors. The gigantic works completed by
these little aquatic animals, are well known to navigators, and give us
some tolerably accurate notions of the manner in which the face of the
globe has been made to undergo some of its alterations. I found the land
easy of access, low, wooded, and without any sign of habitation. The
night was so fine that I ventured inland, and after walking more than
a mile, most of the distance in a grove of cocoa and bananas, I came
to the basin of water that is usually found in the islands of this
particular formation. The inlet from the sea was at no great distance,
and I sent one of the men back to the yawl, with orders for the boat
to proceed thither. I next sounded the inlet and the bay, and found
everywhere a sandy bottom, and about ten fathoms of water. As I
expected, the shoalest spot was the inlet; but in this, which I sounded
thoroughly, there was nowhere less than five. It was now midnight; and
I should have remained on the island until morning, to make further
surveys by daylight, had we not seen the ship, under her canvass, and
so much nearer to us than we had supposed possible, as to satisfy me she
was drifting in fast towards the land. Of course I did not hesitate, but
pulled on board.
It was as I suspected. The rocks so near the reef had chafed off the
cable; the ship struck adrift, and Marble was under his canvass waiting
my return, in order to ascertain where he might anchor anew. I told him
of the lagoon in the centre of the island, and gave him every assurance
of there being water enough to carry in any craft that floats. My
reputation was up, in consequence of the manner the ship had been taken
through the first inlet, and I was ordered to conn her into this new
haven.
The task was not difficult. The lightness of the wind, and uncertainty
about the currents proving the only source of embarrassment, I succeeded
in finding the passage, after a short trial; and sending the boat ahead,
under Talcott, as an additional precaution, soon had the Crisis floating
in the very centre of this natural dock. Sail was shortened as we came
in, and the ship made a flying moor; after which we lay as securely, at
if actually in some basin wrought by art. It is my opinion, the
vessel would have ridden out the hardest gale, or anything short of a
hurricane, at single anchor, in that place. The sense of security was
now so strong upon us, that we rolled up our canvass, set an anchor
watch of only one man, and turned in.
I never laid my head down, on board ship, with greater satisfaction,
than I did that night. Let the truth be frankly stated. I was perfectly
satisfied with myself. It was owing to my decision and vigilance that
the ship was saved, when outside the reef, out of all question; and
I think she would have been lost after she struck adrift, had I
not discovered her present berth. There she was, however, with land
virtually all round her, a good bottom, plenty of water, and well
moored. As I have said already, she could not be better secured in an
artificial dock. In the midst of the Pacific, away from all custom-house
officers, in a recently discovered and uninhabited island, there was
nothing to fear. Men sleep soundly in such circumstances, and I should
have been in a deep slumber in a minute after I was in my berth, had not
Marble's conversation kept me awake, quite unwillingly on my part,
for five minutes. His state-room door was open, and, through it, the
following discourse was held.
“I think, on the whole,” commenced the captain, “it will be better to
_generalize_ a little more,”--this was a favourite expression of the
ex-mate's, and one he often used without exactly knowing its application
himself.--“Yes, to generalize a little more; it shall be Marble Land,
Wallingford Bay, Yawl, Reef, _Talcott_ Inlet, Miles's Anchorage--and a
d----d bad anchorage it was, Miles; but, never mind, we must take the
good with the bad, in this wicked world.”
“Very true, sir; but as for taking that anchorage, you must excuse me,
as I shall never take it again.”
“Perhaps not. Well, this is what I call comfort--ha! Talcott?--Is
Talcott asleep, Miles?”
“He and the second-mate are hard at it, sir--full and by, and going ten
knots,” I muttered, wishing my tormentor in Japan, at the moment.
“Ay; they are rackers at a sleep! I say, Miles, such a discovery as
this will make a man's fortune! The world generalizes in discoveries,
altogether, making no great matter of distinction between your
Columbuses, Cooks, or Marbles. An island is an island and he who first
discovers it, has the credit. Poor Captain Williams! He would have
sailed this ship for a whole generation, and never found anything in the
way of novelty.”
“Except the Straits--” I muttered very indistinctly, breathing deep and
hard.
“Ay, that _was_ an affair! Hadn't you and I been aboard, the ship never
would have done that. We are the very offspring of luck! There was the
affair of the wreck off Madagascar--there are bloody currents in the
Pacific, too, I find, Miles.”
“Yes, sir--hard-a-weather--”
“The fellow's dreaming. One word, boy, before you cut loose from all
reason and reflection. Don't you think it would be a capital idea to
poke in a little patriotism among the names; patriotism goes so far
in our part of the world. Congress Rocks would be a good title for the
highest part of the reef, and Washington Sands would do for the landing
you told me of. Washington should have a finger in the pie.”
“Crust isn't down, sir.”
“The fellow's off, and I may as well follow, though it is not easy to
sleep on the honour of a discovery like this. Good night, Miles!”
“Ay, ay! sir.”
Such was the account Marble afterwards gave me of the termination of the
dialogue. Sleep, sleep, sleep! Never did men enjoy their rest more than
we did for the next five hours, the ship being as silent as a church on
a week-day, during the whole time. For myself, I can safely say I heard
nothing, or knew nothing, until I was awakened by a violent shake of the
shoulder. Supposing myself to have been aroused for an ordinary watch at
sea, I was erect in an instant, and found the sun's rays streaming into
my face, through the cabin-windows. This prevented me, for a moment,
from seeing that I had been disturbed by Captain Marble himself. The
latter waited until he perceived I could understand him, and then he
said, in a grave, meaning manner--
“Miles, there is a mutiny in the ship! Do you understand me, Mr.
Wallingford?--a bloody mutiny!”
“A mutiny, Captain Marble! You confound me, sir--I had thought our
people perfectly satisfied.”
“Umph! One never knows whether the copper will come up head or tail. I
thought, when I turned in last night, it was to take the surest nap I
ever tasted afloat; and here I awake and find a mutiny!”
I was on my feet and dressing in an instant, as a matter of course,
having first gone to the berths of the two other mates, and given each a
call.
“But how do you know this, Captain Marble?” I resumed, as soon as there
was a chance. “I hear no disturbance, and the ship is just where we left
her,” glancing through the cabin-windows; “I think you must be mistaken,
sir.”
“Not I. I turned out, ten minutes since, and was about to go on deck to
get a look at your basin, and breathe the fresh air, when I found the
companion-doors fastened, precisely Smudge-fashion. I suppose you will
allow that no regular ship's company would dare to fasten the officers
below, unless they intended to seize the craft.”
“This is very extraordinary! Perhaps some accident has befallen the
doors. Did you call out, sir?”
“I thumped like an admiral, but got no answer. When on the point of
trying the virtue of a few kicks, I overheard a low laugh on deck,
and that let me into the secret of the state of the nation at once.
I suppose you will all admit, gentlemen, when sailors laugh at their
officers, as well as batten them down, that they must be somewhat near a
state of mutiny.”
“It does look so, indeed, sir. We had better arm the moment we are
dressed, Captain Marble.”
“I have done that already, and you will each find loaded pistols in my
state-room.”
In two minutes from that moment, all four of us were in a state for
action, each man armed with a brace of ship's pistols, well-loaded and
freshly primed. Marble was for making a rush at the cabin-doors, at
once; but I suggested the improbability of the steward or Neb's being
engaged in any plot against the officers, and thought it might be well
to ascertain what had become of the two blacks, before we commenced
operations. Talcott proceeded instantly to the steerage, where the
steward slept, and returned in a moment to report that he had found him
sound asleep in his berth.
Reinforced by this man, Captain Marble determined to make his first
demonstration by way of the forecastle, where, by acting with caution, a
surprise on the mutineers might be effected. It will be remembered that
a door communicated with the forecastle, the fastenings of which were on
the side of “'twixt decks.” Most of the cargo being in the lower hold,
there was no difficulty in making our way to this door, where we stopped
and listened, in order to learn the state of things on the other side of
the bulkhead. Marble had whispered to me, as we groped our way along in
the sort of twilight which pervaded the place, the hatches being on and
secured, that “them bloody Philadelphians” must be at the bottom of the
mischief, as our old crew were a set of as “peaceable, well-disposed
chaps as ever eat duff (dough) out of a kid.”
The result of the listening was to produce a general surprise. Out
of all question, snoring, and that on no small scale of the gamut of
Morpheus, was unequivocally heard. Marble instantly opened the door, and
we entered the forecastle, pistols in hand. Every berth had its tenant,
and all hands were asleep! Fatigue, and the habit of waiting for calls,
had evidently kept each of the seamen in his berth, until that instant.
Contrary to usage in so warm a climate, the scuttle was on, and a trial
soon told us it was fast.
“To generalize on this idee, Miles,” exclaimed the captain, “I should
say we are again battened down by savages!”
“It does indeed look so, sir; and yet I saw no sign of the island's
being inhabited. It may be well, Captain Marble, to muster the crew,
that we may learn who's who.”
“Quite right--do you turn 'em up, and send 'em all aft into the cabin,
where we have more daylight.”
I set about awaking the people, which was not difficult, and in a few
minutes everybody was sent aft. Following the crew, it was soon found
that only one man was missing, and he was the very individual whom we
had left on deck, when we had all gone below on securing the ship. Every
soul belonging to the vessel was present in the cabin, or steerage, but
this solitary man--Philadelphians and all!
“It can never be that Harris has dared to trifle with us,” said Talcott;
“and yet it does look surprisingly like it.”
“Quite sure, Miles, that Marble Land is an uninhabited island?” said the
captain, interrogatively.
“I can only say, sir, that it is as much like all the other uninhabited
coral islands we have passed, as one pea is like another; and that there
were no signs of a living being visible last night. It is true, we saw
but little of the island, though to all appearances there was not much
to see.”
“Unluckily, all the men's arms are on deck, in the arm-chest,
or strapped to the boom or masts. There is no use, however, in
dillydallying against one man; so I will make a rumpus that will soon
bring the chap to his bearings.”
Hereupon Marble made what he called a rumpus in good earnest. I thought,
for a minute, he would kick the cabin-doors down.
“'Andzomelee-'andzomelee,” said some one on deck. “Vat for you make so
much kick?”
“Who the devil are you?” demanded Marble, kicking harder than ever.
“Open the cabin-doors, or I'll kick them down, and yourself overboard.”
“Monsieur--sair,” rejoined another voice, “_tenez_--you air
_prisonnier_. _Comprenez-vous_--prisonair, eh?”
“These are Frenchmen, Captain Marble,” I exclaimed, “and we are in the
hands of the enemy.”
This was astounding intelligence; so much so, that all had difficulty in
believing it. A further parley, however, destroyed our hopes, little by
little, until we entered into an arrangement with those on deck, to the
following effect: I was to be permitted to go out, in order to ascertain
the real facts of our situation; while Marble and the remainder of the
crew were to remain below, passive, until the result should be reported.
Under this arrangement, one of the cabin-doors was opened, and I sallied
forth.
Astonishment almost deprived me of the power of vision, when I looked
around me. Quite fifty armed white men, sailors and natives of France,
by their air and language, crowded round me, as curious to see me, as I
could possibly be to see them. In their midst was Harris, who approached
me with an embarrassed and sorrowful air--
“I know I deserve death, Mr. Wallingford,” this man commenced; “but
I fell asleep after so much work, and everything looking so safe and
out-of-harm's-way like; and when I woke up, I found these people on
hoard, and in possession of the ship.”
“In the name of wonder, whence come they, Harris? is there a French ship
at the island?”
“By all I can learn and see, sir, they are the crew of a wrecked
letter-of-marque--an Indiaman of some sort or other; and finding a good
occasion to get off the island, and make a rich prize, they have helped
themselves to the poor Crisis--God bless her! say I, though she is now
under the French flag, I suppose.”
I looked up at the gaff, and, sure enough, there was flying the
_tri-color!_