The cabin of the _Albatross_ was a much larger apartment than one would
have expected to find in a craft of her size. It was about twenty feet
long and eighteen feet broad, occupying the entire width of the ship;
the state-rooms--of which there were two only--being outside the cabin,
at the foot of the companion staircase. The apartment was well lighted
and very airy, light and air being admitted not only through the
skylight, but also through the stern-ports and dead-lights fitted into
the sides of the ship. The fittings were extremely rich, though
somewhat out of harmony with each other, conveying to Captain Staunton's
educated eye the idea that they had been collected at odd times from a
number of other ships. The rudder-case, for example, was inclosed in a
piece of elaborate carved and gilded work representing the trunk and
branches of a palm-tree; but it had apparently been found too large, and
the sections had accordingly been cut down to make them fit, the result
being that the carving did not match at the junctions. The trunk of the
tree had also been cut off rather clumsily at the base and fitted badly
to the cabin floor, while the branches had been cut through in places
where the beams crossed the ceiling, and had been nailed on again in
such a way as to make them look as though they had grown through the
beams. Then again the cushions to the lockers were of different sizes,
colours, and materials, some being of velvet and others of horsehair,
and every one of them from one to three sizes too large. The sides of
the cabin were divided into panels by carved and gilded pilasters, which
exhibited in a very marked degree the same incongruity, the eight
pilasters in the cabin exhibiting no less than three different patterns.
Some half a dozen pictures, one or two of which were really valuable
paintings, were securely hung in the panels; and the stern-windows were
fitted with handsome lace curtains, much too large for the position
which they occupied. Two very handsome swinging lamps, of different
designs, were suspended from the beams; a tell-tale compass and a ship's
barometer occupied respectively the fore and after ends of the skylight;
and the bulkhead which formed the fore end of the cabin was fitted above
the sideboard with racks in which reposed six repeating rifles; the
panels which were unoccupied by pictures being filled in with trophies
of stars and other fanciful devices formed with pistols, daggers, and
cutlasses.
Such was the apartment to which our adventurers found themselves
welcomed; but if the truth must be told, their eyes--notwithstanding
their recent meal on board the launch--were chiefly attracted to the
cabin table whereon was spread--on a not over clean table-cloth--an
abundant display of plate and a substantial yet appetising meal to which
their host urged them to do full justice, himself setting a good
example.
For a short time, and while host and guests were taking the keen edge
off their appetites, _very_ little was said. At length, however,
Captain Johnson looked up, and addressing Captain Staunton, said--
"Waal, stranger, as I said before, I'm real glad to see you all; yours
are the first friendly faces I've looked upon for many a long day; but I
guess I'm considerable troubled what to do with you all. You see our
accommodation is sorter limited. There's plenty of room for your men in
the fo'ks'le; but here's no less than ten of you, reckonin' the
piccaninny--bless her dear purty little face! I wish she'd give me a
kiss. Four years ago I left just such another on the wharf at New York,
kissin' her hand to me and wavin' me good-bye as we cast off our
moorin's, and I guess I'll never see her sweet face ag'in."
At her mother's suggestion, little May slid down off the locker on which
she was perched, and, somewhat reluctantly, went to the man's chair and
held up her little mouth for a kiss.
Johnson at once bent down, and taking her on his knee, gazed long and
eagerly into the bright young face uplifted to his own in childish
curiosity. Then he kissed her eagerly three or four times, stroked her
curly head tenderly with his great brown hand, and finally burst out--
"See here, my purty little dearie--If e'er a one of them great rough men
on deck there says a bad word to you, or dares to as much as _look_
unkind at you, you tell me, and curse me if--I beg your pardon,
strangers, I guess I didn't know just then what I was talking about.
Run along, little 'un, and get your breakfast."
The child at once slid down from his knee, and with some little haste
returned to her former place by her mother's side, Johnson's gaze
following her abstractedly.
"You were speaking about the inconvenience to which our appearance seems
likely to put you," at length suggested Captain Staunton.
"I guess not, stranger," he retorted, pulling himself together as it
were with a jerk. "I was simply p'inting out that our accommodation for
passengers is kinder limited; and I'm puzzled to know where I can stow
you all away. The inconvenience 'll be yourn, stranger, not mine.
There's reasons, you see, why I should keep possession of my own cabin;
and there's reasons, too, why the mate should keep possession of his'n.
I reckon the best plan 'll be to clear away a place for you down in the
after-hold, where you must try and make yourselves as comfortable as you
can for the few days you'll be on board. And as for you ladies, I'd
sorter advise you to stay below all you can. If you _must_ go on deck
at all let it be at night-time, when there ain't so much chance of your
bein' seen."
"Where are you bound, captain?" inquired the skipper.
"Waal, we are bound now to an island which, as it's not shown on the
chart, I've christened `Albatross Island,' arter the brig. We're goin'
there to refit," was the reply.
"Then I presume you have established a sort of depot there?"
interrogated Captain Staunton.
"That's just it; you've hit it exactly, stranger," answered the Yankee.
"And how long will it take you to refit?" was the next question.
"Maybe a week; maybe a month. It just depends upon whether the hands
are in a working humour or no."
Captain Staunton raised his eyebrows somewhat at this singular answer.
After a moment or two of silence he said--
"I presume you would find no difficulty in running us across to--say--
Valparaiso, if you were well paid for the service?"
"Cash down?"
Captain Staunton was about to say "Yes," having saved from the burning
ship a bag of specie sufficient in amount to convey the entire party
home in perfect comfort; but an idea struck him that it would perhaps be
better to promise payment _after_ rather than before the performance of
the service, so he said--
"Well, no, I could not promise that. But I would draw on my owners for
the amount of our passage-money, and pay you immediately on our arrival
at Valparaiso."
"Waal, I guess I'll have to think it over," remarked Johnson. "I must
go on deck now, but you kin remain here as long as you like; in fact I
reckon you'd better stay here altogether until I can get a place
arranged for you below." Saying which, he abruptly rose from the table
and went on deck.
"Rather an unique specimen of the genus _Yankee_," observed Rex, as soon
as their host had fairly disappeared. "I hope, captain, you will
succeed in persuading him to take us over to the mainland."
The skipper was apparently plunged deep in thought, for he made no
reply.
"Does it not strike you, Bowles, that there is something rather
peculiar about the craft, and her crew?" remarked Lance.
"These Yankees are generally a queer lot," answered the mate
nonchalantly; but immediately afterwards he made a sudden and stealthy
movement of his fingers to his lips, while the ladies were looking in
another direction, throwing at the same time an expression of so much
caution and mystery into his glance that Lance made no attempt to
continue the conversation.
Shortly afterwards Captain Staunton rose from his seat at the table,
and, touching his chief mate lightly on the shoulder, said--
"Come, Bowles, let us go on deck and see if we can make terms with this
Captain Johnson. The rest of you had perhaps better follow that
gentleman's advice in the meantime and remain here, since he evidently
has some motive for expressing the wish."
As the two were ascending the companion-ladder the skipper turned and
whispered hurriedly to his mate--
"What is your opinion of things in general Bowles?"
"Can't say yet," answered that individual. "Looks mighty queer though.
She ain't a man-o'-war, that's certain."
On reaching the deck they found the after-hatch off, and their host in
somewhat hot discussion with the ship's carpenter.
"That is quite sufficient," they heard him say, without a trace of the
Yankee twang in his speech, "you have your orders, and see that they are
executed forthwith. In this matter I intend to have my own way."
The man muttered something in a sullen undertone, and then turned to go
forward, saying he would get his tools and set about the job at once.
Johnson turned impatiently away from him with an ugly frown upon his
brow, which however vanished in an instant upon his finding our two
friends at his elbow.
"See here, stranger," he said, passing his arm within that of Captain
Staunton, and drawing him toward the hatchway, "I want to show you what
I'm going to do. See them beams? Waal, I'm going to send some hands
down below to trim a few of them bales you see there up level with the
tops of the beams; then we'll lay a couple of thicknesses of planking
over all, which 'll make a tol'able floor; and then I'm going to have a
sail nailed fore and aft to the deck-beams, dividing the space into two,
one for the women-folks and one for the men; and another sail hung
athwart-ships 'll make all sorter snug and private; and I guess you'll
have to make yourselves as comfortable as you can down there. You see
the brig's small, and your party's a large one, and--I guess that's the
best I can do for you."
"Thank you," said Captain Staunton. "As far as we men are concerned, we
can manage perfectly well down there; but I'm afraid it will be rather a
comfortless berth for the ladies. And yet I do not see very well what
else can be done--unless indeed we could come to some arrangement by
which you and your chief mate could be induced to surrender the cabin
altogether for their use--"
"Which we can't," Johnson broke in sharply. "I tell you, stranger, it
ain't to be done. I reckon I was a fool to let you come aboard here at
all. It was seein' that little girl of yours that did it," he added,
his voice at once softening again, "but I guess there's going to be
trouble about it yet, before all's done."
"Oh, no, I hope not," returned the skipper. "Why should there be
trouble, or with whom? Certainly not with _us_."
"Waal, I hope not," said Johnson. "But I reckon you'll have to do just
exactly as I say, strangers, or I tell you I'll not answer for the
consequences."
"Assuredly we will," observed Captain Staunton. "And as for the
inconvenience, we must put up with it as best we can, and I only hope we
shall not be compelled to intrude upon your hospitality for any great
length of time. Indeed you might rid yourself of our presence in a
fortnight by running us across to Valparaiso; and I think I could make
it worth your while to do so."
Johnson turned away and walked thoughtfully fore and aft, with his chin
sunk upon his breast, evidently in painful thought, for some ten
minutes; then he rejoined the pair he had left standing at the hatchway,
and said--
"See here, strangers; I reckon it's no use to mince matters and go
beating about the bush; the thing's got to come out sooner or later, so
you may as well know the worst at once. You must give up all notion of
going to Valparaiso, because the thing ain't to be done. We're a crew
of free-traders, rovers--_pirates_, if that term 'll serve to make
matters more clear to you; and although we've only been cruising in
these waters about six months, I guess we've made things too hot here
for us to venture into any port but the one we're bound to. There
you'll be put ashore, and I calculate you'll have to make yourselves
useful at the depot. There's plenty of work to be done there, and not
too many to do it, so you'll be valuable there. I won't keep you on
board here, because I can see you'd never work with me or be anything
else but an anxiety to me; but _there_ you can't do me any harm. And,
take my advice, stranger, don't cut up rough--go slow and sing small
when you get there, because my chief mate--who is a Greek, and is in
charge there--is a powerful short-tempered man, and apt to make things
downright uncomfortable for them that don't please him."
Captain Staunton and Bowles looked each other in the face for a full
minute, too much overcome by consternation and dismay to utter a single
word. Then the skipper, recovering himself, turned to Johnson, who
stood by intently watching them, and said:
"I thank you, sir, for having come to the point and put our position
thus explicitly before us with so little waste of time. Happily the
evil is not yet irreparable. We can never be anything but a source of
anxiety and disquietude to you, as you have already admitted; therefore
I trust you will allow us to return to our boat as we came; by which act
we shall relieve you of a very great embarrassment, and at the same time
give ourselves a chance--a very slight one, it is true--of arriving at
the place we are so anxious to reach."
"Too late, stranger," replied Johnson. "Here you are, and here you must
now stay. Look over the side and you will see that your boat is no
longer there. She was stove and cast adrift half an hour ago. And even
if she had still been alongside, do you think my men would let you go
now that you have been aboard of us and seen our strength? I tell you,
stranger, that before you could get ten yards from the brig they would
bring her broadside to bear upon you and send you all to the bottom,
riddled with grape, and I couldn't stop 'em. No; you're here, and I
reckon you'll have to stay and make the best of it. You'll find your
traps down below there; the lads wanted to overhaul them, but I guess I
shamed them out of _that_," drawing half out of his pockets a pair of
revolvers as he spoke.
"Are we to consider ourselves as prisoners then, and to look upon the
hold there as our jail?" inquired Captain Staunton.
"That's as _you_ please," retorted Johnson. "So long as you keep quiet
and don't attempt any tricks you can come on deck as often as you like--
only don't let the women-folks show themselves, or they'll get into
trouble, and I--nor you--won't be able to help 'em. Tell 'em to stay in
the cabin until it's dark to-night, and then when all's quiet, the watch
below in their hammocks and the watch on deck `caulking' between the
guns, just you muffle 'em up and get 'em down there as quick as ever you
can."
"And what about the rest of my people--those of them who were sent
forward to the forecastle?" inquired Captain Staunton.
"Waal," replied Johnson, "I felt myself sorter obliged to clap 'em in
irons down in the fore-hold. You see you muster a pretty strong party,
and though you could never take the brig from us, I didn't know what you
might be tempted to _try_, when you found out the truth; and so, just to
prevent accidents, I had the irons slipped on to 'em. They'll be well
treated, though; and if any of 'em likes to jine us, so much the
better--we're uncommon short-handed, one way and another. If they don't
like to jine, they'll just be put ashore with you to work at the depot.
And, see here, stranger, don't you go for to try on any tricks, either
here or ashore, or it'll be awful bad for you. This is a _friendly_
warning, mind; I'd like to make friends with you folks, for, to tell you
the solid petrified truth, I ain't got one single friend among all
hands. The mate hates me, and would be glad to put me out of the way
and step into my shoes, and he's made the men distrust me."
"Why not retire from them altogether, then?" inquired Captain Staunton.
"Because I can't," answered Johnson. "I'm an outlaw, and dare not show
my face anywhere in the whole civilised world for fear of being
recognised and hanged as a pirate."
"A decidedly unpleasant position to be in," remarked the skipper.
"However, if there is any way in which we can _lawfully_ help you, we
will do so; in return for which we shall of course expect to be treated
well by you. Now, Bowles," he continued, turning to his chief mate,
"let us talk this matter over, and discuss the manner in which this bad
news can best be broken to the others."
Saying which, with a somewhat cold and formal bow to the pirate, Captain
Staunton linked his arm in that of his chief mate, and walked away.
The two promenaded the deck for nearly an hour, "overhauling the concern
in all its bearings," as Bowles afterwards described it, and they
finally came to the conclusion that it would be only fair to let their
companions in misfortune know the worst at once, then all could take
counsel together, and as "in a multitude of counsellors there is
wisdom," some one might possibly hit upon a happy idea whereby they
might be enabled to escape from this new strait.
They accordingly descended to the cabin, where their reappearance had
been anxiously looked for.
"Well, captain," exclaimed Dale upon their entrance, "what news have you
for us? Have you made arrangements for our conveyance to Valparaiso? I
hope we are not going to be kept cooped up very long in this wretched
little vessel."
"We are to leave her sooner than I anticipated," replied Captain
Staunton, "but I regret to say that I have been quite unable to make any
arrangements of a satisfactory character. And, as to news, I must ask
you to prepare yourselves for the worst--or almost the worst--that you
could possibly hear. We are on board _a pirate_, and in the hands of as
unscrupulous a set of rascals as one could well encounter."
The skipper then proceeded to describe _in extenso_ his interview with
the pirate captain, throwing out such ideas as presented themselves to
him in the course of his narrative, and winding up by pointing out to
them that though the situation was serious enough it was not altogether
desperate, the pirate leader being evidently anxious to escape from his
present position, and as evidently disposed to look with friendly eyes
upon all who might seem to have it in their power to assist him, either
directly or indirectly, in the attainment of his purpose.
"Our first endeavour," he said in conclusion, "must be to impress upon
this man that, though we are his prisoners, we are still a power, by
reason of our numbers as well as of our superior intelligence and
knowledge of the world, and that we can certainly help him if we have
the opportunity; and this idea once firmly established in his mind, he
will listen to and very possibly fall in with some of our suggestions,
all of which, I suppose I need hardly say, must be made with a single
eye to our own ultimate escape. Our future is beset by difficulties,
very few of which we can even anticipate as yet; but I think if each one
will only take a hopeful view of the situation, it will be singular
indeed if one or another of us does not hit upon a means of escape."
By the time that he had finished speaking the brains of his hearers were
literally teeming with ideas, all, that is to say, except Mr Dale, who,
with elbows on the table, his head buried in his hands, and his hair all
rumpled, abandoned himself to despair and to loud bewailings of the
unfortunate combination of circumstances which led to his venturing upon
the treacherous ocean. The others, however, knew him thoroughly by this
time; and none troubled themselves to take the slightest notice of him
except Rex Fortescue, who exclaimed--
"_Do_ shut up, Dale, and cease making a fool of yourself. I wonder that
you are not ashamed to behave in this unmanly way, especially before
ladies, too. If you _can't_ keep quiet, you know, we shall have to put
you on deck, where I fancy you would get something worth howling about."
This threat had the desired effect; Mr Dale subsided into silence, and
the rest of the party at once, in low cautious tones, began an
interchange of ideas which lasted a long time but brought forth no very
satisfactory result; the council finding itself at the close of the
discussion pretty much where it was at the commencement.
At one o'clock a thoroughly substantial dinner was served to them,
followed by tea at six in the evening, at both of which meals the pirate
captain did the honours with a manifest desire to evince a friendly
disposition toward his guests, and about nine p.m. a quiet and
unobtrusive removal from the cabin to their new quarters in the after-
hold was effected; after which most of the party disposed themselves
comfortably upon the bedding which they found had been provided for
them, and enjoyed a night of thoroughly sound repose, such as they had
been strangers to ever since the destruction of the _Galatea_.
When our friends awoke on the following morning they became aware, by
the motion of the ship and the sound of the water gurgling along her
sides, that a breeze had sprung up. Most of the gentlemen--all of them,
in fact, except Dale--went on deck, and, finding the watch busy washing
decks, borrowed of them a few buckets with which they gave each other a
most hearty and refreshing salt water douche, much to the amusement of
the crew.
As soon as breakfast was over, Lance, with that cool _insouciance_
characteristic of the man who has so often found himself environed by
perils that he ceases to think of them, went again on deck, with the
intention of mingling freely with the pirate crew, and, if possible,
placing himself upon such easy terms with them as would give him an
opportunity of acquiring whatever information it might be in their power
to give. The first individual he saw on emerging from the hatchway was
Johnson, the pirate captain, who was leaning moodily over the lee rail
abaft the main-rigging, smoking a well-seasoned pipe.
"Good morning, captain," exclaimed Lance genially, as he sauntered up to
the man. "What a delightful morning--and how good your tobacco smells!
I have not enjoyed the luxury of a pipe for the last fortnight; have you
any tobacco to spare?"
"Help yourself, stranger," answered Johnson rather surlily, as he
tendered his tobacco-pouch.
"Thanks," said Lance, returning the pouch after he had filled and
lighted his pipe. "Ah! how good this is," as he took the first whiff or
two. "You have a fine breeze after yesterday's calm; and the brig seems
quite a traveller in her small way."
"In her small way!" exclaimed Johnson indignantly; "why, she's a
_flyer_, stranger, that's what she is. I reckon you don't know much
about ships, or you wouldn't talk like that. I guess you ain't a
sailor, are you?"
"I am a soldier by profession," answered Lance, "but for all that I am
not exactly an unmitigated land-lubber; on the contrary I am quite an
enthusiastic yachtsman, and I flatter myself that I know a good model
when I see one."
"And yet you don't take much account of the brig, stranger?"
"She seems a good enough little craft of her kind," admitted Lance, "and
as a mere trader I have no doubt she would answer well enough. But it
strikes me that, to gentlemen of your profession, a really fast and
powerful vessel is an absolute necessity if you would insure your own
safety. In weather like this I daresay you would manage tolerably well;
but if a frigate were by any chance to fall in with you in a fresh
breeze, or, worse still, in heavy weather, I fear you would find
yourselves in a `tight place;' she would have you under her guns in less
than an hour."
"That's so, stranger; yes, I reckon that's so," conceded Johnson with
evident reluctance. "There _are_ ships as can outsail us, I know, for
we've fallen in with some half a dozen clippers, and we couldn't do
nothing with 'em; they just walked away from us. And though I don't
calculate that there's ever a frigate afloat as could get alongside them
tea-ships if the tea-ships didn't want 'em to, yet I guess there's
frigates as _could_ overhaul us in heavy weather. And so you're a
yachtsman, eh? Then I reckon you know something about quick sailing.
How fast, now, do you calculate a yacht would sail in this breeze?"
"That depends entirely upon the build and model of the craft. If she
were a racing schooner of, say the tonnage of this brig, I daresay her
speed under such circumstances as these would be thirteen or perhaps
fourteen knots; if, however, she were merely a cruising yacht, such as
my own, I do not imagine she would average more than eleven."
"Eleven knots! Jeosh--I say, stranger, how many knots do you reckon we
are making just now?" exclaimed Johnson.
Lance looked over the side for a moment, marked a piece of weed floating
past, and then answered--
"About eight, I should think; certainly not more."
"I guess you're wrong, stranger," returned the pirate skipper with
animation, "she's going ten if she's going an inch."
"You can easily test it by heaving the log," suggested Lance.
"Aft here, two of you, and heave the log," shouted Johnson.
Two men came sauntering aft, at the call; the line and glass were
prepared; and Johnson himself made ready to test the speed of the brig.
"Turn!" he cried to the man who held the glass, as the last of the
"stray" passed out over the taffrail.
The glass was smartly turned; the reel spun rapidly round; the marks
flew through Johnson's fingers, and his countenance brightened with
exultation.
"Stop!"
The sand had all run out; and Johnson grasped the line just before the
eighth knot reached his hand.
"Tarnation! you're right, stranger," he angrily exclaimed. "Waal, I
swan I made sure she was going ten at the very least."
"You skippers very often make that kind of mistake," remarked Lance.
"Or rather, it is not so much a mistake as a self-deception; you would
like your ship to have a speed of ten knots in such weather as this, and
`the wish is father to the thought.' Besides which, having formed an
attachment for your ship, you are naturally anxious to give strangers
also a favourable impression of her."
"That's so, stranger, sure as you're standin' there; you've exactly hit
it I knew the craft wan't doin' over eight at the outside; but the way
you talked about that yacht of yours sorter put my back up, and I 'lowed
I wan't goin' to let you have all the big talk to yourself. About this
yacht of yours, colonel; where is she now?"
"Where I left her, no doubt," answered Lance with a smile; "safe and
sound on the mud of Haslar creek, inside Portsmouth harbour."
"I suppose, as she's such a flyer, that one of the crack English
builders put her together?" inquired Johnson.
"No, indeed," said Lance. "She was built at Weymouth by an ordinary
shipbuilder, who, for aught I know, had never in his life built a yacht
before. I was stationed there at the time, and I designed her myself,
and of course superintended her construction."
"You don't say. Waal, I knew that the soldiers did most everything; but
I didn't 'low that they designed yachts!" exclaimed Johnson.
"Neither do we, professionally," admitted Lance; "but some of us, of
whom I happen to be one, take up the study of naval architecture as an
amusement; and those who, like myself, belong to the Engineer corps, are
to some extent qualified by our technical education to achieve
excellence in the art. I can assure you that some of the officers in my
corps have turned out exceedingly creditable craft."
"Waal now, that beats ah," exclaimed Johnson. "So you're an Engineer,
and can design yachts into the bargain! Stranger,"--laying his hand
impressively on Lance's arm--"I'm real glad I took you all aboard.
About this schooner of yours--she _is_ a schooner, I reckon!"
Lance nodded an affirmative.
"Waal, about this schooner of yours, is she a pretty sea-boat?"
"She is as comfortable a vessel as I would ever wish to have under my
feet," answered Lance with just a slight touch of enthusiasm. "She will
face any weather a frigate would dare to look at; and in a gale of wind,
such as once caught us in the Bay of Biscay, is a great deal drier and
more comfortable than many frigates would be."
"Waal now, I call this real interesting," exclaimed Johnson with
sparkling eyes. "And I s'pose she was tol'able weatherly?"
"About the same as other vessels of her class. _All_ yachts, you know,
if they are the least worthy the name, go to windward well; it is one of
their strong points."
"Do you think now, colonel, you could recollect enough to design another
yacht just like your own schooner?" asked Johnson eagerly.
"Well," said Lance, slowly, as he first began to perceive the direction
in which Johnson's thoughts were tending. "I am by no means sure that I
could. However," as a brilliant idea dawned upon him, "I am certain
that, with the experience I have gained since I designed the
_Fleetwing_, I could build one which should excel her in all respects."
"Waal now, this is what I call a real pleasant conversation," exclaimed
Johnson, with enthusiasm. "Now, see here, colonel, I guess I'll get you
to draw out that design right away."
"I am sure I shall be very pleased," said Lance. "But why do you wish
for such a thing? You will surely not venture, after what you have
already told us, to visit a civilised port and order a vessel to be
built?"
"I guess not, stranger. I've three prizes lyin' in harbour not far off,
which I kept, thinkin' they might come in useful some day; and we'll
break 'em up to build this new craft. You shall superintend the work;
and, as you're an engineer, I reckon I'll get you to fortify the harbour
also, so's to make things secure in case one of them frigates you was
talking about should come along and take a fancy to look inside."
"Very well," said Lance; "I will do what I can, both in the matter of
fortifying the harbour and building the new craft, upon the express
condition, however, you must understand, that we are all treated well as
long as we remain with you; and that you will make an early opportunity
to free us as soon as the work is done."
"Don't you be afraid, stranger," returned Johnson. "You do the best you
can for me, and I guess I'll do the right thing by you. That's a
bargain."
"There is just one point which occurs to me," remarked Lance. "It is
this. To do what you propose we shall require a great deal of
assistance. Now where are we to find it?"
"If it's men you mean, I reckon you'll find plenty of 'em at Albatross
Island. Men ain't always to be picked up at sea just when they're
wanted," said Johnson, "so I've took to keepin' my prisoners alive and
landing 'em there, so's I can draw upon 'em when I want to; and I've
found that if they won't cut in and take a hand with us exactly to oncet
they _gen'lly_ will a little later on, just to escape bein' worked to
death ashore."
"And what about materials?" persisted Lance. "To construct a battery,
and to make it serviceable, you know, stone, lime, iron and wood in
considerable quantities are required; to say nothing of guns, powder and
shot with which to arm the battery when it is finished."
"We've got it _all_," exclaimed Johnson; "all, that is, exceptin' iron,
and that we're very short of. There's stone in the island, and I guess
you can make lime from the coral, can't you? And as to the guns and
ammunition, why it's only three months ago that we helped ourselves to a
whole battery-full belonging to the Spaniards away there on the
mainland."
"Well," said Lance, "I cannot of course decide exactly how to use your
resources to the best advantage until I have seen them and the place.
As far, however, as the design of the new ship is concerned, I can set
about it at once. I must ask you, however, to release the carpenter and
Bob, the apprentice, and to allow them to join us aft. The carpenter is
a practical man, whose advice and assistance will be most valuable to
me; and as for Bob, he has been brought up in a district famous for
yacht-building, and will be sure to prove helpful to us."
"Very well, colonel, I reckon you can have 'em," said Johnson. "Only
don't you be persuaded to try any tricks on account of having two extra
hands, because if you do, I calculate you'll find us always ready."
"All right," laughed Lance, "I'll keep your warning and advice in mind.
By the by, before I go below, let me suggest that as a few of us are,
like myself, smokers, a pound or so of tobacco now and then would be
regarded as a delicate attention on your part."
"Right you are, colonel," answered Johnson cordially, "you shall have
the terbacker and some cigars too if you like 'em; I guess we've got
plenty of both on board."
So saying Johnson turned upon his heel and dived below for his sextant.