advice of his first officer. He had a curiosity to learn what Sturdy
had to communicate.
"Say on; what do you know of this affair?"
"Very well, sir. About an hour ago you came up from the cabin and began
to pace the deck."
The captain assented.
"As you passed I observed one of the crew take a hasty glance at your
finger. I looked also, and saw that you were not wearing your ring as
usual."
"Well?"
"The sailor that I mentioned just now."
"Who was he?"
"I would rather not mention his name just at present, unless you insist
upon it."
The captain did not insist, and Sturdy proceeded.
"I thought I would just keep my eyes open, and see what followed.
Pretty soon the sailor I spoke of looked about him to see if he was
unnoticed, and crept slyly down below. A little later he came up and
went to work again."
"Was that all?"
"It was not," answered Sturdy. "He kept at work about ten minutes
longer, and then stole towards the forecastle with the same secrecy as
before. I should have followed him down, but I thought he would notice
me. My mind misgave me that he was in some mischief. I determined I
would remember what happened, and if anything turned up, I should know
how it came about."
"And what do you make of all this?" said Randall, sneering. "To my mind
it is a foolish story, and, even if true, amounts to nothing."
"I'll tell you what I think, and am about sure of, Mr. Randall," said
Bill, without betraying a particle of excitement, but continuing to
speak with the same calm composure as before, "I believe that man in
the first place stole the captain's ring, and then went and put it into
the lad's chest, in order that it might be found there, and the guilt
fixed on him."
This assertion made a sensation among the crew, and there was a general
feeling that Charlie was innocent.
"Who is this man of whom you have been speaking?" said the captain.
"I don't need to name him," said Bill. "I don't need even to look at
him. If you will look around you, Captain Brace, you can tell by his
looks who the man is that has hatched this wicked plot against an
innocent boy."
Instantly the eyes of all, as if by some common impulse, were fixed
upon the form of Antonio, who, confused, thunderstruck by the minute
detail of his movements, which he had supposed unnoticed by any one,
now stood with his face alternately flushing and paling, looking the
very picture of confession and detected guilt.
Unable to bear the glances fixed upon him, he exclaimed, in a voice
hoarse with passion, "It is false. I never did it."
"No one has accused you that I know of," said Bill Sturdy, coolly.
"Leastways, nobody that I know of, excepting yourself, and your face is
enough to do that. However, I don't mind saying that you are the man I
mean. If Captain Brace will take the trouble to remember, you are the
first one that thought of searching for the ring, and told him falsely
that you had seen it in the hands of that lad there. Then again, when
the chest had been searched, and the ring couldn't be found, you came
forward and offered to look for it yourself, and finally you did find
it. That's all I've got to say, only, if you are not the real thief I
am a liar, and so is that face of yours."
Carried away by his rage, Antonio, forgetting the prudence which his
past experience might have taught him, threw himself suddenly upon Bill
Sturdy, and nearly succeeded in laying him prostrate upon the deck.
XXVI.
A STORM BREWING.
Antonio's assault was so unexpected that Bill Sturdy, being, of course,
quite unprepared for it, staggered and seemed about to fall. But, as
one who slips upon the ice instinctively makes an effort to preserve
his equilibrium, so Sturdy immediately recovered from the momentary
disadvantage, and seizing Antonio with both hands threw him to the deck
without any great apparent effort.
Probably if Antonio had gained the advantage, Captain Brace would have
been in no haste to put a stop to the conflict. As it was, his brows
knit with anger as he exclaimed, in a stentorian voice,--
"Stop this fighting, you lubbers! Don't you know better the respect
which is due to my presence, you--rascals! I'll let you know that I am
not to be insulted on my own deck."
"It wasn't a fight of my seeking, Captain Brace," said Bill, coolly. "I
ain't disposed to be quarrelsome, and I guess he won't want to try it
again immediately."
As he said this he glanced at Antonio, who, sorely bruised by the fall,
was slowly rising from the deck, and slinking away with a crestfallen
and malignant look. Had he not been moved by an uncontrollable impulse
of rage and disappointment, he would scarcely have ventured upon this
open attack, knowing, as had been incontestably proved, that he was no
match for the Herculean strength of Bill Sturdy.
"Silence!" roared the captain, in answer to Bill's vindication of
himself. "One would think from your manner that you were the captain of
this ship instead of me."
"If I were the captain," said Bill, bluntly, "I'd have that man,"
pointing to Antonio, "put ashore at the first port. I wouldn't harbor
such a rascal aboard the ship."
"Silence!" again thundered the captain. "Don't you know your place? If
you don't, by all the saints in the calendar, I'll make you know it
before twenty-four hours have passed over your head. Let me tell you
that I don't require any help in commanding this vessel. When I do, I
will call on you. Till then, you may keep your advice to yourself."
Bill shrugged his shoulders, but thought it prudent, on the whole, to
say nothing. Not that he feared for himself. He had a good deal of
confidence in the strength with which nature had endowed him, but he
feared that any unguarded words of his might incite the captain and
mate to visit new hardships upon his young _protégé_, Charlie.
"As to the matter of the ring," said the captain, "my mind is not made
up. Mr. Randall, will you attend me?"
The mate went below with Captain Brace.
After a moment's silence the captain said, "I don't like that fellow,
Mr. Randall."
"Do you mean Antonio?"
"No; this Sturdy, who takes such airs upon himself."
"Neither do I," answered Randall, promptly.
"He's a mutinous rebel. I can see it in his eye," pursued the captain.
"I have no doubt he would be if he had a good opportunity."
"Perhaps I shall give him one," said the captain, significantly.
"He's as strong as a bull," said the mate.
"Yes; the fellow has fists like sledge-hammers, but he may use them
once too often. We will speak of that hereafter. Now what do you think
of this robbery?"
"I suppose Antonio was the thief," said Randall, reluctantly.
"You think Sturdy's story is correct?"
"Yes; Antonio is a deep rascal, though of the two I hate Sturdy most."
"Did you suppose your nephew to be the thief before the latter told his
story?"
"I did not."
"Yet you countenanced the charge."
"Because I thought a flogging would do the boy no harm."
"You don't seem to have any great affection for your nephew."
"I do not."
"And the reason?"
"Is simply this. The boy's mother jilted me, or rather refused me
outright when I offered my hand in marriage."
"Ha, that's where the shoe pinches."
"You are right."
"Well, I don't care to interfere with any little private revenge you
may desire to take, as long as it chimes in with my own purposes. The
boy shall be flogged if you wish it."
"I do."
"Find some pretext then, as long as the charge of robbery won't serve."
"Then," said Randall, "you might announce that, although the charge of
theft had not been sustained, he had been guilty of an offence that
called for punishment--insolence to his officers."
"That is a good idea. And in regard to Antonio----"
"I have no doubt the rascal stole the ring, and deserves punishment,
but I don't want him flogged, as it would gratify Sturdy too much."
"My own feeling."
"You can say that you have been unable to determine who is guilty in
the matter, and shall wait for further evidence."
"Very well conceived, Mr. Randall. I shall follow your advice, and
thank you for it."
"I am glad to have been of service to you, Captain Brace."
"And now, Mr. Randall, if you will go on deck, I will be up presently."
The mate reappeared on deck with a satisfied air, occasionally looking
with a glance of triumphant spite at Charlie, who was standing beside
his tried and trusty friend, Bill Sturdy.
"You don't know what's in store for you, my lad," he muttered. "Pity
his mother could not be here to see his fair flesh quivering under the
keen lash. Her heart would feel every stroke. She might repent then,
the scorn with which she repelled the suit of John Randall. How I hate
that boy! He brings up his father before me. So much the better. When
he shrinks beneath the lash, I shall think it is my old rival upon whom
it is falling."
Bill Sturdy, meanwhile, said in a low voice to Charlie, "I don't like
the looks of the mate this morning. He's hatching mischief of some
kind, if I'm not greatly mistaken."
"Against us?"
"That's what I mistrust, my lad; against one or both of us. He hates us
both, and I ain't quite sure which he hates the most."
"And yet I never did him any injury."
"Then he's done you some harm, depend upon it. People hate worst those
they have injured most, and he's done you a great wrong in stealing
you from home."
"What do you suppose made him do that, Bill?"
"He had some private reason; there ain't a question about that. It
wasn't because we were in want of a boy. We might have picked up plenty
that would have been glad to come."
"I'm afraid you'll get into trouble with him for taking my part," said
Charlie, with some anxiety.
"Don't trouble yourself about me," said Sturdy, shrugging his
shoulders. "I ain't in any way frightened by his black looks, and if he
tries to do you any mischief, he'll find you've got one friend."
Before Charlie had an opportunity to reply, Captain Brace came on deck,
and looked around him with a glance that showed a storm was brewing.
XXVII.
THE LASH.
"Pipe all hands to see punishment inflicted," ordered Captain Brace.
Charlie and Bill Sturdy looked at each other, uncertain where the blow
was to fall.
"It must be Antonio," thought our hero.
Evidently Antonio was of the same opinion, for over his swarthy face
there stole a pallor which showed his apprehension.
Such was the understanding of the crew also, as they could think of
no other wrongdoer. Little pity was excited in behalf of the supposed
sufferer. He had so abused his position when champion of the crew,
that he had forfeited the good-will of all; and even if this had not
been the case, his treacherous and mean attempt to bring Charlie into
trouble would have been sufficient to bring him into disfavor.
The uncertainty as to the victim was dissipated by the captain's next
words.
"Jack Randall, come here!"
Charlie came forward.
"Boy," said Captain Brace, sternly, "you were guilty of insolence to me
this morning. This shall never go unpunished while I am in command of
a vessel. As to the ring, you may or may not have stolen it. It rests
between you and Antonio. As it cannot be proved of either, neither will
be punished on this account."
Antonio's sallow face lighted up with joy at this unexpected escape, a
joy which was not reflected on the faces of the crew.
"It is for insolence, therefore, and not on account of theft," pursued
the captain, "that I sentence you, Jack Randall, to a dozen lashes on
the bare back. Off with your jacket!"
Charlie was a brave boy, but the prospect of this ignominious
punishment caused his check to pale and his voice to tremble, as he
exclaimed, "Captain Brace, if I have been guilty of insolence or want
of proper respect to you, it was not intentional. Do not compel me to
submit to this disgraceful punishment."
There was a movement of sympathy among the crew, and more than one
heart softened at the sight of Charlie's manly front, though his lips
quivered, and pride alone kept back the tears from his eyes. Bill
Sturdy started, but checked himself, to hear what the captain would say
in response.
"It is too late," he said, coldly. "You should have thought of all that
before you indulged in insolence."
"But----"
"It is too late, I say," roared the captain, irritated. "Strip, you
young rascal, or you shall have some help about it, and that of a rough
kind."
It seemed as if all chance of escape was over for poor Charlie. But at
that moment Bill Sturdy pressed forward, and, hitching up his trousers,
as he was wont to do preparatory to speaking, said, in a distinct tone
of voice, "Captain Brace."
"Well?" said the captain. "What have you to say?"
"I should like to make a proposal to you, sir."
"A proposal," repeated the captain, mystified. "What am I to understand
by that?"
"It's just this, Captain Brace. You're the captain of this vessel, and
you've got a right to flog that boy, I suppose, according to the law.
"Of course I have," said the captain, fiercely. "Do you presume to
question that right?"
"I don't think proper to question it just now," said Bill; "but,
Captain Brace, just look at that boy. Look at his bright, honest face,
and you can't have the heart to abuse him."
"Abuse him!" exclaimed the captain, stamping on the deck in his fury;
"say that again, and I'll have you flogged with him."
"It was something of that kind that I was going to propose," said Bill
Sturdy.
Captain Brace stared at him in astonishment, a feeling which was shared
by the crew.
"If you want to be flogged," said the captain, grimly, "we will try to
accommodate you."
"It is in this way that I mean," exclaimed Bill. "I've taken a liking
to that lad, and I've promised him I'll stand his friend. Now, Captain
Brace, if somebody must be flogged, spare him, and flog me in his
place."
Surprise was depicted on every face, and the sunburnt and rough-visaged
men about him felt an involuntary thrill of respect and admiration,
as Sturdy manfully came forward and offered his own back to the
punishment, which is properly regarded as an insult to manhood, though
the disgrace attaches not to the one who endures, but to the one who
inflicts it.
Charlie was the first to speak. His generous heart revolted at the idea
of escaping punishment at the expense of his friend.
"No, Bill Sturdy," said he, manfully, "I don't want you to suffer in my
place. It'll be hard to bear it," and his lip quivered; "but it would
be weak and cowardly for me to let anybody else suffer in my place."
Charlie began to take off his jacket.
There was a murmuring among the crew, testifying to the excitement
which they felt.
"Put on your jacket, my lad," said Bill. "I'm older and tougher than
you, and I can bear it better."
And the stout seaman pulled off his shirt, and displayed his brawny
shoulders, and a chest whose breadth and depth betokened a strength
which could not be styled less than Herculean.
Antonio looked on, his eye blazing with vindictive joy. Whichever was
flogged, his satisfaction would be equal.
"Hark you!" exclaimed Captain Brace, interfering at this juncture. "I
think that I shall choose to have a voice in this matter. So you wish,"
turning to Sturdy, "to relieve this boy of his punishment, do you?"
"I do," said the old seaman.
"I don't want him to," interrupted Charlie. "It is mine, and I will
bear it."
"It seems the parties are not agreed," said the captain, sardonically.
"Spare him," said Bill Sturdy, his eyes resting affectionately on
Charlie. "He is so young."
"Perhaps the best way in which I can please you both is to divide the
punishment between you. I had sentenced this lad to receive twelve
lashes. Since you wish to do him a service, you shall receive six, and
he the other six."
"I do not consent," said Sturdy, comprehending the captain's purpose to
humiliate both. "If his back is to receive a single lash, my offer will
not save him from the disgrace, and that is worse than the pain."
At this juncture the mate whispered something in the captain's ear.
The face of the latter lighted up with satisfaction, and his next words
revealed the nature of the mate's suggestion.
"I consent to the substitution," he said, and then paused.
Bill Sturdy's face glowed with generous satisfaction, and with heroic
forgetfulness of self, he began to strip for punishment.
A moment, and his back, broad and ample, was bared and the thick,
corded muscles could be seen.
"Antonio, come forward," said Captain Brace.
Antonio advanced amid the general surprise of the crew, and somewhat to
his own, and stood still, awaiting orders.
"Now," said Captain Brace, his tone showing his malignant satisfaction.
"I appoint you as my deputy to administer twelve lashes to this man;
mind that you don't spare him."
Antonio did not need this injunction. His eyes were full of fiendish
triumph, as he seized the instrument of torture, and flourished it
above his head.
As for Bill Sturdy, when he knew that Antonio was to be employed to
inflict punishment upon him, this refinement of torture shook his
resolution for a moment. It was, indeed, the bitterest drop in the cup.
But not for an instant did his resolution falter. He would save Charlie
at all hazards. He quickly recovered himself, and said, in a firm
voice, "I am ready."
Instantly the lash was whirled aloft, and buried itself in his flesh.
There was a quiver, and that was all.
One--two--three--four--
In fast succession the blows fall upon his flesh, he meanwhile standing
firmly braced, though his cheek was paler than its wont.
Charlie's heart sickened, and he closed his eyes to shut out the
fearful spectacle.
As for Antonio, he seemed to revel in the task which had been assigned
him. His eyes fairly danced with baleful light, and he seemed almost
beside himself. It was this, perhaps, that led him to exceed by one
the strokes which he had been ordered to administer.
A moment after, and the lash was wrested from him by Bill Sturdy, who
threw him to the deck, with one powerful grasp tore the covering from
his back, and buried the lash which had scarred his own back in the
flesh of his late executioner who with face distorted with fright and
pain roared for mercy.
"That is to pay for the blow you struck on your own account, you
scoundrel," exclaimed Sturdy. "And now," as the lash descended once
more with prodigious force, and the victim fairly writhed under it,
"you are one in my debt."
XXVIII.
TWO CONFERENCES.
So strongly were the sympathies of the crew with Sturdy, more
especially since he had shown himself capable of such disinterested and
heroic self-sacrifice, and so decidedly were their feelings enlisted
against Antonio, who acted like a fiend rather than a man in the
execution of the welcome duty assigned him by the captain, that this
sudden turning of the tables, the summary revenge taken by Bill Sturdy
in return for the additional blow Antonio had inflicted, was greeted
with a triumphant shout from the sailors, which seemed to spring from
them spontaneously.
Captain Brace bit his lip, and Randall's face darkened with rage. They
felt that the humiliation which they had intended for Bill Sturdy had
recoiled upon the head of their own agent.
The worst of it was they could not prudently resent it. Antonio had
in the eyes of all been guilty of a glaring offence in exceeding his
orders, and had justly brought upon himself the punishment he had
received. However, the justice or injustice of the matter would have
weighed little with Captain Brace if he had not been assured that
it would not be safe for him to go further. The law, at the time of
which I am speaking, gave almost unlimited power to the commander of
a vessel over the lives and liberties of those who were placed under
him, yet most were aware that there was a point at which it was wise to
pause. At the commencement of the scene, there had been audible murmurs
among the crew, the significance of which the captain and mate would
understand. The habit of subordination, and the knowledge that this
was in a certain sense a voluntary act on the part of Bill Sturdy,
had prevented anything more, but if the captain had gone to greater
extremities, the consequences might have been serious.
Meanwhile Antonio picked himself up, smarting under the terrible wounds
which had been inflicted by the lash wielded with the whole of Bill
Sturdy's enormous strength. Indeed, although he had received but two
stripes, and his enemy thirteen, it may be doubted whether the pain
inflicted by those two were not equal to that of the greater number.
Antonio had slunk down into the forecastle to bathe his back and obtain
fresh clothes, for his shirt had been rent asunder. Bill Sturdy, on
the other hand, proceeded to attire himself on deck and went about
his work, without showing outwardly the pain which he must have been
suffering.
Captain Brace took no public notice of the retribution which had
followed the punishment. He didn't dare to act as he wished, and
therefore chose to pass it unnoticed. But an hour afterwards, as he sat
in conference with the mate, his fury burst the bounds he had imposed
upon it.
"Curse that fellow!" he exclaimed. "Is he forever destined to thwart my
designs? I felt that I could willingly have flogged him myself till
the last breath left his body."
"It is a pity Antonio ventured to exceed his orders."
"Yes, the fool was richly repaid for his act, but I could wish it had
been by a different hand."
"That extra blow gave Sturdy a pretext for his summary vengeance.
But for that his conduct could have been construed into mutiny and
disrespect to you."
"And then I might have put him in irons."
"You might do it now, but for----"
"But for the crew, you would say. That alone prevents me. The fellow,
unluckily, has secured their sympathy. Would that I could devise some
way for taking vengeance safely upon this rebellious scoundrel."
The mate leaned his head upon his hand, and gave himself up to
reflection. Something occurred to him, for lifting his head again, he
asked,--
"Have you ever been in Rio Janeiro, Captain Brace?"
"Never but once, and that some nine or ten years since."
"There are desperadoes in that city, as in others," pursued Randall,
fixing his eyes intently upon the captain.
"I do not quite catch your meaning, Mr. Randall."
"Men who are little troubled by conscientious scruples, but are willing
to undertake the most dangerous and illegal enterprises--_for small
consideration_.
"I begin to understand you now," said the captain.
"Shall I proceed?"
"Do so."
The mate rightly construed this into an intimation that his
proposition, though hinting at crime, would not prove distasteful to
the captain. This, knowing the character of his superior officer, did
not surprise him, and he proceeded.
"I think you apprehend my meaning, Captain Brace. This man is a thorn
in our sides. He is exerting a bad influence on board the ship. He is
undermining your influence with the crew."
"That is all true, Mr. Randall. What, then, is your advice in this
state of affairs?"
"My advice is, that this fellow _should be removed_."
"To a place better fitted for him," suggested the captain, with a grim
smile.
"Precisely so."
"And through the agency of such men as you have spoken of?"
"That is my proposition."
"It deserves thinking of. May I ask if you have any acquaintance among
the fraternity, or whether you have ever had any occasion to employ
their services?"
"I did on one occasion."
"Do you mind giving the particulars?"
"To you, no. Some years since I shipped as common sailor on board the
Porcupine, bound from New York to Rio. On the voyage one of the sailors
on several occasions insulted me, and I determined upon revenge. At Rio
I fell in with a desperate character, who for a comparatively small sum
engaged to do my bidding."
"Well?"
"There is not much to tell. One night this man was passing through
a narrow street, quite unsuspicious of danger, when he was suddenly
struck from behind by a bludgeon, and--_he never came back to the
ship_."
"Did no suspicion attach to you?"
"How should there? Who was to betray me? Not my agent, or in so doing
he would betray himself. This is the first time I have ever spoken of
it, but I am safe with you."
"Perfectly. You say the consideration was small."
"Fifty dollars only. I dare say the fellow considered himself well
paid. Besides he took whatever his victim had about him."
"Thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Randall. I will furnish the money,
if you will undertake the management of the business when we reach Rio."