WE ARE MARCHED BACK TO THE VILLAGE--CARRIED ON BOARD THE "VULTURE"--SENT
DOWN BELOW--TUBBS REFUSES TO TURN PIRATE--AN UNPLEASANT NIGHT--THE SHIP
UNDER WEIGH--CROSSING THE BAR--ALLOWED TO GO ON DECK--AT SEA--ANOTHER
NIGHT--ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE A PURSUER--SOUNDS OF A FIGHT REACH US--WE BREAK
OUR WAY OUT--THE CAPTAIN ATTEMPTS TO BLOW UP THE SHIP--WE STOP HIM AND
MAKE HIM PRISONER--A PARTY FROM THE FRIGATE ON BOARD THE PIRATE--CHARLEY
APPEARS--LIEUTENANT HALLTON DOUBTS THE VESSEL BEING A PIRATE--TRUSTS THE
CREW--A PLEASANT SUPPER--UNPLEASANTLY AROUSED FROM SLEEP BY SEEING THE
LIEUTENANT AND CHARLEY IN THE HANDS OF THE PIRATES--A TRICK TO DECEIVE
THE FRIGATE--THE PIRATE MAKES SAIL AND ESCAPES FROM THE FRIGATE.
Harry and I trudged along side by side, feeling dreadfully out of
spirits at the ill success of our attempt to escape, as also at the
thought of the sad fate which had befallen the good-natured Frenchmen.
We also could not help considering ourselves in a degree guilty of the
death of the three men we had induced to desert, as well as of that of
our friends and their attendants. Tubbs tried to cheer us up.
"Maybe the blacks would have attacked the Frenchmen whether we had been
with them or not," he observed; "and as for the rest, it is the fortune
of war. We tried to escape but failed; better luck next time, say I."
This, however, was but poor consolation, as we could only expect the
harshest treatment at the hands of Captain Roderick, even if he did not
put us to death. Whether he would do that or not was doubtful. The
mate, however, did not seem inclined to ill-treat us, except that we
each had to carry a heavy load, while a dozen men were placed behind and
on each side of us; but we were allowed to march as we liked, and to
converse freely together. Though we had slept the previous night, we
were pretty well tired out when a halt was called and preparations made
to bivouac. Supper was prepared by the cooks, and we were allowed as
large a share as we required. The mate then told us to lie down
together, a couple of black fellows with arms in their hands being
placed over us.
"You'll not attempt to run," observed the mate. "I have given orders to
these fellows to shoot you if you do; so the consequences be on your own
heads."
"No fear of that," answered Harry. "We'll promise to sleep as soundly
as we can until we are called in the morning."
"One good thing, we've not got to keep watch," observed Tom Tubbs; "and
I hope our black guards will keep a look-out for any snake, leopard, or
lion who may chance to poke his nose into the camp; although I wish that
Mr Pikehead had left us our arms to defend ourselves."
We were too tired to talk much, and I believe we all slept soundly until
morning, when we were roused up to breakfast and resume our march. It
was late in the day when we reached the village. Fortunately for us,
the owner of the house we had formerly occupied was still absent, and
the theft committed by the pirates was not discovered. Soon after we
arrived Captain Roderick made his appearance, a sardonic smile on his
countenance.
"You thought to escape me," he said. "You acted foolishly, and must
take the consequences. Had you been shot, your blood would have been on
your heads, not on mine. I intend to take good care that you shall not
play the same trick again. You will now come on board the `Vulture,'
and it is your own fault that you will not be treated with the same
leniency that you were before. My crew will see that I do not allow
such tricks to be played with impunity. Lash their hands behind them,
Pikehead, and bring them along."
The mate, with the aid of three seamen, immediately secured our hands
behind our backs, and we were led down, amid the hoots and derisive
laughter of the population, to the boat which conveyed us on board the
"Vulture." Having been allowed to stand for some minutes in that
condition exposed to the view of the crew, we were ordered down below.
As we passed near the main hatchway, we saw that the slave-deck was
already crowded with blacks, seated literally like herrings in a tub, as
close as they could be packed side by side, with shackles round their
necks and legs. Our destination was, however, lower down by the after
hatchway. As soon as we were below the deck, our arms were released,
and we were able to help ourselves down the narrow ladder which led into
the cable-tier. Here, in a space which allowed us room only to sit with
our knees together, without being able to stand up or walk about, the
mate told us we were to remain.
"You may consider yourselves very fortunate, my fine fellows, that worse
has not happened to you," he said. "How you'll like it if it comes on
to blow, and the hatches are battened down, is more than I can say.
You'll get your food though, for the captain doesn't want to take your
lives--he has some scruples about that--nor do I. Indeed, you might
have escaped as far as I was concerned, although it was fortunate for
you I came, up when I did, or those Ashingo savages would have put you
to death as they did your companions."
"We are grateful for the leniency with which we have been treated, but
may I ask what the captain intends doing with us?" I said.
"Why, I suppose that he intends to sell you two young gentlemen as
slaves in the Brazils. He will give your faces and bodies a coating of
black, and put you with the rest of the negroes," answered the mate.
"And as for you," he exclaimed, turning to Tubbs, "you might have been
treated as a deserter; and if you don't sign articles and join us, you
will probably have to walk the plank. I say this as a hint to you. If
you act wisely, you'll be set at liberty as soon as we get into blue
water."
"You reckon wrongly if you think I'll join this craft or any other like
her," answered Tubbs stoutly. "I'm ready to take the consequences, for
turn pirate I won't; so you have my answer."
The mate laughed.
"Many a fine fellow has said that and changed his tone when he has seen
the plank rigged or the yard-arm with a running bowline from it.
However, I must not waste words on you. I'll send you down your
suppers, and you must manage to stow yourselves away in the best manner
you can think of for sleep. One of you must needs sit up, and he'll
have plenty to do in keeping off the rats and cockroaches, for you'll be
somewhat troubled by them, I suspect."
We thanked the mate for the promise of sending us some supper, and
wished him good-night; and I really believe that, as far as his
brutalised nature would allow, he intended to be kind to us. Cramped as
we were in the hot stifling hold, it was a long time before any one of
us could go to sleep. We were, I should have said, left in total
darkness; not the slightest gleam of light descending into the part of
the hold in which we were confined. At length I was awakened from a
tolerable sleep by a noise which betokened that the ship was getting
under weigh. I did not like to arouse my companions; but Tubbs, who had
been sitting on a locker, started up exclaiming--
"Ay, ay! I'll be on deck in a twinkling." The blow he gave his head
against the beam above him, roused him up. "Bless my heart! I forgot
where I was," he said. "Yes, the ship's under weigh, no doubt about
that, and we shall be out at sea in the course of a few hours if we have
the tide and wind with us, and don't ground on the bar and get knocked
to pieces."
After some time Harry awoke. I told him that the ship was running down
the river.
"Our chance of escape for the present is over, then," he said with a
deep sigh.
He had naturally been thinking of home and Lucy and his blighted
prospects; so indeed had I. Tubbs, as before, tried to cheer us up by
talking on various subjects.
"There's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," he observed.
"Although the captain fancies his craft faster than anything afloat, he
may catch a tartar in the shape of a British man-of-war before we cross
the Atlantic. As to selling us into slavery, I don't believe he'll
attempt it. He must know that before long we would find means of
communicating with a British consul or some other authority, and make
our cases known. If he had talked of selling us to the Moors or Turks,
the case would have been different. Once among those fellows, we should
have found it a hard matter to escape."
"Still he may sell us," observed Harry; "and perhaps months and years
will pass before we can let our friends know where we are."
"Well, well, that'll be better than having to walk the plank or being
run up at the yard-arm," said Tubbs. "We must not cry out until we are
hurt, although I'll own that I'd rather have more room to stretch my
legs in than this place affords. I hope Master Pikehead won't forget to
send us the food he promised; I'm getting rather sharp set already."
Harry and I confessed that we were also feeling very hungry. Even the
talking about food gave a new turn to our thoughts. At last we heard
the hatch above our heads lifted, and the black steward came down with a
bowl of farina and a jug of water. It was the same food the slaves were
fed on, but we thought it wise to make no complaint.
"It shows that the captain has no intention to starve us," observed
Harry. "However, this is better than mouldy biscuit and rancid pork,
such as I have heard say seamen are too often fed upon."
"You've heard say the truth, sir," observed Tubbs. "Often and often
I've known the whole ship's company get no better fare than that, with
little better than bilge water to drink. If we get enough stuff like
this, we shall grow fat, at all events."
The steward, leaving the bowl between us, quickly disappeared up the
hatchway. The only light we had was from a bull's-eye overhead, which
enabled us, as Tubbs said, "barely to see the way to our mouths;" we
could not, at all events, distinguish each other's features. Although
we could not see, we felt the claws of numerous visitors crawling over
us, and smelt them too, and now and then were sensible that a big rat
was nibbling at our toes, although, by kicking and stamping, at the risk
of hitting each other's shins, we kept them at bay. Notwithstanding
this, we managed to sleep pretty soundly at intervals.
Tubbs assured us that the ship was gliding on, although it might be some
time before she reached the bar, as it was impossible to judge at what
rate she was sailing. Now and then we felt her heel over slightly to
starboard, showing that the wind was more abeam, or rather that we were
passing along a reach running to the southward; then, when she came up
again on an even keel, we knew that we were standing directly to the
westward. At last we felt her bows lift, then down she glided, to rise
again almost immediately afterwards, while the increased sound of the
water dashing on her sides showed us that we were crossing the bar.
"There is some sea on, I guess, and I know what it is with these African
rivers. Should the wind suddenly shift southward, we may be driven on a
rock or sandbank, and we and all on board will have a squeak for life,"
observed Tubbs.
"I hope not, although anything might be better than being carried into
slavery," observed Harry. "But we ought not to despair. I have been
thinking and praying over the matter, and know that God can deliver us
if He thinks fit. We must trust Him; I'm sure that's the only thing to
be done. In all the troubles and trials of life. At all times we must
do our duty, and, as I say, trust Him; even when bound hand and foot as
we are at present, all we can do is still to trust Him."
I heartily responded to Harry's remark, and so I believe did Tubbs, who,
although nothing of a theologian, not even knowing the meaning of the
word, was a pious man in his rough way.
"Ay, ay, sir," he said. "I know that God made us, and He has a right to
our service; and if we don't run away from Him and hide ourselves, He'll
look after us a precious deal better than we can look after ourselves.
That's my religion, and it's my opinion it's the sum total of all the
parsons can tell us."
"Not quite," said Harry, "although it goes a long way. We are sinners
in God's sight, whatever we are in the sight of men; and if God in His
mercy hadn't given us a way by which we can be made friends to Him and
saved from punishment, we should be in a bad condition."
"You are right, sir," answered Tubbs; "but to my idea that's all
included in what I said."
We sat listening in silence.
"We are pretty well over the bar now, and I don't think we shall be cast
away this time," he observed a few minutes afterwards.
That he was right we were convinced by the more regular movement of the
vessel, as she slowly rose and fell, moved by the undulations which
rolled in towards the coast. We could judge that she was making good
way, and Tubbs was of opinion that all sail was set, and that we were
standing to the westward. At the time the slaves were fed, we had a
bowl of farina brought us, but the man put it down and disappeared again
without saying a word. Soon afterwards the mate came down, and told me
that I might come on deck for a quarter of an hour to stretch my legs.
I was thankful to breathe the fresh air, although there was but little
of it, and the ship was almost becalmed. I glanced astern, and could
distinguish the shore, although I could no longer make out the mouth of
the river. We had, at all events, got a safe offing. When my time was
up I was sent below and Harry took my place, and he was succeeded by
Tubbs. We were treated, however, with no more consideration than was
afforded to the slaves, who were brought up on deck at intervals in the
same fashion. The hold felt doubly close and oppressive after the
mouthful of fresh air we had enjoyed.
The second night of our captivity was even more trying than the first,
for the atmosphere of the hold, into which the horrible odour from the
slave-deck penetrated, was becoming every hour more and more
unendurable. I feared that should we be kept below during the voyage,
I, at all events, would sink under it, for I already felt sick almost to
death, and my spirits were at a lower ebb than they had ever before
reached. Harry was almost in as bad a condition as I was. Tubbs, who
had been well seasoned in the close air of forecastles, held out better
than we did.
"Don't give way, young gentlemen, whatever you do," he said very
frequently to us. "Cheer up, cheer up! When we get a breeze, some of
it will find its way down here perhaps; and if not, I'll ask the skipper
if he wishes to kill us by inches, and I'll tell him he'll never land
either of us if we are kept shut up in this hold and treated worse than
the negroes. They are born to it, as it were, and we are not, and have
been accustomed to pure air all our lives."
I did not quite agree with Tubbs as to negroes being born to be shut up
in the hold of a slave ship, but I did not just then contradict him. By
a faint gleam, like the light of a glow-worm, which came down from
overhead, we knew that it was morning, and soon afterwards we felt the
ship heel over to larboard, or port as it is now called. In a short
time the increasing motion also showed us that the sea had got up. We
heard sounds which indicated that sail was being shortened. We stood
on, it might have been an hour, on the same tack, when the ship was put
about, and now she heeled over more often, and pitched and tumbled about
in a way which showed that it was blowing fresh. The cries of the
wretched slaves, unaccustomed to the motion, reached our ears, while the
tossing stirred up the bilge water and almost stifled us. Two or three
hours passed, when the ship became somewhat steadier. Tubbs averred
that the helm had been put up, and that we were running before the wind.
"There's something taking place, although I cannot make out just what it
is to a certainty; but I've a notion that there is some craft in sight
which the `Vulture' wants to escape; and if so, I hope she won't."
"So do I, indeed," murmured Harry. "I shall die if we remain here much
longer."
Another hour of suffering and anxiety passed, when Tubbs roused Harry
and me--for we had dropped off in a kind of stupor--by exclaiming--
"Holloa! What was that? A shot, or I'm a Dutchman."
As he spoke I distinctly heard the sound of a gun, though it seemed to
be at a great distance. We listened with bated breath. Again there
came a faint boom, and at the same instant a crash, which told us that
the shot had struck the ship.
"Hurrah! I thought so," cried Tom; "there's a man-of-war in chase of
us, and it is pretty evident that the `Vulture' has no wish to engage
her, or she would not have been trying to get away, as she has been for
some hours past."
We waited now with intense anxiety. We knew that the "Vulture" was a
fast craft, and that it was too likely she had just passed within range
of her pursuer's guns, but might escape notwithstanding. Except by the
motion of the vessel, we could not possibly judge how we were steering.
In spite of the stifling atmosphere, our senses were wide awake. Again
there came the sound of a gun. Although the shot did not strike the
ship, yet it seemed to us that our pursuer must be nearer. Another and
another shot followed. The "Vulture's" guns were now fired, although I
was surprised to find how little noise they appeared to make, and could
scarcely believe that they were fired from our deck, had not Tubbs
assured us of the fact. Then there came a lull, and we heard a whole
broadside fired, the crashing and rending sound showing that the shot
had torn through the bulwarks and sides of the ship. The fearful
shrieks which rose from the hold made us fear that the miserable slaves
had suffered, though perhaps their cries rose from terror as much as
from the injuries they had received. A fearful uproar ensued, the roar
of the great guns, the rattle of musketry, the shouts of the slaver's
crew, the shrieks and cries of the slaves, the groans of the wounded,
the rending and crashing of planks mingled, were well-nigh deafening
even to us. Presently there came a crash. The ship seemed to reel, a
shudder passed through her whole frame.
"They've run us aboard," cried Tubbs, "and maybe the ship with all hands
will be sent to the bottom. We must get out of this somehow to try and
save our lives. There will be no one on the look-out to stop us."
The boatswain's exclamations made us fear that probably our last moments
were at hand.
"We must try and find something to help us to force our way out," cried
Tubbs. "If we cannot get the hatch off, we must make our way through
this bulkhead. Hurrah! here's an iron bar."
As he spoke, Harry and I laid hold of it to be sure that he was not
mistaken. How it came there, of course we could not tell.
"Now, keep behind me, that I may have room to use it," he exclaimed.
We obeyed and he commenced a furious attack on the bulkhead. The crash
which followed showed that he had succeeded in driving in some of the
planking. He worked away with the fury of despair, fully believing that
ere long the ship would be sent to the bottom. The noise he made
prevented our hearing what was going forward on deck; indeed, all sounds
were undistinguishable by this time.
"There is room to pass now," he cried.
He led the way through an opening he had formed. We followed him, but
still found that there was another bulkhead before us. He quickly
attacked that, and in a few seconds had demolished a sufficient portion
to enable us to creep through. We found a ladder, which led, we judged,
into the captain's cabin. We climbed up it, and were just on the point
of springing through a skylight which would have led us on to the
poop-deck, when we saw Captain Roderick himself enter, a pistol in his
right hand and a sword in the other, his countenance exhibiting rage and
despair. He did not observe us. Several casks of powder, which had
been brought up to be more ready at hand, were piled in one corner of
the cabin. He pointed his pistol, his intention was evidently to blow
up the ship and all on board. In another moment his desperate purpose
would have been effected. As if moved by one impulse, we all three
sprang upon him, Tubbs grasping his right wrist and turning the pistol
away, the bullet striking the deck above. Mercifully none of the sparks
fell on the powder. Tubbs, grasping him by the throat, and throwing
himself with his whole force upon him, brought him to the deck, while
Harry and I each seized an arm and knelt upon his body to prevent him
from rising. Although we exerted all our strength, it was with the
greatest difficulty we could keep him down. He seemed now like a wild
beast than a human being. He gnashed his teeth and glared fiercely at
us.
"Be quiet, captain, won't you?" exclaimed Tubbs. "We have saved you and
ourselves from being blown into the air, and you ought to thank us."
The captain made no answer. I looked round for a piece of rope or some
means of securing him; for had he been set loose, he would probably have
accomplished his purpose, and we, of course, were eager to get on deck
and try and save our lives, for we fully believed that the "Vulture" was
on the point of sinking. The guns, however, had ceased firing, although
there was a stamping overhead, the clashing of hangers, and the
occasional sounds of pistols at the further end of the ship.
"The man-of-war's men have gained the after part, and have driven the
pirates forward," observed Tubbs; "we shall soon have some of our people
here to help us."
Again the captain gnashed his teeth and made an effort to free himself.
"It's all of no use, captain," said Tubbs. "I don't want to take your
life, but if you don't keep quiet, I shall be obliged to draw my knife
across your windpipe."
The captain evidently fully believed that the boatswain intended to do
what he threatened.
"You've treated us with less severity than we might have expected,
Captain Roderick," said Harry. "Will you give us your word that you
will not again attempt to destroy the ship, or to attack any of the
people who have captured her, and we will conduct you into a cabin where
you must remain until to-morrow, or until you are set at liberty?"
Captain Roderick made no reply.
All this time the ship, I should have said, had been rolling and
pitching, and it was very evident that she had broken loose from the
man-of-war. It might possibly be that the pirates had gained the upper
hand, but the appearance of Captain Roderick below convinced us to the
contrary. At length the sounds I have described ceased, although there
was a continuous tramping of feet overhead, and the rattling of blocks
and yards.
"They are shortening sail," observed Tubbs; "we shall soon have some one
below to relieve us of this gentleman, and I'm thankful to say I don't
believe the ship's going down just yet. If he had thought she was, he
wouldn't have taken the trouble to try and blow her up."
We could see Captain Roderick's eyes glaring at us, but Tubbs held him
too tight by the throat to allow him to speak. So violent were his
struggles, however, that he nearly got one of his arms loose, on which
Tom tightened his grip until the pirate captain was nearly black in the
face. In spite of this, giving a sudden jerk, he freed the arm Harry
was holding down, when three persons appeared at the door. One was, I
saw, a naval officer, by his uniform--the other two, seamen. I shouted
to them to come to my assistance, and seeing what we were about, they
sprang forward.
"Get some rope and lash this man; he is mad, I believe," I cried out.
"Go and get it," said the officer. One of the sailors sprang on deck,
while the two newcomers assisted us in keeping down the infuriated
pirate. He was, I fully believed, from the almost supernatural strength
he exhibited, mad.
The seaman quickly returned with a coil of rope, with which the officer
and his men, aided by Tubbs, soon lashed Captain Roderick's arms and
legs in a way which prevented him from moving until he was secured to
the mizenmast, which came through the cabin, when we felt that we were
safe from his attacks. I had not hitherto looked into the countenance
of the officer, nor he into mine. What was my surprise, then, to see a
face I well knew.
"Charley!" I exclaimed.
"Dick!" was the answer. "Can it be you?" and my brother and I grasped
each other's hands. He had grown into a tall young man, and certainly I
should not have recognised him by his figure. I was also greatly
altered; besides he would not have recognised me in my present
condition--my countenance pale, my dress begrimed with dirt, torn, and
travel-stained. I introduced Harry and Tubbs to him, and he shook hands
with them both. There was no time for talking. He told us that the
frigate had lighted the slaver, which had refused to heave to, and had
had the audacity to fire at his Majesty's ship. A gale coming on, as
the only means of securing her, the frigate had run the slaver on board,
when he with a lieutenant and eight men had leapt down on her deck,
expecting to be followed by more of the crew, but, before they had time
to spring on board, the ships parted. The slaver's crew, as he called
them, had made a desperate resistance, but a considerable number having
been killed and more badly wounded, the survivors had been driven
forward and yielded. "Having ceased to resist, the slaver's crew," he
said, "had promised to assist in shortening sail, and apparently in good
faith, having yielded up their arms, set about doing so. We have now
got under snug canvas. There is too heavy a sea running to allow of a
boat with more hands being sent to our assistance. However, as we have
complete mastery of the people, we can do very well without them. Mr
Hallton, the second lieutenant of the `Rover,' our frigate, was
inquiring for the captain of this craft, when he was told that he must
either have been killed or fallen overboard, but one of his crew
suggested that he might have gone below. Another then owned that he had
heard the captain say, that sooner than fall into the hands of an enemy,
he would blow the ship up. On hearing this, Mr Hallton sent me down
below to search for him."
"You would have been too late had we not providentially prevented him
from executing his mad scheme," I observed; and I then told him how we
had discovered the captain in the very act of attempting to blow up the
ship. "But you mistake the character of this craft," I said; and I
briefly told him how she had captured the "Arrow," and how we had been
treated since we fell into Captain Roderick's hands.
"That greatly alters the aspect of affairs," he observed, looking grave.
"If you will come on deck with me, we will inform Mr Hallton. Perhaps
he is inclined to treat the crew rather leniently, and to put more
confidence in their promises than he would do if he were aware of her
real character."
Harry on this desired Tubbs to watch the pirate.
"I should be glad to do it, sir, but I should like a sniff of the
sea-breeze," answered Tom. "I want just to pump out all the foul air
I've got down my throat."
"Well," said Charley, laughing, "one of my men shall remain instead of
you. Noakes, stand by this man, and shoot him through the head if any
one approaches to set him free or he manages to cast off the lashings,
although he'll not do that in a hurry, I suspect."
On going on deck, we found Mr Hallton, the second lieutenant of the
"Rover," standing aft, giving directions to heave the dead bodies
overboard and to collect the wounded, to attend to whom he summoned
several of the most respectable-looking of their shipmates. The
"Vulture" had not suffered much in her rigging, and was now hove to
under a closely-reefed main-topsail. She rode so easily that I was not
aware until then that a heavy sea was running, and had been surprised at
Charley telling me that the two ships could not communicate. Charley
introduced me to Mr Hallton, and briefly ran over the events of which I
had given him an account.
"A pirate, do you say she is?" exclaimed the lieutenant. "I must really
beg leave to doubt that. She is full of slaves, in the first place, and
the captain and his crew very naturally fought to defend their property.
But you say, Westerton, that you have found the captain. I will
examine him and ascertain the state of the case."
"But my brother here, sir, and Mr Bracewell, and the boatswain of the
`Arrow,' aver that they were taken out of their vessel and detained by
force on board this ship, and there can be no doubt of her piratical
character."
"I beg that you will wait to give your opinion until you are asked for
it, Mr Westerton," answered the lieutenant in a gruff tone. "I say
that she's a slaver, and, as such, being taken full of slaves, we will
condemn her. With regard to her piratical character, that has to be
proved."
I was very much surprised at the way in which the lieutenant spoke.
Charley told me that the report on board was that he himself had served
on board a slaver, if not a pirate, in his younger days, and that he was
stubborn and ill-tempered in the extreme. "Whether or not he has found
any of his old associates on board the craft I cannot say, but I know
that the crew gave in very soon when they saw him leading the boarders
across the deck. To be sure he fought like a tiger, and cut down
several fellows, so that I cannot suppose that he has any great love for
them, at all events."
The cries and groans which ascended from the slave-deck soon drew our
attention towards it, and Mr Hallton sent Charley with four hands down
to ascertain their condition. I accompanied him, having procured a
brace of pistols and a hanger, without which I should not have liked to
venture among them. A dreadful sight met our eyes. Three or four of
the frigate's shot had entered and swept right across the deck, taking
off the heads of not less than eight men in one row, and wounding others
on the further side of the ship in another row as if it had gone through
diagonally; while the legs of a still greater number had been shot away.
Most of the badly wounded were dead, but others were still writhing in
agony. I need not picture all the horrors we witnessed. Charley told
me to go on deck and obtain assistance. The lieutenant replied that I
might take some of the slaver's crew, but that he could not spare his
own men. I went forward to where they were collected, but found only
three, to whom Harry and I had rendered some service in dressing their
wounds, willing to give themselves any trouble in performing the task.
They, however, got tackles rigged, and we hoisted up three and sometimes
four bodies together, all dripping with gore, a terrible sight, and then
swung them overboard. Even this took some time. The wounded thought
that they were to be treated in the same manner, and we had great
difficulty in persuading them that we intended to do them no harm, but
rather to attend to their hurts. Altogether, fifty men had been killed,
or had died from fright, or succumbed directly they were lifted on deck
from their wounds. Charley proposed having the survivors up, so that
the slave-deck might be washed and cleaned from the mass of gore and
filth collected upon it, but Mr Hallton replied that it was perfectly
unnecessary, and that if the slaves should break loose, we might have to
kill them all, or be ourselves overpowered. This I thought very likely
to happen, though I felt that a few might safely be brought up while the
part of the deck they had sat upon was cleansed. Harry and I, however,
did our best to attend to their wants. We carried down water and
supplied a cup to each. They mostly received the water scarcely casting
a glance of gratitude towards us; but one man exhibited a marked
contrast to this behaviour, and, as I handed him the cup, he exclaimed
before drinking it--"Tankee, massa, tankee, massa," and then quaffed it
eagerly, showing how much his parched throat required the refreshing
fluid.
"Do you understand English?" I asked, thinking perhaps that these were
the only words he could speak.
"Yes, massa; him talky English, him serve board English ship."
I inquired his name. He told me it was Aboh. I found, however, that
although he might understand me, his vocabulary was very limited. I
should have liked to have given him another cup of water, but as I knew
that the rest of the slaves would consider themselves ill-treated if I
favoured one more than another, I refrained from doing so, but I
promised to remember him. I then begged that he would speak to his
companions, and advise them to be quiet, telling them that we would do
everything in our power for their benefit. I heard him shout out what
appeared to me to be perfect gibberish, but it had the desired effect,
and they at once became far more tranquil than they had hitherto been.
Night was now rapidly coming on; the frigate was hove to about half a
mile to windward, and, as Tubbs observed to me, both ships appeared to
be making very fine weather of it considering the heavy gale blowing.
The frigate showed signal lights, and the lieutenant ordered ours to be
hoisted in return. Captain Roderick had hitherto remained lashed to the
mast, but he could not, without cruelty, be left there all night, and it
was necessary to decide what should be done with him. Lieutenant
Hallton considered that it would be sufficient to shut him up in one of
the cabins and place a sentry over him. Charley suggested that his
wrists, at all events, should be placed in irons, as in his savage mood
it was impossible to say what he might do. The lieutenant was
obstinate.
"The man was only acting as he believed right in defending his own ship,
and I'm not one to tyrannise over a fallen enemy," he answered in
somewhat a scornful tone.
Charley could say no more. The lieutenant went below to look out for a
suitable cabin in which to place Captain Roderick--Tubbs, Harry, and I,
with three men, accompanied him. To our surprise, we found the pirate
quiet enough. His mad fit had apparently passed away.
"I am sorry to give you all this trouble," he said quite calmly. "You
young gentlemen will, I hope, return good for evil, and I shall be
grateful."
We were, however, not to be deceived by such an address. Charley
replied that his orders were to place him in his cabin by himself, and
that was better treatment than he might have expected.
"Certainly," answered Captain Roderick, looking quite pleased; "it is a
favour I should not have ventured to ask for. If my steward has
escaped, I'll trouble you to tell him I should like some food. He is a
good cook, and if you order him, he will prepare supper for you,
gentlemen. He knows where all the provisions are stowed and will
speedily carry out your directions."
On this being reported to Mr Hallton, he immediately ordered supper to
be prepared in the chief cabin.
As I moved across the deck, the only difference I could see between the
man-of-war's men and the pirates was, that the former were armed and
that the latter were not; but as they still numbered more men than the
party from the "Rover," it struck me that they might easily possess
themselves of the means of offence and master their captors. During
daylight it was not likely that they would venture to do this, as the
frigate would quickly have retaken the ship. I clearly remember this
idea passing through my mind. As Harry and I had had nothing but farina
for the past three days, and for several hours we had been without food,
we were very glad when we were summoned into the cabin. Here we found a
really handsome repast spread out, everything secured by "fiddles" and
"puddings," for the ship was tumbling about too much to allow the plates
and glasses otherwise to have remained on the table.
As Tubbs was a respectable man in his appearance, the lieutenant, with
more politeness than might have been expected, invited him to supper.
It may be supposed that we all did justice to the meal placed before us.
Charley had to go on deck until the lieutenant had finished supper;
when he had done so, he went up saying that he would send my brother
down to have some food.
Charley, however, had to hurry again on deck, as he said Mr Hallton
wanted him to keep a look-out. The lieutenant had, considering the time
he had been occupied, imbibed no small amount of liquor, though it did
not appear to have affected his head.
Harry, Tubbs, and I ate our suppers more leisurely. As may be supposed,
having obtained but a few winks of sleep the two previous nights, we
soon became drowsy Harry proposed turning in.
"If we do, we must keep one eye open and our hangers by our sides,"
observed Tubbs. "I don't quite like the freedom of the lieutenant with
these buccaneering fellows. If we hadn't got the King's ship close to
us, they would be playing us some scurvy trick, depend upon that."
As Harry and I could be of no use on deck at night, and Tubbs really
required rest, we all lay down, Harry and I each taking a sofa at the
further end of the cabin, while Tubbs stowed himself away in a berth
which had been occupied by one of the mates who had been killed in the
late action. I was just dropping off to sleep when I heard a scuffle,
and on looking up, what was my dismay to see two seamen grasping the
arms of the lieutenant, who had just before entered the cabin, while two
others were hauling Charley along. The sentry, instead of attempting to
assist Mr Hallton, presented his musket at us, exclaiming--
"If you interfere, gentlemen, I am ordered to shoot you."
As we saw several other men at the entrance of the cabin with muskets in
their hands, we knew that resistance was useless. I was indeed too much
astonished and confused, suddenly awakened as I had been out of my
sleep, to say or do anything. I fancied for some seconds that I was
dreaming. Here were the tables turned, and that with a vengeance. It
was very evident that the pirates had tampered with the man-of-war's
men, who were probably a bad lot, as was too often the case on board
King's ships in those days, and that thus they had easily been won over.
Mr Hallton's folly and obstinacy had also greatly contributed to
enable the pirates to carry out their project. I should have been less
surprised had Captain Roderick been at liberty, but, as far as I could
then see, he had had no hand in the business. I had good reason to
dread the way he would serve us when he once more found himself in
command of the ship and that we were in his power, when he would, I
feared, wreak his vengeance on our heads for the way we had treated him.
These thoughts passed rapidly through my mind. Harry and Tubbs, who had
been fast asleep, were awakened by the entrance of the party, and now
sat up rubbing their eyes, as much astonished as I had been.
Tubbs, who was but partly awake, sprang to his feet and made a step
forward as if to interfere, but seeing the sentry pointing his musket at
his head, he sat down again.
"Well, this is a pretty go," he exclaimed. "Who commands this ship I
should like to know, and then I can settle whether I'll do duty or turn
in and go to sleep again?"
"Belay your jaw-tackle, master," growled out one of the pirates who had
advanced into the cabin. "You're mighty too free with your tongue, fine
fellow as you think yourself. A better man than you commands her, and
he'll soon show you whose master."
I must own I cared very little about Mr Hallton, but I felt the deepest
anxiety as to how Charley might be treated. I feared the pirates less
than I did the "Rover's" men, who had thus turned traitors to their King
and country, for they were too likely to add crime upon crime, and to
murder their officers. Had Mr Hallton and Charley been armed, we might
have made an effort to release them, but they had both been deprived of
their swords and I felt sure that Harry, Tubbs, and I would be
unsuccessful, and only make matters worse.
The seamen, having now bound the arms of the two officers behind them,
led them into an inner cabin, where, shutting the door, they locked and
bolted it.
"Now, you three, go on deck and help work the ship," said one of the
men, whom I recognised as the third officer of the "Vulture," but who
had slipped into sailor's clothes, probably to deceive his captors.
I could scarcely suppose that all this time Captain Roderick had any
hand in the mutiny, for, to the best of my belief, he had been shut up
in the cabin, and was still there. The mate teemed to be of the same
opinion, for he bade the sentry open the door. He did so, when Captain
Roderick was seen stretched on his couch. At the first glance I thought
he was dead, but he was only in a deep sleep, so deep that all the noise
outside had not aroused him. The mate shook him by the arm, but it had
no effect. I was thankful for this, for I dreaded that, should he awake
and find us in his power, he might commit some act of violence. Lest he
should be awakened, Harry, Tubbs, and I gladly made our escape on deck.
I prayed that no harm would be done to Charley, for I felt more anxious
about him than about myself. On reaching the deck, I looked out for the
frigate, I could just see her light away to windward, but it seemed to
me much further off than before. The gale had abated somewhat, but both
ships were still hove to. The mate speedily followed us up, and gave
orders to the men to bring some long spars to the quarter-deck. He then
got a grating, to which he fixed the spars upright, so as to form a
cone-shaped structure; then turning it over, he secured some rather
shorter spars in the same way, fixing a shot at the point where they
united. Inside the points of the upper end, a ship's lantern was
securely hung, when the machine was carefully lowered overboard, the
light we had hitherto carried being extinguished. Immediately this was
done, the order was given to put the helm up, and the foresail being
squared away, we ran before the gale, leaving the light burning at the
spot where we had been. There was no doubt about its object; it was to
deceive the man-of-war, so that, until the trick was discovered, it was
not likely that we should be chased. The hope that I had hitherto
entertained that we might, after all, be quickly recaptured, now
vanished. The mate assumed the command--the crew seemed willing to obey
him. Whether he intended to retain it or not I could not tell, but I
thought that he certainly would should he find that Captain Roderick
remained as mad as I was convinced he was when he attempted to blow up
the ship.
As the gale slightly decreased, more sail was made, and before morning
the "Vulture" had as much canvas packed on her as she could carry. We
were kept on deck pulling and hauling until our arms ached. When dawn
broke I looked astern. The frigate was nowhere to be seen.