“The frigate was again disguised as a merchantman, as, if she had passed
within sight of the island looking like a ship of war, it would have put
the pirates on their guard, and I had told the captain there were guns
enough at the mouth of the cove to blow the ship's boats out of the
water. As to the frigate getting in, I knew she couldn't, for there was
only just enough water at the entrance for the pirate vessels to enter
in. I was not in irons now, but spent my time on deck; and a wretched
time it was, I can tell you, for not a sailor on board would speak to
me.
“For three weeks we cruised about, sailing round island after island,
but at last as we were approaching one of them I saw the three trees.
“'That's the place,' I said to the boatswain, who was standing near me,
and he carried the news to the quarterdeck, and brought back word I was
to go to the captain.
“You are sure those are the trees?'
“'Quite sure, sir.'
“'They answer to your description certainly,' the captain said. 'Keep
her away, master, I don't want them to think we are steering for the
island.'
“The ship's course was altered, and she sailed along parallel with the
coast.
“'I beg your pardon, sir,' I said, touching my hat, 'but they have got
some wonderful good glasses up at the lookout, and if I might make so
bold I should say that they will make out that we have got a lot more
men on deck than a merchant ship would carry.'
“'You are right, lad,' the captain said, and he at once gave orders that
all hands with the exception of half a dozen should sit down under the
bulwarks or go below. The captain and first lieutenant kept a sharp
lookout through their glasses until we had passed the end of the island.
I pointed out to them the exact position of the cove, but it was so shut
in that even when I showed where it was, it was as much as they could do
to make it out.
“'Now, lad, do you know of any other landing places on the other side of
the island?'
“'No, sir, and I don't believe there is any,' says I. I know the captain
said to me the first day I was on shore, 'It's no use your thinking of
making a bolt, for there ain't no other place but this where you could
get to sea--not though you had twenty boats waiting to take you off.' I
expect that's why they chose it. Anyhow, there never was any watch kept
up on shore, though. I have no doubt there was many a one who had been
pressed into pirating just as I was, to save their lives, would have
made off had they seen ever such a little chance of getting away.
“'Just come into the cabin with me,' says he; 'I want you to show me
exactly where are these batteries, and the position of the village on
shore.'
“The first lieutenant came too, and I drew them out a chart as well as
I could, showing them the position of things, and told them that every
evening a boom was floated across the entrance.
“'What sentries are there on at night?'
“'Four, sir; two close down to the water, one each side of the cove, and
two in the batteries at the top. That's the watch, but besides there
are six men sleep in each of the other batteries, and six in each of the
batteries inside.'
“'Tell me more about the place and the life you led there,' the captain
said, 'and then I shall understand the position of things better.'
“So I spun him a regular yarn about the place and the people. I told him
about the captain's wife, and she being an English woman, and how she
was taken, which indeed was the way of most of the women there.
“'I suppose that a good many of the men were pressed too,' the captain
said.
“'I expects so, sir; but when we were together on guard or on board a
ship I noticed we never talked of such things. It seemed to me as if
every one was trying to forget the past, and I think that made them more
brutal and bloody minded than they would have been. Every one was afraid
of every one else guessing as he wasn't contented, and was wanting to
get away, and so each carried on as bad as he could.'
“'I dare say you are right, lad; it must be a terrible position for a
man to be in; but you see the law can make no distinctions. If it
wasn't thoroughly understood that if a man took up the life of a pirate,
whether willingly or unwillingly, he would assuredly be executed if he
was caught, we should have the sea swarming with pirates. Now, lad, you
know how this boom was fastened; can you suggest any way that we could
get over it or loosen it without giving the alarm?'
“'There is no way, sir. One end is fastened by a big chain which is
fixed to a great shackle which is let into a hole in the rock and
fastened in there with lead; that's the fixed end of the boom. The other
end, which is swung backward and forward when the ships go in port, has
got a big chain too. It goes under an iron bar which is bent, and the
two ends fastened in a rock. When they want to fix the boom the end
of the chain is passed under this iron loop and then fastened to some
blocks and ropes worked from the battery above, and the end of the chain
is drawn up tight there, so that there is no loosing the chain till that
battery is taken.'
“'And you say the guns of the lower batteries at the inner point sweep
the entrance?'
“'They do, sir. There are ten of them on each side, twelve pounder
carronades, which are always charged, and crammed up to the muzzle with
bullets and nails and bits of iron. The batteries on the top of the
cliff at the entrance are the heaviest metal. They have got twenty guns
in each of them. They are loaded with round shot to keep a vessel from
approaching, though of course they could fire grape into any boats they
saw coming in.'
“'This does not seem an easy business by any means, Mr. Earnshaw,' the
captain said.
“'It does not, sir,' the lieutenant agreed in a dubisome sort of way;
'but no doubt it can be done, sir--no doubt it can be done.'
“'Yes, but how?' the captain asked. 'You will be in command of the
boats, Mr. Earnshaw, and it will never do to attack such a place as that
without some sort of plan.'
“'What is the boom like, my lad?' the lieutenant asked; 'is it lashed
together?'
“'No, it is a solid spar,' I said. 'The entrance is not more than forty
feet wide, and the boom is part of the mainmast of a big ship.'
“'It seems to me,' said the lieutenant, 'that the only way to get at it
would be to go straight at the boom, the two lightest boats to go first.
The men must get on the spar and pull the boats over, and then make a
dash for the batteries; the heavy boats can follow them.'
“'It would never do, Mr. Earnshaw,' the captain said. 'You forget there
are twelve guns loaded to the muzzle with grape and musketballs all
trained upon a point only forty feet across. Would it be possible to
land just outside the boom, lad, on one or both sides, and to keep along
the edge, or wade in the water to the batteries?'
“'No, sir, the rock goes straight up from the water both sides.'
“'Well, the two sentries, how do they get down to the water's edge?'
“'They are let down by rope from above, sir, and the rope is hauled up
as soon as they are down.'
“'This is a deuce of a place, Mr. Earnshaw,' the captain said. 'We must
do nothing hastily in this matter, or we shall only be throwing away
the lives of a lot of men, and failing in our object. I was intending to
sail on and not return for a week, for no doubt they will be specially
vigilant for a time after seeing a large ship pass them. As it is, I
will return tonight to the back of the island, and will there leave the
cutter and my gig. You will be in charge of the cutter, and Mr. Escombe
will take the gig. I shall then sail away again before daylight; for
although from what the lad said there is no watch kept on that side of
the island, it cannot be more than three miles across, and any of the
men or women might stroll across or might from any high point in the
island obtain a view that way. You will make a thorough survey of all
that side. The cliffs certainly seem, so far as we could see them as we
left the island, as perpendicular as they are on the side we passed;
but there may be some place easier than another--some place where, by
setting our wits to work, we may make a shift to climb up. Get into the
island I will, if I have to blast a flight of steps up the cliff.'
“'I will do my best to find a place, sir,' the lieutenant said; 'and, if
there isn't one, I will make one.'
“The lieutenant told me that I was to accompany him in the cutter, and
all was got ready for the trip. Water and a week's rations of food were
placed on board the boats; for in that climate there was no saying when
a gale might spring up, or how long the vessel might be before she got
back to pick up the boats.
“When we were fairly out of sight of the island we lay to till it got
dusk, and then her head was pointed back again. There was scarce a
breath of wind stirring, and the vessel went through the water so
slowly that a couple of hours later the captain ordered the boats to be
lowered, for he saw that if the wind didn't freshen the ship could not
get to the island, much less get away again, before daylight. The oars
were got out and off we started, and after four hours' steady rowing,
the lieutenant, who was steering by compass, made out the land looming
high above us. Another quarter of an hour's row and we dropped our
grapnels close to the foot of the cliffs, and the men were told to get a
sleep as well as they could till morning.
“As soon as it was daylight we were off again and rowed to the end of
the island; for, as Mr. Earnshaw said to the third lieutenant, we had
best begin at the end and do the work thoroughly. When we got to the
point we turned and rowed back, keeping about two hundred yards from
the cliff, so that we could see well up. They were about a hundred feet
high--sometimes a little less, sometimes a good bit more, and they went
as straight up from the water's edge as the cliffs at Dover, only there
weren't no beach. It was deep water right up to the foot.
“We went along very slowly, the men only just dipping their oars into
the water, and all of us watching every foot of the cliffs. Sometimes we
would stop altogether while the officers talked over the possibility of
any one climbing up at some place where the water trickling down from
the top had eaten away the face a little; but not a goat in the world
could have climbed up them, not to say men. So we kept on till we got to
the other end of the island, which must have been five miles long. Not a
place could we see.
“'Unless we are going to do as the captain said--blast steps up the face
of that rock--I don't believe it's to be done,' Lieutenant Earnshaw said
to Mr. Escombe. 'Well, there's nothing to do, lads, but to row in
and drop your grapnels again and wait till we see the ship's lights
tonight.'
“Although we rowed in to within an oar's length of the cliff, there was
eight fathoms of water when we dropped the grapnels. We had been lying
there an hour when the third lieutenant said:
“'I should think, Mr. Earnshaw, that if we were to bring the pinnace
with that four pounder gun in the bow and up end it, and with a small
charge fire a ball with a rope fastened to it up into that clump of
trees we saw just about the middle of the island, it might get caught.'
“'So it might, Escombe, and the idea is a good one; but I doubt whether
there's a man on board ship could climb a rope swinging like that
against the face of those cliffs.'
“'He might if we used a knotted rope,' Mr. Escombe said.
“'I wouldn't mind making a try, yer honor,' one of the sailors said, and
half a dozen others volunteered their readiness to make the attempt.
“'I will put it to the captain,' Mr. Earnshaw said; 'if he agrees, as
you were the first to volunteer, Jones, you shall have the chance.'
“The day was dead calm, so was the night that followed it; and although
we rowed back to the end of the island from which we had come, no lights
were to be seen that night.
“The next day passed slowly. The sun was hot; but toward evening the
lieutenant gave permission for the men to bathe; but warned us that no
man must go far from the boats, because there might be sharks about.
However, we didn't see none, and we enjoyed the dip, and were in better
humor still when we found that a light breeze was springing up. It
might have been about midnight when the men on watch made out a light to
seaward, and we weren't long in getting up our grapnels and sitting our
oars. In half an hour we were on board, and were soon sailing away from
the island again.
“The next night in we came again, and I saw that the third lieutenant's
plan was going to be adopted; in fact, I guessed so before; for the sail
makers had been at work with two light ropes making a rope ladder, and
the ship's smith had got some empty shells on deck, and had made a shift
to screw some iron eyes into them for fixing ropes to. The gun was taken
out of the pinnace and a little mortar fixed in her, and half a dozen
ropes, each a hundred fathoms long, had knots put in them every two
feet.
“The launch and the two cutters were lowered as well as the pinnace this
time, and the crews were armed with cutlass and pistol. I went with them
as before, as I should be wanted to guide them when they got near the
village. It was a bright starlight night without haze, so that when we
got close we could make out the outline of the cliffs, and could see the
thick wood growing on the top. When we got within about a hundred yards
of the cliffs the boat stopped rowing.
“'Don't use more powder than you can help, gunner,' Mr. Earnshaw said.
'In the first place, we don't want to do more than carry out the rope
to its full length; in the next place, we don't want to make more noise
than we can help. What wind there is is fortunately blowing seaward,
and being so close under the cliff the sound will be echoed back. At the
same time the less noise the better.'
“'I will begin with very little, sir. If the ball don't go to the top of
the cliff I shall put a trifle more into the gun next time; it's better
to make a mistake on the right side.'
“A small quantity of powder was put in the mortar, which was only a four
inch one. Then a wad was put in, and a shell with one of the knotted
ropes fastened to it dropped in the top. The rope had been coiled in a
tub so as to run out easily. The gunner applied the match. There was a
dull report, and every man held his breath to listen. There was a thud
high up on the cliff and then a splash.
“'A few feet short of the top, I should say, gunner. You must put in
more next time, for the shell must go well up over the trees and drop
among them; otherwise it won't catch.'
“The gunner by the light of the lantern measured out half as much powder
again as he had used before, and then fired. This time we heard no sound
till there was a faint splash in the water.
“'The rope's gone, sir,' the gunner said, looking into the tub. 'There
was a little too much this time.'
“'I don't think so,' Mr. Escombe said. 'I think that splash was the end
of the rope touching the water. In that case it will be just right, a
hundred feet up the cliffs, and five hundred feet among the trees. No
fear of the rope coming back to us.'
“It took us a quarter of an hour's search in the dark to find the rope;
but at last we came upon it, and sure enough there was only four or five
fathoms in the water.
“'Now, Jones,' Mr. Earnshaw said, 'it's your turn. Put that light line
over your shoulders, and when you get to the top haul on it till you
get up the rope ladder, and fasten that to a stout trunk and give a low
hail. We will hold the rope as steady as we can below while you mount.'
“'Ay, ay, sir,' said the man, who was an active young chap; 'I will be
up there in a jiffy.'
“We fastened the lower end round one of the thwarts of the boat, and
then he began to climb. It was near five minutes before he got to the
top, for there were some nasty places where the cliff jutted out, and
the rope was hard against it; but presently the shaking ceased, and a
minute later the light line was hauled tight. There was a low cheer in
the boats, and then up went the rope ladder. A minute or two later there
was a hail from the top.
“'All taut, sir.'
“'I will go first,' Mr. Earnshaw said.
“Accordingly up he went, and one by one we followed, each waiting for
the signal that the one before him had got up, till all had gone except
the two told off as boat watch. Then the men of the launch and cutters
followed, and in about two hours they were all at the top, and a lantern
was shown to tell the ship we were there.
“We started at once across the island, Mr. Earnshaw keeping the line by
a pocket compass. It was rough work, though, and at last the lieutenant
said:
“'We make such a noise going through the bushes that we had better wait
till daylight, so just halt where you are, lads.'
“As soon as the first ray of light showed we were off again, and an hour
later reached the edge of the slope down to the cove.
“'Now, remember,' the lieutenant said, 'that no woman is to be hurt.
All the men who resist are to be shot or cut down; but you are to take
prisoners all who throw down their arms. Some of them may be able to
prove themselves less guilty than the rest. At any rate, there is no
fear of the Spanish authorities being too merciful. These pirates have
been the scourge of these seas for the last six years.'
“Well, lad, there ain't much more to tell you. We took them completely
by surprise, and the men in the village were all knocked down and bound,
without firing a shot. The men in the batteries tried to slew their guns
round, but we didn't give 'em time. They fought desperately, for they
knew what their doom was, and there weren't any prisoners taken there.
As soon as the village was taken I went straight with Mr. Escombe to
the captain's house. His wife was standing at the door, and she gave
a little cry as she saw the British uniforms, and ran a step or two to
meet us, then she stopped, and her arms dropped by her side.
“'What! you, Peter!' she said as we came up. 'Is it you who led them
here?'
“'Yes, ma'am, it was me,' says I, 'and the best thing I could do for
you, for you could not wish to stay here all your life with just the
people that are here.'
“'But what has happened?' she said. 'How is it you are here? What has
become of the schooner?'
“'The schooner is sunk, ma'am, and the brig is captured.'
“'And my husband?'
“'Well, ma'am, don't you take on, but your husband went down with the
schooner.'
“She tottered, and I thought she would have fallen, but Mr. Escombe put
his arm round her and led her to the house and left her there, putting
two sailors on guard to see as she wasn't disturbed. An hour or two
later the frigate was off the cove, and the captain landed. We stopped
a week there, and carried off all there was worth taking; and I tell
you there was enough to give every man Jack on board a handsome share of
prize money when the things came to be sold afterward.
“Money, there was lots of it, all stored away in what they called the
treasure house, for money was no good there. Jewels and ornaments,
watches, and the things which they uses in them Catholic churches, and
all kinds of valuable things, and stores of silks and velvets and all
kinds of materials; and as to wine and such like, there was enough
to have lasted them for years, for from first to last it was shown
afterward that those fellows must have captured more nor fifty vessels.
Why they shouldn't have stopped ashore and enjoyed what they got was a
mystery to me. But I suppose they couldn't do without excitement, and
though every man talked of the time when the treasure would be divided
and they were to scatter, I don't suppose as one ever expected as the
time would really come.
“Well, arter everything was on board, and the women and children, the
place was burned, and we sailed for the nearest Spanish port. We had
had a sort of court martial on board the frigate, and two or three young
chaps like myself, and two men as was proved to have been captured in
the pirates' last cruise, and who hadn't been to sea with them or taken
part in any of their bloody doings, was kept on board ship, and the rest
was handed over to the Spanish authorities. Most of them was garroted,
and a few was condemned to work on the roads for life. I and the others
was taken back to England in the frigate, whose foreign time was up,
and when we got to Portsmouth we was drafted into a regiment there, and
lucky we thought ourselves to get off so easy. The captain's wife and
some of the other white women came home to England on board the frigate.
She was very low at first, but she brightened up a good deal toward
the end of the voyage, which lasted two months. She grieved over her
husband, you see, but she couldn't but have felt that it was all for the
best. I heard afterward as how two years after she married Mr. Earnshaw,
who by that time had got to be a captain. So that, you see, my lad, is
how I came to fight under the black flag first and then to be a soldier
of the queen. I didn't mean it to be sich a long yarn, but when I once
began it all came back to me, and you see, I haven't spoken of it for
years. You don't think altogether as I was very wrong, I hope.”
“I thank you very much for your story, sergeant,” Jack replied. “I only
wish it had been longer; and although it's very easy to say that a man
ought to die rather than consent to be a pirate, I don't think there are
many lads who would choose death if they were placed as you were.”
“I am glad you think that, young un; it's always been a sore point with
me, I have done my duty since, and no one can say as he's ever seen
Sergeant Edwards show the white feather. But the thought that that once
I did not act as a brave man would have done has always troubled me.”
The next day, as the sea went down, and the recruits recovered from the
effects of the confinement and sickness, they again began to talk among
themselves. The fact that all the other vessels of the fleet were out of
sight naturally encouraged them. Jack observed, however, that the call
to parade on deck was answered with more quickness than before, and the
exercises were gone through with a painstaking steadiness greater than
had been shown since the embarkation. When the men were dismissed from
parade Jack remarked this to the sergeant.
“Ay, ay, lad, I noticed it too,” the sergeant said, shaking his head,
“and in my opinion it's a bad sign. They want to throw the officers
off their guard. It's a pity you have been seen talking so much to me,
because, of course, they won't say anything when you are listening; but
one or two of the men who came into the regiment with me have dropped
a word as they happened to pass this morning that they wanted to have
a word if they could get one without being noticed, so I hope to hear a
little more tonight.”
That evening, before going below, Jack had an hour's talk with Sergeant
Edwards.
“It's just as I thought,” the latter said, “they've got an idea of
seizing the ship. The men I spoke of managed to get a few words with me
this evening. They don't know anything about piracy. All they have heard
is that there is a proposal to seize the ship and to carry her into
one of the northern ports of Spain, where the men will land and give up
their arms to the Spanish authorities, and then either disperse and make
their way home by twos and threes as best they can, or they will take
service with the King of Spain, who, they think, will pay them a deal
better than the English government.
“A part of the crew are in the scheme. These, the men tell me, do not
intend to land, but only tell the others that they shall sail away.
That's about what I thought would be. The greater part of these fellows
only wants to get quickly home again, while the sailors, who may want to
go abuccaneering, would not care about having the soldiers with them.
I shall give a hint to the captain of my company tonight as to what
is going on, but I don't much expect he will pay any attention to it.
Officers never believe these things till it is too late, and you see
I can't give them any names yet or prove what I say; besides, likely
enough, any inquiry set on foot would only bring the matter to a head.
We must wait till we know something sure.
“You keep your ears open, my boy, and your eyes too, and I will do the
same. If it comes, and you see a chance of warning the captain of the
ship or the first lieutenant in time, you do it; but don't you do it if
you don't think there's time enough, or if you can't do it without being
seen. If it's too late, and you are found out, they would just chuck you
overboard or knock you on the head, and you will have done no good
after all, and perhaps only caused bloodshed. Like enough, if matters
go quietly, there won't be no bloodshed, and the officers and those who
stick to them will just be turned adrift in the boats, or maybe handed
over to the Spanish at the port they go into as prisoners.”
Jack promised to follow the sergeant's instructions, and went below. He
thought that the men were unusually quiet, and taking his blanket--for
although some of the soldiers slept in hammocks, the majority lay on the
deck wrapped in their blankets--he lay down by the side of a gun whose
port had been opened to admit air between decks. After thinking the
matter over for some time, and wondering what would be the end of it, he
dropped off into a light sleep.
Presently he was aroused by a confused sound. Looking round cautiously,
he saw by the dim light of the lantern that most of the men were on
their feet. Some of them were taking down their firearms from the arm
racks; small groups were stooping over some of the sleeping figures; and
to the mast, close to which one of the lanterns hung, two or three
men were bound, and two soldiers with pikes were standing by them. The
crisis, then, had come, and Jack at once proceeded to carry out the plan
he had thought out after he lay down.
Very quietly he crawled out through the porthole, and then raised
himself and stood on the muzzle of the gun. There he could reach the
foot of the shrouds of the foremast, which happened to be immediately
above the port. He swung himself up, and, placing his hands on the edge
of the bulwark, cautiously looked over.
At present all was quiet there; the signal from below had not been
given, and the troops on deck--for, owing to the numbers on board,
one fourth were always on deck in fine weather--were standing about or
sitting in groups. Keeping his feet on the ledge which ran round level
with the deck, and his fingers on the top of the bulwark, Jack managed
to edge his way aft until he reached the line of the quarterdeck. Here
the line of the bulwark ceased, the cabins of the officers rising, as
was usual in those days, in a double tier high about the waist.
The nearest porthole, which was open, was but three feet long, and Jack,
reaching forward, put one hand in it and continued his way. The porthole
was but just large enough for him to squeeze through. Looking in before
he attempted it he saw an officer asleep immediately below him. It was
the ensign of his own company. Leaning in he touched him gently. After
one or two attempts, the young officer opened his eyes, saying, “What is
it? It's not morning yet.”
“Hush, sir,” Jack said earnestly; “I am Jack Stilwell of your company.
There is a mutiny, sir, forward. Please help me in, I want to warn the
captain of the ship, and he will know what to do.”
The young officer leaped from his bunk and assisted Jack to enter.
“I will come with you,” he said, hastily dragging on his trousers and
coat. “Are you sure of what you say?”
“Quite sure, sir; the noncommissioned officers are bound; it may begin
at any moment.”
The ensign led the way to the captain's cabin, which he opened and
entered without ceremony.
“What is it?” the captain exclaimed. The ensign said who he was, and
Jack repeated his story.
“The dogs!” the captain said, “we will teach them a lesson. Let me see,
the second lieutenant is on duty; rouse all the other officers;” and he
himself assisted them to do so. In a minute or two they were gathered
hastily attired, with sword and pistol, in the captain's cabin.
“Do you, Mr. Hartwell,” the captain said, addressing the first
lieutenant, “go below and rouse the boatswain and petty officers,
and bid them get together all the men they can depend upon, arm them
quietly, and be ready to rush on deck the instant a stir is heard
forward among the soldiers. Any man who disobeys orders, shoot him
instantly. Do you, sir,” he said to the second officer, “go to the
magazine with four of the midshipmen, open it and bring up charges of
grape for the guns on the quarterdeck. Be as quick as you can. Now,
gentlemen, the rest of us will make our way up quietly, one by one,
to the quarterdeck. Go well aft, so that the men in the waist will not
notice you. Directly the cartridges come up we will load the guns, and
be in readiness to slew them across the deck; and in the mean time, if
they should attack before we are ready, we must hold the ladders to the
last.”
One by one the officers stole out from the cabin with bare feet, and
made their way up to the quarterdeck, until some thirty of them were
gathered there, being all the officers of the regiment, the naval
officers, and midshipmen. The night was a dark one, and this was
accomplished without the movement being noticed by any of those in the
waist of the ship.