_IN THE POWER OF THE ENEMY_
On our voyage outward one thing had occurred to me which, as it turned
out afterwards, was to prove of very great consequence; this was my
learning of the native Indian language.
Colonel Clive, who had never been at the pains to acquire it himself,
had brought out in his train as secretary a Mr. Scrafton, who was well
versed in the Indostanee, and who was obliging enough to offer to
impart it to me, I having rendered him some services in the
transcribing of his papers and accounts. Having much time on my hands
on so long a voyage, I very thankfully accepted his proposal, though
little then foreseeing the benefit I was to derive from it.
This connection between us brought me a good deal under the notice of
Mr. Clive, who was several times pleased to address his conversation
to me, and to inquire my name and what had brought me into that
service.
When I told him I had run away from home he seemed not a little
amused, though he affected to rebuke me.
"I perceive you are a young man of a reckless spirit," he observed,
but whether in irony or not I could not tell. "And pray what do you
intend to do when we get to the Indies?"
"Why, sir," I answered hardily, "as soon as war breaks out I mean to
run away from the ship and enlist under your honour."
"The devil you do!" he cried, a smile showing itself on his stern
face. "Mr. Scrafton, do you hear my little purser here? I have a mind
to report your speech to Mr. Sanders."
But though he said this, I could see that he was not ill-pleased. And
whether from that occasion or another, by the time our voyage was
ended I was known all over the ship as Colonel Clive's purser. And how
proud the title made me I forbear to say, but I know that if Mr. Clive
had ordered me to march into Delhi, and pluck the Great Mogul by the
beard, I should have thought it a little thing to do.
The first thing I did after we had dropped our anchor was to beg for
leave to go ashore, which Mr. Sanders granted with some difficulty.
Mr. Griffiths was good enough to give me a place in the cutter, and as
soon as we were landed I separated myself from the rest, and without
staying to examine the curiosities of Bombay, which is a fine great
city, built on an island, I procured a boatman to take me off
privately to the _Fair Maid_.
The boatman I applied to was an Indian. He used me with wondrous
civility, calling me Sahib, which is an oriental term of respect, and
bowing before me to the very ground. When we were got into the boat,
however, he proved but a poor oarsman, and indeed all the natives of
that country seem but a feeble race, owing, no doubt, to their
idolatrous religion, which forbids them to eat flesh.
We arrived at the stern of the _Fair Maid_ without accident, but to my
surprise I could see nobody on the deck. Bidding the Indian wait for
me I scrambled on board without hailing, and proceeded to examine the
cabin. I found this likewise to be deserted, and was beginning to
think the vessel was empty when, on turning to come out, I found
myself face to face with a dark man in a turban, bearing a naked
scymetar in his hand, who had crept in behind me.
"Who are you?" I demanded, addressing him in Indostanee.
But he shook his head, for, as I was to find out, the Morattoes, to
which nation he belonged, speak a different dialect of their own.
While I was considering what to do with him, since his behaviour was
very threatening, I was greatly relieved by seeing an Englishman come
in after him, who proved, indeed, to be no other than my old
acquaintance, Trickster Tim.
The sight of me gave him a great shock, and at first I believe he
mistook me for a spirit from the other world, which perhaps was not
strange, considering that he had last seen me on the other side of the
globe, and lying very near to death's door.
I spoke him friendly, nothing doubting that he would be pleased to
welcome a fellow-countryman.
"Well, Tim, how d'ye do, and how are all aboard the _Fair Maid_?"
As soon as he had heard my voice his apprehensions vanished. He gazed
at me for a minute, as if undecided what to do, and then, putting on a
smile, stepped forward and shook me by the hand.
"And how did you get here?" he asked. "We thought we had left you in
Yarmouth."
Not thinking any concealment needful, I told him my story, which he
listened to very attentively. At the end he spoke some words to the
Morattoe, who went out of the cabin.
"Sit down and make yourself comfortable," he said to me. "Our men are
all gone ashore, but the captain will come off presently and be right
glad to see you safe again."
"I can't stay long," I told him, "because I have only got leave for a
couple of hours."
At this he smiled a little queerly, but pulled out a bottle of rum and
some glasses, and prevailed on me to take a drink with him. We sat
thus for some time, talking, and he told me that the ship had been out
there for more than a month, having escaped some of the headwinds we
had had to contend with.
"And what of Mrs. Rising?" I said at last, for I had been shy of
putting this question to such a man. "I understand she took passage
with you."
He grinned at this, rather maliciously.
"I thought you'd come to that," he said. "I didn't suppose it was for
love of your comrades that you had come on board so quickly. As for
Mistress Marian, she's ashore, and for her address I may refer you to
the captain when he finds you here."
"The captain is rather slow in coming," I observed, getting on to my
feet. "I think I must be going ashore."
With that I walked out of the cabin, Trickster Tim following at my
heels. When I got on to the deck, I stared about me in dismay. Not a
sign could I see of my boatman.
"What's become of that fellow who brought me out?" I cried, turning to
my companion.
The scoundrel laughed in my face.
"I sent word to him not to wait for you," he coolly replied, "as I
thought maybe you'd rather stay with us."
"Rascal!" I shouted, taking him roughly by the arm. "What is the
meaning of this villainy?"
"There's the captain; you'd better ask him," he answered.
And turning round as the sound of oars smote on my ears, I perceived a
boat coming alongside, and seated upright in the stern the very man of
all others whom I had never thought or wished to see again. It was my
cousin Rupert.
He caught sight of me at the same moment, and a fierce scowl passed
across his brow.
"Whom have you got there, Tim?" he called out, standing up in the boat
to get a view of me.
"Mr. Ford, sir, purser's assistant of his Majesty's ship _Talisman_."
At that moment the boat came alongside and my cousin leaped on to the
deck, followed by four or five of the crew. He surveyed me with a
glance of bitter hatred, mingled with triumph.
"So, cousin, I did not kill you after all! Never mind, I am glad you
have remembered your old articles and are come to join us once more.
We have lacked a cabin-boy since your desertion, and if his Majesty
can spare you, we shall be glad of your services."
I was too confounded to reply, or to take much heed of this mocking
harangue. I had as firmly believed Rupert to be dead as, it seems, he
had believed me. The truth, as I gathered it by degrees afterwards,
seemed to be this: At the moment of my casting him out of the boat in
which we had fought, the other boat was returning to find out what had
been the result of the battle. They had first picked up Rupert out of
the water, when he was on the point of death, and had then found me
senseless, and to all appearance mortally wounded, where I had fallen.
They carried us both back with them, and finding Rupert revived, had
concealed him on the _Fair Maid_ till she should sail. The boatswain,
out of a kindness for me, and knowing the other's vindictive nature,
had persuaded him that it was impossible for me to recover, and so
they had left me.
As soon as I was able to collect myself I demanded to have speech with
Mr. Sims, the captain.
"You will meet with Mr. Sims where you are going," retorted Rupert.
"In the meantime any business you have with the captain of this vessel
may be transacted with me."
"Then I insist that you put me ashore instantly," I said, with
resolution. "Would you kidnap me under the very guns of his Majesty's
fleet?"
"Not so fast," returned Rupert, keeping his temper, as he could afford
to do, having the upper hand. "You have forgot your indentures, by
which you are bound apprentice to the good ship _Fair Maid_, sailing
under his Majesty's letters of marque and commission."
"Under a forged commission," I retorted hotly. "I refuse to be bound
by indentures to a pirate!"
This outburst was, no doubt, what my cousin had been waiting for, to
set the opinion of the crew against me. He now turned to his
followers, very stern.
"Take this youth down to the forecastle and put him in irons. If he
repeats his scandalous aspersions, I will bring him to trial as a
deserter and mutineer."
I had no means of resistance, and his orders were carried out, the
scoundrel who had tricked me into waiting for Rupert's return, taking
especial pleasure to see that my irons were made secure. I scorned to
question the dirty rascals further as to how my cousin came to be in
command, but I guessed there had been some foul work on board since
the vessel had left Yarmouth; and the next morning I learnt the whole
story.
Old Muzzy, my firm friend, had been ashore all that night, very drunk,
but soon after dawn he came off to the ship, and hearing of my plight,
at once betook himself to where I was imprisoned. He embraced me very
heartily, and as soon as I had satisfied him as to my recovery and
subsequent adventures, he disclosed to me the situation of the _Fair
Maid_.
"You see it's like this, my boy. Mr. Sims is a good seaman, no one
can't say he's not, but he's too much of a lawyer to handle a craft
like this. Now that cousin of yours, though he be a bloodthirsty,
revengeful beast, as you should know by this time, yet he's no lawyer.
Captain Sims, there, he was all for letters of marque and such, but
then, once a peace breaks out, where's your letters of marque? They
ain't no more use than so much ballast. Now when we came out here, the
lieutenant he says, 'Let's go into Gheriah, and join the pirates
there'--though according to him they aren't what you may call pirates,
being under a king of their own, who has as much right to give them
commissions as King George himself. But Captain Sims he wouldn't hear
of it, the more so as there was a British squadron under Commodore
Porter had been out from Bombay in the spring, and knocked some of
their forts about their ears for them. But, you see, unless we joined
them, we had nothing to do till such time as the war began again,
unless we chose to take the risk of standing up and down the coast, as
you may say, on our own hook. So the crew they sided with the
lieutenant, that's your cousin, and the end of it was there was a sort
of a mutiny, and Captain Sims he was carried ashore at Gheriah and
given up to the pirates, leastways to their king, and the lieutenant
took his place."
"Then the long and short of it is that this is a pirate ship," was all
I could say.
"Well, we are, and, in a manner of speaking, we aren't. When we want
to come into Bombay here we sail under King George's flag, and when
we're in company with the pirates we fly theirs. Any way, we've taken
two Dutch ships and an English one since we got out here, and that's
put money in our pockets, which is more than Captain Sims would have
done with his lawyering."
"And I suppose I am to be carried to Gheriah and given up to the
pirates, like Mr. Sims," I said bitterly.
But this the boatswain swore with many oaths he would not permit.
Nevertheless I could see that he was strongly attached to my cousin's
interest, and not disposed to venture anything openly against him.
Indeed, he tried very hard to persuade me to come into their plans,
offering to reconcile me with Rupert if I would consent to do this. To
these proposals, however, I would by no means consent, being more
experienced by this time than when I had joined them at Yarmouth, and
having a pretty shrewd notion of how Mr. Clive would regard my former
comrades if they should fall into his hands. Finally, I besought the
boatswain for news of Marian.
He drew a grave face at this name.
"Athelstane, lad, I would rather you'd ask me any other question than
that. Plague take the girl, she was the cause of all the mischief
between you and the lieutenant! Forget her, lad, forget her, she's not
worth your troubling after."
But he might as well have pressed me to forget who I was, and the
situation into which my eagerness to hear of Marian had brought me.
Finding me resolute to know about her, he told me this much:--
"She came aboard while the _Fair Maid_ was in the river, to nurse your
cousin as he lay ill of his wounds. But I believe he had been tempting
her before that to come out to the Indies with him, and she held back
for him to go to church with her first, and this he didn't care enough
for her to do. Anyhow, it ended in his getting round her to trust
herself with him, and he swore he would carry her straight to Calcutta
and hand her over to her people there. When we got out here, and she
found he had no such purpose, but meant to keep her in the fortress as
long as it suited his pleasure, there was a terrible business betwixt
them. But you know what the lieutenant is, and that it ain't a few
tears from a woman that'll turn him from anything he has a mind to do.
So he just set her ashore by force, and there she is, as much a
prisoner as Mr. Sims himself."
I was overcome with the horror of this news, though I suppose it was
what I should have expected from my cousin's character.
"Good heavens!" I cried out in my distraction. "Do you mean that she
is in the hands of the pirates at Gheriah?"
"That's about what it comes to. And the sooner you give up all
thoughts of her the better for you, says I."
Before I could frame any answer--and, indeed, I know not what answer I
could have made--there was a great noise and trampling upon deck, and
a man came down to tell us that the vessel was about to weigh anchor,
and that the boatswain was wanted to attend to the service of the
ship. Whereupon he left me, in the company of bitterer thoughts than a
man can have more than once in his life.
I pass over the dreary time spent by me in that dismal confinement
during our voyage. Old Muzzy visited me pretty often, and once Rupert
himself came down and made offers towards a reconcilement.
"Say that you will join us honestly, and I will take off the irons,
and rate you as one of the crew. And when occasion serves, I will
cause you to be made lieutenant under me," he promised, "for after all
you are my own kinsman, and blood is thicker than water."
Whether he was sincere in this, or was compelled to it by my friend
the boatswain, I do not know. But I had only one reply to give him.
"And Marian, what of her?" I said indignantly.
A dark look came on his brow.
"Leave that business alone," he said. "It were better for you, I warn
you fairly. That woman is mine, and I will not suffer the Almighty
Himself to come between us."
At this blasphemous avowal I turned my back on him, and would
entertain no further proposals. However, I knew from the boatswain
that Rupert was first for throwing me overboard; and when Muzzy, who
had much authority with the crew, would not consent to that, he was
for putting me into the castle at Gheriah, along with the late
captain. But this my sturdy champion also opposed, and the end of it
was that I was left in my present quarters when the _Fair Maid_
arrived in the pirates' harbour, and brought them the news that a
British squadron was on its way to besiege the place.
This intelligence Rupert had acquired before leaving Bombay, and it
was this which had caused him to set sail with so much haste. Becoming
very busied in preparations for the defence, I luckily slipped
somewhat out of his mind, and the boatswain took advantage of this to
soften the rigour of my imprisonment, allowing me to take the air on
deck, and even going so far as to release me from my irons.
I was thus enabled to gain some idea of the place I had been brought
to. When I first came up from below, after so long a time passed in
obscurity, the daylight proved too much for my eyes, and I was obliged
to close them, and accustom myself to the glare by degrees. As soon as
I was able to look about me, however, I perceived that the _Fair Maid_
was lying in a very spacious river, not far from the mouth, and over
against a sort of rocky islet or peninsula, joined to the left bank of
the river by a strip of sand. On the rock there was built a very
strong castle, having a double wall and towers to protect it, but the
cannons of rather poor calibre. Alongside of us lay the fleet of the
pirates, composed of strange-looking vessels, having for the most part
two masts, one very much in the stern, and rigged with a huge sail,
the peak of which came much above the top of the mast. The prows of
these vessels stretched a great way forward out of the water having
the appearance of a bird's beak. The larger of these vessels, of which
there were about ten, are called grabs, and the smaller, of which I
counted upwards of sixty, gallivats. These latter are managed with
oars as well as sails, and when there is no wind they are employed to
tow the grabs behind them, so that in light weather it is easy for
them to overtake the ship of which they are in pursuit. They were all
armed with cannon, the grabs carrying as many as twenty or thirty
12-pounders, and the gallivats swivel-guns of 6 or 9 pounds.
We had lain in this position for more than a month, and I was
beginning to be afraid that Admiral Watson had altered his intention
of coming to reduce the pirates' stronghold, when one evening, as I
sat on the deck, just at the time that the wind changed and began to
blow in from the sea, I discerned a great commotion on shore in the
fortress, and turning my eyes towards the river's mouth I beheld a
most welcome sight, namely, a fleet of no less than fourteen ships,
arranged in two lines, with the _Talisman_ at their head, sailing
proudly in, with the British flag flying at their peaks, and their
tops all full of men, their guns run out through their portholes, and
their decks cleared for action.
As silently and as orderly as if they were in mid-ocean without a foe
in sight, they came sweeping up the river, doubled the rocky point,
and anchored one after the other, within two hundred yards of the
north wall of the fort.