The youths who had been captured were simple savages, with very little
clothing, and with an expression of considerable alarm on their faces.
As was afterwards learned, they had been coasting along the shore of the
large neighbouring island in a canoe; had observed the strange fires in
the night-time, and had crossed over the channel to see what could be
the cause thereof. On reaching the highest part of the island they
discovered some of the sailors, and turned to fly to their canoe, but
Blazer had observed them, their retreat was cut off, and they were
captured--not without a severe struggle, however, in which they were
very roughly handled.
Big Swinton, still smarting under the bruises and bites he had received
in the scuffle, dragged them forward, and demanded angrily what was to
be done to them.
"What have they done?" asked Trench.
"Done!--why, they have kicked and bitten like wildcats, and I doubt not
have come over here to see what they can steal. In my opinion a thief
deserves keel-hauling at the very least."
Master Trench's mouth expanded into a very broad smile as he looked
round the group of men. "D'ye hear that, lads, what _Master_ Swinton
thinks ought to be done to _thieves_?"
The men broke into a loud laugh, for even the most obtuse among them
could not fail to perceive the humour of the skipper's look and
question.
"You have nothing more to do wi' the matter, Trench, than any one else
has," returned Swinton. "I claim these lads as my prisoners, and I'll
do with them what I please. No man is master now. Might is right on
this island!"
The words had scarcely been uttered when Big Swinton felt his right
shoulder grasped as if in a vice, and next moment he was flung violently
to the ground, while Paul Burns stood over him with a huge piece of wood
in his hand, and a half-stern, half-smiling look on his countenance.
The men were taken completely by surprise, for Paul had, up to this
time, shown such a gentle unwarlike spirit that the crew had come to
regard him as "a soft lump of a fellow."
"Big Swinton," he said, in the mildest of voices, "as you have laid down
the law that `might is right,' you cannot, of course, object to my
acting on it. In virtue of that law, I claim these prisoners as mine,
so you may get up and go about your business. You see, lads," he added,
turning to the men, while Swinton rose and retired, "though I have no
wish to domineer over you or to usurp authority. I have a right to
claim that my voice shall be heard and my reasons weighed. As Swinton
truly remarked, no man is master now, but as he followed this remark by
making _himself_ master, and laying down a law for us, I thought it
might be complimentary to him just to act, for once, under his law, and
show him how well it works! Now, let me have a word with you.
"It is evident that the land over there is peopled with savages who,
probably, never saw white men before. If we treat these young fellows
kindly, and send them away with gifts in their hands, we shall, no
doubt, make friends of the savages. If we treat them ill, or kill them,
their relations will come over, mayhap in swarms, and drive us into the
sea. I drop the Swinton law of might being right, and ask you who are
now the law-makers--which is it to be--kindness or cruelty?"
"Kindness!" shouted by far the greater number of the audience, for even
bad men are ready enough to see and admit the beauty of truth and
justice when they are not themselves unpleasantly affected by these
principles.
The decision being thus made, Paul took the arm of one of the young
Indians and led him gently towards his fire, while the men scattered to
their several camps. Master Trench led the other youth in the same
kindly way, and little Oliver, motioning to them to sit down, set before
them two platters of pork and pancakes. This he did with such a
benignant smile that the poor youths were obviously relieved from the
dread of immediate and personal violence. After some glances of timid
uncertainty they began to eat.
"That's right," said Oliver, patting the bigger of the two on the
shoulder, "you'll find the victuals pretty good, though you're not much
used to 'em, mayhap."
Of course the youths did not understand the words, but they understood
and fully appreciated the feeling with which they were expressed. They
also appreciated most powerfully the viands. At first they were greatly
perplexed by the offer of knives and forks; but, after looking at these
implements gravely for a few moments, they laid them gently down, and
went to work in the natural way with fingers and teeth.
After they had finished the food, and licked the platters clean, they
were presented with several bright brass buttons, an old clasp-knife, a
comb, and a kerchief or two, with which inestimable gifts they embarked
in their canoe, and returned to the opposite shore.
That day a most important discovery was made among the wreckage, namely,
a case containing fish-hooks of various sizes and a number of lines.
With these, and the boat repaired, Master Trench saw his way to
prolonged existence on the island.
"To tell ye the plain truth," he remarked to Little Stubbs, with whom he
fell in while searching on the shore, "before this case of tackle was
found, I had no hope at all of surviving here, for a few barrels of pork
and flour could not last long among so many, and our end would have bin
something awful; but now, with God's blessing, we may do well enough
until we have time to think and plan for our escape."
"But d'ye think, master," said Stubbs, "that we shall find fish in them
waters?"
"Find 'em! Ay, I make no doubt o' that, but we shall soon put it to the
test, for the boat will be ready by to-morrow or next day at furthest,
and then we shall see what the fish hereabouts think o' salt pork. If
they take to it as kindly as the Indians did, we shall soon have grub
enough and to spare."
The natural tendency of man to bow to the best leader was shown
immediately after the incident of the capture of the Indians, for Paul
Burns was thence-forward quietly appealed to by most of the crew in all
circumstances which required much consideration. Paul, being a
law-respecting man, naturally turned to the skipper, whose decision was
usually final, and thus Master Trench dropped, by general consent, into
his old position of commander.
But it must not be supposed that all the party acquiesced in this
arrangement. There were men among that crew--such as Swinton, Blazer,
Garnet, and others--who, either from false training, bad example, or
warped spirits, had come to the condition of believing that the world
was made for their special behoof; that they possessed that "divine
right" to rule which is sometimes claimed by kings, and that whoever
chanced to differ from them was guilty of arrogance, and required to be
put down! These men were not only bad, like most of the others, but
revengeful and resolute. They submitted, in the meantime, to the
"might" of Paul Burns, backed as he was by numbers, but they nursed
their wrath to keep it warm, and, under the leadership of Big Swinton,
plotted the downfall of their rivals.
Meanwhile, being unquestionably "in power," Master Trench, Paul, Oliver,
Grummidge, Stubbs, and several of the well-affected, took possession of
the boat when ready, and, inviting Swinton to join them--as a stroke of
policy--pushed off, with hooks and lines, to make the first essay in the
way of fishing on the now famous Banks of Newfoundland.
Anchoring the boat in what they deemed a suitable spot, they went to
work.
"I wonder if they'll take to pork," remarked Stubbs, as he baited a
large hook.
"If they take to it as you do, we shall soon run short o' that article,"
said Swinton, dropping his hook into the water.
"I have brought off some shellfish," remarked Master Trench. "They may
prefer that."
"So have I, father," said Oliver, whose bait was already at the bottom,
"and if--hallo! hold on! hi! Oh! I say!"
While the boy was thus ejaculating, in a state of blazing excitement,
his arms, and indeed his body, to say nothing of his spirit, were being
jerked violently by his line in a way that suggested something awful at
the other end!
"Have a care, Olly!" "Gently, lad!" "Hold on, boy!" "Let 'im run!"
were among the contradictory pieces of advice given in various tones of
warning, remonstrance, or simple recommendation; but Oliver heeded them
not. Acting on his own judgment he drew his fish, or whatever it might
be, gradually and carefully from the deep.
"A mermaid it must be, to tug so hard," muttered Stubbs, as he and the
others looked on with eager interest.
"A mer_man_ if it's anything," said Squill; "sure there was never a maid
in the say, or out of it, as would tug like that."
"That depends," said Grummidge. "I've had 'em tuggin' at my
heart-strings worse than that many a time."
"Look out! Here it comes," cried Oliver, as something huge and white
was seen to flash wildly in the green depths. "Have the cleek ready."
"All ready, my boy," said his father, in a low voice, leaning over the
side with a stick, at the end of which was a large iron hook.
"Now then, father! Quick! Missed it? No! Hurrah!"
For a moment it seemed as if Master Trench had got Neptune himself on
his cleek, so severely did his stout frame quiver. Then he gave a
tremendous heave--"ya-hoy!" and up came a magnificent cod--the first of
a grand hecatomb of cod-fish which have since that day enriched the
world, nauseated the sick with "liver oil," and placed Newfoundland
among the most important islands of the British Empire.
"Well done, Olly!" exclaimed the delighted father; but he had barely
time to open his mouth for the next remark, when Squill uttered an Irish
yell, and was seen holding on to his line with desperate resolve stamped
on every feature.
"That's the merman this time," cried Stubbs.
"His gran'mother, no less," muttered Squill, in a strongly suppressed
voice, while he anxiously hauled in the line.
A shout from the other side of the boat here diverted attention.
"Attacked front and rear!" cried Paul, with a hilarious laugh, "I
shouldn't wonder if--hallo! N-no, it was only a nib--ha! there he is!"
And, truly, there he was in a few minutes, another splendid cod in the
bottom of the boat.
To make a long story short, the boat was nearly filled with cod before
the sun set, and that night was spent in general rejoicing and feasting
on fish--with a second course of pork and pancakes for those who were
insatiable.
But the state of contentment did not last long. The very next day there
was quarrelling as to who should go in the boat. To allay the
contention, Trench and Paul volunteered to stay in camp and help the
party that should be left to split and clean the fish, and erect tents
and booths. Again the fishing was successful, but dissensions about the
use of the boat soon became more violent than ever.
Of course, in all this Master Trench and his friend Paul took a
prominent part in trying to smooth matters, to the intense jealousy of
Big Swinton and his sympathisers. In short, the camp ere long was
divided into two hostile bands--the moderately bad and the immoderately
wicked, if we may so put it. The first, who were few in number, sided
with Trench and his friends; the second declared for Swinton. But the
resolute bearing of Paul and the skipper, and the fact that the whole
party was destitute of weapons (except clubs cut out of the bush, and a
few clasp-knives), kept the larger and more vicious party in check.
Swinton and his friends, therefore, had recourse to secret plotting;
but, plot as they would, they had not sufficient brain-power among them
to devise a method by which to free themselves of the men they envied.
At last circumstances favoured them. It was found necessary to send men
to the other side of the island to cut and fetch over some small trees
that grew there, in order to make stages on which to dry their fish. As
the operation would require part of two days, it was proposed to spend
the night there. Swinton was to command the party, and Master Trench
said, jestingly, that he and Master Burns, with Olly, would stay to
guard the camp! The wood-cutting party was to start early the next day.
Then a plan of revenge flashed into Big Swinton's mind. That night he
revealed it to those of his friends whom he could trust, and who were
necessary to his purpose. The night following--while the men around
them should be sleeping at the other side of the island, and their
enemies were alone in the camp--was fixed on for the execution of their
purpose.