IV

The papers Captain Morgan had thus seized upon as the fruit of the

murder he had committed must have been as perfectly satisfactory to him

as could be, for having paid a second visit that evening to Governor

Modiford, the pirate lifted anchor the next morning and made sail

towards the Gulf of Darien. There, after cruising about in those waters

for about a fortnight without falling in with a vessel of any sort, at

the end of that time they overhauled a caravel bound from Puerto Bello

to Cartagena, which vessel they took, and finding her loaded with

nothing better than raw hides, scuttled and sunk her, being then about

twenty leagues from the main of Cartagena. From the captain of this

vessel they learned that the plate fleet was then lying in the harbor

of Puerto Bello, not yet having set sail thence, but waiting for the

change of the winds before embarking for Spain. Besides this, which was

a good deal more to their purpose, the Spaniards told the pirates that

the Sieur Simon, his wife, and daughter were confined aboard the

vice-admiral of that fleet, and that the name of the vice-admiral was the

_Santa Maria y Valladolid_.

So soon as Captain Morgan had obtained the information he desired he

directed his course straight for the Bay of Santo Blaso, where he might

lie safely within the cape of that name without any danger of discovery

(that part of the main-land being entirely uninhabited) and yet be

within twenty or twenty-five leagues of Puerto Bello.

Having come safely to this anchorage, he at once declared his

intentions to his companions, which were as follows:

That it was entirely impossible for them to hope to sail their vessel

into the harbor of Puerto Bello, and to attack the Spanish vice-admiral

where he lay in the midst of the armed flota; wherefore, if anything

was to be accomplished, it must be undertaken by some subtle design

rather than by open-handed boldness. Having so prefaced what he had to

say, he now declared that it was his purpose to take one of the ship's

boats and to go in that to Puerto Bello, trusting for some opportunity

to occur to aid him either in the accomplishment of his aims or in the

gaining of some further information. Having thus delivered himself, he

invited any who dared to do so to volunteer for the expedition, telling

them plainly that he would constrain no man to go against his will, for

that at best it was a desperate enterprise, possessing only the

recommendation that in its achievement the few who undertook it would

gain great renown, and perhaps a very considerable booty.

And such was the incredible influence of this bold man over his

companions, and such was their confidence in his skill and cunning,

that not above a dozen of all those aboard hung back from the

undertaking, but nearly every man desired to be taken.

Of these volunteers Captain Morgan chose twenty--among others our

Master Harry--and having arranged with his lieutenant that if nothing

was heard from the expedition at the end of three days he should sail

for Jamaica to await news, he embarked upon that enterprise, which,

though never heretofore published, was perhaps the boldest and the most

desperate of all those that have since made his name so famous. For

what could be a more unparalleled undertaking than for a little open

boat, containing but twenty men, to enter the harbor of the third

strongest fortress of the Spanish mainland with the intention of

cutting out the Spanish vice-admiral from the midst of a whole fleet of

powerfully armed vessels, and how many men in all the world do you

suppose would venture such a thing?

But there is this to be said of that great buccaneer: that if he

undertook enterprises so desperate as this, he yet laid his plans so

well that they never went altogether amiss. Moreover, the very

desperation of his successes was of such a nature that no man could

suspect that he would dare to undertake such things, and accordingly

his enemies were never prepared to guard against his attacks. Aye, had

he but worn the King's colors and served under the rules of honest war,

he might have become as great and as renowned as Admiral Blake himself!

But all that is neither here nor there; what I have to tell you now is

that Captain Morgan in this open boat with his twenty mates reached the

Cape of Salmedina towards the fall of day. Arriving within view of the

harbor they discovered the plate fleet at anchor, with two men-of-war

and an armed galley riding as a guard at the mouth of the harbor,

scarce half a league distant from the other ships. Having spied the

fleet in this posture, the pirates presently pulled down their sails

and rowed along the coast, feigning to be a Spanish vessel from Nombre

de Dios. So hugging the shore, they came boldly within the harbor, upon

the opposite side of which you might see the fortress a considerable

distance away.

Being now come so near to the consummation of their adventure, Captain

Morgan required every man to make an oath to stand by him to the last,

whereunto our hero swore as heartily as any man aboard, although his

heart, I must needs confess, was beating at a great rate at the

approach of what was to happen. Having thus received the oaths of all

his followers, Captain Morgan commanded the surgeon of the expedition

that, when the order was given, he, the medico, was to bore six holes

in the boat, so that, it sinking under them, they might all be

compelled to push forward, with no chance of retreat. And such was the

ascendency of this man over his followers, and such was their awe of

him, that not one of them uttered even so much as a murmur, though what

he had commanded the surgeon to do pledged them either to victory or to

death, with no chance to choose between. Nor did the surgeon question

the orders he had received, much less did he dream of disobeying them.

By now it had fallen pretty dusk, whereupon, spying two fishermen in a

canoe at a little distance, Captain Morgan demanded of them in Spanish

which vessel of those at anchor in the harbor was the vice-admiral, for

that he had despatches for the captain thereof. Whereupon the

fishermen, suspecting nothing, pointed to them a galleon of great size

riding at anchor not half a league distant.

Towards this vessel accordingly the pirates directed their course, and

when they had come pretty nigh, Captain Morgan called upon the surgeon

that now it was time for him to perform the duty that had been laid

upon him. Whereupon the other did as he was ordered, and that so

thoroughly that the water presently came gushing into the boat in great

streams, whereat all hands pulled for the galleon as though every next

moment was to be their last.

And what do you suppose were our hero's emotions at this time? Like all

in the boat, his awe of Captain Morgan was so great that I do believe

he would rather have gone to the bottom than have questioned his

command, even when it was to scuttle the boat. Nevertheless, when he

felt the cold water gushing about his feet (for he had taken off his

shoes and stockings) he became possessed with such a fear of being

drowned that even the Spanish galleon had no terrors for him if he

could only feel the solid planks thereof beneath his feet.

Indeed, all the crew appeared to be possessed of a like dismay, for

they pulled at the oars with such an incredible force that they were

under the quarter of the galleon before the boat was half filled with

water.

Here, as they approached, it then being pretty dark and the moon not

yet having risen, the watch upon the deck hailed them, whereupon

Captain Morgan called out in Spanish that he was Captain Alvarez

Mendazo, and that he brought despatches for the vice-admiral.

But at that moment, the boat being now so full of water as to be

logged, it suddenly tilted upon one side as though to sink beneath

them, whereupon all hands, without further orders, went scrambling up

the side, as nimble as so many monkeys, each armed with a pistol in one

hand and a cutlass in the other, and so were upon deck before the watch

could collect his wits to utter any outcry or to give any other alarm

than to cry out, "Jesu bless us! who are these?" at which words

somebody knocked him down with the butt of a pistol, though who it was

our hero could not tell in the darkness and the hurry.

Before any of those upon deck could recover from their alarm or those

from below come up upon deck, a part of the pirates, under the

carpenter and the surgeon, had run to the gunroom and had taken

possession of the arms, while Captain Morgan, with Master Harry and a

Portuguese called Murillo Braziliano, had flown with the speed of the

wind into the great cabin.

Here they found the captain of the vice-admiral playing at cards with

the Sieur Simon and a friend, Madam Simon and her daughter being

present.

Captain Morgan instantly set his pistol at the breast of the Spanish

captain, swearing with a most horrible fierce countenance that if he

spake a word or made any outcry he was a dead man. As for our hero,

having now got his hand into the game, he performed the same service

for the Spaniard's friend, declaring he would shoot him dead if he

opened his lips or lifted so much as a single finger.

All this while the ladies, not comprehending what had occurred, had sat

as mute as stones; but now having so far recovered themselves as to

find a voice, the younger of the two fell to screaming, at which the

Sieur Simon called out to her to be still, for these were friends who

had come to help them, and not enemies who had come to harm them.

All this, you are to understand, occupied only a little while, for in

less than a minute three or four of the pirates had come into the

cabin, who, together with the Portuguese, proceeded at once to bind the

two Spaniards hand and foot, and to gag them. This being done to our

buccaneer's satisfaction, and the Spanish captain being stretched out

in the corner of the cabin, he instantly cleared his countenance of its

terrors, and bursting forth into a great loud laugh, clapped his hand

to the Sieur Simon's, which he wrung with the best will in the world.

Having done this, and being in a fine humor after this his first

success, he turned to the two ladies. "And this, ladies," said he,

taking our hero by the hand and presenting him, "is a young gentleman

who has embarked with me to learn the trade of piracy. I recommend him

to your politeness."

Think what a confusion this threw our Master Harry into, to be sure,

who at his best was never easy in the company of strange ladies! You

may suppose what must have been his emotions to find himself thus

introduced to the attention of Madam Simon and her daughter, being at

the time in his bare feet, clad only in his shirt and breeches, and

with no hat upon his head, a pistol in one hand and a cutlass in the

other. However, he was not left for long to his embarrassments, for

almost immediately after he had thus far relaxed, Captain Morgan fell

of a sudden serious again, and bidding the Sieur Simon to get his

ladies away into some place of safety, for the most hazardous part of

this adventure was yet to occur, he quitted the cabin with Master Harry

and the other pirates (for you may call him a pirate now) at his heels.

Having come upon deck, our hero beheld that a part of the Spanish crew

were huddled forward in a flock like so many sheep (the others being

crowded below with the hatches fastened upon them), and such was the

terror of the pirates, and so dreadful the name of Henry Morgan, that

not one of those poor wretches dared to lift up his voice to give any

alarm, nor even to attempt an escape by jumping overboard.

At Captain Morgan's orders, these men, together with certain of his own

company, ran nimbly aloft and began setting the sails, which, the night

now having fallen pretty thick, was not for a good while observed by

any of the vessels riding at anchor about them.

Indeed, the pirates might have made good their escape, with at most

only a shot or two from the men-of-war, had it not then been about the

full of the moon, which, having arisen, presently discovered to those

of the fleet that lay closest about them what was being done aboard the

vice-admiral.

At this one of the vessels hailed them, and then after a while, having

no reply, hailed them again. Even then the Spaniards might not

immediately have suspected anything was amiss but only that the

vice-admiral for some reason best known to himself was shifting his

anchorage, had not one of the Spaniards aloft--but who it was Captain

Morgan was never able to discover--answered the hail by crying out that

the vice-admiral had been seized by the pirates.

At this the alarm was instantly given and the mischief done, for

presently there was a tremendous bustle through that part of the fleet

lying nighest the vice-admiral--a deal of shouting of orders, a beating

of drums, and the running hither and thither of the crews.

But by this time the sails of the vice-admiral had filled with a strong

land breeze that was blowing up the harbor, whereupon the carpenter, at

Captain Morgan's orders, having cut away both anchors, the galleon

presently bore away up the harbor, gathering headway every moment with

the wind nearly dead astern. The nearest vessel was the only one that

for the moment was able to offer any hinderance. This ship, having by

this time cleared away one of its guns, was able to fire a parting shot

against the vice-admiral, striking her somewhere forward, as our hero

could see by a great shower of splinters that flew up in the moonlight.

At the sound of the shot all the vessels of the flota not yet disturbed

by the alarm were aroused at once, so that the pirates had the

satisfaction of knowing that they would have to run the gantlet of all

the ships between them and the open sea before they could reckon

themselves escaped.

And, indeed, to our hero's mind it seemed that the battle which

followed must have been the most terrific cannonade that was ever heard

in the world. It was not so ill at first, for it was some while before

the Spaniards could get their guns clear for action, they being not the

least in the world prepared for such an occasion as this. But by-and-by

first one and then another ship opened fire upon the galleon, until it

seemed to our hero that all the thunders of heaven let loose upon them

could not have created a more prodigious uproar, and that it was not

possible that they could any of them escape destruction.

By now the moon had risen full and round, so that the clouds of smoke

that rose in the air appeared as white as snow. The air seemed full of

the hiss and screaming of shot, each one of which, when it struck the

galleon, was magnified by our hero's imagination into ten times its

magnitude from the crash which it delivered and from the cloud of

splinters it would cast up into the moonlight. At last he suddenly

beheld one poor man knocked sprawling across the deck, who, as he

raised his arm from behind the mast, disclosed that the hand was gone

from it, and that the shirt-sleeve was red with blood in the moonlight.

At this sight all the strength fell away from poor Harry, and he felt

sure that a like fate or even a worse must be in store for him.

But, after all, this was nothing to what it might have been in broad

daylight, for what with the darkness of night, and the little

preparation the Spaniards could make for such a business, and the

extreme haste with which they discharged their guns (many not

understanding what was the occasion of all this uproar), nearly all the

shot flew so wide of the mark that not above one in twenty struck that

at which it was aimed.

Meantime Captain Morgan, with the Sieur Simon, who had followed him

upon deck, stood just above where our hero lay behind the shelter of

the bulwark. The captain had lit a pipe of tobacco, and he stood now in

the bright moonlight close to the rail, with his hands behind him,

looking out ahead with the utmost coolness imaginable, and paying no

more attention to the din of battle than though it were twenty leagues

away. Now and then he would take his pipe from his lips to utter an

order to the man at the wheel. Excepting this he stood there hardly

moving at all, the wind blowing his long red hair over his shoulders.

Had it not been for the armed galley the pirates might have got the

galleon away with no great harm done in spite of all this cannonading,

for the man-of-war which rode at anchor nighest to them at the mouth of

the harbor was still so far away that they might have passed it by

hugging pretty close to the shore, and that without any great harm

being done to them in the darkness. But just at this moment, when the

open water lay in sight, came this galley pulling out from behind the

point of the shore in such a manner as either to head our pirates off

entirely or else to compel them to approach so near to the man-of-war

that that latter vessel could bring its guns to bear with more effect.

This galley, I must tell you, was like others of its kind such as you

may find in these waters, the hull being long and cut low to the water

so as to allow the oars to dip freely. The bow was sharp and projected

far out ahead, mounting a swivel upon it, while at the stern a number

of galleries built one above another into a castle gave shelter to

several companies of musketeers as well as the officers commanding

them.

Our hero could behold the approach of this galley from above the

starboard bulwarks, and it appeared to him impossible for them to hope

to escape either it or the man-of-war. But still Captain Morgan

maintained the same composure that he had exhibited all the while, only

now and then delivering an order to the man at the wheel, who, putting

the helm over, threw the bows of the galleon around more to the

larboard, as though to escape the bow of the galley and get into the

open water beyond. This course brought the pirates ever closer and

closer to the man-of-war, which now began to add its thunder to the din

of the battle, and with so much more effect that at every discharge you

might hear the crashing and crackling of splintered wood, and now and

then the outcry or groaning of some man who was hurt. Indeed, had it

been daylight, they must at this juncture all have perished, though, as

was said, what with the night and the confusion and the hurry, they

escaped entire destruction, though more by a miracle than through any

policy upon their own part.

Meantime the galley, steering as though to come aboard of them, had now

come so near that it, too, presently began to open its musketry fire

upon them, so that the humming and rattling of bullets were presently

added to the din of cannonading.

In two minutes more it would have been aboard of them, when in a moment

Captain Morgan roared out of a sudden to the man at the helm to put it

hard a starboard. In response the man ran the wheel over with the

utmost quickness, and the galleon, obeying her helm very readily, came

around upon a course which, if continued, would certainly bring them

into collision with their enemy.

It is possible at first the Spaniards imagined the pirates intended to

escape past their stern, for they instantly began backing oars to keep

them from getting past, so that the water was all of a foam about them;

at the same time they did this they poured in such a fire of musketry

that it was a miracle that no more execution was accomplished than

happened.

As for our hero, methinks for the moment he forgot all about everything

else than as to whether or no his captain's manoeuvre would succeed,

for in the very first moment he divined, as by some instinct, what

Captain Morgan purposed doing.

At this moment, so particular in the execution of this nice design, a

bullet suddenly struck down the man at the wheel. Hearing the sharp

outcry, our Harry turned to see him fall forward, and then to his hands

and knees upon the deck, the blood running in a black pool beneath him,

while the wheel, escaping from his hands, spun over until the spokes

were all of a mist.

In a moment the ship would have fallen off before the wind had not our

hero, leaping to the wheel (even as Captain Morgan shouted an order for

some one to do so), seized the flying spokes, whirling them back again,

and so bringing the bow of the galleon up to its former course.

[Illustration: "OUR HERO, LEAPING TO THE WHEEL, SEIZED THE FLYING

SPOKES"]

In the first moment of this effort he had reckoned of nothing but of

carrying out his captain's designs. He neither thought of cannon-balls

nor of bullets. But now that his task was accomplished, he came

suddenly back to himself to find the galleries of the galleon aflame

with musket-shots, and to become aware with a most horrible sinking of

the spirits that all the shots therefrom were intended for him. He cast

his eyes about him with despair, but no one came to ease him of his

task, which, having undertaken, he had too much spirit to resign from

carrying through to the end, though he was well aware that the very

next instant might mean his sudden and violent death. His ears hummed

and rang, and his brain swam as light as a feather. I know not whether

he breathed, but he shut his eyes tight as though that might save him

from the bullets that were raining about him.

At this moment the Spaniards must have discovered for the first time

the pirates' design, for of a sudden they ceased firing, and began to

shout out a multitude of orders, while the oars lashed the water all

about with a foam. But it was too late then for them to escape, for

within a couple of seconds the galleon struck her enemy a blow so

violent upon the larboard quarter as nearly to hurl our Harry upon the

deck, and then with a dreadful, horrible crackling of wood, commingled

with a yelling of men's voices, the galley was swung around upon her

side, and the galleon, sailing into the open sea, left nothing of her

immediate enemy but a sinking wreck, and the water dotted all over with

bobbing heads and waving hands in the moonlight.

And now, indeed, that all danger was past and gone, there were plenty

to come running to help our hero at the wheel. As for Captain Morgan,

having come down upon the main-deck, he fetches the young helmsman a

clap upon the back. "Well, Master Harry," says he, "and did I not tell

you I would make a man of you?" Whereat our poor Harry fell a-laughing,

but with a sad catch in his voice, for his hands trembled as with an

ague, and were as cold as ice. As for his emotions, God knows he was

nearer crying than laughing, if Captain Morgan had but known it.

Nevertheless, though undertaken under the spur of the moment, I protest

it was indeed a brave deed, and I cannot but wonder how many young

gentlemen of sixteen there are to-day who, upon a like occasion, would

act as well as our Harry.

V

The balance of our hero's adventures were of a lighter sort than those

already recounted, for the next morning, the Spanish captain (a very

polite and well-bred gentleman) having fitted him out with a suit of

his own clothes, Master Harry was presented in a proper form to the

ladies. For Captain Morgan, if he had felt a liking for the young man

before, could not now show sufficient regard for him. He ate in the

great cabin and was petted by all. Madam Simon, who was a fat and

red-faced lady, was forever praising him, and the young miss, who was

extremely well-looking, was as continually making eyes at him.

She and Master Harry, I must tell you, would spend hours together, she

making pretence of teaching him French, although he was so possessed

with a passion of love that he was nigh suffocated with it. She, upon

her part, perceiving his emotions, responded with extreme good-nature

and complacency, so that had our hero been older, and the voyage proved

longer, he might have become entirely enmeshed in the toils of his fair

siren. For all this while, you are to understand, the pirates were

making sail straight for Jamaica, which they reached upon the third day

in perfect safety.

[Illustration: "SHE AND MASTER HARRY WOULD SPEND HOURS TOGETHER"]

In that time, however, the pirates had well-nigh gone crazy for joy;

for when they came to examine their purchase they discovered her cargo

to consist of plate to the prodigious sum of £130,000 in value. 'Twas a

wonder they did not all make themselves drunk for joy. No doubt they

would have done so had not Captain Morgan, knowing they were still in

the exact track of the Spanish fleets, threatened them that the first

man among them who touched a drop of rum without his permission he

would shoot him dead upon the deck. This threat had such effect that

they all remained entirely sober until they had reached Port Royal

Harbor, which they did about nine o'clock in the morning.

And now it was that our hero's romance came all tumbling down about his

ears with a run. For they had hardly come to anchor in the harbor when

a boat came from a man-of-war, and who should come stepping aboard but

Lieutenant Grantley (a particular friend of our hero's father) and his

own eldest brother Thomas, who, putting on a very stern face, informed

Master Harry that he was a desperate and hardened villain who was sure

to end at the gallows, and that he was to go immediately back to his

home again. He told our embryo pirate that his family had nigh gone

distracted because of his wicked and ungrateful conduct. Nor could our

hero move him from his inflexible purpose. "What," says our Harry, "and

will you not then let me wait until our prize is divided and I get my

share?"

"Prize, indeed!" says his brother. "And do you then really think that

your father would consent to your having a share in this terrible

bloody and murthering business?"

And so, after a good deal of argument, our hero was constrained to go;

nor did he even have an opportunity to bid adieu to his inamorata. Nor

did he see her any more, except from a distance, she standing on the

poop-deck as he was rowed away from her, her face all stained with

crying. For himself, he felt that there was no more joy in life;

nevertheless, standing up in the stern of the boat, he made shift,

though with an aching heart, to deliver her a fine bow with the hat he

had borrowed from the Spanish captain, before his brother bade him sit

down again.

And so to the ending of this story, with only this to relate, that our

Master Harry, so far from going to the gallows, became in good time a

respectable and wealthy sugar merchant with an English wife and a fine

family of children, whereunto, when the mood was upon him, he has

sometimes told these adventures (and sundry others not here recounted)

as I have told them unto you.