"_First_. The first lieutenant, the third lieutenant, the master, the
master's mate, the boatswain, and Midshipmen Gamble and Brock, to leave
the ship and be put ashore.
"_Second_. The ship to be taken to the Nore, and placed under the
orders of Admiral Parker.
"_Third_. The remaining officers either to take the oath or be placed
under arrest.
"_Fourth_. Two delegates, chosen by the men, to attend the admiral's
council, and act and vote on behalf of the ship."
Lieutenant Adrian listened with an ill-concealed smile, in which, I
confess, he was by no means alone.
"And what if we reject your precious first, second, third, and fourth
piece of infernal impudence?"
"Then we shall take what we want without asking," replied Callan with
cool effrontery. "You may take an hour to decide.--Come, boys."
The men gave another cheer, and retired singing "Rule, Britannia." They
left, however, a strongly-armed picket to cut off access from the
quarter-deck to the rest of the ship.
The night was still dead calm, and the _Zebra_ lay like a log in the
sea, her sails drooping, and her head swinging idly with the tide.
"Well?" inquired one or two, looking at Lieutenant Adrian.
"Well?" retorted that officer. "If you want to know what I intend to
do, I mean to drink a bottle of port below. There is but one answer to
give, and nothing to discuss. So you may fetch me in an hour."
"Shall we tell the captain?" asked Mr Felton, the second lieutenant,
who, if he had only been superior to Mr Adrian, would have seen us
through the crisis with more credit than we were likely to get.
"Certainly not," said the doctor authoritatively. "The consultation in
his cabin yesterday was a fatal mistake as far as he is concerned. Let
him at least die in peace now."
"How many loyal men do we muster, Mr Gallagher?" said Mr Felton.
"Twenty-five, all told, sir," replied I. "We cannot count on any of the
men for certain, though one or two may join us if it comes to a fight."
"It will certainly come to that," said Mr Felton quietly. And no one
entertained the least question on that score.
"We have one ally more," observed the master, who had for some time been
sniffing the night air. "Unless I mistake, there's a sou'-wester coming
up in a jiffy."
"I think you are right, master," said Mr Felton. "That will put us
over to the Dutch side, anyhow."
"And there's another ally yet, sir," said I. "They've got possession of
the two casks of rum that were last shipped at Dublin."
"In that case," said the second lieutenant, laughing, "we may count on a
full hour before we are disturbed. If we are to make a fight of it, let
it be a good one. Gentlemen," said he, addressing the company, "the
quarter-deck is still ours; twenty-five loyal men are a match for two
hundred and fifty scoundrels any day. Bring the stern-guns into
position, and throw up a barricade here. Look to your pistols and
swords, and don't waste bullets or powder. The worst they can do is to
blow the ship up, and that they won't do.--Master, you were right about
the breeze. Bring her round as soon as she moves.--And some of you
young gentlemen," said he to the midshipmen, "be ready to bear a hand
aloft with the sails.--Mr Gallagher, watch your chance of getting round
to the forecastle and doctoring the guns there. You are not a new hand,
I hear, at such a job.--Now, gentlemen all, we can but die once; let us
do it well while we are about it."
This spirited address had a great effect, and whatever sense of
helplessness had been caused by the disparity of our numbers and the
strong position of the mutineers, gave way to a desperate resolve to
give a good account of ourselves before we yielded up the ship.
I could not help believing that some of the older and more experienced
hands, though now borne down by the general feeling of insubordination,
would side with us if only we could show a strong hand. If so, there
would not be seamanship enough in the rest to set a topsail or read a
chart; and every moment the breeze was freshening and promising us a
lively morning.
The _Zebra_ still hung listlessly in the water, but any moment now she
might get under way. There was no time therefore to be lost in getting
unobserved at the forward guns, which I was convinced was only to be
done by dropping overboard and swimming round to the stem, where there
was sufficient hanging tackle to help oneself on board with.
I secured the services of the master's mate in this perilous venture--a
tough sea-dog who was ready for anything, provided it was out of the
commonplace. This business, I promised him, would at least be that.
The quartermaster had charge of the helm.
"Look alive, my lads," said he, as we prepared to let ourselves
overboard; "her head may go round any moment. As she lies you can drop
on to it easy. Take a line with you, and pay out as you go, as you'll
need it to come back by. Over you go."
We secured our pistols as best we could against the water, and then one
after the other dropped over the stern and struck out for the peak. The
ship was already beginning to sway on the breeze, and once or twice as
we kept close under her side we were in peril of being sucked under or
else crushed down by her lurches. However, we managed to reach the
hanging tackle below the bowsprit without misadventure; and making fast
the end of the line we carried, so that it hung close on the water-line
from stem to stern, we began to haul ourselves, with our knives between
our teeth, up into the shrouds.
While we were doing so the ship swung round into the wind, and began to
move through the water.
As soon as we got our heads level with the gunwale we could dimly see
the forecastle deck before us, and the breeches of the two twenty-four
pounders, pointed astern. There was a man in charge of each. The two
sat on the deck, with a can of liquor between them, playing dice in a
quarrelsome, half-tipsy way. The rest of the company were assembled on
the middle deck, and, to judge by the sounds, were deep in the
discussion of their rum and their grievances.
I gave my comrade a signal, and next moment we sprang noiselessly on
board, and had the two gunners overpowered, gagged, and made fast before
they could utter a sound or reach for their arms.
Then without losing a moment we drove our nails into the touch-holes of
the guns, trusting to the noise of the revellers and the dash of the
water at the bows to drown the sound of the hammer. This done we
dropped overboard, each with a prisoner, as quietly as we had come, and
with the aid of the line reached the stern in safety, and found
ourselves once more on the sanctuary of the quarter-deck.
Scarcely had we done so when we became aware of a movement among the
enemy. So busily occupied had they been in their debauch that they had
not noticed the change in the weather, or the advantage which had been
taken of it to put the ship under way. As it was, they might have even
allowed that to pass, supposing it only brought them nearer to Yarmouth
Roads, when one of the old salts in their number pronounced that the new
wind was from another quarter, and that instead of closing in with the
admiral's fleet off Yarmouth the _Zebra_ was running for the open sea
with a strong south-wester astern.
Finding themselves thus hoodwinked, and already excited by drink, the
leaders, and as many of the men as could be enticed from the liquor,
came once more aft and demanded another interview.
The quarter-deck, except for the sentries, the watch, and the men at the
guns, was comparatively deserted, the officers having retired below
until the hour allowed by the enemy had expired.
The senior officer present was Mr Felton.
"Quartermaster," said he, as he stepped up to the helmsman, "how does
she sail?"
"Nor'-east by east, sir. Making ten knots an hour."
"Keep her so.--Mr Gamble," said he, turning to a midshipman, "have the
goodness to go to my cabin at once and fetch the magnet you will find
lying in the drawer of my desk."
In a minute Mr Gamble had performed his errand. Mr Felton meanwhile
had lifted the cover of the compass-box, into which he now inserted the
small magnet, so that it pulled the needle a quarter of the circle
round, and made it appear that our course was due north.
"That should give us time," said he as he replaced the cover. "The
land-lubbers will know no better.--Use your pocket-compass,
quartermaster, and keep her as she is.--Now, my man," said he,
addressing one of the loyal marines who had been standing sentry, "what
is it?"
"If you plaze, sir, the hounds beyant there want a word with yez."
"Tell them the hour is not yet up, and that Mr Adrian is below."
"Sure I told them so, and Callan, he's their talking man, says he must
see yourself, or there'll be mischief."
"Very good," said Mr Felton. "Pass the word below for all hands on
deck; and let every man go quietly to his place.--Marine, allow Callan
on the quarter-deck."
But Mr Callan was not tipsy enough to fall into such a trap, and
insisted on the honours of war and the word of a gentleman that he and
three of his followers should be allowed safe-conduct, hinting at the
same time that the forward guns were still in position, and that any
attempt to break parole would be visited with ugly consequences.
Lieutenant Felton gravely gave the necessary assurance, whereupon,
ordering their followers to wait below, Callan and three comrades, as
tipsy as himself, staggered up the ladder.
"Now, sir, what is the matter?" demanded Mr Felton.
"Matter? The ship's on the wrong tack. You're sailing her out to sea;
and if she's not put round at once, we'll put her about for you."
Mr Felton laughed.
"Not so easy to sail out to sea in this wind as you think, my lad. I
wonder, now, if you really know what direction we are going in."
One of the four replied, "Nor'-east," unless he was mistaken.
"Bless me," said the officer, "and these are the men who pretend to
speak in the name of the British seaman! I should prefer to take the
word of the compass against yours in a cap of wind, my fine fellow, any
day. Nor'-east, indeed!"
"The compass will say the same as us; or maybe we're a point more to
eastward."
"You can satisfy yourself as to that if you please," said Mr Felton
dryly.--"Mr Gallagher, take these men and show them the compass. It
will be a lesson to them in navigation."
The laughter of the company succeeded in effectually damping the
confidence of our amateur seamen as they slowly followed me abaft.
"Steer gingerly round these guns," said I, as we passed the two guns
which had been brought to bear on the forecastle; "they're loaded.
Gently now; it's not so steady walking on a deck as round the Newgate
exercise-yard. Come away now.--Quartermaster, show a light on the
compass here for these gentlemen. They have come to give us a lesson in
seamanship."
"Compass!" said the quartermaster with a chuckle. "Ain't the stars good
enough for you? Who but a landlubber ever needed to look at a compass
to see which way the wind blew? However, look away; and if it's a point
out of due north call me a Dutchman."
The men peered stupidly over the compass.
"It's north, sure enough," growled the only man of the party who was at
all weatherwise. "I could have sworn it was nor'-east or more."
To encourage him I tapped the glass.
"We could make it nor'-east for you by putting a spring on the needle,
if that's what you want," said I with a laugh.
Callan and the others looked wisely at the mendacious instrument, and
then began to sheer off with the best grace they could.
"We should be in Yarmouth Roads at this rate by daybreak," said he,
"provided they play us no tricks."
"We'll see to that," said the old salt. "Now we know she's sailing
north we'll see she keeps so, or there'll be the mischief in it."
"Come away now," said I, "your friends will be missing you; and what
will become of your first, second, third, and fourth without you?"
It did not tend to raise the spirits of the four noble mariners as they
passed round the guns to hear the laughter and cries of "nor'-east by
east it is, sir," which greeted their passage. Nor did they quite
recover till they returned to the arms of their comrades, who bore them
off with the glorious news that a fresh cask of rum had been broached,
and that the lights of Yarmouth were already visible on the horizon.