A SLIGHT CHANGE.
They were very unpleasantly interrupted by the sharp report of a
pistol, apparently proceeding from the deck, and springing to his
feet, the harpooner darted up the companion-way.
As he emerged from the entrance, however, he was seized and thrown
down before he could use his rifle, by three of the New Zealanders,
who had evidently been lying in wait for him. They fastened his arms
and his legs with strong cords, and then stepping back a few paces,
glared upon him with Satanic exultation. At the same moment, turning
his eyes to the right, he saw the corpulent figure of Stump lying
near the foot of the mizzen-mast, and, bending over it, the sinewy
form of the savage Driko. The islander was engaged in securing the
limbs of the prostrate man with ropes, and upon raising his head
to obtain a better view, Marline perceived that the poor fellow
was senseless. His pistol was lying by his side, and near that a
belaying-pin, the latter of which, the young man at once divined, had
been used to deal the shipkeeper the blow which had deprived him of
consciousness.
“Ay, ay,” said one of the New Zealanders, as though he guessed our
hero’s thoughts, “De Portuguese at de wheel go behind him and knock
him down with pin--strikee on de head--and den de pistol ’e go off,
and we know you den pretty soon come up from de cabin, and we wait
for you. Hi! hi! hi! Very good dis way to catch you!”
The fierce Driko had by this time finished his task, and rising to
his feet, he now turned his eagle eyes, blazing with fury, upon the
face of Marline.
“You makee lay down lances, eh? You makee you captain of dis ship,
eh? Now _me_ captain, and me killee _you_!”
With which words he moved to the carpenter’s chest, took therefrom a
keen-edged hatchet, then rushed to the side of the prostrate youth,
and lifted the weapon on high to deal the fatal blow!
At that critical instant, a cry of anguish was heard, as Alice--who
had been alarmed by the prolonged absence of her lover, and who
naturally experienced a presentiment of evil--rushed from the
companion-way, and threw herself between the glittering steel and the
body of the harpooner!
“Spare him! spare him! Oh, for heaven’s sake, Driko--stay your hand!”
she cried, in tones of such earnest entreaty, that even the stern
islander was moved. He remembered--and the wild men of the Pacific
isles seldom forget a favor--that this young girl had once, while the
vessel was anchored near Honolulu, and the captain was ashore, saved
him from being flogged by the flinty-hearted Briggs.
But then, he had afterward made her a present of a beautiful string
of pearls, and had thought at the time that the gift would cancel
the obligation. Now, however, many doubts upon this subject passed
through his mind, as he looked down upon the sweet, earnest face of
the fair pleader, and listened to her beseeching voice.
He remained buried in reflection for some time, and then in order to
put an end to his perplexity, turned to his companions, and solicited
their opinion upon the all-important question.
An animated discussion between them--one which was kept up with
unabated ardor for nearly a quarter of an hour--was the result;
and then the dusky “lawyers” unanimously decided that the gift of
pearls did not quite release Driko from his obligations to his pretty
benefactress.
The islander promptly threw his hatchet aside, and implied, by a
dignified motion of his hand to Alice, that he would spare her
lover’s life.
“Me get out of de ‘tankee’ (thank you) in dis way,” said he, “and me
no owe you any more. S’posee Marline makee me mad again, why den,
habbing no more tankee, me killee, _quick_.”
“Well, blast me!” cried Stump, who had by this time recovered his
senses, “that’s what I call a lubberly way of reasoning, although
good enough, I suppose, for a pow-wow. But, I tell you what it is,
blackskin--if you were only a little more than half civilized, you’d
feel that you was under etarnal obligations to that gal for saving
your hide. She’s a sort of omnipotent creatur’, she is, and the
contrast atween her pretty skin and them tater (tattoo) marks upon
yours, is wonderfully striking and pictur’sque! Besides--”
The mutineers did not give the shipkeeper an opportunity to conclude
his observations. Two of them lifted him to his feet, and hurried
him along to the main-hold, in which they bundled him without any
ceremony. Marline was soon afterward transferred to the same quarter,
and Alice was led back to her apartment--the door of which was then
closed and locked.
“Well,” said Stump, as he rolled over upon his back after the hatch
had been secured above the heads of the two prisoners, “here we
are again, thrown into nearly the same situation as we was before.
We ain’t made much progress in good luck, and as misfortunes never
comes single, I suppose there’ll be more breakers presently. That
Portuguese sarved me a most unmannerly trick sure enough, and if I
ever get hold of his long head, I shall punch it of a sartainty.
But, I’ve l’arned by it another lesson, which is that them that
doesn’t look on both sides of a question, is pretty sure to get
swamped.”
“Ay, ay,” responded Marline, “and I ought to have thought to caution
you to be on your guard against that sneaking villain at the wheel.
Do you suffer any from the effects of the blow?”
“I’ve a hard head,” replied the shipkeeper, “which has always been a
distinguishin’ feature of the Stumps, and mine is peculiar in that
way, seeing as I was much given to butting when I was a youngster, at
school, a l’arning my letters. I didn’t make much progress in books
on that account; I was always and etarnally a-having these butting
matches with my little shipmates, and the more I butted, the harder
my head grew, which is the reason, as I take it, that after awhile
I couldn’t get any l’arnin’ into it. As a nat’ral consequence, the
blow I got from the Portuguese--blast him--hasn’t affected my in’ard
functions.”
“I am glad to hear it,” replied Marline. “And now we must hope for
the best. I think it very likely that the ship will be seen and
boarded before long, by our shipmates in the boats.”
“If hoping on my part will do any good, she sartainly will be;
and now I think that we might as well make a s’arch for that saw
which proved a friend to me the other time I was here. It isn’t
particularly wise to put up with troubles, when they can be
prevented.”
And the speaker, with much difficulty, proceeded to roll himself
about in different directions, in order that he might come into
contact with the instrument. This, however, was not to be found, and
after he had fruitlessly exerted himself until every bone in his body
ached, the shipkeeper worked himself back to the side of his chum,
declaring that he believed the Kanakas had guessed the manner in
which he had previously liberated himself, and so had carried away
the tool.
“Never mind,” replied Marline, “if we remain quiet, the cords will
not give us much inconvenience.”
He had scarcely spoken, when a stream of light, caused by the opening
of the run-hatch, darted into the after-part of the hold; an
occurrence which was duly commented upon by Stump.
“Ay, ay,” said he, “they are a-setting Tom Lark at liberty; and, as
soon as that animal gets on deck, he’ll wear ship, and then there’ll
be no chance for the craft to fall in with any of the boats. It’s
really miraculous, it is, the amount of mischief that such a wolf can
make before the law brings him to justice, and--”
“Hark!” interrupted Marline, “the ship is in the ice now!”
“So she is,” replied Stump, as the grinding of the floating bergs
against the vessel’s sides and her bottom, became louder each moment;
“she’s in for it sure enough, and now if that infarnal champion
for ‘equal rights’ as he calls ’em, doesn’t look out he’ll have us
a-going to the locker below in a stove ship, which I wouldn’t relish
exactly, seeing as my hands and feet are tied criminal-like, and Davy
Jones might make a mistake and take me for a pirate. When I go below
I’d prefer to go as an honest tar should, with neither ropes nor
handcuffs about me. There!” he added, as the after hold again became
dark, “they’ve taken him out; he’s at liberty, the big mule--and a
mighty pleasant time we’ll have of it. We are prisoners now for a
sartainty.”
“It is too soon yet to despair,” replied Marline. “Lark will wear
ship of course, but even then, there’ll be a chance of his falling in
with the boats. So keep up your spirits, my friend.”
“My spirits ain’t sunk yet,” retorted Stump, “and I think it would be
a heavy sea that ’ud sink ’em. To make light of our misfortun’s is
the surest way of getting rid of ’em, and it’s astonishing to me how
some of my fellow creatur’s will fret themselves about small matters,
and think _their_ troubles is ‘catamount’ to everybody else’s.”
“There’s some truth in that,” retorted Marline, “and there’s nothing
like meeting our misfortunes with a brave front. But look, my
friend,” he suddenly added in a whisper, as he lifted his head, “it
seems to me that I can make out the outlines of a figure moving about
in the steerage. There is certainly somebody there, or I am very much
deceived.”
“Ay, ay,” replied Stump, “you are sartainly right. I see the
creatur’, and I can’t imagine who he is, seeing as only the faint
outlines of him is visible. But if he stays there much longer we’ll
get a clearer squint of him, for we are getting more accustomed-like
to the darkness every minute. It’s a-making parfect cats of us--it
is--so far as our eyes are consarned--this being in confinement; only
I hope that it won’t prevent us from seeing clear in the daylight.”
The harpooner was about to reply, when both men suddenly beheld
a number of jets of blue flame shoot up amid the gloom of the
after-hold, shedding a faint, unearthly light upon surrounding
objects, and thus bringing into bold relief the long, cruel face and
gleaming eyes of the Portuguese steward.
“Blast him!” ejaculated Stump, “there he is, sure enough, and if
them blue flames ain’t prognostical of his future downfall into the
great lower hold, that’s prepared for such sinners, then you may have
my pigtail, which is dearer to me than life. But, what the infarnal
blackskin intends to do with that furnace of blazing charcoal that he
carries, baffles my scrutiny into human natur’.”
“We shall soon see,” replied the harpooner--a terrible suspicion
flashing through his mind, “we shall soon see. The villain is capable
of any crime.”
“He’s a sneaking wretch,” added the shipkeeper, “as is proved by
his doing every thing in a sneaking way. He must have been one of
them that just liberated the chief mutineer, and in his gen’ral
underhand manner, he’s contrived to remain in the hold, escaping the
observation of Lark, who was too glad, I’ll warrant, when he found
himself free to pay attention to his sat’lite. But what _can_ the
infarnal imp be going to do with that charcoal furnace?”
Stump, however, was soon enlightened, and the suspicions of his chum
confirmed; for the steward now advanced rapidly toward them, and
placed the furnace upon a cask within a few yards of their feet. Then
he darted forward, and drawing a pump-bolt from his pocket, he thrust
it into the mouth of the shipkeeper and secured it with strong cords,
heedless of the indignant remonstrances of the harpooner, and his
loud hail to those on deck; for the young man did not believe that
they were cognizant of the infernal plans of the Portuguese.
“Ay, ay,” said the latter, “you may cry until you be hoarse, but
neither Lark nor de men will heed you, for dey t’ink you only do
it so as dey can you let out of de hold. Hey! hey! hey! dis is fine
revenge for de knock-down you make Lark give me. Now den, me gag you
de same as Stump!” And suiting the action to the words, he forced an
iron belaying-pin, with which he was provided, into the mouth of the
prisoner.
“Dere,” said he, malignantly, when he had secured the
instrument--“now me leave you and go on deck. De charcoal burn in de
furnace, and de gas kill you before long time, de same as a rat!”
With which comfortable assurance he departed, and the two men soon
afterward heard him open the run-hatch in order to make his way into
the cabin.
Bound and helpless--deprived even of the consolation of speech--the
situation of the two was now miserable enough. The deadly gas from
the burning charcoal was fast poisoning the close atmosphere of the
hold, and the prisoners could taste the sickening vapor as it entered
their throats.
The air became more stifling every moment. The seamen felt their
temples throb with violence--an acute pain tearing through the brain
like a knife shot at intervals into the head of each.
They believed that their doom was sealed--that they were destined
to expire in this miserable pent-up spot, with their rebellious
shipmates within hailing distance of them, and yet--if we except the
Portuguese--unaware of their condition.