THE GALLEY
In all history there have been few more lamentable sights than that of
the great and glorious Prince Rupert toiling as a common slave on the
row-bank of that Spanish galley. It is true that the Spaniards knew
nothing of his rank and position, though their doltishness is proved by
their not surmising it from his grand manner and his carriage. But the
fact remains that they never so much as guessed at his quality, even
when the Holy Office condemned him to the flames as a heretic, and it
was his firm command to Stephen Laughan, his secretary and companion in
misfortune, that the incognito should be strictly preserved.
"They take me for an English buccaneer," he said, "and I am content
with it. I'd liefer be conscience-free as a slave, than Governor of
all the Spanish Colonies on the Main and have to kow-tow to their
crafty priests. Moreover, Stephen lad, when I throw back on to the
oar-loom, I'm minded that they've left us the use of our limbs, and
that's more than might have been. They're clever devils with their
torturings, and I'd rather work through life sound as a galley-slave,
than sit crippled even in a palace."
So it will be seen that even in this terrible adversity--and on all
hands it will be admitted that the galleys is one of the worst of
fates--the Prince carried a high spirit: indeed the secretary would not
be sure that he did not find some entertainment in the adventure.
The hurry of going on board had been great. Wick and his buccaneers
had appeared off the port in two ships with brooms at their mastheads
to show that they had cleared the seas, and empty sacks at their
yard-arms to hint that they were bent on plunder. Wick it seems had
caught a boat load of Spaniards, and had sent them ashore packed with
saucy messages which filled the Captain of the Port with rage and
fright in equal portions. If Wick had sailed in when he first came up,
he would have found the town of La Vela (which is the port of Coro
City) practically undefended. But the Spaniards, after their
idolatrous fashion thanked many saints that the buccaneers wasted much
time in bombast and cautious reconnoitring, and sent for troops from
Coro with which they manned La Vela ramparts and batteries, and which
they also set on the four galleys which rolled at their moorings in the
harbour.
For the motive power of these galleys, slaves of all descriptions were
pressed into service and chained to the benches. Not one in six of
these wretches had been to sea before, and the odd five were smitten
with seasickness before they had barely settled to their work. But the
whips of the boatswains who walked up and down the centre gang-plank
were a fine restorative to the feebled minded, and, as the event
showed, the slaves were quicker to get over their malady than were the
soldiers who partook of no such harsh medicine, and who were put on
board to form the fighting element.
The horrors of that first night at sea are well-nigh unspeakable.
Wick's ships had drawn off late in the afternoon, and the galleys, so
soon as they were manned, put to sea in inglorious pursuit. As a
commencement, the slaves had been chained by ankle-cuffs to
traverse-bars which run beneath the seat just in the order in which
they chanced to come aboard, and as a consequence, though one oar here
and there might be passably handled, the great majority were strained
at by wretches who knew no trace of rower's craft, and had little
stomach just then to learn it. The Spaniards, according to their
brutal fashion, thought to teach skill by the sheer lustiness of their
whippings; but these gave little real education, and presently when the
galley began to swing to the choppy swells of the Caribbean outside La
Vela's protection, the confusion ended in first one, then another, and
then others of the sweeps losing a blade, till she bade fair to be
completely unrigged if they kept her without change of arrangement.
In the midst of this devil's confusion, with the night come down black
about their ears and whistling with wind, and the few lanterns showing
a very broken and threatening sea, Prince Rupert, with his whimsical
mood, must needs set up a rollicking cavalier's song, to which the
secretary (with more of loyalty than prudence) lent her more slender
tones for a chorus. Three verses rolled out over the charging swells
with as full a lilt and gusto as though they had been sung over the
wine-cups in merry England, and some half-dozen others of the galley
slaves picked up the rhythm. "To hell with the rebels and God save the
King!" they sang, and presently the whips of the boatswains began to
crack viciously on the backs of the singers.
But the chief boatswain stopped when he came to Rupert, and stood with
whip uplifted. There was something in the Prince's face at the thought
of this last indignity that would have daunted any creature living.
"My man," he said, in a terrible voice, "if you touch me with that
thong, I will kill you!"
"Pah!" said the fellow, "you are chained!"
"Happily for many on this galley. But desperate men have desperate
strength. I tell you freely that if you thong me I'll break any irons
you have in the ship like pack thread, and I'll tear the life from your
throat with my teeth. Be not a fool, boatswain. You see me here doing
all the work that is put on to this oar. Moreover, as you may see from
the swirl of the water, and the buckling of the wood, it is an oar
that's being shrewdly driven. I mislike the labour heartily enough,
but, being a slave, it's my pride to be a good slave, and it seems to
me I've earned promotion already. I should be captain of this oar
instead of being set on as the middle slave of the five who man it."
"You shall be shifted when the watch is changed," said the boatswain,
looking at him curiously. "But I'll give you a double set of irons as
an extra present. You are too free with your threats and schemes, my
man, for a healthy slave."
"I am as I am made," said Rupert. "No man can change his nature too
suddenly. But being on this galley, I've her welfare at heart like
yourself; as I tell you, even a slave can take pride in his work. And
let me say to you, Señor boatswain, you've your rowers wastefully
arranged. Your best men are next the rowlocks, or at a cleat in the
middle of the loom, ay, or anywhere but where they should be, and
that's at the oars' inner ends, next the gangway, where they could put
government over the stroke. As a consequence there's no evenness.
Your timekeeper with his gavel might be beating stroke for the seafowl
for all the regularity he's causing. And so, although each slave may
be working his utmost, no two are getting their weight on it together,
and as a consequence the slaves are being strained and tired out, and
the galley gathers no weigh. I speak as a seaman, _Señor_ boatswain,
and I tell you plain that if you don't alter the disposition of your
slaves, it's a doubt if we weather the night. You can note for
yourself that the breeze is hardening down and the sea's worsening."
The boatswain observed that others of the slaves were forgetting their
misery in giving ear to Rupert's tirade, and he pulled himself
together. "Silence there," he shouted. "Hold your saucy tongue,
slave, or you'll be whipped yet." But what had been said went deeply
home to him, for he began looking keenly amongst the benches to see
which of the slaves put most skill into the dreadful toil, and when the
gavel stopped beating, and the oars were pulled in and their ends
tucked under the central gangway, so that the blades reared up clear of
the waves, he went aft to the coach and held a close conversation with
the captain of the soldiers.
Presently there was a resorting of posts. A gang of the slaves was
told off to the pumps, for the galley shipped more seas than was
healthy for her digestion, and these were chained there lest they might
cheat the Spaniards of their usefulness by jumping overboard. Then
there was more unchaining, as those whom the boatswain had marked for
watermanship were unlinked from where they chanced to be, and set each
to the inner end of a sweep to govern its strokes. The secretary, to
her great surprise (having indeed only a maid's strength to throw into
this dreadful labour), was one of those honoured by promotion, and
Rupert, who sat on a row bank two behind her across the gangway, gaily
cried out his congratulations.
It seemed that no circumstances could damp the Prince during this
adventure: indeed one might almost say that his gaiety was unnatural.
For presently when food was served round--wine of the sourest, sodden
bread, and stinking dried fish that they call baccalhao--he not only
ate his own portion with gusto, but took up also those of the seasick
wretches on the bench beside him, and added these scraps also to his
meal. "There's work to be done for you and me, Master Laughan," he
cried cheerily, "and we need victual within our ribs to keep us lusty.
Show me none of your daintiness here, Stephen. Eat soundly, keep up a
good courage and a sturdy arm, and I promise you shall dine off sweeter
victual when the time comes as your reward."
The boatswain, who was still busy making the exchanges, heard his
speech, and understood it, although the words were English. "Now you
talker," said he threateningly, "have a care, or you'll earn something
more besides those double irons I've given you already."
"Why, _Señor_," said Rupert, "I was but anticipating your kindness and
your gratitude. There are slaves and slaves. Surely if we show
ourselves to be your best and most valuable slaves, you will give us
some small concessions and rewards in return when it comes to the
dieting?"
"Your tongue is too long," said the boatswain sourly, "and besides, I
don't believe that is what you meant, you Englishman."
"Well," said Rupert, "you might call me worse names that don't belong
to me than Englishman."
The boatswain scowled and turned away to his work, and the slaves tried
to get what rest they could where they sat. The deck beneath their
feet was covered with unspeakable filth, and even if they had the
inclination to lie down upon it, there was no opportunity. Each slave
was chained by the ankles to the traverse-bar (or "horse," as it was
named) which ran beneath the bench in front, and chained also by
wrist-shackles to the cleats on the oar loom. But with the oar-blade
a-cock, and the loom drawn in and its end tucked under the gangway, one
could snatch rest sitting, with the weary head pillowed on the arms and
the oar loom.
But there was a short enough spell of sleep allowed them. The galley
fell off into the trough when she had no weigh on her, and with the
roll the Spanish soldiers' stomachs reeled within them. So once more
the timekeeper sat down to his table and began monotonously to beat
with the gavel, and once more the oars were dipped and swung. The
rowers might go on till they burst their souls, so that these doughty
warriors were eased. But this time there was a better performance.
The captain of each oar--those, that is, who sat at the inner
ends--were men of experience, slaves many of them of long standing in
the galleys, or men brought up to sea-faring.
"Mine's the hardest driving oar in the ship," cried Rupert with strange
exultation.
"And mine's not the worst," the secretary cried back to him, falling in
with her patron's mood.
Two others voices chimed in, both English.
"Silly braggarts, do you think you're doing all the work in the
galley?" cried one.
"Foils," grumbled another. "Why tew more than ye need? There's note
t'addle by it."
"_Arnidieu_," swore Rupert, "I should know you who spoke then."
"'Appen," said the man, who was at the oar nearest the poop, "I've met
a sight o' folk i' my time."
"But you should remember one whom you chose to be your matelot, your
camerade on the seas, who was to go a-buccaneering afloat whilst you
bucanned meat in Hispaniola. Your voice, sir, tells me that you are
Master Simpson."
"Aye, I'm Simpson. And so you're----"
"Hush, sir, please. It is my vanity, sir, to keep my name hid whilst I
am in this position. But it grieves me to see you in similar plight."
But here speech was cut off. Once more the boatswain came down on to
the gang-plank, boiling with anger at all this talk in defiance of
discipline, and cutting right and left with his whip on the shoulders
of the slaves. Simpson came in for a share, and cursed him lustily for
the gift, but the Prince he affected not to have caught. Truly it
would have taken a braver man than a galley's boatswain to flog Rupert
Palatine.
Nothing but constant thonging with that whip kept most of the slaves at
their work. The galley laboured heavily in the sea, rolling her
outrigged thole-pins under at every lurch, and sea-sickness groaned
from all her benches. The reek of her poisoned the gale. The groans
from her might have alarmed heaven. And if a ship of the buccaneers
had appeared then, her military manning would have surrendered through
sheer misery.
But as it was she rode out the night unmolested, and when morning
broke, wild and grey, there were Wick's ships tossing on a far horizon.
Now beating has its limits, and even the arm of a Spanish boatswain may
grow weary after a long night of unbroken flogging. Moreover the other
galleys had both dropped astern, and lay without weigh with their oars
a-cock. So once more the timekeeper gave the three sharp blows with
the gavel which meant a halt, and the slaves thankfully drew in the
oars, and thrust the looms underneath the gangway. A ration was served
out, but for the most part they were too bone-weary to eat, and dropped
incontinently off into slumber. The Prince, however, mastered his meal
as before, and the secretary, mindful of his order, made shift to do
the same, though indeed her hands were so raw with the rub of the oar,
that each morsel was seasoned with her own blood.
For three hours the rest endured, and the sun got up and beat heavily
on all the galley held, and then once more the timekeeper beat with his
gavel. The other galleys came up and formed into line, sawing over the
swells. The whole fleet set off together. They were going out to the
attack.
A galley's bulwarks are high, and a slave can see nothing except for
swift glances that flash past through the oar ports; but a slave's ears
are correspondingly sharpened, and from orders shouted by the officers,
and from chance scraps of talk, those on the row-benches gain some
general idea of what is going on.
By degrees they rose the hulls of Wick's ships into view, and found
that they were hove-to under canvas. They still carried brooms at
their mastheads, and the insulting sacks at their yard arms, and
further, as if to show their vast contempt for the force which had come
out against them, their crews were at the wash-tub, and the rigging was
ensigned with strings of fluttering garments hung out to dry. The
Spanish officers gritted their teeth with rage at the impertinence, and
the boatswain was bidden to whip up more speed out of the slaves.
But it seemed that these buccaneers could do other things besides wash
their underwear. For presently when we got within range, down went the
strings of fluttering garments, and to each man's hand came up his
long-barrelled buccaneering piece, with which he fired with diligence
and precision. There was no volley firing and there were no wasted
bullets. Each buccaneer picked his mark, loosed off, and reloaded.
They did not man their own big artillery, but they gave their entire
attention to the crews of swaying seasick soldiers that tried to fight
the galleys' heavy guns, and they trundled them over almost as fast as
they could be replaced. And meanwhile they got their own ships under
weigh, trimming sail so that they preserved an unaltered distance from
the galleys. They did not attack, and when the Spaniards at all
slackened the engagement, a part of them put down their buccaneering
pieces and went back to the washtubs. It was a most exasperating
battle, and the officers on the Prince's galley were almost beside
themselves with mortification.
The buccaneers shot with a fine accuracy, as has been said, but at sea
there are always bullets that go astray, and of these the wretched
slaves that were chained to the row banks came in for their share.
Some were ricochet shots: some found entrance by the oar ports; but
when one is wounded, it is but small consolation to know that the hurt
was intended for another. A bullet struck between the two hands of
Prince Rupert himself, splintering the wood of the oar. A slave that
sat next to the secretary was shot through the temple, falling forward
over their loom, and the rowing was much impeded before the poor wretch
could be unchained, and his body thrown over to the sharks. Altogether
there were twelve of the slaves killed or disabled, but it was some
comfort to them to know that no less than thirty of their masters were
put outside the combat.
The Spaniards raged at this treatment, but they could not alter it,
neither could they come to close quarters with the ships of the
buccaneers, and in the end the galleys were allowed once more to drift,
and the slaves to rest and regain strength for whatever next might be
demanded of them. Twice again during that day did they try to force
close action, but the only result was loss to themselves, and in the
end when night once more swept down upon the sea, the Spaniards on the
galley, what between sea nausea, tiredness, and despondency, lay in a
state that did little credit to their manhood.
Now it is ill work making slaves from men of the calibre of Prince
Rupert, because they weigh at its exact value all that's going on, and,
resenting their chains very bitterly, are sure to take the first chance
of being rid of them. Rupert summed up the situation of the soldiers
with much nicety. He summed up also the feelings of the galley's
mariners.
It is the custom in the Spanish sea service to keep the two businesses
of sailing the ship and fighting her coldly apart. The soldier esteems
himself far too great a person to touch anything more ungenteel than
his weapons. The mariner is looked upon as an inferior creature, fit
only to handle ropes, and the tarry things of shipboard, a proper
subject to be oppressed at all times, and beaten when he does not
please. On our galley there were but few mariners, for she did little
work with her sails; but what there were got treatment but slenderly
better than that dealt out to the slaves; and though this was the
custom of their service, and they had nothing better to look forward
to, the Prince with his shrewd wisdom gave full value to the matter,
and when night once more wrapped the galley in gloom, he put a plan
that he had formed into brisk action.
One of these sailormen who had undergone more ill-usage than the rest,
and had been anointed with more than his share of blows, was passing
dejectedly along the gangway, and presently lay down where he was to
sleep. There was nothing uncommon about this, for the Spaniards deny
their mariners the right to go below into the cabins, and force them to
harbour under the weather on the open deck, having an idea that this
treatment improves their wakefulness.
To this poor fellow, then, who already had rebellion simmering in his
heart, Rupert spoke in a whisper, and his clever words soon sapped the
wretch's loyalty. "Why should he toil like a slave that was a free man
himself, and no one whit worse than his masters? Why should he put up
with blows that were not earned? Why should he be satisfied with a
dog's wage and a hog's treatment, when he might make a fortune for a
move, and live soft ever after?"
The Prince was persuasive enough, and the fellow was openly willing.
"Show me a chance," said he, "and you don't find me staying as I am
much longer."
"Then the thing is simple," said Rupert, "and the less time it's put
off the better. The key to your fortune is the key of our shackles.
You get me that, and I will guarantee execution of the rest."
"I have only your word for it."
"I can offer you a better certificate. Regard my position and my need."
"Ay," said the sailor, "there's no questioning that. But is there to
be a general killing on this galley, once you slaves get loose? My own
mates are men I like, and it would grieve me to see them hurt. They
have suffered from the soldiers equally with me."
"There shall be as few killed as I can help. I need all alive for my
purposes. And as for your mates, _amigo_, if they will only bear a
hand to help us, the thing will be done more simply. But help or stand
aside non-interferent, I swear to you that no sailor on this galley
shall be hurt unless he sides in with the soldiers."
"They'll not do that last. But I could not say they'll join with you
till they see you've strong chance of getting the upper hand."
"I ask no better. Let them wait till the game is well started, and
then join in with the winning side. So hand me the keys."
"Nay," said the sailor, "you will have to get those for yourself also;
but I'll go so far as to tell you where they are, and that's in the
boatswain's pocket. I'll give you this help, though," said he, and
moved across to the other side of the gangway, and coiled up in sleep
there.
For the moment Rupert thought the man had been mocking him; but then he
saw that the gangway was narrow, that the boatswain traversed it every
hour on his official watch, and that the sleeping sailor at the further
side would cause him to walk near the other edge, and so within
hand-grips of the slaves who wanted the keys. So the Prince sat on his
bench well satisfied, and the men near him, who had heard what had been
said, waited in silence to get their share of any benefits which might
befall. There is no reason to ask the slaves on a galley if they will
join an insurrection. That the chance for such a rising may come, let
its risks be what they may, is the one hourly prayer of their terrible
lives.
The time lingered on with a slowness that was incredible. The slaves
in the secret rustled on their uneasy benches and winced as the chains
galled them. But still the boatswain came not. It seemed as though
the hour for his promenade was twice passed over.
Rupert muttered a jest, that if he came not soon, we should be forced
to report him to his superiors for dereliction of duty.
But presently through the gloom these desperate men saw one step from
the coach on to the gangway and step towards them. Their muscles grew
hardened for the spring, their nerves strung for fierce fighting. And
then, lo! here was a deputy sent to do the formal round, whilst the
boatswain himself lay sleeping.
So there was the tedious vigil to be endured a second time. But galley
slaves can be patient over a disappointment like this, so that there is
shrewd prospect of their vengeance coming if only it is waited for long
enough. And in due time the boatswain himself came out of the coach,
yawning and stretching, and making his way leisurely along the centre
of the gangplank.
It was plain that his eyes were heavy with drowsiness, and he saw
little. Indeed he was within an ace of the sailor who lay on the
gangway sleeping (or pretending to sleep), and only swerved just in
time to prevent stumbling over him. He stepped to the edge of the
gangway, cursing softly, and the chain on Rupert's wrist that fettered
it to the oar gave just sufficient play for the man's undoing. The
Prince grasped his ankle and plucked it smartly from beneath him. The
boatswain fell down headlong among the slaves--the slaves whom his whip
had so cruelly tortured--and under their vicious handling his natural
cries were stifled before they were born. The keys were ripped from
his pouch, and passed down the row of benches, and callous, blistered
fingers trembled as they fitted them into the locks of the shackles.
The sweat of anxiety poured from the slaves during those minutes as
they fumbled.
A voice rang out through the rustling night that called for the
boatswain. There was no reply. Again the voice called, and this time
it was answered by a laugh. Prince Rupert, once more a free man,
stepped up on to the gangway. The secretary followed him. They made
their way aft to the coach where the officers of the soldiers lived,
and other shadowy figures, first by ones and twos, then in mobs, began
to move on at their heels. There were no cries, there was no shouting;
but the very silence of these ill-used slaves made their onset all the
more dreadful. The officers and the soldiers welled out like angry
bees from an upturned hive to meet them.
Both Rupert and the secretary were happy enough to filch swords from
soldiers that were barely awake, and with hands once more gripped on
their accustomed tools, were able to make pretty play. But the great
mob of slaves that came on at their heels found no such genteel
weapons; contented themselves with stanchions, belaying-pins,
balustrading, or anything which offered itself to the first sight; or
else raged horribly with bare teeth and talons, as though they had been
wild beasts unaccustomed to more human warfare. There was no display
of fencing skill. Their one manoeuvre was to rush in to hand-grips and
commence a deadly wrestle.
There was no doubt about the slaves' ferocity. Numbers of them were
killed, but even in their death-writhings they generally managed to
pull their man down overboard with them. Their numbers and their rush
were unconquerable. And, besides, the Spaniards were still nauseated
with the defeat of the afternoon and with seasickness.
As more of the slaves got loose from their shackles the battle
degenerated into mere slaughter. The wretches were men no longer; they
were wild beasts mad with the lust for blood. They had forgotten the
meaning of the word "quarter"; and when here and there one of the
soldiers threw down his arms, crying that he surrendered, they simply
ran in and finished him, with laughter at his foolishness.
But it was no part of Rupert's plan to let capture and punishment
degenerate into massacre. That there were men on the galleys who had
been buccaneers before being taken as prisoners by the Spaniards, has
been mentioned already. And it appears there were others. It was the
pockmarked Yorkshireman, Simpson, who told of them.
This man Simpson came up to Rupert when he and the secretary were
defending against some of the maddened slaves a handful of soldiers who
had surrendered. "What d'ye bother yer head about yon carrion for,
young feller?" said Simpson. "They're nobbut Jack-Spaniards, and
they're far better ower t' side an' into t' watter."
"Why," said Rupert, "I was thinking of them as substitutes for
ourselves on the row bank. Someone must man the oars, one supposes,
and I've no special ambition to go back to the work again myself."
"Nor me. I've been making t' beggars pay pretty dear this last few
minutes for the wark they've had out o' me on this galley. But tha'rt
right, young feller, there must be no more killing. It's a fooil's
trick cutting off yer nose to spite yer face."
"Help Master Laughan and me to hold off these savages then."
"Right," said Simpson, and began in his great bull's voice to call out
names. "Jobson! Hugh! Drapeau! Makepeace! Lebreton!" he shouted
for, and then named others, and presently these men worked their way up
through the rabble of the Spanish slaves. With the Prince and the
secretary they made a line across the poop, beginning at the rudder
head, and then with word and blows with the flat drove the maddened
Spanish slaves forward away from their killing, and passed all living
unarmed soldiers they met with behind them.
Presently these slaves began sullenly to listen to reason, and though
they were far from seeing the justice by which a small knot of men, who
shortly before had been slaves equally with themselves should set up a
command, they understood that these few who drove them had once been
buccaneers, and so they resigned themselves to their superiority. So
quickly order was restored; the dead were put over the side, the
soldier-prisoners were clapped into the vacant chains and bidden
acquire the mystery of oarsmanship; and the sailors of the galley who
had stayed non-interferent and unmolested, returned to their accustomed
duties without being especially bidden. They were rather poor-spirited
creatures, these same Spanish sailormen.
It remained to elect a captain and a course, and this was done with
small argument. The Yorkshireman Simpson took upon himself to make
nomination. "Bretheren," he said, "and scum, just listen here, all o'
you. This 'ere young feller, that's planned this rising is a Prince,
an' 'e's my matelot. I therefore propose 'im as Captain. If there's
any beggar as 'as any objections, let 'im just step here an' I'll cut
'is throat.--No one's onything to say to that? Well, young feller,
tha'rt elected Captain, pleasant an' unanimous, an' we all serve under
you according to the rules of the Bretheren of the Coast."
"Gentlemen," said Rupert, "I thank you for the honour, and will
endeavour to deserve it. I believe, according to the Rules, my first
duty is to call a council of all hands, and I do that herewith. But
before there is time used up in speech-making, I should like to point
out that we may be called upon for further action presently. There has
been noise enough made on this galley to scare heaven, and I do not see
very well how her consorts can have avoided taking the alarm.
Presently one supposes they'll come up to see what the uproar's about,
and we should be able to give them their answer in due form."
"Let them come," said Simpson, "we'll give them all the fighting
they've any stomachs for."
"But to what profit, Master Simpson? We shall simply kill a parcel of
soldiers whose trade it is to be killed, and the Spaniards ashore will
only shrug their shoulders, and say the poor fellows have merely
received what they were hired for. Now my grievance is more against
those said Spaniards ashore, and moreover, I am remembering always that
I came out to these seas to gather revenues for my master the King, who
now keeps his court at The Hague."
"Kings is note to me," said Simpson with a frown, "an' I'll bet they're
no more to onybody on this galley, unless they're a fancy of Master
Laughan's."
Rupert laughed. "Well," he said, "we're far from England now, and I
won't pick a quarrel with you over your disloyalty, Master Simpson. To
begin with, we've other matters on hand. And to go on with, I've an
opinion that we agree shrewdly over the other point of my argument.
You'll have as little distaste for plunder as anyone, eh?"
Simpson smacked the Prince's shoulder. "Tha'st hit it theer i' once,
young feller."
"Your approval overwhelms me. Now here's my plan. We'll give these
other galleys the slip, and be off back to La Vela as fast as the oars
can drive us. They'll know this galley there as their own, and will
let her into the harbour unquestioned----"
"By gum," shouted Simpson, "I see t' plan. Let's away wi' us, an'
we'll talk it through as we go. We shall loss a fight wi' these 'ere
other galleys, but we shall have all we want in La Vela harbour before
we've got our pickings there an' are off again. That carrack against
the mole has the plate in her of half a season's gathering."
It took little formality to get the galley once more into motion. The
whips of the late boatswain and his mates were picked up by ready
hands, and any stubbornness which at first the new slaves chose to show
was soon flogged out of them. There were not enough soldiers remaining
alive after the vessel was taken to full man the oars, and perforce
some of those who sat on the benches before had to return to them. But
these freedmen pulled at oars apart, and soon there sprang up a rivalry
between them and the boatswain who drove the new-made slaves--the which
was bad for the slaves.
Quickly the galley got into her stride again, swerving in a wide circle
under the helm, and then heading back for the Main. The Spaniards had
not lit her great poop lanterns that night for fear lest Wick should
play some buccaneers' surprise game under cover of the dark; and unlit
they remained after she was captured; and if the other consorting
galleys came to hunt for her, they never arrived, and there's an end to
them.
One other talk Captain Prince Rupert had with his crew before they came
up with their new work. "I tell you plain, gentlemen," he said, "that
I am out in these seas of the New World to make what monies I can add
to my King's revenues, but at the same time one's own private honour
must be attended to first. Now I want an agreement from all hands as
to where the profits of this venture belong. For myself and Master
Laughan here, we were of the company of Captain Wick and Captain
Watkin, and were put ashore (so it was said) to forward their plans for
sacking the City of Coro. It is a marvel, for which I thank God
heartily, that we stand here alive and free to-day, and as those two
buccaneer commanders must have known to what horrible fates and dangers
they sent us, I take it they wrote us off their strength as dead the
moment we left the ship. So I hereby dissociate Master Laughan and
myself from their venture, and proclaim ourselves, so far as they are
concerned, to be gentlemen at large. Remains for myself a contract I
once made in Hispaniola with Master Simpson."
"Nay, young feller," said Simpson, "that's off by my own unavoidable
act. We agreed that you were to be my matelot at sea, sharing equally
all you addled, and I was to be your camerade ashore, with a business
of hunting the wild cattle of Hispaniola and bucaning the meat, selling
it in Tortuga, and sharing with you the gains. But I must needs be
gowk enough to get caught by the Spaniards, and so, as I say, the
bargain's off. So we're all here on our own bottoms, and all that's
needed is to settle the share list."
The debate about this was simple. Rupert, as Captain, was to have
fourteen shares. Simpson was appointed Quartermaster with eight
shares, Drapeau, a Frenchman, was made gunner with four shares. The
other French and English buccaneers, including the secretary (who to
her mortification was offered no official position) were apportioned
two shares apiece, and the Spaniards, who had been their fellow-slaves,
were each given one share. These last were for making some
disagreement; but it was soon pointed out to them that the French and
English as a rule gave Spaniards nothing, and that if there was much
fuss about the matter, they would adhere to their usual habit. The
which suggestion calmed these greedy gentlemen down wonderfully, and so
all within the galley was peace and concord.
Day came, and the galley found herself alone on a desolate sea. The
coast of the Main was visible from the deck, the buildings of La Vela
could be seen from the mastheads; and so the oars were cocked and the
day was set apart for a rest which all most sorely needed.
"There's a bit of the Puritan about thee, young feller," said the
Yorkshireman to the Prince, and Rupert laughed and said that Master
Simpson was the first to guess it. "But I know what you mean," he
added. "I'm suggesting sleep and not debauch, and although you can
barely keep your eyes open, you're resenting the innovation. But let
me call to your notice that this is a dry ship. I've had her searched
for liquor and there's barely a cask, and that's only of sour, thin
wine; and so we've to be sober for the strongest of all possible
reasons."
At that the buccaneers laughed and gave in, and after a watch had been
set, all in the galley addressed themselves to sleep. They lay about,
some below, some on deck, some in the shade, some in the sunshine, and
the slaves of course rested on the oars to which they were chained; and
sounder sleep this side of death it would have been impossible to find.
Indeed, one may say that all on the galley were thoroughly worn out
with what they had gone through, and that much more wakefulness would
have had the dreadful effect that want of sleep produces, and sent many
of them into insanity.
But night came at last, dropping on the sea with its accustomed
tropical suddenness, and with night the galley woke. The timekeeper
gave a preliminary beat with his gavel, and the oar-blades splashed
down into the sea; he gave two more beats in warning, and then set off,
marking a steady stroke, and the oars followed him with all the
accuracy of which they were able; and presently the galley was in full
course, heading back for La Vela. On the poop stood Prince Rupert
explaining patiently in English, and again in French, and still again
in the Spanish tongue, every small detail of what was to be done in the
harbour, and apportioning to each his especial work. Wick's ships were
demonstrating opposite this port to lure down the greatest possible
number of troops away from the defence of Coro, so that the capital
might be as feeble as possible against Watkin's attack. Rupert's was
to be a sally in against desperate odds, and nothing but the most
perfect method and order could bring it success.
The very noisiness of the galley's approach was its most efficient
disguise. The timekeeper beat stolidly with his gavel, and after the
manner of the Spaniards a drum and a trumpet made music on the head of
the forecastle, doubtless causing many ashore to turn in their sleep
and curse at being disturbed by so barbaric a formality. If the galley
had tried to sneak in between the harbour walls with oars muffled and
all within her quiet, she would have been spied by the sentries, and
they would have filled the place with suspicions and alarms. But from
her arrogant noisiness none dreamed that she had changed owners, and
the sentries patrolled their beats without giving her more than a
glance.
One of the new-made slaves did indeed more with bravery than prudence
try to shout a warning when they came within earshot of the forts, but
the galley's sailors were watching narrowly for an outbreak such as
this, and scarcely had the fellow opened his mouth to shout, than a
slash with a dagger silenced him for always: which example effectually
schooled the others. Those sailors of the galley were not brave men,
but they were very frightened, and that made them very efficient
guardians for the slaves.
The galley's berth in La Vela harbour was alongside the arsenal, but
orderliness in these Spanish ports is a thing little thought of, and
when this particular vessel steered towards the fort which commanded it
from the opposite side, she received no special attention. A low wharf
gave her landing place, the oars sweeping above the pavements; and the
moment her side rasped against the stone, she vomited forth her people
in a sudden rush. A great carrack lay beside the next wharf.
Then and not before was the alarm made. A sentry squibbed off his
arquebuse, the ball flying wide. A drum beat, followed by a rumble of
other drums. Lights kindled in the windows and embrasures. The
clatter and shuffle of men arming themselves hummed up into the night.
But in three bodies the invaders had gone off under Rupert, and
Simpson, and the secretary, at their fastest run, and the galley, in
charge of the French gunner, put off again in obedience to her orders.
The three shore parties had a simple duty. Each in its ranks had a
parcel of men armed only with spike-nails and extemporised hammers, and
it was the duty of the others to burst into the forts and shelter these
men whilst they spiked the guns. Every moment the town and the
garrison were waking round them: every moment that the work was
incomplete it grew harder of execution.
There was to be no lingering once the guns were spiked; there was to be
no staying to fight where it could be avoided. "Keep the lives of your
men if you can," Rupert had said as a last command, "or you will lose
me half my profit and half my revenge."
For a rendezvous, all were to make for the carrack.
Shouts and screams and oaths told when each party stormed the fort
which it was bidden put out of action. There was some fire from small
arms, but not much; most of that night's work was done with cold steel
and the hammer. Of the progress and fortune of the other two parties,
the secretary could see little; she was sufficiently occupied in
leading her own. The men who were chosen to be under her had grumbled
at first at having such a stripling set over them, and the poor
creature had to look her fiercest at them for fear lest they should
openly mutiny and appoint another leader on their own responsibility.
But once they had clambered inside the fort apportioned to them, she
summed up a courage brazen enough to suit the most reckless of them.
The hammer men, being unarmed otherwise, were nervous and clumsy, and
seemed a most tedious time over their employment. The garrison poured
out against them like bees from an upturned hive. And when eight of
the twelve guns were spiked, a cry rose that it was time to be going,
if any were to escape back to the carrack with their skins. But Master
Laughan with tongue and sword stopped the panic (and indeed fought very
valiantly for example), and a space was cleared round the remaining
guns till the hammer men had stripped the tarpaulins from their
breeches, and put them out of action. And then when indeed the work
was over, and word was passed to make evacuation with all speed
available, the secretary was the last to leap on the parapet and drop
down over the wall.
Missiles and some shot flew after them, but they had no means for reply
and indeed had been strictly ordered by the Prince to use their heels;
and so dragging along their wounded, and leaving their dead, they raced
on in a body through bye-streets and lanes, but always keeping in touch
with the harbour-edge. Around them the town was ablaze with lights and
fury, but in the hurry of their passage no man knew them exactly for
what they were, and by the time any had guessed, they were out of shot
and shout. It is useless to cry, "The Buccaneers are on us! The
Buccaneers!" when all the town is thrilling with the same alarm.
But one deed the secretary did in La Vela which was outside Rupert's
instructions, and indeed opposed to his strict command. There came
down upon her band from one of the side streets a black-avised man
mounted on horseback. She recognised him at once. He was the chief
Inquisitor for Coro of that truly horrid institution of Rome miscalled
the Holy Office, and with his own vile lips he had sentenced both
Rupert and the secretary to what they call an _auto da fé_, but which
in vulgar terms is nothing more nor less than a burning to death at the
stake. Only the pressing need of the galleys for rowing-slaves gave
them salvage from this, and for that they had to thank Captain Wick's
activity, and not the Inquisitor's will. In fact they were beholden to
him for so little, that Master Laughan forthwith broke orders, bade her
men surround the fellow, and drag him from his horse. The reins of his
own bridle served to bind his hands, and when in his black rage he
would have halted to argue, shrewd sword progues quickly made him keep
station. "Here is a nobleman for ransom," the secretary said to her
buccaneers, and they swore they would be cut to pieces sooner than let
him escape them.
With furious pantings they drove their way on through the streets, and
at last came to that broad avenue, littered with barrels, cases, bales
and other merchandise which heads round the inner bight of the harbour,
and there they saw the stately carrack which had been ordered as their
rendezvous. Already she was the centre of a pretty fight. The
Prince's men and Simpson's had boarded her some minutes before, and her
own people were resisting with fury and desperation. But at the run
Master Laughan's came up, clambered over the great precipice of the
stem, and so came upon the poop, which was the last hold of the
Spaniards. Her people thus found themselves between two sets of swords
and had no further stomach for fighting. Some jumped down on to the
quay on one side, some were forced over into the water on the other,
and there was the great carrack in alien hands, and buccaneers with
axes were cutting through her shore-fasts. But Master Laughan had one
piece of merchandise to haul on board yet, and that was the
black-avised man whom she gave orders to carry below, and set two of
the freed slaves to guard.
The galley, according to orders, backed up, passed a warp on board over
her stern, and began to tow towards the harbour entrance, and all those
who had any ship-knowledge on the carrack laid aloft to loose her
canvas. From the dumb batteries the garrisons raged as they wrestled
with their spiked artillery. And in the meanwhile a smattering
harmless fire from arquebuses filled the night with flashings.
Gradually as her courses were let drop and her topsails hoisted, the
carrack gathered way, and presently she passed out between the harbour
heads. Clouds slid away, and showed a moon sailing in the heavens.
The noises died out in the town, and one could guess that its people
were watching the two vessels which sailed out over the lighted sea.
The carrack trimmed deep in the water, and already expert valuers had
been in the holds and reported her cargo of fabulous value.
"Young feller," said Simpson, "or rather I should say Captain, it's my
belief we've run off with their annual plateship. Tha'st set us up for
life."
"I had two motives in visiting the place," said Rupert, "profit and
revenge. You say we've done well with the first, and that is pleasant
hearing. But I should have liked to see my way to making the second
more marked. I've suffered some vile indignities in this
neighbourhood."
"Your Highness," put in the secretary, "I've flatly disobeyed your
orders during this last half-hour."
Rupert looked at Master Laughan queerly. "Then I'll lay to it you've
got some good excuse."
"Why, yes, your Highness, my excuse is in one of the after cabins under
a steady guard."
"Fetch it up under the moonlight here."
The black-avised Inquisitor was brought on deck. "You!" said Rupert,
and set his lips tight.
"The tables appear to be turned," said the fellow boldly. "I suppose
you will use your power now and torture me."
"That is not my way," said Rupert. "But I am apt to return kind for
kind, and I have in memory that you condemned me to the flames, and
that it was not your fault I did not suffer in them."
"I regretted then and regret still you were not burnt. I took you for
a heretic, and it seems you are a pirate also."
"It seems to me that I am Rupert Palatine, and acting very naturally.
My man, next time you gather victims for your bloody Inquisition, see
that you do not fly at too high game. If you were a gentleman, I would
set you free with a ransom. But I see you are a common fellow, and
need a ruder lesson. Put down your helm," he ordered to the steersman,
and to the sail-trimmers he said, "Lay her to." And then he gave
further commands which pleased all hands mightily. The galley was
brought alongside and set thoroughly on fire, and the black-avised
Inquisitor was put down on to her decks with his wrists once more set
free. The warps were cast off and the carrack once more got under
weigh. Rupert hailed the Inquisitor from the poop.
"You will find the keys of the slaves' shackles on their proper nail
inside the coach, and you may set your rowers adrift as soon as you
please. Then I would counsel you to make for the harbour, which you
can do with ease before the fire scorches you very deeply. But
remember from this night's work that fire burns, that men who have had
you in their power could still set you free again unharmed, and be
generous to the next poor wretches that come within the grip of your
Inquisition."
The black-avised man took off his hat and bowed. "I shall pray nightly
to heaven, Señor, that I may meet you once again," said he, and then
turned to get the keys of the rowers' shackles.
"I'd like to bet tha' that tha'st trouble with yon dark chap yet," said
Simpson thoughtfully. "It's allus best to scrag these Jack-Spaniards
whilst there's t' chance."
"My dear Master Simpson, one must always remember that there's such a
thing as chivalry left even in these seas of the New World."
"I know note about chivalry, young feller, but I'm thinking that 'appen
we've some of yon beggar's brass in this vessil we're running off with,
an' that's what makes 'im mad. I tell tha', Captain, it's brass i' the
end that makes all the wars and the fighting in this New World, just
the same as it is i' t' Old. There's men gives it other names; some
says they fights for religion, and some for drink; but reckon it out
right to t' bottom, and tha'll find it's t' brass an' note else."
"You're a philosopher, it seems, amongst your other attractions," said
Rupert, smiling. "But at present we must give these nicer matters
holiday. Here we are, with a fat ship, and the business of carrying
her away in safety; and I want very much to do that without giving toll
to either Captain Wick or Captain Watkin. Let them go in and sack
Coro, as arranged; these Spanish towns are the proper banks for the
buccaneers to draw upon. There's plenty of pickings left for them.
But for myself, I'm mightily anxious to carry away without further
debate what I've so honestly and hardly earned."
They watched the galley furiously rowed towards the harbour with red
flags of flames trailing from her stern; they saw the black dots which
represented her people scramble over the side; and presently they
laughed as they saw flames sprout from other shipping in the harbour
which blazing matter from the galley had set alight. And they felt a
very pleasant glow of satisfaction as they watched. From then onwards,
until two days were passed, all the brain in the carrack was employed
till she was clear of possible danger, and not until then did Rupert
formally thank the secretary for capturing the black-avised Inquisitor.
"If I had not settled my score with that man," said Rupert, "I could
not have slept easy. But as it is, I think the adventure has very
satisfactorily ended. My lad, when the time comes, I will commend you
very highly to his Majesty the King at The Hague."