I could not have been insensible many moments, for I was conscious of
shouting and trampling, of a thick black smoke which made it seem like
night, of voices giving orders, and Jarette yelling to his men now in
French, now in English, and all the time there was a crushing weight
across my legs and chest.
Then there were a couple of shots fired, and the shutting and banging of
doors; some one shrieked, and a man was thrown back over the mass which
held me down.
After that I must have been insensible again, for the next thing I
remember is hearing a groan, and directly after the voices of men
talking in a familiar way.
"That's it, lads; altogether, and out she comes."
I could see light now, for something was lifted off me, and I looked out
through a framework of shattered woodwork at the bright sunshine.
"Now then," said the same voice; "lift him out on to the deck."
It was Bob Hampton speaking, and it was Dumlow who spoke next in a low
growl.
"Poor lad; he's got it bad, arn't he?"
I thought in my half-stunned fashion that they were talking about me;
but they were lifting some one else, and just then Jarette came up. I
couldn't see him, but I could hear him blundering over the wreck around,
and his words plain enough as he said sharply--
"Dead? Overboard with him if he is."
"No, he arn't dead," said Bob Hampton. "Doctors don't die in a hurry.
He'll come to and cure hisself, I dessay. Come on, mate."
In a muddled, dreamy way I knew now that it was a doctor they were
carrying, and if it was a doctor I felt that it must be Mr Frewen; but
what it all meant, or why I was lying there, I could not tell in the
least.
There was half-darkness then for a little while, then light--then
darkness again, and some one was leaning over me.
"Steady, lad," was growled, and I knew it was Bob Hampton again, and I
tried to think and ask him what was the matter, but no words would come,
though everything was growing very clear now, and the men's words
bounded painfully sharp upon my ears.
"Got him?"
"Ay, ay."
"Heave then, together. No, hold hard; the corner of that portmanter's
over his hind leg. That's it; hyste it away."
I felt myself laid down while something was done close to me, and then I
was lifted once more and carried out into the warm sunshine, and laid
upon the hot boards of the deck.
"Poor laddie," growled Bob Hampton, "he's got it badly. Rum world this
here, Neb!"
"Orful," said Dumlow.
"Reg'lar wusser," said another voice, which I knew to be Blane's.
"Look sharp there, my lads," cried Jarette, from somewhere overhead,
which must have been the poop-deck. "That one dead?"
"Ay, ay, sir."
"You're a liar, Barney Blane."
"If he's dead, pitch him overboard."
"But he arn't dead, captain," growled Bob Hampton. "There's stuff
enough in him to make a full-sized sailor yet, and he's far too good to
be chucked over to the sharkses."
"But Barney Blane said he was dead."
"Don't you take no notice o' what Barney Blane says, skipper," cried
Dumlow. "He dunno chalk from cheese best o' times, and I know he can't
tell a dead man from mutton."
"Hear, hear, mate!" cried Bob Hampton. "Haw, haw, haw; we'll chuck the
boy overboard if you like, capt'n; but there's a kick in one of his hind
legs, an' I see him wink and waggle one ear."
"Let him lie there a bit till I come round," cried Jarette. "You go on
and clear that cabin."
"Ay, ay," cried the three men who were near. "Come on, lads. Here,
Barney, go and get that there pannikin o' water from the breaker, and
pour some in the boy's mouth. What yer go and say he were dead for?"
"Well, mate, I thought as he were. He had enough to ha' killed a man,
let alone a boy."
"You look sharp, and we'll pull him and the doctor through, see if we
don't. I don't think no bones is broke. Them chesties sheltered 'em."
Then I felt water being trickled into my mouth and some poured over my
forehead, while, though I could neither move nor speak, I heard
Jarette's voice giving orders apparently ever so far away.
"Look sharp, lads," said Bob Hampton, "or Frog-soup 'll be back and
bully us."
"Must give the jollop purser a drop more," said Dumlow. "Here, he arn't
dead neither; takes the water down as free as if it were grog. They'll
come right agen, won't they?"
"Ay, to be sure," said Bob Hampton. "Now then, heave ahead afore he
comes. Rum games these here, messmets."
"Rum arn't the right word," said Dumlow, and then all was perfectly
still again, and I lay there wondering what was the matter, and why I
couldn't think as I should, and make out why I was lying there on my
back in the hot sun listening to a low moaning sound, and some one close
to my ear talking in a muttering tone.
Then there was silence again for I don't know how long: before there was
another low moan, and the voice close by me muttered--
"Oh, for more strength--could have saved--"
The words died out, and I lay there wondering still. Then I felt that
people were coming near me, and stopped talking together.
I must have grown a little more sensible then, for I recognised the
voices as some one gave me a rude thrust with the foot.
"This boy's dead enough," and the words sounded so sharp and cruel that
they quite stung me.
"I think he is," said another voice, which I knew to be that of Walters.
"Oh yes; try him," said the first speaker, Jarette, I was certain.
And now as I felt some one take hold of my hand and raise my arm, my
full senses seemed to come, and with them an intense feeling of pain.
It was just as if the lifting of that arm was connected with something
within me which had been stopped up, for as the arm was allowed to drop
heavily back, and Walters said callously--"Yes; he's dead enough," I
shouted as loudly as I could--"No, I'm not!" and opened my eyes to stare
up at the group on deck.
There was a hearty burst of laughter at this, and I suppose it was
partly directed at Walters, who sprang up as sharply as if I had bitten
him, and then joined weakly in the laugh.
"Just like him," he said, with a contemptuous shrug of his shoulders.
"Shamming again."
"Come, I like that," I said faintly. "Why, your life's all sham."
He took a step toward me as I lay there, and I thought he was about to
kick me, but Jarette laid a hand upon his shoulder.
"Let him be," he said shortly. "Look here, young Dale, where are you
hurt?"
"I suppose I'm not hurt at all," I said, speaking with a good deal of
pain; "if I say I am, he'll tell you I'm shamming."
"Never mind him, boy," said Jarette, "listen to me. Look here, the
game's up with the officers, and they're either my prisoners or as good
as dead, so there's nothing more for you to do. Now, I suppose you
don't want me to have you thrown overboard, do you?"
"Of course not."
"Very well, then; it's only a change in your captain, and I dare say you
can be useful. What do you say to joining me?"
"What, turning mutineer and pirate?" I said boldly.
"Don't you use ugly words, boy," he said, with a scowl. "Come, I offer
you good terms; will you join us?"
"You don't want midshipmen," I said, as I tried to think hard as to what
I ought to do under the circumstances.
"How do you know, boy? Join us, and serve under me. It will only be
like going on again with your old messmate here, and I dare say I can
promote you faster than you would have been under Captain Berriman."
"But where are we going? What do you mean to do with the ship?"
"What's that to you? There, I offer you your chance; will you join us?"
"I would if I was you, Mr Dale, sir," said a familiar voice, and
turning my head with difficulty, there was Bob Hampton looking quite
frank and honest, and as if there was not such a thing as a mutineer on
the face of the earth.
"Why? What for?" I cried, with a catching of the breath which made me
raise my hand to my breast.
"'Cause we're all so jolly together now, sir. You'll like it same as me
and my mates do. Jyne us, sir."
"All right," I said, "if--"
"If what?" said Jarette, sharply.
"If you rouse up the doctor and make him tend to me, for I'm afraid I've
got some broken ribs."
"Good! We will," cried Jarette, but to my astonishment Walters suddenly
roared out--
"No; don't trust him. He is a traitor, and he would only play the spy."
With a good deal of effort I raised myself upon one arm and looked him
full in the face, for the pain I suffered and his words roused up in me
a furious burst of temper.
"Traitor! sham!" I cried. "You ought to be hung for turning against
your captain as you did."
"Don't trust him, Jarette; he'd only betray us."
"If ever I get a chance, I will, if it's only for the sake of seeing you
get your deserts, you miserable hound!" I cried. "No, I'm not fit to
be trusted, Jarette," I cried, now quite beside myself with rage and
pain; "and don't let that miserable cur come near me, or I shall try to
do him some mischief."
"Do you hear, lieutenant?" said Jarette, with a sneering laugh. "Why
don't you go and serve him out for threatening you? He's about helpless
if his ribs are broken, and couldn't hurt you back."
"I'm not going to meddle with the miserable, sneaking cur," he said
contemptuously. "And you needn't banter me; I've saved you from being
cheated by him."
"Oh, I don't know," said Jarette, gazing at Walters through his
half-closed lids; "I dare say it was all talk, for he wouldn't have
dared to play tricks. But I say, lieutenant, he has got a stouter heart
than you have. He'd be too much for you."
Walters gave him a malicious look, full of angry spite, and as Jarette
saw it, there was a complete change in the man. His eyes flashed, his
form seemed to dilate, and he looked taller, while I now realised how it
was that he had gained so much ascendancy over the men, making them
follow and trust him with powers which would possibly land them all in
gaol, if no worse fate were in store.
He and Walters were close to me, and I heard what could not have reached
the ears of the men.
"Take care, youngster," he half whispered. "You've got a hasty tongue,
and it stings sometimes. Mind I don't turn and sting again. Recollect
you've committed yourself so deeply that you are mine now; and
recollect, too, that I'm captain."
"Yes, I know," said Walters, sharply, "but he isn't to be trusted,
and--"
"You hate him," said Jarette. "Well, I know you do. There, that's
enough. Here, some of you, which cabin is empty?"
"Second one on the left," cried several.
"Is the door broken by the powder?"
"No; it's all right," said Bob Hampton.
"Carry 'em both in," said Jarette. "Fasten 'em up, and bring me the
key. There, youngster," he continued to me, "I'm sending the doctor
with you to set you right."
I nodded, and then had hard work to keep from shrieking out as two men
lifted me and carried me through the companion into the shattered
saloon, and then into the cabin on the left, laying me down pretty
gently in the cot.
It seemed quite natural to me that I should be brought there, though it
was unintentional on Jarette's part, for the cabin I was in was that
apportioned to Mr Frewen, who was now carried in and laid upon a rug
which covered a portion of the floor.
"Cheer up, Mr Dale, sir," said Dumlow, bluffly, for he was one of the
men who had helped to carry in Mr Frewen. "They won't starve yer. If
they do I'll bring you some o' my wittles and drink."
"Look here, Dumlow," I said, "where are the officers and the
passengers?"
"Shut up, sir, in their cabins, like precious crocks in a cupboard,
that's where they are; and now you're just the same, only you've got a
crack in you somewheres."
The men all laughed and went out, and shut from my sight the shattered
side, and confusion of chests and boxes lying in the saloon. Then I
heard the door fastened, and I made an effort and looked over the side
of the cot, groaning the while with the pain it gave me, down at poor
Mr Frewen, who lay there quite insensible, and I said to myself
bitterly--
"Very kind of them to send me a doctor; why, I shall have to doctor
him."
Then for the first time I saw that he was bleeding a little from one
side of his head, and this roused me so that I forgot a good deal of my
pain; and after feeling my chest and side a little to try and make out
where my ribs were broken, and without success, I managed to crawl out
of the cot, and got down on my knees by my companion.
"Mr Frewen," I said; "Mr Frewen," and I laid my hand on his forehead.
"Oh, I say, do, do pray try and speak. Tell me what to do for you."
There was no reply, and I grew more excited, and as I did, so did my
suffering seem to be less, and all my anxiety began to be about him.
"Mr Frewen," I said. "Can't you say a word?"
But he made no sign, and, forced by the circumstances to act, I leaned
over, turned his head a little more on one side, and found that the hair
was all matted together with the blood, which was already drying up.
Then I began to think that the hair ought all to be cut away, the wound
bathed and strapped up, and I was about to proceed to do it, when
another thought occurred to me.