"Let him come within the reach of my arm," said Bill, swinging his
brawny right arm as he would a flail, "I guess he wouldn't want to try
it again."
"But he may take you at advantage."
"He will have to get up early in the morning, then," said Sturdy, in a
tone of confidence. "No lubberly foreigner is likely to get ahead of
Bill Sturdy, I can tell you that, my lad."
Both Bill and Charlie supposed that they were alone, and that this
conversation was unheard by any other person, but in this they were
mistaken.
On the other side of the mast crouched the dark figure of a man, who
seemed to be listening intently to the conversation between the two. He
remained very quiet, fearing, doubtless, that he should be observed.
Evidently what he heard did not affect him pleasantly. His brow
contracted, and a scowl of hatred made his features look even more
dark and forbidding than was their wont, especially when Bill Sturdy
made use of the last expression, his face exhibited a concentrated
malice, which could only have been generated in a heart full of evil
passions.
He ground his white teeth together and muttered to himself, as he crept
cautiously from his place of concealment, and made his way to his bunk
in the forecastle. "We shall see, we shall see. No man shall insult and
triumph over me without repenting of it. He shall know, some time, what
it is to excite the vengeance of a desperate man. He thinks the lion
has become a lamb. He will find out his mistake."
Antonio might more appropriately have compared himself to a serpent,
for his character had more of the subtlety of the noxious reptile than
of the boldness and freedom of the monarch of the forest.
Unconscious of the concealed listener to their discourse, Bill Sturdy
and our young friend continued their conversation. In the hours of
darkness, when night broods upon the ocean, and no sound is to be
heard save the dashing of the waves against the sides of the vessel,
the sailor who is obliged to stand his watch would find the hours pass
wearily if it were not for some method of killing the time. Among these
is the spinning of yarns, for which sailors are so noted. This it was
that occurred to Bill, as he stood with Charlie leaning over the side.
"I say, my lad, suppose we spin a yarn apiece, and that will make the
time pass quicker."
"But I am not an old sailor, Bill; I don't know anything about spinning
yarns."
"Tush, lad, I don't expect a salt-water yarn from you. I want a land
yarn. I am sure, you have read a good many, and can think of one now.
Just lead off, and when you get through, I'll try my hand at it."
Thus adjured, Charlie said, "Let me think a minute."
Bill leaned over the rail in silent expectation.
XIX.
CHARLIE'S LAND YARN.
Charlie deliberated a moment, when he chanced to think of Nicholas
Nickleby, the only one of Dickens's works he had ever read, and which,
as it had interested him exceedingly, had impressed itself upon his
remembrance.
"Did you ever hear of Nicholas Nickleby, Bill?" he inquired.
"Yes," was Bill's unexpected response; "when I was at Liverpool three
years ago, she was lying alongside our ship."
"She!" exclaimed Charlie, in amazement.
"Yes," answered Sturdy, in a matter-of-fact tone, "she was a very good
craft, and was in the West India trade. I saw considerable of her,
being as how I got acquainted with Tom Seagrove, one of the men on
board."
"Oh, yes, I see what you mean," said Charlie; "but I don't mean a ship,
I mean a story of the same name."
"No, I never heard of it. Named after the ship, like enough."
Charlie thought it more probable that the vessel was named after the
story, but as this was a point of little importance to the present
occasion, he passed it by, and continued, "Well, Bill, it's a very
interesting story, and as I remember that about as well as anything I
ever read, I believe I will tell you part of it."
"Heave ahead, my lad."
"You must know that this Nicholas Nickleby was a young man whose father
died when he was about nineteen, leaving him very little money, but a
mother and sister to provide for. He had an old uncle Ralph, who was
very rich, but an old rascal, who didn't trouble himself about his poor
relations."
"That's the way with a good many rich people," said Bill. "They leave
the smaller craft to shift for themselves."
"However, on being applied to, he did manage to get the sister a place
in a millinery establishment, and, as for Nicholas, he got him a place
as assistant teacher in a country boarding-school."
"He was a sort of first mate in the school, wasn't he?"
"Well, something like that, only he didn't fare half so well as a mate
or any kind of an officer. All the old fellow gave him for his services
was about twenty-five dollars a year and board."
"What made him ship on board the craft, then?"
"It was the only chance he had, so he thought he'd take it till he
could find a better."
"What was the captain's name?" asked Bill, who stuck to his marine
phraseology.
"His name was Squeers, and a tough old fellow he was. He had some
thirty or forty boarding scholars, whom he treated shamefully. In the
first place, he didn't allow them enough to eat."
"Why didn't they mutiny, and pitch the lubber overboard?" exclaimed
Bill, indignantly.
"Because he had starved the spirit out of them. Besides, they were
mostly small, and he had a wife as bad as himself, as well as a
daughter who was----"
"A chip of the old block."
"Exactly. Do you want to know how he took away their appetites so that
they wouldn't eat so much? He used to make them swallow a spoonful of
boiling hot molasses, which scalded their throats, and made it hard for
them to swallow."
"I'd like to have overhauled him," said Sturdy.
"If you had, I don't believe there'd have been much left of him, for he
was a spindling sort of a man, tall and thin."
"And how did the young fellow like his place?"
"Not very much. He found they were going to half-starve him, too.
However, he wouldn't have minded that so much as seeing the poor
children abused. While all this was going on, the school-master's
daughter fell in love with him."
"Was she pretty?"
"No," said Charlie. "She was the image of her father, and he wasn't
anything of a beauty. She was thin, with a hatchet face and yellow
hair. However, she continued to make herself think that Nicholas was
in love with her, and one day, when her father and mother were gone
to London to get a new scholar, she posted off to a female friend of
hers, and told her that she had got a beau, and invited her friend and
her beau to come to tea. When tea-time came, there they all were in
the sitting-room, drinking tea, and faring a great deal better than
Nicholas had before, since he had been at the school, when the other
young lady and her beau began to poke fun at Nicholas, all on account
of Matilda Squeers, whom they supposed him to be in love with. He
didn't understand it at all, and told them so.
"'Why,' said John Brodie,--that was the other girl's beau,--'ain't you
courtin' Tilda, here?'
"Nicholas protested that he never so much as thought of the thing.
At this, Matilda turned all sorts of colors, for she had confidently
told both of them that he was in love with her, and, besides, she had
no idea that a poor, under-paid teacher would think of refusing her,
the----"
"Captain's daughter," suggested Bill Sturdy.
"Exactly so. So you see the tea-party didn't end quite so pleasantly
as it began, and from that moment Nicholas had a bitter enemy in the
daughter of his employer."
"That's the way with female craft," said Bill. "What happened next?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Squeers came home, bringing the new boy with them. The
first thing they did was to give a whipping all round, to make up for
the time they'd been away."
"I wish I'd been there," said Bill, swinging his brawny arms.
"Among the scholars was one, worse treated than the rest, named Smike.
He had been with them ever since he was a boy of six or eight, and his
friends had deserted him. Mr. Squeers would have cast him off, only he
found his work more than paid for the scanty food he ate, so he kept
him; but he was so beaten and cuffed, and made to drudge so constantly,
that it would have been better for him if he had been turned away. At
last he determined to run away."
"Good for him!" said Bill.
"As soon as Mr. Squeers found he was gone, he went after him post
haste, and, as the boy was weak and couldn't travel very fast, he soon
overtook him, and brought him back, bound hand and foot, in the chaise.
He suspected that Nicholas had helped Smike to escape, so he determined
to inflict a cruel punishment upon him in presence of his assistant.
Accordingly, he armed himself with a large whip, and, calling all the
school together, he told Smike to strip, and was just about to lay
the whip on his naked back when Nicholas shouted out 'Stop!' Squeers
glared round, and said in a fierce voice, 'Who said that?' 'I said it,'
said Nicholas; 'I tell you, stop!' Squeers turned white with rage,
and threatened to whip Nicholas, also. He was about to commence the
punishment, when Nicholas sprang from his seat, and, pulling the whip
from his hand, knocked Squeers over, and began to belabor him with his
own whip."
"Good!" exclaimed Bill, who had become much interested in the
narrative. "I hope he made him scream for mercy."
"So he did, and Nicholas kept on belaboring him, notwithstanding Mrs.
Squeers and her daughter went at him tooth and nail, and tried to pull
him off. But he was so excited with anger that he felt strong enough to
cope with half a dozen, and never left off till Squeers was black and
blue and aching all over."
"Hurrah for Nicholas!" shouted Bill Sturdy, in great delight, at the
school-master's discomfiture. "What happened next?"
"Nicholas packed up his clothes and left the house, but took care to
carry Smike with him, knowing that he would otherwise fare badly."
"And what became of Nicholas afterwards? Did he reach port?"
"He met with a variety of adventures, but at length became rich and
happy."
"That's a pretty good yarn," said Bill Sturdy. "I should have liked to
help him whip the school-master, though."
"Now, Bill, I am ready to hear your yarn," said Charlie.
XX.
BILL STURDY'S STORY.
After pausing a moment to collect his ideas, Bill Sturdy commenced his
story.
"It was, mayhap, twelve years ago, or it might have been thirteen,
since I sailed from New York in the ship Peregrine, bound for Havana.
The Peregrine was quite a sizable ship, and I expected a pleasant
voyage, as the captain was a frank, good-humored looking man. So he was
when he was in his sober senses, but, unfortunately, this wasn't always
the case. However, he used to keep pretty straight when he was at home,
for if he had shown himself out it might have been hard for him to get
employment. If Jack gets drunk it's no serious damage to the ship, but
if the chief officer, to whom all look for commands, allows himself
to drink too much, especially when a storm threatens, it's a pretty
bad matter. You see, my lad, that when a captain is drunk, he does not
generally know it himself, and is apt to think that he is perfectly
able to manage the ship.
"Well, Captain Harvey, for that was his name, was an excellent seaman
when he was sober. He was a thorough sailor, and knew every rope in the
ship. But, as it happened, it would have been better if we had had a
captain who knew less and kept sober.
"Captain Harvey kept pretty straight at first, as I was saying, and we
men began to like him. He was a pleasant-spoken man, though he meant to
be obeyed when he gave an order. I liked him all the better, because
the captain I had gone with last was a different kind of man. It wasn't
always a word and a blow with Captain Lafarge, but oftentimes the blow
came first. Well, times seemed changed, and that was what I was saying
to a messmate of mine, who had sailed with me under the other captain,
when Captain Harvey came on deck. That was the third day out; his face
looked unusually red, and his eyes bloodshot. He staggered up to us,
gave me a blow side of the head, as he said, or rather hiccoughed, for
he couldn't speak very plain, 'Wh--what are you--hic--doing there, you
rascal?'
"Now, my lad, I'm not one to stand a blow very patiently; I'm rather
apt to resent it, and so I should this time, but as I looked up I saw
how matters stood, and that took away my anger. I liked Captain Harvey,
and I knew that when he was right he would never think of giving me
a blow without any cause, so I didn't do anything, but answered, as
respectful as I could,--
"'I hope I am doing my duty, Captain Harvey.'
"'You lie,' he stuttered again.
"I did not feel called upon to give any answer to this charge. It was
as well that I didn't, for he waited a minute and then left me.
"Well, this was the first that any of us knew of the captain's habits.
We were all sorry, even those that liked to drink themselves, for this
was the only fault we could detect in our chief officer, and it was a
pretty serious one, as it turned out. I told you, didn't I, that we
were bound for Havana?"
"Yes," said Charlie.
"Well, it sometimes happens that there are violent storms in those
latitudes, and the coast is dangerous to approach. Time passed, and
although Captain Harvey would have his blow-out now and then, yet there
had been no particular damage so far, perhaps because we had had pretty
quiet weather. Now, however, we had got into the region of gales, and
we all hoped the captain would keep sober.
"But that wasn't to be.
"One morning, I remember, we had a powerful gale. The ship was behaving
pretty well under it. She was a staunch craft when we started, and bade
fair to see a great many years' service. So, on the whole, we didn't
feel uneasy till the captain came on deck.
"We saw at once that he was drunk, a good deal drunk, and not fit to
take care of the ship. He staggered up to the mate, and asked him how
fast the ship was going.
"The mate reported, ten knots an hour.
"'Ten knots an hour!' repeated the captain, contemptuously. 'Is that
all? We must go faster.'
"'But, Captain Harvey,' said the mate, 'there is a violent gale. Do
you think it prudent to increase our speed?'
"'Prudent!' thundered the captain, 'do you think I would give the order
if I didn't think so? Not a word more, sir, but call all hands, and
make sail.'
"Nothing was to be done but to obey.
"Accordingly the reefs were let out of the topsails, the top gallant
sails set, and even the fore top-mast studding sail. Now, my lad,
although you are not much of a sailor, you can understand that it was
perfect madness to carry so much sail in such a tempest. I knew at once
what would happen, and prepared for the worst. There was a hen-coop
lying on deck, and I resolved, that if the worst should come to the
worst, I would spring for that.
"The worst did come to the worst. The ship pitched about like a mad
thing, and creaked and groaned as if she were a human being in the
greatest distress, and I can tell you the sailors looked black enough.
We felt that our lives were being risked, and all for the intemperance
of one man. That scene cured me of drinking grog. I haven't drank a
drop since."
"Did anything happen to the ship?"
"Yes, my lad, something did happen to the ship. A heavy sea struck her
amidships, and pitched her over upon her side. After we recovered,
we found that she was strained severely and leaking badly. Well,
the end of it was, that we had to abandon her. The rest of the crew
got on board the boats, but there wasn't fairly room, and they were
so overloaded that I thought it would be safer trusting to the old
hen-coop. They tried to get me on board the boats, but I had a kind of
suspicion that the boats wouldn't live. So I stuffed all my pockets
with biscuit, filled a tin measure with water, and trusted myself to
the hen-coop."
"Did the boats live?" inquired Charlie, with interest.
"Not a single one. They were never heard from again. No doubt they all
went down in the storm.
"Well, my lad, it wasn't the pleasantest thing pitching about on a
hen-coop on the wild sea, fifty miles, at least, from land. But my
hope was, that I should be seen by some vessel bound for Havana. In
that case I knew I would be safe. I had provision enough to last me
three days, and I could make my water last as long by being sparing of
it. I had to hold on to the hen-coop pretty tight, or I should have
been washed off by some of the heavy seas. Of course, I got completely
drenched by the salt water, and what was worse, the biscuit got
drenched too, which didn't improve its taste, I can tell you.
"So I tossed about for twenty-four hours. By this time the gale had
gone down, and the sea was more quiet. It was at this time that,
casting my eyes about to see if I could anywhere catch sight of a sail,
I descried one apparently making towards me."
"Wer'n't you delighted?"
"I was at first," said Bill, "but as she came nearer I tried not to
attract her notice."
"Why?" asked Charlie, in great surprise.
"Because, my lad, _I recognized in her the Red Rover, one of the most
noted pirates that cruised in those seas_."
XXI.
THE PIRATE SHIP.
"How did you know she was a pirate?" inquired Charlie.
"I suspected her in the first place, from her rakish look. All pirate
ships, you know, are made for speed. Besides, this particular ship had
been described to me by a messmate who had once been on board a ship
that was chased by her, though, luckily, before the pirate had a chance
to overhaul her, two other vessels came in sight, and frightened her
away.
"As soon as I made out the approaching vessel to be the Red Rover,
I repented bitterly the signs by which I had drawn her attention. I
ceased making signals, but it was too late. She had already seen me,
and a boat was filling with men to take me on board. Finding I could
not well help myself, I concluded to make the best of it, and not show
any objection to going with the boat's crew. So when they came near,
and hailed me, asking me who I was, I answered as heartily as I could,
'Bill Sturdy, of the good ship Peregrine, bound for Havana.'
"'And what's become of your ship?'
"'Gone to the bottom,' I answered.
"'How long since?'
"'About twenty-four hours.'
"'How did it happen?'
"In reply, I told all the circumstances, without reserve, for
concealment would have done no good.
"There was a little consultation on board the boat, and then the
officer in command brought it up alongside my hen-coop, and ordered me
aboard.
"This I did with as much alacrity as possible, and I tell you, my lad,
it did seem good once more to be in a boat, even though it belonged to
a pirate, after pitching about on a hen-coop for twenty-four hours.
"Now that I had a chance, I looked at the men that manned the boat.
They were villainous-looking cutthroats--mostly Spaniards, with dark,
lowering faces and forbidding expressions. I couldn't help turning it
over in my mind, what they would be likely to do with me.
"It didn't take long to reach the pirate vessel. Those on board pressed
forward, as I came up and got on deck. They were all pretty much alike.
The captain was a large, stout, muscular man, though I believe," added
Bill, with some complacency, "that I could have got the better of him
in a regular rough-and-tumble fight. However, this isn't neither here
nor there. He came up to me, and made me answer over again the same
questions which had been asked me before. I answered them in the same
way. After he had got through with his questions, he fixed his sharp,
black eyes on me, and inquired, 'Do you know the name of the ship that
has picked you up?'
"'I do,' said I, coolly, though I didn't feel as cool as I appeared.
"'Ha!' he exclaimed, in surprise. 'What is it?'
"'It is the Red Rover,' said I, making believe to be unconcerned.
"'And are you acquainted with its character?" said the captain, with
another of his sharp looks.
"'I believe so,' said I.
"'Name it.'
"'I think it is a pirate,' said I, not moving a muscle.
"'Ha!' he exclaimed, looking at me rather curiously. 'Are you not
afraid to find yourself on board a pirate?'
"'Why should I be?' I answered. 'But for you, I should have died on the
hen-coop, and I suppose, if you had meant to take away my life, you
wouldn't have taken the trouble to save me, since death was certain.'
"'A bold fellow!' said the captain, aside, to the mate. He spoke in
the Spanish language, but I had managed to pick up some odd phrases in
that lingo, so I knew what he was driving at. The mate seemed to agree,
and they talked a little more. I didn't understand, but guessed it was
about me.
"The pirate captain, after a short confab with the mate, turned round,
and spoke to me. 'Well, my man,' said he, 'I don't mind telling you
that you've hit the mark in guessing that this is the Red Rover, and a
pirate. I believe she has made something of a reputation for herself,'
he added, proudly.
"I bowed.
"'Now I have a proposal to make to you. We're rather short-handed. We
need two or three brave fellows, and I am inclined to think, from your
bearing, that you will suit us. Now, if you would like it, you shall be
admitted to equal privileges with the rest of the crew, with an equal
share of whatever booty we manage to pick up, and that I may tell you,
is not small. Here, Roderigo, step forward, and tell this man how much
your share was last year.'
"Roderigo, a villainous-looking fellow, stepped forward, and answered,
'Nearly two thousand dollars in goods and money.'
"'You see, then, what are the inducements. Will you join us or not?'
"Now I very well knew what the consequences of my refusal would be, so
I replied, without a moment's hesitation, 'I will.'"
"What, did you become a pirate?" asked Charlie, horror-struck.
"Pretty much in the same way that you became a sailor, my lad; because
I couldn't help it."
"And did you join in robbing vessels, and killing all on board?"
"Hold on, my lad; you're a little too fast for me. You'll know in due
time. The pirate captain seemed pleased with my promptness, and made
me sign the book. I should have given a wrong name, only I had given
the right one when I was hailed, though, for that matter, Sturdy isn't
my right name. The captain told me, in a very polite sort of way, that
if I should undertake to play them false, or interfere with them in
any way, I should be pitched overboard. As this threat did not seem
to trouble me much, he seemed to be satisfied that it was all right
with me. In the course of a day or two, I got acquainted with the
crew. They were mostly Spaniards, but there was a sprinkling of other
nations,--French, Danes, Germans, and one Englishman."
"Were there any Yankees?"
"No, I'm proud to say there wasn't one except myself, and I wasn't
there of my own free will. Piracy doesn't chime in with our Yankee
notions, and it's my belief you'll find precious few full-blooded
Yankees that are engaged in the business."
"How did you get out of their clutches?" asked Charlie.
"That's what I'm coming to by and by. For a few days we didn't meet a
vessel, or, at least, one that was alone, and so would do to attack.
I was glad of that, for I was ready enough to do my duty on board the
ship, but I knew that, just as soon as we met a vessel, I should be
expected to do my share of the fighting, and it went against my grain
to engage in any such villainous business as that. However, I thought I
wouldn't borrow trouble, but wait till it came, and then I could decide
what to do.
"At last I heard the cry I so much dreaded, 'Sail ho!' from one of the
crew, who had been sent aloft to give notice of an approaching vessel.
"'Where away?' shouted the pirate captain.
"'To the eastward.'
"Orders were at once given to change the course of the vessel, and to
make for the stranger. As soon as she saw us she made every effort to
get away, but the Red Rover was too swift for her. When we got within
a short distance, I made out the vessel to be the Sally Ann, which had
left port about the time the Peregrine did. I knew some of those on
board very well, and the captain was an old school-mate of mine.
"'What would they think,' I couldn't help saying to myself, with a
groan, 'if they knew their old messmate was regularly enrolled among
the crew of the pirate that is overhauling them?'"
XXII.
HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A PIRATE.
Bill Sturdy paused to take a whiff at his pipe, and then resumed his
story, in which Charlie manifested no slight interest.