The boat started back with the doctor, while the other took out an
anchor right astern, the capstan was rigged, a good strain got upon the
cable, and after a great deal of tugging with the handspikes the men
gave a hearty cheer and began to strain harder, for the tide had risen a
little, and the schooner gradually glided off into deeper water.
An answering cheer came back from the _Nautilus_, and a signal was
hoisted, which Mr Russell read to mean, "Well done!"
Five minutes after they were lying at anchor, and Tom Fillot took the
opportunity of passing to whisper to Mark,--
"We did tug at them bars, sir. It means no end o' prize-money--the
saving of a smart craft like this; but, beg pardon, sir, ain't we going
to have a bit of a wash and swab?"
"More signals, sir," cried Bob, who was watching the _Nautilus_ and the
flags being run up.
"Yes, I see," said the lieutenant. "Take the boat, Mr Howlett, and ask
for stores to be sent on board here. We are to remain."
Bob looked disappointed, and then pleased.
"You're in for it, Van," he whispered, as they walked to the gangway.
"I say, shall I send you a bottle of eau-de-cologne with the stores?"
Mark made a gesture as if to kick him, but Bob dropped down into the
boat, was rowed off, and in due time the supplies arrived.
"Not quite the sort of duty we expected, Vandean," said the lieutenant,
"but we must take the rough with the smooth, I suppose."
"Shall we have to stop on board here?"
"Not a doubt about it, my lad; but she's a valuable prize, and by
to-morrow we'll have her different from this, or know the reason why."
He set to work giving orders after the men had been refreshed; and, now
that the two black sailors grasped the object of the taking of the
schooner, and comprehended that the slaves were to be set free, they
began to work with tremendous energy. Though speaking a dialect
somewhat different from that of the poor creatures on board, they made
them understand that their lot had been bettered, and, as soon as this
was understood, a complete change came over the scene. The women
laughed and cried, and the men evinced a desire to help, so that before
night the hold had been cleansed and ventilated, and the deck opened to
let in light, till, though still far from being pure, the place began to
be bearable.
The task had not been completed, though, without attendant horrors, for
upon the first steps being taken to examine the hold, no less than six
poor creatures, victims to the hideous traffic, were found lying where
they had fallen--dead.
It was horrible in the extreme, Mark felt, but nothing else could be
done, and the sufferers were committed to the deep by their more
fortunate companions, with a few wails of grief and beatings of the
breast. Then all was over, and the cleansing went on, till Mr Russell
gave orders for the men to cease.
"And pretty well time," grumbled Tom Fillot. "There's been some hundred
millions o' buckets o' water slooshed about this here schooner."
"More or less, Tom," said Mark, laughing.
"Well, sir, I dessay you're right," said the man, "for I didn't count;
but I've been hauling up buckets and swabbing till I don't seem to have
no arms. Howsoever, we are a little bit more decent, and I don't think
we shall have anything on our consciences to-night."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't think any niggers'll die 'cause of our not taking care on 'em,
sir, that's all."
Just before dark, Bob Howlett was back on board with a despatch for the
lieutenant, and soon after he had gone Mr Russell told Mark the
contents.
"We're to make sail as soon as there's a breath of wind," he said, "and
steer for Port Goldby, so as to get the blacks ashore and in charge of
the authorities as quickly as possible. But there will be no wind
to-night, my lad, and I shouldn't be surprised if it was calm all day
to-morrow. Still, there, one never knows what the weather is likely to
be."
"It's calm enough now," said Mark, as he looked shoreward over the
glassy sea to where a thin haze veiled the shore. "How hot it is!"
"Yes; Africa deserves its character," said the lieutenant, smiling.
Then, as he looked toward the groups of blacks--slaves no longer--lying
about the deck in comparative bliss, after what they had gone
through--"I must send those poor creatures below," he said. "I don't
think there is the most remote idea among them of an attempt to turn
against us, but the land is near, and they might think they would like
to strike off for liberty, and it would be a cruelty to let them go back
to slavery, as they would if they got ashore."
"It does seem hard to send them down into that stifling hold," said
Mark; "but I suppose it must be done."
"Yes, and at once," said Mr Russell, firmly. "Call that big black."
Mark went forward and summoned Soup, who came smiling, to look from one
to the other inquiringly.
With some difficulty he was made to understand what was wanted; and as
soon as he did he called his companion, and in a very few minutes they
had cleared the deck, the women and children going below docilely
enough, and the men making not the slightest opposition, though giving a
longing look round at the soft evening sky.
"No trouble there," said Mr Russell. "Now, Vandean, I propose that we
divide the night. I'll take the watch, and will call you for the next,
unless the wind springs up, and then of course it will be all hands on
deck. Who will you have in your watch--Dance, or Fillot?"
"Fillot," said Mark, promptly.
"Most amusing companion, but Dance is the better seaman."
"Shall I have Dance, then, sir?"
"I would rather you did, my lad, as the responsibility is great, and I
should lie down to rest with more confidence. Not that I doubt you," he
hastened to add. "There, I'll join you at a bit of supper at once.
Things seem pretty comfortable in the cabin, and, as it is our prize, we
may make free with what we like. Come along."
Mark gave a sharp look round as they walked toward the cabin-hatch, to
see through the hot glow the _Nautilus_ at anchor, looking trim, and
with every yard squared. She seemed to stand up out of the water in the
transparent atmosphere, with every rope clearly seen, but there was a
peculiar look seaward, as if the transparent darkness were sweeping over
the ocean to shut her in. He looked shoreward to faintly discern the
tops of some palms, but all below these was shut in by haze which rose
from the mouth of the river.
"Doesn't look a healthy place, and this can't be a healthy ship,
Vandean, but we must make the best of it, and be off to sea at the first
chance."
They both stood at the head of the cabin stairs, and took another look
round, to see if anything had been left undone; and just then Dance the
coxswain came up and touched his hat.
"Shall I hoist an anchor-light, sir, as soon as it's dark?" said the
man, respectfully.
"No," replied the lieutenant, decisively. "No one is likely to run us
down, here. Now, Vandean."
He led the way into the cabin, saying, "We don't want to show people
ashore where we are. Hah! that's right. This is Tom Fillot's doing.
He's a handy fellow."
He pointed to the preparations for a meal of no mean proportions, for
the skipper of the schooner and his crew had been liberally provided for
by their owners; and now, feeling hungry for the first time that day,
Mark ate a hearty supper. After a little chat they went on deck again,
to find that the sky was now literally black, and the only thing visible
as they lay there in the utter silence was a star-like light lying
apparently close by--a light which Mark knew at once must be that of the
_Nautilus_.
"Why, she has come in closer while we've been below," he said.
"On the contrary, she has run out with the tide, and is a good two miles
away. Let's have a look round."
The first movement was to the sentry on guard over the hatch, from which
came the sounds of heavy breathing, and the man reported in a whisper
that the blacks had not made another sound.
The rest of the watch were next visited, and there was nothing to
report.
"There," said the lieutenant, "all's well. Go and sleep, my lad. I'll
keep a faithful watch over you; when your turn comes do the same for me.
Good-night."
"Good-night, sir," said Mark, eagerly taking the hand extended to him,
and gripping it firmly. Then going below, feeling weary, but unwilling
to leave the deck, he crept into the skipper's comfortable bunk to rest
himself, feeling certain that he would not sleep. For it was very hot
down there, in spite of the open cabin window; the mosquitoes were
uttering their tiresome fine-drawn hum, and he was excited by the events
of the day.
"It's like going to sleep on the edge of a volcano," he thought.
"Suppose the blacks do rise, and, led by our two fellows, attack us. We
should be taken by surprise, and it would be all over in a minute. I
can't go to sleep. I'll lie still a bit, and then go on deck."
Mark lay still a bit, but did not go on deck, for he dropped off into a
deep sleep, which seemed only to have lasted five minutes when Mr
Russell came and roughly told him to turn out, flashing the lanthorn in
his eyes as he awoke, puzzled and confused at the rough way in which his
fellow-officer spoke. Then with a start he grasped the reality.
It was not the lieutenant holding the light, but someone else, who
growled,--"Make so much as a sound and it will be your last--all but the
splash going overboard. D'yer see this? Guess you do. Mind it don't
go off."
There was no need for guessing; the object named was plain enough in the
light of the lanthorn, being a pistol barrel, whose muzzle was about two
feet from the lad's head.