I only saw Miss Robertson for a few minutes at breakfast-time.
The steward as usual carried their breakfast on a tray to the door, and
in taking it in she saw me and came forward.
"Is it all well?" she asked, quickly and eagerly.
"All well," I replied.
"He is in the hold," she whispered, "and no one knows?"
"He is in the hold, and the crew believe to a man that he is overboard."
"It is a good beginning," she exclaimed, with a faint smile playing
over her pale face.
"Thanks to your great courage! You performed your part admirably."
"There is that hateful carpenter watching us through the skylight,"
she whispered, without raising her eyes. "Tell me one thing before I
go--when will the ship reach the part she is to stop at?"
"I shall endeavour to make it Friday afternoon."
"The day after to-morrow!"
She clasped her hands suddenly and exclaimed with a little sob in her
voice, "Oh, let us pray that God will be merciful and protect us!"
I had no thoughts for myself as I watched her enter her cabin. The
situation was, indeed, a dreadful one for so sweet and helpless a woman
to be placed in. I, a rough, sturdy fellow, used to the dangers of the
sea, was scared at our position when I contemplated it. Truly might I
say that our lives hung by a hair, and that whether we were to live or
perish dismally would depend upon the courage and promptness with which
the boatswain and I should act at the last moment.
It was worse for me that I did not know the exact plans of the
mutineers.
I was aware that their intention was to scuttle the ship and leave her,
with us on board, to sink. But _how_ they would do this, I did not
know. I mean, I could not foresee whether they would scuttle the ship
whilst all the crew remained on board, stopping until they knew that
the vessel was actually sinking before taking to the boats, or whether
they would get into the boat, leaving one man in the hold to scuttle
the ship, and lying by to take him off when his work should have been
performed.
Either was likely; but one would make our preservation comparatively
easy; the other would make it almost impossible.
When I went on deck all hands were at breakfast. The carpenter quitted
the poop the moment I showed myself, and I was left alone, none of the
crew visible but the steersman.
The breeze was slashing, a splendid sailing wind; the fore-topmast
stun'-sail set, every sail round and hard as a drum skin, and the water
smooth; the ship bowled along like a yacht in a racing match. Nothing
was in sight all round the horizon.
I made sure that the carpenter would go to bed as soon as he had
done breakfast; but instead, about twenty minutes after he had left
the poop, I saw him walk along the main-deck, and disappear in the
forecastle.
After an interval of some ten minutes he reappeared, followed by
Johnson, the cook, and a couple of hands. They got upon the port side
of the long-boat, and presently I heard the fluttering and screaming of
hens.
I crossed the poop to see what was the matter, and found all four men
wringing the necks of the poultry. In a short time about sixteen hens,
all that remained, lay dead in a heap near the coop. The cook and
Johnson gathered them up, and carried them into the galley.
Soon after they returned, and clambered on to the top of the long-boat,
the cover of which they pitched off, and fell, each with a knife in his
hand, upon the pigs. The noise now was hideous. The pigs squealed like
human beings, but both men probably knew their work, for the screeching
did not last above five minutes.
The cook, with his face, arms, and breeches all bloody, flung the
carcases among the men, who had gathered around to witness the sport,
and a deal of ugly play followed. They tossed the slaughtered pigs
at each other, and men and pigs fell down with tremendous thuds, and
soon there was not a man who did not look as though he had been rolled
for an hour in the gutter of a shambles. Their hoarse laughter, their
horrible oaths, their rage not more shocking than their mirth, the
live men rolling over the dead pigs, their faces and clothes ghastly
with blood--all this was a scene which made one abhor oneself for
laughing at it, though it was impossible to help laughing sometimes.
But occasionally my mirth would be checked by a sudden spasm of terror,
when I caught sight of a fellow with an infuriate face, monstrous with
its crimson colouring, rush with his knife at another, and be struck
down like a ninepin by a dead pig hurled full at his head, before he
could deliver his blow.
The saturnalia came to an end, and the men cursing, growling,
groaning, and laughing--some reeling half stunned, and all panting for
breath--surged into the forecastle to clean themselves, while the cook
and Johnson carried the pigs into the galley.
I did not quite understand what this scene heralded, but had not long
to wait before it was explained.
In twos and threes after much delay, the men emerged and began to wash
the decks down. Two got into the long-boat and began to clean her out.
Then the carpenter came aft with Johnson, and I heard him swearing at
the steward. After a bit, Johnson came forth, rolling a cask of cuddy
bread along the deck; after him went the steward, bearing a lime-juice
jar, filled of course with rum.
These things were stowed near the foremast. Then all three came aft
again (the carpenter superintending the work), and more provisions were
taken forward; and when enough was collected, the whole was snugged and
covered with a tarpaulin, ready, as I now understood, to be shipped
into the long-boat when she should have been swung over the ship's side.
These preparations brought the reality of the position of myself and
companions most completely home to me; yet I perfectly preserved my
composure, and appeared to take the greatest interest in all that was
going forward.
The carpenter came on the poop presently, and went to the starboard
quarter-boat and inspected it. He then crossed to the other boat. After
which he walked up to me.
"How many hands," he asked, "do you think the long-boat 'ud carry,
comfortable?"
I measured her with my eye before answering.
"About twenty," I replied.
"One on top o' t'other, like cattle!" he growled. "Why, mate, there
wouldn't be standin' room."
"Do you mean to put off from the ship in her?"
"In her and one of them others," he replied, meaning the quarter-boats.
"If you want my opinion, I should say that all hands ought to get into
the long-boat. She has heaps of beam, and will carry us all well.
Besides, she can sail. It will look better, too, to be found in her,
should we be picked up before landing; because you can make out that
both quarter-boats were carried away."
"We're all resolved," he answered doggedly. "We mean to put off in the
long-boat and one o' them quarter-boats. The quarter-boat can tow the
long-boat if it's calm. Why I ax'd you how many the long-boat 'ud carry
was because we don't want to overload the quarter-boat. We can use her
as a tender for stores and water, do you see, so that if we get to a
barren place we shan't starve."
"I understand."
"Them two boats 'll be enough, anyways."
"I should say so. They'd carry thirty persons between them," I answered.
To satisfy himself he went and took another look at the boats, and
afterwards called Johnson up to him.
They talked together for some time, occasionally glancing at me, and
Johnson then went away; but in a few minutes he returned with a mallet
and chisel. Both men now got into the port quarter-boat and proceeded,
to my rage and mortification, to rip a portion of the planking out
of her. In this way they knocked several planks away and threw them
overboard, and Johnson then got out of her and went to the other boat,
and fell to examining her closely to see that all was right; for they
evidently had made up their minds to use her, she being the larger of
the two.
The carpenter came and stood close to me, watching Johnson. I dare
say he expected I would ask him why he had injured the boat; but I
hardly dared trust myself to speak to him, so great was my passion and
abhorrence of the wretch whose motive in rendering this boat useless
was, of course, that we should not be able to save ourselves by her
when we found the ship sinking.
When Johnson had done, some men came aft, and they went to work to
provision the remaining quarter-boat, passing bags of bread, tins of
preserved meat, kegs of water, and stores of that description, from
hand to hand, until the boat held about a quarter as much again as she
was fit to carry.
In the mean time, others were busy in the long-boat, getting her fit
for sailing with a spare top-gallant stun'-sail boom and top-gallant
stun'-sail, looking to the oars and thole-pins and so forth.
The morning passed rapidly, the crew as busy as bees, smoking to a man,
and bandying coarse jokes with one another, and uttering loud laughs as
they worked.
The carpenter never once addressed me. He ran about the decks,
squirting tobacco-juice everywhere, superintending the work that
was going forward, and manifesting great excitement, with not a few
displays of bad temper.
A little before noon, when I made ready to take the sun's altitude, the
men at work about the long-boat suspended their occupation to watch
me, and Stevens drew aft, and came snuffling about my heels.
When I sang out eight bells, and went below to work out my
observations, he followed me into the cabin, and stood looking on. The
ignorance of his distrust was almost ludicrous; I believe he thought
I should work out a false reckoning if he were not by, but that his
watching would prevent me from making two and two five.
"Now, Mr. Royle," said he, seeing me put down my pencil; "where are we?"
I unrolled the chart upon the table, and drew a line down a rule from
the highly imaginary point to which I had brought the ship at noon on
the preceding day, to latitude 29°, longitude 74° 30'. "Here is our
position at the present moment," I said, pointing to the mark on the
chart.
"This here is Floridy, ain't it?" he demanded, outlining the coast
with his dirty thumb.
"That is Florida."
"Well, I calls it Floridy for short."
"Floridy then. I know what you mean."
"And you give us till the day arter tomorrow to do this bit o' distance
in?"
"It doesn't look much on the chart. There's not much room for miles to
show in on a square of paper like this."
"Well, we shall be all ready to lower away the boats when you give us
the word," said he.
"Perhaps you'll sit down for five minutes, Mr. Stevens, and inform me
exactly of your arrangements," I exclaimed; "for it is difficult for me
to do my share in this job unless I accurately know what yours is to
be."
He looked at me askant, his villainous eyes right in the corners of
their sockets; but sat down nevertheless, and tilted his cap over his
forehead in order to scratch the back of his head.
"I thought you knew what our plans was?" he remarked.
"Why, I've got a kind of general notion of them, but I should like to
understand them more clearly."
"Well, I thought they was clear--clear as mud in a wineglass.
Leastways, they're clear to all hands."
"For instance, why did you knock a hole in the quarter-boat this
morning?"
"I didn't think you'd want that explained," he answered promptly.
"But you see I do, Mr. Stevens."
"Well, we only want two boats, and it 'ud be a silly look-out to leave
the third one sound and tight to drift about with the _Grosvenor's_
name writ inside o' her."
"Why?"
"Because I says it would."
"How could she drift about if she were up at the davits?"
"How do I know?" he answered morosely. "I'm lookin' at things as may
happen. It ain't for me to explain of them."
"Very well," said I, master enough of the ruffian's meaning to require
no further information on this point.
"Anything more, Mr. Royle?"
"Yes. The next matter is this: you gave me to understand that we should
heave the ship to at night?"
"Sartinly. As soon as ever it comes on dusk, so as we shall have all
night before us to get well away."
"Do you mean to leave her with her canvas standing?"
"Just as she is when she's hove to."
"Some ship may sight her, and finding her abandoned, send a crew on
board to work her to the nearest port."
I thought this might tempt him to admit that she was to be scuttled,
which confession need not necessarily have involved the information
that I and the others were to be left on board.
But the fellow was too cunning to hint at such a thing.
"Let them as finds her keep her," he said, getting up. "That's their
consarn. Any more questions, Mr. Royle?"
"Are we to take our clothes with us?"
He grinned in the oddest manner.
"No. Them as has wallyables may shove 'em into their pockets; but no
kits 'll be allowed in the boats. We're a poor lot o' shipwrecked
sailors--marineers as the newspapers calls us--come away from a ship
that was settlin' under our legs afore we had the arts to leave her. We
jest had time to wittol the boats and stand for the shore. We depend
upon Christian kindness for 'elp; and if we falls foul o' a missionary,
leave me alone to make him vurship our piety. The skipper he fell mad
and jumped overboard. The chief mate he lost his life by springin' into
vun o' the boats and missin' of it; and the second mate he manfully
stuck to the ship for the love he bore her owners, and we pree-sume,
went down with her."
"Oh!" I exclaimed, forcing a laugh; "then I am not to admit that I am
the second mate, when questioned?"
He stared at me as if he were drunk, and cried, "_You!_" then burst
into a laugh, and hit me a slap on the back.
"Ah!" he exclaimed. "I forgot. Of course you'll not be second mate when
you get ashore."
"What then?"
"Why, a passenger--a parson--the ship's doctor. We'll tell you wot to
say as we go along. Come, get us off this bloomin' coast, will you, as
soon as you can," pointing to the chart. "All hands is growin' delikit
with care and consarn: as Joe Sampson used to sing--
'Vith care an' consarn
Ve're a vastin' avay.'
And our nerviss systems is that wrought up with fear of our necks, that
blowed if we shan't want two months o' strong physicking and prime
livin' at the werry least, to make men of us agin arter we're landed."
And with a leering grin and an ugly nod he quitted the cabin.