THE PASSAGE-MONEY
Now what follows must I think be taken as direct proof that Providence
concerns itself with extra diligence on behalf of great gentlemen who
have the birth and parts of Prince Rupert.
No prospects could have been blacker than ours when we set sail again
in the little brigantine from La Guayra. Of food we were well-nigh
destitute; the little water remaining to us stank; the vessel herself
had grown even still more leaky through straining at her anchor amongst
the rough seas of the roadstead; and (as though out of sheer
aggravation) one of the black slaves had died, leaving only three to
carry on the necessary work.
Than bailing water out of a leaky vessel's bilges there is no labour
more detestably menial; but a Prince of birth can be drowned by a ship
swamping beneath him as glibly as a common sailor-man; and so as the
remaining blacks showed clear signs of exhaustion, Rupert and his
humble secretary had to take their turn at this occupation, and ply
their utensils too with lusty vigour. It was extraordinary how fluent
were the leaks. "They say that witches do sea-travelling in baskets,"
said Prince Rupert once. "I wish we had one aboard here to teach us
the trick, if indeed this basket is not too large-meshed for a witch's
skill."
His secretary looked at the dim line of the coast. "Anything would be
better than staying here to be drowned like puppies under a bucket. It
tears me to think that your Highness's dear life should be in this
horrid danger."
"My dear life has been in worse case many a time when it was more
pleasant to me, lad. And now that it is soured somewhat through
thought of a certain lady, why, there you have all the more reason why
it will not be cut short. I quite agree with you that there is a
strong need that we should find soon a scheme to better our position;
but at present I can think of none; and as for taking another turn on
the shore yonder, why, that I flatly refuse to think about. I have no
appetite for plunging about those pestiferous mangrove swamps till the
Spaniards starve us out, and take us by sheer numbers and strength. In
fact, I do not want to appear next before the Governor of Caraccas as a
prisoner, Master Stephen. You will doubtless appreciate many of my
reasons."
And there the poor secretary, being in truth a maid herself, and
passionately enamoured of his Highness, turned away and faced the
glaring sea, lest the jealousy that consumed her might be seen written
upon her face. Though what Rupert could see in that creature puzzles
her even to this day.
But neither Prince Rupert nor Master Laughan, his secretary, could
afford to keep their thoughts entirely on this Donna Clotilde whom they
had left behind them still in the safe keeping of her uncle the
Governor of Caraccas. Their present discomforts went far to wean them
from the memory of what had immediately passed. Their hunger and
thirst grew upon them; their limbs ached with the incessant toil of
keeping the crazy vessel afloat; an intolerable tropic sun scorched
them from overhead; and, as though their case was obviously desperate
even to the fish of the sea, three great sharks swam after the little
brigantine in convoy. Moreover, one of the blacks began to show signs
of delirium, and had to be confined with leg-irons so that he should
not leap over-side, and lose them his services.
For three days this miserable voyage acquired to itself new miseries,
and yet no plan came to the voyagers for lightening their case. In
fine (and it is hard for the secretary to say such a thing about her
revered patron), Prince Rupert lost his reckoning, and owned as much.
He was at the best an inaccurate navigator, being brought up to nobler
trades. And so there they were careering through a hot sun-scorched
sea, with no land in sight, and the only hope remaining to them that if
they kept at it long enough, they would, if they did not starve or
drown first, fetch up somewhere in the long run.
"We are true buccaneers now, lad," said Rupert lightly, "for viler
navigators and more desperate blades never sailed the Caribbean. My
courage would be equal to attacking a caravel single-handed
now--especially if my nose told me he had a meal preparing in his cook
house."
As the sun lowered on that fourth day of their travel, a fog bank
lifted out of the ocean ahead, a common enough sight in those
unwholesome seas of the New World, and a breeding place for the
calentura and other disorders. There is nothing in this you will say
worthy of being commented upon in these memoirs; but when dark at last
fell with all its tropical suddenness, this fog lit up with a glow, and
as they drove nearer to it in their voyage, this glow seemed to collect
and concentrate upon a centre.
At first they had taken the appearance for some trick of the sun which
in these regions often leaves a reflection in the Eastern sky that
lingers long after its setting; but this glow endured too long, and
moreover it grew more concentrated, and increased in brightness; and so
there came to the Secretary's lips a suggestion that some island lay
ahead, and that its savannahs had been fired by buccaneers to drive the
game into their snares. "There may be a wholesome meal close ahead of
us," said the secretary, "and afterwards, your Highness' charm will
surely enlist some of these rude hunters into your service. It is my
humble suggestion that Providence evidently intends us to find profit
presently from some adventure ashore."
"That may be," said Rupert. "But my own idea is that shore's as far
off as ever, and that just now we're staring at somebody's ship ablaze.
Look now; if we bale a little harder, we may dare to give this basket
of ours a few square yards more sail, and so come up with her all the
quicker."
So they set the blacks to loose and hoist the two topsails, and sheet
them home, and then took it by turns to assist the tired creatures at
their intolerable baling.
The Secretary will confess to have experienced a pang when the next
half-hour's sailing proved His Highness to be right. On land once
more, she could have shown a stout manner to whatever adventure or
hardship lay before them. But land seemingly lay as far off as ever;
indeed they did not even know its whereabouts; and here on this
unstable sea poor Master Stephen was every minute forced violently to
drag back her courage, lest it should slip from her shuddering breast
and be overboard beyond reclaim. Indeed only the all-mastering love
she bore for this adorable hero kept her from disgracing the livery of
her borrowed manhood.
But Rupert's courage was in no way dulled; indeed matters that would
have daunted all other men (let alone maids) always heartened that
great soldier; and, besides, with his infinite strategy he saw here
ahead of him an opportunity for earning monies for his master the King
at the Hague, whom he was so diligently endeavouring to serve. From
the moment of making sure that the glow came from a burning ship, he
was all of a fidget to make the brigantine move faster; and indeed his
haste was natural, for as they drew more near, and the wind slackened,
it seemed likely that the ship would burn to the water's edge and sink
before he could come up and drive his bargain with her.
They could see the vessel plainly now, a tidy-sized pink (or brig, to
give her the newer name) with her bolt-sprit a mere flag of fire, her
foremast already over the side, and the forepart of her hull little
better than a bonfire of flames. The men upon her stood out black
against the blaze which they fought so vehemently to subdue. They were
massed for the most part in a mob on her aftercastle and as they drew
nearer, Prince Rupert could see others standing on stages slung over
the side, passing up water to quench the flames in every conceivable
shape of pitcher, from ale-jacks to mess-kids.
It cannot be said that the reckless fellows showed any outward fear for
the horrid death that was already beginning to scorch them. They were
chanting a psalm when the brigantine first drove within earshot; but
apparently thinking they had done enough for their souls with this
exercise, they presently set up some ribald drinking song which had
acquired a dirty popularity in the taverns of Tortuga, and bawled it
out full-lunged to the accompaniment of water hisses and flame-roar.
With the glare of the fire dazzling their eyes, and the occupation of
fighting it filling their minds, they did not see the brigantine till
she sailed up through their smoke and rounded up head to wind just
beyond pistol-shot; and when they did make the discovery, their
behaviour was none too civil. Even had there been any doubt about
their being French and English buccaneers, they proved it very plainly
now. Spaniards would have shown panic and pleaded for their lives with
threats and promises: these fellows were for taking what they wanted by
sheer dash and impudence.
"Just the packet we want, lads," roared the great rude creature who
commanded her. "She's only a Jack-Spaniard, and'll be taken as easy as
skinning a bull. Strip and swim for her. We'll come back and salve
our plunder afterwards."--Upon which they all began to doff their
draggled finery with astonishing haste.
But Rupert stood up in the brigantine's rigging and called sharply for
them to wait a moment and hear him. Upon which, catching the sound of
his English words, they stopped their bawling and listened.
"I am willing to give you passage, gentlemen, upon reasonable
conditions. But my conditions I must have: you will understand I am no
common carrier."
The tall man who had spoken before gave voice. "You seem to talk very
big, you in your small ship. I am Captain Wick. Who the devil are
you?"
Prince Rupert louted low. "I fear you will not know my poor name sir,
though at home in England and Europe it has been heard some few times.
There they call me Rupert Palatine."
The tall man whistled. "You'll be the Captain that pawned his ships to
old Skin-the-Pike in Tortuga?"
"Monsieur D'Ogeron, the Governor, held some cavaliers who were my very
dear friends, and no other way showed itself of ransoming them.
Besides, I wanted their swords for my enterprises."
"Well, gratitude's no crime, though there's many in these pagan seas
thinks it first cousin to foolishness. No, I can't say I think any the
worse of you, Captain Rupert, for what you have done."
"Sir," said the Prince, "your approval overwhelms me."
"Don't mention it," said Captain Wick, "and don't let us waste any more
time in speeches. This perch here is getting hot. Take us off, like a
decent man, and you have my word for it you shall be no loser. We
gutted a fat Spaniard yesterday--a Seville ship he was, new out of
Maracaibo--and after the fight, all our hands got so drunk, he had the
ingratitude to slip away; and as we found ourselves afire in the
forehold, we'd no time just then to set about rechasing him. I'll make
free to own the fire was beginning to bother us when you came up."
"It has a solid look about it just now," said Rupert, and he had to
shout, for the roar of the devouring flames overtopped all quieter
voice. "And so as a business man yourself you will be ready to pay all
the higher for your conveyance elsewhere. It is well we should get
these ungenteel matters of commerce settled first. It would put an
unpleasant finish on our voyaging together if bad blood rose between us
when the hour came for settling the bill for passages."
Whereupon Captain Wick broke out into some very fierce and wrathful
language.
But Prince Rupert preserved an admirable temper. "Sir," he said, "I am
new to this trade of passenger-carrying, and I trust I have too much
niceness to make a commencement with a bevy of unwilling guests. Let
me call to your mind that I am offering no compulsion. If you do not
like my terms, I will draw off and continue my proper voyage, and as
for you--why, you, sir, and your merry gentlemen can continue to tend
your fire."
It was clear that Captain Wick had fine appetite for another outburst
of words and temper; but the growing heat of the flames behind was
every moment worse to be borne, and so with a hard effort he kept his
tongue civil. "Well," he said, "what are your terms?"
"I do not want, sir, to drive too hard a bargain. I will not take more
than you can offer."
"Meaning all we have? That's gluttonous enough, anyway."
"I did not come out to these amusing seas merely to study philosophy
and refinement."
"That I'll be sworn you didn't. You might be a common buccaneer like
me, with a matelot ashore to provide for, from the keenness you show."
"Why there, sir," said Rupert, "you have hit off my condition in a
phrase. I was formally and solemnly adopted into your desirable
Brotherhood after strict examination and full trial of my poor
abilities, and I have a good camerade now meat-hunting ashore in
Hispaniola. Even if I were disposed to forego my own advantage, I
could not remain loyal to him and let this chance of earning moneys
slip by me. It is a vital condition of our partnership that we share
and share alike, and that each should do his best for his matelot."
"You need not remind an old buccaneer of the first principle of the
Brotherhood. How do they name your matelot?"
"Simpson. He's a finely accurate shot."
"A man well freckled with pock-markings?"
"He is so distinguished."
"Simpson and I have been shipmates. Well, I'll have no hand in
defrauding Simpson--especially as I've small choice in the matter. But
if the chance comes my way for driving another hard bargain, just you
look to yourself, Captain Rupert."
"Sir," said the Prince, "I've done very little else these some years.
Do you answer for your crew standing honourably by the conditions?"
"You shall swear each fellow for yourself when they come aboard. Man,
make haste and bring that cockle-shell of yours athwart our stern. The
bacon is beginning to frizzle on us already, and presently some of us
will be cooked alive. I must say you make a rather poor show of your
hospitality."
"You will not blame me presently, sir. As it is you will enjoy the
fare here. Had you come from anything short of desperation, I fear you
would have turned up your honoured noses at its roughness."
The brigantine's head was canted with the sprit-sail till she gathered
way again, and she was so manoeuvred that Master Stephen Laughan, who
was standing on the forward castle, caught a rope which was hove to
him, and made it fast to one of the knightheads. Singly the buccaneers
made their way down this from the high poop which towered above, each
carrying a bag filled with the more valuable of the Spaniard's plunder
to pay his passage, and each, as he dropped foot on the deck, was made
to swear a most comprehensive obedience. A Bible, a crucifix and a
naked blade were set ready, and the oath was taken on all three, so
that whether the man was of the Reformed Religion, or Papist, or
confessed no creed at all, one or other of the oaths was bound to
pledge him, and so there would be no wriggling out through this very
common bye-way.
"By the Lord!" said Captain Wick, who was the last to come on board.
"By the Lord, if formalities can make sound business, you should be in
a fair way towards storing a fortune. By your leave I'll cast off this
rope from the knighthead here and we'll get your cock-boat under way.
My old ship is pretty well a-fire just now, and it's on the cards my
drunken rascals were not very thorough when they set to drown the
powder. The kegs were not all easy to get at in the magazine."
"After your handsome behaviour," said Prince Rupert with a bow, "the
least I can do is to put my poor ship entirely at your present
disposal. You may set your crew to work her (for I will own
ingenuously that mine are somewhat unskilled), and you may navigate her
where you choose. But if I might venture to suggest, I should say that
the sooner you could bring up with some land, or with some desirable
ship of the Spaniards, the pleasanter it would be for all of us."
Captain Wick stared. "You have a rum way of putting things," he said.
"But let's go to your cabin, and talk it out over a cup of wine. I've
a throat that's full of sand."
"Why," said Rupert smiling, "I'm afraid the cabin floor will be a-slop
with water, as when we pressed her with sail so as to come down to you
the quicker, the leaks rather gained on us."
"By the Lord!" cried Wick, fairly startled, "she feels sodden enough
under the feet now you call attention to it. Why, your lower deck
ports are well-nigh awash."
"Oh, I gave the brigantine no certificate for seaworthiness, when I
asked you to honour us with your presence."
"Well, you're a cool one, anyway," said Wick, and gave sharp orders to
his men to take a spell at the baling.--"But sink or swim, that doesn't
alter my thirst, and if we can't wash our necks politely seated in the
cabin, why, bid one of your blacks bring aft the wine on to the poop,
and we'll drink to our better acquaintance there."
"I fear, sir," said Prince Rupert, still with his best manner, "that
you will think me most cursedly remiss, but our provisioning has been
plaguely ill done, and there's not a drop of wine on board."
Captain Wick stared still more, and then, as a thought struck him, he
went to the scuttle-butt and took a sample from the dipper. "And your
water stinks!" he spluttered. "Faugh! do you keep ducks in your casks?
Man, tell me squarely, what entertainment is it that you have asked us
to?"
"Lean enough, I fear, but I have no wish that it should endure longer
than is absolutely needful. As a buccaneer, sir, you are my senior,
and I bow to your experience, but as a mere soldier, I should say that
the strategy indicated is to go to the nearest place where provisions
are stored whether it is afloat or ashore, and procure them in the
handiest way which occurs to us."
Captain Wick slapped his thigh. "Well," he said, "this is the maddest
turn-out! You've neither meat, wood, nor water; you've a little old
ship that leaks like a fishing net; you've no force----"
"Ah, pardon me there, sir. You see before you two very good swords,
who would be quite pleased to parade themselves against any other two
you can put against them."
"Give it if you like, you've an army of two, yourself and this slim
youngster here. You must have left a very ugly place behind you to
have sailed out so blithely into this fix."
"In honest truth we did. But being here, sir, and having you and your
excellent friends as companions, I repeat that the shrewdest thing at
present seems to me that we should sail with as much canvas as we can
carry towards the nearest meal. Come, Captain Wick, I'm still but raw
in these seas, and you are likely to know far more where the good
things are stowed. What do you say? Are we to get ashore and hunt
bullocks? Or is there some convenient town to sack, or some castle to
ransom? Or can you guarantee that we shall find a Spaniard on the sea,
and get our next dinner from him before we are absolutely starving?"
Captain Wick leaned up against the bulwarks and laughed. "This is like
the old hard, wicked times once more, when buccaneers sailed cheerfully
against an armada in a canoe--and sometimes took it. It gives me a
thrill to be desperate again. I oughtn't to be merry, I know, but spit
me if I can help it. I've lost my ship, I've been robbed of my lawful
plundery, I'm out of the frying-pan into the fishing-net, but by the
Lord, there's something too humorous about the whole adventure to let
one work up a proper pitch of anger."--His face sobered with a sudden
pucker of recollection.--"Rupert," he repeated, "Captain Rupert. Isn't
it Prince Rupert I should have said?"
"So I am more usually known."
Captain Wick changed his manner. He lugged off his feathered hat and
made a great bow. "My lord," he said, "you must excuse these manners
I've been showing you. At first I thought you were a rogue, and then I
thought you were a madman, and then I judged you were a fool, but I
never guessed you were a born prince and there's the truth of it. I
was only a common seaman before the mast before I drifted out to these
seas of the New World, and earned distinction, and so at home I was not
in a position to meet Princes, and here there are none to come across.
But believe me, my lord, it gives me great pleasure now to make your
acquaintance, and devil take the expense. Indeed I don't grudge the
expense: Princes out here will want to make their bit like other men."
The secretary, who stood near, looked for an explosion of his Highness'
anger, for there were times when Prince Rupert could defend his dignity
with great niceness and punctilio. For it was in Master Laughan's mind
that this Wick was merely mocking her patron, since of all these rude
buccaneers they had come across so far in the New World, they had not
met one who showed a particle of reverence for a great name and exalted
birth for their own sakes. But Prince Rupert, with his usual fine
discernment, saw otherwise; indeed he understood in a flash that the
man was dazzled at finding himself the guest of one who carried so
illustrious a name: and he showed him some very pretty and graceful
condescensions.
The secretary, being by this time so thoroughly wearied out that her
eyes would keep open no longer, heard dully the rumble of their talk
for awhile, and then dropped off to sleep where she was on the bare
deck, but not before a new course had been set, and sharp orders given
for the re-trimming of tacks and sheets. The buccaneers, it appears,
would have waked her to take a spell at the baling, being rude brutal
fellows with but little sympathy for gentility and a slim figure; but
the Prince so pleasantly asked them to desist, at the same time
speaking so handsomely of the secretary's youth and previous labours,
that of their uncouth condescension Stephen was permitted to further
enjoy plank bed undisturbed.
I am free to confess that the meeting with Captain Wick and his men,
let alone from the sums earned as their passage money, was indeed
fortunate from another respect. That Prince Rupert had high military
genius, no one who reads these memoirs, and the other histories
specially written upon his person, will for a moment deny. But the
fact cannot be got over that if the brigantine had stuck to her
original course, his Highness and the others on her would have starved,
if indeed they had not drowned first. For the nearest land (if indeed
they did not miss it) was distant a week's sail that way, and the seas
in between practically desert. But this Captain Wick, if rude, had at
least local knowledge and no particular appetite for starvation, and so
by his hint the brigantine was headed for Curassou, which island it
appeared was conveniently close at hand.
Let no reader think that in owning this, Master Stephen Laughan wavers
for one instant in loyalty to Prince Rupert, and profound admiration
for his wonderful powers. But the fact is the island was out of sight
below an horizon, and guessing at an island's position, when indeed you
have never before heard of its existence, is but dangerous seamanship.
As Wick himself owned the place had small enough fame. It had neither
mines nor pearl-fisheries; the Spaniards did naught but gather salt
there; and as this commodity would not attract buccaneers, who liked
more profitable valuables for their purses, there were no
fortifications to protect the works or the labourers.
"But, your worship," said Captain Wick, "at present we need comestibles
more than cash, and I take it that these fellows on Curassou, humble
though they may be, must have some sort of food on hand to stow in
their bellies. And besides, salt-making should be one of the
thirstiest trades imaginable, and there you see that drink, and much
drink, is clearly indicated." And in fine this prophecy came very near
to the truth. In the harbour of the island they found two vessels of
the salt gatherers and a well-stored village ashore all practically
undefended, and these they took without opposition.
At this point though the very nasty customs of the buccaneers nearly
caused a breach--and indeed would have brought about complete severance
of the parties if the secretary had had the choice. For the rude
fellows, after their usual habit, when the materials for debauch were
ready to their hands, had not the smallest mood to go abroad for
further earning, and in this Captain Wick (that was none too sober
himself) to all practical purposes gave them his countenance.
"Master Prince," he hiccoughed solemnly. "I am your most obedient
servant to command, but you mustn't ask me to make water run up hill,
or to cause handy liquor to cease from running down a thirsty
buccaneer's gullet. They are common fellows, common as dirt every one
of them, and they haven't the gentility and niceness that is natural to
you and me. And moreover, as a buccaneer's life is often a short one,
he strives to make it as merry as may be. Besides as you are one of
the brotherhood yourself, you ought to fall in with the custom. I'm
sure Simpson, your matelot, would not be pleased to see you deny
yourself. Come, my lord, what do you say, if you and me, that are
their superiors, condescend a little and go and take a turn down yonder
ourselves?"
The Prince very civilly declined, but still this Wick must needs
persuade him further.
"Of course it's not what me and your lordship are accustomed to, but
there's entertainment in it. A buccaneer when he's ashore is a rarely
humorous fellow. The Spaniards were asked to provide a fiddle, or some
pipes, or at least a drum for harmony; but it seems they are leanly
enough furnished with both talent and instruments; and so the beggars
have been stood in a row, and bidden to whistle jigs as dance music.
The boatswain's been appointed bandmaster, with a rope's end for baton,
and I can tell you he's making a dandy orchestra."--Captain Wick
fidgetted with his feet--"Oh Lord," he said, "watch 'em dancing. I
just must have a turn myself. Here, Master Laughan, you're slim, and
should make a most ladylike partner. Come along."
And with that he clapped an arm round the poor secretary's waist (that
was like to have died with mortification) and set off into absurd
capers, keeping time to the whistling, till the pair of them were
brought to a stop through sheer breathlessness.
Prince Rupert (it is painful to relate) was in one of his whimsical
humours, and, far from interfering, only laughed and shook with
merriment. "Keep it up, Stephen, lad," cried he. "You fling a fine
leg. By my faith, you dance the best maid's steps of all of them. Ho!
you other blushing, bearded, lady buccaneers, mince your steps like
Master Laughan."--And when the secretary came back flushed and angry to
his side, and would have reproached him with a look, "Pooh! lad," said
he, "you're none the worse. There's a bit too much of the pedant about
you at times"--At which the poor creature tried to smile, though in
truth she was but an ace off tears.
Of the two vessels of the Spaniards which they met in the harbour, one
was fired, as they had no service for her, and the other careened,
breamed, refitted and loaded with the brigantine's treasure and puny
armament. The brigantine herself, being left unbaled for a dozen
hours, quickly sank out of further mischief's ways. The orgie of the
buccaneers, when one came to measure it up afterwards in the cool blood
of the historian, was in reality short, for these disgusting creatures
consider lavishness the highest gentility, and waste double what they
use. But once the liquor casks were drained, they were ready enough to
start out for the next venture.
The sun poured down upon their working with intolerable heat; the beach
reeked with the lees of their spilt rum; and the fellows themselves,
though they stuck manfully enough to their labours, carried swinging
heads and crabbed tempers. The Spanish prisoners who were set to the
more menial tasks came in for rough usage when their diligence
slackened.
But at last all was ready once more for sea, and after the custom of
the Brotherhood of the Coast, a meeting was held at which each man was
the equal of his neighbour. They were done with one voyage, and this,
_ipso facto_, disrated the lot of them, and forthwith they set
themselves to elect officers for the next, and to decide on a cruise.
Now all who read these memoirs will at once think that with so
brilliant a commander standing idle at their side, these rude fellows
would at once have made humble petition to Prince Rupert that he would
condescend to lead them. But I can nohow describe their uncouth
rudeness more blackly than by relating that they did nothing of the
kind. In fact but one name was mentioned, and that was Wick's; and
they elected him with shouts, and saluted him with a ragged volley from
their buccaneering-pieces. For boatswain, too, they elected the fellow
who had served in that rating before. But their quartermaster had, it
appeared, been killed; and as there were two rival claimants for the
office with equal followings, each ready to fight for their man, Wick
saved civil war by suggesting that the Prince be appointed. Here was a
way out of their impasse, and they took it as such, though without any
show of enthusiasm, and Rupert was gracious enough to accept their
nomination. The readiness with which he could adapt himself to his
companions for the moment, was a singularly lovable feature in this
truly great man's character.
In general meeting also the plan of campaign was openly discussed and
voted upon, all, by the rules of the Brotherhood of the Coast, having
an equal say in this matter before the cruise commenced. Indeed Wick
himself drew attention to this freedom of discussion, and pointed out
that if anyone of the company could put skill or information into the
general fund, he was bound by the laws to give it. "We Brethren of the
Coast," said he, "have our phases. Ashore we have our frolics. But
afloat we are all for earning. That comes first always; and though
causing annoyance to the Spaniard can generally be done at one and the
same time, that is not to be looked upon as a serious occupation, but
only one to give relish to the other. Now for myself I feel bound to
make the suggestion that we can begin our earning here at present in
Curassou by charging a high rate of freight for any specie we are asked
to carry."
For a moment the buccaneers did not catch his meaning. But someone
shouted, "There's a riposte for our smart quartermaster," and then they
all burst into roars of laughter, wagging good-humoured fingers at the
Prince, and crying out that hard bargaining made good profits.
"Of course," said Rupert, "I'm with you there entirely, gentlemen.
Indeed, am I not an interested party, seeing that this cruise is to be
worked on shares, after the ordinary laws of the Brotherhood? But I
must ingenuously confess that I do not see the merchants who will offer
you even small freights to be carriers of their specie."
Upon which they laughed all the louder. "Why, you, sir," they cried,
"you are our merchant. And we are the only carriers. The brigantine's
sunk. But you will be dealt with quite fair. As quartermaster you
will receive your due share from the common fund of what you pay in as
merchant."
"Gentlemen," said Rupert pleasantly, "your schemes of finance do credit
to your nimble brains. But you see in me at present a banker rather
than a merchant, or perhaps I should say a bank depositor. Do you take
me?"
They did not. But their faces sobered considerably. No class of men
could be in company with Prince Rupert for long without gaining a high
respect for his genius.--"My lord quartermaster," said Wick, "you're
talking a bit too fine for these common fellows."
"Well," said Rupert, "it's a hard thing to do, gentlemen, but I must
avow myself to you as a coward. Transit of goods in these seas seems
so perilous and so expensive that really I have been frightened out of
risking it. There's some small fortune which it may come to your
memory I earned a few days back--and for half of which I am responsible
to Master Simpson, my matelot in Hispaniola. Gentlemen, believe me, my
nervousness about that fortune is so great that I have decided to bank
it with Mother Earth in this island of Curassou. And indeed, whilst
you were having your frolic with the rum casks, I found a spade, and
myself put the deposit in that good banker's safekeeping. We contrived
matters, Mother Earth and I, that none should steal the key."
The buccaneers bore no resentment at being further tricked. Indeed
they let off their guns in compliment to their quartermaster's
acuteness, and bade him now that he had taken up a new service, attend
to the joint interest as cleverly as he had done before for his own.
The Prince took them pleasantly. "If appetite gives wit," said he, "I
should be a clever fellow just now. There isn't a buccaneer more
greedy for plunder along all the Spanish Main. And for advice, there
seems to me that only one course is open to us. Here is this ship that
we have put in trim. You will note that four days ago she was a mere
salt-gatherer."
"We all know that."
"Assuredly. I was but marshalling my arguments. Now salt is a very
vulgar commodity, but it has its merchants and dealers, and this ship
will have her proper port. I do not know what's the port, or what's
its armament, but according to me, brethren, it's clearly indicated
that this ship's port is the point for our attack. We sail there,
arriving openly and in broad daylight. There's nothing hid. We'll set
her old crew (who are luckily none the worse for their whistling) to
work her into anchorage in their usual clumsy fashion, and for
ourselves, we'll sit genteelly down in the hold as passengers and while
the time (if it please you) with the dice. Then, when the moment
comes, we can walk in and take possession before they have made any
preparations for our reception. Come now, brethren, how does my scheme
taste to your judgments?"
"We should manage a surprise that way, my lord quartermaster," said
Wick. "The question is, whether the place is worth it."
"Ah, that point," said the Prince, "must be left to Captain Wick, who
is geographer to this crew."
"The truth is," said Wick, rubbing his chin, "the salt merchant belongs
to Cumarebo, and it's a place I never heard that buccaneers visited."
"There must be a beginning to every kind of experience," said Stephen
Laughan modestly.
"Quite so, my lad, but let me tell you your cleverness is more pert
than longheaded. News always seems to get about if a town on the Main
contains treasure, and Cumarebo makes its boast principally of a very
vast cathedral and several barracks full of greasy priests."
"Speaking as a Protestant," said Rupert, "I don't find that Popish
idols and vessels do harm to my pocket when they're melted up into
currency. My master, the King, at The Hague, favours Rome I know, but
I do not think he would be so undevout as to refuse a loan because it
happened to come from the coffers of his own church."
"And my master," said Wick with a grin, "and that's myself, refuses
deuced little that isn't too hot or too heavy to carry away. That's a
good word of yours, my lord quartermaster, about the cathedral. Where
there's priests there's sure to be plenty: I should have deduced that
for myself."
Three or four of the buccaneers were going to make objection, but he
held up his hand for silence, mentioning them civilly by name. "I know
that some of you, brethren, are good Catholics, but you are in the
minority, and you'll be outvoted if you force a poll. Now, don't have
any megrims, and you shall easy save your consciences. You'll go with
us, and you'll do your work like the rest, and afterwards, when it
comes to the division, you'll take your whack of plunder like the rest.
Later, you can find a reasonable priest, and buy a full dispensation
for a tenth of what you have pocketed."
At which the objectors seemed very comfortably satisfied, and as all
the others gave their full adherence to the scheme, they drank up what
was left of the rum, fired a salvo from their buccaneering pieces to
show that the plan of campaign was settled, and then got out to the
ship, and so to sea.
The buccaneers considered themselves very fine gentlemen during the
three days that the voyage lasted, contenting themselves merely with
giving orders, and forcing the Spanish prisoners to do all labour
connected with the working of the vessel. Moreover it was their
conceit that music should lighten the tedium of the journey, and so the
Spaniards were set again to whistle. They were men of lugubrious
countenance all of them, these prisoners (as who wouldn't be in the
hands of these fierce sea marauders) and the sight of their efforts at
music gave continual merriment to the buccaneers. Very galling, too,
the practice must have been to their Spanish pride. But they had no
mercy to expect from their task-masters. Indeed they were lucky to be
let off so lightly. The higher humanity has no place amongst the
fierce passions which sway men in these seas of the New World. With
the Spaniards, their natural cruelty and the horrid Inquisition
(blasphemously named holy) practise the most dreadful tortures upon all
English and French that fall alive into their hands, and so when
buccaneers of these nationalities lay clutch on Spaniards, their
natural rudeness at times permits them to make some very gross
retaliation.
There was no starvation this voyage, but as there was no rum for
orgies, the buccaneers swore that it was intolerably slow, and crowded
canvas on the vessel till they were like to have whipped the masts out
of her. But the reckless fellows had no appetite for caution.
When they rose the shore line of the Main, however, and presently would
come in sight of the town which they hoped would yield them fortune,
Captain Wick for the first time asserted his command. With jests and
curses and blows he drove all down below to take up residence upon the
salt in the hold out of sight, and the Spaniards who were on deck he
compelled with very horrid threats into complete obedience.
"How would you take your vessel into harbour?" asked he of the poor
wretch who had once been captain.
"With half the sail she spreads at present," said the fellow.
"Then trim her according to your nerves and your habit," cried Wick.
"And see to it there's nothing suspicious in our entering the harbour.
If an alarm spreads, my man, before it's intended, I'll set my
bull-skinners below to flay the hide off you living, and then I'll take
you on to the beach, and roll you in sand. Grit your teeth on that, my
man, and see to it your service is as I've ordered."
Only Wick and the Prince remained on deck with a disguise of Spaniard's
clothes and headgear to cover them. The secretary was thrust below
with the rest, and was forced with much mortification to listen to the
lewd talk of the buccaneers, and moreover to stand as a butt to their
ribald jests. Oh, let any maid who thinks of following to the wars a
man she ardently loves, weigh well the odious talk and treatment which
she will have to pass off smilingly.
Time and again, as they passed the bar, and bore up towards the
anchorage, did Wick and the Prince cry down the hatchways that those
below should cease their noise, but some funny fellow would always
shout back a quip or start a new song, and away the whole lot would go
again, ranting and roaring in chorus. And at last it seems Wick lost
patience, for he drew on the hatch-covers as an extinguisher, and left
himself and the Prince alone on deck cut off with the eighteen
surviving Spaniards. Still there was little fear that these would
prove unruly. They had tasted too well of buccaneers' discipline
already.
In the pestilent heat of that hold, above the salt, the poor secretary
gasped and stifled, praying that any risks of battle might be given her
in exchange for this confinement, and indeed when the time did come for
skirmish, the poor creature was strung to such a pitch of distraction
that she performed some deeds of bravery which even these rude
buccaneers (that in truth are brave enough themselves, and not over
given to praise) clapped at in admiration.
The surprise of the town, as well it might have been, was complete
enough. The Spanish captain drove on past the anchorage and laid the
vessel up alongside the steep mud bank of the river. A gate of the
town lay close at hand just beyond the muddy foreshore, with traffic
pouring in and out, and here was a most desirable place for any
buccaneers to make their in-rush.
It appeared at first that the attack might be leisurely and well
ordered, but one of the Spaniards on board, spurred on either by
recklessness, or patriotism, or hate, or all three combined, cried out
to friends ashore that the Philistines were upon them, and although he
was promptly cut down by Wick for his pains, the very act put a
guarantee of faith on his testimony. A shout was raised by those that
did their business on the beach that the buccaneers were come, and wild
panic ensued. All rushed for the gate, cumbered with whatever goods
came first to hand. Too frightened to discriminate over the salvage
they might be, but the greed instinct was too strong in them not to
pick up some sort of burden, even though it was merely a broken crock
or an empty cask. And at the heels of the mob raced Prince Rupert and
Captain Wick, whilst the ship vomited yelling buccaneers through her
hatch.
Those inside laboured to shut the gate, those who had not yet passed
through struggled fiercely for entrance. In the rear of the fugitives
was a great waggon laden with bales, and when this was just in the act
of passing the doorway, Wick and the Prince came up. They were alone,
for Stephen Laughan who was the first of their following to get clear
of the ship, was still a hundred paces behind at the further side of
the beach. And with the strong guard that was inside, the gate would
have inevitably been slammed to, once the wain was drawn clear through
into the street beyond.
"Hamstring the horses," panted Wick, who was near burst with running.
"No time, my Captain," said Rupert, and drew a pistol and steadied it
over the crook of an elbow. Down went the off-horse to his shot, and
its struggles threw the other, and there was the gate as neatly blocked
as one could wish.
"Surrender," roared Wick. "Give up everything you've got, or we'll
slit every throat in the town." But there was no officer in authority
at the gate to give a command, and the warders and the townsfolk ran
away howling through the narrow streets, each thinking first of his own
greasy hide.
The pair of them stood in that gateway alone till the rest of the
buccaneers came up, and by this time the bells were being rung
backwards, drums and trumpets exuding their noise here and there, and
all the elements in force which go to make a fine confusion. But
buccaneers are not men very easy frightened, and the uproar only
pointed out to them the panic of the enemy.
"Now, brethren," cried Wick, "after me at a smart run, and we'll pay a
polite call on the Governor's palace. And mind, no straggling. No
stopping for bits of plunder on the way. Do as I order, and I'll find
you the wherewithal to get drunk for a month on end. And if any dog
amongst you disobeys me," he roared, "I'll cut his liver out. Come
along, my lord quartermaster," and with that they led the way at a
round pace.
But presently it was clear that the troops in the place were being
roused and accoutred, and though we cut our way through the first few
bodies that opposed us with ease and derision, presently others began
to throw up barricades and to man the houses on either side, and the
musketry of these galled us shrewdly. There were not so many of us
that we could afford to lose men liberally, and Prince Rupert, had he
held the command, would, the secretary feels certain, have solved the
difficulty by sheer fine generalship. But Wick was Captain, and Wick
led the way with a bold confidence. He had no trace of an idea in
which quarter the Governor's palace lay, but he thrust out his sword
before him and followed it with a brazen courage.
Still at last even Wick could not but see that his small tail of men
was being eaten away piece-meal at this disastrous game, and when the
Prince made a suggestion, he was glad enough to follow it.
There was little enough of honour to be found in this rude street
fighting and (it seemed) less of plunder. "I've a curiosity to see
their pretty church plate," said Rupert, "before the priests can take
it away into hiding. What say you, Captain, if we stroll that way now?
The sights in this quarter are too commonplace to be interesting."
"It's all one to me, your grace," said Wicks, with his best bow, "and
at any rate we shan't miss the way to that. What fools these churchmen
are to build towers that can be seen so clear above all the rest of the
houses."
Gallantly they charged in this new direction, and like furies the
buccaneers fought on in their wake. There was no quarter either asked
or expected, and if a man was wounded he must struggle on as best he
could, or be content to be left by his friends and get despatch from
the ravaged householders who followed at the heels of the fight.
It was at this point, where indeed they were most heavily pressed, and
like to have been swamped by sheer weight of enemy, that Master Laughan
out of sheer ill-temper at the slights these rude fellows had put upon
her during their previous intercourse, endeavoured to outdo them all in
desperation and valour, and indeed won several frank compliments from
them which soothed her wounded feelings very pleasantly. For indeed a
maid, though she be timid by nature, and need much heart-bracing before
she be nerved for a fight, can do with pretty things being said about
her sword play as well as other people. And so the fight continued
with amazing fury till at last what were left of the buccaneers hewed
their way into the great church, and so won breathing space not before
it was needed.
The Prince and his secretary and a dozen men stood guard upon the door,
and Wick and the rest set to work to glean their harvest. At first
they found little enough, and in the exasperation of the moment a good
many of the place's embellishments were badly spoiled. But presently
they came upon a priest in hiding, and although the poor man at first
disclaimed all knowledge of the treasure, he soon sang a different tale
when the buccaneers set about sharpening his memory in their
rough-and-ready fashion, though indeed he did scream very dreadfully
before they induced him to tell.
But in the meanwhile Prince Rupert and his party had been doing their
share towards the common weal. A great crowd of troops and citizens
had been gathered in the square outside the church, and in two sudden
sorties they contrived to capture some two-score of these and drag them
back as prisoners inside the defences. There was a fine discrimination
of persons in the manoeuvre. Each buccaneer seized upon the Spaniard
whose clothes struck him as the most rich, in the hopes that he was
dressed only as befitted his rank, and in this rude theory there was
little error. The silly Spaniards are very strict upon their sumptuary
laws.
It was in truth these involuntary hostages which gained the invaders a
leave to depart. The treasury of the church had been ransacked to the
bare boards, and the plunder made up into parcels convenient for
carriage. But every minute the force outside had been growing in
numbers and adding to their materials for offence. It seemed a thing
impossible that the buccaneers should ever cut their way back to the
river's bank and the ship.
But Wick came out and faced the crowd with a brazen assurance.
"Look here," he said, "you people. We've got what we came for and
we're ready to go. If you want more fighting, such as you've had a
sample of already, by the Lord, we'll give you a belly full. You see
this fine gentleman who's assisting me? That's Prince Rupert, who's
come all the way from England to make a bit out here. And let me tell
you you don't get a Prince amongst you every day. I'm Captain Wick,
whose name you'll have heard often enough before and will again. Now
if you're for further trouble, just say the word, and I'll fire this
church in twenty places, and you can set about extinguishing it. We've
got ten of your biggest men with us as hostages, and if you give us a
quiet passage through the town, and let us get on our ship again
unmolested, I'll make you a present of them sans ransom. But if you
give me trouble, all that these good caballeros will want further at
your hands will be ten little funerals. There, good people, there's a
civil offer for you, and I want a reply straight and quick.--Inside the
church there! Blow up your matches and stand by to fire the woodwork."
That the Spaniards have pride there is no denying, and had those in
authority been able to speak their own mind, with such a large body of
troops at their disposal they would never have accepted the disgrace of
giving safe conduct to the insolent handful of buccaneers. Church and
hostages would doubtless have been sacrificed, but at least the pride
and honour of those that survived would have been retained to them.
But the hostages had wives and daughters who clamoured shrilly that
they should not be sacrificed, and the other women of the place added
their voices to the plea, through the dread of horrors which would come
very short of an absolute sack, and in the end the men (perhaps in
truth glad of the excuse) with a strong show of reluctance, gave way.
Upon which out marched the buccaneers, careless of how near they had
been to general massacre, and carrying themselves with their usual
sturdy arrogance. Indeed, presently it occurred to one bright spirit
that the success of the foray ought by rights to be celebrated by
music, and so the pompous dons that were the hostages were compelled at
the knife-point to whistle a cheery measure as they marched, and a very
droll sight their faces presented to the onlooker.
Now it is hard for the historian of one who, like Rupert, is born by
nature to be a leader to be compelled to own that another could
supplant him in a leadership, and still bring his campaign to a
prosperous issue. Still harder is it to write of the success of this
man Wick, whose gentility was aped, and sat upon him untidily; who was
indeed a vulgar fellow; and who on occasion got very nastily drunk and
made ridiculous an inoffensive secretary like Stephen Laughan. But the
plain truth must be set down that the conduct of this expedition by
Wick was by some extraordinary freak of fortune entirely successful;
and though a tidy number of the buccaneers were killed, it is not the
custom of the survivors to waste superfluous regrets on their late
companions. For whatever can be said against the murderous forays of
these men, it can never be held that they value their own lives any
more highly than they esteem the lives of their enemies.
But the secretary can at least look back with pleasure at a little
scene which was brought about by this adventure. The buccaneers
marched down the streets of the town always on the keen alert, and
presenting a very ugly front and rear. They had a contemptuous
distrust for the good faith of the Spaniards. But they were not
molested. And in due time they passed out through the Watergate, got
on board their ship, and then honourably fulfilling their engagement,
gave the hostages enlargement, though with some impertinence,
requesting that they would whistle them out of ear-shot. Then they
poled off from the shore, hoisted their topsails, set the courses and
mizzen, and stood out over the bar to sea, and those that were
wounded--and these were most--had for the first time leisure to tend
their hurts.
But when the bar was passed, and the swells of the open sea once more
swung the ship over their breasts, Captain Wick gave a compass course
to the helmsman, and took off his hat with a great bow to Prince
Rupert, and laughed.
"That direction you've set should take us back to Curassou," said the
Prince.
"That's what my navigation intends, your Excellency."
"And to the harbour from which we came?"
"It comes to my mind there's more profit to be got there than
elsewhere."
"In the matter of those freights that we spoke about?"
"Why, there you've hit it to a nicety," said Wick, rubbing his hands.
"All's fair in love and buccaneering. I still think you made us pay
too dear for those passages."
"So?" said the Prince. "Well, there, I suppose, Captain, we shall
continue to agreeably differ. For a wager it was one of the Spanish
prisoners who saw me bury the stuff."
"You've guessed it," said Wick laughing. "I gave the man freedom for
his news."
"Very generous of you," said Rupert laughing also. "And he told you
true; I did bury it there. Under three palm trees just at the back of
your bivouac, was it not?"
"That's the place," said Wick, "and if your lordship had been as old a
buccaneer as me, you'd have gone a bit further off. You trusted too
much to our drunkenness."
"Why, no," said Rupert drily, "it seems to me I trusted just enough.
In candid truth I reckoned on being seen. In fact, I invited
supervision."
"Eh?" said Wick, beginning to look glum.
"Why, you see, Captain, I argued like this: I'd charged for those
passages what some might think a high price. I guessed that after
you'd had your frolic ashore, some of you would be for getting back a
discount: and in the meanwhile, as I didn't know how deep your
drunkenness went, for aught I knew some of you might be watching me.
So I buried the treasure where I might be overlooked, so as to satisfy
the curious, and afterwards, at a quieter time, dug it up again, and
reburied it elsewhere. Of course, if you like to take your spades and
turn the whole of Curassou into arable land, you may stumble upon my
banking-place, though I doubt it; but I think your time could be spent
to greater profit elsewhere."
Now there is no doubt that Wick was greatly annoyed at this turn which
affairs had taken, but he had the wit to conceal his chagrin. To go
back to the island and dig at random would be mere foolishness, and his
crew would be quick enough to tell him of it. For the authority of
these buccaneer commanders is in truth shallow enough, and for anything
like a reverse, or a piece of policy which does not prove immediately
profitable, a captain is deposed with promptness, and another set up in
his place. The which would not have suited Wick, who was very big with
his position.
So after a meal and a sleep, when the crew were rested, a council was
called of all hands to decide upon future movements, and the incident
of the passage money was dropped then, and, so far as Master Laughan
knows, for always.
But when Prince Rupert was restored to his fleet, he sailed round to
that quarter and dug it from the place where it was hidden, namely, in
the rough sands of the seashore, where the tide ebbed and flowed twice
in the course of each natural day. And so in due time the treasure
came to the hands of our gracious king at The Hague, and played its
slender part in bringing about the blessed Restoration.