When they woke it was to the regular heave and lurch of a sailing vessel
in motion, and Jeremy, looking out the port, beheld the crisp, sparkling
blue of open sea.
There were two suits of every-day clothes upon the cabin bench and into
these the boys climbed, impatient to get out on deck. The ship was the
big merchantman, _Indian Queen_, though Bob, used as he was to her
appearance, would hardly have known her in her new guise. Long lines of
black cannon grimly faced the open ports along either side. The rail had
been built up solidly to a height of about six feet, so that the main
deck was now a typical gun deck, open overhead. Her regular crew of
seasoned mariners was augmented by as many more longshoremen, all good
men, picked for their courage and hand-to-hand fighting ability.
Job, who acted as second mate and was in full charge of the gun crews,
took the boys proudly from one big carronade to another, explaining each
improvement which his experience or ingenuity had devised. His chief
pride was the long nine-pounder in the bows. She was a swivel gun set on
bearings so finely adjusted and well-greased that one man could aim
her. Job patted her shiny brass rump lovingly as he looked across the
blue swells ahead. He could hardly wait for the hour when he should set
a match to her breach.
Clarke Curtis joined the group a few minutes later, and they went
together to the main cabin. Bob's father, Mr. Ghent, the Captain, and
Job Howland settled themselves comfortably over long pipes and glasses
of port, and prepared to hear the boys' story. Jeremy, bashful in such
fine company, was persuaded to recount his adventures from the time Job
had gone over the side till the kidnapped Delaware boy had come aboard.
Then Bob took up the tale and told with much spirit of the storm, the
trip up the Chesapeake and the subsequent pursuit of the _Francis_ off
the Capes. From this point on the two lads told the story together,
eagerly interrupting each other to put in some incident forgotten for
the moment. When they came to the discovery of Pharaoh Daggs' chart, Job
sat up with a jerk. "I always thought he knew!" he exclaimed. "Jeremy,
lad, could ye draw me a picture of what 'twas like?" The boy readily
consented, and given a piece of paper, proceeded to set down, from his
memory of the outline and from the general measurements he had taken, a
very fair copy of the original. The ex-buccaneer leaned over him as he
drew, and shook his head doubtfully as the work went on. "No," he said
when the boy had finished, "I can't recall such a bay just this minute.
An' as there was nothin' on it to tell where it might be, I don't know
as there's anything for us to do. Like as not it's on some little island
as isn't set down, so 'twould be scant use to look over the ship's
charts. Still, I'll try it." A half-day of poring over the maps produced
no result. There were bays large and small that resembled the one Jeremy
had drawn, but none closely enough to warrant the belief that it was the
same. "Well," remarked Job as he put away the charts, "Daggs'll never
live to reach his bay. He'll swing on Charles Town Dock, an' I mistake
not." But in that saying at least the ex-pirate proved himself no
prophet.
The light wind held and the _Indian Queen_ made reasonable speed down
the coast for nearly two days. Then, after drifting under short sail all
night, she made in with the dawn, past the small island which nearly a
century and a half later was to be the scene of a great war's beginning,
crept up against the tide till noon and anchored off the thriving port
of Charles Town. Mr. Curtis and Job went ashore in the cutter, as soon
as all was snug aboard. On landing they went directly to the Governor's
house.
Governor Johnson was at home and gladly welcomed the Delaware merchant,
who was an old acquaintance of his. When they had been shown into a
large room where the official business of the colony was transacted, Mr.
Curtis proceeded at once to the point of his visit. He learned that the
messenger from Delaware had arrived and his plea for aid had been duly
considered. Johnson was troubled at having no better answer for his
friend, but said that the treasury of the southern colony had not yet
recovered from the strain put upon it four years before at the time of
the Indian massacres. He believed that he had no right at this time to
spend the public funds in fitting out a fleet, unless it was to avenge
an injury done some member of the colony. His honest distress at being
unable to assist was so obvious that neither the merchant nor his chief
gunner felt like urging their claim for help.
Mr. Curtis told of the rescue of the two boys, much to the discomfort of
the blushing Job, and they rose to take their departure, feeling no ill
will toward the Governor for his inability to help them. As they started
to go out of the room, a loud insistent knock was heard. "Come in," said
Johnson, and immediately the door was opened to admit a short,
well-built gentleman, very much flushed as to the face, and whose eyes
fairly shot forth sparks. He was followed by two other men, dressed in
rough clothes that seemed to have seen recent hard usage. The leader
advanced with rapid steps. "Look'e here, Governor," he said, "those
confounded pirates are at us again. Here's two of my men----"
"Gently, Colonel Rhett," interrupted the Governor, his eyes twinkling.
"Allow me to introduce Mr. Clarke Curtis of Delaware and his friend, Mr.
Howland. I believe your business and theirs will fall very easily into
one track. Pray be seated, gentlemen."
The Colonel shot a keen glance at these new acquaintances and, when the
four had taken chairs around the table, began again more calmly to tell
his story. A fishing smack, one of a half-dozen open boats belonging to
him, had been cruising along the coast to the eastward the week before,
and when about forty miles west of Cape Fear had sighted a large black
sloop under great spread of sail, bearing down upon her. The two men in
the shallop put about and made for shore as fast as they could, using
oars and canvas alike, but when they were still half a mile out they saw
that the pursuing ship flew a black pirate flag. When, a few moments
after, a round shot came dangerously close to their stern, they leaped
over the side without more ado and succeeded in swimming ashore, glad to
come out of the adventure with whole skins. After a perilous journey of
many leagues overland, they had just arrived in Charles Town and
reported the affair to Rhett, their employer. "So you see," said the
Colonel in conclusion, "we're in for another siege of the kind we had
with _Blackbeard_ unless we take some quick action on this."
Johnson sat thoughtful for a moment. "Let me put the matter up to you
exactly as it now stands," he finally said. "There is a little money in
the treasury. But to buy and fit out properly three ships would drain us
almost as dry as we were in 1715. Would you have me do that, Rhett?" The
Colonel shook his head. "No," he replied, "you must not." Then after
looking at the floor for a moment he stood up with quick decision. "See
here," he said, "we can get enough volunteers to do this whole business
or my name's not William Rhett." Mr. Curtis thrust out a big hand. "My
ship _Indian Queen_, twenty-one guns, is in the harbor, ready for sea.
She's at your service," he smiled. The Colonel gripped his hand
delightedly. "Done," he cried, "and now let's see what other commanders
we can recruit. Will you give me a commission, Governor?" And receiving
an affirmative reply, he led the way down to the docks.
Colonel Rhett was a well-known figure in Charles Town. He owned a large
plantation a few miles inland, and conducted a fish warehouse as well.
Among tobacco growers, townsmen and sea-captains alike he was widely
acquainted and respected as much as any man in the colony. His courage
and skill as a soldier were proverbial, for he had been a leader in the
suppression of the Indian uprising. Certainly no man in the Carolinas
was better fitted for the task which he had in hand. For two days he and
his friends from the _Queen_ fairly lived on the wharves, and before
sunset of the second he had secured the services of two sloops, the
_Henry_, Captain John Masters, and the _Sea Nymph_, Captain Fayrer Hall.
Neither ship was equipped for fighting, but by using cannon from the
town defences and borrowing some half-dozen pieces from the
heavily-armed _Indian Queen_, a complement of eight guns for each sloop
was made up.
On September 15th the three ships, in war trim and carrying in their
combined crews nearly 200 men, crossed the Charles Town bar. Just before
they sailed news had come in that the notorious pirate, Charles Vane,
had passed to the south with a prize, and Rhett's first course was laid
along the coast in that direction. Two or three days of search in the
creeks and inlets failed to reveal any sign of the buccaneer, however,
and much to the relief of the impatient Mr. Curtis, they put about for
Cape Fear on the eighteenth. The progress of the fleet up the coast was
slow. Constant rumors of pirates were received, and every hiding place
on the shore was examined as they went along.
Bob and Jeremy, wild with suppressed excitement, could hardly brook this
delay, for, as they warned the officers of the expedition repeatedly,
there was every reason to expect that Bonnet would leave the river soon,
if he had not gone already. For this reason the _Indian Queen_ went on
in advance of the others and patrolled the waters off the headland for
four days, until Rhett should come up.
On the evening of the twenty-sixth he made his appearance and as there
was still light they decided to enter the river-mouth. The tide was just
past flood. Rhett's flagship, the _Henry_, nosed in first over the bar
and was followed by the _Sea Nymph._ The great, deep-draughted _Queen_
advanced to within a few lengths of the entrance, but the soundings
showed that even there she had only a fathom or two to spare, and would
certainly come to grief if she adventured further. As it was, even the
lighter sloops ran aground fifteen minutes later and were not launched
again till nearly dawn. Captain Ghent had anchored the big ship as close
in as he dared and she sat bow-on to the channel-mouth. Her two consorts
were in plain sight a few hundred yards inside. Rhett came back during
the night in a small boat and held a council of war with Curtis, Ghent
and Job Howland. He reported that a party of pirates in longboats had
come down river during the evening to reconnoitre, but had beat a
retreat as soon as they had seen the _Henry's_ guns.
It was decided about half the crew of the _Queen_ should be added to the
force of men on the two sloops, while the big vessel herself was forced
to be content with standing guard off the entrance. This was a bitter
blow not only to Mr. Curtis, but to Job and the boys, who had looked
forward to the battle with zest.
Bob and Jeremy had been ordered to bed about midnight, but they rose
before light, in their excitement, and sunrise found them in the bows
with Job, watching the long point of sand behind which they knew the
pirates lay. Preparations had been made aboard the _Henry_ and _Sea
Nymph_ for an immediate advance up the river. Hardly had the first slant
beams of sunlight struck upon Rhett's deck before the crew were lustily
pulling at the main halyards and winding in the anchor chain.
But even before the two Carolina sloops were under way there was an
excited chorus of "Here he comes!" and above the dune at the bend of the
river, appeared the headsails of the _Royal James_. Bonnet had weighed
his chances and decided for a running fight. The pirate ship cleared the
point, nearly a mile away, and came flying down, every inch of canvas
drawing in the stiff offshore breeze. It seemed for a moment as if she
might get safely past the Carolinians and out to sea, with the _Queen_
as her only antagonist. Probably Bonnet had counted on the
unexpectedness of his maneuver to accomplish this result. But if so, he
had left out of his reckoning the character of William Rhett. That
gentleman hesitated not an instant, but headed upstream directly toward
the enemy. Fortunately, he had two good skippers in Masters and Hall,
for the good Colonel himself knew little of sailing. Thanks to these
lieutenants, the two attacking sloops were let off the wind at exactly
the right time, and filled away down the river close together off the
pirate's starboard bow. Bonnet raced up abeam, firing broadsides as fast
as his men could load, and his cannonade was answered in kind from the
_Henry_. She and the _Sea Nymph_ began to veer over to port, forcing the
black sloop closer and closer to shore, but the buccaneer Captain
refused to take in an inch of sail. His course was all but justified.
The speedy craft which he commanded gained on her foes hand over hand
till, when only a few hundred yards from the narrow mouth of the
estuary, she led them both by her own length.
From the deck of the _Queen_ Jeremy and Bob could pick out the big form
of Herriot at the tiller. Just as the _Royal James_ passed into the
lead, they saw him swing mightily on the long steering-beam while at the
same instant the main sheet was hauled in. It was prettily done. The
pirate went hard over to starboard, kicking up a wave of spray as she
slewed. She sprang away from under the bows of the _Henry_ with only
inches to spare, for the bowsprit of Rhett's sloop tore the edge of her
mainsail in passing. The fierce cheer that rose from the deck of the
black buccaneer was drowned in a jarring crash. She had eluded her foe
only to run, ten seconds later, upon a submerged sand bar. It was now
the Carolinians' turn to cheer, though it soon appeared that they might
better have saved their breath for other purposes. The _Henry_, unable
to check her speed, ran straight ahead, and hardly a minute after her
enemy's mishap was hard aground twenty yards away. Both sloops lay
careened to starboard, so that the whole deck of the _Henry_ offered a
fair target for Bonnet's musketry, while the _Royal James's_ port side
was thrown up, a stout defence against the small-arm fire of Rhett's
men. Owing to the slant of their decks it was impossible to train the
cannon of either ship.
The _Sea Nymph_, meanwhile, in an effort to cut off the course of the
pirate, had put over straight for the channel mouth, and before she
could come about her bows also were fast in the sand, and she lay stern
toward the other two, but out of musket-shot, unable to take a hand in
the hot fight that followed. Had either the _Henry's_ crew or the
buccaneers been able to send a proper broadside from their position, it
seems that they must surely have blown their foe out of water, though we
need, of course, to make allowance for the comparative feebleness of
their ordnance in contrast to that of the present day.
The stranding of the three vessels had occupied so short a time that the
little group of witnesses high up in the bow of the _Indian Queen_ had
not yet exchanged a word. Clinging to the rail, open-mouthed, they had
seen the pirate make her bold dash across the bows of her pursuers, only
to strike the bar in her instant of triumph, then following with the
quickness of events in a dream, the grounding first of the _Henry_,
afterwards of the _Nymph_.
Nor was there an appreciable pause in the spectacle, for the pirates,
who had been shooting steadily during the race down river, wasted no
time in trying to get off the bar, but raked their nearby adversaries'
deck with a withering fire. Rhett's crew tumbled into the scuppers,
where they were under the partial cover of the bulwark, but many were
killed, even before they could reach this shelter, and living and dead
rolled down together, as in a ghastly comedy.