BACK TO AMERICA
For a short space our lad was heart-broken by this rude awakening from
his dreams of freedom and of a return to his own country. Half dazed as
he was, he had fought desperately; and now, hustled along in company
with a dozen other unfortunates, all bound and suffering from rough
handling, his sole thought was of how he could soonest put an end to
the life that he was resolved not to pass in slavery. He recalled with
satisfaction the dirk that, hidden in his clothing, still remained to
him, and was determined to use it at the earliest opportunity, first on
such of his present enemies as he could reach and then on himself.
Suddenly his sombre reflections were interrupted and given a decided
change of direction by finding himself crowded, together with his
wretched companions, into a boat. No sooner had it received them than
it was rowed out to the mouth of the harbor where stood a ship under
easy sail.
From the moment of realizing that he was in a boat Nahma was filled
with a wild hope, and when he was transferred from it to the deck of a
waiting ship this hope was confirmed. For some reason utterly beyond
his comprehension he had once more been kidnapped, but only to be
placed in the very position he had longed to attain.
The ways of the white man were past understanding. Why had he been
brought by force from his own country? and why should an equal amount
of anxiety now be shown, and even a greater amount of force be used,
to carry him back to it? He could not imagine, nor did he care. It was
enough that the second step of his homeward journey had been taken for
him and that the object he had so ardently desired was accomplished.
Nahma would gladly have remained on deck and attempted to make himself
useful without a thought of escaping or of doing harm to those who had
unwittingly so aided his plans. But this was not permitted, and he was
bundled below with the poor wretches who had been ruthlessly torn from
their homes to be taken as bondsmen to the Virginia plantations.
So great was the demand for labor in that colony that criminals were
sent there to work out their sentences and debtors to labor until their
indebtedness was discharged. In fact, all of whom society wished to
rid itself were shipped across the ocean. Men anxious to try their
fortunes in the New World but too poor to pay their passage went out
under contract, to serve any master who would purchase their time until
they had made good the money thus advanced. But even these sources
of supply were not sufficient to satisfy the demand for laborers,
and unscrupulous shipmasters found great profit in gathering up
unsuspecting citizens by means of press-gangs sent ashore on the eve of
departure, getting them on board, and sailing at once for the distant
scene of their enforced servitude.
Thus Nahma now found himself in a motley company of mechanics, sailors,
small tradesmen, 'prentice lads, and others, all being carried away
against their will and without the knowledge of their friends.
Some had left dependent families unprovided for, while others were
parted from sweethearts or newly married wives. To us of to-day all
this sounds incredible; but the age of "good Queen Bess" was an age
of cruelty, when even the best thinking persons only shrugged their
shoulders on hearing of such things, and thanked their stars that they
were not in similar plight.
Some of the group now surrounding Nahma in the small space allotted to
them, which was dimly lighted by a vilely smoking lamp, were groaning,
some weeping, others were bemoaning their hard fate, and all were as
wretchedly unhappy as it is possible for mortals to be. That is, all
except our young Indian, who was overjoyed at finding himself on a ship
that he believed would carry him back to his own country and people.
The kidnapped men were kept below for several days, or until land was
out of sight and the ship was ploughing her slow way across the Bay of
Biscay; but after that they were allowed on deck from sunrise until
dark. As Nahma, buoyed by hope and eager anticipation, was the only one
among them who was not seasick, he was compelled to act as steward
of their mess. At first his duties in this capacity were light and he
performed them willingly, but later, when his companions had gained
their sea-legs, they forced all sorts of disagreeable tasks upon him,
and treated him with such cruelty that his hatred of white men was
increased a hundred-fold.
They were much puzzled over his nationality, which he never revealed,
though often questioned concerning it. Most of them declared that he
was a gypsy, while others insisted that he was of negro blood and
called him "Guinea." The captain of the ship while strongly suspecting
him to be an American would not admit it, but spoke of him as a "Jack
Spaniard."
So slow was the weary voyage that it was two months to a day before
the westerly winds against which they were beating brought to Nahma's
sensitive nostrils the first scent of land. That evening he hid himself
on deck so that he might sniff the air all night, and at daybreak he
was rewarded by the sight of land lying cloud-like on the western
horizon.
During that day he was so inattentive to his enforced duties as
to win many a blow and kick from his brutal masters. Although the
young Indian's blood boiled with rage, he did not attempt to resent
these things, but submitted to them with an assumed meekness that
ill-expressed his feelings. He felt that he could afford to abide his
time, for was he not almost within reach of his own people? At the same
time deep down in his heart he vowed a bitter vengeance against those
who thus degraded him, if ever the opportunity should come. And it came
sooner than he expected, though not through his own people, as he had
hoped.
Before the features of the landfall became recognizable the wind hauled
to the eastward and the weather thickened, with every indication of a
storm. Thus the skipper was greatly relieved shortly before night to
find his ship running into a broad bay between two distant headlands
that he believed to be the capes of Virginia, though in reality they
were those of Delaware. Without attempting to discover the mouth of the
James, he sought only a lee under which the night might be passed in
safety.
When this was found and the ship was snugly anchored for the first time
since leaving Bristol, not only the captain but his entire company
began a carouse to celebrate this successful termination of their
perilous voyage. Liquor flowed freely in the cabin, and was served
forward in such generous measure that a liberal portion even found its
way to the wretched bondmen who expected shortly to be sold into years
of servitude. Thus by midnight nearly every man on board was helplessly
drunk, and most of them were asleep.
Up to this hour the storm had steadily increased in violence, and the
ship, though still safe, was surging heavily at her cables. At the
same time but a single figure was in motion on her decks, and he was
creeping forward as stealthily as though fearful of being discovered.
Gaining the bow undetected, he bent for a minute over one of the
straining cables, and when he arose two of its hempen strands had been
severed. Then he stepped quickly to the other, drew his keen blade
across it once, twice, three times, and with the last stroke it parted.
The one first cut gave way almost at the same moment, and the freed
ship started up the bay like a restive steed just given a loose rein.
With his long-meditated design thus successfully accomplished, Nahma
darted back to his place of hiding and awaited developments. He had
long since discovered that he was destined to be sold into slavery
among those white men who had settled far to the southward of his own
country. Tales of their injustice and cruelty towards the natives
had reached Montaup even before he left there, and had filled his
boyish heart with a fierce indignation. Now he was determined not
to fall alive into their hands, and believed that on this night or
never he must effect an escape. He could not swim to shore because of
the distance and the heavy seas. All the ship's boats were inboard
and securely lashed, so that he could not make off in one of them.
Consequently his only feasible plan seemed to be to let the ship
herself drift until she fetched up on some beach, from which he might
gain the safe cover of the woods. He had never experienced a shipwreck
and knew nothing of its terrors. Even if he had he would not have
hesitated to carry out his desperate plan.
The captain of the drifting ship, too hard-headed to be overcome by any
amount of liquor, was the first to become aware that her cables had
parted. He stumbled on deck, bawling out orders that were mingled with
strange oaths, and, gaining the wheel, put his vessel's head before the
wind that she might scud without danger of being thrown on her beam
ends. Then he bellowed for assistance, but it came tardily, and was of
slight avail. There was but one spare anchor, and when finally it was
broken out, bent on, and got overboard, the ship was so far in the open
that it could not hold.
So the helpless vessel drifted for several hours, and shortly before
daybreak struck with such force that all of her masts went by the
board. Then ensued a period of horrible crashing, grinding, and
pounding, with which were mingled the shrieks of drowning men. Some of
the strongest swimmers reached the shore, bruised and breathless but
still alive, and foremost among them was the almost naked form of him
who had caused the disaster.
Battered and beaten by roaring breakers, weak and nearly perished with
cold, Nahma was at the same time upheld by such a spirit of exultation
as he had never before known. He was once more free and once more lying
on the beloved soil of his native land. No sooner had he regained his
breath after being flung on the beach than he struggled to his feet
and staggered to the safe shelter of a forest that grew almost to the
water's edge. He did not look back nor give a thought to what was
taking place behind him. The white men who would have sold him into
slavery might care for themselves, as might those who had so recently
degraded him by their blows and curses.
An hour later our young Indian was seated by a camp-fire of the
Saganaga or Delawares, and telling them in sign language, supplemented
by the few words they had in common, of the wonderful treasure that the
sea had brought to their very doors.
They, recognizing the splendid belt of wampum that he wore, listened
to him with closest attention; and when he had finished, all the
able-bodied men of the village hastened to the scene of the wreck,
leaving Nahma to the kindly hospitality of those who remained behind.
That night there was no village in the Delaware nation, nor probably on
the entire Atlantic coast, so rich in scalps and plunder as the one in
which the son of Longfeather was an honored guest.